Dayang Noor's Blog, page 7

HILANG yang bakal menjelma

Surprise! Oh, I hope you're surprised. ;). 
So many of my friends, colleagues and Malay novel fans have been asking about my second novel. So, here it is. It's simply titled HILANG (MISSING). 
This is the novel I mentioned in one of my earlier blog entry. I wrote this using pen and paper. Probably 90% of the manuscript was produced using that method. The story was transferred to soft copy using the same software I used for JERAT - yWriter5. It's not automatic transfer, I still had to type every single letter on my computer.  
I exported the manuscript to MS Word format for editing purpose. I have to admit that self editing is the hardest part in writing books. What I did was, I left the manuscript untouched for about 3 weeks before starting self editing. At least I have forgotten some of the words and sentences. So, it was almost like editing another author's work. (I sometimes suffer short term memory lost, so that helped a lot!)
This novel is different from JERAT. I used a lot of short sentences in this novel. Well, I used pen and paper, remember? Writing long sentences would have killed me. 50% of writing was done either at the airport on on the plane. I was doing a project in Pasir Gudang earlier this year and I spent a lot of time travelling. Rather than just playing Bejewelled at the airport, I decided to grab a pen and started scribbling on a thin note pad. From a sentence, it became a paragraph and slowly it grew into a full chapter. 
Narration was minimized in HILANG as I was trying to avoid inconsistency. Writing in public places pose the risk of getting way too many distractions. When I'm distracted, my writing tend to become inconsistent. So, I decided to put in more dialogues. 
Here's the cover:
Cool sangat kan, tulisan tajuk HILANG tu? 
Full cover. Sungguhlah romantik warnanya, kaaan?

About
Shaziman sedang mencari kembarnya yang HILANG secara misteri. Kunci jawapannya ada dengan Khairani, yang datang mencari cinta dan wang mudah.
Description
Shaziman -- seorang jurulatih peribadi happy-go-lucky tiba-tiba buntu bila adik kembarnya HILANG secara misteri. Nota ugutan yang diterima membuatkannya cuba menjejak tanpa melaporkan kepada polis. Dengan bantuan Jo, seorang penyiasat peribadi, Shaziman mencari adiknya berdasarkan beberapa catatan buku nota...
Khairani -- seorang gadis kampung yang berhijrah ke Selangor untuk mencari rezeki dan mengejar cinta. Dia perlukan banyak wang untuk mengubat kakaknya yang diserang penyakit ganjil. Setelah dia berjaya memenangi hati Zed, lelaki yang diminatinya, Khairani diperkenalkan olehnya kepada dunia baru di mana wang boleh diperolehi dengan mudah...

Shaziman dan Khairani ditakdirkan bertemu dalam satu situasi yang janggal. Shaziman tidak menyedari bahawa Khairani menyimpan kunci tentang misteri kehilangan kembarnya.

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So, the book will be launched Insya-Allah on 29th June 2012. Meanwhile, feel free to LIKE the fan page here: HILANG.

Selamat Hari Guru 2012

Received these pictures in my mailbox a few weeks ago. Made me think of the teachers I've known and their teaching style. Selamat Hari Guru to all my teachers. 
Penyapu tu memang multipurpose, cikgu...
Tiada ruler, bangku berguna. Syabas cikgu.
Takde sesiku besar, dustpan pun jadik...
Cikgu yang paling prihatin, kelemumur anak murid pun dia nak monitor.
Cikgu pernah masuk kelab Tarian Mak Yong ke? Baek punya tonggek.
Ini bukan Ricky Martin!

Akan datang

Dengan sekuat tenaga, dia menyauk ketiak kanan Nadira dan menghumbannya ke arah pintu. Uncle Mokhsin dan temannya yang tercegat, tidak sempat bertindak atau mengelak apabila pisau yang tergenggam kukuh di tangan kanan Nadira merodok ulu hati wanita kurus tinggi berselendang hitam. Kepala Nadira pula menghentam dinding konkrit dan suasana dirasakan kelam, lalu bertukar gelap.
-- Culik oleh Dayang Noor
Bakal menemui anda Jun 2012

Kerudung Dilemma

I woke up one morning and thought that I should revamp my wardrobe. The next day, I went to Flow and bought 3 new tops. The next week, I bought 3 cardigans from Ms. Read and M&S. Then I bought a casual jacket from Dorothy Perkins. Don't get me wrong, I didn't spend much on these new clothes. They were all on sale. After a few weeks of shopping and 12 mix and match combination later, the damage was still below RM1K.
Next, I bought flats from Charles & Keith (that was also on sale!). So, with all the new combination of top, cardigan, (existing) pants and flats, something was still missing, I think. I needed new tudungs. So, I went to buy 5 'tudung awning' at this new shop called Qaseh in Shah Alam. So, by then I have 12 X 5 mix and match combination - that's a whole new wardrobe to me. I was happy.
But, as most men claim, women are insatiable. I started flipping through fashion magazines, looking for something that I thought was still missing. Then I decided to buy Hijabista. It's a new fashion magazine for women who wear hijab. My first impression was, oh well, these hijab styles are waaaaay too advance for me. Some are quite ridiculous while some doesn't really serve the purpose to cover our aurat. Although I couldn't find the style I wanted, I still went to do some shopping in Shah Alam. Managed to get 2 silk shawls and 2 inners.
Next, I went through about 20 hijab tutorials on YouTube. Again, I was so surprised to learn that these women actually spend about 10 minutes to wear hijab. I don't have that much time in the morning. Frankly, I only spend 5 minutes in the shower and 5 minutes to get into my clothes and apply simple make-up. 15-20 minutes is spent waking up and preparing Zarif before driving him off to the day care. Simply put, I don't have much time for myself on most mornings. How am I going to commit 10 minutes to wear hijab?
So, I searched for the most basic hijab wearing style. After a few hours of practice, I managed to wear one style easily and it took me less than 2 minutes.
With 1 silk shawl, 1 inner and 2 small brooches, here's the result:

Tudung style ini akan berterbangan bila ditiup angin ...

Sitora!

Sitora! Sitora! Sitora!
Itulah jeritan yang terngiang-ngiang di telinga aku di saat terbaca catatan Amir Muhammad tentang buku Fixi Retro yang akan dilancarkan di Pesta Buku Antarabangsa Kolumpo, 27 April ini.
Sebenarnya, aku terasa macam pernah menonton filem Allahyarham Tan Sri P. Ramlee ni zaman-zaman aku kecik dulu (read: tahun 70an lettew). Mak & arwah ayah akupun kerap juga menyakat aku kalau aku pegi merayap petang-petang kat celah-celah belukar di belakang rumah.
'Ha! Jaga-jaga, jumpa Sitora kang!' kata mak aku, memberikan amaran (walaupun aku tak rasa takut langsung dengan amaran palsu sebegitu, hehe).

Ini le cover buku Fixi Retro - Sitora Harimau Jadian
Maka nama Sitora tu memang sangatlah kerap bermain-main di bibir ahli keluarga aku. Bahkan, salah seorang nyonya yang berkedai runcit di kampung akupun diberikan nama manja Sitora (aku rasa sebab dia jongang dan selalu marah anak-anak dia - garang macam rimau).
Memang sedih bila aku baca pasal filem tu dah hilang. Eh, hilang macam tu aje, ek? Kenapa takde kat arkib negara, ye? Walaupun mak aku kata filem tu seram dan suspen, rupa-rupanya filem tu flop, aku tak taupun. Iyelah, kan... zaman 60an kan pawagam ni jadi tumpuan muda mudi, tua bangka semua sebab itu ajelah pun sumber hiburan zaman tu. Bila filem P. Ramlee flop, adalah sangat menyedihkan.
Tapi, mungkin orang-orang kampung aku semua pergi tengok filem ni kat pawagam, sebab bila sebut Sitora je, pakcik-pakcik, makcik-makcik semua tahu pasal cerita rimau jadian ni.
Well, topik rimau jadian ni memang famous kat kampung aku sebab zaman dulu-dulu, memang ada orang yang memelihara rimau jenis ni - buat tunggangan katanya. Wallahualam, masa tu aku belum lahir ke dunia. Menurut cerita arwah nenek aku, rimau jadian yang dibela oleh orang-orang Melayu zaman dulu, saiznya memang besar, tersangat besar sampai boleh tunggang satu family. Cuba kau bayangkan sebesar mana tu, macam mini van kot.
Daripada cerita arwah ayah aku pulak, orang yang memelihara rimau jadian ni memang benarkan rimau tu duduk dalam rumah, tapi halimunan di mata orang luar. Pernah sekali tu ada sorang sedara arwah ayah aku pegi berkunjung ke rumah seorang lelaki yang ada bela rimau ni. Tengah syok-syok minum kopi dan bergebang-gebang, tiba-tiba rumah tu rasa bergegar. Pakcik tu tanyalah kat tuan rumah, apa yang telah berlaku? Maka tuan rumah tu pun cakap, rimau dia baru je terjun turun ke tanah. Amboi, power betul rimau tu.
Ok, kalau anda semua curious nak tau dengan lebih lanjut tentang Sitora Harimau Jadian, pastikan anda mendapatkannya sama ada secara online dari kedai Fixi ataupun datanglah beramai-ramai ke Pesta Buku Antarabangsa Kolumpo yang akan bermula 27 April ini. Tak lama kemudian, ia akan dijual di kedai-kedai buku kegemaran anda.

Unfinished story

I wrote this in 2008. Found it in one of my backup DVD. Can't remember how it's supposed to end. I didn't complete it. Anyway, enjoy the half completed story... hihihi. 

Saleha'shands were still icy cold as she shook Mak's hands. Mak looked at her eldestdaughter with disappointment written all over her tired face. Saleha knew shemust have said the wrong things over the phone that morning. She knew she hadto make things right as soon as possible and that was why she drove all the wayfrom Johor Bahru to Kajang to see Mak: face to face. Makdidn't say a thing as she ushered Saleha into Ayah's room. Saleha bravedherself for what she was about to see. Familiar smell of antiseptics greetedher as she stepped into the room and immediately, her eyes were locked on thepale, familiar face. Ayah was too weak to utter a word but collected all theenergy he had to signal Saleha to come closer. Salehakissed Ayah's forehead and then rested her face on his bony chest just like howshe used to do it years ago, whenever she's too sad or frustrated, especiallywhen she didn't do too well in school. Ayah was always there to comfort andwhispered encouraging words. 'You will do better in the next tests; I know howclever you are.' Those were his magical words and Saleha held on to themthroughout her teenage years. And today, after graduating with a Degree inBusiness Administration and securing a decent job with a construction company inJohor Bahru she still clung to those words dearly.Makprepared coffee and fried tapioca while Saleha spent 10 minutes of silencelying next to Ayah on his bed. She didn't know what to say; they held handswhile listening to each other's breath. When she finally found her words,Saleha realized Ayah had turned his head and was staring at her face. 'You getbetter Ayah and don't worry about a thing. I will help to get things settled.You just rest, take your medicine and get better.' Ayahremained silent as how he had been for the past week. Mak told her over thephone that Ayah hadn't spoken for almost 7 days. He didn't lose his voice;perhaps all words were stuck in his throat. And then Saleha saw his pearlytears trickling down his dry cheek; she just smiled, wiped it and decided itwas about time to discuss matters with Mak in the kitchen.Thewooden kitchen floor creaked as Saleha stepped nearer to Mak. Mak turned, awareof her presence but her face was expressionless. 'Havesome coffee Leha, I've poured some in your favorite mug on the table. Thetapioca on that plate is still very hot. Be careful, dear.' Mak pointed to thedining table and signaled to Saleha to sit.Saleharemained standing a few feet behind Mak who was still frying the rest of the tapioca.Mak was such a strong and courageous woman, Saleha thought. Despite beingalmost 60, she's handling almost everything singlehandedly. Taking care of Ayahwas not an easy task. He couldn't walk by himself, so Mak would bring a pail ofwater in the morning to bathe him in the room. There was a small opening on thefloor in Ayah's room made especially for times like this. It was usuallycovered with a piece of plywood and a brick was put on top as the weight. Likeany normal Malay wooden house where at least one of the rooms will have thatsmall opening, whenever there was death, the bathing will be performed byfamily members in that room. The small opening was mainly for convenience aswell as privacy. Saleha still remembered, after Mak gave birth to Amir, heryounger brother, Mak didn't have to go to the well behind the house to bathe.She stayed in the room while Ayah will bring pails of water for her to washherself and bathe baby Amir. Now Mak was playing Ayah's role. Makwould brush Ayah's teeth and then washed his body with a piece of clean towel beforepreparing his special meal in the morning. Ayah was diabetic and Mak had tomake sure he followed the doctor's recommended diet. Not only that, Mak had tochange the dressing on Ayah's left leg twice a day. Saleha noticed the neatdressing when she was lying next to ayah. She didn't check the condition ofAyah's wound beneath the dressing but hoped that it's recovering. It's beenmore than 3 weeks now but as the doctor explained; recovery process will beslower for a diabetic patient like Ayah. Makand Ayah were plucking bananas when Ayah had the fall. Unfortunately Ayah'sleft leg was trapped in the broken and old wooden door he was standing on. WhenMak tried to free Ayah's leg, she noticed a rusty old nail was already halfwayinside Ayah's flesh causing the wound. Ayahwas rushed by the neighbours to the hospital together with half of the brokendoor and the half buried rusty nail. Life was never the same again for Ayah andMak after that accident. Saleha drove all the way from Johor Bahru upon hearingthe news; she drove fast, just like how she did this morning. Worries heavingher chest while tears streaming down her cheeks throughout the journey.'ComeLeha,' Mak ushered her to the table holding another plate of fried tapioca –fresh from the wok.'Mak,I'm sorry for the things I said this morning,' Saleha knew the discussion muststart with an apology and she really meant it. Mak poured the steaming coffeeinto her mug and pretended not to hear a word. She continued munching the friedtapioca, thinly sliced just like how Saleha used to like it. Now Mak was notsure whether Saleha still liked it, or she preferred having English muffins fortea. 'Mak,I'm willing to help you and Ayah with whatever I have….' Her sentence hangmidway as Mak shot her a sharp stare.'Thismorning you told me you have no money. You've used all of it. Now, how are yougoing to help us?' Mak put a stern face, expressionless and sounded rather unforgivingwhich left Saleha speechless; she inhaled the coffee aroma deeper to help herfind better words. 'Mak,please understand. Currently I don't have a lump sum of money but I think Imight be able to help if we could pay Pak Su Medan with installment over aperiod of time. I've used my savings to buy that house in JB, Mak. I couldn'tprovide 22 thousand ringgit by end of this weekend, but I might be able tosettle the debt by end of next year…. That is, if Pak Su Medan decided not tocharge me any interest,' Mak stopped chewing, sipped her coffee and later tooka long breath.  A few seconds later sheasked,'Whathappened to the rest of your money?' Saleha sensed Mak hadn't quite understoodit. She knew it's not easy to explain everything to her. All the while Mak onlyknew that Saleha was working as a manager and earned thousands of ringgit everymonth. Thousands, even two thousand ringgit was a lot of money to Mak. Mak hadalways been a housewife, never worked outside her home and never held moremoney than what's enough for her daily groceries. How was Saleha going toexplain to her about income tax and EPF deduction? She might be able tounderstand her having to pay for car and house installments but she might besurprised to learn that by middle of every month, Saleha only survived withless than a thousand ringgit for her daily expenses. Luckily she worked in JBwhere the cost of living was a lot lower than Kuala Lumpur. However, during the past fewmonths, it had been more pressing as she had started paying for the bank interestof her newly bought house and at the same time having to pay for her monthlyrental. It might take another year before the new house was completed and shecould move in.

2012 kini semakin meriah nampaknya

Last week I received a wonderful news from tokey Buku Fixi that my debut novel, Jerat was going for second print. Alhamdulillah. I never expected this to happen. When I submitted the manuscript last year, I was only thinking of getting published and I'd be so grateful if 250 people buy my book. Now that Malaysian readers are getting more aware of this pulp/urban/contemporary genre and with a big help from the government (by giving book vouchers), it seemed many people bought the book. Now I'm a happy bunny, yeay! The announcement at FIXI fan page

Page 1 of Bersaksi KopiThe other good news is, on 1st March 2012 Buku Fixi will launch its first collection of short stories. It's called KOPI and I contributed one of my short stories, entitled 'Bersaksi Kopi'. You can like the fan page and read excerpts of the 19 short stories from this book. So, Bersaksi Kopi was written on a windy Saturday afternoon and edited on a cold Sunday night while sipping cup after cup of Nescafe and Neslo. The result? Owh, you'll have to buy KOPI to find out. KOPI will not be sold in bookstores (barang baik memang susah nak jumpa, dik), but you can order online at FIXI website or visit Pesta Buku Antarabangsa KL in April (and a few other Pesta Buku that'll be announced at the fan page). 




Late last year, another short story of mine was published online at futura.poskod.my. It was entitled '10 bulan sebelum misi ke Marikh' and it's a Science Fiction. I never imagined I'd be writing a Sci Fi. The truth is, I never read any Sci Fi book. I enjoyed movies like Matrix, iRobot, A.I, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and the likes, but I couldn't bring myself to buy any Sci Fi book. As a die hard fan of Battlestar Galactica way back in the late 1970s, I found writing Sci Fi really interesting. You get to explore your thoughts, fears, aspirations and then start worrying about your grandchildren.  
Page 2 of '10 bulan sebelum misi ke Marih'
Besides these 3, I have a few on going projects that I'll share with you once it's confirmed to be published. Among them are a novel for teenagers (Bahasa Melayu standard, I tell you!) and another manuscript for FIXI (proposal sent last month). There's a lot of differences between writing a novel using standard BM and urban language. The latter is a lot more fun and you can feel you're given a lot of freedom doing it. It's like running on a huge green field with wind on your face. Frankly speaking, I don't enjoy writing using standard BM. I feel trapped, gagged and both hands tied up. Whatever it is, writing is the best hobby I have so far. It introduced me to many interesting, beautiful people and a very exciting world.If you like writing, go for it. Never throw away any manuscript and never leave it under the bed, gathering dust. Finish whatever you started, get someone's opinion and submit it to one of the publishers. Or better still, publish it yourself. Have a great Wednesday, happy people!

Budak bandar balik kampung

Anak-anak aku memang tak pernah merasa duduk kampung. Kesian diorang. 

Tengoklah gambar ni ha. Nak pegi bakar sampah pun kena dressing cantik-cantik macam nak gi shopping je. Nampak selut sikit, dah singsing seluar tinggi-tinggi. Patut next time aku bawak diorang ni meranduk paya, pastu biar kena gigit pacat. Tengoklah betapa putih bersihnya kaki Wazif tu ha. Kalah kaki awek.

Dunia yang Kelabu

Eh, tetiba ada framelah pulak gambar ni, kaaan?

Taklah, ini bukan review yang serius sangat sebenarnya. Cuma nak kasitau korang, aku dah baca Kelabu yang ditulis oleh Nadia Khan. Bolehlah korang jeles sampai juling bijik mata.
Kepada yang tak tahu hujung pangkal, Kelabu ni ialah novel terbitan Fixi. Kalau nak beli ada jual kat major bookstores. Kalau malas nak pegi bookstore, boleh pegi dekat http://fixi.com.my . Boleh order online kat situ (sambil-sambil tu, korang orderlah buku Jerat sekali, ek? Tima kasih... hehehe).
Ramai yang baca novel ni mendapat kejutan besar di tengah-tengah cerita.
Tapi, aku pulak, dah terbaca satu review yang mengandungi spoiler. Maka reaksi dan perasaan aku semasa membaca seluruh buku ni agak berbeza. Dari awal, rasa bukan main excited, tapi pada masa yang sama, rasa macam sedih dan sayu semacam. 
Bukannya apa, dulu aku ada sorang work colleague yang hidup di dunia kelabu sebijik macam situasi Amir (watak utama dalam novel Kelabu ni). Nama colleague aku tu Jack. Aku tak sempat kenal dia betul-betul walaupun dia duduk selang dua tiga meja aje dari cubicle aku. 
Jack kerja kat ofis aku tak lama, setahun lebih je, aku rasa. Bila dia dah resign, tempat dia digantikan oleh budak lain. Aku ada jugak menyiasat kenapa Jack ni resign. Menurut Team Leader dan managernya, Jack ada masalah peribadi. Dia tak boleh kongsi dengan sesiapa pun. Ok, bunyi macam serius gila, kan? 
Oleh kerana aku bukanlah jenis suka sangat menyebok tepi kain orang, aku diam aje. Dia dah nak resign, biar ajelah. (Walaupun dalam hati menjerit-jerit nak tahu apakah masalah peribadi dia tu yang sebenarnya, haaaa?)
Selang beberapa bulan, ex-manager dia (yang kebetulan adalah manager aku) bagitau bad news. Jack dah meninggal, accident on the way turun dari Cameron Highlands (eh, ke Genting Highlands, ek? Akupun dah tak berapa ingat. Benda ni jadi dah 2 tahun lepas.)
Jadi, aku ngan kengkawan pun bersedih-sedihlah dengan kematian Jack. Dia memang muda sangat lagi, baru nak masuk 26 masa tu, kalau tak silap aku. Tak lama lepas dengar cerita dia dah meninggal, aku siap termimpi-mimpikan Jack. (Eh, aku pernah blog pasal mimpi ni. Kalau aku rajin korek archive blog ni, nanti aku letak linknya, ye?)
Satu hari, aku lepak kat surau dengan sorang akak pre-sales ni. Dia kenal Jack jugak. Dia tanya aku dah dengar belum berita tentang Jack. Aku jawablah, ya. Pastu, akak tu tanya, version mana yang aku dengar? Aku kasitaulah yang aku dengar cerita dia accident kereta. Akak pre-sales tu kata yang tu sebenarnya cover version. Kisah sebenarnya ialah Jack memang pergi Cameron Highlands (atau mungkin Genting Highlands), tapi masa menghala turun, dia berhentikan kereta kat satu tempat dan bunuh diri dalam kereta. 
Aku memang terkejut dan sedih tak hingat bila dengar cerita akak tu. Menurut rumours, masalah peribadi dia (yang menyebabkan dia resign tu) ada kaitan dengan komplikasi hidupnya dalam dunia kelabu. Kemungkinan besar, masalah yang sama telah menyebabkan dia ambil keputusan untuk menamatkan riwayatnya sendiri. Ish, sayu sampai menitis airmata, okeh!
Jadi, bila aku baca Kelabu, sepanjang cerita aku terbayangkan Jack. Dahlah cover depan tu body macam mendiang Jack tu jugak. Ish! Sedih oi!
Maka, korang nampaklah bahawasanya blog entri aku ni tak buat review Kelabu sangat, pun. Tapi aku cuma nak korang tahu, kehidupan kawan-kawan kita dalam dunia Kelabu adalah agak tragic, tak tahu masa depan, nak tangkis tanggapan masyarakat, penerimaan keluarga belum tentu OK dan macam-macam lagi dugaan yang terpaksa dihadapi. 
Bila aku baca part hujung-hujung cerita Kelabu ni, memang rasa nak nangis. Jahat macam mana pun kita, tuhan tetap sayangkan kita, kan? Masa tu jugaklah aku terpikir, if only Jack ada supportive friends and family members. If only Jack rapat dengan orang-orang yang boleh membimbing dia. If only Jack dapat menerima fitrah. Mungkin hari ni, tiap-tiap pagi aku pergi ofis, aku masih dapat ucap Good Morning dekat dia. Sobs.

Injury update

I hurt my right knee and my ribcage when I had a fall two weeks ago. Yeah, I fell! It's been 17 years since I last fell. I hate falling because I totally lost control over my body.
The doctor advised me not to walk or climb stairs too much. I was supposed to rest at home for 4 days with the right leg raised slightly higher whenever I lie down or sitting on the sofa. I did just that, resting at home watching TV and reading 1Q84.
On Monday, 4 days after the fall, I decided to start working and it was a stupid decision. My knee was swollen by the time I reached home that night.
So, the healing process was slow. I couldn't walk or pray properly. Driving to the office and customer's place was quite a torture.
Last Friday, the skin on my knee started peeling off. It's not swollen anymore but I couldn't climb the stairs like a normal person. I felt like a handicap.( If only they let us park our cars at the reserved OKU spots when we hurt our knees. ) I went to see the doctor for a follow up session.
This morning, I felt slightly better and tried running up the stairs. The knee didn't ache, so I suppose next week I should start going to the gym. Hehe. I think the gym misses me. ;)