Of BRU and BANI

I was in Ipoh recently for some job-related assignments with Allen. We stayed at Casuarina and I discovered the first hotel with a gayong in the bathroom. Even Rumah Tumpangan Tin Hiong in KK which has graced our stay once tak dak gayong macam tu.

Because we had plenty of time and the hotel room was not that great so we couldn't spend the time in bed for long, we went back to KK since I had to meet the debaters anyway. Cendol and rojak passembur at the new cendol centre was horrible, it was only right that we kept going back to Rahmaniah for meals (yes, I am of the few who prefer Rahmaniah than Saudiah).

Anyway, the biggest and most surprising news that I received while in KK was that BRU is no longer around. It has been renamed as B-A-N-I. I was dumbfounded and shocked – all this while I was so proud to claim my revolutionary inclination that I wore shorts most of the time in koleq because I was a BRU Exco – see, Badan Revolusi Ugama, so has to be revolutionary. I was so proud of the "revolutionary" background and to be apart of BRU.

But BANI? Surely president BRU sounds much better than president BANI!

All this while with the Taman Sains gone I thought the species is extinct, but it makes such a strong come back that now everyone is a BANI. Esther Daniel must be proud….

Ps: BANI stands for Badan Nahdhah Islamiah, which according to Fazurin, roughly translates to Islamic Renaissance Body (kalau ajaran sesat sorry laa..)

Allen has some nice pictures of koleq, will get them from him.