The Mysticus

The current hysteria that swept the school kids had people like me wonder, does the spirits/jins and ghosts goes marauding according to seasons?

Downtown KL, a club with gyrating bodies dancing and prancing are filled with smell of cigarettes and booze. Amidst the rapid beats and body-shaking house beat, a young 20 something Malay girl took a slow sip of alcoholic beverage with intention not to get very drunk or else someone car interior would be spilled with vomit. Occasionally, smoking a stick of freshly lit cigarette. Barely touching the edge of lips to achieve that ‘carburetor’ smoke and air mixture. Exhale into the air as moment past it disappears into thin air. A man walked up the aisle and offered drink; perhaps a better, expensive and classier variant of booze to excite the 20 something girl about the meaning of taste. A simple chat started and the man had visions of whats next, ultimately he charted his journey through the night as a wild suave stud ending messily on a sea of blankets next morning bare naked. Perhaps, a simple contact trade will do if magic does not happen as expected.

A Malay girl somewhere in a small town in Pahang sits in front of the television while doing her homework recently given by her add maths cikgu Roziah. Question is quite tough and she keeps scratching her neck. She looks on at the iron board that sits near the television. A kain tudung ( veil ) has yet to be iron out to get rid of the wrinkles for sekolah. Still, she is stuck with the add math single most mind boggling question which failure to answer might land her in danger zone if cikgu calls her forward.

Ayah is busy reading through the newspaper with headlines about Anwar and his big win. Nah. Politics never capture a chunk of her brain quadrants. Emak is busy cleaning the clothes to be hung early in the morning tomorrow. A sense of loneliness is felt. But yet, the television is turned on and playing hantu serial. All images of long haired creature inside a white veil and green eyed biawak-like humanoid make the basis of these hantu serial drama. Ah. Its something that captured every quadrant of this girl brain quadrant. She then paid attention to the drama hantu.

Simple imagination takes place. She wonder what jampi/mantra will her dad cast if a green-eyed toyol encroached into her house through the front door? Because ayah seats near the door. And the door is wide opened to let the wind in.To cool interior. Her imagination extended to kilometers away outside of her door. Reminiscence of how her geography teacher told that Pahang is rich with timber. The jungle outside there sort of become a kingdom for all sorts type of ghost, jin and spirits than wander amongst themselves.

Downtown KL, the kingdom that a sweet petite 20something girl wander were filled with bright neons and bursts of loud laugh of fellow girls which had their partners visiting clubs, pubs and bistros. She made a stop to a mamak stall with her mates. She scratches because she is sweating. Of course, she did dance for a couple of minutes recently with that unknown guy. But, his suave confidence saw attempts of him landing his palm in few ticklish and sensitive areas. She is not in the mood, so she politely pulled out. The girl seating opposite keeps telling about the bitchy is her housemate. She tells about which shop to get good dresses. She tells about the cocktail parties, and whom is invited or associated.

Can I assume the hysteria sweep is just the collective-belief atmosphere that influences them?

Back in the Pahang smalltown, ayah started his Honda Petak. The engine started abruptly, moments, it sounded like the engine might gone dead. Thin white smoke coming out of the exhaust. No helmet is worn since the school is situated a few kilometers. No JPJ would want to conduct an operation as its still early in the morning. They would probably be busy humping their wives or enjoying teh-o-kaw with two half-boiled eggs. Emak, as expected, are carefully hanging the clothes which she manually washed last night. Water can still seen dripping onto the earth. Sun has not fully revealed itself. The grass is thickly covered with embun – or dew. It left a trail as ayah motorcycle went on top of it.

As ayah went through the kampong road, the girl adjusted her tudung, so that it would not fluff too hard. Luckily she managed to iron it, but the add math sum is still left in limbo. She had to find her smarter classmates to sort things out before double-period add maths come after recess. As ayah Honda petak passes through a thick jungle and improperly managed bushy FELDA lot on the right, with hill backdrop things begins to get a little gloomy. The girl remember the drama hantu which long haired in white cloth would partially reveal the face behind the old trees. Fear begins to grip. A loose grip because her worries is still focused on the unsettled Add Math sum. Cikgu Roziah will sure get mad.

Morning in Klang Valley, the 20something Malay girl start to get out of bed. She had to get to college. Media studies class will begin in matter of minutes. Mass communication is what she always wanted to do. The expressway are really busy with vehicles lining up to get their tolls paid, she can see it through her apartment bay window. She is worried about the clothes which she is going to wear. A pair of heels which she bought last week was not opened yet as she finds no matching clothes. She felt lazy, but she must go to her college. She noticed her saliva still had that booze smell. SMS inbox were filled with messages inviting her to check out new clubs,bistro or just simple hanging out spot. Mr.Suave which bravely laid a few of his fingers on her petite curves last night had send a message too. Two actually. She honestly felt not in the mood to give it a ‘go’.

The Honda Petak arrives safely infront of sekolah. She kissed her dad hands and proceed to the school compound. She quickly enters the class although there is merely only 10 minutes before the assembly bell rings. Like mentioned earlier, the add maths sum bothered her. She needs to sort it out before Cikgu Roziah stepped into the classroom. Inside the classroom, she met Latifah. Her ayah is a rubber tapper and emak is a nasi-lemak and kuih-kuaci maker cum seller. Latifah seems to partially complete the add maths sum. She proceeded to copy her work. At least cikgu roziah might realize her effort. Latifah is then joined with Syahirah and Rohaizatul. They talked about the breeze that moved branches visible from their classroom and strange sounds of bird outside. She begins to remember the dramahantu she saw yesterday. The black hairy inside white veil that barely walk but float. The green-eyed lizard like humanoid that colours matches the lush timber landscape of inner Pahang.

She begins it with precursor words like “ takut, sejuk, pelik “ ( scary, cold and unusual ). With Latifah, Syahirah and Rohaizatul that had witnessed the drama hantu the night before, they begin to think differently about the nature works surrounding them. Making things worst, Latifah uncle is a bomoh (shaman). Syahirah grandfather was a former ketua-kampung (village chief) and Rohaizatul brother-in-law is a penggali kubur (undertaker). Their work are not necessarily mystical, but their weird ‘carried-forward’ stories made these girl lend their ears with total concentration.

All of sudden, Latifah, the daughter of the rubber tapper, screamed and shouted with a strange loud pitch that broke the silence. She later fell to the school cement floor and twitching continuously. Her body bend and twisted. The other girls ran outside the classroom. Leaving the boys looking curiously at Latifah. Moments later, an English teacher came in to monitor the situation. Minutes, ustaz came in to control the situation. By this moment, the other girl had told the other school mates about the strange occurrence. A special assembly is held at the field. Students were wondering what really happened. As one person tells another, the story gets spookier. The 5th person tells about Latifah screaming like a crow and by 10^th person, Latifah screamed like a crow because his rubber-tapper ayah were interrupting the crows habitat. The other three girls were left fear as they would be next to be attacked by the ‘thing’. Because they seems to felt the same emotion moments before the freaky thing occurred: “takut, sejuk, pelik “. They all have heard what mother always said; be sure to take care of your hygiene as during PMS, ‘things’ easily comes to haunt.

Suddenly another girl screamed and dropped to the assembly field twitching. Two down, two more to go.

Klang Valley, the 20something sultry girl had gone to college and gathered at a plaza with shining tables and chair made of aluminum. One girl told about how lucky she got to hook up with this anak datuk which had splurged her with joy and materials. How this anak datuk had networks of friends consisting of artists and KL young high-profilers. While the other had just dumped his boyfriend. He is a player. The 20something then just felt the thrill and odds of finding interesting people amongst the 2 million plus Klang Valley citizen. Mr.Suave and 20something petite girl meet up somewhere and had a fun chat. Sundown and both find things lots in common. Deeper into the night, Mr.Suave got his wild imagination come through. His palm got an ‘’unlimited-unrestricted all-access’’ through 20something topographies. When Mr.Suave reaches the rubber in a pack, 20something quickly took it away and throw it outside the window. Asked why; she naughtily replied PMS just ended a week ago. She twitched too, but not because she was haunted or hysteria. Just euphoria.

Perhaps, its all in the mind ?

The Sacrosanct

People say that if we cut ourselves and bleed, the colour of blood would be red that differs slightly in hues or viscosity. The proclamation of independence for the United States stressed about the equality amongst its citizen.

The Malay rule of thumb has been passed on for generations. Like the Korean rule of thumb or wisdom which says: If you don’t have a problem, then it means you don’t have a life. Or Chinese with its proverb form of ‘failure to plan three days ahead, means a plan to failure’, the Malays during the kerosene lamp days were whispered with the sacrosanct purpose of living of preserving an identifier that becomes neither an order or rule. It becomes a permanent marker that provides the background or scenery for the plain cloth which we were metaphorically symbolized the moment we escaped from mothers womb.

And when we had the mind to think on our own, this low-opacity scenery and background on the ‘thin piece of cloth’ shall give us the whimsical clue of whats next? Before the first line is drawn, the first brushstrokes or first splash of colours; the elders has taught us about the alif ba ta. In short for Agama (religion), Bangsa (ethnic ) and Tanah Air ( sovereignty ). Whispers that shall passed on for generations and shall live for generations to come.

Alif-ba-ta. It must not be misunderstood for some sort of alarmist/scare-tactic philosophy passed by the elders. It is just a reminder of responsibility, integrity and origins. It is not a form of segregation of how superior Malays should be apart from other races; a very ethereal underlining that discipline us. It is never mend for a bloodshed purpose to start any kind of war, instead, a stand to firmly held with humbleness. Its neither a concrete block that stomp and obstruct us, and made us look like a horribly undiplomatic conservative, it is a driving machine that shall thrust us forward with distinction.

Through Alif-ba-ta, we began our little effort to obtain sovereignty. We achieved them by 1957, although the mat sallehs’ still managed to proxies their men in the ministries. Now that we had our airlines, car-maker and multi-billion cooperation that manages our petroleum, paddy, palm oil ( except for timber, left for cronies ) we had become a functioning self-managed nation.

If you look at lands around KLCC, Jalan Ampang these hotspot landplots were imposed with heavy selling-taxes to avoid quick profit-taking. This is for sure to avoid foreign big guns sweeping these lands with their huge spare cash. You sure do not want to demoralize your kids in the future, when they asked “ Wow! The land surrounding KLCC looks hippy and lively, to whom do they belong to mom/dad? “, you would be reluctant to answer “ Oh! Its owned by the mat sallehs “, that shall demoralize your kids don’t you think? The Malaysian then only owned semi-fertile land plots on the outskirts that barely make money; we question; is this the kind of sovereignty we wanted? The Ta ( tanah air ) homeland definition has somewhat been fulfilled.

Some may question: “ Why would my kids be demoralized if hotspot lands around KL is being owned by Mat Sallehs? They should be inspired to compete with the mat sallehs? Forget soverignity, reality is harsh“ . Then lets just do away with sovereignty ( Ta ) and settle with semi-sovereignty perhaps.

The Ba ( race ) or bangsa is a little tragic. UMNO who claimed to helm the effort in protecting, maintaining and defending of this little race has somewhat lost its shine and cracks start appearing everywhere. The rock foundation build 60 years ago seems to be sandblasted overtime, at this point revealing the steel core which currently being painfully submerged by salty corrosive sea water. People at the top should felt shaky of certain magnitude and we pray that the saddest day this once strong streamlined backbone collapse; the dust would not fill the sky and blocked the sun for the rest of us who had put our belief. Trends have proven that urban areas had tendency to vote something that is non UMNO. Which brought me to two conclusion: UMNO is a ‘among-themselves’ selected-malay elitist club or people are just plain tired of race based party. The Malaysian Malaysia party tried to push the idea that racial based party are just irrelevant and non-applicable in modern day Malaysia.

With the non-confrontational sopan-santun Pak Lah and bleak 2010 transition, UMNO will find its path to speedy-collapse way sooner than expect. We make away with defending our Race ( Ba ) because we felt living without the race identifier makes Malaysia a better place. Alright then. We can expect this huge race be ill-represented with a single senator in the parliament.

So we moved on to Alif (religion) or agama as a last bastion. Perhaps the only identifier for the rest of us which had lost ba (bangsa/race) and ta (tanah air/soverignity) to freethinking, free-speech, free-protest, free and other variant of free-ism. UMNO by this time had collapsed. Money-making lands, Petronas, Proton and Perwaja belonged to Jack, Smith or Roberts.

Alif. PAS seems to handle and walk in the religiously straight path of the politicus. They won Kedah and retained Kelantan. Making them one of the longest non-BN party to rule. Absolutely to had a handsome amount experience in administering and governing. Should PAS feel really comfortable? What if the superb marriage between PAS and this one visionary Malaysian Malaysia party turned sour? After banishing UMNO into oblivion by strongly proving to the people that racial-based party is very irrelevant, should Malaysian Malaysia party turn its medusa snakes to sting and paralyze PAS? They whispers into the heart and mind of people that religion-based party is very and horribly irrelevant. Do you think PAS will politically assemble its followers inside a stadium and screamed to its crowds that Islam is ad-din. Islam is the way of life. The religion that covers every aspect of life which includes politics? Malaysian Malaysia party would quizzically skew that type of rhetoric of how many Malaysian Muslim were really ad-din in becoming a Muslim?

Alif, for God sake. Things would not crumble in a hasty manner as UMNO did. But, PAS would be pushed back further. To the northern states. Kelantan, Kedah, Terengganu and Perlis. Where the Malaysian Malaysia party would sweep up urban ‘freethinking’ areas like Penang, Ipoh, KL and JB. In these urban places, they circulate local newsletters reminding to the urban folks about ‘stepping into a conservative area is dangerous’, the Northern-belt states shall be potrayed as vile, dark and underdeveloped with unlawful citizen with lack of order. While the rest were left to Adil to juggle their words.

Nowadays, talks about freethinking, free speech, free this and that felt like honey through the throat. Its almost like being unchained. Felt like flying through airplane free skies in an Ironman suit.

With all alif, ba, ta is lost, this little nation of Malaysia shall become what we knew as ‘separate and rule’. The idealogy which the colonial British used to create boundaries within the freshly collapsed Ottoman Empire. The creation of Syria, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and Palestine. All used to be in a single broad compounding boundaries, shattered and broken into many states. The Colonial British found its easy to find cooperation through this method. The propaganda and illicit support/recognition which they gave in return for a exploitation. A sledge hammer that hit the once strong Ottoman into various bits and pieces each claiming to have authority onto its own hands . The fire of ‘regionalism’.

As Alif falls, then it’s the Malaysian Malaysia party one way straight to crash and abolish the sultanate. We shall live in a nation where nothing unique and individuals has no common identifiers of sovereign, race or religion because these are factors that become a bane to progress, then we shall float in absolute freedom that some of us always wanted. Without etiquettes because it seems too conservative to tag it along our life. That moment the only order that shall partially dictate us perhaps the rule of law set by the government.

Alif Ba Ta. It meant a lot for us. Whether we had it strong in our heart, or just a flicker of wind resisting candle lit, we shall never forget that it’s the sacrosanct. No matter how many times we clean-slated and redefine life or how many times we had travelled to the corner or earth, alif-ba-ta.

The Pandora Agent

It’s your gateway price to Buenos Aires, it’s the stone touch that might heal cancer and Alzheimer's, it’s a guilt that left you option less. These people tickled the right spot with the right pressure, set the right temperature and do the dirty talking. It definitely shoved you to the tight spot: irresistibility.

It an SMS which you do not receive by chance on casual Sunday morning. My mobile buzzed for reason, but this time it brought surprise metaphorically speaking like pelican dropping through the chimney a bundle of cloth which contains a cute little baby. It sounded not verbatim like this “ SIM kad anda me-manangi RM10.000 me’lalui peraduan Petronas Malaysia. Untuk maklumat selajutnya sila hubungi 01X-XXX-XXXX “

Wow! Don’t mind about the crooked bahasa and decimal points. I’ve won RM10,000! Who would bring such joy on moody and slow Sunday morning filled with boring chores and round home maintenance job when this SMS came knocking on phone inbox with this kind of news! I would surely be proud and actively loving on Monday laughing my way to the bank! Collecting my reward!

Nothing sarcastic against odds of your SIM winning an out-of-nowhere lucky draw. In times millionaires popped out of nowhere and economy seems to slump where people are wary to purchase stuff; would you want to be the one who walked up the Volkswagen showroom and purchase a spicy red Golf GTi for yourself and a Passat for your parents, plus a Beetle of honey yellow flavor for your Ashley Tisdale wannabe little girly sister? The salesperson would be walking while leaking pee coming out soaking the socks imagining the commission that would be shoved into their a..? We are inspired by lucky stories with their out of world way of getting to fortunes, continuously dilating the flimsy possibility of ‘being rich out of thin air of luck’ into larger portions far away from realistically it deserves.

Yes, we do not buy what people say in advert stuck on an electric post or public phone post. There must be someone that we approached or approach us. They were the one which sweet talked, light the aroma candle, pour the honey, sprayed whipped cream and made situation seems like once in a blue moon. The con-men a.k.a the confidence men ( in some situation, women too ) . They were so confident that most people fell for what they said. They are confident because they seem to exploit things that we likely to falter. In times when determination runs to the last bit. They come like an ‘angel’ from the sky and provide help of different kind that sometimes defy convention. Yet, we go for it, as we only had hope left.

For instance, the stories of someone whom had a dying family member, or they themselves being diagnosed with a life threatening disease. I’m sure most of you have heart about ‘healing magic stones’, which is being sold with a large sum of money, that could cure chronic diseases which scientist themselves were struggling to de-cryptify the curing strain. Do some simple preparatory process such as soaking the stone with lime water, drink the water, repeat ever night before sleep and walla! You’re set to be as prime candidate of Amazing Race season 12! The con-men approached and exploit our grieve. Our fear of death. Our concern over health.

The most elusive and subtle exploitation over our healthcare deep concern can be seen in formula powder milk. It’s the kids whom drink that milk. The scientific jargon they used that sound illicitly intelligent. Exclude DHA and AHA, the other form of words which twists our tongue, the likes of fortidefenda, IQboostra and Growth-crapsputnik . All seems to be like an afterthought of the marketing department. Which perhaps has no hands in the development of the formula itself, but forced these jargon into the throat of new dad’s and mom’s. It’s the breast milk which is proven helpful and beneficial. But the added advantage of these additional eclectic formulas shall make tots as wickedly creative as Andy Warhol or as annoyingly speculative as George Soros, metaphorically acted by cute little kids on the adverts. All exploited out of parents concern over children health priority.

Stories of scratch & win and their multiple sub-species that vary in modus operadi are exposed in almost all major newspaper nearly each day. But the feeling of greed, sometimes just outspoken rationality and logic. Like a devil that stood on the left shoulder whispering words of hope which lighten the fire-of-confidence. Next, which made us scratch those cards and really believe they would be giving that materials of high-value. The con-men today seem to attend drama school of London or Cymru. They work in groups extending to different locations. They look at our scratched piece of card and utter in pre-acted speechless shock-ness “ Wow! Anda adalah benar-benar pemenang bertuah kita hati ini! “ ( Wow! You really have won big! )

“ Tapi… saya perlu call boss saya dahulu… Sebab dalam ramai orang menggores, inilah kali pertama puan/tuan memenangi hadiah sebegini rupa “ ( I had to call my boss first to confirm, as you’re the first to win such a big prize amongst many scratchers!!! )

The agent may call up his/her boss with a chirpy reaction due to possible amount of money that they might scam you ehem…. Basically, they’re chirpy because you earned a bombastic prize which he himself as an ‘agent’ never seems to witness such a winning. The agent then came back and asked you to wait while the boss is on the way to verify your magnanimous lucky win. Or the agent might be generous enough to take you to their some ‘makeshift’ offices which they can scramble off once they cheated enough make-believe winners. And the rabbit hole goes deeper from there on.

The agents may suck-dry on victims, which explains why rabbit hole of Alice in wonderland keeps spiraling deeper. The victim thought there was more money means more chances. Instead, these scammers mean more seafood meal to devour as they gather someday someplace.

Some scam even involves high-times and current affair which really happens around the world. For instance, the Iraq war in 2003. Years later, your e-mail account would be luckily dropped by a message by someone, of high ranking officer claiming that Saddam Hussein has a huge sum of money inside some Swiss bank undetected/not-confisticated by the US/CIA/FBI/Interpol etc. etc..He claimed to be high-ranker of the Saddam regime. The officer pleaded for your help in depositing a certain amount of money in order to facilitate the ‘transfer’ of that money. He agreed to do all the paperwork necessitated for the transfer. The officer promised that you will receive your share of the ‘Saddam Hussein’ secret savings. It just made you wonder that how incredibly corrupt Saddam officers could be. Agent just had poked the greed out of its victim.

Agents not only tried to trigger all those seven deadly sins. There are agents which ponder to good values instilled within us since pre-school. Values like sympathy, compassion and patience. In Japan where watermelons were considered an expensive fruit, a man would insert broken watermelon inside his/her bag. Later, they would wander around a busy spot where people walked everywhere while chatting about business deals on DoCoMo’s ( Imagine Bukit Bintang, Jalan Sultan Ismail junction ). The scammer would approach a mark and drop those broken watermelons inside the bag; acted it out as it was the busy DoCoMo chatters fault of being careless or reckless. Hence, when the bag is open to expose those broken watermelons, the victim would feel guilty and paying sums of money as for ex gratia. The scammer would be harrah-ing its way to the nearest seafood store for a steamboat treat as the original broken watermelon were of a cheap and low-quality kind.

Our celebrity scammer ( I mentioned celebrity as they make news headlines ) would be the infamous Taipings’ Pak Man Telo or Osman Hamzah. Active in the 1970’s, he pioneered a scheme under a company ( or famously known as Labu Peram ), in which lets people to invest a certain amount of money which guaranteed return in such a short term. Indeed, those who invested RM2000 would get RM4000 next month. Which bank, financial institution or investment arm would grant that kind of interest? They deposited RM8k and really got RM16k on the next month. Trying to gain more and gaining momentum, the RM16k were re-invested when it mysteriously went missing instead of doubling. The Labu Peram scheme was busted in 1989 and he is captured in 1991. He was expelled to Terengganu since then.

In the end of the day, we helplessly fell into the same trap overtime. We cannot blame on stories circulated around us which tells about a commoner whom reach millionaire status out of osmosis, we might get lucky sometimes. But lucky will never find its way through beating the odds of becoming a millionaire through hard work, perseverance and determination. After all decision is made on intelligence and information, we can only seem to hope for the best. Since, it was hope that did not escape from the Pandora urn. The Greek mythology tells us disease, jealousy, envy and all evil came out of the urn and inflict all men. Zeus timely closes that urn and left hope under the lid.

The Frail Upperhand

The recent government announcement to precede with the reduction of bumiputras scholarship quotas is an impressive and bold move. It reflects government, particularly ruling party commitment towards bangsa Malaysia and multiracial spirit, not forgetting, same field competition. Bravo.

Some may speculate UMNO had a hideous ploy to punish Malays for voting the PR. Well, this must be a sore loser’s revenge when bumiputra terms covers the indigenous Ibanese, Melanaus, Kelabits and others which resides here earlier and longer than any of us. Perhaps, the most important and basic thing is, the JPA ( equivalent to Public Service Department ) scholarship should be never looked as a racial matters. In the spirit to forge the ‘bangsa malaysia’, there should never be this kind of quotas imposed. It is time to consider abolishing the race query inside the JPA forms and instead SPM grades shall be placed at first and foremost pages of the request form. This to make it clear, the highest numbers of A’s shall receive the merit; like one of the outspoken short-tempered UMNO bald-headed warrior said “ …yang dapat 13A, kita pejam mata bagi biasiswa”. It must be a pleasant view to see the outspoken of UMNOs to make such a statement. A calming breeze that runs through the veins and cavity of a worried heart.

Speculation based on racial stance also arises when Peraks’ Pasir Salak MP Datuk Tajuddin Abdul Rahman rises from his seat and stirred a turbulence in the parliament hall about his disagreement towards the rearranged JPA quotas. Crises and taunts are bouncing off everywhere. He became absolutely mad till he had furiously expressed his disagreement with whatsoever compromising changes made at the cost of Malay rights. He even challenged anyone who refuted his statement to leave the parliament, so he can prove himself right with four eyed meeting at the lobby at instance. He is fighting two evidently different sides when he also find utterly disgusting to raise his hands in approval for suggestions made by his party. He sure felt disgruntled to be in UMNO, as its fundamental role to protect and preserve the rights of Malay. A risky proposition for Datuk Tajuddin as BN who lauded ‘democracy’, would impose disciplinary action to any members whom decided against any of their proposals. E.g, the 2 Gerakan MP’s regarding PORR. A glimpse of revelation, reveal a crack of UMNO battered first line barrier. Pasir sudah menyalak!

The time might come, to actually loosen perks enjoyed by bumiputras. Considering that, we are not hit exactly on the Achilles’ heel. Yes, education offers social mobility, every Asian (not only Malaysian), emphasize them first and fore mostly. 55/100 is still an upper hand figure, although quite feeble. There are still options. There is still MARA to lend money and opening up chances on quality education, thus producing credible, educated, culture-rich Malays. There are nine sultans offering scholarship and their offerings can be found on newspapers, if not found, perhaps it has been snatched by ‘insiders’, I guess. There are GLC’s like TNB, TM, Petronas etc. etc. It is time for the Malays to impress different and various scholarship-giving bodies or companies. The possibilities of missing JPA blessings is a big loss, due to the ballooning and squeezing, yet the getting accustomed is rather more important now. Even, the dinosaurus extinct due to their inability to get accustomed with the harsh cold weather due to some hypothical huge meteor impact on earth.

Also, it is time to consider that oversea education is not that glamour anymore. Overtime, we had the ability to match those of theirs. We shall offer competency. And should we instill trust in local education syllabi. Our universities, some established as early as pre-independence days are probably capable to producing people with knowledge par with oversea universities? We can afford multi-million lab too, we can brain-tap best lecturers, 100acre building complexes… only the weather is a bit hot here. The number of straight-A’s is increasing; would the oversea accommodate us most of the time? If they did go, to which government did they pay their income tax as they work? Ironically, the sky is the limit when you are successful. That’s a promise. Government may had a futile attempt in rewriting the books.

Of course, speculation must be filtered many times before we believe. But there is one thing which we often heard in people’s mouth. A simple short thought and we knew it’s a fact from the start. When this kind bargaining UMNO, it’s a clear sign that UMNO is weak.

Let’s take a break on the JPA issue for a minute.

Imagine yourself walking through a Sony boutique. Sony is relatively famous for their fabulous end consumer electronics. Their presence in the digital related world is everywhere. Their arm reaches from into the niche market of thin profile digital cameras to professional studio-grade visual device. From mobile MP3 players and surround audio speakers. From funky and snazzy mobile phones, to glossy LCD panel that made TV watching experience a fantastic visual feast sensation. Never forgetting, the PS3, that plays Blu-Ray till you can brag to your friends that you were amongst the first in the neighbourhood to acquire the Blu-Ray technology which is second to none, even if a dozen of DVD9 disc fused together in somekind of Jimmy Neutron particle accelerator gun rays.

We pay extra for Sony’s. We do pay them without hassle or regret. Because it’s a Sony! And this brand comes with premium.

What If Sony cannot produce great products? They are unable to create snazzy mobile phones? High capacity DVD’s? Envy-triggering slim digital cameras? Advance LCD/Plasmas? Worst, other competitors like Panasonic, Philips and Samsung have overtaken them in terms of research and innovation? What if Sony is not worth competing with those top brass digital device players? . Magazine would not even compare Sony LCD with, say, Samsung LCD’s, because its like comparing a Mitsubishi SpaceBox a.k.a Proton Juara with Porsche Cayenne Turbo. Sony last ditch before completely throwing the towel would be competing through price front. Their device can be purchased at bargain price. You’ll get their LCD for hundred ringgit less due to backward technology they applied. 

The way I put this way, shall be inappropriate yet it the position of UMNO itself which is weak. Not only the Achilles’ heel is broken, splintered and splattered, but also tendons, joints and areas related. All we see here is not irrelevancy of the party which is just the scenery, but a leadership crisis. The non-confrontational style of current leader which some quarters regards as sopan-santun and budi bahasa has been practiced in wrong places and has taken its toll on us. The transition of power dragging on for further 2 years, while present leaders just looks on watching pending damaging decisions and understanding being forged. Maybe Ku Li, Muhyiddin Yassin or Rais Yatim should forget visions of being a PM due to burden of todays’ terrible decision may linger till their estimated premiership period. The future bapa pembangunan insan, who insanely drops quotas and talks about Tun Mahathir paradigm shift is nothing more than possible.

Maybe this time around, it has been more difficult/incorrect and sinful to defend rights and showing love towards one race in such manners. Standing up in parliament and speaking up. They are regarded as Nazi-esque , racist, intolerant, selfish, noise-maker and monkey. Its been a long, lonely and painful quest for Datuk Tajudin, he is like a lone soldier which platoon had diverted their path avoiding enemies, yet, this one acts like a nut to defend the receding control border. Yes, in the war, he is the frontline. It reminds me of a Malay proverb (in times where all things Malay seems degrading and conservative, felt like telling this though) “ kalau hidup tidak berbudi, umpama pokok tidak berbuah “ ( living without serving, would be similar to trees without fruits)

Who can expect something than has been given away today shall be taken back tomorrow?. We are infact being stripped away from the previledges which we had. Previledges that were never been in question or doubted before. Never questioned/rarely objected because of our strenght and resilience towards dissident urges and irrational bargaining. The party was an agent of change that clearly explain word-by-word that quotas were something to helping the weak. To help people remain calm. The key of it all, the party was ( used to be ) solid and strong till those whom challenge shall look like a fool standing on a chair during a major examination where everyone remained sit and quiet. But, today, under the pretext of equality, human rights, open-competition, similarities and whatsoever; the quotas seems like a heideous, wrong, revolting ,monstrous; while the basic fundamental, is to help the weak majority. Those who wished to abolish it seems more heroically better than right, while those defending it will sound more terribly worst than wrong. When UMNO is weak, the bargaining is on. 

We are looking at UMNO opening up its bargaining counter. They have lost the ‘political premium’ which nobody dared to question last time. It is time to seek survival and relevancy in the stormy political arena, and UMNO had to resort in terms of bargain. A losing bargain to remain in the game. Who are being bargained/compromise/traded off? It’s the people who thought UMNO were all this while is seriously fighting for Malays. 

The Ego Strafe

“I’m Sorry”. This innocent word we were taught to say as early as pre-school is costing more these days.

Some may delve that “sorry” is a word used by someone that is powerless, weak or had no option. For instance, when someone met a sultan in all situation, then you will see them profusely asking for forgiveness. Even, at the very beginning of sentence they would start off with: “Ampun, beribu beribu ampun “ ( Apologize me, a thousand apology ). I did not have any hypnosis power to read into these people mind whether they are seeking apology because they had disobeyed royal protocols laid by the istana or broken any rules of religion or morals proclaimed by the God.

Through Islam perspective, forgiveness should be sought from Allah S.W.T. As we were thought that all mercy and forgiveness belongs to Him. As one of ninety-nine gracious names of Allah goes by Al-Ghaffar which in Arabic means the Ever Forgiving. The daily affair of our life is bounded by the rules fundamentals laid out by the Quran. A holy scripture that is being brought down to Prophet Muhammad for over the period of twenty two over years (22 years, 2months, 22days precisely). Being a wrongdoer means break any of these rules. Naturally, when you broke any rules, it made you viable and justified for punishment. When we say ‘sorry’, we are seeking to nullify these rules, In other sense, we seeking to brush aside the ruling, by promising that we won’t repeat again. So only God has the right to give the green light whether it is possible to brush aside, get exempted from the ruling. For all that, it shall remain the fair judgement to stipulate based on situation and condition that we faced. Wa’ullahualam.

While reminding myself and not being holier than thou, the above mentioned statement does not mean we should hinder ourselves from saying sorry amongst our friends, family or others and leave it to His Most Gracious Allah to judge. There are some portion in the teaching that regulates forgiveness amongst ourselves through conscience responsibility, rationality and morality. Although forgiveness is the absolute prerogative of His Most Gracious Allah.

Once my ustazah reminded that we should sought forgiveness from the victims of our wrongdoings while it is still possible to see them face to face. Failure to do so means that we had to bore the brunt of looking for them during the ‘final assembly’ day. A day which Allah rises those all of his creations from the dead and assemble them for ‘judgement’. She reinstated: “ Bukannya kecil padang mahsyar tu…”. Seeking a single person amongst the crowd of six billion people is no funny business. Even, we have trouble finding a missing kid in Malaysia 22million citizen alone with a synchronized effort.

Strangely, the mechanics of Karma at least never find its way here. As a young boy ( until now ), I am always reminded by wisdom rich old kampong folks and serban donning ustaz about the positions of those affected by our wrongdoings. “ Doa orang teraniaya itu sentiasa dimakbulkan Allah S.W.T “ ( The prayer of those suffering/affected/incapacitate by our wrongdoings shall be granted by His Most Gracious Allah ). From my interpretation, for instance, sorry it has to be politically related; If Anwar Ibrahim really finds himself being victim of a highly raunchiest slender during the 1998 allegation of sodomy, then, he may pray for Tun Mahathir hairs to falls off or his gums recede till he look ridiculous. But this kind of ‘what goes around comes around’ thing are open to such interpretation which made everyone talks like Madam Zorra.

If tomorrow, Tun Mahathir falls from a horse, people may interpret it as an omen which God responded to Anwars’ prayer. Even, last year Tun Mahathir admission into IJN can be interpreted as answered Anwars’ prayer. Yet, looking into different dimension, Tun Mahathir remaining fit, vocal and mentally sharp in his 80’s may be seen as Anwar mercy of not praying for his former boss for shameful downfall. Or indeed, Anwar has prayed and the omen is beginning to take its shape before the house of cards crumbles. Finally, Anwar might had really done those nasty stuff?. In short, yes, this kind of talk really branches out into various interpretations. I believe it has triggered the Cluedo inside your mind too.

Saying ‘sorry’ too many times also discredits us. Like a merit system on individual trustworthiness, the more you say sorry, it means you are prone to mistakes. And each time when you wanted to give a suggestions or opinion, you may be back-referenced to the amount of ‘sorries’ that you have pledged. Does saying sorry also means that we are incapable?. Perhaps, earlier on when it is devised that ‘sorry’ might be said by those who are weak is making sense. Due to social structure, wealth, popularity and influence, someone may be asking for apology and back-out after seeing to bleak outcome. Sorry may be for the losers? Maybe or perhaps?

Would sorry be the word for those who are weak and without option?

Some may assume saying sorry as a kind of drag. Saying sorry means the victim whom we seek forgiveness has some sort of bargain power, or at least criticize us. In the highly competitive world nowadays, everybody wanted to reach the zenith of success as quickly as possible without a long bereavement. We stumbled upon motivational mottos like “Never say no! Action is power!”, indeed, its good for us to have all these sorts of firm and assertive living mottos, yet, the zealot nature of some human being made them act like a racing horse on Super Sundays lottery strike. Eyes covered by a piece of rubbery leather so that it would not look elsewhere. Instead going forth as quickly as possible, completing the circuit no matter how crooked it may be. No matter how many shoulders and legs we may trip. Hell, it may become a stampede. Never says sorry, because it may cause a drag.

Ironically, life science mechanics mimics the actual physics. When we push something forth, friction will appear. In million of matters needed to be settled, saying sorry means giving the victim a bargain. It means time to listen to their frustration and keeping our heads low. Dragging costs time. Time means money. Courtesy should be sidelined. Sorry may be history.

In this very competitive world too, where citizens have become more aware of their rights, a simple sorry may be never enough. Malaysia, day by day is becoming more of a law/legal-concerned society. You called someone a katak, they would saman malu (defamation suit) you. And because you called someone a katak in front of a third party, the one you call katak may sue you for the lack of sleep he get due to the utter shame. Hell, you might end up paying for his wages which appeared as the katak is unable to go work because the employer thinks that the same way too. Worst, you end up paying his lawyer fee. The accumulated money resulted handsome slap of money on the face to shut the katak out. I always have a thought of having a pre-law girlfriend so that in the future, if everything goes smoothly, she may back me up when Malaysian becomes overtly assertive law-abiding society. Come to think again, if she turned the table around; can be real painful eh…?

In this competitive world, where most of the thing must be done in textbook way, people with professional practices like doctors, architects, accountants and lawyers are susceptible to being sued due to malpractice. Wrist being injected in wrong manner, and causes gangrene which leads to amputation. Buildings constructed with sub-standard low quality material collapse and injure people. I don’t really know how the other two can negatively affect the life of people they serve, yet, this all means a simple sorry has no value since people life has been deeply affected.

In my humble opinion, Sorry is a significant word, which usage has been limited due to the complexity of our rationality and judgment. Sorry can be looked through different lights. It means courtesy. It can also mean shame. Sorry can be a menacing word which keeps reminding us. Like: “better safe than sorry”

The Gray Matter

Assume me as an Anwar avid supporter. Anwar Ibrahim. He used to be head of ABIM.An Islamic youth movement. A man who aspires the young and took charge of reformation against old and dusty establishment corroded with abuse and nepotism. He looks promising.

Lets brush aside the allegation which this 61 year old politician is involved in sodomy with a 23-year old male university student. This is just the same technique to ploy his downfall exactly 10years ago. Don’t you happen to hear that a murderer never uses the same weapon which failed to ‘kill’ its target in its previous attempt. Let alone, leave this bickering to the others to analyze and speculate. Go ahead conduct some sophisticated fabrication DNA test or tap on some madam Zorra advice regarding Anwar facial acupuncture hotspot to determine his wrongdoings of sodomy is true or lies. Never trust them, because only God knows besides Anwar.

He is one inch closer from being the fifth prime minister. Yet, his boss have retrenched him. That happened ten years ago. With Rahim Noor held responsible, I further had trust in Anwar. He has enshrined a vision for better Malaysia, an Islamic and non secular Malaysia. He had made UMNO looked less secular. He is nationalistic too. He justified the usage of Bahasa Baku. The exact pronouncation disregarding any regional slang. Now I’m saying ‘saya’ instead of KL tongue ‘sayer’. Just that he did not accomplished it. I’ am enthralled by his vision, fortifies my support towards him.

Anwar is a standing tall beacon of light, standing near a hill, beside a ravaging sea. His rock solid foundation is made of pure enthuastic supporters. His supporters once were high intellect people which past even rooted from UMNO. The party which they seek to relinquish on the basis of reformation, change and restoration of justice. Names like Dr. Chandra Mudzaffar and Ezam Mohammad Noor used to stood beside Anwar and his tireless political quest to reform Malaysia. I call them heroes and the incredible think-tank of the party. Capable of denouncing Tun Mahathir authority during the height of reformasi. The taunt, the cries and shouting. Now, they have changed side. They never really understood the struggle of PKR perhaps. Should I call them coward of giving up too early? Nah! Even UMNO has their defectors.

Yet, Anwar still never lose his shine. He insist he could attract more current ruling Parlimentary members to join him, I mean, his side. He never let departure of Ezam Mohammad Noor from neutral to the opponent side stall his quest. By the final weeks of June, there were talks that four BN Mp’s were changing sides. Who is Ezam? Just a political apparatus to be brought around town making noises about how dissatisfied with his former party and tens-of-thousand strong youth division he led. Anwar mentioned that the recent allegation of sodomy has affected this plan. Like an interrupted gear shift when the clutch is not fully pressed. Its okay. I buy his words and willing to wait and support him avidly.

To spruce things up, this leader has made some sort of guarantee to become a PM by 16th of September. Coinciding with Hari Malaysia. Even the old days oracles and fortune teller has been very generally ‘playing safe’ in predicting events and occurrences that would come in their life: eg. “Between the fifth and sixth full moon of the year”, “ days after the full tide”. Anwar is a very highly-disciplined and business minded person. 16th September is the set date. Only he did not mention about the exact time. On 17th September, expect a euphoria filled Malaysian as they expect cheaper fuel. I’m buying his words, and remained his avid supporter.

Another reason why I call Anwar is a beacon, is because his promise of lowering the fuel price as soon as he becomes a PM. Surely, we, rakyat lately has lost our sight and in need of light from this beacon. Our sight has become blurred, and recent price hike has made our steps becomes slower and sloppier. The only thing is, the standing still on solid foundation beacon has not yet been installed by high beam, fog penetrating light bulb. The government are very rhetoric in teaching us to be less subsidy reliant. It is not issue to being subsidy free. This is about the oil reserves which we had in our backyard, our property, our rights and our khazanah. Who deserves them any better than us! The rakyat of Malaysia. Yes! Lower the price of fuel because its our lifeline. A light which Anwar would lay upon our path, is cheaper petrol and diesel. A post-election manifesto since election were held when he is still under restriction or pantang politik . Do not assume its gimmick or populist affair. It has to be taken seriously. because a single cent of fuel hike affects the rakyat, especially the poor and disadvantaged. Now we see a sudden rise of 78cents, would we just stand there and do nothing?

Cheaper fuel means cheaper breakfast when I go to college. Cheaper taxi rate as I travel to college. Cheaper stationeries and materials needed for my studies. GPMS suggested a student card which local IPTs can enjoy student rate everywhere you go. Right now, I do not see a single fire. Do you think the leaders knew how local students felt? No. Their son and daughters are in universities abroad where flights to homeland are worth a whole semester of tuition fees here. I do not mind leaving the ‘wanting-cheap-mentality’, if my family only breadwinner has increased wage. But look. We are getting poorer instead of richer. We are having government that asks us to step back instead of moving fourth. Its is not that we are having famine here, but its irritating when prices goes up and the value of current wages keeps decreasing. Anwar casts ray of light. On top of projection of becoming PM by 16th September, he made another promise of reducing fuel price. I bought his word and remained an avid supporter.

His other mission is to dismantle laws regarding detaining without questioning. Nations who lauded justice and freedom resorted to detaining of civilian without questioning. Ironically, this very nation also provides backing up and political hospitality to Anwar. Ever heard of that state? In the far far west? Yes! This state has a little brother near East Asia. They call this other state ‘little sheriff’. This little sheriff strongly advocates preemptive strike. Plans of sending rockets to suspected targets on nations outside its geopolitical border without inspecting or questioning. That is seriously not adil.

Lets see how this promising Anwar handle the fragile multiracial harmony in Malaysia. Lets see how he exercise his power when he heard convincing whispers in the air that someone is plotting something, but he has no prove to neither detain nor stop them. If this all never happens in the span of next 2years, yet, I still buy what promising Anwar says, avidly supporting him. Who am I?

I won’t support the current government either. They are corroded with power abuse and nepotism. They are the ones who made the fuel rise 78cent giving spasm of stroke-like shock to rakyat like me. They were the party which world paradoxes with rakyat. They live in denial. Their state divisions are always holding meeting and making news headlines so common and boring like: Kesemua bahagian sebulat suara menyokong Pak Lah. ( All division in unison pledged their support to Pak Lah ). Duh. Come down to a kedai kopi, then you look how reality plays its role.

Then, rakyat should immense themselves into a much liberal political realm of being the non-alligned. The gray matter of politics. We neither advocate, nor support to any party. No allegiance towards any collective bodies. When someone asks you: “ Which party are you supporting “, just simply answer “ Undi itu rahsia “

The Lollipop Gloss

There is nothing more mainstream-looking nowadays other than the reflective and translucent look.

It all probably started with the Motorola donning their mobile phone device with highly reflective mirror cum screen. When any there is incoming calls or pending SMS comes, these flat area acts as normal 65k colour LCD displaying phone numbers and names of caller.When the device is in its standby mode, the piece if display surface turns into a highly reflective ala handheld vanity mirror. Wau! Obviously, there is nothing amusing or spectacular about it, since, I find it handy to monitor facial petrol levels or any new pimple breakouts. duh.

The trend also lingers to other gadgetry where LCD screen played a pivotal role. Digital cameras for instance. Some of those point and shoot happy-go-lucky thin profile cameras even spot some of those highly-reflective LCD’s. Someday, it would take over those 22-inchers LCD screen for computers. Placed in avant-garde hair saloons to entice their visitors with visual feast rather than backdated fashion magazines during long perm sessions.

Highly reflective or reflection trends spanned beyond the manicure, pedicure realm. Operating systems are amongst those who resort to reflective look to enhance user experience. Apple for instance, starting with their Mac OSX Leopard released in October 2007 begun to spot reflective dock. In which any application windows that hovers above the dock shall be reflected by the dock. Like sunrise reflected by waters along the seaside. Then the concept of ‘reflection’ is further applied in other software such as the infamous iTunes and its propertiary cover flow. The album covers can be seen animatedly moving left to right according to our command, and along the black background, there would be shadows of the album reflected on the dark background. Like a collection of album art hovering on top of thick slimy glossy black liquid. More shockingly, the OSX Server version also features the reflective and translucent rich interface which puts some graphic-glamourina into the business software.

The Microsoft camp which proudly retains their ‘serious and cooperate software’ image now started to have second thoughts on reflective interfaces and icons. You would have slightly a bit of idea how Windows interface were designed. Look at the flop and bug ridden Windows ME which buttons and icons were rather flat-out,2D, inanimate compared to Mac OSX’s Aqua interface and Carbon graphic engine . Luckily, by now, the Microsoft did move away from serious and cooperate look to a more eye-candy Vista interface. The Windows Mobile6 also started to tweak its graphic codes to enable animated, translucent and reflective rich interface in a palm of hands. The Mobile6 drastically differs from Mobile5. Like a whole new system altogether except for the ‘Start’ button on the top left. What made Mobile6 made this kind of paradigm jump? The iPhone interface looks young and vibrant. We all have to admit that though.

Material wise, I saw a Samsung printer clad in highly reflective glossy plastic sometime ago. It was really suave and neat design. With its blue LED blinking, the matching is rather casual and at first glance, the printer is likely to be assumed as a mini beer fridge than a set of rolling, squirting and sliding mechanism in a mass-produced plastic casing. I was impressed. Samsung, the Korean electronics giant would be the flagpole holder in glossy plastic device. Admittedly, I’m not a big fan of Samsung which had less Zen compared to its Japanese counterparts in terms of mobile phone design. But, Samsung did throw a stone to create a ripple effect on a lake. The Samsung LCD’s had utilized the reflective and glossy look for one of their LCD frame series. I think it became a quick hit for LCD hunters. Rather than ordinary black and textured light-absorbing black or grey plastics, Samsung showed the possibilities of using glossy plastics in variant of black and white for its LCD, plasma frames. It was just simply brilliant. I visited one of the electrical appliances shops and quickly took a hold on those shining 42-inchers. Ahh! A popcorn, Forrest Gump Blu-Ray, a fun-loving girlfriend and one of these LCD would complete me – my mind drifted away.

Other electronic giant which seems to follow suit in reflective design would be HP. This American electronics giant had quick hit products like the Pavilion DV laptops which upper casings were made of glossy, reflective plastics with intricate lines and graphic motives. Pop one of those at the college library, and the material would brilliantly ‘bend’ lights at its curves as if it’s a powerful light sucking black hole. Although its not reflective enough to be able to watch any pimple breakout on the face, still the surface finishing had a certain class of personalization which differentiate it from other seriously boring ThinkPad-esque laptop.

Graphic wise especially printed one also sees the sudden interest in reflective and translucent features. Typography in website or printed-ads now is having shadows on its own, as if those letters sits on a ceramic floor. Browse the dailies and you would probably stumbled upon a few advertisements like slimming therapy which models flaunt their body on top of its reflective shadows. Factories which had obtained their ISO’s made their certificate floating with its exact twin reflected directly underneath it without any skew or distortion. Companies selling their products with the physical superimposed in mentioned above manner. Its everywhere now!

It all boils down to production technology which allowed more vibrant colours and smaller droplets of ink to be printed. Allowing effects of transparency, translucency, opacity, and gradient possibly appeared more robust and realistically. Material research and production made highly reflective LCD a trendsetting and giving a multirole for this already important element of electronic devices. Giving it a personal touch. Operating systems were not just cranking up codes 1000 lines long to create translucent, glossy and beautiful eye-candy windows, but the advancement of colour display from 16-bit to 32-bit to 64 and beyond dilates the possibilities of creativity. From the days of our fathers ATM screens were mere black and green Tron-like display, now, we are seeing more colourful ATM screens with animations and stuff. What next?