Unsettled Coffee Shop Talk
I have not posted anything for quite a while. It is not because I don’t have anything to say but I’d rather not say it. But a lot of things have come and many issues have been discussed thereon. So, what are we going to talk about? What are the issues?
The AP issue? What is AP. The answer if you ask what is AP to a person who is in Terengganu. The answer is Ayah Pin. The leader of a “religious group” known as Sky Kingdom. If you ask Tan Sri Nasimudin S.M. Amin, the answer would be Approved Permit (permit to import cars). If you ask any Indian man, the AP could be his “anak perempuan”.
So let’s talk about AP in the eyes of the people from Terengganu first. Why this kind of religious group exists in our country. True, we can see it in some other part of the world as well but why do we have it at the first place. Why does Ayah Pin have so many supporters? And why so many people believe him? Is it because of his charismatic way of leading people or there’s another reason? So many questions to be answered if we were to ask why. In my head, I told myself the followers are people who are lost and they are searching for something. Something to fill in the lacunae in their heart and soul. Something to believe in. Something to follow. So comes Ayah Pin with his teaching, which not only followed by Malays but other races as well. They have Buddists among them, Hindus and Christians and what more Ayah Pin is somebody who comes from the sky. He’s a godsend or was it he is god? I don’t know. I don’t even have the intention to know. I know there’s only one God and it is Allah.
Why this kind of deviant teachings existed in our country? A good question to be answered by some quarters (I am not going to name the quarters). We should instill and nurture a very strong religious and theological background to our people (especially among Muslim). But no, we have to close all “Sekolah Agama Rakyat” (“SAR”). Why? According to some surveys conducted, these schools produce Muslim radicals and terrorists or at least they produce those who will be against the government. But least we know that in these schools, we were taught about Allah, the religion and the people. So, Shariah and Sakhsiyah were instilled in our head. We will never go wrong there. People will never be at loss wondering who he is and where he comes from et cetera. We will know that “religious group” like Ayah Pin or some tarikat teaching are not within the ambit of law which Allah has revealed. How do I know the syllabus of what were taught in the SARs? I was one of the apprentices who went there to be the understudy of many great teachers. We were not taught to be radicals. The syllabus was not about terrorism. Too bad if what we learn are not in agreement with the government policy or the government policy are not in accordance with Shariah.
It is quite sad to hear stories from the State Religious Department where in an interview (to get approval to marry) the groom or the bride does not know what Al-Fatihah is. So, can we ask more from those groups of people? No wonder they join Ayah Pin.
Then we have the other AP. Approved Permits. Dr Mahathir says this and that and launches allegations towards the Minister of International Trade and Industry. Really, I am not a fan of Kak Dah but if we were to think of the fact, the AP have been issued by the relevant minister even during the time when Dr Mahathir was the PM. If he knows the abuse of power and functions, why didn’t he take action when he was the PM? Why now? I think the minister is the same person. Dr Mahathir can always reshuffle the cabinet at that time but no; Kak Dah has been the minister in that ministry for quite a while now.
The AP issue? What is AP. The answer if you ask what is AP to a person who is in Terengganu. The answer is Ayah Pin. The leader of a “religious group” known as Sky Kingdom. If you ask Tan Sri Nasimudin S.M. Amin, the answer would be Approved Permit (permit to import cars). If you ask any Indian man, the AP could be his “anak perempuan”.
So let’s talk about AP in the eyes of the people from Terengganu first. Why this kind of religious group exists in our country. True, we can see it in some other part of the world as well but why do we have it at the first place. Why does Ayah Pin have so many supporters? And why so many people believe him? Is it because of his charismatic way of leading people or there’s another reason? So many questions to be answered if we were to ask why. In my head, I told myself the followers are people who are lost and they are searching for something. Something to fill in the lacunae in their heart and soul. Something to believe in. Something to follow. So comes Ayah Pin with his teaching, which not only followed by Malays but other races as well. They have Buddists among them, Hindus and Christians and what more Ayah Pin is somebody who comes from the sky. He’s a godsend or was it he is god? I don’t know. I don’t even have the intention to know. I know there’s only one God and it is Allah.
Why this kind of deviant teachings existed in our country? A good question to be answered by some quarters (I am not going to name the quarters). We should instill and nurture a very strong religious and theological background to our people (especially among Muslim). But no, we have to close all “Sekolah Agama Rakyat” (“SAR”). Why? According to some surveys conducted, these schools produce Muslim radicals and terrorists or at least they produce those who will be against the government. But least we know that in these schools, we were taught about Allah, the religion and the people. So, Shariah and Sakhsiyah were instilled in our head. We will never go wrong there. People will never be at loss wondering who he is and where he comes from et cetera. We will know that “religious group” like Ayah Pin or some tarikat teaching are not within the ambit of law which Allah has revealed. How do I know the syllabus of what were taught in the SARs? I was one of the apprentices who went there to be the understudy of many great teachers. We were not taught to be radicals. The syllabus was not about terrorism. Too bad if what we learn are not in agreement with the government policy or the government policy are not in accordance with Shariah.
It is quite sad to hear stories from the State Religious Department where in an interview (to get approval to marry) the groom or the bride does not know what Al-Fatihah is. So, can we ask more from those groups of people? No wonder they join Ayah Pin.
Then we have the other AP. Approved Permits. Dr Mahathir says this and that and launches allegations towards the Minister of International Trade and Industry. Really, I am not a fan of Kak Dah but if we were to think of the fact, the AP have been issued by the relevant minister even during the time when Dr Mahathir was the PM. If he knows the abuse of power and functions, why didn’t he take action when he was the PM? Why now? I think the minister is the same person. Dr Mahathir can always reshuffle the cabinet at that time but no; Kak Dah has been the minister in that ministry for quite a while now.
It does not matter whether we get the AP or not or only certain people get the AP but what can we do? The only power we have is to vote. If the people like the present government so much, why should we complain now? We are the people who chose those donkeys to be there. We don’t have to go and say we need a reshuffle in the cabinet and new faces are wanted in the government. Bull shit. One thing for sure, in the culture we are living in the new face will do the same act as his or her predecessor. May be, and I say may be some parties get some bite of the cake.
I don’t really care whether NAZA people get more AP than Honda people. If there is fair distribution of wealth in this country, we will not see those who have to eat snail to carry on with their lives. But let’s face the reality. Those folks who lives in the rural area will not get richer any day soon. Those with proper “connection” will always prosper. One day they turn into Dato’ or Datuk Sri, the next Tan Sri and who knows, may be Tun as well. How do they get it is don’t even want to discuss here. That’s the business culture that we have here. I don’t know what is the business model here. It looks like capitalism but I think it is more to connectionism (if there’s such word).
The next issue is why Bumiputra falls and failed to obtain 30% interest as planned by the New Economic Policy. It is due to the culture that we have. Connections. We read couple of days ago (I think on Monday) that a lawyer took couple of million from a Tan Sri to secure a job form the government. When the job was awarded to another party then the lawyer says she will talk to her contact in the government or UMNO. It was in the Star. I am not making up this story.
I am not going to stop here. If you don’t trust me and if you are a contractor, go to Pan Pacific Hotel (there is where the “runners” hang out) and try to get one government job from one of the “runners”. The first thing they will ask is “how much will I get”. This “runners” are not some Tom, Dick or Harry. They are well-connected people. Datuk and Dato’ Sri. Same with some of our leaders in this case. When it comes to government projects or concessions. We have to show the “reciprocal” value of the projects. A client of mine hated them so much. Why, I was told that there’s one of the donkeys (I am not going to reveal the name and it is client solicitors privilege) even ask money to renovate his house from these contractors. When it comes to election or “pemilihan” time, this idiot will ask for cash money. Then it is guaranteed that my client gets the government job. Without this “investment”, we Malays say, “Jauh panggang dari api”. It simply means that you will not get the job. No further explanation.
Then, we are coming to the case where bribery is the main issue. I remember the words of the late Tan Sri Harun Hashim when we were having lunch on one fine afternoon. He says, “Nowadays, the law enforcement officials cannot work independently anymore. Anything they do have to go through the PM’s office first. Not like during my time in the Anti Corruption Agency. What I do and decide will get the approval from the Prime Minister. So, there’s not much interference from the Executive.” He elaborated in length and say, “ I once went to the Prime Minister and told him that I was going to arrest one of his Menteri Besar for bribery, and the Prime Minister just told me to go ahead but have to wait until he goes overseas first for one reason or another.”
Thus, this is the spirit that we want today. Few interference from the Executive and the law enforcement official can carry out their task without any fear. So, can we (the ACA to be more correct) go to the UMNO leaders who found guilty by the UMNO Disciplinary Board and start investigations against them. If they are practicing money politics, we wonder where they get all the money. We are not talking about thousands here; some of them even go up to millions.
I don’t really care whether NAZA people get more AP than Honda people. If there is fair distribution of wealth in this country, we will not see those who have to eat snail to carry on with their lives. But let’s face the reality. Those folks who lives in the rural area will not get richer any day soon. Those with proper “connection” will always prosper. One day they turn into Dato’ or Datuk Sri, the next Tan Sri and who knows, may be Tun as well. How do they get it is don’t even want to discuss here. That’s the business culture that we have here. I don’t know what is the business model here. It looks like capitalism but I think it is more to connectionism (if there’s such word).
The next issue is why Bumiputra falls and failed to obtain 30% interest as planned by the New Economic Policy. It is due to the culture that we have. Connections. We read couple of days ago (I think on Monday) that a lawyer took couple of million from a Tan Sri to secure a job form the government. When the job was awarded to another party then the lawyer says she will talk to her contact in the government or UMNO. It was in the Star. I am not making up this story.
I am not going to stop here. If you don’t trust me and if you are a contractor, go to Pan Pacific Hotel (there is where the “runners” hang out) and try to get one government job from one of the “runners”. The first thing they will ask is “how much will I get”. This “runners” are not some Tom, Dick or Harry. They are well-connected people. Datuk and Dato’ Sri. Same with some of our leaders in this case. When it comes to government projects or concessions. We have to show the “reciprocal” value of the projects. A client of mine hated them so much. Why, I was told that there’s one of the donkeys (I am not going to reveal the name and it is client solicitors privilege) even ask money to renovate his house from these contractors. When it comes to election or “pemilihan” time, this idiot will ask for cash money. Then it is guaranteed that my client gets the government job. Without this “investment”, we Malays say, “Jauh panggang dari api”. It simply means that you will not get the job. No further explanation.
Then, we are coming to the case where bribery is the main issue. I remember the words of the late Tan Sri Harun Hashim when we were having lunch on one fine afternoon. He says, “Nowadays, the law enforcement officials cannot work independently anymore. Anything they do have to go through the PM’s office first. Not like during my time in the Anti Corruption Agency. What I do and decide will get the approval from the Prime Minister. So, there’s not much interference from the Executive.” He elaborated in length and say, “ I once went to the Prime Minister and told him that I was going to arrest one of his Menteri Besar for bribery, and the Prime Minister just told me to go ahead but have to wait until he goes overseas first for one reason or another.”
Thus, this is the spirit that we want today. Few interference from the Executive and the law enforcement official can carry out their task without any fear. So, can we (the ACA to be more correct) go to the UMNO leaders who found guilty by the UMNO Disciplinary Board and start investigations against them. If they are practicing money politics, we wonder where they get all the money. We are not talking about thousands here; some of them even go up to millions.
Let us think about this. If you don't agree with me, fine, like me, all of us are entitled to our own opinion. Whether it is correct or not, it all depends on what we believe in, our political inclination and whether we are in the industry or not and the last but not least the current trend and popular opinion.
posted by Kampong_Boy at
12:00 pm
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