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ALL THIS ARE MY OWN OPINIONS AND THOUGHTS. THEY ARE NOT FACTS. PLEASE UNDERSTAND BEFORE YOU RUN OFF YOUR ROCKER.

So sometime in February, armed invaders landed in Sabah and attempted to claim east Sabah as their own. They called themselves the “Royal Security Forces of the Sultanate of Sulu and North Borneo” and said that east Sabah belonged to them. The Malaysian BN Government surrounded Kampung Tanduo (or Tanduo Village in English) and gave them two weeks to leave the country, but did not specify what would happen if they chose not to.

The invaders chose to stay put.

According to some local sources, on the 17th day of their “stay” in Sabah (aka March 1, 2013), a small group of their fighters attempted to leave the cordoned area. They fired at the security forces around that area, killing 2 policemen with mortar fire and injuring another two more. There was a short gun battle that apparently ended with 10 dead on the Sulu side, and 2 on Malaysia’s.

That was what happened on Friday. Bear in mind, this is what we have been told so far. There is apparently a gag order on the media about this. Wiki does have a pretty good link to the story.

After that happened, these thoughts ran through my head:

1. There are a lot of illegal immigrants in Sabah. Nothing has been done about them over the years despite the pleas of Sabah.
2. A large number of them are Tausangs, who are apparently Sulu people. Some say about 8,500 of them
3. It would be completely realistic to expect the Tausangs to “rise up” in retaliation for their comrades being killed.

Yesterday, March 2, 2013, there was a gun fight in Semporna, about 150km from Lahad Datu. Some sites claim that the people who fired on the policemen were actually on their way to attack the Lahad Datu police station. However, the official news report says that the gun fight was unrelated to what is happening in Lahad Datu, because our boys in blue were carrying out an operation to find and confiscate illegal firearms.

OPINION AND IDLE SPECULATION BEGINS HERE

Anyone who’s read political thrillers and the like can take a conjecture as to what is happening next. The chances of there being a full out invasion in Sabah is very high, aided by “sleeper” agents who have entered Sabah over the years. Considering that both the Philippines and Malaysia have elections scheduled for this year, there is speculation that this incident was also orchestrated to embarrass certain parties.

From a reddit thread I read yesterday, there is speculation that this was orchestrated by an opposition component (Philippines is scheduled to have elections in May). In Malaysia, there is wide speculation that it was orchestrated by the BN government to delay General Elections, which must be called in the next few months, barring an Emergency.

So what do I think may happen?

The invaders may rise and overwhelm the Sabah population. War is declared. Elections are delayed for Malaysia, continue as scheduled for Philippines. The war may spread to Sarawak. Indonesia may take the opportunity to reclaim Sarawak.* Borneo Brunei (thanks for spotting this, N4vin!) decides that West Sabah belongs to them and stakes a claim.

Basically, widespread chaos.

But hey, what do I know, right? I’m just a keyboard warrior.

Who is utterly pissed and feeling frustrated at what is happening in Sabah. I have friends there, damnit!

Additional points:
Badí‘ Yee Tzyypirng aka ‏@badiyee on Twitter points out that there is a 5 Defense Pact for Sarawak. Should Indonesia attempt to annex Sarawak, they will be smacked.

Original entry as appearing at Ink to Screen.

What is SOPA/PIPA and how does it affect Malaysia and the rest of the world?

SOPA and PIPA in the US allows anyone, but in particular the entertainment industry, to shut down a website (even a forum) for posting infringing content. At the same time, it also allows these same companies to stop services like Google and Wikipedia to show links leading to such sites, even if the sites linked have nothing whatsoever to do with the infringing content.

Realistically, this implies that an entire domain, let’s say Blogspot or WordPress.com, could be taken down by Universal Music Group complaining about a random blogger writing in just a single post about how they hate the new Black Eyed Peas single.

If your server is located in the United States, it will be taken offline without warning if it is deemed to be infringing content. The worst part of all is that you, as the user or owner of the domain, have no recourse. SOPA and PIPA are missing something the Americans are very fond of, called “due process”, by which the accused may defend themselves in court.

You don’t have to be a US citizen for this to affect you. This law basically enacts the Great Firewall of America, which would function much the same way as the Great Firewall of China does, with one key exception. You’d be watching private corporations, such as Universal Music Group, censor you for the expression of your thoughts (and when you consider they censor a news show for commenting on an issue they don’t like…). If America does this, what’s to stop the Malaysian Government from doing the same?

So what can you do to stop this?

The good news is: plenty. The easiest is to hit up your American Friends or post on all your Social Media Networks (Facebook, Twitter, G+, LinkedIn and the like, which, ironically, are the same sites that would be subject to such censorship) and tell them about #SOPA and #PIPA.

You can also visit http://americancensorship.org/ to learn more.

The bad news is that only Americans can prevail on their own government to stop this bill from passing. But you can do something. So go do it.

PS: See Wikipedia to check out what would happen if SOPA and PIPA are passed.

Original entry as appearing at Ink to Screen.

Dear Friends,

But particularly those in the US. Especially if you’re in Mississippi, which I doubt that most of you are.

Please sign this petition to stop the redefinition of personhood. The Attorney General of Mississippi is proposing legislation that would define personhood to have begun from the moment of conception.

With that redefinition, you’re considered a human being from the moment conception happens. Which means abortion is not an option. Not for rape. Not for incest. Not even if the mother’s and child’s life is threatened by the child in her belly.

In fact, it also means you can’t take birth control pills. Or morning after pills. Anything that might prevent conception. A woman is thereby reduced to being nothing than a brood mare. To be nothing but an animal to receive a man’s sperm and carry that baby to term. Her wishes have no say.

This is not a campaign to define what it means to be a human. It’s a campaign to remove the meaning of being human. It removes choice. It removes the right of women to make their own decision for what happens in their bodies.

This is not about being anti-abortion. It’s about the state saying to women, “You MUST have babies. If you have sex, too bad. You must now carry it to term. If you have a disease that will kill you, too bad, the clump of cells in your tummy must be birthed. If you have been raped, too bad. You must live with the trauma for another 9 months.”

Oh yes. Miscarriage would be considered manslaughter. Miscarriage.

If you feel as disgusted as I do, please sign the petition. And no, it doesn’t matter if you’re from the US or not. A message needs to be sent. Our bodies are our own. The State should not, and cannot, be allowed to have a say in it.

In case you’re wondering, I’m writing this because the thought of having the state, even if the state is not my own, having the state control my body is terrifying. I can’t do much but spread the word, and hope that it gets to the right people.

Original entry as appearing at Ink to Screen.

So the latest news out of Putrajaya is Najib telling voters that they have to choose between MCA and Pakatan Rakyat. For those who don’t know, MCA is a component party in the National Coalition (Barisan Nasional, aka BN). BN is the ruling coalition in Malaysia, born from racial politics during Malaysia’s birth. The MCA is the component party tasked to look after the Malaysian Chinese interest, hence Najib’s and Chua Soi Lek’s (the MCA president) recent remarks.

Now, if you read the actual newspiece, it’s not half as incidenary or flaming as the Malaysian Insider points it out to be. Basically all Najib and CSL is saying that you cannot expect to have strong representation in the government if you do not choose the candidates put forth by MCA. AKA asking the Chinese to vote for a Chinese candidate to look after their interest. On the surface level, this makes sense. After all, if you don’t have any candidates representing you in the government, then how do you expect to have a voice? Also, if you are voting BN out, then why in the world would you still want a voice in said part?

However, there is a simple flaw in this reasoning. It ONLY works if, and I stress on the word if, the BN government is returned to power. Which is something I hope will not happen. After all, if Pakatan takes over the Fed Govt, then this threat is revealed to be just nothing but empty words.

Ok, time to head home. I have a headache now from last night’s wedding party. Orz.

Original entry as appearing at Ink to Screen.

Original article is here. Mirroring on this blog in case it gets taken down. Will post translation when my command of Malay and my disgust goes down.

MENOLAK BANGSA ATAU KAUM BERERTI MENOLAK FITRAH
Oleh: Ahmad Shah Bin Jamlus, Penolong Pengarah BTN Negeri Pahang.

Bangsa dalam maksud bahasanya merangkumi aspek yang lebih luas dari maksud kaum. Ianya menjadi perbahasan ahli akademik dalam pengkajian ilmu kemasyarakatan dan perkumpulan manusia yang masih belum berkesudahan. Penditilan hal ini amat perlu bagi memungkinkan satu pengkajian yang ampuh dan kukuh.

Secara rujukan berkamuskan terbitan Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, BANGSA bermasud jenis manusia daripada satu asal keturunan. Manakala KAUM pula, puak atau suku bangsa.
Oleh yang demikian, saya berpendapat bahawa skop BANGSA lebih luas daripada KAUM.
Pendefinisian di atas penting, namun apa yang lebih penting adalah kefahaman yang menunjukkan bahawa manusia itu secara fitrahnya telah dijadikan berbeza-beza, walau dari kelahiran dari perut ibu yang sama.

Bermula daripada penciptaan manusia pertama iaitu Adam a.s, kemudian Hawa a.s yang pada awalnya di syurga, dengan dipendekkan kisah, maka keturunan Adam dan Hawa berkembangbiak dengan ramainya di atas muka bumi ini.
Ini dapat dibuktikan dengan kepelbagaian bangsa dan kaum yang dapat kita lihat dari dek kelainan warna kulit, bentuk rupa paras, besar kecil anggota tubuh, kerinting lurus rambut, hitam biru mata, pertuturan dan cara hidup. Barang kemungkinan kesan dari bentuk muka bumi, panas sejuk cuaca dan iklim, manusia terbahagi sedemikian.

Secara luarannya, manusia itu sangat berbeza dalam konteks yang telah disebutkan. Namun, mereka itu banyak persamaannya dari sudut dalaman. Ini dapat dibuktikan melalui roh, perasaan, nyawa, emosi dan jiwa. Hal-hal persamaan ini, secara zahirnya dapat diperhatikan dari sudut emosi misalnya, membina intonasi percakapan dan tinggi rendah pengucapan ketika bertutur, walaupun dengan berbahasa yang berbeza. Jika tidak, masakan si MELAYU boleh menitiskan air mata bila menonton babak kesedihan dalam filem-filem HINDUSTAN misalnya, sedangkan si MELAYU itu tidak faham sepatah habuk pun bahasa yang dipertuturkan dalam filem berkenaan.
Oleh yang demikian, secara mudah untuk berfikir akan perbezaan dan persamaan tersebut. Jika dihuraikan dengan lebih mendalam dan ditil, sudah tentu ianya akan membuahkan medan ILMU yang sangat luas.

Merujuk panduan ILAHI secara termaktub yang ditinggalkan oleh Junjungan Besar Muhammad s.a.w iaitu AL-QURAN, kisah awal kejadian manusia antara lain disebutkan di dalam Surah Al-Baqarah, ayat 30. Begitu juga terdapat surah-surah yang lain menjelaskan hal tersebut.
Merujuk hal pencitaan pelbagai bangsa, kaum dan puak ini, sudah dijelaskan dalam Surah Al-Hujurat, ayat ke-13 yang bermakna sebagaimana di bawah;

“Wahai umat manusia! Sesungguhnya Kami telah menciptakan kamu dari lelaki dan perempuan, dan Kami telah menjadikan kamu berbagai bangsa dan bersuku puak, supaya kamu berkenal-kenalan (dan beramah mesra antara satu dengan yang lain). Sesungguhnya semulia-mulia kamu di sisi Allah ialah orang yang lebih taqwanya di antara kamu, (bukan yang lebih keturunan atau bangsanya). Sesungguhnya Allah Maha Mengetahui, lagi Maha Mendalam PengetahuanNya (akan keadaan dan amalan kamu).”

Jika kita perhatikan dalam Ayat ini, permulaannya disebut “Wahai umat manusia…”, ini dapat diperhatikan sebagai satu kenyataan yang universal atau amat menyeluruh sekali. Merangkumi orang-orang yang beriman dan juga sebaliknnya.
Penjelasan ini membuktikan bahawa, penghujahan ini ada untuk dikaji dan diteliti oleh semua manusia tentang kebesaran PENCIPTA mereka dalam KEKUASAAN penciptaan yang ingin dinyatakan selepasnya.

Setelah itu, dinyatakan bahawa manusia itu bermula dengan seorang lelaki iaitu Adam a.s dan kemudiannya Hawa a.s seorang perempuan dan daripada mereka berdua itulah kembangbiaknya manusia yang ramai itu.

Secara jelas pula, tanpa selindung dengan kenyataan tersirat bahawa sememangnya manusia itu dijadikan pelbagai bangsa, kaum dan puak bukan untuk perbalahan tatapi untuk saling berkenalan, kerana Allah mengetahui akan kekuatan dan kelemahan sesuatu bangsa atau kaum itu. Sehinggalah Allah menjelaskan bahawa sebaik-baik mereka itu adalah yang paling tinggi atau lebih taqwanya tehadap Allah s.w.t atau Pencipta dan Pentadbir sekelian alam jagat ini.

Untuk mencapai TAQWA itu, barang sudah pasti bahawa dituntut padanya ialah ISLAM, kerana daripada ISLAM itu timbul hal IMAN dan KEPERCAYAAN terhadap Yang Maha Esa.
Di sini, saya ingin kembali kepada artikel sebelum ini, maka MELAYU dan ISLAM itu tidak dapat dipisahkan. Ciri awal atau pertama dalam mencapai TAQWA telah dikukuhkan dalam Perlembagaan bernegara umat MELAYU di MALAYSIA dalam Perkara 160 memperuntukkan bahawa MELAYU mestilah ISLAM.

Original entry as appearing at Ink to Screen.

Dear Puteri Umno

With regards to your sanitary ads causes social ills reasoning, here’s a proposal for you. It’s got all the prerequisite you seem to desire:

- does not promote social ills
- is made of green technology

I’ll even give it to you for free!

Here’s what I suggest:

Instead of using harmful sanitary pads that make you feel sticky, bloated and wet, use coconut husks! It protects you not only against messes, but should a man try to get frisky when you don’t want him to, it’ll be a great cock-blocker too! For added comfort, wrap said coconut husk in an old sarong! At the end of the day, throw away the husk and wash the sarong to be worn another day.

Green and helps prevent social ills, no? I look forward to hearing your experiments with this.

Regards
A Malaysian woman who understands the evils of pads

Original entry as appearing at Reach Into Your Soul.

So, a few weeks ago, a DAP MP walked into a mosque to present a cheque for Raya, which is coming soon. She says that she had been invited by the mosque committee to enter the prayer hall and to give a speech. Obliging them on both counts, she then spoke to them about the state government’s (Selangor’s) education programme. Utusan and quite a few BN-related papers got a hold of the story and went to town with it.

A good chunk and summary of the whole case can be found on the Nut Graph.

My personal take on it?

If this picture is true, and it seems to be, then I do agree that the MP in question, Teo Nie Ching, did commit a faux pas in entering the mosque. Her faux pas isn’t that she was a non-Muslim entering the prayer hall of a mosque, but that she did not demonstrate enough respect to the religion. i.e. I believe she should have worn at least a loose head covering, which she seems to have done so at a later function.

It’s unfortunate though, that a simple gesture as visiting the house of worship of another religion has been turned into a political issue. Make no mistake. I don’t see this as a religious issue at all, not when there are Muslim scholars, even within Malaysia, who see no wrong in a non-Muslim visiting a mosque if they have business to conduct with said Muslims. No, I do not mean scholars like Nik Aziz who does have a political stake in the outcome.

I’m talking about Selangor’s own mufti (a Muslim scholar who is, as Google tells me, also empowered to proscribe a fatwa or Islamic religious ruling) Mohd Tamyes Abdul Wahid who wrote a letter that stated,

“According to history, the Prophet (while he lived) in Medina did not repulse any visits by Jews or Christians who wanted to meet him even when he was in the mosque of Medina,” said Tamyes in the letter addressed to Jais’ chief assistant director in charge of mosques. They would come with a request, seeking justice (in a dispute) or for an administrative or other matter. It is understood from such incidents that there is no prohibition in Islam for meetings to be held within mosques other than the Masjid Al-Haram in blessed Makkah so long as they are held with good intentions.”

That view is also shared by former Perlis mufti Mohd Asri Zainal Abidin who believes there is nothing wrong with a non-Muslim visiting a mosque as long as it was with good intentions, also quoted in the same piece.

So, from my point of view, this is not a religious matter at all. This is a simple misunderstanding that has been blown out of proportions to make it look like a religious attack when it is none. I wonder, does this cancel the fasts of all those who claim that Teo is a dirty person thus for entering a mosque?

Original entry as appearing at Reach Into Your Soul.

Translated the latest lol from Ridhuan Tee, a Muslim convert who’s trying to be more Malay than the real Malay.

Don’t dare to challenge us

Read the rest of this entry »

Original entry as appearing at Reach Into Your Soul.

Trufax.

The Comic Fiesta committee could read like a One Malaysia ad. Here you have a bunch of youths, all below 30, who gather together to organise an event, every year, without fail, from start to finish. It’s a testament to what they say youths cannot do: Organise a successful event without any “adult” to guide them.

This year, Comic Fiesta the event, will be 9 years old. From an event with only a few hundred attendees to an event with a region-wide reach, charting its history with numbers alone would inspire wonders. Last year, we had around 8,000 attendees. This included the committee, helpers, sponsors and the attendees. We had people from all over ASEAN and quite a few cosplayers and visitors from the Middle East, Australia and if I remember, Canada.

The committee though, was, and is wholly, and completely Malaysian. So are the helpers. Ironically, it is the cultures of those who had “colonised” us which brings us together. We’re fans of Japanese anime and English-language comics, just to name a few interests.

Don’t believe me? This is our very long 2009 Committee picture (some people, including me, missing cause the line was so damn long XD). This is the gang in 2008. And lest you think that it is only the Committee that is multiracial, we’ll never forget our helpers and volunteers (2008 photo cause I can’t seem to find the 2009 photos).

How ironic that it is the culture of what some would call the “colonisers” that bring us together. But you know what? Every year, whenever I head to Comic Fiesta, I discover not only do the doujinka/self-published/fan creators make excellent fan works, they also make pretty awesome original art. And badges. And hats. Did I mention cookies too? Not only that, even our off-shoot IRC channel’s a poster child for 1Malaysia (though considering the jokes we make about said project…).

1Malaysia’s already here. And it’s taking over your world. So watch out, Malaysia.

PS: In case you can’t tell, I lost my train of thought and this has become a… ramble.

Original entry as appearing at Reach Into Your Soul.

There are times when I wish I can listen to the recording of what politicians, especially the BN, say. As a PR graduate, it shames me when I see public figures making a fool of themselves. Especially if they’ve hired a global Public Relations company. I suppose that they didn’t want to go for the grooming classes, believing them irrelevant.

The statement that irks me the most in the Star today is this:

He (Muhyiddin) added that Malays had no reason to worry about the New Economic Model: “Even if we address problems on a need basis, the target group that we cannot neglect is the majority (the Malays).”

There are so many ways he could have said it better without making it sound like the Malays are going to be given priority, simply because they are Malay. Or that there was the intention to neglect the Malays. Try these on for size:

“The target group of NEM are the needy, which comprises largely of Malays.”

“Malays are part of the target group when we address the problems on a needs basis in NEM.”

“Malays will not be neglected as we address the problems on a needs-basis; they too, are part of the target group.”

Note: References to NEM is my own addition as I do not know what was the preceding sentence.

I have a feeling I may have made things worse, but I think it certainly reads better than the original. What do you think?

Original entry as appearing at Reach Into Your Soul.