Archive for November, 2007
A British teacher, Gillian Gibbons, was arrested last Sunday by Sudanese authorities under the charge of insulting the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). The gist of it is that she had asked her students to suggest names for a teddy bear. Several names were put forward and were then put to the vote. In a democratic decision, the name “Muhammad” won an overwhelming majority and was duly bestowed onto the soft and furry toy. Unfortunately, several of her students’ parents objected to the name and reported her to the authorities.
She was then arrested and flung into jail.
It was first reported by the British newspapers on Monday, and the follow-ups on Wednesday carried a statement by a spokesman of the Sudanese Embassy in the UK saying that it’s a “minute” matter and a “storm in a teacup”. However, today there are reports that she will be presented in court to face charges of “insulting religion, inciting hatred and showing contempt for religious beliefs“.
This does not affect us directly in Malaysia, obviously, but I just thought I’d mention it on the blog anyway. Mainly because I really felt discomfited by some of the statements made on this issue and am paranoid enough to think that something similar could have easily happened here as well. Take the statement below as reported in The Telegraph:
The Sudanese Assembly of the Ulemas, a semi-official body of top preachers, clerics and scholars, said: “What has happened was not haphazard or carried out of ignorance, but rather a calculated action and another ring in the circles of plotting against Islam.
“It is part of the campaign of the so-called war against terrorism and the intense media campaign against Islam”
I actually trawled Harakah Daily to see if PAS had made any statements on this matter, but I suppose it must have flew past them. Or — hoping against hope here — that PAS too considers the issue to be ridiculous and sees no need to support the Sudanese authorities on this. If that were true, it would be nice if PAS’ leaders could make a statement on the matter.
The core of the issue is one of idolatry, apparently. Also, naming a “lowly bear” Muhammad is seen as an insult to the Prophet, even if, at the same time, naming boys Muhammad is seen as a very good thing. Even if the guy (not the Prophet!) turned out to be a serial killer rapist. As Muslims, we need to sort out our priorities, I think.
Postscript: I was planning to expand more on the issue of idolatry and the embargo on physical manifestations of the Prophet. I had planned to attach a picture of an illustration made by Al-Biruni depicting the Prophet Muhammad preaching the Qur’an in Mecca. But I bottled out, because regardless of any justification I could make[1], I was terrified that I’d get some of the more frothing, righteous elements threatening to Jihad my goldfish.
[1] There is no specific prohibition in the Qur’an of depicting the Prophet in paintings, illustrations or pictures. It is, however, seemingly the general consensus that it shouldn’t be done. Similarly, some Islamic scholars contend that there is no specific instruction in the Qur’an that apostates should be punished by death[2].
[2] It can be generally argued that most moderate Muslims would balk at the idea of killing someone simply because he or she has left the religion. I certainly do.
Filed under: Mentera Moden | |No Comments
Every now and then, I get people mentioning “The Secret”/Law of Attraction to me. I cannot put into words better than Catherine Bennett of the Guardian newspaper in the UK what I think of it. I reproduce a portion of her article here:
The Secret is not just a moronic hymn to greed and selfishness; it nastily suggests that victims of catastrophe are the authors of their misfortunes. Even Moira Stewart. And anyone who happened to be starved, bombed, or herded into a death camp at the same time as thousands of others. “By the law of attraction,” explains an expert on this law, “they had to be on the same frequency as the event.” Just a twiddle with their personal thought frequencies, and everyone in the cattle trucks could have been attracting friends, high grades, and lovely new cars instead.
Were it that I could be as eloquent as Ms. Bennett.
So, please stop asking me if I’ve read “The Secret” and any other similar pseudoscientific, self-help, spiritually uplifting blethering twaddle.
Filed under: Lame Jokes, Rant | |No Comments
In responding to the Government’s push towards a K-Economy in order to compete in a globalised e-World, the Mentera Institute of Learning Foundation for Political Research On Nationalism (MILF-PRON) would like to propose RFID tagging for the general public on occasions where they attend mass rallies. The core of this proposal is to address the vexing issue of the actual number of attendees at such rallies.
This month alone, there have been two rallies in Kuala Lumpur, the first being the BERSIH rally on the 10th of November, and the second, the HINDRAF rally on the 25th. On both occasions, the estimates of the number of people gathered varied wildly. In the case of the BERSIH rally, some estimates are as shown:
| Source |
Estimate |
| Mainstream Newspapers |
4,000 to 10,000 |
| Local Online sources |
40,000 to 50,000 |
| Foreign sources (Al-Jazeera, Reuters, BBC) |
Tens of thousands |
In the case of the HINDRAF rally, well … we can’t be bothered to draw up another table[1], but suffice to say that the estimates vary wildly as well. Given such variances, the logical step would be to initiate some kind of counting mechanism, and the best approach would be the use of RFID tags.
These tags can take the form of a bracelet, similar to the Unity Band. However, as opposed to the crass commercialism and total lack of utility of the Unity Band, the MILF-PRON RFID Band® would actually have a use, apart from making you look like a tit with a fluorescent bracelet.
When everyone attending a mass rally wears this MPR Band®, getting the actual number would then be trivial. A set of gantries can be set up at strategic points, and the “marshalls” in the rally can herd the attendees through the gantries. RFID technology means that double counting cannot happen, so an attendee can also merrily go through as many gantries as he or she wants, and there will not be an error.
Another option is to use RFID “guns”. We propose to develop and provide to the Government a special purpose RFID gun that would be able to “shoot” at the rally attendees and detect up to 50,000 RFID tags in one “shot”. This gun is still in development at the moment, mainly because we have been informed by our China-outsourced boffins that the prototype 1 MegaWatt RFID gun has a tendency to also cook flesh[2] when switched on.
The MPR Band® will be on sale soon for all discerning rally organisers. We deliver anywhere, including jail cells.
[1] Translation: we can’t be bothered to trawl the Interweb for the numbers.
[2] “It cook from inside, like microwave oven, Boss,” is what the head boffin told us, speaking from the Burns Unit of the hospital where he was sent after the first (and so far, only) test run.
Filed under: MILF-PRON, Politics | |1 Comment
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Glenmarie Golf and Country Club: At the 19th hole of the GGCC today, the Director of MILF-PRON made a statement to anyone who would listen that he has uncovered a new proposed legislation by the government requiring all online weblogs (blogs) to have a police permit if they are expecting more than 5 simultaneous readers. Speaking from the bottom of his pint glass, the Director had this to say:
“As we all know, public gatherings of more than 5 people require a permit from the police in this country. The government, in their wisdom, have also decided to extend this law into the Interweb. From the information that I have obtained, this is so that the government can monitor any online discussions, especially those which touch on “sensitive” issues — such as race, religion, colour, Astro broadcast monopoly, communists, Amir Muhammad, sexy clothing of flight attendants, errorgenous … uh … eroginous … err … erogenous zones and other matters.”
He added, “This initiative by the government should act as a complement to the earlier initiative to register bloggers. Also, I would like to have another pint of Tiger, please.”
On the registration of bloggers, MILF-PRON as a simultaneously proactive and reactive research facility had taken the initiative to assist the government by providing an online form, as can be accessed here: Online Blogger Registration.
On the matter of mentera.org, MILF-PRON’s parent organisation, the Director stated that, “The permit is not needed for mentera.org, since they seldom have more than 2 readers at any one time. In addition, our studies have shown that the total number of readers for mentera.org is not 7 or 8 plus their pets as claimed by the blog owner, but is in fact nearer to 6. Without pets. How come that Tiger is taking so long?”
With regards to mechanisms for measuring the number of readers for a particular blog, the Director asserted that it’s very technical and that it should not concern the general public. However, he noted that the government is planning to spend RM 70,000,000,000 on upgrading the Interweb infrastructure for their MPs and offices, by installing IPv6 capable routers and refrigerators. While this would not have an impact to the rest of the country which do not have IPv6 capable toasters, it would at the very least help the government monitor their own MPs and the civil service.
Finally, the Director stated that all blog owners can apply for the police permit at any police station convenient to the policeman in charge at the station. Finally, finally, he also stated that MILF-PRON will soon be producing an online permit application form for blog owners which they can fill up and print for submission to the police station.
Filed under: MILF-PRON | |1 Comment
I don’t really want to keep mentioning Malaysiakini, because I don’t want to keep pimping the site, even if it is a very good online comic. On the other hand, it’s rather easier to read than NST or Star. Anyway, today there’s a report about that housing developer guy in Melaka who made a police report against the former ADUN of Jasin[1] (it had to be Jasin, didn’t it?), regarding the return of a “donation” he made to UMNO Melaka and the Jasin division — after his approval permit to build houses on a swamp was revoked.
The latest is that he’s decided to rescind the police report after the former ADUN’s son agreed to give him back the money. Now, here are the salient points of the circus act:
- The developer claimed that the ADUN asked him to “contribute” to UMNO Melaka and UMNO Jasin a sum of RM 80,000 and RM 50,000 respectively in exchange for a contract to develop the swamp into a housing area. This was in 2003.
- Developer asked for receipt, but was not given — he paid in cash and and bank drafts …
- The Tsunami hit in December 2004.
- The development approval for the swamp was rescinded in 2005, so that the swamp can be a “zon penampan” — a defense zone I think — against tsunamis.
- Developer sends lawyer’s letters to the ADUN (cc-ed to the Prime Minister), asking for his money back. Former ADUN refused to reply.
- Developer met with former ADUN over Hari Raya and asked for his money back, but the former ADUN refused saying that he (former ADUN) is untouchable — because he is a former ADUN.
- Developer files police report in October 2007.
- Developer rescinds police report in November 2007.
The reason that the developer made the police report is, get this, “to inform the authorities that I have been cheated and do not want other people to say that my company is involved in corruption.”
Oh no! We don’t want people to think that paying off some politician dude in exchange for a contract is corruption. This is why we need a receipt for the transactions, duh!
The former ADUN, on the other hand, admitted to receiving the money on behalf of the two UMNOs, and said that it was a voluntary contribution by the developer as thanks for “previous development project approvals given by the state government.”
The former ADUN also questions the developer’s motive in raising this issue, stating (in the Bahasa Malaysia/Melayu version of the article) that “beliau tidak tahu menahu apa motif Lui membangkitkan perkara tersebut tetapi menyifatkan sebagai tuduhan berniat jahat[2].”
Anyway, turns out the from the developer’s perspective, it’s “all’s well that ends well” when the son of the former ADUN agreed to give him RM 130,000 back (not adjusted for inflation, obviously). The former ADUN said that he had no idea about any arrangements between his son and the developer and insists that there should be no reason to return any money back to that dude since it was a “contribution”.
The developer, on his part, hopes that no one views him askance for making the police report.
As for the Jasin MP, Dato’ Zakaria Mat Deros Dato’ Mohd Said Yusof[5] … well, he said that he has no idea what’s going on there but was compelled to mention that he heard that this story has been making the rounds in Jasin and surrounding areas. Well said, Dato’ Said!
[1] Well, Sungai Rambai, which I assume is a branch under the Jasin division.
[2] The “jahat” here one assumes is not the good kind like that associated with “papa”[3], but possibly more related to heinous acts most foul.
[3] If you don’t know what this refers to, then I’ll gladly inform you that it is a song by an artiste by the name of Cat Farish[4]. If you do know what it refers to … then you’ll know it’s very nice.
[4] No, not Farish Noor.
[5] Sorry, sometimes I can’t tell which is which.
Filed under: Politics, You cannot make this up! | corruption, I love Malaysia, idiot, You cannot make this up!|1 Comment
You may have noticed that the theme of mentera has changed. This is because I thought I’d go pastel for a while and downloaded the current theme you’re looking at (all 7 of you, plus your pets). I upgraded the OS on the server, because we’re now hosting other (more important) blogs and the whole thing was a mess before. Plus we got spambot infected, which is always a drag.
The security policy on mentera’s server has always been described as “whatever”, mainly because there was never anything of much importance and whenever there’s a breach, I simply redo the whole thing. I’ve decided to tighten up a bit these days, because I want to feel like I’m 1337.
The RSS feeds were broken for a while, because I forgot to sort out the mod_rewrite stuff, but that’s fixed now.
Filed under: Uncategorized | |No Comments
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