I was tagged by Tuan Kerp to say me two sen's worth on the much trumpeted (but rarely practised) concept of Muhibbah. I have mentioned before despite me frequent postings on race relations, I am not some rabid extremist Macha. I can proudly say I have close friends from various races & we all get together to share a few laughs over a beer or two. Yes, even me Melayu-jahat (most of em anyways) friends drink; alcohol is kinda of a social glue that bonds us all together.
Anyways, I digress. I'd like to share a tale or two with you which me thinks highlights the concept of muhibbah. Although it was a few years ago & me was then a young, long-haired metalhead studying in Liverpool, it still resonates with me till today.
In me final year, I was living in the seriously fooked-up ghetto section of Merseyside known as Toxteth (rent was cheap). Me flatmate & meself were the only two non-Malay residents in an apartment block filled with loads of Bumi students.
Story 1:
So every Friday evening, the Malaysian contingent would gather at the plastic turf pitch (the same one where Robbie Fowler honed his skills!) behind our apartment blocks fer a kick about. I got to know most of the Malay students here & always had a good laugh. In particular, there was this Kelatanese guy who was very amiable and friendly. Then one day I found out he had casually asked the other guys, "Apo namo Bala?"
"Bala la," came the reply. "Tok, namo Melayu dia," he asked again. The other guys chuckled & told him me full name & that me really was a Macha, not Melayu (me mixed blood heritage means I am more chocolate than Guinness)! Guess what, the amiable & friendly Kelantanese fooking stopped speaking to me after that . . .
Story 2:
Me & me mates took turns cooking & since most of the other diners were Moslem, I made sure all food stuff were purchased from the Halal butcher store. One such store was run by this pak cik sailor (there were quite a few in Liverpool) who never returned after the war.
So one fine fooking day, I was there waiting fer him to chop me bird, he makes small talk. Telling me how I need to study hard & do well in me exams . . . so far, so good . . . coz as a Malay I needed to go back & reclaim Tanah Melayu from the dastardly Cina & Keling!!! Fooking hell, I was at boiling point but held me tongue as this was an old man & didn't want to tell him to fook off (in hindsight, I should have).
I recounted me experience with me other Malay friends who saw the funny side of the story but nonetheless, in a show of solidarity, decided to boycott the racist muthafooker. Considering the pak cik's shop was the closest & most convenient Halal butcher to us, I was quite touched that they saw a need fer affirmative action against a fellow (ex-)Malaysian.
Anyways, here's are two sides of the coin that to me show the kind of polarisation we face. On the one hand, there are those narrow-minded fookers who only befriend their own kind. But all is not lost as there some who can still see thru the bullshit.
ps: Sorry fer the long-winded tales. Please feel free to share yer own experiences by posting in the comments box.
pss: JonC & Bernard Chong, you have been tagged. Please do write about this topic in yer respective blogs (on me blog roll).
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29 comments:
I consider myself lucky i know quite a number of more open minded bumiputras, i can truly call my best friends.
Unfortunately the numbers like them are still too far and few between. I pray there's gonna be more of them before the whole country goes down the drain.
Mate, if it was me in your shoes, i'll politely ask the "pak cik" to come back to Malaysia and help rebuild the country not "cari makan" and stoke fires in a fooking foreign country.
Aisehhh…well said lah mr Bala. Didn’t expect to hear such wonderful stories with 2 motherfuckers as the main characters.
I’ve seen them sailors being featured on majalah3 some moons ago and I thought then why the hell did they stay back. Now tho, I’m glad them assfuckers decided to make Liverpool their kampong. Malu la like this being a malay like them old farts.
Eh, seriously brother, like it or not, these bunch of freakin’ specie is very much alive in our country. If you’re lucky, you’ll only encounter hundreds of them thru out your life time. I like the adage you mentioned in your previous post. Aptly applied to those pigs.
I think the concept of muhibah is presently illusory when the whole basis of m'sian society is race-based. So it isn't surprising that we have so few (if any) close friends from other ethnic backgrounds. 50 years of independence has seen an elevation in the general material well-being of the population, but there has been a deepening polarisation.
dear krassimier balakov,
(yes i remember him...especially his "hangover" look..come to think of it..all of them bulgies..sorta sported that look..stoickhov inlcuded)
bet "puasa time" especially in the event it coincides with long hot summers would have been quite a "blast" for you huh mate? mwahhahahahahhahhahahaa.
had a house mate while studying much in the same vein as yourself...unfortunately..he was also a reds fan as well..diehard..except that he spoke hokkien..(penang variant) fluently...well initially living with him..somehow we seem to get the best of different worlds...and sometimes the worst as well...
he quipped once..while on one of long chats over dinner...it went something like "macha..dei...i think from now on..i'm gonna just jawab only when they give me salam la"..so i asked him why la...no la dei...too tired of explaining...some fellas can't even believe that i'm genetically possible...with that the beer i had my mouth spewed forth.
i decided to join him on this experiment. and guess what?i got asked by one of the student-body president types as to why i do not attend congregational prayers organized by the said body..
mwahhahahaha.. i dun blame the dude. again, i'm at fault.
he even got frustrated to the point of at times rescinding his right to eat in public during lunch because of the mocking stares & grimaces...the worse was a JAIS dude asking him for his IC..me a being this loyally cunt fried of his..did my part..
i sprawled to the ground rolling and laughing..much to the
disgrunted looks of JAIS personnel; could not help it.
naturally this good mate of mine..didn't take it too well seeing me like that.
he banned me from borrowing his porno cd's a coupla weeks :))
then there was this other macha...he was indian by ethinic and muslim by faith..gem of a fella...only fault was..like me...he was not an avid follower of faith..religious practices and such. guess what he forced me bring from my home during puasa time?
thinuru..or white ash that you put on the forehead...or "nandek" la..
mwahhahahhaha
ah..*sigh*..the trouble i go through for some people...
kerpov...i'd though i'd never say this to you...BUT SERIOUSLY BRO..HOPE GOONERS KILL DEVILS..I CANNOT TAHAN THEM YUPPIE FANS WHO EQUATE BEING SUCCESFULL = WITH SUPPORTING THE WINNING TEAM. all tonjol machas some more...grrrrrrrr
(though of course la..man utd have their share of true to the core fans...from the heydays of robbo)
peace out machissss.
You are right about alcohol being the glue that holds us together. This was especially so during the heyday of Broadwalk eh? I even developed an Indian accent wei! Once I was on the phone with someone and she asked if I was Indian lol! Anyway, it was a place that truly embraced the concept of 'muhibbah'.
Interesting experiance ... I've got a similar experiance too.
Some Chinese mistaken me as Chinese, or descendents of darker skinned Chinese labour. Your typical prejudicial, stereotype and let's all unite and rise story. Told my Chinese friends what I heard. Saw how uncomfortable they were but heck ... it doesn't bother me. Everyone is born with one ... asshole.
I started the tag with the intention to see a discussion on muhibbah and a how to at a personal individual level.
The expected response on non Malay on issue Muhibbah would be to touch on NEP... heck NEP is long gone in 1990. Can the non Malay person guarantee me that if we are sifar NEP that the person will stop socialising with their fellow race and religion? They will be colour blind at work and in business?
Unless something is done at a personal level, we will end up socialising with our breaten, even if the person has an ass hole the size of the smart tunnel?
The Malay response, I expect, will be on food or religous hygiene matter or some stereotype assumption of the other races. The non Malay will have that also.
There are Malays with confidence problem or non quite familiar of how to interact with non Malays.
There are those that are so muhibbah to the point of losing their identity and characteristics. Some become more mat salleh than mat salleh.
Lets not come out within that expectation ...!!!
Back in 2002 when i was still studying in Uni Malaya...they had this rakan muda program a sort of anak angkat program + a martial arts show by UM martial arts clubs..where we had to stay like for 3 days n 2 nights in Kemahang Kelantan..and we had to do martial arts performance..i was in the Silambam Club..the family i stayed in was cool n they took care of me quite well...but the incident that stood out was on that nite where i was performing..in front of the thousands of kampung folks..who most graciously were yelling in unison "KELING PUKUL ANGIN"
thats kampung hospitality mates ...
but thinkin back cant blame them tis their coccoon mentality..
A proud member of the "Agama Syaitan -Hinduisme - The religion with three stripes...and a dot...
mark: Dude, TQ, that's a really nice thing to say bout Broadwalk. You're rite, so long as u drank & talked a decent game, you were welcome to join us, regardless of creed, colour or religion.
Heck, we even let mancs join us lar. If that isn't fooking muhibbah, I don't know what is!
Thanx again. Nice to think that Broadwalk though quite the den of inequity, in its own little way helped foster race relations in our land.
a voice: Good on you fer making people talk about issues which matter. See yer a Floyd fan. Always a good sign that. Fave album? Mine's Wish You Were Here.
anba: Loved the way you described Hinduisme - religion with the three stripes & one dot! Awesome, dude! Aum Na Ma Sivaya!
moz: canna believe you just said you hoped to see the arse win!
kerp: see above! Unreal!
JonC: Oi, please update yer blog la, you lazy fooker! Cukup la Heath Ledger tu. Was he a Kopite? No? Next!
nick: Quite right. Sad but true.
Dear a_voice,
"The expected response on non Malay on issue Muhibbah would be to touch on NEP... heck NEP is long gone in 1990. Can the non Malay person guarantee me that if we are sifar NEP that the person will stop socialising with their fellow race and religion? They will be colour blind at work and in business?"
chief, since you have brought up the NEP (seeing none of us in here have as of yet whether malay, indian, chinese & ex-broadwalk groupies and most likely won't in current atmospheric times)..LET me pose you a question then. a somewhat rhetorical one if you may..
can you dear sir guarantee me (well not necessarily me..any non-malay) that the malay person with the current status of the NEP (or lack of it..whichever suits your interpretation) the following may be achieved?:-
a)that the person will stop socialising with their fellow race and religion?
b)They will be colour blind at work and in business?"
Again. i'd like to re-iterate chief. this is no way meant to be direct attack on your goodself; or the race or anyone that i know. i have never blamed and never will blame my good bumi mates for some of the shite i had to deal with on a bureaucratic level; it's not their fault. it's just come cunts upstairs playin chess with it.
communality is someting universal to every race, creed & colour. the ironic thing it happens even within a sub-division of a particular race according to more minute configurations..i.e. mother tongues, locality, castes, social status...*sigh* almost exasperating.
if you have posed me that question? on whether i mix around? i won't be hypocritical. i would be lying to you if i were to say i'm not a racist..probably me and approximately 98% of the entire population. adorn it with what you may..almost everyone IS in one way or another..whether in-response or as a perpertrator..none is the wiser..
having said that...i still hire people based on their capabilities and skills..see my logic is this...get the best fella to get the job done...lesser headache..racial feelings does not even come into the picture..you get what i mean?
...when i'm with a childhood friend who is not of the same racial configuration as me....he is still that dude who i used to steal mangoes with...nothing about him has changed..and i can still have a beer in front of him..talkcock like yesterday. no questions ask.
in his place of ours, racism is something that has been imbued & ingrained in our pscyhe for yonks...
and the worst part is catching 'em while their young...
i agree with you..mighty-ly agree..something should be done on a personal level...and not just simply from a non-malay angle..but also malay.
i just dunno what.
like mark & balakov were saying..alcohol glues.
mends the fraying worries
and bonds persona non-gratas alike.
i guess i will stick to just that
the odd one or 2.
Your stories were both funny and depressing at the same time. With your colouring, you're bound to hear all kinds of things said about non-Bumis right into your face.
I suppose the real muhibbah concept is really out of reach. It's hard when prejudices exist everywhere. Harder still when so-called leaders make it a point to "declare" war on other races. Makes you wonder - what's the point of pretending to have all that muhibbah spirit during festivi seasons. All bullshit and a terrible insult to everyone!
From me life experience..Music also helped me to get friends whom i would say look beyond the racial,religion wall ...for me was Metal n Punk and plus its unholy brethrens .....Music is a Good Glue...the blacker the better hehehe...I say we have more Hard Music appreciation classes in school...
nick m - I must correct you. Muhibbah is not a concept, it is real. It simply means goodwill and feeling of friendly.
The Star misunderstood it's meaning as togetherness and think by having Muslims and others performing musical accoompaniment with the Lord Murugum chariot on Thaipusam eve, it is muhibbah. I think that is disrespectful on the Muslim for the act is sacriligeous.
With or without joing the chariot, isn't goodwill and friendliness free of steretype and prejudice not difficult to do?
Anfield devotee - Fav are The Wall, and Dark Side of the Moon. Luv Pigs on the Wing album and Wish Were Here (first album listened). Their last was pretty gud too but weren't sellign well.
Geez ... just realised Old Traffordian me just left a comment on a Liverpudlian's blog ...Thats Muhibbah ... commonality in music transcending different football team.
Realise you didn't touch the more important how to part. Say something abt it even how small and deemed irrelevent. It could be a great idea ...
And also you didn't tag at least another 2 ... we wanna have this discussion spread all over the internet!
Mozisgod - I think a better glue will be cafe and teh tarik. Sudah taubat dari minum for decades ....la. But you can do your alcohol, I can go on my sugar packed coco cola.
Frankly, by the attitude and the way things are going, I don't think we will get any more Muhibbah even if NEP is totally abolished.
We have been ingrained inside us with too much prejudice, stereotyping and misunderstanding.
The biggest problem of them all is the baggage from history.
If we are to list blames, we can put up 10 dedicated blogs and at the end of 10 years, we haven't finish posting our complains. We have been quarrelling over economics and historical issues for a century. Do you see us stopping the exchanges?
SO heck withthe exchanegs, we just have to STOP the prejudices and stereotyping and have goodwill and spirit of friendliness at the personal level.
Although I have strong opinion on the islamic side of the argument and be farily legal in my viewpoints, I am disgusted to see the confrontation in the courts to "settle" interfaith dispute. Dialogues with personal level effort would have been better. (For more understanding of my point of view, read my past posting in my blog.)
Along a similar line of thought, I think Muhibbah must be discussed for Muhibbah sake. If we bring in economic, politics, governance, law, activism, etc (with the exception of area with religous implications), we might as well go to our corner and get into the ring for a couple more centuries. Give time we will explode into a civil war and everybody loses.
Societal change can be brought about top down or bottom up. For muhibbah for muhibbah sake, the government top bottom approach failed. The millions spent on campaign and events have not change anything. There must be a bottom up approach.
Realistically, what we shd fear is when those in power with decision making capacity carry prejudices and believe their own stereotyping of individuals based on race s correct correct correct.
Power here does not mean purely politics, but could include economics, crime, international relation, and whatever we can think. That power is used to perpetuate those prejudices and stereotyping.
Bala: Remember Baya's wedding??? The bunch of us from Broadwalk, Indian, Chinese, Malay, Martian, Venusian were all Bhangra dancing right in front of the stage and drawing odd stares from everyone else! That was truly a sight to behold.
a voice: Pigs on A Wing? You mean Animals (1977) la.
I think some focus & perspective is needed here. You correct Nick but dear sir, he is right, here in Malaysia, Muhibbah is JUST a CONCEPT. Devoid of its true meaning of (as you define it) goodwill or inter-race friendliness. Tis just a fooking plastic commodity used fer tourism, feelgood newspaper stories & election campaigning. So sorry, you stand corrected here.
On the issue of religion, this is where it gets very tricky. I am sorry BUT your dogmatic view of exclusionary religion is very DANGEROUS! Just like Mufti of Perak who says wishing yer Hindu friends 'Happy Diwlai' is wrong & sacriligeous.
Again, focus & perspective. That line of thinking may be allrite in the Arab nations where virtually everybody is Muslim. But we have to adapt a little here & accept that people of different races & denominations live side by side.
Tis that sort of thinking that has led to people saying the open house concept is not in line with Muslim thinking.
Sorry, but that is just BOLLOCKS. That is SEGREGATION my friend.
In case you haven't noticed, virtually everything is geared towards Muslim-way of life. From the slaughtering of cows INSIDE our August House for Raya Korban to the piping of Moslem prayers inside public buildings.
Do you see us complaining? Fer instance, with the former, the MPs could have slaughtered goats (like they do in Saudi) so as not to offend the Indians, instead we were told in no uncertian terms by various UMNO delegates to go back to India. Typical innit?
As fer the latter, people of various faiths visit & work in these public buildings. Is it fair that we must listen to these prayers? Yet we adapt & accept.
Why can't you? Is any nod towards a fellow M'sians religion SACRILIGEOUS?
You know what is sacriligeous? Bribery (see any govt minister), Greed & arrogance (see Zakaria), Hatred (see Khairy), Hypocrisy (DrM), Bigotry (Hishamuddin) & plain old ignorance (see Nazri). These SINS are what matters, not playing music to celebrate our multi-culturalism.
Learn to embrace our differences & celebrate together - that is Muhibbah. But if you persist in being dogmatic, literal & short-sighted about something as BEAUTIFUL as RELIGION, then what hope as a nation do we have.
sorry, fer the long-winded comments above but please feel free to add what you think. Got a bit flustered there but would love fer this thread of debate to continue.
mark: Yes, was great. Or were the people staring coz of yer LAME ASS Bhangra moves?!?
muhibbah... okay,1st.. i'm a real muhibbah Malaysian as i have Chinese,Malay and Indian blood flowing in me... =)
and of course i do have frens frm other races... used to study together in sch n stuffs... but as i (or shud i say my friends and i) grow up.. we tend to stick to our own kind.. no special reasons though.. just happened that way..
some part times here n there also showed me that my own race can be racist and tend to not treat other races as good as their own.. i dun like it of course but kenot do anything la... knot possibly go round lecturing ppl to treat everybody as equal etc etc rite?
2 of my best friends in primary were Malays... sadly we lost contact when 1 of 'em moved to KL and another's busy with her own life now..
things were less complicated when we were young and politics/racial issues were non-existence among us
hmmmm...
AD, too fooking depress with the current shenanigans and crappy performance form you know who to put anything up on me blog. Summore have to do a fooking 2000 worded "essay" for the MyRAWK blog.
Stress gila!
Our society in general is a selfish one. Before we even talk about interracial relations, let's just take a moment and think about how many of us would stop to help another stranger, regardless of race? How many of us are considerate to other people, regardless of race? Each day you see drivers cutting cues, people throwing rubbish everywhere, double parking, and the list goes on. It's clear as daylight that the majority of us only care about ourselves, what more other races?
Bala drinks, i don't ... but we click. Bala smokes, i don't ... but we click. Bala's a red, i'm a "scum" ... well thank god we still click. Something seems to glue us together.
My take is simple. My mother's chinese, I see her as my mother. My father's malay, I see him as my father. And Bala, I see him as my friend ...
If the supreme being says he doesn't judge us by colour, then what the fook should I listen to the supposedly supreme among us who promotes racism day in day out and pimp the word muhibbah.
The politics of race is simple that it is the politics of power. Race relations in Malaysia has always been a sticky point since May 1969 and yet now we see the biggest challenge of how Malaysia is evolving now with elections coming around the corner in March 2008.
There are those that claim Homo Supremo mainly by claiming supremacy of another race. Hang on a minute, dun we all bleed red? Honestly, are we so different from one another to call each other names and insult each other's differences. My! oh! my! how have times changed. Even more so now that I believe the concept of Malaysia is under threat.
To speak about Muhibbah, I just had a company CNY lunch with my colleagues and we were all eating Yee Sang together: chinese, malay and indians. Sorry la no dan lain lain. But it is this image of Malaysia that is more often forgotten and not displayed but rather the politics of race and inequality, which tearing into the fabric and we see ourselves becoming more xenophobic.
Maybe its time for a change. STAND and VOTE and make your voice be heard, where ever you are Malaysia.
whoaaa...no way i'm getting into any serious discussion as this.
after all i'm already deep into something that matters the world most...football. hah!
AD, my take on this muhibah thingy is up on me blog. Deviated abit me thinks. Looking forward to comments from everyone.
mr. kiaq,
well said bro...well said.
hit the nail right between the eyes mate.
can't fathom THE BOSS upstairs...dissing anyone..without taking into account...without gauging the good a soul
has done..be it in this life, the after life or the next life; depending on which belief you are attuned to...regardless of the way you pray; the manner in which you recite your prayers or the focus of your thoughts when in religious contemplation
(though in the case of yours truly...i must say..i only get contemplative..after..erhm..gulpingthe 1st half of o-kau small bottle...OR after watching a spurs game in which they lead 3-0 and still lose)
i've got another story to tell. its a story about my ma. but think i'll pass on that for now; due to time constraints & work - a derogatory burden we've all grown accustomed to.
dear KERPOV,
yes. i said it. so there. took many bars of soap to wash the aftertaste. whats that? pray tell why? due to the following:-
a) since you're a brazil fan - you must love football that is being played amorously i.e. with great panache & a touch of eroticism. unfortunately...dem gooners are doing just that. not one winger doing a forward's job. dun worry we're catching up on the eroticism as well in case you havent noticed. he he.
b) couldn't tahan the shelling i got from man utd fans of the yuppie kind (and get this chelski fans as well..telling me to dream onn..mwahahha)..but seriously...to sit down and listen to to huge blob of a round cunt espousing football strategy..and the brilliance of managers..and to be told to uplift myself from being a loser rather to continue to support the losers...by a cunt..who's probably never kicked a ball in his life..and if he did
to do a massive tonjol? please la macha.
c) only this matchi win la ok..think what..and then maybe..LOSE to maybe..say..huddersfield town or maybe EVEN BARNSLEY in the next round...oh no..i've done it this time..well and screwed myself...mwahhaa
ok..ok tuan kerpov...i gotta run chief...i can already feel tuan balakov's eyes burning my liver with those anfield rays oridhi...:))
YES, YES, to all dear reds fans reading this posting..don't have shom me the door..and kick my arse
will kick myself out.
p.s. yes football is life tuan kerpov.
Mozzy,
its goin to be no easy ride esp playing at Old Trafford. this is no Rushden & Diamonds (no pun intended) we have to deal with. I'd be happy with a draw and take the game to london and settle the score once and for all.
here are some sweets as a returning gesture. I doubt i can ever find a spurs fan of the yuppie-kind. thats a real ugly truth. nowdays mostly them rich-kid chelki fans can be spotted at 'hotspots' with their WAGs tagging along, updating their friendsters. so much a football fans they are, i tell ya. muahahahhaha...
A Voice. I just don't see how we can discuss "muhibah" without talking about race, religion, politics and economics. That erroneously assumes that race and human relations happen in a vacuum, which it doesn't.
I want to carry on from where the Anfield Devotee left off regarding religion. I think that it's great people practice their faith (whatever it may be) with fervour.
Having said that, there has been quite a bit of religious chauvinism by the authorities towards minority religions that frankly is sometimes difficult to swallow. I won't go into the details. Ask the author of Must Stop This/Can You See It whom I believe you know more on a personal level. Then put yourself in our shoes and see how you feel. See how you feel when it's so darn difficult to get permission to build a place of worship that's not a mosque.
But then again, there are those among us who feel that if there's anything we are not happy with, we should balik tongsan/india or wherever it is we came from. The sad thing is, and this really pains me. We know of no other home/country than this one. So never mind what the Federal Constitution says. If you're not happy, just fuck off to wherever your ancestors came from. I've been hearing more of this phrase being used in the past couple of years.
Frankly, for those who say don't wish anyone from other faiths. Well, while he's at it, he might as well propose that Muslims not use the 2nd Penang bridge since that's being built with money from China. I believe the Chinese in China (and here) still indulge in activities which Islam considers haram. The money is therefore haram/not halal. So guys, don't wish them during their festive celebrations and don't use the new bridge too. Take the ferry instead!
It's easy to start a discussion thread. That's the beauty of the Internet and blogs. But it isn't easy to take the trouble to understand what the reality is for the minority races/religions.
You guys with friends from other racial backgrounds. Can you be honest with them with what you really feel about this country and its problems? Can they on listening to what you say, accept it? And can they do the same with you? Answer "yes" to all 3 questions, and you have "muhibah". If not it is just a concept that gives you a few additional minutes of footage for a VMY or BN promotional video. That's it.
Anfield - tks for alerting me of the comments.
I like to suggets you'll read the posting by sopo blogger polytikus.
One blogger wrote in his Muhibbah Tag quoting the same Quran sura I quote which basically said you your way and we our way.
I believe that is a muhibbah message in facing up to reality of differences, diversity, limitation, boundaries ... yet the spirit of respect, goodwill and friendliness remains.
I know the Mufti personally and i respect him as a learned man. He is a family friend and my father's student. He is a man much involved in international interfaith dialogues, which the local press is ignorant about.
He has expressed how the English press particularly are spinning his words out of context but what he is basically saying is other religion refuse to accept the way of Islam and wish to apply their value system and worldview on us.
Thats enuf ... go find him and argue with him. He is conversant in english.
I suggest in spirit of Muhibbah, I proposed we try to follow what soon li tsin aka polytikus said. That is listen to what others has to say and not listen it from what you want them to say.
Despite suggesting this, I am going to do soemthing partly contrary to it.
I am not gonna debate any further the issues posed for I would rather hear of "how to" improve muhibbah on this tag than touching endless socio-political issues till it never ends. I hope my wishes are respected.
I am ... well ... a dedicated sopo bloggers. This shd be a delightful break from it. Lots of time for socio-politics and it's debate. We need to be diverted from that line of thought, if not permanently at least temporarily.
Nik M - You are also right then on concept vs reality of muhibbah. But we are saying almost the same thing.
OK i got to go. How about taking up my request to talk of "how to" at the personal and individual level than too much lost in the waht and why?
I will be listening. Cheers!
a voice: TQ fer responding. Ok, as to 'How To' , first suggestion is to make it mandatory fer primary school students to learn a third language besides BM & Das Englander. U know how Jawi was mandatory during me school days in 70s primary. Same.
Learning to converse in each other's tongue will be a major leap forward. Just ask any Indian or Malay in Penang as to whether being speak Hokkien is beneficial.
That's one suggestion. Anybody else?
pps: re Mufti's statements - other religions forcing their world view on Islam. (???)
If you read me comments, you'll see that's EXACTLY what we as non-Muslims are facing. Having the Islamic view & way of thinking forced upon us at every juncture. How are other religions able to force their world view on Islam in M'sia?
ps: You didn't say what you thought of Gilmour's last LP . . .
anfield - re: mufti's comment
It works both way actually, but it'll be a long story. Naturally we tend to be more sensitive to what affects us more. I emphatise with the imposition on nn Msulims but some issues rasied by non Muslims agst Islamisation are too political driven and tend to be exageration.
The Islamisation that you'll fear is actualy more form than substance. No value and relevant to me. In fact, TDM's instilling islamic value on civil servant is more relevant than Islam hdhari which I don't understand what it is. It's an obnoxiouly stupid idea. More cliche and political propaganda than any form of substance.
I attended lectures under a prominent islamic scholar. Islam Hadhari is not the Civilisational Islam that I learned from him.
It doesn't serve Islam to have Quranic and Prophet's Hadith phrases put on school walls and government offices. It shd be read, understood, practise and internalised. Wrong application of TDM's Islamic value program.
It's ridiculous that come Friday morning, Government offices do nto function coz they are having religious classes. This is during during office hours and they are getting paid!?
I do not understand the need to have doa at all functions and events. Sometimes it is a hipocrasy to red doa and later have an entertainment show. It's a mockery.
Why have doa when it is not a religious affair and some of the attendents are non Muslims. But at one time, Gerakan wud start their function with an Islamic doa.
Why the heck we have to call interest free banking as islamic? It is not totally islamic, lots of compromises. Islamic credit card and bonds?!
Enough said.
P/S Don't quite like the new Gilmour, draggy and ole. No new idea.
a voice: TQ fer shedding some light on some of the religious issues.
You mentioned how some alarmists have used Islam as a tool of fear. This ties back to the original issue of muhibbah. If we all understood each other's religion & cultural customs better; there would be less opportunity fer wankers to manipulate religion to their own ends.
Glad you agree regarding the recital of Islamic prayers in govt offices. Also glad to see that you do not think it appropriate to start every event with a doa given that some attendees may not be Moslem. (It also smacks of Islamisation).
We are at a critical juncture of our nation's history. The ruling party is riddled with fookers who's only traits are avarice & greed. The system is completely fooked with no avenues fer justice (lest we forget that the judiciary is fooked thanx to DrM's legacy).
ps: Waters should rejoin the rest & produce another killer album.
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