Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Rapatkan saf

FORUM PENCEROBOHAN HAK -HAK MELAYU DAN MUSLIM

Kebelakangan ini telah timbul semula isu-isu yang menggugat kedudukan Islam dan kepentingan umat di negara ini yang memerlukan perhatian dan penglibatan kita sebagai seorang Muslim yang komited kapada agama kita. Di antara isu-isu yang mencabar ialah cabaran-cabaran terhadap status Islam dalam Perlembagaan dan dalam undang-undang negara termasuk kedudukan Mahkamah Syari’ah itu sendiri, kes-kes mahkamah seperti pengunaan kalimat-kalimat suci Islam oleh agama-agama lain, kedudukan tanah wakaf, usaha-usaha pihak–pihak tertentu mendesak, malah ada juga yang mencabar, pihak berwajib supaya melonggarkan status dan menurunkan martabat Islam di negara ini yang disuarakan secara lantang mau pun diusahakan secara halus, usaha-usaha badan-badan agama lain dari luar negera menyebarkan dakyah-dakyah mereka di kalangan umat Islam tempatan serta usaha-usaha mereka memperalatkan individu-individu Islam tertentu untuk kepentingan mereka, berita-berita negatif terhadap Islam dan umat Islam di negara ini yang dipamerkan dalam siaran-siaran TV di luar negera, dan lain-lain.

Menginsafi keadaan ini, maka IMAN (Interactive Muslimah Association) berserta Malaysian Chapter Alumni Universiti Islam Antarabangsa akan mengadakan forum bertajuk “Forum Pencerobohan Hak -Hak Melayu Dan Muslim ” yang akan menampilkan mereka yang terlibat terus dalam isu-isu ini serta mereka yang berpengalaman dalam hal-hal umat Islam di Malaysia. Semuga dengan penjelasan-penjelasan dari para aktivis dan tokoh-tokoh ini, saf-saf umat Islam di negara yang tercinta ini akan lebih kemas dan tersusun.




Tarikh: 12hb Julai 2008, Sabtu
Masa:: 9.30 pagi – 1.00 ptg
Tempat: Main Auditorium, UIA Gombak


Panelis forum:

Dato’ Haji Mohd. Nakhaie Ahmad (Yang Di Pertua YADIM)
En. Zainur Zakaria (peguam, Pengerusi Peguam Pembela Islam)
Haji Yusri Muhammad (Presiden ABIM)
En. Abdul Rahim Sinwan (peguam)
Hj. Muzaffar Dato’ Mohamad (pakar Sejarah Kesultanan Melayu)

Moderator: Puan Kamar Ainiah Kamaruzaman
(Ketua Biro Undang-Undang dan Hak Asasi Manusia IMAN, peguam)

Penganjur Bersama
IMAN (Interactive Muslimah Association)
Alumni Universiti Islam Antarabangsa (Malaysian Chapter)
ASA (Academic Staff Association UIA )

Pihak Penganjur akan mengadakan kutipan derma kilat untuk Tabung Urusan Umat membantu para aktivis bergerak dengan lebih kemas. Sila berikan sumbangan ikhlas saudara.

JEMPUT DATANG BERAMAI-RAMAI

Monday, June 23, 2008

Another promo

The Criteria is a Muslim view newspaper in English. It is managed by Saba Islamic Media Sdn Bhd. To sustain the longevity of the paper, the following are needed:

1. Your subscription at RM36 for 24 issues OR
RM72 for 48 issues

Email your subscription wish at subscription@criteria.com.my


2. Your article contribution which can be sent to editor@criteria.com.my

The website is http://www.criteria.com.my/


PLEASE SUPPORT THE PAPER.IT'S OUR VOICE

Sunday, June 22, 2008

A busy weekend

The Osmonds going down the memory lane



Donny yang masih nampak muda remaja .Dia ni very tertib and actually, pemalu


Marie yang masih cantik jelita.She's very witty onstage.Anaknya dah 8

the osmond brothers celebrating their 50th year in show biz, on their last world tour





It's spent with a mix of guilt and joy.


Just before the Osmonds' concert which I had looked forward to, I was with some lawyer friends enjoying popia, somewhere in Gombak.


We started discussing the latest in the country:

1.About legal demands made by certain quarters of the society over the use of words like "Allah", "kaabah", "baitullah", "solat" in their holy books which Pak Lah some time ago said OK boleh dicetak dalam bahasa melayu.Mungkin so sure of iman orang melayu di kala ini.


2.I think if the tujuan is to mengelirukan, we have to voice our concerns.Very often my non-Muslim friends argue, apa pasal orang Islam boleh buat dakwah terbuka but they can't? Then they start to quote article 11 perlembagaan without mentioning clause 4 which nyata melarang mengembangkan agama lain selain Islam to Muslims.

Sometimes depa ni nak guna equal rights/human rights arguments but sometimes I suspect it's only a one-sided kinda human rights.Mna blehhhhh!!! Kita di Msia mesti hormat menghormati.Ikut je perlembagaan negara..rule of law..jgn selective memory je why we are all here, accommodating each other, each a bit of earth.


Sultan Johor dah bagi sebijik to that DAP MP yang konon nak tunjuk protest over hegemonisation of all races over pakai songkok yang dia mungkin lihat cuba memelayukan atau mengislamkan dia? Apa punya narrow mind lah.Tak pernah dengar pasal dress code? Setiap tempat/majlis ada dress code.Ikut je le cos' you are part of the game. Life is not an island.You are not answerable to your constituency sahaja.The whole network of society/nation is wider than just a small hamlet in Johor.


If DAP has always fought for equality atas dasar perlu memikirkan budaya dan bangsa lain, apa when it comes to integrating one aspect of budaya Msia, depa nak tunjuk lawak kasar pulak? Kalau bukan atas Pakatan Rakyat, majority takkan pandang this ultra racist party DAP walau dengan sebelah mata daa. Penang, better watch out next election if DAP does not re-invent itself to suit local and contemporary climate/culture (as should BN, PAS dan BA).


Anyway, going to Genting was an escapism from all this.While we work hard for world peace and peaceful co-existence, benda2 macam ni buat I fikiran kaciau.

At Genting Arena of Stars, Donny and Marie Osmond masih mengancam.Mungkin botox and liposuction.I am sure Donny cat/dye rambut dia.Too dark brown.No grey hair at all like his older brothers (ada yang datang bertongkat) but we still had fun, going down memory lane.We were a bunch of screamy 40s and 50s. Semua jerit when Donny sang Puppy Love. :)) Bila Donny kata they were here 28 years ago, orang sebelah I jerit balik, "We came twice for you!" Wah..peminat fanatik. :)

I saw Marie close up at the theme park but tak sempat nak bergambar.Donny came that close to where we were sitting (he went to meet the crowds while singing, jumping from one seat to another; Marie pulak panggil one male audience to sing with her and allowed him to hug her while she sang.Lucky animal!)


Some pics. and Donny on YouTube

Friday, June 20, 2008

Promo

Had promised Zul that I'd help promote his event.Good luck, bro!

http://www.klfringefestival.blogspot.com/

Thursday, June 19, 2008

When you geram



For my international readers, 'geram' is a Malay word we use when we are annoyed or pissed off.

What do you do when you 'geram'?

I got geram yesterday. I went to a car workshop to fix a new car lamp.The car guy asked if I wanted an imitation one or an original one.I asked for price difference.He said one was RM30, the other RM80.Okaaayyy..gimme the expensive one.

It was a 15 mins wait.I went to have my rojak mee just around the corner and ordered some mee mamak for my mom in law who was not feeling well (I was supposed to visit her on my way back).

Lama juga I kat mamak stall tu.

When I returned to the car workshop, my man said it's all done.But picking the habit of my husband (who's in Kuching till Friday), I checked and found out it's not Borsch as printed on my bill. *&^%$#!! but I was so cool and calm. I panggil balik Cina tu and tanya apa hat? Ini lampu bukan Borsch.Saya bayar Borsch price.He said sama saja..ini original, label lain.I must have looked stupid or what?

I said nyet, change it to Borsch.Saya nak Borsch! Saya nak Borsch! (but still cool and calm and collected here.Maybe masih ada senyum)

So I waited while the other guy get my Borsch from the Mines (jauhnya! I live in PJ).I was lucky I was reading an interesting book.Tak sangka sampai waktu Maghrib.Close to one hour, waiting!

The demon had to come out!
Business was as usual for my Chinese guy.There was not even a look of remorse or guilt on his face for his attempted fraud/cheating act on me.

The demon REALLY came out.

I made a scene. I demanded my money back.Dia pled for another 10 mins. Like I believe him? Mines tu jauh! I had wasted enough time.I said nyet.My money back, and my old lamp. Masa I tengah berleter2 tengah public tu (there were people.There were clients and I hope they marked every word I said, underline on the word cheat..this shop is no ordinary shop..it has 3 big branches in Lembah Klang), kawan2 dia pasang alat peng-grill kuat2 so my words were lost.No one could hear me...hahaha..I felt funny juga masa tu but sebab geram....

I got my money back and this shop is blacklisted.I will tell my friends and family members.

I drove away to another shop and got my car lamp fixed within minutes at a lesser price.

Tak geram ke? Berniaga kalau tak tipu, tak boleh hidup ke?

Saturday, June 14, 2008

Happy Father's Day



To all fathers who have done good to their kids, happy father's day!


I think we'll go somewhere close to celebrate this evening.It is also my 21st wedding anniversary.We thought of giving sadaqah to orphans as a sign of bersyukur that we are still here, in good shape. I think the relationship is good cos' we allow ourselves to scream at each other bila dah naik benggang.Hahaha.But Nik is a good friend and a loving person (a good father).That is his strength (we did a checklist of what I like about you/what I don't pagi ni when we woke up.Morbid people!)


Anyway, we have to be grateful for the jodoh given to us.Allah knows best.Empat perkara we cannot change no matter how much wealth/power we have: time of death, where we die, who we marry and the kind of wealth/rezeki we get.


I think we'll try the Cinnamon at One World Hotel (One Utama) tonight. Tak larat nak pergi jauh-jauh.I have theses to examine and a conference paper to write.One of my friends kerja at One World (my Australian alumna) recommended Cinnamon but I saw the reviews (on the hotel) Sama banyak je yes and no nya.But they have a wonderful write-up on Cinnamon.My fav. spot is One Bangsar (either Thai or Vietnamese dia...very da nice)


Never da mind. We have lotsa choices at One Utama if we don't like Cinnamon.Dulu ada Barn Thai (lantainya tanah, rumah bangsal but good jazz --- live music).I don't know where the new one is (I thot they moved to One Utama..modern setting).


Will recommend Cinnamon kalau bagus.Watch this space.


Sunday, June 08, 2008

Family and Friends

Jenny and Swee Mee at lunch

Z with a fellow participant
Z and Sakinah as Malaysian reps
Istanbul from a cable car


Saturday was a busy day for me. Z was scheduled to arrive at 9 am.We took leave on Friday thinking her flight was on Friday (only to be told on Thurs. that it was on Sat!) So we spent some time doing the garden. Then in the afternoon I had to rush back to the uni for Krishna's PhD thesis defense.So takda cuti sangat lah.

Anyway, on Saturday I had also scheduled my Reunion meeting at 11 am.I figured sempat lah balik from the airport but Z took more than an hour to clear her luggage (KLIA's management is so bad..for what is supposed to be a sophisticated airport, the luggage clearance is so lama.I was told once that the workers sabotaged work, for better pay.Wallahualam)

Anyway, I am so bersyukur Z came back safe.She has many stories to tell.Access luggage fee sampai close to RM2K! (bawak barang2 Olympics dia like selimut yang beratnya berkati2.Sigh).

Some pics of her in Turkey (she was in Istanbul, Ankara and Gaziantep, travelling like a superstar, she said.The Turkish Language Olympics is a big thing in Turkey.What I like about it is the business community coming together to help promote Turkish language and culture that they have organised 6 olympics without fail -- sponsoring 550 students from over 100 countries, this year.Airfares, hotels/meals semua paid for for 3 weeks.Anyone keen on registering for next year's event, contact Mr. Turgay at the Turkish International School for further enquiries.Your child must be between 12 and 18 to qualify.They will teach your child, Turkish, for 6 months every weekend, free)
Read the kind of excitement your child may have here http://www.victoriousgal.blogspot.com/
See also http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/6/15/education/21467438&sec=education

Ahhh...my Reunion meeting lunch.I met Jenny after almost 3 decades.Tak nampak tua langsung dia ni.Then Sivanes mula buka cerita lama2 when we were at school.I tak sangka I was so naughty at school and they suspected it was me (at 15) who threw a note to 'harass' a temporary male teacher (one that said 'you are so handsome, I love you'.Haha).I tak ingat langsung benda ni and it's so uncharacteristic of me to say benda2 pelik macam tu to strangers. But Sivanes said she had evidence I wrote to the Revolvers (in the form of a postcard) cos' I liked Freddie Fernandez (then) and how Freddie wrote back thanking us for writing such an interesting postcard (I wrote it with Sivanes).Entah iya entah tidak Freddie who wrote back.Entah2 his peon. :))


But we laughed so much all afternoon just reminiscing what we had done and NOT done.Jenny just discovered at lunch that her gynae (a very famous one now and who had delivered her two babies) was the temporary teacher she didn't like at school.The gynae did ask her if she were from Raub during her first checkup.She didn't connect at all then. We thought this was so hilarious.How could she not know???


Some pics.

Thursday, June 05, 2008

P.Ramlee the Musical, Part 2

Korang baik pi tengok! Memang international standardlah (the setting especially...stage dia better than Broadway's Mamma Mia which we saw in New York City last year.Mamma Mia so cikai.P.Ramlee punya macam Don Quixote's I saw in Madrid..stage-nya bertingkat2 dan babak keretapi tu memang sophisticated habislah.Sapo engineer/architectnya gamaknya? Gua tabik lu!)

Memang sedih juga kisah P.Ramlee ni tapi tak tau betui ke tidak versi depa ni.I hope they did their research well.Theatre kena ada R&D baru boleh percaya.Blue Man group dia pun semua buat research for every show they make.That's why they appeal to so many people esp. orang2 technical minded ni.

Last year, ramai orang marah sebab the play was accused of turning all of Ramlee's women into prostitutes.I guess it's a matter of interpretation-lah.

Costume dia bagus tapi dalam konteks hari ni..tengok wanita Melayu onstage berkemban (lagi! Dulu dalam Puteri Gunung Ledang pun timbul isu berkemban) hodoh juga.At one point, a group of them looked like wanita zaman batu sedang buat tarian zaman batu mereka.Adakah ini disengajakan, wallahualam.

I suka papparazzi tu.Mereka tersangat la cute sebab mereka tersangat lah kelakar.

Sapa Musly Ramlee? Dia betul2 macam aruah P.Ramlee.Gedik dia memang gedik P.Ramlee.

Jawapannya di sini http://star-ecentral.com/services/sprinterfriendly.asp?file=/2008/6/3/soundnstage/21387494&sec=soundnstage

Questions I need you to answer:

1.Mengapa legenda negara selalu die in poverty? : P.Ramlee, Saloma, Sudirman?

2. Sepanjang hayat P.Ramlee, orang selalu exploited him..begitu banyak films and songs he made, sapa yang kaya? Even today I wonder profits made out of his life through this play..adakah dikongsi bersama2 keluarga Allahyarham? (anaknya Nasir dan yang lain2 itu..Dian dan Sazali? Sazali is a rubbish collector I was told)

3.Bagaimanapun I still say syabas to Tiara and co. I think she has done a lot to promote Malay theatre into being accepted by ALL Malaysians (malam tu ramai bangsa bukan Melayu datang).That is why I told her, "Thank you for making us all Malaysians." Kita jangan underestimate Tiara.Dia telah bawak kita jauh and her Malay is so sedap didengar (as is her English).Kita yang kononnya memperjuangan bahasa, budaya ni tau bercakap je.Tiara telah lama tinggalkan kita. My question is: tidakkah kita malu dengan Tiara? (and her co.)

Orang kata ada duit, semua jalan.Not true.Ramai philanthropists kita pun banyak duit but what do they do to menmertabatkan warisan budaya kita?

http://mikeyip.com/tag/istana-budaya/

Tuesday, June 03, 2008

P.Ramlee the Musical

Mek asked if I wanted to join her watch P.Ramlee the Musical at Istana Budaya. Malas.Sejuk tempat tu (macam winter) but Nik kata tak baik, orang dah ajak.Mek is my elder sister.A bit cracko.

Nasib baik tiket dah habis.

But today she rang again.Tiket ada lagi! I said ok, book it. Dia pi booked tiket mahal! (sebab yang lain dah habis).Haiyooo...

I hope it'll be worth it.The first version (2007) had mixed reviews.Tahun ni katanya terlebih pulak pujinya.We'll see.

I like this advert
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LwhRJEaZ8hk