Saturday, December 11, 2010
Malaysia Chronicle: Follow Us on Twitter
Malaysia Chronicle: Follow Us on Twitter: "Get short, timely messages from Malaysia Chronicle at http://twitter.com/MsiaChronicle. Twitter is a rich source of instantly updated infor..."
Malaysia Chronicle: VIDEO Malaysians Must see!!! Namewee's 1Malaysia s...
Malaysia Chronicle: VIDEO Malaysians Must see!!! Namewee's 1Malaysia s...: "Watch naughty boy Namewee's Malaysians Must see!!! Namewee's 1Malaysia story 黃明志要見首相! Read: Grasping at straws? 1 Malaysia to be adde..."
Malaysia Chronicle: Caught in political sex trap
Malaysia Chronicle: Caught in political sex trap: "Philip Dorling and Nick McKenzie MALAYSIAN opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim's sodomy charges are the result of a 'set up job' that the polit..."
Monday, December 6, 2010
Anwar the messiah?
That was one of the things that worried me – to be raised to the position of a semi-god – because then you are no longer a human being. I wanted to be known as Mandela, a man with weaknesses... – Nelson Mandela
The people of Burma are like prisoners in their own country, deprived of all freedom under military rule. – Aung San Suu Kyi
Make no mistake about it: God did not send Anwar Ibrahim to this part of the world to be our saviour. Anwar was not the “son” who would come and deliver us from the clutches of an evil ruler who had deprived the country of all freedom. No.
The Almighty Creator certainly did not have in His grand scheme of things to put on earth a man by the name of Anwar to lead a country called Malaysia to a better future. It is shocking that the wife of the opposition leader could come up with something like a divine mission for her long-suffering husband. Telling Malaysians that God has indeed chosen Anwar to lead his flock to Putrajaya is assuming that the level of political intelligence of the citizens is near zero.
A leader is a combination of strengths and weaknesses. He is first and foremost a human being. He is a bundle of passion, baser instincts, noble feelings, demonic urges – a mixture of saint and devil. It all depends which side of him eventually triumphs: if he can overthrow the devil in him, he can truly become an outstanding leader – even a saintly ruler – in the field of politics. If the Prince of Darkness is the victor, he will surely be a monster who will bring untold misery to his people. Holy or profane, a leader is still a man who harbours weaknesses just like the populace. But how are the common people to know that someone in their midst will one day steer them to the promised land?
Surely Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail did not have a dream in which a Voice told her Anwar is the chosen one. That will be too far-fetched. An inspiration? Unlikely. So how did the leader of a trouble-plagued party come to the amazing conclusion that her other half is God's gift to Malaysians? True, Anwar endured long years of hardship at the hand of a system that many believe is unjust and cruel. A large segment of the population do sympathise with his predicament. Still, his struggle does not make him a celestial figure. It is hard to picture him as the one and only guiding star for the people. It is even harder to imagine a halo around his head.
Malaysians have become a discerning lot. They are unlikely to buy the story that Anwar is a God-send or that what Wan Azizah said was gospel truth. They have a mind of their own and can weigh for themselves the worth of a leader. They acknowledge that Anwar is a powerful politician, but they will not go to the extent of placing him on the same pedestal as Nelson Mandela or Aung San Suu Kyi. Mandela endured almost 30 years of prison brutality for fighting against apartheid. Suu Kyi spent 15 years under house arrest for standing up to the military rulers. Both were potent symbols of resistance against harsh governments. No one in their country shouted from the pulpit that the “Black Pimpernel” or the “Iron Lady” was chosen by God from a list of mere mortals to lead the struggle. People saw their merits – their humility, their common touch, their frailities, their strengths – and went along with them. One eventually walked to freedom and with him the whole of South Africa. The other was released but still has a long way to liberty.
But Anwar is fighting more for himself to stay afloat than marching at the head of an army of the faithful to the seat of power. His personal troubles cannot, by any stretch of the imagination, be turned into a war cry of the people for freedom. The conditions that existed in Mandela's South Africa during his long imprisonment ideally made him the standard-bearer for the overwhelming majority of the oppressed black. In Burma, the ruthless junta had turned Suu Kyi into the favoured champion of the people. There was no hint that God played a crucial role in their long, bitter struggle. They are mere mortals but what make them rise above the common lot are their impeccable moral credentials. Against the moral weapon of Mandela, the edifice of racism crumbled. Against the virtuous Suu Kyi, the generals continue to shake in their uniforms.
Does Wan Azizah want to strike the fear of God in the people so that they will run helter-skelter to Anwar? This is unnecessary. Such tactic only breeds cynicism. It is counter-productive. It will only drive people away. No mere mortal can invoke God and expect Him to come down on his or her side. The Great Maker is above the fray. He gave Man the freedom to act on their own. In them rest the power to make their own choice. The choice for Malaysians is clear-cut: either support Anwar warts and all or drop him for a better messiah. They need not have to wait for divine instruction.
Also read:
Wan Azizah: Anwar is God's gift to Malaysians
The people of Burma are like prisoners in their own country, deprived of all freedom under military rule. – Aung San Suu Kyi
Make no mistake about it: God did not send Anwar Ibrahim to this part of the world to be our saviour. Anwar was not the “son” who would come and deliver us from the clutches of an evil ruler who had deprived the country of all freedom. No.
The Almighty Creator certainly did not have in His grand scheme of things to put on earth a man by the name of Anwar to lead a country called Malaysia to a better future. It is shocking that the wife of the opposition leader could come up with something like a divine mission for her long-suffering husband. Telling Malaysians that God has indeed chosen Anwar to lead his flock to Putrajaya is assuming that the level of political intelligence of the citizens is near zero.
A leader is a combination of strengths and weaknesses. He is first and foremost a human being. He is a bundle of passion, baser instincts, noble feelings, demonic urges – a mixture of saint and devil. It all depends which side of him eventually triumphs: if he can overthrow the devil in him, he can truly become an outstanding leader – even a saintly ruler – in the field of politics. If the Prince of Darkness is the victor, he will surely be a monster who will bring untold misery to his people. Holy or profane, a leader is still a man who harbours weaknesses just like the populace. But how are the common people to know that someone in their midst will one day steer them to the promised land?
Surely Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail did not have a dream in which a Voice told her Anwar is the chosen one. That will be too far-fetched. An inspiration? Unlikely. So how did the leader of a trouble-plagued party come to the amazing conclusion that her other half is God's gift to Malaysians? True, Anwar endured long years of hardship at the hand of a system that many believe is unjust and cruel. A large segment of the population do sympathise with his predicament. Still, his struggle does not make him a celestial figure. It is hard to picture him as the one and only guiding star for the people. It is even harder to imagine a halo around his head.
Malaysians have become a discerning lot. They are unlikely to buy the story that Anwar is a God-send or that what Wan Azizah said was gospel truth. They have a mind of their own and can weigh for themselves the worth of a leader. They acknowledge that Anwar is a powerful politician, but they will not go to the extent of placing him on the same pedestal as Nelson Mandela or Aung San Suu Kyi. Mandela endured almost 30 years of prison brutality for fighting against apartheid. Suu Kyi spent 15 years under house arrest for standing up to the military rulers. Both were potent symbols of resistance against harsh governments. No one in their country shouted from the pulpit that the “Black Pimpernel” or the “Iron Lady” was chosen by God from a list of mere mortals to lead the struggle. People saw their merits – their humility, their common touch, their frailities, their strengths – and went along with them. One eventually walked to freedom and with him the whole of South Africa. The other was released but still has a long way to liberty.
But Anwar is fighting more for himself to stay afloat than marching at the head of an army of the faithful to the seat of power. His personal troubles cannot, by any stretch of the imagination, be turned into a war cry of the people for freedom. The conditions that existed in Mandela's South Africa during his long imprisonment ideally made him the standard-bearer for the overwhelming majority of the oppressed black. In Burma, the ruthless junta had turned Suu Kyi into the favoured champion of the people. There was no hint that God played a crucial role in their long, bitter struggle. They are mere mortals but what make them rise above the common lot are their impeccable moral credentials. Against the moral weapon of Mandela, the edifice of racism crumbled. Against the virtuous Suu Kyi, the generals continue to shake in their uniforms.
Does Wan Azizah want to strike the fear of God in the people so that they will run helter-skelter to Anwar? This is unnecessary. Such tactic only breeds cynicism. It is counter-productive. It will only drive people away. No mere mortal can invoke God and expect Him to come down on his or her side. The Great Maker is above the fray. He gave Man the freedom to act on their own. In them rest the power to make their own choice. The choice for Malaysians is clear-cut: either support Anwar warts and all or drop him for a better messiah. They need not have to wait for divine instruction.
Also read:
Wan Azizah: Anwar is God's gift to Malaysians
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Marijuana
The United States of Amerijuana
By ANDREW FERGUSON / COLORADO SPRINGS Thursday, Nov. 11, 2010
Jeff Riedel for TIME
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I've always been passionate about food," says Jenelise Robinson. "And I've always been passionate about marijuana and the things it can do for the world."
The Denver woman is 35 but looks 20, with heavy loop earrings distending her lobes and an enormous bracelet to match. From her clavicles southward, her body is a riot of tattoos—the usual skulls and anchors as well as a large circle with a squiggle inside it on her right arm. (When a visitor points quizzically to the squiggle, she replies politely, "It's a baby in a brain," though the tone of her voice says, "Like, duh.") We shouldn't be misled by the biker look or the faux-'60s talk of changing the world. Robinson is all business—a consummate tradeswoman. In the past 16 months she has found a way to combine her passions for food and pot and make the combination pay, as founder, owner and head baker of Nancy B's Edible Medicine, one of the most successful start-ups in Colorado's newest "industry": medical marijuana.
(See pictures of Cannabis Culture.)
Robinson's muffins and Rice Krispies squares are getting raves. "I have a very high tolerance," said one food critic in the Denver Chronicle, a medical-marijuana blog, "and a 2-dose lemon bar will put me on my ass." "I loved the buzz, which lasted 8 hours," wrote another. "Very functional and social." The growth of Robinson's business has come with the explosion in the number of Colorado's medical-marijuana dispensaries, or centers. Coloradans who are recommended by a doctor and approved by the state go to the centers to buy their pot, either in traditional bud form or as an "infused product" like Robinson's lemon bars, which are 100% organic and laced with a marijuana concentrate. Her success is reflected in the Mile High Macaroons and Cannabis Cups stacked in the new commissary-style kitchen she's rented in the gentrifying neighborhood of City Park West in Denver.
Even with a decent supply of high-grade pot in her walk-in freezer, Robinson can scarcely keep up with demand. She and her two employees (a third is soon to be hired) work six days a week to refine her menu, revise recipes, taste-test hash oil and manage inventory—and still squeeze in time every day to medicate.
"For my ADD," she says. "And some shoulder pain."
Medicate? The medical-marijuana industry relies heavily on such genteel euphemisms. To medicate is to smoke pot, and no one in the industry calls pot pot anymore; it's medicine now. Dealers are called caregivers, and the people who buy their dope—medicine, medicine—are patients. There's no irony here, no winks or nudges to signal that someone's leg is being pulled. "After work," says a counter clerk, or budtender, at Briargate Wellness Center, an upscale dispensary serving the tony north side of Colorado Springs, "I'll just go home, kick back, take out the bong and medicate."
The euphemisms are an important element in the larger movement to bring marijuana use out from the shadows, as advocates say, so it can take its place innocently on Americans' nearly infinite menu of lifestyle preferences, from yachting to survivalism to macrobiotic cooking. So far, the strategy is working. Colorado and 13 other states, along with the District of Columbia, have legalized medical marijuana in the past 14 years. More than a dozen other states are considering the idea. Overnight, dispensaries have sprung up in hundreds of towns and cities; billboards touting one outlet's pot over its rivals' are plastered all over Los Angeles. In some parts of California—where marijuana is the biggest cash crop, with total sales of $14 billion annually—medical pot has become such an established part of the commercial base that cities are moving toward taxing it.
It's not clear that even political setbacks discourage, much less stop, the mainstreaming of marijuana. Anti-pot forces cheered on Nov. 2 when voters in four states apparently rejected pro-pot ballot initiatives—including California's Prop 19, which would have legalized possession of an ounce (28 g) of pot or less. But by Election Day, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and the state legislature had already rendered Prop 19 moot. A month earlier, he signed a bill that reduced possession of up to an ounce from a misdemeanor to a civil infraction. By Jan. 1, 2011, jaywalkers may have more to fear from California cops than potheads do.
(See cannabis conventions around the country.)
Medical marijuana has helped make all this possible. In a short time, pot has gone from being a prohibited substance to one that is, in many places, widely available if you have an ache or a pain and the patience to fuss with a few forms. This did not take place by accident. In fact, medical marijuana's emergence has many of the attributes of a product rollout. As with any hot commodity, dope is now accorded the same awed regard in some Colorado retail establishments as fine wine, dark chocolate and artisanal cheese. Only now it takes place under the cover of medical care, wellness and pain management. And so what is emerging in many places is a strange, bipolar set of rules: dope is forbidden for everyone but totally O.K. for anyone who is willing to claim a chronic muscle spasm. Does anyone take such farcical distinctions seriously? And can a backlash be far behind?
Legalization via the Clinic Door
George Soros, the jillionaire currency trader and patron of countless liberal organizations, began funding pro-legalization groups in the early 1990s, with instructions that they redirect their energies toward "winnable" issues like medical marijuana. It was a savvy tactic. Even when polls showed strong resistance to making pot legal, large majorities of Americans supported making it available to patients for pain relief. "If we get medical access, we're going to get legalization eventually," activist Richard Cowan said in 1993. "The cat will be out of the bag." Colorado is a good test of whether that seemingly inexorable trajectory will remain plausible or prove a pipe dream.
Along the regulatory spectrum that stretches from distinctly mellow L.A. to schoolmarmish New Mexico, Colorado sits somewhere near the middle. In 2000, Colorado voters approved an amendment to the state constitution to legalize the possession of marijuana for patients suffering from "debilitating medical conditions": cancer, glaucoma, HIV/AIDS and multiple sclerosis, along with more nebulous symptoms like "severe nausea" and "severe pain." Voters supported Amendment 20, 54% to 46%.
The implementation was based on what is called a caregiver model. Each patient, on the recommendation of a doctor, could designate a friend or neighbor to grow up to six plants for the patient's use, and each of these caregivers could provide for no more than five patients. Both patient and caregiver would register with the state. The idea was to prevent profiteering, and from 2000 to 2007, roughly 2,000 patients signed up. "The system worked pretty well," says Don Quick, state district attorney for two counties in central Colorado. "Nobody really had a problem with it."
But in 2007, a pro-pot group called Sensible Colorado sued the state health department, and a state court ruled the five-patient limit unconstitutional. "That opened the floodgates," says Brian Vicente, the group's executive director. "A caregiver could have 50 patients if they wanted. And if you had 50 patients, why not open a shop?" Over the next two years, more than 1,000 dispensaries sprang up to serve the more than 100,000 Coloradans who had suddenly discovered their need for medicinal marijuana and applied for a patient card. As Jon Stewart noted, what had been considered the healthiest state in the country rapidly became one of the sickest.
And the economics changed overnight. Patients might spend $500 a year growing six plants on their own. By contrast, dispensaries routinely charge $350 to $500 for 1 oz. of pot. With patients limited by law to possession of no more than 2 oz., they could easily drop $5,000 a year on treatment. "A good-size dispensary will have a few hundred regular customers," Quick says. "You can do the math."
One who did the math was Joe DiFabio, who fits the mold of the hardy American entrepreneur—if the hardy American entrepreneur sold pot for a living. Now in his late 20s, DiFabio ran a construction company and worked in sales before a friend suggested he open a dispensary. He is also a patient, for back pain—nearly everyone who works in the industry medicates—and he had become disenchanted with the dispensaries he'd seen: stoned budtenders, sloppy service, subpar medicine. "They just weren't well kept up," he says. "Kind of dirty."
His business plan was to offer an alternative for the well-heeled professionals in northern Colorado Springs. "I wanted to have the very best medicine at the lowest prices in town," he says, in "a safe, discreet, professional environment." Briargate Wellness Center opened earlier this year, and the plan seems to be working. On a recent weekday afternoon, the three cars in Briargate's parking lot were a Jaguar, a Mercedes and a BMW. DiFabio greets customers in a pressed oxford shirt, trim khakis and polished loafers. The place is painted in pale pastels, and back issues of Golf Digest are fanned out on a slate table. The flat-screen TV plays the A&E channel.
By ANDREW FERGUSON / COLORADO SPRINGS Thursday, Nov. 11, 2010
Jeff Riedel for TIME
PrintEmailReprintsFacebookTwitter
MORE
1
digg
I've always been passionate about food," says Jenelise Robinson. "And I've always been passionate about marijuana and the things it can do for the world."
The Denver woman is 35 but looks 20, with heavy loop earrings distending her lobes and an enormous bracelet to match. From her clavicles southward, her body is a riot of tattoos—the usual skulls and anchors as well as a large circle with a squiggle inside it on her right arm. (When a visitor points quizzically to the squiggle, she replies politely, "It's a baby in a brain," though the tone of her voice says, "Like, duh.") We shouldn't be misled by the biker look or the faux-'60s talk of changing the world. Robinson is all business—a consummate tradeswoman. In the past 16 months she has found a way to combine her passions for food and pot and make the combination pay, as founder, owner and head baker of Nancy B's Edible Medicine, one of the most successful start-ups in Colorado's newest "industry": medical marijuana.
(See pictures of Cannabis Culture.)
Robinson's muffins and Rice Krispies squares are getting raves. "I have a very high tolerance," said one food critic in the Denver Chronicle, a medical-marijuana blog, "and a 2-dose lemon bar will put me on my ass." "I loved the buzz, which lasted 8 hours," wrote another. "Very functional and social." The growth of Robinson's business has come with the explosion in the number of Colorado's medical-marijuana dispensaries, or centers. Coloradans who are recommended by a doctor and approved by the state go to the centers to buy their pot, either in traditional bud form or as an "infused product" like Robinson's lemon bars, which are 100% organic and laced with a marijuana concentrate. Her success is reflected in the Mile High Macaroons and Cannabis Cups stacked in the new commissary-style kitchen she's rented in the gentrifying neighborhood of City Park West in Denver.
Even with a decent supply of high-grade pot in her walk-in freezer, Robinson can scarcely keep up with demand. She and her two employees (a third is soon to be hired) work six days a week to refine her menu, revise recipes, taste-test hash oil and manage inventory—and still squeeze in time every day to medicate.
"For my ADD," she says. "And some shoulder pain."
Medicate? The medical-marijuana industry relies heavily on such genteel euphemisms. To medicate is to smoke pot, and no one in the industry calls pot pot anymore; it's medicine now. Dealers are called caregivers, and the people who buy their dope—medicine, medicine—are patients. There's no irony here, no winks or nudges to signal that someone's leg is being pulled. "After work," says a counter clerk, or budtender, at Briargate Wellness Center, an upscale dispensary serving the tony north side of Colorado Springs, "I'll just go home, kick back, take out the bong and medicate."
The euphemisms are an important element in the larger movement to bring marijuana use out from the shadows, as advocates say, so it can take its place innocently on Americans' nearly infinite menu of lifestyle preferences, from yachting to survivalism to macrobiotic cooking. So far, the strategy is working. Colorado and 13 other states, along with the District of Columbia, have legalized medical marijuana in the past 14 years. More than a dozen other states are considering the idea. Overnight, dispensaries have sprung up in hundreds of towns and cities; billboards touting one outlet's pot over its rivals' are plastered all over Los Angeles. In some parts of California—where marijuana is the biggest cash crop, with total sales of $14 billion annually—medical pot has become such an established part of the commercial base that cities are moving toward taxing it.
It's not clear that even political setbacks discourage, much less stop, the mainstreaming of marijuana. Anti-pot forces cheered on Nov. 2 when voters in four states apparently rejected pro-pot ballot initiatives—including California's Prop 19, which would have legalized possession of an ounce (28 g) of pot or less. But by Election Day, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and the state legislature had already rendered Prop 19 moot. A month earlier, he signed a bill that reduced possession of up to an ounce from a misdemeanor to a civil infraction. By Jan. 1, 2011, jaywalkers may have more to fear from California cops than potheads do.
(See cannabis conventions around the country.)
Medical marijuana has helped make all this possible. In a short time, pot has gone from being a prohibited substance to one that is, in many places, widely available if you have an ache or a pain and the patience to fuss with a few forms. This did not take place by accident. In fact, medical marijuana's emergence has many of the attributes of a product rollout. As with any hot commodity, dope is now accorded the same awed regard in some Colorado retail establishments as fine wine, dark chocolate and artisanal cheese. Only now it takes place under the cover of medical care, wellness and pain management. And so what is emerging in many places is a strange, bipolar set of rules: dope is forbidden for everyone but totally O.K. for anyone who is willing to claim a chronic muscle spasm. Does anyone take such farcical distinctions seriously? And can a backlash be far behind?
Legalization via the Clinic Door
George Soros, the jillionaire currency trader and patron of countless liberal organizations, began funding pro-legalization groups in the early 1990s, with instructions that they redirect their energies toward "winnable" issues like medical marijuana. It was a savvy tactic. Even when polls showed strong resistance to making pot legal, large majorities of Americans supported making it available to patients for pain relief. "If we get medical access, we're going to get legalization eventually," activist Richard Cowan said in 1993. "The cat will be out of the bag." Colorado is a good test of whether that seemingly inexorable trajectory will remain plausible or prove a pipe dream.
Along the regulatory spectrum that stretches from distinctly mellow L.A. to schoolmarmish New Mexico, Colorado sits somewhere near the middle. In 2000, Colorado voters approved an amendment to the state constitution to legalize the possession of marijuana for patients suffering from "debilitating medical conditions": cancer, glaucoma, HIV/AIDS and multiple sclerosis, along with more nebulous symptoms like "severe nausea" and "severe pain." Voters supported Amendment 20, 54% to 46%.
The implementation was based on what is called a caregiver model. Each patient, on the recommendation of a doctor, could designate a friend or neighbor to grow up to six plants for the patient's use, and each of these caregivers could provide for no more than five patients. Both patient and caregiver would register with the state. The idea was to prevent profiteering, and from 2000 to 2007, roughly 2,000 patients signed up. "The system worked pretty well," says Don Quick, state district attorney for two counties in central Colorado. "Nobody really had a problem with it."
But in 2007, a pro-pot group called Sensible Colorado sued the state health department, and a state court ruled the five-patient limit unconstitutional. "That opened the floodgates," says Brian Vicente, the group's executive director. "A caregiver could have 50 patients if they wanted. And if you had 50 patients, why not open a shop?" Over the next two years, more than 1,000 dispensaries sprang up to serve the more than 100,000 Coloradans who had suddenly discovered their need for medicinal marijuana and applied for a patient card. As Jon Stewart noted, what had been considered the healthiest state in the country rapidly became one of the sickest.
And the economics changed overnight. Patients might spend $500 a year growing six plants on their own. By contrast, dispensaries routinely charge $350 to $500 for 1 oz. of pot. With patients limited by law to possession of no more than 2 oz., they could easily drop $5,000 a year on treatment. "A good-size dispensary will have a few hundred regular customers," Quick says. "You can do the math."
One who did the math was Joe DiFabio, who fits the mold of the hardy American entrepreneur—if the hardy American entrepreneur sold pot for a living. Now in his late 20s, DiFabio ran a construction company and worked in sales before a friend suggested he open a dispensary. He is also a patient, for back pain—nearly everyone who works in the industry medicates—and he had become disenchanted with the dispensaries he'd seen: stoned budtenders, sloppy service, subpar medicine. "They just weren't well kept up," he says. "Kind of dirty."
His business plan was to offer an alternative for the well-heeled professionals in northern Colorado Springs. "I wanted to have the very best medicine at the lowest prices in town," he says, in "a safe, discreet, professional environment." Briargate Wellness Center opened earlier this year, and the plan seems to be working. On a recent weekday afternoon, the three cars in Briargate's parking lot were a Jaguar, a Mercedes and a BMW. DiFabio greets customers in a pressed oxford shirt, trim khakis and polished loafers. The place is painted in pale pastels, and back issues of Golf Digest are fanned out on a slate table. The flat-screen TV plays the A&E channel.
Environmental Paradise- Malaysia
Malaysia: A Coal Plant in Paradise
By JENNIFER PINKOWSKI Saturday, Nov. 27, 2010
Peter Andrews / Reuters
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There are worse places to be than in the eco-paradise of Sabah, a state on the northeast tip of Malaysian Borneo. To one side is the Coral Triangle, home to the world's richest ocean diversity; to the other is the Heart of Borneo, a 22-million-hectare rain forest. In the middle is a vast swath of 1,100 palm plantations. Every year hundreds of thousands of tourists visit Sabah to explore its marvels of biodiversity, hiking elephant paths, spotting shy orangutans and scuba diving with hammerhead sharks.
It's hard to imagine a worse place for a brand new 300 MW coal-fired power plant than here. But it will be a real challenge for Sabah to get by otherwise. And there, in a Southern Pacific garden spot, are all the world's eco-tensions writ small.
(See pictures of transforming a coal refinery in South Africa.)
Malaysia has taken clear steps to make environmental health a national priority. In the fall of 2009, Prime Minister Najib Razak pledged at the U.N. climate change conference in Copenhagen that his country, already a Kyoto Protocol signatory, would reduce its carbon emissions by 40% by 2020. It is one of the few countries in Southeast Asia with renewable energy standards, despite the fact that it has reliable stores of conventional fuels; its oil, gas and energy sectors accounted for 10% of the country's GDP in 2009.
But Malaysia is also a land of pressing energy needs, and Sabah tells that story better than most places. Officials anticipate a 7.7% annual energy demand increase through 2020, which Sabah Electricity, the state power company, has proposed meeting by adding seven new energy facilities to the 17 already in existence. Most are fueled by natural gas, followed by hydropower and diesel. One of those new facilities, promised by Razak just months before his pledge in Copenhagen, is slated for the Sabah palm plantation region. And this one will be fired by coal — Sabah's first such plant.
Twice before in the last three years, the local electricity utility, a subsidiary of Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB), which owns 80% of Malaysia's power generation, had lobbied to build a coal-fired plant. Both times the plans were shot down by the federal Department of Environment (DOE) and local opposition.
This latest plant, however, is different. Not only is it slated for federally owned land, it also has the backing of the prime minister. Sabah's environmental groups formed a coalition to fight the plant, but they kept hearing the same thing over and over again: Ini Najib mau. Najib wants this.
Still, what Najib wants is not necessarily what the rest of his government wants, and in August, the DOE once again stepped in, rejecting a detailed environmental impact assessment for the plant. TNB is expected to submit a revised statement early next year and when the company does, environmentalists fear the jig could be up; this time a coal plant may actually get built.
(See "The End of Cheap Coal?")
It doesn't have to be this way, environmentalists say. Some 60% of Malaysia is rain forest, the vast majority of it found in Sabah and its neighbor state, Sarawak. Though renewables currently account for only 1% of the country's energy production, mostly from hydropower, Sabah's abundant sunshine, geothermal sources, extensive network of strong rivers and a long coastline give it the potential to make Malaysia a regional leader in clean energy.
These resources are underdeveloped, however, and until the renewables sector can get itself ginned up, the threat of a coal-fired plant looms. One stopgap for Sabah would be to build the power plants it needs but fuel them with palm oil production waste. Sabah currently produces about 30% of Malaysia's palm oil, which combined with Indonesia's, constitutes 90% of the world's palm oil exports. A palm waste biomass plant could readily meet the 300-MW target Razak promised, according to one recent energy analysis.
Of course, palm plantations — and their waste — do their own serious environmental damage. In Southeast Asia, slash-and-burn land clearing has destroyed vast forest regions to make way for monocrops like palms, a practice that has been strongly implicated in global warming. That hardly makes this region a good place to do more burning. Still, even greens concede that palm burning is a step up from coal, if only because it provides something to do with the 70 million tons of palm production waste the country generates each year, most of which is dumped in mill ponds or illegally burned in open pits.
Despite these problems, Malaysia still heads into the 2010 climate talks in Cancun on Nov. 29 as one of the world's better-intentioned environmental citizens. But it remains to be seen how these good impulses will play out in Sabah's fragile and beautiful ecosystem.
See TIME's Pictures of the Week.
By JENNIFER PINKOWSKI Saturday, Nov. 27, 2010
Peter Andrews / Reuters
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There are worse places to be than in the eco-paradise of Sabah, a state on the northeast tip of Malaysian Borneo. To one side is the Coral Triangle, home to the world's richest ocean diversity; to the other is the Heart of Borneo, a 22-million-hectare rain forest. In the middle is a vast swath of 1,100 palm plantations. Every year hundreds of thousands of tourists visit Sabah to explore its marvels of biodiversity, hiking elephant paths, spotting shy orangutans and scuba diving with hammerhead sharks.
It's hard to imagine a worse place for a brand new 300 MW coal-fired power plant than here. But it will be a real challenge for Sabah to get by otherwise. And there, in a Southern Pacific garden spot, are all the world's eco-tensions writ small.
(See pictures of transforming a coal refinery in South Africa.)
Malaysia has taken clear steps to make environmental health a national priority. In the fall of 2009, Prime Minister Najib Razak pledged at the U.N. climate change conference in Copenhagen that his country, already a Kyoto Protocol signatory, would reduce its carbon emissions by 40% by 2020. It is one of the few countries in Southeast Asia with renewable energy standards, despite the fact that it has reliable stores of conventional fuels; its oil, gas and energy sectors accounted for 10% of the country's GDP in 2009.
But Malaysia is also a land of pressing energy needs, and Sabah tells that story better than most places. Officials anticipate a 7.7% annual energy demand increase through 2020, which Sabah Electricity, the state power company, has proposed meeting by adding seven new energy facilities to the 17 already in existence. Most are fueled by natural gas, followed by hydropower and diesel. One of those new facilities, promised by Razak just months before his pledge in Copenhagen, is slated for the Sabah palm plantation region. And this one will be fired by coal — Sabah's first such plant.
Twice before in the last three years, the local electricity utility, a subsidiary of Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB), which owns 80% of Malaysia's power generation, had lobbied to build a coal-fired plant. Both times the plans were shot down by the federal Department of Environment (DOE) and local opposition.
This latest plant, however, is different. Not only is it slated for federally owned land, it also has the backing of the prime minister. Sabah's environmental groups formed a coalition to fight the plant, but they kept hearing the same thing over and over again: Ini Najib mau. Najib wants this.
Still, what Najib wants is not necessarily what the rest of his government wants, and in August, the DOE once again stepped in, rejecting a detailed environmental impact assessment for the plant. TNB is expected to submit a revised statement early next year and when the company does, environmentalists fear the jig could be up; this time a coal plant may actually get built.
(See "The End of Cheap Coal?")
It doesn't have to be this way, environmentalists say. Some 60% of Malaysia is rain forest, the vast majority of it found in Sabah and its neighbor state, Sarawak. Though renewables currently account for only 1% of the country's energy production, mostly from hydropower, Sabah's abundant sunshine, geothermal sources, extensive network of strong rivers and a long coastline give it the potential to make Malaysia a regional leader in clean energy.
These resources are underdeveloped, however, and until the renewables sector can get itself ginned up, the threat of a coal-fired plant looms. One stopgap for Sabah would be to build the power plants it needs but fuel them with palm oil production waste. Sabah currently produces about 30% of Malaysia's palm oil, which combined with Indonesia's, constitutes 90% of the world's palm oil exports. A palm waste biomass plant could readily meet the 300-MW target Razak promised, according to one recent energy analysis.
Of course, palm plantations — and their waste — do their own serious environmental damage. In Southeast Asia, slash-and-burn land clearing has destroyed vast forest regions to make way for monocrops like palms, a practice that has been strongly implicated in global warming. That hardly makes this region a good place to do more burning. Still, even greens concede that palm burning is a step up from coal, if only because it provides something to do with the 70 million tons of palm production waste the country generates each year, most of which is dumped in mill ponds or illegally burned in open pits.
Despite these problems, Malaysia still heads into the 2010 climate talks in Cancun on Nov. 29 as one of the world's better-intentioned environmental citizens. But it remains to be seen how these good impulses will play out in Sabah's fragile and beautiful ecosystem.
See TIME's Pictures of the Week.
Saturday, November 27, 2010
Pengorbanan Isteri tak soleh
(Lawak) Tiga kali je curang...
by Blog Oh Malaysia! on Saturday, November 27, 2010 at 1:35pm
Pada satu malam, ada pasangan yg agak berumur sedang makan malam dengan romantiknya bagi menyambut ulangtahun perkahwinan mereka yg ke 50 tahun.
Suaminya, seorang Tan Sri dan bekas ahli politik mula bercerita tentang nostalgia mereka suami isteri, sekian lama hidup bersama, suka duka, susah dan senang. Si suami memang menyanjung isterinnya, bernama Maria.
"Maria, selama kita kahwin ni, suka duka kita lalui, susah senang kita tempuh, abang amat menyanyang Maria, tapi ada satu perkara yg asyik bermain-main di benak abang ni dan abang selalu bertanya-tanya. Berterus-teranglah dgn abang pada malam ni, pernah tak Maria curang dgn abang selama ni?"
Maria agak terkedu sekejap dan merenung panjang muka suaminya itu, lalu berkata dengan penuh kekesalan, "Ya abang, Maria mengaku pernah curang dgn abang, tapi hanya 3 kali sahaja selama ni"
"3 kali?" Tan Sri tu agak terkejut, tapi tak la marah, dah tua dah dan memang berniat utk memaafkan isterinya,"Bagaimana boleh terjadi 3 kali tu Maria?"
Perlahan jer la isteri dia mula membuka lebaran cerita lama, "Abang ingatkan masa kita mula-mula kawin, terus beli rumah dan selang beberapa tahun, kita susah sangat masa tu hingga rumah kita hampir nak dirampas oleh bank"
"Ya, abang ingat peristiwa tu" jawab si suami. Si isteri menyambung cerita, "Abang pasti ingat yg pada satu petang tu Maria pergi jumpa pegawai bank tu dan esoknya, bank tu tak jadi rampas rumah kita, malah bagi tambahan pinjaman utk abang mulakan perniagaan.."
"Emmmm.. sukar buat abang menerima kenyataan ini, tapi abang maafkan maria kerana apa yg maria buat tu untuk masa depan kita jugak", kata si suami, " Kali ke 2 pulak?"
"Abang ingat tak, abang hampir menemui maut sebab ketumbuhan dalam otak pembedahan?" si isteri menyambung cerita "Ya, abang ingat" jawab si suami. "Kalau macam tu, abang pasti ingat yg Maria ada pergi jumpa doktor pakar tu dan esoknya, dia setuju buat pembedahan utk abang tanpa bayaran apa-apa pun.."
"Oh maria, walau perit hati ini mendengarkan, tapi abang tetap maafkan maria sebab apa yg maria buat tu untuk masa depan kita jugak dan kerana sayangkan abang jugak.. yang kali ke 3 macam mana pulak? ", kata si Tan Sri. Si isteri menundukkan mukanya dan menjawab penuh lemah, "Abang, ingat tak masa abang bertanding merebut kerusi bahagian dan abang perlukan 248 undi lagi...."
Tan Sri pengsan kat situ jugak...
by Blog Oh Malaysia! on Saturday, November 27, 2010 at 1:35pm
Pada satu malam, ada pasangan yg agak berumur sedang makan malam dengan romantiknya bagi menyambut ulangtahun perkahwinan mereka yg ke 50 tahun.
Suaminya, seorang Tan Sri dan bekas ahli politik mula bercerita tentang nostalgia mereka suami isteri, sekian lama hidup bersama, suka duka, susah dan senang. Si suami memang menyanjung isterinnya, bernama Maria.
"Maria, selama kita kahwin ni, suka duka kita lalui, susah senang kita tempuh, abang amat menyanyang Maria, tapi ada satu perkara yg asyik bermain-main di benak abang ni dan abang selalu bertanya-tanya. Berterus-teranglah dgn abang pada malam ni, pernah tak Maria curang dgn abang selama ni?"
Maria agak terkedu sekejap dan merenung panjang muka suaminya itu, lalu berkata dengan penuh kekesalan, "Ya abang, Maria mengaku pernah curang dgn abang, tapi hanya 3 kali sahaja selama ni"
"3 kali?" Tan Sri tu agak terkejut, tapi tak la marah, dah tua dah dan memang berniat utk memaafkan isterinya,"Bagaimana boleh terjadi 3 kali tu Maria?"
Perlahan jer la isteri dia mula membuka lebaran cerita lama, "Abang ingatkan masa kita mula-mula kawin, terus beli rumah dan selang beberapa tahun, kita susah sangat masa tu hingga rumah kita hampir nak dirampas oleh bank"
"Ya, abang ingat peristiwa tu" jawab si suami. Si isteri menyambung cerita, "Abang pasti ingat yg pada satu petang tu Maria pergi jumpa pegawai bank tu dan esoknya, bank tu tak jadi rampas rumah kita, malah bagi tambahan pinjaman utk abang mulakan perniagaan.."
"Emmmm.. sukar buat abang menerima kenyataan ini, tapi abang maafkan maria kerana apa yg maria buat tu untuk masa depan kita jugak", kata si suami, " Kali ke 2 pulak?"
"Abang ingat tak, abang hampir menemui maut sebab ketumbuhan dalam otak pembedahan?" si isteri menyambung cerita "Ya, abang ingat" jawab si suami. "Kalau macam tu, abang pasti ingat yg Maria ada pergi jumpa doktor pakar tu dan esoknya, dia setuju buat pembedahan utk abang tanpa bayaran apa-apa pun.."
"Oh maria, walau perit hati ini mendengarkan, tapi abang tetap maafkan maria sebab apa yg maria buat tu untuk masa depan kita jugak dan kerana sayangkan abang jugak.. yang kali ke 3 macam mana pulak? ", kata si Tan Sri. Si isteri menundukkan mukanya dan menjawab penuh lemah, "Abang, ingat tak masa abang bertanding merebut kerusi bahagian dan abang perlukan 248 undi lagi...."
Tan Sri pengsan kat situ jugak...
Loh Mahfuz
-Sudah tertulis di Loh Mahfuz-by Hizb Addeen on Tuesday, November 16, 2010 at 8:27am
Pada suatu hari, Saya bertanya kepada emak, "Maa satu pilihan hati, orang yang sayangkan kita atau yang kita sayang? "Mak jawab, "dua-dua bukan.." Saya tercengang..Mak mengukir senyuman.
"Pilihan hati mak adalah yang sayangkan kita kerana Allah.." Saya menarik nafas dalam-dalam."Macam mana nak tau orang tu sayang kita kerana apa?" Mak diam sekejap berfikir dan kemudian tersenyum.
Rasanya mak dapat menduga apa yang sedang bermain dalam hati anak perempuannya. Mana mungkin saya mampu menyorokkan rahsia hati dari mak sedangkan sekilas saya pun mak mampu membacanya."Yang paling tahu hanya Allah.." mak merenung dalam-dalam wajah anaknya.
"Kerana hanya Allah mampu membaca hati hambaNya.. " mak menyusun ayat-ayatnya."Dan keikhlasan kerana Allah itu akan terserlah keberkatannya tanpa perlu sengaja ditonjolkan oleh seseorang tu.."
Saya memintas, "Tak faham.."Mak menyambung "Cinta di dalam jalan Allah.. Bertemu kerana sama-sama mencari redha Allah.." Mak menyambung lagi,"begini, setiap insan yang bergelar manusia telah Allah ciptakan berpasang-pasangan. Rasa ingin dikasihi antara seorang suami dan isteri suatu fitrah. Automatik boleh ada daya tarikan magnet tu.."
Wajah saya merah, sedikit cemas jika mak dapat mengesan gelora jiwa muda ini.. Mak menyambung "Setiap manusia telah Allah tetapkan rezeki,jodoh dan maut sejak azali lagi..
Persoalannya ialah.. Siapakah jodohnya itu?" mak berhenti seketika.Saya tunduk malu, cuba menyorokkan rasa panas di pipi.Emak buat-buat tidak nampak.
Secret Admire
"Kakak, mak dulu masa remaja ada secret admire.. Rajin betul dia hantar surat ..Masa tu mak dah tahu yang bercinta sebelum kahwin ni tak halal..Dan masa tu mak tekad tak mahu layan sebab mak takut arwah tokwan kena seksa dalam kubur.. Mak sedar mak anak yatim, anak orang miskin, adik beradik ramai.. Mak nak belajar sungguh-sungguh. .lama budak tu tunggu mak..Akhirnya mak bagi kata putus, mak hanya akan membalas cinta dia jika dia sah suami mak..
Dan dia memang bukan jodoh mak, maka tak pernah dia menerima balasan cinta tu." Mak merenung jauh.Saya merapatkan badan kepada emak, semakin berminat dengan kisah lama mak..
"Mak memang tak ada perasaan langsung pada dia ke?" saya menyoal sambil memandang tajam wajah mak. Emak ketawa kecil."Walaupun mungkin ada, mak tak pernah bagi peluang pada diri mak untuk mengisytiharkan perasaan tu..Mak takut pada Allah.
Mak bukan seperti rakan sebaya mak yang lain.."Mak, seperti kakak.." mak memandang saya sambil memegang pipi dan dagu saya.kemudian tangannya mengusap rambut di kepala saya.
"Mak anak ustaz ustazah.. Tapi zaman tu ustaz ustazah nya masih berkebaya pendek dan ketat. Tok wan mak kiyai. Mungkin berkat doa keturunan sebelum ni yang soleh-soleh, hati mak tertarik sangat pada agama walaupun tiada sesiapa yang mendorong.. Bila di sekolah, mak pelajar pertama yang bertudung.. Mak membawa imej agama. Kawan-kawan dan cikgu-cikgu panggil mak dengan gelaran mak Aji.. Sebab zaman tu hujung 70an dan awal 80an tak ramai lagi yang bertudung betul menutup auratnya..Zaman tudung nipis dan nampak jambul. Kemudian kawan-kawan mak sikit-sikit ikut bertudung.
Akhirnya kami semua dipanggil di perhimpunan. Kami dimarah guru besar kerana bertudung sedangkan ustazah kami bertudung tapi nampak jambulnya.."emak melemparkan pandangan ke lantai. "Selepas tu ustazah jumpa kami secara persendirian. Ustazah kata dia tak mampu nak pakai seperti kami. Dia suruh kami teruskan.." sambung emak.
Ada getar di hujung suara emak. Kisah silam perjuangan emak di sekolah dahulu sikit-sikit emak ceritakan pada saya. Itulah juga salah satu inspirasi kepada saya untuk bangkit semula setiap kali terjatuh ketika berjuang di sekolah dulu.
"Mungkin kerana personaliti mak, mak menjadi tempat rujukan kawan-kawan mak.. Jadi, bila mak nak ambil sesuatu tindakan, mak kena fikir betul-betul sama da tindakan mak tu akan menyebabkan Allah marah atau tidak. Mak ayah berdosa tak? Dan maruah pembawa agama terjejas tak? Kalau mak membalas cinta si lelaki tadi, bermakna mak sedang menconteng arang di muka-muka pembawa-pembawa agama. Orang akan pandang serong terhadap orang yang bertudung sedangkan kesilapan tu hanya seorang dua yang buat. Besar fitnah akan timbul apabila orang-orang agama mengambil ringan batas syariat duhai anak.." mak menelan air liurnya. Saya diam.
Fikiran saya sedang cuba memahami maksud mak saya.
Adakah ia suatu diskriminasi?
"Kakak.. Jatuh cinta perkara biasa. Apabila kita
jatuh cinta pada seseorang, itu tandanya ada
sesuatu keistimewaan pada seseorang tu.
Apatah lagi orang yang kita jatuh cinta tu di atas
jalan dakwah ni..Tetapi kita kena ingat.. Kita tak
akan dikahwinkan dengan seseorang atas sebab jatuh
cinta atau saling cinta mencintai.. Bercouple
mungkin.. Tetapi bukan berkahwin... Kerana kita
berkahwin dengan jodoh kita, jodoh yang Allah dah
tetapkan sejak azali.. Dan tak mustahil orang yang
kita paling benci itulah jodoh kita yang kita akan
dikahwinkan dengannya.."
Tiba-tiba air mata saya mengalir. Argh! Ego saya
kalah bila mendengar hujah emak. Emak meneruskan,
"Allah itu Maha Adil.. Dia tak pernah menzalimi
hambaNya..Sesungguh nya, yang selalu menzalimi
hambaNya ialah diri hamba tu sendiri.. Sebabnya
hamba tu degil. Dia mahukan yang bukan haknya, yang
bukan milik dia.
Mencintai seseorang tidak semestinya memilikinya.
Dalam Islam, kita dah diajar untuk saling mencintai
antara satu sama lain seperti diri sendiri.. Jadi
apabila kita mencintai saudara perempuan, kita
bebas peluk dia. Tetapi bila dengan lelaki, kita
ada batas-batasnya.
Orang kafir kata batas-batas ini suatu
diskriminasi, tetapi sebenarnya batas-batas syariat
itulah yang memelihara kehormatan seorang lelaki
dan seorang perempuan. Cuba kakak renungkan, kita
mengenali seorang insan yang amat baik, sempurna
agamanya dan rajin. Lalu kita jatuh hati padanya.
Ditakdirkan jodohnya dengan insan lain, kita pula
dengan yang lain..
Tetapi itu tidak bermakna ukhwah antara kita dan
dia terputus.. Kita dan dia sama-sama mencari redha
Allah.. Kita dan dia masih boleh sama-sama
bekerjasama untuk mencari redha Allah..
Perbezaannya, dia halal untuk isterinya sedangkan
untuk kita, dia tetap lelaki ajnabi seperti yang
awalnya." emak berhenti seketika.. Bukan luar
biasa...
Tentu kering tekak emak menerangkan kepada saya
persoalan hati ini.
"Kakak.. jadi di sini mak nak kakak faham, jatuh
cinta bukan perkara luar biasa..Dan berkahwin pun
bukan suatu jaminan untuk tak jatuh cinta pada
lelaki lain.. Kerana itulah ramai isteri yang
curang, suami yang curang..
Ada orang tukar pasangan macam tukar baju. Apa yang
penting ialah kita kena perjelaskan pada diri kita
supaya setiap kali kita jatuh cinta, jatuh cinta
itu kerana kita jatuh cinta kepada Pencipta dia.
Kita bagi tau pada diri kita berulang kali yang
kita mencintai Allah, kerana itu kita mencintai si
dia. Letakkan Allah sebagai sempadan hati kita,
segala perkara yang kita cintai dan sayangi
termasuk mak abah adalah kerana mencintai Allah..
Dan apabila kita membenci seseorang atau sesuatu,
beri tahu pada diri sendiri berulangkali yang kita
benci sekian-sekian hal kerana Allah semata-mata.
."
"Kakak.. Hati kita ni walaupun dalam dada kita
sendiri, ia tetap bukan milik kita. Kita tak mampu
untuk mengawalnya. . Hanya Allah yang boleh
memegangnya. . Sebab tu kita kena dekatkan diri
dengan Allah.. Sebab kita nak dia pegang kukuh-
kukuh hati kita. Bila dia pelihara dan masuk dalam
hati kita, itulah nikmat lazatnnya bercinta. Masa
tu biarpun satu dunia menyakiti kita, kita tak rasa
sakit sebab kita asyik dengan nikmat bercinta
dengan Allah..Bercinta dengan Allah sangat berbeza
dari bercinta dengan manusia. Kerana tentulah
pegalaman bercinta dengan lelaki kaya,rupawan,
sempurna dan bijaksana tak sama rasanya bercinta
dengan lelaki miskin, hodoh,cacat dan dungu..
Betapa nikmatnya cinta Allah, hanya mereka yang
pernah merasai sahaja yang mampu mengerti. "
Redha
"Kakak.. Walau siapapun jodoh yang Allah hantarkan
untuk kakak, terimalah dengan hati yang redha.. Tak
mustahil dia adalah orang yang kita benci. Kalau
yang kakak sayang, tak jadi hal lah.. Tapi kalau
dapat yang kakak tak nak, lantaran kelemahan yang
ada pada dia, ingatlah bahawa dalam diri setiap
insan telah Allah ciptakan dengan kelebihan masing
-masing. Dan mungkin kakak ada kekuatan yang dapat
mengubah si lelaki tadi supaya hidup dia bermakna
dan mungkin kakak sahaja yang mampu mencungkil
kelebihan yang ada pada dia.. Mungkin juga si
lelaki ini ada sesuatu kelebihan yang kakak sangat-sangat perlukan yang satu dunia tak mampu bagi pada kakak..
Alangkah bertuahnya kakak kalau kakak mengerti setiap pemberian Allah dan belajar untuk bersyukur.. "
Sekali lagi berjuraian air mata saya turun. Terasa lemah lutut hendak berdiri. Emak menarik tubuh saya dan memeluk erat. Pelukan emak sangat-sangat kuat.
"Emak dah didik anak emak dari belum lahir untuk mencintai Allah.. Sekarang emak serahkan anak emak yang mak sayang sangat ni pada Allah untuk Dia pelihara.."
Emak mengakhiri kata-katanya dengan suara sebak dan air mata yang mengalir ke bahu saya...
written by;
NURAINI JUWITA
sumber;
http://nurjuwita87.blogspot.com/2008/10/mana-
Pada suatu hari, Saya bertanya kepada emak, "Maa satu pilihan hati, orang yang sayangkan kita atau yang kita sayang? "Mak jawab, "dua-dua bukan.." Saya tercengang..Mak mengukir senyuman.
"Pilihan hati mak adalah yang sayangkan kita kerana Allah.." Saya menarik nafas dalam-dalam."Macam mana nak tau orang tu sayang kita kerana apa?" Mak diam sekejap berfikir dan kemudian tersenyum.
Rasanya mak dapat menduga apa yang sedang bermain dalam hati anak perempuannya. Mana mungkin saya mampu menyorokkan rahsia hati dari mak sedangkan sekilas saya pun mak mampu membacanya."Yang paling tahu hanya Allah.." mak merenung dalam-dalam wajah anaknya.
"Kerana hanya Allah mampu membaca hati hambaNya.. " mak menyusun ayat-ayatnya."Dan keikhlasan kerana Allah itu akan terserlah keberkatannya tanpa perlu sengaja ditonjolkan oleh seseorang tu.."
Saya memintas, "Tak faham.."Mak menyambung "Cinta di dalam jalan Allah.. Bertemu kerana sama-sama mencari redha Allah.." Mak menyambung lagi,"begini, setiap insan yang bergelar manusia telah Allah ciptakan berpasang-pasangan. Rasa ingin dikasihi antara seorang suami dan isteri suatu fitrah. Automatik boleh ada daya tarikan magnet tu.."
Wajah saya merah, sedikit cemas jika mak dapat mengesan gelora jiwa muda ini.. Mak menyambung "Setiap manusia telah Allah tetapkan rezeki,jodoh dan maut sejak azali lagi..
Persoalannya ialah.. Siapakah jodohnya itu?" mak berhenti seketika.Saya tunduk malu, cuba menyorokkan rasa panas di pipi.Emak buat-buat tidak nampak.
Secret Admire
"Kakak, mak dulu masa remaja ada secret admire.. Rajin betul dia hantar surat ..Masa tu mak dah tahu yang bercinta sebelum kahwin ni tak halal..Dan masa tu mak tekad tak mahu layan sebab mak takut arwah tokwan kena seksa dalam kubur.. Mak sedar mak anak yatim, anak orang miskin, adik beradik ramai.. Mak nak belajar sungguh-sungguh. .lama budak tu tunggu mak..Akhirnya mak bagi kata putus, mak hanya akan membalas cinta dia jika dia sah suami mak..
Dan dia memang bukan jodoh mak, maka tak pernah dia menerima balasan cinta tu." Mak merenung jauh.Saya merapatkan badan kepada emak, semakin berminat dengan kisah lama mak..
"Mak memang tak ada perasaan langsung pada dia ke?" saya menyoal sambil memandang tajam wajah mak. Emak ketawa kecil."Walaupun mungkin ada, mak tak pernah bagi peluang pada diri mak untuk mengisytiharkan perasaan tu..Mak takut pada Allah.
Mak bukan seperti rakan sebaya mak yang lain.."Mak, seperti kakak.." mak memandang saya sambil memegang pipi dan dagu saya.kemudian tangannya mengusap rambut di kepala saya.
"Mak anak ustaz ustazah.. Tapi zaman tu ustaz ustazah nya masih berkebaya pendek dan ketat. Tok wan mak kiyai. Mungkin berkat doa keturunan sebelum ni yang soleh-soleh, hati mak tertarik sangat pada agama walaupun tiada sesiapa yang mendorong.. Bila di sekolah, mak pelajar pertama yang bertudung.. Mak membawa imej agama. Kawan-kawan dan cikgu-cikgu panggil mak dengan gelaran mak Aji.. Sebab zaman tu hujung 70an dan awal 80an tak ramai lagi yang bertudung betul menutup auratnya..Zaman tudung nipis dan nampak jambul. Kemudian kawan-kawan mak sikit-sikit ikut bertudung.
Akhirnya kami semua dipanggil di perhimpunan. Kami dimarah guru besar kerana bertudung sedangkan ustazah kami bertudung tapi nampak jambulnya.."emak melemparkan pandangan ke lantai. "Selepas tu ustazah jumpa kami secara persendirian. Ustazah kata dia tak mampu nak pakai seperti kami. Dia suruh kami teruskan.." sambung emak.
Ada getar di hujung suara emak. Kisah silam perjuangan emak di sekolah dahulu sikit-sikit emak ceritakan pada saya. Itulah juga salah satu inspirasi kepada saya untuk bangkit semula setiap kali terjatuh ketika berjuang di sekolah dulu.
"Mungkin kerana personaliti mak, mak menjadi tempat rujukan kawan-kawan mak.. Jadi, bila mak nak ambil sesuatu tindakan, mak kena fikir betul-betul sama da tindakan mak tu akan menyebabkan Allah marah atau tidak. Mak ayah berdosa tak? Dan maruah pembawa agama terjejas tak? Kalau mak membalas cinta si lelaki tadi, bermakna mak sedang menconteng arang di muka-muka pembawa-pembawa agama. Orang akan pandang serong terhadap orang yang bertudung sedangkan kesilapan tu hanya seorang dua yang buat. Besar fitnah akan timbul apabila orang-orang agama mengambil ringan batas syariat duhai anak.." mak menelan air liurnya. Saya diam.
Fikiran saya sedang cuba memahami maksud mak saya.
Adakah ia suatu diskriminasi?
"Kakak.. Jatuh cinta perkara biasa. Apabila kita
jatuh cinta pada seseorang, itu tandanya ada
sesuatu keistimewaan pada seseorang tu.
Apatah lagi orang yang kita jatuh cinta tu di atas
jalan dakwah ni..Tetapi kita kena ingat.. Kita tak
akan dikahwinkan dengan seseorang atas sebab jatuh
cinta atau saling cinta mencintai.. Bercouple
mungkin.. Tetapi bukan berkahwin... Kerana kita
berkahwin dengan jodoh kita, jodoh yang Allah dah
tetapkan sejak azali.. Dan tak mustahil orang yang
kita paling benci itulah jodoh kita yang kita akan
dikahwinkan dengannya.."
Tiba-tiba air mata saya mengalir. Argh! Ego saya
kalah bila mendengar hujah emak. Emak meneruskan,
"Allah itu Maha Adil.. Dia tak pernah menzalimi
hambaNya..Sesungguh nya, yang selalu menzalimi
hambaNya ialah diri hamba tu sendiri.. Sebabnya
hamba tu degil. Dia mahukan yang bukan haknya, yang
bukan milik dia.
Mencintai seseorang tidak semestinya memilikinya.
Dalam Islam, kita dah diajar untuk saling mencintai
antara satu sama lain seperti diri sendiri.. Jadi
apabila kita mencintai saudara perempuan, kita
bebas peluk dia. Tetapi bila dengan lelaki, kita
ada batas-batasnya.
Orang kafir kata batas-batas ini suatu
diskriminasi, tetapi sebenarnya batas-batas syariat
itulah yang memelihara kehormatan seorang lelaki
dan seorang perempuan. Cuba kakak renungkan, kita
mengenali seorang insan yang amat baik, sempurna
agamanya dan rajin. Lalu kita jatuh hati padanya.
Ditakdirkan jodohnya dengan insan lain, kita pula
dengan yang lain..
Tetapi itu tidak bermakna ukhwah antara kita dan
dia terputus.. Kita dan dia sama-sama mencari redha
Allah.. Kita dan dia masih boleh sama-sama
bekerjasama untuk mencari redha Allah..
Perbezaannya, dia halal untuk isterinya sedangkan
untuk kita, dia tetap lelaki ajnabi seperti yang
awalnya." emak berhenti seketika.. Bukan luar
biasa...
Tentu kering tekak emak menerangkan kepada saya
persoalan hati ini.
"Kakak.. jadi di sini mak nak kakak faham, jatuh
cinta bukan perkara luar biasa..Dan berkahwin pun
bukan suatu jaminan untuk tak jatuh cinta pada
lelaki lain.. Kerana itulah ramai isteri yang
curang, suami yang curang..
Ada orang tukar pasangan macam tukar baju. Apa yang
penting ialah kita kena perjelaskan pada diri kita
supaya setiap kali kita jatuh cinta, jatuh cinta
itu kerana kita jatuh cinta kepada Pencipta dia.
Kita bagi tau pada diri kita berulang kali yang
kita mencintai Allah, kerana itu kita mencintai si
dia. Letakkan Allah sebagai sempadan hati kita,
segala perkara yang kita cintai dan sayangi
termasuk mak abah adalah kerana mencintai Allah..
Dan apabila kita membenci seseorang atau sesuatu,
beri tahu pada diri sendiri berulangkali yang kita
benci sekian-sekian hal kerana Allah semata-mata.
."
"Kakak.. Hati kita ni walaupun dalam dada kita
sendiri, ia tetap bukan milik kita. Kita tak mampu
untuk mengawalnya. . Hanya Allah yang boleh
memegangnya. . Sebab tu kita kena dekatkan diri
dengan Allah.. Sebab kita nak dia pegang kukuh-
kukuh hati kita. Bila dia pelihara dan masuk dalam
hati kita, itulah nikmat lazatnnya bercinta. Masa
tu biarpun satu dunia menyakiti kita, kita tak rasa
sakit sebab kita asyik dengan nikmat bercinta
dengan Allah..Bercinta dengan Allah sangat berbeza
dari bercinta dengan manusia. Kerana tentulah
pegalaman bercinta dengan lelaki kaya,rupawan,
sempurna dan bijaksana tak sama rasanya bercinta
dengan lelaki miskin, hodoh,cacat dan dungu..
Betapa nikmatnya cinta Allah, hanya mereka yang
pernah merasai sahaja yang mampu mengerti. "
Redha
"Kakak.. Walau siapapun jodoh yang Allah hantarkan
untuk kakak, terimalah dengan hati yang redha.. Tak
mustahil dia adalah orang yang kita benci. Kalau
yang kakak sayang, tak jadi hal lah.. Tapi kalau
dapat yang kakak tak nak, lantaran kelemahan yang
ada pada dia, ingatlah bahawa dalam diri setiap
insan telah Allah ciptakan dengan kelebihan masing
-masing. Dan mungkin kakak ada kekuatan yang dapat
mengubah si lelaki tadi supaya hidup dia bermakna
dan mungkin kakak sahaja yang mampu mencungkil
kelebihan yang ada pada dia.. Mungkin juga si
lelaki ini ada sesuatu kelebihan yang kakak sangat-sangat perlukan yang satu dunia tak mampu bagi pada kakak..
Alangkah bertuahnya kakak kalau kakak mengerti setiap pemberian Allah dan belajar untuk bersyukur.. "
Sekali lagi berjuraian air mata saya turun. Terasa lemah lutut hendak berdiri. Emak menarik tubuh saya dan memeluk erat. Pelukan emak sangat-sangat kuat.
"Emak dah didik anak emak dari belum lahir untuk mencintai Allah.. Sekarang emak serahkan anak emak yang mak sayang sangat ni pada Allah untuk Dia pelihara.."
Emak mengakhiri kata-katanya dengan suara sebak dan air mata yang mengalir ke bahu saya...
written by;
NURAINI JUWITA
sumber;
http://nurjuwita87.blogspot.com/2008/10/mana-
Moral
~CERITERA SEORANG BAPA DAN 3 ORANG ANAK~by Hizb Addeen on Friday, October 29, 2010 at 12:58am
Di sebuah kampung tinggal seorang lelaki tua yg sudah bertahun-tahun kematian isteri. Dengan arwah isterinya itu dulu dia dikurniakan tiga orang anak lelaki.
Semuanya sudah remaja. Anak pertama bernama Anis, kedua bernama Harben dan ketiga bernama Amsal. Akan ketiga-tiga ini yang paling disayangi ialah Harben.
Sayangnya dengan Harben langsung tidak diberinya keluar rumah. Si polan ini sayang juga dengan Anis.
Kadang-kadang dibawanya juga keluar rumah, ke pekan, ke penambang (jetty) dan ke sekitar kampung.
Almaklum anak yang ketiga iaitu Amsal kadang-kadang langsung tak diendahnya..jadi merayau-rayau lah si anak ini ke sekitar kampung dan sampai ke pulau seberang. Kurus kering badannya kerana jarang diberimakan.
Hendak dijadikan cerita, suatu hari yang mendung raja yang memerintah kampung itu dari pulau seberang telah memanggil si polan ini pergi mengadap.
Susah hati lah si polan ini sebab badannya sudah tua, terpaksa pulak mengayuh selat nak ke pulau tersebut. Lagi pula musykil hatinya. Apa yang dimahukan si Raja itu.
Maka dipanggilnya si Harben."Harben, tolong hantar ayah ke pulau seberang..Tuanku Raja memerintahkan ayah mengadap..boleh ya nak?"
Apa yang dijawab Harben? "Minta maaf lah ayah.
Masalahnya Harben tak pernah keluar rumah jadi macamana Harben nak hantar ayah ke sana sebab Harben tak tahu jalan.
Kalau mahu, Harben hantar sampai depan pintu saja lah, ye ayah?"Mendengar jawapan si Harben sedihlah hati si polan ini kerana anak yang disayanginya tidak boleh diharap. "Baiklah kalau begitu" jawabnya sedih.
Dipanggilnya pula si Anis."Anis, tolong hantar ayah ke pulau seberang..Tuanku Raja memerintahkan ayah mengadap..boleh ya nak?" Apa yangdijawab Anis? "Minta maaf lah ayah.
Masalahnya Anis tak pernah keluar dari kampung ni jadi macamana Anis nak hantar ayah ke sana sebab Anis tak tahu jalan.
Kalau mahu, Anis hantar sampai hujung kampung sajalah, ye ayah?"
Mendengar jawapan si Anis itu sedihlah hati si polan ini kerana anak yang disayanginya ini pun tidak boleh diharap juga.
"Baiklah kalau begitu"jawabnya sedih. Dipanggilnya pula si Amsal.
"Hei Amsal,tolong hantar ayah ke pulau seberang..
Tuanku Raja memerintahkan ayah mengadap.." Lalu Amsal menjawab, "Baiklah ayah" tanpa sebarang alasan.
Menyesallah dihatinya keranatidak menyayangi anaknya Amsal akan tetapi dia sanggup melakukan apa saja untuk ayahnya.
Lalu pergilah si polan mengadap Raja. Harben menghantar di pintu pagar rumah, Anis menghantar sampai ke penambang dan si Amsal mengikut ayahnya mengayuh kolek.
Sedang mengayuh itu, tidak semena-mena ribut melanda dan hujan lebat pun turun.
Terkial-kiallah mereka mengayuh dan disebabkan si polan yang dah tua dan si Amsal yang kurus kering karamlah mereka berdua terkubur di lautan.
Moral: Adapun anak-anak si polan ini ialah sebenarnya kehidupan lelaki tua ini.
Harben ialah HARTA-BENDA,Anis ialah ANAK-ISTERI, danAmsal ialah AMAL-SOLEH.
Lazimnya manusia sayang kepada Harben dan Anis tapi tidak pada Amsal.
Di mana bila manusia itu mati iaitu pulang kerahmatullah (mengadap Raja) yang dapat dibawanya hanyalah Amsal.
Harben tinggal dipintu pagar dan Anis tinggal di penambang (di tepi kubur).
Oleh itu dalam kita mengejar cita-cita di dunia ni jangan lah lupa dgn akhirat dan rukun Islam yang lima .
INGAT LIMA PERKARA, SEBELUM LIMA..
ingat..
bila ditegur org..terima dgn reda. sbb teguran tu datang dari DIA. kita xberhak nak membenci orang sebab kalau kita benci, kita benci DIA lah jgk kira kan?
maka..
Di sebuah kampung tinggal seorang lelaki tua yg sudah bertahun-tahun kematian isteri. Dengan arwah isterinya itu dulu dia dikurniakan tiga orang anak lelaki.
Semuanya sudah remaja. Anak pertama bernama Anis, kedua bernama Harben dan ketiga bernama Amsal. Akan ketiga-tiga ini yang paling disayangi ialah Harben.
Sayangnya dengan Harben langsung tidak diberinya keluar rumah. Si polan ini sayang juga dengan Anis.
Kadang-kadang dibawanya juga keluar rumah, ke pekan, ke penambang (jetty) dan ke sekitar kampung.
Almaklum anak yang ketiga iaitu Amsal kadang-kadang langsung tak diendahnya..jadi merayau-rayau lah si anak ini ke sekitar kampung dan sampai ke pulau seberang. Kurus kering badannya kerana jarang diberimakan.
Hendak dijadikan cerita, suatu hari yang mendung raja yang memerintah kampung itu dari pulau seberang telah memanggil si polan ini pergi mengadap.
Susah hati lah si polan ini sebab badannya sudah tua, terpaksa pulak mengayuh selat nak ke pulau tersebut. Lagi pula musykil hatinya. Apa yang dimahukan si Raja itu.
Maka dipanggilnya si Harben."Harben, tolong hantar ayah ke pulau seberang..Tuanku Raja memerintahkan ayah mengadap..boleh ya nak?"
Apa yang dijawab Harben? "Minta maaf lah ayah.
Masalahnya Harben tak pernah keluar rumah jadi macamana Harben nak hantar ayah ke sana sebab Harben tak tahu jalan.
Kalau mahu, Harben hantar sampai depan pintu saja lah, ye ayah?"Mendengar jawapan si Harben sedihlah hati si polan ini kerana anak yang disayanginya tidak boleh diharap. "Baiklah kalau begitu" jawabnya sedih.
Dipanggilnya pula si Anis."Anis, tolong hantar ayah ke pulau seberang..Tuanku Raja memerintahkan ayah mengadap..boleh ya nak?" Apa yangdijawab Anis? "Minta maaf lah ayah.
Masalahnya Anis tak pernah keluar dari kampung ni jadi macamana Anis nak hantar ayah ke sana sebab Anis tak tahu jalan.
Kalau mahu, Anis hantar sampai hujung kampung sajalah, ye ayah?"
Mendengar jawapan si Anis itu sedihlah hati si polan ini kerana anak yang disayanginya ini pun tidak boleh diharap juga.
"Baiklah kalau begitu"jawabnya sedih. Dipanggilnya pula si Amsal.
"Hei Amsal,tolong hantar ayah ke pulau seberang..
Tuanku Raja memerintahkan ayah mengadap.." Lalu Amsal menjawab, "Baiklah ayah" tanpa sebarang alasan.
Menyesallah dihatinya keranatidak menyayangi anaknya Amsal akan tetapi dia sanggup melakukan apa saja untuk ayahnya.
Lalu pergilah si polan mengadap Raja. Harben menghantar di pintu pagar rumah, Anis menghantar sampai ke penambang dan si Amsal mengikut ayahnya mengayuh kolek.
Sedang mengayuh itu, tidak semena-mena ribut melanda dan hujan lebat pun turun.
Terkial-kiallah mereka mengayuh dan disebabkan si polan yang dah tua dan si Amsal yang kurus kering karamlah mereka berdua terkubur di lautan.
Moral: Adapun anak-anak si polan ini ialah sebenarnya kehidupan lelaki tua ini.
Harben ialah HARTA-BENDA,Anis ialah ANAK-ISTERI, danAmsal ialah AMAL-SOLEH.
Lazimnya manusia sayang kepada Harben dan Anis tapi tidak pada Amsal.
Di mana bila manusia itu mati iaitu pulang kerahmatullah (mengadap Raja) yang dapat dibawanya hanyalah Amsal.
Harben tinggal dipintu pagar dan Anis tinggal di penambang (di tepi kubur).
Oleh itu dalam kita mengejar cita-cita di dunia ni jangan lah lupa dgn akhirat dan rukun Islam yang lima .
INGAT LIMA PERKARA, SEBELUM LIMA..
ingat..
bila ditegur org..terima dgn reda. sbb teguran tu datang dari DIA. kita xberhak nak membenci orang sebab kalau kita benci, kita benci DIA lah jgk kira kan?
maka..
Monday, June 21, 2010
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Subsidy :The Pro and Contra of it.
Malaysia: Subsidies or Bankruptcy?
MALAY MAIL
Wednesday, June 2nd, 2010 17:50:00
Dear Editor,
It was reported that subsidy cuts will be implemented from this month. The objective was to avoid bankruptcy due to accumulative debt caused by the subsidies. If not implemented immediately, the dooms day was predicted in 2019. If implemented now, a saving of RM103 billion within 5 years (2015) was forecasted.
The proposed cuts cover petrol, food items (sugar, flour and cooking oil), gas, toll rates, health care and education.
The intention is undoubtedly noble. Nobody wants the country goes to the drain. Therefore the subsidy schemes, currently stood at RM74 billion, should be revisited as they are largely expropriated by the undeserving rich people and big businesses. But the schemes ought to be continued for the deserving bottom 40percent whose monthly household incomes are below RM2,129.
But did Datuk Seri Idris Jala prudently choose the right word 'bankruptcy' and harshly put all the blame on subsidies? Does the mounting debt can only be tackled by cutting the subsidies? Did he give the government a comprehensive landscape and, hence, the right signal?
The sacred duty of any responsible government is to provide a better standard of living for its rakyat on a sustainable time frame. It should be achieved through prudent management of the economy. And 'prudent' does not necessarily means a balanced budget ALL the time.
The strengths (or weaknesses) of the government in managing the country's economy are measured by a few (basket of) indicators such as fiscal deficit, magnitude of debt, external debt service ratio and saving-investment gap.
The worst managed economy in the world is the US with debilitating budget, trade and balance of payments deficits. In the case of Malaysia, apart from a short period in the mid-1990s, the government has always run a fiscal deficit but nowhere close to that of the US. In fact, the government has managed to tame the fiscal deficit to 5.6 percent (as a percentage of GDP) in 2010, down from 7.4 percent in 2009.
At 5.6 percent, it is about half of that of UK's and Spain's and much lower than what Malaysia used to experience. In early 1980s, our fiscal deficit used to be at around 14 percent. And at the current rate the Prime Minister is driving the economy (10.1percent growth in first quarter), this year's GNP could be significantly above the target of RM499,690 million. Hence, the deficit in percentage terms would be reduced further.
Regarding the national debt that Idris was referring to, one has to look at its magnitude as well. It is normally measured as a percentage of GNP. In 2009, Malaysia's debt was 34.7 percent; about a fifth of what Japan is facing (192 percent) and 30 percent of Singapore (118 percent). Belgium and Italy used to experience about 180 percent.
Our country highest national debt ratio was in mid 1980s, at around 70 percent. What must be commended is that over the past few years, the Treasury has managed to pay almost all our foreign borrowings. This positive situation gives the government ample space to focus on tackling domestic borrowings which stood at RM321.5 billion in 2009; the lion share was government securities which constitute 7.1percent. It is important to note that domestic borrowings have negligible risk of impacting our foreign reserves. As at 14 May 2010 2010, it was RM314.2 billion and it can finance 8.3 months of retained imports.
Borrowing is one part of the equation; ability to pay is the other part. The later is normally measured in terms of external debt service ratio. In 2009, our debt service ratio stood at 6.5 percent; admittedly higher than the 2.6 percent recorded in the previous year.
Nevertheless, there is no reason to panic since our exports have shown a significant rebound of 31 percent during the first quarter this year. If the trend continues as forecasted, the percentage will definitely move south.
Additionally, by convention, the threshold is 20 percent; hence, we are much below that psychological line. Our worst case scenario was in 1986, when we had to service the debt at 18.9 percent.
Lastly let us look at the investment-saving gap. In 2009, our surplus was RM91.8 billion or 13.5 percent of GNP. It was higher than Germany's 10 percent saving rate, the biggest economy in the Euro Zone. Admittedly, it was lower than 2008 (18.1 percent). However, the surplus provided ample liquidity to finance domestic economic activities.
In terms of gross national savings, it was still at a comfortable level of 31.3 percent, albeit, 6.6 percentage point below the 2008 level. However, due to potentially strong economic recovery, it is projected that the savings will rebound to around 35 percent this year.
The above basket of economic indicators showed that Malaysia's economic structure is much stronger than it was in the 1980s and is comparatively better than some of those countries. Combined with its prudent and accomodative fiscal and monetary policies, the risk of being bankrupt is quite remote.
Such a possibility is further reduced when the government broadens its tax base through the introduction of GST and aggressively implementing high valued added economic paradigm. The resultant outcomes would be more taxable income and a wider taxable base.
Idris should also realise that our GDP can improve, and hence government revenue will rise, if corruption is effectively reduced. Leakages and evaporation will stop.
Additionally, a study showed that an increase of one point in the Corruption Perception Index (CPI) will attract FDI which is equivalent to 0.5percent of the GDP and pushed up the average income by 4 percent. Indeed the rakyat will benefit since the government is seen to be committed to fight corruption. The government revenue will increase accordingly.
Going back to subsidies cuts, before they are implemented, Idris should be reminded that the major economic factor contributed to the Alliance's big loss in 1969 was high unemployment rate (more than 8 percent). The main contributing economic factor to the 2008 political tsunami was inflation (5.4 percent).
Therefore, I believe the withdrawal plan would be judiciously implemented; less it may cost a government. Idris may win the battle (cut subsidies) but will lose the war (general election). From the violent reaction, I suspect Idris will be more tactful and politically sensitive in future.
He should have 100 percent confidence in the current government that it won't allow the country to go bankrupt. It has an excellent track record in effectively and efficiently managing it for the last 53 years.
Datuk Akbar Ali
MALAY MAIL
Wednesday, June 2nd, 2010 17:50:00
Dear Editor,
It was reported that subsidy cuts will be implemented from this month. The objective was to avoid bankruptcy due to accumulative debt caused by the subsidies. If not implemented immediately, the dooms day was predicted in 2019. If implemented now, a saving of RM103 billion within 5 years (2015) was forecasted.
The proposed cuts cover petrol, food items (sugar, flour and cooking oil), gas, toll rates, health care and education.
The intention is undoubtedly noble. Nobody wants the country goes to the drain. Therefore the subsidy schemes, currently stood at RM74 billion, should be revisited as they are largely expropriated by the undeserving rich people and big businesses. But the schemes ought to be continued for the deserving bottom 40percent whose monthly household incomes are below RM2,129.
But did Datuk Seri Idris Jala prudently choose the right word 'bankruptcy' and harshly put all the blame on subsidies? Does the mounting debt can only be tackled by cutting the subsidies? Did he give the government a comprehensive landscape and, hence, the right signal?
The sacred duty of any responsible government is to provide a better standard of living for its rakyat on a sustainable time frame. It should be achieved through prudent management of the economy. And 'prudent' does not necessarily means a balanced budget ALL the time.
The strengths (or weaknesses) of the government in managing the country's economy are measured by a few (basket of) indicators such as fiscal deficit, magnitude of debt, external debt service ratio and saving-investment gap.
The worst managed economy in the world is the US with debilitating budget, trade and balance of payments deficits. In the case of Malaysia, apart from a short period in the mid-1990s, the government has always run a fiscal deficit but nowhere close to that of the US. In fact, the government has managed to tame the fiscal deficit to 5.6 percent (as a percentage of GDP) in 2010, down from 7.4 percent in 2009.
At 5.6 percent, it is about half of that of UK's and Spain's and much lower than what Malaysia used to experience. In early 1980s, our fiscal deficit used to be at around 14 percent. And at the current rate the Prime Minister is driving the economy (10.1percent growth in first quarter), this year's GNP could be significantly above the target of RM499,690 million. Hence, the deficit in percentage terms would be reduced further.
Regarding the national debt that Idris was referring to, one has to look at its magnitude as well. It is normally measured as a percentage of GNP. In 2009, Malaysia's debt was 34.7 percent; about a fifth of what Japan is facing (192 percent) and 30 percent of Singapore (118 percent). Belgium and Italy used to experience about 180 percent.
Our country highest national debt ratio was in mid 1980s, at around 70 percent. What must be commended is that over the past few years, the Treasury has managed to pay almost all our foreign borrowings. This positive situation gives the government ample space to focus on tackling domestic borrowings which stood at RM321.5 billion in 2009; the lion share was government securities which constitute 7.1percent. It is important to note that domestic borrowings have negligible risk of impacting our foreign reserves. As at 14 May 2010 2010, it was RM314.2 billion and it can finance 8.3 months of retained imports.
Borrowing is one part of the equation; ability to pay is the other part. The later is normally measured in terms of external debt service ratio. In 2009, our debt service ratio stood at 6.5 percent; admittedly higher than the 2.6 percent recorded in the previous year.
Nevertheless, there is no reason to panic since our exports have shown a significant rebound of 31 percent during the first quarter this year. If the trend continues as forecasted, the percentage will definitely move south.
Additionally, by convention, the threshold is 20 percent; hence, we are much below that psychological line. Our worst case scenario was in 1986, when we had to service the debt at 18.9 percent.
Lastly let us look at the investment-saving gap. In 2009, our surplus was RM91.8 billion or 13.5 percent of GNP. It was higher than Germany's 10 percent saving rate, the biggest economy in the Euro Zone. Admittedly, it was lower than 2008 (18.1 percent). However, the surplus provided ample liquidity to finance domestic economic activities.
In terms of gross national savings, it was still at a comfortable level of 31.3 percent, albeit, 6.6 percentage point below the 2008 level. However, due to potentially strong economic recovery, it is projected that the savings will rebound to around 35 percent this year.
The above basket of economic indicators showed that Malaysia's economic structure is much stronger than it was in the 1980s and is comparatively better than some of those countries. Combined with its prudent and accomodative fiscal and monetary policies, the risk of being bankrupt is quite remote.
Such a possibility is further reduced when the government broadens its tax base through the introduction of GST and aggressively implementing high valued added economic paradigm. The resultant outcomes would be more taxable income and a wider taxable base.
Idris should also realise that our GDP can improve, and hence government revenue will rise, if corruption is effectively reduced. Leakages and evaporation will stop.
Additionally, a study showed that an increase of one point in the Corruption Perception Index (CPI) will attract FDI which is equivalent to 0.5percent of the GDP and pushed up the average income by 4 percent. Indeed the rakyat will benefit since the government is seen to be committed to fight corruption. The government revenue will increase accordingly.
Going back to subsidies cuts, before they are implemented, Idris should be reminded that the major economic factor contributed to the Alliance's big loss in 1969 was high unemployment rate (more than 8 percent). The main contributing economic factor to the 2008 political tsunami was inflation (5.4 percent).
Therefore, I believe the withdrawal plan would be judiciously implemented; less it may cost a government. Idris may win the battle (cut subsidies) but will lose the war (general election). From the violent reaction, I suspect Idris will be more tactful and politically sensitive in future.
He should have 100 percent confidence in the current government that it won't allow the country to go bankrupt. It has an excellent track record in effectively and efficiently managing it for the last 53 years.
Datuk Akbar Ali
Women And Beauty
Beauty Tips - 5 steps to looking presentable
JANIS SEET
Wednesday, June 2nd, 2010 13:45:00
LOOK EFFORTLESSLY GORGEOUS: Lend some colour to your face without looking over-the-top
We are all rushed for time. We women some times admire men who can languish that extra 30 minutes in bed as their daily routine does not include painting their faces.
Life is unfair. If a woman in a corporate envi ronment walks in bare-faced, people will surely stare. If a man walks in with not a smidgen of make-up on, no one will care, obviously!
Instead of complaining about the facts of life, we decided that the best way to go is to deal with it and improvise in whatever way we pos sibly can.
Today, we take a look at a quick make-up fix to give you some extra minutes in bed, perhaps? Either way it lends some colour without eating up too much of your time and is easy enough to do on the train while heading to work.
1. Start your face with a foundation. Use a tint ed moisturiser to save on time, after all, it is a little early to be layering it on! For a little ex tra coverage, brush on loose powder. This step should be done at home so that you don't have to carry a tonne of make-up around.
2. Decide which area of your face you want to focus on. Is it your eyes, your lips or your cheeks? If you have a little more time, go with the eyes. If you don't, then this needs to be done at home to avoid poking your eye out with your eyeliner.
3. If your focus is not the eyes, pick a neutral co lour like brown and apply it to your upper eye lid. Sweep a slightly darker colour near your lashes. Use a pencil liner and line your upper lash line, do not use liquid as you have no space or time for mis takes and pencil is more forgiving. Lastly, a quick application of mascara. This can be done in five minutes, tops.
4. Use a lipliner and line your natural lip line. Then apply a lipstick which should be the same co lour as your liner! If you wish to highlight your lips, go with a strong colour. If not, pick a neutral tone or if you are super pressed for time, a tinted gloss would be just enough to make sure you don't look dead.
5. Cheeks. If cheeks are not your thing, then forget the blusher tones and cheekbone-enhancing techniques. Instead of blusher, go with a bronzer to sweep it along the apples of your cheeks to wards your hairline. Slowly build colour till you are satisfied. Less is better! The bronzer doubles up to highlight your T-zone as well as add a little more definition to your jawline with just a quick sweep.
If done right, these five steps should take less than 10 minutes. Yes, we timed this - basically as much time as your man takes to shave!
Well, it does bring the divide between men and women slightly closer. Before we start complaining about how tough it is to be a woman, remember that we do have a choice and looking good is one of them!
JANIS SEET
Wednesday, June 2nd, 2010 13:45:00
LOOK EFFORTLESSLY GORGEOUS: Lend some colour to your face without looking over-the-top
We are all rushed for time. We women some times admire men who can languish that extra 30 minutes in bed as their daily routine does not include painting their faces.
Life is unfair. If a woman in a corporate envi ronment walks in bare-faced, people will surely stare. If a man walks in with not a smidgen of make-up on, no one will care, obviously!
Instead of complaining about the facts of life, we decided that the best way to go is to deal with it and improvise in whatever way we pos sibly can.
Today, we take a look at a quick make-up fix to give you some extra minutes in bed, perhaps? Either way it lends some colour without eating up too much of your time and is easy enough to do on the train while heading to work.
1. Start your face with a foundation. Use a tint ed moisturiser to save on time, after all, it is a little early to be layering it on! For a little ex tra coverage, brush on loose powder. This step should be done at home so that you don't have to carry a tonne of make-up around.
2. Decide which area of your face you want to focus on. Is it your eyes, your lips or your cheeks? If you have a little more time, go with the eyes. If you don't, then this needs to be done at home to avoid poking your eye out with your eyeliner.
3. If your focus is not the eyes, pick a neutral co lour like brown and apply it to your upper eye lid. Sweep a slightly darker colour near your lashes. Use a pencil liner and line your upper lash line, do not use liquid as you have no space or time for mis takes and pencil is more forgiving. Lastly, a quick application of mascara. This can be done in five minutes, tops.
4. Use a lipliner and line your natural lip line. Then apply a lipstick which should be the same co lour as your liner! If you wish to highlight your lips, go with a strong colour. If not, pick a neutral tone or if you are super pressed for time, a tinted gloss would be just enough to make sure you don't look dead.
5. Cheeks. If cheeks are not your thing, then forget the blusher tones and cheekbone-enhancing techniques. Instead of blusher, go with a bronzer to sweep it along the apples of your cheeks to wards your hairline. Slowly build colour till you are satisfied. Less is better! The bronzer doubles up to highlight your T-zone as well as add a little more definition to your jawline with just a quick sweep.
If done right, these five steps should take less than 10 minutes. Yes, we timed this - basically as much time as your man takes to shave!
Well, it does bring the divide between men and women slightly closer. Before we start complaining about how tough it is to be a woman, remember that we do have a choice and looking good is one of them!
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