Selamat Hariraya Aidilfitri .

'Selamat Hariraya' does not really translate as 'Happy Festive Day' like Happy New Year,
Happy Christmas etc. Nor does it mean 'Have a Peaceful (selamat) festive day although Eid does mean festive. Fitri refers to the original or pristine condition of human life, the pure form of nature as created by Allah. So, textually Selamat Hariraya Aidilfitri could mean 'a peaceful return to the original and pure way of life' as known by the Muslims.

But it means more than that to the good Muslims meaning the Muslims who follow the straight path as laid down by Islam and abide by the principles of "amal makruf" and "nahi mukar" ( doing what is sanctioned by Allah, and refraining from what is prohibited). The festival marks the end of thirty days of fasting in the day, from dawn to dusk, which by itself means different things to different levels of self-awareness and piety among the Muslims. To the most devout fasting means total abstention from indulging in fulfilling the demands of the 'nafs' (bodily needs) and senses ( what the five senses like to do in normal life like indulging in good taste, sweet smell, sensuous touches, listening to rumors and profanities, and having amorous feelings). The Muslim of average piety would strictly observe the refrain from food and drinks, indulging in profanities and keeping away from sensuous and sexual act. Many of the more subtle abstentions are unwittingly ignored though to knowingly violate a prohibition leads to a nullification of the fast. The even less pious Muslim will just observe the no food, nor drinks, nor sex rules.

Beside maintaining strict adherence to the abstention rule, the Muslim must also double of triple their efforts in the fulfilment of the prayers and other mandated (wajib) and preferred ( sunnah muakad) acts of devotion to Allah which includes reciting the al-Quran, making personal appeals and requests to Allah through the 'doa's, and observing other recommended accompaniments of the set prayers. Every laudable act during the month of Ramadhan can be considered as a part of the 'Ibadah. (obeissance to Allah) if preceeded by a 'niaat' ( an admission to Allah that the act is done in His name). As such a good Muslim can multiply the rerwards for his piety almost infinitely in the month of Ramadhan, several times more than the reward for the same act of piety done in other months.

That is the essence of Ramadhan al-Mubarak, a month that is more rewarding than a thousand other months. Aidilfitri marks the closure of this propitious and most rewarding month. The very pious Muslims are sad about it but the averagely pious ones are happy that the fasting is over and they can enjoy their food and drinks (especially teh tarik) in the day.

Aside from its religious significance, the fasting has a very important lesson for the young Muslim in Malaysia and the rest of the world. It is the most severe form of training in self discipline. To just take a last meal and drink before 5.30 am or so and then abstain from eating and drinking anything until 7.30pm or there about. is quite a feat. Bear it and no other physical challenge is too great for you. You're free from the demand of the physical self for as long as you want to, free from the immediate demand of the nafs. A boy or girl who has managed to fast the entire month is more 'mature' than a Muslim adult who hasn't managed to do so.


When the stomoch is empty for a period of time our thoughts become very clear and focus. Muslim scholars and ulamaks of the past will fast to enhance their rate of intellectual absorption allowing them to memorize the al-Quran and the Hadiths plus other profound works on religion and philosophy. Scholars like Ibnu Khaldun,Ibnu Taiyimah, Imam Ghazali etc mastered Greek philosophy before embarking on their reknowned works. Hence there's no reason why the Muslim ulamaks of today cannot master the works of science and modern western philosphy. They will loose touch with the modern renaissance men and women if they don't.

So, Selamat Hariraya Aidilfitri. It means more than just enjoying yourself during the festive holiday and the resumption of the usual eating and drinking habits. You should have acquired some new insights into being a Muslim and experience a new kind of awareness of the meaning of life and existence. Otherwise it has just been another "don't eat and drink in the day" kind of affair, not so much in obeisance of Allah's injunctions but for fear of being caught not fasting, by the officials of the religious department. Jazakallah.

A salute to the Police (PDRM)

If it's true that the Police will not set up roadblocks this festive season, let me be the first to salute the decision. There's no way to set up a roadblock without causing traffic jams. And roadblocks are necessary when some robberies have been committed or some criminals are on the run. Even to check driving licenses or road tax. But , beside the need to block off criminals on the run, roadblocks can certainly be held at other times.

After what we've read about the protest movements,riots and street violence in UK., especially the inability of the Police to stop the violence and destruction of public and private properties, we should be able to reexamine our erstwhile critical evaluation of our own Police force - the PDRM. Whatever allegations have been made against the Police so far, they ( the gallant police personnel) have kept our country safe and secure and our streets free from widespread violence. No, the city streets can never be completely crime-free for the criminals and would-be-criminals are an integral part of human society anywhere at all in the world. There can only be relative peace and security on the street.

The ability of the Police to solve complex and intriguing cases seem to improve as do the number and complexity of the crimes involved. The movies. internet and higher education had improved the methods used by criminals to pursue their villainous trade and the Police is often left one step behind. But the force seems to be catching up very quickly as more and more personnel with higher qualification are absorbed into the service. More and more it seems that the Police must recalculate its manpower need for beat-work, leg-work and brain-work with heavier emphasis on the last item.

One area of concern the Police must look into is its response time to a call for help or a report on some disturbance. The familiar story one often hears is that a call is made to report two people fighting on the street. The fight is over, the fighters have gone and the crowd has dispersed before the Police arrived to investigate. The caller can then get into trouble for making a prank call. Then again, a person who reports and accident or worse still a murder, or even make a complaint to the Police, can get into so much trouble
that it's not worth making the effort. Some say it's better to keep away when you see anything that looks like trouble or a criminal act. People reporting a trouble are often treated like criminals themselves.

Hopefully these are all matters of the past. Policemen on the street should be seen as friends and protector of the public, not someone to hold you up for anything you do that they don't like, or as in the case of the traffic police, to scare people. This will produce a public that would only abide by the laws and regulations when some policemen are around, not otherwise. There was a time when children were taught to be afraid of the policemen because they arrest people and chain their hands.

Well, let the Police show us a new way of controlling traffic and preventing crime this coming festive season. Don't let us have a spade of house-breaking again while people have gone back to their kampungs and miles of jam-ups because of roadblocks. One big question: how come fire crackers are freely lit and exploding away like machine guns in the the towns and cities without anyone being arrested while some boys having a fun time with fire crackers and' meriam buluh' in the villages are often held up
for violating the law? If some of them are injured because of the explosive, it's probably because they had to play in secret, away from the watchful eyes of older friends and relatives. There are no such injuries in the towns and city streets during CNY and Chap Goh Meh because adults are involved.

The Police may have to rethink about allowing fire crackers during festive season for it does provide a lot of excitement. As regards its danger, even a knife wrongly used can cut away your fingers or cause a severe injury, even murder. If fire crackers are banned, then we shouldn't have the volleys of explosion during Chinese festive season. I must say that even policemen enjoy watching the firing away of long strings of fire crackers hanging from some trees of beams during CNY.

Our society is becoming more and more sophisticated. Arresting kids for playing with firecrackers seem to be a bit silly. Let them deal with the danger themselves. I am sure the Police have other more important things to do this festive season and we salute them for their success in keeping us and the country safe.

Getting Ready for Hariraya

Can you see the roadblock?




While the Muslims have started to prepare for Aidil Fitri, many government agencies I'm sure, are doing the same. RTM with the preparation of Its Hariraya extravaganzas , the Police with it Operasi "Tangkap" ( call it by any other name it involves issuing millions


At least we don.t see this in Malaysia


of summons), RTD with its check-ups on the safety of buses, SPAD on the
issuance of special "Balik Kampung" transport licences, Ministry of Domestic Industry and Consumerism with its check-ups to ensure there will be enough supply of essential food items and that prices are kept under proper control etc.

The interesting question to ask is: are the special preparation going to help people enjoy the Hariraya or cause a lot of problems and heartaches? Why such a silly question? Becsuse in trying to help prople we could be causing more problems and misery. And it eould be silly not to think of the possibilities.

Let's start with RTM special Hariraya programs to compete with other private sector stations. Don't we feel sometime that the shows are just "more of the same " very elaborate and costly but not innovative and exciting enough to hold our attention?. The elaborately dressed comperes often bore us with some of their antics and not-so-funny jokes. The "postcards" shots are still RTM's favorites angle without capturing the depth and mystery of the actions on stage. Sometimes the more simple props used by TV3 appear more captivating or intriguing.

More worrisome is the Police Op Sikap or whatever it's called which has been carried out every hariraya witout much success in reducing the death toll on the road. Every road block causes serious jam-ups. It would appear that issuing out the summons and collecting the fines imposed (which by the way, have been jacked up like the prices of everything else) have become the focus of attention - NOT making the errant driver ashamed of his or her infringement of the traffic regulations, become aware of the danger he or she caused to others and promise not to be inconsiderate again or go to jail. I think a public scolding can achieve the latter objectives better than paying a few hundred or a thousand ringgit fine, which incidently means nothing to the rich but can cause misery to the poorer road users.

RTD's or JPJ's action to stop buses considered not roadworthy from ferrying their passengers home for the hariraya, is praiseworthy from the road safety point if view. But it's inhuman if alternative means of transport are not provided to take them home to join their relatuves and friends for the festuve occasion. Stopping less-than-ideal drivers from taking the wheel has the same effect as holding back the buses. Passengers will be stranded and their plans to go home foiled.

I'm not saying that the checking should not be done but that it should be done well BEFORE the hariraya. The same goes for the Poluce. Why hold the road blocks when the traffic is at its peak? Why not step up the checks on licences and giving tbe speedsters the rap or the ticket well before the huge balik kampung traffic flow begins? By the way the speed limit is another problem. The slow traffic crawl because of the very slow drivers or speed kimits on straight and clear roads can cause more accidents than allowing drivers to exercise their discretion.

In brief therefore, can't the authorities involved in controlling the movement of vehickes and human beings for the hariraya get to work well BEFORE the deluge begins? Don't start checking this and stopping that when people have begun to balek kampung in a joyous mood. Your well meaning efforts could just become an aggravation and a kill-joy. Stop, warn and rap the traffic offenders by all means but do not do things that can cause jam-ups and prople being stranded or made unable to join their relatives and friends. All these can spoil the mood and spirit of Hariraya.

Salam Ramadhan to All

Well, Ramadhan is here again. a month of restraint on food and drink for the Muslims but also a month of bounty and magnanimity for those seeking Allah's blessings.It is a month when everything that a Muslim does including eating, drinking ( at night of course) sleeping, resting etc can ear n him or her a good point so long as it's done in the name of Allah. Carrying out what is required by the Islam ( wajib) such as praying and reading the al-Quran, will earn him or her a multiple of the normal award given at other times.

It is a month during which a Muslim can redeem himself of several wrongdoings committed in the entire year. One night in the last ten nights of Ramadhan and on an odd date of the Muslim calender ( malam Lailatul Qadar), Allah will show some sign of his greatness and power. Anyone who witnesses this would be awarded some extraordinary blessings and favor by Allah.

It is because of all those special rewards and favors (barakah) that can be bestowed on a Muslim in the month of Ramadhan that the month is given the title al-mubarak. Fasting in the day from Imsak to Maghrib togethere with the special the breaking of fast together at the mosque ( morey) more elaborate night prayers (Tarawih) and the al-Quran reading session (Tadarus). make Ramadhan a holy month. At the end of it the Aidil Fitri celebration is of course a day of feasting and rejoice, which can sometimes stretch for a month.

This entry is written after the first special prayers consisting of 23 raka'ats ( 20 tarawih and 3 witri) was over. Tomorrow is the first day of fasting, although a faithful Muslim would have also done some 9 days of fasting in the previous month. Sya'ban (3 days at the beginning of the month, 3 days in the middle and 3 more towards the end). More devout Muslims may even fast a fewdays every week throughout the year as practiced by the Prophet, Muhammad SAW (pbuh).

What does all these fasting mean to the people of the world? Yes other religions also have their fasting schedule and the purpose is about the same - to cleanse the soul of human sins and misdoings. Fasting is also held to be a good health measure by the medical community for it gives the stomoch and the rest of the body too a chance to rest. But is that all that we can gain from fasting as a socio-religious activity?

I think the world and humanity as a whole can gain much much more through the practice of fasting on certain days of the month and year.. The rich and the wealthy for whom eating and drinking is a significant part of life's pleasure would begin to understand the meaning of food deprivation, scarcity and starvation. They would then treat the food and drinks they consume as a birthright of the rich with more respect as a gift of God, For now they only appreciate the gift of God when they loose their taste and appetite due to some ailment. Or when forced to stay away from their gourmet delights by the doctors.

When fasting people also don't waste their energy and strength on unimportant non-urgent and laborious work. Would they then be keen to quarrel with each other, indulge in surreptitious and devious activities to outdo or outmaneuver each other on a national or international basis to gain supremacy and power, or would they want to attack and kill each other for whatever worldly reason their mind could conjure? When hungry and thirsty in the day people would only be interested in waiting for the evening to break their fast and occupy their time with religious or humanitarian work that could alley their hunger and thirst. They would not be thinking of doing injustice and evil towards others.

What would the impact be on the economy of the country and the world? Food consumption would be reduced however insignificantly, if for a few weeks in a year people don't eat during the day. No, they would gorge themselves to death at night, some might say. well, Wouldn't their early death achieve the same purpose? Seriously reducing food consumption in any way would affect the demand and supply equation and reduce food price which is currently soaring up in the entire world. In the home front when the family spends less money on food there will just be more money for other things, would it not? Simple economy. This would not apply to the filthy rich, of course, for they would always remain filthy!

The Muslims during Prophet Muhammad's (pbuh) time even go to war while fasting. And won as in the the Badr skirmish when a great number was defeated by a few. Many believe that people can concentrate on what they are doing better on an empty rather than a full tummy. The Muslims believe that you can learn and memmorize the al-Quran better when fasting. Some doctors endorse this belief. Of course we are not talking about starvation but a voluntary reduction of food and liquid intake in the daytime on certain days in the month or month in the year. In any case that introduces the next issue - starvation as is happening in many poor parts of the world like in Somalia and other parts of Africa. Why do we have starvation there while food is being wasted by already obese people in other parts of the world.

The economic answer is, because of uneven distribution? Why uneven, because of uneven capacity to pay, income concentration, high gini coefficient and other fancy terms that economists know well but are unable to or unwilling (especially politicians) to overcome ( because scarcity can create demand and demand gives them power}. Yes, fasting can effect the power equation as well as shown by Mahatma Ghandi in the 1920s. Fasting can not only cleanse the soul but also reduce human greed for power, for wealth etc., in other words affect human will and rationalit,y, and certainly their capacity to empathize or pity those human beings who are suffering from starvation.

Hey, are those not enough reasons for us to fast on some days whether you are a Muslim or not. The least harm it can do is to reduce your physical weight ( not your economic, social or political power in the least) and slim down - the dream of many beauty conscious ladies irrespective of race or religion. Why then not join the Muslims in honoring the month of Ramadhan which has just begun? Hehehe. For Malaysian I see that everyone is already enjoying the existence of the Ramadhan Bazaar or "Pasar Ramadhan." Buy as much food as you want but please enjoy them at night.

The Irony of High Living

I think I've done my fair share of observing people enjoying a high standard of livingand living in luxury, sometimes taking a small bite of it myself. Very small just to have a little taste even if it blew a big hole in my little pocket. That included dinner in Paris, breakfast in Stockholm, high tea in the Netherland etc. That was long ago when still thick in the contest of life.

Now is the time to watch more than compete. After touring the high spots for culinary excitement in the country, enjoying a plate of rojak or mee curry, nasi lemak bungkus, or roti canai and teh tarik at a small corner eatery, suits my tastebud more than the buffet and ala carte routine at the Curve, Pavlion or even the KL Tower. Afterall I can only eat so much if I don't want to experience a bloated or stuffy feeling in my middle. Eno helps sosmetimes when that happens.

But what do you know? I often see some familiar faces at the little corner eateries too. Faces that used to feature in luxurious hotels and restaurants. Rather shriveled in spite of the rich and high class food they used to nimble or gobble. They won't recognize me though behind my large dark glasses. country hat and nondescript clothing bought from Jalan Masjid India. Hey they feel great in the sweltering heat. Oh yes. Some of the familiar faces have blown up - fluffy and red. I think they are worse off than the shriveled ones medically speaking. What remains as a reminder of their high status and living standards are the impeccable clothes, rolex watch and belly shoes ( or is it Salvatore Ferrafamo?}. They don't bother me anymore since i found my Bata shoes and Petaling Street timepiece served my purpose just as well.

Most satisfying is when I see some of the familiar bourgeois faces of old joining the common man-in-the-street for prayers at the mosques and madrasahs. I like to watch their lips when the Imam and the Makmum in general are reciting some familiar prayers, more so the less familiar ones. Are their lips moving in tendem with the others showing that they knew the prayers by heart or are they just moving their lips to pretend that they are also reciting the particular verse from the al-Quran or the doa.
I must confess that I was doing just that when I was still pretending to be in their group of buddies.

Now that I am retired ( old is a relative term nowadays for even a young man can die tomorrow), I can at least say that I don't have to pretend anymore. Neither in my clothes, food, drinks nor in fulfilling the injunctions of Allah. If I can fulfill what needed to be done I do it if not I strive to practice or learn how to fulfil it. It's never too late to learn and the funny thing is that the more you try to commit the prayers and the doas to memory the more you forget. Oh how I admire the Imams who rattle the prayers like teenagers singing Michael Jackson's songs. Why didn't I start memorizing the important prayers and doas when I was a young man? It wouldn't have taken too much of my time or memory space. I really don't know how many mega or gigabite of memory space is left noggin though I know the human brains contain more memory space than hundreds of mainframes put together.

Hey. it's good to move around now in all kinds of places to watch out for the old bourgeois faces turned humble and pensive with age. When I watched them it makes me feel young again just like when I watched the young people enjoying life and sometimes making a fool of themselves. Don't be angry men! I did that too when I was young and everyone pof us is entitled to fool around when we are young. The question is when do we stop doing so and start to accept the fooling around of the world as a way of life in the new world ( even if it's old to you). I enjoy learning more than competing in life, now. How about you?

BACK TO NORMALCY

Driving through KL city and witnessing the Floria Show and Floats at night in Putrajaya will convince anyone that things are back to normal in KL and Malaysia as a whole after the July 9 incident. Clearly the government and the Police had done a good job to stop the street protest from escalating into the anti-government and violent show of emotions as feared. Except for one unfortunate death and some injuries suffered, nothing much happened. The arrest of 700 or more is a different matter - legal not political.

No matter what happened in KL, Malaysia has always been a peaceful country in general. Even during the confrontation and 13th May, things were very peaceful over a large part of the country especially in the rural areas. The common folks will get on with their life as usual and at some common meeting places even in Kuala Lumpur, people will be happily enjoying their favorite food and 'teh tarik' late into the night as in the pic. These shots were taken at the Weekend Family Fare at MATICS near Concord Hotel and another favorite eatery. The food, cultural show, and open market fare at MATIC is held every Saturday night amidst glittering lights and endless music with streams of local visitors and foreign tourists enjoying the sight. sound and tastes of Malaysia delicacies.

When we sit back and witness the people of Malaysia going about doing their things in the day and enjoying themselves at the popular eating and fun places at night, one wonders what the talk about Islamic extremism, communal conflicts , infringement of basic human rights, political wrangling between political parties and within each party, the repression of freedom etc. is all about.We only read about all those in the Press but we don't see them on the streets. We see and hear the battle of words, legal jargons and political accusations and hatred in Parliament and at political caucuses. But not on the streets. On the highways, the streets and the roads we only see traffic jams and people hurrying about, trying to jump the que or beat the traffic light. But no threats, no exchange of insults, no aggressive shaking of fists between citizens of various races and no condemnation of each other.

Malaysians are general very friendly, accommodating and hospitable. Yes there are grouses and unhappiness here and there about the adminsitration, the bureaucracy and traffic jams, the escalating costs of things, the whimsicality of the weather etc. But people are reasonably happy and friendly.

So, who are creating the problems, the scare, the threats to peace and stability, the ill-will and the prejudice between racial groups and ethnic communities? Who are making us citizens of Malaysia afraid and suspicious of each other? Who ore the ones making us fight each other and treating each other like arc enemies? We all have our own answers. The answers will become more apparent and transparent as we approach GE13.

Periodic Disturbance better than a Sudden Collapse.

The government and the public are still bellyaching over the July 9 event. Everyone's focusing on the negative aspects of the illegal gathering, the diturbance it caused to the public, the loss of business to the shopkeepers, the bad image it gives to the nation etc. The Police is praised sky-high for blocking the gathering and dispersing the crowd which gathered in spite of the fact that holding such a gathering has been declared illegal and against the law,

Our mainstream media seem to cover the event rather cooly, with no highlihtings of any undesirable occurrence and presenting the entire event as an exercise in futility. But AlJazeera TV took it more seriously and captured many of the more disturbing aspects of the people-vs-the authority confrontation. To outsiders the event could have looked like a full scale people's uprising against the governmen.

The government always looked at such gatherings and street protests as unnecessary because there are many other ways for the unhappy members of the public to bring up their grouses to the government. They can bring up the matter through their parliamentary representstives, through the Press or through the website. They can even use the handphone facilities and the SMS. So, why hold streets demonstration and disturb the peace that our nation has been enjoying?

Yes, i canA remember the peace enjoyed bofore the 2008 election. There was not too much of any disturbance and the Barisan was full of confidence that it wiil win a clear majority hands down. The result came as a great suprise to show that a quiet and a non-display of disientient attitude by the opposition can be a worse thing than some show of diagreement on the street. The same same thing occured much ealier (1985) in Sabah when there was not much show of disagreemenr or opposition to Harris Salleh's rule until the election proved that the people was not on his side. Yes, it came as a shock because things look so calm and peaceful before the election and tne Sabah state governmrnt was not prepared for a beating.

This goes to show that it is important for government to allow people to show their concern and grievances in a way that implies they have some power over the government. Taking their anger and grievances to the street is one sure way of allowing them to do that. It is a kind of allowing them to give vent to their pent up feelings and emotions like what the psychotherapist allowed their patience to do in an anger management session. They would allow the patient to get off their anger on some objects by crying out and hitting at the objects as much as they want until the anger subsides. Once they get over their anger they become more ready for treatment. Stop them from letting off steam and they will continue to find ways to let out their feelings and emotions. It is those patients who just kept their emotions to themselves who will literally explode with anger at a later point of time.

If you stop people from giving vent to their unhappiness and anger, they wiil continue to find ways to show that anger at any point of time later. But if you allow them an opportunity to blow off steam for a while under controlled conditions the anger will cool off and they will be more prone to listen to reason. You can certainly cause more harm than good if you stop people from showing up heir concern. anger and fears off and on. Over a period of time if the anger and fears have no outlet whatever, they will really blow off with a big bang. By allowing them to come out into the open bit by bit, you will not only stave off a totol outrbreak but also undersrand their problems better in order to deal with them more effectively. It is better to deal with the smaller expressions of dissatisfaction than to seddenly face a total lost of support at an election.
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