How can you allow people to intrude into your private lives?

YOu really have to ask this question if you are an adult,
 especially if you are educated
 and you think your dignity is important.

Ask yourselves - have you empowered other human beings to intrude into your private affairs
when you hurt no one or society?

Believe me - this is so important to ask before your whole being and mind becomes
the slave of a select few in society.

God gave YOU life for you to shape it in the best way you know how
For you to live
Not for you to be a slave in a body !

Think if you care.

Peace.

Mengapa Kita menyusahkan Hidup Kita Sendiri?

(Atrikel ini tidak ditujukan kepada semua orang, hanya pada mereka yang berkaitan sahaja.Dalam dunia ini, ada yang baik dan ada yang jahat).

Banyak perkara dalam fikiran dan hati saya yang ingin saya berkongsi dengan mereka yang mahu mendengarnya terutama berkaitan dengan keperitan dan cabaran pengalaman yang di istilahkan sebagai "kehidupan". Mengapa terlalu banyak masalah, kepedihan, penderitaan, kemiskinan dan kekecawaan dalam kehidupan?

Memang kita tahu bahawa kehidupan itu mempunyai cabaran tersendiri, liku-liku yang terpaksa di lalui dan tindakan-tindakan yang perlu di lakukan supaya kehidupan kita tidak menjadi sia-sia dan kita boleh hidup dengan sejahtera dan bermaruah. Ini adalah cabaran-cabaran semula jadi perjalanan kehidupan. Tidak ada sesiapa pun boleh merungut berkaitan dengan perkara semula jadi ini. Kehidupan ini tertakluk kepada Sunnah Allah atau natural laws, samada kita mahu akuinya ataupun tidak. Bukan perkara-perkara ini yang sering merunsingkan saya.

Sepanjang kehidupan saya sehingga kini, saya kenal ramai manusia mulia yang mengorbankan masa, tenaga dan harta mereka yang sedikit bagi meringkan keperitan kehidupan orang lain. Mereka lakukan semua ini kerana mereka tidak mahu makhluk lain yang juga manusia seperti mereka tidak merasai rahmah Allah. Saya hormati dan mendoakan bagi orang-orang seperti ini. Kebanyakkan daripada rakyat marhain merupakan manusia seperti ini.

Perkara yang saya tidak faham ialah sikap setengah mereka yang mempunyai kuasa, yang mempunyai pembelajaran, jawatan, pangkat, gelaran, kedudukan, keupayaan wang ringgit, kesihatan dan banyak lagi rahmah Allah tetapi bersikap menimbulkan masalah bagi mereka yang bergantung kepada mereka atau mengharapkan mereka.

Kesombongan, Keangkuhan, Ketamakan.

Saya kurang faham mengapa ada mereka yang berjawatan mudah menjadi sombong dan angkuh sehingga keangkuhan mereka menahan mereka untuk menjalankan amanah dengan sepatutnya.Saya sudah bersua dengan beberapa pegawai2 kerajaan (bukan semua), pengarah2, ketua2 pengarah macam2 jabatan yang berwatakkan sebagai "orang berkuasa" daripada berwatakkan sebagai "orang yang dipinjamkan kuasa untuk membantu manusia". INi pun bukanlah mereka di minta untuk bekerja dengan percuma tetapi di bayar gaji.

Mengapa boleh orang sombong dengan pangkat dan kuasa? Dari kecil sampai saya dewasa kini, saya masih tidak faham. Saya sebenarnya rasa kelakar bila ada orang yang berpengaruh merasakan dirinya sangat penting kerana dalam minda saya, saya sudah pun nampak keadaan beliau selepas bersara dan jika beliau panjang umur menjadi lebih tua. Bukan kah lebih elok di gunakan kuasa untuk membantu yang marhain dan berusaha meringankan masalah dan beban mereka?

Maka, saya lihat kesombongan dan keangkuhan atau "syok sendiri" dengan jawatan dan panggilan pangkat oleh orang lain lah yang membuat kita lalai dalam amanah sehingga kita menyusahkan kehidupan orang lain.

Saya sudah semakin meluat dengan mereka yang hanya fikirkan tentang diri mereka, kerjaya mereka dan keluarga mereka semasa berjawatan dan berkuasa dan lepas bersara kononnya baru lah nak berkhidmat pada masyarakat atau beribadah dalam masjid - takut mati konon walhal hari yang kita lahir itu adalah pengesahan bahawa kematian itu satu kepastian!

Yang masuk keranda bukan lah orang tua atau muda tetapi mayat. Jadi tidak kah perbuatan sia2 tamak pada kehidupan yang pasti akan tinggalkan kita?

Ramai Terpelajar, sedikit yang terdidik

Ini satu lagi sumpahan yang melanda beberapa orang yang terpelajar sehingga dia menyusahkan kehidupan rakyat kebanyakkan dengan pelajaran tinggi nya. Tidak kira samada orang itu terpelajar dalam bidang agama ataupun bidang bukan agama. jenis manusia ini sama sahaja - mereka lebih mahu di iktiraf sebagai "pandai" walaupun kerja2 yang di usahakan oleh tangan2 mereka itu menyusahkan kehidupan rakyat kebanyakkan. Ini lah antara sebab2 nya saya kadang2 malas nak sertai seminar2 kerana saya rasa saya tidak boleh berlagak pandai seperti mana yang mereka harapkan.

Terdapat lah hakim2, peguam2, sarjana2 agama, engineer, doktor dan lain2 yang terpelajar lebih menyusahkan manusia daripada membantu. Mereka samada tidak sedar atau tidak peduli bahawa tindakan mereka boleh bawa kesan buruk kepada kehidupan orang lain. Mungkin ini berlaku kerana seperti kuda yang pakai "blinkers", mereka membenarkan diri terperangkap dengan keasyikkan kedudukan dan "pembelajaran" mereka bagi menjamah nafsu kepentingan peribadi semata2.

Terlalu banyak seminar2, mesyuarat2 jawatankuasa dan lain2 forum seperti ini yang tidak memberi kesan langsung dalam meringankan keperitan harian yang di alami oleh rakyat kebanyakkan. Yang "pandai2"ini syok melontarkan "idea" yang mampu mengerunkan ramai yang mudah terpedaya tetapi sebenarnya direka khas untuk menonjolkan kumpulan mereka sebagai eksklusif "pandai" dalam masyarakat. Melalui cara2 ini, mereka mencipta peranan dan status bagi diri mereka dalam masyarakat - berkepentingan diri sendiri.

Malangnya, yang daif tetap daif. Sumber2 Allah masih di nikmati oleh golongan eksklusif tetapi rakyat kebanyakan masih serba kekurangan.

Begitu ramai yang terpelajar tetapi kita lihat keadaan rakyat kebanyakkan begitu daif juga. Di merata2 dunia, bukan di negara kita sahaja. Dan dalam banyak hal, saya dapati orang2 terpelajar lah menimbulkan pelbagai masalah dan reka pelbagai perkara yang menyusahkan rakyat kebanyakkan. Fikirlah sendiri apa kah perkara2 ini.

Banyak perkara yang masih saya tidak faham dalam kehdiupan ini
Ini sahaja lah luahan hati saya buat masa ini. Memang sesak nafas saya memikirkan gelagat manusia2 seperti yang saya gambarkan disini.

Salam.

Moving towards Muslim intra-faith tolerance

There has been much discussion and many conscious efforts to bring about inter-faith understanding and tolerance so that people from different religious backgrounds may learn to live together in peace and harmony in this country. 

The Federal Constitution itself was so drafted to enshrine this principle of religious tolerance while acknowledging Islam as the religion of the Federation.

Since Merdeka, we see there are mosques, gurdwaras, temples, churches and many other holy places belonging to diverse religions co-existing peacefully.

Malaysians celebrate each other’s religious festivities as an occasion to foster togetherness without the respective religious beliefs being threatened.

There is not only tolerance but acceptance of the fact that being from different religious backgrounds is not a deterrent to working and living together.

By and large, most Malaysians accept this diversity of religious beliefs as a rich feature of Malaysia.

Malaysian Muslims, too, accept this reality as a sign from Allah of His creativity, mercy and wisdom.

Hence, God willing, religious differences do not cause disunity or strife among Malaysians.

The situation, however, I am afraid is different when it comes to tolerance within the Muslim community itself. 

In the Middle East, Pakistan and many other countries, sectarian differences in the Muslim community is characterised by enmity, disunity and sometimes violent conflicts among themselves.

The Shia-Sunni conflict is historical and continues to undermine global Muslim unity.

Even within the Sunni community itself, various sub-sects and extremist groups seem to have sprouted creating conflict within its community. The Islamic State  is positioned as an offshoot of the Sunni community.

In Malaysia, I sadly note sectarian differences seem to be taking a stronger negative presence in our society, threatening to undermine Malaysian Muslim unity. I may be wrong and I hope to be wrong but I observe that intra faith conflicts in the Muslim community seem to be increasing as the number of graduates from religious studies increase. 

Compared to say, about 40 years ago,  there seems to be less tolerance in our society pertaining to differences in opinions, views and interpretation of aspects of Islam among Muslims themselves.

A clear disunity among the Malay Muslims occurred when the political contest between Umno and PAS escalated in the 80s right through the 90s.

PAS was projected as representing Allah’s will in the political arena while Umno was seen as a nationalistic party despite the fact Umno’s constitution also placed the protection of the Islamic faith as one of its main objectives. 

“Islamic politics” became a significant political behaviour in the quest to woo the Malay Muslim’s votes.

The political contest between Umno and PAS led to the unfortunate disunity among the Malay Muslims as a result of the kafir mengkafir phenomenon where PAS politicians labelled Umno as infidels.

Hence, from politics, it mutated to a choice between belief and disbelief. Thereafter, each party tried to be more Islamic than the other but perception-wise, Umno was lagging behind in the “Islamic” image department.

I recall even many Umno members secretly believed PAS was indeed more “correct” on the Islamic path. The upshot of it is that the use of “Islam” for political purposes had the unfortunate result of breaking up Malay Muslim unity. 

In this regard, Najib and Hadi’s efforts to bring together Umno and PAS is seen as a move to lessen this political disunity among the Malay Muslims.

Over the years, there is greater emphasis on matters Islamic or perceived to be Islamic due to the political realities of the country. Concurrent with this, there is also increasing conflict between the Muslim thinkers not formally trained in religious studies and the Muslim scholars formally trained in religious studies. I note there is also increasing conflict among the Muslim scholars themselves. 

If the “conflict” is merely a civilised academic contest of ideas and interpretations with the view to espouse and put forth the best interpretations for consideration and humble debate, it is laudable. Civilisations are built upon citizens who are willing to think and behave compassionately.

However, it appears the contest increasingly dominant in the public sphere is not one with a view to share ideas but seems to be a contest to monopolise religious discourses and interpretation of what “Islam” is.

I believe this trend is increasing in our country and is actuated by the quest for power, control, wealth and also religious arrogance. 

Such a contest for monopoly of religion, if not curtailed, may lead to serious fractures in the Muslim community.  It is therefore extremely important for Muslims who wish to stand united by the “rope of Allah’ to be wary of such mischief makers clothed in the robe of religion.

Furthermore, I believe also some (not all) religious “experts” have developed a sense of religious egoism where, unwittingly or otherwise, they have equated their understanding and their interpretation to that of Allah’s.

In other words, the interpreter of scripture has elevated himself to the status of the Giver of scripture. Such a mindset is almost narcissist in nature and is dangerous to society. Such religious leaders may also become the leaders of disunity among the Muslim community.

To foster unity among the Muslims, no amount of outward and superficial show of “Islamness” will help if the spirit of Islam is dead within them. The Quran is replete with advice, exhortations and guidance on how to deal with differences of views even among the Muslims. They have to learn to be more tolerant of each other’s differing views on Islam.

Allah has many times in the Quran said He will settle all differences in the hereafter and that our duty includes doing righteous deeds, be humble, be useful to mankind and His creations, be compassionate and be mindful of our own duties and responsibilities.

So long as we have a few but “powerful” men who want to behave like god on earth, our efforts towards a united Muslim community will still remain a challenge. It is this challenge that the majority spiritual Muslims and the many guided and learned scholars have to bravely and consistently address before matters get worse. Let us never turn Malaysia into another Middle East.

* Jahaberdeen Mohamed Yunoos is a senior lawyer and founder of Rapera, a movement which encourages thinking and compassionate citizens. He can be reached at rapera.jay@gmail.com

** This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail Online.

- See more at: http://www.themalaymailonline.com/what-you-think/article/moving-towards-muslim-intra-faith-understandingjahaberdeen-mohamed-yunoos#sthash.INIPjGiM.dpuf

Do not underrate importance and freedom of thought.

 One of the most important distinguishing features between humans and animals is our ability to think and reason.  

Due to our thinking faculties, we are able to be the dominant species on the planet. We have heard words and ideas such as “intelligence”, “cleverness”, “creativity”, “innovativeness” and so on. All these ideas relate to the various ways in which the brain functions.  

The brain if you like, is in a sense like the computer — garbage in garbage out.  In other words, the usefulness of your brain to you and others will depend largely on what you put inside your brain and how actively you use its potential and capability.

Many people think that simply because they live or are able to survive, they are using their brains. I have no better answer than to quote the Quran:

“Many are the Jinns and men we have made for Hell: They have hearts with which they understand not, eyes with which they see not, and ears with which they hear not. They are like cattle, nay more misguided: for they are heedless (of warning)” (Quran 7:179)

In the above verse, Allah compares some human beings to cattle and says that these human beings are worse off than cattle. Allah says clearly that many human beings are lower than cattle. Why cattle?

Cattle is guarded, fed, and its direction and life is determined by the cowherd. Cows have a heart, eyes and ears and so do human beings. Cows cannot use them to better their lives. Cows do not think and see or hear like humans. Humans have been given the privilege by Allah to use their hearts, their eyes and their ears. Those who do not, Allah says, are worse than cows.

The educated, well-off and powerful among us who follow their “animalistic instincts” for their own desires need ''cattle'' around them to make their desires a reality. They spurn lies albeit sometimes couched in intellectual, religious, and even nationalistic terms. Sometimes they use sentiments. When this fails, they use power and fear and threats. They do all they can to wreck society and the basis of human nature as Allah created to satisfy their selfish ends.

But why must we fall in their trap?

Are we like the cattle being led by the nose by the cowherd? Merely for the miserable hay that is thrown in our way and the cow shack that we are allowed, we are willing to live a life lower than the cattle? 

Even though we know that the cowherd’s main purpose is to milk us and slaughter us? 

If so, why did Allah give us hearts, eyes and ears that are different from the cow if He intended that we should only be led by the selfish cowherd? Why do we insist on degrading ourselves when Allah has elevated us?

Allah has given a way out. He holds us personally accountable. He reminds us:

“And pursue not that of which you have no knowledge; for every act of hearing, or of seeing or of (feeling in) the heart will be enquired into (on the Day of Reckoning)”. (Quran 17.36)

It is now entirely our choice. We can choose to be the human beings that Allah created or we may continue to be lower than the cattle that Allah forbade us to be. 

I believe the weak remain weak and become weaker when they dispense with the powerful blessing given to us by the Creator — the ability to think and reason. An entire society becomes doomed when it collectively frowns upon thinking and diversity of thought. 

It is worse when a minority of powerful men dictate that the bigger majority of ordinary citizens should not be given freedom of thought. The entire society becomes like the cattle in the cowshed totally dependent on the minority cowherd. 

We have to learn to read books beyond our little kingdom that we sometimes wrongly tend to think is the universe.  The world of knowledge is far bigger than what we think or know. 

It may be difficult for some to believe but it is broader than the so called knowledge we think is possessed by the cleverest among us. In current times, it is already difficult to identify who are the truly intelligent ones or geniuses due to the nature of our formal education system and the patronage system that allows only individuals with mainstream-friendly ideas to prosper. 

Anything else is trampled upon and the true thinker may find himself ostracised to languish in solitude. In the land of fools, the thinker is usually treated like a mad man — dangerous to society. 

We fail to recognise the historical truth because we have deliberately been led to deny its significance. Why do great civilisations become great? A study of civilisations — the Roman Empire, Ancient Egypt, Greek Empire, British Empire, the Islamic Golden Age, Chola Dynasty — demonstrates that knowledge, the freedom of thought and discipline played a key role in bringing about their greatness. 

When little men rise to big positions through a flawed, oppressive and corrupt system, society as a whole suffers. Like all other civilisations that fade when the rot sets it, such a society too will fade into oblivion. 

Future generations will naturally become worse because the children now see the little men as icons and idols to be emulated. This vicious cycle will continue unless we understand and recognise oppression of thought and say no to it.

* Jahaberdeen Mohamed Yunoos is a senior lawyer and founder of Rapera, a movement that encourages thinking and compassionate citizens. He can be reached at rapera.jay@gmail.com

- See more at: http://www.themalaymailonline.com/what-you-think/article/do-not-underrate-importance-and-freedom-of-thought-jahaberdeen-mohamed-yuno#sthash.jYq4WNOZ.dpuf

Because The Clergy Cannot Be Sued For Ngeligence ......

There is an argument that is often canvassed by those who insist on absolute acceptance of the views and opinions of clergy - whether they are called priests, samiyars, ulamaks, ustads, fathers, sisters or brothers, gurus and so on - that these are experts.

The argument is since they are the experts, you have to accept their views unquestioningly. They further argue that when you are sick, you see the medical expert (doctor), when you have a legal problem, you see the legal expert (lawyer), when you car breaks down, you see the mechanic and therefore, on religious issues, you see the religious expert. Sounds logical ? No, actually. Consider the following reasons why I say such an argument is without basis and full of holes.

Firstly, every religion have their experts. If you are required to absolutely follow the views of the experts...then which expert do you follow? The Christian expert, the Hindu expert, the Judaist expert, the Islamic expert ? Which expert ? Each of these experts have completely different understanding on the path to the same God.  So, the argument that you accept what a religious expert tells you unquestioningly crumbles!

Secondly, even within the same religion, their own experts have diverse views on the same topic. So, again which expert does one follow unquestioningly ?

Thirdly, the comparison with non-religious experts such as doctors and lawyers to religious experts such as ulamaks or priests is inaccurate and misleading. Doctors and lawyers have no problems at all if you seek the advice and services of other doctors and lawyers. In fact in many instances, they insist you do so. They do not pretend to be the absolute authority in their field and will not in a frenzy condemn you to eternal hell fire if you reject their views. Their attitude is simple - they share their knowledge and expertise with you and seek you to make up your own mind, even if it's on a matter of your life and death.

This is not the case with most religious experts - they hold themselves out as the absolute authority and will seek to IMPOSE on you their views and understanding. They may even condemn you to hell fire or decreed that you have lost your soul or that you are a disbeliever of God simply because you disbelieve their understanding.

Lastly, which is very important is this: you can sue the non-religious experts like doctor and lawyer for negligent advice. How in the world do you sue the priest or the ustad or the samiyar if he had given you "negligent" advice. How do you sue him if his views had been completely wrong?

So - why do most of these people have a fetish for compelling others to accept their views unquestioningly ? Think about it....that is if you want to and capable of independent thinking.

Peace. 

We Are All Mutli-Personality

The fact of the matter is most of us have multiple personalities. I do not mean schizophrenic - that is a mental/personality disorder.

I mean we actually take on diverse roles in life, have multiple talents and also interests which may seem to be conflicting to some.

For example, you could be very God concious, know your scripture in and out, and yet, you love to dance and listen to music. There is nothing wrong with this. However, some people in society may disapprove of this and try to "box you in a certain specific" type of behaviour. Many allow themselves to be boxed in for fear of "what others may say", as if others are actually clever in assessment !

I think it is not worth living a life of hypocrisy whether in the name of religion, culture, ethnicity or anything. You got to allow your multiple talents to be expressed so long as it does not harm you or anyone.

If others cannot accept this, do not allow their lack of creativity and understanding of nature inhibit you. There is no such thing as a leader has to be boringly looking like he is a walking dead so long as he is efficient.

There is also no such thing as a lawyer shouldn't dance, or write poetry or write/talk on religion, etc, etc. Same goes for a "religious person" - he doesn't have to be boring.

We are what we are and that is how God made us.

So why do we want to please the non-thinking world by being what we are not?

Peace.

You know what has annoyed and saddened me all my life???

Actually many things and I think many of these things are not my doing....

Let me list down some of them...

1) When I was a kid, I looked up to adults because they seemed confident, knowledgeable and always spoke with authority. Whenever I asked questions or disagreed with them, I would be considered either as "rude" or 'speaking back".

But as I grow up, I realised that many of them are ignorant and pretending to know life when actually they too are trying to figure out what life is all about. Of course later I knew that most people do not think nor have the willingness to think....but certainly there is no reason to be dishonest with kids and worse to impose your unchecked, unverified beliefs on to them.

2) When I lost a class mate of mine in Form 5 in an accident, it really dawned upon me that we will for a certainty die one day. Life on earth will be meaningless if we do not make full use of it for the betterment of ourselves, our families, our friends, our society and our world.

Since we are all going to die, it makes sense to make this life as liveable as possible for all of us. Meaning - do not  make life too complicated. But it annoys me that we have made life so unnecessarily complicated due to various labels - culture, religion, protocol, ethnicity, economics, politics and so and so on.


3) It annoys me that some people make it their purpose in life to divide people according to religion and race. In fact they make money from this ignoble puropose. What is even more annoying is that they do this division of human beings by anointing themselves with fanciful and honourable titles and honorifics. .

It annoys me that some people have seminars, forums and even write so called "academic papers" to further dvide human beings. The heights of annoyance is when they speak in the name of God to divide people and make other people's lives as miserable as possible.

4) It annoys me that the masses allow their lives to be determined by the elitist few and keep honouring the masters who treat them and their children as slaves and tools for their own glory and power. It annoys me that masses live an automated life defined by the system which they did not create.

5) It annoys me that the masses do not want to support true reformers in society and recognise true thinkers.

6) It annoys me that powerful evil will get more powerful because they have all the resources to perpetuate their power.

7) It annoys me that the ordinary citizen in position of authority do not want to cooperate with another ordinary citizen and make the system pro ordinary citizen instead of being slavish enforcers for the elitists...and they grow old, retire and their children suffer from the corrupt system they created.

8) It annoys me that some men have the audacity to speak in the name of God and are brave to impose on you when they either have the power of authority or the power of violence.

9) It annoys me that the thinking ordinary masses do not translate their annoyance into something collectively useful to make our system better so that we can live better and happier.

What annoys you ???

Slaves of Men in the name of God

This is nothing new. All through the history of humankind, there are many who are willing to become slaves of men in the name of God.

A belief in God is supposed to give a sense of confidence in existence, a sense of being free from the tyranny of men, a sense of gratitude for life and a sense of being good. These are some of the values and aspirations of most religions. It is equally supposed to bring inner peace to humans through the special and personal relationship with their creator/God.

In the realm of faith however, logic and rational thinking often takes a back seat as opposed to the mysterious "heart". Hence, not every conduct that is carried out in the name of religion can be explained logically. Emotions tend to be stronger than rational or scientific thought and therefore the need for proof is often dispensed with. It is almost impossible to debate with emotions.

Slavery can take many forms. One of the highest level of slavery to me is when a person gives up his thinking and his right to mould his life to someone else or a group of others.  This often happens in religion.

All forms of conduct and living which in a civilised society may be considered as primarily a private matter becomes the subject of control in a religious society . Most of these restrictions on speech, dressing, diet, thought, general behaviour and socialisation are often determined exclusively by a few men in the name of God for the vast ignorant majority. 

These few elitist men, often portrayed as knowledgable due to their attendance at certain universities or mastery of certain information and language are held in high regard almost to the level of a god when it comes to the force with which thier views are expected to be complied with. 

Often any dissent against the views of these select elitist religious groups are met with a finality of punishment including the cruel method of social and legal ostracisation.  Increasingly, due to fear of being ostracised and the unpleasant repercussions that may follow, these elitist group solidify their position as controllers of human behaviour in the name of God. People relent because they want to get on with their lives not realising that they have become slaves to a few human masters.

The position of the elitist groups as the only spokesman for all things Godly often begins with the indoctrination of children - either at home or in schools. These children are taught that there are certain "knowledgable religious persons" whose views are never to be questioned.  These children also are taught that in matters of religion, many things can be imposed or forced upon them without the need for explanation or acceptance.  

Religion hence becomes a powerful tool to control humans.

It has the power to make slaves of men to other men who speak in the name of God.

Peace !reli

Sedar lah Wahai Rakyat !!!

Pemimpin-pemimpin politik memang tidak berhenti mendabik dada menyuarakan melalui media dan ucapan betapa sumbangan dan tenaga mereka lah yang telah meningkatkan kesejahteraan rakyat.

Bahawa usaha mereka bersama dengan penasihat2 agama mereka lah yang telah menyelamatkan akidah rakyat. Tanpa mereka, kamu semua akan sesat seolah-olah kamu sendiri tidak ada akal, nawaitu mahupun kemahuan sendiri untuk beriman kepada Pencipta semesta alam.

Benarkah kehidupan kamu telah bertambah baik kerana usaha pemimpin politik? Atau sepatutnya kah kehidupan kamu dan anak2 kamu seharusnya lebih baik jika mereka telah menjalankan tanggungjawap yang mereka sendiri rela dengan amanah dan lebih cekap?

Jika benarlah kehidupan kamu bertambah baik diatas usaha pemimpin2 politik, apakah itu kerana pengorbanan mereka ? Pengorbanan apakah namanya bila kehidupan kamu bertambah baik daripada miskin kepada tidak miskin dan kehidupan mereka dan anak2 mereka bertambah baik daripada miskin kepada jutawan dan billionare ? Apakah anak2 kamu tidak berhak kepada kemewahan yang dikecapi oleh pemimpin politik serta peluang2 yang dinikmati oleh anak2 mereka? 

Kamu menilai anak2 kamu begitu rendah sekali???

Mungkin kamu sudah bergembira dengan teriakan mereka untuk memperjuangkan “bangsa, agama dan Negara” walaupun diri mereka dan keluarga mereka yang di perjuangkan walhal kamu dan anak2 kamu dapat cebisan2?!

Buta atau rela nya kamu? Kamu langsung tidak sedar bahawa dikalangan mereka kamu dipandang sebagai hina, sebagai rakyat biasa atau alat untuk mereka hidup berkuasa dan kaya raya? Kalau kamu benar2 rasa diri kamu disayangi cuba lah kamu pergi ke rumah mereka seperti mana kamu akan ziarah rumah sanak saudara kamu !

Adakah mereka menjalankan tugas mereka sebagai pemimpin politik yang dipilih oleh rakyat dengan merendah diri? Atau adakah mereka mahu diri mereka diperlakukan sebagai Raja moden yang tangannya harus dicium, kehadiran mereka wajib di raikan dengan merendah dirikan diri rakyat yang hadir bersama?

Adakah kamu rasa diri pemimpin politik sebagai yang berkhidmat kepada kamu, wahai Rakyat, atau  diri kamu yang terpaksa mengampu mereka kerana mereka berkelakuan sebagai Raja yang berkuasa?

Adakah kamu merasakan bahawa pemimpin politik itu gembira ikhlas diatas kehadiran kamu atau kamu yang merasa bangga kerana kehadiran pemimpin politik itu? Supaya dapat bergambar dengan mereka seolah2 itu sahaja sudah pun mengurangkan cabaran hidup kamu untuk menyara keluarga keluarga kamu?

Pernah kamu fikir, mengapa kita masih di tahap dimana kita masih berada selepas berdekad tahun kita merdeka?

Tidak kah kamu sedar atau tidak mahu sedar bahaw kebebasan kamu untuk hidup sebagai seorang dewasa dan rakyat yang bermaruah semakin dikikis dengan penggunaan sentimen agama?

Mungkin kah kamu rela atau sudah biasa diperhambakan sehingga penghinaan terhadap  kamu sebagai seorang dewasa pun kamu tidak nampak? Kalau perlu dicakapkan lagi baru kamu nak faham bermakna jiwa hamba sudah sangat menebal dalam diri kamu.

Maka, jadilah hamba wahai rakyat dan keluarga kamu dengan di beri makan oleh pemimpin2 politik dan kuncu2 agama mereka!

 

Salam.

Laws - Oppress or Protect You ?

Everyone knows and everyone had been told that laws are necessary for society to be peaceful and stable.

No reasonable person will deny that some sort of rules, regulations and laws are necessary to determine "the rules of the game" for everyone. These rules will make it clear what some or all can do and what others or all cannot do.Undeniably, there are unreasonable people among us, the age old fight between "good and evil" will forever exists so long as human beings exists. Laws protect and empower the "good" and punish, deter or eliminate the evil.

Laws therefore are very powerful tools to control human beings.

But what if the the laws are in the hands of the evil and they want to use the rules to oppress the people so that they can exist and survive. History has shown many rulers, politicians and governments that pass evil laws to oppress the people just to perpetuate the interest of the wealthy and powerful.

The people or the masses, generally are unaware of evil laws that are being passed until it affects them individually and personally by which time it is always too late.

The middle, lower income and poor people are usually too busy trying to sustain themselves in life to notice what the wealthy and powerful are doing.

What if the laws that oppress the people are further passed in the name of God or religion?

How many ordinary people will even understand that even such laws can be oppressive for they may feel ignorantly guilty if they oppose such laws? They may think or may have been indoctrinated to think that any law mentioned in the name of God must never be objected.

Through out history all governments and rulers, whether evil or good, have always passed laws in the name of the people or in the name of religion.

Can normal, ordinary, struggling people monitor and oppose bad laws?

Would they dare? Can they afford the sacrifice involved?

How many honourable and brave citizens are there to support and advocate good laws?

At the end of the day, whatever our individual circumstance, it is us and us alone that condone or object to evil laws by evil men,

The other citizens may either support us or stay far away merely hoping we will succeed. And there are other ignoble citizens who wish us to fail so that they can maintain thier status quo and income from the bad laws by the evil men.

And a Rapera's choice is just too clear.

Peace !

You have been sentenced to Death.

Imagine that you are in a courtroom. There are people who know you waiting anxiously for the Judge to come to announce the sentence that you must face. Then the court officer announces “All rise” and the Judge takes his place. You are stand up waiting to hear the sentence. 

Then the Judge looks straight into your eyes and says:

“By the powers vested upon me, I now sentence you to death”

How exactly would you feel? How exactly would those who are around you and care for you feel? What would you do now that you know you are going to die – just waiting to know when exactly?

What would those who care for you do that they know you will someday no longer be with them?

I am sure all sorts of unimaginable emotions may arise in you.

Being sentenced to death, however is not a novel thing. We all are.

The day we are born, the only thing that we are certain of is that we will someday die. We know that a death sentence has been passed on us – we only do not know when, where and how. We can do all we want in life but we can never avert this death sentence.

We can be kings or peasants, rich or poor, beautiful or ugly but we all carry the death sentence.

I am not being gloomy here but trying to be honest about life. When I was 12, I imagined how it was to be a lonely, old man waiting for death to come.  Or worse, some sort of sickness that I may have to suffer before death at even an earlier age. I imagined my still body on the ground totally helpless and at the mercy of those who are alive. How powerful or wealthy I may one day become (which is uncertain), I will certainly be absolutely helpless and dead one day.

We are overwhelmed when we hear a death sentence being pronounced on others without really being aware that we are waiting for our own death sentence to be executed. 

Despite the death sentence that we carry, we are busy with our lives segregating human beings on the basis of race, religion, culture, economic status and so on. Some of these differences we even institutionalise and make them laws to live by. We are busy, at all costs, preparing and consumed with the life that we must leave one day.

What would a person who is fully aware that he will die someday do with his temporary life on earth?

What would you do with your death sentence?

Peace !

Which Hat Are You Wearing?

Many people fail to realise that roles in life takes over your life most of the time - as I said, without you realising it or not wanting to realise it. Of course it seems almost trite to say that we take on many roles in life – parent, worker, friend, citizen and so on. That’s trite and is of no problem. It does not cause you or others any problem by itself. We are naturally multi-tasking creatures even before the word “multi-tasking” was commercialised.

However, when I say “people fail to realise that roles in life take over their life”, I indicate something sinister, something that is not so nice and can be monstrous most of the times. People always have a main role that they invest of their life in, relative to the other roles that they play. Many a times, for the ordinary person who thinks he is going on with his life blissfully; his main role has been forced upon him – only because he has chosen to NOT think and/or to be a slave of others in life.

When I was 16 and in form 4, I was troubled by the adults’ insistence about a lot of things. Ranging from how one should bersalam or handshake to the “importance” of schools and higher education. Quite frankly, even then I could not see how those things are important as they exist and even now I think I am correct. Just to digress for a bit, take the handshake or the bersalam, which require physical contact between your palms and the others’ palms, which is projected as an “accepted” way of greeting someone. I used to be paranoid about it (and still am) because I have seen many times what happens in the men’s toilets! This is over and above all the scratching, touching here and there and then transmitting to you the bacteria on the pretext of “good social behaviour”! To top it all, some even go so far as to sell the idea that a firm handshake marks self-confidence – this would put Tun Dr Mahathir as a person with no confidence as he has a gentle handshake (which I approve).

As I was saying, in form 4, I realised that adults are very preoccupied in “forcing” onto you roles that you should play and some of my peer-mates were already subtly indoctrinated. Some of the kids will play the role of bullies and some others will have to play the role of the victim. When you belong to a group (as you must in school), you are expected to take on certain roles too. You are either the one making fun of the other members or the one who is being made fun of. This role stays so long as you want to be part of the group. If you beong to one group, you cannot belong to others. I recall I never belonged exclusively to one single group but belonged to many, diverse groups, including the ones considered the “best” and “worst” in school.  This was a taboo but I got away with my charm, my tongue and my understanding of perceptions of “reward and punishment”.  Ah-hem. Ah-hem. Furthermore, Geminis get bored with uniformity and familiarity very fast!

This obsession with playing a role to the extent of it being completely unrealistic, “unidealistic”, damaging and mostly ludicrous continues into most people’s adult’s life. It has become so common that this sickness has been accepted as normal, acceptable behaviour.

Hence, if you have a strong interest in religious issues and religious studies, you are not “allowed” to dance, sing and have a good time in public. This interest in things “godly” is supposed to divorce you from things “worldly”. What if you happen to believe that everything, I mean everything is indeed godly and hence, you want to talk about God in the pub? Sure, this is going to cause discomfort on both sides, I mean to those who say “tsk, tsk” and those other who say “er…I am feeling guilty” but that proves my point.

BUt this sickness has reached a societal scale such that the whole society frowns upon a “religious” person dancing on stage. Frankly, one of my many fantasies has been to do a moon walk on stage as an introduction or an interlude while I am talking about the beauty of the Quran as a guidance for humankind. I am so sure, those who can’t even pronounce “Michael Jackson” will be on my case saying I am insulting the religion! Why must I allow these misfits to undermine my multi-talents???

It is both a blessing and a tragedy of life that you often meet people with whom you cannot have fun talking intellectually nor can you have fun just being silly. Often, people do not get it that there is a big difference between choosing to be silly for fun and being stupid as a matter of ignorance. Too many try to impose roles out of ignorance but appear to succeed because the ignorant are usually in the majority – victory by brawn not by brains. Are these not school bullies grown up into positions of power?

So many will themselves into “adult behaviour” by sheer imitating of other adults who themselves have never thought about what is “adult behaviour”. Hence, you have ignorant adults creating values and modes of behaviour for others to follow. Being an ardent reader of history and human behaviour all my life, this worries me – the sub standards set by sub-standard minds when they are in the majority! We have to wait a lifetime or more for them to understand and mature. In the meantime, the cast us into the role of a “rebel” or a “trouble maker” or an “impractical person”.

Needless to say, politicians are always the best examples of what is wrong in society or examples of anomalies of human behaviours. They not only are role-players, they are comical at that. They become comical because they forget what they say or was asked to “stand for” (by their advisers) when they play different roles. So, you have a politician for example, talking about press freedom at the Press Association dinner and then passing laws in parliament literally restricting any form of freedom of expression. You have them talking about democracy and then denying freedom of faith. And the list goes on. This is not surprising because, most of what they say does not come from their heart nor from knowledge. It is all about populist stances and protection of vested interests.

The sick obsession with dominant role playing that I cannot understand is among Muslims. They play the “role of Muslims” faithfully when they are in the mosque or at a “religious function” or attending “religious rituals”. However, they become very different when they play other dominant roles, for example at their work or business or profession or career. For instance, is there or should there be any difference in behaviour between a Muslim enforcement officer and a non-Muslim one? How about Judges, businessmen, lawyers, doctors, civil servants, politicians, and so on? Should there be a difference between a Muslim and a non-Muslim one? Or does the role matter? Being a Muslim, I cannot help but feel completely irked whenever I have to deal with a Muslim enforcement officer or civil servant who behaves in a very “unIslamic way”.  To me this is a result of confusion about roles.

Anyway, there is so much more to write on roles, especially something which, at 16 years old, I labelled as “the victim of categorisation”. I now know that this label can be aptly applied to analyse how we relate to classification and stereotyping of races and so on. But that has to wait another day – if.

But for now the question is – why are we not free to wear all the hats that we choose?

Peace !

What values are our political leaders bringing to their job?

Values are very important. Values will affect the vision and the decision of our leaders. We must be careful to know what values the leaders we want to lead us have.

In our country, under the generally out-dated and archaic political culture that the majority of our politicians still cling onto, public expression of personal values are not allowed. For this reason, the voters and the public cannot know for sure what values each of them have. For this reason also, the kind of values that are being presented by political parties seem very superficial and artificial, some of which sound like they have been created by some political strategists or image consultants.

We have heard many times, some of our political leaders utter the term"Asian values" and then only to forget about it completely until another political occasion requires it. There had also been situations where "Asian values" had been manipulated by shameful politicians to sneakily justify oppression, especially denial of basic human rights. 

Likewise, the term "Islam" and "Islamic values" have been subjected to tremendous abuse, manipulation and trickery by politicians purely for political purposes with total disregard to the sanctity and right to personal faith. In this regard, quite a number of paid clerics and religious "gurus" shamefully abet their political masters in the manipulation and abuse.  This manipulation and abuse of the term "Islam" and "Islamic values" becomes easy for the politicians because they are either backed by mass supporters or by the very culture in our country that has allowed the politicisation of Islam. 

Terms like "Islam" and "Islamic values" have often been abused to condone denial of basic human rights, oppression and denial of women's rights. The voice that pleads that Islam upholds human rights, women's rights and abhors oppression of any sort is drowned by the smooth operation of the politicians and the shouts of their abettors - the paid clerics and the paid mobs.

Islam has become so politicised in the country such that the right and duty of the individual Muslim to practice his faith as he understands it has been taken away by the politicians in this country. Any cleric or scholar or thinker that denounces this control of faith is either pushed into oblivion or equally oppressed in ways that are possible. Alternative views are not only not allowed but often shout down by supporters organised and approved by hidden hands from above.

So, in the scenario of artificiality, superficiality and hypocrisy that has become part of our political culture, what are the values that these politicians hold? Don't you or the voters want to know or has the time not come yet in Malaysia to understand the impact of this question?

I look at both the Pakatan and the BN political parties and when I critically assess them, I am unable to determine with certainty what positive and encouraging values they represent. Often times, they all seem to say one thing today and another the next. Often times, their general behaviour is not consistent with the rare fine speeches they make. More often, their speeches frighten me to think that those are the values they represent.

DO they respect basic human rights? 

Do they even respect the dignity of a human being? Do they understand what "dignity" is? 

I do not know because I do not really know what values they actually hold.

Peace!

Ruang Befikir Semakin Menyimpit ???

Memang kebanyakkan manusia malas berfikir. Kalau kebanyakkan manusia mmembenarkan diri mereka untuk berfikir, maka tidak wujudlah penindasan dari segi fizikal dan rohani. Hakikat bahawa begitu ramai manusia tidak sedar tentang penindasan ini membuktikkan bahawa sememangnya mereka telah selesa dalam zon kejahilan mereka. Begitu juga jika manusia memang rajin berfikir, tidak lah Al-Quran itu mengandungi berpuluh-puluh ayat yang mengajak, mengajar dan memujuk mansusia untuk berfikir. Malangnya dalam bidang agama pun mereka telah menggadaikan minda mereka kepada segelintir manusia lain yang kononnya mempunyai monopoli hidayah Allah. Namun itu persoalan yang lain.

Walaupun manusia amnya malas berfikir, malangnya diNegara tercinta ini kemalasan berfikir bukan sahaja luimrah tetapi telah diinstitusikan sebagai satu budaya yang harus dipertahankan. Kelesuan dan kengganan untuk berfikir telah menular kesegenap lapisan kehidupan kita.

Kita bangga dengan pemimpin-pemimpin yang boleh mengeluarkan kenyataan yang bukan sahaja tidak masuk akal tetapi menghina pemikiran manusia waras. Kenyataan-kenyataan mereka itu dengan bangga disiarkan dalam TV dan media arus perdana seolah-olah kita mahu mensejarahkan kebodohan kepimpinan kita. Begitu kerap sekali saya lihat kebodohan kempimpinan politik diraikan seperti pesta diringi oleh tepuk sorak badan-badan bukan kerajaan (NGO) dan blogger-blogger upahan yang semestinya "allergic" kepada kebolehan berfikir. Seperti ayat dalam Al-Quran, masing-masing gembira dengan kenerakaan masing-masing dengan memikirkan bahawa itulah syurga!

Lebih teruk daripada dahulu, hari ini kita dapati begitu ramai "cendikiawan-cendikiawan" yang tumbuh sebagai cendawan tanpa sebarang kebolehan berifkir secara berilmiah atau pun mempunyai kebolehan intelektualisme walaupun masing-masing tanpa segan silu memakai gelaran "Dr" dihadapan nama mereka. Saya tidak harian perkembangan ini kerana saya sudah pun menjangkanya berlaku sewaktu saya masih belajar diUKM bertahun-tahun dahulu. Saya sudah  melihat dahulu bahawa satu budaya baru yang menghormati kelulusan daripada ilmu semakain berkembang didalam negara tercinta ini. Kelulusan formal atau rasmi disamakan dengan keupayaan intelektualisme. Malangya juga ramai "cendikiawan" yang tidak faham maksud "intellectualism". Ini lah antara sebabnya yang telah menahan saya daripada belajar sehingga keperingkat PhD kerana saya tidak dapat bayangkan diri saya dinilai oleh puak-puak "superficial" ini walaupun saya begitu cinta dengan ilmu dan proses pemikiran.

Hari ini ramai bangga dengan adanya berpuluh-puluh universiti yang tumbuh bagai lalang yang tidak terjaga dan kehadiran hampir 2000 professor-professor dalam negara tercinta ini. Memandangkan kita mengagungkan dan memartabatkan kejahilan, maka tidak pernahlah kita tanya apakah sumbangan professor-professor ini kepada perkembangan ilmu dan masyarakat? Berapa banyakkah buku-buku ilmiah yang telah diterbitkan oleh cendawan-cendawan ini? Apakah teori atau falsafah yang telah mereka "profess" dalam kerjaya mereka sehingga layak digelar professor? Hari ini, professor adalah jawatan bukanya melambangkan keupayaan pemikiran. Perkara yang sama ini telah saya bincang dengan Allahyarham Professor Syed Hussein Al-Atas, bekas VC Universiti Malay dimana beliau mengelar golongan seperti ini sebagai "educated barbarians".

Apabila kita memartabatkan guru-guru dan pensyarah-pensyarah jahil, adakah kita harapkan penuntut-penuntut keluaran universiti tempatan akan berkembang sebagai pemikir, reformis dan berguna?

JIka kita membuat satu kajian rambang, kita akan dapati bahawa kebanyakkan kita seolah-olah menganggap berfikir itu satu dosa besar yang harus dihindari. Kita katakan "boring". Buku-buku yang memerlukan seseorang itu untuk berifkir dipandang sebagai satu virus yang tidak harus didekati. Kalau ada rakan yang membuahkan satu topik yang memerlukan perbincangan menggunakan akal, kita anggap dia sebagai gila atau ganjil. Mereka lebih minat untuk bercakap-cakap kosong mengenai kejadian didalam kehidupan mereka yang juga sama-sama kosong - hal ofis mereka, gelagat orang lain, wayang yang dilihat, masalah-masalah kecil-kecilan dalam kehidupan mereka yang dilihat besar oleh minda mereka yang kecut, dan lain-lain "mundane topics". 

Sebenarnya bagi orang yang boleh berfikir, topik-topik ini lah amat membosankan kerana ianya dapat dijangka.  Sememangnya boleh jadi "stressful" bagi seorang yang boleh berfikir hidup dalam masyarakat yang menganggungkan kebodohan dan kejahilan.

Paling ketara sekali penyakit tidak mahu berfikir ini adalah dalam hal yang bersangkutan dengan ketuhanan. Amat anih sekali bahawa mereka yang kononnya menganggap agama itu penting tidak mahu meluangkan masa untuk mengkaji atau memikirkan tentang apa yang mereka anuti. Kemalasan mereka itu cuba ditutup dengan alasan bahawa mereka tidak mahir dalam hal-hal agama dan oleh itu membiarkan orang yang leibih "berilmu" itu mengupas bagi pihak mereka. Apakah asas-asas pun tidak tahu? Begitu yakin sekali mereka ini dengan golongan yang dikatakan "berilmu"?  Saya yakin ramai yang tidak akan faham maksud saya disini kerana kita sudah pun di indoktrinasikan  dengan tanggapan bahawa mereka yang berkelulusan daripada universiti semestinya pakar dalam bidang tertentu. Maka, kita tidak pernah mahu berfikir atau menilai mengenai "kelulusan" pakar yang kita idolakan itu. Memang susah ke mendapat kelayakan formal universiti hari in?

Pada saya, masyarakat yang membudayakan kebodohan dan kejahilan mengundang musibah keatas dirinya sendiri. Padahnya akan tiba walaupun mengambil masa yang lama.

Namun mereka yang sudah lazim dengan candu tidak mahu berfikir akan ketagihkan kebodohan dan kejahilan. Seperti semua ketagihan yang merosakkan, kesudahannya amat jelas.

Salam.

Murtad Dan Bandar Oxford

Oleh Prof Madya Dr Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin

"Saya menganggap Bandar Oxford ini jauh lebih indah dari kebanyakan bandar lain di UK dan Eropah, termasuk London. Bahkan tiada bandar yang seumpamanya di dunia muslim kita. Ia sebuah bandar ilmu. Kebanyakan mereka yang sibuk berjalan pantas di jalan-jalan Oxford ini ialah pelajar, pengajar dan pengkaji.

Lebih empat puluh kolej ilmu bersejarah lagi berprestij di bandar ini. Penuh sejarah, penuh sumbangan melahirkan tokoh-tokoh besar. Bandar ini penuh dengan aktiviti ilmu di sana-sini setiap hari; seminar, diskusi, forum dan pelbagai. Dalam pelbagai perkara dan bidang, yang mungkin sebahagiannya terlarang dalam negara kita disebabkan unsur ke’jais’an kita. Amat rugi jika ada sesiapa yang datang ke sini tetapi tidak mengambil peduli tentang aktiviti ilmu yang pesat."

Anda harus membaca artikel sepenuhnya dengan klik disini.

Salam.

If we do not act now, here, we will continue to be part of the destruction.

Is it any wonder that other than the weather, even human nature is becoming topsy turvy – worse than the primitives?

Just look around you. You will see that at every level of human existence there is destruction, mayhem and cruelty at work.  It has been said many times that the movies that we watch and enjoy are increasingly the violent sort. The more blood and violent it is, we become more entertained. It is as if our sense of morality has completely mutated to that of enjoying witnessing the misery and pain of others.  In fact,  “imaginatively” created violence on the silver screen is praised as art whence the same idea or concept would have been brushed aside as pure sadism many decades ago.

Children are exposed to the most violent games possible at an age as early as 8 years. They are now playing counter strike and the globally popular game called “strike attack”.  The more blood you spill in a gorier manner, the more points your score.  It is an online interactive internet game that is played almost around the clock all over the world.  Everyone seems to think it is merely a game forgetting the psychological imprint that it can have on the player, especially a child of impressionable age. Often you hear the misplaced pride of the parent stating that her child is adept with computers!

The systematic cruelty exacted on animals is not widely exposed nor discussed but it goes on in the name of  science, sports, development and even religion.  The continued abuse and torture of animals – dogs, cats, chimpanzees, etc – in the name of medical experimentation shows the debasement to which human nature has descended to. Anyone who has seen documentaries of such barbaric treatment of animals is left with the shock that human cruelty seems to know no bounds. 

The extinction of animals caused by human insensitivities in carrying out development is yet another story of how humans have mastered the art of destruction of lives with no just cause or necessity. This is the heights of survival even unknown to animals.

In the name of religion too, countless domesticated animals are killed even when it is not necessary as food but merely as fulfilment of some ritual or offering.  The illusion of “godly worship” is more important than the life that God created.

Humans even seem to enjoy taking away lives and spilling blood for sport.

Where we cannot kill directly, we indulge in depriving others the essentials that they require to live – thus giving them slow death.  We shamelessly and selfishly deprive others in the name of race, religion, greed, and any form of distinction that we can conjure up. How more debased can we be?

As i write this, humans are killing humans everywhere in the name of nationalism, religion, racism,   or based on some dubious ideologies. We seem to have completely lost the notion of sanctity of life.  What is most worrisome and frightening is that we use our creative ability and knowledge to invent tools, machines of mass destruction and various forms of weapons to inflict the greatest possible damage to human lives. We would rather spend billions of dollars destroying life rather than nurturing it. 

The food industry itself is another modern testament to the ingenious manner in which we, without the slightest of guilt, extinguish lives, make money from them and even derive sadistic cuisine delight.

It is completely unthinkable to any sane human being how our society has evolved into one that extinguishes lives daily without even feeling any guilt or remorse.

Yet being the mass murderer that we are, we expect “good things” should happen to us – alone.

Is it any wonder then that we will destroy each other soon?

Raperas – think about this !

Peace !

Never Say or Think These Things !!!

Image thanks to here.

There are many things that people do not want to hear even though it needs to be said.

What do you do?

You can take the “safe” approach and be “polite”, “diplomatic”, “remain popular” and not say it. Or most often, saying it may mean you think your “rice bowl” will be affected.

Or you may fear that your friends or relatives may not like you. But why would you want to live a life with friends or relatives that do not accept you for what you are? So you maintain elegant silence.

And then to console yourself, you can do all sorts of rationalizations. In the end when something does go wrong and what you should have said would have prevented it from happening -  you can give all sorts of excuses including a statement like “Actually I wanted to warn you about this but…” or “Wish I had done something..” or “What can I do?”

On the other hand, you can “risk” everything by being true to the Truth.

Let us look at some examples below: (you may add more)

For example, a statement like: There are credible and potential politicians in most political parties but most of them in all political parties are useless schizophrenics and narcissists will be unpopular.

A more unpopular statement will be: Why not take the “best” from all political parties and let them govern? As for the rest, we will call them when we need the crowd. This won’t work because our mind is trained to think along partisan lines.

An even more unpopular statement will be like this: How audacious can the ulama be that he expects us to accept everything that comes forth from his mouth as the gospel truth without any verification? He wasn’t exactly around when I was conceived in my mother’s womb was he? And he certainly will not be around in the same grave with me. This cannot and should not be said.

Some may not like to hear this；There are many ‘poor” Malays, Chinese, Indians, Orang Asli, Kadazans, Ibans, Bidayuhs, etc in Malaysia. Let us help them all without ethnic labeling. Can we also stop the Malay bashing and manipulation of “Malay race” card for political and economic ends?

This statement may cause discomfort and hence unpopular: “How can anyone claim to be a believer of the Creator if he does not care for the well being of other children, especially that from another ethnic or religious grouping?”

This is even worse: “How can you say you are a Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Tao, Buddhist, etc when you do not even attempt to read and understand the Vedas, the Quran, the Bible, the Sudras and the relevant scriptures?”

This statement may be a taboo: “Who is your God – the Creator or the mortal priests?”

Another unpopular statement will be: “Are you Malay or a Muslim and do you know the difference?”

So people avoid these kinds of questions and just go on living your lives safely. That way, you will have been born and then died like everyone else never living the life you could.

Peace !

The Technologically Advanced Primitive Man - Part 2

Form over Substance - Society of superficialities???

It is the malady of humankind that we get stuck in the pool of form rather than live with the flow of substance.

While form has its role, without substance it is as useful as a corpse - after a while you could almost smell the stench of its uselessness. However, the law of nature appears to be that over time, people may become accustomed with even the worse of stench.

Form however seems not only to pervade a large part of our lives in diverse ways but it has become sanctified. Take any part of our life and you will note that form is given predominance over substance.

Say we take religion. Hardly will we hear a whimper if a religious follower is a cheat, corrupt or oppressor. No one will jump on him alleging that he is irreligious. However, the moment a religious ritual is called into question, the entire band of the followers may even call for his blood. Similarly, it will not matter that the person is an honest, hard working and generally a decent person if she is not garbed in the form her religion requires. The mantra in a foreign language is more important than what it means. or the rationality of its meaning. Sanctification of form itself leads to an illogical state of mind that says:  "There is something sacred in not understanding!" .

Grand titles of 'divinity" for the religious leaders overrides the substance of their speeches. It is no accident that most leaders of  religions place the greatest emphasis on the form of the religion rather than its substance. This is evidenced by their dress code, personal appearances, hierarchy, the  pomp and pageantry that accompanies their presence and so forth. Symbolism, which is totally form is a sacred tool in religions.

It may not be too far from the truth to say that religion is where form is given its greatest prominence over substance. Probably because symbolism and ritualistic behaviours are more effective in the identification /classification of groups than unique thinking persons of substance. Collectivism also helps to gloss over the existence of the many more that are endowed with lesser thinking capabilities. Maybe this explains the general insistence on "faith" as opposed to reason in many religions. Hence like the buffaloes' stampedes, the religious followers are prepared to cause untold damage to uphold form rather than substance. In fact, you may find that  the call to think about substance is construed as sacrilegious and even blasphemous.  (As in politics, the call for thinking about substance may be construed as seditious or security threat).

Politics is another horrific entertaining aspect of our lives where there is greater emphasis on form rather than substance. It is in the political arena that we find the greatest adjectives created to disguise the lack of substance - the number (and length) of honorary titles, fancy sounding official titles, pomp and grandiosity of ceremonies, etc. It all seems calculated to give the theatrical impression of being more than superhuman.  It no wonder that despite centuries of so called leadership, human beings everywhere are still grappling to evolve into "enlightened" beings ! On the contrary, historical events globally actually seems to suggest that we have regressed into primitiveness.

Every single political leader promisingly speaks of bringing society to a better level since time immemorial. They wave the flag of hope and stoke the inherent fears in human nature to gain control and power. The people in turn unfailingly fall prey their game and get duped by the form that they are presented with without even evaluating the substance of what is promised. It seems to escape everyone’s attention that globally, political leadership as we know it has generally failed humankind.   We soothe our irrational senses by looking at the overfed, the rich, and the accumulative society while blinding ourselves to the larger reality of the hungry, homeless, war-stricken, humiliating human conditions in other societies. Selective perception fueled by superficial thinking allows us to live proudly while substantive thinking will expose us for the miserable and ignoble parasites that we collectively really are by choice or through apathy.

Our consumptive culture too is largely dictated by form that is turning us into superficial beings. We look at 'things' rather than the "person".  We measure the success of a person by the things he possesses regardless of how he came to possess them.  To assist us in further evolving into beings who lack substance, we have created the ultimate "form-maker' called 'branding". Hence with branding, instead of developing our inner selves, we are taught to develop our image rather than build character.  The frightening aspect of this "form over substance  virus"  is that we even tend to lose sight of even our own selves  when our "form" that we are busy creating does not match our "substance" that we have neglected. This, I believe is responsible for many depressive tendencies in this so called modern age. 

We seem to be in a hurry to accumulate perishable things to satisfy our perishable lives  such that we are useful to mother earth as manure only when we die. Somehow, we seem to have overlooked  the fact that the nature of form itself is perishable and when perishibility sets in,  disappointments and depressions are in order.

The manner in which we prefer to treat each other is probably dictated more by form rather than substance. We have become comfortable, for example, with the classification of human beings into “races” though in many instances it makes little sense substantively.  By race, we define or group human beings according to certain similarities such as common social settings, language, “culture”, dietary habits and so on. However, once so classified we lose our flexibility in labeling a person other than the “race box” into which we have put his fathers into.  For example, a person is still considered Malay even though he has lost most of the characteristics that initially classified him into that box. Likewise, an English is forever English even though he may have acquired most of the characteristics that would describe a Malay.   Again these are results of lack of substantive thinking.

Lack of substantive thinking, for instance prevents people from perceiving each other in terms of blood groups instead of “racial groups” though in many instances, blood groupings seem to make scientific and biological sense. What use for example, is a Chinese with blood group AB to a Chinese of blood group O in a life threatening situation where immediate blood transfusion is needed?  When you start thinking substantively, you will realize that there are several ways of classifying human beings for various purposes. However, politics seem to prefer only one sort of classification - that of “race” and society whose main concern is that of form, readily accepts this.

Even in our everyday communications, form seems to take precedence over substance. We have invented all sorts of pleasantries that represent merely form and totally lack substance. For example, we ask simple questions that we do not really mean like “How are you?” and expect nothing more than “I am fine” response.   It will be a shocking day for us if the person responds by sharing all the problems he is actually facing for the day! 

 Peace !