THE INDISPENSIBLE TUN DR MAHATHIR

Ever wonder why Tun Dr Mahathir is so special? I do ....... lots of time . In the final analysis , I do earnestly believe that Tun is Allah's gift to us, Malaysians !

Tun's fearless expose' of events and collabarations , hitherto unknown to all and sundry , shakes us to the bone. I just marvel at the vast field of resources available at Tun's disposal. All this boils down to one important fact - Tun Mahathir commands a lot of influence, visible or not, that inspires him to continue giving his best to the country.

Examples abound as to Tun's wisdom and foresightedness; latest his posting about the sale of land to Singapore, which triggered our government's action towards the guilty party.

Tun's selflessness in devoting valuable time and energy during his retirement is manifested in his endless presentation of ideas and comments for the sole reason of trying to make this country a better place to live, even though he sometimes gets punches and brickbats in the process.

So in view of all this, I am of the opinion that Tun Dr Mahathir should be given a more significant role in our government. YAB Dato' Seri Najib is a very effective Prime Minister, much more superior than his immediate predecessor, and very dynamic in his leadership of the government. Thus I firmly believe that our former prime minister, Tun Mahathir , would be accorded a meaningful place in our administration. It is truly a waste if we do not give ourselves this chance.

Unfortunately , there are people who are obsessed with Mahathir bashing. They profess to speak 'for the people', condemning Tun Mahathir in the most cruel ways, when in actual fact these 'condemners' are themselves nothing compared to Tun Mahathir and do not even command any significant following. What is obvious is that they see Tun Mahathir as a statesman with a huge following in Malaysia and the world over; and thus Tun Mahathir's contribution in the form of ideas and suggestions to the ruling party will render the government more popular. These group of people are in fact blinded by their own arrogance, and motivated by their political agenda.

Fortunately, people in general are again warming up to Tun Dr Mahathir. Those frustrated individuals can hang their heads in shame and pray that they will be forgiven for all the nasty things they say about Tun Dr Mahathir, the slanders, the insults and what have you.

May Allah grant Tun Dr Mahathir a long and blessed life ahead..

RAGE AND RESPONSIBILITY; AND WISHFUL THINKING.

Almost everybody is angry today, albeit for different reasons. But they have something in common. The anger, and to a certain extent uncontrolled rage, stemmed from the same issue: the use of the word 'ALLAH'.

The situation now is very delicate and precarious. Malaysians of all race and religion should come together and listen to reason. Religion is our guiding principle in life; we should strengthen our faith and resolve to seek divine help to ensure our peace and stability will prevail during this turbulent time.

In the midst of all this turbulence, I cannot help but wish that we don't have to undergo all this tension and uneasiness. I wish that some quarters would just let things be and not challenge sensitive order put forth by the government. What's the big deal about not being allowed to use a word that is so sacred to another religious group when there is easily another terminology that could be used without any restriction?

Moreover ALLAH is not synonymous with God. According to the theory of Semantics, the classification of objects in terms of words used to denote them differs from language to language and culture to culture. Thus, why the obsession to challenge? Is this about ego? Or is this just curiousity to see what happens when one throws a stone at the hornets' nest? Shouldn't one listen to one's mother when she says to ' let sleeping dogs lie '? I wish people are more matured and responsible! But then , responsibility is a lonely word!

I further wish that some quarters who profess to be the guardian of Islam would not adopt hypocrisy as a way of life, proclaiming different convictions on the same issue to different audience. I wish those people being hoodwinked to - in villages and congregations would not be so fanatic to these political leaders and once and for all see them for what they really are.

Sadly in the aftermath of the ruling on the use of the word ALLAH by The Kuala Lumpur High Court recently, rage rules over reason as advocated in the alleged arson cases involving churches. Arson is deplorable and highly-charged religious extremists should be restrained.

Ironically, instead of working together to ease the situation, certain irresponsible parties are quick to point fingers at their political opponents. They know for a fact that this not the work of UMNO, yet they see this as an opportunity to discredit their opponents.

As the Prime Minister says UMNO is a responsible party. So where do you get off pointing fingers at UMNO? And worst, some people insinuate that this is the fault of the government. Please refrain from slander and unsubstantiated accusations? No religion in the world would tolerate this.

Lastly, let us all search our souls. Let our eyes see reality. Shed our fanaticm. Pray that we can ride through this storm unscathed. Pray that all our fellow Malaysians cherish our peaceful co-existence and hope that our nation's security is in no imminent danger.

In all this happenings, I wish the government would hold on to the Internal Security Act. No revision and no amendments! This is not the time yet. This act is not only relevant, but imperative in a multi racial and multi religious society like ours. This is a fact. So live with it!

Breakfast @ Putrajaya

Woke up this morning feeling very adventurous. The most important meal of the day had to be special, I figured. So me and my other half settled ourselves in Edi's and Shikin's 4 by 4 and headed for the administrative centre of our nation - Putrajaya!

All four of us were agreed on one thing ......the mother of all breakfasts had to be nasi lemak, so we proceeded to Prescint 8. The was this place that Edi thought was the most popular nasi lemak joint in all of Putrajaya because the queue here was always endless.I picked a whole plate of nasi with condiments and what-have-you on the side. Alas , the sambal was too sweet ! It was a real letdown. What's the matter with this stall operator and others like him? Were they trying to 'corrupt' the taste buds of our younger generation; or were they on a mission to inflict the nation with diabetes?

We then headed for home but as luck would have it, enroute out of Putrajaya we happened to pass through Prescint 9. From afar I could see a wonderful dome-like canopy covering a very spacious area. It was incredible! Looked almost like one of those high end coffee joints that our Malaysian yuppies were accustomed to. I had to check this place out.

Chairs were neatly arranged around clean white tables encircling stalls serving authentic Malaysian food. It was well before lunch break so most of the food was being cooked. There were Nasi Ambeng, Lempeng Kelapa , Otak-Otak and a host of other mouth watering dishes. Plus , the Malay kueh was something to die for!

But that was not all. I noticed something out of the ordinary too. Was it my fancy or were all the food operators neatly dressed and carried themselves very professionally ? Most of them were either middle-aged; with one or two a little over sixty. They blended so well with the customers that I could easily mistook them for one. It was a pleasant departure from the norm. Now wasn't that really something?

TOK MAT, SOMEONE WE COULD COUNT ON.

My condolences to the family of the late Tan Sri Mohamad Rahmat (above). His demise has touched the hearts of many, me included.

I have had the priviledge of knowing Tok Mat through my father way back in the sixtees. My late father and Tok Mat were political buddies though their ages were twenty years apart. My family and I were very touched when Tok Mat appeared at my father's solat jenazah and proceded to join in the Saf.

Almost eight years later, I asked to meet Tok Mat, who was then the minister of information on a political matter. He recognized me instantly and invited me to his office with the glass walls and amazing view. He took immediate action by instantly calling the subject of my predicament, a very, very powerful political leader - who happened to be home during his lunch break..

I was privy to their conversation and I was truly fascinated by the way Tok Mat handled the conversation in my favour. Well, Tok Mat was very, very powerful too because the other leader relented and saw my side of the argument. That was something very meaningful to me and to this day I hold Tok Mat in high esteem.

Tok Mat is gone now answering the call of Allah. May Allah bless your soul. AL FATIHAH.

ALLAH AND THE SCIENCE OF MEANING

It is apparent that there is an air of uneasiness, to say the least, among the Muslim population ever since the ruling was made regarding the use of the word Allah. The government have cautioned the people to be very, very careful when dealing with this issue considering the emotions and challenges that are affected by the ruling.

ALLAH has always been used by Muslims here & worldwide to mean God in the context of the Islamic religion. The muslims' call for solat five times a day is always preceded by 'ALLAH HUEKBAR' lending credence to the argument that this is the terminology used by the muslim world.

Interestingly, in the realm of Semantics (the study of meaning), the naming of persons or objects, for instance, depends very much on the language, culture and interest of the speakers. A famous linguist, Professor F.R. Palmer ( Emeritus Professor of Linguistics Science, University of Reading ) once argued that .....'The classification of objects in terms of the words used to denote them differs from language to language. If, for instance, we take the English words stool, chair arm-chair, we shall not find precise equivalents in other languages.The French word 'fauteuil' might seem to be equivalent to English 'arm-chair', but whereas the presence of arms is probably an essential characteristic for 'arm-chair' that is not necessarily so for 'fauteuil'.

It can, however, be maintained that there are no real synonyms, that no two words have exactly the same meaning. Indeed it would seem unlikely that two words with exactly the same meaning would both survive in a language or culture.

So is ALLAH synonymous with God ?

Just a little something to ponder on ....... !