Under The Same Sun

Don't worry Mr. Wenger

2011-08-20T04:00:00.000-07:00

The battle will begin soon. Although they' 'don't walk alone', we, the gooners are always with you. True Gooners support the team not an individual player or manager. For, Fab, we wish you good luck. Thanks for your service. And I'm sure Nasri will be fielded tonight. May be a farewell party for him.

Extra Leave will increase 'productivity'

2009-03-10T07:10:00.000-07:00

Extra maternity leave may be problematic, says PSD chief

PUTRAJAYA: The Government has to check on Selangor’s decision to allow for a maximum of 90 days of maternity leave for civil servants in the state.

Public Service Department director-general Tan Sri Ismail Adam cautioned there might be legal implications in pension payments arising from the decision.

Selangor Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim also announced that husbands would enjoy a 14-day paternity leave, up from a week previously. Female staff whose husbands die will also get 30 days’ leave, compared to three days of emergency leave previously.

Cuepacs president Omar Osman, when contacted, welcomed Selangor’s move, saying it was in line with International Labour Organisation’s requirements.

“We hope the Federal Government will also follow suit and increase maternity leave nationwide to 84 days or 90 days,” he said.

Omar said the government’s decision to slash the number of leave days to 25 for those joining the civil service from Jan 1 regardless of their tenure had affected women.

“The previous entitlement of 60 days’ leave may be enough for some people but there are mothers who need extra days to attend to a sick child or emergency matters,” he said.

He said the Government had agreed to increase maternity leave for civil servants to 84 days when Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil was the Women, Family and Community Development Minister.

Too much politics will kill you....

2009-02-27T01:00:00.000-08:00

Seldom in my life i feel so frustrated with the way I made decisions. Even the worst decision I ever made, I still could console myself by saying that is what life is all about. But the decision to disconnect from reading (and listening) all the news about the political turmoil in my beloved country really made me sick. Although, just a few days ( 3 days exactly!!) I felt losing something important. The event that wake me up from my 'sabbatical' was when I overheard about the fracas in Parliament. The most glamoring OKU with the zealous youth group from my clan. As a prominent and senior lawyer, Karpal 'the senile' Singh shouldn't utter the word celaka against Umno Youth and blame the wing for the “bullets and threatening letter” he had received in Penang. But on the other hand, the UMNO Youth actually should use a proper channel to express their anger and dissatisfaction with the king of Singh. As a protector for the Malays as claimed by this group, they much show the Malayness way of confrontation. Sometimes we have to be kurang ajar, but the impact of our action will be the history for the next generation. For Karpal, it's a time for you to retire from the partisan politics and try to involve in other area of politics which could contribute more on nation building. Ask Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye if he could provide some platforms ....
Yeah, Malaysian politics is very interesting. And I will not try to disengage with all these happening moments anymore.

We don't want to Yoga, so what?

2008-11-23T19:49:00.000-08:00

I don't know what the insult felt by The Hindu Sanggam and also who are the 'all Malaysians' he refers to? We, Muslims in Malaysia will never involve in any practice by the Hindu believers as long as it will not interfere with Islam and the public. We respect your religion which always try to instill the good moral values in the believers. So please don't try to mess with Islamic affairs especially in any decision made by our scholars regarding fatwas. Try to educate your people to follow the true teachings by leaving all the gangsterism activities and the todi addicted group.

Conversation with Ulrich and Hetfield

2008-11-21T05:22:00.000-08:00

When I listen to 'The Day That Never Comes' for the first time I noticed the part of the lyric .... Mouth so full of lies
Tend to black your eyes
Just keep them closed
Keep praying
Just keep waiting

Wow... black eyes was very politically related to Malaysian politic back in 1998-99 political turmoil. So what was the message? I've called this group after a long time haven't had any conversation after the Load, Reload and Garage Inc which were upset most of their fans. But Ulrich replied to me to refer his interview with the mtv.com about the song and video which he claimed not a political statement.

Do you know what marriage is?

2008-09-08T07:24:00.000-07:00

This is a story about an idiot couple, I think....'We're married, we just don't have sex'
What on earth man loves women and getting married without the sex as a translation... yes your are honest with what you are doing but it is a spiritual need... 'People wonder why asexuals bother to get together, but Amanda and I have been happily married for nine months now and we're both still virgins. Some people even think asexuality doesn't exist. It's so underrepresented, I can understand why people are skeptical. I was too, even though I was perfectly used to thinking of myself in this way. For years I just thought I was the only person in the world who felt like this'. Nonsense!!

Dream from his father…..

2008-09-04T07:45:00.000-07:00

Finally he made the declaration. Mukriz suits the idea threw by Obama that powerful politicians had either a strong father or no father at all. By confirming that he will contest for the wing’s top post in the coming party polls in December, he will face a stiff competition with the potential candidates like Khairy Jamaluddin and Khir Toyo. I believe Tun Dr Mahathir will give his blessing to his son to be the numero uno in the youth wing as a step to a higher rank in UMNO. And I’m waiting for a book written by Mukriz expressing his view about the struggle within the biggest Malay Party and experience as a son of 22 years Prime Minister.

'A man's either trying to live up to his father's expectations or make up for his father's mistake' - Obama

Endorsement by Clintonites...

2008-08-27T15:57:00.000-07:00

"I am honoured to be here tonight. A proud mother. A proud Democrat. A proud American. And a proud supporter of Barack Obama,"

Finally theses words came from the former first lady....

The best car safety device is a rear-view mirror with a cop in it.

2008-07-20T00:22:00.000-07:00

Why you all so jealous aa? He fought for the oil royalty and only a few percent have been spent for this German car. The reasons behind this spending are very concrete maa... according to Sunday Star;

He said the German cars were bought for the safety of the state officials who had to travel extensively and to reduce the cost of maintenance.“After much evaluation, the state felt the Mercedes-Benz cars are more reliable for long term use. It was also time to replace the Proton Perdanas,” he added.

How come all the excos want to sit in the same seats sat by the previous excos - mostly the Idris men - never.....

Jom TUKAR .......kereta.....

Research, anyone?

2008-07-18T23:48:00.000-07:00

Sometimes when you sacrifice something precious, you're not really losing it. You're just passing it on to someone else - Mitch Albom The Five People You Meet in Heaven.

I'm wondering how to train my heart and soul to be more sincere and honest in doing my research. Academic wise, the research in political sciences require the researcher to be apolitical and the main purpose is for the betterment of the society. However, with the current scenario of political development, the recommendations made by the political scientists seem to be too ideal and utopia. You can't do it just to fulfill the requirement of the university or to make you cv looks good but you have to pay it forward to the society. Any research which ends in the library is wasting the taxpayers money. Beware, mind your research.

Prof Kamal should be named as President of IIUM

2008-06-17T04:50:00.002-07:00

I'm calling the Lembaga of IIUM, whatever color you're, please don't politicize this higher institution. When Sanusi was appointed as a president, I was numb. It was a political revenge against his rival back in ABIM. Although I respect him as a politician with a wide knowledge through his keen on reading, but his role as a president very much covered by his track record as a former chief minister of Kedah with a 'marvelous' idea such as grow rice in the roof top and so on. Come on, Prof Kamal we need you....

You are right Mr Carter

2008-06-05T08:58:00.000-07:00

I have no choice but to agree with the former pres that Clinton is not a right running mate for the Obama in his presidential election. According to Carter,

"I think it would be the worst mistake that could be made," Carter said, adding: "That would just accumulate the negative aspects of both candidates."

The former president, who formally endorsed the Illinois senator late on Tuesday, cited opinion polls showing 50% of US voters with a negative view of Senator Clinton.

In terms that might discomfort the Obama camp, he said: "If you take that 50% who just don't want to vote for Clinton and add it to whatever element there might be who don't think Obama is white enough or old enough or experienced enough or because he's got a middle name that sounds Arab, you could have the worst of both worlds."

He is right. More than 50% of Democrats have rejected former first lady and humanity wise, the loser will be haunted by those who has killed her chance to be the first female president in the most undemocratic election where the president chosen by American but rule the world. And if Obama fail in his bid, surely first word from Clinton, haa... you see, this guy will go nowhere...

Choose the best for the future...

2008-06-04T07:13:00.000-07:00

Every decision made in choosing thing could be nightmare in the future... but what can you do? Try to shape the 'thing' and avoid being shaped by surroundings..

All the Rembauans please stand up!!!

2008-05-11T21:34:00.000-07:00

People of Rembau must be proud of their MP, ...... do they?

A safe pair of hands

2008-05-05T23:19:00.000-07:00

Richard Stengel, Managing Editor for Time Magazine wrote in the To Our Readers section saying that what TIME 100 great reading is the pairings. The pair of the great leader to give his or her opinion how great is the icon to be on the list.... and for the Malaysia so called 'prime minister in-waiting'... Wolfowitz is his pair, the most eligible figure to tell the world why Anwar is very important for them... Sleep on it mate....

THE 2008 TIME 100

By Paul Wolfowitz (TIME)

During the 1990s, Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and a group of U.S. Senators organized a forum to exchange views among East Asians and Americans.

Asked at one session about the role of Islam in politics, Anwar replied, "I have no use for governments which call themselves Islamic and then deny basic rights to half their population."

This devout Muslim leader was an impressive and eloquent advocate of tolerance, democracy and human rights. So we were shocked by his arrest and trial in 1998 on charges of corruption and sodomy. I felt his real "crime" had been to challenge Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, whose impressive record will be forever stained by his treatment of Anwar. I joined Senator Sam Nunn and others to speak out in Anwar's defense. When he was finally released from prison in 2004, U.S. policy on Iraq was unpopular in Malaysia, and Anwar was harshly critical. It would have been easy for him to disown our friendship, but he is not that kind of person. He kept the channels of dialogue open, even while making clear our disagreements.

Anwar, 60, is back in the center of Malaysian politics. The coalition led by his wife Wan Azizah has become the main opposition bloc. His future role can be determined only by Malaysians. One can hope that they will embrace his brand of tolerance, valuing dialogue across political differences, and that this courageous leader will continue to play a leading role on the world stage.

Wolfowitz is a former U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense

Dream, dream, dream....

2008-04-21T08:05:00.000-07:00

You got a dream... You gotta protect it. People can't do somethin' themselves, they wanna tell you you can't do it. If you want somethin', go get it. Period. - Christopher Gardner - The Pursuit of Happyness

Yeah, I'm dreaming... and I'll always on my sweet dream... no one can wake me up from this dream...

I'm dreaming of a caring community which no children will miss the first-time notice of a beautiful schoolmate in line at the school canteen... although end up with 'just friend ok' sentence...

I'm dreaming of a caring ministry of higher education which see no student will skip the class to prepare the nasi lemak and burger for room to room night service in the campus....

I'm dreaming of a caring university which never let the lecturer begging to print a page of document to be put in the teaching portfolio....Period.

How to be remembered...

2008-03-19T07:53:00.000-07:00

BOY
Are the stories about you true?
They say your mother is an immortal
goddess.

Achilles lifts up his shield. He slips his left forearm into the leather straps on the inside of the shield.

BOY
They say you can't be killed.

ACHILLES
I wouldn't be bothering with the
shield then, would I?

BOY
The Thessalonian you're fighting
-- he's the biggest man I've ever
seen.

Achilles mounts the boy's horse.

BOY
I wouldn't want to fight him.

ACHILLES
That's why no one will remember
your name.

The scene from Troy, where Brad Pitt as Achilles, told the boy how to be remembered... to fight the impossible is always in my mind. In politics, we should be a man with principle. But what a shame for those who follow the flow and polish the apple to get what he or she wants in this temporary world.

How to win votes?

2008-02-19T17:09:00.000-08:00

Illustration and graphic taken from Malaysiakini

From his early works organizing the people in Chicago, Obama learnt the concept of issues, action, power and self-interest. He wrote, ' ...Find out their self-interest... That's why people become involved in organizing - because they think they'll get something out of it. Once I found an issue enough people cared about, I could take them into action. With enough actions, I could start to build power' (Obama 2004, 155).

SO, for the candidates wannabe in the upcoming general election please go to the grassroots first and learn what they really need and please care for them, not only when election comes but it is an ongoing services...

Frustrated MP

2008-02-17T13:21:00.000-08:00

It was after maghrib when I read the news about the desire not to contest and retain the seat. Something uncommon when the ambience of election is very much alive..... what we have read and heard were all about how the politicians wish to continue their services to the constituents (except those in MCA who reluctantly announced their retirement) and another four years will accomplish their mission. But the news from Malaysiakini have made me numb. My senior from IIUM decided that it is impossible for her to continue as MP due to the internal conflict within the party. This 'giant slayer' who retain the seat in 2004 by defeating the present MCA secretary general Ong Ka Chuan was a vocal MP in Dewan Rakyat. Good luck to Fong Po Kuan.

In the mood of the game...

2008-02-10T08:11:00.000-08:00

Just returned from Old Trafford... What an enjoyable game.... the celebration all along the journey back to Dungun...
Watching the game at OT - I'm dreaming
MANU 1 -MANC 2 - Dream comes true

Datuk, I was there when you were crying for Islam....

2008-01-30T18:53:00.000-08:00

The silver bearded man asked the audience what he will tell his grandchildren if he wouldn't say the truth about what Islam has taught just to keep his position as a mufti.. will haunt his life forever.... still fresh, repeatedly played in my memory the scene in Masjid Melayu Subang eleven years ago.... Alfatihah to Datuk Ishak Baharom

Think as you wish....

2008-01-29T17:20:00.000-08:00

Almost every class I've taught, I said to the student, in my class, thinking is compulsory and creative thinking will get extra mark. Some students told me, how can I measure the thinking and my answer was, I have the instrument that can see the bulb over your head ..... simple, those who has the ability to think critically could translate into words or actions. I did really enjoy when the class has full of thinkers and the tutorial was lively with full of knowledge spreading all over the campus.....

Thinking is the hardest work there is, which is the probable reason why so few engage in it - Henry Ford

Obama, Obama

2008-01-08T08:29:00.000-08:00

I've replayed so many times this speech and decided to share with the forumers.. you can go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqoFwZUp5vc
to watch the video. I''m currently reading the 'Dreams from My Father' written by him and in a short while I will post the review in my blog. This was the transcript of the speech.

You know, they said this day would never come. They said our sights were set too high. They said this country was too divided, too disillusioned to ever come together around a common purpose.

But on this January night, at this defining moment in history, you have done what the cynics said we couldn't do.

You have done what the state of New Hampshire can do in five days. You have done what America can do in this new year, 2008.

In lines that stretched around schools and churches, in small towns and in big cities, you came together as Democrats, Republicans and independents, to stand up and say that we are one nation. We are one people. And our time for change has come.

You said the time has come to move beyond the bitterness and pettiness and anger that's consumed Washington.

To end the political strategy that's been all about division, and instead make it about addition. To build a coalition for change that stretches through red states and blue states.

Because that's how we'll win in November, and that's how we'll finally meet the challenges that we face as a nation.

We are choosing hope over fear. We're choosing unity over division,

You said the time has come to tell the lobbyists who think their money and their influence speak louder than our voices that they don't own this government - we do. And we are here to take it back.

The time has come for a president who will be honest about the choices and the challenges we face, who will listen to you and learn from you, even when we disagree, who won't just tell you what you want to hear, but what you need to know.

And in New Hampshire, if you give me the same chance that Iowa did tonight, I will be that president for America.

I'll be a president who finally makes health care affordable and available to every single American, the same way I expanded health care in Illinois, by by bringing Democrats and Republicans together to get the job done. I'll be a president who ends the tax breaks for companies that ship our jobs overseas and put a middle-class tax cut into the pockets of working Americans who deserve it.

I'll be a president who harnesses the ingenuity of farmers and scientists and entrepreneurs to free this nation from the tyranny of oil once and for all.

And I'll be a president who ends this war in Iraq and finally brings our troops home who restores our moral standing, who understands that 9/11 is not a way to scare up votes but a challenge that should unite America and the world against the common threats of the 21st century. Common threats of terrorism and nuclear weapons, climate change and poverty, genocide and disease.

Tonight, we are one step closer to that vision of America because of what you did here in Iowa.

And so I'd especially like to thank the organizers and the precinct captains, the volunteers and the staff who made this all possible.

And while I'm at it on thank yous, I think it makes sense for me to thank the love of my life, the rock of the Obama family, the closer on the campaign trail.

I know you didn't do this for me. You did this because you believed so deeply in the most American of ideas - that in the face of impossible odds, people who love this country can change it.

I know this. I know this because while I may be standing here tonight, I'll never forget that my journey began on the streets of Chicago doing what so many of you have done for this campaign and all the campaigns here in Iowa, organizing and working and fighting to make people's lives just a little bit better.

I know how hard it is. It comes with little sleep, little pay and a lot of sacrifice. There are days of disappointment. But sometimes, just sometimes, there are nights like this, a night that, years from now, when we've made the changes we believe in, when more families can afford to see a doctor, when our children inherit a planet that's a little cleaner and safer, when the world sees America differently, and America sees itself as a nation less divided and more united, you'll be able to look back with pride and say that this was the moment when it all began.

This was the moment when the improbable beat what Washington always said was inevitable.

This was the moment when we tore down barriers that have divided us for too long; when we rallied people of all parties and ages to a common cause; when we finally gave Americans who have never participated in politics a reason to stand up and to do so.

This was the moment when we finally beat back the policies of fear and doubts and cynicism, the politics where we tear each other down instead of lifting this country up. This was the moment.

Years from now, you'll look back and you'll say that this was the moment, this was the place where America remembered what it means to hope. For many months, we've been teased, even derided for talking about hope. But we always knew that hope is not blind optimism. It's not ignoring the enormity of the tasks ahead or the roadblocks that stand in our path.

It's not sitting on the sidelines or shirking from a fight. Hope is that thing inside us that insists, despite all the evidence to the contrary, that something better awaits us if we have the courage to reach for it and to work for it and to fight for it.

Hope is what I saw in the eyes of the young woman in Cedar Rapids who works the night shift after a full day of college and still can't afford health care for a sister who's ill. A young woman who still believes that this country will give her the chance to live out her dreams.

Hope is what I heard in the voice of the New Hampshire woman who told me that she hasn't been able to breathe since her nephew left for Iraq. Who still goes to bed each night praying for his safe return.

Hope is what led a band of colonists to rise up against an empire. What led the greatest of generations to free a continent and heal a nation. What led young women and young men to sit at lunch counters and brave fire hoses and march through Selma and Montgomery for freedom's cause.

Hope, hope is what led me here today. With a father from Kenya, a mother from Kansas and a story that could only happen in the United States of America.

Hope is the bedrock of this nation. The belief that our destiny will not be written for us, but by us, by all those men and women who are not content to settle for the world as it is, who have the courage to remake the world as it should be.

That is what we started here in Iowa and that is the message we can now carry to New Hampshire and beyond.

The same message we had when we were up and when we were down; the one that can save this country, brick by brick, block by block, that together, ordinary people can do extraordinary things.

Because we are not a collection of red states and blue states. We are the United States of America. And in this moment, in this election, we are ready to believe again.

Thank you, Iowa

The Village By The Sea

2007-12-15T07:23:00.000-08:00

My first year in IIUMC dealt a lot with the language classes. I started my english course with level 1. The lowest level. The beginner. But it was an opportunity that I treasure most. One of my lecturer in my first semester was Miss Naomi Lane. A sixty-something English woman who taught us reading comprehension. The text that we were required to read comprehensively was a book by Anita Desai, The Village by The Sea. The way Miss Lane handle the class made the lesson very interesting. The synopsis below taken from wikipedia.

The Village by the Sea is set in a small village called Thul, which is 14 kilometres from Bombay. Lila, the eldest child among four siblings, is thirteen years old, yet she already has the maturity of an adult. Her brother Hari, twelve, is the only person with whom she can share her troubles. Their mother is ill and needs constant care and nursing. Nobody knows exactly what she suffers from but she grows weaker and weaker with each passing day. Their father, who has been out of work for months, is in a permanent drunken stupor, from which he arises occasionally to shout at his family.

With two younger sisters to take care of as well as their mother, life for Lila and Hari is not easy. Their father is not very useful as he is often away at the local toddy shop, getting drunk. There is a constant need for money as the family is almost always in debt. Then one day, Hari decides he has had just about enough and leaves for Bombay– the Bombay where dreams come true and ambition yields.

Lila is left alone to manage her sisters Bela and Kamal, as well as her mother, and somehow keep the family strings together. Help comes from an unexpected source, the rich DeSilva's. Meanwhile, Hari is new in the great city of Bombay, and all alone. A kind restaurant proprietor, Jagu, takes pity on him and welcomes him to work in his restaurant, Sri Krishna Eating House. There, Hari builds a strong friendship with Mr. Panwallah, the lovable watch repairer whose shop is just beside Jagu’s.

This book gave some influences for some of us as it was our first English novel.

I (still) like watching people....

2007-11-13T19:14:00.000-08:00

Since moving to the Dungun, I've missed a lot of things that I used to spend with when I was in Bangi and KL. One of these moments was like sitting or standing in a train and watching the other strangers (commuters) around- when you have no book to read. You can see all types of people spending their daily routine commute from/to their home and workplace. Some of them exercise their fingers by keep on SMSing all the way until they reach the destination. Most of them fall asleep. But some part of this journey also can turn to be some exercises for your heart, falling in love with the stranger. Simple, when you find somebody that when your eyes meet her, your heart starts to wish something. And waiting for the next station , who will reach first... love at the first sight and not more than 45 minutes (considering the length of time spent in the train). Believe me , it will make your journey seems faster . - This message is under controlled by the association of the united husbands for the sensitive wives.

Globalisation ala Americans

2007-11-11T19:49:00.000-08:00

Globalisation that so much linked with the borderless world, where all the transactions and movements have no limits has changed the international relation. Americans, especially the neocon, has made this globalisation (read capitalism) as a new tool to expand their foreign policies in order to protect their national interest. These words from Kristol need to be pondered.

"AND THEN, of course, there is foreign policy, the area of American politics where neoconservatism has recently been the focus of media attention. This is surprising since there is no set of neoconservative beliefs concerning foreign policy, only a set of attitudes derived from historical experience. (The favorite neoconservative text on foreign affairs, thanks to professors Leo Strauss of Chicago and Donald Kagan of Yale, is Thucydides on the Peloponnesian War.) These attitudes can be summarized in the following "theses" (as a Marxist would say): First, patriotism is a natural and healthy sentiment and should be encouraged by both private and public institutions. Precisely because we are a nation of immigrants, this is a powerful American sentiment. Second, world government is a terrible idea since it can lead to world tyranny. International institutions that point to an ultimate world government should be regarded with the deepest suspicion. Third, statesmen should, above all, have the ability to distinguish friends from enemies. This is not as easy as it sounds, as the history of the Cold War revealed. The number of intelligent men who could not count the Soviet Union as an enemy, even though this was its own self-definition, was absolutely astonishing.

Finally, for a great power, the "national interest" is not a geographical term, except for fairly prosaic matters like trade and environmental regulation. A smaller nation might appropriately feel that its national interest begins and ends at its borders, so that its foreign policy is almost always in a defensive mode. A larger nation has more extensive interests. And large nations, whose identity is ideological, like the Soviet Union of yesteryear and the United States of today, inevitably have ideological interests in addition to more material concerns. Barring extraordinary events, the United States will always feel obliged to defend, if possible, a democratic nation under attack from nondemocratic forces, external or internal. That is why it was in our national interest to come to the defense of France and Britain in World War II. That is why we feel it necessary to defend Israel today, when its survival is threatened. No complicated geopolitical calculations of national interest are necessary."

Excerpted from 'The Neoconservative Persuasion : What it was, and what it is.' By Irving Kristol, From the August 25, 2003 issue 08/25/2003, Volume 008, Issue 47

The way we see the world...

2007-11-11T06:26:00.000-08:00

It was my freshman year when I started to do a part time job at one of the country's leading pharmacies. On that moment, I thought I was an independent student who can earn some pocket money and at the same time struggling to get the degree. Yes, I earn what I've searched for but I've lost what I've supposed to grab at the garden of virtue and knowledge.

"Part of the problem, Mitch, is that everyone is in such a hurry," Morrie said. "People haven't found meaning in their lives, so they're are running all the time looking for it. They think the next car, the next house and the next job. Then they find those things are empty, too, and they keep running." ( Tuesday with Morrie, p 136)

Empty Decorations

2007-10-21T18:12:00.000-07:00

I wake in the dawn to showers of light
Moments of emptiness surround
Floating away with auras of hope
But reality brings me down to the ground
What can i do ?
What can i say ?
I need a place to hide away
Just for a while, just for a smile
Just for the life i used to know

Where every song
Was filled with words of love and not of anger
Where did they go ?
Why did they leave me far behind ?

Cause i don't wanna be alone
Living life all on my own
I don't wanna live my life in isolation
Filled with empty decorations
Cause i wanna be with the people that i know
Who will do the things i do
Making all my dreams come true
I don't recognise the shadows on my door
Although i've seen them all before
Because the only thing i really want is to be with you...

I look at the sky, it looks back at me
I can't hear the silent melodies
I know that i'm here yet i am lost
Blown in confusion by the breeze
Hiding my face, crying alone
I need to find my way back home
Back to the place, the wonderful days
Living the life i used to know
Where every smile
Was born out of a love and of sincerity
And every tear of everflowing joy

END OF SEMESTER

2007-09-25T08:21:00.000-07:00

The semester is nearly ends as well as Ramadhan. We have been asked to finished the syllabus before the final week of Ramadhan. But my first Ramadhan in Dungun is quite tough especially when lecturing in the evening......

For One more Day

2007-09-15T20:09:00.000-07:00

Just finished reading this book by Mitch Albom, and I've to admit that Tuesday with Morrie is better in term of the narrative. But it's still on my top ten list of the best books for this year.

"If you had the chance, just one chance, to go back and fix what you did wrong in life, would you take it? And if you did, would you be big enough to stand it? Mitch Albom, in this new book, once again demonstrates why he is one of my favorite writers: a fearless explorer of the wishful and magical, he is also a devout believer in the power of love. For One More Day will make you smile. It will make you wistful. It will make you blink back tears of nostalgia. But most of all, it will make you believe in the eternal power of a mother's love."

--James McBride, author of
The Color of Water

I have a blog?

2007-09-06T05:19:00.000-07:00

Blogging is an activity that you turn to it at least once a day... but what happen to me, it was a long hiatus to update this blog... don't know why... nothing to be blamed...

'a blog is your own personal virtual soapbox, where you can get up every morning and, in the form of a column or a newsletter or just a screed, tell he world what you think about any subject, upload that content onto your own website, and hen wait for the world to come check it out.' (The World is Flat, Friedman:118)

New Constitution in Thailand

2007-08-21T22:58:00.000-07:00

Military government in Thailand has conducted the first ever referendum in this country last Sunday to decide whether the new constitution will be accepted or not. Only 57.6 per cent of the eligible voters voted, far below the usual turnout at general elections. According to Peter Janssen in his analysis,

'a final count of ballots cast, only 57 per cent of the people who bothered to vote Sunday supported the new charter, with 42 per cent rejecting it. And despite being the country's "first-ever" referendum, the novelty value was insufficient to draw the masses to the polling stations'.

By this result, the re-installation of democracy in Thailand has a long road to go....

New Politics in US-UK?

2007-08-04T23:40:00.000-07:00

What matter most? Image or Ability…. The way Hillary leads the run for the democratic nomination and Gordon Brown newly crowned as Prime Minister has portrayed the new style of leadership. ‘Goodbye charisma, hello new politics’ provides detailed analysis about this new politics in US-UK relationship ….

Friendship....

2007-08-04T08:02:00.000-07:00

I've borrowed this paragraph with Chris Widener

Surround yourself with good friends. Good friend are such a blessing! I have some of the most intelligent, capable, successful, and caring friends a person could have. I have three or four people in my life that I completely trust and admire. When friendships are clicking, there is almost nothing that provides more happiness. Take time to develop your friendships. Spend time with them, do fun things with them etc. Even as life gets more and more busy, make time with your friends a priority.

One of the best things that follows me besides my shadow, is the need to make friend. Friends come and go.... some of them remain in your heart.... but one thing that's very hard to say to a friend especially when he or she needs your favour at the moment you're having a bundle of works, the word NO.

Thinking aloud in the next GE?

2007-07-30T08:43:00.000-07:00

Finally Malaysiakini has reported the next journey of Jeff Ooi to shift the political arena from Gerakan to DAP. Another coup de ta? Anyway, the main issue here is how blogging is well accepted as a ground to search the new recruits for political parties. Remember Nik Nazmi and Tony Pua ? Adios

Interfaith according to Karen Armstrong

2007-07-02T22:09:00.000-07:00

Quest for peace

By: Jacqueline Ann Surin, Husna Yusop and Dorothy Teoh (Thu, 28 Jun 2007)

To neo-conservatives, she's an "apologist for Muslims". But to some Muslims, she's unqualified to speak about Islam because she's not Muslim. Malaysia, on its part, has banned three of her books. That's not stopping religious historian, author and commentator Karen Armstrong from promoting interfaith dialogue and understanding through her books and lectures. The former Catholic nun, most famous for her book A History of God, speaks to JACQUELINE ANN SURIN, HUSNA YUSOP and DOROTHY TEOH while on a visit to Malaysia as a speaker for a Wisma Putra conference and a youth dialogue earlier this month.
theSun: We understand this is your first visit to the region, and your first ever to Malaysia?

Armstrong: Yes, that's right.

What kinds of questions about religion have you been posed here, that have been common questions that have been raised for you in the West?

Well, most of them really are much the same about the nature of religion, and the place of belief in religion. Why religious people are not compassionate when all the religions teach us about compassion. That kind of thing.

Would you say that of all the major religions of the world, Islam is currently the most misunderstood?

Yes, I would.

How did this happen, you think?

Well, the West has found it always very difficult to understand Islam. Islamaphobia dates right back to the time of the Crusades when we tended to project worries about our own behaviour unto Islam.

And so, it was in the West at a time when the Crusaders were fighting a brutal holy war against Muslims in the middle East that they said that Islam was a violent religion of the sword, projecting their worry and anxiety about their own unreligious behaviour unto the Muslims. And that's been a common pattern. The Muslims, and the Jews, became the shadow self of Europe. The opposite of everything we thought we might be or hoped we weren't.

And recently, the terrorist attacks committed in the name of Islam have tended to confirm that view.

Seeing as this misunderstanding about Islam is so historically rooted, what ways can we employ to correct this misrepresentation?

Well, I think what would be helpful would be if Muslims undertook a counter-offensive, and started to project the peaceful image of Islam more energetically. Trying to find a more imaginative and creative way of expressing this.

You can't just take it for granted that people will see that (the peaceful image of Islam). You need to display it, if you like, as spectacularly as the terrorists have demonstrated something inaccurate about Islam.

I think I read in one of your interviews, you suggested that Muslims should actually march down the streets of New York, saying 'Muslims for Peace'.

Yes, that's right. And that was after 9/11 when I suggested that American Muslims organise a march going down to the World Trade Centre. That sort of thing. It's for you to decide how to do it. But, I think, some such initiative would be helpful.

Sept 11 was a milestone of sorts in that it reinforced the common Western assumption that Islam is a violent religion. It's been six years since Sept 11. Do you think enough has been done to repair the damage done to the image of Islam?

No.

No? And the hostility towards Islam, in the West, is still as evident today as it was before?

Yes. Because there have been other events since Sept 11. There have been the Bali bombings, there've been the London bombings, there've been the Danish cartoons with the violent Muslim riposte there.

And on both sides, the relationship between Islam and the West is being forged by extremists. In the Danish cartoon crisis, the secularists who were publishing those cartoons again and again and again were secular fundamentalists who were aggressively pushing free speech 'in your face', as it were.

And certainly on the other side, the Muslims who were tearing down embassies and resorting to violence were also extremists. Polls taken during this crisis showed that 97% of the Muslim youth questioned, for example, even though they were offended by the cartoons, were horrified by the violence.

And similarly, Danes who were questioned at the same time were supportive of the ideal of free speech but were very distressed that the cartoons had created this crisis and had given this degree of offence.

Thus, all you heard about in the press were the extremes. And I think the media bears a responsibility here. After all, Muslims going peacefully along to pray at the mosque isn't really news.

No. It doesn't make the headlines.

It doesn't make the headlines. And the media does tend to thrive on the more dramatic forms of events.

So, on both sides, you have extremists hogging the headlines, and in a way, framing the debate.

Yes. The middle ground gets left out.

And their voice is not heard...

Is not heard.

...in the public discourse.

No, it isn't. So, therefore, it would be good if peaceable Muslims could find some ways of capturing media attention.

Hence, coming back to your suggestion about the need to be more imaginative and creative?

Yes.

Have you seen examples of how groups have been creative or imaginative?

Not really, not in this field. But other people may have.

Is it because with religion, it's particularly difficult to talk about it in the public sphere, when religion and faith for a lot of people, is a very private matter?

I don't think it's just a matter of talking about it. I think it's a matter of demonstrating it in some way. In events like the march I suggested. That kind of thing.

In one interview that you did for your book Muhammad: A Biography of the Prophet, you said that the Prophet 'must be one of the greatest genuises the world has ever known, both spiritually and politically, yet he was also a genius at humanity'. Do you think enough people - Muslims and non-Muslims - understand that today?

I think there's a lot of ignorance about the Prophet in the West. And that's why I wrote my book. It was for Western people.

Originally, my objective was to talk about the Prophet's life in a way that Western people could understand. But the behaviour of the Prophet could, for example, give Muslims some idea of how to deal with this problem of apostacy that you have here at the moment.

The Prophet wanted there to be no compulsion in religion. When one of his companions converted back to Christianity, for example, the Prophet accepted it; there was no question of putting the man to death.

There is also the famous story about him standing up respectfully when the body of a Jew was being taken out to burial in Medina.

But unfortunately, there is a tendency, especially when people feel under attack, for those who feel particularly threatened, to become hardline.

Maybe the situation is different because at that time during the Prophet's time, their original religion was not Islam. So, they converted to Islam and then they converted out of the religion. But in Malaysia, Malays are born Muslims. So, maybe the situation is different.

I'm sure there's a difference. But the question I was asked was do Muslims understand the humanity of the Prophet. And the Quran says quite clearly there must be no compulsion in religion. No coercion. People must not be forced against their will. So, that's something for people to consider, too, I think.

So, in our country, where most of us believe that Muslim apostates should be sentenced to death, what do you think about that?

I think it's upsetting. As I said, I don't think this was the sort of way the Prophet behaved. That was the question I was asked.

So, it would then suggest, just from this little bit of conversation that we've had, that Muslims themselves maybe do not understand the genius that Muhammad was.

Unfortunately, in most religions, very few are able to live up to their founders, who were men and women of spiritual genuis.

I don't think many Christians live up to Jesus. Many Buddhists are unable to live up to the Buddha.

Because these were figures of towering spirituality and insight, and most of us cannot reach this extraordinary standard. They are models, archetypal figures for us to imitate, and we always fall short.

Ok, related to that whole discussion about apostacy, in Malaysia, the punishment for apostacy can range from a fine or enforced rehabilitation right up to death, even though death hasn't yet been enforced. Why do you think Muslims have this kind of reaction when one of them chooses to leave the faith? Just because it's very clear in the Quran, as you've said already, that there is no compulsion in religion, and nowhere in the Quran does it stipulate that death is the punishment for apostacy and you would think that for something as drastic as that, it would be clearly stated in the Quran.

Yes.

So, why this kind of adverse reaction, and it's not just in Malaysia, obviously. It's happening in other Muslim countries as well. Leaving the faith is seen as something which is criminal even.

And I think this came in long after Muhammad had died. This would also have been true in pre-modern Europe, too. If you had apostatised from Christianity in the Middle Ages, you would have been punished and ostracised, too.

Similarly, in early modern Europe, if you were the 'wrong kind' of Christian, you would be very likely to be put to death. Christ would have been appalled at such behaviour.

But in a medieval polity, when religious allegiance was identical with allegiance to the state, apostacy became treason, punishable by death. But in a more secular world, that's more difficult to understand.

So, do you see this period where there are a lot of acts of violence that suggest that Muslims feel very threatened, do you see this as just part of a process (to grapple with modernity)?

No, I don't think we can ever say that deliberate violence is just part of a process. That suggests that people have no free will about committing these atrocities. That's clearly not the case.

But we have to remember that our modernity has been very violent. We are killers. As a species, we kill. We kill each other. And our superior technology has enabled us to kill with unprecedented efficiency and on a scale that was unimaginable hitherto.

Between 1914 and 1945, 70 million people died in Europe as a result of armed conflict. We've also created nuclear weapons that would enable us to wipe out the entire human race.

We've killed in concentration camps in unprecedented numbers. Violence has permeated all kinds of spheres. There's violence at a football match, for example. The United States is a very violent country, where it is too easy to buy guns, so we have seen these terrible school shootings.

So, we shouldn't be surprised that violence has also permeated religion, especially in regions which have been given over, for decades, to armed conflict. In the Middle East, for example, there has been almost continuous war and conflict for almost a century. And so, too, in Afghanistan, which was the theatre of a cold war battle, and then was just abandoned to become a lawless place ruled by warlords.

If you are born in Gaza, you will see tanks on the street every day, soldiers with guns, suicide bombings, houses being demolished by bulldozers and people carted off to jail. Such violence will infect everything - your dreams, your fantasies, ambitions, and relationships. In such regions, religion gets sucked into the conflict and becomes a part of the problem.

You've often been accused by the West for being 'an apologist for Muslims'. How do you respond to such criticisms?

Well, first of all, I'd say that people who say that need to understand the English Language. An 'apologist' is not someone who apologises in our sense. An 'apologia' is a rational explanation and an 'apologist' is somebody who gives a rational explanation of an event or a phenomenon.

At a time like ours, when there is so much irrational bigotry around, I think that is an important corrective to give a reasoned explanation of the religion of Islam, which is so often misrepresented.

People who object to my work are usually offended because they have an ingrained view of what Islam is, and they don't like hearing that undermined in any way. That is because hostility towards Islam is so central a part of the Western identity: we've long used Islam as a kind of foil against which we measure ourselves.

So when this negative image of Islam is undermined in any way, people get upset because they feel that their own identity is in peril. It is also true that many of the people who make these accusations are hand-in-glove with the neo-conservative administration in Washington which have a particular political agenda and it suits them very well to say that Islam is a violent and dreadful religion.

And your books then become a counterweight to the demonisation of Islam.

That's it, yes. Like John Esposito's books do in the same way.

He's banned here as well, by the way. (Esposito's What Everyone Needs to Know About Islam is banned in Malaysia under the Printing Presses and Publications Act).

I know, I know [laughs].

So, you're in good company.

I know I'm in good company [laughs].

Ok, but at the same time, you're a white woman who is a kafir who writes authoritatively on Islam.

Excuse me, I'm not a kafir. Jews and Christians are people of the Book, and are not kafirs. It is inaccurate and unQuranic to say that they are kafirun. I would describe myself as a hanif.

Which is...?

In the Quran, a hanif is one of the followers of Abraham, people who surrendered to God before Jews, Muslims and Christians formed separate sects.

But do you get called a white woman who isn't a Muslim and what right do you have to write about Islam?

Oh, yes. Somebody said that the other night at the conference (the International Conference on Islam and the West: Bridging the Gap from June 15 to 16, organised by the Foreign Ministry's Institute of Diplomacy and Foreign Relations) [chuckles].

I heard about that. And what is your response to that?

Well, I think Islam is a religion, a phenomenon that anybody can study. Why shouldn't I study it just because I'm not a Muslim?

I study Buddhism. The Dalai Lama doesn't tell me I mustn't write about the Buddha. I've written about Confucius. Leading Confucians are quite happy with what I've said about Confucius.

You teach rabbis.

I teach rabbis.

And you're not a practising Jew.

And they like it that I write about Judaism, and understand Judaism because the discussions I have with them, say about Christianity, are therefore more pertinent.

The only way we're going to make any progress in this distressing conflict is if we learn about one another.

And, frankly, I wouldn't have to do this if Muslims did more to explain their faith. It is exhausting to be continually on the road; right now, I have a bad cough and cold, which I caught on the plane coming over to Malaysia, and I could now be sitting happily at home, writing about quite different topics. Believe me, I have other things I'd rather do, you know.

So, it would be great if some of you people would also go on the road and do this instead of leaving it to people like me and John Esposito [laughs].

So, if the gentleman the other night wouldn't mind doing a little more work to propagate a more peaceful image of Islam himself, then John and I could happily retire! [laughs]

But do you think this kind of labelling - on one hand you have the neo-cons calling you an 'apologist for Muslims' and then on the other hand, you have Muslims saying 'What right do you have to write about Islam?' - do you think this kind of labelling is a way to exclude certain voices from the public discourse?

Yes, I do. And it's also very much against building bridges. How do we build bridges unless people on both sides learn about each other?

And, it is only fair to note that Muslims in the West have told me that they've only been able to teach their children Islam because of my books. These children are Westerners, who have grown up in the United States or Britain and they don't approach the text in the same way as their parents did in, say, Pakistan or Saudi Arabia. They can't respond to the story of the Prophet when it is told in the traditional way. It doesn't speak to them because they have absorbed other norms. So because I am a Westerner, writing about Islam, Muslims tell me that my books have enabled them to teach these young people.

Now, if these young people then also could start writing books about the Prophet, or about Islam, and thus spread the good word, then again, there would be no need for me to do all this. I wrote my book about the Prophet (Muhammad: A Biography of the Prophet, 1992) way back at the time of the Salman Rushdie crisis. (Editor's note: Rushdie's 1988 novel, The Satanic Verses, sparked of Muslim protests who deemed it blashphemous and led to Iranian leader Ayatollah Khomeini issuing a fatwa the following year calling for his death. Several attempts were made to murder Rushdie and he had to go into hiding under police guard. Rushdie's recent knighting by the British government has led to renewed condemnation and death threats from some Muslim states and groups.)

When the fatwa was issued against him?

Yes, because I was horrified by the way that British liberals, in order to defend Rushdie's right to publish what he chose, segued from a criticism of the fatwa to an out and out denunciation of Islam itself. And it seemed to me wrong to defend a liberal principle by evoking a medieval bigotry.

So, I wrote my book about Muhammad initially for my own countrymen. (Editor's note: Armstrong put aside writing A History of God when the fatwa was issued against Rushdie in order to write Muhammad).

And if Muslims did this and were able to speak and write in an idiom that the West could understand, then I wouldn't need to do it.

The Malaysian government has banned three of your books - A History of God, Muhammad: A Biography of the Prophet and The Battle for God for apparently being "detrimental to peace and harmony" in Malaysia.

[laughs]

What are your thoughts on this, and have you been banned anywhere else in the world?

There are people who would love to ban me, such as the neo-conservatives Daniel Pipes or Robert Spencer in the United States. I've also had threatening letters from secularists in Britain for writing positively about religion in general, and Islam in particular.

I can't think that I've actually been banned anywhere else but I may well have been. But this seems ridiculous. I cannot see how these books are in any way detrimental to peace. They're all about promoting peace and harmony, and banning things is simply not helpful.

Do you think religion is necessary in this day and age?

Yes. Because people are religious. People are going to be religious whether the pundits or the intellectuals think it's necessary or not.

In the same way, there are always going to be people who are dancers, singers or poets.

In the middle of the 20th century, it was generally assumed that secularism was the coming ideology. And that never again would religion play a major role in world events. But now, there has been a massive religious revival in almost every part of the world, showing that secularism has not fulfilled all the promises that it made.

Of the major religions - Islam, Christianity, Judaism, Hinduism and Buddhism - which do you think provides the most liberating messages of peace, justice and compassion?

They all do. They all do it in their own distinctive way. I don't see any of these world religions as better than any of the others. Each has its own particular genius and each its own particular vulnerabilities.

So, where do you think we can find the common ground to build interfaith understanding and help to reduce ongoing conflict?

When you ask that, what do you mean? 'Where can we...?' Who is we?

'We' as in people. Humanity. Or adherents of the various religions.

I think there are various political problems that are fuelling this division. I think that is crucial. And I think that a lot of the terrorism, for example, is motivated by politics rather than by reading the Quran. I don't think people read the Quran and say I must go and bomb a London bus. They decide to bomb a London bus because of politics, because in Iraq, Palestine, all these outstanding issues, and then pick out a few verses in the Quran which they see as justifying their action. That's how it works. This is politics rather than religion.

So, where can we start to build a common understanding?

In religious terms, I think, by stressing the elements that we have in common. The religions all have in common a preoccupation with compassion. They all teach that it is essential to feel with the other, to look out for others, to love the stranger, to honour the foreigner.

When Muhammad conquered Mecca and invited the Quraish to enter Islam, he stood beside the Kaabah and said, 'O Quraish, God is calling you from the chauvinism of jahiliyyah with its pride in ancestors. But all men come from Adam and Adam came from dust.'

He was thus insisting that the human race is one single family and that none of us has much to be proud of.

And then he quoted God's words in the Quran: 'O people, we have formed you from a male and a female and formed you into tribes and nations so that you may know one another.' Not so that you may convert one another, or terrorise one another, or conquer one another, or colonise one another, or kill one another, but so that you may reach beyond tribal bonds and know one another.

I think that in its appreciation of other faiths and its inspired pluralism, the Quran has a headstart on many of the other scriptures, for promoting a more pluralistic vision of the world.

But that is not what we are seeing now.

No.

When you talk about finding a room for the others in our minds, how do you build a common understanding if they can't even find room for the other?

Yes, but not everybody is like that. The world is divided into those who find the new pluralism inspiring and helpful and those who find it a threat.

And there is a division in all the religions, not just in Islam, on this matter, as I have said earlier. And it is no good saying, 'Well, people must be forced to become pluralistic!' because that will make them even more tense and worried.

The thing to do is gently to proceed forward. Those who have adopted this more pluralistic vision - and many Muslims have done so - must proceed with bridge building but they must also learn to appreciate the fears and anxieties that underline the more hardline approach. Because when people feel threatened and under attack, coercion will only make them more extreme.

You were a Catholic nun for seven years before you left the convent, and you described yourself as being disillusioned and depressed, and you wanted nothing to do with religion for a long time after that. What was it about Catholicism or religion that you found objectionable?

It wasn't kind.

It wasn't kind?

Yes. And I think that the most important thing is compassion, is to be kind, and the religion that doesn't project kindness, the Quran is always talking about kindness, friendliness.

So is the Bible.

So is the Bible. 'Do not address the People of the Book except in the most kindly manner.' Instead of fulminating about them for daring to mention a word about Islam, speak in a kindly manner.

And I think, unless religious people exude kindness they have not understood their religion. ... I met the Dalai Lama about 18 months ago. And he said, my religion is kindness. That's it. To be kind at every moment of your life, endlessly, all day and every day, becoming an image of gentleness and openness.

That is what religion is about because it forces you to reach out towards the other - out of your own selfishness. Compassion requires you to put yourself in the place of the other. And if a religion can't do that and becomes cruel and aggressive instead, then, it has failed, I think.

So you didn't experience this kindness when you were a nun at the convent?

No, I didn't. I have written all about that.

Ya, in your biography.

It's not banned yet so you can read that one [laughs].

[Laughs] Not yet anyway, we never know.

Yes. Let's keep quiet about it [laughs].

Final question, how would you describe your religious beliefs today, if you still subscribe to any?

I think 'belief' - I'm sorry to be pedantic about terms - but I think we spend far too much time troubling about belief. This is a special problem for Christians.

But the Quran doesn't talk much about believing things. It talks about doing things. Look at the five pillars of Islam - going on the hajj, fasting in Ramadan, praying, doing things. And Jesus didn't talk much about believing things. It was about being good, being kind, being thoughtful to others.

It's only since the 18th century, and that in the West, that faith has been acquainted with believing, accepting certain propositions, certain ideas, certain theological opinions.

The word 'belief' in English originally comes from the Middle English word 'beleven', which means to love.

And 'credo', the Latin for 'I believe', comes from the Latin 'cor do', (meaning) 'I give my heart.' And similarly, when Jesus says, 'You must have faith in the New Testament', the Greek word is 'pistis' which also means commitment, giving your heart to something. Not accepting certain ideas.

The Quran makes it quite clear that the kafirs had the right beliefs. As God says to Muhammad, 'If you ask them who created the world, they will certainly say, Allah.' The kafirun understood the theology. The problem was that they were not doing anything about it. They were not accepting the fact that they were creatures, owing everything to God, and behaved as though they were the centre of the world.

So, I think that we spend far too much time saying, 'What do you believe?'

Beliefs make no sense unless you put them into practice. Religious doctrines, religious teachings are a summons to action. And it is only when you put them into practice that you realise their truth. The Quran won't be true to you, unless you answer its call to justice, to doing good in society, to fasting and praying. When you do these things, then you discover that the Quran has meaning.

But if you just read it as though it were an article in the newspaper, without in anyway letting it affect your behaviour, it will remain something distant and something that you can argue about but it won't become a vibrant truth in your life and heart.

And similarly, in Christianity. The New Testament is all about following Jesus, instead of being preoccupied with such questions as, 'Is Jesus the Son of God or not?' How do we prove this? Do I believe it? In the New Testament, St Paul quotes an early Christian hymn which says that Jesus was created in the image of God, but that he did not hold on to this. But he became a humble person, emptying himself of his self-importance, and even accepted a horrible death. And because of this acceptance and self-emptying, God raised him up to a very high level. Christians often claim that this text proves that from a very early date in their history the early church believed that Jesus was the incarnate son of God.

But that is not what the text is about: it is a call to action. Paul introduces this teaching by, saying 'You must have the same mind as Christ Jesus. You must empty yourself of your self-importance.' If you don't do this, you won't understand the meaning of the story of Jesus. It won't be a truth to you. You have to be self-effacing, making others more important than yourself. Again, the emphasis is on kindness. And unless you do this, you won't understand the truth about Jesus.

So, I am not fixated on the idea of belief. The Quran dismisses many of these orthodox doctrines as zannah - self-indulgent guesswork, about matters that nobody can prove one way or the other. Why quarrel about them as the Jews and Chrstians did? It makes people quarrelsome, sectarian and unkind.

Nobody has the last word on God. Buddhism has no time for beliefs. The Buddha had a monk who kept on pestering him about whether there was a God or not and who had created the world; had the world been created in time or had it always existed? As a result, this monk

wasn't getting along with his meditation and his ethical practice because he was too busy worrying about these abstruse metaphysical issues. The Buddha told him he was like a man who'd been shot with a poisoned arrow, but who refused to have any medical treatment until he found out the name of the person who shot him and what village he came from. And, the Buddha concluded, you'll die before you get this perfectly useless information.

These things are fascinating and we can while away many happy hours discussing these absorbing questions but they won't help you. Suppose you actually succeed in discovering who created the world - what difference would it make to your life?

So, the point of Buddhism was to behave differently. Only then would a Buddhist understand the nature of Nirvana.

So it is best to concentrate not on believing things but on doing things. My prayer is my study. When I am at home, I spend the whole day immersing myself in sacred texts. And very often, as I said yesterday, when I am studying these things, I get moments of transcendence and awe and wonder and uplift.

Thus study is for me a form of spirituality that is easier than meditation and yoga, which I have never been able to do.

And as for behaviour, I try to put the Golden Rule - do not do to others what you would not like them to do to you - into practice all day and every day, as Confucius advised his pupils. That is the essence of religion and it's a full time job. And so, I try to concentrate on that.

University

2007-06-27T20:55:00.000-07:00

This arcticle has been long kept in my PDA. Interesting article about university as a public institution....

Unity in diversity

If university still means unity in diversity, what are we to make of the illiberal censoring and banning of university Christian Unions (CUs) by student unions (SUs) in Exeter, Edinburgh and Birmingham? Is it simply the case that a few, short-sighted political hacks have effectively hijacked these SUs and are seeking to take away basic freedom of speech, belief and association? Or is there something even more disturbing at work in our HE institutions?

Wendy Kaminer, the American social critic who spoke last month at the Battle of Ideas festival in London, believes today's liberals in the academy have become illiberal authoritarians: "In some universities, there is a creeping culture of conformism, a sense that certain ideas are beyond the pale and thus must be crushed by the long arm of the censor (often, these days, a university-appointed ethics committee or a self-righteous SU)." She cited the Sussex University SU, which banned the Daily Mail for being "bigoted". This action provoked one student to complain that the union is "treating us like babies and it's offensive".

Edinburgh University authorities have banned the CU from meeting on campus to discuss sexual ethics. Why? Because the orthodox Christian view is deemed offensive to homosexuals. This desire for safety by preventing open dialogue is a reminder of Vaclav Havel's chilling description of communist tyranny as authorities taking away liberty and bending everyone to their own will and purpose. "Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety," observed Benjamin Franklin, "deserve neither freedom or safety."

The role of SUs, part-funded by the students they should be impartially serving, should not be to promote their own (often sterile, humourless and politically correct) agendas. Rather, they should provide facilities and resources to students of different interests and religious beliefs.

However, far from being a centre of free speech and debate, some universities are becoming a breeding ground for new forms of censorship and conformism. What is shocking is that it is the liberals themselves who have unquestioningly bought into ideas of "hate speech" and "harmful speech", and are banning and censoring all who fail to conform to their own definition of equality, opportunity and tolerance.

What will prospective employers think of universities that churn out students with such faddish, brittle and incurious world views? Real tolerance presupposes judgment. You have to believe you are right and the other person is wrong in order to exercise tolerance. If you don't think someone is wrong, there is nothing to tolerate and so the only thing promoted is indifference. GK Chesterton once said, "The purpose of an open mind is the same as that of an open mouth - to close it again on something solid."

If "open-mindedness" is being defined as a refusal to make judgments about religious truth and sexual ethics (for instance), then we are prone to contracting a form of intellectual lockjaw. This condition prevents us from ever discriminating between goodness and evil, truth and error.

It is at this point that Britain's 350 CUs, who together form the Universities and Colleges Christian Fellowship (UCCF), can help show us the way. CUs are sufficiently confident in their position to hold open lunchtime dialogues at which crowds of students of all beliefs, and none, get a chance to voice their objections to the speaker. It is this confidence in the ability of truth to vindicate itself, and the resultant commitment to promote freedom of belief and speech, that has recently earned the Sheffield University CU the accolade (awarded by a fair-minded SU) "the university's most accessible faith society".

Freedom of belief, association and expression - which has been denied to Exeter, Edinburgh and Birmingham University CUs - is not only the precondition for a civilised society but the only way people can reach their full potential and thrive. Havel observed that it is the act of depriving people of the freedom of assembly, speech and association that triggers any regime's inevitable demise. What is at stake here is the existence of universities as we know them.

Long live freedom - long live the university!

EducationGuardian

Tuesday November 28 2006

Life without no 14

2007-06-24T17:47:00.000-07:00

Still remember the first day when Henry was signing as a Gunner. He was an unhappy winger with Italian giant, Juventus before joining his mentor when they were together at Monaco. But now Henry decided to show his killer instinct in front of the goal of La Liga.... Good Luck to you Mr Henry... wish you all the best... but i'm still a Gunner providing that the Arsene 'the professor' Wenger makes a same decision regarding his affiliation with the Emirates....

Coretan Dinding - Iwan Fals

2007-06-06T18:19:00.000-07:00

Coretan di dinding membuat resah

Resah hati pencoret mungkin ingin tampil

Tapi lebih resah pembaca coretannya

Sebab coretan  di dinding adalah pemberontakan

Kucing hitam yang terpojok di tiap tempat sampah

Ditiap kota . . . . . . . .

Cakarnya siap dengan kuku-kuku tajam

Matanya menyala mengawasi gerak musuhnya

Musuhnya adalah penindas

Yang menganggap remeh coretan dinding kota

Coretan dinding terpojok di tempat sampah

Kucing hitam dan penindas sama-sama resah

-Rahman Tardjana-

No JoY for Lina Joy

2007-05-29T21:28:00.000-07:00

Alhamdulillah, AllahuAkbar.... Federal Court has decided that NRD was right not to allow her to remove the word "Islam" from her identity card.

BLOG DAN PILIHAN RAYA KECIL IJOK

2007-05-23T20:49:00.000-07:00

Kemajuan teknologi komunikasi dan maklumat memberikan impak yang besar kepada perkembangan sosio-politik masa kini. Teknologi ini digunakan semakin meluas di kalangan masyarakat yang mempunyai capaian dan kemahiran penggunaaannya. Senario politik terkini di negara kita telah menampakkan bagaimana penggunaan beberapa saluran internet menjadi antara alternatif utama dalam menggerakkan advokasi sosial dan politik. Pilih raya kecil Dewan Undangan Negeri Ijok pada 28 April 2007 yang lalu membuka lembaran baru pertembungan di alam maya melalui penulisan dalam blog. Lebih dari itu, penulis-penulis blog ini telah turut sama turun ke Ijok untuk mendapatkan maklumat primer dan seterusnya dimuatkan dalam blog masing-masing.

Pilihan raya kecil yang menyaksikan pertembungan antara wakil MIC dalam Barisan Nasional K. Partiban dengan pemimpin PKR, Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim telah memihak kepada wakil Barisan Nasional dengan majoriti sebanyak 1850 undi. Buat pertama kalinya dalam sejarah pilihan raya Malaysia, liputan meluas telah diberikan melalui laporan dan analisa yan dilakukan oleh para penulis blog di Malaysia. Dari segi rekod, sebenarnya sejak pilihan raya umum ke 10 pada tahun 1999 dan ke 11 pada tahun 2004, kehadiran penulis blog dan liputan media internet telah mula mendapat tempat di kalangan pemerhati politik. Tetapi apa yang berlaku di Ijok ini menunjukkan ruang demokrasi semakin meluas dan penyertaan masyarakat yang sebahagianya bersifat apolitikal telah berubah. Mereka menunjukkan penyertaan melalui tulisan dalam blog masing-masing.

Namun begitu, kemeriahan alam blog ini tidak mencerminkan kedudukan dan keputusan sebenar pilihan raya kecil tersebut. Ini kerana blog-blog yang menonjol seperti Roslan SMS Corner,Ijok2007 dan Screenshots kebanyakannya lebih memihak kepada pembangkang dan isu-isu yang diutarakan cuba mencari kelemahan pemerintah tetapi orientasi isu-isu tersebut tidak sampai kepada golongan majoriti pengundi-pengundi di Ijok. Selain itu, walaupun penulis-penulis blog ini turut sama pergi ke Ijok, tetapi hanya sebahagian sahaja yang turut sama berkempen.

Bagi pihak Barisan Nasional pulak, pertembungan di Ijok menunjukkan parti komponen yang memerintah negara sejak merdeka ini tidak ketinggalan dalam menggunakan internet, khususnya blog ini bagi menyampaikan informasi terkini kepada rakyat dan juga menafikan tuduhan-tuduhan yang dilemparkan oleh parti pembangkang. Kewujudan beberapa blog yang aktif sepanjang kempen pilihan raya kecil DUN Ijok menjadi medan kepada mereka untuk turut sama memainkan isu-isu yang dibincangkan dalam ruang maya. Perkembangan ini telah menambahkan lagi pluraliti informasi dalam ruang siber.

Barisan Nasional yang sebelum ini tidak memberikan fokus utama kepada aktiviti blog dalam menyampaikan citra pemerintah mula berganjak untuk menggunakan medium ini. Antara isu-isu utama yang menjadi liputan utama penulis-penulis blog sepanjang pilihan raya kecil ini ialah penglibatan penasihat parti Keadilan Rakyat, Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim yang menjadi tumpuan utama di Ijok di mana setiap kali ceramah yang disampaikan oleh beliau mendapat sambutan hangat. Namun begitu, keputusan bekas timbalan perdana menteri yang menyerang peribadi Timbalan Perdana menteri tidak dapat diterima oleh beberapa aktor utama ruang siber. Pada pertengahan kempen, terdapat beberapa penulis blog yang sebelumnya mengalu-alukan penyertaan beliau dalam kempen di Ijok, mula menkritik cara beliau memainkan isu yang disifatkan tidak sesuai dimainkan di peringkat masyarakat di Ijok.

Ruang maya yang sebelum ini cukup sinonim dengan parti pembangkang yang menjadikan ruang tersebut sebagai saluran alternatif dengan alasan media cetak dan media massa yang sedia ada tidak berlaku adil kepada mereka tidak boleh memandang ringan isu-isu yang dimainkan melalui saluran internet. Ini kerana masyarakat dalam era informasi teknologi ini mempunyai pilihan yang luas dalam menilai setiap isu yang diketengahkan. Isu politik yang tidak menekankan perubahan positif kepada masyarakat dan berbentuk peribadi tidak dapat membentuk persaingan politik kepartian yang berobjektif. Selain itu, sokongan yang diraih melalui alam siber tidak menunjukkan sokongan sebenar di akar umbi atau dengan kata lain pengundi di Ijok masih bergantung kepada kempen-kempen tradisional dan isu-isu pembangunan dan masalah setempat menjadi pilihan utama. Pilihan raya di Ijok layak untuk kita menggelarkan Parti Keadilan Rakyat sebagai sebuah parti alam maya (virtual party) berdasarkan sokongan yang diperolehi melalui penulis-penulis blog dan juga kempen-kempen melalui internet.

Advokasi sosial dan politik ini menjanjikan masa depan yang cerah dalam proses demokrasi di Malaysia. Penguasaan parti pembangkang dalam ruang maya mungkin bakal menjadi senjata utama dalam pilihan raya umum akan datang kerana ianya melibatkan semua rakyat terutamanya yang berada di bandar-bandar dan menikmati kemudahan capaian internet. Oleh itu, parti pemerintah sekarang perlu turut sama mengambil peluang ruang alternatif ini untuk menjadikan persaingan politik yang lebih terbuka.

You're right Don!

2007-05-22T21:49:00.000-07:00

Azmi Sharom, a lecturer who is eligible to be a model for shampooing ad ( don't think my dean will put me in next sem time table if i had that kind of hairstyle) put some interesting points to ponder about the affirmative action and the bocor case involving Bung. Very worth reading ....

Of silly rules and a Bung-ling jester

BRAVE NEW WORLD
By AZMI SHAROM

azmisharom@yahoo.co.uk

It would be nice to take politicians down a peg or two every now and then to remind them that they are where they are because of us.

LIFE, as M. Nasir once sang, is like a rollercoaster. You have your ups and you have your downs. Sometimes you cry and sometimes you laugh like a loon. Just ask Sheffield United and West Ham United supporters. The past couple of weeks have been a little like that.

Maybank’s instructions that all the law firms working for them must have a bumiputra component in their make-up made me pretty annoyed.

Yes, it is fundamentally unfair to the lawyers who happen to be born non-Malay; yes, it is doubtful that they have the authority to make such a request; but what really irritated me is that this is the very sort of thing that undermines affirmative action.

Affirmative action is meant to give a leg up to those who need it. No one can deny that thirty years ago there were very few Malay lawyers around. The NEP has done a lot to fix that. We can debate the rightness of the NEP some other time.

My point is that there are plenty of Malay lawyers now, and many of them got to where they are because they got government scholarships to go abroad or they were let into local universities under the quota system.

Bung: Had incurred the wrath of women’s groups by making an off-colour ‘joke’ about a fellow MP’s menstrual cycle

What Maybank tried to do is in fact saying that despite all the help that these men and women obtained, they still need help now. This is exactly the sort of thing that makes people mad. Just how much of a leg up does one need?

You are already qualified lawyers, for goodness’ sake. Act like one. Work hard and go out there and prove that you are just as good as any other lawyer.

It is true that Maybank made a hasty withdrawal from their position because of the public outcry (which goes to show that public outcries do work).

But the damage has been done.

This episode has shown that a major Malaysian institution was set on having a race-based affirmative action policy in a situation where it is totally uncalled for.

This does not bode well for us either in terms of race relations, or for the economic well-being of the country.

When are they ever going to understand that without a merit-based system as a genuine aspiration we will all suffer, because when the best are not doing the best work, we get nothing but mediocrity.

But life is about balance, and before the froth started to drip on my T-shirt something really amusing happened.

Now, a lot has been written about the MPs who think that making jokes about a fellow parliamentarian’s menstrual cycle is the height of Dewan Rakyat wit. Those pieces have been very, very angry. That is perfectly understandable.

I, on the other hand, think that what Bung (oh, how apt a name) did – although not what he said – was great.

All right, before I get furious e-mails from women (and sensitive men in touch with their feminine side), please let me explain myself. I am one of those people who think that politicians are given far too much respect.

After all, they are only where they are because of us. It would be nice therefore to take them down a peg or two every now and then to remind them of this fact.

This would normally be the job of satirists and the like and could take the form of the written word or stand-up comedy or even television puppet shows. Unfortunately, we don’t have very much of that in these parts.

In Shakespearean plays, the fool plays an important role. As he frolics and clowns around, underneath the silliness he is actually the voice of reason.

By virtue of his being seen as merely a joker, he gets away with saying truths that others may not dare to. In this way, the King’s shortcomings are oft exposed and he is shown to be a fool himself.

We don’t have many people who can play the Shakespearean fool in Malaysia, someone who can show up those in power. But with clowns like Bung in our Parliament, we don’t really need to, as they are more than capable of being fools themselves.

And what wonderful comedic support he has, too.

When one of their fellows said a totally despicable thing and then gets off scot-free, many cheered. Oh, how they cheered.

Hurrah, one of us has made a “joke” that we would be ashamed to make in front of our mothers, but never mind, he got let off. Hip, hip, hurrah!

Or what about the woman MP who defended this jester Bung? I simply must remember my best period joke to tell her if we were ever to meet. I am sure she will find it humorous and in the best possible taste.

Indeed, Bung the fool has plenty of supporting players to make that comedy stage we call our Parliament a truly funny place indeed.

How I laughed. And I think I can hear the world laughing along with me.

Dr Azmi Sharom is an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Law, University of Malaya.

Where is the leak?

2007-05-14T21:37:00.000-07:00

I think both of MPs cannot differentiate between Parliament and mamak's stall in their hometown. When GE is around the corner, their performances (behaviour?), especially in dealing with sensitive issues are closely monitored.

Outrage grows against ‘Bocor’ MPs
Pauline Puah, Hwa Yue-Yi and R. Manirajan
KUALA LUMPUR (May 14, 2007): The "bocor" issue, which caused an uproar in the Dewan Rakyat (Parliament) last week, has spilled over.

The parliamentarians who were responsible for the remark that offended women received a dressing down in the Dewan Negara today.
And elsewhere, women’s groups are preparing a protest gathering tomorrow, with calls being made for a mechanism to “take care of this kind of behaviour”.
In the Dewan Negara, Deputy Culture, Arts and Heritage Minister Datuk Wong Kam Hoong said the rough remarks made by some MPs had ruined the government’s campaign to create a well-mannered society.
He was answering a supplementary question from Gooi Hoe Hin, who suggested the ministry hold a courtesy course for “some parliamentarians”.
“Our courtesy campaign has been ruined. Pak Lah’s programme to build a first class human capital has been ruined as well.
“As MPs, we should be careful on our conduct and the way we talk, especially issues on women whom we respect,” Wong said.
He said the lot of MPs had been besmirched.
“Repeatedly (they made inappropriate remarks). How do they face their family, mothers, daughters, sisters, especially when yesterday) was Mother’s Day? I am very disappointed,” Wong said, without naming the MPs.
He said the ministry would submit a report on the matter to the premier.
Datuk Bung Mokhtar Radin (BN – Kinabatangan) and Datuk Mohd Said Yusof (BN – Jasin) had raised an outcry for uttering a sexist remark against Fong Po Kuan (DAP – Batu Gajah) during a heated exchange about the ceiling leakage in Parliament last Wednesday (May 9).
“Where is the leak? Batu Gajah MP also leaks every month,” Bung Mokhtar was quoted as saying.
Earlier, in answering another question pertaining to this issue, Women, Family and Community Development Ministry parliamentary secretary Datin Paduka Chew Mei Fun said the minister concerned would bring this matter to the cabinet soon.
At a function today, Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Shahrizat said she wants action to be taken to ensure that remarks that insult or belittle women will not be repeated in Parliament.
“I feel hurt at what happened and I want concrete steps taken to ensure that similar incidents do not recur.
“I will raise the matter at the cabinet meeting on Wednesday to discuss the steps to be taken,” she said.
“This has been happening many times and must not be taken lightly. More importantly, we want action.”
At another function, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak was also asked about this matter.
Initially, he said it was up to Parliament to decide, but when pressed whether it was proper for MPs to make such remarks, he said: “I don’t want to pass judgment about what they said. They said it in a very ... It was not supposed to be taken seriously, I think if you take it with a sense of humour, then ... But of course people are making a big meal out of this issue.”
Outside Parliament, the Joint Action Group on Gender Equality (JAG) is organising a public protest tomorrow outside the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry in the Bukit Perdana Government Complex.
The protest will start at 11am with the reading of a statement from the group, after which JAG representatives hope to meet the minister.
“What we aim to achieve is to stop all this discrimination and sexism in the Parliament, and also to ensure there is a mechanism to take care of this kind of behaviour,” Women’s Development Collective executive director Maria Chin Abdullah said on behalf of JAG.
Women’s Aid Organisation executive director Ivy Josiah noted that from as early as 2000, there had been a pattern of chauvinistic remarks by the MPs.
“Occasionally there was an apology and what appeared to be a slap on the wrist, but it is not addressing the deep-seated sexist culture. There is this attitude that women are fair game,” she said.
She noted that in 2002, the banner organisation Women’s Agenda for Change submitted a three-page memorandum to the House Speaker, highlighting examples of sexist and lewd language in Parliament and urging that sexual harassment prohibitions be incorporated in the Parliamentary code of conduct.
“Hopefully we will not have to wait another five years,” she added.
The All Women's Action Society (AWAM) said in a statement the comments by Bung Mokhtar and Mohd Said insulted every girl and woman.
AWAM said “letting [the MPs] off without even a reprimand, or making them apologise, sends the signal that sexual harassment of women is acceptable”.
DAP leaders today sent a letter of protest to the office of Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak, who is also BN Whip.
The party is also organising a forum on this issue on May 17 night in Wisma YMCA in Brickfields.In the letter, the DAP called for the suspension and the sacking of the two BN MPs over their sexist remarks.

UK lecturers suffer larger class sizes, says union

2007-05-05T21:43:00.000-07:00

Being a lecturer, I'm facing the burden not only to educate the young generation, but also to entertain them in order to enjoy the learning process. That the truth. University and College Union (UCU) in UK, put forward some of the main obstacles.

This issue excerpted from http://www.educationguardian.co.uk/

There is average of 16.8 students to every member of teaching staff across higher education institutions in the UK, today's statistics from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (Hesa) for 2005 to 2006 reveal.

But the figure, according to the University and College Union (UCU), is higher than the average student-to-teacher ratio of 15.5 at universities in the 30 member states of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

The union said the UK figures meant that that 65% of universities have a student-to-lecturer ratio worse than the average OECD country, which includes members from Europe as well as Japan and the United States.

When Scottish institutions were looked at in isolation, the situation was slightly better, with 47% of universities and colleges having a worse ratio than the OECD average, according to the UCU analysis.

The UCU's joint general secretary, Sally Hunt, said: "It is unacceptable that the UK, the fourth largest economy in the world, is falling behind competitors when it comes to the number of students to each member of teaching staff in our universities."

Despite the increase in the UK student-to-teacher ratio in the last 12 months, which between 2004 and 2005 was one staff member to every 16.6 students, lecturers continue to perform to a very high standard, she said.

But he warned: "We cannot keep cramming more students in our universities and expect the staff to put in even more unpaid overtime."

University employers and the organisation which represents vice-chancellors both disputed the analysis of the figures carried out by the union and its conclusions.

In a joint statement, the Universities and Colleges Employers Association and Universities UK said that there are "significant" differences in the "definitions and methodologies" used to define the international average student-to-lecturer ratios.

They said: "The OECD points out that, unlike other countries, the UK figures relating to the ratio of students to contact staff refers to public institutions only.

"Private tertiary institutions are included in other countries and it is unclear whether these countries include former polytechnics and higher education colleges."

They said that other recent figures from Hesa revealed that while the number of students in higher education increased by 2.1% between 2004 to 2005 and 2005 to 2006, there was a 2.6% rise in academic staff during the same period.

How to define Politics?

2007-04-07T21:31:00.000-07:00

What is the definition of politics? Everything around us has a political element I think.....

This one was excerpted from Bernama:

Blog politik mesti didaftar: Zam

Menteri Penerangan Datuk Seri Zainuddin Maidin menyuarakan sokongan terhadap cadangan untuk mendaftarkan laman blog, terutamanya yang bersifat politik.

Beliau berkata jika media arus perdana tertakluk kepada pendaftaran, pemantauan dan undang-undang tertentu, tidak ada sebab kenapa pengendali blog boleh dikecualikan.

"Kita mesti tahu siapa mereka, jadi mesti ada undang-undang yang akan menyebabkan mereka kita kenali," katanya kepada pemberita di sini.

Beliau bagaimanapun berkata keperluan untuk mendaftarkan blog yang memuatkan hiburan atau komentar sosial mungkin tidaklah sebegitu besar sebagaimana blog yang didorong oleh politik.

"Apabila ada golongan politik yang hendak menggunakan blog untuk kepentingan politik atau seseorang pengendali blog yang mempunyai dorongan politik, maka kita harus kenal siapa dia.

"Politik adalah untuk mencari pengaruh di kalangan awam, politik adalah untuk mencari kuasa. Kalau kuasa, kita kena pergi kepada rakyat.

"Apabila kuasa pergi kepada rakyat, maka dia kena perkenalkan diri dia. Dia tidak jujur kalau dia menyembunyikan diri apabila dia bercakap tentang politik," katanya.

Zainuddin berkata untuk mencari kuasa politik, orang sanggup membuat fitnah dan juga menyebarkan hal-hal yang tidak benar, menggunakan sumber yang tidak disahkan atau tidak memeriksa sumber sesuatu maklumat.

"Maka ini adalah amat berbahaya sebab mereka menulis dan bertindak untuk mencari kuasa. Cita-cita mereka ialah untuk menjatuhkan kerajaan dan juga untuk mengembangkan fahaman politik mereka dan membantu mana-mana pihak untuk tujuan politik," katanya.

Zainuddin berkata beliau setuju dengan cadangan pemantauan dan pendaftaran seperti yang dicadangkan oleh Kementerian Tenaga, Air dan Komunikasi.

Zainuddin turut membincangkan isu blog dan bagaimana pendekatan Singapura terhadap perkara itu ketika beliau menemui rakan sejawatannya Menteri Penerangan, Komunikasi dan Kesenian Singapura, Dr Lee Boon Yang pagi tadi.

Zainuddin berkata Singapura mempunyai mekanisma pendaftaran bagi blog yang secara konsisten memuatkan tulisan politik.

Kata beliau, Singapura juga mempunyai rangka-kerja pelesenan secara kelas untuk mengawal selia media baru termasuk juga blog dan menaklukkan mereka kepada kod etika tertentu di bawah kawal seliaan Lembaga Pembangunan Media (MDA).

Pelesenan secara kelas secara amnya, membabitkan penggazetan terma dan syarat bagi sesuatu industri dan sesiapa sahaja yang menyediakan perkhidmatan dalam skop kelas lesen yang berkenaan, akan dianggap telah membaca terma dan syarat berkenaan dan dianggap telah dilesenkan.

Zainuddin berkata beliau berpendapat cara yang diguna pakai di Singapura adalah praktikal dan mungkin boleh diubah suai untuk di Malaysia.

"Kita akan tengok sama ada versi ini boleh dibuat di Malaysia, saya tidak tahu tapi saya rasa cara ini praktikal," katanya. - BERNAMA

Very 'Royalty'...

2007-04-05T19:14:00.000-07:00

That's why he holds a PhD in Political Sciences...

Keynote address at the Young Malaysians' Roundtable Discussion on National Unity and Development on Tuesday. Here is the full text of his speech.

It is my pleasure to be here to deliver the keynote address at this Roundtable Discussion on National Unity and Development in Malaysia: Challenges and Prospects for Nation Building. I am always happy to take part in an event where there are many young informed Malaysians. I find that this is time well spent. Not only does it give me a chance to share my thoughts, but it also lets me do a bit of opinion research among the younger generation.

We like to say that our youth are the future of this country, but then we proceed to ignore or marginalise them. We want our future generations to be able to think and act wisely, but then we do not give them sufficient opportunities to do so.

In my view, this is not a good way to prepare those who will take our place. If the young are to be good leaders and citizens, they must be exposed to more than just abstract concepts. Even those nation states which have failed miserably have had great political ideals.

I believe that good and upright leadership must be demonstrated. It has to be both taught and observed at work. Then, those who are found to be able, must be mentored by those who are capable. In this way, success can be learned and replicated.

Finally, the young must be given responsibilities they can handle. They should be allowed to make mistakes along the way as part of their overall learning process. If we do these things, our actions will echo loudly into the future.

My address this morning is on the challenges and prospects of nation-building, a topic that is of the greatest and gravest importance. Nation-building is essential to national unity which lies at the heart of what this country was, is and will be.

With the passage of time, it seems that we are starting to forget this and it is imperative that we do not. In the time available, I hope to say enough to provide some fuel for the discussions to follow. It is my earnest wish that you will gain some further perspectives on the nature of nation- building and that you will also deliberate on specific actionable ways to further it in this country.

Confucius insisted that language must be properly used if things are to get done, if justice is not to go astray, and if people are not to "stand about in helpless confusion". He disapproved of those who misused words to hide their true intentions and actions.

So what exactly is nation-building? Not surprisingly, there are many definitions, some which differ by a little and others by quite a lot. In his book, The Making of a Nation, for example, Prof Cheah Boon Kheng defined it as "both economic progress and socio-political integration of a nation, that is prosperity and national unity".

This captures what are hopefully the two end-results of nation building, but it makes no mention of its nature and process. I prefer the more common understanding, which is that it is the use of state power across different dimensions to ensure that a country is politically stable and viable in the long term. These dimensions include ethnicity and religion.

As a brief footnote, it should be noted that nation-building is a heated and even hated notion in some parts of the world. The main reasons for this are, first, that it is taking place in the midst of great domestic turmoil and, second, that it is primarily initiated and managed by foreign powers.

Trying to cobble a functioning state by papering over deep social and political rifts is, of course, easier said than done. History has shown us, time and again, that it is much easier to break down, rather than build up, nations.

In the case of Malaysia, nation- building has occurred in generally peaceful circumstances. It was not imposed by another country. And it is undertaken mainly by collective choice rather than compulsion.

The fact that we have been able to forge a nation without resorting to the rule of the gun has made us something of a rarity and a case to be studied, if not emulated. It has allowed a relatively effective system of governance to develop. Our track record in development and resolving problems such as illiteracy, poverty and poor health has been good.

There is, of course, much more that can be done. Our institutions of governance are far from perfect and quality improvements will probably occupy us for at least the next 50 years, if not longer. Nevertheless, for all the criticisms that have been made, it is only common sense that we could not have survived, let alone prosper, these last 50 years if government institutions had not been responsive or effective.

So, what are the central challenges to nation-building going forward? Let me speak first more generally about the world, and then move specifically to Malaysia.

To my mind, there are many challenges, but one that stands out most is that of having to balance the need for change with that of continuity.

Globalisation, in particular, has unleashed sweeping economic, political, social and cultural transformations that have weakened national institutions, values and norms. It is as if all the boats on the ocean had suddenly lost their anchors, rudders and compasses overnight.

Naturally, this has produced a strong reaction in the form of a desire to preserve identity, character and tradition. These are among the strongest motivations known to mankind and have been at the foreground or background of practically every conflict that has ever been waged. Add to this, a deep sense of deprivation, powerlessness and injustice, both real and imagined, and the tension between change and continuity mounts greatly.

Managing change on a national level is never easy, and certainly not on the scale and speed that we are witnessing. Multi-ethnic countries have to be especially watchful, and particularly if they have a weak sense of national collective identity.

In the absence of a strong binding nationalism, they are prone to polarisation and competition along ethno-religious lines. The state, which may well start out by being a relatively honest broker, can become increasingly pressured to act in ways that favour the interests of one group over another.

If the pendulum swings too far in one direction, dissatisfaction and frustrations will inevitably result. These can be expressed in ways that range from passive non-cooperation to active opposition and even violent conflict. To a large extent, this has led to the fragmentation of states.

Countries need to recognise the larger macro forces at work and understand their implications. They have to engage creatively to ensure that there are sufficient investments in social capital and cohesion. They must create and capitalise on cooperative systems within societies.

In recent times, it has become usual to try and place the blame for the disintegrating state of world affairs on the doorstep of religion. This is a misunderstanding of the first order. Religion is not the cause of societal dystrophy; it is the antidote. It is a social stabiliser that allows believers to reconnect to values that are fast being lost in today's ever more materialistic and self-centred world.

What does Malaysia have to do to ensure that it continues to be successful at nation-building? Psychologists say that our short-term memory can only hold seven items. Let me outline seven guidelines that I think will have to be borne in mind in future nation-building efforts.

First, Malaysians of all races, religions, and geographic locations need to believe beyond a shadow of a doubt that they have a place under the Malaysian sun. Only when each citizen believes that he or she has a common home and is working towards a common destiny, will he or she make the sacrifices needed for the long haul.

In Malaysia, the Federal Constitution, the Rukun Negara and Vision 2020 encapsulate the rights, hopes and aspirations of the population in a way that no other documents do. The integrity of these documents must be defended and promoted, especially the first.

Second, when we seek solutions to problems in nation-building, we must be careful not to assume away problems. Nation- building is required precisely because there are stark differences within society. If we all walked, talked and thought the same, it would probably not be needed.

There will therefore be chauvinistic groups in this country, just as there are in others. They will fight the idea of national unity, block social change and try to be politically dominant. The existence of these groups, however, does not mean that nation-building is a futile exercise.

It does mean that we must be prepared to negotiate our way through and around these differences. We can, for example, create social movements that aim to enlighten and dissuade popular support being given to them.

Third, nation-building requires accommodation and compromise. In our haste to be prescriptive, we should not be so idealistic that we are incapable of also being practical. We should not allow perfection to be the enemy of the good. Yes, we should seek the best solutions and expect the highest standards of performance.

But we should also be prepared to sacrifice some part of our positions for the good of the whole. The virtues of pure self-interest are largely a myth. What seems to be a reality is that individuals end up worse off when they act out of self-interest, as opposed to acting in their collective group interests.

Fourth, if nation-building is to be successful, enforced solutions must be avoided. Nation-building is effectively rendered null and void by coercion or the threat of violence. Might cannot, and must not, be shown to be right. If solutions cannot be found within the political and social structures, there will be a strong temptation to resort to illegitimate ways and means.

Fifth, nation-building occurs when society is open, tolerant and forward-looking. So important are these values that they are embedded in Vision 2020's nine strategic challenges, as are those of mature democracy, caring society and innovation. Only by being inclusive and participative can the various sectors of our society be productively engaged. It follows that all forms of extremism, chauvinism, racism and isolationism must be guarded against. They must be soundly sanctioned socially, politically and, if necessary, also legally.

Sixth, nation-building is a process rather than an outcome. When Malaysia started off 50 years ago, there were no examples to study. There were no manuals to follow. Mistakes were made and, to a greater or lesser extent, lessons have been learned.

While a sense of impatience is perhaps fully understandable, nation-building takes place over a period of time and only with persistence. Where there is no trust, trust has to be built. Where there is no cooperative network, one has to be established. Building on layers of foundation is the only way to ensure that the process is solid and sustainable.

Seventh, the political, social and economic incentives must reward good behaviour and penalise bad. I know that this statement is virtually self-evident, but it is a fact that many countries are as likely to punish good behaviour as to reward it. After all, if there are benefits for corruption, then there is a real cost to being honest. The incentives for building up a nation must be greater and more compelling than breaking it down. The price of racial and cultural intolerance must be made prohibitively high.

I believe fostering national unity is the responsibility of every Malaysian. However, schools, institutions of higher learning and sports centres have a very special role to play. This is because the sense of national unity is best inculcated in the young.

Through textbooks, sports and interaction, educators should eliminate ethnic stereotypes. Through the imaginative teaching of the history of Islamic, Chinese and Indian civilisation, educators could foster greater understanding among different ethnic groups.

It is said that it takes a village to raise a child. I believe this is true. To me, the village comprises three main institutions - family, school and community.

From birth, we should be taught to respect and honour each other's culture and heritage. Learning to interact with others is part of this process. Playing with children of other races on the playground and in friends' homes, we learn to go beyond the colour lines early in life. In school we should be taught about other cultures and beliefs under the same roof as others of different ethnic groups - once again cutting through the colour lines.

I am aware that there are many Malaysians who are deeply troubled at the state of national unity in this country. What I have tried to do today is disabuse you of the notion that there are any "quick fix" solutions in nation-building.

If you look closely enough at any country, even those that are regarded today as highly successful, such as Japan, you will find there have been episodes in their past where events were very tenuous.

I hope we will do our best to guard against cynicism and hopelessness. And I hope we will all stay the course. Failure, may I remind you all, is a costly option.

Cinta itu....

2007-03-27T20:32:00.000-07:00

I have to admit that I've been watched Cinta directed by Kabir Bathia more than 3 times... although some of my friends keep on telling me what a boring film it was.... but I see it in a different perspective. There is a Malay saying, cinta tetap dapat berbicara walaupun bibir terkatup rapat, namun cinta lebih bererti jika diucapkan dengan kata. If you love her you got to tell her... the sentence I used to tell my friends in college especially in our sophomore (more then ten years ago). And be strong to have any response. I had tried once.... but the response was in a very diplomatic manner. Left a tiny scar (in her heart too i think). I got drunk after that (with a bottle of mineral water bought in the kiosk at Mahallat). You should have a big heart to express the feelings. Love not a static verb, it's like a river, not a pond. And thanks God, for the gift, a very lovely wife. She completes me.... (a la Jerry Macguire la pulak).

Cinta itu.... to be continued

You

2007-02-05T00:47:00.000-08:00

TIME's selection "You" as Person of the Year gave some ideas how Internet has shaped the world. How we see the world with loaded of information provided by cyberspace? 'Me' as Person of the Year 'reflects the reality that more than ever people are not merely observers but participants in a world that we are creating' (borrowed from letters section in Time). So how about democracy in cyberspace - Kalimullah and the gang should provide an answer................

Biar Pecah di perut....

2007-01-16T19:35:00.000-08:00

Calderon, si President Real Madrid FC terpaksa meminta maaf atas ketelanjuran beliau bercakap dengan pelajar di Villanueva University Centre. Komen berkenaan dengan kedudukan 'supertars' dalam pasukan itu mungkin memecah belahkan pemain-pemain ternama....

'There is vanity, egoism and they all think they are superstars,' Calderon told the students when describing the Real Madrid dressing room. 'Real Madrid players never pay for anything. You have education and culture and that's something that they in general don't possess.'

On David Beckham....

'He's going to Hollywood to be half a film star,' he said. 'Our technical staff were right not to extend his contract and that has been proved by the fact that no other technical staff in the world wanted him except Los Angeles.'

Very Interesting.....

Sunyi...

2006-12-11T19:06:00.000-08:00

Semenjak dua menjak ni... banyak perkara yang membuatkan pemikiranku sentiasa aktif, sentiasa berpeluh. Menerima hakikat kepluralan dalam masyarakat dan kepelbagaian ini sebagai sesuatu yang fitrah agak penat dan sakit. Isu yang melintasi sempadan tuntutan setiap etnik semakin menjarakkan kita. Tak hairan bila Perdana Menteri sendiri mengakui kedudukan masyarakat majmuk kita agak goyah. Susah hati bila anak kecil mengeluarkan petahan, 'tak naklah kawan dengan Cina', 'kedai india ni bah, takkan nak makan kat sini'... Jawapan yang perlu, apa salahnya India ke Cina ke... janji dia Islam. Orang Islam di negara India dan China lebih ramai daripada umat Islam di Malaysia. Dan... mungkin juga mereka lebih menghormati ISLAM sebagai agama daripada menghormati ISLAM sebagai satu perkataan dalam MyKad.
Hormatilah masyarakat bukan Islam sebagai saudara kita yang belum mendapat hidayah.. berikan perhatian dan bantuan kepada mereka. Doakan semoga beroleh hidayah. Itu cabang dakwah terbaik buat masa ini.... ISLAM bukan milik orang Melayu... Tetapi orang Melayu yang mengaku ISLAM perlu membela agama ALLAH ini.

nEW LEADER FOR pATRIOTIST aND nATIONALIST

2006-09-20T00:57:00.000-07:00

Japan's Abe wins party leadership, set to be PM

TOKYO (Reuters) - Shinzo Abe, a conservative advocate of a more muscular Japanese foreign policy, was overwhelmingly elected as ruling party leader on Wednesday, setting the stage for him to be chosen prime minister next week.

Abe, who will become Japan's first prime minister born after World War Two, has pledged to rewrite Japan's pacifist constitution, forge even tighter security ties with close ally Washington and put patriotism back in Japanese classrooms.

He has also promised to seek a thaw in ties with China and South Korea, chilled by outgoing Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's visits to a Tokyo war shrine. But he has stressed that better relations require efforts on all sides.

"The Liberal Democratic Party has pursued an ideal of making Japan richer and a country with pride," a determined-looking Abe told party lawmakers after the vote. "I would like to keep that fire going and carry on the will to push ahead with reforms."

Abe took 464 of the 702 valid votes from LDP lawmakers and party chapters, against 136 for Foreign Minister Taro Aso and 102 for Finance Minister Sadakazu Tanigaki, his rivals.

Lawmakers applauded when Koizumi, wearing a blue suit and red tie, cast his ballot in the contest that brings down the curtain on his more than five years as LDP leader, during which he battled his party's old guard to push reforms.

Abe, who turns 52 on Thursday, has promised to pursue growth while pushing economic reforms begun by Koizumi, who took power in 2001 vowing to cut his party loose from the grip of vested interests and reduce government's heavy hand on the economy.

His party victory all but ensures his selection as prime minister when parliament convenes on Sept. 26 because of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's grip on the lower chamber.

The soft-spoken Abe has long topped the list of politicians Japanese voters prefer to see succeed Koizumi, making him the candidate of choice for a hefty majority of LDP lawmakers looking ahead to elections for parliament's upper house next summer.

Abe, first elected in 1993, became a household name four years ago for his tough stance in a feud with North Korea over Japanese citizens kidnapped by Pyongyang decades ago.

ASIAN DIALOGUE OR FRICTION?

Now Abe faces the dual challenges of repairing ties with Beijing and Seoul and keeping economic reforms on track while addressing voter worries about the widening social gaps many see resulting from Koizumi's reforms.

"I like Abe's basic stance on policy. He has good relations with the United States and I like his strong attitude towards North Korea," said Tomoya Minakawa, a 39-year-old IT engineer.

"I want the next prime minister to improve relations with China and South Korea," he added. "I'm not sure if Abe can do that, but I support him."

Abe, a third-generation politician, is thought unlikely to adopt Koizumi's combative approach in forging ahead with economic reforms and so far has not fleshed out details of how he intends to get a handle on Japan's bulging public debt.

"Frankly, I don't know much about his policies. I just know that he's popular, not whether his policies are good or not," said Hiroshi Sase, 36, who works for an employment agency.

Attention is already turning to the question of who will be awarded plum cabinet posts.

Aso is expected to get either a top party post or a cabinet portfolio after campaigning on a platform that echoed Abe's own.

Tanigaki, who clashed with Abe over Yasukuni and when to raise Japan's 5 percent sales tax, has already said he would not remain in the cabinet if he lost the LDP race.

Abe has defended Koizumi's pilgrimages to the Yasukuni Shrine, where Japanese leaders convicted as war criminals by an Allied tribunal are honoured with war dead.

He has also has sidestepped the issue of Japanese leaders' responsibility for the war and visited Yasukuni in the past.

He has declined to say whether he pay his respects there as prime minister, an ambiguity some see as leaving the door open to better ties with Beijing and Seoul.

Lee Kuan Yew Revisited

2006-09-18T22:01:00.000-07:00

'As I was leaving, I met Tan Siew Sin. I was angry and bitter at his short-sightedness and stupidity. He had thwarted our industrialisation and brought about the separation almost as much as had the Malays Ultras. He had been determined to frustrate us at every turn. Apart from his personal dislike of Keng Swee and me, he believed that any concession to Singapore would help the PAP to win over the Chinese in Malaysia. He could not see that without Singapore, the position of the Chinese in Malaysia must weaken.'
'I could not help telling him that day, " Today is the day of your victory, the day of my defeat; but in five to ten years, you will certainly feel sad about it."
'He smirked. I do not think he understood me then, or later. He was only relieved and happy that his position as leader of the MCA and the MCA's position in Malaysia were now secure. The threat from the PAP and the Malaysian Solidarity Convention had been removed. The MCA would be supreme. But secure and supreme were relative terms in this case. four years later, in May 1969, Malay rioters in Kuala Lumpur would kill and maim hundreds of Chinese and burn their homes and cars. In 1973, when Ismail died, PM Razak promoted Hussein Onn to be his deputy. Loyal though, Tan had been to the Alliance and to UMNO, he was Chinese, and he discovered that he could not be deputy prime minister. He resigned in 1974, overcome with shame and bitter disappointment. He did not understand that he had already lost out when he had unwittingly helped to get Singapore expelled from Malaysia the decade before.’ (LKY, The Singapore Story. 642-643)

This is the true face of LKY. He was and still is a Chinese Ultras....

Saman trafik, Warisan jepun dan ngomolan lain...

2006-09-06T02:51:00.000-07:00

Akhirnya....

'Japan's Princess Kiko has given birth to a baby boy, potentially resolving the royal family's succession crisis.

The 39-year-old princess gave birth by a Caesarean section two weeks early, after complications in the pregnancy.

Princess Kiko, wife of the current emperor's second son, already has two daughters, but women are not allowed to ascend to the Chrysanthemum throne.

Her son becomes the first male heir to be born into Japan's royal family in more than four decades.' BBC News

Ini melegakan keluarga diraja Jepun. Mungkin ada harapan nak jadi Presiden (seumur hidup?) Persatuan Bolasepak Jepun satu hari nanti!

Orang tanya saya pasal budget tahun ni... susah nak bagi jawapan. Sebabnya? tak tahu kenapa. Tak ada keghairahan nak menonton pembentangan tersebut kat TV... saya bukan peminat Mahathir tp fikir Pak lah nak bentang... ngantuk pula rasanya... apa pun saya sempat bagi tahu students supaya simpan stok rokok sebelum harga naik ....

RPK kata perkahwinan Siti macam sarkas... saya setuju 1000%... bacalah No Holds Barred... dalam Malaysia Today...

Sejarah Rashid Maidin? Nasihat untuk pelajar... jgn pilih untuk baca buku yang kita rasa kita boleh setuju... tp baca semua buku yang boleh buat otak kiri dan kanan berdebat...

'If you reach a verdict of death... remember that i am a military man and should be killed by firing squad and not by hanging as a common criminal' - Saddam Hussein

Ke Makam Bonda

2006-07-18T21:00:00.000-07:00

Ke Makam Bonda

Kami mengunjungi pusara bonda,
Sunyi pagi disinari suria,
Wangi berseri puspa kemboja,
Menyambut kami mewakili bonda.

Tegak kami di makam sepi,
Lalang-lalang tinggi berdiri,
Dua nisan terkapar mati,
Hanya papan dimakan bumi.

Dalam kenangan kami melihat,
Mesra kasih bonda menatap,
Sedang lena dalam rahap,
Dua tangan kaku berdakap.

Bibir bonda bersih lesu,
Pernah dulu mengucupi dahiku,
Kini kurasakan kasihnya lagi,
Meski jauh dibatasi bumi.

Nisan batu kami tegakkan,
Tiada lagi lalang memanjang,
Ada doa kami pohonkan,
Air mawar kami siramkan.

Senyum kemboja menghantar kami,
Meninggalkan makam sepi sendiri,
Damailah bonda dalam pengabdian,
Insan kerdil mengadap Tuhan.

Begitulah bakti kami berikan,
Tiada sama bonda melahirkan,
Kasih bonda tiada sempadan,
Kemuncak murni kemuliaan insan.

AUKU dan pelajar

2006-07-04T21:22:00.000-07:00

Ahad lalu, Menteri Pengajian Tinggi menunjukkan keinginan untuk mendapatkan maklum balas dari beberapa pihak bagi meminda AUKU. Ia merupakan satu langkah yang harus diberikan sokongan sepenuhnya. Sebenarnya, isu AUKU ini sepatutnya sudah lama dibincangkan secara terbuka apabila kita melihat bagaimana krisis pendidikan di negara ini yang dilihat tidak mencapai objektifnya untuk melahirkan pelajar yang mempunyai pemikiran yang kritikal. Menurut Prof Madya Azmi Shahrom, AUKU sememangnya menyekat kebebasan pelajar-pelajar pintar untuk berpersatuan dan melahirkan pandangan yang kritikal terhadap mana-mana pihak. Akta ini, perlu dipinda kerana ada beberapa seksyen seperti seksyen 15, 15D dan 16C yang menyekat kebebasan pelajar untuk menjadikan universiti sebagai medan mereka memberikan sumbangan kepada rakyat dan pemerintah mengikut aspirasi apa yang diajar dalam setiap kuliah yang diikuti. Tiada sebab untuk pelajar mengkritik kerajaan dari sudut takrifan demokrasi yang mereka belajar di dalam kelas berdasarkan prinsip sebenar ideologi tersebut kerana ia merupakan satu bentuk praktikal dalam ilmu sains sosial. Apa yang kita sepatutnya bimbang ialah apabila pelajar berdiam diri apabila melihat sesuatu yang bercanggah dengan apa yang dipelajarinya

Kaki judi dinasihatkan sentiasa dekat dengan Samy Vellu

2006-06-22T18:24:00.000-07:00

Kemeriahan Piala Dunia 2006 di Jerman telah memeriahkan industri pertaruhan dengan masing-masing meramalkan pasukan yang bakal menjulang piala paling berprestij itu. Di tengah kemeriahan ini, satu peluang kepada kaki judi untuk meraih keuntungan besar apabila tukang nujum paling berprestij telah memunculkan dirinya. Cuma beliau enggan untuk menyatakan secara terbuka berkenaan dengan pasukan mana yang akan menjadi juara tetapi sedikit klu telah diberi di mana beliau telah menyebut mungkin Argentina. Dari satu sudut lain, iaitu di luar ruang lingkup piala dunia, beliau telah memberikan satu sokongan terbuka kepada satu pasukan. Pasukan ini akan berentap esok. Bagi saya ia lebih hebat dari perlawanan Perancis menentang Togo.....

' I don't want to support any team, because whatever team I support will win' ( theSun p. 2)
Jadi S. Subra harus berjaga-jaga.... mungkin pengadil telah memakai jersi pihak lawan...

Apa ada pada politik?

2006-05-25T21:48:00.000-07:00

'Politik dengan demikian sudah seperti sex: ramai-ramai dianggap kotor, tapi ramai-ramai pula dikerjakan -- terkadang dengan cara tidak legal ataupun tidak senonoh. Dan jika seorang pakar ilmu politik misalnya membedakan sebuah gerakan moral dari gerakan politik, maka ia pun mungkin korban kebingungan yang sama: seakan-akan yang politik bisa dipisahkan habis dari yang moral, dan sebaliknya.' Goenawan Mohamad

Hari ini membuka kata dengan meminjam tulisan Pak Goenawan dari Catatan Pinggirnya. Sebetulnya apa yang ingin diluahkan ialah bagaimana istilah politik telah disalahfahamkan dengan makna yang yang cukup memualkan. Politik dikaitkan dengan rasuah, salah guna kuasa, jatuh-menjatuhkan kawan dan yang paling berat membelakangkan kepentingan rakyat. Pelajar seringkali ditakut-takutkan dengan politik, kakitangan kerajaan tidak boleh berpolitik (habis tu apa yang dia orang buat kat pejabat? bukankan pentadbiran awam itu sebahagian daripada disiplin sains politik?) sehinggakan pensyarah universiti melontarkan kata-kata, ' saya seorang ahli akademik yang tidak mahu berpolitik', nah, habis umat ini bila mahu memisahkan politik dengan kehidupan seharian.... Jadi mari kita bincangkan bagaimana menyucikan politik.....

Another hamper to the voters

2006-05-08T21:38:00.000-07:00

Series of hampers:

Kelantan - University?

Terengganu - University .....
and now.............. here we go....

Sarawak bakal miliki lapangan terbang, pelabuhan baru

LAWAS 8 Mei - Lawas bakal mempunyai sebuah lapangan terbang baru yang dapat meningkatkan daya saing bandar di utara Sarawak ini.

Menteri Perancangan dan Pengurusan Sumber II Sarawak, Datuk Awang Tengah Ali Hassan berkata projek bernilai RM150 juta itu yang diluluskan kerajaan pusat di bawah Rancangan Malaysia Kesembilan akan dimulakan tahun ini.

Beliau memberitahu Bernama di sini hari ini, lapangan terbang itu dapat mengendalikan pesawat jenis Fokker tetapi kerajaan merancang meningkatkan keupayaannya untuk mengendalikan pesawat lebih besar pada masa depan.

Bagi menjamin daya maju lapangan terbang itu, kerajaan Sarawak dan Sabah akan membincangkan program kerjasama untuk membangunkan kawasan sempadan kedua-dua negeri, katanya.

Selain lapangan terbang, Awang Tengah yang juga Menteri Kemudahan Awam berkata sebuah pelabuhan baru akan dibina di sini dan tapaknya sudahpun dikenal pasti.

``Dengan adanya pelabuhan tersebut, Lawas berpotensi menjadi pusat eksport bagi pelbagai produk yang ada di sekitar kawasan sempadan di sini,'' katanya.

Beliau yang juga penyandang bagi kerusi Dewan Undangan Negeri (DUN) Lawas yang kini dinamakan Bukit Sari berikutan persempadanan semula oleh Suruhanjaya Pilihan Raya (SPR) pada tahun lepas, berkata Lawas juga akan memiliki sebuah hospital baru yang dianggarkan bernilai RM85 juta.

Mengenai pilihan raya negeri Sarawak kesembilan pada 20 Mei ini, Awang Tengah yang dicalonkan semula untuk bertanding berkata Barisan Nasional (BN) bersedia menerima tentangan daripada calon bebas atau calon parti pembangkang.

``Saya bersedia kerana saya tidak memperkecilkan peluang semua pihak dan saya serah pengundi untuk tentukan nasib mereka sendiri,'' katanya.

Bukit Sari yang majoriti pengundi Melayu mempunyai pengundi berdaftar seramai 9,373 orang yang terdiri daripada petani, peniaga dan kakitangan awam serta kakitangan di syarikat persendirian.

Pada pilihan raya negeri 2001, Awang Tengah menewaskan calon Keadilan Japar Suyut dengan undi sebanyak 6,299 berbanding 289 undi yang diperolehi oleh calon pembangkang itu.

- Bernama

Selamat datang aktor baru ruang sivil

2006-05-08T21:29:00.000-07:00

Tun Dr Mahathir terus memahat namanya dalam politik tanahair. Boleh diibaratkan bakal menjadi seorang lagenda politik di negara ini, beliau terus menjadi tumpuan utama dalam senario politik Malaysia. Beliau seoalah-olah memberi isyarat bahawa penyerahan jawatan Perdana Menteri dan Presiden UMNO bukan membawa erti untuk tidak mencampuri urusan pentadbiran dan juga politik semasa. Bermula dengan komen bahawa pemerintah sekarang lemah kerana tidak mempunyai pembangkang yang kuat (merujuk kepada kemenangan besar BN dalam pilhan raya 2004), Dr Mahathir terus menggunakan kapasitinya, seperti yang sering dinyatakan beliau, sebagai seorang rakyat biasa yang mempunyai hak untuk bersuara, untuk mempersoalkan beberapa tindakan pemerintah atau lebih tepat lagi jentera pimpinan Pak lah.

Apa yang menarik untuk dibincang ialah bagaimana Dr Mahathir telah menggunakan ruang yang sentiasa dianggap sebagai ancaman kepada pemerintahannya dahulu iaitu ruang sivil untuk menghantui Perdana Menteri yang direstui untuk menggantikan beliau. Masyarakat sivil yang mudah difahami dalam konteks demokrasi negara ini ialah bagaimana individu-individu dan NGO mempunyai kebebasan untuk berkongsi kepentingan dan menyuarakannya untuk kepentingan mereka. Ruang ini sebenarnya cukup bermakna untuk menjelmakan konsep demokrasi walaupun terdapat pendekatan daripada golongan Marxis bahawa masyarakat sivil merupakan satu agen untuk menukar kerajaan yang sedia ada. Namun, pengamal masyarakat sivil di negara ini menyerahkan urusan perebutan kuasa politik kepada parti-parti politik.

Perjalanan masyarakat sivil semasa pemerintahan beliau seringkali dikritik oleh pengamal-pengamal ruang ini dan juga parti pembangkang. Peringkat awal pemerintahan beliau diserikan dengan pembebasan beberapa orang tahanan ISA tetapi beliau mula melihat bagaimana ruang sivil yang ada di negara ini sebagai satu ancaman besar kepada pemerintahan BN apabila Operasi Lalang 1987 telah menafikan kebebasan beberapa aktivis sosial dan politik di negara ini. Akta-akta seperti ISA dan OSA cukup membebankan aktor-aktor sivil dan politik di Malaysia. Ia cukup untuk membuktikan bagaiman masyarakat sivil ini sentiasa diawasi oleh pemerintahn Dr Mahathir.

Oleh itu, apa yang dapat diperhatikan pada perkembangan mutakhir penglibatan Dr. Mahathir dalam menyuarakan pandangan beliau terhadap beberapa isu penting dalam pemerintahan Pak Lah dapat menjelaskan bagaimana beliau menggunakan senjata yang sering mencucuk beliau untuk turut sama dirasai Pak Lah. Isu berkenaan dengan penjualan saham augusta milik proton, pengagihan AP dan yang terkini berkenaan dengan pembatalan pembinaan jambatan menggantikan Tambak Johor telah memeriahkan masyarakat sivil di negara kita. Isu ini berlanjutan apabila Dr. Mahathir telah menyatakan bagaimana beliau telah dinafikan hak untuk bersuara. Ini berpunca daripada keengganan pengamal media utama di negara ini yang kebanyakannya dimiliki oleh parti-parti di bawah BN untuk menyiarkan komentar beliau. Sebagai alternatif, beliau telah menggunakan internet sebagai saluran untuk meluahkan pandangan melalui beberapa surat terbukanya yang dituju khusus kepada pemerintah sekarang.

Dr. Mahathir nampaknya banyak belajar daripada pergerakan sivil yang lain dalam mengamalkan advokasi sosial yang mana pada tahun 1990-an internet menjadi ruang yang paling berkesan untuk melontarkan kritikan sosial dan politik terhadap pemerintah. Dalilnya, semasa pemerintah beliau, sebagai contoh, Malaysiakini seringkali diancam dan kemuncaknya pejabat Malaysiakini telah diserbu polis dan beberapa komputer telah dirampas. Ini kerana media alternatif ini sering memuatkan bukan sekadar berita tetapi ulasan yang kritikal terhadap beberapa tindakan pemerintah. Sejarah berulang, Dr M telah memilih untuk menggunakan ruang siber ini bagi mempertahankan kepentingan legasi pemerintahannya dahulu setelah dipinggirkan oleh media arus perdana.

Untuk seketika, kita lupakan kenangan masyarakat sivil ketika zaman Dr. Mahathir. Mari kita meraikan kedatangan aktor baru masyarakat sivil, aktor yang mungkin dapat memberi udara segar untuk ruang ini terus berlegar dalam meletakkan kepentingan rakyat sebagai pusat utama pemerintahan regim BN.

Tale of the newsmakers

2006-02-23T19:32:00.000-08:00

The war among the ex-newsmakers and the days-to-count newsmakers sound interesting. It begin with the comment by A. Kadir Jasin in Malaysia Bussiness sometimes in May 2005 about how an editor from the NST felt very powerful by his relationship with Pak Lah. According to the article:

RECENTLY , an editor wrote an article that started with him telling his readers (including this scribe) of a midnight telephone call from Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to congratulate him on his appointment as group editor-in-chief. The Prime Minister, said the writer, had asked him to make his newspaper ‘a credible and professional newspaper’.

If Abdullah had been correctly reported, then the impression I get (I may be wrong) is that this particular newspaper, despite being the oldest in the country, had been, until that telephone call in 2003, neither credible nor professional. If that was what the Prime Minister had said, it’s his right. The Prime Minister is entitled to his views as much as we are to ours. This is what being free and democratic is all about.

Then, the writer told us of yet another Prime Ministerial telephone call a few months later, this time in the evening. According to him, the Prime Minister wanted to know what he (the editor) thought of his (the Prime Minister’s) speech at the opening of an Organisation of Islamic Conference meeting on the Middle East in Putrajaya.

The editor told us that he told the Prime Minister that ‘it was a good speech’. Then, the editor told us, he (the Prime Minister) made a request: ‘I know you have many important stories but if possible, I hope you can use my comments as one of the stories on Page 1.’ Then, he told us that he joked with the Prime Minister. He told us that he said: ‘Sir, you are the PM. You want it on Page 1, you will get it on Page 1.’

Then, the editor told us that the Prime Minister told him: ‘No, no. I know you have other important stories. But I hope you can also use this story.’ Then, we were told that the only other time the Prime Minister called him was to express concern about explicit stories like the Norita Samsudin murder trial being ‘played out’ in lurid details (in the newspapers). I have no problem with editors, writers and journalists being a telephone call away from the Prime Minister or are so close to him that they can tell a joke or two.

Everybody knows that Abdullah is a nice, friendly person. But what bothers me is the impression these kinds of reports create. For example, it gives the impression that the Prime Minister is reduced to making telephone calls to newspaper editors to get feedback on his speeches and statements, and to ask for Page 1 displays and prime-time TV coverage. More fundamentally, it gives the impression that ‘what the Prime Minister wants the Prime Minister gets’. Yet, editors and media owners time and time again claim that there is no official interference and that they are free to report whatever they like and in the manner they wish.

And what has happened to the Prime Minister’s communications team, his press secretaries and press officers – isn’t it their responsibility to liaise with the Press on his behalf? I think the Prime Minister should be spared the hassle of contacting the Press himself so that he can devote his valuable time to serving the people.

Even if he did, should it be told to the whole wide world? Or am I being nostalgic of the time when one of the golden rules of journalism was protecting one’s source of information? Also, maybe, in the past, editors were not powerful and influential enough to warrant Prime Ministers to make personal telephone calls to them.

And when the cartoon issues exploded in Jalan Riong, there are so many corners fight, namely, Hishamuddin Aun, Zam (Min. of Info), A. Kadir Jasin, Jeff Ooi and who else? of course, our beloved former PM, Uncle Tun.

So what's next?

My wish lists as a Kelantanese!!!

2005-12-07T18:17:00.000-08:00

Congrats to the BN and their machinaries for the victory in Pengkalan Pasir although some people claimed the war was not on the fair battlefield.....
These are among wish lists, as a kelantanese, to the BN aka government of Malaysia:

1. As a lecturer, please show me the application form for the new university as promised.
2. The chairman of KADA (Kelantan Agriculture Development Authority ?) should be appointed not from the politician but the person who really has the will to develop the agriculture sector in the state.
3. Give an attention to the small scale farmers.
4. Support the religious school.
5. Give PAS a chance to govern the state until next general election.

Me and Superman

2005-11-21T19:53:00.000-08:00

Superman

I can’t stand to fly
I’m not that naive
I’m just out to find
The better part of me
I’m more than a bird...
I’m more than a plane
More than some pretty face beside a train
It’s not easy to be me
Wish that I could cry
Fall upon my knees
Find a way to lie
About a home
I’ll never see
It may sound absurd...but don’t be naive
Even heroes have the right to bleed
I may be disturbed...but won’t you concede
Even heroes have the right to dream
It’s not easy to be me
Up, up and away...away from me
It’s all right...you can all sleep sound tonight
I’m not crazy...or anything...I
can’t stand to flyI’m not that naive
Men weren’t meant to ride
With clouds between their knees
I’m only a man in a silly red sheet
Digging for kryptonite on this one way street
Only a man in a funny red sheet
Looking for special things inside of me
Inside of me
Inside meYeah, inside me
Inside of meI’m only a man
In a funny red sheet
I’m only a man
Looking for a dream
I’m only a man
In a funny red sheet
And it’s not easy, hmmm, hmmm, hmmm...
Its not easy to be me

Tension period....

2005-11-21T19:41:00.000-08:00

It is an exam week for the students here and all the unmarked papers for the quizes and mid-term test still under the table....

and... make my day worsen... my blog.... where is my blog....?????

Buat baik berpada-pada, jahat jgn sekali...

2005-11-14T22:20:00.000-08:00

A 'promise' by a woman to give co-operation to the robber in order to escape from being raped and injured saved her life and gave the robber a 'damn-worth' lesson in his lifetime. Read this http://www.sun2surf.com/article.cfm?id=11910

Want to get Mawi 'live' 2 times in a month? Try this.....

2005-11-14T21:50:00.000-08:00

It's wonderfullllll!!!...
Mawi's fans in Kelantan have been served with two free concerts within a month: first, their heartthrob was presented by State Goverment a.k.a PAS a week before Hari Raya and then a week after Raya, UMNO brought Mawi and his superfriends to Pasir Mas with the agenda to win the voters there.

Moral: If you want to get more Mawi ; 1. vote for PAS or, 2. pray for another by-election in you constituency.....

Aduh Saliha...................

Watch your own backyard!!!!

2005-11-10T00:57:00.000-08:00

Having read the comments made by newly 'elected' Student leaders of public institutions of higher learning (IPTA), Mohd Efendi Omar from UM costed my heart shattered into pieces. What publicity this poor boy wanted to gain in his first month tenure in the office. Before you ask the authority from IIUM to review the dress code, you should ponder who you are and on what ground your -not insured- mouth spell those words. i fully agree with Aizuddin Danial's comments: 'How would the students of UM feel if the IIU Student Council President came out and took a holier-than-thou approach and "suggest" that all Muslim students of UM be dressed according to the Muslim dress code? The fact that he would do no such thing indicates a sensitivity that Mohd Efendi obviously lacks'
Yes, female students from UM which barely show their aurah have the rights to do so according to our constitution, but how about another 'constitution' from Allah? I leave it to the Mr 'very democratic' President to answer............

The 'boring' saga

2005-10-17T17:59:00.000-07:00

The saga continues......
What Shahril said:
'If requiring cars to contain 90 percent ‘local content’ to qualify as ‘national’ cars has made Proton makes more expensive and uncompetitive compared to imported cars, perhaps it’s time to reduce the requirement to 40 percent' and....
“We have to make a rational decision. If our cars are expensive due to high local content, we need to reduce the price by reducing the local content," and...
"We should not be in a situation in which Malaysia does not gain from Afta," and...
They have already been operating for more than 20 years. If the quality of their products is still not up to standard and cannot be exported, they should close down,”

And Mahathir said:
We just close down Proton if this is what the people want," said the former premier. "And if some feel one way to overcome the many problems we hear today - including Approved Permits (APs) and so on - is that we don't have the automotive industry in Malaysia, we (can) just close down," he added.
When it was suggested that the AP controversy had been going on for months, he said: "Yes. Boringlah." "What I think doesn't matter, what the people think matters. If the people are satisfied that AP should be given to one or two people and they become millionaires overnight, fly around in helicopters and all that, if that is what we want, it's okay," he said sarcastically.

Jeng...je...jeng..............

Mawi in Kelantan

2005-10-02T18:37:00.000-07:00

Some words from Mawi:

“Saya suka sistem pengasingan penonton yang dilaksanakan dalam konsert ini. Seelok-eloknya kita asingkan penonton lelaki dan wanita kerana ia dapat mengelak berlaku perkara tidak baik,”

And why this concert was very special to him and all his fans.....

Buat pertama kalinya juga, ibu Mawi, Ramlah Sarlan yang sebelum ini tidak pernah menyaksikan persembahan anak kebanggaan keluarga itu, hadir sama dalam konsert bersama suaminya, Ani Ahmad. (source: Metro Ahad 2 Sept 2005)

Asian Cyberactivism: Freedom of Expression and Media Censorship and Politik dan Keselamatan

2005-09-28T19:26:00.000-07:00

I dedicate today's blog to Prof Madya Saliha Hassan (UKM) and Zatul Himmah Adnan (UPM) for giving me two books namely, Asian Cyberactivism: Freedom of Expression and Media Censorship, Edited by Steven Gan, James Gomez and Uwe Johannen, and Politik dan Keselamatan edited by Dr Sity Daud and Dr Zarina Othman.

Asian Cyberactivism: Freedom of Expression and Media Censorship

The book is an insightful look into online political organising in Asia even as the technology and the rules change. Activists provide their perspectives on how new media relates to democracy, and showcase examples that could be emulated to further the cause of democracy. It is also an insight into the political, societal and legal challenges that cyberactivists have to face, and what this means for democratic development in the region. Asian Cyberactivism is the first book of its kind, featuring Asian case studies on political activism via new communication technologies like the Internet. (Reviewed by jamesgomeznews.com)

Politik dan Keselamatan

Buku yang disunting oleh Dr Sity dan Dr Zarina ini asalnya merupakan kertas kerja yang dibentangkan pada seminar antarabangsa khususnya MSC4 2004. Ia merupakan kunjungan semula tentang konsep politik dan keselamatan pasca 11 September 2001 dan juga pergolakan ekonomi pada tahun 1997. Apa yang menarik, buku ini memuatkan multi-disiplin dalam bidang Politik dan Keselamatan. Konsep Politik mengenengahkan isu pilihan raya, politik wang, politik Islam dan Politik pembangunan. Manakala dari segi tema keselamatan isu yang disentuh adalah berkaitan keselamatan insan dan dasar luar Malaysia seperti yang melibatkan hubungan Malaysia dengan Palestin (Zatul punya!).

Happy reading!!!

p/s: Zillions thanks to both of you!!!!

Art of dealing.....

2005-09-22T21:51:00.000-07:00

“From licensing and tendering to consultation and approval of projects, or from the acceptance to the completion of a project, we have to give out money. There is always a giver and receiver – contractors and decision makers, contractors and consultants, and contractors and suppliers,” said Malay Contractors Association president Datuk Roslan Awang Chik.

This is the 'reality show' among the contractors (can i make a generalization here?) ...
You need a project (read: money to feed you family) these procedures are inevitable

Pulangkan.......

2005-08-28T17:56:00.000-07:00

The Saga continues...
Dr M returned seven proton vehicles given to him. According to the star, ... Sources said the vehicles included the VW Touareg, a four-wheel drive, and the VW Phaeton, which the Proton adviser often used for travelling.... and ... The sources said Dr Mahathir had started using his personal cars to travel to work, adding that he was “deeply hurt” by developments in Proton...

Moral: Don't make the oldman hurt ( or, if you need something to be returned, displease him until get hurted)

Award for loyalty

2005-08-16T19:34:00.000-07:00

The episode of the termination of Professor P Ramasamy’s contract at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) gave another 'question mark' to the academic world in IPTA. Regarding to the rules stated by the university, one will be considered to continue his/her service after completing inagural address (Syarahan Perdana) as a mark of their professorship. Contract will be given for two-year basis. However, in this case, many things should be considered:
1. 12 PhD students under his supervision.
2. 22 Masters students
3. Several undergarduate student classes
4. Inaugural address was given on May 10 2005 (if i'm not mistaken, it's abour labour and globalisation)
5. His 'kemaliman' at the Pusat Pengajian Sejarah, Politik dan Strategi (PESEPSI) as well as UKM

Finally, i like to take Mr Bunnell's words in his letter to Malaysiakini - 'And let us not forget, this is a teacher who has been, and remains, a mentor to innumerable students and young researchers – the critical thinkers and actors of the future'

P/S; I'm waiting for his former students such as Mustapha Kamil Ayub from Keadilan, Misbahul Munir from PAS and many others including high rangking officers in government civil services to come out backing their professor.

Conspiracy Theory

2005-08-09T19:52:00.000-07:00

All the parties are waiting for the answer from rAPidah Aziz regarding the AP's issues. She has been asked by PM yesterday to make a clarification to the cabinet. There is a theory around the town that the elimination of Tg Mahaleel was the 'barter trade' with Rafidah between both parties, namely Tun Dr M (Proton) and Pak Lah (govt). With all the rumours spread, i think she should choose among her colleagues, who will read her 'surat wasiat' if she's voted out.

Structural Functionalism

2005-07-28T17:32:00.000-07:00

Dah lama ya tak update blog ni.... recently, i feel like my life was structured by certain system and well, it 'functionally responded' (some kind like structural functionalism!!). I think it began when i started working here. My life has changed a lot. By 6.30 early morning i have to say a temporary good bye to my family and meet them around maghrib. Ok, that's fine!! I choose to accept this way of life. It's not a big deal. But, what make me feel bad is about i started to count the days when my bank account will be reloaded by the company and fyi, it was in the first week of the month. This is ridiculous. So now i'm in the process of getting rid this kind of feeling or could we call it habit? Hopefully it will return to normal soon (depends on how i manage to control my spending). Or should i apply for AP??? But i don't have a showroom, what!!! without showroom can also have hundreds of APs??? It's really helps Bumis!!! Afundi rAPidah!

To Remember Me

2005-07-06T22:25:00.000-07:00

To Remember Me
By Robert N. Test

The day will come when my body will lie upon a white sheet neatly tucked under four corners of a mattress located in a hospital busy occupied with the living and the dying.
At a certain moment a doctor will determine that my brain has ceased to function and that, for all intents and purposes, my life has stopped.When that happens, do not attempt to instill artificial life into my body
by the use of a machine.
And don't call this my deathbed.
Let it be called the Bed of Life,
and let my body be taken from it to help other lead fuller lives.Give my sight to the man who has never seen a sunrise,
a baby's face or love in the eyes of a woman.Give my heart to a person whose own heart has caused nothing but endless days of pain.Give my blood to the teenager who was pulled from the wreckage of this car,
so that he might live to see his grandchildren play.Give my kidney to one who depends on a machine to exist from week to week.Take my bones, every muscle, every fiber and nerve in my body
and find a way to make a crippled child walk.Explore every corner of my brain, take my cells, if necessary,
and let them grow so that, some day,
a speechless boy will shout at the crack of a bat
and a deaf girl will hear the sound of rain against her windows.Burn what is left of me and scatter the ashes to the winds to help the flowers grow.If you must bury something, let it be my faults, my weaknesses,
and all prejudice against my fellow man.Give my sins to the devil.Give my soul to the God.If, by chance, you wish to remember me,
do it with kind deed or word to someone who needs you.If you do all I have asked, I will live forever.

It's all about choices

2005-07-06T17:29:00.000-07:00

Life doesn't just happen to you. It's all about choices and how you respond to every situation. If you are in the habit of continually making bad choices, disaster often occurs. Your everyday choices ultimately determine whether you end up living with abundance or living poverty. However life never completely closes the door to opportunity.

Imagination is better than knowledge

2005-07-05T00:30:00.000-07:00

Imagine.... we all are governed by the leaders who are really taking care the welfare of the citizens - some kind of utopian socialism....
Imagine.... our soccer team have a place in the world cup....
Imagine... unknown driver gives us a space to exit in the busy junction
Imagine... Mawi has voted out of the next AFconcert - oh BIG NO from MAWI FC....

Are you sure Jimmy Chua?

2005-07-01T01:26:00.000-07:00

Datuk Chua Jui Meng announced just few minutes ago that he will go for the numero uno in MCA. Reason: For the betterment of democracy. So, watch out Ong Ka Ting!!! Jimmy Chua also warned the press to be fair in reporting the fight between them. Obviously, it has reffered to the MCA-owned press. Go Jimmy, go....

Ignorance by Default

2005-06-16T21:28:00.000-07:00

Reading the comment written by Chow Kum Hor about blogging development in our country make you wonder how come Jeff's Screenshot wasn't on the list. It can be seen how dendam lama Mr Kali can make all the keyboard in Jln Riong cannot type any word consists Jeff Ooi or Screenshot. What a shame !!!!

Six steps to solve the problem

2005-06-08T20:35:00.000-07:00

Experts claim that it is possible to learn a definite system of problem-solving that will fit most situations. Instead of jumping from one thing to another, think through each problem and its possible solution before you do anything about it. There are six steps:

Define your problem clearly on paper
List the obstacles standing in the way of your solving it
List people or idea sources that might help solve your problem
List as many possible courses of action as you can think of, and take your time on this
Try to visualize the results of each course of action
Choose the course of action that seems best to you, and then pursue it. Stay with it long enough for it to work or to prove that it can't. If it finally doesn't, choose another

The heart of all problems, whether economic, political, or social, is human heart.

Have a problem?

2005-05-31T22:25:00.000-07:00

"The happiest people are not the people without problems; they are people who know how to solve their problems" - Prof Robert Seashore

Seronoknya dapat jadi orang paling bahagia di dunia... at least once in a 'daytime' i try to feel this kind of feeling...
Apa yang paling penting adalah sentiasa besyukur tehadap apa yang dikurniakan... semoga beroleh keberkatan.

HB: Sentiasa berdoa agar tak miss solat Subuh....

Do we have to write you off Mr Anwar?

2005-05-16T17:01:00.000-07:00

Recent serie of Hardtalk gave me some evidences how our Prime Minister wannabe, Anwar Ibrahim still in vague and confuse what is his vision and mission towards reforming our beloved country. He didn't give a clear message that he wants to make a comeback in political arena, in his capacity, the only way to make a reform in Malaysia (as his supporters hope). There are some issues arise here:

1. kenapa sentiasa menafikan bahawa anda turut terlibat dengan apa yang dilakukan oleh pemerintah selama berada hampir 17 tahun dalam UMNO? (we will give our forgiveness if you really commited to strive for the justice)

2. kenapa perlu untuk sentiasa menyalahkan Dr. Mahathir yang telah bersara untuk melepaskan diri daripada dosa masa silam? (Please, focus on your future agenda, Mahathir will be in our history text book)

3. give your passport to us.... your supporters who lost their jobs, sacked from campus life, shared a room in Dang Wangi resort and spent 2 years in kamunting need you here.

Don't crack under pressure!!!

2005-05-10T18:24:00.000-07:00

What happen to our academic world? I wonder that's why Ministry of Education was separated into higher and lower rank..... Good Luck Prof. we will always behind you...

Don works on despite pressure

KUALA LUMPUR: Prof Datuk Dr Muhamad Zohadie Bardaie is said to be carrying out his duties as vice-chancellor of Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) despite pressure to step down from office.
A UPM source told Bernama that Dr Muhamad Zohadie was at work yesterday.
Despite the media spotlight on his position over the past two days, the atmosphere at the UPM management level was normal, the source said.
Dr Muhamad Zohadie said he was not ready to make any statements on the issue.
“Why don't you ask UPM chairman (Tan Sri Dr Zainul Ariff Hussain) on the issue, it's difficult for me to say,” he said.
Dr Muhamad Zohadie said keeping mum on the issue was one way of defending himself.
He refused to say whether he had been formally directed to relinquish his position from the UPM board.
The issue surfaced when newspapers reported on Monday that the UPM board had pressured him to step down.
The board decided to call for his resignation last Wednesday following an emergency meeting without his presence although he is a senior board member.
It was reported that Dr Muhamad Zohadie was not invited because the meeting was called to discuss action against him as he was alleged to have soured ties between UPM and the Higher Education Ministry. – Bernama

Malaysia Boleh!!!

2005-05-10T18:13:00.000-07:00

Source: The Star.
Let this be a lesson to others (that NS not worth attend), says mum

KUALA PERLIS: The mother of 18-year-old Ahmad Hafizal Ahmad Fauzi who was jailed 14 days in lieu of a RM600 fine for dodging national service wants her son’s predicament to be a lesson to others.
Noraini Said, 50, said although she was sad her son had to go to jail because he could not pay the fine, justice must be done and her son’s sentence should serve as a lesson to others who were selected to undergo NS training.
The divorcee with four children, including Ahmad Hafizal, who was met by reporters at her dilapidated house in Kampung Titi Serong here, hoped that the issue of poverty would not be used as an excuse by others to skip national service.

Noraini Said, the mother of NS dodger Ahmad Hafizal, standing in front of her house in Kampung Titi Serong, Perlis. Though sad her son had to go to jail, she said poverty should not be an excuse to skip NS.“I told him to attend the programme but he was stubborn and wanted to find odd jobs to supplement the family income,” she said.
Noraini earns about RM150 a month as a helper at a pre-school. The family also receives RM150 monthly aid from a non-governmental organisation.
Noraini said Ahmad Hafizal stopped schooling after Form Two at SMK Syed Alwi in Kayang because he wanted to help the family.
“He has sacrificed for the family and we are sad upon hearing the news. Actually, I never expected him to be jailed,” she said.
She said his siblings Ahmad Izwah, 16, and Ahmad Haikal, 15, were still schooling while the eldest Ahmad Hafiz, 21, was in Malacca looking for a job.

Things to ponder: What will happen if his name was Ahmad Hafizal Dato' Ahmad Fauzi

Empowering Malays

2005-04-28T17:25:00.000-07:00

I'm still wondering how to wake up the Malays' student from dreaming that once they enter the university they are surely getting a comfortable job after graduation..

Things to ponder, A Bakri Musa (again) : 'Younger leaders - the products of today's segregated schools - are strangers to each other. These leaders aggravate racial polarization ..... and after a generation of preferential treatment, Malays feel no more competetive'

Maju Bahasa Maju bangsa or Maju Bangsa Maju Bahasa

2005-04-25T19:29:00.000-07:00

Personally, I did really enjoy when reading the ideas and opinions written by A Bakri Musa, a surgeon based in Silicon Valley, California. Recently, in the Guest Column, The Sun Weekend (April 23-24, 2005) he discussed about the position of our national language and Malay community.

He said ...' developing the Malay language is not the same as developing the Malay community. Measures that help one may not be beneficial to, and indeed may hinder, the other'... and ' Malay language has grown immensly since the country's independence, yet there is no comparable progress of the Malay community. Malay language has proven itself capable of use at the highest level, yet Malays still need substantial quotas to enter our universities.'

Actually, his comments are the reflection for the resolution made by Second Malay Education Congress which was the needs for more government help in guarding and developing the Malay language. A. bakri added, 'while we can force the growth of the Malay language by passing laws, developing the Malay community is a much more monumental undertaking'...

What we need to think and ponder here is how the Japanese and Koreans can develop their nations and place their languages as a must-learn for the others who want to know their technologies.

Shahrir vs Nazri

2005-04-25T17:16:00.000-07:00

Air your views even if they look stupid, Shahrir tells MPs

The Star, Monday, April 25, 2005

PETALING JAYA: Members of Parliament should be encouraged to air their views even if they look ridiculous or stupid to others, said Barisan Nasional Backbenchers Club chief Datuk Shahrir Abdul Samad. He said MPs came from all walks of life and it was illogical to expect them to share the same point of view or have the same level of intelligent quotient. “I think (Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri) Mohamed Nazri Aziz was a bit too harsh when he said MPs should keep quiet rather than raise stupid issues. “MPs air their views not because they are pretending to be clever. They are merely expressing opinions and whether we like their comments or not, they could be expressing the views of the people,” he said. For example, Shahrir said the MP who suggested that addicts be sent to an island and given free drugs could be expressing the frustration of the rakyat for the failure of the Government to stem the drug menace. “The supposedly clever people have been strategising for years and spending millions of ringgit to curb the drug abuse but the problem has worsened. “We need all kinds of ideas. The MP’s idea is not very clever but at least he is honest,” he said. Nazri had said MPs should refrain from raising stupid and irrelevant issues and “it is better to keep quiet and let others assume you are stupid rather than talk nonsense and confirm that you are really stupid”. Shahrir said he noticed that there was more bantering among MPs at the current sitting. “MPs often interject to seek explanation or give their views among themselves instead of directing questions to the Government,” he said, adding that it was not his role to remind the MPs on how to conduct themselves during debates. Deputy Speaker Datuk Lim Si Cheng said MPs should not stray from the subject being debated. “Sometimes MPs like to give their views on subjects which are irrelevant to the issues being debated. We try to guide them back to the issue at hand but it is easier said than done,” he said.

Shahrir Forever!!! Dare to differ.....

Peter Pan

2005-04-24T21:42:00.000-07:00

Someone posted this lyric: baca dgn sabar

Mungkin nanti
Peter Pan

Saatnyakuberkata mungkinyangterakhirkalinyaSudahlah lepaskansemuaKuyakininilah waktunyaMungkin saja kau bukanyangdululagiMungkin sajarasaitutelahpergiDanmungkin bilanantikitakanbertemulagiSatupintakujangankauCobatanyakankembaliRasayangku tinggalmatiSepertiharikelmarinsaat semuadisiniDan bila hatimutermenungBangundarimimpi-mimpimuMembukahatimuyangduluCeritasaatbersamakuMungkinsajakaubukanyangdulu lagiMungkinsajarasaitutelahpergiDanmungkinbila nantikitakanbertemulagiSatupintakujangan kauCoba tanyakankembaliRasayangkutinggalmatiSepertikelmarinsaatsemuadisiniTakusahkau tanyakanlagiSimpanuntukmusendirisemuasesalyangkaucarisemuarasayangkauberi

PAS 1, UMNO ?

2005-04-24T19:22:00.000-07:00

Sesuatu yang menarik untuk pagi isnin yang ceria, PAS Kelantan telah mencalonkan Dr Siti Mariah sebagai Naib Presiden. Anyway, this news was screened last night on Buletin Utama, TV3 and they have interviewed some important figures from Wanita and puteri UMNO such as the veteran Aishah Ghani and Puteri's Chief, Noraini Ahmad. They gave their views and some important points here that PAS was no longer relevance to the Malaysians and the nomination of Dr Mariah was due to the 'ketandusan' for the support from the rakyat. Now it's up to you to think and ponder.....
For further news visit:
http://www.harakahdaily.net/article.php?sid=12937&mode=thread&order=0

How to be rich without going to school - Rule no 1: Play Football?

2005-04-20T00:53:00.000-07:00

According to ESPN, Rio Ferdinand, is resuming talk to continue his current contract. That's normal for the footballer but what i need to highlight here is the amount MU needs to pay him.

'The England defender is in contract talks with the Red Devils, with his agent Pini Zahavi indicating the centre-half is looking for an extended deal worth around £120,000 a week' ESPN

So, what are you expecting me to say? 120,000 pound sterling perweek. Repeat - perweek.......around RM 700,000!!

Open tender to all contractors

2005-04-19T22:38:00.000-07:00

Things to ponder:
According to the INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE, 18 April, this was the response given by KJ about the empty-haunted house in Putrajaya:
'Khairy Jamaluddin, a member of the ruling party and the prime ministers son-in-law, says the house displeased the prime ministers wife, Endon Mahmood. We convinced her to move in, but it still needs renovation, he said'.

So what do you think my friends.... most powerful lady in the country....
renovation??? with taxpayers money like you all la....

Buat permulaan, lihat apa yang ada.....

2005-04-18T20:57:00.000-07:00

Perkembangan politik semasa telah mencabar pemikiran rakyat apabila takrif rasuah telah diputar belit. Apa beza rasuah dengan politik wang? Apa beza Zaid Ibrahim dengan pemimpin UMNO lain? tanya diri anda,fikir dan .......................