on the culture of de-culturing

In the collective memory of the Malay people, although the meaning of what constitutes a malay is fluid according to when the next election is, the word 'amuk' (as in 'run amok', i think amok came from the malay word) conjures images of a man wielding a machete and slicing through people faster than a chef at sushi king. Is it a trait of the malay people to be easily ticked such that their word for going berserk is assimilated in english?   


like 'melatah', which i think is an endemic culture of malays, since i've never heard the British say "oh your mother!" and i can't find the english equivalent of melatah. 


why am i suddenly speaking about amuk? because modern amuk has manifested itself in many ways, i.e. we seem to have forgotten to settle scores nicely, less of


"can you sit here for a while? we need to have a talk"


and more of


"sit there in the witness stand, my lawyer will talk to you"


degradation of society, and if this is your first visit to mynameisikmal.blogspot.com this has been a recurrent theme in this blog , besides using the word 'on' before every topic and using the same color scheme (light blue) ever since its inception.


anyways, a glance at the newspapers for the last 7 days will reveal some interesting stuff:


KUALA LUMPUR: ...Minister Datuk Seri ** **** ***** will testify in his defamation suit against a blogger over an article about him posted in a blog.


A RESTAURANT owner in Lukut, Port Dickson, was attacked by four men who were unhappy with the fish curry served to them.


attacked because of unhappiness with fish curry??? @.@ its a good thing my ikhwah are nice, even if what i cook isn't that good, they'll still finish it up :-)


during his life, the Prophet used to feed a blind and old woman. The woman, not knowing that it was Rasulullah SAW, mocked the Prophet and threw insults at him, all while the hand of Rasulullah was putting food in her mouth. Did Rasulullah slap the woman and say


"you should be grateful, if i didn't come here you'd starve"?


no. he, peace be upon him, stayed patient and dutiful. his rewards were not words of appreciation, but Allah's mercy and forgiveness.


Then after his death and Abu Bakr became caliph, Abu Bakr went to feed the woman as well. The woman realised that it was a different hand and told him he wasn't the same person who used to feed her. Abu Bakr then, tears in his eyes, said that it was the same Muhammad that she insulted all this while.


The woman became muslim. Allahuakbar.


So, judging by the news, it is an uphill task for da'iyaat (callers), to invigorate this partly broken society with the teachings of islam. It is even more uphill if you read Harian Metro. 


On the other hand, all is not bleak. there are some good news:


KUALA LUMPUR:...Datuk Seri ***** *** ***** has pledged to uphold the Government's promise not to censor the Internet.


License to kill.


Kill the ignorance. as in ignorance in the hearts and minds, not kill ignorant people, please please do not create the following news:


A BLOG owner in London was attacked by some men who were unhappy with the blog posting served to them.


And no defamation suits please. Exams are coming soon.