In the memory of 'Death in custody' victims

Alvivi: A Double Edge Sword Case

As of now I do not want to comment further or repeat again about the fuss going around with the situation surrounding the sex couple Alvin and Vivian thing. I have so far examined some remarks spoken by some people and I observed that the situation is a double edge sword. In other words, it's not just the pair who's in fault, but instead it is the society and the people too that plays the part.

First and foremost, the pair should have replaced a photo of the dish with something more generic in nature that can be consumed by all. Alternatively, they could also consider sending their message with a short one minute clip of them greeting - no pomp - instead of showing that. 

It is a sad thing that there's still many things to be learnt by both of them. The present society, though it's still naive and conservative are yet to be ready to accept the ideas of liberalism that advanced societies have been advocating. I remembered of one interesting line spoken by a minister, Nancy Shukri saying that drug criminals should been treated as patients rather than being criminals. We still have yet to see things from the other side. 

Of course, I would say let the law run its course, but the methods used to investigate like, how they are being made to sit for nine hours and subsequent overlapping questioning and multiple charges by police and even Islamic religious regencies have shown how inefficient our investigation system is. I also had a imagining thought of a couple in jail for a non-serious physical crime (murder, drugs, criminal breach of trust etc..) whereas on the real world, serious crimes have yet to be solved and addressed.

Muslim people, particularly in Peninsular Malaysia often mistook the pork ribs with herbal soup (bak kut teh) by associating it with pork (a taboo thing in Islam and many people). Another lesser variant, substituting pork with chicken is actually available, but it was to cater for other races who wanted to have a taste of the famous delicacy of the Chinese. 

Weakness In The Malaysian Society Psyche

However, while we let the police do their job (I wish they would have been more efficient rather than a triple-deck procedure), the ruckus that was triggered by many people, Malays in particular. Speeches and comments one after another with many commenting about the insensitivity of the two and chest thumping themselves, telling others not to interfere with the affairs have clearly demonstrated key weaknesses in the Malaysian society psyche.

First of all: we are people obsessive. We seem to be minding people's affairs and more interested with tabloid stories rather than more serious pressing matters. As the result while the nations foundation stones keep on rumbling of a possible collapse, people still remain ignorant all in the name of maintaining national security. 

Secondly, this has already revealed how certain groups of Malayisans are prone to various emotions. Many reacted small heartedly, not respond, to various situations at the slightest hint of mentioning something that will tick them. For instance, a few got very small hearted when seeing their non-Muslim people eating in front of them or if they see them wearing clothes that they do not like. When they are in that situation, they tend to make plenty of mistakes in decision making and this could at times result in a scenario being taken to the extreme (overboard).

Third, this has revealed hypocrisy by these people. This doesn't mean it's for certain group, but it happens to all of Malaysians, politicians included. A very simple example explained is about we showing our support for Syria and Palestine, but on the other hand, acted and responded wildly if a Vatican ambassador or any ambassador starts to make criticism or support to a certain view in Malaysia. In other words, we go emotional if there are things talked which didn't match our set of ideals that might be flawed. Okay, go ahead and charge them but the common question asked in this situation is "what about Ibrahim Ali or Zul Noordin?"

Fourth, is of course that many leaders rely on the old excuse answer of "for the sake of national security" or
"it will confuse a certain group of people" demonstrates their lack of inquisitive nature to go forth and find out the real answer. Was this excuse built on the hear sayings that was passed down for generations? Can't our leaders and the intellectual people dig down further to see whether that excuse myth is actually true or false. Surely, it is no harm done of revisiting the holy books, narratives, commentaries written by the scholars of the past to ascertain our hypothesis? Our leaders - especially the old guard are still bankrupt of ideas, and those young and energetic might have the problem of breaking ranks with the veterans considering of repercussions to come.

Today, Malaysia is one of the small number of countries in the world that still uses the British-spawned Sedition Act. The act, according to the time of conception is actually close to 800 years ago, introduced during the reign of Henry VIII. Even our own former colonial master has abolished it three years ago seeing of its irrelevance and the alternative laws that can be used for that. It's no wonder that Malaysia is actually a neo-feudal country. This old law is one case, the native's mentality, especially the uneducated is still stuck around the equivalence of the 17th century Europe. I often wondered what really happens if this same structured society is around the next two - three centuries: we would be ridiculed and chastised all the way even until after death. A fitting way to say how stupid and naive we are until we die. 

More Boredom and Doldrum In Learning History

Islamic Civilization to be a must in private varsities (Malaysiakini, 11 July)

An opposition MP today questioned the Education Ministry’s move to make Islamic Civilisation (Tamadun Islam) studies compulsory for local students even in private universities.

The ministry has stated that the subject would be made compulsory in all private institutions beginning Sept 1 in an effort to “standardise” requirements with public universities.

“We strongly urge the Education Ministry to reverse the ruling and let the individual universities decide on the needs of their courses,” DAP’s Kampar MP Ko Chung Sen said during a press conference today.

Ko questioned the need for the ministry to make this subject compulsory for non-Muslims but at the same time restrict it to only local students.

“How will this help those who are studying to become lawyers, doctors and engineers?” he asked.

He said that Muslims would have known about Islamic civilisation beforehand through their teachings, whilst non-Muslims do not need to learn of Islamic civilisation in universities.

He said that according to the federal constitution, any individual should not be forced to learn any religion that is not his or her own.

*******

I used to like History. It was a favorite subject in school. I found it quite fascinating because the syllabus, be it whether you study in lower-secondary and upper secondary covers history from the Malaysian history to world history. At least it scratches the surface of each part of the world.

When coming to Form 4, the inclusion of the Islamic civilization section (forms one bulk of the SPM syllabus) has eventually driven many classmates, whom I have observed into boredom. It rears an ugly head in learning history. Instead of making it quite exciting and more balanced, the bias focus on one civilization has got many losing interest and subsequently, it is one of the essay questions that many students would skirt around / avoid when doing homework or sitting for mock / actual exams.

The names and terms in the Islamic civilization is enough to drive a non-Muslim (especially student) into nuts and subsequently boredom in learning. This has resulted of many teenagers losing steam and interest towards the subject towards the end of their secondary education. It's not the alif-ba-ta  thing that makes them lose. It's the historical period - dull and sometimes monotheistic in nature.

Fortunately, when I was in tertiary education, the local subjects - a requirement before you can complete your degree in a local university was mainly on moral studies (Form 6 equivalent) and the other one called the equivalent of Form 6's Pengajian Am. I nearly didn't graduate because of that Pengajian Am paper: I took Moral studies during my freshman year while skipping Pengajian Am because of the subject set on Saturdays at that time - it didn't interested me to come for Saturday classes. In the end, I only took it on the second half of my third year (out of the total 4 years). 

I recalled that 2002 was the last time that in foundation year, a student is allowed to skip the first semester (of three) if the SPM results are quite good and satisfactory to warrant a bypass. By December 2003, it wasn't allowed anymore and at that time, when we're near to the end of the third year of class, we went through a crash course of finishing that missing period - all in the space of one month itself out of the full four months.

I don't even know who's idea was to add one more to the existing but sufficient two local study subjects but you can be sure that it is from the academic point of view will result in more boredom and frustration at the expense of standardization as what the Education Ministry claim to be. The one problem right now is that Malaysians don't even realize until the very last minute or when something hit them so hard that they will only do so.

Ibrahim Ali replied today and gave the same high mighty tone akin to "who are you to question it." Let's just let that frog croak whatever he wants - since it represents his political face (you'll see a different face if you happen to sit with him for dinner or a cup of tea in private). There are many people who closed their eyes and say kind of crap, unless they talk to their non-Muslim friends about being in their shoes and see from their point of view to gain their enlightenment.

One thing I noted was that Dr. Ko never referred that matter to Agong and etc..whereas Ibrahim's comment mentions the Agong. It might be that he may have either been misled by his loyal-to-the-end newspaper Utusan. It ain't about race and religion here, but on the long run it will not make students love history that well - it makes things worse because you are being made to stare at one focal civilization compared to having a fair amount of share time on studying other civilizations - the proper way to go through that syllabus.

What Kind of Dumbkopf Is He Talking?

Cynically, as an inverse of "Apa Cina Mau", I would say, "ini Melayu cakap apa ni?"

I find it a little hard to understand the logic of this MP from Penang. Perception wise, it is enough to piss a lot of people of mix races on this where the ambience of late night stalls is one way to get the people from all races together over a nice supper and a cup of coffee at a reasonable price.

There are far bigger problems than this late night stall eating and shisha that as according to the saying of Malays forget easily that the quality of life has degraded into a mediocre state - something that the recent "enlightened" minister Khairy has said in light of the incident in Bukit Bandaraya (will talk later on).

As you can view the video, you can see many urban people will start to be very very unhappy, while those in the rural areas will have no clue to what this fellow is talking about.

Buat apa lu orang pilih orang ini masuk Parlimen? Tak tahu malu kah?

By the way, another fellow in Selangor, Dr. Xavier also deserves to be screwed by other people. The common thing about both men is that "who are they to tell us to do tit for tat?" In other words, please lar, let other people have their own privacy. 

This is tantamount into wading into people's private everyday life telling you not to shower or forcing you to go to a specific place everyday against your will. There's bigger picture to look at lol!

Anyway, even if I don't write this, he's already shot himself on the foot as the statement invited plenty of brickbats anyhow.