Reading through Berita Harian on Saturday and seeing the announcement being made on Singapore’s very own inaugural local Malay music awards show, a wind of change is certainly blowing in the direction of our local Malay music scene. To be called “anugeraHitz.sg“, the show is expected to honour the best in our country’s small music industry. This landmark event is a first collaborative effort between MediaCorp Suria, Warna 94.2FM, RIA 89.7FM and Composers and Authors Society of Singapore (COMPASS).

Extracted from the official website of “anugeraHitz.sg” - This awards show will be presenting a total of 10 award categories and a special “Lifetime Music Achievement” award. It aims to recognise recording artistes, composers, lyricists and album producers who have excelled in the music field. An interactive element will also be integrated where Suria viewers and Warna and RIA radio listeners will have the chance to decide and vote for their favourite songs and artistes through the “Most Popular Song” and “Most Popular Artiste” categories.

Yes, finally after years of complaining how local artistes are being shunted at Anugerah Planet Muzik (APM) or how they’re made to look like second class citizens, we finally have something which we all can be proud to say is our own and solely for our local artistes and the people who work behind the scenes to make it happen. Looking through the ten categories up for grabs, I believe that there could be room for more awards in upcoming years. We should not forget the sound engineers as well as the album cover designers for starters. This could then be followed up by separating the male and female category, which sadly is not available due to the lack of credible female singers to challenge the current status quo of male domination. Then when hopefully the industry grows, we can then have separate awards for different genres.

It has to be said that one should not expect too much from this awards show. Yes, I’ve read about monetary rewards and stuff. Unless big sponsors come in and are willing to pump in the cash, the hope to have monetary rewards should not be put too high. Deep down, I feel that it’s high time that we have it cos it is not cheap to produce an album. Too many of our local artistes have toiled sweat, blood and tears to have their works produced, some were known to have used their life savings. Cash tokens would go a long way in rewarding their hard work and remind them that it was all worth the effort that their works have been appreciated. But it is still early days yet. For the sake of the local industry, I hope that someone is willing to cough up the cash to reward the winners. However, it has to be said that money should not be the be all and end all to rewarding the winners. There could be other alternatives as well. If travel agencies are willing to sponsor them trips abroad, it would also be quite worthwhile, wouldn’t it??? But yeah in this life, money makes the world go round. People are more inclined to work harder and push to their limits when the carrot is dangled in front of them. An apt reward for quality I might add.

One should also not have too high an expectation on the show. This is afterall a different ball game than APM. The decision to have it at Mediacorp TV Theatre is in a way, an inkling as to how well the show would be received by the local audience. If ratings shoot through the roof, and entice more sponsorships in the coming years, I’m sure the event will be held on a bigger scale and at an even bigger venue. For now, we just have to say thank you to the organisers for coming up with this brainchild, as it has been a long wait. Too long in my opinion. But better late than never. The only other question is, what is to become of APM now, will it still go on and if yes, will it be before or after “anugeraHitz.sg“, in Jakarta as was rumoured last year, and if no, will it be canned temporarily or for good???

Ever since Anuar Zain told the audience of a failed relationship during his “An Evening With Anuar Zain” concert last Saturday night, people have been speculating who is that “lucky / unlucky / smart / stupid” lady. Inquisitive to know what people thought of his concert the other night, I went round surfing the Net and bloghopping here and there. Besides the usual can’t-get-enough-of-him and close-to-orgasmic feelings mostly from the lady bloggers, the debate and speculations that’s been raging on in Internet forums and even in blogs are, who is this lady who broke Anuar Zain’s heart???

Somehow I wonder, what difference does it make whether you know the identity of this lady or not??? It’s not that you’re gonna hound her or pray that she begets misfortune for the rest of her life right??? She’s fine, living her own life now and he is doing well in his life as well. Whatever happened between them was meant to be. Who are we to act as judges and say she’s dumb or stupid for dumping him??? Or saying that she’s smart for dumping him just because he is gay??? Speaking about being gay, now that’s another serious allegation which could land someone in court. As far as I know, this guy is straight as an arrow, his gentle demeanour perhaps giving others the wrong impression about his sexual orientation. But at least he dispelled all those negative notions when he revealed that he was in a relationship before and looking to be in one soon. Whether it was Amy Mastura, Liza Hanim, Siti Nurhaliza, Dayang Nurfaizah or even Ning Baizura as widely speculated, just drop the subject and move on. Don’t be nosey parkers!!!

Anyway, I would like to thank forummer “gucci_advocate” from Cari Forum for promoting my blog as the place to go to for more concert pics and a detailed review, in one of their gossip threads. No wonder my blog stats jumped yesterday. And to any Malaysian media who made it to the Esplanade after all last Saturday night, but was drowned out by the over-enthusiastic local audience, I apologise for making you guys look bad in my previous entry where I reviewed the concert. Especially the good people at Cosmopolitan Malaysia, whom upon reading their entry on the concert, were actually in attendance. Hoped that their stay here on our shores had been an enjoyable experience…

The promotional posters for Singapore (left) and Malaysia (right). Courtesy of Playpause.

My goodness… It’s been four months since I last typed a review, the Anugerah Band competition being the last one, and this time lag of not doing one has made me all rusty in the mind. For starters, I was cracking my head on what to type about in this review. The mind started working on what things to say even before I left home for the concert. Thankfully I drew some inspiration from listening to Anuar’s collection of songs which I had transferred to my IPOD and put it on whilst driving to the prestigious arena which is the Esplanade, where the concert was held. Don’t worry, I’m not one of those who download his songs from the Net and transfer them over to my IPOD, cos I have all three of his CDs in my collection. Listening to him along the way also helped to warm me up and refreshed my mind on some of the lyrics to his songs. When you expect yourself to be entertained at a concert, you know you’ll have to join in with the singing as well. And that’s just what I did. Kinda like trained my vocal chords as well. I dunno if the lady sitting beside me in the car appreciated her hubby’s singing-at-the-top-of-his-voice or not. But do I care??? Not one bit!!!

Since its inception in 2002, this was the first time that I’ve stepped foot in the Esplanade Concert Hall, the biggest arena in the whole of the Esplanade with a capacity of 1,600. Looking at the price of the tickets, I was initially sceptical that we would get full attendance. With the end of the festive period which more than burned a hole in our pockets and taking into account that Ungu also held their own concert the previous week, an arena half full was something that played in my mind for quite some time. But how gladly wrong I was when I saw the hordes of people making their way to the concert hall. Meeting an old polytechnic-mate along the way gave an indication to how many people were in attendance as word got round that the show was a sell-out. This was certainly music to the ears and I couldn’t wait to enter the arena.

Looking around, I saw so many familiar faces, celebrities (Taufik Batisah, Juz-B, Didicazli, Najip Ali, Rilla Melati, Hyrul Anuar amongst others), famous personalities from the print and electronic media, old friends, neighbours staying around the same area as us, people who had helped us during our wedding (sis Fatimah Mohsin), the list just goes on and on. I felt at home and I certainly got good vibes that the concert was gonna be an excellent one. It had to be. Anyone accorded the responsibility to grace the hallowed grounds of the Esplanade, at the Concert Hall no less, is sure to leave the audience wanting more and nothing less. So the choice to have this talented man gracing the arena was definitely the perfect one. It has been a long time coming, too long perhaps, when the likes of Datin Sri Hajjah Siti Nurhaliza has held 3 concerts before this and since then, he has gained so many admirers, not only amongst the female fans who can’t stop drooling at this perfectly immaculated package, but also amongst the males. I’m sure after last night, for those who had said that they were there to accompany their wives or girlfriends and that they were not fans of Anuar, the experience would have changed their minds.

The concert was backed up by a seven-piece outfit and the back-up singers made up of members of the group known as Sierra. If I’m not mistaken, Sierra are the proteges of Ferhad and they have performed before at the Mosaic Music Festival at the Esplanade Outdoor Theatre in February 2007 along with Dina of Malaysian Idol fame, Urban Method, Sleeq and Imran Ajmain. It is not often that you get to see an all-male back-up singers outfit accompanying the concert as most back-ups tend to be all-female cast or having the fairer gender in their midst. Having an all-male back-up singers is quite rare but have been done before. I still remember attending KRU’s 10-years’ anniversary concert at Dataran Merdeka in 2002 and seeing Phyne Ballerz backing them up. As for the sessionists, none of them seemed familiar to me like how used I am to seeing the likes of Steve Thornton on percussions, Ujang on drums, Aubrey Suwito or Jenny Chin on keyboards at Datin Sri’s concerts. But their quality shone through throughout the night. They were tight and their hard work was amply rewarded with an excellent sound system. The acoustics and the reputation of the Esplanade demand quality to shine through and invigorate its arena.

Hafeez Glamour and Aura Shai, the current anchors of the weekday morning show on RIA 89.7FM were tasked to make the announcements in English and Malay respectively prior to the concert. One could detect how Aura Shai was trying to contain her excitement, even when she was making the announcement in measured and controlled tones. She is afterall a big fan of his and has been unashamedly telling the whole world that on radio, along with Fiza O. My only gripe with the announcements was the script in English. At times I detected a few wrongs in the sentence structure. There could have been wrongs in the grammar as well. But I’m sure the audience did not mind at all cos all they wanted to see was Anuar Zain himself. Even before he opened his mouth to sing, Anuar had the audience under his thumb. You just knew that he had them cast under his spell when shrieks and whoops were heard when they saw his silhouette waiting by the side while the sessionists began their introductory tunes to signal the start of the long-awaited concert.

From the first song, “Keabadian Cinta“, to the last, “Teman Terulung“, ok I was wrong, he came back for an encore singing his two massive hits in “Ketulusan Hati” and “Lelaki Ini” to close the concert proper, he enchanted the crowd especially the ladies with that rich voice of his, which to me has no peers, with all due respect to people like Hazami and all the other R&B princes in Malaysia. If Glenn Fredly is the undisputed ”King of Indonesian R&B“, then Anuar Zain is his Malaysian counterpart bar none. Anuar belongs to that exclusive club of singers who do not need to have dance steps in his repertoire to win over the crowd. His voice alone, is enough to captivate the audience and lull us into dreamland. When he starts those lung-busting lines, the hair at the back of your neck is bound to stand at how impeccable and perfect his vocals can be and appreciate what a polished diamond this guy is. Ask around all the R&B princes in Singapore and Malaysia, I dare say ALL of them look up to Anuar Zain as their source of inspiration. My love for this genre also includes him as one of my inspirations.

If you are a fan of the man and have his albums, you’ll know that he does not have that many fast tempo songs. But he did sing them as much as he could. Songs like “Suria & Siarra“, “Bila Resah“, “Permata” and “Kau Bunga Cintaku” at least livened up the atmosphere and added on to that feel-good vibes that all of us were feeling. I just wished that he had closed the concert on an even bigger high had he sung the latter towards the end rather than in the middle of the show. Normally concerts end with a punchy number rather than a sedated one like “Lelaki Ini” but I know the audience couldn’t care less about that fact. A pity though that “Cinta Itu Terindah“, ”Bidadari” and “Musim Berlalu“, three of my favourites in his collection were not sung at the concert. The audience was also more responsive and more outgoing as compared to watching someone like Datin Sri. Well you can definitely see the difference when a male is on stage as compared to a female. Pandemonium is an understatement really, which is why male artistes get a lot of attention in our region. Intimacy too was the order of the day as his voice alone reached out to the masses and those with wild imaginations would have closed their eyes and imagine Anuar singing to them privately.

The husband (Wan) and wife (Nazeera) team of PlayPause. It was from their creative minds that the promotional posters and artwork for the souvenirs were conceived. They make excellent designs for concert posters, wedding invitation cards etc as well and you’d definitely like to engage them after seeing their works.Like their motto, they definitely “Do Nice Things”…

Aida with the good people of WorkHeart and Playpause… Glad to have met them again after so long…

The man himself took some time to relate his own love experience just before he sang “Kembalilah Kasih“, about how he found out he was second best after five years in a failed relationship. Some girls behind me (I’m saying girls cos I doubt their maturity level) quipped how blind and stupid the girl who dumped Anuar was. Sometimes in life, money, fame, a handsome package and a personality in someone unknown to most people can be a turn off to people close to the person. And what is written up there should not be challenged and chastised. Fate decreeds that the girl is better off with someone else and Anuar himself is better off alone for now. You’ll never know he might be getting someone much better than the previous one. God knows best what’s good and not for all of us. I know who this girl is Anuar was talking about, if it’s who I think it was he was referring, but I’m not gonna say it out, even if you try to squeeze and poke me into revealing her identity. All I can say is, she’s very much happy now in her own life. The story and the emotion-filled song which ensued were too much for some people as I heard sniffs all around me and even the lady in front of me as well as the one on my left (Aida was seated to my right) were seen dabbing their eyes with tissue.

Mr “Rela Setia” (Didicazli) was in attendance…

So too did Rilla Melati, looking fiery red last night…

Hyrul: “I thought you were sitting next to me again bro…” Yes it’s been half a year since we last met and sat next to each other at Datin Sri’s concert… Man how time flies… Glad to have met you again bro…

It has been a long journey for Anuar Zain in the music industry. His music career which has spanned a decade, actually more than two decades if you were to count his duet albums with Ellina when they were kids and later on in their late teens, was amply rewarded when he was given this great opportunity to perform at the Esplanade. Yes, he might have performed at corporate events, hi-tea functions, be a guest artiste in outdoor shows and Anugerah Planet Muzik here in Singapore before this, but the fact remained, he still had not held his own concert on our shores. Which is why I share Anuar’s apparent peeve and disappointment that none of the Malaysian media were around to witness this landmark event in his music career. I won’t say that I’m his greatest fan but I’ve always been in awe of his talents and that rich voice of his ever since it matured and his old hit “Kesan Kelukaan” was a hit in the early 90s. I even styled my own way of singing resembling a bit of his, if you ever get the opportunity to hear me sing.

This is “Sulaiman Akhlaken“, one of RIA’s most ardent listeners.

This is the guy who is crazy over Dayang Nurfaizah, none other than “Mat Gila“…

Another one of the listeners, Mr “Hensem Gila“… The beam on his face tells a story of a proud father-to-be… Congrats for hitting the bulls-eye bro…

Speaking of “Kesan Kelukaan“, for those of you who were at the concert, I was the one who instigated him into singing that song. A pity that in my excitement and awe that he heard me and asked how does the song goes, I was momentarily stunned and forgot the lyrics till a friend who was coincidentally seated next to Aida reminded me. By then Anuar had shifted his attention to another part of the audience for a quick reminder as he too had forgotten the lyrics to the song. To his credit, as he tried to sing the song and with a little help from the audience, the lyrics came back to him slowly but surely. You can’t fault him for forgetting his own song cos it’s been ages since he last sang it. Finally I am proud to say that I have been a part of this historical landmark in Anuar Zain’s career and this experience will long be etched in my mind for years to come. I’m sure for those of you who were part of the 1,600 audience, you’d agree and share my sentiments as well. I don’t think the numerous standing ovations that we accorded the man towards the end were enough, he definitely deserved more. A pity though that we were not allowed to have a photograph or autograph taking session at the end of the concert.

And this is Aida and “Nana CCK“, the proud mother-to-be…

This is what happens whenever we listeners meet up. We’ll always have some crazy poses in store…

P.S. For the record, the concert was brought to you by the good people of “Heads Up!“, Singtel MIO TV, Warna 94.2FM & RIA 89.7FM being the official radio stations, The Body Shop being the Official Make Up, Manja being the Official Magazine, Amara Hotel being the Official Hotel of the event and PlayPause for the creative artwork on the posters and the souvenirs. A job well done to one and all and a big thank you for making this happen and for making it a resounding success. Now let’s have it on DVD shall we???

Fiza O goofing around with Anuar’s caricature…

After goofing, the ladies finally take a photograph…

Last photo of the night with Aura Shai…

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Earlier in the day, we received some distinguished guests to our home. Sort of like a belated Raya-cum-housewarming visit. Really pleased to have them over. 2 hours plus and we still had so much to talk about, especially on the topic of ghosts. Hope the hospitality had been good bro Esman & sis Nura and thank you for coming over. We definitely love your company!!!

I seldom have good things to say about the transport system here in Singapore. More often than not, I would be caught in jams and not to mention having to go through the dumb gantries whenever I am in the vicinity of the town area. All these while, the Central Expressway (CTE) has been like a loyal “wife” to me, come rain or shine, come traffic jam or not. Yes, even if it meant having to go through the two ERP gantries at Braddell and Potong Pasir to work and back (the ones after Jalan Bahagia and Potong Pasir). It was my main source of route to and from the city. But that was before the Government intervened and decided to make my life easier.

Now, there is a new mistress in my life and I make no apologies for being caught in this “scandal“. And “she” happens to be the Kallang-Paya Lebar Expressway (KPE). Going to town now, sending the wife to work etc could not have been made easier and faster. Ok, maybe the speed limit which has been set at 70km/h is a big turn off, but if I can reach Shenton Way in 20 minutes flat as compared to half an hour or 40 minutes (depending on traffic) before this, I cannot complain much can I??? Coupled with the fact that there are no ERP gantries, and less traffic throughout the whole stretch, it is no wonder that I have been having “infidelity” issues with the CTE. And to think that from Sengkang to Vivocity, there are only 5 traffic light junctions to negotiate!!! Most Singaporeans still have not warmed themselves up to this stretch of road and I am hoping they don’t, cos once the traffic increases, I can then start to curse and lament the fact that I have to start paying when using this expressway.

Now what was in your mind when I said I’m having a mistress eh???

This movie is out now on DVD at good retail outlets. For those who did not manage to catch it at the theatres when it was being screened, here’s your chance to watch it from the comfort of your own homes. This DVD comes with bonus features not seen during the movie, like behind-the-scenes happenings as well as a surprise birthday bash for the “Crazy Horse” in the movie.

Saw in a recent Multiply entry belonging to a fellow contact that this movie is apparently not out in the theatres yet, as mentioned by one of her contacts. For that ill-informed person, I hope she sees this entry and see from the promotional poster that this movie was indeed “IN CINEMAS 21st AUGUST“… And please don’t give stupid reasons like local productions aren’t worth watching at the cinemas. It’s people like you who’re killing your own industry… Hmmmpphhh!!!

The blog statistics jumped over the weekend and I wondered why. Then it dawned on me, Ungu-mania hit Singapore the past week. I also forgot that they were slated for a show over at the Esplanade for the annual Pesta Raya celebrations till a colleague of mine who went to watch, sms-ed the same night to say “Pasha is so hot!!!” or something to that effect along the lines, and I watched the Malay news on Suria the following night, where they showed clips of the concert. I think the reason for the jump was because people thought that I attended the concert, which of course I did not. Simply because I am not a fan of Pasha and Ungu. So to my colleague, I apologise if I sounded cold in my reply when I said, “I’m sorry I think you messaged the wrong person…“

The day of the concert, 31st October 2008 coincided with 2nd Zulkaedah 1429H, so to call it a part of “Pesta Raya” celebrations is indeed kinda off. So very off. Esplanade should do a bit of homework before naming it a part of “Pesta Raya” cos Raya is indeed stale by then. I know I’m being anal about it cos I’m not a fan of Ungu, nor Pasha for that matter. You people reading this entry who are fans of the group or who had attended the concert I’m sure will be peeved with this entry. LOL, I make no apologies towards a group that has no proper direction in terms of songs selection [singing songs of infidelity (Demi Waktu) and then switching to songs praising the Almighty during Ramadhan and back to songs of infidelity again (Kekasih Gelapku)].

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This blog has been darn stale for quite some time now, which might give you a slight inkling why I chose to create a little controversy with this entry. At times I’ve contemplated on packing it all in. Simply because the current life does not allow me to have time to blog, not to mention the lack of materials to talk about. I think the best months this year in terms of blogging were between May-July, when Anugerah Band was going on and I became sort of like the unofficial blogger of the event. Concerts and showcases aren’t cheap (which is why I only limit myself to Anuar’s concert, though how I wished I could go to Kylie Minogue’s and Rihanna’s as well), and coupled with having two kids in tow now, to do a review now (which apparently is the pull of this blog, ok apologies for blowing my own trumpet) is akin to striking lottery.

And so, you’ll be glad to know that I will be attending Anuar Zain’s concert this coming Saturday 8th November 2008. A review, no matter how short it is, or lack of photographs taken owing to the Esplanade’s anal rulings on snapping photographs, is very much in store. So you should watch this space soon. And this entry is just the start of more rantings to come. I hope!!! No promises though…

I mentioned in previous blog entries that I wasn’t keen on holding an open house during the Hari Raya festive period but what do you know, I held three such events in the space of three weekends!!! And the most amazing part was, we still managed to squeeze in the visiting to our immediate relatives’ and close friends’ places. Well not all though, but we still managed to visit the majority, which was good enough. When I was still single, missing out visiting everyone was a norm for me but when I got married and saw how my relatives worked hard to make my wedding a success, I felt so small and made a pledge to try and visit each and every single one of them during Hari Raya, even if it’s for awhile. No, it’s not about collecting the loot and bounty for my children but to at least pay my respects to the people who have done so much for me, when I’ve taken them for granted before this. Anyway, we won’t know when we would last meet them in our lives, so whatever precious time we have now, is a time for us to bridge the gap between us. Family afterall will always be by your side, come what may.

Ok, back to my open house. The reasons why I relented and opened my doors were because quite a few people had asked when would I be at home or when would I hold an open house. Since the family on both sides are big (my dad has 16 other siblings and my mother-in-law has about 13 others as well), and our circle of friends too is too big, we had to split them to three days, one for my family, colleagues and very close friends, the other for the wife’s side and the last for my beloved secondary school mates whom I’ve not met in ages. Even then, we had to limit the number of invitees for the first two events, due to space constraints. So whoever reading this who felt left out, I apologise from the bottom of my heart for not inviting you over.

But somehow I dunno if I should be organising on such a big scale anymore. Cos even when my house was packed to its brim, a certain number of people I had hoped would come, did not. It’s ok if they had sms-ed, called or warned me earlier that they would not be coming, or for the fact that they had guests at home to entertain, but till today, I still feel kinda pissed off at the no-show and non-RSVP of certain people. I have half the mind not to invite a selected group of people anymore as this wasn’t the first time I’ve been snubbed this way. A little courtesy would go a long way if people could say they would not be coming so I could estimate the number of heads I could order the food for and trust me, engaging a caterer is not cheap. Fortunately I was able to share the balance with my neighbours. If not, imagine the amount of wastage of food we would have. You know, when you don’t do one, people would ask, and when you do, people don’t come. So sometimes you’re in two minds as to whether it is feasible and justified to do one or not.

Anyway I’m so glad the wife and I organised a reunion for our ex-secondary school mates from Beatty Secondary. Again, this one had to be limited to our batch only (1991entrees) as the number was already too big to fit in our home, what more now that most of us are married and with kids in tow. To my fellow ex-Beattrites from other batches reading this, please do not despair, we have not forgotten about you. In fact this gathering that we had at my place was also meant to discuss a very big project which would involve you as well next year, God willing. You need to watch this space for more details. Till then, just block that last weekend of Hari Raya next year in your 2009 calendar. If anyone of you would like to take up the gauntlet and help be the representative for your respective batches, by all means, please get in touch with me.

Oh another thing why I felt justified in organising this reunion was because at the end of it, two feuding friends buried the hatchet and reconciled. Age and maturity definitely played a part but above all, time healed the wounds of the past. A pity I did not see it happening lest I would have shed tears of joy. Yes, I am a very emotional person when I see things like these in front of my eyes. I still remember how my tears welled last year when I saw such a scene from two feuding friends kissed, hugged and made up at my cousin’s place. It certainly bodes well now for our upcoming project.

To my dear secondary school friends who set aside time to come over to our crib on Deepavali, thank you so much for making it happen, for making it a resounding success. The banter we shared, the stories we reminisced, seeing our children bonding and playing with each other really made my day. I hope it made yours as well…

Gosh it’s been so long, I think I’ve only posted about 4 entries over the past 2 months. Apologies to subjecting you people to the same old entry everytime you enter my domain. As I had mentioned in the previous entry, the home computer was down and all my files are stashed inside. I could not even upload the photographs I took throughout Hari Raya onto it. So now that I’ve gotten it back, I think it’s time to upload the photograph that I so wanted to show you during Ramadhan. Yes, none other than the birthday cake that I bought for beloved wife for her 30th birthday on 30th August 2008… Tadaa…!!!

LOL!!! It even came complete with a belly button… I was laughing my head off when I saw that…

Another view of the cake. I was amazed at such attention to detail. If you know what I mean…

A sexy cake for the sexy woman in my life…

The daughters and the wife with the cake…

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Ok… I’ve been away from the blogging world for quite a long time, so I need to get my bearings in tune once again. So before I end, here’s our family portrait during Hari Raya.

A week of Raya has gone… How time flies… I hope that this past week has been good for most of you. The same could not be said for yours truly and family. After being in the pink of health for the whole of Ramadhan, the body finally gave in to fatigue on the second day of Raya and I was down with flu for a good 3-4 days henceforth. The wife on the other hand sprained her back whilst praying, while Syadiyah Asyura caught the flu bug from her father. So basically we were grounded over the weekend, when we had planned to go visiting on Saturday. But even in our sickness and pain, we still managed to visit our relatives in Johor on Friday.

Not only that, the computer at home chose to self-destruct itself and so I am unable to upload any Raya photos in this entry. We were also unable to take a proper family photograph together as the wife’s tailor chose to do the disappearing act on us. Her baju kurung which was meant to be completed last Monday (29 Sep 2008), dragged on till I had to make a call on the eve of Raya to the tailor. She said the one who was tasked to do the alterations was hospitalised and so she promised to send them first thing to my home on the morning of Hari Raya. By noon, there was no sign of her and our calls were not picked up. Subsequent calls made were greeted by the voice messaging system and this has been going on to the point I am typing this entry. I am bloody pissed off. At least if she said she cannot complete in time, I can understand, but she made a promise to send them over and she chose not to pick up my calls or switched off her handphone. What does it say about her integrity??? This is why I hate to support our community in business sense when they are so incompetent but as always, they crave for our support. I’m so tempted to name her and where her shop is located but I’m not so mean as to destroy her rice bowl. But this is for sure the first and the last I’m going to her to have my wife’s and daughters’ clothes tailored by her.

For friends and family expecting an open house from me, I’m sorry I’m not holding one cos I do not like the idea of people coming and I am unable to entertain them all at one go. I love that bit of personal touch where I can devote all my attention to my guests, chat and serve them, so whoever wants to come or you’re in the Sengkang vicinity, you are more than welcome to do so. Just give us a buzz in advance. We’d love to have you over.

I really have to apologise for the apparent lack of activity in my blog throughout Ramadhan. It’s not that life has suddenly stood still for me, but work and the usual routine what one would normally associate on doing during this month once dusk settles, is too common to be typed about. And I certainly do not like to talk about what I do during this month, which is between me and HIM. As for other activities like shopping for Hari Raya and stuff related to it or breaking fasts, I think everyone else experiences the same thing and again it’s something I avoid talking about as it might reflect a showing-off attitude as to how my house would look like.

Plus Iftars are not my cup of tea. There’s no fun breaking fast with good company only to stop halfway to observe our responsibilities. I’d rather hang out once the last prayer for the night is observed. And if the Singapore Singtel F1 Grand Prix seemed to be the flavour of the past week, then I’m not a fan of it one bit since I do not understand the rationale behind paying thousands just to sit on the stands and watch the cars zip by in seconds. The only thing I looked forward to the event was if Ferrari were to win and I would enjoy topping up my petrol tank with Shell’s V-Power this weekend, which would have dropped to the same price as Formula 98. Looks like I have to wait for their next win somewhere.

Tomorrow, we end 30 days of abstaining from hunger and thirst, from cravings and vices, from bad habits to bad characters. Year in year out, I will always feel a certain degree of sadness on the last day of Ramadhan and reflect whether I have done enough to earn a place in Jannah, what more not having to suffer the pain of my soul leaving my body, which is likened to 300 swords stabbing you all at once, nor whatever punishments that await once the last funeral sender has taken his seventh step away from my grave. Cos really, we cannot see the future and dunno if this would be our last Ramadhan or not. Every minute that ebbs away is one step closer to our graves.

But this is not a time of sadness, neither do I want to scare nor sadden you with what lies in store for every human being that walks this Earth. This is a time to celebrate victory, a victory that signifies our win against our ills and vices, a victory that showcases our strength to overcome the odds 13 and a half hours daily for 30 days and hope that it would spill over for the next 11 months and beyond. But let’s celebrate this victory in moderation and not one of extravagance. I’m sure in this time where the economy is making us tighten our belts, the mature side of us kicks in. And I’m sure a majority of us would do well to look after our respective budgets.

So after all that is said and done, I would like to take this opportunity to wish one and all Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri. May the prayers, Qur’an recitations, Zikr, alms-giving and any extra deeds you have done over the course of the month be rewarded amply with a place in Jannah. I would also like to apologise if any of my words or actions were deemed hurtful to any of you reading my blog or through knowing me in the course of your lifetime. We say farewell to Ramadhan but definitely we hope to meet it again and again and again, Insya-Allah, and I hope you share my sentiments as well…