This is not a "Goodbye"

“People walk in and out of our life but true friends leave footprints in our heart”

The President of Perwakilan Muscat, Ybhg Prof Madya Datin Dr Musrifah Sapardi will be leaving us for Malaysia. We, the members and all Malaysian here, are going to miss her and everything about her. Her husband, Ybhg HE Dato Rustam Yahya is ending his short ambassador-ship stint here in Muscat to move on with his diplomatic career back in Malaysia.

They are such a lovely couple.

During her stay here,  Datin Dr Musrifah, dearly referred herself as "Akak" or "Kak Mus" has initiated, organized and steered countless events especially towards promoting Malaysia to Oman and other countries as well. We have been lucky having the opportunity working with her as she has been so generous in sharing ideas, knowledge and experiences in many ways that benefits members. The way she is treating each one of us makes us feel special.

Not only is Datin Musrifah the Perwakilan leader, but also to most of us, Datin is like a sister, a mother, a teacher or even a fondly friend that we can trust to ‘gossip’. She is always there to render assist or support if needed. Her intelligence, knowledge and life experience, among other qualities, that make us comfortable to go and consult her whenever conflicts arise.

Only in Oman, the official Ambassador Residence is uniquely referred to as ‘Rumah Malaysia’. The naming of the residence is a humbly gesture signifying the openness of the house to all Malaysians. The Rumah Malaysia has witnessed to be the venue hosting numerous events, from social gathering, talks, VIP guest receptions to religious functions.  We could always see and feel the warmth welcoming from this lovely good-hearted couple to the Rumah Malaysia.

Perwakilan Muscat had the opportunity to organize a farewell coffee-morning gathering with Datin Musrifah last week. We spent a precious two hours with her and to convey member personal appreciation, we presented Datin with a handmade patchwork art by members. The handmade patchwork was an idea mooted by Puan Mimi. The final Patchwork is made out of small pieces of design that are contributed by each member and later sewn and patched together into a big piece of patchwork art.

Believe it or not, some of us who have never held a needle before surprisingly came out with a very creative invention! This patchwork final form is such a “Master-piece’ that really touched and broke Datin to tears.

Perwakilan Muscat will definitely miss you, Datin. Words could not possibly express all about you, and just how much we are going to miss you. Given the opportunities, there will be endless words to describe, but these are THREE words by members to tell it all:-

-names are in no particular order

Azwa – Enchanting Warm Vivacious Hanizah – Tetap Dalam Ingatan Mona – Pleasant Facial Expression Zaheeda – Adorable Lovable Gorgeous Dr Intan – Humble Beautiful Smile Lily – Cheerful Friendly Kind Beatrice – Farewell Best Wishes Sofia – You’re A Gem Anis – Friends Are Treasures Ana – Kind Hearted Lady Aida – Beautiful Thoughtful Benign Seniah – A Great Lady Ida – Gorgeous Inspirational Kind Mimi – Charming Enthusiastic Humble Maheran – Diplomat’s Humble Spouse Dr Nurul – Mesmeric Unassuming Sagacious Mala – The Malaysian Beauty Sharifah – Graceful Sweet Loving Haffizah – Thoyyibah Saeedah Jameelah Sheila – Precious Warm Charming Priya – Eyes 2 Heart Dr Liza – Seeru ‘Ala Barakatillah Jay – Jewel Of People Zaileha – Karipap, Pau, Laksa Rozie – Eximius Humilis Comis Zarina – All The Best Intan – Stay Fabulous Always

Though some names are not here, but definitely the same will be mentioned.

Perwakilan Muscat would like to express our big Thank You to Datin. We wish you and family a save journey back to our homeland. We wish you all the best in your future undertaking. 

You will definitely be MISSED but not FORGOTTEN. This is not a GOODBYE but only an APPRECIATION note from us. 

Tanam lenggun tumbuh kelapa

Terbit bunga pucuk mati

Budi puan kami tak lupa

Sudah terpahat di dalam hati

Till we meet again, Insyaalah.

Sukaneka Malaysia 2014

7 June 2014

Stadium Sultan Qaboos

Buat julung kalinya, rakyat Malaysia di Muscat, Oman berkumpul bersama untuk menjayakan Sukaneka Muscat 2014. Sukaneka yang disertai oleh lebih kurang 200 peserta ini telah diadakan di Kompleks Stadium Sultan Qaboos.

Acara bermula seawal jam 8.00 pagi dengan pendaftaran peserta. Peserta-peserta telah dibahagikan kepada empat kumpulan – “Belacan”, “Budu”, “Tempoyak” dan “Cencaluk”. Setiap kumpulan yang mempunyai ketua kumpulan masing-masing akan dikumpulkan bersama untuk diberi taklimat dan strategi bagi mengutip markah sebanyak mungkin.

Acara sukan pertama dimulakan dengan larian ikat tali di kaki. Ini adalah acara campuran antara kanak-kanak dan dewasa diikuti dengan acara tiupan belon.

Acara dihentikan seketika bagi memberi laluan kepada Ybhg. Duta Besar Malaysia, Dato’ Rostam Yahya untuk memberi ucapan. Dalam ucapan, beliau berbangga kerana dapat bersama untuk menjayakan sukaneka ini. Ini adalah acara terakhir beliau bersama rakyat Malaysia sebelum mengakhiri khidmat selama tiga tahun di Oman. Ucapan beliau disudahi dengan nyanyian lagu kebangsaan ‘Negaraku’ dan pemberian cenderahati kepada pihak wakil Kompleks Stadium Sultan Qaboos.

Acara sukan diteruskan kemudiannya. Kibaran bendera/sepanduk yang direka oleh peserta setiap kumpulan kelihatan berkibar bersama sorakan sokongan pada setiap kali acara bermula. Walaupun saingan kumpulan markah agak sengit antara satu sama lain, namun dengan semangat ikatan dan kesukanan yang tinggi, setiap peserta bekerjasama untuk meraih markah bagi kumpulan masing-masing.

Sebanyak sepuluh acara sukan telah dimainkan. Semua acara sukan berakhir pada jam 2.00 petang  dan diikuti dengan penyampaian hadiah. Kumpulan Cencaluk telah menjadi juara keseluruhan dengan diikuti oleh kumpulan Budu, Belacan dan Tempoyak.

Rakyat Malaysia di Oman ingin mengucapkan tahniah dan terima kasih kepada Pihak Jawatankuasa Sukaneka 2014 yang telah bertungkus lumus menjayakan acara ini. Acara sukaneka ini walau pertama kalinya diadakan, namun ia telah berjalan dengan lancar dan jayanya.

Terima kasih juga diucapkan kepada Pihak Kedutaan Malaysia di Oman khusus kepada Duta Besar Ybhg Dato Rustam Yahya dan Ybhg Datin Musrifah Sapardi yang sentiasa memberi sokongan kepada rakyat Malaysia bagi menjalankan apa jua aktiviti dan acara di sini.

Tahniah dan terima kasih juga kepada yang hadir untuk memberi sokongan bagi menjayakan acara ini. Ini bukanlah acara sukaneka yang pertama dan terakhir kerana Pihak Jawatankuasa Sukaneka telah berjanji akan mengadakannya lagi pada setiap tahun.

Malaysian Cultural Display

2nd June 2014
Rumah Malaysia

"Manis sungguh gula Melaka

Jangan dibancuh dibuat serbat

Sungguh teguh adat pusaka

Biar mati anak jangan mati adat"

Adat Resam or Customary Code of Conduct is the cultural practice of Malaysians. Malaysia is a multi-ethnic, multicultural and multilingual society that consist of three major races; the Malays, Chinese and Indians. The people live harmony, be it in social life, in businesses and day-to-day life. Even marriages across races are not uncommon nowadays.

Today, we Malaysian in the Sultanate Muscat of Oman with the initiative of Ybhg. Prof. Madya Datin Dr Musrifah Sapardi has organized a cultural display to be presented before the Ambassadors Wives Group in Oman. The traditional Malay wedding was chosen for the show.

Rumah Malaysia was colorfully decorated to give the full aura of ‘kenduri kendara’ or wedding ceremony, with “bunga manggar and “bunga telur”.  The bride and groom (not the real one yeah..) have been displayed fully dressed with our traditional wedding songket costumes.

Adding to this, two sections of showcases were displayed – the “hantaran” and the traditional items like games, accessories and jewelleries. “Hantaran” is actually a gift presented by both the bride and groom representatives that will be exchanged during the ceremony. The “hantaran” could be anything from clothes, sweets and fruits, but a “sirih junjung” and jewellery are a must. The number of gifts depends on the agreement from both parties during the “merisik” or engagement.

The hantarans which were creatively decorated by the Perwakilan members really got the attention from the guests. They were amazed of our expertise in turning a piece of towel into a bouquet of flower!

A ‘kenduri’ is not complete without the food. We ended the ceremony with a heavy brunch of traditional foods like nasi lemak, satay, pulut kuning, rendang, soto and kuih-muih prepared by the members. Brunch was superb though it was served without nasi minyak, a must food in any "kenduri kahwin"!

Malaysians are of generous lots, guests will never leave our home empty handed. Out guest left with a “bunga telur”, a traditional take away goodies in “kenduri kahwin”.

We Malaysians are very proud. Despite having different cultures and believes, we live united in peace with full respect and tolerance among us. We celebrate each other ceremony whilst maintaining our own traditions “adat resam”.

Stress Management Workshop

28th May 2014

Rumah Malaysia

What is STRESS? Anything that poses a challenge or a threat to our well-being is stress. Some stresses are good and get you going, but without any stress at all, many say our lives would be boring and probably pointless!

Nevertheless we can’t run away from stress, as it will come no matter how hard we try to avoid it. Today, Perwakilan Muscat ladies are very lucky as one of the members – Puan Sheila Menon had willing to give a workshop talk on the “Stress Management”

Puan Sheila Menon has travelled to several states and trained at numerous Government Agencies, Corporate Organizations and Education Institutions. She, who has an Honours Degree in Law and was a lawyer before, moved her carrier to training and development 12 years ago. She discovered that her true passion is actually in human development. Puan Sheila brings to class her prior exposure to the education and legal worlds together with her wealth experience in training and development.

In this workshop, Puan Sheila walked us thru the process of how to cope with stress. We were also being asked to analyze the level of our stress in our personal life. The workshop was fun as the participants were very sporting as each of us participated in all the activities given. We communicated and shared our feelings with other members that made it more meaningful.

Our Chairlady Ybhg. Prof. Madya Datin Dr Musrifah Sapardi has also invited the representative from the Asean Ladies Circle (ALC) group.  They are the wives of the Ambassadors from Thailand, Indonesia, Brunei, Singapore and Philipines and also the staff of respective Embassies.

Perwakilan Muscat would like to thank to Puan Sheila Menon for sharing her great experience, tips and knowledge in this workshop. This workshop is not just to acquire about the ‘Stress Management’ but also being together to participate and to learn new things. We hope to have more events like this in future.

An inspirational quote said by Fred Rogers - "In times of stress, the best thing we can do for each other is to listen with our ears and our hearts and to be assured that our questions are just as important as our answers".