PRYNSA 13

Today was the prestigous award ceremony of the above for Aqeel and her team mates and 4 other schools.  This is the award for Princess Rashidah Young Nature Scientist Award (PRYNSA) which started in 1997.

All five schools presented their findings to the panel judges last week with recommendations.  Today was the presentation to the princesses, parents and other government faculties .  Last nite Aqeel and her friends went to Rizqun for their booth preparation (see below pic).  She came home around 7.30pm last nite.



Group pic with team and teachers

These schools were on national television last nite where they were interviewed at the locations of their research and at the lab.  From national television, the public would be able to know what they were doing, their studies, researches, lab tests etc.  These researches they did for about 1 year.  Their presentations were of high quality and standards.  They showed confidence in their presentations.

Aqeel and her team were doing "A study of characteristics, adaptation, society, symbiotic relations, importance in the ecosystem and feeding habits of the Giant Forest Ants in the Belait District."  They went to various locations for their field trip.

Though their school didnt win the top three places, Aqeel's team got the consolation prize, book voucher and certificate of participation.  She was proud to be in this competition as it was an experience she will treasure always.  I can see that she is doing better at public speaking.  I am sure she has learned a lot from this such as team work, dedication, time management and working under pressure.  All the contestants had the opportunity to present their findings to the princesses.

Well done Aqeel and her team.  Thank you to their teachers and all those who supported them to enable them to fully prepared for this event.  Unfortunately, I didn't get a good picture of the princesses.  I am sure the teachers have taken lots of pics during the prize presentation for each student.

Aqeel, may this experience makes you a stronger, confident but humble person and strive to achieve the best in life without forgetting your spiritual side.

100th days

As Salam, 

Today is the 100th days after my dad passed away.  Al Fatihah buat ayah.  Semoga roh mu di cucuri rahmat Allah, diampunkan segala dosa dosa nya dan di tempatkan bersama orang orang yang soleh dan beriman. Amin amin amin yaarabbalalamin.

Here, I would like to share with my kids what their late grandfather was like.

The followings were my late ayah's characteristics:

Patient (Penyabar) - He was someone who was patient.  If he was angry he always walked away.  We moved to Lumut in 1974 with only 2 houses there.  It was a jungle and very very quiet.  There were no common necessasities in those days e.g no electricity, no piped water, no phone, no gas, no bus service etc.  To cook our food, we relied on chopped wood for fires or we used the portable gasoline stove.  For drinking and shower, we used rain water.  During the draught season, we collected water from my sister's house who used to live at shell quarters.  We put all these waters in the drum.  We also dug up a well.  Though we used to living in shell quarters with all the necessary utilities, when we moved to areas without these bare neccessities, we didn't complain.  It was kind of an adventure for us kids.

To support us, my father went fishing.  Sometimes he came home within the day, sometimes after several days.  During the good seasons he caught lots of fish and able to treat us with what we want from the sale of those fishes.  When he was not going fishing, he mended his nets and boats.  Never once did we hear him complaint or sighing. My dad loved fishing and the sea.  When he was still working with the oil company, the salary was only a few dollars in those days which was not enough to support 8 of us kids.  So he went fishing in Lorong 7 or went crabbing during his off days.  He would come home very late at nite.

Polite and helpful - He was polite and helpful when someone requires any help from him.  He would also tried to the best of his abilities to help.  Due to our house was near the river, one Hj Saad (I think that was his name) who approached my dad to allow him to stay at our place and joined my dad during fishing.  The money from the sale of the fishes would be divided accordingly.  They stayed many years with us without paying any rent etc.  So many come and go and once they had their wings and knew the strings, they went their own way. Some even got the people who always followed my dad fishing to work with them.  As usual my dad just kept quiet.  But these people sooner or later would come back to join him and my dad would except them again even though he knew they had betrayed him.   He was a person who did not hold a grudge.

Joker - He can be funny when he needed to be and his grandchildren love him.  He was particularly closed with each of the 1st born of his grandchildren except for one.  My kids love him.  I really missed the funny side of him. 

Quiet - He was a person of few words.  Never did we hear him talking bad things about other people who had wronged him.  He didn't like to gossip.  That was probably why he didn't talk about those who wronged him so that we didn't know who these people were and that we don't hold any grudges against them.

Generous & sincere (jujur & Ikhlas)- He was a generous person and sincere in what he was doing.  He helped supported our cousins and their parents when they came to Brunei from Kucing and lived in our shell quarter's house for eight years while we moved to my elder sister's house.  Never once did he mention if he was unhappy with them etc. And he never ever ask them to pay him in return.  He didn't want money from them in return for his kindness or generousity.  All he wanted was just an occassional visits from my cousins to say hello or asked how he was.  That was enough for him. I don't think these cousins of mine had the opportunity to thank him.  That was why when he passed away, we can see the regrets in their faces.  My uncle really cried that day.

Never complaint - Never did I hear him complaint about anything even when he was sicked.  He never disclose whether he was in need of money or in any difficulty etc.  He tried his best to support us.  When he left the oil company, there were many people who borrowed money from him.  Some didn't even pay back.  He never mention who these people were and he never go to them to ask for the money back.

He had people who purposely called him names, who tried to make him angry etc, but what he did was he just smiled and walked away.  Never once did I hear him become angry when people did this to him and he never confided in us.  Maybe he didn't want to trouble us as we were kids.

Responsible (bertanggong jawab) - He was a person who knew his responsibilities as a husband and a father.  When my sisters were small, he cycled just to send them to school.  One sat at the front and the other sat at the back as he didn't want them to walk on their own.  He made sure they were safely sent to school.  When we moved to Lumut, my school time was untill 3pm.  So during lunch time I would walk to the hawker's place and had our lunch there.  The aunty was so nice (Al Fatihah).  Knowing us, she would give extra.  My dad made sure we had our lunch then go back to school.  After school, I would walk to town and my dad would always wait for us near the fish market.  We always reach home late in the evening.

Respect (Hormat) - He was a person who respect all visitors who came to our house.  Never once did I ever see him showed disappointment in his face even though those who came to our house had hurt his feelings or wronged him before.

Forgiven (Pemaaf) - He was a person who easily forgave those who had wronged him.

Trustworthy (amanah) -  He was a person who was trustworthy.  One time he was asked to look after the boats, engines, fishing nets of those who stayed with us.  These people came from Sabah.  After long at sea, they would go back to visit their famalies.  My dad was entrusted to look after these things.  Late at nite he would go out to the end of the bridge where these items were being placed just to make sure it was not stolen.

No matter how tired he was, he always made time for us and he never missed to do his prayers.

Knowing these qualities which my dad had, I pray to Allah so that I can embed these in myself as good as he was though not better.  I think he made the right move when we moved to Lumut in 1974.  If we had stayed in the shell quarters, I won't or we won't have known that life is hard.  We learn not to waste energy and water; we learn to save money and help people as sincerely as one can.  It reminded us that there are still unfortunate people out there who are far worst than us.  It reminded us to always be thankful with what we have and treasure it.

Thank you ayah for being YOU.  And thank you Allah for giving me such a dad.  I pray to Allah that my kids would have these qualities in them and for me to help them instill these qualities in them and reminded them.

We missed you ayah.  You are always in our hearts.

Mistaken Identity

Last Tuesday after work, I picked up my daughter at home for her tuition about 30 minutes drive to the tuition place.  My son was already in that area too.  So after sending my daughter to her tuition, as usual I went to the pizza hut to order garlic bread supreme for my son and the pick up time would always be at 5.55pm.  Then I went to the bookstore to get some pens for my son and to get chocolate for my daughter.  After picking up the garlic supreme, I went to my car and stayed there to continue reading the book I received from my sister titled "Bila Pintu Hati Terbuka" by Dr Ridzwan Ibrahim.  I longed to have this book for so long.  I even went across the border to try to find it.  I finally got it when mak usu bought for me.  Alhamdulillah.

It was drizzled in that area and since my car was stationery, I just couldn't bother to use the wiper.  Near to 6pm, I saw a boy (must have finished his tuition) looking straight at my car and walking towards it.  I just looked at him, thinking he must be one of my son's tuition mates.  He continued walking and opened the front passenger door.  He looked at me and smiled.  I turned to him and smiled and waiting for him to say something as I was thinking that maybe he would be telling me that my son would be late in coming out.  He closed the door and go to the back and looked at the registration number.  Then he came back to me probably trying to apologise but no words came out, as I just raise my hand to point out that I understood.  I then pointed to him the car he was looking for which was near to the building.  He mistakenly went to my car thinking that it was his parents'.  Same model of car and same color.

When my son came, he asked "Did the boy went to the wrong car?"  I just said, "a ha."

This reminded me of the time I myself went to the wrong car as well....which I published already in the blog..