Sickening!

Haven't been blogging for a while. Haven't really been angry enough about whatever's been happening here in Malaysia. Wait, there was the Bersih rally and how badly the government handled the situation (which actually got worse thanks to the "peace-keeping" police and FRU), but I guess I was in a state of apathy towards Malaysian politics at that exact time in history. (Note: The news about police firing tear gas into the Tung Shin hospital is true. Just ask anyone you know who works there or was there for treatment.)


But now, something's happened that's made me very very sad and wondering if there is anything we can do to ensure it never happens again....


BORNEO TRIBES ARE BEING RUN OFF THEIR ANCESTRAL LANDS TO MAKE WAY FOR THE SINGAPORE-SIZED BAKUN DAM!


After 12-years of fighting for their right to stay on the land that they have developed since the time of their ancestors, the indigenous tribes of Sarawak are being thrown out of their ancestral land, and poorly compensated, too. Even with compensation, the resettlement of the Orang Asli tribe in the Penchala area in Selangor has proven that it can only be detrimental to them as they have lost access to the natural resources that have been so instrumental to their livelihoods. Big bungaloes and running water and electricity mean nothing to them when they don't have money for food and can't simply go fishing in a stream or hunting in the forest.


Back in Sarawak, one displaced Ngajang Mudin, of the Ukit tribe, lament about how he and his family has to leave his cocoa and pepper trees as well as the graves of his ancestor, all buried underneath the water. If this was done to a Muslim burial ground here on the Peninsula side of Malaysia, there would have been an uproar over it! And sadly, this will be happening to many more tribesmen and families as the government clears land the size of Singapore! Singapore may not be big for a country, but imagine how many indigenous people could possibly be living in an area that size.


Read the news by AFP here: http://news.malaysia.msn.com/regional/article.aspx?cp-documentid=5247534

I really wonder how anyone can help in any way? The court case undertaken by representatives of the indigenous tribes was thrown out by a unanimous decision by three judges. Unanimous! How is it that not even one of them feel compassion for these people? If you're reading this, I hope at the very least you will keep this info somewhere in your consciousness and be stirred to help these downtrodden "Sons of the Land", or Bumiputera, ironically a term coined by the ruling Malay-majority government themselves to describe the ancestral people of Borneo and Malaysia. Meanwhile, I will have this on the fore of my consciousness as I dig up more info, facts, references and comparisons for a Vanity Fair-style expose that hopefully might be published somewhere someday and help prevent any more similar injustices from taking place.

Busy Busy Bees

There are certain kinds of people who feel the need to announce to the whole world that they are star employees. There are the ones that cc everyone from the CEO to the kakak cleaner their entire conversations (to other people) via email to prove that they are working hard (sending emails, that is). There are the ones that come up to you all the friking time to tell you that all the clients in the world cannot be reached at the moment while never sending you a single email to confirm what they have done and what needs to be done next (until someone else has done the work for them, after which they will again appear busy and ask you if you need anything else).

Then, there are the ones that talk to themselves the entire time they’re at their desk so as to appear working, who sigh and randomly exclaim human expressions like ‘Eh? WTF??” or “Hey! Mumblemumblemumble” so that the bosses know that it’s not their fault they don’t send in their stuff on time – “producing sounds” is a lot of work, you know. Oh, and this last kind, they also jump at the chance to point out when a colleague is wrong, no matter how small the error. Like shouting across the room to ask whether the website URL given earlier by aforementioned (hypothetical) colleague ended in dotcom or dotcomdotmy.

“Oh, apparently it’s dotcom, not dotcomdotmy. Ha ha! You got it wrong!”

Whatever, dude! If it’s a Malaysian company, if you can’t reach the website via dotcomdotmy, it’s most probably just dotcom. Or maybe dotnet or dotbiz or dotmy. It’ll only take you three or four more clicks! Oh I forgot, you need time to make those sounds.

Sze Accessories: New Tide October 2010

Accessories designer and peddler Sze Yoong riffs on copycats....

Sze Accessories: New Tide October 2010: "Recently, a friend commented that she chanced upon a blog and thought she was reading mine. She said that the owner of the blog seemed to be..." (click on the link to read more of her blog entry)

How ironic then that some of her pieces are quite similar to designs by Fiona Kotur.....

Oh! Not to mention those Daily Candy necklaces she made (offline, of course) where she simply cuts up pretty drawings from the Daily Candy book, inserted them into locket frames and sold them of in a single event. I wonder how much royalty she paid the Daily Candy illustrator who came up with the unique drawings that made the necklaces so desirable? Would she have been able to sell the necklaces if she had inserted her own doodles into the frames?

I was expecting something more ... errr... unique

There was so much buzz and hype about the Uniqlo store in Bkt Bintang, I should have foreseen me not liking it since I usually despise anything that's too popular with the masses. What's up with all the bubble jackets? Didn't these people visit Malaysia before deciding what they should sell here?

It's Fun Time!

This blog will be going through changes as I decided that Twitter is not enough for all the rantings, ravings and fun-pokings going on in my head. I think in more than 140 WORDS! Also, I'm too lazy to open up a Twitpic or Plixi account or whatever. Plus, I think it'll be fun to be frank (and bitchy) about subjects that deserve to be bitched about. Especially the ones that other people tend to gloss over (what, are you people blind?) So, yeah, this IS going to be FUN! Wheee!

They should do more of this

Today, I shamefully read about a Muslim man who had caused the death of his parents in a ritual killing, where he and his cousin beat the old folks with helmets, a table top and the table's legs in hopes of driving out evil from their bodies. Along with his cousin, who abetted the misdeed, he will be jailed for ten years as punishment.

What is shameful is that in this more enlightened age of the Internet, there are people who still believe in violent spiritual cleansing rituals such as this (apparently, the victims believed it, too, as they had consented to the ritual), and these men, being "Muslim", give a bad name to the other Muslims, especially when people are looking to generalise. Also, I think it is shameful that these men are getting only 10 years in jail, for killing your own parents! Whether consented or not, a murder is still a murder. In Western countries, people get more than that for euthanasia.

However, this time I did notice one good thing by the Agence-France Presse, who are fond of attaching the following footnote to almost anything related to Malaysia: "Minority Chinese and Indian citizens fear rising Islamisation in a country with a Muslim Malay majority." Or something to that effect.

Anyhoo, this time their footnote read: "Malaysia is a predominantly Muslim country and the authorities periodically crack down on unauthorised sects including the one the accused was a member of."

The authorities should crack down harder on these sects so that we can avoid murders such as the one described, while the AFP should include more remarks like this that paint a more accurate picture of Malaysia (rising Islamisation? yeah, right).

Speed Up!

I just saw on Wikipedia that the word Melayu may have been derived from the word "melaju".
Thus:-

Melayu = Melaju = Accelerate

So Malays, stop being "layu" and instead speed up to "laju" and be more "maju"!

We DON'T Want You Looking At Our Bodies!

The Associated Press reported that a Muslim woman in Emerainville, France was barred from entering a public pool because her 'burquini' was unhygienic. Fair enough, if the authorities think the woman came straight from home walking the streets in her burquini and non-muslim girls only change into their swimsuits at the pool (and no one ever invented the cover-up dress). Whatevs....

What's interesting are comments like this from MEN who can't for the life of them figure out why women want to be all covered up when they can get more attention by showing more skin:-

"We are going back in civilization. Women have fought for decades for equal rights with men. Now we are putting them back in burqas and veils." - Alan Kelyor, the MAYOR of Emerainville, France

Meanwhile, Nicolas Sarkozy, the PRESIDENT of France has been reported to agree that the burqa and other voluminous Muslim attire should be banned, saying that such garbs make women prisoners.

I heart France, but if these are the people they elect to government, I seriously wonder what is wrong with them (ditto Malaysia, too, actually!).

So ok... hello!!! Are they really that dumb or are they so busy that they can't take time to understand that whether you're bundled up or naked, it has nothing to do with a civilisation's timeline, except perhaps as a marker of which period or decade it refers to. What matters is how you act, what your moral standards are, and what your self-worth is. Just because someone is covered from head to toe, does that mean they're not allowed to be doctors or lawyers, even if they graduated top of the class? Does that mean they're not allowed to drive a car? That they will not be capable of writing a convincing business proposal? It's all in the mentality of the person, not in what they're wearing.

I also think it doesn't mean that someone's ashamed of how they look and would rather hide it all under a billowing burqa. Rather, I take it as them being so proud of their body that not just anybdy can be allowed to look at it. Yes, that means you, lecherous sleazy old men and horny teenage boys! What? You're a dastardly good-looking chiseled medical surgeon who moonlights as a model and just got back from a space mission? Well, you gotta prove your worth, too, honey! You want a piece of me? Then you gotta pass every test including the last one - marriage.

Honestly, men like Kelyor and Sarkozy are no different than Arab traditionalists who try to impose their own beliefs unto us poor women, and skew their words to make us feel bad about our own choices. They want us to act according to their standards, their beliefs and their needs. Women shouldn't do this, women should be like that. Really... who asked you??

Original report:- http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32388642/ns/world_news-europe/?GT1=43001

Fw: White Phosphorus

I'm forwarding this from an email message I received today. Looking at these pictures, I can't believe the Israelis are getting away with it. Hamas or no Hamas, atrocities such as these have to be stopped (and yes, just as how suicide bombings should be stopped as well!). These are truly senseless killings. These are premeditated murders by (supposedly) mentally stable adult men who kill lil Muslim kids because they're afraid the kids might grow up to kill them! Half a dozen ancient fables of foolish kings come to mind....

-- Forwarded from email --

The below photos are not a Movie Shooting or Celebrating a festival with crackers... its a school in Gaza .. this is the current situation of the innocent people in Gaza ! Make sure you read till last to know what is white phosphorus! and the effect!

( UNRWA SCHOOL IN BEIT LAHIA, GAZA , PALESTINE )

This Muslim is not satisfied with Malaysian living conditions, ok?

On MSN Malaysia today, I read about a Chinese man who is protesting the conversion of his 15-month-old baby to Islam by his recently converted estranged wife. In the article, it’s stated that the government is working on legislations that will help iron out problems between Muslim converts and their non-Muslim families. This is said to symbolise “an olive branch to Malaysia's minority ethnic Chinese and Indians, who are uneasy over rising "Islamisation"”. I really don’t know what to think about the problem between the Chinese man and his wife, being as uninformed and uneducated about the legal matters and workings of the civil and shariah laws as I am, but I do understand the grievances on both sides.

My gripe: Rising Islamisation?

That term always draws a balk from me.

I’d go to restaurants and wonder whether I can eat the chicken and beef, even if no pork or lard is served. I would wonder if the chocolate bar I’m eating contains any non-halal ingredients, or if that multi-vitamin capsule is made of gel from bovine sources that comply with Muslim food standards.

Sometimes, work colleagues would totally ignore me during lunch time when they’re going off to someplace non-halal (I guess they’d feel bad telling me I can’t have lunch with them today ‘cos they have a hankering for pork chop burgers, but really, I’d rather know the real reason rather than imagine that they hate my company).

I’d go to a swanky shopping mall that has no Surau for me to pray at, forcing me to either go elsewhere or go home (who needs by business anyway, right?) or miss my compulsory prayers. And where Suraus are provided, often they’re too small to accommodate everyone rushing to do their 5-minutes prayers in the time allocated for prayer times that are closer together i.e. Maghrib and Isyak, at around 7.30pm and 8.30pm respectively (depending on the position of the sun in the sky). If I came at 8pm, there’s a very good chance that the line for ablution (rinsing of the face and limbs before prayers) will snake around the Surau, and after that, a tussle for the limited prayer clothing followed by the hunt for floor space on which to conduct prayers. If I’m lucky, I’ll be able to finish the Maghrib prayer just before the call for Isyak prayers.
*Tip: Movie premiere days and Jusco Member Day sales are the worse days to procrastinate with prayers. It is advised that one be ready in prayer clothing 5 minutes before estimated prayer time during times like these!

During work days, I have to do my early afternoon prayers during lunch break and the late afternoon prayer after official office hours to avoid raised eye-brows at the office (especially with those in HR). Guess it’s a good thing I don’t smoke, ‘cos social smoking in the stairwell might actually add about 20-30 minutes of “skiving” per work day!

I wear the head scarf, but have to “modernise” the style so that it will be more acceptable to non-Muslims and even some non-practising Muslims and Malays (this way, I don’t come off as “backwards and close-minded”).
I tried wearing my headscarf the traditional way once in a while to the office, since I won’t be going out meeting clients on that day. Heads swivelled or I’d get quizzical looks from colleagues. I would think my brain still functions the same way no matter how much clothing there is on my body and head… who’s close-minded now?

I have to bear with it when non-Muslims complain about the call for prayers in the early morning, or any other time, for that matter. When someone decides to mock Islam in their songs, we're supposed to roll with it, or risk branded as being too sensitive and prone to give extremist terroristic reactions and views!

Believe it or not, Muslims don’t have it all that easy in Malaysia, especially if they want to integrate with non-Muslims in the city or at a non-Muslim dominated workplace. We don’t have that much freedom to practice the religion as freely as we want to (within acceptable reason, of course. I’m a practicing Muslim, not a repentant ex-sinner who’s trying to make up for a lifetime of wrongdoings!), and have to be extra-cautious in simple daily activities. I realise that my gripes are trivial compared to what the aforementioned Chinese man, and a few others we’ve read about in the news, struggles with amidst this so-called “rising Islamisation”, but I believe that this type of problem is sporadic and can be worked out over time, rather than epidemic. Think about the struggles of millions of Muslims against the few people who cannot accept that their loved one has converted to a different religion. Anyway, I’m sure not that many people are too keen to willy-nilly convert to Islam given all the "nuisances" I just described?

My Original 'About Me' has been moved here

Yeah... that was a pretty long description, so thought I should simplify it and post the thing here instead:-

Assalamualaikum and selamat sejahtera :)

I'm a modern malay muslim in Malaysia who sometimes gets frustrated with Malays, Muslims, Malaysians and, yes, even modernisation. Events that happen in my life often lead me to muse about the state of these affairs, which I'd like to share with somebody, but don't want to bore them to death. Hence, this blog, within which I hope to post opinions, facts and information regarding Malays, Muslims and Malaysians (and maybe even modernisation)that will somehow lead to a change in attitude among the three groups addressed. If anyone actually reads my ramblings, please feel free to debate upon the matter if deemed necessary, and hopefully together we can create a better Malaysia.

I realise that I am but one humble blogger, but I believe that a small incident could lead to a larger chain of events. Something from this blog could stir something in someone's heart, prompting action or change in attitude, and maybe one day Malaysia really would be a place of true racial harmony and tolerance, prosperity, political stability and development in all areas. Amin....

Told ya it's a bit long for the 'About Me' section ;P

Moving Forward

If you bothered to read my 'About Me' section (yes, I realise it's quite long), you'll know that I'm one disgruntled Malaysian who thinks that there are many areas in this country that can definitely be improved on. You come upon instances like this when you read the newspapers, get shoved by a shopping trolley from behind or watch Bersamamu on TV3. I've always wanted to address these issues (politics, poverty, attitude of Malaysians, et al) but just chatting about it with friends doesn't seem to lead up to much. From here, hopefully, if anyone's reading, information can be spread, attitudes can be adjusted, or solutions can be discussed. May Muslims, Malays and Malaysians move forward!