Ex-appointed Minister Zaid Ibrahim.

28.6.2009.

I first met him, I think, around 1989, when the Saujana Golf & Country Club's club house was just completed. My fellow golfers and I were having refreshments in between rounds, and he was there having a drink. A couple of years later when his name came out in the press in connection with some Kelantan UMNO-related news, I remembered.

Through the years, sporadically at first, his name would come out some more, and of course in the last few years his antics have caught media attention. When it was publicised recently that Zaid Ibrahim has joined PKR, I don't think anyone who actually noticed was surprised. My early impression since we first met was that this was a young Malay professional making his way through the world, later thinking, as the years went by, wow ! he's making waves. All positive vibes. 

Not now.

Within the month that Dollah  appointed him as the de facto Law Minister, he visited UiTM Shah Alam, his alma mater. This I know because my daughter called and asked who this guy was. She said he met some law students and spoke to them, but couldn't make head or tail of it, except he was saying how proud he was being an alumni. Watching his antics since that time, I don't think his alma mater is too proud of him now.

Basically there are two things that he has done publicly that demand comprehension: the ex-gratia payment of rm 5 million to Salleh Abbas, and joining PKR. 

In the ex-gratia case, the obvious sucker is of course Dollah.  As a lawyer Zaid should know that what he did was tantamount to contempt of court, because Salleh was duly convicted in a high-profile and well-documented court case involving prominent International judicial personalities. 

In the second case, all of Zaid's words and deeds since his Ministerial appointment must be hard for Dollah to swallow because of the treachery of it all. The least that Zaid should consider surely would have been to reciprocate the basic decency that Dollah had stupidly shown him when taking him out of the blue and putting him in a place of trust in his Cabinet. By joining PKR, Zaid is essentially saying that all that he had said, wrote, done, and probably sworn on, while in UMNO, were lies. In other words, he had been misguided, and only now, and in a convicted person like Anwar, has he found the truth.

In the Great Design of God, a man can find solace and comfort, high office even, in his short lifetime, regardless of his upbringing and his philosophy. I find neither comprehension nor respect for this particular individual. 

........................................................................................................

The teaching of English.

23.6.2009.

The big furore about English for maths & science and making an English pass compulsory for exams shouldn't have been one. We've already had it before, for heavens' sake ! I went to an English school from 4 years of Malay school and 2 years of "Special Malay Classes". We were fined 5 sen if caught speaking Malay in the school compound. Uninterrupted, I went to University studying in English and to this day read almost entirely English. I speak Malay to my wife, but mostly English to all four of my University-educated children, and my 2 daughters-in-law. I'm no less Malay for it, but find the English medium practically unavoidable in the seeking of knowledge because most of the literature available is in English.

An additional language cannot be but beneficial, even if it's Latin. I have also tried to study Arabic, through night-classes, and Cantonese, through self-study, and fared miserably in both. But English is such an easy language to learn. Ari went through Malay-medium schools. Yet through association and imitation can to-day speak passable English, even if he can't differentiate a component from a consonant.

Similarly, my wife has learned to pick the language over the years, and can strike a recognizable conversation, although she cannot differentiate a computer from a commuter - "lets go to KL by computer". 

The Minister of Education cannot forever let incoherence permeate the Ministry's management of the nation's educational system. Let's do the right thing, which is the brave thing. You can't ask the people walking on the streets how things should be run, lest you are run by street-walkers. You must get the enlightened opinion. Get some common sense, even if not so common. Show some balls. Ignore the shrill voices of misguidence. Listen to the sober voice of reason. It's not so hard to do.

........................................................................................................

Ai's third wedding.

22.6.2009.

Ai got married for the third time recently. Idah was deeply involved from the beginning, and went to Kuala Kangsar for the akad nikah and wedding reception there. I only attended the return reception in Seremban because we had to split forces against the onslought of weddings during the recent school holidays.

The first marriage didn't last because she was a stewardess and was forever on call, so the strain of separation was inevitable. She was Kelantanese. There were no children. 

The second marriage in JB produced a son, but was tragically also short. She succumbed to breast cancer that spread horrifyingly fast. During the Seremban reception Ai's old mum-in-law, who came, cried.

I've never known what Ai does. But he seems financially secure - thus the wedding, his link house, car and Honda superbike. But Ai has always seemed unconcerned in the money area. Being the only boy in a large family has probably instilled in him a sense of security, that the women will take care of mundane matters for him.

It seems the new addition is also an independent woman who can help Ai in keeping house. The important thing is she has accepted her step-son fully. It wasn't, it seems, so long ago that Ai lived with Bang Dek in Ampang Jaya, small and mischievous. When Pak Ijoi who doesn't speak English sang "She's a lady" like "Chee olay dee" and Ai teased him, he'd chase Ai around the house ! 

All the good food and his own genes have seen him grow into a strapping young colt ( not so young now ). He played rugger for school and was a good athelete. I understand they had their honeymoon in Australia. I hope they didn't bump into No. 1. 

 ........................................................................................................

A family outing in Melaka.

19.6.2009.

I was reluctant last Thursday to go to Melaka, but Dekna had been with Usop for 2 days and asked me to fetch her. So I gathered the wife and Bang Sudin & Klemot and drove down at about 12.45 p.m. 

We stopped for lunch at the Jejantas at Air Keroh and met up with Dekna & Usop at the Dataran Pahlawan at about 3. We hung around Awe's stall selling those semi-precious stones & crystal trinkets. Apparently he keeps some pretty expensive stones in his stock. When asked about safety he casually said the whole cubicle is padlocked at night.

Then Klemot asked to be taken to Jonker Street to look for some Nyonya braided footwear. Awe said we'd have to drive there, through the "kueh" side. I said "what side ?" When he explained I explained in turn that "quay" is pronounced "key". He didn't believe me at first and looked up his cell-phone dictionary before aquiesceing. Later I pointed out to Usop a shop with the name "Keyside Cafe". 

While Klemot deliberated before buying her 250-dollar clogs (confusing the salesgirls when she asked "mana geng dia ?" after trying out one of the clogs - Idah explained she's asking for the other one in the pair !) we went to the quaint restaurant around the corner for some otak-otak. 

In fact the whole neighbourhood of tiny & ancient streets have been turned into a tourist area of spas and restaurants and antique shops, cleverly retaining the old facades but outfitting the interior in the modern and air-conditioned style. These and the whole quayside where the old port godowns once stood have been quite cleverly remodelled to catch the tourists' eyes. Except for the tropical climate, it could stand up to some similiar settings in Spain or Portugal. Plus the Sungai Melaka boat ride that we took later, but again for the tropical climate would have been thoroughly enjoyable.

I can see where Negeri Sembilan is behind Melaka here. In fact I was told that the trishaw operators in a good holiday month can make RM 9,000 ! At 50 dollars a ride and maybe only 3 rides per day this figure is in fact not at all exaggerated.

We rounded up our day visit to Melaka with a Nyonya dinner in one of the new shophouses built on the reclaimed area in this Bandar Hilir grounds. Again the inside decor was tasteful, though the food not extraordinary. The extraordinary thing was Awe pretended not to see the bill when I asked for it, so I ended up footing it, because Bang Sudin paid for the afternoon boat ride. 

We reached Seremban at about 11 p.m. and I missed the whole Thursday night Yassin recitation etc. and through droopy eyelids painfully did my own solo evening prayers. 

.......................................................................................................

Kuan Yew's 8 days in Peninsular Malaysia.

19.6.2009.

Unfortunately or fortunately Che Det has already shot that missile. However, I do believe I have comments to contribute here. The objective of the visit ? It's probably one last one before he leaves the scene. Permanently. 

He knows enough about the Malays to know that we're never rude to our guests, invited or otherwise. So he wants to walk down memory lane, and imagine about what could have been, if Singapura didn't leave Malaysia and somehow he could have sat on the PM's chair. To his deathbed he'll regret that he didn't get to have a bigger country to rule than Singapura, the little red dot referred to by Indonesia's Habibie.

Against the visit ? The narrow-minded UMNO gurkhas never saw the tiniest good in it. Fortunately the mainstream media never let this "contra" see the light of day in their publications. 

For the visit ? What's the harm ? The guy's 85 already, for God sake. Whatever he could have done, he's already done it. In fact he himself is all about done ! Let him see how the hinterland people lives.

The pontifications ? He's who he is, the self- centred bugger. He thinks he's talking to the ball-less people in that tiny red dot of a country. I'll tell you a story never told by the media.

Before meeting Rosmah he went to a tailor in Chow Kit Road, bringing his own material from Geylang. He asked the tailor to measure him up for a full suit and check and see if he has sufficient material. The tailor did, and said he can make him two full suits. Kuan Yew was shocked ! I brought enough for only one, he said. The tailor said, maybe in Singapore. Around here you're not so big ! Ha ha. 

Why meet Rosmah ? Ah ! this is the real astuteness of the old croak. He knows where the real power lies !! 

.......................................................................................................

I need to write more.

The last several weeks have been distracting for me, blogging-wise. I need to, and will comment on the following asap:
1. LKY's motive for spending 8 days here.
2. A family outing in Melaka on 11/6.
3. Ai's 3rd wedding.
4. The teaching of English & and passing exams with it.
5. Zaid's final betrayal.
6. The niceities of the game of golf.
7. MUBARAK's 7th. AGM and the proselytising leader.



-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Amalina binti Zainal Mokhtar, LLB. (Hons), BLS (Hons), DPA.

12.6.2009.

So yesterday, Thursday 11th. June, 2009, at age 24 years, 11 months and 1 day, Dekna finally got her LLB. (Hons) Second Class Upper from the UiTM as posted on the Student Portal of the University's website, and this is 6 months and 10 days after receiving her scroll for a BLS (Hons.)First Class at the UiTM's 69th. Convocation at the Main Campus at Shah Alam on December, 1st. 2008. Dekna's relieved that all the work she'd put has finally paid off. Certainly she's a little disappointed that she missed her second First Class Honours by a mere 0.07 CGPA, but she can be proud of the fact that she made the Dean's List for her second and last semester of the LLB. course. 

Two First Degrees in four years isn't too bad. That is, as I keep telling her, after 6 years of primary school, 5 years of the Tunku Kurshiah College, 3 years of the UiTM Alor Gajah, and 4 years of UiTM Shah Alam - 18 years out of her 24 years of life thus far studying, or 75% of her entire life. 

The next step is to wait for her first job assignment, supposedly for July 1st. Until now no word has been received from the relevent authorities. We'll find things to do together while she's still at home with us, like yesterday, when we were in Melaka. She'd left two days earlier with her cousin who's staying at Bandar Hilir. We were to pick her up yesterday, and while there we lingered around the tourist areas of the quayside, Jonkers street etc., took the boat ride to Kampong Morten, ate otak-otak downed with cendul and finally had a Nyonya dinner before finally returning to Seremban at around 9.30 p.m.

Awe was supposed to pick all the tabs, but he only ended up paying 3 dollars of the 103-dollar Nyonya dinner. The boat ride was paid by Pak Andak and the tea we had in the afternoon I think was paid by somebody else. 

...................................................................................................

School Holidays.

8.6.2009.

I'm only aware of the school holidays because my calendar says so. Only the relative thinness of the morning traffic and the endless wedding invitations confirm it. My morning constitutionals remain unchanged. Only my golfing kakis are dispersed, so I make do with whoever is around. This morning it was Jane and Amy, both of whom I promptly lost to because a total of 9 strokes given for 9 holes was just impossible for me. The only satisfaction was being two-on at the index 1 par 4 that produced a Tiger-like short birdie putt.(For you non-golfers, the "index 1" means it's the toughest hole in the club.)

I watched the Obama Cairo speech and note the mixed reaction worldwide. For me, talk is cheap - let's see the walk. The unofficial leader of the Free World can set the tone to address the Islam-West strained relations, and the Palestine 60-year old issue. I can see that the continuing construction of the settlements by the Jewish state is a deliberate bargaining chip being planted. The hypocricy of nuclear containenment is starkly exposed by allowing for a nuclear Israel.

On home front, Najib should realise how many Malays are not actually embracing him yet, and how many disapprove of his cousin, the Minister of Home Affairs. The failures of the Dollah government must be corrected, and very quickly. I stress the Malay support because if only the UMNO members are solid behind BN, then that is one giant step for Najib already. 

In the gloom of the economic meltdown, only sports brighten my day. Here is a case for Malaysian talent at the world level, where race is not factored in. In fact if the government of the day can get its act together in sports, it could go a very long way toward 1Malaysia. 

..........................................................................................................