Monday, July 2, 2012

46

That's the number of years I have lived on this planet. I believed that number is greater than the number of years I have left to live. I don't think I will live to see my 92nd birthday but Allah knows best.

As usual there is no celebration whatsoever but this year my birthday is kinda different. For one, the nephews in BJ remember my birthday and sang happy birthday to you at about 30 minutes past midnight, which no one has ever done for me before and I am so touched by it. The other, which to me is of great significance is that my nephew KH, gave me RM50 as a birthday gift (I guess he did not know what to buy so giving me money is the shortcut). Its not the money that moved me, but its what he said when he gave me the money. Maknjang, ni present dari Abang Ayis to show my appreciation of you.....  sebak, I tell you! Thank you very much my dear nephew for making my day, maybe even my year!

His brother also gave me money.... "Maknjang nah 50sen, I am broke you know, not like adik, adik tu kaya." Haih! he has to learn to manage his allowance better. His excuse for his failure to control his expenses is simple. "Allowance sikit sangat, macamana nak manage". Double haih!

Mak and Abah called to wish me happy birthday but Anna refused to talk to me when Mak passed the phone to her, all she can think of to say is "majang lagak!" he he he which means Maknjang berlagak. She wishes that I am back home, so whenever I am not, Maknjang ni berlagak la, sebab I did not take her along. Favourite sayings from Anna these days are "lagak!" "lekut!" for kedekut and "ana tamau kawan" and of course "ana nak ikut" despite earlier calling you names.. Anna is my 2 and half years old niece, by the way. She is my constant  (most of the time, my only) companion whenever I am back home.

Earlier in the morning I received another call. Dia tanya whether I am in KL or in Kedah and said that dia kat Langkawi. The best part of the conversation is that, instead of wishing me a happy birthday, dia reminded me that today is the 1st of July and therefore it is my birthday and went on to describe a person who are born with number 1, i.e. 1st or the 10th. I am supposed to be stubborn. Which I think I am not.... :)) . Every year its the same. Called me and told me its my birthday and never once wish me anything... funny or what? Maybe next year will be different, we shall wait and see.... maybe not! Tak kisahlah!


Officially my birthday is over. I am done thanking everybody who sent me smses and all the birthday wishes on facebook. I do hope and pray that as I grow older, my iman and taqwa will also increase. I pray that Allah blesses me with umur yang panjang didalam kebajikan dan iman, and when my time to leave this world comes, I will die in husnul khatimah.

To all my BFFs, you know who you are, thank you for the lunches, the gift, the tea and coffee etc etc. May our friendship stay strong forever and ever.

Happy 46th birthday Maknjang.

Thursday, June 7, 2012

O Benny, who art thou?

I do not know who Benny is but I do know a couple of facts about him.
  • Benny is always late in paying his ASTRO bill, sometimes it reaches to thousands. ASTRO is threatening court action.
  • Benny has credit card facilities with CIMB, Standard Chartered and Citibank
  • Benny does not pay his credit cards dues on time
  • Benny owes to pay his credit card from a credit company (Along????)
  • Benny is quite a philanthropist, people always thank him for his contributions
  • Benny has stopped going to Fitness First
  • Benny's full name is BENNY SOH SEOW L***
O Benny,  please update your handphone numbers with all the banks, ASTRO etc!!! Its been two years already. AND STOP GIVING MY NUMBER TOO!!!!

Thank you.

Maknjang

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Kembali Ber-rima

Didalam blog Maknjang yang lama
Maknjang pernahlah berkata
Bila Maknjang hendak bercerita
Maknjang nak menulis dalam rima

Tadi Maknjang dan juga kawan-kawan
Melepak sambil makan-makan
Minum teh dan kopi di dalam cawan
Dua potong kek turut dipesan

Sambil makan sambil bercerita
Kami teruja mendengar berita
Bahawasanya Puan OCPD Melaka
Telah dianugerahkan cahayamata

Sekalung tahniah kami ucapkan
Diatas kehadiran bayi perempuan
Semoga menjadi anak yang beriman
Membesar menjadi suri teladan

Sedang kami riuh berbicara
Datang pula seorang penjaja
Jalannya bertongkat, susah berbicara
Menjual kerepek didalam raga

Simpati kami melihat penjaja
Usianya sudah lewat senja
Lemah pula segala anggota
Semoga Allah permudahkan hidup dia

Dua bungkus kerepek Roha beli
Sebab nak menolak pun tak sampai hati
Kerepek pisang dan kerepek keladi
Menjadi rezeki orang taman tabung haji

Penjaja masuk sekali lagi
Terhencut-hencut mencari pembeli
Roha memang seorang yang baik hati
Habis semua kerepek dia beli

Setakat ini dulu untuk kali ini
Kalau Maknjang rajin, esok berantri lagi
Maknjang nak siapkan kerja sebelum dinihari
Kerja yang dah bertangguh berhari-hari.

Owh ya, esok Maknjang nak ke kota
Tak sabar Maknjang nak jumpa Cik Remia!!!!

Sunday, May 13, 2012

Happy Mothers Day

to all mothers, especially mine.

Love,
Maknjang.

Out with the old

in with the new..

Last week I said goodbye ( a very teary one it was) to Miss Wishy  ...

and said hello to Cik Remia (I love you even before I met you!!!!)...

I am downsizing and hopefully in other aspects as well (wishful thinking.....).

Happily,
Maknjang.


Rindu hatiku tidak terkira

pada Cik Remia yang jauh dari pandangan mata.


Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Of Growing Older

Blogging ni memang berhantu, once you have started writing, mulalah asyik duk ingat nak write.

Tadi saya melepak di rumah Roha, kebetulan a few of her mengaji friends also dropped by for a chit chat. Mereka bercerita mengenai seorang kawan sama-sama mengaji that went for an eyelid operation, face injection, and I do not know what procedure its called but a procedure to ease away wrinkles on your face using threads?. I sat there wondering. On one hand, they went for mengaji, fardu ain, feqah and AlQuran, while on the other.... hmmmmm. All the ladies were older than us.

I do not believe in looking younger than you are, dressing younger than your age etc. If you are 50, to me, you should look 50, not 25. Alhamdulillah if Allah swt blesses you with a youthful appearance. If not, so be it. You cannot stop getting older, sudah hukum Allah, yang muda pasti akan menjadi tua. Dan bila semakin tua, kedut lah di sini sana.

Orang selalu berkata, biar tua asal hati muda, orang sungai baru kata young at heart... again I beg to differ. Kenapa kita mesti berhati seperti berusia 25 jika kita sudah lanjut usia. Bagi saya, lebih elok kita mempunyai hati seperti 46 tahun and we behave like a 46 yo should, when we are 46... bila kita sedar kita semakin tua sudah tentu kita sedar bahawa mati itu semakin dekat.

Entahlah,

Maknjang.

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Soul bearing

and I am blaming the entire content of what I am about to write on my BFF Mazmin. So there! And I am writing because I am bored too! Outside mak tengah mengajaq mengaji and breakfast will follow, so I am stuck in this room for a while. I am done playing bejeweled blitz, I am seeing stars already!. I can't play literati because yahoo is acting up. I know I should be finishing some income earning working paper, but I am not in the mood for that. So I am going to revive this sawang gathering blog with another post. 

Why am I blaming Min for this post? Because Min made me think of what I never plan to think about. An issue I have resolved a long time ago and never imagine I would give it another thought.

My mind right now is quite kelam kabut, and I am somewhat dukacita and feeling kinda vulnerable. Cheewah! Boleh ka, vulnerable like that. What with TP (you know who he is if you have read my other blog) turning out to be the way he is right now (I do not talk to him anymore and I can't even bear the mention of his name  aaahhhh, I could write a book just on this topic alone.. but let's not go there), and youngest brother getting married and parents suddenly aging rapidly, (I am not imagining this, they are and so are we, I guess); timbul kebimbangan of what the future holds. Macamana kalau mak and abah dah tak dak? (Yes, its always a kalau, walhal, ajal adalah kepastian.Yang tak pastinya adalah, who will go first). What would become of me. Bila tua, kalau sakit... macam-macam. You know the drift. I know that these are bisikan-bisikan syaitan, kenapa pula kita perlu risaukan benda yang kita tak tau kesudahannya, yang penting kita hanya perlu terus berdoa agar Allah sentiasa menjaga kita dan tidak menduga kita dengan ujian yang kita tidak mampu untuk memikulnya. Kita perlu berbaik sangka dengan Allah swt. Bila teringat balik macam ni, lega sat. Lepas solat, doa panjang sikit. Then syaitan bisik lagi, mula terasa semak perut semula.

To be honest, when Epit started the joke in whatsapp, I felt a little "tersinggung". Originally I typed "terhina" but maybe that is too strong a word to use. I still feel that way, although I know that she did not mean to "hina" (I need to find another word for this, oh my bahasa!)  or anything close to that. She is just Epit, being Epit... a little girl at 45 pretending to be an adult and we will remain friends no matter what. Why do I feel that way, you may ask. Unless you are a 46 year old, single, short fat and ugly perempuan like me, you will never understand, even if you try. Seriously. Therefore when the joke continued, I just went along with it, trying not to make any comment, fearing that it might be misconstrued to mean something else. Before I proceed any further, I would like to make it clear that, I am not angry at Epit. Sikit pon dak. Her concern over her mother's anxieties is genuine, we would be the same if we were in her shoes. She has her mother's best interest in her heart. SubhanaAllah.

How could Epit ask me to consider her so called "proposal", even if was a mere joke amongst friends when all the individuals involved were not in the picture. Like Ja said, it should have been initiated by the person involved, not by nosy sisters. This is where I felt tersinggung... Picture this, nosy sister ask single, short fat and ugly.. and unemployed friend if she would consider being her sister in law... because "kesian mak aku, dia sunyi". If the friend is agreeable, "aku nak suruh mak aku tanya abang aku". Hello? What is wrong with this picture?
Just imagine, if I were so pendek akal and be so agreeable or maybe even jumped at the opportunity;  (to be - how shall I put this mildly, how did she sell her brother to me...a "datin" , nak satu row shophouses pon boleh .. etc). and the brother sikit pon tak hingin .. its quite hard to get passed the short fat and ugly part tu tau ........, where does that put me??? Malukan, macam tergedik-gedik like that kan. Epit, Epit... sedih aku tau. You make me feel so macam apalah when you started that joke. Janganlah buat macam ni lagi kat sesiapa pon, especially orang-orang yang in the same boat as me. It makes us look .. tak tau lah nak cakap macam mana. Macam tak kisahlah any tom, dick or harry (not that I am saying that your brother is just any tom dick or harry, I know he is a somebody, I am just saying), tak kisahlah kalau sekadar untuk dijadikan teman buat mak, kan as long as dapat kawin, afterall dahla tua, macam tong dram la pulak, sapa lagi yang mau kan...

Kalaulah, and I meant it as kalau saja okay, don't get any ideas pulak, your brother has already informed your mom that he wants her to look for a wife for him, tak kisahlah as long as mak dia suka... cerita kita mungkin berbeda. Pengakhirannya mungkin sama, tapi jalan ceritanya akan berlainan dan saya tidak akan rasa tersinggung.

Actually kan Epit, if your mother is really lonely, why don't you just ask us, yang duduk di sini, to once in a while drop by your house and keep your mom company, I wouldn't mind doing that at all. Memang itulah pon antara activiti bersama my mom pon, ziarah menziarahi.

Tutup cerita itu, kita move on to why Min makes me think. Marriage has been the furthest thing on my mind. I have pushed away any thought of ever getting married when I turned 35 or so. I am at peace with myself while resigning to the fact that Allah has preordained that I will lead a single life in this life. Mungkin in another life ada bidadara menanti? BUT I also know that there are three things we cannot control, Ajal, Rezeki and Jodoh. Bukan kerja kita untuk memikirkan ketiga-tiga hal ni, ini hak Allah. Therefore, marriage... not something I plan to think about.

Tak tau why, lately asyik duk bear my soul, first to Ja, then to Min. Maybe sebab youngest brother is getting married. No, I am not sad that he is getting married, I am sad because things does not go according to MY plan. How I foresee the future is that, when mak and abah are no longer with us (owh no!!!!! I typed it!!!!!)... youngest brother and family will continue to live in 410 and so will I, as this is my house. I even planned to hibah this house to youngest brother. Now, youngest brother is marrying someone from another state, far far away from here and it looks like he is interested to move to the future wife's state. I will not stop him if that is what he wants to do. Its his life. Perasaan saya sedikit dukacita tetapi ini adalah ketentuan Yang Maha Esa. Kebelakangan ni pulak, bila saya tengok Abah dan Mak, dah nampak aging sangat. Sayu hati bila tengok mak solat sunat sambil duduk. Syahdu bila tengok wajah abah, bila abah tidur. Terasa akan kehilangan mereka suatu hari nanti, dan saya berdoa agar hari-hari tersebut tiba lambat lagi. Kadang-kadang rasa ingin berdoa agar saya yang pergi dahulu kerana saya tidak sanggup untuk hidup tanpa mereka dan sebatang kara. Saya tahu tidak baik untuk berdoa sedemikian. Bukankan ajal dan maut itu ketentuan Allah swt. Satu lagi is the titi gantung I built more than 17 years ago.. I so badly want to burnt it to the ground but I can't. I still need the "alimony" to sustain my life as I do not have any other source of income. I want to be free of any entanglement with the titi gantung, selagi duk dapat monthly payment, selagi tu I am not free.. and I hate it. Semua perkara-perkara ni duk berserabut dalam kepala otak, ditambah pulak dengan surat layang, poison email, ugutan dan investigation from you know what. Lagi bertambah bingung. Maybe that was the reason why saya sensitif sangat kot dengan lawak Epit tu.
So, Min kata, maybe marriage is the answer (it maybe not)... it might rungkaikan segala kerisauan (it might also add more keresahan). So what if, tetiba ada lah pulak genuine proposal. What if??. .... Will I?.. Ya Allah, duk pikiaq buat apa tak tau... org sungai baru kata lets just cross the bridge if we get there. Ini belum jumpa mana-mana bridge, dah sebuk nak cross... ni semua, Min lah punya pasai.

Resah,

Maknjang.

p/s Min, orang sungai baru kata... ukur baju di badan sendiri, jangan duk tempah baju lagi.

Monday, May 7, 2012

This is not how I foresee it.....


In less than 2 months, I will be 46.

In less than 20 days, my youngest brother will be getting married. 

As I have been away from home for nearly a month, I can only presumed that preparation for the wedding is buzzing at home. Yes, I was away that long. I asked myself whether I actually have to be away or pretended that I have things to do here just because I wanted to be as far away as possible, as long as possible. But, I am going home today. In fact I am typing this at Skypark Terminal, Subang. I shall be fire-flying home shortly.

Home will definitely not be the same after this. 

I am supposed to be happy. I will be getting a brand new sister-in-law for crying out loud. But I am not. I am not a happy person right now. And that is why I was away. The guilty feeling I felt deep in my stomach is the only reason I forced myself to take this trip home. Kesian mak duk kelola sorang-sorang. Mak is the only reason I am going home. I can’t go on pretending that I am needed here anymore.

It is difficult to explain my unhappiness. Only a person in the same situation would understand. Haih! I dread the days ahead. I dread the years ahead. O Allah, please forgive me. O Allah, please ease my discomfort. Amiin.

Sadly,
Maknjang.

Wednesday, May 2, 2012