2 in 3 Chinese will vote Opposition!

According to independent opinion research firm, Merdeka Centre, the MCA and Gerakan will be in deep poo, comes the next general election.

The Chinese Malaysians represents the ethnic group who wants political change most. 60% intend to vote for the opposition.

Mate, that’s two in every three Chinese Malaysian voters. No wonder Ong Ka Ting has been busy with his Ops Clawback and daily motherhood statements aimed at the Chinese voters.

By contrast, only 30-ish % in the Malay and Indian communities are likely to switch to the opposition, though this figure shouldn’t be sneered at. But don't take the average pro-Opposition figure of 42% in above table seriously. In good ole Malaysia, there's no 'average', so I don't want opposition members to go into spasmodic orgasm yet.

Look at voting attitude by ethnicity

The above table on voting attitudes shows Malays will be voting for stability while Indians will be influenced by the socio-economic problems the group faces, hardly surprising when they're the most marginalised Malaysians.

If we look at 'issues affecting the ethnic group' the Malays are the group least concerned in stark contrast to Indians - a fairly reliable finding, which we already know without the need for a survey.

The reason Chinese respondents in the survey appear to have a strong desire for change is obvious. I needn’t say much.

However, one reason that may have been forgotten or not mentioned, is that many Penang Chinese believe the next Penang CM will be from UMNO, and they know the bloke who’s pushing like mad for that is none other than the bloke with the golden 'pot of rice'.

Of course HE is looking at beyond a mere CM’s post, but there’s no doubt HE has been pushing for total 'domination' to make HIMself popular as an ethnic pahlawan (warrior) - jolly good 'prep' for higher things - hey, for HIM the sky's the limit.

Another reason that malaysiakini reported is that most Chinese respondents, 'being Chinese', have been worried about the country’s directionless economy, the price hikes last year and inflation - all rice bowl issues but alas, without their own golden 'pot of rice' as a safety net.

Merdeka Centre director, Ibrahim Suffian, has some comforting words for the MCA. He said: “We won’t call it a swing (of Chinese votes) yet because we need a few more polls to confirm this. But at this point in time, it seems to be a strong likelihood for the Chinese to register their protest in the next election.”

Besides, we all know that with some jolly judicious (j)gerrymandering, the worth of one Chinese vote could be decimal-ised to 0.118 of its face value, and this time, the '118' (decimal-ised) won't be auspicious for the DAP or PKR. Oh, the wonders of Malaysian political maths that would even befuddled the great Einstein.

Ibrahim Suffian said there was still time for the MCA and Gerakan to counter the negative sentiments before the general election.

He advocated: “Many measures can be taken to mitigate this situation, such as in the education sector. Lower world oil prices may even prompt the government to contemplate reducing oil prices, a move which will have broad effect on the electorate.”

So expect some heavy pork barrelling in Chinese constituencies comes the next general election.

Ibrahim said some of AAB’s projects are expected to benefit the economy, and would be milked for all its publicity to show that he has kept his promises.

Then explaining the obvious, Ibrahim said the stable Malay loyal preference for UMNO is because they have been ‘shielded and protected’ by the government in terms of income.

But strangely, the above table shows every ethnic group believes the nation needs a strong opposition, though with the exception of the Chinese community, that won't automatically translate into an equivalent vote for the Opposition. The Malays and Indians obviously prefer abstract concepts of a viable robust Opposition.

Ibrahim also cruelly cautioned PAS and PKR that they would face an uphill struggle as credible opposition parties

Hmmm, I wonder whether Anwar Ibrahim will be riding the ‘rocket’, ... er ... just to be an astronaut, you know!

all tables from malaysiakini

Related:
(1) MCA continues Ops Clawback
(2) MCA div leader: "We're as good as dead!"
(3) Operation Lion Clawback by MCA

The colour between two hearts

Guess Who's Coming to Dinner won the Academy Award in 1967. It was a film even more controversial than our own Sepet.

The movie concerns the romance of a young white American woman with an African American - in 1967, the term African American wasn’t yet coined, so you guess what he would have been described as – nope, not even black American.

It was groundbreaking because it dealt with the controversial subject of interracial marriage, when in 1967 such a mixed marriage was still illegal in 17 Southern US States up until the US Supreme Court legalised it in June 12 of that year.

I recall a close friend of mine who, after having undergone circumcision, was frustrated in his mixed marriage plans when the girlfriend’s parents stopped the union. Despite very heavy Malay brass coming to the rescue of my friend, by interceding on his behalf, the woman’s parents still weren’t amenable to the marriage.

Then there was my friend’s mum, a Chinese who married a Malay. She advised me not to marry a Malay woman because, in her words, “KT, listen to Auntie, it’s not worth the effort. You’ll be continuously beset by heartaches, frustration and tears.”

She was obviously talking from her own experience.

Well, over at BolehTalk, I’ve blogged on the celluloid aspect of that in our Malaysian Guess who's coming to dinner?

Dixie Chicks: "Heh-heh!"

I am not exactly a music afficionado, though sometimes I like a bit of gentle pop guitar music in the background when I am relaxing, or perhaps some tunes by South American natives playing their haunting pan flutes.


But I am very happy the Dixie Chicks have scored 5 Grammy Awards, including Song of the Year by ”Not Ready to Make Nice”, which fantastically also won Record of the Year.

photo - Wikipedia

No, I haven't heard it and haven't a clue as to how the song sounds. My support for and acclamation of the Dixie Chicks' wins are political - heh heh! - and eat your bloody rotten hearts out, you bloody Bush-ite neocons.

For why, read this and this.

Luv you ladies, you have the hearts, guts and backbones that many others, including the much-vaunted press didn't.

Cruel versus Wicked

Star reporter Priscilla Dielenberg wrote a great story, of Tan Tatt Ghee, the owner of Hai Boey Seafood Restaurant, coming across 118 Olive Ridley baby turtles making their way out of the sand at a beach near his shop in Teluk Kumbar here and then ensuring that those reptiles made it safely to sea.

photo - Star Online

Priscilla quoted Tan stating that: “It would be very chek ark if any harm should come to these endangered creatures.”

Priscilla then translated the Penang Hokkien word chek ark as ‘wicked’.

It’s a great story and I salute Tan and family for their love of the wildlife, and ensuring those baby turtles’ safe progress into the sea. His bonus is that the number 118 is an auspicious figure, portending a great start to his family's Chinese New Year.

However, the translation of chek ark as ‘wicked’ is not exactly correct.

I believe it means ‘cruel’ rather than ‘wicked', though one could argue they are inter-related. In fact and more specifically, chek ark would be more of a ‘cruelty’ that could be avoided’ but wasn’t.

One could even argue it’s a passive form of ‘cruelty’. An example would be the perpetrator becoming ‘cruel’ through inaction, perhaps because of laziness or apathy - like quietly watching chooks about to be burned in a coop that has just caught fire yet not taking any action to release the fowls - it'll be more than foul play (pun intended) - in fact it'll be chek ark.

But ‘wicked’ in Penang Hokkien should be, in my humble opinion, tork, which can also mean ‘poison’ or ‘poisonous’ – now isn’t that just ‘wicked’?

Was a former girlfriend of mine tork or chek ark when she wrote me a Dear KTemoc letter? Alas, I can't comment because I am an interested party - you know, the issue of 'conflict of interest'.

I am not sure who advised or translated for Priscilla? However, knowing many Dielenbergs in Penang and Kulim, I wouldn’t be surprised if she did it herself, as most of the Dielenbergs I know speak fantastic Penang Hokkien like the natives they are.

But definitely chek ark is less ‘wicked’ and more ‘cruel’. I am convinced Tan Tatt Ghee had meant ‘cruel’ too.

Humpty Dumpty went over the costing moon

We all know about the disgraceful disaster of the MMRR2, the RM120 million Middle Ring Road Two.

So, leaving aside that no one’s yet to be blamed for its eponymous (humpty-dumpty-ish) construction, the government called in consultants and whatnot to repair a RM120 million disaster.

The repair cost was estimated at RM18 million but at the ‘end of the day’, the Opposition DAP asked why the actual repair bill had shot up 4 times the original estimate, to a humongous RM70 million.

I am flabbergasted that Humpty Dumpty had the bloody gall to say: “The initial figure did not take into consideration the RM8 million paid to a foreign consultant.

Has this been the way the Works Ministry ‘work’, forgetting intrinsic costs like consultancy in a repair case of monumental proportions? Has the staff been so incompetent as to leave out the very first item when costing the repair?

Then Humpty added that the cost also inflated because the number of pillars needed to be repaired also doubled from 18 to 36.

I am just sick of such nonsensical feedback from Humpty. But being the arrogant minister he has always been, he ticked off the DAP for daring to question him to account for a cost under his ministry management that quadrupled?

Everyone wants an Ang Pow

Over at BolehTalk I posted Penang hawkers bonanza during Chinese New Year, an advance notice on hawker price rise during Chinese New year.

I asked whether we may expect our ever vigilant government to send their trade enforcers and Rela muscles to threaten the hawkers into maintaining their usual prices as had been done for Hari Raya?

Why Chinese parents are against their kids learning Arabic

It has been reported that in Ipoh, a female teacher caned four Year Two non-Muslim pupils for coming late to Arabic language class. One of the boy’s mum made a police report.

Perak education deputy director Ahmat Arbu Hamzah said the school did not force any non-Muslim pupil to attend the Arabic language classes unless they wanted to. But they would have to attend Moral Studies held at the same time as the Arabic language classes. However, the boys were found playing in the classroom.

But the mum complained that the school had insisted the pupils attend the class because it was compulsory.

Make what you will of the case or who’s been lying. I don’t believe that’s important other than the teacher ought not to have caned the children because that’s against the rules.

Frankly, KTemoc has been disappointed with the attitude of some non-Muslim non-Malay parents who have made much ado about their children learning the Quran or Arabic.

What’s so wrong about learning Arabic language or even the Quran? Every piece of learning is a treasure, and as the Chinese would exclaim, a gift from Heaven. Learning an additional language can only be beneficial to the kids’ future career prospects.

I was educated in a Methodist school where I, from a devoted Buddhist family, did Bible studies (Scripture) for more than a decade. My sisters all went to the Convent where they were fed daily dosage of Catholic indoctrination. In our Christian schools there were thousands of other non-Christian and mainly Chinese students.

Did the teachers, especially the principals tried to convert us to Christianity? Yes! Did our parents complain? Nope!

Were we taught English? Yes! Did our parents object? No!

So why this behaviour and reluctance when it comes to the Arabic language and the Quran?

Okay, that was a rhetorical question because I do know the answer.

Chinese and, to a certain extent, Indian parents are pissed off with what they see as an oppressive Malay dominated Muslim government. Their natural instinct is to rebel against, object to, resist, even sabotage or reject anything that appears to be proselytising.

To them, Christian proselytising teaching is … ho hum … yawnnn .. not threatening (aiyah, hong kau mana ay siang sin*), but oh no, the Islamic lessons are. Then, the English language is useful but bugger Arabic.

* c'mon, don't expect me to believe those Christian teachings

And all these disparate perceptions/values have been because of their grievances against and suspicions about the UMNO-led government and their officials.

Of course in a few cases, where overzealous principals and teachers had attempted to shove those lessons down the kids’ throats, it sure as hell didn’t help the situation. Obviously those principals/teachers haven’t learn about positive motivation or they have just adopted the standard UMNO style of bulldozing threatening ketuanan methodology.

I urge the non-Malay non-Muslim parents to welcome such teachings (including Jawi) for their children with open arms and to encourage their kids to learn diligently.

Look, if your kids’ predecessors were able to master English and Mandarin, why then wouldn’t your kids master Arabic in like fashion? It’s a beautiful language, a language ideal for poetry and love, and one that's spoken by billions.

And don’t worry about Islamic teachings. Your kids will eventually pick up the good and discard what's not suitable for their non-Muslim life style, as I did with the Christian teachings I received.

If they can’t distinguish between those values, well, it’s just as well they have some religious guidance and what do I care whether it’s Islamic, Christian, Confucian, Buddhist, Hindu or Folk religion, so long as they are brought up not to hurt or harm people and to respect others.

Related:
Malaysians Split over Palestine & Lebanon - on the surface this may appear to be unrelated to the posting about Chinese parents being against their kids learning Arabic, but do read it to have an appreciation of what I am talking about

Ethnic Relations Module - Last nail in coffin or just 'sex up'?

Highly respected Dr Syed Husin Ali (also deputy president of PKR) bemoaned the continuing intrusion of the government into areas of Academia that traditionally had been autonomous and free from political interference .

The cabinet control of, even to its right to approve the January 2007 version of the Ethnic Relations Module, supposedly an improved version of the earlier UPM’s racially slanted text, represented the last straw for Dr Syed Husin after years of incremental erosion of university autonomy.

I blogged on an aspect of the revised module in Another national secret? What's there to hide?, where Professor Shamsul Amri Baharuddin of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), the chief coordinator of the ‘revision’ team, refused to even provide the names of his research team, as revealed by his once academic mentor, Dr Lim Teck Ghee in a letter to malaysiakini

It beggars belief that in a matter of academic credibility, an academician would fall into the rut of non-transparency, that's best left to dodgy politicians. We continue to wonder what’s been hidden?

Hmmm, perhaps issues of humpty-dumpty-ish national security?

Then, Dr Syed Husin provided a glimpse on this aspect by commenting “the government … appoint a panel, made up of five serving and retired professors from different universities, headed by one from UKM. It is most unfortunate that the government picked them from only a particular ethnic group.”

my underlining above

“These panel members and most paper writers who provided early drafts of main chapters in the module are also known to be keen government supporters. It would have been wiser had the government expanded the panel to include other ethnic groups and also those representing different viewpoints, who are competent”

… reinforcing Dr Lim Teck Ghee’s beef over the secrecy of the identities and academic qualifications of the panel members, and the consequential lack of academic credibility for the revision exercise.

Expressing similar concerns as Dr Lim, Dr Syed revealed what we already are aware of, though he did it in his articulated inimitable style, stating: “Basic freedoms of university staff and students have been so effectively curbed that most of the former have imbibed servile government servant mentality, while almost all of the latter are reduced to be no more than high school students.”

“… imbibed servile government servant mentality …” and “… are reduced to be no more than high school students.” What gems of expression. Didn’t I just mention Dr Syed’s inimitable style?

On “… imbibed servile government servant mentality …” you may also wish to read AB Sulaiman Pissing into the Wind?

In his article in malaysiakini’s Opinion Column, Dy Syed Husin analysed how the text for the module sanitised Malaysian history, culture, and politics, etc into nothing more than pro-UMNO/government propaganda and UMNO/government worldviews, including justifying the sinister ideology of ketuanan Melayu* and its ethnocentric policies, while omitting historical truths that were ‘inconvenient’ or ‘challenging’ to the ruling party.

* Malay supremacy or dominance

PKR, the traumatic offspring of UMNO disappeared off the text's radar screen, while the cause of May 13 was naturally blamed on the 'irresponsible' opposition. On the latter, I had previously blogged on The Real Cause of the May 13 Riots and New Fact on May 13 Revealed!.

Dr Syed Husin concluded on the loss of academic autonomy: “It is not surprising, therefore, the quality and standards of local universities have been deteriorating.”

He criticised, correctly and rightfully if I may add, that the gross interference by the cabinet, a political body, in determining the content of and approving a university academic module or syllabus “cannot and should not be tolerated by any university worth its name.”

He warned: “This time it is Ethnic Relations. Next it could be Development Studies or maybe even History. Where will this end, then?”

"I consider cabinet interference in and approval of a fully academic matter, such as this, to be the final nail driven into the coffin of University Autonomy.”

For more of Dr Syed Husin’s piece, read here - unfortunately, subscription to malaysiakini is required, but this posting has covered most of the main points.

But don’t forget to read the (free of subscription) piece on Tony Blair’s dossier about Saddam Hussein’s WMD with the claim that Iraqi missiles could fly in 45 minutes as an accompanying article.

That fabricated B-liar claim gained notoriety after the BBC reported in May 2003 that it had been inserted into the dossier against the wishes of the intelligence services, as Blair and his advisors sought to ‘sex up’ the case for war.

You may well ask, what’s the connection between the Malaysian tertiary (or perhaps, just high school?) education Ethnic Relations Module and the Blair's Dossier of Deadly Dodgy-ness ?

Maybe there's none. Maybe it's just because I like the ‘sex up’ bit, but you know, maybe it's just once again another of KTemoc's crazy non sequitur.

Beautiful rojak rejected as Malaysians

Olivia, one of my Ex’s is an Eurasian sweetie, whom I had mentioned briefly in an earlier posting All types of racism.

The current ethnic description for her seems to be pan-Asian rather than Eurasian. When or from where this term came about I am not sure; I have to confess it’s new to me.

I checked in the dictionary, which gave pan-Asian as 'of or pertaining to all Asian peoples' which is hardly a true description of an Eurasian, but let’s leave that strange term alone and use the more familiar term.

There are many (though not all) Malaysians of Eurasian heritage who have been blessed in inheriting or receiving the best of the occidental and oriental features from their parents, becoming ‘improved’ visual versions or Model Mark II.

Erika Sawajiri - Japanese-Algerian-French beauty

I know because Olivia was (I haven’t seen her since she married for the third time) a ravishing beauty. Hey, KTemoc may be a loser but c’mon, surely not all the time.

Her beautiful fine smooth profile accentuated by her European (Dutch) sharper features, and enhanced by her dazzling sweet but cheeky-naughty smile, encased in a lithe willowy frame (and what a frame) with a light olive (Indonesian) complexion, and her long black tresses – jeeez, even after all these years, I just drool thinking of her and her 'assets'.

So, it’s hardly a wonder that in the world of showbiz, TV etc, that appeals to the visual senses, good lookers like Olivia would be in popular demand. And when a particular ‘look’ is sought after, the non-Eurasian look like the average Malay, Chinese or Indian (though is there a pure Malay, Chinese and Indian in Malaysia?) would not be in vogue and thus loses out.

Chinese-Scot Nancy Kwan 40 years ago - photo from macumbalove

Are non-Eurasian ladies jealous? Mind you, darlings, I have met very very beautiful Malay, Chinese, Indian, Iban and Kadazan ladies – my luck ;-) – so I wonder what’s the fuss? They say beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder, and KTemoc likes to add on to that by saying true beauty lies more than skin deep.

So Goebb … er … I mean … Information Minister Zainuddin Maidin said last week he would coopt the Culture, Arts and Heritage Ministry into conducting some ‘social engineering’ with emphasis on ‘ethnic facial landscaping’ and come up with ‘guidelines’ in a Malaysian Mein Kampf (My Struggle). The aim is to reduce the pan-Asian faces which he said dominate TV and billboards.

I wonder whether those Eurasians are Malaysians or aliens (Indons, southern Filipinos and Pakis exempted from the ‘alien’ label) or perhaps worse, second class citizens of rojak pedigree?

Anyway, not unexpectedly, the Eurasian communities have been outraged by such an official discriminatory social Bantustan-ization, that will undoubtedly affect their livelihood, especially those who have been employed as models and multi-media presenters in Malaysia.

Kelly Hu - Chinese-English-Hawaiin beauty

The Goeb ... er ... clone bull-ed to Bernama: "I realise that many advertisements on TV now, especially on private TV, feature more faces which are not Malaysians. This, to me is downgrading local faces."

"... faces which are not Malaysians ..."? How insensitive, how hurtful, how racist!

I ask the minister again, aren’t those Eurasian sweeties you're aiming to 'reduce' from TV and billboards Malaysians?

If they are, then aren’t their ‘faces’ Malaysian? Please take your grubby hands off the lives of Malaysians. We don’t want to live like Germans under the Nazis.

photos credits for Erika Sawajiri and Kelly Hu - Wikipedia

Another national secret? What's there to hide?

Remember Prof Shamsul Amri Baharuddin, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) political science lecturer and director of its Institute of Malay World and Civilisation, who was reported to have expressed his scepticism at Asli’s study report last year, which stated that bumi equity had topped 45%?.

Remember the Prof reaction to the Asli's report, where he was reported by malaysiakini to have said: “I am very sceptical about the study which has been carried out by a particular race. They (the race) usually have their own agendas”?

I blogged that in Chinese researchers - sinister motives?

In that posting I lamented the Prof had based his scepticism on the basis and motive of race instead of challenging Asli’s methodology.

Then a couple of days later, Professor Shamsul denied dismissing Asli's report, though malaysiakini declared that it was standing by its reporter and would not retract its report.

Whatever, a Universiti Malaya research report suddenly emerged to uphold Asli’s findings, going even further than the think-tank by stating that the so-called mythical unattainable 30% bumi equity was surpassed in 2002 - 4 years before Asli came to that startling conclusion – an indication of the UMNO-led government's duplicity in concealing the truth.

I blogged that in UM equity report - resign, Mirzan Mahathir; speak up, Prof Shamsul!.

Also in Chinese researchers - sinister motives I mentioned the Prof’s interview with Australia’s ABC about Khairy Jamaluddin’s infamous insult against Chinese Malaysians. I observed that in the interview the Prof tap-danced and generously spun to mitigate the scandalous actions of and accusations against AAB’s SIL.

Well, the Prof has been back again in the news. Apparently he’s the chief coordinator for the task of revising the original UPM's racist-biased ethnic relations module that was to be used by universities. The public was so outraged by the bigoted slanted views of Malaysian history in the text that the PM had to call for its revision.

But other than Prof Shamsul, no one knows who the members of the revision team are? According to Dr Lim Tech Ghee's letter to malaysiakini, the Prof has rationalised during a news interview why he won't provide the names of his research team.

Can you bloody beat that? First, we have the commerical toll agreement concealed from public eyes, in accordance with the bizarre broken egghead worldview of Humpty Dumpty. Now, we have even the identities of the Prof’s team members kept under wraps.

So Dr Lim, one of Prof Shamsul’s academic mentors, criticised the Prof for his (Shamsul's) refusal to name his team.

Why, I may ask?

Well, then don't blame us if we ask the natural questions, like "What are you afraid of, Prof?" and "What’s there to hide?"

Dr Lim lambasted the Prof’s explanation (I didn't hear what they were as the Prof gave that on the news) as weak and disingenuous. Lim said that refusing to provide the names and academic credentials of those engaged in the enterprise is akin to asking the public to endorse a contract for an important infrastructure without knowing who the contractors are – potentially a recipe for disaster.

Indeed.

Dr Lim said that a correct and transparent disclosure of "the names and participation of highly qualified scholars and individuals would restore public confidence in the scholarly standard of the module, in its academic and social relevance and objectivity, and in its fair and representative handling of a complex and difficult topic that is of much concern to educators and the larger Malaysian public."

Then Dr Lim gave a Confucian jab in Prof Shamsul’s rins by stating:

“I would like to thank him for acknowledging the role that I played in helping with his early research and in regarding me as one of his ‘gurus’. I hope I mentored him not only on the craft of scholarship but also on the importance of seeking and disseminating knowledge through fair and objective procedures and methods, and adherence to standards of truth, fairness and respect.”

All I can add is … er … what’s your race and motive, Dr Lim?

Why Chinese Muslims should not have their mosques

Saad Hashim, a reader of malaysiakini, disagreed with the Perlis Mufti’s support of Chinese Muslims in Malaysia having their own mosques. Saad averred that it would only split the Muslim community here.

I’ll quote some extracts of his letter to highlight his annoyance with Dr Mohd Asri’s stand, for example:

I am sure this idea of separate mosque for the Chinese Muslims will lead to further divide between the Malays and the Chinese, not to mention national unity. Haven’t we seen enough of Beirut where both Fatah and Hamas are Muslims.

Finally, may I ask the Perlis mufti, will he support a similar request by Malaysian-born Indians who have become Muslims or the Malays who have become Shiite Muslims or Ismaili Muslims or Ahmadiya (Qadiani) Muslims.

The more the merrier I suppose. After all, in Malaysia we already have the Catholic church, the Methodist church, the Anglican church, the Lutheran church, etc.

Saad has covered a lot of landscape in those 3 little paragraphs. But he would have delighted Israel because in them he has transported Fatah and Hamas away from Palestine to Beirut in Lebanon.

He even threw in a couple of other Muslim sects to show his fears of divisiveness, though I wonder what has that got to do with Chinese Muslims building their own mosques, which Indian Muslims in this country already have.

And to emphasize on ‘divisiveness’ he demonstrated his knowledge of Christian denominations.

Then there were his opinion of Dr Mohd Asri and supporters:

The mufti of Perlis and those who supported him in calling for separate mosques for our Chinese Muslims must be thinking they are great thinkers and pragmatists.

Well, they are completely wrong. The idea is not only divisive but it can lead to racial polarisation among Malaysia’s Muslims who are already divided over other factors.

He’s a bit too late - the racial polarisation he fretted about has been already experienced (adversely) by Malaysia’s Chinese Muslims, as described in my posting Are Chinese Malaysian Muslims 2nd class Muslims?

Let’s move on with Saad’s other points:

In Islam, while you can say your ‘doa’ in any language, Arab is the ‘core’ language of Islam because Arab is the language of the Al-Quran. Thus it is the duty of all Muslims and Islamic governments to encourage this.

In so far as the pursuit of knowledge of Islamic jurisprudence, Islamic banking or Islamic socio-political system, by all means do it in whatever language, just like Islamic scholars who are now going to Oxford and Cambridge, Leiden or Harvard for their Ph Ds.

Fair enough if the Arabic lingo should be the ‘core’ language of Islam. I recall reading one of Raja Petra Kamarudin’s article (sorry, can’t find the link, but if anyone does, please advise) and I’ll relate as much as what I can still remember.

Raja went to China and had a chitchat with a local Muslim. Their conversation turned to the use of Arabic language. Raja mentioned something to the effect that in Malaysia, while Malay Muslims can read the Quran, many don’t understand Arabic. According to Raja, the Chinese bloke said that in China, the Muslims are taught to understand the Arabic language before learning the Quran in order to appreciate God’s words.

Well, words to those effect – sorry Raja if I had misquoted you.

But be that as it may, I am sure those Chinese Muslims in Malaysia do use Arabic when reciting the Quran. But wait, Saad hasn’t finished yet. He lamented:

The problem is that when a Malaysian Chinese or Indian become a Muslim they still want to retain their ‘identity’ instead of becoming a member of the Islamic ummah, teaching and helping each other.

But but but that’s precisely what Dr Mohd Asri said of the Malay Muslims, that they (not all of course; he was speaking generally) focussed more on their ‘Malay-ness’ rather than their ‘Muslim-ness’.

Then he confirmed what the Perlis Mufti averred:

The problem with converts in Malaysia is that despite living all their life in this country, the Chinese and the Indians have never adopted Bahasa Malaysia as their primary language like those in Thailand, Indonesia, or the Philippines. To them BM is just a tool to [past] examinations or to get jobs.

Amazing switch of landscape again, though this time not of geographical dimension but of the Bahasa Malaysian language. Again I wonder what’s that got to do with Chinese Muslims having their own mosques?

Why worry about Chinese and Indian Muslims adopting the BM as their ‘primary’ language or not, when afterall Arabic as the ‘core’ language of Muslims could well be and ought to be the unifying factor

Quite frankly I am not sure what Saad wants, other than to note he contradicted himself on the issue of language - Arabic or BM?

I can only bow to the astute assessment and wise pronouncements of the Perlis Mufti, because Saad has proven the very points he (the Mufti) had made.

Saad Hashim’s full letter here.

No free ride for Malaysian students in Oz

I've posted RM115,000 for degree but no free ride at BolehTalk, about Malaysian students not enjoying concession travel that Aussie students do, and the politics behind it. I even gave unusual praise to one of AAB's ministers - sheesh, break out the champagne and spray me with it to wake me up; I must have been drugged.

Hamas makes Israel throw in kitchen sink as well

Having torn Iraq asunder (haven’t used this word for a while since I left Scripture class years ago) George Bush is now threatening to broaden the conflict into Iran – hmmm, perhaps a bit of judicious bombing with nuclear-tipped cruise missiles (bunk busters to smash and sterilise Iran's nuclear plants) or stealth B-2s with same munition(?), all of course for the Hebraic Holy Land.

Then he released US$100 million for Mahmud Abbas, head of al Fatah – to strengthen the Fatah militias. Dubya is adamant that Fatah be built up to speed to tackle Hamas and bugger democratically elected whatever. Where Israel is concerned, as far as he's concerned, f**k democracy, rule of law and due process.

A wee dram of Palestinian civil war with copious volumes of spilled Palestinian blood would be most excellent for dear ole Israel, and go easy on the soda.

Meanwhile, it has being reported that poor Mahmud Abbas and his Fatah loyalists, led by their noses into fratricidal engagement with Hamas like stupid buffaloes, aren’t doing all that well despite generous dollops of both American and Israeli aid, the latter of which was once given to Hamas to weaken Yasser Arafat.

I wonder whether Likud-Kadima members of the Knesset would now be crying plaintively “F**k you, Yasser you bloody goy, where are you when we Israelis need you?”

The Israelis are already looking to a post-Bush era where the US presidential IQ will assume a meteoric rise like a spacecraft launch blasting off into outer space. A future US president, regardless of whether he/she is Democrat or Republican, will be more wary of and ‘tentative’ to Israeli manoeuvring and lobbying.

In fact, Ehud Olmert has already kicked Plan B into action. Early last year he went to Europe to remind Europeans of the broad international agreement, initiated by the Quartet of USA, UN, Russia, and the EU, in which everyone supports the three principles defined by the State of Israel, hastily rustled up following the Hamas victory in the Palestinian elections. The Israeli principles are:

There will be no recognition of a Palestinian government with the participation of or under the control of Hamas, unless three conditions are met: the Hamas Charter is changed to recognize the State of Israel's right to exist as a Jewish state; total dismantling of weapons and total cessation of terrorist activity; and acceptance of all agreements signed between the Palestinian Authority and the State of Israel.

He made a firm reiteration that those three (Israeli) principles were defined and composed not only by Israel and the US but agreed to by the Europeans.

Obviously, in the wake of the unmitigated Israeli barbarism and atrocities in its recent destruction of Lebanon, including the war crime of sowing 1 million cluster bomblets in southern Lebanon, Olmert has been damn worried the Europeans might be so outraged that they would resume their traditional financial aid to the Palestinian Hamas government.

The aid is badly needed to alleviate the sufferings of the Palestinian people caused by the US-Israeli financial blockade, in the manner the US-UK led sanction against a Saddam Hussein Iraq had led to the reputed death of 1 million undernourished Iraqi children.

Also sensing that Mahmud Abbas might be ineffectual against Hamas, the Israelis decided to launch Plan C, in the form of Marwan Barghouti, also of al Fatah.

Marwan Barghouti would have been elected the Palestinian president had he not been incarcerated by the Israelis. He is the most popular leader in the Palestinian territories, and is widely regarded as the only figure able to unify clashing Palestinian factions, rein in militants and get peacemaking with Israel moving again.

Gideon Ezra, the environment minister, a political ally of the Israeli prime minister has said that Israel should release Marwan Barghouti, its most prominent Palestinian prisoner, in a manoeuvre to shore up Mahmud Abbas.

He is the second senior Israeli official to recently advocate the release of Marwan Barghouti. Several weeks ago, the deputy defence minister, Ephraim Sneh of the Labour party, also championed Barghouti's release.

Ezra, a member of Olmert's Kadima party, said: "If we want to blunt Hamas's capabilities ... and if we ultimately want a civil rather than a religious government like those taking shape across the Arab world, we have to make a contribution. I think it could definitely help Abu Mazen [Abbas]."

Miri Eisin, Ehud Olmert's spokeswoman, said the release of Barghouti, who is serving five life sentences, was 'not on the agenda'. But Ezra riposted by reminding everyone that Israel has freed ‘much worse murderers’ in the past.

I believe the to-ing and fro-ing of the statements by Olmert’s people have been to test the Israeli public reaction to the proposed release of Marwan Barghouti.

The Israeli government is worried about the political resilence and endurance of Hamas, which is still defiantly in power despite the Israeli-US economic and financial sanction and their terrible fermenting of fratricidal civil war between the two Palestinian parties.

Marwan Barghouti has been sentenced to 5 life imprisonments. The very fact of a proposal by Kadima to release him means the Israelis, in its desperate efforts to contain Hamas, have been driven into throwing in the kitchen sink as well.

I wonder whether they have considered one far more viable option which even Hamas may possibly accept, notwithstanding the latter's extremist rhetoric against the State of Israel – namely, for Israel to return to the 1967 borders?

There are Muslims and there are Muslims

Over at BolehTalk I asked Are Chinese Malaysian Muslims 2nd class Muslims?

It discusses (most) Malay perception that unless you're a Malay (with one 'exception') you aren't really quite a Muslim. It's their identification of Malays being Muslims and vice versa.

Mind you, not all Malays have such an ethnic-centric belief, as exemplified brilliantly by the Perlis Mufti Dr Mohd Asri, surely a leading light.

And what's that 'exception'? The Arabs of course.

Talking about the Arabs, I recall those 'perfect' Gulf Muslims and the way they had treated their Asian brethrens - though I do wonder whether I should even use the word 'brethrens', much as some Malays like to consider those Arabs as theirs.

I had blogged the following about 18 months ago - read & weep, you Arab-philes:

... the Kuwaiti Parliament heard one of its members, Walid Tabtabai, claiming that Allah sent the tsunami to punish the immoral and unjust. In other words, a case of azab-e-Ilahi or the wrath of God for the sins of those who were hit.

The poor Aceh-ese farmers and fishermen immoral and unjust?

Or as Tarek Fatah said “What sick mind could come up with this description? The Kuwaitis and Saudi Islamists lecturing the world about morality is an outrage. Or is it that in the eyes of most Kuwaitis and Saudis, the dead belonged to the despised underclass who live as fourth class citizens in the Gulf States. Dark skinned Indian, Sri Lankan, Indonesian; truck drivers, cooks and maids; all children of a lesser God in the eyes of these Islamists of the Gulf.”

I was so pissed off I dashed off a letter to malaysiakini titled Asian victims Children of a Lesser God

But when Katrina hit New Orleans, Kuwait who offered the tsunami victims two lousy US millions (which it subsequently and grudingly increased after much criticism from its own press) straightaway gave 500 US millions to the Americans – in the latter case, no evil sinner was discovered in the good ole USA.

Please read also Gulf States Viewpoints - Tsunami vs Hurricane and Kuwait's Aid to Asia & USA - A Tsunami of Difference.

Lim KS: "AAB launching Ops Lalang II?"

15 anti-toll hike protestors outside the IOI shopping mall in Puchong were arrested a couple of days ago. Among those arrested were PAS Youth chief Salahuddin Ayub, PKR vice-president Sivarasa Rasiah, Tian Chua and PKR former Youth chief Ezam Mohd Nor.

Tian Chua was of course right in his favourite element, that is, of being ‘arrested. I get the feeling he has a wee inclination towards martyr-dom.

But Parliamentary Opposition Leader Lim Kit Siang, commenting on the arrest, wondered whether PM AAB is on the threshold of launching Ops Lalang II.

In 1987 Lim Kit Siang was a ‘guest’ of the government under Ops Lalang I where he was incarcerated under the Internal Security Act (ISA) for a long time, well, long enough for him to get his LLB through external studies.

Lim fretted over the latest wave of arrests that utilised security laws under the ISA. Remember, in my previous Toll sweetheart deal not sweet for opposition at BolehTalk, I remarked of AAB that he could well turn out to be the most oppressive PM this nation has the misfortune to elect.

How else can you describe a PM, who promised transparency and accountability during the run up to the 2004 general election, yet is now employing ham-fisted oppressive measures to stifle public protests over a mere commercial issue, that of unjustified rise in toll fees.

The government has the brazen shamelessness to misuse the Official Secret Act (OSA) to cover up their sweetheart deal with their crony concessionaires, a deal that has nothing to do with national security.

Lim Kit Siang agrees with me, describing a ‘rising tide of repression’ under PM AAB’s administration in its recent arrest of the protestors against toll fee rise, and the still-hanging threat to punish exposé of the dodgy toll highway agreement as a violation of the OSA, with a mandatory minimum jail sentence of 1 year.

And while misemploying the police in its repressive measures, the crime rates for Malaysia have been allowed to go through the roof.

Let’s also not forget those two 'lying' bloggers who had the temerity to highlight issues of public propriety such as an alleged gift of a nautical nature and millions of dollars for an official VVIP luxury jet that was obviously not properly appropriated under parliamentary process, and digustingly, during a time of government's call for 'belt-tightening' measures.

Lim queried: “Is Malaysia returning to the period where police brutalities and violation of human rights are routine occurrences?”

“It would appear that the police and Abdullah’s administration have taken a policy decision to disregard human rights and give the green-light for police violence and brutality to clamp down on peaceful protest.”

He also noted that the Police Act, Printing Presses and Publications Act and the Official Secrets Act (OSA) have been invoked recently.

He asked pointedly: “Will the ISA be the next draconian law to be invoked and is a second Operation Lalang of critics and dissenters of the Abdullah Administration already on the cards?”

I wonder whether AAB is even aware of his government's actions. I ask because it's common talk among Malaysians from all walks of life that AAB runs his government by rempit-ish remote control.

Malaysian peace advocate

I blogged on the World's most courageous advocate over at BolehTalk. It's a subject that World Jewry and Anwar Ibrahim would scoff at.

Mufti of Oz okays burqa + bikini

Well, Aussie Muslim ladies aren’t going to deny themselves one particular popular Aussie lifestyle, that of frolicking on the sunny beaches of Oz, but they still intend to maintain their Islamic dress codes.

So an ingenious designer, Mecca Laalaa, just a sweet 22, has created the the two-piece ‘burqini’, obviously a hybrid of burqa and bikini.

photo from Sydney Morning Herald

One immediate effect (and benefit) of the burqini is now reshaping the pattern of surf lifesaving, once monopolised by white Australians including wonderful bikini-ed damsels. The burqini uses lycra to present a unique cover-all swimming costume, so encouraging Muslim women to be on Australian beaches, even as lifeguards.

The NSW premier is supportive of the participation of Muslims as lifeguards, with a hope that racial tensions stemming from last year's race riots between ethnic Lebanese Australians and white Australian youths at Cronulla Beach in Sydney's south, would be diminished if not eliminated.

Laalaa said: "I am Australian so I always have the Australian life style, but now with the burqini it just allowed me to participate in it more. We used to always go to the beach, but now that I have the burqini I can actually swim."

Laalaa is one of 24 young Australians of Arab heritage who have recently signed up for a 10-week training course run by Surf Life Saving Australia aimed at widening the racial mix on beaches.

The full-length lycra suit with hijab head-covering is not too figure hugging to embarrass (damn it), but is tight enough (OooKay) to allow its wearer to swim freely.

Now, here’s a sensible and relevant sell for Islamic wisdom - burqini manufacturer Aheda Zanetti, who sells her burqinis for up to $A200, said: "We are also encouraged in Australia to cover up not due to modesty but for sun protection, so this is not just a modesty aspect swimming suit, it is also a protection against the sun, surf and sand."

She hopes the burqini would be adopted by non-Muslims as well, as a sensible protection against the dangers of overexposure leading to skin cancer. Probably Australians (and Kiwis) suffer most from skin cancer because of the damaged ozone layer over the South Pole.

The controversial Mufti of Australia, Sheik al Hilaly, who was alleged to have described scantily dressed women as 'exposed meat before prowling cats', has approved the design and its wearing.

But I hope he leaves the wearing of the burqini to the ladies and not take it upon himself to adorn one – it would be a terrifying sight that would definitely scare away the feline prowlers ;-)

Why President Bush is so against Iran

The US bipartisan Iraq Study Group, co-chaired by Democrat Lee Hamilton and Republican James Baker, had advised the president to ‘engage’ with Iran and Syria, meaning that diplomatic talks are far superior than military action and certainly kill less US soldiers.

James Baker is President Bush’s ‘uncle James’, the former US Secretary of State under Bush Senior and the man who represented Bush Junior in his dodgy 2000 US presidential election in Florida.

Virtually every sensible politician in the US and Europe has urged the President to talk with Iran, but Bush Junior has steadfastly refused.

Now, three former US generals have added their voices to the camp for talks with Iran, and advised against military adventures against the Persians.

They are army lieutenant general Robert Gard, a former military assistant to US defence secretary, Robert McNamara, US Marine Corps general Joseph Hoar, a former commander-in-chief of US Central Command and Navy vice-admiral Jack Shanahan, a former director of the Centre for Defence Information.

Bet you President Bush will ignore them as he had the others, because his administration has recently increased the frequency and vehemence of its verbal attacks on Iran. Many in the US are worried that the gungho moronic president could be preparing for a military strike against Iran. Certain members of his advisors would undoubtedly be egging him on.

To lend substance to this fear of Bush widening the conflict in Gulf, the US has despatched a second aircraft carrier to the Gulf. Many believe it may be a warning to Iran, but it could well be preparatory positioning for pre-emptive strikes against Iranian nuclear power plants, supply routes and other high value targets.

The three retired generals said: "There is time available to talk, we must ensure that we use it. The current crisis must be resolved through diplomacy."

“Attacking Iran would have disastrous consequences for security in the region, coalition forces in Iraq and would further exacerbate regional and global tensions.”

The unfortunate reality is that Bush has sold his soul to the war-with-Iran camp. I’ll give you one guess as to who is paranoid about wanting Iran bombed, attacked and crippled (as Iraq was), even if that kills thousands of US soldiers and increases the danger to US citizens.

The Christian Science Monitor reported that Zbulun Orlev of Israel's right-wing National Religious Party condemned the Iraq Study Group report as ‘unfriendly’ to Israel, particularly in its advocacy for engaging Iran, and then most brazenly, lambasting the Study Group for having the nerve to call for a ‘land for peace’ approach to the Israeli encroachment into Palestinian territories.

Orlev sure as hell didn’t like the idea of anyone, least of all the US, considering land for the Palestinians (that were seized/stolen by the Israelis in the first place).

He condemned particularly James Baker, who as US Secretary of State, had vigorously developed policies on a peace deal with the Palestinians.

Orlov said: "We thought after six years of Bush [the junior one], the policies which Baker represents had died."

Incidentally, as an aside, the senior President Bush, with a popularity rating of around 90% after the 1st Gulf War, strangely lost his second term re-election. Why?

... because in pushing for a peace settlement with the Palestinians, Bush Senior daringly prohibited Israel to build any settlement on the West Bank on pain of being denied US aid. That lost him the support of pro-Israeli voters including the powerful Christian Right.

Israeli PM Ehud Olmert was more confident. He declared the recommendations of the Iraq Study Group, which called for direct talks between Israel and its neighbours, Syria, Lebanon and the Palestinians and the resolution of the Israeli-Arab conflict, does not necessarily reflect Bush administration policy.

He's right on two counts - (1) Bush takes his advice from his Zionist advisors and the Israeli lobby - and (2) Israel has no interest in any peace deal with the Palestinians, and President Bush automatically supports whatever Israel wants.

Olmert or any Israeli PM doesn't want any peace deal that brings recognition and establishment of a Palestinian State. That has been the feet-dragging tactic of Israel for donkey years. Establishment of a sovereign Palestine threatens the legitimacy of an Israeli nation built on Palestinian land.

So long as Bush and his fundamentalist Christian beliefs shackled him to a pro-Hebraic policy* in the Middle-East , more US soldiers will die among the sands of the Middle East.

* even at this stage, Bush still agrees to supply Israel with more cluster bombs after Shimon Peres, deputy PM of Israeli had admitted the sowing of 1 million bomblets in southern Lebanon was a humongous mistake.

Since the end of the war, those bomblets have killed more than 24 Lebanese civilians and injured at least 100 others. Only 19,000 of the 1 million bombs have been recovered.

The Israeli inhumane act must be considered one of the world's modern day war crimes. Tun Dr Mahathir, please take note for your war crimes tribunal!

Bloodthirsty Humpty Dumpty

Over at BolehTalk I've posted Toll sweetheart deal not sweet for opposition, a discussion on why Lim Kit Siang believes Humpty Dumpty is bloodthirsty.

Best rojak found in Australia

The State Governor, Professor David de Krester, was formerly from Sri Lanka while the State Premier (= chief minister). Steve Brack, was of Lebanese origin.

But wait, there’s more of the multiethnic culture - the city’s Mayor, John So was originally from China. Recently he was voted the World's most outstanding mayor!.

All are top officials in the State of Victoria in Australia. On Australia Day, Mayor John So presented a citizenship certificate to Malaysian born sweetie, Sharon Siew Kien Wroblewski, who has an Indian mum and a Chinese dad, while her hubby's parents are German (mum) and Polish (dad).

It seems the best rojak (with plenty of Keat Hoe's petis udang or hare-koh), which Johor UMNO chief Abdul Ghani Othman has so strongly and sneeringly rejected as unacceptable to his 'pivotal race' supremacist ideology, can be found in exquisite delicious abundance in Australia.

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