Compiled by ELISHA MARY EASTER, C.ARUNO and R.ARAVINTAN
P. TANABALAN, who went on a motorcycle trip to Mecca with 18 other people, managed to arrive in Madinah, about 440km away, after 40 days, Sinar Harian reported.
“To safely reach Madinah by motorcycle is my main goal for participating in the Jelajah Silaturahim.
“I managed to do it, thanks to all my Muslim brothers and friends who helped me financially,” said the 37-year-old who works as a meter reader at Tenaga Nasional Bhd.
Tanabalan, who has been riding motorbikes for 10 years, has travelled to places like Sabah, Sarawak, Brunei, Indonesia (Kalimantan), Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, and Cambodia both alone and in groups.
While this was the farthest he has travelled, with its own set of difficulties, it was a worthwhile trip, he said.
“Originally, the expedition was intended to proceed to Mecca, but I only followed the group until Madinah,” he said, adding that he would not travel to locations where non-Muslims are prohibited.
Tanabalan said he enjoys exploring new places to gain life experience and broaden his horizons.
“I am also used to visiting places of worship of other religions – such as mosques, churches and Buddhist temples – to increase my knowledge because we live in a multiracial and multireligious country,” he added.
> A mother of four from Bukit Beruang is making a living by selling snacks after her husband died in a gas explosion at home last year, Kosmo! reported.
Zarni Yuherlina Ansharuddin, 47, said the lives of her children, aged 19, 17, 13, and 10, changed overnight following the death of their father Zulkarnaeni Lubis and the household income had to be rationed.
“We did not even make any preparations for Ramadan this time because we wanted to prioritise school expenses.
“My late husband died during Ramadhan last year when the gas in the kitchen exploded while my children were cooking an omelette,” she said.
Zulkarnaeni, who was in the bathroom during the incident, was trapped inside, and the melted bathroom plastic door hit his body.
“Around 48% of his upper body suffered burns and he was in hospital for 52 days before passing away,” she said.
Zarni Yuherlina said she has no other skills than making snacks, and all her children are still in school.
“My youngest child gets up at 3am to help me make the snacks, and on occasion, even brings them to school to be sold,” she said.
The above articles are compiled from the vernacular newspapers (Bahasa Malaysia, Chinese and Tamil dailies). As such, stories are grouped according to the respective language/medium. Where a paragraph begins with a >, it denotes a separate news item.
