Presenting Zara!!!

Somehow, for some reasons, I have yet to post her picture here. Our third "cucu", Zara Yasmin, is now more than 5 months.And what a beautiful angel she is. Kind of reminded me of our three girls when they were small, hehehe. We dropped in to see her yesterday and came away with this pix. Presenting Zara....

Zara Yasmin Azham

Zara with her Wan Yan and Tok Uncle

And this is definitely my favourite pix of Zara. Isnt' she simply delightful?

Zara and her mama Faizah

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meanwhile, the other two cucus have also grown up... here's

Aidil .... who is turning into a handsome young man... and
Dania yang masih , erm, dot dot dot

Tag No 6.

I've been tagged. This time by a very dramatic mom up north. I think this is a bit tedious lah, Yah. But a promise is a promise... so here goes:

GO to your photos folder in your computer
-GO to the 6th Folder of your photos
-GO to the 6th photos in that folder
-Put the picture on your blog & description of it.
-Invite 6 friends to join the challenge
-Link them in your blog & let them know they have been challenged.


And the lucky photo is this.... hahaha:

This photo is found under folder named "Gathering". This is Ishak Hasan and me. Ishak is one of my best buddies from UM days. He can be sentimentally dramatic. But that's just Ishak being Ishak. This photo was taken in August last year. Location: HUKM, Cheras (he was there with family as his eldest son - with kidney complications - had to undergo some routine check-up). We have not met for almost 20 years. The last time we saw each other was when he came to my house in Puchong in 1990, I think. He was on his way to Kuching for his akad nikah then. The next morning I drove him to Subang Airport where he boarded the first flight out to Kuching. We called each other a few times after that but that was it. He moved to Kuching to be with his new bride. And during those pre-cellphone, pre-Internet and pre-Air Asia days, Kuching was quite a faraway destination. We lost contact until apparently he googled my name early last year and stumbled upon this blog.

Today, he has moved back to Perlis, his hometown while his wife Dr Rabiah Abdul Ghani (tengok Ak, aku ingat lagi nama bini hang in full) is at UUM. With four beautiful kids, he is still teaching but finds life back in kampung very blissful. Good for you, my friend! And I'm mighty glad that we are able to meet again.

Okay now, I'm supposed to tag 6 other people. I think, I'll just tag all my nephews and nieces yang ada blog. And yes, my three daughters too.

A tree knelt in praise

A tree knelt in praise

I know that I shall never see
A poem that bows quite like our tree
A tree who like us loved to pray
In adoration every day

A tree who humbly knelt in praise
To God and never chose to raise
Itself above the other trees
Instead remained as if on knees

A tree whose worth cannot be told
Or ever lent or bought with gold
A tree who showed us all its height
With God by bowing with delight

It taught us all to clearly see
A Garden lies beneath a tree
And then it showed us with a sigh
That trees, like us, must also die

In an age of folly, play and mirth
A tree has died with brow on earth

- Hamza Yusuf / March 2005

The thing about gatherings....

TTOT Family 2009

Today, the wife and I attended a Ikatan Anak Rantau Perak gathering in Shah Alam. Well, apart from listening to the latest development that're taking place in our kampung halaman, we were there to meet my wife's cousin and show our support during this trying times. We have not met him as yet. Unfortunately, he could not make it as his MIL passed away the evening before. Takziah and Al-Fatihah.

Anyway, the gathering went well, I think. A few VVIPS were in attendance to update us on the latest development back home. And it's good to see so many anak-anak Perak coming together like that. Unfortunately, we did not take any photo at the event.

Speaking of gathering, here are some of the pictures taken during the TTOT family gathering that we attended a week ago.

The grand backdrop.. didn't realise that they are going to do it this huge

View of the dewan from the top

Ayah Lah, being the eldest member of the family that day, was given the honour to officiate the ceremony. Looking on are Ayah Midi, and the co-chairman of the gathering Mak Nah and Ayah Chu

Mak meeting her cousins (from left Wan Kiah, Mak Tam, Mak and Mak Nah) in the VVIP waiting room.

At the green registration desk... Arissa and Asma helping out Yan and Melah ....

... While Safia helps me out at the media desk (which we share with the Yellow registration desk -- see Kak Chor and Abang Hisham checking their team in)

One of the highlights of the day...the slide presentation on Tok Talib and Opah Tekah family history.. presented by my brother Chor and assisted by Safia.

And of course, the two of us Chor's family (minus Adam yang pergi mana tah dgn Azam) and my family (minus me yang amik this pix)

The event's committe members

Good company and of course good food ... that day. Memang sedap the food and then there's three huge trays of nasi kambing mendi yang amat amat delicious.

Sisters Asma and AliaBefore the event, we had tahlil prayers, led by these three fine gentlemen. They look mighty familiar to me. Laaa, mat In Team rupanya.

Tok Talib and Opah Tekah had 5 kids. In order to differentiate the many family members that day, all were required to wear specific colours representing their family (except of course me and my family... as I wasn't paying attention as usual and thus we were among the few who came devoid of the right colour - much to the chagrin of my family hehehe)

Red - Anak- cucu Opah Ami (Daughter number 3) and Tok Jabbar

Yellow - Anak-cucu Opah Chu Tun (youngest daughter) and Tok Tasi

Purple - anak-cucu Tok Hashim (second son) and Opah Meriam
Blue - Anak cucu Tok Man (son no 4) and Opah Nik

Green - anak cucu Opah Sapiah (yang sulong) and Tok Yusof. And we belong here.

Pictures are basically mine and except a few which are stolen from Nadia Che Safri, Normi Suffian and Nazlinda Abdullah's Facebook.

Introducing Opah Tekah!

When I was small, we used to visit my paternal grandparents in Lahat near Ipoh (which was about 45 minutes away from home in Temoh) almost every week. And more often than not, my almarhum bapak would dropped in on my great grandmother (my Moyang)'s place in Kota Baru (near Gopeng, Perak) which was along the way to Lahat anyway.

I don't have that much of a memory of Opah Moyang (or affectionately known as Opah Tekah among her grandchildren including my Mak) except that she had the whitest hair ever. But one thing I remember though was that she's a gentle lady (which I'm sure those who have had the previlege of knowing her up close and personal would agree in a heartbeat).

Opah Tekah had a long life. She passed on in 1971 (when I was 7 years old) at the age of 102. She (real name Halijah Panglima Perang Uda Lahid) was married to her second cousin Talib Sulaiman and together they have six children. The oldest was Sapiah, my Opah Temoh. Other children were Hashim (Tok Ngah), Ni Khadijah (Opah Ami), Tan Sri Osman (Tok Man) and Halimaton (Opah Chu).

Interestingly both Tok Talib and Opah Tekah were direct descendants of Saiyid Hussain Al Faradz, said to be the official religious teacher to the first Sultan of Perak. Saiyid Husain Al Faradz, in turn, is said to be the 37th generation of Saidina Hussain r.a, beloved grandson of Prophet Muhammad SAW. Alhamdulillah!

And last Sunday, a family gathering of “Keluarga Tok Talib dan Opah Tekah” was held for the first time in Bukit Damansara. The gathering, the brainchild of one of the grandsons Datuk Seri Yunus Mohd Tasi (Ayah Chu) was organized to bring together the surviving members of “Keluarga Tok Talib dan Opah Tekah” to get to know each other and to reinforce their family ties. About 500 members of the family attended the event.

It was humbling to see so many relatives, many of whom I met for the first time and many I have not met in a longest time. A pictorial entry on the Perjumpaan Keluarga will follow suit... soon.