Extended family gathering

It was a gathering foe the descendants of Lebai Salleh and Rokiah. The oldest living descendants were their grandchildren, the offsprings of their seven children. That means there are about 400 members and almost three hundred members attended from all over Malaysia. We wore seven different colors according to which one of the seven children of Lebai Salleh and Rokiah we come from. So there were many familiar faces and unfamiliar faces in one compound. The event was held in the compound of two of the grandchildren who are neighbors.

We cooked and had some fun activities together. The most touching part was when my father read out the history of the family. Lebai Salleh and his four siblings migrated for Siam or Thailand now due to the harsh treatment Muslim received from the Siam government. Life was unbearably difficult there. All five of them chose different parts of Kedah to settle down, start planting rice and taught Qur'an to their young neighbors.

It was a time to rekindled with long lost relatives. It was a time to get to know unknown relatives. We even set up a group in FaceBook. The event left a fond memory to me. Plans are made to repeat such gathering once a year. May Allah bless those involved in the planning of the event.

May Allah bless us all.

Congratulations

PMR's result went out last Thursday. As the form teacher of 3KAA, I looked forward to their result. I have put a lot of time and effort to help all of them to achieve their best. So when six of them got 9 straight As, I praise Allah for this blessing. The others were excellent too.

There's quite a lot of surprises too. At the middle of the year they were still quite weak in a lot of subjects. Their trial results were not as good as we wish for. Maybe this was what make them struggle after that. While doing their exercises everyone was so quiet that you can hear the sound of a pencil dropping to the floor. Even Dila was soundless to the surprise of everyone. Usually she always has something to say. And when she doesn't agree with anything she will make sure everyone knows. But after the trial exam she was as quiet as the peaceful lake. This allowed everyone to focus on their work.

Team work was obvious there. I paired the good students with the weaker ones so that they can help each other. The good students will remember better when they teach their friends. The weaker ones can understand reasons from their peers better than the teacher's explanation for they speak the 'same' language.

I was bombarded in the curriculum meeting just after the trial exam because four students from my class failed Maths, my subject. My excuse was quickly brushed aside. But the kids final result in the PMR exam was excellent and exemplary. Only four didn't get A for maths. Two of them got B and another two got C. The rest scored A. Allah has been kind to me. Alhamdulillah, praise be to Allah. I got a lot of thank you from my students. My response is, "This is your success. As your teacher, I'm happy for you".

May Allah bless us all.

Thank you mom and dad

It was the first time my little Aiman ride a train that has bunk beds. He was pretty excited last night waiting for the train. Going back to our home town with his older brother and sister, he had planned a week ahead of what he wanted to do there. Fishing is on top of his list of course. Fishing can be done from the window of my mom's kitchen for there is a stream at the back of the house full of talapia fish. There are so many fish that you can choose to fish just the big size ones. Incredible! And all of the fish are so hungry, catching them will be just a matter of minutes.

I'm happy to send my kids to my parents' place. My parents will be busy filling their time with the laughter of their grandchildren and my kids will be happy being pampered by their granny. It will be memorable time for both party. This is a gift of love for my parents that have raised me up to be the person I am now. Thank you mom and dad for everything. Nothing can repay your hardship raising us up. I truly hope all of you will enjoy yourselves tremendously together there. I will come home soon to pick up the kids.

May Allah bless us all.

How to develop your child's creativity

I think it all started when my six years old son, Aiman, accompanied me to buy some fish. The table that displayed all the fish was in front of a row of houses. Two small kids were attending the stall, a small boy of about Aiman's age and his older brother. They weighted the fish I have chosen and used a calculator to calculate the amount of money that I had to pay. Their father was monitoring them from the yard of their house behind the stall. Aiman asked a lot of questions about the boys. Later on he mentioned about putting up a stall in front of our house to sell the talapia fish that were reared in our two ponds.

When my husband bought a wild chicken with its nine chicks, Aiman asked him what are my husband's plan for it. Fleetingly my husband just mentioned that he is going to sell the chicks when they are big enough because wild chicken are expensive. Aiman asked my husband if he is going to put up a stall in front of the house to do that. My husband explained to him how we can sell using the internet. It was obvious that my little Aiman is interested in business.

My eldest son came home and bought for Aiman an ice cream container that can hold four ice creams. Two days after that we were surprised when a kid rang our bell and told us that she wanted to buy an ice cream. We thought there must be a mistake some where. Then one evening a few kids came to buy ice cream from Aiman. To our surprised Aiman had taken orders from his friends. He served them ice cream that he made himself. He even took orders for the next day. So yesterday I make some Malaysian ice cream to help and support Aiman in his business. We were further surprised when Aiman put up a sticker outside our gate saying 'open'. And when we are going out he will change the sticker to 'close'. Wow! He had put a lot of thinking and effort on how to make his business a success. He even asked me to prepare the type of ice cream that his friends had pre ordered so that he will not lose his customers.

As a family, we always entertain all his questions to our best and little Aiman really have a lot of questions to ask. Sometimes I will answer his questions by asking him back his questions innocently. Then after a short pause he will said, "....oh I know mama, it is like that because......"

Eureka! I have further enhanced his creativity.

If we are impatient to entertain his many questions Aiman wouldn't be a businessman at the age of six. I let him do things that he can handle at his age which are not dangerous. So AIman can prepare ice blended coming back from kindergarden. Of course the kitchen will be messy after that but I have to be patient to develop as many skills as he can gain.

May Allah bless us all.

Life is just a passing by

We heard that he had health problem. But when my son asked his son about it, he said that his father was ok. So it was a shock when we received the news that he died yesterday. A lost to my community since he was an active member. Every year the neighborhood organize Eid or Hari Raya function in front of his house.

The hardest part for me was watching his family members kissing his face to say good bye before his body was taken away to the grave yard last night. And our time will come soon enough.

Are we prepared to 'go' and leave our family behind? In term of amal or deeds, nobody has done enough good deeds to qualify us for heaven or jannah. If we are to enter heaven, it is because of Allah's mercy and love for us.

I have always waited for the time for me to go and see my creator, Allah the almighty, and my prophet, Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). As for my family Allah will take care of them. When I leave, I want everybody to know that I have forgiven everyone and I seek everybody's forgiveness to me. Only those who long to see Allah will understand what's inside my heart. And may Allah accept me as his blessed servant and forgive all my sin. Amin.

May Allah bless us all.

Striking a balance

In this fast pace world some people forget how to relax. They can relax physically but they can't relax mentally. Sitting down watching tv, their minds wander off to their office, project, assignment or whatever they are working on. When their minds are focussed on all these pressing things, every small matter looks ominous. Like a chair that's blocking the way. Small things can cause big fuss.

On the other hand there are some people that tend to relax too much. "There are still time", and they procrastinate. Doing their work last minute and thus, producing shoddy works. When we fail to plan we plan to fail.

It is difficult at time to strike a balance. Sometimes we find solace in other people that are behind schedule like us, produce bad quality works like us, etc. We forget to look at the good workers as a source of inspiration. Take time to ponder upon this matter.

May Allah bless us all.

ominous - giving the impression that something bad or unpleasant is going to happen; threatening; inauspicious : there were ominous dark clouds gathering overhead.

procrastinate - postpone action; put off doing something : it won't be this price forlong, so don't procrastinate.

solace - comfort or consolation in a time of distress or sadness : she sought solace inher religion.

How to relax

I remember a class I took when I was doing my first degree in Western Illinois University in 1985. The class is called relaxation. It was both easy and tough at the same time. We were suppose to lie down, close our eyes and imagine a beautiful scenery of a water fall. The sound of the water fall is so sweet. Birds singing around. Bright colored flowers adorn the scenery.

We were suppose to forget everything else and relaxed. Then unexpectedly the instructor will take our hand up and throw it down. If we put up even a single resistance (the tense of our muscles for example) the he will pronounced us failed. We were supposed to fully relaxed and do not react. It was hard at first for we tend to resist when people took our hands unexpectedly, a natural reaction. But eventually all of us learned to fully relaxed.

Now when I'm a bit apprehensive or depressed I found that the philosophy I learned in that class is really helpful. Keep quiet and focussed our attentions on the positive aspects of live. There are things that we can't changed so save our energy and effort for the things that we can do something about it. At the very least be positive and be grateful to Allah for every little thing that we have.

Thank you Allah for all the guidance you so lovingly bestow upon me.

May Allah bless us all.

adorn - make more beautiful or attractive : pictures and prints adorned his walls.

apprehensive - anxious or fearful that something bad or unpleasant will happen : he felt apprehensive about going home | [with clause ] they were apprehensive thatsomething might go wrong.

bestow - present (an honor, right, or gift) : the office was bestowed on him by the chief of state | thank you for this honor that you have bestowed upon me