I love my 'kids' at Yayasan Basmi Kemiskinan, Serendah

Tomorrow is Sunday.
I can't wait to wake up very early on Sundays to go to Asrama Kasih, Yayasan Basmi Kemiskinan (YBK) in Serendah.
Every other week, on Sunday morning, I will meet with the students there and conduct classes/role plays on 'living skills' and 'conversational' English.

My buddy Mohsein cannot make it this time as he has to be in Penang. Well, he can join me next time. NK Anuar will be coming. NK must have enjoyed the earlier session that he has decided to join me again (perhaps he felt the same thing I felt).

The kids at YBK are really nice and polite, ranging from 13 to 15 years old, 'adopted' by YBK, to take them out of the vicious circle/cycle of poverty.

They are hungry for knowledge.
They need role models, big brothers and sisters to look up to.
And what made me cry sometimes when driving back from Serendah is the genuine spirit of wanting to improve themselves and get out of poverty -- an attitude I hardly see in the students that I teach in 'privileged' institutions.

In Serendah, I feel very much loved.
I want to live with this love for the rest of my life.


...

Income Tax... last minute lagi

Income Tax!!! Again, it's last minute.
When can I ever plan things like over a few months or weeks at least... semua last minute...
Anyway, it was not too bad, thanks to Mokciknab and Nina for helping out.

My diet has started. I'm giving myself 3 months to be able to get back into my size 29 jeans. Ha, masa tu, siapa yang gave me the reject shop treatment dulu -- padan muka... You are not going to get this body!!! Save that salivary amylase. I'll be dancing on tables in 3 months time. Not at Zouk lah nanti kena tangkap lak.

Fibre diet lah, water therapy lah, low carbo etc etc

Mirror mirror on the wall, who is the fattest of 'em all?

O' Su, you ... yes YOU ... (tidak!!!!) -- rupa-rupanya aku bermimpi.



Seriously, I wanna be desirable again!! And I mean it.

I'm tired of carrying the extra 'baby' fat day in day out.

Starting tomorrow, I'm going to do a "Morgan Fairchild" -- eat only 1/3 of what is on the plate.

So what are you waiting for, tag along and finish the other 2/3.

Kejap yer... Shazwan.. Tolong beli Mee Hailam.

OK lah we start tomorrow.

Kata-kata 'magic' hujung minggu

While posing in front of the mirror ingatlah kata-kata magic minggu ini...



"See, it's in ISLAM-ONLINE, oklah tu."

"Since you can't start a family, you can start business together since you have chemistry."

"Be adventurous and daring. Accept yourself as a bundle of possibilities. Play the most interesting game in the world, and you might end up winning."

"You like brocolli?"

"You are the co-host."

Betul... Johnny Mathis.. (clap..clap)

Walk my way
And a thousand violins begin to play
Or it might be the sound of your hello
That music that I hear
I get misty the moment you're near


You can say
That you're leading me on
But it's just what I want you to do
Don't you notice how hopelessly I'm lost
That's why I'm following you


On my own
Would I wander through this wonderland alone
Never knowing my right foot from my left
My hat from my glove
I'm too misty, and too much in love

Dah gila?
Dia pun tak paham nyer...
ker sajer buat derk agar lebih mahal...

Jauh...jauh

Adibah Noor's rendition of "Jauh jauh" suddenly ternging-ngiang di telinga...



Jauh, jauh, nun di sebalik gunung yang hijau
pasir putih, menantikan laut biru
ombak yang berderai, sayup sayu kedengaran
bayu nan meniup membawa beritaku padanya

Sungguh sayu, bila ku kenangkan peristiwa
Sayup sayu, tinggal segala kenangan
lenyap ditelan ombak
yang membasahi diriku sorang
tinggal mengenang yang jauh

I want to go for a holiday....

Do you have a big suitcase?
Oh... take me on a holiday..

I don't eat much..
I don't snore..
I'll just sit in a corner with a good book...
I'll just curl up in bed with a good book...
Or fall asleep on the couch with a good book...



Downtown HongKong in 2000


Finding my corner to curl up with a good book
...

James Ingram, Suria and Me

I'm going to bore all of you with old photos over the next few days as my buddy Pian has scanned lots and lots of them for me.

Enjoy... Me, Suria and James Ingram (When James Ingram came to Malaysia many years ago).

Kak Mala, you look good!!!

Met my ex-colleague Normala Samsudin over the weekend and she is more beautiful now.

She looks happy and I hope she is, as she is a nice person, both inside out.

And after the meeting, I decided to go through old pictures and see how we looked then during our 'golden years'.

Now for your viewing pleasure..


Normala and Me

Zainal Ariffin, Ras Adiba, Me, Normala, Zalina, Zakiah, Yusanani and Zainal Rawop

Zakiah and Me

The fatal kiss...

The soul that can speak with its eyes can also kiss with a gaze...

..

We are in NST today!!!

Dear AGENDA Production & Editorial team members,

We are in the NST today!!

NST's Executive Editor, Features/Life & Times/Special Issues, Syed Nadzri Syed Harun wrote...

"Agenda last Sunday provided an excellent discourse on a topic of great public interest and a rare occasion for the much-talked- about moral policing to be deliberated on national TV — no, satellite TV — by those for and against.

The issue has inadvertently caused a divide among Muslims — those taking the hardline stand against those believing that an individual’s religious obligations are something personal while leaving morality matters to the family and criminal matters to the police.

It was not about who scored more points or who fared better in the arguments. The mere fact that there was room for that kind of deliberation on that kind of subject opened a new chapter for freedom of expression in the country"

For more, you can go to www.emedia.com.my

Oh, I'm so proud of Agenda.

...

Kepada tokay yang balik Penang...

Bawalah pulang puah pala sekampit dua
Untuk digigit dan dimamah sama

And thanks for stopping by to read this...hahhaha

Can the gundus stop asking “kau ni bila nak kahwin”?

What I’m about to say/write might just end up with people leaving many boxes of cockroaches and toads outside my studio apartment.

After 43 years of being alive, I have informally conducted an unscientific research on a non-random sample of ‘gundus’ (gundus are nice people but sometimes they drive you crazy) who would ask ‘gunduish’ type questions.

And guess what?

The more ‘rural’ the state of mind they have, the probability that they would ask the “bila nak kahwin” question is higher.

But that does not mean that if they have the “New York state-of- mind or the “Bangsar-aku-happening-state-of-mind” they would not ask gunduish questions.

But now, I have the answer to the question.

I’ll just give them the “F_ _ _ you too” look and smile (remember: kempen budi bahasa dan nilai-nilai murni meh...).

Just because I’m not the marrying type, does not mean I am not happy and I can’t shower the people that I care (or love from a far... yes...yes...and that would include the kambing that stained my tie-kolek and the gorgeous kambing boer) with sweet love (read: anita baker). Betul tak?

I’m a ‘ball’ of me... a big one and I’m doing just fine.

But terkiak jugak on rainy nights.

....

Menyediakan rakyat hadapi bencana alam

On May 8, 2005, AGENDA will discuss "preparing the citizens for natural disasters".

You can send your views to me, and I'll read them on-air.

Send them to suhaimisulaiman@suhaimisulaiman.net

....

Aliens from the green planet

shazwan, papa khalid,me


ian, shazwan, me, hamka, khalid, farish



When we were younger, we were so afraid of being different.

Being different means, they'll tease you at school.

But now, they go all out to be different.

It's OK. tell the kids it's ok to be different coz that will make them stand out and voila... there's your brand.

Thank you mom and dad for telling me at an early stage -- it's ok to bawak beg hijau tu, biarlah kita lain from budak-budak lain. Sama macam dia orang tak semestinya bagus.. If only I saved my beg hijau.

And today I say, wow.. you were ahead of your time.

Mama don't let your kids grow up to be cowboys.

...

100 years of Malay College

Moqq and me trying to make sense of the script

Going thru the final script



Saat-saat manis di Malay College Kuala Kangsar.

I left MCKK in 1979.

Thank you Moqq for allowing me to use these pix.

Moqq has more great photos. Go to his site at http://morkymoqq.fotopages.com



...

Kerana tafsiran kiasan

Kerana tafsiran kiasan...
jiwa ribut berkocak
tak lurus lembing terpacak
ada suka, sayu dan bangga
teruja jua sekali dua
makin hari terus membakar
tak cukup kanvas ku lakar
mega ku merah, ungu, hitam, kelabu
esoknya pula biru

Kerana tafsiran kiasan...
aku mencari penawar jiwa
di mana ya?

Tertiarap di bangunan kolonial?
Bertahta di kaki Bukit Chandan?

Kerana tafsiran kiasan...
Horizon ku pelbagai warna kini
Lalu alter ego menyapa diri

Katanya sinis -- kasih itu kan elok dibiar terbang
kerana sesungguhnya tak luak rasa sayang
kasih bukan untuk dimilik
kan gerak geri bisa ditilik?

lalu aku lihat garisan...

telah lama garisan ku rempuh
hati yang rapuh, bisa lumpuh

kau tak perlu melangkah garisan

kerana seru ku telah mewarna horizon, mega dan cekerawala
ia menemani mu sentiasa
yakinlah

...

Moral Policing

Got lots of positive feedbacks for the Moral Policing discussion on Agenda, yesterday.

Datuk Syed Khalid liked it too.

Even my students watched it!!!

Many felt that we should have more peaceful dialogues to solve 'moral problems' and not through criminalisation.

I would like to thank once again Datuk Dr Ismail Ibrahim, Tunku A'amash, Haris Ibrahim and ABIM's Azizuddin for making the show an interesting one.

My office, my home

I'm no workaholic, I just spend lots of time in the office. Coz it's so cozy.

My horoscope says....

Guess what, my horoscope (in excite.com) says...

"You haven't really been able to think straight for days -- okay, maybe it's been more like weeks. You've been totally and completely distracted by a certain someone. But, wonderfully enough, they've been equally preoccupied with you. Well, now's the time to be brave and have a heart-to-heart talk about these mutual feelings. Isn't it time you two let your hair down? Sure it is"

But who?

My biz partner, psychiatrist, and relationship guru

And she does it for free, or is it to keep others sane in the office?

Wiser every day

Wayne Dyer once said you cannot be lonely if you like the person you're alone with.

But the 'person you are alone with' hates cleaning the house, hates doing the laundry and is a gone-case of ultimo-contradito.

How meh?

Henri Nouwen... I agree

Got up this morning to Henri Nouwen's brilliance..

"Your body needs to be held and to hold, to be touched and to touch. None of these needs is to be despised, denied, or repressed. But you have to keep searching for your body's deeper need, the need for genuine love. Every time you are able to go beyond the body's superficial desires for love, you are bringing your body home and moving toward integration and unity."


Need I say more?

How come Fazil Majid still looks very young???

Me and my buddy Fazil Majid during the MCKK 100 Years Celebrations.

I think, I'll go for that Vitamin C shots!!

Better still the 'placenta' treatment...

But I want to age gracefully mah...

Help!!! I need someone to help me clean my studio apartment

I just cannot manage my living space, hopeless to the max!!

It needs cleaning..

The problem is I don't know where to start..

Please help me Dr Ruth...

Kata-kata magic hujung minggu

"Some things are never meant to last -- they are for you to remember and make you smarter."

"You have a very nice set of teeth -- so go ahead, grin as much as you like."

"Wow... we made it, the lion must be furious coz we are not dinner material. We can sleep now..."

"How come you hugged almost everyone but you didn't hug me?"

"I think he does not feel comfortable crossing the line. At least not now..."

"I left my heart in Kuala Kangsar"

Great time, great company

It has been a great week, and the weekend -- fabulous.

The outing with ex-MCKK buddies at Subang Holiday Villa was just 'menyeronokkan'.

Had a great time too during the recording or AGENDA at Wisma Ali Bawal with Tunku Vic, Haris Ibrahim, Datuk Dr Ismail Ibrahim and Azizuddin of ABIM -- so don't miss the Agenda, at 10:00 pm, Sunday, April 24, 2005, on ASTRO Channel 92.

See, we can still be open and talk about almost anything/everything in this beautiful country...

Suhaimi Sulaiman knows nothing about cars... oh well... abit..

Yeah, Shamsul Bahari of NST's Cars, Bikes and Trucks interviewed me today. Yup, about cars. And what do I know? Well, I'm one of those who would just drive from point A to point B, tak kesah what car and if the tyre meletop or keluar asap from the engine I would get someone to help me -- manja siol...

When Shamsul asked me today about my first few years of driving,I told him I started early -- standard 3 -- yes, illegally. I stopped driving at standard 6 after I crashed into my neighbour's car.

And I recovered from the trauma many years later, in Portland, Oregon, where I was -the proud driver of an aquarium-like car called Gremlin.

Anyway, today has been a very hectic but productive day.

I was in Putrajaya earlier to emcee the launch of AKAL (Academy of Knowledge for Accounting and Leadership) at Ministry of Finance.

Had a great time -- renewed and strengthened existing ties with Natrah of KUB, En Izham -- KUB's MD, and of course a great 'reunion' with my friends from the media.

Then met mom and dad for makan-makan tambah calorie.

And later tonight, party time with Mohsein and the gang -- can't wait dah beli baju hitam berkilat, tapi tak muat... oh shoot!!!

And tomorrow, I'm expecting a hot debate during the recording of Agenda at ASTRO when we discuss Moral Policing.

So don't miss the discussion, which will be shown at 10pm, Sunday, April 24, 2005, on ASTRO's Channel 92.

The reluctant gypsy woman and the novice fortune teller

Today was a nutty day for me and my best friends (Mokciknab, Shazwan, Papa Khalid and Hamka-Nira Inc). Cekem and Ceyuz left early. Johan left early too – mesti rindu kucingnya – kucing ker?

And what’s so nutty...

Let’s do a one thousand and one night with Sherazade.

Ladies and gentlemen, pantun/syair minggu ini...

Tersebut hikayat seorang budiman
Senyum selalu, elok dan siuman
’Mirage’ di Sahara ternampak jelas
Bergolak di hati adakan puas...

Beduk ditalu gypsy dicari
Erika Badu menjelma diri
Morph menjadi Madam Zora
Daun terup membuka cerita

Daun yang sama dicong berkali
Penilik novice bercerita lali
Bentuk sirih keluar berkali
Cerita sama tentangan hati

Lima kali result yang sama
Insan confused tak tahu kemana

And I said to myself – the ’mirage’ will be clearer after the rain.

Charles and Camilla

This morning I heard a beautiful song by Siti Nurhaliza on the radio.

You know how it is, sometimes you don't pay attention to the lyrics...

But this time, I actually listened closely to the poetry -- Why? Because I was trapped in a jam... (yeah sure)

And the senikata was beautiful...

here goes..


Kalau menjerat burung kedidi
Janganlah senja baru ke taman
Kalau memikat idaman hati
Janganlah rupa jadi taruhan
Kalau ke laut susur gelombang
Jangan kemudi patah daunnya
Kalau bertahun kasih dan sayang
Jangan diuji dalamnya cinta

Kita berbudi orang merasa dik
Biar sedikit dibawa mati
Kalau rupa taruhan jiwa dik
Pudar sedikit berpaling hati

So now I understand why Charles loves Camilla Parker Bowles so much...

Haloscan commenting and trackback have been added to this blog.

Rakan-rakan seperjuangan

Thank you people for putting up with my madness.

A dictator ker?

Haha, a great picture of my buddy Morky Moqq at MCKK grounds.
Macam dictator..
But honestly, he is a great guy to work with. A great event manager. I had a great time working with him during the 100 years of Malay College.
You can visit his site at http://morkymoqq.fotopages.com . He has lots of nice pix.
Am I a great PR guy or what?

Moral Policing

What do you think of the 'Moral Policing' issue in Malaysia?

My talk show program Agenda on ASTRO Channel 92 will discuss it -- recording is this weekend and transmission on next Sunday night at 10:00.

If you want to contribute ideas do send them to suhaimisulaiman@suhaimisulaiman.net.

Thanks.

Reminisce

Started Sunday (April 17) with a fulfilling, purifying and humbling activity – teaching the kids at Yayasan Basmi Kemiskinan, in Serendah, conversational English.

After about a month of break, I really missed them and they have improved a lot.

Now they know when to use ‘do’ and ‘does’ without having to think twice — not bad for a group of rural kids who only got the chance to banter in English once a week!!

I talked about the experience to Mohsein and Azli later, in Mohsein’s car when we were on our way to Bangsar for dinner.

And the good news -- Mohsein and Azli would love to participate in the project.

Now we have more people to help the kids to improve their English.

In the afternoon, I saw the MCKK Centenary Celebrations report on NTV7.

I felt really ‘sebak’ when I saw the visuals of kolek (tempat jatuh lagi dikenang, inikan pula tempat bermain).

The story could have been better written, but tak kisahlah, coz it needs a budak kolek to have the feel and to really understand and write the story.

But I must congratulate Roshdi, the NTV7 journalist, for understanding the spirit of MCKK in such a short time.

Later in the evening, I had a wonderful time at Pelita in Bangsar -- 3 hours of down-memory-lane, with Mohsein and Azli.

Azli is an interesting character – I think he’ll make a great ‘Letterman’, a thinking one.

And he should have his own column as he eats and breathes Television.

And Mohsein was his usual self -- charming, nice, accommodating, and a great host, yes, even in a neutral ground.

The more I get to know him, the more I believe he will be a great leader one day – see you don’t need a branding and positioning expert (perhaps a smart spin doctor’s help a bit – moi, moi) unlike some existing wannabes who needs major genetic make-over.

Abis tu, bila nak gi teh tarik nyer?

Ha jawab? hahaha

Love comes from the most unexpected places...

Before Mokciknab and Cekem say anything let me clarify ...
I woke up this morning and suddenly the tune came to my mind.
It's an old song by Feliciano.
Tidak ada kena mengena dengan yang hidup atau pun yang mati... Yeah right!!

Love comes from the most unexpected places
In someone's eyes you've never met
Who wants to get to know you
In someone's smile you can't forget
And if the music plays on in your mind
Take all the love that you can find
And if love takes you in
Take all the love that you can find
And hope it comes again

And Papa Khalid would say, gasak!!!

Mom says "Dunia ni dah nak kiamat"

With 2 volcanoes starting to go active in Indonesia (one in Padang and another near Bandung), and with experts saying that the ring-of-fire zone is really 'unstable', we will see more and more catastrophe soon.

Toba might just explode and history will repeat itself.

And will we be affected? Sure, if not directly, it would be indirectly. How do you explain the cockles, sea cucumbers beaching on our shores?

And mom would say, "jangan lupa sembahyang, dunia dah nak kiamat dah..."

Addicted to American Idol

I'm hopeless.
But I can't miss American Idol.
I thought I was bad.. But Ghazalie Abdullah is addicted to American Idol too.
Anwar Robinson, will win.

Positive Vibes

Met Dr Love today and discussed potential collaboration to produce "Royal Heritage of the Malay Archipelago" -- and i sensed good vibes.

A couple of great offers came from strangers -- sometimes strangers are lot more genuine than people that you've known for eons.

And ah... Wawa lives in the Kelana Jaya area. And teh tarik is in order.

Amanjiwo

We had a great time with Tunku Datuk Seri Adnan Tunku Besar Burhanuddin and Tunku Vic at the family's beautiful house, Amanjiwo at Country Heights.

Tunku Vic and the MCOBA President and family were great hosts.

Mohsein was there and we talked about an interesting branding possibility for his business.

The great Kol Adnan and the funky General was there too. Nice to hear great tales about Indonesia from the General. Of course Kol Adnan was in his elements.

Wawa was there, but didn't get a chance to tell him how great the souvenir programme book was as I was about to leave when he arrived.

Then there were George, Erick (of Regatta Dot Blonde), Mon, Peejoun and the rest of the CCD committee members. Of course Latt was there, looking dashing in his red linen shirt.

When we were at MCKK for the Centenary celebrations, it rained. And at Amanjiwo, it rained too.. but the rain made the gathering at Amanjiwo so wonderful.. And my Jiwo was definitely Aman at Amanjiwo.

Till we meet again, it was a great experience working with the committee.

And to Morky Moqq, I'm preparing the branding and positioning plan -- see I'm not just gorgeous. And please update your fotoblog la..

Customer service in Malaysia has improved tremendously

I was at AmAssurance Bhd at Jalan Lumut in Kuala Lumpur early this morning to renew my car insurance.

The lady who assisted me (I didn't get her name, but she's a beautiful lady wearing a nice tudung) was not only efficient, but friendly and curteous.

Then I went to Maybank at Kompleks PKNS Shah Alam to give the finance company the cover note for them to renew my road tax.

Again, I was impressed with the service. The lady who helped me was equally curteous and efficient.

I love this country!!! Dulu asik-asik "ambik borang yer...

Congatulations FINETV

We'll soon see an innovative Interactive TV Station in Malaysia.

Congratulations to Ida Rahayu and the smart-working people at FINETV, for getting the much needed financial support from Bank Pembangunan & Infrastruktur.

Video-on-Demand is the way to go in our dog-eat-dog world with lots of things to do with crazy deadlines.

Sure Ida, would love to sit down with you and collaborate to produce killer contents.

Semoga berjaya.

Weekly 'kata-kata' magic...

Mokciknab -- He wants you only as a brother...

Cekem -- Don't encourage him...

Shazwan -- Go Cikme go...

Me -- Go figure... You don't need the roof to fall on you... (oh tidak)

Inspirasi

Sometimes you meet nice 'strangers' and they inspire you...
And you wake up the next day, ready to take on the world.

And before you say anything Cekem... Smiles...

Institut Kajian Sejarah & Patriotisme Malaysia

Got back to KL at 9 am, Saturday, Apr 2, 2005. The drive from Port Dickson was just so smooth.

It was a pleasure conducting the Master of Ceremony training for the nice people of Institut Kajian Sejarah & Patriotisme Malaysia.

To Tuan Haji Aziz Ujang and the nice people of IKSEP, thank you for having me as a trainer.

And to the management of Glory Beach Resort in Port Dickson, thank you for being such great host.

Will be back.

Now I have to concentrate on the two topics for ASTRO's Agenda recording -- Siswazah Menganggur and Halal.