When the Annointed met the Elected : A backdoor story

A cool and lovely Sunday morning that looks like it's going to last all afternoon, saw me in the Mamak Stall, eating roti canai and sipping a glass of teh tarik. Breakfast in Mamak stall in the mornings could only mean two things; either I've achieved my early morning walk up and down the hill, and need to replenish all that burnt calories so that I will have a reason to continue exercising, OR I am on my Sunday once in a month duty, which in turn could only mean one thing; that I will be banging the balls that I don't have (not physically anyway), which therein means one thing; IT WAS BLOGGING TIME....

Back to the Mamak Stall scenario, I had to buy The Star today because my kid reads the papers..well, at least someone still does. Apparently she need to know current issues to aid her debate activities. I offered her my knowledge of the Malaysian politics but was quickly rejected. She told me, "Ummi, I need a non biased safe to use facts for my debate", of which I chuckled before answering, "Mainstream media, non biased, rrrrriiiggggggggghhhht...but yes, it's definitely useful for public debates. My facts not only will make you get kicked out of the debate team, but I may have to bail you out from Khidmat Negara later".

Just to digress a little, I also reminded her to keep up with her number one priority, which is her studies saying, "You need to know where your priority lies, darling. You must not neglect your studies while passionately engrossed in debate. The world does not need another smart mouth with a latent brain to catch up with it. We have too many of them in our Parliament already. You'd be out of job due to stiff competition since not many want to step down to allow new faces entering parliament". Funny, how that little reminder work with her.

Anyway, back on track, I almost choke on my tea when I saw this headlines, "Understand Islam better". No wait, it wasn't the headlines, rather what was printed just below it, "Malaysia can help US overcome Islamophobia, says Najib". You can also read it HERE.

Then I just sat there, and imagined how the conversation between Obama and Najib would have sounded like:


Najib : Yo dude, what's jivin' mah maaan.

Obama : Err....Datuk... Najib. Salam'alaikum. Let me be clear, my middle name may be Hussain, but I am not a Muslim, and unlike what the public thinks, actually, I am just black on the outside. Datuk Najib, first and foremost, can you please explain to me what does "Datuk" means... I am confused. My nieces and nephews who now live in Indonesia calls their grandfather the same thing, although your grey hair may help give some clue. Furthermore, I heard one can become a Datuk by purchasing it? Can you buy grandchildren to be called "Datuk" ? How many grandchildren do you have? Err..pssss....(pulling Najib aside), is that your better three quarter, pardon me, I mean better half? Wow, looking at her, I have to say that I'm grateful, that it's just Sasya and Malia for us, I mean look at Michelle, isn't she still a hot guchie mama?

Najib : Oh, the gray hair was caused by the headaches I have to face lately, which have nothing to do with medical condition. Life as a politician is no longer bliss like they use to be in Malaysia. Now we actually have to work. Can you teach me how to use that Blackberry later when my wife is not looking? (winking at Obama).

To answer your question, we, just like you were colonized by the British who officially left in 1957 but not really left our minds. America was liberated via methods of war, whilst we Malaysians are proud to avow that there was not a single drop of blood involved in the path to our Independance. We just killed each other AFTER we secured Independance, you know, on that black May day. We were smart enough to get everything on papers first, before we can do whatever we want. We tend to settle our problems later rather than sooner, it's just how we do things around here. Some call it laid back but I call it balancing life to have some quality of it. In fact, it is the Malaysian way to settle any problem only when it is unavoidably necessary.

Obama : Yes, I understand from my Intelligence, sources that you people were smart to recognize non bloody methods to gain your Independence. Something about the Malays having to grant the Indians and the Chinese citizenship to comply to British condition to Independence. Imagine if you don't grant them their citizenship, surely the British use this excuse to not grant the Independence, those sly bastards. Very smart indeed, you just managed to outwit the British to get this done only on papers but these Chinese and Indians have been never been welcomed hitherto. Heck, my sources told me some Malays still call them "immigrants". I must send my people to learn on how to handle immigrants in your country, so that we can apply them in Arizona. I'm sure you've heard about the much criticized immigration bill signed into law in the US state of Arizona that allows police officers to question and detain suspected illegal immigrants even if they are not believed to have committed a crime. People have been giving me hell ever since.

Najib : Oh, yes, you have come to the right place to train your agents. We may not specialize in making good cars, but just like we are brilliant in marketing them, we definitely are the experts on questioning not to mention detaining, not just illegals and legal immigrants, but also anyone who gets in our way. I'm sure you've heard of our much feared ISA detention. We just shove whoever we like into detention and work out the excuse for detention later. Over here we practice pre-emptive detention, of course we adapted this from your predecessor Bush. I mean, how brilliant is that, preemptive war!! Bush must have had this idea while watching that brilliant movie, "Minority report". Ha..ha..speaking of minority, over here in Malaysia, we too have a "Minority Report" but anyone who make that report incidentally will end up under ISA detention. Like I said, we may not be brilliant in making cars, but we are brilliant detaining people. although we still have problems defining the word sedition but we are working on it.

Obama : Well, my fellow comrade, that is why the Dictionary was invented you know.

Najib : Well, I beg to differ. Here in Malaysia, we tend to have our very own vocabulary aid, designed to be interactive like one of those Astro shows for our kids and we call Dick-tionary, whereby we get to tailor the words to our liking. I mean, so far we've managed to convince, well majority of our people that racist bigots for instance, does not fall under seditious, but satire is.

Obama : Ah yes, I've just been informed about your latest detention. A cartoonist am I right?

Najib : Wow, I am certainly impressed by the efficiency of CIA. They actually picked this up before CNN did. I mean after September 11, many have stopped calling your Intelligence unit, intelligent, but we'll save this topic for later.

Obama : Oh, no, it was not the CIA that picked up this story. Actually I got this piece of information from the Facebook, and yes, they've finally hack-proof my Blackberry. It was so embarrassing that some of the personal data leaked, I mean, people now know that I'm surrounded by Jews, but hey, there is no proof that link them to Zionist the movements, so that was a relief. You know, I've got a brilliant FB page going on in there. My attention was brought to this cartoonist matter when my eyes caught sight of this certain witty guy called John, who posted on his status, the words, "Cartoonist was arrested by Cartoons". I have to tell you I ROFLOL so much so the thud caused second level panic at the white house because the trainee CIA, who was with me at the time, thought it was some WMD dropped onto the White House. We have been very jittery since 9/11.

Najib : Ah yes, I had the same problem when my wife slipped and fell onto the floor in Sabah recently, but she was far from ROFLOL mode.

Obama : Ah yes, I believe I read about it on FB, Twitter and Blogs. My my, she made the headlines. Don't you have a Facebook account Najib? It's an excellent networking tool. It had helped me won the premiership

Najib. : I had one. It was fun until my wife caught me poking on FB. She told me, "enough poking already, remember where the last poke got you into?". From thereon, no woman was allowed to be on my friend list. She even suggested that poking is seditious and should be detain under ISA. Oh, my pudding pie loves me so very much I sometimes am overwhelmed by her.

Obama : But Najib, don't you think you should drop this ISA business. I was told that it is manipulated and used at the whims of those few powerful people...I mean, that's what my Intelligence briefed me..but well, after 9/11, they have very much lost credibility, it could have just been called the "Central Intelligent Agency ?".

Najib : Oh, I did not make myself clear. Sorry, I meant ISA as in InSecurityActions. You mistook that for our Internal Security Act. I should have been more specific, my apologies. Then again, Obama, it's just terminology. We call it ISA, you call it Guantanamo Bay. Tomaaato, tomayto.. Eh, when are you going to send me some people to train in water boarding. I think this water is still cheaper to use rather than eggs. The old man is right you know. These Malaysians are really not grateful. We serve them eggs in detention, they say it's food fit for dogs. Common lar...we kill dogs, we don't feed them.

Obama : You know, you really ought to look into this matter. Somebody on facebook suggested you use that video in which your wife dueted with your local sensational artist, Mawi. Apparently survey done on facebook showed that people think that that video should be much more effective than our water boarding. Here, let me tap into your wifi and check out this video they are talking about.





Najib : Ahahaaa....my darling wife. I did warn her to keep her day job after seeing that video. You know, I really must make a mental note to ask Jintao how he manage to ban You Tube and Google in China.

Obama : Ah yes, China. I did China trip just after Mongolia last year. I'm sorry about you not being able to go to Mongolia. The women there are truly beautiful.

Najib : *&()^$%#@?!! (muffling sound)

Obama : Pardon me?

Najib : Oh excuse me, it's just my post nasal drip flaring up again.

Obama : Post nasal drip? What is that? Is that why you have those tiny bits of saliva at the corners of your mouth soon after you pass 5 minutes of talking time? Lucky you have such luscious pink lips, otherwise those saliva would have been a major distraction.

Embarrassed, it was this that instigated a quick change in the subject ergo how Najib came up with telling Obama that Malaysia is prepared to help America fight Islamphobia.

Najib : Eh, what is the deal with the building mosque two blocks away from Ground Zero?

Obama : Ah that. I cannot believe how much crap I have to put up with as a consequence of my condoning the building of that particular mosque. Some pastor from Florida started getting ideas that it is okay to burn the Quran on 9/11 as a sign of retaliation. Right now I'm sending in my agents to determine, who are the Dumb, and who are the Dumber.

Najib : Yes, I noticed you allowed the erection of mosque, is that a political move?

Obama : I don't know how you do things in Malaysia, but in the United States, we have constitutions and we have been proudly upholding them hitherto. We honor and respect everyone's beliefs long as they do not interfere with the convenience of others.

Najib : Aah....I understand what you mean. In Malaysia we have this latest theme, "One Malaysia".

Obama : Oh, but our views are far more than just themes and logos. We live up to them as have our forefathers as envisioned by the founders of America. Abraham Lincoln, god bless him and America. My CIA is not all that daft you know.

Najib : Your CIA may not be daft, but statistics showed that Americans do not know enough about Islam to suddenly hate it. Remember the poor Sikh who got shot just because he wore a turban and people mistaken him for a Muslim? I mean, they even think that you are a Muslim just because your middle name is Hussain !! Errr....are you?

Obama : I hope you have not mistaken me for Bush, I have way more IQ score than him. He was just there as a puppet, or clown if I may. He was so funny, that when he left the White House, the media cried because comedy died that day. Make no mistake about it, I am not Bush. With apostasy, when clearly your own Quran mentioned that "there is no compulsion in Islam", why would I want to enter a trap set up by Islam? It's like that Hotel California song, "You can checkout any time you like, But you can never leave".

Najib : The issue here is you people are scared of Islam. Let me show you that Islam is a benign and moderate religion.

Obama : How can that possibly be moderate in your country? I mean what was that deal with the flogging of Kartika and the adulterers. Were there any males involved in those adultery, and if so, why was it that the men were not whipped? You claim to be practicing progression, but my sources showed that you have gone two steps backwards in time. What happened to forgiveness? You want me to quote some Quranic verses the way I quoted the Torah during my speech in Israel? I mean, if I, a non Muslim cannot in your country mention the word "Allaa" then perhaps I better not upset your people by quoting your Quran. I mean, with people like Mat Selamat, who is ironically declared not a threat to the nation, yet you found a cartoonist a threat, running loose in between Singapore and Malaysia, and Indonesia, make no mistake about it, how can I not be feeling a little bit threatened .

Najib : Actually, in all honesty, those were just for shows, to show voters that we the incumbents, have repented after the last GE tsunami and that as usual, in Malaysia, repent can be shown by what the eyes can perceive. It would be good if I can get my wife to cover her head, because the culture in Malaysia currently shows that a sign for repentance in a woman is when she covers her head. People here are generally more concern with what is ON a woman's head, not so much what is IN her head. But I digress.

Obama : You are saying that to regain trust of voters for the next GE, you approach the method whereby religion, which incidentally never fails to be an effective tool in politics...... I mean, ask us the Americans, we are THE expert in doing that..haha.. Bin Laden still thought that we, via the CIA, have nothing to do with strengthening the Taliban when we needed to get Russia out of Afghanistan. Man, we were brilliant, even the Mossad adapted our method by sponsoring and training the Hamas in a quest to counter the Hisbullah ergo Arafat...or was it the other way round...hmmm....I'm feeling a bit tipsy...what is this I'm drinking?

Najib : Oh, it's tapai. We did not want to take the risk, unsure whether you being a Muslim was a rumour or otherwise, so we served Tapai, it is halal.

Obama : Hmmm....I must get Michelle to taste this,she's big on vegetables right now...I'm sure she'd like to taste your local fermented stuff ...tapai..hmm.... Annyway, my point is, you try to win voters by being more Islamic than your rival...what's that party that looked like they've been transported via a wormhole to the present from the time of Muhammad again? Why are they dressed like they come from the past? And yet you say Islam is progressive. Look how you present yourselves? By the way, I must get Hawkings to research how on earth their camels did not make it through the wormhole. He's been calling me that Hawkings, obviously edgy and jittery and feeling paranoid that some Clergy may send someone to blow him up into pieces for the latest discovery he revealed that claims God did not create the Universe. That man, it's as though it's not enough that he's on the wheelchair, now he's trying to commit suicide by declaring such scientific shocking statements. You and I learn history. We are aware of human tendencies to stop brilliant minds from excelling by cutting off the vault that holds the brains.

Well, come to think of it, at least Hawkings won't be able to strangle himself to death the way Teoh Beng Hock did under the custody of your anti-corruption unit, what with in his condition ad all, so even if he's dead, we can safely rule out suicide this time around. Seriously Najib, I thought I was in deep shit when I took over bloody Bush in office. Looks like you are in a deeper shit than I am.

Oh God, this tapai is really making me have difficulties in staying focus. What I meant to ask you, is, instead of trying to out-Islam your rival, have you tried combating corruption instead? You cannot beat Islamists at their game you know, didn't your intelligence brief you? Do you have intelligence at all Najib?

Najib : I ....bbbbeg your pardoooon...

Obama : Oh..no..no..no..no...I didn't mean it that way. I tend to forget diplomacy ways of communication when I'm a bit tipsy. I meant your Intelligence equavalence to our CIA.

Najib : Oh. Well, we have our special branch.

Obama : You mean the same bunch who chucked aside TBH's suicide note just because he could not comprehend Chinese? Just wondering, do they understand English? I would be very worried if they don't. I don't feel safe in Malaysia.

Najib : About that, I was wondering if America can send language teachers to Asean nations, similar to the Peace Corps projects of the 1960s initiated by President John F. Kennedy, where youth volunteers travelled the globe to help in community projects.

Obama : Aaah...now I know why Malaysians like everything possibly free. Obviously, your "Kepimpinan Melalui Tauladan" theme is such a success. I mean, look at the level of corruption in your country!!

Najib : Are you trying to be condescending?

Obama : I think we better end this meeting. I think I may just have had too much of that delicious tapai, even your Mrs looks attractive right now. Let's end this with a photo session, do call in the rest to join us.

Najib : Of course. (but swearing under breath is not counted as seditious anywhere in the world)

Obama : It is nice to have met your acquantance, finally. I've heard so much about you.

Najib : Likewise. Will you be coming to visit in Malaysia?

Obama : No. Oh, by the way, I may look up on your suggestion of the ressurrection of the Peace corp program, but let me be clear, I will not be sending any to malaysia. It would be a waste of our resources, since I've read somewhere that malaysian prefers to study their Mathematics and Science in native language. I was not aware though, that the Orang Asli speak Bahasa Malaysia. Anyway, farewell.

They shook hands and bid their farewell. Those last words exchanged may be the reason why they stood not side by side, but far apart in that photo session.

It was at this point when my phone rang and I was awoken up from my day dreaming in the kedai mamak. Duty called. I took a last sip of my already cold teh tarik, and made my way back to work, smiling as I recall my own imagination ;->

When Money Becomes Him

Someone once asked me, why on earth did I not open up my own practice. Despite the reasons I put forth, he continued to add, "Open up your own practice. Make your money, then give back to charity".

Tempting. I can do that except there is one thing that stands in my way, my conscience. My goddayng conscience, you know that irritating tiny little voice at the back of your head that nags the moment you do something you're not suppose to do and it gets louder when your daily routine winds down and you're alone in bed trying to get some sleep? Yeah, that one.



Now, please don't get me wrong. I am not saying that those who open up their own private practices are corrupted or without conscience. I just have problems handling mine. I just don't see, that in my profession, how one can get filthy rich. Comfortable, yes. Filthy rich, well, I can't really see that happening, not to me anyway. Other profession, yes, just not doctoring. Exactly what I told my kid, "If you want to make lots of money, don't bother becoming a doctor. I'm not in this for the money, and fame comes not really in a good way most of the time".

I may not be the rich, but let's put it this way, when people say they have trouble sleeping, they meant they can't sleep at night. When I say I have trouble sleeping...I meant I have trouble getting out of the delicious slumber state....it helps when your conscience sleeps with you...

Click on the rabbit hole to view more wisdom...or so it seems...



The same way that I do not look down upon the Hollywood film stars who do lots of things in their lives they regret later (or regret that people found out, later), just to get to where they are today then donated to charity (although they get less pictures smeared all over the tabloids for that rather than say they go out with someone new). It is still a good and noble deed. They could have just kept the money all to themselves, spend it on drugs, shoes whatever but they chose to give some away to the needy instead. Giving back is still better than not giving at all, regardless of the circumstances prior to it. I'm saying that in my line of job, I cannot see how I can make money out of sick people, and still go to sleep at night with my conscience clear. It's just me.

Nothing wrong about making money at all. I just don't think it is right to make the money via wrongful methods, that's all. I have to point out however, "making money legally" and "making money ethically" are two different things. Something like "frogging" in politics. Ahh...now I can see that you are getting my point......

In my profession, I have to bend too much of my medical ethics not to mention humanity, in order to compete with others in their profession to attain "success". This could mean, giving antibiotics unsparingly (Asian countries are responsible in a large part for contributing to the antibiotic resistance due to doctors being lenient with prescribing antibiotics), issuing MCs (need I explain this? eyes rolled up my sockets) as a form of business promotion, sometimes selling steroids and trust me...there are more stuff some doctors do that kills the nobility of the profession, just for the extra money. If one were to open the clinic by owing the bank, well, I leave it to you to do the math on what a debtor needs to do to manage paying the bank on time. If I have my own capital and open up my own, well, then that may lessen the temptation of corrupting my soul I guess.

Back to those who have a higher level of some of that irritating conscience, they may just not do as well as some who may have sold their souls to the devil, but of course would be branded by society as "under-achievers". I am an under-achiever but a proud one. That is because my definition of "achievements" differs from that of majority in the society. So, I can live with that brand comfortably.

To me, life is not about getting rich materially, screw our ethics and self worth whilst on our peregrination there, become filthy rich, donate to charity so as we can feel better about ourselves. So yes, to me life is not so much about the destination, but about the journey. This is it. This is our journey folks, this small little things we do on a daily basis, that are collectively called "living". What we do on daily basis IS what counts. It does matter how many people we do not screw on daily basis as we carry on our routine in life, to make a living for ourselves and our family.

It takes a real man to restrain himself from screwing others for self interest, than it does to sell your soul to the devil and do what it takes to become materially filthy wealthy. The latter is just easy and natural for most human.

Don't get me wrong. I have no qualms with wealth or people who posses it, but it is important that that wealth comes from day to day righteous living. Someone pointed out, "But it is quite impossible to become rich by being too fussy about values". He's right. But is all that wealth worth sacrificing our inner human wealth. Perhaps it is our definition of "wealth" that, have through time, got screwed up. Perhaps the society of this millennium have redefined "wealth".

THAT is the thing that bothers me. It' how people TREAT wealth. Today, people respect people based what they are able to make FOR themselves, not what they make OF themselves. The greatest conqueror, is a man who can conquer himself, for it is easier to conquer others, than to conquer oneself. I'm sure I've plagiarized someone on this one but I am pretty sure too that anyone who is deep can come up with a good philosophical quote, would not mind me plagiarizing it for the benefit of mankind as a whole. Besides, I'm pretty sure he's dead too. The best of course, are those lucky ones who work hard and righteously, and comes out both wealthy, in the sense of contact of humanity as well as materially.

Take a good look around you. Do you not find that today, our society have become superficial? It's in how we define "success". Do we hear the word, "integrity", "honesty", "loyalty", associated with the word "success"? Instead, we hear things like, "It doesn't matter how we get there, just get there". Today, a man with the bigger estate, not just bigger cars and houses, but how many they possess, people with more wives perhaps, a worldly title and to some extend, religious title, are looked upon as being "successful". And the most ironic quote of all is "success comes with a price".... err....one's soul perhaps?...

And what you get today is a society that is out to get each other. The system is less interested in helping you out, rather, collectively try to make as much money as they can squeeze out of you. This selfishness is reflected in the way we do our dealings with each other on daily basis, the way we drive on the roads, the way we react to crisis, the way we pick our government etc. Look around you, we are living in an almost failed society. Racism is as rampant as the corruption. The more powerful and the more material wealth you have, the more you are respected.

People are awarded bonuses, incentives not based on the integrity, honesty, loyalty at work, instead of how much revenue we bring in, it doesn't matter how this revenue is generated, so long as the credit balance is heavy on the debit side. Tell me something, how much money is much?

This country is run by politicians who do not see wrong in practising corruption. Money politics are brushed off with only "stern warnings". If anyone cannot see that "money politics" is synonym to "corruption", and he gets off with merely stern warning, then you know that that society is in deeper trouble morally, than they think they are. But why are we quick to criticize these corrupted politicians? After all, who put them there? If a country practices democracy, then simply put, the government reflects the society, because it is the majority who put them there. A corrupted government arises from a corrupted society. So why don't we look at our reflection. How do we go about in our daily dealings. If we, the society is not corrupted, then naturally there won't be any corrupted human beings to make politicians out of them then to elect ,right?

George Carlin will tell ya...



And for those who fight for the good against evil, it is our responsibility to unite and do something in our capabilities to make that change. Because to practice reticent, is as good as condoning the crime. Guilty by silence. Third Newton Law stated, "for every action there is a reaction". The good practices reticent ergo no action, so obviously there is no reaction in the form of change in the attitude of the rulers.

Please remember, that making money and power our god, is the root cause of the coruption. Corruption is like consumption, TB if you prefer. It consumes a society and kills it insidiously. But unlike cancer, the good news is that, it can be cured. But the TB treatment sometimes have a lot of side effects. It needs compliancy and the tenacity to complete it's course. Basically,what I'm trying to tell you is that corruption is curable. It just need the people's will, strength , tenacity and perseverance to do so.

How do we get out of this mess? Well, for starters, out-Islamizing each other is definitely not the answer. We don't need to start flogging alcohol consumers, selectively if I may add ( I mean, why the hypocrisy....if you want to set an example to people, why not go for the big guns?), just to show that we've suddenly become more righteous. You don't need religion to not be corrupted. The happiest people on earth, with less rate of corruption, are the Swedish and more than half of them are atheists. In Sweden, you can leave your baby outside to get some sun for a bit and you'll still have them giggling in the pram when you get back to them. No need religion to recognize humanity. Besides, we have enough examples to show that religion makes failed nations.

Take home message? Well, it's okay to be wealthy, long as we all achieve it by not cutting each others' throats and that wealth is not THE only reason for us to respect a human being.

Practicing some humanity may just get the job done actually. You need not embrace any religion to recognize humanity too. You just have to be human, that's the minimum qualification actually. All we need is just basic understanding of how to recognize what qualities makes one respectful, other than material evaluation. A little less ego and playing obtuse may take us far...


"Everyone is entitled to be stupid. Some just abuse the privilege"

Perhaps we should all start with the man in the mirror?
(Oh by the way, for those who never learn...you know who you are.....the rabbit hole ends here)
...Click here to find out how deep the rabbit hole goes.....

That Okay Song..

SELAMAT HARI MALAYSIA !!

I've always been awed by rainbows. I just love them. They are a sight for sore eyes. What awed me the most about the rainbow when I first learned it in the science class was that rainbows, despite comprising of many colors that makes it's beauty, is actually from one; the light.

That's what we are, multiple in skin shades but are ONE.... the sooner we realize this, the sooner we attain sanctuary, right here where it can never be taken away from us; in our hearts and minds............

My most fav quote:

"He who experiences the unity of life sees his own Self in all beings, and all beings in his own Self, and looks on everything with an impartial eye"

-Siddhartha Gautama Buddha-

Here's a few more worth pondering on:

"For to be free is not merely to cast off one's chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others"
-Nelson Mandela-

“Racism is man's gravest threat to man - the maximum of hatred for a minimum of reason.”
-Abraham J. Heschel-

“It demands great spiritual resilience not to hate the hater whose foot is on your neck, and an even greater miracle of perception and charity not to teach your child to hate”
-James Arthur Baldwin-

HAVE A VERY REFLECTIVE FIRST HARI MALAYSIA

Florida Burning........

Today marks another history of tragedy to humanity. September 11 or better known as the 9/11 tragedy had changed the political game-play worldwide. Of course I won't be insensitive as to elaborate that while there are people dying in places like Africa, Palestine, Myanmar by the minute, that have ceased to get worldwide media coverage, still, lost of lives is something that all human and humanity should cry and cry foul for. On personal note, I don't see that the value of American lives are more than that of the people of Africa, Palestine or death of Jews during the Holocaust. Humans are humans and every single death, no matter how newsworthy insignificant, is still a death and is to mourn for. Death of one soul is death to humanity as a whole. And the world have for too long witnessed that humanity had been dead since the beginning of time...yet, here we are, walking dead ghosts on the surface of the earth...

The controversy this year, is the issue of the burning of the Quran organized by a Pastor in Florida. You can read bits of it HERE.

What do I think about this? Well it depends. My personal believe is that if you are talking about the dominant Quran Translations we have today and with the exception of perhaps very few, then I think there is a need for them to be burn. This is to facilitate the re-translation of the Quran in it's original form, JUST AS IS, not with translators' method of translation that fits the scenario into the words. Just God's words, unplugged, untempered minus the human's agenda. Trust me, only then the beauty of the Quran (words of God) just like the texts before it, will be able to be appreciated. (I will blog later to justify my sentiment on this). Will we see this happening? Human's ego will definitely get the better of us;


But if we are talking about what the deed of burning the Quran itself SYMBOLIZES, than I am in total disagreement, in the same manner as if the Muslims burn the other religious texts or when they drag the cow's head to protest the building of an Indian temple, or any disciples of any belief insulting other people's beliefs. I condemn such immature acts.

The Pastor claims that burning the Quran is a symbol of protesting against terrorism. He reminds me of George W. Bush, who fought "terrorism" by "invading and terrorizing" Iraq. Obviously he has a pedantic and parochial way of thinking, no better than some of the joker Islamic clerics that from time to time manages to make us wonder who left their cages unlocked, for them to come out and come up with some of the most bewildering fartwas that makes even a teenager go, "HUH?" and not to mention the people dumb enough to follow them blindly.

This insulting each other's beliefs is not why religion is prescribed to the human species, unlike popular belief. If enlightenment is not enlightening...really....what is the point??? I don't really care about burning flags though, as far as I'm concern humans are one and it's the lines that separate us facilitated by political and army backup, ideally, needs to be demolished because those lines caused us human casualties, majority of them the unsuspecting innocent citizens, every time it changes form. The reason why the politicians and the people who are behind every war seem to preach "pride in dying for your country" is because, it is not their children whom they would send to fight for what they believe to be necessary. But that of course is another story...the same story probably caused people like John Lennon to be assassinated.

We must realize that time and time again, religion, color and ideology have been the most effective tool for political conquest, then later sustenance of the governance by the "divide and rule" method, as a follow through to the effort of each conquest. There are too many lessons in "history" to learn from which we have ignored, that proves to us that this is true. And yet we are puzzled as to why history repeats itself. The Crusades, The Muslims Conquests, that killed not only non Muslims, but amongst Muslims via the Chaliphate system after the death of the Prophet Muhammad, The Spanish Inquisition, Apartheid, to name a few.

HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF BECAUSE THE MAJORITY OF PEOPLE REFUSE TO LEARN FROM IT.

Take religion for example. Most of the religions started off well but somehow rather ended up corrupted by being redesigned for the purpose of conquest. It is because of the attitude embedded in the minds of their disciples were/are normally "I have a belief and therefore I must force it unto the whole world because God says so", that makes this type of religion susceptible to being manipulated by corrupted governing powers. Imagine the implication of carrying out "the orders of every God" of every religion that said the same thing. It's no wonder there are people out there who now hate God because every time "God said something", it must be done and when it's executed, death of innocent people ensues.

Where is the meaning of faith when faith, fails to recognize the very simple and true teachings of any religion - humanity. Is it very important to impose our beliefs unto others sometimes if not most of the time by force so much so we have failed to recognize the prize that comes with it? That many innocent human lives were/are sacrificed to erect the faith that preaches humanity, yet kills humanity while getting there?

Each human being, needs to not focus on our differences, but be able to recognize and respect one thing that we all have in common, HUMANITY. Humanity should be THE religion. If any religion fails to recognize humanity, then perhaps there is serious misinterpretation of that religion because however we, the inhabitants of this world chose by which method we pray to our gods, which coincidentally and ultimately will end up to one ultimate, shared God, there is no point praying to God if we turn our backs on what He says. The reason why He prescribed to us religion in the first place, was to serve as a kind of manual so that people may live harmoniously on this earth,to embrace our diversity and to celebrate our common goal, which is appreciating humanity.

The enemy is not the pastors, the clerics, the fundaMENTALists etc. The enemy is our own ignorance towards our very own religion and the habit of practicing reticence when religion do not make sense. We tend to, for comfort sake, eat whatever is served to us on the silver platter. For a long time, we have trusted the people who self elected themselves to power, and to govern our religion for us. But all they do is abuse their authority by telling us what we can and cannot do, attributing that to the words of God. Did God really said that? How would you know for sure if what you believe is what another human being tells you that this is what God wants you to believe. Really...you want to take that risk with your afterlife?

I suggest, we all take some time off to review the religion we all embrace and be critical of it. After all, when we are dead, there is no one left standing to answer for us, except for ourselves. If you think those people who collect all that tithe and abuse it in the name of god will standby us to act as intercession, well, the choice is yours. On personal note. I don't really trust the majority humans species here on earth with my faith and relationship with my Creator, not when history have shown to us time and time again, humans have let humans down. I have no intention of trusting human's hearsays when I'm dead. I would like to have my answers prepared when I face God. As long as my answers are justified, my fingers, hands and feet, are crossed....(anyone ask, just say I can't from a crescent with my foot fingers..)

My suspicion is, if we all do that, understand and see the bigger picture of our own religion, we will somehow rather end up at the same point, a point which tells us that we are indeed ONE. The sooner we realize that, the sooner this earth will turn into heaven, just here on earth....until then, it's just not Florida that's burning, it's the whole world....

The release of atom power has changed everything except our way of thinking... the solution to this problem lies in the heart of mankind. If only I had known, I should have become a watchmaker.
~Albert Einstein~

Salam Aidilfitri

"Don't tokshit tree taims" tempik Ibrahim Ali,
Otaknya sempit,dihimpit songkok yang tinggi,
Kini ku susun sepuluh jari,
Maaf ku pohon, beserta Salam Aidilfitri........

Rantings of a Migraine Victim

Just a quick bitching session before I settle for a more relax holiday and festive mode. I have got to get this out of my system. Right now, I am having a massive headache. You see, I live what Malays would say "sepelaung" (a shout away) from the mosque. Puuhleeeez don't ask me how that happened. Enough to say that I made the bed, now I have to lay on it. Well, technically, it wasn't me who made the bed, but I would prefer not to sound ungrateful as to have been blessed with my own house, by not nullifying that with grumbling about it's geography. I have a feeling that God is having fun and is laughing at me right now. But hey, it's okay, we have a good bond, one that allows teasing each other...

Why the massive headache? Well,first and foremost, I don't live in New York, and Ground Zero is as far and away as my taste for Dangdut and Techno music. So, it's got nothing to do with the hoo haas going on about the erection of a Mosque (in a non allegorical viagra-ed sense of it)on Ground Zero. What hoo haas? Well, this post is not about that but hey, I'll just throw a few links or two just for old time's sake...

HERE. HERE. HERE is the response from the Christians. HERE is a conspiracy theory on who is masterminding this politicizing of the mosque to build on ground zero.

Below, is a video that depicts the opinion of my favourite artist, who, makes more sense than all the religions and politician put together...



I would like to say though, I find it ironic that a hell occupant (based on the measurement of Muslim autarities that people involved in music are sinner, and of course, being an infidel and all, apparently there is no hope for people like John Legend) shows more empathy and compassion towards other peoples' beliefs, more than what I can say about the majority of Muslims throughout the world.

Then again, John Legend does not stay in my area to listen to the live broadcasting of the activities going on in the mosque via the microphone and loudspeakers after the Azan was called. He, like me with the massive headache right now, would probably if not most likely agree with what I'm about to say in my letter (spiteful not to mention anonymous love Epistle to the Mosque committee...)

" Dear occupants of heaven, I know that everyone is eager to convert the whole world if not the whole universe to Islam (although I'm not sure if the aliens are circumsizable and it would be odd to have an eggnogged headed green creatures with huge almond like eyes change their name from Kriptoc to Fakhim or Fakhme) but I have some bad news for you.

First and foremost, energy in the form of sound do not get absorbed into one's "sanubari" ergo, blasting the beautiful words of Allah does not turn anyone more righteous or fall suddenly madly in love with Islam. Not understanding Arabic does not help either. Instead, the energy will vibrate, and shake the mass of the human body (unfortunately not in beneficial way to the women kind...then again who cares about women right?), especially the gray matter which in turn makes them have suicidal thoughts, not planned unto themselves, but instead, on the Imam who screams through the microphone every single time they are given the chance, in a manner of Teoh Beng Hock allegedly self strangled himself, then jump out of the building and dragged himself around to cause imprints of the earth on those shoes, AND later on write the suicide note. Obviously, the Imam must have gotten carried away with the term "Rock the mic". Just as a surgeon should not be caught uttering the words "Oops", or "Don't worry, this is my first time in the Operation Theatre too", an Imam should not be caught "rocking the mic". It's very seditious if you ask me.

I don't mind the Azan to call for prayer, although Muslims claim that the Hindus make so much noise when calling the disciples for prayer, yet is it okay when we do it 5 times a day? It makes me wonder on what grounds do the Muslims have to see it nuisance the same practice when non Muslims execute it, yet fail to see it as a annoyance to others when we do it 5 times fold. Then again, the reminders to prayers such as the watch, the phone with the reminder, even the hotel staff who do wake up calls are all infidel in origin. So I suppose, azan makes more sense than using infidel products. That is why I'm totally against the use of China made counter to count our zikir. Duuuh....why do you think God created fingers? All 20 of them (finger foot included). But I digress.

You cannot blame some of us who are unable to appreciate your effort to Islamize us, not when some of us work shifts and it is difficult to experience enlightenment, when one is devoid of sleep for the last 48 hours and is unable to do so because your voice, which incidentally sounds muffled, and incoherent through the walls (actually it sounds like that song, "blah..blah..blah") interfering with the zen of sleep. Furthermore, I don't think the babies nor their parents would experience enlightenment when the baby cries at the shock of the tone coming out of the loud speaker.

Some of us have migraine attacks and that is One Malaysia headache in the sense that just like any 3 out of 5 Malaysians on the road, that do not have regards for timing.

Besides, if we really want to join you, we know where the mosque is. You make it impossible for us not to notice, with some of the car parked recklessly so as to serve as the people who test other people's patience on behalf of God.

Furthermore, there is no compulsion in Islam,

[Yusufali 2:256] Let there be no compulsion in religion: Truth stands out clear from Error: whoever rejects evil and believes in Allah hath grasped the most trustworthy hand-hold, that never breaks. And Allah heareth and knoweth all things.

so technically, you cannot force us to listen to anything. I suppose, because of that, and some of the reasons I've stated above, God, the Compassionate and knoweth all things,have clearly said in 17:110

قُلِ ادْعُوا اللَّهَ أَوِ ادْعُوا الرَّحْمَٰنَ ۖ أَيًّا مَا تَدْعُوا فَلَهُ الْأَسْمَاءُ الْحُسْنَىٰ ۚ وَلَا تَجْهَرْ بِصَلَاتِكَ وَلَا تُخَافِتْ بِهَا وَابْتَغِ بَيْنَ ذَٰلِكَ سَبِيلًا

[Yusufali 17:110] Say: "Call upon Allah, or call upon Rahman: by whatever name ye call upon Him, (it is well): for to Him belong the Most Beautiful Names. Neither speak thy Prayer aloud, nor speak it in a low tone, but seek a middle course between."

So technically, you may want to juggle around with the Equal Loudness Contour so as to keep the Hertz just enough to attract the interested human attention and not that of our pets...I don't think it's a good idea to have them at the mosque. Some of the neighbourhood cats are having more sex than the human occupants around the neighbourhood put together. I'm sure by now you are quite familiar with their booty calls. Perhaps it is not a very good idea to have fornicators and god knows if some of them are adulterers. It's a bit difficult to aim at a cat to stone it to death if you ask me.

Thank you for your attention and time taken to peruse my sighs.

Yours Sincerely,

- Migraine Patient -