EID MUBARRAK

Salam Alaikum to All...

Can't update much cos I am now at home - On Leave till 3rd January.. yo hoo !!!

But the not so good news is - My Baby Katkoot dah 4 dayz teberry2, gif Barley & cut down the milk pon does not really work

The good news is - He is as active as ever ! Alhamdullillah.... not whiney or melepek !

Juz to wish all of you sis.....

EID MUBARRAK !!

InsyaAllah, each and everyone of us will be blessed by the Almighty & given the chance to visit Mecca to perform our Haj... Ameen

















and

HAPPY NEW YEAR !!

InsyaAllah, 2007 that will come and all the years that follows will bring lots of joy, happiness & prosperity to you and family (eh cam pledge pulak... hehe)



Wassalam....

"Fear None but Allah"

Another gud speech by Yvonne Ridley - ref to my post on "How I came to love the veil" (10/11/06). Make some tym to read...


Yvonne Ridley's Speech at EWAMY, Cairo (EGYPT)
EWAMY - Cairo, Egypt Friday, November 24, 2006

"The Arabic language is one of the cornerstones of Islam, as we have heard today from our brother, so I do apologize in advance that this is one of the many areas of Islam I've yet to master.

Islamically, I am very young, having reverted in 2003. And while I have much to learn I can identify with the frustrations shared by young Muslims today.

I know 9/11 had a huge impact on the world, but it wasn't really the start of something. It was the continuation of a legacy of US imperialism & its fear of Islam.

Just over ten years ago, fit young Muslims across the globe flooded into Bosnia to help their brothers & sisters fight for their survival against the Serbs who were carrying out a genocide sanctioned by the silence of a watching world.
The jihad brought together Muslims fm all nationalities, status & culture. All were united; even those who could not travel to fight helped in other ways such as fund-raising, public awareness events & demonstrations.
The impact was to stop the genocide. Western intervention, when it happened, came only after it was apparent that that the Bosnian Muslims were heading for victory. The establishment of an Islamic state deep in the heart of Europe was simply too much to bear & so the West intervened. This is not my conclusion, but US President Bill Clinton admitted it in his autobiography.
This fear of Islam has now evolved in the last 10 years to such an extent that the blood of our brothers & sisters is now flowing like rivers across Chechnya, Kashmir, Palestine, Afghanistan, Iraq & we saw recently what happened to Lebanon.

I have walked through many of those killing fields & let me tell you the twisted, blown up limbs of our Muslim brothers & sisters look exactly like those pulled from the rubble of the Twin Towers.
Yet the message of today is quite clear. Muslim blood is a cheap commodity.

Meanwhile tens of thousands of innocent Muslims continue to be tortured in far away dungeons and cages in Guantanamo Bay, Bagram airbase in Afghanistan, Abu Ghraib, Diego Garcia & ghost prisons throughout the world.
Others are tortured in Syria, Jordan, Morocco, Tunisia, and Algeria and even here in Egypt. Brothers are being tortured at the behest and request of the United States.
So what sort of message does that send out to our young people?

They read abt the heroic exploits of Salahudddin Ayyoubi, Khalid bin Walid, Tariq bin Ziad & listen intently to stories of courage & bravery about our beloved Prophet Mohamed.
Do you know, five years ago I had never even heard of The Prophet, but now I would give my last drop of blood to protect his name, his honor & his memory.
Even in death he continued to show how strong he was by uniting the Ummah in protest at those vile cartoons from Denmark.

Our modern day heroes include those two sixties martyrs Malcolm X & Sayyid Qutb, both whose writings have helped define me as a Muslim.
These are the sort of role models & influences our youth need to follow, but instead they receive confused & mixed messages.
One minute they are told the fear no one but Allah while the next minute they are told to dilute their Islam & keep their heads down.

Since the events of 9-11, there has been an unrelenting campaign launched to change Islam into something more palatable to Western society.
The vision is a secular & cultural Islam at peace with the world through her submission to her oppressors rather than to Allah; an Islam devoid of jihad, Shariah and khilafah. The very things we are commanded by Allah to implement in order to establish Allah's deen on this earth.
And it is in evidence everywhere I look. Hijab are being ripped off the heads of my sisters in Tunisia, France and Turkey. Sisters in Holland & Germany are also in the firing line.
And in Britain, we have Jack Straw, the former British Foreign Secretary who questioned the veil. I am not having a white, middle-aged man telling me how to dress. Keep out of my wardrobe & that of every sister on this planet.

I pick up the newspapers in Cairo today to discover the Minister of Culture has called the wearing of the veil a regression.
How dare he say that? Why are the men in Egypt standing by and doing nothing to silence him? He is insulting the honor & dignity of every Muslim woman who chooses to cover.
Farooq Hosni is a disgrace to Islam. What sort of message does he send out to our young people with his weasel words?
The niqab, like the veil, like the hijab has become a symbol of a rejection of those negative Western lifestyles like drug-taking, binge-drinking and promiscuity. It is a statement telling the West we don't want to be like you.

These Arabs who choose to be more western than Westerners make me laugh. Do they realize how pathetic they look in the eyes of the rest of the world? This Minister should be sacked from his post for dishonoring every sister who chooses to cover.
I suppose he hides behind such descriptions as moderate. Again what sort of message does that send to our young people?

If we ask them to be moderate does that not suggest that there is something wrong with Islam that it needs to be toned down, dilluted?
The last time I came to Cairo I was called an extremist by none other than the Sheikh of Al Azhar Sheikh Tantawi. The reason for this? Because, I would not shake his hand.
What is a moderate and what is an extremist? I really don't know. I am a simple Muslim. I follow no scholars or sects. I merely follow The Prophet & the Sunnah. Does that make me an extremist?
I once said being a Muslim is a bit like being pregnant. You are or you are not. Whoever heard of anyone being moderately or extremely pregnant?
Islam has been under attack for 1400 years & we should have learned by now to put our trust in no one but Allah. Yet there are those who continue to kiss the hand which slaps them.
I am afraid that we can no longer put our trust in to someone just because they might wear Islamic dress or have a long beard? I notice quite a few long beards in here today, but I am not referring to you, brothers.
There are those Muslim leaders who claim to guide & protect us but not all of them have our interests at heart.

Our young people are going to have to be very discerning since the events of 9/11, Bali, Madrid & the London Bombings, to name a few.
There are individuals who for years rallied the masses to stand up for justice and support mujahideen groups around the world & now some have become embarrassingly silent while others condemn armed jihad, portraying mujahideen as terrorists and extremists who follow a distorted version of Islam.
In some ways we are all to blame. Our greatest shame has been our silence while martyrdom operations in Palestine & other occupied lands have been condemned as acts of terror as witnessed in 9/11 and the July 7 bombings.

Our young people have to be taught that what is happening in Palestine, Kashmir, Chechnya, Iraq & Afghanistan is legitimate resistance against a brutal military occupation, while crimes like 9/11 & the London bombings are blatant terrorism.
Equating the two only betrays our brothers & sisters who have no other option but to fight or face being wiped off the face of this planet.
The new slaves of the West criticize Islamist parties & governance by Shariah. Even student & youth movements which consistently campaigned for Palestine & Iraq have suddenly lost their tongues in a bid to be seen as Moderate.

In Britain we have an invasion of what I call the Happy Clappies. They are being flown in by the Government from the US, Canada, Yemen & Mauritania to preach a diluted form of Islam.
They are poisoning the minds of our youth & we should be very wary before the Happy Clappies spread across the world.
They attack Wahhabi groups in the most cynical manner. Some even misuse nasheeds, and I am deeply afraid that the Happy Clappies are infecting our nasheeds with the excesses of western pop culture.
The end result of all this has been a dilution of the deen of Allah, a weak and pacified Islam willing to accept the status quo in which Muslims are oppressed and subjugated; an Islam in which Muslims are content to sing & dance the night away to nasheeds, to concentrate on bettering their life in the West and to condemn the actions of their brothers & sisters who courageously resist occupation & oppression with whatever they have.
Even making dua for them now has become a crime. How long before we are told not to even pray for the mujahideen?

One of the greatest military general the world has known, Salahuddin Ayyubi, the liberator of al-Quds, was once asked why he didn't smile. He answered back that how could he smile while he knowing that Masjid al-Aqsa, remained under Crusader occupation.
I wonder what he would make of the state of the world today. I wonder what advice he would give our youth?

This is a world where Arab leaders belly-danced shamelessly in front of America while handing Iraq over on a plate.
The same Arab leaders look the other way as our beautiful Palestine is continually raped & sodomized, and that other great daughter of the Arab world, Lebanon. Where was the Arab world when she was so brutally assaulted?

And the war drums are beating again. Not only is the whole world watching, but so are our children, our youth, and our future.
We must nurture them, and inspire them with tales of the Prophet and the Sahaba.
As long as the Ummah continues to throw up figures like Khalid bin Walid, Salahuddin Ayyoubi, Sayyid Qutb & Malcolm X all is not lost.
The more we are oppressed by the tyrants the more we will fight back. That is the nature of Islam.

And this is the Islam our youth need to follow, be guided by & inspired.
Farooq Hosni and his like are pale imitations of real men. They have castrated themselves in a pathetic attempt to become more Western than the Westerners.
He will be consigned to the history books with barely a sentence while the courage & heroic resistance of our brothers & sisters will go down in chapters.
A rapidly increasing number of Muslim youth are now realizing that no matter how hard they compromise their deen to blend in with the wider society, when things go sour, they will be treated with suspicion.

The more we are told to forget Shariah, khilafah and jihad, the more Muslims will pay the blood price to uphold these values.
The jihad we are witnessing in Palestine, Iraq, Afghanistan, Kashmir & Chechnya is something noble, a just war against injustice and tyranny.
The actions of the jihadists pose absolutely no threat to the West or Western lifestyles & their resistance is not only justified but embraced & encouraged by international law.
The real religious extremists who pose the greatest threat to radicalizing our youth are the Christian Fundamentalists in the White House & Downing Street. Bush & Blair have become al-Qaeda's finest recruiting officers.

More & younger Muslims are waking up with the realization that it is not terrorism or extremism that is being targeted but Islam itself.
It is up to the Ummah to lead & inspire our youth, just as The Prophet led & inspired millions & continues to do so.

And the first lesson we must teach our youth is to fear none but Allah."

CONGRATS !! ... so proud of you !!!

http://cyberita.asia1.com.sg/singapura/story/0,3617,87286,00.html?

LATIHAN SUKAR SANDHURST BUAT ABUBAKAR LEBIH YAKIN
Oleh Soraya Salim

BELIAU hanya mempunyai satu impian - menjadi askar.

Namun, Leftenan Sheikh Abubakar Sheikh Abdillah Alkhatib sama sekali tidak menyangka beliau akan menjejakkan kaki di akademi tentera terunggul Britain - Akademi Tentera Diraja Sandhurst - dan berlatih bersama anggota kerabat diraja.
Apatah lagi menjadi kadet terbaik akademi itu!

Namun, itulah yang dicapai Leftenan Abubakar, 20 tahun. Beliau memenangi Pedang Kehormat akademi itu kerana menjadi kadet luar negara terbaik dalam kohortnya.
Beliau bukan saja menerima anugerah itu daripada Ratu Elizabeth II sendiri dalam satu majlis pengurniaan watikah tauliah Jumaat lalu, malah dapat, bersama ibu bapanya, makan tengah hari bersama ratu Britain itu.

Bapanya, Sheikh Abdillah Alkatib, 64 tahun, bekas mejar Pasukan Pertahanan Awam Singapura (SCDF), sementara ibunya, Cik Zainah Sheikh Abdullah Lajam, 54 tahun, guru Sastera Inggeris.
Menyingkap pengalaman di Sandhurst kepada Berita Harian kelmarin, Leftenan Abubakar berkata: 'Memang saya tidak nafikan latihannya amat sukar, apatah lagi dalam sekitaran dan cuaca berbeza. Saya, yang sudah biasa dengan cuaca panas, menggigil apabila perlu berlatih dalam cuaca sejuk. Pernah ketika kami berkawat, ribut salji dan hujan batu melanda.'
Leftenan Abubakar juga mendedahkan beliau mendapat kesempatan berlatih bersama anak Putera Charles, Putera William, iaitu cucu Ratu Elizabeth II.

'Kami dalam kompeni sama dan menjalani latihan bersama secara tetap. Putera William seorang yang amat baik. Orangnya biasa saja,' katanya.
Putera William turut menerima tauliahnya dalam majlis Jumaat lalu itu.

Leftenan Abubakar, bekas pelajar Maktab Rendah Meridian, dihantar ke Sandhurst Januari lalu untuk menjalani latihan 11 bulan selepas menyertai Sekolah Pegawai Kadet (OCS) di sini.
Seorang peminat bola sepak, beliau juga mewakili Sandhurst dalam sukan itu.

Cik Zainah, yang kini berada di Britain bersama anaknya, sempat menceritakan pengalaman beliau menemui Ratu Elizabeth II dalam jamuan tersebut.
'Saya, suami dan Abubakar dapat duduk semeja dengan Ratu Elizabeth. Ia merupakan saat amat istimewa bagi kami sekeluarga. Ratu Elizabeth sempat bertanya saya adakah latihan di Sandhurst terlalu sukar bagi anak saya. Saya menjawab inilah apa yang dia inginkan, bahkan ia membantu meningkatkan keyakinannya,' katanya.

Semasa dihubungi di sini, abang Leftenan Abubakar, Sheikh Faiz, 22 tahun, berkata adiknya menunjukkan kecenderungan dalam bidang tentera sejak di bangku sekolah dengan menyertai Pasukan Kadet Kebangsaan (NCC).

==========================================

Congrats ya Abu Bakar - We are all very very proud of you !!




Wonder if this will be published in the English Straits Times ....

Such an achievement for a Singapore Student !!
I am sure if it's 'someone' else - sure Straits Times come out BIG BIG & News oso will sure broadcast !!! ....

Let's wait and see.....

LET'S MEET & SHAKE !!!

LETS GET TOGETHER &
LET OUR HAIR DOWN !!!

I WILL BE ORGANISING THIS EVENT VERY SOON ....
A chance for us to meet, greet, eat, get on your feet and dance to the beat !!!... or you can just seat and tap your feet ...

Enjoy sumptous spread of Buffet while a professional dancer swirl her hips !!
For those who can't 'tahan' the beat... juz get up & join in the fun !!
Juz shake anyhow & anywhere - nobody cares !!!

Anybody wanted to put on a SOLO performance - pls do let me know ya ;)

Will post the details soon !.. Look out for it !!
and peleeezz make yourself Free on the day !!!

BARNEY at United Square

Intended to bring baby Katkoot for the "Free" Barney show at United Square. Takmo go on weekends coz sure will be pack. But for the last few days - his nose kept on running away, until tido pon tak lena - cian dier asyik tebangun2 coz cannot breath !! I bought baby chest rub & tonyo2 at his chest & throat at nite & he is a bit better.

Yesteday, he was ok - so I pon take half day. We left at 2.45pm for the 4 o'clock show. I predicted it will be packlah since it was almost 3.30pm.. but MAK KAU !!.... punyerlah superlong itu Queue & the seating capacity pon kenonet jerr !!... Luckily I was on the first floor, so I decided not to go down to join the que, instead juz to sit tepi-tepi tembok around the first floor! Luckily I found a small space with a good view of the stage !!! That place were also very pack redi - so first selitkan si Katkoot dulu, then I pelan2 selit jugak.. haha... hb juz stand at the side. Kesian the ppl that que, half of them cannot go in & hv to stand outside the area wif their babies - lagi terok !!

The show was ok la..., bcoz we were upstairs & viewed through the glass - kenot really hear properly. After that we went to Jalan Kayu prata restn there and had prata & tea-tarik...

The thing I wanna blog is about this MinahSalleh woman who sat next to me wif 4 children (2 hers & 2 her frenz).. we chat a bit & in our squeezy-meezy state, my Katkoot asyik tepijak her feet jerr... I said "Sorry ya, this space is too tiny"... to that she reply "Oh, it's olrite darling.. I still hv another foot !" .. so I reply back "well, if that doesn't work, u can also hv one of mine"... & we laughed !!

Isn't that great !... at the back of my mind, I was wondering.. what if that lady is a "Shinchiapolean"???.... sure I will get that "Stabbing nak mampos look" from her !!... followed by "Tsssk, tsssk... haiyah! " curse !!.. Then she will look at my baby & shake her stupid head, as if I am the one who pushed my baby to step on her !!... This might be my imagination, but really u know - our society is very the pekak-badak when it comes to social ettiques !!

Here's some pics - njoy !!

FOUR LETTER 'F' word....

This FOUR LETTER 'F' word is the best thing Singaporean will 'die' for !!!!

Anytime, anyday - juz tell them where & when and they will be there !
Rain or Shine - they can make time for it eventhough they are busy !
They enjoy having it eventhough they don't feel like having one !
They will wait patiently & queue for it eventhough it's trashy !
They will wake up early-early so they don't missed it !

It is better than the FOUR LETTER 'S' word that Singaporean enjoys best !!!

And from today u can enjoy this 'F' thing anywhere in public - at almost 600 hotspots Islandwide you can practice this without shame or guilt ! ...
Our government have been kind enuf to make this possible & gif the 'green light'!! ... CareFree days !! ..... Yohoo !!!

So what are you waiting for ?... let's go out in the open & do it together ...
No Money involved !!!! Enjoy !!!!............

What is it ??

.
.
.
.
Cleanse your thoughts ......
.....tsskk.... tssskkk... !!
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"F R E E" wireless surfing for 3 years !!!
Anything "F-R-E-E"
Anything for "F-R-E-E"
Go register !!...

Are you very lucky ?.. is yr home very near those comercial areas & are in the loop ?.... check here ... or visit http://www.ida.gov.sg/idaweb/marketing/infopage.jsp?infopagecategory=factsheet:wireless&versionid=1&infopageid=I3929

And what is the Four Letter 'S' word .......

.........."S-A-L-E".........

Wat to dooooooo ..... ??

I don't like to make a 'Venting' Entry ... or maybe I am such a hepi-hepi everything nevermind forgive & forget kind of girl (eh.. maseh girl eh ?)..... hahaha

But these have really gotten on my nerve to the MAX !!!! ...
And i am contemplating of calling the Neighbourhood Police,.. or not ?.. you tell me k.. after reading this short stories... hehe

STORY 1

Every morning around 7am, this 'pakcik' will ram his bike to start them ....
"Brrrr, Brrrr, Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr........Brrrr, Brrrrrrrrrrrrr............ Brrrr ..... Brrrrrrrrrrrrr.............." like that lah for a few minutes till he biked away........"Burrrrrrrrrrrr" and away he goes merrily off ! (mind you I live on the 3rd floor, next to the multi-storey carpark).

Most morning while he does this, my baby will wake up from his slumberland.... Sometimes in my hurry-scrury getting ready to work time, I manage to pat him back to sleep. At times, he won't go back to sleep & is up and about - making our parting so drama-mama (he will cry la when I go off) ...

Geram tau everytime I hear the first Brrrrrr... here he goes again !!!!

Anyway .........

STORY 2

This 'fatso' guy (malay boy ard 20+) ... every weekends around 3pm will come down with his setupid remote control car that makes the most deafening noise !!!! "Wueeeeeeeeeeeeeee............... Wueeeeeeeeeeee.............. Weeeek... weeeekkkk......... weeekkkkkkkk............" (those high pitch motor kind of sound).

Most of the days around that time, we are resting & baby is sleeping .... So u guess wat happen la ... my 'telinga tikus' light sleeper baby sure tekejut lah !! Not only him, if me or hb are taking our afternoon siesta, we also will be awaken by this irritating sound, even tengah tengok TB or bual-bual oso ped-up ! ........

I've heard some neighbours shouting from their window "Shut-up!".... but this didn't stop 'gundu' guy from manoeuvering that stupid little box with antenna, up and down the carpark lane just below my bedroom window. This will last for about 30-45 minutes!!!
I feel like throwing a pail of slimy-gooey liquid on top of his brainless brain (eh ?.. boleh gitu! ). Don't they hv a proper place or track for this hobby... somewhere in East Coast ?.. Or go la & play in the real road - let the real cars lenggek yr dummy car sampai penyek ! ... HaHaHaHa {evil laugh}...............

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
So you tell me, doesn't this give me a reason to be so damn geram ! ............
Ok la ... my baby is almost 2 yrs old, and even if he is up, it's always a joy to entertain him..
What if I hv a newborn ?... What if there are sick ppl needing their rest ?... What about the elderly ?.........
Tak behati perut, tulang jantong, limpa mempedal betul la all these people !

Phewwwwwwwww........ !! Ok dah ! ..at last I can use all those 'words' behind my hb ! (cos if he uses all these words I will say... "Don't say like that.... It's not nice u noe") ....... So I must always maintain my composure infront of him .......hahaha ......

So how ? Pe-Dup tau !... call the pulis & komplen ?? .. or still endure ?? ....
.. but as always, ''I Tak sampai ati .... " :(

Astagrafirullah Hal-'Azeem.........


(tengok ader iras2 tak their faces ?)

Wassalam......

A Wedding & An Anniversary

I saw the Victoria Secrets' sale ad on the newspaper on Thursday...
Sale on 24th - 26th November !
I hv been "knocking my head against the wall" what to get this colleague of mine who's getting married on 25th Nov... so tadaa !!.. question answered.. hehe
Hb was excitedlah when I said I wanted to take half-day off on Friday to go for the VS sale... hehehe!
So, off we went after I picked him up from his Friday Prayer at Darul Aman. Parked at Golden Shoe carpark, look & look, walk & walk, huff & puff around Raffles MRT.. maner ni Overseas Union House (written next to Raffles MRT) !!!!... cam nak tepleot & tecabot kaki sey... rupernyer on the other side, pat Clifford Pier - Shenton Way !!! ... kedodol betul tu advertisement tau - taroklah Map !!!

Ramai jugak orang... ! neway, browse punyer browse.. managed to get 2 pairs for the newlyweds & my hb pon sekaki bought 2 pairs for meself... hahaha ;) (but mine tak amek gambar - malu arr).

Saturday is kelam-kabot day... pagi do my weekly marketing, then the wedding pulak is at Jurong West ! Mak ooii.. punyerlah dekat dari Simei and hari pon ujan punyer lah al-Lebat ! But wat to dooo - makan nasik pakai sudu... gi jugak cos I'm close to this girl & her hb pon my colleague (both working in my companylah...hehe) .. so set off around 3pm (baby tido).. round & round..sesat walBarat.. sampai lah 4+ we reached there... Sit awhile & hv to rush home cos my Brother nak give all of us a treat at SAKURA (Downtown East) for his 10th AniBerSari. Yep ! all of us - my parents, 6 chirrens plus 6 chirren-in-laws & 20 of the cucus & 1 in the tummy..hehehe.... Satu gerabak !! (pics KIV). Balek wrap prezzee for my bro & wifey (alamak luper nak amek gambar pulak) .. after Maghrib we stret away go - big spread of buffet, but taste wise.. some nice, some ok lah... but nothing tak sedap... all edible (although I tak makan banyak varieties sangat)...

HEPI ANIBERSARI LITTLE BRO !...
...rajin-rajin & selalu-selalu la seleberet...hehehe

oh ya.. and wat do this little 'Katkoot' of mine 'die-die' wanna buy at the market ?.. u guessed it !



And on the way back from the wedding ?....
aizzz ! yang pat tangan tu tak cukup .. hehe

Carz....carz............. Helppppppppp!!!

About Shoes, Cars & Babies

This time I wanna blog abt a few things - 2 inspired by the other bloggers (kirer ni curik idea laa.. selain dari blog about Rayer ker rayer.. banyak sangat gambar rayer sampai cam pening al-lalat arr kepaler).. But I do hv some selected Rayer pics that I wanna upload, but postpone dulu sebelum ilham ni ilang ... hahaha

First Ilham dari Blog Lady-Lee. (eh..teringat dulu Mamadewi nyer blog pon ader gambar sepatu anak2 dier...hehe)

Like her, I'm an avid fan of SHOEs..... Shoes, shoes, glorious shoes ! But since, takleh beli banyak takot kener marah - so lepaskan geram pat my son... hahaha... Ni pon ader lagi tau yg si Katkoot ni tak suker sangat pakai (ntah maner my maid dah sorokkan..hehehe). Yg kecik2 kiut-miut baby2yer tu some dah buang, some yg baek dah simpan or bagi orang...

<-- eh ! tenampak pulak kasot2 ni.. hehe

And telanjor amek gambar, ni lah part of the CARz koleksen, aizz ! satu rumah kreter beserak

!

And the other inspired blog is about BABIES... oh how I miss having one in my arms *wink-wink*..

During the Eid season ader 5 sedarer-marer I bertambah Rezeki, Alhamdullillah.. so hepi for them :)

Nasibah - Girl (#3), Nadimah - Boy (#2), Zulfa - Girl (#1), Hassan - Girl (#1), Abdullah - Girl (#1)... aizz ! so many girls - I missed the boat lah....

Juz managed to visit 2 & 1 jumper tym wedding (but amek gambar 1 jer), lagi 2 KIV.... hehe.

VOTE can ??

Jangan Marah eh.. ni suker2 jer...

If you don't mind making a few clicks on yr keyboard - kasi xcersaiz sikit jari-jemari yg lembut tu.

Votelah for my baby ni, .... (by Wednesday 15/11)
cian dier tunggu pat depan pintu ..

hehehe... cam rhyme pulak..






to vote : click here
http://www.mumcentre.com/index.php?option=com_rsgallery2&catid=178&page=vote&picid=1464

Yang dah vote tu... Thank Kyu so much
Yang belum tu... tunggu aper lagi ? cepat lah vote ;)

How I Came To Love The Veil

If u hve sometime to spare - read this article...
If u hv more time - click on those underlined words which I hv painstakingly ;) ...provide a link.

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How I Came To Love The Veil
Yvonne Ridley, Washington post - London, USA
Monday, October 23, 2006

I used to look at veiled women as quiet, oppressed creatures -- until I was captured by the Taliban. In September 2001, just 15 days after the terrorist attacks on the United States , I snuck into Afghanistan , clad in a head-to-toe blue burqa, intending to write a newspaper account of life under the repressive regime. Instead, I was discovered, arrested and detained for 10 days. I spat and swore at my captors; they called me a "bad" woman but let me go after I promised to read the Koran and study Islam. (Frankly, I'm not sure who was happier when I was freed -- they or I.)

Back home in London , I kept my word about studying Islam -- and was amazed by what I discovered. I'd been expecting Koran chapters on how to beat your wife and oppress your daughters; instead, I found passages promoting the liberation of women. Two-and-a-half years after my capture, I converted to Islam, provoking a mixture of astonishment, disappointment and encouragement among friends and relatives.

Now, it is with disgust and dismay that I watch here in Britain as former foreign secretary Jack Straw {(read this - "2006 veil controversy")} describes the Muslim nikab -- a face veil that reveals only the eyes -- as an unwelcome barrier to integration, with Prime Minister Tony Blair, writer Salman Rushdie and even Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi leaping to his defense.

Having been on both sides of the veil, I can tell you that most Western male politicians and journalists who lament the oppression of women in the Islamic world have no idea what they are talking about. They go on about veils, child brides, female circumcision, honor killings and forced marriages, and they wrongly blame Islam for all this -- their arrogance surpassed only by their ignorance.

These cultural issues and customs have nothing to do with Islam. A careful reading of the Koran shows that just about everything that Western feminists fought for in the 1970s was available to Muslim women 1,400 years ago. Women in Islam are considered equal to men in spirituality, education and worth, and a woman's gift for childbirth and child-rearing is regarded as a positive attribute.

When Islam offers women so much, why are Western men so obsessed with Muslim women's attire? Even British government ministers Gordon Brown and John Reid have made disparaging remarks about the nikab -- and they hail from across the Scottish border, where men wear skirts.

When I converted to Islam and began wearing a headscarf, the repercussions were enormous. All I did was cover my head and hair -- but I instantly became a second-class citizen. I knew I'd hear from the odd Islamophobe, but I didn't expect so much open hostility from strangers. Cabs passed me by at night, their "for hire" lights glowing. One cabbie, after dropping off a white passenger right in front of me, glared at me when I rapped on his window, then drove off. Another said, "Don't leave a bomb in the back seat" and asked, "Where's bin Laden hiding?"

Yes, it is a religious obligation for Muslim women to dress modestly, but the majority of Muslim women I know like wearing the hijab, which leaves the face uncovered, though a few prefer the nikab. It is a personal statement: My dress tells you that I am a Muslim and that I expect to be treated respectfully, much as a Wall Street banker would say that a business suit defines him as an executive to be taken seriously. And, especially among converts to the faith like me, the attention of men who confront women with inappropriate, leering behavior is not tolerable.

I was a Western feminist for many years, but I've discovered that Muslim feminists are more radical than their secular counterparts. We hate those ghastly beauty pageants, and tried to stop laughing in 2003 when judges of the Miss Earth competition hailed the emergence of a bikini-clad Miss Afghanistan , Vida Samadzai, as a giant leap for women's liberation. They even gave Samadzai a special award for "representing the victory of women's rights."

Some young Muslim feminists consider the hijab and the nikab political symbols, too, a way of rejecting Western excesses such as binge drinking, casual sex and drug use. What is more liberating: being judged on the length of your skirt and the size of your surgically enhanced breasts, or being judged on your character and intelligence? In Islam, superiority is achieved through piety -- not beauty, wealth, power, position or sex.

I didn't know whether to scream or laugh when Italy's Prodi joined the debate last week by declaring that it is "common sense" not to wear the nikab because it makes social relations "more difficult." Nonsense. If this is the case, then why are cellphones, landlines, e-mail, text messaging and fax machines in daily use? And no one switches off the radio because they can't see the presenter's face.

Under Islam, I am respected. It tells me that I have a right to an education and that it is my duty to seek out knowledge, regardless of whether I am single or married. Nowhere in the framework of Islam are we told that women must wash, clean or cook for men. As for how Muslim men are allowed to beat their wives -- it's simply not true. Critics of Islam will quote random Koranic verses or hadith, but usually out of context. If a man does raise a finger against his wife, he is not allowed to leave a mark on her body, which is the Koran's way of saying, "Don't beat your wife, stupid."

It is not just Muslim men who must reevaluate the place and treatment of women. According to a recent National Domestic Violence Hotline survey, 4 million American women experience a serious assault by a partner during an average 12-month period. More than three women are killed by their husbands and boyfriends every day -- that is nearly 5,500 since 9/11.
Violent men don't come from any particular religious or cultural category; one in three women around the world has been beaten, coerced into sex or otherwise abused in her lifetime, according to the hotline survey. This is a global problem that transcends religion, wealth, class, race and culture.

But it is also true that in the West, men still believe that they are superior to women, despite protests to the contrary. They still receive better pay for equal work -- whether in the mailroom or the boardroom -- and women are still treated as sexualized commodities whose power and influence flow directly from their appearance.

And for those who are still trying to claim that Islam oppresses women, recall this 1992 statement from the Rev. Pat Robertson, offering his views on empowered women: Feminism is a "socialist, anti-family political movement that encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism and become lesbians."
Now you tell me who is civilized and who is not.

hermosh@aol.com
Yvonne Ridley is political editor of Islam Channel TV in London and
Coauthor of "In the Hands of the Taliban: Her Extraordinary Story" (Robson Books).

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Cool Slideshows

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another good read : THE REALITY OF HIJAB

"This is not surprising, considering that Islam is the fastest growing religion on Earth. What is surprising, for Westerners, is that 7 out of 10 (70%) people who become Muslim are Women! It is these same women who then go on to willingly observe the Hijab without coercion or force. The women of Hijab in the cities of London, Paris, New York etc, are not all immigrants who have just stepped off the boat, as many people think. Rather, many of them tend to be women of high intellect and education. Women who have experienced the bitterness of western oppression. Women of diverse nationalities and races, who are brought together as one, under the banner of Islam. "

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2 Thanks and 2 Sorries

Thanks #1
Friday nite, got a visit from Jue & family... (Tuper sampai nak amek gambar)
Thanks so much ya Jue .. it is so wonderful of you to come..
...Shukran Ghazilan

Thanks #2 (this is overdue)
To Jue also, for this Elmo & Big Bird .. suker sangat si Zed dapat ni, sampai makan pon tarok Elmo pat tepi ..
(Slamat I ingat nak semunyikkan these things b4 u come to my house, tak sampai ati tengok Jadul sedih biler u mentioned abt. his Elmo & Big Bird) ...














And now ..

2 sorries ..

My humble aplogies to Eli & Mas... Afwan Afwan.
Thanks so much for the invites but I really really can't make it to your homes .. maapkan patek ya...

Saturday my home kener serang wif my relatives & Sunday ader jempotan kawin, then go my aunt's house & my bro (open house).. tau tau tengok jam dah pukol 10 malam !!!...
Aizzz, where does the time flies.... ???

10 Dayz wif Baby...

10 days of being at home makes me one happy mama ..

Wif Hari Raya coming, I took off from work from Friday 20th October - all the way to 29th October.... WOoo hOoooooo !!!!
Monday 30th October being the day I dragged myself back to work & my mind constantly drifting to the wonderful times spend with my baby... (hb & my other 2 sons included lah ...).
Those wonderful time which my maid is enjoying everyday (me - minus the cooking, cleaning, laundry, ironing and other houseworks, of course .... hehehe).

Here's what I misses everyday while being at work :(



~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Then...
"Ummi... curtains for wat ?"
"put over yr head ? "
"make selendang ?"
"you can't see me........... "

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The best being... he kept coming to me to be pampered & 'manjer-manjer' ....


~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
P.S -
It's been 2 days now that my 'Katkoot' is having fever..... ): *sigh* :(
But Alhamdullillah, he is not cranky & is his happy self.. playing & laughing, eventhough his body is warm & his eyes are teary....
*** Get well soon ya baby ***

SYAWAL is here !!

EID MUBARRAK !!!

Syawal kini akan menjelmer,
Ku pohon maaf segaler doser..
Yang sengajer dan tak sengajer, semer,
Maklumlah, kiterkan maknusier biaser..

Kiter bersembang di ruang siber,
Ader yg belum, bersuer muker,
Hanya menekan keyboard pat komputer,
Kiter berbicarer tanpa suarer...
Takot tekehel, terkasar bahaser,
Terguris ati, tanpa sengajer...
Ampon dan maap juger ku pinter,
Maafkan peleezzz.. ku nak masok syurger...

From my Family,

EID MUBARRAK To All

Thanks for visiting my blog...
Hope u all enjoy it as much as I luv sharing it with you....
Heppi visitings & heppi holidays !!!

P.S - I will be on leave from 20 Oct - 29 Oct 2006, so if I don't come on-line and you all miss me... you know how to get me.... *wink*wink

Sebok-sebok Kueh !!

HARI RAYER semangkin dekat,
Buat Kueh semangkin hebat,
Tak luper make time to beribadat,
Penat, penat.. nak jugak rehat ....

Satuday - Suji



Sunday - Chocolate chips !

Ni semer dah siap, my mixer not working !!! aaarrrrggghhhh.....

Maybe it's the plug ?... ya Rabb ! punyerlah susah nak bukak ni plug - screw dah karat !!!
So, just potong the wire & pasang plug lain....
Alhamdullillah.... bepusing pon dier :)

Hasil nyer..... ta daaa........

KUEH TART...oooohhhh

(sempener Deepavali & Eid Fitri).......

Pakai sari pakai kebayer
Jangan suker terlalu ketat
Lagi Sebelas ari nak ari Rayer
Aku dah buat Kueh TART !!!!

Yeh... yeh.... dah buat kueh Afdal... wohooo !!!

Take leave yesterday to make Kueh Tart at my sister's house wif my sis, my niece & my nephew (tukang tarok inti)... ni kueh must do ramai2, if not boooooorinngg..........hehehe

Iftar there too... KFC delivery, Murtabak, Yong Tau Foo, Otak-otak...

Ok, as promised - here's some pics....


Sebelum di-bakar


Fresh - Out from the Oven


Close-up... hehe

So ? wat to do with the egg whites ?....

Macaroons with choc-chips & nuts...

Makan-makan Iftar

Ok lah..ok lah... Semer pon buat agar-agar Oreo ni, so I pon nak try arr !!... hehehe
My mum pon invite us for Iftar on Sunday, so boleh lah bawak skali ...
My nephew nak masok NS on Tuesday, so cam sent-off Iftar party lah kiter semer pat saner..
"Take Care my dear..InsyaAllah, u tak kener bully pat camp... & InsyaAllah u can come back for Eid.. Ameen. "

Part of the spread
Main Dish : Roti Jala, Kari Daging, Mee Goreng, Bubur Gandom, Gado-gado, BBQ-chicken, Salad ... Dessert - Epok2 sayor, Chin-Teng, Cocktail Jelly, Custard Pudding, Oreo Jelly, Rock Melon dan lain-lain)

Part of the house occupants
Cucu-cucu (20) & dalam perot (1) , anak & menantu (6 X 2), cucu menantu (1), my parents (2), maid (3)

And, ni lah gambar2 biler I make the Oreo Jelly (with my little elf helper) ... tapi after that I was wondering, - knaper kaler tak gelap cam yg I nenok in others' blog ?... ooohhh ... ader lain version rupernyer ... aizz, aizz, aizz.....
Then, I yg tamak crushed Oreo melambak sampai xtra so much - sprinkled at the top, & still got xtra - keep in airtight container for future use... hehehe
===============
Oh ya! before I terforget... Saturday, last minute my hb nak jempot kawan dier ni yg baru jadi pengatin, for iftar... dier dah lamer tak makan Mahshi (stuffed rice). So kiter balek pasar pukul 3.30pm & kelam-kabot buat (ni lecehnyer kerjer) !... Did the Mahshi : Wrapped in cabbage, stuffed in green & yellow capsicum & brinjal. Roasted 2 chicken, fry mutton liver, spline & kidney, tossed some salad & served with flavoured rice - cakes, fruits & tea for dessert .... yummy, yummy :)



Sebok jugak si Katkoot ni..hehehe

IFTAR with HABABA

10 days had passed ... the blessed month of Ramadhan.
How fast !... MasyaAllah

Till now, we iftar & terawih at home everyday....
Alhamdullillah, this year hb is around to be our imam, and my sons get to do the Terawih with us, InsyaAllah till the end of Ramadhan.. Ameen. Last year - hb was bz at the Geylang Bazzar and 2 years b4 that - at the Restaurant. I am glad.... Syukor.
May Allah blessed our family in this sacred month of Ramadhan & grant us everlasting contentment & happiness in this world, all thru' Jannah, InsyaAllah....

On Sunday, my maid wanted to take her off day. Hb and the 2 boys are going to Iftar at the Spore Arab Association. So I took the opportunity to go to my Ummi's home for iftar coz I know that my Abah will go to the Arab Asstn for the iftar too. Reached there ard 5pm. It was just me, baby, my Ummi & her maid. We had mee goreng, nasi beryani, bubor gandum & rojak... so nice iftaring with my Ummi again....

Baby was alone today, so he mummbles & babbles all day long, much to the giggles of his Hababa (my ummi) & her maid. Then when Hababa gave him a 'songkok', I laid for him a sejadah & he straight away said "Awaaababbah" & sujud ... Hehehe, but the songkok a bit too big & kept on dropping off ! so he kept taking & putting it back on his head... SubhanAllah, so cute (but we ketawernyer-ketawer, luper nak amek gambar !).

Neway, my hb also picked me up a bit late - till my Abah already came back home. Then my Abah said "Zed nak balek ?.. nanti lah dulu.. bual2 dengan Habib"... which my Ummi quickly said "dah lah, penat dengar dier bebual dari tadi tak setop2.... hehehe ".

And oh ya ! sempat I buat Chocolate kek again b4 I went to my parents home, tapi punyer lah kelam kabot - start at ard 3+pm & wanted to go off at 4.30pm !.... so the top a bit terhangus... tapi punyer lah sedap !..hehehe.
Buat 2 portions pasal that day buat 1 portion merembut - so nah amek ko semer !... tak sempat buat the ganache, so balek umah 11 malam buat... Cut the cake into half, spread at the centre & spread the rest on top... bebudak & bapak budak dah tunggu pat luar, cut for them some slices & put the rest in the fridge...
Ngantok & ni Katkoot pon blum tido !... dah 12 midnite lah... "Aggggghhhhhh Yaaaawwwnnnnn !!!!!"





I bought this cap looongg tym ago.. since my 'single' dayz...
~~~ "Chatters" - luk at the print on the cap !! *wink* ;) ... hehehe

A YEAR OLDER.... & $1500 poorer !!!

Shukran Ghazilan... for all the Doas & Wishes....

Luv ya all lots!!! Muackkkssssss !!!!!

Received this... isn't it cute :)


Thanks dear hb for the vonderful Chocolate Kek !!..... :)
===============================================

My 'best' birthday prezzie.... my vehicle won't start !
The agent quoted abt. $1500 for repair !!.... AAArrggghhhhh !!!!!! :(

Sabar...sabar.... Ramadhan Kareem.... ;)
==============================

Wet..wet Saturday !

SATURDAY, 23 Sept 2006 (3.30 - 6.30pm)

Brought Baby Katkoot to Bugis Junction.. I managed to get 2 shoes - dear HB paid for them ...Wohoo !!!

We had McD and as we are heading home, we passed by the fountain... Baby doesn't want to move, he was so excited to see those water jumping about ! Bit by bit he edges towards the water... ppl sitting around are looking & laughing - seeing him screaming & jumping joyously at the gush of water splashed onto him. He edged nearer & nearer and I hv to run after him ! Gosh ! we are entertaining the crowd !!... but nevermindlah they are enjoying my cute lil baby's happy reaction... hehehe !
Cameras are snapping around & everytime baby gets splashed with the gushing water, they laughed & clapped their hands !

Aiyoh, yoh ! he's already drenched & I'm getting wet too !!... Can't get him out !!.. he kicked & screamed whenever I took him away ! It's 6pm already & he's shivering, but yet doesn't want to bulge.. ppl are snapping way too many pics of my baby... hv to get him out !!!
So, I scooped him up - crying, kicking & screaming. Toweled him dry, put on a fresh T-shirt & off to the toilet to change him. His socks & shoes are totally wet, so he hv to go barefooted, nak kasi pakai my new shoes.. it's way too big for him.. haha ! ... and of all the days, we decided to bring him on an MRT ride !!... so cam anak 'sakai', set home with him sitting barefooted in the train !!






... in MRT - hehehe, cian anak aku, orang ingat kiter tak mampu beli kasot.



At night, thought of going to the next block (void deck) for our 1st terawih, but my two sons malas... so we juz terawih at home.... Alhamdullilah, si kecik pon sebok (tegok tu dgn kain pelikat dier... hehehe) !!

RAMADHAN KAREEM

SYAHRUL MUBAARAK
RAMADHAN KAREEM

HAPPY & READY TO WELCOME THE BLESSED MONTH OF RAMADHAN WITH ALL THE PRIVILEDGES IT WILL BRING !!

INSYA'ALLAH WE CAN CONTROL THE NAFSU INSIDE US - COS NASFU HAS A FAR GREATER INFLUENCE ON US THAN SATAN !!

INSYA'ALLAH WE WILL INCREASE OUR IBADAH IN THIS BLESSED MONTH & IT WILL STAY WITH US THROUGHOUT OUR LIFETIME....

YA ALLAH, PLS OPEN UP THE DOORS TO GOOD DEEDS AND MAKE MY PATH TOWARDS THEM EASY...
PLS CLOSE ALL DOORS THAT WILL LEAD TO SINS & MAKE ALL KIND OF OBSTACLES TO BLOCK MY WAY TOWARDS THEM...
PLS BLESS MY FAMILY, MY PARENTS, MY SIBLINGS, MY RELATIVES, MY FRIENDS AND ALL MUSLIMEEN.. INSYAALLAH, AMEEN

SALAM

ZOO Again !!

19 Sept 2006 - 3rd Trip to the Singapore Zoo
(0900 hrs - 1400 hrs)

I was a fine day - Alhamdullillah.

We set off from home at 8.30am & reached the Zoo around 9am.
5 hours of roaming around & we are exhausted ! Baby Katkoot also went to his dreamland ...
reached home around 2.45pm.

He's so brave & wanted to 'touch' every animal !

Even offer biscuit, and later, his teeny-wenny little finger for the baby goat to lick & gnaw at !!

To sum it up, here's some pics !! We had a GGrrrrreeeatt tym :)

Zoo.. here we come !!

Eh ? this Goats eh ?... not sheep lah...

Making frenz....

.... Nak balek (ni style baru dier jalan - cam datok2 tangan tarok pat blakang....hehehe)

Dah nak tido pon sempat amek gambar ... satu lagi !! (mat bunger2)

WEDDING PICTURES

FOR ZAINAH & SOME OF MY BLOGGER FRENZ THAT KEPT ON ASKING TO VIEW MY WEDDING PICTURES (some ony arr.. hehehe)

QUICK ! QUICK !!!!!... For Limited Period only !!.....
I'LL TAKE THIS DOWN SOOooooooooonnnnnnnnn!!!!


SORRY - TIMES UP !! TAKEN DOWN ....

WANT TO VIEW MORE ? ....
TAFADDAL TO MY HUMBLE HOME ;)

GIFTS ... Shukran

1st Gift - My friend send me this book all the way from Jakarta - she said this is the BestSelling book over there now & they are going to make this into a 'Soap Opera' drama next year... alaaa, cam criter Dia & Hikmah tu....
I am reluctant to pick a 'hard to put down' book now coz I wanna spend my free times with my Katkoot baby, and I know that I will be too 'loss' reading a book which I enjoyed. But since she kept bugging & asking me thru smses if I hv finished reading - I picked up the book to read lah...
THANKS HALEEM, lap ya many many - Muackkks !!! (Halimatos lah...)

Mmmpphh... ok liao ! finished reading. Verdict - so, so lah. Not so interesting to my standard, so many times the book left unread on the table... hehehe.

The whole setting of the book is in Egypt (mmpphh, that's why u asked me to read eh ?) - abt the life of an Indonesian man studying in Al-Azhar university. The good part about the book is it's full of Ayat2 (verses) from Qur'an & Hadith. Most conversations & incidents are reference back to the verses from the Qur'an & Hadith. The boring part is - the Hero of this book is too goody, goody, and all the 4 beautiful female characters in the book fell in love with him, and he ended up marrying 2 of them !(cam bagos jerr... hehehe).

Ok lah, don't reveal too much - saper nak pinjam, can get from me ; if not - can get at National Library (I saw it there).

===========================================

Here's some backdated entries :-

2nd Gift - Thanks Love, for this lovely gift !!! - U know I looovveee it
{though u ended up eating half of it yrself ;) }

======================

3rd Gift - And, Let's just enjoy these pics "The day my Katkoot goes fishing"... hahaha - tak takot langsong ! He wanted to squeeze those 'jumping' fishes ... And what a catch !!

Thanks to my hb's friend from Egypt, everytime he's in Singapore, he spent his time at East Coast - fishing !!!!! (cam takder kerjer lain). His gift to us... behari-hari makan ikan tamban !!!




The Best Gift (Alhamdullillah...)
My hb & 2 sons hv been bugging me to cut his hair... kekadang dier tekerok2 biler panas & bepeloh... I just snipped here and there. Nak potong sayang kan, kan, kan..... rite not ? all those curls nanti ilang.......