Back to Square One

Sejak latihan ke-38, sesi latihan saya sudah mula merosot akibat dari pengurusan masa yang tidak baik. Lebih-lebih lagi, faktor peribadi dan juga luaran yang begitu melemaskan membuatkan saya sering melakukan kesilapan dalam apa jua benda yang saya sedang harungi. Ini adalah salah satu bab dan saat akhir pada hidup saya ini... iaitu untuk mengakhiri ijazah Masters saya, sebelum memulakan satu lagi bab baru - dunia pekerjaan.

Memandangkan konsistensi latihan saya tidak lagi berada dalam keadaan yang teratur, saya telah memutuskan berlatih semula dari angka satu. Walaupun tidak dicatat, latihan terakhir saya adalah latihan ke-40 sebelum mengharungi larian Amal Seri Sinar di Bukit Jalil baru-baru ini.

Sejak Februari 11, 2009, saya hanya berjaya berlatih sebanyak 3 kali sahaja (tidak termasuk 2 hari perlumbaan). Sukar dipercayai bukan? Prestasi saya pula telah merosot, satu pekara yang tidak ingin saya berbincang di sini. Itulah hakikatnya... seorang pelajar yang dikhaskan untuk belajar dan menulis thesis tetapi gatal sangat untuk melibatkan diri dalam pelbagai aktiviti-aktiviti yang sekarang telah menjadi bebannya. Bak kata orang melayu: bagaikan menggali tanah yang lekuk.

Hari ini dijanjikan permulaan yang baru. Latihan bermula dari pengiraan satu. Saya berlari sejauh 5.1km, tiada tekanan mental untuk melakukan masa yang bagus. Masa tercatat: 37minit 59saat. Tiada masalah, gunakannya sebagai pedoman.

Minggu ini, Saudari Teh Lay Hoon akan mengirimkan saya hadiah hari jadi saya yag sudah lama ku tunggu. Beliau tahu saya kini mula giat berlari sejak tahun lalu. Kerana saya asyik mengadu kepadanya bahawa berlatih seorang diri amat membosankan (tujuan saya adalah menglibatkan beliau dalam latihan berlari), dia telah belikan sebuah MP3 player untuk menemani saya semasa berlatih...

Harap - harap dengan bantuan teknologi saya mampu berlatih dengan lebih giat lagi.

Untuk mengakhiri blog saya hari ini, izinkan saya menggunakan tagline Hasbullah Awang sebagai kata rangkapan: MAJULAH SUKAN UNTUK NEGARA!

Minggu ini saya menggunakan Bahasa Melayu bagi menyokong Sasterawan - Sasterawan Negara yang sudah lama dipinggirkan dalam konteks pembentukan negara akibat daripada impak globalisasi.

Happy Scary 2009!

Experts predict that the coming new year of 2009 will not be a “Happy” new year at all. The word Retrenchment and Bankruptcy will be heard more often next year as the looming economy crisis sweeps Malaysia. Some say it will be the repeat of the “Great Depression” of 1929 or maybe worst than that.

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Early signs of economy crisis are already hinting what’s going to happen next year. Anil’s blog article “The storm has reached our shores” tells us of the dark clouds coming our way:

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In Kedah, 1,429 workers from 17 factories have been “temporarily” laid off.
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In Kuching, 1,500 workers have been retrenched as Western Digital shuts its plant in March.
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About 60 per cent of these workers are reportedly married with children. The job losses account for 15 per cent of the 10,000 workers in the electronics sector in Sarawak.
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Another 3,250 workers around the country, mainly from the electronics sector, are expected to be retrenched by over 130 employers in the next three months. And that’s just the official estimate.
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Earlier in June, 1,600 workers in Nikko Electronics on mainland Penang lost their jobs when the company said it was unable to continue operations. They received a pittance in compensation.
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So to start out the New Year of financial uncertainty, why not cheer ourselves with some dark comedy to commemorate the clichéd happiness of the commercialized “New Year”?

cartoons taken from the Times Magazine

If comic cartoon doesn't help to sway your mind away from the financial uncertainty, then try the Bible, it never fails to comfort and inspire anybody who are uncertain about the scary 2009.

God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, Even though the earth be removed, And though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; Though its waters roar and be troubled, Though the mountains shake with its swelling. Selah. (Psalm 46:1-3)

and my favorite:

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” (Jeremiah 29:11)

Happy New Year...

“Revolusi '48” By Fahmi Reza – Revisioning Our National History.

This is a documentary about the unheard Revolution by Parti Komunis Malaya (PKM) against the British colonialist in the year 1948. What Fahmi Reza is doing is an act of Revisioning, a term popularly used by New Historicist /Historian. Giving the exiled freedom fighters of Malaya a voice, Revolusi 48 is also giving the present generation an alternative choice of Heroes and Heroine.

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Revolusi 48, as it is being promoted, to be a propaganda documentary, justifying PKM’s deeds and correcting all false accusation of the past about them. It is a counter resistant strategy towards the British Colonialist and right wing politician which literally paint the PKM’s outlook – leaving out PKM’s contribution to the Malaya independence and giving them no credit while demonizing them.

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In a lay man’s point of view, revolution is a movement or rather a circular religion which pushes and motivates the people to carry out drastic change. The Revolution back then was seen as a great deal for hasten independence in Malaya. The Revolusi 48 has not ended yet. To some, it only ends when the objective of drastic change had been achieved. Metaphorically, the revolusi 48 was packed and sealed into a time capsule by the authority. But when such political enthusiasm was capsulated, it’s a matter of time that the compressed urges of the unfinished revolution began to build from time to time and soon may explode. The outcome of such enthusiasm explosion is still unknown and I’ll leave it to Political and Social scientist to throw in their predictions.

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The Revolusi 48 died not because it is a bad idea but because it loses human support. The lacking of support was due to the massive arrest, British propaganda and the new village projects. A dead revolution can be revived, it only takes a spark.

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Now, on the matter of spreading such information (as in the revisioning documentary of Revolusi 48) to the general public, I’ll suggest that political scientists and social science researchers should study the influence and the reaction of the society upon being edified with such information. Will there be a second great social and political awakening? Only time will tell. Even if its not, that doesn’t mean Fahmi Reza’s documentary fails because I am sure that is not his primary objective.

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Fahmi Reza’s Revolusi 48 is a ‘must watch’ documentary and should be shown in all academic institution, not for the reason to convert people into communism but rather to remind us of the forgotten freedom fighters and to prepare us for a next Revolusi in our nation (only if needed).

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Get yourself a ‘Nama Revolusi’ after watching this. Mine shall be ’Andu’ :-)

Globalization: The New Form of Colonization

Much has been explored about globalization and the conclusion has very much comes to the perception that it is a good thing. As much as it’s been told and often been declared that globalization is an unavoidable wave, it has to be also halt in question to foresee its’ role in each newly established nation.

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Globalization is an invention by the west, to be more precise, nations such as the United States and the ex-imperialist nation. Screen in deeper in perspective, globalization is a movement by the richer folks.

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Only the richer nations can really penetrate into the poorer nations. Their role in the economics and politics of each nation is vast and they literally control the third world nations. The current America financial crisis is one example of how powerful nations may affect any non related countries such as Malaysia.

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In terms of culture is even worst. Young nations are forsaking their own culture and embracing the culture of the west. Globalization they say, claiming that it is a form of transculturation and to be seen as a natural progress but Postcolonialist describes such event as cultural hegemony – meaning a domination of culture in the minds of its colonial subjects.

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The damage has been done. There is no turning back. To cleanse such matter will seriously need a process famous in George Orwell’s 1984, RE-EDUCATION. The People’s Republic of China did it before; they call it ‘Cultural Revolution’.

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Only the purest Communist Ideology can save us.

Evolving Vernacular School

“Can balance be found between modernity and traditionalism?” this are the question ask by Dr. Raihanah in her essay Celebrating Malaysia Voices: A Multicultural Perspective. It’s a question that needs to be answered through out the process of nation building. It’s a question of subjectivity with a very subjective answer as the answer would change as time pass.

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Too many consideration need to be taken in perspective in the matter of striking a balance of traditionalism and modernity. Just to name a few, the issue of western culture invading the east, globalization in terms of technology which has a strong capability of wiping out our traditional values and traditonal gadgets, feminism – “how much is too much?” which also has the capability of restructuring the traditional framework of an Asian family which is known to be patriarchal.

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Raihanah’s essay does trigger much discussion into many different discourses but this time I will like to write my thoughts about the vernacular school in Malaysia.

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Now, how is that related with her question of balancing modernity and traditionalism? My statement is simply this: the vernacular school - that is the Chinese and the Tamil school are in fact an institution of the ‘tradition’ of its respective ethnic.

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The establishment of such academic institution was primarily to achieve their objective of combating changes and preserving their relationship with their motherland – China and India. The Chinese and the Indians were immigrants brought in by their colonial masters during the colonial era. They (immigrants), in order to maintain their ethnicity, restructured the setting of the foreign land to become a place which are more familiarize to them. This would mean establishing their own school which maintains their traditions.

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In my honest opinion, when the Chinese and the Indians were enrolled in to be a citizen of Malaya, such vernacular school should also be enrolled to become a national school, meaning restructuring their academic curriculum / method / policy. Aggressive as it may sound, it is by no means to indicate racial cleansing or radical assimilation towards the minority.

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The preservation of the vernacular school was merely a political agenda. It was the best and lucrative ways to draw votes for General Elections back in the 50s; I guess it still has not change, new vernacular schools were built from time to time (obviously when general elections are coming).

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Modernity needs to be part of the vernacular school system. Modern – adapting and relating to the present time – vernacular schools need to adapt with the need of the nation that change from time to time, that means to sacrifice some of its tradition value of the school, e.g: language. In our political situation here in Malaysia, racial base politics are slowly losing its popularity grip. Why is it so? – Plainly because racial politics is a traditional paradigm. It’s a matter of time vernacular school will lose its significance.

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Vernacular school needs to be injected with some sense of modernity. It needs to be gradually phasing out to become a “Sekolah Wawasan” which I seriously believe such vernacular school has the capability to become one. It needs to seriously consider using the national language to teach. I do not mean to forgo the lingua franca of the minority. The minority languages can still be learned by having classes for students who wish to learn.

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Diversify the school by encouraging more students from other ethnics to join in. Vernacular School has an awful label – vernacular school is also known as the Segregated School. Such system of segregation was mention by J.S Furnivall* - “Mix but do not combine” (Furnivall 1939:446). He was describing a society under the system of the colonizer. Not much had changed since we freed our self from the British.

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Striking a balance between modernity and traditionalism is a tricky business. Definitely such idea cannot be accepted by many traditionalists but it is an idea that has a natural flow of direction – everything changes, nothing is constant, everything evolves with time; and vernacular school is one of them. So there's no point to resist it.

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*Furnivall, J.S. 1939. Netherlands India: A study of Plural Economy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Between Pak Lah & Julius Caesar

I can only imagine how Pak Lah felt in the meeting room with all the Umno supreme council members . The pressure and the tension - hearing the words from the heart of his fellow followers. His followers and supporters, once supported him and defended him, now suggesting that he should resign early instead of the 2010 plan.

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Vice-president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, Youth chief Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein, Wanita chief Tan Sri Rafidah Aziz and supreme council member Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal pour out their hearts - this time in a very serious tone.

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One can't help but to think that behind all this daring move by the supreme council and indirectly from the grass-roots, there's a big possibility that Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohammad may be the master mind of this humble revolt.

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UMNO from Perlis had openly declared their thoughts about Pak Lah's reign. They want a speedier transition. UMNO from Penang, his home-state, has been silent over the matter. Ahmad Ismail's incident drill deeper the pits of hell for Pak Lah's fall. Their silence is as good as saying "You are on your own bro". It makes you wonder now that he do not command any confidence from his loyal supporters - can he even "secure the minimum 58 nominations required to defend his presidency" said Tan Sri Rafidah Aziz.

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I cannot help but to pity Pak Lah. It seems like the whole world is against him. I wonder whether he cries to sleep at night (i hope some reporters may have the guts to ask Jeane Abdullah). But then again, this is politics. It's a dog eats dog world. Like Julius Caesar, who was stabbed not by his enemies but by his loyal followers. Similar with Pak Lah, many will think that Anwar Ibrahim will bring him down, but instead it is his own UMNO kaki.

LOMPAT KERUSI

TERKINI... Dato' Seri Anwar Ibrahim berjaya memperolehi 42 kerusi tambahan.

18 kerusi dari IKEA

14 kerusi dari COURTS MAMMOTH

10 kerusi dari FELLA DESIGN

Mamak Effect

Raja Petra Kamarudin claims that a new form of Mad Cow disease had reached its dangerous level. It seems Indian Muslim are the only one to manifest its outrageous symptoms as reported by RPK.

Pictures courtesy Kwong Wah Yit Poh

UiTM and 10%

Ever since the suggestion made by Selangor Chief Minister Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim to allow the enrolment of non-bumiputras by 10% into UiTM, the mainstream media had not stop propagating the issue like a fire alarm.

First of all, the idea of this “10%” is only a suggestion. But the seriousness and the tension portrayed by the UiTM student did not equate with the repercussion of negativity. I personally do not see the point of gathering and the march of the protest towards the Chief Minister’s idealistic suggestion.

But think of the bright side, at least for now UiTm had done their most aggressive act since the establishment of UiTM. All this while, like a lifeless zombie, they are trapping themselves in their campus with ‘Ketuanan Melayu’ mindset while enjoying the tax money of all fellow Malaysians.
The bright side is; the issue of “10% UiTM allocation to Non-Bumis” had successfully lifted up the coconut shell to allow the frogs of UiTM to come out.

They should demonstrate more often. Perhaps, the next time, they will gather, march and demonstrate for a better and right reason.

You Pay Peanuts, You Get Monkey.

On April the 3rd 2008, The Sun (The only free Malaysia Newspaper) published an article which captured my attention. It was about the Salary of our Members of Parliament (MP).

How much an MP getsSalary:

RM6,508 (tax-free)

Other perks:

RM1,200 monthly driver's fee

RM5,000 computer allowance per term

RM1,500 handphone allowance every three years

RM900 monthly phone bill allowance

RM300 daily meeting allowance (RM100 for food and other expenses)

RM 1,500 monthly entertainment allowance

A fulltime Member of Parliament will get RM10,108 (tax-free) every month. When there is the Dewan Rakyat meeting going on, they will get RM300 as a meeting allowance for every each meeting, which RM100 of it is allocated for their daily meals. So, for a 14 days Dewan Rakyat meeting, each members of Parliament will get an amount of RM4,200.

So, when there is a Dewan Rakyat meeting going on, that month itself a Member of the Parliament will get a pay-check worth RM14,308.

Sometimes their monthly pay-check may amount up to RM16,908.

If you think that is too much of a salary for a Malaysian MP, wait till you see this. Singapore’s MPs receive S$ 18,025 per month. That’s just the basic. With other special allowance and stuff, it may reach S$30,000 or more depending on your ministerial position. Which means a Singaporean MP earns at least S$360,000 a year. Convert that to Ringgit Malaysia -approximately RM900,000 a year. Nearly a million.

Their salary is incomparable to the MPs in Malaysia.

The saying goes, if you pay peanuts, you get monkey.

Can only happen in Malaysia Parliament.

The High Man

The man with his long braided hair reminds me of Bob Marley. His attire looks messy but it somehow appears appropriate for him. He has a tattoo all over his left hand. He is a Malay.

Standing there on the stage, he took one long last puff of his cigarette (which I believe it contains more than just tobacco in there) till it lefts so thin that one can hardly notice it when he threw it to the ground. People were cheering after a brief introduction about him by the emcee.

With the noise all over the place, he took the microphone and recited the most poetic, patriotic and majestic words I ever heard. It felt such way because the entire people in the stadium, an estimate 5000 people that time, echoed his words every lines. Such Unity, such support, such belief... only a person that ‘high’ can capture the hearts of the masses.

Now I understand why Bob Marley had the capability to influence the people of Jamaica.

Price of Oil increased... consider migrating to somewhere cheaper, anyone?

If YOU tak suka harga Pertol in Malaysia... Pi migrate to the Middle East lah!

Petrol to cost RM2.70 from midnight

PETROL TO COST RM2.70 FROM MIDNIGHT!!!

An Advertorial Message

"hensem" tak?

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ha... want to know Dr. Khir Toyo's complexion's secret?

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Eat 'Tempe' everyday.

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So, what are you waiting for? Go to your nearest Tempe shop while stock last!

Photos from zimbio.com & malaysiakini.com

Khairy Jamaluddin

YB Khairy Jamaluddin is now my friend.

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Don't believe me? You see...

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Ha... don't play play with me ok? I got a friend in the corridors of Power.

posting idea from kennysia.com

My Little Part in General Election 2008

Besides coming back and vote, i did infact involve a little bit through out the process of the election campaign. Attending ceramahs is far too common as a criteria to be considered "actively involve" in the election campaign.

So i decided to go an extra mile in this general election.

Yes, That's me in the red with my dad climbing up the fence of the Army Div 2 Base in Georgetown. We decided to put up a protest banner. After climbing down, reporters told me that the soldiers have the utmost right to gun me and my dad down. It will be a different story for the reporters to cover the next day:

Father & Son Shot dead For Trespassing Army Base.

Anyway, the army base is already empty. Thank God. Read more about it here.

That Indian Uncle block the word 'DONT' in the photo. Haiya....

It was a great experience to do such thing and able to meet the DAPs candidates like Chow Kon Yeow and Ng Wei Aik who came and support what we were doing. And now that they are in control of Penang State Government, i can't help but to feel that me and my dad was giving some of our effort in creating this new state of Penang. Hoping for the best.

I pray that God will give them wisdom to lead this state towards a better future.

Undi

I woke up early today. With my mom, I walk to the polling station. We "pangkah" our prefered candidates for the state's and parliament's seat.

I voted today... did you?

Make your voice heard!

Jom Undi!

Here's a song to motivate you to go and vote... i hope.

Well, at least it motivated me!

That Terrible Split Identity Feeling...

The election Campaign is here and there is no doubt about it that i'm very much excited over it because this will be my first time voting. Come this March the 8th 2008 will be a very historical event personally for me as I will make my little vote of mine count towards the nation's fate for the next 5 years.

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Maybe this excitement in me is triggered due to my senses telling me that this will also be the one and only National Event i ever participated (except for FES national camp and the Boys' Brigade national Pesta which only involve the christians and the non-muslim members of the Boys' Brigade).

Perhaps this coming election will not only stir my sense of patriotism for this country but also my thoughts about being a Malaysian Christian.

BUT christians cannot ignore this terrible split identity feeling isn't it? That is, One can never feel patriotic after knowing that we are only a passer by of this world... and when judgement day comes, patriotism is no use anymore.

Remember in youth meeting, there was this popular teaching about knowing your identity in Christ? It somehow make me think again about those christian who do not wish to vote or even care much about Patriotism. Maybe they are right, because the Bible (i think) stated so:

I'm to be a stranger to this world - 1 Peter 2:11

Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul.

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I am a citizen of heaven - Philippians 3:20

But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ.

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I am a fellow citizen in God's kingdom - Ephesians 2:19

Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household.

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"We are a fellow citizen of God's Kingdom... not Malaysia! So, Why Vote. Vote in heaven-lah." i can only imagine some of my very old church members saying this to me.

But it is clearly portray in a way that christians are encouraged to be set apart from this world. Because it is obviously telling you that you are not part of the world. Very susah isn't it? That is why i say... this is a very terrible split identity feeling.

So, while i am dealing with this ambivalence role of mine in this world, i am still going to vote no matter what. Perhaps, one day God himself will reveal all the answers for the questions i once asked.

JOM UNDI! JOM UBAH!

VOTE FOR PEDRO!

Shaking Powerful Hands

I attended a dinner organised by a chinese temple which my aunt and uncle faithfully attend and pray there. I had no choice, I got into a car and they took me there. So,I’m taking this positively, with this opportunity I’m able to see how things are in the territory of God’s enemies…

But little did I know, my aunt was invited to the dinner as a VIP. And I dressed up like how Joshua dressed up long time ago (Click here to see example.)

But all in all, it was worth it. It was the first time I ever got to sit on the special table. The table is cleaner, the food always arrives first and a lot of people want to shake your hands like you’re some famous people.

Sitting with famous people I did not, BUT sitting with influential people I did. In that same table (since it was a VIP table) was MCA’s representative to that dinner. YB Dato Hoh Hee Lee, the ADUN of N27 Balakong, Selangor. (I bet no one knows him. I also don’t know him until my aunty introduce me to him.)

I must say, shaking hands with people like Dato' Hoh Hee Lee feels different. I remember shaking hands with Dato’ Lat the cartoonist. After shaking hands with him I see caricatures differently and not just apiece of lowly crappy art.

The Minister of Higher Education Dato’ Mustapha Muhamad shook my hand while I was waiting for Lay Hoon’s Convocation to start. On top of that we made a small talk while both of our hands locked firmly. Since then, I promise to study hard and kick him out from that minister post and become a minister myself.

I wonder, how would it feel to shake the hand of Jesus.

Anyway, Dato' Hoh Hee Lee is a good guy. He deserve another term to represent his people of 'N27 - BALAKONG'.

Bad Chemistry

Mix potassium with water, it will form a flammable hydrogen gas. And if a large amount of potassium is thrown into the water, it may react very violently. Potassium and water just do not fit with each other. They have what a layman would say, a bad chemistry.

Bad chemistry, it is not stable, it just won’t do it. It’s like that. You can’t do anything about it. Ok, why am I talking about chemistry when I only manage to get “7D” for my chemistry paper in SPM? (Other than I was so amazed with Cikgu Lim throwing a large amount of potassium into the water which got me so interested about science for like… 5 minutes)

I’m trying to make a connection of this example with the current legal system in Malaysia. Knowing pretty well that our country has two divergent legal systems: Syariah and Common Law.

To me, Syariah Law and the Common Law are similar with potassium and water (which represents what, doesn’t matter). It has a bad chemistry. Although it will not form any flammable hydrogen gas, I am sure it will cause a bad reaction. It already has.

It was not a new thing. Syariah Law did not suddenly pop in from no where and effectively rule part of the social system. But its sudden existence after independence is whole different kind of argument which I would like to raise it some other time.

What I am pointing out here are the complications that arise due to the mismatch legal system of Religion canon and the Secular canon. Some will say, “Why need to be match? Both laws are different. Syariah is for the Muslim only and the common law is for the non-Muslim-lah. They are not supposed to be match”.

True, but I personally and strongly believe that both should be fitted together like husband and wife because both of the system’s ultimate goal is to serve JUSTICE.

A recent incident portrays this complication:
A husband convert into a muslim, the wife do not want to convert. Both divorced, And both want the custody of their child, the husband insist to allow Syariah Court to decide while the wife wants the Magistrate court to decide. The reaction? The child suffers. And that’s a bad chemical reaction. So, was justice being served?

NO. That’s entirely my point –
You just cannot mix potassium and water together. In fact they can’t be put too close together as well. What else is there to say anymore about both system working together and with each other between the Syariah and the Common Law?

Our legal Law System can’t even be put down nicely AND was it any surprise that the STAR newspaper reported two days ago that our crime rate has gone up 13%?

Here’s another Chemistry reaction: DISORGANISED + LAW = MORE CRIME.

I rest my case.