PETALING JAYA: The man behind the controversy over the events surrounding AirAsia X flight D7237 from Perth to Kuala Lumpur last Sunday has finally spoken up, saying there was nothing wrong in asking passengers to pray.
In an interview with Berita Harian today, flight captain Ibrahim Jalaluddin said he had relayed a “may day” signal to the Perth air traffic control after the plane suffered a mid-flight incident that damaged the left engine forcing the crew to shut it down.
“When the aircraft was at a normal cruising mode, moving between 38,000 and 40,000 feet, we heard a loud sound like something hitting a metal object."
KT comment: If the aircraft was at a normal cruise mode, what in the world was it moving between 38,000 and 40,000 feet? That's a vertical band of 2,000 feet.
Was that the standard of AirAsia pilot, to porpoise his aircraft like a yo-yo in a 2,000 feet vertical band while in a normal cruise?
It gives me the unpleasant feeling that the pilot was either not cruising, did not even know what a cruise should be or could not fly 'straight and level.'
“I thought we had hit another aircraft, because our plane was swaying left and right."
“Then I realised this was due to the left engine having lost all function. This was also evident when the auto pilot failed to work, because it had been set to turn left but took the aircraft to the right instead,” the Malay daily quoted him as saying.
KT comment: If the aircraft lost operational function of its left engine, and the auto-pilot failed to work, why would the aircraft move to the right?
It should and would have swung to the left, towards the 'dead' engine. Why would the aircraft swung the other way to the right, unless ... wakakaka ...
The pilot has given us more questions on what he said to Berita Harian.
He stood by his announcement to passengers in the face of the danger the flight was in, where he was reported to have asked them to pray, and adding that he too was praying the flight would land safely in Perth airport.
“I made that announcement due to my belief in the Almighty."
“I also prayed and I felt it was not wrong to ask the passengers to do the same." [...]
No one is questioning his religious belief but rather, his professional behaviour in calling on the passengers to pray.
Notwithstanding the typical to-be-expected slew of defensive support given by AirAsia management, the Malaysian 'establishment' and so-called local aviation 'experts' who even have the flabbergasting nerve to claim that it's S.O.P (standard operating procedure) for the pilot to call on the passengers to pray, no professional pilot in the world, including the majority of Malaysian pilots, would have done that.
No one is asking the AirAsia pilot to emulate the sterling professional example of the captain of British Airways (BA 9) that was flying to Auckland, New Zealand from London in 1982.
BA 9 experienced a most dire situation in which all four engines of the B747 suffered flameout, meaning all four of its engines stopped working at one point due to ingestion of volcanic ash issued by Mount Galunggung.
Additionally, the volcanic ash caused very poor visibility for the pilots of BA 9. The aircraft was in far more dire conditions.
As MM Online informed us that the following was what the Captain Eric Moody of BA 9 said:
Captain Eric Moody
“Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. We have a small problem. All four engines have stopped. We are doing our damnedest to get them going again. I trust you are not in too much distress.”
Eventually the pilots re-started the engines and diverted safely to Jakarta, landing safely with three engines operating. Now, that was aviation professionalism at its acme.
Undeniably the pilot exhibited typical but admirable British understatement, no doubt with a stiff upper lip, wakakaka. Indeed, no one has asked or expected Captain Ibrahim Jalaluddin to be exactly like Captain Eric Moody.
But minimum professional standards? Tolong jaga sedikit lah!
“We then opted to reduce the speed to the approved minimum, and even though it was unsuccessful, we never gave up hope and thankfully found a way to land the aircraft safely.”
What self-inflating pompous but scary cock has he been talking about '... we never gave up hope and thankfully ...'?
Professional pilots, whether military, airlines or chartered, don't give up hope, ever!
When they overcome an emergency, no matter how dire, that's because of their skills (from training and experience), initiatives and air/ground support they received, but they don't say stuff like '... thankfully ...'.
I've to say I am totally flabbergastingly fu-lat-ishly f**ked by what I have read of Captain Ibrahim Jalaluddin's statements.
PETALING JAYA: PKR vice-president Tian Chua says there will be no conflict within Pakatan Harapan over the post of prime minister if the opposition wins the coming general election (GE14).
This is because the leader will be chosen based on loyalty towards reforming the country’s laws and economy, not loyalty towards individuals. “It does not matter who in PKR or our partners becomes the prime minister."
“The leader must be loyal to the agenda we are fighting for. He or she must not be chosen just because a party or a person is loyal to an individual,” he told FMT.
He can say anything prior to an election and you bet he would, wakakaka, but there is no iron-clad guarantee the so-called Pakatan reform agenda will be met after the election.
Perhaps the original Pakatan Rakyat (now extinguished) could be relied upon but alas, not the current Pakatan Harapan as it has the most non-reformist Mahathir, the notorious Constitution-mutilator-destroyer, and his Pribumi in the coalition. Tian Chua is just saying so to convince us that even without Pakatan Harapan (PH) naming a PM-designate, it's safe to vote for his party PKR as his party's so-called reform agenda is assured.
His "It does not matter who in PKR or our partners becomes the prime minister" does not hold water because the new PM, assuming Pakatan wins in GE14, may well be most non-reformist Mahathir of Pribumi, wakakaka.
Pribumi is of course Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (PPBM), a racially exclusive ketuanan party which party-name is already an insult to non-Malays, telling them (the non-Malays) they are second class citizens and thus cannot be members of his elitist gold card party. The worst hypocritical offence by Pribumi is its sinister guise to conceal its ketuanan name by calling itself Bersatu, when that's the exact opposite of its party's doctrine, unless 'bersatu' has been meant only for pribumi or bumiputera.
Be that as it is, let's examine the policy stand of the component paties of Pakatan Harapan (PH) because we need to see how far Tian Chua's words, at least for PKR, can be relied upon.
It so happened Sweetie Boo Su-Lyn of MM Online did a survey on the individual stand of PH component parties, namely, PKR, Pribumi, DAP and Amanah, on certain socio-politico-economic, etc issues - I refer to the newspapers' Where does Pakatan Harapan stand on issues?.
We know that the 4 parties have different ideologies, with:
PKR claiming to stand on political-reform multi-racialism,
Pribumi on ... well .... pribumi (Malay) interests,
DAP on secular socialist democracy, and
Amanah on welfare based on Islam.
That's what each claims to be so. Well, we shall see, wakakaka. But I might just point out at this stage that PKR is still working up a special deal between itself and PAS, already the political foe of PH.
Indeed, I see the MM Online survey springing some surprises on their individual stand. Let's select a few to analyse, touching on especially those points which see different positions by PH members, and controversial points as well, eg. 'Ban child marriages'.
Firstly:
kaytee's observations (wakakaka):
1. NEP:
Pribumi is predictable but that's its bread & butter.
DAP and Amanah support it but like to see the end goal.
PKR for all its claim of reforms and multi-racialism is just like Pribumi, a ketuanan party in essence.
At least Amanah wants to see an end goal to the NEP but PKR ... well ... you have recently witnessed one of its leaders using her AP to add on to her collection of luxury cars - for more, read FMT's 2 ‘foolish’ MPs tell Zuraida they never used their APs.
At least I have to say Pribumi is up front with its aim but I have to wary of PKR as I suspect it bullshits on its own-acclaimed reform credentials.
Pribumi re-emphsizes Mahathir's policy, to teach maths & science in English which will be bloody ineffectual for mastering the English language and likely to be counterproductive in Malay and vernacular schools.
Rehman's command of English was superior to most English
In my humble opinion, the English language should be taught on subjects, apart from the English language classes per se, which allow wide and varied usage of the language so as to improve mastery of the written, spoken and read language.
It's not sufficient to learn just 'solve this and that' or 'find the value of X', etc, but rather on subjects such as History, Literature, Civics & Ethics, Communication.
DAP wants English to be a compulsory pass in SPM. It's just an option.
PKR and Amanah are both clueless. I am very surprised by PKR's lackadaisical stand on the learning of English.
Secondly:
Revival of local council elections: Pribumi is predictable in being evasive but then Mahathir has never been inclined towards independent decision-making bodies which may obstruct his centralised bulldozing ways in running the government.
That's why he chopped off the Judiciary at their knees and tamed the Senate in case the latter become too independently obstructive.
But Pribumi has the brazen nerve to talk about reforming the Dewan Senate as a priority when Mahathir was the bloody person who castrated the Upper House, unless his 'reforming the Dewan Negara' is about further mutilation by guise of reforms.
DAP is the only component PH party which supports it, not surprising when you recall 'twas DAP in Penang which wanted to have the 3rd level elections in Penang, ...
... and which PAS was against because it desires/lusts after 'appointment' of its members as councillors but fears election of mentioned councillors as it feels its candidates may not have a snowflake's chance in hell, wakakaka.
Oh, I recall too that Hadi Awang threatened the possibility 'May 13' if local council elections were to be held in Penang.
PKR for all its so-called reformist credentials has no stand on this or is completely clueless, or more likely, dares not offend PAS so it acts 'dunno' insofar as local council elections are concerned. So much for PKR's bullshit about its reform credentials.
Thirdly:
1. LGBT:
Law to protect LGBT against hate crimes and religious raids. Only Pribumi is defiantly against protecting LGBT while the rest, PKR, DAP and Amanah, buat diam diam. One bully and 3 cowards, wakakaka.
2. Sign UN refugee convention: Bizarrely, PKR as a reform party is the only component party not to have a stand on this. It is worse than Pribumi and Amanah.
3. Ban child marriages:
Pribumi and Amanah are predictable as both have Muslim Malays as their constituents, who do not see anything wrong about child marriages.
DAP is predictably for banning such underage marriages.
Aiyoyo, so-called reformist PKR again dares not offend PAS so it acts 'dunno'. Podoh.
4. Enact sexual harassment laws:
All except PKR support it - ask PKR why? Maybe its reformist ideology calls for mucho sexual harassment? Wakakaka.
5. Criminalise marital rape:
Of course Amanah opposes it as there is no such thing as 'marital rape' in Islam.
PKR (and pribumi) either has no clue or acts 'dunno' again, wakakaka. 6. Ban unilateral child conversion:
S.Deepa (right) and her ex-husband Izwan Abdullah
Can't blame Pribumi and Amanah for not supporting this as both have ONLY Muslim membership and objecting to child conversion into Islam is to them silly and against their beliefs. But PKR? Again it shows its sad cluelessness, cowardice or cringe towards PAS.
At 00:58:53 UTC or almost 9 am Malaysian time on 26 December 2004 there was a humongous earthquake with a MMS (Moment magnitude scale) of 9.1 to 9.3 off the west coast of Sumatra.
Wikipedia says: It was the 3rd largest earthquake ever recorded on a seismograph and had the longest duration of faulting ever observed, between 8.3 and 10 minutes. It caused the entire planet to vibrate as much as 1 centimetre (0.4 inches) and triggered other earthquakes as far away as Alaska.
The earthquake triggered tsunami along the coasts of the Indian Ocean killing approximately (officially) 250,000 people, but unofficially the death toll could be far far worse as many deaths were either not reported or not even known.
Penang Island and some parts of the Kedah coast were affected, with deaths recorded in the former.
Then (2005) there were numerous hue and cries in Malaysia about the frightening natural disaster. A Lebanese news media reported that some muftis in the Gulf countries claimed the SE Asian Muslims were divinely punished for their sins.
Like most Gulf countries, Midas-rich but King Scrooge Kuwait (an Islamic nation) initially made a paltry donation of US$2 million, considerably far less than the contribution of US$10 million by Michael Schumacher, a Christian individual, before it was shamed by Arab newspapers into increasing its donation, but alas not by much.
Indeed, Arab nations ignored or gave very pathetic amount in aid to their Muslim brethren in devastated Indonesia in shameful comparison to Christian Australia who gave A$1 Billion.
Christian infidels like American Sandra Bullock herself gave US$1 million and, as mentioned above, German Michael Schumacher as an individual donated US$10 million.
By staggering contrast, after Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans those Muslim Arabs gave hundreds and hundreds of millions in American dollars (eg. Kuwait alone gave US$500 million) to the USA. Presumably the natives of New Orleans were less sinful than Sumatran Muslims.
Malaysians learnt what a tsunami was and how devastating it could be for people living along the our nation's coasts.
There arose a fervour of anxiety cum enthusiasm about implementing a tsunami alert system in Malaysia.
It's now 13 years after the horror which wiped out hundreds of thousands of lives in Sumatra, Malaysia, Thailand, Andaman Islands, Sri Lanka, India, etc, and even as far as Somalia.
Years ago, before I went to Australia to work, I recall the ‘waktu sembahyang’ on Friday noon when my Muslim mateys had to go to mosque to perform their Islamic obligations, in far more self voluntary fashion than young British Christian soldiers in colonial Malaya being forcefully marched to church on Sunday morning by their parade sergeants to attend religious services [as told to me by my uncles, wakakaka].
But some years later when I returned to Malaysia for holidays I encountered a new word called ‘solat’ being mentioned frequently by Malays, a word admittedly unknown to me before I departed for Down-Under.
I wondered what it was until I subsequently discovered it meant/means exactly ‘sembahyang’. Hmmm, will 'sembahyang' be used again?
There were more new words for me to find out their ‘old’ Malay meaning such as Eid al-Fitr (Hari Raya), iftar (buka puasa), Sanah Helwah (Selamat Hari Lahir), etc. So this brings me to CK, my hot-tempered visitor, wakakaka, who was damn annoyed that I criticized only the hallelujah-ing Christians from Calvary Life Assembly Chinese Church (CLAC) for being gullible guppies (naïve morons) in stupidly believing the Golden Jubilee (50 years) celebration of Jerusalem has something to do with Christianity while not saying anything about the Arabisation of Malays in our country. Well, CK has been incorrect because I have posted articles on the Arabisation of Malays on:
There’s no necessity to read the above-mentioned posts (unless you want to) as I’ll be re-producing most of their contents in this post for dear CK’s syiok sendiri ... I mean ... sake, wakakaka, so as to pacify his humongous aggrievement against inequality in Malaysia.
I have to admit CK might have a point on this as most of which, namely the inequality, were a result of Mahathir’s BTN-isation, Ketuanan Melayu-isation and 929 & 617 Declarations. The last opened the Islamic Pandora Box forevermore, and at its time were severely criticized in written form by none other than, wakakaka, Lim Kit Siang, who might have now forgotten all about those Declarations - hmmm, bukan saja Melayu yang mudah lupa, wakakaka.
Those Declarations have comfort, encouragement and motivation to the ulama and ultra conservative Muslims and which in turn spurred on the Arabisation process of Malays which already started in 1981.
On the gradual erosion of Malay culture by an increasing and relentless Arabisation process favoured by some conservative Malays, The Malaysian Digest in March last year (2016) reported:
… the Sultan of Johor, Sultan Ibrahim Ibni Almarhum Sultan Iskandar pointed out that Malays should stop doing so.
“If there are some of you who wish to be an Arab and practise Arab culture, and do not wish to follow our Malay customs and traditions, that is up to you,” the Ruler said, highlighting how these days, Malays preferred using terms like ‘Eid al-Fitr’ instead of ‘Hari Raya’ and iftar instead of ‘buka puasa’.
The same was also pointed out by forthright social activist, Datin Paduka Marina Mahathir, who spoke against “Arabisation” which she claimed seems to be taking root in Malaysia. “This is just Arabisation. Our culture — it’s colonialism, Arab colonialism,” she remarked.
In April (just 2 months ago), Johan Jaafar of the Star Online wrote:
I have said it many times: as the Malays become more Muslim, they become less Malay.
They are discarding almost everything that they perceive as positing “Malayness” and embraced what they believe to be “Islamic.”
In doing so they are losing their real identity by trying to be what they are not.
There is a real issue pertaining to identity struggle and contestation among the Malays today. In the name of religion, they are questioning not only how they look but their tradition, even folktales and performing arts.
Islamisation is not about Arabisation. You don’t need to be an Arab to be a Muslim.
But what we are seeing in this country today is the process of Arabisation of the Malays. The Malays have never been as confused in manifesting their true identity as they are now. […]
But propagating a notion of one’s race as superior to others is not acceptable. In short, there is nothing with wrong with manifesting one’s race and at the same time professing the religion. […]
The fault lines were established. It is like telling the world that one needs to “look Muslim” to be one. To “look Muslim” is by imitating the Arabs.
There is a new demand to be “more Muslim”, for example in attire. Gestures, too, matter.
And by being Islamic, one is also judged by the words one uses. It is no more Hari Raya but Eid Mubarak. It is no more Selamat Hari Lahir but Sanah Helwah. The term for the yearly Quran reading competition too has evolved to ensure its purity in Islamic terms: musabaqah, tilawah, ujian. […]
Earlier on, the then Culture, Arts and Heritage Minister, Tan Sri Dr Rais Yatim, also spoke about the need for the Malays to put a stop to Arabisation of their own culture. “We are not Arabs,” he argued.
Lately the former Information Minister, Tan Sri Zainuddin Maidin, in his controversial blog wrote about the danger of Malays unwittingly believing that what is Arab is Islam.
The debate will rage on. Sadly, despite a spirited effort by a few well-meaning and concerned Malay intellectuals, the voice of conservatism is suppressing all discourse of reason.
Religion is an emotive subject. As the result of the tyranny of the silent majority, pleas for reason are little heard these days.
The Malays have adapted well to other cultures, unashamedly embracing traits and characteristics from others. But they have been steadfast in protecting what they believe is their own culture and identity.
But Arabisation, in the name of religion, is changing all that. The entire culture (with a big “C”) is being challenged.
Malays?
Something definitely is not right: the growing conservatism that comes with it. The Malays have always taken the position that adat (customs and rituals) and agama (religion), insofar as it is not against the teaching of Islam, should supplement each other.
Joining in the debate, journalist Amin Iskandar published initially in the now-defunct The Malaysian Insider and which article was picked up in 2015 by FMT, lamented at what he perceived as the 'Neo Talibanisation' and Arabisation of the Malay language and culture, the increasing popularity of the Arabic gown known as the 'jubah' and a corresponding decrease in the use of the traditional Malay baju kurung.
FMT continued: He also argued that there appeared to be an infiltration of Arabic words into the Malay language, with long-standing Malay words such as “buka puasa”, “doa” and “sembahyang” being replaced with words such as “iftar”, “dua” and “solat”, respectively.
Amin also pointed out that the Malay Archipelago had its own version of Islam, described by Indonesian President Joko Widodo as Islam Nusantara, which in Malaysia was rapidly being replaced by a more hard-line interpretation of the religion which was prevalent in the Middle East.
Then, PM Najib in his futuristic version of Wawasan 2020 but now called TN50 discussed a future Malay icon or hero by the Arabic name of Firdaus Imtiaz.
Steven Sim, the MP for Bukit Mertajam and a director of Penang Institute, informed us that said hero is identical to an Arabised Hang Tuah.
Why then not continue to call Hang Tuah simply Hang Tuah?
Sim informs us that unlike the historical or mythical heroic Hang Tuah, the typical Malay today suffers from anxiety and fears about his own privileged position, and develops a psyche that is predisposed towards frequent calls for 'Malays to unite' even under leaders accused of corruption and abuses of powers.
'Malays to unite' is a fave chant of politicians from PAS and UMNO, and now Pribumi.
Since 1981, there seems to be a deliberate official indoctrination of the Malays to be less confident so that they would rely heavily on the Malay nationalist political party.
Thus many Malays have become less confident and less secure, and live life with a constant siege mentality.
To compensate for their mental insecurity, many compensate by turning to more complex religious involvement and consequently develop the inclination to be more Arab-like so as to become superior Muslims. Can we blame them especially if the ultra conservative political Muslim ulama also encourage them towards such Arabisation for their (ulama's) political gains.
So it’s not just CK who has been annoyed by Arabisation as we see today’s Malays walking around Malaysia in thobe, the jubah that Amin Iskandar just mentioned and with some ladies even adorning the niqab (face veil).
In October 2016, Syed Farid Alatas, writing in the Edge Malaysia, narrated (extracts):
What is referred to as Arabisation today is in fact a worrying trend. This is because the adoption by some Malays of certain elements of Arab culture would result in the gradual erosion of Malay culture and practices.
If more and more Malay men were to adopt the thobe, this would mean the marginalisation of the kain pelikat and baju Melayu and their possible demise as a cultural artifact. Indeed, it is already the case that there is hardly a Malaysian kain pelikat industry to speak of, as this is dominated by a few Indonesian manufacturers.
An even greater concern as far as the trend of Arabisation is concerned is the adoption of a way of life that is not only contrary to Malay culture but is also inappropriate for our society.
The example I have in mind is the adoption of the niqab, the part of the hijab that covers the face. The niqab is a tradition of many Arab societies but is foreign to Malay culture. Still, it is increasingly seen on the streets of Kuala Lumpur, Singapore and Jakarta. […]
Those Malays and Indonesians who adopt such ways perhaps imagine that they are practising a more authentic version of Islam. In doing so, they set themselves apart from the larger Malay society, contribute to the erosion of Malay traditions and practices, and could be a party to the infusion of extremist interpretations of Islam.
When Islam arrived in the Malay world centuries ago, it adapted itself to the culture of the region and did not marginalise the culture of its people.
Indeed, the above confirm suspicions even among the Malays themselves that those who have gone ‘Arab’ (the opposite of ‘gone native’, wakakaka) did/do so in their ‘belief’ they could become better or superior Muslims.
And Syed said sometime fundamentally important for Malays to consider, that “When Islam arrived in the Malay world centuries ago, it adapted itself to the culture of the region” and not the other way around as seen today, where the culture of the region abdicates to the growing dominance of the culture of the Arabs.
Years back when I haven’t yet departed for Australia, Malay sweeties were elegantly attired in baju kurung and sarong kebaya.
So perhaps it's time to ask what has happened to the lovely sarong kebaya?
Ironically, the kebaya originated in the royal courts of the Majapahit era when the Javanese nobility began adopting Islam as their religion.
The kebaya evolved or came into being so as to modify the traditional Javanese women's sexy Kemban (torso wrap, also known as Dhodot) into a modest dress more acceptable to the new religion of Islam.
sexy kemban (or dhodot) with sweet uncovered shoulders
That’s right, the kebaya was the Mahapahit people’s approach towards modifying their native Kemban into a less sexy attire, and they did so most elegantly to bless us with the elegant but very demure sarong kebaya. They did NOT rush into dicarding the Kamban and substituting it with a jubah.
That was exactly what Syed meant when he said that “When Islam arrived in the Malay world centuries ago, it adapted itself to the culture of the region” and not the other way around as seen today.
a semi-transparent brocade blouse to cover bare shoulders turned the sexy kemban into an Islam-halal kebaya
complete it with a selendang to cover the head and Buotros is your uncle
But today the kebaya, which as mentioned was ironically evolved to respect Islam, might have become non-halal in Malaysia. There seems to be a lack of respect or recollection for history, pious local cultural innovation, and a sad but complete disregard for Malay-ness. However I believe we needn't worry too much at the potential loss of this beautiful Malay heritage as Chinese Malaysian sweeties love kebaya and will definitely maintain the gorgeous Malay dressing tradition, all complete with beautiful intricate kerongsang and silver or gold belt for the sarong, wakakaka.
Now, leaving aside mention of the PAS government’s prohibition of Mak Yong and Wayang Kulit in the Islamic Party’s relentless drive to abandon Malay culture and adat for those from the Middle-East, we are sad to say the Arabisation started in 1981 to the delight of the ulama and ultra conservative Muslims.
The Arabisation was given an additional fillip in 2001 and 2002 when Mahathir opened the Middle East Pandora Box for his own political brownie points. Thus today, my dear CK and visitors, why should we be surprised if many Malays have in the majority discarded or abandoned their quintessentially tradisi Melayu to opt for an Arabic culture and lexicon in their anxious desire to be far superior Muslims. Look, they need those to withstand the perils of the threatening World as constantly told to them by both UMNO and PAS, and now Pribumi.
