Selamat Hari Gawai Dayak

Wishing the Dayak across the globe a Selamat Hari Gawai Dayak, Gayu guru gerai nyamai!!

Unity Through Diversity

In this month of May, the number one historical event which shaped Malaysian history happened in 13 May 1969. Racial tensions were so high in West Malaysia, among the Malays, Chinese and Indians, that on that day, innocent and pure blood were shed. A Proclamation of Emergency was pronunced, and is still in effect to today. Instead of being governed by the Cabinet held accountable by an elected Parliament, Malaysia was placed under the administration of the National Action Council under the late Tun Abdul Razak. This Council adviced the Yang Di-Pertuan Agong on the promulgation of Emergency Ordinances and other functions thrusted upon the Crown by Articles 149 and 150 of the Federal Constitution. In fact, these two Articles continue to cast their shadow today. Just so you know, the Proclamation of Emergency can only be revoked by either Parliament or the Yang Di-Pertuan Agong (see Johnson Tan). It cannot end for lapse of time, the Supreme Court then ruled. As off today, the earlier emergencies were never revoked.

In the wake of Malaysia’s river of blood, the National Action Council sought to identify the causes of the tensions and came up with several solutions. The solutions were, namely, the National Pillars (Rukun Negara) and the New Economic Policy (Dasar Ekonomi Baru/DEB) among others. It seems that in today’s political scenario, the Rukun Negara is the least favourite.

What were the causes of the racial tensions? Should we re-examine history and current affairs, nationally and globally, why do racial tensions happen? First and foremost, the reason which stares in our faces is the high level of ignorance we have towards another group. The next reason is the refusal or ignorance to accept a national identity, what is common to Malaysians in our context. Let’s not forget the class-competition and distribution of wealth.

Some ‘experts’ and groups claim and cry that racial tensions are caused because of the “younger generation’s ingrateful behaviour towards contributions of past leaders and for being carried away by progress”. I’m no expert, but I say that the religious and racial tensions are caused by the people who see evil and corruption everywhere but within. Some Malaysians still have the 1957 mentality - good God, it’s not even the 1963 mentality! - and continue to sow the seeds of hatred among the young. Instead of finding and applying new formula which would ensure continuity of this country, this class of society prefers to hold to the 1957 idea that “we own this land, you ought to be grateful we gave you citizenship”.

As we continue to move forward, Malaysia cannot afford to stand on the shoulders of any one race. In fact, since 1957, no race can claim exclusively that they are the reason Malaysia is where she is now: not the Malays neither the Chinese, not the natives of East Malaysia or the ‘immigrants’. 51 years on for Malaya and 45 years on for Malaysia, we are where we are because of our cooperation. Times have changed, being in the past means walking in the reverse.

As for government initiatives, I urge the Government to take measures which would bring all of us forward, not the “one step forward, two steps back” approach we see today. To the media, be more responsible and ethical in presenting news. Keep your opinions in the “Opinions” section, not the ‘News’ section. Politicians, you adapt to today’s silent majority and behave - otherwise say bye-bye to your seats. As a part of Generation Y, I’m offended by the term Pakatan Tsunami. The changes seen in March 8 wasn’t caused by any parties: it was caused by the new generation who are fed-up and tired of nonsesical and historical rhetorics and tactics.

As I conclude this entry, let us remember that the Rukun Negara was formulate for Malaysians. Not for PAS or Semangat 49 or UMNO or just for one exclusive segment of society. Kepercayaan kepada Tuhan, Kesetiaan kepada Raja dan Negara, Keluhuran Perlembagaan, Kedaulatan Undang-Undang and Kesopanan dan Kesusilaan should be in every Malaysian’s soul and mind - irrespective of age, gender, race, religion and creed.

Whoa~ Need to recharge the Grey Matter

Writing isn’t as easy as it seems to be. For one thing, writing a particular format demands 100% focus if you want it to come out right. Somehow, there are still probabilities that an error or two would prop up. That’s when the time you need to re-energize and reignite that grey matter of yours.

While in Shah Alam, I enjoy watching the fishes at the aquarium at the lake park. The lake park itself is also a nice place to read, study and relax. No wonder so many couples and families go there every now and then. Though that comment is directed to the more ’secluded’ smaller lake. The larger part (which faces the PKNS Complex, SIRIM Bhd and Section 2) is too crowded and ‘open’. Feel exposed there, actually. The greenery and facilities of the smaller lake (behind Wisma Darul Ehsan and Plaza Alam Sentral) provides the serenity a student and a writer needs.

Back in Sarawak, I cannot say the same for beaches. Perhaps because I rarely go to one despite living about 50 metres from one. :-p When in Betong, however, the ideas rushes into my head that if I haven’t got a paper and pen to write it down, it would all be lost. There’s something inspiring in this Saribas heartland which I seem to enjoy. I guess it’s the simplicity of things here which eases the generation of ideas.

If I’m set to be a copywriter for life, I wouldn’t mind staying at either these two locations. The privacy the two towns has to offer are magnificent. As they say in French, c’est magnifique!

Alright, now it’s off to the showers before I work on the Bandar Puteri blog <link> entries for yesterday (still unpublished) and start on the entry for today. Then it’s a bit of speech writing for me. My first project of that nature. I look forward to the challenge.

p.s. Besides the location, writing this entry out helped to slow the pace my brain is working. From serious to relax. Like a car, you do not want to overheat the engine.

When comparing AF to AI

It’s 12.49 am. Can’t sleep. :-p My Grandmom has Astro Ria (Channel 104) on the box. We have the Akademi Fantasia Concert playing - good Gawd, I aint a fan of such tasteless shows. Don’t get me wrong - I do watch reality TV. But sometimes, reality tv is too unreal for me. My favourite have been American Idol, Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader, Weakest Link, America’s Next Top Model and the like. Perhaps some more which I cannot recall.

Looking at what the students were wearing, I could only think, “you would never see THAT on an American Idol contestant”. I do not know what the teachers and designers taught these kids, but it’s terrible.

For one, the students were all over the place on the stage. I can only imagine what Simon and Randy would say. It’s just hideous. Their performance would have been alright, should they know what they were doing. A critic highlighted this, Adlin Aman Ramli, I think was his name. Fortunately someone has some sense to point that out.

The reason, however, why I never bother to watch Akademi Fantasia, One in a Million, Gang Starz and the like is because of the quality of the contestants they seem to take. With due respect, I don’t have a voice which would encapsulate the heavens; though the moment one note comes out of my mouth, Hell seems to freeze in terror and the Heavens start crying. Grateful Homeland Security didn’t try to arrest me for disturbing the peace and crimes against humanity. Back to the quality of the contestants: I’m sure there are people out there - out of the 27 million people in Malaysia - there is at least a handful of individuals who were gifted with angelic voices.

Take for example the heartthrob which many are obsessed with: Mawi. He lacks looks and voice. He an barely speak one sentence of English, yet he caused a mass hysteria among Akademi Fantasia fanatics. Won awards at various levels. I dare bet, the moment Mawi sings before Simon Cowell, not a word of praise would come from the latter.

p.s. Words in italics denotes sarcasm… >_>

p.p.s. Don’t miss the last two weeks of American Idol!!!

Back in Betong

Holiday began for me on the May 4, 2008 with the conclusion of our last Final Exams paper. This time it was Cyber Law. Less than 24 hours later, I had to catch a flight to Miri. Now I am back in Betong, Sarawak <Wiki Link>. ‘Back’ because I spend 3 years of my life here. Studied in SMK Datuk Patinggi Kedit from mid-2000 to early 2002.

I finally got my hands on the papers today: The Borneo Post. Not my usual New Straits Times; when in Sarawak, read what the Sarawakians read, right? Two articles prompted me to finally write an entry.

Sarawak could protect Greece just as well as Greece could protect Sarawak

The first article was about SCORE (which stands for the Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy). In conjunction with the sitting of the Sarawak State Legislative Assembly, SCORE have been raised by the Hon. Members of the Assembly. Needless to say, there’s a lot of coverage on this ‘corridor’. The title of one article is: Czech Republic shows interests to invest in SCORE (p. 4, Borneo Post, May 13, 2008).

I doubt there was any coverage of the event in the mainstream ‘Malaysian media’. Usually that refers to mainstream West Malaysian media. As far as many are concerned, the Borneo Post, Eastern Times, Borneo Bulletin, Utusan Borneo and the BM equivalent are tabloids. Sad, isn’t it.

Anyway, I’m a skeptic when it comes to the 5 corridors. I believe I wrote something about it some time back. The gist to that would be: it took us 10 years to understand the first corridor, last year and early this year we see 5 more. That opinion was from the last edition Financial Times in 2007. Also, the costs incurred are absurd.

But the interests of the Czech Republic, among others, could signal something positive. Hopefully positive enough to convince our skeptics. I pray that this would not be a repeat of 1800s Greece-Sarawak relations.

Urm… I’m seeing a blur in your face. Sarawak had a diplomatic relationship with Greece in 1800s? Lest you forget, despite the citizenship of H.H. Rajah Brooke being British, the country he ruled over was a sovereign one. We had relations with the United States even. It’s at page 101 of Joan Rawlins’ Sarawak 1839 - 1963. The book was published in 1965 by Macmillan & Co Ltd. in London. The text per verbatim:-

James Brooke was still worried because no great nation was prepared to offer its protection to Sarawak. When the British Government showed no interest, he considered other European governments: France, Belgium, even Holland, whose colonial policies he greatly disliked. Miss Burdett Coutts [Baroness Angela Burdett Coutts] suggested Greece, but the Rajah replied that Sarawak could protect Greece just as well as Greece could protect Sarawak.

At page 14 of the same daily, the headline of one article goes S’wak targets 20,000 entrepreneurs by 2010. Dato Sri Awang Tengah Ali Hassan, the Minister of Public Utilities, made the statement in his winding up speech at the Assembly meeting.

Here’s where I now spin the two articles into one fine opinion of mine:

SCORE is a noble idea intended to bring development to the region it covers. I’m certain jobs and opportunities would be created. As the former Secretary of State for Trade and Industry at Politics UK <Politics UK link>, this was a strategy I intended to adopt to tackle the in-game 1980s recession. Creating more and more opportunities by creating and providing infrastructure for prospective and current Small and Medium Entrepreneurs (SMEs). Programmes and agencies were created to help achieve the figure by the State Government and I respect that. In fact, I support it. The Government of Sarawak spent RM243 million in the past to years for local entrepreneurs. Sadly, the Government, too, has limited funds. That’s where the Czech Republic, foreign and local investors, come into the picture; they supplement the available resources. Ultimately, whether SCORE can succeed and the 20,000 be met, the efforts, will, preparation and determination of the locals are what makes it so. Do not wait until it is too late. Opportunity stares us in the face, it’s a matter of whether you can identify it or not.

UiTM & the Blogging World

The second article which inspired this entry is at p. 22 of today’s Borneo Post. UiTM willing to offer course on blog writing.

With respect to my varsity, the idea is now obsolete. Sadly, while blogs have been in existence since the mid-90s <Link>, it was only taken seriously after March 8, 2008. Prior to that date, bloggers were considered “unpatriotic gobloks [translation: idiots]” by the Government of Malaysia. The position was expressed by the then Minister of Information, Datuk Seri Zainuddin Maidin, in Parliament. Just so you know, a stand of a Government Minister is the stand of that Government. It’s called collective responsibility, especially if the Minister has the portfolio over the subject matter.

Blogs and bloggers in Malaysia came into the spotlight as the cause of the loss of the Barisan Nasional in West Malaysia. In light of that, the blogosphere became the “in-thing” among Malaysian politicians. Dato’ Seri Dr. Khir Toyo <blog link>, Leader of the Opposition in the Selangor State Legislative Assembly and former Menteri Besar (chief minister), and his MB predecessor and current Minister of Rural Development, Datuk Muhammad Muhammad Taib <blog link> both have one.

Talk about U-turns. *Cringes* If I were to do that in Politics UK, I could kiss my portfolio and constituency goodbye.

Anyway, the idea for a course on blogs is obsolete because of the available resources online. You do not need to pay hundreds of ringgit for free updated information. There are two books on the market written in Malay for blogs. Refer to my entry on Materials for Writing Career. If those were basic, imagine reality. Here, I do not oppose the move of my university, but I believe that we have other issues to address.

My learned Vice Chancellor, Datuk Seri Prof. Dr. Ibrahim Abu Shah, said that there were some rules and guidelines to be observed. Ethics, primarily. The report ended with Datuk Seri saying:

Isn’t there any other media which can provide a balance to the situation. Do we have to be trapped and allow ourselves to become victims of cyber media without check and balance on ourselves, family and the society.

It’s here I think the cyber colony can be regulated. If the blog is used, then it is also through the blog that we can merge the traditional and new media.

Aldric’s comments: This was quoted verbatim from the report - including the punctuation marks. Good God, there are many errors!

As an undergraduate who took cyber law as a subject at Universiti Teknologi MARA Malaysia, I must dissent with the opinion. It is nearly impossible to regulate the blogs. My learned Vice Chancellor may have had his reasons not reported. It would be enlightening to see his reasoning. Cyberspace is no where near the real world. You can say that it is a totally new dimension. You can regulate what is in Malaysia, but not what is outside; well, not as easily that is.

A course on blogging is not viable because of the rapid change the blogosphere sees every second. Remember that the Chief Executive of the University talks on ‘writing blogs’. Sadly, there are many forms of blogs besides writing. Blogs can be ‘written’ by publishing artworks, videos and recordings. As technology continue to develop, the evolution continues.

In Memory of May 13

Today in 1969, Malaysia went through the worst racial conflict she has seen since time immemorial. What was in the past should not be forgotten. Instead, it should be made into a lesson. As the trend continues, it is not impossible to see a repeat of history.

In memory of May 13, here’s the Rukun Negara which was drawn up to address the problems we faced. Memorise it, understand it, appreciate it and apply it:

• Kepercayaan kepada Tuhan
• Kesetiaan kepada Raja dan Negara
• Keluhuran Perlembagaan
• Kedaulatan Undang-Undang
• Kesopanan dan Kesusilaan