Vote Part 1

...Salams,chances are not many people will read what im about to write about the soon to be elections in our beloved country. The reason being I have only given my blog address to very few people and the fact that my writing is probably not very interesting to most people.

First and foremost i would like to welcome those who are first timer voters. In a democratic system the right to vote should never be taken for granted. The process of voting is probably the closest thing most citizens get, to be part of the process of decision making in the future of the country. Although one vote does not make a difference, it is recorded that you have put your view and contributed to one political party or the other. Thats democracy, majority wins,even by one vote ! Of course its not as simple as that for there are variations in the democratic system-its not purely by the total number of popular votes but by parlimentary seats in commonwealth countries and by electrol college in the American system. Im not going into the details of how the various system works for that responsiblity lies with anyone who wants to understandthe various democratic process.

The objective of my writing today is towards the Malaysian voters for the coming general elections. I hope the voters will take this opportunity to vote and vote wisely. I hope voters will vote to state their dissatisfaction towards many of the policies that is currently being carried out by the government. Again if i were to go into the details and analysed the various policies, it will take a very long paper to adress the various issues and policies. One also needs to be objective and not be emotional and have built in prejudices ( this is not easy-as for sure you belong to a race a religion a group etc ) But as an educated person-you must always look at things objectively.

The Government of the day is very smart ( at least the advisors ) it knows that most Malaysians dont read enough. While most read newspapapers, they read different newspapers. Most Malays read the mainstream Newspapers-Berita Harian,Utusan Malaysia,to a lesser extent the Utusan Jawi. A substantial amount read NST or the Star for Englisg Edition. ( Malays and other Malaysians who read English edition read the Star more than the NST ) Unfortunately the younger generation of Malays dont read as much as their counterpart of other races especially the Chinese who read the English and Chinese Edition rather extensively.

Different issues is highlighted differently in each vernucalar paper thus the "same issues" is look at differently by each community and clouded with racial prejudices. Thus very important issues which has national significance ( in terms of unity,identity ) takes a very racial perspective,whereas it should not. For example the issue of Chinese Schools. For a country that has been independent for 50 years we are still discussing issues on the number of Chinese schools etc. The Malay majority government will make statements that it supports Chinese school and will give money ( which the community doesn need anyway ) to increase the number of Chinese school and will move the near empty schools to more populated area to maintain the number of Chinese Schools.

The fact is that the Chinese school system is very good. For Chinese school that has very low student population it is more advisable to make the local population ( Malays,Chinese or Indians) to attend these schools,rather than move these schools or force the students to attend national schools. The Chinese school should also adapt more to reflect its Malaysianess whether in Curriculum or appearence so that the national objective of unity and identity can be acheived. This is easier said than done-but the current practise of increasing Chinese and Indian schools so that the community is happy is playing along racial lines that is suitable to the agenda of the ruling coalition. The issue is not look at objectively but look at from the practical point of view-especially for the political survival of the current racial biased political ruling coalition.

So what does the Newspapers do ? They tell the story that each "community" wants to hear, not of the issues of these schools in the context of National Identity and Unity. This is again a major point in which the country has to settle and discuss and agree-but it cannot be solved by just building more Chinese n Indian schools in the country ! ( N by going to the Malay rural areas and building more religous schools-which is not happening anyway, because the ruling party is worried that this will create more supporters for the opposition ). This is only one major issue which has been dealth wth wrongly by the current government-and not analysed properly by the Newspaper and given the wrong information and impression to the Masses.

For the next two weeks i hope most Malaysians will look at the track record of the current government and be fair to the various political party,look at the candidates not just at the party they represent. We want stability,we want peace but we also want a strong and honest government. We should deny the ruling coalition its 2/3 majority, we should vote out deadwood ploticians and we should make our voices be heard.

fading away...

Wow...ive not written for the longest time, i know its crazy,but of course its work ! I guess it will only end when life ends ! or i have to take the drastic action of just retiring,not that i can afford it. Its really being caught in a very difficult situation,you feel trapped and there seems to be no escape route. Its like the rat in a maze, you go round and round and you eventually end up at the same place. But its ok, im not really that depressed,because ultimately the choice is still mine...or is it ? Could it be fated that my life would be like this-trapped and unescapable ? Have not been able to read as well...the most is newspaper,which is depressing as well.

Well at least Linggam is providing some entertainment-"looks like me,sounds like me,but"...only he can con technology ! Where is this country going to ? I ve lost my faith in Lawyers and Judges,but my hope lies with the younger generation,the younger Malaysians. I hope and pray that they will be able to accept that there is good and evil,that there is a difference and that it matters. The world today has muddled this,the line between goodness/godliness and between evil and badness is blurred. True to the prophecy-towards the end of time people who are evil are given recognition and praise and those who do good are considered irrelevant "to the needs of modern society" look around us and we see examples aplenty.

Actually all humans are born to submit to the will of the almighty,as every other creature is-to submit to the will of the almighty,but along the way most of us fall to the folly of the dark side,because the attraction and pull is very strong and the reward very quick ( though not lasting )everything now is speed and immediate we have forgotten the old slow way,the right way-where pleasure is enjoyed longer because its obtain thru the blessings of the creator.

Who are we if not the created ? The creator knows best what is good for the created. But no...we succumbed to our base instincts the reasons which was for its "survival", the I above the we, then we are just like the other creatures,if we follow our lust and try to dominate others. But we are created special,we are the chosen one,if we chose to be-all we have to do is ask and belief and know that ultimately we have no other choice but to submit-then we will find peace...Godwilling.

This Garden Is Illegal: What Kind of Flower Are You Quiz

This Garden Is Illegal: What Kind of Flower Are You Quiz: " I am a
Canna

What Flower
Are You?
"

still around...

...there was a monitor for my heart,for my breathing,blood pressure-these lines were going up and down and i notice that when i hold my breath the line would remain straight ( the one that monitors my breathing ) and the other lines would go crazy ! I was bored and i hate hospitals, especially in the CCU,theres no television,i cant read books ( my hands have these tubes which is connected to my finger tips etc ), there dont allow me to leave the bed-i was going crazy ! So i held my breath as long as i could and the monitors when crazy-nurses come running into the cubicle and was a lil confused with what happened, i of course pretended to sleep. That was the excitement for the night for me...

The next day i told the cardiologist that if they dont take me out of this place i will really go crazy and they probably wld have to put me in a psychiatric ward ! Ihad to go through a couple more test and was discharged later in the day. Ive been going through various test including a stress test recently and the physician said that im fine but have to take some medication for precaution. He cant really say what was the cause of the fainting spells ( have not since then ) and said that the probable cause is stress ( that because of the tired body during certain time of the day blood doesnt reach my brains...

Well one thing for sure i need to exercise more ( which ive not done ).work less ( which is impossible) and relax more( m trying ). Actually,inyaallah as a Muslim-one should not be stressed as everything comes from Allah swt-but i guess my level of keimanan accepts that but its not translated into the physical body/being,meaning ive still got a long way to go be the "calm" person that i should...

Alhamdoolillah, in general,im feeling better,but i also know that some things have change and somehow those fainting spells have had an effect on me. Doesnt really matter, life is too short to dwell on the past, the best approach is to look forward towards the next day and...

Is There a Right Time...?

The events in the last few weeks have been eye opening to say the least. In the early part of Ramadhan,about the second week I was hit by fainting spells,blackouts that last between 10-20 seconds. Of course, i dont know what happened during those blackouts but i was told by my youngest son,Imraan, who happened to be around on all four occasions that papa just crumble to the ground-luckily for me three of those occasions were inside the house and one was just outside the front door. On the fourth occasion i actually hit my head to the floor first and when i was concious felt like someone had hit my head with a baseball bat ( of course if that had happened i would not be writing now...) So the next day I went straight to see a specialist/physician and spend half the day there going through test after test-blood,x ray,scan and was immediately ordered to the CCU,because my blood test showed that i had certain enzymes which will only be present if theres something wrong with my heart.

I was "surprised" by the preliminary findings but suprisingly cool about the whole thing, my wife and children was more affacted by this whole episode-you know me, in CCU ( Coronary Care Unit ) with all the wire attached to my body to monitor my heart i was also supplied oxygen to help me breath so that my heart could rest ! So u can imagine the scene,the rest of the patients were those who just had bypass or a heart attack-the scene was very depressing.

For your information I have never been hospitalised for a single day in a hospital-i was born at home ( so my mom told me ),was never sick as a child (666 !) and was even circumsised at home ! So then suddenly i was spending this night alone at the hospital and watching being zoom in and out of the OT ( at the CCU the rooms hv glasses so that the can monitor u )-for the first time in my life i am forced to lie down in bed and do nothing but rest and sleep. But the human mind is a wonderful thing, i didnt want to sleep and rest-i wanted to think-for all the sedative they gave me, i couldnt sleep-but i had the whole night to my self to think and ponder about...death,which is all around me. Is there a right time to die ? Do i want to die ? Have i done my responsiblity to my creator and done enough good deeds on this earth ? Thousand and one questions and thoughts,but the thing is i was not stress or upset, infact come to think of it i was very calm,until i begin to understand the monitors that was beside me...

Its that time of the year again, a time to reflect and ponder and wonder how far we have gone towards reaching our goal in totally submitting ourselves to the will of Allah swt. The year has gone by so fast and before you know it,insyaAllah we will be experiencing another Ramadhan. I have mix feelings this year especially, because many things have happened, some for the better and some not so good...

Since coming back from Haj in 2005/2006, ive gone for Umrah twice once in July 2006 and again recently in May 2007. I feel very fortunate and thankful to have been given this oppurtunity by Allah swt. On the other hand I m also very sad and upset with the situation that im in. Im still bogged down with work and have very little time to do fav things like reading and writing etc...then even my solat is not satisfactory,i know it and i can feel it. Whats more alarming is that i feel that my level of keimanan is deteriorating when i benchmark it against the first time i comeback from Haj. Its normal to have your faith ( degree of it ) flactuate during periods of time but its worrying knowing that its happening and you cant do much to stop the slide. Its also a test by Allah swt-i hope Allah swt will protect and continously guide me and not leave me...

Ramadhan somehow recharges me and my faith. I love the terawih prayers as it makes me feel part of a larger muslim community/ummah. With a hungry tummy and a desire to make the most of Ramadhan the prayers becomes better and better,insyaAllah. Unfortunately for us in Selangor,the state MB has decided that there will be no tazkirah during the break for Terawih prayers.( its our Prophets saw tradition to have a break and teraweh prayers is to be done at a relax pace not like an express train speed so that we can complete 20 rakaat )This is so unfortunate, because its during the tazkirah that we get to understand the Quran better through tafsiran by ulamaks and hafiz, else for people who dont understand Arabic the reading of a whole Quran during this month becomes just that reading-no comprehension no understanding of God's words-warnings,lessons,laws etc.



...unfortunately for my jemaah/qariah and me our Surau in Sek 8 has also been closed by JAIS. ( yesterday after Asar-indefinitely-imagine that Ramadhan is two days away ! ) This is another long and sad story,but suffice to say that the present Government or some of the people in it are people who dont take kindly to criticism. Which brings me to my earlier point-the degree of iman is sliding because you live in an environment that is very antigonistic towards Islam. You are either with them or against them attitude ( same attitude of the Bush administration) makes life very difficult for the average Muslims. The recent events in our beloved country has also made me very angry and sad ( Negarakuku, Riots in Terengganu, Pigs in Malacca ) I feel that Muslims ( in particular Malay Muslims )in this country are slowly but surely loosing their identity and self believe. They are told that to be true Muslims you must follow the mould that the Government has set. Not Al Quran and Al-Hadith.Well this is another area that needs a long and detail analysis...

Ive diverted from the original aim of writing about Ramadhan, although its not totally unconnected...Anyways,have a good Ramadhan and may Allah swt guide us to the straight and correct path and protect us from evil and hellfire.Ameen.

MERDEKA>>>

Salams,its been so long since Ive last written,its been crazy,well whats new its been like that especially this year. I thought it could not get any worse but it has. When I was in college i thought that once i start my working life i would have more time to do things, that are more relaxing and not feel so stress. ( I still have nightmares about failing my math paper and not being able to pursue my degree and coming back in shame...crazy its more than 20 years ago but i still have those dreams...
And here I am at my office at 745pm taking a break because my brains are just too tired too concentrate about wrk. Ive analyse and reanalyse why i cant have more time to myself instead im a slave to my work. I dont know the answer but i do know that this cannot go on. Ive tried to talk to friends and family but the answer is all too common. Basically the choice is mine,they say...but its not as simple as that.
Anyways that would take too much time to write...
I would just like to say that 1. Im proud of my country 2.I happy that Malaysia won the semi final last nite. 3 I hope i would be able to find the time to write more...