TENGOK KAKI LAH!!!

As some of you would have known, we have a new niece added to the already long-list of our 'jinbeng'. Amira Sofia that's her name, befitting a cherub cute being. Pang5 has been on cloud nine since day one and has been giddily informing everyone of the new arrival. We noticed that his elation this time has been rather, hmm, what's the word, overboard, yes, overboard is the word, hehe. You see, we do understand his excessive excitement this time (eventhough this is his third offspring already and not the first!). It's because we assume he had this unspoken phobia of not getting any daughters. 'What if it's still a boy?' This question must have played in his worried mind oft-repeatedly. I can still recall a rather close friend of mine who was pregnant for the fourth time ( all her first three children were boys) and when she gave birth to another boy, her husband gave a loud sigh, "Masyallah!" the minute he saw the baby's sex, hehe.

Ironically, I can still remember Pang5's statement when his wife was pregnant with their first son. "Scan dah? Anak apa?" people asked him. And his standard smug reply would be, "Tengok kaki laa!" slapping his right thigh and putting on a gleeful smile. It's an attitude among Malay man, I think, to be proud of getting a boy as their first-born and acting as though they are the sole factor involved! So when their second child was also a boy, it was a rather quiet occasion. And no more thigh-slapping gesture this time, hehe.

Funnily though, prior to Amira Sofia's birth, we asked him again the same old question: Anak apa?, and his reply was exactly the same: "Tengok kaki laa". Hmm, so this smug phrase can be used either way, I see. I guess what Pang5 was trying to impress upon us was that he has this 'phenomenol' capability of choosing his impending baby's sex*. How's that? I'll leave that to Pang5 to clarify (if he has the time in between washing napkins and feeding Amira, that is!)

Oh,one more thing. I was made to understand that he has chosen the name Sofia in honor of Safiyah, my second daughter. Is that true Pang5? You must then have a soft spot for Sofi eh?

This is to congratulate Pang5 for a long awaited baby girl (with or without the help of his 'kaki' that is!). Welcome aboard Amira. May you have a meaningful life, filled with success and most importantly to be 'anak yang soleh'.

*Do you know that there's a popular theory on how to be successful in getting either a baby girl or boy? And this is being determined by several factors which includes the fact that male sperms are fast swimmers but are short-lived. The opposite is true of female sperms. :) No, I won't go into the details.

Hey guys! See who is here and leaving some words too! Thanks Pang5 for the kind response!


Pang5 (the 'Kaki' guy) wrote:

Thank you all. thank you for the kind prayers and wishes to amira sofia and her parents. i shall need more of those when she reaches her teen years.

"tengok kaki". i thought i'd try to explain that phrase, but i guess the writer's and readers' imaginations has more or less covers the meaning. but frankly, my xyl (that's wife in ham language) and i did some research on how to favor (to say determine is a bit strong, i think) the baby's gender. some are scientifically explained - parenting and medical publications, as well as traditional advise from chinese and indian friends. and yes, for some unexplained reason, we were quite sure it was going to be a girl BEFORE the fifth month ultrasound scan.

being said that, i believe that girl or boy, its rezeki being blessed upon me. plus, that's one of the special requests both of us made to the Boss at Multazam. who else can precisely determine the gender but Him, right? so, to achieve that, the effort (usaha) we put to favor the gender is by adhering to some of the tips we researched, and... the kaki. i trust dith and ikelah will be able to better explain the theories and practices. ahahaha

dith, as in the case of our first two dragons, both intan and i chose part of the name. first one intan chose danial, and i, muhammad. second, intan - muhammad, and i, mikhail. and this third one, intan chose amira and i chose sofia (after the ten or so other names were vetoed by intan). but whether i have a soft spot for sofi or not, i shall not answer that for concern of being taken advantage of by sofi and her other siblings. :D

btw o-k, on some notebook computers, the pointing device that looks like a button located between the alphabets G,H and B is called a nipple.

i read this phrase in a book that goes, "a daughter is God's punishment to the father for being a man". however, looking at ikelah and dith beautiful daughters, i know mine is a blessing!!! Alhamdulillah, insyaAllah.