Heading off to Manchester

-All 9 of us ^o^ -

Not me -- my brother.

Yesterday night my whole family plus my uncle and my cousin went off to KLIA to send off my younger brother, Rahman, who's flying to Manchester.

Route (via Emirates): KL > Dubai > Manchester

Reason: Pursuing a degree post-HND completion

We were advised to be at the airport by 10:30pm (as that was when they'll have their pre-flight briefing. They refer to the batch of students flying off to MAN) so there we were, I think around half an hour before the scheduled time.

Then of course, the kids went through bag-wrapping, check-in, etc2.

So obviously, with the quite-big number of them flying, check-in took in quite sometime (I should probably say "duh!" here). And by quite sometime I mean the scheduled briefing at 10:30 ended up being pushed to nearly a quarter before midnight -______-'

Anyway, macam-macam ragam manusia ada dekat airport tu, waiting to depart.

The touchy-feely ones.

The emo ones.

The quiet ones.

The hyper-macam-first-time-masuk-KLIA-airport ones.

The tak-tahu-nak-buat-apa-lagi-dah-while-waiting ones.

But ultimately, everyone was there as a silent prayer that the ones being hoisted on the plane will end up safe, sound and doing well as students in a foreign land.

Further study in the UK.

People normally have these kind of response(s):

"Bestnyaaaaa~!"

"So nice~"

"Later nak kerja resume pun cantik!"

Tapi orang selalu overlook the not-so-pretty sides of it.

And quite frankly, I think if you haven't traveled outside of Malaysia (where Muslims are a minority), you probably won't really understand the extent of it.

There are a lot of things people take for granted here that will not be served on a silver platter there.

To the very least, I'm sure my brother will find an entirely new meaning to the word(s) "resourceful", "independent", and "positive-thinking".

And through it all, may Allah guide your steps always.

So much excitement, yet just as much challenges await.

My uncle: "@ UK immigration: 1. don't step beyond the yellow line, 2. properly greet the fella."

My cousin: "After settling down, start doing calculations on all the stuff so everyone can come fly see you there."

My mom: "Solat jangan tinggal."

Being a good student to end up a respected professional is a good aim.

But above that, being a good Muslim first and foremost, should be always at the back of one's mind.

So Mr Abdul Rahman,

(those Brits will start calling you Mr Yusof pretty darn soon, LOL!)

May you become a Muslim professional that shall serve Islam as its asset, not a liability, insyaAllah.

Till we meet again dear brother, take good care of yourself & have fun while you're at it! (^_^)/

-Rahman going off as Mak & Adik looked on-

p/s:

#1 - Sian Adik, nangis setitik je airmata masa abang dia lambai @ international departure. Sungguh ala2 drama swasta ok, sbb satu titik je mengalir, huhu. .

#2 - Rahman, jangan lupa usha ticket match the big 4~ *ahem*

#3 - original pics courtesy of my uncle H (TQVM!) but edited suka hati by yours truly~