Syed Ahmad Fathi's Blog, page 20

Viewing the History of Imam Said Nursi from Psychological Perspectives – Part 1

By: Nurhafizah Ibrahim

Have you ever heard of Imam Bediuzzaman Said Nursi? Or Risalah An-Nur?

Or if you are Malaysian, most probably I guess you have heard of the inspiring story of the late Ahmad Ammar (1993 – 2013). Why does it matter, anyway? Because it is through him that many Malaysian youth are triggered to learn more about Islam, and Risalah An-Nur also became increasingly known since his demise. Personally, he is the reason why I choose to learn Risalah An-Nur, and do my internship at NRTC, an organization under Hayrat Foundation in collaboration with IIUM. To know more about the late Ahmad Ammar, here is a short interview with Ahmad Ammar’s parents by Sinar TV.

Back to the topic, briefly, Imam Said Nursi (1877 – 1960) was born at Nurs village, Bitlis, Turkey. At the age of 9, he received his early education from his elder brother, Mulla Abdullah. He also learnt from many respected scholars in Eastern Anatolia. Being able to memorized 90 volumes of Islamic texts (such as sarf, nahu, mantiq, tafsir Al-Quran and ‘ilm kalam) within 3 months had made him being entitled as “Bediuzzaman (The Unique of The Time)” by his teacher Mulla Fathullah.

Upon his meeting with Hasan Pasha (a governor) in Van, he realized that the Muslim ummah were in need of positive sciences. Then, he studied positive sciences such as mathematics, geography, history, physics, chemistry, astronomy, geology and philosophy on his own within short time.

Imam Said Nursi stayed in Van for 15 years, teaching in the madrasah of Horhor. His biggest turning point was when the British Minister of Colonies, Sir William Ewart Gladstone was reported in the news, saying to the House of Commons that they have to remove the Qur’an from the central life of Muslim if they want to dominate the Muslim world. This had made Imam Said Nursi turned all his life into a mission of saving the ummah through the light of the Quran. So, Imam Said Nursi proposed to build a university in Eastern Anatolia which would combine the positive sciences and religious sciences, unite both hearts and minds to tear down the enemies’ plans. But surely, it was not an easy task. He was being tortured physically and mentally, and suffered until death, yet he never stop from the mission. Until today, we could see how Risalah an-Nur has affected thousands of lives.

So long as there is this book (Qur’an) existing in the hands of Muslims, there will be no peace in the world. We will never be able to dominate them. We should find a way to take this Qur’an from their hands and do as much as possible to remove the Qur’an from being central to the life of Muslims and alienate them to it.”

 Sir William Ewart Gladstone, the British Minister of Colonies

It is a long history that it would take several books to write the history in detail. However, I would just wrap up the history in 5 take-home lessons.

The reasoning ability

Imam Said Nursi was known for his unique method of combining the logical reasoning (‘ilm mantiq), sciences, and tafsir of Quran in his writing of Risalah An-Nur. This unique method is used to fight against secularism and materialism of the modern time.

This shows that it is important to encourage the youth to think and ask critical questions while learning religious sciences. Because developing the reasoning ability (with the guide of Qur’an & sunnah of course) is urgently needed at the current time when Muslims are being attacked intellectually and spiritually.

How to develop the reasoning ability? In simple way, we may start with a small study circle to debate and discuss a general issue. Encourage the members to ask questions, suggest ideas, and evaluate each other’s opinions. Be open while maintaining good manners.

Delayed gratification

Imam Said Nursi was willing to delay the immediate reward (living a leisure life while young) for a later reward (the true rest in Hereafter). Today’s youth are in need of this ability to control one’s impulse. Because in real world, great things do not come in one blink. To train oneself to be able to delay gratification, perhaps we can start with small things like fasting, maybe? Or any other suggestion?

To know more what is delayed gratification, click here.

I think these 2 points are enough for now. The other 3 points are quite lengthy. So, I will continue sharing the gems on my next post, insyaAllah.

This article was first published by Nurhafizah Ibrahim on her blog Tinta Tabib. She can be reach at inurhafizah93@gmail.com .

Sains Politik: Memahami “Kerajaan Pintu Belakang”

KUALA LUMPUR, 1 Mac – Presiden Bersatu Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin mengangkat sumpah sebagai Perdana Menteri kelapan dihadapan Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Riayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah / Foto BERNAMA (2020)

Dengan perlantikan perdana menteri baharu maka secara rasmi kita menyaksikan kejatuhan kerajaan Pakatan Harapan yang hanya mampu bertahan 22 bulan. Selepas menyaksikan “drama” dan “plot twist” yang berlaku, kita dapat gambaran yang lebih tepat berkenaan dengan situasi ini apabila habuk telah mendarat “dust have settled”.

Setelah perletakan jawatan perdana menteri, adegan kejar mengejar, drama air mata setia berprinsip, adegan lopat melompat, pertandingan matematik mengira kerusi, mesyuarat tengah malam, adengan video “bye-bye PKR”, akhirnya kita sampai ke titik equilibrium dengan pembentukan kerajaan baru hasil proses tawar menawar dan kompromi beberapa parti.

Bagi yang terjatuh dari buaian takhta, ia adalah aksi pengkhianatan kepada “mandat rakyat”. Bagi yang menerima kuasa dan laba, mereka berhujah bahawa mereka mengikut perlembagaan dengan mengumpulkan sokongan ahli-ahli yang sudah menang pilihanraya, mereka selaku ahli parlimen mewakili rakyat untuk menyokong seorang perdana menteri. Apa pun pendirian kita, saya bersetuju dengan saranan Tun Mahathir dalam wawancara terbarunya bersama Sinar Harian bahawa rakyat perlu belajar dengan episod ini. Ia adalah kuliah demokrasi yang praktikal bagi mereka yang mahu menjadi pelajar kepada sejarah.

Jika benar kuasa politik direbut melalui perang persepsi, ia memerlukan lebih 60 tahun untuk menjatuhkan kerajaan pimpinan UMNO-BN, dan hanya 22 bulan untuk membina persepsi dan menjatuhkan kerajaan Pakatan Harapan. Dalam bahasa matematik hanya 3.05% sahaja masa yang diperlukan dalam perang persepsi untuk menjatuhkan PH berbanding BN. Tetapi saya tidak percaya 1 faktor sahaja yang menyebabkan kerajaan ini jatuh. Jadi ia lebih dari sekadar persepsi.

Discourse berkenaan dengan kejatuhan PH di dalam bulatan liberal, jemaah yang menyokong PH, pejuang sosial media PH, kebanyakannya berorbitkan “pengkhianatan”. Ya betul, perubahan pendirian sebilangan besar ahli parlimen PH, serta Parti Bersatu ini adalah faktor yang zahir yang menyebabkan kerajaan mereka jatuh. Tetapi pada saya observasi zahir ini tidak menceritakan keseluruhan cerita. Persoalan besar yang perlu ditanya adalah ini “Kenapa perlu ‘khianat’ apabila sudah di puncak kuasa?”. Dalam bahasa ekonomi kita perlu mencari apa “insentif” dari perbuatan ini. Jika lompatan ketua pemuda parti kalah untuk masuk parti menang itu mudah difahami, tapi kenapa perlu “khianat” jika sudah pun menjadi menteri?

Persoalan ini adalah persoalan yang menjadikan teori “khianat” ini benar tapi simplistik, true but not the whole truth, ataupun boleh dikata “half-truth“.

Untuk menjawab persoalan ini kita perlu cuba menjenguk sedikit kehadapan dan melangkah sedikit ke belakang. Kita boleh melemparkan banyak teori, tetapi bagi tulisan ini cukuplah kita menimbang dua teori. Teori pertama memerlukan kita untuk meninjau ke hadapan, teori strategi yang bersifat Machiavellian, yang mana keperluan strategi mengatasi neraca moral. Pakatan Harapan dari awal bukanlah pakatan yang stabil untuk jangka panjang, dari awal pakatan yang didominasi PKR-DAP ini memerlukan parti pro-Melayu untuk memenangi pilihanraya yang masih bersifat identity politics walaupun ia merupakan antonim kepada naratif multi-culturism mereka. Di sini Bersatu masuk mengisi ruang itu.

Tetapi Bersatu tidak mempunyai pegangan yang kuat dalam PH. Walaupun mengisi banyak jawatan penting seperti PM dan MB, kerusi mereka terlalu tidak signifikan jika hendak dibandingkan dengan penguasaan kerusi PKR-DAP. Situasi ini dipanggil “punya jawatan tetapi tidak punya kuasa”. Maszlee merupakan contoh yang sangat baik dalam hal ini, walaupun dia menteri, hendak laksanakan dasar pun ditentang oleh komponen sendiri. Jadi apabila didesak untuk menyerahkan jawatan PM, Bersatu sedar bahawa survival mereka terancam. Jika hilang jawatan, maka mereka bukan sahaja tidak punya kuasa dengan penguasaan kerusi, mereka juga tiada kuasa dari jawatan. Jadi buah catur perlu digerakkan untuk memastikan mereka dapat mengekalkan survival politik mereka, mereka memilih memposisikan diri dengan parti-parti yang dekat dengan ideologi mereka.

Teori kedua memerlukan kita melangkah ke belakang, melihat perjalanan pakatan yang dibina oleh PKR-DAP. Sepanjang sejarah coalition mereka sememangnya akan berakhir dengan perpecahan, veteran politik PKR saudara Tian Chua pernah mengutarakan perkara ini dalam satu forum anjuran SAMM, bahawa pakatan baru akan “mengulangi kesilapan yang sama”. Cuma lebih memalukan, perpecahan kali ini berlaku ketika sudah menjadi kerajaan. Bagi Tian Chua, DAP terlalu ideologikal dan sukar berkompromi, kata beliau DAP akan “meloncat” tiap kali apa-apa yang berkaitan Islam dibangkitkan.

Barisan Alternatif (BA) merupakan siri perpecahan pertama. Walaupun Jelutong sering memetik nama Arwah Tuan Guru Nik Aziz, kononnya sebagai tokoh yang dia hormati. Perpecahan BA adalah ketika zaman Nik Aziz menjadi Murshidul Am PAS. BA lahir selepas tercetusnya gerakan Reformasi 1998. Pada PRU tahun 1999, PAS adalah parti yang berjaya dalam BA, mereka menawan Kelantan dan Terengganu serta menambah kerusi dari 7 kepada 27, sementara DAP menyaksikan nama besar seperti Lim Kit Siang dan Karpal Singh kalah merebut kerusi. Kerana PAS istiqomah dengan negara Islam, dan DAP menyusut sokongan kerana berkerjasama dengan parti yang mempunyai ideologi “negara Islam”, DAP keluar dari BA selepas serangan 11 September pada tahun 2001.

Perpecahan kedua adalah selepas tertubuhnya Pakatan Rakyat (PR) yang ditubuhkan pada tahun 2008. Antara kontroversi pada era PR ini adalah Langkah Kajang 2013-2014, apabila PKR bertindak memfitnah Khalid Ibrahim bagi menjatuhkan beliau sebagai MB Selangor. PKR akhirnya terpaksa memohon maaf secara terbuka pada Khalid selepas dibawa ke mahkamah. Tindakan PAS tidak mahu bersekongkol dengan finah PKR yang ingin menaikkan Anwar sebagai MB meretakkan hubungan mereka. Ditambah dengan perbezaan ideologi dengan DAP, akhirnya pakatan ini berpecah apabila DAP mengumumkan pada 2015 bahawa pakatan ini telah “mati” kerana tidak boleh berkerjasama dengan PAS.

Mereka kemudian mencipta Pakatan Harapan (PH), namun seperti apa yang dikatakan Tian Chua, mereka “mengulangi kesilapan”. Walaupun sudah menang dan menubuhkan kerajaan. Perbezaan ideologi dan kesukaran DAP untuk berkompromi menyebabkan kerajaan yang dibina sangat rapuh. Cumanya perpecahan kali ini tidak boleh disalahkan kepada PAS. Rakan mereka Bersatu dikritik secara terbuka oleh PKR dan DAP atas dasar-dasar yang mereka perkenalkan. Menjadikan Bersatu tidak selesa kerana setiap hari dikritik dan didesak, mereka tidak merasakan mereka sebahagian dari “rakan” dalam kerajaan. Namun Bersatu yang mempunyai strategis veteran seperti Mahathir ini kelihatan bijak, jika sebelum ini pakatan PKR-DAP berpecah apabila DAP umum keluar dan ishtihar “mati” mereka mengambil langkah awal untuk keluar dahulu dan membentuk perikatan baru.

Kedua-dua teori inilah yang mengisi kekosongan naratif “pengkhianatan” yang kini cuba diketengahkan. Hakikatnya pakatan yang dibina sebelum ini tidak bernafas panjang, tidak mampu berkompromi, dan tidak lestari dari perspektif ideologi. Tapi tiada apa yang kekal di dalam dunia ini, mungkin juga Perikatan baru ini akan bergaduh sesama sendiri merebut jawatan dan berpecah, mungkin juga ia akan ditewaskan melalui undi tidak percaya, tapi biarlah drama itu kita simpan untuk anekdot seterusnya.

A Woman Surgeon with the Palestinians

By: Dr. Ang Swee Chai

I grew up in Singapore. When I was 19, I attended a Billy Graham Crusade and made the decision to follow Jesus. At that time I did not know that meant discipleship.  I had not heard of his disciples like Nathanael, nor Andrew, nor Phillip, nor Simon and how with the exception of John, they were all martyred. My parents were Chinese speaking atheists. I also had no idea Jesus was a Jew!

Soon after that I was baptised in a Fundamentalist,
Pro-Israel church. I taught Sunday school, including the conquest of Canaan,
David and Goliath, and the victory of Elijah against the Philistines. For me,
the Abrahamic Covenant only consisted of the Promised Land to God’s chosen
people Israel. The creation of the State of Israel in 1948 transitioned neatly
into a re-run of the Old Testament. We saw it as the fulfilment of God’s
prophesied plan for his people Israel in the Old Testament. Later that year we
all rejoiced when Israel won the Six Day War. We were filled with pride and
triumphalism that Israel had defeated the Arabs decisively. 

I read the Old Testament and connected to the State of
Israel without taking into consideration Jesus and the New Testament. I did not
understand that the most important part of the Abrahamic Covenant was the
promise of a Saviour through whom all nations will be blessed. I found out
later that what Jesus spoke about to his followers in Matthew 5, was not
inheriting the Land but inheriting the Earth and the Kingdom of Heaven.

Thank God, I married a human rights lawyer. Two weeks later
he fled arrest by the security police. A month later I was arrested for
questioning. That was the first time I was put in prison. (Some of you might
know that I had been in prison a couple more times since! The latest being in
2018 when I was medic on board the Freedom Flotilla Awda loaded with
antibiotics and dressings for Gaza. The boat was abducted in international
waters. All on board were taken to prison in Ashdod and cargo and boat
impounded to this day.) 

Upon release from Singapore prison, I found my husband in
London and we both became political refugees. It was a great comedown. From
being middle class professional Singaporeans we became homeless, jobless and
stateless refugees. We struggled desperately to rebuild our lives.

In 1982, five years later, we were just about sorted out. I
had become a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of England and was working
in St Thomas’ Hospital. My husband found work as a journalist. We had a
permanent place to live in. 

But God was about to change things.

The television ran nightly news on a war in Lebanon. The
country was relentlessly bombed. Its capital Beirut was held siege. Food,
medicine, water and electricity were blockaded. Although portrayed as a war against
the terrorist Palestine Liberation Organisation, it was clear that the bomb
targets were civilians – hospitals, schools, homes, factories, shops – and not
terrorists. The headlines were 14,000 killed and tens of thousands made
homeless a few weeks into the war. There were pictures of wounded victims, many
children, some dying, in partially bombed hospitals. Charred bodies were pulled
out of bombed out buildings, including bodies of small children.  

My heart was torn apart watching the suffering. It was made
worse when I learnt that the offensive was by Israel. I became restless and
anxious for the victims.

How could Israel do this? To compound matters, my Christian
friends were celebrating the death and destruction citing Biblical verses,
calling this the work of God’s hand! 

How should a Christian surgeon respond?  What would Jesus say? I needed wisdom and
guidance, but my immediate circle provided none. Finally God spoke. In
Corinthians, the Apostle Paul wrote about “seeing darkly as through a glass,
but one day we will see face to face” and about how we “are children and
thought and spoke as children, but when we grow up we will put aside childish
things”. He went on “Faith, hope and love endure forever, but the greatest of
these is love. “  I began to ask God
“How?”

A week later an appeal came from Christian Aid for a
volunteer orthopaedic surgeon to treat the wounded.  God had answered my prayers. I resigned from
St Thomas’ Hospital, joined Christian Aid as a volunteer surgeon on their medical
team and left for Beirut. For the first time that summer my heart was at peace.

We had to get to Beirut by sea since the airport was bombed.
The ferry was not able to land as the war planes pounded this capital
continuously for 36 hours. We got in when there was a gap in the bombing.

 The situation was
hideous, blocks and blocks of high rise buildings reduced to heaps of rubble –
just as on television – only this time life size and three dimensional.
Homeless families were all over the pavements and road sides. Hundreds were
buried under the rubble. There was no water and electricity. I started work in
the converted basement carpark of the Near East Theological College treating
horrendous war injuries – the young, the old, men, women and babies.

Meanwhile, Israel had threatened to flatten the whole of
Lebanon to get the PLO.

Ten weeks after the war started, fourteen thousand members
of the PLO agreed to leave Lebanon forever in exchange for a ceasefire. The USA
had agreed that their families left behind would be protected by a
multinational peacekeeping force.

With the evacuation, I was seconded to work for the
Palestine Red Crescent Society, a member of both the International Red Cross
and the PLO. Eight of their hospitals and 13 clinics were totally
destroyed.  The only hospital standing
was Gaza Hospital. I was to set up an orthopaedic trauma department for that
hospital.

Gaza Hospital overlooked Sabra Shatilla, one of the fourteen
Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon. For someone who grew up seeing
Palestinians as terrorists, I was shocked and outraged to learn of how the
refugee camps came into existence.

 In 1948 half the
population of Palestine – 750,000 persons – were driven out of their homes at
gunpoint and the threat of being massacred. They fled into the neighbouring
countries of Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and Egypt. Their country Palestine became
Israel and they were never allowed to return home. Over the years their tents
gave way to buildings and the refugee camps became towns. Here children were
born refugees, grew up refugees and died refugees. 

The world moved on and they were forgotten. They remained
stateless since Palestine no longer existed

Every single home in the refugee camps was destroyed –
either totally or partially. I watched women with young children and elderly
relatives, many also wounded; carrying their belongings back to these ruins.
They had lost loved ones through the evacuation, through the bombs, but they
once again started to repair their damaged homes, clear the rubble, paint the
walls, support each other and pick up their broken lives.

These people had suffered so much yet remained so human,
generous, kind and dignified. I was overwhelmed by their generosity in the
midst of their poverty. Their story was not in any history textbook, but every
Palestinian child knew the name of their village in Palestine. Many of these
villages had already been blown up after they left. Gaza Hospital was named
after the Gaza Strip in Palestine.

I sat in their bombed out homes while they served me Arabic
coffee and shared their meagre United Nation food rations with me. The women
introduced me to their traditional Palestinian embroidery of stunning beauty.
Patterns and motifs typical of their home villages they left behind in Palestine
were sewn on black cloth with brilliantly coloured silk threads. Each stitch is
a testimony of their history, heritage, culture and resilience.  

I fell in love with the Palestinians – but was still
wondering at the back of my mind how come they were labelled terrorists.

Three weeks later the Multinational Peacekeeping Force
protecting the Palestinian refugees abruptly withdrew and the land invasion by
Israeli tanks took place. Hundreds of tanks over-ran West Beirut and some
surrounded Sabra Shatilla. They sealed Sabra Shatilla so no one could escape
and sent their allies, the right-wing Christian Phalanges into the camps. What
followed was the infamous, savage Sabra Shatilla Massacre killing 3,500
Palestinians and Lebanese.

Our surgical team worked non-stop for 72 hours till we were
forced out of Gaza Hospital at machinegun point. We had worked 72 hours
non-stop in the basement operating theatre, for the most part without food and
water, to save a few dozen lives – only to emerge to find out that people were
killed by the thousands in the camp. 
Many of them were tortured before death, and women were raped before
being killed. 

Groups of camp people were held captive along the road we
were forced to march along. From their terrified faces, they knew they were
going to be killed.  A young mother tried
to give me her little baby – hoping I could take it to safety. Both were
killed.

The Massacre had exploded the myth that Palestinians are
terrorists. The heaps of bodies in the camp alleys finally convinced the world
that they were the victims of terror. Robbed of their homeland, driven to live
in poverty and insecurity in the refugee camps, they were finally butchered on
foreign soil. On each dead body was a refugee identity card stating their place
of origin in Palestine. Most of the dead were refugees from Galilee. 

Up till then I had lived 33 years without knowing
Palestinians existed. I bought into the lie that they were terrorists. I used
to be that strident Zionist Christian teaching my Sunday school children that

Israel must annihilate the PLO terrorists.  I got blood on my hands. I felt crushed. I
asked God to forgive me for my prejudice and bigotry against them. They are the
children of God and my brothers and sisters.

Palestinians can only suffer and die daily because we fail
to see them as human beings, and choose to walk the other way. I can no longer
walk away. I asked God for forgiveness, I must also repent. Just crying and
feeling sorry were not enough. Like Zacchaeus on that sycamore tree in Jericho,
and Paul on the Damascus Road, my life had to change. “Lord – take my life and
use it for these people whom we have collectively wronged. Please give me a
second chance to serve them. Teach me to love them more and more”.

This is my thirty eighth year journeying with the
Palestinians. They have accepted me as their family. 

That journey brought me to the Occupied Palestinian
Territories where brutal abuses of human rights take place daily. 

In the West Bank daily arbitrary arrests and house
demolitions are the norm. In 2019 alone five and a half thousand Palestinians
were arbitrarily arrested, of which 889 were children and 128 were women. West
Bank is imprisoned behind a seven hundred kilometre separation wall cutting
through homes, schools and farms. 

Gaza has been blockaded for 12 years and bombarded by land,
air and sea with several thousand killed and many more made homeless. Among the
dead were more than a thousand children. Electricity is scarce and safe
drinking water non-existent. Since March 2018, more than three hundred unarmed
demonstrators asking for the right to return home were shot dead by snipers, with
36,000 wounded, a third of them children and women. More than 1,500 will never
walk again due to high velocity sniper wounds to their legs.  

As we celebrate 2020, Gaza has become unliveable. My latest
attempts to go and help Gaza resulted in being imprisoned and deported.

 I pray that God will
give me courage to continue to be faithful to them in the face of persecution.
I must have faith that after the crucifixion comes resurrection. I have often
been asked by my Palestinian friends “Swee – as Palestinians we are born to
suffer and have no choice. But why do you not walk away?”  I recall Jesus asking His disciples the same
question “Will you also walk away?” Peter replied “Lord – to whom shall we go?
You have the words of life.” How can I walk away and stay human?  

For me, being with the Palestinians is a great blessing from
God. I identify with David when he was broken before God in deep gratitude
saying: “Who am I Sovereign Lord, and what is my family, that you brought me
this far?”  

As a surgeon, I mend wounds. But I am a human being.  I must speak up about how they were
caused.  Since that time, I have a
passion to speak out in obedience to God’s command “speak up for those who
cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up
and judge fairly; defend

 Some people are
called to speak on behalf of the unborn because they cannot speak for
themselves. Others are called to speak up for the environment. I am called to
speak up for the Palestinians. 

Speaking up invites persecution. Each time before I speak in
public I pray Second Timothy 1:7 “For God hath not given us the Spirit of fear,
but of Power, and of Love and a Sound Mind”.

I still have with me my picture of destitute Palestinian
children of Shatila camp standing amidst the ruin and rubble. They survived the
massacre but lost their parents and homes. In the foreground of the picture
were dead and decaying bodies; in the background their destroyed homes. The air
was filled with the stench of decomposing bodies. But between death and
destruction were the Palestinian children. As I focussed my camera, they raised
their hands in the victory sign and said to me: “We are not afraid, let Israel
come”. I have returned many times to the camps looking for them. I have never
been able to find them again. They must have perished since. Their wish was for
me to show their picture to all my friends, the picture of them standing
courageously against this dark uncaring world. I have honoured that wish. 

They live forever in my heart. Whenever the situation becomes unbearable, I revisit this picture for strength. There will be no turning back from this journey towards humanity. And today I invite you to join us too.  

St Pauls, Cambridge, 12 January 2020. Dr Ang Swee Chai is the Founder Medical Aid for Palestinians.

Coco: Muzik Bahasaku dan Dunia Adalah Keluargaku

Miguel bersama keluarganya, yang hidup dan yang telah mati.

Coco merupakan sebuah filem animasi produksi Pixar dan Disney yang keluar pada tahun 2017. Mengisahkan tentang seorang budak lelaki bernama Miguel, yang terperangkap antara tradisi keluarga yang membenci muzik dan cita-citanya untuk menjadi pemuzik. Konflik ini merupakan tema asas bagi cerita ini.

Miguel menetap di Santa Cecilia, Mexico bersama keluarga besarnya. Moyangnya, Mama Imelda ditinggalkan suaminya yang merupakan seorang pemuzik dan penulis lagu. Imelda mengambil keputusan mengharamkan muzik dalam keluarganya dan memulakan bisnes membuat kasut yang diturunkan kepada anak perempuannya, Coco dan generasi seterusnya.

Coco yang telah lanjut usia, merupakan keluarga terakhir yang mengingati Hector, suami Imelda, Coco mengingati ayahnya Hector yang sering menyanyikan lullaby indah kepadanya ketika kecil. Dia juga menyimpan surat, puisi, gambar, dan lagu-lagu ayahnya.

Miguel bersama neneknya, mama Coco.

Satu hari Miguel bergaduh dengan keluarganya yang menghalangnya untuk menyertai pertandingan muzik. Miguel pergi ke gereja untuk mencuri gitar penyanyi terkenal yang telah meninggal dunia, Ernesto de la Cruz. Disitu, Miguel terkena sumpahan dan dihantar ke alam kematian. Di alam kematian bermulalah pengembaraan beliau mencari siapa sebenarnya moyang beliau. Di sana juga beliau mempelajari pelajaran peri pentingnya hubungan kekeluargaan dimana beliau bertemu semula dengan moyang-moyangnya.

Miguel mencuri gitar di gereja dan memulakan sumpahan.

Selain tema pertentangan antara cita-cita dan nilai keluarga, cerita ini juga membuatkan kita terfikir, apakah yang generasi baru akan ingati setelah kita tiada. Di alam kematian, Miguel mendapati bahawa mereka yang dilupakan akan hilang, sementara mereka yang diingati terus wujud di alam ruh dan boleh menziarahi keluarga mereka di alam kehidupan pada masa-masa tertentu.

Cerita ini diakhiri dengan Miguel kembali semula ke alam kehidupan dan menyampaikan ingatan kasih sayang Hector, yang mati sebelum sempat berjumpa semula dengan anaknya Coco, yang kini sudah lanjut usianya. Miguel menyanyikan semula lullaby kepada neneknya sambil disaksikan oleh seluruh keluarganya. Nenek beliau, mama Coco kembali mengingati ayahnya sedang keluarganya akhirnya berubah hati dan membenarkan Miguel bermain muzik.

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Facebook & Kebangkitan Semula Najib Razak

Najib Razak di satu majlis di Kuala Lumpur pada 25/01/2016 / Gambar oleh: REUTERS/Olivia Harris

Jika kita perasan, semasa hujung-hujung pemerintahan Najib, Najib sudah tidak buat banyak press conference. Segala maklumat dilepaskan kepada awam melalui Facebook beliau sebagai one stop center. Perkara ini saya kira bijak untuk capai dua perkara. Pertama, semua maklumat boleh ditapis, dibentuk dengan teliti sebelum dilepaskan kepada awam. Tiada soalan spontan atau follow-up dari reporter yang boleh cipta isu. Kedua, ia memudahkan capaian terus kepada masyarakat awam, jika media twist sekali pun, rakyat dengan mudah boleh semak semula kenyataan awal. Mahathir masih suka dengan style press conference dan jawab soalan reporter secara live.

Selepas jatuh dari takhta kuasa. 3 juta followers yang dikumpul tidak dibiarkan begitu sahaja. Facebook beliau menjawab semua isu-isu nasional, malah berjaya timbulkan isu untuk dijawab kerajaan. Spotlight yang diberi oleh kerajaan tak pernah padam kepada Najib. Dalam industri media, negatif publisiti adalah satu bentuk publisiti, jadi mata rakyat tak pernah lari dari Facebook Najib. Hatta, orang-orang PH dan haters beliau pun like page Najib. Perkara ini merupakan kekuatan utama yang digunakan Najib untuk bangkit semula walaupun tewas di peti undi.

Johan Jaafar menulis kebangkitan ini disebabkan oleh tagline “Malu apa bossku”, saya tak setuju. Tagline itu salah satu sahaja dari apa yang Najib buat untuk turning the tide. Yang besarnya adalah capaian Facebook beliau.

Sementara PH masih lagi pening selepas memegang kuasa, tak ada central information dispenser. Orang nak follow Mahathir kah? atau Anwar? atau Mat Sabu? atau Lim Kit Siang? Tak jelas mana saluran yang boleh jawab semua isu nasional dengan mudah. Malah mereka saling bercanggah antara satu sama lain. Bercanggah hingga ke soal dasar.

Beza Nasionalisme Dan Monarki

Nasionalisme dan monarki adalah dua benda yang berbeza. Nasionalisme Soekarno menghentam raja-raja yang berpihak pada Belanda. Kerana itu nasionalisme ada hujung kirinya dalam tubuhnya yang kanan. Nasionalisme kiri anti feudal, anti imperial, seperti PKMM, Parti Rakyat, dan cenderung kepada idea Soekarno sementara nasionalisme kanan, hmm faham-faham sahaja lah.

Kebanyakan raja dan sultan pada masa dulu sangatlah pro kepada penjajah. Mereka tidak terlibat dalam sebarang kebangkitan rakyat malahan di Indonesia, mereka berpihak kepada Belanda, kerana itu nasionalis kiri yang progresif seperti Soekarno mahu sapu bersih mereka semua ni. Kebanyakan mereka pro kepada penjajah kerana mahu mengekalkan keistimewaan yang mereka ada. Penjajah seperti Inggeris menjanjikan kedudukan jika mereka setia, dan mengancam akan menurunkan mereka atau menggantikan mereka dengan sultan yang lain jika mereka melawan, dan begitulah caranya mereka mempertahankan kedudukan mereka.

Seorang nasionalis itu (suatu masa dulu) bukanlah bermakna dia seorang konservatif yang menyokong monarki. Kita boleh lihat seperti Mahathir vs Sultan Johor. Mahathir lebih cenderung nasionalis berbanding menjadi konservatif pro monarki, walaupun tidak semestinya tujuan dia murni untuk rakyat. Tetapi jelas dia bukan royalist.

Dan nasionalism sosialisme (Nationalsozialismus) itu bukanlah nasionalisme progresif. Itu adalah Nazi. Dan nasionalisme yang sebenar adalah ketikamana berlaku penjajahan kuasa luar dan kesedaran kebangsaan suatu masa dahulu. Ia bukanlah boleh dikatakan ideologi yang berterusan. Ia ada zaman dan tempohnya.

Dan tempohnya sekarang sudahpun luput.

Oh Crap I Have A Toddler! – Book Review

The book Oh Crap! I Have a Toddler: Tackling These Crazy Awesome Years – No
time-outs Needed by Jamie Glowacki is blunt and funny. If you are searching
for a polite book, then this is not your book, but if you seek practicality –
and language you can easily understand, then you want might to give it a try.

Jamie started her book by explaining to
parent that their children from 0-6 years old are in the process called
individuation – that is they are coming to a conscious that they are a separate
human being from their parent, capable of making their own choice. But as they
have literally inadequate experience in this world, they needed their parent to
survive.

If you read a lot of parenting book, you
will notice one trend – they tended to contradict each other. If you read book
by Faber & Mazlish for example, they advocate for giving choices to
children. In some area, there are some sense if we are to use Faber &
Mazlish’s approach, for example choosing a pajama, but if could be dangerous in
other situation such as crossing a street. Jamie contended that 0-6 are the
years of governing, not guiding, as children brain is not yet capable of making
complex and long-term choices, but for simple situation, of course they can,
and we should give them.

She contended that it is the child job to push your limit and testing things. They are learning every day, even if we are not talking, they learn by observing and feeling. That is why, the first important thing in her book, is set up rules and boundaries, so that the children can be creative in a safe environment. They can explore within safe boundaries. You should strive to be authoritative but not authoritarian. Because they are very new to the world, everything is an exploration for them, and we the adult might mistakenly seem them as a bad behavior. In reality they were just curious how the floor would look like if they were all covered with talcum powder!

Parenting is also about the parent!

Jamie also
stress out that parenting is not just about your child, it’s also about you,
your partner, and your marriage. I personally loved this advice. Some parent
devout their whole life to the child, they become the center of their universe,
at the cost of their personal well-being and the health of their relationship
with their partner in their marriage. This is wrong. When they crash and burn,
they will pull down their children together with them, all parties stand to lose.
That is why caring for your partner and marriage must be on the agenda, when
this is healthy, it will become an umbrella protecting your child and enable
them to grow and flourish.

How we connect
with our children, was one of my favorite themes in the book. The need for us
to be there 100 percent with our children. If we watch movie together, and
wanted it to be a connection time, we should watch with them 100 percent with
attention without scrolling our phone. But if we gave them screen time for us to
take a break, we should say so, so that he will not expect us to sit with them.
Jamie stressed out that short 100 percent connection time is much more valuable
and productive, then spending time together without our thought never actually
“be there”.

Phone is really
a gap that create disconnection between parent and their children. While many
advise us to put it away, Jamie understood that parenting can sometimes make us
lonely and isolated. Being with a child all day is not the same as spending
time with adults where you can understand each other’s. But we had a choice to
make, whether we want to connect with a child or the world, it can’t be both at
the same time. Its better for us to put 100 percent attention to a child until
their emotional tank full, then we can spend time on the phone 100 percent.
Dividing the attention will not work.

The other point that I think was an important one raised by Jamie, is the issue of parent’s self-care. Especially the first 5 years when the kid entered your life. In these crucial times, self-care is brutal, sleep deprivation and emotional stress slowly creeps in. There’s always a push and pull between partners on whose turn to take the time and look after the kids. This issue is an important one, because there is no family without parent, so a healthy parent, both physically and relationshiply are important for the kid’s development.

You dont have all the time!

Then there is
the issue of time management, yes, we were told that busy is good, so we always
keep ourselves and our kids busy! But that is not the case, you need a time to
not being busy. There is no problem of letting your kids being bored, Jamie
rightly pointed out that boredom is the gateway where we find creativity, when
we did not plan anything for our kids, they have time to think for themselves
what they want to do, what they want to play. If we keep planning their day up
to minutes-detail, then there is no room for them to get creative and work
their wonders.

Although
different parenting books might give you different opinion, different approach,
some contradicting each other, but what I found useful in it is that all of
them always been a good reminder. A reminder that you are new to child rearing,
you can’t master it without experiencing yourself. Jamie made a good reminder
that, whatsoever our expectation was about parenting, we don’t know anything
about it until we have our own child to take care of. Until we go through that
sleepless night, all that tantrums, all that screaming and shouting, that is
when we understand what is parenting actually is.

One
unconventional thing I found in the book is that Jamie freely recommend TED
talks for parent to further explore their conquest for parenting knowledge, I
find talk by Gever Tulley on letting our children do dangerous things very
enlightening. The book also gave a broader range meaning of creativity,
especially what it means for little children.

The topic on sleep window do ring a bell. I for instant felt very sleepy at 10 pm that is my sleep window, and if I missed it, I will only be sleepy again at 2 am. Jamie make it as an utmost important points about sleeping, how sleep help your child and their behavior, you should let them sleep more, not less! She also talks about being firm, being firm means that you mean what you said. If you said something, you had to do it to mean it, this is related on setting boundaries, so that children understand where things stand.

You got this!

In conclusion, what I get from this book is that, your parenting needs to have a flexibility, if something is not working, you should change it, don’t be afraid of straying from your original parenting philosophy. Jamie ended the book by saying “you got this!”.

Ulama’ Patut Halalkan Rokok

Photo by Petar Starcevic from Pexels.

Kalau dari segi kepentingan ekonomi, selain fikir hendak mengharamkan memanjang, cubalah fikirkan dari sudut yang lain pula.

Rokok tidak jelas haramnya (jangan samakan dengan arak dan judi) sebab itu ustaz-ustaz di kampung atau sesetengah budak Persatuan Mahasiswa Islam (PMI) di kampus, masih menghisap rokok secara sembunyi-sembunyi. Takut tulang rusuk kiri nampak, hilang thiqah.

Kalau tidak jelas hukumnya, dan gagal menyekat keketagihan masyarakat terhadap rokok, mengapa tidak halalkan sahaja (atau harus/mubah sahaja hukumnya) ?

Dengan progressive dalam pemikiran dan penafsiran keagamaan, orang boleh consume rokok buatan tempatan, dan duitnya balik kepada ekonomi rakyat dan negara,

Kita boleh menghasilkan rokok-rokok terbaik, buatan tempatan, tanah-tanah yang terbiar, harus diusahakan jadi ladang-ladang tembakau, biar orang Amerika pula mengimport rokok dari Rusila atau Pengkalan Chepa.

Para saintis perlu mengusahakan cengkih atau habbatus sauda’ atau kurma sebagai bahan campuran dalam tembakau, jadi keketagihan yang tidak menyihatkan sekurang – kurangnya berjaya diubati dan dirawat, dan hegemoni negara Kapitalis terhadap keketagihan ini berjaya dicabar.

Ulama’-ulama’, bersatulah!

Tulisan ini pertama kalinya disiarkan di laman Facebook Benz Ali pada 10 Jun 2015.

Masa Depan Perbukuan – Sembang Lokal

Buku-buku yang dibawa oleh Republikbuku di Pasar Buku 2020 di Lokalhouz. (Syed Ahmad Fathi untuk The Independent Insight)

Pada Sabtu, 18 Januari 2020 telah berlangsung acara Pasar Buku 2020 anjuran kerjasama Lokalhouz dan Buku Jalanan Bagan bertempat di Lokalhouz, Butterworth, Pulau Pinang. Bermula dari jam 4 petang sehingga 11 malam. Pasar Buku kali ini menampilkan penerbit tempatan seperti Republikbuku, Penerbit USM, MYWriters Penang, The Bibliophile dan banyak lagi. Antara segmen menarik sepanjang acara ini termasuklah sesi Sembang Lokal, Bacaan Puisi, Ulasan Buku Batu Uban, Tanjong dan Bagan oleh Prof. Dato’ Dr. Ahmad Murad Merican dan Live Akustik.

Forum Sembang Lokal menampilkan Saudara Benz Ali dari Republikbuku, Saudara Kiridaren Jayakumar dari The Bibliophile, dan Saudari Diyaa Mani dari MYWriters Penang. Topik yang dibawakan adalah Masa Depan Perbukuan Negara dan dipengerusikan oleh Saudara Farhan Azman dari Buku Jalanan Bagan.

Diyaa Mani – “Monkey see, monkey do”



Diyaa Mani dari MYWriters Penang mengupas topik “Masa depan perbukuan” dalam forum Sembang Lokal di Lokalhouz. (Syed Ahmad Fathi untuk The Independent Insight)

Diyaa membawakan kisah kehidupannya bagaimana beliau berasal dari keluarga yang tidak kaya, mereka tinggal di flat, namun keluarga mereka tidak pernah kehabisan dua perkara, iaitu makanan dan buku. Ibu bapanya yang mementingkan pembacaan dalam diri anak-anak membentuk sifat suka membacanya hingga ke hari ini.

Beliau juga membincangkan masalah-masalah dalam komuniti yang membantutkan budaya suka membaca. Media sosial, budaya mahukan bacaan singkat, tiada sifat ingin tahu, merupakan antara masalah yang dilihatnya dalam masyarakat hari ini. Beliau juga berkongsi cabaran yang dilalui oleh MYWriters Penang tentang bagaimana ahli yang semakin berkurangan juga kekurangan dana dan tajaan. Diyaa juga menarik perhatian para penulis untuk menyertai kelab MYWriters Penang, terutamanya penulis dari kalangan orang Melayu.

Menyentuh perihal budaya penulisan, Diyaa berpendapat para penulis lama perlu lebih akomodatif dalam memberi ruang dan peluang kepada penulis-penulis baru, biarpun mereka mempunya ideologi, cara, dan gaya fikir yang berbeza. Bagi beliau setiap buku merupakan suara-suara unik, lebih ramai penulis lebih meriah dan lebih unit arena pembacaan kita di Malaysia.

Penggunaan teknologi juga tidak wajar dipandang enteng, satu gajet misalnya boleh berfungsi sebagai sebuah perpustakaan bergerak di tangan, teknologi mampu memupuk minat pembacaan jika digunakan dengan betul.

Bagi Diyaa, penulis perlu saling memperkuat antara satu sama lain, masyarakat kita perlu meninggalkan mentaliti Asia seperti hanya membaca bacaan untuk menduduki peperiksaan atau bagi tujuan kerjaya sahaja. Anjakan paradigma ini perlu dilakukan dalam keluarga, perlu ada perubahan mentaliti, hal ini kemudian akan mewujudkan ripple effect yang melahirkan masyarakat membaca. Ibubapa perlu membaca untuk melahirkan anak-anak yang membaca, bak kata pepatah Inggeris, monkey see, monkey do.

Kiridaren Jayakumar – Kebangkitan gerakan sastera



Kiridaren Jayakumar dari The Bibliophile mengupas topik “Masa depan perbukuan” dalam forum Sembang Lokal di Lokalhouz. (Syed Ahmad Fathi untuk The Independent Insight)

Kiridaren memulakan ulasan beliau dengan nada optimis. Beliau menggambarkan bagaimana budaya pembacaan merupakan sesuatu yang bersifat kitaran, ada naik dan turunnya. Pada amatan beliau, sekarang masyarakat kelihatan mula bangkit terutamanya dalam gerakan kebangkitan sastera. Beliau juga membincangkan bagaimana program Nilam di sekolah dapat dibaiki untuk menarik minat murid membaca, juga peranan kerajaan dalam membina infrastruktur membaca seperti Book Street di Vietnam.

Beliau turut menyampaikan pemerhatian beliau bagaimana industri buku tertumpu di Lembah Klang, juga peranan anak muda dalam menghidupkan dan bersifat partisipatif dalam aktiviti perbukuan di seluruh negara. Kiridaren juga sempat mengkritik sesetengah kedai buku yang sekadar menjual buku seperti komoditi dan tiada enthusiasme, sebagai contoh staf-staf kedai buku sendiri yang tidak membaca menjadikan sesebuah kedai buku tidak ‘hidup’.

Benz Ali – Buku adalah perjuangan



Benz Ali dari Republikbuku mengupas topik “Masa depan perbukuan” dalam forum Sembang Lokal di Lokalhouz. (Syed Ahmad Fathi untuk The Independent Insight)

Suasana forum sedikit gamat apabila Benz Ali memulakan ulasan beliau dengan membetulkan poster penganjur, perkataan ‘pembukuan’ baginya perlu digantikan dengan ‘perbukuan’, kerana menurutnya pembukuan membawa maksud perbuatan membukukan tulisan, sementara perbukuan merupakan kata yang mewakili industri buku, beliau kemudian membawakan contoh-contoh dari Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka bagi menguatkan hujahnya.

Selaku individu yang bukan komunis tetapi pro-komunis, Benz mengishtiharkan dari awal bahawa masalah dalam perbukuan negara ini adalah disebabkan oleh kerajaan. Beliau memulakan ulasan beliau dengan memetik laporan MABOPA dari Berita Harian yang menyatakan tiada ransangan nyata dari kerajaan untuk memajukan aktiviti perbukuan, kerajaan tidak berfikir tentang buku, dan tahun 2020 akan menjadi tahun yang suram buat industri buku. Beliau juga menaikkan polemik yang melanda ITBM, walaupun beliau tidak bersetuju dengan tindakan ITBM yang menerbitkan buku ratu kosmetik, Vida, bagi beliau ITBM perlu dipulihkan, dibantu, dan kembali ke matlamat asal, menerbitkan buku-buku ilmiah serta mengalih bahasa karya-karya terkini ke dalam bahasa Melayu.

Benz secara dasar tidak bersetuju dengan kenyataan bahawa masyarakat sekarang tidak membaca, kerana portal-portal seperti The Patriot, Illuminasi, berkembang dengan baik, seolah-olah ada kebangkitan ilmiah. Disini kita melihat bahawa masyarakat kita membaca, tetapi mereka mahu membaca secara percuma.

Disini kita melihat adanya satu paradoks, dan Benz sendiri mengaku secara jujur bahawa beliau tidak dapat menyelesaikan paradoks ini. Iaitu jika kita mengenakan bayaran kepada bahan bacaan kita akan mencipta dua golongan, golongan yang mampu membayar akan membaca, dan yang tidak mampu tidak membaca. Natijahnya kita akan mempunyai golongan elit membaca dan massa yang tidak membaca. Pada hemat beliau, buku adalah sesuatu yang elit, jika kita mempunyai banyak buku di rumah kita merupakan orang yang elit, walaupun mungkin ia adalah elit yang positif.

Beliau juga menyatakan bahawa kita perlu mengakui bahawa internet adalah masalah, ia perlu diakui, dan penerbit perlu hadapi masalah ini, bukan lari daripadanya. Salah satu cara menghadapinya adalah menukar gaya cetak dari offset kepada print on demand. Beliau memuji usaha yang dilakukan oleh Affendi Salleh yang berjaya mengawal pasaran buku beliau, beliau berjaya menjual buku kulit kerasnya berharga RM50. Ini lebih bermaruah dari penerbit yang membuat jualan murah saban tahun kerana hendak menghabiskan naskah yang dicetak secara offset.

Bercakap tentang solusi permasalahan perbukuan, Benz memulakannya dengan membawa statistik dari Wikipedia. Bagaimana negara maju seperti China menerbitkan 440,000 judul baharu setahun, United Kingdom 184,000, Jepun 139,000, malangnya Malaysia hanya 15,000 judul baharu setahun. Benz menyalahkan hal ini kepada kerajaan, mantan menteri seperti Maszlee bagi beliau membawa usaha yang gagal dengan kempen air liur dan billboard sahaja.

Bagi beliau kerajaan perlu menyediakan dana untuk bacaan berat seperti buku ilmiah. Walaupun rugi dari sudut ringgit tetapi ia merupakan usaha memandaikan masyarakat. Adakah kita tidak mahu menghantar anak ke sekolah kerana ia tidak menguntungkan kita dari segi wang ringgit? beliau memberi contoh. Kerajaan perlu memanjakan gerakan pembukuan, penerbit lebih dari 5 tahun perlu diberi subsidi dan geran.

Kerajaan juga perlu menyediakan ruang-ruang terbuka dan demokratik untuk kegunaan masyarakat tanpa mengira ideologi, kefahaman politik, bangsa, atau agama bagi kegunaan masyarakat beraktiviti dan berdiskusi. Insentif harus diberi pada kedai buku, juga mall yang hendak dibuka perlu diletakkan syarat perlu mempunyai kedai buku dan perpustakaan.

Bagi Benz, buku adalah perjuangan.

Farhan Azman dari Buku Jalanan Bagan mempengurusikan forum “Masa depan perbukuan” dalam sesi Sembang Lokal di Lokalhouz. (Syed Ahmad Fathi untuk The Independent Insight)

Sememangnya isu-isu yang diulas oleh panelis sangat relevan dalam menjamin masa depan industri buku tempatan. Peranan komuniti penulis dan penerbit buku dalam perjuangan kelangsungan industri bagi memandaikan masyarakat harus dipuji dan disokong. Sungguh buku adalah perjuangan, dan ibarat kata Zam, seorang peserta dihujung forum, perjuangan ini adalah bukti kewujudan kita!

Arul: The Poor Just Want a Decent Life

By: S.Arutchelvan

Mahathir’s condemning of the poor at the monthly address at the Prime Minister’s Department Monday morning assembly on 6-1-2020 lacks humaneness and is humiliating to the millions of workers and people who work hard, day in, day out, just to survive. Only someone with a Trump mentality would be able to appreciate such a speech that degrades and undermines people.

Mahathir was quoted as saying, “Why are they poor? Because they are unproductive and do not contribute to society in a way where society would repay them.” He also said the poor should not feel envious of the wealthy because the wealthy pay high taxes and the Government uses this money to pay salaries and develop the country.

Who is Mahathir calling unproductive and not contributing to the society?

Is he talking about the fisher folk who go fishing before daybreak and risk their lives at sea? Or is he talking about the paddy farmers in his hometown in Kedah toiling in the paddy fields to grow rice for the nation? Is he talking about the factory workers, who are forced to work 12 hours to complement the totally inadequate minimum wage? Is he talking about the small farmers who work the land to ensure we get our supply of food? Or the nanny who takes care of our children in the absence of nurseries at the workplace? Or is he talking about the plantation workers, or the cleaners, or the thousands of people who cross the border in the wee hours to do 3D jobs in Singapore? Or the lorry drivers who park their vehicles on the roadside to catch up on sleep? Or is he talking about the civil servants whose pensions he plans to slash? Or is he talking about the miserably paid motorbike riders delivering food, or the grab drivers…..? Who is Mahathir calling unproductive, not contributing to the development of the country, and envious of the rich?

Productivity low?

According to International Trade and Industry Minister Darell Leiking, in truth, Malaysia’s labour productivity grew 2.2% in 2018, surpassing some developed nations including China and Australia, and was ahead of selected Asian countries. Even Japan which Mahathir always looks up to had lower labour productivity.

Now looking at another study – Are Malaysian Workers Paid Fairly?: An Assessment of Productivity and Equity by Athreya Murugasu, Mohamad Ishaq Hakim and Yeam Shin Yau. Their study concludes that Malaysian workers receive lower compensations relative to their contribution to national income from productivity and equity perspectives. They argue that Malaysians are paid a lower wage compared to benchmark countries, even after taking into account productivity differences and secondly they conclude Malaysia has a lower labour share of income despite its labour-intensive nature. This suggests workers are not adequately compensated for their contributions.

Their study raises some serious issues which Mahathir and the rich don’t want us to know. The study questions – While employers(bosses) need to be fairly compensated for their respective factor inputs, the question remains, why is the share of compensation to employers (bosses) higher relatively to workers and why isn’t this reflected in Malaysia’s taxation and distributive policies?

Do the Wealthy pay high taxes?

Now let’s talk about Taxes. Mahathir glorifies the rich for paying taxes. Perhaps he did not hear what Lim Guan Eng said. In one of his post-budget forums, Guan Eng says that even by increasing taxes to 30 per cent, we will still be among the lowest compared with neighbouring countries and he added that the Government does not believe in harsh and abrupt measures in taxation. Perhaps harsh and abrupt measures are reserved for workers only by keeping minimum wages low.

Guan Eng has also said previously that there will be no new taxes on the wealthy so as to prevent shocks to the financial system. He said the government will not introduce capital gains tax on shares and other taxes on the wealthy in order to prevent “shock to the system”. These measures are to ensure there is no capital flight according to him.

So Mahathir’s wealthy will take a flight when taxes are increased. So much for Mahathir’s appreciation of the wealthy and their taxes: the minute taxes go up, they will abandon him, unlike the poor whom he enjoys attacking.

Anyway, how much do the rich people get taxed in Malaysia? Can Mahathir actually give a figure how much tax the richest ten people are paying in Malaysia? While their income has been made public yet their tax payment details come under the Official Secrets Act according to answers given in Parliament. And who can forget, the Government giving Lynas 12 years of tax exemption despite all the controversy over its handling of radioactive waste.

The Poor and The Balance 80%

Looking at purchasing power, Malaysia’s wages are one of the lowest in the region. Most of Malaysia’s poor earn monthly salaries that are two times less than the monthly entertainment allowance of RM2500 paid to MPs. Our MPs even get a fuel subsidy of RM 1500 a month – which is higher than the minimum wage set by the government.

According to an article by Deputy Defence Minister Liew Chin Tong, in an article published in Malaysiakini on Dec 31, 2019, said nearly 30% of Malaysians polled by Gallup in 2018 felt that they did not have enough money for food, while 23% reported not having sufficient money for shelter. 80% of them experience economic insecurity, such as low wages as well as high cost of housing and transport.

What is shocking about his revelation was that he said “The B20 poverty category, as defined by the UN, needs welfare, but in the Malaysian context, it appears that the subsequent 60% (M60) need better jobs, better pay, better business opportunities, better upward mobility for their children, better housing options and better transport alternatives.’

The United Nations Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights Prof Philip Alston’s report suggested that Malaysia’s poverty rate is most likely between 16% and 20% and Chin Tong while agreeing to this, also said that beyond the B20 group, the rest of the population – perhaps excluding the top 20% – the middle 60% (B21-B40, M40) are about in the same boat.

What was laughable was when Mahathir said, “I hope everyone will focus on the nation instead of themselves.”Why then did Mahathir focus his attack on the poor, and not question the huge allowances paid to his cabinet? Or address the stashing away of wealth in the tax havens by corporate figures, or on the huge salaries drawn by GLC CEOs? His target was the poor man working day in day out trying to make ends meet!

S.Arutchelvan is the Deputy Chairperson for Parti Sosialis Malaysia.