Ramadan Al Mubarak 1433H

Alhamdulillah, syukur kepada Allah swt yang telah memberi peluang kepada kita untuk melalui Ramadhan 1433H. Mudah-mudahan Ramadhan kali ini lebih baik dari yang lepas-lepas. Semoga kita diberi kekuatan dan diteguhkan iman dan minda untuk melakukan segala amalan dan ibadah sebaik mungkin.

Wahai orang-orang yang beriman, diwajibkan ke atas kamu berpuasa sebagaimana diwajibkan ke atas orang-orang sebelum kamu agar kamu bertakwa. (al-Baqarah: 183)

Selamat menyambut Ramadhan Al Mubarak 1433H dan Maaf Zahir dan Batin dari kami sekelurga.

Medicmesir...and the journey began

It is Kakak's childhood ambition to be a doctor and she has never changed her mind since. Although we wanted her to consider other options, she would find a way to stick to her dream. With her results, it would be a real challenge to find a place at the local public universities. She applied to do medicine in IIUM via the UPU but was rejected. Her application to do medicine in Egypt with MARA loan was also rejected and both rejections were known to her when we were in Korea in May 2012. Kakak was so disappointed and devastated but she accepted it. It might be blessings in disguised. Only Allah swt knows what's in store for her.

So, we were left with no choice but to consider other option and the best option available is to further her studies in Egypt. We did consider other countries like India, Indonesia, Russia and even twinning programme; with Ireland and Australia. However, the best is still Egypt since the cost is reasonable, there are thousands of Malaysian studying there and most importantly, Egypt being a muslim country. What more with the newly elected President, Dr Muhammed Morsi from Muslim Brotherhood. We are hoping that the significant changed in the Egypt Government would make Egypt a much better country for Kakak and other Malaysian students to further their study and make Egypt their second home. We are glad that Kakak will witness the transformation of Egypt from a military to islamic based administration and be part of Egyptian history.

Back to Medicmesir. We first went to their briefing held in the Medical Faculty in UPM right after the SPM results were announced. We were surprised to see the whole lecture hall that could 500 people full and overflowed with parents and children having similar intention as us. These are the people that would be sending their kids without any support from MARA/JPA. We were impressed to hear Ummi, the founder of Medicmesir spoke about her journey which started five years ago and until now has successfully sent about 2,500 students to Egypt to fulfill their dreams of becoming muslim doctors. Well, what she has done is truly remarkable and we salute her for her commitment and dedication to ensure the well being of each of her student. The services provided to us from attending the talk, submitting the application right up to getting the offer from Alexandria University were excellent. We are happy and satisfied with the services rendered and the fees that was charged was worthwhile. Thank you Ummi and the Medicmesir team for making our lives easier. We hope that Kakak's journey to become a muslim doctor will be smooth sailing.

SPM 2011 ~ Our first experience!

As usual we have difficulty finding time to write lately when there’s so much to share. One significant episode in our life was when Kakak finally received her SPM results. It was on 21 March 2012 and we decided to accompany her back to MTS to receive the results. Not so much to share the joy if she gets good results but to be with her if the outcome was not as what she wished for. Well, I guess the impact of the latter could be more devastated than the earlier.

We reached MTS before 10am but waited until 1.30pm before the results were announced. So we just sat under one of the trees in the school compound while Dini spent her time catching up with friends. Dini was already very disappointed when she heard that she was not one of them that got straight As before the official announcement was made. When we received the sms from her, we sensed her frustration. Knowing her, her determination to excel and never want to let us down, we knew that the coming moments would be very tough to handle and we have to control our emotions and be strong for her.

The results were finally announced and she managed to get 9As (5A+, 3A, 1A-) and 2B+. Alhamdulillah, we were so grateful and happy for her but we knew she was not pleased with the results. She did not utter a word but we saw her tears falling uncontrollably when  she received the SPM slip from her teacher.  We knew she had high expectation and she worked really hard to deserve a better results. We hugged each other and comforted her to accept and be content with what Allah swt has decreed for her. Only He knows what is best for us.

I know it’s hard for her to accept since it was worse than her trial results. She obtained 10As and 1E in her trial and E was for Add Maths. Abah always say that Dini’s aversion to Add Maths came from the X chromosome since Ibu is never good at mathematics! For us, for her to get B+ for Add Maths in her SPM was already a great achievement from an E in her trial. We are thankful to the teachers who put in extra effort to teach her Add Maths from the moment she got her trial results until she sat for the exam. We were so blessed that Mak Lang’s father, Che Pa took all the trouble to get some materials for Dini from the best Add Maths teacher in Pasir Mas  when he heard of Dini’s trial results. We are touched by the kindness and thoughtfulness of those close to us who wanted Dini to excel in her SPM.  Of course you would expect that your results should be the same or even better than your trial. To get B+ in Physics when your trial was an A was another disappointment but then again, you can never know. For us, we are more than pleased with her achievement and Abah comforting words to her “ Kakak, even if you add all the As that we (Ibu and Abah) got in our SPM, it would still be a lot less than the As that you get in your SPM!” We are proud that she scored A+ for her Bahasa Arab Tinggi and Pendidikan Al Quran dan Sunnah, two additional subjects that she took which for us are more important than the rest.

It was not easy to break the news to Tok Abah, Tok Mama, Tok Wan and Tok but they have been waiting anxiously for our calls. Alhamdulillah, they accepted it and were happy with her success. Tok and Tok Wan were in tears when they received the news. Thank you so much for the endless doas, support and encouragement that you have extended to Dini. Congratulation messages kept pouring in through sms, calls and facebook. Thank you to all (friends and relatives) for your kind words, comfort and most importantly doas. We couldn’t thank enough those especially her teachers at MTS and her tution teachers that have given their heart and soul to ensure that she passed with flying colours. May Allah swt grant you all Al-Jannah for the knowledge that you shared, your continuous guidance and good deeds that you have done for her.

Initially, we thought of returning back to KL the next day since Abah has to go to JB for work. But on second thought, we thought we should be with her. It would take some times for her to accept and recover from the disappointment and frustration.  So, we decided to join Abah to JB. We travelled from Kuala Krai the next day straight to JB going through Gua Musang, Raub, Bentong, Karak, Bahau, Gemencheh before we enter the Plus highway. In between, we passed through places like Telemong, Chemomoi, Manchis, Simpang Durian and Durian Tunggal. The journey was almost 12 hours! We checked in at Mutiara Johor Bahru and had a nice dinner at the coffeehouse and retired to bed early due to exhaustion from the long travelling. The next day, while Abah was at work, we spent time with Aunty Pit and Azryck and had lunch at ZZ Restaurant for mee rebus tulang. Before we returned to KL we stopped by at JPO.

Regardless what Dini gets for her SPM, we are always proud of her. We envy her determination and willpower to excel, her courage and perseverance to achieve what she wants in life. Having to live in such a remote area with just basic facilities for 5 years, learned more than 20 subjects every year, memorized the Quran in 3.5 years, wrote the whole Al-Quran and acquired the skill and fluency in Arabic, what she has done and achieved at her age to us is just tremendous and remarkable. Infact we salute her for her bravery in overcoming all the challenges and obstacles at such tender age. We just couldn't ask for more.

She always want to make us proud and happy with her achievement. She wanted so badly to get straight As so she could get a sponsorship or loan from either JPA or MARA to further her study overseas and she knows very well that we just couldn’t afford to finance her studies overseas what more in medicine. We truly value her intention and ambition and shall do whatever it takes to help her pursue her dream, insyaAllah.