Banjir 2014.

A little update from our end concerning East Coast floods, for my own reminder in future.

My brother, Zahid, is currently stranded at Masjid Kampung Jengka, on his way back from KL to Kerteh. Nearly 3 days now. Ada la dalam 300 orang berkampung sekali kat sana. And Alhamdulillah, makanan semua cukup 3 kali sehari - sometimes nasi, sardin and ikan kering can do wonders. And he said hikmah semua ni, he can jemaah 5 waktu, plus iktikaf sekali. At some point we couldn't reach him on the phone sebab internet line disrupted and flat battery, but Alhamdulillah everything is sorted for now, and he's been keeping us updated.

Far as I know, none of my close relatives are affected by the floods. My kampung in Selising, Pasir Puteh is still standing, and our house in Paka, Terengganu is still there, albeit looking like a zoo, Zahid cakap. I think Indera Mahkota, Kuantan is not affected as well. Alhamdulillah.

But my family in general has been working on relief missions, getting supplies to the affected areas. My mom's side is Kelantanese, so this somewhat feels a little personal. Looking at the WhatsApp threads, my uncles have been updating everyone on the latest development - jalan mana tutup, what's the best way to help, etc. And that includes my dad as well. He brought the younger siblings (Afiq and Adam) to Manik Urai to help.

Speaking of Ayah, have I mentioned that he's no longer working? He retired earlier this year, at the age of 50. I remember he always told us he wanted to retire early, and that by the age of 50 he will be free from mortgages and debts. I'm not sure about the mortgage since I think PV8 tu belum habis bayar lagi haha, but boy he sure did retire early. Since then he's been doing his own side business, and on top of that actively joining relief/dakwah particularly in remote area, ie kawasan orang asli.

A little anecdote about Ayah, there was one time we were travelling on the road from Kelantan to Kedah, going through hills and small villages. We came across a bunch of orang asli kids happily walking by the road side, presumably after coming back from one of the local air terjun. Ayah stopped the car and talked to them, giving them some money and biscuits as small gestures. We were all like, what was he doing? I mean did the kids not get offended when a random passerby gave them money when they were probably as happy and contented as the birds? But no, they were very grateful and didn't seem to mind it, if not welcome the small hadiah as I would say. And since then, Ayah tried to make it a point to bring some food and old nice clothes to give to the orang asli kids, should we meet any on the road.

Which speaking of, Ayah once brought a peminta sedekah into the house when we were in Paka, and gave away Ummi's Hush Puppies old shoes for him to give to his child, which understandably made Ummi upset. Haha -_-

So that's a little update on banjir from our end. And a little story about Ayah. Meanwhile sama sama doakan untuk Malaysia, the floods, the missing plane, and all its entirety. InshaAllah.

If you're in UK/Eire :)