Pak Idrus's Blog

Before I go on narrating about the Hari Raya let me regress a bit and talk about fasting during Ramadan. Fasting during the month of Ramadan is one of the Five Pillars of Islam. The other four are Shahadah, Zakat, Solat and the Haj. Except for doing the Haj [Do the Haj when one could afford it] these other pillars of Islam are mandatory. According to Islam we are all born as a Muslim, its our parents that change it after birth. So that is why we say when a non Muslim want to become a Muslim we say one revert to  Islam. To begin with, to be a Muslim one had only to say the Shahada, accept the Five Pillars of Islam and then conform with the norm and values of Islam. Remember we human is a Spiritual being so believing in a religion is to complete the whole. Without religion I do not believe one would be able to enjoy life to the fullest. After completing the fasting during the whole month of Ramadan it time to celebrate the victory of going through the ritual of fasting, not eating...

Alhamdulliah Ramadan or the Fasting month for Muslim this year start from April 24, 2020. Since the Muslim calendar starts after the Magrib prayer the first day of Ramadan just started after the Magrib prayer just now. As usual during Ramadan folks would do the Tarawih prayer after the Isya prayer at the mosque. This year because of the Covid 19 lock-down the Tarawih prayer is done at home. So with that the fasting month in Malaysia is now on. Folks do enjoy the one month of the spiritual journey during the month of Ramadan. May we all be blessed during the spiritual journey of Ramadan. . Have a nice day.

1.  In the seventies I was told to take along a youth leader to attend a Commonwealth conference on Youth in Accra, Ghana. This youth leader had never travel overseas. I help to get his passport and teach him all the ropes about going overseas. Years passed and he became someone important in the government and later became a Dato. A few years ago I was invited to attend a function and I saw him there. He just look away when I notice him. I thought he did not recognised me so I went to him but he refused to engaged in a conversation with me. So I moved away. Later on I found his datoship had been withdrawn by the state that conferred him the title. ... Well life is like that! 2.  This is a story Asmah told me the other day. She had gone to KLCC with the grandkids and I stayed at home. She always use a walking stick. On that day she was trying to get into the Lift to get to the parking lot. Pressed the button and the lift's door open. There is a couple with a kid in the lif...

This is a campaign to get the Muslim majority in this country to buy goods and services made or provides by the Muslim. It is not an official project but rather a people's project; the Malay Muslim of the country. There are some 22 millions Muslim in Malaysia thus their purchasing power is very strong indeed. It not a boycott of others business but is purely a way to help the Bumiputra who are mostly Muslim to benefit from the expanding of the economic cake of the country. After 62 years of independence it time the Malay and other Bumiputra take care of themselves especially in Business.  Have a nice day.

Today is the 13th day of Syawal and I believe most of us have got over the Rendang and Ketupat overdosed and now back to square one of enjoying our regular meals before the ritual of the Hari Raya Open House starts this weekend. Yesterday being a Sunday we went out and had lunch at Madam Kwan in KLCC. It was indeed one sumptuous meal we have had since after Ramadan. With the Hari Raya Open House everywhere the roads would be jammed with cars of all made, parked in the neighbourhood like an outlets of secondhand car dealers. Then everyone would be overdosed again before the country is back to normal come July!  That folks is the lifestyle of Malaysian; Makan, Makan and Makan! Beautiful indeed!  Have a nice day.

It a cloudy morning on June 2, 2019.  I am taking the day easy. Tidy up the Serambi and the Little Garden awaiting Hari Raya. Two days more to go before the end of Ramadan and the arrival of Syawal and Hari Raya Aidilfitri on June 5, 2019. So far it has been a blessed Ramadan, Alhamdulillah.. After I had tidy the Serambi Kenet the cat decides to take a nap on the tikar, how nice.  With that I wish everyone;  Selamat Hari Raya. Have a nice day.

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...

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

Have a nice day folks..

It past 6 pm. It is getting dark and the sky cloudy. It has been raining lightly since afternoon. I like this kind of weather. It kept the atmosphere cool. I am enjoying the day passes by at the Serambi reading and surfing the net accompany by the two cats Tam and Kenet. Well folks that is an episode of life in the golden years.  One a second thought; it would be just nice to have a hot steamy glass of Teh Tarik.  Teh Tarik is a special tea concoction that is Malaysian. It is a mix of condense milk and hot tea. The image on the left shows the Teh Tarik at the Mamak restaurant nearby. This is the real Teh Tarik. It is served in the proper glass and taste like a Teh Tarik should be. Not like the one a friend and I had at the restaurant in the Village 2 at Bangsar the other day. It was served in a sort of a wine glass and did not taste like Teh Tarik should be. I know because at the restaurant of my late dad I used to make many cups of Tea and Condense me. It those ...

The Kenanga flowers in front of my house. The tree is more than 45 years old. I got the young plant from a friend in Terengganu and planted it outside my fence. It grew tall but I kept trimmings it so that it did not grow too tall, as well let it kept blooming throughout the years. The flowers give a fresh soothing fragrance that reaches my Serambi. Friends and strangers often ask for the flowers and I always obliges. In fact I have wakaf the flowers so that folks are free to take it wherever they need it especially for medicinal purposes. Many ask for seedling but this is one plant that is not easily to propagate. It got no seed thus the only way is to bud grafted it and even that it not easy. I have successfully done it and given the young plants to relatives and friends. Well folks I love this plant and it does served us well.. The Kenanga!  Have a nice day.

Yes, I am talking about rice, our staple food. That we cannot do without. It is our basic that we take daily. From breakfast to dinner and at time during teatimes where we had traditional cakes made of rice. Goreng Pisang [fried banana] cannot be Goreng Pisang without been coated with the rice flour. It would not taste as good with other flour. At time we just took this commodity for granted, as though that it is always there when we need it. That is why in the Malay culture it is a sin to throw even a single grain of this wonder grain call Rice. It must be given due respect for it has been the staple food of Asian for centuries. In fact, that's what made the Asian race resilience all the centuries. Another aspect that should be known about rice is that it does not take much doing to get it cooked and ready to eat. Whereas for wheat, it takes many processes before it could be eaten. In rice what one got to do is to wash it and steam cooks it. And Voila! In mere fifteen ...

The Federation constitution; Article 1-1 (1) The Federation shall be known, in Malay and English by the name of Malaysia. So we all are Malaysian. So folks let change and start building a nation based on the constitution; We are one people MALAYSIAN. 

March 7, 2018 is the 78th birthday of my wife. The kids and grandkids decided to celebrate her birthday. It was done at our eldest daughter Ojie's house nearby. Here are some images of the special family occasion the evening of that special day. It does tell a story of love. Have a nice day.

The above image shows two dancers of the KBN [Kompleks Budaya Negara] from the then Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports, Malaysia performing a traditional dance after the completion of a training session of new dancers. They were the instructors at the one-week course on Traditional Dance. It was held in the early eighties at the Youth Complex in Kuala Lumpur. I was then the Director of Development and Promotion of Culture at the Ministry and this is one of the extension project that was carried out to develop new talents in traditional dances. These two dancers and instructors are talented and could perform many traditional dances, some of which they  choreograph themselves. Both the dancers in this images at that time; Sally Yap and Sonny was in their early twenties. They with the others in the group of KBN dancers have performance at many special functions both in the country and overseas. I know both very well. I believe both of them are now in their late fifties o...

During my childhood in the forties a Chinese boy with Pigtail hairdo live in our kampong in Kuantan. To keep it neat he often made it into a Bun. He sells vegetables and fish to the kampong folks. Kampong folks call him Ciput as in Siput the Malay for such hairdo. In those days only woman folks had this kind of hairdo. His face is full of pimples or scars left perhaps by Chicken pox. He looks weird and we kids are frightened of his look. Sangat takut. Mother would say if we are naughty we would be given to Ciput. It does frighten us. As we grow older we began to like him, and he became a part of our growing up life. My brother allows him to live at the shack behind his house until he died of old age. He left whatever money he had to his Clan association. Other than that, he did not leave anything except small items that he use in the house and his working tool the Dacing.  An item of some value that he left is the Dacing, a traditional Chinese Scale for measuring the weight...

In the Malay culture food and its preparation is an art by itself. Simple stuff may in an instance turns into a snack for tea or dessert for after lunch or dinner. Some of the basic are the Banana, Tapioca, boiled or fried with a few ingredients added became a specialty of the day. T he other day while in Kuantan my brother had offer us some Ubi Kayu [Tapioca] that he had grown beside his house. My nephew who live there went to get it for us and we brought it to KL. Not knowing what to do with it as yet.  On our return to KL with my nephew driving we decided to take it easy and arrange to have lunch with a relative at Temerloh. I decided to call the relative just after we left Kuantan and suggested that he and his spouse meet us for lunch at Temerloh; Ikan Patin the river fish, a specialty in that part of the country was in my mind. He says on Sunday the restaurant that I referred to is closed and suggested that we go to another restaurant and give us the direction ...

While stopping for lunch at Temerloh on the way back to Kuala Lumpur we got a few bunch of fresh Maman, a local fresh vegetable that could be pickle or stir-fry as a vegetable dish. By this morning my spouse had it pickled as Jeruk Maman. Above are the Maman that had been pickled.  It not that difficult to pickle the Maman. Traditionally in the Malay culture, after cutting and cleaning the Maman is put in glass container and then fresh water is added. Then add a little Nasi [cooked rice] and a little salt; if one like just add a few fresh chilli. Leaves it for a few days to ferments.  After that it could be used in the cooking of Masak Lemak with fish or just consumed as an appetizer with Sambal Belacan. Nowadays it rather difficult to get the fresh Maman in the town market; so, it is now sort of a luxury for townsfolk and I loved it.  Have a nice day.

Some years back I bought a few crafted fruits made of copper; a well handicraft products from India. It has been on display in the house all the while giving a glow of an artistic works of great craftsman whose creative works add value to our quality of life. Last week my spouse and daughter Lin went on a short holiday to Chiang Mai, Thailand and brought back a handcrafted wooden fruit bowl made from the trunk of the Mango tree. It a gift to me which I instantly loved it for its uniqueness and it the first bowl that I had seen made from wood of the Mango tree. I then decided to put the Copper fruits crafted in India into the new wooden bowl from Thailand and found that it harmonized well; sort of a fusion of two crafts from a different culture, the Thai and India. Above is that fusion. Enjoy it folks.  Have a nice day.

A few years ago, I went for a visit to Pekan, the royal town of Pahang. While there I saw the oldest mosque there, the Sultan Abdullah Mosque was left in ruin. It was a beautiful mosque built by the British colonial authority in 1929. It was the first and the oldest constructed in the Moorish architecture as most great mosque were built during that era. I was sad seeing that beautiful mosque left to rot. I then wrote to the Pahang state authority to do whatever necessary to preserve that historic mosque; a piece of history of the state of Pahang. I soon forgot about it and on my recent visit I saw that they have renovated the old mosque and turn it into a museum and at the same time retained the name of the mosque. It is now call the Museum Masjid Sultan Abdullah. A month earlier on a visit to Pekan I saw the mosque had been renovated but did not have the time to visit it; I was concentrating on another museum the Museum Sultan Abu Bakar nearby. Last July 20, 2017 I decided to mak...