Tenang now

The Tenang bi-election is just around the corner, on 30th January, to be exact. It is, in my opinion, somewhat difficult for the PAS candidate to win the Tenang seat.

The Tenang parliamentary seat in the state of Johor has about 40% of Chinese voters, and these Malaysian Chinese are quite weary of the frequent assertion from the opposition political of PAS, of turning Malaysia into an Islamic nation. The choice of the candidate, Normala, a teacher by profession, makes it more difficult. Normala seems to be very strongly attached to Islam. So strong, that she refuses to shake hands with males. It is a wonder how she is going to campaign with such a dilemma. Furthermore, a large number of Chinese could see this – the handshake refusal – as an indicator of an attempt to Islamize of the area by PAS.

If against all these odds Normala did win the bi-election, it will be very interesting to watch how she handles the on rush of people trying to congratulate her by shaking her hands!

Thinking Aloud - Khusrin, Interlok, MPSJ's Islamic action

1. Datuk Mohd Khusrin has already taken the oath as the Selangor State Secretary in front of The Sultan of Selangor and the Menteri Besar. The fact that the Menteri Besar had attended the oath taking ceremony itself was tantamount to agreeing to Khusrin’s appointment. And now, the Menteri Besar is saying that he is not accepting Khusrin as the State Secretary. What a joke!


2. Why hurt Malaysian Indians’ feelings by proposing the ‘Interlok’ novel, with that degenerative word, for use by students for literature- study. Malaysian Indians like to forget that old humiliating word. See, I, too, am not mentioning that word! I want to forget it. And here are arguments that, this book, with that word, can help in uniting the all the races in Malaysia. What nonsense!


3. The Subang Jaya Municipal Council (MPSJ) did right in banning Muslims working in entertainment outlets serving liquor. This is nothing new and does not come as a surprise. There had already been negative comments about Muslims handling liquor, for some years now. Now the MPSJ has been brave enough to propose a ban. It is not necessary to make a big deal out of this.

Brunei in Malaysia

Why not Brunei join Malaysia?

This is the question that always comes into my mind, whenever, there are news about dignitaries visiting each other’s nation, and the things common between the two countries are mentioned.

Malaysian Malays and Brunei Malays have very similar cultures, and even speak the same language -Malay- even though the slang may differ a little. Brunei is also ruled by a sultan. Any royal functions being held in both the nations always have the royal attendance of both the countries. Islam is also the official religion of both the nations. And when you see a map of Brunei it can be seen as a tiny nation that it is squeezed in the Malaysian state of Sarawak.

Ok, Brunei, with a population of about 400,000, may not be willing to share oil riches with Malaysia, which has a population of about 28 million. But let it manage its own economy. The defense and other aspects of administration can be left to Putrajaya of Malaysia to handle.

It is hoped that both nations give it a serious thought.

MACC on the move

MACC (Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission) seemed to have heard of the cries of the people that only the small fish are getting caught. Within these few months, they seemed to have become daring nd brave to have arrested very big names, for investigation and trial. Perhaps, they have the backing from the very top. Malaysia may have attracted the world’s attention, but that can end only in good stance for it.. It will be known as a nation fighting crime without bias. Well done, Datuk Abu Kassim Mohamed, the chief commissioner of MACC!

The list of MACC’s arrest for the past few months is really astonishing. Have a look:

Tun Ling Liong Sik – former MCA president and Minister of Transport.

Dato Dr Mohd Khir Toyo – former Selangor Menteri Besar

Tan Sri Tajuddin Ramli – former MAS Chairman

Hassan Basri Markum - former Perak Syariah court judge.

Good for you, MACC! Continue with your tracking down! Well done, again, Datuk Abu Kassim!

Putting Kedai Mamak at their place

I know, in one of my earlier posts, I had mentioned what an epitome of unity a Kedai mamak was, with regards to the 1Malaysia concept. For those foreign readers of this post, a ‘kedai mamak’ was an eatery operated by Indian Muslims in Malaysia.

Before the kedai mamak operators trip over themselves patting each other’s backs, over their 1Malaysia contribution, I think I should save their fallings, by telling them their failings.

‘When the cat is away, the rats will play’. This was very true, at least to me, where the waiters or the workers of the kedai mamak were concerned. I say this because I had noticed, several times, that it was very difficult to get the attention of a waiter, when I was seated in a kedai mamak. True to the saying above, I found out that during each of those times the boss of the joint was not around. When the boss was there, it was immediate attention from the waiter. He would be all teeth and it would be “Yes, sir. What will it be?” even before you sat down!

For example, yesterday morning I went to a kedai mamak, the one in front of the Hyundai sales room in the mini city of Taiping. I sat at a table near the counter. No one was at the counter for me to say out my order. At the back, there were five waiters in their uniforms chatting away. They were indifferent to my presence. I knew it then; the boss was not around. There were only two other customers seated three tables away from me. They had been provided their meals.

I sat there for a clear five minutes. And a waiter slowly walked by me. He didn’t even ask me what I wanted. I hailed him, and asked him to switch on the fan above me. No, it was not hot and neither was I sweating. I just had the urge at that time to repay back their ignorance. The waiter switched on the fan and looked at me in expectation. I just sat there and kept quiet, did not order anything, just to see his reaction. Just as I thought, he did not like me to have free air supply. “What do you want to eat?” he asked. “Nasi lemak,” I said.

“Annei, fry one egg!” he shouted to the waiters at the back, and began laying out on the plate other items that go with the nasi lemak. I did not ask for any fried egg to go along with my nasi lemak. It was the norm, I thought and kept quiet. No ‘Annei’ came to fry the egg. The boss was not around, so no one bothered. The nasi lemak waiter fried the egg himself, placed it on the nasi lemak plate and brought it to me. I told him the drink I wanted. “One teh ore kosong!” he shouted to the back and then went to join them. 

Just then, an elderly couple came in and sat at the table beside me. They looked left and right and no one came to take their order. Pity them; they wouldn’t know they had to wait at least five minutes before they would be attended to. 

So would be my drink! Because the cat was away!

Decent sportswear

Did you see the women’s beach-volleyball of the Asian Games, recently held in Guangzhou, China? And did you see the attires the Malaysian women’s team was wearing, when it was playing? The players were wearing bikinis!

I don’t know about you, but I had a funny feeling; a feeling mixed with embarrassment and surprise. The reason is simply this. There have been a lot of debates about whether Malaysia was an Islamic country, or a secular one. Now, would a Muslim nation allow its citizens to wear bikinis in public, more so, watched by millions of people of the world, in Medias? This is 'one up' for the non-Islamic-nation asserters, and the moderates. Oh, okay, the players were non Muslims. But Obama had mentioned Malaysia as an Islamic nation, in one of his famous speeches that he made, in Cairo. What would have the world thought?

And the Malaysian commentators of the game, as far as I know, due to their familiar voices, were Malays and Muslims.

Anyway, I wished the players had been wearing something that completely covered their hips and thighs, Muslims or no. There were children watching too, you know. Don’t just ape the others, and do what they do, where good morality is involved.

Inconsiderate people

I went to an Indian wedding dinner last Sunday held at about 7.30pm in a hall in Taiping. The owners of the hall were Chinese. I mean Malaysians of Chinese roots. 

Actually, the sole purpose of the hall was to cater to the various functions of the Malaysian Chinese. Hence, the writings on the wall above the stage were only in Chinese. I suppose it said, ‘Welcome’ or something of that sort, as had been the case in the halls belonging to the Malaysian Indians. 

The Indians hold their functions in the Chinese halls, mainly because of the inability to get Indian halls for the purpose at the required time, due to all of them being taken up. But being true Malaysians, the Chinese accommodate the Indians gladly. Such things are common throughout the year. 1Malaysia indeed!

Putting aside the unity chatter to one side, we – my wife, my son and I – were sitting at one of the many clothed round tables in the hall, waiting for the prelude to the dinner to start. The prelude means, the walking in of the newly-weds amidst an ovation, and the cutting of the wedding cake by the couple, and feeding each other, to the loud approval of the crowd.

Guests were slowly streaming in. And then I saw a middle aged couple walk by our table and sit at the table next to ours. When I saw the face of the male partner I was taken aback. Half of his face below the nose down was pinkish; he had some sort of a skin disease, the skin had peeled out. I was very touched for his misfortune. Sad though I was, I admired his brevity for coming to this occasion where he has to mingle with the crowd. Inwardly, I saluted his companion for the faithful wife she was, to walk along with him, indifferently. In these days of fault finding among the spouses, this act of camaraderie was really great. I smiled at them, respectfully, and they smiled back.

I should have been happy, except for the next turn of events. A family of five came in and went and sat at the table where the misfortuned couple was sitting. And I thought everything was well with the world. People are understanding and do not care how a person’s face looks. Alas, I could not never have been so wrong! The head of the family, suddenly, pretended that he had seen someone at a table far away and the whole family got up and moved away, The couple, especially, the man, tried not to show any embarrassment.

I am sensitive guy by nature, and uncontrollably, I sat there sulking. I did not like the dinner that day.

Malaysian coaches - hockey

Today (14th Nov 2010), Malaysia played Japan in women’s hockey of the Asian Games, being held in Guangzhou, China. 

I discovered that Malaysia had two of the best hockey coaches in Malaysia, in the two hockey commentators, who were commenting on the game’s proceedings. They complemented each other, saying that 'this player should have done that, and that player should have done this'. And if they had done this and that there sure would have been goals! 

Well, Malaysia lost 4 -2 to Japan. You know what they said? They said there had been a vast improvement in the hockey team, because the last time, in Doha, they lost 7-0 to Japan. Wow! What an improvement! It brings a lump to my throat!