Honourable Guests from M'sia

Late thursday evening, dah nak masuk mlm pun, i received an email from my supervisor and also HOD, Prof Majeed. As below..

Visit of the Honourable Minister of Health Malaysia

Dear Prof. Rawaf,

It was indeed a pleasure to be able to speak to your earlier.

As promised, please find attached list below of the delegation who will be attending tomorrow’s briefing:

1. The Honourable Dato’ Sri Liow Tiong Lai

Minister of Health

2. Datin Sri Lee Sun Loo (attendance tbc)

Spouse to the Minister of Health

3. Tan Sri Dato’ Sri Dr. Ismail Merican

Director General of Health

Imagine my shock when i received the email saying the MOH and DG are coming to my dept for a briefing. Prof Salman Rawaf is the Head of the WHO collaboration centre that is based in Imperial. Apparently, several universities bid for this, but Imperial won it so Prof Rawaf, is in Imperial College now.

So, when I arrived that morning, my friend Malar (another PhD student)and myself, the only 2 Malaysians at the dept were so nervous. 3pm the time it was, and Khairul Gadafi, the political secretary came 1st. After that, we went downstairs and greeted the Minister and DG that arrived with their car.

Prof Salman Rawaf gave a very, very good presentation on NHS. Some of the stuff were new to me and basically it's what M'sia can learn from UK's healthcare system. At one point Datuk Seri pointed at me and said "you, what you are witnessing today is history in the making. We are about to change the system in M'sia and you are part of the moment".. :)

Between the briefing we had tea break. Tan Sri was asking me where am i attached, what's my background and my PhD. I told him i'm doing diabetes and behaviour and he was v excited. He said the Ministry could do with people like you.. we are starting up a centre for diabetes and behaviour.. i said ok and smiled.. I introduced him to my supervisor, Prof Majeed. He said diabetes is costing a lot, and nothing much is changing.. and then they had a chat. Tan Sri also mentioned it to the Minister, so at that moment I was v happy because i felt a had a sense of self, that i had potential to be someone who can contribute to the society at large.

After briefing, we brought them to Charing Cross Hospital and also the walk-in-centre. The M'sian delegates gave us presents (mine was a batik selendang) and we also took pictures with them. They left at 6pm and was very, very impressed and happy with the whole mmeting. Tan Sri Ismail and Datuk Seri Liow pesan "belajar baik2, balik nanti contribute to the country ok".. hehehehehe...

They're in here till Saturday and then off to Geneva for the convention..

Hadi dah kahwin..

Congratulations to my bro Hadi yg telah selamat melangsungkan pernikahan kt Melbourne, Australia.. So sad i cannot be there to witness my own brother kahwin, tapi nak travel ke Aussie with my big belly and carry an infant in the same seat for 14 hours, is just not possible..

For those of you yang tak kenal sgt my family, Hadi is the brother immediately after me, we're just 1 year and 24 days apart. Hadilah yg introduce me to football, cricket, rugby etc and selalu teman dia tgk bola, so tht sparked my interest. We both love Man U (who doesn't) since the Bryan Robson days (well, not his early days but dkt2 nak retire).. And then the Eric Cantona era sampailah ke C.Ronaldo time that is today.

To Hadi and Nu, congratulations on ur wedding and semoga banyak2 bersabar with each other. Hopefully i can come to the reception in M'sia next year..

Opah's Trip to UK

Urwah's homemade kofta just for us.. mmg boleh gemuk kalau ddk rumah kareem.


Aqil in Opah's favourite baju.. beli kat debenhams sale


Urwah's dinner.. loved the salmon..


All of us enjoying our ice-cream, belanja by urs truly :)


Opah at Leyton ice-cream truck. Sedapnya ice-cream.


Kareem and family during their visit to Egham. Sebelum tu stopover kt Ascot pergi carboot.


Aqil everytime i go to the toilet, he'll be waiting patiently outside. Yang ni sambil tunggu sambil main bola..


Aqil takut sikit sbb this one gerak.


Aqil just loved the trolley car.. lama tunggu baru dia nak keluar


Aqil and Opah at Slough. Tunggu bus naik pergi sana.. Aqil suka sgt naik kereta. Alhamdulillah baik tak meragam sepanjan kami shopping..



My beloved mom is back in Malaysia, but I thought u guys might like the selection of pictures of her visit here. Come back again Mama/Opah Aqil, we love you..

Yang tidurnya ku dodoi....

This post is dedicated to Allahyarham Muaz bin Azhar..





Yesterday I received sms from Mama saying that Muaz Azhar passed away.. Muaz, who was still in high school is the son of Pakcik Azhar aka Dr Azhar and Makcik Lina who i am very close with. He had an operation and was met with complications and from then on fell into a coma. And yesterday, Allah loved him more and took away this precious boy off to a better place.


When i was in high school in England, Makcik Lina and Makcik Fauziah were living in Nottingham, so we were v close to their family. When Makcik Lina had Muaz, i just adored her baby with his round eyes and cute face. I used to hug him to sleep and he will always sleep when i whenever i cuddled him. Even Makcik Lina used to say "Muaz ni kalau sakinah dodoi, selalu je tidur".. Sometimes i just hugged him for 15 mins and he would doze of.. He was just special to me..


So bila balik M'sia and whenever i meet him, i will always say "Muaz ingat tak Kak Sakinah? Dulu k sakinah selalu jaga Muaz, dodoi muaz sampai tidur..Muaz selalu je tidur kalau k sakinah dodoi".. Muaz will always smile..


The last time i saw him was at An-Nur when I delivered Aqil and he came with Makcik Lina and Iffah to the hospital.. Again i will always say "Muaz, ingat tak kak sakinah?".. And makcik Lina will say "Dulu k sakinah lah yg jaga Muaz masa baby".. And then he smiled shyly.. Masa tu i remember thinking dah besar dah Muaz.. dulu i used to take care of him when he was a baby, and now i have one of my own..


That was 20 months ago and now, he's gone.. Muaz, yang tidurnya kudodoi, badan kecilnya kudakap dan pipinya ku cium suatu ketika dahulu kini tiada lagi.. Sleep well my dear, and may Allah bless you..

London Adventure..

Aqil smiling as we head off to London.. sejuk.. kena pakai cap..

Posing at Heathrow T5 stop

Aqil at Heathrow T5 stop

Ummi and Aqil at Shepherd's Bush market

Aqil and Opah all smiles for the tube to Heathrow T5

Aqil in front of the red double decker bus

Aqil at the end of the Hammersmith and City Line

Aqil enjoying his chicken kebab lunch..

Aqil playing with his windmill we bought at the market..

Aqil and Opah on the 283 bus

Ummi reading the Metro while Aqil is enjoying his susu on the tube to Hammersmith

Aqil makan crisps while waiting for the train

Aqil inside tube to Heathrow T5

Opah and Aqil off on a shopping adventure



So dah lama nak bawak mama jalan2 pergi Shepherd's Bush.. I've never been there myself, cuma lalu masa nak pergi class kt Hammersmith Hospital, near East Acton.. looks like a big place with lots of shopping ctr and a great looking market..

Today is shopping day. I brought Mama to Hammersmith to show her the area around Shepherd's Bush and its market. We walked to the train station and and took the train to Richmond and from there will take the tube to Hammersmith and bus to Shepherd's Bush.. but when we got to Richmond, suddenly our door wouldn't open. All the other passengers ran to the sides to get to the other door but we couldn't move as we had our pushchair and the passage was too small to go thru.. so we went all the way to Clapham Junction and then had to go up the stairs to the other side of the platform, took another train and went thru another 20 mins of journey (because of so many stops).. then took the stairs from Richmond Platform 2 to get to the tube side.. and i went up to top up Mama's oysters and when i went down, i couldn't find Mama and Aqil.. tried to call tp no answer so we miss one tube.. around 10 mins the next one departed and then we were off to Hammersmith.. when we got there, we took the 283 bus to Shepherd's Bush Market. It was a pleasant journey and even Aqil loved it...

borong barang kt the market and we had lunch- chicken n salad and mama ate fish and chips.. it was quite nice and then sambung shopping at the market, this time borong groceries.. besok plan nk masak laksa..

we didn't get to visit westfield or other places, maybe next time...

Guess Who Came To Dinner?

On early Sunday morning, Mama got sms from Makcik Norhin asking for my UK no, saying that she's here and she would like to visit me.. And Mama told her she's also here and welcomed to come anytime..

So around Maghrib, Makcik Norhin, Prof Latif, Atikah and Afif came by. They were on holiday and planning to visit a few places in England, so while they're in London, they thought they'd stop by for an update..hehehehe.. mendalam maknanya tu.. Have not really kept in touch, been so busy here..

After dinner and conversations, they went back to London. They'll be here for the next 2 weeks. Nice family, i have know Makcik Norhin a long time as she was my dentist. Dr Latif, i met him for the 1st time when he came to Pejabat JIM to give talk on Acheh Tsunami.. they are old acquaintances of my parents, but i only knew Prof when i went to the talk and when i came to CUCMS, hence i refer to him as Prof/Dr Latif and Makcik Norhin instead of Dr.. I knew her personally before professionally..

Here are some of the pix..

Us at dinner table..

Afif tired after a long day on walking..

Makcik Norhin, Aqil and I.. Aqil senyum malu2..

Harap both Prof Latif and Makcik Norhin tak serik nak datang visit kami lagi.. mlm tu lauk simple je.. hehehe.. jumpa lagi insyaAllah.

Flu, Mama and Buah Cermai

Aqil mmg chummy dgn Opah dia.. mula2 dia reluctant nak pergi, tp bila Opah sang his fave song, immediately he remembered and terus dapatkan Opah..

For the few couple of days, i've been poorly now. I caught the flu bug which has been going round and infected a few of my friends. My only medicine is honey and lots of fruits (for the vit C).. Alhamdulillah i'm a lot better now and ready to go out.

My beloved mum is here.. She's here for her IR meeting but extending her stay to spend time with Aqil. I'm sooooo happy she's around.. she'll be here for the next couple of weeks. The babies, both Aqil and the fetus are really active so I'm gonna need all the help for now.. hehehe..

From Malaysia, she brought fresh buah cermai, rempah and spices and a few other things i've been craving for.. Thanks Mama..

Also Aqil had another round of haircut.. i'll post his new pictures later.. that's all the update for now.. salam..