Isnin, 12 Ogos 2013

The Malaysian Insider :: Food

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The Malaysian Insider :: Food

Baileys creates ‘molten chocolate’ in a glass

Posted: 12 Aug 2013 04:34 PM PDT

August 13, 2013
Latest Update: August 13, 2013 03:34 pm

It's being billed as the liquid version of a molten chocolate cake. After three years of failed experiments, the iconic brand for Irish cream has created a chocolate 'luxe' edition that infuses a generous amount of Belgian chocolate for the "ultimate molten chocolate drinking experience."

The maker of Baileys Original Irish Cream has released Baileys Chocolat Luxe, a project that took three years, 200 varieties of chocolate and 839 failed experiments to create.

The result is a finished product made with Madagascan vanilla, 30g of Belgian chocolate per bottle, and a lower alcohol content, the key to creating a balanced flavor profile.

By cutting back on the alcohol level by 1.3 percent, the flavor of the whiskey complemented rather than overpowered the sweet, smoky essence of the chocolate, says Baileys.

"The philosophy behind developing Baileys Chocolat Luxe was to create an ambient molten chocolate experience - something that you could pour and drink at room temperature that would have the multi-sensory experience of eating chocolate," said principal scientist Anthony Wilson.

His father Steve Wilson was one of the creators of the original Baileys Irish Cream.

Meanwhile, for chocoholics looking for a chocolate-laced whiskey with more bite, Butler's offers a range of chocolates and truffles infused with Jameson Whiskey, as does Baileys. Popular food blog thekitchn.com also offers a recipe for a hot chocolate spiked with Kilbeggan Irish Whiskey.

Baileys Chocolat Luxe is being sold for £17 at Harvey Nichols in London and will roll out nationwide across the UK in October. - AFP/Relaxnews, August 13, 2013.

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The Malaysian Insider :: Sports

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The Malaysian Insider :: Sports

Doubles pair Koo-Tan to know their fate next month - Bernama

Posted: 12 Aug 2013 08:01 AM PDT

August 12, 2013
Latest Update: August 13, 2013 07:01 am

Tan Boon Heong (right) and Koo Kien Keat failed to impress at the world championships. The Malaysian Insider pic.

National men's doubles pair of Koo Kien Keat and Tan Boon Heong, who failed to get past the quarterfinals of the 2013 World Badminton Championships in Guangzhou, China, will know their fate on Sept 7.

Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) deputy president Datuk Mohamad Norza Zakaria said any decision involving the pair can only be made at a BAM council meeting.

"We need to study the report from their coach before making any decision," Norza told reporters at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport today.

He added that the meeting was also expected to decide on the appointment of BAM honorary secretary, currently held by Ng Chin Chai.

In the World Badminton Championships that ended last night at the Tianhe Gymnasium, Kien Keat-Boon Heong failed to achieve the target set by BAM (to reach the final) as they were bundled out in the quarterfinals.

Norza added that the country's and BAM's hopes of a world title certainly rests on the shoulders of Datuk Lee Chong Wei who however, limped out in the final against four-time world champion Lin Dan of China, to give his opponent his fifth world title.

"It is a bitter pill to swallow (Chong Wei's loss) but Chong Wei remains steadfast to continue his fight till the 2016 Olympics," he said.

Asked if there was an element of sabotage during the final (air-conditioning malfunctioned), Norza said BAM would need to study the facts of the incident from the team manager and coach who were in Guangzhou, China, before sending a letter to the organiser.

Meanwhile, Chong Wei who arrived at KLIA at about 6.30pm and was welcomed by his wife Datin Wong Mew Choo, said he would continue to play until the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, as his dream was to win the Olympic gold. - Bernama, August 12, 2013.

Sports journalists call for action against organiser over Barcelona debacle - Bernama

Posted: 12 Aug 2013 05:48 AM PDT

August 12, 2013
Latest Update: August 13, 2013 04:48 am

The Sportswriters Association of Malaysia (SAM) expressed disappointment over the way local sports journalists were treated during the friendly match between Malaysia and Barcelona at the Shah Alam Stadium on Saturday.

SAM said the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) should take action against the organiser of the friendly tie for the discrimination and badly organised activities from the day of the Spanish side's arrival on Friday until the post-match on Saturday.

SAM president Ahmad Khawari Mohd Isa (pic) said sportswriters in Malaysia were generally disappointed with the kind of treatment given by the organiser, BSC Soccer Malaysia, towards the local media.

"SAM received numerous reports and complaints about the unfair treatment shown by the organiser towards the local media. There was a vast difference in the way local and foreign media personnel were treated.

"I am disappointed and deeply concerned with the safety of sportswriters from the local media when covering major events, especially when foreign football teams come and play pre-season friendly matches here, he told Bernama.

Ahmad Khawari said SAM viewed the issue seriously because some of the local journalists were manhandled by the security personnel engaged by the organiser.

Meanwhile, BSC Soccer Malaysia managing director Affendi Jagan Abdullah when contacted by Bernama said a post-mortem would be held to find out what and where such problems had taken place.

"There were areas where the stadium had its own security. There were areas where the Barcelona FC team security was in charge. On our part, we too had security personnel stationed at the gates and entrance inside the stadium.

"We need to know exactly what and where it happened and who was responsible before making a statement," he said. - Bernama, August 12, 2013.

Kredit: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com

The Malaysian Insider :: Features

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Sushi-go-round - Japan tradition served with technology

Posted: 11 Aug 2013 09:45 PM PDT

August 12, 2013
Latest Update: August 12, 2013 12:52 pm

A three-deck conveyor belt system, which includes one With its masters required to hone their skills over decades, sushi in Japan is steeped in tradition. But it is also often a high-tech operation where robotic precision steals the limelight from the chef's knife.

The country is dotted with thousands of "kaiten" (revolving) sushi restaurants where raw fish slices atop rice balls travel on conveyer belts along counters waiting to be picked up by diners.

Behind the scenes, however, it is far from a simple merry-go-round, with robots in some locations rolling out perfectly-sized rice balls onto plates embedded with microchips.

Measured dollops of spicy wasabi paste are squirted onto the rice assembly-line style before they're topped with raw fish.

And the most cutting-edge eateries are even connected to monitoring centres that can quickly tell whether the right balance of dishes is being produced -- a far cry from traditional-style places where the sushi chef and his knife still reign supreme.

"Sushi isn't going round at random but rather it is coming out based on a number of calculations," said Akihiro Tsuji, public relations manager at Kura Corp., a major operator in a market expected to hit $5.0 billion in revenue this year, according to industry figures.

"Though traditional, sushi is stuffed with high technology. You can't operate low-price revolving sushi restaurants without databases and scientific management," he told AFP at a Tokyo outlet.

Kura has invented a serving device called "sendo-kun", which roughly translates as "Mr Fresh", a plate with a transparent dome that opens automatically when diners select the dish.

While the hood keeps the sushi moist and clean, it also contains a microchip telling managers what kind of fish are swinging around on the conveyer belts and how long they have been there.

Since their birth half a century ago, kaiten sushi restaurants have evolved from selling traditional sushi into miniature museums of the food that Japanese people eat today, including battered tempura, noodles, and even ice cream.

The dishes are cheap, usually starting at around 100 yen (around $1) for two pieces of sushi.

Now, more and more outlets are equipped with dedicated "high-speed" lanes where customers can receive their order via a touch-screen menu.

Ryozo Aida, a 68-year-old university lecturer, said he visits the Kura outlet with his wife because of its "affordable prices".

"It may sound strange in a sushi restaurant, but I like tempura," he said as he jabbed his fingers at a touch-screen panel.

Inside the kitchen, screens show how many adults and children are dining and roughly how long they have been in the restaurant.

"Even if all the 199 seats here are occupied, how much sushi we need will differ depending on how long they have been at the table," Tsuji said.

The system combines real-time data with information about how many items were consumed in similar circumstances in the past, displaying results for kitchen staff.

Complementing on-the-spot efforts, the Kura chain also has a remote assistance system serving its network of more than 300 outlets.

A rice-ball machine is seen at the kichen of the Kura Corp sushi restaurant in Tokyo. - AFP pic, August 12,2013.In-store cameras feed images to dozens of supervisors who move from restaurant to restaurant with laptops -- while others watch from monitoring centres -- to advise restaurants instantly if there is enough food and the right mix of offerings on the conveyer belt. The cameras can zoom in on sushi to make sure it is laid out in regulation elegance -- although they don't monitor customers' faces for privacy reasons.

At another outlet run by Genki Sushi's "Uobei" brand in the fashionable Tokyo district of Shibuya, the concept of one conveyor belt has been updated. All 90 seats face counters with three decks of "high-speed" lanes delivering sushi directly to the person who ordered via multi-lingual touch screen.

Accuracy and speed is the name of the game with the store targeting delivery in under a minute.

"As we looked at how fast we can deliver what's ordered, we came up with this system," said Akira Koyanagi, district manager for Genki, adding that it also cuts down on wasted food.

All this high technology costs money, but sales at kaiten sushi restaurants have grown 20 percent over the past five years with the industry expected to rake in nearly $5.0 billion this year, according to research firm Fuji-Keizai Group.

A key challenge, however, is that Japanese people are eating less fish and more meat these days as world prices rise due to strong demand in the United States and Europe.

"Procurement is getting tough," said a Genki Sushi spokesman. - AFP, August 12, 2013.

Early promise for malaria vaccine that mimics bites

Posted: 11 Aug 2013 04:16 PM PDT

August 12, 2013
Latest Update: August 12, 2013 03:16 pm

A new kind of malaria vaccine that mimics the effect of mosquito bites has shown early promise by offering 100 percent protection to a dozen human volunteers, researchers said Thursday.

The experimental vaccine, called PfSPZ and produced by the Maryland-based company Sanaria, contains live malaria parasites collected through a painstaking process of dissecting the salivary glands of mosquitoes.

These immature parasites, known as sporozoites, are then weakened so they cannot cause illness and incorporated into a vaccine, which must be injected into a person's veins several times, with each shot about a month apart.

"When we started doing this, everybody knew that sporozoites were the gold standard but everyone thought it was impossible to make a vaccine out of sporozoites and we were crazy. And we have proven them wrong," Sanaria chief scientific officer Stephen Hoffman told AFP.

A test two years ago that administered the same vaccine into the skin of patients, the way most vaccines are given, protected only two of 44 volunteers.

But the latest trial showed that injecting the vaccine into the bloodstream protected against malaria in all six volunteers who received a five-shot regimen at the highest dosage, according to the results published in the US journal Science.

Six of nine volunteers in a separate group that received four shots of the highest dose - 135,000 sporozoites per injection - were also fully protected against malaria, it said.

The phase I study included 57 people - including 40 who received the vaccine in varying doses and 17 controls.

The study was co-authored by Hoffman and Robert Seder of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

"The good news is that the proof of concept is quite impressive," said Anthony Fauci, director of NIAID.

"The sobering news is that we that we still have a lot of work to do in order to prove that this is something that has very broad applications."

There is no vaccine on the market for malaria, which infected some 220 million people in 2010 and killed 660,000 according to the World Health Organization.

Most of the deaths were among children in Africa. Another vaccine effort under way is the RTS,S trial. Its phase III results, reported in Science in 2012, showed 31 percent effectiveness in young infants and 56 percent in older babies and toddlers.

Hoffman told Science he realized years ago that a single protein vaccine like RTS,S would "never do the job" of warding off malaria, which is caused by a 5,000-gene parasite.

He was inspired instead by studies in the 1970s that showed 90 percent of volunteers were protected against malaria after getting more than 1,000 bites from infected mosquitoes that had undergone radiation to weaken the Plasmodium falciparum parasite.

Hoffman said his product is believed to protect against malaria for a period of six to 10 months.

It also needs to be shown to work against all different kinds of malaria parasites.

Next, several small clinical trials are planned for Tanzania, Germany and the United States.

Hoffman estimated it would be four years before a vaccine may reach the marketplace.

He said about $110 million has been invested so far. "The major challenge has been overcome - that is to prove the principle that we actually have a product that can protect all the people whom we immunize."

Sanaria is also teaming with Harvard University engineers to automate the process of dissecting the mosquitoes.

The company currently employs 16 "dissectors" who can each tease apart about 150 mosquitoes an hour, Hoffman told AFP.

According to Regina Rabinovich, a malaria expert and scholar in residence at Harvard University, the results are "encouraging."

However, she said the researchers "need to figure out how to replicate with a scalable technology." - AFP/Relaxnews, August12, 2013.

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The Malaysian Insider :: Showbiz

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The Malaysian Insider :: Showbiz

Bollywood actor Om Puri to star in Spielberg movie with Helen Mirren - Bernama

Posted: 12 Aug 2013 08:47 AM PDT

August 12, 2013
Latest Update: August 13, 2013 07:47 am

Bollywood actor Om Puri (pic) is joining Oscar-winning actress Helen Mirren in a Steven Spielberg produced film "The Hundred-Foot Journey," Press Trust of India (PTI) reported.

The 62-year-old actor, who has previously starred in international productions like "East is East", "City of Joy" and "Charlie Wilson's War", said he is looking forward to working with Mirren in DreamWorks film, directed by Swedish filmmaker Lasse Hallstrom.

"I am very happy to work with Helen Mirren and the director is also very experienced. He has done 35 films. I am leaving on Aug 31 for nine weeks of shooting," Puri told PTI in a phone interview from Mumbai.

Puri said that he got the part through his agent in London.

Hallstrom has previously directed films like "ABBA: The Movie", "The Cider House Rules", "Chocolat" and "Salmon Fishing in the Yemen".

"The Hundred-Foot Journey" is based on the best-selling book by Richard C Morais. It tells the story of an Indian family who moved to France and opened an Indian restaurant a hundred feet across the street from a Michelin-starred French restaurant.

Manish Dayal and Charlotte Le Bon also star in the film, which is produced by Spielberg, Oprah Winfrey and Juliet Blake. - Bernama

Online ABBA memorabilia disappoints at auction

Posted: 12 Aug 2013 02:53 AM PDT

August 12, 2013
Latest Update: August 13, 2013 01:53 am

An online sale of a vast collection of ABBA memorabilia failed to meet expectations, the Swedish auction house that organised it said today.

Thomas Nordin, a collector of all things related to the group famous for hits including "Dancing Queen", "Fernando" and "Mamma Mia", had put some 25,000 items up for sale.

Auction house Stockholms Auktionsverk estimated the two-day sale of the collection - the largest dedicated to the iconic disco group to be sold at auction - could fetch up to 95,000 euros (about RM400,000).

But deputy head Christian Minnhagen said the final tally was lower than hoped, at just 64,500 euros.

"We shouldn't forget this is the first time such a sale has taken place," he said, adding some lots had surpassed expectations.

A purple jacket bearing the name of the group went for 31,500 kronor, more than seven times the list price.

And a limited edition maxi single produced in 1981 by the group for their manager Stig Anderson's 50th birthday was sold for 42,000 kronor almost twice the list price of 25,000 kronor. Only 200 copies of the single had been produced.

The collection comprised objects collected by Nordin since 1974 when ABBA burst onto the international scene winning the Eurovision contest with their song "Waterloo".

Nordin, an ABBA fan who was nine at the time, has since then picked up rare items and unusual merchandise from around the world, such as ABBA clogs made exclusively for the American market, rare ABBA soaps and dolls, a large collection of clippings and books, and original posters.

Nordin, now 48, planned to keep just three souvenirs "which do not take up much space", including a postcard signed by all four members of the group: Agnetha Faeltskog, Bjoern Ulvaeus, Anni-Frid Lyngstad and Benny Andersson.

Yesterday, he said he was happy with the results of the sale.

"Obviously there are certain things that did not sell. It's very varied, but I'm very very happy," he said.

Items which did not find buyers will be sold at an auction in the autumn, with lower list prices.

ABBA dominated the 1970s disco scene with their glitzy costumes, kitsch dance routines and catchy tunes such as "Winner takes it all", "Money, Money, Money" and "Take a Chance on Me".

They split in 1983 and have vowed they will never reunite to sing together again. - AFP, August 12, 2013.

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The Malaysian Insider :: Opinion

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The Malaysian Insider :: Opinion

“Berapa Tuhan orang Hindu?”

Posted: 11 Aug 2013 06:27 PM PDT

August 12, 2013
Latest Update: August 12, 2013 09:55 am

Uthaya Sankar SB berkarya dalam Bahasa Malaysia. Beliau adalah presiden Kumpulan Sasterawan Kavyan (Kavyan) dan pemilik tunggal Perunding Media, Motivasi dan Penerbitan Uthaya. Selain menulis, membaca dan bercakap, beliau juga suka menonton filem.

Jika anda seorang penganut agama Hindu, berumur lebih 20 tahun dan merupakan warganegara Malaysia, tidak mustahil bahawa anda sudah sekurang-kurangnya seratus kali ditanya, "Orang Hindu ada berapa Tuhan?"

Situasi seperti ini sudah saya lalui sejak usia kanak-kanak tetapi tidak pula membuatkan saya marah. Sebaliknya pertanyaan itu membuktikan bahawa rakan-rakan yang bertanya mahu tahu tentang budaya/amalan kita. Bukan pula bermakna rakan itu mahu memeluk agama Hindu! Sebaliknya mahu tahu supaya lebih mudah untuk bergaul dalam konteks masyarakat majmuk di negara bertuah ini.

Berdasarkan pengalaman saya, pertanyaan "Orang Hindu ada berapa Tuhan?" biasanya dikemukakan oleh rakan-rakan Melayu beragama Islam. Sejarah membuktikan bahawa pada zaman dahulu, sebelum kedatangan Islam, penduduk Melayu di negara ini beragama Hindu. Malah, budaya agama Hindu masih menjadi sebahagian daripada budaya Melayu (bukan "budaya Islam").

Pertanyaan ikhlas yang dikemukakan bukan bermakna rakan-rakan Melayu cuba memperlekeh atau mempersenda amalan penganut agama Hindu. Malah, jangan terkejut bahawa mungkin ramai juga penganut agama Hindu sendiri yang sering bertanya dan tertanya-tanya soalan "Orang Hindu ada berapa Tuhan?"

Dialog dan perkongsian maklumat mengenai pelbagai budaya dan agama bukan sesuatu yang baru. Satu-satunya pemimpin Islam yang paling saya kagumi ialah Nabi Muhammad dan Baginda amat menggalakkan dialog seperti ini. Semasa pemerintahan Empayar Mughal di India, Akhbar (1556-1605) yang buta huruf turut menggalakkan dialog antara agama.

Namun, pada masa kini di Malaysia, seperti didedahkan dengan penuh berani oleh presiden Majlis Perundangan Malaysia Agama Buddha, Kristian, Hindu, Sikh dan Tao (MCCBCHST), Jagir Singh, pemimpin agama Islam di negara ini nampaknya menganggap kedudukan mereka "lebih tinggi dalam agama, jadi mereka tidak boleh duduk sama taraf dengan Bukan Islam" (The Malaysian Insider, 1 Ogos 2013).

Mujurlah Kerajaan Barisan Nasional (BN) mewajibkan mata pelajaran Tamadun Islam dan Tamadun Asia (TITAS) di Institusi Pengajian Tinggi Swasta (IPTS) mulai September 2013. Seperti kata pensyarah Pusat Pengajian Kerajaan, Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM), Datuk Dr Zainal Kling, TITAS bertujuan "meningkatkan kefahaman dan rasa hormat antara rakyat serta menguatkan perpaduan dan persefahaman antara anggota masyarakat" memandangkan "disebabkan kurang pendidikan maka banyak kejadian tidak diingini berlaku kerana anak muda 'kosong' tentang ilmu pengetahuan tamadun lain di negara ini" (Utusan Malaysia, 23 Julai 2013).

Selaras dengan niat murni Kerajaan BN dan TITAS "meningkatkan kefahaman dan rasa hormat antara rakyat" saya juga terpanggil untuk berkongsi pengalaman saya sejak kanak-kanak dalam menangani pertanyaan "Orang Hindu ada berapa Tuhan?"

(Mana-mana individu yang lemah pegangan agama dan luntur keimanan dinasihatkan supaya tidak meneruskan pembacaan makalah ini.)

Berhala Dewa Ganesha dalam pelbagai rupa dan bentuk sangat terkenal di Bali. 12 Ogos, 2013.Memandangkan rakan-rakan yang bertanya adalah Melayu-Islam, maka saya akan berusaha menggunakan sudut Islam untuk membantu menjawab kemusykilan mereka. Secara paling asas, saya akan nyatakan hakikat bahawa agama Hindu diakui sebagai agama tauhid yang pertama di dunia.

Jawapan itu sepatutnya sudah cukup untuk menjawab pertanyaan berkaitan "berapa Tuhan" tetapi selalu juga rakan-rakan kurang faham - entah tidak faham makna "tauhid" dalam konteks agama atau jawapan saya terlalu ringkas dan sukar dicerna.

Maka, biasanya saya akan menjelaskan bahawa makna "tauhid" yang saya maksudkan adalah sama seperti dalam ajaran agama Islam. Saya akan nyatakan konsep "Eka Aneka" yang juga biasanya membuatkan orang terkebil-kebil.

Eka Aneka, Asamaul Husna

Sesungguhnya "Eka Aneka" adalah istilah Sanskrit tetapi sudah diserap masuk dalam Bahasa Malaysia. "Eka" bermakna "satu" atau "tunggal" - atau selalu disebut sebagai "Esa" dalam konteks Islam. Maka, dalam agama Hindu - agama tertua di dunia - Tuhan adalah Eka/Satu/Tunggal.

Istilah "Aneka" pula difahami dalam konteks Bahasa Malaysia sebagai "pelbagai" (dari Bahasa Tamil!) atau "bermacam-macam". Tuhan yang berciri "Eka" (Tunggal/Satu/Esa) juga bersifat "Aneka" iaitu dikenali dengan pelbagai nama mengikut sifat-Nya.

Maknanya, walaupun dikenali dengan pelbagai nama yang berbeza, Tuhan dalam agama Hindu tetap Esa. Mana-mana pihak atau individu yang mengatakan sebaliknya ternyata bukan bercakap mengenai agama Hindu. Sebaliknya mungkin bercakap mengenai suatu ajaran sesat yang dia sendiri cipta bagi menduakan Tuhan!

Sekiranya rakan saya yang beragama Islam masih kurang faham, maka saya terpaksa pula mengambil contoh daripada Asamaul Husna iaitu 99 sifat Allah yang pasti diketahui setiap orang Islam.

Sejumlah 99 nama itu tidak pula bermakna Allah hanya memiliki 99 sifat! Atau lebih parah jika ada pihak yang beranggapan bahawa terdapat 99 Tuhan selain daripada Allah dalam agama Islam! Atas sebab inilah juga saya amat menggalakkan dialog antara agama; supaya dapat merungkaikan apa-apa salah tanggap yang mungkin wujud dalam kalangan masyarakat pelbagai agama.

Antara nama yang digunakan berdasarkan sifat-sifat Allah ialah Al Khaaliq iaitu Maha Pencipta, Al Waliyy iaitu Maha Melindungi dan Al Mumiit iaitu Maha Mematikan. Kalau diperhatikan dalam konteks agama Hindu di mana Bahasa Sanskrit digunakan, sifat Tuhan yang Maha Pencipta dirujuk sebagai Brahma, Maha Melindungi dirujuk sebagai Vishnu dan Maha Mematikan dirujuk sebagai Shiva.

Kunjungan ke sebuah kuil oleh peserta Konvoi Rumah Ibadat pada 2 Mei 2011. Ketiga-tiga nama dalam contoh mudah di atas - dalam Bahasa Arab dan Sanskrit - tidak merujuk kepada tiga Tuhan yang berbeza; sebaliknya Tuhan yang Maha Esa tetapi memiliki sifat yang Aneka.

Penerangan ini tidak bertujuan menyesatkan sesiapa tetapi untuk membantu memudahkan pemahaman. Daripada pengalaman saya menjelaskan perkara-perkara di atas berikutan soalan "Orang Hindu ada berapa Tuhan?" tidak seorang pun rakan-rakan saya yang terus berminat meninggalkan agama asal dan memeluk agama Hindu. Saya gembira kerana mereka kekal dengan agama asal.

Ada pihak yang menolak penyiaran cerpen saya dengan alasan kononnya saya cuba menyebarkan agama Hindu menerusi cerpen Bahasa Malaysia. Bagaimanapun, tiada laporan mana-mana pembaca meninggalkan agama asal dan "masuk" Hindu. Sebagaimana tidak ada orang Melayu yang memeluk agama Hindu walaupun tergila-gila menonton filem-filem Shah Rukh Khan sejak tahun 1990-an.

Kalaulah perbincangan, dialog dan perbandingan antara agama, tamadun dan budaya menjadi suatu kebimbangan dan ketakutan dalam kalangan puak fanatik, pentaksub, ultra kiasu, rasis dan etnosentrik, pasti mereka akan "mati muntah darah" jika berpeluang mendalami mata pelajaran TITAS di IPTA dan IPTS.

Berbalik pada topik perbincangan, ada juga rakan-rakan yang bertanya mengapa ada begitu banyak berhala dan rupa dewa-dewi yang pelbagai pula. Secara mudah, saya akan cuba menjelaskan bahawa berbeza dengan agama Islam (juga Buddha, Sikh dan sebagainya), ajaran Hindu tidak menghalang "sifat-sifat" Tuhan yang berciri "Eka Aneka" digambarkan secara visual.

Maka para penganut agama Hindu sejak dahulu menggunakan bakat kesenian untuk "mevisualkan" sifat-sifat Tuhan menerusi lukisan, berhala dan seumpamanya. Seni khat dan kaligrafi - sebagaimana digunakan orang Arab, Cina dan Islam - turut digunakan orang Hindu untuk merakamkan (record) sifat-sifat Tuhan yang berciri Eka Aneka.

Sebagai agama tauhid yang pertama di dunia, ajaran Hindu tidak menghalang/menolak mana-mana agama atau ajaran lain. Semua agama menuju kepada Tuhan (Maha Esa) dan terpulang kepada setiap individu untuk memilih jalan (agama/ajaran) yang diingininya. - 12 Ogos, 2013.
Peserta Konvoi Rumah Ibadat di Seremban (17 Februari 2013) mendengar penerangan tentang kuil.

* Ini adalah pandangan peribadi penulis.

“Berapa Tuhan orang Hindu?”

Posted: 11 Aug 2013 06:27 PM PDT

August 12, 2013
Latest Update: August 12, 2013 09:55 am

(Mana-mana individu yang lemah pegangan agama dan luntur keimanan dinasihatkan supaya tidak meneruskan pembacaan makalah ini.)

Eka Aneka, Asamaul Husna

Sekiranya rakan saya yang beragama Islam masih kurang faham, maka saya terpaksa pula mengambil contoh daripada Asamaul Husna iaitu 99 sifat Allah yang pasti diketahui setiap orang Islam.

* Ini adalah pandangan peribadi penulis.

Kredit: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com

The Malaysian Insider :: Bahasa

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The Malaysian Insider :: Bahasa

Anwar sahkan, Najib tawar kerajaan perpaduan dengannya, lapor Asia Sentinel

Posted: 12 Aug 2013 01:42 AM PDT

August 12, 2013

Perdana Menteri, Datuk Seri Najib Razak menghubungi Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim (gambar) mencadangkan agar diadakan kerajaan perpaduan antara Umno dan Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR).

Dalam wawancaranya dengan laman web Asia Sentinel, Anwar berkata, usaha itu dibuat oleh Najib namun beliau menolaknya melalui perantara sebelum ia sempat menjadi kenyataan.

Ini ekoran serangan yang dibuat oleh Utusan Malaysia ke atas masyarakat Cina dan India.

"Saya berkata, isu asas mesti diselesaikan dahulu, hentikan serangan perkauman, kerana ia perlukan kefahaman dan kesungguhan untuk reformasi dan perubahan," kata Anwar.

Namun, sehingga itu, Anwar tidak menerima sebarang balasan dari Najib.

Usaha kerajaan perpaduan ini dibuat melalui bekas Naib Presiden Indonesia, Jusuf Kalla yang melibatkan beberapa siri lawatannya ke Kuala Lumpur, yang terakhirnya beberapa minggu lalu.

Awal tahun ini, Jusuff Kalla gagal dalam usahanya untuk mendapatkan komitmen Najib dan Anwar menerima keputusan Pilihan Raya ke 13.

Sehingga kini tidak pasti kenapa Najib mahu menghantar wakil bagi membincangkan kerajaan perpaduan sedangkan Anwar bukannya mempunyai nama yang baik dalam Umno di samping masalah dalam Pakatan Rakyat sendiri.

Di kalangan Umno, ramai yang berpendapat walaupun Barisan Nasional lemah, tetapi parti komponen utama itu tetap kuat, menguasai 88 dari 133 kerusi parlimen selepas PRU13.

Dalam suasana yang ada, pemimpin Umno berpandangan, menawarkan sebarang hubungan dengan pembangkang akan melambangkan kelemahan Umno.

Dalam hal ini, Asia Sentinel membuat andaian tentang kerajaan perpaduan sebagai,"Ia adalah usaha Najib untuk membuka gelanggang baru melawan Mahathir, yang banyak membiarkan blogger kawalannya menyerang perdana menteri yang cedera itu."- 12 Ogos 2013.