Why do I feel bad?

Today I am sending letters to the developer who handles the housing project on my piece of land and my mother's lands in Tg. Kling. When I was in Kuching I gave power of attorney to my oldest brother to manage the project with the developer. There was complaint from one or two siblings who questioned why I gave that power to him. I knew there would be problem because this brother of mine's decision is always through his wife's mouth. There is not much bonding between her and our family members but he is my oldest brother and I have to respect that. I am not happy myself because I was not consulted on any decision made by both of them, even though the land is under my name. At first I wanted to give that power of attorney to my 5th brother but he was also as bad. I have given him my file containing all documents about the development of the land to him and requested him to help but out of anger and bad temper towards me, he threw the files away. His wife told me herself.  I didn't have any documents left with me. And he has the cheek to question why I gave the power of attorney to my oldest brother. Like my oldest brother's wife, his wife also has to learn to shut up and not to meddle in my family's affairs. I was also livid when my youngest sister questioned me why she cannot have her share of the lands under my name. I told her not to be greedy. My parents have given her a house and land worth much more, all for herself and none of us question that. My mother specifically told me, the other pieces of land are to be divided equally among the others as she has hers already. I told her to pray and to bersyukur to Allah for what she gets. I hope she remembers what I told her to do and not to do. 
I know I am doing the best I can to carry out my mother's wishes about these lands. Allah has been very generous to me  and I have no intention to jeopardize this by taking what does not belong to me.
So all the letters I sent to the developer today is about terminating the power of attorney as I am taking control of the situation now.I decided to make my own decision whether they like it or not. I know I am right but why do I feel bad inside?

The moral of the story - do not leave harta to your children. Or do like I did. Divide and transfer your harta while you're still alive. If not, your children will bicker after you're dead - tak tenteram roh kita. That's why I am angry. I want my parents's spirits to be at peace. May Allah help me in executing the trust given to me. Al-fatihah to my parents. 

Life's not a bed of roses

I did my cataract surgery on 5 June 2012 at UMSC. Glad my cough has gone completely and the surgery went on without a hitch. Maz took me back to PJ home to recuperate. Rania didn't like the bandage on my right eye. But this time she understood when I told her 'mata nenek sakit'. Poor Rania, every time she turned to me requesting 'nenek dukung', I have to refuse her and promised that I would carry her once my eye is OK. She didn't insist. She understood more than what we thought. After 5 days, I drove back to PD carefully so that I could really rest my eyes and my body.
Going back to PD was imperative to me. I got to repair my new induction cooker which I bought 6 years ago. Now that I have new kitchen cabinet, I fixed the cooker without checking it first. It didn't function. The distributing agent could not be traced even through internet. I was left with a gaping hole on the kitchen cabinet top. I hope the electrical shop in PD is able to fix the problem.
Problems with the cleaners surfaced again. The former supervisor, Zaid, has left. Being in the army, he was firm and strict with the cleaners and the resort was clean and I was happy. With a young new supervisor, I have to push and push. The 2 Indian lady cleaners curi tulang  and gave loads of excuses when I complained. I am so fed up. So I called the contractor and told him I would support any motion to dismiss his contract if he cannot control his cleaners.
The AGM on 16 June was postponed to 23 June because of lack of co rum. This is a yearly problem with unit owners who are good at complaining but didn't even bother to attend the AGM. I got no choice but to stay in the Management Committee and take charge of cleanliness again. Actually I am fed up and tired of doing this unpaid and  unrewarding job for the last 5 years. Any improvement actions that we take, is met with resistance. Recently, the doors and iron grills of two MC members were stuffed with glue making it impossible for them to enter their apartments. 3 years ago somebody meddled with my electricity outlet, plunging my apartment into darkness. There were so many owners atill owe maintenance fees thousands of ringgits. Yet they complained that the resort is unkempt and MC is not doing their job, such disgusting and irresponsible attitude.
I still have a heavy burden on my shoulder - to execute my mother's wasiat. When there are so many brothers and sisters in the family, there is bound to be dissatisfaction, accusation and unhappiness. My mother chose me to execute her wasiat and I am doing my best. None of my brothers and sisters even bothered to ask how much I have spent to administer her wasiat and say 'thank you', let alone contribute. Fortunately not everyone of my siblings is with this attitude. In this matter, in-laws (sister) should keep their mouths shut.   

Taman Negara Malaysia

20 years ago, I visited Taman Negara for work and leisure. It was pristine and calm. We had to take a 4 hour boat  ride from Kuala Tembeling. At that time, in the course of my work, I came across a young girl from Bukit Mat Daling, a village which took 7 hours boat ride to Kuala Tembeling who had to quit school at form one because her parents couldn't afford to finance her. I intervened and paid her fees and daily allowance (which was so little) until she completed form five. We kept in touch for a while but lost touch with her for so many years. I couldn't remember her exact name, Zahara Awang Chik, I think. I am sure she has a family of her own now. So going back to Taman Negara made me think of her and wondered. I hope she has a good life, no matter where she is.

2-4 June 2012, I went with Izan and 6 others to Taman Negara. We left KL at 12.30 am in a van drove by Izan's brother-in-law and arrived Kuala Tahan at about 4 am. We checked in at Teresek View Resort, rested, prayed and had our breakfast at the riverside restaurant.

By 9.30 am the boat came to take us to Lata Berkoh. It rained the night before, so the river was murky. I wasn't prepared for the long walk to the raging rapids or waterfalls at Lata Berkoh. My sandal kept on slipping. I should bring my walking shoes! The reward after the long walk was we soaked our tired body in the fresh swirling shallow river at the bank. It was bliss!! My great weakness - river. I just love it (not the big ones, though). 

The next day was also exciting. We screamed our hearts out while shooting the rapids and got ourselves drenched wet. It was fun! While still wet the two us, Norhayati and I, went for canopy walk, another long climbing walk but it was worth it.

We boarded our boat to visit the Orang Asli settlement (the Bateq tribe), learned to use blow pipe and saw how they light fires using what was available in the jungle. I noticed that there were hardly any children around but was informed when visitors come they hide themselves in their shacks. They're shy. I coaxed two of them out by offering a packet of biscuits. I wished I had brought more food and some good used clothes for them. I didn't know. Another dip in the cold river at Nusa Camp which I enjoyed but had to get out early because of the sun.

I wish the Taman Negara authorities are more strict in enforcing their regulations. That night we went to Bumbun Heights to sight wild animals visiting the area around Mutiara Resort. There were so many people around making so much noise talking, laughing and joking loudly which is impossible for wild animals to come. The silent signs at the tower were ignored. The noise definitely frighten any animals. Unfortunately, the guides themselves were talking so loud explaining things to the tourists. That should be done before they go to the tower. The authorities should limit the number of visitors to the tower and really enforce the silent regulations.
Disgusted, we returned to the river to take the boat across to our hotel. We found 2 deer at the chalet looking for food and being friendly with visitors. 20 years ago at the old tower, I saw elephant and the night was really quiet. We had more respect then and understood what we should do and shouldn't do. It's so different now where respect is not in anyone's vocabulary.

We returned to KL the next morning.  Came across water buffaloes roaming the road.
  

Vienna/ Wien, Austria

The drive from Zagreb to Maribor, Slovania, wasn't so exciting. The landscape is flat with some background mountain. After seeing the beauty of mountain side in Bosnia, other places seemed pale in comparison. Maribor is a small city situated in yet another country, Slovania. Since this was just a passing through trip we didn't actually toured the city. Detlef stopped at a town centre where we got down to take some photos and bought fridge magnets. Then we drove off to Vienna.

I have been to Vienna some years back but couldnot remember the hotel we stayed in. I just remember the name of the hotel which started with a letter 'M'. I also remember there was a park opposite the hotel where we went and watched free music shows and enjoyed the colourful tulip flowers. So while sightseeing the city I recognized the park and the hotel was Marriot, still standing there.
Another long face and unhappiness were demonstrated by the same member here, in Vienna. It affected the others too. Honestly, negative behaviour and attitude really affected people around you. The reason was Izan didn't provide a local guide in Vienna but she already paid Detlef to take us around. I wasn't pleased either but it wasn't the end of the world.

We were aimless at first but finally Detlef found his way and we got to see all the places we were supposed to see, such as the Palace, Parliment, Mozart museum and the city centre No big deal and no point making a mountain out of an ant hill. It became worse when in the itinerary, Izan put a visit and a night stay in Salzburg.That was her mistake. It was ridiculous to go to Salzburg because of time constraint. But  unreasonable attitude created another conflict with Izan who was not there to defend herself. Harsh words became the order of the day.. To me going to Salzburg would be pointless. The drive alone would take 4 hours - 5 hours. What would we see in Vienna and Salzburg? This unreasonable attitude made a person blind to simple logic and practicality. I was really bored with this stupid attitude and desperate to get out of such person's reach. It was such a pity, an enjoyable trip was marred by unreasonable attitude.
I already planned to talk to Izan when I came back to PJ and hope she would improve her services and select her trip customers carefully so that no difficult individual would succeed in turning a situation into a hopeless one.

Much gratitude to Detlef, who diligently drove around the city asking loads of people the where about of Vienna mosque. He found it and we managed to do our prayer there, at the Vienna Mosque. 
One tip I could give to such aggressive people ie when you expect perfection, look at yourself. You're not perfect yourself. One advice I could give, when you travel in group, make the best of thing and enjoy the trip. Don't dwell on the negative too much as it would make you feel miserable and infected it to others.
I am allergic to negative people and keep away as far as possible from them. Life is too short to be influenced by them.
If any group members was not happy with DHIA Hols, don't travel with them in future but don't badmouth them. You have a choice. Nobody forced you to go with anybody or with any travel agent. It's your choice. If anybody to blame, blame it on yourself for being stupid choosing that particular travel group.
On the whole, I enjoyed the trip tremendously and always feel gratitude to Allah for allowing me the pleasure of seeing his greatness. May I have more opportunities to see this world in future. Thank you Izan for making this trip possible.
 

Central Europe Trip 6 - Zagreb, Craotia

The drive to Zagreb, the capital of Croatia was not as enticing as in Bosnia. The landscape was mostly flat but there were a few attractive scenery. So most of the time we were sleeping. Zagreb is quite a big city and I saw pretty buildings being marred by graffiti making them looked ghastly. There were also some artistic graffiti done but some naughty hands had overlapped it with meaningless sprays. What a pity.
After checking in the Arcohotel, Detlef drove us around the city at random. He found a signboard indicating a nature park and drove on through winding road, enabling us to take photos of the city and some wild flowers there.

He found an old castle which is under restoration. It's called Medvedgrad, a medievil fort built in 13 century. It was damaged in 1590 by earthquake and it was reconstructed part by part since 1979. We climbed the main tower which was overlooking the cone-shaped old chapel. Zubaidah took some imaginative photos, one of which showing Detlef's nose touching the tip of the chapel's roof. She's quite a good photographer.

The next morning, the local guide, Bozena, engaged by Izan came over to the hotel to take us around Zagreb. She took us to an old cemetery where civilians and dignitaries were buried and it has become a tourist attraction. Beautifully kept and constructed, the building was eye-catching because of ivy plants almost covered the wall and other structure making it look striking. There we met the former Croatian President, a lady, who didn't even bother to respond when we greeted 'good morning'.

We were taken for a walking tour around the old city. The one thing that attracted me was a Museum of Broken Relationship. We were told that the museum encouraged people who experience broken relationship to donate one memento of their relationship with a brief story. So instead of throwing away things that remind them of the relationship, they donate them to the museum. Anyway, donors' names are confidential. I thought that was such a good idea. Maybe Malaysia could have such museum too.

The dry city market was clean and systematically arranged for different category of food. We walked to the open market where for the first time during this tour, we did a bit of shopping. All of us bought a few pieces of table runners, table covers ets to take home.The workmanship was superb.

At 12.30 noon Zagreb time we left for Maribor in Slovania and then to Vienna in Austria.   
    

Central Europe Trip 5 - Plitvice, Croatia

The drive to Plitvice after Mostar was long and lonely on elevated land. Shanta who sat in front with the driver was given the task of counting the number of tunnels we went through - 38 tunnels altogether with some exceptionally long. Once we entered Plitvice, the landscape changed to lush fresh green. We were booked in a small hotel for a night where small problem occurred but was blown out of proportion by the same member, Detlef and the hotel operator. It was nothing actually but the stability of the group was shaken again.
True to what theory of small group work says, achieving group cohesiveness takes tolerant, understanding and respect among members but if one member deviates, cohesiveness is difficult to achieve. Thank God that the others didn't let small problem bother them.

It rained the next day but the local guide came and took us to  the park. She advised us to buy a thin throw-away raincoat. I brought mine but Shanta thought her water-proof jacket was enough. That was a mistake. We were walking on the first level and believe me, the scenery of the lakes and the surrounding are exceptionally breathtaking. There are countless waterfalls cascading down into the lakes - some big but there are a number small ones too. The fresh turquoise water of the lake is so beckoning but I bet it was freezing cold. I just touched the flowing water at the plank walk while walking.  In 1979, the park was included in UNESCO list of World Natural Heritage sites. To date 1267 different species of plants are found here with generous variety of butterflies, birds and bats which make this park a heaven for researchers.

The rain didn't dampen our spirit to enjoy the wonderful scenery of the park but we have to be careful when taking photographs in case water sapped into the lenses. By the end of the tour we boarded a boat which took us across to the end of the walk and to Hotel Jazera. Such a pity, we had to huddle in the middle of the boat to avoid the rain.
The walk to the hotel was killing. Tired and wet we had to climb over 300 steps up. Though the steps are gradual, it took quite a toll on me. I was panting and felt dizzy but had to go on in case the group reached there first and I was the last and they have to wait for me. I hate having people waiting for me as much as I hate waiting for people especially when they are late. I didn't realize Shanta was still far behind experiencing some trouble with her knees. Luckily the two sisters, Fatimah and Che Zur offered their arms and helped her climb up the many steps slowly. It was a relief when it was over.

Detlef took us back to the hotel where we stayed and loaded the bags into the van and left for Zagreb, Capital of Croatia. In my mind I still can see the amazing beauty of the park but unfortunately it is too far for a second visit.