oleh Rashaadali

This is not some second-hand story; this is an account from the front line.
These are not borrowed photographs; these are pictures from the epicentre.

Because that was what the situation descended to in the city centre this afternoon, where my entire view of the present government was shattered the moment I saw those first gas cannisters fly. You can read it in a paper, on a website, in a forwarded email, but the magnitude of the brutality will never compare to the panic that infiltrated into my being, and the fear that I now harbour for the government.

You could feel the stillness in the air, the sudden descent of tension into the atmosphere. Ominous signs paraded before us, my younger brother, my sister and I, before we even left the house. We headed toward the city via the Putra LRT, where Shaz managed this almost candid shot of policemen in RapidKL uniforms being briefed by a senior officer.

Once we exited the station at Masjid Jamek, we were greeted by the ever heart-warming sight of riot police. Here they call them the Federal Reserve Unit, but they are nothing more than mercenaries in uniform. Zealots armed with batons and gas launchers, completely apathetic to the growing crowd, swollen by passer-bys and passionate Malaysians. The police sprayed preliminary water-cannon fire on the crowd, which I wasn’t to concerned about. It was only upon reaching home that I found out they were contaminated with chemicals.

Now there is something of great importance that I need to stress; in no way, absolutely none, did the demonstrators aim to incite the police. There was lots of chanting, of slogan shouting, of crowd rallying, but there was no hatred or contempt hurled against those in power. In short, we did not merit the treatment we received. One may say, “But it was an illegal gathering anyway.” How can the executive issue a decree banning the people in a democracy from voicing their opinion? We are not looking for a riot. We’re not looking for impeachment. We’re not looking for a revolution. We want clean elections. After all, if the government did its job efficiently, without corruption,racism and wanton aggression, why would we want to vote for the opposition? The demonstration today was truly a model demonstration. A peaceful, passionate crowd standing defiant, in a completely passive manner. It was a moment to remember, the solidarity on the faces of others as we stared down the threats in the hope of a better tomorrow.

All until the police became violent.

And then God played his hand; the heavens opened as it started to pour. As the precipitation flowed down my skin, a sickening sight developed before my eyes. If you notice in the above picture, the corner was crowded with people, having made some headway, only for cannon fire to push us back to the aforementioned corner. That’s when the police formed a line, and fired tear gas at the crowd.

Fellow Malaysians, firing on their countrymen.
It wasn’t so much as the actual shooting which was horrendous, but seeing them take their line of sight made my stomach turn. These uncompassionate robots, protectors of the society shooting against the people they swear to protect. Here they are, ladies and gentlemen, “dispersing crowds”, while paedophiles run riot, pun very much intended.

When they fired, they shot directly infront of the crowd. Shaz and I happened to be caught in between a mass of bodies and a drain barrier. Just like some bad war movie, everything seemed to happen in slow motion, as the cannister rolled to a stop barely 10 feet away. Time sped back to normal as the people around me started scrambling into the nearby station. Shaz and I were stuck outside, but fortunately, my brother was pulled in by a fairy-tale hero.

“Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death”, but don’t give me tear gas. The following account is in no way dramatisation, it is, as it is. Maybe it was my severe underestimation of the pain, both physical and psychological, that caused my hesitation. If not for the rain, I shudder to think of the potential pain. Had I known…

Completely immobile and covering our faces with wet cloths, we were powerless for a good 45 seconds to the gas. Initially, you feel a sting in your nose. As the pain increases, it ignites your eyeballs into blindness. As the pain mounts unbearable, tears streaming uncontrollably out of your eyes, the gas enters the pores on your face, the sensation acid to the pH. As you try and escape the gas, running literally blindly, with your skin aflame, the gas enters your lungs, constricting respiration to almost nil. Every inhalation you take is void of oxygen, and soon you will not be able to breathe. More than once the thought of death surfaced in my mind, as I moved with, not fought against the crowd to clear the area. Shazee later told me she thought she was as good as gone as well. Tear gas brings you to the edge of death, only for you to be resuscitated back into Hell.

Finally, we broke into the station, where the gas was less. The stations themselves had all been shutdown, effectively freezing all those in the city centre, as the station officials looked on with barely masked glee. The three of us huddled in a small corner, tears, mucus and saliva smeared all over our faces like a child’s hand painting, resisting the temptation to throw up. We sat there recuperating for much of the time, before continuing down the street, away from the uncivil servants. We lingered on the corner, based on utter foolishness, that the police wouldn’t shoot again with so many ordinary civilians. Around us were myriad characters, women and children, to armchair politicians raised to a fury.

And then they fired again.

Now I’m unaware in the ensuing panic whether they fired two volleys or one, for as we moved away from the gas (by the way, huge kudos to all BERSIH chaps for ensuring people kept cool) we turned into the corner. The shots were similar to the first episode in that they we’re fired infront of the crowd, however, as we entered the corner there was ANOTHER canister on my right barely 10 feet away. What luck.

As we scrambled yet again, in my mind I was still able to ponder, as the familiar pain returns, “Are they aware of how devastatingly painful it is?” I question the tactics of the police. Why fire so unbelievably close to the crowd? The gas is supposed to deter and disperse, not to cause chaos and anarchy. How would they have liked it, that fatalistic sensation creeping upon themselves?

We were able to move quicker this time. The crowd pushed and heaved past empty buildings, knocking over motorcycles carelessly parked. An entry point of one office building, and we all rushed in, taking to the stairs, and as the sensation died down the sight in the stairwell was one to behold. Like some kind of urban warfare, there were people slumped against the wall, faces in disarray, completely broken in spirit, trying to regain some semblance of composure. Around went a saviour passing out salt, which miraculously rid us of the worst effects almost instantly. Resigned to painful defeat, we decided to walk back home, with public transport at the mercy of the government.

Funnily enough, we found ourselves walking towards Istana Negara, where the memo was to be passed to the king. And i’ve just learned from dad that as we left the city, people lingered on as a decoy, while a mass gathering took place at the Istana. Ingenious, when you see the size of the crowd. Once again, hats off and big kudos the the organisers who did a fantastic job of keeping everyone calm, orderly, help direct traffic, etcetera etcetera.
At the Istana, it was a normal looking sort of demonstration, one which did not look like it was gonna get ugly. Cheers as I presume the memo was handed over, and the crowd slowly dispersed. As quickly as the tear gas hit, it was all over.

Even now, as I write this, I feel a mild headache coming on. It may or may not be a side effect, but surely the worrying thing is my willingness to believe it is born out of injustice. For now, I have come to a deeper understanding as to why private security is still employed despite the police, and I may cower everytime I see smoke or smell something foreign in the air.
Today serves as a landmark for my patriotism. Today serves as a landmark for the nation’s patriotism, for in the face of such cruelty and opposition we prevailed and were crowned victors of the day. I also hope, that with the events of today, change shall, God willing, be effected. The people have spoken, the people have risen, the people have taken action. The onus passes to the King as a test of strength, and to the government to clean up its act.

You want the votes? Bloody earn it.

oleh kaki masam

Assalamualaikum w.b.t

Artikel Nurses and School-Teachers Only, Please? banyak menganggu minda saya, bukan apa, penat memikirkan masalah demi masalah yang berlaku di kalangan kaum Hawa.

Jika artikel saya yang bertajuk Bertudung tetapi berzina mendapat respons yang menggalakkan daripada pembaca sekalian, sekaligus membuktikan bahawa fenomena kaum hawa yang menggunakan tudung sebagai apparatus untuk bergaya dan berfesyen, ada kebenarannya.

Walaubagaimanapun artikel Nurses..(terlalu panjang untuk disambung) membuktikan sekali lagi tanggapan saya selama ini bahawa golongan-golongan remaja wanita yang sedang belajar untuk menjadi golongan professional, ataupun jika dikecilkan skop pemikiran-menjadi doktor.

Walaupun mempunyai seorang kakak bergelar doktor dan berusia 30 tahun dan masih lagi tidak bersuami, dengan alasan mahu melaksanakan cita-citanya menjadi pakar bius, saya masih kurang paham mengapa kaum wanita yang bakal bergelar professional ini, memilih untuk mencari calon suami.

Jika di IPTA/IPTS kita risau mengenai gejala kaum Hawa yang bunting tanpa suami (mungkin kerana pilihan terlampau banyak), di kalangan golongan kaum Hawa yang akan menjadi doktor pula kita amat merisaukan mereka kerana dikatakan tidak “laku” lantaran kesibukan yang bakal mereka alami tatkala bergelar isteri dan juga suami.

Saya mula didedahkan dengan hakikat ini apabila diceritakan mengenai kisah-kisah doktor-doktor wanita yang hanya merawat anak kecil mereka di rumah lantaran tidak mahu anak terbiar ataupun membesar sendirian.

Jika mahu diluaskan skopnya, hal ini sebenarnya bukan berlaku dikalangan doktor sahaja, malahan professional wanita lain seperti jurutera,peguam mahupun arkitek. Hal ini akan lebih parah jika wanita itu mendapat pendidikan di luar negara. Expectation terhadap bakal suami mereka amatlah tinggi.

Kacak? Penyayang? Berpendidikan tinggi? Berduit? mungkin itu hanya sebahagian daripada ciri2 yang saya rasa harus ada pada setiap suami idaman mereka.

Realiti tidak seindah ideal, dan nobody is perfect. Saya berpendapat mencari seseorang yang dapat memahami anda sudah cukup. Apa guna mempunyai seorang suami lulusan undang-undang daripada Harvard School of Law, ( un peu exaggere) jika dia tidak dapat memahami kerjaya anda, passion dan kehendak anda?

Walaubagaimanapun, saya tidak dapat menyalahkan mereka untuk memilih calon suami idaman mereka, kerana bukan sahaja mereka mahu yang terbaik (yang sudah tentu hak mereka), malahan mereka juga terpaksa menerima tekanan daripada ibu-bapa mereka yang mahukan yang terbaik untuk mereka. Apalagi jika mereka melihat anak sebelah rumah mengadakan majlis kenduri perkahwinan di hotel terkemuka di ibu kota, sudah tentu mereka mahukan anak gadis mereka juga mendapat yang terbaik.

Jika anda di Malaysia mungkin anda berpendapat hal ini tidak ada solution, kerana kebanyakan suami tidak suka isteri mereka bekerja, mungkin, mereka merasakan “dayus” tambahan pula apabila gaji ataupun pangkat si isteri melebihi si suami. Ataupun stigma dalam Malay society bahawa “perempuan belajar setinggi manapun, tempatnya nanti tetap di dapur” sangat menebal di kalangan orang Melayu.

Jika kerajaan merasakan bahawa nisbah lelaki/perempuan di IPTA amat membimbangkan, saya merasakan kerisauan itu tidak ada kaitan dengan tanggapan bahawa lelaki akan menjadi suri rumah nanti dan perempuan akan bekerja. Kerana apa? Kerana jika anda berjaya memasuki universiti, belum tentu anda akan bekerja, malahan pula kebanyakan kursus yang diceburi oleh golongan wanita bukanlah kursus yang menjamin pekerjaan dalam konteks Malaysia sebagai negara membangun.

Malaysia memerlukan tenaga mahir,dalam pelbagai industri, oleh yang sedemikian tidak hairan jika kaum lelaki yang memang diakui suka berfoya-foya dan mungkin merempit ini lebih cenderung memasuki pusat-pusat latihan kemahiran seperti IKM,IKBN mahupun Pusat Giat Mara.

Saya amat bersetuju jika ada yang mengatakan bahawa di Malaysia mungkin remaja lelaki lebih suka bermain-main dan tidak serius dalam pelajaran mahupun hidup mereka. Hal ini dikukuhkan lagi dengan jumlah penagih lelaki, perogol dan perompak dan penyamun serta pencabul yang semakin meningkat.

Jika difikirkan, adakah dengan sebab itu kaum Hawa harus memilih betul-betul calun suami mereka. Jika difikirkan sekali lagi ianya seolah-olah begitu anomali ataupun paradoks dengan Pendidikan Islam yang saya pelajari ketika Form 5 dulu, dimana si lelaki yang mencari isteri,dengan ciri2 yang telah ditetapkan oleh Islam.

Jika di barat, hal ini tidak menjadi masalah kerana kebanyakan pasangan suami –isteri bekerja dan saling membantu antara sama lain. Tidak timbul soal dayus mahupun bacul jika lelaki yang menukar lampin anak mahupun memasak jika isteri bekerja. Malahan mereka kalau boleh ingin meringankan bebab pasangan masing-masing dengan menolong sejauh mana yang boleh.

Ataupun adakah lelaki melayu berpendapat maruah mereka lebih penting dan perempuan itu diciptakan sebagai mesin seks ataupun orang gaji mereka?

oleh adibahabdullah

Assalamualaikum.

OK, apologies to the unmentioned friend from whose statement this title is derived. No offence!

It had been a very lovely Eid in Manchester. Full of diet-crashing delicacies and mind-boggling extravaganza that makes the quadriceps-torturing walks to find the houses worthwhile. And of course, the warm hospitality of hosts and friendly company of fellow visitors make Eid feel like Eid. The time for friendship, love, forgiveness, and gratefulness for Allah’s Grace. InsyaAllah I’ll come up with a special entry on Eid@Manchester. (Note, especially to some bashful or extremely cooperative guys: I didn’t take all those photos simply for my personal collection! Hehe.)

What do we do during those Raya visits? Visit. And eat. And meet friends. Girl-friends, to be more specific and coherent with the theme. What do girls do when they meet? Talk. About what? Vaaaaarious issues. And when a group of girls (a youthful young mom is also considered a ‘girl’, especially in a place where first-years get married and third-years become parents-to-be) meet, in a cosy dimly-lit living room one late afternoon, what do they talk about?

OK I’m beating about the bush here. We’re discussing marriages, breakups, love, long-distance relationships, and the crux of the issue, how on earth are we going to find a good husband? One who fits all our scrupulous requirements (although most of us are single and very available, and perhaps desperately so, we are, as expected of intelligent young ladies well-grounded in education both of this world and the next, quite choosy when it comes to life-long partnerships), and one who would find us befitting their requirements as well.

That last fragment of the last sentence brings me to the main point of this article, after dragging you for a few kilometers. This might sound like a biased opinion, and I apologise for it, but I’m bringing it from the viewpoint that I know best, which is mine. Girls from other fields of specialties, engineering, accountancy, finance, fashion designing, or perhaps TESL, in short anything other than medicine, only worry about when they will find the right guy. We, on the other hand, the “medically-affiliated ladies”, the “medicine bluestockings”, have other concerns to think about. We’re concerned about our significantly reduced potential of becoming a graceful wife and a mother blessed with, say, five or six kids, because we had ‘inadvertently’ chosen this pathway of career, and henceforth, life, as a medical student and later on a medical practitioner? Doctor, to use the general term.

Why, some might ask. Compared to ‘the others’, aren’t girls on the medical field equally attractive? (Yes we are.) Aren’t they equally good at housework - cooking, decorating, childcare, even sewing? (I would testify to that with living witnesses and samples.) Aren’t they just as religious and morally upright? (see earlier comment.)

From our collective observations and readings, we concluded that ladies in the medical field (or in other similarly demanding professions, though perhaps not as ’seriously’) are perceived (by the eligible bachelors out there) as more likely to be unable to commit (as much as they expected a wife to commit) to marriage and be the model wife they’re looking for. OK that might sound a bit bitter. I’ll improvise. These realistic, practical, and future-model-husband-and-father-type guys are concerned that they would not be able to put up with their professional (or hospital-bound) wives’ inability to fulfill a large part of their traditional roles. These (poor) ladies are very likely to spend a lot of time running hither and thither in-between wards from one sick patient to the other, instead of cooking delicious food for their husband and cradling their cute little baby, that they have to let the husband babysit. They are more likely to return home extremely haggard from the night-shifts and laden with paperwork, to the extent which discouraged many a romantic getaway, or even encounters.

As a friend aptly said, when I suggested to him about a nice selection of would-be doctors that he can pick in response to his preference to scientifically-inclined ladies, “No, not a doctor. We would have no time for each other.” And he followed by these words, immortally-emblazoned in my mind, “I might be old-fashioned, but nurses and school-teachers are my favourite professions to look for in a woman.” To which I responded, honestly and not sarcastically at all, “You’re not old-fashioned. You’re simply normal.”

Ustaz Hasrizal, one of the beacons of hope for the human race, who had so bravely and chivalrously married a doctor, suffered for it and borne it courageously, even happily, said something like this, “When I told my friends I’m marrying a doctor, they think I was out of my mind.”

It’s pretty self-explanatory, really. Indeed I should just say that “Girls who study medicine worry about not finding a good husband.” and you readers would deduce everything without needing me to blabber about it. Fact is, it is tough stuff, very challenging, for men to choose to marry a doctor (consider the term “medical student” and “doctor” interchangeable, OK?) It is even tough for the (poor) ladies themselves to live on their own with such a demanding career (doesn’t the studying for OSCE give us a clue what to expect later on?), let alone live through a marriage with husband and kids to boot. We kept convincing ourselves that it’ll be allright, it’ll be bearable, with a supportive and helpful husband. Whom chances are, would be quite difficult to come by. These (poor) husbands need supportive and helpful wives as well!

A guy who wrote in Forbes, commented,

“If they quit their jobs and stay home with the kids, they will be unhappy ( Journal of Marriage and Family, 2003). They will be unhappy if they make more money than you do ( Social Forces, 2006). You will be unhappy if they make more money than you do ( Journal of Marriage and Family, 2001). You will be more likely to fall ill ( American Journal of Sociology). Even your house will be dirtier ( Institute for Social Research).”

I didn’t have time to come up with detailed statistics to back up my claims (blame all the Raya feasts and Neuro notes), however it might be enlighteningly informative if you would check up these other links I managed to find. Really, some of the contents are quite - erm, mildly enraging. When professional women don’t marry, of course, it’s our fault. We should just marry any poor sod coming our way, without any concern for kufu or the man’s viability to be the imam in the family prayers (or the local mosque). Even when the issue is presented in a supposedly intellectual, analytical setting, it’s the ‘fault’ of these poor ladies that are lambasted upon the first. Then suggestions like Kahwin Misyar for the poor unmarried ladies are proposed (see, they admit that these ladies DO want to get married. how’s that for inconsistency?)

Quoting Prof Datuk Dr Mahmud Zuhdi, “bilangan wanita profesional yang tidak berkahwin adalah tinggi. Perubahan sosial masyarakat Malaysia kini lebih terbuka. Wanita telah diberi peluang untuk menceburi pelbagai bidang setinggi mungkin dan ramai di kalangan wanita berjaya menjadi usahawan, menteri, ketua jabatan dan sebagainya. Taraf profesional golongan wanita juga setanding dan mungkin lebih dari lelaki. Inilah yang membimbangkan kerana ramai dari golongan ini yang tidak mahu atau belum berkahwin. Mereka berjaya dari satu sudut dan gagal dalam satu sudut yang lain iaitu memiliki suami dan keluarga seperti wanita lain.”

Weep.

So ladies, what do we do? Stop studying, get back to the kitchen and perfect our techniques of saute-ing the garlic to an exact shade of golden-yellow and slicing the cabbages with the perfect size (or determining to which direction the muscular fibers of the beef run - to get tender meat, follow those lines when slicing, a cooking tip offered for free)? Or just go to any nursing school, teaching colleges, or humanities faculty that would render you a perfect candidate for a male seeking ‘intelligent, sophisticated females with open minds and feminine tendencies who would be a good wife and mother as well’.

Or another drastic turn (for any ladies in schools determined to churn out professionals, most applicable for the barely-existant self-sponsored breeds) is by simply completing the course and NOT working anywhere than in the home. Yeah, that’s right, my dear Chemical Engineering sister who breaks her head studying Thermodynamics, get the degree and then stay at home, waiting for the time your kids are grown enough for you to help them with their homework, so that you can occasionally mention “The time when I was in university….” Of course, we study for Allah’s sake, not for worldly gains, but if we’re doing things in futility, better go do something else! If the time spent studying Thermodynamics (or the spinothalamic and spinoreticulothalamic pathways of nociception) is not going to directly bring benefit, perhaps we’d better go study culinary or professional childcare.
A relative of mine, an excellent, to-die-for husband and father, told me something to this effect, “Men don’t really want women who are too clever. They’ll find daily household chores mundane and boring. They won’t have much time for the family. Sure, they want a wife who’s smart. A smart wife who can manage family and practical affairs, smart in living a balanced life.” Well said. I do agree with him, truly. (For note, his wife obtained her Bachelor’s and Master’s Degree in Islamic and Comparative Law after the marriage, they were even blessed with two lovely daughters in the process. She now works in JAKIM as Timbalan Pengarah in a department, and her husband seems happy about it.)

I’m not blaming anybody here. (In case anyone with mind-blowing analysing capability would like to point that out to disregard my reputation and blast my credibility to dust). I’m just stating a situation, seemingly catch-22 situation, in which ladies who chose to become professionals would be constantly victimized, blamed, deprived of any chance of happiness, doomed to living hell (OK I’m exaggerating) - unless she chose to not marry or really don’t give a button when the Knight in Shining Armor would scoop her into his arms and ride with her into the setting sun. Oh wait, she’d then be blamed for not being desperate to marry! She should also have a very tough auditory-filtering ability to selectively choose which societal comments to heed and which to give a deaf ear to.

A friend of mine opined that it is better for women to stay at home. Indeed, the husbands are happier and can function better in society with a ‘traditional’ wife. So to speak, her lack of presence in society is made up by her husband’s better performance rendered possible by her sacrifice. A lot of time, if her mind is functioning according to the programming of fitrah, she’d be happy as well. Yes, as a young lady, I admit that I would be happy to be a full-time mother and wife, with only my husband and kids and house to take care of, with ample time to exercise my intellectuality and write, Nisah Haron a good example. However, I’m forced to differ when i think about the poor ladies in the villages who need medical and psychological aid from female practitioners at best. The distraught mother-to-be’s (and their concerned husbands) who would give the world’s worth to deliver in the hands of a female ob-gyn? The women in destitute corners of the back alleys, of Third-World countries, or simply of their own minds (rich exterior, deprived interior), who need women of learning, of iman, of professionality, to reach out to them? Given the situation of the world today, men can’t do ALL the things that need doing!

And in case another mind-blowing analysis of my failure to recognize priorities in life is presented, I stress here, I realize that the husband and family is the utmost priorities in a married woman’s life. However there are a whole lot of issues out there that need to be solved, and that needs a lot of compromising and sacrifices from BOTH sides. As Dr Harlina Halizah, a well-accomplished ob-gyn specialist and social-Islamic activist once said, something like “People asked me how I manage to shoulder various responsibilities and still maintain a happy and functional family, always prioritizing my family above everything else yet successfully carry my duties. It’s how you manage your family, and not letting your family manage you.”

Shall we, or shall we not? Shall the intelligent ladies with grand missions in life and for humanity simply resign to the fact that nothing is free, nothing is without payments, and one of the prices they have to pay is the joys of a charming husband and delightful kids? Perhaps there is some hope, but reality - at least in my homeland defies the statistics shown there.

I rest my case.

salam’alaik

meow~

oleh Taufik

Right and Wrong,
The clues to the meaning of the universe,
The moral law and the selfless altruistic impulse,
The voice of conscience that beats in the soul,
The feeling of compassion that lights up the heart,
Yet we are still standing here – confused,

We are indeed young, and untender,
Almost, at times, foolish,
Often, we don’t want to admit it,
For they say wisdom, comes with age,
But even the gray-haired ones, melt on the floor,
Overcame by ephemeral pleasures,
Addicted to the heart that leaps,
Succumbing to the thrill that fleets,
Is this it?
So, this is not it, at all?

Just what is maturity?
Who can tell me?

Time flows without looking backward,
Leaving no room for the utterance of those ‘Ifs’,
This life should be lived by being a wayfarer,
While you may survive till the evening,
Do not expect for the morning,
Same goes for tomorrow, tomorrow, and tomorrow.

oleh batigol

This article about a failure of democracy when open-fair-party competition fails. An interesting quote from T.J Pempel explains this situation in a brief strong comportment;

A democracy predicted on the ability to “throw the rascals out” is far less convincing when it exists only in the abstract than when it is backed up by periodic examples of rascals actually flying through the doors [1].

Democracy espouses the ability of the opposition parties to challenge the ruling government in order to install balance and order to the society. This includes some fundamental features of democracies like freedom of speech in political scene, freedom of the press for all parties to make coverage along with upholding the rule of law. Competition will push and encourage the parties to persuade voters by trying their very best to represent the general public. A fair competition urges politicians, national leaders, voters from every segment of the society to always be alert to any injustice and discriminative policies, to examine alternative approaches and ideologies as well as voicing their concerns in the electoral process. As a result, this will ensure the interests of all sects and groups being equally contested and weighed.

When there is little or almost no contest and rivalry for power, the dominant party will have no need to be as responsive to the needs of the people and country alike. It is a very simple equation. As long as there is party competition, the fear of losing the power will definitely give a valid reason for less power abuse.

A dominant party system is defined as one political party that can by its own capability to become the government, or in a form coalition government with other parties that are on the same page with each other. This kind of system sometimes perpetuates soft despotism in order to maintain power and often relies on various types of corruption at almost all level of society to undermine the possible opposition threats.

Despite all these common stereotypes, the system has brought peace and stability to many countries in the world. Their flexibility in mobilizing support and ensuring interest of almost all major groups has been integral in their success to sustain power. For a developing nation to survive, one needs a stable government that able to maintain in power for a period of time in order to establish a solid groundwork and a reliable foundation for continuous effort towards sustainable development.

Country like Japan for instance, the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) has been in power since 1955 and has been keeping the momentum of good governance for so long until Japanese people found it hard to imagine a government without LDP as they have been so used to it [1]. Five other prominent dominant parties that would be a major interest would be Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) in Mexico, the United Malays National Organization (UMNO) in Malaysia, the Kuomintang (KMT) in Taiwan, and the African National Congress (ANC) in South Africa. The dominance of these parties has not pursued repression and agitation towards the public, nor the irresponsible maltreatment of power by the supremacy, but has created a disease that tends to spark reluctance of power dispersion [2].

Few questions remain. How does the support from the citizen justifies the substantial four decades of power for most of these dominant parties? What are the prospects of the opposition parties which are legally allowed to operate, to effectively balance the influence or even to seriously take power? How does the system substantiate the deeply established democratic tradition in contrast to the system, which is almost always authoritarian? Also, to what extent is the relevance of this system in facing the challenges of globalization?

Bibliographies

[1] Democracy without Competition in Japan, Opposition Failure in One-Party Dominant State, Ethan Scheiner.

[2] The Awkward Embrace, One Party Domination and Democracy, Hermann Giliomee and Charles Simkins.

oleh kaki bangku

Pengarang buku ini adalah pelopor Institute for the Study of Islamic Thought in Africa (ISITA), sebuah institut berdekatan rumah saya di Chicago. Beliau kini sudah uzur selepas diserang strok beberapa tahun lalu, iaitu sebaik sahaja menerbitkan buku di sebelah kiri ini, West Africa, Islam, and the Arab World, yang boleh saya anggapkan sebagai magnum opus buat karier intelektual beliau.

Walaupun tidak beragama Islam, secara peribadi saya menyanjung jasa Afrikanis ini dalam menggali khazanah ilmu peninggalan para ulama Afrika Barat lampau, khususnya dari lokasi kegemaran beliau Timbuktu. Timbuktu ini sebuah bandar lama di Mali yang berfungsi sebagai pusat kegiatan ilmu dan perdagangan yang penting bagi umat Islam black africa sejak kurun 12 Masihi lagi. Bahasa keilmuan di sini ialah bahasa Arab, dan ini terbukti melalui beberapa masjid-universiti utama di situ yang menyimpan puluhan ribu manuskrip bahasa Arab karya para ulama black africa. Ini tidak termasuk ratusan ribu lagi manuskrip yang dimusnahkan oleh penakluk kesultanan Merinid dari Marrakesh, apatah lagi kemusnahan yang dibawa penjajah Eropah.

John Hunwick telah mengambil inisiatif membeli koleksi manuskrip Arab dari para waris ulama Timbuktu dan diwaqafkan kepada perpustakaan universiti Northwestern. Di sini manuskrip tersebut dikatalogkan bagi kegunaan penyelidik akan datang. Kalau tak silap saya, beliau sudah melakukan kerja ini sejak 60an lagi, dan dari usaha beliau ini telah menarik berbagai Afrikanis hebat dari seluruh dunia datang ke universiti untuk membuat kajian mereka.

Tahun ini sahaja menyaksikan pelbagai aktiviti ISITA mengundang tetamu besar, antaranya ialah pakar sejarah sufi Carl Ernst dan dewa pujaan Jaringan Islam Liberal, Abdullahi An-Naim. Sememangnya pengalaman yang tidak akan saya lupakan apabila menyaksikan pandangan-pandangan ahli akademik big shots seperti mereka ini dikritik secara live.

Namun begitu, yang paling memuaskan bagi saya ialah peluang untuk mendekati golongan penyelidik tetap di ISITA. Mereka mungkin tidak setaraf kehebatan Carl Ernst, tapi kebanyakannya beragama Islam dan melakukan penyelidikan ini antara lainnya ialah untuk merungkai kehebatan peradaban Islam lampau. Rata-rata latar belakang mereka ialah dalam bidang Sejarah, Antropologi dan Pengajian Agama.

Empat orang daripada penyelidik ini mengikuti tariqat Tijaniyyah, yang sememangnya mempunyai sejarah intelektual hebat. Salah seorang daripadanya sudahpun tamat tempoh penyelidikan di Northwestern dan pulang ke tanah airnya, Itali. Saya masih ingat hari terakhir beliau di sini ketika saya berada di pejabatnya untuk tolong angkut barang-barang yang ingin dibawa pulang ke Itali. Beliau memiliki koleksi kitab Ibn Arabi beserta syarahannya dan sang sufi ini menjadi topik perbualan kami ketika menyantap sandwich Potbelly’s selepas itu. Saya cuba mengkritik gagasan wahdatul wujud Ibn Arabi ini berdasarkan hujah reformis Naqshabandiyyah empayar Moghul, Shaykh Ahmad Sirhindi yang berkata tingkat suluk wahdatul shuhud lebih tinggi dari wahdatul wujud. Jawab beliau, kamu kena baca dan kunyah sendiri metafizik Ibn Arabi sebelum mengaplikasikan kritik Sirhindi itu!

Berbalik kepada buku Hunwick, saya sekali lagi berakhir dengan persoalan yang sama selepas membaca lain-lain buku sejarah Islam di Afrika. Persoalan itu ialah, apakah beza antara sebuah jemaah sufi dengan jemaah Ikhwani? Di mana wujudnya kesinambungan? Di mana pula titik perbezaan dan pembaharuan?

Saya temui jawapan menarik di sini. Anda boleh mengakses artikel penuhnya melalui universiti masing-masing, ataupun tinggalkan email anda di cbox dan saya akan kirimkan secara peribadi.

oleh batigol

There are not as many websites, researches, articles that explain and explore the Middle East’s dependency on the U.S buying influence in the oil market. Even so it is so apparent to notice that this dependency has been in place especially in the past few decades primarily after the 1970s. Eversince the oil embargo, Middle East economy have become too dependent on oil business. These countries do not have options and alternatives in prospering their wealth. Libya for example, suffered a great loss in national income and its economy depletes badly due to sanctions that forbid them from selling their oil to the world. Thus, Middle East needs a reliable purchaser to ensure stability in the respective countries.This is due to several reasons. The poor geographical qualities that do not promote agriculture have indefinitely retarded a number of other industries. Hence, they are not self sufficient in feeding themselves. Moreover, political instability has made the region very much susceptible to unexpected attack and violence.

Most of the Arab countries are behind in terms of economic prosperity and technological advancement because of their government’s inward policy. Furthermore, a combination of an increasing birth rate and lack of job opportunities has lead to a greater discontent among the Arab youth. They are increasingly aware of the broadening gap between the opportunities, development and technologies of the free abroad world as well as the atrocious deprivation within their borders.

Their resentment comes naturally towards the United States as they believe that the Americans are willing by any means to restore their puppet rulers in Arab countries for selfish reasons and worse they proved not to be a reliable benefactor as they abandoned these puppets when they faced internal problems. The United States is also perceived as a country that represents the West and is being regarded as the leader of Christendom or more generally labeled by Lewis the “Land of the Unbelievers”[2]. Furthermore, the American way of life, as it is being promoted in media, in particular the idea of success being reflected by material gain, freedom of sexual intercourse, provide a vital threat to Islamic values. For them, the only solution is a return to the authentic Muslim way of life and the essential step would be to remove the apostate government.

Simultaneously, a rise of fundamentalist movements which offer a complete set of themes, slogans and symbols which is so efficient in marshaling support has managed to attract the frustrated and the resented from this particular Islamic bloc. This leads to the bitter and violent confrontations and the rise of militant Islam in Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Egypt, with the assistance of radical Wahabi proselytizing.

Hence why most of the Arab Governments are constantly alarmed with these threats and requires a solid financial status to sustain its peace and security. In the globalization era, economy plays a vital part in ensuring the government’s ability to defend and counter its internal crisis. All of the reasons discussed above have clearly indicated the need of more reliable national income has come to a desperate measure.

Furthermore, ever since the early 1980s, any political injustice between the Muslim world and Israel, where the U.S has played major roles, the Muslim countries have never used its so called “oil weapon” against its enemies. This further signifies the dependence of the Middle East to the U.S as its one of the major buyers.

Thoughts come pouring in my mind; what do we do? How can we help shape a better world? Most of us know how dependent is the US towards the Middle East but what about this dependency? Who should carry the blame? Who should have played their role?

More blood for oil? Know I dont.

I’m just a humble man who knows a little…..

oleh adibahabdullah

assalamualaikum.

These are the photo of the flyers that are being distributed around campus and residential halls (I got mine from the Gemini takeaway next door when I went to get some apple pies).

There are also posters on stop-the-war demonstration in London, on the 8th of October.

It is interesting to see that in countries like the UK and the USA (much as some people would like to condemn these places as devil’s dens), freedom of speech is very much respected. Students (and anyone else for that matter) can be expressive, can demand for their rights, can protest and agree on issues independent of concerns like being chucked off university, can be as artistic and literary as they wish to be without anyone censoring them or telling them off for being too controversial. (Of course there’s cons on this as well, DO NOT say that “but freedom of speech has its drawbacks, people are immoral, bla bla bla blah”) And street protesters (as far as I often observed) made ‘peaceful rally’ a materialized concept. They don’t throw out a ruckus, so to speak. It’s a civilised civil-to-authorities relationship. I don’t imply that it’s uncivilised anywhere, mind you.

A senior discouraged me from going to London, though, although she (albeit a bit reluctantly) agreed for attending the rally earlier in Manchester. Logical reasons she gave as well, centering around my safety. It’s not the authorities that she’s concerned, but the demonstrating crowd. It’s a hot issue (people wouldn’t organize nationwide demos for non-hot issues, obviously), and people are bound to get over-excited, to put it mildly. Add to that the factor of large Muslim communities in London, composed by a lot of the passionate (to be politically-correct and reduce chances of being accused of stereotyping) Arabs and Pakistans, she’s practically warning me that I could be trampled to a rag should a stampede occur. Crowds might become violent, and the authorities will take it as a justification (or excuse?) to get violent as well. And little me might not stand a very big chance of survival. I think I won’t attend the demo in London, much as I wished to be part of it, not as a fascinated observing photo-taking tourist, but a socially-aware and socially-responsible people of the world. Apart from the safety reasons, I think my mom might kill me if she found out. I stand to the potential of a loss bigger than probable gain. Activism needs strategizing.

Why not us - OK, perhaps not me, I’m not good or virtuous enough to consider myself part of the ‘pejuang-pejuang’ - I’ll rephrase it. Why not the intelligent, socially-responsible students in the UK pay more attention to the affairs of the society and the world? Apart from whining that the Government - of which country, I shudder to state, I might be lynched and thrown stones at - is cruel, I mean. Caring about Palestine is good, excellent, but it is not all that we need to do to be a world-aware person. Of course I’m not hallucinating that any one of us can actually change the world, but let’s remind us of the cliched adage, let each do his/her bit, sands gathered can make an island.

The world and its issues - climate change, economic disparity, animal extinction, wars and terrorism, as well as all the Islamic-related issues - are OUR issues. If you’re a Muslim, I’d like to remind you that a Muslim is supposed to be a Khalifah, which does not only mean you have to do da’wah (those who follow a certain usrah - a LEGAL one, MSD-approved - will understand this. I don’t know anything of anything that is ILLEGAL. I’m a law-abiding student plagued with eternal fears about allowances and increments and cancellations of 60-40 arrangements). A Khalifah means one who would bring the whole world under PEACE. Submission to God. And that includes fixing material problems like poverty and dying polar bears due to melting ice-caps. Showing how syumul Islam is, is also a form of da’wah right? I might have to expound on this in another article, it’s very close to Sahur time. And readers might be wearied already reading my self-proclaimed intellectual and socially-astute ramblings.

I wish to mention specifically a sister, a Fourth-Year Medic who, in her own way, does her bit in conserving energy. Telling everyone to “save the polar bears” she would turn off electrical appliances when not needed (and badger me for leaving the laptop on when I’m asleep - gotta change the habit =|) and use the “Blackle” instead of “Google”. She TELLS people to do it and DOES it on her own. A perhaps-overlooked example, but still, to me, she’s inspiring.

OK, it’s halfway through Ramadhan here. To practising Muslims: How much had we actually done? To non-practising Muslims: When are you going to start practising? This month of rahmah and forgiveness and extra bonus on good deeds don’t come every day. Next time it comes we might be already gone with the wind. To me: I’ll keep my spiritual reprimands to myself. I don’t chastise myself in public. As some people would really agree, public writing is simply to chastise others, never one’s own self.

Peace be upon everyone.

May we meet and bask in the glory and bounty of Lailatul Qadr.

meow~

oleh batigol

Petroleum scarcity has startling economical and political implications. On the economic front, Schwartz has suggested that a ten dollar increase in the cost of a barrel of oil may retard US economic growth by half a percent per year [1]. This economic turmoil underlies petroleum scarcity’s even more fundamental danger: if a decline in the supply of petroleum precipitates a rise in oil prices, oil-rich nations may gain an even more disproportionate degree of political clout in the world. Supply will fail to meet demand, and oil consumers struggling to alleviate the economic catastrophes associated with cost increases will be forced to accept any price offered by oil-rich nations.

Many of these oil-rich nations are unfortunately unstable, as almost two-thirds of the world’s oil supply is in the Middle East (Lugar and Woolsey, 1999). This dependency on the Middle East limits foreign policy options by forcing world leaders to appease and sometimes even actively support unjust autocrats in the region (Plesch, 2001). This hypocritical behavior certainly fuels terrorists’ hatred of the US. Further, according to Lugar and Woolsey (1999), consumers of oil contribute a great deal to the continuation of corrupt governments and perhaps even terrorism by direct infusions of money; over one trillion dollars will be funneled into the Middle East between 2000 and 2015.

The U.S. consumes far too much oil. The absence of any clear policy to reverse this trend is dangerous. Increased pollution and environmental damage alone require a new policy toward oil dependence. The specific costs of relying on large percentages of imported oil are also enormous, both economically and strategically.

Before the overthrow of the Shah of Iran, the two legs of U.S. policy in the oil-rich Gulf region were Iran and Saudi Arabia. With the victory of the Islamic Revolution, reliance on Iran ended, and U.S. policy has still not regained its balance. Foremost among the problems with current U.S. oil policy is that the cost of protecting Gulf oil, with the U.S. insisting on a unilateral defense strategy, is too high.

Despite their high dependence on Gulf oil, neither Japan nor Europe plays a major role in strategic defense of the region, and as long as its partners ante up cash for major operations like Desert Storm, the U.S. is prepared to continue to keep strategic command. Even without a crisis of Desert Storm proportions, oil from the Gulf ends up costing more than its per-barrel price because of billions in defense costs.

The U.S. became painfully aware of the need for a new oil policy after the oil shocks of 1973-75 and 1978-80. In 1973, the per-barrel price of Saudi light crude was $2.41. With the Arab oil embargo it quickly rose to $10.73. Then, beginning in 1978, the price of a barrel of crude shot up from $13.34 to $32.81. Since then the U.S. has been publicly committed to reducing dependence on foreign oil. However, despite repeated promises by both Democratic and Republican presidents, the U.S. has actually increased that dependence.

Instead of trying to wean the country from Gulf oil, Washington has focused on military-strategic efforts to ensure dominance in the oil region. However, its major approach, dual containment, is fundamentally flawed. Its stated purpose is to protect the flow of reasonably priced oil, yet it was imposed when oil prices were plummeting and the oil states were frustrated because of a glut on the market. In this sense, the large U.S. military presence in the Gulf, supposedly preventing Iran and Iraq from threatening oil supplies, is unnecessary. Furthermore, the current U.S. military presence has negative political consequences for the stability of the oil regimes, as seen in the latest attacks on the U.S. military installation in Saudi Arabia.

In addition, U.S. policy ignores some fundamental realities. First, neither the Iraqi nor Iranian regimes are likely to remain isolated forever. European countries, China, Russia, and other countries with interests different from Washington are all abandoning U.S. policy to consider trade with Iran and Iraq. Turkey, especially, is currently hurt by U.S. policy, deprived of the revenues generated when Iraq exported oil through a Turkish pipeline.

Isolating Iraq and insisting on the continuation of oil sanctions to weaken Saddam Hussein angers regional public opinion, since the Arabs perceive this policy as responsible for starving the Iraqi people. This anger will sooner or later be directed against regimes responsible for bringing U.S. troops to the region and could have grave consequences for oil flow and oil prices in Western countries.

Second, the attempt to exclude Tehran from influencing regional politics is unrealistic. The majority Shi`i community in Iraq, as well as oppressed Shi’i communities in other Gulf states with the capacity for destabilization, will certainly be influenced by neighboring Iran. The Saudi oil region is populated by Shi’i. Pushing Iran to the limits, coupled with the miserable conditions of the Shi’i in other countries, could bring about exactly the regional instability that the U.S. is trying to prevent. Saudi oil security, as defined by the West, is contingent on a pacified Shi’i population in Saudi Arabia’s eastern province.

Uncritical U.S. support for autocratic Gulf monarchies and their human rights abuses have weakened both U.S. policy and the oil regimes. It undermines U.S. policy by demonstrating the hypocrisy in American rhetoric about democracy and human rights and weakens the regimes by creating the perception among Gulf subjects that their countries are being ruled in the interests of an outside power. Even members of the Gulf’s ruling elite have a strong perception that the U.S. is forcing them to buy weapons that they don’t need and not allowing them to diversify their weaponry by purchasing arms from Europe. This creates tension between the U.S. and its European allies regarding Gulf procurement

1. Schwartz, N.D. (2003, March 31). Oil why prices will fall: because Iraq has been on the sidelines of the oil world for 20 years; soon it won’t be. Fortune, 147(6), 68+. Retrieved January 30, 2005, from Expanded Academic ASAP database (A98880222).
2. Yergin, Daniel, The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money & Power, NYC, Touchstone Books, 1993
3. Bernard Lewis, The Crisis of Islam: Holy War and Unholy Terror, Random House Trade Paperbacks; Reprint edition (March 2, 2004).
4. David G, Oil and development in the Middle East, Praeger Publishers Inc.,U.S. (July 1979)
5. Clement M Henry and Robert Springborg, Globalization and the Politics of Development in the Middle East, Cambridge University Press (September 17, 2001)
6. Asad Muhammad. The Principles of State and Government in Islam. Berkeley, CA, University of California Press, 1961.
7. Middle East Finance and Economy, Peak-oil theory and its development implications, online 19 January 2007.

oleh kaki masam

Salam sejahtera, sekali lagi saudara KJ menggemparkan tanah air, kalau tidak menggemparkan anda semua, mungkin menggemparkan saya. Prinsipal kumpulan konsultan Pak Lah ini telah memenangi pilihanraya untuk merebut jawatan Timbalan Presiden FAM, dan tidak mengejutkan, TANPA BERTANDING.

Kalau dilihat dari kaca mata naif, KJ hanyala seorang penggangur, setelah beliau sendiri mengumumkan perletakan jawatan daripada banyak agensi/syarikat dsbnya.

Sudah tentu orang yang naif mengatakan dia tidak ubah seperti Tan Sri Isa Abdul Samad.

Tetapi, Isa seorang bekas menteri, mungkin tidak ke Oxford, tetapi sudah lama menjadi Menteri Besar N.S., sebelum menjawat jawatan Menteri Persekutuan.

Mungkin juga KJ seorang putera raja yang akan memenangi sebarang jawatan yang ditandinginya tanpa bertanding. Mungkin, selepas pilihanraya nanti, KJ akan menang jawatan Timbalan Presiden Umno yang disandang oleh Najib, dan saya tidak akan terkejut, jika sekali lagi, tanpa bertanding.

Namun itu bukan persoalannya, setinggi tahniah harus diberikan kepada KJ jika beliau akan membawa Malaysia ke Piala Dunia 2010. Mungkin konsultan-konsultan dari Bristol, Princeton dan Imperial akan membantu Khairi dalam FAM.

Namun, saya juga bimbang, ibu bapa akan semakin tertekan untuk memastikan anak mereka menjejak langkah pemimpin terulung ini ke OxBridge.

Khairi sebagai menantu Pak Lah tidak timbul persoalan jika beliau mampu menunjukkan bakat kepimpinannya dengan INTEGRITI , JUJUR dan AMANAH.

Mungkin Malaysia akan menuju era dimana Perdana Menterinya berusia 40an dan ke bawah, dan seorang graduan, dari Harvard, Yale mahupun Oxbridge, seperti tokoh barat yang bernama, Bush, Clinton dan Blair.