The Malaysian Insider :: Opinion

Posted: 02 Sep 2011 05:21 PM PDT

SEPT 3 — A few years back when I was a lowly writer contributing to The Star's Citizen Blog, I wrote a piece called "I Am Not a Patriot." It was sarcastic in nature because it listed what our government truly sees as things that make us, the common people, traitors to the cause ie the development of this nation.

I was recently pushed to look this article up once again after watching a movie called "American: The Bill Hicks Story." Bill died of cancer but his message rang clear through his comedy.

A patriot is not one who, as the rap group Ahli Fiqir would put it, just "angguk-angguk, geleng-geleng, tunduk-tunduk, ikut telunjuk, iya-iya, saya-saya, kiri kanan ikut saja," to put it in contemporary Malay terms. A patriot is one who highlights the mistakes of government thoroughly so that they do a better job for everyone, both the majority and the minority of the people altogether.

A patriot is one who acknowledges that the people are of a variety that needs to be catered to fairly as long as they are citizens, regardless of their race, their beliefs, and their economic backgrounds or yes, even their genders and sexual orientations.

And that is why we see that the patriots who fight for change are the ones who become martyrs, no matter how minute their actions were. And this is something that we do not acknowledge in our history and, even worse, we do not even encourage people to do.

Allow me to then state my opinion on what exactly one should do to be patriotic. It's a simple process that goes very well with our religious upbringing, for us Muslims. In fact, it is the first sentence brought down by Gabriel to Muhammad. It is in the Chapter Al-Alaq of the Holy Koran, verse 1 to 5. It tells us all, summarily, to read in the name of Allah who created us from a clot of blood and who granted us the ability to write which we knew not.

The verses and chapter do not specify that we should just read Utusan, or Berita Harian, or Malaysiakini or Harakah. It does not even tell us that we should buy newspapers to read them or to purchase them online or even, again, to even purchase them at all.

It does not tell us that we should shun books that raise questions about our faith, because struggling to find such answers and putting them to paper strengthens it and subsequently, when other members of the ummah come across the same struggle, it is lightened if they read what you write. This is exactly how Muslims in the past came up with libraries of books and translations from the Greek and Roman philosophers, once lost in time and then formed their own theories.

It does not say you can't question a leader's actions. In fact, it is through explaining and questioning our own Prophet Muhammad (pbuH) that there was even a compendium of his quotations, what we now call the Sahih Bukhari and Muslim. And blessed be the Prophet, he was kind enough to answer any and all questions, unlike our religious scholars and politicians alike nowadays who merely tell those needing answers to not ask so many questions.

Now, these all point to the growth of knowledge, I know. But translate it into the basics of what you understand from it. Thus, your patriotic duty is just this. Read about a topic you find of interest; doesn't matter if it's politics, or food, or alcohol consumer rights even, and delve into it with all your heart. Then share that knowledge through your writing. And in this day and age, need I say more about how you are supposed to do this?

Start a blog. Or write to any newspaper through their blogs, letters and opinion sections. Or, if you're too lazy to even do that, open Facebook and use their note application. It is through this small but effective culmination of knowledge that one is thoroughly doing one's patriotic duty and, with the proper intent (niat) of contributing to his or her religious beliefs.

And please don't make language an excuse. Allah never specified you had to write proper Bahasa Malaysia/Jawi/Arabic. Write how you talk, regardless of the Bahasa Malaysia/Mandarin/Cantonese/Tamil/English mix that you use in conversation. After all, can't you see the best part of you writing in that style?

Your usage, in itself, is the simplest, and highest form of getting people to the goal of 1 Malaysia; the creation of a society where lingual, religious, racial barriers are torn down to form the creation of a truly understanding and inter-communicating people.

With that, I wish you all, fellow patriots and future patriots alike, good luck and God speed in your endeavours.

Selamat Merdeka Raya

Posted: 02 Sep 2011 05:18 PM PDT

SEPT 3 — It's Raya time and this year's a wee bit more special as Aidilfitri also coincides with the 54th anniversary of our beloved country's Independence Day. A few years back, we had Deepa Raya when Raya coincided with Deepavali and we also had Kongsi Raya when Raya coincided with the Chinese New Year. So I guess it won't be wrong to call this year's occasion Merdeka Raya.

Usually when it's Raya, people will write about forgiveness and lessons learned during the holy month of Ramadan. And of course when it's Merdeka time there's usually no other topic of discussion other than national and racial harmony. So in the spirit of Merdeka Raya let's see if I can write something that can combine both things.

When it comes to race relations in Malaysia we've all heard the stereotypes and clichés dished out to describe ourselves, so I don't think there's any need for me to repeat any of them here. No matter how jokingly we think of them though, stereotypes and clichés become stereotypes and clichés simply because they happen too often.

And one of the most oft-repeated clichés that I've heard during Ramadan is when the time for breaking fast comes and you see some non-Muslims also lining up for a table at a restaurant that's full of Muslims trying to score a table to break their fast and you hear these whispers: "Can't they just come a bit later or before we're all busy trying to break fast?"

I've heard both friends and family utter those exact same words countless times without even batting an eyelid, and being the nice guy I am I've never openly voiced out my feelings about this right after the fact, just so as not to seem disrespectful to my elders (who are usually the ones who inevitably utter those lines). But since this is my column, let me just say that I really don't see what the big fuss is all about.

Yes, we're fasting and we're thirsty and hungry but I fail to see how that gives us special privileges when it comes to getting a table at a restaurant. It's not like we're deprived of food and water when the non-Muslims also turn up at restaurants at the same time we're trying to break fast.

At worst we'll just have to find another restaurant (and believe you me there are never enough restaurants here in Malaysia) to break fast at, or get some of our food delivered a few minutes later. It's just eating out, so chill lah, right?

Before I start getting accused of being pro non-Malays (or non-Muslims, they're pretty interchangeable phrases over here in Malaysia), I also fail to see what the huge fuss was when lots of non-Muslims got worked up over that notorious TV advertisement. Yes, some of the things in it are kind of offensive (in a sort of blackly funny way), but it'll only be truly offensive if you're the uptight type with absolutely no sense of humour whatsoever. The first time I read about this, I practically laughed my head off at the righteous indignation that greeted the TV advertisements.

A lot of non-Muslims laugh at the righteous indignation expressed by the Malay-Muslims here over the most inane of things. Remember that Santa Raya TV ad last year? Now that's what I call funny, as Santa Claus isn't even a religious Christian thing and more like a capitalist and commercial icon. If we're oh so religiously Muslim, what's the point of "duit Raya", right? I'd say it's almost the same thing, which is just something to get the kids excited about the festive season.

So yes, we Malay-Muslims are quite the hilariously uptight bunch. But isn't it ironic and funny that the non-Muslims can get similarly uptight as well, as this whole brouhaha about the Ramadan TV ad demonstrated? Again, I say, chill lah. It's just a misguided attempt at being funny from a TV station known for its urbane, edgy, hip and cool image.

They probably thought they were being ironic when they made the TV ad. But racist or insensitive? I definitely don't think so, as I know for a fact that there are a whole lot of non-Muslims who work in that station, holding important production positions as well.

After 54 years living together as free men, isn't it time for us to be a little more light hearted and less suspicious of each other? People always say that we can forgive, but never forget. And with all the things that we've been through together, to me it is definitely important that we don't forget, so that we won't repeat the same mistakes again. But even if we don't forget, we can always chill, right?

Selamat Merdeka Raya!

Kredit: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com

Sabtu, 3 September 2011

The Malaysian Insider :: Opinion

The Malaysian Insider :: Opinion

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