From the few sources I managed to consult so far, it was quite a disaster.
PMR result was announced today. I had not read the full result in newspapers or elsewhere but this is what had trickled through from Kuala:
- the result was a far cry from last year's or previous years' (apparently, according to my few sources), with only 69 people (a mere 58.9%) obtaining straight As. Although the full nation-wide ranking has not been announced, MCKK is bracing for the worst.
- fortunately, one student, one Ikhwan Zaki appeared to be one of the top 25 candidates in Malaysia. It remains to be seen how candidates from other schools fared, it would have been quite an embarassment if other premier schools have more than one candidate in the top 25 ranking. Otherwise, it would be quite a relief, selamat water face koleq...
- according to another source, koleq has always managed to produce more than 80 straight As every year. So 69 is a very worrying figure.
This remains a hear say until the final result is fully announced, although don't expect it to dominate the newspapers what with the country only beginning to see the real extent of the calamity of the tsunami wave.
We do not want to produce robots - although one non-MCKK guy and a much superior person by designation in my organisation once confided that he always believes (in his words) that "MRSM products can be the GMs and managers, but the CEO will always be the MCKK boys" - this kind of shock does not augur well, especially knowing the kind of study regime these kids go through nowadays.
One of the teachers SMSed me that something is definitely wrong and something needs to be done quickly - but are those with the amanah and responsibility to do something about it (and the power and means to do it too), are doing anything?
No use to point fingers, but an honest evaluation is needed - otherwise we should kiss the 100 Years Celebration goodbye and fashion the occasion as the first and last centenary celebration koleq ever had, for with the way koleq is going, maybe it is not worth to remember it at all fifty years down the line..
Wednesday, December 29, 2004
Takziah and Prayers for Tsunami Victims
“Death smiles upon us all, all we can do is to smile at it back”
(this must be from one of the movies, but I can’t remember which one. Must be Lord of the Rings... although it doesn’t sound like Gandalf at all...)
How true.
In less than an hour more than hundreds of thousands of people lost their loved ones all across the world, almost instantaneously. The death toll in Malaysia alone is increasing by the hour, with authorities expecting more bodies to be discovered while rescue mission continues unabated.
To these people and all those who share their grief, our takziah and prayers – sometimes I nearly broke down in tears at the image on TV3 of a father who was himself already dead mentally, utterly at a lost after all his children were swept away in the tsunami. Most of the time it is in this hour of great tragedy that we witness the greatness and kindness of men – greatest and kindness people are often born out of greatest tragedies.
To all the victims and their families – our prayers and al-Fatihah, may your soul find peace in God’s Heaven and may those you leave behind continue in peace in remembrance of you and Allah’s greatness.
Men spent zillions of dollars and countless hours developing the most lethal and destructive weapons and zillions of dollars more trying to protect themselves from the very destruction they crave – yet with a small movement of the plateau beneath our feet, which doesn’t take rocket science or quantum physics (this is a figure of speech, I do not appreciate someone coming back to me to explain the tsunami phenomenon using quantum physics) at all, God unleashed a tiny reminder to us human being of how great He is.
A silly idiot at my office (and an old one at that) made a stupid joke how it would be wonderful to be in Acheh now, since there would be thousands of young jandas desperate for comforting – laughingly talking about this as if it’s a joke on David Letterman Show (even Mr Letterman has better taste than that!). Unfortunately there are many geezers like that around us, who never pause to reflect what things around us mean, if not to us, to others.
Mpro did ask for permission and concurrence to use some of the money raised (and still left) from the last reunion to buy rice for the victims. Since he is already doing something about it, Mpro (the best Batch Treasurer that we never had ha ha, luckily he did become KPKM’s Treasurer and is still as honest as he was to the bone) might as well volunteer himself to collect any donation from batch members for the victims and do the buying of rice and clothes needed. So if anyone has some spare change, please contact Mpro and transfer the money to his account (this is not my scam to swindle people’s donation and share it with Mpro ha ha).
I rarely have any good things to say about some of our top politicians in the government, but the whole tragedy and Pak Lah’s conduct so far endear him to me a bit (as if it matters).
Our prayers are for the deceased and the families affected.
* ps – The quotation was from Gladiator, by Maximus. Ada ke Gandalf....
(this must be from one of the movies, but I can’t remember which one. Must be Lord of the Rings... although it doesn’t sound like Gandalf at all...)
How true.
In less than an hour more than hundreds of thousands of people lost their loved ones all across the world, almost instantaneously. The death toll in Malaysia alone is increasing by the hour, with authorities expecting more bodies to be discovered while rescue mission continues unabated.
To these people and all those who share their grief, our takziah and prayers – sometimes I nearly broke down in tears at the image on TV3 of a father who was himself already dead mentally, utterly at a lost after all his children were swept away in the tsunami. Most of the time it is in this hour of great tragedy that we witness the greatness and kindness of men – greatest and kindness people are often born out of greatest tragedies.
To all the victims and their families – our prayers and al-Fatihah, may your soul find peace in God’s Heaven and may those you leave behind continue in peace in remembrance of you and Allah’s greatness.
Men spent zillions of dollars and countless hours developing the most lethal and destructive weapons and zillions of dollars more trying to protect themselves from the very destruction they crave – yet with a small movement of the plateau beneath our feet, which doesn’t take rocket science or quantum physics (this is a figure of speech, I do not appreciate someone coming back to me to explain the tsunami phenomenon using quantum physics) at all, God unleashed a tiny reminder to us human being of how great He is.
A silly idiot at my office (and an old one at that) made a stupid joke how it would be wonderful to be in Acheh now, since there would be thousands of young jandas desperate for comforting – laughingly talking about this as if it’s a joke on David Letterman Show (even Mr Letterman has better taste than that!). Unfortunately there are many geezers like that around us, who never pause to reflect what things around us mean, if not to us, to others.
Mpro did ask for permission and concurrence to use some of the money raised (and still left) from the last reunion to buy rice for the victims. Since he is already doing something about it, Mpro (the best Batch Treasurer that we never had ha ha, luckily he did become KPKM’s Treasurer and is still as honest as he was to the bone) might as well volunteer himself to collect any donation from batch members for the victims and do the buying of rice and clothes needed. So if anyone has some spare change, please contact Mpro and transfer the money to his account (this is not my scam to swindle people’s donation and share it with Mpro ha ha).
I rarely have any good things to say about some of our top politicians in the government, but the whole tragedy and Pak Lah’s conduct so far endear him to me a bit (as if it matters).
Our prayers are for the deceased and the families affected.
* ps – The quotation was from Gladiator, by Maximus. Ada ke Gandalf....
Wednesday, December 22, 2004
Azlan ****** bin Faidzal Haslah
Azlan ****** bin Faidzal Haslah, more photos here
From the moment we met them (Pejal and Aini), we knew that they meant to name the baby after us. I was quite touched, but what do you expect knowing all along how much Aini and Pejal adored the two of us. We gave our blessing and although they were quite shy about the whole thing and wanted to keep it hush hush, they (especially Aini) couldn't hide her excitement when we told her we didn't mind the baby named Azlan ******.
After a while trying to get the baby to talk, we had to excuse ourselves when Aini wanted to do what mum does best - menyusukan anak! So in order to spare us recurring flashes of images late at night (the ones opposite of fantacies), we excused ourselves after that. The discussion was also getting a bit too graphical when we were talking about the baby's hair (the fact that it was quite thick considering he was only 2 days old), Aini said that the baby followed their gene (I didn't want to elaborate further here, but we took it that she was trying to share the population of their bodily hair with us).
On the way out, we met Kuchai, Tuti and the daughter. So there were other people who did think about Pejal apart from us.
We managed to get Pejal's hotel room at Shangrila Putrajaya for the night. Having driven all the way to Putrajaya, was not really in the mood to go back to KL for movie although we had bought the tickets.
The next day I met Ben, Pokyeh and Brawn (all from the Class of 90) and we had lunch at Wisma Central. All of us were in agreement that the level of respect accorded to older people (be it junior to senior, present boy to old boy, teenage to older people) has decreased tremendously compared to our time (a polite way of saying "budak makin kurang ajar sekarang"). There were a few instances that we all had encountered from our experience coaching koleq teams (Pokyeh was a Cager) that highlighted the general tendency of the younger generation to disregard adab when they conduct themselves among older people. But then every generation blames the one before and after...
* ps - I hope you did not buy the story about Pejal and Aini wanted to name the baby after us....
Radin's Wedding Etc.
The best persandingan photo that I managed to get that day (sigh!), more photos here
The wedding was OK, although I had a feeling after a while other guests were a bit irritated with us shuttling from one table to another taking pictures and making a lot of noise. Budak koleq being budak koleq, sensitivity to other people's feeling is never high on agenda when they get together - a classic example was budak koleq crying their hearts out saying good-bye to batchmates and juniors at train station at the end of each year (KK folks must be one of the most patient people in this country to have been able to stand budak koleq's antics all this while).
Most people turned up with their family, so it was more like a family reunion. We were joined by two ladies (I wanted to say elderly nice ladies, but then that would be offensive to them if they ever read this ha ha) at our table, so Suri did not waste any time working up his chat up line with the elderly ladies. I was very glad that Suri's profession as a professional salesman came in handy since I was not really interested to be diplomatic and nice to people I don't know that day.
The joke of the day was on chicks (or the lack of it ha ha - it's not the normal chicks story, but can't disclose it here since it would not be nice). Mior was expecting me to come up with a "10-things-that-spoil-your-wedding", with "lack of chicks" coming top on the list.
Meeting Mior again was perhaps the most significant event of the wedding. I just found out at the wedding that he is leaving Malaysia for good to find greener pasture in Sydney, Australia. Mior and I were very close since we were Form 3 being in one dorm and all, but something happened in our final year that we parted different ways since then, never even saying proper good-byes to each other during our last days. I was hoping that we could catch up after all these years now that both of us are back in Malaysia, but life takes unexpected turns when you least expect it. Anyway Mior, we wish you all the luck and joy starting a new life in Sydney where you used to call home, and please pass your e-mail so that we know where to head to if we happened to be in Sydney (this is the actual reason for the nice words - guaranteed free accommodation when we are in Sydney ha ha)
Radin looked OK - Kichi' must have been so proud.
Saturday, December 18, 2004
Addition to the Family
Just received the news that Aini (Pejal's wife and Ameba's colleague) had delivered a baby boy last night - presumably healthy. Whether or not this latest addition to Pejal's family is as vertically challenged as his father (and mother in fact) remains to be seen in future years.
So Pejal is not going to Radin's wedding, but since I will be in KL after all tomorrow for the wedding, I might just drop by to see Aini and Pejal and the boy (they might want to adopt me as the godfather - but combination of moi and Pejal, kalau budak tu masuk koleq, habis lah....)
Boleh tahan jugak si Pejal ni, already into his second offspring, considering he spent most of his adult life kat koleq with the F1s and F2s (to be precise, certain groups of F1s and F2s). I half expected nama Pejal appeared in *P offender list in the UK ha ha.....
Anyway Pejal, congratulations - may your son lagi jambu, tinggi dan bijak compared ngan kau (but as kind as you are ha ha - nanti merajuk pulak budak sorang ni..)
So Pejal is not going to Radin's wedding, but since I will be in KL after all tomorrow for the wedding, I might just drop by to see Aini and Pejal and the boy (they might want to adopt me as the godfather - but combination of moi and Pejal, kalau budak tu masuk koleq, habis lah....)
Boleh tahan jugak si Pejal ni, already into his second offspring, considering he spent most of his adult life kat koleq with the F1s and F2s (to be precise, certain groups of F1s and F2s). I half expected nama Pejal appeared in *P offender list in the UK ha ha.....
Anyway Pejal, congratulations - may your son lagi jambu, tinggi dan bijak compared ngan kau (but as kind as you are ha ha - nanti merajuk pulak budak sorang ni..)
Sunday, December 12, 2004
Israeli officer: I was right to shoot 13-year-old child
Judge for yourself – I used to shed tears silently in my small room each time a news report of footage of another Palestinian death flashed repeatedly on Channel 4 or BBC News. In Malaysia we are too insulated from the suffering and we move on ignoring the atrocities, never wanting to lift a finger, accepting that it is God’s ordained fate for us Muslims, dismissing ourselves as weak and defenceless. Shame on us.
Each time revelations like this hit the media, my confidence of the greater good of mankind is demoted to another notch downwards. I become a racist, pre-judging the people of Israel and their supporters in the Western world as willing collaborators to this act of genocide, openly blessing the murderous and barbarous act of the soldiers, silently rejoicing the death of another Palestinian’s life.
It is only in the people like Noam Chomsky, Jon Pilger, Jeremy Corbyn, Ang Swee Chai, those IDF’s soldiers who refuse to serve in the Occupied Territories and countless Jewish, Christian, atheist and Muslim peace activists around the world that my belief in mankind’s inherent kindness and sense of justice is restored. Al-Quran repeatedly confirmed that all humans are born equal, you are not judged by your colour, size of your nose, nationality save your deeds while you wander on this Earth that Allah SWT has created for mankind to dwell.
My heart goes out to the little girl murdered by hatred, but my heart also tells me that Heaven awaits you O little girl. Go and rest in peace, for this world is no longer for peace loving mankind, it is for the strong to trample on the weak.
Israeli officer: I was right to shoot 13-year-old child
Radio exchange contradicts army version of Gaza killing
Chris McGreal in Jerusalem
Wednesday November 24, 2004
The Guardian
An Israeli army officer who repeatedly shot a 13-year-old Palestinian girl in Gaza dismissed a warning from another soldier that she was a child by saying he would have killed her even if she was three years old.
The officer, identified by the army only as Captain R, was charged this week with illegal use of his weapon, conduct unbecoming an officer and other relatively minor infractions after emptying all 10 bullets from his gun's magazine into Iman al-Hams when she walked into a "security area" on the edge of Rafah refugee camp last month.
A tape recording of radio exchanges between soldiers involved in the incident, played on Israeli television, contradicts the army's account of the events and appears to show that the captain shot the girl in cold blood.
The official account claimed that Iman was shot as she walked towards an army post with her schoolbag because soldiers feared she was carrying a bomb.
But the tape recording of the radio conversation between soldiers at the scene reveals that, from the beginning, she was identified as a child and at no point was a bomb spoken about nor was she described as a threat. Iman was also at least 100 yards from any soldier.
Instead, the tape shows that the soldiers swiftly identified her as a "girl of about 10" who was "scared to death".
The tape also reveals that the soldiers said Iman was headed eastwards, away from the army post and back into the refugee camp, when she was shot.
At that point, Captain R took the unusual decision to leave the post in pursuit of the girl. He shot her dead and then "confirmed the kill" by emptying his magazine into her body.
The tape recording is of a three-way conversation between the army watchtower, the army post's operations room and the captain, who was a company commander.
The soldier in the watchtower radioed his colleagues after he saw Iman: "It's a little girl. She's running defensively eastward."
Operations room: "Are we talking about a girl under the age of 10?"
Watchtower: "A girl of about 10, she's behind the embankment, scared to death."
A few minutes later, Iman is shot in the leg from one of the army posts.
The watchtower: "I think that one of the positions took her out."
The company commander then moves in as Iman lies wounded and helpless.
Captain R: "I and another soldier ... are going in a little nearer, forward, to confirm the kill ... Receive a situation report. We fired and killed her ... I also confirmed the kill. Over."
Witnesses described how the captain shot Iman twice in the head, walked away, turned back and fired a stream of bullets into her body. Doctors at Rafah's hospital said she had been shot at least 17 times.
On the tape, the company commander then "clarifies" why he killed Iman: "This is commander. Anything that's mobile, that moves in the zone, even if it's a three-year-old, needs to be killed. Over."
The army's original account of the killing said that the soldiers only identified Iman as a child after she was first shot. But the tape shows that they were aware just how young the small, slight girl was before any shots were fired.
The case came to light after soldiers under the command of Captain R went to an Israeli newspaper to accuse the army of covering up the circumstances of the killing.
A subsequent investigation by the officer responsible for the Gaza strip, Major General Dan Harel, concluded that the captain had "not acted unethically".
However, the military police launched an investigation, which resulted in charges against the unit commander.
Iman's parents have accused the army of whitewashing the affair by filing minor charges against Captain R. They want him prosecuted for murder.
Record of a shooting
Watchtower
'It's a little girl. She's running defensively eastward'
Operations room
'Are we talking about a girl under the age of 10?'
Watchtower
'A girl of about 10, she's behind the embankment, scared to death'
Captain R (after killing the girl)
'Anything moving in the zone, even a three-year-old, needs to be killed'
Israel shocked by image of soldiers forcing violinist to play at roadblock
Chris McGreal in Jerusalem
Monday November 29, 2004
The Guardian
Of all the revelations that have rocked the Israeli army over the past week, perhaps none disturbed the public so much as the video footage of soldiers forcing a Palestinian man to play his violin.
The incident was not as shocking as the recording of an Israeli officer pumping the body of a 13-year-old girl full of bullets and then saying he would have shot her even if she had been three years old.
Nor was it as nauseating as the pictures in an Israeli newspaper of ultra-orthodox soldiers mocking Palestinian corpses by impaling a man's head on a pole and sticking a cigarette in his mouth.
But the matter of the violin touched on something deeper about the way Israelis see themselves, and their conflict with the Palestinians.
The violinist, Wissam Tayem, was on his way to a music lesson near Nablus when he said an Israeli officer ordered him to "play something sad" while soldiers made fun of him. After several minutes, he was told he could pass.
It may be that the soldiers wanted Mr Tayem to prove he was indeed a musician walking to a lesson because, as a man under 30, he would not normally have been permitted through the checkpoint.
But after the incident was videotaped by Jewish women peace activists, it prompted revulsion among Israelis not normally perturbed about the treatment of Arabs.
The rightwing Army Radio commentator Uri Orbach found the incident disturbingly reminiscent of Jewish musicians forced to provide background music to mass murder. "What about Majdanek?" he asked, referring to the Nazi extermination camp.
The critics were not drawing a parallel between an Israeli roadblock and a Nazi camp. Their concern was that Jewish suffering had been diminished by the humiliation of Mr Tayem.
Yoram Kaniuk, author of a book about a Jewish violinist forced to play for a concentration camp commander, wrote in Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper that the soldiers responsible should be put on trial "not for abusing Arabs but for disgracing the Holocaust".
"Of all the terrible things done at the roadblocks, this story is one which negates the very possibility of the existence of Israel as a Jewish state. If [the military] does not put these soldiers on trial we will have no moral right to speak of ourselves as a state that rose from the Holocaust," he wrote.
"If we allow Jewish soldiers to put an Arab violinist at a roadblock and laugh at him, we have succeeded in arriving at the lowest moral point possible. Our entire existence in this Arab region was justified, and is still justified, by our suffering; by Jewish violinists in the camps."
Others took a broader view by drawing a link between the routine dehumanising treatment of Palestinians at checkpoints, the desecration of dead bodies and what looks very much like the murder of a terrified 13-year-old Palestinian girl by an army officer in Gaza.
Israelis put great store in a belief that their army is "the most moral in the world" because it says it adheres to a code of "the purity of arms". There is rarely much public questioning of the army's routine explanation that Palestinian civilians who have been killed had been "caught in crossfire", or that children are shot because they are used as cover by fighters.
But the public's confidence has been shaken by the revelations of the past week. The audio recording of the shooting of the 13-year-old, Iman al-Hams, prompted much soul searching, although the revulsion appears to be as much at the Israeli officer firing a stream of bullets into her lifeless body as the killing itself. Some soldiers told Israeli papers that their mothers had sought assurances that they did not do that kind of thing.
One Israeli peace group, the Arik Institute, took out large newspaper adverts to plead for "Jewish patriots" to "open your eyes and look around" at the suffering of Palestinians.
The incidents prompted the army to call in all commanders from the rank of lieutenant-colonel to emphasise the importance of maintaining the "purity of arms" code.
The army's critics say the real problem is not the behaviour of soldiers on the ground but the climate of impunity that emanates from the top.
While the officer responsible for killing Iman al-Hams has been charged with relatively minor offences, and the soldiers who forced the violinist to play were ticked off for being "insensitive", the only troops who were swiftly punished for violating regulations last week were some who posed naked in the snow for a photograph. They were dismissed from their unit.
Last week the Israeli human rights group B'Tselem criticised what it described as a "culture of impunity" within the army. The group says at least 1,656 Palestinian non-combatants have been killed during the intifada, including 529 children.
"To date, one soldier has been convicted of causing the death of a Palestinian," it said.
"The combination of rules of engagement that encourage a trigger-happy attitude among soldiers together with the climate of impunity results in a clear and very troubling message about the value the Israeli military places on Palestinian life."
Each time revelations like this hit the media, my confidence of the greater good of mankind is demoted to another notch downwards. I become a racist, pre-judging the people of Israel and their supporters in the Western world as willing collaborators to this act of genocide, openly blessing the murderous and barbarous act of the soldiers, silently rejoicing the death of another Palestinian’s life.
It is only in the people like Noam Chomsky, Jon Pilger, Jeremy Corbyn, Ang Swee Chai, those IDF’s soldiers who refuse to serve in the Occupied Territories and countless Jewish, Christian, atheist and Muslim peace activists around the world that my belief in mankind’s inherent kindness and sense of justice is restored. Al-Quran repeatedly confirmed that all humans are born equal, you are not judged by your colour, size of your nose, nationality save your deeds while you wander on this Earth that Allah SWT has created for mankind to dwell.
My heart goes out to the little girl murdered by hatred, but my heart also tells me that Heaven awaits you O little girl. Go and rest in peace, for this world is no longer for peace loving mankind, it is for the strong to trample on the weak.
Israeli officer: I was right to shoot 13-year-old child
Radio exchange contradicts army version of Gaza killing
Chris McGreal in Jerusalem
Wednesday November 24, 2004
The Guardian
An Israeli army officer who repeatedly shot a 13-year-old Palestinian girl in Gaza dismissed a warning from another soldier that she was a child by saying he would have killed her even if she was three years old.
The officer, identified by the army only as Captain R, was charged this week with illegal use of his weapon, conduct unbecoming an officer and other relatively minor infractions after emptying all 10 bullets from his gun's magazine into Iman al-Hams when she walked into a "security area" on the edge of Rafah refugee camp last month.
A tape recording of radio exchanges between soldiers involved in the incident, played on Israeli television, contradicts the army's account of the events and appears to show that the captain shot the girl in cold blood.
The official account claimed that Iman was shot as she walked towards an army post with her schoolbag because soldiers feared she was carrying a bomb.
But the tape recording of the radio conversation between soldiers at the scene reveals that, from the beginning, she was identified as a child and at no point was a bomb spoken about nor was she described as a threat. Iman was also at least 100 yards from any soldier.
Instead, the tape shows that the soldiers swiftly identified her as a "girl of about 10" who was "scared to death".
The tape also reveals that the soldiers said Iman was headed eastwards, away from the army post and back into the refugee camp, when she was shot.
At that point, Captain R took the unusual decision to leave the post in pursuit of the girl. He shot her dead and then "confirmed the kill" by emptying his magazine into her body.
The tape recording is of a three-way conversation between the army watchtower, the army post's operations room and the captain, who was a company commander.
The soldier in the watchtower radioed his colleagues after he saw Iman: "It's a little girl. She's running defensively eastward."
Operations room: "Are we talking about a girl under the age of 10?"
Watchtower: "A girl of about 10, she's behind the embankment, scared to death."
A few minutes later, Iman is shot in the leg from one of the army posts.
The watchtower: "I think that one of the positions took her out."
The company commander then moves in as Iman lies wounded and helpless.
Captain R: "I and another soldier ... are going in a little nearer, forward, to confirm the kill ... Receive a situation report. We fired and killed her ... I also confirmed the kill. Over."
Witnesses described how the captain shot Iman twice in the head, walked away, turned back and fired a stream of bullets into her body. Doctors at Rafah's hospital said she had been shot at least 17 times.
On the tape, the company commander then "clarifies" why he killed Iman: "This is commander. Anything that's mobile, that moves in the zone, even if it's a three-year-old, needs to be killed. Over."
The army's original account of the killing said that the soldiers only identified Iman as a child after she was first shot. But the tape shows that they were aware just how young the small, slight girl was before any shots were fired.
The case came to light after soldiers under the command of Captain R went to an Israeli newspaper to accuse the army of covering up the circumstances of the killing.
A subsequent investigation by the officer responsible for the Gaza strip, Major General Dan Harel, concluded that the captain had "not acted unethically".
However, the military police launched an investigation, which resulted in charges against the unit commander.
Iman's parents have accused the army of whitewashing the affair by filing minor charges against Captain R. They want him prosecuted for murder.
Record of a shooting
Watchtower
'It's a little girl. She's running defensively eastward'
Operations room
'Are we talking about a girl under the age of 10?'
Watchtower
'A girl of about 10, she's behind the embankment, scared to death'
Captain R (after killing the girl)
'Anything moving in the zone, even a three-year-old, needs to be killed'
Israel shocked by image of soldiers forcing violinist to play at roadblock
Chris McGreal in Jerusalem
Monday November 29, 2004
The Guardian
Of all the revelations that have rocked the Israeli army over the past week, perhaps none disturbed the public so much as the video footage of soldiers forcing a Palestinian man to play his violin.
The incident was not as shocking as the recording of an Israeli officer pumping the body of a 13-year-old girl full of bullets and then saying he would have shot her even if she had been three years old.
Nor was it as nauseating as the pictures in an Israeli newspaper of ultra-orthodox soldiers mocking Palestinian corpses by impaling a man's head on a pole and sticking a cigarette in his mouth.
But the matter of the violin touched on something deeper about the way Israelis see themselves, and their conflict with the Palestinians.
The violinist, Wissam Tayem, was on his way to a music lesson near Nablus when he said an Israeli officer ordered him to "play something sad" while soldiers made fun of him. After several minutes, he was told he could pass.
It may be that the soldiers wanted Mr Tayem to prove he was indeed a musician walking to a lesson because, as a man under 30, he would not normally have been permitted through the checkpoint.
But after the incident was videotaped by Jewish women peace activists, it prompted revulsion among Israelis not normally perturbed about the treatment of Arabs.
The rightwing Army Radio commentator Uri Orbach found the incident disturbingly reminiscent of Jewish musicians forced to provide background music to mass murder. "What about Majdanek?" he asked, referring to the Nazi extermination camp.
The critics were not drawing a parallel between an Israeli roadblock and a Nazi camp. Their concern was that Jewish suffering had been diminished by the humiliation of Mr Tayem.
Yoram Kaniuk, author of a book about a Jewish violinist forced to play for a concentration camp commander, wrote in Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper that the soldiers responsible should be put on trial "not for abusing Arabs but for disgracing the Holocaust".
"Of all the terrible things done at the roadblocks, this story is one which negates the very possibility of the existence of Israel as a Jewish state. If [the military] does not put these soldiers on trial we will have no moral right to speak of ourselves as a state that rose from the Holocaust," he wrote.
"If we allow Jewish soldiers to put an Arab violinist at a roadblock and laugh at him, we have succeeded in arriving at the lowest moral point possible. Our entire existence in this Arab region was justified, and is still justified, by our suffering; by Jewish violinists in the camps."
Others took a broader view by drawing a link between the routine dehumanising treatment of Palestinians at checkpoints, the desecration of dead bodies and what looks very much like the murder of a terrified 13-year-old Palestinian girl by an army officer in Gaza.
Israelis put great store in a belief that their army is "the most moral in the world" because it says it adheres to a code of "the purity of arms". There is rarely much public questioning of the army's routine explanation that Palestinian civilians who have been killed had been "caught in crossfire", or that children are shot because they are used as cover by fighters.
But the public's confidence has been shaken by the revelations of the past week. The audio recording of the shooting of the 13-year-old, Iman al-Hams, prompted much soul searching, although the revulsion appears to be as much at the Israeli officer firing a stream of bullets into her lifeless body as the killing itself. Some soldiers told Israeli papers that their mothers had sought assurances that they did not do that kind of thing.
One Israeli peace group, the Arik Institute, took out large newspaper adverts to plead for "Jewish patriots" to "open your eyes and look around" at the suffering of Palestinians.
The incidents prompted the army to call in all commanders from the rank of lieutenant-colonel to emphasise the importance of maintaining the "purity of arms" code.
The army's critics say the real problem is not the behaviour of soldiers on the ground but the climate of impunity that emanates from the top.
While the officer responsible for killing Iman al-Hams has been charged with relatively minor offences, and the soldiers who forced the violinist to play were ticked off for being "insensitive", the only troops who were swiftly punished for violating regulations last week were some who posed naked in the snow for a photograph. They were dismissed from their unit.
Last week the Israeli human rights group B'Tselem criticised what it described as a "culture of impunity" within the army. The group says at least 1,656 Palestinian non-combatants have been killed during the intifada, including 529 children.
"To date, one soldier has been convicted of causing the death of a Palestinian," it said.
"The combination of rules of engagement that encourage a trigger-happy attitude among soldiers together with the climate of impunity results in a clear and very troubling message about the value the Israeli military places on Palestinian life."
Langkah Bendul
I was at Tropicana with Allen last night, attending a wedding dinner of one of Fadli's good friend (Keng). Fadli couldn't make it and since all of us were acquaintances when we were in London (Keng is settling down in London for good), so we had to honour her invitation.
Anyway, that is not the subject for this post.
During our twilight years in London - young fresh graduates in first employment - we (the budak koleq of this batch in London) had a small Malaysian circle of friends, which include Shima and Aya, sisters to one Zamir Abdul Rashid, our F1 back in koleq (Class of 98).
So it was good catching up with Aya again (Shima couldn't make it to the wedding reception for personal reason). She came with her husband. Alicia (another friend from the London circle) was also at the dinner.
I nearly choked to death with the giant meatball stuffed in my hungry mouth when Aya told us of Zamir's wedding in March next year!
Even our juniors of four years in koleq are all getting married and (presumably) settling down, and some of us are still jumping around as if it's no one's business. Our species is fast becoming extinct - and although I keep telling people with a straight face that we are perfectly happy pretending that we are still 16-year old Form 4 students, there was sometimes this longing to settle down (I contradict myself here).
But it's fast becoming a trend, this langkah bendul thing. Bobby (Fadli's brother) is getting married in July next year, leaving Fadli the only bachelor in his family.
Of all the groups, the Petronas batch half (as we called ourselves - those who went straight to the UK in January 1995) is the most left behind in this kahwin-kahwin thing. Only Fly has got married and in spite of 10 girl friends in 2 years, Jita is still teruna trang tang tang (virgin ke tak, ask him).
So next week we are going to Radin's wedding, I am sure tonnes of people will turn up with their wives.
Luckily when I met Zadin last Raya, he was complaining how he was finding it difficult to get into a relationship or getting a girlfriend - to which I promptly replied (on behalf of Sharap too...) "Kalau Zadin pun payah nak cari girl friend, fat buggers like us ni memang have no chance in hell laa of ever settling down.."
That is going to be my standard reply after this when the Cepu Mas question is asked - so Zadin you better stay single for another 10 years...
Anyway, that is not the subject for this post.
During our twilight years in London - young fresh graduates in first employment - we (the budak koleq of this batch in London) had a small Malaysian circle of friends, which include Shima and Aya, sisters to one Zamir Abdul Rashid, our F1 back in koleq (Class of 98).
So it was good catching up with Aya again (Shima couldn't make it to the wedding reception for personal reason). She came with her husband. Alicia (another friend from the London circle) was also at the dinner.
I nearly choked to death with the giant meatball stuffed in my hungry mouth when Aya told us of Zamir's wedding in March next year!
Even our juniors of four years in koleq are all getting married and (presumably) settling down, and some of us are still jumping around as if it's no one's business. Our species is fast becoming extinct - and although I keep telling people with a straight face that we are perfectly happy pretending that we are still 16-year old Form 4 students, there was sometimes this longing to settle down (I contradict myself here).
But it's fast becoming a trend, this langkah bendul thing. Bobby (Fadli's brother) is getting married in July next year, leaving Fadli the only bachelor in his family.
Of all the groups, the Petronas batch half (as we called ourselves - those who went straight to the UK in January 1995) is the most left behind in this kahwin-kahwin thing. Only Fly has got married and in spite of 10 girl friends in 2 years, Jita is still teruna trang tang tang (virgin ke tak, ask him).
So next week we are going to Radin's wedding, I am sure tonnes of people will turn up with their wives.
Luckily when I met Zadin last Raya, he was complaining how he was finding it difficult to get into a relationship or getting a girlfriend - to which I promptly replied (on behalf of Sharap too...) "Kalau Zadin pun payah nak cari girl friend, fat buggers like us ni memang have no chance in hell laa of ever settling down.."
That is going to be my standard reply after this when the Cepu Mas question is asked - so Zadin you better stay single for another 10 years...
Friday, December 10, 2004
Jejak Kasih - Part III
Madad laughing at something that none of us could understand, more pictures here
Not to be outdone by Badut (to whom the midnight curfew still applies), Madad goes a bit further - he was totally grounded unless one of us went to fetch him up. So there I was, driving all the way to KL and then to Kajang to pick him up. Luckily Kajang was such a metropolis that I did not waste a lot of time looking for Madad's mansion.
Madad picked up a new hobby - he is now an art collector, so I had to hang around him for close to an hour going from one art shop to another, looking for something that he could invest in. With my sandal, a worn out khakis and muka tak mandi, I was in my element - and the shop assistant kept looking at me as if trying to say that I was not really welcome there.
Anyway, the dinner was on Madad - and since he did not know what kind of place Pelita was, we decided to introduce him to the poshness of Pelita (I am sure that was the first time in so many years he dined at a mamak "stall").
Suri, Allen, Fazurin, Chamat and Jita were there too. We picked a spot facing a huge TV set since a football game was on air, as a tribute to Jita's legendary accuracy with football. There was a time when we were in Scotland that Jita, as a house prefect, wanted to be kind to a group of primary students at our boarding house - so he "passed" back a ball that came across our way to the kids. Well "passed" is an understatement since the kids had to make another 100 m dash from the spot they were since Jita accurately sent the ball flying to the other direction.
Madad had not changed at all. He still laughed the way he did back in koleq - I would have called it "donkey" style (not to be mistaken with doggy style, that was for another thing); he laughed too wholeheartedly that after a while even the joke was lost. Most of the time, we were not even sure what was he laughing at.
It could also be the last time that we had dinner with Chamat. He is going to move to Chicago for good soon for a position with Accenture US. There was a sense of poignancy (is there a word?), although no one looked sad or gloomy that night.
Madad picked up the tab, complaining that the bill was not even close to 10 quid!
We adjourned early to Marriott Putrajaya since Jita and I had to attend a course in Bangi the next day. In the end, I took the hotel room Jita was booked in and he had to sleep in Putrajaya that night.
It was a good night out, although we are running out of modal to laugh at. As always, the drama of Fadli collapsing in the class from malnutrition and Suri's taking advantage of the chaos that followed, always featured highly. Suri is still as pervert as usual, maybe that's why he's with GlaxoSmithkline.
Next week is Radin's wedding - me think it's going to be another round of reunion.
*ps - Codak reported to the batch (he still holds the official reporter status) that MCKK: Impressions currently occupies the no. 2 spot at Kinokinuya's non-fiction chart. Maybe we should start asking for royalty heh?
*pps - Fadli called me from Kansas, some time in February 2005 he is going to attend a company bash (or something like that) in New Orleans and he is entitled to bring another person (ideally a girl friend or wife) from any place in the world, all expenses paid for. So if you want a trip to New Orleans for free, be very nice to Fadli....
Back To School
If you are crazy enough to don the white short, long socks and black shoes all over again, here is an opportunity (although the price tag is a bit too expensive). The Centenary Celebration Committee is organising a special MCOBA Weekend for those who can afford it - to go through life all over again as an MCKK student, this time with NJ Ryan as the Headmaster.
You can choose to become prefects, headboy etc. at a certain price, and you have to bid for headboy (the one thing that I wanted i.e. to become jambu is not in the list, I think it was a greater privilege than to become a headboy - to be adored and pampered throughout your life in koleq ha ha).
If you think well-built Zadin and Toy in white short back then was an awful sight (I always wonder how the young lady teachers took it especially considering some of us were already baligh, what with the hairy leg and all...), this must be even worse. Those nearing the status of octogenarian in the white short, attending classes etc.
If you have some money to burn (although I think giving to charity is perhaps more useful ha ha), and you don't mind the insanity of it all - then please contact the organiser. You have less than 24 hours to bid for the positions (I guess none from this batch would bid to become prefects ha ha, we were not so eager even when it was free back then!)
Follow this link to get the brochure.
Original e-mail from Organisers
From : AbdulRazak \"Jak Li\"
Reply-To: mckk-comnet@yahoogroups.com
Sent : 07 December 2004 11:43:37
To : mckk-comnet@yahoogroups.com, centenaryday@yahoogroups.com, beritamcoba@yahoogroups.com, FT72-76 MC, milesacademy@yahoo.com
Subject : [mckk-comnet] MCKK Centenary 2005: BACK TO SCHOOL, Dec 31-Jan 2
Dear Friends,
Attached is information on the Back to School program--brochure, registration, information.
Neil J Ryan will be the Headmaster for the event from Dec 31 to Jan 2, 2005.
This is a once-in-a-life-time opportunity to re-live the College experience. Attend classes, co-Q, games, etc., abide or break the rules. Be an ordinary student or prefect or captain or monitor. Join the New Year and Centenary parties. Read more in the brochure.
Share this information with your friends/ batch mates.
Limited time only. First come, first serve. Open to all boys only; non-MCOB can also register and entitle to apply for MCOBA membership.
Closing date for application: December 11, 2004.
cheers,
coordinator, bts
You can choose to become prefects, headboy etc. at a certain price, and you have to bid for headboy (the one thing that I wanted i.e. to become jambu is not in the list, I think it was a greater privilege than to become a headboy - to be adored and pampered throughout your life in koleq ha ha).
If you think well-built Zadin and Toy in white short back then was an awful sight (I always wonder how the young lady teachers took it especially considering some of us were already baligh, what with the hairy leg and all...), this must be even worse. Those nearing the status of octogenarian in the white short, attending classes etc.
If you have some money to burn (although I think giving to charity is perhaps more useful ha ha), and you don't mind the insanity of it all - then please contact the organiser. You have less than 24 hours to bid for the positions (I guess none from this batch would bid to become prefects ha ha, we were not so eager even when it was free back then!)
Follow this link to get the brochure.
Original e-mail from Organisers
From : AbdulRazak \"Jak Li\"
Reply-To: mckk-comnet@yahoogroups.com
Sent : 07 December 2004 11:43:37
To : mckk-comnet@yahoogroups.com, centenaryday@yahoogroups.com, beritamcoba@yahoogroups.com, FT72-76 MC
Subject : [mckk-comnet] MCKK Centenary 2005: BACK TO SCHOOL, Dec 31-Jan 2
Dear Friends,
Attached is information on the Back to School program--brochure, registration, information.
Neil J Ryan will be the Headmaster for the event from Dec 31 to Jan 2, 2005.
This is a once-in-a-life-time opportunity to re-live the College experience. Attend classes, co-Q, games, etc., abide or break the rules. Be an ordinary student or prefect or captain or monitor. Join the New Year and Centenary parties. Read more in the brochure.
Share this information with your friends/ batch mates.
Limited time only. First come, first serve. Open to all boys only; non-MCOB can also register and entitle to apply for MCOBA membership.
Closing date for application: December 11, 2004.
cheers,
coordinator, bts
Monday, November 29, 2004
Jejak Kasih - Part II
Zack (my junior in Dorm 21) was in Kerteh for an audit last weekend. I supposed Zack wanted to try his luck by asking whether I could pick him up from Kuantan Airport to Awana Kijal - but I was frank enough to tell Zack that he was not jambu enough for me to entertain that kind of request (ha ha). A nice kid, but not jambu enough.
We had our normal monthly gathering and it becomes very clear now that Bobo and I had become the official patrons. I think we are going to call it McD Club (for lack of a better name for a secret society). While we are on it, McD Kerteh was a victim of terrible vandal acts recently, with vandals such as "McShit", "Bodoh" etc. scrawled prominently on its floor and walls. Rasa-rasanya McD is not really welcome in Terengganu after all.....
Bobo came late, but Nuddin (Class of 98), Zack (Class of 96), Amon (Class of 96) and I were almost on time. Zack paid for the dinner - until now I curse myself for having only a Milo and french fries (yes in Kerteh it is still called french fries, not freedom fries), I should have had 3 Bigmac, 2 McChicken etc. etc. just to dent Zack's pocket.
Bobo came with Pacal, his office mate. Exciting kid, eyes always glowing (Pacal that is, not Bobo) ha ha.
In the end, it became a reunion for Amon and Zack who had not met all this while, with Zack updating Amon on the what has been happening with their batch members. Since Bobo and I used to share the same interest, we asked for an update of B86 - not much coming from Zack though.
Before we left (around 1 am something, kesian adik McD tu kena kerja lambat that night), the conversation degenerated into "what it could have been", with Bobo suggesting that I started my own "order" business back in koleq with people like B86 to man the operation. A sure success considering the interest back then ha ha.. along the way I was kicking my head thinking how dumb I was back then not to have thought of such a brilliant business venture.
So that's McD Club for November, I know Bobo needs this McD Club as much as I do if only to feel that he is still unmarried and free to do whatever he wishes for, at least once a month....
We had our normal monthly gathering and it becomes very clear now that Bobo and I had become the official patrons. I think we are going to call it McD Club (for lack of a better name for a secret society). While we are on it, McD Kerteh was a victim of terrible vandal acts recently, with vandals such as "McShit", "Bodoh" etc. scrawled prominently on its floor and walls. Rasa-rasanya McD is not really welcome in Terengganu after all.....
Bobo came late, but Nuddin (Class of 98), Zack (Class of 96), Amon (Class of 96) and I were almost on time. Zack paid for the dinner - until now I curse myself for having only a Milo and french fries (yes in Kerteh it is still called french fries, not freedom fries), I should have had 3 Bigmac, 2 McChicken etc. etc. just to dent Zack's pocket.
Bobo came with Pacal, his office mate. Exciting kid, eyes always glowing (Pacal that is, not Bobo) ha ha.
In the end, it became a reunion for Amon and Zack who had not met all this while, with Zack updating Amon on the what has been happening with their batch members. Since Bobo and I used to share the same interest, we asked for an update of B86 - not much coming from Zack though.
Before we left (around 1 am something, kesian adik McD tu kena kerja lambat that night), the conversation degenerated into "what it could have been", with Bobo suggesting that I started my own "order" business back in koleq with people like B86 to man the operation. A sure success considering the interest back then ha ha.. along the way I was kicking my head thinking how dumb I was back then not to have thought of such a brilliant business venture.
So that's McD Club for November, I know Bobo needs this McD Club as much as I do if only to feel that he is still unmarried and free to do whatever he wishes for, at least once a month....
MCKK Centenary Celebrations Treasure Hunt
The MCKK Centenary Celebrations Treasure Hunt will be held on the 18th and 19th December 2004 from Kuala Lumpur-Ipoh-Kuala Kangsar.
Entry fee is RM160.00 per person, with a minimum of two participants and maximum of four in one car. The entry fee covers participation fees, buffet dinner and one night stay at Ipoh on day 1, a buffet breakfast and lunch on day 2, as well as t-shirts and goodies.
Entry fee for children under 12 years old is RM100 per child. Participation is limited to 100 cars. Registration closes on 11th December 2004.
Entry forms can be obtained from the MCOBA Penthouse. Enquiries can be directed to Sdr. Sam Rahman at 017-338 2389 or 03-7781 7159.
Entry fee is RM160.00 per person, with a minimum of two participants and maximum of four in one car. The entry fee covers participation fees, buffet dinner and one night stay at Ipoh on day 1, a buffet breakfast and lunch on day 2, as well as t-shirts and goodies.
Entry fee for children under 12 years old is RM100 per child. Participation is limited to 100 cars. Registration closes on 11th December 2004.
Entry forms can be obtained from the MCOBA Penthouse. Enquiries can be directed to Sdr. Sam Rahman at 017-338 2389 or 03-7781 7159.
Radin's Wedding
radin@fugela.net
23/11/2004 09:58 AM
Assalamualaikum semua,
Aku nak menjemput korang semua ke kenduri kahwin aku pada 19 December 2004 di Dewan Kompleks Sukan Sri Delima, Off Jalan Kuching KL.
Sila beri alamat korang utk aku poskan invitation card aku. atau korang boleh sms address korang kpd no. hp aku 019 2369 577
23/11/2004 09:58 AM
Assalamualaikum semua,
Aku nak menjemput korang semua ke kenduri kahwin aku pada 19 December 2004 di Dewan Kompleks Sukan Sri Delima, Off Jalan Kuching KL.
Sila beri alamat korang utk aku poskan invitation card aku. atau korang boleh sms address korang kpd no. hp aku 019 2369 577
Jejak Kasih - Part I
More picture here
From: Noni
To: Batch-net
Date: Sometime lepas raya
Official duty aku hari ni still to send e-mails (just like any other days).
Anyway, last Monday I went out ngan Sharap and Zadin - since I have not seen nor spoken to them for the past 10 years. It wasn't really a tearful reunion so I spare you the sentimental bit, but it was good meeting people you have lost contact for a very long time. At least with Sharap, I was very close to him in F5, but Zahadin and I rarely had an encounter even when we were in koleq.
Unfortunately we had to do it kat Starbucks - because I hate Starbucks and kedai2 kopi yang sewaktu dengannya. I was planning for a treat at a Chinese restaurant nearby, but it seems my appetite for big dinner and fattening food was not shared by the other two, so we had to settle for Starbucks. I had a feeling that Zadin thought I was a yuppie-kind of person who could not survive without occasional dose of surreal experience at Starbucks, if only to feel that I was close enough to the place of happenings/hip etc. So the money that would have been better spent at a gerai nasi ayam or on good Chinese dinner that night, was spent enriching Zionist-backing Starbucks.....
Anyway, I was quite surprised that after 10 years, people hardly change in appearance (wokay I put on 30 kg, but what's the big deal?) or behaviour, although they do grow up and become more matured. The worldview is quite different and it was quite obvious (but then again hardly anyone shares my worldview and complex) - but unlike those days in koleq when people yelled when they disagreed on something (on an issue as trivial as kena confinement sebab katil kotor or someone's bapak was allegedly a setan), Sharap and Zadin were very accommodating to my unusual views (although they seemed to flinch uncomfortably when I suggested that **tut tut**, or that **tut tut** - too sensitive!)
All in all it was a well spent second hari raya - there is still a huge gap but it's amazing how such gaps no longer intimidate us or stop us from sitting down at one table, whereas in koleq you would never have done that if you know there's a huge chasm between you and the next person.
I met Sharap again a few days after before he went back to Bangi and talked about a lot of things (well actually Sharap had to listen to my babbling most of the time) - it's refreshing to know we still share the same views on a lot of issues.
Next is to meet Madad, who I haven't met for the last 2 years and is back in Malaysia until 6 December.
(Yeaaaay, dah habis half an hour writing one e-mail, I need to write a couple more e-mails to kill time before lunch break, then sepah2kan meja to look busy after Jumaat to survive the next 2 hours.... It's a wonderful life!)
* gambar attached to prove I did not make up stories - aku did berjejak kasih this raya
hafiznizam hashim
19/11/2004 10:29 PM
apa rasa Starbucks kemamang??? kopi dia kaw ke??? hehehehehe...ko mesti ada running tab kat situ kan??? muahahahahaha...aku raya ni bonding ngn fly je tapi tak de la pulak ambik gambar mcm ko...yang lain tak dak sesapa...dah la masuk tahun nie 2 tahun berturut2 raya kat seremban...tak dapat bonding ngn syed asruru...
pengumuman lagi satu...anak aku dah boleh berjalan...
Amir Zafily B Zakaria
20/11/2004 09:52 AM
tak sampai ker ayien, idzam, mongger etc ke rumah kau? anyway, rasanya still tak terlambat nak ucapkan Salam Aidilfitri to all, Maaf Zahir & Batin... Jangan lupa buat puasa enam ye...
"Muhammad Gadaffi b. Hussain"
21/11/2004 01:56 PM
Ceh tergamak kau minum kat kedai yang ada sumbangan kat zionis! Apa nak jadi dengan korang bertiga ni.
Apsal Zahadin dan Saraf satu fesyen???- ada janggut tak ada misai???? Depa join kumpulan Rhoma Irama ker berdakwah sambil berdangdut????
M Rafizi B Ramli
11/25/2004 12:45 PM
>> pengumuman lagi satu...anak aku dah boleh berjalan...
sure buas/liar macam bapak dia masa kecik - cuma bapak dia dulu obesity limited his buasness masa kecik, anak dia tak tahu laaa
Amir Zafily B Zakaria
25/11/2004 12:51 PM
rasanya epit junior ni tak sebuas bapak dia la kot sebab dia kurus sket...
25/11/2004 01:19 PM
jambu jures n jita (tapi jita x claim lak sekarang) masa kat koleq, zen akmal, is with accenture
Thursday, November 18, 2004
Aleng's Wedding
Assalamu'alaikum wrt dan salam sejahtera,
Dengan segala hormatnya saya menjemput kawan-kawan ke majlis meraikan perkahwinan saya pada Ahad, 4 dan 5 Disember 2004.
Semoga kehadiran kawan-kawan akan memeriahkan lagi majlis.
Terima kasih
Ikhlas dari,
Arulhaizal Adam Hamzah
012-5790-755
MISC
Note: Tak pulak diberitahu alamat or kat mana dia nak kahwin - kena call dia la kot.
Dengan segala hormatnya saya menjemput kawan-kawan ke majlis meraikan perkahwinan saya pada Ahad, 4 dan 5 Disember 2004.
Semoga kehadiran kawan-kawan akan memeriahkan lagi majlis.
Terima kasih
Ikhlas dari,
Arulhaizal Adam Hamzah
012-5790-755
MISC
Note: Tak pulak diberitahu alamat or kat mana dia nak kahwin - kena call dia la kot.
Sunday, November 14, 2004
The Final Battle
Courtesy of The Guardian
Their story is the hardest to tell: that of the Iraqi civilians who have remained in the besieged city of Falluja. They have no embedded Western journalists to speak for them, only a few Iraqi correspondents. They cannot leave their homes because of the risk of constant sniper fire. They have no water to drink, no electricity. If they are injured, they have nowhere to go.
Suddenly, the bitter urban war that many feared would greet the advancing coalition troops during their invasion in March last year, has become a reality in Falluja and is threatening elsewhere.
With it has come the awful realities for civilians. 'Anyone who gets injured is likely to die, because there's no medicine and they can't get to doctors,' said Abdul-Hameed Salim, a volunteer with the Iraqi Red Crescent. 'There are snipers everywhere. Go outside and you're going to get shot.'
Rasoul Ibrahim, who fled Falluja on foot with his wife and three children on Thursday morning, said families left in the city were in desperate need. Doctors at Falluja's hospital said there had been an increase in typhoid cases. 'There's no water. People are drinking dirty water. Children are dying,' Ibrahim told aid workers in Habbaniya, a makeshift refugee camp 12 miles to the west of Falluja where about 2,000 families are sheltering. 'People are eating flour because there's no proper food.'
The picture is at best patchy. In the battle for Falluja the fate of those who have remained - perhaps between 30,000 and 50,000 in a city whose population is normally 250,000 - remains largely unknown. And for a reason. One of the first actions of US troops in the hours before the full-scale assault on the city from the north was to the seize its general hospital to prevent what one US officer described as 'insurgent propaganda' over casualty figures.
So the condition of those who have stayed has come out in dribs and drabs: a nine-year-old boy who died of a wound caused by shrapnel to the stomach because he could not reach medical aid; the claim by Mohammed Amer, a doctor at a Falluja clinic, that 12 people had died in the opening assault; and the statements of the aid agencies.
On Friday, an Iraqi journalist leaving the city gave one of the few insights into civilian conditions. Those who have not fled, he said, had stayed indoors for fear of constant explosions. 'If the fighters fire a mortar, US forces respond with huge force,' said the journalist, who asked not to be named. There was heavy damage to houses. American forces were destroying every car they saw for fear of car bombs, he said.
The city had been without power or water for days. Frozen food had spoiled and people could not charge their cellphones. The journalist said US forces controlled the northern half of the city, but insurgents were still fighting in the central Wahda and southerly Shuhada and Sinai districts. 'Some people hadn't prepared well. They didn't stock up on tinned food. They didn't think it would be this bad,' he said.
Yesterday a four-truck Red Crescent convoy of relief supplies was finally given permission to enter the city. The trucks were carrying food, blankets, first-aid kits, medicine and a water purification unit.
There is another group whose names and histories remain obscured amid the statements by senior US officers and the Pentagon that they have killed hundreds of insurgents. They are the US soldiers who have been arriving in their plane-loads at the US military hospital at Landstuhl in Germany, the biggest in Europe. They are the wounded who cannot be treated in the Iraq theatre - suffering from spinal and neurological injuries.
Already, confronted by the surge in combat casualties that has seen 24 US soldiers dead and more than 200 wounded, the hospital is expanding its capacity. Lieutenant-Colonel Richard Jordan, a physician at the hospital's deployed warrior centre, which assesses incoming wounded after their six-hour plane trip, said: 'We've had more cases of bullet wounds than usual, though some have also suffered blast wounds from rocket-propelled grenades.'
These are the costs of war with consequences that go beyond the simple and oft-stated objective of reclaiming Falluja from the insurgents. On one side is an increasing allied death toll that threatens a lingering political impact in both the US and Britain. On the other, is the already escalating 'blow-back' on the interim government of Ayad Allawi and his security forces and on his allies in the US-led multinational forces.
The assault on Falluja has coincided with the insurgents' own November offensive across the areas where they are strongest - most obviously in Mosul, a city of a million people that in recent months has threatened to equal Falluja as the main resistance centre.
Yesterday the Iraqi government was rushing reinforcements to Mosul after co-ordinated attacks against police stations and Iraqi National Guard centres that had in effect driven security forces from the streets and left large areas under the control of the insurgents. According to residents, insurgents were in charge of some areas of south and western Mosul, holding two police stations and manning roadblocks, as Iraq's third-largest city appeared to be sliding out of US and Iraqi control. Residents in neighbourhoods throughout the city on the Tigris, 240 miles north of Baghdad, said there was little visible presence of Iraqi security forces or US troops yesterday. They said armed gunmen held some areas.
'In the south and the west of the city, insurgents are doing patrols to protect banks and shops from looters. They are guarding hospitals, schools and fire stations,' said one man, who would give only his first name, Thamer. Another resident said there were Iraqi National Guards and some US troops positioned at the ends of some of the five bridges that span the Tigris, but other than that, security was light.
Mosul province deputy Khissrou Gouran said that on Friday gunmen had tried to storm a food distribution centre in the city's Yarmouk area, but were forced back by National Guardsmen and security guards. The gunmen were trying to destroy election registration cards held at the centre, he said. Militants in Mosul have also assassinated the head of the city's anti-crime task force, Brigadier-General Mowaffaq Mohammed Dahham, and set fire to his home.
'With the start of operations in Falluja a few days ago, we expected that there would be some reaction in Mosul,' Brigadier-General Carter Ham, commander of US forces in the city, told CNN. He doubted the Mosul attackers were insurgents who fled Falluja and said most 'were from the northern part of Iraq, in and around Mosul and the Tigris river valley south of the city'.
It has not just been in Mosul. In Baghdad on Friday clashes erupted in at least four neighbourhoods of the capital. Clashes also broke out from Hawija and Tal Afar in the north to Samarra - where the police chief was also fired at - and Ramadi in central Iraq.
Such has been the violence in response to the assault on Falluja that politicians and officials are already changing their briefing lines on what the battle for Falluja was supposed to achieve. Six weeks ago officials on both sides of the Atlantic were talking about how they hoped that giving the fighters in the city 'a big slap' would be definitive in ending the insurgency and quickly pave the way for elections in January.
It is a promise that has been made before. The establishment of an Iraqi governing council was supposed to do the same, as was the capture of Saddam and the handover of sovereignty. Yet all have seen the violence get worse.
Now senior military officers in Britain and the US have begun to express private doubts over whether the battle for Falluja will make things better in the long run, or much worse. By yesterday even George Bush was rowing back on expectations that there would be any improvement in Iraq's security situation, instead warning that it could worsen in the run-up to the planned elections in January.
Falluja, it now appears, may be a turning point, but of a kind that London and Washington had not anticipated. For while the US marines may win the battle in the 'city of mosques', the inevitable question will be: at what cost?
Already the fighting in the city, and the preparation for the battle, has overturned hard-held assumptions about the nature of the insurgents. For months, in briefings in Baghdad and elsewhere, the picture of the insurgency was of a chaotic and largely criminal affair, bolstered by ex-Baathists and foreign terrorists from the Zarqawi network.
In recent months, however, intelligence officials in Washington and the UK have drawn up a picture that is infinitely more troubling for the interim government and its sponsors in the west. From an estimate that the fighters number hundreds, latest figures put the numbers of insurgents at up to 20,000 fighters and allies. Even that appears to be a guess. What is also clear is that, far from being loosely organised groups, the insurgency is well funded and led by up to 20 former regime members, including cousins of Saddam, and Mohammed Younis al-Ahmed, a former aide to Saddam and regional Baath party leader.
On the ground, too, the US military appears to have underestimated the sophistication and determination of the insurgents, particularly in Falluja. As the battle has unfolded, US troops have been surprised by the ingenuity of the fighters who, aware that their communications can be listened to by the American soldiers, have used flags to concentrate their attacks.
The insurgents also appear to have fine-tuned their tactics against US helicopters, bringing down four by ground fire from rocket-propelled grenades and small arms in a few days.
In what appears to have been a major tactical error, it now appears that perhaps the majority of insurgents in Falluja, including Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, whose alleged presence there was the pretext for the assault, may have been able to slip away to regroup elsewhere.
US military reports show that bands of up to 15 guerrillas at a time left Falluja in the days before the US onslaught. 'That's probably why we've been able to move as fast as we have,' one officer from the Army's 1st Cavalry Division, said. 'We gave them so much fair warning that the only ones who stayed had a death wish.'
There is another view - that those who chose to stay and die did so as an overtly political act of immolation. Because they see their deaths in Falluja not as a last stand, but as the beginning of a wider insurrection.
Their story is the hardest to tell: that of the Iraqi civilians who have remained in the besieged city of Falluja. They have no embedded Western journalists to speak for them, only a few Iraqi correspondents. They cannot leave their homes because of the risk of constant sniper fire. They have no water to drink, no electricity. If they are injured, they have nowhere to go.
Suddenly, the bitter urban war that many feared would greet the advancing coalition troops during their invasion in March last year, has become a reality in Falluja and is threatening elsewhere.
With it has come the awful realities for civilians. 'Anyone who gets injured is likely to die, because there's no medicine and they can't get to doctors,' said Abdul-Hameed Salim, a volunteer with the Iraqi Red Crescent. 'There are snipers everywhere. Go outside and you're going to get shot.'
Rasoul Ibrahim, who fled Falluja on foot with his wife and three children on Thursday morning, said families left in the city were in desperate need. Doctors at Falluja's hospital said there had been an increase in typhoid cases. 'There's no water. People are drinking dirty water. Children are dying,' Ibrahim told aid workers in Habbaniya, a makeshift refugee camp 12 miles to the west of Falluja where about 2,000 families are sheltering. 'People are eating flour because there's no proper food.'
The picture is at best patchy. In the battle for Falluja the fate of those who have remained - perhaps between 30,000 and 50,000 in a city whose population is normally 250,000 - remains largely unknown. And for a reason. One of the first actions of US troops in the hours before the full-scale assault on the city from the north was to the seize its general hospital to prevent what one US officer described as 'insurgent propaganda' over casualty figures.
So the condition of those who have stayed has come out in dribs and drabs: a nine-year-old boy who died of a wound caused by shrapnel to the stomach because he could not reach medical aid; the claim by Mohammed Amer, a doctor at a Falluja clinic, that 12 people had died in the opening assault; and the statements of the aid agencies.
On Friday, an Iraqi journalist leaving the city gave one of the few insights into civilian conditions. Those who have not fled, he said, had stayed indoors for fear of constant explosions. 'If the fighters fire a mortar, US forces respond with huge force,' said the journalist, who asked not to be named. There was heavy damage to houses. American forces were destroying every car they saw for fear of car bombs, he said.
The city had been without power or water for days. Frozen food had spoiled and people could not charge their cellphones. The journalist said US forces controlled the northern half of the city, but insurgents were still fighting in the central Wahda and southerly Shuhada and Sinai districts. 'Some people hadn't prepared well. They didn't stock up on tinned food. They didn't think it would be this bad,' he said.
Yesterday a four-truck Red Crescent convoy of relief supplies was finally given permission to enter the city. The trucks were carrying food, blankets, first-aid kits, medicine and a water purification unit.
There is another group whose names and histories remain obscured amid the statements by senior US officers and the Pentagon that they have killed hundreds of insurgents. They are the US soldiers who have been arriving in their plane-loads at the US military hospital at Landstuhl in Germany, the biggest in Europe. They are the wounded who cannot be treated in the Iraq theatre - suffering from spinal and neurological injuries.
Already, confronted by the surge in combat casualties that has seen 24 US soldiers dead and more than 200 wounded, the hospital is expanding its capacity. Lieutenant-Colonel Richard Jordan, a physician at the hospital's deployed warrior centre, which assesses incoming wounded after their six-hour plane trip, said: 'We've had more cases of bullet wounds than usual, though some have also suffered blast wounds from rocket-propelled grenades.'
These are the costs of war with consequences that go beyond the simple and oft-stated objective of reclaiming Falluja from the insurgents. On one side is an increasing allied death toll that threatens a lingering political impact in both the US and Britain. On the other, is the already escalating 'blow-back' on the interim government of Ayad Allawi and his security forces and on his allies in the US-led multinational forces.
The assault on Falluja has coincided with the insurgents' own November offensive across the areas where they are strongest - most obviously in Mosul, a city of a million people that in recent months has threatened to equal Falluja as the main resistance centre.
Yesterday the Iraqi government was rushing reinforcements to Mosul after co-ordinated attacks against police stations and Iraqi National Guard centres that had in effect driven security forces from the streets and left large areas under the control of the insurgents. According to residents, insurgents were in charge of some areas of south and western Mosul, holding two police stations and manning roadblocks, as Iraq's third-largest city appeared to be sliding out of US and Iraqi control. Residents in neighbourhoods throughout the city on the Tigris, 240 miles north of Baghdad, said there was little visible presence of Iraqi security forces or US troops yesterday. They said armed gunmen held some areas.
'In the south and the west of the city, insurgents are doing patrols to protect banks and shops from looters. They are guarding hospitals, schools and fire stations,' said one man, who would give only his first name, Thamer. Another resident said there were Iraqi National Guards and some US troops positioned at the ends of some of the five bridges that span the Tigris, but other than that, security was light.
Mosul province deputy Khissrou Gouran said that on Friday gunmen had tried to storm a food distribution centre in the city's Yarmouk area, but were forced back by National Guardsmen and security guards. The gunmen were trying to destroy election registration cards held at the centre, he said. Militants in Mosul have also assassinated the head of the city's anti-crime task force, Brigadier-General Mowaffaq Mohammed Dahham, and set fire to his home.
'With the start of operations in Falluja a few days ago, we expected that there would be some reaction in Mosul,' Brigadier-General Carter Ham, commander of US forces in the city, told CNN. He doubted the Mosul attackers were insurgents who fled Falluja and said most 'were from the northern part of Iraq, in and around Mosul and the Tigris river valley south of the city'.
It has not just been in Mosul. In Baghdad on Friday clashes erupted in at least four neighbourhoods of the capital. Clashes also broke out from Hawija and Tal Afar in the north to Samarra - where the police chief was also fired at - and Ramadi in central Iraq.
Such has been the violence in response to the assault on Falluja that politicians and officials are already changing their briefing lines on what the battle for Falluja was supposed to achieve. Six weeks ago officials on both sides of the Atlantic were talking about how they hoped that giving the fighters in the city 'a big slap' would be definitive in ending the insurgency and quickly pave the way for elections in January.
It is a promise that has been made before. The establishment of an Iraqi governing council was supposed to do the same, as was the capture of Saddam and the handover of sovereignty. Yet all have seen the violence get worse.
Now senior military officers in Britain and the US have begun to express private doubts over whether the battle for Falluja will make things better in the long run, or much worse. By yesterday even George Bush was rowing back on expectations that there would be any improvement in Iraq's security situation, instead warning that it could worsen in the run-up to the planned elections in January.
Falluja, it now appears, may be a turning point, but of a kind that London and Washington had not anticipated. For while the US marines may win the battle in the 'city of mosques', the inevitable question will be: at what cost?
Already the fighting in the city, and the preparation for the battle, has overturned hard-held assumptions about the nature of the insurgents. For months, in briefings in Baghdad and elsewhere, the picture of the insurgency was of a chaotic and largely criminal affair, bolstered by ex-Baathists and foreign terrorists from the Zarqawi network.
In recent months, however, intelligence officials in Washington and the UK have drawn up a picture that is infinitely more troubling for the interim government and its sponsors in the west. From an estimate that the fighters number hundreds, latest figures put the numbers of insurgents at up to 20,000 fighters and allies. Even that appears to be a guess. What is also clear is that, far from being loosely organised groups, the insurgency is well funded and led by up to 20 former regime members, including cousins of Saddam, and Mohammed Younis al-Ahmed, a former aide to Saddam and regional Baath party leader.
On the ground, too, the US military appears to have underestimated the sophistication and determination of the insurgents, particularly in Falluja. As the battle has unfolded, US troops have been surprised by the ingenuity of the fighters who, aware that their communications can be listened to by the American soldiers, have used flags to concentrate their attacks.
The insurgents also appear to have fine-tuned their tactics against US helicopters, bringing down four by ground fire from rocket-propelled grenades and small arms in a few days.
In what appears to have been a major tactical error, it now appears that perhaps the majority of insurgents in Falluja, including Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, whose alleged presence there was the pretext for the assault, may have been able to slip away to regroup elsewhere.
US military reports show that bands of up to 15 guerrillas at a time left Falluja in the days before the US onslaught. 'That's probably why we've been able to move as fast as we have,' one officer from the Army's 1st Cavalry Division, said. 'We gave them so much fair warning that the only ones who stayed had a death wish.'
There is another view - that those who chose to stay and die did so as an overtly political act of immolation. Because they see their deaths in Falluja not as a last stand, but as the beginning of a wider insurrection.
Saturday, November 13, 2004
Fallujah, Arafat, Tak Bai, Eid-ul-Fitri
We live in a globalised world – and I must be one of the more globalised persons in this globalised world, for here I am, feeling utterly depressed and worried with what is happening in Iraq, Palestine, Southern Thailand and other Muslim hotspots around the world – less than 12 hours before Eid-ul-Fitri, a day to commemorate and celebrate our victory throughout Ramadhan. I cannot be alone; there must be millions of Muslims around the world feeling this pinch of globalisation lately.
This year’s Eid-ul-Fitri is reminiscent to 2001’s Eid-ul-Fitri, when I celebrated it moderately in London in the midst of cluster and daisy cutter bombs being mercilessly dropped in Afghanistan. Back then, the most common Eid greeting that I sent to friends was not to forget the Afghans in our joy and spending spree – to the point that I must have irritated some of them immensely.
History repeats itself. More than a month ago, we saw and witnessed helplessly the slaughter of our brethren in Tak Bai and the systematic inhumane treatment meted out by the authority. If each day we are accustomed to a few Muslim deaths in Palestine – never before we were hit with hundreds of Muslim deaths in one day so close at home. It is more painful to bear in mind that the Muslim population of Pattani shares the same language, blood, culture and heritage with us.
A week ago, fresh from the so-called mandate (although one cannot miss the fact that Republicans manipulated the referendum on gay marriage and abortion to attract evangelical Christians to come out in drove for Bush – Bush was a secondary issue, it was the referendum that worked to the disadvantage of the Democrats) he received in the recently concluded election, Dubya authorised the assault on Fallujah – as it was with Afghanistan in 2001, this former cocaine addict ignored the importance and sacredness of Ramadhan and Eid-ul-Fitri to the Muslims. Fighting continues till this very hour, with the main hospital being overrun by the GIs and the town lacking basic medical supplies. Guardian reported that there is not even a single surgeon left in the rubble of what once a prosperous Baghdad’s suburban.
As if that is not enough to plunge me in a depression, this week we learnt of Arafat’s death. I may not be so fond of him or his PA of late, but the fact this man embodies the struggle of Palestinians over five decades for self determination and dignity cannot be denied. In Arafat we learn of Palestinians’ hope, disappointment, courage, struggle and longing for a homeland which was taken away unjustly from them.
With the geopolitical shape of the world in its current state, one cannot help but feel utterly hopeless and devastated. Conservatives and right wing governments are taking hold in Washington, Canberra, Rome, Paris, Tel Aviv, Tokyo and other important governments of the world. Even Blair’s New Labour is a shadow of its past – sometimes it sounds more right wing than the Tories. In South East Asia, we are surrounded by right wing governments left right and centre – from Thaksin in Bangkok, to Arroyo in Manila to SBY in Jakarta (although we are yet to see SBY’s true colour, the conventional wisdom says that his army background and violent suppression of Acheh separatist movement to name a few is enough to conclude that this man is a conservative right wing) to PAP government down south.
The only consolation that I can draw in this moment of utter sadness is the fact that this is not the first time Muslim ummah is besieged in such a way. Back in the 80s when Reagan was in White House, Muslims were under attacked from all fronts in a similar way, if not worse. Reagan and Thatcher were on a manhunt of Gadaffi’s head – Tripoli was on constant hit list. The massacre of Shabra and Shatilla in 1982 barely had any effect on Reagan’s or Thatcher’s foreign policy, even at a time when Soviet Union was still around. Soviet Union was busy getting its hands bloody in Afghanistan. Marcos’ regime was ruthless in its suppression of the Moros’ liberation efforts in Mindanao. Saddam Hussein was armed to the teeth as a US’ stooge to conduct daily raids and bombing of Iran.
As much as so many things have changed after 20 years, nothing has changed when it comes to the fate and dignity of the ummah.
But we cannot be in perpetual despair since that will not alleviate our misery. I keep telling myself that the last time the Latin Kingdom was occupying Baitul Maqdis and the surrounding area, it took Muslim warriors of the era more than one hundred years to dislodge the Latin kings and knights for good from Jerusalem. Palestine is in the hands of the Zionist for sixty years, a comparably shorter period – and American hegemony has only come to its full form for less than two decades. Muslims have a long way to go and we cannot despair, for we have a lot of work to do – Allah grants His every promise and we shall be victorious.
It’s a question of time. Each time I think of this, it saddens me more knowing that realistically speaking, it will not happen in my life time. It took more than 100 years during the Crusade to dislodge the Latin kingdom from Middle East – this was when Muslim governments were far more superior in every aspect of life (though they lack unity among themselves). For one hundred years Imadudddin Zengi, the Atabeg of Mosul, and successively Nuruddin (Sultan of Syria), Shirkuh Asaduddin (Vezir of Egypt) and finally Salehuddin al-Ayubbi (Sultan of Egypt and Syria, Defender and Champion of Islam) harassed and attacked the Latin fortresses to rid the Holy Land of the oppressors. In spite of many victories on the battle field – it still took them more than one hundred years to retake Baitul Maqdis.
Now with the quarrelling Arab and Muslim nations, with no leadership whatsoever and each Muslim country is ruled with iron fist by a dictator who does the enemies’ bidding to save their own skin – it will take more than a mere one hundred years, let alone with the current state of appalling poverty, lack of knowledge, economic disempowerment and dispossession of Muslims around the globe.
It is with this realisation that we shall celebrate Eid-ul-Fitri this year. It shall be Fallujah, Arafat, Tak Bai and Eid that will occupy my mind in the next few days – in that order. Our prayers and tears of helplessness to the oppressed brothers and sisters around the globe, may we find our strength some day and in Allah we seek solace and protection.
* I may meet Zadin (the batch mate who is 15 minutes drive away but have not spoken to for 10 years), Sharap and Gadap this Hari Raya, since I don’t think there are many of us in this part of the world.
This year’s Eid-ul-Fitri is reminiscent to 2001’s Eid-ul-Fitri, when I celebrated it moderately in London in the midst of cluster and daisy cutter bombs being mercilessly dropped in Afghanistan. Back then, the most common Eid greeting that I sent to friends was not to forget the Afghans in our joy and spending spree – to the point that I must have irritated some of them immensely.
History repeats itself. More than a month ago, we saw and witnessed helplessly the slaughter of our brethren in Tak Bai and the systematic inhumane treatment meted out by the authority. If each day we are accustomed to a few Muslim deaths in Palestine – never before we were hit with hundreds of Muslim deaths in one day so close at home. It is more painful to bear in mind that the Muslim population of Pattani shares the same language, blood, culture and heritage with us.
A week ago, fresh from the so-called mandate (although one cannot miss the fact that Republicans manipulated the referendum on gay marriage and abortion to attract evangelical Christians to come out in drove for Bush – Bush was a secondary issue, it was the referendum that worked to the disadvantage of the Democrats) he received in the recently concluded election, Dubya authorised the assault on Fallujah – as it was with Afghanistan in 2001, this former cocaine addict ignored the importance and sacredness of Ramadhan and Eid-ul-Fitri to the Muslims. Fighting continues till this very hour, with the main hospital being overrun by the GIs and the town lacking basic medical supplies. Guardian reported that there is not even a single surgeon left in the rubble of what once a prosperous Baghdad’s suburban.
As if that is not enough to plunge me in a depression, this week we learnt of Arafat’s death. I may not be so fond of him or his PA of late, but the fact this man embodies the struggle of Palestinians over five decades for self determination and dignity cannot be denied. In Arafat we learn of Palestinians’ hope, disappointment, courage, struggle and longing for a homeland which was taken away unjustly from them.
With the geopolitical shape of the world in its current state, one cannot help but feel utterly hopeless and devastated. Conservatives and right wing governments are taking hold in Washington, Canberra, Rome, Paris, Tel Aviv, Tokyo and other important governments of the world. Even Blair’s New Labour is a shadow of its past – sometimes it sounds more right wing than the Tories. In South East Asia, we are surrounded by right wing governments left right and centre – from Thaksin in Bangkok, to Arroyo in Manila to SBY in Jakarta (although we are yet to see SBY’s true colour, the conventional wisdom says that his army background and violent suppression of Acheh separatist movement to name a few is enough to conclude that this man is a conservative right wing) to PAP government down south.
The only consolation that I can draw in this moment of utter sadness is the fact that this is not the first time Muslim ummah is besieged in such a way. Back in the 80s when Reagan was in White House, Muslims were under attacked from all fronts in a similar way, if not worse. Reagan and Thatcher were on a manhunt of Gadaffi’s head – Tripoli was on constant hit list. The massacre of Shabra and Shatilla in 1982 barely had any effect on Reagan’s or Thatcher’s foreign policy, even at a time when Soviet Union was still around. Soviet Union was busy getting its hands bloody in Afghanistan. Marcos’ regime was ruthless in its suppression of the Moros’ liberation efforts in Mindanao. Saddam Hussein was armed to the teeth as a US’ stooge to conduct daily raids and bombing of Iran.
As much as so many things have changed after 20 years, nothing has changed when it comes to the fate and dignity of the ummah.
But we cannot be in perpetual despair since that will not alleviate our misery. I keep telling myself that the last time the Latin Kingdom was occupying Baitul Maqdis and the surrounding area, it took Muslim warriors of the era more than one hundred years to dislodge the Latin kings and knights for good from Jerusalem. Palestine is in the hands of the Zionist for sixty years, a comparably shorter period – and American hegemony has only come to its full form for less than two decades. Muslims have a long way to go and we cannot despair, for we have a lot of work to do – Allah grants His every promise and we shall be victorious.
It’s a question of time. Each time I think of this, it saddens me more knowing that realistically speaking, it will not happen in my life time. It took more than 100 years during the Crusade to dislodge the Latin kingdom from Middle East – this was when Muslim governments were far more superior in every aspect of life (though they lack unity among themselves). For one hundred years Imadudddin Zengi, the Atabeg of Mosul, and successively Nuruddin (Sultan of Syria), Shirkuh Asaduddin (Vezir of Egypt) and finally Salehuddin al-Ayubbi (Sultan of Egypt and Syria, Defender and Champion of Islam) harassed and attacked the Latin fortresses to rid the Holy Land of the oppressors. In spite of many victories on the battle field – it still took them more than one hundred years to retake Baitul Maqdis.
Now with the quarrelling Arab and Muslim nations, with no leadership whatsoever and each Muslim country is ruled with iron fist by a dictator who does the enemies’ bidding to save their own skin – it will take more than a mere one hundred years, let alone with the current state of appalling poverty, lack of knowledge, economic disempowerment and dispossession of Muslims around the globe.
It is with this realisation that we shall celebrate Eid-ul-Fitri this year. It shall be Fallujah, Arafat, Tak Bai and Eid that will occupy my mind in the next few days – in that order. Our prayers and tears of helplessness to the oppressed brothers and sisters around the globe, may we find our strength some day and in Allah we seek solace and protection.
* I may meet Zadin (the batch mate who is 15 minutes drive away but have not spoken to for 10 years), Sharap and Gadap this Hari Raya, since I don’t think there are many of us in this part of the world.
Sunday, October 31, 2004
Spekong
One of the first koleq words that I learnt by heart was SPEKONG (modified from the English word ‘speaking’, it refers to an act of speaking in thick state dialect). In my early days at Prep School, I identified myself with my fellow Terengganunese (if there is such a word), so Wong, Ja, Toje, Awie, Zahadin and I were marked as being in one clique by the powers-that-be and the rest of the batch (technically Shahrin Jaminan was also from Terengganu, but he was a Johorean residing in Terengganu, so he could not speak perfect or fluent Teghanung Kite).
Our main rival for a clique was the ‘Klik Utagha’, with Mpro, Epit, Sheppe etc. as members (later on a confused Johorean considered himself as part of ‘Klik Utagha” too – refer to M Sazali Said aka Bobo).
These cliques must have driven the prefects mad, for apparently when one is a Prep School prefect, one has the ability to predict what will happen five years down the line. After a while I got a feeling that the prefects were quite worried that this clique phenomenon would disrupt the batch’s harmony and unity (understandably so since as we go along people tend to align to certain groups, but then that’s human nature which you cannot reverse). I reckon the prefects made a conscious effort to break us apart, including (but not limited to) sending Awie, Ja, Wong and myself on an errand at around 3 am in the morning to ‘play’ volleyball and run around the Prep School field with the famous Nik Azhar (during the night when he was supposedly possessed! We all came back in one piece though, the only threat that night was the charging lembus which got really mad when they were disturbed in their sleep!).
Anyway, the prefects got their wish fulfilled too soon – after Form 1 we all drifted apart and by the time we were in Form 5 we hardly spoke to each other. Wong and I were still quite close since he was sitting in front of me in Form 3, but the rest drifted apart. I only spoke once to Zahadin after F2, that was a few weeks before SPM – and after a break of 10 years we did manage to say ‘Hi’ to each other (with his comment about my beer belly) during our last reunion. This is in spite of my being in the same kampung as his.
As for Ja, although we can be considered as still quite close throughout the koleq years (what with his pre-occupation with one of my F3s in 1994!), he went to Japan after SPM, got married and settled down there. I haven’t seen him since.
I met Toje during the last reunion, did exchange a few quick remarks and jokes (with Chodak being the common man between us), but it was a far cry from the time we used to congregate at his, or Zadin’s or Awie’s bed in Prep School laughing at stuff that other people did not understand.
As for Awie, he got married this summer and I failed to turn up (curse me!). It’s very sad if only to recall how close I was to him in F1, and coming from such a generous family, we budak Terengganu owed him a lot during our early days in MCKK.
But people move on, it’s only that once in a while you come across something that brings back the old memories, in this case the following exchange of e-mails:
Rough:
Ha ha this is classic, if you want to appreciate Terengganu (especially yg kerja kat Terengganu), you will enjoy this. Mujo aku dok Teghanung......
Mujo (exclusive for Trengganunese only)
MUJO
Saturday, October 23, 2004
Mujo or mujur in Standard Bahasa means "fortunate" or "lucky". In Terengganu it means more than that. Mujo is an attitude, a testament to the optimism of the Terengganu folks. I believe that Terengganunese are optimistic. I haven't heard of any suicides there yet. No news whatsoever of people jumping down from coconut trees or drinking expired budu (preserved anchovy thick sauce) neat in order to expire themselves. You must remember that Terengganu people lived with ferries, morning papers that came in the night and other things people in the West Coast take for granted. In spite of doing without 4D shops, discos, malls or Hot Spot-enabled coffee houses, they are surviving well without any mental hospital in sight. All because they have mujo.
Like I mentioned previously, mujo encapsulate a philosophy in itself. It means one should thank God that it is not worse.
Time for an illustration.
(Cut to a scene of 3 village ladies in their kemban washing clothes by the village well)
Mok Long Selamoh: Guane doh adik mung Mek?
(How is your brother Mek?)
Mok Teh Som : Bakpe pulok adik dia?
(What happened to her brother?)
Mok Long Selamoh: Laaa! Mung dok tau ke Som?
(You don't know Som?)
Mok Teh Som : Dok tau setarang baghoh kita.
(I don't know anything)
Mok Long Selamoh: Adik Mek ni kena langgor lori kemareng.
(Mek's brother was knocked down by a lorry yesterday)
Mek Beso : Bukang lori Mok Long, beng ikang!
(It wasn't a lorry Mok Long, it was a fish van)
Mok Long Selamoh: Mujo bukang lori!
(Lucky it wasn't a lorry)
Mok Teh Som : Pah tu? Terok ke?
(Then? Was he seriously injured?)
Mek Beso : Kaki patah sebelah......
(One leg was broken)
Mok Teh Som : Mujo dok patoh dua dua
(Lucky both legs weren't broken)
Mok Long Selamoh : Tu pong mujo dreba beng dang brek.
(It was lucky that the van driver braked in time)
Mek Beso : Mujo beng tu dok laju..
(Lucky the van wasn't going fast..)
(Fade to black.)
If both legs were broken, the response would be "Mujo dok pecoh pala"(Lucky the head wasn't broken). If the head WAS broken, the response would be "Mujo dok mati" (Lucky he didn't die). If the worst happened and the brother died, the mujo would still surface. "Mujo lah bukang adik kita"(Lucky it wasn't my brother). You get the drift.....
Mujo. A nice word. Adopt it. Embrace it. It will preserve your sanity.
Fazurin:
oh my god! what a riot! aku gelak kuat nak mampus sampai bos aku ingat aku dah gila.
Suri:
'mujo' ado oghe tganung hok ado maso buleh taip explaination for mujo...
kalo dok orhgang laing dok pahang menatang mende mujo tuh!!!
tapi bab budu tu kena investigate dulu... sensitive wooo...
Wong:
He...heee...natang berayok mok....!!! Aku pung sebenor nyer memang dok guna sokmo doh perkataan 'mujo' nie terutama kalu masa 'safety talk'... Cakap tentang 'risk assessment'.... Memang 'mujo' perkataang unik orang teganung........ So joke kelako nie boley tamboh dalam presentation next time aku kot.......
Gadap:
Kelakar la perkataan mujo ni....cam lucah jer......lagipun dekat dekat ngan perkataan muta...mujo= muta muta = mujo. Rough , muta tak de ke dalam kamus org terengganu?
Rough:
Last time aku check perkataan "muta" still tak de dalam kamus orang Teghanung, neither did the phrase "astaga wa glebek nyeng was stepek wek" although it is commonly used by younglings from Terengganu yang baru pi ke negeri orang....
Our main rival for a clique was the ‘Klik Utagha’, with Mpro, Epit, Sheppe etc. as members (later on a confused Johorean considered himself as part of ‘Klik Utagha” too – refer to M Sazali Said aka Bobo).
These cliques must have driven the prefects mad, for apparently when one is a Prep School prefect, one has the ability to predict what will happen five years down the line. After a while I got a feeling that the prefects were quite worried that this clique phenomenon would disrupt the batch’s harmony and unity (understandably so since as we go along people tend to align to certain groups, but then that’s human nature which you cannot reverse). I reckon the prefects made a conscious effort to break us apart, including (but not limited to) sending Awie, Ja, Wong and myself on an errand at around 3 am in the morning to ‘play’ volleyball and run around the Prep School field with the famous Nik Azhar (during the night when he was supposedly possessed! We all came back in one piece though, the only threat that night was the charging lembus which got really mad when they were disturbed in their sleep!).
Anyway, the prefects got their wish fulfilled too soon – after Form 1 we all drifted apart and by the time we were in Form 5 we hardly spoke to each other. Wong and I were still quite close since he was sitting in front of me in Form 3, but the rest drifted apart. I only spoke once to Zahadin after F2, that was a few weeks before SPM – and after a break of 10 years we did manage to say ‘Hi’ to each other (with his comment about my beer belly) during our last reunion. This is in spite of my being in the same kampung as his.
As for Ja, although we can be considered as still quite close throughout the koleq years (what with his pre-occupation with one of my F3s in 1994!), he went to Japan after SPM, got married and settled down there. I haven’t seen him since.
I met Toje during the last reunion, did exchange a few quick remarks and jokes (with Chodak being the common man between us), but it was a far cry from the time we used to congregate at his, or Zadin’s or Awie’s bed in Prep School laughing at stuff that other people did not understand.
As for Awie, he got married this summer and I failed to turn up (curse me!). It’s very sad if only to recall how close I was to him in F1, and coming from such a generous family, we budak Terengganu owed him a lot during our early days in MCKK.
But people move on, it’s only that once in a while you come across something that brings back the old memories, in this case the following exchange of e-mails:
Rough:
Ha ha this is classic, if you want to appreciate Terengganu (especially yg kerja kat Terengganu), you will enjoy this. Mujo aku dok Teghanung......
Mujo (exclusive for Trengganunese only)
MUJO
Saturday, October 23, 2004
Mujo or mujur in Standard Bahasa means "fortunate" or "lucky". In Terengganu it means more than that. Mujo is an attitude, a testament to the optimism of the Terengganu folks. I believe that Terengganunese are optimistic. I haven't heard of any suicides there yet. No news whatsoever of people jumping down from coconut trees or drinking expired budu (preserved anchovy thick sauce) neat in order to expire themselves. You must remember that Terengganu people lived with ferries, morning papers that came in the night and other things people in the West Coast take for granted. In spite of doing without 4D shops, discos, malls or Hot Spot-enabled coffee houses, they are surviving well without any mental hospital in sight. All because they have mujo.
Like I mentioned previously, mujo encapsulate a philosophy in itself. It means one should thank God that it is not worse.
Time for an illustration.
(Cut to a scene of 3 village ladies in their kemban washing clothes by the village well)
Mok Long Selamoh: Guane doh adik mung Mek?
(How is your brother Mek?)
Mok Teh Som : Bakpe pulok adik dia?
(What happened to her brother?)
Mok Long Selamoh: Laaa! Mung dok tau ke Som?
(You don't know Som?)
Mok Teh Som : Dok tau setarang baghoh kita.
(I don't know anything)
Mok Long Selamoh: Adik Mek ni kena langgor lori kemareng.
(Mek's brother was knocked down by a lorry yesterday)
Mek Beso : Bukang lori Mok Long, beng ikang!
(It wasn't a lorry Mok Long, it was a fish van)
Mok Long Selamoh: Mujo bukang lori!
(Lucky it wasn't a lorry)
Mok Teh Som : Pah tu? Terok ke?
(Then? Was he seriously injured?)
Mek Beso : Kaki patah sebelah......
(One leg was broken)
Mok Teh Som : Mujo dok patoh dua dua
(Lucky both legs weren't broken)
Mok Long Selamoh : Tu pong mujo dreba beng dang brek.
(It was lucky that the van driver braked in time)
Mek Beso : Mujo beng tu dok laju..
(Lucky the van wasn't going fast..)
(Fade to black.)
If both legs were broken, the response would be "Mujo dok pecoh pala"(Lucky the head wasn't broken). If the head WAS broken, the response would be "Mujo dok mati" (Lucky he didn't die). If the worst happened and the brother died, the mujo would still surface. "Mujo lah bukang adik kita"(Lucky it wasn't my brother). You get the drift.....
Mujo. A nice word. Adopt it. Embrace it. It will preserve your sanity.
Fazurin:
oh my god! what a riot! aku gelak kuat nak mampus sampai bos aku ingat aku dah gila.
Suri:
'mujo' ado oghe tganung hok ado maso buleh taip explaination for mujo...
kalo dok orhgang laing dok pahang menatang mende mujo tuh!!!
tapi bab budu tu kena investigate dulu... sensitive wooo...
Wong:
He...heee...natang berayok mok....!!! Aku pung sebenor nyer memang dok guna sokmo doh perkataan 'mujo' nie terutama kalu masa 'safety talk'... Cakap tentang 'risk assessment'.... Memang 'mujo' perkataang unik orang teganung........ So joke kelako nie boley tamboh dalam presentation next time aku kot.......
Gadap:
Kelakar la perkataan mujo ni....cam lucah jer......lagipun dekat dekat ngan perkataan muta...mujo= muta muta = mujo. Rough , muta tak de ke dalam kamus org terengganu?
Rough:
Last time aku check perkataan "muta" still tak de dalam kamus orang Teghanung, neither did the phrase "astaga wa glebek nyeng was stepek wek" although it is commonly used by younglings from Terengganu yang baru pi ke negeri orang....
Impression: MCKK 1905-2005
I was in KLCC (again) last week, so in order to exhaust my tax rebate for books (RM700) I made a customary visit to Kino. Lo and behold, a commemorative book on articles written by budak koleq or others about MCKK was prominently displayed on the shelf.
Picked the book, paid and went straight to the car. While waiting for the engine to warm up, I flipped through the book – only to discover that most of my articles either in koleq mag or batch’s website (this or previous versions) were included in the book.
A quick glance of the book shows that it’s exactly what it says on its back cover – it’s a compilation, and boy did they just compile everything.
To a certain extent I was quite touched that some of the articles were immortalised in the book, although I wish I would be asked first. Most of the articles were very badly written, in my own opinion they were not up to the standard for publication. We have a problem in this batch – those who can write really well like Fazurin, Chamat or Jita are simply too lazy or could not be bothered to write articles to fill up koleq mag or the batch’s website, despite repeated requests and endless bitching from me.
To avoid the website project from degenerating into a ‘white elephant’ and laughing stock, I had to write the articles to fill up this website myself, hence the second-class quality of many of the articles.
Sometimes I wonder whether the Committee did read the articles first because some of them are not only badly written, they are very superficial to add the dramatic effects – and poor the prefects and other groups which always ended up as a punching bag in my articles! (I can tell I am going to have a very long talk with Nik Nazmi on this wink wink)
Anyway, with the inclusion of seven or eight articles on the Class of 94, it makes this batch one of the most documented batches in the book – ironic considering the reputation of this Class as a mediocre and erratic batch.
Friday, October 29, 2004
Of Joining The Rat Race
My F3, Ahmad Zakri Salleh has followed the footsteps of those before him in Dorm 21 – this smelly and rather mundane dorm has a track record lately of producing accountants, in fact in much higher proportion compared to other dorms. Zack recently qualified as a Chartered Accountant with the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Australia (ICAA) after a stint at PwC, and is now attached to Petronas.
3 of my F5s in 1992 (the ones that I can confirm) turned out to be accountants – Epit Kassim did his ACCA a couple of years back, Amar graduated from Australia in Accounting, whilst Nazerk is lecturing in accountancy at MMU. Out of 6 Form 5s in my batch in 1994, four became accountants. I abandoned engineering for accountancy at the end of my university degree, Auzir went straight to Australia to do his accounting degree and post graduate studies (currently attached to BDO), Ayien was under accounting scholarship from TNB which he continued to serve till this day. Champ did his ACCA. Only Aslam and Mior continued with a profession or studies in engineering.
I was quite looking forward to seeing Zack after all these years – he was one of the nicer ones of my F3s who did not really work up my nerve. There were 2 other of his batchmates, Kamarul (who did ACCA in Ireland) and a F5 baru who was too quiet I couldn’t remember his name (excuse ma!).
Although we were only separated at most by a mere 24-month in age, I was quite surprised at the gap between our respective worldview and perspective of life. Here was I sitting down with young executives, fresh in joining the rat race and eager to make it big – as opposed to myself and Allen who are quite laid back about the whole thing. Sometimes I wonder whether my circle of friends are relatively not as ambitious as our peers each time I meet other people, or being outside KL makes me insulated from the ups and downs of the yuppie life and the rat race.
Names were dropped here and there about this guy and that guy from this batch and that batch doing very well. I exchanged understanding and cynical glance with Allen, both cynically moaning the dead end job we are stuck with (but somehow we are quite happy with it).
All in all it was a good time spent to catch with some of my juniors, who were not really close to me when I was in koleq. Not surprisingly, Zack still looks very much like the TV3 mascot in the mid-90s!
Monday, October 25, 2004
May Day For Justice Revisited
A slight change from the usual koleq-related blogs - after all MCKK will always be MCKK regardless of how much I devote my time discussing it here.
Tun Salleh Abas was removed from the Lord President Office in 1988 when I was in Standard 5. The removal, soon I discovered in the process of growing up, left a wound quite deep in my heart (and many others I suppose), for it was one of the first of a series of incidents which made a mockery of the notion of justice in this country. My sympathy to Tun Salleh went a bit further than usual because his origin in the padi field of Besut is more or less similar to mine, although we were separated by at least half a century.
The wound had not even begun to heal when the country was inflicted with another tragedy - both caused by the same man, Mahathir Mohamad. The events of 1998 had a greater impact on my value system, and it is then that I become overly cynical with the political establishment in this country.
One wishes that one day we can proudly announce to the nation and the world that the wounds are finally healed, that we as a nation can look forward to a better future and a future where justice is upheld supremely. But even if Malaysia ever rescues itself from the predicament it is in now - there is even graver acts of injustice perpetrated on hourly basis in Palestine, Iraq, Afghanistan, Kazakhstan and all over the world.
At least, it is in the brave people like Tun Salleh, who stayed true to his conscience, that we find strength to continue living in this difficult time without ever losing hope.
*ps - This batch lacks lawyers - to date there's only one practising lawyer, with the rest who did law degree opting for other careers (advisory etc.). This could be one of the few occasions that we actually lament the lack of lawyers among us (hope I will not regret this in the future).
The following is an introductory from Tun Salleh Abas's book May Day For Justice.
Mahathir was continually upset with the Judiciary because the verdicts in a number of cases went against the Government. According to then Deputy PM, Datuk Musa Hitam, one of his favourite slogans was "Hang the Lawyers! Hang the Judges!" From 1987, he intensified his verbal attacks against the Judiciary in the news media, making damaging statements which clearly demonstrated that he did not understand the role of the Judiciary as being independent from the Executive and Legislative arms of Government. That the Judiciary exists as a check-and-balance against the excesses of the Executive appeared to have been a concept he never fully grasped. Instead, he accused judges of the sort of political interference that would result in confusion and loss of public confidence in the Government. Hence, to curtail the powers of the Judiciary and subsume it beneath the Executive became one of his cherished dreams.
In April 1987, after an UMNO leadership contest in which Mahathir very nearly lost to Finance Minister Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, there were allegations that several delegates who had voted were drawn from branches not properly registered under the Societies Act 1966. An appeal was filed by eleven UMNO delegates to have the elections declared null and void. This was a very serious matter for Mahathir because if the appeal succeeded, fresh elections would have to be held and he might lose. The matter finally came before Justice Harun Hashim of KL High Court who ruled that under the existing law, he had no choice but to declare not just the elections invalid, but the whole of UMNO an unlawful society as well. The country and, more particularly, UMNO, went into a state of shock.
In most modern democracies, a political catastrophe of this magnitude would have result in the immediate resignation of the party's President and Prime Minister. But Mahathir did not resign. He informed the country that the Government would continue running the country. Opposition Leader Lim Kit Siang and Tunku Abdul Rahman called for a vote in Parliament to establish Mahathir's legitimacy but those calls were ignored. Mahathir then set in motion the machinery to form a new surrogate party called UMNO Baru. His opponents, however, wanted the old party revived. The eleven UMNO delegates then launched an appeal in the Supreme Court to have the 1987 elections alone declared illegal and the party not an unlawful society.
Mahathir fully understood the danger to him of this pending appeal. He had to act quickly. In October 1987, he launched the notorious Operation Lalang in which at least 106 people were arrested and detained without trial under the ISA, including three very articulate critics, the Opposition Leader Lim Kit Siang, political scientist Dr. Chandra Muzaffar and leading lawyer Karpal Singh. The official reason for the arrests was that a highly dangerous security situation had arisen but this has been strongly disputed as nothing more than a shameless fabrication. The broad sweep included even environmentalists and Consumer Association spokesmen. Four of the most outspoken newspapers -The Star, The Sunday Star, Watan and Sin Chew Jit Poh - had their publishing licences suspended. When, after five months, the papers were free to publish again, they were no longer the same.
Mahathir's next move was to push through Parliament far-reaching amendments to the Constitution so that the Executive gained in power enormously at the expense of the Judiciary. There was general indignation at this rude behaviour which shocked a good many people. The indecent haste and the fact that the amendments were made at a time when the Government's main critics were in detention, including the Opposition Leader and six vocal MPs and outspoken newspapers demoralized added further to the appalling injustice of the situation. Tunku Abdul Rahman, Malaysia's beloved first Prime Minister, put it succinctly: "It was legal, but was it just?" Others noted angrily that the Constitution had been raped once again. In a speech, the outgoing President of the Bar Council, Param Cumaraswamy, said:
"The Prime Ministe's vile and contemptuous allegations, and the accusations levelled at the Judiciary and our judges left many shocked beyond belief. His speech which was full of venom, hate and spite with no substance whatsoever, illustrated his complete and total ignorance of the role of the Judiciary and the judicial process itself. He has indeed defiled and defaced the Constitution. It is surprising that those 142 MPs who voted in favour, after taking the oath that they would preserve, protect and defend the Constitution, had no compunction about destroying one of its basic structures."
One visiting parliamentarian was astonished at the lack of public debate. In his own country, he said, such amendments would have taken years.
Next, after having curbed the independence of the Judiciary, Mahathir set about destroying its integrity. This was the removal of Tun Salleh Abas as Lord President in 1988, a move which Tunku Abdul Rahman described as "the most shocking story in modern legal and judicial history,"
Tun Salleh Abas was a man of humble origins - his father was a sailor and small village trader - who rose to become Lord President, the highest judge in the land and head of the Judiciary while remaining a deeply religious man.
By March 1988, Mahathir's scandalous and violent public attacks on the Judiciary had so provoked the judges that Tun Salleh was obliged to call a conference. Twenty judges met in the Supreme Court one week after the debilitating and shameful Constitutional amendments were made. By unanimous agreement, a letter was drafted to the King (also the Sultan of Johore) and copied to all Sultans, expressing disquiet over various comments made by the Prime Minister. The letter was delivered on 25 March and Tun Salleh left soon after for medical treatment in the United States followed by a pilgrimage to Mecca. He had a most important duty to perform upon his return: he fixed the hearing of the crucial UMNO Eleven appeal for June and, because of its overwhelming significance, decided that a full coram of nine Supreme Court judges should hear this. Three days later, Tun Salleh was suspended from his official capacity by the King on recommendation of the Prime Minister. In the same hour that he received the suspension letter, the Acting Lord President, Tan Sri Abdul Hamid took the UMNO Eleven case out of the calendar so that the link between the two was difficult to deny.
Tun Salleh's suspension came after he refused to bow to Mahathir's pressure to either resign or retire, even though financial inducements were offered, including mention of a lucrative job in the International Development Bank in Jeddah. The initial reason given for the suspension was that the King had taken great displeasure over the letter Tun Salleh had written on behalf of all judges. According to official records prepared by the Attorney General, the King had requested Tun Salleh's removal in an audience with the Prime Minister on the "Wednesday morning of 1 May 1988" after the weekly Cabinet Meeting.
There are serious doubts as to whether this audience actually took place. The first of May 1988 fell on a Sunday, not Wednesday as the Attorney General recorded. Even if the day of week were corrected, there can be no Cabinet meeting on a Sunday. That the King expressed great displeasure only on 1 May, when he had in fact received the letter on 25 March cast further doubt over this assertion. It is difficult to believe that the King wanted Tun Salleh removed purely because he had protested about the public insults directed against the entire Judiciary by the head of the Executive. In any event, royal displeasure would not be a constitutionally valid ground for dismissal. Indeed, Mahathir advised the King as much in a letter written four days after this probably fictitious audience; however, the Prime Minister went further in the same letter to say that he would investigate Tun Salleh for any evidence of misbehaviour. In any event, the King did not clear up the mystery and, in an audience with Tun Salleh, actually asked the latter to step down without giving reasons although the Conference of Rulers had already asked for his reinstatement. Amazingly, Tun Salleh was suspended and a Tribunal set up to determine his fate before any formal charges were laid.
The Constitution does not provide for the removal of a Lord President. While the Tribunal need not be an inappropriate means, its composition was to say the least, disgraceful. It was composed of six acting and retired judges, although the Constitution required an odd number to prevent deadlock. Of these -four from Malaysia, one from Sri Lanka and one from Singapore -only the Sri Lankan enjoyed a rank comparable to Tun Salleh's. This was contrary to the very reasonable dictum that one should be tried by one's peers rather than one's juniors. The fact that two retired Lord Presidents of Malaysia were available but not invited was glaring.
There were grave conflicts of interest with three of the Malaysian judges that should have disqualified them from sitting: Tan Sri Abdul Hamid who was next in line to succeed as Lord President and who had also participated in the conference of 20 judges which resulted in the letter to the King; Tan Sri Zahir who, being also the Speaker of the Lower House, was beholden to Mahathir, the principal complainant in the matter at hand; and Tan Sri Abdul Aziz who, although a former judge, was then a practising lawyer and, more incredibly, had two suits pending against him at that time. But Tun Salleh's objections were ignored and when the Bar Council issued a statement calling for the Tribunal to be re-constituted, both the New Straits Times and The Star refused to publish it. Further, it was decided that the Tribunal would sit in closed sessions although Tun Salleh had requested a public hearing.
The charges, when finally published, were manifestly absurd. Running over 12 sheets of paper, it was clear that quantity had been substituted where quality was lacking, and some of them actually related to Tun Salleh's behaviour after suspension. Many of them related to his speeches and press interviews, whereby sinister meanings were imputed to various innocuous comments that he had made. To cite an instance, in a speech at the University of Malaya, he had said: "The role of the courts is very important to bring about public order. If there is no public order there will be chaos in this country and if there is chaos, no one can feel safe" On this basis, Tun Salleh was charged with making statements criticizing the Government which displayed prejudice and bias against the latter. Another statement of his, "In a democratic system, the courts play a prominent role as agent of stability but they can perform this function only if judges are trusted," resulted in the charge that he had ridiculed the Government by imputing that it did not trust the judges. These charges were doubly ludicrous in the light of Mahathir's many poisonous attacks against the Judiciary.
It is not surprising that Tun Salleh, after reading this catalogue of fantasy crimes, refused to appear before what was so evidently a kangaroo court. The Tribunal, after refusing representations made by Raja Aziz, Tun Salleh's leading counsel, that it had no constitutional validity to sit, chose instead to proceed so hastily that it wound up deliberations, including the examination of witnesses with just four hours work. As it prepared to issue its Report, Tun Salleh's lawyers sought an urgent stay of proceedings in the High Court. This would normally be granted immediately at the least possibility that an injustice may be about to be done but, here, events turned into utter farce.
Instead of immediately reaching a decision as expected, the presiding judge, Datuk Ajaib Singh, after the court had been in languorous session the whole day that Friday, adjourned hearings for 9.30 am the next day. On Saturday however, the judge emerged in court only at 11.50 am and, even then, postponed hearings again for the Monday! In desperation, Tun Salleh's lawyers, knowing that the Tribunal could easily release its Report before then, sought the assistance of Supreme Court judge, Tan Sri Wan Suleiman, in his Chambers. The latter agreed to hear them in open court in half an hour's time and called a coram of all remaining Supreme Court, one of whom, Tan Sri Hashim Yeop, refused to sit. The soap opera reached an apogee of ridiculousness when Tan Sri Abdul Hamid, head of the Tribunal and Acting Lord President, gave orders for the doors of Supreme Court to be locked and for the seal of the Supreme Court to be secreted away!
Undeterred, the five Supreme Court judges ordered the policeman on duty to open the door forthwith. After less than half an hour, the Court ordered the Tribunal not to submit any recommendation, report or advice to the King. Tun Salleh's lawyers were typing the Order to serve personally to the Tribunal at Parliament House when news arrived that the gates of Parliament House had been locked! At this point, Justice Wan Suleiman rose to the occasion and, calling the office of the Inspector General of Police, told a senior officer that any impediment to serving the Order would constitute contempt of court. The gates of Parliament swung open and, at 4 pm, Raja Aziz and his team served the Order to the Tribunal members who were found to be still hard at work on a word-processor that Saturday afternoon. All six members accepted service without complaint.
It would appear that justice had at last prevailed but, four days later, all five Supreme Court judges were suspended. Almost every rule that was broken to suspend Tun Salleh was broken again to suspend them. The prohibition order they had made were revoked within days. A second Tribunal eventually reinstated three of the judge: Tan Sri Azmi Kamaruddin, Tan Sri Eusoff Abdoolcader and Tan Sri Wan Hamzah but Tan Sri Wan Suleiman and Datuk George Edward Seah were removed from office.
The UMNO Eleven case was quickly dismissed. The removal of Tun Salleh also saw the resignation of Deputy PM Datuk Musa Hitam who, according to popular wisdom, could no longer stomach Mahathir's ways.
Tun Salleh Abas was removed from the Lord President Office in 1988 when I was in Standard 5. The removal, soon I discovered in the process of growing up, left a wound quite deep in my heart (and many others I suppose), for it was one of the first of a series of incidents which made a mockery of the notion of justice in this country. My sympathy to Tun Salleh went a bit further than usual because his origin in the padi field of Besut is more or less similar to mine, although we were separated by at least half a century.
The wound had not even begun to heal when the country was inflicted with another tragedy - both caused by the same man, Mahathir Mohamad. The events of 1998 had a greater impact on my value system, and it is then that I become overly cynical with the political establishment in this country.
One wishes that one day we can proudly announce to the nation and the world that the wounds are finally healed, that we as a nation can look forward to a better future and a future where justice is upheld supremely. But even if Malaysia ever rescues itself from the predicament it is in now - there is even graver acts of injustice perpetrated on hourly basis in Palestine, Iraq, Afghanistan, Kazakhstan and all over the world.
At least, it is in the brave people like Tun Salleh, who stayed true to his conscience, that we find strength to continue living in this difficult time without ever losing hope.
*ps - This batch lacks lawyers - to date there's only one practising lawyer, with the rest who did law degree opting for other careers (advisory etc.). This could be one of the few occasions that we actually lament the lack of lawyers among us (hope I will not regret this in the future).
The following is an introductory from Tun Salleh Abas's book May Day For Justice.
Mahathir was continually upset with the Judiciary because the verdicts in a number of cases went against the Government. According to then Deputy PM, Datuk Musa Hitam, one of his favourite slogans was "Hang the Lawyers! Hang the Judges!" From 1987, he intensified his verbal attacks against the Judiciary in the news media, making damaging statements which clearly demonstrated that he did not understand the role of the Judiciary as being independent from the Executive and Legislative arms of Government. That the Judiciary exists as a check-and-balance against the excesses of the Executive appeared to have been a concept he never fully grasped. Instead, he accused judges of the sort of political interference that would result in confusion and loss of public confidence in the Government. Hence, to curtail the powers of the Judiciary and subsume it beneath the Executive became one of his cherished dreams.
In April 1987, after an UMNO leadership contest in which Mahathir very nearly lost to Finance Minister Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, there were allegations that several delegates who had voted were drawn from branches not properly registered under the Societies Act 1966. An appeal was filed by eleven UMNO delegates to have the elections declared null and void. This was a very serious matter for Mahathir because if the appeal succeeded, fresh elections would have to be held and he might lose. The matter finally came before Justice Harun Hashim of KL High Court who ruled that under the existing law, he had no choice but to declare not just the elections invalid, but the whole of UMNO an unlawful society as well. The country and, more particularly, UMNO, went into a state of shock.
In most modern democracies, a political catastrophe of this magnitude would have result in the immediate resignation of the party's President and Prime Minister. But Mahathir did not resign. He informed the country that the Government would continue running the country. Opposition Leader Lim Kit Siang and Tunku Abdul Rahman called for a vote in Parliament to establish Mahathir's legitimacy but those calls were ignored. Mahathir then set in motion the machinery to form a new surrogate party called UMNO Baru. His opponents, however, wanted the old party revived. The eleven UMNO delegates then launched an appeal in the Supreme Court to have the 1987 elections alone declared illegal and the party not an unlawful society.
Mahathir fully understood the danger to him of this pending appeal. He had to act quickly. In October 1987, he launched the notorious Operation Lalang in which at least 106 people were arrested and detained without trial under the ISA, including three very articulate critics, the Opposition Leader Lim Kit Siang, political scientist Dr. Chandra Muzaffar and leading lawyer Karpal Singh. The official reason for the arrests was that a highly dangerous security situation had arisen but this has been strongly disputed as nothing more than a shameless fabrication. The broad sweep included even environmentalists and Consumer Association spokesmen. Four of the most outspoken newspapers -The Star, The Sunday Star, Watan and Sin Chew Jit Poh - had their publishing licences suspended. When, after five months, the papers were free to publish again, they were no longer the same.
Mahathir's next move was to push through Parliament far-reaching amendments to the Constitution so that the Executive gained in power enormously at the expense of the Judiciary. There was general indignation at this rude behaviour which shocked a good many people. The indecent haste and the fact that the amendments were made at a time when the Government's main critics were in detention, including the Opposition Leader and six vocal MPs and outspoken newspapers demoralized added further to the appalling injustice of the situation. Tunku Abdul Rahman, Malaysia's beloved first Prime Minister, put it succinctly: "It was legal, but was it just?" Others noted angrily that the Constitution had been raped once again. In a speech, the outgoing President of the Bar Council, Param Cumaraswamy, said:
"The Prime Ministe's vile and contemptuous allegations, and the accusations levelled at the Judiciary and our judges left many shocked beyond belief. His speech which was full of venom, hate and spite with no substance whatsoever, illustrated his complete and total ignorance of the role of the Judiciary and the judicial process itself. He has indeed defiled and defaced the Constitution. It is surprising that those 142 MPs who voted in favour, after taking the oath that they would preserve, protect and defend the Constitution, had no compunction about destroying one of its basic structures."
One visiting parliamentarian was astonished at the lack of public debate. In his own country, he said, such amendments would have taken years.
Next, after having curbed the independence of the Judiciary, Mahathir set about destroying its integrity. This was the removal of Tun Salleh Abas as Lord President in 1988, a move which Tunku Abdul Rahman described as "the most shocking story in modern legal and judicial history,"
Tun Salleh Abas was a man of humble origins - his father was a sailor and small village trader - who rose to become Lord President, the highest judge in the land and head of the Judiciary while remaining a deeply religious man.
By March 1988, Mahathir's scandalous and violent public attacks on the Judiciary had so provoked the judges that Tun Salleh was obliged to call a conference. Twenty judges met in the Supreme Court one week after the debilitating and shameful Constitutional amendments were made. By unanimous agreement, a letter was drafted to the King (also the Sultan of Johore) and copied to all Sultans, expressing disquiet over various comments made by the Prime Minister. The letter was delivered on 25 March and Tun Salleh left soon after for medical treatment in the United States followed by a pilgrimage to Mecca. He had a most important duty to perform upon his return: he fixed the hearing of the crucial UMNO Eleven appeal for June and, because of its overwhelming significance, decided that a full coram of nine Supreme Court judges should hear this. Three days later, Tun Salleh was suspended from his official capacity by the King on recommendation of the Prime Minister. In the same hour that he received the suspension letter, the Acting Lord President, Tan Sri Abdul Hamid took the UMNO Eleven case out of the calendar so that the link between the two was difficult to deny.
Tun Salleh's suspension came after he refused to bow to Mahathir's pressure to either resign or retire, even though financial inducements were offered, including mention of a lucrative job in the International Development Bank in Jeddah. The initial reason given for the suspension was that the King had taken great displeasure over the letter Tun Salleh had written on behalf of all judges. According to official records prepared by the Attorney General, the King had requested Tun Salleh's removal in an audience with the Prime Minister on the "Wednesday morning of 1 May 1988" after the weekly Cabinet Meeting.
There are serious doubts as to whether this audience actually took place. The first of May 1988 fell on a Sunday, not Wednesday as the Attorney General recorded. Even if the day of week were corrected, there can be no Cabinet meeting on a Sunday. That the King expressed great displeasure only on 1 May, when he had in fact received the letter on 25 March cast further doubt over this assertion. It is difficult to believe that the King wanted Tun Salleh removed purely because he had protested about the public insults directed against the entire Judiciary by the head of the Executive. In any event, royal displeasure would not be a constitutionally valid ground for dismissal. Indeed, Mahathir advised the King as much in a letter written four days after this probably fictitious audience; however, the Prime Minister went further in the same letter to say that he would investigate Tun Salleh for any evidence of misbehaviour. In any event, the King did not clear up the mystery and, in an audience with Tun Salleh, actually asked the latter to step down without giving reasons although the Conference of Rulers had already asked for his reinstatement. Amazingly, Tun Salleh was suspended and a Tribunal set up to determine his fate before any formal charges were laid.
The Constitution does not provide for the removal of a Lord President. While the Tribunal need not be an inappropriate means, its composition was to say the least, disgraceful. It was composed of six acting and retired judges, although the Constitution required an odd number to prevent deadlock. Of these -four from Malaysia, one from Sri Lanka and one from Singapore -only the Sri Lankan enjoyed a rank comparable to Tun Salleh's. This was contrary to the very reasonable dictum that one should be tried by one's peers rather than one's juniors. The fact that two retired Lord Presidents of Malaysia were available but not invited was glaring.
There were grave conflicts of interest with three of the Malaysian judges that should have disqualified them from sitting: Tan Sri Abdul Hamid who was next in line to succeed as Lord President and who had also participated in the conference of 20 judges which resulted in the letter to the King; Tan Sri Zahir who, being also the Speaker of the Lower House, was beholden to Mahathir, the principal complainant in the matter at hand; and Tan Sri Abdul Aziz who, although a former judge, was then a practising lawyer and, more incredibly, had two suits pending against him at that time. But Tun Salleh's objections were ignored and when the Bar Council issued a statement calling for the Tribunal to be re-constituted, both the New Straits Times and The Star refused to publish it. Further, it was decided that the Tribunal would sit in closed sessions although Tun Salleh had requested a public hearing.
The charges, when finally published, were manifestly absurd. Running over 12 sheets of paper, it was clear that quantity had been substituted where quality was lacking, and some of them actually related to Tun Salleh's behaviour after suspension. Many of them related to his speeches and press interviews, whereby sinister meanings were imputed to various innocuous comments that he had made. To cite an instance, in a speech at the University of Malaya, he had said: "The role of the courts is very important to bring about public order. If there is no public order there will be chaos in this country and if there is chaos, no one can feel safe" On this basis, Tun Salleh was charged with making statements criticizing the Government which displayed prejudice and bias against the latter. Another statement of his, "In a democratic system, the courts play a prominent role as agent of stability but they can perform this function only if judges are trusted," resulted in the charge that he had ridiculed the Government by imputing that it did not trust the judges. These charges were doubly ludicrous in the light of Mahathir's many poisonous attacks against the Judiciary.
It is not surprising that Tun Salleh, after reading this catalogue of fantasy crimes, refused to appear before what was so evidently a kangaroo court. The Tribunal, after refusing representations made by Raja Aziz, Tun Salleh's leading counsel, that it had no constitutional validity to sit, chose instead to proceed so hastily that it wound up deliberations, including the examination of witnesses with just four hours work. As it prepared to issue its Report, Tun Salleh's lawyers sought an urgent stay of proceedings in the High Court. This would normally be granted immediately at the least possibility that an injustice may be about to be done but, here, events turned into utter farce.
Instead of immediately reaching a decision as expected, the presiding judge, Datuk Ajaib Singh, after the court had been in languorous session the whole day that Friday, adjourned hearings for 9.30 am the next day. On Saturday however, the judge emerged in court only at 11.50 am and, even then, postponed hearings again for the Monday! In desperation, Tun Salleh's lawyers, knowing that the Tribunal could easily release its Report before then, sought the assistance of Supreme Court judge, Tan Sri Wan Suleiman, in his Chambers. The latter agreed to hear them in open court in half an hour's time and called a coram of all remaining Supreme Court, one of whom, Tan Sri Hashim Yeop, refused to sit. The soap opera reached an apogee of ridiculousness when Tan Sri Abdul Hamid, head of the Tribunal and Acting Lord President, gave orders for the doors of Supreme Court to be locked and for the seal of the Supreme Court to be secreted away!
Undeterred, the five Supreme Court judges ordered the policeman on duty to open the door forthwith. After less than half an hour, the Court ordered the Tribunal not to submit any recommendation, report or advice to the King. Tun Salleh's lawyers were typing the Order to serve personally to the Tribunal at Parliament House when news arrived that the gates of Parliament House had been locked! At this point, Justice Wan Suleiman rose to the occasion and, calling the office of the Inspector General of Police, told a senior officer that any impediment to serving the Order would constitute contempt of court. The gates of Parliament swung open and, at 4 pm, Raja Aziz and his team served the Order to the Tribunal members who were found to be still hard at work on a word-processor that Saturday afternoon. All six members accepted service without complaint.
It would appear that justice had at last prevailed but, four days later, all five Supreme Court judges were suspended. Almost every rule that was broken to suspend Tun Salleh was broken again to suspend them. The prohibition order they had made were revoked within days. A second Tribunal eventually reinstated three of the judge: Tan Sri Azmi Kamaruddin, Tan Sri Eusoff Abdoolcader and Tan Sri Wan Hamzah but Tan Sri Wan Suleiman and Datuk George Edward Seah were removed from office.
The UMNO Eleven case was quickly dismissed. The removal of Tun Salleh also saw the resignation of Deputy PM Datuk Musa Hitam who, according to popular wisdom, could no longer stomach Mahathir's ways.
Of Prefects etc.
So it was confirmed that MCKK now has F3 prefects. Where they are stationed or what will be their duties are not known, but the mere fact that they exist presumably creates a lot of excitement (and antagonise certain groups). There was a short discussion on the topic in the batch net, but after a while (as usual) they digressed.
Ramli, Fadli \(Corporate\)
21/10/2004 02:51 PM
how come very the banyak one anjing in koleq ??
60 ??...dah tu separuh batch anjing is it ??...
jadi orientation anjing ( is that the name ? ) jadi macam kenduri kahwin is it ?
kau dah check belum ada mandi bunga this year untuk 60 orang tu ??
sure hell it's gonna be a full swimming pool and habis sapu semua bunga tanam by MDKK....
M Sazali B M Said
20/10/2004 02:59 PM
60 total prefect laa.. F5 to F3, so most probably die letak 30:20:10..
M Nadzrie B Azhar
21/10/2004 03:18 PM
Aku rasa terbalik la.... 10:20:30
Ramli, Fadli (Corporate)
Thursday, October 21, 2004 2:56 PM
speaking about Chomang,
apa kabar dia ?..anyone tau the whereabouts of our former BELOVED PREFECTS ?
Pica - update kan Asyraf
Abun - update kan Jeril
Ayien - update on ID
siapa ada relationship lain dengan Chomang & Puyeng ?..cant think of any...
M Nadzrie B Azhar
21/10/2004 03:26 PM
Point tu yang paling aku setuju dgn ko wong... kalau tak pasal chomang paksa aku hafal zikir, wirid & doa tu, mesti aku lost jugak skrang ni.....
M Sazali B M Said
20/10/2004 03:15 PM
wong,
tau ler ko taknak orang tau ko nie orang ganu, tapi takdela semua yang ending with 'ng' ko delete 'g' die..
chomang in terengganu is still chomang in other states..
nie mcm bebudak utagha la ni, bola jadi bole (ikut vocab KL kunun)
M Rafizi B Ramli
21/10/2004 03:41 PM
Aku rasa kau dah tersalah konsep laaa Wong, seniority complex that they mean is more like junior takut kat senior... like Bala kena jerit kat Jach'a sebab Bala panggil dia Jaapa (pronounce "Jak-po").
Jach'a 92: Ko kenal aku tak...
Bala 94: Kenal bang (dengan confidentnya)
Jach'a 92: Sapa nama aku.... (muka ganas)
Bala 94: JAAPA.......
Ha ha ha dah lah tido kat belakang block F1, panggil orang Jakpo pulak tu....
Wan Azman
21/10/2004 03:21 PM
Puyeng aku jumper dia masa aku lawan bola dulu.... 2 years ago.. Kerja dgn
PJH ( Putrajaya Holdings ).... Actually aku main for my company lawan
PJH.... But suddenly aku dengar ada sorang mamat menjerit and sounds very
familiar macam 'ooo kauorang boleh gelak lagi yer..' ...tengok-tengok puyeng
rupanyer.....
M Rafizi B Ramli
21/10/2004 03:35 PM
Ni aku sah-sah ko tipu Wong..... tak caya laaa aku......
Ramli, Fadli \(Corporate\)
21/10/2004 02:51 PM
how come very the banyak one anjing in koleq ??
60 ??...dah tu separuh batch anjing is it ??...
jadi orientation anjing ( is that the name ? ) jadi macam kenduri kahwin is it ?
kau dah check belum ada mandi bunga this year untuk 60 orang tu ??
sure hell it's gonna be a full swimming pool and habis sapu semua bunga tanam by MDKK....
M Sazali B M Said
20/10/2004 02:59 PM
60 total prefect laa.. F5 to F3, so most probably die letak 30:20:10..
M Nadzrie B Azhar
21/10/2004 03:18 PM
Aku rasa terbalik la.... 10:20:30
Ramli, Fadli (Corporate)
Thursday, October 21, 2004 2:56 PM
speaking about Chomang,
apa kabar dia ?..anyone tau the whereabouts of our former BELOVED PREFECTS ?
Pica - update kan Asyraf
Abun - update kan Jeril
Ayien - update on ID
siapa ada relationship lain dengan Chomang & Puyeng ?..cant think of any...
M Nadzrie B Azhar
21/10/2004 03:26 PM
Point tu yang paling aku setuju dgn ko wong... kalau tak pasal chomang paksa aku hafal zikir, wirid & doa tu, mesti aku lost jugak skrang ni.....
M Sazali B M Said
20/10/2004 03:15 PM
wong,
tau ler ko taknak orang tau ko nie orang ganu, tapi takdela semua yang ending with 'ng' ko delete 'g' die..
chomang in terengganu is still chomang in other states..
nie mcm bebudak utagha la ni, bola jadi bole (ikut vocab KL kunun)
M Rafizi B Ramli
21/10/2004 03:41 PM
Aku rasa kau dah tersalah konsep laaa Wong, seniority complex that they mean is more like junior takut kat senior... like Bala kena jerit kat Jach'a sebab Bala panggil dia Jaapa (pronounce "Jak-po").
Jach'a 92: Ko kenal aku tak...
Bala 94: Kenal bang (dengan confidentnya)
Jach'a 92: Sapa nama aku.... (muka ganas)
Bala 94: JAAPA.......
Ha ha ha dah lah tido kat belakang block F1, panggil orang Jakpo pulak tu....
Wan Azman
21/10/2004 03:21 PM
Puyeng aku jumper dia masa aku lawan bola dulu.... 2 years ago.. Kerja dgn
PJH ( Putrajaya Holdings ).... Actually aku main for my company lawan
PJH.... But suddenly aku dengar ada sorang mamat menjerit and sounds very
familiar macam 'ooo kauorang boleh gelak lagi yer..' ...tengok-tengok puyeng
rupanyer.....
M Rafizi B Ramli
21/10/2004 03:35 PM
Ni aku sah-sah ko tipu Wong..... tak caya laaa aku......
Sunday, October 17, 2004
We Screwed Up MCKK’s Tradition?
I picked this up from a notice board for budak koleq. There has always been discussions on the future of koleq and how things are run (mostly criticisms of the current way of running the school – deemed to be doing the school and the kids harm by not teaching them the “tradition”). Sometimes, out of boredom I would usually pick up the gauntlet thrown and give my opinions, although I noticed I had a knack for ending a thread of discussion. Each time I put forward my thought on an issue (especially MCKK-related issue), the discussion suddenly ends prematurely. So after a while, in order not to do a disservice to MCKK by ending any discussions on it, I refrain myself from participating (I can hear at the back a loud “yeah right!”)
Anyway, read this – quite interesting reading:
nul
Idris House
Posted: Mon Oct 11, 2004 10:56 pm
Post subject: Is Losing Tradition A Threat
Sorry guys but i have to let this one out... of late, i am beginning to fear that the new hm is revamping the school...becoming more like an ordinary school. A lot of our beloved tradition which had been practised for so many years would be erased. I know, some of you guys think that time changes... so let us follow the flow. But isn't traditions supposed to be kept and taken care of? Coleq flourishes partly due to its age old traditions. If we take this away, what will be the things that differentiate us from the other schools? Below are some of the facts and the rumours, (remember! still rumours) that are quite rampant:
1. FACT - some of the present form 2's had been elected PREFECTS
2. RUMOUR - some of these F3s (in 2005) will be in Prep School
3. RUMOUR - some F2s will stay at Prep School next year
4. FACT - there will be 60 PREFECTS next year; F5, F4 and F3. Traditionally only 30+
5. RUMOUR - there would be no more cubes for the PREFECTS. Only the Custodians (Prep School & New Hostel) will get cubes. Reason: The PREFECTS would become like katak bawah tempurung and don't know about the welfare of the other boys in his dorm.
6. RUMOUR - The cubes would be turned into stores for luggage.
7. FACT - As of last week, Duty PREFECTS cannot go to town anymore
8. FACT - No more college rounds during Prep for the Duty PREFECTS. Reason: It interferes with their study
9. FACT - The Juniors don't recognize the PREFECTS due to #8 above
10. RUMOUR - As there is the Majlis Perlantikan Prefects, there will also be a Majlis Perlucutan Jawatan Prefects later this year or early next year for those who had been newly elected but do not perform...BUT the PREFECTS were not told about the criteria of what's considered 'performing'
11. RUMOUR - There will not be another Prefects Orientation Week (POW) (which had been carried on for years by MILES and MCOBA). The orientation will be done by BTN
12. FACT - The HM said that he doesn't like traditions
13. FACT - The HM doesn't like POW
14. FACT - Lunch is not compulsory (not sure when this started)
15. FACT - Duty Wardens must stay in school till the next morning (Warden room's at our ping pong room and furnished with beds and a fridge)
16. FACT - Some of these PREFECTS will take care of the Canteen, Dining Hall, Surau etc. They will be PREFECT CANTEEN, PREFECT SURAU and all those F**** Sh***
17. FACT - The use of bicycle had long been limited. There's a quota for each block.
18. FACT - The HM wants to abolish 'Seniority Complex'.
19. FACT - The HM still has 2 stickers of SDAR on his Unser but only 1 sticker coleq(OK...this item is purely sentiment...)
20. FACT - The school does not recognize Cinema Club as an organisation
21. FACT - Town leave is only on Saturday after inspection. Sunday needs permission.
22. FACT - There is a Sunday morning assembly with Games attire.
23. FACT - There is Sunday morning Prep after assembly till noon.
24. FACT - The Prefects cannot give punishment while the boys are a. sleeping 2.studying 3.eating.
25. FACT - Any physical punishment (hahaha...as if there's any) to be given only during Games Hour
26. RUMOUR - The HM doesn't like Old Boys (to me, based on my interactions with him, this is a FACT)
Well, there are many others but these are the current ones and since the new Prefects had just been elected last Friday, obviously they take center stage.
Guys, please tell me that I am wrong...
fQrL
Sulaiman House
Posted: Tue Oct 12, 2004 11:01 pm
imho, giving the new hm time to implement the new codes and suppressing the old ones is not the right way. it's harder to resurrect a dormant tradition. the main problem would be because the ones who should know the traditions aka seniors don't know them anymore. then, how can the traditions be resurrected again, i wonder? worser still, due to the absence of it, the boys would no longer identify with the traditions and that would make the resurrection that much more harder.
then, the only ones who would still be able to reinstill the traditions would be us the old boys. but we can only do so much. when the love for koleq, the speret koleq is no longer there, or at least not as strong as it has always been for generations of budak koleq, all our efforts would be futile. love is like a plant see, if it's not nurtured it would wither and die slowly.
just my 2 cents
_________________
But thy eternal Summer shall not fade
Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st;
Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st.
nul
Idris House
Posted: Wed Oct 13, 2004 7:01 am
It's true...due to some reasons. There seems to be a blackout period where such traditions had not been passed down or perhaps even though passed down, but not practised. I can see that one of the culprits could be Hassan Hashim.
Now you see why I just have to comment on this one despite my earlier remark that I usually exercise restraint – that blackout period inarguably includes 1994. In fact some people would have been more forthright in pointing out that 1994 was THE blackout period.
Most of the grouses or so-called threats against the “tradition” in the above posting revolve around the Prefects Board, of which some members in the 90s claimed to be the “Guardian of Tradition” (I had even seen an ex-prefect’s card given to juniors under his ‘guardianship’ with the “Guardian of Tradition” in bold). I was never a prefect or a biawak or anything in koleq – a mere budak biasa with no allegiance to anything but the memory and experience of Malay College. Some may point out that I therefore have an axe to grind, although if I were still obsessed with events in secondary school after all these years, frankly speaking I am quite ashamed of myself.
But it is important to scrutinise the Prefects Board, its strengths and weaknesses and its relationship with the general body of student in koleq, before we jump on the bandwagon of this “extinction of koleq’s tradition”.
When we were at the end of our Form 3 (end of 1992), the age old tradition of prefect selection was changed. Whereas previously prefects were selected by the teachers and the outgoing F5 prefects, a new system of “selection” was introduced. This is where the flaw first appeared, and this flaw continued to dog (no pun intended ha ha) the Prefects Board for many years to come.
When I was in my junior years, prefectship was considered of having some value, commanding a certain respect since the holder of that red badge, maroon blazer and maroon tie was appointed after a careful selection process by the teachers, wardens and the outgoing Form 5 prefects. Even this, however, did not guarantee that each student who by criteria should have been a prefect; became a prefect. There were a lot of examples – Raja Mohd Ariff Shah (Ayih of 91), highly respected and well regarded by teachers and juniors alike, chose not to become a prefect but a KPKM president. Likewise Zamir of 92, chose a similar “career” in koleq.
To put things in perspective, Malay College had long practised a dual-party system with each side (being the Prefects Board and Students Union – KPKM) presenting credible candidates and leaders - hence a stable albeit sometimes fragile balance of power was ever maintained each year.
This was set to change when the new system of selection was introduced at the end of our third year in koleq. For the first time, aspiring would-be prefects were required to submit application form and CV in order to be short-listed for selection. In retrospect, the intention was (and is, since it is still being practised) noble. It wanted to train MCKK would-be leaders to be able to write CVs and present themselves nicely on paper. However, whoever came up with this idea, never considered (or underestimated) the effect of such a system on prefects’ credibility for years to come.
The effect on the Class of 94 was plain enough – the number of applicants was extremely low with most people who were expected to become a prefect, abstained from applying. Leadership is an issue of recognition and respect – and Malay College boys have long been indoctrinated that respect is earned, not given. As such a lot of people – egoistic as they were, but budak koleq by nature are egoistic – thought it was unnatural for “leaders” to go and seek recognition and respect. Recognition should be accorded to these “leaders” as a mark of respect – either by being appointed to a prefectship, or elected as a KPKM Exco. Either means has its own legitimacy in MCKK.
The resulting Prefects Board therefore was made up of motley crew of people - who sometimes did not entirely gain the respect that should have been accorded to a prefect that to a certain extent, they became the butt of certain people’s jokes during our time. It was unfair for them since they paid a high price for that opportunity to be leaders in MCKK – the majority of those appointed this way from my batch either lost their job (i.e. got the boot out – so this Majlis Perlucutan Jawatan is not particularly a new thing in MCKK) or left MCKK completely at the end of 1993. The repercussions are sometimes too harsh and cruel to mere 16 year olds.
I got the impression that this is still happening this year in MCKK. The so-called “Guardians of the Tradition”, as a result of flawed selection process, are not entirely the typical excellent students you would expect to become a prefect. I was told that many of them have academic problems, or that they are mostly made up of those who excel in sports (which by tradition fare a little bit worse in study) since they were the ones who did apply and so on. Gone are the days when a prefect commanded such a respect that he constantly received a standing ovation during the assembly, like Adlan Benan of 1990 (despite being a burung, MCKK’s euphemism for a new Form 4).
Thus the first thing to do, in order to combat this so-called “extinction of traditions” is to tackle root causes of the problem. Ensure that the prefects selected have natural calibre i.e. those who would have been the natural leaders of his batch with or without that red badge, maroon tie and blazer. In each batch there will be a group of these “natural leaders”, to whom his batch mates will eventually gravitate to and become separate groups within the batch. It is usually these natural leaders who determine the direction of one’s batch and subsequently MCKK’s in a particular year.
So long as the majority of prefects are viewed with amusement or badmouthed behind their back for not commanding the respect of their peers, this problem is here to stay. It is not enough to indoctrinate them during each POW (not Prisoners of War, but the MCOBA-organised Prefects Orientation Week) with this grand vision that they are the guardian of this sacred tradition – they must have the natural talent to be a leader in the first place before they can carry out their job. It is even more dangerous if prefects of shoddy personal qualities are overloaded with this grand vision, because it is usually them who tend to be gung ho at “guarding” the legacy to the point of provoking their teachers and peers.
Which brings us back to the original theme – did we screw up the so-called MCKK traditions in 1994?
(I feel as if I am looking at the issue too seriously, as if I was a youth from the China’s Cultural Revolution generation discussing what went on in their teens, or a youth from Nahdatul Ulama in 1966 discussing the purge of communism in Indonesia which killed hundreds of thousands. Ha ha to think that I am only talking about a prank in school...)
It is true that many things did change briefly in that short period of 1994, some were permanent, but others were brief only to be reversed by the people after us.
Prefects Orientation Week was organised by the teachers instead of MCOBA (although not BTN), but it was not even a Prefects Orientation Week. It was a Student Leaders Orientation, combining would-be prefects and KPKM Excos. The rationale was very simple – the whole of college witnessed the deterioration of goodwill and relationship between the teachers and prefects and students (each at each others’ throat) in 1993. One prominent prefect from that year gloatingly told us once how still managed to get a very good SPM results despite boycotting the class for a good part of the year, to give an example of the prevailing mood at the end of the year (what I failed to tell him was that he could have got 10A1s if he had not lost the teachers’ goodwill!). The atmosphere was not really pleasant – recently a friend from the batch related how he felt sad that his final year in college was overshadowed by the minority groups – prefects, baddies etc.
Which was why the first instinct of anyone coming back to be a Form 5 in 1994 was not to repeat 1993 (although I would not mind having the Latoque’s fame of taking the bus for a ride, that was classic). For that to happen, the extreme right-wing nature of Prefects Board needed to be neutralised so that it did not provoke the general body of students again. Likewise, those at the left-wing extreme had to be brought to the centre, so as to create a fragile compromise yet firm enough to maintain order and avoid provocation. I can speak for myself that it was quite simple, the lay pupils like me with no allegiance to either side needed to reclaim our stake in the livelihood of the school, because we did not want one minority group spoiled our final year in MCKK.
That fragile compromise ensured peace for the rest of our months in MCKK. No detention class was ever given to anyone in that year, no big disciplinary cases, no deteriorating relationship with the teachers or among ourselves.
But it came with a price – many compromises had to be made.
Prefects had to forego the right to roam college grounds and Kuala Kangsar on their bikes. I had always been left wing in my political opinions (although I only realised this after I left MCKK), never had I viewed positively the phenomenon whereby a minority group of students stands higher than the rest of us because they were allowed to cycle when all the rest had to walk. It might sound trivial, but the bikes had to go (or limited to one bike for each block, restricted to certain uses only) if the compromise was to be maintained. So that’s one tradition gone, and I admit it started with our year.
It was also in 1994 that F1 stopped wearing a pair of shorts with the long stocking. I was never privy to the real story, although bits and pieces that emerged sound close enough. As a result of the process to “assimilate” prefects into the mainstream, MCKK in 1994 (by MCKK I mean the teachers as well as the F5s) agreed that Prep School and New Hostel would no longer be taken care of by prefects. They were replaced with student representatives. Initially it was KPKM Excos who were supposed to go to these two outposts, but they proved to be too remote for them who had spent a lifetime in Big School, that at the end other people were sent in as replacement, including a few F3s (in Prep School there was Ayul of 96, in New Hostel there was Che Gap of 96 etc.)
I was told this enraged MCOBA, which understandably looked at the whole thing as Haji Hassan’s attempt to undo MCKK’s tradition (although the fact that the majority of students was a party to this so-called effort to undo MCKK’s tradition had always been ignored – somehow it is easy to be xenophobic and attack outsider than to look at reasons why MCKK-bred students agreed to the initiatives in the first place). A compromise was reached, whereby F1 students would be allowed to wear long pants (Ustaz in MCKK had long campaigned for the abolishment of shorts for F1) in exchange for prefects reinstated in Prep School and New Hostel.
But although a much more neutralised group of prefects were reinstated in New Hostel, it was not the same case in Prep School. MCKK chose to appoint those student representatives, who by heart and belief would never qualify as prefects for they were fiercely independent and liberal even back then (conservatism is not in their dictionary), as prefects. I would have thought MCOBA would have been even more enraged after that, feeling that they have been short changed by Haji Hassan.
So that’s another tradition gone, although it only managed to hold on for one year (the people after us were not as crazy as us).
Sunday morning prep also started during our year, although protest was actually raised (college boys would unite if they were compelled to do more work!).
So if the theme of this fear of “extinction of MCKK traditions” revolves around prefects, it is true that there was a black out of tradition during Haji Hassan’s time, especially in 1994 since the teachers and HM especially relied more on KPKM than Prefects Board. Prefects Board’s role was somewhat eclipsed in 1994 – although I bet no one from the Class of 1994 would complain about that, we left MCKK happily ever after.
But there were also additions to traditions that came from our year in the field of cheering. Banners were introduced and it survived till this day with the slogan “For Honour We Stand, With Valour We Fight”. Likewise, we swapped school uniform with a cheering T-Shirt, something which has lasted till this very day.
All in all, to a certain extent, I think the writer’s concern (whoever Nul is) is valid, although I prefer if we do not become too dogmatic and rigid with this concept of maintaining the tradition. Because tradition, as a loose combination of practices from yesteryears, is a fluid thing – one day it is a tradition, tomorrow it is not.
The guiding principle of MCKK (in fact of any school) should have been to bring out the best out of every student, so that they become an exceptional man in their own field of expertise. In this respect, I do agree with the general view of old boys of MCKK that scoring straight As in SPM is not the same with being an all-rounder and it does not guarantee future (although it does guarantee immediate future). But one has to balance this over-arching desire to produce a well-rounder according to MCKK’s mould with parents’ expectation that their children obtain a good SPM result to enable them to compete with other excellent students (from other schools) in getting scholarships. Ministry’s expectation compounds the situation.
In the end, it is not easy to balance it all and I don’t envy anyone who becomes MCKK’s headmaster. I would not necessarily agree with everything that he does, but I appreciate the challenge and would not talk of the task as if it is a kacang goreng. There is no prescribed ways to bring out the best out of a group of egoistic, know it all and stubborn 17 year olds that budak koleq have always been and yet still remain within the expectations of MCOBA, parents and the nation.
To those involved in reviving MCKK’s dwindling fortune, I wish them luck, my prayers are with you.
(I obviously did not have much to do this weekend since vice activities are strictly prohibited during Ramadhan – that leaves me patah kaki, hence this long blog)
Anyway, read this – quite interesting reading:
nul
Idris House
Posted: Mon Oct 11, 2004 10:56 pm
Post subject: Is Losing Tradition A Threat
Sorry guys but i have to let this one out... of late, i am beginning to fear that the new hm is revamping the school...becoming more like an ordinary school. A lot of our beloved tradition which had been practised for so many years would be erased. I know, some of you guys think that time changes... so let us follow the flow. But isn't traditions supposed to be kept and taken care of? Coleq flourishes partly due to its age old traditions. If we take this away, what will be the things that differentiate us from the other schools? Below are some of the facts and the rumours, (remember! still rumours) that are quite rampant:
1. FACT - some of the present form 2's had been elected PREFECTS
2. RUMOUR - some of these F3s (in 2005) will be in Prep School
3. RUMOUR - some F2s will stay at Prep School next year
4. FACT - there will be 60 PREFECTS next year; F5, F4 and F3. Traditionally only 30+
5. RUMOUR - there would be no more cubes for the PREFECTS. Only the Custodians (Prep School & New Hostel) will get cubes. Reason: The PREFECTS would become like katak bawah tempurung and don't know about the welfare of the other boys in his dorm.
6. RUMOUR - The cubes would be turned into stores for luggage.
7. FACT - As of last week, Duty PREFECTS cannot go to town anymore
8. FACT - No more college rounds during Prep for the Duty PREFECTS. Reason: It interferes with their study
9. FACT - The Juniors don't recognize the PREFECTS due to #8 above
10. RUMOUR - As there is the Majlis Perlantikan Prefects, there will also be a Majlis Perlucutan Jawatan Prefects later this year or early next year for those who had been newly elected but do not perform...BUT the PREFECTS were not told about the criteria of what's considered 'performing'
11. RUMOUR - There will not be another Prefects Orientation Week (POW) (which had been carried on for years by MILES and MCOBA). The orientation will be done by BTN
12. FACT - The HM said that he doesn't like traditions
13. FACT - The HM doesn't like POW
14. FACT - Lunch is not compulsory (not sure when this started)
15. FACT - Duty Wardens must stay in school till the next morning (Warden room's at our ping pong room and furnished with beds and a fridge)
16. FACT - Some of these PREFECTS will take care of the Canteen, Dining Hall, Surau etc. They will be PREFECT CANTEEN, PREFECT SURAU and all those F**** Sh***
17. FACT - The use of bicycle had long been limited. There's a quota for each block.
18. FACT - The HM wants to abolish 'Seniority Complex'.
19. FACT - The HM still has 2 stickers of SDAR on his Unser but only 1 sticker coleq(OK...this item is purely sentiment...)
20. FACT - The school does not recognize Cinema Club as an organisation
21. FACT - Town leave is only on Saturday after inspection. Sunday needs permission.
22. FACT - There is a Sunday morning assembly with Games attire.
23. FACT - There is Sunday morning Prep after assembly till noon.
24. FACT - The Prefects cannot give punishment while the boys are a. sleeping 2.studying 3.eating.
25. FACT - Any physical punishment (hahaha...as if there's any) to be given only during Games Hour
26. RUMOUR - The HM doesn't like Old Boys (to me, based on my interactions with him, this is a FACT)
Well, there are many others but these are the current ones and since the new Prefects had just been elected last Friday, obviously they take center stage.
Guys, please tell me that I am wrong...
fQrL
Sulaiman House
Posted: Tue Oct 12, 2004 11:01 pm
imho, giving the new hm time to implement the new codes and suppressing the old ones is not the right way. it's harder to resurrect a dormant tradition. the main problem would be because the ones who should know the traditions aka seniors don't know them anymore. then, how can the traditions be resurrected again, i wonder? worser still, due to the absence of it, the boys would no longer identify with the traditions and that would make the resurrection that much more harder.
then, the only ones who would still be able to reinstill the traditions would be us the old boys. but we can only do so much. when the love for koleq, the speret koleq is no longer there, or at least not as strong as it has always been for generations of budak koleq, all our efforts would be futile. love is like a plant see, if it's not nurtured it would wither and die slowly.
just my 2 cents
_________________
But thy eternal Summer shall not fade
Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st;
Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st.
nul
Idris House
Posted: Wed Oct 13, 2004 7:01 am
It's true...due to some reasons. There seems to be a blackout period where such traditions had not been passed down or perhaps even though passed down, but not practised. I can see that one of the culprits could be Hassan Hashim.
Now you see why I just have to comment on this one despite my earlier remark that I usually exercise restraint – that blackout period inarguably includes 1994. In fact some people would have been more forthright in pointing out that 1994 was THE blackout period.
Most of the grouses or so-called threats against the “tradition” in the above posting revolve around the Prefects Board, of which some members in the 90s claimed to be the “Guardian of Tradition” (I had even seen an ex-prefect’s card given to juniors under his ‘guardianship’ with the “Guardian of Tradition” in bold). I was never a prefect or a biawak or anything in koleq – a mere budak biasa with no allegiance to anything but the memory and experience of Malay College. Some may point out that I therefore have an axe to grind, although if I were still obsessed with events in secondary school after all these years, frankly speaking I am quite ashamed of myself.
But it is important to scrutinise the Prefects Board, its strengths and weaknesses and its relationship with the general body of student in koleq, before we jump on the bandwagon of this “extinction of koleq’s tradition”.
When we were at the end of our Form 3 (end of 1992), the age old tradition of prefect selection was changed. Whereas previously prefects were selected by the teachers and the outgoing F5 prefects, a new system of “selection” was introduced. This is where the flaw first appeared, and this flaw continued to dog (no pun intended ha ha) the Prefects Board for many years to come.
When I was in my junior years, prefectship was considered of having some value, commanding a certain respect since the holder of that red badge, maroon blazer and maroon tie was appointed after a careful selection process by the teachers, wardens and the outgoing Form 5 prefects. Even this, however, did not guarantee that each student who by criteria should have been a prefect; became a prefect. There were a lot of examples – Raja Mohd Ariff Shah (Ayih of 91), highly respected and well regarded by teachers and juniors alike, chose not to become a prefect but a KPKM president. Likewise Zamir of 92, chose a similar “career” in koleq.
To put things in perspective, Malay College had long practised a dual-party system with each side (being the Prefects Board and Students Union – KPKM) presenting credible candidates and leaders - hence a stable albeit sometimes fragile balance of power was ever maintained each year.
This was set to change when the new system of selection was introduced at the end of our third year in koleq. For the first time, aspiring would-be prefects were required to submit application form and CV in order to be short-listed for selection. In retrospect, the intention was (and is, since it is still being practised) noble. It wanted to train MCKK would-be leaders to be able to write CVs and present themselves nicely on paper. However, whoever came up with this idea, never considered (or underestimated) the effect of such a system on prefects’ credibility for years to come.
The effect on the Class of 94 was plain enough – the number of applicants was extremely low with most people who were expected to become a prefect, abstained from applying. Leadership is an issue of recognition and respect – and Malay College boys have long been indoctrinated that respect is earned, not given. As such a lot of people – egoistic as they were, but budak koleq by nature are egoistic – thought it was unnatural for “leaders” to go and seek recognition and respect. Recognition should be accorded to these “leaders” as a mark of respect – either by being appointed to a prefectship, or elected as a KPKM Exco. Either means has its own legitimacy in MCKK.
The resulting Prefects Board therefore was made up of motley crew of people - who sometimes did not entirely gain the respect that should have been accorded to a prefect that to a certain extent, they became the butt of certain people’s jokes during our time. It was unfair for them since they paid a high price for that opportunity to be leaders in MCKK – the majority of those appointed this way from my batch either lost their job (i.e. got the boot out – so this Majlis Perlucutan Jawatan is not particularly a new thing in MCKK) or left MCKK completely at the end of 1993. The repercussions are sometimes too harsh and cruel to mere 16 year olds.
I got the impression that this is still happening this year in MCKK. The so-called “Guardians of the Tradition”, as a result of flawed selection process, are not entirely the typical excellent students you would expect to become a prefect. I was told that many of them have academic problems, or that they are mostly made up of those who excel in sports (which by tradition fare a little bit worse in study) since they were the ones who did apply and so on. Gone are the days when a prefect commanded such a respect that he constantly received a standing ovation during the assembly, like Adlan Benan of 1990 (despite being a burung, MCKK’s euphemism for a new Form 4).
Thus the first thing to do, in order to combat this so-called “extinction of traditions” is to tackle root causes of the problem. Ensure that the prefects selected have natural calibre i.e. those who would have been the natural leaders of his batch with or without that red badge, maroon tie and blazer. In each batch there will be a group of these “natural leaders”, to whom his batch mates will eventually gravitate to and become separate groups within the batch. It is usually these natural leaders who determine the direction of one’s batch and subsequently MCKK’s in a particular year.
So long as the majority of prefects are viewed with amusement or badmouthed behind their back for not commanding the respect of their peers, this problem is here to stay. It is not enough to indoctrinate them during each POW (not Prisoners of War, but the MCOBA-organised Prefects Orientation Week) with this grand vision that they are the guardian of this sacred tradition – they must have the natural talent to be a leader in the first place before they can carry out their job. It is even more dangerous if prefects of shoddy personal qualities are overloaded with this grand vision, because it is usually them who tend to be gung ho at “guarding” the legacy to the point of provoking their teachers and peers.
Which brings us back to the original theme – did we screw up the so-called MCKK traditions in 1994?
(I feel as if I am looking at the issue too seriously, as if I was a youth from the China’s Cultural Revolution generation discussing what went on in their teens, or a youth from Nahdatul Ulama in 1966 discussing the purge of communism in Indonesia which killed hundreds of thousands. Ha ha to think that I am only talking about a prank in school...)
It is true that many things did change briefly in that short period of 1994, some were permanent, but others were brief only to be reversed by the people after us.
Prefects Orientation Week was organised by the teachers instead of MCOBA (although not BTN), but it was not even a Prefects Orientation Week. It was a Student Leaders Orientation, combining would-be prefects and KPKM Excos. The rationale was very simple – the whole of college witnessed the deterioration of goodwill and relationship between the teachers and prefects and students (each at each others’ throat) in 1993. One prominent prefect from that year gloatingly told us once how still managed to get a very good SPM results despite boycotting the class for a good part of the year, to give an example of the prevailing mood at the end of the year (what I failed to tell him was that he could have got 10A1s if he had not lost the teachers’ goodwill!). The atmosphere was not really pleasant – recently a friend from the batch related how he felt sad that his final year in college was overshadowed by the minority groups – prefects, baddies etc.
Which was why the first instinct of anyone coming back to be a Form 5 in 1994 was not to repeat 1993 (although I would not mind having the Latoque’s fame of taking the bus for a ride, that was classic). For that to happen, the extreme right-wing nature of Prefects Board needed to be neutralised so that it did not provoke the general body of students again. Likewise, those at the left-wing extreme had to be brought to the centre, so as to create a fragile compromise yet firm enough to maintain order and avoid provocation. I can speak for myself that it was quite simple, the lay pupils like me with no allegiance to either side needed to reclaim our stake in the livelihood of the school, because we did not want one minority group spoiled our final year in MCKK.
That fragile compromise ensured peace for the rest of our months in MCKK. No detention class was ever given to anyone in that year, no big disciplinary cases, no deteriorating relationship with the teachers or among ourselves.
But it came with a price – many compromises had to be made.
Prefects had to forego the right to roam college grounds and Kuala Kangsar on their bikes. I had always been left wing in my political opinions (although I only realised this after I left MCKK), never had I viewed positively the phenomenon whereby a minority group of students stands higher than the rest of us because they were allowed to cycle when all the rest had to walk. It might sound trivial, but the bikes had to go (or limited to one bike for each block, restricted to certain uses only) if the compromise was to be maintained. So that’s one tradition gone, and I admit it started with our year.
It was also in 1994 that F1 stopped wearing a pair of shorts with the long stocking. I was never privy to the real story, although bits and pieces that emerged sound close enough. As a result of the process to “assimilate” prefects into the mainstream, MCKK in 1994 (by MCKK I mean the teachers as well as the F5s) agreed that Prep School and New Hostel would no longer be taken care of by prefects. They were replaced with student representatives. Initially it was KPKM Excos who were supposed to go to these two outposts, but they proved to be too remote for them who had spent a lifetime in Big School, that at the end other people were sent in as replacement, including a few F3s (in Prep School there was Ayul of 96, in New Hostel there was Che Gap of 96 etc.)
I was told this enraged MCOBA, which understandably looked at the whole thing as Haji Hassan’s attempt to undo MCKK’s tradition (although the fact that the majority of students was a party to this so-called effort to undo MCKK’s tradition had always been ignored – somehow it is easy to be xenophobic and attack outsider than to look at reasons why MCKK-bred students agreed to the initiatives in the first place). A compromise was reached, whereby F1 students would be allowed to wear long pants (Ustaz in MCKK had long campaigned for the abolishment of shorts for F1) in exchange for prefects reinstated in Prep School and New Hostel.
But although a much more neutralised group of prefects were reinstated in New Hostel, it was not the same case in Prep School. MCKK chose to appoint those student representatives, who by heart and belief would never qualify as prefects for they were fiercely independent and liberal even back then (conservatism is not in their dictionary), as prefects. I would have thought MCOBA would have been even more enraged after that, feeling that they have been short changed by Haji Hassan.
So that’s another tradition gone, although it only managed to hold on for one year (the people after us were not as crazy as us).
Sunday morning prep also started during our year, although protest was actually raised (college boys would unite if they were compelled to do more work!).
So if the theme of this fear of “extinction of MCKK traditions” revolves around prefects, it is true that there was a black out of tradition during Haji Hassan’s time, especially in 1994 since the teachers and HM especially relied more on KPKM than Prefects Board. Prefects Board’s role was somewhat eclipsed in 1994 – although I bet no one from the Class of 1994 would complain about that, we left MCKK happily ever after.
But there were also additions to traditions that came from our year in the field of cheering. Banners were introduced and it survived till this day with the slogan “For Honour We Stand, With Valour We Fight”. Likewise, we swapped school uniform with a cheering T-Shirt, something which has lasted till this very day.
All in all, to a certain extent, I think the writer’s concern (whoever Nul is) is valid, although I prefer if we do not become too dogmatic and rigid with this concept of maintaining the tradition. Because tradition, as a loose combination of practices from yesteryears, is a fluid thing – one day it is a tradition, tomorrow it is not.
The guiding principle of MCKK (in fact of any school) should have been to bring out the best out of every student, so that they become an exceptional man in their own field of expertise. In this respect, I do agree with the general view of old boys of MCKK that scoring straight As in SPM is not the same with being an all-rounder and it does not guarantee future (although it does guarantee immediate future). But one has to balance this over-arching desire to produce a well-rounder according to MCKK’s mould with parents’ expectation that their children obtain a good SPM result to enable them to compete with other excellent students (from other schools) in getting scholarships. Ministry’s expectation compounds the situation.
In the end, it is not easy to balance it all and I don’t envy anyone who becomes MCKK’s headmaster. I would not necessarily agree with everything that he does, but I appreciate the challenge and would not talk of the task as if it is a kacang goreng. There is no prescribed ways to bring out the best out of a group of egoistic, know it all and stubborn 17 year olds that budak koleq have always been and yet still remain within the expectations of MCOBA, parents and the nation.
To those involved in reviving MCKK’s dwindling fortune, I wish them luck, my prayers are with you.
(I obviously did not have much to do this weekend since vice activities are strictly prohibited during Ramadhan – that leaves me patah kaki, hence this long blog)
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