Thoughts on the 13th General Election.

It’s my humble opinion that all indications are favoring the BN in the next polls. In this, much credit is due to the PM, his initiatives and tireless effort.

The general public is now more supportive of government policies and fence sitters are becoming convinced that they should not trust the opposition and this for two main reasons. Firstly, that they eat their own words and secondly that unity among them is a charade because they distrust each other like never before.

This coming general elections will bring out the worst in them. It will be a do or die thing because they have never before so close to grasping the federal government. Maybe we will see some desperate acts.

PKR, as it is wont, will try to beguile voters by exploiting human rights to curry favor from foreign parties / sponsors. Thus they will campaign for pluralism and LGBT rights, however foreign it might be to our society. They will continue to spread lies about the PM, his wife and slender the government till their throats becomes sore.

PAS, an extremist party will abuse Islam for whatever little political gain might accrue to them. UMNO and its supporters will continue to be labeled kafirs, murtad and mungkar. More than that, they have conducted mass prayers harshly urging God to bring down destruction upon UMNO and the BN government.

As for DAP, its true colors has finally surfaced. It has exposed itself as a truly racist party, demarcating itself among racial lines. The public is more than ever aware now that its members are without exception Chinese chauvinists. Lim Kit Siang’s Malaysian Malaysia call all these while is nothing more than an attempt to hoodwink reasonable and rational Chinese into forsaking MCA and leaving the BN.

For the BN, however, there is confidence in the air and it’s almost tangible. It’s a good feeling I might add. All the more reason for BN to be extra careful lest it be misconstrued for arrogance.

BN could win 2/3 majority if it really wants to, InsyaAllah, so long as there are no serious glitches within the government or party between now and the elections.  

Opposition website is another matter though. However they are saturated with lies and inconsistencies. Only the diehard supporter would continue to believe them. Still, Chinese voters are rather unpredictable and cold be swayed to vote for the opposition if the DAP again decides to play the racial card and it’s not checked.

The DAP is also very adept at creating a sense of deprivation among the Chinese vis a vie the Malays and thus instigate them. The opposition will resort to these and other more reprehensible tactics for obvious reasons and ardently too.

The authorities will be in a conundrum then. Taking action will result in being accused of being hard handed, denying the opposition their democratic rights and of being unjust. This would be the trump card needed to rally their supporters, get onto their streets and cause mayhem. 

Not taking action, the more likely scenario knowing Hishamuddin, would mean allowing the opposition to raise hatred against UMNO and PERKASA. Should any one of the two then decide to reciprocate there is no telling what would ensue. The possible result is a disruption of public order. Anyone who has had dealings with Anwar knows he has a penchant for forementing it.

Any kind of trouble during or after the elections would mean a field day for the opposition and the foreign media who have proven time and time again to be biased for the oppositions.

If disenchantment towards the government spreads to become popular unrest, it will present Anwar the Arab Spring which he so covets, then he would have his harvest which he would gleefully reap. God forbid.

The Inevitable

So the Dooms Day as predicted by the Mayan Calendar has come and gone and yet life continues as it is. The earth and all other celestial forms up on high have not perished.  

Many must have waited with apprehension and trepidation for the coming of the hour as so foretold. There were some who even went to the extent of being ludicrous in their preparation to escape the calamity. How inane people can be.  There have been other predictions before by various soothsayers. The pages of history will tell. People have been cowed into following them with the hope that their souls might be saved from perdition.  

Cults have been established too, by charlatans, that ended with terribly disastrous consequences for it's members.  

There will surely be many other Dooms Day predictions to come but just as with all the previous ones it will be false.  

Good Muslims have never believed in such predictions. This is because it has already been clearly stated in the Quran that knowledge of the Hour belongs only to ALLAH, the All Knowing and no one else, without exception. Not even the angels and the prophets of God know of it's coming. It is also stated in Al Quran that Dooms Day when it comes, will come all of a sudden, like the blink of an eye.   

"O’ Muhammad. They ask u about the Hour of Doom and when will it take place. Say: Knowledge about it only rests with my Rabb. No one can disclose it's proper time except Him. Heavy is it's weight in the heavens and the earth. It will not come gradually but all of a sudden. They ask you as if you yourself were in search of it.

Tell them: The knowledge about it rests only with ALLAH though most people do not understand." (Al Quran 7:182-188 )  Good Muslims do not fear it's coming because it has been foretold in the Quran and that it is inevitable. Also, all Muslims believe that they will meet their Maker on the Day of Judgment to account for their deeds in this transient life. There is no escaping this.          

Anyone in search of the eternal truth and knowledge must read the Quran for it has been clearly written down for all discerning people.

The end of existence, of all creation, will surely arrive. Nothing that exists can escape it. Not even if man can reach the furthest reaches of the universe because when the Time comes the universe will collapse upon itself. Good Muslims do not fear it's coming because they will be protected from the horror of the Calamity. There will be another life. This next life is by far much better, beyond description and eternal.  

Taksub

Saya menghadiri jemputan Majlis Tahlil jiran se-taman perumahan baru-baru ini. Semasa menjamu selera, saya dapati ada dua tiga orang kenalan saya yang tidak boleh langsung mendengar Nik Aziz di kritik. Mereka bersikap saolah-olah Nik Aziz maksum atau bertaraf wali.  

Reaksi mereka bila kenyataan yang dibuat Nik Aziz atau tindakan yang dilakukannya dikritik, ialah mengeleng-gelengkan kepala sambil kedua dua belah tangan membuat isyarat tidak mahu dengar.  

Mereka bersikap semacam takut sesuatu yang buruk akan menimpa diri mereka jika mereka terus mendengar kritikan terhadap kesalahan dan kesilapan yang dilakukan Nik Aziz.  

Kenalan-kenalan saya ini adalah pegawai-pegawai kerajaan yang sudah bersara dan semasa berkhidmat  dahulu memegang jawatan yang agak kanan juga. Tidakkah mereka sedar bahawa Nik Aziz juga adalah seorang politikus biasa yang sepanjang hidupnya berusaha mengejar kuasa?  

Yang membezakan Nik Aziz dengan ahli-ahli politik lain ialah kemahiran dia menggunakan agama sebagai alat untuk mencapai cita-cita politiknya.        

Mungkin ada sebilangan orang yang sudah menjadi begitu taksub dengan Nik Aziz sehinggakan hanya menerima apa yang keluar dari mulut dia sahaja sebagai benar, yang lain semua adalah dusta atau palsu. Walaupun kenyataan itu dibuat oleh ulama yang tersohor dalam dunia Islam, apabila ia bercanggah dengan Nik Aziz ia tetap akan ditolak.  

Begitu sekali sempitnya pengetahuan dan alam mereka. Semuanya berkisar sekitar atau dikalangan diri atau ahli-ahli mereka sahaja. Mata, telinga dan hati mereka telah tertutup. Segala yang baik walaupun di depan batang hidung sendiri mereka tidak akan nampak. Kalau nampak pun mereka tidak akan memperakuinya disebabkan ego yang sangat tebal yang telah begitu lama sebati dikalangan pucuk pimpinan mereka.  

Semoga ALLAH membuka hati mereka kepada kebenaran.

Kempen Menolak Budaya Memfitnah

Saya pasti ramai yang setuju supaya kempen ini diberi keutamaan. Apatah lagi di kalangan orang-orang Melayu yang menganut agama Islam kerana kita sedar bahawa memfitnah itu amat besar dosanya dan hukumannya di sisi Allah S.W.T amatlah berat dan tidak akan tertanggung.

Saya amat tertarik dan bersetuju dengan tulisan Dr. Fathul Bari Mat Jahya dalam Utusan baru-baru ini. Beliau mengatakan salah satu tuduhan fitnah berat dan besar yang dilemparkan kepada pihak kerajaan dan mereka yang menyokong kerajaan ialah tuduhan kafir dan murtad. 

Tuduhan ini amatlah zalim. Tetapi mereka yang membuat tuduhan ini tidak sedar bahawa mereka sebenarnya amat menzalimi diri sendiri.

Jelas Dr. Fathul Bari tidak munasabah UMNO atau kerajaan itu kafir atau murtad. Saya petik keterangan yang diberikan oleh Dr Fathul Bari bagi menangkis tuduhan yang dibuat oleh Nik Aziz dan pengikut- pengikutnya.

1. Mengucap dua kalimah syahadah;  adakah kerajaan tidak laksanakan hal ini? Kerajaan laksanakan. Kerajaan bentuk dan tubuhkan JAKIM, kerajaan wujudkan Bahagian Kajian Akidah. Al-Arqam, Ayah Pin, Kaha yang mengaku sebagai rasul, dan ajaran-ajaran sesat yang lain semuanya dibanteras. Ini semua adalah usaha memelihara akidah yang berterusan.      

2. Solat; Dasar dan usaha yang dilakukan oleh kerajaan, mendirikan infrastruktur untuk memudahkan masyarakat mendirikan ibadah solat. Azan dilaungkan secara terbuka. Ini adalah syiar Islam yang menunjukkan Islam dilaksanakan secara terbuka.

3. Zakat; Pengurusan zakat adalah antara yang terbaik dan terulung di dunia. Kempen kutip zakat, kempen bayar zakat, kempen agihan zakat tidak henti-henti diadakan.

4. Puasa; Syiar Islam ini diadakan secara terbuka. Majlis berbuka puasa, solat terawih dan mengimarahkan masjid diadakan sepanjang bulan Ramadhan. Program-program sedekah

di bulan Ramadhan membuktikan syiar Islam dibesarkan dan dilaksanakan secara terbuka.

5. Haji; Seluruh dunia Islam memperakui bahawa pengurusan haji oleh Lembaga Pengurusan Tabung Haji adalah yang terbaik di dunia dan ramai yang datang untuk belajar dan mengambil contoh daripadanya.

Jadi janganlah buat tuduhan dengan perkataan yang bersifat umum seperti kerajan tolak Islam, atau memperlekehkan Islam. Perbuatan seperti ini adalah  ideology khawarij yang mudah mengkafirkan orang lain.

Cukuplah amanat seorang ustaz puluhan tahun lalu yang menyebabkan perpecahan di kalangan umat Islam; berpecah dalam solat, tidak sah solat berimamkan orang UMNO, perkahwinan yang dibatalkan kerana tidak sah dinikahkan oleh jurunikah UMNO, makanan sembelihan tidak sah kerana disembelih oleh orang UMNO, tidak boleh hadiri jenazah orang UMNO dan beberapa lagi perbuatan yang mengakibatkan malapetaka kepada perpaduan orang Islam di negara ini.

Nabi S.A.W di dalam sebuah hadis bersabda, “ Sesungguhnya akan datang pada manusia tahun-tahun yang penuh dengan penipuan, seorang pembohong dikatakan benar dan seorang yang jujur dianggap berbohong, seorang pengkhianat dikatakan amanah dan seseorang yang amanah dianggap khianat”.  Umat Islam di mana  sahaja, khususnya di negara ini, perlu sentiasa berwaspada akan perkara ini.

Bota Kanan During the Fruit Season etc.

It being the fruit season, I was persuaded by my better half to make a day trip to her family home in Bota Kanan, Parit Perak.

 

Driving the north-south highway is not as pleasant as it used to be. Traffic is constantly heavy because of the school holidays and the R&Rs too are crowded even though it was a weekday. One has to be extra careful due to the rainy season. Our highways collect puddles of water here and there because of its uneven surface. I would attribute this to poor maintenance or bad engineering. However, heavy vehicles, buses and lorries speed along as fast as ever without any heed to their speed limit. Also these manic drivers know that when it rains the involved authorities would not be around and usually because of their size, they have no regard for smaller vehicles and act like bullies.

 

We reached our destination a little in the afternoon. I can say Bota Kanan is in the heartland of Perak. It largely a Malay community and agrarian. One distinctive feature is that almost every household has its own fruit orchard, some bigger than others and during the fruit season durians, mangosteens and rambutans are so plentiful that they are not even collected but just left on the tress to waste. This is quite sad. Even monkeys, squirrels and bats leave them. Except for the strong rubber stench caused by the MARDEC factory, nothing much has changed in Bota Kanan.

 

I noticed not many abandoned houses.The houses that we passed by along the road all had clean compounds and were well maintained. There is so much greenery everywhere that you can feel the difference in the air. It is a pleasure to drive with open windows and let the cool fresh air in so that you can inhale deeply an almost feel the oxygen in your lungs.

 

Going back in the late afternoon, my wife again persuaded me to take the longer route just so she could see some old buildings and places that were dear to her during her school days. So from Bota Kanan, we took the round about way to Parit. The travel time is about 45minutes. What struck me was the well paved road throughout the distance. The road is not wide, just enough for two vehicles to pass each other by safely but there were no potholes at all and I didn’t feel any bumps too. There were no rubbish or litter anywhere by the roadside and it was indeed a pleasant drive.

 

Maybe the road is so because no heavy or overladen vehicles ply on it as is so obvious on the north-south highway. I wish the drive was longer.

 

Something else which was very obvious was the many blue and white flags of the BN as we approach Parit. The few green flags with the white spots were not raised high and most of them were rather old and overused. Maybe there is a change of heart among the voters in these parts and also maybe the youth have become disenchanted with PAS for they are the ones that used to climb trees from which to hang the green flag with the white spot. When we reached Parit we found the town has not changed much from what it was in the 70s. It is alive though I can’t say it is thriving.

 

More and more people are becoming aware of the government's sincere efforts to reach out to the rakyat in the urban areas, in the towns, in the hinterland, and in the heartland. I sincerely do hope voters will make the correct choice when they cast their votes in the next election.

 

On our journey back to KL, again the drive was really unpleasant because of the speeding and overladen heavy vehicles which seemed immune to the heavy rain. We stopped to take refuge from the rain at the Tapah R&R, but again found it was so crowded that we had to wait before we could find a place to sit. My wife complained that the food is getting expensive because she had to pay almost RM10 for a plate of rice, one fried ikan kembong and some veggie. After freshening up, we left for our busy metropolis, KL and reached home at about eight in the evening.

 

All said we have a beautiful country. God bless Malaysia.

Ucapan Presiden UMNO dan PAS

Semenjak zaman Tun Dr. Mahathir lagi, sudah agak banyak kali juga saya mengikuti Perhimpunan Agung UMNO. Tidak pernahlah rasanya saya mendengar ucapan Perasmian dan ucapan Menggulung oleh seorang Presiden yang begitu menyemarakkan semangat dan menginsafkan.    

Ini dirasakan bukan sahaja oleh Perwakilan dan ahli-ahlinya, tetapi juga oleh orang Melayu yang datang berpusu-pusu untuk mendengar ucapan Presiden di luar Dewan. Begitu juga halnya dengan penyokong dan aktivis UMNO yang mengikuti ucapan Presiden melalui siaran langsung televisyen dirumah-rumah. Mungkin kerana seperti kata Charles Dickens, "It is the best of times, it is the worst of times" untuk UMNO.  

Ia boleh dikatakan “the best of times” kerana Presiden UMNO berjaya mengubah adversiti menjadi peluang dengan “tackling the bull by it's horns”, seperti kata orang Inggeris.  

“The worst of times”, kerana UMNO/BN buat kali pertama dalam sejarah politik negara, telah hilang majoriti 2/3 dalam Parlimen pada PRU 12 yang lalu disamping tewas di Perak, Pulau Pinang dan Selangor dan berhadapan dengan dua parti Melayu yang menggunakan fitnah secara berleluasa dan menjual agama bagi memecah-belahkan perpaduan orang Melayu.    

Memang luar biasa suasana Perhimpunan Agung UMNO kali ini.  Kebetulan ia diadakan tidak lama selepas PAS mengadakan muktamarnya di Kota Bharu. Jadi perbandingan antara PAS dengan UMNO mudah dilakukan.  

PAS semakin tersasar dari landasan yang diperjuangkannya selama ini, semakin keliru mengenai hubungannya dengan parti-parti yang menjadi pakatannya, UMNO sebaliknya semakin jelas akan asas penubuhannya, semakin kukuh atas landasan perjuangannya, semakin yakin akan amanah yang digalas untuk membela bangsa, agama dan negara dan semakin diyakini oleh seluruh parti komponen dalam BN.  

Manakala UMNO dari dahulu hingga kini diberi kepercayaan dan diyakini untuk menerajui BN, PAS sebaliknya pula semakin lemah, tidak bersemangat dan bercelaru kerana semakin jauh dari denyut nadi ahli diperingkat akar umbi. Ahli-ahli dan penyokong PAS semakin menyadari Parti mereka sudah menjadi tempelan sahaja dalam pakatan pembangkang.  

Dalam beberapa kenyataan yang dibuat pucuk pimpinan PAS, jelas PAS lebih memerlukan DAP daripada sebaliknya. Begitu juga dengan PKR, jelas PAS yang perlu akur kepada PKR daripada sebaliknya. Ini berlaku dalam semua hal, dan sudah banyak kali maruah PAS sebagai parti yang kononnya mahu menegakkan sebuah negara Islam diterompahkan.  

Cadangan supaya Hadi Awang dilantik sebagai PM jika pembangkang menang adalah usaha terakhir untuk 'save face' menyelamatkan maruah parti politik yang semakin ditinggalkan orang Melayu. Namun Hj Hadi sendiri sedar akan tahap kemampuan dirinya. Memimpin negeri Terengganu pun dia gagal, ini pula mahu memimpin Malaysia yang semakin dihormati dan dipandang tinggi oleh seluruh dunia. Inilah sebabnya dia berkata dia lebih rela jadi nelayan.  

Doa ulama suam-suam kuku, adik Nik Aziz untuk menaikkan semangat ahli-ahli PAS kerana kononnya mereka berada di pihak yang benar dengan nada seperti mengherdik Allah supaya K.O UMNO, K.O BN memakan diri PAS sendiri. Tidak ada satu pun ulama yang bersetuju dengan doa seperti itu atas sesama Islam selain daripada Nik Aziz. Tetapi Nik Aziz lebih hebat daripada itu, kerana selain kehancuran UMNO, dia juga telah dengan sewenang wenangnya mengistiharkan UMNO murtad.  

Pada PRU kali ini kita akan melihat parti-parti pembangkang, PAS dan PKR terutamanya, melakukan tindakan-tindakan yang desperate atau terdesak. UMNO/BN perlu lebih berwaspada dan mengatur strategi yang dapat menanganinya.