Opah Checks In...

Here I am, back again for the umpteenth time, with yet another promise to stay committed (and not really believing if I ever could). The flesh has been weak for the longest time now but the spirit remains willing, that much I can admit to. 

There was a time when putting pen to paper (so to speak) was as natural as doing one's daily toilette, and just as satisfying. Somewhere along the way, however, something happened. The thoughts plateaued and dimmed, lethargy set in, procrastination ensued.

The last time 'Kata Kama' saw life, on January 17, 2013, I was a freshly-minted opah (grandma), hardly a month old. Today there are three cucus in tow - Hasan, Ijaz and Hasan's little sister, Huda.

Way back in 2008 whilst on the haj pilgrimage with Pak Abu and two years later during umrah with the whole family, I shed tears at the foot of Jabal Rahmah, asking for Allah's mercy to bless my children with marriage and little ones of their own. 

Five years on, the household has expanded to include two sons-in-law and one daughter-in-law. God willing, another daughter-in-law will complete the equation come February next year.

All things considered, life has been good and kind. There had been kinks aplenty in the past and I know life may still spring a surprise or two even at this ripe age. But rest assured, I no longer sweat the small stuffs.

And this is as far as mukadimah goes. Watch this space (after all, the crazometer has been de-activated) and in the mean time, have a Kitkat!

New Year, New Hobby

It's never too late to embark on a new hobby. People I know have done so, and successfully too. An ex-colleague bought a Harley upon retirement and rode all over the country, his wife a willing partner. 

As for me, I had long wanted to build a collection of old china, ever since my late grandmother left me a pretty blue-and-white porcelain bowl (pix below) almost a century old.

  

Grandma's champagne-hued serving dish

Grandma's extensive collection of pinggan mangkuk lama had somehow disappeared, I know not where, following her demise. I was too busy raising a family in Kuala Lumpur to keep track of things.

Over the years, there were intermittent forays to the weekend flea market at Amcorp Mall, Petaling Jaya, to look at things. There were lots of interesting items but you really need to poke around a bit to find the ones worth buying.

Enter Che'Pon, a lady of both means and leisure. Had it not been for her, I would still be stuck at 'thinking' (about starting this new hobby).

Che'Pon, in her late 50s and retired, is nuts about old stuffs. She would go the distance to get what she wanted, in particular trawling the internet looking for items at bargain prices. 

Her home is a treasure trove of barang lama, all restored and lovingly maintained; crockery, furniture, cameras, vases, jars, pots and ewers, Peranakan heritage items, brass iron and belanga (cooking pot) .. 

When I first stepped foot inside her lavish abode, I was pleasantly surprised to see a beautifully restored almari dapur (kitchen cupboard) taking a prime spot in her living room. 

[Remember those pre-refrigerator days when leftovers were kept in a multi-tiered wooden cupboard, the doors of which enclosed with mesh, with each cupboard leg placed in a small bowl containing water to prevent ants from getting to the food?]

She told me she bought it for a song (well, almost) but the restoration had cost quite a bit, naturally. The end result, however, was a charming piece of woodwork.   

Pieces of old crockery, mostly of bunga kangkung motif like the  Chinese teapot below, were showcased in the cupboard. Those plates transported me back to the 1950s; we had used similar ones for our meals.

This bunga kangkung motif was very popular back then.

A fortnight back son Naj and I decided to pay a long-overdue visit to the Amcorp Mall flea market. He had wanted to check out old typewriters (he's an earnest collector) whilst Mom just wanted to browse around. 

Told him I used to have a 'Remington' eons ago. Well, actually it was Grandpa's but I had used it as much as he did. That Remington has since disappeared without a trace too.

Tok Ayah's trusty Remington, now living in eternal bliss in typewriters' heaven, I think.

dolu-dolu punya - translucent cookie containers..

dessert dish.. orang dulu panggil piring dodol.

That trip resulted in the haul above. Glad to report I'm on my way to old china heaven. These six cookie containers with covers and five matching side plates can be considered my starter kit.....

Gifts From The Heart

Apologies are long overdue to a couple of folks who had me in their thoughts during their travels. I had been meaning to put this posting up a month ago... as always, kemalasan set in.. *sigh*

This beautifully crafted plate comes from Palestine, a gift from my colleague Amir Effendi who, together with fellow Muslim Aider Muhammad bin Kamarulazizi, went on a mercy mission to Palestine in November last year.

Thank you Amir. You know what to get me on your next trip, to Nepal, in March. A tiny chunk of the Himalayas would be a welcome addition to my collection.. hehehe..

My sister Hanizah is a frequent traveller to Istanbul. She fell in love with the place on her first visit and has been returning ever since. Izah and her teenage daughter Faten have even developed a friendship with a local woman and her family.

She got me this finely-crafted plate on her last trip. I do have another piece from Istanbul courtesy of a friend, but this is my first 'Blue Mosque' plate. Thank you sis for keeping me close to your heart always. 

No prize to those who guess correctly where these come from. The windmill motif is a dead give-away. Got these charming little klompen from my Facebook friend Hasnah and her Dutch husband Farid/Frank. Thank you both.. Pak Abu and I await your return, for another round of makan-makan..

Further postings on decorative plates can be found here:

http://kamabakar.blogspot.com/2008/06/plates-of-joy.html

http://kamabakar.blogspot.com/search?q=plates+of+joy+II

http://kamabakar.blogspot.com/2011/10/cuban-delight.html

http://kamabakar.blogspot.com/2011/08/cam-on-ban.html

lhttp://kamabakar.blogspot.com/2011/10/sigh.html

January Round-up.. sort of..

Hello folks, here I am again. Tenggelam timbul, bak kata orang Melayu (the English equivalent is 'now you see it, now you don't'). 

Before you know it, we are already halfway through January. Time rushes by so fast it's frightening. In the blink of an eye, tomorrow is yesterday, and we are all a day closer to the grave. 

[Whatever the case, at least the world didn't end on December 21 2012. Put the fear of God into you those Mayans, didn't they? That they ran out of stone slabs was true after all, eh...]  

At the home front, a brand new cucu made his grand entrance on December 18. Being the first grandchild for both sides of the family, Hasan's arrival is a welcome diversion from our admittedly boring, mundane daily routine. 

Hasan in blissful slumber after 'cukur jambul'

Come February, with the grace of Allah swt, a new son-in-law comes aboard, thus increasing the family's journalistic quota from three to four. Izhar's subbing for a newspaper while bride-to-be Ann is with a news portal. May they find mutual bliss in journalism, a vocation much maligned these days. 

Insofar as Kata Kama is concerned, I don't know if I can ever live up to the promise of non-procrastination. That I'm getting lazier is the truth. Besides, the mind too is getting foggier with age and it is beginning to show.

Workwise, there's Muslim Aid Malaysia Humanitarian Foundation to contend with. If the current schedule is anything to go by, we are in for multiple projects that could help bring some degree of relief to the needy.  

Our WASH (water, sanitation and health) project is on-going; the one in Pulau Mabul off Samporna, Sabah is cruising along nicely and the focus is now on a couple of other adjacent islands, as well as the Orang Asli communities in Peninsular Malaysia. 

The tanks are up in Mabul..

Besides our regular work with the refugee kids from the Myanmar-Muslim, Rohingya and Somali communities, there's a host of new issues concerning children to look into in Mabul and nearby islands.

Breaking fast with Rohingya kids in Meru, Klang

In Mabul, schooling is denied to many children due to lack of proper documentation. Concerned, a local diving resort operator has taken it unto himself to educate the kids by setting up a makeshift learning centre named  'School of Hope'. 

Lunchtime for the Myanmar- Muslim refugee kids in Selayang 

The Foundation chipped in with whatever's needed to ensure the 'Hope' kids are at least literate. Reading, writing and crafts are taught. Teachers are mainly volunteers, local and international. 

Just as things are moving according to plan, the centre comes under official scrutiny from the state department. Their main gripe? "School of Hope' is not officially registered as a school but carries the 'school' legend. 

Performance by School of Hope kids

Whatever the case, it's 'no can do' to just sitting back and watching these kids while away their time doing nothing, and growing up illiterate. It's either education or a lifetime of servitude, petty crime, or hardship. 

Last year concluded with two mercy missions, the first to Yangon and Sittwe in Myanmar and the second to Palestine, both bringing much needed food, clothing and medication to the people under oppression there.  

This year, come March one of our boys will be trekking up the foothills of the Himalayas, to Annapurna to be exact. The mission is to create awareness and raise funds for our "Palestinian Appeal". project. More on this later when all the details are finalised.  

In the same vein, a calligraphic art exhibition called 'At-Tayyibah' is currently on at the New Straits Times Gallery in Balai Berita (Jalan Riong, Bangsar). It began on January 2 and concludes on January 25. 

Digital Calligraphy solo art exhibition

The exhibition showcases 34 pieces of stunning digital calligraphic artwork by noted khat master, Ismail Md Zain, a friend of the Foundation. Part of the proceeds from the sale of the paintings will be channelled to our 'Palestinian Appeal' fund as well.

It is heartening to note his work has been getting good response from the public. Quite a few pieces have been sold. Do drop by NST Gallery at Balai Berita for a peek. You'll be surprised at the beauty and clarity of each artwork..

A Day of Books, Plates & Moo Cow..

It has been almost a year since I last step foot inside Amcorp Mall in Petaling Jaya (story here). I remember that trip well because it marked my very first venture into BookXcess, that sprawling, totally unpretentious store on the third floor, where books were sold at stunningly low prices. 

Today once again I was Amcorp Mall bound; it was my day out with the eldest, Naj, and the youngest, Awwa. An outing with Naj is a rare occurrence, then and now. A journo's life is a hectic one; having been one myself, I know the score. So when he called to ask if I would like to go book-shopping with him, I jumped at the idea. 

Today's haul was a good one; Peter Carey's Parrot and Olivier In America, Jon Katz's The Dogs of Bedlam Farm, Bill Bryson's In A Sunburned Country and Shakespeare: The World As Stage, Jim Wight's The Real James Herriot - A Memoir of My Father and Asne Seierstad's The Bookseller of Kabul.

Touted as 'a comic masterpiece' by New Yorker and 'fizzing with fictional panache' by Sunday Times, Parrot and Olivier In America details the picaresque travels in the New World of a French aristocrat and his Englishman servant. Going by the blurbs alone, I think I am going to enjoy this one.

Peter Carey is twice winner of The Booker Prize (for Oscar and Lucinda and The True History of The Kelly Gang) and the book Parrot and Olivier was shortlisted for The Man Booker Prize 2010. (Howard Jacobson eventually won it for his The Finkler Question).

Jon Katz's The Dogs of Bedlam Farm can't go wrong with people who love animal stories. Yorkshire vet and master storyteller James Herriot got me started some 40 years ago, and I haven't looked back since. 

There's Vicki Myron's delightful Dewey, about a cat adopted by a small town library, and John Grogan's Myron & Me, about a dog that changed a man's life, on the shelf at home, not to mention the whole gamut of Herriot's humorous take on his rural practice. Simply said, I'm a sucker for animal tales.

Of Bill Bryson, of course he needs no introduction. I'm a fan through and through and the two books complete my collection of all his work. In A Sunburned Country, his dry take on equally parched Australia continues his travelogue tradition and in Shakespeare: The World As Stage, Bryson, with his trademark wit, wades through the muddles of time to reveal Shakespeare as the poet really was.       

In The Real James Herriot - A Memoir of My Father, son Jim Wight ventures beyond his father's life as a veterinarian to reveal the man behind the stories, the private individual who refused to allow fame and wealth to interfere with his practice or his family.

As for The Bookseller of Kabul, I must confess I had neither read nor heard of Norwegian writer Asne Seierstad before. The book is an international bestseller and "the most intimate description of an Afghan household ever produced by a Western journalist.." (New York Times Book Review) is enough to capture my attention.

With the exception of Bill Bryson's "Shakespeare... at RM19.90, the rest were priced at RM17.90 each, working out to less than RM110 for six brand new books. If that's not a decent enough damage I don't know what is. In ordinary book stores, I'd probably have to fork out more than twice as much for the same number of books.   

It being Sunday, the flea market was in full swing so we joined the teeming crowd... and got ourselves these cake plates at RM10 for six pieces (you can mix and match). Couldn't resist lah, darn cheap, so I settled upon these two patterns. These are brand new plates; the factory is in Puchong.

One Utama was the last stop before going home; I was lamenting about the disappearance of my favourite yoghurt swirl from Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf's menu (the line was discontinued effective 26/9 recently) when Awwa suggested I should give Moo Cow a try...

My verdict: SEDAP!  

Magnificent, Magnetic Mabul

The sea was rough; the ride, rougher. As the motored boat rode the rolling waves of Sulawesi Sea like a man possessed, strong winds blew my scarf askew, revealing once neatly tied hair in a dishevelled tangle. 

I am no novice to the wiles of the sea, having lived by the South China Sea throughout my childhood. My derrière may be accustomed to the comfort of padded chairs in air-conditioned rooms, but all things considered, I'm still a Dungun girl at heart and the sea, my master. 

If there is anything to be said about this old gal’s seaworthiness, it’s that her stomach content held admirably. I wasn't even queasy, just occasionally nervous at the vast expanse of the undulating deep blue rising and falling around me. 

I was on my way to the island of Mabul, a sea-diving haven off the coast of Samporna, Sabah. It sure was a long way from home; a three-hour flight from Kuala Lumpur to Tawau, followed by an hour-long drive to the coastal town of Samporna and a further one-hour journey by boat to Mabul. 

It was not, by any yardstick, a journey of leisure. The four of us – two young men hanging on tight to a precious, 12-foot solar panel, my lady boss and I – were on a mission to help make life a little easier to the islanders, courtesy of a generous corporate donor. 

The donor was financing a couple of projects under their community service programme; solar-powered water pumps for fresh water supply and electricity supply to the islanders, their mosque, religious school and a school for refugee children, as well as new latrines for the latter. Our role was to facilitate the projects.

I am ashamed to admit I had never been to East Malaysia before the Mabul trip. God knows the plans the family had made over the years insofar as Borneo was concerned; to trek up Mount Kinabalu, visit Sepilok Orang Utan Sanctuary, walk across the famous 'jambatan' in Tamparuli, traipse around Kuching, explore Niah Caves, spend time in an Iban longhouse and a Bidayuh village, check out all the bazaars and tamus and pasars..

Nothing ever came to fruition, however. Too many things got in the way, chief amongst them my work, unfortunately. As a single mother raising 4 kids, I could afford neither time nor money for such frivolity. And then the kids grew up and left home to live their own lives. Family holidays remained a distant dream. It still does.

That trip to Mabul (July 2012) was a break of sort. I was determined to make full use of the opportunity to do a bit of exploring. And I did. I never thought I would find another 'place by the sea' as beautiful as my hometown, Dungun, but in Mabul I did. 

The admiration, whilst grudging, was genuine. Oval-shaped Mabul was simply enchanting. Fine white sand, flat and shallow seabed that seemed to go on forever (you can walk far out to sea when the tide goes out), swaying palms, pleasant inhabitants... 

According to kampung chief and community leader Hj Yusuf, there were some 3000 people living on the island, mostly Bajau Laut and Suluk Muslims, immigrants from nearby islands of the southern Philippines.

Mabul found fame due to its close proximity to Sipadan, one of the world's best dive spots. Because the government disallows construction of any kind on Sipadan, visitors have to stay on Mabul, which boasts of a few resorts of international standard and numerous water-cottage homestays.

A diving haven itself, Mabul is recognised as one of the best muck-diving sites in the world. A couple of diving enthusiasts i know swear by Mabul; they can never get enough of diving and underwater-photographing there.

Our motley  gang of four spent four days in Mabul checking and identifying sites, having discussions with local leaders, making friends and eating fresh seafood, fish hauled up daily just by sitting on the jetty and throwing one's line into the water. I devoured juicy crabs - boiled, fried, curried - like there was no tomorrow.

Leaving Mabul was hard. It felt like leaving good old Dungun all over again. Here I am in KL, but deep inside, Mabul still reigns..  

Qurban For Life (Q4L)

Qurban is one of the most important rituals in the Muslim calendar. Broadly speaking, the word, which is Arabic, means 'sacrifice'. In precise religious terminology however, qurban means the sacrifice of an animal slaughtered for the sake of Allah (swt).

In the Shari'ah of our beloved Prophet Muhammad (saw), qurban commemorates the unparalleled sacrifice offered by the Prophet Abraham (a.s) when he, in pursuance to God's command conveyed to him in a dream, prepared to slaughter his son Ishmael.

In the final moments, Allah (swt) decreed a sheep be slaughtered in Ismael's place. The sacrifice of an animal thus became an obligatory duty to be performed by every Muslim (who fulfils the criteria for this ritual) since.

Qurban is performed annually during the three days of the Eid ul Adha (Hari Raya Haji), specifically on  the 10th, 11th and 12th of the Islamic month of Zulhijjah. The meat is then distributed to the poor and the needy, with a smaller portion reserved for one's family and friends.

In modern times, many Islamic-based charity organisations, of which Muslim Aid Malaysia (Muslim Aid) is one, offer to facilitate the obligatory duty of Qurban as one of  their services for the ummah.

Muslim Aid is under the ambit of London-based Muslim Aid International and the international network has been organising the Qurban campaign, named Qurban For Life (Q4L) for the past two decades. 

Meat is distributed to underprivileged Muslims the world over, from Afghanistan to Somalia, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Iraq, Pakistan,  Palestine as well as Kashmir and the southern provinces of Thailand where there is a large Muslim population. 

In the case of the local chapter, Australian cattle is the norm and slaughter is done in Jakim-accredited abbattoirs in Australia. Muslim Aid officers are usually on hand to witness the ritual to ensure it meets all the necessary Islamic criteria.

The meat is then shipped to Malaysia and thereon to a canning factory in Terengganu, where it is canned according to specific requirements before being distributed locally and worldwide. 

The list of receiving countries has since grown longer and this year Myanmar is added to the group, the main beneficiaries being the repressed Rohingyas and Myanmar-Muslims. 

On the local front, the meat is distributed to orphanages, homes and shelters for single mothers/abandoned wives, the elderly, the destitute, the disabled and the poor.  

Muslim Aid is the only Islamic-based organisation in this country that offers qurban meat in cans. Canning is preferred over fresh and/or frozen meat to avoid wastage. The meat is either canned in brine or as corned beef or even as curry, depending on local needs.

For those who would like to participate in Muslim Aid's Q4L, the cost is only RM380 per head of sheep or per portion of cattle (there are seven portions to a cattle). 

The amount is nett of slaughter, shipping and transportation from Australia to Terengganu, processing and canning, and distribution local and worldwide. 

Let's spread the joy of Eid ul Adha with the less fortunate through the ibadah of Qurban. For more details, you can peruse the Q4L website here. May Allah swt bless you for your good deeds. 

Back In Action (I'd Better Be...)

It has been three long months since I last updated Kata Kama. I used to wonder why some of my fellow bloggers had slackened; Too lazy or tired to bother? Hard-pressed for time? Bereft of ideas? That was before I fell into the same trap myself.

Some had abandoned their blogs entirely. A few others had turned to loads of engaging visuals, appropriately captioned, to make up for the lack of words. Commendable act, this.

Me? I'd attribute my tardiness to mental fatigue. There were topics and issues aplenty to delve into but each time I faced the screen, I couldn't even begin a decent line, let alone be creative.

Intermittently, there were calls and text messages from concerned friends and acquaintances asking about this old self and the reason for the prolonged AWOL. I wish I can justify my absence with some plausible excuse, but there is none.

Be that as it may, here I am, back in action. Let this entry be a new beginning and let's hope I will not fall by the wayside once again...

TESCO Mutiara Damansara

cheap prices, cheaper manners

If you plan to do a bit of shopping at Tesco Mutiara Damansara (the one adjacent to The Curve), make sure you chuck some old newspapers into your shopping bag. 

Who knows, you may take a fancy at some china or glassware. They do stock up on decently-priced nice pieces there. What they don't have is decently-mannered frontliners. 

The outlet is customer-unfriendly in more ways than one and I am saying this out of experience as a regular patron. I have been frequenting this place from Day One by virtue of my staying in the neighbourhood. 

If Tesco truly want to maintain the goodwill of their customers, they will need to give their frontline staff a refresher course in customer relations. 

Acid-tongued tarts should not be allowed to serve people who come to spend their hard-earned money at your store, Tesco. If you can't live up to the saying 'customer is king',  you have no business running a business. 

I have had two unpleasant encounters with two Tesco staff in just as many months and my patience is wearing thin, to the point of not wanting to patronise the place any more.

I'd rather spend a few ringgit more and be treated with dignity elsewhere - we do have choices, Tesco - than be berated by constipated faces who have forgotten what a smile is.

Last month I bought some mangoes and bananas. After hunting high and low for plastic bags (the off-white, rolled, tear-off kind that they place at certain shelves) and not finding any, I brought the fruits, loose, to the weighing station.    

The dirty look the Malay woman seated behind the weighing machine gave me was an indication of the crap to come. "Ni kenapa tak masukkan dalam beg plastik awal-awal? Bagi tambah kerja saya jer."

I naturally lost no time in responding. "Awak ingat kalau saya jumpa plastic bags saya nak bawak selambak macam ni? Mana pergi semua rolls yang selalunya bergantung kat shelves tu? Berapa banyak shelves dah saya pusing, satu pun takder. Saya pun nak kerja senang jugak!"

What really irked me was that she had pre-prepared a pile of such bags, already rolled open and neatly placed by the side of the weighing machine. Why the need to berate me? Why not just plonk the damn fruits into the bags and be done with it? That was what the already- opened bags was for, right?

Perhaps because this tudung-ed makcik clad in slightly worn clothing looked unsophisticated (cleaner/maid came to mind), she was  a convenient target. I doubt if the worker would do the same to a well-dressed Ahso or foreigner. 

Earlier this week I had another run-in, this time with a cashier. I spied some nice bowls and plates and decided to buy them, so I loaded about 15 pieces into a cart and made my way to a cashier.

Me: "Mintak kertas, dik. saya nak wrap pinggan mangkuk ni."

Cashier: "Kertas takder".

Me: "Kalau takder, pi lah cari kat mana-mana." 

Cashier: "Kita memang tak sediakan kertas."

Me: "Huh? Habis macam mana saya nak bawak balik pinggan mangkuk ni? Kalau tak bungkus, pecahlah dia dalam kereta nanti. You all jual barangan kaca tapi tak sediakan kertas pembungkus?"

Cashier, curtly: "Jangan tanya saya. Saya tak tau. Lagipun orang jarang beli pinggan mangkuk kat sini!"

Me: "Bodohnya jawapan! Mana supervisor awak, saya nak tanya."

Cashier (turning to her fellow cashier instead, and asking: "Ada kertas?" Fellow cashier answered: "Alaaa, suruh aja dia bungkus dengan beg plastik tuuu!")

By this time I was really losing it: "Apa ker jadahnya korang ni? Hari Sabtu bukan main lagi No Plastic Bag Day, suruh orang bawak shopping bag sendiri. Hari lain, nak bungkus pinggan 15 keping, suruh pakai 15 plastic bags. 'Eco' kepala hotak hangpa. Apa punya baghal nih??"

Left with no choice, I took the 15 bags, wrapped my plates (nasib dah bayar, kalau belum, memang sah aku tinggalkan aja) and walked off.

I want to know, apart from 'No Plastic Bag Day' every Saturday, do they practise 'No Kertas Pembungkus Day' tiap-tiap hari? Tesco, tolong jawab sikit? 

layers upon layers of plastic bags for 15 miserable pieces of  pinggan mangkuk, no thanks to  'eco-conscious' Tesco Mutiara Damansara. A real 'mangkuk ayun' state of being...

Ramadhan Fast 2 Feed 2012

Soon, the blessed month of Ramadhan, the ninth month of the Islamic calendar when Muslims fast from dawn to dusk, will be upon us once again. 

This holiest of all months in Islam is a time for spiritual reflection and worship, for fasting instils self-discipline and encourages actions of generosity and charity.

As in past years, Muslim Aid Malaysia Humanitarian Foundation (Muslim Aid) embarks on its annual iftar fund-raising drive, Ramadhan Fast 2 Feed, to provide a window of charity for the faithful to feed the needy.

Ramadhan Fast 2 Feed organises breaking of fast at orphanages, homes and shelters throughout the country. Our network of volunteers are ready to swing into action once Ramadhan commences.

Some 20 locations have been determined and 1,500 participants confirmed thus far. They included orphans, poor families, destitutes and the elderly, as well as the Muslim refugee communities of Myanmar and Somalia currently domiciled in Malaysia. With your participation, more can be included in this year's programme. 

Come join us by sponsoring an orphan or an underprivileged child to 'buka puasa' and 'moreh', with a token sum as 'duit raya'. We offer two packages:

Package A of RM40/child entitles him/her to iftar, moreh & 'duit raya'. Package B of RM60/child offers you the additional perk of partaking iftar with your sponsored child as well.

How to participate:

1) Visit our office personally, or

2) by cheque made out to 'Yayasan Kemanusiaan Muslim Aid Malaysia' or 

3) by cash deposit into  'Yayasan Kemanusiaan Muslim Aid Malaysia' account or

4) by Interbank Giro or

5) by credit card (Visa/Mastercard)

Bank Account:

Yayasan Kemanusiaan Muslim Aid Malaysia

CIMB Bank: 1422-0000070-10-8

(Kindly fax payment slip to 603-22881966)

We welcome group/corporate participation, at RM3,000/- to RM5,000/- per location, depending on the number of recipients. You can also determine the home/shelter/orphanage of your choice if you so wish. 


Should you wish to participate in this 'amal' programme, kindly e-mail your full details & payment slip to mail@muslimaidasia.com and state your preferred date for iftar. May our amal stand us in good stead in the Hereafter, Insyaallah.

Last year's programme with Asrama Anak Yatim Hikmah, Gopeng, Perak.

Dengan keluarga miskin di Gunung Semanggol.

Creaming the Ice @ Ice-cream

I know, I know... cobwebs have taken over this neglected blog. But today's a new beginning, I promise..

1. Jeez, the blog title's NOT what you think, ok...

The Cream & Fudge Ice Cream Shop, opening soon in Wangsa Maju (beside Wangsa Walk Mall) is hiring. If you have what it takes to cream the ice, they want you pronto. The place's family-owned (my niece's) and it's looking for supervisor and crew, both part-time and full-time. 

Contact them for details:

Puteri @ 012-2367219

Amir @ 019-3298250

We'll have a gala time at the opening, that much I can say.. So get ready to boogie!

Our Muslim Aid Charity Shop, officially named 'Wellbeing M(A)LL', is slowly but surely taking shape. It is currently being prepared for its official opening on June 14.  

Wellbeing M(A)LL shoplot is located on the first floor of Mutiara Bangsar building in Jalan Liku (off Jalan Pantai Baru) just a couple of doors away from our Yayasan Kemanusiaan Muslim Aid Malaysia office. 

Shop address:

8-1-16, Menara Mutiara Bangsar

Jalan Liku, off Jalan Pantai Baru

59100 Kuala Lumpur

Tel: 03-2288 1996

Our boys and girls are putting in extra hours daily including weekends, doing inventory, pricing and display, as well as cleaning stock to ensure each and every item is in tiptop condition, ready to meet its new owner. 

Dear readers, we need more items to fill our shelves. Please help us by donating your discarded stuffs, the ones idling in your closet or garage; still in reasonably good condition but you no longer have any use for. 

Money raised through sale of items in the charity shop will go towards our many programmes and activities throughout the year. We can't depend on donors alone; we have to explore every avenue possible to raise funds. 

Everything is welcome; items of clothing (men, women, children's), footwear, handbags & clutches, suitcases, accessories, stationeries, books and magazines, gadgets, toys, kitchen appliances, kitchenware, glassware & china, selendang & shawls, decorative items, paintings.. in short, anything reusable.

'Titleist' Golf Bag - almost new

Muhammad 'testing' the Ogawa chair.

Baju kurung & blouses aplenty...

Plastic containers for the kitchen.. 

Our Facebook account has just been created. Do 'like' it (here), please, and help spread the word. The charity shop's blog and website will follow soon.

More news on the development of the shop as we go along. Tunggu!