under.pressure

Work what else

a month has gone

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and so a month has gone by, time flies so fast that before we know it, ramadhan has come knocking on our doors. ramadhan mubarak!! may this be my ramadhan insya Allah.. anyways, for the past weeks, i’ve indulged myself in endless work…which i’ve begin to embrace and appreciate that busy-ness is somehow healthy and giving you a sense of fulfillment. i cannot imagine work without work so let’s not fret or be stress about it ok 🙂

an opportunity to join in the very first basbeliamabims project, a gathering of four delegates from singapore, indonesia, malaysia and brunei. admittedly having not prepared mentally for the event and physically as i found out later, i think i’ve breezed through pretty well. for one thing, it’s really been quite some time since i joined a 1-week programme which involved much conversation and activities, i was wondering where my energy went, recalling that during my iiu years, i was running around like there’s no tomorrow. and so the whole trip was an enriching one with some good friends made along the way. although there’s about 8 of us ladies in the group.

2 and a half days in singapore and 5 days around selangor. pretty much the host while in singapore and two night stay at NACLI, which is a very nice place beside the Kent Ridge Park, except for the winding flight of stairs we had to go up and down from our room to the main carpark! luckily i didn’t bring the whole luggage, or else, i might just throw the luggage down the hill!

so in singapore, the delegates had a very focused schedule on new media as an outreach tool, going to mosques such as Sultan, Ghufran and Istighfar to share experiences and ways to outreach. i know the other delegates are pretty much amazed by aLive and honestly, i’ve the ambition that mwdh will be THE next centre. (need to maintain this momentum always, dont slack!)

we left for Malaysia on national day and the rest is history…hehe. A lot of visits to some interesting institutions, and am especially awed with Darul Quran and its beautiful majestic surroundings. we visited universiti sains islam malaysia, hub halal, and grand mosques such as al-azim @ melaka and masjid wilayah @ selangor. also, institut profesional baitulmal whoese director motivated us as well in his taklimat about the institute. interesting, students who get free education and become successful…from zero to hero, the tagline. if only we can have something like this back here in sg. especially in islamic education. that would be the ideal, really!

accomodation at ilim or institut latihan islam malaysia, which is a nice and comfortable place for me and roomie ustzh izzah. felt just like the mahallah days @ iiu.

apart from visits, we also had an outdoor activity of trekking a hill at Hutan Lipur, sungai Gabai, Ulu langat. i thought the many many walks i had had here must have been some form of practice for me, thank god for that!! 😉 although it was quite scary since, we’re going up a steep and slippery hill! some almost gave up but we all go through it fine and well. thought of taking pictures, but looking at the difficulty i thought i might dropped either the camera or my self, instead kept everything valuable in a friend’s bag…we eventually reached the waterfall, cuma tak dapat nak really mandi sungai~ although i wasnt planning on it anyway. You must have been proud of me, hehe.

and oh yeah, we had fruits galore at an orang asli community. a portrayal of how islamic mission there is outreaching to them people.

also the opportunity of attending the musabaqah tilawah al-quran 2009, which was a nice coincidence and two of our young singaporean qari and qariah, won 4th place at an international level. hopefully, more attention will be given to this event here back home. overall, it is a nice experience and some new friends made and being away from work, i can tolerate, but away from family, hmmmm, not so much…it worsened because i don’t really get much chance to update at real time, and only short periods for status updates and checking emails…

and i love it that i see you first thing. it’s an imagination come true. 😛

de-stress

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in need of some ‘enlightenment’, i’ve come up with a way how not to feel so stressed with my work.

– always tell yourself you LOVE YOUR JOB. you can do this either by writing it down many times. or simply say it to the mind. i did it many times now and it did help…in a way that you somehow feel like your mind loosen the tight knots of your brain.

– recall back why you are doing this job in the first place…in my case, it’s because i like doing this..it’s supposed to be exciting and so many angles of education to explore and the job really suits me. like karmic compatibility.

– have colleagues who give out positive vibes.

– smile and smile and smile.

– and look forward to a weekend.

– watch hindustan epic movies, comedies (sometimes, lawak2 bodoh cerita melayu helps), cartoons

– if all else fails, indulge and lost yourself in a fictional or a fantastical novel.

– better still, sleep.

but for now, no sleep yet…there’s a stack of profiles i have to look through!

one happy thing: i’m doing my work on my new blue notebook! a gift from dear and that’s a comfort in itself~

not a last lecture

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before this headache takes over and probably sleeping in earlier, let me put down a few thoughts.

i’ve been going through this course on working in a school environment and i cannot help thinking how fortunate i am to be able to attend this course! although something like a crash course on school environment and not so much on curriculum but yet it really helps me more in terms of managing a ‘school’ in its technical and administrative level. like for example the importance on safety at school, handling difficult parents and building partnerships, some behaviour management and useful tips, and just today we learnt on programme planning, focusing on the ground details like needs assessment and evaluating the programme.

it does give me more ideas on what to expect in my own job and more prepared. not to forget the trainer and a good role model to all of us. definitely enjoying her class. and applying what i’ve learnt!

finished reading The Last Lecture and i love it. inspiring heartbreaking and funny at the same time. also useful when it comes to how the author shared his experiences inspiring his own students. once you read it you cant seem to stop reading it~ (thanks to dear for the book)

i realised that really, life is short and i need to live today the best i can, fulfilling it with not just the everyday responsibilities, but especially with the people close to you. call me a romantic but i really admire everytime the author made reference to his wife, she ‘the woman of his dreams’ and how they value every minute they spent in the months after he knew of his deadly condition. really, i have to say his wife is a real one strong lady. with three small children to tend to without a husband….and the value of family…from how the author was brought up and educated by his parents should be modelled, briefly: how his parents allowed him to draw/paint his room with these ‘big’ ideas he had, READING as their daily staple…and what touches the heart was how the author really wants to have something which his children can remember him by, thus the book and the real last lecture he had at his university.

it’s about dreams, living life and remember to always appreciate and treasure all that you have now and nothing beats family love.

there’s a lot more to share from this book but i think it’s worth a read. link to the last lecture–>
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo

and so another day at work tomorrow. so many things to finish and complete. i’ve always thought working at mwdh is fast track! you really do feel like time flies so fast and decorating the classroom takes a whole day, reviewing the registration forms takes a whole day and emails and reports and not to say the upcoming sports day…i don’t have time to breathe! pardon the exaggeration.

i would really appreciate a time out and a break to a place with a beautiful beach and cliffs and trees~ *sigh*

ok people lights off.

plainly not responsive

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i have lost that energy and enthusiasm of working at home. there is NO WAY i can concentrate and start to do some small work. berangan je nak buat kerja kat rumah, but once i stepped home, i forgot what it was i was contemplating to do on the journey home….open up my laptop and i go merayap at other websites, mainly speaking Facebook…entah apa2 aje yang ada kat facebook, hehe 🙂

and i’ll try to build up the interest by looking at my docs and it just goes blur.
it’s interesting how your mind and body works. when you’re at your office, your mind is like an avalanche of ideas and your body automatically sets itself to work (and i cannot grasp it when some people say they are bored at work, but each people to his/her own). but once you’re at home, it’s a totally different story. nothing works. and to think i used to work from home some time ago!!but funnily, these days, i go housechores mode :/

this cannot go on. i love my job and i have so many things to accomplish. please keep me motivated.

(side track: every time i watch a local drama, mesti ada aje adegan-adegan tak penting dan yang tak masuk akal, dan menyakitkan hati. *sigh* it just have to be, is it?!)

oklah, i intended to complete some work. but looks like i wont be doing any work AT ALL. so let’t not waste electric energy and torture any readers to boredom.

-holiday- programmes

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the very first childrens’ programme held at the mosque went well! it was all about me running here and there assisting the teachers, printing worksheets and making sure the learning materials were provided, making decisions, food and more food for the kids and whatnots. eventually the smile of the children and their laughters and seeing how much they enjoy the programme were the greatest gifts of all~~

the overwhelming response and support from parents are as valuable as their children’s happiness. organizing these holiday programmes had actually given me a glimpse of how it will be like when it comes to the real thing! and that is…in less than a month. what a long list of things to do!




enthusiastic, participative…a happy bunch! especially on the trip to pasir ris park on wednesday. of all days of the week, it had to rain that morning…but the powers above were on our side. just when we reached the park, the sun greeted us with such fine weather i almost cried with relief.

the younger ones had to collect seashells and dry leaves to make a collage and i was amazed at how sharp the kids can be. they could even spot the tiniest crab shells and squealed and jumping with such amazement everytime they found something. it made me remember why we were doing all these in the first place. beautiful children.
of course, there are always room for improvement. all through the week i noticed all the small details which i should really have thought of earlier and not take for granted. but alhamdulillah, children were safe and enjoyed the whole 5-days programme.
so this is the job i have chosen to tread upon…so much strength and mind energy….and i’m fortunate to have people around me encouraging and supporting me.
but i guess this is just the beginning, it’ll get more easier as it goes along~
i need a break. and exciting July is just few more weeks to go!! 😉

officially

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the open house of the new mosque in the block marks its functioning for the public officially….three very challenging days has gone and i think it went well….i cannot be critical since everybody, and i mean everybody worked so hard to make it went succesfully. i am so glad it’s done with. the preparations towards the event, my heart body and soul to decorate my classes. the nervousness and whatnots. i’m just real glad and HUGELY relieved that my mock class- cum colouring and drawing competition went so well!!! and my feet is hurting doubly bad!

and since the mosque is all about family as a niche “loving and affectionate mosque”, i realised my family members pretty much involved themselves these few days…apart from me as the staff, my mother is also a member of the women’s wing of the mosque, so we’ve practically spent the whole week at the mosque, mother helped to decorate class, nuri came to help around last friday, and then father bought lunches and got stuffs for us…my brothers for helping to move the books we bought for the Reading Room, and of course, my dear for lending us a hand sending the books to the mosque, accompanying me to collect mcys booklets and…more books.
what would i do without my family~~

so ok… let’s stop here, my eyes really can’t take it anymore….so…glad….it…went…well…zzzzzz

full force

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super duper busy since i step in full force at mawaddah. and it’s only been a week!!! and time seems to fly double fast rate. straight away when i come in at 8.30, there’s no time to ‘warm-up’ get to gear 2 and do emails, pick up calls, making decisions, and trying to decorate two classrooms as best i can, with the help of dear mother and my little sister nuri who tagged along last friday to help out. and somehow found ourselves staying a bit longer till 8pm~

last friday, i had to present in front of a whole auditorium and share a little bit with the volunteers what alive is all about…with a few last minute slides which alhamdulillah turned out pretty nice and straight to the point presentation. since it’s also more of like a briefing to the volunteers so they know that we’re conducting aLive as the madrasah. mother said it was a good presentation. thankfully it was an informal kind of setting since i mixed english and malay up there on stage! and i believe i spoke too fast!

and next week is going to be another looonngg week! but in any ways: everyone of you are invited to the family buzz at mawaddah this friday – saturday!

on to the next thing, somehow word got round among the aunts at the mosque that i’m…hmm…taken ;)because apparently some aunts were ‘inquiring’ about me and mother had to be clear about my ‘status’ with them. at the same time, it turns out everyone’s excited for my birthday month…and i thought it’s going to be a family affair!!
on that note: i don’t know where to start and ideas all around that i need to focus, haha! these are like big things for me, the mosque, the family affair and the next year in line~

the weekend has been a short escape for me, watching Wolverine which is awesomeness, and glad that my brothers and sisters enjoyed the movie and the company as much i did.;) i mean, it’s X-men!! who wouldn’t enjoy it? i think there’s more action to this than the Last Stand. and i’ve always liked stories where they tell you how things started and me being a non-comic reader, i appreciate the storyline. and first time truly watching star trek with real interest and enjoyment, even though there’s some parts i don’t understand in the movie. i told you i’ve seen more movies within these few months than i ever did in my 25 years of living.

mono: God has always directed my decisions and meeting you must have been part of the deal…