oleh adibahabdullah

Assalamualaikum.

I read a particular ‘revelatory’ confessional piece from a genius-turned-callgirl. Among the parts that caught my attention was the part about her buying an expensive Gucci dress and handbag (expensive might not be the word, humongously extravagant could fit better). She was very happy about that, and bragged at length about how much she can earn with *simply* her curves and smiles.

I read the magazines on the kitchen table - Now!, Heat, Closer, and whatnots - with glamorous photos and latest gossips of artists whose names I can hardly identify. There were handbags worth thousands of pounds and winter coats worth a few more thousands. One celebrity mum buying designer baby-clothes and having her twin kids’s bedroom being done with the highest-quality furnitures. Celebrity couples having ‘lavish 2 mil weddings’ and ‘modest GBP 500 000 weddings’. The list is endless.

I wonder, how much can one buy with all the money that one have? Like the callgirl, she can buy one Gucci dress and one handbag - the man  she escorted, actually, bought them for her - but there would still be loads of expensive stuffs out there – the kind enjoyed by the celebrities - that she wouldn’t be able to buy. If her enjoyment lies in bits and pieces of the life of the popular and wealthy, how tiny those bits and pieces are.

Even the celebrities are not rich enough to buy everything. The Middle East sheiks are not rich enough to buy everything. Seeing them recklessly spending money on luxury upon luxury made me wonder, where does the value lie in their purchases? People used to associate diamonds with true love because of their rare quality and exceptionally high price – used to, note it. Now for every item of price – price, not value – there would be another item more pricey, more glamorous, more stylish, and within a few days it would be out of fashion. Where is the ultimate contentment that is supposed to be represented by the glittering glamour of self accompanied by material abundance and modernity, if the glitter itself is transient and relative, neither static nor stable, changing according to trends and fashion. What we’re left with are a sorry bunch of people desperately trying to buy everything of price and effectively possessing nothing of value.

Materialistic lifestyle is just one example of a miserable self-worshipping lifestyles. It’s all about the self. Everything one does, one does for one’s own satisfaction. Bad news is, worshipping the self provides a very narrow scope to derive meaning from. It’s all about the self, one’s own self, how wide and meaningful can that be, when that teeny weeny self is juxtaposed against the whole big bad world with all its vastness, harshness and severity?

For whom are we actually living our lives?

All these toiling and studying is to gain social stature and financial prominence in the future. One wants to look good, so that one will be attractive and loved. One wants to say all the right things to make people happy, so that one will be popular and admired. One wants money, a lot of it, so that one can buy everything that one wants, a lot of beautiful clothes, have a grand house and a gorgeous car to go with it – but then again, where does it all end?

Where would be the point of ultimate satisfaction? Where is the real value, qualitatively and quantitatively? As someone once said, however many clothes that we have, we can only wear one at a time. However big one’s house is, one can only live in a small space at a particular time. The self is not that big a target. A small target can only provide small gratification, however large the resource – money, wealth, status - is.

Depending on people’s admiration – as if one person worshipping the self is not enough, more worshippers are needed, and the source is from the outside - is more fallacious, considering how small an individual’s self is in contrast to the wide options out there to choose from. Admirers can always shift their positions and agree with somebody else, or they can simply come and go at will, or the person itself would be forced to leave the admirers either by ordinary or extraordinary circumstances. After being crushed and left by the admirers, the residue would be the self, as wobbly and boneless as a jellyfish, so desperate to gain recognition from the other Selves outside that it forgets the outside Selves are just as helpless as it is in the hands of the Lord. Depending on the helpless only makes the self worse than the helpless.

For whom are we living actually? For the self? People often say – “I do this for my own satisfaction, because I loved to do it, because it makes me happy.” It’s all the self, one’s own self. Me, me, me. The very Self that those who seek to purify the heart and embark upon the sacred path towards the Lord seek to destroy, aiming for its ultimate destruction, for they knew that they would never be able to obliterate the Self entirely, and they hope that in the attempt they would finally reach the degree of detachment from the World and the bodily Self enough for the spirit to soar above the mundane plane of existence.

I’m talking metaphysical here. OK, I’ll come down to Mother Earth. The problem is, men are too self-centred. Justifying actions and thoughts on the self would imply two things : 1) chances are, the impacts are either not significant because of the small justification behind it – the self, or the impacts can be disastrous to the majority because of the small size of the population considered when making the decision – the self.

2) the gratification from the action, even for one’s own self, might seem virtually large but be tiny in value, because the only person meant to enjoy it is the tiny self.

Making life more worthwhile, more full of value, through living it for causes greater than the self in majesty might be one good idea to solve this predicament. Well, if one self is too small, why not increase the number to many, many more selves? Don’t just live life for one’s own self, live it for others as well. Don’t just make decisions with one’s own self under consideration, think about many, many other selves as well. Think about the family, the ummah, the animals and the plants, the deteriorating ozone layers, the poors in Africa, the world. Spend resources that belong to the self for others. Make others happy. Do voluntary work. Give charity.

I guess the celebrities are trying to add more value to their lives by alloting some resources for their charitable deeds. Sadly, in a lot of cases they are still too much preoccupied with their own selves that the value added from the invested resources shrink in magnitude when contrasted with the amount of resources spent, still for the enjoyment of the self. It is not how much resources spent for others per se that determines its overall value, it is the amount of resources spent for others relative to what is spent solely for the self.

When talking about values and meaning of life, another question would inevitably issue. Are those values seeked merely as a target within the physical plane, to please the heart and content the soul while living in this world, or is there another plane of existence, within which there are ultimate values to be reached, and towards which the spirit would wish to soar? Of course, the physical, material self is far from worthy enough to be propel itself on its own to get there. Even the values obtained from serving other selves, from spending resources for other selves would not suffice, for as stated earlier, all the selves in the world are equally helpless, equally trapped within the physical plane and all its rules of perceived reality. To transcend this boundary, the self has to discard itself as a focus and serve the One, whose creatures include time and space itself, whose domain is beyond any discernible by mundane physical perceptions.

All the effort of making others happy, of adding value to one’s life by serving others, are meant to strengthen one’s own spirituality and detach it from the confinement of the selfish Self. The pursuit of value is made complete and ultimate when it is dedicated to fulfil the orders and rules set by the One, hence giving it the highest gratification of all, Allah’s pleasure and his Jannah. Al-fauz-ul-kabir.

This is when we say, “Everything that I do, I do it for Allah, lillahi ta’ala.”

Wealth and children are an adornment of the life of the world. But the deeds of lasting righteousness are the best in the sight of your Lord in reward, and far better a source of hope. – Al-Kahf, 18:46

And remember,

Say, (O Muhammad) : “Shall we tell you who will be the greatest losers in respect of their works? It will be those whose effort went astray in the life of the world and who believe nevertheless that they are doing good. Those are the ones who refused to believe in the revelations of their Lord and that they are bound to meet Him. Hence, all their deeds have come to naught, and We shall assign no weight to them on the Day of Resurrection. – Al-Kahf, 18:103-105

And Allah always knows best.

meow~

oleh Najwan Halimi

There is one similarity between the Malays and the Jews, id est both races were nostalgic. Glories of the Malacca’s Malay sultanate and the history of ancient Malay empire were taught as a compulsory subject to teenagers who studied the historical text as early as thirteen. The phrase “Takkan Melayu Hilang Di Dunia” (Never Shall the Malays Vanish from the Face of Earth) was chewed enthusiastically by Malay kids since the moment they were exposed on races, supremacy and honor.

The Jews, in the same context until today nostalgically honored their ancestral glory that is the Kingdom of David. Liberation from the dictatorial rule of Egypt’s mighty Pharaoh was a historical event that marks the beginning of Jewish evacuation on the Land of Kanaan (now known as Palestine/Israel) which sparks supremacy conflict with the Arabs until today. I’m not so sure if there is any, throughout Jewish civilization exist a ‘Hang Tuah’ who agitate his people by saying “Takkan Yahudi Hilang Di Dunia” (Never Shall the Jews Vanish from the Face of Earth) as a motivation for them to defend the so-called ‘Jewish Supremacy’ in dealing with their crisis with Palestine.

After the falls of Israel, during the Roman acquisition, the Jews lived hopelessly. Political power, supremacy and their special rights seems to be vanished and forgotten. For almost 2,000 years, this so-called chosen race was suppressed and marginalized. Nowadays, the Malays, a race that establish its civilization not more than 700 years ago have becoming to worry on their unpredictable future.  If the Jews uphold Zionism as an ideology to defend their supremacy, the Malays seems to be fanatic with Umno, the ’spirit of the Malay’ that will turn 62 in May this year.

If I am a Jew, Hatikvah might be the best cure for my worries on my race supremacy. Hatikvah was the melody of ‘hope’ which was inspired by Samuel Cohen in 1888 and was combined with a poem written by Naftali Herz Imber in 1878. Maybe the Malays need a new hatikvah. Not in the form of poetry or the form of melody or by Umno’s rehabilitation.

This new hatikvah should appear in the form of a leader who will not only unite the Malays but also will form unity and develop understanding amongst all citizens of this country. Who is this future messiah? Will he be an outspoken pensioner? Or a once failed figure? Or maybe a former convict who was being treated with cruelty?

oleh kaki masam

Keris Melayu

Umum mengetahui bahawa parti yang pada asalnya ditubuhkan untuk memperjuang nasib orang Melayu iaitu UMNO, kini berada dalam keadaan tenat.
Media massa UMNO, yakni akhbar Melayu berada dalam keadaan serba salah apabila mantan Perdana Menteri, Mahathir Mohammad kini tidak putus-putus mengecam dan menyeru perletakan jawatan Perdana Menteri yang dilantik sendiri oleh beliau pada tahun 2003, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.
Drama ini, sebenarnya akan menjadi semakin parah kerana Abdullah kini dilihat sudah tidak sabar lagi dengan segala kecaman Mahathir, apabila beliau sendiri membalas balik segala hentaman Mahathir dengan membongkar kembali segala rahsia dan mungkin perkara yang menjadi keraguan sebelum ini, seperti Operasi Lalang dan kebebasan media.
Mahathir sebenarnya seorang pemimpin paling cerdik dan mungkin juga paling licik pernah Malaysia lahirkan. Bapa pembangunan ini kini, terpaksa menelan kembali segala undang-undang dan sekatan yang dilaksanakan sepanjang tempoh beliau menjadi PM bagi merealisasikan pendapat beliau supaya Abdullah meletak jawatan ataupun kalah dalam persidangan agung umno akhir tahun ini.
Abdullah yang tertekan dengan kemerosotan prestasi BN pada pilihanraya lepas, mahu tak mahu terpaksa menangkis segala serangan Mahathir dan sekutunya bagi menyelamatkan periuk nasi sendiri.
Itulah situasi sebenarnya yang selalu berlaku dalam UMNO, Cuma Mahathir lebih licik dan bijak bagi menangkis serangan ini dengan melakukan plan pencegahan lebih awal, dan seperti yang sedia maklum,media-media massa bertindak bijak dengan menjadi pemangkin kerajaan dan agenda Mahathir.
Namun, itu berlaku dalam tempoh 26 tahun dahulu. Zaman dimana, internet dan blog tidak mengalami revolusi seperti sekarang, dimana rakyat kini sudah bijak dan tidak mungkin mampu diperbodohkan oleh media massa kerajaan ini.
UMNO sebenarnya sangat tenat, kerana terlalu ramai mereka yang terpaksa berusaha sedaya upaya untuk menyelamatkan periuk nasi masing-masing. Mereka terpaksa bergantung kepada projek –projek kerajaan untuk terus hidup melancong di Paris dan London.
Mereka terpaksa juga menyuap tauke-tauke cina yang suka kepada kontrak bumiputera yang dilakukan secara” kontrak angin”.
Hal ini bukannya baru, bukannya satu fitnah atau tuduhan. Perdana Menteri sendiri baru-baru ini mengakui pelabur-pelabur asing tidak mempunyai kepercayaan dalam sistem kehakiman Malaysia.
Jika institusi kehakiman yang sepatutnya menjadi tunjang kepada keadilan dan kesejahteraan rakyat korup, apa lagi yang mahu diharapkan oleh rakyat Malaysia. Kita sebenarnya tidak ubah seperti negara –negara korup seperti Zimbabwe dan Lesotho, cuma kita ada KLCC dan bermacam lagi mercu tanda kekakayaan sedangkan rakyat semakin tertindas dan tersempit dengan kenaikan kos hidup.
Rakyat-rakyat yang diberi bantuan diingatkan bahawa hanya UMNO yang mampu menolong rakyat sedangkan mereka terlupa untuk menzahirkan bahawa orang yang menjadi pengantaraaan antara UMNO dan rakyat juga patut diingatkan bahawa hanya UMNO yang mampu membesarkan perut mereka.
Melihat akhbar –akhbar semasa kini masih tidak serik dengan pelencongan dan bias yang mereka lakukan dalam penyiaran artikel mereka, amat menjengkelkan.
Orang melayu kini, sudah berpecah, mereka tidak percaya kepada UMNO lagi. Lebih baik undi DAP kata mereka. Biarlah kaum lain menjadi kuasa, kerana melayu, sememangnya suka melayukan diri mereka.
Remaja keruntuhan akhlak dan moral. Masyarakat cintakan hedonisme, itulah melayu.

oleh adibahabdullah

Assalamualaikum.

“Let’s dash the final 100 metres to Jannah.”

The words kept ringing in my head, long after they were uttered.

Yesterday, I travelled for almost two hours in a train from Manchester to Nottingham, and back again by bus which took almost five hours including transit time, just for a three-hour session with Dr Amaluddin Ahmad organized by Islamic Medical Association of Malaysia UK Student Chapter (IMAM UKSC), of which I’m currently one of the High Committee. Dr Amal is the founder of IMAM UK Student Chapter back then in 2003 (or was it 2002?). He is currently Associate Professor and Head of Paediatrics Department, Cyberjaya University College of Medical Sciences (CUCMS). He is in the Europe to visit the IMAM branch in Czech and for the annual IMAM Symposium held in Dublin. The IMAM UKSC, specifically for the East Midlands region, grabbed the chance to organize a session with him.

Admittedly, I was not too excited to attend the talk. For one thing it was a considerable distance away, and I had just finished a hectic week of travels and activities for ReAwakening in neighbouring Sheffield. Furthermore, in a few hours’ time from now, I’ll be flying to Dublin for the Symposium. Not to mention my severely affected bank account, I believe my travel costs these days exceed my food expenses perhaps by twofolds.

Anyway, I gritted my teeth and headed there anyway, on my own from Manchester, mainly because of a sense of responsibility. I’m one of the High Comm, and I moaned about lack of support from IMAM members for our programs, how can I shy away when support is needed? I don’t want to act like an average YB.

The charismatic Dr Amal was supposed to talk about “Medicine in Malaysia : Past, Present, and Future.” However, he focused on another topic altogether (which was VERY GOOD). He brought with him the slides that the pioneers of IMAM Student Chapter used to present during the good and not-so-good old days, and set off to tell us “how it was then” and “what we wish to pass on to you”, as symbolized by the baton-passing watermark background on each of the slides.

Why must there be a new society? Why IMAM? What’s the need for it? Malaysian Muslim medic students and practitioners in the UK and Eire had survived for decades, what difference will IMAM bring?

It was amidst those skepticism that Dr Amal and his trusty wife paved the way for a “common platform in which the significance of Islamic fiqh in medicine is understood and applied, a network to share and enhance each others’ experience”. PPIM (Persatuan Perubatan Islam Malaysia) - has had a strong base in Malaysia. Counting on experience from managing the student chapter in Malaysia, Dr Amal garnered support and confidence from a number of medical students who later consisted the first ever overseas IMAM Student Chapter in Eire. UK medics followed later, and soon afterwards Student Chapters sprouted in various other countries - Egypt, Indonesia, Russia, Czech.

Slowly, through sheer hard work and determination, they started to organize big things and gain recognition. It was not easy, especially when numbers were small and skepticism was awash. Come to think of it, people would be more convinced of their righteousness, would be more optimistic in their undertakings, when their number is large and everyone is cheering and applauding, right? People like to equate strength with virtue, power with truth. Well, even in the Prophet S.A.W.’s time, only after Fathul Makkah did people embrace Islam in droves!

Relief missions, conferences and pre-departure camps are among the trademark IMAM UK-Eire SC programs. Ministers, diplomats, and high-ranking officials from Malaysia paid their attention, even asking to be invited, as was the case of Dato’ Najib and his ensemble of bigshots during the 2005 IMAM Symposium in Manchester. We went to Acheh and Cambodia. We organized and participated (as the ones who did the procedure, not undergoing it!) in Sunathons (mass circumcision) in Malaysia’s rural areas.

For the Malaysian medical practitioners based in the UK-Eire who found it difficult to return and serve at home - registering in Malaysia would, in most circumstances, require them to undergo housemanship all over again, how inconvenient when they’ve already achieved statures as MOs and Registrars and whatnots here - IMAM helped to smoothen the transition, allowing them to obtain places and due positions without much bureaucracy. Of course, it’s the Doctor’s Chapter that was largely involved in this.

Those were the good old days. I don’t know. Maybe it’s so much easier to glorify the past and see the present as gloomy - because one doesn’t know that much things of the past, while one knows almost every single faults and deficiencies of the present. Maybe it’s a true difference. The committee in the past did work much harder than we are currently doing, although they didn’t have any glorious history to inspire them. The members in the past did have a much stronger sense of belonging towards IMAM than they do now. Well, it’s not a reason to grieve, of course! If anything, the comparison should only goad us to work harder, to sacrifice more, and to keep faith, for IMAM! Dr Amal has already suggested that we do roadshows as they used to do before, to re-promote IMAM all over the country. Insya-Allah. We will.

“IMAM provides the initiative and encouragement for medics to serve humanity throughout their career, till the end of their lives.” It is not an over-statement or an unrealistic idealism. From the beginning of our medical education, students ought to be given awareness and opportunities to serve. Dr Amal mentioned with contempt about doctors who amassed so much wealth - the collective properties of private-sector medical practitioners in Malaysia amounts to RM 300 mil, the highest among all professionals - only for personal enjoyments, only to end up as couch potatoes waiting for death after they felt old enough (and rich enough) to cease service. The ideal to be achieved is, the older one is, the harder one works for humanity’s sake. There is no brakes but death, hence the saying, “Let’s dash the final 100 metres to Jannah!”

As Dr Amal said, verifiably, medics have the greatest access to humanity, to be utilized with the ultimate objective of da’wah. We can enter people’s lives in the most intimate manner, our very presence command respect and our words are placed on pedestals. With all due respect to their faith and efforts, Christians have used humanitarian movements - which include medical aids - as extremely useful tools of missionary work. It’s high time Muslims enter the field, such as what IslamicRelief, MuslimAid, InterPal, MERCY Malaysia and IMAM is doing.

That’s the baton to be passed. IMAM’s noble ideals, to be internalized by all Muslim medical students and manifested in our practices. To serve humanity, for da’wah.

On the actual topic for the day, Medicine in Malaysia : Past, Present, Future; Dr Amal lamented on the shortcomings still haunting the healthcare system in our dear motherland. Doctors in government practices are overworked, while doctors in the private practices seem to be very busy collecting money. Free healthcare is still incomplete. A lot of the poors in rural areas are suffering from lack of medical awareness and access.

“Less than 6% of Malaysia’s GDP is allotted for healthcare, while the WHO standard is 12%.”

We were silent, contemplating.

“Where does all the money go? It’s not that we don’t have money. The problem is not with resources, but with justice. Financing for projects that can benefit the people is severely cut down to give allowance for certain individuals to savour what is never rightfully theirs.”

Indeed, medicine, politics, and policy-making is but intertwined!

“The doctors are also pursuing money. They are not where they are needed the most - villages, rural areas, disaster-torn areas in the world - but where their material wants would be satisfied the most.”

Although the audience was less than 20, although I had to travel for almost eight hours overall just for a less than three-hours session, I was inspired. We were all inspired, to do our best to continue and uphold the legacy of IMAM, to do da’wah, and to join the rest of the defenders of humanity. InsyaAllah.

meow~

oleh kaki masam

Umum mengetahui bahawa kekalahan BN, baru-baru ini adalah disebabkan kepincangan PM, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. Beliau tidak harus menyalahkan sesiapa kecuali diri sendiri kerana membiarkan diri diperalatkan oleh ahli politik muda berbakat besar, tetapi sangat rakus dalam mengejar kuasa dan populariti, Khairy Jamaluddin.

Kebenaran memang pahit, tetapi jika kepentingan peribadi mendahului rakyat,janganlah kita menyesal suatu hari nanti apabila kaum Melayu menjadi pendatang di bumi sendiri.

Dalam beberapa jam yang lepas, bibit-bibit perpecahan di kalangan pembangkang di Perak makin jelas dirasai. Lim Kit Siang dalam blog beliau mengeluarkan kenyataan berikut.

DAP is prepared to accept DAP chairman and Assemblyman for Sitiawan Ngeh Koo Ham or PKR Behrang Assemblyman Jamaluddin Mohd Radzi as Perak Mentri Besar.

As the appointment of PAS Assemblyman for Pasir Panjang Mohamad Nizar Jamaludin as Perak Mentri Besar representing the third and smallest political party in the proposed coalition has not received the mandate of the CEC, DAP Perak Assemblymen will stay away from the swearing-in ceremony for Perak Mentri Besar scheduled tomorrow.

Ini jelas, memurkai pilihan DYMM Raja Perak yang memperkenankan perlantikan MB dari parti PAS.

Hal ini begitu merisaukan kerana DAP sendiri yang mengeluarkan kenyataan sebelumnya bahawa mereka akan menyokong pilihan DYMM Raja Perak, setelah mengemukakan 3 calon dari parti masing-masing.

Pedulikan soal ketuanan Melayu.Ini adalah soal perpaduan antara kaum, jika DAP lantang mempersoalkan kewibawaan kerajaan BN dalam mentadbir kerajaan, dan mempersoalkan integriti dan ketuanan Melayu, mereka harus juga memikirkan untuk menjadi pemimpin dalam negara berbilang kaum ini, toleransi harus diutamakan.

Namun, Pak Lah juga harus dipertanggungjawakan atas bala bencana yang sedang menimpa negara ini, dan mungkin akan datang lagi bala bencana yang akan terus menggugat kestabilan negara.

DAP sendiri yang kononnya memperjuangkan politik pelbagai kaum dan keadilan semua kaum tidak harus menipu rakyat, kerana rakyat sudah tahu perjuangan politik mereka sebenarnya lebih kepada kaum Cina yang kecewa dengan MCA.

DAP harus membuktikan kredibiliti mereka untuk memimpin. Namun mungkin kerana, MB baru itu, adalah daripada PAS, dan sudah terbukti, DAP tidak bersekongkol dengan PAS. DAP menganggap PAS, sebagai pelampau dalam memperjuangkan Islam.

PAS, juga, mungkin harus sedikit sebanyak bermuhasabah mengenai pendekatan mereka dalam melaksanakan hukum hudud dan sebagainya. Adalah jelas, hukum hudud adalah relevant dan wajar, namun, mungkin pendekatan mereka ataupun dakyah-dakyah daripada BN sendiri yang menakutkan rakyat bukan Islam dinegara ini, sebagai mana mereka mengaburi mata rakyat dengan akhbar-akhbar utama seperti Utusan dan Berita Harian yang jelas hanya memihak kepada BN, sebelum kekalahan besar BN dalam pilihanraya itu.

Media Malaysia yang berat sebelah, sudah tidak lagi mampu untuk membutakan mata rakyat. Peranan blog-blog dan media alternatif seperti Malaysia Today, MalaysiaKini, dan Harakah Daily dalam membongkar satu demi satu kepincangan PM dan BN dalam mentadbir negara terbukti apabila semua pengundi di bandar (yang punya akses meluas kepada internet), menyokong pembangkang.

Pak Lah harus bertanggungjawab kerana tidak mampu menjadi pemimpin yang kuat dan menangkis pelbagai tuduhan dan dakwaan semua pihak, termasuk orang yang mengangkatnya sendiri, Tun Mahathir.

Rakyat tidak kisah jika Pak Lah jujur dan menjawab segala tohmahan dan tuduhan dengan penuh integriti, bukan dengan suka mengeluarkan kenyataan bodoh dan tidak mencerminkan sebagai seorang pemimpin politik paling kanan di Malaysia.”Pakatan syok-syok”, ” saya tidak tahu, jangan tanya saya” jelas membuktikan beliau langsung tidak mempunyai kredibiliti sebagai PM.

Zaman Mahathir sendiri pon penuh dengan segala macam kedurjanaan dalam politik malaysia, pemecatan Anwar, pengkayaan “kroni-kroni” serta bermacam lagi pahit manis dalam politik parti-parti berdasarkan kaum ini, yang sememangnya tidak dapat dielakkan. Tetapi, Mahathir bijak dengan mengeluarkan kenyataan dan pernyataan yang menyakinkan majoriti rakyat.

Pak Lah sekarang harus memikirkan kepentingan bangsa Melayu, bukan kepentingan peribadi.

Hentikan alasan kononnya, banyak lagi projek pembangunan dan wawasan yang harus dilaksanakan. Apa guna itu semua, jika perpaduan antara rakyat sudah tiada, dan bangsa Melayu akan menuju perpecahan dan kehancuran.

Jika KJ begitu kempunan sekalipon untuk jadi PM, beliau harus menunggu, dan banyak belajar dari pemimpin lain dahulu.

Tindakan beliau yang langsung tidak muncul dalam media selepas keputusan PRU 12, jelas membuktikan, siapa yang benar dan siapa yang salah.

Malah Menteri Penerangan yang kalah baru-baru ini pun, mengakui wujud cubaan golongan muda untuk menguasai UMNO.

Fikir-fikirkanlah. Fikir, dan terus berfikir.

oleh kaki bangku

Wan Saiful: Perak State Government (read the insightful comments that follow the entry)

The ethnicity of the MB candidate should not matter as long as the person
receives backing from all 3 coalition party.

But, if the ethnic criteria really is in the state constitution, then the
first move of the new state government should be to amend it. If they can
get 2/3 majority by persuading some BN MPs, Perak can become a beacon of
hope, showing serious the Barisan Rakyat is serious in removing ethnic
politics.

Of course, due to the concerns that will exist at the grassroot level, they
need to do some serious campaigning and explaining before such amendment is
made.

And, why are we still talking ethnicity when Perakians have trounced it?

Note from theStar: The new Mentri Besar from the DAP-PKR-PAS coalition will be sworn in as early as Wednesday after Regent of Perak Raja Dr Nazrin Shah decides among three potential candidates.

The candidates are state DAP chief Ngeh Koo Ham, state Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) treasurer Jamaluddin Mohd Radzi and state PAS secretary Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin.

Mkini: PKR may challenge Khairy’s Rembau win

On Saturday night, the initial count for the Rembau parliament constituency in Negri Sembilan showed that PKR had taken the seat by a razor-thin majority of 141 votes.

A recount however saw a complete reversal - Khairy Jamaluddin, son-in-law of premier Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, won by a staggering difference of 5,000 votes.

Ibrahim Baba: Tidak Boleh Disamakan Dengan 1969

Jika dulu dilihat pembangkang itu sebagai tentangan dari kaum Cina yang bertembung dengan kaum Melayu, yakni pertembungan menang kalah di atas batasan kaum.

Tetapi kali ini, kesemua bangsa Melayu, Cina, India dan lain-lain dilihat sepakat dalam satu barisan yang agak sepadu bersama bangkit menentang BN. Maka jika BN kalah teruk di kebanyakan tempat, IB yakin bahawa peristiwa yang berlaku pada tahun 1969 tidak mungkin berulang.

Ini adalah manifestasi dari pelbagai kaum sepakat bangkit menentang keangkuhan pelbagai bangsa dalam pakatan BN.

Malik Imtiaz: We Dont Need A Teddy-Bear

‘At a time when the country is crumbling around us we have to watch his lovey-dovey going-ons with his wife,’ said Mr Malik.

“People don’t want to see a lovable teddy bear. They want a tough leader.”

Fathi Aris Omar: Tsunami di ambang fajar baru

Tidak pernah wujud lanskap politik seumpama ini di Malaysia — tidak pada era reformasi 1999, tidak sewaktu perpecahan Umno menjelang 1990 dan tidak juga keresahan 1969.

Hari ini seseorang yang membuka mata, dan dengan penuh sedar cuba memahami, dia sebenarnya telah melangkah ke sebuah dunia baru yang tidak pernah dikenalinya — sama ada menawarkan harapan indah atau cabaran membingungkan.

Azly Rahman: The Malaysian Revolution of 2008

The new regime need to bring power abusers to justice! That would be an honor to the rakyat who voted them into power. The universities need to be freed, the education system need to radically improved, good health care plans made affordable, the Mat Rempits and Alongs stopped from being reproduced, cultural pride restored through schooling that improves higher-order thinking skills, poverty eliminated, the independence of the judiciary restored. Each child is a Harvard, Columbia, Cambridge, or even Oxford material. Each child is a gift—not a utility to be cleverly abused in the form of Mat and Minah Rempits.

The party’s over but The revolution continues. Malaysians must make Malaysian Malaysia a reality.

KTemoc Konsiders

If PKR’s Khalid Ibrahim, with the agreement of the DAP, becomes the new Selangor MB, he could surrender his Bandar Tun Razak federal seat to Anwar Ibrahim after April, killing two birds with one stone - freeing himself from federal responsibilities to concentrate on the political leadership and management of Selangor State in partnership with DAP, and allowing Anwar Ibrahim to return to Parliament.

—

The Ombudsman must be above the Chief Minister and Menteri Besar. It must have the power and authority to summon even the highest man in the state to come before the committee for questioning on anything at all that may be perceived as wrongdoing, transgressions, deviations, etc. And the Ombudsman must have the power and authority to recommend the removal of any public servant or politician who may have committed a breach of discipline, even if he is the Chief Minister/Menteri Besar.

Farish Noor: Vox Pop ala Kelate

“Yang kito nak kat Malaysia ni pemimpin yang bermutu, buke pemimpin yang penipu! Kok Amerika tu ado Barack Obama, yang Negro tu. Hei, baik pun Negro dio tu, dio tu orgre bermutu, bukan mace Bush yang buat cerito gilo di Irak. Nah, pemimpin begitu loh yang kito nak di Malaysia ni”

(Rice stall owner, in front of Muhammadi mosque, Kota Bharu)

Susan Loone: Mukhriz cheated: Like father, like son

Mukhriz Mahathir ran for the P5 Jerlun parliamentarian seat at Kedah.

SPR officially announced that Mukhriz Mahathir won with a 2205 vote
majority.

But there’s a catch -

In the P5 Jerlun parliamentarian race,
99.85% of the 37,297 voters turned out to vote !!

Mukhriz press conference: http://youtube.com/watch?v=ophvXGt0Q_s

Ketua Perusuh: Kejatuhan IKKL yang disengajakan?

Faisal Tehrani: PRU12 dari kacamata pengarang kreatif

Senyumlah sedikit, buanglah keseriusan di riak muka itu. Menunjukkan izzah pun biar bertempat. Amar makruf nahi mungkar ada prinsipnya. Bukan setiap keadaan nahi mungkar dapat dianjurkan. Kadang-kala mencegah mungkar juga mendatangkan kemudaratan lain. Apa yang dapat dibawa silalah bawa, jangan jadi seperti wahabi-salafi yang memusuhi unsur peribumi atau lokaliti di mana kita harus beringat jatidiri tempatan sangat penting. Berjaga-jagalah dengan kenyataan tuan-tuan haji semua.

Dengan unsur tempatan, Islam di rantau Nusantara ini berkembang, lantas meresap dalam budaya. Begitulah citra Islam akan dapat diperbaiki dalam kalangan bukan Islam. Inti Islam akan dapat dihadirkan dan orang akan bercakap mengenai kebaikan Islam tanpa dipaksakan.

Kerajaan PAS-PKR-DAP Kedah berpeluang menghadirkan citra tempatan ini tanpa menjejaskan Islam. Usah terburu-buru melakukan nahi mungkar yang menjejaskan citra Islam secara keseluruhan. Kerajaan baru Kedah akan dinilai memandangkan Kedah juga mempunyai minoriti orang Siam.

—

Jangan sesekali termakan dengan jarum sentimen kaum yang sedang berlegar di luar. Kita semua rakyat Malaysia dan kita sama-sama mencintainya dengan jiwa raga meskipun masing-masing punya cara tersendiri.

Lima negeri (sebetulnya enam termasuk Wilayah Persekutuan) barisan rakyat ini harus bekerjasama untuk saling membangunkan ekonomi mereka. Bayangkan kerajaan negeri ini saling ‘melabur’, mitos ‘negeri miskin’ yang difiksikan media akan diberi tamparan kuat.

—

Mereka harus disedarkan generasi dan masa depan Malaysia lebih penting dari upah ciput supaya dapat membeli seluar jeans, mereka harus disedarkan supaya sentiasa beringat hadiah RM50 ketika kempen tidak dapat membeli harga masa hadapan. Mereka harus dicelikkan tentang korupsi, tentang penyelewengan kuasa dan diajar menggunakan kuasa politik yang ada pada mereka. Lagipun kita menuju negara maju yang cemerlang, gemilang dan terbilang bukan? Untuk menjamin keselamatan, keamanan dan kemakmuran program membangunkan akal mesti dijalankan. Ustaz-ustaz kampung yang sibuk membid’ahkan orang harus digoncang semula supaya bukan setakat berdakwah tetapi menekuni. Ustaz-ustaz kampung yang mengajar sifat 20 sahaja, mengajar fikah haidh nifas semata harus didorong untuk mengajar tabiat siasah dan falsafah Islam juga. Sukatan tarbiyyah dan usrah kumpulan agama mesti mencapai sasaran ini.

M Bakri Musa: Under Lah, Pak Lah!

Doing away with Abdullah is much more doable task, not so with our incompetent sycophantic media. UMNO members must not shy away from doing the necessarily dirty task at hand, getting rid of its leader Abdullah Badawi. If they fail to do that, then Malays would not hesitate in getting rid of UMNO.

Aliran: A New Dawn in Malaysian Politics

Aliran would like to propose that within a month of taking office, these Opposition-controlled states would come out with a report that will in a very transparent manner reveal the financial position of these states. The people would like to know whether these states are financially insolvent or bankrupted by the previous BN governments. We would like to know how much of the state funds have been parked in Off Budget Agencies. We want to know whether there are enough funds for the newly elected governments to implement policies beneficial to the people.

Abu Saif: Sikap Baru Untuk Malaysia Baru

Bagi PAS Perak, ambillah peluang ini untuk belajar dan menimba pengalaman yang unik. Jika PAS Perak berjaya membangunkan pemikiran siasah mereka dalam suasana Perak, maka PAS Perak boleh menjadi model terbaik untuk PAS yang compatible dengan realiti Malaysia.

Allah SWT menganugerahkan PAS Perak dengan peluang untuk mencanai fikrah dan agendanya dalam suasana kerajaan campuran, agar PAS bertemu dengan formula Politik Islam yang berjaya mentadbir kepelbagaian bangsa dan agama, yang sebelum ini hanya mampu berteori.

Kelantan dan Terengganu tiada peluang seperti ini kerana dominasi penduduk Melayu Muslim yang ketara.

Namun di negeri Perak, PAS berpeluang untuk duduk bersama kaum dan agama yang pelbagai… ia bakal menjadi pengalaman yang amat berharga untuk menafikan dakwaan Olivier Roy di dalam analisanya, “The Failure of Political Islam“.

Michael Backman

Malaysia’s media has become so discredited that local bloggers are now hugely popular. Zainuddin had
patronisingly warned Malaysians about false information spread by bloggers. They responded by voting one of the
most popular bloggers — Jeff Ooi — into parliament.

oleh batigol

Well I guess all of us are still in the state of shocked from the fresh PRU-12. Most people will remember this occasion as the worst campaign for BN since independence. Apparently, I strongly think it should be remembered as the time Malaysians wake up from their day-dreaming state and critically deciding from the ballot boxes. It’s a huge transition in Malaysian Politics and voters maturity in weighing their future seriously.

Many BN full-hearted supporters sent me messages that express their discontent and disappointment with scholars who are studying overseas sponsored by “the government” are happily chanting opposition themes. They even made it sound blasphemous and strongly reflecting these students as traitors to the nation. It sounds so ridiculous. Many are not able to differentiate between “government’s money” and “rakyat’s money”. As a matter of fact, the scholarships are based on my parents money, Pak Abu’s money, Lim’s money, Bala’s money etc. It’s from the tax-payers money. In short, I strongly think that these scholars are not indebted to the government, instead they owe the people the knowledge that they earn by being honest and critical in their judgement for the good of the many.

Some other messages are flowered with racial sentiments. They said “ aren’t you afraid of being ruled by Chinese…there are a lot of them from DAP and KeADILan that won seats in the parliament”…some said,” Do you really think that the newly formed government can do any better? You will see all their lies and you will feel sorry for it in the future”. My answer is simple, there is no guarantee that they are going to perform, if they don’t, we have the power to make changes in the coming elections taking into account the public is getting better in their judgements and their involvement in the recent times have been phenomenal.

Statistically, I believe everyone knows that the BN has been denied their 2/3 majority that they have been enjoying for the almost forever. So there is no need for me to reiterate that fact. In essence they have been so incompetent and complacent in their performance that they think there is no risk of losing the power; they believed Malaysians have voted and will vote for them regardless of anything. The perwakilan in the parliamentary seats (most of them) do not have to even listen to any of the proposals from BN to agree with it. They just have to turn up (some datang untuk tidur, and some others come to curse), raise their hand and say yes then they get their allowance and go back happily. Bear in mind that there have been a number of instances the people who competed in the election and won were actually being put to win by the party. So the drive to honestly represent the people in the parliament is certainly lacking.

It is so irresistible to ask oneself how would a coalition that had the biggest victories in Malaysian history (PRU-11) just suffered the worst ever defeat in the last few days. There are a lot of people and parties who deserve the credit of turning around the table. Bloggers; they have been consistently writing online either just to spur some speculations or come up with valid facts and sources. They have enlightened Malaysians who have access to internet (which support a rumour why internet connection in Malaysia hasn’t been improving; the government do not want people in kampong to have access). Not forgetting the release of DSAI. Since his release, he has been travelling in and out of the country, using both local independent and respected international broadcasts. No one can deny that he is one of the pulling factors for voters to convincingly opt for opposition parties. Its hard to imagine DAP at one side and PAS on the other with totally different principles. Well DSAI almost successfully represents both of the extremes and most of the gap in the middle. On top of that, credit has to go to Malaysian public for their willingness to finally open up and be critical about national issues.

However, my personal opinion says that most of the credit should go to Dr Mahathir. I believe that this doesn’t sound as popular to most of the readers and others. If we look back to history, he has been in power for so long that anyone who he thinks threatening him will certainly be cut off and metaphorically “killed”. He is one hell of a politician. So when he stepped down, many wondered why he chose Pak lah as opposed to other better candidates. As with Dr M’s capabilities and intelligence, it is almost impossible that he “would think” Pak Lah was the best successor Malaysian could have ever had in the early 2000s. With 1999 history packed together with Dr M’s retirement package, he is not being perceived or celebrated as “he might hope for” after almost 40 years serving the country. It is important to note that I am not saying that Dr M was a better leader of the country during his 20 year stint, he was merely a lot more stronger than Pak Lah in terms of pressing freedom of thoughts. Imagine if we were treasuring this sort of free media during his time, I think the exposure of the amount of corruption and all might have been worse.’
As I can see it, Dr M might have engineered and hoped that the election would turn out this bad so that people will not remember him as the PM that suffers the worst BN defeat in history. In addition, why would he harshly condemned his most trusted man. He personally chose Pak lah, and now he is killing him. Maybe he chose the best victim. Hurm..that probably has the some logical sense. Even so, why would I thank him in this public blog. Definitely I am not celebrating his smile in his sleep at night nor I chant his name as a national savior. Whatever his reason might be, Pak Lah succeeded him without enough support and loyalty and respect to maintain a strong leadership thus creating a huge segregation and doubts among the party and cabinet and even the public. His fragility benefiting Dr M for his personal conquest for fame. Plus with Pak Lah easy+sleepy character, he is easier to be manipulated by those who have been eager to exploit nation’s wealth and decision making process. His era of management has given a vast room for people to take advantage and capitalize. This includes the Malaysian public. It seems like the pressure of not being able to decide has finally being lifted bit by bit from the people. Thus for all these three years, Malaysians have embarked to a new level of political maturity that has led to the biggest turn out to vote. (+-80%)

So even Dr M might have had his own agendas, he has created a situation where the Malaysian political arena becomes more competitive and vigorous by letting the “weakest” successor to rule after his pressing 20 years. I believe that this has benefited the public the most. Well I am not celebrating the victories of the opposition and the failures of BN, rather my biggest relief is that Malaysians finally able to express their concerns and their rights to chose who ever should be running the country during elections. The fear that has been transplanted by the Dr M regime is slowly fading away while at the same time, Malaysians have been eager to set and fly free. On the other hand, there are a large number of voters voted for BA simply not because they supported them, but because they just “do not want to vote for BN”. So many exercised their right as a sign of warning, which I think is still reasonable and valid. Fundamentally, the situation forces any ruling government to perform good governance, improve transparency and efficiency as they have to keep in mind that Malaysians are no more a bunch of jokers that they can cheat and take for granted, its either they perform or see the exit door in the next election. Thank you Dr M for caging and making us desperately wanting for freedom during your era, and cutting our hand loose today with a new easy going regime. Dr M, you gain the fame, we gain the freedom.

oleh kaki masam

Menteri Kewangan?

Setelah BN mendapat majoriti mudah dalam PRU 12. Kini adalah masa untuk spekulasi mengenai menteri-menteri kabinet yang baru. Salah satu perkara yang pasti, akan ada wajah baru dalam kabinet. Kekalahan Shahrizat, Zainuddin, Aziz dan Samy akan mewujudkan 4 jawatan kosong dalam kabinet, ditambah dengan perletakan Chua Soi Lek dan persaraan Lim Keng Yaik.

Mungkin buat julung kalinya, kita akan memperolehi seorang menteri lulusan Oxford dan UCL. Bakal menteri berusia 32 tahun ini, mungkin akan memperolehi jawatan Menteri Kewangan berdasarkan latar belakangnya dalam bidang pelaburan dan perbankan. Mungkin juga bakal menteri muda ini akan menjawat jawatan Menteri Pendidikan kerana kebanyakan bakal Perdana Menteri harus menjawat jawatan tersebut dahulu.

Diharapkan jawatan Menteri Penerangan diisi oleh seorang bakal menteri yang berkelulusan tinggi dan mampu berkomunikasi dengan baik dan tidak bercakap seperti orang kampung apabila di temu bual oleh Al-Jazeera mahupun CNN.

Jawatan Menteri Kerja Raya yang di war-warkan sebagai kuota India mungkin akan memihak kepada Datuk S. Subramaniam, S/U Agung MIC, dan pemimpin paling kanan MIC yang menang dalam PRU ini,lantaran penolakan terang-terangan rakyat terhadap Dato’ Seri Samy.

Bagi MCA pula, walaupun hanya menang 15 kerusi parlimen, kebanyakan kerusi Menteri, seperti Ong Ka Ting, Fong Cha Onn dimenangi dengan selesa. Jawatan Menteri Kesihatan yang kosong pula dijangka menjadi milik Ong Ka Chuan, S/U Agung Parti dan juga adik kepada Ong Ka Ting.

Bagi Gerakan pula, kerusi Menteri pula akan menjadi perebutan antara Datuk Tan Lian Hoe dan Lian Teck Meng kerana hanya dua calon ini yang menang kerusi Parlimen.

Di harapkan PM akan melantik menteri-menteri yang berkelayakan dari segi akademik dan kepimpinan. Dibandingkan dengan negara maju, kita sudah terlalu jauh ketinggalan dengan tabiat PM yang suka melantik menteri kelulusan SPM gred 3.

PM baru?

Apapun, kejutan besar memang tidak dapat dielakkan. Sekarang ini ada bibit-bibit perpecahan dan komplot dalam parti pemerintah. Mungkinkah Pekan akan menjadi PM dan Rembau menjadi TPM?

oleh batigol

Salam and hye all. I found this interesting article written by Little Bird. Issues discussed and facts written might be subjected to further discussions. However its a nice little piece for us to glance through.

Kawan-kawan, please fasten your seat belts now. I thought that I knew something about what is really going on in the administration of Abdullah Badawi. Today I found out I have not even scratched the surface. The following is panaspanas news. You may want to hit the ejection button (not yours but theirs) after reading this.

Firstly, the shareholders and/or stakeholders of Air Asia (directly, indirectly, through proxies, etc.) include Kamaluddin bin Abdullah Badawi, Kalimullah Maseerul Hassan (also into Tune Hotels), Khairy Jamaluddin, Tony Fernandez, etc.

We all know the story of Air Asia. Well, we all thought it was a rags to riches story. It is actually a story about riches. The rags part is actually very hazy.

When MAS entered into a phase of ‘restructuring’ about three years ago, Air Asia, through Tony Fernandez, struck fast and furious.Before we go further, you may want to ask why did MAS have to suffer yet another ‘restructuring’? That is a story by itselffor another day but just bear in mind that Badawi’s brother, Ibrahim, is the owner of the catering company (Skychef?) thatused to supply mineral water at RM35 a case to MAS.

With that kind of pricing, surely MAS would need ‘restructuring’.Anyway, Air Asia stepped in and pushed the Gomen for a ‘rationalisation’ of the domestic air routes in Malaysia. Air Asia asked to be given MAS’ Sabah and Sarawak routes. MAS could keep flying in Semenanjung, they said. Despite objections by MAS, Air Asia was granted its wish.

But the wish did not just happen. Zaki, a fourth floor boy at the PM’s office, helped Air Asia make its wish come true.

Once MAS lost its Sabah and Sarawak routes to Air Asia, there was a staff redundancy. So MAS had to organise a VSS.

MAS demanded that since Air Asia was taking over their Sabah and Sarawak routes it would make some of their staff redundant so Air Asia should pay MAS some compensation.

Everyone (MAS, Gomen and even Air Asia) agreed that compensation was payable to MAS. But Air Asia would not pay anything. Finally, the Gomen (err that means you and me lah, Encik Taxpayer) paid the compensation to MAS, which MAS promptly used in one of the most expensive VSS payments in our history.

If your blood is starting to boil, stop reading and better cool off because it does not get better.

Then, within one year, Air Asia realised that the Sabah and Sarawak routes were not profitable. They never were. MAS was performing national service in Sabah and Sarawak. Flying chickens and goats is not a money-making venture.

No problem. Air Asia made another wish. They told the Gomen, we have to return these air routes back to MAS. Again MAS objected. Again overruled. Not relevant.

Then came the handing over ceremony of the air routes and the airplanes. When they took over the Sabah/Sarawakroutes, Air Asia had ‘acquired’ seven airplanes from MAS in perfect working condition. (MAS does have one of the best safety records in the world.) However, when Air Asia ‘returned’ the planes to MAS, only one was left in working condition. The other six planes were grounded, not fit for flying and could not fly.

In actual fact, Air Asia was cannibalising parts from the six planes to keep the seventh one flying. Again MAS objected.

Again overruled. Not relevant. It eventually cost MAS in excess of RM50 million to make the planes flyable again. This was a direct subsidy to ‘rags to riches’ Air Asia’s profits.

Then Air Asia started eyeing the lucrative KL-Singapore routes. Tighten your seat belts. This one will really jolt. But they went about it the roundabout way. They said they wanted to go international. They did (some) but international routes are tough. No Zaki, Badawi, Khairy, Kalimullah or Kamaluddin to make your wishes come true.

But the KL-Singapore sector was generating RM40 million in PROFITS to MAS. This was the plum in the pudding. Air Asia wanted it badly.

So they made another wish. It came true. This is how they did it. Air Asia’s bid to break into the KL-Singapore sector was first discussed in Cabinet when Badawi was on holiday overseas. Najib chaired the meeting and Air Asia’s application was rejected.

The application was rejected for two main reasons:

i. By 2009 the whole of ASEAN becomes open sky anyway. ASEAN airlines can fly to all ASEAN capitals without
restrictions. So why open up KL-Singapore in double quick time?

ii. If budget flights are allowed between KL-Singapore, KLIA will die an unnatural death. KLIA will become a feeder airport for Singapore’s Changi. People will fly from KL to Singapore and then fly off from Singapore to the rest of the world. MAS will then die a natural death. So the request was declined.

Then Badawi came back from his travels and asked Tengku Adnan the Minister of Tourism to prepare a paper on
tourism, linking MAS, Air Asia, SIA, etc., to tourist arrivals. At the next Cabinet meeting chaired by Badawi, he asked Tengku Adnan to present the ‘Cabinet paper’.

Insiders say that the paper was an ‘out of Agenda’ item - meaning it surprised everyone, but the dunggus approved it nonetheless. Air Asia got its wish again. Tengku Adnan also secured his Putrajaya seat.

Now here is the killer. Soon after Air Asia started flying the KL-Singapore sector, they started giving away 300,000 free tickets, 5 sen tickets and all the other gimmicks. Singapore is believed to be subsidising Air Asia for all these expensive
gimmicks.

For SIA, losing RM40 million (S$17 million) profit from the KL-Singapore sector is chicken feed. Air Asia is feeding thousands of transit passengers from KL to Changi . Air Asia is providing RM19 bus rides from KL to KLIA. From KLIA, passengers fly almost free to Changi. From Changi the passengers can connect to the world.

Now, Air Asia is making another wish - they want to fly direct from Kuching, KK, Penang, Alor Setar, Kota Bharu, etc., to Changi. They will earn even more ’subsidies’ from Singapore. KLIA will drop dead later, MAS will die first.

This is how we go from ‘rags to riches’. And we all thought Tony Fernandez was such a great guy too. The shareholders and/or stakeholders of Air Asia (directly, indirectly, through proxies, etc.) include Kamaluddin bin Abdullah Badawi, Kalimullah Maseerul Hassan (also into Tune Hotels), Khairy Jamaluddin, Tony Fernandez, etc.

Yes, we believe in open skies, competition and all that. But friends, fellow Malaysians, this is the PM, his son, his S-I-L and his cronies lah. How can they sell out their own country? But this is what they are doing.

Kawan-kawan, come March 8th, 2008 you have an opportunity to hit the button for the ejecion seat. Hit the ejection button and send these people out into oblivion. Don’t give them any parachutes either.

oleh Taufik

Essentially, this is my reply to someone who commented on my ikan-ikan article.

So, my point is - in the Quran, there are many ayats about veil, mostly veil of the heart, but veil as in covering over the head is not said, only the bosom. So you will say, if not clear in the Quran, refer to the hadis, and you will quote some I am sure.

Ouch… May I do just that, quote a hadith? Just for brevity…

So, it is the consensus of the majority of the jurists that women should wear the hijab and cover their hair, based on this hadith: “…if the woman reaches the age of puberty, no (part of her body) should be seen but this - and he pointed to his face and hands.” (Sunan Abu Dawud, Hadith 1902). That is how the ayat (Qur’an 24:30-31) that you mentioned is interpreted by the majority of the jurists - past and present. If your basis of contention is that wearing hijab is a new innovation in Islam and not part of the religion, then you are going against something that is being agreed upon by the majority of the ummah.

So that is the tradition, and I would rather stick to the tradition, rather than accepting something that suddenly sprang out in the 20^th century and accepted only by the minority as part of the religion. So I really don’t mind “just mimicking and copying wholesale” or whatever, it just seems to make more sense to me that something that is agreed upon since the period of the first generation of this ummah is the authentic thing.

I would like to remind you that over and over again, studies have shown that people set out on a cognitive mission to bring back reasons to support their preferred action. And because we are usually successful in this mission, we end up with the illusion of objectivity. So really, are you convinced that hijab is not part of Islam or are you trying to convince yourself? But most probably you are not even bothered about this whole issue of tradition or innovation, and I am just kind of talking to myself here… Like whatever, I just don’t want to wear tudung…

But I am not convinced that this is my priority in life. I would rather concentrate on lifting the veils of my heart rather than be too concern about covering my head… I mean, what is Islamic Identity? If I don’t wear a veil (cover on my head) does that make me without Islamic Identity?

Anyway, it’s good to know that you are interested in lifting the veil of your heart – I am interested in that too. It’s interesting too that you brought up this issue of ‘Islamic identity’, because I just attended a talk yesterday at my university, with the title “Fabricating the Muslim Subject: Faith, Identity and Cultural Consumption.” Essentially it’s a feminist discourse on the topic: Muslim women identity in this post-9-11 age. As usual, much emphasis was put on the veil - you know post 9-11 is quite a big thing over here at North America.

Dr. Reina Lewis from London College of Fashion put a discourse on marketing Muslim lifestyle and hijab fasion. It was pretty interesting that the speaker pointed out, for example, some lifestyle Muslim magazines such as Emel, show models with cut-off head in order to avoid the contentious hijab issue. I think what really happen is they want to be in compliance with the command of lowering the gaze, but the speaker was a non-Muslim, so she wouldn’t understand that. Well, I am not a big fan of popular culture, but since most of us are blind consumers of this culture, so it’s a step forward I guess to have the Islamic alternative to these things. My personal opinion would be, just do away with this lifestyle nonsense, if we are serious about lifestyle at all, let’s talk about the lifestyle of the sahabah and the salafus soleh. Now that is hard to follow…

Okay, I am female. I see the point why I should cover my breast and thighs yah, but I don’t see the point about covering my hair.

And there are also other magazines in the middle east, such as Alif that puts up models wearing the hijab and also not wearing the hijab, but they try to restrict their fashion to ‘modest’ clothing – meaning… just like your self-made up definition of aurat, not showing the thighs, the bosom, and nothing too body-hugging. Unsurprisingly, Alif is criticized by some of its readers for showing fashions that are not in accordance with the proper dress-code set in Islam. Unsurprisingly too, the editor replied back something along the line: We try to represent all, we try to represent the muslim identity, some of us wear the hijab and some of us don’t.

To me, since we are talking in different languages, there is no end to this kind of debate. One side is interested in adhering to the proper teachings of Islam, while the other side is not interested in doing so. What happen is, the other side sets out on a cognitive mission to bring back reasons to support their preferred action by harping on superficial issues such as identity, is hijab is even mandatory in Islam, etcetera etcetera.

Do guys get excited about my hair? It’s not sunsilk model type okay?

There is no point either in engaging in dialectical reasoning behind the commandment of wearing the Hijab, because again, there will be no end to it. You know, you will say your hair is not like Sunsilk model or even glowing gold blonde, then I will say but I am still attracted to it and it makes me go crazy, and so on and so forth. So in the end it’s a ruling in Islam that Muslim women should wear the hijab, it’s a commandment by God and we submit to it. There are good reasons behind this ruling, it’s part of modesty and piety and so on and so forth, we can discuss about the higher objectives - the maqasid -  of the ruling if we want. But the ruling of wearing the hijab that conceals women’s hair in public is mandatory in Islam, whoever does not adhere to it is considered as breaking the rule – as simple as that.  

Another paper was entitled “Manufacturing Muslim Women”, presented by Dr. Jasmin Zine (Wilfrid Laurier University). This one is pretty interesting too, but I didn’t get exactly what was the point that the speaker wanted to convey – really. Maybe I needed a dictionary in my hand to listen to this talk, because the jargons they use seems to come from some other language other than English – it’s not C++ or FPGA or Assembly either, or else I would have known too.  So the paper is about the sartorial aspects of identity and representation of Muslim women as fashioned within the ideologically diverse sites of this cultural industry.

She said that the lives of contemporary Muslim women have become modern day “harems” that western cultural producers including feminists and academic seek to enter and “unveil” their difference for western audiences. She added, similarly, Islamist constructions of Muslim women as pious subjects also authorize an archetypal discourse that fashions the Muslim woman through scripts of piety, honour and moral regulation. She elaborated on how the dialectical dynamics of these discursive terrains operate to produce particular kinds of gendered female subjects.

So, she doesn’t agree with banning the Hijab like the French government does or the Turkish government, but at the same time, she doesn’t agree with what the Mullahs do too – so to speak. So, I guess she wants Muslim women to be given their own space of discursive authority and individual autonomy regarding ‘her body’ – the typical stress on individualism in modern thought. I guess nothing much to say, except one needs to have a certain degree of humility and humbleness to be a Muslim, because one has to submit to the will of God and let go of the narcistic “me,me and me” attitude. Yes, your body belongs to God, so follow His rules.

In the end, I think the speakers did not put up a substantive discourse on Muslim women identity, as most of the speakers touch on superficial issues like the hijab, modern lifestyle, etc. Well, I guess if one wants to hear anything ‘real’ about Muslim women identity, then one has to hear from Muslims who have real concern about Islam and of course the women of this ummah. I don’t really follow Muslim feminists, so I don’t really know who they are, but Dr. Umar Faruq Abdullah did a good treatise on this topic in his series of lectures entitled Famous Women in Islam.

By the way Miss Got It, don’t be so sensitive about the holier-than-thou issue. If our intention is clear for Allah, it doesn’t really matter what others think - whether they are judgmental about certain issues or whatever. And I hope I don’t offend you by quoting your comments over here and replying you in a post instead of posting just a comment, because you got me going to write something this long today and I feel like sharing it in a post rather than a comment.

Lastly, why not, one concentrates on lifting the veil from one’s heart and at the same time putting the veil on the other part, as in covering one’s head? I personally can’t see any contradiction between these two efforts; in fact, they seem to complement with each other, if both are done for the right intention.