Finding time to write.

7.7.2011.

My time management has gone "kaput". I've been doing this and that, gone here and there, you know, the little things that are mundane and boring that I get to do anyway, but they all consume time.

I met Hank at Halim's daughter's wedding at the Tropicana Golf Resort last month, and told him that I've not put anything new on this blog for some time. 

Ramadan is fast approaching. Last night the Surau held its "Israk & Mikraj" celebration with the usual religious talk and a "makan." As usual, as the President of our Islamic Welfare Association, I had to deliver a short welcoming speech. This I have done before, and it was stand up, hello, thanks and sit down again. Simple.

On Monday 11th. I have to stand up and deliver another type of speech, this time in KL. You see, my younger brother has decided to get married. Again. 

Now, this I have to give more serious thought. I've been thinking. Should I make it serious or humourous, long or short, in Malay or English ? 

I think I'll go English because it's going to be with very close relatives & friends only and they should be comfortable with it. But I'll try a joke in the Negri Sembilan dialect for a bit of local touch. I know pulling a joke would not be easy, and I can fall flat on it. And I know if Bang Enon reads this he may let the cat out of the bag and tell my brother, and I lose the element of surprise. But this is how it goes:

bilo bolun nikah, kan main sayang dio kek tunang eh tu.

"sok boli an ayo golang, yo bang ?"

"Yo lah."

"Sok boli an ayo gelinya, yo bang?

"Yo lah."

Lopeh kawin, bini ulang balik "boli an ayo golang moh gelinya, bang!" 

Kali ni jawab eh "tengok la sok!"

As the Indonesians say: "dasar!"

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Social Activist, Political Blogger or Public Commentry.

6.6.2011.

Hank told me that Rock Foundation told him that I'm a "political blogger". Somebody I know had been termed a "social activist." Many make public comments, whether sought or not. These  adjectives fly all over in these times of  digital communication explosion. 

There are many channels to express opinions in, and people avail themselves to them, regardless of their state of mind, political inclination or intellectual maturity. Or deficit thereof. 

It's for the reader to swallow or spit out whatever comes before them, as they read, surf or listen to the media. And I suspect, like me, bloggers, twitters and the general rumour-mongers are just saying out loud whatever touches, irks or interests them at the moment. 

That, like me, too, they may not be qualified to pontificate on something they have no mastery of, because of  their  lack of tuition, experience, or general intelligence, can't stop them. Relevence, after all, is relative. 

The case in point is the recently concluded "Muktamar" Pas in Gombak. Those who support Pas were proud of the proposed changes to the party's make-up. Pas's enemies were loud with condemnation of the same things. 

The fact of the matter is, if Pas doesn't change with time, time will change without it. Pas is not Islam. The teachings of Islam don't change. Pas, like UMNO, is just another political party, with a political agenda. Unlike Islamic principles, Pas can say one thing  today, and another  to-morrow. It has  done that many, many times.  

The people who get voted in as the new crop of leaders are chosen on the basis of the delegates' perception of them. Many are well-known figures who are far from perfect, just like in UMNO. So we make comments on this sort of things. They're not earth-shattering pronouncements. It's just giving an opinion. It's not forced down your throat. Take it or lump it. 

It takes much more to be a social activist or a political blogger. Surely. 

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Justice, fairplay, politics & the weather.

25.5.2011.

It's the underlying cause, the rule of the game, the overpowering force or the unexpected turn - that's the connection here. The common effect is they affect us all, like it or not. I tell Dekna that if she's not concerned with the carriage of justice, then she might as well do something else - be a cook or a singer (she's got a nice voice, untrained, but nice) or whatever. The shortcomings of the law, the weaknesses of the court-room arguments, the errors of the bench, the sloppy investigations of the police etc. are the given reality that is not without, as the jurist says, remedy.

Change the law, corroborate the arguments, remove the incompetent judges, upgrade the investigative forces - it all seems so logical a remedy. Difficult. But logical. The mission should always remain that in the long run, justice prevails. 

What's fairplay ? That there should be a level playing field ? What about "all's fair in love and war ?" There are no level fields. 

Politics is an excuse to do the meanest thing imagineable. Politics make the most digusting deed somehow less so, palatable even ! 

The weather beats everybody. Most certainly beaten are the weather experts, the meteoroligists. That's the nature of it. And the opposite extremes make it even more fun. It's always too little water here and too much there. Too hot here and too cold there. Too much wind here and too stifling there. 

So where's the justice of siding with half of Libya and annihilating the other half ? Condoning the Jewish occupation and ignoring the Palestinian suffering ? Condemning nuclear development, but only if it's not American or American-sponsored ? 

Where's the fairness of throwing the entire military might of the West on small and under-armed states ? So Might is Right after all. 

What's political in the freedom of the press, and the spin of the news?  It has to be the western agenda and the way of life it is accustomed to.  The small states, many trying to stabilise the after-effects of  colonisation,  dealing with lives made  difficult by selfish national policies of the big western economies, seem irrelevent issues and a distraction to the export of western-style "democracy" and "freedom of speech". What about the freedom of choice ? 

Only the weather remains, therefore, impartial about where it strikes. Maybe the rich have more to lose if the winds and the waves hit hard. 

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The terrorist.

5.5.2011.

It depends on one's opinion. It was Saddam. And the North Koreans. Now it's Gadaffi. But for the last ten years it had always been Osama.

In fact even the now embattled Gadaffi blames Osama for his troubles. And when Obama broke news that his boys have finally done Osama in, towns across the Great Civilised American Nation of Democracy, Freedom and Peace broke into spontaneous jubilation that the Hated Enemy is finished. I wonder who it was that was said to cower behind his wife before being shot in the head and hurriedly dumped into the Arabian Sea ? 

And the stoic demeanour of Obama in the announcement looked staged. I mean, here is the No. One Enemy killed at last, after all the declarations in the previous two Great Presidential Elections about making it First Priority  getting Osama dead or alive.  Obama didn't even smile. 

When I get a difficult birdie on the golf course, I jump up and down ! How to prove it was indeed Osama, when the body is forever lost ? Who has led an entire so-called peace-loving and civilised nation into armed invasions of foreign and Independent countries on the slightest excuse of helping save lives and Democracy ? Is not Democracy  freedom of choice ? Never mind if it means killing innocent people, so long as they are not one of us ?  

So who's the terrorist ?

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The Maybank Malaysian Open 2011 @KLGCC

18.4.2011.

17-year-old Manaserro of Italy won his 2nd European Tour title since turning pro in the co-sanctioned Malaysian Open that finished Sunday 17th. April. Only one Malaysian survived the par-golf half-way cut despite 20 of them competing on home-ground - Danny Chia. But he finished bottom-of-the-barrel. 

Mizi, my nephew, was among the early casualties, despite his parents and siblings, and my personal support for the first two rounds. During lunch in the players' dining  I told Ari to get Mizi to see the sports psychologist at UKM or UPM. It's not the technical help that Mizi needs. It's the 5 inches between his ears - his brains.

If you follow golf worldwide on tv, you'll notice the lengthy discussions between player and caddy, and the  endless consultations with the yardage books that everyone has. You'll also  hear that the caddy surveys the entire course independently, before his master starts  the tournament. 

What this says is that the mental preparation is left to no chance. What did Mizi do ? I know of no pre-tournament survey. I didn't see any consultation with any notebook. I saw no deliberations before each shot. And I saw no extra examinations of putting greens. The result ? Yes, balls are put on the greens in regulation, just like his playing partners, but they are usually too far from the pins, and too many  putts are missed.

Like the one on the 9th. hole on the first day, where a possible birdie became a bogey. Seeing the worldwide attention given to this particular tournament,  Malaysia was for four days exposed. The failure of the Malaysian players was also clearly exposed. 

In fact the best Asian was the Bangladeshi, Siddikur Rahman, who was followed by a small crowd of his admiring countrymen, obviously Bangladeshi workers here in KL. Siddikur finished 7 strokes behind the winner. 

The call by Najib after the prizegiving for MGA to step up the game's promotion was timely. For here is a game that is not restricted by physical size and age, not determined by race or diet, that should find the weather of this country conducive to its development and offer an achievable potential of producing world-class players from among its people, who are  sports-loving.

In the meantime, I continue in my search for the perfect swing. And I will not leave it to chance. 

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Siti has left us.

6.4.2011.

Yesterday Siti died in the hospital in Shah Alam, and her remains brought back to Padang Lebar last night for burial in her kampong this afternoon.

I'm sorry we did not visit her in her last hospital stay. We were simply not informed. But then, she had been in and out of hospital many times before, and I suppose nobody expected it to be the last stay. 

I've known her and her husband only in the last seven years. Our meetings during this relatively short period had not been frequent, and for my part I can't honestly say that we've been close, but it had been cordial enough, I guess. I noticed Idah got on quite well with her. I suppose it's the woman thing. They had more common topics to talk about. 

But the last year we knew her, her health had been frail. She was not yet 80.  Idah and Dekna, who's on leave, had visited the remains last night itself, soon after its arrival at Padang Lebar. I couldn't come together because of a previously scheduled and rather important meeting of the housing estate's Islamic Association.

I went to pay my respects this morning, and Idah came again, accompanying.  The burial was carried out to-day. It could have been done before Zohor, but I suppose her husband, Cik Gu Rahman, wanted to have the Zohor congregation present for the solat jenazah.

Siti was my No. 2 Son's mother-in-law. He married Ija in December 2004. 

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How do you uproot corruption ?

4.4.2011.

I would simply suggest that when you put too much power in the hands of poorly paid officials (a relative term, of course) you have corruption. 

With a very large administrative staff holding untold discretionary authority over unimaginable depths of the bureaucratic mess that runs Malaysia to-day, the current revelations in the media of staggering corruption and dishonesty by both executive and legislative officials must be utterly dumbfounding, to put mildly. The disease must be uprooted. And to begin with, belated as it is, the culprits already caught must be punished mercilessly, and wrongdoers still at large hunted and brought to swift justice.  

The problem as I see it is that crime is always committed for only two motives - greed and sex. And the higher the social position of the perpetrator, the bigger the incentive required. But even if individual acts of betrayal are modest, if committed in large numbers the total damage would be extraordinary, as in the case of the corruption of many officers over a long period of time involving just a few hundred dollars per case.

I propose we implement what  Mahathir said in his memoirs. Or follow the example of Singapore. What Mahathir suggested was to put in place a system where official approval for business transactions be made speedily and transparently. Give no chance for  the arbitrary denial or delay for the necessary permission to start and operate businesses. 

Singapore  pays her government servants well. Between these two actions, we should very largely reduce  the temptation for corruption. 

This is where religion  comes  in. Because  in  God we seek succour. 

To put it in a simple proposition - reduce paperwork, and increase the pay of those employed in the enforcement services such as the Police, Custom, and Immigration, and the regulatory authorities concerned with Transportation, Power and Water Supply. And instill the fear of God.  When officers are well-paid, paperwork reduced and piety instilled, the climate for corruption should shrink, if not disappear.  

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My protest on Western powers' illegitimate war on Libya.

26.3.2011.

Since Najib is not leading Malaysia in protesting the illegitimate war by the so-called Coalition Forces on Libya, I register mine here. 

I note to-day that some Indonesian Muslim groups, but not the Government, have also rather belatedly gone on the streets to voice their condemnation of the  undeclared war on Libya by the so-called democratic Coalition Forces of US & NATO. This makes it only the second country to protest, following the conditional protestations by Turkey.  

Why Malaysia has not done so is to me not only disappointing, but downright cowardly. Are we 1.6 billion Muslims of the world quite happy to stand idle and just watch the anti-Islam powers of the world use the slightest excuse to crush Muslim countries they fear or despise, while we're safe and smug far from the scene of this international crime ? And to highlight their balatant hypocrisy, at the very same time Israel was pounding Gaza with missiles, killing innocent civilians,  there's not a word from them, or from the UN about it. 

True Muslims will not condone all the evil deeds perpetrated by the bad leaders of the Islamic countries in question. In fact the syari'ah encourages bad leaders to be replaced. The basic issues of allowing freedom of expression, provision of the basic creature comforts for the citizenary, high unemployment rates and high costs of living, and proper representation of the people in the government of the day are said to be the root causes of these uprisings, and the syari'ah allows for corrective action. This must come from the people, and every encouragement should be given for both the oppressed to strive for them, and the culprits to repent or be replaced. 

But to drop bombs and inflict death and destruction to prove a point of view, with no regard for innocent lives and public safety, and the fact that nations have certain diplomatic rights and deserve minimum due process, is certainly neither a civilised nor a convincing way of selling western democracy. It does not make the attacker in any way superior in his posture, or more honourable in his proposition. 

The fact of unchecked military atrocities carried out by the descendents of the victims of the European holocaust on the true owners of the land, and the delayed and ineffective military intervention by European countries on the genocide committed right in their midst during the Bosnian war, is stark proof of the anti-Islam weightage in their value system. 

The argument seems to be that Muslims are causing trouble everywhere, and Muslim countries must be cut to size whenever and wherever possible. In the long run, both Islamic teaching and practice must be diluted, if not completely removed, from "mainstream" life. 

In this age of instant news, what can be more devastating than the instantaneous relaying of sounds and pictures,  horrendous images of the savagery of conflict.  Commentaries from bedraggled victims and partisan reporters alike must be horrifying to those watching their tv sets in the comfort of their homes.  But  news sell, and bad news obviously sell better. 

I hope these rebelling Arabs in the end get their legitimate  wishes , with or without outside help. But I also hope they don't accept any suggestion that their political and economic transformation is compatible only with western values. I hope that they have not forgotten the long and rich Islamic traditions that originated from the Prophet Abraham right down to Jesus before Muhammad, all of whom Islam considers as among the Chosen Prophets to be revered.  Let Muslims the world over also remember, that while Islamic countries welcomed and gave protection to fleeing Jews , when Nazi and Christian Germany was murdering them by the millions, the current Christian Governments in Germany, Switzerland and Denmark have pointedly illegalize Islamic attire and architecture ! 

And the US, created 300 years ago as a new home for those running away from the religious persecution of Europe, right this minute is making deliberations in their legislative houses to make Islamic practices illegal. Our silent protestation is the weakest of our piety. 

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What happens in Libya now ?

22.3.2011.

After three straight days of cowardly bombings and a Coalition fighter plane shot down, what happens next ? When do you start thinking instead of following Nike and "just do it"? So you have all those arsenal and throw you weight around. Why don't you pick someone your size ? Like China, for instance. 

Not that you won in Vietnam. 

By the way, Sarkozy, don't forget the shellacking you Frenchies got at Dien Bien Phu. 

And you English, don't repeat Blair the Liar and say it's the right thing to do. Unlike maths where two minus become a plus, here two wrongs don't make a right - if it was wrong for Gadaffi to kill his own people, is it right for you Pommies to kill other people ? 

You Yankees are still stuck in the Iraq and Afghanistan quagmire of your own making. Do you want to get stuck in Libya now ? What's next ? Bahrin ? Yemen ? 

The fight at OK Corral happens only in Hollywood. But the Good Guys don't always wear white hats. The Bad Guys don't always lose,too.

Why don't you practice what you preach ? You can't force democracy down people's throats. And I thought it was Mao Tsetung who said "diplomacy comes from the barrel of a gun" ! But then again you buggers have a saying for everything. Like "the end justifies the means." I have a saying for you, too - "up yours !" 

And by the way, Israel just fired some missiles into Ghaza today. You going to bomb Israel now ? 

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"A Doctor In The House" - a good read.

22.3.2011.

I make my hasty pronouncement although I've only read five chapters, picked at random. I don't think I'll be wrong by the time I finish. 

Dekna couriered to me a copy of the new book by Mahathir Monday. No wonder she called a few times asking if a certain parcel had come from KL. I had no inkling it was this one, but it was a pleasant surprise, and I immediately called her and asked why she didn't make it perfect by inserting some money in the pages !.

I've been reading it whenever I can, since. It appears at this point to be not so much a personal autobiography as a journal of events that Mahathir went through from his childhood to his retirement as Malaysia's fourth, and, to me, most remarkable PMship. 

Already I have learned some interesting facts about the birth of Independent Malaya, and later Malaysia. I note that there have been adverse reactions, from Ku Li, of course from Anwar, and, although I didn't bother to read it, from my former friend, Aspan, in his blog. (I say former because he has stopped contacting me for many years now, and the last big wedding for his daughter or son he didn't bother to invite me.) 

These negative reactions are not surprising, in fact Mahathir had from the book launch said he expected a lot of them but is prepared to meet them head on. Mahathir writes in his own style, I suppose, and that doesn't take anything from this book. But I thought employing a professional writer could have made the memoirs more attractively conveyed. 

I'm leaving the two chapters on Anwar last,  as  the  last piece to enjoy at the end of a meal. 

I suggest everybody gets a copy. This may be one last piece of narrative of the nation's birth from a worm's eye view. Or a bird's. Depends on how you look at it. 

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Libya, oh Libya !!

21.3.2011.

At last the US-led coalition has shown its bloody hands ! Drop the bombs on Muammar Gadaffi ! Never mind if a few wretched Muslims get blown up ! We can't let Gadaffi kill his own people, that's bad ! We can kill them, that's good ! Because we must force these Muslims to accept democracy, which is about choice. They have no choice.  

No, this is not Iraq again ! The UN didn't agree that time, though they knew we couldn't care less. Nobody likes Gadaffi. We learned from the illegal Iraq war. This time the UN is behind us. We still don't care, but it gave us the green light this time. 

Yes, the Arab League also wants us to impose the no-fly-zone, though not to kill any Libyan , but what the hell, that's collateral damage ! Anyway, if the stupid Arab League thinks we can go in there without blood on our hands, that's too bad. They don't think we won't smell like shit if we jump into the crap ? Sheeeesh ! 

What can Muslim Malaysia do ? Pretty darn little, I guess. Najib can turn on the tv and shake his head, and say tsk tsk tsk ! But Najib, if he wants to, can stand up and protest to the UN. Come to think of it, it's the least he can do as an incumbent leader of a Muslim State, a position he's at pains in stressing to his UMNO members. 

Call that Moon fellow at the UN, call his new friends in Washington, that coloured guy in the White House, or that woman whose husband used to occupy the White House and had a blow-job there, call a press conference, to-day and now , before Libya disappears from this planet, and say "stop this madness !" 

But then Might is always Right. And the mightier the righter. Right now it's military might. Next it could be economic might. That's why China can get away with killing a few Muslim Uighars, because Capitalist US borrows money from Communist China now, and we can't afford to be unfriendly borrowers here, but we can afford to lose a few Muslims. 

But mainly it's these horrible Muslims. They cause problems everywhere, everytime. They blow themselves up. They blow everyone up. They crash planes. They crash buildings. They hit their women and ask them to cover up. They want to have laws that would cut hands and feet. They won't eat pork or drink alcohol. I mean, who's going to finish up all these pigs that we rear, and all the wines that we produce ? Our criminal laws are more humane - there's no cutting of limbs and that sort of thing. We just hang them. They won't feel anything. 

And why must Gadaffi use force on Benghazi, just because these protesters had armed themselves to use on his supporters ? We had learned to stand idle when the Protestants and the Catholics were killing each other in Northern Ireland, when the Tamils and the Sri Lankans were killing each other for about 30 years, when apartheid South Africa and white Rhodesia and the white colonists in Kenya were exterminating Black nationalists and the Mau Maus like big bugs. So this time we must bomb Gadaffi straightaway, before somebody else do it and deny us that pleasure. Before the UN and the stupid Arab League realise their idiocy. 

I can still pray to God for salvation, but will God answer a sinner ? But God Sends signals, so that we are warned, if only we pause and ponder. We call them tsunamis, erupting volcanoes, earthquakes, storms and extreme weather conditions. I call them God's signals of the errors of our ways. A reminder. 

Stay reminded. 

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Rebellion in the Middle East - who's next ?

5.3.2011.

The Western media is having a field day reporting on the rebellion - that's what it is - in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Baharin, Jordan, Yemen, Oman, Iran and Algeria. There are street protests in Greece, Spain, Russia, Bosnia and even China, but Libya hogs the news right now.

Zainal Abidin bin Ali's government (the Malaysian  spelling ,I think, makes it more recognizable, just like the name  Zainuddin Zidane, the Algerian-French footballer, not Zinadine) in Tunisia fell, as did, after 14 days of street protests in Cairo and Alexandria, Mubarak's in Egypt. 

Of course the US President and his State Secretary led the West in quick condemnation of these two  former allies, especially Mubarak. Now they turn their wrath on Muammar Qadaffi. Their howls of anger are even joined by black singers Beyonce and Mariah and others. Yes, they are truly singing a different tune now. The songstresses didn't shy away from the million-dollar fees offered before. 

Without so much as a pause to take their breath when fuming about the right of free speech and the process of Western-style democracy, these Western leaders have now  dumped the very people they had  considered allies before. Suddenly they give unconditional support for mob-rule, which is how these street protests must be viewed. Never mind the talk of "proper transition of power" and the "constitutional remedy" that these arm-chair critics utterred in their previous commentaries.  If it's good p.r. for the Western civilisation, why the hell not ! 

I'd like to see the old films on the US campus riots in the 60's, and the Watts and the Martin Luther King early marches. Why is it not good for the geese if it's good for the gender ? I don't codone the wrongs that Zainal Abidin and Mubarak and Qadaffi have made. The street protests are valid precisely because these Islamic states did not provide for the "syura" that syari'ah provides for in good governance. The syari'ah recognizes the freedom of the people to choose their leaders and remove governments, just like Western-style democracy.

But unlike Western democracy, Syariah says the ultimate authority is God, not the people. And there are injunctions in the Holy Book and the advice of the Sunnah with regard to consultation, dispensation of justice, guarantees on minorities, and obedience to the just leader. We can see the autocratic republican rule in these beleaguered Arab states, We can see the large disparity in income,  the high cost of living, on top of the high  unemployment, and the ostentatious life-style of the ruling class against the general poverty of large segments of the people. This is ripe for rebellion. We can almost feel the distress and nervousness of the Saudi King and all his half-brothers, and the King of Jordan, too.

Now suddenly you hear billions being doled out for their peoples, the incalculable petro-dollars that should have been shared long ago. I mean, how much can the princes eat, anyway. Malaysian leaders can learn a thing or two here. Don't say it won't happen here - stranger things have happened. The billions earned by Petronas and the banks - these should be shared by the rakyat. What good is the money in the banks ,only so the banks can make more money ?

Assisstance should be channeled down, to bring the price of petrol down, to make basic goods available and affordable, to make medical costs low, to make education within means, right up to university, and to create jobs for the trained. And allow channels for people to speak out. 

Fortunately the 5-yearly elections give some respite for this.  But more avenues must be opened so people don't go to the streets to speak out. And don't just pretend to listen. Act quickly on the reasonable requests so people now they're heard. 

Who's next ? Keep your eyes on China. With a Communist government and a capitalist economy, with vast swathes of rural poverty surrounding pockets of the ultra-modern and expensive metropolis, with huge numbers of rural-urban migrant workers who are under-employed and underpaid, with glaring astronomical riches of a few against the abject poverty of many, with widespread reports of corruption in high places, and with a steel grip on public expression, the Middle Kingdom seems ripe for the Middle Eastern malady. 

The notice on the Chinese opera wall says "Coming Soon"! 

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Another Maulidil Rasul.

3.3.2011.

Every 12 Rabi ul Awwal Muslims the world over remember the birth of the Prophet Muhammad saw. That anniversary date was fifteen days ago, but mosques and madrassahs continue to celebrate it well into Rabi ul Akhir. 

Our local community celebrates it next Friday night, with the usual selawat of praises for the Prophet and a ceramah by an invited speaker, followed of course with food and drinks for all. As the practice in the last several years, as chairman of the surau I will have to start the ball rolling with a short introductory speech.

In the past I have touched briefly each time on the various aspects of life of the Prophet, emphasising his daily role as a simple family man in spite of his true greatness as the last Messenger of God. His appearance more than 1,400 years ago has left the remarkable legacy of a faith and a way of life that is embraced by  a third of humanity to-day, and is said to be the fastest growing faith in all of non-Muslim Europe and the Americas. So fast, in fact, that national leaders there are alarmed because of the general misconceptions about Islam in these countries.

This time I intend to touch on importance of studying deeply the spirit of the Prophet's endeavours as the basis to propogating social justice while the world community wallows in greed and selfishness. I intend to implore the audiance the need to go beyond the rote praises for the Prophet, and understand our obligation to fight for decency and a civilised society. The truly wonderous aspect of Islam that Muhammad saw inherit from Abraham and gave finality to the whole world, and not just to tribal Arabia, is the strong emphasis on the welfare of the community, regardless of religion. Especially emphasised are the needs of the downtrodden, orphans, and the fair treatment, not equal treatment, of all members of society. 

I feel the enhanced relevence of these issues in the light of what is now happening in the Middle East. These Arab nations that embraced Islam early  should have been guided in the type of government taught by the Prophet's syari'ah.  They may have been so governed in the past, but somewhere in the last few decades this seemed to have been discarded in one way or another. The lesson shouldn't be lost to Malaysian leaders. 

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Matrimony (2)

3.3.2011.

The latest I heard from Idah was that Fauziah is not taking it lying down. Too bad. Marital problems started from Adam. The ways spouses have gone through them are as many as the causes that started it all in the first place. 

There are basically only two approaches open - the good, amicable and positive way, with the hope that the worst is over, and life goes on. Or the bad, acrimonious and negative way, with the intention of doing maximum damage and inflicting revenge. The choice is simple if reason prevails, but difficult if not. Whatever it is, action, as they  say, speaks louder than words. And remember,too, that it must have been too much of one and too little of the other that had caused the boat to rock from some point before.

In the first place, one should look at the immediate proposition. The fact that the "proper" legal process has been intiated should be given credit. It's not the often seen summary dismissal thrown out in anger and to hell with it. It has been deliberate because it is not something to be taken lightly. And from what I hear, the initial terms aren't horrible, and can be used as the starting point. 

You are not out to make a quick buck here, for heaven's sake. Provision for marital separation is provided for in the Holy Book, and making a civilised move to have this very private matter settled in an open court must have been a very heavy decision for the initiator. For whatever its worth, this should be appreciated. Secondly, one should resolve to move forward. 

At this point reconciliation must be the furthest thing from their minds. But the alternatives are many, and the good ones plenty. I don't expect anyone to be noble here, but hey, we're not ignorant, are we ? Anyone in his right mind would suggest an amicable end to this sad saga. Anyone who even considers, much less utter anything less has to be out of his freakin' mind. Again, I pray that the couple seeks His Guidance. 

Please find peace, and hopefully the happiness that seem hard to get now. It's never impossible.   Have faith.  Do the right thing. 

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Matrimony.

2.3.2011.

Islam encourages marriage so highly that the Prophet Muhammad saw said the solat of a married man is many times more valued than that of a bachelor. A corollary to that is the Hadis that says the legitimate act most disliked by God is the utterance of the "talaq" on the annullment of a marriage. But to err is only human, and we are forever beset with problems, big and small. As they say, we  plan, but God Ordains. 

It's that much more painful when the marriage has  lasted for decades, and children are involved. And that pain is felt by the entire extended family. What went wrong ? We searched in our hearts. It can't be something out of the blue. Did we miss the signs ? 

This is not the time to play the blame game. This is the time for consolation, for soul-searching, and yet this is also the time for very private thoughts, for reaching for inner strength. This is a confusing time, and yet not a time to be confused. This is a good time for seeking peace with God, a time to pray deeply for courage and guidance. 

I can't stand in judgement for a very private matter. The intricate issues I'm not privy to. The parties concerned might ask for advice, and what kind of a person am I to refuse it if I have it. Most regretfully, I don't have it. How could I, having no knowledge of the meeting and departure the  two hearts and two minds that have created a niche in this life for nurture of family and family comforts,  suddenly hitting a sand-bar of life.

I sympathize with emphaty, never pity, and yet cannot  feel the real sadness of it all. I can, however, pray that they find the least hurtful compromise. This is only what is sadly available to them, a compromise. 

Above everything else, think of the poor children. They deserve the best consideration in this pathetic scenario. 

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Tenang bye election in particular, Malaysian politics in general.

31.1.2011.

Was I right about Tenang or what ? Chong Kim Yew said last week "not sure yet" when I said BN will win. I told him BN will win because it's BN vs PAS, not PKR.  And Johore is not Kelantan. 

In the subsequent campaigning that I followed on the internet, I read that PAS initiated the personal attack on the BN candidate. Unfortunately, ex-Cikgu "Malang" (it's Mala)  appeared to have a lot of skeletons in her cabinet, and they were fodder for the BN counter-attack - her dismal academic qualifications, her past job, her two marriages, and her leave-cheating husband, to name a few. 

There's the Malay saying that  PAS  forgot -

 "slandering the prawn, the nail worn, 

  slandering others, I'm worse!" 

("Mengata udang paku serepih, mengata orang aku yang lebih").

I saw on tv the post-election panel talking about BN needing to do this and that before the next big one ; to change tactics and go for substance. 

Well, it's not BN. It's the people, the electorate. What makes them take notice ?  As can be seen in the support given by the Chinese ballot, race is still a factor. The Indians, for whatever reasons, seem to have returned to BN. The Malays are split into 3 - BN, PAS and PKR. Local issues, even old and seemingly minor ones, matter. Personality matters. In fact the juicier the stories, the better. 

Unlike the "good old days", now good candidates are important, the party less so. PAS is just another political party, and what it says about Islam is not, well, Gospel. It has made too many U-turns about too many things: about women candidates, working with non-Muslims, even the strict implementation of hudud. In fact, in order to get votes and win elections, PAS has gone further than UMNO in doing some things that even UMNO has not done in spite of its long association with MCA and MIC.

PKR was born out of one man's frustration with the UMNO that initially brought him "from the cold", but then put him back there again. What can you say of followers who just want to follow ? Even Ayah Pin with his absurd "Kingdom of the Sky" has his followers, as was the case with the late Ashaari's "Darul Arqam". How many deviant teachings have been found, and how can these people not see the phony teachings ? NS once said there were 54 deviants in the state. It's up to the thinking man to think. 

Many UMNO people are crooks, too. But all in all the party has done something for the country. Don't throw the baby with the bath water. It's not a one-man party. Everybody in it should learn from the the mistakes made and the weaknesses exposed. Erring  members should be culled. If the apple-polishers and opportunists and the bad hats are not uncovered and disposed of, then BN will continue to grind out the same superficial and tiresome propaganda that the tv panel suggested  should be  replaced. With substance.   

Like the next bye-election  in Merlimau.

 

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Keeping the book collection.

25.1.2011.

Most of the books that I have bought, been given or picked up one way or another through the years are gathering dust in one corner of the house. Once in a while I pick up one again, and flip through the pages, stopping wherever I had left a mark, and try to refresh my memory of those printed words read.

I remember my plan of long ago of indexing my "mini library" and it's not done yet. I said "most of the books" because I've lost a few - because of the passage of time and because of moving house many times in the last 43 years. The oldest books with me were given by my late father - "Hikayat Abdullah bin Abdul Kadir, Munshi" and "Kesah Pelayaran Abdullah" both from Malaya Publishing House Limited, Singapore, 1947. The latter was written in 1852, the last work of Munshi Abdullah before his death during the Holy Pilgrimmage. These two were given to me after the family moved back to Kuala Pilah from Tanjong Malam in 1957. That's 54 years ago ! 

I also have Mahmoed Joenoes' "Tafsir Quran Karim" from Pustaka Mahmudiah Djakarta 1957, the first prize for Oratory Competition for Negeri Sembilan Religious Schools in July 1958, held in Rembau. I have  Prof. Muhammad Yamin's "Atlas Sedjarah" from Djambatan, Djakarta 1956 that was my first prize in the Oratory Competition for  students 14 - 18 years during the "Minggu Bahasa Kebangsaan" Kuala Pilah District, January 1960. There was a big cup that came with the prize but that was kept by the School for the return competition, but I don't think there was. The Cup is probably lost.

Incidently, I went on and won the National Oratory Competition Minggu Bahasa Kebangsaan the same year, and received another big cup from the first Raja Permaisuri Agong at the Dewan Tuanku Abdul Rahman, Jalan Ampang, KL. TMS, my old school, kept the cup and is probably lost now. But I still have the photo with the Permaisuri Agong taken by Straits Times. Lula, No.3 Son's wife, came across a newspaper cutting carrying the same photo with the story "....he is now probably 57 years old..." I was 60 when Lula showed the cutting to me.

I'll probably catalogue by subject. I have some old religious books, but the basic Malay text and not the advanced Arabic printing. For more advanced material I have to rely on the English translations by mostly Indian and Pakistani Islamic scholars.

The biggest subject collection must be under "Golf." At the last count I have close to 100 books on, about, or related to the game. The oldest is Harry Vardon's "The Complete Golfer" from McClure, Phillips, New York, 1905. There was no obvious intention to keep a collection. I just acquired the books along, and they grew in number as I moved on. 

But since I discovered the existence of "Pay-less Books" some years ago, I have regularly added  my collection, especially hard cover editions. "Pay-less Books" makes old, pre-owned  books very affordable for me, where new books in Malaysia must rank as probably the most expensive on the planet. Old or 2nd-hand, the contents of books don't age. In fact some may end up more valuable if , like Munshi Abdullah, they become very rare. 

I have been thinking, why can't the Government allow books to be cheaper and make the public better read. Whatever loss on levies on paper and printed matter or whatever, are surely more than compensated by the gain in readership, and with it, knowledge. 

I didn't know that Dekna would eventually become a lawyer when she was born, but somehow I've picked up a few books on, or related to law , and I've had them for a long time. For instance, there is the notorious (in Malaysia) Alex Josey's "The David Marshall Trials" from Times Books International, 1981, and "The Law is An Ass" by Gyles Brandreth, printed by Pan, 1984, bought  in 1984, and the book by the New Zealand Q.C. about the celebrated sacking of Tun Salleh Abbas that is somewhere in the pile.  And this is one more reason why I must organize myself now. "The Law is An Ass" I've shown to Dekna who showed no interest reading it. I think she should read it. All the anecdotes are authentic. The asses must be real! 

 

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Face the real world, Dekna.

24.1.2011.

Your grandfather didn't live long enough to even see your uncle, my younger brother, graduate with an M.B.B.S. from M.U. How proud he would have been. 

You know, eventually seven of us siblings, children of the cikgu from Kuala Pilah, finished our tertiary education, some with post-graduate degrees, and made something out of our lives. Not great nor rich & famous, but useful lives we're always thankful for. And now the late cikgu's children's children are in turn coming out into the real world with at least adequate academic qualifications. They will not guarantee success, but put to good use they can help. And Dekna ,  you are a case in point.

By the end of 2010, you had already chalked up 18 months of legal service , most of them (12) where you are now, in Kuantan. I have told you too many times that the real world is nothing like the classroom where you have spent most of your life so far - 18 years of schooling to be exact. By your own school grades you have put yourself through a successful scholastic career. But good school grades do not necessarily transfer to good career grades.

If you think school was hard work, and I know you worked hard in school, think again. Real life is the really hard part. Nobody is going to grade you. You make your own grades. But everybody will assess you. As a worker, as a friend, as an adversary, as a human being. Later on, God willing, as a wife and a mother. And mostly you won't be treated, at least in your own eyes, fairly. You make your own call.

What's the secret to success in the real world ? Who knows. But surely one of the key ingredients must be the willingness to work, and work hard and honestly. No short cuts, no "spotting the questions" here.

You often tell me of your stress and frustration at work, in court. I tell you that life is full of stress and frustrations. Your career development will be built on them, stress and frustrations. If you are willing to learn from them, you learn to handle them and go over them. You will eventually succeed. Otherwise you fail. 

You say the defence counsels are too smart. They have to be, or nobody will take them. But learn from them. And work harder than them. You can't match them for experience, because they have been at it longer. 

So build up your own experience right now.  Remember you share the same early training at law school. But remember you had excellent grades. You went to the best girls college in the country. Successful as they are, did they get, like you, First Class Honours, and Best Student Award to boot ? 

Keeping this fact in your mind, but never flaunting it ( who cares, anyway ), you should be able to face them squarely. Throw the books at them ( don't take it literally). Prepare your case well. Be sharp like them. Be aggressive but respectful of their standing and experience and enjoy the intellectual sparring. Gain the respect of the court. That's my advice. 

Come to think of it, there's no stress here. Sounds like fun. So work hard, but enjoy it, too. Life is like making tea - it's up to you to make it strong or weak.

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More bye-elections & the stupid club.

22.1.2011.

Two more bye-elections are coming, and Hak Tam & I are at it again - RM 5 for the right guess of the winners. So at least there's money to be made from all this. 

BN should win Tenang ( and I win RM 5 from Hak Tam ) - Johore is not Kelantan. My sympathies  are with Cikgu Malang, oops ! Mala. I hope PAS can give her a job after this. I wonder what were the promises made that made her let go of her job to contest the polls.

Merlimau, too, should see BN win. The PKR lorry is steadily losing whatever momentum it got from the Dollah  debacle at the helms of UMNO. That gave everybody the inspiration to give it a hefty kick, and that included UMNO's own disgruntled members. Fortunately, Mahathir from outside, and Muhyiddin from inside, were courageous enough to say" enough " to Sleepy-Head.

The calls got the desired response from concerned UMNO leaders, not so much because the criticisms were true, but because any further delay in removing "Flip-flop" could spell the beginning of a quick end to UMNO.  Now it's still spelling " the end", but a bit slower - unless Najib & Co. grab the party by its short hairs and move courageously in the right direction. What that is, is another story. 

                                  ......

The bye-line on "the stupid club" comes from the show-cause letter I got from the club "for failure to give due notice" for pulling out of a particular club-organized event. 

You see, 24 hours prior to that event I had written to the club staff responsible that I had to withdraw because of a family matter.  Unless the club could get me on the first flight in the competition. That's not "due notice" ? The 24 hours may not sound a big deal,  but you must realise the draw was only made available the same morning that I gave written notice. 

And another thing, when the participants' list was first opened, I had put my name right at the top as the first entry. Why was I assigned to a late flight ? In fact to save participation I even got another member to agree in writing to change places with me. If the club was not so stupid it would have realized that the non-participation on my part that rankled it so much  could have been avoided by allowing for the switch.  Which should  have been unnecessary if it followed a simple logical "first-come-first-serve" system in its entry list. 

At the end of my reply to the club, after noting all the above,  I could not help putting in a dig "if you have just a little imagination, you would realize bla bla bla. " On hindsight I should have stuck to my original draft and written "brain" instead of "imagination". I don't think the club would have known the difference. 

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A belated wedding reception.

16.1.2011.

Atan's son, Tizar or "TJ" got married two weeks ago, but that was viewed as the bride's kenduri, I think. So we on Atan's side of the family were invited to his reception today, first by sms, then by card handed out by Bot during Pa' Ijoi's daughter's wedding in Lonek on Christmas Day. I think the sms use was misjudged and impolite and perhaps this explains the absentees to-day - Anjang, Bang Tai, Mak Uda & daughters  and a few others. 

The venue at Felda Villa, staged as a garden party, was quite tasteful. The crowd was just nice for the smallish compound. There was a cosy atmosphere, and the mc was professional and succeeded to make the whole event relaxed and friendly. The "soalan teka-teki" was especially entertaining. It made a welcome change to the usual wedding-feast activities. 

The caterers could do with better cooks, though. The food wasn't great, though the layout was good. I've served Felda early in my career, and I think Felda's setting up (after I left) of the "Merak Kayangan", "Dewan Perdana" (it was supposed to be called "Dewan Rama-Rama" and even had a large stainless-steel rama-rama in front for a short while until the new Felda Chairman, for the first time a politician, shot the the rama-rama down) and now, recently, this villa, is a good idea. There's big demand in  KL  for function halls. 

 Atan is the youngest of the late Kak Mah's children. If I remember correctly, Kak Mah named him after the day he was born, Hari Raya Haji, thus Ahmad Adzharudin. But he was, as the youngest, "intan" (diamond, precious) and so," Atan". The memory of his late mother, the oldest of the sisters, and that this was Atan's first daughter-in-law, would have had me attend the reception, sms or otherwise. I suppose people have different priorities in their daily lives. 

 Atan may have forgotten it, but I was the one who gave him his present job in Felda Niaga.  In fact, indirectly, I also "gave" him his present wife, because they met at work. That is said with a certain fondness and demands no credit. I was in position to offer it, and my late sister-in-law's son was seeking it. 

We lingered right up to the end of the scheduled booking time, mainly because we were waiting for Memi & friend, who eventually made it before closing time. Then we went in tandem to Cik Ani's house in Taman Melawati for tea, and were together back in Seremban by about 5. 

Dekna , Memi & friend wanted to eat out that night, and we did. We lost track of time for the evening and finally came home and went to bed past midnight. 

Memi and Dekna  discussed together the bills, I don't know the outcome, but my money was safe. 

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Calamities - natural & man-made.

15.1.2011.

The big floods inundating Australia, Sri Lanka, Europe and many parts of the world are the big news worldwide. 

The altercations in the Selangor State Secretary's appointment and the Rais Yatim's sorry tale are news Malaysiawide.

I feel empathic sorrow for the world news, and plain sorry for the local shenanigans.

The scientist would simply explain away the vagaries of nature in the climatic disturbances. The more religious would, doubtless, find reasons far more esoteric. The more mundane should at least realise that nothing beats nature, and the best human efforts cannot match the wrath of nature. Only the human spirit can lift us from despair and allow us to move on.

Notwithstanding that bit of self-serving sermonising, we should perhaps accept the proposition that we, creatures of God, must submit to His Plans. 

Which is more than I can say for Khalid Ibrahim. He's just being forced by man-made rules that he accepts someone he has reasons to dislike to be his head of administration in the State Government that  his political group now controls. To begin with, Khalid should be intelligent enough to know that he's where he is by default.

PKR as a political party that alone has no majority in the Selangor State Assembly. UMNO is still the biggest single party voted in in 2008. If the BN component parties delivered just half of their votes, things would have been different. But that is  conjecture. What is factual is, the BN vessel got stranded in 2008 because of its own internal malfunction, and the mouse jumped on the pile. 

But the crow standing on top of the cow-dung shouldn't, well, crow. Knowing this, Khalid should wisely pick his fights where they count, and not be like the silly lad in olden times, when, given a "kris" for the first time, he started to poke this and poke that with it. It was ok when he poked a banana tree. What happened when he poked at a rock ? Now to make things worse for Khalid,  he says he's set to convene the Dewan Negri to change the State Constitution to empower the Sultan to the pre-1993 status. Yet even as he mouths his lines, he's very publicly going against the Sultan. Can you believe it? 

Poor Rais has had his share of bad luck in his long political career. But he's a survivor, and he'll survive this one, too.  With excellent credentials, he went into Negri politics full of the promise that soon steadily materialised. He became the MB in spite of the ill-placed jokes made by his less-than-subtle predecessor. He became a Cabinet Minister soon after, but chose the "wrong side" in the UMNO scheme of things. He "burned his bridge" and fought hard for his old constituency wearing new colours, but this was UMNO of old, and he paid the price. 

And yet his well-spoken delivery and the hands of fate saw him survive politically until to-day, perhaps as one of the longest-serving Federal Ministers. His bad luck this time is that he took on the blogger-community in a confrontational manner, which is ok if you have what that takes, but not  if you lump them together, "the good, the bad, and the ugly." Rais is nothing if he cannot learn from his experience, and that should teach him that you may have a silver tongue, but you should not always use it too quickly before you use your good ol' brain.

It's always easy to comment, I suppose. But commentry is public menu. 

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KP-Simpang Pertang-Kuala Klawang-Seremban road.

Jan 10, 2011.

This morning I had to go to the Jempol Land Office to get the new computerised replacement of my 1932-issued land grant. I took along Bang Sudin because he knows Saadon who's working there - you know "know-who" gets things speeded up etc. He needn't have come, because I found out I know this guy. I've even been to his house in Pelangai, though that was a long time ago, when he was at the KP Land Office. I told him he's about double the size since then, responding to his saying  I'd lost weight.

After business Saadun treated us for a quick lunch at the office canteen. When we turned in the car to go back to Seremban we decided to take the Kuala Klawang road for a change of scenery. It was worth it.

Outsiders always refer to that town as "Jelebu" when in fact it's "Kuala Klawang". "Jelebu" is the name of the district. I've not travelled this route for some years now. After this I might do it more often.  From Bahau or KP it's in fact further. But I can tell you ,  it's quite pleasant. 

To begin with, the authorities have done much to widen, improve and over-all really beautify the road right from Serting Ulu to Simpang Pertang to Kuala Klawang, then right through Pantai to Seremban. In fact at several stretches, especially at the Bukit Tangga area, the road looks like the PLUS highway. There was only light traffic to-day, and it made the journey that much more stress-free, when the Kuala Pilah-Terachi road these days can often be a motorists' nightmare.

And then the roadside houses. Somehow they look well-maintained,  and for many of them, really affluent with their nice compounds and tasteful construction.  Some come close to the road, but all look manicured and clean and pleasantly presented. As normally found in all districts in NS, there are many vacant houses because in all likelihood the old owners have died and the offsprings have grown up, got married and made homes elsewhere. But  here the houses just look locked-up but not abondoned. 

We didn't stop anywhere because we haven't done our zohor prayers and it was almost 3. But there are many lovely spots where we could have done so and also enjoy the scenery. 

If you have business in Bahau or KP and you're coming from Seremban, this alternative route comes highly recommended from me. You will not mind the extra miles. 

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Serious golf.

9.1.2011.

That's me. Serious. About golf. My golf. 

The late Dato' Ismail Mansor, a senior at RMC, was responsible for my current addiction to this frustrating but facinating game, back in 1978.  I was 34.

When I was posted to Seremban in 1977-78 he was the State Secretary, which made him the  ex-officio  Deputy President of Seremban International Golf Club. He called me to his office and insisted I sign the SIGC application form for membership right in front of him. He even allowed me to pay the entrance fee in two installments. The Government rate at that time was, I think, RM 500. 

But I only took my handicap test eight years later. I was 43. For that, I blame Hank, another RMC mate. But unlike him, I'm still hacking around 365 days a year, if it doesn't rain, trying to find the perfect game. I know it doesn't exist, but damn if I'm quitting now. 

That's why I hate these snitches who watch a tournament on tv at home and call the organizers, about some silly unintentional breaks on some silly old rules. The fact is, whatever infringements are committed, they never make any difference to the shotmaking, but make all the difference to the legal outcome. Like  grounding their clubs in the bunker, or flicking away at the divot while the ball rolled back in. What should we do about snitching ? One suggestion.  Put the snitcher in front of the tee-box and drive a Titlest Pro Vi through his  backside!

This morning I was in a flight during our New Year Medal. One idiot in the group hit my ball for his second shot without ascertaining it was his ball first. When I discovered his mistake he lost his cool and kept at it until the next tee-box.  I tried to be a gentleman and said it's just a game.   I  marked my ball . I  showed it to him. His reaction surprised me.  "OK OK it's over, don't repeat it", he almost shouted. And to think that it was entirely his own stupid mistake. 

Of course, being his marker, I penalised him two strokes and put him for a 10 on that par 5. The nerve of some people. He played shit for the rest of the day. And I think that was too good for him. 

Many of the morning golfers at the Club are regulars who obviously love their golf. Several are around 70, which is fantastic, really. But what they should also do is try to improve their game bit by bit and make it even more enjoyable. But they don't. Instead of practicing their chipping and putting on the practice green near the tee-box, they just chat while waiting for their turn. 

Going to the driving range is even further from their minds. Since my handicap test 24 years ago, I had taught myself by buying books and magazines until I came down to 6 in 2006. I didn't have any teacher other than those books and magazines. In fact I have more than 90 golf books in my collection at the last count, including one  published in 1905 - "The Complete Golfer" by Vardon, the famous English golfer in that century. 

So, if you put your mind to it, it can be done. Mizi (my nephew and a pro) in jest offered me the job of being his caddy when I met him at the Club after the game to day. OK I said, pay me 100 per day and 10% of your winnigs. I'll pay my own food and travelling expenses. 

In fact I can help him with his mental game. But I'm too serious about my own golf. Mizi will have to make a better offer to make me leave my golf for his.

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