GEORGE TOWN, April 29 — Straits Quay in Tanjung Tokong's Seri Tanjung Pinang has undergone a few changes over the past two years since it opened for business, and sadly, some of its original tenants no ... Read More
KUALA LUMPUR, April 28 — Butter prawns has got to be one of Malaysia's finest gastronomic contributions. The presence of Malay, Chinese and Indian cooking methods and ingredients is very symbolic of the ... Read More
GEORGE TOWN, April 29 — Straits Quay in Tanjung Tokong's Seri Tanjung Pinang has undergone a few changes over the past two years since it opened for business, and sadly, some of its original tenants no ... Read More
KUALA LUMPUR, April 28 — Butter prawns has got to be one of Malaysia's finest gastronomic contributions. The presence of Malay, Chinese and Indian cooking methods and ingredients is very symbolic of the ... Read More
Red Bull Formula One driver Sebastian Vettel of Germany celebrates with the winner's trophy during the victory ceremony of the Bahrain F1 Grand Prix April 21, 2013. — Reuters picSILVERSTONE (England), May 1 — British Formula One Grand Prix organisers are counting on Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button producing the goods in the next few races to boost ticket sales dented by a 'Vettel effect'.
Sebastian Vettel has won the last three championships in succession for Red Bull and the 25-year-old German leads the standings again as the only driver to have won twice in four races so far.
McLaren's Button, the last world champion before Vettel, has finished no higher than fifth this season while Hamilton, the 2008 champion, has had two third places since he moved to Mercedes.
Silverstone managing director Richard Phillips said on Wednesday that ticket sales for the June 30 race were down nearly 10 percent on last year, when 297,000 people attended over the three days despite flooded campsites and torrential downpours.
"If you look at the cycle on selling tickets...on the Monday after a grand prix Sunday you tend to see a spike. The weekend we had Lewis on the podium there was a spike and when you see Vettel there is less of a spike," he told Reuters, referring to demand for tickets for the British Grand Prix.
"I think the needle-movers (for sales) are going to be basically 'not Vettel'.
Britain had the biggest crowd of the season last year, with a record race day attendance of 127,000 and more people turning out on a Friday than on a Sunday in some parts of the world where Formula One has no tradition.
Eight of the 11 teams are based in Britain, including champions Red Bull, and last year saw seven different winners in the first seven races.
Former Formula One driver Derek Warwick, president of circuit owners the British Racing Drivers' Club (BRDC), said the success of the British pair was crucial.
"When we know that Lewis and Jenson are coming into the grand prix off the back of a couple of wins, we see a massive spike in our sales," he said.
Phillips said they had probably reached the break-even point but the circuit needed to exceed that comfortably to recover some of the 40 million pound ($62.26 million) investment made on improvements in the past five years.
Hundreds of thousands have been spent since last year's 'wake-up call', with improved drainage to campsites, ditches re-profiled and park and ride spaces added.
BRDC chairman Stuart Rolt said the search for outside investors to help fund development was continuing after an exclusivity agreement with an unidentified partner, believed to be a Qatar-based group, ended last year.
"We are still talking to people very positively and we keep going," he said. "There is no threat to the grand prix if we don't find an investor, everything just slows down..."
Rolt said the process had been frustrating due to the difficult economic climate, and a clash between what property developers wanted and the aims of the BRDC, but hoped "to get something done" this year.
He would not give details about any potential partners. — Reuters
Hoeness arrives at the car park ahead of the Champions League semi-final first leg match against Barcelona at Arena stadium in Munich April 23, 2013. - Reuters picBERLIN, May 1 — A Swiss bank account held by Bayern Munich president Uli Hoeness, who is under investigation for suspected tax evasion, is unrelated to the Bundesliga champions, he said on Wednesday.
Hours before his team take on Barcelona in Spain for their Champions League semi-final second leg, Hoeness said the club had nothing to do with the account under investigation, which was used only for "stock market gambling" and financed by the late Richard-Louis Dreyfus, a former head of sports manufacturer Adidas.
"From 2002 to 2006 I was really gambling (with stocks)," Hoeness told Zeit newspaper. "I sometimes traded day and night with sums that are now difficult to comprehend. Some of those amounts were extreme.
"This gave me a kick, pure adrenaline," said Hoeness, who has been under mounting pressure to step down.
The former Bayern player and long-time club general manager is under investigation for tax evasion after he filed a complaint against himself earlier this month. there are no details of the amounts in question.
Authorities can to offer some leniency in cases where individuals name themselves as tax evaders.
Hoeness, whose professional as well as personal reputation has been damaged by the affair, said his house had been searched in March as part of the probe.
"My life changed on March 20 at seven in the morning. I stood there in a bathrobe and the prosecutor was at the door. That is when hell started for me."
Hoeness said he began gambling bigger amounts before the dotcom bubble burst. But after it burst he had been given money from the late Dreyfus in 2001.
"He said 'let's do something together', he would finance it," Hoeness said.
"That is how the millions came on to the account. It was always clear it was an account for (stock market) gambling. This account was only Uli Hoeness."
He said the 2008 financial crisis led him to gamble much less.
"I am also now older. I am 61," Hoeness said.— Reuters
A Bedouin woman carries her child as she prepares to leave her home in the West Bank village of Wadi al-Maleh, near the border with Jordan April 29, 2013. - Reuters picRAMALLAH, May 1 — Far from the children who beg for change from idling cars and the teenagers who hurl rocks at armed Israeli troops, a different spectacle of Palestinian youth is playing out in the ballroom of a luxury Ramallah hotel.
Young contestants are gathered for a taping of "The President", a game show that aims to select a "new leader" for the Palestinians based on their views on the pressing political issues of the day. The panel of judges is made up of top officials and businessmen.
Bleak Palestinian realities mean whatever comes out of the contest to be "The President" will have only symbolic significance. The winner will be "ambassador for a day" at one of the Palestinian missions in Europe, among other prizes.
But it's a rare chance for a frustrated and marginalized generation to air their views.
Hanan Ashrawi, a veteran of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), asks a contestant in the Gaza Strip, on which Israel has imposed a tight blockade, about the smuggling of goods from neighbouring Egypt.
"What about the tunnels between Egypt and Gaza, what would you do about that?" she asked of the trade, which bypasses both Israeli and Palestinian officials.
"Well, the goods going through them create an illicit economy which isn't taxed and take away government revenue," answers Jihad al-Jaabari, who is taking part in the show via a remote connection from Gaza.
"Do you speak Hebrew?" an Arab member of the Israeli legislature, Ahmed Tibi, chimes in.
"No...but it's important to learn the enemy's language," Jaabari replies, eliciting slight smiles from the judges.
Almost a third of the 4.2 million Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza are between 15 and 29 years old, and a third of this youth bulge have no jobs and scant opportunity to challenge their own ageing leaders, let alone Israel's occupation, beyond taking to the streets.
After the Islamist Hamas party's surprise 2006 electoral win, the Palestinian parliament has not met for six years and fresh elections are long overdue.
Following a brief civil war with President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah in 2007, Hamas now rules over Gaza while Abbas' Palestinian Authority governs the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
Abbas, 78, has outstayed his mandate by four years and has no clear rival or successor after Prime Minister Salam Fayyad resigned this month.
PARTISAN FEUD
In the meantime, real wages have declined by around 8 percent since 2006 and a third of Palestinian homes do not have secure, reliable access to food, the United Nations says.
Youth despair of ever having control over their futures.
"We're a people under occupation. We feel failure while hunger and unemployment rise. We see corruption and foreign aid distracting our leaders," contestant Maher al-Komi, 25, from the West Bank city of Hebron, told Reuters.
"I have a degree in media but I work in a corner store. I hope my speaking on this show will make those in charge realize the problems of youth and make changes," he said.
While Palestinian politics may be in a moribund condition at the national level, the paralysis has not stifled youthful debate, however.
The main university of Nablus in the West Bank was a riot of yellow and green flags, the colours of Fatah and Hamas, on the day of the student council elections last week.
Fatah's "Martyrs" bloc and "Muslim Palestine" led by Hamas were the two main contenders to lead the 22,000-member student body, with Hamas taking part for the first time in six years.
Both candidates made similar campaign promises about student loans, Internet access and better classroom conditions, but it was ultimately a popularity contest along party lines. In the end, Hamas barely lost out to its rival in a ballot widely seen as a barometer of the Palestinian popular mood.
The real platforms of Fatah and Hamas are poles apart, conceded Bassem Sati, 24, as he milled around the campus with a bandana of Hamas's trademark green over his shoulders.
Fatah officials in recent years explored the idea of creating a vice-presidency under Abbas, hoping to avoid having to devolve power to the Hamas speaker of parliament, as per Palestinian law, if something should happen to the ageing president.
The drive was ultimately dropped.
Most Palestinians feel the split in their leadership has distracted them from the real struggle - coming up with a national strategy to confront Israel's occupation.
"We hope the will of the youth will bring Fatah and Hamas together. Of course, we want Fatah's focus on negotiations to give ground to our choice of resistance," Sati said.
"An uprising will give us suffering and attacks from the Israelis, but we need it to gain our freedom, and we are ready to sacrifice," he added.
Mervat Abu Hijleh, sporting a T-shirt and Fatah's black and white chequered headscarf around her neck, said school elections provided an example of the healthy competition that could revive flat-lining national politics.
"We see how old officials are, how little action is being taken and we see the need for change. We, the youth in this vote, are that change, and the different parties can at least agree on that," she said.
READY TO DIE
Nearly three quarters of young people from Gaza, East Jerusalem and the West Bank are not affiliated with any party and say the factions have not earned their trust, according to a survey of 1,851 people aged 15 to 29 published this year by the Sharek Youth Forum, a local non-governmental organisation.
Almost two-thirds believe a combination of Israel's policies and internal politics will doom efforts to establish a Palestinian state. But a slim majority also said they believed Palestinian youth have the ability to bring about change.
It's unclear how much longer they can retain that optimism, however.
Despite the ambition and enthusiasm on display on the set of "The President", a different reality is the rule on the Palestinian street.
Local people gathered at a mosque in the town of al-Ram in March were attending the funeral of a resident who medics said was killed by an Israeli teargas round fired into his taxi during clashes between soldiers and youths.
As the corpse was carried toward the cemetery, a young man in a soccer jersey wrapped a shawl over his face so only his eyes were visible. He and his friends were preparing again for a street battle, trading rocks for Israeli soldiers' bullets.
"If I die, good, I welcome that. I would be dying for our martyr and our people," he said. (Editing by Sonya Hepinstall)
UK researchers have devised a test to measure your 'fear of missing out,' or FoMo. — AFP/Relaxnews picLONDON, May 1 — What drives you to check Twitter and Facebook so much? A fear of missing out, researchers say — and now they've developed a way to measure this "hidden curse."
Researchers from the University of Essex in the UK have devised a way of measuring fear of missing out, dubbed FoMo, for the first time, providing a reliable measure of what people are experiencing, they said.
A relatively new concept, FoMO is a concern some people have that others may be having more fun and rewarding experiences than them, which can drive a near obsession with checking social media. For people with high levels of FoMo, they may become so consumed with checking in on what others are doing that they miss out on the enjoyment of life themselves, the researchers said.
"I find Facebook rewarding to use, but how we are using social media is changing," said lead researcher and psychologist Dr. Andrew Przybylski. "It is no longer something we have to sit at a computer and log into as we have access all the time on our phones. It is easier to get into the rhythm of other people's lives that ever before as we get alerts and texts."
"We have to learn new skills to control our usage and enjoy social media in moderation," he added. "Until we do, it creates a double-edged sword aspect to social media."
Those most affected by FoMo? People under the age of 30. Plus those with high levels of FoMo were more tempted to text or check email while driving, were more likely to use social media during university lectures, and had more mixed feelings about their social media use.
The study will be published in the July issue of the journal Computers in Human Behaviour.
According to a separate study sponsored by MyLife, which provides social media dashboards that enable consumers to manage multiple social networks and email accounts, more than half of social media users (62 per cent) stay tuned to their networks to avoid missing out on news or status updates. For users between 18 and 34 years old, they often log onto their networks first thing in the morning, groggy-eyed, to see what they "missed out" on during sleep. — AFP/Relaxnews
A view of the new Mariinsky Theatre (L) facing the original theatre across a canal in St. Petersburg April 30, 2013. — Reuters picST PETERSBURG (Russia), May 1 — It has been variously described as a sleek piece of modernism or an ugly shopping centre, but whatever Russians think of the exterior of St Petersburg's new Mariinsky Theatre, they will finally get to see inside the much-debated building at its grand opening today.
President Vladimir Putin will lead a select crowd of guests to the first performance at Mariinsky II, a 2,000-seat theatre, which, at a cost of US$700 million, ranks among the most expensive cultural projects ever built.
The new building stands near the 19th century Mariinsky Theatre, one of the great showcases of Russian culture and which became home to the opera and ballet companies renowned around the world under their Soviet-era name of Kirov.
But the new theatre has divided opinion in Putin's home town, where critics have dubbed the glass-and-limestone building the "Mariinsky mall", incongruous among the other elegant 19th-century buildings in the Imperial capital and the ugly sister of its ornately gilded predecessor.
Valery Gergiev, head of the project and regarded by many as the greatest living orchestral conductor, has promoted the plan to build a new Mariinsky for 10 years, capitalising on Putin's desire to show that Russia no longer lags behind the West.
He has promised that doubters will eat their words when they see the interior of the 80,000-square-feet (7,400-square-metre) structure.
"The inauguration of Mariinsky II will reaffirm and strengthen the great tradition of the theatre, opening the way for the future when it will be possible to create cutting-edge works of art and innovative performances, which previously we could not even dream of," said Gergiev.
"I feel certain that 25 years from now, Mariinsky II will be seen as a St Petersburg landmark in its own right, recognised for its superb acoustics, dazzling production facilities and unsurpassed level of audience comfort."
Gergiev will conduct at the opening, which will be broadcast live on television. Spanish tenor Placido Domingo, Russian opera singer Olga Borodina, and violinist and viola player Yuri Bashmet are among the performers at the lavish gala performance.
CULTURAL HEART
The new theatre is one of several grand projects intended to show what Russia can achieve, most notably the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, Putin's pet idea.
With the latest technology — although it has a chandelier in the VIP box to make prominent guests feel at home — the Mariinsky II is a world away from the original Mariinsky Theatre, which was sumptuously decorated in gold and red.
Built in 1860, the pastel green Mariinsky was the focus of cultural life in St Petersburg for decades.
Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker was premiered there in 1892. Eighteen years earlier, Mussorgsky first showed his opera Boris Godunov to a packed house.
But Gergiev, who turns 60 on the day of the concert, decided the old Mariinsky theatre was no longer adequate for his plans.
As the head of the ballet and opera companies that were called the Kirov Opera and Kirov Ballet in Soviet times before reverting to the Mariinsky name in 1992, Gergiev runs a huge cultural empire which needed a modern home.
The project has not been without difficulties. Costs soared when one design was killed after work had already started, and at least three firms have been involved in the construction.
Gergiev denied last year there was serious discontent in the ballet troupe over pay and conditions after dancers wrote a letter of complaint.
But the Mariinsky has largely avoided the scandals that Moscow's Bolshoi Theatre has suffered in recent years.
Not only was Sergei Filin, the artistic director of the Bolshoi Ballet, almost blinded in an acid attack in January but the Bolshoi's programme has at times faced criticism since the theatre reopened in 2011 after a six-year renovation.
Ballerina Viktoria Krasnokutskaya was one of several performers who said the new technical equipment at the Mariinsky made a huge difference, allowing scenes to be changed easily and quickly.
"Inside the theatre, the seating area is very beautiful ... It is very light and spacious," she said.
Designed by Toronto-based Diamond Schmitt Architects, the interior of the building glows in light reflected from wall panels made of Italian onyx that stretch several storeys high.
Glass and metal walkways slice through the building, which looks over a canal at the old Mariinsky through large windows. The two theatres are connected by a bridge and performances will be staged at both venues.
"DISGUSTING"
The two buildings could hardly be more different. The new one stands out against the late 19th-century edifices that surround it in a city landscape immortalised in the works of Gogol and Dostoyevsky.
"(Before it was built) there were fears that this would look like an apartment block or a shopping mall. People do not understand what this building is," said city resident Irene Vargo.
Builders demolished an entire block for the new theatre, razing the constructivist building of the Palace of Culture of the First Five Year Plan and the remnants of a Lithuanian market and school, built in 1930.
Alexander Margolis, head of the St Petersburg branch of the Russian Society for the Protection of Monuments of History and Culture, said they had destroyed the World Heritage Site that lies at the heart of the city.
"I think it's not just an urban planning mistake, in my opinion this is an urban crime because there was an intrusion into one of the most unique corners of St Petersburg's historical centre," he said.
Alexei Kovalev, a deputy in St Petersburg's legislative assembly, said the building was "disgusting".
"My opinion is that it should be torn down," he said. "I don't care what is inside it. Gergiev should be fired." — Reuters
Jamie Foxx is reportedly in talks with Columbia Pictures to feature in this new "Annie" as Daddy Warbucks, the young girl's billionaire stepfather — whose name will be changed to Benjamin Stacks, according to the magazine.
The new Will Gluck-directed "Annie" will be released in 2014, featuring hip-hop elements added to the original story. "Annie" was inspired by a cartoon and made into a musical in 1977.
It was then turned into a movie by John Huston in the 1980s with Aileen Quinn as Annie and Albert Finney as her benefactor. – AFP-Relaxnews
LOS ANGELES, May 1 — Michael "Mike D" Diamond and Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz are teaming up with hip-hop scribe Sacha Jenkins to pen a memoir of the Beastie Boys' musical history.The Beastie Boys formed in ... Read More
LOS ANGELES, May 1 — Michael "Mike D" Diamond and Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz are teaming up with hip-hop scribe Sacha Jenkins to pen a memoir of the Beastie Boys' musical history.The Beastie Boys formed in ... Read More
JELI, 1 Mei — Timbalan Perdana Menteri Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin hari ini meletakkan gred F atau gagal pada kad laporan prestasi kerajaan PAS Kelantan ekoran ketidakupayaan menyelesaikan beberapa masalah utama rakyat di negeri ini.
Beliau berkata adalah amat mendukacitakan dalam tempoh 23 tahun PAS memerintah Kelantan, tiada kemajuan daripada beberapa aspek seperti menyediakan peluang ekonomi dapat dikecapi di negeri berkenaan.
"Sebagai Menteri Pelajaran saya nak periksa 'report card' (kad laporan) Kelantan. Saya bagi F maknanya 'fail' (gagal) dan tak boleh terus pimpin negeri ini.
"Banyak janji-janji mereka (PAS) tak ditunaikan dan banyak masalah tak diselesaikan," katanya ketika berucap di hadapan kira-kira 20,000 hadirin pada Program Himpunan Rakyat 1Malaysia bersama TPM di Sekolah Kebangsaan Gemang Ayer Lanas di sini.
Muhyiddin meminta rakyat mengkaji dan meneliti prestasi PAS berdasarkan tiga faktor penting iaitu pembangunan infrastruktur, keupayaan menyediakan peluang ekonomi serta meningkatkan syiar Islam di negeri ini.
Turut hadir isteri Muhyiddin Puan Seri Noorainee Abdul Rahman, Menteri Perdagangan Antarabangsa dan Industri Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed yang juga calon Barisan Nasional (BN) Parlimen Jeli dan kerusi Dewan Undangan Negeri (DUN) Air Lanas. — Bernama
Dalam penggundian awal yang dijalankan semalam bagi anggota polis dan tentera, beberapa pengundi yang telah membuang undi dan menggunakan dakwat kekal mendakwa warna dakwat itu hilang selepas mereka membasuhnya menggunakan sabun. - Gambar failPETALING JAYA, 1 Mei — Kegagalan dakwat kekal yang digunakan buat pertama kali dalam Pilihan Raya 2013 akan menjejaskan kredibiliti keputusan pilihan raya umum 5 Mei ini, kata PKR.
Menurut Naib Presiden PKR Chua Tian Chang, alasan Suruhanjaya Pilihan Raya (SPR) dakwat kekal dapat dihilangkan kerana sebahagian petugas mereka tidak menggoncang botol ink adalah alasan lemah untuk menutup kepincangan badan penggendali pilihan raya itu.
"SPR secara jelasnya telah menipu kepada rakyat Malaysia mengenai integriti SPR dan integriti PRU13. SPR juga telah menjejaskan integriti pembuangan undian dan kredibiliti keputusan PRU13 ini," kata beliau yang dikenali sebagai Tian Chua dalam satu kenyataan hari ini.
"SPR mempunyai lebih dari setahun untuk memastikan dakwat kekal yang dibawa masuk adalah dakwat kekal di samping melatih para petugas SPR cara mengguna dakwat kekal tersebut secara sistematik dan berkesan," tambah beliau merujuk kepada pengumuman pertama SPR untuk menggunakan dakwat kekal pada 7 Disember 2011.
Dalam penggundian awal yang dijalankan semalam bagi anggota polis dan tentera, beberapa pengundi yang telah membuang undi dan menggunakan dakwat kekal mendakwa warna dakwat itu hilang selepas mereka membasuhnya menggunakan sabun.
Gambar menunjukkan demonstrasi membuang dakwat kekal mula tersebar di internet, menimbulkan kemarahan orang ramai berkenaan prosedur yang perlu dilakukan bagi mengelak pengundi mengundi dua kali.
Disebalik protes, SPR memberi jaminan mereka mempunyai langkah pencegahan untuk mengelakkan pengundi mengundi dua kali.
Menurut Chua, SPR telah diperuntukkan kira-kira RM400 juta oleh kerajaan persekutuan bagi melaksanakan pilihan raya umum kali ini dan badan penggendali pilihan raya itu bertanggungjawab untuk menyatakan berapa wang yang dibelanjakan kali ini untuk membeli dakwat kekal.
"Pada PRU 2008, SPR telah membazirkan sebanyak RM2.4 juta ke atas dakwat kekal yang akhirnya tidak diguna pakai.
"Kehilangan kepercayaan rakyat kepada SPR akan membawa kepada ketidakhadiran kredibiliti kepada keputusan PRU13 ini dan ini akan membawa kesan jangka panjang kepada masa hadapan negara," tambah beliau lagi.
Bersih hari ini menggesa SPR menunjukkan kepada umum dakwat kekal walaupun pengendali pilihan raya itu telah menjelaskan malam tadi kotoran itu diakibatkan ada pegawai yang tidak mengikut prosedur.
Semalam pemerhati pilihan raya termasuk pemimpin pembangkang membangkitkan isu ini beberapa jam selepas pengundian awal dilakukan oleh pasukan keselamatan dan pasangan mereka.
Walau bagaimanapun, Pengerusi SPR, Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof mengatakan kepada The Malaysian Insider dakwat kekal itu diperbuat menggunakan silver nitrat dan hanya boleh ditanggalkan selepas tujuh hari.
Pilihan Raya 2013 jatuh pada 5 Mei dan hampir 13.3 juta rakyat yang layak mengundi termasuk 5,200 di luar negara akan membuat keputusan bagi memilih 222 anggota parlimen dan 505 Ahli Dewan Undangan Negeri (ADUN) di 12 negeri kecuali Sarawak.
Sarawak telah menjalankan Pilihan Raya Negeri pada 2011.
Haji Subky Abdul Latif seorang penulis bebas dan tinggal di Kuala Lumpur. Seorang pendiam, dia gemar meneliti perangai manusia dan berita politik di Malaysia.
1 MEI ― Bagi Karpal Singh, bekas Menteri Besar Selangor, Tan Sri Mohamad Mohd. Taib tidak layak diterima menjadi ahli PAS. Sebagai ahli PAS tentulah dia menjadi kerabat Pakatan Rakyat yang parti Karpal adalah tuan punya bersama PAS.
Pandangannya adalah kerana rekod lamanya dalam Umno dulu. Bagaimana pun komen Karpal itu ada atas kapasiti pribadinya, bukan sikap partinya.
Karpal berhak menyatakan pandangan seperti yang dibenarkan oleh Perlembagaan dan kebebasan bersuara dalam demokrasi. Latarbelakang undang-undangnya menyebabkan dia terpaksa sampaikan begitu.
Bagaimana pun PAS tidaklah perlu apolojetik apabila menerima Mohamad sebagai ahli. Ajaran Islam yang menjadi landasan perjuangan PAS membuka ruang kepada semua orang untuk bersamanya tanpa mempersoal sangat pengalaman lama seseorang.
Firaun misalnya adalah sekejam-kejam pemerintah dalam sejarah manusia. Tetapi Nabi Musa a.s. datang mengajaknya kepada kebaikan. Tanpa mengira latar belakang Firaun, kiranya dia bersetuju menyertai Nabi Musa, maka segala kekejaman lampau Firaun itu dilupakan. Dia akan dikira sebagai orang baru.
Pada hari dia mahu bersama Nabi Musa, bererti dia meninggalkan dunia lamanya. Dia berubah dari kezaliman kepada kehidupan yang adil dan hak.
Islam itu adalah agama pengampunan. Ia menerima sesiapa saja yang hendak berbuat baik dan mengampunkan segala kelemahan orang yang mula berbuat baik itu.
Firaun itu lebih ranggi dari iblis. Iblis tidak mengaku dirinya tuhan. Tetapi Firaun mengaku dirinya tuhan. Pada Allah tidak kesalahan lebih besar dari mengaku tuhan. Makhluk yang seteruk itu jika menerima seruan Nabi Musa, serta merta jadi orang sebersih bayi yang baru lahir, habis dosanya. Tetapi lazimnya orang sejahat Firaun itu Allah tidak bagi hidayat untuk masuk kumpulan orang baik.
Dan yang menjayakan kenabian Rasulullah SAW itu ialah penyertaan sekalian orang jahat jahiliyah Quraisy. Jika Nabi Muhamad SAW menolak penyertaan orang-orang jahiliyah itu, maka baginda seorang sajalah yang Islam. Islam yang dibawa oleh baginda itu adalah tempat semua orang untuk berbuat baik.
Atas ajaran itu PAS sebagai parti yang berasaskan Islam menerima siapa saja dari Umno, bahkan orang jahat yang bukan Umno juga diterima. Jika Dr Mahathir Mohamad yang dikira seteruk-teruk Umno, jika dia mohon masuk PAS, maka PAS terima.
Jika selepas masuk, dia tidak berubah, meneruskan juga sistem Umno itu, masih seronok juga dengan kisah-kisah lamanya, maka dia boleh dipecat. Tetapi tidak boleh dipertikai niat dia mengapa dia masuk PAS.
Dan PAS yang bergerak siang malam selama ini adalah untuk menarik orang Umno menyertainya. Tidak menang PAS kiranya orang Umno tidak menyertai PAS beramai-ramai. Siapa lagi hendak meramaikan PAS kiranya tidak orang Umno yang ramai itu.
Memang ramai juga dalam PAS sekarang, asalnya orang Umno. Malah peranan mereka bagi menentang Umno lebih agresif dari setengah orang PAS.
Pak Yazid Jaafar, pernah menjadi pendakwah bebas di Kuala Lumpur, asalnya ada aktivis Pemuda Umno zaman Pemuda tahan lasak yang berdengung anti-PASnya. Apabila dia menyertai PAS dia seorang Islam dan PAS yang komited dan disukai ramai.
Yang berjaya menjadikan dia dari seorang Umno yang bengis kepada seorang yang diundang berdakwah di merata-rata ialah PAS. PAS itu bukan sekadar sebuah parti politik tetapi ia juga adalah kilang menukar Umno yang nakal kepada orang PAS yang baik dan beradab. Kiranya kita tolak penyaertaannya, maka kekallah dia sebagai orang yang tidak berubah.
Native Sabahan Erna is (not) Malay but loves Malay literature. Her hobbies: cats/gaming/blogging at ernamerin.com/Tweeting at @ernamh.
MAY 1 — Sabah voters will have quite a headache on May 5 what with all the multi-corner fighting.
"Sepa bah ni urang?" (Who is this?) I can imagine many a native Sabahan going through the candidate list and wondering who the heck all the nominees are.
I found myself desperately trying (and failing) to get much background on all the people running in my voting areas. Even if I know what party I will vote for, I do want some assurance I am not voting for a complete non-hoper. Or non-hopper if you take into account Sabahan politicians' penchant for switching parties.
Some candidates could have an edge merely through being more recognisable. Of course Barisan Nasional candidates will get more exposure, with their competitors lucky to get a mention in mainstream media.
"Najib's here almost every other week," says a friend and you get the feeling that BN has been really working on the charm offensive.
But when the election is over and the results are out, will things get any better for Sabahans? Will the RCI continue or will Project IC be, again, swept under the carpet?
Will Sabah MPs again be ignored and sidelined the way they have always been in Parliament? The issue of "free ICs" has been a very much non-partisan issue in the state where both BN MPs and the opposition have called for an RCI, which sadly was put on hold halfway for the election.
It is likely the older crowd and especially the Muslim Bumiputera will continue to vote Barisan Nasional. A different picture emerges though when you look at the younger Kadazan Dusun crowd who are now demonstrating more political awareness and an eager enthusiasm that has long been gone from the state.
But the younger set, especially the newer voters, will not find it easy to choose. No single opposition party has managed to position itself as a frontrunner with SAPP, STAR and PKR all jostling for voter attention.
None of the opposition parties have proven capable of proving a threat to Sabah BN's hold on the state's Muslim Bumiputera and will most likely be fighting over the smaller non-Muslim Bumiputera block.
For Pakatan Rakyat, PAS is probably the underdog in the state and the least likeliest party to win in Sabah. DAP could do better this time around but only at the expense of SAPP. The latter will find out May 5 whether its split from BN was a savvy decision or the beginning of its end.
PKR and STAR could be the dark horses this time around as voters who see in STAR an inkling of the PBS of old might be attracted to the latter's uncompromising "Sabah for Sabahans" stance.
PKR on the other hand has to contend with infighting, weak unknown candidates and an uncertain gamble on "old horses" like Datuk Seri Wilfred Bumburing and Datuk Seri Lajim Ukin.
Barisan Nasional is likely to keep the state but as the 2008 election proved, there could be a surprise or two. What is certain, though, is the state will be a messy battleground and possibly PKR's last great hope to take Putrajaya.
The Malaysian Insider :: Food
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