Monday 31 March 2008

Postal Vote

Assalamualaikum warahmatullah wabarakatuh,

There have been a lot of articles and posts regarding postal vote. This is not to summarise them but just to let you know the experience of one of friends who tried to exercise her right to vote outside Malaysia.

The nomination day is on 24th February 2008. The postal votes must reach the polling station by 5.00pm of 8th March 2008. This leaves the voters 13 days to post your votes or less because you need to wait until the nominations are confirmed and then SPR will print the postal ballots to be sent to the High Commission or wherever that they can reach the eligible postal voters, and then you got your postal ballots, cast your votes and then post it back home to Malaysia and not just to KL but to the polling station where your votes belong to. All these in 13 days or less! Say the nominations (with or without stamps!) got confirmed on 24th February 2008, late evening and send to printing. 25th February 2008 (we are talking about high efficiency here, hello Malaysians!) the postal ballots are printed and posted. Let's say an express postage to countries out of Malaysia will take 2 days, ordinary postage takes 1-2 weeks. So, you can start vote out of Malaysia on 28th February 2008. Say you really are a good citizen, you voted on 28th February 2008 and ask the person in-charged to post it, or you want to post it yourself. Let's make another express post since you want to post it yourself, don't mind spending more money for that. So, it will definitely reach the polling station before 8th March 2008.

Come back to the reality. Are we that efficient? My friend who is eligible to cast a postal vote went to vote about a week before the polling day. She was refused her right not because they think that she will vote for 'dodgy' candidates but their reason is because the vote will only reach the polling station 3 weeks later! They said there is no use of making a postal vote from UK. So, they really are not using express postage service. That means that the postal ballots are also not going to reach the embassy outside Malaysia in time to be filled in. Hmm... So, how come there are thousands of postal votes? Did the postal votes arrive by 5pm on 8th March 2008? or after midnight?

In addition, before you are eligible to make a postal vote, you need to fill in Form A at the High Commission on your arrival in any country out of Malaysia where you know that you will not be in Malaysia on the polling day (proven by your visa). How many of the eligible voters of Malaysians really fill in this form? Or do they know that such a form exists?

Can someone from SPR publish the statistics of postal votes?

I doubt they will.

ALLAHU'alam.

Wassalam.

No need to apologise

Assalamualaikum warahmatullah wabarakatuh,

One day when the companions were sitting with the Prophet Muhammad (saw), came a man entering the mosque. The Prophet (saw) said that this man will be a member of the Paradise. One of the companions was curious and decided to stay with him for a few days to see what extra worships was he doing that guaranteed him such a high status in the life after death. For those days, he did not pray extra night prayers, he did not make voluntary fast and other special kind of worship, except those which are obligatory. He was puzzled. Later he realised that his secret was before he slept.

Every night, before the man went to sleep, he pardoned everyone. By his kindness in forgiving everyone that interacted with him, he is guaranteed a place in the Paradise.

If ALLAH is the Most Forgiving, how can we as HIS servant not even try to be forgiving to our fellow brothers and sisters? Even in the case of qisas, we are given 3 options in the Qur'an if someone killed a member of our family - kill the murderer only, demand blood money or forgive the murderer. And of course, forgiving is better than the rest as ALLAH is the Most Forgiving and will be the ultimate Judge on the Day of Judgement.

ALLAHU'alam.

Wassalam.

Shirk

Assalamualaikum warahmatullah wabarakatuh,

I am not a scholar to discuss this super-heavy weight topic but since someone has asked about it, I think there is a need to explain my position. I thank the person for pointing it out in my previous post and this is just a response, no intention to

First of all, if there is any doubt about someone's intention, it is better to ask directly than make a guess, which the commentor did. So, my answer is, I don't have the intention to make the theory preceding ALLAH's destiny. It is just a joke and guesses as I stated at the end of the post.

Second, what is shirk? Interestingly wikipedia has an answer. Is making a guess of the future a shirk? Is predicting what will happen next a shirk? If so, then all the research that trying to predict or extrapolate the result to forecast the future is a form of shirk. Don't do weather forecast. Most of the research generates theories. RAHMAN is just a very weak theory which of course has not been properly researched and tested. I have never claimed that I believe in it or to say it scientifically, accept the 'theory'.

Third, shirk is associating ALLAH with other beings. The Prophet Muhammad (saw) said that he doesn't worry about his ummah in committing shirk because the teaching of tawhid is clear from shirk, rather he has more worry on the temptation of wealth. It is really difficult for a person who has come to know about the existance of only one God and no other to come to believe that there can be other being that is more powerful to predict the future and destiny. If the person in the first place has not had this kind of understanding of tawhid, it is easy to slip into shirk. The Prophet (saw) also said that the shirk that he worried the most is the minor shirk or Ar-Riya' (proud of oneself) and then is the secret shirk (showing off). I can see how this can easily happen to muslims who have tawhid. You worship the One God but you show off and proud of yourself for doing that. No doubt that is a form of shirk.

So, there are two sets of different curricula for different groups of muslims. One group who know they are muslims but don't really understand tawhid, let them know what is tawhid first before accusing them committing shirk. The other group is those who know about tawhid, don't worry about major shirk because it is difficult to turn back, the Prophet (saw) doesn't even worry about that, so teach them what are minor shirk and secret shirk. That would be more useful to them.

So, let's stop accusing people committing major shirk, in most cases either they don't really understand tawhid yet or they have no such intention to commit the biggest sin in Islam. In the case of accusing people committing minor or secret shirk, how can we judge a person's intention? So let's just only look at ourselves in this matter.

ALLAHU'alam.

Wassalam.

Sunday 30 March 2008

R.A.H.M.A.N.

Assalamualaikum warahmatullah wabarakatuh,

Somehow some Malaysians do believe in the RAHMAN theory as the initials for the order of the Malaysian Prime Ministers. Some might believe it's just nonesense. Let's see how it works:

R.ahman - Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra al-Haj
A.bdul Razak (R?) - Tun Abdul Razak Hussein
H.ussein - Tun Hussein Onn
M.ahathir - Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamed
A.bdullah - Dato Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi
N.? - Najib? Nazri? Nik Aziz? or Nazrin (Raja Muda Perak)? or not going to follow this theory? Cause the now Deputy PM might have no chance to be PM as there are two competitors who are up for this juicy post - Tengku Razaleigh (Ku Li) and Anwar Ibrahim.

See Malaysia Today and MSO.

They might get it because one is R and one is A if we do the cycle again. Let's say Najib got it, so we retain the N. The next cycle would probably, maybe, perhaps,...:

R - Razaleigh? So he get there first? or Rafidah Aziz who has been kicked out by PM from his cabinet this round. Can't be Rosol cause he just got into trouble with the Agong. Roslan SMS Pas? Probably too early.

A - Anwar? So he came second place in the race with Ku Li, probably when his plan to get into the Parliament this round didn't work, he has to wait for the next election. Azalina Othman? Is that too early for her? Probably if Rafidah has broken the record as the first female PM, then Azalina followed suit, no? Ok, probably too young still and she is not even a Wanita member, let's put her in the next round. Anifah Aman? He is going to jump to the opposition soon. Nik Aziz? Let's take A for this round. Probably by then many Malaysians can accept Islam as the way forward, so they want the Tok Guru. Wan Azizah? Abdul Hadi Awang? Ahmad Awang?

H - Hishamuddin Hussein if he is still there and if people still like him. (Abdul) Hadi Awang? If the opposition got the parliament. Or Husam Musa? If Hadi Awang has retired. Syed Husin Ali? Haron Din?

M - many posibilities. Mukhriz most probably if BN is still in power. Muhammad Muhd. Taib? If corruption is Malaysia got worse than ever. Muhyiddin Yassin? Mahfuz Omar Pas? Mohd Sabu Pas? Probably they are the minors now, who knows in the future?

A - again so many posibilities.

N - Nurul Izzah? Starts from very young political career. Nasaruddin Mat Isa? Nizar, Nazifuddin, Norashman (Najib's sons)? Noraini Ahmad? Noh Omar?

So, if the BN choices for the second round of R.A.H.M.A.N., that would be -

R - Razaleigh or Rafidah
A - Azalina Othman or Anifah Aman (if he is still in BN), no great choice of BN for 'A'
H - Hishamuddin Hussein
M - Mukhriz most probably unless seniors like Muhammad Muhd. Taib & Muhyiddin Yassin still are clinging there
A - same as A above
N - Noraini Ahmad if Wanita/Puteri power is stronger. Or one of Najib's sons if Nepotism is still strong. Probably not Noh Omar.

The BA/BR choices might be -

R - Can't be Roslan SMS, not sure
A - Anwar most likely. Wan Azizah maybe if Anwar got detained again. Nik Aziz or Abdul Hadi Awang if people want Islam. If not, take Ahmad Awang.
H - Husam Musa, Hadi Awang, Haron Din or Syed Husin Ali.
M - Mahfuz Omar or Mohd Sabu
A - same as 'A' above
N - Nurul Izzah or Nasaruddin Mat Isa

So, Khairy Jamaluddin is not here, neither is Lim Guan Eng, Ling Hee Leong and the rest of the 'L' (from both BN and BA) if RAHMAN is the theory.

Do you believe in this theory?

ALLAHU'alam.

Wassalam.

p/s: of course all these are just guesses, who knows what's going to happen because at this stage of political wave in Malaysia, anything is possible!

Friday 28 March 2008

Can we stop corruption?

Assalamualaikum warahmatullah wabarakatuh,

Following my previous post on corruption, it is clear that ALLAH has made this worldly stuff as test, wealth is for sharing with the poor not just family members, whatever that we have earned from corruption or any activities related to corrupted ways will only be fuel in the Hell to burn us. We only feel the pleasure in this World from what we have gained using corrupted means but it will be the worst consequence in the Life after death. Read ALLAH's words in my previous post.

Interestingly, no matter how much ALLAH has warned us to stay away from haram income and corruption, some people just can't live without it, seriously. It is as if that corruption has been a part of their life, their culture.

I remember when I was in school, I was the secretary of a society and we decided to organised a motivation camping for the students who were not doing well in their studies. It was fully funded by the school and Jabatan Pendidikan Daerah. When I was doing the budget, my teacher told me that I have to use all the money provided, no matter how. I was puzzled, why we need to use all the money cause I have been taught at home that we should save as much money as we can.

When I went to university, I was very active in my college and organised a lot of programmes. I was told that it is very usual for people to fake the receipts and wrote in the budget report more than what we have spent so that we can get extra money for the society we were in. I was not quite understand why we need to do it through this way, but I learned 'the way'.

Later, I realised that it is a form of corruption and it's completely wrong but people still don't really take it as something serious. I can understand if the corruption involved no more than hundreds of Ringgit Malaysia (even 1 cent of corruption is wrong actually) but what about billions & trillions? You can actually sell the whole country by doing that! PM said he promotes transparency in his government but the more he said so the more corrupted his people are. How? This is for total-beginners.

You are an MP or State Exco or PM or MB or whoever that is in-charged of making policy. You push forward a developmental project and obviously it will get passed cause they are all your friends or you are in power. So then you open the project for contractors to bid for the tender. If you are a DEB supporter, you said only those contractors that fulfill the policy of DEB can compete for the tender. Then you choose the 'best' tender who you think is giving 'the best deal' (to you!). The contractor writes you a budget and during the transaction you earn some commission which is very common in many business around the world, it's a form of courtesy. If you are honest, you either not accepting the commission or you put the money into the government. The commission is around 5%-10% (or more) of the sale price. If the budget is RM 1 billion, you know how much will go to your pocket, right? No need a rocket scientist to tell you. If you submit the bills and receipts of the whole project, tell me who is going to check every piece of them if there are a few fake ones (as I have experienced myself)? The contractor is so happy for you giving them the tender, of course they want a second round, so they will buy your heart by promising more commission, they are very happy to write you whatever number you want on the invoice.

I know about commission in business cause my father is a businessman. I was so involved in helping him with his business before I went to university. I can see all the invoices have a little remark at the bottom showing how much commission and stuff like that. And later when I became a tutor in one of the universities, a colleague (very senior) of mine decided to buy some laboratory equipment and without any sense of shamefulness he admitted that he got some commission in the transaction, like a lot! How disgraceful! Urgh! There is no end in this whole circle. Corruption once started, it's like fire on dry grass, it can only spread but not easy to put off.

I am not denying that there are honest and uncorrupted politicians out there. If there are, I truly wish them well and will pray hard so that ALLAH will make them stand firm on their position to serve the people. But all I can see is corruption. In Perak, because it is not your political friend who used to 'spoon-fed' you become the MB, you started to boycott him. I am not supporting the new Perak MB but I am disgusted with this stupid attitude of the people. At least 2 different organisations have tried to sabotage the new MB - PROWARIS (young Malay Professionals) and the JKKK (Heads of Village Committee) who I know for sure depend much of their income through politics. Why? Because I have lived in Perak with some Malay Ketua Kampungs!

It was in my university time that I got an opportunity to join an Anak Angkat programme. You basically become the foster child of one of the families in a village. I have involved in this kind of programme in Perak & Pahang. My foster father in Perak was very pro-UMNO, same to the village in Pahang. Why? Because my foster father is a Class F Contractor. I remember once, while staying with them (not during the programme anymore but just regular friendly visit to the family which I do once a year) my foster father brought me and other siblings to Ipoh and to the JKR there. He said he is going to ask them to give him a tender near the village, to build road. He said that he will get it cause he is very good with the then MB. If you are not the supporter, this is what you will get.

So, that's how you get a tender. Be the supporters of UMNO and then you know that you sure can soar in your business. This is just one example. And later my foster father is appointed as the Ketua Kampung because he is so good with the then MB. Now you see there is no surprise that all the Ketua Kampung decided to go against the new MB cause they don't know him and they are afraid that he is not the kind of MB that can be easily 'bought'. The new MB said he will have to try his best to cater the need of 41% of Chinese, 50% of Malay and the rest of the people in Perak. There are only 2 Malay Excos in the State Assembly, who will the Malays go to to ask for tenders like how my foster father did if there are only 2 options? And both the options are PAS member who are actually seen as UMNO's traditional rival. If you have been the strongest supporter of UMNO and then you make a U-turn to PAS, erm... don't think that is really going to work. ALLAHU'alam.

So you see, this is one of the problems. MONEY! If the leaders are corrupted, so as the followers. It is so difficult for them to accept the new leaders because they don't 'click' with them. Same to the issue in Terengganu and Perlis. You want the old MBs because they are your 'friends' who you know they will look after you if they are in power. That's why you dare to die to protect them so that if they secure their authority, you secure your pocket. No?

Then came the groups that support the new MBs because they basically are gambling their future on this. It's like making a bet. If you got the right number, you got the money. Behind the support is the power and behind the power is the money. If only people can realise that truly the wealth that they gather here will not be useful even one cent in the life after death, surely they will stop acting like this. If only...

Can we stop the corruption? I hope we will but I am not that very optimistic. Mahathir did try when he said let's take away the stick (tongkat) but people started to boo at him. Corruption has been a part of Malaysian culture, I don't know who can put it to an end but I pray that ALLAH will, if HE willed.

ALLAHU'alam.

Wassalam.

Wednesday 26 March 2008

Reminders for some of our corrupted leaders

Assalamualaikum warahmatullah wabarakatuh,

Some reminders for foremostly myself and my dear leaders. Please leave corruptions and come back to your sense and faith in giving your service to the people for the sake of ALLAH and your akhirah. Clearly the competition in this World that aims solely at the cumulation of wealth in unlawful means and the refusal to share it with the poor, increasing power and authority to oppress the weak, giving special priority to own families and friends by acting unjustly to the others, doing corruptions both physically and morally, we know that ALLAH through HIS Holy Book of Qur'an has sent warnings, reminders and advice to those who are corrupted. If you want to do just to your ownselves on the Day of Judgement, please repent and feed the poor and hungry with your power and wealth that ALLAH has granted you in this World.
And seek by means of what ALLAH has given you the future abode, and do not neglect your portion of this world, and do good (to others) as ALLAH has done good to you, and do not seek to make mischief in the land, surely ALLAH does not love the mischief-makers.

~ The Holy Qur'an, Surah Al-Qisas (Chapter 28, The Stories) verse 77
The love of desires, of women and sons and hoarded treasures of gold and silver and well bred horses and cattle and tilth, is made to seem fair to men; this is the provision of the life of this world; and ALLAH is HE with Whom is the good goal (of life).

~ The Holy Qur'an, Surah Ali Imran (Chapter 3, The Family of Imran) verse 14

And not your wealth nor your children, are the things which bring you near Us in station, but whoever believes and does good, these it is for whom is a double reward for what they do, and they shall be secure in the highest places.

~ The Holy Qur'an, Surah Saba (Chapter 34, The Saba) verse 37

Wealth and children are an adornment of the life of this world; and the ever-abiding, the good works, are better with your Lord in reward and better in expectation.

~ The Holy Qur'an, Surah Kahfi (Chapter 18, The Cave) verse 46
Neither their wealth nor their children shall avail them aught against ALLAH; they are the inmates of the fire, therein they shall abide.

~ The Holy Qur'an, Surah Al-Mujadilah (Chapter 58, The Pleading Woman) verse 17
O you who believe! let not your wealth, or your children, divert you from the remembrance of ALLAH; and whoever does that, these are the losers.

~ The Holy Qur'an, Surah Al-Munafiqun (Chapter 63, The Hypocrites) verse 9
Let not then their property and their children excite your admiration; ALLAH only wishes to chastise them with these in this world's life and (that) their souls may depart while they are unbelievers.

~ The Holy Qur'an, Surah At-Tawbah (Chapter 9, The Repentance) verse 55
And let not their property and their children excite your admiration; ALLAH only wishes to chastise them with these in this world and (that) their souls may depart while they are unbelievers.

~ The Holy Qur'an, Surah At-Tawbah (Chapter 9, The Repentance) verse 85
Know that this world's life is only sport and play and gaiety and boasting among yourselves, and a vying in the multiplication of wealth and children, like the rain, whose causing the vegetation to grow, pleases the husbandmen, then it withers away so that you will see it become yellow, then it becomes dried up and broken down; and in the hereafter is a severe chastisement and (also) forgiveness from ALLAH and (HIS) pleasure; and this world's life is naught but means of deception.

~ The Holy Qur'an, Surah Al-Hadid (Chapter 57, The Steel) verse 20
O you who believe! surely from among your wives and your children there is an enemy to you; therefore beware of them; and if you pardon and forbear and forgive, then surely ALLAH is Forgiving, Merciful. Your possessions and your children are only a trial, and Allah it is with Whom is a great reward. Therefore be careful of (your duty to) ALLAH as much as you can, and hear and obey and spend, it is better for your souls; and whoever is saved from the greediness of his soul, these it is that are the successful.

~ The Holy Qur'an, Surah At-Taghabun (Chapter 64, The Mutual Disillusion) verses 14-16
And as for him who is given his book in his left hand he shall say: O would that my book had never been given me: And I had not known what my account was: O would that it had made an end (of me): My wealth has availed me nothing: My authority is gone away from me. Lay hold on him, then put a chain on him, Then cast him into the burning fire, Then thrust him into a chain the length of which is seventy cubits. Surely he did not believe in ALLAH, the Great, Nor did he urge the feeding of the poor.

~ The Holy Qur'an, Surah Al-Haq (Chapter 69, The Truth) verses 25-34
But when HE tries him (differently), then straitens to him his means of subsistence, he says: My Lord has disgraced me. Nay! but you do not honor the orphan, Nor do you urge one another to feed the poor, And you eat away the heritage, devouring (everything) indiscriminately, And you love wealth with exceeding love. Nay! when the earth is made to crumble to pieces, And your Lord comes and (also) the angels in ranks, And hell is made to appear on that day. On that day shall man be mindful, and what shall being mindful (then) avail him?

~ The Holy Qur'an, Surah Al-Fajr (Chapter 89, The Dawn) verses 16-23

Indeed in ALLAH's words are the greatest truth. May ALLAH protect us and our country leaders from any form of corruption, and restore the light of justice and peace in this country. Amin.

ALLAHU'alam.

Wassalam.

How blogging changes the country (Part II) - Cyber War

Assalamualaikum warahmatullah wabarakatuh,

As I have written right after the election regarding how blogging changes the country, today it amplifies louder as the PM finally admitted that he has taken the bloggers' writings for granted in his election campaign. Now, following the success of many opposition politician bloggers, the BN politicians who used to condemn bloggers and threaten them to be imprisoned under the Internal Security Act (ISA) start to think of starting their own blogs, mashaALLAH! Now, as I said I dislike spreading rumours and if the politicians decided to start a cyber war here, the situation can be very ugly because at the end, again when the big guys are fighting up there, the victims are always the civilians, and in this context, it is those citizens who don't really want to educate themselves properly.

We either be very honest in what we are writing & saying or we educate people to differentiate what is right and what is wrong, i.e., teach them how to think! If the later is preferable, who cares who is controlling the main stream media or the alternative media? Now I am wondering if the government is regretting for giving big fat juicy tenders to their families to supply ICT facilities to all the schools & kampung so that they can surf these alternative media?

Cyber war can be a form of Neuro-Psychological war. What we want to win are the minds and the hearts of the people, and we can control the rest. Call it discussions, debates, arguments, persuasions, brainwashings, pressures, humiliations, etc., if the war started, I think we can think of a new career and earn some money from this new job opportunity.

To all the bloggers, whether it's a money-earning or non-profit blogging, please write with truthfulness and be accountable for what you have written/said on your blogs.

ALLAHU'alam.

Wassalam.

Tuesday 25 March 2008

Dulu lain, sekarang lain (Double Standard)

Assalamualaikum warahmatullah wabarakatuh,

A reminder for myself:
"O you who believe, why do you say that which you do not do? It is the most hateful in the sight of ALLAH that you say that which you do not do."

~ Holy Qur'an, Surah As-Saff (Chapter 61, The Ranks) verse 2-3
In the old days, when the National Front (BN) is the ruling coalition of all the states except Kelantan, everyone got their shares in the political power division, or simply to say that nearly all those who supported the BN got a position either in the Cabinet or State Exco, if not at least their clans or cronies got into the bandwagon. The PM would receive full support from everyone from top to the grass root cause they were all happy. Today, the great defeat in the past election left only 8 states for the BN and not enough MPs from their side, the PM has to cut the number of the ministers from 90 to 68 and worse, when it comes to the state level, those who didn't get their clans & cronies into the Cabinet will have to make sure that they will get something at the state level. Poor supporters.

In the old days (well, not that old, just a few months between the latest riot and the Bersih), riot and public assembly without the consent of the police were totally unaccepted and were considered as illegal. You just have to go to Bukit Aman if you were caught participating it. Today, when some UMNO youth did so in Penang to protest the new policy of the new Penang MB, they can get away with it. Usually a public assembly ends with a memorandum or petition to tell the related party what does the assembly demanding. However, this one in Penang ended up with water spray, dirty posters on the floor and a bit of traffic jam without any official document presented to the new MB.

In the old days (ok, I know it's just a week or so of difference), when the Sultans would only say yes to whatever the decision of the PM, today at least 3 Sultans are thinking of exercising their rights to choose the MB. In the case of Perak nearly 2 weeks ago, when DAP refused to accept the choice of the Sultan of Perak, DAP was condemned as rebellious to the royal family and should be punished severely that later Lim Kit Siang has to apologise publicly. Today, when 22 BN state assemblymen of Terengganu boycotted the sworn-in ceremony of the new MB of Terengganu, they are not punished by their own people who should actually give their royalty to the royal family. Instead, the stripping off of the UMNO membership of this poor new MB is seen as the best punishment for a person who is royal (well, at least he didn't rebel) to the royal family. The insult the UMNO gave to the royal family such as they don't know a thing about law & constitution, they don't respect the demand of the majority people in the state, etc. Still, they can get away with it cause the a party said that the constitution doesn't let the Sultan choose who he wills.

How come if a group of people is doing the same thing as the other group of people, usually the other group of people will only get into trouble while the group of people can get away with it? To understand the change of situation and double standard of our great politicians, we need to first understand the Malaysian parliamentary system which we live in.

In the Malaysian parliamentary system, there are three, theoretically, independent branches of power - legislative, executive and judiciary. The legislative branch will make laws (MPs & Senators), the executive branch will enforce the laws (Royal forces) and the judiciary branch will interpret the laws (Judges & Lawyers). There should not be any influence from any branch of power so that you don't make a law that you can get away with it. However, in practice, they are basically one big family in Malaysia simply because the head of the legislative branch (PM) has the power to advice the Agong to appoint so-and-so to be the head of any of these branches, thus gives the power of the whole country to the PM while the Agong (Head of the country) usually only have to node his head (endorse the decision) though in the constitution the Agong is the one that chooses them.

Now, looking at today's situation, there seems to be very blur separation between these three branches of power, and on top of that the power of the royal families. You choose who you want according to who actually will listen to you. If you are the PM, you choose the head of the Royal Police who will help you to catch the political opposition champions and the Chief Judge who will sentence the political opposition champions into prison so that they will not be able to fight in the election. Easy, right? Understand now? You know if all the time anyway.

ALLAHU'alam.

Wassalam.

Monday 24 March 2008

The Kings and I - part II

Assalamualaikum warahmatullah wabarakatuh,

As I said that we will wait and see, now that we see some progress in the monarchy institution, I am very much in respect to the Sultans in Malaysia now.

While I was in school, the Sultanate was described as those rich and comfortably pampered lucky yet mostly poorly-educated people who live in the palace and do nothing good to the people except enjoying themselves and once in a while attend some ritual ceremonies to show up their celebrity-liked faces to the media. However, this post-election drama really proves my stereo-typed perception of the Sultans needs some revisions.

First, solute to the royal family of Perak state for rejecting the initial choice of the Perak Chief Minister by the coalition and decided to choose an engineer (who can speak more than 3 languages used widely in Malaysia) over an ex-postman. Then, solute to the royal family of Perlis state for rejecting the PM's choice of MB and picked someone that is no less than Shahidan to lead the state. And now, solute to the royal family of Terengganu state for rejecting yet another PM's choice of MB and appointed Ahmad who literally has no political support from any of the winning coalition's assemblymen, except one.

Since Malaysia Constitution is what we call Constitutional Monarchy and Parliamentary Democracy or Federal Constitutional Elective Monarchy, whereby the royal family has limited monarchical power and is abide to the democratic election, those who will run the country and states are elected members of Parliament (MPs) and state assemblymen respectively. The royal families will have no say for who will be representing the people in the parliament and state assembly but they have the absolute decision on appointing the Prime Minister and MB. The King or Yang Di-Pertuan Agong (in short, Agong who takes turn to hold the position every 5-year from among all the Sultans of 9 states in Malaysia) have the power to appoint a Prime Minister from among the MPs of the winning coalition while the Sultan of a state will appoint an MB from among the state assemblymen of the winning coalition of the state (refer here and here). Once they have sworn in, they will hold meetings with all the elected members. If they want to reject the choice of the royal families, they will cast votes of not confidence and the royal families will have to appoint another leaders.

This is the constitution, the highest and supreme law of Malaysia. I am not a Malay or pro-sultan/royal-family but I am a Malaysian citizen who wants to follow the constitution. If you don't like it, go to the Parliament, get more than 2/3 of your MPs to vote for a change, suggest a new bill and let's change it. But for the moment, since you are less than 2/3, er... can we just listen to the Kings for this time and if you really want to change the constitution, you either persuade all the MPs or win the next election, ok? Or you can start to learn what is The Constitution of Malaysia rather than ranting the rebellious of the Sultans.

Long live the Kings!?

ALLAHU'alam.

Wassalam.

Saturday 15 March 2008

The Kings and I

Assalamualaikum warahmatullah wabarakatuh,

It suddenly interests me after this very dramatic and surprising General Election results in Malaysia. I think this election has not just made the people aware of the corruption and the need to unite and stand up to fight these destructive elements in the government, now the Sultanate of 9 states in Malaysia has also started to rise and exercise their rights over their states.

The usual scenario in Malaysia was that after the election, the new Prime Minister would appoint the new Chief Minister of a state (Menteri Besar or MB) that the ruling government obtains the majority in. And then, the King or Sultan of the state would just nod his head to agree, most of the time without questioning. I don't really know why but this somehow showed that the government has more power than the Sultan. This Sultanate institution has been an important part of the Malaysian history. Around the 15th century, the Malays (originated from India and Sumatra, Indonesia) came to the Peninsular of Malaysia and opened the Malacca Strait for international trading. The leader then became the king or Sultan (has the same title as the kings in India, Ottoman Empire, etc.). The descendants then went on and ruled nearly the whole Peninsular of Malaysia until the border of Thailand (Siam) owned by the King of Thailand (the only kingdom in South-East Asia that has never been conquered by any foreign force), until the colonisation of the Portuguese, then the Dutch and finally the British. The kings lost their power in their respective states due to the Residential system where the Advisors of the states are the British who put the Sultans as their puppets so that the people would listen.

The Sultans had no choice but to follow the instruction of the British. Since most of the people were loyal to the royal families and were not educated, they listened to the Sultans anyway. The power or the Sultans were shrunk into just insignificant affairs like Malay customs and religion. After the independence, this trend continued and only recently that when the Sultan of Perak's son who graduated from Harvard decided to not to accept the MB appointed by the opponent coalition which ruled the state of Perak, that I think it enlightens the rest of the Sultans.

Now in Perlis (the only state in the Northern of Malaysia that is still under the ruling coalition), the Sultan decided to go against the will of the Prime Minister by appointing an MB who is not the choice of the Prime Minister. Read the news. It shocked many but hey, that is the right thing to do because that is the Sultan's power in the civil law and constitution of the state! Whether the government like it or not. I would like to congratulate the Sultan of Perlis in making this move and I am sure that the people of Perlis will always accept the decision of the royal family over the Prime Minister, especially when many people, even the members of the ruling parties have asked the Prime Minister to step down due to the great lost in this General Election.

Another reason for the Sultans to exercise their rights, I think, is because of the weak leadership of the government by the Prime Minister as well as the wide spreading complains of the people of the poverty and oppression resulted from the corrupted government. The Sultans of course love their people, no doubt. It has been generations and generations that the royal family stay in the state. Even when there is a royal wedding, all the people are invited. For the love of the people, the Sultans will never want to see their people suffer, and since they have no power to rule their own states due to the democratic system which was installed into Malaysia as one of the conditions for independence, the Sultans will never be able to rule the state except by joining a party and compete in the election. So, the only way to do this is to appoint a very good MB for the state.

If the Prime Minister is a very caliber and respected leader, of course the Sultans will just leave the matter of appointing the MB to him. But this is not the case anymore now, very unfortunately for the Prime Minister and his cronies in the state level. Now it is not just Perlis' Prime-Minister-favoured MB that is going to suffer of the Prime Minister's own fault for not stepping down, the Terengganu's may also face the same consequence after news is said that the Sultan of Terengganu may reject the PM-favoured MB.

Congratulation to the Sultans for making wise decision for the sake of the people.

Let's wait and see what's next.

ALLAHU'alam.

Wassalam.

Wednesday 12 March 2008

How blogging changes the country

Assalamualaikum warahmatullah wabarakatuh,

To readers who are not Malaysians, if you have read the past 3 posts, you will have gain a little understanding of the political scenario in Malaysia. Many claimed that the politicians picked the Chief Editors of the main stream media in Malaysia and control the messages to send to the people - most of the time positive news for the ruling coalition and negative news for the oppositions. With the same sentiment around the world where the muslims loose their trust to the media which always portrays distorted image about Islam, the Malaysian younger generation started to think the same to the local main stream media and decided to find alternative channels to spread their message, may I restate that it is not to spread the opposition's message but the youths' own message. Many youths do not trust the main stream media in Malaysia and switch to alternative media like blogs, youtube news from Malaysia, internet news and many other, until at a stage, the government decided to ban the 'misuse' of blogs in Malaysia and wanted to take legal action on the bloggers who spread the not-so-beautiful stories about the government. Sound like communist? I don't know because I don't support the spreading of rumours but if it's true and the people need to know probably concrete facts and proofs should to be presented in a professional way.

Also another political scenario in Malaysia is that, you won't be able to stand as a candidate of a party until you get old because the seniority sentiment in Malaysian's political parties is very strong that dispite the ability and credibility of the candidate, if the person has been long in the party and has many supporters, especially from the top, he or she will have the opportunity to rise and gain a seat in the parliament representing the party. This is what we call the political ladder. You climb one step at a time but if you want to cross other people you either do it in a very sinful way (including oppression, corruption, propping up the superiors, etc.) or you really have that special talent that stand out among the rest. It is usual to find the parliamentary candidates are among those who are older than 40 years old. This is especially true in a party that has been long established. For example, the former Prime Minister, Mahathir Mohamed, he has been the member of UMNO for 18 years before he had the chance to stand as a candidate representing his party and only after 28 years that he became the Prime Minister. Probably another reason for this is because you need to earn enough money to register to compete (you need RM10,000.00 to pay the deposite on the nomination day).

Now, since the imprisonment of Anwar Ibrahim, a new party was formed and many youths who started to take politics, the survival and future of the country seriously have a chance to have their say in the parliament. In this party, Justice Party, there appears to be so many young candidates in this election and many of them are elected. Among them are bloggers and many of the bloggers use their blogs to appeal for donation to run their election campaigns. One of the blogger managed to collect more than RM123,000.00 of donation on-line from donors in and out of Malaysia. The blog is not just a way for them to spread their messages across the country, it also provides the facility to accumulate campaign funds and to interact with people. This way, the communication is more dynamic and it is a channel for the people to ask questions directly to the candidates and the candidates' opinions and answers are on the blogs to be judged and criticised by the public. This is more effective than running the election campaigns all over the places in just less than 13 days and of course saves a lot of money.

As I browsed through many blogs of the Malaysian politicians, I find that there are a lot of bloggers that support the opposition than the ruling coalition. Maybe there is no need for the ruling coalition to blog as they have the main stream media to spread their messages across the country. Shocking news, message and information are all around the blogs, some that can be trusted and some that need some research to verify, like most of the news in the mass media today. It would be a complete fool to take what the newspapers and broadcasting channels as 100% correct, hey, but there are still many people out there just take as they watch on the TV screen as the truth like in some other countries (you know which countries I am talking about). People in the rural areas in Malaysia can only have newspapers, radio and TV. They have been fed by the main stream media everyday and if they don't think out of the box and make a wise comparison, their votes are for the ruling coalition, no doubt. Again, I am not saying that they will not vote the ruling coalition after making a wise comparison, they might do.

Seeking knowledge and reflecting on what we have learnt are among the most important elements one must possessed if one is truly a learned individual. This will result in a wise thinking and action, prevent one from being deceived. With the bombardment of information from all around us, it is sometime difficult to make the best judgement. As a muslim, ultimately to make a choice is to rely on ALLAH, we might have enough information to predict who will be good as the members of parliament that can represent us, but who can guarantee the future other than the Al-Mighty ALLAH?

"The happiness of the son of Adam depends on his being content with what Allah has decreed for him, and the misery of the son of Adam results from his failure to pray istikharah, and the misery of the son of Adam results from in his discontent with what Allah has decreed for him."
~ Hadith collected by Al-Tirmidhi
ALLAHU'alam.

Wassalam.

Monday 10 March 2008

The Dawn of a new Malaysia

Assalamualaikum warahmatullah wabarakatuh,

So, there we go, the result of the 12th Malaysia General Election has revealed. So many surprises yet full of hope, excitement and challenge. For the first time since the independent in 1957, the ruling coalition has lost their 2/3 control of the parliament and only managed to earn slightly a bit more than 1/2 of the seats in the parliament, just enough to once again be the government of the country. In the state level, out of 13 states, from losing 1 state to the opposition since 1990, today, 5 states are under the control of the opposition coalition, surprise, surprise, even the opposition did not anticipate such a victory, the most they estimated are 3 states. The 5 states are not just any 5 states but among the most prosperous in the country, states with the most foreign investors. Today, the share market of Malaysia fall to the lowest since the past 7 months, I hope it is just for temporal before the investors gain their confidence to the new state governments. Today also, the Prime Minister, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi once again takes the Prime Minister office for his second term though many urge him to resign as to be responsible for the great lost for the party - The United Malays National Organization (UMNO), resign from the post of the president of the party as well as Prime Minister. But he refused and said that he feels no pressure to step down.

Well, are all these good news or bad news? In 1969, there was a racial riot which saw bloodshed and lost of lives, and is perceived as the darkest history in Malaysia after the independence. The Chinese and Indian minorities were not happy with the special status and privilege given to the Malay majority and attacked the government as bias towards the minority in the areas of education, economy and many other issues. This turned into a big chaos in Malaysia and since then, racial issues have been classified as sensitive issues that no one should criticise them publicly. If someone does, he or she can be accused under the Internal Security Act (ISA) which is equivalent to the Terrorism Act in the UK but worse because the person can be retained for an indefinite period of time. For this reason, those who opposed the government lost their rights to play a role in the politics because they are caged.

This year's election saw, for the first time, the racial issues were being discussed, but in a way that all the ethnic groups are happy with. The opposition coalition, championed by the internationally infamous Anwar Ibrahim (who used to be the successor of the former Prime Minister, Mahathir Mohamed but turned into the traitor of the country due to political conspiracy) has proposed a fairer way in dealing with racial issues without the need to sacrifice the Malay's special status but at the same time gives rights to the minorities. His proposal is that all the poors, no matter from which race, should be assisted by the government. And those who are rich can compete among them equally without the abusing the Malay's special status. The Malays maintain the special status but there should not be any discrimination, oppression and corruption while applying the status. His proposal of uniting all the races under the title of MALAYSIANS wins the hearts of the minorities and leads to the victory to the opposition coalition in Penang, one of the most Chinese-populated state in Malaysia and yesterday, Dr. Koh Tsu Koon, the head of one of the component parties (Gerakan Party) in the ruling coalition who led the administration of Penang for centuries decided to step down as to show his accountability for the lost.

Of course the opposition coalition did not win the election just by playing with the racial card. They also proposed a more islamic state, the initiative to fight corruptions which are part of the tradition of the ruling party (they claim), abolish the nepotism among the corrupted politicians, give priority to the poors, promise a welfare-oriented state where tax money is to be given back to the people through funding the education and housing, reduce or stop the rise of the petroleum price, reduce or stop the rise of inflation through subsidy, select vice-chancellor of a university or higher education institutes according to the credibility not race, etc. All these manifestos really attract the minorities and the more islamic generation of Malaysians. Thus, the support of the people to the opposition gave a very painful slap to the ruling coalition.

Of course, the ruling coalition did not stop giving their promises. The key word for the ruling coalition is development, more and more development. It means more and more projects for the bid of the Malays or some accuse them that the tenders are to be given to the politicians' families. How true is that, ALLAHU'alam. If a muslim denies that he or she has done a sin, I would like to give him or her 70 excuses because it is up to them to answer in front of ALLAH. This is to take the analogy of if a muslim said that the meat is halal, I will have to trust the person. But if I am not confident, I will refrain from taking it but will not go around and accuse the person is serving non-halal meat. ALLAHU'alam. I might be completely wrong.

As there are now 5 states under the opposition and the rest are under the ruling coalition, I can anticipate a more objective judgement in the next election because the people will have the opportunity to make comparison and choose the best side to rule the country. I really pray that both the coalitions will work very hard to prove to the people to win the people's votes because this competition will only benefit the people, inshaALLAH. As the politicians are chosen because of their ability to represent and work for the people, I hope that they will fulfill their promises and cater the needs of the people in their areas.

A new Malaysia has just begun... Oh ALLAH, save and protect Malaysia.

ALLAHU'alam.

Wassalam.

Saturday 8 March 2008

The Oldest Female Malaysian Parliamentary Candidate?

Assalamualaikum warahmatullah wabarakatuh,

As I checking through blogs of the governing parties' and opposition parties' supporters, I came across this news:

Maimun Yusuf, aged 89 living in a very worn out small hut in a poor village in Kuala Terengganu (east coast of the peninsular of Malaysia) is probably the oldest female Malaysian Parliamentary Candidate. I am really touched to know her story and her will to want to enter the Parliament and to bring change to the Malaysians. Motivated by the poverty and corruption happening in her area, she decided to take on the challenge as an Independent candidate (which usually is hard to win a seat) in order to fight the problems. Many people are touched by her and some of them help her by setting up a blog, a facebook and even a fan club for her. Probably we need to review the reasons for her to want to carry this big burden at this age without much resources (just look at her poor house!), is the country really corrupted that even an old lady is taking action to this far? I can only wish her good luck cause she is not in my area to vote for.

Wassalam.

Friday 7 March 2008

12th Malaysian General Election

Assalamualaikum warahmatullah wabarakatuh,

I have always tried my best not to write anything concerning politics in my blog, not that I think politics is dirty but it's only that I don't understand what are politicians doing. Manipulations, conspiracies, corruptions, exploitations, etc. have always been what I know about politics throughout my whole life. I have learnt the same thing from my family, especially my father, then from my friends in schools, teachers, fellow coursemates, lecturers and nearly everyone around me who follow the political issues in Malaysia. And when I come to UK, I face the same topics again and again when politics is the theme. It's also true when I speak to a student here who studies SPS (Social & Political Science) in Cambridge. It has never given me any positive image. Is it because I don't believe in democracy? Well, define democracy. Is it because I don't trust what the politicians say? Most probably yes and many of my friends have confirmed that they don't. Is it because I have no knowledge about politics? Probably yes cos I don't study political science in any of my degree, probably no because I do know what's happening through media (both the governing and opposition parties') and mouths of people, but I don't trust any of them because you can portray what you want. So, how do I decide who to vote for on 8th March 2008?

While I was watching all these so-called opposition's media (youtube, blogs, news) all I can see is that they want a change (reformation is the theme) and welfare. When I watch all these current-government ally's media, all I can see is that they want development and modernity. Now, as a Malaysian, what do I want? What define reformation, welfare, development and modernity? According to some younger generation of Malaysians who start to preach politics in a slightly citizen-centred way, they said that MPs or in Malaysia we call them the Representative of the Citizens (Wakil Rakyat) or politicians are just representatives, they represent us, the citizens, they work for us, we pay tax to them and with that they earn their salary by working for us, we are the bosses, employers and they are the employees, NOT THE OTHER WAY ROUND which sadly is the reality in Malaysia. Now, the questions in my head are, if truly that the politicians are working for us, why do they need to fight with each other? Are they fighting for the 'job' which only has vacancy during election? Or more fishy stuff behind it? See, that's the problem when I talk about politics, more unsure stuff that I am so afraid to write in case it becomes a fitnah.

Spiderman (not trying to be childish though) said that with greater power comes greater responsibilities. Once you are a representative, you are given the power from the people to voice their needs. That's like a mountain of responsibilities, don't you feel afraid to carry that? What if ALLAH asked you on that Day... When ALLAH made the Earth and asked if the mountain want to be ALLAH's representative or steward (khalifah) on this Earth, none of ALLAH's creations wanted it, it's too much and too heavy to carry. It's only later then that Prophet Adam (as) agreed to carry the responsibilities. So, if those politicians are fighting for a seat in the Parliament, I really hope that they are fighting to carry this responsibility that they think they will be able to fulfill appropriately thus earn lots of 'salary' from ALLAH.

ALLAHU'alam.

Wassalam.