shahnon.com

Moved to Shahnon.com!

2008-01-01T15:03:00.000+08:00

I've moved to www.shahnon.com !

'New' URL, same old blogger. :P

test

2007-11-06T20:26:00.000+08:00

Hi guys.

Hello again!

2007-07-01T20:05:00.000+08:00

Gosh.. 2 months of no update. Definitely the longest hiatus in my blogging history so far. Well, anyways, Fotopage has been updated.

Til we meet again!

New Amsterdam

2007-05-03T00:24:00.000+08:00

Jean-Michel Basquiat, Francois Truffaut,
Robert Zimmerman and de Niro
Paris, Texas - end of the world

New York, New York,
good bye girl

And they meet
on Blaker Street
or the Park that is Central
oh no
I watched the sun go down
down down beneath the ground
and it's a new day,
it's a new dawn,
in New Amsterdam

The stranger in the moonlight,
looks stranger in the moonlight

And we meet
on Blaker Street
or the Park that is Central
oh no
I watched the sun go down
down down beneath the ground
and it's a new day,
it's a new dawn,
in New Amsterdam
New Amsterdam by Travis

Pesta Buku Antarabangsa KL 2007

2007-04-29T19:20:00.000+08:00

..I Am Muslim - Dina Zaman & Singapura: Basis Israel Asia Tenggara oleh Rizki Ridyasmara

Pesta Buku Antarabangsa KL di PWTC telah menjadi acara tahunan yang wajib sejak lebih kurang 5 tahun yang lepas bagi saya. Sebenarnya pagi tadi agak keberatan nak pergi sebab melihatkan masih banyak buku-buku di rak buku yang masih belum disentuh (!) Minggu lepas pulak saya baru saja beli buku 'Tamerlene - Sword of Islam, Conquerer of the World' oleh Justin Marozzi di MPH. Buku pemberian bos saya, '7 Habits of Highly Effective People', juga masih belum dibaca.

Seperti biasa, saya hanya pergi sendirian ke PWTC. Senang. Hampir 4 jam 'lepak' kat sana. Berkali-kali saya ingatkan kepada diri sendiri, 'beli buku yang betul-betul rasa nak beli!' Akhirnya saya berpuas hati dengan dua buah buku (gambar atas) iaitu buku terbaru kolumnis Malaysiakini, Dina Zaman - 'I Am Muslim' dan satu lagi buku terbitan Khalifa, Jakarta iaitu 'Singapura: Basis Israel Asia Tenggara' oleh Rizki Ridyasmara.

Terkejut seketika apabila melihat buku tersebut di rak buku di salah sebuah gerai buku di PWTC tadi. Tak sangka buku tersebut ada dijual di Malaysia. Pertama kali saya mendapat tahu tentang buku 'Singapura: Basis Israel Asia Tenggara' ialah daripada weblog YB Husam Musa beberapa bulan lepas.

Petikan daripada mukasurat belakang buku tersebut;

"Israel lebih hebat dibanding AS. Di Vietnam, AS mengirim 6,000 penasehat militer membantu Presiden Ngo Dinh Diem dan gagal. Di Singapura, Israel hanya mengirim 18 perwira untuk membangun angkatan perang negara ini. Hasilnya fantastis, angkatan perang Singapura menjadi kekuatan militer yang tercanggih ..." - Lee Kuan Yew, From Third World to First.

"Yang bisa membantu Singapura hanyalah Israel. Sebuah negara kecil yang dikepung oleh negara-negara Muslim..." - Menteri Pertahanan Singapura, 1965.

Artikel berkaitan

'I Am Muslim' launched

The Boy with No Name

2007-04-22T21:28:00.000+08:00

Travis - The Boy with No Name

Wuhoo! One of my favorite band, Travis, has finally came up with a new album, entitled, The Boy with No Name! Thanks to Bali though, for without me looking at his ym status awhile ago, I wouldn't have found out about it and downloaded it via torrent.

According to wikipedia, 'The album is due for release on May 7, 2007 in the United Kingdom and May 8, 2007 in the United States'. But well, as usual, you can always get it first on the internet. Torrent rocks! :P

Travis - Closer

Muslim world needs another Mahathir Mohamad to stand up to the West

2007-03-21T00:03:00.000+08:00

By Kaleem Omar

The Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) countries are at sixes and sevens these days and seem unable to make a convincing case for the legitimate rights and concerns of the Muslim world in its dealings with the West, and, more particularly, with the United States, where most Muslim nations continue to be regarded by the neo-con Bush administration and its cohorts in the pro-Israeli sections of the American media as “terrorist” states or states providing “support” or “safe havens” to anti-Western terrorists.

The OIC itself has become a largely ineffectual organisation concerned more with the minutiae of drafting hollow-sounding resolutions and summit declarations than with matters of substance. The OIC was unable to do anything to prevent the US invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 or the invasion and occupation of Iraq in 2003. Nor was it able to do anything to prevent the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in the summer of 2006.

Nor has the OIC been able to take any steps to persuade Israel to stop its brutal military actions and acts of state terrorism against the Palestinian people or the building of a monstrous Apartheid Wall around the West Bank on land stolen from the Palestinians.

The OIC has also not been able to take any steps to persuade India to stop its reign of terror in occupied-Kashmir – in which more than 70,000 innocent Kashmiri Muslim civilians have been killed by Indian troops since December 1989. India’s reign of terror has turned occupied-Kashmir into a territory resembling a concentration camp, while the OIC has sat by looking the other way and twiddling its thumbs.

This is not to say that the OIC countries could have taken on the US militarily to prevent it from invading Afghanistan or Iraq; but the OIC oil-exporting countries could certainly have acted in concert with non-Arab members of OPEC to impose an oil embargo on the oil-hungry United States (the world’s biggest consumer and importer of oil) to put pressure on it to desist from its misadventures in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Instead of taking any such steps, however, the OIC oil-exporting countries have been content to cash in on the rise in oil prices triggered by the Iraq war, earning a windfall of hundreds of billions of extra dollars in the process. The oil-exporting OIC countries seem to be totally unconcerned by the fact that those windfall profits have been earned at the cost of the lives of hundreds of thousands pf innocent Iraqi civilians that have been killed during the US’s invasion and occupation of Iraq.

Now, Iran seems to be next on the list of OIC countries against which the Bush administration is planning military action – using as an excuse Iran’s uranium enrichment programme, which Iran says is meant entirely for peaceful purposes and aimed at producing fuel for the nuclear power plant it is building with Russian help, but which the United States claims is actually aimed at producing nuclear weapons.

The Bush administration used the cooked-up charge that Saddam Hussein’s regime possessed “weapons of mass destruction” including nuclear weapons (now known as “weapons of mass disappearance”) as an excuse to invade and occupy Iraq in 2003.

Now, four years later, the Bush administration seems to be getting ready to play the same “nuclear weapons” card as an excuse to attack Iran. Meanwhile, the OIC, as usual, is sitting doing nothing and looking the other way as Washington’s orchestrated drum-beat for an attack on Iran grows louder and louder.

This sorry state of affairs underscores the need for the OIC countries to find another leader of the caliber, stature and independent-mindedness of former Malaysian Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad to represent the Muslim world in its dealings with the United States and other Western countries.

Mahathir Mohamad, 82, stepped down as his country’s prime minister in November 2003, after 22 years in office, making him Asia’s longest-serving leader,

In his book “The Malay Dilemma” published in 1969, before he became prime minister, he wrote that the Malays had been marginalised during the colonial era (when the then-Malaya was a British colony) and castigated them for apathetically accepting second-class status.

Mahathir towered over his country’s politics for more than two decades, His pragmatic policies won him much popular support and helped transform Malaysia into an Asian economic tiger. Thanks to his policies, Malaysia, today, is the most technologically advanced and most industrially developed OIC country.

Throughout his tenure as prime minister, Mahathir continued to create waves with his frequent barbed comments about the West and its policies towards developing countries.

In his opening address at the 10th session of the OIC summit in Putrajaya, Malaysia, on October 16, 2003, Dr Mahathir was again at his acerbic best. To thunderous applause from the gallery, which included representatives of 57 Muslim nations plus Russian President Vladimir Putin and Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, Mahathir let fly with a stinging statement.

“We are actually very strong,” he said. “1.3 billion people cannot be simply wiped out. The Europeans killed 6 million Jews out of 12 million. But today the Jews rule this world by proxy. They get others to fight and die for them.”

His comments created a storm of criticism in the West, but Mahathir said later that such criticism only showed that the Jews did indeed rule the world.

Four days later, in a speech in the Indonesian city of Yogyakarta on October 22, 2003, he launched another blistering attack on the West, accusing countries that he called the “great practitioners of democracy” of “terrorising the world.”

Dr Mahathir did not name the countries. But he is an outspoken critic of Israel, the United States and Australia. He criticised states that launched “massive retaliation” for terrorist acts.

“We see states launching massive retaliation, not just to curb suspected terrorists, but his family, his home, his village and his town. It would be ridiculous to think that such attacks do not terrorise the innocent,” he said.

Mahathir Mohamad has long been a champion of the economic rights of developing countries and one of the most outspoken critics of the West’s policies, including globalisation.

On October 20, 2003, just eleven days before he was due to step down as Malaysia’s prime minister, he reflected in an interview with the Bangkok Post on his 22 years at the helm and – as always – spoke his mind: on terrorism, global trade and democracy.

Mahathir transformed Malaysia from a tin and rubber-producing economic backwater into the 17th biggest trading nation in the world and a model of development for other developing countries.

After becoming prime minister in 1981, Mahathir set about putting his ideas into practice, following the example set by Japan, transforming Malaysia from an economic backwater, an exporter of rubber and tin, into a manufacturer of electronic equipment, steel and cars.

His prestige projects included the world’s tallest buildings – the Petronas Towers – and the transformation of a palm oil plantation near the capital, Kuala Lumpur, into the world’s first “Multimedia Super Corridor” – a cyber powerhouse intended to rival California’s Silicon Valley.

With an average annual income of $ 7,500 per capita (ten times Pakistan’s), Malaysia, today, is a rapidly industrialising country, exporting electronic equipment, petroleum and liquefied natural gas, chemicals, palm oil, wood and wood products, rubber, textiles and a wide range of other products.

Mahathir’s policies have also given the country an infrastructure as good as that of most developed nations, with modern highways, airports, ports, telecommunication and internet networks, power grids, schools, colleges, hospitals and some of the world’s best tourist resorts.

When the Asian economic crisis erupted in June 1997, (triggered by the collapse of the Thai baht), Mahathir blamed foreign currency traders, including US-based financier George Soros, for what he termed a worldwide Jewish conspiracy.

“We are Muslims and the Jews are not happy to see Muslims progress,” he said in October 1997. We may suspect that they have an agenda but we do not want to accuse them…If viewed from Palestine, the Jews have robbed Palestinians of everything but they cannot do this in Malaysia, so they create a financial crisis instead.”

Mahathir was heavily criticised by some in the West for those remarks, but he remained characteristically unrepentant and continued to lash out at the West’s economic policies, which he said were aimed at keeping developing countries poor and making the rich countries even richer.
http://thenews.jang.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=45451

300 Spells "War" For Iranian Culture

2007-03-17T22:49:00.000+08:00

300 Spells "War" For Iranian Culture

Iran denounced Hollywood's latest blockbuster film 300, depicting the 480 BC battle between the Persian army and a band of Greeks, as "hostile behaviour which is the result of cultural and psychological warfare," according to a Reuters report.
Last week's North American opening of 300, while Tehran is embroiled in a standoff with Western nations over its nuclear program, led Iran and its film fans to see the movie as a Western effort to vilify their nation through history.

The film sold an estimated US$70 million worth of tickets in its first three days, setting a new record for a March release, the film's distributor Warner Bros. Pictures said on Sunday.

But Iranians were clearly offended at the way their ancestors were portrayed in the film, inspired by the tale of 300 Spartans under King Leonidas who held out at Thermopylae against a Persian invasion led by Xerxes in 480 BC.

The government, lawmakers, and Iranian Web logs (blogs) denounced the movie, which depicts the huge Persian army as ruthless but repeatedly outsmarted by the Greeks who are only defeated in the end by treachery.

Even though the film by US director Zack Snyder has only just hit theaters in the US, poor-quality pirated copies are already available in the Iranian capital.

Government spokesman Gholamhossein Elham branded it an insult against Iran, where the first Persian empire emerged to become the world's most powerful in the sixth century BC before it was conquered by Alexander the Great two centuries later.

"Not only would no nation or government accept this, but it would also consider it as hostile behavior which is the result of cultural and psychological warfare," he told a regular press briefing on Tuesday.

"Following the Islamic Revolution in Iran, Hollywood and cultural authorities in the US initiated studies to figure out how to attack Iranian culture," said Javad Shamqadri, a cultural advisor to Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, according to a BBC report. "Certainly, the recent movie is a product of such studies," Shamqadri said.

Daily newspaper Ayandeh-No carried the headline "Hollywood Declares War on Iranians," BBC noted.

The paper said, "It [300 ] seeks to tell people that Iran, which is in the Axis of Evil now, has for long been the source of evil, and modern Iranians' ancestors are the ugly murderous dumb savages you see in 300."

Four MPs urged Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki and Culture and Islamic Guidance Minister Mohammad Hossein Saffar-Harandi to ask other Muslim countries not to show "this anti-Iranian Hollywood movie," ISNA news agency said.

Iranians take great pride in their history and the empire they founded, and any perceived slight against that heritage often sparks criticism across the political and social spectrums.

An Iranian circulated a petition against the film on the Internet, saying the film was both "fraudulent and distorted," according to a Reuters report.

"It is a proven scholarly fact that the Persian Empire in 480 BC was the most magnificent and civilised empire," the protest letter to the filmmakers said.

Western historians have often said the battle was the first major conflict between the East and the ancient Greek city states, seen as the cradle for Western values.

This is not the first time Iran has protested over its portrayal in films made in the West.

There was outrage over the 2004 epic Alexander which showed the Macedonian general easily conquering the Persian Empire.

Positive Reviews in the West

In contrast to the angry reaction in Iran, 300 has earned largely positive reviews in North America, despite or because of its decapitations and battlefield carnage.

Scottish actor Gerard Butler stars as Leonidas, the hunky king of the Spartans, who leads 300 of his warriors to glorious death at the Battle of Thermopylae against a massive Persian army commanded by the fey king Xerxes (Brazilian actor Rodrigo Santoro). Zack Snyder (director of Dawn of the Dead ) directed the adaptation of comic book writer Frank Miller's graphic novel.

Audiences were "hungry to go to something that looks this unique," said Mark Canton, one of the film's producers.

Even though 300 is tailor-made for male moviegoers, it also rated highly with women, because the filmmakers enlarged the role of Leonidas' queen (played by Lena Headey) to make her a "true partner" of the king, Canton said.

The opening for 300 ranks as the third-highest for an R-rated movie, behind The Matrix Reloaded (US$91 million) and The Passion of the Christ (US$83 million).

300 also opened in a few small Asian markets and it would reach Britain in two weeks, said Canton. Action-packed period epics, such as 2004's Troy, often do much better overseas.

The moment I read the synopsis on the net, about the war between Sparta and Persia, I knew that this is another Hollywood propaganda against the so-called axis of evil - Iran. I've been meaning to look up for such article about the movie and finally I found one today. Still haven't watch the movie yet tho. Here's another Saturday column from Dato' Johan Jaafar on the same subject.

"AS he advanced (with his army)… the forests were converted into open plains; the earth shook, and the hills moved; the lofty grounds became levelled and the road rocks flew off in shivers, and the large rivers were dried up to the mud."

The army of King Darius of Persia facing Alexander the Great at the battle of Gaugamela? Or King Xerxes swarming King Leonidas and his Spartan warriors at the narrow pass of Thermopylae? No, it was an excerpt from our Sejarah Melayu or The Malay Annals, the most celebrated of historiographies ever written in the history of the Malay court. It was the story of Raja Suran, whose army was rampaging city states with its might.

The chronicler of Sejarah Melayu was Tun Sri Lanang, believed to be the one of the Bendahara of the Johor Sultanate. He wrote with a mission: To provide legitimacy to his kings and their ancestors.

Little wonder they traced the lineage of Malay kings to as far as Iskandar Zulkarnian (as Alexander is known among the Malays).

Raja Suran, a descendant of Alexander, was an Indian king, but as recounted by Sejarah Melayu, he was very much part of the Malay court history.

Sejarah Melayu is mostly history but partly fiction. One has to discern which is history and which are myths, legends or court gossip.

The stories in Sejarah Melayu are episodic, so they are potentially "cinematic". Many anecdotes from the book have been made into local films — the strong man Badang, the story of Singapura dilanggar todak (Singapura attacked by swordfish) and, of course, the clever boy (Hang Nadim) killed by the king, not to mention the evergreen lore of Puteri Gunung Ledang.

For the record, there are various versions of Sejarah Melayu, the above text is from Dr John Leyden’s translation of 1821. When it was published, it had an introduction by no less than Sir Stamford Raffles.

But it is the description of Raja Suran’s army, among other things, that had baffled me since I first came across the book decades ago. How could one film such a sequence?

Filmmaking back then was about actors and action and little else. Yes, movie is magic for it creates a make-believe world one would never imagine possible. We feast on illusions of reality when, in fact, we are merely watching recreations.

But filmmaking has improved by leaps and bounds. One would never imagine making The Lord of the Rings the way Peter Jackson did.

All those thousands (perhaps millions) of warriors and fighters of all shapes and sizes would not have been possible without the advancement in computer-generated images (CGI). Jackson’s own Weta Digital was responsible for the CGI effects you see in the trilogy. The Two Towers alone contains 600 effects shots.

The Matrix Reloaded was another landmark in film technology. In the second segment of the Matrix trilogy produced and directed by the Wachowski Brothers, the incredible "Burly Brawl" scenes were done with the latest state-of-the art technology.

Actor Keanu Reeves (Neo) is seen fighting not one but hundreds of Hugo Weavings. And of course, The Matrix, the first film, made famous the "bullet-time" sequence.

Watching 300 reminded me of what the future of filmmaking holds. I am sure 300 is rewriting filmmaking. It has the look, the beauty and the style that is redefining future filming. 300 is not about the incredible story of human bravery but how the story is told. It is not about what one can achieve from technology but how technology is changing the film world — for better or worse.

I have a lot of complaints about 300 — particularly the glamorous violence and the stereotyping of Leonidas’ nemesis, the Persians. But let’s concentrate on how the story of the Spartan king and his 300 warriors comes alive on screen.

It would not have been possible had special effects pioneer Ray Harryhausen not come out with Jason and the Argonauts in 1963. Star Wars (directed by George Lucas), The Abyss (James Cameron) and The Matrix and Sin City (co-directed by Frank Miller from his graphic comic and Robert Rodriquez) all have perfected the art of special effects.

Poor Ralph Bakshi. He attempted to film The Lord of the Rings in 1978. He didn’t do justice in adapting the novel nor enlivened the screen with the kind of effects Jackson had at his disposal three decades later.

But he did something that started many people thinking about a new possibility — combining animation and live action in cinema. His experiment was, to say the least, awkward. But it was precisely that awkwardness that inspired the director of 300, Zack Snyder, to render live action with virtually nothing but digital technology.

Why spend so much money to send expensive actors to remote locations? Snyder locked himself and his actors in a warehouse in Montreal and later spent a full year choreographing 10 special effects companies to assemble the digital puzzle. Nothing is real except the main characters in 300.

Everything else was created digitally — landscapes, even people, horses and elephants. It is a film devoid of sets. Everything is computer- generated.

Editing, too, was more painting than traditional "cutting" of film sequences shot.

The film maintains its graphic comic look while pursuing a new and visually stunning cinematic style. And it cost a lot less.

Who cares who was Leonidas or Xerxes or if the bulging bodies of Spartan warriors are attracting more buzz than the only significant lady character in the movie (that of the Queen of Sparta played by Lena Heady).

Or whether the real King Xerxes was actually androgynous as depicted by scene-stealer Rodrigo Santoro. The way I see it, 300 is the future of filmmaking.

The next time anyone wants to film the story of the invading army of Raja Suran,
just think digital. It could be shot with a "digital backlot" approach the way 300 was. In the case of 300, it turned out to be a visual feast, yet remained faithful to the original text. Any takers among our filmmakers? (Source: NST)

Lama tak update

2007-03-10T11:48:00.000+08:00

Explosions in the Sky - First Breath After Coma

Finally, an update, just for the sake of me wanting to update this blog.

Bernama: Instilling Nationalism Through Jawi

2007-02-22T21:41:00.000+08:00

By Melati Mohd Ariff

KUALA LUMPUR, 21 Feb (Bernama) -- The Jawi script is very much a Malay heritage. It was once held in high esteem by the Malays who practised this calligraphic style in their writings that fanned nationalism across the archipelago, but it is fast forgotten now.

Jawi (Malay words written in Arabic calligraphy) was widely used, especially during the golden era of the Malay Sultanate of Melaka, from as early as the 15th century not only in matters relating to religion but also in all administration and cultural affairs.

Malaysians today have taken the Jawi script for granted and are probably not aware that up to the 1960's Jawi was widely used in the Malay language.

The Jawi script also played a significant role in fanning Malay nationalism and the struggle for independence with the emergence of countless periodicals and newspapers using the Jawi script as early as the 19th century.

MERDEKA, MERDEKA, MERDEKA

The writer was overcome by nostalgia upon reading the Utusan Zaman newspaper dated Sept 1, 1957 (6 Safar, 1377).

'Merdeka', 'Merdeka', 'Merdeka' in Jawi were splashed across the front page accompanied by a prominent picture of Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj at the independence proclamation ceremony.

Under the sub-title "Upacara Yang Bersejarah Dan Mengharukan Sekali, Meriah Dan Penuh Dengan Kegembiraan" (A Historic, Poignant and Grand Ceremony Filled With Joy), the significance of the proclamation of independence for The Federation of Malaya was highlighted.

The same edition's front page also published the content of the Proclamation of Independence signed by Tunku Abdul Rahman as the Prime Minister of The Federation of Malaya.

The proclamation states: Commencing on Aug 31, 1957, based on the agreement signed between the Queen and the Sultans of the states of Malaya, the Malay states of Johor, Pahang, Negeri Sembilan, Selangor, Kedah, Perlis, Kelantan, Terengganu and Perak and also states previously known as the Straits Settlement of Melaka and Penang, should become a new federation known as The Federation of Malaya.

The proclamation of independence of The Federation of Malaya itself was prepared in Jawi.

Utusan Zaman was the Sunday edition for Utusan Melayu and both were very influential newspapers back then and solely used the Jawi script.

Utusan Melayu was first published in Singapore on Nov 7, 1907. The first edition of Utusan Melayu in Malaya was published on May 29, 1939 under the leadership of the late Yusoff Ishak (who became the President of Singapore from Dec 3, 1959 to Nov 23, 1970). Utusan Zaman began publication on Nov 5, 1939.

Important treaties between the Malay Sultans and the Portuguese, Dutch and British were also executed in the Jawi script.

Among these treaties was the Pangkor Treaty of 1874, which paved the way for British intervention in Perak.

Besides these documents, correspondence between the two parties were also conducted in the Jawi script.

TRACING THE ORIGINS OF THE JAWI SCRIPT

The Jawi letters have been in existence in the Malay archipelago for centuries. It shares a strong bond with the Arabic script, which made its way to the Malay archipelago together with Islam, disseminated by Muslim traders and missionaries of Arab, Indian and Chinese origins in the 7th century.

Prior to the Arabic script, the Malays were using the "rencong (sharp-pointed) script" written on bamboo stems and leaves. This was followed by the "kawi" and "palava" writings, both of Indian origin.

With the coming of Islam, the Malays tried to use the palava or kawi characters to write about Islam, but both were unsuitable as they could not properly pronounce the verses of the Quran and Hadis.

"The situation prompted the Malays to experiment with Arabic characters. Hence, the Jawi script is truly the creation of the Malays even though it is based on the Arabic script," said Dr Hashim Musa, former lecturer with Universiti Malaya's Malay Studies Academy who has written a book, "The History of the Development of the Jawi Script".

He said the Malays eventually included several letters to conform with the Malay syllables, which are 'che', 'nge', 'pa', 'ge' and 'nye'. The letter 'vi' was later introduced in the 1990's by the Malay language custodian, Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka.

The earliest evidence of the existence of the Jawi script was the discovery of inscriptions on a stone dated 702H (1303 AD) and according to Hashim, Sanskrit words could still be seen on the inscribed stone.

But the modern day Jawi script is due to the initiative taken to systematise the Jawi script by none other than Zainal Abidin Ahmad, the leading Malay literary figure or better known as Pendeta Za'ba, who produced the "Daftar Ejaan Melayu Jawi-Rumi" (Jawi-Roman Spelling Register), which he worked on in 1938 and only printed in 1949.

MUSHROOMING OF JAWI MAGAZINES AND NEWSPAPERS

The dawn of the era of periodicals and newspapers written in Jawi began as early as the 19th century. It started with "Jawi Peranakan" published in Singapore in 1876, which became the first Malay newspaper in Malaya.

This was followed by various publications. Among the prominent ones besides Utusan Melayu and Utusan Zaman were Melayu Muda, Melayu Raya, Pelita Malaya, Perkhabaran Dunia, Perubahan Baharu, Saudara, Suara Melayu, Warta Kinta, Warta Malaya and Warta Negara.

Among the popular magazines that used the Jawi script was the well-known "Majalah Guru" (Teacher's Magazine), a voice for the Malay teachers who were the writers as well.

Teachers in those days played a crucial role in spearheading the independence movement through the publications where apart from articles related to the issues of the day, they also carried short stories and poems.

According to notes in the second edition of the Catalogue on Malay Magazines and Newspapers produced by the Malaysian Archives, Majalah Guru was published in six stages. This magazine was printed in Jawi from Nov 1, 1924 to Jan 1, 1950 and was continued in the Romanised edition until the end of 1968.

Another magazine, which was equally inspiring, was Warta Ahad that started publication in Singapore on May 5, 1935 by Warta Malaya Press Ltd. Its editorial line-up included Datuk Onn bin Ja'afar and Abdul Rahim Kajai.

UTUSAN MELAYU THE SACRED VOICE

Utusan Melayu was synonymous with the Jawi script. Its prominence before and after independence was undeniable. It's a pity that this newspaper's strong influence slowly diminished when Romanised writing became dominant especially after the declaration of the 1963 Official Language Act.

Former editor-in-chief of the Utusan Melayu Group Tan Sri Mazlan Nordin, when met recently at a forum here, stressed that Utusan Melayu played a very influential role in the rise of Malay nationalism.

He said, among others, Utusan Melayu forged the voice of the Malays to stand up against the Malayan Union and the Malayan Communist Party.

Mazlan, who was the editor-in-chief of Utusan Melayu from 1973 to 1982, said the newspaper also helped to champion the rights of the Malays who were being marginalised.

"In that respect, we must remember the role of Utusan Melayu and the Jawi script and also the other newspapers such as Warta Malaya and Majlis. We must be grateful to these Jawi newspapers for their significant role, especially on the road to independence," he added.

INDEPENDENCE AND PATRIOTISM

One of the independence figures from Melaka Datuk Wira Borhan Md Yaman also spoke highly of the dignified role of the Jawi-scripted Malay newspapers such as Utusan Melayu, Utusan Zaman and Warta Ahad (magazine) in instilling the spirit of independence.

"A lot of articles were written on current issues such as poverty and the backwardness of the Malays, besides analysing education matters and calling on all Malays to unite.

"The writings also touched on how inferior the Malays were under colonisation compared to their fate during the glorious days of the Melaka Sultanate. Those brilliant writers then were not adequately paid but they continued writing for their own satisfaction and for their sheer concern for the nation and race," said Borhan after recalling the great names such as Pendeta Za'ba, Pak Sako (Ishak Haji Muhammad) and Keris Mas (Kamaluddin Muhamad).

Another Jawi script advocate, Muhammad Mokhtar Taib or better known as Pak Matlob, shared Borhan's views.

"The newspapers highlighted the despondency of the people under colonisation and also the many weaknesses in society. Generally, the Malays at that time had only primary-level education and were only eligible to become office boys or clerks," said Pak Matlob who received the Exemplary Teacher Award on May 16, 1998.

According to Pak Matlob whom the writer met after the launching of a campaign to promote Jawi, here, recently, the critical writings became a push-factor for the Malays in their quest for independence and in the defence of their dignity.

"In those days, the Malays lacked self-esteem. The gap between those living in the villages and urban areas was glaring. The Malays then were mostly fishermen and farmers.

"Poverty was a big issue and the Malays realised that they could only change their fate through independence," said Pak Matlob who has penned numerous books for various levels, especially on the Jawi script.

Among the writers he admired was his own teacher from the Sultan Idris Teachers Training College (SITC), the late Ahmad bin Abdullah who wrote under the name of Ahmad Bakhtiar.

"His writings were sincere and in most of them he compared the life of the Malays with others', in a way to stimulate thinking," he said.

The Jawi script has indeed contributed immensely to the political and mental development of the Malays. Hence, it's only apt that the Culture, Arts and Heritage Ministry revive its glorious days. -- Bernama

Faces of Terengganu

2007-02-20T16:13:00.000+08:00

Check out my new mini online gallery. It's actually just a minor revamp of the old website though, nothing much. The first page is about our field trip to Terengganu during my uni days. But don't expect frequent update there. hehe :p

The Shins - Turn on me

The World is Flat and Globalization

2007-02-19T09:39:00.000+08:00

I'm currently half way finishing off reading 'The World is Flat', a book written by award winning author, Thomas Friedman. It has been on my to-buy booklist since early last year and only managed to buy it few weeks ago. But anyway, it's all good. It's such a coincidence too that bits of the things that were written in the book are somehow related to my current job industry - Ajax, VOIP, salesforce.com etc. I'm not going to write much about the book though, but all i can say is that it is highly informative. If you want to get a glimpse of how globalization and the flat world works, then this book is a must.

Before reading this book, I had never thought that America too is under threat of globalization (after all they're the one who started it) - like the threat of losing traditional middle class jobs being outsourced to China and India; because I used to believed that globalization is basically just a one way street, meaning, from West to East, ie Western multinationals exploiting third world nation's natural resources, cheap labor force and such.

I like one section in the book on 'India versus Indiana: Who is Exploiting Whom?' where Tom posed an intesting question to ponder on;

..are those Indian engineers now exploiting the people of Indiana by offering to revamp their ... for much less money than an American consulting firm? Or were the people of Indiana exploiting those cheaper Indian engineers? Who is exploiting whom in this story?
With whom does the traditional Left stand in this story? With the knowledge workers from the developing world, being paid a decent wage, who are trying to use their hard-won talents in the developed world? Or with the politicians of Indiana, who wanted to deprive these Indian engineers of work so that it could be done, more expensively, by their constituents?
"Professor Sandel argued that what I called collaboration could be seen by others as just a nice name for the ability to hire cheap labor in India. You cannot deny that - when you look at it from an American perspective, But that is only if you look at it from one side. From the Indian worker's perspective, that same form of collaboration, outsourcing, could be seen as another name for empowering individuals in the developing world as never before.."

That particular case became a hot political issue a few years back between the so-called champions of free trade Republican and the pro-labor Democrats. To me, to put it in simple words of what the Indian consulting firm did, they beat the Americans at their own game. Same thing like what Indian steel giant, Lakhsmi Mittal did in Europe. Globalization is no more a one-way street. Yes. But, although I like and agree much of what being written in that book, I'm certainly not an advocate of free trade and open market, as what Tom self-declared in his book. There are things which I believe the government need to have a hand in business and trade. I believe in a controlled capitalism system. Not to be confused with a socialist type state-controlled economy. Or whatever term you wish to name it. For instance, China is no longer considered as a Communist state, as they are already extremely embracing capitalism now, or as what they call it the Chinese style political economy.

A totally open and free market system would only bring disaster to developing countries. There is absolutely no such thing as an absolute free trade, even the champions of free trade in America still practices protectionism, while at the same time demanding poorer countries to open up their market and lower their tariffs. A clear double standard! Well, not much of a surprise coming from America.

Hamas-Fatah dan Persetujuan Mekah

2007-02-19T09:09:00.000+08:00

Satu analisis menarik daripada Zin Mahmud, wartawan Utusan tentang isu perbalahan Hamas-Fatah di Palestin yang berakhir dengan termeterainya Persetujuan Mekah yang dicetuskan oleh Raja Arab Saudi, Raja Abdullah. Walaupun masih banyak lagi usaha yang perlu dilakukan untuk memastikan hubungan baik Hamas-Fatah, tapi sedikit sebanyak dengan adanya persetujuan ini yang menggariskan beberapa aspek penting perkongsian kuasa dan penubuhan kerajaan campuran di Palestin akan dapat memberi sinar harapan baru kepada rakyat Palestin dalam merintis jalan damai. [baca lanjut..]

Suka saya memetik sebahagian tulisan beliau yang mengulas dari aspek sejarah negara Palestin yang telah diceroboh;

"..Hakikatnya walaupun Palestin tidak mengiktiraf Israel, tetapi rejim Zionis sudah menguasai Palestin. Begitu juga walaupun Israel tidak mengiktiraf Palestin, kerajaan Hamas sudah dipilih rakyatnya.

Bagi mereka yang menjunjung sejarah, Israel sememangnya tidak boleh diiktiraf. Tanah-tanah Israel itu adalah milik kedaulatan Palestin. Britain yang menguasai Palestin selepas kejatuhan Khalifah Uthmaniah ekoran Perang Dunia Pertama memegangnya sebagai mandat, iaitu amanah. Maka secara demokratik, ia perlu mengembalikannya kepada rakyat Palestin. Apabila rakyat Palestin mahukan sebuah negara merdeka dan berdaulat, maka itulah yang patut diwujudkan.

Tetapi selepas Perang Dunia Kedua, Britain menyerahkan mandat itu kepada Zionis untuk dijadikan Israel. Ia merupakan suatu pengkhianatan dan adalah zalim untuk sesiapa mengiktiraf Israel. [..]"

The Shins, Arcade Fire and etc

2007-02-18T18:53:00.000+08:00

Hooray, another new set of mass download via torrent during the past week! I think I seriously in need of an external hard disk. About 46.6% from my 150mb of harddisk space is used for my mp3 storage and I have only about 3.3% free space left. heheh :p

Arcade Fire - Neon Bible
Mika - Life In Cartoon Motion
Muse - Black Holes and Revelations
Bloc Party - A Weekeend In The City
The Shins - Wincing the Night Away
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah! - Some Loud Thunder
Modest Mouse - We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank

The Shins - Turn on me

Harry Lee, Tunku Abdul Rahman dan A. Samad Said

2007-02-08T02:57:00.000+08:00

Semalam saya sempat menonton dokumentari, 'History of Singapore' di Astro. Ia adalah dokumentari 3 episod yang disiarkan tiga hari berturut-turut di Discovery Channel bermula Selasa lepas. Dalam siri kedua dokumentari tersebut,semalam, ada satu babak yang menarik perhatian saya, iaitu petikan video Lee Kuan Yew sewaktu kempen pilihanraya 1959. Apa yang menariknya? Lee Kuan Yew, atau Harry Lee (nama beliau sebelum menyertai politik), berucapdi atas pentas dalam Bahasa Melayu.. di hadapan ribuan rakyat Singapura yang majoritinya bukan Melayu. Antara petikan ucapan beliau yang sempat di dengar, di awal ucapan beliau, "Saudara, saudara..." "Merdeka! sekali lagi semangat.. Merdeka!"

Terharu mendengarkan ucapan beliau dalam bahasa Melayu, walaupun dapat mendengar beberapa patah cuma. Sesuatu yang sangat jarang hendak ditemui di mana-mana majlis (melainkan majlis kerajaan) walau di Malaysia sekalipun sekarang ini. Roh Bahasa Melayu kini umpama dicabut secara perlahan-lahan, semakin dipinggirkan, tidak lagi menjadi bahasa ilmu. Adakah Bahasa Melayu di abad 21 ini hanya layak sebagai bahasa perbualan, bahasa kedai kopi semata-mata?

Esok pula jam 8.30 malam di RTM - wawancara bersama Perdana Menteri Malaysia pertama, Allahyarham Tunku Abdul Rahman. Wawancara ini dirakam pada tahun 1985, lima tahun sebelum beliau meninggal dunia. Inilah juga kali pertama rakaman ini disiarkan kepada umum.

Musykil juga, kenapa sebelum ini rakaman video itu tak pernah disiarkan?

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

Satu-satunya buku bertulisan jawi di rak buku saya, '13 Mei:Sebelum dan Selepas' tulisan Allahyarham Tunku Abdul Rahman masih lagi belum di baca..Bila agaknya entah.

Petang tadi pulak beli buku terbaru karya SN A. Samad Said, 'Dari Salina ke Langit Petang' (Wira Bukit,2007) di Ujanailmu.

Sebuah buku autobiografi Pak Samad, yang mana menurut beliau;

Buku dari abad lalu..

"'Dari Salina ke Langit Petang' adalah satu-satunya buku saya yang tidak diulangcetak selama dua dekad. Sebagai sebuah autobiografi seni ia menekuni jalan awal saya ke dunia kesusasteraan sejak dekad lima puluhan abad lalu. Hampir tidak ada yang disembunyikan di sini sehingga jika seseorang rajin dan tekun menelitinya, ia akan sekali lalu dapat menyerapi dunia seorang sasterawan yang seniman dengan segala rahsia kehidupan dan seninya.

Dalam buku ini secara tekun saya cuba menjejaki kembali tapak-tapak awal saya meredahi ? dan kemudiannya melestarikan ? dunia kehidupan dan seni. Sejak awal seorang ibu menyuapkan nasi ke mulut anaknya dengan iringan kisah Batu Belah Batu Bertangkup membawa kemudiannya kepada anak itu sendiri mencari dan memilih pula bahan-bahan bacaannya, segalanya dirakamkan semesra mungkin dalam 'Dari Salina ke Langit Petang'.

..Selama dua puluh tahun buku ini terbengkalai secara "sia-sia". Kini ia mendapat nafasnya kembali. Dan memang pun saya berharap buku yang tertulis dalam abad lalu ini akan lebih bererti kepada pembaca dan penulis abad ini."

Tun Dr. Mahathir on leadership..

2007-02-07T00:09:00.000+08:00

..Petronas Twin Towers (one of the most important legacy of Tun Dr. Mahathir)
[Sony Erricson k750i.06-Feb-2007.8.05pm]

"I think if you want to develop a developing country, you need a real sense of direction. If somebody doesn't give you a sense of direction, everybody would be going all over the place and nothing could be done.

When you give direction, that direction may be wrong; but if you don't give direction, some of the things they do will be wrong. If you are going in 10 separate ways, nine of them would be wrong. It is far better to give direction, and if it is wrong, well, as you go along, you correct it.

When I decided to build a national car, people said it was 'stupid' - You are a Third World country, how can you build a car?' Well there were problems along the way, but as you go along, you solve [them]. That's what leadership is all about! If you don't know how to solve problems, then you shouldn't be a leader." ~Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad.

Taken from Off The Edge magazine (Feb2007:issue26).

Other quotable quotes from Tun Dr. Mahathir in this blog;
Tun Dr. M on Srebrenica
Tun Dr. M on the US presidential elections
Tun Dr. M on 'trusting your memory'

Agh, damn it, I wanted to go to the War Criminal Forum, in PWTC! but that means I will have to skip work for that, which is.. not quite possible. Sigh.

The Mufti of Perlis on NST

2007-02-05T00:25:00.000+08:00

Young, dynamic and outspoken Perlis Mufti, Dr. Asri Zainul Abidin, writes about the general misconception about Malay and Islam, following the outgoing debate on the media of the need of the Chinese Muslim community to build a Chinese mosque.

IN my observations, among the serious misunderstandings involving religion is the use of the term "Malay" as synonymous with Islam and "Chinese" with infidel.

There are Malays who describe a new Muslim convert as masuk Melayu (becoming Malay) or sometimes say that he is "not Muslim but Chinese!" For them, the Chinese represent the infidels and Malays embody the Muslims.

To make matters worse, some Malays label the converted Chinese as mualaf and, more disparagingly in the northern Peninsula dialect, Mat Loh.

Malays assume they are the only pure Muslims, although Chinese Muslims may have stronger faith.

To some Malays, Chinese Muslims are not authentic and are seen merely as hitchhikers.

However, many Chinese who have converted to Islam are more pious, while many Muslim-born Malays are of questionable devotion. Malay attire such as kain pelikat, baju melayu and samping are not the garments worn by the Prophet.

But Malays perceive their clothing as Islamic because it is from Malay culture.

Islam does not impede a culture which is not against its teachings. In the past, Malays perceived the use of chopsticks as wrong because it was associated with Chinese culture.

Actually, there is no difference between eating with one’s fingers or using cutlery, or chopsticks. The Prophet called on Muslims to invoke Allah’s name, use their right hand and only eat permissible food.

The Prophet once told a young Umar Abi Salamah when the latter was about to eat: "Dear child, say Allah’s name, eat with your right hand and consume what is close to you." (Hadith of al-Bukhari and Muslim).

Malays will normally
ask Chinese Muslims to change to Arabic names, as if the name Ah Chong, Ah Seng, Lim or Koh would mean they were unIslamic.

Maybe because such names do not sound Arabic, the Malays feel awkward about them.

Sadly, the Malays do not feel the same way about names such as Awang, Leman, Seman and others which are not Arabic either. In reality, there are many Malay names which do not have any meaning in Arabic and some have bad meanings if they are translated.

Still, it is all right for the Malays because they are, after all, Malay names.

Again, are Malays Islam and Islam Malays? The Prophet did not ask those who embraced Islam to change their names as long as they did not have bad meanings.

For instance, the name Umar was used during the pre-Islamic Jahiliyyah period and remained when the person became a Muslim.

I do not stop any Chinese Muslim from changing his name, especially if the new name will make him feel closer to the Muslim community.

Still, they must be given the choice to do so. If the changed names only make non-Muslim Chinese afraid of embracing Islam and fearful that their families will disown them, is it wrong for them to maintain their Chinese names?

If Awang can keep his name, why not Ah Chong?

An assumption that Islam mirrors Malay characteristics has dire consequences in many areas, especially when some Malays themselves act against the teachings of Islam.

Fortunately, most Malays still adhere to the teachings of Islam.

A strong faith is the saving grace in the hereafter.

However, we cannot ignore the fact that many Malays practice syirik (polytheism) and ridicule Allah’s commandments and the Sunnah (teachings of the Prophet).

These Malays are only Muslim in name.

From the perspective of history, the majority of the Chinese in Malaysia are non Muslims. The call of Islam does not seem to reach them. Perhaps this is because the
Malays have not effectively imparted the correct form of dakwah (missionary work).

Instead, many Malays portray an attitude that is against Islam.

Although the Malays can discuss many things with the Chinese, including the political party they should vote for, the Malays do not seem capable of presenting the greatness of Islam and inviting the Chinese to follow their religion.

Since many Malays contradict the teachings of Islam, the majority of the Chinese have misconceptions about Islam or abhor the idea of embracing Islam.

Islam is against negative traits such as laziness, apathy, envy and the like. Unfortunately, many Malays possess such attributes.

For instance, many Malay students are left behind in their studies. If they are set against the Chinese, either at school or university, many of the Malays will lag.

Also, most Malays are not interested in acquiring true Islamic knowledge. They would rather listen to Israiliyyat stories (derived from the Bible and Jewish folklore, used to help "fill in" the details especially when the passage is a narrative piece, which were traditionally deemed helpful or at least not harmful but could cloud the meanings of the Quran), fables and advice which are not founded in the Quran and Sunnah.

They prefer easy instruction without research and thought. At public libraries, the number of Malays using these facilities is still small. Chinese students diligently acquire knowledge, whereas many of their Malay counterparts are distracted by other things.

Some Malay parents will seek out blessed raisins and water for their children just before sitting for examinations to bring on good results. In the end, only those who study hard will excel, not the ones relying on blessed raisins and water.

The non-Muslim Chinese will reject Islam when they witness the Malays’ dependence on such practices but still fail to do well in their examinations.

Academically strong Muslims will not rely on water that was blessed with the Surah Yassin (one of the most important chapters in the Quran). Previous generations excelled because they stressed the importance of knowledge and were sincere in their efforts to acquire it. They were not merely focused on getting a certificate. Such qualities led to the creation of a powerful civilisation of knowledge in Islam.

Sometimes we as Muslims should praise the Chinese. Their children can still do well in their undertakings with neither high education nor paper qualifications. They either inherited the skills from their parents or from practical learning. Many successful Chinese businessmen are masters in their respective fields without having official paper qualifications. This trait is highly regarded by Islam. The religion urges its followers to rely on Allah and to increase their knowledge. In Surah Taha (verse 113) God says: "(Say Muhammad) Oh Lord, increase my knowledge."

Based on what I have mentioned above, how can the Malays bring the non-Muslim Chinese closer to Islam and convince them that Islam has shaped the Malays to become noble human beings? The Chinese businessmen are better managers and portray strong positive traits compared with their Malay counterparts — to the extent that many Malays have more confidence in Chinese businessmen than their own. Where are people like Abd al-Rahman bin Auf, a Muslim role model of doing business? Maybe the Chinese, the majority of whom are non-Muslims, have a keener insight into Abd al-Rahman’s business acumen than the Malays.

There is much else that I can say, to the point that I am inclined to think that if the Malays were not Muslim, there would be little else they can be proud of. If the Chinese can receive Islam in its true form, they will have much to offer. (NST)

See his ceramah videos posted on youtube as well. ;)

Quote of the week

2007-02-03T23:08:00.000+08:00

"The government is careful in spending money because it has very little money. It(the plane) was not bought by the government, it was bought by somebody else. That somebody else is 100 percent owned by the government," he added.

Tun Dr.Mahathir, in his usual sarcastic views, was replying a comment made by Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi when he denied the government bought the RM200 million jet.

"Why do we (the government) have to buy aircraft? If we buy, we have to undertake repairs and expend on many other things. "If is preferable to lease, and when there are repairs to be made, the lessor has to provide a replacement aircraft for our use," he told reporters on Monday. Abdullah had pointed out that Penerbangan Malaysia stood to gain from the lease, just as it earned from the lease of aircraft to MAS.

Let's have a look at Dato' Kadir Jasin's analysis on this issues. Read up his blog for more details.

1. PM kata kerajaan tak beli tapi sewa;
2. Yang beli adalah Penerbangan Malaysia Berhad (PMB);
3. PMB adalah anak syarikat milik penuh Khazanah Nasional Berhad (KNB);
4. KNB dimiliki kerajaan melalui Menteri Kewangan Diperbadankan (MKDp - Minister of Finance Incorporated);
5. Pengerusi KNB adalah PM;
6. Menteri Kewangan adalah PM;

The interesting thing about this issue is that, it was first brought up in the internet by bloggers, not from the mainstream medias. And I think that shows how greatly the influence of blogs in Malaysia. This is the second time in which the government replies from an issue that came up from blogs. The previous was the controversial RM3 million Turkish yacht. One issue after another, Pak Lah's credibility as Prime Minister is slowly crumbling.

Mat Salleh, The Man Who Antagonised The British

2007-02-01T21:30:00.000+08:00

"That night he (Mat Salleh) and his wife fled. He did not die here. The one died here is not Mat Salleh but his deputy. My grandmother stated that my grandfather himself saw Mat Salleh making his escape.

"However, my grandmother did not reveal where Mat Salleh died," said Petrus to Bernama.

Another interesting piece of historical finding. So Mat Salleh didn't get killed and managed to escape? I hope Petrus grandmother's version of story is reliable enough to convince local historian and the public.

By Nashir Mansor (via Bernama)

KOTA KINABALU, Jan 31 (Bernama) -- Till today nobody knows the fate that befell Datu Muhamad Salleh Datu Balu a.k.a Mat Salleh after he led an uprising against the British in Tambunan near here more than 100 years ago.

According A.R Dunlop, the man who led the British North Borneo Chartered Company's (BNBCC) troops during the assault on Mat Salleh's fort in Kampung Tibabar, Tambunan, 81 km from here, he died there after a bullet hit his temple.

Dunlop who later became a historian stated in his records that the incident occurred on 31 January 1900.

Though more than a century has passed, Petrus Podtung Kuyog, 73, from Kampung Tibabar, the grandson to one of Mat Salleh's followers, begged to differ on the fate that befell the warlord.

Petrus asserted that he could clearly recall the accounts narrated by his grandmother, Giok, on Mat Salleh's fate.

"That night he (Mat Salleh) and his wife fled. He did not die here. The one died here is not Mat Salleh but his deputy. My grandmother stated that my grandfather himself saw Mat Salleh making his escape.

"However, my grandmother did not reveal where Mat Salleh died," said Petrus to Bernama.

Petrus stated that his grandfather Panjuran Bungkahou was one of Mat Salleh's faithful followers involved in the skirmish with the Sikh and Dayak soldiers of BNBCC. In the incident Panjuran was shot on the right toe.

THE RISE AGAINST BNBCC

Mat Salleh and his followers were hunted down by the BNBCC troops following the murder of two Dayak businessmen in Mat Salleh's settlement in Sungai Sugut.

Mat Salleh who was to succeed his father as the head of Sungai Sugut settlement, however denied that he was behind the murders. It was believed that his followers were involved.

Being the head of the settlement his father collected taxes from traders who came there to trade and at the same time protected the local traders from being exploited. But Mat Salleh and his followers were unhappy that the poll tax and the boat tax on local traders plying Sungai Sigut imposed by BNBCC diminished the rights of the locals.

When attempts by Mat Salleh and his followers to meet Governor Charles Vandelleur Creagh in Sandakan over the murder and the tax were rejected by the company, Mat Salleh was left dejected and knew that the company was up to something.

Mat Salleh was proven right when on 29 August 1895 the company sent troops to Pulau Jambongan to arrest him on allegations that he created a ruckus in Sandakan.

Mat Salleh's village was attacked, robbed and the houses razed with many of his personal belongings confiscated. Nevertheless, Mat Salleh managed to escape and BNBCC offered a $500 reward for anyone who captured Mat Salleh, dead or alive.

MAT SALLEH DECLARES WAR ON BNBCC

Following the incident, Mat Salleh declared a war on the company and launched a series of attacks on the company's interests in Ulu Sugut between August 1895 and September 1896. Mat Salleh and his followers attacked and destroyed a settlement in Pulau Gaya on 9 July 1897.

However, the odds did not favour him in Ranau where he was defeated on 5 January 1898. After a peace negotiation in Palatan, Ulu Menggatal, with William Clark Cowie, BNBCC's Managing Director in London, Mat Salleh agreed to retreat to Tambunan and he set up his base there.

During the negotiation Mat Salleh is said to have told Cowie: `At any rate, you will have to admit that your company cannot prevent us from dying for what we think as our rights.

However, peace was short-lived when BNBCC decided to set up its administration centre in Tambunan, a move that violated the agreement reached between Mat Salleh and Cowie.

According to available historical facts and the verbal accounts handed down by Petrus' grandmother, Mat Salleh declared that he was the sole ruler of Tambunan and with the backing of the majority of the Dusun Tagas people he revolted against the British authority.

Tregonning K.G in his book `Under The Chartered Company Rule' (1958), stated that Mat Salleh had more than 1,000 followers from the Dusun community and 300 from the Bajau when he set up forts in several locations in Tambunan. Among Mat Salleh's followers were Mat Sator, Mat Daud, Kamunta, Santara and Langkap but their details remain sketchy.

VILLAGERS ACCEPT HIM WITHOUT RESERVATIONS

According to Petrus, when Mat Salleh and his followers first reached Kg Tibabar, he was well received by the villagers who were unhappy with the tax imposed by the British company.

It was compulsory for the villagers to pay a poll tax of $1.50 that according to Petrus is equivalent to RM1,500 today. The villagers were against the tax as it involved a hefty sum.

Mat Salleh and his followers made their way into the hearts of the villagers by showing high respect to the villagers.

He is said to have met the village head beforehand, but it could not be ascertained what transpired in their meeting, before setting up fort in the village.

"When Mat Salleh arrived here, he met with the village head and asked for permission to set up a fort. The kampung folks must have agreed. How can an outsider set up a fort here if the villagers did not agree to it in the first place," asked Petrus, describing Mat Salleh and his followers' arrival as related by his grandmother.

Though the Tambunan dwellers at that time were not adherents of any faith and knew that Mat Salleh is a Muslim from the Suluk and Bajau ethnicity, they received him with an open heart.

The support from the Kadazandusun, especially from the Dusun Tagas sub- ethnic group in Tambunan, is nothing new for Mat Salleh because he also enjoyed their support previously when he set up forts in Sungai Sugut and Ranau.

PETRUS IS SURE THAT MAT SALLEH SURVIVED

According to Petrus, he too believes like what his grandfather said that Mat Salleh did not die at his stronghold. Had not Mat Salleh escaped from the village, the villagers would have fought along with him until the end.

"The villagers knew that he was fighting for their rights. He himself was not in favour of the poll tax imposed by the British. He also wanted to defend the rights of the indigenous people," said Petrus. Mat Salleh's struggle and valour, and the fact that the different ethnic groups united under him, is something that Petrus will never forget in this life.

Historians like D.S Ranjit Singh described Mat Salleh as an exemplary figure for the coming generations due to his courage and the principles he espoused.

Though there is no official record on what happened to Mat Salleh after the Kampung Tibabar confrontation, the only reminder of his legacy today is the memorial in this village built to honour him.

Lima Tahun

2007-02-01T10:46:00.000+08:00

..weblog version3 (Dec 2002)

Today marks the fifth anniversary of my online presence on the world wide web. I still find it amazing how fast time flies by. It all started with just a personal website back in February 2002 and in September of that same year I started to blog, manually. You name it, I've tried most of the popular free web hosting services back then, from tripod to geocities to pitas blog and finally, blogger and my own domain name.

Farhan, sambung la tulis blog balik. hoho.

These are few interesting quotes on 'time' which I found on the web;

"There is one kind of robber whom the law does not strike at, and who steals what is most precious to men: time." ~Napoleon I, Maxims, 1815
"Time is the coin of your life. It is the only coin you have, and only you can determine how it will be spent. Be careful lest you let other people spend it for you." ~Carl Sandberg (quotegarden.com)

Sultan Mahmud, Hj. Abdul Rahman Limbung dan lain-lain

2007-01-28T21:27:00.000+08:00

Artikel Johan Jaafar dalam kolum mingguan beliau di NST menarik minat saya untuk menulis di blog ini. Beliau menulis tentang banjir yang berlaku di Kota Tinggi dan juga cerita sejarah bandar Kota Tinggi itu. Topik makam Sultan Mahmud dan makam Megat Seri Rama, atau lebih dikenali sebagai Panglima Bintan menjadi perbualan dikalangan penduduk Kota Tinggi kerana makam Sultan Mahmud tidak terjejas akibat banjir tetapi makam Panglima Bintan pula tenggelam, kononnya makam Panglima Bintan tenggelam akibat daripada penderhakaan beliau kepada Sultan. Tetapi pada saya ianya akibat daripada faktor geografi setempat, tidak lebih daripada itu.

Saya berminat dengan tulisan Dato' Johan berkenaan pembunuhan Sultan Mahmud Mangkat Dijulang, waris terakhir daripada kesultanan Melayu Melaka. Menurut beliau, cerita bagaimana Sultan Mahmud dibunuh adalah akibat daripada dendam Panglima Bintan kepada Sultan Mahmud yang membunuh isteri beliau, Wan Anum. Wan Anum yang ketika itu sedang sarat mengandung, mengidamkan buah nangka. Kebetulan pula buah tersebut hendak diberikan kepada Sultan. Seorang pegawai istana yang bersimpati telah memotong sebahagian daripada buah tersebut dan berikannya kepada Wan Anum. Sultan Mahmud murka apabila mendapat tahu hal tersebut, kerana Sultan tidak sepatutnya memakan bekas makanan rakyat biasa. Apabila diberitahukan oleh Wan Anum kepada Sultan bahawa buah itu untuk anak dalam kandungannya, Sultan tidak percaya dan meminta agar dibelah perutnya sebagai bukti.

Panglima Bintan berasa sangat terkejut apabila mendapat tahu berita tersebut, lalu bertindak membunuh Sultan Mahmud ketika baginda sedang diarak (dijulang) ke masjid pada hari Jumaat. Maka, Sultan Mahmud mangkat ketika dijulang.

Cerita ini mengingatkan saya kepada ayat Dato' Khalid Ibrahim (kini Bendahari Parti Keadilan Rakyat), dalam wawancara beliau dengan majalah Off The Edge (Dec 2006), apabila beliau menyebut;

"Malays, basically, only support the winner..it's very traditional..if the sultan is killed by his brother and the brother becomes the sultan, the scene of the killing is not relevant, they will support the new sultan"

Zaman itu adalah di mana era Sultan berkuasa mutlak. Segala titah Sultan adalah undang-undang. Segala tingkah laku Sultan tidak boleh dipersoal. Itu adalah norma kehidupan dulu yang harus diterima. Sebab itulah pada zaman dulu sesiapa yang menderhaka tidak mendapat tempat dalam masyarakat. Zaman itu istilah revolusi belum wujud. Malah revolusi besar boleh dikatakan tidak pernah wujud di bumi Nusantara ini. Kalau ada pun, ianya tidak begitu memberi impak yang besar. Tidak ada penentangan secara terang-terangan terhadap raja-raja Melayu kerana masyarakat Melayu secara umumnya masih bersifat feudalistik. Masih menyayangi raja-raja Melayu. Di Brunei, pada dekad 1960-an, cubaan Parti Rakyat pimpinan Azahari untuk menggulingkan kerajaan telah gagal. Sultan Brunei telah mendapat bantuan ketenteraan dari negara-negara Komanwel, seperti Britain dan Australia. Parti-parti Melayu berhaluan kiri juga kurang mendapat tempat di hati rakyat. Laungan perjuangan untuk membentuk sebuah gagasan 'Melayu Raya', yang menggabungkan negara Indonesia dan Malaya juga menemui kegagalan.

Sebab itu saya selalu berpendapat bahawa dalam membuat kajian ilmiah tentang zaman Melayu lama, haruslah dilihat dari perspektif zaman itu sendiri. Kita tidak boleh mengkaji sejarah dulu tetapi mengambil kira faktor semasa dalam membuat pertimbangan. Sebab itu pada saya, tindakan Hang Tuah membunuh Jebat walaupun Tuah sendiri dalam dilema adalah sesuatu yang diterima masyarakat dalam konteks Melaka kurun ke-15, kerana berlaku derhaka kepada raja adalah sesuatu yang paling tidak diingini.

Pada saya mengangkat karya agung 'Hikayat Hang Tuah' yang telah diiktiraf oleh UNESCO sebagai salah satu karya sastera agung dunia yakni setaraf dengan karya Ramayana dan Mahabrata, adalah jauh lebih penting. Walaupun begitu saya masih terbuka untuk membaca kajian-kajian terbaru tentang Hikayat Hang Tuah ini, kerana karya ini adalah manuskrip sastera, bukannya sejarah. Atas sebab itu saya boleh menerima idea-idea baru seperti yang ditulis oleh U-Wei Saari dalam teater beliau, 'Wangi Jadi Saksi' baru-baru ini, yang mana dalam pementasan tersebut U-Wei menunjukkan bagaimana Jebat tidak mati ditangan Tuah, tapi di tangan pembesar Sultan berketurunan Jawa, Patih Kerma Wijaya. . [baca posting blog tentang teater Wangi Jadi Saksi untuk ulasan lanjut]

Satu lagi contoh mudah ialah ketika penentangan Haji Abdul Rahman Limbung di Kuala Berang, Terengganu. Kita tahu daripada buku-buku sejarah bahawa Haji Abdul Rahman Limbung menentang British kerana tidak setuju dengan cukai tanah baru yang dikenakan. Penduduk-penduduk kampung telah mengusahakan tanah sawah mereka sejak berkurun-kurun lamanya, tiba-tiba apabila British datang, mereka sewenang-wenangnya mengenakan cukai.

Tetapi bukan isu itu yang ingin saya ceritakan di sini, tetapi tentang isu mentaliti feudal/bangsawan rakyat. Walaupun telah jelas Sultan Terengganu dan pembesar Melayu bersekongkol atau dalam kata lain diperalatkan oleh penjajah British, tetapi penduduk Kuala Berang tidak menunjukkan penentangan yang jelas kepada Sultan. Mereka tetap bersikap defensive, berlembut, berdiplomasi dan masih menaruh harapan terhadap raja mereka seperti dialog ringkas pada watak Lebai Hasan di dalam novel 'Tangisan Bangsaku' oleh Arifin Ngah di bawah. (sebuah novel sejarah Pemenang Anugerah Sastera Darul Iman IV, yang mengisahkan tentang sejarah penentangan Haji Abdul Rahman Limbung);

Kata Mat Solah, "Tidakkah baginda tahu, rakyat di Telemung ini menangis kerana kezaliman penjajah itu?"
"Boleh jadi baginda tidak tahu" Lebai Hasan seperti mencari alasan. Dia yakin Sultan tidak sekejam itu.

"Sudah jelas Sultan membuat sokongan kepada Inggeris di depan beribu-ribu rakyat. Ya, tak berselindung lagi, baginda tak menyebelahi rakyat," kata Tuk Pitas dengan kesal.

"Tapi, kita tak boleh salahkan sultan. Baginda seperti terpaksa. Tak ada sokongan di belakang baginda. Baginda keseorangan. Pembesar terpengaruh dengan pangkat kemuliaan dan harta benda. Mana ada kuasa nak halang Inggeris?" Lebai Hasan masih membuat alasan. [petikan daripada Tangisan Bangsaku (ms. 267/268)]

British pandai menggunakan helah memperalatkan raja Melayu dan berselindung disebalik kata-kata seperti; ini penderhakaan kepada Sultan. Semua tindakan British telah mendapat persetujuan Sultan. Samalah seperti kisah Mat Kilau yang dituduh menderhaka kepada Sultan.

Akhir kalam, "Raja Adil Raja Disembah, Raja Zalim Raja Disanggah".

Buy Sell Trade

2007-01-21T16:09:00.000+08:00

I managed to sold off few of my books (and mom's old novels) to the shop above, in ss15. Actually i've brought along about 10kilos of various kinds of old books to get rid off but I was told that they only accept novels. Damnn. So yeah, only 6 books were accepted then, and they pay me RM6. Terry Brookes's 'Elfstone of Shannara' is priced at RM3. I think I could've sell it for a better price at ebay or something, ya?

I wanted to sell my dad's Kodak digicam (EasyShare DX6440. 4mp) too, but they could only offer me about RM180-200. So I said to him that I would think about it first. In the mean time, any takers here? :)

Mat Kilau

2007-01-11T19:40:00.000+08:00

"see, who would have thought I too will live to see this country's independence" Mat Kilau to his son in-law, Abu Bakar.

This is an interesting piece of analysis by Bernama on Mat Kilau. I personally think that more academic research should be done about him. The special thing about him is that, he is the only one our many national heroes in late 19th century of the likes of Dato Bahaman and Tok Gajah that lived to witness our nation's independence.

Mat Kilau Too Shouted “Merdeka” On 31 August 1957
KUANTAN, Jan 10 (Bernama) -- Out of the many Malay warriors of Pahang who stood up against the British in the late 1880s, only one lived to witness with his very own eyes the nation's independence. It's no more than Mat Kilau, the son of a local chieftain Imam Perang Rasu (a.k.a Tok Gajah), one of the Malay warriors who rebelled between 1880s and 1890s when the colonial masters extended their rule to Pahang.

..Moreover, Mat Kilau even had the opportunity to shout the magical word "merdeka" on 31 August 1957, something that his contemporaries like Datuk Bahaman, Haji Abdul Rahman Limbong and Tok Janggut or the earlier ones like Datuk Maharaja Lela and Dol Said did not live to see.

..Mat Kilau's obscurity, much to anyone's surprise, is equally legendary. The feared warrior went into oblivion for more than half a century as he was on the run after the British put a prize on his head and branded him as among those who betrayed the sultan."

Despite all this, it took him 12 years after independence to actually made a public declaration about who he really is;

"He waited almost 12 years after merdeka to come out in the open that he is
Mat Kilau as he feared that the sultan hasn't forgiven him," he said.

But,

"..Unfortunately 10 days after the confirmation, Mat Kilau died on 16 August 1970 at his home in Kampung Batu 5. He is said to have died at the age of 122 based on his estimated birth year of 1847.He was buried with full honours befitting a national hero at his birthplace of Kampung Masjid Pulau Tawar, Jerantut."

wikipedia: Mat Kilau

Malik Imtiaz dan Lelaki Mengaku Nabi

2007-01-06T21:17:00.000+08:00

Bernama: Lelaki Mengaku Nabi Dibenar Mohon Cabar Undang-undang Jenayah Syariah
PUTRAJAYA, 3 Jan (Bernama) -- Mahkamah Persekutuan di sini hari ini membenarkan permohonan seorang lelaki, yang menghadapi tuduhan mendakwa dirinya nabi dan menghina ajaran Islam, mencabar beberapa peruntukan dalam Enakmen Jenayah Syariah Selangor.

Abdul Kahar Ahmad, 56, dari Kampung Kemensah, Ampang, diberi tempoh 60 hari mulai hari ini untuk memfailkan petisyennya itu.

Abdul Kahar menamakan kerajaan Selangor sebagai responden.

Peguamnya Malik Imtiaz Sarwar berkata tuduhan terhadap Abdul Kahar kononnya dia menyebarkan ajaran salah, menghina dan melanggar ajaran Islam dan bertindak menyalahi fatwa dan Mufti, bukannya kesalahan mengikut ajaran Islam. (??)

Dalam afidavit mereka, Abdul Kahar dan Mazli berkata hanya Parlimen diberi kuasa menggubal undang-undang jenayah, dan oleh itu, Dewan Undangan Negeri Selangor tidak ada kuasa membuat peruntukan berkenaan kerana masing-masingnya merupakan peruntukan undang-undang jenayah.

Panel lima hakim diketuai Ketua Hakim Negara Tun Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim juga membenarkan kerajaan Malaysia mencampuri prosiding berkenaan.

Kerajaan Selangor diwakili Penasihat Undang-undang Negeri Datuk Zauyah Be Loth Khan manakala Peguam Kanan Persekutuan Azizah Nawawi mewakili kerajaan.

Pertama sekali, saya bukan seorang yang arif dalam selok belok undang-undang negara, tapi saya tak faham dengan peguam Malik Imtiaz ni apabila beliau bertindak jadi peguambela kepada Abdul Kahar Ahmad, seorang yang mengaku sebagai nabi. (??) Bodoh ke gila. Memanglah beliau kata hendak mencabar undang-undang Jenayah Syariah negara, tapi itu soal lain, yang jelasnya dalam kata simple orang biasa, beliau adalah peguam kepada seorang lelaki yang terang-terang sesat. Apa pula implikasi atau kesan kepada undang-undang syariah kita andai kata beliau menang kes ini? Anyone care to enlighten me more regarding this case?

Sedih juga orang macam ni ada tempat dalam akhbar NST - Beliau turut mempunyai kolum mingguan di NST. Sebagai rekod, beliau adalah salah seorang pendokong kuat IFC - Interfaith Commision.

Malcolm X's Letter from Makkah

2007-01-05T20:34:00.000+08:00

Interesting reading. Read on. (taken from IslamOnline.net)

The following is Malcolm X’s (al-Hajj, Malik al-Shabazz) letter to his assistants in Harlem during his pilgrimage to Makkah in April of 1964: Never have I witnessed such sincere hospitality and overwhelming spirit of true brotherhood as is practiced by people of all colors and races here in this ancient holy land, the home of Abraham, Muhammad and all the other Prophets of the holy scriptures. For the past week, I have been utterly speechless and spellbound by the graciousness I see displayed all around me by people of all colors.

I have been blessed to visit the holy city of Makkah; I have made my seven circuits around the Ka'aba, led by a young Mutawwaf (guide) named Muhammad; I drank water from the well of the Zamzam. I ran seven times back and forth between the hills of mount al-Safa and al-Marwa. I have prayed in the ancient city of Mina, and I have prayed on mount Arafat.

There were tens of thousands of pilgrims, from all over the world. They were of all colors, from blue-eyed blondes to black-skinned Africans. But we were all participating in the same ritual, displaying a spirit of unity and brotherhood that my experiences in America had led me to believe never could exist between the white and non-white.

America needs to understand Islam, because this is the one religion that erases from its society the race problem. Throughout my travels in the Muslim world, I have met, talked to, and even eaten with people who in America would have been considered white - but the white attitude was removed from their minds by the religion of Islam. I have never before seen sincere and true brotherhood practiced by all colors together, irrespective of their color.

You may be shocked by these words coming from me. But on this pilgrimage, what I have seen, and experienced, has forced me to rearrange much of my thought-patterns previously held, and to toss aside some of my previous conclusions. This was not too difficult for me. Despite my firm convictions, I have always been a man who tries to face facts, and to accept the reality of life as new experience and new knowledge unfolds it. I have always kept an open mind, which is necessary to the flexibility that must go hand in hand with every form of intelligent search for truth.

During the past eleven days here in the Muslim world, I have eaten from the same plate, drunk from the same glass, and slept on the same rug - while praying to the same God - with fellow Muslims, whose eyes were the bluest of blue, whose hair was the blondest of blond, and whose skin was the whitest of white. And in the words and in the deeds of the white Muslims, I felt the same sincerity that I felt among the black African Muslims of Nigeria, Sudan and Ghana.

We were truly all the same (brothers) - because their belief in one God had removed the white from their minds, the white from their behavior, and the white from their attitude.

I could see from this, that perhaps if white Americans could accept the Oneness of God, then perhaps, too, they could accept in reality the Oneness of Man - and cease to measure, and hinder, and harm others in terms of their “differences” in color.

With racism plaguing America like an incurable cancer, the so-called “Christian” white American heart should be more receptive to a proven solution to such a destructive problem. Perhaps it could be in time to save America from imminent disaster - the same destruction brought upon Germany by racism that eventually destroyed the Germans themselves.

Each hour here in the holy land enables me to have greater spiritual insights intowhat is happening in America between black and white. The American Negro never can be blamed for his racial animosities - he is only reacting to four hundred years of the conscious racism of the American whites. But as racism leads America up the suicide path, I do believe, from the experiences that I have had with them, that the whites of the younger generation, in the colleges and universities, will see the handwriting on the walls and many of them will turn to the spiritual path of truth - the only way left to America to ward off the disaster that racism inevitably must lead to.

All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of all the worlds.

Sincerely,

al-Hajj, Malik al-Shabazz (Malcolm X)

2 0 0 7

2007-01-02T19:15:00.000+08:00

Happy New Year!

Happy Eidul Adha & Happy New Year

2006-12-29T22:48:00.001+08:00

If you still have no plans or resolutions to make for the new year, this might probably gives you an idea to start. - Top ten new year resolutions

Here's a brief history of new year resolutions.

The tradition of the New Year's Resolutions goes all the way back to 153 B.C. Janus, a mythical king of early Rome was placed at the head of the calendar.
With two faces, Janus could look back on past events and forward to the future. Janus became the ancient symbol for resolutions and many Romans looked for forgiveness from their enemies and also exchanged gifts before the beginning of each year.
The New Year has not always begun on January 1, and it doesn't begin on that date everywhere today. It begins on that date only for cultures that use a 365-day solar calendar. January 1 became the beginning of the New Year in 46 B.C., when Julius Caesar developed a calendar that would more accurately reflect the seasons than previous calendars had.
The Romans named the first month of the year after Janus, the god of beginnings and the guardian of doors and entrances. He was always depicted with two faces, one on the front of his head and one on the back. Thus he could look backward and forward at the same time. At midnight on December 31, the Romans imagined Janus looking back at the old year and forward to the new. [...]

Múm - The Land Between Solar Systems

Books and movies of 2006

2006-12-29T22:48:00.000+08:00

I guess this is my last entry for the year. This year's list is a pale shadow of last year's record of 29 books read. Sigh. No good, especially when the number of books unread left on the shelve is getting more and more.

Local interest:
1. Mencari Dugalia Huso - A. Kadir Jasin
2. Memoir Za'ba - Adnan Nawang
3. Perjalanan Ku Sejauh Ini: Sebuah Autobiografi - Shahnon Ahmad
4. Kembara Seorang Reformis (1908-1922) - Rashid Ridha
5. Kekasih Sam Po Bo - Faisal Tehrani

English novels:
1. Princess: An Appalling Indictment of the Treatment of Women in Saudi Arabia - Jean P. Sasson
2. La Prisonniere: Twenty Years in a Desert Gaol - Malika Oufkir & Michelle Fitousi.
3. A Fortune-Teller Told Me: Earthbound Travels in the Far East - Tiziano Terzani
4. The Alchemist - Paulo Coelho
5. Confession of an Economic Hit Man - John Perkins
6. Jem Sultan: The Adventures of a Captive Turkish Prince in Renaissance Europe - John Freely
7. My Name is Red - Orhan Pamuk
8. The Palestinian Issues: Its Background and Development Up To 2000 - Dr. Mohsen M. Saleh
9. The Richest Man in Babylon - George S. Clason

Movies:
1. Buli Balik - 2 February 2006 (GSC Summit USJ)
2. Gubra - 31 March (TGV Sunway)
3. The Da Vinci Code - 20 May (GSC Summit USJ)
4. X-Men - 25 May (GSC Summit USJ)
5. Cars - 11 June (GSC Summit USJ)
6. Superman - 29 June (TGV Sunway)
7. Fast & Furious 3 - 27 June (TGV I Utama)
8. Pirates of the Carribean 2 - 27 July (TGV KLCC)
9. LakeHouse - 1 Aug (TGV I Utama)
10. Monster House - 7 Sept (TGV Sunway)

Happy New Year everyone. :)

Taiwan quake brings down Internet links

2006-12-27T21:25:00.000+08:00

If you are finding it very difficult to access overseas websites, don’t blame your service provider or your computer.. Mkini

fotopage updated.

2006-12-20T00:09:00.000+08:00

fotopage updated.

..if reality tv comes before Siti Nurhaliza

2006-12-16T13:24:00.000+08:00

While watching the tv3 news just now, I managed to catch a glimpse of the new NST tv ad. I guess some of you might have seen it already. It features part of the NST editorial team including Hafez's father(hehe, i just have to mention this one). One of them is NST's music and film columnist, Suraya Al-Attas. She mentioned some interesting words there, but I didn't get to catch her full sentence though, but more or less it's something like this;

"..if reality tv comes before Siti Nurhaliza, she might not have been discovered, [..]"

How true indeed.. kan? ;)

[shahnon.com: Realiti tv perosak & pencemar 'kualiti' industri muzik tempatan.]

gila

2006-12-14T09:17:00.000+08:00

The Edge: Road tolls to rise by up to 60%
The government will announce on Dec 14 a sharp rise in road toll rates to help trim state subsidies, a source said on Dec 13, in a move that could spark a public outcry and raise inflation.
Tolls will go up by as much as 60% and will affect users of five highways in and around the capital, Kuala Lumpur, said the source, who attended an official briefing on the matter.
"The new rates take effect on Jan 1," the source, who declined to be identified, told Reuters.
..Litrak operates the 40km Damansara-Puchong highway, where the toll is to rise 60%, to RM1.60 from RM1, the source said.

Daulat Tuanku

2006-12-13T11:14:00.000+08:00

..Sultan Mizan dan pemangku Sultan Terengganu, Tengku Muhammad Ismail

Menjunjung Duli Setinggi-tinggi Tahniah
di atas perlantikan

Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin dan Sultanah Nur Zahirah
sebagai

Seri Paduka Baginda Yang diPertuan Agong ke XIII dan Seri Paduka Baginda Raja Permaisuri Agong.

Semoga Malaysia terus aman, makmur dan maju di bawah naungan tuanku.

Sembah takzim daripada
shahnon.com

[iklan]

NST-Utusan merger (?) and etc..

2006-12-11T12:02:00.001+08:00

Saya dah lama mengikuti perkembangan gabungan dua media Melayu Utusan-NST dan baru kali ni nak tulis di blog. Dilaporkan dalam beberapa laman-laman web bahawa hanya 5 daripada 48 anggota MT UMNO yang menyokong penggabungan ini. Siapa mereka itu? PM,TPM dan tiga yang lain? Hari ini Harakahdaily melaporkan 'Seratus peratus kakitangan Utusan menentang "penjajahan"'. Kenapa berita ini tak disiarkan dalam Utusan? Mungkin sebab Pak Lah kelihatan cenderung untuk melihat penggabungan itu menjadi kenyataan? Kenapa semacam langsung tidak kedengaran suara-suara penentangan secara total di media? Yang ada hanya umpama laporan kegusaran tentang masa depan Utusan oleh beberapa Senator dan ahli parlimen. Ataupun mungkin ulasan mereka kepada wartawan media telah dispin oleh editor, tak tahulah. Pemimpin UMNO kini kelihatan mengambil langkah berhati-hati agar tidak mendahului pendirian Pak Lah.

Terbaru, dalam Utusan Malaysia hari ini, YB Tan Sri Muhyidin Yassin berkata, UMNO akan 'tetap pertahan keunggulan Utusan Melayu'. Jawapan yang tiada ketegasan. Suara akar umbi harus diperdengarkan kepada pemimpin dengan jelas. Khairy pun kata penggabungan ini harus mengambil pandangan akar umbi. Jangan sekadar sedap cakap sudahlah. Minggu lepas di blog RockyBru, beliau mendedahkan bahawa Singapura mungkin akan mendapat kepentingan sehingga 40%! Sejauh mana kebenaran ini tak tahulah. Ikuti juga blog YB Husam Musa yang banyak menulis tentang isu penggabungan NST-Utusan ini.

Kadang-kadang tak faham, sedih saya dengar Pak Lah kata, bila ditanya tentang makin banyaknya pelaburan dan pembelian saham dan aset penting oleh syarikat-syarikat Singapura di Malaysia, jawabnya, itu menunjukkan pelabur mereka mempunyai keyakinan tinggi terhadap kita? Begitu mudah sekali? Aduh. Takkanlah sampai tahap menjual dan menggadai maruah negara, apabila aset-aset penting negara hendak dijual. Tak perlu nak dihurai panjang lebar sekali lagi di sini. Syabas kepada YB Shahrir Samad. Semalam, beliau dengan tegas membantah jika sebuah syarikat Singapura dipilih sebagai kontraktor kepada projek monorail di Johor Bahru, di mana beliau adalah wakil rakyatnya.

Bukan hendak membuat perbandingan, tetapi kita telah lihat bagaimana Amerika dulu membantah apabila sebuah syarikat Dubai hendak menguasai pelabuhan-pelabuhan strategik di Amerika atas alasan national security. Ini sangat bercanggah jika diadili dengan fahaman ekonomi kapitalis yang mereka asaskan dan laung-laungkan sendiri. Ternyatalah bahawa idea globalisasi menurut fahaman Barat hanyalah globalisasi sehala. Iaitu dari Barat ke Timur sahaja.

Satu lagi contoh yang menarik perhatian saya ialah melibatkan tokoh industri besi keluli dari India, Lakshmi Mittal. Beliau dahulu pernah mendapat bangkangan oleh beberapa negara Eropah apabila beliau bertindak hendak membeli syarikat pengeluar utama keluli di Eropah iaitu Arcelor. Awal tahun ini akhirnya beliau telah berjaya juga mengambil alih syarikat tersebut dengan diberi nama Arcelor Mittal, sekaligus meletakkan Arcelor Mittal sebagai syarikat pengeluar keluli utama dunia. Suka saya memetik petikan daripada majalah Time (edisi Nov.13 2006) yang turut memuatkan kata-kata umpama rungutan daripada Menteri Kewangan Perancis;

"This invasion by an Eastern upstart horrified Europe's old guard; French Finance Minister Theirry Breton grumbled Arcelor should have "European character."

But Indian businessmen from Hyderabad to Hong Kong proudly pointed to Mittal's success as a mark of their maturity commercial prowess.

To a nation that 150 years ago was run not by its own government but by a European business - the British East India Company - Mittal is the Indian who is beating the West at its own game. And he's got mansion (Mittal's $128Mil. Kensington Palace Garden in London) to prove it. - by Alex Perry.

Heck. That simply shows the shallow mindedness of these Europeans. It seems as if it is not ok for Asians, but when it comes to them, Westerners, it is 'globalization', or if to use the latest term by F. William Engdahl, Dollarization.

Beralih pula kepada isu penggabungan Sime Darby, Golden Hope dan Kumpulan Guthrie pula, saya kira tulisan dan pandangan Syed Munir Syed Qadri (dalam email beliau kepada Jeff Ooi), Pengerusi Yayasan Pelaburan Bumiputera, yang memiliki saham terbesar dalam Permodalan Nasional Berhad harus diambil berat. Kerisauan beliau mengenai penggabungan itu mempunyai asas yang kuat. Berikut adalah pandangan beliau dalam email bertajuk 'Pak Lah must be held responsible if merged company fails'.

As Chairman of the Yayasan Pelaburan Bumiputera which holds majority shares in Permodalan Nasional Berhad, Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi would be held responsible if the merger of Sime Darby Berhad, Golden Hope Berhad and Kumpulan Guthrie Berhad does not produce results.

Worse, he will also be accused of causing the erosion of Bumiputera shareholding. This is because PNB which holds majority shares in all three companies was founded with the aim of narrowing the economic disparity between the Bumiputeras and the other races.

The Government's decision to allow the merger is mind-boggling as all three companies are making profits. These profits are used to pay dividends to Bumiputeras who purchase unit trusts issued by PNB through Amanah Saham Nasional, Amanah Saham Bumiputera etc.

If these companies are running at a loss, then a merger would seem logical. But they are profits and they pay high dividends to their shareholders including PNB (read Government and Bumiputeras)

So why then is the Government doing it? Is the Government interested in attracting foreign participation in the equity structure of this merged entity? If that is the case, then the end-losers will be the Bumiputeras. Simple logic dictates that when a foreigner buys substantial equity in a company, he would most certainly want a representation in the Board. If that happens, the Board will not be able to make any decision favouring the Bumiputeras as it will be rejected by the foreign Board member.

It is more and more evident now that our present Government is a Government of contradictions. While it says that it wants to increase Bumiputera equity from the current 18 per cent to 35 per cent as stated in the New Economic Policy, its actions suggest that it is doing the opposite – reduce Bumiputera participating in the country's economy.

Merging the three companies into a single entity promises nothing. It will be a messy affair. At the moment, these companies, maybe with the exception of Sime Darby, are focused on their core competencies. Golden Hope is a fully integrated plantation company while Guthrie concentrates on plantations and property.

Merging them into a conglomerate is akin to the age-old saying of putting all the eggs in a single basket. When the basket falls, the eggs will break. You will be left with empty shells.

The merged entity will be a mess. It will be running all sorts of businesses ranging from hospitals to tyre production to sales of heavy equipment. Perhaps, Abdullah needs to be told that conglomerates are out of fashion. Companies now focus on their core competencies. Large companies like Toyota and Microsoft ventured into other businesses unrelated to their core activities. But they failed. They are successful today because they divested their non-core businesses to focus on what they know best.

The entire merger proposal of Sime Darby, Golden Hope and Guthrie reeks of a scandal involving the Government. The Abdullah-led Government, although claiming to be more transparent then the previous Government, has not been transparent at all in this merger proposal.

So who is behind it. Already there are many speculations linking the merger idea to members of Abdullah's family. Or is it because Synergy Drive Sdn Bhd which is leading the merger exercise is headed by Nazir Abdul Razak, the brother of Deputy Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak?

Is this nepotism of the highest degree? Have we given the proposed merger another thought?

Are we going to end-up with a messy and unprofitable conglomerate. It is a scary thought. I don't think I am going to be envious of the CEO of the merged entity. I will be sympathetic.

I bet you look good on the dancefloor lalalla

2006-12-11T12:02:00.000+08:00

pic source - wikipedia

Ah finally after weeks of the same old songs on the playlist, I'm getting myself a new list of albums before the year ends. thanks to torrent.hoho. Here's the list.

The Ataris - Welcome the Night
+44 - When Your Heart Stops Beating
Bad Astronaut - Twelve Small Steps, One Giant Disappointment
Mxpx - Let's Rock
Bright Eyes - Don't be Frightened of Turning the Page EP
...Trail of Dead - So Divided
Sufjan Stevens - The Avalanche

random writings

2006-12-07T22:42:00.000+08:00

Anyone knows where can I find Off The Edge December 2006 issue? I've searched all the kedai majalah mamak, 7 11 and Kiosk in SS15 but couldn't found any. Strange, because usually I would've already bought it by the 1st of every month or even before it. hmm.. takpelah tadi orang kat kedai mamak tu kata tak sampai lagi (?).

On another note, salam takziah to Tun Dr. Mahathir and his family, upon the death of his sister, Habshah Mohd .

ALOR STAR: The sister of Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Habshah Mohd Iskandar (pic), died of chest infection and old age at the Kedah Medical Centre here yesterday.

Habshah, 89, had been warded at the hospital since Nov 20.

Dr Mahathir, his wife Tun Dr Siti Hasmah Mohd Ali, Habshah's only daughter Kalthom Abdul Ghani and two other relatives were by Habshah’s bedside when she drew her last breath. Habshah’s husband Abdul Ghani Pa’ Chik died 20 years ago.

Her remains will be buried beside her father’s grave at the Muslim Cemetery in Akar Peluru here at 10am today.

'Malayaku' dan lain-lain

2006-12-02T01:24:00.000+08:00

Entah macam mana tadi masa belek-belek buku 'Sajak-Sajak Saleh' (Pustaka Cipta,2002) tulisan Saleh Ben Joned yang dah lama tersimpan rapi di rak buku, terjumpa satu sajak yang saya suka. Tajuknya, 'Malayaku'.

Aku amat rindukan:

Tanjung Penawar
Kampung Seronok
Rantau Abang
Janda Baik
Gertak Sanggul
Bukit Katil
Lubuk Cina
Teluk Panglima Garang
Batang Melaka
Batang Berjuntai
Batang Benar
Banting
Gelang Patah
Tumpat
Pedas
Pulau Bunting

Aku lemas dan layu di tengah-tengah:

Petaling Jaya
Damansara Jaya
Desa Jaya
Ampang Jaya
Subang Jaya
Kelana Jaya
Putrajaya
Cyberjaya

Simple je sajak dia, tapi penuh tersirat.

Sekali lagi saya telah memesan buku secara online di UjanaIlmu untuk membeli buku terbaru Faisal Tehrani, 'Kekasih Sam Po Bo'. Dah lama sebenarnya saya menantikan karya terbaru Faisal Tehrani, sebab tu awal-awal lagi dah pesan secara online.

Even Vietnam is fast leaving us behind..

2006-11-29T22:51:00.000+08:00

"..Vietnam's IT-relevant infrastructure and educational attainment are quickly catching up to Thailand, and arguably are soon set to overtake those in the Philippines. Malaysia has a bigger infrastructure lead, established manufacturing facilities by the likes of Intel, Microsoft and Seagate, and a much larger workforce fluent in English. But Malaysia has wholly failed to self-generate a new class of so-called "technopreneurs", as the government envisaged through its establishment of the Multimedia Super Corridor in 1996 [..]" - Asia Times Online

Malaysia is known as one of the Asian Tigers in the 90s, trailing only behind the likes of Japan, South Korea and China. But what happen to us now when even countries like Vietnam is fast overtaking and leaving us behind, in terms of economic development. To quote a recent report by CitiGroup;

"Malaysia today is a pale shadow of itself compared to 10 years ago. It is not that Malaysia is moving backward but simply that is not moving forward quickly enough."

Very true indeed. It's been awhile since I last read something positive about our country on any foreign news report. And to comment about the first quote above, Seeing almost zero political will to develop our MSC project from our PM, Pak Lah, I doubt we'd ever going to achieve much from the MSC target. I mean, when was the last time you heard about Pak Lah spoke on developing and promoting the MSC and our ICT industry? Perhaps just once a year during the annual MSC-IAP meeting. If not, it's always about pertanian and more pertanian.

Look at Cyberjaya, once touted to be the Asian model of Silicon Valley, but sadly, I don't see any new development there. No new investors are coming in. It is fast becoming a ghost town. Even the lalang there are growing on a much faster pace. Cyberjaya is suppose to be the nucleus or the heart of the MSC project, but it seems that the heart is beating too slow. So how? The only significant thing that I noticed about MSC during Pak Lah's time is that its logo and name has been changed, to MSC Malaysia. Nothing much. In simple words, to me Pak Lah has failed to carry on the vision of MSC, which is the brainchild of our former PM, Tun Dr. Mahathir, but for the sake of Malaysia, I just hope for the best to come.

Other related news:
Malaysia's Pursuit of Economic Reform to be Tested

Hishamuddin Rais on Sunday Star

2006-11-26T17:43:00.001+08:00

He was the Che Guevara of the Malaysian student movement of the mid-1970s. But after 20 years in exile, a stint under the ISA and becoming a film lecturer, ANDREW SIA discovers that Hishamuddin Rais is still very much a rebel at heart.

ART reflects life, it is said. So, when you grow up in Jelebu, a very secluded corner of Negeri Sembilan in the 1960s, you might, 30 years later, make a road movie about four kids trying to escape from a humdrum kampung life in a stolen red Volvo.

Hishamuddin is quite content to live on the second floor of a shoplot with his pets. He has filled it with books and paintings but it is sansbed, cupboards and fridge.

“It’s not like Kedah’s flat lands. Growing up in Jelebu, I never got to see the horizon because it’s a valley,” recalls Hishamuddin Rais, 55.

“There was only one trunk road out and to go even to Seremban was a big deal. Every boy dreams of what is beyond the mountains. But once you go over, you are never the same.”

And what a roller-coaster journey his life has been.

Early years

What drives this man? For one, his vociferous appetite for reading and knowledge. Hisham, who was educated at the Government English School in Jelebu, remembers a home filled with his parents' books. Dad was a rank and file armyman who was often away and Mom was a school teacher.

“I suppose we were lower middle class, but we were still better off compared to my classmates’s farmer parents,” he says.

His family life was harmonious and his uncle, Datuk Aminuddin Manaf, was a four-term Umno State Assemblyman for Jelebu.

So where did his rebellious activist streak come from?

His first demonstration was in 1959, at the age of eight.

“My uncle organised it. The villagers were walking with placards protesting the move by the Datuk Undang (Nobleman) of Jelebu who wanted to change the adat (traditions) so that his son would inherit his title. I followed the group on my bicycle,” he reminisces.

The budding socialist

His excellent Senior Cambridge exam results gained him entry into the elite Malay College Kuala Kangsar (MCKK) where he began reading about radical poetry, Malcolm X and the local magazine Opinion (which featured many Opposition writers).

“It engaged my mind much more than what Lennon was doing with Yoko Ono.”

The most prestigious activity was MCKK’s Literary and Debating Club.

“There were only 12 members. Every Tuesday, we would debate all kinds of topics including the Vietnam War and legalising marijuana.”

He was also subscribing to Mahasiswa Negara (the University of Malaya’s student newspaper) as well as newsletters of the socialist Parti Rakyat and Labour Party. In ideology, he differed from Anwar Ibrahim, another student activist of the 1970s often mistakenly associated with him.

“Anwar was into Islamic-Nationalism. I ascribe to socialism. It’s not a faith. It explains society rationally.”

However, his ideological beliefs were put to the test in MCKK after the racial riots of May 13, 1969.

“Suddenly all the students were talking about Malay consciousness and holding up fists with white gloves, like Black Power or something. The seniors summoned me to their bedrooms. They sat on their beds while I would be sitting on the floor being pressured to take a more Malay position. But I repeatedly refused.”

Datuk Kamaruddin Jaafar, who was Hisham's MCKK classmate and fellow debating club member, remembers: .

“We had many discussions of social issues, and about the disparity between rich and poor. Even then, he had strong views about the country’s future.”

“He was a very passionate public speaker and a fiery debater,” recalls Kamaruddin, who is now PAS secretary-general and MP of Tumpat.

“We loved our country. When we celebrated Merdeka, he asked me to raise the flag in the school padang and we sang the Negaraku together.”

Even before Hisham entered the University of Malaya (UM), he already knew he wanted to join its Kelab Sosialis (Socialist Club). In time, he became Secretary-General of the UM Student Union (UMSU) and editor of Mahasiswa Negara.

Fadzillah Amin, his ex-lecturer, taught him English Literature although Hisham was a history major. She initially felt he was not serious as he dressed very “ruggedly”.

“But when I marked his paper, I was surprised at how well thought it was,” she recalls. “He was my most memorable student. I find him to be funny, brave and principled. You don't get many people like that.”

When she was in London in the early 1990s, they met up.

“ He was wearing a bandanna and my daughter was so impressed, she had never met anyone more interesting.”

The rebel is born

Nineteen seventy-four is considered to be the peak of Malaysian student activism and Hisham played a central role. In September, he hopped onto the back of a newspaper van (to save UMSU’s funds) to help out squatters at Tasik Utara, Johor Baru, who claimed that politicians, after having just won the recent elections, were then reneging on their promises that the people could continue to live there. In trying to save the squatters’ homes from demolishment, Hisham was thrown into jail for “obstructing police officers”.

On Sept 20 and 21, some 2,000 UM students demonstrated, urging the authorities to release Hisham and other student leaders who had been detained at Tasik Utara. The demonstrations were suppressed and UMSU then staged a “peaceful takeover” of the UM administration while continuing protests within campus. The Government responded by suspending the union.

That was not the end of the story though. The price of rubber had fallen to record lows in 1974 and, coupled with drastic inflation, farmers and rubber smallholders were struggling to buy even basic foodstuffs.

In frustration, more than 20,000 peasant-farmers demonstrated at Baling, Kedah, on Dec 1. Two days later, students supported them with a big protest against inflation and corruption at the Selangor Club Padang, Kuala Lumpur. Mass arrests of students only led to further demonstrations before police entered – and silenced – the campus on Dec 9. Many student leaders were arrested.

“I was in a friend’s room and suddenly everybody was shouting,” recalls Hisham. “I grabbed my passport, denim jacket andRM5. I hid out in the secondary jungles around the campus. The next day, there was a thunderstorm, and I slipped out through the jungles of Bangsar before getting a lift on a construction worker’s motorbike.”

What stoked Hisham’s passion for the cause?

“It was a combination of ideology and also the knowledge we had about what was going on. Corruption was rampant and poverty was widespread. In parts of the country like Baling, there was even starvation,” explains Bhaskaran Subramaniam, Hisham's comrade in the Socialist Club.

“Information on this was suppressed by politicians and the media. When we told other students about this, they were shocked and angry. They asked how this could happen in Malaysia,” adds the lecturer and management trainer.

For him, the Tasik Utara demonstrations were a watershed in the country.

“The squatters had tried all the official channels but nothing happened till there were street demonstrations. After this case, the authorities were more careful in demolishing squatter settlements.

On the Socialist Club, Bhaskaran says members had to be secretive about their movements as many left-wing activists had been arrested in the 1960s and 70s.

“It was a very tight group. Nobody declared they were members. Our meetings were held on Saturday afternoons when the whole campus was quiet. We’d just designate a certain faculty to meet and then walk around looking for empty rooms.”

On the lam

On the run and with his “Wanted” poster everywhere, Hisham shaved his beard and lived in squatter areas, constantly changing his name. Eventually, through his activist connections, he ended up in Beirut, right smack during Lebanon’s civil war.

And thus began his 20 years of exile, which took him through more then 30 countries. Lebanon was followed by stints in Jordan, Iraq, Australia and Pakistan – where he helped Iranian exiles out to topple the Shah.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Although most of the time I might not agree with his views on politics, current issues or whatever, I make sure that I never miss to read his articles from his Malaysia-Today or Off The Edge columns. Even if he writes something about belacan for example, there's always something new to expect from him.

NST Sunday Interview with Raja Dr Nazrin Shah

2006-11-26T17:43:00.000+08:00

As an admirer of our Raja Muda of Perak, this piece of interview is the one that I feel I should keep and the best way is to post it here, because as you know, the NST online archives won't last long, unless you subscribe to them.

BRIDGING THE DIVIDE: When unity comes first for Malaysians

He comes with some pretty impressive credentials, a PhD in Political Economy and Government from Harvard University and a Master’s degree in Public Administration, also from Harvard. Raja Dr Nazrin Shah, the Raja Muda of Perak, tells WAN HAMIDI HAMID about civil society and the role of the silent majority.

Q: After almost 50 years as an independent nation, do you think we have achieved progress in terms of race relations?

A: I think to a large extent we have. However, in some aspects, we may not have progressed as much as we ought to. There still appears to be some degree of mistrust in some quarters and less meaningful interaction between the races.
I remember the time when I was in school in the 1960s. I was in St John’s Institution (Kuala Lumpur).

There was a sense of belonging to the school, irrespective of where we came from. During that period too, it was common practice for us to visit each other’s homes and we had a sense of community.
At school, we were doing a lot of things together which, sadly, I do not see the young doing to the same extent today.
So in that sense, I feel that race relations may not have progressed. Some may even say it has regressed. This is unfortunate.

Q: Was there a specific event that caused this change?

A: It is a fact that each of us has multiple identities. For example, I am a Muslim, I am a Malay, I am a Malaysian, I am an Asian and I can go on.
For many Malaysians and for many Muslims around the world, the fact that they are Muslims has been part of their make-up for a long time. It was only after 9/11 that this became the dominant identity.
The traumatic events of May 13 triggered awareness among Malaysians of their ethnic identities.

Before May 13, while I was in school there was an awareness that you were Malay, Chinese or Indian but that was not the predominant factor in our relationships with each other.
But after that incident, our ethnic identity became the primary factor.
I am not saying there was no ethnic consciousness in our struggle for independence, but the leaders of the various ethnic groups were determined to work together. There was an understanding that unity came first.
Post-May 13, the dividing lines of race became clearer, much more than before.

Q: From May 13 until today, what actually went wrong with race relations?

A: We haven’t actually gone wrong. It’s just how the various races have progressed due to the polarisation after May 13, that has brought them to where they are today.
When the NEP (New Economic Policy) was formulated, there was agreement that sacrifices had to be made by all races to achieve national unity. There was a sense of economic imbalance in society, the identification of race with economic function and poverty mainly but not limited to the Malays.
Somewhere along the line, that feeling of give-and-take, gave way to the feeling that progress entailed a zero-sum game. It is very difficult to pinpoint when it happened.
Somewhere along the line, attitudes changed… people’s perception changed.

And bear in mind that Malaysia has progressed tremendously economically over the last 30 years from being primarily an agriculture economy to a manufacturing economy and now a service-based economy.
Can you imagine if the economy had been bad? Things will be worse.
We expected race relations to improve over time because of the growing wealth of the economy. But unfortunately this has not happened. Why? This is something that really needs to be addressed and discussed.

Q: In our quest for physical development, do you think that we have lost our wisdom and common sense in forging true unity?

A: It would appear so, judging by what we hear and read today.
Yes, there has been much physical development over the years, something we can be proud of. I am not sure whether somewhere along the line, we have lost our uniqueness.
In this globalised world, where countries are trying to reach out to one another, we have lost sight of what we already have in this country.

Very few countries have been so blessed with such diversity. Together, the different races have contributed to make this a prosperous country, and the envy of many others. We should exploit this special feature to reach greater heights.
This comes back to the issue of leadership. By leadership, I don’t mean just the prime minister. I’m talking about leadership at all levels of society.
Leaders can either appeal to our lowest, basest instincts or they can inspire us to achieve great things.

Some people feel they can achieve their ends or promote their careers by religious and ethnic posturing. In a globalising world, appeals to parochialism would be harmful to the country.
We need mature and responsible leaders and role models who are serious about bridging the divide of race and religion.

Q: We still talk of racial polarisation in schools and universities. Do you think enough is being done in these institutions to overcome the problem?
A: More needs to be done. Schools need to be inclusive rather than exclusive.
Students should not be made to feel isolated or segregated by race or belief.
Instead, there should be integration and a spirit of belonging.
There should be a more balanced racial composition of school leaders, teachers and students that reflect the national mix.

Q: Do you think the syllabus in schools is adequate or should it be revamped or reformed because it seems race and religion are creeping into the national schools now as opposed to 30 or 40 years ago?

A: The problem is perhaps not so much the syllabus, as the way subjects are taught.
Also the values we pass on to students determine their worldview.
Clearly we need to be more effective in imparting values that respect differences among people and that foster understanding and mutual respect.

Q: There have been Press reports about school principals and teachers who seem to be taking over the schools by not allowing certain students from bringing certain types of food to school or asking young girls to wear tudung. What’s your comment?

A: It is a disturbing development. I have a friend whose child has been told by his teachers not to visit the homes of the non-Malays.
The child is very confused and is wondering why he can’t visit his friends.
There is nothing wrong with visiting or playing with each other. I used to do that when I was a kid.

Q: What does the word "unity" mean to you?

A: Unity to me does not mean we have to impose a strait-jacket of conformity or orthodoxy that everybody must follow. It does not mean we must all be alike, look alike, behave alike, dress alike.
To me that is not the unity that we are aiming for. Unity means having a common focus of loyalty, having shared objectives, sharing certain important values.
This can be achieved within a diverse society.
In embracing our diversity, we can achieve unity.

Q: Do you think a dominant race, religion or ideology is necessary to foster unity?

A: Definitely not. There are enough examples, in this country and in other countries, to disprove this hypothesis.
Take a look at some of our states that have a dominant ethnic group. Even these states have problems of their own.

You can also find instances of many countries where one ethnic group predominates. Yet, there is chaos and political instability.
Which goes to show that, by itself, the existence of a dominant race, religion or ideology does not guarantee unity.

More important are mutual understanding and genuine respect for each other. The recognition that we are all God’s creation and that each deserves to be treated with dignity.
I strongly believe Malaysia is a much richer and interesting country because of the diversity of our population.

Q: Even a dominant religion?

A: Even a dominant religion.
If there is one country that has come into existence through religion, it is Pakistan. One would have thought that a common religion would have been able to bind East and West Pakistan together. But it did not.

Q: Besides the role of the government and politicians, what about the people’s role in getting to know each other better? Do you think we Malaysians are working hard to achieve unity?

A: As I said earlier, if we are going to achieve unity, there must be meaningful interaction among the ethnic groups at all levels of society.
These everyday forms of engagement can take many forms: playing together on the sports field, visiting each other’s homes, celebrating festivals together and the like.
There is another form of engagement which we call associational. These are interactions which are more formalised, such as clubs and societies.

With engagement comes understanding, and with understanding comes acceptance and respect.
Studies have shown that where such networks of engagement exist, tensions and conflicts, when they do arise, can be better managed and resolved.

These engagements must start from young. That is why I believe it is at the primary school level, the pre-school level, that these values must be inculcated.

Q: What about the adults, with their pre-conceived ideas?

A: I think people are looking for role models in society. What kind of role models do we have today?
And do we have as role models people of stature, people we can look up to and respect? Adults have the responsibility to set a good example for the young.

Q: Do you believe Malaysians actually understand each other’s cultures and beliefs, or are we merely confining ourselves within our own myth and misconception about our neighbours who are of different ethnicity and religion?

A: I have great faith that the majority understands and respects each other’s cultures and beliefs. There is no teacher like direct personal experience.
If I play football with people of different ethnic groups, if I go to school with people of different religious backgrounds, I will come to understand more about them, their culture, their beliefs.
Many of them might even become my closest friends.

To me that is the biggest antidote to prejudice and bigotry.
There must be greater space for people to engage each other on a regular basis.
We should encourage more societies and organisations which are multi-ethnic. People will then get the chance to interact with each other and really find out what the other person is like.

Q: In looking for role models, people actually look up to religious leaders. But there are religious leaders who say things that would not contribute to unity and even say the wrong things about other religions…

A: Role models are not limited to religious leaders. Parents and teachers are the primary role models for the young.
However, it is not right for religious leaders to presume or assume that because somebody is different, he or she is a threat. That is not the case.
Rather than focusing on differences, I would suggest that we highlight those areas where we share common aspirations and values. Those commonalities that bind us together as human beings.

And where there are differences, we should have the humility, generosity of spirit and intellectual curiosity to want to learn more about and understand these differences.
All religious leaders carry a heavy burden. As a Muslim, I would like Muslim leaders to show the beauty of Islam, how it respects other religions and people.

Q: When you mentioned about having more space and more associations, are you also referring to a body, similar to that of the Malaysian Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) for race and religious issues?

A: Basically, what I am advocating is for greater space for civil society to flourish.
The opportunity for that to happen must come from the political leadership, but the initiative and drive must come from below.

I think there are enough sensible and good-natured people out there who want to do this. The silent majority. We must not allow a small minority to hijack the national agenda.

Q: It is said that it is a sad thing nowadays that leaders have to persuade the people to unite. What are your comments on that?

A: In the early days, our shared vision was to achieve Merdeka. To achieve Merdeka, the different races recognised that no single race could do it on its own. They needed each other.
The mood of unity was also accepted by the nine rulers which enabled a nation to be born.
The nine rulers came to a consensus to elect one among them to be the Yang diPertuan Agong on a rotation basis. A formula that has contributed to our success.

I think there must be recognition today that in order to achieve Vision 2020, we need each other. Neither a single ethnic group nor a single institution can achieve this Vision on its own.

Q: The bulk of the responsibility lies with those people aged between 15 and 35 now. Do you have faith in the young?

A: I have great faith in the young. In their idealism and their desire to make a difference. It is essential that this youthful idealism be carefully nurtured so that it does not turn into cynicism and opportunism.

In this regard, the importance of the right role models cannot be overemphasised.
At this impressionable age, if you point them in the wrong direction, they will go wrong.

Q: How open-minded are the Malays now compared to when you were in school?

A: How to answer this question… Well, first of all we should not only look at Malays but all ethnic groups. Chauvinism is not only confined to the Malays.
I grew up with my grandparents in Penang.
When I was very young, a lot of my friends were from different races and I could even converse with them in Hokkien.

That early exposure to somebody from a different background helped me a lot.
Now, you can sit in the same bus-stop; you can have the Malays here, the Chinese there but there does not appear to any meaningful interaction.

Q: It's nice to have vision but what do we do now?

A: It is time for action. Education is crucial. The inculcation of the right values is essential in molding the mindset of the next generation.
Society itself should bear greater responsibility in developing more opportunities.
Cross-cultural interaction should play a vital part in the formative years of one’s informal education. This can be achieved by having more associations which are multi-ethnic rather than mono-ethnic.

Q: What about things said by some people such as don’t celebrate other people’s festivities.

A: On the contrary, I would say… go forth and celebrate each other’s festivities. The fact that we are so rich in our cultural diversity makes Malaysia truly unique.
If we are not able and not allowed to join together and celebrate each other’s festivities, we will not only lose our uniqueness, we lose our heritage.

Q: Also some Muslim groups are demanding the religious authorities go after a certain type of biscuits that feature something that looked like a cross…

A: I am very sad that people can be so petty. These are unnecessary distractions when there are more pressing matters that deserve our attention.

Q: Do you think this is the view of the minority or slowly becoming the mainstream view among the Malays?

A: I believe the majority are sensible and level-headed. The silent majority should make their voices heard.
At the end of the day, Malays, Chinese and Indians are interested in improving their standard of living and providing a better future for their children. They will not be the victims of someone else’s prejudices.

Q: Do you think the prime minister is trying hard enough to foster unity?

A: I think he is very sincere. He himself is a good role model. During the fasting month, I noticed that after performing the terawih prayers, he made time to attend the Deepavali celebrations.
Likewise, the Indian community showed their understanding by extending their open house celebrations till late evening to accommodate the Muslims.

In his inaugural address as prime minister, he emphasised the importance of fostering national unity, which he re-emphasised at the recent Umno general assembly.
His winding-up speech was most assuring to many Malaysians. Obviously he is trying hard, and he needs the support of all Malaysians.

That being so, I believe it is time for us to move away from excessive adulation of individuals, and focus more on institutions and institution-building, whether universities, the judiciary, civil service, etc.
Institutions provide stability and are more long-lasting.

Other related articles:
Nilai Melayu Secara Adil - Raja Dr. Nazrin

Mahathir Mohamad Talkasia Transcript

2006-11-25T18:35:00.000+08:00

AR: Anjali Rao
MM: Dr. Mahathir bin Mohamad

Hello, I am Anjali Rao in Putrajaya, Malaysia. This is Talk Asia!

My guest today is the former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad.

Dr. Mahathir ruled his country for 22 years, taking it on as a tropical backwater and transforming it into one of Asia's most industrialized nations.

Known for his outspoken ways, Dr. Mahathir has been scathing about the successor he hand-picked, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

By his own admission, Dr. Mahathir has a big mouth and he is not afraid to use it.

Block A

Dr. Mahathir welcome to the show. Let's first address the question that everybody has been asking recently. What on Earth is going on with you and the current Prime Minister?

MM Obviously we have differences, perceptions of things and all that differ, and there are some instances where I feel very strongly that he has let down Malaysia. So, I was forced to make some criticism.

AR In what way do you think that he has let down Malaysia?

MM I finally try to stop myself from getting involved, but over this bridge issue, he had said something that was not the true.

AR The bridge from Malaysia to Singapore?

MM In a way, it struck our sovereignty. We have the right to do the bridge on our side and there is no question of asking Singapore whether we should build or we shouldn't build a bridge. But he has apparently made the decision that even a bridge built on our side must have the approval of Singapore. This is our country, we are an independent, sovereign nation. There is no question of asking other people whether we can do something in our country.

AR He has told us that he felt that his decision was made with best interests of the country at heart. That must have been his decision to make though. Wouldn't you agree?

MM Yes, his decisions! But I disagree with him as to that being the best in the interests of Malaysia. We need to have this bridge which allows the water to go through. But the most important thing is that there is a huge traffic jam, because we have the CIQ in the wrong place at the end of the causeway is almost at the center at the heart of town of Johor Baru, and there is always a congestion there.

AR In the run up though, to Prime Minister Abdullah's appointment, one of the things that you were saying is that you are both two very different people and that you have two different approaches to taking the country forward. Is it really fair now to hold those differences against him?

MM Well, I made a promise not to interfere. But I did not think that he would do things which are in my view detrimental to the interests of the country. At that stage I thought I must come out and, well, be critical.

AR Yes, that is one of the things that I just going to quote back to you. Because last time that Talk Asia spoke you in 2002, I asked Whether you take on a behind the scene political role as Singapore founder father Lee Kuan has? And you said: No. I just don't think I should be interfering with things. Isn't this what you are doing now? The dictionary definition of interfering?

MM It is. I admit I am interfering now, because the atmosphere has changed completely. We now have a country where nobody is allowed to criticize the government and above all, not criticize the prime minister.

AR But criticism against the government was severely restricted when you were in power.

MM No. No. I disagree with your view. Certainly CNN has been a critical of me and I have allowed CNN to be seen by everybody. We have the Herald Tribune printed here, we have the Wall Street Journal, Asian Wall Street printed here. They have been critical. If you care to read the local papers in Malaysia you will find that they are always critical of the government.

AR Let me bring you back to the dispute at hand. Even your ruling party UMNO has asked you to pipe down a bit about your criticisms of Prime Minister Abdullah. Why is it so important to you to keep going with that opposition against him? Because there are now suggestions that UMNO itself could end up being deeply divided between those on your side and those on Prime Minister's side.

MM Well, this is not something new. It has happened in UMNO many times. In fact in 1986 the Prime Minister himself was on the side of a group which tried to challenge me, actually challenged me and there was contest for the leadership of the party and I managed to win. He lost. He and his friends lost. So, this has not ended up with UMNO being broken up completely.

AR Do you think that shows, then, that by your criticisms of him, it's actually reflecting more on you having a negative impact on yourself, rather than reflecting on him?

MM I think you will find out that it has a negative effect on him also. It is not always on me. I know what I am talking about.

AR When we spoke to Prime Minister Abdullah about exactly this, he said that, you know, politically speaking, the way that you speak out against him doesn't affect the way he runs the country or conducts his business affairs, but on a personal level, he still sees you as friend. (Mahathir smiles) How do you respond to that? Do you still see him as a friend?

MM Yes. This is not a personal quarrel between him and me. This is about issues. You see? We can be friends, but on issues we can differ. And I am going to differ, but what I don't like is his attempts to muzzle me. I never muzzled him. I allowed him to speak. I allowed everybody to speak during my time. But here, he doesn't allow me to meet any UMNO people, he doesn't allow me to meet even academies, he doesn't allow me to meet civil servants. Invitations issued to me to go and speak have been cancelled.

AR This isn't though the first time you've had a dispute like this on such a higher level. You fired your deputy Anwar Ibrahim, who then served six years in jail. Yet he had once been your chosen successor for Prime Minister, as Mr. Abdullah then ended up being. How do you account for that? Because of the common threat in both of these is you.

MM In the case of Anwar, he looked to me like a good candidate and everything went well until we discovered certain moral deficiencies on his part, which to me does not qualify him to become a Prime Minister.

AR You believe that he was gay.

MM Yeah, well I believe that he has done something that is wrong. Now he is suing me of course about that. But, what happened is I didn't catch him by the scuff of his neck and throw him in jail. I expelled him from the government, which is my right. I expelled him from government, then the police then took action, proper action. He was charged in court and tried for nine months. He had nine lawyers defending him and he was found guilty, and he was sentenced. So that means that here in this country even if you are the highest official, you are not above the law.

AR So the only way you would support him is in the case he was compliant?

MM In the case of Anwar, he was tried. I didn't catch him by the neck and throw him into jail.

AR No, but you sacked him.

MM I sacked him, but that is my right. That is my right!

AR Dr. Mahathir, stay with us. We'll pick this up in a few minutes. Still to come on the program, we'll broach an always testy topic, religion. And we will find out whether Dr. Mahathir's stance has softened at all on the world's Jews. Stay tuned.

Block B:

AR Welcome back to Talk Asia, with my guest Dr. Mahathir Mohamed. Dr, it was in 2003 that you made those comments about Jews which are still being discussed today. Is this still the way you feel?

MM Yes. I still feel that way. Because I can't understand this. You cannot say anything against the Jews but they can say anything they like about Muslims, about other people. You know, we have been called terrorists and things like that, that is alright to everybody. But if you go to 4 countries in Europe and you say well actually it was not 6 million Jews who died in the holocaust but is was 5million,9 hundred and 99 thousand you are going to be thrown into jail!

AR Still though, when you make comments like that about Jews, as a Muslim yourself, are you not just helping to foster the deep animosity that already exist between Islam and the Jewish community?

MM Well they should stop saying things and they should stop killing Muslims. They have no right to invade Lebanon and destroy everything.

AR But we remember how all that started, of course, with Hezbollah going across the border and abducting two Jewish soldiers.

MM Before that, the Jews had already captured so many of these Lebanese in southern Lebanon. Why was that not reported? Why did not Hezbollah invade Israel to bring back some thousands of their people who have been captured by the Jews?

AR Is that what you would advocate?

MM Well I would not advocate that simply because Hezbollah is not capable of doing that. But the Jews make use of their military power to destroy everything, because two of their people have been captured. When thousands of Lebanese were captured, nothing happened.

AR Does that ever concern you that by being so vocal about those views you are creating an image of the whole country of Malaysia, which is known for being an accepting multi-faith society taking that image and turning it on its head?

MM No. I don't think so. We here are very rational. We live in a multi-racial, multi-religious country and we have no problem, because we don't have people who go around killing people, taking other people's land and when people try to get back their land you do all kinds of things to them. It doesn't happen in this country.

AR President George W. Bush issued a rather stern rebuke over those comments you made about the Jews. He has been trying to prove to the Muslim world for the past five years -- since the war on terror started -- that it is not a campaign of The West vs. Islams. How do you think that he is doing on that score?

MM I think it's a campaign of the West against the Muslims, as far as Bush is concerned. The first thing that came out of him: "we should have a crusade." You see, but of course, later on he amended that. But at heart, that is what he has in mind. And you know what disaster he has caused?

AR Still though, Malaysia is cooperating of course in the War on Terror, which was initiated whilst you were in office. How much of a challenge is it for a Muslim country, albeit moderate, to be seen as a close ally of Washington yet making sure not to tread on any religious Islamic sensitivities back home?

MM We are against terrorism and it so happens that the US is also against terrorism, but we don't agree with the way the US goes about fighting against terrorism. But we will continue our fight against terrorism, where we are convinced that these are terrorists. We don't go around killing Muslims just because they are Muslims, therefore they are terrorists. We don't arrest them and exam their shoes or whatever.

AR Something which really did strike at the heart of Islamic sensitivities recently were those comments given by Pope Benedict. His address to an academic gathering. What he did, was that he came out with an ancient quote referring to Islam as evil and inhuman. What are your takes on those comments and the reaction of the Islamic world, given that the Pope had argued that these were not representative of his own views?

MM No. When you quote somebody, it's because you want to bolster your own arguments. So, he believes in what he quotes. He believes the Islam was spread by the sword. You know, the Catholics were very intolerant in the past they used to massacre Jews, they had the Inquisition. For 800 years, Spain was under Muslim rule. There were Christians, there were Jews living there, but when the re-conquest was completed by Ferdinand and Isabella, they were given three choices: either leave Spain, or convert to Christianity, or be put to death.

AR No one doubts that Christianity has an extremely bloody history, as do most religions, but the Pope may well have been looking at situation today, where when we see major attacks, such as 9/11. We see them being perpetrated by extremist Islamists.

MM No. It is not just them. They are defending themselves. That is the only way they can defend themselves.

AR How was September 11 defending oneself?

MM Well if they have fighter planes and all that, they would launch a conventional war. But this is the only thing that they can do. I don't agree with doing that, but when you push people to a corner they will do extraordinary things.

AR Stay with us Dr. Mahathir. We are going to take a short break at this point. Though in a moment, we will discuss Dr. Mahathir's hopes for his nation, plus we'll get personal with the man many here still see as Malaysia's most fearsome political persona

BLOCK C:

AR You are with Talk Asia. Our guest today is Dr. Mahathir Mohamed, the former Premier of Malaysia. Dr. during you time as premier one of yours most forward thinking projects was Vision 2020, in which you said you wanted to turn Malaysia into a 1st world, fully developed country by the year 2020. The current Prime Minister says it is on track. What are you thoughts?

MM Well I don't think we are going to achieve it with the rate of growth that we are seeing today. Everything has been slowed down, ostensibly because we have no money. But I don't believe we have no money. We have plenty of money!

AR What would their reasoning be for saying that, if you don't believe it?

MM They say that I've finished all the money when I was running this country. I spent so much money on mega-projects so that, when I left there was no money. That is why they couldn't continue with double tracking, they couldn't continue with the bridge, they couldn't continue with a whole lot of things.

AR You had such a great hand in turning Malaysia what it is today. How hard is it after 22 years at top to seat back and let somebody else take the reigns?

MM It is not hard if the person who takes the reigns were to do things that are beneficial for the growth of the country. But what is being done is actually to stifle growth. There is a lot of corruption in this country now, which is something I feel needs to be highlighted.

AR But the government under your rule was also accused of wide spread corruption.

MM Corruption, there was, but no to this degree. I mean, leaders, people like me are not corrupted. You may not believe it of course, but that doesn't matter. But today we see the family of the Prime Minister being involved in business, getting contracts and things like that. And, even in a small bi-election money was used. And even a case of my trying to become just a delegate in the convention, money was spent to make sure that I wouldn't be elected in my own division, which I headed for 22 years.

AR So, away from Dr. Mahathir the politician is Dr. Mahathir the man, who has 7 kids. When you were a Prime Minister did you feel that you were able to devote enough time to them?

MM No I didn't. I am not bothered by my family or about having to be close to them or anything or like that. They knew I have a job to do and they put up with it.

AR But having a father and a husband at home would obviously make for a better more tight knit and functional family, wouldn't it?

MM They were away studying most of the time. They were not at home. And when they come back home having completed their studies, they were doing business, they got married and they stayed away, they have their own family. I have 16 grandchildren.

AR You have time on your hand these days because you're retired. What do you do with it?

MM Well, actually I am very busy now because I come to office everyday almost as if I were not retired. I spend a lot of time meeting people who want to call on me and want to see me for advice or whatever. And then I have to spend my time writing. I am trying to write my memoirs and not doing well at all. And then I have to write speeches I get invited to many countries to give talks on various subjects, so I am very busy.

AR What are the difficulties of writing your memoirs?

MM Well, it has been a long time and I am trying to do research to make sure I get all the dates right and that kind of thing takes a long time.

AR You are very famous figure around the world. What is it that you want people to know about you through these memoirs that you don't think we already do?

MM Some people told me that they would be interested to find out how is it that Malaysia, which was an agricultural country could be converted in an industrialized country. How does a third world country manage to prosper? These are the questions I get asked. Then of course, Malaysia is a multi racial, multi-religious country. How do we manage them? Lots of questions about Malaysia and whenever I go abroad people ask me about these questions and ask me about leadership and things like that. So I talk on these subjects.

AR We wish you the very best of luck on all these memoirs and thank you very much indeed for speaking to us today. (You're welcome) And that is it for this edition of Talk Asia. My guest for today as Malaysia former Prime Minister Dr. Mahathir Mohamed. I'm Anjiali Rao, see you next week.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/asiapcf/11/23/talkasia.mohamad.script/index.html

Pawang mahu santau Bush

2006-11-19T23:52:00.000+08:00

Ki Gendeng jadi buah mulut apabila bersumpah akan sihir Presiden AS

BOGOR: Jika ada orang yang dikatakan dapat meraih keuntungan dari lawatan Presiden Amerika Syarikat George W. Bush ke kota ini esok, beliau ialah Pawang Ki Gendeng Pamungkas.

Tindakan dukun ini paling menarik dari kalangan banyak pihak termasuk sejumlah besar pertubuhan bukan kerajaan yang mengadakan bantahan di seluruh negara sejak dua minggu lalu membantah lawatan Bush ke Indonesia selama 10-jam.

Ki Gendeng menjadi buah mulut penduduk kota ini selepas beliau bersumpah dan menyatakan akan mengenakan santau ke atas Bush di Medan Kujang.

Perbuatannya itu mendapat liputan utama akhbar tempatan yang menyertakan gambar beliau sedang melakukan jampi serapah.

Dukun itu yang mendakwa menggunakan gabungan darah kambing, ular dan gagak berkata beliau melakukan sumpahan itu bukan kerana beliau tidak sukakan rakyat Amerika tetapi bencikan Bush.

Mengulas secara on-line tindakan Ki Gendeng, ramai orang berpendapat ia tidak lebih daripada satu pertunjukan menghiburkan sementara yang lain berkata ia menjatuhkan imej negara.

Seorang daripada mereka secara berjenaka berkata, jika sumpahan itu terbukti mendatangkan kesan ke atas Bush dan rombongannya, yang dikata akan kerasukan ketika memasuki Istana Bogor untuk mengadakan pertemuan dengan Presiden Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, maka Ki Gendeng akan ketawa besar menuju ke bank.

Beliau akan jadi rebutan di seantero dunia dan akan diambil bertugas oleh CIA (Agensi Perisikan Pusat) AS atau Arab untuk menghapuskan musuh masing-masing.
Tetapi jika beliau gagal, Indonesia akan jadi bahan ketawa dunia, kata seorang pengulas.

Sementara itu, bantahan anti-Amerika semakin memuncak semalam menjelang lawatan Bush ke negara yang mempunyai penduduk Islam paling ramai di
dunia itu. – Bernama/AP

Jom tunggu sampai esok. Jadi apa-apa tak pada Bush. heheh

While Malaysia fiddles, its opportunities are running dry

2006-11-15T21:01:00.000+08:00

by Michael Backman

MALAYSIA'S been at it again, arguing about what proportion of the economy each of its two main races — the Malays and the Chinese — owns. It's an argument that's been running for 40 years. That wealth and race are not synonymous is important for national cohesion, but really it's time Malaysia grew up.

It's a tough world out there and there can be little sympathy for a country that prefers to argue about how to divide wealth rather than get on with the job of creating it.

The long-held aim is for 30 per cent of corporate equity to be in Malay hands, but the figure that the Government uses to justify handing over huge swathes of public companies to Malays but not to other races is absurd. It bases its figure on equity valued, not at market value, but at par value.

Many shares have a par value of say $1 but a market value of $12. And so the Government figure (18.9 per cent is the most recent figure) is a gross underestimate. Last month a paper by a researcher at a local think-tank came up with a figure of 45 per cent based on actual stock prices. All hell broke loose. The paper was withdrawn and the researcher resigned in protest. Part of the problem is that he is Chinese.

"Malaysia boleh!" is Malaysia's national catch cry. It translates to "Malaysia can!" and Malaysia certainly can. Few countries are as good at wasting money. It is richly endowed with natural resources and the national obsession seems to be to extract these, sell them off and then collectively spray the proceeds up against the wall.

This all happens in the context of Malaysia's grossly inflated sense of its place in the world.
Most Malaysians are convinced that the eyes of the world are on their country and that their leaders are world figures. This is thanks to Malaysia's tame media and the bravado of former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad. The truth is, few people on the streets of London or New York could point to Malaysia on a map much less name its prime minister or capital city.

As if to make this point, a recent episode of The Simpsons features a newsreader trying to announce that a tidal wave had hit some place called Kuala Lumpur. He couldn't pronounce the city's name and so made up one, as if no-one cared anyway. But the joke was on the script writers — Kuala Lumpur is inland.

Petronas, the national oil company is well run, particularly when compared to the disaster that passes for a national oil company in neighbouring Indonesia. But in some respects, this is Malaysia's problem. The very success of Petronas means that it is used to underwrite all manner of excess.

The KLCC development in central Kuala Lumpur is an example. It includes the Twin Towers, the tallest buildings in the world when they were built, which was their point.
It certainly wasn't that there was an office shortage in Kuala Lumpur — there wasn't.
Malaysians are very proud of these towers. Goodness knows why. They had little to do with them. The money for them came out of the ground and the engineering was contracted out to South Korean companies.

They don't even run the shopping centre that's beneath them. That's handled by Australia's Westfield.

Next year, a Malaysian astronaut will go into space aboard a Russian rocket — the first Malay in space. And the cost? $RM95 million ($A34.3 million), to be footed by Malaysian taxpayers. The Science and Technology Minister has said that a moon landing in 2020 is the next target, aboard a US flight. There's no indication of what the Americans will charge for this, assuming there's even a chance that they will consider it. But what is Malaysia getting by using the space programs of others as a taxi service? There are no obvious technical benefits, but no doubt Malaysians will be told once again, that they are "boleh". The trouble is, they're not. It's not their space program.

Back in July, the Government announced that it would spend $RM490 million on a sports complex near the London Olympics site so that Malaysian athletes can train there and "get used to cold weather".

But the summer Olympics are held in the summer.

So what is the complex's real purpose? The dozens of goodwill missions by ministers and bureaucrats to London to check on the centre's construction and then on the athletes while they train might provide a clue.

Bank bale outs, a formula one racing track, an entire new capital city — Petronas has paid for them all. It's been an orgy of nonsense that Malaysia can ill afford.

Why? Because Malaysia's oil will run out in about 19 years. As it is, Malaysia will become a net oil importer in 2011 — that's just five years away.

So it's in this context that the latest debate about race and wealth is so sad.

It is time to move on, time to prepare the economy for life after oil. But, like Nero fiddling while Rome burned, the Malaysian Government is more interested in stunts like sending a Malaysian into space when Malaysia's inadequate schools could have done with the cash, and arguing about wealth distribution using transparently ridiculous statistics.

That's not Malaysia "boleh", that's Malaysia "bodoh" (stupid).

http://www.theage.com.au/news/business/while-malaysia-fiddles-its-opportunities-are-running-dry/2006/11/14/1163266550487.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1

Penang's second bridge

2006-11-13T13:25:00.000+08:00

..Penang bridge model (source: Agendadaily.com)

As a Malaysian, looking at the new bridge design model, I can say that I'm quite impress with it. It also has a pelantar pemandangan at the middle of the bridge. Cool eh?

Quoting a news report from Agendadaily;

"..empat tahun dari sekarang jika tiada yang tergendala dan semua berjalan lancar orang ramai akan mula dapat menyeberang dari Batu Kawan di Seberang Perai ke Batu Maung di bahagian pulau Pulau Pinang diatas jambatan sepanjang 24 kilomiter yang lengkap dengan pelantar pemandangan.."

Dam - Meen Erhabe

2006-11-10T22:14:00.000+08:00

Check out this cool music video, 'Meen Erhabe' (Who's the terrorist?) by Palestinian rapper, DAM (Eternity).

The clip begins with a speech by former US Attorney General, Ramsey Clark saying;

"We've had 50 years of assault on Palestinian Rights. I think they are the most terrorized.. at least with the Iraqi people..
They're the most terrorized people on earth.. and have been for so many years
Practically every Palestinian lives in.. constant harrasment, threat of violence, humiliation
It's been that wat for a long long time.. "

you can download the videoclip here. (8.2mb)

Here's part of the English translated lyrics

Who's the terrorist?
I'm the terrorist?!
How am I the terrorist when you've taken my land?

Who's the terrorist?
You're the terrorist!
You've taken everything I own while I'm living in my homeland
You're killing us like you've killed our ancestors

You want me to go to the law?
What for?
You're the witness - the lawyer and the judge!
If you're my judge
I'll be sentenced to death
You want us to be the minority?
to end up this majority in the cemetery?
in your dreams!

You're a Democracy?
Actually it's more like the Nazis!
Your countless raping of the Arabs soul
Finally impregnated it
Gave birth to your child
His name: Suicide Bomber
And then you call him the terrorist?
You attack me but still you cry out

When I remind you it was you who attacked me
You silence me and shout:
"But you let small children throw stones!"
"Don't they have parents to keep them at home?"

WHAT?

You must have forgotten you buried out parents under the rubble of our homes.

And now while my agony is so immense
You call me the terrorist?!
Who's the terrorist?
I'm the terrorist?!
How am I the terrorist
when you've taken my land? ...

Other related song: Outlandish - Look Into My Eyes

Sultan of Johor, Quote of the Week, SJER etc

2006-11-05T15:48:00.000+08:00

"Robohkan juga Tambak Johor... Datuk nenek aku (beta) dah kena tipu dengan Mat Salleh...
"Tu causeway tu bukakan, baru negeri Johor ini maju..." - Sultan Iskandar

Buat pertama kali aku mendengar sesuatu yang 'ada isi' daripada Sultan Johor ni. Petikan tersebut daripada ucapan Sultan Johor sewaktu pelancaran pembangunan South Johor Economic Region (SJER). Teringin nak dengar apa komen Pak Lah bila mendengarkan titah baginda Sultan macam tu.

Laporan di bawah pula petikan daripada AFP.

Speaking at the launch of ambitious plans to turn Johor into a thriving economic hub, the state's Sultan Iskandar al-Marhum said the 83-year-old causeway to neighbouring Singapore was undermining the state's economy and was a vestige of colonialism.
"The colonialists built it to develop Keppel Harbour in Singapore," Sultan Iskandar, 74, said in remarks broadcast live on television. "Many people think foreigners are great but I think they are dirty," he added.
"If the causeway is removed, then the economy will develop," he told a crowd of some 2,000 onlookers, who cheeered and clapped at his suggestion.
The causeway was completed in 1923 in pre-independence Malaysia and Singapore, then both under British colonial rule. Carrying piped water from Malaysia to Singapore, it also serves as a road, rail and pedestrian link from the state capital Johor Baru to the town of Woodlands in northern Singapore, and sees daily heavy traffic.
The causeway has been at the centre of a bitter dispute between Malaysia and Singapore, with Malaysia calling for its replacement with a new bridge until dropping those plans in April this year.
Malaysians complain the height of the causeway limits shipping traffic to Malaysian ports and argue a new bridge would allow ships easier access.
"Let ships go through," said Sultan Iskandar, who was flanked by
Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi at the launch.

Tengok pula berita daripada Channel News Asia;

Singapore stands to gain from Malaysia's South Johor Economic Region
Singapore's Changi Airport and sea ports will eventually be the major gateways for the movement of goods and passengers from Malaysia's South Johor Economic Region (SJER).

The SJER is a project by Malaysia to turn its southern Johor state into a prosperous metropolis similar to Hong Kong or Shenzhen.

When completed in 2025, the SJER will be 2.5 times the size of Singapore and it is set to become Malaysia's second metropolis after the capital Kuala Lumpur.

Malaysia plans to turn the SJER into not just a logistical hub but also a centre for medical, educational as well as financial services.

Singapore stands to gain from this development.

Johor's Economic Planning Unit says Singapore's ports and Changi Airport will be the major outlets for SJER exports.

Singapore also stands to gain in another way.

Under the SJER, two zones in Johor Bahru and the Second Link will be known as Free Access Zones where Singaporeans can enter Malaysia without using their passports or going through the immigration.

This proposal, which is meant to attract tourists and foreign workers to the area, is in its preliminary stages.

And for the economic region to develop and grow, the Sultan of Johor has suggested demolishing the Causeway linking Johor and Singapore.

He said that without the Causeway, the Johor economy would prosper.

Responding to the call to demolish the 82-year-old Causeway, Singapore's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it found the Sultan's remark curious.

Memang sudah jelas dapat dilihat pengaruh dan campur tangan Singapura dalam pentadbiran dan pembangunan negara. Daripada laporan CNA di atas, belum apa-apa lagi telah diberitakan Singapura telah mendapat keuntungan apabila Lapangan Terbang Changi dan pelabuhan Singapura akan menjadi hub masuk utama kepada pembangunan SJER. Apa ni. Pelik. Kita membangunkan negara tapi jiran sebelah yang mendapat lebih untung?

Mungkin sebab inilah agaknya MAS menghentikan operasi penerbangannya di Lapangan Terbang Antarabangsa Senai, dengan alasan tidak menguntungkan, kononnya. Sebab nak beri laluan kepada Changi?? (!)

Di zaman Dr. Mahathir beliau berjaya membangunkan Pelabuhan Tanjung Pelepas (PTP) sehinggakan berjaya memikat syarikat-syarikat gergasi dunia seperti Maersk untung berlabuh di PTP, tetapi di zaman Pak Lah, Airport Senai dah sunyi, apa pula agaknya jadi kepada PTP bila mana awal-awal lagi telah dikhabarkan pelabuhan dan lapangan terbang Singapura yang akan diutamakan.

Kemudian, berita seterusnya daripada Bernama;

Khazanah Tells Johoreans To Be Open Minded When Dealing With Singapore
JOHOR BAHARU, Nov 4 (Bernama) -- Khazanah Nasional today called on Johoreans to stop being narrowed minded when dealing with Singapore whose Changi Airport and sea ports will eventually be the major gateways for the movement of goods and passengers from the South Johor Economic Region (SJER).

Khazanah Nasional suruh agar rakyat Johor lebih terbuka dengan Singapura? Atau dengan kata lainnya, supaya kita lebih memberi, bertolak ansur dengan Singapura? Open minded? Jangankan sampai kepala kita dipijaknya pun dikatakan open minded! Soalnya, sejak bila Singapura pernah bertolak ansur dengan kita?

Asyik asyik kita saja yang 'bagi muka' kat depa nih. Asyik asyik kita saja yang bercakap pasal prosper thy neighbour lah, memakmurkan jiranlah kononnya, sikit-sikit terdengar komen daripada pemimpin negara mengatakan, oh, hubungan Malaysia-Singapura sudah bertambah baik, tapi kerajaan Singapura peduli apa pasal kita?! Kita je lebih-lebih. Agaknya kita ni memang suka menyusukan kera di hutan batu seberang tambak tu.

artikel menarik tentang isu SJER ni (BeritaKMU); Johor giving up sovereignity to Singapore?

Sayangnya kita mendapat pemimpin pelapis yang tak memahami, tak dapat membawa visi dan wawasan jauh pemimpin terdahulu. Seperti kata Dr Mahathir dalam interview beliau dengan majalah Time,

"Planning means looking ahead. When I do things, I think very far ahead, not 10 years, 20 years, [but] 100 years ahead."

Aku dah bosan dengan semua ni sebenarnya. Kalau boleh nak tulis pasal benda yang tak pening kepala otak sangat lepas ni.

Oh, sebelum terlupa, Selamat Pengantin Baru buat kakakku dan suami (Akmal). Semoga berbahagia ke akhir hayat. Amin.

Salam Eid ul-Fitr II

2006-10-25T16:31:00.000+08:00

Pagi 30 Ramadhan 1427H.

KL dah lengang

Salam Eid ul-Fitr

2006-10-23T16:09:00.000+08:00

Selamat menyambut kedatangan 1 Syawal.
Selamat Hari Raya.
Maaf Zahir dan Batin.

Yasmin Ahmad and 'mise en scene'

2006-10-14T21:34:00.000+08:00

Yasmin Ahmad's column in the NST today interests me, mainly because of one word; 'mise en scene'. My former Media Production lecturer, Mr Mustafa's name would always pop up to mind each time we came upon the word. He was the first to introduce us to the word 'mise en scene' and taught us the theoritical meaning of it and always speak highly of the need to have mise en scene in video production. The basic meaning of it that i've been told is that it's the 'continuity' or the 'flow' in film scenes. These are one of the most important aspect in film. But I like what Yasmin wrote in her column;

In an American interview, an academician who described a battle scene in Ran as perfect in a film aesthetic sense, complimented the late Akira Kurosawa. He asked Kurosawa how he achieved such a perfect shot. Kurosawa replied that he had no choice; if he had turned the camera a little to the left, you would have seen a supermarket, and if he had shifted it to the right, you would have seen a parking lot.

Only theorists and academicians ever write about such things at great length. Pick up any book by film masters who have actually made good films (Sidney Lumet, Alfred Hitchcock, David Mamet, John Cassavettes, Francois Truffaut, Satyajit Ray, Lars von Trier, et al), and you’ll find they mostly talk about their feelings about humanity anyway.

I, for one, know I’m so dense that I don’t usually bother to interpret anything in a film. I just look for aspects of humanity that may mirror me in some way.
In short, I just sit back and try to watch a film like a child would. I don’t care how many subtexts or semiotics or foreshadowing the film-maker pumped into his shot.

I guesss it's the same thing with politics. You can say that you're more open, democratic, autocratic, political reform, or what sort of political or philosophy terms or styles that you follow but at the end of the day, the output, the progress that you've shown or the results of your leadership is what matters most to the rakyat.

Anyway terms are just that, descriptive terms, nothing much. On a different note, I don't give a damn whether a movie is defined as 'popular', 'indie', 'artsy' or whatever, as long as the movie is good, then I'll watch it. To me, there's only two way distinction of it; good and bad film, regardless of what genre the movie is. I don't mind watching a popular or mainstream film, as long as the film is good. Look at 'Ada Apa Dengan Cinta'. I like it not just because it was a popular movie or it was a teenage romance film (though i can't deny the Dian Sastro factor) but because the storyline is good and it was simply a good film. Well, if it's not that good, I wouldn't have watch it more than ten times. ha ha. Look at the impact that AADC has created in Indonesia. Dozens of sinetron remaja keeps on being produced year in year out because of the wave of AADC. And because of that, more Indonesian films are being shown in our cinemas. Compare that to our local film industry. We are still struggling even to find our own national identity of whether to call it a Malaysian film or Malay film. Is it so important to us whether it's a Malaysian or Malay film?

On another note, right now there's only two local films that I'm waiting for before year end; Red Kebaya and Cicakman. These two people are basically the only reason I want to watch these movies. Vanida Imran (Red Kebaya actress) and Yusry (Cicakman director). I have high respect for Yusry as a director, having seen much of KRU's music videos directed by him, i can say he's one of the talented that we have in our industry. I used to think of him as a better director than an actor. As for Vanida, she's just one of my favorite local actress. :)

Anyway, back to mise-en-scene. Here's an interesting comment on the meaning of 'mise en scene' which i found on the net.

The only guy I ever knew who understood what mise-en-scene meant also used to use the word "albeit" in casual conversation. Talk about your alien beings. Originally a theatrical term meaning a stage setting (literally, "putting-in-scene"), mise-en-scene is often loosely translated as "direction," which unfortunately tends to convey the purely mechanical notion of blocking out the actors' movements so they don't get in each other's way.

In its most significant sense, mise-en-scene refers to everything under the control of the director, that is, the aggregate effect created by art direction, placement and movement of camera and actors, lighting, and other visual elements in a given scene. In other words, mise-en-scene is what the director does. By extension, but somewhat more vaguely, mise-en-scene can refer to the dominant visual features of a film or film genre, e.g., the typically cramped, somber mise-en-scene of the film noir.
Mise-en-scene, according to some theorists, is the principle vehicle by which a film's "meaning," such as it is, is conveyed, and as such is supposedly imposed on the film by its director, who may also call him/herself a metteur-en-scene, "putter-in-scene." (Which is why this is a favorite term of adherents of the "auteur" school of film criticism, who emphasizes the director's importance.)

One may refer to a director's mise-en-scene in the sense of his/her characteristic visual style, such as Fritz Lang's use of harsh lighting and sharp angles. Or Walt Disney's use of primary colors and four-fingered rodents. Such are the trademarks of genius. - TheStraightDope.com

Yasmin's Saturday Column;
KUALA LUMPUR is full of film experts. About four years ago, while shooting my first film Rabun, the phrase mise en scène, uttered by a young member of the crew, whizzed past my head and landed in a bowl of mee sup at the next table.

Lucky for me, the ever-informed Ho Yuhang was at hand. One quizzical look from me and he jumped to my rescue. "Haiyya," he began in true Yuhang form, "it literally means ‘putting into the scene’ or ‘setting the scene’ lah. When applied to film-making, it refers to everything that you put in front of the camera and its arrangement — sets, props, actors, costumes, lighting." "Why such a fancy name for such a basic thing?" I asked. "Faster to say mise en scène than the description I just gave you, mah?" he replied. "Besides, it gives the academics a reason to earn their salary lah."

Two years later, I was sitting on a discussion panel at Finas. They had just finished playing Rabun, and some film academics were there to dissect my film like a frog. A lecturer from a local university (apparently someone high up in the screenwriters’ association) leaned back when it was his turn to speak, and bellowed: "Maybe it’s because Yasmin has never been formally trained in script-writing that she has made a film which deviates from the formal structures of cinema 1, cinema 2, and cinema 3." I remember thinking, "Yeah, I know cinemas 1, 2, 3, 4 and so on. They’re at Mid-Valley."But I kept my lips well sealed.

"Yasmin has written one funny scene after another in this film," he continued, looking rather pleased with himself, "and in the end, it all led to nothing. I came here expecting a tsunami of a film, but found a mere ripple." He had barely finished making this statement when a film student from the floor leapt anxiously to his feet and spoke.

"Puan Yasmin," stammered the student nervously, "my father has just had a stroke. Paralysed on one side of his body, he can no longer bathe himself. My mother has to do it for him. Every day, behind his back, she expresses her disgust at having to do it, because prior to the stroke, they had never bathed together in all their married life. "Puan Yasmin, the old couple in your film bathed together and they looked very happy. After watching Rabun, I made a pledge that when I’m married, I shall make sure my wife and I bathe together every day.

"So that when one of us falls ill, the other person will not be disgusted to bathe the spouse."
Bingo, I thought. That’ll do me just fine. A 21-year-old showing up a middle-aged academic, by demonstrating that film is not about rules and structures, but the human condition. I guess Iranian film-maker Abbas Kiarostami was right. Watching a film is like going to a supermarket. The bigger your shopping basket, the more you’ll be able to take home.A year down the line, the academics were at it again. This time for Sepet and Gubra.

An angry man who claimed to have studied film at Columbia University (I’m told he failed and never finished the course) was waving his fist at me during a forum. "To make a film, you have to understand philosophy and psychology," he hissed, "otherwise you’ll make stupid films like Sepet that show a grown man’s sarung falling off!"

"Funny he should say that," I muttered to a friend. "He’s just a film grad and I’m the psychology grad with a philosophy minor, but hey, let’s hear him out, anyway."
By the time his tirade was over, it became clear to everyone there that as far as this angry man was concerned, Children of Heaven was about shoes, and The White Balloon was about balloons. Small wonder then that he thought Sepet was about falling sarung.
Not only did he not have a basket at a supermarket, the frustrated old geezer had brought a shopping cart to the dentist!

These forums are just two examples of what a new film-maker has to go through in this industry. If some big-time producer is not paying off some people to discredit every film you make (this is a fact, by the way), some angry academicians (read: failed film-makers) will hurl phrases at you to discourage you. Phrases like mise en scène, sub-plots, subtexts, semiotics, signs, signifiers, structures, estetika makna, etc.
And if you’re not old and stubborn like me, it can get pretty daunting and disheartening sometimes.

My advice is, don’t pay them any heed. If those old fogies really knew anything about film-making, they would have made at least one good film by now.
Besides, as Yuhang said, mise en scène is nothing more than what you place before the camera, to tell the story you want to tell, and to bring out the feeling that you desire.
And as for the rest of those phrases, I’ve been lucky enough to have academic friends like Hassan Mutalib who are genuinely educated in film, not merely well read.
They tell me not to worry about those fancy phrases, they’re just stuff you put in your film and how you play around with them, to achieve nothing other than to impart a feeling or an opinion you have about your life.

Although some academics will tell you that you must constantly think about the subtexts of every scene you stage, the truth is you just have to follow your instinct and not think so much.
The most beautiful subtexts give you a glimpse into the secret corners of a film-maker’s conscience. Places so secret that even the film-makers themselves were not aware of them, until they appear, mysteriously, in the work.

If you force these things while shooting, the outcome will be fake, contrived, and insincere.
Zhang Yimou said, "The most essential element in all movies is true sentiments. Be it for blockbusters or low-budget productions, the movie must convey real sentiments."
All that obsession with film theories can also get really ridiculous sometimes. The human intellect is so limited that it can only go so far, and then it runs around in circles, gets dizzy, and suddenly black is white and white is black.

Film students in Europe and America indulged in these academic navel-gazings from the 1960s to the 70s (a mindset some of our angry old academicians can never seem to shake off) but they snapped out of that solemn foolery, when it became more and more obvious that the real geniuses to come out of that generation were not academics, but regular folks with a talent for observing humanity and recording their feelings down on film with great style and sensitivity.
In other words, you’re better off spending your time enriching your life by falling in love, getting hurt, observing people, reading poetry, watching films, painting, photographing, travelling, and just living life, rather than burying yourself too much in books on film theories and script writing.

For example, here is a list of some of the greatest filmmakers in history and how they began:
• D.W. Griffith — failed journalist• Charlie Chaplin — stage burlesque comedian• Yasujiro Ozu — village school teacher• Billy Wilder — university dropout, journalist• Alfred Hitchcock — title designer• Akira Kurosawa — unsuccessful painter• Satyajit Ray — book cover designer• Ermanno Olmi — company clerk• Ken Loach — lawyer• Abbas Kiarostami — graphic artist designing children’s books• Pedro Almodovar — jewellery maker, clerk • Woody Allen — university dropout, philosophy major• Takeshi Kitano — thrown out of engineering college, worked as a lift boy at a nightclub, comedian• Zhang Yimou — farm hand turned photographer• Quentin Tarantino — high school dropout, video store clerk• Clint Eastwood — lumberjack and soldier

Finally, and most interesting for me, was this interview Peter Bogdanovich conducted with the late great John Ford. Bogdanovich noted to Ford that his earlier films were about the great Western frontier. That the heroes were clean-cut and invincible. Then he suggested that it all took a gradual turn towards darker themes in Ford’s later films. The lines of morality became more blurred than before, the heroes were visibly dirtier, and the work increasingly leaned towards film noir.
"Was this a conscious decision?" asked Bogdanovich. To which Ford replied, "What the hell is film noir?"

Was Islam Spread by the Sword? by Idris Tawfiq

2006-10-10T16:32:00.000+08:00

Here's another excellent mind opening article, a reply by Idris Tawfiq (a British writer who became Muslim a few years ago. Previously, he was head of religious education in different schools in the United Kingdom. Before embracing Islam, he was a Roman Catholic priest) from a question at Islam-Online.net web forum; 'Was Islam Spread by the Sword?'

"Perhaps one of the greatest misconceptions about Islam is that it was spread by the sword. However, this idea is now so widespread that people accept it as a fact. Even the Pope, whether he intended to or not, caused great offense to Muslims throughout the world by referring to this myth of Islam being spread by the sword. It is not the place here to discuss the Pope's ill-timed and ill-conceived remarks, but we can address your central question about whether or not Islam was spread by the sword. It is, in fact, a pleasure to do so, since Islam has nothing to be ashamed of.
Indonesia has around 450 million Muslims, which is more than the population of all the Arab countries put together. In fact, Arabs count for only around 18 percent of all Muslims. By far the greatest concentration of the world's 1.1 billion Muslims lives in Southeast Asia. Islam has been deeply rooted there for centuries. Those who beat the drum of Islam being spread by the sword fail to mention Southeast Asia, since it does not fit into their agenda. No Muslim armies ever went there. In fact, the story of Islam being brought there is quite marvelous and well worth telling. It was brought not by soldiers, but by merchants.
Soon after the death of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and the death of Abu Bakr, the first caliph, the Muslim faithful were led by Caliph `Umar, one of the
Prophet's Companions. When `Umar entered Jerusalem at the head of a Muslim army in 638 CE, just six years after the Prophet's death, he entered the city on foot, as a gesture of humility in a city sacred to Muslims, Christians, and Jews. There was no bloodshed. There were no massacres or forced conversions.

On the contrary, those who wanted to leave were allowed to do so with all their possessions. Those who wanted to stay were granted protection for their lives, their property, and their places of worship. `Umar very famously declined to pray one of the five daily prayers in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, lest in years to come Muslims might try to turn it into a mosque in his memory. Instead, `Umar cleansed the so-called Temple Mount with rose water and built a small mosque there, where the Dome of the Rock now stands.
All of this is in marked contrast to what happened when the Crusader armies later took Jerusalem. Seventy thousand men, women and children were slaughtered. Any remaining Muslims and Jews were driven out. When the city was recaptured by Salah Ad-Din (Saladin), the Christian inhabitants were granted protection and were escorted to safety by the Muslim army. But those who have a different aim would have us believe that it is Islam that is cruel.

When Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) finally entered Makkah at the head of a Muslim army in AH 8, he did so not to force the Makkans to convert, but because they had violated their peace treaty with the Muslims. The Prophet entered with great humility, ordering that there should be no fighting or bloodshed. Instead, he forgave all those who had opposed him and the growth of Islam for so many years. Those who wanted to leave were allowed to do so. The whole city, so impressed by the men they had fought against for so long, converted to Islam.

We might ask if Islam was taken to America by the sword, or taken to Denmark or Ireland or Poland by the sword. It wasn't. And yet Islam is now the world's fastest growing religion, according to some people.

Islam is a religion of peace. It is the natural religion of mankind and has existed since the beginning of time. In some countries today we see violence on a massive scale. We see tragedy in Afghanistan and Iraq as the people respond to the invasion of their countries by foreign armies. We see violence in Palestine as the Palestinians respond to oppression and injustice.

Let it be clear that Islam does not condone violence against innocent people. Perhaps those driven to violence are being mistaken for Islam itself. If individual Muslims present a distorted image of Islam, all Muslims in the world must not be labeled as violent. When IRA violence was at its height in Northern Ireland and Britain in the 1970s and 1980s, no one spoke of Christian terrorists. The ETA bombing campaign in northern Spain is not labeled Catholic. So why are all Muslims linked with violence?"

Muhammad's Sword & Uri Avnery

2006-10-05T01:32:00.001+08:00

As a respond to the Pope Benedict XVI's recent controversial remark, this is by far one of the most interesting article that i've come across in recent times (note that the writer is an Israeli peace activist and also a former Israeli MP). Avnery pointed out clearly and condemn the 'evil legend' that of Islam was spread by the sword by narrating historical facts on relationship between the Jews under Muslim and Christian rule, the Golden Age of Islam in Muslim Spain, Christian subjects under Ottoman rule and etc.

Since the days when Roman Emperors threw Christians to the lions, the relations between the emperors and the heads of the church have undergone many changes.

Constantine the Great, who became Emperor in the year 306 - exactly 1700 years ago - encouraged the practice of Christianity in the empire, which included Palestine. Centuries later, the church split into an Eastern (Orthodox) and a Western (Catholic part. In the West, the Bishop of Rome, who acquired the title of Pope, demanded that the Emperor accept his superiority.

The struggle between the Emperors and the Popes played a central role in European history and divided the peoples. It knew ups and downs. Some Emperors dismissed or expelled a Pope, some Popes dismissed or excommunicated an Emperor. One of the Emperors, Henry IV, "walked to Canossa", standing for three days barefoot in the snow in front of the Pope's castle, until the Pope deigned to annul his excommunication.

But there were times when Emperors and Popes lived in peace with each other. We are witnessing such a period today. Between the present Pope, Benedict XVI, and the present Emperor, George Bush II, there exists a wonderful harmony. Last week's speech by the Pope, which aroused a world-wide storm, went well with Bush's crusade against "Islamofascism" , in the context of the "Clash of Civilizations" .

IN HIS lecture at a German university, the 265th Pope described what he sees as a huge difference between Christianity and Islam: while Christianity is based on reason, Islam denies it. While Christians see the logic of God's actions, Muslims deny that there is any such logic in the actions of Allah.

As a Jewish atheist, I do not intend to enter the fray of this debate. It is much beyond my humble abilities to understand the logic of the Pope. But I cannot overlook one passage, which concerns me too, as an Israeli living near the fault-line of this "war of civilizations".

In order to prove the lack of reason in Islam, the Pope asserts that the prophet Muhammad ordered his followers to spread their religion by the sword. According to the Pope, that is unreasonable, because faith is born of the soul, not of the body. How can the sword influence the soul?

To support his case, the Pope quoted - of all people - a Byzantine Emperor, who belonged, of course, to the competing Eastern Church. At the end of the 14th century, the Emperor Manuel II Palaeologus told of a debate he had - or so he said (its occurrence is in doubt) - with an unnamed Persian Muslim scholar. In the heat of the argument, the Emperor (according to himself) flung the following words at his adversary:

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached".

These words give rise to three questions: (a) Why did the Emperor say them? (b) Are they true? (c) Why did the present Pope quote them?

WHEN MANUEL II wrote his treatise, he was the head of a dying empire. He assumed power in 1391, when only a few provinces of the once illustrious empire remained. These, too, were already under Turkish threat.

At that point in time, the Ottoman Turks had reached the banks of the Danube. They had conquered Bulgaria and the north of Greece, and had twice defeated relieving armies sent by Europe to save the Eastern Empire. On May 29, 1453, only a few years after Manuel's death, his capital, Constantinople (the present Istanbul) fell to the Turks, putting an end to the Empire that had lasted for more than a thousand years.

During his reign, Manuel made the rounds of the capitals of Europe in an attempt to drum up support. He promised to reunite the church. There is no doubt that he wrote his religious treatise in order to incite the Christian countries against the Turks and convince them to start a new crusade. The aim was practical, theology was serving politics.

In this sense, the quote serves exactly the requirements of the present Emperor, George Bush II. He, too, wants to unite the Christian world against the mainly Muslim "Axis of Evil". Moreover, the Turks are again knocking on the doors of Europe, this time peacefully. It is well known that the Pope supports the forces that object to the entry of Turkey into the European Union.

IS THERE any truth in Manuel's argument?

The pope himself threw in a word of caution. As a serious and renowned theologian, he could not afford to falsify written texts. Therefore, he admitted that the Qur'an specifically forbade the spreading of the faith by force. He quoted the second Sura, verse 256 (strangely fallible, for a pope, he meant verse 257) which says: "There must be no coercion in matters of faith".

How can one ignore such an unequivocal statement? The Pope simply argues that this commandment was laid down by the prophet when he was at the beginning of his career, still weak and powerless, but that later on he ordered the use of the sword in the service of the faith. Such an order does not exist in the Qur'an. True, Muhammad called for the use of the sword in his war against opposing tribes - Christian, Jewish and others - in Arabia, when he was building his state. But that was a political act, not a religious one; basically a fight for territory, not for the spreading of the faith.

Jesus said: "You will recognize them by their fruits." The treatment of other religions by Islam must be judged by a simple test: How did the Muslim rulers behave for more than a thousand years, when they had the power to "spread the faith by the sword"?

Well, they just did not.

For many centuries, the Muslims ruled Greece. Did the Greeks become Muslims? Did anyone even try to Islamize them? On the contrary, Christian Greeks held the highest positions in the Ottoman administration. The Bulgarians, Serbs, Romanians, Hungarians and other European nations lived at one time or another under Ottoman rule and clung to their Christian faith. Nobody compelled them to become Muslims and all of them remained devoutly Christian.

True, the Albanians did convert to Islam, and so did the Bosniaks. But nobody argues that they did this under duress. They adopted Islam in order to become favorites of the government and enjoy the fruits.

In 1099, the Crusaders conquered Jerusalem and massacred its Muslim and Jewish inhabitants indiscriminately, in the name of the gentle Jesus. At that time, 400 years into the occupation of Palestine by the Muslims, Christians were still the majority in the country. Throughout this long period, no effort was made to impose Islam on them. Only after the expulsion of the Crusaders from the country, did the majority of the inhabitants start to adopt the Arabic language and the Muslim faith - and they were the forefathers of most of today's Palestinians.

THERE IS no evidence whatsoever of any attempt to impose Islam on the Jews. As is well known, under Muslim rule the Jews of Spain enjoyed a bloom the like of which the Jews did not enjoy anywhere else until almost our time. Poets like Yehuda Halevy wrote in Arabic, as did the great Maimonides. In Muslim Spain, Jews were ministers, poets, scientists. In Muslim Toledo, Christian, Jewish and Muslim scholars worked together and translated the ancient Greek philosophical and scientific texts. That was, indeed, the Golden Age. How would this have been possible, had the Prophet decreed the "spreading of the faith by the sword"?

What happened afterwards is even more telling. When the Catholics re conquered Spain from the Muslims, they instituted a reign of religious terror. The Jews and the Muslims were presented with a cruel choice: to become Christians, to be massacred or to leave. And where did the hundreds of thousand of Jews, who refused to abandon their faith, escape? Almost all of them were received with open arms in the Muslim countries. The Sephardi ("Spanish" Jews settled all over the Muslim world, from Morocco in the west to Iraq in the east, from Bulgaria (then part of the Ottoman Empire) in the north to Sudan in the south. Nowhere were they persecuted. They knew nothing like the tortures of the Inquisition, the flames of the auto-da-fe, the pogroms, the terrible mass-expulsions that took place in almost all Christian countries, up to the Holocaust.

WHY? Because Islam expressly prohibited any persecution of the "peoples of the book". In Islamic society, a special place was reserved for Jews and Christians. They did not enjoy completely equal rights, but almost. They had to pay a special poll-tax, but were exempted from military service - a trade-off that was quite welcome to many Jews. It has been said that Muslim rulers frowned upon any attempt to convert Jews to Islam even by gentle persuasion - because it entailed the loss of taxes.

Every honest Jew who knows the history of his people cannot but feel a deep sense of gratitude to Islam, which has protected the Jews for fifty generations, while the Christian world persecuted the Jews and tried many times "by the sword" to get them to abandon their faith.

THE STORY about "spreading the faith by the sword" is an evil legend, one of the myths that grew up in Europe during the great wars against the Muslims - the reconquista of Spain by the Christians, the Crusades and the repulsion of the Turks, who almost conquered Vienna. I suspect that the German Pope, too, honestly believes in these fables. That means that the leader of the Catholic world, who is a Christian theologian in his own right, did not make the effort to study the history of other religions.

Why did he utter these words in public? And why now?

There is no escape from viewing them against the background of the new Crusade of Bush and his evangelist supporters, with his slogans of "Islamofascism" and the "Global War on Terrorism" - when "terrorism" has become a synonym for Muslims. For Bush's handlers, this is a cynical attempt to justify the domination of the world's oil resources. Not for the first time in history, a religious robe is spread to cover the nakedness of economic interests; not for the first time, a robbers' expedition becomes a Crusade.

The speech of the Pope blends into this effort. Who can foretell the dire consequences?
http://world.mediamonitors.net/content/view/full/35746

Domain Renewal

2006-10-05T01:32:00.000+08:00

Congratulations. Your Domain Name shahnon.com has been Renewed.

Outlandish - Look Into My Eyes

2006-09-28T01:34:00.000+08:00

See I've known terror for quite some time
57 years so cruel
Terror breathes the air I breathe
It's the checkpoint on my way to school
Terror is the robbery of my land
And the torture of my mother
The imprisonment of my innocent father
The bullet in my baby brother
The bulldozers and the tanks
The gases and the guns
The bombs that fall outside my door
All due to your funds
You blame me for defending myself
Against the ways of my enemies
I'm terrorized in my own land (what)
And I'm the terrorist?

beautiful song by Outlandish. love the lyrics :)

Ramadhan kembali..

2006-09-23T16:01:00.000+08:00

Selamat menyambut bulan Ramadhan 1427H.

Raja Dr. Nazrin Shah: Raja bukanlah monumen hiasan kaku, tanpa nyawa, tanpa jiwa..

2006-09-22T21:09:00.000+08:00

Saya tertarik membacakan teks ucapan Raja Muda Perak, Raja Dr. Nazrin Shah bertajuk 'Kecemerlangan institusi beraja' di Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei, sempena sambutan hari keputeraan Sultan Brunei Darussalam yang ke-60, Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, yang banyak menyentuh tentang sejarah institusi beraja dan mengupas faktor, punca dan kesan daripada jatuh bangunnya sesebuah kerajaan beraja di serata dunia.

Pada hemat saya, faktor-faktor kejatuhan kerajaan-kerajaan beraja, atau runtuhnya institusi beraja akibat revolusi rakyat dan sebagainya di negara-negara lain di serata dunia tidak harus dijadikan kayu ukur atau dibuat perbandingan dalam menentukan hala tuju sistem beraja Melayu Islam di Malaysia yang setakat ini masih kukuh diterima rakyat dalam mendepani cabaran dunia masa depan.

Berikut antara beberapa petikan ucapan baginda;

"..Dua peperangan dunia mengubah landskap politik dunia. Dua peperangan dunia menyaksikan perubahan imbangan kuasa dunia. Dua peperangan dunia menyaksikan kemusnahan, menyaksikan pertambahan perbelanjaan ketenteraan, menyaksikan kebangkitan semangat nasionalisme, menyaksikan kemunculan ideologi baru dan menyaksikan kelahiran rupa bentuk pemerintahan dan kerajaan baru. Lalu berlaku transformasi politik membentuk persekitaran politik yang berbeza. Abad kedua puluh menyaksikan kebangkitan gerakan nasionalisme dan corak pemerintahan berlandaskan perlembagaan. Berlakulah evolusi dalam pemerintahan beraja.

Raja-Raja di Eropah yang peka, memahami dinamik yang berlaku berikutan gerakan politik rakyat berpaksikan masyarakat industri dan masyarakat kota. Raja yang sebelumnya dianggap Dewata mewakili tuhan memerintah hamba-hamba di bumi, bertukar peranan sebagai pembela kepada kebajikan dan kebaikan warga di sesebuah negara bangsa. Raja-Raja tersebut berjaya melakukan pengubahsuaian, lantas takhta dapat dikekalkan. Malah dengan kemunculan gerakan politik berparti, Raja yang berada di atas politik, diiktiraf sebaik hakim, memenuhi fungsi sumber keadilan, berupaya mendamaikan persengketaan di antara puak-puak yang bertelingkah; konsep ini menjadi perintis - menjadi asas kepada doktrin pemisahan dan perkongsian kuasa antara Raja dan rakyat di era pasca Perang Dunia Pertama dan Perang Dunia Kedua.

Nicholas II, Raja (Tsar) Rusia terakhir adalah antara pengajaran memperlihatkan kelemahan seorang watak yang gagal memenuhi tanggung jawab berat sebuah institusi. Sepanjang tempoh pemerintahan Baginda, Nicholas dibatasi dan dikelilingi dengan pengaruh orang-orang yang Baginda senangi sama ada pemimpin agama, Permaisuri dan Paderi kesayangan Permaisuri bernama Rasputin. Pegawai-pegawai berwibawa tidak disenangi dan gagal mendapat kepercayaan Baginda. Akhirnya Baginda terperangkap dengan kepalsuan dan tidak berpeluang memahami realiti. Berakhirlah Pemerintahan Baginda apabila terputusnya sokongan rakyat.

Di Asia, sistem Maharaja di Cina berakhir berikutan revolusi 1912. Dalam tahun 1948, pemerintahan berteraskan demokrasi berparlimen menggantikan 'Britisih Raj' di India. Indonesia memilih sistem Republik. Namun ikatan emosi terhadap Raja masih berakar di hati rakyat, terutama mereka yang berketurunan Jawa, dengan pegangan mistisisme, menghargai konsep 'Ratu Adil'. Langit Jakarta berawan mendung, bumi Jawa gerimis hiba, menerima berita kemangkatan Sultan Hamengkubuwono IX di Washington pada bulan Oktober 1988. Seratus lima puluh ribu ratus (150,000) rakyat memberi penghormatan terakhir dalam tempoh enam belas (16) jam jenazah Baginda ditempatkan di Kraton. Meski Indonesia adalah sebuah republik, Baginda diiktiraf wira negara; Baginda dirujuk sebagai 'Raja Kita'.
Raja Bhumibol Adulyadej di Thailand, secara bijaksana lagi teliti berupaya mendapat sokongan rakyat dengan mendampingi para petani, mahasiswa dan siswazah; mencerminkan imej seorang Raja yang mengambil berat akan tanggung jawab sosial, bersifat patriotik kepada negara bangsanya serta menjalin hubungan erat dengan agama. Raja Bhumibol secara bijaksana telah mengolah dan memberi makna akan fungsi takhta dalam sistem Raja Berperlembagaan. Bahawa Raja dan rakyat disatukan. Raja melambangkan kedaulatan sebuah negara bangsa merdeka, memperlihatkan pendirian yang mendukung prinsip demokrasi dan memihak kepada pemerintahan sivil. Semalam berlaku satu lagi rampasan kuasa di Thailand. Dalam 'intermission' sesuatu babak di panggung pemerintahan, ketika tirai dilabuhkan, Raja Bhumipol berasaskan rekod, sentiasa berada di 'center stage' mempengaruhi arah haluan babak selanjutnya.

Jika Kerajaan beraja lenyap di Vietnam - lenyap Laos, terperangkap dalam pertelagahan kepentingan antara wibawa Raja, kuasa kolonial Peranchis, kebangkitan nasionalisme dan ideologi komunis, tetapi Kampuchea meskipun jatuh ke tangan komunis, memberi nafas kepada sistem beraja untuk memberi kesahihan kepada kerajaan Hun Sen; karisma dan kebijaksanaan Putera Sihanouk, berpengaruh menyesuaikan peranan Raja mengharungi konflik semasa, walaupun Baginda berulang kali pula gagal menentukan arah haluan secara konsisten. Namun legasi yang ditinggal, membuatkan rakyat Kampuchea menghargai sistem pemerintahan beraja, kerana itu institusi Raja Berperlembagaan diwujudkan pada tahun 1993.

Sistem Raja Berperlembagaan perlu ditafsir sebagai perkongsian kuasa antara Raja dan rakyat. Raja menjadi sumber rujukan ketika berlakunya krisis di kalangan rakyat. Raja memastikan bahawa berlakunya secara adil mekanisme semak dan imbang antara cabang-cabang perundangan, eksekutif dan kehakiman; sekali gus memperkukuhkan institusi demokrasi di dalam negara. Secara umum Raja bertindak berasaskan nasihat pimpinan kerajaan pilihan rakyat. Namun Raja tidak harus sama sekali merasakan tertekan dan tidak semestinya memberi perkenan, jika nasihat yang disembahkan bercanggah dengan semangat perlembagaan, bertentangan dengan keluhuran undang-undang serta melanggar prinsip keadilan sejagat. Raja sama sekali tidak boleh memihak kepada perbuatan yang tidak melambangkan keadilan atau merestui tindakan yang tidak mencerminkan kebenaran.

Raja-Raja di alam Melayu mempunyai hubungan yang rapat dengan Islam. Islam mempengaruhi dan mengubah corak pemerintahan, beralih dari pemerintahan berpaksikan individu kepada pemerintahan berpaksikan undang-undang. Undang-undang Melaka menjelaskan bahawa martabat tinggi seseorang Sultan, dinilai dari sudut amal makruf Baginda menyempurnakan tanggung jawab. Terkandung dalam Kanun bahawa seseorang Raja perlu mengamalkan sifat-sifat perkasa lagi tegas, adil lagi saksama, pengampun dan belas kasihan. Sifat mengampuni dan belas kasihan adalah antara sifat yang diutamakan di dalam Islam. Allah itu Maha Pemurah - Maha Mengasihani, seperti yang terkandung dalam kalimah 'Bismillahi Rahmani Rahim', diulang sebanyak seratus empat belas (114) kali di dalam Al-Quran, mendahului permulaan setiap surah melainkan surat 'At -Taubah'; kalimah 'Bismillahi Rahmani Rahim' diulang dua kali dalam surah 'An-Namli'.

Islam telah membawa Raja Melayu kepada konsep murni, muafakat dan adil. Konsep adil dapat ditafsirkan sebagai menepati semangat perjanjian antara Demang Lebar Daun dengan Sang Sapurba yang dijadikan 'magna carta' Melayu bertuankan Raja bersandarkan konsep keadilan yang dibayangkan dengan kata-kata 'Raja Adil - Raja disembah'."

Teks penuh ucapan Raja Dr. Nazrin Shah dalam ucapan baginda bertajuk 'Kecemerlangan institusi beraja' di Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei, sempena sambutan hari keputeraan Sultan Brunei Darussalam yang ke-60, Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah. [berita lanjut]

InsyaAllah, jika panjang umur dan tatacara giliran pelantikan Yang diPertuan Agong mengikut seperti sedia ada, Raja Dr. Nazrin akan ditabalkan menjadi Yang diPertuan Agong yang ke-18 pada tahun 2020.

CNN Founder, Ted Turner says Iraq war among history's 'dumbest'

2006-09-21T21:52:00.000+08:00

Turner called it a 'joke' that Bush demanded that Iran abandon any ambitions for nuclear weapons while at the same time hoping to ban all such bombs..

"They're a sovereign state," he said of Iran. "We have 28 000. Why can't they have 10? We don't say anything about Israel - They've got 100 of them approximately - or India, Pakistan or Russia. - Reuters.

"He's not civilised, he shouldn't be talking about civilising others." - Dr. Mahathir on George Bush

2006-09-15T23:25:00.000+08:00

No such thing as a moderate Muslim - ex-Malaysian PMBy Michael Steen

ASTANA (Reuters) - There is no such thing as a moderate Muslim and U.S. President George W. Bush is mistaken in casting his war on terror in terms of a "struggle for civilisation", Malaysia's outspoken former prime minister says.

Mahathir Mohamad, who ruled Malaysia for 22 years and is known for his frequent barbs against what he has called Western double standards, said he believed even the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the United States were at root linked to Israel's occupation of Palestinian land.

"What is happening today has got nothing to do with religion. It has got to do with territorial disputes, mainly the dispute over Palestinian land," he told Reuters after a religious congress in Astana, capital of Kazakhstan.

He said Bush's description of America's "war on terror" as "a struggle for civilisation" on the fifth anniversary of the attacks was flawed, as was the West's hope that moderate Muslims would have a dominant voice.

"There is no such thing as a moderate Muslim," he said. "We are fundamentalists in Malaysia. We follow the true teachings of the religion and the true teachings do not teach us to bomb and kill people without reason."

ROOT CAUSE
On Bush's comments, Mahathir, 81, said: "He's not civilised, he shouldn't be talking about civilising others."

Although most of the men who carried out the Sept. 11 attacks were Saudis, Mahathir - whom Israel has in the past dubbed anti-Semitic - said he saw the Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands as the root cause of Islamist extremism.

"They (the hijackers) had no direct link but there is a great deal of sympathy for the sufferings of the people of Palestine," he said.

"Maybe that is because they are co-religionists but it is not because their religion urges them to do so. The West tends to blame religion, they blame Islam for whatever happens and associate Islam with terrorism," he said.

He said he believed dubbing a fight against Islamic extremism as a struggle for civilisation risked becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy.

"(Muslims) are without arms, they are weak and they are pushed into a corner. If you are pushed into a corner and the only thing you can do is bite, you bite," he said.

The tactics used by the United States and allies such as Britain were an attempt to "out-terrorise the terrorists" and would therefore fail, Mahathir said.

"Saddam Hussein terrorised his people, he killed many people. But how many did he kill compared to the numbers the Americans have caused to be killed?" he asked.
"They have opened a Pandora's Box and you have a civil war."

Mahathir provoked controversy throughout his long career. In 2003 he said Jews ruled the world by proxy, prompting condemnation from Israel and Western countries.

The jailing of his former deputy Anwar Ibrahim in 1998 on sodomy charges that Anwar said were trumped up caused many western democracies to shun Mahathir.

But he has also been widely hailed as the architect of modern Malaysia and a strong voice among Muslim and developing countries.

"When you target Muslim countries, other Muslims get angry and they try to retaliate the only way they can, by bombing or maybe attempts to blow up aircraft and so you think that these Muslims are really bad," Mahathir said.

"But think first what you have done to them and then you will realise that if you were in their position you would do the same thing."

Merdeka!

2006-08-31T13:41:00.000+08:00

Selamat Hari Merdeka!

Mat Rempit dan pelancongan

2006-08-29T23:04:00.000+08:00

Aku geleng kepala, nak tergelak bercampur sedih pun ada baca komen pengerusi Putera UMNO Datuk Abdul Azeez pasal Mat Rempit.

“Mereka ada hati dan perasaan, berbakat serta berkebolehan terutama dalam bidang kejuruteraan permotoran dan kelajuan. “Apa yang paling penting, mereka adalah generasi pemimpin akan datang,” kata Pengerusi Putera Umno, Datuk Abdul Azeez Abdul Rahim. - (tepuk tepuk)

Ha, ni satu lagi,

Katanya, Mat Rempit juga mempunyai pelbagai kelab tidak berdaftar seperti Kumpulan Shell, Kumpulan Kamikaze dan Kumpulan Apache, tetapi amat mengagumkan apabila Putera Umno mendapati kumpulan itu mempunyai struktur
organisasi pertubuhan yang tersusun dengan anggota yang patuh dan taat pada pemimpin serta peraturan kelab. (wah kagumnya saya. terasa nak menyertai kelab mat rempit pula)

dan kemuncak komen Datuk Abdul Azeez yang paling tak masuk akal ialah idea beliau supaya jalan di Kuala Lumpur ditutup seketika sebagai tarikan pelancong (?!!*%#@*!?)

“Jika mereka mahu beraksi di depan khalayak ramai, mengapa kita tidak boleh tutup jalan, misalnya di Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman atau Jalan Tun Razak dan sediakan penghadang yang selamat di sepanjang jalan supaya mereka boleh beraksi.
“Saya percaya, jika kita beri sedikit kelonggaran kepada Mat Rempit menunjukkan bakat mereka, aktiviti itu boleh dijadikan satu acara unik yang boleh menarik minat pelancong asing,” katanya.

Lagi,

Beliau mencadangkan supaya Jabatan Pengangkutan Jalan (JPJ) dan polis bekerjasama menutup jalan tertentu bagi menyediakan persekitaran selamat untuk mat rempit berlumba. - Utusan

Gila. Bodoh nak mampos punya idea. JPJ dan PDRM pun bodoh sama la kalau setuju dengan idea Datuk Abdul Azeez ni. Tak dapat bayangkan kalau pemimpin macam ni duduk dalam kabinet kerajaan.

Bacaan lanjut - Harian Metro: Imej Positif Mat Rempit
Utusan Malaysia: Putera UMNO terima bekas penagih, mat rempit

an interview with Abu Bakar Bashir

2006-08-25T17:46:00.000+08:00

'We should not fear being called radical'

"..The only Muslim leader who has some spirit left is your former leader Mahathir Mohamad, who called for a boycott of US and other Western currencies. He was right, when he said that Muslim countries should abandon the US Dollar and trade with their own currencies instead. Why should we use the Dollar even when we trade among ourselves? Even though Mahathir did not openly call for jihad, at least he said something. This was the least we could have done." - Indonesian cleric, Abu Bakar Bashir.

Read the rest of the interview, here.

Shahnon: Sebuah Autobiografi..

2006-08-19T21:57:00.000+08:00

..bungkusan buku autobiografi Sasterawan Negara Shahnon Ahmad,

'Perjalananku Sejauh Ini: Sebuah Autobiografi' yang baru tiba pagi tadi

Khamis, 2.30pm
me: hello ni Shahnon. erm, nak beritahu yang saya dah bank-in duit untuk buku...
Ujanailmu: Buku Shahnon Ahmad ya? okk. Shahnon beli buku Shahnon ya?(ketawa kecil)
me: ya ya

Terima kasih kepada syarikat buku online, Ujanailmu kerana sekali lagi tidak pernah mengecewakan saya. Melihatkan senarai buku terbaru di website Ujanailmu, teringin nak dapatkan buku 'Tulang-Tulang Berserakan' oleh Usman Awang dan buku A.Samad Said, 'Bulan tak Bermadu di Fatehpur Sikri'. Dato' A.Samad Said telah mengambil inisiatif sendiri untuk menerbitkan kembali buku-buku lama beliau di bawah syarikat beliau sendiri, Wira Bukit sebab umum tahu hal merajuk beliau dengan penerbitan DBP berkenaan isu DBP yang kurang proaktif dalam menerbitkan karya-karya beliau dll.

Berbalik kepada buku autobiografi Shahnon Ahmad tadi, saya sempat membelek-belek beberapa mukasurat dan ada satu bab yang saya tertarik iaitu bab 6: 'Perjalanan Seperguruan dengan Seni Silat Cekak Ustaz Hanafi', di mana beliau menulis tentang sejarah pembabitan beliau dalam aktiviti silat - Silat Cekak Hanafi dan Silat Gayung Petani, yang mana secara kebetulan juga saya pernah mempelajari kedua-dua aliran silat tersebut. Gayung Fatani/Petani selama 5 tahun - sepanjang 5 tahun saya di sekolah menengah - dan Silat Cekak Hanafi sewaktu di universiti.

Membacakan perenggan pertama bab 6, beliau menulis,

"..Seperti yang termaklum, minatku pada seni pencak silat sudah sekian lama tumbuh dan berkembang semenjak dari kampong lagi. Tapi pada peringkat awalan perjalananku, minat ini lebih pada estetikanya, seni tarinya, seni bunyinya melalui alat-alat muziknya dan hanya pinggiran saja aspek pertahanan diri melaluinya." - (bab 6, m/s 65)

Beliau merujuk kepada seni tari Gayung Petani/Fatani. Memang diakui ramai bahawa dalam banyak-banyak silat, bunga Gayung Fatani adalah yang tercantik seni tarinya. Bukan niat untuk bangga diri tapi antara tujuan utama beliau menyertai silat itu adalah sama dengan saya - kerana minat pada seni tari silat itu, tidak sangat kepada aspek beladiri tumbuk, tepis, buah dan tendangnya. Oleh sebab itu, secara jujurnya saya rasa kurang seronok di awal pembabitan saya dengan Silat Cekak Hanafi apabila mendapat tahu dalam sistem pelajaran Cekak Hanafi tak ada langsung seni tari. baru saya tahu ada juga silat yang tiada seni tari. Permainan keris pun tak ada (senjata rasmi Silat Cekak Hanafi ialah parang lading). Tapi sejak dari hari pertama saya turun latihan lagi saya telah menyahut cabaran jurulatih untuk belajar sampai tamat. Lepas buah asas, buah jatuh kemudian buah potong dan akhir sekali buah tamat. Dan dari hari itu saya belajar untuk mencari rahsia dan kehebatan Silat Cekak Hanafi. Antara falsafah utama SCH - 'pakai tak pakai, tak pakai pakai'. Sebenarnya tak rahsia pun, nak tau, kena belajar - Ayat standard ahli. heheh. Untuk sesiapa yang fikir bukan-bukan, sorry Cekak Hanafi tak ada ilmu batin. SCH bebas dari sebarang tahyul dan khurafat. Nak kebal-kebal, tak lut ke apa cari silat lain. SCH guna tangan dan kaki sahaja. Ha macam promote SCH pulak.

Sekian.

Middle East conflict II

2006-08-18T23:25:00.000+08:00

The Israeli aggressor is let off the hook
by Chandra Muzaffar

The terms of Resolution 1701 are stacked against Lebanon and allow Israel to continue its military operations even after a ceasefire, says CHANDRA MUZAFFAR.

THE United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701 is fundamentally flawed. It fails to name Israel as the aggressor in the war between Israel and the Hizbollah.

It does not demand that the aggressor ends its aggression and withdraws its troops — perhaps 30,000 of them — immediately and unconditionally from Lebanese soil.That Israel is the aggressor in the war that erupted on July 12 is an irrefutable fact. True, Hizbollah captured two Israeli soldiers in a border skirmish on that day. But there have been numerous skirmishes of this sort along the Israeli-Lebanese border in the last six years.

The British journalist George Monbiot notes that "on several occasions, Hizbollah fired missiles and mortar rounds at IDF (Israeli defence forces) positions, and the IDF responded with heavy artillery and sometimes aerial bombardment. Incidents like this killed three Israelis and three Lebanese in 2003; one Israeli soldier and two Hizbollah fighters in 2005; and two Lebanese people and three Israeli soldiers in February 2006".

Even in May 2006, an alleged Mossad assassination of two Palestinians from the Islamic Jihad in the Lebanese city of Sidon led to a border incident in which "one member of Hizbollah was killed and several wounded, and one Israeli soldier wounded".

Cross-border skirmishes, in the words of the American analyst, Phyllis Bennis, "happen around the world on a daily basis; certainly the Israeli- Lebanon border has seen more than its share". A skirmish need not become a war. It becomes a war only if one of the parties ups the ante.

And Hizbollah was not that party. It sought to exchange the two captured Israeli soldiers with the 15 prisoners of war taken by the Israelis during the 18-year occupation of Lebanon from 1982 to 2000, in breach of Article 118 of the Third Geneva Convention. The Israeli Government was adamant about not negotiating. Instead, it deliberately chose to launch a war by bombing the Beirut international airport and Leba- non’s infrastructure.

There are media reports suggesting that Israel had been planning an assault upon Lebanon for some time. According to the San Francisco Chronicle (quoted by Monbiot in the Guardian of Aug 8), "More than a year ago, a senior Israeli army officer began giving PowerPoint presentations on an off-the-record basis, to US and other diplomats, journalists and think tanks, setting out the plan for the current operation in revealing detail".

The attack, he said, would last three weeks. It would begin with bombing and culminate in a ground invasion. Gerald Steinberg, professor of political science at Bar-Ilan University, told the paper that "of all of Israel’s wars since 1948, this was the one for which Israel was most prepared... By 2004, the military campaign scheduled to last about three weeks that we’re seeing now had already been blocked out and, in the last year or two, it’s been simulated and rehearsed across the board."

In any case, Israel’s military campaign in the last month clearly marks it out as the aggressor. More than 1,100 Lebanese civilians — one-third of them children — have been killed by Israeli bombs and artillery fire. Almost a million people have become refugees, with tens of thousands fleeing to Syria. Water supply systems, electricity grids, hospitals, schools, highways, harbours and airports have been destroyed. All major cities and almost all villages have been devastated in one way or another. The death and destruction wrought by Israel upon Lebanon is colossal compared with the number of civilians killed and infrastructure demolished by Hizbollah rocket attacks upon Israel.

And yet Israel’s criminal behaviour — specifically its savage massacre of children — does not even receive a mild reprimand in Resolution 1701. Israel is not held responsible for any wrongdoing. On the contrary, the resolution implies that Hizbollah is the root cause of the death and destruction that have occurred in Lebanon and Israel. It begins, for instance, by "expressing its utmost concern at the continuing escalation of hostilities in Lebanon and in Israel since Hizbollah’s attack on Israel on July 12, which has already caused hundreds of deaths and injuries on both sides, extensive damage to civilian infrastructure and hundreds of thousands of internally displaced persons".

More than absolving Israel of any misconduct, the resolution even allows the aggressor to continue its military operations after the cessation of hostilities. It "calls for a full cessation of hostilities based upon, in particular, the immediate cessation by Hizbollah of all attacks and the immediate cessation by Israel of all offensive military operations."

Israel, it appears, would be allowed defensive military operations. Since Israel regards all the wars it has fought from 1948, including the current one, as "defensive", it would be able to argue that any military action it undertakes after the formal ceasefire at 0500GMT on Aug 14 is legitimate under the terms of Resolution 1701.

The likelihood of this happening is real since Israeli troops will remain in southern Lebanon until the Government of Lebanon and UNIFIL (United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon) "deploy their forces together throughout the south". This could take a few weeks. One should not be surprised if Israel exploits this time gap to "dismantle" the Hizbollah which has been Israel’s primary military objective in Lebanon for decades. It is an objective that has eluded Israel as vividly demonstrated by the current conflict.

The Hizbollah leader, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, in turn has made it abundantly clear that while his movement accepts the UN call to cease hostilities it will not acquiesce with the presence of Israeli soldiers on Lebanese soil. This sets the stage for a new phase in the Israel-Hizbollah war.
To prevent this from happening, Israeli troops should be required in the name of justice and under international law to withdraw immediately and unconditionally from Lebanon while the Hizbollah should cease all attacks on Israel immediately.

The 15,000-strong Lebanese army and the 15,000-strong UNIFIL, as envisaged by Resolution 1701, should concentrate upon ensuring that the ceasefire holds. It should not try to disarm Hizbollah which in any case is an impossible task. For Hizbollah is in essence a popular resistance movement which embodies the noble aspirations of not only the Lebanese people but also of the Palestinians and the Syrians to be free of Israeli occupation and hegemony.

If anything, the current war which many Arabs and Muslims regard as a triumph for Hizbollah over Israel has further enhanced its image. This is why the question of Hizbollah’s role should be addressed within the larger context of Israeli occupation of Palestinian and Arab lands. Israeli occupation is in fact the root cause of the continuing crisis and turmoil in much of West Asia. The sooner the West acknowledges this, the better it would be for world peace.

The Middle East conflict

2006-08-17T22:11:00.000+08:00

"Prior to the latest incursion, Gaza was still surrounded by the Israeli army, with checkpoints at exits, its coast patrolled and its airspace controlled. It is actually a large open-air prison. Israel's continued occupation of territory beyond its legitimate borders is the problem." - Gilwee Walker, California, USA. (Time,Aug 7-14 2006)

It sickens me to watch George Bush's speech on CNN wanting to root out the cause of the century old Middle East conflict while ignoring the fact that Israel IS the root cause of the problem. Israel's illegal occupation of Palestinian land is the root cause of the problem! The US hipocrisy and double standard foreign policy of protecting Israel's interest in the Middle East is the root cause of the problem. In short, the state of Israel is the stumbling block to peace process in MidEast. Period.

Tuah & Jebat, Wangi jadi saksi II

2006-08-05T14:48:00.000+08:00

Setiap Sabtu pasti saya tak terlepas daripada membaca kolum mingguan Dato' Johan Jaafar di NST. Kali ini, beliau menulis tentang pementasan Wangi Jadi Saksi oleh U-Wei Shaari.

Who really was responsible for slaying Jebat?
by Johan Jaafar

IN the play Wangi Jadi Saksi written and directed by U-Wei Haji Shaari, Hang Tuah does not kill Hang Jebat.

I am not going to reveal the secret just yet (you can check my previous entry. no harm revealing it here i guess :p), the play is still being staged at the Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (DBP) Auditorium. But let me assure you the culprit is not one of the usual suspects. Certainly, there are many ways of looking at the Tuah-Jebat saga.

After all, the warrior who actually committed the act of derhaka (treason) differs in two major Malay sources. In Hikayat Hang Tuah, Jebat was the one, in Sejarah Melayu, one of the most reliable Malay historiographies, it was Hang Kasturi.

Within the Malay political construct, Tuah had always been the good guy, the panglima (warrior) whose loyalty to the sultan (king) was unbelievable. He was even willing to jump into a cesspool to save the king’s horse. Back in the early ’60s, Kassim Ahmad came out with a new "reading" of the saga. Jebat was the hero. He was the common man, the indefatigable fighter for justice and fairness and more importantly he died for "the cause". Imagine him going against his own king for he could not accept the fact that Tuah, his "brother" and close friend, was killed because of court politics. According to legend, Tuah was banished to Ulu Melaka by the wise Bendahara who believed in his innocence. Tuah was brought back to kill the rampaging Jebat. Like a good soldier Tuah did just that, without remorse.

Kassim’s interpretation of Jebat created quite a commotion. In an era when leftist literature was the in thing and leftist thinking trendy, Tuah posited a different concept of a hero in a new Malay society.

Jebat became the symbol of revolutionary thinking and critical readjustment. Suddenly, everyone wanted to be Jebat. Tuah lost his lustre and relevance. Jebat, who was for so long condemned as the traitor, suddenly attained cult status.

He was celebrated in Usman Awang’s Matinya Seorang Pahlawan, Dinsman’s Jebat and my very own Kotaku Oh Kotaku.

Some would argue U-Wei’s stage play is a "re-reading" of the Tuah-Jebat epic(again?). No, it is not revisionist history, just an epistemic shift in telling the legend. It is not one of those interpretations that will endear the loyalists and purists.

The play, staged in conjunction with the 50th anniversary of DBP, assembled talents from the Republic of Ireland, Australia, United Kingdom, Singapore and Malaysia. Produced by LeBrocquy Fraser, it is U-Wei’s much needed break from movie-making. He is better known as director of such films as Perempuan, Isteri dan..., Kaki Bakar and Joghro.

I have no problem with U-Wei’s retelling of the story, though. And how he placed Dang Wangi at the epicentre of the conflict. Remember, no one actually knew what happened when Tuah was allowed into the istana to confront Jebat. Whether Wangi was the witness when the two close friends fought to their last breath is an issue worth the attention. Or did they fight at all? Or did they engage in a discourse on righteousness or political correctness?

To begin with, Wangi Jadi Saksi is a hard sell. It is wordy, tough and demanding. It is at times moody, even vague. It is one of those Ibsenian constructs where you need to peel the onion to get to the core. Perhaps the central thesis in U-Wei’s interpretation is estrangement. It is about a man’s helplessness before the overpowering forces of circumstance.

Jebat is doomed from the start. He was fighting against the system. As he was reminded by Tuah, if the system fails, all hell will break loose. And the Malays will cease to exist (thus the famous phrase attributed to Tuah, "Tidak Melayu hilang di dunia."

Theatre is full of surprises. Theatre as it is does not reflect reality in the sense of fidelity to common everyday experience. Theatre is supposed to challenge the mind. In a way, like literature, theatre allows the "abstruseness" of the art to prevail. So, please bear with U-Wei for trying to play with words, to confront us with the abyss of our curiosity and ignorance and to remind us of his character’s impotent degradation. U-Wei did not have to get into Jacques Derrida’s idea of "notorious word- drunkenness" to achieve his aim. The story is self-telling, the words merely a vehicle. But words are powerful in Wangi Jadi Saksi — one needs a fine comb to meander through its meaning, nuances and innuendoes.

Just take a look at Pateh. Listening to him giving lessons on commerce, politics and politicking makes us sit up and listen. This guy is clever. He’s sly and mean, but he is the man of the day. The truth is I have never seen a more astute, dazzling and oily Pateh in my life. And Khalid Salleh, who plays him, elevates the character to a point where every scene becomes a feverish spectacle of style and emotion.

I have no complaint about Vanidah Imran, one of the most talented actresses today. Perhaps the stage is too big for her. She is a rookie trying to position her talent in a role too demanding for her. She is good, no doubt. At times she’s the tortured soul unbearably burdened by guilt and pleasure. The stage’s leisurely, sensuously voluptuous atmosphere keeps her busy moving around, but rarely with the conviction expected of the character. In this play, her flaws should not be exaggerated. Not many living actresses would be able to handle the challenge. She should not be faulted for trying hard.

U-Wei experiments with two actors playing Jebat — Sobry Anuar and Mohammad Shoffti Jikan — and alternates between them. While Sobry is intense, Shoffti is playful. Where Shoffti lacks in charisma, he compensates with agility. While Sobry’s reading of the character is too literal, he is able to complement that with his conviction.

Khir Rahman’s Tuah is predictable though adequate to posit a character shrouded in guilt and enigma. Sabri Yunus as Masa as usual needs only to appear for less then 10 minutes to mark his presence. But the biggest upset was the under-utilised Rahim Razali (as Bendahara). In this play, one of the finest actors on stage is relegated to a supporting part. But Rahim being Rahim, even his non-presence is severely felt. That alone is a good reason to catch up with the play.

I am not going to reveal the secret just yet, the play is still being staged at the Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (DBP) Auditorium. But let me assure you the culprit is not one of the usual suspects. Certainly, there are many ways of looking at the Tuah-Jebat saga.

After all, the warrior who actually committed the act of derhaka (treason) differs in two major Malay sources. In Hikayat Hang Tuah, Jebat was the one, in Sejarah Melayu, one of the most reliable Malay historiographies, it was Hang Kasturi.

Within the Malay political construct, Tuah had always been the good guy, the panglima (warrior) whose loyalty to the sultan (king) was unbelievable. He was even willing to jump into a cesspool to save the king’s horse. Back in the early ’60s, Kassim Ahmad came out with a new "reading" of the saga. Jebat was the hero. He was the common man, the indefatigable fighter for justice and fairness and more importantly he died for "the cause". Imagine him going against his own king for he could not accept the fact that Tuah, his "brother" and close friend, was killed because of court politics. According to legend, Tuah was banished to Ulu Melaka by the wise Bendahara who believed in his innocence. Tuah was brought back to kill the rampaging Jebat. Like a good soldier Tuah did just that, without remorse.

Kassim’s interpretation of Jebat created quite a commotion. In an era when leftist literature was the in thing and leftist thinking trendy, Tuah posited a different concept of a hero in a new Malay society.

Jebat became the symbol of revolutionary thinking and critical readjustment. Suddenly, everyone wanted to be Jebat. Tuah lost his lustre and relevance. Jebat, who was for so long condemned as the traitor, suddenly attained cult status.

He was celebrated in Usman Awang’s Matinya Seorang Pahlawan, Dinsman’s Jebat and my very own Kotaku Oh Kotaku.

Some would argue U-Wei’s stage play is a "re-reading" of the Tuah-Jebat epic (again?). No, it is not revisionist history, just an epistemic shift in telling the legend. It is not one of those interpretations that will endear the loyalists and purists.

The play, staged in conjunction with the 50th anniversary of DBP, assembled talents from the Republic of Ireland, Australia, United Kingdom, Singapore and Malaysia. Produced by LeBrocquy Fraser, it is U-Wei’s much needed break from movie-making. He is better known as director of such films as Perempuan, Isteri dan..., Kaki Bakar and Joghro.

I have no problem with U-Wei’s retelling of the story, though. And how he placed Dang Wangi at the epicentre of the conflict. Remember, no one actually knew what happened when Tuah was allowed into the istana to confront Jebat. Whether Wangi was the witness when the two close friends fought to their last breath is an issue worth the attention. Or did they fight at all? Or did they engage in a discourse on righteousness or political correctness?

To begin with, Wangi Jadi Saksi is a hard sell. It is wordy, tough and demanding. It is at times moody, even vague. It is one of those Ibsenian constructs where you need to peel the onion to get to the core. Perhaps the central thesis in U-Wei’s interpretation is estrangement. It is about a man’s helplessness before the overpowering forces of circumstance.

Jebat is doomed from the start. He was fighting against the system. As he was reminded by Tuah, if the system fails, all hell will break loose. And the Malays will cease to exist (thus the famous phrase attributed to Tuah, "Tidak Melayu hilang di dunia."

Theatre is full of surprises. Theatre as it is does not reflect reality in the sense of fidelity to common everyday experience. Theatre is supposed to challenge the mind. In a way, like literature, theatre allows the "abstruseness" of the art to prevail. So, please bear with U-Wei for trying to play with words, to confront us with the abyss of our curiosity and ignorance and to remind us of his character’s impotent degradation. U-Wei did not have to get into Jacques Derrida’s idea of "notorious word- drunkenness" to achieve his aim. The story is self-telling, the words merely a vehicle. But words are powerful in Wangi Jadi Saksi — one needs a fine comb to meander through its meaning, nuances and innuendoes.

Just take a look at Pateh. Listening to him giving lessons on commerce, politics and politicking makes us sit up and listen. This guy is clever. He’s sly and mean, but he is the man of the day. The truth is I have never seen a more astute, dazzling and oily Pateh in my life. And Khalid Salleh, who plays him, elevates the character to a point where every scene becomes a feverish spectacle of style and emotion.

I have no complaint about Vanidah Imran, one of the most talented actresses today. Perhaps the stage is too big for her. She is a rookie trying to position her talent in a role too demanding for her. She is good, no doubt. At times she’s the tortured soul unbearably burdened by guilt and pleasure. The stage’s leisurely, sensuously voluptuous atmosphere keeps her busy moving around, but rarely with the conviction expected of the character. In this play, her flaws should not be exaggerated. Not many living actresses would be able to handle the challenge. She should not be faulted for trying hard.

U-Wei experiments with two actors playing Jebat — Sobry Anuar and Mohammad Shoffti Jikan — and alternates between them. While Sobry is intense, Shoffti is playful. Where Shoffti lacks in charisma, he compensates with agility. While Sobry’s reading of the character is too literal, he is able to complement that with his conviction.

Khir Rahman’s Tuah is predictable though adequate to posit a character shrouded in guilt and enigma. Sabri Yunus as Masa as usual needs only to appear for less then 10 minutes to mark his presence. But the biggest upset was the under-utilised Rahim Razali (as Bendahara).
In this play, one of the finest actors on stage is relegated to a supporting part. But Rahim being Rahim, even his non-presence is severely felt. That alone is a good reason to catch up with the play.

Tuah & Jebat, Wangi jadi saksi..

2006-07-30T13:02:00.000+08:00

'Bukan kita mengikut buta, tapi menderhaka ke raja itu petanda kiamat zaman dan berakhirlah zaman Melayu kita.' - Tuah kepada Jebat.

..tirai pembukaan WJS

Kesaksian Wangi diceritakan akhirnya kepada seluruh rakyat oleh pengarah terkenal U-Wei Hj. Shaari, setelah hampir 546 tahun rahsia 'pertikaman' tujuh hari tujuh malam Tuah-Jebat di dalam istana dipendam. 'Wangi Jadi Saksi' adalah pementasan pertama saya yang tonton yang mempunyai jalan cerita masa hadapan dan flashback. Babak utama WJS adalah di rumah Patih Kerma Wijaya, seorang pembesar istana keturunan Jawa, antara Dang Wangi dan Patih, dan di istana pula babak flashback, dialog perbincangan antara Tuah-Jebat dan juga Dang Wangi yang menjadi saksi di dapur.

..Patih Kerma Wijaya dan Dang Wangi

Saya ke Auditorium DBP tanpa sebarang harapan tinggi, cuma dengan tujuan melihat kelainan yang dibawa dan kesaksian Dang Wangi mengikut perspektif pengarah U-Wei. Antara beberapa isi penting yang boleh diringkaskan ialah;

- Diceritakan oleh Masa-tukang cerita (Sabri Yunus) bahawa pertelingkahan dan perasaan iri hati para pembesar timbul apabila Sultan Melaka ketika itu, Sultan Mansur Shah mewujudkan jawatan Laksamana, di mana Hang Tuah merupakan Laksamana pertama dan yang tersohor. Dikatakan bahawa kuasa Laksamana ini ibarat melangkaui dan menimbulkan rasa kurang senang pembesar-pembesar yang telah lama berkhidmat seperti Temengggung, Seri Bija Diraja dan Penghulu Bendahari.

- Tuah dan Jebat tidaklah bersilat dan bertikam sepanjang tujuh hari di dalam istana, tetapi lebih banyak berbincang. Setelah lama mereka berbincang barulah dikhabarkan kepada Jebat, bahawa Tuah membawa amanat dan keris Sultan untuk membunuh Jebat.

- Jebat tidak mati ditangan Tuah. Tapi di tangan pembesar Sultan berketurunan Jawa, Patih Kerma Wijaya.

- Apabila berita kematian Jebat diketahui rakyat, Tuahlah yang diberitakan telah membunuh Jebat. (mengingatkan saya kepada kartun bersiri 'Hang Lekuk' oleh kartunis 'Duku' dalam majalah Ujang di pertengahan 90an, di mana Hang Lekuklah yang telah membunuh Jebat dengan lastik beliau, tetapi Hang Tuah yang diangkat sebagai wira Melaka oleh seluruh rakyat kerana membunuh Jebat derhaka. Apapun ia hanyalah fantasi kartunis semata)

- dan yang terpenting sekali, Wangi jadi saksi atas kesemua tragedi yang berlaku di istana. Wangi menjadi saksi kepada konflik terpenting bangsa Melayu zaman itu.

- Wangi juga menjadi saksi kepada dua pemikiran Melayu yang berbeza oleh dua pahlawan agung yang melibatkan hal setia dan kesetiaan, adil dan keadilan.

- Namun begitu, Wangi tak berupaya mengubah sejarah yang telah tertulis yang mengatakan Jebat mati ditangan Tuah. Sesungguhnya sejarah itu ditulis oleh mereka yang berkuasa.

WJS turut mengundang beberapa persoalan daripada pertempuran Tuah-Jebat ini. Umum mengetahui bahawa punca Jebat mengamuk adalah kerana ingin menuntut bela atas ketidakadilan Sultan yang menghukum Tuah tanpa usul periksa. Tapi mengapa Jebat masih mengamuk apabila mendapat tahu Tuah, sahabat karib beliau telah pulang, masih hidup?

Bukankah Patih Kerma Wijaya dan kuncu-kuncunya telah dijatuhi hukuman bunuh oleh Sultan apabila fitnah kononnya Tuah bermukah dengan dayang istana telah terbukti tidak benar dan direka-reka oleh Patih dan pembesar lain yang dengki?

Di penghujung pementasan ditunjukkan bahawa ketika Tuah telah meninggalkan istana kerana tak sanggup membunuh sahabat beliau, Jebat, tiba-tiba Patih yang sedang mengintai mengambil keris Tamingsari dan menikam Jebat. Apa pula punca sebenar Patih ingin membunuh Jebat apabila melihatkan Tuah tidak menjalankah titah Sultan?

Apa yang terjadi kepada Tuah selepas Jebat dibunuh? Ke mana Tuah selepas keluar dari istana tanpa menjalankan titah sultan? Pasti beliau tertanya-tanya siapa pula yang membunuh Jebat, apabila mendapat tahu Jebat telah mati?

Dalam dialog Patih dengan Wangi, ketika mana Wangi cuba berkali-kali untuk menikam Patih, Wangi, seorang dayang istana, yang tak punya kuasa, tak berupaya untuk menegakkan kebenaran dan membetulkan sejarah. Kesaksian Wangi bahawa suami/kekasih beliau, Jebat telah mati di tangan Patih hanya tinggal sejarah pada Wangi seorang.

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

..barisan pelakon dan krew pementasan

Beberapa komen tambahan tentang pementasan WJS (tak begitu menjejaskan jalan cerita, tapi nak tulis juga).

- Ada satu babak, ketika Tuah bertemu Jebat, kelihatan Tuah berkeris di belakang. Pantang pendekar Melayu meletakkan keris di belakang bengkung. Adab pendekar Melayu menghormati lawan, tak sembunyi keris. Hanya pendekar Jawa sahaja yang berkeris di belakang badan. Mungkin hal ini nampak remeh, tapi sepatutnya hal macam ni common sense. Orang Melayu kahwin pun letak keris kat depan.

- Saya suka tirai pembukaan yang bertulisan jawi. Terasa wujudnya aura pertempuran Tuah-Jebat.

- Masih terdapat beberapa kesilapan teknikal lagi, dari segi kawalan tirai di istana dsb.

- Pertukaran babak ke babak oleh 'ninja-ninja hitam' tak berapa lancar.

-Latar belakang dan hiasan pentas pada saya terlalu simple. Pintu dan tingkap istana pun terlalu simple. Ingatkan hebat sangat syarikat produksi leBrocquy Fraser ni.

Baca review panjang WJS oleh Utusan Malaysia;

Kesaksian Wangi

The Middle East: What happens next?

2006-07-26T11:30:00.000+08:00

Lebanon War.. Possible Scenarios
IslamOnline.net & Newspapers
CAIRO — With the Israeli military offensive on Lebanon, already in its 14th day, showing no signs of abating, the world is left with one main unanswered question; What's next?

Britain's The Independent splashed on its front page on Tuesday, July 25, five possible scenarios for the crisis, already threatening to spill into a regional war.

According to the mass-circulation daily, the most likely scenario to happen would be a diplomatic settlement brokered by the US and the UN.

This would include the deployment of an international force to man a buffer zone between Israel and Lebanon, a proposal already given the thumbs-up by Israel and the US.

It would also lead to the disarmament of Hizbullah, a suggestion the Lebanese resistance group had hardly fought in the past and is likely to do expecially in view of the massive destruction cause by Israel in the conflict.

Israel withdraws unilaterally? Diplomatic settlement? Israel snared in counter-insurgency? Lebanese government falls? Israel invades Lebanon? We analyse the options.

Click the link above to read The Independent's analysis on the Middle East conflict -- or the so-called America-Iran proxy war between the US supported Israeli regime and the Hezbollah, which is primarily sponsored by Iran --

views on Middle East conflict

2006-07-24T16:46:00.000+08:00

This is one good reading that I'd like to share with.

The Shame of Being an American
by Paul Craig Roberts

Gentle reader, do you know that Israel is engaged in ethnic cleansing in southern Lebanon? Israel has ordered all the villagers to clear out. Israel then destroys their homes and murders the fleeing villagers. That way there is no one to come back and nothing to which to return, making it easier for Israel to grab the territory, just as Israel has been stealing Palestine from the Palestinians..

..To cut to the chase, the enemies of the Jewish state are any Muslim country not ruled by an American puppet friendly to Israel. Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and the oil emirates have sided with Israel against their own kind, because they are dependent either on American money or on American protection from their own people. Sooner or later these totally corrupt governments that do not represent the people they rule will be overthrown. It is only a matter of time.

..Despite the Israeli spin on news provided by US "reporting," a majority of Americans do not approve of Israeli atrocities against Lebanese civilians. Hezbollah is located in southern Lebanon. If Israel is targeting Hezbollah, why are Israeli bombs falling on northern Lebanon? Why are they falling on Beirut? Why are they falling on civilian airports? On schools and hospitals?

If I were to have my own way, I would love to be witnessing one day all those oil-rich Arab kingdoms-American puppet government being overthrown. Namely the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt and all other powerless and disunited Arab nations in the Middle East. Even Libya, under dictator Col. Muammar Gadaffi, has kept a low profile now. A second Great Arab Revolt is needed and it should pave the way for the destruction of the evil regime of Israel.

The so-called Great Arab Revolt against the Ottoman Turk in the early 20th century, led by the nationalist Arab leader, Sheriff Hussein bin Ali was regarded as the greatest shame to the Arabs. Of course, any Arab nationalist would argue about this til the end of the day. I'm not denying the fact that there were a lot of problems with corruptions, in-fightings within the Ottoman government, Arab subjects within Ottoman territories were not given fair treatment, were presecuted and such. But that's another story. At the end of the day, the outcome was what matters most, while the Arabs were fighting for independence from the Turkish Ottoman, with the help from British government, in return they themselves were being colonised later by the British. The movie 'Lawrence of Arabia', shows exactly how clever and civilised the British was and how foolish and how dependent the Arabs to the British, was set during this period of time. History never fails to repeat itself. Recognise any similar events in the Middle East lately?

The British were so clever in meddling in the Middle East for the purpose of serving their own interest and they made certain that Kurdistan will never exist when they carefully partitioned Jordan, Iraq, Turkey, Syria. So that is why you have Kurdist people all over the Middle East; in northern Iraq, southern part of Turkey, west of Iran and etc. That's the reason why the Kurds are always regarded as people without nation. Note that Salahuddin Al-Ayyubi, the Great Muslim Warrior during the Crusade War, Conqueror of Baitulmaqdis (Jerusalem), was a Kurd.

The Kashmir conflict are also one of the unsolved remainings during the era of British colonisation in India when they decided to partition India and Pakistan. And now you have an Indian controlled Kashmir and a Pakistan controlled Kashmir. Rest assured, the Kashmir problem won't be solved till the world ends.

It can be said that the beginning of the modern Arab-Jewish conflict started when the Balfour Declaration was signed in 1917 with an aim to establish a Jewish home in the state of Palestine, followed with the unjust United Nations (UN) partitioning of the Palestinian state and the establishment of the Israel state in 1948. The Arab-Israeli war in 1967 made things even worse, when the Arab nations led by Egypt, Syria and Jordan lose out badly to Israel, and as a result, Israel further enhances their military presence and occupation into the state of Palestine until now. Israel had and will always defy all major UN resolutions impose on them together with the support of US, the so-called most democratic country, who unshamely, on numerous accounts used their undemocratic veto power to veto anything that is seen as a threat to their interest, in other words, to their puppet master, the evil regime of Israel.

Tuah-Jebat dalam teater Wangi Jadi Saksi

2006-07-16T22:50:00.000+08:00

U-Wei kembali dengan Wangi Jadi Saksi
Wahida Asrani
Setelah satu dekad tidak berkarya, penulis dan pengarah teater U-Wei bakal kembali mencabar minda peminat seni teater melalui pementasan Wangi Jadi Saksi.

Teater yang turut mendapat kerjasama syarikat penerbitan filem LeBrocquy Fraser, pemenang anugerah Filem Bahasa Asing Terbaik di Golden Globe 2004 untuk filem Osama, bakal dipentaskan di Auditorium Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka pada 27 Julai hingga 6 Ogos ini.

Wangi Jadi Saksi menceritakan kisah Hang Jebat yang dikhianati dan dibunuh, seperti yang dilihat dari sudut pandangan isterinya, Dang Wangi (lakonan Vanida Imran, gambar sebelah).

"Kalau melalui pengetahuan kita, Jebat mati dibunuh oleh Tuah ketika di istana itu. Tapi, benarkah itu sebenarnya yang terjadi pada waktu itu? Inilah yang akan saya huraikan di dalam teater ini," ujar U-Wei di majlis sidang akhbar teater tersebut di Auditorium Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka semalam.
------------------------------------

Lantai T. Pinkie dan Bangsawan Naga Chini - dua teater sebelum ni yang tak sempat aku nak tengok. Tapi kali ni, pementasan 'Wangi Jadi Saksi' arahan U-Wei Hj. Shaari adalah sesuatu yang bagi aku tak boleh nak miss. Sememangnya sejak di zaman sekolah lagi, apa saja yang berkaitan dengan Tuah, Jebat, sejarah kesultanan Melayu Melaka dsb menjadi minat aku. Menurut U-Wei, Wangi Jadi Saksi ini ialah episod Tuah-Jebat dari pandangan isteri Jebat, Dang Wangi. Kelainan yang U-Wei bawakan inilah yang menarik minat aku untuk melihat apakah yang ingin ditunjukkan oleh U-Wei.

Dalam majalah Off The Edge keluaran July 2006 (issue 19. Anwar Ibrahim cover) turut memuatkan temubual penulis, Danny Lim dengan U-Wei (m/s 28). Di awal temubual tersebut, beliau secara tegas menyatakan bahawa beliau 'mengangkat Tuah';

"The first modern version of this legend was done in 1948 by Syed Alwi Al-Hadi,' explains U-Wei. The first generation 'mengangkat (elevated) Hang Tuah', he adds. "Then came Usman Awang, Nordin Hassan, Johan Jaafar - all mengangkat Jebat. [barangkali U-Wei terlupa hendak sebut Kassim Ahmad sekali]
This second generation said we are not like Tuah, ikut-ikut saja (just followers). We protest, we are pembangkang. Now its my generation. Jebat kills all the dayang(courtesans). You think that's a hero? Not to me. My hero doesn't kill women!'
[Saya juga tidak pernah menganggap Jebat sebagai hero, tapi tentu sekali alasan saya berbeza daripada U-Wei. Ok, itu mungkin boleh diulas di lain hari. Buku 'Hang Tuah: Tokoh Epik Nasional' oleh Tan Sri Ahmad Sarji adalah bahan rujukan terbaik tentang cerita Hang Tuah yang saya miliki selain Hikayat Hang Tuah.]

Seterusnya, antara petikan U-Wei yang membuatkan aku jadi pelik, musykil, keliru dan tertanya-tanya diri sendiri tentang episod Tuah-Jebat, ialah apabila beliau berkata;

"In one popular version of events, Jebat is mortally wounded by Tuah at the palace, and the former wraps his wound with a curtain. Tuah leaves Jebat, who then mengamoks (run amok) around Malacca before returning home. When Tuah returns to finish the job, Jebat allows Tuah to unknot the dressing, causing Jebat's intestines to spill out, resulting in death.
[Bukankah Jebat mengamok kerana ingin menuntut bela kerana tidak puas hati dengan keputusan baginda Sultan yang menghukum bunuh Hang Tuah tanpa usul periksa yang mengakibatkan Sultan terpaksa lari berlindung di rumah Bendahara. Dan apabila Jebat mendapat tahu bahawa Tuah masih hidup dan telah pulang ke kota Melaka, Jebat menyesali perbuatannya, dan berkata, 'demi Allah kalau aku tahu kau masih hidup, aku tak akan lakukan semua ini.' Jebat hanya ingin menuntut bela atas ketidakadilan baginda Sultan yang menghukum tanpa usul periksa. Akhirnya seperti mana semua sedia maklum, Sultan telah mengarahkan Hang Tuah untuk membunuh Jebat kerana telah derhaka kepada raja dan negara.]
"That's not the doing of a brother - even to punish," U-Wei disputes. If Tuah was to kill Jebat, why did Tuah let Jebat mengamuk? Why did Jebat mengamuk? Is it after Tuah mortally wounded him or when Jebat had [control of Tuah's magical keris] Taming Sari? Jebat killed the courtesans and took control of the Istana but he didn't kill the Sultan. If he really wanted to change everything, he would have killed the Sultan. And to start from the beginning, why was Tuah betrayed? A lot of questions kan?"
[why did Tuah let Jebat mengamuk? - Bukankah ketika Jebat mengamok, Tuah masih lagi dalam persembunyian? Hang Tuah hanya pulang ke Melaka apabila dipanggil kembali oleh Bendahara untuk membunuh Jebat.
why was Tuah betrayed? - Angkara penasihat Sultan berketurunan Jawa, Patih Kerma Wijaya dan kuncu-kuncu beliau, bukan? yang iri hati apabila mereka seolah-olah diketepikan oleh Sultan apabila baginda seringkali meminta nasihat Hang Tuah berkenaan apa jua masalah negeri.
- Barangkali U-Wei juga ada jawapan-jawapan beliau sendiri.]

Walau apa pun, saya menghargai usaha U-Wei untuk mementaskan Wangi Jadi Saksi. Harap-harap teater WJS ini tidak mengecewakan.

Magnifico!

2006-07-05T05:40:00.000+08:00

World Cup 2006 semifinal 1

Final Score: Italy 2 - Germany 0

..del Piero [pic source: fifaworldcup.com]

Ah what a great feeling!! Two goals in the last minutes of extra time puts Italy through to the World Cup 2006 final in Berlin! I'd say the Germany-Italy match was the most exciting world cup match that i've seen so far. Italy was definitely the better side that day. Thankfully the match didn't ended in penalty kicks as Germany have the most outstanding record in penalty kicks. 17 win in 18 shootouts. And with this win, Italy stretches their unbeaten record to Germany since 1970. Watching Italy played today, i don't see anyone could beat them. They were in control everywhere especially in midfield, outshadowing the German skipper, Ballack. An Italy-France final match would be another exciting one to watch.

Forza Italia!

Harian Metro: Mawi mungkir janji

2006-07-02T10:45:00.000+08:00

.. shahnon on the ball . Dec 2000 (gambar hiasan)

Blarfghh. it was so damn frustrating watching all my favorite World Cup teams losing out one after another. First it was Holland, then Argentina and the latest ones, England and Brazil. I was hoping at least two of these countries could enter the semis, but sadly none of them managed to get past the quarterfinals.

And I'm left with only Italy to cheer on now. Sigh.

Snow Patrol - Chasing Cars

an evening in Bagan Lalang, Sepang

2006-06-27T04:24:00.000+08:00

..ohno,azry,farhan,me (farhan's digicam)

..waiting for sunset

..tripod and us

..silhoutte (farhan's digicam)

Finally after months of countless attempts, we managed to gather the four of us and we went to Bagan Lalang yesterday afternoon. Later at night we had seafood dinner at the nearby restaurant. ikan siakap sweet sour, sotong goreng tepung, kailan masak ikan masin, kerang bakar! Nyummy nyummy :p

Check out more pics at sspidey.fotopages.com

Islands - Rough Gem

Ketagih ganja dan gian kuasa

2006-06-25T19:57:00.000+08:00

Di bawah, petikan artikel 'Ketagih ganja dan gian kuasa' oleh Hishamuddin Rais bertarikh 23 Jun di Malaysiakini di bawah kolum tetap beliau, 'Dot Mai Kembali';

"..Justeru, saya hanya ingin memberi peringatan. Jika ternampak Mat Gian atau Mat Fit terhuyung-hayang, jangan risau kerana mereka ini tidak merbahaya. Mereka sedang ‘berdengong’, jika ditolak dengan satu jari pun mereka akan terjatuh.
Tetapi waspada terhadap mereka yang ketagih kuasa. Mereka sentiasa berpakaian kemas, teratur dan membawa dompet yang penuh dengan kad kredit. Tidak mungkin mereka akan jatuh dengan sekali tolak. Disepak dan diterajang pun belum tentu mereka akan jatuh. Ketagihan kuasa inilah yang sentiasa menggangu dan menyusahkan perjalanan hidup kita.
Pergi tersepak pulang terlanggar. Petang menjadi nyamuk, senja menjadi agas. Malam menjadi pijat. Ke bukit menjadi pacat, ke air menjadi lintah. Di warong menjadi lipas, dalam komputer menjadi virus.

Mereka sentiasa menunjukkan muka seperti tahi terapung yang tidak dapat ditelan air. Contoh ‘withdrawl symptom’ seorang Mamat Gian kuasa kini sedang berlaku di hadapan mata kita. Saya tidak perlu berselindung di belakang tembok untuk menyatakan nama Mamat ini." - Hishamuddin Rais

Hishamuddin Rais memang dikenali ramai sebagai salah seorang penulis sosial, politik dan isu semasa yang prolifik yang saya sangat minati walaupun saya tak bersetuju dengan ideologi fahaman politik beliau atau kebanyakan isi-isi penulisan beliau. Isu setuju atau tidak, pada saya itu soal kedua. You don't have to agree with his ideas to enjoy reading his writings.

Kalau saya jumpa beliau, ingin saya syorkan supaya beliau menulis buku pula ataupun membukukan semua koleksi penulisan beliau.

Lapu-Lapu, Magellan dan Panglima Awang

2006-06-20T21:43:00.000+08:00

14-16 Jun 2006 - Manila, Filipina.

..Rizal Park, Manila

..the Statue of the Sentinel of Freedom, Manila

Antara petikan yang menarik perhatian saya pada plak gangsa di tugu peringatan di atas;

"Herewith we remember the fortitude of our noble countrymen-
with Rizal (Dr. Jose Rizal) in the forefront
And Lapu-Lapu as forerunner;
Two proud sons of the Malay race
Symbols of harmony in diversity and respect for each other's credo, strata and religion."

Sejarah bangsa Melayu menentang penjajah di Filipina subur diabadikan di monumen ini. Lapu-Lapu telah tercatat dalam sejarah Filipina sebagai wira negara pertama. Beliau adalah pemimpin Islam dari kepulauan Visaya (Filipina tengah) dan juga orang Asia pertama yang menentang penjajahan Barat (Sepanyol) pada awal kurun ke-16, apabila beliau beserta orang-orang Mactan membunuh Kapten Ferdinand Magellan dan beberapa orang rombongan pengembaraan beliau yang dalam pelayaran mengelilingi dunia.

Dalam rombongan pengembaraan Magellan ini terdapat seorang anak kapal berbangsa Melayu. Dialah Panglima Awang, seperti mana yang tertulis di dalam buku sejarah karangan Harun Aminurrashid; atau nama lain beliau 'Enrique' atau 'Henry the Black' mengikut sumber-sumber Barat. Beliau merupakan hamba kepada Kapten Magellan yang berasal dari Melaka yang telah dibawa ke Portugal sewaktu tentera Portugis menawan kota Melaka pada 1511. Enrique telah turut serta dalam rombongan pengembaraan Magellan dari awal ekspedisi yang bermula di Sepanyol sampailah ke penghujung mengikut laluan Barat (Jalan laut ke Timur diserahkan kepada Portugis di bawah dasar pembahagian kuasa Sepanyol-Portugis oleh pihak gereja Rom).

Maka Enrique atau Panglima Awanglah yang sepatutnya lebih berhak sebagai orang pertama mengelilingi dunia, bukannya Magellan, kerana beliau telah terbunuh di Filipina dan tidak berjaya menamatkan pelayaran. Apabila rombongan Magellan tiba di kepulauan Filipina, gembiralah Enrique, apabila mendapati bahawa penduduk tempatan di situ bertutur dalam bahasa yang seakan-akan sama dengan bahasa ibunda beliau, yakni bahasa Melayu. Maka, yakinlah Enrique bahawa dia telah pun pusing mengelilingi dunia dan telah kembali hampir dengan tanah kelahiran beliau.

Oleh sebab ekspedisi ini mendapat tajaan dan sokongan daripada Raja Sepanyol, maka sudah tentu baginda raja tidak mahu seorang hamba yang berasal dari sebuah negara Timur diangkat sebagai wira. Apabila diceritakan oleh anak-anak kapal kepada baginda raja tentang perjalanan mereka mengelilingi dunia dan kematian Magellan, baginda tegas menjawab, "Nama Magellan akan kekal dalam sejarah".

Maka, dengan itu tertulislah dalam kitab-kitab sejarah bahawa Ferdinand Magellan orang pertama mengelilingi dunia. Hakikat bahawa Kapten Magellan adalah seorang berbangsa Portugis juga telah digelapkan oleh sejarawan masa lampau untuk mengangkat kejayaan negara Sepanyol. Benarlah kata-kata bahawa, sejarah itu ditulis oleh mereka yang berkuasa.

Misi Nusantara III

2006-06-14T00:47:00.000+08:00

..akan kembali dalam masa tiga hari, insyaAllah. :)

-- fotopage

Amir Muhammad dan Kisah Pelayaran Abdullah

2006-06-11T13:12:00.000+08:00

Sememangnya saya sentiasa menantikan kemunculan filem-filem Melayu epik atau apa saja yang mempunyai hubungkait dengan sejarah. Filem 'Dayang' (yang kononnya menggunakan teknologi komputer tercanggih) yang telah memulakan penggambaran pada pertengahan 2004, masih tidak diketahui bila tarikh tayangannya, dah siap ke belum, atau mungkinkah akan mengalami nasib serupa seperti 'Pasir Salak'?

Gembira saya apabila membaca artikel Fathi Aris tentang Amir Muhammad (pengarah filem kontroversi 'Lelaki Komunis Terakhir'). Khabarnya Amir sedang merancang untuk membawa 'Kisah Pelayaran Abdullah' ke layar perak. Di bawah ialah sedikit daripada petikan artikel tersebut.

"..Dia sekarang sedang berfikir untuk mendokumentasikan Kisah Pelayaran Abdullah(siap 1849), olahan kembali karya besar Munshi Abdullah, khususnya perjalanan tokoh ini ke Kelantan dan Terengganu pada tahun 1838. Walaupun diolah daripada catatan perjalanan sebenar dan dianggap satu fakta sejarah, rakaman ini tidak dirancang diadakan di dua negeri di Pantai Timur ini.
Filem yang diilhamkan daripada Kisah Pelayaran Abdullah akan dirakam di Peru selama kira-kira sebulan pada Disember tahun ini. Kenapa Peru?
"Kalau kita gali bumi (lurus) dari Kelantan atau Terengganu, (kalau tembus) kita akan sampai ke Peru," katanya. Peru dipilih kerana negara ini antipode (jarak terjauh yang bertentangan di atas muka bumi) dengan dua negeri ini.
Katanya, ilham untuk meneroka karya Munshi Abdullah datang sewaktu beliau membikin Lelaki Komunis Terakhir. Apakah mungkin kontroversi sekali lagi apabila Munshi Abdullah ditafsir belayar ke Peru? Jawapannya kini di tangan Amir..." -UmmahOnline

Musykil juga, apa sebenarnya maksud tersirat Amir apabila menjawab persoalan 'kenapa Peru'. Apa pun, saya menghargai minat dan usaha Amir yang tak jemu untuk menerbitkan filem yang sudah pasti tiada nilai komersial seperti ini.

Buku 'Kisah Pelayaran Ibrahim Munshi' telah lama berada di rak buku saya, menantikan giliran untuk dibaca. (Ibrahim Munshi ialah anak kepada Munshi Abdullah).

deepest condolence

2006-06-09T11:36:00.000+08:00

12.45am - 1 Missed call (Farhan)

toot toot..

me: aa kenape?
farhan: bapak Bert (Herbert) meninggal. kena langgar kereta kat depan Viran. (kedai runcit ss14 Subang)
me: Haa, camne boleh kena langgar?
farhan: Sebelum bapak Bert kena langgar, kereta tu dah langgar kereta lain, lepas tu dia nak lari la, tu yang bawak laju. tak nampak bapak Bert tengah lintas jalan (dari ss14 ke ss18).
me: bila ni? petang tadi ke?
farhan: baru je tadi. kitorang nak keluar minum. tak jadi.
me: ..

hmm. takziah untuk herbert tan wei shen dan keluarga..

Tony Fernandes and Air Asia

2006-06-07T17:30:00.001+08:00

Inspiring interview with Tony Fernandes, Air Asia CEO.

Fernandes Tries to Change 'Top-Down' Culture He Sees Among Managers in Asia
By CRIS PRYSTAY

Malaysian Tony Fernandes founded AirAsia, Asia's first low-cost carrier, in 2001 and expanded the company by setting up joint-venture airlines in Thailand and Indonesia. Mr. Fernandes, 42 years old, graduated from the University of London in 1987 with a finance degree and in 1992 moved back to Malaysia, where he became managing director of Warner Music Malaysia, and later, vice-president of Warner's Southeast Asian operations. He quit in 2001 to start AirAsia.

One of Malaysia's most outspoken business executives, Mr. Fernandes not only has strong ideas on the way airlines should be run, but also how Southeast Asia's top-down corporate culture should change. He spoke to reporter Cris Prystay about his style.

WSJ: What was your first job and what did you learn from it?

Mr. Fernandes: My first job was a waiter in London at the Cavendish Hotel. I was 17. I learned that working was hard and you had to be professional, even as a waiter. You had other colleagues. If my performance was poor, it let down the whole team.

My first [career] job was as an accountant at an auditor in London. It was mind blowingly boring. I was a junior auditor and was photocopying and adding up rows of columns. The big lesson there: make sure you go into a job that you enjoy. Otherwise, you don't give any value to your employer, and you certainly don't add any value to your own mind.

WSJ: Who gave you the best business advice?

Mr. Fernandes: It was probably Stephen Shrimpton (the former chief executive officer of Warner Music International) at Warner. I was a man in a rush. I was 28 when I became the managing director of Warner Music Malaysia, and I wanted to be the regional MD. I wanted to take over the world.

One night, Steve talked to me outside the Sheraton Hotel in Hong Kong for three hours. He told me there's no need to rush and that it's about developing my own personality and making sure I'm ready for the next job. I see that now: No matter how bright someone is at 25, there's nothing like experience. He slowed me down, and made me understand that you need to take time -- to understand the business better, to understand your people better.

WSJ: What's the one thing you wish every new hire knew?

Mr. Fernandes: Humility -- and knowing what the real world is like. The new generation is coming in pretty soft. A lot of these young guys haven't lived through a recession. There are plenty of jobs out there and they think, "I can always walk into another job." The hunger and determination to do their best is sometimes not there.

WSJ: Is there a difference between the management culture in Asia and the West?

Mr. Fernandes: The management culture here is very top-down. There's less creativity and fewer people who are willing to speak out. They're more implementers than doers. There's less freedom of speech, and that impacts the business world. Even when they know things are not right, they won't speak out. They just do what they're told to do.

WSJ: What's the biggest management challenge you face?

Mr. Fernandes: To get people to think. At AirAsia, we want 4,000 brains working for us. My biggest challenge is to get people to talk, to express themselves, to get people to challenge me and say "Tony, you're talking rubbish." That's what I want, not people who say "Yes, sir." The senior management doesn't have all the answers. I want the guy on the ramp to have the confidence to tell me what's wrong.

WSJ: What are you doing to clear that hurdle?

Mr. Fernandes: We have no offices. We dress down. You wear a suit, and you put distance between you and your staff. We're on a first-name basis. I go around the office, around the check-in desks, the planes constantly, talking to people. Fifty percent of my job is managing people in the company. You get people to open up to you by just asking them to do it, and then responding to them. You don't send a memo, or do some "speak up" incentive program. It's got to be from the heart.

WSJ: What was the most satisfying decision you've made as a manager?

Mr. Fernandes: Once a month, I carry bags with the ramp boys, or I'm cabin crew, or at the check-in. I do this to get close to the operation. I also want to know my people. When I first started this, I met all these bright kids at the check-in or carrying bags. We were starting this cadet pilot program, and I said, "Let's open it up to anyone. Let some of these kids apply." They have the brains, but they just didn't have the money to get the education.

Out of the first batch of 19 cadets, 11 came from within the company. Some of these boys got the highest marks ever in the flying academy. There was one kid who joined us to carry bags, and 18 months later he was a First Officer of a 737. Can you imagine what that does for the motivation in the company? Everyone talks about developing human capital, but we did it. - (CareerJournal)

Tun Dr. M on Pak Lah

2006-06-07T17:30:00.000+08:00

Malaysia Ex-PM Mahathir: My Successor Has Betrayed Trust
PUTRAJAYA, Malaysia (AP) -- Former Malaysian leader Mahathir Mohamad on Wednesday accused his handpicked successor, who reversed many of his decisions, of betraying his trust and coming close to stabbing him in the back.
In some of his harshest criticism against Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Mahathir said he "tolerated it as much as possible" and could no longer keep his grievances quiet.
Mahathir, who retired in 2003 after 22 years in power, said he was particularly hurt by claims that he had "finished all government money and the government was bankrupt" because of mega-infrastructure projects that marked his time in office.
"Having chosen him as my successor, I expect a reasonable degree of gratefulness," Mahathir told reporters.
"I'm in the habit of choosing the wrong people," Mahathir said, adding that in his lifetime, he has helped many people, "only for them to stab me in the back."
Asked if Abdullah has stabbed him in the back, Mahathir replied: "Minor bruises."
However, Mahathir wouldn't openly say whether he regretted choosing Abdullah to succeed him instead of current Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak, whom Mahathir claimed had obtained more votes in the Cabinet to inherit the leadership."
One cannot tell what a person would do when the person is out of your control. I thought I had made the right choice," Mahathir said.
He said he wasn't campaigning within the ruling United Malays National Organization to unseat Abdullah."
I'm not capable of doing that," Mahathir said. "I cannot have him removed. I'm not going around campaigning to people...(but) I would be failing in my duty as an ordinary citizen, as ex-PM, if I did not direct my attention" to issues affecting national interests." -- www.biznewsdb.com

I regard this as Tun Dr. Mahathir's most blatant straight forward remark and by far his harshest critic on the present administration and Pak Lah specifically. He truly speaks his heart out. Here's a few related articles praising support for Dr.M from Malaysiakini.com.

Mahathir is the Second Mahatma

All Hail Great Mahathir

Dr. M: Please Come Back

MyTeam

2006-06-01T13:17:00.000+08:00

It bemuses me to watch thousands of supporters cheering on the Myteam players during their "final match" againts the Malaysian Under-20 national team as if they were up against some World Cup team or something. I guess it's the effect of the popular reality show that did it. I'm not against the whole concept of MyTeam, after all it is a successful reality show isn't it? But somehow I feel that Shebby and Khairy are being too ambitious and feeling syok sendiri of their MyTeam squad when they suggested that MyTeam to be included in the Malaysian Super League. Honestly, i don't even think they deserved to be in the KL Dunhill League. Ok, maybe I'm being too critical here. How about the FAM Cup first? And let's just see how they fare in the league.

I'm getting sick of reading sports news comments congratulating and praising the amateur Myteam squad and all. Sports journalists pun ada kaki ampu jugak eh. Anyway, finally i've found someone who shares the same sentiment as me (or the other way round) with regards to the recently concluded Malaysian football reality show, Myteam. NST reader, Sritharan Vellasamy, in his letter published today, have a few strong points in which i agree much of it;

MyTeam is not a miracle pill
I JUST do not understand the fuss over these amateurs in MyTeam who have been hailed by so-called football experts as the saviour of national football. The comments on television against former national footballer Razip Ismail regarding the MyTeam-national selection game was another lamentable episode of this debacle.

I do not see any wrong on his part for saying that such games should not take place so as not to undermine the role of the Football Association of Malaysia as the foremost authority in the running of football in the country. Criticisms and lopsided opinions of the national junior squad continue to flow freely following a largely forgettable match.

One must remember My-Team lost to the junior national team made up mainly of raw 18-year-olds. But the criticism just kept piling up. Malaysian under-20 coach Rajagopal had a valid point in his comments after the slim 2-1 win. He argued that the team did not prepare for the friendly as they were the last-minute replacements for the senior team. Does this mean that FAM has to bow to demands of friendlies with any amateur side? Don’t they have a programme to abide by and to prepare for more important ties?

Soon, I, too, with my honest and sincere aim to improve Malaysian football might demand a friendly be arranged between Sentul FC and the national team. All this should not be taken as defending the FAM for its shortcomings. The organisation had always lacked the dynamism shown by its Japanese, South Korean or even Chinese counterparts — teams which we routinely beat in the 1980s. We were once the kings of Asia.

However, offering MyTeam as an instant miracle pill is a laughable premise. I’m all for improving the standard of the game, but it should be a sincere, coherent and real effort.

Aku geleng kepala bila Pak Lah pun puji MyTeam. Nak ambik hati menantu kot.

Primum ego, tum ego, deinde ego

2006-05-31T10:21:00.000+08:00

Fotopage updated. [Tryla2006 pics]

Malaysiaku

2006-05-29T09:45:00.000+08:00

I received this from a forwarded email through a yahoogroup forum. An excellent summary on the current Pak Lah's administration that i've read so far.

"..I do not agree that we should read anything out of this courtesy call (referring to Pak Lah's courtesy call on Dr. M in Tokyo). What I do know is that we had such high hopes for his administration and what we get is one disappointment after another. It all started with the Rafidah Affair. Anyone that shows discourtesy in public, cabinet and parliament should be censured instead she escaped unscathed even after being criticised in the UMNO Assembly. Then it was the choice of the Cabinet. After all the speculation he instead brought in individuals who have been more known for their dubiousness rather then their ability to deliver.Next he maintained some who have passed their sell by date. Not much creativity involved in his choice of Cabinet. This lack of creativity continues to plague his administration.

In the last few months issues that could be dealt more creatively was instead settled using the simplest means without scant regard (in the eyes of the public) for others. Petroleum subsidy - reduce it, Malaysia Airlines - get rid of excess manpower, TNB - increase the rates, Malaysia Airlines - give more to Air Asia, Scenic Bridge - cancel it, let's not crack our brains, Augusta - sell it, Proton - let's be knockdown assemblers, Multimedia Development Corporation, not that known? - change its name maybe that will help, the Penang Shipyard fiasco, let LTAT pick up its related to them anyway and let's not talks about it hoping it will go away, the double tracking contract - let's cancel it so we do not have to crack our brains how to finance it.
I admit that some of the decisions made are based on fiscal prudence, let's not spend what we do not have, however with the much touted young circle he has I have expected more creativity in the decision making process. I do not want his administration to be remembered as one that skirted on issues and avoided any form of disagreement. Some need to be faced head on.. " - by Megat Shahrizal

Pak Lah is definitely not much of a risk taker, unlike Tun Dr. Mahathir, father of modern Malaysia, who has proven himself to be an entreprising and visionary leader, with full of great ideas towards achieving vision 2020. Pak lah's style is more of a bureaucratic-type. Malaysia needs someone who is able to take risk and the determination to drive Malaysia further, and most important thing is getting the job done. But in Pak Lah's case, he seems to de-Mahathirise many if not all of Tun Dr Mahathir's projects and plans, and thus giving the impression that the previous Rancangan Malaysia ke-8 (RMK8) was a total failure.

There's no point talking about being open, being more democratic and all those political rethorics, when all you get is endless debates and in the end, you get nothing out of it. I think it is much better to have an authocratic-Mahathir-type of leadership than having an uneffective, indecisive and weak leader.

I just hope that Pak Lah's reign as PM will not be remembered as the period whereby; the rise of petrol prices and electric tariff, rise in inflation, high corruption index and slow economic progression.

Gempa di Jogja

2006-05-27T21:09:00.000+08:00

Indonesia Earthquake Kills at Least 2,700
YOGYAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) -- A powerful earthquake flattened buildings in central Indonesia early Saturday, killing at least 2,700 people and injuring thousands more in the country's worst disaster since the 2004 tsunami.
The magnitude-6.2 quake struck at 5:54 a.m. near the ancient city of Yogyakarta 250 miles east of the capital, Jakarta, as most people were sleeping, causing death and damage in many nearby towns.
Houses, hotels and government buildings collapsed, sending hysterical people running through the streets. Many roads and bridges were destroyed, hindering efforts to get taxis and pickup trucks filled with wounded to hospitals overflowing with patients.

Kesian Indonesia. Lepas satu..satu.. Masa tengok berita di Buletin Utama TV3 tadi ingatkan bencana alam tentang letusan Gunung Merapi yang sedang aktif tu, tapi bukan, ini gempa bumi! Baru je bulan lepas saya melawat kota seni mistik purba Jawa, Jogja (blog/foto). Memori melawat candi purba; Borobudur & Prambanan, Kraton kesultanan Ngayogyakarta Hadiningrat, shopping di sekitar Jalan Malioboro masih segar lagi dalam ingatan, ataupun pada gambar foto. Masa tu dah mula kecoh-kecoh di akhbar tempatan tentang ramalan aktiviti-aktiviti Gunung Merapi, tapi kini sesuatu yang tak disangka-sangka pula terjadi.

Pening kepala Pak Presiden, SBY.

Moga dijauhkanlah sebarang bencana alam di bumi Malaysia..

music therapy

2006-05-27T17:32:00.000+08:00

Sigur Rós - Starálfur
Blá Nótt Yfir Himininn
Blá Nótt Yfir Mér
Horf-Inn Út Um Gluggann
Minn Með Hendur
Faldar Undir Kinn
Hugsum Daginn Minn
Í Dag Og Í Gær

Blá Náttfötin Klæða Mig Í
Beint Upp Í Rúm
Breiði Mjúku Sængina
Loka Augunum
Ég Fel Hausinn Minn Undir Sæng
Starir Á Mig Lítill Álfur
Hleypur Að Mér En Hreyfist Ekki
Úr Stað ; Sjálfur
Starálfur

Opna Augun
Stírurnar Úr
Teygi Mig Og Tel (Hvort Ég Sé Ekki)
Kominn Aftur Og Alltalltílæ
Samt Vantar Eitthvað
Eins Og Alla Vegginna

(Translation)
Blue Night Over The Sky
Blue Night Over Me
Disappeared Out Of The Window
Me With Hands
Hidden Under My Cheek
I Think About My Day
Today And Yesterday

I Put On My Blue Nighties
Go Straight To Bed
I Pull The Soft Covers Over
Close My Eyes
I Hide My Head Under The Covers
A Little Elf Stares At Me
Runs Towards Me But Doesn't Move
From Place - Himself
I Open My Eyes

A Staring Elf
Take The Crusts Out
Stretch Myself And Check (If I Haven't)
Returned Again And Everything Is Okay
Still There Is Something Missing
Like All The Walls

Counting 5 4 3 2 1

2006-05-22T00:59:00.000+08:00

Hampir 10 hari tak update blog,
TRYLA yang bestgile.
8 Hari, 946 keping gambar!
penat 'TRYLA 2006' tak hilang lagi.
Semalam dah tengok Da Vinci Code!
best!
walaupun belum baca novel Dan Brown tu,
Mungkin kalau dah baca
aku akan kata tak best kot.
blablablahs..
nanti update lagi yah.
later.

Norah Jones - What am I to you

soyez de retour en huit jours

2006-05-11T12:05:00.000+08:00

ira's sister's wedding dinner, KL (5 May 2006) [gambar hiasan]

Here's just a short update and I guess this is the last post of the week too. I'll be away/offline for eight days starting from tomorrow. Have a nice day.

Thursday - Running from the Rain

Bila Anwar tengok Gubra. Shakespeare dan Hikayat Hang Tuah

2006-05-10T18:13:00.000+08:00

Bila Anwar Tengok Gubra
KUALA LUMPUR (AnwarIbrahim.com) -- Dalam kesibukan Anwar memenuhi program yang telah diatur sejak Januari lalu, beliau dan beberapa pembantu beliau berkesempatan bersantai untuk menonton filem kontroversi Yasmin, Gubra.
Anwar dan ditemani oleh pembantu beliau, Faiz Shahri, Khalid Jaafar dan Shaberimi Sidek serta beberapa yang lain tiba di GSC Midvalley, jam 5 petang semalam untuk menonton filem yang telah menimbulkan pelbagai reaksi dikalangan pengiat dan peminat filem nasional.
Beliau yang ditemui selepas tayangan tersebut menyatakan filem ini agak menarik kerana cuba menampilkan idea-idea yang jujur dalam kehidupan seharian dan menampilkan simbolik-simbolik politik yang halus dan tajam.
"lihat sahaja nama lelaki tionghua (ayah Jason & Alan)" kata Anwar sambil tersenyum. -- anwaribrahim.com

Tak sangka orang politik pun tengok wayang jugak. Apatah lagi orang politik nama besar macam Anwar Ibrahim.

Anwar, pidato dan World Shakespeare Congress
Politics aside. Walaupun sejak dari zaman sekolah menengah dulu (lewat 90-an) sampai sekarang saya tak pernah menyanjung atau menyokong gerakan Reformasi anjuran beliau tapi ada beberapa aspek pada diri beliau yang saya kagum. Salah satu daripadanya ialah kehebatan berpidato beliau. Tak keterlaluan kalau saya nak katakan bahawa beliau antara tokoh politik tempatan yang paling hebat berpidato, selain daripada penceramah-penceramah tin kosong dalam PAS.

Kalau dalam UMNO saya meminati gaya pidato/ucapan Khairy Jamaludin (naib ketua pemuda UMNO, eksekutif ECM Libra, Pengerusi World Halal Forum, Pengarah eksekutif MyTeam dan juga menantu PM). Gaya bahasa, ucapan, confidence dan body language beliau penuh keyakinan, lancar tak tergagap-gagap, terhenti-henti dsb. Tak ramai pemimpin UMNO macam beliau. Kalau ada interview dengan Khairy di tv mesti kena tengok. Artikel mingguan tulisan beliau setiap hari Sabtu di NST mesti kena baca (latest). Pak Lah? Najib? Mengantuklah. Tengok Lim Kheng Yaik atau Samy Vellu buat lawak pasal kenaikan tarif elektrik atau perihal keretakan jambatan masa sidang media atau di parlimen dalam Buletin Utama TV3 lebih menghiburkan.

Ha melalut pulak. Isu satu lagi pula ialah tentang World Shakespeare Congress yang bakal diadakan di University of Queensland, Australia pada 16-21 July 2006 yang turut akan dihadiri oleh Profesor Dato' Seri Anwar Ibrahim (ya, Profesor kini!) sebagai salah seorang daripada lima panelis jemputan di sidang planeri. Walaupun umum tahu bahawa Anwar adalah seorang peminat Shakespeare dan beliau banyak menghabiskan masa di dalam penjara dengan membaca karya-karya Shakespeare, saya kagum dengan pihak University of Queensland dengan menjemput seseorang yang boleh dikira sbg 'orang luar' sebagai salah seorang panelis berkenaan dengan literasi Shakespeare.

Mungkin kita juga boleh menganjurkan sidang forum tentang Hikayat Hang Tuah (karya agung sastera Melayu yang mendapat pengiktirafan UNESCO) ataupun Sejarah Melayu dengan menjemput seorang dua Profesor dari School of African & Oriental Studies, Uni. of London contohnya, selain tokoh-tokoh sejarawan dari kepulauan Nusantara. DBP dengan kolaborasi Akademi Pengajian Melayu-UM barangkali boleh bertindak sebagai pihak penganjur.

Tak sabar menantikan 'prison diaries' Anwar yang akan muncul sebelum hujung tahun ini. Bakal menjadi hit pastinya.

Time 100 Most Influential People

2006-05-08T13:04:00.000+08:00

Time, May 8 issue is one that couldn't be missed. It's a special issue on the world's 100 most influential people and also Time's largest issue since they named Albert Einstein their Person of the Century six years ago. Looking at the names listed, definitely it could have raised a few eyebrows.

Anyway, it's interesting to note that under the ranks of Builders & Titans, three netpreneurs made it into the list. These are the ones that really caught my attention. First the Flickr (web photosharing site) founder - Caterina Fake and husband, Stewart Butterfield. Flickr was created in February 2004 and just after 16 month later, Yahoo! bought it for nearly $30 million! Wow. Simply amazing isn't it. I'm thinking of changing my photoblog from fotopages to Flickr now, as they got much better web tools like the hot tags and loads much faster compared to fotopages (am i right?), but i guess i'll just stick to fotopages.com for the time being. heh.

Next is the Myspace.com dudes, Chris Dewolfe and Tom Anderson. Here's two amazing facts from Time magazine about them. Myspace is currently the seventh most popular website in the world, according to web traffic tracker, Alexa.com! And i guess the most unbelievable fact was that, Australian-born media tycoon, Rupert Murdoch bought Myspace and its parent company for $580 million!! gile sial.

Third, the Skype Guys. Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis. Exerpts from Time;

"They are part of the VOIP (voice-over-internet-protocol) movement that is redefining the way telephone calls are made. VOIP calls are made over the internet, using the same underlying transport technology that a web browser uses.."

These two Swedish guys were also the creator of the file-sharing application, Kazaa, back in 2001. Their story is just about the same like the previous two above. Last year, they sold Skype to eBay for $2.6 billion! Omg, 2.6 billion! phew.

It's always wonderful and refreshing to read stories about successful people. It makes you feel so inspired. And of course there's also people like George Bush, Al Gore, Iranian President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Palestinian PM, Ismail Haniya and Al-Qaeda's most wanted man- Ayman Al-Zawahiri making into the top 100 list.

Here's another quite similar alternative to the Time 100, 'The 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Persons in History', a book by Michael H. Hart. It is important to note that Hart's criterion was influence and not the ranking of the greatest. One of the most significant part on Hart's list was that, Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) was ranked at number one. Quite surprisingly though, perhaps the fact that it was published by a western author.

Sunday sundae - of Wikipedia, Brutus, Sigur Ros & books

2006-05-07T11:11:00.000+08:00

Here's another random Sunday writings..

Wikipedia and the Roman republic

I'm currently addicted to wikipedia. Well not that this is the first, but the first time that i write about it. It's like a neverending reading, and perhaps only the non stop blinking DSL light from my TMNet modem could possibly stop it.

From a quote from the Shakespeare's play, Julius Caesar, by Tun Dr. Mahathir during his term as Prime Minister during an UMNO general assembly, to an article in Malaysia-today and a yahoo movie review on 'Hannibal the Conquerer' to the wikipedia web search. Wikipedia is so damn addictive. I could be reading from one topic to another different one for hours. And im so into reading Roman history now. From Julius Caesar, Brutus, the Ides of March, Hannibal, the Great Fire of Rome & Nero (no doubt that the cd burner software 'Nero' got its name from him) to John Wilkes Booth (the so-called American Brutus, assasin of Abraham Lincoln).

It is interesting to note that how people will try to justify certain historical event to relate with issues in present time. But nevertheless, as the popular saying goes, history often repeats itself. One example would be the case of John Wilkes Booth, the assasin of President Abraham Lincoln, who was said to be influenced by Brutus, the assasin of Julius Caesar, hence the name of 'American Brutus'.

Look no further. Wasn't the history of Hang Nadim (not to be confused with Hang Nadim of the Malacca Sultanate) of the 'Singapura dilanggar Todak' legend was being repeated again in the story of Hang Tuah? - the false accusation of Hang Tuah committing adultery with the Sultan's dayang/gundik by one of the pembesar istana, Patih Kerma Wijaya because of jealousy and hatred towards him. and subsequently led to his death sentence by the Sultan of Malacca without further investigations. But thankfully the Bendahara didn't execute the Sultan's order, but hid Hang Tuah in a far away place. And in Hang Nadim's case it was the also the case of jealousy of the pembesar istana toward the young boy, Hang Nadim, because he managed to solve the country's major problem; the ikan todaks when he suggested to use banana sticks as a defense method, and thus, solving the ikan todak problem. The intelligent of Hang Nadim has made the pembesar istana became furious and they worry one day Hang Nadim would risk their positions and also the kingdom, so they persuaded the Raja, Demang Lebar Daun, to kill him off, simply because to them, the boy was too clever. And the Raja blindly trusted his advisors. Same story like Hang Tuah's isn't it. What are the similarity of these two examples? - the Malays are so fond of calling it, the PHD or the perasaan hasad dengki.

Twice, if I'm not mistaken, that Khairy Jamaluddin, the PM's son-in-law, has been compared to Hang Nadim, perhaps because of his young age in his involvement in politics. First was during the 2004 general election campaign in Kelantan, when Pak Lah mentioned the story of Hang Nadim, but didn't specifically name who. But it wasnt too hard to get the message on Pak Lah's kiasan. Secondly, by the Larut MP, Raja Ahmad Zainuddin, in parliament few months back. He defended Khairy when Khairy was being criticised by the opposition leader, Lim Kit Siang, also by comparing him to Hang Nadim. Is Khairy truly comparable to the legendary figure, Hang Nadim? Talking of Khairy, i don't know whether to believe the rumours of him and his association with the Singapore secret service and all sorts of stories about him. ok, i'd better stop now. Maybe i've been reading Raja Petra's Malaysia-today and the anti-Khairy group in KMU too much.

Hannibal the Conquerer

I can't wait to watch Hannibal the Conquerer (directed by Vin Diesel)! I hope it won't be a dissapoinment like the previous King Arthur epic. Here's a short note on the movie;

Based Upon: This movie is based upon the life of the Carthaginian general, Hannibal Barca, who in the third century B.C. (218 B.C., specifically) famously led an army of elephants through the Alps in an attempt to attack Rome. More specifically, this movie is being adapted from the novel, "Hannibal," by Ross Leckie about Hannibal.

Premise: When his father is killed by the Romans, Hannibal (Diesel), a young man from the ruling clans of the city of Carthage on the Mediterranean shore of North Africa, makes an oath of vengeance against Rome. Dedicating his life to fulfilling that challenge, Hannibal becomes a general by the time he's in his mid-20s, and with an army of 100,000 committed to his goal, he sets out to bring Rome down, first by conquering Spain, and then by setting loose a surprise (and famous) attack on Italy by way of the Alps, with an array of forces that included war-trained elephants. This movie shows how far a son can be willing to go to avenge the death of his father. >>

Sigur Ros and latest albums

Sigur Ros is currently the next best thing. You could never possibly get bored listening to them. I know that this is the second time i blog on them, but who cares. i just looove their songs. Whenever you feel like you've been listening too much of 'Taak', there's 'Agætis Byrjun' that you could turn to, and vice versa. Damn these Icelandic guys making songs so addictive. hehe. No, not that I'm complaining :p

On another note, Thursday has released their new album, 'A City by the Light Divided' and i think they sound better than the previous one. Unlike Matchbook Romance, they didn't change their music one bit. and Pretty Girls Make Graves too has released their latest album, 'Élan Vital'. Boy, they do sound like The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, especially in The Magic Hour and I like the intro and the music beat of Pyrite Pedestal. And oh yeah, how could i forgot! Nak beli album baru Siti jugak(original ye)! :p

Good songs and lyrics are like music therapy too, don't you think? or am i confused with the idea of music therapy? Haha, well, nevermind. As long as it feels good to listen to.

Books

Have you ever feel like you just want to finish off reading all the unread books left on the shelve all at once? heheh. but at the same time you keep on buying new books? tak masuk akal. So now I'm trying to avoid visiting any bookstores for the moment. I just feel like at least wanting to finish one book in a week, so that i could complete four books in a month! Whoa.. but so far i've only managed two books on an average. I think i should list down the few books that i wanted to read next as a self-reminder; 'My Name is Red' by Orhan Pamuk, A. Samad Said's 'Adik Datang', 'Tenggelamnya Kapal van der Wijk' by Hamka and VS Naipaul's 'Among the Believers'. There's a lot more if i were to list it here. So let's just stop for now.

Later guys.

Thursday - The Lovesong Writer

'Gubra' lagi

2006-05-03T09:15:00.000+08:00

Dah banyak review Gubra yang pro & kontra yang aku baca di blog-blog (termasuk blog ni juga) ataupun dalam Utusan Malaysia. Rasanya belum pernah lagi sebuah filem Melayu (filem Malaysia) mendapat respons yang begitu meluas seperti Gubra di dunia blog. Klimaks review Gubra yang aku kira mendapat publisiti paling meluas di internet ialah komentar Faisal Tehrani - 'Gubra yang Sesat Lagi Menyesatkan' yang telah turut disebarkan melalui blog-blog, e-mail, forum-forum internet dan yahoo messenger. Tak ketinggalan Harakahdaily turut menyiarkan tulisan Faisal Tehrani tersebut sebagai salah satu bahan artikel pada 28 April lalu.

Baru-baru ni aku terjumpa satu lagi ulasan Gubra oleh Khalid Jaafar (pengarang 'Tumit Achilles' dan pengarah IKD) di bawah tajuk 'Gubra - Sebuah filem filsafat' yang aku anggap sebagai satu pandangan alternatif. Baca komen beliau di sini. Lain daripada review kebanyakan. Satu persatu isu kontroversi dalam Gubra dikupasnya dengan panjang lebar secara ilmiah.

Sebahagian petikan komen Khalid Jaafar;

"..Mahunya kebanyakkan kita adalah bilal menjadi wira pencegah maksiat, mengajak orang kampung membersihkan kampungnya dari maksiat, mengusir pelacur dan menutup rumah pelacuran. Atau mengadukannya kepada polis atau jabatan pencegah maksiat.

Tetapi bilal dalam Gubra juga seorang pencegah maksiat, tetapi bukan dengan cara biasa masyarakat fahami.Bilal menahan pencuri yang mencuri wang mata pencarian pekerja seks, dan mendapatkan kembali wang yang dicuri. Ada isyarat bahawa pencuri itu adalah suami atau bekas suami kepada si pelacur. Ini menjadikan watak bilal dalam Gubra sesuatu yang unprecedented dalam perfileman tempatan. Berbeda dengan serangan bertubi-tubi setengah penonton dan mengulas saya melihat penampilan watak bilal sebagai watak agama yang paling otentik dari segi isi.

Bilal tidak berleter tentang kebaikan dan keburukan. Bilal keras dan tegas pada pencuri tetapi lembut kepada mereka yang menderita dan dieksploitasi. Dan bilal menggoreng cok kodok untuk isterinya dengan jelingan bergurau.. bersambung"

Aku kira beliau cuba untuk memberi komen yang adil dan rasional tanpa terlalu emosional atau kritis dalam menjustifikasikan beberapa babak kontroversi dalam Gubra. Aku tak berniat nak menyanggah pendapat Faisal dengan menyiarkan komen Khalid Jaafar ini, cuma hanya ingin berkongsi pendapat beliau di sini.

Lainnya blog Khalid Jaafar ialah beliau tidak menulisnya dalam satu entri sekaligus tetapi berperingkat-peringkat. Mungkin nak bagi pembaca terus-menerus melawat blog beliau.

"When you want something, all the world conspires in helping you to achieve it," - Melchizedek, the Old King

2006-04-30T21:59:00.000+08:00

The Alchemist by Brazillian best-selling author, Paulo Coelho is a book that i'd like to recommend you to read. I've just finished reading it and i'd say it's probably one of the best fiction that i've read in recent times. Such an inspiring book to read. (The quote above was taken from the book)

"(It tells the story of) Santiago, a simple boy who lives by travelling with his sheep, is suddenly enchanted by a dream he dreamt while resting under a tree, inside a ruined church. He dreamt that if he travels to the pyramids, he will find his fortune. So he went on for an uncharted journey and along the way encontered magical phenomenon, involving a King and then meeting The Alchemist himself. He also met the girl of his life, Fatima, on his way to Egypt.

When he got to the pyramids, he met a desert soldier who told him that two years ago, in the exact same spot where Santiago is, he dreamt that in a tree that has grown inside the ruins of a church in Spain, he will find his treasure. In that instant, Santigo realized that what he's been looking for all these years is right where he left it." - Allreaders.com

I'm currently looking for 'Jonathan Livingston Seagull' (by Richard Bach) and 'My Name is Red' (by Orhan Pamuk)? Anyone can help me find it? :)

Furniture - Postcards

alya chomel

2006-04-30T00:21:00.000+08:00

Ah, it feels like soo long since i write something here. Previous entry was just a copy paste. So that didn't count. Anyway, guess what? Aleeya (pic) won the Carrefour baby photo contest (pertandingan baby comel)! Next Saturday is the prize-giving ceremony at Carrefour Subang Jaya. :p

Seriously i was very surprised when my mother told me that that photo won, as it was like a last minute entry (we've submitted 4 entries) and i don't quite like the amatuerish-look of it and its composition, though her emotions looks natural while dancing on the table. heheh. But nevertheless, i'm still happy that she won (or should i say, i, as the photographer :p)! Winning is what matters most! She is one of the 8 winners. You know how hard it is to snap a shot of a 'grown up' baby. If she notice that i'm holding a camera, she would rush toward me to grab a hold of it. So you gotta be quick! After all, isn't photography is all about time & light, right? hehe. Blablahs.

Belinda Carlisle - Leave a Light on Me