My Ventures

My older posts bespoke of this change in my life, from a complacent educator to a mind-spinning businesslady, and here is the establishment which is my pride and joy, which goes under the unassuming name of `Pusat e-Tuisyen & Siber Johor'. It's creation is totally my own - the concept, the designs and the operation. Of course, the factor that had moved me out of my cosy couch is a story of its own and requires another chapter in this drama of life, but the fact remains and the proof is standing here at Jalan Kebun Teh, Johor Bahru. PeTSJ will soon celebrate its 1st birthday...a year of much learning for me.

Prior to its inception, I registered a company - `MyMotherboard Sdn. Bhd' -the name itself is a story! Anyway, in the first picture you will see that the whole place is glass-walled so that there is nothing that can be hidden from public view. Very transparent. PeTSJ is family-oriented, and it's so cool to see parents coming in with their children as young as a few months old -no kidding!
So with a babe in their arms, mothers would surf the net, fathers would check their e-mails or stock markets, older children their facebooks or youtubes. Businessmen have their own corner I labelled `BizHub', a more comfortable nook with ample space for quiet discussions with a partner. There are 44 PCs running there, and wifi facilities. 2 Streamyx lines so its really fast. The 2nd picture is the front of the shop - lovely parking area right in front so all my bikers just vroom and park.

And a surprise...the first floor of PeTSJ is also mine! It's a small budget studio called `Regal Studio' with facilities for seminars, workshops and even computer courses, will comfortably seat 100 participants. Direct-selling companies have used it for their monthly previews and it's really convenient because after their talks, they will take their refreshments in the cafe (Picture 3), which is in PeTSJ.The world map you see on the wall is a conversation piece...Raoul is an Indian who worked for a telecommunication company and he travels a lot, and would show me places in South America that he had been to. I like to see older men look at the map and tell of their experiences in various parts of the world.The cafe serves very light menu - toasts are all-time favourites and cup noodles are my bestsellers. I sell cold drinks at only RM1 because schoolchildren would come in, count the coins in their hands and ask `What can I buy with a ringgit?' There are tidbits to munch while at the PC.

I will give a sneak into my latest venture: something I will talk about in the next post. An extraordinary concept that is so exciting and challenging that it got me very nervous, actually..Picture 4 looks like a kitchen does it not...but it is not. It is `Regal Tea Room Boutique', and God Willing, will begin its operation after the Eid.

So.

It is for all these that Sleeping Beauty had awakened.

The Lonely Red Lorry

This little red lorry, left alone
on the cold wet floor,
sad and forlorn
watching the door.

This sad red lorry
longs for the merry
bath-time again,
with the winsome twain.
For the frolicking twins
Are now in school
learning to follow the rules
of life and how to begin.
Dear lonely red lorry
Do stop feeling sorry -
Here Nenek is sad, too
Missing the squeals and laughter of the two
of the wet splashy bath-time hullabaloo
when ImanImran would soap you!
Ahh...they are already aged two, you know,
So to school they must go;
Learning to share
with new friends over there.

Masihkah Kau Ingat

Does anyone remember this old song by Kopratasa? I was out shopping when I saw a remastered CD by the trio and decided to hear their songs again. What memories this particular track brought back! It's not merely a love song because I read it as a message of grit and determination, of seeking a dream and how we have to suffer hardship together before it is realised. A renowned (local) State leader had used this song to express his vision statement and at the late Dato's retirement, this song was played instead of the usual `My Way'. Read the words and see what the song is about; look for the substance in its poetry (ImanImran will help out with the ..er..melody) (PS: they were about 16 months old then so please pardon their mispronunciation!):

Masihkah kau ingat
Pada waktu itu
Sekuntum bunga mekar
Ku selit dirambut mu
Masihkah kau ingat
Ia menjadi mimpi
Dan menjadi rindu
Masihkah kau ingat...
Masihkah kau ingat kita berlari-lari
Di kaki langit
mencari pelangi
Lalu hujan turun kita basah bersama
Masihkah kau ingat
Masihkah kau ingat...
Masihkah kau ingat, sekuntum bunga itu
Ditapak tangan ini
Ia menjadi layu
Lalu ku genggam
Ia menjadi debu
masihkah kau ingat..

Talcum Sea

Haha Tok Mat! Look who's handsome now! We poured talcum powder under Nenek's table and SWAM in it..whoosh! And swiped the chairs with it and our faces and our bodies and we had such great fun! Did Nenek scold us? Naah..she took our picture instead because she said Widia (that's her Indonesian maid) can mop the floor and we can bathe and the chair can be wiped clean but we cannot have the same fun again when we are bigger so she said go ahead, boys, rule the world!! Wooo...

ChokiChoki

IMRAN & IMAN

Read in the papers today,

about the falling stock market

and the soaring price of gold;

I read about `The Pregnant School'

and kids allowed to be wedded;

the weather in the four corners of the world going haywire,

about a Malay Muslim shooting himself in the head.

A Grandfather raping his 8-year-old grand-daughter,

or the 100-year-old Grandmother with a 38-year-old spouse;

Babies are dumped,

Dogs become heirs to billionaires.

And I wonder what is going on

Adults are so very complicated.

Perhaps -

If I read the newspaper

Upside down,

Then the world will be alright again.

Or give me a stick of choki-choki

and I'm as happy as can be!

The Smart School - Version `Vision 2010'

Pak Man: We come to pick the flower in your garden.
Mak Minah: But she is so young, she cannot cook rice yet.
Pak Man: Don't worry, Che Minah, you know lah now got rice cooker all, no need to learn.
Mak Minah: But for which bee you want my flower?
Pak Man: You know the son of Haji Noh.
Mak Minah: Oooh..that one with rock pimples on the face. I know, I know.Wait-ah, I ask Lili.
Lili! Lili! Got people want to pick you already. You want or not?
Lili (from inside): Mak Ngah...wait one minute, I finish my Sejarah homework.
Mak Minah: Alaa...put aside first your homework. Tomorrow-tomorrow can do. You know the son of Hj Noh?
Lili (bashfully): I know. He's in Form 5. Next class only. Everyday I see him stand on the chair, Sir punish him..hehe..
Mak Minah: (whisper) His name Etok. He want to marry you.
Lili: Hehe...can also...but he stay with us la, or I stay in his house after that? I want to stay with him, his father can send us together to school, he got orange colour Kenari.
Mak Minah: Eee this girl, so money-eyes. Eh, you are right also. His mother can wash your school uniform then I don't have to do it. If you get baby, how?
Lili: Alaa Mak Ngah..if we married now, we don't have to throw the baby away in the dustbin..or toilet...
Mak Minah: Ok lah in that case, ah, I tell Pak Man lah. Your school how? You in Form 3 only.
Lili: Mak Ngah, school ok what now. Nani and Tipah married last week, then my friend Anna Katrina also want to married next month before deepavali.
Mak Minah: Hmm...
Lili: Eee, so excited! Wait I take the form in school, no need to apply anything, just fill in form only. Some more, Mak Ngah, the form we take in the canteen, not office. Easy, Mak Ngah.
Mak Minah: So itchy, this girl.
Lili: Mak Ngah, you know my friend in 3 Clever (3C), she pregnant so big, doctor said she got three babies in her stomach. She go to school like buffalo, cannot sit at her desk you know, cannot fit. Then teacher said no need to go to school.
Mak Ngah: Her husband, how?
Lili: Her husband also in her class, both classmates, Mak Ngah. But you know one secret, Mak Ngah..don't tell people ok..now the husband don't like her already. Now always chat with Mary Sia Ling Ling in facebook.. He said his wife so big, so ugly. He so jijik. Mary small and cute, she in Form 3 Intelligent (3I).
Mak Ngah: Eh this girl, so many stories. Pak Man waiting outside.
Lili: Mak Ngah, my hantaran how much?
Mak Ngah: Hantaran? Take you freelah also never mind. Where got money to return the hantaran? Buy Hai magazine also cannot. So long already I never read about artistes. Don't know what colour already Rosnah Aris hair. So miss. No sugar never mind, Hai magazine must read.
Lili: Mak Ngah...quickly go and tell Pak Man lah. (To herself) Puan Etok..eee...best nyer. Sure jealous ler my friends...ada mat rempit nak amik aku jadi bini..so lucky stay in Melaka.

(End another Drama of Life)

Pelangi Ibu

Seorang Pelangi
duduk disebelahku semalam,
...indah.
Ceria Kuning cahayanya
senyum tawa mengiringi bualnya
matanya Biru redup penuh kasih merenung kami,
penuh lembut Ungu menyelubungi wajah
penuh aman Indigo jiwanya ku sangka,
Hijau tenang bicaranya...
Riang Jingga teruja
atas kejayaan kami.

Tetapi tidak ku duga,
Tidak juga ku sangka
hujan...
...petir...
.......kilat....
Merah pelangi menduga jiwamu, Ibu..
Rupanya
Pelangi indah disebelahku
malam tadi
sedang tertanya tanya
dimanakah mentari
dalam hidupnya.

Ibu,
pernahkah engkau khianati
kebahagiaan yang diberi?
Sanggup engkau hidup sebagai Pelangi
sedangkan namamu Taufan?
Tapi aku tahu -
Kami semua tahu
Ibu berpura demi kami.


Found this piece of sajak that I wrote some years ago. Must've been very inspired to able to write in Malay! Dedicated to all Mothers out there who choose to suffer in silence, not because they are pathetically passive, but because they are self-sacrificing.

Letter from Nye Ariffin

My beloved Iman and Imran,
This is Nye Ariffin, your Great Grandfather, your Nenek's father.
We are not destined to meet but I know you as I know Harith, Etek, Adriana Hanna, all my great grandchildren, and soon, I know your aunty Emek will also have a child of her own. I know how wonderful that would have been, to gather here on this verandah and hear all your shrieks and laughter and to see Nye Lah strut around like a proud and cheerful peacock as she served her little flock of energetic great grandchildren. And I would sit serenely here, the same way as you see me now...and how you would scramble and fight to sit on my knees, search the pockets of my baju melayu with your tiny hands. I could feel gentle Iman kiss my cheeks and Imran my hands, or even my toes because I know one day Iman did that, didn't you, to your Nenek, you kissed her feet and she cried? You are as kind as your Papa and Atuk Rashid, the generations of men with Southern roots; while many had thought I was formidable in my silence and often piercing eyes! Maybe besides Nye Lah, your Nenek knew me best. I wonder if she could still remember how she sat on my knee and I brushed her hair with my songkok brush? Well I had pampered her a little bit more because she came after two boys, your Tok Ayah and Tok Ming, and after her, another boy, Tok Mail.
ImanImran, I had to surrender to my illness. I grew exhausted fighting it for almost four years. Your Atuk and Nenek had done so much for me in the battle against cancer. Nenek had taken so many leave from work to be with me in KL hospital and she saw my hallucinations each time I was drugged with morphine. Nye Lah was optmistic throughout my illness but Allah is Almighty, my boys...I had to leave all that I had loved in this world not too long before you came along.

2005. The family celebrated what was to be my final Hari Raya in the hospital ward. I had worn a maroon baju melayu that your Nenek bought for me (because I had wanted it) and the doctor allowed my oxygen mask to be removed just for that day. I knew everyone faked their joy as your Tok Ayah Mat clicked away on his camera.
One day when you both are old enough, Nenek will tell you about me. She will not tell any fabricated fairy tale (I hope) because my life had been a full one, a real one. No my beloved, I was not a hero. I was not wealthy either, but I had my riches. Nye Lah was the most faithful of wives and she withstood almost 60 years with me with amazing patience and love that I don't think anyone could be as lucky or as `rich' as me then. She slept on the hard, cold hospital floor to keep me company...she never left my side. And I opened up my heart to her and finally declared my long, long love for her, but maybe professed too late before I left her forever; that I know she keeps that confession as a talisman to keep her going now. I was also `rich' with my 9 children, including Tok Syila, and all my children-in-law. Your Nenek being the furthest there in Johor but I was comforted in knowing she was well-taken care of by your Atuk. She is perhaps very lucky in that sense and I was proud of how well her life had been...still keeping the record of being the first in the family to go for the Haj, eh..and to study overseas and all...globe-trotting with Atuk, much to the envy of everyone; sitting next to Royalty and other highbrows..but Na, Allah is Al-Muntaqim... the Inflicter of Retribution; the Nemesis will come to those who do injustice to you.

How many grandchildren had I? 28 or 30? maybe more? (Eh, Mat??) Who would not be `rich'? A comfortable house, a small car just for me and Nye Lah had been more than enough. So when I was gone, I left nothing. Nothing. Nothing to be shared among the siblings and their children. No fortune to be fought over, no so-called`heritage', much to the disbelief of family. Syila took my spectacles, Ana took my fountain pen, my dentures must still be with Che.
But Iman Imran...I left a legacy that you must bear. I had honour and dignity. I had wisdom and foresight. I left behind values that money and wealth cannot buy. I had no need for too much money; happiness was being able to sleep well and peacefully, with Nye Lah (who could fall asleep even sitting down..); to be healthy in mind, body and spirit. To have gone to the mosque and madrasah was more than I could ask for. Oh I had a weakness for cigarettes which cost me my life, but that was not to be a reason. I sold off what little bit of property I had, that piece of land somewhere in the far end of Kelantan was of no use to me except to have caused so much petty squabble.
So remember Iman Imran, Nye's legacy. I know Nenek has these traits that is why she is what she is today, and she upkeeps the sanctity of my principles. She has my boldness of character, my pride and quiet dignity. Fortitude. Her seeming indifference is her defence mechanism. She will not beg for anything and neither must you or anyone in this family. Stay clear of greed for material comfort; I know your world is so very challenging that's why you need to be extraordinarily strong!

I will always look down upon you and pray for you, ImanImran, all my great grandchildren, my grandchildren, my children. My wife.
Look after her for me, and love her. She doesn't ask for much, except to be remembered by you. I miss all of you, and
I love you.

May Allah bless each and everyone of you.

Nye Ariffin.

The Verandah

Four generations have stood on this part of the house, to welcome or to bid farewell. It would be on this verandah that one generation, then another, would wait for the ice-cream man on a hot day; it had always been here that families would sit on chairs or just the cool planks while the madre brought out trays of sweet hot BOH tea in the afternoon, and huge plates of keropok that would be gone in seconds; it was here that little Iskandar, or Abe, toddled and Azrul fell; fierce little plump Kaklin would bite Adam's cheeks and he bawled; little Ali with his long curly golden locks would shyly crawl towards his Che Ngah. Those rainy December holidays would witness the Johor family and Dungun families come back for very long vacations, and Tok Ayah cuddled Adik and everyone brought out their warm clothings and there was such bedlam! Tears of the very young and shrill laughter of the older ones comingled...and at this same spot where old uncles and aunties sit to gossip late at night while the children watched `Thundercats' or `Ultraman' inside; birthdays were celebrated here, barbeques three steps below; and the cars! everyone fought for the space nearest the tangga and the ones with the smallest babies always won and Abang Mi would win because he had the largest family back then. Che would be jolly even at 5.30 in the morning as she stood to welcome a homecoming child, or quietly wept to say goodbye.

When did all this begin to change?

Even in the advanced stages of his illness, late Ayah would still hung onto the strong steel bars as he spat blood that came out of his lungs...then at even more advanced stage, he sat there on his wheelchair and watched in silent sadness at healthy neighbours walking to the mosque across the road. We sorrowfully bid the final farewell to him as he left through this verandah...

Then - the house just became silent. The second generation became too busy to bring the third generation home. And now, the fourth generation hardly understood. Harith, Iman, Imran, Etek, and Adriana Hanna, and EmekJunior...and soon, Kakak Melissa Junior...welcome to Lot 606, Lorong Kenali, Kubang Kerian.