To-day is the last day of January,2002. I have not finished reading World Class- I hope to do it over the weekend.

Encik Kissman,

Kenang Kenangan Hidup is the life story of Hamka, the famous Indonesian
ulama. He started the story from the time he was born until Sukarno's era.
Reading it has given me a glimse of Indonesian political history as well as
his auto biography-specially his role in the fight of Independence and his
spiritual upbringing.

Sungai Mengalir Lesu is a novelet by our famous author A Samad Said . The
story was about a community of poor and unfortunate community who lived by
the river during the Japanese occupation in Singapore. It told the hardship
of common people during the war. The story was not that extra-ordinary but A
Samad Said's command of Malay language is very good.

---Adib

From: "kissmanbucit"
Reply-To: bookcafe@yahoogroups.com
Date: Thu, 24 Jan 2002 13:08:45 -0000
To: bookcafe@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [bookcafe] RE: Adib's Books Read in 2001


En.Adib,

Could u write a little bit about 'kenang kenag hidup' and 'sg.
mengalir lesu'

thanks
kissman che lah

> Books Bought in 2001
> -------------------------
> Ice Station
> Anil's Ghost
> Chocolat
> Brethren
> Disclosure
> On Writing
> Kenang Kengan Hidup
> Tenggelamnya Kapal
> My Little iMac Book
> The Bookstore
> Tasauf Moden
> The Painted House
> The Code Book
> Enigma The Novel
> Simplicity-Elaine St James
> Sungai Mengalir Lesu
> Frederick Forsyte Stories
> Power Book
> --------------------------------


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Now I am reading the book World Class by Dr Rosabeth Moss Kanter. She was elaborating on three C:concept,competence and connections!

To-night I was at the surau and introduced to a on on Panduan Fardu Ain.

This afternoon I visited Jacklyn Chong at her office. She was very kind to loan me her book The Poisonwood Bible. I plan to read it by end of this month.
17.1.2002

Last night my cousin Nasir Zihni gave me a book from Mecca entitled The Creation of the Universe by Haron Yahya. To-day I bought a management book by Dr Rosabeth Moss Kanter entitled World Class so that I may understand better the effects of globalisation on my business. I also hope to write a short note to my fellow friends in water industry.

Last night my cousin Nasir Zihni gave me a book from Mecca entitled The Creation of the Universe by Haron Yahya. To-day I bought a management book by Dr Rosabeth Moss Kanter entitled World Class so that I may understand better the effects of globalisation on my business. I also hope to write a short note to my fellow friends in water industry.

Last night my cousin Nasir Zihni gave me a book from Mecca entitled The Creation of the Universe by Haron Yahya. To-day I bought a management book by Dr Rosabeth Moss Kanter entitled World Class so that I may understand better the effects of globalisation on my business. I also hope to write a short note to my fellow friends in water industry.

At last I finished reading the Painted House!

I am reading The Painted House again.Not very interesting really.....now getting fed up and started reading the Code Book.

LIST OF BOOKS BOUGHT IN 2001:
-Refer to Bookshelf

On second count, I discovered that for the year 2001, I have bought 18 books. I gave away 2 books as presents, and managed to read 12 books only. Another four books to read early next year.

Now, I am on chapter 3 of Sungai Mengalir Lesu, a novel wriiten by A Samad Said. He really knows how to use the language that made him Tokoh Sastera. Saya akur kehebatan Pak Samad! If we want to be successful in our work,one of the things is that we must be well versed with the tools of the trade.

cerita kedai kopi #81-[19/12/2001]
 
 
 
 
 

Remembering Ramadhan...

Again, I bade farewell to Ramadhan al-Mubarak. Thanks to Allah swt for His mercy that I was  able to fast in the holy month of Ramadhan 1422.I hope and pray that I will once again meet the next Ramadhan,1423. As a muslim, I fast during the day-lights and I do not have many stories to tell from my conversations while having coffee or tea. Occasionally, I did have some time after our teraweh prayers to sit down with my fellow neighbours at our 'surau' (minor mosque) and we chatted after the prayers over a cup of tea and some cakes before we go home. I think it was a time well spent to talk and to get to know my neighbours closer. Our urban life-style does not allow much interaction between neighbours-many of us hardly know our next door neighbours especially in big cities like KL. Most of the time,we just say hello as and when we meet them on our way to office or back home-that is all. By being at the mosque during Ramadhan, it allowed more time for most people to meet and get to know one another. Truly, this is one of the many benefits of going to pray at the mosque.

Now, I am back home with sweet and sad memories of 'balik kampung'(return to one's village). I was happy to meet my mother,brother,sister,relatives and friends.I was happy and even nostalgic to be 'home' where I was born,to see the school that I first learnt the alphabets and simple multiplication tables and to meet familiar faces that I grew up as a child. I was happy to eat 'moreh'(drinks and light foods) after teraweh prayers at the same surau that I prayed and played truant when I was a kid. It also reminded me of my late father who used to lead the teraweh prayers. Quietly, I told myself how lucky I am.

Most of the places in my kampung have changed over the years but a few remain as they were someforty years ago.On the other hand, I was equally sad because only a few of my elders are round-many had died over the years. I am no more a young man, and soon will have to take the place of my elders. During one 'asar prayer, I was the only makmum-for many young people have left the kampung. That is the cycle of life. A few of my relatives are gravely sick;even my fifty-two  year old uncle is still paralysed due to a recent stroke and my cousin is suffering from cancer. One of my classmates that I met at a kenduri at my uncle's house looks like a 60 year old man. My kids got a shock looking at him when he told us that he got eight children and already a grandfather.By the way, he is only 49 years old-same age as me. He is a father who supports his family using his 'tulang empat kerat'.(physical efforts).The hard life he had undergone was reflected on his wrinkled and worn out face. Again, I whispered to myself how lucky I am.

Balik kampung is an annual ritual for urban population who hailed from kampung. It is at least oncea year affair that many of us do. I believe not less than a million do it without fail every festive season and I think it is a good practice that we must maintain despite its negative effects like road accidents. I beg to differ with a local TV commentator who said that balik kampung is 'budaya lapuk'( obsolete culture). To be modern we do not have to drop our religious and cultural values and practice. Japan is a living example. In fact, I agree with with Dr Siddiq Fathil in his monograph produced by IKD that modern Malays need even more religious and cultural values to ride the New Millennium. I am afraid that our society will get lost on the road  for modernisation and globalisation if we start discarding our good religious and cultural values and practices.

Everyone of us has a story to tell every time we balik kampung.This year my family and me went home from KL to Bachok by train. We boarded the train(Kenali Expess) at KL Sentral at 7.08am and arrived at Wakaf Baru by 6.45pm. The KTM officer told me that we are 20 minutes late. To me, by Malaysian standard it was a perfect journey in term of time. My ever helpful brother in-law with his Volvo 920 was at the railway station to pick us up and he even got some food and drinks ready so that we can 'buka puasa ' in the car by about 7.02pm. How lucky some people are! Please don't get jealous because last year it was the opposite when no one turned up to pick us up because our train was delayed by 6 hours.(You can read the story entitled The Longest Journey Home at my Travelust,Pergi website-http://www.geocities.com/mohdadib/). Three days later,on the eve of Hari Raya Puasa(15/12/2001) my cousin left KL at about 9 a.m and managed to arrive at his father's house in Bachok, Kelantan at 2a.m the next day-The Hari Raya itself. The road was full with cars and at certain stretches in Pahang and Kelantan the road was under water due to heavy rainfall. In fact, I could safely say that many of us from the east coast were having a wet Hari Raya celebration. Only on the third day of Hari Raya that we can move slowly around even with our car.Kota Bharu was jammed with cars at every round-about and traffic junction. Most of my relatives were busy during the third Hari Raya,so I have to engage a private taxi(privet sapu) operated by Pak Lah who lives 200 metres from my house to send my family to the railway station. His car is a 20 years old Toyota, no air-con, smelly and there was one inch of water in it.On the way he told us how he raised four children by doing part job as driver privet sapu taxi because he was only a school gardener.(Pak Lah retired three years ago). Despite his low income and educational background, he managed to get two of his children to the universities. To me, that is a real achievement! As we endured the uncomfortable ride, I exchanged glances with my kids to ensure that they listen to Pak Lah 's story and telling them how lucky they were as compared to Pak Lah's children.We took The Wau Express from Wakaf Baru railway station at 6:38pm and arrived in KL the next day around 7:30am the next morning -almost on time by KTM standard but the train had to stop just before  Bangsar for almost 45minutes before we could enter the ultra modern KL Sentral Railway Station! Reason- there was a black out at KL Sentral ! Otherwise, my train journey would be almost perfect. That is too good to be true;-)

Despite the heavy rain during the time I was at my kampung, I made an extra effort to visit as many friends and relatives-especially the older and the sick ones.The lessons that I learnt from this short stay at my kampung are really a lot. Some have great spiritual impacts and effects on me. It would be meaningless for me to elaborate because they were of experiencial and personal in nature.If you wish to know more about it, just go home more often, walk around and meet your kampung folks.

Now, we are in Syawal and let's maintain and continue our good deeds and behaviour until the next Ramadhan. And let our balik kampung be our annual pilgrimmage to renew( tajdid) and rejuvenate our religious foundamentals, cultural roots and values.....and pass them on to the next generation, insyaAllah.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Semasa bercuti raya,aku sempat baca monograph Melayu Baru karangan Siddiq Fadhil.

Now I am reading Wired and FastCompany-Dec,2001. Both cost me RM51!

Email dari Madolah on my writing:

Adib,

Lazimnya seorang yang 'alim tidak akan mendabik dada
di depan khalayak ramai yang dia itu seroang 'alim
atau lebih arif dari orang lain.

Orang yang berilmu tidak akan mendongak dan
menghebahkan kepada duan yang dia itu behat.

Adib,

dari hati yang tulus saya nyatakan hang memang boleh
menulis. Saya masih ingat, semalam ada kawan kita dah
baca apa yang di tulis oleh cikgu Rahim di Mingguan
Malaysia. Seorang penulis biasa nya bermula dari
tulisan yang kecil-kecil.

Setelah dapat pendedahan sedikit demi sedikit, penulis
itu akan menimba ilmu dan akan mengexpress kan nya di
bukut coretan...... seterusnya akan di tulis di dada
akhbar... kemudian, membukukan nya seterusnya aktif
terus didalam penulisan.

Didalam menulis ini saya salute juga Pak PM kita - Dr.
Mahathir. Walaupun beliau sebaok dengan tugas-tuegas
PM, Ketua Negara, Wakil Parlimen dan wakil rakyat,
beliu sempat menulis. Banyak buku-buku telah beliau
tulis. Yang tersohor dan controversi at one time is
his book 'The Malay Delime'. Sekalrang saya rasa,
apart from book on him wrote by other authors, beliau
telah mengeluarkan tidak kurang dari 10 buku on
variuous topic. He is a doctor.

Based on that, I am confident, you as an engineer, one
way will publish your book dan market it. Your cerita
kedai kopi is good. If you compile it, it be a better
seller........ Mungkin hang boleh memberi tajuk
"Memori Seorang Pengembara". Lepas itu hang akan
keluarkan buku "Memori Seorang Jurutera". Lagi
buku-buku berkenaan "Water Management di Malaysia" dan
lain-lain lagi.

Setakat nak carikan publisher/printer tu kami boleh
tolong.

Hang akan dapat royalty.

Semuga berjaya.

salaam
MA

Semalan Negara kehilangan satu tokoh yg sukar dicari ganti-Usman Awang.Berikut adalah satu email yg aku tulis kepada rakanku:
Madolah,

Masyarakat sepatutnya berkabung kehilangan sastrawan negara yg begitu
prolifik semasa hidupnya.Tapi sayang seribu kali sayang, masyarakat kini
lebih tertumpu kepada yg berpangkat ,berkuasa dan berharta.Sastrawan kita
kadang2 nak hidup pun susah.Begitu juga dengan tokoh ilmu ....

Dalam buku The Asian Renaisance karangan Anwar Ibrahim,beliau ada
membicarakan supremacy of culture and knowledge.Culture comes before the
empire, not the other way around. Kisah Si Tanggang yg lupa diri ,lupa asal
usulnya telah di sumpah menjadi batu oleh ibunya yg terhina dengan sikap
angkuhnya .Sekarang kita lihat ramai Si Tanggang dalam pelbagai
bidang.Manyarakat telah terpedaya dengan budaya Barat dan telah meninggalkan
budaya dan nilai timur kita yg mulia.Sebab itu sudah ramai yg telah tesumpah
menjadi batu-sumpah oleh Ibu Pertiwi!.Batu dalam ertikata badan yg sudah
kehilangan rohnya. Amat malang sekali nasib bangsa kita:-((

----adib,

----- Original Message -----
From: "Saa'il Bareed"
To:
Sent: Friday, November 30, 2001 11:35 PM
Subject: Re: [sdar] Usman Awang


> sdr Adib,
>
> sebutir lah mutiara yang telah kembali keRahmatullah
>
> Semuga Allah memasukkan arwah kedalam golongan mereka yang beriman,.
>
> salaam
> MA
>
>

Munir and me watched Harry Potter movie this morning.
Very good!

In My Own Write
The family that reads together...
By Vasanthi Ramachandran
“The man who is too busy to read is never likely to lead.”

B.C. Forbes

A DIARY which writes back; portraits with curlers in their hair each night; a professor who dies but does not notice it; children flying on brooms playing a ball game called Quidditch and magic hats which tell a person’s character.

Magic and more can be found in “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer”s Stone” making the book, the movie and its author the hottest items this millennium.

It is impossible not to be sucked into JK Rowling’s contemporary wizard world that is so real and yet goes beyond anyone’s imagination.

However, though the film has a lot going for it, I would say that there is a lot more of the picturesque stuff that director Chris Columbus (who also did Home Alone) could not capture.

Rowling’s narration using new words, new games and new names is so unique and amazingly-believable. That is the beauty about a good book and a successful author.

In a well-written fantasy, the reader will depart from reality and be absorbed into the fantasy of it.

With the success of Harry Potter, we realise what children really want from books — fantasies, twists and the ability to identify with the characters that they care about. But most of all children want to know that justice prevails, there will be good over evil and that there are clear distinctions between right and wrong.

Though children read mainly for pleasure, we can weave in lessons, meanings and messages with a beautiful narration.

“I wanted to write a book that I enjoy now and would have enjoyed when I was 10,” said Rowling, a single mother whose own life magically transformed from living on unemployment benefits to being one of the richest in the UK.

Rowling came out of nowhere to hit the top of the adult hardcover bestseller list all over the world. Her book has brought a new phenomenon in reading — a book that both adults and children enjoy with the same intensity.

I understand Rowling’s euphoria when she said, “I love writing these books. I don’t think anyone could enjoy reading them more than I enjoy writing them.” Her success is the dream of any writer.

Rowling, wrote on scraps of paper in a local cafe while her three-month old slept at her side. “It was pretty cold and miserable in the flat, so as soon as Jessica fell asleep in her buggy, we’d head for the cafe and I would start writing,” said Rowling.

Her ideas first evolved when she was stuck on a delayed train to London.

“It started with Harry, then all these characters and situations came flooding into my head. It was an excitement I’d never known before. But it took me six years to write the book.”

Rowling clearly possesses both ear and eye for the unexpected, working her own brand of magic with turns of phrase and flashes of humour that are subtle. Undeniably, Rowling’s series plucked an imaginative chord, and children responded with enthusiasm. These vibrations rocked the adult best-seller lists as well and got the attention of the media.

Indeed, what it boils down to is, there is no substitute for reading, even in this era when knowledge could be acquired from other means. Reading is the key that takes us to a world of thought, fancy and imagination that is beyond our everyday experiences.

Sadly, Malaysians hardly do read. They read textbooks merely to pass exams.

A lot must still be down to change this. Reading must be seen as a fun thing - a family activity, if possible.

Well, the Harry Potter series have indeed given my three children, my husband and I a lot of joy. The books have become a conversation topic as well as invoked other fun activities.

Start by reading the first book or catch the movie and you will know what I mean...

* The writer can be contacted at hsskns@pc.jaring.my

The family that reads together....

Dear Vasanthi Ramachandran,

Referring to your article in the NST to-day, I can only dream of it. I have three kids ( all boys ranging from 12 to 20 yrs old) and only my second son enjoys reading . I have tried many methods, but the other two of my boys just only read their school text books:-((

Btw, my wife and me read books at home. Any tips?

On the other hand, I started a mailinglist among friends who enjoy reading. Please check it out at : http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bookcafe
You are aslo welcome to join us.

Best regards,

---Mohd Adib Noh