Ijok has spoken

Technorati tags: Politics, Malaysia, Elections, Ijok, Results

Well, the results are in, and BN has retained the Ijok state assembly seat, getting a bigger majority this time around.

A very high 81.88% voter turnout was recorded as of 5pm today (poll closing time), translating to a total of 10,049 voters. Oh, and it didn't storm, as forecasted. In fact, it was a rather hot day, going by the reports Walski's seen.

So far, no reports have been spotted of any voters aged 8 or 107. However, the opposition, who got the shorter end of the stick, claim that there were indeed phantom voters. This assertion, however, has been made without offering much proof, as evidenced by two Harakah reports (here and here). There was, however, a bus involved that's suspected of ferrying phantom voters. So there may be some truth to this after all. The extent? Well, no one can say for sure. What is known is that the people of Ijok have spoken, and their choice has been made.

Jeff Ooi has done an interesting analysis of what the results really mean, breaking down the overall tally by the various areas within Ijok. While the overall tally may indicate growing support for BN, looking at the details based on racial demographics tells an interesting story behind the win. The ethnically Chinese vote seems to have swayed a little away from BN's favor.
(last Ijok thoughts, and more, in the full post)

So, the folks at Ijok have spoken, and they now have what the majority have voted for. But if it is true that there were some underworld-like tactics employed, i.e. the phantom voter thing, then it doesn't augur well for the upcoming General Elections. Ghosts of all denominations will certainly be coming out of the woodworks to cast their vote, in even larger numbers.

IF the allegations are true, that is. And all we have at this juncture are just that - allegations.

And so, until the next General Election, or the next MP / State Assembly person kicks the bucket, poll watchers will have to anxiously wait it out. In the meantime, the Ijok story will probably continue to be told for a while yet, being that Khalid Ibrahim may file suit against Deputy PM Najib Tun Razak, and that PKR intends to dispute the election results.

Walski's two bits? If there are still problems with the way the Election Commission operates, then that's what need to be fixed ASAP. And that's where the focus in the coming months should be. Put pressure on the EC to get their shit together. Oh yeah, it should be made answerable to Parliament. Not the Executive branch of Government.

What we should have, come next GE, whenever that may be, is to have an electoral roll that is a real representation of registered voters. Not dead ones, or those below the legal voting age. That, and an EC that sides no one, except on the side of democracy and the voting public.

Fighting over Ijok, disputing the results will surely be a waste of time and effort - unless, of course, there is solid proof that there was misconduct and wrongdoing.

For now, it seems more like sour grapes. But then again, that's just Walski - he prefers action that will bring real and useful results.

Click here for the full post......

Ijok: Storm in a political tea cup

Technorati tags: Politics, Malaysia, Elections, Ijok

The Where's Walski note: Back in KL, finally, for a few days - then he's off again tomorrow (Sunday). But more about Walski's travels later. Today is the day Ijok decides...

This has to be one of the most talked-about Malaysian elections in history. Granted, it's only a state assembly seat by-election. But it's one that's touted to have a larger big-picture significance. And most of the discussion has been on the Internet, particularly in the bloggerhood.

In any case, today is polling day for the Ijok state assembly seat by-election. And as luck would have it, the weather, like the campaigning preceding the polls, is expected to be nasty. But The Star has a great tip on how the expected bad weather could be averted.

Voting early can chase storms away?

Okay, voting early probably won't stop the storm if it's going to pour anyways - but that's the first impression Walski got when he read the headline. And probably not the first impression The Star had in mind, either. Or are they hinting of a different kind of "storm"? Insert mental image of Dr. Evil saying "stormy" here (complete with hand-gestures).

And regardless of the result later today, trust PAS to make some statement or another linking the stormy weather to God's greater plan. Or "plan", as Dr. Evil would put it.

In any case, the run up to the Ijok by-elections has been one full of drama. Adding to the usual verbal assaults have been physical ones on the PKR candidate's entourage. Not once, but twice (via Malaysiakini, subscription required). Three, if you count the fracas on nomination day.

This particular by-election has also been one touted to be more about the constituency. That it's a proxy battle between Najib and Anwar. In other words, the entire BN vs PKR. More so than the other recent by-elections in Macap and Batu Talam.

Walski's been informed that a number of bloggers have made the trip down to Ijok to cover this by-election. Not surprising, really. As he'd mentioned earlier in this post, this has been a widely reported campaign running up to today, particularly in the blogosphere, or bloggerhood, as Walski calls it.

Perhaps all this hoopla mirrors the wide-spread expectations that the next General Election is not too far off, and that the Ijok by-election is but a barometer that will determine whether the GE would be announced sooner, or later, than expected. At this point, all Walski can do is speculate.
(more stormy Ijok thoughts, in the full post)

Again, allegations of police supression have surfaced, with reports that the police had stopped several campaign ceramah by PKR over the last few days, despite having gotten permits to carry them out, and assurance from the Ministry of Internal Security.

The ubiquitous Phantom-Voter Menace rears its ugly head yet again, with reports that the electoral roll contains voters ranging from 8 years old to an elderly 107 years of age. But then again, what's a Malaysian election without these ghoulish apparitions, eh? And the best way for Phantom Voters to travel? Why, on Phantom Busses, of course. What else would it be?

Monitoring the possible appearance of these quasi-supernaturals in Ijok will be a squad of "ghostbusters" to be on the lookout. And what does a phantom bus look like? Probably like a regular bus, except that its passenger manifest would consist of voters whom shouldn't be in Ijok voting in the first place.

And according to this Harakah news report, there are an estimated 1,137 (or more) phantom voters in Ijok. That's a whole fleet of phantom buses right there. At least 23 bus trips (assuming an average single trip occupancy of 50) required to ferry them to the various polling stations around the district. Of course, this entire phantom voter thing brings back memories of the Lunas elections some time back, where bus loads of suspected phantom voters were waylaid on the way to the polling stations. That's the election where Barisan Alternatif slam-dunked an upset victory.

After all the speculations, verbal (and physical) assaults, politicking, and the entire election run-up rigamarole, the proof of the pudding will be in the voting. And with the polls already underway, the results, whatever they may be, will soon be known.

As a somewhat humorous aside, somebody writing in to Malaysiakini has made a very concise prediction - that PKR will win by a margin of 603 votes.

You can't get much more precise than that, now, can you?

Click here for the full post......

Ijok - quickie thoughts from a different continent

Technorati tags: Politics, Malaysia, Elections, Ijok, Mudslinging

Being a continent away from this Selangor state assembly constituency, the only news Walski gets about Ijok is from the various online sources, both mainstream, not-so mainstream and of course from the usually visited blogs. Being that over the last few days, Walski's access to the Internet has been sporadic, at best, and most of time when online, work-related matters take first priority, the following observations may seem a little skewed. Probably off-mark altogether.

But Walski thinks they are valid observations, nonetheless.

Observation #1: Most, if not all, the issues being brought up, have little to do with Ijok itself
Rather, they seem to be about personalities belonging to the two parties contesting for the seat. Political mudslinging, of course, comes part and parcel with any elections. For example, the question of the contestant's race/religion. What the fuck has that got to do with how effective an elected representative one would make? PKR has put up Khalid Ibrahim as a candidate - Malay/Muslim, obviously - and the BA (Barisan Alternative) spin on this is that the constituency has been longing for an UMNO (i.e. Malay/Muslim) candidate, but instead an MIC one has been nominated.

Okay... so does that mean an effective non-Muslim assemblyman somehow doesn't quite cut it, compared to a Muslim assemblyman, regardless of the latter's capabilities?

It's either that, or the spin that the Ijok elections are more about Najib vs. Anuar Ibrahim, and the respective coalitions they represent. Neither of them are standing for the seat. But Walski figures it makes for interesting political fairy-tale spinning.

But seriously, what do the Ijok residents themselves want for the elected State assemblyman to achieve, if elected? Perhaps this has been answered somewhere, but wasn't seen by Walski (see disclaimer above). But if the elections is for the Ijok state seat, shouldn't the issues be about what the respectives candidates can do for the area?

There are a few more examples of Ijok-irrelevant issue mongering, but Walski's not got the luxury of time right now.

Then again, this is Malaysian politics. Go figure.
(more observations in the full post)

Observation #2: RM 36 mil of overnight development is somehow NOT vote buying
It's one thing when this assertion is made by BN (which, of course, they have), but when it comes from the Election Commission, something smells fishy. Or ratty. Both, even. Why would RM 36mil of works suddenly be mobilized right around election time? It would be interesting to find out how much has been spent in the area, per annum, over the last 4 years, in contrast. Seriously folks, any idiot will recognize this as currying the voters' favor. Fishing for votes, is what Walski thinks the official term is.

Of course, such overnight sensational works simply underlines BN's assertion that they bring development to the area, better than the opposition ever could. Yeah, right.

The argument goes that these developments were already earmarked for the Ijok area. And it is simply by some divine, miraculous coincidence that they were scheduled the week between nomination day and voting day. Look at it another way. Could the Selangor state executive (BN-ruled) be so stupid as to pull an age-old stunt like this, as a means of convincing their constituents?

It begs the question of which is the bigger idiot: Selangor BN, or the people of Ijok?

Observation #3: At the end of the day, it's all about politics and the parties that play the game
Call Walski cynical, but it's not really about the local elections anyway, is it? What's more important is the fight between the political parties represented. That's the way the Malaysian voting public seemed to have been conditioned over the years. The incumbent will always have the upper hand, particularly if the party the incumbent candidate belongs to is the ruling party in the state and/or country. 50 years of independence, and our political system has not matured one iota. Rather, the overall political mentality seems to have actually regressed.

Thuggish behavior exhibited by some of the supporters (you know who they are, so no point mentioning who), heavy handed tactics of intimidation... these things have probably been happening for the longest time. The BIG difference is that these idiotic acts of intimidation get reported for the whole nation to see, courtesy of the democratization of news and information. Thugs, however, are not know to have much of grey matter, so their actions go on as usual, oblivious to the fact that for once, their stupidity is being reported.

Well, by the time Walski returns home to Malaysia, the Ijok elections would be 24 hours away. Walski chooses to just sit and watch as the maddening 76% voter turnout go out on Saturday to determine who will represent the constituents hopes and dreams for the next term.

Or until the elected representative kicks the bucket.

Walski is non-partisan. He is neither a BN supporter, nor a BA supporter. Walski votes based on issues. An a good inititiative along these lines is something that lawyer Haris Ibrahim has recently put together: the People's Parliament. Go check it out. It will take a long time, however, before things can change. A start, though, needs to be made at some point.

But the sad truth is that Malaysian voters, by and large, have not really voted with their heads. Some with their hearts, but most out of sheer loyalty for their favored party. Fuck the issues - it's the party first, foremost, and always.

And Walski predicts Ijok won't be any different.

Click here for the full post......

All-Blogs Membership Poser...

Technorati tags: Blogging, All Blogs, Membership, Survey

Walski just put up a new poll up an hour or so ago. Because where Walski is, Internet access is only available at the hotel lobby, the important stuff has to be done first, right? In any case, the poll is on the top of the left-hand sidebar.

The survey seeks your opinion, either as bloggers yourselves, or simply blog readers, on membership to All-Blogs, the official name for the National Alliance of Bloggers. At the last Pro Tem Executive Council meeting, we discussed several different possibilities on who can join All-Blogs. These have been condensed into the four choices you see on the poll. The fifth choice is if you think of another criteria - and if you do, please leave a comment to the poll after you have voted.

Needless to say, at the meeting, the Pro Tem council came to a unanimous inconclusion. While All-Blogs does promote bloggers to shed their anonymity, we also understand the need for some to remain anonymous. But since the Registrar of Societies (ROS) would probably not allow anonymous executive council members. Or even regular members (we are not sure at this point).

So, what say you?
(what the choices mean, in the full post)

The first choice, "All bloggers, regardless of whether anonymous or not, with equal membership rights", essentially means that membership is open to anyone with a blog, anonymous or not. This means anyone signing up as a member will have equal rights within All-Blogs, including the right to vote, or the right to hold office. Do bear in mind that this may not fly as far as ROS is concerned.

The second choice, "All bloggers, but office bearers must drop their anonymity", means that all bloggers are welcome, but those who bear office must drop their anonymity. This option might be okay with ROS, but still, we're not sure. Yet.

The third option, "Only non-anonymous bloggers - anonymous bloggers would be "associate" members", restricts full membership (including voting rights) only to those bloggers who make their identity known. Anonymous bloggers may still join but will be associat members only.

The fourth option, "Only non-anonymous bloggers" is obviously only making All-Blogs open to those whose identity is known. This option, by the way, is not one that is favored by the Pro Tem committee, as it will exclude many bloggers, which would defeat the purpose and aims of setting All-Blogs up in the first place.

Hope that you help All-Blogs on this, at least we have a feel for how the public in general, especially the blogging community, thinks about this. The last thing, however, that All-Blogs wants to have everyone perceive is to be doing the job of what the government proposes, that is to register all Malaysia bloggers - that is not at all the intent.

Click here for the full post......

On the road and out of Asia...

Technorati tags: Sudan, Travel, Africa

For the next few days, Walski will be on the road, so the posts may be very sporadic. It all depends on whether or not he will get decent Internet connectivity where he's going.

The destination? This place - the largest country in the continent of Africa

Sudan - hot, dry and lots of hydrocarbon
(map source: African Energy)

Sudan. But don't worry. Where Walski's going is far away enough from the Darfur area (which is about the size of Texas). Walski's going to Khartoum, capital city of this nation. A nation where our own Petronas has a substantial investment, and where two of Walski's best engineers are currently assigned to for about a couple of months. This is Walski's first trip into Africa, so it should be quite interesting.

And like Texas, Sudan's got hydrocarbons. Shitloads of it.

More about this trip as it progresses. Hopefully, with lots of pictures to show y'all...

Click here for the full post......

Daft Punk'd

Technorati tags: Punk Rock, Nazi Punk, Nazism, Music, Independent Music, Politics, Separatism

Oi!

Walski generally likes the genre of music known as punk rock. But punk rock is far from homogenous, and it's some of the sub-genres of this music style that leaves him a little perturbed, particularly those sub-genres that are ideologically motivated by racial hate, anger and fascism.

And more disturbing would be those punk rockers who blindly use symbology just because they think it's "cool" to do so. Particularly these lot of misguided Malaysians.

Brown Power mongers? Or just misguided youth?

Let's not even talk about the silhoutte holding up what appears to be a Kalashnikov. Especially not after what happened at Virginia Tech yesterday.

Now, those of you who know Walski personally, would realize that he's pretty cool about a lot of things. There is, however, absolutely nothing cool about racism, hate and Neo-Nazism.

Suffice it to say that the owner of the venue that this gig was supposed to have been held has since decided to cancel the show. For obvious reasons, Walski will not tell you where (hence the blanked out spaces on the poster), but it's definitely off. It is not immediately known whether or not the organizers will look for another venue.

Ok - Walski will admit that he's not really seen any of these bands - but talking to someone who has seen Brown Power, here's a couple of interesting tid-bits Walski found out, and what Walski thinks about it.

They use Sieg Heil! as a greeting
Clearly, the thinking here seems to be "the Nazi's hated the Jews, and we hate the Jews, so therefore Nazis are cool". Granted, the phrase Sieg Heil [German: lit. Hail (to) Victory] should not be offensive literally, but the connotation that it was a common greeting among WW2 Nazis, should be. What these kids probably aren't aware of is that the Nazis hated anything and everything non-Aryan. Which includes those championing Brown Power.

It's no secret that the Malaysian Nazi Punks are almost exclusively Malays/Muslims, and in Walski's mind, is probably a fascist punk-ish extension of the Ketuanan Melayu mindset for the newer generation. Beyond that, Walski doesn't know what ideology or greater aim they do have. Except to express their anger and frustration, probably. And it really wouldn't surprise Walski one iota if they don't have an ideology or greater goal at all - it's just that classic WW2 Nazism, to them, is cool. Which it is not.

Now, real Neo-Nazism, on the other hand, is a stranger animal, as Walski found out, while doing a little digging around for this post. But more on that later.
(swastikas, Green Nazis, and more, in the full post)

Swastikas are cool
Of course, the ubiquitous symbol of Nazism is the swastika. So, it's no surprise really that you'd probably find this symbol and its derivatives in Nazi Punkism. And no surprise either that it's used on the poster as well.

There is an extensive and interesting history of the swastika in Wikepedia. Contrary to what many may believe (and Walski thinks that these Punksters think likewise), the swastika was not invented by the Nazi movement of Germany. In fact, it is a symbol commonly found in Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism. The word "swastika" itself originates from the Sanskrit svasti, which means "well-being" (the Thai greeting of Sawasdee has the same root).

Origin theories relating to the swastika are varied. According to the Wikipedia article above, the earliest known use was during the Neolithic era, across the entire Euro-Asian landmass. Interestingly, the swastika also developed independently in the American Indian culture. In pre-Christianity cultures across Europe,

In addition to being symbols of these Eastern religions, the swastika has been part of the ancient European symbology for a very, very long time. The WW2 German Nazis did not call this symbol the swastika. Rather, it was known by the German term Hakenkreuz, meaning "hooked cross". And contrary to popular belief, Adolf Hitler did not invent or popularize the Nazi swastika. It was already in use well before he joined the Nazi Party (National Socialist German Workers' Party).

Truth be told, the German Nazis of World War 2 have pretty much given this ancient sacred symbol a bad rep. And Walski believes that it is based on this Nazi association that the swastika has proudly emblazoned the gig poster above. Otherwise, why would a bunch of Malay/Muslim kids, who obviously are the straight-edged type and probably pious (a straight-edge lifestyle promotes a life without drugs/alcohol and general religious piety), want to glorify symbology that has its roots in ancient, non-Islamic religions? Particularly, having probably grown up in an environment of "traditionalist" Islam, where any non-Islamic symbology is synonymous with glorifying other religions, to the point of blasphemy and borderline aspostasy.

Confused kids? Or those that know squat about anything outside their immediate circle of concerns? Or what?

So, being that the classical WW2 Nazis were pretty much white supremacist, yearning to create a pure master Aryan race, why would any non-white, or off-white, or brown person, in their right minds, be attracted to such an ideology?

The answer, apparently, lies in the fact that latter-day Nazis have tweaked their ideology somewhat. It is no longer about hate of any kind, or even about supremacy. Neo-Nazism has a new face and outlook, apparently. Many new faces, in fact.

As part of doing a bit of digging around (Walski can't justifiably call any of this reasearch!) for this post, with assisting input from Lord Panda, he came across The Libertarian National Socialist Green Party website - the Green Nazis.

The Green Nazi Party website
(check out the left sidebar, if you go take a look)

Apart from the fact that the color green is quite prominent, reading what's here gives us some clues as to how Nazism has evolved. If you do visit the site, take a gander at the buttons on the left sidebar, which link to various organizations around the globe that appear, at first glance, to be strangely placed on a Neo-Nazi website. Organizations like the Japanese National Socialist Party, The Black Panther Party, Independence Quebec, and The Black Nationalists.

The common thread that runs through these organizations? Separatism, based on race, and/or culture (which is why the most surprising link inclusion, to Walski, was that of the Taiwan Kuomintang website! Ok, they're separatist, but for other ideological reasons). So, it's no more based on hate, or supremacy of a particular race (with the exception of the Japanese NSP), but that of racial and cultural purity.

The Green Nazi site is quite intriguing in itself. It talks about sustainable life on planet Earth, it is concerned about the enviornment and global warming, and makes the stipulation that to achieve sustainable life henceforth, race separation is a necessity (any emphasis by myAsylum).

Every ethnoculture has its own standards and specializations, and the only way to preserve these is to understand diversity to mean respecting other groups for what they are, and realizing the same standard applies to no two groups. As part of our respect for nature and for her diversity, we seek to separate each group from all others so that it may determine its own future and breed its people according to its traditions and culture. If this is not done, what results is people of a mixed breed who thus have a confused genetic-cultural memory, and are inclined toward only the lowest common denominator behavior, which is basic urges and products purchased from stores and things seen on television and in movies.

Our belief is that a stable world order will only result from accepting this truth of ethnicity, and upholding it, instead of creating modern superstates based on mixed tribe, caste and race. With this separation, the French are allowed to be French, the Zulu can be Zulu, and the Russians, Russian. In this way we preserve diversity by upholding differences, and while this is less convenient for a bureaucratic society, it is necessary for environmental respect, as no group treats the land as well as those who have a connection to it through genetics, history, culture and familiarity.
(source: About LNSGP [on race])

What Walski found a bit scary is that some of this exact rhetoric has been used by some of our own politicians in justifying against a Bangsa Malaysia. Is it this implicit separatist thinking that fuels the very mindset, which in turn has translated itself across the generational gap to the young Malay/Muslim kids behind these Nazi Punk outfits? The politico-religious rhetoric coming from the various Islam-based NGOs and politicos definitely falls into this separatist philosophy, albeit the demarkation being religion not race/culture.

So the question remains - are these punksters daft? Are they merely mimicking a heinous concept they don't fully grasp?

Or - do the kids know exactly what image they are portraying, and that this Daft Punk front is merely symptomatic of a bigger, more serious and urgent problem?

Walski's very important Punk Rock disclaimer footnote: Please realize that not all Punk Rock is bad, and portray a hateful and/or violent attitude towards others. Yes, aggression, anger and frustration are common themes in Punk Rock. However, for the most part these feelings are translated into social critique songs that point out the faults of society in general. On the other hand, the very niche sub-genre of Nazi Punkism is generally hateful, and sometimes violent, in nature, revolving around racial hatred and supremacist idealism. Walski firmly believes that it is the rotten few that give the entire genre a bad rep, and by association the entire independent music community, and is in no way making the assertion that punk rock in general should be suppressed in any way.

Click here for the full post......

Ijok: One-on-One, or more to join in the fun?

Technorati tags: Malaysia, Politics, Ijok, Elections

Update @ 1226 hrs: Malaysiakini reports that it will be a straight fight after all. And speaking of fights, one actually broke out at the nomination station. Hmmm... what an iJok(e)...

Original post:
Today is nomination day for the Ijok by-elections and Walski supposes that it's almost confirmed that the main fight will be between BN and PKR.

But wait a minute... what's this?

The more the merrier?

According to the Malaysiakini report above (subscription required), four other individuals have expressed interest in participating in the by-elections, scheduled for April 28. The same report also states that at least 14 nomination forms have been taken so far.

The official nominationa for the April 28 elections will be carried out today. And so we will find out later if these four (or maybe more) will also submit their nominations. Perhaps a valid question in the minds of many would be "why?".

One reason, as suggested by the article, is to split the vote, and has allegedly been the ploy of many political parties in past elections. Another typical reason would that the independent candidate is not entirely happy with the 'officieal' candidate nominated by the party that he/she supports. Or in the case of K. Loganathan, the party that he used to support.

Loganathan, a former MIC member from Shah Alam, was the first among the independents to announce his intention to contest.

His main reason was that BN has failed to develop Ijok and that he was unhappy with the way MIC was dealing with the problems faced by the Indians in the state constituency.
(source: Malaysiakini)

K Loganathan, a businessman, has been identified as one of the four independents who may join in the fray. The other three are law graduate K. Mutharasu, land broker Ali Mohamed, and an unnamed local businessman.
(more iJok thoughts, in the full post)

The split-vote theory, in this case, would likely apply to Ali Mohamad, who allegedly is entering to split the ethnic Indian vote, in favor of PKR. Ali is a strong DAP supporter, and his intention has not gotten support from the party.

DAP announced yesterday that they would be in full support of PKR cadidate Khalid Ibrahim, who is Selangor state PKR chief, and the party's treasurer. PAS has also indicated that they would support Khalid Ibrahim's effort.

Both PAS and PKR, as you probably recall, had earlier boycotted the Batu Talam by-elections, and there are those in the grassroots who are questioning the decision of PKR to participate, and implicitly, PAS' support for the PKR candidate. An example Walski found recently came from this Harakah reader mail (in Bahasa Malaysia).

Earlier, Baby PAS (the PAS youth wing) had announced that they would boycott the Ijok elections. However, being that the PAS Central Committee has indicated their commitment to support Khalid Ibrahim's ticket, it is likely that the youth wing will silently comply with what Daddy PAS has to say. So far, no official statement has been issued.

In the same article stating their commitment, PAS Deputy President explained that their support for PKR, and PKR's participation in the elections, are based partly on what the party viewed as "a successful message to the Election Commission" through their boycott of Batu Talam. PAS and PKR, during the boycott, had stated several demands, revolving around a more level-ground election laws, and of course, voter roll clean-ups. Although not all their demands were met, PAS felt that it was important to assist PKR in battling BN in Ijok.

Walski had earlier hinted (in not so many words) that PAS and PKR would virtually be committing political suicide if they continued to boycott polls. So, their decision to take part in the Ijok by-elections is quite understandable and predictable.

The results of nomination day will be known in a few hours time. At this point, we can only speculate whether or not it will be a straight fight between BN and PKR, or if any independents will join in the fray. Let's hope that the nomination day exercise goes on without incident. The Machap fracas may not have had a direct effect on BN's chances, being that the candidate there was from MCA. Ijok is a different matter - the BN candidate is from MIC itself.

The last thing anyone wants is for Ijok (elections) to be an iJok(e).

Walski's i-prefix footnote: We have enough products in the market with the ubiquitous i prefix... the butt of enough jokes to last us a few lifetimes. We certainly don't need another one. But then again, laughter, sometimes is the best medicine...

Click here for the full post......

Life, liberty and happiness... denied

Technorati tags: Religion, Human Rights, Islam, , Islam, Law, Spanish Inquisition

It's always distressing when Walski reads news like this. Done in the name of Islam.

Rehab: Believe, or else...
(read full story here)

Breaking the family apart, mother and kids sent to rehab. Rehab for what? And before you say that this is to ensure the sanctity of Islam is upheld, read the full article here, courtesy of Malik Imtiaz Sarwar (for those of you who subscribe to Malaysiakini, click on the image above, or go here).

Now, more than ever, we are seeing the real reason why Malaysians are required to have their professed religion emblazoned on their identity card - for easy detection of "Muslims", for the purposes of rounding them up and throwing them into rehab when necessary. And also why the very vocal Muslim NGOs are so against Article 11. For them, religion is not a personal choice, but something to be imposed on others, against their will via "rehab", if necessary.

No compulsion in religion? Freedom of religion guaranteed by the Malaysian Constiution? Guess again.

Believe, or else. And you damn well better believe how and what to believe. Or else.

It's crap like this that makes Walski wonder if there is any hope left for this country to come to its senses. Perhaps it's time to look for someplace else to live. Somewhere more humane. Someplace else where the national Constitution actually means something, and the rights enshrined honored.
(more rehab thoughts, in the full post)

This news comes not two weeks after another case in Melaka, highlighted in the International Herald Tribune (hat-tip to The Malaysian). In this instance, the mother has been placed in rehab, separated from her 15-month old daughter. It's not immediately known for how long the mother will be detained. Or will it be until she is rehabilitated, however long it takes?

You would think that on the year Malaysia celebrates it's 50th year of independence, submission would be a thing of the past. But apparently not. We seem to be getting more firmly mired in the grips of Third World thinking. Just curious, but would operations such as this, coming into someone's home, and literally abducting them to be put in "rehab", be carried out with some sort of court order? Or does JAIS not need such worldly authority of law?

The last thing Walski was expecting is some kind of Spanish Inquisition...

And like Monty Python's Spanish Inquisition, the parameters of what rights Malaysian citizenry has keeps changing - not for the better. As it is, Walski doubts that the direction Malaysia seems to be heading is what our esteemed forefathers imagined when they fought for independence...

Click here for the full post......

Found! Yin reunited with family

Technorati tags: Missing Persons, Found, Yin, Public Service

Muhammad Nazrin Shamsul Ghazali, or better known as Yin, who went missing from the Sogo shopping mall two weeks ago, has been found, and reunited with his parents.

Reunited! For once, a happy ending to a missing persons case
(picture from The Star)

Read the full report here.

Walski is glad that, for a change, a missing persons case concluded with a reunion, and also that no harm befell the kid. There's probably not a lot that can be more traumatic to parents, than to lose their child.

And in this case, a happy ending such as this is the best anyone could have hoped for.

Walski's blog holiday footnote: Yeah, yeah... Walski did say he didn't intend to blog today, but this news had to be reported. It provides some closure (and a nice one at that) to a traumatic event, and was important enough to break the self-imposed holiday...

Click here for the full post......

Turning 42 + 1

Technorati tags: Birthday, Forty Two plus one, Blog Holiday

Yes, it's April 15 again. And today, Walski declares today a blog public holiday. Epecially after last night.

The Mrs. sneakily threw him a surprise birthday party. And what a surprise it was! More on the birthday-cum-gig later. One of the lessons Walski did learn from last night was that he's been neglecting Walski of Sound - the virtual band - a bit too much.

Thanks to all who showed up and joined Walski to usher in another 365... including some very, very unexpected guests! Details to come in a later post. For today... well, it's a blog holiday after all, and that means no blogging for the rest of the day. As for the Mamak Conspiracy contest results... well, you'll just have to wait for a little while longer...

Click here for the full post......

In Memoriam: Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. (1922 - 2007)

Technorati tags: In Memoriam, Kurt Vonnegut, Great Authors

A long time ago, in a country far, far away - to be exact, 1986 in the suburbs of Baton Rouge, Louisiana - Walski and some friends did our occassional weekend thing. Going to garage sales. It was at one of these garage sales, that fateful Sunday morning in 1986, that Walski picked up a book entitled Slapstick.

And it was with this quirky, somewhat free-associative writing styled book, that Walski was introduced to Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. Okay, not quite true, because before that Walski had known of Slaughterhouse Five, perhaps one of Vonnegut's most well-known (and most-banned) books. But Slapstick was the first Vonnegut book Walski actually read.

Last night, one of the All-Blogs pro-tem excos (Galadriel) informed Walski of Kurt Vonnegut's passing (on Wedesday, April 11). This morning, Walski's buddy, Lord Panda sent him a mail informing the same sad news, with a link to a BBC news article announcing the author's demise.

Slapstick - a wickedly funny book, satirical sci-fi novel that looks at a surreal possible future without oil and with miniature Chinese (among other things) - eventually led Walski to read two other Vonnegut books, Cat's Cradle and Breakfast of Champions. Slaughterhouse Five is one of those books that still remains in Walski's to-read list (sorry, Kurt - he'll get to it one of these days).

It is with mixed feelings that Walski takes in the news of Vonnegut's death, at the age of 84. Sad, on the one hand, that the world has lost, perhaps one of the 20th century's profoundly enigmatic fiction writers. Or, enigmatically profound.
(more Vonnegut thoughts, in the full post)

Not so sad, on the other hand, because Vonnegut lived a meaningful life. His stand against war, for example, fueled by his own grotesque experiences of World War 2, particularly the bombing of Dresden (which would later become an inspirational element fueling his best-known book, Slaughterhouse Five). As an author, he in turn has fueled the imagination of perhaps millions around the world, through his writings.

A simple, yet poignant announcement
(image taken from Kurt Vonnegut's website)

Those who know of Kurt Vonnegut's life story would be aware that his soul was troubled by many things in life. Despite his success as a writer, he suffered from depression most of his life. In 1984, he survived a suicide attempt. And survive it he did, perhaps explained by this line from his 1997 book, Timequake.

I am eternally grateful.. for my knack of finding in great books, some of them very funny books, reason enough to feel honored to be alive, no matter what else might be going on.
(source: The Quotations Page)

And this is why the simple carricature above that now adorns his official website is so poignant (to Walski, at least). Finally, his soul has attained freedom from this mortal, and probably depressing, coil.

Birth and death are inevitable points in the cycle of life, without exception. What's more important, though, is the timespan in between. And for Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., it was definitely a time well spent, and he will be remembered for many, many years after his passing. In a way, he lives on - not physically, but through the numerous memorable characters he'd created in his fantastic fiction writings.

Rest in peace, kind sir.

Click here for the full post......

WTF: Robert Smith collaboration with Ashlee Simpleton Simpson??

Technorati tags: Rumors, Robert Smith, Ashlee Simpson, The Cure, Music, CRAP

Robert Smith, frontman of The Cure, has done a number of unexpected and offbeat things in his music career. Included in his catalogue of strange collaborations include singing on a Blink-182 song, doing a Bee Gees cover on Billy Corgan's album (source: Filter's open letter to Robert Smith), and of course, battling Barbara Streisand on one of Walski's all-time favorite episodes of South Park - Mecha-Streisand.

But when Walski got word of his next possible collaboration (hat-tip to Walski's goth guru, Lord Panda), it was time to send out myAsylum's intrepid CRAP squad to investigate.

Could this odd collaboration actually be true??
(original images taken from here and here)

Robert Smith collaborating with Ashlee Simpson (on her upcoming album)? Good heavens! That would be as weird as Carburetor Dung, featuring Mawi (as suggested by Panda). Or even stranger still, Siti Nurhaliza collaborating with GWAR??

The intrepid squad of CRAP quickly came back with a cookie trail that led back to the source of the supposed collaboration - an article that appeared on Entertainment Weekly (EW.com), posted on March 22, 2007.

In this article, EW quoted Ashlee's father as being the source of the news. Her father, Joe Simpson, told EW about Ashlee's upcoming album, and mentioned various collaborations, such as with John Legend, and Keane's Tim Rice-Oxley.

And then the shocker of 'em all - that Robert Smith would also be featured.
(Truth? Or mere speculation, in the full post)

The last paragraph of the EW report, now identified as the source of the story:

The bigger shocker? Ashlee's also reportedly collaborating with Robert Smith. Yes, as in the legendary frontman of Alternative Nation icons the Cure. Could their mutual buddy, Fall Out Boy's Pete Wentz, be the connection? When asked by our west-coast counterpart Shirley Halperin, Wentz demurred. ''I doubt I had anything to do with it, 'cause they were friends since she was performing in Chicago [in London last year]. But I definitely only have good things to say about Ash — I think the collaboration could be great!'' Indeed; whatever these two Lovecats come up with, it's bound to be interesting!

The EW piece was duly picked up by numerous entertainment and music sites, such as NME, VH1's Best Week Ever, FMQB, AntiMusic, Yahoo, Whiskey Soda, All Headline News, New Zealand Herald, The Guardian, Moldova, and Tonight, among others (source: Cure fansite Chain of Flowers - scroll down to the April 3 entry). All of them, essentially, have been repeating what was contained in the Entertainment Weekly piece.

And it appears, according to Chain of Flowers, Robert Smith has denied such a collaboration (from the same April 3 entry).

So, from there the CRAP squad went to The Cure's official website to dig deeper. Nothing on the main or news pages. However, the forum section of the site has an entry by Robert Smith himself stating that "it hasn't happened". Here's the entry:

UMMM...
4/3/2007 10:28:13 PM - by CURE:ROBERT

It kind of pisses me off that The Cure had these so called “fans” who would stop liking them after Robert did this, even though it’s not official.

AND I WONDER WHY "ITS NOT OFFICIAL"?

MAYBE BECAUSE I DIDNT ACTUALLY DO IT?

WOW...

COULD BE EH?

ANYWAY
BACK TO THE CURE ALBUM
WHICH IS ALMOST DONE
AND I'M SURE COULD HAVE BEEN DONE SO MUCH SOONER IF I WASNT OFF IN CUCKOO LAND SINGING WITH THE JESUS FAIRIES...

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!

I AM 'OFFICIALLY' NOT GOING TO BOTHER DENYING ANY MORE RUMOURS THIS YEAR - IT'S WAY TOO STUPID A WASTE OF MY TIME

(AND AS FOR MY WEEKLY GH ROUNDUP CONTAINING THIS GEM:
Have you been paying attention over the last 3 or 4 years? GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!
SANCTIMONIOUS ****... )

SO

I AM OFF TO COOL DOWN...

SINGING A CURE SONG!

LATER!
RSX

So there. No such collaboration. The Cure fans can rest easy for now! And no, Walski doesn't know what are "JESUS FAIRIES" either...

And yes, another album from The Cure is in the works, although there's no confirmation on when the release is actually going to be. However, it's expected to be sometime this year.

Even better news: The Cure just might be coming to Singapore in August this year! Although no details have been released, The Cure will be headlining the Fuji Festival in July, and are slated to play Hong Kong on July 30th, then Singapore on August 1st (source: The Cure official site, registration may be required). Walski will definitely keep you posted on this. The last time he saw them in concert was in New Orleans, September 17, 1989, on the Disintegration tour - one of the best concerts Walski's ever been to!

Meanwhile, Walski would still like to see a Siti collaboration with GWAR...

Walski's CRAP footnote: The acronym CRAP, for those of you new to this blog, stands for Cybernetic Remote Autonomous Para-roaches, originally introduced in this post. Walski sends out the intrepid CRAP squadron whenever there's any investigation that needs to be done...

Click here for the full post......

Blogger-bash intermission

Technorati tags: Malaysia, Blogging, Politics, Information, Propaganda

Hat-tips to Rocky and Jeff, for alerting Walski to the news. Actually, he'd read it earlier but was too busy screwing around with the faux-Apocalypse post.

Pak Lah broke his elegant silence and totally pwned his big-n-loudspeaker ministers.

Headline: "No Plan To Compel Bloggers To Register, Says Abdullah"
(click on image to view article)

Perhaps the Executive (or at least the CEO) isn't as clueless as we thought (emphasis by myAsylum):

Abdullah, who is also Internal Security Minister, said he did not believe requiring bloggers to register would solve the problem of posting baseless information in their websites.

The prime minister said many people were unhappy and had voiced their displeasure over the bloggers posting unverified information in their websites.

"Even if they are ordered to register, some of them may not comply and resort to using other channels through foreign servers," he said.

Which is probably the majority of bloggers in Malaysia, using services such as Blogger, Wordpress, Blogsome, and numerous other non-locally hosted services. Some sensible talk, for a change.

So, do we breathe a sigh of relief? Has all this ministerial blog-bashing been a case of Little (and not so little) Napoleons trying to upstage the boss? Or that our executive branch of government simply don't talk enough to one another...

Hmm... or that everybody talks, and no one listens?

Questions, questions, questions...

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Information yesterday defended its role as the provider of "Correct Information", as reported by Bernama. Included in the Bernama report is part of the verbal exchange between ZAM and Seputeh MP, Teresa Kok. Otherwise known as Act 3 Scene 8 of "All Ado about Machap". Read it, if you need a little boost of entertainment in your bloodstream.

Based on this, Walski expects that our Minster of Propaganda Information will still have a few more things to say about blogging and bloggers.

Maybe.

Click here for the full post......

Cyberspace, as bloggers know it, is imploding

Technorati tags: Humor, Meme, Charity, Blog Apocalypse

It had to happen, and it looks like it's happening now. Or at least in about 2 minutes time.

The anti-blog forces the world over somehow figured out how to wipe blogging off the face of cyberspace forever. The sheer weight of 71 million blogs (according to Technorati), it would seem, assisted these juggernaut forces in developing the Blog-ImpL-osion virus, that has been eating away at blog servers the world over.

And so, this may just be the last piece of Walski's you may see. He hopes that you will actually be able to read it. You have but 2 minutes.

Blogging, for Walski, has been a life-changing experience. It has connected Walski closer to the immediate world around him, to the important and pressing issues at hand, as well as to the rest of the world at large. A world that is full of seemingly insurmountable problems.

In these final moments of what we call the blogosphere, or bloggerhood, as Walski likes to call it, he would like to reflect on the impact that blogging has had on our lives. Did it ever occur to you that without blogs, the mainstream media could just tell us anything the wanted (or told to write), and we would just have to accept it wholesale? That, at least, is Walski's point of view.

It has, perhaps, enabled the mainstream to be a little more careful in carrying out their responsiblity, in taking stock of what the citizens' sentiments really are. All in all, it has been a good thing.

Walski is certain that in time, blogging, or something similar, will once again arise, from the ashes of the blogosphere that is about to vanish, in 2 minutes, minus the time it's taken you to read this far.

For now, implosion is imminent!!
(if you haven't figured out by now, DON'T PANIC, and more, in the full post)

Okay... crisis over. Seriously, DON'T PANIC. What you read above is actually part of a charity meme project, initiated by the Urban Monk. Walski was tagged by Sharina to do this. How it works is that the Urban Monk will put aside $1 for every link-back he gets via this meme, and once the pool reaches $500, he will donate it to charity. And there's a fail-safe if it doesn't get that far, too.

Oh, and the highlighted letters and characters in the post? Walski stole this idea from the Nine Inch Nails Year Zero marketing campaign that he blogged about yesterday. For fun, go back and spell it out - if u haven't already.

As everyone probably knows by now, Walski's never been too fond of memes. But he makes an exception this time, because it's for a good cause. Heck, any charity, as long as it's for the needy, is a good charity. So, because it is for charity, Walski hereby tags the following folks:

- Howsy (because he's been eating too much, and probably needs the exercise)
- Zorro-Unmasked, Politikus and GirlyIT (because they had tagged Walski and now it's payback time)

and last, but not least,

- Aisehman (because it gives him a chance to rant real hard for a good cause)

And if anyone else wants to play along, go for it. But do check out Urban Monk's post on this first before you do, just so you get it right...

Click here for the full post......

The BUM post

Technorati tags: BUM2007, Bloggers United, World Press Freedom Day

No, not that one, you pervert. Not that other one either, you fashionista...

Come celebrate World Press Freedom Day 2007
the only way a blogger could...

Apologies to brother-blogger Howsy for Walski's sheer tardiness in putting this post up. But as they say, shit happens. As does work.

So, wanna party with Walski? Just follow the cookie crumbs to the official BUM2007 website for details. Rumor has it that bloggers are going to come from near and far...

Incidentally, this is simply us bloggers' way of celebrating World Press Freedom Day, which falls on May 3, 2007. But since that's a working day, we've decided to defer it to a day when the maximum number of people can attend.

Click here for the full post......

Counting down to Year Zero

Technorati tags: Music, Nine Inch Nails, Year Zero, NIИ, YouTube

Pleasant surprises sometimes come from the most unexpected sources. And the nice little surprise for today came courtesy of Technorati. And after a little digging around the 'Net...

NIИ: Year Zero
(Malaysian release date unknown, but hopefully soon)

Yes, boys and girls, Nine Inch Nails will soon be releasing their 6th studio album, entitled Year Zero. Apparently the first single from the album, "Survivalism" has been getting airplay on MTV. Walski, however, doesn't tune it to MTV - not on Astro anyway. Already, MTV-Asia is quite pop-heavy, catering to the fans of more syruppy-sweet pop trash. Couple that the filtering our censor-happy folks at Astro apply, and there's nothing much left that's appealing to a eclectic music-head like Walski.

But we digress...

What struck Walski most about this news, apart from being excited about a new Nine Inch Nails album, was the way that the album has been marketed. In true viral fashion. In February of this year, USB sticks containing tracks from the album and dystopian images began appearing in washroom stalls at venues where the band is touring (Wikepedia reports findings in Lisbon, Madid, Barcelona, and Manchester).

In a recent article in The Guardian, Trent Reznor (the force behind Nine Inch Nails) explains:

"The USB drive was simply a mechanism of leaking the music and data we wanted out there," he explained. "The medium of the CD is outdated and irrelevant. It's really painfully obvious what people want - DRM-free music they can do what they want with. If the greedy record industry would embrace that concept I truly think people would pay for music and consume more of it."

Novel would be an understatement of how Year Zero has been marketed. Think of it as a long, elaborate, cookie trail of clues and cryptically hidden website URLs hidden in the most unlikely of places.

Among them, at the back of a concert t-shirt.
(more Year Zero, and listening to it FREE, in the full post)

It started with a NIИ concert t-shirt, on which certain letters were bolded. Put together, the letters formed a website URL (minus the trailing .com), iamtryingtobelieve. This then led to another website, anotherversionofthetruth.com, which has a brilliantly hidden picture underneath the color pix on the front page (click-n-hold your mouse and "rub-off" the color pix). Clicking on it brings up a "forum" page, which then...

Tell you what, why don't you read this Rolling Stone article, and follow the cookie crumbs for yourself... All in all a very elaborate, and BRILLIANT web-based marketing campaign, if Walski ever saw one.

Year Zero, according to Reznor is a "concept album" (source), and to Walski is a dystopian view of the future, reflective of the general despair being felt in the US populace, and the growing dissatisfaction and anger towards the nation's administration under Baby Bush. A clue to this can be heard in one of the tracks, "Capital G".

Oh, Walski's just realized he's gotten ahead of himself. Heard the track? Indeed. The entire album, in fact, is available for online listening! Go to the official Year Zero website, click on the "listen to year zero" link, and knock yourself out. Registration is required, however, but all it involves is leaving an e-mail address. Easy. You're there in seconds (Streamyx permitting)...

Musically, think of it as biting drum-n-bass, sometimes dreamy, but with sudden bursts of energetic anger that screams out of the speakers and bites you when you least expect it. It is nowhere as MOR as With Teeth was, incidentally. But a lot more minimalist than other NIИ releases. One of the tracks (My Violent Heart) opens with a narative rap - a la William S. Burroughs, but less raspy - and follows the characteristic Reznor style of dissonance and quirky use of odd time signatures. And it rocks. As does the album, in toto.

Making the entire album for pre-release listening is very much in line with Trent Reznor's view of how archaic the music industry is today, being monopolized by the grubby hands of the business side of music. And it probably will deter piracy, as well. Fans of NIИ, like yours truly, will have no qualms forking out some moolah to get a copy once it's been released.

The album has 16 tracks in total, and Walski's advice for Malaysian fans is to get it as soon as the first-pressing release is out. The authorities have been known to censor music in this country, and if you don't wish to have a yours with bleeped out portions (like watching Astro), get it ASAP.

The worldwide release is slated for release in Europe on April 16, 2007, a day later in the United States, and on April 25, 2007 in Japan. It is not immediately know what the release date will be for Malaysia, but it's likely to be sometime after the Japan release (and if anyone knows, please do the needful).

Year Zero, the concept album, is part of something bigger that Trent Reznor apparently has planned. Among other things, expect a film surrounding the bleak future world of Year Zero. You can find out more at the Year Zero Research page, which is part of the NIИ wiki site. One thing that Walski will mention is that Year Zero refers to 2022 AD, also known as 0000 BA (Born Again). Making this year -15 BA.

Walski for one, cannot wait till the album is released in Malaysia (hopefully intact). Meanwhile, he will be listening to it online. To close out this post, Walski hereby presents what he also found today on YouTube - the Survivalism video mentioned earlier. Enjoy!

Walski's pondersome post-video footnote: By the way, if you think the track is too Middle-Of-the-Road (MOR), the full album is a lot better. It's the subtext to the video that's the key. You know, it's as if Trent knew exactly what to get Walski for his birthday...

Click here for the full post......

Tyranny, Inc.

Technorati tags: Religion, Islam, Malaysia, Religious Anger, PAS

Muslims, particularly the more vocal Malay ones in this country, are very easily riled. It doesn't take a lot to piss them off.

Headline reads "Demonstration: Gerakan given one week"
(click on image for full report, in Bahasa Malaysia)

Update: A translation and commentary of a related Harakah article above can be read here (hat-tip to Malaysia-Today)

This latest rage-fest is a result of a purported resolution made by Federal Territory Gerakan during their convention last weekend. Yesterday, however, the Star printed a retraction, and stated that the call, made by Federal Territory Gerakan chairman Datuk Dr Tan Kee Kwong, was done in a personal capacity during a press conference, following the Federal Territory Gerakan Convention on Sunday, April 1. Originally, the Star had reported that the call was a resolution made during the convention. This morning, the Star reported that Datuk Dr. Tan has issued an apology over his remarks.

So, what next from PAS and their supporters? And why is it that they get pissed off so easily? And is this anger a symptom of a more nefarious bigger picture? Apart, of course, from PAS consolidating their political position, taking advantage of already bruised and easily riled Muslim sentiments.

One of the nice side-effects of attending the innaugural National Alliance of Bloggers meeting last Thursday is that Walski got to meet Haris Ibrahim, a law practitioner and the force behind the ACCIN-BADAI Lies website.

He's just published a very interesting (albeit long) article, entitled ‘Islam-as I say-tion’: The Slide Into Tyranny? It is an intriguing, but disturbing read.

Why disturbing? Because it appears that there is a very real movement to undermine Malaysia as we know and love.
(Islam-as I say-tion, and more, in the full post)

The article starts off by making reference to a Malaysiakini article from July 24, 2006, which makes reference to a statement made by Azmi Abdul Hamid of Teras (emphasis by myAsylum).

“We have every right to seek the continuation of this process of Islamisation”

Continuation? Which brings up the question of "when did it begin?" And what exactly is the "process of Islamisation"? The article attempts to answer these questions, and one more important question: is all this "Islamisation" in line with the teachings in the Holy Quran? And finally - who is really behind this continued Islamisation?

The answer to this, as the article shows, is that it's not just the likes of PAS, ACCIN, BADAI, and the lot. And it is this that Walski finds most disturbing. That the forces behind this move are also comprised from people in government and other public institutions of power. The combined forces of which Walski calls Tyranny, Inc.

Now, just about everybody knows that PAS, and those individuals and organizations supporting this party, have one primary aim: to establish Malaysia as an Islamic state. But according to which model? Saudi Arabia? Iran? Pakistan? And what model is something that PAS has not been able to convincingly tell us, apart from being based on the Syariah. Then another question: whose version of the Syariah?

To consolidate support, they use fear - planting the idea that Islam is under threat. And any opportunity to reinforce this point of view is used to the fullest. Logically, it would truly boggle the mind why a mere mortal - Government employee, at that - like Harussani, is revered to the extent that he cannot do any wrong. And logically, the latest "outrage" is nothing but an opportunity that Gerakan (or individuals within it) provided on a silver platter.

But maybe the adulation given to folks like Harussani is not really a big mystery after all, based on another recent article in Harakah, the mouthpiece of PAS.

Why Muslims revere the Ulama so... they are the inheritors of the Prophets

You see, the traditional view of Muslims is that the religious leaders (ulama) are the "inheritors of the prophets" - a view propogated a long time ago, via a hadith. Implying that what the ulama say must be followed.

And the "Quranic justification" for the hadith of Muhammad as authority to formulate religious law, is derived from what some feel are verses from the holy Quran taken out of context, such as Surah 59 Verse 7 or, Surah 53 Verse 3, to imply that whatever comes from Muhammad is revelation. Whereas even in the prophet's own lifetime, he prohibited transcribing of what he said, UNLESS it was Quranic revelation.

The logic therefore, is that because the Ulama are the inheritors of the prophets, and whatever the prophet (in the case of Islam, Prophet Muhammad, specifically) had to say, ex-Quran, has also to be taken as law, the Ulama must be held in the highest esteem, and cannot be challenged.

And of the Ulama - which Ulama? The word Ulama, in Arabic actuall means those with knowledge, or the knowledgeable ones. This of course could refer to any knowledge. But over the centuries, the common understanding is that Ulama refer specifically to those with religious knowledge.

And it has become the case that whatever dictates come from these religious Ulama (to differentiate them from the turbomachinery Ulama, or nuclear physics Ulama), are pretty much taken unchallenged. So much so that standing up in support of PAS' Kelantan government can even become a "religious responsibility of ALL Muslims" (i.e. Fardhu 'Ain).

What the Ulama opine MUST be followed unquestioned

Would most traditionalist Muslims even dare question the legitimacy of statements such as these? It did, after all, come from the mouth of someone considered a religious Ulama. To any other thinking person, statements such as this are nothing but political propaganda, using "Islam" as the justification.

But then again, who said that the majority of Muslims can even think critically anymore? That capability was abdicated a long time ago, in favor of blind acceptance.

It is the cummulative effect of this blind acceptance, coupled with political propaganda in sheep's clothing, and a deep-seated anger in the psyche of many Malay/Muslims, as a result of an equally deep-seated inferiority complex, that has the potential of changing the face of Malaysia.

And not necessarily for the betterment of Malaysia, or Malaysians as a whole.

Click here for the full post......

Missing: Boy aged 5, still not found

Technorati tags: Missing Persons, Lost Boy, Yin, Public Service

Those of you who frequent the bloggerhood would probably have already heard about this. Muhammad Nazrin (aged 5, pictured on the left), known also as Yin, went missing from the Sogo mall in Kuala Lumpur a week ago (see Malay Mail article).

CCTV footage has revealed that the little boy left the shopping mall, and is probably somewhere around Kuala Lumpur. Or so Walski hopes.

If anyone spots the child, kindly alert the police immediately, after of course making sure the little one's been secured. You can also call the boy's father, Shamsul Ghazali Shamsuddin, at (012) 509-0451.

Walski's prays that the boy is safe, and that he will be found soon. If anyone does spot him - please, do the needful.

Click here for the full post......