KELUARGA HAJI AMIR HAMZAH HAJI SAID

Friday, February 27, 2009

KELUARGA HAJI AMIR HAMZAH HAJI SAID

Group photo taken on Hari Raya 2008: front row: son-in-law Hassan, Hj Amir Hamzah, wife Hjh Juariah with granddaughter Maryam, daughter Norazlina with 1 week old son Ayub - born in Singapore.
Standing: Khairi, baby Suffian with Sumiah, Hjh Aishah, Hjh Faridah, Hjh Wan Shamsiah, sons Azman and Farid, Hjh Rosnah with son Amir Syafiq and daughter Nur Syafiqah

Nurazlina Hj Amir Hamzah with daughter Maryam Hassan and husband Hassan Siaka M Hall. During her two year stay in Houston, she contributed an article entitled "Salaam from Houston" which reads as follows:

It was mid-September 2005 when I landed here in Houston and it has been 8 months plentiful of great adventure and wonderful experiences. Houston is the 4th most populous city in USA. It is very large and its infrastructure is widely scattered, so much so that, believe it or not, many Houstonians drive just to get mail from their letterbox. The landscape is littered with rather boxy buildings and homes because Houston is near enough to the coast and low-lying enough to be threatened by hurricanes and flooding. To put it briefly, Houston is as aesthetically different from home as I could ever describe.

Houston, however, is as multi-culturally diverse as Singapore, maybe even more so. Spanish is a prominent second language. Many public signs are both in English and Spanish. Also because there is a sizeable Chinese population here, in Chinatown, all the street signs are both in English and in Chinese. There is an equivalent of Little India and a strip of Vietnamese businesses and a strip of Thai businesses. These places are where I get my stock of Asian foodstuff to somewhat ease my homesickness.

There are many Muslims here in Houston. There is an active da'wah centre in the midst of the business district, there many masjid even in the suburban towns and there are madrasah for Islamic education. Many of my Muslim friends are from Egypt, Saudi, UAE, Syria, Turkey and Pakistan. Then also many of them are Muslim Americans. Friends are like family since we are either not originally from here and if from here, do not come from Islamic background. I learned very much from my newfound friends. We try to organize as many activities as we can to keep ourselves busy constructively; study circles, qur'an reading, masjid fund raising, etc. I also attend Turkish cooking classes.

Lina is back in Singapore for good and husband Hassan has secured a job in Singapore.