Ellie chronicles

May Allah....

11:55 AM Ellie 0 Comments Category : rambling , thoughts

In the name of Allah, selawat and salam to beloved Prophet ﷺ

May is knocking its door again this year..and I am blessed for all...I may not have everything that I want, my plan is not according to what I have laid out, frustration and doubtful engulf me, negativity come back and forth..passing its baton, albeit, I am thankful to Him. These made (will make) me strong mentally and spiritually. Allah is the most merciful and kind so He wont give me trials and tribulation without lessons to be learned.

The arrival of May signaling a month shy of the homecoming...the grandeur, the holly month of Ramadhan. A month of blessing, training, supplication, forgiveness, reflections, rezk and offering. This month is too special, a month which offers double rewards for all good deeds and there is a special night called "Al-Qadr". Doing the good deeds, the thought of receiving the rewards, is not the main agenda..am speaking on my behalf. To me what is more important is to get His forgiveness, blessing and those deeds, prayers are accepted. I believe the rewards is certainly there..it is in His realm to judge and to give...and I know if He accepted my supplications and good deeds, only He knows what to give. Certainly I am hoping for Jannah (paradise)...

The other significant thing in this month is the training. Fasting is the complete training regime (i would classify it this way) to nurture my soul, avoid excessive eating, could feel the hunger suffered by the poor in this world, sharing the fortune endowed by Allah with others especially the needy, watchful of what to say, safeguard the tongue from saying unnecessarily, beware of what you hear, make use of time by reciting Quran and appreciate the time. No other religion in this world offering such a complete training, the combination and mind, soul and physical...NONE!

For me what is important is not only the training..well every year I have undergone such training, the significant challenge is to be steadfast with the training! To be able to nurture the soul even after the holy month. To be able to carry out its spirit to the other months and make it a habit as part of life. Well that is the hardest part. The Eid at the end of the Ramadhan is a celebration...it is a celebration...don't get me wrong but the celebration is meaningful if i would be able to absorb its spirit, its philosophy into my life, the life of my family, my friends and the whole community. Yes, it must start with me so I have to ensure that this is the best Ramadhan!

May Allah grants this prayer and hope to celebrate this holy month with high spirit and good health.

May this year marked 18 years of the sadness...1997 was a year of sadness..to be exact is 22 May 1997. I lost my sister.... for further detail you can read my previous entry http://elliechronicles7.blogspot.com/2010/09/13-years.html
May Allah accepts all of her good deeds, forgive her and put her in the higher rank!

It also means that my nephew (her son) turns 18 years this year and I am grateful to be able to watch him grows although he was having a fair share of sickness and ailment inherited from her mother. Happy birthday Adik! Wishing you the best in whatever you do, always pray for good health..and be a kind soul to people around you, be the best servant in this world and serve Allah in whatever ways that you can.

May Allah accepts this prayer...

April

12:02 PM Ellie 1 Comments Category : rambling , thoughts

In the name of Allah, the most merciful and selawat to my beloved Prophet s.a.w

Finally I am able to publish something here.

April. April 2015 is not the same…too much different than the previous year. As hullabaloo in the media, social network and as far as in the remote area, either we like it or not, either we are not sure how it works for us or against us, GST has started.

The chance to be in my hometown, I was exposed to the far-cry from reality. Along the way from Lojing to Kuala Krai to Machang, we saw similar landscape. Nothing has changed. Some are still living in the tents. Yes, we (me and Ian) lost our words… and our mind keeps on spinning the images… Allahu… We have not recovered from this the disaster and more in store with the implementation of GST.

What can we do?

I think the key to survive is to educate myself, my family, my students and my society the principle of frugality in spending. Avoid spending on unnecessary stuff. Buy only important thing. Be content with what I have. Use things to the maximum capability. Make do with what we have. Be patient!

Eating clean as vegetable and fruit are Z rated (no GST)

Or better to fast (Fasting in alternate days just like Prophet Daud's practice)

Having fun only in public places… Taman bunga.. hehehe..Lake..or do recreational activities…jogging…brisk walk as the cost of being sick is too high! The supplement price is too high, so switch to ulaman2… heheheh…remember eating clean!

Stop using credit card unless it is badly needed!

Stop subscribing to the pay TV (the hardest part)

Start saving to get or buy certain things.

Infaq (this is utmost important). By giving more even a riyal per day Allah surely will grant more. The rezk is only from Him. Give it to the those in Kuala Krai or elsewhere…it could make it a different to their life.

Certainly a lot more we can do! Hijrah is not easy…be istiqamah is the hardest but a thousand miles begin with a single step.

Buddies

12:33 PM Ellie 0 Comments Category : rambling , thoughts

Praises to Allah swt, and selawat to beloved Prophet s.a.w....

I rarely talk about my buddies. It is intended! I purely intended of not revealing my true self here...be it real names, location and face. I have never set this blog as private but for some reason or another I still want to make certain stories remain unsaid.

Okey, back to the title..hehehhe.... This entry is about the best buddies that I have for ermmm countless years....(again I tend to be secretive here right). I have known some of them from my university years, my first alma matter...UIA. Ya no secret here! hehehehee and one of them I have known from my previous workplace.

It is a bless, rezk to be endowed with this 3 beautiful souls in my life. Yes, we share some similarities; especially craving the same foods, traveling, shopping (being typical woman), movies selection, music and TV shows (currently is the Voice) heheheheh but apart from that we have our fair share of bickering moment, we used to be sulky over a simple thing heheheeh, we used to tease each other on one inability to take selfie or wefie...and we just kept mum on a pretty little thing....the list is endless....

Yes, we were not brought up in the same neighborhood, not in a similar background... although all of us hailed from the same state, speak the same dialect and longing for the same food.....our craziness on food including nasi lemak sinaran or formerly known as 'TC' hehehee, the ever-famous nasi ulam cikgu, nasi JJ, nasi air dingin, nasi pagi kedai kekut...hahahahaha ( I am drooling now). In fact, we had traveled to Medan just for a weekend to satisfy our saliva for nasi padang...and certainly shopping lah! Danau Toba..Berastagi....samosir island are not even in the list heheheheh...

Each one of us does have a unique character which not only strengthen the ties, also complementing in many ways. A person that I occasionally mentioned in this blog is Ian. I have known each others since our univ years. Ian is a caring creature, determinant, stubborn, but don't mess with her, she could turn into beast! huhuhuh.... Previously, she studied her PhD in UK, so that's would answer on why I could spend my 2 weeks break in UK with a good budget..... Heheheeheh...

The other person who is also a lecturer in public university is Puan Sharifah.. She is the darling in this group, one with a sensitive heart, positive mind-set, sometimes she could be too innocent and too generous. A statistician expert so one could expect her to calculate all things, mind you not only money but annual leave (as her husband living in other states)...It is a voluntary effort to calculate anything for us too...even our expenses..huhuhu... The moment when I met her in that particular workplace, I know there is something good about Puan Sharifah…heheheheh...

There is always a special thing about Kittyna, another strong character in the group. A 'Barbar' woman as she was called by a useless liar man in Marrakesh from our 2011 trip. I would agree with the label (in a positive way) as she is an iron lady. A problem solver as her job as PTD speaks of her charisma, a planner one could ever have in the group as she would be more than willing to plan whatever for free…it is her passion to plan for our vacation, job- strategies or even come out with weird strategies in facing certain obstacles in life.

That sum up 3 best buddies in my life. Babe...what we have is beyond friendship! We are a one big family….their siblings are like brothers and sisters to me so does their parents. I still remember, how my mother's weariness on my well-being cool down upon hearing one of their names from my lips. The name is enough to put trust and gain conviction, especially whenever I am travelling abroad and away from home. This friendship is priceless. Alhamdulillah!

Hun...we have gone a topsy-turvy experience in the previous workplace in which undoubtedly has paved way for a new breed of life, a new opportunity in which we have not thought before. Along the way, certainly our friendship was tested, many years of long silence as we were struggling to step up the career ladder and to finish our studies. We certainly found new people along the way, but the understanding lies in us which bring us back. We may have a thousand other groups outside this circle of friendship, be it in the form of whats' app group list or not, but nothing could compare what we have. We may not have a luxury to enjoy sumptuous food as you may find in other groups or a time to watch movies every month but we all know what we have is beyond those. We understand each other so much that we could endure the weakness.

Guys, thank you for the memories. This entry is not beautifully written, but what matters to me is the thoughts in our prayer. Our sweet time is out-numbered. One day, all good things must come to an end. I pray that Allah would reconcile us again in Jannah. I may not be a perfect buddy, so thank you for accepting me as well as my crankiness… sulkiness. Heheheheheh...

Hope we can have time for our vacation next year...somewhere abroad again and hope Puan Sharifah could make it this time. 2013 in Ho Chi Minh, 2014 in Langkawi, this year in Medan so perhaps next year in Mekah? or just Bukit Tinggi Malaysia? hehehehheeeheh....

I miss uols!

Wordless Wednesday - Du'a

12:05 PM Ellie 0 Comments Category : rambling

Wordless Wednesday

2:57 PM Ellie 0 Comments Category :

Sweet chance!

10:58 AM Ellie 0 Comments Category : experience , thoughts

Alhamdulillah...praise to Allah and selawat to our beloved Prophet Muhammad s.a.w....

Last week we (me, Ia, her colleagues and students) were given an opportunity to be in Dabong, Kuala Krai, one of the flood affected area in Kelantan. In the midst of deadlines, I opt to take break from this mundane life. Physically for 3 days I was not in front of the lappy, but the thought of you-know-what always occupies my mind.

I would say that the chance was a precious experience, a meaningful break, a worth time spent and an eye opener....Admittedly, we (me and Ian) would relish the opportunity to be at the unfortunate area...not only a mere visit but to talk to them, to give a moral and spiritual support. We have talked about it when we went back home early January recently.We felt it is a calling as local lass to be with the community. Alas, both of us know to be there we need to have 4WD which we could not afford.

Allah granted our wish! Ian was selected by ResQ team of her university to lead a post-flood program in two selected schools in Dabong. As an ex-teacher in secondary school (even for only 6 months)...I would consider that a psycho-education program as a reminiscent of my previous life. Not only I can see with my own eyes the affected area but what more important is to be able to talk to the youngster at school. This is might be minuscule endevour but we believe anybody can contribute within your capability, position and knowledge that Allah has given to us.

The program went well...although frankly I don't have much experience of conducting group activities or be a facilitator. It was a heart-wrenching listening to their stories. ..on how they had struggled to escape the rising water by climbing to the nearest hill, how they have stuck there for 7 days with limited foods and place to shield them from rain and how they have received the food supply from helicopter. Allah...I could not imagine that in their 17 years of age, their perseverance and faith were tested. It was such agony to know some of them lost their houses and could only live inside the tent...huhuhuhu....

Concomitantly, I felt proud on their courage to tell the stories with a smile on their face. They were only two words utter from their mouth 'sabar' and 'redha'... May Allah ease their path. They still enthusiastic coming to school although the journey is nearly half an hour everyday with charted car or van.The train as the heart of people transportation, is no longer in service so parents made an initiative to send them to school everyday although they too struggling to earn money. They put value to the education although they are only a rubber tapper. Indeed their resilience is tested and coping strategies immerse from this unfortunate event.

teacher's quarters

Us - lecturers, staff, students as volunteers

We also have the chance to witness the destruction in Laloh and Kg Karangan...could not share the photos now...insha Allah soon.

As I mentioned in the past entry, the blessing of this bah is the opportunity to contribute whatever you have to your ummah. With the knowledge, position held, wealth, time, good health and perfect body, which have been given by Him, go and help the unfortunate among us. Use your capability which could benefits others. Do it not for the worldly gain, for fame, higher position, KPI or whatever names it is. Do it as Prophet urged us to be the most beneficial person to another.

We pray Allah will ease their pain and accept our meagre solemn endevour.