The end of one era…the beginning of another…

It feels good to get away once in a while…

Not alone, but to be together as a whole….To relish moments, to be close to each other…Moments that one day, we may cherish…snapshots to be relinquished and be amused with…

That was exactly what I did…disappear altogether to another part of the world…us (my other half, our eldest daughter, her family and I). We were about to spend two weeks together…in the UK.

Even then, I couldn’t help noticing the anxiety that hovers over my daughter’s face as she carried her laptop on her back all through the journey, thinking about the unfinished pieces of work that was expected of her from her boss….from one of those gleaming windows, up the Twin Towers…overlooking Kuala Lumpur.

I could only shake my head, for as all of us laid in bed, she was still up, in a room down below, flicking her fingers on the keyboard…and sending pieces of worksheets and financial reports across the digital connect. Alhamdulillah for the internet!

As usual, Manchester was all drizzling and grey. Little Nuha Insyirah seemed very much at home with the cold atmosphere. The rest of us reveled in our gloves and thick garments…summer there was just like as I remembered last year…cold and gloomy…

The great day came….Friday the 11th. of July….the 2.30 p.m. session

Everbody was in a hurry. Nuha Insyirah’s Ayah Cu (nickname for Youngest Uncle) will have to run right after Friday prayers, at the St. Mary’s Hospital, Oxford Road, about a kilometer away and be at the Whitworth Hall for his Degree Congregations, (at least that is how it is called over there and written on the front page of the official purple book)…while the rest of us, made our way in our ‘fine attire’ by taxi from 156 Kings Road M16 0EL. At 2.00 p.m. sharp and then the entrance doors will be closed. So, we had to move fast.

The colourful gathering, with parents in their respective national attires, siblings, friends from across the globe…in the grand hall. I had not the slightest inkling that the Co-Chancellor had handpicked my son’s session to be the one which she preferred to preside, until it was made known by the master of ceremony. It was indeed an honour to us! Yes! She! For the Co-Chancellor (the first ever female Chancellor) was none other than the Honourable Ms. Anna Ford, the eloquent anchorwoman of BBC’s 6 o’ clock news in her younger days. Those who were in the UK in the late 70’s and early 80’s (like my other half and I) would have remembered her, a familiar and respected voice and face on the radio and television.

She was elected as the Chancellor, sharing duties with Sir Terry Leahy, for the past seven years. She was a product of the University of Manchester herself (back then it was known as the Victoria University of Manchester), became the first woman president of the Students’ Union and was responsible for setting up the International Society in the 60’s to cater for the welfare and social needs of international students at Manchester's three universities. And last year, she presented the degree to her own daughter. However, this session will be her last as she will be retiring. The air in the hall was full of sadness when this was mentioned during the session encompassing avionics and aerospace and mechanical engineering graduands. Maybe that is how other people would feel and how it would be like if one has carried out one’s duties diligently, splendidly and wholeheartedly.

It was truly a pleasure to listen to her articulate speech. For having graduated in the field of economics and her own vast experience as a broadcaster and journalist, she speaks from her heart. (Such bizarre contrast from the monotonous and dry voices we sometimes tend to hear from prepared speeches here locally, by our own dignitaries…) It was short, simple and sweet yet meaningful and inspirational….

She elegantly conveyed, “It is quite unfortunate that as engineers, you and your breed are sometimes taken for granted and quite forgotten by the public….However hard it may be, you must remember these.... the planes you build must be able to fly, the bridges that you design must not crumble and the roads that you pave must lay intact… rest assured that as engineers, the duties and responsibilities that you shoulder will have to be bourn with ethics and strict discipline…A feat which I trust you will adhere to…for the rest of your lives…”.

As she took back her seat, Ms. Ford was again roused to her feet for a standing ovation and a presentation of a fine basketful of flowers…in honour of the services that she upheld within the university since 2001.

I could not help laughing when the master of ceremony mispronounced our son’s name as “Anas bin MohamED SOFAYAN” instead of MohamAD SoFIAN. As we walked out of the hall, my other half and I took a glimpse of each other and smiled a meaningful smile….And as our son and his friends tossed their respective mortars straight up into the sky, amid laughter and joy, we were overcomed with a certain kind of feeling…undescribed…..our little boy was our baby no more, for he has conquered his own odds….A new phase has just ended….and a new one is dawning…..All praises be to God….Alhamdulillah...

Teaching nestlings how to fly....

I swept my feet across the tarmac of the carpark. From the distance, could be heard the voice of Friday prayer sermon, coming from the campus masjid, full of spirits.

“So many things yet to settle!” I said, then reminded myself wholeheartedly, “remember the hadith – take advantage of 5 things before 5 other matters….one of which is, your free time before you are busy…”

The past few weeks had made my hands full. To name a few, Outcome Based Evaluation (OBE) to be documented, new students intake, list of final year students’ project titles to be handed in, make my head spin…. Continuing Profesional Development (CPD) courses to attend, days in a row…

Even though one has attended an ‘Evaluation on Levels of Skills’ or better known amongst government servants as PTK (attended the TK6 – the highest level, sometime in 2004) , academics at my level need to gather a least 10 points on a yearly basis. No CPD, no pay rise. Attendance is compulsory for all the days in a stretch, failing which, no points would be awarded. In a way, I agree with this CPD thing because, apart from knowledge enrichment, we get to meet new friends from across campuses, and rekindling friendship with old ones...(met my senior during our school days when at TKC, Seremban in the recent CPD. Back then, I was in form four while she was in upper six…happiness!).

There was still an assignment which I was supposed to come up with for the department before the school board meeting next week (will have to delegate the presentation to a colleague as I will be away…Where? Will explain later).

My head was full of these ‘things to do’ when suddenly my eyes chanced upon a group of adolescents. Two of them, lying down on the gazebo top which was right at the centre of the courtyard of the department block, surrounded by greenery. The others were in a playful mood, jostling each other, pulling their smart prayer attire and the white caps on their heads.

I decided to just throw some words amid their laughter and giggles.

“Why! You are all dressed up fine and handsome. Must be ready for your Friday prayers?”

“Yes!” said one of the boys, who was lying comfortably on the gleaming tiled floor, enjoying its coolness.

“But since the sermon has not finished and no call for start of prayers yet, we want to wait here!” said another.

“Hmm…Why dont you just sit in the masjid and listen to the words of the sermon properly?” said I.

There was stillness in the air.

“All right! If you want to be good Muslims and give your prayer some values, listen to what I am going to say. Go to the masjid right now, okay?” I continued.

The bright young faces then traced their steps among the corridor in the department leading to the masjid.

This is not the first time I did such a thing. Numerous times before, I have said exactly the same thing to a different set of young faces.

“How my heart reach out to their parents! Thinking their children were already at the masjid. Instead, their youngsters are frolicking away!”

I have seen worse scenarios than this in other masjids. Young people loitering, and talking away, at the wired fences surrounding the masjid. At a very famous masjid near KLCC, I have seen young men unfolding their prayer mats under trees, quite a distance from the prayer area, preferring to do their prayers there. Haven’t it crossed their minds that they stand to gain nothing because the saf is discontinued?

I can only sigh……

PS. My family and I (including little Insyirah) will be away these two weeks, beginning the 9th. of July, for we will be joining our youngest son for his convocation (graduating on the 11th. of July with an M.Eng. degree in Mechanical Engineering, University of Manchester). Alhamdulillah, I am ever so grateful to Allah for fulfilling my doa that my son achieve his goal with flying colours. I pray that Allah confer the same upon all your children….Amin Ya Rabbul Alamin..