Quite Like, But Not...

There's a virus in town.

Malaysians have been told that it is deadly.

Were Horatio Nelson still around, perhaps he would have been called upon to arrest the spread of this virus. He did, after all, conquer the Spanish Fleet at the Battle of Trafalgar. But then again, that was a different era, a different war. Most certainly, a different kind of sickness.


We were told that this virus is deadly. To prevent or minimise an outbreak, the authorities, long ago, decided to isolate anyone showing symptoms of the ailments that comes with the virus, hoping the isolation would suffice to curb the virus before it reaches an epidemic proportion.

Yes, this virus is not new. Its been around for a very long time. Perhaps, as long as human civilisation began centuries ago. Yet, not many were aware of it. Or those who were, were told to keep their voice down. And the fate of those caught with the virus...not many stories came forth. But that was then. Before the Internet provided the people with news of the world, all at their fingertips.

Back home in Malaysia, the authorities tried to inject an anti-virus. No, not the sort meant for Personal Computers, but one meant to safeguard the interest of the Nation. But even that is not quite right. To be more precise, the anti-virus the authorities injected, was meant to safeguard their own interest and had nothing at all to do with the people of Malaysia. Or if it did, such noble thoughts and intention were superceded by another strain of virus in the form of greed, and afflicting those who are in power. One which was conveniently overlooked by them.

Now, before anyone thinks I've gone bonkers already, or that I am trying to mislead anyone, the virus I mention is not the H1N1 (click here) afflicting Malaysia and many parts of the world. But this virus is only deadly to the authorities, those who are afflicted with greed and corruption. Ironically, the anti-virus mentioned is...a virus of the mind of the authorities and named Internal Security Act (the ISA), which the authorities have abused many times over in their effort to imprison the minds of the people of Malaysia. InsyAllah, no more.

Come this August 1, it is hoped that many Malaysians from every walk of life will join in the protest against this one weapon which the government is using to safeguard it's own interest instead of the people...the rakyat! Nay, never a thought was given to the people as was aptly written by Praba Ganesan here.

So Malaysians, do come and join us for a lovely walk in the Sun. If you are, then kindly read this message here first.

2 Reminders and Media Statement

Just a reminder for 2 events and a Media Statement from Doctor Lo'lo'.

First, the Pesta Buku Selangor has begun at the PKNS Complex in Shah Alam. It was officiated earlier today by Puan Mastura, and end on August 3, 2009. For more info, please click here.

On a more serious note - not that the above is not - the Anti-ISA March this August 1, 2009; kindly refer here. Anyone who would like to read in depth the suffering of not only of those who are being held illegally by the stooges of BN, but also the suffering of the families who are left to fend for themselves and not knowing when the father of their children would be realsed, please read Puan Norlaila's account here.

It is interesting to note that a group calling themselves Pewaris and very much pro-ISA, have announced to march at exactly the same time and date mentioned. However, I do wonder if they - those so called supporters of ISA - know what they are getting themselves into, or what their real stand is. Clearly to me, they are there as provocation and nothing else, remembering the blundring oaf of a former Minister who is famous for his stammers and 'erection' (instead of election), who mentioned on live international TV "What if we, we, also march at the same time. C...can you imagine what would happen?" He was referring to the BERSIH March, which is famous to justice-seeking citizens of Malaysia, but infamous to the clowns who wants to keep Malaysia in their tight grips.

And what have the Police to say about this now? Nothing, not a single word! Perhaps they want to wait for a bloodbath to happen before joining in, on Prowaris side, undoubtedly. But enough of that.
With regards to model who has been sentenced to be caned by the Syariah Court in Kuantan, kindly read Doctor Lo'lo's Media Statement as below:

Kenyataan YB Dr. Lo’lo’ isu hukuman sebat ke atas pesalah minum arak untuk membetulkan kenyataan media.

Dari YB Titiwangsa, Doctor Lo'Lo',

Artikel Themalaysianinsider.com bertarikh 23/07/2009 dengan tajuk-tajuk berikut “Outrage Over Caning For Model” dan “Syariah Lawyers Association Regrets Shahrizat’s Statement On Whipping Of Model” adalah dirujuk. Di dalam kedua-dua artikel tersebut ada menyiarkan seperti berikut :

a) Titiwangsa MP Lo'lo Mohd Ghazali, who is also head of the women's wing of the opposition PAS, said that punishment should educate and not cause hurt.
b) Shahrizat said she was shocked by the Syariah Court decision and called for a fair and just punishment.

Meanwhile, Dr Lo'lo was surprised that whipping of women was sanctioned by the Malaysian syariah law adding punishment should be educational, and not to cause hurt.


Petang semalam saya telah dihubungi oleh wartawan meminta saya memberi sedikit komen berkaitan hukuman oleh Mahkamah Syariah Kuantan yang menjatuhkan hukuman sebat terhadap seorang model sambilan atas kesalahn meminum arak. Saya telah memberikan komen saya dengan sucihati megikut pengetahuan saya berkaitan hukuman dan realiti masyarakat Malaysia. Malangnya terdapat pihak-pihak yang melihat kenyataan di akhbar dari konteks yang lain.

Pertama, saya terkejut dengan hukuman yang dijatuhkan oleh Mahkamah Syariah Kuantan ke atas model tersebut. Memang saya terkejut kerana ada juga Mahkamah Syariah di Malaysia yang berupaya menghukum pesalah dengan hukuman sebegitu walaupun peruntukkan tersebut telah lama ada. Tetapi baru sekarang hukuman sebegitu dijatuhkan bagi pesalah kesalahan tersebut. Saya amat bersetuju dengan hukuman tersebut kerana sekurang-kurangnya hukuman tersebut begitu hampir dengan hukuman Hudud.

Di dalam Hudud, hukuman bagi pesalah minum arak adalah 40 kali sebatan malah ada ulamak yang mengatakan sehingga 80 kali sebatan. Sebelum ini tiada Mahkamah yang menjatuhkan hukuman sebegitu walau pun Mahkamah Syariah sepatutnya menghukum mengikut hukuman Allah tetapi di Malaysia ini hukuman yang dikenakan tidak seperti yang ditetapkan Allah dalam Al-Quran dan Sunnah Rasulullah S.A.W.

Apabila Mahkamah Syariah Kuantan menjatuhkan hukuman sebat ke atas model tersebut, ini membuatkan saya terkejut. Bukan terkejut kerana hukuman tetapi terkejut kerana keberanian Hakim Mahkamah Syariah tersebut. Syabas kepada beliau.

Kedua, saya mengatakan sebarang bentuk hukuman yang dikenakan samada denda, sebatan atau penjara, semuanya hendaklah dalam bentuk untuk memberi pengajaran kepada pesalah, bukannya untuk mendera atau menyebabkan kecederaan kepada pesalah. Hukuman di dalam Islam adalah untuk memberikan pengajaran kepada pesalah dan khalayak supaya menginsafi perbuatan itu.

Di dalam kes ini, saya berpendapat masyarakat umumnya masih tidak memahami kaedah bagaimana sebatan ke atas pesalah dilakukan. Adakah ianya dilakukan sama seperti pesalah-pesalah jenayah lain di dalam undang-undang jenayah sivil. Masyarakat umum mengetahui bagaimana hukuman sebat dilakukan ke atas pesalah jenayah sivil seperti di dalam kes pengedaran dadah, merogol, meliwat dan sebagainya.

Adakah hukuman sebat di Mahkamah Syariah dilakukan dengan kaedah yang sama? Inilah kebimbangan yang saya sebutkan kepada wartawan tersebut bimbang hukuman sebat ini dianggap sebagai hukuman Mahkamah Sivil sehingga memberi tanggapan buruk kepada Mahkamah Syariah, lebih-lebih lagi yang dihukum seorang wanita. Ini yang perlu diperjelaskan. Inilah maksud saya bila saya mengatakan hukuman sepatutnya untuk tujuan pengajaran, bukan untuk mendatangkan kecederaan. Saya merujuk kepada "Titiwangsa MP Lo'lo Mohd Ghazali, who is also head of the women's wing of the opposition PAS, said that punishment should educate and not cause hurt."

Artikel ini dengan jelas tidak tepat kerana saya bukan Ketua Muslimat PAS seperti yang didakwa. Justeru saya mengharapkan agar tiada pihak yang sewenang-wenangnya mempercayai sebarang tulisan di akhbar sebelum mendapat maklumat secukupnya. Saya kira sudah sampai masanya pihak berkuasa di Malaysia iaitu UMNO/BN “merotan” Pengurus MAS yang menyebabkan semua mereka yang berada dalam satu-satu penerbangan terlibat secara langsung dengan arak, iaitu dari pramugara/i yang hidang arak sehinggalah pilot yang mengemudi kapal terbang tersebut. Begitu juga perlu “disebat” pihak yang terbabit berpuluh-puluh tahun membiarkan orang-orang Islam terlibat secara langsung dengan arak di hotel-hotel, 7- Eleven, pasaraya-pasaraya dan pekerja-pekerja Islam di kilang Carlberg.

Akhir sekali, SYABAS KEPADA MAHKAMAH SYARIAH KUANTAN dan Syukur Alhamdulillah kepada Puan Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarnor yang telah menginsafi perbuatan tersebut. Moga Allah menerima taubat hambaNya yang menyesali kesalahan. DI SINI SAYA LONTARKAN PERSOALAN INI KEPADA SEMUA ORANG ISLAM DI MALAYSIA, SIAPAKAH YANG SEPATUTNYA DISEBAT DALAM ISU ARAK DI MALAYSIA??...

Somewhat Late

This is a somewhat late entry on the Kelana Jaya Stadium gathering last Sunday.

Attending Public

Justice for Beng Hock

Media and People

Our Trust in Them

Seeking Truth and Justice

Signing the Petition

Taikor

Unit Amal

Except for a brief line on Friday about the probability of this gathering, nothing else was mentioned by the Media after that leaving many to wonder and skip Sunday's gathering at Kelana Jaya Stadium. Thus, the relatively low turn out by the public which many put at around 3,000. By my estimate however, it was higher, maybe more than 5,000 as many walked in and out of the stadium. On such a short notice, perhaps the organisers could have put a large whiteboard at the entrace, announcing the attending VIPs. But as mentioned, it was such a short notice.

Anyway, those liliputian media slammed the gathering as they said that PR was politicising the issue. Don't know whether they - those liliputians - are even worth mentioning as it seem they do not know what politics is all about. If the safety and security of a citizen is not part of politics, then we certainly do not need the liliputians helming the government at all. In fact, it would be better for all of them to tender their resignation, beginning for the top man down to the ketua cawangan. Oh, please do!

For my friends and visitors who may have missed the news, kindly read A Sad Day for Malaysians, either here or at Malaysia Today.

OK, time for me to rest my arms. There's another bout of wrestling I have to attend to tonight...help!

Even by 1

During the Visiting Hours of UMMC yesterday, YB Doctor Lo'lo' led a small group of people from the Lajnah Kebajikan dan Kemasyarakatan PAS Pusat (LKKPP), to visit the casualties of a bus accident as in the image above. The visit was ad hoc as the good Doctor wanted to see for herself the condition of the passengers. Of the 28 passengers on the bus, we were informed that 8 were admitted into the various wards, with 2 in critical condition. The remaining 20 suffered light injuries and were released on the same day itself.


On behalf of the LKKPP, Doctor Lo'lo' also distributed a small hamper of fruits to each of the victims warded, along with a token of money in an effort to relieve the expenses the families have to bear. At the same time, the Doctor took the opportunity to get acquainted with several of the staff at each ward, especially in view that she had served in the hospital early in her career as a Medical Doctor.

Soon after the visit, the Doctor was interviewed by reporters from Harakah, touching especially on the recent ManekUrai by-election.

Doctor Lo'Lo', quite like many voices in Pakatan Rakyat, voiced her displeasure on the manner BN conducted their campaign, stooping low with not only the blatant abuse of the government's machineries, money politics, as well as promises which can tantamount to either a threat or bribery, or even both. She also mentioned the selected investigations of MACPA especially on the 2 Pakatan Rakyat ADUN in Selangor, while turning a blind eye to the underhand campaign tactics in Manek Urai, and the RM500,000 DUN allocation which the BN representatives utilised within 2 months prior to the 2008 General Election (at this point of time, the news of Teoh Beng Hock's death was not reported yet).

It was towards the end of the interview that a thought came to my mind.

True, PAS won the Manek Urai seat with a mere 65 count. Many a new portal, conventional media, and even bloggers pointed out to the issues which contributed to the narrow win. And to be honest, almost all of them were right in pointing their views as there was not a single factor, but lots of them, all mixed into one small bowl resulting in a 'masam masam manis' victory for PAS. Nonetheless, a win it still is.

But there is one factor which many seem to forget. Perhaps, we were to look into the past election record of Manek Urai, one might agree that one strong factor that led to the narrow win was, ironically, Allahyarham Ismail Yaakob, the ADUN who passed away.

Were I to read it correctly, except for the 2004 GE and Parliamentary term, Allahyarham Ismail, had been the ADUN for Manek Urak for 5 terms. In 2004, he did not contest the seat and PAS lost it to UMNO. But in 2008 when he was fielded again, Allahyarham won the seat back for PAS. Looking at the trend, the narrow win this time was around was something perhaps PAS should have expected. And along with all the factors many others have pointed out, PAS indeed was lucky to have retained the seat.

In view of this, Emak and I enjoyed some small fits of laughter when Tok Pa claimed that BN's had won a moral victory, despite all the immoral practices used throughout not only the by-election in Manek Urai, but throughout the history of Malaysia and in all elections, General or By; the result speaks for itself: a win is still a win. Even if it is by a single vote.

Man, TGNA and ...

It seems some people are comparing the stature between TGNA and ... Seriously, I really do not know how it came about, nor what to make of it. After all, they are all mere humans with blood coursing through their veins, just like any other human. Like any other human, they too are susceptible to pains and ailments just like everyone is. And as far as I know, no members of PAS has ever mentioned too highly of TGNA, which is quite the opposite of the conventional media where over the so many years I can remember, nothing but praises upon praises were heaped on ... or whoever within the circles of ... that needs to be pushed down the throats of the citizens of this country. It even got to a point that on one of those days where RTM played scenes of ..., my Emak said in disgust something which is more often said of lovers: "bila nak puji tu, tahi dia pun mereka (...) kata wangi". Loosely translated, it means "even the smell of ...'s shit those people say are fragrant".

Look, I don't know TGNA personally, nor do I know of ... But I have met him on one or two occasions, and even tried to meet him at his house in Kelantan. Unfortunately, the 2 times I tried meeting him there, he was not around. But this I do know, from the conversations I had with a student under TGNA's tutelage: that he is a humble, pious, gentle and caring person. He is also deeply knowledgable in Islamic matters, having been a religious student and later, teacher. In fact, I believe should you ask him to choose between the two, he might reply that he is still a student...as each and everyone of us are.

Over the nearly 2 decades he has led Kelantan, he has tried to his best, to administer the state within the constrains that he put on himself as a humble servant of God. At the same time, he also had to administer the state withing the constrains forced upon him and his State Government, by the likes of ... A recent example of how bias ... has been towards TGNA and Kelantan is the denial of petroleum royalty to the state when even the EPU implied should be given. Another of many more, is the late disbursement of state's grants which is off course, ...'s attempt to cause financial hardship on the state. Ironically, however, Kelantan leads the rest of the country in the repayment of such grants while some of ...'s administered states came close to bankruptcy.

As mentioned, I do not know TGNA personally. But over the years, I have seen and read him led congegrations in prayers, give khutbah, teach, and administer a state. At the same time, he is also a responsible husband, a father, a father-in-law to several, and a grandfather to many children. And he does all that without, or using very little, the perks allowed to him as a Menteri Besar. In fact, he does not even have a policeman stationed at his house.

Off course, some of ... may have many of the attributes mentioned above. I can't say for the rest of the ..., but I have seen Abdullah Badawi leading a congegration of prayers, though I must say I have not heard him giving the khutbah. And since we are on this former PM, there is an interesting note I would like to wonder out loud.

Several days back, one or two of the ... mentioned that his party is more Islamic than PAS. Well, if it is true, then I welcome it with all sincerity. But, I do wonder, did your belief ended when Abdullah stepped down? I mean, hardly a mention of Hadhari been heard since; is it something else now?

People of ..., please know this that no one - most especially the people of Kelantan, and members of PAS - take TGNA for more than he is. We do respect and dearly love TGNA not only for the position he holds, but also for the man he is. But we also believe him to be an ordinary man, and not one who is free of mistakes. And I have never heard him glorifying himself. Which is quite unlike some people who does, if I were to read it correctly here.

Oh, people of ..., please also know that none amongst us is better than the other, except for he who believe (beriman).