They are daring, aren't they?

Today's news from my SocioPolitico feed (pic.) is about Dr Mahathir quitting UMNO, the reaction to it and speculation about the possible outcomes from it. I use the feed to see the patterns over time. Interesting, it is, to be monitoring the patterns that come out from the feed, especially after the PRU-12.

One event that irked me was about the appointment of MB's for the states of Perlis and Trengganu. My naive question is: What drives these people to really want to rule? I was wondering why the ex-MB's of Perlis and Terengganu were so adamant to keep on to their posts? Is it because of money? Is it because of power? Doesn't power corrupt?

Aren't these people afraid to face their Creator and account for each of their people, the power and money entrusted to them, whether they have been just? Their obsession to retain in power is repulsive. If only we knew what awaits us after death, I am very sure that we would refuse to be in their posts. For me, it's very simple. The more you want it, the more I'm not going to give it to you.

Listen did I to campaigns during PRU-12 season. One of the stupidest lines sounded like this, "When I was in the government, the price of fuel remained at one ringgit something for a few years ... I managed to keep the oil price low ..." Hey, if you ever become a PM (God forbid!) I want to see how you out-maneuver the oil traders and keep the oil price low.

I am also glad that previous MPs who called names have been relegated to the back benches. I hope to see them out of parliament altogether to improve the quality of the representatives.

Which brings to another question: who put these low quality reps there? The people, you say? The people are not entirely at fault. To begin with, the people didn't have much choice but to choose among these reps. It's the party bosses who picked the reps. The choice was top-down, not bottom-up. Therefore, to many voters in PRU-12, a way out was to spoil the ballot paper or "undi rosak."

And another thing: since the reps are voted by the people to serve the people, then why do the people make a really big fuss when the reps visit them? Shouldn't it be the other way round? Like, when the people visit the reps in their offices, shouldn't the reps make a big fuss to celebrate their voters? Why don't reps act as the servants of the people? Don't reps know that the people are paying for their salaries? Why are their noses so high up in the sky?

People have grown smarter now. This is 2008, not 1958. Wake up, wake up, wake up it's spring I say! People have grown some brains, even more so with the internet around (and yes, the content on the net is as credible as any media). Remember those people sent to study overseas in droves? They went there, learned a thing or two, came back, got to work, and weighted and measured the reps. And they find that you are much to be desired, morally and or intellectually.

Oh yes, I do care about all these things because this is my country. I don't have any place else to call home but this piece of land. This land I will die for to protect, not the reps.

Friday Tazkirah

During tazkirah before Friday juma'ah, the ustaz showed a stunning scatter chart. The x-axis was the arrangement of surah (or chapter) in Al-Quran, from An-Nas (the last surah 114th) to Al-Fatihah (the first surah). The y-axis is the number of ayahs (or ayats, verses) for the corresponding surah.

What I saw was just amazing. I wanted to reproduce the same chart. So, I charted like this:

surah, number of ayahs (ayats)
114, 6
113, 5
112, 4
111, 5
... ... and so on.

Then I plotted the numbers on the scatter chart. This is what I got. Can you see the Arabic calligraphic pattern in the chart? Any similarity to the image below the chart?

(This image is from artislamic.com where you can see names of Allah beautifully rendered. Click h e r e for more images)

Ready or not, here it comes

Don't matter whether you are young or old.

Don't matter whether your health is good or bad.

Don't matter whether you are male or female.

Don't matter whether you still have your parents or brothers and sisters.

Don't matter whether you are still living it up or you have already repented.

Don't matter whether you are thinking about it or not.

Don't matter whether you are king of hill or king of a mole.

Don't matter whether you are rich or poor.

Don't matter whether you are standing, sitting, sleeping, or sinning.

Don't matter whether you expect it or not.

Don't matter whether you are ready or not.

When it is time, death comes to you. And nothing is more certain than death.

Those were the days, my friends

My dearest friends (teman seperjuangan),

The song "Those Were The Days, My Friend" by Mary Hopkins was playing on the radio while I was driving home today. The lyrics really tugged at my heart.

Then, the busy years went rushing by us
We lost our starry notions on the way
If, by chance, I'd see you in the tavern,
We'd smile at one another and we'd say

Those were the days, my friend
We thought they'd never end
We'd sing and dance forever and a day
We'd live the life we'd choose
We'd fight and never lose
For we were young and sure to have our way

Places like Kota Kinabalu, Miri, joints in Kuala Lumpur, Chiengmai, Bangkok, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Houston, London, and Amsterdam came back to mind. Yes, those were the days. And they finally came to an end for me (for good, God willing).

I had mixed emotions as the memories swarmed me. I wanted to smile because of all those misadventures we did and the fun we had. And at the same time, I wanted to shed tears because of the same misadventures I did and the regrets I have now.

Surely, we are older now. And hopefully, we do get wiser.

May God be merciful to us.

UPDATE: A dear friend looked up the song in YouTube. He gave me this link. Thanks, bro!

The straw that broke the camel's back

Firstly, it was the traffic jam caused by the BERSIH (yellow) demo.

I was driving from Bangi to Ampang. The traffic was at a standstill because police barricaded roads into KL. Why the paranoia?

Then, the relatives factor kicked in.

I don't think this is right, but it was still tolerable.

Finally, the cancellation of the use of indelible ink (You can read news about it h e r e).

I heard over the radio that the ink was smuggled in into the northern states from a neighboring country, with intention to sabotage the election. A day later, I saw on television that the use of ink was canceled because of constitutional or legal issues or something like that.
I was confused. First, sabotage. Then, constitution. Which is which? I smelled a big rat. And that did me.

That's my take on PRU 12.

I'm mobile! I'm mobile!

Ok. Here goes my first entry through email from my mobile phone. Fantabulous!
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Sent from my phone using flurry - Get free mobile email and news at: http://www.flurry.com

Hajj experience: The FAQ

After coming back from hajj end of December 2007 (1428H season), I collected and collated questions from friends who have been to and who have not been to hajj.

These are the top Frequently Asked Questions:

1. Did anything weird happen to you?
   The actual question behind the question is whether I got any retribution while performing my hajj.
   
   
2. Did anything special happen to you?
   The opposite of the first question.
   
   
3. What was your sweetest memory?
   
   
4. What does hajj mean to you now?
   

I will record the answers in installments, insyaAllah. More pictures from my hajj trip h e r e.

Oh yes, I want free speech

That's my answer to my own question, "You want Free Speech?"

Now I see why free speech is important. If Muhammad the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) did not have the opportunity to spread the words freely, Islam would have not reached me today. As I understand it, he did not demand for submission; rather, he demanded for free speech.

With access to free speech, he was able to do his job; that is, to deliver the messages of truth to people. Once the people heard what he had to say, it was up to the people either to accept the messages or to reject.

His work to deliver the messages in Makkah had been slow because he was denied free speech. He couldn't do it openly and safely as he was under constant persecution. The messages that he delivered were a threat to the social and political structures of the disbelievers in Makkah.

That was until he made his way to Madinah where the people there were more accepting and open to listen to what he had to say. He could deliver his messages more freely in Madinah and Islam began to flourish from then on.

Lesson from here is, speak freely if what you speak is about truth. And remember, not everyone likes the truth. Because truth threatens power, wealth and relationships.

Are we willing to face the consequences?