Back in Malaysia

Assalamualaikum warahmatullah wabarakatuh,

Sorry for not updating this blog even though I have passed my viva and handed in the hard-bound thesis. I was too busy in packing and attending conference. 

Alhamdulillah, I arrived at KLIA on 28th May 2009 around 7.30am (Malaysia time +0700 from GMT during summer time) and took another flight from KLIA to Johor. After I have rested the night at my friend's house, I went to report duty the next morning at 8am and took 2 weeks of holidays. Actually, for those who have come back from study leave, they are given 7 days of holiday. It can't be brought forward and must start immediately on the day of report duty after returning from overseas. However, I have a conference in Singapore (1 hour drive away from my friend's house), I couldn't go home to Kuching after I have reported duty. I stayed in Johor and sorted out a few things over the weekend and went to the conference from Monday until today. My friend drove me to Singapore everyday since she has to go to the same university (where the conference took place) to do her lab work. Everything works out just fine, alhamdulillah.

Tomorrow, there are more stuff to sort out before I can go back to Kuching on Friday evening. Hence, I took more holidays to prolong my stay in Kuching. I don't know what to expect at home, just wish that it will be a pleasant time after nearly two years since I last saw them. I now have three nieces, one which I haven't seen.

Wassalam.

Departure

Assalamualaikum warahmatullah wabarakatuh,

No, not yet but soon inshaALLAH. I hate departure, I hate leaving people and I feel worse if people leave me. I feel more painful if someone leaves me but less if I am leaving others. I don't know why. Maybe it's because I feel an emptiness if some I love and care of left me. Maybe it's because when I am leaving, there are more challenges and problems for me to face and think of on my journey and arriving at a new place. Anyway, I know I will soon face another great departure in my life.

I think we can divide departure in my life into two types. The first one is death. That's when my mum left us 8 years ago. That is among the worst time of my life. I can still vividly remember the moment she slipped away from us on the bed at the cancer unit. That is still affecting me everytime I thought about it and soon I know that another departure will come when my grandma is going to leave us soon. She is now in the hospital. She didn't wake up since Friday but her heart rate, blood pressure and respiration are all normal. The doctor said she will not live long and I am gutted that I won't be able to see her now. She is very old and has been through a very tough life. This is what makes her strong and she manages to endure the pain and illness for these many years. For her to depart from this world in a peaceful and painless manner, I think it is the best for her. No one is particularly sad at home because it is really a good way for her to go. I hope that in her heart she believes in one God and attains salvation in the hereafter.

The second type of departure is leaving a place forever or move to live in a different place. This happens to me twice. First was when I moved from my hometown to pursue my first degree in another town. I had to get a plane to travel there. I didn't feel sad at all but just exciting. It's only the first night at the hostel that I finally cried by myself missing home. After that, there were just so many things happened that I didn't have the time to think anything else. My second time was when I left Malaysia to do my PhD here in Cambridge. It was sad when I know that I am going to leave the people that I love. Tears bursted out not out of sadness but fear that I won't be able to see them again. I didn't feel sad when I arrived here because of so many problems and difficulties that I have to face here when I have arrived. My friends sent me off at the Senai airport and I travelled alone to Kuala Lumpur and to London Heathrow. Upon my arrival at Heathrow airport, a sister whom I have never met before picked me up to her house, gave me some useful culterly and sent me off to a bus stop at Guildford and caught a coach to Cambridge. Here, two brothers picked me up from the bus station and sent me to New Hall.

I know soon I will be facing another one. I don't know how am I going to face this one. I keep telling myself that it's just another departure and inshaALLAH I'll come back to see my friends again here in the future. But that doesn't help to make me feel any better. Inevitably I will feel sad for losing people that I love but I think there is a lesson to learn. A friend gave me this message:

When God takes something from your grasp, He is not punishing you, but merely opening your hands to receive something better. The will of God will never take you where the Grace of God will not protect you.

What I need to do is to look forward for things that are coming, for there is God's Grace there. Of course, I will not forget the good memories of those who I have left. Friendships and sisterhood is something that I treasures that most. There is no way that I will want to break the ties but I know that to keep the ties as tight as I am here will not be possible when I have left. People always say friendship is forever, it's true in some sense but the intensity will never be the same forever. Another lesson that I have learnt from all these departures are that if we are talking about forever, there will never be a 'forever' for the matters of this World and with humans. The only eternity is ALLAH. Probably, the lesson to draw from departures is that we come to the conviction that ALLAH is the only one that will stay forever, be there for us forever and will never leave us forever. No matter how much we love someone or other loves us, they can't stay with us forever, if not mobility at least death. ALLAH in the first place has not been given life and of course HE will not die, so HE is the only being that will stay forever and ultimately the closest to us. Hence, the ultimate love for a human is to ALLAH, if one is to attain true happiness.

Oh ALLAH, The Eternal, fix my heart, my love and myself to YOU so that I won't be sad on every departure in my life again, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

ALLAHU'alam.

Wassalam.

The Lake District

Assalamualaikum warahmatullah wabarakatuh,

Last weekend was the only weekend that the mosque was on holidays! So, it was a perfect time to go for a trip. We went to the Lake District, to be specific, we stayed at Langdale near Ambleside, visited Windermere and Kendal. The accommodation was cheap and comfortable but the weather was horrible. I only get to climb a hill on the first day and the next day was raining the whole time from morning till night to the last day, even on our journey home. It was only when we drove near Manchester that the weather changed to sunny day, urgh! But anyway, we planned but ALLAH plans better than us. Probably this is the best that we can get. Alhamdulillah.

One thing I learn a lot in this trip is the speech of En Nazri, the Director of MSD (Malaysian Student Department). I always thought that those who hold high position in the government usually are corrupted people with 'cables' to climb the ladder without much in their brains. Astaghfirullah, I should have more good opinion on them. En Nazri appears to be a very intellectual person. He knows what is he saying and doing. He gave good advice and talked with all the correct facts and figures. I was really impressed at his speech that night. 

Through this trip, there are some people that I gain more respect for them and there are some that I completely, utterly, loss all of my respect to them to the point of disgust. It is so true a hadith by the Prophet Muhammad (saw). We will not know a person (the real side of the person) until we did 3 things with him/her. 1. Stay with him/her; 2. Travel with him/her; 3. Doing business (muamalah - any kind of interaction or transaction) with him/her. Through this trip, I obviously have done all these 3 with them. The thing that really disgusted me is the fact that a sound, healthy, knowledgeable, able adult muslim who has been reminded to make prayer on the journey did not want to do so but chose to delay it and miss it even until we had arrived home after maghrib then had a meal until after isha! I wanted to give good opinion and lots of excuse for the reason of not carrying out the basic duty of a muslim. I just can't scratch anything out of my brain anymore to give any excuse except to say that the person must have prayed somewhere along the journey that I wasn't presence. 

Now I have realised the verse in the Qur'an about ALLAH will not change the state of a nation until the nation changes their own state. There appears to be a lot of muslims who know that prayer is obligatory and there are a lot of facilities in Malaysia to accommodate this form of worship like mosque, prayer room, wudu area in toilets, adhan in public, etc. But many 'muslims' choose to ignore these. Those saying about even if a nation prayed 5 times a day and didn't work hard to build a nation will never be able to change the state of the nation - is a completely rubbish statement! This is a paradox! It doesn't make sense at all for a nation which observe the obligatory act of worship will not gain success because by being perseverance in keeping the daily prayers sincerely, the nation is perseverance in doing anything - from business to government - sincerely. It's like saying muslims are extremists when real muslims are those on the middle way (ummatan wasatan). Many so-called muslim countries, if there are half of the nation who know the compulsories choose not to please ALLAH by fulfilling the obligatory duty, how on earth that ALLAH will change their state?

All these while I thought that Malaysian muslims aren't that bad. If they don't wear proper attire that cover their awrah, they still at least pray 5 times a day. I was wrong. And that's why ALLAH has yet to lift the difficulties, ignorance and poor state of the country because this nation with 60% muslims who have been educated since young that prayers are obligatory upon sound, healthy, knowledgeable, able adults, many of them choose not to fulfill it, how will ALLAH change our state?

All these while I thought that why we still need to put up signboards saying - pray before you are prayed (means make your prayers before you die and get people to make a funeral prayer for you). Now I have realised how important that signboards are. And this is the last thing that the Prophet Muhammad (saw) said before he breathed his last - ummati ummati salati salati. 

As for other nations which have yet learned about Islam and come to Islam, they are still non-believers (they are not kafir because kafir means one who rejects after truth has come to him/her), there is no obligation upon them. So, keep the argument of that verse of Qur'an out of the realm of non-believers. 

ALLAHU'alam.

Wassalam.

Miscarriage

Assalamualaikum warahmatullah wabarakatuh,

No, not me, it's my friend, another long-lost friend which I have the chance to be reunited by ALLAH from an internet social network that has many negative publicities - facebook. Ok, that's not the point, the point is I feel sad for what has happened to my friend. Frankly, we have not met for more than 10 years. She was my secondary school classmates and recently we got in-touch with each other again, in a very miraculous way but obviously it's pre-planned by ALLAH, the All Mighty.

She is a Christian who follows local church and she has just married recently, which again I missed, argh! I am very happy for her because from how she described, he seems like a Mr. Nice Guy, pious Christian, professional medical doctor, vegetarian, mature and stable. When I got reunited with her a few weeks ago, I phoned her and we had a long chat (using phone card to call Malaysia isn't that expensive, less than 2p per min). She is of course shocked at my choice of faith and thought that I did so for a random muslim boyfriend, which I never had one. The attempt to get back the 10-year that we have missed obviously is not going to be done in a long chat. However, from the conversation I can feel how much I have missed her and she is very interested about my life.

Today, I received an email from her telling me the bad news. I don't know why me. We have not met for 10 years, we were not the best friends at school, we have different faith, I never have the experience of pregnancy or miscarriage, I am in UK and she is back in Malaysia, what can I do from here? Of course dua and words of support. I can only tell her to take care of herself and have faith in The God's plan.

In my heart, I really want to invite everyone to my faith but if this is not likely to happen, I wish that everyone can at least believe in God, believe in the Day of Judgement and do good deeds. As ALLAH said in the Qur'an that:

Those who believe (in the Qur'an), and those who follow the Jewish (scriptures), and the Christians and the Sabians,- any who believe in ALLAH and the Last Day, and work righteousness, shall have their reward with their Lord; on them shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve.

~ The Holy Qur'an, Surah al-Baqarah (Chapter 2, The Cow) verse 62

Of course I don't know the real interpretation of this verse but if this is the minimum requirement from ALLAH to all the humans, even others choose not to be muslims, at least they should have faith and do good deeds because this makes a human humane. Many times Shaykh Hamza Yusuf talked about before become a muslim, be a human first. A muslim is humane.

Having faith in ALLAH's words, I have been trying to talk about God with many other Christian friends. This is not the first case but I sure hope that she also has the same understanding of The God's will and Master Plan. This miscarriage happens for good reasons that we will never be able to understand until later, if we reflect on it. That's why again, ALLAH said that HE will guide those who reflect or basically use the brain to think!

I remember once talking to a Christian (who only goes to church once a year type of Catholic). She is my coursemate from Kenya. After the recent election, there was a sort of civil war among the tribes people in Kenya. She was very worried and sad about this whole thing especially when her families are all in Kenya and are the tribe same as the elected President. She couldn't go home because she needs to finish her PhD and she cannot do anything even if she went home and obviously not here too. I just keep on telling her to have faith, do good deeds and pray for their safety. She seems like suddenly woke up from a long sleep and forgot that all this while she has this very powerful weapon - prayer. Now, she is calmer and happier, alhamdulillah.

Of course, I wish that my friends can see and accept the beauty of Islam. I pray that ALLAH will guide them all and make me a good preacher which follows the footstep of the Prophet Muhammad (saw) in his way of preaching Islam to others.

ALLAHU'alam.

Wassalam.

Can't believe it has been 10 years!

Assalamualaikum warahmatullah wabarakatuh,

Today, my long lost friend came all the way from london to visit me. We went to the same secondary school but she left to New Zealand to get a PR there so that she can have a better chance for higher education there in the future without having to pay international student fee, since Malaysia cannot guarantee enough and fair places for non-bumiputra in local university. Since then, we only get to meet no more than 2 times and the last time was 10 years ago. We were best friends at school and her departure to NZ is quite bitter for me but that's for her own good.

Yet, ALLAH is Ar-Rahman and Al-Latif, today we finally met. She still looks ever stunning like she used to be, only that she used to be far taller than me but now we are only 5 inches difference. She has married and moved to London from NZ. Her husband is from Kuching and a PhD holder in Fire Engineering. I am so happy for her because he gives her a lot of freedom. We went to have a cup of tea to catch up each other's history, 10 year of history. Since today, the sun was so generous that the temperature for the first time this year shot up over 20C, we sat on grass and continued the history and talked about life in general. We went to my room and continued the conversation and this time about my conversion to Islam. I am so glad that she can accept me and most of the teaching of Islam. Her husband is a practicing Roman Catholic and she is a Buddhist. She is very aware of the similarity between Christianity and Islam. We chatted for a long time regarding Islamic teaching and cultural practice that blurs out the beauty of Islam. She totally agrees with it and I pray that ALLAH will give guidance for her and her husband to accept Islam as a way of life.

I wish to meet more of my high school friends in the future.

ALLAHU'alam.

Wassalam.

Lion Dance

Assalamualaikum warahmatullah wabarakatuh,

I was in my room when I heard this very familiar drumming, a rhythm I was so used to since I've grown up in a street with 3 Chinese temples and which held at least 3 major Chinese goddesses colourful processions annually. I quickly opened the curtain and saw a read lion dancing in front of the new Chinese restaurant just across the street. This is the first time I saw Lion Dance in UK. It is a very busy street and the dance is so small scale that it was performed by 2 Chinese ladies and a young man was playing the drum on the narrow pedestrian path at the restaurant's entrance. A crowd of people surrounded the area to watch the performance which for seems to amuse them but for the Chinese, this is how you earn blessing, prosperity, fortune and luck by playing Lion Dance at an opening of a new business. Later, when I walked pass the restaurant to the mosque for maghrib prayer, I saw the restaurant was filled with English customers, probably to get the best offer of the opening day. This is how people appreciate each other's difference rather than fight over it.

Here in the UK, it is a very, very multi-ethnic society, especially in big cities like, London, Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool and Glasgow. There has been a saying here that 'in every 4 people you met, there will be at least 1 Chinese'. As I'm a Chinese, I do not wish to say that Chinese is better but this is just to imply that Chinese is everywhere in the world. It is always easy to spot a China Town in any big city in the world. However, the point of this post is to say that multi-ethnicity in UK has never failed to attract the UK "non-bumiputra" to follow and practice the UK "bumiputra" culture yet still manage to maintain and practice theirs. Among the English culture (I am not talking about modern western culture) here are: wearing tie and suit to work; tea and biscuit culture; greeting random people on the street especially in the morning; giving way by a man to a woman when walking on a narrow path; man opens door for woman even the woman is behind him; if you open a self-closed door and notice someone is behind you, you hold the door and wait for that person to come; burping is very rude; give blessing to someone who sneezes; go to pub in the evening after work; have wine reception in every formal event; have lunch on the grass if the sun is out; etc. Some are good and some are bad but the "non-bumiputra" or the "non-English" who immigrated or grew up here did not stop following the "bumiputra" culture though the "bumiputra" has never imposed this to them. Many non-muslims non-bumiputra go to pub after work to socialise with friends and colleagues, many non-bumiputra respect women in the public (not sure at home), many non-bumiputra (even are not Christians) say 'bless you' when someone sneezes. I have seen in an occasion, a practicing Pakistani muslim brother wore a Scottish kilt during a winter fair (of course the socks are very thick and cover his awrah completely). He owns a halal grocery and he always wears tie and shirt at work yet when he goes to religious and cultural function, he wears shawar (Pakistani man attire), he speaks Urdu and follow some Pakistani culture that does not contradict with Islamic teaching.

Reflecting the situation here and the situation in Malaysia, it is as though the non-bumiputra in Malaysia must embrace the culture of bumiputra even if there are some which are not attractive for them to follow. It is as though the non-bumiputra do not want to learn the bumiputra culture. It is as though the government is not happy with the non-bumiputra who openly say that they want to retain their culture. It is as though if you refuse to embrace the bumiputra culture, you are not the citizen of Malaysia.

Going back to the Lion Dance, it was loud on the street but no one complained yet they appreciated it. No one boycotted the restaurant yet they filled it in. When we have mosque open day, the majority of the participants are English who open-mindedly visited us and wanted to learn more of other's culture. When English friends invited me over for tea and biscuit, I happily accepted their invitation. I really cannot understand why the paradigm and mind-set among some Malaysians are so intolerant, either for the non-bumiputra to accept the good culture of the bumiputra or for the bumiputra to accept what other non-bumiputra's culture as long as it doesn't harm the public.

Probably the major difference between the UK bumiputra and Malaysian bumiputra is that the former has done good publicity in making their culture appears to be more attractive to others. Keris and head-hunting aren't that attractive, I supposed. As many have proposed in Malaysia, can we just look beyond the race and culture as ALLAH has created all of us equal and it has also been constituted in the UN. Racism is not just against ALLAH's law but many countries' law. In addition, bumi or earth doesn't belong to anyone in particular, none of the thing in the world belongs to anyone anyway because they are all belong to ALLAH. Once you possessed enough that you need to survive, the excess should be shared among the poor and the needy, that's why we need to pay zakah.

And btw, the word 'ALLAH' is used in the Arabic and Indonesian bibles.

ALLAHU'alam.

Wassalam.

ex-Highian

Assalamualaikum warahmatullah wabarakatuh,

I am an ex-Highian. What does that mean? I was a student of SMK (or back then SMB) Kuching High, or in English - Kuching High School, class of 98. After leaving the school for uni and start my career and then continue my study, I have since then lost contact with many of my friends there. Kuching High is a venue for me to learn and grow up. Those buddies at the schools are like my siblings. We grow up together, from Transition year to Form 5 - good six years of my early adolescence were spent in one of the most prestigious secondary schools at my home town. It is at least the most prestigious one for non-bumiputra because there is no way that a school like mine will have endless resources and funding from the government to those boarding schools in the country yet we still stand out among the rest of the students in my state where one of my friends was awarded the best student of whole Sarawak in 1998. We are called 'Bantuan' because we are not subsidised by the government, only a few percent of the budget is supported by the government. The rest is from school fees and sponsorships. We are lucky that this secondary school is funded by the Sarawakian Teochew Association. It is not a racist school as there are several Indians, Malays and Ibans in the school though 90% of the students are chinese from all dialect groups. It is open to everyone but due to the dominant Chinese population in this area and inside the school inself, the Chinese is still the majority.

This school promises a sense of Chinese-ness and cultures but at the same time offers the same national curriculum and not demanding tuition fees as expensive as the private Chinese schools which follows the Chinese curriculum. This school also gives me the opportunity to learn, not just learning in the classroom and extra-curriculum but more than that. We have the freedom to do a lot of things in the school, based on our creativity and courage. Clubs and societies are mainly managed by students, the teachers only sit there watching. We designed T-shirts, printed, sold; we wrote letters to companies, organised trips, booked buses; we published magazine, talked to shops managers for sponsorships, distributed it; we decided the programme we wanted for a camping trip, where, how, budget, etc. We didn't trouble teacher for a lot of things. That's what makes the sense of belongingness at the school. That's what makes us tied to each other so close. Because we basically build the school together with the teachers and the management side. We always took the task to raise money for the school because the government did not give us enough as what they give to other malay-populated schools and boarding schools.

That makes us such a strong bunch. Beside championing the league table of the state, we also have lots of students who achieved exceptional performance in academic and non-academic, national and international competitions. It proves to be right when I just being re-connected with my long-lost friends!

Surprisingly, two days ago, I received an email from a friend (she is very dear to me but then moved to New Zealand) from my other facebook account which I named it using my Chinese name. Through her, I found the rest of my ex-Highians. When I thought that they must have forgotten me since we have not communicated for nearly 10 years, they actually have been trying to look for me, especially when they were getting married. Ah! I missed their weddings. Some tried to phone my old Malaysian mobile number. I honestly cannot believe what is happening now. I felt like finding back my long-lost family.

Throughout my years in UK, actually some of them have been here too! We missed each other. We are so close yet so far, I just can't believe this. Alhamdulillah, I still manage to find one who I will meet this Saturday, inshaALLAH. She live in London and I was there last Saturday. The tube station where I got off to meet my friends when I visited London was just 2 stations away from her! Qadrullah, truly I submit to ALLAH's will and destiny. How much this has proved the will and power of ALLAH. I just talked to an ex-Highian and that she will being moving to Taiwan soon after her wedding. That is for good and we don't know if we can meet each other again.

My life on this world isn't that long but enough to let me open and close different chapters of my life. I thought the secondary school chapter is close but suddenly, it is open again. I thank ALLAH for this and thank HIM more that my friends still can accept me even I am not the same name and same faith again. Alhamdulillah.

Wassalam.

School song:

We are students of Kuching High;
We are builders of Malaysia;
Glory to our Kuching High;
Glory to our country.

Be sound in knowledge, be kind in nature;
We are students of the school;
Be healthy in mind, be healthy in body;
We are citizens of Malaysia.

Glory to our Kuching High;
Glory to our country.

Tell your family before you convert

Assalamualaikum warahmatullah wabarakatuh,

This news from Malaysia really got me writing. Our controversial PM of Malaysia asked all those who want to convert to make sure that their families are informed and then they can convert and register as a muslim! If this is the case, I am afraid that he will scare more people away from making this noble act. Not that it should be hidden from your family when you have converted, it is that your heart is ready to submit to ALLAH but you need time to think how to talk to your family. Considering to convert already has taken a lot of brain power to think and reflect, now you want them to also take up the pain to think of how to tell their families without getting chased out and cursed (if unfortunate)?

I understand that it is good to have the consent from the family because I think that is fairer to them but not many people can do that. For sure I can't and didn't. Conversion is not something that we can control (probably because he has not been through this process so he proposed this). Today I said that my heart really wants to submit to the All-Mighty One and Only None Other God - ALLAH, and want to follow the examples of the Messenger of God (saw), but wait! I have to stop that submission first and let my family know first before I can truly claim that I am a muslim. Is that what a conversion like? For sure, it is not true for me.

By imposing this regulation to have consent from the family before registration as a new muslim, it will only put off people from telling the authority. People just are not going to trouble themselves for a piece of consent letter from their family if they are not ready to tell them. Without the acknowledgment of the islamic authority (like a certificate), if the person passed away, it creates worse scenario than before this regulation because there is literally no black and white (only a shahadah taken in an old surau, let's say with two poor men as witnesses). There is simply no solid evidence of the conversion yet those friends who have been teaching this new convert know how much submission to ALLAH this person is and of course they would want his/her funeral done in the islamic way as well as any other dispute of will and wealth.

If you impose a regulation without any research or consultation from proper experts (I mean real expert, at least the mufti), you are only creating troubles. This is my PM who didn't do enough consultation with the proper experts in his coalition (the worse is consulted the wrong people) before naming the candidates for the pass election and caused terrible defeat. Read this piece of news.

Oh ALLAH, please save us from this mess and make all those who want to submit to YOU carry out their submission easily.

ALLAHU'alam.

Wassalam.

Interest

Assalamualaikum warahmatullah wabarakatuh,

Now I have realised that my main interest is not in Physics education but Islamic education and contemporary politics. Looking at the time I have spent lately, I can divide it into time for my phd study, islamic study, reading political news & blogs and eat & sleep. And most of my time is for islamic study and following-up political movement, especially my country. This is very worrying me because I meant to do my phd at this time! I hope I will get back on track of my study soon. If my posting gets really not that frequent, pray that I am doing my phd than other stuff.

By the time, Indeed men are in lost, except those who have faith and do righteous deeds and enjoin the Truth and patience.

~ The Holy Qur'an, Surah al-'Asr (Chapter 103, The Time) verses 1-3

A song by Dawud Wharnsby Ali - Another Day:

Wassalam.

Facebooking

Assalamualaikum warahmatullah wabarakatuh,

Facebook is a book to see people's faces. No, according to the Facebook, it is:

Facebook is a social utility that connects people with friends and others who work, study and live around them. People use Facebook to keep up with friends, upload an unlimited number of photos, share links and videos, and learn more about the people they meet.

It is like myspace, Hi5!, friendster, etc. Only that it is very popular initially just among the universities in UK and US. As it becomes more popular, the network is widen to around the world.


Some muslims call it FASADbook for its news feeds that helps stalking opportunity thus spread rumours and some call it Lower-your-gazebook. I was hesitated to open an account on facebook in my first year in Cambridge when many of my friends here asked me to do so, well, so that they can add me as their friend. It was at the end of my first year that I decided to join and now I have quite a number of friends and facebook helps me to keep in contact with them, especially those who have graduated from Cambridge. In any technological application, there must be pros and cons. While facebook is really good in social networking, many have suspected that it is a tool used by the CIA to spy on people. I am clean, so I don't have to worry about that and no, I don't waste a lot of my time on facebook because for me it is like checking my emails.

Surprisingly, facebook is also another tool that helps the election this time. As I said in a post before regarding how the blogs changes the country, I suspect that facebook also plays a little role in it. To my surprise, there are famous Malaysian political figures who have their accounts on facebook! Try Anwar Ibrahim, NikAziz NikMat, AbdulHadi Awang, DrLolo Ghazali, Lim Kit Siang, etc. I wonder if these are the real persons or just their 'personal assistants' who maintain the profile for them. BBC has reported that it may and may not be the real person. Actually, do these busy politicians have time to maintain their profiles on facebook? They even have 'funwall', 'superwall', etc. Really awe me! Many supporters wrote on their walls showing their support in this election as well as words of congratulation to these elected leaders. Seriously, are they for real?

ALLAHU'alam.

Wassalam.

The Kings and I

Assalamualaikum warahmatullah wabarakatuh,

Sorry, yet another political post this time. It suddenly interests me after this very dramatic and surprising General Election results in Malaysia. I think this election has not just made the people aware of the corruption and the need to unite and stand up to fight these destructive elements in the government, now the Sultanate of 9 states in Malaysia has also started to rise and exercise their rights over their states.

The usual scenario in Malaysia was that after the election, the new Prime Minister would appoint the new Chief Minister of a state (Menteri Besar or MB) that the ruling government obtains the majority in. And then, the King or Sultan of the state would just nod his head to agree, most of the time without questioning. I don't really know why but this somehow showed that the government has more power than the Sultan. This Sultanate institution has been an important part of the Malaysian history. Around the 15th century, the Malays (originated from India and Sumatra, Indonesia) came to the Peninsular of Malaysia and opened the Malacca Strait for international trading. The leader then became the king or Sultan (has the same title as the kings in India, Ottoman Empire, etc.). The descendants then went on and ruled nearly the whole Peninsular of Malaysia until the border of Thailand (Siam) owned by the King of Thailand (the only kingdom in South-East Asia that has never been conquered by any foreign force), until the colonisation of the Portuguese, then the Dutch and finally the British. The kings lost their power in their respective states due to the Residential system where the Advisors of the states are the British who put the Sultans as their puppets so that the people would listen.

The Sultans had no choice but to follow the instruction of the British. Since most of the people were loyal to the royal families and were not educated, they listened to the Sultans anyway. The power or the Sultans were shrunk into just insignificant affairs like Malay customs and religion. After the independence, this trend continued and only recently that when the Sultan of Perak's son who graduated from Harvard decided to not to accept the MB appointed by the opponent coalition which ruled the state of Perak, that I think it enlightens the rest of the Sultans.

Now in Perlis (the only state in the Northern of Malaysia that is still under the ruling coalition), the Sultan decided to go against the will of the Prime Minister by appointing an MB who is not the choice of the Prime Minister. Read the news. It shocked many but hey, that is the right thing to do because that is the Sultan's power in the civil law and constitution of the state! Whether the government like it or not. I would like to congratulate the Sultan of Perlis in making this move and I am sure that the people of Perlis will always accept the decision of the royal family over the Prime Minister, especially when many people, even the members of the ruling parties have asked the Prime Minister to step down due to the great lost in this General Election.

Another reason for the Sultans to exercise their rights, I think, is because of the weak leadership of the government by the Prime Minister as well as the wide spreading complains of the people of the poverty and oppression resulted from the corrupted government. The Sultans of course love their people, no doubt. It has been generations and generations that the royal family stay in the state. Even when there is a royal wedding, all the people are invited. For the love of the people, the Sultans will never want to see their people suffer, and since they have no power to rule their own states due to the democratic system which was installed into Malaysia as one of the conditions for independence, the Sultans will never be able to rule the state except by joining a party and compete in the election. So, the only way to do this is to appoint a very good MB for the state.

If the Prime Minister is a very caliber and respected leader, of course the Sultans will just leave the matter of appointing the MB to him. But this is not the case anymore now, very unfortunately for the Prime Minister and his cronies in the state level. Now it is not just Perlis' Prime-Minister-favoured MB that is going to suffer of the Prime Minister's own fault for not stepping down, the Terengganu's may also face the same consequence after news is said that the Sultan of Terengganu may reject the PM-favoured MB.

Congratulation to the Sultans for making wise decision for the sake of the people.

Let's wait and see what's next.

ALLAHU'alam.

Wassalam.

How blogging changes the country

Assalamualaikum warahmatullah wabarakatuh,

To readers who are not Malaysians, if you have read the past 3 posts, you will have gain a little understanding of the political scenario in Malaysia. Many claimed that the politicians picked the Chief Editors of the main stream media in Malaysia and control the messages to send to the people - most of the time positive news for the ruling coalition and negative news for the oppositions. With the same sentiment around the world where the muslims loose their trust to the media which always portrays distorted image about Islam, the Malaysian younger generation started to think the same to the local main stream media and decided to find alternative channels to spread their message, may I restate that it is not to spread the opposition's message but the youths' own message. Many youths do not trust the main stream media in Malaysia and switch to alternative media like blogs, youtube news from Malaysia, internet news and many other, until at a stage, the government decided to ban the 'misuse' of blogs in Malaysia and wanted to take legal action on the bloggers who spread the not-so-beautiful stories about the government. Sound like communist? I don't know because I don't support the spreading of rumours but if it's true and the people need to know probably concrete facts and proofs should to be presented in a professional way.

Also another political scenario in Malaysia is that, you won't be able to stand as a candidate of a party until you get old because the seniority sentiment in Malaysian's political parties is very strong that dispite the ability and credibility of the candidate, if the person has been long in the party and has many supporters, especially from the top, he or she will have the opportunity to rise and gain a seat in the parliament representing the party. This is what we call the political ladder. You climb one step at a time but if you want to cross other people you either do it in a very sinful way (including oppression, corruption, propping up the superiors, etc.) or you really have that special talent that stand out among the rest. It is usual to find the parliamentary candidates are among those who are older than 40 years old. This is especially true in a party that has been long established. For example, the former Prime Minister, Mahathir Mohamed, he has been the member of UMNO for 18 years before he had the chance to stand as a candidate representing his party and only after 28 years that he became the Prime Minister. Probably another reason for this is because you need to earn enough money to register to compete (you need RM10,000.00 to pay the deposite on the nomination day).

Now, since the imprisonment of Anwar Ibrahim, a new party was formed and many youths who started to take politics, the survival and future of the country seriously have a chance to have their say in the parliament. In this party, Justice Party, there appears to be so many young candidates in this election and many of them are elected. Among them are bloggers and many of the bloggers use their blogs to appeal for donation to run their election campaigns. One of the blogger managed to collect more than RM123,000.00 of donation on-line from donors in and out of Malaysia. The blog is not just a way for them to spread their messages across the country, it also provides the facility to accumulate campaign funds and to interact with people. This way, the communication is more dynamic and it is a channel for the people to ask questions directly to the candidates and the candidates' opinions and answers are on the blogs to be judged and criticised by the public. This is more effective than running the election campaigns all over the places in just less than 13 days and of course saves a lot of money.

As I browsed through many blogs of the Malaysian politicians, I find that there are a lot of bloggers that support the opposition than the ruling coalition. Maybe there is no need for the ruling coalition to blog as they have the main stream media to spread their messages across the country. Shocking news, message and information are all around the blogs, some that can be trusted and some that need some research to verify, like most of the news in the mass media today. It would be a complete fool to take what the newspapers and broadcasting channels as 100% correct, hey, but there are still many people out there just take as they watch on the TV screen as the truth like in some other countries (you know which countries I am talking about). People in the rural areas in Malaysia can only have newspapers, radio and TV. They have been fed by the main stream media everyday and if they don't think out of the box and make a wise comparison, their votes are for the ruling coalition, no doubt. Again, I am not saying that they will not vote the ruling coalition after making a wise comparison, they might do.

Seeking knowledge and reflecting on what we have learnt are among the most important elements one must possessed if one is truly a learned individual. This will result in a wise thinking and action, prevent one from being deceived. With the bombardment of information from all around us, it is sometime difficult to make the best judgement. As a muslim, ultimately to make a choice is to rely on ALLAH, we might have enough information to predict who will be good as the members of parliament that can represent us, but who can guarantee the future other than the Al-Mighty ALLAH?

"The happiness of the son of Adam depends on his being content with what Allah has decreed for him, and the misery of the son of Adam results from his failure to pray istikharah, and the misery of the son of Adam results from in his discontent with what Allah has decreed for him."

~ Hadith collected by Al-Tirmidhi

ALLAHU'alam.

Wassalam.

The Dawn of a new Malaysia

Assalamualaikum warahmatullah wabarakatuh,

So, there we go, the result of the 12th Malaysia General Election has revealed. So many surprises yet full of hope, excitement and challenge. For the first time since the independent in 1957, the ruling coalition has lost their 2/3 control of the parliament and only managed to earn slightly a bit more than 1/2 of the seats in the parliament, just enough to once again be the government of the country. In the state level, out of 13 states, from losing 1 state to the opposition since 1990, today, 5 states are under the control of the opposition coalition, surprise, surprise, even the opposition did not anticipate such a victory, the most they estimated are 3 states. The 5 states are not just any 5 states but among the most prosperous in the country, states with the most foreign investors. Today, the share market of Malaysia fall to the lowest since the past 7 months, I hope it is just for temporal before the investors gain their confidence to the new state governments. Today also, the Prime Minister, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi once again takes the Prime Minister office for his second term though many urge him to resign as to be responsible for the great lost for the party - The United Malays National Organization (UMNO), resign from the post of the president of the party as well as Prime Minister. But he refused and said that he feels no pressure to step down.

Well, are all these good news or bad news? In 1969, there was a racial riot which saw bloodshed and lost of lives, and is perceived as the darkest history in Malaysia after the independence. The Chinese and Indian minorities were not happy with the special status and privilege given to the Malay majority and attacked the government as bias towards the minority in the areas of education, economy and many other issues. This turned into a big chaos in Malaysia and since then, racial issues have been classified as sensitive issues that no one should criticise them publicly. If someone does, he or she can be accused under the Internal Security Act (ISA) which is equivalent to the Terrorism Act in the UK but worse because the person can be retained for an indefinite period of time. For this reason, those who opposed the government lost their rights to play a role in the politics because they are caged.

This year's election saw, for the first time, the racial issues were being discussed, but in a way that all the ethnic groups are happy with. The opposition coalition, championed by the internationally infamous Anwar Ibrahim (who used to be the successor of the former Prime Minister, Mahathir Mohamed but turned into the traitor of the country due to political conspiracy) has proposed a fairer way in dealing with racial issues without the need to sacrifice the Malay's special status but at the same time gives rights to the minorities. His proposal is that all the poors, no matter from which race, should be assisted by the government. And those who are rich can compete among them equally without the abusing the Malay's special status. The Malays maintain the special status but there should not be any discrimination, oppression and corruption while applying the status. His proposal of uniting all the races under the title of MALAYSIANS wins the hearts of the minorities and leads to the victory to the opposition coalition in Penang, one of the most Chinese-populated state in Malaysia and yesterday, Dr. Koh Tsu Koon, the head of one of the component parties (Gerakan Party) in the ruling coalition who led the administration of Penang for centuries decided to step down as to show his accountability for the lost.

Of course the opposition coalition did not win the election just by playing with the racial card. They also proposed a more islamic state, the initiative to fight corruptions which are part of the tradition of the ruling party (they claim), abolish the nepotism among the corrupted politicians, give priority to the poors, promise a welfare-oriented state where tax money is to be given back to the people through funding the education and housing, reduce or stop the rise of the petroleum price, reduce or stop the rise of inflation through subsidy, select vice-chancellor of a university or higher education institutes according to the credibility not race, etc. All these manifestos really attract the minorities and the more islamic generation of Malaysians. Thus, the support of the people to the opposition gave a very painful slap to the ruling coalition.

Of course, the ruling coalition did not stop giving their promises. The key word for the ruling coalition is development, more and more development. It means more and more projects for the bid of the Malays or some accuse them that the tenders are to be given to the politicians' families. How true is that, ALLAHU'alam. If a muslim denies that he or she has done a sin, I would like to give him or her 70 excuses because it is up to them to answer in front of ALLAH. This is to take the analogy of if a muslim said that the meat is halal, I will have to trust the person. But if I am not confident, I will refrain from taking it but will not go around and accuse the person is serving non-halal meat. ALLAHU'alam. I might be completely wrong.

As there are now 5 states under the opposition and the rest are under the ruling coalition, I can anticipate a more objective judgement in the next election because the people will have the opportunity to make comparison and choose the best side to rule the country. I really pray that both the coalitions will work very hard to prove to the people to win the people's votes because this competition will only benefit the people, inshaALLAH. As the politicians are chosen because of their ability to represent and work for the people, I hope that they will fulfill their promises and cater the needs of the people in their areas.

A new Malaysia has just begun... Oh ALLAH, save and protect Malaysia.

ALLAHU'alam.

Wassalam.

The Oldest Female Malaysian Parliamentary Candidate?

Assalamualaikum warahmatullah wabarakatuh,

As I checking through blogs of the governing parties' and opposition parties' supporters, I came across this news:

Maimun Yusuf, aged 89 living in a very worn out small hut in a poor village in Kuala Terengganu (east coast of the peninsular of Malaysia) is probably the oldest female Malaysian Parliamentary Candidate. I am really touched to know her story and her will to want to enter the Parliament and to bring change to the Malaysians. Motivated by the poverty and corruption happening in her area, she decided to take on the challenge as an Independent candidate (which usually is hard to win a seat) in order to fight the problems. Many people are touched by her and some of them help her by setting up a blog, a facebook and even a fan club for her. Probably we need to review the reasons for her to want to carry this big burden at this age without much resources (just look at her poor house!), is the country really corrupted that even an old lady is taking action to this far? I can only wish her good luck cause she is not in my area to vote for.

Wassalam.

12th Malaysian General Election

Assalamualaikum warahmatullah wabarakatuh,

I have always tried my best not to write anything concerning politics in my blog, not that I think politics is dirty but it's only that I don't understand what are politicians doing. Manipulations, conspiracies, corruptions, exploitations, etc. have always been what I know about politics throughout my whole life. I have learnt the same thing from my family, especially my father, then from my friends in schools, teachers, fellow coursemates, lecturers and nearly everyone around me who follow the political issues in Malaysia. And when I come to UK, I face the same topics again and again when politics is the theme. It's also true when I speak to a student here who studies SPS (Social & Political Science) in Cambridge. It has never given me any positive image. Is it because I don't believe in democracy? Well, define democracy. Is it because I don't trust what the politicians say? Most probably yes and many of my friends have confirmed that they don't. Is it because I have no knowledge about politics? Probably yes cos I don't study political science in any of my degree, probably no because I do know what's happening through media (both the governing and opposition parties') and mouths of people, but I don't trust any of them because you can portray what you want. So, how do I decide who to vote for on 8th March 2008?

While I was watching all these so-called opposition's media (youtube, blogs, news) all I can see is that they want a change (reformation is the theme) and welfare. When I watch all these current-government ally's media, all I can see is that they want development and modernity. Now, as a Malaysian, what do I want? What define reformation, welfare, development and modernity? According to some younger generation of Malaysians who start to preach politics in a slightly citizen-centred way, they said that MPs or in Malaysia we call them the Representative of the Citizens (Wakil Rakyat) or politicians are just representatives, they represent us, the citizens, they work for us, we pay tax to them and with that they earn their salary by working for us, we are the bosses, employers and they are the employees, NOT THE OTHER WAY ROUND which sadly is the reality in Malaysia. Now, the questions in my head are, if truly that the politicians are working for us, why do they need to fight with each other? Are they fighting for the 'job' which only has vacancy during election? Or more fishy stuff behind it? See, that's the problem when I talk about politics, more unsure stuff that I am so afraid to write in case it becomes a fitnah.

Spiderman (not trying to be childish though) said that with greater power comes greater responsibilities. Once you are a representative, you are given the power from the people to voice their needs. That's like a mountain of responsibilities, don't you feel afraid to carry that? What if ALLAH asked you on that Day... When ALLAH made the Earth and asked if the mountain want to be ALLAH's representative or steward (khalifah) on this Earth, none of ALLAH's creations wanted it, it's too much and too heavy to carry. It's only later then that Prophet Adam (as) agreed to carry the responsibilities. So, if those politicians are fighting for a seat in the Parliament, I really hope that they are fighting to carry this responsibility that they think they will be able to fulfill appropriately thus earn lots of 'salary' from ALLAH.

ALLAHU'alam.

Wassalam.

Happy Chinese New Year

Assalamualaikum warahmatullah wabarakatuh,

Happy Chinese New Year! If I was at home, I must be having a reunion dinner with my family. But too bad, this year many of us can't make it home, only my 2 younger sisters and a brother with my father and grandmother. My elder sister who is married has to spend her new year at her husband's parents' home while my younger sister didn't manage to get a flight ticket home as she was waiting for posting before she could decide from where she will be flying home. And me, still stuck in Cambridge with my endless PhD works. Has been 6 years not celebrating Chinese New Year with my family due to work and study. InshaALLAH will try to make it next year when I think and pray that I will finish my PhD by then.

Chinese New Year marks the beginning of another lunar calendar. It is shorter than the Georgerian calendar (about 11 days) and so in every 4 years, there will be an extra month, a repetition of one of the months taking turn every 4 years, i.e., 2 Month 7 this year and after 4 years, there will be 2 Month 8. It is amazing how humans had observed the universe and came to design such a system to keep track of the time. I don't really know who designed this lunar calendar (the earliest record of the use of this type of calendar can be traced back 4700 year ago when Emperor Huang used it), probably it is a form of Wahy that ALLAH gave to one of the Prophets in the beginning of time or a type of knowledge that ALLAH gave directly to Prophet Adam (as) like how HE taught him the names of things (Surah al-Baqarah verse 31). Only ALLAH knows.

Wassalam.

Cambridge Malaysian Muslims Society (CAMMUS)

Assalamualaikum warahmatullah wabarakatuh,

Alhamdulillahi rabbilalamin. All praise is due to ALLAH, the Lord of the universe, by HIS Grace that today we finally established the Cambridge Malaysian Muslims Society (CAMMUS). It was a successful meeting today and the whole formal process was done in a semi-formal way, in a way that there is only joy for everyone but carrying the same objective to make us a stronger community here in Cambridge. All the important positions were elected. We also set the objectives and activities that we want to have.

InshaALLAH, with this society, we can do more not just for ourselves but also for others. May ALLAH bless this society and grant us success. Amin.

Wassalam.

Cambridge Malaysian Muslims

Assalamualaikum warahmatullah wabarakatuh,

When I first came here, the Malaysian muslims in Cambridge were so little in number that we seldom met and didn't have much activities except gatherings on Eid days (not every eid though), a BBQ picnic and occasionally meet-up for a cup of tea, especially among the brothers cause there quite many of them compares to the sisters. For us who want spiritual inputs, we end up in ISOC, not CUMaS (Cambridge University Malaysian Society) simply because there is no event for islamic development and many of the events are aiming at socialising. While many of the Malaysian muslims in Cambridge are postgraduates, many of the events by CUMaS (many good events though) are catered for undergraduates. There is a serious lack of meeting between the Malaysian muslims in Cambridge. This year, there is a group of new postgraduates from Malaysia. Many of them are cheerful sisters. We started to form a little group and they always meet each other.

One day, one of the sisters told me that the Malaysian Student Department, London (MSD) has sent all the Cambridge Malaysian muslims an email regarding the request of the religious affair personnel to meet the students here. In order to facilitate this meeting, I organised a Hijrah New Year talk to give the opportunity for the representative of MSD to meet the muslim students here. Alhamdulillah, it was a successful evening, click here for more detail.

After the talk, many of us were inspired to form an organisation consisting of Malaysian muslims students and their families (if they are here) in Cambridge. This group is essential to gather many of us here and work towards organising more formal activities that will be supported by MSD. We can always have informal gathering, especially with food, but there has never been such an opportunity to meet and benefit from formal sharing of religious knowledge among us when we are all muslims. Hopefully this will bring us towards better socialising & learning, perhaps a way of sharing that is relevant to the context of Malaysian muslims in Cambridge, inshaALLAH.

Wassalam.