Through the eyes of a child...

everything is beautiful... even the smallest, the simplest thing...

and looking at the eyes of a child, you can't avoid to feel that everything is nothing but beautiful...

doesn't this smile just melts your heart? so sweet...

that's the magic of a child... something so pure, so innocent, so sincere... lovable...

Fiqah Berinteraksi Dengan Non-Muslim

A Muslim guide to interaction with non- muslim...

A very good & a very useful book. I've seen this book a few times on the book rack at the book stall. Each time I said I'll buy this book and never did buy it. Until recently when I have a doubt on whether I can or cannot carry pork last month, I straightaway bought this book without stalling. I needed help and I can tell you that this book is a great help.

I just finished reading this book and I can tell you that it answers a lot of questions on how we Muslims can mingle freely with our non-muslims friends, colleagues, neighbours etc without scratching our faith, our beliefs and obedience to Allah. This book is especially helpful when you have really good non- muslim friends. There are times in our friendship that we have doubts on whether we can or cannot do a certain thing. Take my dilemma for example...

However I feel like this book doesn't really go into depth on explaining certain areas. So, you still need to get help from the expert... just make sure you go to the right expert ok... Do not go to the liberal ones *wink*

This book answered/ discussed some questions with regards of the followings:

1.   Swine/ Pork

2.   Dog
3.   Halal meat/ food
4.   Alcohol
5.   Funeral
6.   Marriage
7.   Neighbour
8.   Greetings
9.   Medical/ Health treatment
10. Celebration
11. Business
12. Aurat
13. Converts

and a lot more...

I'm really grateful that Mohd Nidzam Abd. Kadir wrote this book and Telaga Biru for publishing it. In a world where interactions between muslims and non-muslims cannot be avoided on a daily basis, especially in our beloved country where we strive to live as harmonius and peaceful as possible, this is the kind of book that we, muslims can rely on as a basic guidance.

When boredom strikes...

If you think that boredom can only strike when you have nothing to do, well I can tell you that is not true. You cannot convince me otherwise because I am the living proof! Muahahahhaaaa...

I have a lot of things to do. A lot! But unfortunately, when my brain tuned to the 'i'm so bored' channel, I do everything other than the things that I'm suppose to do.

OMG! It's a dangerous sickness this boredom... and I hope I will be cured by tomorrow morning :)

So what did I do during my boredom?

I redesigned my blog... I tried a few cute free templates on the internet... I changed this, I changed that, I changed this again,  then I changed that again... in the end, the only thing I changed was the picture on top... but still, I hope you like it even though I think it's not really suitable. The picture was shot by me & I call it 'Misty'...

I'm still a little bored while writing this and I think you can sense it...

So, I better stop now...

Memorable Ulsan & Busan

Anyeong hai seyo!

I was only in Ulsan for 4 days... and a few hours in Busan... but, I can honestly tell you that it was a memorable experience.

I went to Ulsan for work of course, for Ulsan is an industrial city, not so much of a tourist spot. When I was in Seoul, I was not very impressed with the city because I think it is almost the same with KL (I believe a lot of people disagree... but hey, this is my personal opinion. I'm entitled to it *wink*)

But when I get to Ulsan and went around the city... I was so impressed. The petrochemical complex in Ulsan is huge! Nothing compared to the one we have in Malaysia.

I was especially impressed with Hae-un dae shipyard. OMG! Truly impressive.

Picture from the internet

My trip to Busan was really a short one but enough to make my mouth opened- wide at the sight of Busan from the Rainbow bridge. I was in a moving car and the night was dark... so I didn't take any picture. But the sight was like the picture below.

Rainbow Bridge is the one on the far top left.

Picture from the internet

So, what made my trip to Ulsan and Busan so memorable?

It was the PEOPLE there... I met so many nice people in Ulsan and two very nice ladies in Busan. Those in Ulsan are my Korean colleagues and the two in Busan are the friends of Mr. Heo who cooked very delicious Korean Curry *nyum nyum*... massissayo!

My colleagues in Ulsan are mostly guys... engineers, technicians and chemists. Somehow I'm in charge of a system modules where the users most of the times are guys :) There are pros & cons... but so far, I've seen more pros than cons. Fortunately for me, they are nice guys. So, when I was in Ulsan, there were definitely more pros... lucky me!

Mr. Park & Mr. Lee took me to a Korean Seafood Restaurant (a pork free restaurant in case you wonder). So I got to taste a few of traditional Korean foods, including the famous Kimchi... My favourite was Al-bab rice... so yummy! Cho aiyo!

Thank you Mr. Park & Mr. Lee!

Al-bab rice... like the one I enjoyed... minus the egg yolk...

Picture from the internet

If I didn't meet all the nice people in Ulsan & Busan, I'm pretty sure my trip would have been a plain one. So, I'm really really grateful that our paths crossed even for just a few days... or a few hours. Because of the pleasant encounters, I wouldn't mind going to Ulsan again :)

So, please remember to be nice to everyone we meet because we never know what kind of impact we might have on them...

I always smile whenever I remembered my business trip there... so nice...

Not to forget, my big thank you to Mr. Heo for driving me around... showing me the place... he even braved the extremely, icier than ice, cold winter night at the beach just because that one crazy lady insisted to visit that place... heheheeee... You must be very proud of your country... and the drive to/from Busan was so much fun! :)

You'll make a good tour guide Mr. Heo... *wink wink*

Please enjoy some photos of Ulsan and some misc photos that I took during my trip...

Petrochemical complex in Ulsan

Winter Nights & Days...

Kamsahamnida!

Can I carry pork?

I'm going to Korea again and a colleague there asked me to bring dried meat for her. At first I wasn't sure what kind of meat she meant. But I was pretty sure that she wanted the kind of meat that is not halal for me... which is pork.

So I asked another colleague to help me buy the meat since she was the one who introduced that dried meat to my Korean colleague. In the process, I wondered how I'm going to carry that meat. I think I can carry pork since I never heard any restrictions against carrying it. The restrictions are specifically against eating it. Unlike alcohol... we can't drink it, we can't eat it, we can't hold it, we can't carry it, we can't buy it, we can't serve it, we can't sell it... The last two, I saw a lot of muslims doing it. Maybe they don't sell it, but they are the cashiers at the supermarket. I wonder if they know the hukum...

Ok, back to my story...

I was in doubt, so I turned to an 'ustaz' friend of mine. His answer was clear and straightaway answered my question :)

Thank you Ipin...

* his answer, in Malay

*****

Membawa babi tidak haram. Membawa dengan niat untuk memberi makan kepada bukan Islam juga tidak haram. Yang haramnye ialah memakan babi. Itu je.. make sure kamu jaga kebersihan, sebab mende tu najis berat. Kalau pegang pun tak haram, cuma kena basuh dengan cara yang betul.

Berbanding dengan arak, ia telah dimaklumkan secara jelas di dalam hadis diharamkan segala yang melibatkannya.

Bacalah Al-Fatihah dengan khusyuk supaya tindakan kita di pandukan ke jalan yang lurus.

*****

Short, simple and straight to the point. That's why I always like to ask him...

So in conclusion, we muslims CAN carry pork. What we cannot do is eat it. But, please make sure you 'samak' properly afterwards.

Still I was a bit worry about having to carry the meat. I've never done anything like this. But... I am very fortunate to have understanding colleagues here... My team member will help me carry the meat since they know that pork is not halal for me. I am very much grateful :)

Please correct us if we are wrong.

An advice from Ipin * In Malay

Biasakan menghayati Al-Fatihah bila berdepan dengan perkara-perkara yang shubahah & meragukan.

Give it 6 months :)

In between master data loading for system go-live preparation... pre-load signoff, spinning eyes, postload signoff, spinning eyes, data verification, spinning eyes, data correction, spinning eyes, error identification, spinning eyes... heheheeee...

Today, I just want to share a proven fact, based on my own experience... my friend in HR once told me that it will take at least 6 months for anyone to adjust to a new working environment. That is why most companies apply a 6 months probation period. However, what I found out is that this is not specific to adjusting to working responsibilities. It also applies to working relationship, friendship, personal relationship... this concept applies to all aspect of life :)

Adjusting to the new responsibilities is not as hard as adjusting to the new people around us, don't you think?

Usually, in the beginning when I get myself into a new environment, I'll complaint... many or not, depending on the people and the nature of the work... but after a while the complaints becomes lesser and lesser. Perhaps things has gotten better, I've gotten good at what I do, the people has improved... most importantly, perhaps I have improved... I manage to adjust to the new environment and to the people around me.

It takes time, but we have to do what we have to do... eventually, things will not be as hard as it used to.

I admit that some people will not make things easier... they are just plain stubborn and egoistic and 'bodoh sombong' and 'perasan bagus'... heheheeee... in this case, please go to the proper channel to express your feelings. Get advice on what can be done to handle this kind of person. DO NOT talk bad things about your colleagues to another colleagues, especially if you're not sure whether it is safe to do so. Because words get around... you don't want to be in more trouble than you already are.

So next time you have a bad impression or problems with new colleagues, give it a few month before you make up your mind about that person. Remember, it takes at least 6 months to adjust.

As for me, things has gotten better... I understand about the people that I work with even though they are very different in most things. I understand now that, sometimes they don't mean to be difficult, only that they don't know how to make things 'easy'... in addition to that, each and everyone of us has a different definition of 'easy'... it's not easy to comply to each standard.

I'm right, right?

Like what experts always say, the key to a good relationship is communication. Sometime and to some people, this is not an easy thing to do, but then again... we have to do what we have to do.

I hope what I share today is useful...

Have a successful life everyone!

A dispute? Really?

Tight schedule, hardly have any time to blog… but I have something to say about the current ‘steamy’ affairs in my country. 2010 kicking off to a bad start… Can I expect to see a bright light for the rest of this year? Blurryyyy…

A religious dispute between Islam & Christian… over the court decision to allow Catholic weekly 'The Herald' to use the term ‘Allah’ in its Bahasa Malaysia section, that's what I understand about this issue from Malaysiakini. Different religions in Malaysia have been living together for more than just 52 years... now we’re having disputes? Very unlikely. This smells very fishy… at least to me.

Q1: How can our court make this decision? Can’t they see that this kind of problems will surface? Are they really making decisions based on only facts? In this case, I think what court should have done is to advise the affected religions to sit together and have a discussion first. I can’t help but wonder... can we rely on our court to make sound decisions?

Q2: On the attacks on churches around KL. I honestly believe that ‘someone’ out there is planning on a veryyyyyyy bad & sneaky game. I feel like, the incident that happened that made me cancelled my Jogja trip, was kind of a game to test us from the outside. Now, they are trying to play with us from the inside.

I sound like someone who’s afraid to face the truth, but putting my ‘criminal minds’ hat on, I think I’m right (so perasannn…) Seriously, don’t dismiss this possibility.

So, what I want to urge those who happened to read my blog, let’s say that they are trying to play us, we must refuse to be a puppet in their game.

Let’s say I’m wrong… and those people who attacked the churches and say that they did it for ‘Islam’, all I have to say is, how dare you? How dare you tarnish the name of Islam? Igniting fights when Islam itself means peace?

To all of us, think with our heads and our hearts. Don’t get carried away with what we read or hear in the news. We’re wayyyy smarter than what 'they' think... whoever 'they' are... *wink*

PEACE!