Celebrating 35 Years of Togetherness

I am thankful to Allah for allowing me and my wife to celebrate our 35th wedding anniversary yesterday. On a Thursday evening 35 years ago, we were solemnised at her home in Kubur Kuda, Kota Bharu.

We met in Perth when we were both students. When I indicated to my friends that I was looking for a girl from Kelantan to be my future wife, I was introduced to her. After courting for a while, we decided to get married in Australia.

I got in touch with my father to convey my intention. He asked me to hang on and finish my study. I told him "if I don't get married, I can't study". Eventually my family conceded but they wanted us to get married in Kelantan. We agreed.

We went through a lot over the next 35 years as husband and wife. Our first son, Abdul Hadi, was born when we were studying at the Western Australian Institute of Technology (now known as Curtin University). Taking care of him when we both had to attend classed was tough. We were lucky that our friends took turn to take care of him.

When we came back to Malaysia in 1986, Malaysia was going through a tough recession. There was graduate unemployment and the government had to come up with a training scheme to employ them at various government agencies with a RM 400 monthly allowance. I started working as a finance person at a Proton dealership in Kota Bharu. Proton cars were selling like hot cakes at that time. Then I went to work in Kuantan with an accounting firm. That was when our second child, Nur Hafizah, was born in Kota Bharu.

We then moved to Kuala Lumpur when I got an offer with another accounting firm. We rented a house in Taman Greenwood. I could only afford to buy a stove and a refrigerator. When my mother in-law came to visit us, she thought that I belonged to a dakwah group and was not fond of worldly stuff. She did not realise our financial situation at that time. We went shopping around Jalan Tun Razak. I still remember of taking a bus where we have to carry our shopping bags while holding the hands of our kids at the same time.

My wife stayed at home and was taking care of our children while I was building my career in accountancy. I founded my own accounting practise in the 90's and went on to take a number of responsibilities at various organisations and institutions. Our family kept on growing with the arrivals of Nur Hanani, Muhammad Hazim, Nurul Aliah and Hanna Yasmin.

Looking back at what we had to go through, I am ever thankful that my wife understood my working demands and provided me with emotional support and encouragements while she herself have to deal with the daily demand at home.

I pray to Allah that we would be together again in heaven.