i received a call yesterday which btw was Hari Wilayah and a holiday, from my colleague in the office. she said i had to go to melaka to accompany my big boss, Dato’ F (not real name!) to visit a couple of schools n one of it is mine. i really hate this ad-hoc visits which i had no idea what the issues are all about. another school that we had to go to had been gracing all over the nation’s newspapers about this particular issue, made big by the press. i mean, the press can really dig storms out of a teacup. anyway, all the visits done and we were served good lunch (hey, i was with the Dato’, so they would really give the best treatment).  then we stopped for friday prayers. we went in 2 cars, the boss was in another car. but most of the passengers in my car were men, so we made the stop in this small masjid in alor gajah just as we exit the toll. we parked at this small sekolah agama n beside the school, there is this small stall selling all sorts of melaka specialties, dodol, bahulu, kuih bakar, kuih2, kerepek, kuih bangkit, air tebu, pulut panggang. but i’m so amazed by the fact that the stallowner can leave the stall unattended since they all went for prayers and nothing happens. i mean, i feel glad that he leaves his business behind and answers the call for prayers first just as we are obliged to do as a Muslim. and i feel glad that in this small kampung, there is still such honesty and safety that we can never find in the city anymore…