Adakah anda suami mithali?

Apbila seseorang gadis berkahwin, segala tatacara dan kehidupannya akan berubah.Kadang-kadang kita dapati seseorang itu berubah, jauh berbeza dari zaman gadisnya. Ini bergantung pada cara suami-suami mereka mendidik mereka.

Watak suami pula ada berbagai, ada yang tak pernah beri muka langsung kat bini.Apa bini kata atau nasihat tak akan di terima, malah herdik pulak bini tu, awak apa tau? Wah,wah, depa ingat orang perempuan ni semuanya sengal-sengal, depa aje yang bijak laksana. Kadang -kadang bini tak kuasa nak bergaduh, biar aje laki tu ingat dia terer habis!

Ada pula suami yang buak tok caro ko bini, ikut panda mulah nak buat gapo pong, asal jangan buat serabut kat dia sudahlah. Bini nak duit, bagi aje .( yang kedekut tu, bila bini mintak duit buat-buat tak dengar, bini pun fed up ahh pakailah duit sendirilah, malas nak bertekak ). Akhirnya bini boleh buat apa dia suka dan tak perlukan nasihat atau pandangan suami.

Yang paling baik ialah suami yang gentlemen, yang hormat pada isteri, mendengar pandangan dan teguran isteri.Selalunya isteri yang sebegini sentiasa mendapat perhatian suami. Juga sentiasa menempatkan isteri di sisinya di mana saja dia berada.

Bawak bersabar akak oiii.......................

Pernah tengok orang membeli belah di pasar Ramadan? atau pernah mengalami sendiri?Apabila ke pasar Ramadan memang berniat nak beli sikit saja, itu pun kalau ada yang berkenan, kat rumah lauk dah ada serba sikit. Tapi bila dah lihat gerai-gerai yang dipenuhi makanan, mula kemamor mata.Mula-mula beli ikan bakar,mesti best ,exotic , untuk bukak puasa. Jalan lagi ,nampak gulai kawah, belilah sebungkus buat spare, nampak pulak murtabak...oi, sedap ni , beli 3 keping ( satu tak cukup, dua ngam -ngam sui, tiga baru selesa ).

Lalu dekat gerai kueh mueh, nampak agar-agar,amboi,sejuk tekak bukak puasa nanti-- beli agar-agar merah. Sebelah agar-agar ada pulak puding karamel, ahh, ini balik terawih boleh makan.Nampak pulak tepung pelita,ish simpan dalam peti ais, makan sejuk-sejuk lagi best. Nampak pulak pulut hitam.... eh, dah lama tak makan pulut hitam,belilah satu kot-kot tak cukup kuih ada jugak pulut hitam ni.

Ada pulak gerai bahan-bahan mentah berbagai-bagai ulam-ulaman di hujung jalan,singgahlah saja nak tengok-tengok. Nampak tempoyak,belilah satu paket, bila-bila nak buat sambal tempoyak, senanglah, barang dah ada.Eh ada petai? boleh match dengan sambal tempoyak.........................akhirnya tak cukup tangan dah nak bawa,suruh suami hantar kat kereta dulu, jalan lagi....nampak pulak pelbagai minuman sejuk, air kelapa, air mata kucing , cendol, lengkong........
Bawak bersabor akak oiiiiii.....

Di sinilah peranan suami supaya hembuskan sikit jampi serapah kat mem dia yang tengah kemamor mata tu, biar dia sedor dari panahan nafsu laparnya. Kalau suaminya pulak yang terkena panahan itu isterilah pula yang kena bomohkan suaminya.

Gajah pun boleh pengsan

Muslims all over the world are waiting for the arrival of Ramadhan in this month of August. In Kelantan the favourite puasa delicacies are among others daging kering ( fried and mix with fried onions )that's a must for sahur. Saghe or seaweeds will arrive in Pasar Siti Khadijah by the sackfuls.Kerabu saghe is favourite for buka puasa beside nasi kerabu and ayam percik.That was twenty years ago, I do not know whether it is still the same now.

Back in KL,theres no daging kering but we'll settle for telur masin,ikan bilis,papodom for the sahur appetizer. As for buka puasa we don't have any problem, when one is hungry anything goes. But for my family bubur lambok is a must ( which is being modified many times over, so much so other people might think it is not even a bubur lambok version ).

In Sarawak, bubur pedas is the speciality of Ramadhan. Bubur pedas is very unique,the ingredients include meat or chicken, special spices and kulit kerbau ( the inside of kulit kerbau, roasted )sliced thinly , very crunchy.The other speciality is umai ie prawn, sotong or fish mix with a lot of fresh lime, onion,chillies , sugar and salt,just like sushi, eaten raw.

Once my non Muslim colleage used to ask me how much weight I lost during fasting month. I told him it was about 5kg. Wah.... so good..... But... yes, but..I gain 10 after the first week of raya! Can't help it, with the ketupat and rendang, not to mention all the cookies and the open houses! Gajah pun boleh pengsan.Luckily there's puasa 6, dapatlah sikit bermuhasabah diri dari ancaman lemang dan rendang.

To all Muslims I wish Selamat menunaikan ibadah puasa, semoga ibadah puasa tahun ini lebih baik dari tahun-tahun yang lepas.

All of us and our tailor

Dah dekat-dekat raya ni, mesti nak cerita fasal tailor kita orang semua May Yin.She was introduced to me by my friend Yat ( who knew her by words of mouth),then I introduced May Yin to Cikgu Siti and her daughter and a few others.Then my daughter introduced her to some of her friends ( dah jadi macam sekim piramid ).

May Yin sewa sebuah flat sebagai premis perniagaannya. Di situlah dia mengambil tempahan, memotong baju (dia outsource jahitan baju pada orang lain )dan baju yang sudah dijahit di hantar ke premisnya untuk di fine tuning ie jahit butang , tambah span dsb barulah pelanggan datang ambil.

Mula-mula pergi tailor ni, agak terkejut badak jugak,sebab baju yang dah siap dilambak atas lantai.Bila I pergi nak ambil baju I menjerit sekuat-kuat hati, May Yinnn! You campak baju I atas lantai ..... tataklah..terus ambil baju I letak atas kerusi panjang. Bila nak kira upah jahit dan lipat baju-baju tu ,dia lambak balik atas lantai kemudian masukkan dalam beg plastik / supik ghokghak/ supik gelenyar hok wat bukuh ikae denge sayo tu lah!

Walau bagaimana pun semua pelanggan berpuas hati sebab May Yin ni pandai potong baju. Dia memang tailor untuk butik sekitar KL.Baju butik yang glamor tu pun landing atas lantai jugak,tapi tokeh butik akan fine tuningkan lagi dengan jahit manik dll dan dijual sepasang baju kurung dengan harga antara RM 600-100o setiap satu.

May Yin sangat sibuk, sepanjang tahun tempahan tak putus-putus, kalau hendak siap cepat, kena bohong sikit.Selalu I kata , itu kakak mau pergi Singapore ,kasi cepat boleh ka? oklah..Atau itu adik mau pergi dinner, boleh kasi cepat sikit...boleh..boleh. Atau I nak pergi Siam...boleh,boleh!

Ada masa bohong pun tak terima, wah..sikalang tukang jahit manyak susah, semua tak mau jahit, mau jaga anak, satu olang anak jaga dapat satu libu! Maka kita yang ramai-ramai ni pun menggelabah!

Warm colours, cool colours, mamba je.......

Yes mamba, not mumbo jumbo or samba or rumba. One of my students commented on my dress ( in KB wayyy back in 1980's )...guano cikgu napok mamba jah ari ni....( I wore very light colour baju kurung, the colour made me looked pale and sickly ). The one who commented was the naughtiest boy in the class, so naughty he was sampai tahap nang bo ti nang kui bo ti kui. But nevertheless I love that baju, I love the colour even though it didn't suit me.

I belong to warm colour category that is orange,earthy tones, yellow and red ( after coulour test ). But in reality I love the cool colours esp purple...also brown and grey ( I don't remember which category they are in , I lost the colour chart ).
Whenever I wear orange baju I always felt uncomfortable, like my face become so big and I felt like having hot flushes. So orange is a real no-no for me.

I used to go to textile shops with my two daughters, whenever I saw maroon colour materials, I will fall in love with it . But both of them will say , mak jangan mak, that colour is not for you, so I tak jadi beli.But I love maroon, it looks so beautiful esp on silk.

Even though I used to buy materials for my daughters, but they do not follow my colour scheme. Each one of them has their own favourite colours, the elder sister likes peach shades and the younger one goes for orange.If they were to follow my taste, kena beli kain sekayu share tiga orang!

Raya dah dekat,tailor tak terima tempahan lagi.Yesterday me and cikgu Siti went to our tailor May Yin , upon arrival she said ,waaa...tatak boleh siap hali laya, lepas laya boleh angkat. May Yin I nak pegi Paka bulan puasa ni. Mana tempat itu Paka..itu Mediterranean dekatlah May Yin.Belapa hali lu mau pigi? 2 malam aje...ooh lua malam ka? pakai lain bajulah,lu ada manyak baju....But in the end she gave in ( without charging me extra )

Rumours can kill

As of today the death toll of H1N1 victims shot up to 38 people.It is really very scary, especially when one has got to go out working and going on unavoidable trips outside the country. As for me all my children are working and I pray hard, may Allah save them and their friends from coming even nearer to the H....And I pray to Allah let Malaysia be rid of the pandemic as fast as possible. Amin.

Last two days my classmate told me that the real death toll was 38 but in tv they only announced as 18. I was shaken but at the same time I consoled myself over and over that it was only rumour.When I went to solat in the mosque someone came to salam with me and during solat she sat near me. Suddenly I realised she had running nose !!! I was scared and angry and I wanted to confront her..but of course you can't buat gangster dalam masjid!

That night I too had a slight running nose and about 4 in the morning I woke up because I couldn't breath. I thought I wanted to die and many things came to my mind, like if I die...this and that... until the wee hour of the morning and I was exhausted then only I came to term with my fear, and redha akan qada' Allah.I then fell asleep again until 7.30 in the morning!

When my youngest daughter had a running nose I was quite panic and shoved her off to the clinic.The doctor gave her anti-biotic and something to lightened the plegm and she got one day mc.That night she couldn't sleep well, she woke up every 1 hour, thus the next morning she told us her knee became week. We became so frightened and immediately my husband called his doctor friend but couldn't get through. He then rushed to his clinic to consult him.

In the meantime I asked my daughter to sleep in the hall so I can monitor her.I cooked chicken broth and forced her to eat . Alhamdulillah when she ate she became stronger. When my husband came back he said Doctor Im had gone to Kelang. By then I was quite relieved to see my daughter getting better, alhamdulillah, alhamdulillah, alhamdulllah! And at this point I realised how important the tv announcement is,such as the death toll, what is the tanda-tanda flu dan cara-cara menjauhinya. I think all of us should take those announcement seriously.

I was quite sad when I went to IGN recently, visitors can come in to the hospital without screening.The previous week there was the screening at the main entrance, and I don't understand why they stopped. I was quite worry because my cousin was one of the patients recuperating from the heart surgeries. And one of his daughter had running nose!

Belated opinion

I'm quite sad when PPSMI is withdrawn but I hope the govt will come up with better ways of teaching English as a second language. The old syllabus didn't seem to be effective because it is concentrated on grammar...I am, you are, he/she/it is/was etc,followed by grammar excercise like fill in the blanks, choose the right answers,do corrections on sentences and short passages. It is so regimented and boring, in the end the students lost interest in learning English.

I like the idea of introducing English literature to Malaysian students.First and foremost story books are used as textbooks.While reading and understanding the story , at the same time they learn the pronunciations, grammar,dialogues and they will be able to analyse like the theme of the story,the characters,the moral of the story and so on.By the time they finish the first book, they will be familiar and (well verse ) with English language.

To me PPSMI is an indirect way of learning English. Science and mathematics are taught in class for 200 minutes each per week.So every week they learn English through maths and science subject about 400 minutes not including the learning of English Language for another 200 minutes.We might say some of the teachers might not be well verse teaching science and maths in English,but the little English used in class will benefit the students. The most important thing is that the students will be able to use the mathematics and scientific terms in English!

Adakah akan mati sesuatu bahasa itu jika kita tidak menggunakanya dalam pengajaran sains dan mathematik?
Atau kita patut gunakan bahasa Melayu dalam pengajaran sains dan matematik supaya menjadikan bahasa Melayu sebagai bahasa ilmu.
Bagaimana dengan ilmu-ilmu lain,adakah terhalang mejadikan BM sebagai bahasa ilmu kerana matematik dan sains diajar dalam bahasa Inggeris.
Entahlah....

But when I went back to my kampung ,I found out many parents enrolled their children in Englidh tuition classes. At least they tried....
For those who could,t afford the extra classes, PIBG can hire teachers to give English lessons in school for free or minimum payment.

When I go back to my kampung the next time,I want to know whether the parents have abandoned the extra English class!

Keropok Leko the all time favourite

I'm sure many Malaysians love kerpok goreng ,be it kerpok leko atau kerpok kering.I heard this story about keropok being sent to KL by the contena load every week and it is a multi million business,these days.

As a person hailed from pantai timur, I sort of cannot live without stocks of dried keropok in my cabinet and keropok leko filled half of my freezer. To me you can never go wrong if you serve keropok goreng when guest come to your house unexpectedly. Plus keropok is the main kudapan in my house ( with me the no one muncher ).

But lately when I was referred to the dietician in HKL, I was surprised that keropok is in the list of a no-no for people who suffer high cholesterol. Keropok should be taken sparingly, not rampantly as I did the last more than 50 years.

For those who like to buy keropok goreng at stalls, do check up on the oil in the kuali. If it has turned black, refrain yourselves from buying. Wait until the day they change the oil in the kuali then it is safe to buy the keropok or the goreng pisang or all the goreng-gorengan things.

Anyway, if you are the self conscious person, and you want to make keropok leko, here's the recipe:

1 kg ikan tamban, or kembung or tenggiri or parang or tongkol or prawns or squids
1 kg tepung sagu
Salt to taste
Serbuk perasa (optional)

Methods:

- debone the fish
- pound or blend the fish in food processor with salt to taste
- in a bowl, mix the pounded/minced fish with tepung sagu bit by bit until it becomes a dough. Make small doughs as big as tennis balls
- roll each small dough.
- boil some water in a fairly big pot, when it boils put in keropok leko
- When it surfaces take it out from the pot and let it cool.