Bandar Seri Begawan, 8 August 2007
Dear Colleagues,
I wanted to take a moment to let you know that I am leaving Starwood. I will be starting a new position as a Director of Rooms Division at Al Rashid Golden Orchid Hotel – Medina – Kingdom Saudi Arabia next month.
I have enjoyed my tenure with Sheraton and I appreciate having had the opportunity to work with Sheraton. Being the biggest International chains hotel, Starwood is always become my biggest education center, I changed and grow with starwood; my weigh had proven from 72 kg 7 years ago when I touch down Brunei and now to 90 kg, further more of course I also changed in term of knowledge and capability from planning to execution, from initiative to the establishment, from no sigma to six sigma, from branding to re-branding. Thousands and countless knowledge’s I’ve learnt from it.
Thank you for the support, guidance, and encouragement you have provided me during my time at Sheraton in Indonesia, Vietnam and Brunei for 15 years. Even though I will miss you and the company, I am looking forward to this new challenge and to starting a new phase of my career.
Please keep in touch, I can be reached at my personal email address :
sumantriendang@yahoo.com or checked this out :
www.desumantri.blogspot.com/ if you wish to know what ‘s happen with me or simply looking for an ideas of you life style, there are hundred life skill inspiration there.
Thanks again for everything.
Yours truly,Sumantri
About Sumantri :Former : Executive Housekeeper, Lobby Ambassador, Chairman of Hotel Sport & Social Club, Property Service Culture Trainer, Chief Butler for numbers of Head of States – SHERATON UTAMA BRUNEI, . Supporting team – Rooms Division – SHERATON HANOI – VIETNAM. Guest Service Manager, Night / Duty Manager, Executive Housekeeper, Laundry Manager – SHERATON BANDARA. Supporting team – Rooms – Housekeeping – SHERATON BANDUNG – INDONESIA. Supporting team – Housekeeping– SHERATON YOGYAKARTA – INDONESIA, Supporting team – Rooms – Housekeeping – SHERATON TIMIKA – IRIAN JAYA – INDONESIA..About Madinah : Medina also transliterated into
English as Madīnah; officially al Madīnat al Munawwarah) is a city in the
Hejaz region of western
Saudi Arabia, and serves as the capital of
Al Madinah Province. It is the second holiest city in
Islam, and the burial place of
Muhammad. It currently has a population of more than 1,300,000 people (
2006). Madina is located at
24.28° N 39.36° E. Madina was originally known as Yathrib, but later the city's name was changed to Madīnat al-Nabī ( "city of the prophet") or Al Madīnah al Munawwarah ("the enlightened city" or "the radiant city"), while the short form Madīnah simply means "city". Madina is celebrated for containing the tomb of
Muhammed, whence it ranks as the second holiest city of
Islam, after
Mecca (Makkah).
[1] Madina is 210 miles north of Mecca and about 120 miles from the Red Sea coast. It is situated in the most fertile spot of all the Hejaz territory, the streams of the vicinity tending to converge in this locality. An immense plain extends south of it; in every direction the view is bounded by hills and mountains. The city forms an oval, surrounded by a strong wall, 30 to 40 feet high, that dates from the 12th century C.E., and is flanked with towers, while on a rock, stands a castle. Of its four gates, the Bab-al-Salam, or Egyptian gate, is remarkable for its beauty. Beyond the walls of the city, west and south are suburbs consisting of low houses, yards, gardens ,and plantations. These suburbs have also walls and gates. The mosque of the Prophet stands at the east of the city and resembles that at Mecca on a smaller scale. Its court is almost 500 feet in length, the dome is high and three minarets picturesque. The tomb of the prophet, who died and was buried here in 632 C.E., is enclosed with a screen of iron filigree, at the south side of which the hajji goes through his devotions, for all of which he pays, but is consoled with the assurance that one prayer here is good as a thousand elsewhere (1954 Encyclopedia Americana, vol. 18, pp.587-588). The tombs of
Fatima Zahra (Muhammed's daughter) and
Abu Bakr (first caliph and the father of his wife
Aisha), and of
Umar ibn Khattab, the second caliph, are also here. The mosque dates back to the time of Muhammed, but has been twice burned and reconstructed (1954 Encyclopedia Americana, vol. 18, pp.587,588).
Medina's importance as a religious site derives from the presence there of the 'Tomb of Prophet Muhammad' inside '
Masjid-e-Nabawi' or 'The Mosque of The Prophet'. The Mosque was built on a site adjacent to Muhammad's home and as Muslims believe that Prophets must be buried at the very same place that they die, and accordingly, Muhammad was buried in his house. The tomb later became part of the mosque when it was expanded by the
Umayyad Caliph Al-Walid I. The first mosque of Islam is also located in Medinah and is known as Masjid Quba, (the
Quba Mosque). It was destroyed by lightning, probably about 850 C.E., and the graves were almost forgotten. In 892 the place was cleared up, the tombs located and a fine mosque built, which was destroyed by fire in 1257 C.E. and almost immediately rebuilt. It was restored by Khaid Bey, the Egyptian ruler, in 1487 (1954 Encyclopedia Americana, vol. 18, p.588).
Like Mecca, the city of Medina only permits
Muslims to enter, although the haram (area closed to non-Muslims) of Medina is much smaller than that of Mecca, with the result that many facilities on the outskirts of Medina are open to non-Muslims, whereas in Mecca the area closed to non-Muslims extends well beyond the limits of the built-up area. Both cities' numerous mosques are the destination for large numbers of Muslims on their annual pilgrimage. Hundreds of thousands of Muslims come to Medina annually to visit the 'Tomb of Prophet' and to worship at mosques in a unified celebration. Muslims believe that praying once in the Mosque of the Prophet is equal to praying at least 1000 times in any other mosque. ( taken from wikipedia )
Inspiring reason to relocate to Medinah :
He who emigrates (from his home) in the Cause of Allâh, will find on earth many dwelling places and plenty to live by. And whosoever leaves his home as an emigrant unto Allâh and His Messenger, and death overtakes him, his reward is then surely incumbent upon Allâh. And Allâh is Ever OftForgiving, Most Merciful.
suurah al-nisaa, ayah 100
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Narrated Jabir: A bedouin came to the Prophet and gave a pledge of allegiance for embracing Islam. The next day he came with fever and said (to the Prophet ), "Please cancel my pledge (of embracing Islam and of emigrating to Medina)." The Prophet refused (that request) three times and said, "Medina is like a furnace, it expels out the impurities (bad persons) and selects the good ones and makes them perfect."
Sahih al- bukhari Volume 3, Book 30, Number 107:
