Merdeka 曖昧

Temasek, some call it $ingapore. Where East meets Wests. From Kuala Lumpur, it’s just a handful of hours by train. There are two points where the tracks of Keretapi Tanah Melayu Bhd (KTMB) and $ingapore Mass Rapid Transit (SMRT) meet, one near Kranji, another near Buona Vista.

I lived in a nice HDB block some time ago in Holland Village, overlooking the meeting point of two tracks. All the housemates except one are / were bloggers, including Pui, Finicky Feline and her sis. We constantly enjoyed the music of metal wheels running on the tracks, day in day out. At some point, it became part of your life.

Somehow, I missed it dearly, now that we are further a bit from the tracks.

Pretty blogger Siti Fadilah Omar, a sweet pramugari in Valuair and runner up of FHM’s Heartland Honeys 2003, has a nice picture of where KTM meets MRT in Holland Village. It has been syndicated in KTMRailwayfan’s gallery too

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Reader Johnleemk has given an interesting comment on our previous entry, Why Keadilan : Bridging the Gap Towards Opposition Unity,

Keadilan is very much Malay-based, and from what I’ve seen, it’s basically a Ketuanan Anwar party. Some of the crap I’ve seen from Anwar worshippers is really disgusting - lamenting that there’s no hope for the opposition if Anwar goes to the other side, bla bla bla.

Keadilan has as much trouble winning over the Chinese and Indian voters as DAP does winning over the Malay voters. These two parties would be better off if they merged and created a real multiracial party.

For the first statement, yes, we do not agree with personality cult too. Do you think we worship Anwar ? Yes, many supporters are here because of Anwar. However, instead of idolising Anwar, they are here because they are convinced that if even a Deputy PM could be tortured in that way, it would be meaningless to support BN anymore ! It is more about injustice rather than personality. Even Pas and DAP have agreed to nominate Anwar as PM, instead of Haji Hadi, Nik Aziz or Kit. But that don’t make them Anwaristas I suppose ?

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Pengkalan Pasir by-election is coming. BK Ong of Malaysian Voters’ Union (Malvu) will turun padang to campaign too ! Malvu is neutral but pro-democracy. In this by-election, they will observe closely the violation of election laws by both (or all three) sides, record and document them.

Some violations have already been taking place. Posters are up everywhere before nomination day, with Annuar Musa greeting constituents Happy Aidilfitri and such. And according to the police they have dispersed quite a number of ceramahs that were held without approved permit.

Frankly, as a democrat, I am against restrictions on freedom of expression, so these limitations on posters or public seminars are quite unproductive, as it only fuels the government’s suppression of our freedom of expression.

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Pilihanraya kecil pertama selepas Pemilihan Umum 2004 akan diadakan di N 12 Pengkalan Pasir, Kelantan, berikutan pemergian Ahli Dewan Undangannya Wan Abdul Aziz Wan Jaafar yang menang dengan majoriti tipis iaitu 55 undi. Pencalonan dan undian dijadualkan pada 27 Nov dan 6 Dis masing-masing.

Apakah tema utama pilihanraya ini? Itulah soal yang sering kita pertimbangkan sebelum kita bicarakan cerita ini. Apakah ia suatu pertarungan di antara Islam Hadhari dan Hadhariah Islamiyah ? Ataupun pertandingan mengenai pembangunan “jasmani” atau “rohani” (in a very generic sense) ? Ada juga yang melihat pilihanraya kecil ini sebagai pertempuran di antara Anuar Musa dan Husam Musa demi trofinya iaitu jawatan Menteri Besar Kelantan. Jadi, macam manakah patut kita menganalisa perkembangan ini ?

Yang jelas, keputusan pilihanraya kecil amat berkemungkinan menjejaskan kestabilan kerajaan negeri Pas, yang akan tinggal dengan majoriti cuma 1 kerusi di DUN jika BN menang, iaitu 23 : 22. Jika seseorang ADUN Pas malangnya dibeli dan kataki ke parti rasuah, Pas bahkan seluruh golongan pembangkang akan menerima padah.

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I am not sure if Sdr Anwar Ibrahim is a party member. Some say yes, some say no. Miss Jasmine of Batu Service Center claimed that his membership number is 1. He’s barred from holding any political office, so instead he was crowned as the party advisor.. What I wish to ask is, whether he’s an asset or liability for the party.

Again, the views are split. Supporters claim that he is a charismatic leader with overflowing intelligence and fantastic leadership skills. People now blame Datuk Seri Abdullah’s fruitless war against graft on his lack of leadership. Khairy might look like a maverick but is far from being well-accepted especially by the heartlanders. Just to prove my point, do you think there would be a reformasi of the same size, had Datuk Seri Najib, the Umno politician said to maintain the biggest networking, been dismissed the way Anwar was ?

Apart from that, supporters also refute Umno’s accusation that we are inexperienced in administrative matters by claiming that we have, as party advisor was part of the government. And it is exactly this “experience” that backfire on us.

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Reformasi that started in 1998 has waken up a lot of apolitical or self-denial Malaysians. The so-called ruling elite’s dirty conspiracy on politican opponents has opened the eyes of Malaysians, many of them who had used to all kinds of ill-treatments and discriminations.

However, due to the ideological differences which refrained the 2 major opposition parties from joining force, they painted themselves into a corner and failed to live up to the expectation of many. Thus, the rotten beyond repair ruling party could stay in the throne election after election eventhough their administration is mediocre.

While Pas might be the best choice for some, upholding God’s words according to their interpretation with little consideration of the real Malaysian context, together with their proposed legal system that infringes human rights and civil liberty have shun the support from many. The occassional protest vote against Umno (as in 1999) should never be taken as an approval of their policies, and the outcome of hijacking it (as in 2004) has been proven fatal.

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This is the sequal of my Da Vinci entry, albeit going astray. I wished to discussed Leonardo Da Vinci, Monalisa, or maybe San Greal, Priory of Sion, Opus Dei and Catholicism, yet, the focus turned to piracy.

When I was accused by Eliar Shiftfire for spreading pirated copies of Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code, I have made myself clear in reply, that e-books are just for sneak preview. For those who cherish the author’s effort, please go and buy.

Afterwords, fellow blogger David The Katana dropped by with his comments.
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Deeparaya is, as far as I am concerned, a basi issue. Our societies are plagued with so many illnesses. In the name of Islamic state, dissidents are detained without fair trial. Corruption is rampant be it in Kuala Lumpur or Kota Bharu. God’s name is hijacked to further one’s political ambition. A municipality can be declared an Islamic city without meeting the criteria of a city. Even Khairy also wore something like a rosary while making his rounds in Pasir Mas. Combining the names of 2 festives, for most of us, is really trivial.

Rajan Seri Mohd Elfie Nieshaem Juferi (MENJ), my good friend, has explained to me the background of his entry, which basically can be applied to all entries in his blog:

1. The blog is solely for the consumption of Muslims. Therefore if non-Muslims come to visit it and feel uneasy, it is not his problem. It is your problem because you idiots failed to understand his version of true Islam.

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Politician, political observer and award-winning journalist, James Wong Wing On, with many feathers in his cap, for instance ex-Political Secretary for Opposition Leader, Member of Parliament for Kampar 1990-1995, ex-Senior Staff Writer of Sinchew who was the receipant of Malaysia Press Institute (MPI)’s Excellent Journalist Award for 1998 and 1999, just to name a few, and currently Chief Analyst of Malaysiakini’s Strategy Analysis Malaysia, has begun to chronicle his exciting life and sharp opinions through blogging. Selamat Datang ke dunia blogging !

Two distinctive blogs he has established. First, Freedom in Solidarity, contains a huge collection of many photographs, old and new, mostly about people and places he has visited while carrying out his assignments as journalist or politician. From Kampar to Kathmandu, from Manila to Muscat, his footprints can be traced.

Accompanying each picture is a caption, from which the background story of the story would be told. One may get a glimpse into the thoughts of this man, on worldly issues ranging form Operasi Lalang to Vietnam War and CPM’s violent armed rebellion which he passionately romanticised as campaigns “to liberate our land from fascism and colonialism”.

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Menurut laopran berita Muda Mohd Noor daripada Malaysiakini, Keadilan Akan Bangkitkan Isu Nasional di Pengkalan Pasir, yang telah disiarkan di KeadilanRakyat.org,

Sementara itu, Setiausaha Agung DAP, Lim Guan Eng berkata, DAP tidak berminat dengan pilihanraya kecil kawasan Pengkalan Pasir dan tidak akan mengambil sebahagian dalam pilihanraya itu.

Katanya, DAP tidak mempunyai cawangan di kawasan Pengkalan Pasir dan tidak ada sebab untuk membabitkan diri dalam pilihanraya kecil tersebut.

Apakah mesej yang dibawa oleh Setiausaha Agung kali ini ?

Bahawa walaupun Keadilan akan membantu rakan seperjuangannya, PAS untuk berkempen di Kawasan Dewan Undangan Negeri (DUN) N 12 Pengkalan Pasir, termasuk Penasihatnya Datuk Seri Anwar yang akan sendirinya turun ke padang, DAP tetap tidak berminat hulurkan bantuan ?

Lebih kuranglah begitu, kan ?

Tidak berminat berkempen, atau bertanding ?

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Mona Lisa, some said it’s self-portrait of Leonardo Da Vinci. Some claimed that its name found its roots in Amon and Isis, god and goddess on ancient Egypt and Greek.

I’ve been indulging myself in The Da Vinci Code, the Danish Brownish bestseller. From Priory of Sion to Opus Dei, Holy Grail and Mary Magdalene, it’s really an automatic page turner. Or rather, the spirit is in me. There’s still much for me to learn about my own agama.

A fantastic novel not to be missed. Unlike Mona Lisa which may fetch over billion dollars, knowledge is free. It has been given to many, the latest being Tilia, and it’s still available for all of you. English in pdf and Chinese in doc.Please bear in mind that it’s meant for sneak preview only. Get the real book, if you have fallen in love with it, like me.

On the path of learning to learn something everyday

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I don’t know why certain quarters here tend to say silly things and paint themselves in a bad light during the double celebration. Deeparaya is Deeparaya, no more no less, just to show how harmonious the Malaysian society can be (albeit sometimes merely superficial or plainly imaginative) during the festive seasons.

Nevertheless, I think Rajan Seri MENJ is right in one thing. Nobody can stop the others from minding their own business. Hindus can go on to celebrate Deepavali no matter how this idiotic good friend of mine and yang sewaktu dengannya called Hindu the faith that indulges in polytheism or idol worshipping. For this alone, we will consider upgrading MENJ’s Rajanship to Rajan Seri Paduka.

I too have a query, one only. Mamu is against mixing Holy Islam of Allah Almighty with faiths that indulges in polytheism or idol worshipping, such as Hindu or Buddhism or Taoism. So, does he mean it’s alright to mix the agama langits ? Shouldn’t be a problem to have Natalraya, to mark the birth of Yesus Kristus of Nazareth together with Eid-al-fitr, or Pesachraya, to commemorate Israelites’ keluaran dari Mesir (exodus from Egypt) under the leadership of Nabi Musa together with Eid-al-fitr ? If we can mix the food, the kuih-muihs, why not the names ? After all, there’s nothing beyond mixing the names !

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