Chelsea to win it

That was a very-very good result at Upton Park. I did not expect Chelsea to drop points at the weekend but with Arsenal (the team I support) drawing at Turf Moor (Burnley) at mid-week but winning at home against tricky Hull City, I can proudly say that the English Premier League is now the most exciting league in the world!

Of course, it's not that I have high-hopes for the Gunners. I am always skeptical these days with Arsenal since they have yet to claim a major trophy in 4 years. However, deep inside my heart, I know that Arsene is Mr. Arsenal. He's building a proper football club, concentrating on the development of the youth and who knows, in the years to come, these creme de la creme will be the most feared team in the world, winning back to back titles.

Saying that though, Mr. Wenger has a problem. He's too stubborn. When the media said this, he will quickly brush off their opinions just to prove that he's got his own stand. It is true that football is a physical game. Thats why you have a gym at your training ground. I know this since my younger days, failing to get into the school team simply because I was too small.

Maybe I should marry a Swedish girl so that my children won't suffer the same fate!

So, Arsenal really need lanky players on the field. Abou Diaby should play more regularly as long as he can put behind his niggling injuries. He could provide more aerial prowess and win the ball from the middle of the park. We also need a towering striker because it would be a waste to have Bakary Sagna supplying the crosses but with a Crouch-like bean-pole unavailable up front. I am not sure if Bendtner is ready for the job though.

As for our two center backs, Gallas and Vermaelen, well, they might be fast, but we still need to improve on defending setpieces because we do struggle with them a lot of times. I have no proposals on who we should sign to replace Gallas next season but I do hope tall players from other positions will come back and defend well for the shorties.

Note that I use 'we' because I feel like I am a part of Arsenal FC. It's a 'religious' thing if you ask the English.

As for this season, I really think is going to be tight. I do not think Chelsea will have a difficult January due to the African Nations Cup because, if you look at the fixtures, they will have some easy opponents. Manchester United meanwhile is having a torrid time solving their defensive crisis with the likes of Rio and Nemanja struggling to be fit. Aston Villa can mount a serious title challenge this season if they can get atleast a point from the Boxing Day game against the Gunners. Even Tottenham is not far behind.

Liverpool is already out of the race strictly speaking.

It is going to be an exciting season. With Arsenal giving hopes to the faithfuls, my verdict is that Chelsea will grab the title from holders Manchester United.

What? Of course I'm an avid Arsenal supporter, but I'm just being realistic and impartial here. We will finish second this season if we are lucky enough.

Man Utd and their City rivals will complete the Big Four.

West Ham, Hull and Portsmouth will be relegated.

Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas to everyone.

Jeg Hui

Know your rights

Yesterday I had a quarrel with a lady on the phone regarding a Paypal scam. Yes, yes I know you guys might think how lame I am that I could fall for the trap but in my defence, the scammer had 59 100% positive feedbacks and it didn't cross a novice user like me that eBay accounts might be hacked into.

The lady requested for a further 3-day investigation period instead of the informed-on-the-screen only 10 days were given to the seller to supply them with information to resolve the issue. I argued that Paypal didn't put the 3-day lag anywhere in the Terms and Conditions and it was so clear that Mohamad Hossain (a suspect terrorists-mother-funder *&%^&) had cheated more than 2 people after my case was opened.

15 minutes and £6 pounds later, the lady still insisted that she would look into the matter again, and I suspected PayPal has actually forgotten about the case and only revisited the matter after I gave a nasty call.

Guess what happened 2 minutes after I slammed the phone? (not literally - you simply ended the call with the touch of a button these days, if you're from Mars). The amount immediately appeared on my PayPal account balance as £442.00 instead of £0.00.

"Now you know who's the boss!" I muttered.

Well it's somehow reaffirming that customers are always right. We are like Kings and bosses when come to business deals. These people just want your money, and so, they must earn it. I remember each time I went out with me Ma for lunch or dinner in Kelana Jaya and each time if she's unhappy with her food, I will ask the waiter/waitress to taste the food/drink and ask him/her if they were any good.

In the end, it's either I ask for a refund or replace the drink (the lesser punishment always applies).

The week before, Ginnan Sushi offered me free soft-shell crab Maki and Sushi and Sashimi Set worth £18 pounds after they failed to deliver fresh sashimi in the previous order. They only did that because I demanded of my right as they stated in their advert the foods are all fresh, guaranteed in a straight-forward email.

People always forget about this kinda things. Don't call me aggressive just because I am exercising my rights. Some people are just too shy, if not too scared to ask even though they know they should get what is rightfully theirs.

However, I don't know if it works in Malaysia though. When dealing with repairs services, people seldom forget that a shoddy work by the repairman must always be complained with their service unpaid. It happened to be before when I sent my old bike for repairs in PJ when the rude Uncle nastily and hastily repaired my bike right in front of me and I simply paid him the money without no fuss.

Returning from home, I thought, what the hell? I paid RM20 for that shit service?

Atleast I have learnt from that mistake. Some people however, just don't get it. They send their cars for repairs at Ah Cheong's place, more than 10 times just to get the wiper done while the rest of the parts would came loose later.

Yes, Ah Cheong is a real guy who has a car service center next to BSN/711 in Kelana Jaya.

So KJ mates, avoid the place at all cost!

I dunno if it's a tragic blunder by some companies asking us to leave customer feedbacks. So make sure you do it sincerely, honestly and BLUNTLY (if you may).

It works for me.

Zambry’s Q&A Session

As usual every weekend I will always look for an opportunity to fill up the day in boring London. I received an invitation to attend a session called “The new Perak: Emerging from the Crisis” by Perak Menteri Besar Dato Seri Zambry Abdul Kader so I guess I wanted to give it a go.

As I didn’t want to be late, after a quick lunch at Thai Square, Strand (being served by a pretty bespectacled Siamese lady – worth notifying here) I dashed to the Kings College’s Edmund J Safra Lecture Theatre only to find out the guests of honour were late, as expected.

This time, we had a better proportion of Malaysians from the floor. We had more Malays than UKEC Homecoming for Nik Nazmi, although these so called people who claimed to be multiracial still sit with their own ‘kind’. The Malays with the Malays, the Non-Malays with Non-Malays although the sight of a Datuk with his Caucasian wife of about 40 years from Ipoh somehow added some balance to it.

A good Chinese friend of mine had saved me a good spot and here we go, here we go. I noticed the man of the moment from a group of smartly dressed men taking their seats. Zambry was all smiling (northen slang - ghenyeh) like a ‘kerang busuk’ in the eyes of Pakatan supporters but like a friendly leader for the neutrals and the BN supporters.

MC: Salam 1Malaysia.

What? A new way to greet Malaysians?

It was my first time listening to Zambry and my take on him is he is indeed a friendly leader. The man got some humour in him as well. A bit about himself during his younger days, he claimed to be very active in football and was dubbed the ‘Pangkor Pele’. I couldn’t hold my laughter any longer when I started imagining Pele and Zambry side by side playing for Team Pangkor in a friendly match.

Man, don’t they look like brothers? Or shall I say father and his 40s son?

Zambry had the State Secretary Dr. Abdul Rahman Hashim and his laywer Feirouz (who looks like Nazir Razak) by his side seated on the stage together with the MC. He promised not to be too political during his speech and would rather have a no-holds barred session with the members of the floor. He also commented a bit on how he will do about improving the economy of Perak. He even repeatedly urged the Perakians (and also non-perakians) to return to Perak and develop the state.

At first sight, Dr. Abdul Rahman didn’t look friendly with his long face. Feirouz’s tie was too long. And Zambry couldn’t stop smiling. The hardcore Pakatan fans were not impressed with Zambry’s smile and it clearly showed when they bombarded the questions. One was even seen to be so emotionally engulfed, asking questions while struggling to breathe.

Feirouz was there to read out the Perak Constitution when needed to. There were the same old Q and A you can find these days so I will not elaborate more here. Generally I am satisfied with Zambry’s and Feirouz’s answers to the questions although I could not be bothered as I knew the answer even before the session.

However there’s something new that I haven’t heard of that is under the Perak Constitution, a pact must work officially as a team in order to be recognised as having the immediate majority. During the March 2008 election, Barisan was only short of two seats in order to take the majority. PAS, PKR and DAP however, did not officially work under an umbrella during the election and even by saying that, “WITH THE DISCREATION OF THE SULTAN”, PAS-PKR-DAP was still accepted to be the new lawmakers of Perak.

To be fair, let me remind you that Pakatan Rakyat was not in existent during the last election.

Feirouz then said under the Perak Constitution, if a party has lost its majority, the MB must immediately resign from his post. But Nizar did not even the Sultan has advised him to. Then, I quote Zambry saying “the Divajee Sivakumar” who claimed to be the rightful Speaker suspended Zambry and 8 other BN ADUNs and passed one motion.

“You call this democracy?” Zambry asked the audience and smiled.

I have to agree that Sivakumar made that mistake because he was overwhelmed by emotion. How can you suspend half of the Opposition Team to vote? It’s like having the referee red carding 10 players from the same team right after the kickoff and let the goalie play all alone?

I may sound like a BN supporter now but for the case of Perak, I believe that Pakatan is calling the kettle black and is fighting the losing battle. Be a man. You lose the numbers, you bow out gracefully.

Sept 16, if you had the numbers, are you saying you will dissolve the Parliament?

Well at least according to one smart ass law student (dressed up like a lawyer just to convince the audience that he knows EVERYTHING about the law and Anwar Ibrahim.)

The boy, arrogantly asked Feirouz to read out the Perak Constitution regarding the power of Sultan declaring BN as the rightful lawmakers because he couldn’t find it anywhere and Feirouz read it out word by word quite handsomely.

“WITH THE DISCREATION OF SULTAN this… WITH THE DISCREATION OF SULTAN that...”

The boy could not say anything. He then, out of anger boldly made a statement “I believe if Sept 16 was to materialised, ANWAR WILL DISSOLVE THE PARLIAMENT”

Zambry quickly replied (with a smile, again), “Brother… trust me, I know Anwar better than you do.”

Then the crowd was laughing at the boy. Clearly a hardcore Pakatan fan here, blinded by the charm words of his idols. Even a neutral like me felt he was ‘too clever’ to say that. Red-faced, he was just speechless.

I always reminded my now defunct rock band to simply have fun when performing in front of a big crowd, as long as you don’t make a fool of yourself.

When the long 3 hour session came to almost an end, the microphone was passed to Abdul Rahman and he suddenly said, with a school-teacher tone, “Based on the questions given by you, it is clear that some if not all of you did not read the case fully, comprehensively and fairly. I am shocked that you are supposed to be talented Malaysians and you should do more investigation not just read and absorb everything you read in the blogs.” (Note: not his real quote, but something like that lah).

To be honest, what Rahman said is true, but maybe not the right manner. We are not schoolchildredn!

One bespectacled M. Nasir look-alike from Swansea immediately rose up and asked Abdul Rahman to take back his words, because he, self-claiming to be representing the members of the floor, felt offended with Abdul Rahman’s remark as if the audience were that stupid.

“TARIK BALIK! TARIK BALIK!”

Haha! What do you think this is? Circus? Malaysian Parliament?

Again Zambry had to save the day. “Dia dah tarik balik la tu…”

The crowd just laughed off the incident and I still smile each time I remember that incident.

“TARIK BALIK!!”

To wrap up the session, Zambry kept reminding himself and the people to do less with politics and work hard for the State of Perak. He told us he just got back from the USA to find investors to develop Perak, helping the state to regain the title the richest state in Malaysia.

“PERAK MAJU DAN AMAN.” – Perak – Peace and Prosperity.

Well, best of luck for that mate. I miss the old peaceful Perak, Taiping especially, the town I grew up in.

After checking the goodies (including a Daulat Tuanku badge, Criminalise War badge, Nasi Goreng and currypuffs), I headed home smiling… just like Zambry.

Ghenyeh ghenyeh…

Adab berdoa

Adab berdoa.

Masih aku ingat ketika aku masih kecil. Susuk badan yang memang kecil membuatkan aku menjadi bahan bulian seorang rakan di sekolah agama di Assam Kumbang, Taiping. Sepulangan aku ke rumah, diadukan kisah itu kepada ibuku… tetapi aduan itu hanyalah terpendam di dalam hati. Aku yang pernah menyandang gelaran ‘Si Leleh’ oleh kerana suka menangis, sentiasa mengingatkan diri sendiri supaya menjadi lebih tabah dan kuat seperti abang-abangku.

Namun pada suatu hari, kemarahan aku tidak dapat lagi dibendung. Kerana sangat marahnya aku kepada Hafiz, aku mengeluarkan tangan aku lalu berdoa supaya Allah datangkan bala kepadanya dan gagal dalam peperiksaan akan datang.

Aku pada ketika itu berumur 7 atau 8 tahun. Tidak pasti.

Beberapa hari kemudiannya, aku diajarkan adab-adab berdoa oleh Ustaz Baharum. Seingatku, ada diajarkan tentang doa yang tidak akan diterima Allah dan doa-doa di waktu yang mustajab.

Antara doa-doa yang ditolak oleh Islam termasuklah doa meminta supaya diri sendiri dicabutkan nyawa oleh Allah ketika berada dalam keadaan yang sangat malang dan susah. Peringatan yang diajarkan ustaz ini masih segar di kotak fikiranku.

Aku seraya bertanyakan Ustaz Baharum jika dimakbulkan doa memintakan musibah atau bala diturunkan kepada orang yang jahat yang melakukan perkara-perkara yang menyakiti kepada kawan-kawan, sambil mencebik muka ke arah Hafiz. Aku begitu mengharap Ustaz akan ‘menyokong’ adab berdoa sebegini kerana apa yang aku mahukan hanyalah keadilan dari Allah. Namun aku ternyata salah apabila ustaz menjawab,

“Tidak akan diterima doa yang meminta Allah menurunkan keburukan ke atas orang lain. Sebaik-baiknya, kita doakan supaya dia insaf dan kembali ke pangkal jalan. Jika tak boleh nak tegur pakai tangan, tegurlah pakai mulut dengan kata-kata. Jika tak mampu juga, tegurlah dengan hati dengan mendoakan dia supaya kembali kepada Allah.”

Tersentak hati aku pada ketika itu dan selalu menanyakan kenapa Allah tidak terus membalas si Hafiz yang nakal ini. Ustaz menambah yang dalam berdoa, kita harus bersabar dan nescaya Allah akan perkenan doa kita.

Sehingga kini aku amalkan nasihat yang Ustaz Baharum berikan. Apabila dewasa kini, aku sentiasa kaitkan nasihat-nasihat yang cikgu-cikgu serta ustaz berikan dengan ayat-ayat suci Al-Quraan untuk mendapatkan pengesahannya. Maka tergerak lah hati aku pada hari ini untuk mencari dalil yang menyatakan jika elok atau tidak kita mendoakan keburukan orang lain.

Antaranya adalah seperti berikut.

Nabi s.a.w bersabda :

" Tidaklah seorang muslim di atas bumi ini berdoa kepada Allah dengan suatu doa melainkan doanya tersebut akan dikabulkanNya atau dihindarkan orang itu dari bahaya sebanding dengan apa yang dimintanya selama doa itu tidak mengandungi dosa atau bermaksud hendak memutuskan silaturrahim "

-Hadis Riwayat At-Tirmidzi-

Dan satu lagi,

" Janganlah kamu berdoa buruk terhadap dirimu , begitupun terhadap
anak-anakmu dan terhadap harta bendamu , Jangan sampai nanti doamu itu bertepatan dengan suatu saat dimana Allah sedang memenuhi permohonan , hingga doa burukmu itu benar-benar terkabul "

-Hadis Riwayat Muslim-

Aku sewaktu kecil yang masih naïf itu tidak pernah merasakan dirinya begitu besar sehinggakan boleh melakukan sesuatu perkara yang Allah larang.

Aku pada ketika itu mempunyai semangat inkuiri yang sangat tinggi dan suka bertanyakan soalan kepada ibu bapaku, guru-guru, ustaz dan ustazah.

Bagi aku mereka inilah pendidik, mereka inilah yang aku harapkan supaya tidak sesat dalam arus kemewahan dan kekuasaan duniawi.

Aku pada ketika itu, hanyalah 7 atau 8 tahun, menyesal dengan tindakan mendoakan keburukan saudara seagama.

Sekelumit pun aku tidak berubah, jika diri ini dilihat kebudak-budakan hanya kerana bertanyakan soalan, meminta diajarkan agama yang sebetul-betulnya.

Kerana aku takut azab Allah…

Masih aku ingat, 7 atau 8 tahun umur aku ketika itu.

Yang berumur 78 tahun, bagaimanalah agaknya?

Jeg Hui

The Truth about BTN

Since Biro Tatanegara has been a hot issue of the late, thanks to an ADUN friend who brought out that matter at the Selangor State level, I will try to write of my personal experience and be as impartial as possible. To date, I’ve already gone to TWO BTNs as part of the pre-departure course under PNB and MARA. To be honest, I have mixed feelings about it.

I will talk about the food things first. Did I just say food? That was not a blatant typo but the food at BTNs is just AMAZING! I do not know if it has got to do with the hectic of jungle trekking or the marching practices but the food is simply fantastic. They may be simple Malaysian dishes like ‘ikan kembung goreng’ or ‘sayur campur’ but somehow even the steamed rice has some magic in it.

The ‘Pakcik Komandos’, I must say, are the unsung heroes in BTN programmes. They may look like they can eat you alive, but they are the nicest people around. They are very helpful, polite and really funny too. Their spontaneous jokes might have some repeated ones (just like other stand-up comedies anyway) but they can really make me laugh my flatulence off.

The programme itself, when done together for the whole group, is actually really good. It promotes unity, indoctrinating participants of the history of Malaysia, nationalism and patriotism (I do not know if they are of any different). During my second BTN in Negeri Sembilan, Namawee was the star of the show.

Note: Namawee, you can rap all you want mate, but rapping out of our National Anthem is somewhat disgraceful. Use Rasa Sayang or Anak Ayam if you may. They worked for Too Phat.

The difference between the two BTNs I attended is actually the age group. The first BTN was attended by pre-U students while the second one was mostly comprised of post-grad students. The level of maturity by the participants between the two was obvious but still I could find a ‘gila kuasa’ Penghulu making an idiot of himself. (I will not elaborate more).

The second BTN gave us some real life stories in which I found really helpful in terms of finding the truth out of it. This includes the Negarakuku as said above, Kampong Baru incident, corruption statistics (with the then ACA being the most corrupt) and others. Then we were separated into smaller groups of 10 to 15 I think. Now comes the bad part.

It was really weird when the groups were distributed, the Non-Malays (including Sabah Sarawak Bumiputras) are grouped together as one or two groups. I was quite angry not to be part of the Non-Malay group so that I could mingle with them more. (And of course, the fit girl I fancied went to the group as well :P). Later, I realised why the distribution was like so.

From my two visits to BTN, both facilitators that I got were downright RACISTS! The first BTN in Balik Pulau, there were two Chinese girls in my group but that didn’t stop the fascist facilitator from bashing the Chinese and Indians as ‘bangsa pendatang’ and making racist comments. Since I had enough of him, I planned on questioning his motives but I didn’t want to embarrass him in front of the group and so, I asked him one plain question right after the scheduled brainwashing class.

He was commenting on the way how DAP-Cina would administer the federal government. DAP was labelled as a Communist Party that would only anger the Malays because of their principles. And so, I asked him, “Kita sekarang ni, di Balik Pulau. Kenapa saya lihat kawasan di Balik Pulau ni seakan tidak maju? Dan rata-rata penduduknya Orang Melayu. Kenapa UMNO biarkan Gerakan ‘tindas’ orang Melayu dan orang Kampung di Balik Pulau dari segi pembangunan?”

Do you know what he answered?

“Kita sedang pantau mereka. UMNO sedang pantau mereka…”

What is that supposed to mean? Pantau? Is that the best you can do? Just now you were talking your wrinkly-racist-balls out like the world is yours and now, you are telling me the best you can do to these Chinese Penang government is to monitor their progress? Just because they are part of BN?

Why cudn’t you say the same to them just like you said about DAP?

I think he’s got himself the taste of his own medicine. He wanted to be Ultra-UMNO, Ultra-Malay but deep in his heart, he knows that he, being a big-headed veteran, we are all Malaysians after all and he shouldn’t play the racist card as he will end up answering tough questions like that with stupid answers like so.

I did nothing but shook my head with a bit of a smirk on my face. BTN is such a good way to promote unity and to remind us of the sacrifices our fore-fathers had made in order for us to enjoy peace and harmony in Malaysia. However, because of this kind of fascists roaming around freely trying to ‘convert’ the participants into anti-Non-Malays Group has somewhat tainted the BTN image. They shouldn’t be allowed to even step foot on the Malaysian soil at all!

Then, there was one question that the group had to answer, the one big fat question that all participants will be talking about after the course. I knew right from the start that the answer was going to be:

“C: Give the project to the Government-friendly consortium although it has poor knowledge and expertise about the project.”

It is because I know A and B had the keyword “Opposition” and “Foreign Company” respectively, and after all we only had the so-called ‘healthy’ one-way discussion with The Fascist so I urged the group to just pick C so that we could have an early lunch!

Away from my own experience, I was told by my friend that her Muslim friend was asked one question that goes “If you have to choose one, would you pick the country first or your religion first?”

Being a boss for some time in a Multinational Company, she answered, “Islam first”.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, I will pick religion over country.”

“Why? Without our country, there will be no Islam!”

“No, I will choose Islam over country at all cost. I am a Muslimah”

Muslimah indeed, not your Dina Zaman-like ‘Muslimah’.

And then the Fascist started sobbing and crying. When I heard that I was like?

“What? This is new! Now they are rejecting Islam over BN? Ya Allah! Crying some more?”

So yeah, I’m not saying that all facilitators are like that. I would say most of them are like that. Depends on which group you are in. I bet the facilitator in the Non-Malay group would be more 1Malaysia.

It’s sad… because I want to see more of the Komandos and the great people among the participants. Hey, I made many friends from BTN (and many annoying ones too). The fact of the matter is, BTN is great when racial cards are not played. I am not sure if we are provided booklets to hate the Opposition nowadays as reported by some, (there wasn’t any during my time) but if he BN people think BTN is their greatest weapon, they are just plain wrong.

We may look like kids. But we are not. People grow up, you know?

And so are Malaysians.

Re: Sepet 10.5 by Dina Zaman

Dina Zaman is as it again, speaking her mind out without checking the Holy Book. And yet many of you adore her!

Dalilnya : Surah Al-Baqarah: 221

وَلَا تَنكِحُواْ ٱلۡمُشۡرِكَـٰتِ حَتَّىٰ يُؤۡمِنَّ‌ۚ وَلَأَمَةٌ۬
مُّؤۡمِنَةٌ خَيۡرٌ۬ مِّن مُّشۡرِكَةٍ۬ وَلَوۡ أَعۡجَبَتۡكُمۡ‌ۗ وَلَا
تُنكِحُواْ ٱلۡمُشۡرِكِينَ حَتَّىٰ يُؤۡمِنُواْ‌ۚ وَلَعَبۡدٌ۬ مُّؤۡمِنٌ
خَيۡرٌ۬ مِّن مُّشۡرِكٍ۬ وَلَوۡ أَعۡجَبَكُمۡ‌ۗ أُوْلَـٰٓٮِٕكَ يَدۡعُونَ
إِلَى ٱلنَّارِ‌ۖ وَٱللَّهُ يَدۡعُوٓاْ إِلَى ٱلۡجَنَّةِ وَٱلۡمَغۡفِرَةِ
بِإِذۡنِهِۦ‌ۖ وَيُبَيِّنُ ءَايَـٰتِهِۦ لِلنَّاسِ لَعَلَّهُمۡ
يَتَذَكَّرُونَ

Dan janganlah kamu berkahwin dengan perempuan-perempuan kafir musyrik sebelum mereka beriman (memeluk agama Islam) dan sesungguhnya seorang hamba perempuan yang beriman itu lebih baik daripada perempuan kafir musyrik sekalipun keadaannya menarik hati kamu. Dan janganlah kamu (kahwinkan perempuan-perempuan Islam) dengan lelaki-lelaki kafir musyrik sebelum mereka beriman (memeluk agama Islam) dan sesungguhnya seorang hamba lelaki yang beriman lebih baik daripada seorang lelaki musyrik, sekalipun keadaannya menarik hati kamu. (Yang demikian ialah kerana) orang-orang kafir itu mengajak ke Neraka sedangkan Allah mengajak ke Syurga dan memberi keampunan dengan izinNya. Dan Allah menjelaskan ayat-ayatNya (keterangan-keterangan hukumNya) kepada umat manusia, supaya mereka dapat mengambil pelajaran (daripadanya)

Good read on Hijjab (tudung)

A convesation for Muslim sisters:

"I'm so tired."

"Tired of what?"

"Of all these people judging me."

"Who judged you?"

"Like that woman, every time I sit with her, she tells me to wear hijab."

"Oh, hijab and music! The mother of all topics!"

"Yeah! I listen to music without hijab…haha!"

"Maybe she was just giving you advice."

"I don't need her advice. I know my religion. Can`t she mind her own
business?"

"Maybe you misunderstood. She was just being nice."

"Keeping out of my business, that would be nice..."

"But it's her duty to encourage you do to good."

"Trust me. That was no encouragement. And what do you mean `good` ?"

"Well, wearing hijab, that would be a good thing to do."

"Says who?"

"It's in the Qur'an, isn't it?"

"Yes. She did quote me something."

"She said Surah Nur, and other places of the Qur'an."

"Yes, but it's not a big sin anyway. Helping people and praying is more
important."

"True. But big things start with small things."

"That's a good point, but what you wear is not important. What's important
is to have a good healthy heart."

"What you wear is not important?"

"That's what I said."

"Then why do you spend an hour every morning fixing up?"

"What do you mean?"

"You spend money on cosmetics, not to mention all the time you spend on
fixing your hair and low-carb dieting."

"So?"

"So, your appearance IS important."

"No. I said wearing hijab is not an important thing in religion."

"If it's not an important thing in religion, why is it mentioned in the Holy
Qur'an?"

"You know I can't follow all that's in Qur'an."

"You mean God tells you something to do, you disobey and then it's OK?"

"Yes. God is forgiving."

"God is forgiving to those who repent and do not repeat their mistakes."

"Says who?"

"Says the same book that tells you to cover."

"But I don't like hijab, it limits my freedom."

"But the lotions, lipsticks, mascara and other cosmetics set you free?!
What`s your definition of freedom anyway?"

"Freedom is in doing whatever you like to do."

"No. Freedom is in doing the right thing, not in doing whatever we wish to do."

"Look! I've seen so many people who don't wear hijab and are nice people, and so many who wear hijab and are bad people."

"So what? There are people who are nice to you but are alcoholic. Should we all be alcoholics? You made a stupid point."

"I don't want to be an extremist or a fanatic. I'm OK the way I am without hijab."

"Then you are a secular fanatic. An extremist in disobeying God."

"You don't get it, if I wear hijab, who would marry me?!"

"So all these people with hijab never get married?!"

"Okay! What if I get married and my husband doesn't like it? And wants me to remove it?"

"What if your husband wants you to go out with him on a bank robbery?!"

"That's irrelevant, bank robbery is a crime."

"Disobeying your Creator is not a crime?"

"But then who would hire me?"

"A company that respects people for who they are."

"Not after 9-11"

"Yes. After 9-11. Don't you know about Hanan who just got into med school?
And the other one, what was her name, the girl who always wore a white hijab…ummm…"

"Yasmeen?"

"Yes. Yasmeen. She just finished her MBA and is now interning for GE."

"Why do you reduce religion to a piece of cloth anyway?"

"Why do you reduce womanhood to high heals and lipstick colors?"

"You didn't answer my question."

"In fact, I did. Hijab is not just a piece of cloth. It is obeying God in a difficult environment. It is courage, faith in action, and true womanhood.
But your short sleeves, tight pants…"

"That's called `fashion`, you live in a cave or
something? First of all, hijab was founded by men who wanted to control
women."

"Really? I did not know men could control women by hijab."

"Yes. That's what it is."

"What about the women who fight their husbands to wear hijab? And women in France who are forced to remove their hijab by men? What do you say about that?"

"Well, that's different."

"What difference? The woman who asked you to wear hijab…she was a woman, right?"

"Right, but…"

"But fashions that are designed and promoted by male-dominated corporations, set you free? Men have no control on exposing women and using them as a commodity?! Give me a break!"

"Wait, let me finish, I was saying…"

"Saying what? You think that men control women by hijab?"

"Yes."

"Specifically how?"

"By telling women how and what to wear, dummy!"

"Doesn't TV, magazines and movies tell you what to wear, and how to be `attractive'?"

"Of course, it's fashion."

"Isn't that control? Pressuring you to wear what they want you to wear?"

[Silence]

"Not just controlling you, but also controlling the market."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, you are told to look skinny and anorexic like that woman on the cover of the magazine, by men who design those magazines and sell those products."

"I don't get it. What does hijab have to do with products."

"It has everything to do with that. Don't you see? Hijab is a threat to consumerism, women who spend billions of dollars to look skinny and live by standards of fashion designed by men…and then here is Islam, saying trash all that nonsense and focus on your soul, not on your looks, and do not worry what men think of your looks."

"Like I don't have to buy hijab? Isn't hijab a product?"

"Yes, it is. It is a product that sets you free from male-dominated consumerism."

"Stop lecturing me! I WILL NOT WEAR HIJAB!
It is awkward, outdated, and totally not suitable for this society ... Moreover, I am only 20 and too young to wear hijab!"

"Fine. Say that to your Lord, when you face Him on Judgment Day."

"Fine."

"Fine."

[Silence]

"Shut up and I don't want to hear more about hijab niqab schmijab Punjab!"

[Silence]

She stared at the mirror, tired of arguing with herself all this time.

Successful enough, she managed to shut the voices in her head, with her own opinions triumphant in victory on the matter, and a final modern decision accepted by the society - but rejected by the Faith:

"Yes!" - to curls on the hair - "No!" - to hijab!

"And he (/she) is indeed a failure who corrupts it [the soul]!"
[Holy Quran 91:10]

Subhana'Allah!!!

"Nay! You prefer the life of this world; While the hereafter is better and more lasting."
[Holy Quran: 87:16-17]


"You are the best community (Ummah) raised up for (the benefit of) humanity; enjoining what is right and forbidding what is wrong and believing in Allah."
[Holy Quran: 3:110]

Taken from http://www.masjidjamek.com/index.php/articles/6-why-she-wont-wear-hijab

Justice for Criminals?

1. Recently there have been some issues regarding cops killing armed-criminals causing a public outcry especially from a certain community.

2. The head of a Gangster group called Dewa was shot dead few days ago.

3. A young criminal was killed in a shootout and later the deceased's sister apparently forced her children to consume weed killer before taking it herself.

4. Today, a 22-year old man hanged himself after he was found guilty of killing his own mother and stuffing her body in a bag, under the sink. The cops are now accused of killing the man instead.

5. A young lad was shot to death after going amuk in a village armed with a chicken knife, just because he was left stranded in a karaoke outlet by his friends.

5. Cops are under pressure for allegedly using the 'shoot-to-kill' method when dealing with armed criminals.

6. I am not a law major but I did watch some American teles and films about how cops over there deal with armed criminals.

7. 'Suicide by cops' is a situation where an armed criminal actually pretends to shoot the cop (pointing the gun/weapon to the cop), and in the end, he is shot to death.

8. For this scenario, the cop will get away for being prosecuted for acting 'above the law'.

9. What if the cops and criminals are caught in a shoot-out rampage? Do you think it's easy to actually shoot someone without having to kill someone?

10. What if the criminals are notorious for raping, armed-robbery, killing, drug-trafficking (and causing more deaths) and they are on top of the Most Wanted List?

11. Should we just be 'nice' to these criminals? Or just kill them off?

12. This is one of the loopholes in the man-made law system.

13. While there is a need to protect the rights of criminals as citizens, we don't want to overeact on how actually they should be treated.

14. Do you think these criminals care about your lives when they are after your money/jewelleries/etc?

15. For me, if the cop shot dead a notorious killer, he should be lauded, not questioned. It is a sad thing losing a family member, but isn't it more sad to see your own flesh and blood roaming the town, killing, raping, extorting money from other people?

16. This is a general opinion. If I were to touch on case to case basis, it would be foolish because I don't even know what really happened.

17. For me, criminals are criminals, if their deaths are necessary to make this country a better place, so be it.

18. Think about the victim's family more and you will see why sometimes it should be that way.

19. Give some credits to the cops. Not all of them are friggin tw*ts.

20. Go to the source of the problem, reduce crimes by introducing stricter punishments.

Komen saya dalam petikan terbaru TDM - Sunnah wal jama'ah

Tun,

Saya pun terkejut bagaimana Ustaz Asri pun hendak diberkas.

Namun, saya sebenarnya dah lama agak suatu hari nanti beliau akan ditangkap juga kerana kononnya membawa ajaran 'wahabi' kepada orang Malaysia.

Ini adalah pendapat saya. Jika fikirkan secara ilmiah dan aqli, adakah Allah S.W.T melarang manusia beribadat kepada-Nya dan selalu mengingati-Nya?

Sebagai contoh, jika kita lakukan wirid dan doa selepas solat, adakah ia berdosa? Adakah jika diadakan tahlil, mengajak anak-anak soleh dan solehah mendoakan kesejahteraan si mati suatu DOSA?

Benar ada suatu hadith menyatakan bahawa hendaklah beribadat mengikut cara Nabi Muhammad tetapi ia dikatakan bukan secara rigid, pada pendapat saya. Yang penting sekali kita sentiasa mengingati Allah S.W.T. dengan zikir-zikir.

Sebagai contoh, dahulunya pada zaman Nabi, tidak pula ada kelengkapan radio atau cd. Tetapi kini, jika seseorang Muslim itu mahu berzikir ketika memandu kereta dengan alunan cd zikir dan wirid serta ayat-ayat suci Al-Quraan, maka adakah itu salah pada mata 'wahabi'?

Saya berkata begini bukanlah saya menuduh Dr. Asri ini pembawa ajaran 'wahabi' yang saya lihat begitu rigid atau tegas dalam ibadat.

Saya lebih suka jika Islam ini dibawakan dengan niat memartabatkan Islam dan mengaplikasikan ajarannya demi kesejahteraan dan kejayaan semua manusia.

Apa yang berlaku di antara Sunni dan Syiah hanyalah politik semata-mata. Bagi saya, Islam hanyalah satu. Tiada Sunni, tiada Syiah, tiada Hadhari, tiada Islam PAS dan lain-lain.

Sebagai pembetulan, Islam Hadhari bukanlah ajaran baru tetapi kempen yang Pak Lah mahu rakyat terima-pakai supaya Islam ini tidak nampak ektrem sepertimana kini.

Janganlah kerana benci kepada seseorang itu, kita putar-belitkan pandangannya.

Wallahualam.

UKEC Homecoming for Budu

It was Friday and I was insisting my football mates to play our weekly football on Saturday so that my weekend would be filled.

I would be bored as a Man Utd’s game if I had nothing to do for the weekend. It’s not that I have a wife or a child to hang out with like everybody else.

Having said that, Saturday night would be a poker night. But for the day it seemed gloom… until I heavy-heartedly accepted the UKEC invitation for this talk by my KMYS PNB senior, Nik Nazmi who is currently the ADUN of Seri Setia.

It’s not because of Budu (as the rest used to be calling him because these kids were calling him YB YB YB) that made me a bit hesitant to join the event. It’s simply because it was organised by a group of student ‘leaders’ or wannabe-leaders of tomorrow called UKEC that made me felt a bit uncomfortable. Previous Facebook discussion about ‘Allah’ being used by Herald Bahasa version with one of UKEC ‘leaders’ didn't help at all to convince me of their so-called ‘greatness’.

But well, yeah, for the first time, I did join their event, with the objective to actually write about that event. And so, I’m writing this, because it’s the Monday blues, with no work to do in Guy Carpenter, quite weird when everybody else is working their ass off.

So, on that Saturday afternoon, as usual, I didn’t wanna be late… because its not good when interrupting the session. So I thought. But I was not late actually. Smq gave me a call and he was with Budu, were only on their way from Holborn and it was already 2:10pm. I could see the rest of the people, about 15 of them, lepakking in the S221 room, waiting anxiously for the great YB.

2:10pm – Head count = 15 people. 1 Indian, 2 Malays and the rest Chinese. Shannon Yeoh the blogger is here. Many of them students.

I wonder why the composition was like that? The Chinese again showing how good their time management is? Or, simply the Chinese are more keen to change Malaysia.

2:15pm – While waiting for Budu to arrive, I had realised one thing which is quite crafty I must say, about the logo of UKEC. It has a bit of a PKR in it to be honest. The so called ‘eye of Zion’, the two crescents, are actually visible from the UKEC logo. I smiled. And it was a lonely smile because I sensed the mood of the audience to be a bit sombre, probably tired of waiting.

2:30pm – the event finally kicks off, Chairperson Teow Yoong Jing, from UKEC, is an avid Pakatan Rakyat fan, evidently from the banner from her blog.

Headcount = about 30-ish. Probably less. Not impressive. Was expecting more. Chinese proportion still overpowered the rest with only 4 Malays and 2 Indians. Now I am judging this group already. Is it because they don’t have many Indian or Malay friends? Or again, are the Chinese more inclined for a ‘change’ in Malaysia?

Why? Does it matter, Jeg, about what race you belong to? Well, even Budu was still talking about races when giving his speech. One of the few things he talked about are Selangor State to make the DUN independent, all Pakatan Rakyat party components sitting together for the December convention (bear in mind this has not been done ever by Barisan Nasional) to discuss about the common principles that they will uphold if they were to stay together, targeting the young voters, the constitution of Malaysia and the general election March 2008.

I am not going to elaborate more about what he has told us. Nothing special really. Because I’ve heard that before. Maybe because I have been reading a lot. However, its good to know that PKR is still keeping our Constitution as they promised in the General Election 2008, stating that ‘the Constitution is what that shapes our country’, which is fair enough, but maybe not favouring some members of the floor, who might thought Pakatan is to do away with policies that favour the Bumiputras.

Budu did give his personal view on the education system, in which I agree. He always believes there should be a single-streamed school for all Malaysians to promote unity. However, his concern about quality being the main obstacle to do away with vernacular schools is somewhat far-fetched. I have a friend, and I bet he is the best SPM student during my time, went to national school. He is now in Cambridge under the Agong Scholarship, doing PhD. I myself went to SRK St. Francis and I thought the teachers were superb!

The question over the quality, being the reason why many Chinese want to keep Chinese schools is just an excuse to me. Having said that, I am no saying we should abolish Chinese and Tamil Schools. I think we should keep them at primary level only, as stated in the Constitution. And it will give the opportunity to even Non-Chinese students to learn about their language and have the best of both worlds.

But to have Chinese Secondary schools, will polarise us more, forever.

Coming back to the event, names were brought up. Badrul, Saiful, Zulkifli, Hasan Ali, Taib Mahmud, ‘son-in-law of someone’ (I wonder why all Malays?).

Well these people are perceived as liabilities in Pakatan Rakyat or the nation. At least from Budu’s and PR hardcore fans point of view.

But kudos to Budu for not bashing them too much because it will only make him look like a typical politician.

I think it’s worth taking note here that PKR’s way to win the hearts of young Malaysians are really, really good. They are planning for an internship programme for youngsters who want to experience about what a political assistant do. (Saiful Bukhari was meant to do this really but he was just a bad apple. Or a ripe one? :P ) And Budu being Budu. He is young and now an ADUN. No wonder these young ‘leaders’ are so inspired. They feel, if Budu can do it, they can too. I believe that’s the mood that they are having right now. Which gives a positive impact to the new coalition.

I wonder what are other programmes being held by UMNO London apart from organising football tournaments, free breaking-fast in Ramadhan in collaboration with Shell and the latest being Eid Celebration, again with Shell. Why can’t we have UMNO’s Ketua Pemuda KJ coming down to London and meeting the students like Budu did recently? Arrogant maybe? Or we are not worth it since we don’t actually vote?

Anyway towards the end of the event, I can say that about 90% of the members of the floor are hoping for a change in Malaysia, if not, Pakatan Rakyat believers.

When Zulkifli Nordin’s name was mentioned, almost everyone in the room laughed as if he is a bad person. He is still a PKR MP. What he did was not that bad, when he was defending the rights of Muslims, going against Bar Council trying to officially change Lina Joy’s religion status in her MyKad and pushing the case as the precedence to changing the law about Malays being able to be Non-Muslims, as opposed to the Constitution.

But again, since there were only 4 Malays in the room, these people might not understand what Islam is about, and what the Constitution is about still. They are young students and still learning anyway. I just hope that these people are not being brainwashed to not knowing the truth and trying to be impartial a bit not to blindly following what they thought is right, in the expense of their judgment being clouded by hatred and emotion.

“I think it’s about us, knowing and understanding other people’s beliefs and religions, not condemning them. It’s a sensitive issue for us to argue about it” Budu said. (something like that, same substance but different words used). And I spontaneously gave a wink at one of the so-called leaders in UKEC who was present, the same person who went on arguing ‘Allah’ being used in Herald in Facebook..

Again when Hasan Ali’s name was mentioned, again the crowd laughed. But for many Muslims, Hasan Ali is just doing his job as a Muslim leader. And since he is from PAS, it’s not that hard to believe what he did.

My take on this is that, most of the members of the floor; don’t actually know their Malay/Muslim friends. I blame the school system!

But it’s worth mentioning here there was an Indian guy (who I assume to be neutral), who asked about why Sept 16 was made at the first place.

Budu was fast to wisely say that PKR had to go on offensive but admitted that when Perak crossovers happened, it has somehow affected PKR, if not Anwar’s credibility. His way of giving a ceramah is not a ‘typical politician’ way, which is very good actually. He is always ready to give his own opinions, despite how it can be against the party’s principles and ready to admit the flaws that his party has. He even admitted that he could be bias when commenting something where some people might think it’s a political blunder, but for me, hats off to that!

This is a unique way to win young voters. If he stays this way, avoiding any blips like Liverpool (the team he supports), then he has a lot of potential.

One thing that I forgot to ask him was his take on Anwar Ibrahim. After Anwar’s many blunders recently (Sabah issue, endorsing crossovers, playing hide and seek with Sodomy II), it would be great to know about his opinion on his previous boss.

Overall it was an Okay event. Maybe a better mix of the crowd could make it a great one. I bid him farewell and asked him to send my regards to his wife.

Beer-drinking - again

I am very surprised there are large numbers of people in support for Alcoholism.

I am living with the English people and they have a very strong beer-drinking culture and are these Malaysians trying to adopt this kind of 'healthy' culture from England just to look 'cool'?

Almost every Thursday there will be a drinking session (some call it Happy Hour in Malaysia) at about 4 p.m., and I do join them whenever possible.

My drink? Non-alcoholic cider, Coca Cola or Non-alcoholic cocktails.

Do they find me weird for not drinking? Probably not. After I told them I don't drink alcohol.

Do I get their respect? Yes. Because I was being honest and strong-willed when comes to practicing my religion. They even said that it's good I don't take alcohol because it's unhealthy.

These are the same people who have been drinking for thousands of years you see. And yet they concede it's unhealthy!

Okay, other letters in Malaysiakini might suggest the writers are atheists, by suggesting that 'it's up to the individual to decide to drink or not'.

My decision not-to-drink was first based on the teaching of my religion, Islam, and as I grow older, I know alcohol is bad for everyone when consumed as drinks.

I have seen their faces, how some can be quite blunt, volatile, randy and aggressive when they are drunk... and I am supposed to accept the fact that he's drunk that's why he groped my girlfriend when dancing?... Or rape my cousin?

Hell no! They shouldn't drink at the first place. It's like people nowadays (many Malaysians included) are being in-denial about the bad things about alcoholism, simply because they love drinking it. They don't want anyone take their love away from them. Quite obvious innit?

So, what about drugs? Ecstasy, shabu, marijuana (weed as they call it), they are easily available now in the clubs in Malaysia. They make you feel good and they seem 'harmless', so you are saying its up to the individual to decide?

How about a 12-year old kid, being introduced to smoking weed, and he thought it was harmless. You just let him decide? You don't need law-enforcement to ban drugs or alcoholic drinks to people like him?

Self-regulation MY FOOT!

Do you think the banning of cigarettes in convenience stores to under-18 actually works? These people are only interested with maximising profits!

Now, I am not suggesting a full ban on alcohol. Maybe there is a need of a certain law that will have the CCTV cameras picked and viewed randomly to see if the stores are not selling alcohol to Muslims and cigarettes to under 18s. I think that's the best we can do at the moment.

Oh by the way, there is one thing missing with the budget 2010. The increase in tax for demerit goods like alcohol and cigarettes.

In conclusion, I do not smoke, I do not drink because I think its unhealthy and I don't want my children to do those as well. I am not pious, an Ustaz or someone from PAS, but I don't do alcohol because I believe there is Allah, I am a proud Muslim and I fully understand why its bad for everyone.

So stop trying to 'convert' us non-drinkers with your petty human rights to decide what is right or wrong. I do have my right to practice my religion and so does Kartika. Now that is human rights.

Beer-drinking is bad. 'Nuff' said.

Jeg Hui

Kartika vs Kahar

Kesalahan:
Kartika = meminum arak di khalayak ramai
Kahar = mengajar dan mengetuai ajaran sesat sehingga menggelarkan diri 'Rasul Melayu'

Pengendali kes:
Kartika = Mahkamah Syariah Kuantan
Kahar = Mahkamah Syariah Shah Alam

Mengaku bersalah?
Kartika = Ya.
Kahar = Ya.

Mahu merayu?
Kartika = Tidak
Kahar = Tidak

Hukuman dikenakan:
Kartika = dirotan 3 kali serta denda RM5000
Kahar = penjara 10 tahun dan disebat 6 kali serta denda RM16,500

Status pesalah
Kartika = Umur 32 tahun, berkeluarga (dua orang anak)
Kahar = Umur 59 tahun, berkeluarga

Pandangan media dan orang ramai
Kartika = Sisters in Islam, Malaysiakini, TheStar, CNN, pejuang hak asasi manusia, komentar bukan Islam dan lain-lain media telah mengutuk hukuman Kartika yang dikatakan 'barbaric' dan ketinggalan zaman padahal Kartika sendiri berhak menentukan bagaimana cara dia mahu diadili mengikut hukum syarak. Adalah hak Kartika untuk menjadi seorang Muslimah yang tawadduk dan beriman kepada ajaran Allah.

...... Kahar?

"Biarlah orang tua tu mati dalam penjara. Menyusahkan orang saja!"

Pandangan saya:
Jika anda fikir mereka ini semua betul-betul mahu perjuangkan hak asasi manusia, fikirlah sekali lagi. Bukankah mudah jika kita berlaku adil kepada semua, bukan kerana sesuatu kes itu mendapat liputan meluas sedunia baru nak terhegeh-hegeh mencari nama demi kepentingan peribadi? Tidak ketahuan pula saya apakah hukuman sebaiknya kepada 'Rasul Melayu' ini. Adakah lebih baik jika berpandukan kepada ajaran Islam yang sememangnya adil?

Kepada orang bukan Islam atau orang Islam yang cetek ilmu pengetahuannya tentang Islam (SIS khususnya), selidiklah diri sendiri dan tanyakan, 'siapalah kita untuk memberi pandangan kepada sesuatu isu yang kita sendiri tidak arif? Bagaimana pula anda rasa jika agama dan pegangan anda disoal sebegitu? Tidak marahkah anda jika orang yang tidak berpengetahuan tentang agama anda mempersoalkan mengapa anda perlu 'menyembah patung' atau pandangan sekular yang telah menjadi pegangan anda selama ini?

Hormati dan sayangilah orang di sekeliling anda. Fahamilah tentang agama dan budaya masing-masing supaya tidak ada lagi perbalahan sesama kita.

Tak kenal maka tak cinta.

p/s: Saya juga menghormati pandangan SIS namun oleh kerana mereka ini melabel diri mereka sebagai pejuang Islam (padahal bertentangan dengan Islam), saya terpaksa kecam mereka sama sekali kerana cuba mengubah Islam yang sentiasa asli dan adil.

Wallahualam.

Ungrateful and wrong

National STPM Top Scorer, Jia Hui had her father wrote to TheStar dated 16 July 2009:

"The prestigious London School of Economics (LSE) was not on its new prestigious university list, dated March 30, 2009. In fact, foreign university applications for the 2009 intake closed before the date on the list.

I explained to its officer that the approved University of Melbourne, which my daughter had rejected earlier, was much easier to enter. My daughter said LSE is famous for actuarial science and is one of the top three universities for social science, ahead of Oxford, Cambridge, and Melbourne.

The officer said that PSD based its selection on overall university ranking, not on specific courses. The officer added that all the 20 students chosen in this round were Chinese and there was no issue of racial quota. As a national top scorer, my daughter lost to 20 students of the same race.

My daughter is disappointed and has lost her confidence. She is confused on what is defined as achievement. As a parent, I am unable to explain to her what is fair and justified. I am also unable to tell her whether our national education system is inferior or if the scholarship award process is faulty?"

Jeg Hui to Jia Hui:

1. I don't think PSD literally said that LSE is not a prestigious university. I think what they meant to say was that LSE is not the best in providing Actuarial education in terms of syllabus cover and potential exemptions offered.

2. Why reject Melbourne Uni? This is a selfish, ungrateful act. People are finding so hard to get scholarships nowadays. Just because you are one of the best students you think can always choose where to go? This is quite arrogant of you. The fact that you said LSE is better than Melbourne is not right at all.

3. As an actuarial student, he/she would go for a university that offers maximum number of exemptions, mostly maximum of 8 for Core Techniques subjects from their degree. Currently, the Actuarial Profession offers:

London School of Economics
Exemption from Core Technical Stage subjects: CT1, CT3, CT4, CT5, CT6, CT7, CT8
7/8.

Oxford (Said)
Exemption from Core Technical Stage subjects: CT1, CT2, CT3, CT7, CT8
5/8

Cambridge
Exemption from Core Technical Stage subjects: CT3, CT6
2/8

Melbourne University (SURPRISE SURPRISE!)
Exemption from Core Technical Stage subjects: CT1, CT2, CT3, CT4, CT5, CT6, CT7, CT8
All 8.

4. I don't think racial issues played the part if that's the father is trying to imply here. Please bring this Malay-hatred-because-PSD-is-Malay attitude somewhere else.

5. Of course your daughter is confused, she didn't even get it right about which university is the best for actuarial studies.

6. My only question is, will you be in Malaysia after you finished your studies? You might say you want to qualify first in the UK/Aussie before coming back that's what most people say, which is fair, but will you actually come back and serve the people of Malaysia? The very people who support you through JPA scholarship?

7. Why LSE? I'm not even promoting Cass anymore because what they do now is ONLINE Lectures which is such a lazy-ass attitude from the lecturers to teach the students. Why not Heriot-Watt? Because it sounds like 'Herot-berot'?. Why not Kent if you still want to go to the UK for the power of pounds?

8. This is more of a personal glory to Jia Hui. I bet she never fails in her life and when this happened, it was hard to see other people 'getting' more than her.

9. I know this entry is so outdated. I wonder where is Jia Hui now? Melbourne or London?

10. For this case, JPA was right to offer Melbourne Uni to Jia Hui over LSE. Nothing against LSE, but if I were the JPA officer, I would do the same.

p/s: you can consider yourself lucky you won't be able to apply for PNB scholarships (Bumiputra only). You might be tempted by the money they are currently offering but you can forget about qualifying under their programme.

EK 346 to Gatwick

It was a different kind of flight this time when I was travelling from KUL to DBX for a transit back to London when there was the three of us, Singaporean Mr Wong, Iranian Max 'Miller' and the Malaysian me sitting in the same row 15-right.

They didn't give me the right first impressions as they were busy discussing about Max's personal encounter with some 'extreme' Malays during his 4 months stay in Malaysia.

Mr Wong, commented further on how he disagrees with some 'extreme' Muslims being so 'rigid' on eating in the same table as non-Muslims because of some pork-issues.

"Cannot touch pork!"

Max kept on repeating how Muslim Malays can be so extreme.

I only offered my opinion in regards with 'extreme' Muslim Malays when dealing with the Zakat fund in which Mr Wong agreed, adding that religious leaders, be it Muslims or Christians or Buddhists (Dalai Lama was mentioned) are 'fat cats' making money out of their respective religions.

We also talked about social problems in our countries but Mr Wong, being outspoken over racial issues in Malaysia had given some strong but sensible comments about how Malaysia can improve as a nation.

We also talked about the crooked bridge with Mahathir being the center of our discussion.

When asked if Singapore is paying so cheap of a price when importing water from Malaysia, Mr Wong agrees. "There is always a room for renegotiation. We know that we are paying at a very cheap price, but Mahathir was not using the right method to discuss. He threatened to switch off the tap but Lee Kuan Yew retaliated by saying 'we will go in and take the water'. We are always willing to pay more since we are a rich nation, but there was no discussion during Mahathir's time. Only fighting."

Mahathir has always been at odds with LKY. No discussion!

Meanwhile, I finally realised why Max was angry with Malay Muslims. It is because that Max is quite a liberal Muslim, his lifestyle will not suit Malay Muslims as most Malay Muslims don't drink alcohol and are biggest fans of Mahmoud Ahmedinejad.

Max is having troubles going in and out the country. Being a lecturer who loves travel he has every reason to disagree with Muslim Malaysians who support the Iranian President.

"We are paying the price for his 'boldness'!"

Apparently Max real name is not Max nor Miller. But Mahdi. He is about 30-40 years old.

Mr. Wong is a big fan of Zaid Ibrahim and also Nik Aziz, although he sometimes dislike the latter's Islamic views.

Mr. Wong is around 50 to 60 years old, a wise old man with a big smile as a weapon. Being a travel agency director that is like a checklist item.

There is one thing that I find really interesting when he told me about a story of an Indian MP in Singapore questioning the 'Special privileges' of the minorities which regards to education and called this privileges to be scrapped.

Yes, there is a special rights for Malays in Singapore I didn't know that.

LKY ticked off the Indian MP by slamming him that he had touched the 'sacred cow'. "This special privileges is enshrined in Singapore's constituency." In a country like Singapore, after a full force of demonising by Mahathir, people in Malaysia, Malays in particular, think that Malays are marginalised in Singapore.

"Under this special rights, Malays are given free education up until university," Mr Wong said.

Yes, PPSMI was also discussed. Mr Wong thinks Malaysia is going backwards by abolishing PPSMI. I added that it should be PPSMII with IT subject included.

"Is this a Mouse or Tetikus?" I barked in annoyance.

I saluted Singapore's brave move to unify all schools into one national school. Some Chinese schools in Singapore kept their Chinese names, but most subjects are taught in English. They can learn Mandarin or Tamil as a third language. Malay language is a compulsory subject.

No wonder the Singaporeans speak English better than us, Singlish or not.

Wa lau wei!

The 2-hour 3-way discussion ended when everyone fell asleep or started watching their favourite movies during the night flight.

I came to a conclusion that again, it's all about respect and knowing each other. Never ever give hate and prejudice the chance to take over our judgments.

Just because Mahathir taught us to hate Singapore (or Lee Kuan Yew), doesn't mean we have to hate Singaporeans.

Just because someone is Iranian, doesn't mean he supports the current President.

We all know that Muslims aren't supposed to eat pork or drink liquor. What you can do is respect their faith and don't simply brand these people extremists since you do eat pork and drink liquor.

We all know that Hindus don't eat beef and they believe that cow is a sacred animal and they do build temples to pray. What you can do is respect their faith and don't simply ask them to go back to India or slaughter this animal in front of them just to provoke them.

We all know that Christians do have their missionary brigades around the world that doesn't mean we should slaughter them and eat their meat just like an incident in Samoa many-many years ago. We also shouldn't allow Al-Islam journalists to snoop around the Christians activities to sell their magazines.

We all know that there are aethists around the world but that doesn't mean they can condemn people's belief in God. They should learn to respect other people's beliefs since most of these people believe in God since they were very young and vowed to have faith in God till the day they die.

"To you be your religion, and to me my religion." Al-Kaafiruun (Ayat 6)