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Man City plan more investment close to home Posted: 19 Sep 2011 08:54 AM PDT Manchester City's ground, the Etihad Stadium, is seen before their Champions League Group A soccer match against Napoli in Manchester, northern England September 14, 2011. Manchester City submitted plans today for a training centre they believe will be the best in the world. – Reuters pic MANCHESTER, Sept 19 – Big-spending Manchester City aim to develop home-grown talent as they seek to conform to European financial fair play rules and submitted plans today for a training centre they believe will be the best in the world. Since being taken over by Sheikh Mansour three years ago, City have spent more than £600 million (RM2.95 billion) on building a team that is among the favourites for the Premier League title. That level of spending is unsustainable in the long-term though, the club says, and would also be difficult under European governing body UEFA's new financial fair play rules that aim to stop reckless spending on wages and transfer fees. City believe the proposed training complex near their Etihad Stadium will be better than those such as AC Milan's renowned Milanello and will produce top players for club and country. "We know that youth development has to be at the heart of this club. Investment in the transfer market has helped us reach a certain level, to stay there will take investment in player development, welfare and top-class facilities," chief football operations officer Brian Marwood told reporters. "Everybody is getting quite concerned about financial fair play, it's not just us. We are quite comfortable in terms of the work we have done to date, we know we still have a huge amount of work still to do before we conform. "This is part of that process – develop your own home-grown talent is a big part of what we do." The rules say spending cannot exceed revenue from TV rights, gate receipts, competition prize money and sponsorship. Clubs that do not conform face expulsion from European competition. Having just embarked on their first campaign in the elite Champions League, the last thing City want is to fall foul of those rules. Spending on infrastructure and youth development do not count as expenditure under the regulations. City could not give details of the cost of the project which includes a 7,000-seater stadium for youth matches, 15 full-size pitches and accommodation on an 80-acre site. It submitted the plans to the city council today and said it expected to get a decision by the end of the year. The club is hopeful of getting the green light as the project includes commitments to providing community facilities. Project consultant Nick Smith, who said City had done their research at clubs like Barcelona and Arsenal as well as training centres for non-soccer clubs such as the LA Lakers and New York Giants, added it would be "the world's best training facility." Marwood said that seeing how many home-grown players European champions Barcelona had fielded in May's Champions League final had given City something to aspire to. "If you look at Barcelona, they had eight home-grown players in the Champions League final and which is an incredible achievement," he said. "That is something that is an ambition for our football club." It will not only be City who will benefit from the training centre with the club's former midfielder Patrick Vieira saying the England national side could also reap rewards. "When you look at England, the number of players they produced in the last few years – I don't think they have produced enough talent," Vieira, now city's football development executive, told reporters. "This is a lack of facilities maybe. "I think having the facilities that can produce young players coming through around the country will give more opportunity to create more young players, it could benefit playing for the football club and the national team as well." A big investment in youth development does not mean the end to City's spending on big name players though. "I think there will always be a balance in terms of players that you purchase and bring to the club," Marwood said. "We have had accelerated investment for the last three years, we have probably crammed 10 years' worth into three." – Reuters

Hamburg sack coach after worst start to season Posted: 19 Sep 2011 08:04 AM PDT BERLIN, Sept 19 – Hamburg SV have sacked coach Michael Oenning after their worst start to the Bundesliga, the bottom-placed club said today. Hamburg, who have never been relegated from the Bundesliga, lost their fifth league game out of six on Saturday, slumping to a 1-0 defeat to Borussia Moenchengladbach in front of a home crowd. "In the last two days following our defeat to Gladbach and following a number of intensive discussions we are convinced that we needed to take this decision," said sports director Frank Arnesen, who on Saturday had backed the coach to stay on. "As of today we will start the search for his replacement." Oenning, 45 (picture), who took over late last season, will be replaced temporarily by reserve team coach Rodolfo Cardoso. "I can understand that the club wants to take a different direction now," Oenning said in a short statement after a meeting with the board. Hamburg won Oenning's first game in charge last season but have failed to win since in 13 consecutive games. – Reuters

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The last pinball wizards keep game alive Posted: 18 Sep 2011 06:11 PM PDT The interior of a Rolling Stones pinball machine in the midst of assembly at Stern Pinball in Chicago on August 15, 2011. — AFP pic CHICAGO, Sept 19 — Gary Stern has a quick answer for anyone who says he runs the last pinball machine company in the world: it's not the last — it's simply the only pinball company. Stern, 58, was born into the pinball business and is determined to keep it alive. His father ran a top pinball manufacturer back in the day when the flipper machines were banned in Chicago, New York and other US cities as gambling devices. Stern saw the machines become cultural icons as generations of kids with a quarter or two burning a hole in their pockets slapped at flippers to keep a shiny silver ball spinning around the tilted play field. Even when the arcades started to get crowded with video games like Pac-Man, pinball was able to hold its own. But computer games, home game systems like Nintendo and finally cell phone apps emptied the arcades. One by one, Stern's competitors failed or simply walked away from pinball. Annual sales of new pinball machines have plummeted from a peak of about 100,000 in the 1990s to the 6,000 or so machines that Stern Pinball sells worldwide. A core group of enthusiasts has kept the iconic machines from the scrap heap and Stern is confident his US$30 million (RM92.7 million) a year business will remain strong — and profitable — for years to come. 'The ball is wild' "We make good games. Our games are fun," Stern said during a tour of his factory in an industrial park near Chicago's main airport. "The ball is wild. It's not programmed. You can play pinball on a computer, a simulation of it, but that's not (real) — it's all programmed." Joshua Henderson, 14, got into pinball the old fashioned way. He watched his dad play a round on a machine at a bowling alley and started bugging him for quarters. Henderson's father signed him up for a tournament near their Plainfield, Illinois home because it seemed like a good deal — the US$10 registration fee was all it would cost for Joshua to play all day. That's where they discovered that Henderson is a pinball wizard. He placed fifth at the PAPA World Pinball Championships in Pennsylvania last month and has used nearly US$10,000 in winnings to buy a Spiderman-themed pinball machine and build up a college savings fund. Like most kids his age, Henderson likes video games. But there's something different about pinball, he says, something that keeps him engaged. "One of the main quirks about it is that you can use your physical strength to control the ball. You're in control," he told AFP. "It has a little more strategy than video games and is non-linear too, so every ball is different." Henderson is part of a growing number of pinball enthusiasts who see the game as a competitive sport. "It's never been bigger than it is now," said Josh Sharpe, president of the International Flipper Pinball Association. Sharpe, 31, revived the association in 2006 and has helped it grow to more than 10,000 ranked players in just five years. Like Stern, he was born into pinball. Three of the 17 machines in Sharpe's basement were designed by his father when he worked at Williams, the same company Stern's father used to run. Though Sharpe is a tad embarrassed by the machine that has his mother's face superimposed on a scantily clad damsel in distress and his father's visage on the knight about to rescue her. Sharpe ranks sixth in the cumulative world rankings and his brother Zach is ranked seventh. "Any one that doesn't know what they're doing plays in fear of the ball going down," Sharpe said. Competitive players approach the game in a totally different way, Sharpe said. They learn where to shoot for higher points. They develop a strategy that he describes as a combination of chess and golf. "When I play a game of pinball I'm looking at the play field for areas where I want to be and where I don't, whereas a casual player just doesn't want the ball to go down," he said. 'A pinball machine is like a movie' There are rumors flying around the pinball world that someone's going to try to start up a new pinball company. Sharpe — who works as an accountant at a gaming company — doesn't think they'll have too much luck. The start-up costs are just too high. The engineering too complex. The market too small and too demanding. Walking through the Stern factory it's easy to see why Sharpe is skeptical. Each machine uses over a half a mile of wire it takes more than 30 hours to assemble the 3,500 or so parts. Stern spends about US$750,000 designing each game and puts out three or four new ones every year. They all use licensed themes to draw in the fans — Tron, the Rolling Stones, Iron Man, Avatar, and Shrek are the current titles — and the goal is to make each game a different experience from the next. The Rolling Stones has a Mick Jagger figurine which dances back and forth across the playfield blocking the ball, while the signature red lips and tongue perches on top of one of the ramps. Tron shares the eerie glow of the movie sequel to light its two ramps and uses a miniature of the Tron arcade game that sucked the hero into a computerised world as a target. "My father taught me that a pinball machine is like a movie," Stern said. "It's got to have a theme, action, a climax, good photography or art work, good sound effects, good promotion, good distribution. Same thing." — AFP-Relaxnews

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Super Heavy: Mick Jagger’s motley crew Posted: 19 Sep 2011 07:55 AM PDT PARIS, Sept 19 – What can the Rolling Stones, Eurythmics and the blockbuster Slumdog Millionaire possibly have in common? More than you think – at least that's the bet behind Super Heavy, a five-strong supergroup fronted by Mick Jagger whose new album comes out today. Five stars from the worlds of rock, soul, pop, reggae and world music – Jagger, Eurythmics' Dave Stewart, soulwoman Joss Stone, Bob Marley's youngest son Damian and AR Rahman who scored the "Slumdog" soundtrack – have brought their eclectic styles together for the occasion. The motley make-up of Jagger's new supergroup, the term used when musicians team up on the model of Cream in the 1960s or Damon Albarn's Gorillaz, has raised some eyebrows in music circles. But Jagger insists the resulting album – titled simply Super Heavy – is "not all weird". Super Heavy was the brainchild of Dave Stewart, who said he was inspired by the mish mash of sounds he heard wafting through the window of his home above Saint Ann's Bay in Jamaica. "It's kind of the jungle, and sometimes I'd hear three sound systems all playing different things. I always love that, along with Indian orchestras," Stewart told Rolling Stone magazine earlier this year. "I said to Mick, How could we make a fusion?" A few phone calls later and plans for the troupe – who together claim 11 Grammy Awards – were in the works, with a first jam session held in Los Angeles six months on, in early 2010. "We didn't know what the hell we were doing," said the Eurythmics founder and co-writer of such 1980s hits as "Sweet Dreams" and "Talking to an Angel". "We were just jamming and making a noise. It was like when a band first starts up in your garage. We might have a 22 minute jam, and it would become a six minute song." Jagger – who plays the guitar and harmonica as well as singing on the album – has warned it is "a different kind of record that what people would expect." "It's not all weird and strange though," he told Rolling Stone of the result, a concentrate of musical styles drawn from around the planet. The rhythms and vocals of Damian Marley, who has worked with some of the top names in US hip-hop, leave a strong mark, along with AR Rahman's Bollywood-tinged melodies, some of them sung in Urdu. Joss Stone's deep voice adds a touch of glamour and emotion, while Mick's own performance is Jagger to the hilt. The first single off the album, "Miracle Worker," went on sale online on July 7 and the AZ record label, part of the Universal music group, releases the full album worldwide on Monday. The idea of a supergroup stems back to the 1960s when Cream brought together Eric Clapton of the Yardbirds, Ginger Baker and Jack Bruce of the Graham Bond Organisation in 1966 – becoming a rock monument in its own right. Two years on, David Crosby of The Byrds, Buffalo Springfield's Stephen Stills and Graham Nash of The Hollies split from their bands and reformed as Crosby, Stills and Nash, producing its now-classic vocal harmonies and folk guitar, sometimes with Neil Young. Less of a hit despite an A-list cast, the Traveling Wilburys was set up in 1988 by Bob Dylan, George Harrison, US rockers Roy Orbison and Tom Petty, and Jeff Lynne of the Electric Light Orchestra. The supergroup trend has resurfaced in recent years, spurred in part by the globe-trotting tastes of Blur frontman Damon Albarn, the creative mind behind both the Gorillaz music project and the 2007 supergroup album "The Good the bad and the Queen." Jack White of The White Stripes also helped found two supergroups in the past decade, The Raconteurs and The Dead Weather. And in 2009, Them Crooked Vultures brought together rock legend Dave Grohl of Nirvana and the Foo Fighters, with Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age and the multi-instrumentalist John Paul Jones, of Led Zeppelin fame. – AFP

Glenn Close pines for Oscar nod Posted: 19 Sep 2011 06:03 AM PDT US actress Glenn Close receives the 59th San Sebastian International Film Festival's 'Donostia' award, on September 18, 2011, in the northern Spanish Basque city of San Sebastian. – AFP pic SAN SEBASTIAN, Sept 19 – Glenn Close picked up a lifetime achievement award in Spain yesterday but said she'd really like to get an Oscar nod for her role as "Albert Nobbs", a woman who poses as a man. Close, probably best known as the deranged stalker in "Fatal Attraction", received the San Sebastian film festival's Donostia Award for her life's work in film. In addition to getting the award she is presenting her latest film, "Albert Nobbs", set in 19th century Ireland, in which she plays a woman who disguises herself as a man to get a job in a hotel. "It would be wonderful to be nominated," the 64-year-old Close told a news conference when asked about a possible Academy Award nomination after the film screened here. "It has been a long time," she added, laughing. Close secured Oscar nominations for best actress in "Fatal Attraction" in 1988 and "Dangerous Liaisons" in 1989, plus three supporting role nominations from 1983-1985. The Donostia Award has been given each year since 1986. Past recipients include Gregory Peck, Bette Davis, Susan Sarandon, Meryl Streep, Richard Gere and Woody Allen. Last year's winner was Julia Roberts. "Thank you so much for giving me this great honour, I pledge to you that I will continue to try to find stories that I hope you will love and characters that I hope you have a common humanity with," Close told the audience at the award ceremony in this September 16-24 festival. – AFP

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Husam saman blogger Kickdefella RM5 juta Posted: 19 Sep 2011 01:45 AM PDT KUALA LUMPUR, 19 Sept – Naib Presiden PAS Datuk Husam Musa memfailkan saman terhadap blogger Kickdefella sebanyak RM5 juta berhubung dakwaan fitnah ke atasnya menersi tiga artikel tahun ini. Writ saman dan pernyataan tuntutannya ke atas Kickdefella atau nama sebenarnya Syed Azidi Syed Abdul Aziz difailkan di Mahkamah Tinggi Malaya, Kota Baru petang ini. Husam yang juga Exco Kerajaan Negeri Kelantan diwakili peguam Hisham Fauzi. Dalam writ saman itu, Husam selaku plaintif menuntut Syed Azizi selaku defendan memohon maaf secara bertulis kepadanya  tanpa syarat, demikian lapor Harakahdaily. Defendan diminta menyiarkan permohonan maaf dalam laman blog defendan serta memadam ketiga-tiga artikel yang ditulis oleh defendan di dalam blog defendan iaitu yang bertajuk 'Husam telah menipu rakyat dan sahabat' pada 27 Januari 2011, artikel 'Sebelum kita lupa Normalam Sudirman' yang diterbitkan pada 3 Februari 2011 dan artikel 'Husam itu pembohong' pada 3 Julai 2011. Husam juga menuntut Syed Azidi mengiklankan permohonan maaf tersebut  dalam akhbar nasional harian Bahasa Malaysia selama satu hari, bayaran gantirugi sebanyak RM5 juta kepada plaintif bagi gantirugi terhadap perbuatan fitnah yang telah disiarkan di ruangan blog defendan, gantirugi teladan, gantirugi melampau, gantirugi punitif. Selain itu, satu injunksi bagi menghalang defendan dan/atau ejen-ejennya dan/atau pembantu-pembantunya dan/atau sesiapa sahaja dari berkomunikasi, memberi komen, mengulangi dan/atau menyebabkan menyebabkan penerbitan kenyataan-kenyataan atau perkataan yang berunsur fitnah terhadap plaintif, plaintif diberi kebebasan untuk memohon perintah-perintah lanjut, faedah pada kadar lapan peratus setahun ke atas gantirugi yang dibenarkan oleh mahkamah dari tarikh writ saman hingga penyelesaian penuh, kos atas dasar peguamcara dan klien, kos untuk tuntutan ini; dan lain-lain relif yang mahkamah fikirkan wajar, adil dan suai manfaat.

Fitnah: Kes Khir Toyo saman Adun Sekinchan ditanggguh Februari Posted: 19 Sep 2011 01:07 AM PDT SHAH ALAM, 19 Sept — Perbicaraan kes saman fitnah bekas Menteri Besar Selangor Dr Mohamad Khir Toyo terhadap Ahli Dewan Undangan Negeri (Adun) kawasan Sekinchan Ng Suee Lim yang sepatutnya bermula Isnin ditangguhkan ke Februari depan. Tarikh baru perbicaraan itu akan didengar di hadapan Hakim Mahkamah Tinggi di sini Dr Badariah Sahamid pada 1, 2, 13 hingga 16 Februari, lapor Bernama Online. Dr Khir (gambar) dalam samannya, yang difailkan pada Januari tahun lepas, mendakwa Ng cuba mencemarkan imejnya menerusi satu kenyataan, termasuk dalam media, berhubung pemilikan sebuah banglo. Ng, dalam kenyataan pembelaannya, mendakwa beliau mempunyai justifikasi bersyarat untuk mendedahkan sebarang penyalahgunaan kuasa oleh bekas Menteri Besar itu. Adun Sekinchan itu menafikan bahawa kenyataan berkenaan adalah fitnah, sama ada daripada segi fakta atau undang-undang. Ng juga berkata kenyataan itu adalah ulasan adil yang dibuat demi kepentingan awam dan benar daripada segi fakta serta kandungan. Pada 6 Julai 2009, Adun DAP itu mendakwa Dr Khir membelanjakan kira-kira RM24 juta untuk membeli sebuah banglo di Seksyen 7 di sini sedangkan pendapatan beliau dianggarkan hanya RM576,000 setahun, atau sejumlah RM4.6 juta dalam tempoh lapan tahun beliau menyandang jawatan. Dr Khir menafikan dakwaan itu dan berkata banglo itu berharga hanya RM3.5 juta dan dibeli menggunakan pinjaman bank selama 30 tahun. Bagaimanapun, pada 6 Disember lalu, bekas Menteri Besar itu dihadapkan ke Mahkamah Sesyen di sini berhubung pemilikan dua lot tanah dan sebuah banglo di Seksyen 7 dan beliau dibicarakan di Mahkamah Tinggi di sini selepas mengaku tidak bersalah terhadap tuduhan itu. Pada 8 Ogos lepas, Hakim Mahkamah Tinggi Datuk Wira Mohtarudin Baki memerintahkan Mohamad Khir membela diri terhadap tuduhan itu dan menetapkan 26 hingga 30 September ini untuk pembelaan.

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Reaching for the prize Posted: 18 Sep 2011 09:33 PM PDT SEPT 19 — Days after the announcement, I still can't quite believe it. Our Internal Security Act (ISA), abolished? Unexpectedly, my respect for our prime minister went up a notch. In the context of our country's politics, to be the man who would repeal the ISA is quite something. Like him or loathe him, he at least has had the courage to do this. After all, many of our former PMs have condemned the ISA before entering government or whilst on the Parliamentary back benches only to find it a most "necessary" law once they become prime minister. Should we care if his motive is to win back "middle" Malaysia? Should we care if this is an election gimmick? Should we care if he is merely stealing Bersih 2.0's thunder? Yes, we probably should. However, the pragmatic in me thinks the motive doesn't matter; the main thing that we need to keep focus on is the fact that this law may no longer be. If Datuk Seri Najib Razak keeps his promise to do so and pushes through the repeal of this Act, then, like him or not, agree with his motives or not, our PM will have performed a great service to our nation. No longer will the government of the day be able to order the arrest and detention of a Malaysian citizen without trial or without being charged; no longer can the government of the day detain a Malaysian indefinitely. Of course, the nub of the question is that if: if he keeps his promise. Then there is the announcement that two new preventive laws will be put in place to replace the ISA, to be used against terrorists. I welcome Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz's statement that these would be not be used to "curb individuals from supporting different political ideologies", but I am still cautious about this development. In the UK the Terrorism Act 2006 came into force in April 2006 following the 7/7 bombings in London the previous year. This law was extensively debated in Parliament, and Tony Blair suffered a defeat over plans to extend detention without trial to 90 days. The Act eventually came into force allowing detention without trial for only 28 days. In the five years since it has been in place, there have been numerous occasions where the police and other authorities have been accused of abusing the Act. A woman was held for questioning for four hours under the Act for walking along a cycle path in Dundee's harbour area in late 2005. In 2008, London's Metropolitan Police conducted 175,000 searches under section 44 of this Act, which allows the police to stop and search anyone or any vehicle, and seize anything that could be used in connection with terrorism. Unlike normal stop and search activities, under section 44 the police do not need "reasonable suspicion" that a crime has been committed to stop someone. Fifty-eight of the people stopped and searched under this Section that year were children under the age of 10. The UK is, in our PM's words, an "advanced democracy." Yet even here abuse of an anti-terrorism law occurs. Fortunately, the UK has a robust press and an independent judiciary. The police are not above the law and can be sued or taken to court to answer any allegations of misconduct. Public enquiries have also been held to examine police procedures and practices. Malaysia unfortunately is not quite there yet. We may be able to hear cases of police misconduct in court, as the case of Aminulrasyid Amzah attests, but these never seem to ask questions about police procedure (why, in our country, are police equipped with submachine guns? We are not the USA!). If anti-terrorism laws are enacted in Malaysia, then I fear the scope for abuse is rather large, and redress would be difficult to obtain. In any case, does Malaysia really need anti-terrorism laws? What would be the point of enacting these laws? When was the last time a terrorist act took place in our country? In fact, how would we define a terrorist or a terrorist act in our country? The government should not be allowed to pass such laws unchallenged, and I dearly hope that our Parliament minutely scrutinises the proposed anti-terrorism laws once they are tabled. In fact, I feel a tiny flutter of hope in the wake of these announcements. For the moment, set aside the motives, and set aside any concerns about whether the ISA repeal will actually happen. For me, the genie is now out of the box. Our PM has stated that it must go. What is also apparent to me is that our PM has finally woken up to the fact that he has lost the support of a number of Malaysians. He may be using these announcements to reach out to those whose support he has lost. Whether he succeeds in reaching out to such people matters not a jot so long as he keeps his promises. To be known as the prime minister who finally got rid of the ISA (and not just promised to get rid of it) — now, isn't that a prize worth striving for? * The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the columnist.

‘Cinta Madinah’ terima tempias Interlok? Posted: 18 Sep 2011 04:57 PM PDT 19 SEPT — Belum selesai isu sekumpulan penulis teks Komsas yang dianiaya, ditipu dan dizalimi beberapa penerbit, muncul pula isu lain berhubung sebuah lagi teks Komsas. Saya mendapat tahu pada minggu lalu menerusi catatan rakan-rakan di Facebook bahawa novel "Cinta Madinah" karya Abu Hassan Morad dibatalkan kontrak walaupun edisi murid sudah sedia untuk dicetak dan diedarkan ke beberapa negeri di Pantai Timur untuk kegunaan pelajar Tingkatan Tiga mulai 2012. Apabila saya meminta komen rakan-rakan, Hariani Ibrahim dari Tawau, Sabah berkata, "Saya cuma melihat bahawa bentuk kehidupan kita semakin dikawal dengan kepentingan politik". Suriani Mat dari Kulai, Johor pula bertanya, "Mengapa karya terbaik dibatalkan kontrak? Susah hendak mencari karya yang baik dan berisi sebagai ganti." Kalau tidak silap saya, novel "Cinta Madinah" menang Hadiah Sastera Kumpulan Utusan 2000 dan diterbitkan pada 2001. Saya pernah membacanya pada 2005, tidak lama sebelum ia disiarkan di RTM1 sepanjang Ramadan pada tahun berkenaan. Rasa-rasanya, skrip oleh Abu Hassan dan Sharifah Abu Salem. 'Cinta Madinah Edisi Murid' sudah ada dalam rekod PNM. Novel itu memang kaya dengan unsur-unsur Islam kerana memang itulah gaya penulisan Abu Hassan. Sepanjang saya membacanya, tiada apa-apa yang menyentuh sensitiviti kaum atau agama lain. Saya percaya bahawa kehebatan, keunikan dan kecantikan "Cinta Madinah" sebagai sebuah novel bertema Islamik yang menjadi antara faktor mengapa ketiga-tiga peringkat panel pemilih dan pegawai Bahagian Pembangunan Kurikulum (CDC) di Kementerian Pelajaran Malaysia (KPM) memutuskan untuk mengangkat novel bermutu itu sebagai teks Komsas. Namun, dalam perkembangan terbaru, walaupun kontrak sudah ditandatangani dan buku edisi murid sudah sedia untuk dicetak, "Cinta Madinah" dikatakan kononnya menerima "tempias" daripada isu "Interlok Edisi Murid" dan akhirnya "kena pancung" daripada senarai teks Komsas. Saya tidak akan terkejut jika alasan yang diberikan oleh KPM adalah bahawa "Cinta Madinah" bersifat "terlalu Islamik, memuji Nabi Muhammad SAW, mengangkat kehebatan kota Madinah, serta tidak bersifat 1 Malaysia". Dalam hal ini, saya tidak menghubungi penerbit untuk bertanya mengapa mereka tidak berjuang mempertahankan novel "Cinta Madinah". Saya percaya penerbit sebenarnya sudah bersedia untuk mencetak novel edisi murid dan ISBN sudah diperoleh. Kalaulah (ulang: kalau) memang wujud apa-apa perkara yang dikatakan sensitif dalam "Cinta Madinah", saya percaya bahawa Razlan Mohamed Noor dan Mahadzir Adun selaku editor sudah menanganinya secara professional dalam edisi murid. Tambahan pula, apabila dikatakan "Cinta Madinah" menerima "tempias" daripada isu "Interlok Edisi Murid", tentulah penerbit, editor dan KPM mampu memastikan pisang tidak berbuah dua kali. Akan tetapi, tentulah suatu tindakan kurang bijak (baca: bodoh) jika sebuah karya sehebat, secantik dan sesempurna "Cinta Madinah" dipancung semata-mata kerana pihak tertentu tidak mampu menangani isu "Interlok Edisi Murid" secara profesional dan matang. Tindakan yang lebih bodoh adalah sekiranya sesiapa di KPM mahu "memancung" novel "Cinta Madinah" edisi murid dengan alasan bahawa novel itu bersifat "terlalu Islamik, memuji Nabi Muhammad SAW, mengangkat kehebatan kota Madinah, serta tidak bersifat 1 Malaysia". Tiga judul ini sering menjadi tumpuan pembaca. Sesiapa yang memberikan alasan seperti itu ternyata sedikit pun tidak faham apa yang dimaksudkan "1 Malaysia"! Baginya, mungkin teks Komsas berciri "1 Malaysia" wajib menampilkan watak Melayu-Cina-India dan agama Islam-Hindu-Kristian-Buddha. Orang seperti itu juga ternyata lupa pada kedudukan agama Islam mengikut peruntukan Perlembagaan Persekutuan serta hakikat bahawa rakyat pelbagai kaum dan agama di negara bertuah ini sudah teramat biasa membaca dan menghayati karya bertema Islam. Malah, sewaktu novel berkenaan diadaptasi dan disiarkan secara bersiri di televisyen pada 2005, khalayak yang menontonnya bukan hanya orang beragama Islam. Apakah mungkin ada pihak tertentu yang sengaja menggunakan isu "Interlok Edisi Murid" sebagai alasan untuk merealisasikan niat jahat "memancung" novel karya Abu Hassan? Atau untuk menyalahkan kaum tertentu sebagai punca novel itu dibatalkan kontrak? Saya tidak menghubungi Abu Hassan untuk membincangkan isu berkaitan novel "Cinta Madinah" kerana beliau tentu masih bersedih dan kemungkinan sedang berusaha "melupakan" episod yang amat melukakan ini. Saya juga tidak akan membazir masa menghubungi KPM kerana pihak itu masih belum mampu mencetak dan mengedarkan edisi baru novel "Interlok Edisi Murid" seperti dijanjikan menterinya enam bulan lalu. Abu Hassan Morad. KPM juga masih belum mampu membela nasib sekumpulan penulis yang dinafikan hak royalti teks Komsas. Lalu, apa gunanya isu "Cinta Madinah" dibawa kepada perhatian menteri sekali pun? Pada masa sama, memang pelik (baca: gila) kalau sesiapa cuba menyamakan isu "Interlok Edisi Murid" dan "Cinta Madinah". Novel oleh Abu Hassan berkisar sepenuhnya pada watak/keluarga Melayu-Islam. Tidak ada kena-mengena dengan watak kaum/agama lain. Apatah lagi menyentuh sensitiviti kaum/agama lain. Lalu, atas alasan apa "Cinta Madinah" dikatakan tidak sesuai dengan konsep 1 Malaysia? Apakah agaknya alasan rasmi bagi pembatalan kontrak novel itu sebagai teks Komsas? Atau pembatalan dilakukan secara senyap dan saya pula akan didakwa kerana menyebarkan maklumat rahsia kerajaan! Nampaknya isu teks Komsas memang penuh dengan "misteri" dan "tangan-tangan halus". Ada penerbit yang menggunakan beberapa nama syarikat dan dengan amat mudah mendapat kontrak bagi beberapa karya yang menjanjikan pulangan lumayan. Apatah lagi apabila penulis asal tidak dibayar walau satu sen dan KPM tidak berani menegur. Kalaulah benar novel "Cinta Madinah" dipancung atas alasan "terlalu Islamik, memuji Nabi Muhammad SAW, mengangkat kehebatan kota Madinah, serta tidak bersifat 1 Malaysia", saya mahu lihat novel mana pula yang (mungkin) dibawa masuk mengikut pintu belakang untuk menggantikan tempatnya. Apa tidaknya! Novel yang bakal mengambil alih tempat "Cinta Madinah" sebagai teks Komsas pastilah sebuah karya agung yang benar-benar memenuhi ciri-ciri, semangat dan konsep "1 Malaysia". Akhirnya, kita akan tahu apa sebenarnya yang dimaksudkan oleh KPM dengan "1 Malaysia". Sementara itu, saya berharap persatuan-persatuan penulis serta badan bukan kerajaan (NGO) yang semakin lantang bersuara sejak Januari 2011 akan turut berjuang membela nasib Abu Hassan. Tidak perlulah menunggu sehingga beliau datang meminta bantuan. * The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the columnist.

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