"asmara ini yang hanyutkan kitaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa...asmara ini yang hanyutkan akuuuuuu..."

Sedihnya Say Goodbye

from peterpanband.com

Subject: HALO SAHABAT SEMUA! PAMIT YAA...

halo sahabat2ku sayang.. ini adalah postingan dan kunjunganku yang terakhir disini.

berat sekali rasanya nulis atau buka situs ini lagi, karena disini banyak banget memori tentang kita semua. semakin sering buka, semakin sedih rasanya karena udah ngga disini lagi.

intinya, aku cuma pengen pamit sama kalian semua. maaf baru bisa pamit sekarang, karena kemaren2 aku rasanya down banget..

terima kasih banyak, kalian udah setia nemenin aku disini, selalu menyambut dengan ceria kalo aku online di chat room, rebutan nanya, sampe2 aku bingung mo jawab yang mana duluan. hehehe.. i will miss those moments for sure. and i will miss u guys much, no doubt about it.

well, aku cuma berharap, moga-moga setelah ini ada personil lain yang gantiin posisi aku buat jagain, nemenin dan jadi sahabat buat kalian semua..

mudah2an, nanti kalo aku sama indra bikin band baru lagi, kalian masih tetep jadi sahabat2ku tersayang ya.. see u guys on the next show, with a different band? hehehe..

much love and hugs for u guys,
-me-

well, nobody can replace you, dika. nobody.

for the uninterested, andika was the founding father of peterpan. he was the one who brought them together, so u can see why this dismissal was hard to swallow.
he was also the one who managed the running of the fan clubs. he paid the most attention to fans, building up the relationships and keeping them alive. he always instructed the band's fanclub management to assist us in all possible areas.

sedih dengar dia cakap "gantiin posisi aku buat jagain, nemenin dan jadi sahabat buat kalian semua.. "

nggak ada sesiapa yang bisa gantiin kamu, kang. selalu sahabat.

I Got Up At 3AM

I Got Up At 3AM To

find mother sitting on the sofa. next to her was andika. they were happily chatting away. then i went into my room, and there on my bed was sister and ariel. they were laughing at me for something.

they complained they were hungry, so i brought them to my old chua chu kang secondary school to eat cik tijah’s nasi+mee ayam, a meal that i had everyday during recess for the four years of secondary school education.

then we walked back home, me and ariel in front and sister and andika at the back. ariel and i talked our heads off, about life and how unfair it was. about why sometimes we just cannot see the good in people. he told me that when it was sad, it reminded him to treasure the happiness when it came. i couldn’t resist it, i just had to ask him what was going on between him and dika. he patted my head and assured me that they are still friends, they still traveled together.

we went home to pack their things and left for the airport.

along the way, sister demanded that i stopped hogging ariel. i turned and there was dika with the biggest smile on his face.

he put his arm around me and we followed sister and ariel from behind, hearing ariel try to convince her that if a tree fell in the forest but nobody heard it, then did the tree exist?

me and dika strolled along in a comfortable silence. then i asked him how things were. he said he and farah were gonna try for a baby. i said that was wonderful. then he tapped my nose and said if it was another princess, he was gonna name it after me.

i looked at him and laughed. and told him he’s so silly. how could he have a child named after a confection? but then again who was i to talk?

we looked up and saw that sister and ariel had gotten into some kind of trouble with some mat motors. thing is, they were very young mat motors, pri school maybe? the leader among them, a pudgy boy, was shaking his fists at ariel. i wanted to run up to them and play peacekeeper, but dika held me back, saying that ariel can take them.

i heard sister saying eh budak kecik, kau tak kenal ker ni siapa? nie… her words trailed off as ariel cupped her mouth with this hand. he shook his head at her and from where i was, his lips read it’s ok.

he went to the boy, put his hand on his shoulder and said something i couldn’t make out. the boy’s face contorted in surprise and then to a small suppressed smile. he nod knowingly and shook hands with ariel.

i looked up at dika, he was smiling at the scene. that’s ariel, he said, with a note of pride in his voice.

we continued our journey and got into a london cab. when we arrived at the terminal, we started to say our goodbyes. i punched dika in the arm and told him to hurry with that baby.

then i turned to face ariel. his hair was falling all over his face and i brushed them aside to look into his eyes. he said harus berapa lama aku menunggu u? he pinched my cheek as he said it. then we hugged so hard, the bag strap on his shoulder left a print on my chin.

with all the goodbyes said, they picked up their bags and walked through the gates, their arms around each other’s backs.

as they passed through the guards, he turned around and our eyes met. we held the gaze till he was no more than a small speck. at the far end, a familiar tune wafted through my conscious.

bila rindu ini masih milik mu
ku hadirkan sebuah tanya untukmu
harus berapa lama aku menunggu mu…

aku menunggumu…

it was that darned hand phone 6am alarm blaring out that ringtone.

then aku pun terbangun dari tidur panjang yang lelah kan ku.

*hhrrmmpph*

Going On A Date!

with aby! today! to our favourite hang-out!

it's been a long time since we just chilled and lepakz freely without having to think about chores, work or the what-nots.

i'm so school-girl excited. can't wait. *grins*

Going On A Date!

with aby! today! to our favourite hang-out!

it's been a long time since we just chilled and lepakz freely without having to think about chores, work or the what-nots.

i'm so school-girl excited. can't wait. *grins*

Seven Days In Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam

this story is waaaaaaaaay overdue! first published in Teens Crossroads magazine in 2006.

The Darul Arqam Aceh Humanitarian Relief Project Team was in Aceh from 19th to the 26th of December 2005. The original intent was to facilitate (albeit in a small way) Aceh’s rehabilitation process, but little did the team know what Aceh had in store for them.
by Siti Khairiyah Mohd Jamil

When first faced with the prospect of going to Aceh to carry out a humanitarian relief project, the first thing that came to my mind was, “What? They need more toilets built?” As it turned out, Aceh helped me more than I helped Aceh.

The team from Darul Arqam Singapore planned for a project that addresses the educational development of the orphans through enhancing the teaching skills of their teachers, engaging in social counselling and infusing experiential learning activities with the affected communities at Banda Aceh, Samalanga and Lokhsemauwe.

We reached Banda Aceh some time around noon, and after lunch, we were taken for a tour of the tsunami devastated areas.

We did our zuhr prayers at the Masjid Raya Banda Aceh, which was the place most of the tsunami survivors sought refuge from the waves and the flood waters. We also went to the site where the PLTD APUNG 1 landed after being swept up from the sea and crashed onto some houses in a nearby village.

The next day we started our first programme at Ulum Al Quran which houses the orphanage Fajar Hidayah when the tsunami badly damaged their premises.

The principal and house matron of Fajar Hidayah shared that the first few months after the tsunami, the children suffered emotional distress from the experience and the trauma that they suffered is manifested in their behaviour. They display emotional symptoms such as occasional bursting into tears, crying fits, tantrums and even mistaking their house parents for their real parents. The teachers and house parents of the orphanage had to put their own tragedy aside to help these children deal with the trauma and grief.

The Ulum Quran is a pesantren that specialized in the training of tahfiz. Some of the children in the boarding school are orphaned as a result of the tsunami. They do study circular subjects for some part of their curriculum but bulk of their days is spent studying, reciting and experiencing the Holy Quran.

We spent two days with the children at Fajar Hidayah and Ulum Quran, conducting learning lessons for the children and training sessions for the teachers. The children have so much passion to learn that there weren’t enough classes or volunteers to reach all the kids. We had to split ourselves further and even carry out lessons in the musollah.

The team carried out mostly English language classes with the children. The aim was to get them to be more familiar with the language and to get the comfortable with conversing in English with themselves and with others. Our teachers achieved this by getting the children to introduce themselves through drawing and colouring.

A problem-based learning session was conducted for the older students. The team had prepared for the subject of “missionaries in Aceh” and the responses we got from the students were overwhelming. They displayed a desire to learn English and venture out of their country to see their world. It was the Team’s intention to help these children adjust to the increased attention on their country and share with them how social cohesion can be achieved, in view of the influx of multi racial and multi religious relief community pouring into Aceh at the moment. The Team inspired them to master English better and be able to do da’wah to more communities in the global world.

After the sessions we done, we were able to play games or conduct sing-along sessions with the children. We took advantage of these moments, for it was an opportunity to interact with the children on a social setting. The older boys from Ulum Quran were more inquisitive, asking us questions ranging from “How do you pray in Singapore?” to “Is that they way Singaporean muslimahs wear the hijab?”

The team also took the chance to share with the children on how Islam is practiced in a multi-racial and multi-religious environment. They were most interested and fascinated on the fact that I have neighbours of different religions and how we celebrate festival together. I took the opportunity to chat up with 26-year-old Bro Syahrizal, an uztaz at the Pesantren Dayah Terpadu Inshafuddin in Lamprik, Banda Aceh. The school was among those which were damaged by the tsunami. Here is his story.

“The day the tsunami hit, I was with some students by the beach. We had just finished our sports practice and we were carrying out a community service programme, cleaning the common areas, picking up litter and trash and such. When the first earthquake hit, we gathered at the open field and I made sure all my students were safe. For us, earthquakes were a normal occurrence, so we knew what to do.

“The tsunami happened so fast. The waves rose from the sea like a blanket and smashed onto the shore line. The water stared rushing inland. There was a mad scramble; everyone was running inland, trying to get out of the water’s reach. I tried to stay close to my students, but only a few of them managed to escape the water.

“The few of us climbed onto the roof of a house and watched the melee that was happening right before our eyes. I couldn’t believe it. The water was sweeping away everything in its path; cars, houses and animals. “It was just too much. I sat on the roof of the house, crying and praying and reciting as much dzikir as I could, wondering if this was my last day on earth.

“We stayed on that roof from morning until some time after zuhr. Only when the water resided a little, we made our way to the mosque.”

As for the younger children, they were more taken in by the computer lessons (Bro Sharfudin’s IT sessions were heavily over-subscribed!) and the sing-along sessions. Children learn best through music, song and dance; we decided to teach them Yusuf Islam’s “Children of the World” song so they may learn English and sing along to the tune at the same time.

On Day Four, a five hour bus ride saw us in Dayah Mudi Mesra in the town of Samalanga. This pesantren was essentially a school, with a formal enrolment of some 3,000 students studying various fields like jurisprudence, syariah and Arabic language. There was also the flexible arrangement for students to stay at the school for a few weeks at a time, just to finish one module or subject at their own convenience.

The two days that we spent here gave us “city-kids” a real outlook on how a purist Islamic society existed.

The brothers and sisters were taken to separate facilities to put up for the night and to conduct lessons the next morning. Only the authorized brothers were allowed to enter the sisters’ premises across the road and the sisters were forbidden to step into the brothers’ compound.

We were issues a “kain batik” each should we walk around the grounds in the presence of the opposite sex. The lessons for the girls were conducted in small huts in the girls’ premises, and in the occasion that an ustaz was present for the session, he will sit behind a curtain that veils him from the students. The students of the pesantren are also required to wear a purdah covering their face in the company of men.

Under the veils, though, were some of the kindest and most hospitable hosts we would ever meet. The girls readily gave up their own mattresses, bed sheets and pillows for us, lugging it from their dormitories to the guesthouse, which was a typical kampong hut with a typically high staircase leading up to the bedroom. How they manoeuvred themselves and the mattresses up and down the wooden staircases while still looking dignified and demure was beyond me. It was a skill I tried (and failed miserably) to master for the next 24 hours with the school.

The next day our teaching programme started. The Problem-Based Learning session on missionaries in Aceh was held at the musollah and it was here that God showed us just how multi-dimensional His creations are. The girls, reserved and shy at first, spoke out passionately and outspokenly when faced with the prospect of having foreigners in their midst.

Underneath the veils, these soft-spoken girls showed a sense of maturity and the ability to hold their own against our volunteers, who were role-playing as missionaries. Their intelligence and world view emanates the spirit that is ready to defend Islam. They will accept the foreigners help, but would react adversely if they feel that their religion is being threatened. The Team shared with the girls how to manage the presence of the global community and how to communicate more positively with the foreigners.

We were also invited to attend the investiture ceremony of the school’s student council. We took the opportunity to share with the student leaders the experience of living in a multi-racial multi-cultural society.

We spent Day Five and Six in Lokhsamauwe, some seven hours northwest of Banda Aceh.

We were first taken to a tour of Makam Malikussoleh, the first king in Aceh who helped promote the religion in the southeast Asian region. He was instrumental in the spread of Islam.

When the tsunami hit, the waves went a few kilometres inland, sweeping away everything in its path. It was by the Grace of Allah that the grave of Sultan Malikussoleh, the cleric who bought Islam to Aceh was protected by the waves. In fact, the grounds of the grave even protected some children from the nearby Panti Asuhan Malikussoleh orphanage who ran to seek shelter when the waves struck.

The Team spent a day at Panti Asuhan Malikussoleh organizing learning sessions with the orphans in the day and sitting in their lecture sessions at night. This orphanage was not as well managed as the others that we have been to in the course of the trip. There were easily over 200 children housed at the centre, but only a team of about 30 house parents living in the premises to tend to the kids. We only had about three hours to conduct sessions with the kids and even after the lessons ended, the kids wanted more from us. They revelled in the experience and were grateful to just be able to learn and spend time with the Team.

We ended the Aceh experience at Lokhsamauwe, there at the orphanage on a high note as we distributed the gifts and goodies bags that we have prepared for the children. For me, all the headache and stress that went into the organization of the trip evaporated when I saw the joy and happiness in their eyes.

For that moment, I felt a clarity that I never felt before. It was as though Aceh knew me even before I arrived. It understood that I was in desperate need of a major spiritual overhaul.

Throughout the seven days in Aceh, I was enveloped in a sense of serenity that shielded me from the other worldly problems I had burdening my soul. Aceh taught me to look at things in perspective and return to Him to complete my life. Whatever problems I had are but challenges that He has sent my way, as a reminder that I am just a wretched servant. The biggest lesson was to tawwakal (surrender to Allah) to Him about the Direction He has planned, and redha (accept) with his Decree.

These two values were what Aceh and its people helped me with - it was as though they personified these values. The adults hold strong to their imaan and their faith radiates from within. The children display a mature and resilient aura.

Slowly but surely, they are rebuilding their lives and enlivening the Islamic spirit.

Tomorrow’s children will sing.

“O sing, children of the world, come together and hear the call. Sing, children of the world, Islam will unite us all.”

ps: for pictures, please visit http://omnichups.multiply.com/photos/album/16

Everybody Hurts

when the day is long and the night, the night is yours alone,

when you're sure you've had enough of this life, well hang on.

don't let yourself go, everybody cries and everybody hurts sometimes.

sometimes everything is wrong. now it's time to sing along.

when your day is night alone, hold on, hold onif you feel like letting go,
hold on

when you think you've had too much of this life,
well hang on.

everybody hurts. take comfort in your friends.

everybody hurts. don't throw your hand.
oh, no. don't throw your hand.

if you feel like you're alone, no, no, no, you are not alone

if you're on your own in this life, the days and nights are long,

when you think you've had too much of this life to hang on.

well, everybody hurts sometimes,everybody cries.

and everybody hurts sometimes.

and everybody hurts sometimes.

so, hold on, hold on.hold on, hold on. hold on, hold on. hold on, hold on.

everybody hurts. you are not alone.