Critical Thoughts

In just less than twenty four hours (Saturday), our engagement will be held at Pontian, which is where she is staying. I am feeling a bit jittery about the whole thing but I know that this is the right thing to do as the next step in our relationship and towards our eventual marriage, insya’ Allah. The preparations for the engagement gifts are nearly ready, all that is left is to wait for the Big Day and go through the engagement ceremony.

Coming soon…a name card fit for a “Muslim Internet Activist” (oh yeah, that’s yours truly!). I already had a business card done previously which I am planning to send to the printers soon, so I thought, “why not make another name card that covers my Islamic activism side”? Hence the name card that you see above. I kinda like it, it reflects my personal identity and reflect strong Islamic roots that I would like to present to others. It still needs some work though but I expect it to be done very soon for a final version.

This is what I got after inserting the RSS feed for Critical Thoughts for Wordle:

Yet again in a spate of less than four weeks, I find myself in Penang again. Perhaps it was a blessing in disguise that the car broke down here and I left it for repairs a month ago. I am going to pick up the car today and drive around the island and visit those old, familiar places where I used to go back to my days in Sungai Ara twenty years ago. Unlike last time when I had my own house (it was sold in 1998), today I had to stay temporarily at someone else’s place. Just like everyone else in Pulau Pinang Darul CHA YA NUN ALIF, my friend is staying at a condo, which is where I am now.

I am going to pay a visit to my old school if the time permits. I’m anxious to see what changes are afoot there, since the last time I was there was in 1999. Who needs Klang Valley when you already have Penang?

I received the sad news that my nyayi* had passed away this morning and burial arrangements are expected at around 11am today. Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raaji’un. I wish I could have gone but I have to submit my coursework to APIIT which is already three days overdue.

In her memory and a mark of respect, I will not be posting anything here until Saturday.

* Javanese for “grandmother” and used colloquially by family members to refer to her, including myself. At least some Javanese traditions did survive in the family.