Awkward People

                  PRC ( Pas Representative Council UK-Eire)  had a chance to meet a number of PAS leaders in Sheffield a few days ago, and to be honest, I was quite disappointed to find out that they are just human beings. There were no fireballs coming from their mouths when they speak, and when they pray, nothing magical or out of norm ever happened. Perhaps it was wrong to put high expectations before meeting someone you have never even seen before.

          

from left; Aiman Athirah, Mumtaz Nawi and her husband, Anas At-Tikriti, Suhaizan Kayat and Jupri Bade from PRC

              Suhaizan Kayat , Salahuddin Ayub, Mumtaz Nawi and Aiman Athirah Al-Jundi ate together with us , sitting on the cold floor and sharing food on the same tray as if we had been friends for decades. They spoke of normal things like any decent human would do, instead of spewing complicated ideological bullshit and clichéd words of reform. We talked about the never-ending grass fields of Sheffield and the weird British weather, fat sheeps and queer locals, and at some point we even sat in complete silence and awkwardness as a result of the failure to hold an interesting conversation.

            We had expected many things from the leadership, but it was never thought that the Youth Chief and the Vice President can be awkward at times. It is perfectly human and normal thing which happens every time we make new friends and meet new people, and it happens to the best of people. I managed to further prove that they are just regular human beings due to the fact that Senator Mumtaz  did not  freeze things with her bare hands, and Aiman Athirah became tired after speaking for two hours.

          My friend told me how disappointed he felt after meeting the leaders for the first time, due to  the fact that they too are humans, as human beings are a boring bunch. We had been expecting special people with traits of an alien being, batman-like ideals and superhuman strength. It was widely rumored that these people are excellent speakers and experts in oratory skills, but I bet some of my colleagues can speak way better than they did. They weren't extremely pretty or extravagantly beautiful either, only somewhat good looking-on the fine line of being not ugly.

           Suhaizan Kayat , the friendly Youth Chief who is the role model for all young Muslims is quite fat, despite the stereotypical expectations that a leader of Muslim youths should have been a man with taut muscles and tough expressions. They all looked tired and lethargic after long hours of flight and endless travel through the grass fields, and that made us feel guilty to have them speak all day and greet all kinds of Malaysians that came.

           It made me realize that they have nothing to offer by themselves to us in order to join their fight. Suhaizan even told us that he can't even sing ,at the end of our short meeting, and it was frankly frustrating. He was trying to sing some folk songs during his last speech, which resulted in a number of non-rhythmic lines which doesn't sound like music at all.  Senator Mumtaz is quite pretty, but she is already married and is really quite proud with her husband . What was the point of them coming thousands of miles from the homeland, and why were they celebrated with respect and admiration?

                I found that they are regular people, who became leaders and special people due to their unwavering will to bring Islam back to their nation. Suhaizan Kayat was a university lecturer who was then fired, but unlike millions of people around the world who were fired from their jobs, he was fired because he wanted to deliver Allah's words to his students. Salahuddin Ayub and Mumtaz Nawi rejected numerous offers of wealth and status in order to fight for the jemaah, despite the fact that they are barely able to sustain themselves and their families. Aiman Athirah had been a fighter since her days as a students, and she had experienced police violence and harsh criticism from the public and even from members of the party. They had prevailed various sorts of tribulation , mentally and physically, and had always risen to the occasion, whenever an issue arises.

                 What they have to offer to us was the promise to topple corruption and cronyism once Putrajaya is taken. What they have to share with us during this short but meaningful meeting is the vision of prosperity and harmony under Allah's blessings, once Islam reigns over the nation.  We believe that these honest and strong people would lead Malaysia to her better days ,and that they would prove that Islam is indeed rahmatan lil alamin.

                 The way they treat themselves like common people assures us that these people are indeed qualified representatives for the oppressed majority, the poor and the disabled . Had they bring with themselves an air of importance and arrogance, I would have felt disgruntled and doubtful of their intentions in this fight . Seriously though, it was funny to find out that they can be awkward at times.

          

                  

Rise of the Planet of the Goats

                     I just started playing the Goat Simulator, and it is as awesome as I thought it  would be. In the game , you take the role of a goat whose raison d'être is to terrorize the citizens of a city and destroy everything .  The goat makes cars and trucks explode just by headbutting them, leaving a trail of destruction and horror  throughout the small map.

         It is a game made for those who had dreamed for so long to be a goat, and indeed it is a dream come true. What is better than being an overpowered goat who has the ability to shoot into the space simply by colliding with a truck?

                 One who is estranged to the world of gaming might perceive that the Goat Simulator is the height of folly, a waste of time, or even a disgrace to the goats, due to the blasphemy done by the developers by giving it strange powers. Some might even brand this masterpiece as trash not worth looking at, but I strongly disagree. Only in a way which is strongly philosophical and retrospective could one fully appreciate being a goat.

 

           Being a goat means living a liberal life free of problems and transgression of the modern society. One is freed from the fears of the upcoming exams and the pressure that comes with it. There is no mortgage to be paid or children to take care of. It is a life of blissful ignorance and complete disengagement with the society. Nobody could call you a liberal or a secularist when you are a goat, or condemn your laziness which was an actual genetic trait.

        To top it all, being a goat in the Goat Simulator is to be immortal. No amount of damage or injury you take would kill you, and the goat avatar would simply rise again in all its glory and awesomeness after being hit by a convoy of trucks. It is only during the unfortunate case in which the computer crashes or blows up due to the meaninglessness of the game would the goat ever die. You are free to do whatever you wish , from licking the citizens with its overly long tongue or destroy petrol stations with a headbutt. Truly a magical experience; there is nobody that is able to stop the path of destruction.

          What makes the Goat Simulator a truly better experience than our harrowing daily life is that the goat has the freedom to do things we are so afraid to do, and to make choices in its stupid life without the fear of being judged or stigmatised. We human beings can’t even read some books due to the fear of being brainwashed or being led astray. While it is true that goats can’t read, the freedom of which it is granted symbolizes that it actually has the potential and the will to do things by itself. I am waiting for some day during which the goat simulator has the ability to read and outwit those cowardly human beings.

 

         The main principle of the life of the goat is that it is not restricted to any law and creeds of weird organisations which pressure their members to conform to the backwards and unyielding ways of thought. The goat is free to think whatever it wants to; whether to  destroy tanks at the north corner of the town or break into houses of innocent people. It has the power to decide by its own discretion, which is wrong and what is beneficial for the benefit of the goat and its community as a whole.

        Secondly , the goat does not have to worry about what his human neighbours have to say about him; well; he’s a goat after all. The immature and childish thoughts of the proletariat beings around him will not deter or destroy his mind and desire. His raison d'être is clear and immaculate; destruction and havoc.

 

            After experiencing the free life of a goat , I figured out that we do not have the freedom of thought and the strength to venture into a dimension of strange ideas which is so vast and interesting. Our religion had emphasized so much upon the discovery of knowledge , the importance of reading; so much that it was the first ayat in the Quran. What are we so afraid of? What can a book do to the mind? Corruption of the mind is a choice made by oneself, not by ideas in writings. Be free like the goat, my friend!

             In these times where we are too afraid to seek the truth from issues due to the incapability to trust our own judgement, we should follow the path of the goat. We humans should be able to grant ourselves freedom to read and think about liberalism and those other  ‘Western’ ideas we were so afraid of, the real meaning and philosophy behind it,  or else the free life of the goat would always be better than our small existence upon this planet.

                 I believe that it is the obligation of those who wish to fight for a cause to study and seek profound knowledge of what he is fighting for. Being someone without authority does not reduce our mental capacity to think and discover by ourselves, neither should we restrict ourselves from thinking about choices that we make.

Be better than goats.

*goats referred above are those exclusively in the simulator, not those that are being domesticated.

** 'Siri Serangan Pemikiran' books are always available in bookstores .

***images courtesy of Kotaku.com

A Doublethink

            When I was 17 ,my history teacher told me in the classroom, that should I insist to disagree with the National Constitution, I should migrate to a country of my own creation .  I was dissatisfied with the textbook which has too much of the name UMNO in it, and I did not agree that Tunku Abdul Rahman should be called the Father of Independence. He was born in a rich royal family, and did nothing except for going to London to talk with some rich people there.  There was nothing he did that I could count as a struggle.

                       I did not agree with the reasons stated in the textbooks for the uprisings of  Mat Kilau, Tok Janggut and Dato' Bahaman. They seemed superficial and trivial; that was what I thought. Tok Janggut was suggested to refuse to pay tax to the imperialists, while those people who conspired in the murder of J.W.W birch supposedly did so because they interfered in the customs and traditions of the Malay people. Haji Abdul Rahman Limbong were said to fight for the rights of farmers over the lands. Some of the fighters were known as clerics, as ulama' , and the lack of a religious motive in their struggle was very suspicious. I thought that to fight over socioeconomic matters weren't as  important as hudud and Islamic laws.

     It wasn't a profound opinion , only logical. And as time flows, they become logical no more.

       I could not accept that the reason for uprisings were petty things such as refusing taxes, or that the British interfered in our customs and traditions. Yes, to a child, taxes and customs do not really matter.

      I believed that there were bigger motives than a mere scuttle for power or land disputes, to bring back Islam as the ruler and the law to the Peninsula. I begun to imagine those freedom fighters as Mujahideen, the frontrunners of the muslim society at that era.

      I thought that they were actually fighting for hudud and to reinstate muslims as rulers.

       Without proof of any sort, I rejected what the textbooks supplied, and proceeded with my own belief, since it seems more logical that way. I had read Orwell's 1984, and I am currently under the impression that the government could easily alter history, rewrite the textbooks, since nobody would ever bother to check.

        It seems to be a very acceptable conspiracy theory that the text writers concealed Islam as the reason for uprisings because Malaysia as a secular country cannot afford such history . It would only lend credit to islamic political movements, and that is not beneficial to the ruling party.

       I went to talks by students about the rise and fall of Islam, during which they seemed to voice the same opinion that I had. The talks ,though always supported by vague and unverified information, supported my view that those people who fought against the British were actually leaders of some sort of an Islamic uprising against the toghut.

       But then time flew, and I had to pay things with my own money. I found out there and then that the struggle against taxes and the rising cost of life is real. It is in no way something petty. I had learnt about exploitation of labour, inequality in urban areas, and how people struggle to make ends meet. If Islam is indeed rahmatul lil alamin, why would the fight for the poor and against living costs not  part of its core? Why shouldn't it be ?

          I was mistaken for saying those reasons as petty motives and were not worth dying for.

      I was mistaken for seeing that refusing taxes and fighting for land rights as not part of a fight for Islam. 

               
      I was too vehement to believe that they fought for islamic laws and its rule, and taxes and lands were worldly matters, not important enough as a motive.

      There were many verses in the Quran about good governance , the land and taxes, as many as there were rules. To disregard them as a part of Islamic struggle is to be a secular in its pure form. I had thought that they were worldly matters, and money is not a religious thing.

Sahih International

Indeed, Allah commands you to render trusts to whom they are due and when you judge between people to judge with justice. Excellent is that which Allah instructs you. Indeed, Allah is ever Hearing and Seeing.

Sahih International

And give full measure when you measure, and weigh with an even balance. That is the best [way] and best in result.

Sahih International

There was for [the tribe of] Saba' in their dwelling place a sign: two [fields of] gardens on the right and on the left. [They were told], "Eat from the provisions of your Lord and be grateful to Him. A good land [have you], and a forgiving Lord."

      People who talk about the rise and fall  of Islam often gloat about the glory and the size of the empire, buf often fails to mention that the charity of the people was part of the glory, and it should be a part of the current struggle. The most emphasized  part  were always the beautiful architecture, the rules and the development of technology, but matters concerning economic developments and the social conditions were always left out, as if they weren't part of the religion.  

       It is wrong to think that the fight for charity and human rights is not a major part of what Islam is. We had been so far left behind in the matter of human rights, exploitation of labour and the sort. The prophet was an advocate in freeing slaves, one who spoke against malpractices in trade, taxes , and he taught us against asobiyah/racism. It is embarassing to see that Muslim countries always regard matters involving human rights and discrimination as minor issues; or simply failed to acknowledge that those problems ever existed.

             I was always under the impression that should Islamic laws and rules come into fruition, social problems and human rights issues would be solved by itself, but indeed I was wrong. As long as economic and social issues weren't considered as part of Islam itself, we haven't practiced Islam as a whole, and more than that, we became secularists ourselves.

Peace.

       

                

Long Live the Ducks

                    In my university , there are a lot of ducks. The ducks come in various species and types, size and colour. The University Park Lakeside is the habitat for several types of geese and a  number of swans. Swans here are so majestic and beloved that they are protected by the Crown- the freaking Queen herself. These water fowls  are always there in large numbers, be it summer , winter, spring or fall. I had spent so much time watching ducks that I decided to write about them. It seems that I am so obsessed with the ducks, that I spent more time watching ducks than studying.

  

                 Them ducks are friendly creatures; especially if you have bread in your hands.   If I am with those ducks in Malaysia, they would be safe in the warmth of ovens and hot soup, but people here does not seem to eat them. I watched those ducks with an eager feeling to catch one and roast it at home, but all to no avail.      

         My friend told me that the ducks are creatures with a  defunct digestion system. I was told that they do not absorb whatever they eat, instead they process it all into loads of duck shit. It is a mystery that they are able to live healthily in large numbers, as their source of nutrients are presently unknown. I figured that Nottingham ducks have evolved into beings able to absorb nutrients from the sunlight, or turn molecules in the air into glucose through alchemy. Being a student of Economics with no knowledge in animal sciences whatsoever, this is the most reasonable conclusion that I could come up with.

              As a result , those ducks produce a lot of waste, so much that the whole place is covered with it. The university is a place with wide, green fields, and imagine myself as an excited foreigner who tried to frolic with the green grass in September last year. I found myself covered in duck shit.

                The ducks have betrayed my expectations about studying overseas. I mean, how could they? I started to resent the ducks ever since, as they refuse to respect my wishes and dreams. I found out soon after the 'rolling in shit'  accident that there is no grass in this place that is safe to step on. I digress that, perhaps,  this was the original reason that some people forbid others from stepping on the grass.  It is also the reason that the local people never sat on the grass , as opposed to us foreigners.

                  I will not write about ducks if they did not literally shit all over the place. It is a shame that while the place is so beautiful , one cannot even feel peace and safe while walking around. The ducks are indeed abominations that deserve being roasted or fried alive.

         But then spring came.  I wish you were here so that you can witness yourself how beautiful the fields are right now. Pink cherry blossoms crowned the sakura trees white. Yellow and orange daffodils bloom in large spots under the trees. The changing of seasons made me feel as if I was sent to another kingdom of fairy tale proportions. Trees began to sprout new leaves after two seasons of cold and decay. I saw that all the layers over layers of duck shit were made in preparation for this; sakura trees out of Japan  and flowers all over the field. It made me feel grateful that I broke my leg, since I had the chance to watch the seasons change longer than anybody else does; because I hop around so slowly.

                 I started to thank the ducks and appreciate their beauty, since their heaps of shit turned into a sight so beautiful, I wish I can draw them here. Isn't it wonderful that something so dirty and disgusting to my eyes  turned into majestic sakura trees, and brightly coloured flowers?

[94:6] Surely there is ease after hardship.

[94:7] Aye, surely there is ease after hardship.

                 I learned from the ducks then that bad things happen in preparation of something good; something of heavenly proportions. It made me believe that  after all the tragedy and bad news happening in our country , there would be something bright at the end of the road. Something happy and not depressing in particular. I also made myself promise, that should I ever cook a duck, I would cook them with love and passion.

          

               

                            

ضريبة السلع والخدمات- GST

           It is getting colder here, in Nottingham. I’ve seen the leaves turn from green to red and yellow, and now the trees look lifeless and barren as autumn dictates its rules. As I struggle in these unknown territories of freezing mornings and nights with chilling winds, I really could not care less about my country thousands of miles away and its problems- I need to warm myself first.

          Who cares about complicated taxes and screwed up politicians anyway?  We students are better off playing games on the next-generation consoles or reading rather pointless writings upon philosophy and absurd ways of life. If you are a slightly decent person then I would say that we should just concentrate upon our studies and get stuck in libraries reading things you can’t understand over and over again.

            If you don’t enjoy games, then you can watch movies or try to write some funny things on your blog to increase your followers. Or else, just watch some cat videos on Youtube  or weird stunts made by Japanese people. Sleeping the whole day is a better thing to do , rather than writing about taxes. It’s a depressing thing to write about, when the economics class doesn’t really make any sense anyway.

           I decided to write today because human beings have a sense of responsibility and some sort of love towards justice and equality, no matter how complacent   and indulgent they are. Thus, after hours of gaming and doing pointless things as written above, I hereby decided to purify my soul and do some good.

                GST is a tax. We should really care about it, and we have no option but to care, since the ones paying the six percent is ourselves. Unless if you were born a millionaire and you have too much money to spend, then you are better off doing something else. It’s a substitution to the income tax.

              Income tax is an inefficient method of taxation, as many people can get away with it. Our nation’s income tax has a filing system, which involves filling in information about our income and expenses in a year, details about assets and family members. This information will be processed by LHDN, and that will determine the amount of tax you have to pay. People can easily falsify this information to avoid paying tax, by simply cheating on the number of children and wives they have, or through creative accounting, and many other ways.

                  Since most Malaysians are middle income earners, they are not even obligated to pay taxes.  Only about a million out of 12 million workers in Malaysia pay income taxes, and that explains the inefficiency.

               GST on the other hand applies to almost every kind of goods and services, and thus even those who avoided tax before will have to pay the burden. GST is a substitution tax, in the sense that when it is implemented, income tax is lowered-it is a substitute to the ineffective income tax.

          Sales and services tax (SST) which was implemented before was just as inefficient. It is limited to only 25 groups of trades, and applies only to retailers-the ones at the end of the production chain. In other words, you don’t have to pay tax if you are not the final consumer. GST applies tax to all stages of production, so if the retailers are not qualified for GST, manufacturers will have to pay the tax for they purchases from suppliers of raw goods , and then they will sell the produced goods to retailers at a higher price  and taxed with same percentage. The difference between the 6 percent paid to the supplier of raw foods and the 6 percent sold to the retailer is paid to the government.

                 I need to learn the art of simplifying things. Sorry if you don’t understand that- go read some more.

To make it simple, as GST applies to all stages of production, people have no choice but to pay. Period.

             We are not against taxation or specifically, GST. It is an efficient taxation system, and it will definitely bring more income for the government. Honestly, it is an improvement, and we should support a better system of bureaucracy.  Supposedly, as the nation’s income increases, there is more room for development and the betterment of people’s lives . Without taxes, the beloved government can’t afford to build  roads and schools for our children.  Damaged trains will not be repaired, teachers be unpaid, doctors starved to death, hospitals stop working , and there won’t be any subsidy for  gas and food either.

                 Therefore , we should be thankful to the government who had to raise taxes for our sake, albeit rather reluctantly. Without  them the country would have turned into a sparse desert, a warzone without a 

legit currency. Like seriously.

                  What the heck.

            It is an undeniable fact that the government had been complacent in the handling of our money, or as one can see in the Auditor’s report, they revelled in wasting it. Why should excess in spending caused by corruption and misuse of funds be paid by the people? Shouldn’t they limit their expenses before asking people to pay more?  Stating that GST would not raise the price of goods is a lie. Even implementing it will cost a lot to firms, as they are required to hire accountants , buy computers and programming systems to calculate taxes that need to be paid to the government. Production costs will increase , as electricity bills will rise , and so will the price of raw goods-the exception of GST to electricity only includes the first 200 units.

                   I like to reiterate that we do  not have problems with taxes. It is for the sake of the country and the people. The only problem we have is with the way the money is spent, and the motivation of those rulers spending it.

         It is cold here, and we pay GST  at the rate of 20% in the UK. Yet we feel nothing wrong about it. Because the governance is trustworthy, and we know where does our money goes to. 

              

Bangladeshi Workers' Front

                           Let us pray for our neighbours in the Philippines; may Allah give them strength and ease their hardship.

          I have been staring at the screen for too long, thinking about ways to begin this particular essay, but nothing comes to mind, so this awkward sentence will serve as the introduction. Sorry for that. I had been thinking about the value of human lives , the value of my own, and the value of yours ,and suddenly had the urge to write something and make myself look clever. That way, I might raise the value of my life higher than yours.

             

   Please continue reading even though the previous paragraph makes no sense. Thanks.

            In economics , a rational consumer is assumed to be able to rate and define his preferences, in an ordinal way. A friend of mine for example, likes coffee more than tea, and likes tea more than orange juice. If he ranks his preferences, then coffee would take the first place, and orange juice the third . Can we do such rankings upon human lives?

                If I have four wives , perhaps I can make a ranking based upon the performance of each of my wives; I seriously think it would be disastrous at the end though. We have had various measures of valuing human lives; starting from rankings in school examinations to achievements in the work place. People who had succeeded  in their education and their careers might value themselves more than others, just like some ministers who view themselves high apart from penniless villagers who sometimes can’t even read.

           Those who studied abroad might think that they are better than their local counterparts- perhaps even going as far as saying that local students are narrow minded and closed to worldly views. Can we really put values upon people’s lives that way?

                In our religion, there is no such thing. No matter how highly accomplished one is, there is no way that he can claim that the value of his life is higher than others. The competition is open and fair in this religion, that no one has an advantage over the other. A beggar can always be better than a king-and the case is almost always so. Poor people can be better than the rich; in the judgement of Allah- after all He  values the deeds of men and the condition of their hearts- not education certificates and yearly incomes.

           

    Even a religious scholar can’t claim that he is better than a sinner, since at the end , nobody knows what are they going to be.

            I am trying to establish an agreement with you that we can’t value our lives more than others.   We do not have the knowledge of other people’s deeds and the condition of their hearts, and thus we are unable to judge others.

                 If you agree with the previous statement, then I would like to add another factor that we had used to differentiate ourselves from others; national borders and IDs. I have seen people cringing at the sight of foreigners in  the city centre, sometimes even swearing at them out of spite. In my hometown for example, there had been an influx of Bangladeshis   who came to work in construction sites and factories, and the city centre is crowded with these newcomers in the weekends.

         People have become afraid   to walk  in the city and had refrained from doing so, citing safety reasons and increasing street crimes. They put the blame upon the foreign workers. They speak as if  their own sons and neighbours are saints; free of any crimes and wrongdoings. We put the value of our lives higher than those immigrants, because we are citizens of this country. We made it sound as if those people are less civilized than we are, yet we don’t have any right to do so.

          The recent shooting case was a prime example. When the security guard-supposedly a foreigner- shot the bank officer  in the face, the majority of foreign workers received the blame. We somehow managed to stereotype all those foreign workers as the leading cause for crimes and violence. We blame them, as if our own citizens did not shoot others in the face.

               What is it that makes the lot of us regard themselves better than those immigrants? Is it because we are citizens of this country, and they aren’t? This world was not created with borders. Such lines and fences never existed to begin with. Why should we restrict ourselves in man-made borders, and  go to the extent of discriminating the ones outside?

              A difference in income does not make us better than those foreign workers with minimum wages.  The difference in nationality never gives us any advantage upon any people, nor does our birthplace, skin colour and race. We do not own the land, and neither does the government, that we might put borders and claim the nation as ours. I might sound like a communist there- but it’s true- as our time upon this planet is just so short.

 

         It seems ironic that while we try to fight racism in this country, discriminating immigrants does not seem like a wrong thing to do. As if that in itself is not racism.

        I will not go as far as to stand in the city centre and  give free hugs to immigrants. But I will say this; we have no rights to claim that the value of our lives is ever better than anyone else.