Tahniah BN

Nampaknya berjaya juga BN merampas Perak dari Pakatan Rakyat. PM dengan selambanya menyuruh Pakatan menerima keputusan Sultan sama seperti BN menerima keptusan rakyat dalam pilihanraya lepas. Saya ingat rakyat mahu Pakatan memerintah, jadi bila pulak yang BN menerima keputusan pilihanraya.

Walaupun demikian, saya berpendapat kita tidak perlu tersangat risau. Tentunya apa yang ditakdirkan oleh Allah ada hikmahnya. Betul, kita tidak boleh menerima semuanya tanpa menjelaskan pendirian kita. Tetapi kita perlu lihat jangka panjang. Kalau kita sanggup hidup bawah pentadbiran BN selama 50 tahun apakah kita tidak boleh menunggu 3 atau 4 tahun lagi?

Pakatan telah membuktikan dalam masa 10 bulan, tanpa sebarang pengalaman memerintah dan Pakatan yang dipaksa pada mulanya, mereka telah menjalankan kerja dengan baik. Tidak mungkin BN dapat membuat dengan lebih baik.

Cuba kita lihat pula apa kesilapan yang telah Pakatan buat. Pertama, Anwar merancang dan menghebohkan untuk merampas kuasa dengan cara yang serupa dengan apa yang dibuat oleh BN. Mungkin ada justifikasi seperti penipuan dalam pilihanraya dan sebagainya tetapi ia tetap menidakkan keputusan pilihanraya yang telah dipersetujui bersama. Syukur, ini tidak berlaku. Kalau berlaku, adakah Pakatan mahu rakyat menerima tindakannya sama seperti BN mahu rakyat menerima tindakan mereka sekarang?

Kedua, tindakan BN di Perak akan membuat lebih ramai rakyat yang berfikir untuk menyokong Pakatan. Saya cukup yakin Pakatan akan jadi lebih kuat dimasa akan datang, bukan saja di Perak malah seluruh negara. Yang penting kita mesti menambah bilangan rakyat yang berfikir.

Ketiga, ia akan memberi peluang kepada Pakatan untuk memikirkan betapa pentingnya mereka membuat keputusan dengan mengambil kira komposisi ras dinegara ini.

Cuma satu yang saya agak terkilan. Saya rasa kewibawaan Sultan Perak akan agak terjejas akibat episod ini. Baginda satu-satunya Sultan yang mempunyai imej "berpelajaran" terpaksa membuat keputusan yang boleh dipertikaikan ramai.

Tahniah Pakatan dan Tahniah Rakyat.

Perak Government in limbo

So many things happened in the last few days in Perak. Today, the MB Dato' Seri Nizar called upon the Sultan to dissolve the State Assembly but the DPM claimed BN has got majority control of the state and wants to form the next government.

A lot have been written about this episode so I would not like to add my views which will be full of anger. But to those involved, I wonder how they can even sleep at night and face the people. How can their family face the public?

No wonder I left politics after just two years. To think that I was moving quickly up the political ladder then.

However, I remembered Kelantan, under TG Nik Aziz, had a government with only one seat majority for most of the last term and the government was stable. It shows what the fear of God does to people.

p/s: I'm praying that that the Sultan of Perak in all his wisdom will consent to the dissolution of the Assembly, but maybe I'm asking for too much.

I'm Back!!

That was a long absence, more than 2 months in fact. On several occasions I tried to write something but I always found excuses not to. A lot have happened in the last 2 months, most notably my 41 days in Makkah and Medinah. Too many events to even think about. Though I took my notebook with me and managed to take a lot of notes I still have not managed to organise any meaningful write up of my experience. I wonder if I can even do it ultimately.

This post is just to tell every one that I'm still around. Hopefully I'll get down to putting some of my experience in writing soon.

By the way, kepada semua yang telah sudi mendoakan kemudahan buat saya dan isteri semasa kami mengerjakan ibabat haji kami mengucapkan berbanyak terima kasih. Hanya Allah yang dapat membalas jasa kalian.

Lambaian Kaabah

InsyaAllah, pada 28hb November ini saya dan isteri akan berangkat menunaikan fardhu haji yang pertama. Walaupun telah dua kali dapat menunaikan umrah, kami tetap merasa gementar tentang cabaran yang akan kami hadapi semasa mengerjakan rukun Islam yang kelima ini.

Terasa sangat tidak bersedianya kami. Kami tidak sempat mengikuti kursus yang dijalankan oleh Tabung Haji. Cuma sempat mengikuti Kursus Haji Perdana peringkat negeri Selangor. Mujur ada seorang rakan menganjurkan satu kursus khas bersama Dato' Kamal Mohamad. Dapat juga berguru bersama beliau kurang lebih empat jam.

Bila difikir-fikirkan semacam belum bersedia untuk mengerjakan haji. Tetapi jika diteliti semula bila pula kita akan betul-betul bersedia. Tuhan telah lama memfardhukan ibadat ini, tetapi kita yang tidak mahu membuat persediaan. Hati sangat-sangat berharap Tuhan akan memberi kemudahan dalam kami menjalankan kerja-kerja haji ini.

Ya Allah, kami memohon supaya diberi kemudahan dalam mengerjakan ibadat yang telah Engkau fardhu keatas kami semua. Kami sebenarnya terlalu cetek ilmu dalam segala bidang dan sangat lemah dalam segala hal. Berilah kami kekuatan untuk melaksanakan ibadat ini, berilah kami kemudahan dalam segala perkara, jauhkan kami dari segala sifat-sifat yang Engkau tidak sukai ketika kami berada disana dan seterusnya dalam hidup kami. Tetapkanlah niat kami semata-mata untuk menunaikan perintah Engkau Ya Allah dan untuk mendapat keberkatan dan keradhaan dari Engkau. Jadikanlah kami manusia yang lebih baik dari apa yang ada sekarang. Ya Allah, maafkan lah dosa-dosa kami, dosa ibubapa kami, anak-anak kami, saudara-mara kami, guru-guru kami, rakan-rakan kami, jiran-jiran kami dan semua umat Islam. Ya Allah perkenankan lah segala hajat kami Ya Allah. Amin Ya Rabbalalamin.

Kepada semua yang membaca, maafkan segala kesalahan kami, halalkan makan minum kami dan hutang-hutang kami.

Bangkok - November 11 to 14

I was in Bangkok to attend a Security Printing Conference which was held in the 5-star Hilton by the River. It was a nice hotel and expectedly expensive. As I was not familiar with Bangkok, I asked the office to put me up at the Hilton instead of some where cheaper.

The conference was a standard fare, met a few familiar faces and learnt a few new things. Nothing exceptional happened. I was also not feeling too well so I did not wander around town. I only crossed the Chao Praya (using the hotel's ferry) to look for some Muslim food after a few days of eating salad and bread.

On the 13th of November Thailand celebrated their Loy Krathong festival. The Chao Praya saw a hive of activities including fireworks. I did not joined the crowd as I did not have a camera with me. Even my handphone with its 10 megapixels camera worked against me. When I wanted to get into its camera mode, the message " "Not Enough Video Memory" popped up. So I just stayed in my room and witnessed the festivities from the comfort of my hotel room.

On my last day in Bangkok (Friday, 14 November) the whole city was in mourning. The revered King's elder sister was being cremated on that day. A majority of the Bangkok population were wearing black, even the younger generation. How I wished I had my camera with me. It was quite a sight. Apparently there was no compulsion, the people just do it on their own accord.

I reached KLIA on Friday evening. The waiting line for taxis was so long I decided to take the KLIA Express. That is another story.

Pakatan yang tidak sepakat

The UMNO elections are in the limelight these days putting the other political stories in the background. But the Pakatan parties are in the news for the wrong reasons.

In Selangor, the MB from PKR appointed a Chinese as acting head of PKNS and PAS is making a big issue out of it. In Penang the DAP led government started including Chinese characters in names of roads and many Malays are not happy. In Kedah, the PAS led government announced that the Bumiputra quotas for some housing schemes are increased to 50% and many non Bumis are disappointed.

As can be seen all the issues are race related and we thought the Pakatan Rakyat "coalition" is free from race-based policies. However, what is more worrying is the fact that the Pakatan coalition seemed to be working on their own without any consultation among them though they are supposed to be in a coalition.

I'm disappointed with PAS in Selangor especially its head, Dr. Hassan Ali, who I know personally. For him to question the appointment of the head of PKNS just because she is Chinese is not the Hassan Ali I knew. What is wrong with having a Chinese as head even if the objective of the company is to help the Malays? After all, Malays have headed the corporation all these years and they have failed their own race. Wouldn't it be good for the country, in fact for everybody, if we can get a Chinese to help the Malays for a change? But no. Now even PAS wants to champion "Ketuanan Melayu".

I'm also disappointed with DAP in Penang. What is the necessity to have names of roads in Chinese characters? Just to show that they care for the Chinese language I guess. I had hoped that the current DAP leaders are more mature in their deeds. It maybe asking too much for DAP to fight for promoting only Malay as the national language but changing road signs to me is petty and cheap.

It looks like the Pakatan is far from a real coalition. Maybe it is not time for them to take over the federal government just yet.

A post for October 2008

I need to make a post, if not it will be a record that I will not be proud of - a month without any post. I've been lazy. Truth be told, I've been busy but I've also been busy the other months before this. So, I can only truthfully say that I've been lazy and that is no excuse.

The Raya celebrations have been hectic, not as hectic as last year but busy nevertheless. To add to that my fourth child had his PMR two weeks after Raya. So we decided to postpone our Raya visits after he finished his exams on the 18th. Since then, it has been one open house after another.

We only spent two days in Melaka for Hari Raya. My visits were thus limited to the "compulsory houses" only, mostly my uncles and aunties. I can't help but note that all have them have aged considerably. When I saw them, it struck me that I may not be able to meet some of them next Raya. How I wish I can stay in Melaka and leave the hustle and bustle of Klang Valley. How I wish I have the financial means to realise this dream of mine.

I had other "better" stories but I'm too lazy to recollect and write about them. I just remembered I need to start preparing for my Board Meeting next week. I cannot forego my salary still.....sigh

That wasn't that tough after all.