Kedai Buku Borders : Hooray Jom Tangkap Orang Islam

Here is the continuing saga (now wasting everyone's time in the Courts) about the unfortunate Malay girl who happened to be on duty as the manager of the Borders bookshop when the jabatan agama guys raided the bookshop.  

Now this matter is dilly dallying between the Civil Court (civil meaning they are civilised ke?) and the Syariah Court (so syariah court not so civil ke?)

First the news :

Berjaya Books did not provide sufficient special circumstances, says counsel

KUALA LUMPUR: The Government is opposing the stay application by Berjaya Books Sdn Bhd, which owns Borders Bookstores, on grounds that it interferes with the Syariah Court.

Berjaya Books is applying to stay any further action by Federal Terri­tory Islamic Religious Department (Jawi) against it and its employees in the High Court here.

Senior federal counsel Effandi Nazila Abdullah submitted that Berjaya Books did not provide sufficient special circumstances to grant the stay.

However, Berjaya Books’ lawyer Rosli Dahlan argued there were special circumstances present.

“If someone’s fundamental liberty is at stake, is that not a special circumstance? If someone stands to be convicted, is it not a special circumstance?” he argued.

(My comments : good point lawyer Rosli Dahlan. Someone is about to be jailed - that is special circumstances enough)

He said bookstore manager Nik Raina Nik Abdul Aziz had been charged at the Syariah High Court on June 19 for allegedly distributing by way of selling publications deemed contrary to Islamic law.

“Jawi had sought an early date for the Syariah case to circumvent the judicial review application by Berjaya Books,” he said.

He said that on July 6, the Syariah court registry allowed Jawi’s chief prosecutor’s request and brought forward Nik Raina’s syariah criminal matter from Sept 19 to Aug 7.

(My comment : Wow! The Syariah Court brought forward the case from Sept 19th to Aug 7th. This means the Syariah Court is very, very, super duper efficient.  They want to dispense justice very fast. OR they suddenly realised that they have to attend all those Hari Raya Open Houses in September). 

He also said that as the respondents, Jawi, the Home Minister and the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Islamic Affairs) had failed to file any affidavit in reply to the stay application.

He said that it was necessary to allow the stay and preserve the status quo so that the judicial review application, which had been fixed for hearing on Sept 5, would not be rendered null.

During Jawi’s raid on May 23, it confiscated several copies of Allah, Liberty and Love, written by Canadian author Irshad Manji.  Nik Raina was then charged in the Syariah High Court with distributing the book although the Government only gazetted the banning of the books on May 29.

Berjaya Books and two others, assistant general managers (merchandising) Stephen Fung Wye Keong and Nik Raina have been allowed to challenge Jawi’s raid, search and seizure of the books. Among others, they are seeking an order to quash Jawi’s move on May 23. High Court (Appellate and Special Powers) judge Justice Rohana Yusuf has set today to decide on the stay application.

My comments : This is a really silly and time wasting case. Firstly huge amounts of public funds are being wasted. Folks, in the "civil" court there will be at least 30 people present. The Judge, the Court interpreters, at least five Court Policemen, the Prosecution team and their bag carriers, the defense team and their bag carriers. So many people wasting time and money over a really silly case. I tell you folks, the Law can be a real ass.

I am assuming the Syariah Court may have even more people. More time and money wasted.

Dr Mahathir raised this issue a long time ago. Unfortunately it was during his time when Liw*t was his deputy and the Angkatan Belia hom*s were so influential, that the religious courts were institutionalised to a greater degree and given even more power. So we are now at this jurisdiction fight between the "civil" court and the not so "civil" court.

When he spoke against the hudud, Dr Mahathir  said that in Malaysia there will be instances of unfairness for example if a Muslim and a non Muslim were caught in a hudud offense. The Muslim will be charged under hudud and can get his hand chopped off (eg for stealing) while the non Muslim would have his hand left intact.  So lama-lama pencuri Islam semua jadi kudung, pencuri bukan Islam semua masih ok sempurna. 

This is what is happening now to the poor girl Nik Raina Nik Abdul Aziz, who just happened to be on duty as the Manager when the JAWI raided the Borders bookstore over the Irshad Manji book. It was a random occurence.

If the Jawi had raided the bookstore a day earlier or a day later it would have been possible that Nik Raina would not have been on duty. She would not have been arrested. Maybe the assistant manager (a Chinese staff) would have been on duty. Then the Jawi would not have arrested the Chinese staff because the Syariah Law  does not apply to non - Muslims. This is exactly what Dr Mahathir had warned about when he spoke against the hudud. 

On the day the Jawi raided the bookshop, Nik Raina was inside the office, doing her work. No one saw her handling the Irshad Manji book (which by the way was banned later - about a week AFTER the Jawi had raided the bookshop). The book was already placed on display by other staff whose job it is to place the books on the shelves.

Plus it is NOT Nik Raina's job to order books for Borders. Other people in the Purchasing Department are in charge of ordering books. So where is the logic in arresting Nik Raina? She just works at Borders for a monthly salary.

But the Jawi guys wanted to arrest a Muslim. Why? Because they CANNOT arrest non Muslims. When the Jawi raided the shop, the assistant manager of the bookshop (a Chinese) was present outside - at the counter - but the Jawi could not arrest her. So poor Nik Nuraina kena.

I think if Nik Nuraina was absent, away on lunch break, on MC or something the Jawi fellows would still have arrested some other Muslim staff - maybe a salesgirl or saleman who was Muslim.  Kalau itu pun tak ada - I dont know - the Muslim Bangla janitors better be on guard too.  Hooray! Jom tangkap orang Islam.

And tak payah empat saksi ke? 

Nik Raina has to work to earn a living. She does not own Borders. Borders is owned by non Muslims. Nik Raina is a succesful bumiputra Muslim manager who works hard and can manage a bookstore. The non Muslims have placed their trust in her to manage their business. 

The Jawi guys who arrested her probably have some basic education or went to sekolah pondok. They may not even be able to read English. But what surprises me is why the Courts are still debating this matter and dragging it out. 

The book was not banned until May 29th. The Jawi raid took place one week earlier on May 23rd.  Isnt this odd? 

Even if the book is banned so what? The Gomen must gazette the ban first. Only after being gazetted does the ban become legally effective. This also gives time for the public to destroy, get rid of or surrender whatever book has been banned. This is a more civilised system. 

But the Jawi raid took place on May 23rd - six days before the ban. In any "civilised" court this mismatch between the date the book was banned and the date the raid took place should be enough to have the case thrown out of court.  But we are talking about a "civilised system". Kalau tak civilised, nak buat macam mana?

There is a side effect to all this. Now Tan Sri Vincent Tan who owns Borders Bookstores can never become a Muslim.  Why would he become a Muslim? Nanti kena tangkap lah, kena samanlah,  kena Mahkamah Syariah lah. 

The irony to all this is that Irshad Manji's book is about homosexuality. The Liw*t fellow once declared "saya pemimpin Islam".  Then he asked 'mana empat saksi'?

Extreme Instability In The Middle East

I dont know about the rest of you folks but I feel the fact that the Middle East has now moved from a boiling cauldron to exploding volcano and beyond is going to cause significant chaos to the rest of us. 

Let me give you an example of just one country's problems  in that troubled region that affects us even in Malaysia on a micro basis - Somalia. About 20 years ago Somalia descended into anarchy. It was not something that happened overnite. It took decades for them to finally tip over. For almost 20 years now, there has not been an effective government in Somalia. One by product  of that disaster is the Somali piracy. 

Even Malaysian ships have been attacked by Somali pirates to the extent that our Navy has to have a patrol in that part of the world. We have caught some Somali pirates who are now facing trial in our Court. We have also lost more than one life in Somalia. 

Here is news about Egypt and Tunisia:

• Hamas says Egypt to extend hours for crossing border
• GAZA (Reuters) - Egypt has agreed to keep the Rafah border crossing with the Gaza Strip open for a full 12 hours every day
• signaling a further shift in Cairo's stance since the election of a Muslim Brotherhood head of state in Egypt.
• since the Muslim Brotherhood was elected into power this year, the two Islamist regimes have improved ties.
• The decision on the crossing came after Ismail Haniyeh, prime minister of the Hamas government in the Gaza Strip, met Egypt's newly elected President Mohamed Mursi in Cairo .
• in addition Egypt agreed to increase the number of Palestinians allowed to cross by about a third, to 1,500 a day.

Here is news about Tunisia:

• Tunisia: Hardline Islam threatens democracy gains
• A sit-in by religious students degenerates into fist fights.
• increasing boldness of ultraconservative Salafis, 
• an economic downturn could turn these spasms of religious-tinged rage 
• economy shrank by 2 percent and unemployment  at 18 percent 
• "go to Salafism because nowhere better to go socially, politically and spiritually."
• aggressively attacking the free expression of those they see as insulting Islam. 
• main target: artists who ..question religion and society.
• Salafis did not pop out of nowhere in Tunisia .. 
• those alienated by the ..elite turned to the strict Salafi Islam of the Arabian peninsula.
• "influenced by the Salafi discourse coming out of the Gulf countries"  
• the Hizb al-Tahrir, calls for the restoration of the Islamic Caliphate
• the group Ansar al-Shariah.  calls for an Islamic state, conquering the Jews 
• Especially popular were four masked men performing martial arts moves known as Zamaqtel, a kind of Islamic kung fu. 
• dismissive of Tunisia's embrace of democracy: "Democracy was conceived of by humans, not Muslims, before the time of the Prophet Muhammad — if democracy is important, why is it not in the Quran?"

Here is the solution : keep them all fully and gainfully employed. An idle mind is the devil's workshop.  Nothing happens overnite folks. Everything takes time to grow up and explode. If we can go back 20 years, what would we do to help Somalia?

We cannot go back 20 years. But lets look ahead into the next 20 years. We are not blind.

Inspiracion : Amen

Jews Buy Mitt Romney

Romney brings in $1 million at Israel fundraiser

Romney greeting Sheldon Adelson at a speech on Sunday 

• JERUSALEM—Mitt Romney raised more than $1 million at a campaign fundraiser here on his way out of Israel.  Romney's finance event marked the first time a presidential candidate has raised cash in Israel. 
• 
  
• At least 40 donors paid between $25,000 and $50,000 apiece to attend a breakfast with Romney at a hotel—including Las Vegas casino magnet Sheldon Adelson, who has contributed more than $20 million to Republicans and conservative super PACS so far this election cycle. Of that total, $10 million went to Restore Our Future, a political committee backing Romney's bid for president.
• 
  
• Romney has made a concerted effort to woo Adelson. On Sunday, Adelson, along with other top Jewish donors to the campaign, scored prime seats to a speech Romney delivered in the Old City. During Monday's fundraiser, Adelson scored a seat right next to Romney at the head table at the breakfast.
• 
  
• Speaking to donors here, Romney emphasized the close ties between the United States and Israel and cast himself as a friendly ally to the country. 

Flip Flop Cancel This And Cancel That

Here is the first one :

Taiping Council cancels devt of food kiosks near Lake Garden raintrees

• TAIPING: The Taiping Municipal Council has decided to call off plans to develop food and souvenir kiosks near the iconic century-old raintrees along Jalan Pekeliling stretch of the Taiping Lake Gardens.
• Instead, they will suggest two alternative sites to the Northern Corridor Implementation Authority (NCIA) that is in charge of the project.

Here is the second flip flop :

No Merdeka Day logo

• There will be no logo for the 55th Merdeka Day theme, save for the 1Malaysia logo, says Information Communication andCulture Minister Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim.
• The decision puts to rest the controversy surrounding the plans for a logo for this year’s independence day celebration. The proposed logo had earned criticism from various quarters.

My question is what happened to Pemandu, Pemudah and all those people? Why does the Gomen keep doing these things in an almost random, ad hoc manner and then when the people complain, the Gomen flip flops and changes their mind?

How come Pemandu, Pemudah and whoever else do not get involved in sorting out the Bazaar Ramadan mess that is now being cemented in concrete in Kuala Lumpuir and maybe around the country. You know, I know, the neighbour's cat knows that this is just another problem that is getting out of control in the country. Dont sleep on the job. Wake up and solve the problem before it gets out of control. 

The Ministry of Information came out with maybe the silliest logo for the Merdeka Day - it looks cluttered. And it is obviously too partisan. Too Barisan Nasional. I think someone did it on purpose to sabotage the BN. Here is the logo :

Now it has been cancelled. How much money was spent to create this bungle? Let me guess RM1.0 million? RM5.0 million? Who was the "con-sultan" who was hired to come out with this logo? Mesti ada "con-sultan" involved.

Who was the dunggu who came up with the idea to put those kiosks near those raintrees in Taiping? Was it some fellow who has no knowledge of Taiping? Why werent the local people consulted? Not the State Exco fellows but the people of Taiping.

Apa susah sangat?

Interesting Videos

This video here shows Jews at prayer



This next video also  shows orthodox Jewish at prayer




The following video shows Coptic Christians in Egypt.

Netanyahu To Decide On US President

As can be expected, both Democrats and Republicans are falling all over themselves rushing to Tel Aviv to get the blessings of the Israelis before the US Presidential Elections in November.

First here are two pictures of Republican candidate Mitt Romney doing the 'let me kiss your b*tt' thingy with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

 Mitt Romney & wife arriving in Tel Aviv on Saturday. See how they have positioned the Israeli flag. Dead centre.

Romney kissing Natanyahu's b*tt. I just love the way Netanyahu is giving Romney the 'once over'. 

"So the Mormon goyim wants to play president"

And here is the news :

Romney would back strike against Iran

• JERUSALEM  — Mitt Romney would back an Israeli military strike against Iran 
• aggressive posture the Republican presidential candidate will take toward Iran in a speech in Israel 
• Romney has said he has a "zero tolerance" policy toward Iran 
• Romney ..said he will do "the opposite" of what U.S. President  Obama would do 
• Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday welcomed Romney as "a representative of the United States" 
• "Mitt, I couldn't agree with you more," Netanyahu told Romney.

Romney has promised Netanyahu that if he becomes president, the US will bomb Iran. 


Not to be left out, the Obama side has already visited Tel Aviv and Jerusalem earlier than Mitt Romney. Hillary Clinton has already visited Netanyahu earlier this month. Here is the news about the Obama team's version of "let me kiss your b*tt"  :

Obama aide tells Israel of Iran attack plan: paper

• JERUSALEM - President Obama's national security adviser has briefed Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on a U.S. contingency plan to attack Iran 
• The Haaretz newspaper said that Thomas Donilon - had described the plan in talks with Netanyahu earlier this month.
• the most significant effort by high-level U.S. officials who had visited Israel in the past month, including Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
• Donilon had also detailed the U.S. military's ability to penetrate nuclear facilities buried deep underground, 
• Clinton said Israel and Washington were "on the same page" with respect to Iran, 
• "Our own choice is clear, we will use all elements of American power to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon," Clinton said.

So the democrats will bomb Iran as well.  I think Iran is doomed.

Why are the Democrats and the Republicans rushing to Tel Aviv to win over the Israelis before the US Presidential elections in November? Shouldnt they be rushing to Japan or China or Germany their major trading partners instead? You know to talk about business and trade and how to boost economic growth and silly things like that?

Instead both Obama and Mitt Romney are heading straight to Israel to secure the blessings of the Israeli Prime Minister.  Folks, the reason is very simple - the Israelis will decide who gets to be the president of the United States. It really should be the Jewnited States Of America. 

Bible, Beards, Serban And Jubah

Here is more stuff from the Bible.  In the Bible there is something known as the Priestly Garments. This is the necessary ensemble that must be worn, especially when a new priest is consecrated. Here is the Bible :

The Priestly Garments : Book of Exodus 28 (New International Version)

28 “Have Aaron your brother brought to you from among the Israelites, along with his sons Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar, so they may serve me as priests. 2 Make sacred garments for your brother Aaron to give him dignity and honor. 3 Tell all the skilled workers to whom I have given wisdom in such matters that they are to make garments for Aaron, for his consecration, so he may serve me as priest. 4 These are the garments they are to make: a breastpiece, an ephod, a robe, a woven tunic, a turban and a sash. They are to make these sacred garments for your brother Aaron and his sons, so they may serve me as priests. 5 Have them use gold, and blue, purple and scarlet yarn, and fine linen

Please note these words carefully :  these sacred garments, so they may serve me as priests., a robe (jubah), a turban (serban), a sash, a breastpiece, a woven tunic, an ephod,

This ensemble is the sacred attire for the consecration of the priests in the Bible. Then the priests must also grow a beard. Here is the Bible again :

Leviticus 21:5  (New International Version)

21:5 “‘Priests must not shave their heads or shave off the edges of their beards or cut their bodies.”

So it is part of the priest being sacred and holy that he must not shave off his beard. Here is a picture of a handsome guy that gives you an idea of this :

Not only priests but the Bible advises all Jews NOT to shave their beards :

“Don't round your hair at the temples or mar the edges of your beard” - Leviticus 19:27

The Jews never appeared without beards, it was quite shameful if they did NOT have a beard.  The Bible again :

2nd Samuel 10:5 “When they told it unto David, he sent to meet them, because the men were greatly ashamed: and the king said, Tarry (wait) at Jericho until your beards be grown, and then return.”

Obviously some Jews had had their beards forcefully shaven off by some bad guys. They were in great shame. So King David told them to stay in Jericho for a while until their beards grew back. Beards were a really big deal for these beardos.

So this whole thing about jubah, serban and beards being part of a holy appearance is written in the Bible. I say, ya aiyyuhal Muslimeen, the Bible is quite detailed about the wearing of serban, jubah and beards. What does the Quran say? The Quran does not say anything at all.  This is another Biblical subject. It is not a Quranic subject.

The Quran does talk about the hypocrites or munafiks using their physical appearances and their speech to fool the people. Here are the verses. Not surprisingly the reference is from Surah 63 which is also known as Surah Al Munafiqoon or The Hypocrites. 

63:1     When the hypocrites come to you, they say: We bear witness that you are most surely Allah's Apostle (nash-hadu innaka la rasulullah); and Allah knows that you are most surely His Apostle, and Allah bears witness that the hypocrites are surely liars.

63:2     They make their oaths a shelter, and thus turn away from Allah's way; surely evil is that which they do.

63:3     That is because they believe, then disbelieve, so a seal is set upon their hearts so that they do not understand.

63:4     And when you see them, their persons will impress you, and If they speak, you will listen to their speech; (they are) as if they were big pieces of wood clad with garments; they think every cry to be against them. They are the enemy, therefore beware of them; may Allah destroy them, whence are they turned back?

Here is the Malay translation of Surah 63:4

“Dan apabila kamu melihat mereka, tubuh-tubuh mereka menjadikan kamu kagum. Dan jika mereka berkata, kamu mendengarkan perkataan mereka. Mereka adalah seakan-akan kayu yang tersandar. Mereka mengira bahwa tiap-tiap teriakan yang keras ditujukan kepada mereka. Mereka itulah musuh (yang sebenarnya), maka waspadalah terhadap mereka; semoga Allah membinasakan mereka. Bagaimanakah mereka sampai dipalingkan (dari kebenaran)?”

The munafiks will use their appearances and their fancy speech to impress the people (menjadikan kamu kagum). This means they will dress and carry themselves in a certain manner to fool  people that they are something which they really are not or which no one can ever be.

Well to be fair, a lot of people in real life dress in a certain manner and carry themselves in a certain manner but rarely it is to fool people. Nurses wear uniforms but they don’t aim to fool  you. Their uniforms tell us that the nurse is trained to stick a needle into your backside. A policeman and a soldier wear uniforms which say that they can shoot you or throw you in jail. A pilot wears a uniform which tells us that he has enough skills and experience  to fly an airplane safely.

And we can know very quickly if the nurse, policeman, soldier and pilot are worthy of the uniforms they are wearing.  They cannot jual air liur for long. The pilot can have two dozen golden stripes on his sleeves but if he cannot land the plane safely, he will not be a pilot for long.  Meaning the nurse, policeman, soldier and pilot can rarely be the munafiks referred to in Surah 63:4 above.

But most certainly Surah 63:4 refers to those people in the “I am holier than thou” category. These are the real hypocrites or munafiks – the people who dress in a certain fashion to potray to the whole world that they are “religious”. And they also use their speech (menjual air liur) to impress you.

“tubuh-tubuh mereka menjadikan kamu kagum. Dan jika mereka berkata, kamu mendengarkan perkataan mereka”

There are those who feel that wearing a beard, jubah and serban somehow makes them “religious” and “holier than thou”. You can see some of these folks walking around – Taliban style, desert Arab style and all sorts of styles.

Obviously they do not know the Prophet’s teaching in the Quran :

Surah 7:26     O children of Adam, we have provided you with garments to cover your bodies, as well as for luxury. But the best garment is the garment of righteousness (wa libasu al taqwa thalika khayrun). These are some of GOD's signs, that they may take heed.   

So here is another question for the Muslims.  After telling everyone (in the Quran that was revealed to him) that “the best garment is the garment of righteousness (wa libasu al taqwa thalika khayrun)”  will the Prophet turn around on another day  and tell the people “It is also a righteous thing if you cut your hair like this, if you wear your clothes like that, if your physical appearance is like this, your appearance is like that etc”?  Think carefully before you answer.

The Bible says that the beards, jubah, serban and such are the sacred garments of the priests. The Quran does not say any such things. So do you think the Prophet would have said the same thing as the Bible ? Again think carefully before you answer.

Watch Has Been Found

Datuk Bandar Baru : Sila Bangun Tidor

Folks did you know that the old mayor of KL Tan Sri Fuad had to leave the post "secara terkejut tergempar"? There is some controversy which is not known to the public. The general consenus is that Tan Sri Fuad was a good man, a real "towering Malay" and a good public servant.

Unfortunately in this country, ever since Dr Mahathir retired, the good guys are always terminated or sent into retirement early.  Now there is a new Datuk Bandar Kuala Lumpur. Talk is he got the job because he is very chummy with this guy in the picture here :

Anyway, this is the 'Bulan Gila'  in the Masjid India area. For almost 30 days everything is topsy turvy, upside down. This is the month of the 'Warong' Bazar Ramadan.  Firstly, please take a walk around this area. Many of the so called 'warong' are huge tents filled with enough barang to fill up a mini market. Not all of them are "peniaga kecil" lah. Ini peniaga besar lah.  So what happened to the 'dasar membantu peniaga kecil bumiputra'?

Also the crazy traffic jams have started. Folks, the traffic jams are not caused by too many cars. I disagree. The traffic jams are being caused by the DBKL's very strange and tak masuk akal traffic management system. It is the DBKL that is causing the traffic jams. 

Firstly they are closing the roads illegally. Meaning it is not gazetted.  This is a bad habit, left over from the old days when the corrupt DBKL enforcement fellows closed the road so that the illegal hawkers (who had paid bribes to the DBKL enforcement fellows)  can then open their illegal stalls on the closed roads. How convenient. That was in the old days - which resulted in the businesses in Masjid India demonstrating against the DBKL. I think this old habit of closing roads without  any good reason is still happening. 

Here are some pictures from today : (Dear Datuk Bandar, I will be taking more pictures everyday and posting it in my Blog. The PM, DPM and most of the Cabinet Ministers read my Blog everyday - sometimes they read my Blog twice a day. Depa nak tahu siapa akan "kena" hari ini.  Hishamuddin dah tak boleh tidor dah kalau tak baca Blog saya. So please do read my Blog and act accordingly. This Blog serves the public).

In the next picture you can see the DBKL Enforcement guys parking their motorbikes indiscriminately and contributing to the traffic jams.    Dear Datuk Bandar, saya nak tanya sikit boleh tak? Can I also park my motorbike beside their motorbikes? 

Or is this privilege only extended to the DBKL Enforcement officers? You know, a case of  "Ini bapa saya punya jalan, saya nak letak motor sini, saya punya suka lah. Lu nak sibuk apa hal?"

In this next picture, you can see the DBKL Enforcement guys have used plastic tape to cordon off an area where they can sit and lepak. (You can see them lepaking on those white plastic chairs.) But they have used a "tong sampah awam" to tie their plastic tape to mark off their space. And the "tong sampah awam" is sitting on the road pula. Another case of "Saya DBKL. Saya ada kuasa. Ini bapak saya punya jalan. Lu mahu sibuk pasal apa?" 

And here is the cause of the massive traffic jam in Masjid India the past few days. The DBKL has closed one traffic lane with these plastic cones. They say so that the pedestrians can walk easily.  I have a suggestion but  lets look at the next picture.

In the picture below a taxi is stopping to pick up passengers. The taxi has no choice but to stop in the middle because DBKL has closed one lane. (Depa tak fikir ke?) This causes more traffic jams because the other cars now have to stop and wait for the taxi driver to finish is business. 

In the picture below here  you can see a car parked inside the lane that has been closed. Folks this is what is really happening ok. See those warongs along the side of the road. How do you think they get their supplies of new kain pelikat, kuih raya, buah kurma, baju and stuff? They come by cars, vans and lorries. So the empty lorong which has been closed by the DBKL  benefits these warong people. Their vans, cars and lorries are allowed to use the empty lorong to unload supplies for their warongs as well.  Of course the excuse is to create space for pedestrians but that is not 100% correct. 

Here is my suggestion.  For this 'Bulan Puasa' do not close the road in Masjid India. Biar semua jalan di buka. 


My suggestion is just remove the parking spots along the roadside for one month. Remove  both car parking and motorbike parking by the roadside. (There are not many - about 50 car parking spaces only, lebih kurang lah.) Then allow the pedestrians to walk on the space allotted for car parking.  For this month only, transfer the 50 car parking spots to Jalan Ampang and Jalan Munshi Abdullah which are very, very close by  (plus there is plenty of space there).

And tell the warong people they can only resupply their warongs at nite between say 9PM till 6AM. Tak boleh lah buat ikut suka hati, menyusahkan satu dunia.

More will come. Datuk Bandar boleh speaking ke?

Tanjung News : Penang Port Privatisation Poser

Yesterday we drove up to Penang in time for buka puasa at the well known Hussein Restaurant in Queen Street. Unfortunately their  'kari angsa' or 'goose curry'  which was featured in the newspapers recently was all sold out. So we made do with the ayam, kambing, perut and stuff. OK lah but nothing to really shout about. We have had much better fare.

The picture above is the quiet and heritage "Hotel 1926" on Burma Road - our inn for the night. It is always a thrill to drive around Penang. Off Burma Road one will find Ranggoon Road, Mandalay Road and also Moulmein Lane. These are all places in modern Myanmar.  Penang still has strong links with our colonial history.

The restoration and relaunch of Penang's numerous colonial buildings is fantastic and very beautiful. My old hangouts at Beach Street, Bishop Street and Union Street are now refurbished eating and designer places. Gone are the plants growing out of cracks below the roofs. 

There is something new about Penang - the people drive faster. There are also serious traffic jams but there is less hooting (or horning). I was surprised that in the early morning rush, people actually give way for other cars. Boleh tahan juga.

The older lady in the convenience store was unusually polite and kindly with many good mornings (in old style English), have a nice day and such. Its like one of those Disney's animal stories with "spring in the air" and all the happy creatures prancing about.

The island is buzzing with activity. Wealth is in the air. Thanks to the former Barisan Nasional Government approving all those projects there is much construction activity on the island (I am just saying what Lim Guan Eng said ok - the BN Government had approved all the projects that are now booming around Penang).


The hot news among the Chinese business community in Penang is the privatisation of the Penang Port to Syed Mokhtar Al Bukhary. They are all against it. The Penang folks have got together and they want to take over Penang Port. 


The interesting thing is that BOTH the ruling Pakatan Rakyat as well as the Barisan Nasional components  in Penang reject privatising the port to Syed Mokhtar Bukhary. 


Here is the news :

Chambers aim to buy Penang Port for RM500m

• GEORGE TOWN: Local business groups here plan to outbid tycoon Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhari to buy the Penang Port from the federal government with a RM500 million financial layout.
• the Penang Chinese Chamber of Commerce (PCCC),  Malay and Indian Chambers of Commerce, and the Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (FMM).
• to ensure that Penangites retain control of the port, the oldest harbour estabilised by the British.
• Both Pakatan Rakyat and Barisan Nasional leaders have expressed the need to retain the port’s ownership with Penangites.
• state DAP’s signature campaign “Return Penang Port To Penangites” garnering 1,000 signatures within two weeks 
• BN’s “Return the Freeport Status” campaign launched on June 28 also aimed at getting the port back to Penangites.
• state BN chairman Teng Chang Yeow said the Penang Port privatisation matter would be asked to be reviewed and deliberated under the National Economic Council (NEC). He said since the deal between Syed Mokhtar’s Seaport Terminal (Johor) Sdn Bhd and the ministry was not inked yet, there was still a chance to keep the port within Penang.

The Sun newspaper (northern edition?) has frontpaged the report. They quote the Penang Chinese Chamber of Commerce (PCCC) as saying that privatising Penang Port to Syed Mokhtar Bukhary was 'against the Competition Act 2010'. They say the privatisation was against the spirit of  "anti-trust". 'Anti-trust' is an Americanism for "cartel".

I feel it is good that we have a Competition Act and that people are beginning to talk intelligently about "anti trust" and "cartel busting".  

No matter what our plans are or no matter how good the intention, one cannot run away from a few things : 

i.   the laws of nature 

ii.  the laws of economics and trade  

iii. the almighty power of the market place.

Ignore these three laws and you end up in the Club of Doom.  There are far, far too many cartels, monopolies and oligopolies for a very, very small country like Malaysia covering nearly all the essential goods and services in the country.  

Monopolies, oligopolies and cartels are just not good for the long run economic health of anyone, especially the bumiputras - whose economic interests many of these artificial cartels are supposed to defend.  Kekawan it just does not work that way.  

Kekawan, even the Quran tells us to avoid monopolies, oligopolies and cartels. Here it is :

Surah 59:7 'Whatever ALLAH has given to HIS Messenger as spoils from the people of the towns, it is for ALLAH and for the Messenger and for the near of kin and the orphans and the needy and the wayfarer, in order that it may not circulate only among those of you who are rich. And whatsoever the Messenger gives you, take it, and whatsoever he forbids you, abstain from it. And fear ALLAH, surely, ALLAH is Severe in retribution.'

bayna al-aghniyaa minkum : among those of you who are rich

Now it does not mean that monopolies and oligopolies are bad just because the Quran says so. It is quite the other way around. The Quran says so because it is a fact that monopolies and oligopolies are really bad. Actually this is quite obvious. You dont need the Quran to tell you this.  But people keep forgetting. So the Quran serves as a zikir or reminder.

Finally, this episode of the Penang Port could become a major political catastrophe for the BN.  Especially since BOTH the Pakatan and the BN parties in Penang (including the Penang Malay Chambers of Commerce - at least according to the newsreports) are together on this one. Penangites, whether Pakatan or BN, want Penang Port to remain in the hands of Penangites. 

May I suggest a compromise solution : kasi lah kepada Syed Akbar Ali :))  Saya pun dah makan nasi beriani di Restoran Hussein di Queen Street.  Isnt that qualification enough?

Updated : Court Says JAKIM Outrageous, Irrational, Defy Logic

Here is a comment about this post that I would like to highlight:

Anonymous said...

Tuan Syed,

Inilah padahnya bila orang tongong diberi kuasa dan pangkat.

Salahnya siapa? Salah kita juga sbb bagi ruang utk mereka mengamalkan kebodohan mereka ke atas kita. Beri mereka kedudukan dan jawatan. Dalam arti kata mudah suruh org bodo yg kita mmg dah tau bodo mengajar kita supaya jadi bodo.. inilah yg COA tu kata irrational dan defy logic. Yg paling bodo adalah umat islam di malaysia.

Saya harap kerajaan kita ni cukup2 la kunonnya nak memartabat kan Islam. Bukan begini caranya. Kasi tutup la Jakim tu. Sejak ada nya Jakim ni makin huru hara Malaysia. Jakim ni lah antara sbb integrasi kaum hancur.. sbb dia ingat dia ada talian "hotline" dgn tuhan. Maka dia rasa dia hebat dan jual nama tuhan..

Anti Jakim No. 1

Friday, July 27, 2012 2:52:00 PM

 

Court of Appeal: Banning of book 'outrageous, irrational'

PUTRAJAYA: The Court of Appeal has dismissed an appeal challenging the lifting of a ban on the book "Muslim Women and the Challenges of Extremism', published by Sisters in Islam (SIS).

A three-member panel chaired by Justice Abdul Wahab Patail upheld a decision by the High Court on Jan 25, 2010 to lift the ban on the book.

Justice Abdul Wahab said the former Home Minister's satisfaction that the book was prejudicial to public interest without any clear evidence of any prejudicial events occuring was in "outrageous defiance of logic," and and fell within the realm of irrationality.

He added that even if the book had breached JAKIM guidelines, as submitted by the counsel for then Home Minister Tan Sri Syed Hamid Albar (the appellant), this did not address the issue of whether the book was prejudicial to public order.

Syed Hamid had made the decision to ban the book on Jan 2 2008.

The book, published in Oct 2005, is a compilation of essays based on research carried out by international scholars and 18 women activists.

Folks, this is what I have been saying here again and again and again.  These "agama yang boleh dijabatankan" people can be outrageous, irrational and defy logic. 

Normally you would only hear this type of language in this Blog, OutSyed The Box.  Well folks, it looks like the Court of Appeal does not mind using similar language to get the message across.

Let me translate ok.  Defy logic can mean "tidak menggunakan akal".  Irrational can mean 'tidak siuman'  as in "orang gila". Outrageous means shocking behaviour - akin to "kencing berlari". 

Congratulations to the Sisters In Islam that the Court of Appeal has UPHELD the decision by the High Court on Jan 25, 2010 to lift the ban on this book by the Sisters In Islam. This does not mean that we must agree with every book that is written. Or that you must agree with everything I say in this Blog.

But why ban books that do not cause any harm or threaten society. The only people who are threatened by these books are the religious people.

They ban books for a very simple reason : self preservation. Remember : No money no religion.

Hisham & Khaled Should Sleep Together.

Here is more news about "foreign college students" and "foreigners" committing crime, including some sophisticated scamming and conning.

1.  Cops smash Nigerian Casanova ring with eight arrests

• MALACCA: Images of nude bodies and African men participating in a sex orgy with a woman have lured at least 21 gullible victims to the foreigners' social network site and seduced them into parting with more than RM400,000 since January.
• Following a tip-off, seven Nigerians and the woman were arrested at an apartment in Bachang near here in a 1am raid yesterday.
• Four of the men are students of a private college in Kuala Lumpur while three others have invalid travel documents.  The Nigerians are aged between 23 and 33 while their woman accomplice is 23.

2. Police thwart robbery attempt in Subang Jaya

• PETALING JAYA: Police thwarted an attempt by four men, believed to be foreigners, to rob a house at Jalan 18/2A, USJ 21, Subang Jaya Thursday night.
• Yahya said that based on preliminary investigations, the MPV was rented from a tour agency and that the four suspects had been staying at a hotel in Bandar Sunway for four days.

And still Hishamuddin says that the crime rate is decreasing, everything is under control bla bla.  Actually the situation is getting quite out of control. The cases of foreigners being involved in crime is going from epidemic to pandemic.  Hari-hari ada saja berita buruk keluar dalam akhbar.

It is easy to get into the country. Just ask Khaled Noordin for a 'student visa'. It does not matter if you are 35 years old, that you want to study 'nuclear physics' in Malaysia (everyone knows that we are a great nuclear power) you will get a visa.

You can commit any crime you want - Hishamuddin the Minister of Home Affairs is sleeping, on the job. I suggest Hisham and Khaled should sleep together. Then they cam exchange real notes about the crime situation in the country. Maybe they will come up with real workable ideas.

Tanjong News

 

The Murtad Wars

More about religion folks. First some quotations from the Bible about what to do with apostates (murtads) and blasphemers (menghina agama).

Deuteronomy 13:6-9 "If your very own brother, or your son or daughter, or the wife you love, or your closest friend secretly entices you, saying: Let us go and worship other gods (gods that neither you nor your fathers have known, gods of the peoples around you, whether near or far, from one end of the land to the other, or gods of other religions), do not yield to him or listen to him. Show him no pity. Do not spare him or shield him. You must certainly put him to death. Your hand must be the first in putting him to death, and then the hands of all the people."


Deuteronomy 17:3-5 "And he should go and worship other gods and bow down to them or to the sun or the moon or all the army of the heavens, .....and you must stone such one with stones and such one must die."


Matthew 15:1-4 
1 Then some Pharisees and teachers of the law came to Jesus from Jerusalem and asked, 
2 "Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They don't wash their hands before they eat!" 
3 Jesus replied, "And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition? 
4 For God said, 'Honor your father and mother' and 'Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.' 

There are more references from the Bible but this is sufficient. These are the famous Biblical commands to kill the apostates and blasphemers. The Bible says that anyone who apostates must be put to death. Some interpret "breaking the command of God" as akin to cursing your father or mother, an offense that is also punishable by death in the New Testament of the Bible. 

These Biblical teachings ignited a very long period of the 'Murtad Wars" or wars of apostasy among the christians. They became fond of killing each other after declaring the other person as a deviant, heretic, murtad (apostate) and such. 

The christian people, especially in Europe suffered an unbelievable amount of bloodshed because of religious wars that were sparked by these Biblical teachings.  In fact, because the Europeans fought so many wars over religion, there is even a field of historical study known as the 'European Wars of Religion'.

Here is some very short history about the "European Wars of Religion"

"The European Wars of religion were a series of wars waged in Europe from ca. 1524 to 1648, following the onset of the Protestant Reformation in Western and Northern Europe. 

Although sometimes unconnected, all of these wars were strongly influenced by the religious change of the period, and the conflict and rivalry that it produced. Individual conflicts that can be distinguished within this topic include:

1. the German Peasants' War (1524–1525)

2. the battle of Kappel in Switzerland (1531)

3. the Schmalkaldic War (1546–1547) in the Holy Roman Empire

4. the Eighty Years' War (1568–1648) in the Low Countries

5. the French Wars of Religion (1562–1598)

6. the Thirty Years War (1618–1648), affecting the Holy Roman Empire including Habsburg Austria and Bohemia, France, Denmark and Sweden

7. The Wars of the Three Kingdoms (1639–1651), affecting England, Scotland and Ireland

8. Scottish Reformation and Civil Wars

9. English Reformation and Civil War

10. Irish Confederate Wars and the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland"

End of history lesson.  Christians killed each other over interpretations of religion. In Northern Ireland the violence between the Catholics and the Protestants ended just a few years ago, but  the hatred is still there.  (So it has not really ended).

What does the Quran say about apostates ? I have stated this many times before - there is no punishment of any sort in the Quran if a person chooses to move in and out of belief. Allah will deal with such people. The Quran says :

4:137 "Surely, those who believe, then disbelieve, then believe, then disbelieve, then plunge deeper into disbelief, Allah will not forgive them, nor will He guide them in any way."

This verse describes a person moving in and out of "belief", not once or twice but FOUR times. 

Step 1. those who believe
Step 2. then disbelieve
Step 3. then believe
Step 4. then disbelieve, then plunge deeper into disbelief, 

Allah will not forgive them or guide them in the right way. 

There is no punishment of any sort prescribed for this person - other than Allah will not show him the way. But where is the punishment of death?   If apostasy is punishable by death, then how does this person get to Step 3? He would have already been killed at Step 2 when he first rejected belief.  


Now the Quran also says that the "people who were given the Book" know that the Quran tells the truth. Here are at least two verses that say so :


Surah 6:114 "Say: "Shall I seek for judge other than Allah - when He it is Who hath sent unto you the Book, explained in detail." They know full well, to whom We have given the Book (wallazi na aataynaa humu al kitaab), that it hath been sent down from thy Lord in truth. Never be then of those who doubt.


So those people who were given the Book before will recognise that the Quran speaks the Truth. (Kitab here refers to the revealed Scriptures like the Torah, the Injeel and such. Not the concoctions they came up with later).  Here is another verse:


Surah 10:94  If thou wert in doubt as to what We have revealed unto thee, then ask those who have been reading the Book from before thee (allazi naa yaqraoona al kitaaba): the Truth hath indeed come to thee from thy Lord: so be in no wise of those in doubt.


If even the Prophet himself were in doubt about the Quran, he was told to ask those people who received the Book earlier. They will recognise that the Quran speaks the Truth.  (It does not mean that the Prophet has to follow the Bible - which is a book that was written long after Jesus had died).

I believe that until today the inheritors of the "..people of the Book" still do read the Quran and they do recognise the truth in the Quran. Thomas Jefferson the third president of the United States had read the Quran.  It is said that the French philosopher Voltaire owned and read a copy of the Quran. 


"Voltaire was a French Enlightenment writer, historian and philosopher famous for his wit and for his advocacy of civil liberties, including freedom of religion, freedom of expression, free trade and separation of church and state."


I believe it was through reading the Quran as well that Voltaire came to appreciate the truth behind Surah 4:137 which I have quoted above. 


Hence the Europeans stopped killing "apostates" or fighting wars over "akedah".  In other words the West moved away from the Biblical teachings of hatred and murder towards the apostates and blasphemers and moved closer to the Quranic teaching where the apostates are left  to God to handle. (Please refer Surah 4:137 again). It is not anyone else's business if someone apostates.


So the West finally rid itself of their Murtad Wars because they followed the Quranic values. Not the Bible.  If the West had continued following the Bible, they would have continued declaring each other murtad and gone to war endlessly over who is more murtad.


Unfortunately this is what is happening now in the world between the Sunnis and the Shiahs. (Soon it will be between the Salafis and the Sunnis as well). The Sunnis and the Shiahs are fighting and killing each other over their different religious beliefs. 


Killing apostates is not found in the Quran. It is found written in the Bible.