SIBLINGS 42: FAMILY REUNION

NUR HIDAYAH 12

12

Selepas menamatkan pengajiannya, Hanim masih terus menetap di New Zealand selama dua tahun lagi bagi maksud menemani Afiq. Hanim juga turut berkerja dengan sebuah firma akitek rakyat Malaysia yang telah pun mendapat status penduduk tetap New Zealand. Afiq juga mengakhiri perhubungan intimnya dengan Hanim di jinjang pelamin. Setahun kemudian, Puan Hanim melahirkan Nur Aisyah.

Apabila tamat pengajiannya setahun kemudian, Afiq juga turut berkerja dengan sebuah firma akitek rakyat New Zealand. Setelah Nur Aisyah berumur setahun, Afiq sekeluarga mengambil keputusan untuk pulang ke Malaysia. Selepas berkerja selama dua tahun dengan firma akitek yeng terkemuka di Kuala Lumpur, Afiq dan Hanim telah menubuhkan firma akitek sendiri yang diberi nama Nur Hidayah Associates. Firma akitek mereka memberi pengkhususan kepada reka bentuk bangunan dan landskap Islam Global.

Apabila pulang ke Malaysia dan dengan persetujuan semua ahli-ahli, Afiq telah melanjutkan usaha murni Yayasan Nur Hidayah untuk kepentingan anak-anak yatim di Malaysia pula. Aktiviti murni Yayasan Nur Hidayah di New Zealand masih diteruskan oleh pelajar-pelajar yang masih berada di sana tetapi aktivitinya tidaklah serancak sepertima semasa diterajui oleh Afiq. Anak-anak yatim yang telah berjaya di dalam profesyen masing-masing dan pulang ke Malaysia masih tetap memberi sokongan padu kepada usaha-usaha murni Yayasan Nur Hidayah di Malaysia. Tanpa paksaan, mereka masih memberi sumbangan bulanan 5 % daripada hasil pendapatan mereka kepada Yayasan.

Selain daripada memberi perkhidmatan asas khususnya pinjaman untuk pendidikan dan perusahaan-perusahan kecil, Yayasan Nur Hidayah telah menerokai bidang pembekalan barangan halal melalui pesanan internet. Aktiviti ini bermula di kawasan Lembah Klang dan jika ianya mendapat sambutan yang menggalakkan, Afiq bercadang supaya ianya diperluaskan melalui sistem francais ke seluruh Negara. Hampir keseluruhan tenaga pengurusan dan pekerja-pekerja utama Yayasan Nur Hidayah adalah terdiri daripada anak-anak yatim.

Pekerja-pekerja Yayasan Nur Hidayah yang berminat juga diberi peluang untuk menambahkan pelajaran melalui pemberian subsidi atau pinjaman daripada Yayasan. Setiap anak-anak yatim yang telah mendapat kemudahan untuk melanjutkan pelajaran adalah dikehendaki menyumbang kembali kepada Yayasan melalui bayaran balik pinjaman dengan dikenakan bayaran perkhidmatan pada kadar 5 %. Pihak Yayasan tidak mengadakan kontrak yang formal dengan peminjam-peminjam. Pinjaman dikeluarkan hanya berasaskan kepada majlis akad pinjaman bertempat di masjid yang disaksikan oleh Tuan Imam Masjid.

Afiq amat berpuas hati dengan prestasi pembayaran balik pinjaman kepada Yayasan. Hampir sembilan puluh lima peratus daripada anak-anak yatim yang telah menerima faedah daripada tabung Yayasan telah membayar kembali bayaran pinjaman. Mereka juga turut memberi sumbangan wang, tenaga dan pemikiran kearah memantapkan lagi prestasi Tabung Nur Hidayah. Dengan amanah yang begitu berat yang terpaksa dipikulnya, Afiq sentiasa berdoa ke hadrat Illahi semoga dirinya dikuatkan iman dan segala usaha murni Yayasan mendapat keberkatannya.

SIBLINGS 41: PUASA

Come puasa, we will be at a lost in choosing the perfect appetizer i.e the traditional cakes for breaking of fast. After years of experience, Zam and I have come to a conclusion that we would only buy traditional cakes from the regular traditional cake sellers whose quality of their cakes are guaranteed. The emergence of once a year traditional cake makers would not have the quality assurance that has been enjoyed by the regulars.

We can vouch for the regular traditional cake sellers such as Mak Tunku at Taman PKNK, Pak Mat’s stall in front of Fire Department headquarters at Jalan Tun Razak and Azmi at the Food Court beside the Sekolah Menengah Dato’ Syed Omar. Whereas for pulut udang, we would go for Pulut Udang Warisan at Jalan Tun Razak or the stall beside the Mergong bridge.

Zam at Mak Tunku's stall at Taman PKNK

To our surprise and pleasure we have found the product of pulut sekaya which was in its original traditional preparations baked by Tun Teja’ mother in law. Tun Teja is the daughter of Zam’s classmate, Salmah. You could feel the originality by the appearance or the texture of the pulut sekaya. You spould even feel the taste of cinnamon when you consume it. I bet my to my last penny that you could not find any other pulut sekaya in town which could match the high standard pulut sekaya prepared by Tun Teja’s mother in law. To prove our point of contention, on the seventh day of fasting, we have sent a plate of the pulut sekaya to Mak Ngah Habibah who is known for her preferred taste of original traditional cakes. We are still waiting for her verdict.

Tun Teja's mother in law pulut sekaya

SIBLINGS 40: IKAN

Innocent looking super fresh mackerels @ RM3.00 per kilo

The fishermen landing their catch at Kuala Kubang Rotan Jetty

Waiting for the fishermen with their catch


The fresh landed fishes ready to meet the customers at the wet market

Zam haggling over the price of mackerels

I am not alone with my walking stick

Ikan kembung/temenung or mackerel looks innocent on a plate but it could create havoc whenever they become an essential item for the daily consumption of man or animal alike. For hostelites like me, mackerels are our favourite dishes by practice because mackerels were served almost on alternate days by the food caterer during our hostel days..

Our cat Tam and his partner Kentoi consume only mackerels for their foods. Both of them consume a kilo of mackerels a day i.e for break fast, lunch and dinner. Now both of them are a spoilt pair because they only consume fresh braised mackerels. They would turn their backs when much older frozen mackerels were given to them.

When the going get tough, we tried looking for new avenues where the price of the fish would be cheaper. We visited all the day markets around Alor Setar but finally we settled down with the fish landing jetty at Kuala Kubang Rotan which is approximately 7 kilometers from our home. From our survey, we found out that the price of the fish are cheaper by RM 3.00 as compared to the price in Alor Setar. The price of our fuel consumption would be compensated with the difference in price if we buy more than 5 kilos of mackerels or any other types of fish.

We consider ourselves much luckier than Ati Kaza whose cat would only consume class one mackerels. Apart from that, Ati would have to dry up properly the mackerels before her prized cat would consume the mackerels. The moral of the story, do not look down upon your cat. It is better to be a spoiler rather than to be a torturer of cats


03.09.2009