Pak Idrus's Blog

After breakfast I sat at the Serambi to while my time away. With Kenet sitting on my lap I just let my thoughts run wild. It just rain and the Serambi is cool. Nice!. In between surfing the net on my Smartphone I read a few pages of Rumi's. Sufism always enriches my understanding of life. At this age; I am now 80 years old I am taking things easy. In Sya Allah come the 17th of this August I would be 81. Alhamdulillah my health is as good for my age. I still love to read and always enjoyed my meals. Of course I get tired and felt sleepy from time to time for age is catching up. I would then take a break. There is nothing to rush but to enjoy every minutes of the time that I had been blessed. The image on this posting is part of my own woodwork. I had always enjoyed doing creative things with woods.  Have a nice day.

Since the MCO I have not been going out for my favourite breakfast at the Mamak Restaurant. I do miss this combo which is sort of my lifeline ever since I was a child growing up in my father restaurant in Kuantan. Every morning he would prepare the Roti Canai for the many people who comes to the restaurant in the early morning for a simple breakfast of the Roti and the Tea with condensed milk. It was indeed a nutritious breakfast to start the day off.  As for us kids it was a breakfast we had every morning or snack at any time of the days. So until this age I am hooked to the combo of the Roti Canai and the Tea with the condense milk, except that at that time it is just call Teh and only now it is call Teh Tarik. Anyway I have always enjoyed taking the Roti Canai with the Teh Tarik.  Well folks as soon as the MCO was relax and folks were allow to go out to eat at the restaurant under an almost normal condition [with the condition of Social Distancing] I decided have an go a...

Happy Mother Day to all those wonderful mothers. May you always be blessed. Love you. Have a nice day.

This morning I had a few things in mind, so after a light breakfast I drive the Honda to get a haircut, not that I had much hair on my head but just a ritual of sort to be just Me. I went in and sat on one of the chair. The usual barber was attending to the only customer next to me. Then a young chap came over coughing. Since he continues coughing I ask him to cover his mouth but he seem not to understand me. The elderly person nearby explain to him in Tamil while the young m an kept coughing. That means he did not understand Malay. It looks like he is another foreigner employed as barber. Since He continues coughing I decided not to have the haircut. That virus could put me into months of misery. I left and went next door to have a TT. l sat down but no one came to take my order so I decided to move out and drive to an aquarium at Jalan Ulu Kelang and bought a new pump for my Fish pond and some feeds for the fish. I then remember there is another Barbershop at the Naan corner. I stop...

It past 4pm on Sunday 8.2.20. As usual I am at the Serambi whiling the times away and these thoughts came to mind. During the colonial era it take the whole days to get to KL from Kuantan. Since only a few have cars getting around anywhere are by bus. It a bone shaker ride all the way. You take the 7am bus at the Kuantan Bus station along the Main road near the Rex cinema. It normally full and the window open wide unless when it rain when the window are up three quarter to a void folks getting wet. The air inside is as hot and humid as can be expected. The bus move on and when it reach at Tanah Putih near the Kuantan river it stop waiting to get on board the Ferry that ply from one side of the river to the other side and get on the road again. The bus move on at whatever speed it could. Then the bus conductor would go around from one passenger to another to check their ticket to see that no one get a free rides. The bus does not stop because of the communist terrorists lurking in ...

A week ago I decided not to do any posting on Facebook since I thoughts that FB is actually beginning to waste my time and energy. Before that I  have totally stopped using Twitter and Instagram. It has the goodness but once you are hooked then I think one have to take stock of what's good and what's not. So far after more than a week I have survived without FB and I am happy with it. I want to be in control of my personal space and no one or institutions are going to take that away from me. At this age I felt that I should be in control of what I want to do and enjoy doing it. Before FB most of us blog and enjoy writing and sharing our thoughts among bloggers and because of FB most have left blogging but not me. I still blog at least once a week and happy with it. I felt the Social Media has the good in it but one should be in control. These media to me are  sort of a cultural subversion to the society of the world by indirectly trying to introduce new Western norms and va...

The year 1948 and I was just 9 years old. This is a story that is still vivid in my mind. The happening was in my hometown of Kuantan. One morning my father took me to a building call the Malay club. I remember a small wooden building varnished black about 400 Sq feet in size. The building is situated in an area between the old MPK Building and the present Masjid Negeri. Holding my hand my father took me into the building where I saw many people talking together. I actuall y did not know what was this gathering of so many people including my father is all about. Then I heard the word Merdeka said by someone in the crowd. At that moment I did not know what the word Merdeka meant. Never heard it in school or anywhere else. Anyhow that word stick to my mind and It was only at the Kuantan padang on the morning of 31st August 1957 where as a Boy Scout I took part in the gathering at the padang, where the Union Jack was lowered down and the new Malayan Flag was flown for the first time. I...

The night of October 5, 2019 I had a lucid dream or sort of an astral trip. It cannot be a just a dream since even at this time at 6.56pm October 6, 2019 some twenty four hours later I still could remember vividly what happens during that trip. Had it been a dream I would not be able to remember of what happened in that dream a few minutes after I woke up. This is what happens in that beautiful dream... I just got a new Sport Car, an off white BMW, a flashy car. As I was about to get into the car an elderly man [deceased] the father of my friend Halim want to have a look at the boot of the the car. I open it not by a Remote Control but just by my thought. He saw the exclusive boot space, happy and then left. I closed the boot, got into the car and start driving it. I felt real good with the luxurious interior space and the comfort of the driver's bucket seat. As I was about to move on another car stop by and a gorgeous woman came out, on seeing my car looks at me and smile. I sm...

It Saturday, the weather is beautiful. After doing the morning ritual like feeding the Cats, the Fish in the pond and putting fresh foods at the Birdfeeder at the Serambi I decided to Lepak at KLCC. My spouse did not want to come along. She say just get a takeaway of Biayni for her. I drove the Honda and got to the mall in good times. Had a simple lunch of Mee Mamak at the RASA food court and then after browsing at Kinokuniya bought a book by John Grisham. Went upstairs to the Coffee Club and sat down to enjoy the coffee with a snack. Well that's life... Have a nice day.

This morning went to do marketing at the Datuk Keramat Wet Market. Got ready early and wait for the driver (eldest daughter's family driver) to come at 8.30am. I no longer drive to the market, moreover I need a helping hand at the market. All the vendor's there are friends since I have been going there for some forty  years. So it was easy, just tell them what I wanted without haggling on prices. So today I boughts Crabs, Sotong[Cuttle Fish], Udang[Prawn] and fishes as well Ikan Bilis[Dried Anchovies] now at RM8 0.00 per kilo. Ikan Bilis used to be a poor folks dried fish, now it a luxury item. Got some fresh Veges which includes Chilly Merah which today is RM26.00 a kilo. I was looking for Udang Galah and Ikan Tamban Beluru but none was seen. I have not eaten Tamban Beluru for years already. One of the tastiest fish, Goreng or Singgang. Even in Kuantan it difficult to get this fish. Well folks and for lunch today we had the Crab Curry as seeing above. Delicious ind...

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.

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...

I grew up watching this flag until the Japanese was defeated in 1945. All my senior went to Japanese school. I did not. I start schooling at a Malay School when the school was reopen after the war in 1946..  Before this during the war and during the British colonisation we would watch the Union Jack every morning and sing God save the King. There was no Malaya then; all the states in the Persekutuan Tanah Tanah Melayu have their own flags and state anthems. In the state of Pahang where I was born and goes to school there was already the Pahang state flag; the Black and White flag. It was only after the war and the Federation of Malaya was formed that we have a flag, the Jalur Gemilang with the eleven pointed star and the eleven white and red strips as seen in the Malaysian flag today where the pointed stars are now  fourteens and the strips are of the same numbers as well.  Anyway up until the declaration of Independence on August 31, 195...

I plan to lepak at KLCC this morning but had to postpone it to tomorrow. Anyway I did went to KLCC this morning but just to get some grocery that my spouse need urgently. After doing the purchases I drive the Honda back into Ahlek to get home the normal way but soon found out that the road back to Ampang is closed and traffics were diverted to the Jalan Sultan Ismail. I follow and turn left into Jalan Ampang. I thoughts it would be just an easy drive back to Ampang but I was  wrong, the road in front of KLCC was closed (I later found out that the KLCC is the starting point of De Tour Langkawi cycle race which start this morning). Traffic were diverted to JalanYap Kwan Seng. I just follow and exit out into Jalan Tun Razak. I missed the exit to reconnect with Ahlek so I then took Jalan Semarak, got into Datuk Keramat and back again into Jalan Ampang.Then drive into a familiar route home. Today I found that I was able to drive into the city without problems, bearing in mind that I ha...

1- I love to move around and visit places just for the hang of it or to do photography but now that I am not able to drive far I had to depend on the public transport and my kids. As we all are aware the kids have their own life to live and it not fair to ask them for help all the times. So using the public transport is my best choice. Over the months I have to reset my mindset to adept to the new culture of moving around beyond my home base. I believe now I am all set to go on an adventure using the public transport like the plane, train. bus, taxi to move from A to B to C and so on. Just like trying to learn to walk again eh! Life in the golden years! 2- You call a friend on their cellphone phone and the respond was Siapa ini or Who is this. That mean that person did not registered your number in their phone. It shows your friendship is not treasured. So I immediately deleted the contact. Habis cerita. Have a nice day

Capitalism and consumerism is destroying our planet because of greed. We cannot saved the whole planet but we can saved our country Malaysia by adapting the culture of Minimalism. Think about it folks. It just takes one person to start a movement to create that cultural change. I am into it now. There are many others out there like me. Be one folks and together we can return our country Malaysia to it pristine condition it was once. I believe minimalism should be the norm now. Have a nice day.

Sixty years ago our country was pristine. We could drink the water in the streams and river. The air was clean and no pollution whatsoever. And we all live a healthy life. We still can do that. We can clean our environment if each of us stop using plastic, straw, throw trash into river and use less air condition. We can if we think we can. I am doing that so can you.  At my home in Ampang I have created a little garden where I planted greens to give me that green environment as well a place for small animals to live and enjoy the little green space. It sort of an eco system where we coexist with the other species. The greens not only provides oxygen for us it also provides a safe space for small animals to come and play. Every morning I would put some cut fruits and bread for the animals come to feed. Have a nice day.

Cloudy and a cool morning. Last evening we went to GE mall to get some items for Boyboi the cats and some grocery. After getting home I realised that I had left my Tongkat  in the cart at the basement carpark. I was too tired to drive back there so I call my son in law for help. He went and could not find it, obviously taken by someone. Well it looks like it no longer mine and I had to get.a replacement. At this age I often forget... that folks is life in the golden years.

1- It not the ceremony that people want to see. The pomp and splendour means nothing to the rakyat. Living in houses within their means as well lowering their cost of living are what they are looking for.  2-It looks likes the PH government forgot the most important aspect of dealing with the rakyat. It seem their PR is totally missing. Folks this is my two cents, jangan marah! 3- Just got these two books, both about our history. The Weight of our Sky is about the 13th May incidents. When it was first released three weeks ago, it was sold out within two days. So I placed an order for two copies. Got only one Paper back, available last week (book ordered and not pick up) No more Paperbacks, only Hard cover available as for now. This morning I pick it up and start reading. The author Hanna Alkaf presented it well from the first page. It looks like it going to be an interesting read.   4-This Tikar is from Sarawak, a work of art by the native. It now graces my Seramb...

1- I got into talking with a youth at the Petrol station this morning Saturday March 2,  2019 . He say Susah lah Pakcik harga Minyak Ron 95 macam ni. Why don't they reduced it further but charge Ron 97 higher since those who use Ron 97 are rich folks and they drive expensive cars, surely they can afford. Well it does make sense kan! 2- It quarter to 6 pm on a hot and humid Saturday afternoon. I have been sitting at the Serambi since after lunch reading and whiling the time away. It a ritual now to sit at the Serambi but then what else to do since I can no longer drives like before. If I could I would drive to Putrajaya and do some photography there. This morning I drove to Ampang Point which is just 2 kilometres away, bought some things at the Giant there then drove another two kilometres to Ampang Grosser t o get drying sheets for the Dryer and detergent for the Dishwasher. This Ma and Pa market got most imported goods that one cannot get at Giant. So from time to time I repl...