Farish Nor questions to PAS Leader's

What, in the respected opinion of the esteemed men of knowledge who lead Pas, is the correct hudud punishment for someone who kills a Mongolian model and then has her blown to bits by explosives (C4, for instance)?

In the learned opinion of the respected men of knowledge of Pas, what should an Islamic Pas-Umno government do with weapons that were bought from Russia, a state that was known for its rather nasty habit of murdering Muslim Chechnyans?

Would the wise men of Pas consider buying some more armaments from our beloved Russian allies in the future when they come to power as the bedfellows of Umno, such as, perhaps, used Kalashnikovs or other weapons of destruction that were perhaps also used to kill Muslims in Chechnya too?

The Umno-led government has been praised by Washington as a key strategic ally in the ‘War on Terror’ and its leaders have demonstrated their eagerness to work with other developed Western powers in this war. Pas, on the other hand, declared the Taliban to be their brothers in 2002. Will the new Pas also join hands with Umno in the great Washington-led Crusade against Islamic terror when they come to power?

Pas in the past condemned the Umno-led government for its alleged dealings with Israel. If Pas comes to power, will the learned wise elders of Pas find the necessary scriptural sources to help promote further dealings with Israel too?

Between 2004 to 2008, the wise men of Pas declared that Islam Hadari was fundamentally unIslamic and when Pas came to power in several states in 2008 it even declared that it would no longer help promote the idea of Islam Hadari. Now that Pas may be on the threshold of its new honeymoon period with its beloved Umno, will Pas finally admit the error of its ways and accept that Islam Hadari is indeed the truest expression of normative Islam and do its utmost to promote Islam Hadari to its own misguided followers?

Pas’ leaders have claimed that they wish to further the Islamic cause by getting closer to power. Will they now help to Islamise the Internal Security Act and other repressive laws to show that the ISA is, after all, compatible with Islam (especially Islam Hadari)?

When Pas ousted its fourth President Asri Muda at the Pas assembly of 1982, its new Ulama leaders condemned Asri as a ethno-nationalist who sold the party to Umno and debased its Islamist ideology with ideas of racial communitarianism. Now will the same leaders of Pas please apologise to the departed Asri Muda and accept that Asri was right after all, and that the Ulamas’ ideology of Islamism was in fact an abberation that confused the minds of Muslims?

comments from haris blog - the people's parliament

Comments from Haris’ blog HERE:

This goes beyond Anwar. I think it is what we do as a nation that will matter. What we demand how far we want to go is what matters now. Telling the truth and standing for it at a time of universal deceit is what makes partiot get counted. We will have to demand the best of our nation and it is now. Keeping silent or standing aside is being part of the crimes being commited against our motherland. - Abdul

How are we going to trust our system ever again. I think we all have to stand p and be counted. Inaction rather than opposition is the country’s worst enemy. - arianna

Haris had this to say in reply to a comment:

Let this fight for equality reach to the highest heavens, I am up to the task, God-willing.

Question is, are you?

Geli-geleman muzakarah PAS-Umno - Malaysiakini.com

Amin Iskandar | Jul 22, 08 6:40pm

Abdullah Ahmad Badawi kelmarin membuat kejutan dan berjaya menyeret perbincangan politik hari ini kepada isu muzakarah antara Umno dengan PAS apabila mendedahkan terdapat tiga pertemuan pemimpin-pemimpin tertinggi PAS dengannya.

Selain daripada itu, presiden Umno turut menyemarakkan pertembungan dalam PAS apabila memberitahu bahawa pertemuan tersebut tidak melibatkan menteri besar Kelantan, Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat yang juga mursyidul am PAS.

Sebagai reaksi kepada kenyataan perdana menteri, exco kerajaan Kelantan, Husam Musa menyifatkan tindakan Abdullah mendedahkan tentang terdapatnya pertemuan sebanyak tiga kali dengan pemimpin PAS sebagai satu cara "menabur benih perpecahan" dalam PAS.

Naib presiden PAS itu juga mendakwa tindakan Abdullah tersebut sebagai satu usaha memperkuatkan kedudukannya dalam pergolakan dalaman Umno yang tidak menentu dan meminta agar pimpinan PAS berhati-hati dengan perangkap tersebut.

Sementara itu, presiden PAS Abdul Hadi Awang dalam kenyataannya yang disiarkan di Harakahdaily.net tidak menafikan terdapatnya pertemuan antara pemimpin tertinggi PAS dengan Abdullah.

Beliau yang sebelum ini berdolak-dalik mengenai isu pertemuan tersebut, mengakui bahawa timbalannya Nasharuddin Mat Isa, pesuruhjaya PAS Terengganu, Mustafa Ali dan timbalan pesuruhjaya PAS Selangor, Khalid Samad bertemu dengan presiden Umno buat kali pertama sejurus selepas pilihanraya umum 8 Mac lalu.

Abdul Hadi menambah, pertemuan yang telah mendapat persetujuan majlis syura ulama PAS itu bertujuan membincangkan mengenai kepentingan umat Islam dan orang Melayu di negara ini.

Khabar angin tentang terdapatnya pertemuan antara Umno dan PAS telah berlegar-legar sebaik sahaja selepas pilihanraya umum lalu.

Antaranya yang paling popular, mengenai pertemuan antara pesuruhjaya PAS Selangor, Dr Hasan Ali dengan bekas menteri besar Dr Mohamad Khir Toyo untuk membincangkan tentang penubuhan kerajaan campuran PAS-Umno di negeri itu sebaik sahaja keputusan pilihanraya umum ke-12 diketahui.

Dikatakan Khir bersetuju untuk menyerahkan jawatan menteri besar kepada Hasan dan sanggup turun pangkat menjadi timbalan menteri besar jika kerajaan campuran dua parti Melayu itu berjaya dibentuk di Selangor.

Namun usaha ini dikatakan gagal kerana presiden PAS tidak bersetuju dan menyokong Khalid Ibrahim untuk mengepalai kerajaan Pakatan Rakyat di negeri itu.

Ketika khabar angin ini kencang bertiup, saya mengambil sikap tidak mempedulikannya kerana menyangka ia hanyalah taktik kotor polis Cawangan Khas (SB) dari Bukit Aman yang menyebar-nyebarkan khabar angin untuk memecah-belahkan Pakatan Rakyat yang baru sahaja memerintah beberapa negeri di Malaysia.

Tambahan lagi, saya langsung tidak menyangka bahawa terdapat golongan tertentu dalam PAS yang mempunyai niat untuk membawa parti tersebut menyertai BN.

Di kala terdapat parti komponen BN yang ingin mengusulkan undi tidak percaya kepada gabungan yang dipimpin oleh Abdullah, masakan PAS ingin menjadi penyelamat kepada gabungan yang hampir terbarai itu?

Ketika Umno yang memimpin BN hilang kredibiliti dan sokongan daripada rakyat terutamanya masyarakat bandar, masih ada pemimpin PAS yang cuba menyelamatkan mereka dengan menggunakan hujah "penyatuan umat Islam dan perpaduan Melayu".

Rasa geli-geleman apabila mendengar hujah ini.

Hujah sama yang sering digunakan oleh Umno untuk menghalalkan tindakan merompak harta kekayaan negara, menaikkan harga minyak dengan sewenang-wenangnya, menggunakan akta ISA termasuk menangkap ramai pemimpin PAS, membunuh kerana kepentingan politik seperti tragedi Kampung Memali pada 1985, memperbodohkan rakyat terutamanya orang-orang Melayu dan banyak lagi yang tidak mungkin dapat disenaraikan di sini.

Sebenarnya, idea menyatukan Umno dan PAS ini idea lama yang dipelopori oleh Abdul Razak Hussein, perdana menteri Malaysia kedua. Pada ketika itu, Perikatan mengalami kemerosotan yang teruk dalam pilihanraya umum 1969.

Perikatan hilang kuasa majoriti di parlimen buat kali pertama dalam sejarah pada pilihanraya yang diadakan pada 10 Mei 1969.

Prestasi buruk Perikatan telah mendorong kepada berlakunya tragedi berdarah 13 Mei yang melibatkan kaum Melayu dan Cina. Tragedi tersebut menyebabkan parlimen digantung dan penubuhan Majlis Gerakan Negara (Mageran) yang dipimpin oleh Abdul Razak.

Setelah berjaya mendapatkan kuasa daripada Tunku Abdul Rahman, bapa Najib memulakan usaha menarik PAS masuk dalam Barisan Nasional, satu “formula baru” yang dicetak rompak daripada Barisan Sosialis untuk menggantikan Perikatan.

Alasan membawa masuk PAS bersama BN bertujuan menyatupadukan orang Melayu dan umat Islam di negara ini. Pada ketika itu PAS dipimpin oleh Mohd Asri Muda setelah beliau mengambil alih jawatan yang dipertua daripada Dr. Burhanuddin Al-Helmy.

Selain PAS, PPP dan Gerakan juga dibawa masuk menyertai BN setelah Mageran dibubarkan.

Apabila Umno kembali kuat dan merasakan PAS mencabar kedudukan mereka, PAS dipecat daripada BN pada 14 November 1977. PAS ditendang keluar sebelum cukup lima tahun berada dalam BN!

Hari ini, kecuali rusuhan berdarah, keadaan seakan-akan sama dengan apa yang berlaku selepas pilihanraya umum 1969. BN hilang kuasa dua pertiga di parlimen dan beberapa negeri jatuh kepada Pakatan Rakyat.

Umno semakin lemah, sementara MCA dan MIC hilang banyak kerusi termasuk kerusi tradisi mereka.

Hari ini, anak Abdul Razak sudah di tangga timbalan perdana menteri. Beliau sekarang dalam keadaan yang sama seperti ayahnya selepas pilihanraya 1969. Cuma beliau agak malang sedikit kerana pada ketika ini, kes pembunuhan Altantuya Shaariibuu sering menghantuinya – walaupun beliau dan isterinya menafikannya – sekali gus membantutkan usahanya untuk merampas kekuasaan daripada Abdullah.

Sebab itu, tidak menghairankan jika pada hari ini, jalan cerita yang ingin dimainkan masih sama.

Seperti juga Mukhriz Mahathir yang membawa watak yang pernah dilakonkan oleh ayahnya pada 1969 apabila menulis surat meminta Abdullah meletakkan jawatan dan membocorkannya kepada media.

Hanya pengarah dan pelakonnya berbeza.

Tidak hairanlah jika Nik Aziz benar-benar tidak bersetuju dan marah dengan usaha-usaha segelintir pemimpin PAS untuk berunding dengan Umno. Beliau tidak mahu luka lama berdarah kembali.

Dalam kenyataannya yang disiarkan oleh Global Media Channel, Nik Aziz menentang muzakarah antara PAS dan Umno kerana tidak mahu sejarah hitam ketika PAS menyertai BN dahulu berulang semula.

Mursyidul Am PAS juga mengatakan bahawa muzakarah PAS-Umno hanya akan menyebabkan penyokong PAS peringkat bawahan marah dan pimpinan Pakatan Rakyat mencurigai parti tersebut.

Nik Aziz yang marah dengan muzakarah PAS-Umno turut bersetuju jika Umno lenyap terus darii muka bumi ini.

Kepada pihak PAS yang pro-muzakarah pula, selain agenda Melayu dan perpaduan umat Islam, apakah mereka turut membincangkan tentang pemansuhan akta ISA?

Apakah Umno bersedia memohon maaf atas tindakan mereka memenjarakan pemimpin-pemimpin PAS bawah ISA? Apakah dalam perbincangan tersebut, Umno turut bersetuju untuk memohon maaf secara terbuka mengenai jenayah mereka terhadap ahli PAS di Memali, Kedah?

Apakah Nasharuddin – yang pernah memimpin demonstrasi membantah kenaikan harga minyak pada 2006 sebaik sahaja kerajaan menaikkan harga minyak sebanyak 30 sen dengan menjeritkan slogan BN = Barang Naik – telah berjaya diyakinkan bahawa harga minyak akan diturunkan sebaik sahaja PAS menyertai BN semula?

Jika pertemuan tiga kali antara pemimpin PAS dan Abdullah hanya membincangkan tentang pengagihan jawatan dan usaha memecahkan Pakatan Rakyat, ia tidak layak dipanggil muzakarah.

Ia lebih sesuai dipanggil "mu*****ah".

Anuar Ahmad said...

Dengan RM3.43 juta, kerajaan Terangganu boleh beri RM 1 kepada 10 ribu pelajar miskin tegar selama setahun untuk makan di kantin sekolah yang sentiasa ke sekolah dengan perut kosong,

atau membeli 700 ribu buah buku bacaan dengan harga RM5 kepada anak anak yang ingin mula membaca

atau menyara 17 ribu buah keluarga selama setahun dengan bantuan RM200 sebulan

atau membiayai RM 1000 kepada 3430 anak Terangganu yang berjaya ke universiti

atau menampal 7 ribu lubang di jalan jalan utama negeri Terangganu dengan kadar RM500 bagi setiap lubang.

Tapi yang paling utama pada MB Terangganu ialah membeli 14 buah kereta mewah kepada kawan-kawan demi menjaga hati dan politiknya... Malangnya nasib rakyat Terangganu. Bijak sungguh MB Terangganu yang baru ni.

July 21, 2008 5:01 PM

WE, THE RAKYAT, MUST CARRY THE TORCH OF CHANGE - MALAYSIAKINI

WE, THE RAKYAT, MUST CARRY THE TORCH OF CHANGE - MALAYSIAKINI

MALAYSIAKINI headlined "Roadshow: After Malacca and Pahang, Johor's next". Malaysiakini reports that Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim toured three states over the weekend in a bid to regain political momentum despite his arrest on sodomy allegations - the same charge that saw him jailed a decade ago.

This Scribe is of the opinion that all Pakatan Rakyat MP's and Assemblymen must also 'turun padang' and explain to the Rakyat especially those who have been intoxicated by the BN/Umno spin as to why there is a need for regime change now.

You can't expect Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim alone to carry the burden of exposing the lies and deceptions of the BN/Umno regime. Due to this, DSAI is under tremendous attack by the BN/Umno regime and their agents, the Police and the Mainstream Media. What we need is for all Pakatan Rakyat elected representatives especially those from PAS and DAP to carry the torch for DSAI that will allow the Rakyat to see through the darkness of the Evil BN/Umno regime.

This Scribe believes that the Rakyat can also be Change Agents in this endeavor to push the BN/Umno regime out of power. This Scribe fully supports the idea by a reader of MARGEEMAR by the name of CHONG that the onus is with the Rakyat to make the change. The following is CHONG'S unedited comment:

"it is just too disgusting to watch it further. If we really mean it; to save malaysia. really wanna kick out the incompetent and corruptedtothecore government, by just bashing them in the internet & hoping the opposition party to do it for us isn’t enough. We should take our own action too. However to demonstate or tunjuk perasaan isn’t the effective way. We should instead give pressure to our ‘wakil rakyat’ because they represent us. At each of the respective districts which are under the ruling party, we should invite the news reporters, the polis and demonstrate at the ‘wakil rakyat’ office or home, to officially send them a memorandum spelling clearly their obligation and duty, and our expectation from them; failing which they should resign as failing to represent us. I think it is a more effective way to make our wakil rakyat realise that they are chosen by us and we can dismiss them too. Then they will take action to ensure the government making the right decision or they will swift to pakatan rakyat."

This Scribe also believes that we, the Rakyat, can take this Struggle for Change a notch higher by going up to journalists and newscasters of the Mainstream Media and tell them to stop the spin against the Opposition and all those who are against the policies of the BN/Umno regime. We can tell them it is their right and choice to refuse to being made to be mouth pieces of the BN/Umno regime. We need to appeal to them to use their talents and position to speak the Truth. They must make their conscience clear and let let their bosses know this. They can choose not to be a part in deception, malice, rumor mongering and falsehood by quitting the organizations they represent should these organizations refuse to listen to the Truth.

The likes of Wong Chun Wai, Baradan Kupusamy, Suhaini Aznam, Joceline Tan, VK Chin, Marc Lourdes, Lourdes Charles, Karam Singh Walia, the newscasters of TV3, RTM, Bernama TV, Astro Awani etc can and must be approached by us, the Rakyat, and be made to make their stand on this very important issue.

We must say it to them to their faces, to their hearts, where ever we see them. Whether it is at their work place, home, in the street, place of worship or at public areas, they must make their stand and speak only the Truth and not allow themselves to be cursed by the Rakyat and God forbid, one day be treated like a leper by the Rakyat!

http://margeemar.blogspot.com/2008/07/we-rakyat-must-carry-torch-of-change.html

How, yet again, they are trying to fabricate evidence against Anwar - Malaysia-today.net

Raja Petra Kamarudin

It was a great party that night. The Chemistry Department was so pleased they had an airtight case against Anwar Ibrahim they decided to celebrate. And the RM25,000 party was financed by a Good Samaritan who was delighted that this time, unlike last time, they have got Anwar by the balls.

RM25,000 is not a lot to spend on a party if it is a party to celebrate the wedding of the Prime Minister. Last year, when Abdullah Ahmad Badawi got married to the Maid from Putrajaya, they spent millions. RM25,000 is also not a lot to spend on a celebration the day Najib Tun Razak finally takes over as Prime Minister in 2010. Rosmah Mansor spends more than that on a handbag. But RM25,000 is certainly a lot to spend on a party to celebrate the ‘success’ of the Chemistry Department in being able to nail Anwar’s balls to the wall.

Why does the Good Samaritan need to sponsor a RM25,000 party for the Chemistry Department staff? What is there to celebrate? Do they always celebrate with a RM25,000 party whenever they succeed in cracking a case? Or was this an once-in-a-lifetime celebration for successfully coming up with the ‘evidence’ to send Anwar to jail for at least ten years, which will ensure he will never be able to form the new federal government on 16 September 2008?

Hold on awhile though. Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said that Anwar must volunteer his ‘new’ DNA profile. The 1998 DNA profile that the police have on record is ‘too old’, argued Abdullah. The police, in turn, said that if Anwar refuses to volunteer his ‘new’ DNA profile then they would have to obtain a court order to force him to do so. Hmm…..there appears to be many things wrong with all this.

Firstly, if the Chemistry Department has already wrapped up its case and the airtight ‘evidence’ against Anwar has already been secured then why the need for Anwar’s new DNA profile? DNA profiles never expire. Would the police also need Anwar’s ‘new’ fingerprints because the one they took ten years ago has ‘expired’? Fingerprints never change from the day you were born till the day you die. And the same goes for DNA profiles as well.

If you can remember, they once dug up Napoleon Bonaparte’s grave and did an examination to prove he had died of arsenic poisoning. And Napoleon died on 5 May 1821, which is more than 187 years ago. You mean to say that Anwar’s DNA profile of ten years ago is already basi?

The truth is, the airtight ‘evidence’ that the Chemistry Department recently conjured is based on Anwar’s specimen of 1998. So they need a new specimen dated 2008. If not, if Anwar calls in an independent foreign expert to audit the Chemistry Department’s evidence, he or she might just discover that the so-called ‘evidence’ is actually ten years old and not from the 26 June 2008 ‘sodomy’ incident as alleged by the government.

Yes, that’s right, they not only can tell whether the so-called ‘semen’ on Saiful’s underwear belongs to Anwar, they can also tell whether it is from September 1998 when they first took Anwar’s specimen, or whether it is dated 26 June 2008 as alleged by the government.

The ‘evidence’ is ready. The semen specimen on Saiful’s underwear has been confirmed. The only problem would be if they allow an independent foreign expert to do an audit on the Chemistry Department’s findings, he or she might confirm that the specimen is ten years old and not dated 26 June 2008 as alleged.

So they need to exchange the September 1998 specimen with a new one dated July 2008. And that is why Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and Syed Hamid Albar, and all those others, have asked Anwar to volunteer his new specimen. They need this new specimen to ‘prove’ that the semen on Saiful’s underwear is dated 26 June 2008 and not September 1998. And Abdullah himself ‘confirmed’ this when he asked Anwar to volunteer his new specimen whereas the old specimen is good enough if it is just required for DNA profiling -- only that it would not pass the test if an independent foreign expert was to audit the Chemistry Department’s ‘evidence’ and then come out with a report that says the specimen is ten years old.

Yes, in September 1998 they already took Anwar’s specimen. But they can’t use it as evidence in this latest sodomy allegation. They need to ‘update’ the evidence and unless they can force Anwar to give them his new specimen then the evidence will be shot full of holes. And that is why the police had to reluctantly release Anwar on police bail one day after his dramatic Hollywood-style arrest. They either had to release him or bring him to court to be charged. But how to charge Anwar when the evidence is defective? And evidence of Anwar’s so-called sodomy crime supported by a specimen from September 1998 will certainly be defective and will not stand up in court. Anwar is alleged to have sodomised Saiful on 26 June 2008, not in September 1998.

Now can you see how the slime-ball AG and scumbag IGP work? And these two slithery creatures are the same slime-balls and scumbags who fabricated evidence in 1998 that resulted in Anwar having to spend six years in jail. And am I committing an act of sedition and criminal defamation in saying this? I certainly hope so. And, while we are at it, why not I commit yet another ‘crime’? I am going to accuse the AG and IGP of fabricating evidence and of intimidating witnesses.

You see, they asked a certain doctor from a certain hospital to conduct an examination on Saiful. The doctor did so and he came out with a report that said there is no evidence Anwar had ever penetrated or sodomised the young man. The police then picked up the doctor and detained him for three days. As much as they tried to force him to change his report to implicate Anwar he refused to do so.

Until today, the doctor stands by his report that there is no evidence Anwar had sodomised Saiful. He knows he is going to be made to pay for this but he doesn’t care. He is not going to change his report and say that Anwar sodomised Saiful whatever they do to him. Exasperated, the police had to release Anwar on personal bond or police bail. The doctor refuses to doctor his report and neither does Anwar want to volunteer his new specimen.

The ‘evidence’ against Anwar is no good. They now need to look for another way to ‘prove’ that Anwar sodomised Saiful. In the meantime, let us see if the AG will be making another police report against me and whether the IGP is going to arrest me and charge me in court for sedition and criminal defamation for this latest allegation of mine.

Hey, I already face four charges of sedition and criminal defamation. What are another two or three charges? The important thing is not whether I get sent to jail or not. What is important is that the world is told that they are attempting, yet again, to fabricate evidence against Anwar Ibrahim. And that is worth going to jail for.

*************************************************
Mahathir admitting conspiracy in the 1988 sodomy accusation?

Kim Quek

A passage in former premier Mahathir Mohamad’s latest article on the Anwar sodomy controversy seems to have offered an interesting insight into Mahathir’s subconscious thoughts on the subject.

In an article titled “The Anwar Debate” posted in his own blog on July 17, Mahathir suggested the current sodomy allegation against Anwar Ibrahim must be true, as the present government can’t possibly be so stupid as to use the same tactic twice to undermine Anwar. The interesting parts of his arguments are found in paragraphs 6 & 7, which I quote:

“Para 6. Yet can it be that the present government is so stupid and unimaginative as to use the same ‘ploy’ especially after it was so happy over the release of Anwar? Surely it could come up with another story which would be more credible if it is deliberately plotting or conspiring against Anwar. The probability is that the story is the same because it is genuine.

“Para 7. Is the present complainant a copycat? Hardly likely. Few would care to make public such a very shameful thing as being sodomised. ………”. (Underlines are inserted by me for highlighting purpose).

The word ‘copycat’ implies that some one is reproducing something by simply copying a precedent. So what is that ‘something’ that the supposed plotters are copying? Is it the sodomy accusation per se or the plot to fix Anwar? Surely it must be the latter, for it doesn’t make sense for some one to accuse Anwar of sodomy just for the sake of copying a similar accusation ten years ago. So by using ‘copycat’ to illustrate his question, isn’t Mahathir inadvertently revealing his inner thoughts that the previous incident was indeed a plot?

Similar trend of thoughts can also be detected in the use of the words “the same ‘ploy’” to describe the present incident, though the word ‘ploy’ is understood to be a sarcastic expression. For if the previous incident was not a plot, then why use it to illustrate that the present incident isn’t a plot? By doing so, Mahathir is virtually saying that no one is so stupid as to use the same trick twice on the same people. Isn’t this an admission that the sodomy accusation in 1998 was a conspiracy against Anwar?

Mahathir also implicitly admitted that the 1998 sodomy charge was not quite a smart move when he said “surely it could come up with another story which would be more credible ……”

Though the 1998/1999 trials of Anwar have been universally recognised as a conspiracy to destroy Anwar politically, it is nevertheless the first time that Mahathir acknowledged this fact in his own words, however unintended such acknowledgment might have been.

With regards to Mahathir’s main rationale that this government cannot possibly be so stupid, my simple answer is that this is not a government plot but an evil scheme hatched by a few very influential and powerful individuals who feel threatened by Anwar’s imminent rise to political power.

Is this act stupid as claimed by Mahathir? Certainly not! On the contrary, sodomy charge remains the most powerful and convenient weapon to bring down a public figure in a country like Malaysia where rule of law is weak and where such sexual conduct is legally condemned as a heinous crime. Significantly, the corrupt institutions of state that were instrumental in bringing down Anwar ten years ago remain as corrupted today (if not more).

Is Anwar guilty of sodomy as claimed by Mahathir? The answer is: Would the police have released Anwar only hours after arresting him with such obscene ballyhoo, if Anwar did not provide a complete alibi for the day he was accused of assaulting the alleged victim?

Dakwah UMNO - Hujah PAS Dangkal

Saya membaca kenyataan Dewan Ulama berkaitan temuramah presiden PAS Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang di Harakahdaily.net (11 Julai 2008). Kami ahli-ahli PAS sememangnya sudah lama menunggu suara dari Dewan Ulama yang selama ini cukup senyap dan sunyi.Antara kandungan kenyataan tersebut adalah sokongan kepada usaha presiden untuk berjumpa dengan Umno bagi menyampaikan dakwah Islam. Saya bukan hendak kata apa, cumanya apakah lagi dakwah yang perlu kita sampaikan kepada Umno?

Tidakkah Umno mempunyai barisan “ulama” lulusan universiti Islam dari seluruh dunia? Mungkinkah Umno tidak mengerti kewajiban melaksanakan syariat Islam secara menyeluruh? Saya rasa amatlah dangkal alasan yang mengatakan perjumpaan PAS dengan Umno adalah atas tujuan dakwah. Alasan ini jelas alasan dangkal dan tidak dapat diterima oleh akal yang matang. PAS sudahpun berdakwah kepada Umno sejak sebelum merdeka lagi. Sekiranya mereka mahu menerima dakwah PAS, nescaya sudah diterima oleh mereka lama dahulu.PAS bukan sahaja pernah berdakwah dengan Umno, PAS juga pernah bersama Umno dalam satu barisan dan mentarbiyyah Umno. Apa balasan Umno kepada PAS? Lepas manis madu hilang, habis sepah dibuang. Segala usaha dakwah PAS dibalas dengan kurang ajar dan kebiadapan yang amat tinggi.
Adakah Dewan Ulama PAS begitu tidak peka sehingga tidak sedar bahawa seluruh ulama dalam Umno tidak dapat menghalang Abdullah Ahmad Badawi daripada mengangguhkan pelaksanaan Akta Keluarga Islam Wilayah Persekutuan 2005 hanya kerana akta tersebut tidak disukai oleh anak Abdullah, Nori dan Sisters in Islam?

Maklumat yang saya perolehi, Zainah Anwar amat takut akan kenaikan Anwar Ibrahim kerana beliau yakin penasihat PKR itu akan mengizinkan pelaksanaan syariat Islam berbanding Abdullah.Juga, adakah Dewan Ulama PAS begitu tidak sedar bahawa kalaupun Najib Razak menjadi perdana menteri, mahukah beliau melaksanakan syariat Islam memandangkan beliau sendiri tidak bebas daripada tuduhan skandal?

Inilah sindrom “katak bawah tempurung” yang melanda PAS sehingga tidak sedar bahawa tindakan mereka akan menguntungkan Umno dan musuh Islam. Sikap Dewan Ulama PAS ini amat disukai oleh Umno dan musuh-musuh Islam di Malaysia kerana ia menguntungkan mereka.Dan kita harus bertanya, kenapa pula tiba-tiba Umno berminat untuk berjumpa dengan kita? Setelah mereka kalah terduduk dalam pilihanraya umum ke-12 baru-baru ini, barulah mereka terhegeh-hegeh untuk berjumpa dengan PAS.Selama ini, sewaktu mereka gagah perkasa dan sewaktu Umno dijulang ke langit, mengapa tidak mahu berjumpa dengan PAS?
Mengapa PAS dinista, difitnah, dicaci, dimaki, dizalimi dan sebagainya.Saya kagum dengan kematangan Ahmad Awang apabila wakil Umno datang menawarkan kerajaan campuran kepada beliau. Beliau lantas menjawab, antara orang zalim dengan orang bukan Islam, lebih aula orang bukan Islam.Tetapi Dewan Ulama PAS buta akan fakta ini. Mereka lupa bahawa Umno bukan sahaja menolak Islam, tetapi Umno adalah parti yang zalim dan lagi menzalimi. Bagaimana mungkin PAS bekerja sama dengan Umno dan pada waktu yang sama harus berhadapan dengan doa beribu-ribu orang yang telah dizalimi Umno?

Saya nampak Dewan Ulama PAS tidak nampak sasaran dakwah yang sebenar - yakni orang bukan Islam. Saya ingin bertanya kepada dewan itu, di mana modul untuk berdakwan kepada orang bukan Islam?Dewan Ulama senyap sunyi tentang bagaimana hendak menarik sokongan orang bukan Islam, sekurang-kurangnya menghilangkan ketakutan mereka terhadap Islam.Tiba-tiba boleh keluar dengan bangga menyokong usaha “dakwah” kepada Umno? Wahai Dewan Ulama, siapakah mad’u dakwah yang lebih aula sekarang?

Orang bukan Islam yang semakin ramai mendekati PAS atau Umno yang sejak dahulu menentang dan menzalimi pejuang-pejuang Islam.Lupakah Dewan Ulama bahawa ada lebih kurang 60 orang tahanan Akta Keselamatan Dalam Negeri (ISA) yang tidak bersalah meringkuk dalam kem Kamunting hanya kerana mereka pernah berjihad di Afghanistan atau pernah menolong mangsa kezaliman Barat terhadap Islam?Lupakah Dewan Ulama, Umno yang telah menghapuskan sekolah agama rakyat, sedangkan orang bukan Islam di Malaysia tidak pernah menyentuh sekolah-sekolah agama ini?

Sekiranya dapat kita hilangkan ketakutan orang bukan Islam kepada syariat Islam, jalan ke arah pelaksanaan syariat Islam di peringkat negeri-negeri terbuka luas seluas-luasnya. Tidak ada lagi batu penghalang kepada pelaksanaan syariat Islam.Suka saya ingatkan kepada Dewan Ulama, tiada gunanya kita berdakwah kepada orang-orang yang sudah sememangnya jauh daripada kita dan tidak pernah mahu berdampingan dengan kita.

Mereka hanya mahu menggunakan PAS sebagai batu loncatan supaya mereka dapat berkuasa kembali. Apabila tercapai sahaja objektif mereka, kita akan disepak dan diterajang keluar dengan secepat mungkin.Dan perkara ini pernah berlaku kepada PAS satu masa dahulu. Tidakkah Dewan Ulama mengetahui akan hadis Nabi SAW yang menghalang umatnya dipatuk dua kali pada satu lubang?

Saya sangat bersedih atas sikap tidak matang dan tidak pandang kehadapan yang ditunjukkan oleh Dewan Ulama PAS.Pada hemat saya, Islam tidak mengajar umatnya ditipu dan dipermain-mainkan musuh Islam hanya atas nama berdakwah. Kerana itulah, Nabi SAW - walaupun baginda pendakwah tersohor - baginda tidak pernah dapat ditipu oleh musuh-musuh Islam. Tidakkah ini satu sunnah Nabi yang sepatutnya menjadi ikutan kita?Semoga Allah memberikan Dewan Ulama PAS taufik dan hidayat-Nya bagi membolehkan mereka melihat ke jalan yang benar. Amin

by Tulang Besi

Why I believe Anwar is not guilty - Malaysiakini.com

K Bing | Jul 18, 08 6:00pm

First of all, I must say that I do not possess any information which is not already public knowledge. However, I have been following news of the new sodomy allegation against Anwar closely and I’m analysing this from the perspective of ‘reasonable behaviour’ and ‘balance of probability.’ Here are the reasons why I think Anwar is not guilty. 1. Is Anwar gay? A person who has fathered six children has established his sexual orientation firmly. Bisexuality is very rare and in any case he does not fit the mould. He has a loving family and his wife is standing steadfastly by him which says a lot. 2. The highly controversial sodomy conviction of 1998 failed to convince most people. A person in a position of power who allegedly cannot control himself to even keep away from his wife’s driver, must have a string of partners. One must ask, why has nobody else come out of the woodwork? Why was it necessary to coerce false confessions from two of his associates? 3. A person on the cusp of attaining political power would not be so stupid as to risk everything. If indeed one assumes that he cannot control his urge, where are the others that he may have violated or other consensual partners? With multiple partners, it’s a secret which is almost impossible to keep for a public figure. 4. Anwar’s anger and outrage at the new allegation is exactly how a wronged person will react. His body language when he speaks of the issue is consistent with his words. 5. When news broke of the police report against him, Anwar took refuge at the Turkish embassy. I believe he did so as he feared immediate arrest and not so much a threat on his life. This shows that Anwar believes there is a conspiracy against him rather than a private complaint which would not warrant immediate arrest. A guilty person would immediately assume it’s a private complaint. 6. Saiful’s resignation e-mail to Anwar did not suggest he had been sodomised and traumatised by his boss. This e-mail has not been denied by him. 7. The notion that a 61-year-old man can force himself on a 23-year-old youth is unthinkable. If threats were used, what can Anwar possibly threaten him with as he is not in a position of power? Is there a conspiracy against Anwar? I believe there is for the following reasons. 1. The accuser, Saiful was obviously closely connected with Umno and has been photographed with a few Umno leaders including an aide to the deputy prime minister. 2. Saiful is obviously pro-Umno as had been revealed by his online postings. Why then did he induct himself into PKR as a volunteer if not for some ulterior motive? 3. His visit to the DPM’s office a few months before the incident was explained as him having gone there to apply for a scholarship. This is a very awkward explanation. As a college dropout, Saiful was not in the market for a scholarship and in any case, the DPM’s office is the wrong department to go. And why would a scholarship applicant have his photograph taken with a senior aide? One must ask, why is it necessary to obfuscate and conceal the real purpose of his visit? 4. Najib at first denied he had ever met Saiful and later admitted that he met Saiful at his residence when a traumatised and sodomised Saiful came to ask for his advice. Why did Najib first deny and then admit later when under pressure? Was he trying to conceal something? 5. Najib said he listened to Saiful’s story and told him it’s up to him whether he wants to lodge a police report or not. This is not credible. Wouldn’t Najib have jumped at the opportunity to discredit his political nemesis and insist that Saiful make a police report? It is wrong for anybody - much less a minister - who has been told a crime not to bring it to the attention of the law enforcement agencies. Why is Najib giving unbelievable explanations? Is he trying to divert all thoughts away from a conspiracy and overdoing it? 6. Najib said that Saiful visited him a few days before he made his police report. The report was made on Saturday and the sodomy was alleged to have occurred on Thursday. This means Saiful could only have visited Najib on Friday, one day before he made his report. This is stretching the definition of ‘a few days’ to breaking point. Establishing when the meeting actually took place will shed light on the veracity of the allegation. 7. How easy is it for an ordinary person to drop in and see the DPM at his residence or office on such short notice? If he has been sexually violated, there is no need to hawk his allegation to politicians first before going to the police. 8. Saiful’s smiling and confident demeanor when he emerged a few days after his police report certainly does not indicate a man who has been sodomised and traumatised. 9. Saiful’s public challenge to Anwar to swear his innocence on the Quran is unbecoming of a real victim who would be expected to feel depressed and keep a low profile rather than play politics. To round it up, let me deal with some objections. 1. It is too outrageous to imagine that Umno would weave a sodomy conspiracy against Anwar again as nobody would believe it. Do you think negative public opinion will stop them? Umno controls the AG’s chambers, the police, the judiciary all of which are sufficient to convict a man of trumped-up charges. For good measure, they also control the mainstream press. 2. The allegations will increase sympathy for Anwar so a conspiracy is unlikely. On the contrary, it could well discredit Anwar. The tactic could backfire but it is not beyond politicians to miscalculate the effects of their action. 3. Anwar stands to gain the most from it so Anwar must have planned all this. Isn’t this even more outrageous than the above? No need to waste words on this. 4. Why sodomy again? Isn’t the script 10 years old? What else can they pin on Anwar? He is not outwardly corrupt. A legal conviction is the most efficient way to get Anwar out of the political scene for good. After serving the sentence, he will have to wait another five years before running for public office by which time he may be too old to have any political ambition. 5. It is too transparent as Saiful has been photographed with high-level Umno politicians. The plot may have been hatched after all those photographs. We have to be realistic, there are not many candidates who would do this. 6. Why did PKR take in a person without background checks? He volunteered at a time when PKR was desperately short of staff. Once in, a person is not easily dislodged even when his previous pro-Umno leaning is known. There’s always the notion of fair play and judging a person by his work rather than his past. In conclusion, when events really happen, details automatically fall into place. When there’s nothing to hide, explanations do not create more questions. A person’s demeanour and facial expression is a reflection of his inner thoughts. All the bits and pieces collected together can create a complete picture. The picture is not complete but it is complete enough for me to decide that on the balance of probabilities, the incident never happened and Anwar is again facing another political conspiracy.

Sodomized Malaysians Are A Lucky Lot - Malaysia-today.net

It seems that Malaysia has now officially secured another world-class record. We are the first country in the world where victims of sodomy can get the personal attention and sympathy of the top two government officials, namely the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister. We are all no doubt aware that Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak granted an audience to poor little Saiful Bukhari, at Najib's private home no less. (Let's ignore the little fact that Najib lied about this encounter in a denial only several days prior to his admisison to playing a role as sodomy counsellor). Najib has even gone on record detailing his innate skills as a sodomy counsellor and part-time trauma psychologist by telling the world that he could assess Saiful as telling the truth because Saiful's hands were cold and shaking. Kudos to Najib! We are certainly a country blessed by such a sensitive DPM. But we cannot give all the credit to Najib, because he learned this valuable skill from another: his old mentor and former Prime Minister of Malaysia, Mahathir bin Mohammad. It seems that Mahathir bin Mohammad was not only a top-notch Prime Minister and a medical doctor, but he was also a rape counsellor, specifically for sodomy. In the middle of the Asian Financial Crisis of the mid-90's, the good doctor managed to find the time to personally meet up with, not one, but TWO victims of buggery. As quoted in Mahathir's own cyber-extension of his (self-admitted) big mouth: HERE " 7. Is the present complainant a copycat? Hardly likely. Few would care to make public such a very shameful thing as being sodomised. In fact, the last time at least two people came to see me claiming they were sodomised by Anwar. But they were unwilling to make a report or be witnesses in court. One of them, however, did see the imam of Masjid Negara (now Member of Parliament for PAS), to seek advise on the religious angle.'" How nice! Victims of sodomy in Malaysia do not report to the police, nor seek medical treatment for a ripped anal spinchter or undergo tests for Sexually Transmitted Diseases, but they go straight to Mahatir bin Mohammad and Najib Razak to complain about their misfortune. And these two good men, take time out of their busy schedules of running the country into the ground, to tend to the complaints of sodomy victims. How heartening! But let's dispense with the bullshit already! In his blog, Mahathir also goes on the defensive by claiming the probability of the allegation against Anwar is true because it is unlikely that the government will use the same allegation twice. Hey, Mahathir....GOTCHA!! That type of desperate statement can only come from somebody who is desperately trying to salvage a political conspiracy that is fast going down the spinchter. This statement by Mahathir comes hot on the heels of several polls that indicate about 99% of Malaysians (including UMNO supporters) do not believe the allegation against Anwar...with the remaining 1% coming from supporters of Mahathir and Najib, as well as the population of brain-damaged individuals (which are often one and the same). I think it will also surprise nobody that this silly conspiracy against Anwar Ibrahim only surfaces not very long after Mahathir bin Mohammad met up with his sodomy counsellor protege Najib Razak. As many are aware, the person with the most to lose from Anwar coming into power is Mahathir bin Mohammad. Not the cronies or the slimy UMNO politicians, because when push comes to shove, these guys will find other ways to adapt and leech off the system. But Mahathir faces the possibility of serious investigation for possible wrongdoings during his 22-year tenure, starting with (but not necessarily limited to) the Korek Kronicles Saga of VK Linggam. It is therefore no surprise that following the March 8 elections, Mahathir has been running around like a desperate chicken who realizes he is destined for Colonel Sanders' crockpot. And it is also no surprise, that Mahathir seems to be positioning himself as the number #1 snakeoil salesman of justifications for why these allegations this time are true. And in this comedic mix, Mahathir has been blowing hot and cold about his sodomy consellor protege, trying to throw everyone off the scent (or is it stench) of him being the mastermind behind Najib. All a big stale sandiwara of a "rift" between the mastermind and his sodomy counsellor protege. While this sandiwara plays out, I would strongly encourage all victims of rape in Malaysia, especially of buggery and sodomy, to make a beeline to Mahathir's and Najib's offices. It seems you may be able to get your cases resolved sooner rather than relying on the police, who are currently very busy on a large-scale bribe collection exerci....oops, I mean manning roadblocks all over the country. by V for Vernon

Dr Mahathir - Stupid Politician (18 SG)

aku betul betul tak paham kenapa mahathir ni semakin tua semakin gila babi nyanyuk. dalam posting terbaru nya dia menyebut :

4. Sebagaimana yang saya katakan, Anwar boleh meyakinkan terutama kepada mereka yang mahu mempercayainya. Media Barat telah membuat kesimpulan bahawa tuduhan terhadap Anwar kali ini adalah sama dengan agenda politik yang lama yang dibuat untuk menghalangnya menjadi Perdana Menteri.

5. Pada masa lalu saya adalah sasaran utama. Dato' Seri Abdullah telah menafikan pembabitannya kali ini tetapi media Barat dan teman-teman Anwar dari Amerika tidak dapat diyakinkan dan akan terus mengaitkan Abdullah.

6. Tetapi, adakah Kerajaan sekarang sebegitu bodoh dan tidak mempunyai daya imaginasi untuk menggunakan "taktik" yang sama terutamanya memandang kepada sikapnya yang kritikal terhadap Kerajaan dahulu? Pastinya ia mampu untuk menggunakan cerita lain yang lebih meyakinkan jika ia memang merancang ataupun berkonspirasi terhadap Anwar. Ada kebarangkalian bahawa ceritanya sama kerana ianya benar.

7. Mungkinkah pihak yang membuat lapuran kali ini seorang yang cuba meniru? Agak mustahil. Tidak ramai yang sanggup kehadapan dan mengumumkan sesuatu yang amat mengaibkan seperti kena liwat. Sebenarnya, dalam peristiwa yang lalu, sekurang-kurangnya dua orang menemui saya dan membuat pengakuan mereka telah diliwat oleh Anwar. Tetapi mereka tidak sanggup membuat lapuran ataupun menjadi saksi dimahkamah. Bagaimanapun, seorang dari mereka telah pergi menemui Imam Masjid Negara (sekarang ini ahli parliamen PAS) untuk mendapatkan nasihat dari sudut agama.

aiyoyo, ini orang tua kutuk nak mampus tak sedar diri memang tak insaf insaf lagi. meh aku nak citer sikit kat ko tua kutuk mahathir. memang dolah badawi tak terlibat dalam hal ni. yang terlibat najib mongolia la tua kutuk. dia dapat nasihat dari tua kutuk tak sedar diri yang dah nak mampus ni. kenapa ko tak tanya najib mengapa dia pergi jumpa budak saiful tu? orang tua nak mampus ni tak perasan ke, yang saiful ni gi jumpa setiausaha najib nak minta biasiswa? apa kejadahnya nak minta biasiswa pegi pejabat TPM bodoh. nak biasiswa gi la JPA ke atau Mara. takkan itu pun aku nak ajar kat ko tua kutuk tak sedar diri nak mampus pencacai najis.

orang tua kutuk ni tak rasa malu ke dah tua2 nak buat perangai suka fitnah tak senonoh ni. tua kutuk nak mampus ni tak perasan ke yang kisah kali ni sama seperti kisah 98 dulu yang mana kononnya mangsa liwat pergi berjumpa pembesar negara untuk buat pengaduan. sama seperti dulu yang mana kononnya mangsa liwat pergi berjumpa tua kutuk ni untuk buat pengaduan. bukankah ini menunjukkan persamaan perangai tua kutuk ni dengan najib mongolia, orang yang sangat disokongnya untuk jadi PM. kenapa kalau nak mengadu kena pergi jumpa golongan macam kamu ni tua kutuk tak sedar diri nak mampus pencacai najis? aku pun tak paham kenapa mangsa liwat kena jumpa pencacai najis tua dan kepala botak najib mongolia sebelum buat pengaduan pada polis. kenapa tak pergi jumpa polis terus? kenapa perlu jumpa kedua-dua pencacai najis ni.

berkenaan 2 orang yang pergi mengaku pada bekas imam masjid negara. diorang tu memang disuruh oleh kamu tua kutuk untuk pergi buat pengakuan pada imam tersebut. itu tidak bermaksud perkara itu berlaku tua kutuk oiii. kalau nak buat pengakuan kenapa siap nak rakam lagi ? tak ke nampak sangat nak kenakan anwar. itu pun ko tak boleh paham. memang dasar tua kutuk tak sedar diri nak mampus. bak kata prof shahnon ahmad. ko tu kepala taik yang dah hitam pekat. punyai bau busuk yang teramat sangat.

aku benar-benar berharap ko mendapat balasan yang setimpalnya di atas fitnah yang telah ko lakukan dulu dan sekarang. orang tua-tua selalu cakap, kalau umur melebihi 40 tahun, kalau perangai macam setan memang susah nak berubah. macam tua kutuk ni dah lebih dari 2 kali 40 tahun. memang perangai macam setan besar. semoga cepat insaf

Sidang buku Kassim Ahmad - Malaysiakini.com

Yunus Ali | Jun 3, 08 1:28pm

Sudah lebih 35 tahun saya mengenali Kassim Ahmad. Bermula dengan karya-karyanya, terutama puisi Tuhan Sudah Mati, dan juga naskhah Hikayat Hang Tuah yang disuntingnya – pastinyalah juga analisis beliau terhadap perwatakan hikayat tersebut yang memberikan tumpuan utama kepada Hang Jebat sebagai pemberontak menuntut keadilan. Walaupun Kasim gagal dalam kerjaya politik, beliau sangat prolifik dalam bidang penulisan. Saya kenal Kasim secara peribadi apabila membantu beliau berkempen dalam satu pilihanraya di Trengganu pada 1974. Tulisan ini bagaimanapun bukannya berkenaan pengalaman saya dengan Kassim, tetapi mengenai memoirnya yang baru diterbitkan. Bolehlah dianggap ia merupakan kritik, bukannya ulasan buku, terhadap Mencari Jalan Pulang: Daripada sosialisme kepada Islam. Tajuk bukunya terbaca janggal sekali, tidak kena pada tempatnya, misnomer, kata orang putih. Kalau judul buku itu Dari Materialisme kepada Islam, atau Materialisme Dialektik kepada Islam, atau Marxisme kepada Islam ataupun Daripada Atheisme kepada Islam, barulah tepat. Tidak kena pada tempatnya kerana sosialisme itu satu falsafah sistem sosio-ekonomi, yang majmuk pula takrif dan pengertiannya, yang dapat dipisahkan daripada akidah sebarang keagamaan, termasuklah Islam. Dengan lain perkataan, Islam berkecuali terhadap sosialisme, sebagaimana Islam nuetral terhadap sistem sosio-ekonomi kehidupan puak awal pemburu-pengumpul, nomadisme, feudalisme dan kapitalisme. Bayangkanlah betapa janggalnya apabila terbaca (kalaulah ada buku) Daripada Feudalisme kepada Islam ataupun Daripada Kapitalisme kepada Islam. Sudah beribu-ribu tahun umat Islam hidup dalam dan mengamalkan sistem feudalisme, semenjak dinasti Umayyah hinggalah sekarang ini di beberapa buah negara Muslim seperti dinasti Saud dan al-Sabah. Tidak pernah pun timbul soal pertentangan feudalisme dan Islam. Begitulah juga dengan sistem kapitalisme mutakhir ini. Tidak ada pula timbul kisah Daripada Kapitalisme kepada Islam. Jadi rumusannya, bukan sahaja misnomer, Daripada Sosialisme kepada Islam adalah usaha tersirat Kassim untuk memomokkan sosialisme. Apatah lagi buku ini dipublisitikan sebagai memoir, tetapi dimuatkan penuh dengan khutbah-khutbah penulis – didaktik sekali. Tepatnya, buku Kassim itu sepatutnya dijudulkan Mencari Jalan Pulang: Daripada sosialisme kepada feudalisme. Kita juga boleh melihat daripada perspektif lain, walaupun sosialisme satu falsafah sosial atau sosio-ekonomi yang banyak jalurnya, namun asas prinsipnya mudah sahaja dan terdapat dalam semua agama iaitu keadilan sosial, apabila golongan miskin tidak hidup terbiar dalam papa kedana, kerana yang berupaya dan kaya mempunyai tanggungjawab untuk membantu golongan miskin itu. Setiap kekayaan yang dimiliki seseorang anggota umat itu, sebahagiannya hak golongan miskin! Begitu juga sistem sosio-ekonomi kapitalisme, terdapat juga prinsipnya yang tidak dilarang oleh agama-agama, malah diiktiraf pula, contohnya hak untuk memiliki harta dan membuat untung dalam perniagaan. Jadi sosialisme ataupun kapitalisme itu, kedua-duanya boleh dirasionalkan dari segi keagamaan, dan sememangnya banyak buku ilmiah diterbitkan untuk itu. Bagi sistem sosio-ekonomi feudalisme ataupun budaya feudalisme, ada juga terdapat sokongannya "taatlah kepada rasul dan ketua-ketua (baca: raja, penghulu atau Yang Berhormat) di antara kamu". Tetapi oleh kerana kapitalisme sekarang mendominasi sistem ekonomi dunia, menghegemoni pemikiran bahkan pun dianggap sebagai normal, maka ia diterima sebagai fitrah sahaja tanpa dipersoalkan lagi. Manakala sosialisme pula sering dijadikan musuh agama, yang dimomok-momokkan oleh para intelektual pro-kapitalisme -- kerana sosialisme bertentangan dengan kepentingan kapitalisme. Usaha-usaha intelektual atau ulama menerima dan mengiakan kapitalisme boleh menjatuhkan martabat agama itu sendiri sehingga agama seolah-olah sudah dijadikan candu intelek untuk terus gian dengan kapitalisme. Fitrah, sunnatullah atau sunah alam pun ditafsirkan secara Darwinisme – kajian alam kehidupan haiwan dan tumbuhan oleh Charles Darwin yang kemudiannya dinaikkan martabatnya oleh intelektual kapitalis-kolonialis sebagai falsafah sosial yang mengiakan pengabdian rakyat Afrika serta ketuanan orang putih. Kalau dahulu para paderi menggunakan Darwinisme untuk menopang agama Kristian mengiakan pengabdian kaum kulit hitam terhadap kaum kulit putih – Kassim pun mengikut jejak-jejak yang sama. Kalau sesuatu kaum manusia pupus, bukannya kerana dihapuskan oleh golongan lain yang zalim, tetapi menurut Kassim, itu pilihan semulajadi atau natural selection dan kelangsungan entiti yang paling layak, survival of the fittest. Secara langsungnya falsafah sosial Darwininisme yang dijaja Kassim menjunjung kalimah "kekuatan itu kebenaran"! Tersangat fobianya Kassim untuk menyebut faktor ekonomi sebagai dorongan fenomena penjajahan, jadi meraba-rabalah belau untuk mencari jawapan kenapa Barat Eropah menjajah benua Asia, Amerika dan Afrika. Psikologi sosial kasar orang Barat, yang dicetuskan oleh persekitaran alamnya yang kasar, membuatkan manusia yang timbul dari buminya itu menjadi ganas. Demikianlah sebabnya mereka menjajah ke seluruh dunia - itulah analisis Kassim. Kalau penjajahan itu didorong oleh faktor persekitaran alam yang kasar – ini kaedah analisis ekologi sosial - Tibet dan Bhutan lebih kasar geografinya, tetapi insan yang timbul dari bumi itu tidak pula ganas menjajah dunia! Orang Barat juga disalahkan oleh Kassim kerana menyeleweng daripada ajaran Yahudi-Kristian, terutama kerana ia dicampuradukkan dengan politheisme Romawi, itulah sebab kononnya mereka memusuhi Islam, memerangi dan menjajah wilayah orang Islam. Tetapi tidakkah, semenjak zaman Perang Salib lagi dan juga semua peperangan, ada motif ekonomi yang tersirat di sebaliknya? Kalau dahulu tongkol-tongkol perak, emas, juga zamrud dan berlian dirampas sebagai ghanimah, gelombang kedua penjajahan pula merampok kekayaan yang dihasilkan daripada rempah-ratus, timah dan getah. Dan kini merebut kuasa ke atas sumber minyak serta "pasaran dan perdagangan bebas". Juga bagaimana hendak menjelaskan pembunuhan, peperangan dan penjajahan Yahudi-Kristian sesat ini di benua Amerika, Afrika dan Asia yang bukan Islam? Betapa banyak kali dalam al-Quran mengingatkan manusia supaya jangan berbuat zalim, tetapi hal ini langsung tidak disentuh oleh Kassim. Seperti saya tulis di atas, bukunya bukanlah sangat sebuah memoir tetapi khutbah-khutbah. Malangnya tidak nampak minat Kassim untuk berkhutbah menentang kezaliman, kelihatan macam Kassim mudah lupa akan kerakusan dan keganasan kuasa Dr Mahathir Mohamad. Kassim langsung tidak kritikal terhadap penanggungajawaban Mahathir, setelah 22 tahun berkuasa, merasuah atau melacurkan sistem politik, pengadilan, kepolisan dan pentadbiran awam Malaysia. Selain itu, jelas kelihatan Kassim sudah menjadi apologis kepada akta ISA, penahanan tanpa perbicaraan, termasuklah amalan soal siasat serta penderaan, didalihkan sebagai "sesuatu mudarat besar boleh dihalang dengan melakukan mudarat kecil." Rasional yang sama inilah diberikan oleh semua diktator terkemuka dunia, termasuklah Bush dengan penjara Guantanamonya, untuk menyeksa dan memenjara orang-orang yang dianggap menggugat kuasa mereka. Akan terus ada "tulang-tulang yang berselerakan", meminjam kata-kata Usman Awang, hasil mangsa penyeksaan tahanan tanpa perbicaraan kuasa-kuasa rakus dan zalim di dunia ini, dan pastinya juga akan terus ada intelektual seperti Kassim untuk mengiakannya. Jadi bersesuaianlah Dr Mahathir yang menulis kata penghantar buku Kassim itu. Selain rekod kezalimannya, Mahathir juga merasionalkan pengalaman hidup Kassim itu sebagai "sunnatullah insan: masa muda berideologi kiri dan radikal, pertengahan umur bertukar centralist dan apabila sudah tua beralih kepada ideologi kanan dan konservatif". Apakah agaknya respons arwah-arwah Ishak Muhamad, Ahmad Boestamam dan Hasnul Hadi? Yang turut menarik perhatian saya, ketegangan psikologi Kassim terhadap isu-isu yang ditimbulkan oleh rakan-rakan sekolahnya ketika remaja. Jika kita menggunakan teori psiko-analisis Freud, mungkin ketegangan inilah, secara bawah sedarnya, telah mencetuskan kreativitinya yang berbusar-busar, terutama ketika mudanya. Adakalanya, saya kesampingkan sahaja isu-isu yang menjadi masalah mental Kassim itu. Antagonis beliau ialah remaja-remaja beragama Kristian, Sikh dan Buddha. Pertamanya, persoalan mengenai mengapakah wujud hamba abdi dalam masyarakat Islam zaman Nabi? Kalau kita celik anthropologi, sistem hamba abdi bukannya khusus dalam masyarakat Islam dan di zaman nabi Muhammad. Sistem sosio-ekonomi perhambaan itu pun wujud dalam zaman masyarakat nabi Musa, nabi Isa, Buddha dan juga Guru Nanak. Sewaktu masih budak-budak lagi, anak orang Islam telah pun dibanggakan dengan sikap Muhammad yang menggalakkan pembebasan hamba abdi. Banyaklah cerita betapa baik dan murah hatinya sahabat nabi Abu Bakar membeli dan membebaskan para hamba sahaya. Tentang cerita hamba Habshi bernama Bilal yang dibebaskan dan dihormatkan dengan memberi tugas melaungkan azan. Apa masalahnya? Keduanya, mengapakah kedudukan wanita lebih rendah daripada lelaki dalam Islam? Saya sedar mutakhir ini banyak perdebatan dan hujah mengenai kedudukan gender dalam agama Islam, dan belum ada resolusi lagi dalam konflik tafsiran mengenainya. Namun agama Kristian pun memberikan kedudukan gender yang tidak seimbang: isteri patuh kepada suami sebagaimana kepada Tuhan, suami kepala kepada isteri sebagaimana Jesus kepala kepada gereja, sebagaimana gereja tertakluk bawah Jesus, maka biarlah isteri begitu juga kepada suaminya (5:22-24, Holy Bible, The Gedion International). Saya mengaku jahil tentang kedudukan gender dalam ajaran kitab agama Sikh dan Buddha, namun jika kita berbalik kepada ilmu anthropologi, kita boleh tahu bahawa ada pelbagai sistem perhubungan gender dalam masyarakat manusia dan yang dominannya sistem patriarki, iaitu ketuanan lelaki. Tanpa mengira agama yang dianut oleh sesebuah masyarakat, jelas dari realiti sejarah sosial manusia, majoriti besar masyarakat manusia mengamalkan ketuanan lelaki. Perkembangan ini bukannya khusus dan unik dalam masyarakat Islam. Isu kedudukan gender bukannya masalah Islam, ia isu sejagat! Ketiganya, mengapakah lelaki mendapat lebih banyak harta daripada wanita dalam hukum faraid? Dalam sistem perhubungan gender, ketuanan lelaki yang wujud dalam semua masyarakat beragama Kristian, Sikh, Buddha dan juga Islam – sudah tentunyalah lelaki diutamakan dalam semua bidang, terutama dalam bidang ekonomi dan pemilikan harta benda. Di Eropah, yang berasaskan pada tamadun Yahudi-Kristian, perwarisan yang lebih tidak adil dilaksanakan: sistem anak lelaki pertama membolot seluruh harta benda bapanya (ibu tidak ada harta kerana perempuan tidak berhak!) atau si mati boleh mewariskan harta peninggalan sesuka hatinya, bahkan kepada kucing dan anjing dan sifar kepada anak dan kaum kerabatnya. Sekali lagi saya mengaku jahil tentang pengagihan aset si mati menurut ajaran Sikh dan Buddha, tapi saya tahu bahawa dalam Islam ada kelonggaran dalam wasiat. Contohnya, arwah bapa secara lisan menyampaikan wasiatnya kepada saya seorang sahaja (lelaki) bahawa hartanah peninggalannya dibahagikan sama rata dalam kalangan balu, anak lelaki dan anak perempuannya. Apabila ibu saya meninggal, tanpa wasiat harta, semua anaknya lelaki dan perempuan juga bersetuju membahagikan hartanah dan wang simpanan arwah sama rata. Aturan faraid ini diterima dan diiktiraf oleh syariah! Berbalik pada ketegangan psikologi Kassim daripada tiga masalah di atas, sudah tentu lama dahulu boleh terjawab secara rasional dan ilmiah daripada bidang-bidang ilmu yang "sekular". Tetapi mujurlah dalam sekitar tahun 1985 hingga 1986 baru terjawab oleh Kassim. Kalau tidak, mungkin tidak akan terbitnya daya kreatif yang mengilhamkan Sidang Roh dan juga Hang Jebat sebagai pemberontak (bukan penderhaka) menuntut keadilan. Yunus Ali adalah seorang aktivis sosial dan pemikir hal-ehwal sosio-ekonomi. Sekarang beliau sebagai pengerusi National Institute for Electoral Integrity (NIEI), sebuah NGO yang menjalankan kerja-kerja berkaitan dengan reformasi pilihanraya dan pembangunan demokrasi.

20 tahun bersama Rustam - Malaysiakini.com

Fathi Aris Omar | Apr 24, 08 3:13pm

Dua dekad lalu, sewaktu gagal melanjutkan pelajaran ke luar negara, saya terserempak satu tulisan di Dewan Masyarakat – yang memberi inspirasi besar sehingga saat ini. Waktu itu, ketika menghabiskan masa bersendirian di stesen bas Klang, saya membaca artikel Rustam A Sani tentang peranan intelektual dan bebalisme, mengulas idea daripada buku Intelektual Masyarakat Membangun karya seorang lagi pemikir besar kita, Syed Hussein Alatas. Rustam meninggalkan kita 23 April, sementara ahli sosiologi itu disemadikan pada 23 Januari 2007 – putaran sejarah tidak semena-mena mencampak saya bersama dua tokoh besar ini walaupun ringkas tetapi padat dan penuh makna. Pada 1988, tahun saya mula berkenalan dengan idea Rustam, menteri pelajaran waktu itu Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, memperkenalkan Tahun Membaca. Sepuluh tahun kemudian, dalam peristiwa Reformasi, saya berkenalan dengan Rustam – beberapa bulan sebelum majalah Detik (kini diharamkan) diterbitkan pada awal 1999. Ahmad Lutfi Othman, sekarang ketua pengarang Harakah, dan saya mengundang Rustam menulis kolum untuk majalah tersebut – yang dianggapnya, sama ada bergurau atau sungguh-sungguh, “majalah politik yang paling serius” – pada hari-hari itu saya sering menikmati teh tarik bersama beliau. Wawancara saya dengan Rustam pada awalnya berkisar persoalan memahami gejala yang disebut orang “gerakan Reformasi”, yakni limpahan ribuan manusia ke jalan-jalan raya di Kuala Lumpur susulan pemecatan dan pemenjaraan Anwar. Ia berlangsung di kediamannya, di suatu sudut kecil yang selesa dan dipenuhi buku-buku. Jika berkunjung ke rumahnya beberapa kali selepas itu, saya masih duduk di tempat yang sama – yang membolehkan saya melihat ilustrasi seekor lembu (atau, seladang?) hitam sedang membuang najis (warna merah). Katanya, ilustrasi itu bermakna “don’t bullshit me!” Tempoh-tempoh itu sehingga pilihanraya umum 1999, bersama teman-teman aktivis dan penulis, mencetuskan suasana politik yang sungguh romantis. Saya ceritakan padanya bahawa saya suka mengikuti pandangannya di akhbar Utusan Malaysia dan buku-bukunya awal 1990-an. Ketika saya sambung belajar di kampus tempatan, jika ada kesempatan, saya akan membaca tulisannya, termasuk satu tulisannya tentang “masyarakat penyayang” di majalah terbitan Institut Kajian Strategik dan Antarabangsa (ISIS), tempat beliau bertugas. Pada bulan-bulan awal peristiwa Reformasi itu, yang terkesan di fikiran saya, Rustam berada dalam keadaan “sangat beremosi” – dugaan saya, beliau benar-benar jengkel dan memendam resah yang sangat mendalam dengan peristiwa sosial yang sedang membengkak itu. Kejengkelannya bukan pada kata-kata dan perkataan, ia mula mendarah daging, bertukar gerak nafas dan denyut jantungnya. Sehingga kami juga berbeza pandangan tentang apa erti “kebebasan media”, “wartawan (arus perdana) sebagai perkakas” dan “aktivis media independen” dalam konteks perang besar gerakan Reformasi dengan regim Dr Mahathir Mohamad yang masih tercokol waktu itu. Diskusi ini berlangsung di meja makan rumah beliau, bersama Zunar, sambil menikmati tapai. Waktu itu Malaysiakini.com baru berdiri beberapa bulan dan beliau bersama kartunis politik itu menggerakkan kempen memboikot tiga media utama yang dianggap keji dan hina dalam kempen pilihanraya umum 1999 – Utusan Malaysia, TV3 dan New Straits Times. Saya fikir ia bermula pada kesangsian saya tentang kempen tersebut dan keperluan meluaskan kempen “media independen” yang kami, termasuk Ahmad Lutfi, sedang usahakan bersama Kumpulan Aktivis Media Independen (KAMI). Dan, seingat saya, inilah sahaja pendirian saya yang lebih tegas – selebihnya saya banyak mendengar, bersetuju, menggali dan bertanya daripada Rustam. Mungkin tabiat aktivis, atau golongan oposan, memang mudah mengiakan rakan diskusinya. Perjalanan idea dan pengalaman sepanjang tahun-tahun awal Reformasi itu mendorong saya menulis siri-siri artikel ‘Tiada Noktah’ di Malaysiakini sehingga sebahagian yang utama daripadanya berjaya dibukukan dalam Patah Balek: Catatan terpenting reformasi – sebahagian besarnya sebagai pencarian peribadi daripada persoalan-persoalan yang muncul dalam sembang-sembang dengan Rustam, antaranya. Menjelang dan selepas pilihanraya umum 2004, makin jarang saya bersua dan bersembang dengan beliau. Tulisannya juga makin jarang ditelaah lagi. Telefon pun jarang-jarang – walaupun niat untuk bertemu dan bersembang dengan beliau, setidak-tidaknya mengetahui analisis politik semasa, sentiasa tertanam kukuh. Seingat saya ada dua pertemuan aktivis yang kami sama-sama hadiri, Socialism 2005 dan merayakan sambutan 'versi alternatif' 50 tahun kemerdekaan di bangunan tambahan Pasar Seni tahun lalu. Kadang-kadang ketika bosan bertugas di pejabat, saya mencuri-curi masa menyelak blognya. Sehinggalah, pagi semalam, saya dikejutkan dengan panggilan telefon dan mesej SMS bertubi-tubi menyatakan beliau telah pergi buat selama-lamanya dan tidak meninggalkan apa-apa lagi kecuali tulisan, idea dan kenangan bersamanya. Bangsa ini telah kehilangan sebutir mutiaranya dan gaya Rustam mengucapkan buah-buah fikirannya – yang sering pula sinis, tajam dan jujur – tidak mungkin kita nikmati lagi. Semua orang akan pasti menghargai lebih baik seseorang yang dikaguminya, atau dicintainya, sewaktu kehilangan telah menjadi kenyataan yang tidak terelakkan lagi. Selamat jalan, Pak Rustam. Fathi Aris Omar adalah pengarang berita Malaysiakini edisi bahasa Melayu.

Perginya seorang intelektual awam - Malaysiakini.com

Dr Abdul Rahman Embong | Apr 24, 08 2:36pm

Dalam dua tahun ini, rakyat Malaysia umumnya dan dunia ilmu, pemikiran dan politik khususnya susul-menyusul kehilangan dua orang tokoh intelektual awam yang besar. Semasa kita masih terasa dan mengenangi kehilangan tokoh ilmuan, intelektual awam dan pemikir ulung profesor Datuk Dr Syed Hussein Alatas yang meninggal dunia pada 23 Januari 2007, kini kita dikejutkan pula dengan berita sedih pemergian secara tiba-tiba Rustam A. Sani, seorang sarjana, intelektual awam, pemikir dan tokoh politik Malaysia yang telah membuat sumbangan tersendiri terhadap perjuangan luhur membina sebuah masyarakat Malaysia yang berilmu, adil, saskama dan sejahtera. Pemergian beliau pada jam 2.30 pagi 23 April 2008 kerana diserang sakit jantung di rumahnya di Gombak, Kuala Lumpur adalah sesuatu yang di luar jangkaan dan amat menyedihkan. Bagi pihak Persatuan Sains Sosial Malaysia (PSSM), saya ingin menyampaikan takziah sedalam-dalamnya kepada balu dan seluruh ahli keluarga serta sanak-saudara allahyarham dan mengharapkan mereka tetap tabah mengharungi saat-saat yang amat mendukacitakan ini. Berasal dari keluarga seorang tokoh pejuang kemerdekaan, Rustam kehilangan kasih sayang bapanya semasa masih kanak-kanak lagi akibat kekejaman penjajah British. Bapanya, allahyarham Ahmad Boestamam, pengasas Angkatan Pemuda Insaf (1946) dan Partai Rakyat Malaya (1955), telah merengkok di dalam tahanan British selama tujuh tahun dari Jun 1948 hingga 1955 kerana memperjuangkan kemerdekaan tanahair. Namun, obor perjuangan yang dijulang bapanya itulah yang telah menyemangati beliau kemudian untuk meneruskan perjuangan demi keadilan dan kesejahteraan rakyat di bawah keadaan yang baru di tanah air yang sudah merdeka. Pendidikan beliau dalam bidang ilmu sosial dan kemanusiaan, mula-mula di Universiti Malaya (1967-70), University of Reading (1973), University of Kent (1973-75), Yale University (1978-81) dan Uppsala University (1991) telah memberikan beliau ilmu dan senjata analisis yang dimanfaatkan sebaik-baiknya dan digemblengkan dengan falsafah perjuangan yang diwarisi daripada bapanya itu untuk meningkatkan daya intelektual serta meneruskan cita-cita melalui pelbagai medan. Prihatin nasib bangsa Inilah yang dilakukan beliau baik semasa berkhidmat sebagai ahli akademik di Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, sebagai felo di Institut Kajian Strategik dan Antarabangsa (ISIS), sebagai penulis buku, kolumnis, ahli politik dan juga blogger. Semasa hayatnya, Rustam A. Sani amat memerhatikan nasib bangsa dan negara, dengan memberikan tumpuan khusus melalui penulisannya serta wacana awam lain pada persoalan nasionalisme, peranan golongan kiri Melayu dalam usaha kemerdekaan dan pembangunan negara, di samping mengambil berat soal perpaduan rakyat berbilang kaum dan pembinaan bangsa Malaysia. Selain itu, beliau juga menitikberatkan persoalan reformasi sistem pendidikan negara, pembangunan ilmu, intelektual dan budaya serta sering menyatakan keprihatinan terhadap asas budaya yang dangkal terutamanya di kalangan golongan kelas menengah yang dianggap ejen pemodenan sekalipun terdapat kemewahan dan pembangunan ekonomi yang pesat. Pemikiran beliau mengenai kesemua ini dapat kita kesan dalam karya-karya beliau seperti Failed Nation? Concerns of a Malaysian Nationalist dan Social Roots of the Malay Left yang kedua-duanya tidak sempat beliau saksikan pelancarannya pada 26 April ini. Juga ia dapat ditelusuri dalam karya-karya lain seperti Melayu Baru: Beberapa Persoalan Sosiobudaya (1992), Melayu Baru dan Bangsa Malaysia: Tradisi Cendekia dan Krisis Budaya (1993), Ke Mana Nasionalisme Melayu? (2004) dan Menjelang Reformasi (2004). Ahli seumur hidup Beliau juga pernah menyatakan keprihatinan yang serius terhadap masalah kualiti sains sosial Malaysia yang mesti ditingkatkan seperti diungkapkan dalam makalahnya "The Social Sciences in Malaysia: A Critical Scenario" (bersama Norani Othman, Akademika, No. 38, Januari 1991). Tidak ramai intelektual dan pemikir tanahair kita yang mandiri, tajam dan asli pemikirannya serta konsisten prinsip perjuangannya. Rustam A Sani adalah salah seorang intelektual dan pemikir sedemikian. Walaupun merasa kerugian besar kerana pemergiannya, PSSM tetap berasa bangga kerana beliau merupakan salah seorang ahli seumur hidup PSSM dan pernah bersama-sama memimpin persatuan selaku timbalan presiden selama beberapa tahun sehingga tahun 1999. Beliau telah mengembangkan tradisi intelektual yang kritis, berani dan jujur demi memperjuangkan sesuatu yang diyakininya. Tradisi ini seharusnya diteladani dan diwarisi oleh intelektual muda tanahair termasuk ahli-ahli sains sosial dan dipelihara serta dikembangkan sebagai khazanah dan modal yang tidak ternilai bagi negara dan masyarakat kita serta dunia ilmu maju ke hadapan pada abad ke-21 ini. Allahyarham Rustam A. Sani meninggalkan seorang isteri puan Rohani Zainal Abidin, seorang adik (Noliah Boestamam), dua orang anak (Azrani dan Azriani), seorang menantu (Ku Salha Ku Adnan) dan seorang cucu (Arissa Azrani). Semoga Allah mencucuri rahmat-Nya ke atas roh beliau dan memberikan kekuatan kepada seluruh ahli keluarga beliau. Amin! Prof Datuk Dr Abdul Rahman Embong adalah presiden Persatuan Sains Sosial Malaysia (PSSM)

Mahathir lagi: Bilakah akan reda? - Malaysiakini.com

Rustam A Sani | Apr 23, 08 12:41pm

Saya benar-benar kagum akan Dr Mahathir Mohamad, khususnya terhadap kemampuan dan kedegilannya untuk menyatakan pandangannya. Dia akan terus berkata-kata, meskipun sudah tidak ada lagi orang yang mau mendengar pandangannya itu – kecuali mungkin beberapa orang yang mau memperalatkannya sebagai sumber "pendapat" bagi maksud tertentu – untuk menyerang Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, misalnya. Dan bagi tahap umurnya, tenaga Mahathir memang luar biasa. Suaranya masih lantang, sebutannya masih jelas – meskipun daya ingatannya ternyata sudah kabur (banyak yang tidak diingatnya atau sudah tersalah ingat), daya analisisnya sudah longgar, rasa hormatnya terhadap lojika, etika, maupun kebenaran jelas sudah berkecai. Namun, bagi saya, apa yang lebih menakjubkan ialah masih banyak antara kita yang masih sanggup mendengar racauannya itu. Oleh itu, bila Mahathir akan diwawancara untuk rancangan Hard Talk BBC baru-baru ini saya menjadi kebanjiran dengan pesanan SMS maupun posting blog tentangnya. Memanglah Mahathir merupakan seorang yang degil, yang tidak puas-puas meracau di mana sahaja. Dia akan berceramah di majlis ceramah anjuran Prowaris atau bahagian-bahagian Umno yang tertentu, berdebat dalam forum anjuran laman blog MyKMU, ditemuramah oleh Malaysiakini.com, malah menulis kata pengantar untuk buku Dr. Collin Abraham. Tidak ada sesuatu yang baru dalam apa yang diperkatakannya, namun orang tetap akan mendengar malah melaporkannya kembali di tempat lain, di muka akhbar maupun di laman blog. Tidak ada yang mendalam atau profound dalam analisisnya, namun masih banyak yang menganggap kata-katanya sebagai semacam mutiara ilmu. Dan inilah yang menakjubkan saya. Apakah yang menarik tentang Mahathir ini: mutiara ilmu yang keluar dari mulutnya atau sekadar persona-nya? Dan apakah yang menarik tentang persona itu – auranya atau sekadar latar belakang dirinya yang pernah menjadi ahli politik yang memberontak terhadap establishment Umno tetapi kemudiannya bertukar menjadi establishment itu sendiri yang amat menindas? Baru-baru ini Mahathir tampaknya telah berhasil pula menjaja misteri dirinya itu ke luar negara. Dia sanggup ditemuramah di ruangan Hard Talk BBC yang terkenal kerana soalan-soalan mendalam lagi kasar terhadap sesiapa sahaja – khususnya para pemimpin negara dunia ketiga. Mahathir memang tahu tentang reputasi rancangan Hard Talk itu, namun naluri dan semangatnya untuk terus berkata-kata itu ternyata tidak akan dapat diredakan. Otot di sekeliling mulutnya yang overdeveloped itu tampaknya tidak akan dapat dilemahkan. Satu sifat dan sahsiah Mahathir yang asasi sehubungan dengan nalurinya yang mau terus berkata-kata ini ialah sifatnya yang combative – yakni dia akan menyerang bila dia mendapati dirinya terdesak oleh serangan orang lain khusus pihak yang mempersoalkan kredibiliti hujah dan kata-katanya. Dan apabila Mahathir mulai menyerang, dia akan melakukannya secara dogged (hentam keromo, membujur lalu melintang patah). Bila Mahathir menyerang, maka jelaslah terserlah sifatnya yang sama sekali tidak menghormati dan mengendahkan kebenaran, fakta, logika atau malah urutan dan tertib hujah yang siuman. Saya telah melihat perkara ini berlaku beberapa kali sewaktu Mahathir diwawancara oleh media antarabangsa (Mahathir dalam nada prasangkanya sendiri akan mengatakannya "media barat"). Beberapa tahun lalu, sewaktu Mahathir ditemuramah oleh Zain Verge dari CNN, bila dia didesak dengan soalan-soalan yang hangat dan pedas, dia akan segera menjadi combative – menuduh sipenemuramah itu sebagai mewakili prasangka "orang putih" yang senantiasa memandang rendah terhadap orang kulit berwarna seperti dirinya. Hakikat yang tidak diendahkan Mahathir ialah hakikat Zain Verge merupakan seorang wanita keturunan Pakistan yang dibesarkan di Afrika – hanya kulitnya sedikit cerah berbanding Mahathir. Kali ini sewaktu menghadapi asakan soalan-soalan panas dari Stephen Sackur, hos rancangan Hard Talk ini, huraian Mahathir tentang prasangka orang Barat terhadap orang pribumi kita tampaknya diasaskan pada ikhtisar pandangan beberapa tokoh pegawai penjajah British satu dua abad lalu seperti Frank A. Swettenham, Richard Winstedt. Pandangan berprasangka seperti itu sebenarnya sudah tidak kedengaran lagi hari ini, dan malah hujah seperti yang dikemukakan oleh Mahathir itu juga sejak lama sudah tidak digunakan lagi oleh para pembahas dan sarjana anak negeri. Namun demikianlah adanya vintage Mahathir: dia tidak teragak-agak menggunakan hujah dan mauduk dari dua abad lalu untuk memenangi perdebatan hari ini. Mahathir agak beruntung bila berhadapan dengan para wartawan seperti Zain Verge dan Sackur itu. Mereka ini sebenarnya tidak begitu tahu tentang realiti politik di Malaysia, oleh itu tidak dapat terus bertanya (probing) bila Mahathir memberikan reaksi yang sebenarnya tidaklah seratus peratus tepat. Huraiannya, misalnya, tentang penyingkiran para hakim, tentang pita VK Lingam, tentang keadilan yang diterima Anwar dari sistem kehakiman Malaysia sudah pasti akan mengundang asakan yang malah lebih kuat lagi dari seorang wartawan yang lebih tahu tentang Malaysia berbanding Zain maupun Sackur. Namun Mahathir, bagi saya, tetap merupakan seorang watak awam yang bijak lagi licik. Dia pandai menggunakan segala macam helah dan permainan citra untuk mempertahankan dirinya dan mengelirukan para pendengarnya. Sebab itulah setiap gerak-geri mahupun kata-katanya akan menarik perhatian, meskipun tidak terdapat barang seurat ketulusan maupun kebijaksanaan dalam penampilan citra dan cendekianya itu. Bilakah permainan penampilan dirinya yang penuh helah ini akan reda – demi menjaga kewarasan dan kesehatan minda (mental hygiene) masyarakat kita sendiri? Tulisan ini asalnya diterbitkan di blognya Suaraku (karya-merdeka.blogspot.com) pada 21 April dan diulang terbit di sini sebagai mengenang pemergian ke rahmatullah tokoh penulis dan cendekiawan ini pada 23 April - editor

One comment inside KTemoc blog

Parameswara said...

The Chinese and Indians people must understand this:

1] The Malay Political Enemies of Anwar Ibrahim will NEVER allow him to succeed with his Pakatan Raayat Agenda.

2] The Malay Political Enemies are so afraid of losing all the Wealth and Riches of this Country falling into the Hands of a Multi-Racial Government.

3] The Malay Political Enemies of Anwar Ibrahim DO NOT believe in a CLEAN POLICE, AG and Judiciary.They have even appointed an UMNO supporter to one of the highest position.

4] Many Chinese & Indians Tycoons PREFER to have CORRUPTED Malays in the Cabinet, Government Ministeries so that they can do business without hassle.They can buy them off for a PRICE ...

5] The Malays Leaders are telling the Malays that Pakatan Raayat will cause them to lose their privileges, rights, and share of the wealth and riches of the Country.Rather then truthfully telling them that the Malay Political Enemies will lose out on Projects, Contracts trhough CRONYism.The Malays are still in the State of Denial and worst still NOT truthfull to their religion an dbehaving like True Muslims [vicegerent on earth].

7:37 AM, July 17, 2008

Debat Anwar - Shabery mengenai isu kenaikan harga minyak

written by KotaDamansara73, July 15, 2008 | 22:11:50 - Malaysia-today.net

SHABERY: UMNO adalah bagus sekali di dunia. Kerajaan BN adalah paling terbuka di dunia ini.

Anwar: Kenaikan minyak akan membebankan rakyat. Kenaikan minyak akan menjatuhkan ekonomi negara.

Shabery: UMNO adalah bagus sekali di dunia. Kerajaan BN adalah paling terbuka di dunia ini. ANWAR PALING TAK BAGUS

Anwar: Oleh kerana kerajaan BN tidak mengurus dengan baik dan terdapat banyak kebocoran dan kerasuahan, sebab itu rakyatlah yang menderita.

SHABERY: ANWAR TIDAK BAIK. ANWAR TIDAK BAIK. BN PALING BAIK. MAHATHIR PALING BAIK. BADAWI PALING BAIK.



anwar : "apabila sedia prasarana kepada pelabur - kerajaan panggil INSENTIF; apabila tolong rendahkan harga minyak untuk rakyat - kerajaan panggil SUBSIDI! kerajaan GELAR apabila tolong rakyat jelata SUBSIDI, tolong orang asing INSENTIF!"

Shabery : Anwar paling tak baik, BN terbaik, Umno paling terbaik!!!

Of English Lit, CPC and the two teachers

copyright : thegazerofnavels.blogspot.com

by Ryn

Warning:-This is an extremely long post.

It never crossed my mind that one of my closest friends would one day become a teacher but she did and I am sure she is a pretty good one too. I could see fire in her eyes when she talks about her work.

She is a dime in a dozen because good teachers are hard to come by; at least that is what I think. Good teachers are not merely those who can turn even the dullest subjects interesting, they are great because of the impact they had on us, shaping our personality to become the person we are today.

I never really like school. To me, it was a bore and I was restless all the time. Then I turned 16 and suddenly an important decision had to be make. It was either pure science or arts and whatever my decision was will impact my career choice. I took the road less taken and gambled my future by going into the art's stream.

Afterwards, another decision had to be made. Gosh, too many decisions for a 16 year old. The choice was either Geography, Pendidikan Seni or English Literature. Geography was out because I could and cannot for the life of me understand maps. I could not draw, so the obvious was English Literature. My English was never particularly bad but it was not good either. The only reason I wanted to take the subject was I like to read.

I conveyed my intention to Mrs Wong, the most fearsome teacher in my school. Nope, she was not some dragon lady who exhaled fire every time she speaks but she was feared indeed. She was known to be a disciplinarian, demanding and meticulous. She takes great pride of her English Lit students and therefore very selective.

She did not want me to be in her class. I had to beg. Not surprise as I stammered when speaking to her because I used to be very shy of my spoken English. I hardly speak English at all (yeah, You guys think I'm lying right but its true, I was never happy with the way I speak so I decided not to speak).

She warned me that her subject is not easy and it would be better if I took Seni. But I convinced her by saying that I could not even draw a straight line. I should have believe Mrs Wong that her class was not easy. She was not lying or exagerrating at all. The subject needs lots of committment because the teacher herself is very committed.

The poems were difficult to comprehend and the assignments, oh boy the assignments. She would give us assignments for a week; one day, one essay and being the lazy person that I was, I wanted out. I told her and was told to try out for one semester, if i still did not like it, she would let me go. I was happy because I was studying to fail.

To leave the class became my motivation so lazily I studied and learned that Galloping Foxley is a person and not a horse in the short story by Roald Dahl. I was very happy when the exam came because I was going to leave the class at the end of the semester. I remember the questions being difficult so I just answered hoping that I would fail but when the results came, I got "A". Alamak!!!! I did not know what to do because that was not part of the plan, I was suppose to fail. I panicked.

Mrs Wong refused to entertain my request to leave, why leave something you are good at and capable of being better,she asked. I stayed and never regretted it since. In fact, until today I never really enjoyed any other subjects more than those two most memorable years of learning English Literature.

It was a small class and we were expected to give our opinions, whether they were right or wrong depended entirely on our arguments. I did not speak that much but I listened, I read and then I started drawing and dooling characters and incorporated them into my answers. I did not just write essays, I drew maps and trains etc to explain myself. My friends thought I was crazy but Mrs Wong was impressed. I was happy but others who did not take the subject thought all English Lit students were out of our mind because we were carrying files with stacks of paper and spending our free time in between classes reading, writing and answering English Lit questions. We all would sparkle when we talked about the subject.

I really don't know how Mrs Wong did what she did but she made me love working hard without realising that I was working hard. When I reached 17, I studied Literature not because I wanted to get A but because I love it. She would tell us our good and bad points and give suggestions on how to improve. I was very happy because my essays were always read in class.

It was in her class also that the idea of making a career in law first came about. She said I answered my questions and write like a lawyer.

I am not sure where Mrs Wong is now as the last time I heard she has quit and moved to Indonesia with her husband and family. What a loss because she gave me the best time of my life. I took English Lit again in uni but although my lecturers were an Oxford grad and an Indian Gary Sinise lookalike from a top university in India, it never felt the same.

Maybe it was my other classmates who did not love the subject as much as I did, maybe it was the teachers, I don't know. Or maybe, maybe it was because the Indian teacher loved me too much that he announced my assignment marks in front of the entire class and told me how many more I need to get A (his words were, I will count for you) and hovered and tried to peek through my answers. It was the longest exam I ever had and yes, I ended up not doing it well at all.

Another teacher that made a significant impact in my life was the later Prof Dr Mimi Kamariah. She came into my life 10 years ago when I was 19. Every student in my uni had a academic advisor and together with three others, we were assigned to her.

The first time I met her, she asked us the reason we wanted to do law. She told us that if we want to be in that faculty, we must want it. Wow!

In many ways we were lucky from the rest in our class because Prof Mimi was the only lecturer who liked to throw free lunches to her students, holidays and educational trips to prisons. She treats all her students like her own children.

I was in my second year when I started to develop a special bond with her. I needed her.

Going into first year of law school was a bit of shock to me. Matriculation did not prepare me at all for law school and seeing all the clubs and activities, I wanted to do everything. I was the Freshie Queen and I joined every single activities available. As a result my studies suffered and on top of that, I did not know how to study law effectively. I almost failed my first year miserably.

Then Prof Mimi came to the rescue . She offered help. When I came to her panicking because my results were really bad, she told me to relax and promised that she would help me. We would sit for hours in her office and adviced me on the subjects, what should I take, how to study etc etc. I had no other adults who could give me advice on studying law except her. It was the advice from her that I decided to make a lifestyle change during my second year.

I moved out from my college and rented a room nearer to the faculty so that I didn't have to get up so early and walked for so long only to sleep in class. The new place was just 7 minutes away. I stopped all activities and only joined those that I like. I asked my friends how to study effectively and realised that I have been doing things the wrong way.

Prof was happy at my progress and she gave me one of the greatest honour of being her student, which is whether I would like to do an academic project and have her as my supervisor.

Writing an academic project was almost like writing a book. It was difficult and exhausting especially when yours truly decided to write about subject never been written before. I wanted to write about the Child Act and since it was still being table at the Parliament, there were no books, no cases etc on that matter. I did not know how to do it.

I kept getting it wrong and went off tangent and Prof was a very tough supervisor. I cringed every time I saw my name on the notice board, everywhere was my name, Jumpa Dekan, Jumpa Dekan.

Drafts after drafts and she was not happy until I could not take it anymore. I went home for a week just to think. I was so frustrated that I really hated her. Then a kind soul told how lucky I was to be the Dean's favourite student. hm mm.. I never thought about it like that.

I came back and saw her again. We had a long chat when she told me that she knew that writing is tough and she could see that I was suffering. She regretted suggesting the idea to me. It would have been much easier if I took the normal exam based subjects but at that time, it was almost too late to quit so she urged me to finish what I started.

That was the point when ideas suddenly came in abundance on ways to improve my project. How do I improve and justify my arguments when there were no reported case around, where do I get the information. All I had were hansards, acts and newspaper cuttings. The she hinted by asking me how close I was with my policemen classmates. I decided to interview the policemen in my class and suddenly everyting started to make sense why the Child Act was introduced as a replacement to the Juvenile Courts Act.

The whole project was tiring, I learned about the criminal procedure code a year before my friends and since I had difficulties understanding the subject just by reading alone, Prof Mimi spent many hours tutoring me on the law. She did that willingly without asking for any compensation and recognition, in fact she was happier than me when the project finished.

I was the last undergrad she supervised in an academic project. She died from cancer soon after.

Both Mrs Wong and the late Prof Mimi meant a lot to me and to this day, I really don't know how to thank them enough. I wish for more teachers to be like them. A teacher does not only teach, she advices, encourages, criticises and inspires. Mrs Wong and Prof Mimi were all that and so much more. I will never forget them.