The kids' first chess tournament..

 Sat 18.5.2024

Wafa:  3 wins, 4 losses.  Final position:  82 / 121.

Muadz:  4 wins, 3 losses.  Final position:  54 / 121.

Those are the final accomplishments of  both my grand-daughter, Wafa, 10, and my grand-son, Muadz, 9 in their first ever chess tournament. Both were introduced to the game by me only in February. The results are not great, but under the circumstances, not bad.  And they made up the 5-member KGV School team. Muadz became no.1, Wafa no.4.

Incidently, this was also the first chess tournament I'd ever attended.

Kip Mall, Senawang, this morning, was the venue. Certainly there were surprises aplenty.

My own introduction to the game was late in life. I was already working, at that time posted to Seremban. Ari  was also working in Seremban, and he would hang around some of his friends in their rented house in Ampangan, and one of them played chess. So I tried my hand, losing to the same guy every time we played.  He always found his way around the board, and had me trapped again and again. But I never took the trouble to read up about it, until Bobby Fischer came around to beat the Russians and won the world title. That was in the early 70's I think. Only then did I browse round a few KL bookstores and bought a couple of books on chess I still have with me somewhere. Still, it didn't strike me to learn the concept and main principles of the engrossing game. 

The Felda head office I was at also used to organize a few matches, but I never took part.

For the last couple of decades I did not touch  chess at all. I used to have a nice tournament-standard chess board with solid wooden pieces with felt bases, but that was then, and with all the transfers and moving houses, they have disappeared.

Early this year, browsing in a bookstore in  town, I came across some chess sets. I looked for a regular tournament set, but only found some plastic ones, and the tiny magnet sets. I buoght one tournament-size plastic set and one tiny magnet set. I started playing against myself. I thought it was fun. Then I went on-line on my pc and played against the computer. 

Simultaneously, I introduced chess to my 3 school-going grandchildren. Wafa and Muadz liked the game straightaway, and we would play  after school.  Muadz, one of the twins, is particularly keen, more than Wafa. The other twin brother, Miqdad,  shows little interest.

The surprises I mentioned were:

Our family, coming full strength to lend support, was the least prepared. Other families came well-stocked with food-and-drink, and parked themselves at chosen spots complete with matts and pillows. Obviously this wasn't their first time.

The contestants were provided with clocks to record the passing of the game-time. I knew this, but for my grandchildren it was a novelty, and clearly it was a distraction.

I'd warned the kids about touching the pieces when playing - to do so only when they have decided on the particular move. The big shock for them, because they were careless, was that their opponents made full use of the rule, and in one lost game each, both lost because of this "illegal move" brought to the officials' attention when they raised their hands to complain.  This means that substance is not the only requirement of a chess match. Rules and etiquette reign supreme, too, fair or not. That was a harsh teaching experience for my first-timers. Muadz took his losses in his stride.  Wafa was more emotional.

And of course, the calmness that can come from experience is vital for an intellectual game like chess. One match that Muadz was on the way to victory was lost simply because he was so eager to "Queen" his pawn, and had touched the offending piece before his opponent made his move. Of course the opponent was quick to protest, and was rewarded.

Hanif has ordered the chess clock which the household chess players will now use. Dekna has been asked to keep track of local competitions. Next time Wafa and Muadz should be better prepared.

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FMC-PD Raya Puasa celebration 2024.

 Tues 30.4.2024.

So the 2024 Raya Puasa celebration organized by the FMC-PD group was successfully held at the OPA Penthouse, Subang, on Sunday 28.4.2024, which was the 19th of Syawal, the Raya month. Painstakingly prepared, the event fully served its objective, and in no small measure Nawawi must be given full credit for it. The venue was because of the FMC-PD declining numbers. In fact to make up for that, the OPA's of 62-66 were included because they were, like the PD group, BB's before FMC became RMC.

Hank & I, from Seremban, the only outstation participants, arrived at the Penthouse only second to  Halim Shah. Nawawi was also already there, still in his beloved yellow T-shirt, giving orders left and right, catching Hank right in his first step into the foyer. I saw the open elevator and quickly got in and pressed "3" and "close door" simultaneously, thus escaping Hank's predicament, ha ha.

Food and drinks were already frenetically being readied in the kitchen lobby on the 3rd. floor. The lamb was still whole but looked done on the embers, and the pasta-chef was already frying the kwei teow. I went in and counted 10 tables in the main dining area, and another 6 in the office hall. At 8 per table, there should be places for 122 guests, I figured. In the end, there were only 2 tables not fully occupied, indicating almost full attendance as per the guest-list. That included Asmat Kamaluddin whom I saw for the first time in these gatherings, and I told him so.

In typical Malaysian style, a lot of time was spent on speeches and salutations. In fact one of the sub-committee members stood up in the middle of  one of the speeches saying something that I couldn't make out, because I sat at the last table on the exit to the kitchen lobby. I assumed it was a complain about the speeches, something I could have done myself. But nobody responded to that outburst, and the speeches up front and the noisy talk at all the tables around went on. Fortunately for Nawawi, our real host, no food & drink was on any table yet. Otherwise they would have dug in, speeches or no speeches. 

Except for me. I quietly went out to the food-preparation area and told the guy at the roast-lamb station I want to test it before the others are called to get the food. Because the speeches still had not ended after I cleaned up my roast lamb, I went back and took a plate of kwei teow. So when they finally said " please get your food now", I was already into my desserts !

One or two came in wheel-chairs, and many with canes in hand.  But several regular faces in the past didn't come, mostly citing other commitments, but also because of health issues. So these annual celebrations now show up the ravages of time, relentless and unavoidable. Which makes these outings all the more cherished, I feel.

From Mydin Seremban 2, I came with Hank in his car, with me driving. We gave ourselves plenty of time for the 11-o'clock deadline. The last KL trip took us an incredible 3 hours. But although this is still Hari Raya time, the traffic wasn't as bad as anticipated. That was why we were only beaten by Halim Shah, who came from nearby PJ.

The drive back was also not as bad as expected, although it was Sunday afternoon, when normally the weekenders return to KL. We stopped for hot coffee at the Dengkil R&R, and reached Mydin S 2 before 6 pm. I told Hank to post to me all the photos taken. He said to go to "link" and download, but I said "too much trouble lah."

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At Jack's after 67 years.

 Sun 21.4.2024.

Yesterday, Saturday, was 11 Syawal, 11 days since Hari Raya Puasa. Jack had invited me to his place for a Raya celebration. I accepted and tried to rope in Hank, Aziz Hitam and Kamaruddin Basir, offering to provide transport. In the end only Aziz came, and that, too, because I went to his house first.

Hank, despite agreeing earlier, gave the last-minute excuse of the cleaners coming to the house at noon. Kamaruddin, who lives just 5 houses away from me, said his back is hurting.  Aziz I hauled in after visiting him at home in TTDI. His wife declined joining because of her arthritis, which was quite obvious. Idah was being left alone because Dekna had gone to her m.i.l's, and asked to come along, and made the threesome to Jack's Section 14, 1975 bungalow  in the old section of PJ.

The KL drive on 17/4 reminded me of the traffic woes befalling travellers this Raya season, and made me plan the 9.30 departure for Aziz's house, and then Jack's 2 pm-party. Moving from TTDI to Section 14 PJ would require some time because of the urban congested holiday traffic. In the end it took 3 whole hours from Seremban to TTDI, and another 3 whole hours back to Seremban. I reached home just as the Isyak prayers were called. That was an 11-hour Saturday outing !

I reminded Jack that my first visit was decades ago with the late Husin Hj. Ali, our classmate from Kampong Galau, Seri Menanti. Today I said I'm bringing another classmate from Kampong Galau, Seri Menanti - Aziz. Incidentally, Rosmah Mansor is also from the same kampong.

We used to stay not far from Aziz's house, at Damansara Utama, 1978 -1995, when I moved back to Seremban. Around 2003 I sold the house, because, at first, No.1 Son didn't want to stay on. I believe Adib was the reason for that. Then No. 2 Son took over, but didn't want to stay on also, and Ija was probably party to that move. When the vacated house began to leak here and there, I sold it, and made 8 times the original outlay. Now the houses in the area is worth 3 times what I got !

The 1 Utama shopping complex was built during our stay in Damansara Utama. But the complex had been expanded to more than double in size since. The last time Idah stepped into 1 Utama was 1995 - 30 years ago. So after dropping Aziz home, she wanted to see the inside of the huge 1 Utama mall. We went. And nearly got stranded in the parking bay. The machine is non-cash. They're that now, dammit. It had swallowed my parking ticket. Only the arrival of another shopper saved the day.

We took some photos at Jack's, but forgot to take any at Aziz's. The 5 of us in the photo - Jack, his wife, Aziz, my wife and I - I calculated had a total of 397 years in age. Good Lord ! Well, we were classmates from Standard 6, TMS, in 1957, the Merdeka year, until Form 3, 1960. Before that I was in MES Tanjung Malim. My father was teaching at the SITC 1951 - 1956. In 1961 I joined FMC (later to become RMC).

I'd liked to chit-chat some more with Jack, reminiscencing old times, but the host had other guests who kept coming. As I said to Aziz, let's keep in touch. We don't know when we'll meet again.

It was close to Magrib when we approached the newly reopened Seremban R&R on the PLUS, returning home, and decided to stop and check the renovated place. Both of us hadn't been here since they closed for renovations. Well, let me say that I'm both happy and sad to see the new premises.

I'm happy to see an enlarged place of rest and recreation, with all the improved appointments. The shops are rearranged to offer bigger eating-room made comfortable by the very high roof and large fans. The toilet and prayer-room facilities appear to be roomy and well designed. The parking, for both normal and heavy vehicles, looks well-provided. The over-parking woes we see on the twin old R&R on the opposite side of the highway should not happen here.

But I'm also sad. I expect to see the rubbish disposal problem enlarged with the larger area.  Expect to see disorganization because of the bigger area for that happening, both inside the premises and on the expanded parking area. Expect selfish behavior from Malaysians to spoil the enjoyment of the rest and recreation supposed to be offered. The solution ?  Enforcement.  I didn't see this yesterday, both in the system and the personnel.  My hope ? The planners have this in their drawing board. After all, Seremban R&R has just been reopened, and many things are still not operational yet. That's another key word - the operations.

It was good to renew old friendship. You can't buy that. But new things happen, too.  Accept that.

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My 80th Raya Puasa.

 Monday 15.4.2024 (6 Syawal 1445 H)

Zainab on her whatsapp had asked last week if Raya would be on Wednesday 10.4.2024. The Istana Negara announcement wasn't due until Isya' Tuesday 9.4.2024, but I confidently said yes, from gut feeling. I was right, although the slightly delayed broadcast had caused me a late slight doubt on my earlier optimism.

I had in fact already invited the 694, the 384 and the Ujangbanun family groups to come for this Raya gathering at the house on Friday, the 3rd Raya day, even as I'd confidently confirmed the Raya date to Zainab. I'd ordered 750 satays from Wak, and also invited Hank, Tok Maulud and Durai, the non-family friends. The wife and kids  -  they had simply followed my messages on my whatsapp and made their own preparations accordingly.

With a few absentees, the Raya gathering was a success. The last to arrive, just as I was finishing off the last 20 sticks of satay perut (my favorite dish), at about  9.30 pm was Tok Maulud.  As usual he was always the last to come even at our golf fixtures. Anyway, the two of us cleaned up the last scraps of food,  literally. All the dishes and the beverages were completely cleaned up ! And there were 4 very large garbage bags of used plastic plates and bowls and cups and forks and spoons bearing witness to the party.

We've been doing this for a long time now, this 3rd-day Raya thing. This sort of makes up for the laboured house visits, over a stretched period. But this time, because of the Friday prayers, the time had been slightly tightened, causing the initial jam at the food table. One very large stand fan,  3 other stand fans, and all the a/c units and ceiling fans inside the house were switched on to fight the high solar-equinox temperatures, only to a bearable level. I think the next time we could rent an external a/c unit and put a temporary plastic wall to better fight the ambient temperature.

The grandchildren showed the most enjoyment, heartily consuming the satay, mee kari, soto, kueh-mueh and hot-and-cold drinks. They even put up a show with the karaoke set No. 3 Son brought. This encouraged individual  performances from the crowd, including my besan, Suhaily. Of course she was more than willing to perform - she was a professional singer once. No 2 Son even hauled in the ice-cream vendor who happened to pass by and bought up his entire stock that everyone, young and old, happily enjoyed.

A happily done kenduri Raya Puasa for the immediate family members, I declare.  My 80th.   Alhamdulillah.

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Dato' Sainy Edris (16.8.1949 - 25.3.2024).

 Wed 27.3.2024.

Each fasting month I'd do my terawih prayers at the mosque. This year I'd chosen masjid Sg. Landak, being closer home, and for reasons that merit a separate narrative.  So on Monday evening 25.3.24 I was there before the Isya' prayers, followed with the terawih. But it rained heavily right past the terawih. Coming on my scooter, I had to wait for the rain to stop before going home. So it was almost 11 pm before I opened the smartphone and got the sad news of my old friend, Sainy's, passing at the TJH around 6 pm. Foo had called, but the phone was on mute. Sainy would have been 74 years and 7 months.

Late January we visited a stricken Sainy at the private Pantai Hospital in Air Keroh, Melaka. He had fallen, while visiting his daughter. They put him on life support, and wanted to do some serious procedure because of the life-threatening situation. We advised the children to quickly consider the medical options.

Later Sainy was moved back to PD hospital, and still later taken home, still on life support. We visited again at home. They must have taken him to HTJ for some very grave causes, prior to his sad end.

Early yesterday morning Foo briefed me on the funeral plans, and I was at the house as they were just completing the "kapan" shrouding of the bathed remains. So I was able to join the funeral prayers in the house, before the body was taken to the nearby mosque for the community's prayers turn. I saw no other recognizable MUBARAK members at the house. Only Foo came at 11 and went straight to the cemetery to witness the burial.

I might add that the imam had announced at the house that one ustaz friend would lead the funeral prayers. I was standing right behind the shrouded remains and raised my hand to attract attention, and suggested that it's more "afdal" if one of Sainy's sons lead the prayers. My uninvited suggestion was accepted. In fact that son performed it quite well, and in the post doa included a Malay addition about asking for God's grant of blessing on his father that was emotional and had me close to tears myself, standing right behind him.

I was with Sainy in GE9 when we were both among the UMNO elected State Assemblymen in 1995, and that friendship had lasted to the day he died. His late wife also was good friends with my wife. My wife remembers her as a good wife and a fastidious homemaker. 

I was an Assemblyman for only one term. Sainy was relected for at least one more term. It could have been more, but I'm not sure. Later Isa replaced him, although I remember he was still the UMNO Divisional Head. I'm not going into that, but if Isa reads this blog, I want him to know that Sainy was loyal to him, and UMNO, to the end. For those who follow UMNO politics, this loyalty was uncommon.

Sainy was active in MUBARAK from the beginning, and getting to be the Secretary and the representative to the Central Committee meetings, eventually, came naturally to him. There was a brief period of absence when illness caused him to vacate the secretaryship, but once good health returned, the job went back to him. He has performed his duties well. MUBARAK NS will miss him.

Sadly, there is one unfinished job that is denied to Sainy. He had been the coordinating man for our Negri fight for upgrading the Assemblymen's allowances to be at par with the other 13 states. Melaka, much smaller than NS, had only this January done that. We believe there is every chance that this correction will take place soon. Only Sainy , most regretfully, isn't around to see the fruits of his labour.

Most importantly, I see that he had raised a successful family, and led a good, faithful life. As his son in the final prayers said, God would see the good in this human being, and Bless him in the Hereafter, amin.

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My dear li'l Habib.

Sat 5th Ramadan 1445 H. (16.3.2024).

Habib will be 3 in 6 months. This 12th. grandchild is Dekna's 4th, youngest, and  most likely last offspring. Born at 8.32 a.m., Monday 6.9.2021 (28 Muharram, 1443 H.) in HTJ Seremban, he weighed a good 2.76 kg. He's fair-skinned, like the mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother. But like the other elder siblings, the birth was caesarian. That's one reason Dekna underwent a procedure that removed the possibility of another child.

Habib grew well enough into a lively 1 year-old. There appeared to be no feeding, nursing or cognitive issues - smiling when happy, crying when hungry or wet, and responding to touch, especially by the parents and grandma.

But after learning to walk at about 13 months, we noticed the lack of eye-contact and response to call. He was super-active, though, running around the house, often round and round the furniture. He makes childish sounds, and is often engrossed by the children's programs on tv. But no effort  at teaching words brought result. We often compare him with tots about his age we would see in the supermarkets. They made eye-contact and were already picking intelligible words.

Dekna took him for tests that found his hearing and eyesight ok. I didn't utter the actual word, but suggested several times that Habib be properly assessed by a pediatrician.

Dekna must have consulted her friends. Sure enough, there is a case that was given the proper professional care early, and that child is now responding well.

I'd read-up about the symptoms, and Dekna must have done the same. The wife is very critical of my comments made to her, not Dekna. I said you have to call it out, so the right action is taken. I didn't say this to Dekna. The wife said Dekna is quite upset by hints before, and had cried. I didn't see this coming.

Happily, on her own, Dekna had enrolled Habib for his first lesson at the special class in Senawang, yesterday. She said it costs RM1,600 per month. I kept quiet. There's nothing that is more important than the right care for Habib. 

One out of 100 children get this  condition. Many stories abound about autism, and the treatment.  I pray to God Habib would enjoy  the successes seen before, worldwide. 

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The 80th Ramadan.

 Tues, March 12, 2024.

The "80th" is mine.

Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) came 15 centuries ago.

This is my 80th year in this world. Today is the first day of Ramadan in the 1445 Hijriah.

But my first solat terawih, last night, was performed at home, not in the nearby surau or mosques. As ill-luck would have it, it was again the scooter that spoiled the plan. Just like last Ramadan.

The last time it was towards the end of the fasting month. I slipped 200 m. from the house going for my Subuh prayers.

This time it was half-way to the State Mosque for the first terawih. I slipped on the turn in front of the Tuan Said burial ground. And like before, I decided to abort that night's mosque plan. In fact there were just scratches on my right knee and right hand, with a little dried blood only on the knuckle of the right hand. But the shirt was soiled, and I wanted to tend to whatever injuries I might discover on closer examination back home.

So this morning I decided to change venue to my old Sg. Landak mosque. It's only 200 m. away. My right hand is swollen, and I can't handle the scooter. Taking the old car to the State Mosque is out of the question, because of the horrific parking woes.

Md.Noh Jidin knows why I went to the State Mosque these last few years. I met him at the Sg. Landak mosque this morning, and he inquired about not meeting me there. I said, without telling him of my accident, this year I'm changing venue. You see, the air-conditioned State Mosque is comfortable. Especially for the extended Ramadan prayers. Sungai Landak had struggled with the idea of better cooling for the congregation for years. Ever larger and larger fans have been installed, including the giants that took up the entire ceiling, but it was always the warm air being circulated, the breeze giving a sense of coolness. 

The last two years (yup, years !) the Sg. Landak mosque had been stuck with the operational problems for the finally installed air-conditioning system. When I met Md. Noh this morning, I didn't know the latest development on the a/c plight of the mosque. But I had braced myself for this year's non-a/c terawih. So it was a fan-cooled subuh prayers. But being subuh, it wasn't bad.

What a surprise when I came for my zohor prayers just now. The long-installed a/c was functioning!  At long last !

As I was leaving the mosque, I saw one of the crew that was still going over the a/c system's operations, and asked what had delayed things. He was eager to share the explanation. I concluded, and I told him, obviously the administrative jumble-up overwhelmed the technical issues. I didn't offer to elaborate. We both said "Thank God, everything's ok now".

I passed my comments to Md. Noh. He didn't answer my call. I wanted to gloat. I chose a venue change. In fact it has been a good decision.

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