Pak Idrus's Blog

It has been a cloudy day and now at past 3.00 pm on a Wednesday afternoon suddenly the Sun shines bright. I felt real good sitting at the Serambi. See what a difference our environment became when both Rain and the Sun appears at almost the same time! It charges the atmosphere to be positive. During my childhood days parents do not allows their kids to play in the open during Hujan Panas [when it rains and the Sun shines at the same time], they may get sick. Another aspect of Hujan Panas in those days is that it often relates to someone Mati berdarah! [human die because of killing]  Perhaps only folks of my generation are aware of these belief. In a traditional society every belief had it beginning in our history for some reasons. Perhaps Mati  berdarah happens during the war or during the Japanese Occupation where many ordinary folks get killed. It is because of the unnatural death that folks associate it with death with blood. It was common during the Japanese occ...

I love the green so with the little space I have at one corner of my patio I created my Little Garden  with a varieties of potted plants. At the same time I  grow whatever trees on the roadside of my house which kept the area green and refreshing. In the front of my house I grows many creeper plants up front of my gate and above the garage. These are creepers that flowers all the times. Other than that I also plant the traditional Malay flowering plant call Kenanga. Kenanga gives a smooth fragrance. Bougainvillea of different color of flowers are grown in pots and put on the ground to control it growth as not to become too big and difficult to control. Other than that potted plants that flowers throughout the year are grown outside the gate as well. Above is an image of the plants above my garage and in front of my gate producing shades and colorful flowers. These plants kept the house especially my Serambi, the favourite space of the house cool all the time. Have a nic...

It the 26th of May 2019. Woke up to a beautiful day with the Sun just rising above the horizon at the back of my house. It a gorgeous day indeed and it a Sunday, giving folks the opportunity to enjoy the weather as they take a walk around the neighbourhood. After feeding the two cats at the Serambi and the fish in the pond I decides to go out of the house to enjoy the fresh air and the sunshine on such a bright and beautiful morning. Looking at the sky in front of my house I had a glimpse of the Moon up above. It the 21st day of the Ramadan's moon. All throughout this months it has been raining off and on and most of the time the sky was cloudy, thus was not possible to see the Moon all the times. So far I managed to see the moon twice this Ramadan month and this morning is the third time. I was delighted to see the Moon this morning and decides to get my camera and take a shot of it before it disappeared behind some clouds. With the camera I venture a bit further and look at ...

From the first day of Ramadan I have been trying to get a good shot of the Ramadan Moon. Most the evening and night the sky was cloudy, thus it was difficult to get a good shot. I did managed to get a good shot of the Ramadan Moon on the fifth day of Ramadan, May 10, 2019. And this morning Friday‎, ‎May‎ ‎24‎, ‎2019 at 9:20 AM I managed to get another good shot, the 19th day of Ramadan. The is the second time I managed to catch the Ramadan moon as most of the days the sky was cloudy. Gorgeous indeed. Enjoy it folks as much as I had enjoyed taking that shot.  Have a nice day.

It the 16th day of Ramadan. As usual in the evening I would sit at the Serambi [Malay patio] and take it easy. The clock on the wall shows its 6.18 pm and it raining. Nice. I always love the rain. Now it kept the Serambi cool and a nice place to while the time away before Buka Puasa [iftar] . Kenet the cat is with me perhaps enjoying the rain too. I have just start reading this book by Lauren Booth the sister in law of Tony Blair the former PM of UK. She has since convert to Islam and wrote this book, thus the title ' Finding Peace in the Holy Land '. Well I just bought the book a few days ago, not looking for it but found it glaring at me. Without thinking much bought three books including this one.  The other two are about Islam too [image on the left] I have always believe that books always looks for it's reader. So in one looks I bought three books just on impulse. Most of the time I get good books and this time I am indeed happy to get all the three books in one g...

Memories kept coming back. The year 1945. The month probably July, the month the Japanese surrendered in Malaya. Me just about six years old. All the time during my growing up period I watch the red and white Japanese flag flying everywhere but suddenly I saw none. One piece of memory that is vivid that happens just before the war end is the day my my dad holding my hand and run to take cover under the rubber trees near the house when we saw a Japanese plane flying overhead.  I still remember this happening as clear as though it happened yesterday. Another incident is a time after the war when I went to see my uncle who live at Batu Sembilan, near the Kuantan Airport. On the way I saw a small Japanese Air plane that had crashed on the roadside still with the remains of the pilot in the cockpit. Amazing these two incidents are etched in my mind as vivid as ever. [Image on the left is taken from the Internet.] Have a nice day.

The call of the beach and the sea is always there. I  am nostalgic about the beach I grew up, especially the Teluk Cempedak beach in Kuantan, my hometown. So from time to time I would go and be at the beach early in the morning, more often before the others are there and wait to watch the rising Sun. In that early morning before the sun rise the beach is already alive with active of little creature like the sand crabs and little birds that comes to feeds. Above is the crab-hole  in the sand at the beach.    A little later the thousand of little Crabs would vanished underground and would only come out the next morning to feed. It really refreshing to sit there and enjoy the peace and tranquillity of the beach before the appearing of the Sun, the beginning of a new day. Life is beautiful indeed.  Have a nice day. T

Today is May 13, a day in our history. In 1969 I was a 30 years old officer working in Malacca. 0n May 10 I was a Polling Officer at a Polling station in Alor Gajah. Woke up early, at 6.00 am was at the Malacca Tengah Police station, pick the Polling Box etc, a Police escort and drove to the designated Polling station to start managing the Election there. The election went smoothly. After closing the Polling station in the afternoon took the sealed Ballot Box to the counting centre in Malacca Tengah. After handing over the Ballot Box and the relevant documents to the Election Commission  personal there, signed the handing over document left for home to rest and wait for the election result. Have a nice day.

T oday I managed to take a shot of the Ramadan Moon. On the left is the image of the moon on the 5th day of .Ramadan taken at 6.30 pm from my home in Ampang Jaya on the outskirt of Kuala Lumpur. Ramadan begin on May 5, 2019 this year and Muslim all  over the world start fasting during the day. It now past 5.35pm on the first day of this year Ramadan. The rains arrived early in the morning thus add to the freshness to the greens around the house. I have always love the rain and felt real good. In our culture the rain is a sign of Rahmat. Alhamdulillah. Nenek was busy all morning getting the Juadah done for today's Iftar or Buka Puasa. Hopefully all in the family who are in the country would be in our home this evening to Buka Puasa together. Alhamdulillah it almost at the end of the second day of fasting and Iftar is in 15 minutes time. Ha the beauty of Ramadan. The spiritual journey when billions of Muslim goes through every year come Ramadan the holy month of th...

Congratulation to the PH government for the good governance since they became the Government of the day after winning the GE14 on May 9, 2018. Have a nice day.

Life in the golden years is challenging indeed especially so of our mind to retained memories. Memory of the present fades fast, one seconds we remember then the next second we may forget but we learn to live with it. At the same time we are blessed that our memories of the past became clearer as we move on. It some cases it became vivid, just like it happened yesterday. The last few days I got reconnect with a friend of the past. For almost forty years we lost contact but we both remembered those beautiful moments of our youth. Another memories that keep popping up from time to time is the episodes of my life when I was organising an International Seminar at the Merlin Hotel in Kuala Lumpur in 1981. At that time I was the Director of the Development and Promotion of Culture at the Culture Division of the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports. These episodes of my life W hich start in 1981 lasted for one and a half years. It was such a beautiful memories that It always nice and be...

E-hailing is now my mode of transport going into the city. Mostly to and fro my home in Ampang Jaya to KLCC or Nu Sentral/KL Sentral, both my favourites Lepak place. E-hailing is God send, you just touch the apps on your smartphone and it done. I usually sit on the front seat where I get to chat with the Driver. Unlike the traditional taxi E-hailing drivers are a class of its own. They may be Engineers or of other professions thus chatting with most of them are interesting. Another aspect they are more polite and it does made the ride comfortable. Those who works full-time does made good money and the part- timers are mostly just want an extra buck and enjoy talking to people. Today on the way back the young driver told me he is from Ipoh and he came to Kuala Lumpur to make money to maintains his family. He goes back to Ipoh to be with his family once a week. While here to saved money he just sleep in his car at a safe place and use the public washroom to bathe and change clothin...