On the Shoulders of Giants

College isn't for everyone

2011-09-14T13:40:00.000+08:00

I came across this interesting piece but I have not been able to link it to the source. It's a long article, but if you want to know what it says in less than 10 words, here it is - not everyone has to go to college

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AMERICA'S MOST OVER-RATED PRODUCT: THE BACHELOR'S DEGREE

By Marty Nemko

AMONG MY SADDEST MOMENTS as a careercounselor is when I hear a story like this: "I wasn't a good student inhigh school, but I wanted to prove that I can get a college diploma. I'd be thefirst one in my family to do it. But it's been five years and $80,000, and Istill have 45 credits to go."

I have a hard time telling such people thekiller statistic: Among high-school students who graduated in the bottom 40percent of their classes, and whose first institutions were four-year colleges,two-thirds had not earned diplomas eight and a half years later. That figure isfrom a study cited by Clifford Adelman, a former research analyst at the U.S.Department of Education and now a senior research associate at the Institutefor Higher Education Policy. Yet four-year colleges admit and take money fromhundreds of thousands of such students each year!

Even worse, most of those college dropoutsleave the campus having learned little of value, and with a mountain of debtand devastated self-esteem from their unsuccessful struggles. Perhaps worst ofall, even those who do manage to graduate too rarely end up in careers thatrequire a college education. So it's not surprising that when you hop into acab or walk into a restaurant, you're likely to meet workers who spent yearsand their family's life savings on college, only to end up with a job theycould have done as a high-school dropout.

Such students are not aberrations. Today,amazingly, a majority of the students whom colleges admit are grosslyunderprepared. Only 23 percent of the 1.3 million high-school graduates of 2007who took the ACT examination were ready for college-level work in the coresubjects of English, math, reading, and science.

Perhaps more surprising, even thosehigh-school students who are fully qualified to attend college are increasinglyunlikely to derive enough benefit to justify the often six-figure cost and fourto six years (or more) it takes to graduate. Research suggests that more than40 percent of freshmen at four-year institutions do not graduate in six years.Colleges trumpet the statistic that, over their lifetimes, college graduatesearn more than nongraduates, but that's terribly misleading. You could lock thecollegebound in a closet for four years, and they'd still go on to earn morethan the pool of non-collegebound — they're brighter, more motivated, and havebetter family connections.

Also, the past advantage of collegegraduates in the job market is eroding. Ever more students attend college atthe same time as ever more employers are automating and sending offshore evermore professional jobs, and hiring part-time workers. Many college graduatesare forced to take some very nonprofessional positions, such as driving a truckor tending bar.

How much do students at four-yearinstitutions actually learn?

Colleges are quick to argue that a collegeeducation is more about enlightenment than employment. That may be the biggestdeception of all. Often there is a Grand Canyon of difference between thereality and what higher-education institutions, especially research ones, toutin their viewbooks and on their Web sites. Colleges and universities arebusinesses, and students are a cost item, while research is a profit center. Asa result, many institutions tend to educate students in the cheapest waypossible: large lecture classes, with necessary small classes staffed byrock-bottom-cost graduate students. At many colleges, only a small percentageof the typical student's classroom hours will have been spent with fewer than30 students taught by a professor, according to student-questionnaire data Iused for my book How to Get an Ivy League Education at a State University. Whenstudents at 115 institutions were asked what percentage of their class time hadbeen spent in classes of fewer than 30 students, the average response was 28percent.

That's not to say that professor-taughtclasses are so worthwhile. The more prestigious the institution, the morelikely that faculty members are hired and promoted much more for their researchthan for their teaching. Professors who bring in big research dollars arealmost always rewarded more highly than a fine teacher who doesn't bring in theresearch bucks. Ernest L. Boyer, the late president of the Carnegie Foundationfor the Advancement of Teaching, used to say that winning the campus teachingaward was the kiss of death when it came to tenure. So, no surprise, in thelatest annual national survey of freshmen conducted by the Higher EducationResearch Institute at the University of California at Los Angeles, 44.6 percentsaid they were not satisfied with the quality of instruction they received.Imagine if that many people were dissatisfied with a brand of car: It wouldquickly go off the market. Colleges should be held to a much higher standard,as a higher education costs so much more, requires years of time, and has somuch potential impact on your life. Meanwhile, 43.5 percent of freshmen alsoreported "frequently" feeling bored in class, the survey found.

College students may be dissatisfied withinstruction, but, despite that, do they learn? A 2006 study supported by thePew Charitable Trusts found that 50 percent of college seniors scored below"proficient" levels on a test that required them to do such basictasks as understand the arguments of newspaper editorials or comparecredit-card offers. Almost 20 percent of seniors had only basic quantitativeskills. The students could not estimate if their car had enough gas to get tothe gas station.

Unbelievably, according to the Spellings Report,which was released in 2006 by a federal commission that examined the future ofAmerican higher education, things are getting even worse: "Over the pastdecade, literacy among college graduates has actually declined. … According tothe most recent National Assessment of Adult Literacy, for instance, thepercentage of college graduates deemed proficient in prose literacy hasactually declined from 40 to 31 percent in the past decade. … Employers reportrepeatedly that many new graduates they hire are not prepared to work, lackingthe critical thinking, writing and problem-solving skills needed in today'sworkplaces."

What must be done to improve undergraduateeducation?

Colleges should be held at least asaccountable as tire companies are. When some Firestone tires were believed tobe defective, government investigations, combined with news-media scrutiny, ledto higher tire-safety standards. Yet year after year, colleges and universitiesturn out millions of defective products: students who drop out or graduate withfar too little benefit for the time and money spent. Not only do collegesescape punishment, but they are rewarded with taxpayer-financed student grantsand loans, which allow them to raise their tuitions even more.

I ask colleges to do no more than tiremanufacturers are required to do. To be government-approved, all tires musthave — prominently molded into the sidewall — some crucial information,including ratings of tread life, temperature resistance, and traction comparedwith national benchmarks.

Going significantly beyond therecommendations in the Spellings report, I believe that colleges should berequired to prominently report the following data on their Web sites and inrecruitment materials:

Value added. A national test, which could be developed by the major testing companies, should measure skills important for responsible citizenship and career success. Some of the test should be in career contexts: the ability to draft a persuasive memo, analyze an employer's financial report, or use online research tools to develop content for a report.

Just as the No Child Left Behind Act mandates strict accountability of elementary and secondary schools, all colleges should be required to administer the value-added test I propose to all entering freshmen and to students about to graduate, and to report the mean value added, broken out by precollege SAT scores, race, and gender. That would strongly encourage institutions to improve their undergraduate education and to admit only students likely to derive enough benefit to justify the time, tuition, and opportunity costs. Societal bonus: Employers could request that job applicants submit the test results, leading to more-valid hiring decisions.

The average cash, loan, and work-study financial aid for varying levels of family income and assets, broken out by race and gender. And because some colleges use the drug-dealer scam — give the first dose cheap and then jack up the price — they should be required to provide the average not just for the first year, but for each year.

Retention data: the percentage of students returning for a second year, broken out by SAT score, race, and gender.

Safety data: the percentage of an institution's students who have been robbed or assaulted on or near the campus.

The four-, five-, and six-year graduation rates, broken out by SAT score, race, and gender. That would allow institutions to better document such trends as the plummeting percentage of male graduates in recent years.

Employment data for graduates: the percentage of graduates who, within six months of graduation, are in graduate school, unemployed, or employed in a job requiring college-level skills, along with salary data.

Results of the most recent student-satisfaction survey, to be conducted by the institutions themselves.

The most recent accreditation report. The college could include the executive summary only in its printed recruitment material, but it would have to post the full report on its Web site.

Being required to conspicuously providethis information to prospective students and parents would exert long-overduepressure on colleges to improve the quality of undergraduate education. Whatshould parents and guardians of prospective students do?

If your child's high-school grades and test scores are in the bottom half for his class, resist the attempts of four-year colleges to woo him. Colleges make money whether or not a student learns, whether or not she graduates, and whether or not he finds good employment. Let the buyer beware. Consider an associate-degree program at a community college, or such nondegree options as apprenticeship programs (see http://www.khake.com), shorter career-preparation programs at community colleges, the military, and on-the-job training, especially at the elbow of a successful small-business owner.

If your student is in the top half of her high-school class and is motivated to attend college for reasons other than going to parties and being able to say she went to college, have her apply to perhaps a dozen colleges. Colleges vary less than you might think (at least on factors you can readily discern in the absence of the accountability requirements I advocate above), yet financial-aid awards can vary wildly. It's often wise to choose the college that requires you to pay the least cash and take out the smallest loan. College is among the few products that don't necessarily give you what you pay for — price does not indicate quality.

If your child is one of the rare breed who knows what he wants to do and isn't unduly attracted to academics or to the Animal House environment that characterizes many college-living arrangements, then take solace in the fact that countless other people have successfully taken the noncollege road less traveled. Some examples: Maya Angelou, David Ben-Gurion, Richard Branson, Coco Chanel, Walter Cronkite, Michael Dell, Walt Disney, Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, Bill Gates, Alex Haley, Ernest Hemingway, Wolfgang Puck, John D. Rockefeller Sr., Ted Turner, Frank Lloyd Wright, and nine U.S. presidents, from Washington to Truman.

College is a wise choice for far fewerpeople than are currently encouraged to consider it. It's crucial that theyevenhandedly weigh the pros and cons of college versus the aforementionedalternatives. The quality of their lives may depend on that choice.

Marty Nemko is a career counselor basedin Oakland, Calif., and has been an education consultant to 15 collegepresidents. He is author of four books, including The All-in-One College Guide:A Consumer Activist's Guide to Choosing a College (Barron's, 2004).

School system gets messier

2011-09-07T12:28:00.000+08:00

All the talk about revamps and revitalising our education system is, yes, all talk. It looks like the ministry is run by incompetent persons with grand titles and greater delusions of grandeur. Meanwhile, taxpayer's funds and a lot of time are wasted. I am sorry for the teachers and the ridiculous load they have to shoulder. And our children? They deserve better, certainly. If you can, get your kids out of the system.

Here's the painful Malaysiakini letter that's enough to make anyone weep:

Last year it was called Sistem Pentaksiran Pendidikan Kebangsaan(SPPK). My school was one of the pioneers of the project. The Ministry ofEducation thought that exam oriented approach to teaching was not fair to allthe students. The argument was that six years of primary education should notbe concluded in 50 minutes of multiple choice questions. The intention wasgood. It still is.

Now with Kurikulum Standard Sekolah Rendah (KSSR) comes PentaksiranBerasaskan Sekolah. You may have heard of it. The Minister of Education refersto this as PBS and it was meant to ensure that no pupil will be left behind dueto unfortunate circumstances. It being school based means that the teacherknows best when to assess the pupil.

This school based assessment is a yearly assessment and it contributes40 percent towards the UPSR final grade. At the beginning of the year we weretold that only five subjects were involved namely Bahasa, English, Mathematics,Science and Physical, Sports, Cocurriculum Activity Education.

The school was to prepare filesaplenty. The most notable one would be the 'Showcase' file in which we storethe pupil's best piece of work throughout 6 years as evidence. It sounded O.K.But that was the beginning of the year.

And so we opened all the necessary files. The bigger the school population, themore files needed. Each of the teacher in charge of assessment was providedwith a Performance Standard Document as a guideline. It was published by theMalaysian Examination Syndicate. Bear in mind that this was last year's edition- the one used by the pioneer schools.

One thing that was wrong with it was that the documents for mathematics andscience were still written in English. This raised questions but the teachersbeing jacks of all trade did not complain at this point. Where there is a willthere is a way. School based assessment was up and running by late January.

In April, we were told to halt the school based assessment pending for thearrival of new Performance Standard Documents by the Malaysian ExaminationSyndicate. All assessments done up until this point was deemed invalid. Schoolbased assessment was put to a halt at this point.

In May, we were informed that the school based assessment now involves everysubject in KSSR including Information and Communication Technology Elementwhich is not even a subject taught by any specific teacher. Even the newlyminted Bahasa Arab for KSSR was not spared.

Each subject has its own Performance Standard Document. So we bought thickerfiles and put dividers for each subject. It got a little frustrating at thispoint. We needed to redo the in-house training for the additional subjects. Bythe way, even until now nobody mentioned that UPSR 2016 will involve every KSSRsubject.

The sample worksheets (instrument for assessment) per se is ridiculous. Forexample Band 1 assessment for Bahasa is fairly fundamental knowledge such asmimicking sounds, naming them, reading word segments, and tracing alphabets.

But when you look at the Bands1 and 2 assessment for Moral Education it's like a mini literature. It assumedYear 1 pupils read fluently and write smoothly. Even Year 4 pupils could not doYear 1's Band 2 Moral Education worksheet.

In June, the Examination Syndicate uploaded an online application called SistemPengurusan Pentaksiran Berasaskan Sekolah (SPPBS) to do what it was supposed todo hence the name.

The school secretary ofexaminations was given the task to create user accounts for every localassessor. We attended the in-house training which was done by our secretaryhimself. School based assessment was up and running again by end of June.

Surprise, surprise. The Examination Syndicate's circular regarding thecompulsory implementation of school based assessment only came out on July 5.Every school has a copy but for unknown reasons you will not find this circularonline.

I've searched the officialwebsite and I've Googled for traces of it elsewhere. I suspect it is due to thedelay of the letter (supposed to have been distributed in January) and thatcertain quarters might dispute the validity of assessments done prior to itsrelease.

The most ridiculous part was this. I was about the record the qualifiers forBands 2 and 3 for the subjects that I assessed on Friday, September 3. What I sawwas truly horrifying. The entire database was erased by the systemadministrator! We were prompted to get our new passwords from the StateEducation Department.

And upon navigation no news of passwords whatsoever can be found. This isSeptember for crying out loud - less than two months before the end of theschool calendar. Do you mean that we need to go back to square one? We havemany other errands to run in school, you know.

The director of the Malaysian Examination Syndicate, Sufaat bin Tumin has a lotof explaining to do. Perhaps it is wise to stick with the original plan and puton hold any improvisations.

Murphy's Law states that if something can go wrong, it will. This whole episodewill repeat itself next year, don't you agree, Mr Director?

I think therefore IPad

2011-08-04T16:10:00.003+08:00

IPad2 64GB Wifi/3G. Undoubtedly the COOLEST thing I've purchased this year. I'm looking forward to a lighter load in my backpack and a lot easier way to get work done on the run.

Desktop PC and Windows, the writing is on the wall, er, IPad.

John Stott: Called home

2011-07-28T14:54:00.002+08:00

John Robert Walmsley Stott
27 April 1921 – 27 July 2011

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ:

For all of us who were together in Cape Town for the Third Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization, we will remember the moving tributes given to the two giants of The Lausanne Movement, Billy Graham and John Stott. They were personal friends who loved and admired one another, and they were the defining figures of global evangelicalism for the last sixty years.

Today (27 July 2011) “Uncle John” went home to be with the Lord. (Read more) He is now with the One who he served all his life and in whom he had total confidence.

John Stott impacted the church around the world in many ways. Perhaps his greatest contribution was to articulate clearly and to defend robustly the evangelical faith which he always understood to be biblical faith, grounded in the New Testament. Evangelicalism was to Stott an expression of historic, orthodox Christianity.

The Cross of Christ was central to the message. Stott preached the Cross as the sole means by which men and women could be made right with God.

The resurrection of Christ was the great hope of his life, as it is for all mankind, and the hope for life beyond death. This is the great reality he is now experiencing as the reward and vindication for all he preached and for which he lived during the many years of his ministry in London and around the world.

Perhaps more than any other person in the last century, John Stott restored confidence in the authority of God’s Word and in the centrality of biblical preaching and teaching. He inspired many evangelicals around the world to make a robust and clear affirmation of biblical truth while at the same time emphasizing that this must be backed up with a distinctive, godly Christian life.

He was able to hold together, in constructive biblical tension, a passionate commitment to evangelism along with a profound commitment to ministering to the needs of people in the context of suffering and brokenness. This is best expressed in The Lausanne Covenant, of which he is the chief author, and which is seen as the defining evangelical document of the 20th Century.

Everywhere John Stott traveled to teach, he encouraged “double listening.” This was a listening to the voice of the Spirit of God through his Word, and listening to the voice and the needs of our broken world.

Stott was known for his love for the Majority World and for students. He gave himself tirelessly to assisting and encouraging pastors and students in Africa, Latin America, Asia, the South Pacific and the Middle East. He leaves friends everywhere.

Of course, his friends and his hosts knew that he would also always want to take advantage of bird watching whenever the opportunity presented itself!

The church in the UK and around the world is richer for his great life. His simple lifestyle, his powerful preaching with its precision of thought and expression, his books written with such depth and clarity, have touched thousands and thousands of people around the world.

We are saddened by his departure, but strengthened with the knowledge that his great confidence and his lifelong hope in Christ has now been made real to him, and his life’s work has been vindicated.

Daniel 12:3: “And those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above, and those who turn many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever.”

We were blessed to be impacted by a man we loved so much.

Let us seek to honor Christ, and also to honor John Stott, through a life that is lived for the glory of God and for the good of the church and the world.

Sincerely in Christ,

S. Douglas Birdsall
Executive Chair, The Lausanne Movement

Lindsay Brown
International Director, The Lausanne Movement

PS from Doug: In my last conversation with John Stott a few weeks ago, we were talking about The Cape Town Commitment. When I called Uncle John, one of his long time friends, Philip, was there reading the Commitment to him, line by line so that he could take it all in. During the course of our conversation, he said to me in a weak but clear voice, "Chris (Wright) did a masterful job in writing this with his team. And, you seem to have achieved an astonishing degree of unity with this new Lausanne document."

That was a joy to him. His desire was that The Cape Town Commitment would be made available together with The Lausanne Covenant and The Manila Manifesto. We can also honor his life by redoubling our commitment to the unity and integrity of the church and to the evangelization of the world, as expressed by these three great documents.

Let the people march

2011-07-01T01:46:00.001+08:00

I like what Steve Oh wrote in Malaysiakini:

The July 9 Bersih march is an event worthy of support.

It is a march of the people, for the people and by the people.

Everyone who believes in the integrity of the democracy in the country should take part in such an event because it strikes at the heart of their nation and its integrity.

What is there to fear from an event that seeks to uphold the integrity of the electoral process?

It is not a political ceramah. It is not a political event.

It is a civic happening for the benefit of the nation.

What bad can come from it except from those who are bent on causing trouble, those who have much to fear and lose from seeing open, fair and trustworthy elections?

The police, among the best in the world, for controlling large crowds, should be able to control a peaceful march and take it in their stride.

In fact, the police are also voters and citizens and should have a stake in the integrity of their nation's electoral process.

Malaysia is fortunate to have citizens who will get out of their comfort zone to participate in the process of ensuring their country has an electoral system that will be second to none anywhere else in the world.

In fact rather than putting a wet blanket over the march, the government should be encouraging it as strong proof that it appreciates the rakyat's contribution to the country's public life and in trying to make the country better and it has nothing to fear from an improved electoral process.

Every political party should be sending representatives and ensuring that open, fair and trustworthy elections are guaranteed.
No electoral system is foolproof or without flaws and every attempt at ensuring there are improvements should be welcomed not opposed.

What has anyone to fear from the people asking that the voting process is open, fair and trustworthy?

It does strike every integrity-loving citizen and even any outside observer as odd that anyone who believes in a 'clean, efficient and trustworthy' administration should be opposing the people's contribution in enhancing it.

Why are those people opposing what is fundamentally good, and what will be good for the people and the country?

The stark incongruity in what is promoted and what is practised does create a problem of credibility for the government which may not want to open itself to the criticisms of hypocrisy, or worse, duplicity, if it is seen as afraid of calls for fair elections.

But it has much to gain in walking alongside the people on July 9.

Ultimately the electoral commission still has to ensure the system meets high standards of integrity because a march itself does not achieve that and no government can claim to have a mandate when gerrymandering and other voting irregularities exist to make a mockery of democracy.

No one who upholds the highest standards of public accountability, transparency and integrity ought to fear such an event except those who may have something to hide or will fear that if elections are open, fair and trustworthy, they may have to suffer the consequences.

It is pointless to paint the event as anything but the passion of the rakyat to elevate their country to a higher level of public accountability and integrity of the system that decides who gets the mandate to govern.

This is year 2010 not 1969.

There is no way and nowhere to hide the truth without it surfacing in the most uncanny manner sooner or later.
Many Malaysians are already marching in their hearts behind the integrity that is necessary for their survival. Nothing will not stop them from believing that open, fair, and trustworthy elections are in their and their country's national interest.

Malaysians march on their national day, they march in religious processions, there are long processions during the funerals of the famous and wealthy, and every day there are hundreds of marches and processions occuring throughout the world involving millions of people without any untoward incident.

A peaceful procession is a legitimate form of expression, a freedom and lawful activity guaranteed by the Constitution and we have seen the most vociferous crowds hold opposing rallies in countries
where the rule of law is properly upheld, the people's freedoms upheld and the police do their job of upholding law and order without fear or favour.

Let the people march and let them do good for their country - it is their country.

Sarawak, destiny beckons!

2011-04-15T02:38:00.001+08:00

ABC Australia from Sarawak Report on Vimeo.

The paradox of Sarawak

2011-03-28T12:44:00.004+08:00

This story first appeared in Bloomberg in 2009. On the cusp of its 10th state elections, Sarawak remains as poor while its rulers talk glibly of "transforming the State economy towards a high-income and advanced economy by 2020." Sarawak is the 4th poorest state in Malaysia and here's the reason.

[D]evelopment projects, including plantations and dams, haven’t helped poverty among the local people, many of whom live without adequate electricity or schools, says Richard Leete, who served as the resident representative of the United Nations Development Program for Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei from 2003 to 2008.

“This is the paradox of Sarawak -- the great wealth it has, the natural resources in such abundance, and yet such an impoverishment and the real hardship these communities are suffering,” says Richard Leete, who chronicled Malaysia’s progress since its independence from Britain in his book “Malaysia: From Kampung to Twin Towers” (Oxford Fajar, 2007). “There has no doubt been a lot of money politics,” he says.

Read the whole Bloomberg article, Getting Rich in Malaysia Cronyism Capital Means Dayak Lose Home, here.

No prize for Al-Gaddafi

2011-03-21T00:39:00.005+08:00

Al-Gaddafi International Prize for Human Rights

Yes, you read right. Established by Libyan strongman Muammar al-Gaddafi, it awards an annual prize to personalities or organisations for services rendered towards human rights. According to the website,

The Prize categorically believes that freedom is an indivisible natural right for Man; it is not a gift or grace from anybody, and that safeguarding it is a general human responsibility.

I'm not sure the Libyans are amused. Certainly not the rebels who are being shelled and shot at by Gaddafi's forces.

Bible is security threat?

2011-03-18T00:43:00.008+08:00

Malay Bibles Desecrated by Malaysian Authorities
By Ng Kam Weng

“Oh No! They killed our loved ones even though we paid the ransom.”

This is the worst nightmare experienced by people who paid ransom to kidnappers only to find their loved ones returned to them executed.

“Oh No! They desecrated our beloved Holy Bibles.”

This is the heart wrenching experience of Publish PostMalaysian Christians who found their Holy Bibles returned to them defaced and desecrated. Malaysian Christians have earlier out of courtesy and grace agreed with the government to print the Alkitab (Malay Bible) with the symbol of the cross on the front cover along with the caption “A Christian Publication” [ The claim by the Minister of Home Affairs that Christians have earlier agreed to have the phrase, "For Christins only" stamped on the Alkitab is a lie. There was no such agreement. His statement, "We stamped the Bible based on amalan (practice) before… during Abdullah Badawi and even Tun Dr Mahathir’s time,” is also a lie].

Nevertheless, the authorities proceeded to detain 5000 copies of the Alkitab for the last two years.

Malaysian Christians waited with guarded optimism when the government recently announced that it will release the Alkitab that have been confiscated but to their horror they were suddenly informed that the authorities have hurriedly and unilaterally stamped all the Alkitab with an ugly notification from the Ministry of Home Affairs. See picture below.

The English translation reads: Reminder: This ‘Al Kitab Berita Baik’ is for the use of Christians only. By order of the Home Minister.”

Notice the official chop/stamp (Bottom Left) and the serial number that is to be imprinted onto the Bible (Upper Right).

The defaced Bible is now imprinted with a serial number, obviously to facilitate the authorities threatening to track every copy of the Alkitab used by the community.

Christians are horrified by the arrogance of the officials. The contemptuous act of defacing the Alkitab is nothing less than sacrilege.

The Christian Federation of Malaysia rightly expressed that they felt “deeply hurt”. I think it is being polite. “Outrage” would have been a more appropriate word.

I think the only proper thing for the government to do is to make immediate amends: Apologize for its callous act. Return the Alkitab back to the publisher and replace them with new Alkitab. Under no circumstances should these defaced Alkitab be destroyed – that would be another act of desecration. The government should bear all costs and give written assurance that such desecration will never happen again.

O God, your Holy Scripture has been desecrated, your name and reputation defiled! When will you rise up and judge all these arrogant offenders for their blatant act of sacrilege?

(The artical first appeared on Religious Liberty Watch)

Ulama chief: Alkitab yes, ‘Allah’ no

Bible fiasco: Zaid slams lack of zeal
MCA jumps into bible row
Christians still fear BM bible ban, say Sarawak MPs
Baru Bian: Order To Release BM Bibles Is No Release At All
DAP condemns ‘unholy’ treatment of bibles
Bible fiasco: Najib left looking foolish, while Muhyiddin bides his time
Today, control of the holy books: Tomorrow, your minds
Abim demands Najib clarify stand on Bibles

Bahasa Bibles detained - again, and again

2011-03-11T15:44:00.004+08:00

Media statement by
the Christian Federation of Malaysia (CFM)
on the Detention of Bahasa Malaysia Bibles

The Christian Federation of Malaysia (CFM) is greatly disillusioned, fed up and angered by the repeated detention of Bibles written in our national language, Bahasa Malaysia. This time yet again at the Port of Kuching in Sarawak.

A total fo 30,000 copies of the Perjanjian Baru, Mazmur dan Amsal” i.e. the “New Testament, Psalms and Proverbs” are currently being withheld.

This is notwithstanding that the government in its attempt to to justify its position against the use of the Allah" in the Alkitab, the government had given the assurance that the Bible in Bahasa Malaysia, will be freely available, at least in Sabah and Sarawak.

Since March 2009, all attempts to import the Bible in Bahasa Malaysia, i.e. the Alkitab, whether through Port Klang or the Port of Kuching, have been thwarted.

The previous consignment of 5,000 copies of the Alkitab imported in March 2009 is still being held by the Ministry of Home Affairs in Port Klang. This is despite repeated appeals which resulted in the Prime Minister making a decision to release the Alkitab held in Port Klang in December 2009 which was reported to CFM leaders by several cabinet ministers and their aides.

In absolute disregard of this decision, the 5,000 copies of the Alkitab remain detained. The Prime Minister when told about the continued detention of these 5,000 Bibles at a hi-tea event last Christmas expressed surprise that the order to release the same held in Port Klang had not been implemented. However, nothing has been done by the authorities to ensure their release.

Prior to March 2009, there were several incidents where shipments of the Bible in Bahasa Malaysia were detained. Each time tedious steps had to be taken to secure their release. It would appear as if the authorities are waging a continuous, surreptitious and systematic programme against Christians in Malaysia to deny them access to the Bible in Bahasa Malaysia.

Malaysian Christians, many of whom have grown up with Bahasa Malaysia as their principal medium of communication as a result of the government education policies, must have access to Bibles in Bahasa Malaysia in order to read, comprehend and practise their faith.

The freedom of religion guaranteed as part of the fundamental liberties under our Federal Constitution is rendered meaningless if adherents to a religion are denied access to their religious texts in a language that they can understand.

It is an affront to them that they are being deprived of their sacred Scriptures. Many are wondering why their Scriptures are considered a threat to national security. All these actions in relation to the detention of the Bibles continue to hurt the Malaysian Christian community.

We would ask how the government transformation programme can be successfully implemented if civil servants can blatantly refuse to obey the Prime Minister’s order? Is the government powerless to act against these “little Napoleons” who substitute their own interests and agenda in place of the Prime Minister’s directives?

We call upon the government to act now and prove their sincerity and integrity in dealing with the Malaysian Christian community on this and all other issues which we have been raising with them since the formation of the Christian Federation of Malaysia in 1985.

As an immediate step, we insist upon the immediate release of all Bibles which have been detained.

Bishop Ng Moon Hing
Chairman and the Executive Committee,
Christian Federation of Malaysia

10 March 2011

They're dirtier than us

2011-03-04T14:12:00.001+08:00

Here's a piece from Sin Chew Daily that expresses my sentiments perfectly:

Dirty tactics at by-election campaigns

By LIM MUN FAH
Translated by Soong Phui Jee

War clouds are gathering over Merliau and Kerdau and various ploys, including the creative and the silly ones, are being used during the current campaigning for the two state by-elections.

In Merlimau, leaflets written in Chinese accuse the Chinese of being traitors to the nation were distributed. Handbills with doctored photographs of three Pakatan Rakyat women members in explicit sexual poses are also distributed, making the by-election campaign a real immoral and dirty one.

The leaflets with racial slurs are meant to create racial hatred while the ones with "sexy Pakatan Rakyat woman members" handbills are used to discredit the alternative coalition leaders. Both the leaflets are unscrupulous election ploys. They should be condemned and immediately stopped.

In fact, politicians have become more and more blatant in manipulating racial issues to get votes. Racial slurs have even been used by some politicians as their "registered marks".

Also, some of the so-called rights groups are prone to resort to extreme measures by using the excuse of defending their racial groups' interests which have been threatened. Their leaders also make very inflammatory remarks and the demonstrated exclusion and hatred have reached an extremely dreadful point.

Meanwhile, moral discrediting practices in recent years have on the one hand demonised their political opponents and on the other hand moralised and sanctified themselves. They seem ridiculous and very shameful. However, they can meet the voyeuristic desires of some people and they carry also terrible destructions.

No one dares to come forward to admit that they are the manipulators behind the scene as such election ploys are indeed too dirty and shameful until they themselves have no guts to face them. Hence, we can hear something like underhand campaign tactics to woo voters. Both the ruling and alternative coalitions have their own weaknesses and the people can hardly tell who is good and who is evil.

The by-elections have turned out as political shows for spreading hatred and discrediting morality. It is undoubtedly the greatest tragedy of democracy.

Such a negative election culture is definitely a stumbling block to the progress of democracy. It must be eliminated. If the police cannot do anything about it and let the backstage manipulators do whatever they like and tear the society apart, I am afraid that the people would be disappointed and believe that politics is dirty.

Sin Chew Daily

Anwar's links to Jews. Again.

2011-03-03T21:15:00.005+08:00

Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s ex-aide Rahimi Osman emerges to fight against Anwar's "lies." Rahimi said today that he will focus on Anwar’s alleged links to Jews, Israel and the United States in his talks here rather than Sodomy II as the case was still being heard. The Malaysian Insider report may be accessed here.

Tragic.

So what will help the rakyat and move Malaysia forward is a politician who's anti-Jew, anti-Israel, and anti-USA .

Tragic.

What Kerdau and Merlimau say about us

2011-03-03T12:47:00.009+08:00

Anti-Islam

Pro-Jew

Anti-Malay

Anti-Royalty

Traitor

Chinese dominance

Anti-Christ

These and more are the stuff that by-elections (and political campaigning) in Malaysia are made of. Of course, accusations like these get thrown about by everybody - usually at the opposition coalition - but nobody takes responsibility.

So, Malaysiakini reports that, "More and more print campaign material emerges, painting Pakatan as anti Malay and anti Islam. Most do not bear party logos but several were seen distributed by Puteri Umno during BN candidate Roslan Ahmad's visit to the Pasar Malam yesterday."

As long as these campaign materials do not originate from a certain party, it is apparently alright to use them.

I find the whole exercise of using the racial and religious card utterly despicable and beneath contempt. It's flinging mud at the other person with earth dug from under your feet.

Sure, it will be dismissed as race-religion baiting and condemned as dangerous although hypocritically endorsed by certain parties as necessary political tactics. This race-religion shill is a mockery of everything that BN supposedly stands for.

Secondly, it does nothing to elevate political discourse in the country; it merely exposes the depth to which some politicians and their parties are willing to go - not for the sake of the rakyat, but to remain in power.

Thirdly, instead of leading politicians to renounce these dangerous underhanded tactics of disinformation and vicious diatribe, the opposite invariably happens.

Finding themselves on the back foot, aspiring politicians, political parties - in this case Pakatan - are forced to declare they are NOT anti-Malay, NOT anti-Islam, etc. Invariably, proof is offered to back up their stand - ala Lim Guan Eng in Penang - which in turn entrenches these same racial-religious shill and perpetuate them at the same time. Hence, the good guys are for Malays, for Islam, etc.

Maybe I'm too naive, but it appears there are no other issues to frame our discourse. It seems that these issues are being clearly manipulated not just to taint BN opponents, but also employed to further embed them as irreversible social determinants.

We cannot promote a more egalitarian and equitable Malaysia without a serious paradigm shift. We have yet to see the emergence of credible agents driving the nation towards such a change. But one thing is clear: we cannot support any individual or party that refuses to move in the direction of change for the sake of ALL Malaysians.

Small Acts, Big Change

2011-02-28T18:53:00.006+08:00

Howard Zinn

August 24, 1922-January 27, 2010

Small acts, when multiplied by millions of people,

can transform the world.

Sarawak's open secret

2011-02-26T22:30:00.003+08:00

STATEMENT BY SUARAM

Suaram is appalled with the silence maintained by the government with regards to the release of a list of secret foreign assets connected to the family of long-serving Sarawak Chief Minister Taib Mahmud by the Bruno Manser Fund (BMF).

Taib, who has been the chief minister since 1981, is also the state finance minister as well as the state planning and resources minister. He and his family is believed to have set up a worldwide business empire across eight countries and is estimated to be worth at least several billion ringgit, according to the list released by the BMF on February 21.

The 49 companies are located in Malaysia, Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, the US, UK, the British Virgin Islands and Jersey. Some of the companies are involved in high end real estate and property, such as notable Malaysian companies Cahya Mata Sarawak (CMS), the largest private company in Sarawak, and the Ta Ann logging group.

Taib Mahmud is alleged to have abused his position, giving preferential treatment to his business interests who are engaged in the mistreatment and forced evictions of the indigenous population in Sarawak and land grabs of Native Customary Rights (NCR) land in the state.

Furthermore, Taib Mahmud has allegedly failed to be accountable for over RM4.8 billion in state funds over the past three years. In 2007, Japanese tax authorities uncovered a corruption scheme involving kickbacks from nine Japanese shipping companies in exchange for timber export licenses.

Suaram is surprised why the government, and particularly the Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission (MACC), with such a vocal stand against corruption, has remain silent and failed to take any action against Taib Mahmud, even with the evidence put forth, virtually on a platter, by the Bruno Manser Fund and many other whistleblowers.

Suaram is concerned that inaction by the government will be seen as tacit approval of corruption and an inability or even an unwillingness to crack down on corruption, despite many public statements to the contrary.

Therefore Suaram demands that the MACC immediately investigate the allegations of corruption and misuse of power against Taib. The government must also cooperate with international efforts to identify and freeze Taib's illicit overseas assets, if any, for future restitution to the people of Sarawak.

(Letter written by Suaram coordinator, published in Malaysiakini 25 Feb 2011)

Related stories

Press Release: Bruno Manser Fund To Launch International Campaign Against Sarawak Timber Corruption
BMF Site: Stop Timber Corruption Campaign updates and list
Free Malaysia Today Report: "Freeze Taib's Assets Abroad"

Gaddafi's last stand?

2011-02-25T12:12:00.004+08:00

Is this the end of the road for Libyan strongman Col. Moammar el-Gaddafi? He is blaming the unrest on Al-Qaeda, but more interestingly is this report that contrasts events in Libya and Egypt. This report pointed out that unlike the revolts in Egypt and Tunisia which were driven by Facebook-savvy youth, Libya's uprising is led by the mature.

But here's a lesson for autocrats like Africa's self-proclaimed King of Kings that there is indeed one Sovereign King, and His name is not Gaddafi:

"I am the LORD; that is my name. I will not give my glory to anyone else

or the praise I deserve to idols" Isaiah 42:8

There are some cases you can't win

2011-02-14T19:24:00.007+08:00

Haha. I thought this ad for a law firm was funny.

Source: Boing Boing

How it should have ended

2011-01-28T16:42:00.001+08:00

(Image source)

The silence of good people

2011-01-18T20:16:00.001+08:00

History will have to record that the greatest tragedy

of this period of social transition

was not the strident clamour of the bad people,

but the appalling silence of the good people.

Martin Luther King Jr

1929 ~ 1968

Distortions in Malaysian history textbooks

2011-01-11T21:36:00.005+08:00

I previously posted the CPI Commentary which expressed deep concern with the extent of Islamic content in Malaysian history books. Based on a paper written by two Australian academics, the issue is not that there is no place for Islam (or religion for that matter) in the said textbooks, but its overwhelming prominence in the nation’s history.

Authors Michael D. Barr and Anantha Raman Govindasamy contend that distortions in Malaysia’s history book are part of a deliberate programme of Islamisation that can be traced back to Dr Mahathir’s premiership. Of this, few Malaysians will dispute. What is alarming is the lack of a response to the imposition of an Islamic identity upon a nation that still has a large percentage of non-Muslims in the population.

Reproduced below are excerpts from the full paper (Pt 1 and Pt 2) which puts the spotlight on recent developments and where that might lead us:

The Islamisation of Malaysia: religious nationalism in the service of ethnonationalism

Part 1

Thus, by the time Malaysia entered the third stage of Dr Mahathir’s Islamisation program, the national culture had already been transformed into one that made non-Muslims feel marginalised, if not defensive. The third stage, beginning in the late 1980s, proved to be an intensification of this pattern, and it brought non-Muslims and Muslims into direct confrontation. The third phase focused on expanding the capacity and jurisdiction of the Syariah courts and legal apparatus, and standardising various states’ Islamic organisations (Hamayotsu 2003: 56). In 1988, the Malaysian Parliament approved constitutional amendments in the Federal Constitution and added Article 121 (1A)(Malaysian Federal Constitution 2006), which reads: ‘The [civil courts] shall have no jurisdiction in respect of any matter within the jurisdiction of the Syariah courts.’ This initiative was followed by all the other states in Malaysia in restructuring their Islamic legal institutions. The climax of Islamic resurgence occurred in September 2001 when Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad declared Malaysia to be an Islamic state (Martinez 2001: 474). These changes had a direct impact on the non-Muslims. Local government followed the state religious departments’ lead by introducing local initiatives that reflected the Syariah values being entrenched at the higher levels of government. For instance, even in the ethnically and religiously heterogeneous state of Melaka, state-sponsored ‘snoop squads’ of up to 60 members began monitoring social activities among the youth, looking out for immoral activity. This ‘moral policing’ targeted Muslims in particular, but little care was taken to distinguish between Muslims and non-Muslims (Kent 2005). Local governments also began limiting non-Muslim places of worship by refusing building permits and land allocations, and pro-actively destroying non-Muslims’ worshipping sites (Lee1988: 412). Moreover, on a national level, the civil courts began refusing to consider child custody cases when any party was a Muslim, claiming that jurisdiction on such matters lay solely with the Syariah courts.

Part 2

The old textbook, which was used until 2002, was titled Sejarah Peradaban Dunia: Tingkatan 4 (World Civilisation History: Form 4) (Ministry of Education Malaysia 1999), and was a broad civilisational history of the world. It contained six chapters titled (in English translation): ‘Early Human Civilisation’, ‘Islam Changed Human Civilisation’, ‘The Transition of the European Society and Its Impact’, ‘Revolution and New Phase of Human History’, ‘Western Imperialism and Local Reactions’, and ‘Moving towards International Cooperation’. In this textbook, Islamic history was presented conceptually as having a central place in world history as the religion that ‘changed civilisation’ by contributing to an improvement in world civilisation, but this conceptual centrality was not allowed to overwhelm the syllabus: it was studied in only one chapter out of six, with other chapters studying, for instance, Indian, Chinese and European civilisations. The syllabus also discussed in detail the pre-Islamic period in South-East Asia, with much emphasis on Hindu-Buddhist influence in the Malay world.

In the revised version, however, Islamic history was given an unprecedented prominence, occupying fully half of the book. This textbook, titled prosaically Sejarah Tingkatan 4 Buku Teks (Form 4 History Textbook) (Ministry of Education Malaysia 2002a), consists of ten chapters, five of which focus on Islamic history: ‘Islamic Civilisation and Its Contribution in Mecca’, ‘Islamic State in Medina’, ‘The Formation of Islamic Government and Its Contribution’, ‘Islam in South-East Asia’, and ‘Islamic Reform and Its Influence in Malaysia before the Arrival of the Colonial Powers’. The other five chapters survey the early development of civilisation per se: Indian and Chinese influence in South- East Asia (in Chapters 1-3), ‘Developments in Europe’ (Chapter 9) and ‘The British Policy and Its Impact on the National Economy’ (Chapter 10). The chapter on the British in Malaysia sits incongruously in a book on civilisational history, but its presence, along with Chapter 8 (‘Islamic Reform and Its Influence in Malaysia before the Arrival of the Colonial Powers’) serves to articulate the rest of the book very firmly into the history of Malaysia.

Read authors Michael D. Barr and Anantha Raman Govindasamy's 2-part paper at the Centre for Policy Initiatives website here and here.

Malaysian History textbooks: Whose history?

2011-01-08T15:50:00.002+08:00

On Oct 23, Education Minister Muhyiddin Yassin announced that History will be made a must-pass subject for the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia from 2013. This puts the subject on par with Bahasa Malaysia in its degree of importance.

The ministry will also introduce a revised SPM History curriculum in 2017, for in that year those who begin One in 2013 would have reached Form Five.

Fresh elements to be incorporated when the History syllabus begins its new cycle are 'patriotism', 'citizenship' and 'the constitution', which by extension implicate the so-called social contract.

Muhyiddin said the reason for the move to expand the History syllabus is so that patriotism can be instilled in Malaysian youths.

On Dec 16 - responding to objections raised by some quarters on his proposal - Muhyiddin(left) guaranteed that the government did not have any "ulterior motives" and reiterated that the government in its decision "only wants to introduce a history education to appreciate [patriotism] to help them [the Fifth Formers] become more patriotic".

Is this the real agenda of Umno and the Ministry of Education bureaucrats and their support group of academics or is this another Umno political lie?

In response, a middle-rank leader of the MCA (not the party president or deputy president or any of the other non-Malay BN party chiefs who have gone mute, dumb and deaf on this issue) has urged the Education Ministry to review the "imbalanced" account of the country's history in the school textbooks.

The present national narrative imparted to students - alleges the MCA - favours one race and one religious civilisation. According to Loh Seng Kok, the deputy chairman of the MCA publicity bureau, a review is necessary to rectify the shortcomings to "prevent ethnic disharmony in our nation".

Strong words, but from a level of leadership that carries little weight.

Furthering Ketuanan Melayu-Islam interests

Historian Dr Ranjit Singh Malhi, who has written some revision books, recently pointed out that not only do the secondary school history textbooks contain exaggerations and mistakes, but they have also "been used to promote political interests".

For example, Kapitan Cina Yap Ah Loy played a major role in the development of Kuala Lumpur as a commercial and tin-mining centre but the Form Two history textbook had only one sentence on Yap as "one of the persons responsible for developing Kuala Lumpur".

The Hindu civilisation of Lembah Bujang in Kedah - which can be traced back to the first half of the first millennium - is dismissed in just two paragraphs whereas the communist contribution to helping Malaya gain Independence is omitted.

Besides the expurgation or omission of key events and developments in Malaysian history, in which non-Malay and other civilisational contributions have been prominent, there is a conscious and concerted attempt at propagandising Islamic elements into the curriculum.

A concerned parent complained in her letter to the editor that the Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (DBP) writers assigned by the Education Ministry have not confined the textbook content to history alone. "Instead they have extended its boundaries seemingly to push a certain agenda. In the process, our history textbooks seem to have taken on a quest of its own - to win the hearts and minds of our children for that particular agenda," she wrote.

History as Islamic Studies

The introduction to the Four Four History textbook by the panel writers begins with "Syukur kepada Allah s.w.t. Tuhan Yang Maha Agung, selawat dan salam ke atas Rasul utusan yang mulia, para sahabat, dan mereka yang berada di jalan yang benar hingga ke hari kemudian kelak".

Students belonging to other faiths, who Muslims do not consider to be walking on "the true path to the Hereafter", will apparently have to re-orientate their mindset in order to do well in this subject.

The introduction to the Form Five textbook by the director-general of the Education Ministry starts on the note of "Syukur ke hadrat Allah s.w.t. kerana hasrat dan wawasan Kementerian Pendidikan Malaysia untuk menerbitkan semula buku teks KBSM dan KBSR telah terhasil".

The Education DG Abdul Rafie Mahat found it expedient to thank Allah for the success of his ministry's vision to republish the textbooks under the revamped syllabi.

In fact, two out of the four writers of the DBP writers selected to do the job for the Form Four syllabus are specialists in Islamic history. Their knowledge of Malaysian history and the history of non-Islamic civilisations, however, appear dismal.

Not only is an overwhelming proportion of the Form Four history textbook devoted to Islam (115 pages), conversely the other religions are barely given a passing mention; Hinduism gets half a page in Chapter 3 on the early civilisations of southeast Asia.

The concerned mother who wrote the letter, already widely disseminated online, has charged that History in Malaysian schools "seeks to influence the young minds of our children who come from various faiths, to follow the prophet [Muhammad] ... who is repeatedly praised throughout the chapters.

"Students are repeatedly exhorted throughout the book to emulate him as a role model in life", added the concerned parent. It is quite true what the letter writer observed, as flipping through the History textbook pages, one comes across the said exhortations which are indeed explicit and in those exact words (see endnote).

Do they write History in this way in other countries and do national textbooks elsewhere repeatedly exhort impressionable young minds to follow the behaviour of an individual who features overwhelmingly in their History curriculum?

Furthermore, this subject is a compulsory pass - fail History, fail SPM; no credit in History, no Grade I in SPM. Students are thus coerced to memorise the above brainwashing and internalise the indoctrination or else they will not get through their secondary education.

Non-Muslim parents are correct to worry about the five bulky chapters (out of the 10 chapters in the Form Four textbook) devoted to Islamic history and civilisation because they have been written "in a way that seems to be conditioning the minds of our youth to accept Syariah laws as the basis of our legal system in the future".

Schools becoming madrasahs

These concerns of worried parents have found serious academic backing.

Two academics from Australia's Flinders University in their paper 'The Islamisation of Malaysia: religious nationalism in the service of ethnonationalism' similarly noted that the upper secondary History syllabus "is a more traditional celebration of Malay nationalism, with barely a mention of Chinese or Indians".

Michael D. Barr and Anantha Raman Govindasamy, who co-authored the paper, believed "the overtly Islamic textbook... was not the result of a whim on the part of the authors, but part of a systemic [Islamisation] programme".

They pointed out that the term 'ummah' in its unqualified use in the context of Chapter 4 of the Form Four History textbook "carries the clear message that the Muslim perspective is being privileged in this history".

Barr and Anantha Raman added: "The imposition of an Islamic metanarrative at this point can be neither accidental nor incidental.

"It must be regarded as a deliberate attempt to impose a new form of identity on both the Muslim and non-Muslim children. This conclusion becomes even more pointed if we look beyond the teaching of history, and consider that the Islamisation process has permeated the entire schooling experience for those students who attend national schools".

Sane, progressive curriculum thrown to the winds

With the two authors' permission, CPI will be reproducing their paper in full tomorrow. Barr and Anantha Raman's Flinders University paper was first published in the Australian Journal of International Affairs, Vol 64, No 3, in June 2010.

The paper unequivocally provides evidence that the Malay and Islamisation of the school syllabus has been taking place for some time.

Muhyiddin's recent announcement of this impending move by the Education Ministry portends the final nail in the coffin. A sane and progressive curriculum that meets the needs of a multi-racial and multi-religious society is thrown to the winds.

Meanwhile, the National Union of the Teaching Profession (NUTP) has similarly voiced its concerns over History becoming a compulsory subject and the potential impact this will have on students.

On Nov 27, NUTP revealed that the present passing rate for History is around 60 percent.

That the remaining 40 percent of the batches who sat the paper previously have failed it means more students than ever will fail the entire SPM when the Education Ministry decision takes effect in 2012.

Make no mistake. If Malaysians do not raise their voices now and stand up for their concerns, not only non-Malay but also Malay parents and students will reap the bitter harvest of this step backwards in our education system.

This commentary was released by the Centre for Policy Initiatives.

Christianity 101

2011-01-03T18:25:00.008+08:00

For a long time, Basic Christianity by John Stott was my favourite go-to book for seekers. As Christianity 101 for people with serious questions, it is credible and well-reasoned, presenting readers with a Person in whom one must decide to believe in or reject. It’s hard to imagine that the book was first published in 1958. It’s still an excellent introduction except that the venerable book may not appeal to people who are asking different questions today.

If there’s one book better suited to – if I may be bold enough to suggest – replace Stott’s volume, it’s Don Carson’s The God Who is There (not to be confused with Schaeffer's book of the same name). Like Stott’s book it focuses on the gospel, but this time, it invites readers not just to embrace the claims of Jesus, but to be a part of an eternal story.

The subhead Finding Yourself in God’s Story, is thoroughly appropriate as finding God is certainly about locating oneself in a drama-in-progress. Carson understandably tips his hat to this generation’s quest for a sticky metanarrative, and it’s possibly a rejoinder to emerging types with a fixation on story as well.

I like it for its fresh take on familiar questions, presented with knockout clarity and depth while maintaining faithfulness to big-picture doctrine. Respectful and not condescending, it is obviously written for people who have the vaguest ideas about Christianity. Carson didn’t set out to be preachy, but I thought I detected the faintest hint of smugness that might not sit well with some. Nevertheless, it’s the one book I’m more than happy to recommend to anyone who wants to know what Christians believe.

If you’ve got a sceptic who doesn’t give a toss about the claims of Christianity, but who might (and it’s a big might) want something less ‘theological’ in tone, something closer to a conversation or a spiritual journey, what then?

Here are 2 books I would suggest in a heartbeat: Donald Miller’s Blue Like Jazz, and Philip Yancey’s Rumors of Another World. Miller’s Blue like Jazz has pop-culture street cred (for a start it has Jazz on the cover) while Yancey’s appears to be more ‘literate’, replete with references to writers and poets. Both are thoughtful and a real delight to read, but don't look for the standard presentation of core beliefs in these books. These are sympathetic accounts of a search, an exploration, a heartfelt look at the paradoxes of faith. But they're great books to have at hand.

Allan Tibbels: Treasure in earthen jars

2010-12-30T18:55:00.006+08:00

Allan Tibbels. White man. Middle-class. Quadriplegic. Christian.

What's unusual was not what he was, but what he did. In 1986 Allan Tibbels abandoned his privileged lifestyle and moved into Baltimore's inner-city Sandtown neighbourhood, and changed the lives of one of the city's most violent and poverty-stricken areas. For 21 years he opened his home to his neighbours, shared their life, and through Habitat for Humanity gave a roof over the heads of several hundred people. Tibbels died of multiple organ failure early June. He was 55.

Author Chris Rice in a post said Tibbels "showed us what peace looked like."

Brad Greenberg of Get Religion described "how the remarkable strength of a crippled man could remake an inner-city neighbourhood."

Tibbels became wheelchair-bound after an accident 25 years ago, but though he lost so much of the mobility we take for granted, he never lost hope nor wasted his life.

Video from Clip Syndicate
More: Read how Tibbels's involvement with Habitat for Humanity transformed a community.

Santa is a Brand

2010-12-23T14:00:00.006+08:00

Here's a bit of seasonal laugh to end the year with. For those who are familiar with brands and corporate IDs, this should tickle. I stumbled on it at NOTCOT.ORG (which is one cool, addictive random visual feast). Click on the image to to go Santa Brand Book.

27 dead in tour bus crash

2010-12-21T11:08:00.003+08:00

Another day, another bus accident. This time a double-decker tour bus full of Thai tourists, in what is reported as the worst road accident in Malaysia.

The question that came to my mind when I read the news was, should double-decker buses be allowed up the winding Camerons road anyway? And, were double-decker buses even designed for long distance travel? It seems to me that these buses whose origins date back to the 1950s were manufactured for in-city transport in London and primarily for short commutes.

The Star has a list of major bus accidents dating back to 2003 as follows:

Dec 17: Four prison officers killed after a Prisons Department bus plunged into a ravine along the hilly and winding Tambunan-Kota Kinabalu trunk road.

Oct 29: Seven passengers, aged between 13 and 28, killed after their bus skidded and overtured at KM38 Genting Sempah, while enroute to Kuala Lumpur. It was later revealed the driver of the bus had no valid driving licence.

Oct 10: Thirteen killed in bus crash along KM223 of the North-South Expressway (NSE), near the Simpang Ampat toll plaza.

Dec 25, 2009: Ten killed after a double-decker express bus skidded and hit a road divider at KM272.8 of the NSE, after the Ipoh Selatan toll plaza (northbound).

Dec 7, 2008: Ten dead after an express bus skided and overturned at KM146.5 of the NSE, near Pagoh, Johor.

Aug 13, 2007: One of the worst road crashes in Malaysian history claims 22 lives. The bus they victims were in crashed at KM229 of the NSE, near the Bukit Gantang rest area.

March 9, 2007: Six killed after an express bus plunged into a ravine at KM254, NSE, near the Sg Perak rest and recreation area.

July 30, 2006: Eleven pilgrims to the annual St Anne's Feast in Penang were killed when their chartered bus overturned at KM160.8 of the NSE, near the Jawi interchange at Nibong Tebal.

Nov 23, 2003: Fourteen killed when an express bus collides with another bus at KM63, Jalan Lipis-Merapoh near the Pahang-Kelantan border.

Razaleigh: "We are less free."

2010-12-16T16:28:00.004+08:00

"Today, we are no longer as united as we were then.
We are also less free. I don’t think this is a coincidence.
It takes free people to have
the psychological strength to overcome
the confines of a racialised worldview.
It takes free people to overcome those politicians
bent on hanging on to power gained by racialising
every feature of our life including our football teams."
Tengku Razaleigh

Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah's issues a wake-up call on 31 July 2010 at the Fourth Annual Malaysian Student Leaders Summit at the Nikko Hotel in Kuala Lumpur

I have played some small role in the life of this nation, but having been on the wrong side of one or two political fights with the powers that be, I am not as close to the young people of this country as I would hope to be. History, and the 8 o’clock news, are written by the victors. In recent years the government’s monopoly of the media has been destroyed by the technology revolution.

You could say I was also a member of the United Kingdom and Eire Council (UKEC) for Malaysian students. Well I was, except that belonged to the predecessor of the UKEC by more than 50 years, the Malayan Students Union of the UK and Eire. I led this organisation in 1958/59. I was then a student of Queen’s University in Belfast, as well as at Lincoln’s Inn. In a rather cooler climate than Kota Bharu’s. We campaigned for decolonisation. We demonstrated in Trafalgar Square and even in Paris. We made posters and participated in British elections.

Your invitation to participate in the 4th Annual Malaysian Student Leaders Summit (MSLS) was prefaced by a an essay which calls for an intellectually informed activism. I congratulate you on this. The Youth of today, you note, “will chart the future of Malaysia.” You say you “no longer want to be ignored and leave the future of our Malaysia at the hands of the current generation”. You “want to grab the bull by the horns… and have a say in where we go as a society and as a nation”.

I feel the same, actually. A lot of Malaysians feel the same. They are tired of being ignored and talked down to.

Just do it

You are right. The present generation in power has let Malaysia down. But also you cite two things as testimony of the importance of youth and of student activism to this country, the election results of 2008 and “the Prime Minister’s acknowledgement of the role of youth in the development of the country”.

So perhaps you are a little way yet from thinking for yourselves. The first step in “grabbing the bull by the horns” is not to require the endorsement of the Prime Minister, or any Minister, for your activism. Politicians are not your parents. They are your servants. You don’t need a government slogan coined by a foreign PR agency to wrap your project in. You just go ahead and do it.

When I was a student our newly formed country was already a leader in the post-colonial world. We were sought out as a leader in the Afro-Asian Conference which inaugurated the Non-Aligned Movement and the G-77. The Afro-Asian movement was led by such luminaries as Zhou En-lai, Nehru, Kwame Nkrumah, Soekarno. Malaysians were seen as moderate leaders capable of mediating between these more radical leaders and the West. We were known for our moderation, good sense and reliability.

We were a leader in the Islamic world as ourselves and as we were, without our leaders having to put up false displays of piety. His memory has been scrubbed out quite systematically from our national consciousness; so you might not know this or much else about him, but it was Tengku Abdul Rahman who established our leadership in the Islamic world by coming up with the idea of the OIC (Organisation of Islamic Countries) and making it happen. Under his leadership, Malaysia led the way in taking up the anti-apartheid cause in the Commonwealth and in the United Nations, resulting in South Africa’s expulsion from these bodies.

Here was a man at ease with himself, who made it a policy goal that Malaysia be “a happy country”. He loved sport and encouraged sporting achievement among Malaysians. He was owner of many a fine race horse. He called a press conference with his stewards when his horse won at the Melbourne Cup. He had nothing to hide because his great integrity in service was clear to all. Now we have religious and moral hypocrites who cheat, lie and steal in office, who propagate an ideologically shackled education system for all Malaysians while they send their own kids to elite academies in the West.

The glory days

Speaking of football. You’re too young to have experienced the Merdeka Cup, which Tunku started. We had a respectable side in the 1960s and 70s. Teams from across Asia would come to play in Kuala Lumpur, teams such as South Korea and Japan, whom we defeated routinely. We were one of the better sides in Asia. We won the bronze medal at the Asian games in 1974 and qualified for the Moscow Olympics in 1980. Today our FIFA ranking is 157 out of 203 countries. That puts us in the lowest quartile, below Maldives (149), the smallest country in Asia, with just 400,000 people living about 1.5 metres above sea level who have to worry that their country may soon be swallowed up by climate change. Here in Asean we are behind Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, whom we used to dominate, and one spot above basketball-playing Philippines.

The captain of our illustrious 1970s side was Soh Chin Aun. Arumugam, Isa Bakar, Santokh Singh, James Wong and Mokhtar Dahari were heroes whose names rolled off the tongues of our schoolchildren as they copied them on the school field. It wasn’t about being the best in the world, but about being passionate and united and devoted to the game.

It was the same in badminton, except at one time we were the best in the world. I remember Wong Peng Soon, the first Asian to win the All-England Championship, who then just dominated it throughout the 1950s. Back home every kid who played badminton in every little kampung wanted to call himself Wong Peng Soon. There was no tinge of anybody identifying themselves exclusively as Chinese, Malays, Indians. Peng Soon was a Malaysian hero. Just like each of our football heroes. Now we do not have an iota of that feeling. Where has it all gone?

I don’t think it’s mere nostalgia that makes us think there was a time when the sun shone more brightly upon Malaysia. I bring up sport because it has been a mirror of our more general performance as a nation. When we were at ease with who we were and didn’t need slogans to do our best together, we did well. When race and money entered our game, we declined. The same applies to our political and economic life

Soon after independence we were already a highly successful developing country. We had begun the infrastructure building and diversification of our economy that would be the foundation for further growth. We carried out an import-substitution programme that stimulated local productive capacity. From there we started an infrastructure build-up which enabled a diversification of the economy leading to rapid industria-lisation. We carried out effective programmes to raise rural income and help the landless with programmes such as Felda. Our achievements in achieving growth with equity were recognised around the world. Our peer group in economic development were South Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan, and we led the pack. I remember we used to send technical consultants to advise the South Koreans.

… and then the slump

By the late 1990s, however, we had fallen far behind this group and were competing with Thailand and Indonesia. Today, according to the latest World Investment Report, FDI (Foreign Development Investment) into Malaysia is at a 20-year low. We are entering the peer group of Cambodia, Myanmar and the Philippines as an investment destination. Thailand, despite a month-long siege of the capital, attracted more FDI than we did last year. Indonesia and Vietnam far outperform us, not as a statistical blip but consistently. Soon we shall have difficulty keeping up with the Philippines. This, I believe, is called relegation. If we take into account FDI outflow, the picture is even more depressing. Last year we received US$1.38 billion in investments but US$ 8.04 billion flowed out. We are the only country in Southeast Asia which has suffered net FDI outflow. I am not against outward investment. It can be a good thing for the country. But an imbalance on this scale indicates capital flight, not mere investment overseas.

Without a doubt, Malaysia is slipping. Billions have been looted from this country, and billions more are being siphoned out as our entire political structure crumbles. Yet we are gathered here in comfort, in a country that still seems to ‘work.’ Most of the time. This is due less to good management than to the extraordinary wealth of this country. You were born into a country of immense resources both natural, cultural and social. We have been wearing down this advantage with mismanagement and corruption. With lies, tall tales and theft. We have a political class unwilling or unable to address the central issue of the day because they have grown fat and comfortable with a system built on lies and theft.

No endorsements needed

It is time to wake up. That waking up can begin here, right here, at this conference. Not tomorrow or the day after but today. So let me, as I have the honour of opening this conference, suggest the following:

Overcome the urge to have our hopes for the future endorsed by the Prime Minister. He will have retired, and I’ll be long gone when your future arrives. The shape of your future is being determined now.

* Resist the temptation to say “in line with” when we do something. Your projects, believe it or not, don’t have to be in line with any government campaign for them to be meaningful. You don’t need to polish anyone’s apple. Just get on with what you plan to do.
* Do not put a lid on certain issues as “sensitive”because someone said they are. Or it is against the Social Contract. Or it is “politicisation”. You don’t need to have your conversation delimited by the hyper-sensitive among us. Sensitivity is often a club people use to hit each other with. Reasoned discussion of contentious issues builds understanding and trust. Test this idea.
* It’s not “conservative” or “liberal” to ask for an end to having politics, economic policy, education policy and everything and the kitchen sink determined by race. It’s called growing up.

Don’t let the politicians you have invited here talk down to you. Don’t let them tell you how bright and “exuberant” you are, that you are the future of the nation, etc. If you close your eyes and flow with their flattery you have safely joined the caravan, a caravan taking the nation down a sink hole. If they tell you the future is in your hands, kindly request that they hand that future over first. Ask them how come the youngest member of our cabinet is 45 and is full of discredited hacks? Our Merdeka cabinet had an average age of below 30. You’re not the first generation to be bright. Mine wasn’t too stupid. But you could be the first generation of students and young graduates in 50 years to push this nation through a major transformation. And it is a transformation we need desperately.

You will be told that much is expected of you, much has been given to you, and so forth. This is all true. Actually much has also been stolen from you. Over the last 25 years, much of the immense wealth generated by our productive people and our vast resources has been looted. This was supposed to have been your patrimony. The uncomplicated sense of belonging fully, wholeheartedly, unreservedly, to this country, in all its diversity – that has been taken from you. Our sense of ourselves as Malaysians, a free and united people, has been replaced by a tale of racial strife and resentment that continues to haunt us. The thing is, this tale is false.

The most precious thing you have been deprived of has been your history. Someone of my generation finds it hard to describe what must seem like a completely different country to you now. Malaysia was not born in strife but in unity. Our independence was achieved through a demonstration of unity by the people in supporting a multiracial government led by Tengku Abdul Rahman. That show of unity, demonstrated first through the municipal elections of 1952 and then through the Alliance’s landslide victory in the elections of 1955, showed that the people of Malaya were united in wanting their freedom. We surprised the British, who thought we could not do this.

Abolish oppressive laws

Today, we are no longer as united as we were then. We are also less free. I don’t think this is a coincidence. It takes free people to have the psychological strength to overcome the confines of a racialised worldview. It takes free people to overcome those politicians bent on hanging on to power gained by racialising every feature of our life including our football teams.

Hence while you are at this conference, let me argue, that as an absolute minimum, we should call for the repeal of unjust and much abused Acts of Parliament which are reversals of freedoms that we won at Merdeka.

I ask you in joining me in calling for the repeal of the ISA and the OSA. These draconian laws have been used, more often than not, as political tools rather than instruments of national security. They create a climate of fear.

I ask you to join me in calling for the repeal of the Printing and Publications Act, and above all, the Universities and University Colleges Act. I don’t see how you can pursue your student activism with such freedom and support in the UK and Eire while forgetting that your brethren at home are deprived of their basic rights of association and expression by the UUCA. The UUCA has done immense harm in dumbing down our universities.

We must have freedom as guaranteed under our Constitution. Freedom to assemble, associate, speak, write, move. This is basic. Even on matters of race and even on religious matters we should be able to speak freely, and we shall educate each other.

It is time to realise the dream of Dato’ Onn and the spirit of the Alliance and of Tunku Abdul Rahman. That dream was one of unity and a single Malaysian people. They went as far as they could with it in their time. Instead of taking on the torch, we have reversed course. The next step for us as a country is to move beyond the infancy of race-based parties to a non-racial party system. Our race-based party system is the key political reason why we are a sick country, declining before our own eyes, with money fleeing and people telling their children not to come home after their studies.

So let us try to take 1Malaysia seriously. Millions have been spent putting up billboards and adding the term to every conceivable thing. We even have Cuti-cuti 1Malaysia. Can’t take a normal holiday anymore. This is all fine. Now let us see if it means anything. Let us see the government of the day lead by example. 1Malaysia is empty because it is propagated by a government supported by a racially-based party system that is the chief cause of our inability to grow up in our race relations. Our inability to grow up in our race relations is the chief reason why investors and we ourselves no longer have confidence in our economy. The reasons why we are behind Maldives in football, and behind the Philippines in FDI, are linked.

So let us take 1Malaysia seriously, and convert Barisan Nasional into a party open to all citizens. Let it be a multiracial party open to direct membership. Pakatan Rakyat will be forced to do the same or be left behind the times. Then we shall have the vehicles for a two party, non-race-based system.

If Umno, MIC or MCA are afraid of losing supporters, let them get their members to join this new multiracial party. Pakatan Rakyat should do the same. Nobody need feel left out. Umno members can join en masse. The Hainanese Kopitiam Owners Association can join whichever party they want, or both parties en masse if they like. We can maintain our cherished civil associations, however we choose to associate. But we drop all communalism when we compete for the ballot. When our candidates stand for elections, let them ever after stand only as Malaysians, for better or for worse.

Billy Collins is cool.

2010-11-15T17:56:00.006+08:00

Writer Suet Fun introduced me to former US Poet Laureate Billy Collins I must say that his video readings got me hooked. Check him out and you'll see why New York Times calls him "The most popular poet in America" .

PS: I think these animated poetry make good learning tools too!

Forgetfulness is playful and wistful, and the video is perfectly matched to the reading. Love it!

Here's another one: Some Days

I love how a single moment or a fleeting thought is amplified in a few lines, stretched to encompass so much emotion.

Yay! Anti-false news panel set up!

2010-07-17T23:53:00.004+08:00

Well, looks like the 1 Malaysia Reading Campaign has yielded positive results.

The Home Ministry has set up a committee to formulate the government's communication strategy besides thwarting the dissemination of false news by irresponsible people.

Its minister Hishammuddin Hussein said the committee was also made up of Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Mohamed Nazri Aziz and Information Communication and Culture Minister Rais Yatim.

Selepas Tsunami: How March 8 changed Malaysia

2010-05-17T14:42:00.006+08:00

One of the most commonly heard comments about Pakatan and the newly established opposition-held states was that 'nothing has changed.' Ever so often, the cynical sneer and say drains are still clogged, lights don't work, corruption is still rampant, etc, etc. If anyone rushes to the defense and say, 'but Pakatan has just come into power,' they inevitably dismiss it with sarcasm and tell you, if they can't get their act together now, how are they going to govern when they really are the federal government? And on and on it goes.

Well, 'nothing's' changed, and everything's changed.

This video bears out that while change comes slowly after 52 years of BN profligacy, the most important thing that has changed is the mindset - of both the governed, and those in government. In Pakatan held states, there is a commitment to transparency, to hear out the grievances of the rakyat, to reduce wastage, to address corruption and cronyism. All these are genuine attempts at being a government that is accountable.

I like that. I like that the foundation stones of sound and accountable governance is being addressed. It sounds rather abstract compared to bread and butter issues of taxes and schools, but hey, when we get the governance part done right the other stuff will follow. Besides, building up something good is always harder - takes longer, demands endurance, exacts a toll - than tearing down or destroying something. Especially when it is something as important as the foundation for a stronger and better Malaysia for all people.

Selepas Tsunami (After the Tsunami) from Pusat KOMAS on Vimeo.

Myanmar workers stand up and win

2010-03-24T18:20:00.007+08:00

I thought this was an encouraging development in the defense of workers' rights.

26 ex-employees - all Myanmars - of Jogoya an upscale restaurant at Starhill successfully stood up against alleged unfair termination of employment and deductions made to their wages. Their plight was publicised back in March 9 when Malay Mail first broke the story that they were 'unlawfully fired' and given a week to move out of their quarters.

The 26 Myanmar workers who claimed to have been duped by their former employer, an upscale restaurant in Starhill Gallery here, finally had their demands met and will get to return home.

The Malay Mail learnt that negotiations between the workers and Jogoya Restaurant concluded last Wednesday and matters were settled amicably via intervention by the Federal Territories Labour Department and the Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC).

At the end of negotiations, held at the FT Labour office in Wisma Perkeso, Jalan Ampang, Jogoya management agreed to return all levies deducted from the workers’ salaries from April 1, 2009 up until last month.

With each worker’s monthly levy being RM150, total levies deducted for all 26 Myanmar workers for 11 months would have amounted to RM42,900.

Jogoya also agreed to pay the workers their full salaries for January and February 2010 as well as their service points for January, which were previously held back after the restaurant claimed poor performance by the workers.

Jogoya additionally provided full airfare tickets for the workers who had been with the restaurant for more than three years, and a RM250 airfare subsidy for those who worked under three years.

You can read all about it here at human rights activist Charles Hector's blog.

The same blog post also reported that MTUC secretary-general, G. Rajasekaran, expressed surprise that the Federal Territories Labour Department had had enterd negotiations with Jogoya Restaurant when legal action ought to have been initiated against them.

Meanwhile Malaysikini reports on Amnesty International's public statement on Malaysia's appalling treatment of migrant workers. The report said that many of the 2.2 million migrant workforce were "lured" here and "used in forced labour or exploited in other ways".

Amnesty also documented over a dozen cases in which Malaysian immigration officials allegedly handed over Myanmar detainees to traffickers operating on Malaysia's northern border with Thailand between 2006 and 2009.

"The Malaysian government has the responsibility to prevent such abuses, but instead facilitates trafficking through its loose regulation of recruitment agents and through laws and policies that fail to protect workers," it said.

More: New York Times - Report Says Migrants in Malaysia Face Abuse

Shift happens

2010-03-17T01:01:00.019+08:00

There's so much drama in our part of the world it's easy to think it's a sign of life. Or progress. You wish. Shift happens. And unless we recognise it, the country will end up a footnote on the trash heap of history.

Here's a video to jolt your senses and and wake you to the big picture. A little old, first posted in 2007 when MySpace was er, cool - it's been forwarded like maybe a gazillion times now - but that's exactly the point. The world is not going to wait for Malaysia to get her act together..........

Breaking the silence

2010-02-09T00:21:00.004+08:00

Next to Vishal Mangalwadi's Truth and Transformation, this book by Sri Lankan scholar Vinoth Ramachnadra is a must-read. I'm just starting on Subverting Global Myths and already it's challenging some cherished ideas. It's a close-up look at real world politics and global myths that have with too many regurgitation assume an appearance of irrefutable fact with devastating consequences.

Subverting Global Myths is really quite different in tone and perspective compared to Truth and Transformation, but I prefer to see both as complementary voices to a better appreciation of the complexity of global issues.

I was particularly interested to read the chapter entitled, Myths of Religious Violence, in the light of our Malaysian experience. In that chapter, Ramachandra quotes the Hindu scholar from Trinidad Anantanand Rambachan who is currently teaching in a Christian college in the US:

"Communities on the other hand, which engage each other in a deep search for mutual understanding and which honestly acknowledge differences and cultivate respect are less likely to explode in times of conflict. Such communities are less likely to cite differences as a basis for hostility towards the other. I often wonder about this matter when we witness neighbours, in many recent conflicts, suddenly turning upon each other with ferocity and violence, shattering the veneer of civility and harmony."

Considering how those in authority continue to cite communal sensitivities as the reason to avoid dialogue, it seems we are prepared to live with superficial 'harmony' than genuine understanding. Yes, Malaysians are afraid of hard choices prefering denial to de truth.

Tragically, our 'betters' prefer lumpy carpets than mutual acceptance through continuing dialogue. May 13, race, royalty, religion, Allah, etc, we have a long list of taboos lurking in the shadow of 1 Malaysia. Rambachan also makes the observation that, "Communities where differences are real, but where they are minimized or downplayed, are most likely to suffer violence and traumatic upheavals when, in times of tension and conflict, such differences become prominent."

God knows plural Malaysia needs to talk to each other. Heaven knows we can no longer gloss over deep-seated differences and pretend silence is the price of tolerance.

(Read an interview where Vinoth Ramachandra talks about his book here.)

Don't Let The Provocateurs Succeed

2010-01-27T15:48:00.004+08:00

(Malaysiakini graphics)

This can't go on.

In every society there's a lunatic fringe that cannot differentiate pig-headed bigotry from civility. We cannot and dare not let these provocateurs cow us into ever narrow racism, sectarianism, and communalism. If these people win, Malaysia loses.

"The latest incidents today at the two mosques along Jalan Kelang Lama, Kuala Lumpur demonstrate how sick perpetrators of such acts can be and to what extent they are willing to go to cause hurt and harm to religious communities. Their end is to drive a wedge between religious communities in the country.
We who are law-abiding citizens must not allow them to succeed in their wicked mission.

Let us not speculate about the identities of the culprits until the police and the courts have done their work. Let us stand together and resist such people.

The Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism and Taoism condoles with Muslims, Christians and Sikhs whose places of worship and prayer have been so rudely desecrated."
MCCBCHST Statement

Muslim Profesionals Forum Condemns Church Arson

2010-01-08T17:04:00.001+08:00

STATEMENT BY MUSLIM PROFESSIONALS FORUM

The cowardly and utterly senseless act of a group of misguided, chauvinistic bigots in torching at least three churches in the Klang Valley this morning must be condemned in no uncertain terms by all peace loving Malaysians.

This act of arson, committed presumably in the name of Islam desecrates the very religion it purports to protect. The Holy Quran unequivocally prohibits destroying the houses of worship of all religions, as warned in Surah Al-Hajj, Verse 40.

“… Had not Allah checked the excesses and aggression of one set of people by means of another, surely would be destroyed monasteries, churches, synagogues, and mosques, in which the name of Allah is commemorated …”

During the reign of Umar ibn Al-Khattab, the second righteous caliph, the religious freedom of the citizens of Ilya (Jerusalem) and the sanctity of their synagogues and places of worship were confirmed: “This is the protection which the slave-servant of Allah, Umar, the Commander of the Believers, extends to the people of Ilya: The safeguarding of their lives, properties, churches, crosses, and of their entire community. Their churches cannot be occupied, demolished, or damaged, nor are their crosses or anything belonging to them to be touched. They will never be forced to abandon their religion, nor will they be oppressed …” (At-Tabari, Tarikh, Vol III, p. 609, ed. Dar Al-Ma`arif, Egypt.)

In the light of these tragic turn of events, the Muslim Professionals Forum:

1. Demand the authorities to immediately conduct an impartial and thorough investigation to identify , apprehend and punish the perpetrators of this despicable violence lest the country spirals into a vicious cycle of retaliatory acts which would fracture the very fabric of Malaysian civil society.

2. Urge the authorities to either refuse or revoke the permit for the planned demonstration in order to contain the heightened emotions and sensitivities from among the Muslim quarters, angered by the recent high court decision on the usage of the word Allah.

3. Urge individuals, organisations and political parties to refrain from further issuing provocative and inflammatory statements related to the high court verdict.

4. Urge all Malaysians to emphatise and stand in solidarity with our Christian community in their hour of grief and need.

5. Urge all peace loving Malaysians to maintain composure and let cool heads prevail.

May Allah guide us all in this most troubling times.

Board of Directors
Muslim Professionals Forum

Dr. Mazeni Alwi
Dr. Shaikh Johari Bux
Haji Mohamed Ali Ghazali
Dr. Jeffrey Abu Hassan
Dato’ Dr. Musa Mohd. Nordin

CFM STATEMENT ON FIRE-BOMBING OF CHURCHES

2010-01-08T16:58:00.000+08:00

CHRISTIAN FEDERATION OF MALAYSIA
(PERSEKUTUAN KRISTIAN MALAYSIA)
Address: 10, Jalan 11/9, Section 11, 46200 Petaling Jaya, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia
Telephone: (03) 7957 1278, (03) 7957 146, Fax: (03) 7957 1457
Email: cfmsia@yahoo.co.uk

CFM STATEMENT ON ATTACKS ON CHURCHES IN THE EARLY MORNING OF 8 JAN 2010
CFM STRONGLY CONDEMNS FIRE-BOMBING OF CHURCHES

The Christian Federation of Malaysia strongly and unreservedly condemns the violent attacks and attempted ones of fire-bombing several churches in Kuala Lumpur and Petaling Jaya in the early hours of this morning (8 January 2010).

We are against such actions that seek to intimidate people and also to rend the fabric of peace and goodwill in our country.

Thus far this afternoon, we have been informed that there were three torching and attempted torching of churches. The administrative office of Metro Tabernacle in Desa Melawati was completely gutted. The Molotov cocktail thrown at the Church of the Assumption along Jalan Templer in Petaling Jaya did not explode. But The Life Chapel in Section 17 Petaling Jaya suffered some damage to the church’s front
porch area.

We call on the Government and all peace-loving Malaysians to stand against such violence and not to give way to extremists in our midst who would want to throw our country into chaos.

We call on the police to continue to maintain the peace and security of our land in which all of us so cherish and love. May the police bring to justice quickly those who have been involved in such acts of torching churches which is a violation of the houses of God in our land.

Christians are a peace-loving people and so we will remain calm and rely on our police officers to investigate and to arrest the criminals involved and to protect all Malaysians against violence and criminal intimidation. We are concerned that the hacking of the judiciary website is an act of criminal intimidation against the judiciary and this shameful act along with the acts of violence against churches must not be condoned.

Let us as Christians and with our fellow Malaysians pray that despite such atrocious acts perpetrated upon the churches good sense will prevail in us. Let us not allow those who want to foment animosity among the peoples and the religious communities to triumph in their dastardly plans. May we stand together against the tide of violent people and their evil plans.

We will continue to pray for peace in Malaysia.

Bishop Ng Moon Hing

Chairman and the Executive Committee of the
Christian Federation of Malaysia
Dated: 8 January 2010

Remember

2010-01-07T11:43:00.007+08:00

I am sipping coffee, reading Frederick Buechner.

Outside a storm appears to be brewing, as one UMNO minister after another pontificates over the right of Muslims to demonstrate against Justice Lau Bee Lan's okay to 'Allah' for non-Muslims (In the ongoing debate, it's conveniently forgotten that Sikhs too address God as 'Allah', and not just indigenous bumiputra Christians who only speak Bahasa).

For awhile, I forget that the world's not all right and that a cloud is descending over that ill-begotten PR-spun nonentity called 1 Malaysia.

There is a stirring inside as I think about recent events. As anxious as I am about the current turmoil, my mind is really regurgitating over the books I am currently reading and reflecting on: ex-missionary to the Congo, Helen Roseveare's testimony in Stand (John Piper/Justin Taylor) about the one thing that matters; Don Miller's essay on Isaiah's grim description of an ugly Jesus (Isa 53:2-3) in Searching For God Knows What; and Buechner's collection of sermons, Secrets in the Dark.

Buechner's essay (actually, a sermon) A Room Called Remember was deeply moving, and I was teary at several points. Yes, while one may be preoccupied with what's not right, the oughts and what ifs and what could have been, nothing focuses the mind more than when we remember what is:

Glory in his holy name;
let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice.

Look to the LORD and his strength;
seek his face always.

Remember the wonders he has done,
his miracles, and the judgments he pronounced...

I Chronicles 16:10-12

Gaddafi the 'evangelist'

2009-11-18T15:34:00.004+08:00

Does this sound bizarre to you?

(Photo: Mail Online)

LIBYAN dictator Colonel Muammar al-Gaddafi asked an escort agency for 500 "beautiful Italian girls" to be supplied for a gala evening in Rome at which he tried to convert them to Islam, it emerged yesterday.

Col Gaddafi, 67, also requested that they "were aged between 18 and 35 years old, at least 5ft 7in tall and did not wear mini-skirts or plunging necklines, but high heels were OK".

The women, all beautifully dressed, were told to meet at a city centre hotel in the Italian capital, where he is attending a summit on world food security, before being taken to the Libyan ambassador's residence.

Once inside – and after an hour's delay – Col Gaddafi arrived in a white stretch limousine to lecture the women on the superiority of Islam and how they should all convert. He also gave a talk on the Koran and gave them all a copy as a gift as well as a signed copy of his Green Book, an outline of his political philosophy written in 1975. [More here]

In case you're wondering how the evening went, here's what Alessandro Londero, of Rome-based Hostessweb, who supplied the women said in the same report:

"It was a very enjoyable experience and the girls were captivated by the evening.

"Some of them have already been in touch with me to express an interest in going to Libya and seeing the place for themselves and speaking further with Gaddafi about converting to Islam.

"He gave the girls Italian translations of the Koran and of his Green Book, and he said he would be in touch with them to test them and make sure they had read them."

Another report said Gaddafi spoke for one hour during which the women were given nothing to eat or drink. Accompanied by two of his female bodyguards, the Libyan ambassador and an interpreter, he reportedly said, "It is not true that Islam is against women." Before offering each woman a copy of the Koran, he shouted at them: "Convert to Islam, Jesus was sent for the Hebrews, not for you.”

YouTube's Best & Worst

2009-10-01T17:09:00.005+08:00

Enough of bad news!

Here's something I picked up after a visit to TIME: The Best and Worst of YouTube in 4 minutes. Ahhh, the joy of other people's misfortune.....

Enough of cow dung. Here's one for the birds

2009-09-07T13:13:00.003+08:00

Jarbas Agnelli saw a picture of birds on the electric wires, cut out the photo and decided to make a song, using the exact location of the birds as notes (no Photoshop edit). This was the result:

Birds on the Wires from Jarbas Agnelli on Vimeo.

No, it's NOT ok to threaten bloodshed

2009-09-04T15:17:00.001+08:00

Malaysian Insider
“They are not getting off scot-free. They felt victimised and feel that there is another valid explanation on their part. There was no intention on their part to cause racial divide. They, the organisers, who are sitting left and right of me, didn’t even know that somebody was going to bring the head of the cow during that demonstration.”

Minister Must Resign For Condoning Violence

We, the undersigned organisations, condemn Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein for defending the cow-head protesters and justifying their incitement of violence and hatred. He should now resign or be sacked as home minister as he cannot commit to law and order.

The most important issue in the cow-head incident is the threat of violence against the Shah Alam Hindu community and the Selangor government. The police must investigate not based on the vaguely defined Sedition Act, but on whether the protesters threatened bloodshed if the temple relocation was carried out. The lame excuse that the cow head was brought by unknown persons is completely irrelevant.

Nobody must be allowed to threaten with violence just because they feel “victimised”. Anyone who does so must be punished by law. Otherwise, society would sink into anarchy.

By suggesting that “if it can be resolved quickly and can be done with both sides understanding each other … why would we want to penalise anybody?”, Hishammuddin is actually encouraging the threat of violence as a means to negotiate.

A home minister by portfolio and a lawyer by training, Hishammuddin has brought both his office and profession to unprecedented shame with his disregard for the law. Because he has turned the minister of law and order into the minister against law and order, he must resign or be sacked.

The prime minister must now act boldly to keep his 28 Aug 2009 promise that action will be taken against the perpetrators who incited violence. If the police refuse to investigate them and the deputy public prosecutor refuses to charge them for violence, Malaysians will believe that such threats of violence are condoned by the Datuk Seri Najib Razak administration as a political means.

Hishammuddin’s justification of the cow-head protest by painting the perpetrators as victims also legitimises and indirectly encourages communal hatred. This can be explosive if it results in retaliating insults across communities, as all can claim to feeling victimised. By sympathising with the perpetrators, Hishammuddin is also tarnishing Malaysia’s image by demonstrating that Malaysian ministers legitimise hatred.

This is most unfortunate when over 70 civil society groups representing different ethno-religious communities and sectors have issued a joint Merdeka message calling all Malaysians to delegitimise violence and hatred.

* Civil Right Committee, Kuala Lumpur and Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall
* People’s Parliament
* Civil Society Committee, LLG Cultural Development Centre
* Centre for Policy Initiatives
* Persatuan Kesedaran Komuniti Selangor (Empower)
* The Micah Mandate
* Writer Alliance for Media Independence
* Civil Society Initiative for Parliamentary Reform
* Justice for Beng Hock Facebook Group
* Centre for Independent Journalism
* Suara Rakyat Malaysia
* All Women’s Action Society Malaysia (Awam)
* Image Group
* Hindraf
* Council of Malaysian Indian Trustee
* Persatuan Kebajikan Wawasan Cahaya Selangor
* Persatuan Bharatham Negeri Selangor
* Malaysia Youth and Student Democratic Movement (Dema)
* Editorial board of Horizon e-journal
* Pertubuhan Jamaah Islah Malaysia
* Sisters in Islam

PAS wins. Who lost?

2009-08-27T14:01:00.011+08:00

(Photo: The STAR)
Fantastic! PAS wins Permatang Pasir. As I see it, that's ominous for two reasons: one good, the other bad

ONE.

It spells good news that PR’s election sweep back in March last year was no lucky fluke. It marked an important milestone for the rakyat. Riding on the IT wave and torrents of discontent, Malaysians found their much suppressed voice, and together discovered there was significantly large numbers to their cry for change.

Ordinary rakyat want a nation to be proud of, not one shaped by the shrill rhetoric of ketuanan melayu and religion. Sure, the threats unnerved and unsettled. Because the institutions and instruments of government, the civil service, and judiciary, remain in the clutches of the ruling powers, we know they still hold the trump card. And certainly the warped logic of race and religion has not lost its appeal among a particular segment of Malaysia’s diverse populace, and they too appear to number in the tens of thousands, even millions.

Yet, looking back on the run-up to the Permatang Pasir by-election and the convincing win by PAS, it is now clear: those who continued to spew racist bile and religious venom, who supported divisive politics, were really a small bitter troupe of diehards whose small minds could not understand the big picture.

On the contrary, the voices for change were much, much, more than the small pockets of dissent that BN made us out to be. We were more than the usual coterie of NGOs and social activist misfits that UMNO gleefully tarred in their pathetic MSM.

We were not the handful of intellectual idealists locked away in musty ivory towers. We were not servile, decadent westernized myopics who did not understand Malaysian realities. We were Malays, Chinese, Indians, dan lain-lain who, in spite of inherent prejudices and mutual suspicions, believed there could still be a future together in the land we were born. We were none of the above and all of the above. We were the voice of a silent majority who nevertheless muted these fears, rose above petty communalism, and spoke loudly with our votes.

Yes, we had had enough of the way BN and its UMNO chiefs who ran roughshod over the shared aspirations of millions who desired a better Malaysia. Enough looting! Enough segregation! And deep in our heart of hearts, our longing for ONE Malaysia for ALL Malaysians under the rule of the highest authority in the land - the Federal Constitution, remains undiminished.

So yes, the Permatang Pasir by-election victory by PAS and PR is an ominous sign that the countdown to BN’s demise is ringing out clearer than ever. Fantastic!

TWO.

PAS’s win is either a thumbs up for the conservatives or the so-called Erdogans. Dressed in the same garbs, most people out there can't tell one from the other anyway. However you see it, it is surely true that the victory is getting to some of their leaders’ heads. PAS is beginning to imagine that PR had better march to the beating of their drum; that by virtue of their clout and religious credentials, they alone have the divine mandate to govern. Or at least, among the disparate coalition of infidels, beer drinkers, concert idolizers and neo-liberal muslims, above all PAS believes they alone have cleaner hands.

And this is ominous for the future of an opposition coalition so delicately held together by the charisma of one man.

PR had better decide here and now how long more Malaysia will remain schizophrenic. Anwar has apparently modified his stance and does not want to label Malaysia Islamic but he neither wants to be PM of a decidedly ‘secular’ state. But the rakyat who cast their votes for PR deserve better than a stance or an opinion or a public statement. We’re simple folks who may not always know what is it that we have lost – money, freedoms, rights, justice, public trust, etc – but we pretty much have an idea who has taken them away. So please, don’t squander our votes.

We want PR to return the Federal Constitution to its position of authority, and please quit the bellyaching semantic pranks of the past. You can fool some people some of the time, but you can’t fool all the people all the time.

Tell us to our faces: will Malaysia become a nation where Michael Learns To Rock is banned out of respect for Islamist sensitivities? Should non-Muslims rejoice that Muslims are barred from a Black Eyed Peas concert? Will we become a nation of flogged women? Is moral policing now de rigueur? Are Bar Council forum-wrecking antics by the Zulkifli Nordins of this world to be tolerated now? Is the khalwat busting regiment of PAS suddenly acceptable because it’s dressed in PR clothes? Are we too far down the slippery slope already to count on PR to set things right? Or have we all been duped?

PAS may have won, but unless and until everyone in the opposition coalition put their house in order, PR has lost. Pakatan Rakyat has only one chance. You blow it, and we all pay.

Who's got the last laugh?

2009-08-20T00:58:00.003+08:00

During the last US elections, one poster caught the attention of both Democrats and Republicans. And now the truth is out: the one who made the image was no angry Republican but a young man who didn't think Obama was "liberal" enough. Read the whole story here.

As the report made clear, the label socialist surely was totally wrong. The Joker was an anarchist and no socialist. Firaz Alkateeb who 'jokerised' Obama wasn't responsible for the caption, but the guys who did it certainly got their economic theory confused with pop iconography. But one thing Firaz isn't confused about is what he believes the 44th US President is made of:

"After Obama was elected, you had all of these people who basically saw him as the second coming of Christ," he told the Los Angeles Times. "From my perspective, there wasn't much substance to him."

Anyways.

Speaking as an adman, the business of appropriating an image and redefining its meaning is old hat. Lots of politicians are old hands at this. Like if you keep telling people that being disbarred is not the same as being convicted, you might just get enough people to swallow it.

Now that's a joke.

No to internet censorship

2009-08-07T19:05:00.004+08:00

I have a few questions:

If it is true that the Government "has no desire to implement internet filtering" who gave orders for the tender exercise?

What then are we to make of the "four proposals" submitted to the National Security Council led by PM Najib? Have these companies been misled into wasting money and man-hours on a wild goose chase?

How are we to explain the different versions of the internet filter story? Rais said Yes. PM said Yes, but No.

Is the Government's intention really to filter porn? Or are they really after dissent? If it is really after both porn AND dissent, is the Government lying to the rakyat about its true intentions?

If filtering the internet "doesn't work" why is there a need for the matter to be decided by the Cabinet? Why does Rais say the Government " was still studying the filtering process"?

5 good things about Pakatan Rakyat

2009-08-06T21:24:00.007+08:00

I think it’s a good thing that component parties of Pakatan
are throwing stones at each other publicly.
At least we'll know which ideological issues
are more important than the Constitution
(which is already as good as toilet paper anyway).

I’m honestly glad that all this backstabbing is going on
in Pakatan circles. People get to see how Pakatan politicians
and their machais are so unlike UMNO
who merely wield kerises but never use them.

I’m thrilled that Pakatan parties are taking their time
to get down and dirty to fix their differences
or discipline renegades in their midst (or is it Anwar?) .
People may say they're slow,
but I prefer to think they're thorough.

I’m delighted that after giving Pakatan their votes,
groups of people are now threatening
to desert them for the party's ineptitude.
Trust me - when they have had enough
of Ketuanan Melayu they'll come running back.

I’m elated that a year and a half after Pakatan’s win,
Malaysians are beginning to realize
that turning a 52-year old ship around
doesn’t happen at the stroke of a pen.
It will probably take another 52 years.

We've lost Yasmin

2009-07-26T15:44:00.004+08:00

YASMIN AHMAD (1958 - 2009)

I do not say it lightly when I write that Yasmin was a true Malaysian. Her works envisioned a society so guileless in ways we imagine Malaysia could never be – multicultural, multiracial, multilingual, many selves going about lives in the most unself-conscious way.

People were normal and the eccentricities of race or religion were not sharp edges to be avoided. Instead, in the world that Yasmin pictured and in the films she made, they were embraced - eyes unblinking - without irony or fear. People were people under their skin, immersed in the polyglot of everyday conversations that looked and sounded like Malaysia.

In Yasmin’s version of Malaysia, people were the same at the core of their being - however messed up their lives, whatever desires possess them, whichever direction they face when they prayed. No one was less noble than the other, none excluded, everyone's fates interwoven. They were our mirrors, and they reminded us that in her world as it is in our own, we are all poorer without each other.

The stories that Yasmin told imagined a society that could be. Sadly, they seemed also to be tales of a far, far away land, of a once-upon-a-time people, bathed in light and music resembling ephemera now lost and never to be retrieved.

We'll miss you Yasmin.

Wasted Salt and Dim Lights

2009-07-25T16:45:00.006+08:00

What does it take to rouse people into action? Where is the Church when injustice and corruption stalk the land? A friend of mine wrote a letter to her fellowship group challenging them to do more than talk.

Last Friday in our cell meeting we talked about being salt and light, and how to impact our communities. There were only a few of us but we had a lively discussion. Jesus used the metaphor salt to indicate that Christians should be the preservative factor to prevent moral decay in the world. We talked about helping others, praying, listening, finances, etc... which are all good and commendable.

However, I cannot help but wonder how we Christians should respond to the reality of the terrible injustices that have plagued our land for so many years. If you subscribe to God being sovereign, then there is no dispute He has placed you and I in Malaysia at this time and age. I refer to the recent Teoh Boon Hock's case.

I had asked: Why do Christians call themselves salt and light when they seem unperturbed by what's happening to their neighbours and country? Are we numbed by all this blatant abuse of power... (as just another Malaysia Boleh thing?) Or are there other things Christians should prioritise, ie, evangelism programmes & building funds, etc?

But would we have kept quiet if Teoh was our son or brother? What happened to the greatest commandments to love God and our neighbour? Are Christians to be known for what they don't do (drink, gamble, protest, etc) rather than being praised for what their good deeds are?

I've gotten these responses:

"Oh, please don't bring politics into the church. What if it gets closed down?"

"We must use wisdom."

"Jesus never involved himself in politics."

"All we can do is pray..."

On the other hand, personalities like William Wilberforce, Martin Luther King Jr are hailed from our pulpits as outstanding examples of Christian character. Pardon, if my memory serves me well, they were not people who backed down nor kept quiet in the face of gross injustice and tyranny. And they gave their lives for it - Wilberforce died poor in his cousin's house. King was assassinated.

I am not saying everyone should be an activist, go out with placards shouting slogans. I am suggesting that Christians should start thinking differently, if we say we serve a God of justice for the oppressed, downtrodden and poor.

"All it takes for evil to triumph is for good men & women to do nothing".

(Note: Letter reproduced with kind permission of the writer)

1Malaysia plunges to new low

2009-07-17T18:42:00.007+08:00

(Pix: Malaysiakini)

MACC deputy commissioner Datuk Abu Kassim Mohammad said with the five scrutinising bodies (the Special Committee on Corruption, Operations Review Panel, Corruption Prevention and Consultative Panel, and a Complaints Committee), the MACC hopes that it would not be accused of being the lapdog of the government. “They are experts with high integrity and respected by the community at large, comprising corporate figures, members of non-governmental organisations, legal professionals and academicians.”

Enough barking: Show us you are no mere lapdogs. Please.

Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Mohd Nazri: "Don't just accuse MACC of being responsible for this. If they (Pakatan) keep accusing them and their statements are made public, the people would form their opinions even before the investigation (on the death) is completed."

We're not accusing anyone of guilt; we're asking that the parties involved take responsibility. Tragically, few people in Malaysia are certain if our honourable ministers know the meaning of the word RESPONSIBILITY. In case you want to know, here's the dictionary definition:

1. The obligation to carry forward an assigned task to a successful conclusion. With responsibility goes authority to direct and take the necessary action to ensure success.
2. The obligation for the proper custody, care, and safekeeping of property or funds entrusted to the possession or supervision of an individual.

See also accountability.

Accountability is concerned primarily with records, while responsibility is concerned primarily with custody, care, and safekeeping. See responsibility.

"I know the police force will conduct a thorough and transparent investigation as we would not want anybody to cover up the truth," says DPM Muhyiddin Yassin

We all know what the police farce are capable of. Unfortunately, a thorough and transparent investigation is not one of them. We have all seen the very transparent outcomes of their investigations: there are too many corpses to miss.

“What’s going on?”
“How can this be happening?”

People ask what is going on; they want to know why it is happening. Have people no idea what is happening to the country? Are they being serious, or is that a rhetorical question?

God have mercy on us all.

Another vote against the Great Language Reversal

2009-07-14T18:05:00.002+08:00

David Matthew of MySinChew gets to the bottom of the language backpedal:

SOME WEEKS AGO I wrote about a letter I received from a person who shall not be named which began with the words “With referencing to the above, please see my bottom”. Having read my article, many people begged me to reveal the identity of the person guilty of such appalling English.

My response was that it did not matter. Terrible English is everywhere in this country and there was no need to single this person out.

I was browsing through some shops a few months back when I came across a sign that said “Please do not touch yourself. We will help you.” Needless to say, I fled the scene as fast as my legs could carry me.

More recently I had dinner at a popular restaurant near a popular roundabout in Petaling Jaya. The quality of the English on the menu was dreadful. For vegetables, we had a choice between the “Lecture” which I believe should have been spelt lettuce and the irresistible bacteria sounding “Coli Flower” which was no doubt the cauliflower.

We were laughing so much while ordering but the waitress was oblivious to the joke. She herself could barely string a sentence of English together.

The Government’s decision to reverse the policy on the teaching of Science and Maths in English is both wrong and selfish. Coming at the heels of Datuk Seri Najib’s hundredth day as Prime Minister, the reversal is a reflection of a Government that clearly lacks the political will to make the right decision.

Let us not be concerned about the future of our children because we have to worry about the political repercussions if the policy is not reversed. In a nutshell, that seems to have been the basis of the decision.

The fact that the majority of ordinary Malaysians want English to remain as the medium of instruction for these two subjects has been nonchalantly ignored. The independent poll by the Merdeka Centre shows this quite clearly and the ongoing poll on Tun Dr. Mahathir’s blog is a foregone conclusion the way it is going thus far.

When Tun Dr. Mahathir re-introduced English for teaching Science and Maths, he justified the policy by arguing that much of the contemporary scientific literature was written in English and that it would be near impossible to translate all of it into Bahasa. This was because to translate requires three qualifications – fluency in English, fluency in Bahasa and expertise in the subject. Tun Dr. Mahathir opined that there are just not many people who can do this.

The former Prime Minister was dead right. Further, translations also take time. Scientific papers or textbooks released today become outdated extremely quickly. By the time it is translated into Bahasa, students in other countries are already reading more current material.

Proponents of the reversal take the rather misguided view that since this is Malaysia, we should just be speaking Malay and that is the most important thing. They also point to France as an example and say look at the French and how they insist in using French for everything.

With respect, Bahasa is not French. It will never have the reach of French globally and students in other countries are not going to flood into language classes just to learn Bahasa.

In any event, M. Xavier Bertrand, the former French Minister of Health was apparently once quoted as having said “I didn’t consider that as Health Service Minister, I would need English. I was wrong.” (Read the rest here)

Flip-flops 'R' Us

2009-07-09T14:50:00.004+08:00

Here we go (again).
Another view on the politics of education here.

MJ and Mohan

2009-07-07T11:40:00.005+08:00

There's a huge sending off party for Michael Jackson in downtown Los Angeles. I hear the megawatt ceremony will include A-listers from Hollywood and the music industry. Hence the tight security and all that.

Here in Malaysia, people are asking if MJ really became a Muslim. That would matter if MJ was Malaysian or resident in Malaysia. Hmm.

Right now the tussle over the late Mohan Singh's status - was he Muslim or wasn't he - has once again highlighted the continuing bizzare 'body-snatching' practices of our own religious authorities.

Anyway, the Shah Alam High Court has finally decided against Mohan's family and ruled that the deceased was indeed a Muslim when he died (albeit a 'secret' convert, seeing the family knew nothing about it) and should therefore be buried according to Muslim rites. The dead man obviously had no say, and neither did the grieving family. But armed with the court ruling the Selangor Islamic Religious Council (MAIS) went ahead with the funeral. Mohan's sending off was 'huge' too, but of a decidedly different sort. Hence the tight security and, well....you know.

It's a terrible shame that these 'body-snatching' episodes continue. It's something you don't wish on anyone. No one truly gains from it - neither the grieving family, nor the religious authorities.

But what I fail to understand is, why aren't the Islamic authorities attempting to explain what's the rationale behind the need for a Muslim to have a Muslim burial? We know it is customary for Muslim burials to take place before sunset, but few know anything more beyond this.

How is it so important that the whole force of legislation (Syariah and civil) and physical might are exerted on one poor grieving family? Some other questions come to mind:

-Does it compromise the deceased's destiny in the afterlife?
-How does a burial ritual add merit to the deceased (or the Muslim community)?
-Does it compromise the Muslim community's integrity or sensitivity in this life?
-Is it a matter of religious pride or divine obligation, or merely a convention of Malaysian Muslims?
-What is the practice like in other Muslim communities or Islamic countries, or is there anything to be learnt from their traditions?
-How does Islam address the pain of the grieving non-Muslim family, or do we infidels count for nothing?
-Does it bring divine judgment on the Muslim community if one Muslim escapes proper funeral rites?

Enlighten us. Please. Tell us why the Muslim burial ritual is of such great importance (in contrast to other non-Islamic religious practices perhaps). I ask this sincerely. I really think there are many people out there who want to understand this issue to better empathise with all parties concerned.

Michael Jackson, RIP

2009-06-27T00:44:00.006+08:00

Michael Joseph Jackson
1958 ~ 2009

Who among us wasn't shocked? We grew up with him and his siblings. Born in the same year as I was, MJ as one of the Jackson 5 hit the charts and got us singing, "I'll Be There." I remember how as kids we compared The Osmonds with Jackson 5. C'mon. Michael Jackson vs Donny Osmond? It's the passing of an incredibly gifted entertainer and performer. There were so many things that caught our attention, dazzled us. And made us cringe. Creepy, we said. Indeed, it was as if his talent was his tragedy. He made us sit up and listen. And he made us look.

I don't get it

2009-06-15T17:16:00.003+08:00

I’m sorry, I don’t get it.

I really really don’t get it.

Does Nizar and his cohort really have to resort to such antics to get noticed? The drama is totally uncalled for. I understand the skullduggery that left Pakatan out in the cold; you are all justifiably angry and repulsed by BN’s shameless power grab. Surely you would have noticed that thousands are just as mad and just as vehemently opposed to this unconscionable hijack.

But pray tell, what did this morning’s drama achieve? Did Pakatan think the stunt pulled by the Perak ADUNS would draw more sympathy and swing more votes their way?

We want a new breed of politicians, not BN clones. We want politicians who lead, not merely react. All this grandstanding reflects neither wit nor intelligence. If politics is all about perception, what sort of impression do you think you all made? You have simply played into the hands of BN and detractors, and confirms that Pakatan's political playbook is so devoid of imagination that pranks now substitute for good sense.

I’m sorry, I don’t get it.

I really really don’t get it.

Fishy

2009-06-01T17:30:00.000+08:00

This was strange.

I was driving along Damansara about 11 in the morning when I heard tooting on my left. A guy on a motorbike was tailing me, his pillion rider pointing to my rear tyre and making time-out gestures. Scruffy looking gents too. My first instinct was to pullover at the side of the road (and I did slow down), until I noticed that the motorbike was doing the same. Fortunately I had the presence of mind not to stop and drove to the nearest petrol station instead. The motorbike kept abreast for a while but probably sensing that I wasn’t stopping, took a left turn and disappeared into the traffic.

5 minutes later at the petrol station, I got out to inspect the car. Nope. Nothing visibly wrong with the tyres. Everything was a-ok.

How to lose a battle and stay cool at the same time

2009-05-27T03:08:00.002+08:00

I must admit the unpleasant business of the police harassing people and detaining them is beginning to get to me. Imagine detaining the vendors who were hired to put up the canopy and the balloon. This is sheer intimidation and abuse of power. It is nothing but a shameful and gutless display of brute force in the service of political masters. Is the ordinary Malaysian to look away and pretend this is really for the good of the nation? Is this how BN hopes to gain lost ground, earn our respect?

No, I think we have long passed the point of no-return. That way is the hard way. Besides it would take too long and asks too much of BN. No, the politicians who hold the levers of power have a new game plan. Better to be feared than to be loved, writes Machiavelli, and it’s his playbook they are following. So they no longer brook any dissent, and they want us to know it. If you ask me, all this clampdown and play tough are nervous convulsions of a creature in the throes of death.

Meanwhile, I am disappointed with Nizar and the Pakatan aduns in Perak. I know you have had the rug pulled from under your feet. Hey, I am on your side. Perhaps I do not understand politics and how one needs to resort to drama and public spectacle to spite your opponents. Maybe I underestimate the appeal of the theatrical as a political tactic.

But don’t you think all this BN-baiting gets tiresome? Fasting. Hunger strikes. Balloons, etc. Perhaps there’s a place for this. But please think about how to behave like a ‘government in waiting’ as Neil Khor wrote. Yes, we need thought-leaders. We need leaders who speak the language of government and not juvenile one-upmanship of the playground. You all still have constituencies to serve. Show some dignity. Don’t be like a yelping dog that’s lost a bone. Be cool. Behave. Be different. You may have lost a battle, but there's a very very good chance you'll win the war.

Rais' pipeline

2009-05-22T14:44:00.005+08:00

Here we go again.

Information, Communications and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim feels obliged to let us know (again) that the space for free speech (er, for want of a better description) around us is shrinking. Fast. In a news report, our old, new minister claims there is a 'proposal' by some quarters to register bloggers, that while it's a "good idea" our minister thinks it needs indepth study. Bloggers are grateful for the reprieve.

"Meanwhile, we are studying a new Act, the Multimedia Signature Act, which has been in the pipeline the past three years. This Act is expected to support the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998," he said.

Well, the man is busy busy keeping the pipeline flowing for sure.

If you ask me, all these pronouncements since Rais took office (and in the wake of March 8 too) are part of an ongoing psy-war to put the lid on dissenting voices. A hint here, a dinner there, a meet-the-bloggers session, another comment on acts and laws, a reminder on patriotic songs, etc. They have the cheery disposition of Hannibal Lecter - mildly genial, but laced with menace.

Newspaper editorials are on the offensive - more than ever. TV is unapologetically slathering viewers with propaganda and spin. And no, you're not allowed to mention a certain mongolian. Nor are we allowed to see the poor Perak speaker manhandled and dragged out like a sack of potatoes.

Out on the streets, candlelight and black are ingredients for a night in the slammer. It's amazing what a shiny badge and a loudhailer can do to an otherwise dawdling man in blue. The police are flexing their muscles with new found relish arresting people for illegal assembly - imagine, 40 riot police descending on 16 non-violent protesters. Lawyers are detained for doing their job. So who's minding the streets and keeping us safe from the mat rempits (or samseng jalan, now that these guys no longer enjoy UMNO youth's attention)?

Something is certainly going on, since our new PM heaved upon the stage in a blaze of PR, trumpeting a new national slogan. But it's all ear candy. You can fool some people some of the time, but you can't fool all the people all the time. Malaysians know the 1 thing on PM Najib's mind and the 1 thing on BN's agenda. And it's not about what the people need.

The Empire is striking back.

SELL OUT sells!

2009-05-16T00:57:00.004+08:00

Local indie movies are usually not what I have in mind for entertainment. But I have to admit that SELL OUT tickled more than the proverbial funny bone in unexpected ways. Director Yeo Joon Nam’s first full length feature was actually fun and I dare say, sufficiently entertaining to give Singapore’s Jack Neo a run for his money.

I went into the cinema with fingers-crossed, half expecting a kind of cringe-worthy TV drama in widescreen. The place was half empty, but then I said to myself it’s not Slumdog Millionaire. Yeo has talent to spare (even if this is his debut feature) and he’s out to tell us that yes, he’s a serious contender. Well, at least it did not look like a Petronas TV commercial, and it wasn’t all boring talking heads or meandering scenes in cinema verite.

SELL OUT’s wry take on corporate greed, reality shows, art, and our fixation on pan-Asian faces struck a chord. Some scenes were laugh-aloud funny – not because we’ve never seen comedy like this before, but because they were true-to-life. Minutes into the film, I was sold.

But alas, it’s an uneven film. Billed as a musical, the songs were interesting but it would have been good if they were at least, er, hummable (now this is where Yeo can take a leaf out of Jack Neo’s songbook). I thought the whole thing could have worked just as well without the singing bits, clever as they were.

No, it would be unkind to say the multi-talented director was trying to be too clever (he writes, directs, edits, composes the songs). Well, there were lots of clever ideas and vignettes of contemporary Malaysia. And then some. There were just too many ideas popping up in too many directions that I thought he got carried away as auteurs often do. Goes to show how hard it is to make a funny movie.

Nevertheless, the good parts pretty much make up for these missteps. Yeo’s got a keen eye. It’s not a movie to be ashamed of, and I certainly I have no reservation recommending it. Heck, I'll buy the DVD too. Definitely a talent to look out for. Talking about Jack Neo, SELL OUT could almost be a non-Malaysian movie. You know, 110 minutes, and hardly a Malay or Indian in sight (ok, there was an Indian doctor).

Note: SELL OUT won the Venice Young Cinema Award for Alternative Vision. Visit the official website for more news and reviews.

It ain't over yet!

2009-05-12T14:49:00.004+08:00

Okay, did we speak too soon? Should've known there was going to be an appeal?

Nizar is MB!

2009-05-11T17:14:00.005+08:00

This is fantastic news! The Kuala Lumpur High Court declares Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin as the rightful MB of Perak. So, there is hope after all in our Judiciary? It's a small step forward, but what a giant footprint!

Meanwhile, we wait with bated breath to see whether it means the end of the circus or the beginning of another one.

Franky, I'd like to see more decorum, more self-control by Pakatan. I understand the difficulties - everything's stacked against you, the royalty, the police, the federal govt, the courts, the police, the MSM. Their backs against the wall. No point stooping to the BN's whoop-it-up and muscle-flexing ways. There's got to be a real paradigm shift in the way Pakatan politicians confront their opponents.

Anyway. Fresh wind's a-blowing...

(Pix: Anilnetto.com)

Tired of politics?

2009-05-09T22:05:00.004+08:00

Infamy. Debacle. Rape. Black Day. Shameful. Chaos. Bedlam. Mayhem. Shocking. Murder. Unconstitutional. Cavalier. Theatrical. Fiasco. Coup d’État. WWF. Unlawful. Undemocratic. Death of Honour. Imbroglio. Violent. Unjust. Immature. Harsh. Faces worse than coffin planks. Childish. Disrespectful. Anarchy. Crude. Brutal. Contemptuous. Uncivilised. Unreasonable. Unprecedented. Unfortunate. Dreadful. Political Bigotry. Angry. Sad. Regrettable. Illegal. Colossal error. Misjudgement. Scandal. Hypocrisy. Manipulation. Desperate. Shameless. Disgusting. Cruel. Disaster. War-zone. Ludicrous. Scandalous. Illegitimate. Bleak. Rubbish. Boorish. Disgraceful. Disaster. A new low. Public odium. Unruly. Mockery. Unethical. Orchestrated. Disgraceful. Immature. Spectacle. Bad taste.

Some of the more colourful (but printable) descriptions of the horror that greeted Malaysians on May 7.

But 'tired'? TIRED? "On the streets of Ipoh, many are tired of politics."

It always strikes me as strange that people say they are tired at the way politics is turning out, and that they don't care who is in power because "... I still have to wake up every morning, wash my face and go to work. I just want stability."

Of course it matters who the government is. The one who is in power is the one that will determine whether we get to wake up and go to work, and whether there's a place for all our children to call home. Peace, stability. Cari makan. You can't have that when there's no justice and integrity, when basic civil rights are rubbished with brute force and arrogance.

Malaysia weeps!

2009-05-08T02:16:00.003+08:00

Pix: Malaysiakini and Malaysian Insider

PEOPLE FIRST!

2009-05-07T03:40:00.004+08:00

Advantage BN

2009-04-28T15:16:00.004+08:00

PM Najib has stolen the thunder from Pakatan with a timely Cabinet ruling on child conversion following the latest controversy involving Hindu mother Indira Ghandi. Several religious groups and NGOs were reportedly happy and so was I.

To soothe uneasiness over the controversial conversion of minors to Islam, the Cabinet decided on Wednesday that Muslim converts had to meet their marriage commitments and raise their children in the religion they were in at the time of their marriage.

It also directed the Attorney-General to look at which laws need to be amended in line with the decision to stop the conversion of minors without the consent of both parents. [More]

Indeed. Laws need to be amended so that the Cabinet’s decision carries weight.

"A directive has no legal effect in the court of law. It may be persuasive in court but again, it has no legal effect," said lawyer A. Sivanesan who’s acting on behalf of Indira Ghandi.

You could say the Cabinet decision was a compromise of sorts and there remain grey areas to address. There is still some wrangling, and a father gone AWOL. The point however is, it is a step forward.

This puts Pakatan in a quandary and as reports start coming in, DAP and PAS are again on opposite ends of the debate, with PKR trying to straddle the ideological divide. Whatever PKR may be saying about the coalition adopting a ‘middle-path’ and as commendable as the stance may be, it waits to be seen whether the middle-pathers will not succumb to the Islamists.

It is one thing for Syed Husin Ali to say that Pakatan needs only a ‘minimum’ to keep together (which presumably means the basic tenets required to stay together as a viable opposition coalition). That’s fine, but surely we who have voted in Pakatan have the right to expect more.

Sure, the coalition is not a monolithic homogeneous entity, and we understand the ride ahead will be bumpy. But the message of March 8 and the end of the political journey is not merely the establishing of Pakatan; it is the sustaining and nurture of higher ideals, i.e., the freedom to be Malaysians without the triangulation of race, religion and class, founded upon a common vision of justice, equality, integrity towards a progressive and prosperous nation. This means whatever stance Pakatan adopts had better move us all closer to this hope.

Anyway, as encouraging as BN’s decision is, I can’t help but feel a little bothered and more than a bit cynical. While JAKIM, PUM, the Perak Mufti, and other Islamist NGOs are making all the requisite noises, the Cabinet decision appears pretty much a done thing. You know, just get the AG to amend laws, etc. Just like that, with a press release and a stroke of the pen. QED. All these men and women strutting down those proverbial corridors of power can at a moment’s notice sit down and arrive miraculously at a consensus.

Imagine how long we have had to put up with mobs, mothers separated from children, bodies snatched from mortuaries, juvenile spin by one minister or another, threats of another May 13, tough talk by religious groups, etc. It goes to show that if the powers-that-be really wanted to resolve conflicts however sensitive these issues are, they could have. Yet they did not. Can you blame cynics when they conclude that all this feet-dragging was because BN’s interest wasn't served?

The real Susan Boyle

2009-04-19T00:55:00.008+08:00

What’s more astonishing: that someone like simple homebody Susan Boyle could bring people to tears with her voice, or that millions who’ve made her a Youtube sensation think such a talent is just too good to be true? Susan has just gone through the first rounds of audition but millions want her to succeed on the talent show.

Now they’ve unearthed a song that Susan recorded for a charity album 10 years ago and the frenzy’s started all over again. Cry Me a River is sure to be another viral hit. It’s a wonderfully, perfectly rendered interpretation, but I have to admit it didn’t do it for me – it just lacks the emotive punch (Check out Julie London who first recorded the song, or Diana Krall who made the song her own).

We’re living in times where ‘normal’ is rather disturbingly abnormal. We prefer our newly elevated media stars to be slightly bigger than life - you know, like Jade Goody. Someone comes from the wrong side of town, who after taking a bite at fame tells the world he or she’s living it up now because they deserve it, and don’t anybody tell them otherwise. And we forgive the poor darlings because, yes, everyone deserves a shot at their 15 minutes, riches, popularity, a new boyfriend or girlfriend, and er, even cosmetic dentistry.

What we know of Susan right now seems to go smack against everything the media, Internet and our celebrity-obsessed culture represent. She had a learning disability and was teased in school, and she put her ambition to be a singer on hold to care for her aged mother. Susan was a regular at the village Catholic Church and sang frequently but stopped when her mother died. And now she’s taken the world by storm - and - gasp! - she doesn't even look the part.

'Gobsmacked' Susan wants to stay real: "I want to receive people as the real me, a real person."

I'm really glad to hear that. For her sake and for the sakes of all the jaded folks and media junkies out there, I hope she stays real, for a really, really long time. Go get 'em, Susan Boyle!

The Power of the Resurrection

2009-04-13T23:07:00.004+08:00

Easter 2009.

Here is a book that most touched me and challenged me this Easter. I must admit that some parts were dense - the way that only NT Wright is capable of - rushing over my consciousness like a torrent of words - some thoughts raised questions, but mostly they provoked reflection of the sort that came close to a kind of personal epiphany. He put in words some of the deepest and most thoughtful reiteration of the blessed hope that belongs to Jesus' followers.

It's the big picture that makes theology pure doxology. NT Wright's enormous capacity to draw together scholarship and thinking past and present and then deconstruct them all in ways that become clearer, is sheer brilliance. It's not all new or original (but the function of theology surely is not to be 'original') of course, but it is in the articulation. No doubt it is precisely this gift that makes him at once a scholar of note and a theologian who has challenged some of our most cherished ideas of atonement and justification.

"The message of the resurrection is that this world matters! That the injustices and pains of this world must now be addressed with the news that healing, justice, and love have won." NT Wright

Najib's ascent , BN's descent

2009-04-09T04:35:00.006+08:00

Some say Batang Ai was a referendum for Najib. Perhaps. But the fact that Bukit Gantang and Bukit Selambau went the other way says something else: Najib's ascent is BN's descent.

The signs are clear. There is no letting up. Malaysians want something better, something new. And we want it sooner than later.

I understand that something ‘new’ is not always something ‘better.’ It’s just that we have had enough of being bullied and cowered by self-important tinpots who think we owe our well-being to their beneficence.

Perhaps I should say, we want something more.

We want hope, for us and for our children. We want to walk in the streets, keep our head up, breathe in the air, and know in our bones that this is our home. We want respect, we want to be treated justly, we want honesty.

Don’t point to history to show us our place. Don’t wave the so-called social contract in our faces as some would an unsheathed kris. Don’t stuff religion down our throats while strutting about in feigned piety.

So, know that every vote cast against BN is a vote that says to Pakatan, “Don’t become like BN.”

Good intentions are not enough; BN showed us where a road paved with platitudes led to. Know that every vote that goes to Pakatan is marked with a charge and a prayer: “Honour our trust.”

Malaysia wins in Bukit Gantang and Bukit Selambau!

2009-04-08T00:54:00.005+08:00

Pakatan wins Bukit Gantang and Bukit Selambau!

Great going - Malaysia wins! Pakatan scores a 2,789 majority win in Bukit Gantang and a 2,403-vote majority in Bukit Selambau! Sweet! But shame about Batang Ai, Sarawak needs more work. Meanwhile here's some humour gleaned from Malaysiakini, Bernama, Nutgraph, and Malaysian Insider to celebrate the rakyat's win. If these quotes show anything, it's that BN still doesn't get it.

Zambri Abdul Kadir "The people have made their decision. It is not a rejection of the BN in Perak."

Koh Tsu Koon "As BN is still leading the federal government, BN has a good platform to perform, implement positive reform and good policies benefiting the people."

Dr M "I am confident that Najib's leadership reflects the original Umno."

Muhyiddin Yassin "Maybe the people have a feel-good factor relating to Najib's premiership, but they have yet to absorb the good feelings."

Hishamuddin Hussein "We must study the trend of the voters and see what else needs to be satisfied. You must understand, this is not our seat and not our state, we did not lose our own seat."

Samy Vellu “I am certain we have increased Indian support,....even though we are disappointed..."

Ong Tee Keat "They do not want to hear promises of change but they want to experience real change."

Ramly Zahari "We still maintained the Malay votes that we got in 2008."

Back. And backpedalling?

2009-04-06T14:59:00.003+08:00

He's back. The recently revitalised octogenarian gets back in to UMNO and hits the campaign trail. No surprises there. But this is where he's lost me:

He said mistakes, bad strategy and carelessness in the Feb 5 power grab, orchestrated by Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, had led to the current crisis in the state.

"You cannot topple a menteri besar or a prime minister without a no-confidence vote in the assembly. There is no other provision," he said at a function organised by Mubarak, the association for former elected representatives.

"Umno-BN was too careless and did not wait for an assembly but instead asked the Ruler to sack the menteri besar," he said, referring to Sultan Azlan Shah's decision to ask Datuk Seri Nizar Jamaluddin to resign.

"As far as I know, there is no such provision in the Perak or Federal Constitution," he said.

[Full story here]

So, should not the whole Perak crisis be exposed as an expensive and tragic sham that it is? Shouldn't Dr M be standing up for the rakyat?

Enough is enough!
So NO to BN!

Time for change!

2009-04-01T23:03:00.004+08:00

I find the present political scenario an utter scandal. Politicians from the ruling BN almost always imagine the electorate to be either too dumb to tell the difference between their words and deeds, or too comfortable to care about the larger issues. Yeah, right. And all of us were born yesterday too.

Meanwhile public institutions are breaking down – the police have lost their credibility and all we hear is the need for the force to “improve its image.” Law and order is fast becoming a joke but long-suffering taxpayers who have been robbed, maimed, and victimized are not laughing. The judiciary is coming close to being nothing more than a mouthpiece for the government, apparently dictated by the powerful to legitimize injustice and vested interests - is there no one on the bench who commands respect for his or her principles and courage? Remember VK Lingam?

We know deep in our gut that something is terribly wrong, and we know things aren’t getting better. Anyone with any sense of decency also knows who are responsible for undermining the very institutions that are supposed to serve and protect the rakyat.

Government departments and ministries have become personal fiefdoms for politicos and their hirelings and cronies. Corruption and alleged misdeeds akin to daylight robbery are exposed and an ex-MB blithely dismisses the SELCAT hearing as ‘not certified” by the AG. These are men and women without an iota of conscience, who nevertheless revel as spokespersons and defenders of race and religion. Gallivanting all over the world on taxpayers money too. How do these people sleep at night?

Malaysia risks becoming a basket case if we buy into the tired spin that UMNO and BN are ready for reform - that’s why they need our votes, so they tell us. Malaysia is already sliding down the precipice; its descent will only be sooner if we the rakyat think that ‘peace’ is more important that justice.

Mouthing Obama’s hope and change mantra isn’t going to work just because there’s a new lineup in UMNO. On the contrary, the air has become heavier with a pall of hopelessness. It reeks of extremism and repression. There is little doubt that the powers that be do not know what change is, and neither do they want to change. There’s too much of old blood and too little new thinking. That these politicians are flexing their muscles, banning opposition papers, locking people up in ISA, and intimidating anyone with a dissenting point of view are enough to tell us they fear change.

This is why all right thinking Malaysians must take a stand. Resist the machinations of fear. Say no to racism and corruption. Don’t squander the forces of real change that started on March 8, 2008.

Batang Ai, Bukit Gantang, Bukit Selambau. Don’t be duped.
If you really want change, say NO to BN!

Law & Disorder in Perak

2009-03-05T01:52:00.003+08:00

Lawlessness begets lawlessness.

There is a putrid stench that stretches back to 1988 when honourable judges were muzzled and unceremoniously sacked for daring to stand up against the Chief Executive Dr M. A key accomplice that led to that dark episode in Malaysian history was Haidar Mohd Noor who as then chief registrar hid the Court Seal to prevent a special sitting of the Supreme Court. The events are well documented and there is no need to say more.

Is history repeating itself?

Today the powers-that-be have become more arrogant, emboldened – and dare I say, more thuggish? What is happening in Perak is another vicious stab at the heart of fair Malaysia, another body blow for the laws of the land and the much maligned Constitution. Why are the people in Perak not allowed to decide who should govern their state? Why the desperation and duplicity?

If right thinking Malaysians cannot see through BN’s shameful power grab, then we deserve the government we get.

When the government of the day ignores foundational principles such as the separation of powers, the Constitution becomes a dead piece of paper. But the Constitution is not just any law. It is the set of laws that founds our nation, defines its basic principles, guarantees our individual rights and prescribes the structures, duties, and powers which make a national community possible. It is the foundation and source of the legal authority underlying the existence of Malaysia.

Those who so blithely ignore the Constitution for political ends are quite literally wrecking the foundations of this country to further their own interests.

This must stop.
Tengku Razaleigh

There seems to be a complete lack of conscience on the part of the BN MPs. They seem completely oblivious to the long-term effects of this kind of action.

If even in cases as clear cut as these, they do not have the moral strength to condemn and dissociate from, what hope have we that they will condemn and put an end to all the other acts of mismanagement and misuse of power?

What use are all the arguments presented by all the PR Parliamentarians on all issues when simple issues such as these are beyond the comprehension of the BN MPs?

In the final analysis, the future of Malaysian politics seems increasingly bleak unless the brakes are some how applied thereby stopping this mindless plunge into ghetto politics. Unfortunately, this is seemingly the only form of politics which can be called upon by Umno to ensure its own survival. When you have run out of arguments, when you no longer can deceive the people, when you no longer enjoy their support, you put fear in their hearts!
Khalid Samad

The world is watching

2009-03-03T11:36:00.003+08:00

Photo courtesy of delCapo

Unfortunately it matters not that the doctrine of separation of powers is being flushed down the toilet in Perak for the world to see. Unfortunately our outgoing PM Abdullah still doesn't get it. Tragically, the man remains proud of his 'legacy', the unheralded and dead-in-the-water Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) and Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC).

Malaysian Insider has this to say:

If we are witnessing the blurring of the doctrine of separation of powers and a revival of the “might is right” approach by Umno/Barisan Nasional, then Abdullah has to carry the can.

After all, in his first speech to Parliament as prime minister, Abdullah pledged to respect the separation of powers between the legislature, the executive and the judiciary, saying that this doctrine was pivotal in checking abuse of power.

The events in Perak over the past 24 hours and still unfolding today shows that he has been unable to convince Umno/BN members, the civil service and the police on the sanctity of this doctrine in a democracy.

Abdullah was puzzled why State Speaker V. Sivakumar decided to call for an emergency state assembly sitting instead of waiting for the courts to decide on the matter.

The official answer is that he, as the head of the legislature, has the power to do so. Left unsaid is the fact that Sivakumar took this course of action because he and other members of Pakatan Rakyat do not have confidence that the judiciary will give them the hearing they deserve.

All said and done, the approach employed by Umno/BN in Perak, the resulting skepticism among some Malaysians on the ability of the country’s institutions to be honest brokers shows and the ridiculous sight of a state assembly taking place under a tree all have to land on Abdullah’s lap.

The world is watching.

Ibrahim Hussein (1936-2009)

2009-02-20T15:25:00.006+08:00

Ibrahim Hussein, Malaysia's most famous artist of international renown passed away quite suddenly on Thursday 19 February following a heart attack. The 72-year old late artist was buried at the Bukit Kiara Islamic Cemetary.

On the website of Ib's Ibrahim Hussein Museum and Cultural Foundation are these words:

"To me, painting is like praying. When I paint, I am dealing with my heart, my work and God. There is deep joy and gratitude. Each piece frames a moment in my life."

My wife and I had the privilege of visiting the Center in Langkawi in 2005 and thinking to myself, what is this world-class art center doing here in Langkawi? Malaysians ought to be better acquainted with this much-awarded artist and his art, I thought. And this remote outpost on Langkawi - though wonderful for artistic pursuits - would merely reduce the great man into an inconsequential footnote. Indeed as the website reveals, the last Langkawi International of Arts organised by the Center was in 2000!

The artist himself met us at the door on that hot afternoon after we pulled up at the driveway and rang a bell. He smiled sheepishly and welcomed us in explaining that no one was around because of the holidays (Chinese New Year then). We paid him our admission tickets and after a few words, shuffled away leaving us to explore and view the displays on our own.

We bought a book and had him autograph it. He obligingly posed for a photo. We said goodbye, he thanked us for visiting. I think I left feeling a little envious that here was a man who did what he loved, and found both joy and great success along the way.

Fellow artist Victor Chin's obit here.

Myanmar mission

2009-02-17T00:06:00.020+08:00

Mingaladon
Myanmar
4 Feb ~ 11 Feb, 2009

While the rest of Asia marches on, Myanmar is lost in a time warp. Tragically, the ruling junta - in power since 1962 - maintains its stranglehold, oblivious to the suffering of its people, doesn’t look like it’s going to loosen its grip any time soon.

There is a lively buzz in the city of Yangon where new office towers are beginning to dominate older colonial buildings. Yangon is clearly not in the same league as Bangkok or Kuala Lumpur, or even Hanoi of course. But someone remarked that it does seem to have changed since he was here 6 years ago, although it is still cloaked in dust and diesel fumes.

And there is heart-rending poverty everywhere you look, not because people lack determination, but because opportunities aren’t there. On the surface, there may be a sense of helplessness but don't mistake that for resignation; there is resilience and energy, and it shows in the way the Myanmar population continue to keep their heads up.

Vendors hawk fried snacks on sidewalks; children race after buses with newspapers and sweet snacks; men selling soft toys at traffic junctions; a mother breastfeeds her baby amidst squalor; Yangon airport baggage handlers ambush travelers to carry their bags (it’s 300kyats per bag, mind). Life finds a way in little acts of resistance.

Myanmar’s day will come. I pray it will be sooner than later.

Wrangle in Perak continues

2009-02-15T16:36:00.003+08:00

We were in the hotel room in Yangon when we first heard it: "Perak has fallen."

Indeed.

As shocking as the news may be, what was more shocking was the shameless manner in which the legitimately elected MB was ejected, and his office all cleaned out. Have these people learnt nothing? Is this some banana republic we are living in? Is that the often touted morality of Malaysia's religious order?

New MB Zambry wags his finger at the rest of us because we don't know the 'philosophy of democracy.' DPM Najib is gloating. The peasants are revolting. UMNO is hysterical. The royals are upset. Khairy and others his ilk are baying for blood. Once again cries of 'Hidup Melayu' are raised. Is this shameful coup d'etat something that dignifies a whole majority people?

Meanwhile, BN component parties have elected to keep their mouths shut.

Ironic that Chua Soi Lek should be complaining about the inapropriate appointment of a Gerakan deputy president as advisor, and not someone from MCA.

Shame.

Writing on the wall

2009-01-20T15:29:00.006+08:00

However you look at it, the post-March 8 momentum hasn't slowed down. The writing is on the wall for BN, and PAS's win in KT is a thrilling vote for change.

This dislike, or some would put it as hatred, has not diminished since March 08. If anything, it has even grown more intense, no thanks to the Ahmad Ismail incident, the abuse of the ISA in the arrest of a journalist for her own “protection”, rising crime rate, the disappearance of a private investigator under suspicious circumstances, the aborted EuroCopter purchase, the aborted sale of IJN (aborted only after public objections), rampant corruption… all added to make this feeling more and more intense.
Hsu Dar Ren

[T]his election shows that the sirens of calls for reform have fallen on deaf ears. Umno leaders appear only to be interested in themselves and their own fortunes, rather than repairing the serious flaws in governance and credibility.

Not only do Umno leaders appear deaf to calls for change, they appear blind to the evaporation of its political base.
Bridget Welsh

This was more than a referendum on the leadership. It was a test of the relevance of Umno in its present form. If Umno is no longer relevant to the Malays, the BN formula is dead. The Chinese will have no reason to support MCA and so on. The power-sharing consensual bargain on which our political system has been based since Independence is broken.
Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah

The results showed that Chinese Malaysian voters favoured the BN. No matter how hard Pakatan Rakyat leaders of Chinese descent tried to woo these voters, they still voted for the BN. The Chinese in Kuala Terengganu want a secular state. They still cannot accept hudud. It is difficult for PAS to gain the trust and support of Chinese voters if the party is unable to change in this respect.
Sin Chew editorial

The humiliation suffered by UMNO in the January 17, 2009 by-election in Kuala Trengganu, a seat previously held by one of its Deputy Ministers, is further proof that the party’s thumping in the March 2008 General Elections was the beginning of the end. Getting rid of its leader Abdullah Badawi will not alter UMNO’s fate; a future with Najib Razak will be no solution either.The party is no longer salvageable; UMNO is now beyond redemption.
M. Bakri Musa

Umno is too immersed in its own culture of patronage and has failed to realise that it cannot treat voters the same way it does party members. An independent poll on Kuala Terengganu voters found that more Malay Malaysians felt that their political power was at risk from "corrupt and self-serving leaders" than those who felt that non-Malay communities were a threat.
Deborah Loh

The state of flux points to many Malaysians having woken up to the fact. They want change in the most fundamental of ways: independence from a mindset that has left them colonized by an elite for its own benefit.

They are not fastidious as to who it is that becomes the Prime Minister of this country or who it is that forms the government. All they want is a government made up of men and women who believe in the ideals that the founders of this nation thought were a solid basis for a glorious future for all Malaysians. They want those men and women to believe in these ideals enough to get on with what needs to be done as a government of the people, by the people, and for the people. They want the respect that each and every one of them is entitled to as a citizen.
Malik Imtiaz

BN is on the back foot now not because it's divided but eroded. Its lesser components, such as Gerakan and SAPP, have fallen away or grown moribund. Of its three principal parties, the MIC has circled its wagons against an electorate that rejected it in March 2008. The MCA, on its part, continues to serve its own survival well enough, and in so doing was rewarded by the Chinese voters of KT largely abiding by it and BN last Saturday. But they were not enough to stanch the haemorrhage of faith in Umno, as Malay voters swung away from BN to deliver victory by a quadrupled majority to Pas.
NST Editorial

I found that for the salurans where the average age of the voters was below 35, the level of BN support decreased by 4.4%. For the salurans where the average voter age was from 35 to 55, the decrease in BN support was 1.5%, and for salurans with voters above 55, the decrease in the level of BN support was 0.8%. This is unmistakable evidence of a trend towards voting for the opposition among younger voters regardless of race.
Ong Kian Ming

UMNO - Come down from the high chairs. Stop from being treated like Kings, Lords and Masters. Sit on the plastic chairs with the rakyat and the voters. You are Wakil Rakyat. You are elected by them. You are not their Lords and Masters. They are, in fact, your Masters; and

They elected you. They never elected your spouses, your children, your sons- and daughters-in-law, your kins and clansmen.
A Kadir Jasin

Blank about Christmas

2008-12-27T16:26:00.002+08:00

Post-Christmas.
Post Boxing Day.
And I find this amazing thought by G.K. Chesterton:

People are losing the power to enjoy Christmas through identifying it with enjoyment. When once they lose sight of the old suggestion that it is all about something, they naturally fall into blank pauses of wondering what it is all about. To be told to rejoice on Christmas Day is reasonable and intelligible, if you understand the name, or even look at the word. To be told to rejoice on the 25th of December is like being told to rejoice at quarter-past eleven on Thursday week. You cannot suddenly be frivolous unless you believe there is a serious reason for being frivolous.

Massacre in Mumbai

2008-12-05T19:23:00.004+08:00

Thomas Friedman makes an interesting point post-Mumbai terror attacks:

Feb. 6, 2006, three Pakistanis died in Peshawar and Lahore during violent street protests against Danish cartoons that had satirized the Prophet Muhammad. More such mass protests followed weeks later. When Pakistanis and other Muslims are willing to take to the streets, even suffer death, to protest an insulting cartoon published in Denmark, is it fair to ask: Who in the Muslim world, who in Pakistan, is ready to take to the streets to protest the mass murders of real people, not cartoon characters, right next door in Mumbai?

After all, if 10 young Indians from a splinter wing of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party traveled by boat to Pakistan, shot up two hotels in Karachi and the central train station, killed at least 173 people, and then, for good measure, murdered the imam and his wife at a Saudi-financed mosque while they were cradling their 2-year-old son — purely because they were Sunni Muslims — where would we be today? The entire Muslim world would be aflame and in the streets. [More here]

I happen to be in full agreement with Friedman here. When the siege ended on Saturday at least 188 had been killed and more than 300 injured. 28 of the dead were foreigners, including at least six Americans and eight Israelis killed at a Hasidic Chabad.

The earliest reports of solidarity with the innocent in Mumbai and outrage at the attacks came from the US and UK. Sadly, there was little public outrage and official indignation expressed, least of all from Pakistan, India’s traditional foe.

I scoured online news portals to see if the horrific killings also occasioned official condemnation from Muslim governments. Any mass protests at terrorists who ‘hijacked’ a purportedly peaceful religion and shamed its adherents? Or are people no longer expected to condemn unmitigated evil if it is visited upon those who do not share their values and faith?

Well, there was the obligatory statement from Iran which I thought sounded hollow. Fortunately I stumbled upon this, a piece by Sultan Al Qassemi who is a businessman in Dubai:

It is not enough for moderate Muslims to be revolted by the attacks in Mumbai as we have been revolted by the attacks on the New York office towers, Amman wedding, London transport system, Madrid trains, Beslan school, Jerusalem pizzeria, Baghdad markets and numerous other places. It is time to take a serious stand against these perpetrators and reclaim our religion. [More here]

I say it's time to move beyond rhetoric.

The other article that caught my eye reported the resignation of India's security minister. Cabinet Minister Shivraj Patil took responsibility for failing to thwart or contain the killings, and stepped down in disgrace. Admirable!

Old fears in new clothing

2008-11-14T11:41:00.002+08:00

Recent events seem to suggest that the authorities are digging in and taking a harder stand. Now that DPM Najib is assured the premiership, we are hearing about the - gasp! - second coming of Dr M.

A South China Morning Post report that was carried by Malaysian Insider quotes opposition MP M. Kulasegaran, "We fear with Abdullah's departure and the return of hardliners like Dr Mahathir to prominence, political repression is back on a scale not seen in the last five years." The MP sees the recent spate of arrests as “the beginning."

Was March 8 a fluke?
Is there no way to break out of the Matrix?
Does the sun rise every morning?

RPK surprise!

2008-11-08T10:27:00.002+08:00

RPK FREED!

In his decision, Justice Syed Ahmad ruled that the grounds for the detention order by the Home Minister did not fall under the scope of Section 8 (1) of the ISA.

“Therefore, the Sept 22 detention order is unlawful,” he said.

Cynics jeer. Skeptics sneer. Marina's in tears. All people of goodwill cheer!

Obama makes history!

2008-11-06T14:27:00.005+08:00

Obama wins! Barack Hussein Obama beat Republican rival McCain to become the 44th US President in one of the most closely watched and bitterly fought presidential elections. It's not a landslide win as some say (Obama beat McCain by 52 percent to 46 percent) but it's an historic day as Obama becomes the nation’s first African American President, a true child of the civil rights movement, whose achievements can be traced back to the legacy of men like Martin Luther King:

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."

It’s 45 years from the day Martin Luther King first electrified Washington with his speech. Today, whatever detractors may say of the world’s “last superpower” and its internal contradictions, the US has demonstrated it has not lost sight of its creed. Indeed all men are created equal, and anyone who loves his country and aspires to the nation’s highest office can achieve it. Now there's a lesson for Malaysia.

Links:

Obama’s victory speech:
If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible, who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time, who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer. (More)

McCain’s concession speech:
In a contest as long and difficult as this campaign has been, his success alone commands my respect for his ability and perseverance. But that he managed to do so by inspiring the hopes of so many millions of Americans who had once wrongly believed that they had little at stake or little influence in the election of an American president is something I deeply admire and commend him for achieving. (More)

.....and conservative Bill Dyer's congrats:
God bless you and keep you, sir. I have been among your harshest critics, in good faith I hope, and I will continue to speak out when I think you're wrong. I pray for the grace, though, to acknowledge those times when you are right, and for the decency to accord you with the full respect that is due to anyone who holds the office which you are about to embark. (More)

My 40% political struggle?

2008-10-18T17:50:00.003+08:00

It’s a rollercoaster ride for political reform in the country, the thrill of anticipation largely dampened by the fact that we can’t get off the car nor the seemingly pointless loop. I do not have any illusion that change is a-comin’ just because of March 8; we are a long way off and some entrenched attitudes about race, religion, and rights, continue to have a stranglehold. So I continue to breathe with difficulties.

The latest statement from the Conference of Rulers was little comfort. I know that parties and individuals left and right of the political divide have hailed it as a vote for the Constitution, etc, but that’s not saying much is it? Here’s the bit that got to me:

The rulers also called on the Malays to remain united, saying that this was more important than political or factional interests.

They said: 'The Conference of Rulers also calls on the Malays to be united to safeguard the privileges, position, eminence and greatness of the Malay rulers, safeguard Islam, Malay as the national language, and the genuine interests of the other communities in Malaysia as enshrined in the federal Constitution.

'It has to be emphasised that this agenda is more important and foremost than political or factional interests.'

It would have meant more if there was an explicit call for all Malaysians to be united. After all, shouldn’t this above all, be “more important than political or factional interests”?

I think no right-thinking Malaysian would deny the institution of the rulers or Malay rights. What I am concerned about is how such a position squares with a guarantee that the genuine interests and rights of non-Malays are 'safeguarded,' since the interpretation and practice of these guarantees are so fickle?

It appears that as a non-Malay born on Malaysian soil, I do have a rightful place under the Malaysian sun, but with one caveat. I only have to accept that my rightful place will never be equal nor – heavens - larger than those of the Malays. Going by this interpretation, it also appears my legal rights and my social rights will never, ever be reconciled.

I’m thinking to myself: what then is my political struggle all about?

If it is not for equal standing with my Malay brothers and sisters, what cause have I to call myself an Anak Malaysia? Or as some people seem to imply, if non-Malays would only be happy with their 40%, everything would be nice and wonderful.

The Titanic Sails At Dawn

2008-09-13T12:03:00.004+08:00

Who will go down with it?

No sign of Yi Jien

2008-09-01T21:32:00.003+08:00

Time's running out for Yi Jien. A 31 August post on The Daily Interlake carried this update:

A Glacier National Park map looks like a child has been scribbling on it for hours, but those curling and zigzagging lines aren’t random scribbles.They depict carefully choreographed routes in the ongoing Yi-Jien Hwa Search and Rescue mission in Glacier National Park.

Hwa, a 27-year-old from Kentucky and Malaysia, was last seen Aug. 11 and the search for him has been under way since Aug. 19.

The map shows helicopter flight routes in purple, ground-search team routes in red, all based on GPS tracking. It shows yellow polygons of areas that have been carefully “scoped” from vantage points along search routes. It does not represent the initial search areas before GPS devices were put to use, nor does it show all of the areas that have been glassed with binoculars and spotting scopes.“We think the map represents 70 percent of the searching we’ve done,” said Dennis Divoky, one of the search team leaders. [More]

Meanwhile back in KL, friends are praying against all odds for some clue, a word, a sign - anything - that could point to a hopeful end. 1 Peter 1:6-7 offers the view that trials come by God's design to prove our faith. Of course, God doesn't need to test us in order to know what we're made of; trials come so that we will know what our own faith is made of. Referring to this passage of Scripture, John Piper wrote:

"...Peter is teaching that the sovereign will of God governs all the distresses that happen to us and, therefore the design in them is not ultimately the design of evil men or the design of Satan (which are real enough!), but is a design of God. "

It does not make one's suffering any less painful, but there is comfort in knowing our distresses will not end in meaninglessness. In times like this, I remember Scott Wesley Brown's song, "He Will Carry You":

if He carried the weight of the world upon his shoulders,
I know my brother that he will carry you ...
if He carried the weight of the world upon his shoulders,
I know my sister that he will carry you ...

Yi-Jien Missing

2008-08-28T13:03:00.007+08:00

I had been preparing to put my thoughts on the electrifying outcome of the Permatang Pauh by-election, but words fail when the heart is a little numbed by more pressing concerns.

Yi-Jien remains missing. A mother is missing her son, her children a brother, a wife her husband. His mother Kim Guat rallies friends and relations to fast and pray through what she terms the 'last stretch'.

Dear All,

I trust that you are all keeping well in the Lord. Siu Yin and I are doing well. God has encouraged us greatly even though the day ended without Yi Jien being found and we have to continue waiting for another day.

This morning the Lord encouraged me through Pauline as she shared with me about her conviction as she spent time with the Lord that Jesus himself was ministering to Yi Jien in Hi own tenderness and also in my own time with the Lord where I was reading Psalm 124:

"If the Lord had not been on our side - let Israel say . . . when the flood would have engulfed us, the torrent would have swept over us, the raging waters would have swept us away . . . Praise be to the Lord who has not let us be torn by their teeth, we have escaped like a bird out of the fowler's snare, the snare has been broken and we have escaped. Our help is in the name of the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth."

The part about the waters was quite comforting because that was what the rangers thought most likely could have happened to him - either swept away or covered in a glacier . . . but generally the gentle assurance from Him again that YJ is kept alive and safe by Him.

For Siu Yin, the Lord was very gentle and loving knowing that this would be a hard day again for her because each night had always ended up in 'disappointment' . . in the afternoon she napped just before outr time of breifing with the rangers. She had a dream which was all filled with light and she saw not Yi Jien's face but his body on a gurney being pushed into an ambulance. She said that gave her peace when she woke up and the quietness of heart which prepared her for the meeting.

So God has been really good to assure us every step of the way, through other friends as well, to keep faith and hope in Him. And I share that to encourage each of us to continue to trust Him and wait in quiet confidence.

Please pray for the following:

1. Weather - to clear fast and not to have strong winds otherwise they cannot do an aerial search; they have agreed with Siu Yin's suggestion to cover more extensively the trial leading from Mary's Falls to Gunsight Pass; she thinks he may have started here instead but there is a lot of densely covered brush area for a few miles.

2. The doghandlers would be open to use dogs again to see if they can pick up human scent - there are some risks of bears around so the handlers must assess the dangers and decide . . . we think that this will help in those areas that are covered by dense brush

3. For the aerial serach to be able to start early (only possible if weather clears quickly) - and just guidance for them as they scope the area

4. What areas to specifically cover - they will somehow home in on the right area. Right now, they are at a loss because of lack of any detail/clue to follow on . . or that some detail may change that will alert them to where he is

They have been really helpful and are trying to accommodate our requests as far as possible - so we can really thank God for that answer to our prayer. So let's continue to pray that God will lead and guide them to make the right plans and search areas tomoorw meeting.

Thank you all so much again . . I know the going has been really trying . . but He has continued to comfort and assure along the way.

God bless, everyone and thank you . . .

kim guat

HT: Jo Jo Bumps

Here's an earlier email that came on Aug 27:

Dear All,

We have talked to them again; they said that they had covered quite extensively the area that Siu Yin had thought about also within the first few days of their search; they also had some people there the last 2 days. They have not planned out tomorrow's schedule yet depending on the weather; does not look good, most likely would be like today (tues) where it snowed in the higher parts and rained in the lower areas. So the seachers could not do much. Unless weather clears, they would not be able to do much tomorrow and will concentrate their resources like aerial search on Thur and Fri when the forecast is better; they said they needed to preserve the energies of their people because the terrains are not easy to cover. (Siu Yin said the rain might not be bad cos it might give Yi Jien a source of water)

They said they have not given up yet even though they have scaled down; their other strategy has been to widely inform all rangers, visitors, etc, whoever is in the park to keep a watchout as well. Now it is only as they said 'rolling the dice' - because they don't know where to go unless they have specific clues which they don't have up to this point. All the high probability areas have been covered and the rest of the area is very vast.

So we now need to pray:

1. for clear weather as soon as possible
2. wisdom and clear guidance for the rangers as they plan their schedule for tomorrow and the next few days as to where they should cover; they said if Yi Jien is hiding under rocks, it is really not possible for them to be able to cover all the areas with rocks

3. God will lead the searchers to the exact area or somehow Yi Jien is able to move out to an area where at least some sign will show to them that there is someone there (they do watch out for animal activities, etc., but so far nothing, not even the flying birds - they said the moment they get anything, they will immediately refocus their search but so far they have not got anything

4. God will continue to keep Yi Jien alive till they find him
5. for Patrick (head) and Kyle who is now running the operations (Gary Moses will come back next week) that God will change their hearts and attitude because at this point, I know they are thinking that it is only looking for a dead body; they are frustrated and discouraged and humanly speaking think that it is not possible for Yi Jien to be alive since it'a already 2 weeks; they lack the motivation now I believe but we have not given up hope yet; so even if less people or efforts are involved, God is still sovereign and can do anything - so we need to continue to ask Him to stretch out His arm and save and deliver. Thank you all for continuing to prevail - let's make this one last effort together - so if you can inform people to pray . .

Keep well . . it is still 'well with our souls'

God bless

kim guat

Remembering Solzhenitsyn

2008-08-05T00:30:00.006+08:00

ALEXANDR ISAYEVICH SOLZHENITSYN
December 11, 1918 ~ August 3, 2008

Over a half century ago, while I was still a child, I recall hearing a number of old people offer the following explanation for the great disasters that had befallen Russia: "Men have forgotten God; that’s why all this has happened.”

Since then I have spent well-nigh 50 years working on the history of our revolution. In the process I have read hundreds of books, collected hundreds of personal testimonies, and have already contributed eight volumes of my own toward the effort of clearing away the rubble left by that upheaval.

But if I were asked today to formulate as concisely as possible the main cause of the ruinous revolution that swallowed up some 60 million of our people, I could not put it more accurately than to repeat: “Men have forgotten God; that’s why all this has happened.”
Alexandr Solzhenitsyn
Speech on receiving Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion, London 1983

Another day on the Farm

2008-07-22T19:08:00.003+08:00

If all this news about Pak Lah’s ‘secret’ meetings with PAS members on Malay unity and Islam seem like a clever political strategy, smart-alecky UMNO types should think again. It has once again revealed the hollowness in the PM’s post-March 8 announcement that he has ‘heard’ what the rakyat was saying. Instead it has only confirmed that UMNO is still in denial or is bankrupt of ideas, or both. Sure, Malaysian politics is coloured by racial and religious sentiments, but the whinging sounds painfully like a broken record and it's high time we change it.

What does the ordinary person make of all these?

BN is not serious about reforms or moving the nation forward. They’re simply moving furniture.

UMNO still calls the shots and everyone else better call them ‘Uncle.’ Or else.

UMNO isn’t really interested in seeing a united Malaysia nor the emergence of Bangsa Malaysia. Neither are the component parties.

The Islamists in UMNO (and certainly in PAS) still hold the trump card, so watch what they do and not what they say.

There is no spin more damning than the one that says Bumiputra ‘rights’ will not disadvantage other races.

There can be no unity without equality.

I have read Animal Farm.

2008-07-17T15:18:00.005+08:00

Case 1: Saiful makes a shock allegation against Anwar in a swirl of frontpage publicity. It appears there have been homosexual trysts in upscale condominiums and overseas involving the 23-year old former “aide” and the 60-year old former DPM with a bad back. Amidst photos of young Saiful hobnobbing with BN types – including a private meeting with DPM Najib - Anwar stridently refutes the well-timed bombshell as “fabrication” and “conspiracy.”

Accuser Saiful is holed up somewhere for his own protection, and Anwar is unceremoniously hauled away, detained on suspicion of sodomy. He is freed on bail, and will report back to the police in August.

Case 2: Raja Petra, that incorrigible editor of Malaysia Today, posts volumes implicating DPM Najib and his wife Rosmah in the murder of Altantuya. Raja Petra followed up on his very public campaign with an earth-shattering statutory declaration that places Rosmah at the scene of the crime. Following what must be the oddest trial of a sensational murder, mired in controversy and finger-pointing by both prosecution and defense counsels beginning in June 2007, the public is no longer holding its collective breath. And lets not talk about the statutory declarations by PI-in-hiding, P. Balasubramaniam.

Meanwhile, Raja Petra is arrested and charged in the magistrate court for criminal defamation.

<I just wanted to make sure no one misses the irony>.

Malaysia adrift

2008-07-09T14:51:00.003+08:00

I didn’t think I’d enjoy Redang as much as I did, but I surely did! This, in spite my not being a beach person.

We were at Pelangi (thanks to the Hous for the introduction!), a rustic no-frills resort that served forgettable 'chap fan' buffet style, but then it does not pretend to be a 5-star destination. Relatively clean too. Whatever it lacks is well compensated by our snorkeling trips twice daily out in the azure waters that Redang is deservedly famous for. I do hope it stays that way – the beach I mean. Pelangi’s got the best beach I reckon – wave-lapped white sandy stretches, unlike other sites that are carpeted by broken shells and corals (for instance the Marine Park).

Back after that sun-drenched vacation, reality reasserted itself: we found Malaysia embroiled in another round of mudslinging of comedic proportion.

Here’s my belated two-sens:

Pakatan or BN, what we want is for leaders or those in power to come clean and stop their cat-and-mouse political one-upmanship. Maybe there’s some kind of political mileage or advantage in keeping cards close to the chest, but all these allusions to “evidence” and exposes “at the right time” demonstrate a total lack of consideration for the people at a time as critical as now.

The protracted rhetoric and finger-pointing is a pain in the butt and it is no longer funny.

We need statesmen, not hustlers and rabble-rousing shit-stirrers, to use an impolite word. We have elected people into power, PR and BN. Lead. Govern. Inspire. The easiest thing to do is to rally crowds together and spew bile. Show us your plans for taking the country forward.

What is the BN government's plan in the face of dwindling FDIs and impending downsizing and retrenchments? Is it underestimating the current extent of inflation? Confidence in our national institutions is at an all-time low and they need urgent reforms, while credibility of the arms of government is diminishing by the day. Pray tell, is UMNO’s interest more paramount than the state of the nation?

Why isn’t Pakatan telling us how it’s addressing the recession? Anyone can say they can bring fuel prices down. But is it not imperative to tell us how that's really going to benefit the nation and not postpone disaster? How do fuel subsidies gel with the macro-view in the long-term? Daniel Gross for instance believes the global fallout is not going to be pretty and it’s not going to end soon. Is it not time for serious numbers-crunching?

Malaysia is floundering, like a ship tragically listing. No amount of flying SDs and Quran-swearing will steer a rudderless nation. Malaysia needs men and women who can read the times, who’ve got a grasp of the big picture.

Malaysia needs leaders. Now.

While you were not looking

2008-06-09T19:26:00.003+08:00

The winding road that takes you up Fraser’s Hill passes by what used to be the famous resthouse at the Gap. Back when the last 8km stretch up was a one-way affair regulated by “7-up” – odd hour UP, and even hour DOWN – the colonial relic that was Gap Resthouse was a welcome sight after a stomach churning drive up the hill.

Not anymore. It’s deserted, boarded, showing its age, with a forlorn sign that says ‘Under Renovation.’ To this day, people talk about its scones and hot teas.

Further up, you reach the main turn into Fraser’s proper which leads to the Hill’s iconic clock tower. But the short distance up to the town centre is marred somewhat by dilapidated shacks on the jungle fringe on the right side of the road. These were fruit stalls or snack shops, weren’t they? Done in by widened roads and unregulated 2-way traffic system.

That’s as apt a metaphor as any for what happens when the times move on while you were busy looking the other way.

Saga barrier comes down!

2008-05-30T16:07:00.003+08:00

Cabinet orders Cheras barriers removed ! Now that's good news indeed:

Finally some good news for the residents of Bandar Mahkota Cheras (BMC) - the federal government has ordered that a toll-free access road in their neighbourhood should not be barricaded.

BMC Open Road Committee chairperson Tan Boon Hwa said that he was informed of this by Transport Minister Ong Tee Keat this afternoon.

Tan said that Ong called him up after the weekly cabinet meeting to inform him of the cabinet decision taken today.

But I wonder - is it always up to the Cabinet to call the shots? Are all the pillars of government reduced to one all-powerful Executive?

On the other hand I applaud the commitment of BMC residents who stood against Grand Saga. It goes to show that when we keep on pushing, something is bound to give...

A saga of greed

2008-05-29T12:00:00.004+08:00

I’m sorry.

I simply find the whole Grand Saga business way, way disgusting. Maybe I don’t have all the facts, and just maybe I have my bias made up.

Perhaps a case may be made against residents who took the law into their own hands. But clearly some over-reaction and completely inappropriate actions by the concessionaire for the Cheras-Kajang highway toll must assume part of the blame.

Who’s right, and who’s wrong? Is it enough to wave a court order in the face of angry residents?

This to my mind is what happens when the federal government colludes with Big Business - and I don’t even want to speculate over the whiff of cronyism and all that is normally associated with our highway deals.

In the first place, a ‘concession’ is no gravy train ticket. It is not a singular right to unfettered greed and undiminished returns.

A company supposedly appointed to fix roads and maintain them is primarily tasked with doing good for the community and taxpayers. The cardinal rule of such a contract surely must be to put national interest first.

Of course it is hoped that in the main, it’s a win-win situation, so putting national interest ahead of one’s own pockets will not necessarily mean putting the company in the red. If they are not able to 'make a profit' perhaps such a company should get out of the business, not bend the rules, twist arms, bash heads, or erect barricades, to get the numbers they want.

Right now, the equation is in favour of Big Business.

Yet it is as clear as day that residents have been deliberately inconvenienced, completely ignored, and their plight as road-users and taxpayers disregarded.

So there’s a court order? It does not grant any party the moral high ground to do as they want at the expense of ordinary folks – for whom any concession holders are to benefit anyway. These are the very people who subscribe to the maxim that government is for the people.

Residents allegedly beaten up by uniformed policemen and FRUs? Now thugs have entered the frey resulting in brutal and bloody scuffles. Grand Saga executive director Zainal Abidin Ali said they’re not involved, and they don’t know who these ‘thugs’ are. Right. Some altruistic heavies who just happened to be doing Grand Saga a friendly favour.

Who’s Zainal Abidin? He’s the former Dang Wangi police chief.

What’s the police doing about all this? At the moment, not much that we know about.

Go on. That’s a fine way to woo back voters. It appears the recent lessons of GE12 haven't sunk in.

If governments only look out for the interest of businesses and their appointees, they do not deserve to be in power. When the government chooses to turn the other way and not look into the legitimate plight of common taxpayers, it is no surprise that these ordinary 'powerless' folks too will turn away and look somewhere else.

What next?

2008-05-21T14:31:00.003+08:00

We are living in interesting times, aren't we? So what's next for Malaysia?

The 'Iron Law' of NS

2008-05-16T11:26:00.005+08:00

It was what DPM Datuk Seri Najib Razak said in the aftermath of another NS death. 18-year-old NS trainee Too Hui Min became the 16th youth to die during training and strident calls were once again made for NS to be reviewed and stopped. Nope. The government is adamant it will not shelf NS:

"We cannot scrap the programme just like that as many parties are involved," Najib said after launching the National Youth Day and Week at Felda Sebertak.

Then it hit me like a ton of bricks.

John Gatto, that staunch advocate of alternative education once wrote in his book, Dumbing Us Down: The Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schooling, that institutional schooling is inherently destructive to children. But here’s what else he said:

"In one of the great ironies of human affairs, the massive rethinking the schools require would cost so much less than we are spending now that powerful interests cannot afford to let it happen. You must understand that first and foremost the business I am in is a jobs project and an agency for letting contracts. We cannot afford to save money by reducing the scope of our operation or by diversifying the product we offer, even to help children grow up right. That is the iron law of institutional schooling – it is a business, subject neither to normal accounting procedures nor to the rational scalpel of competition."

It appears to me that powerful interests are indeed at work not so much to advance the wellbeing of our children but to line their own pockets or serve some hidden agenda. Someone please correct me if I’m wrong, but it seems that MORE lives have been lost in four years of NS than in all our army training camps put together during the same period of time.

NS, like most institutions that prescribe compulsory training and schooling, is one big gravy train in business for letting contracts. Hasn’t DPM Najib just confirmed what we always knew to be true?

Who Are They? by Goh Keat Peng at Micah Mandate

National Service Call to Parents by Prof Dr Mohamad Tajuddin at The People's Parliament

The black art of censorship

2008-05-12T23:49:00.005+08:00

It’s a bit hard for me to appreciate the need for these ridiculous displays of censorship in our magazines. These examples are from TIME and The Economist.

I’ve seen cleavages, hemlines, religious icons, Islamic verses, paintings, sculptures, nudes, etc, blacked out, but cigarettes? I mean, does this even serve any useful purpose? Can anyone help me understand this? Please?

It does give new meaning to the term ‘pen-pushers.’ I salute these poor unnamed individuals whose artful penmanship shield me from depravity at the risk of their very own souls. It’s gainful employment I’m sure, but I wonder what these brave souls tell their family and friends when they’re asked about their day job.

The politics of ketuanan

2008-05-09T14:26:00.006+08:00

Information Minister Datuk Ahmad Shabery Cheek said it did not mean Malays were the masters and non-Malays slaves.

"Let's not politicise this until it reaches the level of a new polemic," he told reporters at the Parliament lobby in response to remarks by Transport Minister and MCA vice-president Datuk Ong Tee Keat that the term gave the perception that Malays were masters and non-Malays slaves.

"No need to become sensitive when Malay supremacy is mentioned," said Ahmad Shabery, who is also the MP for Kemaman. [Malaysian Insider]

You know, the spin about ‘politicising’ ketuanan melayu is putting me in a tizzy.

Isn’t racial discrimination (positive or otherwise) a political construct? Isn’t this a political issue pure and simple? If non-malays are ‘sensitive’ surely we aren’t the only ones? After all, isn’t this why some quarters are fussing about the loss of political power, damning others who question malay rights?

It smacks of the ‘separate but equal’ laws challenged by US civil rights movement back in the 50s and 60s.

If indeed it is merely false perception, then politicians should do the right thing - prove their convictions by not engaging in semantic spins, but by eliminating this outdated expression from national discourse.

And why shouldn’t non-malay Malaysians feel concerned when our national ideology justifies and defends the perpetuation of repackaged apartheid? I am an Anak Bangsa Malaysia. Why am I not allowed to feel secure in this land of my birth, my place threatened, my allegiance questioned, when all I ask for is affirmation? Is the threat of imprisonment and being charged under the Sedition Act supposed to allay my fears, assure me my rights, and make me grateful I am a citizen of Malaysia?

In this day and age, is there moral justification for the supremacy of a particular people on the basis of colour and creed? How do you explain this disconcerting siege mentality that is so prevalent among a majority people? When will Malaysians be allowed to be Malaysians?

Oh yes – the word ‘polemic.’ Now there’s another overused expression favoured by politicians. Like that other worn-out cliché, 'it does not arise.' It's all, erm, polemic to me.

More: Check out John Lee's Malay and Non-Malay Rights Don't Exist

Iron Man blasts off!

2008-05-07T18:45:00.007+08:00

I enjoyed Iron Man. I know it’s not saying much since I grew up on DC and Marvel and one does not generally grow out of comics and super heroes. Shellhead (that’s Iron Man to the uninitiated) looks cool. What a blast. So what if it’s formulaic? An irresponsible playboy finds redemption, gives up philandering, turns against the military-industrial complex that made his fortunes, suits up in an out-of-this-world body armour, and becomes a superhero. A serious dose of tech-tonic for geeks and fans.

And did I mention that it also features the granddaddy of punk anthems, Institutionalized by Suicidal Tendencies (Go here for music and lyrics)? It’s, erm, to say the least, an inspired and ironic choice.

Iron Man. Batman. Spider Man. X-Men. Superman. Larger than life superheroics on cinema screens are fueled in part by a cynical world in search of justice and moral impetus. It’s an interesting paradox: where moral clarity is pooh-poohed in the real world in favour of relativism or indifference, audience cheer when cardboard villains get whupped because they so want the good guys to win. At least on screen, there’s no analysis-paralysis. Good guys do what good guys do: they believe there’s a line between good and bad, that it’s possible to tell one from the other, and they’re willing to risk everything to put things right.

And how about this take on the superhero mythos: It acknowledges the powerlessness of ordinary folks to stand up to evil, and instead affirms that brute force wielded by a benevolent Hero is ultimately humanity’s salvation. Hmm.

"It does not arise"

2008-05-01T23:56:00.005+08:00

Ever heard the phrase, "It does not arise" ?

It struck me after the BALKIS controversy broke.

So was the dissolution of the organisation in order, and did BALKIS have any authority to close its accounts? The wife of former Selangor menteri besar, Datin Seri Zahrah Kechik said the dissolution took place on March 11 - 2 days before Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim was sworn-in as Menteri Besar on March 13.

"It means, I was the president at the time and had not relinquished the president's post. Therefore, the question of me not having to power to chair the general meeting called for the purpose Balkis' dissolution does not arise," she said.

“Does not arise.” It’s a phrase so used and abused that every time it arises, my temperature rises.

“Does not arise.”

I mean, why do these people insist on saying an issue (or a question) “does not arise” when it obviously and most certainly has? Wasn’t this why a statement or response became necessary?

Another example:

On whether the Government would enforce some control on the blogging community, newly-minted Information Minister Shabery Cheek said it would not do so. “The question of controlling bloggers does not arise.”

Here it is again:

When queried if amends to former Lord President Tun Salleh Abas and two other judges sacked in the 1988 judicial crisis included an apology, PM Abdullah said: “I do not see why we should apologise. It does not arise.”

Aarrghh! Here we go again:

On Tian Chua’s mischievous photo of DPM Najib and Altantuya last year ,Tengku Sarifuddin denied the DPM had ever met Altantuya and that the DPM was not involved in any way: “As such, the issue over the picture does not arise,” Tengku Sarifuddin told Bernama.

Gggrrrrrr!

When talking about BN MPs in Sabah and Sarawak crossing over to Pakatan, Anwar Ibrahim said: “The question of buying people does not arise. It is not our tradition,” he said, adding that if the issue of buying the MPs were to arise, he would call off the discussions.

And aaaaaaaaarrrghhhh more:

Malaysian Bar Council President Ambiga Sreenevasan said on consultation with the Bar regarding judicial appointments: "The question of being beholden to any appointing authority, whether under the proposed Judicial Appointments Commission or the present system, does not arise as judges know that they discharge their responsibilities impartially, independent of who the appointing authority is..”

Aarrg#?!!@%*!!!!!!!rgghh!

Following the hue and cry over police permits for the Black 14 gathering: “Dr Syed Husin added that the issue of a permit for the gathering did not arise as the party's had discussed the matter with the Kuala Lumpur deputy police chief a few days before it was held."

Aarrghh!!!! Enough already!!

The Employees Provident Fund's (EPF) acquisition of RHB Bank last year is not a bailout, says Second Finance Minister Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop. “The question of bailout does not arise. It is purely a commercial transaction," he told Opposition Leader Lim Kit Siang.

So where's Tun Hamid Omar?

2008-04-18T01:02:00.007+08:00

“No nation can call itself fair and just without an efficient and trusted judiciary. By 'trusted', I mean a judiciary that delivers justice and is seen to deliver justice. In Malaysia's case, debates and arguments on the state of our judiciary have been heated and protracted.

"Some of the Malay Rulers have openly voiced their disquiet on what they see as a decline, requiring nothing short of a judicial renaissance. Some retired judges have related troubling tales of impropriety. Politicians on both sides of the aisle have called for reform of this most august institution. Even the Bar Council, true to form, has marched en masse outside my office…."

“But the fact is, we can no longer leave such an important institution to hope and chance. The system must have built-in safeguards to prevent potential abuse and it must have a process that will convincingly identify the best legal minds in the country to join the judiciary. This is a necessary part of ensuring that our nation's judiciary is robust and trusted by the people."

So says PM Abdullah. I appreciate that our PM has his back against the wall. But I shall not let my cynicism rubbish what could possibly be an historic ‘Dinner for Justice’ as some lawyers have dubbed this evening’s conciliatory gathering.

That the man found a conscience belatedly is not the point. The fact is, it certainly would not have happened without a fortuitous convergence of events leading to March 8. The least optimistic rakyat (among whom I count myself) must take heart that yes, even in a less than perfect system, our votes can make things happen when we purpose to vote collectively for change.

I do wonder about Tun Hamid Omar. He was Acting Lord President, Chief Justice and Judge of the Supreme Court of Malaysia, and the then PM Dr M's contemptible axeman in the 1988 judicial scandal. [More]

On an evening such as this where amends for wrong were offered and perpetrators were conspicuously left unnamed, he must cut a pitiful figure, unlamented and uninvited. Relegated to the dustbin of history (where another ex-CJ Tun Ahmad Fairuz seems destined), Hamid Omar will remain a tragic footnote in the annals of our nation’s tumultuous struggle for her soul.

Is PAS rethinking the Islamic State?

2008-04-11T14:15:00.002+08:00

MCA secretary-general Datuk Ong Ka Chuan thinks we’ve all been lulled by the promises of the Pakatan we’re ignoring PAS’ Islamist goal to our detriment: “…who can guarantee that PAS will not go ahead to make Malaysia an Islamic state in time to come when it becomes powerful enough to do so?" he asked. "If PAS' PR partners cannot convince it to give up the Islamic state goal, (what) they are (doing is) "Yang hu wei hua" (inviting troubles).

Coming from a BN man whose party did not and could not stop UMNO from declaring Malaysia a “negara Islam” this is laughable. What did the other BN component parties do when UMNO zealots hijacked the Constitution and threatened everyone who wouldn’t get it to get out? Other than token disapprovals, nada. Damage control was left to fed-up voters to take a collective stand to cut UMNO down to size and give its whiny partners the boot.

To Ka Chuan’s credit, he did make a stand by invoking historical documents such as the Reid Report (1957) and the Cobbold Commission (1963) to prove Malaysia’s secularity. But did his objection move UMNO to give up its own Islamist ambitions? Nope. So, he should be wagging his finger at us.

Having said all this, I welcome PAS’ vice-president Husam Musa’s recent statement that an Islamic state is not on the Pakatan agenda. “We accept the federal constitution as the main frame (in governing) and it is the basis where we move,” assuring partners, especially DAP, not to worry about PAS’ intention.

That’s good news. Happily it’s another step forward towards a more cohesive opposition coalition.

Farish Noor also wonders if PAS is not evolving and adapting to our multicultural realities, alluding to the party’s seminal left-leaning past. In broad strokes he argues that religious parties worldwide tends towards compromise to consolidate their political survival. “Likewise many Islamist parties and movements in the Arab world have also made the same sort of important and symbolic concessions to non-Muslims in their bid for power,” he writes.

If that is true, this is even better news.

But I’m not so sure. Concessions are nice, but it’s not enough. Although all this seems like so much progress and while I applaud a ‘moderate’ PAS (and indeed am somewhat relieved), I want a stronger and clearer commitment.

In May 1957 at the London Constitutional talks, the following was recorded by the then Colonial Office regarding Article 2A (providing for Islam as official religion):

One deviation from the recommendations of the Reid Commission is that Islam becomes the State Religion of Malaya. Since, however, the provisions safeguarding the rights of religious minorities remain, this alteration has more political significance than practical effect. The members of the [Alliance] delegation stressed that they had no intention of creating a Muslim theocracy and that Malaya would be a secular State.

Constitutional scholar Shad Saleem Faruqi also agrees that while Islam is the religion of the Federation, the primary intent was symbolic and ceremonial.

I would feel a lot happier if by saying PAS “accepts” the Federal Constitution, they mean its secularity, or its non-religious basis. I would like to hear Pakatan cohorts agreeing that the future they are forging is secular statehood not the diddling ambiguity of “Islam is the official religion but we respect all religions...”

Such a stand has been used to justify Islam as state ideology and the incipient Islamisation of state machinery and institutions. Enough with UMNO's mantra that “Malaysia is an Islamic State; it’s not a theocracy.” It’s disingenuous but I’m not biting, because Malaysia is neither, since the intent of the Constitution was obviously secular.

I cast my vote for Pakatan; I said good riddance to BN. I’d like to believe that the tectonic shifts of the 12^thGE will also be groundbreaking in its handling of the Islamic question. Perhaps I hope too much?

Turning DAP into MIC?

2008-04-05T01:43:00.004+08:00

Again I am stumped by this new round of demands.

First, it was DAP’s Perak assemblyman Sivasubramaniam’s resignation flip-flop over the Perak leadership's apparent lack of respect for the “voice of Makkal Sakhti.”

Now it’s Indian DAP members in Penang demanding a “a high powered state-level council” or State Indian Development and Advisory Council to manage Indian affairs. According to a Malaysiakini report, many DAP Indians in Penang claim they have been forgotten after helping the party capture Penang.

“Since the DAP came to power, our existence, importance and sacrifices seemed ignored,” summed up a disgruntled Indian member, who has been a party man for over 20 years.

Is this for real?

Here we are trying to promote a new paradigm towards a non-racial polity, and these people want to turn DAP into MIC.

I am just lost for words.

The gentle giant killer

2008-04-04T02:15:00.005+08:00

It was a simple ‘meet the MP’ sort of thing; an after dinner soiree among friends, in affluent Taman Tun Dr Ismail, and a rather unlikely place for a socialist whose life’s work has been among the poor. But Dr M Jeyakumar (“No YB, just call me Kumar”) graciously made time to meet mates who knew him from way back in Penang and from his days at Yale. Soft-spoken Kumar who was accompanied by his wife and campaign manager Rani had come to KL to be present for a briefing at Parliament on Thursday.

Kumar (pix: malaysiavotes) took us through a simple powerpoint presentation illustrating his no-frills campaign, pointing out party faithfuls and supporters who stood with him right up to that historic March 8 victory. He praised the kawan-karib activists and the efficient jentera PAS who organised nightly ceramahs, and told of dirty tactics by UMNO.

One especially disgusting flier announced that “every vote for Kumar was a vote for another Hindu temple.” One wonders if this was one reason why the number of Malay voters eroded by 0.1%; if not for the huge increase in Chinese, Indian, and orang asli voters, the MIC supremo could well remain in power today.

He spoke of the plight of the Temiar orang aslis, how the community had been exploited and left too demoralized to stand up to government agencies. Another point that got us all talking was postal votes. So what’s it all about? How do postal votes work? No one could say for sure. Not the soon-to-be installed MP, and neither the two journos who were present that night. If the EC isn’t telling, and if journalists do not know, all these new MPs had better raise it up in Parliament, so everyone agreed.

The man who snatched Sungei Siput from Samy Velu did not look anything like the giant killer that he was, which again proves how one should never judge a book by its cover. All the more timely because it's easy to see politicians as that peculiar species better known for posturing and bluster, whose face is thicker than the callous on their hands. It’s men like Kumar who restores my faith in people. His tireless work among squatters, plantation and factory workers since 1999, speaks volumes for integrity, persistence, and selflessness.

But it’s a whole new ball game now. There’s a noticeable weight on Kumar’s shoulders; Rani’s mobile phone keeps ringing. It’s that post-election whirlwind, and I pray it won’t knock a good man off his feet.