WELCOMING EID UL-ADHA 1442H

Eidul Adha was here again, another religious celebration for Muslims. Unfortunately because of the C-19 pandemic, a lot of activities had to be put on hold like the customary house visits and the slaughtering of animals in public area. However, people were still allowed to attend the Eid prayers in the morning at the mosques and "surau" [small mosque] but with the limited number of congregation. I had the chance to attend the Eid prayer at Surau Nurul Hidayah near my house. It had been a long time since I last performed prayers or attend activities since the MCO 3.0 [movement control order] was imposed - for the third time.

With the rising number of C-19 cases every day, the best thing we could do besides adhering to all the SOPs outlined is to pray for things to get better.

Happy Eid ul-Adha every body!

GOING TO THE MOSQUE FOR FRIDAY PRAYER AGAIN

 
The mosque is finally opened to the congregation for Friday Prayers after many months but with only one third of the capacity. The authority had decided to once again not allow any activities involving large number of people in mosques during the second MCO [movement control order] starting January 13th, if I am not mistaken, when the number of C-19 rose drastically recently.

Now that things have been slightly better and the number of cases has decreased, more social activities are allowed to be carried out but by following strict SOPs. To be able to get back to the mosques is one thing people are thankful for and we hope we could still continue visiting for the upcoming Ramadhan, the fasting month, which will be in about 3 weeks from now. 

MY TAKEAWAY GASTRONOMIC ADVENTURE AT ROSE VILLA

6th FEBRUARY 2021 ~ One of the prohibitions during MCO was to dine in at restaurants and that means eating out is no longer an option. However, if you cannot go on the regular gastronomic adventure, then you just have it at (someone's) home. It was the Mee Rebus from my favourite stall at Selera Johor this time for lunch.

I am lucky as I have an ex-schoolmate [of SMS Muar], Mr. Mohd. Razib Nordin, who welcomes me to his house at Rose Villa for the indoor eating adventure every weekend. It is actually not the food that is the utmost important but the company of a friend whom you can chat with.

The news that spreads like wildfire on social media this evening: dining in at restaurants is already allowed starting tomorrow. I guess we can now start going out for the usual meet up over breakfast/lunch/dinner but I don't really mind having the take away meals with friends once in a while.

THE NIGHT MARKET IS BACK AFTER MORE THAN 3 MONTHS

Happiness was when I saw there were stalls lining up on both sides of the road at the night market site in Kampung Melayu. After more than three months, the night market is now back in operation again - but with the new normal kind of thing.

First, there were two entrance and exit points. Second, visitors had to scan the QR code and fill in their details, and the body temperature would be taken after that. My body temperature this afternoon was 42⁰C and was let off by the officer on duty after a few failed attempts to get the right reading. 😀

There was this white and red stripes tape that divided the road into two sections - indicating that there should be only a one way flow on each lane. This in a way should make the night market not too crowded but I was there very early so there were still not many people.

However, one could easily jump over the tape if he/she decides to get to other side.

Unfortunately a few people just could not grasp the concept of a one way street.

It is a blessing to get the night market back in business as it is a place where some food items especially the Malay "kuihs" - sweet delicacies which should be eaten as dessert, as well as other food, could be bought easily. Just hope people would be more in practising social distancing and other SOP during the RMCO at the night market.

GOING BACK TO THE MOSQUE AGAIN AFTER 100 DAYS MCO STARTED

When MCO was first implemented 100 days ago, only 4 people were allowed to perform Friday Prayer at the mosque. 2 weeks ago, 40 people were given permission to congregate for the weekly meeting. And starting today, as the number of people who got infected with COVID-19 has become smaller, more people could now go to the mosque to perform their obligation to the Almighty. By still following the SOP and social distancing, people could fill up one third of the capacity of the mosque for the Friday Prayer.

I was there at 12:10 p.m. and not many had arrived yet and this time, we had to bring our own prayer mat but that would not be necessary actually as the floor is carpeted. I managed to secure the third front row. Next week, I would go slightly later - by 12:30 p.m. As usual, we had to check our temperature outside (mine was 32.2⁰C) 😀 and register our names in the log book. The ambience of the place was different from any other Fridays in the past with less people occupying the space in the main hall. Even the sermon was shorter than it used to be.

I got to pick up a box of food and a banana to bring back home even though I left the mosque late - something that would not happen on an ordinary day when there were too many people. 😆 However, I still want to have the crowd back at the mosque on Friday and hope that will happen soon.

SPOT THE ERROR 133

THEME: SOP during RMCO

Have to at least to give a B- for the effort to use English.

As for the language, I will have to think about it. Despite the glaring grammar errors, meaning still comes through which will put this piece of writing in the lower band of the grading scheme. 😀

Thanks to my colleague, Mr. Noor Rahilme for the feed. Keep on hunting for more mistakes and never let a single escape our prying eyes.

SDJ's EID OPEN HOUSE NEW NORMAL STYLE 1441H

EID UL-FITR OPEN HOUSE 1441H

[NEW NORMAL]

ORGANIZED BY THE ADMINISTRATORS OF SMK DATO' JAAFAR

Because of the RMCO [Recovery Movement Control Order] period, we still have to follow its SOP and one of which is not to eat in a big group together at one time. However, that does not mean we cannot celebrate Eid and be joyous so we found and alternative way to hold an open house for our colleagues. The new normal open house is you visit by still maintaining the social distance and take the food away to be eaten someone else.

only two visitors allowed

All the food was ordered and prepacked and there were also boxed drinks and fruits for everyone.

the hosts

It is already the 26th day of Eid but the festive spirit is still in the air.

Thank you to Puan Aminah Hamid, the Senior Assistant of Form Six, for being my partner in crime this time. It was just a simple event but were happy to see other people happy. 

 Thank you to the Principal, other Senior Assistants and Heads of Department for contributing. And thank you to the teachers, staff, cleaners and security officers for coming to the Open House. Hope you all like the food.

MCO PROJECT - EXTREME OFFICE MAKEOVER [PART TWO]

After all the hard work and perseverance [exaggeration], the extreme makeover project during the MCO period has finally come to its end. I must say I am happy to have made the decision to embark on this life or death [another exaggeration] project and managed to complete it before school reopens next week.

The theme chosen for the makeover is: no fringes, no frills. Just have to keep it simple.

You may wonder why I chose pink for the wall paint as many always consider the colour as girlish. I, on the other hand, find pink to be soft but bright at the same time. And the most important thing, it could match and blend well with other colours when choosing furniture, curtain or other decorative items for the room.

The major process involved was actually uncluttering. I just had to throw away [READ: recycle] lots of printed papers dated as old as 15 years which should have been thrown away much earlier. Now I have all the cupboards and cabinets to transfer all my belongings into.

The pink wallpaper stuck on the cupboard was actually bought three years ago when I first tried to clean up the office (but failed).

My ultimate hope: the room will be neat and tidy for a long, long time, and that will require harder effort.

Now I will have to focus on other things in school.