Rakyat Rise in Permatang Pauh

Congratulations to the rakyat for rising against all sorts of manipulation sponsored by Barisan Nasional. Congratulations to Brother Anwar Ibrahim for winning 'the mother of by election'.

As I mentioned previously, we are at the brink of making the political history for this nation. If you ask me whether I buy the idea of replacing the government by September 16 - I would be quite sceptical about it. However, given the current situation, the possibilities are endless for Pakatan Rakyat.

Giving the opportunity to the same party for the last 51 years of independence and expecting a different result is just the same as committing insane job. And I do believe that Malaysians have stopped becoming insane by making rational decision on the last Tuesday's by election.

Stock market is going down. Foreign direct investment is decreasing in figure. Bad international publicity. Inflation rate is rising. Fucked up 'correct, correct, correct' judiciary. Messed up and overflow wealthy ministers. Geezzuussss, we've got to do something here.

Some people believe the best thing is not to do anything. I'd say that is the most dangerous game that they can play because by doing nothing, it creates something. That something is a disastrous future for our children in future.

So Pak Lah, wake up from your slumber. Please find the exit door and let someone else lead this great country!

And Najib, please pack your stuffs and migrate to Mongolia. I'm sure many Mongolians want to see you and get some scholarship from you, including Saiful.

Next week I will be 28. Yes, August 31st is my birthday. Almost 4 years ago I wrote something very intimate in this blog. Oh well, Anthony Robbins was right when he said, if the life is worth living..it is worth to be recorded. So there I was, recorded a journal of how I felt at the moment (refer entry Nov 24, 2004).

This piece of entry gave me a gentle knock to my soft spot.

Saya memang sayang pada awak cuma saya belum ketemu awak lagi. Tapi saya akan teruskan pencarian saya. Dan nanti bila satu hari nanti saya jumpa awak, saya doa supaya tuhan limpahkan rasa cinta saya yang tidak berbelah bahagi pada awak dan rasa cinta awak yang tidak berbelah bahagi pada saya, dan saya harap kita dapat hidup rumahtangga bahagia.
Susah saya akan jadi susah awak juga, dan susah awak akan jadi susah saya juga. Saya bukan lelaki sempurna dan saya bukan juga manusia hebat. Saya cuma seorang lelaki biasa dan saya juga mahukan seorang wanita biasa dalam hidup saya. Saya tak mahukan Miss Universe, sebab saya bukan Mr. Universe.
Saya mahu mengenali awak, zahir dan batin dan saya juga mahu awak mengenali saya zahir dan batin. Saya bukan orang kaya untuk beri awak harta, tapi akan saya usahakan selagi ada kudrat di badan saya untuk berikan kesenangan berpatutan pada keluarga yang bakal kita bina.
Percayalah, setiap ujian yang datang melanda kita berdua, saya harap kita tanganinya dengan hati yang cekal dan percaya antara satu sama lain. Dan kalau ada ketikanya rumahtangga kita berkocak hebat, hanya dua perkara saya minta; tolong berdoa pada Tuhan minta dipermudahkan urusan rumahtangga kita dan tunjukkan jalan keluar bagi masalah rumahtangga kita, moga selamat semuanya. Akhir sekali, saya sayangkan awak, sayang yang sungguh teramat sayang. Cuma saya belum tahu siapa awak dan di mana awak. Sabarlah ya sayang?

Aku tak sangka yang aku sendiri tulis entry ni. It was when I was 24. Adik aku kata, aku sekarang ni agak hati kering compare dulu-dulu. Errmm, banyak lagi yang dia kate aku berubah tapi takyah lah tulis kat sini banyak-banyak. Yelah, soal hati dan perasaan ini soal yang halus. Tapi perkara yang halus bila sudah lama dilasakkan dengan bermacam cabaran, pasti akan jadi kasar juga akhirnya.

Beginilah yang aku rasa. Hati dah jadi agak kering. Soal cinta dipandang sepi. Cita-cita yang mahu dikejar. Mungkin sebab aku letih bila bicara soal emosi. Lambat laun emosi mungkin sudah tiada, yang tinggal mungkin hanya nafsu? Mungkin sebab aku dah tak merasa nikmat cinta. Adakah ini bermaksud aku sudah putus asa? Tidak juga. Orang kata apa, just follow the flow.

Orang kata, falling in love is as natural as breathing the air. It could be. Hmmmm..

Sabarlah ya hati.

A Worried Student
_____________________________________________

The standard of public universities in Malaysia have been going down in recent time and many reasons have been given on why the standards are dropping yet some still refuse to acknowledge that this is the case and claim that it is perfect as it is and students should be thankful and stop complaining. But this piece is not about public universities in Malaysia as a whole but rather a certain one named UiTM. This university has been appearing a lot in the news lately especially concerning the proposal made by Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim on opening the gates of the institution to 10% of non-bumiputra students and it has caused a great deal of furore.

About 5,000 students marched to protest against the proposal under Gabungan Pelajar Melayu Semenanjung (GPMS) and the UiTM Student Council with the direct backing of the Vice Chancellor. Posters were distributed all over the main campus to promote the protest with headlines such as, “Anda sayang UiTM?”, “ MRSM sudah, SBP sudah, Matrikulasi sudah, JPA sudah, UiTM seterusnya?”, “Ini bukan mengenai kesama rataan bangsa, ini mengenai hak”, “UiTM telah membantu kita, apa sumbangan kita kepada UiTM? Sedarlah wahai bangsaku”.

If one is able to read between the lines, we can see the wordplay here expressing that if a student is to not support this protest, they are one of the ignorant unenlightened ones who do not care for UiTM. Now as a student of the University, I feel disappointed that opinions that differ from the norm are usually labelled as traitors. I have always felt that most of these things are usually politically motivated. I cannot fight the feeling that a NGO such as the GPMS which is headed by someone working right under the Prime Minister, is not exactly a non-partisan group. For this is also one of the organizations that went for the protest at the recent Bar Council forum and went a little, overboard.

The UiTM Student Council which unanimously supported this protest must not be looked upon as the voice of UiTM for they only speak for themselves when they come out with protests such as these and label those who do not support it as traitors to the race. How many students from the institution have spoken out supporting the idea of liberalizing the university? Almost none. But how many students who agreed with the proposal by Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim in silence? A number in the minority, albeit a very significant one. And the sad thing is, there is little avenue for any of them to express themselves in the University or externally. With the little avenue available, those that attempt to express themselves are usually met with threats and childish arguments.

One particular UiTM student was asked to wear black coloured clothing by a senior when he refused to as the colour black on that day meant supporting the protest and he did not support it. The senior could only respond in ways such as asking him whether he was a jew or a homosexual. And this brilliant friend of mine then just answered, “No, I’m a muslim and remember when the Prophet Muhammad SAW ruled Medinah? He had all kinds of races that were hostile towards each other to live peacefully under the open sky. Why would you be afraid of opening this institution to others if you claim to take the prophet as your example?” And the senior who was lost for words just left and slammed the door on him. Although stories like these do not happen everyday in UiTM as many students who share similar views to my friend here are usually fearful of the consequences of speaking openly.

Any sign of disobedience towards policies or so-called UiTM values and ideals are usually not tolerated. Even in class, when certain students question the lecturers, they are usually viewed as “tak sedar diri”. Questioning has never been the culture in Malaysia’s education system but is never really encouraged in the Universities either, where it is supposed to give birth to new ideas and paradigms of thinking. How can we do this when our students keep still and silent? Oscar Wilde once said, “It is through disobedience that progress is made”, and it is no wonder why there has been little groundbreaking research or achievements that could make a difference in society. I remember that in a certain lecture relating to Islamic Law, a student questioned the validity of a certain hadith (Prophet’s sayings) the lecturer mentioned and she was booed by the whole class and the lecturer just said, “Balik baca buku dulu baru cakap!” when in fact I thought that she was the one who read more than the lecturer did. Among the other things that were aimed at her were , “Ni bukan Islam ni! Rejam dia je!” and “Yahudi!” And of course, later on, she was ostracized by many.

Many have blamed the draconian University and Colleges Act for restricting views and practically killed freedom of thought and speech but I argue that it goes beyond that, it has to do with the mindset. You do not need to threaten someone with harm to control a person, you just need his or her mind to be one of yours. And this is exactly what certain parties are trying to do through certain programmes such as the now infamous Biro Tatanegara which tries to inculcate fear into the Bumiputra students that they are under serious threat and then turns that fear into hate. Classes that were in the midst of being held were recently stopped and the students of a certain batch were told to join a GPMS talk on how the Malays are being threatened by Dato Seri Khalid Ibrahim.

It is easy for an institution as UiTM to change these naïve minds which are still open to reception of new ideas, to minds that are closed especially when the “others” such as the non-bumiputra’s are nowhere to be seen around campus. As many still do not have close friends other than the Malays, they fear what they do not know and begin to stereotype and hate. And those who know there is something wrong with all of this but dare not speak out or do anything about it usually end up conforming with the rest for regrettably, it is easier to live that way. But then again, this does not apply to all the students in UiTM although it is enough to be deeply worried about.

All this has also created a backlash which I am very concerned about. I have read and heard that many employers of corporations, companies and firms are planning to boycott UiTM graduates and many of them quickly label the students as all being idiotic ethno-supremacists. I truly believe that this will only worsen the situation. How could it be fair that you reject the applications of thousands of students on the basis that they come from a certain University? Many brilliant students have also joined UiTM and been deceived to think that it is a brilliant institution of higher learning and some have no other choice due to financial constraints. Many of them do not subscribe to racist principles. It is also sad to see that many Malaysians have begun to neglect the UiTM issue by not giving any thought to it as they believe only incompetent graduates are churned out and they themselves would not care that if it is open or not as they would not send their own children there. This should not be the case at all. A victory for justice is a victory for all and it is our responsibility as the rakyat to bring about change, not the politicians. As to the issue of no non-Malays would want to enter the institution anyway, that is false. I have an Indian friend living with a single mother and who is a bit unlucky in the financial side. He tried to apply for UiTM to achieve his dream to do law once, although he was innocently ignorant of the institution’s policies on race. I did not have the heart to tell him that he could not do so. This is only one story from many others that could not afford the cost of the various private institutions available. As they say, the poor is a part of all races and exclusive to none.

Though I believe there is still hope. The light comes soon after the darkest part of the night. In an incident in a Constitutional Law lecture, a student went up to class defending the recent student protest as on the principle of defending natives’ rights with, in her own words, “First come, first serve”. Ironic that a business principle has been adopted to an issue affecting all of Malaysia, I thought to myself. I then proceeded to ask her why then are there cases of stripping the rights of land from the Orang Asli, which are the real natives, to give way to capitalist ventures and these natives are then only compensated with how much their houses were worth, which probably costs less than my pair of shoes? Is it not a practice of double standards when you talk about “First come, first serve”? Are we really protecting the natives’ rights or Malays in particular? She then proceeded to open the Federal Constitution to find an answer but predictably, it was in vain. She ended her presentation right there with a dumbfounded look. But what happened soon after was even more interesting. Students from the class started to flock and ask me questions, wanting to know more about the issue. With interested faces all around, I could only smile.

Maybe rational arguments, debate, and different ideas and thoughts could give birth to a student culture that hungers for knowledge rather than merely passing the exams. Maybe student activism could breathe again as it did a while ago. Maybe liberalizing the University would be in the best interest for all and it could be a step towards turning things around. Maybe dissent could be encouraged. Maybe people could throw hate away and begin to understand. Maybe everything happens for a reason. Maybe another Malaysia is breathing silently, waiting for the right time to awaken.

taken from http://harismibrahim.wordpress.com/2008/08/19/a-voice-for-uitms-minority/

Social Contract



People are using this word profusely, like it's the 'hippest' term used nowadays in our prime media. For God sake, there is no such thing as Social Contract signed between the representatives for each major ethnicity in this beloved country. This fact is agreed by Prof Diraja Ungku Aziz in the recent forum of National Unity (actually, I posed this question to him during the Q&A session).

So, if there is no social contract ever recorded in our history, why people nowadays are arguing on the non-existent 'document'?

I really don't know. But one thing I know - this term was coined and popularized by the mainstream media like the newspaper owned by UMNO and its gang.

What is social contract? I can tell you based on my studies on such philosophy (I took Philosophy 102 in Penn State) and findings about it on the Wikipedia.

Social contract was written by Jean-Jacques Rousseau in 1762. It is essentially a document which explains how men submit their sovereign autonomy to an institution for it is used to govern a state (a legitimate government must derive its legitimacy from its governed). The writer shared his belief with John Locke (this is one wild man!) that men in their natural state is wild and unruly. Well, public must understand how John Locke led his life in his early age - a rural boy who always wandered in wilderness in order to understand how this man came with this idea. Crazy but it does make sense!

This document indicated the beginning of civil society or political community; just like what we have now in M'sia.

Truly, we NEVER have any recorded historical fact about Malaysia Social Contract. What we do have is an agreement made by early political parties to form Pakatan (or at present it is known as Barisan Nasional). Even that, it cannot be claimed as social contract because it doesn't constitute every citizen in this country. Such should be petitioned in order to do referendum in order to complete the social contract. At least, that is my position on Social Contract.

So, stop bickering or regurgitating the word Social Contract. It does not mean anything here because it is non-existent.

What we need is to come to understanding of the need of each ethnic or social class. Whatever right we want to create here must be derived from the situation and it is impartial to any ethnicity. Economic assistance must be delivered to the affected people, regardless his skin color or his creed.

Malaysia is at her awakening moment. Malaysia is at her finest hour and really, the way I see it, we are at the dawn of a bright future for everyone. Let's fight for our right to have responsible government, an effective leadership and a fair and just executive body!

I was in London in winter of 2002. The atmosphere was gloomy as usual for London. Bells of Christmas are starting to ring here and there. The environment was filled with red and white as Santa Claus was approaching yet for another Christmas celebration. Shopping malls in town offered variety of 'mega sales' for the Boxing Day, just like what we have here for our own version of Mega Sale. I remember when I walked down the Oxford Street, I couldn't help noticing that many people looked alike but they didn't necessarily speak the same language. Of course they came in various sizes - some were tall and some were short. And the language mostly from what I could tell, they probably came from Western or Eastern Europe.

I began to see its similarity here in Malaysia. Well to be exact it's happening in Kuala Lumpur for the last 10 years of economic boom. Politically speaking, our economic was booming before the 1998 financial crisis and we were then called the Asian Tiger economy (now we should call ourselves a Pussy Economy, thanks to Pak Lah). But anyway, that's not the point here. The point here is that there are many people who look like us but they don't speak like us. They are Indonesian people who are actively crossing our sovereign borders every day.

These people come here for jobs which Malaysians reject because of many reasons. They come here and create their village, much like us when we go oversea. It is very natural for people to be with community which they can identify themselves with.

They look very much like except they have their own language. Last night I shared a conversation with 'my friend' about the differences of language - Sunda, Boyan, Jawa and Banjar. I never know that they are actually almost not identical. Even if they are alike, the grammar and pronunciation could be different.

Pak Ungku said in a forum about national unity that a united country is when its citizens can communicate and interact perfectly with each other through a common language. We have Bahasa Melayu (it started to sound very communal to me now) but we don't have Bahasa Malaysia. It is used to be called with that name. But somehow some smart ass in Parliament asked it to be changed to Bahasa Melayu. Okay, whatever.

The point I am trying to make here - Can we be united citizen, using the common language to bridge our segmented and self imposed segregation to achieve common goals for this country?

To be frank (not that I always lie in my blog), I don't know. Language is quite a sensitive issue for Malays. In fact, I don't know any ethnic which is very much sensitive almost to everything other than my own ethnic. We are sensitive about our language, our customs, our religion, our food, our politics, our sodomy, our yacht, our Mongolian chics and etc. Because we are sooooo sensitive about our own, we have become insensitive towards other ethnic's sensitivity. Hmm, bila belanga mengata bontot periuk hitam.

Anyway, whatever it is, I will still try my best to speak in my Kelantanese dialect with I go back to Kuala Krai. Hehehhe..that's what I call a Kelantanese Unity!

Waktu-waktu macam nilah yang buatkan apa kata Kak Sherry terngiang-ngiang kat telinga aku. Dulu masa dia cakap tu, aku cuma senyum kambing ajer. Ye lah, nak kata apa lagi kan. Aku tahu Kak Sherry and Abg Fauzi ikhlas bila diorang cakap gitu. Diorang pun dah kenal aku sejak aku belajar kat Amerika dulu. Depa jugak la yang tolong aku masa di Indiana. Mungkin pasal tu kot aku malu dengan diorang.



Aku sembang-sembangkan jugak pasal isu aku tak boleh tidur ni dengan kawan aku. Selambe ajer dia kate, "Agaknya u kena cari partner tidur la tu". Aduihhhh, sampai ke situ pulak minah nih.

Sebenarnya banyak ajer benda yang aku boleh buat time aku tak boleh tidur tu. Aku boleh iron baju kemeja aku. Aku boleh habiskan buku-buku untuk aku baca. Aku boleh teliti akaun semua clients aku. Tapi aku jadi macam orang bodoh. Golek-golek atas katil sambil mata terkebil bawah bantal. Ye, memang dah jadi habit aku bila tido mesti timpa kepala dengan bantal. Nak kasik gelap habih.

Entahlah. Aku tak ada sapa-sapa nak share pasal hal ni. Isk, bunyi sayu la pulak kan.

By the way, hujung minggu ni birthday upline aku. I'm looking forward to organizing some surprise party if I may for her. Tengoklah kalau aku boleh plan apa-apa dengan Anis and Lokman. Kita kasik gempak sket dia. Hahahahaha...

Tadi aku beli satu kayu golf baru. Hybrid untuk 3 and 4 iron. Hurmm, lebur jugak la duit aku. Ada orang gila dengan fotografi, maka dia akan habiskan banyak beli kamera atau lensa. Ada orang gila dengan sudoku, maka dia akan habiskan banyak duit pada buku-buku sudoku. Aku tengah gila layan golf, maka berkira-kiralah jugak aku pada alat-alat golf.

Ramai orang tak faham kenapa golf ni satu permainan yang melekakan.

Aku pun sama, memang blur tak tau kenapa aku layan golf. Tapi yang pasti, aku memang rasa sangat puas hati kalau swing aku menjadi. Rasa puas tak terhingga bila dapat tengok bola tu naik cantik atau pun dapat masuk dalam lubang dengan penuh bergaya.

Baru aje beli 2 buah buku. Satu dah habis, cuba nak habiskan lagi satu. Ermm, bukan cuba..tapi nak habiskan buku tu.

Last weekend I attended the Malaysian Student Leader Summit, held in Nikko Hotel and it was organized by UK Executive Council (UKEC). UKEC is an umbrella body for all malaysian student associations in UK and Ireland.

The participants were more than 500 people and it brought in many well know guest speakers to discuss various controversial issues like our judiciary system, the governance, the subsidies and oil price hike issues and etc.

I must say that I took part in the discussion by asking few questions to the speakers. I managed to snap a few photos with Karim Raslan, one of the respected lawyers, writers and political analysts in Malaysia. Met up with a friend, YB Nik Nazmi aka Budu. Face to face with Prof. Ungku Aziz or fondly known as Pak Ungku. Privilege to witness an interesting forum by young YBs; YB Budu, YB KJ and YB Tony Pua.

Rugi sapa yang tak pergi.