Ikut Ijtihad

Seorang gadis menanya saya.....kenapalah suka menakut-nakutkan orang dengan agama. Kenapa asyik haram-haram-haram, neraka- neraka - neraka! Punyalah banyak sifat-sifat Allah yang cantik-cantik - kenapa tak nak sebut, bagi orang suka dan lembut hati...

Tak tau lah nak oi...dah semua orang yang pandai suka mengancam orang jahil , nak buat macam mana...

Gadis ni seronok tengok budak-budak kecik di bawa oleh ibu bapa mereka dari rumah ke rumah di kawasan kejiranan mereka  dan di kedai-kedai di kawasan mereka. Tuan rumah dan penjaga-penjaga kedai dah siap dengan beg gula-gula dan coklat apabila ada kanak-kanak datang mengetuk pintu ..trick or treat? maka mereka pun diberi buah tangan  gula-gula dan coklat...

Kebetulan anak gadis ni berada di negara yang meraikan Halloween , dia pun teruja nak bagi gula-gula pada kanak-kanak yang memakai pelbagai topeng hantu datang mengetuk pintu rumahnya .Just for fun...I don't care ape ke bendenya hantu-hantu  tu, tapi seronok jugak bagi coklat kat budak-budak tu...bukan nak menghayati halloween atau nak ikut cara perayaan orang bukan Islam....

Tak tau lah nak oi...kat Malaysia dah diharamkan perayaan Halloween dan hari Valentine atau Yoga sebab mengikut cara/adat orang kafir,..

Tak boleh main tiru-tiru - haram , tak boleh- tak boleh , la' abadan , nahi-nahi-nahi.....contohnya kalau buat yoga nanti takut terbaca mantra  Hindu,,,,

Kalau tiru pakai coat dan neck tie tak apa sebab ia tak melibatkan terpesong akidah ...?

Perkara besar ni tak berani saya nak memandai-mandai......kita serah pada pihak berkuasa nak membantras atau ambil tindakan contohnya pada orang Islam yang minum arak, yang tak solat Jumaat, yang tak bayar zakat, yang tak tentu hala jantinanya, yang sumpah palsu dalam mahkamah dan beribu-ribu masalah lain lagi.....

How Do You Like......

.....these  notices and signboards?

If we can do this in Malaysia - there won't be anymore double or triple parking

We have no problem with dog p@# , so boleh gelaklah tengok  notis ni!

New lane for pedestrian and cyclists ( under renovation ) on Brooklyn  Bridge

In rhyme with witchery

Of GST And Tips......Part 2

Google search

Some of us are not familiar with tipping for services provided.We are not required to tip the waiters when we eat in a sitting down restaurants ( even when our little devils splashed  sauce all over the table and chicken bones flying up to the ceiling )  and we can get free trolleys for our big, fat luggage that almost bursting at the seams for free in KLIA. Some people said it is haram to give tips because those workers already get paid to do their jobs. Like if that person tolong angkat beg you yang berat macam batu, lantak koranglah, that's your job maa....I'm not giving you any money!

When we arrived at JFK airport Beautiful Life went to the slot coin to pay for the trolley - one of the staffer offered  to handle our luggage.  For that service it is customary to tip the attendant.

There were 3 elderly people waited for their wheel chairs for quite sometime , so when a wheel chair assistant came to offer the service , they quickly accepted it because one of them really in need of the chair. A few minutes later when 3  wheel chair attendants came for them , the third attendant left without anyone to sit on it. So she approached me to offer her service....

- Sis, come I put you on this wheel chair

No, thank you, I didn't order for it

That's ok sis, I want to help you

Thank you sis, I can manage....

You see , sis , why don't you come with me - it is a long way to  the check point and there is such long queue inside there. With this wheel chair I'll take you to the express lane. You don't have to worry at all, you and your husband won't have to wait for long time..

I'm ok,really, I want to spend sometime with my daughter and my son in law before boarding

Please sis, I've already being paid by the airlines for this trolley, you can have it...please sister sit here! You don't know how convenient it is when you use this service..

When she  became very persistent to shove me off in the wheel chair - all of us were embarrassed and couldn't say anything.. in the end both my husband and my daughter ask me to accept her offer. And my daughter reminded me to tip her.

She pushed me  so fast, overtaking everybody while telling her life story,  cutting queues and in a short while our passports being checked. We past through  the electronic door with our shoes and jacket off ( the jacket - inside out ) so there'll be no hidden weapons in our shoes or  the jacket that could harm their country...

And me? Malu jugok weh, tengok orang lain senget-senget pun jalan sendiri....

The Magic Of..... Niagara Falls....

We can see Niagara River rapids beginning from  Goat Island.

The first waterfall is The Hurricane  -  Tourists can take a special tour and are allowed to go down to get close and personal with the water fall.

The Hurricane as seen from the tour boat

The Hurricane and Maid Of The Mist ( far back ) as seen from the bridge

Niagara Falls..... Maid Of The Mist is the biggest fall in the world....

I cannot upload my video in my blog because it's too heavy , so I Google this picture.

View of part of  Maid Of The Mist - we were soaking wet when we past through the mist

 Ontario ( at the back ) is just across the river from Niagara Falls.

Of GST And Tips.....Part 1

In other words Goods and Services Tax ( GST ) levied...............do Google RMCD Official Webside - read them until you get cross eyed!


Long time ago I used to enjoy VAT because I can get some tax return ( if I'm not mistaken it was about 17% of the purchase price ). I was so happy to get some money returned at the airport -  with that money I could buy a few small items to add to my collections.

When I visited my daughter   recently I was quite taken aback when I had to pay tax on merchandise I bought. The price quoted to me was  145 dollars but I had to pay something like  150 dollars or so. I couldn't help blabbering - so happy to buy things at 50% discount suddenly I have to pay extra for the taxes . My daughter chuckled...everything you buy here you must pay tax mak..

And being an old timer I think VAT is better, you get back the tax. With GST you pay extra for the things you buy. Tak berapa syok sikit!

All the while we pay indirect taxes on almost everything we buy . And some of us didn't even realised we have been paying taxes. So, when the government introduced the GST, many  think it can cause ANOTHER price hike.  People think in the end the consumers will always lose - we end up with paying higher prices on goods and services ( ? )

I hope this GST thing will be explained to the masses in the big way, so people like me and my relatives in the kampong will understand it better.....err...maybe they have done it but I'm not aware of it? Let us kampong folks be well verse with the taxable and the non taxable goods and services. In other words we have to have small money ready for the taxes every time we buy things when GST has been implemented. Kurang best maa...

The only benefit I can foresee is that the 1 cent and 5 cent coins will  make a come back in tne market....because the tax will be like....  rm 3.21sen or rm 20.15sen!

Senyum Simpul

Saya kenal seorang makcik yang tak pernah solat walau pun masa tu umurnya dah lebih 50 tahun. Bila tiba waktu solat dia buat selamber dek je. Sanak saudara toksah kiralah, berbuih mulut mengumpat, mengutuk, memperli dia. Rupa-rupanya dalam ramai-ramai yang bermulut tak berinsuran tu adalah seorang anak buah makcik  yang telah mendapat hidayah untuk membawa makciknya ke jalan yang diredhai Allah......

Makcik marilah solat bersama saya maghrib nanti...

Takpelah, solatlah dulu...

Marilah makcik ( sambil memegang tangan makciknya ) biar Ani tunjuk cara ambik wudu'. Nanti makcik ikut apa yang Ani buat..

Ye lah.....( dengan mudah makciknya mengikut )

Nanti kita solat bersama, makcik berdiri di sebelah saya, ikut je apa yang saya buat, kalau makcik tak boleh baca ayat-ayat AlQuran, tak payah baca .

Akhirnya setelah selesai solat , barulah makcik bukak cerita...

Mak engkau tu ( adik makcik ) bila aku suruh ajar bersolat, dia ajar aku baca yang panjang-panjang, zikir banyak-banyak sampai tak boleh nak ikut....
( Sebab tu lah makcik tak berani mintak orang ajar solat )

Sebenarnya menurut cerita Ani pada saya, masa dulu dia pernah lalu di tepi telaga pada waktu pagi dan ternampak makciknya membasuh muka dan menadah tangan  dengan menyebut  lailahaillallah banyak-banyak kali sebelum menyapu mukanya.  10 tahun kemudian tiba-tiba saja Ani dapat ilham memujuk makciknya untuk bersolat.

Rupa-rupanya sejak hari tu hinggalah ke akhir hayatnya makcik tak lagi meninggalkan solat walaupun bacaan dalam solatnya tu begitu minima. Makcik pulak tiada mempunyai anak sendiri, yang ada hanyalah anak, menantu dan cucu-cucu angkat sahaja. Apabila makcik sakit kuat ,dia dihantar ke hospital dan kemudian meninggal di hospital .

Apabila Ani pergi ke hospital, punyalah terkejut dia bila dia nampak mayat makciknya yang terbujur kaku itu seolah-olah tersenyum.

Kak long , masa  Ani pegi hospital Ani nampak mayat  makcik macam tersenyum

Engkau jangan bergurau dengan aku Ani, engkau jangan nak buat-buat kata makcik ada bela hantu pulak.....

Saya agak geram jugak masa tu, sebab si Ani suka bawak cerita yang bukan-bukan - dulu masa arwah bapa saudara saya meninggal dunia di rumah mak saya dia kata ada bau wangi dalam bilik  Paksu Ucop - kalau betul ada bau wangi dah tentulah riuh sebuah rumah kata ada bau wangi....

Betul kak long , sumpah!  Makcik senyum di penjuru sebelah kanan mulutnya - macam senyuman anak dara yang malu-malu...

Saya pun terkejut dengan pengakuan  Ani. Saya berdoa semoga roh makciknya itu mendapat rahmat Allah dan di tempatkan dalam kalangan roh orang-orang yang beriman... aamin!

Picnic In Buffalo

It was a fine morning......

People are not allowed to feed the birds in the park

All parks are well maintain

Wefie time ( instead of selfie ) in the park while waiting for our trip to The Fall. That was  me hand shown in the picture .

The Goat Island  is located at the brink of  Niagara Fall ( The American side ) and it is just across the road where we were picnicking . We can see the rapids that flows to The Great Fall.

The Carousel.....

......reliving the childhood dream........

The carousel in full swing

Beautifully painted wooden horses that fly in the air

This antique horse is meant for show only - people are not allowed to ride it

Happy riding!

Nothing like having  ice cream in an icy cold weather in Coney Island!