Mr Karpal Singh- a reflection

I was touched by this article on Karpal Singh:

http://www.thestar.com.my/News/Nation/2014/04/18/A-fighter-and-a-gentleman/

Religious and political stances aside, I can't help but to admire his virtues as a human being. Replace the name 'Karpal Singh' with 'Mohamad X' and you find in him a lot of attributes that are ideal for a da'ie:

"..love or hate him, you have to admire the man’s tenacity."

"He was as fierce as a tiger when taking on his opponents but outside of the political arena, he was soft-spoken, courteous and polite and always a gentleman."

"You could not catch him using rude words especially in front of ladies and he treated all reporters with respect."

"Those who have been to his office are often surprised at how small and ordinary it is."

"Come to think of it, Karpal never once complained about the disabilities he had to endure after the 2005 accident that cost him the use of his limbs."

While at the same time, his 'muslim' critics lack integrity, are foul-mouthed, extravagant to a nauseating degree and are wholly unrepentant, fearing warnings from the ballot paper more than warnings from the divine book.

We are the worst enemies of our own selves.

R.O.N- Really? Oh Nooooo!

listen.listen.listen to the truth

shape your thinking with Q&S.

ticket to controversy

This is a true story. It happened to a friend of a friend of mine.

This person is a government-sponsored student. And as stated in a typical contract, the government will pay for a ticket the first time you go overseas and when you are coming back for good.

So this person requested a ticket. I saw this ticket with my own eyes.

one-way ticket HEATHROW - KLIA = RM16368. That's like 3326 pounds at the current rate. One way. 

To get a feel of how expensive that is, let me tell you how much i paid for my tickets so far.

1st year : london - KL - melbourne - KL - london = 700 pounds

2nd year : london - KL - london = 580 pounds

I was trying to 'husnuszhon', so i thought 'ok, maybe its last minute','maybe its a flexible ticket'.

But then i checked the Malaysian Airlines website. On that date, the price of a ticket including tax and all is about 500 pounds. 

malaysian taxpayers

There may be two explanations.

1. the price of a ticket bought through a travel agency is that expensive. 

2. someone working for the government couldn't be bothered. "its in our budget anyways. might as well spend it all."

If its reason #1, we can't really do anything about that can we.

But if its reason #2, then pity you, dear reader, because i'm going to give a khutbah right now.

*takes deep breath*

DO NOT, and i repeat, DO NOT be careless, especially when you're sitting in a government department handling the hard-earned money given by taxpayers. Yes, nobody's looking, and probably no one will ever know if you mishandle a few cents here, a few cents there.

But Allah knows. he watches us all the time. And we'll be held accountable on the Day of Judgment.

This is the mentality that we're trying to change, the 'tak apa' mentality.

"tak apalah, asalkan gaji aku masuk" (its okay, as long as i get my salary)

"tak apalah, kerajaan banyak kot duit" (its okay, the government has tons of money)

We must care, and we must be responsible. We're not doing a job just because it feeds us. We're the guardians of other people's money. They trust us to use it well. 

Corruption isn't something you can erase through having laws. When people see us, we're not corrupt. But when nobody's seeing, we become corrupt. That's not the way. corruption is erased through having integrity, having a fear of God and the Day of Judgment. People of taqwa won't take what isn't theirs, will be very careful, will ensure that whatever they manage, they manage well. 

And this goes to the rest of us. Fear Allah. Because when the time comes and He gives us a position of responsibility, we might be even worse then those people we call 'corrupt'.

The Subtle Empire, Part 2 - willing actors

Yesterday we talked about the current world system (click here for Part 1).

Today i'm pushing it a bit further, and i'm going to tell you a story. Its the story of how i got here and how i see myself in the grand scheme of things. How i became a willing supporter of the system. Maybe its your story too.

yesterday, we explained how the global Empire is supported by 3 pillars :
1. large financial institutions
2. commercial companies
3. colluding governments

In my opinion, there's a 4th element, and it is very important to ensure the stability of this system:

The Ignorant Masses.

i was part of the ignorance. We'll start at the year 1957. to be precise, 31st August 1957.

That was the year our country received its 'independence' from a former colonial master and global hegemon, the British. Physically, the british were out of the country. No more administrators. No more Union Jack flying on buildings. But they left their system intact. The judiciary was largely based on british common law. the political system was molded according to the westminster system.

But more importantly, the country was ruled by people who were taught by the british and thought like the british.

The british also left behind another legacy : a divided economic system, where different races were segregated in different sectors of the economy. 

Economic inequality + perceived nepotism in the government = racial tension, which led to riots on 13th May 1969.

The new government then decided to take affirmative action to counter economic inequality. One of these steps is sending students overseas 

"we would like to say selamat hari raya to mum, dad, grandma, grandpa, our teachers , the cats at home, etc.."

i am part of this current, along with thousands of other young people from the 1970s until now. What is the intention of this policy?

engineering students came back to create the physical infrastructures of the country, like bridges, buildings, telecommunications networks etc 

accounting students were needed to decide how to use the resources of the economy in the best manner, becoming financial officers and accountants in companies.

and teachers? teachers are key, because they educate the young people,  putting them in a mindset which provides a continuation of the system.

And there's lots more. There are doctors who ensure a healthy workforce, architects who design residences and offices, and so on. What are we contributing to?

".. to reach high income status by 2020 while ensuring that growth is also sustainable and inclusive."

(http://www.worldbank.org/en/country/malaysia/overview)

Our value to the country is how far we can bring it wealth. That is why the majority of students are sent to do medicine or engineering. to build up infrastructure and make sure there's a healthy population to do it. It's very rare to get people who are sponsored to study humanities and the social sciences like history.

After World War II, Britain was severely weakened while America remained strong, because it was so far away that no army was able to inflict any lasting damage to the economy. After that, the US and the Soviet Union became locked in a 40-year Cold War for supremacy of 2 economic systems : capitalism and communism. Eventually, the communism fell under its own weight. The US, and the capitalist system that it promotes, became the undisputed 'guide' for the world.

obama (in the middle) : "duduk baik-baik noo, ikut belakang pok ni"

Were we victims of circumstance? probably. Probably because there's no clear alternative to capitalism. 

I used to have a certain view of my life : study, get good grades, work, get good recommendations, become Governor, take a pension, die.

"study, get good grades, get a good job, die"

Multiply that by a million.

"study, get good grades, get a good job, die"

So that is why the fourth pillar is : The Ignorant Masses. We allow ourselves to fall into the same mindset, becoming the same sort of robots. Outside, we're malaysian american bangladeshi  arab etc. inside, our aqeedah is the same : getting a good life solely from this dunya.

This is dangerous. We are not only robots, we are robots with submachineguns. allah gave us the gift of a higher level of intelligence. We will probably go back and serve as officers and bosses and decision-makers. We will be responsible for the livelihoods of thousands of people. A lot of people think only about their own stomachs and are indifferent to the suffering of others. 3.6% of our country's population still live under the poverty line, in a country blessed with a huge amount of natural resources. How are we going to answer in front of Allah?

Unless we reform, hell will be broken loose on us. 'Umar was asked, "can a nation be destroyed while it seems prosperous?"

He answered, "Yes. When bad people dominate the good people."

But alhamdulillah, throughout the years there have been efforts to reform. And we can take part in this reform. We can become the Enlightened Masses. That is..yes, for another blog post insyaallah.

on detention; we're all being detained, awaiting trial in the hereafter

Today, we have a chance to take action.

A concerted and intensive action to create a new revolution and rid the world once and for all of injustice!

i exaggerate, but yes, we do have a chance to take action.

basically yeah, in the UK now there's a huge ongoing effort to petition against the extradition to the US of Babar Ahmad, a UK citizen accused of (what else)? But here's the thing. He has been imprisoned for 7 years without any trial, and we thought only malaysia does these things. He is, at 7 years, the longest prisoner detained without trial in the UK.

In our khutbah at LSE today, we were told about the situation of Babar Ahmad. The evidence provided against him is insufficient to charge him in the UK, so they are trying to put him on trial in the US. And if found guilty, he will be sent to a Supermax prison into a solitary cell, where he won't be permitted to meet other prisoners, is only allowed 1 hour outside, and will only get 15 minutes to talk to his family once per month.

And the worst part is, during his first arrest he was subjected to abuse and torture, and one of it was being forced to go into the sujood position, while the police taunted him with cries of "Where is your God now?"

So, our part. If we can get 100,000 signatures before 10/11/2011, the parliament will rediscuss his case and hopefully he will get a fair trial in the UK, and not be subject to further unfair detention. this petition is especially for people currently in the UK.

http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/885

The ummah is like one body; if one part gets hurt the whole body feels it.