wniza

Archive for February, 2012|Monthly archive page

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Cry no more, dear Faris

In family, happiness, religion on February 25, 2012 at 12:04 pm

“We are all just pieces of clay.” A quote from my favorite poem, which helped carry me through some of the difficult periods in my life. To me, this is a good quote (and in a very humbling poem) which reminds you of a few things; (a) we were created by God (b) we are here temporarily living this life, and (c) one day to Him we shall all return.

A few deaths have occurred this last month, none within my circle of family or friends but known to me via social media and friends’ updates or retweets. A 30-year old steward who slipped and fell at the jetty at Pulau Perhentian, hit his head and drowned unconscious while on holiday. A colleague’s ex-schoolmate, 33 years old, who died in a motorcycling accident on the way home to see his wife and daughter after a game of futsal. A friend of a friend who had delivery complications which saw both the mother and baby battling for their life overnight in the ICU, only for the mom to lose her  child the next day. There are no words to describe the sadness. But my heart (and millions of other people’s) was touched particularly by Faris’s story, thanks to Bersama Mazidul blog.

Faris was a 6-year old happy and active boy, the youngest child of Sham and Zuraine (they have 2 other children, 13 and 10 years old) until he was diagnosed with blood cancer. On Mazidul’s blog, there is a picture of him when he was healthy and happy, smiling into the camera while propping up his head with his hands at a park. Another picture last week showed the stark realities of his suffering – full oxygen support, tubes and attachments clinging to his body, tears streaming down his face. Truly, only Allah knows best why these things happen, because it is beyond our weak human intellectual capabilities to make sense of. Truly, we are all just pieces of clay.

Two days ago Faris passed away. Pictures on the blog depict his mother sitting by his body, with her hands on his chest, talking to him. Another picture showed her outside the ward, crying softly while others surrounded her in consolation.  His sister’s card to him, praying for him, urging him to get well soon so they can ride in cars together and play badminton. His father, eyes dry, tired but tenang and pasrah. Pictures of the prayer session and pengebumian jenazah, tempat arwah disemadikan selama-lamanya.

He is the same age as my son Umar. It makes me think about the difference between the two boys, and the difference between my situation and Faris’s mother’s position. Why am I given the blessing of seeing my son in front of me, happy and healthy, Alhamdulillah, while hers has been taken away? It makes me realize that, indeed, all of us are properties from God and we are actually being loaned to this world. None of us have the right or the claim to a certain level of happiness, health and wealth. Whatever each and everyone of us have, is there due to the grace of God and nothing else. If He wished, we can all lose everything. Now. Tomorrow. Next year. Next 50 years. Wallahu’alam.

You are at a better place, dear Faris. Cry no more. Al-Fatihah.

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Best places i’ve travelled to

In travel, Uncategorized, unforgettable on February 18, 2012 at 12:24 am

Where are YOUR favorite places to go in the world?

I thought I’d write about this today, partly to express gratitude to God for granting me all those travel opportunities. I know I’ve been blessed with being in this position, as there are so many other people who have yet to experience boarding a single plane (and some who don’t even have a house to leave behind, bless ‘em). Thank you Allah.

Growing up, my mother instilled the love for traveling, exploring and appreciating other places and cultures in all of us. Even when we were not rich enough to travel to US or Europe (aside from our 2-year stint in US when i was 2 during my parents’ MBA, our only overseas trip was to Jakarta and Bangkok when we were young) we often had vacations or ‘staycations’ in various cities in Malaysia. By the time i was in secondary school, i had already been in all the states in Malaysia, including Sabah and Sarawak.

Being awarded a scholarship to study in the UK was a huge step up in my traveling resume, Alhamdulillah. I got to travel to several cities in Europe and even managed to visit NYC in my final summer as a student to stay with my aunt for a couple of weeks. After getting married, I managed to convince my husband to backpack across Europe for nearly 2 weeks, enroute to my sister in law’s graduation in London. Additionally through work, I was able to travel to more places such as Tokyo, HK, Chicago and NYC again (which i will never tire of as this is probably my no.1 favorite city in the world).

Thought I’ll just share some places which I’ve been to and the things I loved most about them.

New York is just truly the city that never sleeps. I remember getting out of the subway at Penn Station on 34th St (no i don’t have a photographic memory – had to look this up) and gazed in wonder at the tall skyscrapers which towered above me straight out of a movie. If I had to pick a favorite place in NYC, it would be Grand Central Station (try Junior’s cheesecake in the basement food court). Check out the pic i took of my hubby and son there.

I also love Greenwich Village. I SO would have loved to study at NYU (like in that TV series Felicity – oh no I’m showing my age now). Go find the Friends‘ apartment, Carrie’s apartment on Sex and the City and Magnolia Bakery. Here’s a picture of us in front of Monica and Rachel’s apartment.
My next favorite city would be Paris (I know, I’m so original). My favorite spot in Paris is that bridge over the Seine which has been featured in countless movies.
It is almost impossible to choose a favorite city in Italy, and I’ve only been to 5 of them – Venice, Rome, Capri, Naples and Positano. My favorite location in Venice is of course St Mark’s square, as well as the rows of really quaint houses in pastel colors in areas such as Dorsoduro.
I don’t have a scanned picture of Positano (those days we used things we called films in our cameras!) but I’ll show you an example of its breathtaking beauty.
Another beautiful city was Salzburg, which I dragged hubby to experience the awesome The Sound of Music experience (though he appreciated it a tad less). We found the real ‘You are Sixteen’ gazebo, too! This picture below was taken from the Nonnberg Convent up the hill overlooking the city.
I also loved Geneva, Amsterdam, Vienna, Barcelona, Nice, Monte Carlo and Brussels.
In Asia, I loved the Lake Toba area in Sumatra, Indonesia. Hubby worked there for 2 years so we went there a couple of times. It’s a bit run down, but a hidden gem of Southeast Asia, if you ask me. It even reminds me a bit of Switzerland.
Tokyo is just awesome! Here, a picture I took of the biggest traffic light crossing in Shibuya. They stop all the lights and there’s a sudden rush mad to everywhere.
And of course every Muslim’s dream, Mekah and Madinah (we went for umrah when I was pregnant with my son). BEAUTIFUL. You don’t wanna leave and will long to go back.
My favorite places in Malaysia? The beaches, such as the east coast off the state of Terengganu, such as this little village of Penarik. Nothing but blue skies. One day I’d like to go to Sipadan Island in Sabah, Insya Allah.
In KL, I love the look-out point in Ampang, which is a pretty hidden gem as well (let it stay that way!)
Places next on my list? I plan to perform Haj, then I want to visit these two 5 places – Santorini, Cinque Terre, the Pyramids, Petra and Dubrovnik. And who doesn’t wanna go to Maldives or Bora Bora? One day, one day.
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