The Rambler Now Resting in Peace

The Rambler has passed away on Saturday, April 11th 2009.

The Rambler has a voracious thirst for knowledge and ideas. He accepts criticism and has no qualms to speak his mind. A sweet, caring father, a loving husband, an atok who never tires of giving his all and much more, a teacher and a lifelong learner, a listener and a friend forever.

Fondly remembered and admired.

AL-FATIHAH

USA the Rogue State

Who explode some of those car bombs in Baghdad? I suspect they were the work of Israeli agents and their cohorts, the CIA. Its part of their dirty game to prolong lawlessness in Iraq. That would be an excuse for them to stay there longer. Americans are noted for doing things for picking up a fight or cooking up excuses to go to war.

Obama is presently talking about reaching out to the Muslims. I guess sending more troops to a Muslim country like Afghanistan is part of this reaching out process.

Divine Guidance

Q: What is the theme common to most of the 114 chapters of the Quran?
A: Obstinate people who refuse to believe in God
Q: Is it within God's power to make every body believe in Him?
A: Yes, certainly
Q: Why didn't he do it?
A: Because He made man, a creature of choice. He wants man himself to decide whether to
. believe in Him or not.
Q: Why does God want man to believe in Him?
A: He wants to guide man, the crown of His creation
Q: Does God guide the unbelievers?
A: No. He says he only guides those who want to be guided and let astray those who don't want to
. be guided.
Q: What guides the unbelievers then?
A: I don't know. May be the mores and the norms of the ancient of their heritage. May be the instinct
. of greed and selfishness that are causing the current financial meltdown
Q: Who are the obstinate people mentioned in the Quraan?
A: "The Tribe of Bani Israel"
Q: But they believe in God, don't they
A: Yes, but they believe that God is for the people of Israel only
Q: Does the conduct of this tribe indicate the absence of divine guidance?
A: I think so. Just look at what they have done in the last 50 years.

Khir Toyo

Khir Toyo was so excited when he discovered that his rival Khalid had abused his power regarding the purchase of cattle for Korban as well as the maintenance of his personal car. The amount involved was more than a hundred thousand ringgit. But today we learn that the accuser himself was involved in a much bigger scandal than the man he accused and the amount involved exceeds more than a million ringgit- expenses of "Study Tour" undertaken by his wife and children at Disney World Paris and Florida.- another cock and bull story.

How many UMNO leaders out there are really clean - not stained by any form of corrupt practise?
It seems that the clean ones who did not buy votes are people like Shahir and Rais who were not voted into office

UMNO politics

UMNO leaders are talking about CHANGE in order to stay relevent. Good I support that. But why is repugnant old ways still being practiced. Khairy Jamaluddin is known to be corrupt. It does not matter whether the money involved is ten cents or ten million. Corruption is corruption. Why is he allowed to stand for election for "Ketua Pemuda". Is it because he is the son in law of the prime minister or is it because he started using money again after being cleared of corruption charges

There are two men in Malaysia who are obsessed with becoming prime minister one day. The first one is Khairy and the other bloke is Anuar. Looks like Khairy is going to make it before Anuar. Khairy as Ketua Pemuda is sure to get a cabinet post and from there on he will make his way up to the prime minster's chair. Then the government will be so rotten that the people will ask Anuar to sit in the prime minster;s chair

America should apologize

American owe the world an apology for messing up the economy. If they are too proud to apologize, they should at least admit their mistakes:

1. Consume more than they produce.
2. Import more than they export
3. Spend more than they earn

What do we call this kind of people?

1. Stupid?
2. Idiot?
3. Imbecile?
4. Irresponsible?
5. Selfish?

Why do we have to suffer because of these bloody f---- Americans? Materialism and greed are the hall mark of people who don't believe in God

To court again

Party X has won the election. So it sets up service centre where constituents can take up their grouses with Y.B. In the next election however, Party X has been defeated and Party Y comes into power. There is no law that prohibits Party X to continue operating its service centre though it has lost the election. They still have their supporters in the constituents though they form the minority this time. For the constituents its good to have two service centres that compete with each other to give better service.

However what is happening in Kedah is different. PKR that won the election is asking BN to close down its service centre in the constituency. Looks like Malaysians have to go to court again to find out their rights and limitation.

Damn the politicians!

The Dark Side of Malaysia

I was at a wedding in Kuala Lumpur during the week end. A guest at the wedding remarked that "Money Politics" in the coming UMNO gathering is part of UMNO culture rather than out right vote buying, in the same way wedding guests give a small sum of money to their host as present.

"Money Politics" is not confined to UMNO gathering at Kuala Lumpur only; it is also practiced during election and the "present" needs not always be in cash. It can also be in kind. I was once given a crisp RM100-00 bill. I grabbed it because money and voting are two different things. Money is what you spend at McDonald with the kids. And voting is the cross you make on the ballot paper. Thirty years ago my late grandfather used to get "Kain Pelikat" at election time. And during the recent Kuala Terengganu by election, my son in law was given cash and goodies for distribution. Of course I got the goodies too.

UMNO has a lot of money that comes as "presents" from contractors who got government contracts even small ones like resurfacing roads in the village or erecting fencing around village mosques

I am posting this to let UMNO know that we know their hanky panky. Do something about it before the next general election.

PAS and UMNO

Haji Hadi suggests that Pas should work together with UMNO in facing the current economic crisis but the other Pas leader, Nik Aziz is against the idea. In time of crisis, political parties, especially Muslim parties like Pas and UMNO should put aside their ideological differences and give attention to the thing that really matters - economic survival. Nik Aziz is supposed to be an Islamic scholar and he should know that Islam teaches "mesyuarah" or consultation with each other. Its really a shame when Muslims do not cooperate with fellow Muslims

NIK Aziz is 70 years old and so he knows what Muslims in this country were like 50 years ago. We have made tremendous progress since then. Present day Muslims are much better than those of yesteryear.

Haji Hadi who was educated in Cairo and Medinah has a more globalised world view unlike Nik Aziz who was educated in the Taliban country of Pakistan. I don't mean to belittle him. I am trying to say that Taliban philosophy has no place in Malaysia

Can we trust CNN?

In its broadcast on March 13, CNN reported that Americans were working to get the Afghan girls to school. That was good. The bad part was the remark that "Islam forbids giving education to girls". Its not Islam that forbids but the Taliban with their brand of Islam did. The part that the Quraan
forbids was allowing girls to leave home unescorted. The Taliban however, took this a step further, by forbidding girls to leave home to go school. Both the Quraan and the phophetic tradition encourage learning and look upon it as a process of unraveling God's creation. In fact knowledgeable people are amply rewarded in the hereafter. The West generally thinks that Muslim women are not fairly treated. Thats wrong. Its the Taliban,some Pakistanis and some Arabs too who do not treat the women well. Islam is not at fault. The Quraan deals in womans' rights much more than the Bible. One whole chapter in the Quraan "An Nisa" lays down rules on alimony, inheritance etc. in details. So much so that a bishop in England proposed that Muslim marriage laws be made a part of the common law in Britain.

When CNN talks about Islam, we know right away whether they are telling the truth or not. But when they talk about other things like Buddhism or Gaza, we have no way of verifying the reports.I suggest that the next time CNN wants to do a story on Muslim women, come to Malaysia. Women here form the majority in all universities and in some professions too

Are Americans Happy?

Recently somebody forwarded me a story written by a female American journalist. She was lamenting that Christian women in American were not as happy as their Muslim sisters in the comparatively poor countries in Asia. I would like to attest to that.

My sister in law lives in a riverine village about three kilometers from the town of Kuala Berang. Folks in that village are all related and they can trace their family tree right down to the tenth cousin so to speak. They are happy and contented, at peace with the world and with God. I think those villagers have the ingredient for happiness. They have a sense of belonging to a community which they consider their family. Without this familiness one would feel alienated and restless.

Americans on the other hand have small families and I can bet they don't know their tenth cousin. They are also alienated with God because they don't go to places of worship on regular basis as Muslims.

Revealation is every where

I look around me. There is nothing that is not created by God. Even the pen I am holding at the moment is God's creation. God created the material that is used in the making of the pen. Man does not know how to create matter or material or substance whatever you prefer to call it. Man only knows how to change the form of the matter into a pen. or other things. Since man is created by God, he cannot claim the credit of making the pen. Credit goes to God.

I think the pen can also be categorized as a verse one finds in the Quraan both the pen and the verse carry God's message in which He describes Himself and His creative power. So every thing is sacred and holy. God's message is every where. Even inside me and that includes the very idea that guides me into writing this story.

Revelation that begins with Moses and continues with Jesus and Muhammad has not stopped yet. It is on going, every where. Every thing is Revelation

Unity Government

Political parties in Malaysia have good ideas as well as ideas that are less good. Once candidates are voted into office, they should cross party lines and think of themselves as Malaysians - not as BN or PR- whose main job is to get this country going. Unfortunately this is not happening. Those idiots are still bickering on who should form the government and who should be the chief executive. while the country is in dire need to steer away from the looming recession. At this moment in time, politicians should consider of forming a unity government where every ADUN or MP should get together and put their ideas to test. I am sure if done with sincerity devoid of partisan politics, great things may result

Teaching Maths and Science in English

The failure of teaching maths and science in English is not because the idea is bad but because the teachers are incompetent.
1. The present teachers never had the experience of learning maths and science in English when they were in school. Those who had this experience have already retired.
2. Their first experience learning maths and science in English was when they were at the university.
3. The English used in some of the maths and science books is not suitable for school level. That goes for the spoken English used by the teachers too - a carry over of how they were taught at the university. To prove that students can be taught in English I once took history and Ugama classes from their regular teachers and conducted the lessons in English. Responses was good. Unfortunately I was unable to take over maths and science classes because of my unfamiliarity with the subject matter.
4. There are many benefits from teaching maths and science in English. Why discontinue it because of the incompetence of a few.

Respecting the Sultans

Some people in this country seem to think that they do not have to respect the sultans. They say that respect is something that one has to earn. They are right. But a sultan is not a person in the true sense of the word. He is an institution. An institution can do no wrong. Only a person does wrong thing. In the same way, parliament is an institution. We have to respect it even when the law makers talk rubbish and throw chairs at each other when they do not agree over certain thing.

I know of sultans who do not behave. They have gambling debt and somebody had to bail him out. They ran huge debt which they did not honor. I know of one who was convicted of man slaughter. As persons, one may chose to disrespect them but as institution, we have not much choice but to respect them. They represent institution that holds Malaysia together

No change of Kiblat

The Arabs were good at finding direction with the help of the stars. Prophet Muhammad made use of this special skill of the Arabs to determine the direction Muslims should face when praying. Initially the prophet told the followers to stand in line facing the kaabah in the mosque at Mecca and the "Further mosque" in Juruselem when praying i.e facing both mosques. The prophet continued praying in the same direction even after he migrated to Madinah. As a result the kaabah was at his back. In other word he was not facing the kaabah at all instead he was facing the Juruselem mosque only. One day when the prophet was praying in Madinah, Allah ordered him to do a U-Turn to face the kaabah in Mecca. Some Muslims believe that Juruselem was the fisrt kiblat of the Muslims and later changed to Mecca. I think this was not the case. Mecca has been the kiblat of the Muslims since the begining. The order to turn towards Mecca was not about changing the kiblat but it was about returning to the original kiblat. The kaabah built by Abraham in Mecca is much older than the Juruselem mosque built by Solomon

Catholics Using the name Allah

I would like to comment on Nik Aziz's claim that "The non Muslims of Mecca were calling their god Allah" (NST Feb 2nd). Before the time of Prophet Muhammad, the teaching of the previous 24 prophets, that used the word Allah had spread throughout the Arab land. However with the passage of time, the teaching became corrupted and moved into the realm of mythology, but the name Allah remained and used by the pagan Arabs during Jahiliyah time. This was the circumstances how the word Allah came to be used by non Muslims that Nik Aziz described.

Today the Catholics in Malaysia want to use the word Allah in their publication. This should not be allowed because they have given Allah an entirely new concept which is a blasphemy in Islam. They say that Allah has a son in the person of Jesus Christ and that Allah walks and sees like human. The Bible says "Adam heard god's foot steps in the garden..." Moses spoke to god face to face.."- statements that are unacceptable to Islam.

The use of the word Allah in Catholic publication will confuse both Catholic and Muslims in Malaysia

Technically wrong but justifiable

When I hit 50, I worked for 3 years with a statutory body of the state government. The CEO there used his official car for personal use such as taking his kids to school and other chores. His driver told me this because his kids too went to school together with the boss's kids. No body complained then. Today however there is a lot of complaint about a certain menteri besar who used his personal car as an official car and gets the government to pay for its maintenance. Its technically wrong but nevertheless justifiable. The amount is relatively small compared to what Terengganu used to pay for maintenance of its Perdana fleet.

As for the purchase of cattle for "Korban" its perfectly alright to pay from public fund. The cattle was meant for public consumption and it does not really matter where they were consumed.

I am no fan of PKR but I resent calls for menteri besar's resignation the same way I object for calls for Liz Wong to step down

Know the Law First

I don't know anything about the Perak State Constitution. But common sense tells me, it does not give the speaker of the state legislative assemby the power to suspend an assembly man for the duration of between 12 - 18 months.

The speaker should know the 7 assembly men he suspended are representatives of thousands of the constituents all over the state of Perak. Suspension amounts to depriving the constituents their representation in the state legislative assembly.

The speaker now finds himself in a maze of legal technicalities and its difficult for him or for anybody else for that matter, to undo what had happened. There is no precedence to fall back upon. I think the speaker, a novice who has been at the job less than a year, was not aware the implication of his action. He was probably just taking orders from his supreme commander and adviser, Anuar Ibrahim.

Prof.Khoo is right when he says politicians should first know the law before holding public office. I hope we will soon get out of this gutter politic and pay more attention to solving the economic woes

Gutter Poltics in Malaysia

Malaysian politics today stinks. Dr.Mahathir describes it as "Gutter Politics". Politics in Malaysia has never been this bad before.

Politicians of today, with some exception, are of the new breed who entered the profession after the demise of Tun Razak - the last of the old breed. Is it a coincidence that things started to go bad after Anuar Ibrahim, a new breed, staged a come-back?. He was the one who started all those talks about forming a new federal government by engineering massive cross over. He failed but BN borrowed his idea and succeeded in Perak. This is the most stinking part of the whole thing in which both Anuar and BN are guilty of. The only difference is Anuar bragged about it and BN didn't. What follows next is sickening- police reports made by the hundred and some matters taken to court. Here we have adults who fail to resolve their differences without going at each other's throats. We voted for these idiots into office so that they would work for the betterment of the country. Instead they are working for the glory of self aspiring to become prime minister and menteri besar