PHASE OF LIFE WHICH IS MORE CALM

These pictures were taken on my last day at Lembaga Peperiksaan. It was 30 August 2016 - my last day in the civil service. It was kind of mixed feelings that I felt. Excited to end my career with the Ministry of Education, also eager to know what waits ahead.

In the first picture, beside me are Soo and Ros.
Soo - my good friend since Textbook Division (BBT) days. I admire Soo becuase she is a lady full of energy. She does everything fast! That is the way Soo! Do not tolerate slow coaches haaa....
Ros - we worked together as liaison officer committee for a few international conferences. Also I will remember Ros as the officer who is always seated infront of me during MPLP (I will not be spelling this out for security reasons). Also I gave Ros a special sample of a letter. Well only Ros knows the content of this letter :)
At the left end is another friend of mine from my BBT days. This petite lady holds a PhD - Dr Habibah! I address her by her nickname Bib or Bibah. She has her roots in Kedah and also Pahang. By the way, she is staying in the same suburb as I am, ie Bandar Baru Bangi a.k.a. Bandar Ilmu.

The second picture is another PhD graduate! Wow! Dr Murni. We have something in common (not that I hold a PhD qualification), but rather our husbands are cousins. Orang Kedah lagi :) Murni's office is at Block E14 while mine is at Block E11, Parcel E, Putrajaya. We became close professionally - my unit generates money for the organisation and Murni's unit keep the financial records in very good order.

The third picture is me with the head of HR Unit. She is another petite lady who is very hardworking. Nurzaini takes care of her children during the weekdays and get to see her husband only on weekends. I salute you Zaini!

The last picture is of course me ... smiling for the whole day knowing that I do not have to be in the civil service anymore after 1 September 2016 :) This does not imply that I hate working, it only means that it is a chance for me to enter into a new phase of life. As someone puts it - a phase of life which is more calm.

REVISITING MY azianma.blogspot

After almost 7 years of silence, I suddenly have this urge to revisit my blog. I plan to retire soon and I have this strong urge to get back to blogging. Not that I was a consistent blogger anyway :)
Having worked in the civil service for like 30 years, i decided to call it a day. That was last year. Filled up the application form for early retirement and got it approved by my Director and submitted the form peacefully. But you know in the government sector in Malaysia, that simple to fill-up form will go through umpteen 'approvals'....hmmm...yes that is very common!

I have chosen 31 August 2016 for my last day in service. For non-Malaysian readers who stumble upon this entry, 31 August 1957 marks the day that the Federation of Malaya obtained its independence from British colonization, forming what is known to this day as MALAYSIA. Hence, 31 August is a National Public Holiday (Hari Kebangsaan) to commemorate the freedom and independence gained. This day is also known as Hari Merdeka in the Malay language. Hence 31 August is not complete without shouts of "MERDEKA"!

OK, back to my application to retire... actually my compulsory retirement date will be in May 2018 but I decided to retire 1 year and 9 months earlier! I pray that I have made the right choice. Well one has to have a blue print in life. And this is my plan. Frankly, I enjoyed working very much. And I do feel some guilt if I am away from the office, even when I am out on official duties. After all being out of the office means more work the next minute that you are back, right?

Just to share in this first entry after 7 years, I was in Taiwan from 11 - 17 March 2016. My husband attended a conference there and since I have never been to Taiwan - I decided that I should accompany him.

We went to Taipei 101. TAIPEI 101 Observatory’s elevators are high-speed pressurized elevators with a speed of 1010 meters per minute. Can you imagine that in about 35 seconds we were on the 89th floor! That is the highest floor for which visitors are allowed. Unfortunately it was a foggy spring that day :( But if postponed our plan to be up on TAIPEI 10, we will not have another opportunity since we already booked our high speed rail ticket to Kaohsiung later in the evening. Although it was foggy, I could still see (barely) vehicles moving on the streets down below. It was a great experience. My next high rise building visit --- KL Twin Towers!

I have forgotten many tips and shortcuts to use blogspot. Huh! Spent a long time to write this short entry. See you again :)

DO NOT LITTER!

I just want to write a simple entry today.

I get very irritated when I see people throwing rubbish just anywhere they like. I guess many of us share this opinion too.

I also get very irritated when I see people smoking at prohibited places. This very simple rule of NO SMOKING IN ENCLOSED PUBLIC PLACES is very difficult to follow by most Malaysian smokers. These group of irresponsible people (the smokers, I mean) do not seem to understand that non-smokers have the right to breath fresh, healthy, tobacco-smell free air. Smokers do not know that people who smoke smell bad to nonsmokers. The World Health Organization points out that diseases linked to smoking kill at least three million people each year, one every six seconds.

Actually, what I wanted to write is that a few days ago, while driving to work, I had to stop at a traffic light. It was quite a long stop, and I had time to notice that the driver in front of me was smoking. I was not very irritated because since my windows were shut, naturally I can't smell the 'bad odor' from this particular driver in front of me. But I vowed to myself that if this driver should throw his cigarette bud out of his car, I will definitely honk my car. True enough, he did throw his cigarette bud to the ground even before the traffic light turns green! Of course, I honked my car!

You see, to smoke is already bad. To throw the cigarette bud simply anywhere at one's whimps and fancies is even worse!

Do you know the owner of the car in this entry? This person shouldn't get emotionally upset if he/she happens to read my blog. I am just sharing my morning experience, what is important is the values that one gets by reading my entry.

WHY THE STUPIDITY

I would like to share this email that I received from a friend.

HAVE YOU EVER WONDERED WHY?

Why do drugstores make the sick walk all the way to the back of the store to get their prescriptions while healthy people can buy cigarettes at the front.

Why do people order double cheeseburgers, large fries, and a diet coke.

Why do banks leave both doors open and then chain the pens to the counters.

Why do we leave cars worth thousands of dollars in the driveway and put our useless junk in the garage.

Why do we buy hot dogs in packages of ten and buns in packages of eight.

Why do they have drive-up ATM machines with Braille lettering.

Why the sun lightens our hair, but darkens our skin?

Why women can't put on mascara with their mouth closed?

Why don't you ever see the headline 'Psychic Wins Lottery'?

Why is 'abbreviated' such a long word?

Why is it that doctors call what they do 'practice'?

Why is lemon juice made with artificial flavor, and dish washing liquid made with real lemons?

Why is the man who invests all your money called a broker?

Why is the time of day with the slowest traffic called rush hour?

Why isn't there mouse-flavored cat food?

Why do they sterilize the needle for lethal injections?

You know that indestructible black box that is used on airplanes? Why don't they make the whole plane out of that stuff?!

Why are they called apartments when they are all stuck together?

If flying is so safe, why do they call the airport the terminal?

TELL ME WHY

Sorry, I should have made this acknowledgement.
The previous post is lyrics of a song by Declan Galbraith.

TELL ME WHY

In my dreams, Children sing
A song of love for every boy and girl
The sky is blue, the fields are green
And laughter is the language of the world
Then I wake and all I see is a world full of people in need

Tell me why,(why) does it have to be like this
Tell me why, (why) is there something I have missed
Tell me why, (why) cause I don't understand
When so many need somebody
We don't give a helping hand
Tell me why

Every day, I ask myself
What will I have to do to be a man
Do I have, to stand and fight
To prove to everybody who I am
Is that what my life is for?
To waste in a world full of war

Tell me why, (why) does it have to be like this
Tell me why, (why) is there something I have missed
Tell me why,(why) cause I don't understand
When so many needs somebody
We don't give a helping hand
Tell me why (Tell me why)
Tell me why (Tell me why)
Tell me why (Tell me why)
Just tell me why (why, why, why)

Tell me why, (why) does it have to be like this
Tell me why, (why) is there something I have missed
Tell me why, (why) cause I don't understand
When so many need somebody
We don't give a helping hand
Tell me why (Why why, does the tigers run?)
Tell me why (Why why, do we shoot the gun?)
Tell me why (Why why, do we never learn?)
Can someone tell us why we let the forests burn

(why why do we say we can?) Tell me why
(why why is it still the same?) Tell me why
(why why do we talk and run?) Tell me why
Can someone tell us why we let the ocean die

(why why do we always say?) Tell me why
(why why do we pass the blame?) Tell me why
(why why does it never rain?)
Can someone tell us why we cannot just be friends

(why why do we close our eyes?)
(why why do we really lie?)
(why why do we fight for land?)
Can someone tell us why cause we don't understand
Why Why?

~~~~ EIGHT MONTHS LATER ~~~~

It has been 8 (eight) weeks since Monsieur A passed his viva. Tahniah!!! Felicitations!!! Congratulations!!! Congratulazioni!!! I have not been updating my blog since the day Monsieur A had his viva. He is now a busy man, he has some hours of lectures and lab, he supervised some Masters/PhD students and also one of those in the management team at COIT UNITEN. (College of IT) Good money comes with big responsibilities.

But being an IT guy, he doesn’t like the management job… he just likes his research and his students’ projects. But since there are not many senior staff at COIT, he had no choice but to accept the post just days after he got through the PhD viva. It is a two-year kind of compulsory post since 1st January 2009. (ooopss… 1st January is a public holiday, must have been 2nd January then) He has been saying to me that come 1st January 2011, he will relinquish his admin post and would like to concentrate on research, blah, blah,blah. Well, do what you are good at, and what is important is that you are satisfied with it ….

PhD VIVA

Today is Monsieur A's viva at UTM Johor. I know that the viva was scheduled to start at 9 am. It is now 11.30 am, so I am not sure if it is over. I have not received any call or SMS from Monsieur A. Probably they (the professors from UTM and also from University Nantes, France) are still grilling him or it is over but Monsieur A is too busy to buzz me. I didn't want to call him yet in case the call might disturb his concentration.

I wish you all the best, my dear sweetheart! I trust that you will be able to breeze through the viva!

ANOTHER WEEK TO GO

I have not posted any entry for more than 2 months. Lazy me. Suddenly I feel like I want to write this ... In exactly a week Monsieur A will be back from Nantes, Insya Allah.
Both Atiqah and Afiq have told me something that they would like to do when Abah is back. Atiqah made plans to visit the aquarium complex - AQUARIA KLCC. And surprisingly Afiq has requested to go to MPH to get a book by Bear Grylls (I think he said the title of the book is Man vs Wild, hope I am right...)

I must admit that for the past one year, the children have not done much traveling, not done much outing, not done much visiting to relatives, etc. We do missed out on a lot of family activities ever since Monsieur A left for Nantes in October 2007 to complete his PhD. I blame this scenario on myself - I am not that adventurous by nature. Being married to Monsieur A has made me become a more 'outdoor' kind of person. So when he is away, family activities have been somewhat dormant! . Hopefully, when he is back next week we will have more time as a family!

DINER AVEC UNE FAMILLE MAROCAINE

Last night my husband and I had dinner at a Moroccan family's house. This family is Moroccan by origin but they are of French nationality. Before I came to France, I heard a lot about Zakaria from my husband. Don't worry Zakaria, he always talk good about you (smile!). In case you are wondering, Zakaria is the handsome young man in the striped, navy blue shirt.

Zakaria, his mother (Madame Latifa), his two younger brothers (Mosab and Abu Hanifa), and his only sister (Houda) live at Malakof. It is about 10 minutes drive from my husband’s studio. Houda studies at a management school in Bordeaux and unfortunately she was not home last night. Mosab is the one in the white shirt, while Abu Hanifa is the one wearing grey t-shirt.

It was an enjoyable evening with this family, despite the fact that I only know very little French and Madame Latifa can only speak French and Arabic. These boys were born in France and naturally they speak French like a French! I can understand 30% of their conversation because they tried their best to use English and partly because 60% of English words originated from French!

Merci beaucoup pour Madame Latifa! C’est très bon dîner!

MUSHMELON AND POTATO

Monsieur A and I arrived back to Nantes from our vacance (French for vacation) on 2nd August 2008 (Saturday). We left Nantes on the 26th July 2008 (Saturday), and within one week we were in 5+1 countries. We started in France, and were in Spain, Andorra, Monaco, Italy and Switzerland. It was great! J'ai eu un temps merveilleux!

After we had lunch on the day we arrived Nantes, we went to Carrefour to get vegetables, fruits, milk, rice, etc. Hmm…I feel that I can’t go without cherries, melons, avocado, etc.

Just want to show you the delicious mushmelon that we bought from Carrefour and also the potatoes that were pulled out from the garden. These potatoes were planted by Monsieur A slightly more than a month before I arrived France. The French word for potato is pomme de terre , literally translated into English, it means “ground apple”.

DUBAI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

18th July 2008, 915pm: Arifah, Afiq, Atiqah and my sister-in-law sent me to KLIA. On the way, we stopped at INTI University College Nilai to fetch Afifah. My flight to Paris, transit at Dubai, is at 12.50am, 19th July. After checking in at about 10.30pm, I asked them to leave for home because Atiqah has to attend school the next day.

19th July 2008, 4am: I arrived Dubai International Airport. I was a bit lost since I was alone and it was my first time at this airport. After passing through security, I asked a lady worker about subuh prayer time. She could not understand my English very much, but from her sign language I could understand that I will be able to hear the azan when subuh is due.

4.20 am: Alhamdulillah, Praises due to Allah, Azan for Subuh could be heard throughout the airport. I managed to locate the prayer room. Hmm…ladies were sleeping in the prayer room despite being asked by an airport worker to wake up and perform prayers! From her looks, this airport worker is a Chinese origin. I was quite shocked at the way she reacted to the ladies who could not be bothered with the sound of the Azan. May Allah protect her. Most of the ladies just continued sleeping…

After I have performed my prayers, another airport worker again asked the ladies to wake up and to leave the room if they do not intent to perform subuh prayer. She threatened that she will call the security if they refuse to leave. Look like these ladies are stubborn and no threat or scolding will make them budge!

I left the prayer room, and just walked around while window shopping around the many shops in the airport. I saw that Emirates also give meal vouchers if passengers transit for more than 4 hours – I qualify actually! But the queue was too long and I doubt if I have the patience. Moreover I wasn’t hungry.

I think Dubai Airport is very huge and beautiful but one set back is that there were too many people sleeping on the floor!!!!

MAT REMPIT

Young men (most of the time, anyway) riding on motorbikes performing dangerous acts that endanger other road users – yes, they are known as MAT REMPIT in Malaysia. I wonder whether this phenomenon is unique to Malaysia only. I always wonder also, how this MAT REMPIT terminology came into existence… (Any experts from Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka out there???)

Afifah, Atiqah and I went to the Bandar Baru Bangi Post Office this afternoon. I had my car parked under a shady tree in the compound of the post office while I asked Afifah to go into the post office to do some chores. After a while, Atiqah and I saw two MAT REMPITS (sorry for giving the plural form of this noun) doing a dangerous act about 70 m away from where I was. Fortunately that road is not very popular except when they have the Pasar Malam.

In away I was glad that they both fell (ouchhhhh!!!!!) and they looked somewhat hurt. I saw them pushing the motorbike to the side and they were there for maybe 15 minutes. I was sure they hurt themselves quite badly! If Afifah had come out of the post office fast enough, I would definitely go to these two rascals and give them a piece of my mind! Too bad, by the time Afifah got back to the car, the two guys rode away, albeit much slower than they did before the accident (kah…kah…kah…) I pray that they will have some feelings of regret and that there will be lesser MAT REMPITS in Bandar Baru Bangi, well at least lesser by two!

CAN'T WAIT

What is this Emirates Airlines doing here in my blog? Well, this is a form of releasing my excitement… I will be flying on Emirates Airline on the 19th July 2008 from the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) to Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG). Paris CDG is the largest airport serving Paris. It is also the second busiest passenger airport in Europe after London Heathrow.

My three weeks leave has been approved by the Human Resource Division, Ministry of Education. In the public service department in Malaysia, one must fill up a special request form to go overseas, even if it means going to Singapore (across Tebrau Strait) or going to Sumatera, Indonesia (across Malacca Strait). Hmm… Government servants as we are called, so I have no choice but to abide by the government rules and regulations. Well, that doesn’t hurt me as long as I get to see my beloved hubby in Nantes, France.

I am really looking forward to this trip. I have never flown Emirates Airlines before but I had no other alternative, since the Malaysian Airlines (MAS) fares are beyond my limits! When I made the ticket reservations in April this year, Emirates Airlines seem to be the only wise choice. I don’t mind the transit in Dubai, yes, during both the to and fro journeys the plane will transit in Dubai – I hope I will be able to do something interesting there. BTW, my journey home will be on the 10th August from Paris CDG Airport back to KLIA.

COLMAR TROPICALE, BUKIT TINGGI

My unit (refering to my professional unit at work in Putrajaya) will be having our first PDP (Professional Development Programme) for 2008 from the 7 - 10th April. After going through the proper procedure, the project manager (Cik 'Ain) manage to convince the Procurement Unit that we can have the meeting at Colmar Tropicale, Bukit Tinggi, Malaysia. Kudos to Cik 'Ain!

Well, just in case if there are any French who happen to stumble on my blog - we do have a Colmar in Malaysia. Every architecture and furnishings in Colmar Malaysia is almost identical to what you get in Colmar France. I guessed the only difference would be the temperature and the language that people use!!!

Having been to Colmar France in 2007, I am looking forward to see Colmar Malaysia, not just for the sake of comparing. But of course, to gain new experience and knowledge from the PDP would be my main priority. We were informed by the Unit Head that the two focus in this PDP are Finance and ACA :) Please do not be paranoid...I believe attending is believing.

COUNTING THE DAYS

I want to have this short piece documented. Suddenly I realised that very soon Monsieur A will be back to Malaysia for a short break. Hmm...I did not make any entry when he left.......

He left for France on the eve of 1st November 2007, it is just over 4 months now! From the calls, chats, emails, SMSes, etc (what else?), he said that his progress is good. I am making doa that he will finish his research before the due date, ie one year from October 2007. Huh....huh.....still a long way and a long wait.

Being a temporary 'single mother' for the past 4 months was a real test! What more, my maid fell very sick just a few days after Monsieur A left for Nantes, and I had to send her back home. (Home is Indonesia, of course). A month ago, Arifah, my eldest daughter met with an accident. When I recall the night that I received the call about the accident....I cannot imagine how I survived that night. It was due to Allah's help that I managed to calm myself down and also to calm Monsieur A. Otherwise...... I don't know what stupid decisions I would have made that night. It was the 6th of January 2008! Hmmm...Arifah does not seem to remember the date!

BTW, Monsieur A will arrive KLIA on the 7th March 2008, Insha Allah (God Willing).

TIARA BEACH RESORT

I had a busy week at Tiara Beach Resort Port Dickson from the 28 - 31 January 2008. My unit had a Coordination Meeting with the Officers and Clerks from the State Education Office all over the country.

The meeting was related to one of the exam boards that the Ministry of Education Malaysia administer, ie. the ABRSM. We were honoured to have the ABRSM Regional Consultant for South East Asia, Mr Bill Thomson, to attend the meeting.

Bill was also delighted as he got to meet his old acquaintances like Sukhaimi, Johnny, Latifei, and Mdm Chen, just to name a few. We had Thai dinner on Wednesday night. And on Thursday morning we had a formal meeting - Bill spoke to all of the participants about his function in Malaysia. All the participants introduced themselves to Bill - I was glad to discover that all our officers and clerks could speak good English. It is just a matter of getting used to it, especially at formal meetings like this one! (smile everyone!!!)

At the end of the day, I have to admit that all of us, especially me and my unit mates were very tired. To my Head of Unit - we understand that the challenges that you had to undertake from this meeting were indeed not easy. It is your duty to remind officers/clerks if they go off course.
Personally, my wish is that those who attend our meetings will benefit professionally, else we will be answerable for our actions.

WORST ACCIDENT IN THE MODERN HISTORY OF MALAYSIA

My apologies to those who are reading this entry. It is a very negative title for an entry right? But this is the talk of the town since the "Super Express" belonging to Syarikat Kenderaan Bukit Gantang became a "Super Horror"!!! At first I heard that there were 20 deaths, unfortunately, a few days after the accident one of the seriously injured victims (a three year old child) passed away. That gives a total of 21 deaths and almost ten people injured, I think.

Everything that happened has been fated. Yes, true. But to discover that the "Super Driver" had 13 summonses and two warrants of arrest for traffic offences is beyond human comprehension. Obviously some authorities in my country, Malaysia, which will celebrate its 50th year of independence, are not doing their job :(

Forget about the call for the setting up of a royal commission to investigate accidents involving public transport. Set up a ROYAL COMMISSION (Suruhanjaya Bebas) for this and for that!!! It is a waste of public fund. The public is tired, angry and feel cheated by the so many royal commissions being set up only when the issue is being debated. What happens after a few months???

Today, slightly a week after the tragedy of the “Super Express”, the newspaper / television is still reporting about accidents involving drivers of express buses who have summonses for road offences. I wonder if this is happening only in my country or there are other countries that you can get such ironic and absurd news!

COLMAR, FRANCE

19th-20th May 2007 (Sat-Sun)
Upon arrival at the Frankfurt airport, we drove to Colmar. We rented an Opel Corsa that we travelled in for the next nine days of the holiday. It is a cute, 2-door car. Sufficient for the two of us.
The distance from Frankfurt to Colmar is about 290km. We took more than 3 hours for the journey because we stopped a few times to take pictures. Really can't miss the opportunity to click the camera which was at my disposal since Monsieur A need to have both hands on the stearing wheels! The good thing is that we did not have to pay a single euro for toll!
Colmar is situated in northeastern France. Colmar's attractions are its crooked houses, half-timbered and painted, on crooked lanes – all extremely pretty.
Initially, we did not plan to sleep in Colmar. But both of us were just too exhausted to drive on. I suppose it was the jet lag and the walk around Colmar that made us just want to sleep and rest for the night in Colmar...
The next morning..., imagine a Sunday morning! Of course most people are still in bed... but we had to be up early since it will be another traveling day. But before we left Colmar we were lucky to be able to wave at some adventurous lot who were having fun in a hot-air balloon. We had a fun time waving at them!

MY HOLIDAY

I was away – away as in out of the country from the 18th – 28th May 2007. Monsieur A and I were in Europe. During the 9 ½ days, we were in 4 different countries of Western Europe. The countries that we visited were France, Germany, Austria and Chez Republic.

Although it was a busy period for me at the office, this trip was something that I really looked forward to. Actually, Monsieur A was having a conference in Vienna, Austria for 2 days on the 21st and 22nd May 2007. My friend was teasing me saying that the trip was like a honey-moon for both of us. Another honey-moon after 22 years of married life...

It was just the two of us. We left the children who were in the midst of their mid-year exams. Unfortunately, Monsieur A also left the poster that was meant for the Vienna conference at the KLIA Mc Donald’s. But luck was with him, the organizing committee in Vienna was kind enough to have his poster printed in colour out-put and it was done for frei (frei is ‘free’ in German).



BTW, if you visit Austria, you will not be able to visit Vienna because over there Vienna is referred to as Wien (pronounced Vin).

We really enjoyed ourselves albeit somewhat exhausted because of the non-stop driving from one city to another. Oops…I did not drive at all although the car rental company said that I can drive using the Malaysian Driving Licence. We also walked or ride on the tramp or train in the cities.

I will try to post pictures and write on our holiday experience in my coming entries! Watch out, ok! For now, you can recall your geography knowledge from the maps that I have put up!