Isnin, 3 Oktober 2011

The Malaysian Insider :: Sports

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The Malaysian Insider :: Sports

IAAF assured that London stadium will retain track

Posted: 03 Oct 2011 08:17 AM PDT

The chairman of the London 2012 Organising Committee of the Olympic Games (LOCOG), Sebastian Coe (L), jogs with IAAF World Championship 1500m silver medalist Hannah England, on the completed athletics track inside the London 2012 Olympic Stadium in this photograph received in London on October 3, 2011. – Reuters/LOCOG/Handout

LONDON, Oct 3 – London 2012 organisers showed off their newly laid Olympic track today and assured visiting officials assessing a bid for the 2017 world athletics championships that it would be there for keeps.

"The athletics track is a non-negotiable part of the legacy of this stadium," Sports and Olympics Minister Hugh Robertson said on the track after meeting an International Association of Athletics Federations' (IAAF) inspection commission delegation.

"Once we had spoken to them, there were no questions afterwards," he added.

"We have now a letter of guarantee from the Treasury Solicitor that says the track will remain in the stadium in legacy mode and all the indications are that that has now put that argument to bed."

Premier League soccer club Tottenham Hotspur are fighting a legal battle over the future of the Olympic Stadium in east London.

A court hearing into the awarding of preferred bidder status to take over the Stadium after the Games to West Ham United is scheduled for Oct. 18.

Tottenham, who would have removed the running track after the Games had they won the bid, argue that a £40 million (RM199.11 million) loan from Newham Council gave West Ham an unfair economic advantage.

The uncertainty had threatened the bid for the 2017 championships with the IAAF making clear that London had no chance without the Olympic Stadium being available.

Robertson said even if Tottenham won their hearing, it would be a hollow victory.

"The judicial review is about the process by which the decision was reached, not the substance of the decision itself," he said.

"So therefore if the litigants were to win in the High Court, and I don't think they will, we would simply start the process again and make the athletics track a non-negotiable part of the solution."

London 2012 organising committee chairman Sebastian Coe, a twice 1,500 metres Olympic gold medallist, turned out in his running kit to give the track a test along with British athletes hoping to be in the medals next year.

They were joined on the track by children from a local primary school before reporters were also allowed to try out the springy, 13.5mm deep surface for themselves.

"It's a lovely surface, it's a really good surface," Coe declared of the red Mondo surface which was laid in August with a training circuit nearing completion outside the main stadium.

"Instinctively, it felt a bit like Zurich," added the 54-year-old. "Which was good for me."

"It's an intimate stadium... and of course as we pointed out to the IAAF this morning, there will be some reconfiguration if we get 2017."

Coe said he had organised a private meeting with IAAF officials and tackled the main issues head on.

"They went away with the guarantees they needed," he said. "We didn't leave them in any doubt at all about the commitment to the stadium.

"We maded a very strong case this morning and we will continue to make that case, and it's a compelling case."

London is bidding against Qatar's Doha for the championships, with a decision due to be taken by the IAAF in Monaco in November. – Reuters

Roddick defeated in first round of China Open

Posted: 03 Oct 2011 07:37 AM PDT

Andy Roddick of the US returns the ball against Kevin Anderson of South Africa during their men's singles match in the China Open tennis tournament at the National Tennis Center in Beijing October 3, 2011. – Reuters pic

BEIJING, Oct 3 – Sixth seed Andy Roddick was sent packing by South African Kevin Anderson 6-4 7-5 in the first round of the men's draw at the China Open today after an unavailing series of last gasp match point saves.

"I didn't serve very well. It was unacceptable," Roddick told a tense post-match news conference.

The 29-year-old American then snapped at a Chinese reporter who asked him if he was considering retiring.

"I think you should retire," he said before abruptly leaving the media room.

World number one Caroline Wozniacki faired better in her first round match, repulsing a tenacious challenge from Lucie Hradecka to open the defence of her China Open title with a 3-6 6-0 7-5 first round victory.

The top-seeded Dane struggled to find her rhythm against the powerful Czech's serve in the first set and was forced into a fight for survival in a nail-biting decider against the world number 49.

"It wasn't a pretty match, but I'm through," she said.

"She's a player that doesn't give you any rhythm. She's serving at 200 kilometres per hour, so when it's on, it's difficult.

"But in the second set, her first serve percentage dropped, and that made it easier for me to start the rallies."

The 21-year-old, who was crowned world number one at this event a year ago but who has struggled for form recently, said maintaining her top ranking was paramount.

"If you've been number one pretty much the whole year, you want to finish there as well. It would be a little bit bitter to lose it in the last week of the season," she said.

"So definitely, I just give it my all in the last few tournaments."

Austria's Tamira Paszek became the first woman to reach the third round when she overcame Petra Cetkovska of the Czech Republic 1-6 6-4 6-2.

In the men's draw, Germany's Florian Mayer beat Albert Ramos 6-2 6-4 and Croat Marin Cilic trounced China's Wu Di 6-2 6-0.

Roddick's exit has left the tournament low on crowd-pulling names after French Open champion and local favourite Li Na's shock first round loss yesterday and the withdrawal of several top players, including world number two Maria Sharapova.

Defending men's champion and world number one Novak Djokovic pulled out two days before the start of the tournament because of a back injury. – Reuters

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The Malaysian Insider :: Showbiz

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Rowan Atkinson back as spoof spy Johnny English

Posted: 03 Oct 2011 05:37 AM PDT

Actor Rowan Atkinson arrives for the UK premiere of Johnny English Reborn, at the Empire Leicester Square in central London October 2, 2011. – Reuters pic

LONDON, Oct 3 – Rowan Atkinson is back as bumbling spy Johnny English in the sequel to his 2003 hit, but despite work on comic classics "Not the Nine O'Clock News" and "Blackadder", the comedian does not find filming much fun.

The 56-year-old, whose television series "Mr Bean" also made it to the big screen, was on the red carpet in London at the weekend to promote spy spoof "Johnny English Reborn", which hits British theatres on Friday.

"I never find filming particularly fun to be honest," he said at the event.

"There isn't a tremendous amount of laughter going on when I'm filming because I tend to take it all far too seriously."

In Johnny English Reborn, "the improbable secret agent" is called back into action when his superiors learn the Chinese premier's life is in danger.

Director Oliver Parker said that hit spy series like the Bourne thrillers and the arrival of Daniel Craig as the new James Bond in 2006 had provided more source material for the English character.

"We've had several years of Bourne and the new Bond, so that was a little more meat for us to feed on really," Parker said.

"The first movie I suppose was reflecting much more on Roger, (former Bond actor) Roger Moore, and here we have those two new spies, and it gave us a lot more to play with I think."

Parker and his cast, including Gillian Anderson as Pamela Head and Dominic West as Simon Ambrose, will be hoping for a repeat of the commercial success of the first movie.

"Johnny English", released in 2003, earned US$160 million (RM513.44 million) in global ticket sales, according to movie tracking website boxofficemojo.com, on a budget estimated at US$40 million.

Early reviews have been mixed to poor, according to critic tracker rottentomatoes.com. – Reuters

Ex-Beatles on red carpet for Harrison documentary

Posted: 03 Oct 2011 04:26 AM PDT

Former Beatle Paul McCartney and his fiance, Nancy Shevell, is seen in this file photo of September 22, 2011. Ex-Beatles Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr joined director Martin Scorsese on the red carpet on Saturday October 2, 2011 for the premiere of 'George Harrison: Living in the Material World'. – Reuters pic

LONDON, Oct 3 – Surviving ex-Beatles Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr joined director Martin Scorsese on the red carpet late yesterday for the premiere of "George Harrison: Living in the Material World".

The documentary, about the Fab Four guitarist who died in 2001 aged 58, will be released in UK cinemas for one night only tomorrow before being aired by the BBC public broadcaster in November.

Scorsese traces the life of Harrison from his musical beginnings in Liverpool, his meteoric rise to fame with the Beatles and his search from an early age for spiritual fulfilment.

"We had lots of material things at quite an early age and we learned that wasn't it, we still lacked something," Harrison said when he was 22.

Scorsese had access to publicly unseen footage from Harrison's childhood and interviewed Starr, McCartney, John Lennon's widow Yoko Ono and Harrison's widow Olivia among others.

"George, to me, was taking certain elements of R & B and rock and rockabilly and creating something unique," fellow guitarist Eric Clapton said.

Although most of the Beatles' hits were penned by Lennon and McCartney, Harrison wrote classics including "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" and "Here Comes the Sun".

He embraced Indian culture in the mid-1960s and organised the benefit Concert for Bangladesh in 1971 which the film makers called "the first major rock concert to address a world crisis."

"For years, his music seemed to be dealing with themes that I connected with," Oscar-winner Scorsese told the BBC at the premiere.

"I found comfort in them and a hope and a special experience listening to his music. I was fascinated by him."

McCartney said on the red carpet: "Every time I see anything to do with George it brings back more memories than you would believe.

"He was my little mate on the school bus ... when he was very little. He's sorely missed by us all."

McCartney was accompanied by fiancee Nancy Shevell. The couple have posted their wedding banns at the London registry office where the musician married his first wife Linda over 40 years ago. – Reuters

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The Malaysian Insider :: Features

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Rare flu-like virus on the rise in US

Posted: 03 Oct 2011 04:10 AM PDT

A rare virus causes respiratory symptoms that can be particularly dangerous to children. — AFP pic

WASHINGTON, Oct 3 — A rare virus has killed three people and sickened nearly 100 in Japan, the Philippines, the United States and the Netherlands over the past two years, US health authorities said Friday.

The culprit is human enterovirus 68 (HEV68), and its respiratory symptoms can be particularly dangerous to children, the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said in its Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

In six separate clusters of the virus that showed up worldwide, patients commonly experienced cough, difficulty breathing and wheezing.

The highest number of cases were found in Japan, where local public health authorities reported more than 120 cases last year.

However, the CDC said it could only confirm clinical data for 11 of those patients, all children, one of whom died.

The Philippines had 21 cases in late 2008 and early 2009, causing two deaths, the CDC said.

Other cases surfaced in the Netherlands and the US states of Georgia, Pennsylvania and Arizona, for 95 total confirmed cases over two years.

The virus was first discovered in four children who were sick with pneumonia in California in 1962, but subsequent incidences have been rare and sporadic, according to the CDC.

"Identification of a large number of patients with HEV68 respiratory disease detected during a single season, such as described in this report, is a recent phenomenon," it added.

"Whether this increase in recognized cases is attributable to improved diagnostics or whether the clusters themselves represent an emergence of the pathogen is unknown."

The CDC said its report aimed to highlight HEV68 as "an increasingly recognised cause of respiratory illness" and urged clinicians to report cases of unexplained respiratory illness to public health authorities.

Human enterovirus is closely related to human rhinovirus, which causes the common cold. — AFP-Relaxnews

Nestle ad first to pitch at canine customers

Posted: 02 Oct 2011 09:18 PM PDT

ZURICH, Oct 3 — Nestle, one of the world's biggest makers of pet food has launched the first television commercial pitched to grab the attention of dogs.

"Dogs' hearing is twice as sharp as humans," said Georg Sanders, a nutrition expert at Nestle Purina PetCare in Germany of the ad using a high-frequency tone. "They can pick up frequencies which are beyond our range, and they are better at differentiating sounds."

Nestle asked experts in pet behaviour in the United States to research what would appeal to dogs, and used the results to create the 23-second commercial for its Beneful dog food brand.

The advert, to be screened on Austrian television this week, features a tone similar to a dog whistle, which humans can barely hear, as well as an audible "squeak" like the sound dogs' toys make, and a high-pitched "ping".

"So delicious, so healthy, so happy," ends the commercial in German, which features a dog pricking up its ears.

"The television commercial aims to reach both the pet and the owner, supporting the special one-to-one relationship between them," said Xavier Perez, brand manager of Beneful for Europe.

Nestle said in a statement that the commercial follows an award-winning campaign in Germany that featured "sniffable" posters to attract dogs.

Nestle's Petcare division reported first-half sales of 4.8 billion Swiss francs (RM16.9 billion), accounting for almost 12 per cent of revenue at the world's biggest food group. It competes with Mars, maker of the Pedigree dog food brand. — Reuters

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The Malaysian Insider :: Opinion

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Rantings over the great hudud debate

Posted: 02 Oct 2011 05:39 PM PDT

OCT 3 — Much as I hate this acrimonious debate on hudud, especially with the general election looming ever so close, I no longer believe that delaying it is going to do any good to anyone either. Not to Non-Muslims, Muslims and much less to Islam.

Conventional wisdom would have it that deferring the debate and focusing on more major issues of a dysfunctional democracy such as gross mismanagement of the nation's wealth and finances, endemic corruption, unbridled crony capitalism, gross income inequality would be in order.

Accordingly, this writer was earliest in reprimanding everyone, especially the PAS and other Pakatan leaders. His frantic attempt, as usual, fell on deaf ears. In no time, Pakatan leaders, nay the entire nation, are embroiled in the debate.

Once again, the "ugly" head of hudud, or such as it were described by many a less-than-friendly commentator, is "splitting" the nation, as if the nation were a one united country prior to the appearance of hudud on the national debate.

This writer would want to believe that, as a nation, we are only united in one cause, i.e. to make this beloved nation of ours, a better place for everyone.

So why should PAS and Pakatan take this issue upfront now?

For obvious reasons.

Allow it to be ventilated; the rantings, the ramblings and all the concerns and anxiety, perhaps misunderstandings. Let it out. Say what you really think of it. Perhaps in the free enterprise of ideas, it can no longer be suppressed anyway.

In the course of this national debate, the conversation has at least brought one unknown fact to the fore i.e. that the Islamic Penal Code is only enforceable on Muslims.

As to how it would be given an iron-clad assurance, as demanded by the Catholic Bishop Dr Paul Tan, who seems friendly with Tok Guru, it has yet to be meticulously articulated.

There are some who proposed that PAS conduct a referendum to assess and determine the level of support of the Kelantanese on the implementation of the enactment, now that Tok Guru's chief ministership has spanned well over 20 years.

The hudud debate has also been instrumental in assessing that there are many non-Muslims who no longer have any fear of hudud, while many more continue to feel terrorised by the mere mention of the word. It has sadly become a rather bad word.

Debate, discourse and the many good writings of scholars and columnists provide useful insights to this once-very-misunderstood-transcendental Law of God, grossly misrepresented and demonised as barbaric and uncivilised.

For once, this writer noted the earnestness of many who wish to understand the wisdom of Islamic jurisprudence beyond its purely punitive dimension. That is both reassuring and informative.

For all these "happenings", I retrospectively thought that this is not that bad after all. Yes, if all sensitive issues of religion and race get to be swept under the carpet, this nation would never be "enlightened".

Indeed, that would be the greatest assault on Reason! Only Perkasa and right-winged religious and racial bigots thrive in the ambience of fear, ignorance and under-siege kind of mentality.

More strategically though, imagine if this polemical topic is to come any closer to the finishing line or during the raging campaign period of the 13th general election.

God forbid, Pakatan would arguably be dead meat. The "master strategist" Tun M has his way of putting a wedge between the Pakatan coalition partners. Already we have witnessed Pakatan leaders all too willing to cross swords openly and the BN-controlled media ever so ready to fan it up.

We, obliviously perhaps, went headlong into the pit in a self-destruct mode. For days, the issue occupied front page of The Star, NST, Utusan, et al; Hudud Feud, Hadi speaks up etc. We have seen enough of these shooting at each other episodes.

Fast forward, we thank God that Pakatan survived the nerve-racking hudud debate in a three-hour closed-door meeting. This writer, who was also a secretariat member of the Barisan Alternatif (BA), a forerunner of the PR, witnessed its demise after PAS launched the Islamic Document.

This grim reminder was very much in our minds in those critical moments during the hudud debate.

Admittedly, this writer would have no qualms revealing the fact that "Islamic state" and "hudud" are the Achilles' Heel of the opposition front; before, in the BA, now, in PR and indeed to eternity.

This writer has vehemently argued that for as long as there are leaders in the opposition parties who are bent on saying that this Federal Constitution is secular or Islamic and that the Islamic Penal Code is unconstitutional, Pakatan Rakyat would forever be subjected to this unending acrimonious debate.

Pakatan's strategic trajectory to Putrajaya

Pakatan has again reasserted its Common Policy Framework (CPF) and of its policy advocacy as spelt out in Buku Jingga or the "Orange Book." Pakatan has again categorically announced its undivided commitment to the Federal Constitution, namely as highlighted by the provisions of Articles 3, 152 and 153 and its resolute vision of bringing about a New Malaysia.

In the context of the hudud debate, PAS and many Muslim constituencies would have hoped for a better treatment and recognition of the work of implementing the Islamic Penal Code — namely the Enakmen Jenayah Syariah 2 (1993), which actually predated the existence of Pakatan Rakyat or in fact the BA. In brief, they wanted it endorsed by the Pakatan presidential council.

That was not to be the case, as collectively decided by the Pakatan presidential council. Implementation of the Islamic Penal Code is not part of the CPF. The hudud debate has revolved around its constitutionality as posited by some legally trained leaders, while others were arguing from the perspectives of politics and strategy, which also invariably concluded that the agenda be best addressed after the 13th general election.

The meeting finally acknowledged and respected the difference amongst parties in Pakatan Rakyat as a democratic alliance particularly with respect to PAS's position on the implementation of syariah law.

Difficult though it may seem for PAS but the DAP would similarly be in a rancorous position should Pakatan allow PAS to take the hudud law on board.

PAS would have to suffer the mockery of the Umno media for failing to convince her Pakatan partners to support its implementation in Kelantan. It would reinforce the notion of PAS being dictated to or saddled by the DAP.

That said, Umno is fully aware of its "sins of omission and commission" of enacting a law dating back to 1965, where by an Act of Parliament the Islamic Penal Code was stifled to a punishment limited by the magical formula of 3-5-6. (RM3,000 fine, five years' imprisonment and six strokes of the rotan).

That makes a huge mockery of the hudud law, where punishments are clearly spelt out in the Quran or Hadith. The Act outrightly reduces all the Penal Code, both Hudud and Qisas (Law of Retribution) to Ta'zir (Discretionary). PAS can now hit back at Umno, now seen as the greatest enemy of the Islamic Penal Code and perhaps as well as the Islamic syariah.

PAS would have to appease and educate its members and well-wishers that Pakatan Rakyat is a coalition of political parties with not only diverse but diametrically opposed ideological convictions and worldviews.

The MB of Kelantan is reported to have nonetheless expressed gratitude for the Pakatan's decision to recognise his work and to be allowed to take a democratic measures to realise the mandate of the people of Kelantan within the ambits of the Federal Constitution's provision.

On the bigger agenda of managing the GE, PAS and other component parties of the Pakatan must continue to remain focused on achieving its shared vision and objectives of bringing about change and reforms.

Pakatan is now better poised to unleash its entire intellectual firepower on its political nemesis. Pakatan must stop Najib Razak in his orgy of "window-dressing" before he again is trusted by the rakyat; much the same as Pak Lah who was given a huge handsome mandate. All in the name of "let's give him a chance to prove his worth." That will be extremely disastrous and unfortunate.

PAS and Pakatan must now shift the attention of the electorates to their critical agenda of bringing about change and reform.

Pakatan must not relapse into self-destruct mode again. If we do it, it is to our own detriment and to our own peril.

I rest my case.

* The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the columnist.

Estet yang hilang ...

Posted: 02 Oct 2011 05:20 PM PDT

Estet yang hilang ...

3 OKT — Walaupun Kumpulan Sasterawan Kavyan (Kavyan) berusaha secara berterusan ke arah memartabatkan Bahasa Malaysia, karya-karya bahasa lain tidak pula dipinggirkan.

Malah, para Sasterawan Kavyan (penulis kaum India yang menghasilkan karya Bahasa Malaysia) juga terlibat secara langsung dan tidak langsung dalam arena penulisan Bahasa Tamil dan Bahasa Inggeris.

Apabila bercakap mengenai karya kreatif Bahasa Tamil, tema yang sering diperkatakan adalah berkaitan kehidupan di estet dan ladang. Perkara ini memang saya perhatikan sewaktu membuat kajian untuk sebuah artikel bagi akhbar New Straits Times pada 11 Februari 2004.

Saya sering merujuk buku "Cerpen Tamil dan Melayu (1957-1970): Perbandingan Tema dan Struktur" tulisan Dr Krishanan Maniam dan "Malaysian Tamil Novels After Independence" oleh Dr Sababathy Venugopal untuk maklumat berkaitan.

Gopalan dan Balamurugan mengangkat kisah masyarakat India di estet.

Sebagai individu yang kurang mahir membaca tulisan Tamil, saya bergantung pada rancangan sastera dan cerpen Tamil di radio untuk memastikan saya tetap tidak ketinggalan mengikuti perkembangan sastera Tamil di Malaysia.

Bagi maklumat puisi Tamil sejak lebih 2,000 tahun lalu, saya membaca buku "A Tapestry of Tamil Poetry" tulisan Dr S.M. Ponniah. Cerpen-cerpen Kalki, sasterawan Tamil terkenal dari Tamil Nadu, saya baca menerusi antologi "Kalki: Selected Stories" yang diterjemahkan cucunya.

Bagi cerpen-cerpen Bengali karya Satyajit Ray, saya membaca "Indigo" sementara novel "Kallo Kaviyamo" karya Mu. Varatharasan boleh dibaca dalam versi Bahasa Malaysia dengan judul "Berakhirnya Balada Cinta". (Namun, terjemahan itu sudah "membunuh" kehebatan karya Mu. Varatharasan.)

Saya juga suka menikmati tema dan latar budaya India yang disajikan dalam karya-karya Bahasa Inggeris oleh R.K. Narayan. Koleksi lengkap semua karya beliau saya miliki menerusi "The World of Malgudi", "A Town Called Malgudi", "The Magic of Malgudi" dan "Memories of Malgudi".

Bagi karya-karya Tamil tempatan pula, tidak banyak yang diterjemahkan. Satu-satunya antologi memuatkan cerpen-cerpen Tamil yang diterjemahkan ke Bahasa Malaysia adalah "Seruling di Persimpangan" selenggaraan M. Balachandran.

Balachandran juga menulis novel Bahasa Malaysia berjudul "Alpa" dan kisahnya berkisar kehidupan di sebuah estet di Kedah dan cabaran yang dihadapi penduduk di sana.

Semasa meluangkan masa bersama-sama mendiang Re. Shanmugam pada awal 2007, saya mendengar daripada beliau mengenai tema-tema yang sering menjadi pilihan beliau dalam cerpen, sajak dan novel.

Terkini, saya sedang membaca "But My House Was Here and Other Stories" karya Gopalan Sellan. Lima daripada 14 cerpen dalam koleksi ini ditulis dalam Bahasa Inggeris manakala 9 lagi diterjemah oleh penulis sendiri dari Bahasa Tamil.

Gopalan mempunyai pengalaman bekerja di ladang getah dan kelapa sawit selama 38 tahun. Penulis ini lahir di Estet Labu, Negeri Sembilan pada 1950 dan ibu bapanya adalah penoreh getah.

Bahasa bukan penghalang untuk mengenali budaya kaum India.

Cerpen sulungnya tersiar di akhbar Tamil Murasu pada 13 Februari 1966. Beliau sudah menerbitkan dua kumpulan cerpen Bahasa Tamil, iaitu "Inippu Manjal" (2001) dan "Aththarum Pugai Vaasamum" (2003).

Kebanyakan cerpen dalam "But My House Was Here and Other Stories" menggunakan latar di estet atau berkisar individu yang pernah tinggal di estet. Pelbagai masalah, konflik dan dilema yang dihadapi beberapa generasi penduduk estet dipaparkan secara terperinci menerusi cerpen-cerpen ini.

Cerpen yang paling meninggalkan kesan, bagi saya, adalah "But My House Was Here" yang mengisahkan seorang wanita tua bernama Senjiammah yang sering kelihatan di tepi jalan dan mahu mencari rumahnya di Estet Parangsa.

Mungkinkah estet itu merujuk pada Estet Perang Besar yang kemudian dibangunkan menjadi Pusat Pentadbiran Persekutuan dan dilancarkan pada 29 Ogos 1995 serta diberi nama Putrajaya?

Watak bernama Parthiban dalam cerpen itu menceritakan kepada watak Shamini bahawa "sejak 10 hingga 15 tahun lalu, sejumlah besar ladang di Puchong, Dengkil, Nilai dan Banting dijual kepada pemaju. Ribuan pokok getah dan kelapa sawit dimusnahkan. Ribuan pekerja ladang dibuang kerja dan diarah berpindah."

Lalu diceritakan juga: "Mereka ini tidak ada rumah atau tanah. Estet itulah rumah, kampung dan masyarakat mereka. Apabila mereka yang sudah dua generasi tinggal di estet tiba-tiba diarah keluar, apakah nasib mereka?"

Walaupun saya tidak pernah merasai kehidupan di estet, kisah-kisah dalam buku ini mengingatkan saya pada kajian sosial dan masyarakat India yang dibuat semasa di Universiti Malaya, hampir 17 tahun lalu.

Kavyan juga sering mengadakan aktiviti bahasa, sastera, seni dan budaya bersama penduduk lima estet sekitar Perang Besar yang kini ditempatkan di Taman Permata, Dengkil.

Apa yang pasti, dilema, masalah dan konflik yang dipaparkan menerusi cerpen-cerpen ini adalah berdasarkan fakta yang dibaurkan dengan sedikit imaginasi. Tambahan pula, Gopalan melalui sendiri pengalaman hidup di estet.

Seorang pengarang muda yang turut mengangkat kisah konflik dan dilemma penduduk estet yang terpaksa berpindah ialah Balamurugan Kesavan, seorang guru di SJKT Ladang Harvard Bahagian 3, Bedong, Kedah.

Novelnya, "Nagarnthu Kondirukkum Vaasalgal" (Pintu yang Bergerak), menerima Anugerah Karikaalan Chozhan daripada Universiti Tamil (Tamil Nadu, India) bagi novel Bahasa Tamil Terbaik Rantau Asia Tenggara 2010.

Balamurugan turut menang Anugerah Bakat Muda Selangor bagi kategori cerpen/novel Bahasa Tamil pada 17 September lalu menerusi novel berkenaan.

Novel setebal 250 halaman itu juga menjadi johan Pertandingan Novel Tamil anjuran Persatuan Penulis Tamil Malaysia dan Astro tahun lalu.

Pemuda berumur 29 tahun ini lahir di Sungai Petani dan beliau menyentuh isu berkaitan penghijrahan penduduk estet ke pekan menerusi novel "Nagarnthu Kondirukkum Vaasalgal".

"Saya menulis mengenai senario perpecahan keluarga yang banyak berlaku dalam kalangan kaum India apabila generasi muda berhijrah ke bandar untuk mencari pekerjaan," kata Balamurugan yang juga setiausaha Persatuan Penulis-penulis Tamil Kedah.

Beliau memberitahu saya bahawa berikutan kemasukan pekerja dari Thailand, Indonesia dan Bangladesh sejak awal 1980-an, ramai pekerja estet hilang sumber pendapatan dan terpaksa berhutang bagi menampung kos menyara keluarga.

Balamurugan Kesavan.

"Akibat hutang, ada yang terpaksa melarikan diri dari ladang. Novel saya menceritakan mengenai sebuah keluarga yang lari dari ladang akibat beban hutang. Di pekan pula, berlaku pelbagai krisis lain yang benar-benar menguji kehidupan seharian dan masa depan anggota keluarga itu," katanya semasa kami bertemu pada jamuan juri dan pemenang Anugerah Bakat Muda Selangor di Petaling Jaya pada 26 September lalu.

Ternyata kehidupan di estet serta pelbagai cabaran yang hadir bersama-samanya masih menjadi isu penting dalam kalangan kaum India di negara ini. Hal ini juga terpancar menerusi karya-karya Bahasa Tamil yang dihasilkan dari dahulu hingga kini.

Tidak dapat tidak, karya Gopalan dan Balamurugan mengingatkan saya kepada persoalan mobiliti sosial dan suatu isu yang hangat dibahaskan enam bulan lalu.

Pada 6 Mac 2011, Presiden MIC, Datuk G. Palanivel dilaporkan menasihatkan belia kaum India yang berhijrah ke pekan dan bandar supaya kembali bekerja di estet jika masih dibelenggu masalah kemiskinan dan pengangguran.

Cadangan itu juga berikutan pengumuman Perdana Menteri, Datuk Seri Najib Razak bahawa upah pekerja ladang dinaikkan daripada RM300 kepada RM700 sebulan.

Apa yang dinyatakan oleh Presiden MIC dan dilaporkan di media mengingatkan saya pada suasana masa lalu di estet dan ladang seperti yang digambarkan menerusi cerpen dan novel Tamil tempatan: rumah percuma, sekolah Tamil, kos hidup yang rendah, perpaduan dalam komuniti, kuil, keamanan, keselamatan, persefahaman dan tiada masalah besar.

Lalu saya tertanya-tanya: Adakah kehidupan estet yang "hilang" itu merupakan "nostalgia silam" atau sebenarnya "syurga impian" bagi sebahagian masyarakat India yang pernah tinggal di ladang getah dan kelapa sawit?

Benarkah seperti dikatakan dalam cerpen "But My House Was Here" karya Gopalan: "Estet itulah rumah, kampung dan masyarakat mereka."

* The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the columnist.

Kredit: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com

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Isma: Kerajaan pusat Pakatan tidak jamin hudud akan dilaksana

Posted: 03 Oct 2011 02:27 AM PDT

KUALA LUMPUR, 3 Okt — Ikatan Muslimin Malaysia (Isma) memandang positif pendirian terbaru PAS yang mengulangi ikrar untuk melaksanakan hukum hudud jika dapat menguasai Putrajaya tetapi kerajaan Pakatan Rakyat belum jamin perundangan itu akan dikuatkuasakan.

Sebaliknya jelas Presiden Isma Abdullah Zaik Abd Rahman, walaupun Isma berpandangan bahawa pengertian pelaksanaan siasah syariah lebih luas daripada sekadar melaksanakan hudud, pihaknya menganggap pernyataan hasrat PAS itu suatu yang positif.

"Pada hakikatnya isu hudud yang disebut-sebut pada hari ini tidak lebih sekadar isu politik semata-matam," kata Abdullah Zaik.

"Ia tidak mungkin dapat dilaksanakan semata-mata apabila PAS atau Pakatan Rakyat menang pilihan raya. Pelaksanaan hukum hudud dan undang-undang Islam yang lain memerlukan sokongan yang lebih besar daripada semua pihak.

"Masih banyak ranjau dan duri yang menghalang pelaksanaannya," katanya dalam satu kenyataan hari ini.

Justeru katanya, perkara yang diperlukan oleh perjuangan Islam hari ini lebih daripada sekadar hudud.

"Cabaran yang dihadapi oleh orang Melayu dan umat Islam dewasa ini menuntut usaha yang lebih gigih dijuruskan kepada membina kekuatan jati diri dan keperibadian.

"Hanya umat yang memiliki kekuatan sahaja akan dapat memikul tanggungjawab menegakkan agama," kata beliau.

Selain hudud banyak lagi tanggungjawab fardu kifayah yang perlu dipikul oleh pemerintah Islam, katanya.

"Dalam Islam pemerintah melaksanakan tanggungjawab fardu kifayah bagi pihak umat. Tanpa wujud umat yang beriman dan memahami Islam dengan baik adalah sukar bagi mana-mana pemerintah untuk melaksanakan apa-apa tanggungjawab syarak yang terpikul di atas bahunya," kata beliau lagi.

Justeru kata beliau lagi, bagi Isma, perbalahan parti-parti politik tentang hudud bukan satu isu pokok yang membina.

"Walau bagaimanapun, tindakan menyebut-nyebut isu tersebut dan meletakkan pendirian yang tegas terhadap pelaksanaannya pada masa akan datang adalah satu yang positif," ujar Abdullah Zaik lagi.

Merujuk kepada kenyataan yang menyifatkan hukum hudud sebagai tidak adil kerana pelaksanaannya terhad kepada orang Islam sahaja, kata beliau, Isma berpendapat kenyataan tersebut dikeluarkan kerana hukum hudud tidak difahami dengan baik.

"Hukum hudud adalah satu ibadah dalam bentuk kifarat dosa (penghapusan dosa) bagi umat Islam untuk mengelakkannya daripada mendapat azab yang lebih pedih di hari akhirat.

"Orang bukan Islam mempunyai pilihan sama ada mengikut hukum hudud secara sukarela atau menggunakan undang-undang lain mengikut hukum agamanya," katanya.

Merujuk kepada kenyataan lain yang mengatakan bahawa hukum hudud tidak sesuai dilaksanakan di negara yang berbilang kaum, katanya, Isma tidak menganggap kemajmukan bangsa dan agama di Malaysia sebagai penghalang secara mutlak terhadap pelaksanaan hukum Islam bahkan Perlembagaan sendiri telah meletakkan agama Islam sebagai yang tertinggi.

"Perkara yang menghalang adalah kesediaan rakyat Malaysia dari segi akidah dan kesatuannya," katanya lagi.

Bagaimanapun katanya, Isma faham realiti semasa dan pihaknya tidak menghukum mana-mana pihak dalam isu ini, tetapi sebagai seorang yang beragama Islam "kita harus berusaha dan berazam agar hukum Allah dapat dilaksanakan sepenuhnya di negara ini."

Panel khas: Parlimen kata OK

Posted: 03 Oct 2011 02:18 AM PDT

KUALA LUMPUR, 3 Okt — Parlimen bersetuju untuk mengadakan sebuah jawatankuasa pilihan khas bagi mengkaji pembaharuan pilihan raya meskipun kerajaan enggan memberi jaminan bahawa pilihan raya umum ke-13 tidak akan diadakan sehingga syor-syor panel itu dapat dilaksanakan.

Ahli-ahli pembangkang menggesa agar Perdana Menteri Datuk Seri Najib Razak memberi jaminan bahawa Parlimen tidak akan dibubarkan sehingga jawatankuasa itu menyelesaikan tanggungjawabnya.

Menteri di Jabatan Perdana Menteri Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz (gambar) berkata soal pembubaran Parlimen adalah prerogatif Perdana Menteri.

"Kami tidak boleh memberi jaminan bahawa pilihan raya tidak akan diadakan ketika jawatankuasa pilihan khas sedang bermesyuarat. Ia prerogatif Perdana Menteri dan konvensyen. Bukan sesuatu yang baru," katanya lagi.

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Kredit: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com

Isnin, 3 Oktober 2011