Save Palestine: Who says boycott campaign won’t work?

I just copy & paste what I have written in my another blog..Memorabilia. I am pleased to share my opinion with everyone, particularly the IIUM community. Comments are most welcomed.

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I was called to give response to a letter entitled “Boycotting US products won’t work”, sent by a reader, which appeared here. Personally, to some extent, I don’t agree with him. It’s up to the readers to judge it. But everyone has his/her own opinion.

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Boycotting US products won’t work

DOES former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad seriously think that boycotting US products will work?

(Yes, I agree that the boycott campaign will definitely work, provided that everyone unites for it. And Tun Dr. Mahathir was not the first and the only one who initiated the move. Many international Muslim scholars have given the fatwa that boycotting the enemies’ products is necessary, at least to weaken them, err..but no fatwa from Malaysian scholars yet, particularly from JAKIM, National Fatwa Council, or Mufti of each state)

I say his suggestion, though noble, will never work because Malaysians, especially the young, love the US too much for the boycott to work.

(How can he’s very sure that the young Malaysians love the US to much? Prove it. Or perhaps the writer is one of those who love the US very much. As long as the information is delivered, and proper explanation is given, it’s impossible that everyone will just close their eyes. If one of every 10 person supports the boycott, it will still make difference and small change. Maybe the writer has never heard about the Starfish story)

There is also a call to boycott Israeli products. Unless I have been asleep all these years, as far as I know Malaysia does not have direct trade with Israel, least of all diplomatic ties. So what products are we supposed to boycott?

(I think the writer has been asleep all these years. The boycott campaign states that we should boycott all the products and companies that had track record of financially supporting Israel. And of course, when they support Israel financially, they support the killing of innocent people too, particularly Muslims. And not all products that contribute to the development of Israel come from the US. Some of them are from Switzerland, France,  Finland, etc. So read, listen and think carefully before giving any comments)

I know of products that are marketed in Malaysia that are manufactured by American Jews, British Jews, French Jews, Russian Jews and so on. But they are not Jews who live in Israel and, as the unwritten rule goes, they are exempted and can trade with Malaysia.

Or is Dr Mahathir also referring to them too? If that is so, then I can tell you our country will be totally crippled overnight. The reality of it all is that we are too dependent on the US. It is our No. 1 trade partner, and we have no other choice but to be dependent on the US.

(I agree that US is one of the main trade partner of Malaysia. But who says that we have no other choice but to be dependent on the US? Opps..the writer said so. For certain categories of products, yes it’s true. For the moment, we may not have alternative for Intel (the microprocessor). In fact, the whole world is depending on it. But instead of Dell, there’re many other alternatives. We can still buy and use Toshiba, Acer, Asus, Fujitsu, Compaq, Sony, BenQ, etc. Look at the list of the brands that financially supports Israel. Is it true that we don’t really have alternatives? Unless you love their products very much, of course you don’t want to use other brands, it’s your own choice. I don’t have to list down all the products here since they’re being spread everywhere now)

We must be realistic and use the means at hand to get the world to unite against the US and Israel. We must be more forceful and vocal in the United Nations, NAM and OIC. We must bust their veto power.

(Yeah, be realistic. It means that we have to wait till all Palestinians be killed or chased out from their land, and Palestine will be erased from the world map. Only at that time the world will unite against the US and Israel. Who will listen to us? UN, NAM, OIC, Arab League are all no use now. They take months to meet and make decision, and by the time they agree on certain decisions, the Zionists have succeeded in killing Muslims and conquering the world)

Malaysia may be a small country but with proper planning and support of all UN members it can work. I think Wisma Putra should be able to initiate this move. Forget boycotting US and Israeli products as it is a waste of time and energy.

(Boycotting is not a waste of time and energy. It’s one of the actions that we are merely capable of, other than praying, donating money, joining the protest, signing the petition, etc. If someone thinks that it’s a waste of time and energy, then he doesn’t need to join it. But don’t disturb others who are willing to do it. Another alternative, he can wait until he becomes the Prime Minister of Malaysia, or the chairman of OIC, or the Secretary General of UN so that he can get the world to unite against the US and Israel. I pray that the day will come very soon)

‘Rahman’ prophecy.. is it valid?

My first baby

Alhamdulillah, segala pujian hanya bagi Allah yg telah menganugerahkan saya sekeluarga dengan seorang ‘baby boy, pd hari Sabtu lepas. Isteri saya selamat melahirkannya pd jam 3.18 petang di Taiping Medical Centre, Taiping. Saat berada dalam labour room merupakan satu pengalaman yg tak dapat dilupakan. Namun saya gembira isteri saya berjaya menempuh satu dugaan yg berat, berjuang hidup mati demi melahirkan zuriat sendiri, dan saya bersyukur saya dapat menemaninya dari awal hingga akhir.

Amat menginsafkan dan mengharukan melihat seorang ibu bertarung nyawa ketika bersalin. Begitu jugalah penderitaan yg ibu-ibu kita alami tatkala melahirkan kita semua. Jika kita renung, pasti tak ada satu sebab pun kita sebagai anak untuk melawan & menderhaka pada ibu. Semoga Allah sentiasa melindungi kita drp menjadi anak yg derhaka.

Wanita sememangnya sangat tabah & istimewa. Dek keistimewaan mereka inilah, maka Allah telah mengamanahkan tanggungjawab untuk melahirkan kepada para wanita.

Our first baby… so sleepy (just after few hours of delivery)

University Letdown: A student’s letter

University Letdown: Lecturers just not up to par

By : I.T. Kuala Lumpur
Source : NST, September 4, 2008

WE recently celebrated our 51st Merdeka Day and, as a nation, we have come far in many aspects. Sad to say, however, in terms of tertiary education, we have not progressed much.

It used to be that when one graduates from a local university, it was with pride.

I am not sure if the same can now be said without embarrassment.

Having graduated with a degree from a private college, I was eager to gain the expertise needed for my profession by obtaining my master’s degree.

I was recently accepted into a competitive master’s programme at a local university. I was delighted at having succeeded because of the stringent selection process to be one of just 11 students to join the programme this year. In two months, delight has turned to despair.

Class lectures, scheduled to last 21 hours a week, now last 16 hours. Most of my lecturers do not value class time. Once, we were kept waiting in class for an hour without any notice from the lecturer or the academic office.

Another time, class started 20 minutes late and ended an hour early. During the 40 minutes of class, my classmate gave a presentation lasting 10 minutes, I was asked to read handouts for 10 minutes, and we took five minutes to hand in our assignments.

The lecturer spoke for 15 minutes, although he kept emphasising that we had little class time to cover the course contents. (Then lecturers to make sure that they use the time effective and efficiently. Good lecturers must possess and demonstrate good character to the students. Otherwise, they will not only embarrass themselves, but also will bring down the people’s expectation on the university)

Many of my lecturers, too, are not up to par. Of the four teaching us, only one has a doctorate. I wonder how effective lessons can be when we have a lecturer with a master’s qualification teaching a master’s- level class. (Well, I guess this shouldn’t happen. Lecturers with only with masters are not qualified (according to the rules) to teach masters-level students. The same goes to lecturers with degree (tutor/asst lecturer) to teach degree-level students, except for tutorial class)

When we ask questions, these lecturers are evasive in their answers. Most of my lecturers read off the slides. They lack confidence in their own subjects.

In terms of assignments, the university’s requirement is that we use the university’s style of citation and references.

This is absurd since there are more comprehensive and, most importantly, internationally-recognised ones like the APA and MLA formats.

I don’t understand why a local university would insist on students using a referencing format that will not help them get published in international journals. (I personally agree with the suggestion, but at the same time, I believe that every university or higher learning institution may have their own style of writing thesis, which must be followed by their students. The differences are actually not much. It’s just a matter of how to write references, or how to quote someone’s works, etc. And if we notice, every journal publisher has their own format of writing the manuscript. Those who would like to publish in that journal, by hook or by crook must follow the specified format. There’s no single format which can be claimed as better than others)

I also find it hard to understand why it is a requirement for course outlines to be in Bahasa Malaysia and to submit our theses with English and Bahasa Malaysia abstracts when the course is supposed to be conducted in English.

Even notes for the class are in Bahasa Malaysia. My international classmate is disadvantaged in this aspect. (it’s definitely not at IIUM as we require all thesis to be written in English, and in fact abstract should be submitted in both English and Arabic - for postgraduate level. But, there’s no harm, to submit a copy of the abstract in Bahasa Malaysia (make it optional), so that someone who does not understand English can still benefit something from it.)

My experiences and those of my classmates in dealing with the administration of the university have left much to be desired.

We have been frustrated by its nonchalance and inefficiency. Some classmates had difficulties with their offer letters which took weeks to resolve and my international classmate had to undergo countless frustrations in getting her passport back (is it legal for the university to retain her passport?).

These experiences have left me frustrated and embarrassed.

I was fortunate enough to learn and build good basics in research and concepts through my undergraduate studies as well as to experience a good undergraduate education to know that the postgraduate education that I am getting now is simply not up to standard. Is it any wonder that we seem to be moving down the ranks in international ratings of universities?

Source: NST, September 4, 2008

>> Don’t forget to be thankful to Allah, for what we have been granted. But at the same time, we should keep moving forward and strive at our best, to achieve the best and to be the best.

Beijing 2008: Breaking news!

Teruja dengan berita terbaru dari Beijing, pemain badminton perseorangan negara, Lee Chong Wei berjaya melayakkan diri ke final Olimpik setelah mengalahkan pemain Korea, Lee Hyun-il. Sekurang-kurangnya pingat perak sudah dalam genggaman. Tapi bukan pingat perak yg diharapkan oleh rakyat Malaysia, namun semestinya pingat emas pertama utk Malaysia. Sejarah bakal tercipta. Terus mara Lee Chong Wei! Semoga para pemain kita yg lain bakal mengikut jejak langkahnya, jangan terus leka & berpuas hati setelah mengecapi beberapa kejayaan sahaja. Kembalikan zaman kegemilangan badminton negara kita.

Lihat berita di The Star: Chong Wei books a silver at least for Malaysia

BEIJING: Lee Chong Wei has secured at least a silver medal for Malaysia in the Beijing Olympics.

The national one shuttler and second seed for the men’s singles event here defeated South Korean Lee Hyun-il 21-18, 13-21, 21-13 in the semi-finals Friday at the Beijing University of Technology Gymnasium.

By booking his place in the final, which will be played on Sunday, the 26-year-old Penangite now stands to pocket at least RM300,000 as an incentive from the Govvernment.

If he manages to win Malaysia’s first ever Olympic gold, Chong Wei will pocket a whopping RM1mil.

Malaysia has won a total of three Olympic medals thus far - one silver and two bronze medals - which were all delivered by shuttlers.

Before the last four clash here, the record between Chong Wei and Lee was even for this year.

Chong Wei beat Lee in the Malaysian Open final in three games.

When they next clashed in the Korean Open, Lee whipped Chong Wei in the second round and went on to beat world number one Lin Dan in a three-game thriller for the title.

Chong Wei is the only Malaysian shuttler still in the fray in Bejing. The other Malaysians all failed to shine.

Thomas Cup 2008 - it’s China again!

Badminton would always be one of my favorite sports, other than soccer since I was in primary school. I missed the era of Misbun Sidek and his other colleagues, but it’s still fresh in my mind where his other brothers, namely Razif, Jailani and Rashid were playing for Malaysia back there. The most indelible moment was obviously during the Thomas Cup 1992 championships. Some of other prominent names were Foo Kok Keong, Cheah Soon Kit and Soo Beng Kiang. They were all the real fighters for Malaysia at that time. Since that, I was trying hardly not to miss the championships. However, Malaysia has never won any Thomas cup tittle after that year too.

Historically, Thomas Cup championships have been conducted every two years since the 1982 tournament (I was not yet born at that time). Before that, it has been conducted every three years since the first tournament held in 1948-1949. As known, Indonesia is the most successful team by winning the tittle for thirteen times, followed by China (7 times) and Malaysia (5 times - 1949, 1952, 1955, 1967, 1992). These are the only three countries which have won the championships even though some other countries, like Denmark, Thailand and the latest, Korea were able to went through to the final. Source: Wikipedia - Thomas Cup

Thomas and Uber Cup

And, the Thomas Cup 2008 championships has just ended yesterday, where the Chinese again retained the tittle, consecutively since 2004. China has beaten Korea 3-1. However, in the semi final, China beat Malaysia 3-2. It was a close match at all, and it seems that Malaysia was better perhaps. I, and I believe the Malaysian as well, was pretty sure if Malaysia able to defeat China in the semi final, then the Thomas Cup would have been stolen from them. I just don’t know what to say about our players, especially the first double. And Hafiz Hashim also seems not in his best performance yet. But when I watched Lee Chong Wei’s play, it was totally superb, and of course plus the bad performance by Lin Dan too. Congratulation also to the young double, Mohd Zakry Latif and Mohd Fairurizuan Tazari who have convincingly defeated the world number 9 double from China to make the match even, and saved Malaysia from early defeat.

Last night, I watched the match between China & Korea. I just don’t care who’s gonna win the tittle, but somehow I hoped that Korea would win it. It was really shocked when the first single of Korea, Park Sung-Hwan defeated the world number 1, Lin Dan in the first game 21-10. But as expected, there shouldn’t be a problem for Lin Dan to come back and turned down the Korean in the next two games. Then, the Korean was able to make the match even when their first double (world number 3) beat the Chinese double (world number 2). It was an amazing performance and defense shown by the Korean double I must admit. Well, I’ve never expected the match between the second single of Korean, Lee Hyun-Il against Chinese world number 3, Bao Chunlai would be that close and exciting. It was also the first time I watched a match where a winner won against his opponent by 28-26.

Ok, that’s enough, otherwise, I’ll be a nonprofessional sports commentator here..hehe. Lastly, I wish the Malaysia team will do better in the next two years Thomas Cup championships, which will be held in Kuala Lumpur. Until 2008, the nation has been waiting for 16 years to seize the most prestigious cup in badminton arena.

Usah percaya - Panggilan santau

SEREMBAN: Mufti Perlis, Dr Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin, menasihatkan masyarakat tidak mempercayai apa yang tercatat pada SMS amaran berhubung panggilan santau atau ‘tarik nyawa’ yang tersebar luas di negara ini sekarang.

Beliau berkata, walaupun perbuatan sihir boleh dilakukan dengan pelbagai cara, panggilan maut seperti didakwa itu agak sukar diterima akal.

Katanya, kepercayaan yang terlalu mendalam terhadap sihir menyebabkan ada anggota masyarakat terutama beragama Islam berada dalam ketakutan kerana bimbang terkena ilmu hitam itu.

“Ketakutan itu menyebabkan berlakunya tokok tambah sehingga mengganggu emosi dan pekerjaan harian,” katanya ketika dihubungi, semalam.

Sehubungan itu, Dr Mohd Asri berkata, penyebaran SMS itu perlu dihentikan segera kerana ia dikhuatiri akan menjejaskan usaha umat Islam mencapai kemajuan setanding masyarakat dunia lain.

Beliau mengulas pengiriman SMS peringatan yang dikatakan disebarkan pihak tertentu untuk mengingatkan orang ramai mengenai deringan santau atau panggilan syaitan yang kononnya akan mencabut nyawa penerima panggilan berkenaan.

Selain di negeri ini, SMS berkenaan dikatakan sedang berlegar di seluruh negara, terutama di Kuala Lumpur dan Melaka sehingga menyebabkan orang ramai mula risau dan tertanya-tanya sama ada aktiviti santau menggunakan kaedah baru itu benar-benar wujud.

Menerusi SMS berantai itu, orang ramai diingatkan tidak mengangkat telefon jika dihubungi satu nombor pelik yang kononnya boleh meragut nyawa mereka yang menjawab panggilan itu.

SMS yang tersebar luas sejak seminggu lalu mendakwa panggilan misteri itu mengandungi unsur sihir yang dikatakan sedang diuji sekumpulan penuntut ilmu hitam di Indonesia.

Source: Laman Mufti Perlis, Dr. Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin

UM, UIAM, UTM: Universiti terbaik

News by Malaysiakini on 16th May 2008, also available at Global Media Channel and The Star: UM leads in ranking

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Universiti terbaik: UM, UIA, UTM

Oleh: Abdul Rahim Sabri

Tiga universiti awam mendapat pengiktirafan sebagai universiti terbaik dalam kelas masing-masing daripada 17 institusi pengajian tinggi (IPT) yang dikaji taraf kualitinya.

Universiti Malaya mendahului dalam kategori universiti penyelidikan, Universiti Islam Antarabangsa mendapat tempat teratas (universiti umum) dan Universiti Teknologi Malaysia tempat pertama (universiti khusus).

Berdasarkan markah keseluruhan enam bidang yang dikaji, Universiti Malaya memperolehi 5 mata atau “cemerlang”, Universiti Islam Antarabangsa mendapat 4 mata (sangat baik) dan Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (3 atau baik).

Keputusan ini, yang pertama kali diumumkan, hasil penilaian Sistem Penarafan Institusi Pengajian Tinggi Awam (Setara) selama dua tahun yang diselia oleh Agensi Kelayakan Malaysia (MQA).

Ketika mengumumkan keputusan tersebut hari ini di kementeriannya di Putrajaya, menteri pengajian tinggi Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin berkata penarafan ini bertujuan mengukur mutu, kebertanggungjawaban dan prestasi IPT.

Setara bermula dengan data yang dikutip dan dianalisis dalam projek rintis pada 2005 di 16 IPT dan penilaian tarafnya dijalankan setahun kemudian.

Kajian pertama sistem itu pula pada 2007 yang dibuat di 17 IPT awam dan melibatkan data-data tahun sebelumnya.

Satu pasukan tujuh anggota yang diketuai profesor Dr Che Husna Azhari dari Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia melaksanakan Setara dan urusetianya di MQA.

Sistem Setara ini berasaskan enam bidang utama yang mengandungi 87 pengukur hasil perundingan dengan semua universiti tempatan.

Mohamed Khaled berkata, sistem ini berbeza dengan kaedah yang diguna pakai oleh Times Higher Education Supplement (THES).

“Domain yang mereka pakai antaranya ialah peer review (semakan rakan sejawat) dan persepsi majikan yang kebanyakan berdasarkan kepada persepsi, berbanding sistem kita lebih komprehensif yang menggunakan enam domain yang mengandungi 87 indikator,” katanya.

Dalam kategori universiti penyelidikan, tempat kedua jatuh kepada Universiti Putra Malaysia dan ketiga Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (masing-masing 4 mata).

Bagi kategori umum, Universiti Teknologi Mara dan Universiti Malaysia Sabah masing-masing mendapat 4 dan 3 mata.

Universiti Teknologi Tun Hussein Onn dan Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris masing-masing berada di tempat kedua dan ketiga bagi kategori universiti khusus (kedua-duanya 2 mata atau memuaskan).

Mata 1 yang paling bawah dikategorikan sebagai lemah, diikuti memuaskan, baik, sangat baik, cemerlang dan terbilang (6 mata).

Mohamed Khaled berkata, keputusan lengkap kajian ini tidak didedahkan kepada media, sebaliknya diserahkan kepada IPT untuk tindakan.

“Saya fikir, sudah memadai masyarakat mengetahui setakat ini,” katanya.

Happy Teachers’ Day

Specially dedicated to all teachers in Malaysia.. Happy Teacher’s Day

                                          - GURU MALAYSIA -

From Crackle: Guru Malaysia

Kesan buruk cerita hantu

Tertarik dengan satu artikel dalam Utusan Malaysia bertajuk ‘Kesan buruk cerita hantu’, membuatkan saya terpanggil untuk menulis sesuatu. Lebih-lebih lagi ia diselit dengan sedikit penerangan drp SS Dr. Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin, Mufti Kerajaan Negeri Perlis.

Sememangnya cerita hantu dan seram adalah cerita yang tidak mungkin saya tonton. Kalau ada rakan yang mengajak untuk menonton, maka sudah pasti jawapannya, “Sorry, aku kurang berminat dengan cerita macam ni.”

Saya bersetuju sekali dengan pendapat yang mengatakan bahawa cerita hantu sebenarnya tidak membangunkan minda masyarakat & sekadar hiburan kosong semata. Selain tidak membantu pembentukan insan, ia juga adakalanya memperbodohkan masyarakat. Fikiran orang Melayu kita masih dijajah oleh ideologi hantu & khurafat (terutamanya filem Malaysia). Kita sepatutnya bergerak maju ke hadapan, tidak perlu lagi dimomok & disajikan dengan unsur hantu khurafat yang boleh merosakkan aqidah kita sebagai umat Islam. Malangya negara kita masih lagi menayangkan filem-filem sebegini, juga pameran-pameran hantu jembalang yang mendapat tentangan hebat daripada para ilmuan Islam.

Jika ada yang berpendapat bahawa cerita hantu hanyalah untuk hiburan semata, tidaklah salah asalkan ia tidak keterlaluan dan bebas daripada unsur khurafat. Mungkin ada antara cerita hantu tersebut yang mengandungi unsur humor & pengajaran yang betul. Namun sudah tiba masanya kita berfikir sedikit, gunakan akal fikiran yang waras dalam menilai hal ini.

Wassalam.

Untuk artikel asal, rujuk tulisan Dr. Mohd Asri, atau berita di Utusan Malaysia.