Urgent : "100 Hour" Hunger Strikers In Danger Of Eating

Please visit this website. They have disabled right click so I cannot post the interesting pictures and the story they have there. 

Peserta Mogok Lapar Makan Di Hotel

Source: mynewshub.my

Do visit  mynewshub.my.   There is this 100 Hour Hunger strike going on in Dataran Merdeka. You dont know about this because no one even cares. Most of the people there are Pakatan folks especially from the DAP. The say they are on hunger strike to save Malaysia or something.

The Blog mynewshub.my  has been observing these hunger strikers. They have taken pictures and posted them on their site. What a scoop.  The photos show  

1. food packages and mineral water being delivered to the hunger strikers at Dataran Merdeka (well they are all wearing the same green or yellow coloured T shirts)

2. the same people wearing the same T shirts are photographed eating and drinking

3. the same people in the same T shirts walking into the Swiss Hotel to eat and rest 

4. the same people in the same T shirts eating food at restaurants near Masjid Jamek

Anyone who goes on hunger strike for a straight 100 hours (4 days and 4 hours) can die.   Folks no one in the Pakatan has the stomach to go on hunger strike for that long. I mean look at these people in the pictures - they are all well dressed and too well fed.  So they are doing the next best thing. They are going hungry in shifts. It looks like they are 'taking turns'  in this hunger strike.

Here is a likely conversation between these hunger strikers :

Nathan : "Susan you can start your shift after lunch. I will take over after dinner at 9pm" 

Susan : "Aiyya I have to leave by 5pm. I promised my mum I will bring the kids for tea'

Nathan : "Ok let me ask Vignes. I think he alread had his thosai just now.' 

That pot bellied Indian anna who is receiving the food parcels in the first picture possibly enjoys "frequent eater" status at Lotus Thosai Restaurant. 

They look like working people or professionals with good incomes, possibly drive Toyota Camrys, Lexus, BMWs, Mercedes and so on.  Maybe just back from Christmas or school holidays in Perth, Beijing or at least Langkawi. Definitely not the 'I am going to go on hunger strike for 100 hours' category.  They are not that deprived.

Dont worry hunger strikers. There will be fools like you who will support fools like you.

Guan Eng's Brown Shirts

I first heard about this issue a couple of months back from another Blogger. I recall only vaguely about this Pasukan Peronda Sukarela which the DAP has set up in Penang. What happened is that the DAP's Pasukan Peronda Sukarela were becoming like thugs around Penang. This is what I heard. 

My hunch is Guan Eng set up the PPS (he launched it on September 17, 2011) after that mamak fellow in Komtar challenged Guan Eng to a fight.  Other than peronda sukarela stuff, I think the PPS also provides security for Guan Eng around Penang. 

There is some similarity between Guan Eng's PPS in Penang and Adolf Hitler's infamous Brownshirts or the  Sturmabteilung (SA) or Storm Detachment or Assault Division which functioned as the original paramilitary wing of the Nazi Party in Germany.  The Brownshirts  played a key role in Adolf Hitler's rise to power in the 1920s and 1930s.  Their main assignments were providing protection for Nazi rallies and assemblies; the disruption of opposing political parties.

Here is a picture of Adolph Hitler and his brownshirts :

Then today we read in the news that a Chinese journalist from the Guang Ming Daily newspaper was beaten up by some members of Lim Guan Eng's Pasukan Peronda Sukarela.

Here is the news :

Journalist beaten up at PPS centre

Ang showing his damaged camera and the injury on his lips at a private hospital in George Town.

• journalist covering suicide assault(ed) by (PPS) set up by Penang Govt 
• 39-year-old woman, had fallen to her death 
• attackers came and warned him not to take pictures.
• injuries to lips, chest, abdomen and groin 
• damaged his camera by slamming it on the floor.
• punched and kicked at the unit’s makeshift operations centre.
• “threatened me, saying that I won’t be able to walk out from Perak Lane 
• PPS chairman Phee Boon Poh said 50-member squad in Perak Lan suspended 
• Expressing his regret over the matter, Phee said state review recruiting.
• “We will submit the complete name list of all the 5,300 PPS members to the police for vetting purposes,” he said after visiting Ang at a private hospital 
• “The most important thing now is to conduct proper training to ensure the members are disciplined,” he added.
• Perak Lane PPS squad leader Khoo Eng Chong said one of the attackers was confirmed to be a member while another was a former prison inmate.

So only now Phee Boon Poh wants to conduct proper recruitment procedures, background vetting and checking. They even have former prison inmates in their Pasukan Peronda Sukarela. Why not? Their leaders, ketua umum are all former prison inmates as well. Jailbirds all hang out together.

Why should the Police waste their time and money doing your dirty work? This is a private security outfit set up by the DAP in Penang. The DAP have set up the PPS for their own political purposes. You go and do your own security vetting. And now they are behaving like thugs. Why should taxpayers money be used to sort out your thugs?

"Perak Lane PPS squad leader Khoo Eng Chong said one of the attackers was confirmed to be a member while another was a former prison inmate" 

When Guan Eng launched the Pasukan Peronda Sukarela on 17 September 2011 among the things he said was this :  "Objektif utama PPS adalah untuk mengurangkan kadar jenayah yang semakin meningkat. Melalui rondaan oleh penduduk-penduduk tempatan, ini sekaligus dapat mewujudkan persekitaran kejiranan yang ceria, selamat dan bersatu padu."

Kurangkan jenayah kepala hotak lu lah Guan Eng. Now your PPS thugs are showing their true colours. They are committing the crimes. This is just one case that has come to the surface. You better check and see if there are other cases of bullying and coercion going on around Penang.  And the next step up : extortion. Especially from the hawkers.

Lee Kuan Yew and the PAP in Singapore also have their Brownshirts.  Singaporeans know this extremely very well. That is why they fear the PAP so much.  

Not even one term in office in a State Govt and we see so much strange behaviour from these folks. They take the cake in Perak. They were in power for just one year in Perak and they got 10,500 acres of land in Kelantan. Not bad. And yet they say they are the champions fighting against corruption and cronyism. Munafiks.

 In Sarawak the DAP is supported 100% by the timber taukehs and the timber community.  That PKR lawyer who claims to fight for native land rights also made his name as a conveyancing lawyer.  Conveyancing what? Sales and purchase agreements for land purchases. Stop and think folks - would the natives in Sarawak (who are poor) sell land or buy land? Obviously they will sell. Who will the buyers be? Other poor natives in Sarawak or the pro DAP timber taukehs?  Please think. Tak payah belajar tinggi-tinggi pun boleh faham. So this great 'champion of native land rights' is actually facilitating jual beli tanah from the natives to the timber taukehs as well. Dont be fooled. Ini semua pasal duit.

There is something very ugly behind these people. Better watch out. They are claiming to be sinless, saintly, anugerah Tuhan and all kinds of crap. Personally, I was hoping to see them showing some good example in the four States they rule. Serupa juga. Sekarang sudah nampak sudah lebih teruk. Better the devil you know than the satan you dont know.

Underworld In Penang

First here is a news report from The Star . 

Man shot dead in Penang  :  GEORGE TOWN: A 29-year-old man was shot dead at close range by a gunman at Jalan Permai, Taman Brown here.  The man was pronounced dead at a private hospital during the 10.50pm incident Saturday.  He was chatting outside a friend's house before the gunman with his accomplices in two cars came and fired a shot at him. Police have since come out with a photofit of the suspect based on the friends description.

This is happening frequently in Penang especially on the island. Talk is that the underground societies have penetrated the island's booming construction industry.  Labour supply and 'protection' for construction sites are under the influence of the underworld. 

Plus the underworld is also active in their traditional businesses - prostitution, entertainment centres, drugs and money lending.   And there is a money route. 

Developers pay contractors. Contractors have to pay the underworld.   Entertainment centre operators need licenses.  

When there are gangs and money involved, there will certainly be turf wars and that is why we read about stories like this - where a 29 year old man gets shot and killed. There will be more such occurences.

Diesel Smuggling In Johor More Than RM1.0M A Day

I hope you all remember this story I wrote on October 29, 2012 :  Ismail Sabri Wake Up : RM1.0M A Day Lost In Diesel Smuggling

Some of you (maybe part of the corrupted people behind the smuggling rings) wrote and said how can RM1.0 million worth of diesel be smuggled out every day from Johor? Well just read this from The Star today :

• JOHOR BARU: The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) managed to thwart an attempt by a Mongolian registered vessel to smuggle 200,000 litres of diesel worth RM3.6mil off Sungai Johor in Kota Tinggi here.
• MMEA received a tip-off that several suspicious tankers were transferring the diesel into the vessel at a jetty near Teluk Sengat 
• “We managed to intercept the vessel off the waters of Teluk Sengat in Sungai Johor and found the smuggled diesel hidden in eight separate tanks.
• The vessel was believed to be on its way to a neighbouring country to sell the diesel.
• vessel's three crewmen and the captain, all Indonesian nationals were being detained 

Neighbouring country? Now which country would that be? Poland? Transylvania? Lithuania? Here is a picture of the Mongolian registered vessel.

Well first of all Mongolia is a landlocked country. There are no seaports in Mongolia. But this vessel is registered in Mongolia. Cool.

Secondly 200,000 litres of diesel cannot be worth RM3.6 million. That works out to RM18.0  per litre. The Star must do better fact checking. Subsidised diesel is selling at RM1.80 per litre in Malaysia. That makes this boat load worth RM360,000 at subsidised prices.

In Singapore diesel sells for about RM4.00 per liter. That makes this boatload worth RM800,000 in Singapore. This is just one boat load. But folks surely this cannot be the only boatload being smuggled "to neighbouring countries" everyday.

Suspicious lorry  tankers were transferring diesel to this boat in Teluk Sengat. Surely there must be a general manager, a logistics manager, a paymaster, cashier, bank account holders, money transfer guys, the shipping agents, ship owners, the shipping forwarders, suppliers of the smuggled diesel etc who must all be involved before they can load up 200,000 litres of diesel on a ship at a jetty in Teluk Sengat? 

Katakanlah everyday there are FIVE boatloads leaving Johor, that is easily 1.0 million LITRES of diesel. That is worth RM4.0 million in Singapore already - per day.

I wrote about this on October 29th, 2012.  Today is 30th December 2012 - two months have passed before we read of this ship being detained.  

So how many boatloads of diesel have been smuggled out from Johor since October? Even if just ONE boat load a day x 200k litres x 60 days x RM4.00 per litre = RM48.0 Million in two months. 

If  there are THREE boatloads a day, that adds up to RM144.0 Million in two months. If there are FIVE boatloads a day being smuggled out, that is RM240.0 Million in two months. That is a lot of money. A lot of payoffs.

Diesel smuggling in Johor is rampant. It has become an industry. Everyone from top to bottom must be involved (and be paid off) if this scale of smuggling can still go on. 

I am surprised that it is the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency that made this seizure. Where is the Jabatan Kastam? Where is Ismail Sabri? Hang yang jadi Menteri Perdagangan Dalam Negeri. 

Syabas to the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency. Hopefully they will wrap up this diesel smuggling business.

The Poyo Coming Home To Roost In Sudan

Someone commented why I keep highlighting all these negative stories about the Arab countries that are collapsing. I keep highlighting them because they keep happening - they are really under great duress. And I see similarities between what is causing their collapse and the situation in our country. 

This following news about Sudan is adapted from Middle East sources.

• regimes in Sudan and Jordan face challenges to hold on power. 
• fresh fighting between Sudan and South Sudan. 
• tensions increased since South Sudan independence in July 2011.
• South Sudan to build a $3 billion pipeline through Kenya.
• consequences on Sudan for the loss of south have been drastic. 
• loss in oil revenues led to rapid  inflation and drop of Sudanese pound.
• loss 3/4 oil output, 50%  budget and 80% forex earnings. 
• new taxes, end fuel subsidies hurting already poor Sudanese.
• “situation in Sudan has many difficulties, gaps unbridgeable.
• “Sudan is in the category of failed African states” 
• “situation is not good socially, economically or politically. 
• daily hardships in every aspect of life, student protests begun.
• Protests picked up steam since Arab uprisings. 
• problems along ethnic fault lines, in the south and Darfur. 
• South Sudan Christian and traditionalist while Darfur has African Muslims.
• government dealing with growing protests and instability. 
• accusations against opposition Umma party for attempted coup in November. 
• ill health of President Omar Bashir impetus behind coup
• student protests brutally put down  
• fired live ammunition at student demonstrations, causing massacres. 
• military moves against South Sudan to distract attention from problems.

Folks time is very important. Everything takes time. We need to understand time and how much time it takes for things to happen.  It took five years  for our mini pokok kelapa to bear fruit. 

How long does it take for milk to go bad? It takes only a few hours if left exposed at room temperature. McDonald's fries are quite indestructible - they can last a few days (or weeks). I once discovered a full packet of cheese under the front seat of the car.  It had been there for a couple of weeks and it did not go bad at all.  This is not good ok because we dont know what they put in the fries and cheese that keeps them from going bad. It is not natural.

Fortunately if the milk goes sour or the cheese turns bad it is not a crisis issue for everyday you and me. Just buy another carton of milk or buy some more cheese. 

How long does it take for a country to go bad? How long does it take for a country to do good? It takes about 20 to 40 years for things to go terribly wrong.  The downward spiral of Sudan began in the late 1970s.  

In 1982 when I was a student in the US, there was an 'Islamic students' gathering (I used to hang out with the religious freaks at that time).   A guy by the name of Hassan Thurabi came to talk. He was part of the jihadist opposition in Sudan. Through coup d'etats etc Hassan Thurabi came to power in the Sudan in 1989.  Long before that he was already very influential with his jihadist beliefs. In 1979 he was made the Minister of Justice. (In 1983 strongman Gaafar Numeiry imposed the sharia in Sudan. That sealed their fate.)  But it was Thurabi who was very influential in introducing the sharia and the general "religionisation" of society like wearing the tudung for women and so on.

I asked him a question about  how should an Islamic country handle non-Muslim minorities? He was dismissive of the question and said 'we can give them some rights'.  He actually gestured with his wrists in a dismissive manner. This was in 1982. I can still remember it like yesterday.

Hassan Thurabi went back to cause major chaos in Sudan. He expanded his religion of hatred. He spent much time highlighting differences between the Muslims and others in Sudan. Not only was Sudan divided between muslim and christian, there were also Arab Muslims (the ruling classes) and the African Muslims (former slaves of the Arabs). 

The tool for causing even larger divisions in society was the sharia - or  the Sudan version of sharia. Hassan Thurabi looked at non Muslims with his dismissive "we can give them some rights".  In his world view, his fellow human beings were unequal simply because of the religion they believed. Making it worse was that the Sudan was already divided into Arab, African, Muslim, christian, animist, tribal and other divisions.

Then two things happened. The first thing was that the sharia did not help the Sudanese improve their lot in life. They still had to buy their underwear from China. They remain as unproductive as ever. They are not scientifically or technologically advanced and neither are they a very modern people.  The Sudanese Muslims willingly (and some less willingly) accepted more and more religious restrictions imposed on their society. This is not unlike what the PAS has achieved in Kelantan or what has been done in our Government schools in Malaysia. In no time Sudan became a failed state and its people who were already poor became even poorer. This is despite Sudan being an oil producing country.

They burnt off their oil wealth. Subsidy here, subsidy there, pay three to four times market price for Gomen projects, undertook silly Gomen projects, the connected became rich, the productivity did not go up enough. Now the oil money has gone and judgement day has come to the Sudan.  

The second thing that happened was that the Christian minority in the south had had enough of the bullying by the jihadists in the north. So they got up, organised themselves and kicked the butts of the northerners. There was civil war. So last year the Sudan was split into Muslim majority Sudan and the new independent christian majority South Sudan with a population of about nine million people.  

The division is also along tribal lines because Sudanese belonged to tribes from before christianity or Islam came to their country to mess them up.  

The catch is 3/4 of the oil wealth is in the South Sudan. The north is therefore in deep trouble.  As we speak, they are sliding down day by day. Subsidies have been cut, fuel and food prices are rising, their Gomen has got no money for the budget, they still need to buy their underwear from China, they still think they are going to heaven, they still think they are God's chosen, they still think their version of sharia will lead the way and light up the world.  They are in really deep stuff.  

The serious damage to Sudan was done in about 20 years between say 1980 and 2000.  It takes time  for a country to turn sour or go bad. It takes a continuous series of wrong policies, a prolonged belief in illogical, irrational religious rules, a long period of enforcing nonsensical religious laws which do not work, creating more and more hatreds in society between Muslims and non-Muslims, creating more ridiculous restrictions on Muslims (especially women) and chasing after some strange 11th century arab culture has taken Sudan into the trash dump.  Poyo in slang Malay means sombong or proud. It is now coming home to roost in the Sudan.

Between the two, the country to watch now is the South Sudan. Firstly they have the oil wealth. They have made English their only official language.  Their schools and education system will be in English. (The north speaks Arabic). This will give South Sudan a jump start over the north. If they get their act together the South Sudan should see much progress in the next 10 to 20 years.  Plus the South Sudan does not have sharia. No tudung for their women, no this haram, that haram, this tak boleh, that tak boleh, semua tak boleh. 

Will the world miss Sudan? Is the Sudan relevant to the world around them? Other than the oil resources, I dont think so. Please look around your house. Do you see any technology products or value added products Made in Sudan? I dont think so.  If an alien space ship came out of the sky and sucked up all the Sudanese into the sky, how many people are going to miss them? What I am trying to say is they are not relevant to other human beings.  They make themselves irelevant.

And now their country is headed for real trouble. People have no jobs, no economy and no food to eat. If only they could eat sharia for breakfast, lunch and dinner. But that too is not possible.

I believe this can happen to Malaysia. We are also burning oil money. We give out subsidies and more subsidies. We have the GLCs burning money, spending huge amounts of our limited resources pursuing less value added, non technology businesses.  We have the cronies. 

Lets get back to time. Are we headed the same way? How long will it take Malaysia to reach a point of no retrun? The tipping point.    Religious intolerance is increasing in the people. Too much hate filled religion in the education system has messed up the minds of millions. They even get angry if you say 'Merry Christmas' to the christians.  And we are still largely uncompetitive. Without the umbrella - nothing much works. We too buy our underwear from China. The 'Islam' variety is still elusive.  What if the oil money runs out?   Or the oil money is not enough?

Sudan is perhaps a mirror  - reflecting what can be. 

Mali : Another Islamic Country Bites The Dust

Looking at the number of strange religious programs on our TV, listening to the Friday sermons  which preach so much hatred, looking at the PAS in Kelantan plus the funny ostat preachers who preach to entertain and make money, I think Malaysia is headed in the same direction - the Club of Doom. The people who cannot think - from all strata of society  - are getting intoxicated by these false beliefs.

There are some really cruel things going on in a far away Islamic country called Mali. Where is Mali? It is in Africa. Here is a map:

It is sandwiched between Mauritania, Algeria, Niger, Burkina Faso, Cote D'Voire (Ivory Coast), Guinea and Senegal. These are part of the Francophone countries of West Africa.  

There is a world famous town called Timbuktu in Mali (Tombouctou on the map). The English phrase 'Go to Timbuktu' which indicates a really far away and remote place has made it world famous.  When someone says 'Go to Timbuktu' it is like saying 'get lost'. Or as a test of some great sacrifice.

Mali has now been taken over by a fanatic jihadist terror group called the Ansar Dine (Ansar-udeen). This is a mixed batch of extremist Saudi Arabians, Pakistanis, Afghans, other Arabs and African jihadists who came out of nowhere and have imposed their religious laws on Mali. Here is some news :

• Malians Flee as Extremists Tighten Their Grip
• imposing a strict form of justice 
• tens of thousands flee African Afghanistan.
• imposing lash and gun on Malian Muslims 
• conditions grim, many Malians sick, hungry and bewildered. 
• grueling life turned upside-down 
• repeated whippings, beatings and other punishments in the streets

• “They said: ‘You are thieves. Why are you out walking at this hour?’ ” Mohamed ag el-Hadj, a 27-year-old recalled. He and a friend out for a stroll at 7 in the evening found themselves surrounded by two carloads of well-armed men. The men tied the friends’ arms behind their backs, bound them to a tree and forced them to kneel, bending forward, for the evening. In the morning, “everything was swollen.”  When they found a cigarette pack in his shirt pocket, they beat him about the face. 

Arab, Afghan, Pakistani, Saudi jihadists flock to Mali. Kat hujung tu Melayu ke?

• Ali Diaba, witnessed citizens being whipped and undressed in the streets 
• armed men of numerous races, languages — Afghans, Pakistanis, Nigerians.
• “They persecute and torture people, under the guise of a false religion,” 
• women of northern Mali are particular targets. 
• Aishatta Abdou, 30 years chased off the street for walking without her husband. 
• Fadimata Ouallet, forced out of car by gunmen because she was the only woman 
• pointed a gun at her and said, “Get out or we will kill you,” 
• A young couple, whipped in the street for walking unmarried, taken to the clinic.”

The satans always pick on the women first

• “completely turned our way of life upside-down,”  
• “imposed a kind of religion we have never seen. 
• You can’t even walk with your wife. We’re like prisoners.”

Under the complete control of satan

• Islamists occupying Timbuktu were using pickaxes on Sunday (December 23rd) to destroy any remaining mausoleums in the ancient city
• destroyed half-dozen venerable above-ground tombs in the ancient city
• "Not a single mausoleum will remain in Timbuktu, God doesn't like it. We are in the process of smashing all the hidden mausoleums in the area," said Abou Dardar, an Ansar al-Din leader.
• al-Qaeda splinter group Movement for Tawhid and Jihad in West Africa (MUJAO) said Saturday that it cut off the hands of two people in Gao as part of its interpretation of Sharia. The terror group warned another eight people could face a similar fate.  "It's God's law and no one can stop us from applying it," 

Destroying their own history and their source of income : tourism. Now they can eat grass

Well its just another Islamic country that has entered the lowest pit of the Club of Doom. Folks, there is no bottom for these people. Just when you thought they had reached the bottom, they will dig another hole at the bottom of the pit and sink themselves even lower. 

Lets see now for how many years Mali will remain in the news. To make it easy lets mark the calendar from January 1st, 2013. This is just the beginning.  

In the old days the French conducted their own foreign policy in Francophone Africa - almost at will. They would send in the French Foreign Legion. Now they are more discerning. They would not want to become targets for every crazy fundo suicide bomber from Malaysia to Morrocco.  

Very soon the jihadists will be recruiting suicide bombers for action in Mali.  Facebook and the jihadi Blogs are the usual recruitment sites. Lets see if any confused Malaysian jihadists end up in Mali. I hope our security apparatus will keep their ears wide open.

Part 3 Religious Intellectuals - Al Ghazali

This is the second part on Al Ghazali's book Ihya Ulumudeen. Ok lets now look at the Ihya. I have the three volume set translated by Maulana Fazlul Karim and published by Kitab Bhavan, New Delhi. Here is a picture :

In the Introduction, Imam Ghazali quotes this from the Quran :   'Take whatever the Apostle gave you and keep away from whatever he forbade you..'  59:7 Quran. 

Over the years I have come to realise that these old Persian scholars like Imam Ghazali often quote only portions of a verse from the Quran to justify entire concepts. This type of partial quote can easily go unchallenged when the writer is a non Arab speaker or non native Arab speaker who writes for a mainly non Arab audience.  

Even everyday Arabs do not know what is in the Quran what more Persians who cannot speak Arabic?  Here is the full quote of the verse :

"Whatever Allah restored to His messenger from the communities shall go to Allah and His messenger. You shall give it to the relatives, the orphans, the poor, and the traveling alien. Thus, it will not remain monopolized by the wealthy from among you. You may keep the spoils given to you by the messenger, but do not take what he enjoins you from taking. You shall reverence Allah. Allah is strict in enforcing retribution" Surah 59:7.

This verse talks specifically about the distribution of the spoils of war.  Do not let the wealth circulate only among the rich and powerful people. That would be unfair. Make sure the wealth gets to everyone, especially those in need and the poor. (This is a perfectly sensible economic statement too - which we must bear in mind when we formulate our economic policies as well).  This theme of distributing wealth fairly continues into the next verse Surah 59:8 : 

'.. to the needy who immigrated. They were evicted from their homes and deprived of their properties, because they sought Allah's grace and pleasure, and because they supported Allah and His messenger. They are the truthful.'  Surah 59:8.

Then in Section 2, The Book of Worship (pg 29 of Volume 1) Ghazali makes a statement which is reflective of the limitations of knowledge in the 11th century Persia. He says, "There is a difference of opinion among the learned as to which branch of knowledge is obligatory on an individual'.

Well to begin with, he says there was already a difference of opinion - they were arguing. 

But in the 21st century today such a question does not arise. You can do a really serious PhD in Mayan Mythology, the mating habits of imaginary pet unicorns and even the physics of magical flying horses.  You can argue if it is useful knowledge  or not. Well if you can write a Hollywood script based on your research and make a million bucks from the movie (or fool a billion people with a magical flying horse) then of course it is useful to you. But how can knowledge be "not obligatory" on an individual? 

These types of arguments just seek to split hairs - over nothing.  Here is a question to ponder : is acquiring knowledge about magical flying horses obligatory? Not obligatory?  Please feel free to argue endlessly. 

Then in Section 3, Ghazali talks about the 'Blameworthy Sciences' (pg 47 of Vol 1). The phrase 'Blameworthy Science' itself comes across as a classic oxymoron.

Science or ilm (in Arabic) means knowledge. Today there are classifications of sciences like life sciences, natural sciences, social sciences, pure science etc. (Feel free to add or delete). But how can any science (knowledge) by itself be blameworthy? A nuclear bomb certainly can be blameworthy but not the science of nuclear physics. Ghazali did not know physics. 

He was actually referring to black magic !! He believed that black magic and sorcery had powers. Again this is even more reflective of Ghazali's limited 11th century knowledge base. He believed that hocus pocus had power.  About sorcery he says "it becomes blameworthy, such as magic, talismans, sorcery. These sciences are true no doubt as the Quran testifies."

Note Ghazali's words "magic, talismans, sorcery. These sciences are true no doubt as the Quran testifies.."  Where exactly does the Quran say that sorcery, talismans and magic are true?  There is no such thing. 

In the Quran the arabic word for sorcery is 'sihir' - from which the Malay word sihir is also derived.  Here is a line from that famous fight scene in the Quran between the Pharaoh's sorcerers and Moses.  Lets focus on the sihir word which appears twice in this verse.

Surah 7:116  He said, "You throw." When they threw, they tricked (sihir) the people's eyes, intimidated them, and produced a great magic (sihir).

Their sihir was just trickery. A sleight of hand.  They tricked the peoples' eyes to believe their 'magic'. Although the word used is 'sihir' it was all fake. 

Surah 20:69 "Throw what you hold in your right hand, and it will swallow what they fabricated (sanaa'u). What they fabricated (sanaa'u) is no more than the scheming of a magician (sihir). The magician's (sihir's) work will not succeed"

So 'sihir' cannot succeed, it cannot work. Which is why in the Quran there is no real magical 'sihir'. They are just fabrications, tricks and sleights of hand. (There are many more verses we can dwell on, including Harut & Marut (2:102) but this is sufficient) However in the seventh century Arabia - and until 21st century Malaysia - millions of people want to believe in magic. Al Ghazali was one of them. He even created a classification called 'blameworthy science' for sihir.  In the text of the Ihya, Ghazali gives clear examples of black magic - he believed they existed.

Ghazali says (pg 39), "philosophy is not a single branch of science but comprises four subjects..the first subject includes geometry, arithmetic. ..the second subject includes Logic..the third subject is the science of sufism. The fourth subject is Physics of which some portions contradict Shariah and true religion and are therefore not right."

Ghazali is totally off here. You can see how limited was his knowledge base back in the 11th century. He believed in black magic, he said Sufism was a branch of science and he condemns portions of Physics as not being right (when it contradicts shariah).

I am wondering how can Physics contradict shariah? I dont know if that muka tin sadin fellow - he claims to be an expert on shariah - can explain this. And how can sufism be a branch of any science? What is sufism? Spirituality? What is spirituality? Has anyone seen a spirit yet? If you have, please say hi for me ok.

Interestingly Ghazali also condemns fiqh (fikah) or jurisprudence. He says, 'the people have changed the original meanings of the words fiqh, ilm, tauhid, tazkir and hikmah and have given them meanings of their own. As a result they have now become blameworthy (pg 49).

So ilmu fikah is now blameworthy. Here I agree with Ghazali completely.  Muslims all around the world are screwed up because of the ilmu fikah (jurisprudence or law). 

About fiqh or jurisprudence Ghazali says,  "Fiqh (religious learning) : It has now the meaning of the science of unusual legal cases, mystery of the minutest details of jurisprudence and excessive debates on them."

Then on pg. 183 Ghazali also says things like the prayer of three persons will not go up beyond their heads 

i. a fugitive slave 
ii. a woman whose husband is displeased with her 
iii. an imam with whom his people are dissatisfied

There is absolutely no slavery in the Quran.  The Quran commands the freeing of all slaves. 

"Righteousness is not turning your faces towards the east or the west. Righteous are those who believe in Allah, the last day .. to free the slaves... keep their word whenever they make a promise .. . These are the truthful; these are the righteous"  (2:177)

But Ghazali says the prayers of a fugitive slave will not 'go up beyond their heads'.  Ghazali lived about 500 years after the Prophet. One would think that 500 years after the Quran was revealed the Muslim intellectuals would have read Surah 2:177 and completely abolished slavery. They did not.

He also says, "Paradise becomes sure for one without account who is Imam for seven years" (pg 183).   

There is no such thing stated anywhere in the Quran.  There is more but it would take too much time.  These are the religious people who wrote what they wrote a thousand years ago. Their knowledge was extremely limited.

They had strange ideas about philosophy, black magic, sufism, physics and so on which was all mixed up inside one bag. None of this can be traced back to the Quran. And they honestly believed that they could solve all the world's problems with the limited knowledge that they had.  They could not. 

But most unfortunately the Muslims came to hold these writers in great regard - even until today. Many people today will say that Ghazali's views and findings are still current. This is another reason for the Muslims current predicament - they uphold ideas that are a thousand years old, that are far removed from the Quran and which never worked. 

Today even the suicide bombers are prepared to blow themselves up to blindly defend some of these thousand year old teachings of these so called scholars. Their writings have become written in stone. 

In conclusion I repeat what Ibn Taymiyyah said about Ghazali :

"This Abu Hamid al-Ghazali, despite his brilliance, his devotion to Allah, his knowledge of kalam and philosophy, his asceticism and spiritual practices and his Sufism, ended up in a state of confusion and resorted to the path of those who claim to find out things through dreams and spiritual methods."

Saudi Clerics To Labor Minister:Stop Women Employment Or You Will Get Cancer

Someone posted this in the comments earlier.

"Clerics who oppose gender mixing at the workplace have given an ultimatum to Saudi Minister of Labor Adel Fakieh: he has one month to roll back on the policy allowing women to work in retail  or they will pray to God to give him cancer.

Local media reported that more than 200 clerics from around the Kingdom had come to Riyadh and held a meeting Tuesday afternoon at the Ministry with Fakieh to complain about gender mixing in retail stores, accusing him of challenging religious authorities in the country like the Council of Senior Ulema.

“Stop women employment or we will pray against you like we have done with the previous Labor Minister,” a cleric named Abdulrahman Aba-Nemai reportedly told Fakieh. 

The cleric was referring to the late Ghazi al-Gosaibi who passed away in August 2010 and had to face similar opposition from conservatives over women employment. A video uploaded to YouTube showed some attendees cheer with the sounds of takbeer as Aba-Nemai talked to Fakieh."

China Will Get Here - By Rail !

Here is the news :

• World's longest high-speed rail line opens in China
• world's longest high-speed rail line, 2,298km (1,428m) Beijing to Guangzhou.
• Trains will initially run at 300 kph (186 mph) travel time of eight hours. 
• Before fastest time between two cities was more than 20 hours.
• government plans grid of four east-west, four north-south lines by 2020.
• July 2011 crash of high-speed train raised concerns about safety 
• developed full range of effective measures to manage safety 
• Last year's accident when train stranded after hit by lightning.
• Ministry of Railways raised budget three times this year 
• government committed to build high-speed railways 
• China eventually planning to run them into Russia and Southeast Asia. 

The last line caught my attention. They plan to run their high speed lines into Russia and South East Asia. Obviously the Chinese have some huge plans for Russia as well. Dont know if the Russians are aware of this.

The fact that this forms part of an official press release by China's Ministry of Railways speaks volumes. They are making public wedding proposals. It is up to Russia and the South East Asian countries to respond to thess Chinese plans for the region.

Chinese commerce and industry is going to spread over the world.  Every power will have its rise and fall. There is absolutely no doubt. Benevolent powers last longer. Malignant powers fizzle out faster. 

China seeks growth through trade. They want to come here by fast train. Not via tanks and aircraft carriers - even though they have the capacity. The fact that they are a rising power is beyond doubt. And they do not seem to be a malignant power. 

The critical point for South East Asia is latching on to a rising power.  Or shall we give the China-boat a miss. We can still buy 'Made In China'.

Satu Untuk Kau, Dua Untuk Aku

Upacara poly-kami. Dengan upaya daya yang ada pada aku, aku langsungkan kau berdua dengan aku dengan ikatan mesra 10,563 tin sadin jenama 'Relai'  (Dpd koleksi gambar lucu).

Winnable Candidates : Beware The Bloggers

Around this time in 2007, just a few months before the March 2008 general elections the pro-UMNO Bloggers were  out in full swing conspiring how to bring down Abdullah Badawi and his regime.  I was writing almost full time for Malaysia Today. 

Kalimullah, Khairy Jamaluddin and Kamaluddin's biggest mistake was their decision to remove all the Mahathir era writers and journalists from the mainstream media. I was not a journalist but a writer. When Dr Mahathir was the Prime Minister I wrote two columns in two different newspapers. After six years (of saying whatever I wanted to say) they just chopped off my newspaper columns. So many other journalists lost their jobs.

Then the Blog revolution chanced upon us. For almost free you could open a Blog, say what you want to say and people would read your Blog. It was as simple as that. Fueling the fire was the true, undeniable fact that Abdullah Badawi literally fell asleep in his job.  Plus there was the hanky panky.  

But the biggest mistake they made was the victimisation of Dr Mahathir Mohamed.  A third rate 'curi lembu'  fellow's son with absolutely no pedigree nor any worthy family name (and who has gotten away with millions of Ringgit worth of crony contracts) was suddenly plotting against the greatest  statesman and leader this country and the Third World had seen in decades. And they seriously expected to sustain.  They should know that no one has forgotten them. I know people who bear serious grudges against these folks and maybe their families for the next seven generations.  You have really screwed yourselves up royally. 

All this unpleasantness unleashed a huge deluge of negative energy against these people. The pro-UMNO Bloggers went all out to  make sure that Badawi would be kicked out. This has certainly come to pass.

The same Bloggers are still in place. And now, after many more years of Blogging, the same Bloggers have accumulated millions of hits, followers and supporters. Do not underestimate the influence and the reach of the Blogs. 

Many of them are now with the Prime Minister. Here I can vouch that all the pro-UMNO Bloggers fully support the Prime Minister Dato Seri Najib Tun Razak in leading the party and the nation onward.  The Bloggers also support the deputy party president and Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyudin Yasin. 

However I am quite certain that the love stops there. Beyond the PM and the Deputy PM, no one can say for sure if the Bloggers support any of the other Cabinet Ministers, the other UMNO and BN  leaders, MPs and ADUNs.  

The Bloggers certainly are against many of the Jurassic Park candidates who are left overs from the Abdullah Badawi regime. We are still perplexed why the PM has kept them around. Too many of them are serious liabilities. 

So here is my prediction. Parliament will be dissolved soon. Once Parliament is dissolved, the Federal Constitution provides 60 days before Polling. In practise however the whole thing is over in about three weeks.  

Nomination Day for candidates will take place say within about a week to 10 days (plus or minus) after Parliament is dissolved. After Nomination Day, the elections will follow in say about another week to 10 days. It will all be over in about three weeks. 

Imagine a situation where 10 days before the Polling Date, the pro-BN Bloggers start throwing bricks against  BN candidates who they do not like?  The party leadership better think about this very carefully. 

DO NOT EXPECT THE BLOGS TO SUPPORT CANDIDATES THAT NO ONE REALLY LIKES OR WHO HAVE BEEN THE CAUSE OF OUR PROBLEMS BEFORE.

The Bloggers may consider it a sabotage if these remnants from the Badawi regime show their faces again for PRU13. The same goes for the Jurassic Park candidates. 

It will indeed be a sabotage of the party if these candidates reappear on the ballot. There are not many of these past due date candidates anyway - just about two dozen of them. Surely a country of 28 million people has better choices who can replace these two dozen or so problem causers.

So imagine a situation where 10 days before Polling Day, it is the pro-UMNO Bloggers who are throwing brick-bats against UMNO and other BN candidates? Wouldnt that be  embarrassing? And many of the UMNO Bloggers know  "secrets" of many of these people whom they really do not like.  Thankfully there are only about two dozen or so of these problem candidates at the national level.

I hope the PM and the Deputy PM will read this. I hope their various communications teams will take note of this point. In 2008 it was the pro-UMNO  Bloggers who brought down the Badawi regime. They can influence the voters. Dont play play. 

Morning Tea With Dr Chua Soi Lek

A few Bloggers met up with Dato Sri Dr Chua Soi Lek at the MCA HQ in Jalan Ampang this morning (Thursday 27 Decemver 2012). Here is a deliberately downsized picture :

Each time I have met Dr Chua Soi Lek he talks straight with no pretenses.  We covered a range of issues. He highlighted many concerns but at the end of it all he is very confident of the MCA and the BN doing well in the coming general elections.  The man is a fighter.  

When questioned about the support for him within the MCA, he acknowledged that there were factions. But he also asked which political party does not have factions? He says the only way to overcome any factionalism in the party is to work hard. And he said he works very hard - something which few can deny.

Perhaps the MCA has not had a president who works as hard as Chua Soi Lek.  The party is making inroads. Dr Chua spoke of a Net savvy DAP Youth leader (identified with Ronnie Liu) who recently joined the MCA. 

He also voices disappointment at inconsistent Government policy that is making things difficult. The AES issue is just one. Dr Chua has made a simple suggestion to have a six month trial run first to iron out all the bugs. 

He also speaks plain common sense about the English teachers issue. Why hire the Mat Sallehs with their strange accents that no one can understand? And why hire English teachers from India with their even stranger accents? Why not just hire our local retired English teachers who are willing to teach? As long as they have the experience just ask them "Are you willing to teach English on a contract basis?" Problem can be solved.

Dr Chua says passing English should be made compulsory in all schools. Mandarin should also be offered in all Government schools as part of Pupils Own Language or POL. Siapa mahu boleh belajar Mandarin. 

Then Dr Chua spoke of people within Government who want to sabotage the Government. (I fully agree with this view). He speaks of unnecessary hurdles and brickwalls that are thrown up by people within Government to frustrate Government propgrams.

He gave the example of three 'sekolah bantuan penuh' Chinese schools. The SRJK Hua Ming  in Gopeng (sorry kalau wrong spelling), SRJK Gunong Rapat and SRJK Kopisan.  These three schools have already been alotted certain sums of money for their school projects. Amounts of RM500,000, RM300,000 and RM1.0 million respectively.

However despite much efforts the funds are not being released by the Government folks. So here is a situation where money has already been allocated but not released by bureaucrats, under various procedural excuses. Both sides have their arguments. Meantime school expansion does not happen. Votes are also lost.

Dr Chua Soi Lek reiterates that no one has done more for Chinese education as well as educating the Chinese in the country than the MCA. The TAR College and now the UTAR have produced over 200,000 graduates including many DAP leaders. This is something he is really proud of.

Revisiting the issue of factionalism and lack of support he spoke bluntly about the Ong Tee Keat faction trying to sabotage him in Melaka.  Dr Chua feels that if there is a hung Parliament after the general elections, Ong Tee Keat may just pack his bags and leave.  Like Chua Jui Ming. 

He said that at one time Ong Tee Keat did conduct an online poll to ask if MCA should leave the BN.

He said that in the 2008 elections, Chua Jui Ming had some of the MCA 'bilik gerakan' closed early which gave a very bad image to the voters. People thought they were being sombong for closing early. 

He also spoke of non cooperation from Ketua Bahagian UMNO. In Gopeng where the MCA held the Parliamentary seat plus two out of three State seats, the Ketua Bahagian UMNO did not give the MCA some of the election funds that were allocated for the area.  He says the same thing has happened to MCA's Ampang division.  This slows down the MCA's activities as well. 

He says the BN lost the Gopeng seat because of sabotage. The people who were supposed to organise transport and logistics for the 4,600 Orang Asli voters in the jungle did not get things  organised until 4 pm - one hour before the polls closed. Dr Chua feels this was done on purpose.  

And here is his warning - this sabotage will be duplicated again this time. Why? Because the same saboteurs are still lurking around. Dr Chua says they do not understand the meaning of 'demi negara, bangsa dan agama'.    

MCA is again putting in for 40 Parliamentary seats. Dr Chua says he is willing to give up any seats to other BN parties if they think they have a better chance of winning them. He says he has already agreed to let other BN parties contest two MCA seats - including one requested by Kayveas. 

He says with slightly tongue in cheek, "Which MCA president is so good?".

He is not worried about the Dong Zong and the ultra groups. He says their influence is waning as the younger generation of Chinese is becoming more multi racial in their outlook. 

Coming back to Ong Tee Keat, he says (again with a bit of tongue in cheek) that he is the first MCA president who defeated two former party presidents to secure the MCA presidency.  He says he is not boasting but it is a matter of fact. So he says he can defeat any number of factions in the MCA.  Dr Chua feels quite certain. 

Dr Chua Soi Lek fully supports the PM Dato Sri Najib Tun Razak. He says people can see that the PM is doing his best.  Unfortunately, he says, the PM is surrounded by two MCA men who are anti Chua Soi Lek. But he says he can overcome that too.

Dr Chua says he meets many people quietly, especially the Indian community. He tells his people not to inform the Press of these meetings with the Indian community. 

His advice to Datuk Liow Tiong Lai the deputy president of the MCA is to be patient and not challenge the presidency yet. He says if Liow challenges and  loses, it will be the end of his career. He says all deputy presidents of the MCA have never become president except one - himself.  Again he said it matter of factly with no attitude.  

He feels vindicated over his incessant campaigning against the PAS version of hudud. It has had an effect on the Chinese community.  The recent actions by PAS in Kelantan have only reinforced his warnings to the community. 

Dr Chua Soi Lek also cracked a joke. Asked about the fact that the DAP's  Nga Kor Ming and Ngeh Koo Ham of Perak have acquired interests in 10,000 acres of land in Kelantan (all done legally of course) he wants the DAP to teach the Barisan Nasional how  to acquire 10,000 acres of land despite being Perak EXCO members for just one year?

My comments :  I spoke with a prominent person about Chua Soi Lek and he agreed that Dr Chua is working hard and has the peoples' interests at heart.  

My friend said that the Chinese community - being a business community - should also be  aware that despite all the chaos going on in the world around us, Malaysia still enjoys good economic growth of over 5%. Inflation is within means and we have a low unemployment rate.  

Since the fall of Hosni Mubarak and the Muslim Brotherhood taking over, the unemployment rate in Egypt is now at 35%. Very soon the Egyptians will be eating grass.  

Imagine if the PAS takes over, what will be our unemployment rate?  If PAS comes into power, do you think the hair dressing salons will suffer higher or lower unemployment?