Eidun Sa'eedun

Eid-Un Sa'eed-Un lyrics by Zain Bhikha
Ramadan has come and gone
Eid has dawned upon us
Thank You Allah for this blessed day
It's a time of happiness, a time of joy
Thank You Allah for this blessed day
Eid-un Sa'eed-un
Yawm-un farhaan-un
Yawm-un jameel-un
Eid-un Sa'eed
Eid-un Sa'eed-un
Yawm-un jameel-un
Yawm-un farhaan-un
Eid-un Sa'eed
All over the world
Under the big-blue sky
Muslims unite to worship Allah
It's a time of brotherhood, a time of peace
Muslims are singing praises to Allah
Allahu Akbar
Allahu Akbar
La Ilaaha Illa-Allahu
Allahu Akbar
Allahu Akbar
Allahu Akbar wa Lillahil Hamd
Families are gathering
Remembering Allah
And that His Love is the Greatest by far
All Praise for You Allah
All Thanks to You
The joy of Eid comes only from You
Eid-un Sa'eed-un
Yawm-un farhaan-un
Yawm-un jameel-un
Eid-un Sa'eed
Eid-un Sa'eed-un
Yawm-un jameel-un
Yawm-un farhaan-un
Eid-un Sa'eed
This day of rejoicing
This day of peace
Did only You Make for those who believe
Allahu Akbar
Allahu Akbar
La Ilaaha Illa-Allahu
Allahu Akbar
Allahu Akbar
Allahu Akbar wa Lillahil Hamd
Eid-un Sa'eed-un
Yawm-un farhaan-un
Yawm-un jameel-un
Eid-un Sa'eed
Eid-un Sa'eed-un
Yawm-un jameel-un
Yawm-un farhaan-un
Eid-un Sa'eed
Ramadan has come and gone
Eid has dawned upon us
Thank You Allah for this blessed day
Eid-un Sa'eed-un
Yawm-un farhaan-un
Yawm-un jameel-un
Eid-un Sa'eed
Eid-un Sa'eed-un
Yawm-un jameel-un
Yawm-un farhaan-un
Eid-un Sa'eed
Eid-un Sa'eed
Eid-un Sa'eed
Eid-un Sa'eed
Eid-un Sa'eed
Eid-un Sa'eed
Eid-un Sa'eed

Katsuboushi vs Ikan Pekasam

3 minggu lepas saya telah tamat menonton drama Jepun berjudul Osen di MySoju.com. Kegilaan Minat saya terhadap drama dan filem Jepun ini telah saya ceritakan di entri ini. Osen sangat berjaya menambat hati saya kerana tema utama drama ini ialah makanan! Tambahan pula ia tentang makanan tradisi Jepun. Melalui drama Osen, saya akhirnya tahu selama ini saya salah tanggapan terhadap serbuk kayu yang menjadi juadah masyarakat Jepun. Sebenarnya ia bukan lah serbuk kayu daripada pokok. Nama makanan tersebut ialah katsuboushi . Katsuboushi merupakan ikan daripada keluarga tuna ataupun bonito yang telah melalui pelbagai proses (pengeringan, penapaian dan sebagainya) sehingga rupanya menjadi seperti sepotong papan kecil (sila rujuk gambar di bawah). Terdapat mesin pemarut khas yang digunakan untuk menjadikan katsuboushi kepada kepingan-kepingan kecil dan halus umpama serbuk kayu. Ia selalunya dijadikan bahan tambahan untuk dimakan bersama sup dan sos.

Usai menonton Osen, saya berangan-angan untuk menonton drama atau filem Melayu tentang makanan tradisi Melayu pula. Sepanjang umur saya, rasanya saya belum pernah menonton drama sedemikian. Pada hemat saya, tidak salah untuk kita meniru idea sebegini untuk diadaptasi kepada karya tempatan. Jikalau kisah-kisah kongsi gelap dan anak muda rosak akhlak kita boleh tiru dengan justifikasi untuk menyedarkan masyarakat (which I doubt so much), lebih baik kita mengambil contoh yang baik. Kalau tidak salah, filem Cina dan Korea pun ada memaparkan tentang makanan-makanan tradisi mereka. Mari lah kita belajar-belajar mengambil yang baik-baik. Usah lah difikirkan hendak glamour sahaja, dan usah lah merendah-rendahkan kemampuan khalayak. Belum cuba belum tahu.

Sebagai cadangan, saya senaraikan isu-isu yang boleh diterokai dalam pembikinan karya berasaskan makanan Melayu:
- Kenapa bahan yang ditumbuk menggunakan lesung atau digiling lebih memberi rasa kepada masakan (boleh kaji asal-usul batu giling atau lesung batu)
- Asal-usul nasi lemak, nasi kerabu dan nasi dagang
- Kenapa kuih-muih Melayu banyak berasaskan kelapa
- Kenapa kalau memasak masak lemak cili api, kuahnya perlu ditimbuk (ini bahasa saya, saya tak tahu orang lain panggil apa) sepanjang masa
- Pantang larang membuat tapai
Cukup lah senarai ini, kalau para pembaca hendak tambah, dipersilakan. Kesimpulannya, orang Melayu juga kaya dengan rahsia dan petua masakannya. Kalau malas hendak kaji, boleh rujuk sahaja buku Ketupat Cinta oleh Faisal Tehrani (terpaksa mengaku, belum pernah baca lagi). Pendek kata, kalau Jepun ada Onigiri, kita pun ada Pulut Panggang. Kalau mereka ada Katsuboushi, kita pula ada ikan pekasam.

Ustaz A: A Tribute

It was almost 13 years ago and I was in Form 4, sweet seventeen. (sigh, those were the days). It is a universal knowledge in Malaysia that Form 4 is the so-called honeymoon year, but it is definitely not in my beloved good old S.M.A.I. as well as other state government-funded religious high schools (orang Pahang panggil sekolah Arab). As far as I could remember, since Form 2, I had not been experiencing any honeymoon year: Form 2 (Sijil Rendah Agama S.R.A ), Form 3 (PMR), and then in Form 4, we need to take S.M.A. @ Sijil Menengah Agama.

I was among the first batch who took Science Stream in sekolah Arab Pahang. There were 21 of us. Honestly, being the pioneers, we were struggling with the lack of facilities, lack of teachers, yet we were never out of spirit. But still, we were not so much into sitting for S.M.A. hehe. And here Ustaz A, came into light. He was responsible for teaching us Insha’ (Arabic Essay) and Fiqh.

Ustaz A was famously known for his funny and cynical remarks. He would mutter his punch lines unexpectedly, yet his face was expressionless, classic! He also had many fascinating and weird ideas. The most memorable one is his suggestion for us to get married while still in high school.

One day, he told us, “kalo kawein mase sekoloh kan senang, boleh belajo same-same.” The whole class laughed in shock.

The boys loved to provoke Ustaz A, “susah lah ustaz”. He replied casually in his Pahang accent, “awok kalo nampok tudung perempuan balik pintu pun mesti doh rase ape-ape dok. Sebab tu saya suruh kawin je. Senang.”

The boys tried to rebut, playfully, “mana ada ustaz, tak rasa apa-apa pun.”

He answered with his ever famous expressionless face,”awok tak usoh nok pedo’oh (pedo’oh: cheating in Pahang accent). And the whole class shook with laughter J.

He also liked to tease us at the back. Since we were religious school students, the boys were seated at the front rows and the girls were seated at the back. He used to tell us at the back to keep quiet when we giggled. (I wonder why girls love to giggle). His usual remark was, “haa.. kat belakang tu, suke je kejenya.” But we never got offended or hurt, we always giggled back.

For Insha’, I always got high marks since I really love creative writing be it in English, Malay or Arabic. I remember there was one time I got 97 or 98 out of 100. Of course, you could not expect any praise from Ustaz A. When he handed me my paper, he said, “sebenonye tadek le bagus sangat lagi ni, tapi boleh lah.” Surprisingly I did not feel insulted at all; somehow I just knew that he was impressed with my work. (hehe so perasan)

Come to think of it, I had drawn a conclusion the reason why we did not get offended or hurt with his cynical remarks is because he was fair in his treatment to all of us. Even if he had any favourite student, he never showed it. Despite his cynical tone and remarks, I could sense his honesty.

Being a teacher myself now, I hope I could be as memorable as Ustaz A has become. Ustaz A passed away on 22^nd May, Friday afternoon due to his leukemia disease. He was buried the very same day after Isha’ prayer and Alhamdulillah I managed to pay his family a visit. My father was among the congregation member for Ustaz A’s jenazah prayer. He told me the crowd was so huge that people commented it was like Friday prayer. Al-Fatihah to Ustaz A. May Allah reward his good deeds and forgive all his sins.

Cumbu Chemerong

Bilah-bilah air bagai bertasbih

Deras mengalir tanpa lesu

Seolah bertegas

Lihatlah kami

Mara ke hadapan

Tiada toleh lagi, tiada ragu lagi

Kerana kami yakin

Allah punya rencana

Tidak pernah menganiaya

Tidak pernah mendusta

Cumbu Chemerong

Membawa rasa takjub

Menerobos sukma

Tadabbur ciptaanNya

Ida_zy

Lata Chemerong, Dungun

Mei 2009

KL Book Fair 2009

Last year I did not attend the much-anticipated book fair as I was in the midst of semester classes. This year, as the dates coincided with study-week and I got to conduct the clearance process at my beloved Taman Ilmu dan Budi, I applied for one-day leave specifically for attending this event.

Actually, I did not even visit all the booths due to unstoppable continuous cash flow. Bak orang mengantuk disorongkan bantal. That’s how I felt that day. My hunger for books led to the following shopping lists:

1. Milennia subscription for one year

2. Three recipe books (RM 5 each)

3. Travelog Iran: Menyingkap Misteri Bumi Ahmadinejad by Dina Sulaiman

4. Manikam Kalbu by Faisal Tehrani

5. Bedar Sukma Bisu by Faisal Tehrani

6. Ruang Perjalanan by S. Othman Kelantan

7. Ensiklopedia Safir (7 volumes)

8. Lembaga Budi by Hamka

9. Persoalan dan Kemusykilan Agama by Hamka (ordered by my father)

10. Solusi subscription for one year

I was looking for Virus L by fellow blogger Suri Kaidar but I could not find it. Furthermore I forgot to buy Ketupat Cinta by Faisal Tehrani. Really can’t wait for the next year’s Book Fair and I need to plan accordingly next time! Thanks a lot Shada for accompanying me:)

p/s: Apart from the above shopping lists, there are about 5-6 unread books that I have bought since last year. I wonder when I will be able to read them all hehe