Today was my first event with Assoc. Prof Sean Foley.We met the year he was here as a Fulbrighter.I dah tak ingat how we met but he and his family (wife) became friends with mine.Kasi talk kat EPF lagi on impact of the Arab Spring on world econs or something like that.Sean ni serba boleh.Umur baru 32 but bijak.Bapak dia lagi bijak.Mak dia laggiiiii bijak, both grads of Cornell (hence lies another common factor.His dad a philosopher turned poet.Power gila poems dia.Urat otak semua bersimpul thinking about wht he writes.Mak Sean,an economist).
What I like about this group is the opportunity to meet interesting scholars...intellectual passion is like candu.Alhamdullilah,the talk went well.We had Profs from OUM.Q&A session was also fun.Sean ckp Robert Fisk ambik kerja dia.Turun saham Fisk.I asked Sean if he noticed Fisk dah berubah on many issues with regard to the Middle East.I terkantoi.Bdk smart ni kata,sure sebab ME pun byk berubah.Kah kah kah.
With regard to Sheikh Tahir Jalaluddin ni,rupanya dia kontemporari dgn Sheikh Hadi.Sean kata kelompok Islamic modernist but I tanya bukan ke term tu oxymoronic or a juxtaposition?He said it is just to differentiate aliran conservative or traditional.Lepas tu he linked up aliran ni dgn Maher Zain.Clever connection! I like.I raised the possibility of Zain being influenced by Tariq Ramadan and of cos' this is not new..let's go back to Said Nursi and his disciple Gullen.Let's go back to the spirit of the Quran.Modernist tak modernist.It's been there.New era, new labels.
Next month,Prof Alan Lew pulak on coastal tourism.Another new thing.Watch this space.
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