Sahur in Hostel Ramadan 12th

Assalaamu'alaikum wa Rahmatullah!

Hahaha, it's quite fun having sahur (predawn-meal) alone. No one to see on how I eat whether I eat like a sungkur tak pernah makan setahun or in polite sopan santun cover manner. Without we realize time working so fast and it is now 12th of Ramadan. Just wake up every morning at 4:30 and having some vegetarian meals such as wholemeal bread, pickled mixed vegetables, ghee and some hua nan tsai (green mustards) in the can. These kind of food reminds me when I was a follower of lord Buddha teaching. Perhaps, his teaching was also influenced by Ahimsa philosophy. I refused meat too last time though it is not a must for a Buddhist. Raya Haji takut lah banyak sembelih daging (Eiduladha was a nightmare), lol.

Green mustard. Simply long time not taking any vegetables asyik makan ayam ja.

These food are classified as pure unadulterated kind of food which they called as sattawah. However I believe I have some ginger, onion, lime and lehsun (garlic) in my pickled vegetable because it tastes pungent and sharp. So, it's not really pure lacto-vegetarian meal as there are stimulator. Some ginger, onion, or garlic are good to drive out blockage in our nose however it is less good than sattawah. This is not sunnah prescribed food but some of it might be in coincidence the same. This classification is made by Brahmins and Yogis of ancient India. They are good in traditional medicinal food and herbs. Their medical tradition had spread as far as Persia in the West and South East Asia in the East.

 

 Garlic, it is good for consumption if we have cholesterol or hypertension problem.

For drink I had some tea mixed with some fresh milk and honey. I can't keep food long here as I have no fridge so it is quite difficult for me to store fresh stuffs. It would be wasting if I have to throw foods away after they become rotten once they're due while only having some of it. So, we have to think for solution to get some balanced nutrients and in the same time minimizing wasting through some budget that we have. I listed down all of the yogic prescribed food in the paper wherever I could recall and checking the price at the market before buying stuffs. Make sure we plan everything. Maybe our plan would not be according to what we planned but at least make some plans to get along with the budget. It is better than nothing. 

Fresh ginger is good to clear up mucus that blocking our nose but it is a stimulant. We can see some strict Chinese Buddhist adhering to vegetarianism and some Orthodox Hindus avoid ginger too.

Perhaps I need to consider getting some powder milk too. Fresh milk is expensive. A small box of fresh milk might cost around RM1.70. Medium size fresh milk say of Dutch Lady brand would cost me around Rm3.30. How could we maintain our nutrients balanced in the same time with minimum budget yah?

Left to right: pickled cucumber, pickled mixed vegetables, honey, windmill gheeblend, and dutch lady fresh milk for both pre-dawn meal and breaking the fast.

 Roti Gardenia, wholemeal to counter the effect of ghee. Who knows we might be caught with heart disease because ghee has some cholesterol in a tablespoon, rich in vitamins like vitamin A and D, helps in vitamin and minerals absorption. Too much of vitamin A is not good for liver. Tu ada tanda halal Jakim, tak kuasa lah nak periksa tanda halal tu kat benda-benda remeh begini. Tiap-tiap tahun pun nak kena perbaharui licence or certification here. Cara yang baik nak mencekik duit dari orang perseorangan n organizations. 

So, this is how some of us 'local' Malaysian students spending in food and beverage especially when we have no support from loaning institution such as PTPTN or getting scholarship from MARA or JPA. If not all but at least some people could know what we're going through in the midst of chosen students studying abroad could get benefits like traveling allowances to release tense and others although their difficulties would be in another form. Nak makan pun kena berkira dengan diri sendiri. When I was a 9 years old little kid, I had almost died starving too when we moved back to Kedah. We had no food, no money, clumsy situation after suddenly moving in to new place and this country is not an under-developed country but the lack of nutrient problem is everywhere.

It's not easy to attain all of those fussy financial help, even zakat. I don't take zakat and would never take it. I am talking on the behalf of other students who really need them. I don't take food at the mosque too in order to give way for others who need them more than myself. I still can survive with minimum consumption of food. What pusat zakat could do is to come down and talking with students or individuals, checking on whether these people really need help or assistance, and not to comfortably rear their ass in their airconditioned office. It is the responsibility and trust from brothers and sisters when orang pusat zakat and religious departments take the job, bukan makan gaji buta and relying on the subsidy sahaja. If everyone could be considerate, compassionate, considering that every soul has their rights before Allah and helping each other, at least the issue such as riddah (apostacy) or feast at the Methodist church could be avoided. There is of no use to blame those Protestants nor commenting on how weak is some people's faith. It is very easy to judge people and living in denial, orang Kedah kata mulut ringan jah wok kluaq kata-kata macam taik lembu selepok. Non-Muslim NGOs are quite active in social work. I noticed that Tzu Chi Buddhist Association is also active.
 

As for expenditure, not all of local students are using money without checking on the capacity because most of us are poor. Some who take post-graduate have to leave their job because of full time classes not only by research and it is not easy to deal with the schedule wherever we are not certain with something. It creates unstable situation where most people could not understand and putting these people into the same situation like them. Not all people are fortunate. We could ask people to learn about happy life all we want to forget the problem or for them not to bother our comfortable life but we can't run from the fact that we are sharing the air and earth with everyone. What would we do if we are in other people's situation? That is the question that we need to ask to ourselves when we talk about others.

Undeniably there are many irresponsible students out there who spend money as it is easy for them to get. I always mumbling at my sisters especially those who love to waste their money for unnecessary things and buying expensive things while there are also cheaper alternatives for that. Allah forgive us our false speech, forgive us our sins in thought and acts. Scripture time, self reflection time...

Sealed with prayer for peace, mercy and love, amin!       

Sahur Simple Menu: Mushroom and Chicken Spaghetti

Assalaamu'alaikum wa Rahmatullah!

It's already the first of Sya'aban 1432 H. Just a simple recipe. Lil sister taught me anyway. I am not good in cooking, hehehe. It's for our sahur or pre-dawn meal to begin fasting tomorrow. We cook it earlier and will keep the gravy for this early morning. Actually quite useful if we are alone, who knows if we live abroad or far from family so this might help to give us idea. 

We need chopped green onion. I don't know how many onions needed but two green onions would be enough or according to how big is your tummy or how many persons in your house. Then chopped garlic. Some vegetable oil. Two bottles of Kimball spaghetti gravy, hahaha. She bought them in Tafaz Maju grocery shop. Two bottles cost her about RM13. Then we have a can of straw mushroom or cao gu in chinese. And then, we have minced chicken. Just grab Ramlee burger minced chicken. Owh yeahhh, we need dried spaghetti as well!!!

Just boil our spaghetti for few minutes until it soften and toss them up. Then pour some oil in the cooking pot, wait until some white smokes show up. Make sure the flame is medium. Put the chopped green onion and minced chicken. Saute them for few minutes if the minced chicken is frozen to defrost it. I guess it is around 10-15 minutes although I failed my maths tests due to nervous breakdown, lol. Then put tomatoes, mushrooms that you had sliced into two, and olives if you have it in your fridge. We have Arab and Iranian shops as well here so these Mediterranean stuffs could easily be seen here. Then, put gravy in the bottles into the pot. It already contains oregano and everything spices in it so don't worry about the taste, ahahaa.    

I get the chance to talk to little sister while helping her with the cooking. She said that maybe I should stop reading and memorizing for few weeks because it could make my head being more complicated. She can't understand what I said to her last few weeks and afraid that I would end up in mental hospital or going back to my old self. I actually talked to her about Muslims attitude regarding friendship, amity, and assistance in protecting the creed of beloved brothers and sisters. I said to her that, we don't actually care about people around although we talk about brotherhood or sisterhood in Islam. 

When people going astray from the path, we might get angry, blaming other religious bodies and begin to publish it in papers on the Jews and Christians are envious to us but what we had done to prevent our brothers and sisters no matter the revert ones or the born-Muslim ones from being strayed into wrong path (vices, evil, and others)? Maybe I need to talk according to people's level but sometimes it just slips out of my evil mouth, lol. That's why I prefer to shut it up and it makes me think, think, and later lamenting myself because I am useless....

Well, what can I say if people don't understand me. I had faced this since I am a young kid. Mum also said I was crazy when I memorized English dictionary. It was near Lower School Certificate (PMR) examination, hehehe. I was so worried with my English that made me doing all of those crazy things. 

I did memorized few Arabic kitabs too but those were for exams. Now, my English wasn't so bad as before, and memorizing dictionary did helped me. I memorized Chinese characters as well although it's not in national or religious school syllabus, hahahahahahaa...... Mum said that I was just kidding her when she sneaked in my papers written in Chinese. She showed it up to Ah Fan aunty. She was our Hainanese neighbor. She told mum that I wrote about my feelings about environment around. I don't know how did I managed my lesson plan but I guess it is because of the spirit of curiosity in a young kid. 

Mum and dad could speak in Hokkien (Fujianese) and sisters could at some level speak in rough Cantonese but we don't know how to write in Chinese characters. That's normal for village folks in Kedah and Perlis because they would have to deal with those who rent their land or being money lenders like paternal uncles. Mums' elders who resettled in Jerlun of Alor Setar around 18th C, were actually Chinese Muslims with Persian ancestry from Southern China. I can't see any Persian face at all in them. But only Mongol face, hahahaa. Most had already passed away, some younger generations could not even speak in Chinese anymore because of the assimilation within mainstream society. I checked this in our ancestral book during our family assembly in Penang.

I don't really like spaghetti. I might just have some bread, plain water and dates for sahur. It's easier than having to make a mess on the table, wasting water to clean up dishes and I'm lazy to clean up the kitchen. We may also begin with humble donation to mosques in order to support the feast for others and religious activities for next month, insya'Allah His Will.

May everyone receives His guidance and success to perform the guidance. Sealed with prayers for peace, mercy, and love on brothers and sisters in faith.