Merdeka

Happy 52ND independence day Malaysia...you have reached an age normally associated with maturity, wisdom and progress.

May you live up to that expectations .

A country that is blessed with endowing natural resources and a high literate population cannot afford to screw up the future , a future that is more intertwined with the global happenings , a future that is definitely being determined how capable we are as a nation to be relevant in all fields within the world arena.

Malaysia's strength came from its diversity and this should not be viewed as a weakness.

Malaysia's strength came from its stable institutions of governance and this must not be taken for granted.

Malaysia's strength came from from its burgeoning young population and their voices and views must not be ignored.

Malaysia's strength is inspired by its moderate approach in its political and religious views and this must not be hijacked by any form of extremism.

The formation of Malaysia came from a desire of far sighted leaders then to have a federation of then British Colonies to seek unity and strength within a collective nation while still maintaining a specific measure of independence of each federated state to chart its local aspirations and destinies.

This underlying principle of Malaysia's formation must be well and clearly understood by present leaders and generations as the pace of globalisation hastens a need for us build up our present competencies and strengths and not be haggled by petty misunderstandings due to our own lack of knowledge of the basis of "lahirnya Malaysia".

PROUD TO BE MALAYSIANS...merdeka, merdeka

Breaking of fast or feast..

Today my mum invited all her children and families for a breaking of fast with her at her place ....the dishes being offered did not disappoint any of us, all ravishing and as we savoured the food being placed on the table, one cant wait for the nearby surau's "bedok" to sound the breaking of fast.

Somehow it has become a routine feast for most Malaysian and Muslims during Ramadan. I knew for a fact that this was not meant to be for during the fasting of Ramadan all Muslims are suppose to abstain from all pleasures of life ,food notwithstanding.

This is an opportune time for us to cleanse our body and soul with moderation of food intake and performing the tarawikh prayers for a spiritual enrichment.

However i and maybe most others cant just help with all the food and delicacies on offer during during Ramadhan. There were the usual grilled fish, barbecued chicken, all manners of curry dishes and cakes wow yes cakes of all sorts...how can one abstain?

I confessed to eat just cereal oats during Ramadhan and bought some packets of these health enrichment food but the usual happens, it still remains unopened as each day so far of Ramadan i fell to the temptations of eating the food and delicacies that i routinely bought at the Ramadan bazaar near my house.

As the "bedok" sounded to mark the breaking of fast at my mum's place , the rich variety of food on the table were ravished with no mercy by us all and we thanked Allah SWT for the good blessings that was given and we prayed for the continuing good health of our beloved Mother as we departed from the house, i cant help giving her an Oliver's quip, " Mum, can we have some more of these ?"

Arsenal,Manchester City ..give me a smirk

Football has always been a passion in my family as we grew up in the kampong within Kuching City vicinity. Being the eldest i always try to "dominate" proceedings and i never hide the fact in those early days,more than 40 years ago how crazy i was and still am on Manchester United. The Shoot magazine and the BBC radio world service every Saturday nights were our source of information on all the football proceedings.

Always scrounged whatever pocket money i had to buy the Shoot Magazine at KK Abdul Majeed in India Street.

My brother Zul supports Manchester City(hmm wonder why?) and it must have been perennial pain for him to witness City season in season out always being overshadowed by the other Manchester club. Well somehow this season i noticed a smirk on his face , ha City just spent more than 100 Million pounds on new players that include Tevez but i still doubted they will finish in the top 4.

My other brother, Shahbuddin (or Wen..) supports Arsenal, hmm a team whose favourite player of mine is Frank Stapleton. You can guess why.

The 1998/99 FA cup semi final was a great reminder of how great matches between United and Arsenal can be ..

Well it seems Arsenal is having a great start to the season and again i notice a big smirk on my brother's face ...but honestly i believe this is going to be Chelsea's year if it is not United.

The sacred cow..a need for religious tolerance

In a few days , Malaysia will be celebrating its independence day. However recent events make most of us nervous on which road this glorious and blessed country will lead to in the years to come.

There is no doubt to the world that Malaysia is a success country, we may have our flaws but overall we have shown the world that a Muslim moderate majority country can progress and prosper based on the fundamental principle of a paramount respect for each other and among others a practice of religious tolerance.

Of late though one cant help noticing that the racial tensions is not between the majority Muslim Malays and the economic prosperous Chinese but between the Malays and the Indians.

While thinking that the worse has pass us by with the Hindraff incident , suddenly today a more grave and potential racial time bomb happened...

Dozens of Malaysian Muslims paraded Friday with the head of a cow, a sacred animal in Hinduism, in a dramatic protest against the proposed construction of a Hindu temple in their neighborhood.

The unusual protest by some 50 people in Shah Alam, the capital of Selangor state, raises new fears of racial tensions in this multiethnic Muslim-majority country where Hindus comprise about 7 percent of the 27 million population.

The demonstrators who marched from a nearby mosque after Friday prayers dumped the cow head outside the gates of the state government headquarters. Selangor adjoins Kuala Lumpur.

Protesters stomped on the head and spat on it before leaving the site, Xavier Jeyakumar, a state government official in charge of non-Muslim affairs, told The Associated Press.

"This is a sign of disrespect, insensitivity and a huge insult to the Indian community," he said.

Such an overt display of religious discord is almost unheard of in Malaysia, which has carefully nurtured racial harmony among its three main ethnic groups, Malay Muslims, Chinese and Indians, since 1969 when the country suffered its worst racial riots.

We sometimes forget that Malaysia is forged by our forefathers through a concept of tolerance and respect for each other. The prosperity of the country was not achieved only by a single community but through a unique Malaysian capacity of working together despite our religious and racial differences.

We hope that the authorities as our Prime Minister said will tackle this issue and "nip it at its bud".

We also prayed that the maturity and superior leadership qualities of our leaders will succeed in avoiding a potential racial bloodshed because i dread to think of how it will end up if this is to happen.

Malaysia belong to all of us irrespective of race, religion or position in society.

LONG LIVE MALAYSIA

A potpourri of culture..sometimes misunderstood

I was told by a friend of some Indonesians consternation that in a Tv advert about Malaysia , a Bali dance was portrayed as a Malaysian heritage.... while being amused by such triviality i checked out in more details on the controversy:

THE so-called Tourism Malaysia advertisement that ruffled the feathers of Indonesians over depiction of its Balinese pendet dancers was not even a Tourism Malaysia advertisement after all.

The controversial commercial in question was actually a promotional clip put together by Discovery Channel to highlight a series of documentaries, produced by KRU Studios, calledEnigmatic Malaysia aimed at highlighting Malaysia’s rich cultural heritage.

In a statement sent to Malay Mail, Discovery Networks Asia-Pacific stated the image of Balinese dancers were used in a clip, aired on Discovery Channel, to promote the documentary series Enigmatic Malaysia and the image of the dancers, performing the pendet, were sourced from an independent third party.

It added, “Discovery Networks Asia-Pacific regrets that the image of a Balinese dancer, sourced from an independent third party, was used in the promotion of the series Enigmatic Malaysia

Phew..just don't understand the controversy , maybe there was indeed an error of judgement but cant we all realise that we are from the same potpourri of cultures, enriched by a common heritage that was initially spawned by the Majapahit and Sri Vijaya empires.

Now we may be distinguished ourselves as Indonesians or Malaysians but it was not such a long time ago that when the borders were not there free movement of people of these two great nations visited each other in a spirit of "serumpun' and commonality not only in religion but culture.

I remembered in my young days in the 60s relatives from the "Pulau"(Riau islands..) came by boat and visit us in Kuching.

We Malaysians must also rid ourselves of any prejudicial feeling towards our neighbours just because we have better highways, one tend to forget that once and hopefully even now we look up to our Brethren in Indonesia for their deep philosophical views(Hamka for one..) and of course the great movies of Ratno Timoer, Rano Karno and Sophan Sophian.

The multiracial and potpourri of cultures that has enriched the Malay archipelago and the "nusantara" indeed is not just an identity of Malaysia but also for Brunei, Singapore and most important of all our big brother Indonesia.

i fervently still believed in the fact that Indonesia will come out of its present lethargy and be our role model not only in terms of economic power but a shining example of a democratic nation that has its bedrock a clear understanding that it is in the differences and potpourri of cultures that all our Nations derive their strength and fortitude.

I still though cant see any great difference in a Bali dance and a Kelantanese wayang kulit though

In search of the "bedok"

Ramadan is now here with us. My friends who have never experience the splendours of Ramadan can never fathom the fact that we Muslims will wake up at around 4 am in the wee hours of the morning , have a splendid supper and then go back to bed .....beat that for a unique unforgettable experience!!

Fortnight ago i had a chance of bringing out some of the pensioners from my kampong for a seafood lunch...honestly i enjoyed the banters being exchanged over lunch, as an uncle teased another of his pensioner friends over trivial things but wow they do lead a great life. They even told me that sometimes on Fridays they would go on long journeys to have their Friday prayers. They relate some of their interesting journeys like one to Sebuyau(possibly around 4 hours drive from Kuching), bringing along their packed lunch and the highlight of the day being joining the Friday prayers congregation in Sebuyau itself.

However another story that really fascinated me was their "project' of acquiring a "bedok" for our Kampong's surau(..mosque). Awesome man how these motley crew of old pensioners with time on their hands going afar as Sibu to look for the right 'wood" material for their bedok.

A "bedok" is actually a some sort of drum that during the old days that every surau or mosque must have. The beating of the Bedok(or gong or drum) would normally be done prior to any start of prayers.

I remembered vividly my childhood when we as young boys though would scramble to be the young boy to beat that bedok to signify the break of fast during every Ramadan month. After hitting the Bedok to inform all the neighbours on the breaking of fast, i would scramble back Ala a Usain Bolt dash to the house to "lavish' on my ais kacang!!!

As we savoured the fish over that lunch and the pensioners chattering away , i cant help remembering that Bedok at my Surau kampong where i had great pleasure in sounding it during the Ramadan month.

how simple endeavours as beating a Bedok can bring joy to a young boy in an age where the simplicity and decency of a Kampong life is enacted in a ritual of just hitting a bedok!

Magic 50

At 49 you cant help thinking about that magic figure of 50 ....,wrote this short poem on my blackberry a while back so here goes.....

Soon my life will hit a figure of fifty
But then can i say i lead a life aplenty
Soon my life will hit a figure of fifty
But then i know life has no guarantee

I know i have my measure of imperfections
But i will not lead a life of limitations
For i want to lead a life full of actions

Life is a narration of stories and memories
But i do know my life is not all about glories
Soon I will reach a figure of fifty
But i will try to be always remain as witty
Thank you for a life that has a nice rhapsody
But i will not swap with any form of booty

Soon my life will reach a figure of fifty
And i hope i can look back at my life with dignity
My life has been eventful and am thankful
But then how can a man measure a life that is hopefully full.
Soon my life will reach a figure of fifty.

ha..i just 'recyle' the above poem which i penned a year ago, Wish to thank Allah SWT the Almighty to continue blessing me and the family with good health ..the sanctity of a family and the blessings from your loved ones will always be the foundation and aspirations of all your endeavours.

We all make mistakes and failures but we must not confuse failures and dissapointmments...Dissapointments are always there littering your trail of life . I was also blessed with great people working with me at my office , their dedications and sincerity of trying to work and collaborate for the greater being of the corporation knows no bounds .

My mother and siblings non assuming nature and not posing much demands and expectaions from me being the eldest makes also my life easier to negotiate, and a Mother's unconditional love is always the most underrated virtue because it is free and demands no conditions, and like any human being we sometimes fail to notice its unbounded value to the stability and happiness in your life.

The wife as always has to endure with your idiosyncrocies that you sometimes exhibit..but then after 22 years of marriage she learns to accept you warts and all.

Life is meaningless if if you cant feel the joy , pain, sorrow, dissapoinments and exhilarations of your children.

you always worry that you may spoilt them and thus making them unprepared for the real world, a world sometimes fractured with dishonesty, jealousy and vengeance ...but so far while not being seen as too complacent, both me and the wife believe we have done a decent job.

Happy Birthday Indonesia

Tomorrow, the 17 Th August is Indonesia's National or Independence Day. A country blessed with diversity of culture and the diligence of its workforce especially its youth, Indonesia to me is still an enigma.

As stated in the wikepidia......

The Republic of Indonesia (pronounced /ˌɪndoʊˈniːziə/ or /ˌɪndəˈniːʒə/) (Indonesian: Republik Indonesia), is a country in Southeast Asiaand Oceania. Indonesia comprises 17,508 islands, and with an estimated population of around 237 million people, it is the world's fourthmost populous country, and has the largest Muslim population in the world.

Indonesia is a republic, with an elected legislature and president. The nation's capital city is Jakarta. The transcontinental country shares land borders with Papua New Guinea, East Timor and Malaysia. Other neighboring countries include Singapore, Philippines, Australia, and the Indian territory of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

The Indonesian archipelago has been an important trade region since at least the seventh century, when the Srivijaya Kingdom traded with China and India. Local rulers gradually adopted Indian cultural, religious and political models from the early centuries CE, and Hindu andBuddhist kingdoms flourished. Indonesian history has been influenced by foreign powers drawn to its natural resources. Muslim traders brought Islam, and European powers fought one another to monopolize trade in the Spice Islands of Maluku during the Age of Discovery. Following three and a half centuries of Dutch colonialism, Indonesia secured its independence after World War II. Indonesia's history has since been turbulent, with challenges posed by natural disasters, corruption, separatism, a democratization process, and periods of rapid economic change.

Across its many islands, Indonesia consists of distinct ethnic, linguistic, and religious groups. The Javanese are the largest and most politically dominant ethnic group. Indonesia has developed a shared identity defined by a national language, ethnic diversity, religious pluralism within a majority Muslim population, and a history of colonialism and rebellion against it. Indonesia's national motto, "Bhinneka Tunggal Ika" ("Unity in Diversity" literally, "many, yet one"), articulates the diversity that shapes the country. However, sectarian tensions and separatism have led to violent confrontations that have undermined political and economic stability. Despite its large population and densely populated regions, Indonesia has vast areas of wilderness that support the world's second highest level of biodiversity. The country is richly endowed with natural resources, yet poverty is a defining feature of contemporary Indonesia.

Indeed Indonesia is a fascinating country not the least the fact that it shares the same root of history as Malaysia and both Nations has many similarities.

I for one has visited the country numerous times and besides the usual haunts of Jakarta,Bali, bandung; the hub of the country is more evident in Jogjakarta and Solo. When frequenting this places , you can still sense the deep rooted Javanese culture and the Monument Borobudur is indeed apt to be called a world heritage.

Indonesia in my view still have a significant role to play on the world stage, as a moderate Muslim nation and also a nation that has a significant workforce that has the intellect and diligence to be a economic powerhouse. We sometimes read or hear some negative connotations of Indonesia but i can confidently say that you need to be there in the midst of its populace to appreciate the energy of the country and its desire to transform itself into an authentic democratic nation.

Happy Birthday Indonesia and may peace and prosperity reign this blessed country for the region needs you as our leader in all fields and endeavours.

'Skewed"chicken, a statistician's tool

1. 
   

A week back attending a function i was seated next to a statistician.

Honestly one tend to forget that we do have a statistics department in our midst, possibly feeding the authorities with reams of data and facts.

In this day of the Internet, somehow we have somehow dismiss obtrusively what come out of the statistics department, well if we have the Wikepedia, google and other Internet sources of knowledge and information no one can be blamed!

Now back to the statistician....i got into a cosnversation with him and possibly the same mundane questions people ask(just like how's the weather ) if one does get to meet them:

Me: Hmm must be an interesting job, by the way, what's the population of Sarawak

Statistician(in a prompt , authoritative manner): 2.5 Millions give and take.

Me: What is our neighbours Sabah's population?

Statistician: 3.2 million roughly!!!

Me: Uhhh? i can still remember in the 80s Sabah has a lesser population, what did they eat? 'Manok?(Chicken in Tagalog)

Statistician gave me a real look of confusion and thinking i must be crazy ,sorry sir you didn't get my drift(ha..)

The conversation continues..

Me: How do we measure poverty?

Statistician: Well, the poverty income level is defined as below Rm800 and our poverty rate in Sarawak is only around 3-4%!!(as he emphasised it rather proudly)

Let me do a bit of statistics work..so Sarawak have around only 100,000 poor people.

Me: How's that? I know for a fact that rural populace on average earns possibly less than that figure.

Statistician(now looking at me in a more quizzical manner): Ah ha we have a way of dealing with this, you see a farmer or fisherman will not have a salary of more than RM800 because of their self sufficiency and of course you cant label them as poor , so we come up with a kind of variation to this sof poverty for the rural folks...

Me (waiting in anticipation for the eureka exclamation) : how's that done sir?

Statistician: you see we collate the frequency chicken meals they have per week or month and a family that has quite a frequent chicken dinner despite earning less than RM800 will not categorise as being POOR!!!

Wow, what great logic and trust statistics to come up with such innovative and may i say a "skewed " chicken idea to redefine poverty into a more palatable(pardon the pun) figure.

Me(just not giving up and probe further..): Sir, what about the urban folks? we know for a fact that even a RM1500 income for family will not be sufficient for them to afford eating chicken frequently! You see, there is always the Kancil and low cost housing payments to take care of and a plethora of other incidental expenses that one has to endure living in towns or cities.

Statistician: (Gave me a wild look and change the subject)......This H1N1 is a scary thing !!

Me: ya indeed.

And i turned to a person sitting on my right ..."what do you think Doctor?"

That's another story and at the function the chicken lunch is great and now i felt a bit more pleased knowing that a chicken meal is indeed still a measure of a person's poverty level!!! ha!

The curtain raiser,a Fletcher's day

Last night saw the usual curtain raiser game for the season, the Charity Shield. Even though officially this game is still considered a pre-season event, nonetheless it still attract due attention and seriousness.

The reason being it will be always viewed as a thermometer to the season to come.

Well the game was true to its billing. It was as usual a great advert for English football particularly if the opponents were none other than the top 2 teams in the English league.

The game started brightly for Manchester united and makes one wonder that while Fergie being shrewd as he is touting the possible replacement for Ronaldo being Owen or Valencia whereas in actual fact it can be Nani the real joker up Fergie's sleeve.

Nani was brilliant until his untimely departure from the game due to hopeful a non serious injury.

The whole game was a real treat ..Lampard as usual commanding but to me if United had won ;the Man of the Match would have gone to one Darren Fletcher. He was brilliant , covering every blade of Wembley grass.

As i watched this once bit part player blosssoming into an important cog in Fergie's well oiled machine of a team , it reflected the underlying strength of United's philosophy.... A great team do not need everyone to be a Galactico but a team also need an unsung hero who burst their lungs out for the team with their drive, hard tackling and wholesome energy.

I remembered such a player in the 70's , Brian Talbot of Arsenal. An all action player that complements the artistic skills of Chippy Brady.

Talbot's impressive stamina and fitness meant he played nearly every Arsenal first-team game for the next five seasons, missing fewer than half a dozen League games. In all, the strong and sturdy midfielder played 327 first-team matches for the Gunners, scoring 49 goals. He also played for England, five times while at Ipswich and once as an Arsenal player.

Fletcher is one such player and as i watched him clearing a ball from danger in the penalty area and next sending a well executed pass to Rooney, i felt content that the Galactico Ronaldo will may not be there anymore donning the red jersey but i will still be looking forward to the new season and hope and confident that it will a Fletcher's season.

Rotinsulu is in town!!

My favourite contemporary singer is undoubtedly Hendri Rotinsulu,his mesmerising and soothing voice definitely will be a good respite to hear after a hard day's work at the office.

Rotinsulu gave a lasting impression to some of us here in Kuching after his performance few years ago at a PERKIM charity dinner. Henceforth we kept in touch including on the Face book.

So it was a great weekend when Hendri came down to Kuching to give another performance at a Wedding anniversary of a prominent couple.

However he and his wife did make time to drop by at my place...well we had a small get together with close friends eating Ba Ku Teh and Sarawak Laksa.

Being a talented singer as he is ,he also serenade us with a few songs ,playing on Diyana's piano and wow we had a great time, thanks a million Hendri.

I was also incidentally invited to the anniversary dinner last night and the crowd that appreciates Malay/Indonesian soul music was exhilarated with Hendri's masterful performance.

It must be a Hendri's weekend for me for today another close friend invited me for lunch with Hendri at the Sarawak club, we had more time to talk and we are asking each other of our specific plans for our birthday...well one thing i can only claim i have in common with this very talented, unassuming singer is we share the same birthday.

Hendri, just sing my favourite song of yours(Citra..) for my birthday , that will be fine my good friend.

Thank you again for making our weekend such an enjoyable one.

Aquino's Army Bastion, the Lucky Plaza

Just came back from Singapore and orchard Road as usual was the place that one normally visit and spend time . Amazed at the large crowd, who says Singapore is in a recession?

The large crowd?
Hold on !! No wonder it is a Sunday and an off day for all Filipino maids and workers.

Their usual haunt is the Lucky Plaza and this ritual has been going on for more than 20 years.

I still remembered while i was working in Johor Bahru in late 80's and frequenting Orchard Road during the weekends, Lucky Plaza was always abuzz with the Filipino maids and workers.

So poignant that the weekend saw the passing of a great Filipino leader, the late Corazon Aquino. She was the symbol of people's power in those days when the autocratic leader, Marcos was overthrown.Aquino symbolised the aspirations of its people then, a need to be free from the clutches of dictatorship and as i watched these Filipino maids chattering away among friends at Lucky Plaza i cant help acknowledging that these are the people that keeps the Philippines economy going for the biggest contributor to the national economy was the billions worth of remittance that these foreign workers send home to their families in Philippines.

I am sure the late Corazon will be smiling as she looks at the optimistic antics of her fellow Filipinos, their country's biggest asset.