Idris's betrothal in Rompin.

Sunday 23rd. October 2016.

Taking the highway to the Alor Gajah-Tampin exit from Seremban took all of one and a -half-hours to the Rompin mosque. Rompin Bahau, that is, not  Pahang.  This was for Idris's engagement at Kampong Baru Rompin this afternoon.

In fact this is the second one I've done for him. Hopefully this time he'll consummate the union. The first one at Rembang Panas several years ago didn't last because the future f.i.l. demanded the early dowry payment. That torpedoed the engagement and, what else, sunk the planned marriage.

Everyone from the big family came, except Calit. He excused himself because of car trouble, he said. He could have joined me if he'd bothered to call.

After the brief ceremony I returned to Seremban by the same route, planning to stop at the new mall in Alor Gajah. But the car dashboard lights suddenly went kaput, and being a Sunday, I didn't want to have anymore problems with the car, and drove straight home. I'd have stopped and checked if I was alone, but li'l Wafa was sound asleep at the back, after climbing all over the place in Rompin, and I didn't want to disturb her nap, because she'd  go into one of her tantrums. Once home I switched the car off and on again, and it was fine. Only the dashboard lights were still out. I'll call Sam tomorrow.

I didn't catch the future f.i.l's name, but he seems ok. He was with Felcra all his life, all spent in Johor. He knows Kamarulzaman Majid, who was with me for a brief period in Felda. I know he left because he was unhappy with a promotion excersise when he was left out. I think he took a pay-cut because Felcra paid less than Felda then, but went on to become the Deputy GM or something, so that was ok, I suppose. He's a Muar boy.

Padir also met Ibrahim at the Rompin function, only Ibrahim remembered him first. He was with Felda but took optional retirement and joined a private estate or something. Ibrahim is a "muallaf" - a convert. He has two wives, just like Padir. Except he has kept them both, concurrently. Padir's case was consecutive. But both past and present wives came just now. 

It's a small world.

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Feedback on possible campaigning for Bersatu.

22.10.2016.

Tok Molod said this morning that he had met "Jeffri" a few days ago. He said "Hamdan" has joined Bersatu. "Tell Jeffri we can go around and meet some people and campaign for Bersatu" I said.

These would be my points:

(i) UMNO is no longer the party that respects, or even wants to hear what the ordinary members have to say. The silencing of delegates at party conferences and meetings, and the sacking and suspension of duly elected Supreme Council members who dared to question Najib is proof that UMNO is undemocratic, and betrays its own original noble goals of serving for the Malay race, Islam and the nation.

(ii) The 1MDB fiasco insults the "rakyat's" intelligence in the way explanations and excuses have been given, never by Najib himself, in and out of Parliament. The action by the DoJ of USA backs the allegations.

(iii) The life styles of Najib & wife, who's not an elected official, are an affront to the poor rakyats' own ordinary lives and demand explanation, not flippant dismissal.

(iv) The vile insults hurled at   Mahathir by Najib and his cohorts are callous and uncalled for, and are not part of the Malay culture of respectful "budi  bahasa."

(v) The dismantling of the principle of separation-of-powers in government is clearly unconstitutional  and utterly repugnant.

These five points should provide a strong basis for discussion, which should force the case against Najib in particular, and the present UMNO in general.

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2 days hit by 2 cars.

Tuesday, 18th. October 2016.

In the last two days, my two old cars hit me.

I don't mean they actually hit me in the physical sense. But they were hits all the same.

I'd come back from two days nicely ensconced in a 5-star hotel in the capital to attend a largely ceremonial annual gathering of an NGO with RM 1.8 million cash in its coffers. It was to me more of a restful weekend, all paid for. Then this happened.

Firstly, I had to take the 2005 sedan to the "knock shop". Some idiot reversed his small truck into my left rear end, I don't know where or when, but I found the ugly dents Friday before I went to KL the next day. So I said I'll come back Sunday, and do the repairs on Monday.

Secondly, come Monday, I told the missus to take the other older car, the 1994 sedan, and follow me to the "knock shop" - she knows the place. I drove off, knowing she'll be behind. Then she called on the mobile. "The car won't start".

At the workshop, the repairer took a look at the damage, and asked me to come at 9 the next morning, which was to-day, because he was all tied up for the rest of the day.

Then I came back home, and took a couple of starts at the 1994 car, and knew the battery was conked. Again. This happened last month, too. So I went to Ah Yee, my regular battery and tyre shop, and got his man "Panjang" to follow me home with a temporary spare battery. He fixed that,  and we drove back to the shop, with the dismantled original battery in the boot.

Further testing indicated either leakage in the wiring or  problems with the alternator. I took the car to Lim the electrical specialist right at the end of the same road, also a trip made many times in the past. Lim put in his gauge and promptly declared "alternator". Who was I to contradict him ?

For further proof (or for show, more likely), he dismantled the alternator in front of me, and connected a wired bulb to a battery and touched several parts of the dismantled piece, and in some spots the bulb lighted, in others it remained dead. That was it.

It was almost 2, Lim wanted to have his lunch , and I,too, wanted mine. I walked back to Ah Yee's battery & tyre shop, and  his man Ah Meng sent me home. Only my long connection here allowed this to happen.

At 4.45 I drove back with my wife to see how Lim was progressing with the alternator. In fact he was just finishing. The second-hand "kereta potong" alternator cost RM 300. "Jangan aya !" Lim chastised, when I said "aya !" on hearing "tiga latut !". Labour 50. And of course GST 6% was 21. "Tiga latut tuyu pulo lah" the nyonya said. That's one whole  RM 1 discount !

At the paint shop this morning, I arrived at the same time the repairer came to open shop - 9 sharp. At about 1 he called, the car was ready. Dekna sent me, giving me 100 as her contribution. Earlier Adik gave 100 as his contribution. I had estimated the cost at 200. In the end it was 250, before a RM 10 discount. But no GST this time.

The 2-day-2-car hit cost RM 610. With GST. After a RM 11 discount.

Sigh !

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The 13th.MUBARAK General Assembly.

Sunday 16th. October 2016.

The one-day 13th. MUBARAK General Assembly, opened by UMNO's Vice President, Hishammudin, at a dinner last night, was held for most of to-day at the PWTC, and ended before lunch. I left before that, to catch the 1.15 train to Seremban.

I also didn't stay to hear Hishammudin's speech after dinner last night, but I wasn't alone, but most stayed back until the end.  I gathered he touched on the "climate change" in UMNO's  politics, and the need to shore up support for the ruling coalition.

Aziz, the current President of Mubarak, spoke well enough in the opening speech to-day. He thanked Hishammudin for the opening ceremony last night.  He touched on the declining number of members (now 624) because of deaths.  He spoke at length on the pension problem facing members from the beginning of Mubarak.  He touched on the "wrong" People's Declaration by the movement led by Mahathir.  He spoke of Mubarak's efforts at engaging the tertiary students in local politics.  And he announced with rightful pride the acquisition of the Sentul real estate for purposes of  future sustenance of Mubarak.

And yet it took the penultimate debater from Sabah, in supporting the Supreme Council's motion, to nail the real issues facing the ruling government. Up until that point,  no one mentioned the major issues faced by Najib's government: 1 MDB and the related aftermath; the very recent incredible corruption case involving the Sabah administration and the recovery of 115 million cash; the sacking of UMNO's top echelon members like Shapiei from Sabah and Mukhriz in Kedah; the very real security problems in Sabah in spite of all the spending and all the assurances  from the Central Government; and the chances for the coalition government win in Sabah in the next GE ( he declared it 50:50).

There persisted the same feeling to-day, as shown by the Selangor lady speaker, of the need to support Najib unquestionably, and the "feel good" stance of Selangor UMNO, as was apparent in the last UMNO's General Assembly, when no one was allowed to talk on 1MDB, UMNO's biggest ghost. That is, until Sabah spoke, and  it probably made the assembly reluctantly sit up. 

The Selangor lady, like her Kelantan counterpart, should realise that UMNO is highly likely to remain out of the ruling party position in the foreseeable future in that state, and should start to talk and act accordingly. Then only can UMNO in Selangor and Kelantan start to prepare themselves to understand the feelings of the people, and start trying to win them over again. The Kelantanese have shown in the past that they can leave PAS for another party, if the right presentation to the voters is done.

I've been sought out by a few people during the assembly, including Negeri Sembilan's Mubarak President, for appearing with Mukhriz in Senawang recently. My explanation was simple: I wanted to see the crowd, and I wanted to hear what Mukhriz had to say. Then someone in the group saw me and know my past government position, and invited me up front to shake hands with Mukhriz. I've no problem with that. As Yusof Misai said to-day, my own opinion must be respected. 

Yazid sent word that he wanted me to debate the motion on behalf of Negeri Sembilan, and he came around to our table asking who's speaking. I said Yusof Misai has agreed to do it, and that was that. In fact Yusof was dramatically effective in the end. He only touched on the pension problem, but you couldn't have made it more colourful. Both Aziz and Yazid on stage started with smiles as Yusof started speaking. In the end the smile only remained on Yazid's face !

Current UMNO officer-bearers have been scared off from being critical to Najib, and that seems understandable though not acceptible. Mubarak members have no reason to be scared off because they're no longer on  government payroll. In the final analysis, the people can't be fooled. And we shall see this in the not too distant future. And how will history judge us ?

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Mukhriz in Senawang

Tuesday 11th. October 2016.

Tok Molod said Mukhriz would be coming that evening - this was yesterday morning at Nilai Spring Golf Resort. Tok Zahar invited our old foursome from SIGC for a game there. We haven't played together since the last day of Sha'ban, more than three months ago. Tok Molod was my partner, against the two former judges. We won 6 balls. Tok Sleman said to contra his part of the loss to the buggy-fee that I owe him last Saturday.

After Isyak prayers I took the missus and picked up Pak E and Wira and arrived at the One Garden Hotel, Senawang around 9 p.m. We took our seats in the relatively small hall, with the crowd making a lot of noise of "Hidup Malaysia" and other unintelligible shouts, and soon Mukhriz arrived, with the fully-packed hall erupting in enthusiastic welcome.

Like the Ampangan "Bersatu" gathering last month, where Mukhriz didn't come, today I wanted to see and hear the crowd here in Senawang..

With the scant notice ( I asked Tok Molod to call his friend that afternoon to make sure the event was on ) the crowd of  about 500, including some Chinese and Indians, was quite good.

Mukhriz's brief accounts of the questions he posed at UMNO Supreme Council's closed meetings regarding the money in Najib's bank account, and 1MDB, that led to his expulsion from UMNO were refreshing. He needs to relate these personal encounters to the audiance at all his future gatherings because they lend credence to the whole damning episode.

The youthful make-up of the crowd is telling, and therein lies the potential strength of "Bersatu". Maybe the old UMNO members are too old to care, or too content to bother, but the youth has only the future to look forward to, and probably feels they owe UMNO nothing. When Mukhriz criticised the undemocratic and criminal acts of Najib, the youthful supporters find that criticism fair. 

"Bersatu" should take a lesson from the on-going Presidential elections in USA,  when the die-hard supporters of Trump remain unfazed by the vulgarity and stupidity exposed about their candidate. It reminds me of the case of "Tuhan" Harun, who claimed he's God. Even he has his supporters. Najib will have his loyal supporters who'd probably die for him. "Bersatu" must continue exposing the thefts, lies and corruption, embellishing the story-telling with clear personal anectdotes and experiences.

Kamarulzaman Kamdias, Aspan's brother, from Padang Lebar, was also "introduced" to Mukhriz in front of the crowd. In fact they probably know each other, because for a short while, some years back, he was a member of the UMNO Youth Central Committee. I mention him because Aspan joined DAP just before the last GE in 2013. I thought that was a drastic move by a long-time UMNO member. I mention Kamarulzaman because he owes me RM 20,000 for a deal we penned in black-and-white years ago. He cheated me by cancelling the company in whose name he  signed . Neat. Despicable but neat.

Tok Molod's friend, Jeff, pulled me to be introduced to Mukhriz, with the announcer saying that this is a former State Assemblyman for Senaling. "From 1995 to 1999" I said to Mukhriz.

Deka from Tanjung Jati whatsapped the photo of Mukhriz and me this morning. News travel fast. 

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1 Muharram 1438 Hijriah.

Sunday 2nd.October 2016.

As usual I sent reminders to my children not to forget to recite the end of the passing year and the eve of the new year supplications before and after Solat  Magrib yesterday, to mark the new month of Muharram for the Islamic Year 1438.

1,438 years ago by the lunar calendar, the Prophet Muhammad saw migrated to Medina, about 300 km to the north of Mecca, to escape the persecutors, and establish a new political beginning. From a handful of close family members at the outset, the Muslim community, the ummah, is today regarded as the second largest followers of a major religion worldwide.  Various numbers have been used: 1.6 billion in 2010, and  1.8 billion in 2013, of which  31.5% are Christians, 23.2% Muslims, 13.8% Hindus, 6.8% Buddhists, and so on.  Islam is also said to be the fastest growing religion. It's expected to  increase by 35% over the next 20 years to 2.2 billion, at twice the rate for non-Muslims. 74% of Muslims live in 49 Muslim-majority countries, 23% in non-Muslim-majority developing countries, and 3% in the developed countries of Europe, North America, Australia, New Zealand and Japan. In short, Islam has come a long way indeed, from Mecca, to all corners of the globe. 

But what have we got to show for all these numbers?

The Prophet saw had scribes in his own lifetime put into writing the revelations he received into the Quran, and his words and deeds recorded with the minutest attestetion in the sunnah, and proclaimed that the true path for the ummah is along these two. The learned jurists later added the consensus or ijma' of the ulama' as the third pillar of the Syariah, or the path of Islam.

Since the Prophet's death in 632 C.E., until the birth of one Muhammad al Wahab in 1703, who studied the teachings  of Ibn Qayyim, himself a student of Ibn Taymiyyah, a scholar who followed the teachings of Ahmad ibn Hanbal, one of the 4 founders of the sunni mazhabs,  many fuqaha'  appeared who gave their distinct interpretations of the Quran and the sunnah.  There were, of course, the Rightful Guided Caliphs, Abu Bakar, Omar, Othman and Ali, in the 29 years after the death of the Prophet. In the next 100 years the four famous Imams came - Hanafi, Malik, Shafiei and the above-mentioned Hanbal. Their appearances transcended the Ummayah Dynasty that ruled for 89 years, into the so-called Golden Islamic Age of the Abbasiah Dynasty that ruled for 580 years. In this period Sufism also rose.

Through the political expansion of Islamic rule, with Emirates formed in North and West Africa, Persia, Central Asia, Spain, Italy, Bulgaria and the Malay Archipelago, there were many legal, philosophical and religious developments. The major hadis were compiled. The four Sunni mazhabs were established. The Shias were well formed. Ibnu Sinna, al Farabi and al Ghazali argued against the Schools of Thought. And today the Hanafis make up 31% of Muslims, Malikis 25%, Shafieis 16%, Hanbalis 4%, Shia Jaafaris 23% and Zaidis and Ismailis the remaining 1%. We now have the Salafis who insist that all Muslims should discard the mazhabs and abide by the teachings of the Holy Prophet, his Sahabahs, the Tabi'un and the Tabi al Tabiun - the Three Generations.

Right here in Malaysia,  its umat Islam is thoroughly politically divided. In the current US Presidential race, Islam is the target of hate and ridicule. In the largest Islamic country, Indonesia, the diversity of practice reflects its geography. The largest Islamic military power, Turkey, is in the middle of its post-coup-detat anti-Gulen purge of tens of thousands of Turks believed to be involved in an elaborate, massive and far-ranging plan to overthrow  the current President's obviously pro-Islamic government. Remember, for 600 years, Turkey was the world's dominant Islamic power, until 1924. In the longest civil war in an Islamic country, how many people have been killed in Afghanistan since the US invasion following 9/11/2001 ? 600,000 is said to have been killed in the first 3 years in the still continuing civil war in Iraq since the US-led coalition invasion on 23/3/2003. And all on the cooked-up excuse of the non-existent  WMD. The "Jasmine Revolution" in Tunisia saw the ousting of the President Zainal Abidin Ali (Malay-style spelling - less confusing!) in December 2010. The demonstrations for the ouster of Mubarak in Egypt started on 25/1/2011. There have been two governments since, and the present military government not only sacked the democratically elected the al Hafiz Ikhwanal Muslimin President, but has put him behind bars under the threat of a death penalty. In Libya, the Civil War that started on 17/2/2011  eventually saw Gadaffi killed, and the poor country is still under civil war. And don't forget the "Benghazi Affair" Hillary Clinton is facing right now in the US Presidential election. Syria's civil war has the makings of another "Vietnam", with the Russians pitching in. This was supposed to be the aftermath of "the Arab Spring" of 2011, against a very unpopular President. He's still around, playing the Russians against the Rest. And don't forget Yemen. Just like the rest of the Islamic countries described above, it's Muslims against Muslims, and the Yemenis have been at each other's throats since 21/3/2015.

In my do'a, I pray for God's forgiveness for the obligations that I have left undone in the past year, and for God's blessing and protection from satan and evil-doing in the coming year. In my heart I now also pray for God's blessing for all Islamic ummah, that they find peace where there is turmoil, and love where there is hate. Amin.

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