Knocked down on the "Pasir".

26.8.2009.

Before leaving for the mosque for "Terawih" last night, the wife asked if BN had won in Permatang Pasir. I said I'd be surprised if it did. I wasn't. Looks like UMNO is being kicked around the former padi fields of Pulau Pinang, or thereabout. "Permatang" being the bund separating the watered padi plots, there was Permatang Pauh, and now Permatang Pasir. UMNO leaders, no doubt, must now find out what the hell is about these padi bunds that's tripping it time and again. 

If UMNO hoped the old local sleepy-head Parlimentarian Dollah could have helped, it was too much to hope for. Anyway, did he show his pock-marked face at all during all the commotion ?

Firstly, why the hell can't they find a less controversial candidate, knowing full well UMNO has enough problems as it is ? I mean, truth notwithstanding, a lawyer without a disbarment certificate can surely be found between Batu Ferringhi and Balik Pulau ! What happened then was a lot of effort was wasted in putting up the whining defence for the poor fellow, distracting everybody from pushing for the vote. 

Secondly, this is already a full eighteen months from the 2008 thrashing at the ballot-box, and UMNO is still doing everything the same style. It's the style, man ! Fashions change, dammit. A vote is given for many reasons, and they don't have to be cerebral. Just look at the votes cast at the supermarkets - shall I buy this or that, this many or just the one, this colour or another, ad infintum. What goes in the shopper's head is the impression he has, because of the advertisement, or his past experience, or his friend's opinion. And yet we're all a creature of habit, and habits die hard (not Bruce Willis).

By sheer habit UMNO shouldn't have sufferred so badly in 2008. It did. So, what happened ? So UMNO should repackage itself, and spend more money on advertisement. Any manufacturer worth his salt will tell you that. The divisonal machinery is out of synch with the mood of the Malays. The branches just mope around, waiting for the same stale instructions from the division. There simply hasn't been any attempt by UMNO leaders to radically change its approach at selling itself to the Malays.

Their tastes have changed. Their educational background has changed. Their perceptions have changed. Only UMNO and its selected leaders behave as if nothing has. Najib says it's not business as usual now. But the prevailing impression is, it is. At the "grass-root" level, people have said all these many times to UMNO people at small meetings , even in the shops and malls where they bumped into each other. UMNO is the party, we are the voters. Apparently East and West don't meet anymore. 

Perhaps those in KL think that what they or their speechwriters say can change people's opinion, just like that ? Well, talk is cheap. It takes more than wandering around the Ramadhan stalls to show that UMNO cares. YOU walk around the Ramadhan stalls, not UMNO. People are still smarting from governmental woes and municipality mess. Don't go around and say that it's not UMNO. Scandals of all sorts appear daily but don't say it's not UMNO. Liason chairmen send their people to run down opposing divisional heads. That's not old UMNO ? I'm afraid the perception is, it is. That's the whole trouble. 

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Syariah Law in Malaysia.

25.8.2009.

Yesterday I saw that news item on CNN about the Muslim Malay woman who was found guilty by the Syariah Court for consuming alcohol in public and handed a fine and 6 lashes. This is new on CNN, but has been highlighted by the local papers for some time, and in fact is an old case. The slant by CNN is obvious. Syariah is cruel.

I remember not too long ago United States of America went one better than the many versions of their Holy Bible, and adopted a particularly harsh but also particularly ineffectual "prohibition" period. Among others, many well-known gangsters, and many, many more less well-known public officials became rich when liquor-brewing went underground, while its consumption remained sky-high. Of course, after the temporary intoxication, the US government sobered up. 

The Quran, like the Bible, prohibits the consumption of alcohol. The Muslim Mufassirins have through more than a thousand years interpreted the teachings of the Quran and the Sayings, Deeds and the Acceptance of the Prophet Muhammad saw, and explained why alcohol is prohibited by Islam. Before the application of English Laws in pre-Independent Malaya, even English writers and several Court judgements referred to an existing Syariah Law practiced in the Malay States. Since the Islamization of the Malays from about the fourteenth century, Syariah Law found its way into the "Kanun" of the Malay States, held as Law by the Sultans. But because of British colonization, and the need to protect the colonizer's interests in the economy and its subtle proselytizing of Christianity, the power of the Sultans were cleverly subverted with the administrative gimmick of the "advisors" and the Executive Council. The long hard lessons from India were brought upon Malaya, so much so until to-day the Malaysian Law Journals are full of Indian-precedent judgements. 

In the meantime, every Muslim Malay, male or female, adult or child, knows it is "haram" to drink alcohol. Now what one does secretly, only God knows. So the Jabatan Agama Islam run by each State has to catch the wrong-doer in public. This woman knew full well what her public action implicated. The remorse shown is as desired by Syariah, but the Judge must pass sentence as also obligated.

The Malaysian Syariah Court is no match for the Malaysian Civil Court in its authority, under the Federal Constitution. It exists on the periphery of the great Constitution as almost an appendix in the form of "Jadual 9 Perkara 2". The Syariah Court's powers have been jokingly referred to as "3-5-6", as opposed to a First Class Magisterate's powers of "10-10-12"- the maximum sentence of 3 months jail, RM 5,000 fine, and 6 strokes of the cane. 

Cruelty has to be defined. Effective laws must be evaluated on both the retribution and rehabilitation factors intrinsic to the law. Otherwise the law become a subject of mirth. The procedures in the application of persecution, judgement and sentence are also comparative distinctions between different legislations. The "caning" in Syariah Law is not the same as the robust lashing on criminals shown on the Civil Courts sentences. A kinder reading of the Syariah Law would show this distinction. It is cosmetic to show a demure Malay woman seemingly surrendering herself to the full might of the law, without alluding to also the circumstances that led her to the sorry tale. 

Obviously CNN has taken the trouble to highlight this eposode, and taken greater pains to go over the top of the many by-lines one expects of a world-class media. But it's also clear that one side of a story is not enough to show the whole picture. 

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The First Day of Ramadhan, 2009 (1430 H.)

22.8.2009.

This is the beginning of the annual ritual. I have determined years ago that I should make the effort at "moral cleansing" by observing deep into the external practices, and by reading deeper into the the teachings of the religion I profess. I don't know what progress I've made, but that's moot. Seriously, there's no golf for six weeks (serious because it's the mainstay of my daily constitutional since retirement). 

Yesterday was the last nine holes, after a terrible week of bad play since recovering from my little roadside misadventure on 13th. In fact when we saw a few pieces of cowdungs on the sixth fairway I remarked to Tiong Meng that's how we were playing - bull shit ! In forty days' time I can assure you I'll have to relearn everything. So what they say about learning to ride a bicycle doesn't apply to golf. They lie.

What I'm reflecting right now is the wisdom of holding one's counsel unless sought. You are at a table where there's lively discussions on all sorts of topics. So one lady says this is how her body reacts to the food she's taking, and I say you're not a nutritionist, how would you know, and naturally she's angered. 

This guy asks if the measure of the "gimme" putt is by the player's own putter or by any of the entire flight's, and I say by any of the four putters, and he's angry. In that case you can sleep with any of their wives, he retorts, and I say that's flawed arguement because we're talking about golf. 

And so it goes. And then I read Mahathir's blog about doctors, sworn to community service but brains still draining, and feel chastened. I also remember that group discussion on Wednesday about Malay leaders urging Islamic values but their wives go about with flying uncovered hairs. 

I'm conviced that if you have something worthwhile to say, then find a platform and say it. The trouble is the absence of the two main ingredients - something worthwhile to say, and the platform. Really, they are not hard to find, if you know how. 

Now, that's the trouble. So I think this Ramadhan I'll stick to last year's agenda. 

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Of Tiger, Ying & Yang, and sports statistics.

18.8.2009.

I lost my ten-dollar wager with  Boon Hoe - that the no: 1 Golfer would win his 15th. major this year. So he lost the last golf Major of the year, in spite of a two-stroke advantage at the start of the final round. Well, he just played conservative golf, while Yang simply played spectacularly. Two strokes decided the outcome from Yang, who simply had the Ying of the day - the eagle chip on the par 5 back nine, and the utility-wood second shot from behind the tree, uphill to the last par 4 that landed about 30 inches from the pin. And Tiger sealed his fate early. Too many missed birdies ( at least 3 ) in the front 9 from distances that he never missed in all of his 12 years 8 months of professional golf. In more than one way he didn't have his Ying, but surely got his Yang !

The Americans are very fond of their sports statistics. Just watch the commentaries on all their sports - baseball, football (the American full body armour version),basketball, swimming,golf and what have you. They painstakingly go to great lengths to calculate everything to the nearest 10 decimal - the hitting average, the running average, the assissts, the stroke, the putting GIR fairways hit etc. They seem to get some masochistic pleasure from all this.

In fact the statistics are the face-saving (the Koreans know all about them) figures Tiger Woods has available to cushion his deep disappointment this time around. 

1. In 13 outings this year, he has already won 5 times. (38.46 % or one win every 2.6 times he plays)

2. In 52 Majors competed in, he has won 14 times. (26.92 % or one win every 3.7 times he plays) 

3. He has won 70 PGA titles , a number only exceeded by two other golfers in the history of the game. 

4. This year he has won more than $7.6 million prize-money from the 5 wins and 13 competitions - an average of $1.52 million per win, or $584,615.30 per tournament. That's more than RM2 million every time he plays, folks. 

5. Forbes published his total take-home pay last year at a cool $110 million (RM 385 million, or RM 32 million per month, or more than RM 1 million per day !).

6. Nicklaus achieved his 18 Majors target at the age of 46, with a total of 73 PGA titles. Tiger is only 33 years old this December. At the rate that he has won, by the time he reaches 46 years, he should win 27.99 Majors and 139.99 PGA titles. 

7. Forbes also says that up to the end of 2007 Tiger's total take-home income was $750 million. That's a 10-year period. By extrapolation, by age 46, when Tiger would have been a professional golfer for 25 years, he should account for an income of $1,875,000,000 - the first sportsman to earn 1.875 billion.

 So, Tiger Woods can afford to let this last Major go to an Asian. It's good for world-wide golf.Of course it's very good for Yang. But it gives hope for all aspiring sportsmen, and sportswomen. Even if you start late, even if you take rice and don't live in Florida, even if you've not won before, if you believe in yourself and keep on trying, one fine day the Ying and Yang might favour you, even if for the only time. 

So there's hope for Mizi. 

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Putrajaya.

17.8.2009.

Saturday afternoon we went to Putrajaya to send Dekna's clothes because she has a ton of work to clear before her first court appearance on Monday. At least that was her excuse for getting us on the highway on Saturday, a day to be avoided because of the weekend rush out of KL. Sure enough, we were caught right before Nilai itself, a situation aggravated by two accident scenes on the KL-ward side and one on the Seremban-ward one. I say scenes because they all involved more than two cars each. And as usual, everybody slowed down to look, even from the opposite side of the highway, worsening the traffic flow.

I know Putrajaya was an idea conceived when Mahathir first took over the premiership in the early 80's. I understand that the whole 5,000 hactres would eventually hold 400,000 people, and by 2010 most of the Federal Government Departments would have been moved there from KL. I have been to Putrajaya before this, a few times for some appointments with people at a few departments, at other times just passing through to Shah Alam and KL. This time, to make it easy to meet up with Dekna, we were to rendevous at the Putrajaya grand mosque, because I'm not familiar with the internal roads, and this chosen spot is easy to locate. So I just guessed my way through with the help of the signs on the roads, and lo and behold, we reached the mosque without making a single wrong turn.

Since we had time to kill, we parked the jalopy at the spaciuos parking area in front of the mosque, and then noticed, for my first time, the sign pointing to the "Selera Putra" food court. Looking around, we chose Hameed's Nasi Kandar, but ordered roti canai because we weren't hungry. I also visited the toilet, and when Dekna came, I left her with her mother while I went to the mosque to do my Asr prayers.

There were a lot of people, many of them obviously foreign tourists. I could see that all were quite curious about the whole place - the mosque, the modern facilities, the boat rides on the lake, and the general layout and architecture of Putrajaya, because from here we could clearly see the surrounding skyline. Certainly, the whole planning and development of Putrajaya is massive and forward-looking. The appointments on the constructions are also modern and tasteful. I'm sure the visitors will come away impressed. 

The sad part is, alas, something typically Malaysian. It's the maintenance. In my years of travel when still working, I've had the chance to visit many countries all over the the world. I've also visited some of the existing Wonders of the World in Asia, Europe and America, and I know these countries have been building long before Malaysia also started building - their places of work, play and stay. And in most of these foreign countries, I noticed that the authorities have made certain that the maintenance of their places are not spared any expense. This has meant for me and my family pleasant stay and clean travel in most cases.

Our short visit on Saturday to Putrajaya, at those places mentioned, otherwise enjoyed by us, was however marred by the relatively inefficient work of maintenance carried out. There was a noticebly large number of uniformed workers milling around, doing obviously cleaning work - the sweepers around the whole area, the cleaners at the eating places, the artisans working on the mosque walls and ablutions. And yet there were too many flies around the eating tables and the food displays, the toilets were not that clean, the open spaces inside the food court and the surrounding areas ouside the mosque had uncollected debris and broken water-coolers, and the court inside the mosque held too much broken pieces of the walls being worked upon and give an ugly appearnce of not being squeaky-clean as a place of prayer should. Since there was a maintenance crew sighted, perhaps we need a stern supervisor to check on the quality of the cleaning done. That's not difficult to do. You don't need a rocket-scientist to determine the quality of maintenance carried out. I did it in my short visit. It'll be a pity if tourists pass by word of mouth the beautiful planning of Putrajaya spoiled by the ugly side of Malaysian habits. 

And this was but one small corner of the Putrajaya complex. I wonder what can be found in those large and beautiful dome-shaped palaces in the distance.

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JBA, N.S., now SAINS.

14.8.2009.

The Indonesians sure love them, to extremes. GESTAPO, PEMILU, PERTAMINA etc. Now NS is catching up. MAINS, JAINS, JBANS, now SAINS. Acronyms, I mean. The "old" Malays believe that a sick child can avoid a lingering illness by having its name changed. Thus my late mother was born "Azizah" (makes sense - her siblings were named Hapipah, Rajmah and Rahmah), but her sick condition had my grandmother changed her name to "Cik Yong". There might be some truth there, because my mom passed away at 87. 

That might not cure JBANS. The water interruptions in my housing estate are so frequent that JBANS could very well mean jangan bagi air-Negeri Susah. Now it's SAINS. When the first bill came this month showing the new letterhead and a 198% increase in the charge, well, I blew a spout ! I told Zainal Pak Itam the day before that I'm going to JBA and make a scene. And I did. 

I was hoping to see an officer, but only a woman clerk attended to me. So I said to myself she'll have to do. I had brought along 14 of the last monthly bills that I have settled. I showed them to her, and demanded why this month the charge is practically doubled. I raised my voice and said there are only two of us in the house, and with the almost twice-weekly water cut, this latest charge is impossible. The poor woman said uncle don't run amok, and I said I'm not, because if I am, I'd bang on the table. And why have you changed the department without informing consumers ? 

She insisted that the bill is correct because the last reading was more than 30 days ago, and the company change had been informed of. I disagreed with her, and said that's why a change of government might not be a bad idea, and she saucily replied it's the voter's right, and I said true, and we'll change next time. 

This is a true situation, even if I dramatised the JBA confrontation. The government cannot simply change the departments that deal with the constituents without proper notice and pre-op feedback. Change should be made for improvement. There better be one in the coming months. Otherwise the government itself may require more than a name-change. 

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The teaching of English.

11.8.2009.

Muhyiddin's reversal of English for mathematics & science isn't over yet, by the look of things. I've already said this has to be looked properly, for what's best for our children. Popularity is not the only test here, notwithstanding UMNO's current predicament. We've to do the right thing, some times. So, now the first formers who started with English can finish with English, and it's 2014 ? If it's worth keeping, then why reverse it ? 

I suspect the implementation date has all to do with politics only, not the children. For the opposing groups Muhyiddin can say to one "no, no, we're not changing anything yet." To the other he can at the same time say "yes, yes, we're changing it in a short while." I'm old enough and angry enough to say this about our Ministry of Education: every time a new Minister takes over, there will be a change in important policies. From Razak to Khir to Hussein to Mahathir to whoever happens to sit there, there'll be drastic changes, not just cosmetic ones.

I escaped mostly because the English-medium school system was intact when I was going through it. But some of my younger siblings endured, for instance, the trauma of having to switch back to "remove" classes and re-learn English and each lost at least one year. It's never too late to deeply reconsider a flawed government decision. It's not the question of the love of your mother tongue. No one can take that away. Seeking knowledge, that can be denied. 

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Accounting: creative or forensic.

9.8.2009.

MAS means "emas" or gold. Whoever is responsible for producing the current accounts of MAS, recently made public, should be given a gold medal, no pun intended. It's truly creative. It should also be given a forensic auditing. The problem is, like law, it'll be one set of accountants vs. another, so which kettle is black? 

The plain and simple statement to be declared to the owners i.e. the Government should be: did the company make profits from its operations ? If MAS did this time, how do you explain the huge loss the last time ? 

You can't do enough to make all the gobbledigooks in the financial statements comprehensible to the general public, who don't know double entry from "no-entry". Hedges and derivatives aside, all the notations and asterisks to the accounts sheets would only confuse, and perhaps intentionally, or even be legal. Remember how Iacocca boasted that Chrysler settle their loans the old way - by repaying them ? And all he did was to adjust the depreciation policy of that company. Remember the pre-Idris Jala days in MAS when the company reverted the entire fleet to Khazanah and re-rented it, and cut on depreciation ? It's always depreciation. And perhaps it's moot. The whole gang should be depreciated. 

The push-cart entrepreneur pays in cash for all his raw material, gets cash  for all his mee-goring mamak or whatever he's peddling. He subtracts one-flow from the other when he goes home, and that's his profit-and-loss. He doesn't charge his own salary and cart maintenance. That's also why the owner-operator truck driver never make losses. 

But running MAS is, well, a different push-cart (even if there are faintly recognizable similiarities). For one thing, the CEO's compensation alone could tip the push cart over. Retailers who sell for cash the goods that he gets credit for will also realise substantial profit from cash-management alone. Sometimes, for the large enough turn-over, such a profit equals that of pure operations. This is the legitamacy resorted to by MAS, perhaps. That's OK, but the magnitude of operations surely dictate true transparency, and demands true disclosure and "due diligence" (the accountants have the terms, even if they don't apply them) so that the people know which is "emas" and which is "suasa". 

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It's still a thinking world.

8.8.2009.

It's an instantaneous world to-day, thanks to technology. Instant news, instant food-and-drink, even instant death (quite often related to both the previous two). But you don't have to buy anything that instantly. You may not be able to think instantly. You sure can still think. 

The case in point is the negative news on Muslims and all things Islam. The proverbial "spin" on Islam, if you like. I just read the story on the torture & murder of the Muslim boy by another suspected group of Muslims. The facts could be verified, of course, but the background to the incident could be more revealing. This is not an excuse for the terrible crime of murder, because nothing is more sacred to Islam than human life. Life is one of the maqasid of syari'ah. That is why the al Sunnah says the taker of a human life, for whatever reason he commits it, can be punished in this world, but will certainly be punished again in the Hereafter.

For this single case, uncountable similiar cases involving children of all religions happen at probably the same time. But it is this particular case that is newsworthy right now. You cannot profile murder to a particuar group of mankind. It's a human malaise, not a Muslim or Christian or Jewish one. You can no more say that a particular race is better at a particular sports than you can say that a particular country monopolises cruelty. That is untenable. In the millions of bits and bytes of news accessible to those who look for them, one particular instant does not define the human milieu.

Human history is not that long. Truth is not that elusive. The crimes of nations are not that far away from frail memory. The casting of the evil eye is not a forgotten art. God (as all religions give the name to the ultimate Creator) Gives us thought to differentiate us from other creations(makhluk). Think. 

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The missing 5th. PM.

3.8.2009.

MUBARAK Pahang was the host for its sixth AGM in Kuantan, and appropriately the sixth PM graced the occasion, as was also the fourth and longest serving PM. The fifth and shortest serving PM was absent. Seeing how he publicly rebuked MUBARAK as a group of pensioners who have nothing ( " oghang pencen, tak da apa-apa....") I suspect the organizing committee deliberately ignored him. A good thing. 

The grand dinner started a bit late. It would have been even later if this fellow were to come, knowing his tardy habits. The morning session went smoothly, except, of course, the adjournement speeches. I left for lunch before they ended. The accomodations could be greatly improved next year we're in Johore. I said so to one of the VP's and the Supreme Council member fro NS. Otherwise the two days were well spent.

The climax of this year' gathering to me was the second day's session with the fourth PM. The Pahang Foundation's complex at Tanjung Lumpur has several seminar rooms, but the one chosen could seat about 500, I think. By the time the protagonists arrived at 10 a.m. the seats were mostly filled, although several people chose to stand in the rear. We ended at about 1.20 p.m. and that because the rapporteur decided it was time. 

Mahathir gave a short introductory speech which was followed by a longer and lively q & a session. The most impressive q was from a 13-year old tudung-clad Malay student who picked the PBIPSM issue in excellent English grammar and intonation. 

The gist of the 3 plus-hour session were as follows: UMNO has to get rid of corrupt leaders and corrupt practices before the next GE. UMNO has to show the people all over again that it's fighting for race, religion and country. The 5th. PM's weaknesses caused all the problems that UMNO as the ruling party now suffers. Anwar is  UMNO's enemy and UMNO leaders shouldn't be scared to confront him. Lee Kwan Yew's visit was remarkable in that everybody seemed to have given him respect like a head of state, when he's not, and his motives were suspect. Mahathir was not even given proper protocol when officially visiting Singapore as an incumbent PM. There is an attempt by the US to create a "new order" in the world, where US values and interests would rule, as happenning in Iraq, Afghanistan, Ukraine and other countries where the US is poking its fingers in. Mahathir also cheekily added that he was responsible for speeding up the appointment of both father and son as PMs. When he circulated that infamous letter after the Alliance's 1969 debacle, Tunku resigned and Tun Razak took over. When he led public criticism of the 5th. PM, the bugger also resigned, and Najib took over. 

The Pahang MB who was present should have taken note of the contents of the session. He could spread the word. 

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