Last Friday, together with my son, I went to visit the four-day Gulf Education and Training Exhibition (GETEX) in Dubai, a leading education forum, which ended on Saturday. It was reported that over 29,000 visitors attended GETEX this year.
The forum, which was held at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre, hosted over 500 higher education providers, the majority from the UK and England.
Malaysia's Ministry of Higher Education or Malaysian Education Promotion Centre had a booth. But the way you can check the both web sites and can judge how serious the ministry or MEPC in promoting Malaysia universities.
I have my own experience in dealing with our universities. Several friends in Dubai were interested to send their children to Malaysia for tertiary education in certain courses.
Being a good 'ambassador' of Malaysia to UAE, I contacted the relevant universities through their web sites. I had sent numerous emails for inquiries. There were either bounced (the email addresses not valid or full boxes were full) or no replies. Even, I sent to the VC offices but it turned out to be the same.
I have never received any official replies from all the inquiries submitted so far. A clean record till now.
Recently, I forwarded some inquiries to local MEPC office in Dubai and one of these friends gave up, frustrated and intimidated as he complained that the service was POOR.
Another one asked me, "Are you guys serious?" He had been following up but there was no end of waiting. All of them, not only those referred by me but by others as well, complained about the service. So far I have not received good feedbacks, it could be my friends were expecting higher level of services or my friends were not good enough to be our 'client'.
One particular incident, the official there referred the inquiries to another company in Dubai which demanded some money as charges. And through a friend in the particular university, one of them managed to enrol without going through hassles.
It seems that we are wasting our money by having overseas offices. The official may have his or her own agendas. He or she may be not good enough to be our representative. For the sake of the nation's pride, we demand better services or close these offices.
This year GETEX, our booth was insignificant in the sea of other countries participants. The brochures and goodies were also outdated. I am not sure on the responses from the other visitors as I had only spent few minutes.
I had a chat with one young guy from MPEC who has just recently been transferred to Dubai and he was approachable. I conversed in Bahasa Melayu but he replied in English. While others there seemed indifferent, it could be I was wearing BERSIH t-shirt.
Our education system is in the mess. No university listed in top 100 and thousands of local graduates are still unemployed. What is our selling point? Cheap and affordable?
Irrespective of the attendance, please upgrade your web site, MEPC.
A lot of excellent sites like
Netherlands
Germany
and various for UK, Canada and USA. An arabic version could be a good strategy but then again, even the English one needs to be revamped with better outlook and comprehensive information.
Interestingly, North Cyprus has an informative site for promoting its universities.
By the way, I was there to inquire for universities in UK, USA and Canada for my sons future paths. Decision has been made according to my sons' career interests. Eldest in aviation and second is following his mum's step to become another medical doctor in the family, while the youngest is still toying with ideas on becoming a Manchester United player.
It is by accidental not by choice that Malaysia universities are not in our list since long time ago.
Will Pak Lah be like Mugabe soon?
The recent post-election dramas and after-shock effects in UMNO/BN camp are not unfamiliar. Pak Lah may be in final days to cling to his weakened power as a leader. The organised attempts from within UMNO to unseat Pak Lah are growing louder and visible.
Mugabe was Mahathir's contemporary circle of leaders/friends who ruled with iron fists and after 28 years as a dictator, he could be trying to fight the inevitable until his last breath.
Closer to home, will Pak Lah become another hero to zero after only 4 years? He may not think so but Mugabe can advise him one or two on political survival through Mahathir's lips.
Mugabe - from hero to zero in 28 years
By Nicholas Coates, Associate Editor
You can't fight an election on a one-point agenda. Yet that is exactly what is happening in Zimbabwe.
The election campaign of incumbent President Robert Gabriel Mugabe, in power for the past 28 years, does not address the issue of escalating inflation currently running at some 500,000 per cent.
There is no mention of any attempt to get people back to work, probably because there are no jobs available. Nor is there even a passing reference to the shambles the once-prosperous agricultural sector has descended into and how it can be restored to its former glories.
None of these have been mentioned, merely the claim that the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), Mugabe's main opposition party rivals "would never come to power in my lifetime".
It is a curious statement, but it has not provoked any assassination attempt, although there are more than enough reasons to try, considering the depths to which he has dragged the country. But Mugabe is least interested in his fellow citizens; all he wants is to cling on to power.
Independent observers believe it is because he is afraid that once he relinquishes his presidency, he will be charged for civil and economic crimes - and even the ethnic cleansing of some 20,000 members of the Ndebele tribe - perpetrated during his long years of ruling the country.
It may be true; certainly he and his cohorts have bled the country dry for their own benefit, building luxury mansions and sending friends and relatives abroad to foreign universities, holidays and luxury buying sprees
No knight in shining armour
Yet Morgan Richard Tsvangirai, leader of the MDC, is no knight in shining armour. He carries with him baggage that does not augur well for a future president to carry.
His accusations against Mugabe's thugs (alleged veterans from the war against white rule that led to independence) can be matched with the MDC thugs who intimidate voters into supporting Tsvangirai. His one-point agenda is simplicity in itself, for it is spelt out in the very title of his political party.
In a similar vein to US Democratic challenger Barack Hussain Obama Junior, he calls for change for change's sake - a different person at the top of the table.
No explanation is given on what the changes are in store or how they are going to be achieved or what sacrifices (if any) people will have to make. None of this is stated, merely an "I want the job" approach to canvassing, not rare, but certainly worrying.
For the electorate, it may turn out to be replacing the devil you know with the devil you don't know.
Of course Zimbabwe must have change as it cannot go on as it is. The mortality rate is around 35 years old, there is virtually no food available in the shops (in a country that used to be the breadbasket of Africa) or even other basic necessities.
It is only Mugabe's elite cronies, whether close aides or the police and military, who prosper. However, ousting him is an entirely different, and difficult, matter.
Mugabe has stolen elections before and it looks very much as if he will do the same again either through stuffing ballot boxes in the run-off for president, or through intimidation, courtesy of the police, the military and his "veterans army".
When Mugabe first started his crusade to confiscate white-owned land and hand it to black Zimbabweans, it was alleged the war veterans were mainly the beneficiaries, together with government ministers who suddenly became very prosperous indeed.
At the time doubts were raised by observers that the so-called veterans were indeed what they claimed to be, as most appeared far too young to have ever participated in the independence fight.
It was the handing over of rich agricultural land, and the eviction of the white owners by the veterans, that started the slippery slope into the nation's poverty.
It quickly became obvious that the Zimbabwean owners of the confiscated land were only interested in tending their individual smallholdings for themselves, whereas before vast territories were geared to food production for domestic consumption and export, bringing essential foreign currency into the country.
Now, it is an insurmountable task to return the country to what it was, without aid from outside sources. Yet those nations that can afford to invest sufficiently to restore agricultural and other industry are not prepared to do so while Mugabe remains in power. Even South Africa has shown a marked reluctance to get involved.
In all likelihood, with Mugabe contesting 16 parliamentary elections and a run-off for presidency, it would seem he is prepared to steal office again, right from under the noses of Zimbabweans and the world community, who remain powerless to do anything.
Siapa Khianati UMNO? Pemimpin atau Ahli?
Kali pertama saya bertemu Pak Lah adalah dalam tahun 1983 di sebuah restoran Cina di Wellington. Masa itu Pak Lah mengikut Dr. M untuk lawatan ke New Zealand dan saya masih menuntut di sebuah sekolah pinggiran Wellington.Dalam suasana yang meriah, Pak Lah yang menjadi Menteri Penerangan kelihatan terpinggir kerana Dr. M menjadi perhatian ramai. Lantas saya sempat menegur beliau, bersalam dan terus bertanya, "Saya dengar Datuk adalah bakal PM Malaysia!"
Pak Lah rasanya pura-pura terkejut tetapi nampak bangga dan dengan malu-malu menjawab.
"Ish, mana ada! Mana kamu tahu?"
Saya tidak ingat perbualan lanjut tetapi 20 tahun kemudian dia benar-benar menjadi PM. Saya masih menyimpan gambar-gambar kenangan bersama Pak Lah dalam koleksi.
Seterusnya, sewaktu bersiar dengan mendiang MGG Pillai dalam era reformasi, kami sempat makan tengahari di gerai ikan bakar belakang Masjid Negara.
Mendiang mengajak saya singgah di rumah Pak Lah di kawasan berhampiran. MGG Pillai selalu mengaku yang Pak Lah adalah kawan baik sejak lama. Waktu itu Pak Lah bukan lagi Timbalan PM tetapi disebut-sebut sebagai salah seorang calun. Mahu juga saya mengulang perbualan yang sama. Tetapi Pak Lah tiada di rumah.
Akhir sekali sewaktu Pak Lah membuat lawatan rasmi ke Dubai sebaik menjadi PM, saya tiada pula mendapat apa-apa jemputan untuk hadir walau salah seorang yang menjadi 'tukang bawak beg'nya adalah kenalan baik dan sempat datang ke rumah di Dubai. Kenalan ini menyuruh saya terus sahaja pergi ke hotel tempat Pak Lah menumpang untuk bertemu sendiri tanpa kawalan atau kedutaan menyibuk.
Apabila ditanya kepada pihak berkenaan kenapa saya, sebagai salah seorang yang senior di Dubai, tidak mendapat jemputan untuk makan malam bersama Pak Lah, ada yang berbisik, "Masalah keselamatan."
Hajatnya mahu mengucapkan tahniah kerana sudah menjadi PM. Tetapi apabila di cop sebagai pembangkang, usah haraplah untuk tersenarai sebagai jemputan.
Menurut salah seorang sahabat yang kini menjadi salah seorang 'penasihat' atau 'orang' Pak Lah, yang pernah sama melarikan diri ke luar negara dalam era reformasi, Pak Lah memang 'soft', maksudnya bukan 'lembik'. Kalau bertemu tidak lekang menyebut petikan surah dan hadis-hadis dalam mengingatkan tentang keduniaan.
Lantas sahabat yang kini mungkin bergelar bilionair itu ada berkata, "Apa ke jadah Anwar mahu membalun Pak Lah? Pak Lah bukan Mahathir yang menjatuhkan dia dan tidak kena mengena pun dengan kes bawa tilam dll. Lagipun Pak Lah juga alim! Lebih baik Anwar masuk UMNO dan hentam Najib"
Kami berbeda pendapat. Itu pendapat dia dan mungkin ada kepentingan peribadi.
Saya tidak berkesempatan untuk kenal Pak Lah secara dekat tetapi secara jauh juga dapat menilai yang Pak Lah bukan material PM yang baik. Memang nampak kelembikan. Tiada karisma dan aura. Kalau berucap secara langsung di TV pun cukup lembik dan melenakan.
Terasa memualkan sekali membaca akhbar hari ini mengenai tuduhan Pak Lah kepada ahli UMNO sendiri yang sabotaj lantas menyebabkan kekalahan BN/UMNO.
Lebih memualkan apabila Pak Lah terus mempertahankan menantu kesayangan.
Khairy tidak campuri MT UMNO, Kabinet
KUALA LUMPUR 6 April - Datuk Seri
Abdullah Ahmad Badawi hari ini sekali lagi menafikan campur tangan menantunya, Khairy Jamaluddin dalam pentadbiran parti dan kerajaan.
Perdana Menteri turut menyangkal dakwaan bahawa anggota Majlis Tertinggi (MT) UMNO dan Jemaah Menteri merupakan barisan pak turut atau Yes man.
''Kononnya zaman saya ini tidak ada kebebasan, semuanya orang takut. Tetapi depa kata saya ni lembik... tapi orang takut kat si lembik ni. Seolah-olah semua yang ada dalam MT ini dan dalam Kabinet, bodoh belaka... Khairy seorang yang pandai, yang menentukan segala-galanya."
''Ini semua tuduhan yang tidak ada batasan, terus hentam begitu sahaja,'' tegasnya kepada pemberita selepas menyampaikan amanat kepada lebih 1,000 ahli daripada kumpulan penerangan parti itu di PWTC di sini.
Bekas Perdana Menteri, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad dan beberapa pemimpin UMNO serta pembangkang sebelum ini sering menuduh Khairy yang juga Naib Ketua Pergerakan Pemuda UMNO campur tangan dalam keputusan-keputusan kerajaan termasuk menentukan senarai calon Barisan Nasional (BN) yang bertanding pada pilihan raya umum lalu.
Kalau Presiden parti Melayu terbesar di dunia menuduh ahli mengkhianati parti sendiri, persoalan besar dan asas yang perlu dijawab ialah, KENAPA mereka sanggup berbuat demikian?
Bukankah mungkin salah satu sebabnya kerana pemimpin UMNO sendiri yang mengkhianati parti dan ahli? Seterusnya mengkhianati bangsa yang diwakilinya.
Pak Lah terlalu lembik mindanya untuk mencerna dan keluar dari state of denial. Atau masih dalam mimpi panjang bersama isteri baru, anak dan menantu serta kroni untuk terus menghuni Dreamland of Putrajaya.
Tetapi kesimpulannya, UMNO itu dipenuhi KHIANAT, dulu, kini dan selamanya!
MICE - Can We Beat Thailand?
Dubai is Middle East's main centre for meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions (MICE).
For the MICE industry, Dubai has always been a favourite destination. What is new is the dazzling way in which the ultra-modern, cosmopolitan city has equipped itself over the past few years in terms of world-class hotels, awe-inspiring exhibition venues and convention centres, excellent service standards, first-rate communication technologies and better air connectivity.
Dubai Convention Bureau (DCB) and Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre (DICEC), and Dubai Tourism play vital roles in bringing a lot of events to Dubai. It is almost every day to see MICE activities.
This phenomenonal achievement has attracted other countries such as Thailand and our beloved country, Malaysia to come and steal some thunders.
Recently, Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau (TCEB) has launched a road show in the UAE to showcase business opportunities in Thailand.
During the show TCEB launched the "Thanks A Million" promotional package to serve the international convention and exhibition market. For any convention of three days or more held in Thailand from now until October 2009, TCEB will reimburse international convention organisers for their local expenses in Thailand.
Organisers of events bringing 1,000 delegates to Thailand will be eligible for support of one million baht. This package applies to event size from 100 delegates or more.
Last year, Thailand earned USD1.6 billion in foreign exchange earnings from MICE. Thailand is recognised as a preferred MICE destination in Asia, with an envied reputation for world-class venues, professional services, and the competence to meet the most complex and demanding of events. Thailand's unique culture, wonderful cuisine and unique hospitality have all helped drive MICE growth by 20 percent a year for the past four years.
It was reported that more than 50 UAE corporate, travel agents, trade associations, professional exhibition and conventionn organisers attended the road show.
And of course, Malaysia is also in the running to attract the same group of people for its own roadshow.
Read the BERNAMA report and compare the incentives, if any from Malaysia. And the same 'modal' as a Muslim nation is overused, what about incentives, quality of venues and services, competence and hospitality?
Do we learn anything from Thailand or Singapore?
Malaysia Promoting MICE Products In Abu Dhabi
By Muin Abdul Majid
DUBAI, April 8 (Bernama) -- Malaysia is promoting its Meetings, Incentives, Conventions and Exhibitions (MICE) products and services to potential buyers in West Asia at the Second Gulf Incentive, Business, Travel and Meetings (GIBTM) show which began in Abu Dhabi Tuesday.The Malaysian delegation at the three-day event is led by Tourism Malaysia's domestic promotion division director, Datuk Idros Mohamad.
Saying that Malaysia was a complete value-for-money MICE destination, he extolled the Southeast Asian nation's attributes such as state-of-the-art meeting facilities, quality accommodation and attractive natural environment.
"And potential visitors from this part of the world should feel comfortable (in Malaysia) because we are a Muslim country where getting (halal) food is not a problem...and they can move around in relative security," he told Bernama ahead of the GIBTM event.
Idros disclosed that Malaysia's conference arrivals reached slightly over one million last year as compared to 820,000 in 2006.Tourism Malaysia's GIBTM partners comprise nine organisations -- Malaysia Airlines, Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre, two destination management companies, as well as five hotels and resorts.
In conjunction with GIBTM, Tourism Malaysia and Malaysia Airlines will jointly hold seminars in Dubai and Tehran to highlight MICE developments in Malaysia to invited trade guests.
Organised by Reeds Travel Exhibition for the MICE industry, the GIBTM is expected to attract 1,000 trade visitors and 250 regional and international organisations.-- BERNAMA
BN Tawan Balik Perak Dalam Beberapa Bulan Lagi
Menurut sebuah laman web pro-UMNO, Ketua Penerangan UMNO Malaysia, bekas MB Selangor yang ada dua Muhammad dalam namanya memperkatakan dengan kemungkinan besar BN akan menguasai semula BN tanpa menanti pilihanraya umum ke 13.Mat Tyson berkaya demikian semasa mengadakan pertemuan dengan Ketua UMNO Bahagian seluruh Perak dan pegawai-pegawai KEMAS negeri itu hari Ahad di Sungai Siput.Ini berdasarkan berdasarkan beberapa perkembangan dan faktor semasa termasuk kerapuhan kerjasama pakatan pembangkang yang memerintah Perak.Dengan keadaan sekarang dimana UMNO masih dalam pertelingkahan antara pemimpin, juga penuduhan Pak Lah yang ahli UMNO memsabotaj parti sendiri, tidak pasti kenyataan Mat Tyson merupakan perang saraf atau strategi menyatukan kembali UMNO yang tiba-tiba kehilangan kuasa.Laman berita tersebut juga menyebut yang Mat Tyson sebagai Menteri Kemajuan Luar Bandar dan Wilayah turut menyentuh mengenai peranan Jabatan Kemajuan Masyarakat (KEMAS) yang katanya akan dirombak agar pendekatan serta operasinya sesuai dengan realiti semasa negara pasca pilihan raya umum yang menyaksikan beberapa negeri yang dahului dikuasai oleh kerajaan Barisan Nasional (BN) kini jatuh ke tangan parti-parti pembangkang.Mat Tyson turut menjelaskan pentingnya masyarakat didedahkan dengan perkembangan teknologi maklumat ekoran penyebaran maklumat dan berita melalui media yang disiarkan melalui internet seperti laman berita dan blog.Nampaknya, blog sudah menjadi sebahagian dari senjata dan strategi UMNO untuk kembali berkuasa walau terus menutup ruang media perdana kepada Pakatan Rakyat.Tidak lama lagi kita mungkin dapat melihat pelbagai blog orang-orang KEMAS akan muncul bagai cendawan dalam Internet. Diharapkan juga laman web KEMAS juga akan lebih kemas dan selalu dikemaskinikan.Apakah Mat Tyson juga akan menjejak langkah Anak Toyo, Shahidan Kassim dan Ali Ketam sebagai seorang BLOGGER?Semuanya mungkin!Will BN Federal Government Stop Supplying Books As Well?
Tourism Ministry has started the ball rolling by withdrawing all previous MOUs with states now under Pakatan Rakyat (PR).
The BN federal government cabinet had previously shown its childish vindictiveness to deny funding to the states under opposition and we can expect to see more discriminations soon. These buggers in corridors of power are still ignorant on democratic process and constitutional rights of the rakyat who had voted them out decisively in 5 states, plus Wilayah.
The federal funds are from tax payers' money and not from mak bapak or their own pockets.
A well-known book publisher, Ainon Muhammad in her blog has raised book industry's concerns on whether the BN federal government will take a similar vindictive measure like Tourism Ministry had arrogantly done.
Questions:-
1. Will BN federal government stop funding book purchasing in these 5 states?
2. Will National Library (NL) be allowed to continue distributing books to these 5 states?
3. Will NL be allowed to open new libarries in these 5 states?
4. Will Education Ministry be allowed to continue funding to the schools' libraries?I hope the BN federal government will not victimise, punish and discriminate our children by stopping all fundings to purchase and distribute books to all libraries in these 5 states.
Otherwise, we have to make big noises in Parliament and in the streets!
Ainon's piece is below:-
Apabila PR Memerintah Negeri, Apa Nasib Kontraktor dan Penerbit Buku
Kemenangan Pakatan Rakyat (PR) di Kedah, Pulau Pinang, Perak, Selangor, dan Kelantan menyebabkan hati para pemain dalam industri buku berdebar-debar.
Ada persoalan yang terus bermain-main dalam kepala para kontraktor buku dan penerbit buku.
Ada kebimbangan yang mengecutkan perut mereka.
Pengalaman bagaimana sumber kewangan persekutuan tidak disalurkan kepada kerajaan PAS di Kelantan dan Terengganu menyebabkan di kedua-dua negeri itu, bisnes buku dengan perpustakaan amat dingin.
Selepas Terengganu diperintah semula oleh Barisan Nasional (BN), perpustakaan awam negeri itu kembali membeli buku.
Mujurlah, PNM kemudian mengambil tanggungjawab membekalkan buku kepada semua perpustakaan awam di seluruh negara.
Kini ada 5 negeri di bawah kerajaan PR. Berikut adalah persoalan yang bermain dalam kepala kontraktor dan penerbit buku:
1. Apakah kerajaan persekutuan akan memberhentikan penyaluran wang kepada kerajaan negeri Kedah, Pulau Pinang, Perak dan Selangor pula? Tanpa wang dari kerajaan pusat, maka kerajaan negeri-negeri PR terpaksa berjimat cermat. Buku adalah item yang dianggap tidak kritikal, justeru tidak akan dibeli.
2. Apakah Perpustakaan Negara Malaysia (PNM) akan terus dibenarkan membekalkan buku-buku ke semua perpustakaan awam di negeri-negeri kerajaan PR ataupun tidak?
3. Apakah PNM akan terus dibenarkan membuka perpustakaan awam baru di negeri-negeri PR ataupun tidak?
4. Apakah Kementerian Pelajaran Malaysia (KPM) akan terus dibenarkan menyalurkan wang kepada sekolah-sekolah negeri PR bagi membeli buku untuk perpustakaan ataupun tidak?
Inilah persoalan yang secara langsung mempunyai kaitan dengan nasib para kontraktor buku dan penerbit buku.8
Searching For The Future PM of Malaysia
No, we are NOT talking about Anwar, Ku Li or Najib here.
There are 26 million souls in Malaysia and growing by day. Amongst these living souls, we may have geniuses, idiots, average, below/above average citizens who are essential ingredients to build a great nation. Everyone has his or her own roles irrespective of level of IQ, education or capabilities or political inclinations. We need each other to strenghten the team.
Unfortunately after 50 years of merdeka, we have a below average PM currently still sleeping at the helm, even after tsunami wrecked his wet dreams. Do not blame him for his lucky star to be there sleeping and getting paid, as he is the chosen one of our former PM, who now regrets to his last breath. We have to live with this curse for some time until somebody else comes to kick his ass out from the seat.
The problem with our leadership (national, state, party, association, corporate or kampung) is not taking seriously on succession plan. After 22 years on the top, Dr. M had 4 deputies and only one survived to become his cursed successor. Dr. M's great achievements or even mistakes are eclipsed by his last decision to appoint a 'clean' guy and the whole country is suffering and bleeding even with this elegant silence guy.
Looking at those current government leaders, from Najib down to members of elite group called Majlis Tertinggi and even to Pemuda/Puteri EXCOs, we have nothing but yes-men/women. Forget them as they will not be able to rise to the occasson with the baggage they carry.
Like Michael Jackson sings in his song, "I am not a fighter, I am a lover!"
There are some bright young leaders among the Pakatan Rakyat new MPs and ADUNs. Even the new Perak MB looks better than all the BN's MBs/CMs put together.
It is not a secret that the current PM's beloved son-in-law is planning for PMship before his 40th birthday. This Oxford graduate's dream nowadays looks like slipping away by the tsunami effects and post-tsunami dramas. But some politicians never die, a few now become bloggers!
Here in Dubai, my own boss is currently away in Harvard to attend 'Future Leaders of Dubai' program. A program to nurture and groom a pool of capable and excellent young Emirati executives to fill up leadership roles in public, corporate sectors, and even social/charity works.
This one year program will involve hands-on training in several countries, like USA, UK and SINGAPORE. I guess I know why Malaysia is not one of the chosen countries with the current force majeure.
Dubai has collaborated with Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy as well as Kennedy School of Harvard and has set up similar institution, Dubai School of Government. Again, our INTAN is out of sight. I have no idea on INTAN but I guess INTAN is a fine institution and has been churning a lot of good government high-ranking officials.
HH Sheikh Mohammed Al Maktoum says, "the leaders of tomorrow are our focus and the foundation of our future".
With the growing number of university students, what we need is to repel and abolish all those draconian acts like university and college act that stifles the students freedom of speech/expressions and activities. These students will be our future leaders and asset, let them free to grow with ideas and missions.
They can be rebels, very vocal, anti-establishment within democratic space. They can be aspired and inspired to strive for social justice. Well, there are thousands unemployed graduates out there who are now againts the government for their predicaments.
There is one good satirical write-up by one if its dissidents on Singapore obessions about leadership sucession. Never mind Lee Kuan Yew (and son) is building a dynasty by grooming his grand children for future PM. It is another story.
Singapore is also facing massive brain drains among the bright young men and women. But looking at a positive perspective, it is something that we have to start planning to get a pool of talented and capable young leaders to manage our nation.In Singapore, Lee Kuan Yew has now in search for future Prime Minister (his son)
Sekolah Pemikiran Pak Lah
Nordin Kardi yang mengaku seorang intelek dan dikatakan keintelektualannya telah di hina oleh Raja Petra mungkin boleh memikirkan penubuhan sesuatu yang hampir sama dengan Institut Pemikiran Tun Mahathir atau IPDM.
Institut itu terletak di UUM, kawasan parlimen Tun Mahathir sebelum pencen dan menjadi pengkritik wahid Pak Lah.
Menurut laman web IPDM,Idea untuk menubuhkan institut ini telah dicetuskan oleh para perwakilan semasa Persidangan Agung UMNO yang ke-54 pada 19 Jun 2003. Lanjutan daripada itu, satu badan perundingan (think tank) telah dibentuk yang ahli-ahlinya terdiri daripada tokoh-tokoh kenamaan dan pelbagai idea telah dicetus oleh badan ini melalui sumbang saran pada 28 Ogos 2003.
Fungsi utama IPDM adalah menjadi pusat rujukan utama terhadap idea, wawasan dan pemikiran Yang Amat Berbahagia Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, Perdana Menteri Malaysia ke-4. IPDM juga bertanggungjawab untuk meneliti dan menganalisis struktur percambahan idea yang boleh diguna pakai oleh generasi kini dan masa depan. Di samping itu, penubuhan institut ini juga adalah satu usaha untuk menghargai sumbangan dan kepimpinan tokoh-tokoh negara.
Sebagai mengenang jasa baik Pak Lah meletakkan beliau sebagai VC di UUM, Nordin boleh dengan segera menubuhkan Sekolah (Rendah) Pemikiran Pak Lah (SPPL).
Selama menjadi Perdana Menteri, Pak Lah telah banyak menyumbangkan jasa kepada rakyat Malaysia sama ada dalam jaga atau tidur. Sama ada Pak Lah sedar atau tidak, jasa paling besar ialah memastikan BN tewas di lima negeri selain Wilayah Persekutuan dan hilang 2/3 majoriti.
Semua ini adalah sejarah besar untuk generasi akan datang menilai pemikiran dan kepimpinan Pak Lah. Seperti IPDM, keujudan SPPL untuk meneliti dan menganalisis struktur percambahan idea Pak Lah yang boleh dijadikan bahan ketawa oleh generasi kini dan masa depan.
Dari mazhab Hadhari, pelbagai slogan (Cemerlang, Gemilang, Terbilang, bekerja dengan saya bukan untuk saya, I'm the Prime Minister dsbnya) hingga variasi koridor yang bernilai trilion, Pak Lah tidak kurang idea. Sama ada berjaya atau sekadar gimik, itu bukan perkara penting, yang penting siapa kata Pak Lah tidak ada idea?
Juga pembinaan masjid kristal dan jambatan kedua Pulau Pinang. Jangan lupa idea untuk meluruskan sungai bagi mengelakkan banjir di Johor.
Tidak kira sama ada idea-idea tersebut dari budak-budak Tingkat 4, anak atau menantu kesayangan. Pak Lah mengaku itu semua adalah cetusan idea beliau.
Biarlah sekolah itu sekadar taraf sekolah rendah, asalkan tiada siapa melupakan jasa-jasa Pak Lah dalam membenamkan BN, kalau tidak menjadi pembangkang di Parlimen dalam masa terdekat ini.
Bagaimana Nordin Kardi? Pak Lah perlukan kamu!BABI SIAPA dan SIAPA BABI?
Babi memang cukup sensitif bagi umat Melayu Islam. Telah tertanam dalam minda dan emosi yang apa sahaja berkaitan dengan babi adalah HARAM, JIJIK, KOTOR dan HINA. Sejak dari kecil orang Melayu sudah diajar untuk membenci BABI dan dikatakan salah satu perkataan asal Bahasa Melayu ialah BABI.
Jangan sekali memaki dengan ungkapan babi yang popular untuk menghina, boleh sahaja menimbulkan pergaduhan besar.
Pengalaman saya dekat dengan babi ialah sewaktu tinggal dengan keluarga angkat di Wainuiomata New Zealand sewaktu belajar di Tingkatan Tujuh. Tidak dapat dibayangkan perasaan apabila mengetahui keluarga angkat tersebut memelihara seekor anjing besar. Lebih mencemaskan yang antara menu setiap hari, terutama sarapan ialah bacon and eggs. Mereka tidak memelihara babi dan tidak pernah pula nampak kandang babi sepanjang lima tahun di New Zealand.
Kebimbangan dan kecemasan itu sedikit sebanyak terlerai apabila gurubesar dan ayah angkat menerangkan yang mereka memahami halal dan haram, serta soal solat, puasa dan lain-lain berkaitan ibadah dalam Islam, kerana mereka adalah orang kuat pertubuhan FREEMASON!
Freemason menjadi kebimbangan ke tiga. Persepsi mengenai Freemason memang mencemaskan. Bimbang akan terjerumus ke dalam kancah Freemason tetapi saya banyak belajar mengenai misi dan aktiviti Freemason dari kedua mereka. Malah pernah ke lodge tempat mereka berkumpul. Tentunya datang sebagai tetamu dan pemerhati kerana teruja mahu tahu.
Selain menyertai ayah dan ibu angkat ke beberapa aktiviti sosial seperti jualan dan sukan boling padang dengan para ahli Freemason lain yang agak besar jumlahnya di New Zealand.
Mereka ada terlepas cakap dengan menyebut mengenai beberapa pemimpin Malaysia ketika itu juga menganggotai FREEMASON. Tetapi itu cerita untuk lain kali. Saya tidak pernah menjadi ahli.
Selama setahun itu, ibu angkat tidak menghidangkan bacon and egg kepada kami (saya berdua). Hanya weetbix dan susu panas setiap pagi. Mulanya mahu termuntah untuk makan weetbix, tetapi terus menyukainya sampai kini.
Ibu angkat membekalkan kami tomato, epal, buah kiwi atau limau dengan sandwich keju atau telur atau sardin untuk makan tengahari di sekolah.
Untuk mengelakkan dari prasangka, tiada kami bertanya sama ada ibu angkat memasak makanan malam dengan peralatan yang sama untuk masakan lauk daging babi mereka. Makan sekali dengan mereka setiap malam dengan lauk babi diatas sama meja memang meloyakan.
Kerana itu setiap dari hari Khamis ke Ahad malam atau setiap kesempatan, kami akan keluar untuk mencari makan di rumah senior (seperti rumah YB Zulkifli Noordin yang menuntut di Universiti Victoria Wellington) atau pegawai MSD di Wellington.
Tetapi hampir setiap hari saya terpaksa menyamak kerana setiap pulang dari sekolah si anjing kesayangan keluarga angkat akan memeluk dan mencium pipi. Selalu juga kena bawa anjing ini berjalan-jalan.
Itu pengalaman lalu berkaitan babi, anjing dan Freemason.
Kenangan lama yang menggamit apabila membaca tentang ladang babi yang mahu di usahakan secara lebih baik dan tersusun di Selangor. Tidak heran media perdana memainkan isu dan polemik dengan sensasi, memang sesuatu yang ditunggu-tunggu untuk memberi gambaran buruk terhadap Pakatan Rakyat.
Sekali lagi, BABI adalah sensitif untuk umat Melayu dan media perdana yang sebelum ini cuba menyembunyikan isu babi dan JE di Melaka, kini tidak cukup ruang untuk menjatuhkan imej PR di Selangor.
Tidak pasti salah strategi di pihak PR sendiri atau ada rahmat yang akan membuka lebih banyak pekung BN. Yang pasti, pihak UMNO dan pencacai akan memainkan isu ini sepenuhnya walau banyak perkara baik dalam perlaksanaan. Itulah budaya dan sikap orang yang kalah dan masih belum menerima hakikat kekalahan secara gentlemen.
Di Dubai ini agak sedikit kurang sensitiviti mengenai babi dalam kehidupan kosmopolitan. Banyak hypermarket menyediakan ruang khas untuk ‘Kedai Babi’ dengan amaran – Hanya Untuk Bukan Muslim. Tidak seperti di Malaysia, hotel-hotel besar Dubai juga menyediakan babi dalam menu.
Sewaktu menjadi ahli kelab golf dan rekreasi ‘ Country Club’ Dubai, saya pernah menimbulkan isu babi ini kepada pihak pengurusan dan ketua tukang masak, seorang British.
Beliau dengan penuh hormat memberi penerangan yang Perbandaran Dubai mempunyai prosedur dan pengawasan yang cukup rapi untuk setiap premis yang dibenarkan menyediakan babi dalam menu.
Semuanya mesti diasingkan dengan peralatan berbeda. Kalau ada aduan yang diterima mengenai kebersihan dan percampuran didapati benar, bila-bila masa premis boleh ditutup. Ketua tukang masak itu sendiri mahu saya masuk ke bahagian dapur kelab untuk memastikan apa yang diperkatakannya benar.
Tetapi oleh kerana minda dan emosi cukup sensitif dengan BABI, maka kami tetap was-was. Begitupun, Dubai tentunya tidak seperti Indonesia dimana sate dan daging babi kelihatan terjual di tepi jalan atau food court dengan terbuka.
Secara kesimpulannya, isu babi di Selangor ini boleh dilihat dengan lebih luas dan terbuka. Dengan merangkum segala tindak tanduk mereka yang sebelum ini memerintah dengan angkuh, pertanyaan saya ialah sebelum 8 April, babi siapa yang berpuluh tahun memusnahkan alam sekitar dan SIAPA BABI yang kini mengambil kesempatan menjadi hero walau sudah menjelajah dunia untuk melawat kandang babi mat salleh?
Mereka ini lebih hina dari babi, makhluk Allah SWT yang tidak bersalah apa-apa!
Mufti Perlis: Hentikan Islam Hadhari!
KUALA LUMPUR: Mufti Perlis, Dr Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin lantang menegur agar Islam Hadhari dihentikan segera. Beliau sifatkan jenama Islam Hadhari sebagai salah satu sebab kekalahan Barisan Nasional baru-baru ini. "Saya sudah banyak kali menegur tentang Islam Hadhari sebelum ini tetapi kurang mendapat perhatian," kata beliau yang menyuarakan ketidakpuasan hati di dalam ruangan Pena Mufti semalam di bawah tajuk...'Jika pemerintah bertaubat dengan taubat nasuha'. Artikel beliau yang disiarkan di dalam akhbar perdana semalam mendapat banyak reaksi dari beberapa pihak di mana rata-rata menyokong keberanian beliau menegur kepimpinan dan isu politik yang sedang berantakan dewasa ini. "Banyak perkara yang patut saya komen tentang Islam Hadhari. Sejak dahulu saya selalu mengelakkan dari menyebut jenama yang mengundang ‘seribu kekeliruan itu’. Saya akan menulis tajuk khas mengenainya, insya Allah. Apa yang penting banyak perkara perlu dibetulkan. "Bertaubat!. Kembalilah kepada Islam yang murni lagi asal seperti zaman Nabi s.a.w. Islam yang terbukti membangunkan kehidupan masyarakat yang aman lagi harmoni dunia dan akhirat. Tokok tambah agama hanya menghilangkan keaslian dan keberkatan dari Allah." Dr Asri turut memetik satu rangkap di dalam artikel beliau semalam yang jelas memperkatakan isu pasca politik yang 'bercelaru' sekarang. "Wahai pemimpin! Pena saya tidak menzalimi anda. Sudah setahun, saban minggu ayat-ayatnya berbaris di sini. Bukan untuk menjatuhkan, tetapi mengajak melihat bersama laluan di hadapan. Allah yang memberi kuasa kepada sesiapa yang Dia kehendaki, dan mencabutnya dari sesiapa yang Dia kehendaki. Sesungguhnya taubat adalah penghalang bala bencana. " Firman Allah: “Dan Allah tidak akan menyeksa mereka sedangkan mereka beristighfar (meminta ampun)”. (Surah al-Anfal: 33). Kata Dr Asri, "Ramai yang tidak berani berterus terang tentang isu 'Islam Hadhari' ini. Ini adalah kewajipan saya." Menurutnya, istilah atau jenama 'Islam Hadhari' itu menakutkan orang kampung. "Ada yang berfikiran ia satu agama baru sedangkan itu tidak benar. Ada juga yang keliru mengatakan pakaian separuh bogel adalah fahaman dari Islam Hadhari. Jadi saya syor hentikan saja uar-uar pasal Islam Hadhari kerana ia mengelirukan.' Katanya, hala tuju negara hendaklah digaris dengan jelas. "Saya kadang-kala melihat seakan generasi muda melayu Islam di negara ini dicandukan agar tidak lagi mampu berfikir dengan seimbang. Hiburan-hiburan yang melebihi dari tahap keperluan dan tidak memiliki matlamat yang jelas seakan sengaja dilambakkan untuk hidangan mereka. "Inilah yang kelihatan dalam media-media kita sedangkan ketika yang sama gendang ‘Islam Hadhari’ dipalukan. Sebagai tanda restu atau sebaliknya, saya tidak pasti. Lalu anak muda kita dalam khayal dan mabuk, dadah, keruntuhan akhlak dan berbagai," kata tokoh agama yang berfikiran kritis ini. Katanya lagi, "Apa yang berlaku dalam politik hari ini adalah dosa-dosa semalam yang terpaksa dipikul oleh kepimpinan hari ini dicampur dengan kelemahan yang ada. Janganlah orang semalam hanya pandai menuding juri kepada pemimpin hari ini seolah-olah mereka begitu bersih. "Keadaan yang teruk ini adalah dosa warisan dan semasa. Apa yang kita bimbang jika kita merebahkan pemerintah yang lemah tiba-tiba diganti dengan yang lebih buruk hati budinya," kata Dr Asri.
After Black 14 event in Kg. Baru, we were informed that Anwar flew to Abu Dhabi. About 120km away from my office in Palm Jebel Ali. Last time he was here a few days before election announcement by Pak Lah.
Like his previous visits, some of us, hard core Pakatan rakyat supporters who dare to show our faces under surveillance, would like to meet him, even at the airport. It would be nice to greet the PM-in-waiting, but as per his message to a friend here,
Some corporate top guns that I know were also eager to meet up with Anwar, well, have to tune to Al Arabia channel now!
My former big boss here is one of Anwar's big fans. In one of board meetings, upon seeing me walking and passing the meeting room, suddenly he just stopped me and asked in front of the other bewildered board members, "How soon will Anwar be released from prison?"
When Anwar was sentenced to imprisonment, he called me early in the morning (we are 4 hours behind Malaysia) to inform how he was really upset and would not turn up to the office.
When Mahathir was to visit our office, this big boss already left the company but when I informed him about the pending visit as I was given the task by the new big boss to be the person-in-charge, he told me "Ask that bugger not to come, he is not WELCOME here!"
I managed to get him to see Anwar last year and how happy he was (now he is in-charge of USD billions local funds...:) to see 'brother Anwar'.
Imposter embezzled US $7.3 million
Fake 'Saudi prince' stands trial in Australia
Malaysian-born Omar Jihad Yusuf, 39, of Melbourne (File)
DUBAI (Kamal Qabisi)
A Malaysian man who pretended to be a Saudi prince was brought before a court in Australia to stand trial for cheating investors out of 8 million Australian dollars (7.3 million U.S. dollars), Australian press reports said.
Omar Jihad Yusuf, a 39-year-old father of four from Melbourne, posted photographs of himself alongside private jets, helicopters and yachts on a website for "Yusuf Holdings", which he claimed had 6,500 employees and international interests in pharmaceuticals, oil, aviation, property, coffee and perfume, The Age newspaper reported.
Yusuf faces 171 fraud charges, mostly for an investment scam in which he convinced 100 Muslim contacts to invest $9.2 million in a trucking company between 2003 and 2005.
According to a prosecution summary tendered to the Melbourne Magistrates Court, Yusuf used most of the money to fund an extravagant lifestyle of first-class air travel and luxury cars, the paper said.
Yusuf, a Malaysian who came to Australia with his parents when he was 5, adopted the title of Prince, saying it was an honorary title from the Saudi Arabian royal family. He signed documents as "Prince Omar Yusuf", and even convinced Australia Post to use the title on a stamp featuring his image. He donated a lot of money to Islamic institutes to impress Australian Muslims.
Yusuf liked to give the impression that he was a modest man, telling the Australian magazine The Edge in November 2004 that it was "not necessary" to address him as 'Your Highness'.
"The title 'Prince' is enough, he said."
Yusuf was exposed when The Age ran an article questioning his reputation in November 2004, prompting him to flee to Malaysia after selling the 20 or so trucks he had actually purchased, leaving no assets for investors to recover.
The trial, which opened on Thursday, is expected to last for three years and end with a 12- to 15-year jail sentence and a fine of 2 million dollars.
Yusuf is penniless, having squandered the money he embezzled gambling in Europe.
The UAE treats its population of mixed nationalities with tolerance as part of its commitment to globalisation as it has a mix of cultures with around 200 nationalities in the UAE, and they coexist in peace.
However, this mix should not affect UAE national identity. Important in making clear that a vital part of making the tolerant UAE work well was for the government to maintain and support the UAE people's own sense of who they are, which is clearly challenged by the large numbers of expatriates in the country.
The community profile [meaning the mix of nationalities in the UAE] is a problem but Emiratis cannot isolate themselves from their surroundings. Emiratis need to work to maintain their identity.
'Social instability'
Other speakers discussed various angles on the emotive issue of protecting the national identity, but none was more outspoken than Maj Gen Dahi Khalfan, Dubai Police Chief.
He deplored the substantial proportion of foreigners in the country, showing pictures of burnt-out buses and shops to illustrate the effects of labour riots in the UAE.
Speaking out against the dangers of social instability created by large foreign minorities, he said, "The biggest challenge to national security is the immigration of large numbers of people. The UAE is at a crossroads."
He spoke in favour of changing the demographic balance so that no nationality is more than 25 per cent of the total population of the country.
During a debate, Shaikh Abdullah disagreed with the comments made by Maj Gen Dahi, saying, "We live in an open and tolerant country. Despite what Dahi said it is the richer with all these elements."
The Emiratis have spoken out on their concerns of great demographic imbalance. Their ketuanan is under threat, if not already so.
Looking at bigger picture, this is an opportunity for Malaysians to fill up the expatriat quota as some nationalities (esp from subcontinent) will be reduced in number. Bring those unemployed graduates to roam the job markets or business opportunities.
And we do not talk about bringing our KETUANAN MELAYU!
Last but not least, so what does it mean to be an Emirati?
"To be the son of this country and to know that this is the land my father and grandfather kept for us," one Emirati says.
Anwar Ibrahim in Abu Dhabi Today - 15 April 08
After Black 14 event in Kg. Baru, we were informed that Anwar flew to Abu Dhabi. About 120km away from my office in Palm Jebel Ali. Last time he was here a few days before election announcement by Pak Lah.
Like his previous visits, some of us, hard core Pakatan rakyat supporters who dare to show our faces under surveillance, would like to meet him, even at the airport. It would be nice to greet the PM-in-waiting, but as per his message to a friend here,
Anwar Ibrahim wrote:
Maaf pak, harus terus pulang.
Selesai mesy ada wawancara panjang dgn alarabia
Anwar Ibrahim wrote: Maaf. 8 jam di abu dhabi dan pulang. Sila beritahu teman-teman. Wassalamualaikum
Anwar
Some corporate top guns that I know were also eager to meet up with Anwar, well, have to tune to Al Arabia channel now!
My former big boss here is one of Anwar's big fans. In one of board meetings, upon seeing me walking and passing the meeting room, suddenly he just stopped me and asked in front of the other bewildered board members, "How soon will Anwar be released from prison?"
When Anwar was sentenced to imprisonment, he called me early in the morning (we are 4 hours behind Malaysia) to inform how he was really upset and would not turn up to the office.
When Mahathir was to visit our office, this big boss already left the company but when I informed him about the pending visit as I was given the task by the new big boss to be the person-in-charge, he told me "Ask that bugger not to come, he is not WELCOME here!"
I managed to get him to see Anwar last year and how happy he was (now he is in-charge of USD billions local funds...:) to see 'brother Anwar'.
Malaysian 'Saudi Prince' embezzled USD7.3 Million
Imposter embezzled US $7.3 million
Fake 'Saudi prince' stands trial in Australia
Malaysian-born Omar Jihad Yusuf, 39, of Melbourne (File)
DUBAI (Kamal Qabisi)
A Malaysian man who pretended to be a Saudi prince was brought before a court in Australia to stand trial for cheating investors out of 8 million Australian dollars (7.3 million U.S. dollars), Australian press reports said.
Omar Jihad Yusuf, a 39-year-old father of four from Melbourne, posted photographs of himself alongside private jets, helicopters and yachts on a website for "Yusuf Holdings", which he claimed had 6,500 employees and international interests in pharmaceuticals, oil, aviation, property, coffee and perfume, The Age newspaper reported.
Yusuf faces 171 fraud charges, mostly for an investment scam in which he convinced 100 Muslim contacts to invest $9.2 million in a trucking company between 2003 and 2005.
According to a prosecution summary tendered to the Melbourne Magistrates Court, Yusuf used most of the money to fund an extravagant lifestyle of first-class air travel and luxury cars, the paper said.
Yusuf, a Malaysian who came to Australia with his parents when he was 5, adopted the title of Prince, saying it was an honorary title from the Saudi Arabian royal family. He signed documents as "Prince Omar Yusuf", and even convinced Australia Post to use the title on a stamp featuring his image. He donated a lot of money to Islamic institutes to impress Australian Muslims.
Yusuf liked to give the impression that he was a modest man, telling the Australian magazine The Edge in November 2004 that it was "not necessary" to address him as 'Your Highness'.
"The title 'Prince' is enough, he said."
Yusuf was exposed when The Age ran an article questioning his reputation in November 2004, prompting him to flee to Malaysia after selling the 20 or so trucks he had actually purchased, leaving no assets for investors to recover.
The trial, which opened on Thursday, is expected to last for three years and end with a 12- to 15-year jail sentence and a fine of 2 million dollars.
Yusuf is penniless, having squandered the money he embezzled gambling in Europe.
8
Ketuanan Melayu & Ketuanan Emirati
UMNO is still harping on Ketuanan Melayu (Malay Supremacy) after ruling the nation over 50 years. This UMNO's cry is again heard after the recent election fiasco, dubbed as political tsunami with BN's 2/3 majority in parliament wiped out for the first time.
In a simple conclusion, UMNO has lost badly and is trying to play with Malay emotions for getting back the support. Ketuanan Melayu is synonymous with UMNO however, unfortunately to the Malays, its leaders have abused this ketuanan for their own benefits for long time.
Ketuanan Melayu does not equate with Malay identity. We are going for bangsa Malaysia and Ketuanan Rakyat shall be a better way forward.
Here in UAE with the bumiputera (local arabs or EMIRATIs) population is merely 20% of total population, the 'ketuanan Emirati' shall be more relevant and critical. The UAE is one of the few countries in the world where foreigners outnumber nationals by a seven-to-one ratio.
Yet despite this severe imbalance in the demographics, the UAE maintains a strong national identity. However, many are rising in unity to demand a stronger preservation of their culture. It was a big conference yesterday to discuss openly on challenges in preserving UAE national identity.
One of the panels, Shaikh Abdullah said tolerance and openness of the UAE's foreign policy have enhanced its speciality and helped turn the country into a model for an Arab, Muslim nation confident of its identity.
With the current developments, UAE is at the cross-road whereby UAE must admit that the imbalance in the population structure is a huge challenge. As proposed by Dahi who is Dubai Police Chief, it requires long term, medium term and short term strategies to reduce foreign workers from any single country to not more than 25 per cent of the UAE population
Dahi regarded as treason the illegal practice of some Emiratis who deal in visas and bring in foreign workers who do not have real jobs.
"These people are traitors ... they cannot be called Emiratis ... They are worse than the brothers of the Prophet Joseph (PBUH), who cast him in the well.
Protecting national identity
In a simple conclusion, UMNO has lost badly and is trying to play with Malay emotions for getting back the support. Ketuanan Melayu is synonymous with UMNO however, unfortunately to the Malays, its leaders have abused this ketuanan for their own benefits for long time.
Ketuanan Melayu does not equate with Malay identity. We are going for bangsa Malaysia and Ketuanan Rakyat shall be a better way forward.
Here in UAE with the bumiputera (local arabs or EMIRATIs) population is merely 20% of total population, the 'ketuanan Emirati' shall be more relevant and critical. The UAE is one of the few countries in the world where foreigners outnumber nationals by a seven-to-one ratio.
Yet despite this severe imbalance in the demographics, the UAE maintains a strong national identity. However, many are rising in unity to demand a stronger preservation of their culture. It was a big conference yesterday to discuss openly on challenges in preserving UAE national identity.
One of the panels, Shaikh Abdullah said tolerance and openness of the UAE's foreign policy have enhanced its speciality and helped turn the country into a model for an Arab, Muslim nation confident of its identity.
With the current developments, UAE is at the cross-road whereby UAE must admit that the imbalance in the population structure is a huge challenge. As proposed by Dahi who is Dubai Police Chief, it requires long term, medium term and short term strategies to reduce foreign workers from any single country to not more than 25 per cent of the UAE population
Dahi regarded as treason the illegal practice of some Emiratis who deal in visas and bring in foreign workers who do not have real jobs.
"These people are traitors ... they cannot be called Emiratis ... They are worse than the brothers of the Prophet Joseph (PBUH), who cast him in the well.
Protecting national identity
The UAE treats its population of mixed nationalities with tolerance as part of its commitment to globalisation as it has a mix of cultures with around 200 nationalities in the UAE, and they coexist in peace.
However, this mix should not affect UAE national identity. Important in making clear that a vital part of making the tolerant UAE work well was for the government to maintain and support the UAE people's own sense of who they are, which is clearly challenged by the large numbers of expatriates in the country.
The community profile [meaning the mix of nationalities in the UAE] is a problem but Emiratis cannot isolate themselves from their surroundings. Emiratis need to work to maintain their identity.
'Social instability'
Other speakers discussed various angles on the emotive issue of protecting the national identity, but none was more outspoken than Maj Gen Dahi Khalfan, Dubai Police Chief.
He deplored the substantial proportion of foreigners in the country, showing pictures of burnt-out buses and shops to illustrate the effects of labour riots in the UAE.
Speaking out against the dangers of social instability created by large foreign minorities, he said, "The biggest challenge to national security is the immigration of large numbers of people. The UAE is at a crossroads."
He spoke in favour of changing the demographic balance so that no nationality is more than 25 per cent of the total population of the country.
During a debate, Shaikh Abdullah disagreed with the comments made by Maj Gen Dahi, saying, "We live in an open and tolerant country. Despite what Dahi said it is the richer with all these elements."
The Emiratis have spoken out on their concerns of great demographic imbalance. Their ketuanan is under threat, if not already so.
Looking at bigger picture, this is an opportunity for Malaysians to fill up the expatriat quota as some nationalities (esp from subcontinent) will be reduced in number. Bring those unemployed graduates to roam the job markets or business opportunities.
And we do not talk about bringing our KETUANAN MELAYU!
Last but not least, so what does it mean to be an Emirati?
"To be the son of this country and to know that this is the land my father and grandfather kept for us," one Emirati says.
(The typical impression however something like, "Rakyat yang kaya, mewah, tidak perlu bekerja, malas, mesti ada villa besar, Toyota Landcruiser, Merc, BMW, ganas di jalanraya dan suka membazir...."
Malaysia Can Learn From Dubai, Good or Bad
I had a conference today on "Lessons Learned" for management of Dubai World group.
It was a once a year event to learn from other subsidiaries or divisions of Dubai World on past year experiences in managing projects, especially not to repeat the same mistakes and to share as well as combine efforts for best practices.
Mind you, Dubai World today is among world's biggest group of companies operating in over 40 countries. Dubai World's investment spans four strategic growth areas of 21st Century commerce namely, Transport & Logistics, Drydocks & Maritime, Urban Development and Investment & Financial Services.
I am honoured to be part of this ever growing conglomerate and was the pioneer staff for its subsidiary, Nakheel, which is now one of the world's leading urban development companies with current portfolios more than USD60 billion.
Growing pains are part and parcel of any organisations. There are a lot of bad decisions, calls and jugdments in the process of getting right solutions. Nobody is perfect and we learn through these experiences to mould or create better developments or other undertakings for human kinds.
Dubai's fast paced developments since year 2000 had attracted world wide attention.
The whole emirate is a big construction site but there are more than that. Dubai's comprehensive planning to be the next world's city is not without faults but they take the risks to change its future. Therefore, we can learn from their endeavours and challenges as most have produced outstanding results. Dubai's success story is phenomenal. Under HH Sheikh Mohamed, the playing fields are now spanning the whole planet in so many directions, sizes, brands and causes. From financial investments, business takeovers/ acquisitions, new urban developments, ports managements, aviation expansions to humanitarian works.
Dubai turns to Singapore for aspirations and inspirations. Both countries lack natural resources and invest in human capital. And we are still lagging behind Singapore in most areas, except corruptions, mismanagement and crimes.
Then again, good or bad experiences, Malaysia can always look to Dubai and benefit from its 'Lessons Learned'. Dubai dares to take risks and is re-writing some unconventional economic theories along the way.
As the calls for Pak Lah's resignation are louder by the day, well, never too late to learn from Dubai!
Thirty-six years after the forging of the UAE, a shrinking minority of Emiratis worry they are losing the very essence of a country they have fought to preserve.
Under relentless globalisation and an influx of expats, Emiratis warn they are at a cultural, social and religious crossroads and desperately need a stronger "national identity" to guide them through the next stage of a young country’s evolution.
National identity – or lack of it – is the newly-emerging touchstone for Emiratis who spoke out over two days in the capital against the growing expatriate population, waning interest in the Arabic language, and the daily assault by modern trends upon long-held Islamic Arabic religious beliefs and traditions.
Low-level trepidation was palpable at the National Identity Conference hosted by the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Community Development which wrapped up late yesterday.
Hundreds of delegates, draped in a sea of white and black national dress, poured into a dimly-lit theatre at The Emirates Palace Hotel in the nation’s capital to hear more than 30 prominent officials lament the mounting losses in the face of a new electronic and economic age.
Impassioned nationalist sentiment was bolstered by a display of the nationally recognised symbol of the falcon splashed across theatre walls and on conference materials.
Head and shoulders above all identity concerns appeared to be the apparent invisibility of Emiratis in a growing tidal wave of foreign workers. Expats from an estimated 150 nations live in a country that was once dominated by more than 80 per cent UAE nationals who now, by unofficial count, make up roughly 20 per cent of the population.
Language Dilemma
Delegates heard that the Arabic language appears to be going out of fashion with younger Emiratis who believe speaking English mirrors fast-paced economic development in the country.
Religious leaders said they are nervous that Islamic teachings are being hijacked by electronic influences upon youth that flood the UAE daily over the television, radio and internet despite efforts by authorities to block so-called offensive content.
Dubai Police Chief Lieutenant General Dahi Khalfan Tamim said he fears that world-record economic progress in the UAE may be a Pyrrhic exercise that needs to be reined in.
"I’m afraid we’re building bridges but we’re losing the Emirates," said panellist Lt Gen Dahi, to thunderous applause, adding that "Emiratis should have a national strategy for increasing the birth rate. So, please marry and give birth."
Too many others
Lt Gen Dahi said it’s been difficult to see the "immigration of a large number of Asians to our streets and squares" and suggested that the country "must remedy or diagnose the disease or the phenomenon".
He lambasted recent labour actions in Dubai noting "that’s where security challenges are very fearful", pointing to some demonstrations for higher pay in which buses, cars and property were torched by labourers.
Not just expatriates with outside views about work and individual rights are threatening the UAE, said Islamic scholar Shaikh Dr Ahmad Al Qubaisi. Western ideas, satellite transmissions and the internet are threatening the Islamic Arab way of life. Islam is "being strangled by so many bad ideas", Al Qubaisi said.
Strike a balance
Foreign Minister Shaikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan clearly differed with calls for tightened immigration policies noting that the UAE "can’t live in isolation on an island".
Shaikh Abdullah said the UAE needs to "stick to our historical background and establish our national identity" but that the country needs to strike a balance to maintain an open and tolerant society.
To build a national identity that accepts other cultures yet respects its own, the UAE citizens must be taught from an early age the merits of preserving Arabic and its literary traditions, said Fatima Al Merri, CEO of the Schools Agency at the Knowledge and Human Development Authority.
"Education officials need to focus on Arabic language as the mother tongue," she said.
Early education in formative years within the home, said Al Merri, should be complemented by efforts at school to hire Emirati teachers who should impart values drawn from a national curriculum for all schools.
Minister of Education Dr Hanif Hassan said that the ministry is focusing on language and tenets of Islam to reinforce national identity. "We are focusing very much on these subjects," he said. "We are focusing on our Islamic belonging."
He played down criticisms that without a nationally standardised educational curriculum, national identity will be hard to implant as compared to an American-styled sense of patriotism. Encouraging the Emirati youth to learn professions needed within the UAE may reduce the high degree of importing external expertise from abroad, Dr Hassan said.
Abdul Aziz Al Ghurair, Speaker of the Federal National Council, said, "We agree that without a national identity, we can’t be a success."
The formation of the FNC in 1972 has helped create "national identity and loyalty", he said.
He added that the elections in December 2006 saw 50 per cent of the representatives elected by the people and that increasingly, the government is asking for its citizens’ comments to better the country.
Minister of State for FNC Affairs Dr Anwar Mohammad Gargash said the federal role will only increase as more people participate in a society that is evolving.
Role of sports
Delegates, meanwhile, listened intently as one of the UAE’s most well-regarded national sports personalities encouraged Emiratis to embrace modern change while maintaining the cultural traditions that have shaped the UAE.
Rally driver Mohammad Ben Sulayem said that sport is an extremely powerful tool that can build national identity, especially among youth. He told XPRESS that several international victories in rally driving at the Gulf Cup and at the Olympics raised national pride.
Media power
Ebrahim Al Abed, Director General of the National Media Council, noted that "media is a key player in creating an identity and, therefore, maintaining it".
He said more needs to be done to attract UAE nationals into the media to "bring the spirit of the country" to reporting in all mediums. The media is needed in the UAE now more than ever, said Al Abed, to gauge a "new country and society that is being exposed to dramatic economic and social change that will affect our identity".
National heritage
Preserving historical architecture is another plank in building national identity, said Rashad Bukhash, Director of General Projects Department at Dubai Municipality. Bukhash noted that historical buildings are "characteristic of our identity" because they are "part of national and international heritage".
Workforce facts
Nearly 90 per cent of workforce in the UAE is foreign (Report from Conference of Asian Labour Ministers held in Abu Dhabi on January 21-22 this year).
Foreign workforce in other GCC States:
Qatar – 83 per cent
Kuwait – 82 per cent
Saudi Arabia – 72 per cent
Bahrain – 55 per cent
Oman – 54 per cent
Dr. M transit di Manchester
Identity call: ‘I am an Emirati’
Thirty-six years after the forging of the UAE, a shrinking minority of Emiratis worry they are losing the very essence of a country they have fought to preserve.Under relentless globalisation and an influx of expats, Emiratis warn they are at a cultural, social and religious crossroads and desperately need a stronger "national identity" to guide them through the next stage of a young country’s evolution.
National identity – or lack of it – is the newly-emerging touchstone for Emiratis who spoke out over two days in the capital against the growing expatriate population, waning interest in the Arabic language, and the daily assault by modern trends upon long-held Islamic Arabic religious beliefs and traditions.
Low-level trepidation was palpable at the National Identity Conference hosted by the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Community Development which wrapped up late yesterday.
Hundreds of delegates, draped in a sea of white and black national dress, poured into a dimly-lit theatre at The Emirates Palace Hotel in the nation’s capital to hear more than 30 prominent officials lament the mounting losses in the face of a new electronic and economic age.
Impassioned nationalist sentiment was bolstered by a display of the nationally recognised symbol of the falcon splashed across theatre walls and on conference materials.
Head and shoulders above all identity concerns appeared to be the apparent invisibility of Emiratis in a growing tidal wave of foreign workers. Expats from an estimated 150 nations live in a country that was once dominated by more than 80 per cent UAE nationals who now, by unofficial count, make up roughly 20 per cent of the population.
Language Dilemma
Delegates heard that the Arabic language appears to be going out of fashion with younger Emiratis who believe speaking English mirrors fast-paced economic development in the country.
Religious leaders said they are nervous that Islamic teachings are being hijacked by electronic influences upon youth that flood the UAE daily over the television, radio and internet despite efforts by authorities to block so-called offensive content.
Dubai Police Chief Lieutenant General Dahi Khalfan Tamim said he fears that world-record economic progress in the UAE may be a Pyrrhic exercise that needs to be reined in.
"I’m afraid we’re building bridges but we’re losing the Emirates," said panellist Lt Gen Dahi, to thunderous applause, adding that "Emiratis should have a national strategy for increasing the birth rate. So, please marry and give birth."
Too many others
Lt Gen Dahi said it’s been difficult to see the "immigration of a large number of Asians to our streets and squares" and suggested that the country "must remedy or diagnose the disease or the phenomenon".
He lambasted recent labour actions in Dubai noting "that’s where security challenges are very fearful", pointing to some demonstrations for higher pay in which buses, cars and property were torched by labourers.
Not just expatriates with outside views about work and individual rights are threatening the UAE, said Islamic scholar Shaikh Dr Ahmad Al Qubaisi. Western ideas, satellite transmissions and the internet are threatening the Islamic Arab way of life. Islam is "being strangled by so many bad ideas", Al Qubaisi said.
Strike a balance
Foreign Minister Shaikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan clearly differed with calls for tightened immigration policies noting that the UAE "can’t live in isolation on an island".
Shaikh Abdullah said the UAE needs to "stick to our historical background and establish our national identity" but that the country needs to strike a balance to maintain an open and tolerant society.
To build a national identity that accepts other cultures yet respects its own, the UAE citizens must be taught from an early age the merits of preserving Arabic and its literary traditions, said Fatima Al Merri, CEO of the Schools Agency at the Knowledge and Human Development Authority.
"Education officials need to focus on Arabic language as the mother tongue," she said.
Early education in formative years within the home, said Al Merri, should be complemented by efforts at school to hire Emirati teachers who should impart values drawn from a national curriculum for all schools.
Minister of Education Dr Hanif Hassan said that the ministry is focusing on language and tenets of Islam to reinforce national identity. "We are focusing very much on these subjects," he said. "We are focusing on our Islamic belonging."
He played down criticisms that without a nationally standardised educational curriculum, national identity will be hard to implant as compared to an American-styled sense of patriotism. Encouraging the Emirati youth to learn professions needed within the UAE may reduce the high degree of importing external expertise from abroad, Dr Hassan said.
Abdul Aziz Al Ghurair, Speaker of the Federal National Council, said, "We agree that without a national identity, we can’t be a success."
The formation of the FNC in 1972 has helped create "national identity and loyalty", he said.
He added that the elections in December 2006 saw 50 per cent of the representatives elected by the people and that increasingly, the government is asking for its citizens’ comments to better the country.
Minister of State for FNC Affairs Dr Anwar Mohammad Gargash said the federal role will only increase as more people participate in a society that is evolving.
Role of sports
Delegates, meanwhile, listened intently as one of the UAE’s most well-regarded national sports personalities encouraged Emiratis to embrace modern change while maintaining the cultural traditions that have shaped the UAE.
Rally driver Mohammad Ben Sulayem said that sport is an extremely powerful tool that can build national identity, especially among youth. He told XPRESS that several international victories in rally driving at the Gulf Cup and at the Olympics raised national pride.
Media power
Ebrahim Al Abed, Director General of the National Media Council, noted that "media is a key player in creating an identity and, therefore, maintaining it".
He said more needs to be done to attract UAE nationals into the media to "bring the spirit of the country" to reporting in all mediums. The media is needed in the UAE now more than ever, said Al Abed, to gauge a "new country and society that is being exposed to dramatic economic and social change that will affect our identity".
National heritage
Preserving historical architecture is another plank in building national identity, said Rashad Bukhash, Director of General Projects Department at Dubai Municipality. Bukhash noted that historical buildings are "characteristic of our identity" because they are "part of national and international heritage".
Workforce facts
Nearly 90 per cent of workforce in the UAE is foreign (Report from Conference of Asian Labour Ministers held in Abu Dhabi on January 21-22 this year).
Foreign workforce in other GCC States:
Qatar – 83 per cent
Kuwait – 82 per cent
Saudi Arabia – 72 per cent
Bahrain – 55 per cent
Oman – 54 per cent
Building on the past
The road is buffeted by wind and sand. Between Tarif and Madinat Zayed, the sky thickens as the coarse grains shoot across the hard surface, wiping out road markings and stinging our eyes even inside the vehicle. As we approach Mezaria’a, the wind drops, the sky clears, the dunes rise and suddenly it is like driving across the ocean. All around us, as far as the eye can see, are wild, undulating mountains of sand. The breeze catches their soaring ridges, splashing dust into the air like water from the crest of a wave. And on the way to the Moreeb Dune, tons of sand have spilt across the middle of the road, forcing drivers to swerve.
At an overnight camp in a desert valley overlooking the great Rub al Khali, or Empty Quarter – a 650,000 square kilometre expanse swallowing a large part of Saudi Arabia, Oman, Yemen and the UAE – my guide, Mubarak, explains the continuing allure of this place and its importance as a place of refuge for Emiratis. “We call it tabiri. It means to be in a natural place with no roads, no buildings and no people. Even though I work and live in Abu Dhabi, I am a Bedouin and to me the desert is like a seven-star hotel. I come here alone or with friends, we go hunting and sleep out. Sometimes I stay for months. I rest very well here.”
Mubarak removes his shoes and we walk to a lookout. The view is spectacular. The landscape is just as inhospitable as it was when Wilfred Thesiger travelled here between 1945 and 1950, and it is hard to imagine there ever being roads, buildings or people living permanently here. Mubarak then receives a series of calls on his mobile phone – the Mazayin Dhafra Camel Festival is under way near Madinat Zayed and he is helping to organise things. He owns some 150 camels, which graze “somewhere near the Saudi border”, but he laughs when I ask if he ever rides them. “Why would I ride a camel when I have an SUV? We use the camels for racing, and for their milk.”
The modern world, it seems, is not totally at odds with traditional Bedouin life. “The things which make our lives better, the things which make it easier, we take,” Mubarak adds. “Things which do not help us, we leave.”This is echoed by Salem al Mazrouei, who was born in Madinat Zayed and is the operations director of the Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture & Heritage (ADACH), which brings visitors to stay at the tented camp between November and March. “It is very important for people to come here to see the importance of the desert in our culture. We are supporting this kind of initiative because maybe people will hear about the desert but they will not know. And if they do not know what it is like, they will not understand us.”
Salem al Mazrouei is talking about the Bedouin mindset, a way of thinking that is adaptive, resilient and open to change, but rooted in tradition. “In Bedouin culture there is always a solution. We try not to have a clash. If my friend says something I don’t like, I try not to be upset. If there has been a mistake, we all try to solve the problem together. We know that the desert is better than a home. We make a fire, make coffee and tea and spend the night as friends. Even as our towns get bigger, we are a part of the desert and we cannot live without it.”
Although they now have roads, electricity, cars, and houses built of concrete in the agricultural settlements in Liwa, the crescent of oases centred around Mezaria’a still looks much as Wilfred Thesiger described them in Arabian Sands: “Palms planted along the salt-flats, close under high steep-sided dunes, and in hollows in the sand.” Although Thesiger was a perceptive observer of the Bedouin and their landscape, he underestimated their character and was wrong about their future. “Even before I left Arabia in 1950, the Iraq Petroleum Company had started to search for oil in the territories of Abu Dhabi and Dubai,” he wrote. “They soon discovered it in enormous quantities, and as a result the life I have described in this book disappeared forever.” In 1977 Thesiger revisited Abu Dhabi, calling it “an Arabian nightmare, the final disillusionment” and stated that “this book remains a memorial to a vanished past, a once magnificent people.”
But at the camel festival at Madinat Zayed, the present is merely the past with modern accoutrements. Here thousands gather from all across the Gulf, business men and some women who one would think the modern world would own completely. But here traditions live on. I joined a convoy of dozens of SUVs which careered across the desert to view a Sheikh’s new camels. When we arrived at the pen, people jumped out of their vehicles before forming a circle, with spontaneous music and dancing. I watched women in dark black burkas - an essential defence against the windswept environment - load piles of handicrafts for sale at the market. And, while some camel traders and visitors stay in tents, I was invited for dinner in a modern version, a concrete bungalow in the middle of the flat plain, complete with bedrooms, chandeliers and air conditioning.
Out on the terrace, in an open-air majlis, or meeting room, dozens of modern Bedouin reclined on cushions, shared food and exchanged traditional greetings with other tribe members. In the tent next door to this building, a Qatari whose camels won him 17 new cars was celebrating into the night with a troupe of live musicians playing traditional Emirati music. I spoke to Rashad ali bin noss al Mansoori, a 32-year-old transport company owner from Alilabanah, a village 30 kilometres from Hameem, a settlement on the easternmost edge of Liwa. One of Mr al-Mansoori’s camels, Alkaida, won this year’s camel beauty competition and as such was labelled the “prettiest camel in the Gulf.” His pride was obvious. “I live for work, and for camels”, Mr al-Mansoori said. “The late Sheikh Zayed said ‘he who has no past has no present and no future’, and he was right. Still to this day all our traditions are still going on and we are still participating.” Other traditional Emirati pastimes include falconry, Arabic dancing and fishing. “These traditions were loved by the ruling families”, al-Mansoori said. “And the reason these traditions continue is because the rulers and Government have supported these sports. These industries make a very good living for local people so no matter how advanced technology becomes, the traditions still survive.” But what does Mr al-Mansoori think of Abu Dhabi, the “Arabian nightmare” described by Thesiger? “I love it”, he says. “Although I still live here in Liwa I am so happy when I see that my town has taken its place in the world in such a short time.”
Abu Dhabi, of course, has cultural plans that would have made Thesiger quake. In four year’s time, Saadiyat Island alone will boast a vast new cultural district containing five state-of-the-art venues, including the Lourve Abu Dhabi, a branch of the Guggenheim, designed by Frank Gehry, a performing Arts Centre by Zaha Hadid, a Maritime Museum and the Sheikh Zayed National Museum. But all of this is not just about making Abu Dhabi a new tourist or arts centre. It is about making Abu Dhabi the cultural headquarters of the Middle East and an attempt to stimulate a new international cultural awareness through the acquisition and display of cutting-edge modern art. At the exhibition of the plans at the Emirates Palace Hotel, the Gehry partners cite Abu Dhabi as a unique coming together of cultural awareness and financial resources.
“The landscape, the opportunities, the requirement to build something that people from all over the world would come to and the possible resource to accomplish it opened tracks that were not likely to be considered anywhere else.” Similar limitless ambition is on show from the makers of the Louvre, who boast that the museum will “span every geographical area and every historical artistic period.”Yet the biggest challenge facing Abu Dhabi is not how to build the cultural future. It is about maintaining the cultural identity necessary to sustain such projects amid the constant pressures of globalisation. Research recently commissioned by ADACH suggested that Abu Dhabi’s young people were seriously at risk of losing their identity through the fast pace of development. The increasing use of English has led some Emirati students to require remedial classes in Arabic and children raised by foreign nannies and increasing exposure to television has prompted local education councils to involve teachers in workshops to bring Emirati culture and heritage onto the school curriculum. Bassem Kudsi, a spokesman for the ADACH, said “failure was not an option” when it came to preserving the nation’s cultural identity. “The world is now a family of nations, but unless you have your own traditions, you will all become vanilla flavour. We are very proud of our culture and heritage, and if we allow our traditions to die out we will have nothing to offer. We cannot develop at the expense of our history.”
One of those charged with teaching Emirati culture is Jane Bristol-Rhys, professor of anthropology at Zayed University. She said there was a “surprising lack of interest” in Saadiyat Island from young people. “You have to remember that when Abu Dhabi was built, it was built around the immediate needs of the oil industry and the people: roads, hospitals, houses, airports, banks and schools. People are not used to having such museums and art galleries. When I take people to see the exhibition at the Emirates Palace it isn’t a case of them saying ‘wow, they’re building a Guggenheim here’, but ‘what’s a Guggenheim? But it’s a learning curve. Once it’s here, they’ll go. We’re building up the momentum and I’m particularly excited about the performing arts centre, which will showcase music and song, which people do connect with now.”
Currently teaching a course on the architecture of the region, Bristol-Rhys says the Emiratis needed to guard against a patronising and tasteless rendering of the country’s culture. “Some of the stuff that is marketed as Emirati culture is truly hideous”, she said. “When we look at the stuff that is sold to tourists, we get pictures of camels, coffee pots, baskets and those horrible scale models of Bedouin encampments. I’ve even seen these salt and pepper shakers where the pepper is shaped like a woman in a black abaya and the man is the salt, dressed in white. They call it the sheikh and sheikha. The danger is that it is much easier to put these things out there than to look a little deeper.”
Through the study of Emirati building styles, the architecture of mosques the translation of traditional poetry and the performance of dance, Bristol-Rhys encourages her students to look at their heritage in context. She cites the importance of family networks and the enthusiasm for the national dress as evidence that traditions are still very much alive. “Languages everywhere are changing, and some are under threat but most of my students are incredibly proud of their Arabic and they are always telling me that mine is not up to snuff. Yes, some vocabulary is being lost but languages are not static. Two new volumes about the Khaleej, the Gulf dialect, have just been published. When people are concerned about heritage and culture they sometimes over-react, and they try to preserve it in some kind of aspic, but this is exactly the opposite of what made these people so resilient.”
Just as Wilfred Thesiger mistakenly feared that “the traditional Bedu way of life had been irrevocably destroyed by the introduction of motor transport, helicopters and aeroplanes”, Bristol-Rhys thinks the Emirates should beware of outside prejudices obscuring an obvious and uniquely Emirati approach to cultural change. “In general people here are very well educated. Emiratis had to be very adaptive and accommodating to survive here in the old days and now they don’t see any disconnect between the modern world and their traditions. Cultural heritage is kept alive in families, and I have seen from the closeness of families and the way people treat their elders that the family network is still very strong. These are an adaptive and resilient people, and they have great pride in their past.”
By George Rafael
A is for algebra
B is for backgammon
E is for equestrian
F is for Fitzgerald
J is for jihad
L is for latte
Q is for Qasim
R is for religious tolerance and racial equality
X is for Xenophon
Y is for the yearning one (el taleb)
Z is for zero
At an overnight camp in a desert valley overlooking the great Rub al Khali, or Empty Quarter – a 650,000 square kilometre expanse swallowing a large part of Saudi Arabia, Oman, Yemen and the UAE – my guide, Mubarak, explains the continuing allure of this place and its importance as a place of refuge for Emiratis. “We call it tabiri. It means to be in a natural place with no roads, no buildings and no people. Even though I work and live in Abu Dhabi, I am a Bedouin and to me the desert is like a seven-star hotel. I come here alone or with friends, we go hunting and sleep out. Sometimes I stay for months. I rest very well here.”
Mubarak removes his shoes and we walk to a lookout. The view is spectacular. The landscape is just as inhospitable as it was when Wilfred Thesiger travelled here between 1945 and 1950, and it is hard to imagine there ever being roads, buildings or people living permanently here. Mubarak then receives a series of calls on his mobile phone – the Mazayin Dhafra Camel Festival is under way near Madinat Zayed and he is helping to organise things. He owns some 150 camels, which graze “somewhere near the Saudi border”, but he laughs when I ask if he ever rides them. “Why would I ride a camel when I have an SUV? We use the camels for racing, and for their milk.”
The modern world, it seems, is not totally at odds with traditional Bedouin life. “The things which make our lives better, the things which make it easier, we take,” Mubarak adds. “Things which do not help us, we leave.”This is echoed by Salem al Mazrouei, who was born in Madinat Zayed and is the operations director of the Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture & Heritage (ADACH), which brings visitors to stay at the tented camp between November and March. “It is very important for people to come here to see the importance of the desert in our culture. We are supporting this kind of initiative because maybe people will hear about the desert but they will not know. And if they do not know what it is like, they will not understand us.”
Salem al Mazrouei is talking about the Bedouin mindset, a way of thinking that is adaptive, resilient and open to change, but rooted in tradition. “In Bedouin culture there is always a solution. We try not to have a clash. If my friend says something I don’t like, I try not to be upset. If there has been a mistake, we all try to solve the problem together. We know that the desert is better than a home. We make a fire, make coffee and tea and spend the night as friends. Even as our towns get bigger, we are a part of the desert and we cannot live without it.”
Although they now have roads, electricity, cars, and houses built of concrete in the agricultural settlements in Liwa, the crescent of oases centred around Mezaria’a still looks much as Wilfred Thesiger described them in Arabian Sands: “Palms planted along the salt-flats, close under high steep-sided dunes, and in hollows in the sand.” Although Thesiger was a perceptive observer of the Bedouin and their landscape, he underestimated their character and was wrong about their future. “Even before I left Arabia in 1950, the Iraq Petroleum Company had started to search for oil in the territories of Abu Dhabi and Dubai,” he wrote. “They soon discovered it in enormous quantities, and as a result the life I have described in this book disappeared forever.” In 1977 Thesiger revisited Abu Dhabi, calling it “an Arabian nightmare, the final disillusionment” and stated that “this book remains a memorial to a vanished past, a once magnificent people.”
But at the camel festival at Madinat Zayed, the present is merely the past with modern accoutrements. Here thousands gather from all across the Gulf, business men and some women who one would think the modern world would own completely. But here traditions live on. I joined a convoy of dozens of SUVs which careered across the desert to view a Sheikh’s new camels. When we arrived at the pen, people jumped out of their vehicles before forming a circle, with spontaneous music and dancing. I watched women in dark black burkas - an essential defence against the windswept environment - load piles of handicrafts for sale at the market. And, while some camel traders and visitors stay in tents, I was invited for dinner in a modern version, a concrete bungalow in the middle of the flat plain, complete with bedrooms, chandeliers and air conditioning.
Out on the terrace, in an open-air majlis, or meeting room, dozens of modern Bedouin reclined on cushions, shared food and exchanged traditional greetings with other tribe members. In the tent next door to this building, a Qatari whose camels won him 17 new cars was celebrating into the night with a troupe of live musicians playing traditional Emirati music. I spoke to Rashad ali bin noss al Mansoori, a 32-year-old transport company owner from Alilabanah, a village 30 kilometres from Hameem, a settlement on the easternmost edge of Liwa. One of Mr al-Mansoori’s camels, Alkaida, won this year’s camel beauty competition and as such was labelled the “prettiest camel in the Gulf.” His pride was obvious. “I live for work, and for camels”, Mr al-Mansoori said. “The late Sheikh Zayed said ‘he who has no past has no present and no future’, and he was right. Still to this day all our traditions are still going on and we are still participating.” Other traditional Emirati pastimes include falconry, Arabic dancing and fishing. “These traditions were loved by the ruling families”, al-Mansoori said. “And the reason these traditions continue is because the rulers and Government have supported these sports. These industries make a very good living for local people so no matter how advanced technology becomes, the traditions still survive.” But what does Mr al-Mansoori think of Abu Dhabi, the “Arabian nightmare” described by Thesiger? “I love it”, he says. “Although I still live here in Liwa I am so happy when I see that my town has taken its place in the world in such a short time.”
Abu Dhabi, of course, has cultural plans that would have made Thesiger quake. In four year’s time, Saadiyat Island alone will boast a vast new cultural district containing five state-of-the-art venues, including the Lourve Abu Dhabi, a branch of the Guggenheim, designed by Frank Gehry, a performing Arts Centre by Zaha Hadid, a Maritime Museum and the Sheikh Zayed National Museum. But all of this is not just about making Abu Dhabi a new tourist or arts centre. It is about making Abu Dhabi the cultural headquarters of the Middle East and an attempt to stimulate a new international cultural awareness through the acquisition and display of cutting-edge modern art. At the exhibition of the plans at the Emirates Palace Hotel, the Gehry partners cite Abu Dhabi as a unique coming together of cultural awareness and financial resources.
“The landscape, the opportunities, the requirement to build something that people from all over the world would come to and the possible resource to accomplish it opened tracks that were not likely to be considered anywhere else.” Similar limitless ambition is on show from the makers of the Louvre, who boast that the museum will “span every geographical area and every historical artistic period.”Yet the biggest challenge facing Abu Dhabi is not how to build the cultural future. It is about maintaining the cultural identity necessary to sustain such projects amid the constant pressures of globalisation. Research recently commissioned by ADACH suggested that Abu Dhabi’s young people were seriously at risk of losing their identity through the fast pace of development. The increasing use of English has led some Emirati students to require remedial classes in Arabic and children raised by foreign nannies and increasing exposure to television has prompted local education councils to involve teachers in workshops to bring Emirati culture and heritage onto the school curriculum. Bassem Kudsi, a spokesman for the ADACH, said “failure was not an option” when it came to preserving the nation’s cultural identity. “The world is now a family of nations, but unless you have your own traditions, you will all become vanilla flavour. We are very proud of our culture and heritage, and if we allow our traditions to die out we will have nothing to offer. We cannot develop at the expense of our history.”
One of those charged with teaching Emirati culture is Jane Bristol-Rhys, professor of anthropology at Zayed University. She said there was a “surprising lack of interest” in Saadiyat Island from young people. “You have to remember that when Abu Dhabi was built, it was built around the immediate needs of the oil industry and the people: roads, hospitals, houses, airports, banks and schools. People are not used to having such museums and art galleries. When I take people to see the exhibition at the Emirates Palace it isn’t a case of them saying ‘wow, they’re building a Guggenheim here’, but ‘what’s a Guggenheim? But it’s a learning curve. Once it’s here, they’ll go. We’re building up the momentum and I’m particularly excited about the performing arts centre, which will showcase music and song, which people do connect with now.”
Currently teaching a course on the architecture of the region, Bristol-Rhys says the Emiratis needed to guard against a patronising and tasteless rendering of the country’s culture. “Some of the stuff that is marketed as Emirati culture is truly hideous”, she said. “When we look at the stuff that is sold to tourists, we get pictures of camels, coffee pots, baskets and those horrible scale models of Bedouin encampments. I’ve even seen these salt and pepper shakers where the pepper is shaped like a woman in a black abaya and the man is the salt, dressed in white. They call it the sheikh and sheikha. The danger is that it is much easier to put these things out there than to look a little deeper.”
Through the study of Emirati building styles, the architecture of mosques the translation of traditional poetry and the performance of dance, Bristol-Rhys encourages her students to look at their heritage in context. She cites the importance of family networks and the enthusiasm for the national dress as evidence that traditions are still very much alive. “Languages everywhere are changing, and some are under threat but most of my students are incredibly proud of their Arabic and they are always telling me that mine is not up to snuff. Yes, some vocabulary is being lost but languages are not static. Two new volumes about the Khaleej, the Gulf dialect, have just been published. When people are concerned about heritage and culture they sometimes over-react, and they try to preserve it in some kind of aspic, but this is exactly the opposite of what made these people so resilient.”
Just as Wilfred Thesiger mistakenly feared that “the traditional Bedu way of life had been irrevocably destroyed by the introduction of motor transport, helicopters and aeroplanes”, Bristol-Rhys thinks the Emirates should beware of outside prejudices obscuring an obvious and uniquely Emirati approach to cultural change. “In general people here are very well educated. Emiratis had to be very adaptive and accommodating to survive here in the old days and now they don’t see any disconnect between the modern world and their traditions. Cultural heritage is kept alive in families, and I have seen from the closeness of families and the way people treat their elders that the family network is still very strong. These are an adaptive and resilient people, and they have great pride in their past.”
A is for Arabs
From algebra and coffee to guitars, optics and universities -- an alphabetical reminder of what the West owes to the People of the Crescent Moon.
By George Rafael
Even before Sept. 11 forced the West to face the cultural friction between it and the Arab/Islamic world, there was an unwarranted sense of superiority. The renowned Italian journalist and interviewer Oriana Fallaci wrote Arab culture off as a few interesting architectural flourishes and the Quran. Apparently, it's easy to forget that history is cyclical and the roles were once reversed. A millennium ago, while the West was shrouded in darkness, Islam enjoyed a golden age. Lighting in the streets of Cordoba when London was a barbarous pit; religious tolerance in Toledo while pogroms raged from York to Vienna. As custodians of our classical legacy, Arabs were midwives to our Renaissance. Their influence, however alien it might seem, has always been with us, whether it's a cup of steaming hot Joe or the algorithms in computer programs. A little magnanimity is called for.
A is for algebra
From "al-jabr," Arabic for "restoration," itself a transliteration of a Latin term, and just one of many contributions Arab mathematicians have made to the "Queen of Sciences." Al-Khwarizmi (c.780-c.850), the chief librarian of the observatory, research center and library called the House of Wisdom in Baghdad, was the man responsible for making my life miserable at school. The motivation behind his treatise, "Hisab al-jabr w'al-muqabala" ("Calculation by Restoration and Reduction": widely used up to the 17th century), which covers linear and quadratic equations, was to solve trade imbalances, inheritance questions and problems arising from land surveyance and allocation. In passing, he also introduced into common usage our present numerical system, which replaced the old, cumbersome Roman one. Al-Karaji of Baghdad (953-c.1029), founder of a highly influential school of algebraic thought, defined higher powers and their reciprocals in his "al-Fakhri" and showed how to find their products. He also looked at polynomials and gave the rule for expanding a binomial, anticipating Pascal's triangle by more than six centuries. Arab syntheses of Babylonian, Indian and Greek concepts also led to important developments in arithmetic, trigonometry (the algorithm, for instance, thanks to al-Khwarizmi) and spherical geometry.
B is for backgammon
Sheshbesh is what it's called in Beirut and Cairo, whence the savviest players hail. Although this beautiful waste of time dates back to the pharaohs, the form we enjoy today came to us via Moorish Spain in the 10th century. Ghioul and moultezim are two other variants of "the game of kings," popular wherever the happy hookah is indulged.
C is for cough medicine
C is for cough medicine
Necessity being the mother of invention, the Arabs were the first to distill water, for long journeys across areas (such as the Sahara) where supplies were uncertain. Their experiments with various chemical compounds also gave us ethanol alcohol, sulfuric acid, ammonia (have you ever noticed the uncanny resemblance between Mr. Clean and the genie in "Thief of Baghdad"?) and mercury. In applied chemistry they discovered better and more efficient ways for tanning leather and forging metals. Messing around with mortars and pestles produced camphor, pomades and syrups.
D is for Dante
D is for Dante
Her countryman Silvio Berlusconi echoed Fallaci's ill-spoken sentiments that, on the whole, Western civilization was superior to that of Islam. She said she was quite happy with Dante, thank you very much. She spoke too soon. Though the theory has long incited fierce debate, Dante may have been acquainted with "ascension literature," a fantastical literary genre that deals with Mohammed's ascent to Heaven (using a spiraling, magical ladder; ascension literature is still popular in the Middle East and Africa). Dante was undoubtedly acquainted with Avicenna and Averroes ("who made the great commentary"), assigned as they are to that benign circle of the Inferno reserved for pagan and non-Christian worthies known as Limbo.
Moreover, according to the dean of Arabic literary studies, the formidable Robert Irwin, "a full understanding of the writings of Voltaire, Dickens, Melville, Proust and Borges, or indeed of the origins of science fiction, is impossible without some familiarity with the stories of the Arabian Nights." Aladdin, Sinbad the Sailor, Ali Baba and Scheherazade, archetypes each and every one, are honorary members of the Western canon. The mock, allegorical travelogues and cautionary tales of Montesquieu, Voltaire, Johnson and other 18th-century writers and philosophes, are inconceivable without the garrulous, wayward conceits of "The Arabian Nights." They're detectable as well in the parodic chivalry of Don Quixote and in Calvino's postmodern children's fable "Marcovaldo."
E is for equestrian
Although the ancestors of Mr. Ed and Secretariat probably originated in Central Asia (with the "Heavenly Horses" of the King of Ferghana), our equine friends were first bred for speed in the desert sands of the Empty Quarter. Arab historian al-Kelbi (c. 786) traced the Arabian to the pedigreed horses of Bax, great-great-great grandson of Noah. The conquest of the Arabian Peninsula, North Africa and Spain was due in no small part to the aptly named beast (and the indefatigable camel), mount of choice for the tribesmen who swept all in their path. The descendents of these terrible swift steeds were brought to the New World by the Conquistadors, to devastating effect, particularly in ancient Peru where the Incas mistook the horsemen for gods. (By the time they learned the truth it was too late.) Appropriately enough, the largest and most successful stable today belongs to Sheikh Maktoum of Dubai.
F is for Fitzgerald
Edward, translator of that beloved chestnut of yore, "The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam" (a jug of wine, a loaf of bread -- and thou). My concern here, of course, is not with Fitzgerald, nice duffer though he was, but with Khayyam himself (1048-1131) -- gifted physician, Persian bard and geometer extraordinaire. In his seminal "Algebra" he attempted a fusion of algebraic and geometric methods, discussing the solution of cubic equations by geometric means, anticipating analytical geometry. (Descartes took up this thread 500 years later, though it's unlikely he knew Khayyam's work.) Khayyam also dabbled in astronomy, his lunar calculations leading him to reform the calendar in 1079 (there are references to this throughout the Rubaiyat). Furthermore, Islamic astronomers invented the pendulum, improved upon the sundial, prognosticated the existence of sunspots and studied eclipses and comets. And al-Biruni calculated the length of the solar year to within 24 seconds and discussed the earth's rotation on its axis -- 500 years before Galileo. Arabian and Islamic astronomers also constructed the first observatories, in Toledo, Cordoba, Baghdad and Cairo.
G is for guitar
If the Moors had known they would be responsible for the spectacle of Mick Jagger shaking his scrawny ass onstage into his late 50s, they might have thought twice about schlepping the early prototypes of the instruments that make up the typical rock band to Spain and Southern Italy. Percussion in the form of cymbals and timpani, bowed instruments, the lute (from "al-ud," the wood; see "The Buena Vista Social Club" for more), the Spanish guitar (or guitarra morisca as it was originally called 800 years ago), the zither (brought west from Greece), the dulcimer began keeping the neighbors awake as early as the 9th century. There's also that unique Near Eastern sound and rhythm, which, aside from early Spanish music, made itself felt in 18th-century classical music, most famously in Mozart's "The Abduction from the Seraglio." (Turkish things were so "in" then. Witness all those wonderfully exotic 18th-century Venetian scenes by Longhi and Reynolds' costumed, turbaned toffs.) Miles Davis accented the "Oriental," Near Eastern strain in his "Sketches of Spain." The godfather of world music, Davis incorporated Middle Eastern elements into his fusion of jazz and rock in the late '60s and '70s. Nowadays nobody thinks twice about such hybridization.
H is for "Havi"
Expanding on the legacy of the Greek physician and philosopher Galen was Rhazes (c. 865-c. 930), the greatest doctor of the Middle Ages. His extensive medical treatise in nine volumes, "Havi" ("The Virtuous Life"), was used as a textbook in the Sorbonne as late as 1395. In addition to case studies and clinical reports that still have anecdotal interest, Rhazes also wrote a celebrated monograph on smallpox. (Knock wood.)
I is for Ibn Khaldun of Tunis (1332-1406)
He invented the scientific study of history (and, indirectly it could be argued, sociology) centuries before the French Enlightenment, Hegel, Weber and Braudel. His "Muqaddimah" ("The Prolegomena"), the introduction to a general survey of Islamic history with a specific focus on North Africa, was begun in 1377 and updated several times to account for sociopolitical changes. In it, he attempts to order the raw material and outward phenomena of history under basic principles.
"Human society in its various manifestations shows certain inherent features by which all narratives must be controlled ... The historian who relies solely upon tradition and who has no thorough understanding of the principles governing the normal course of events, the fundamental rules of the art of government, the nature of civilization and the characteristics of human society is seldom secure against straying from the highway of truth ... All traditional narratives must invariably be referred back to general principles and controlled by reference to fundamental rules."
Of Olympian detachment, Ibn Khaldun was less prone than most historians, then and now, to fiddle the books and force facts to fit preconceived theories. He saw that the course of history is governed by the balance of two forces, which for him were the nomadic and the settled life. He identified history with civilization and, having established this theory, expounded in minute detail upon civilization in all its religious, administrative, economic, artistic and scientific layers.
Of Olympian detachment, Ibn Khaldun was less prone than most historians, then and now, to fiddle the books and force facts to fit preconceived theories. He saw that the course of history is governed by the balance of two forces, which for him were the nomadic and the settled life. He identified history with civilization and, having established this theory, expounded in minute detail upon civilization in all its religious, administrative, economic, artistic and scientific layers.
Ibn Khaldun briefly made headlines in the early 1980s, when President Reagan quoted him in a speech. His name mystified the White House press corps, driving them to their encyclopedias to bone up on this Ibn guy; within hours they were speaking knowledgeably of him. As an undergraduate at the time, I was taking a yearlong seminar entitled "Oriental Humanities." One of our assigned texts in the Arabian section was "Muqqadimah." Professor Meskill, an old China hand, informed us of the Great Communicator's "erudition." We all had a good laugh.
J is for jihad
This word, which has been misinterpreted as "religious war" but really means "an effort" or "striving," is one of many Arabic words that have entered the English language. Besides mullah and ayatollah, which have also acquired pejorative connotations, a partial list of Arabic words or derivatives thereof includes: alcohol, orange, coffee, sofa, caravan, tariff (from Tarifa -- the village through which the Moors invaded Spain, near Gibraltar), citrus, lemon, alembic, algebra, chess, sugar, cataract, magazine, seraphim, arsenal (also the name of a London soccer club, Osama bin Laden's favorite, appropriately enough), apricot, sandal, Satan (from "Shaitan," the Evil One), rice (from "al-ruzz"), sherbet and sorbet, talisman, artichoke, rack (from "arrack," perspiration, also the name of the fiery spirit, raqi; wrack your brains on that one), almanac, alcove, albatross (from "al-kadas," which the Portuguese corrupted into "alcatraz"; now what would the author of "Kubla Khan" make of that?), castle (from "alcazar"), albacore, Abyssinia, ginger, ghoul, zircon (from which we derive "jargon," one being a mixture of stones, the other of tongues), banana (from "banan," finger or toes), nadir, zenith, cipher, zero and monsoon (from "mausim," or season).
K is for kebab
Next time you're munching on a Nathans, or, in my case, disputing the nutritional value of chorizo with the missus, you have the Moor to thank. Cured meats and sausages and the humble kebab, usually lamb or beef (never pork), were among the culinary delights that came to Europe via Islamic Spain. Likewise the hotter spices and spicier condiments. The Moors were also the first to crystallize sugar (which they also brought to Europe).
L is for latte
As you sip one of those wimpy, froufrou confections in Starbucks, think about this: Arabica. Yes, the humble coffee bean. First cultivated and brewed as rocket fuel by Yemeni tribesman way back when -- though it's disputed whether the beans were transplanted from Abyssinia (Ethiopia) to the Arabian Peninsula or whether it was the other way around. As an afterthought, we might not now have this plague of Starbucks and chi-chi cafes were it not for the Ottoman Turks, the Viennese getting the clever idea of the coffeehouse from them in the late 17th century.
M is for mosque
Funny, thinking about what Oriana Fallaci said earlier, the architectural flourish commonly attributed to the Moors, the curved arch, was actually copied from the Visigoths in Spain. Byzantine art and architecture, above all the Hagia Sophia in what was then Constantinople, had a profound influence on Islamic builders and artisans. However, it's the humble church steeple (via the mighty cathedral tower) that has an Islamic antecedent, the minaret.
N is for navigation
Without Arabian improvements upon the compass, the astrolabe, nautical maps and seaworthy lanterns, Magellan, Cabot, Vasco da Gama, Columbus, et al., might have had trouble pulling anchor and leaving port. The Arabs also pioneered the usage of hydraulic presses and water clocks, which tracked the passage of time and phases of the moon.
O is for optics
The concept of camera obscura, which is indispensable to the later development of photography, was first suggested in "The Treatise on Optics," by Hassan Ali Aitan (963-1009).
P is for paradise
Consider the varieties of roses -- the damask and the gallica, to name the two most common -- brought to Europe through Spain and Southern Italy by the Moor. Perhaps a rose is a rose is a rose, but what signifies here is where they're planted, and to Islamic sages and poets, gardens were symbolic of the paradise to come, a "blue green" paradise, blue for water, naturally, and green for greenery. The word "paradise" is of Persian origin ("paradaeza"); it literally means garden. Paradise as a garden or pleasure ground with swaying houris (heavenly handmaidens), the one that's promised to good male Muslims, figures heavily in the Quran, in contrast to Genesis where the Garden of Eden is a paradise lost. (And there are no houris in the Old Testament and definitely none in the New; is it any wonder Islam won so many converts?)
Q is for Qasim
Can you name the mystical Sufi poet who inspired Spiritual Girl Madonna to whirl like a dervish in "Speed of Light"? The one who is beloved by Demi Moore, quoted by Deepak Chopra and read by New Age ninnies from Beverly Hills to Notting Hill? (None of this, incidentally, should be held against him.) A Persian of Greek descent, who's up there in the Persian pantheon with Attar, Firdausi, Hafiz, Khayyam and Sadi? OK, OK, you know already: It's Jalad'din , but actually before him there was another, more carnal Rumi. Ibn al-Rumi (836-896) was an expansive, unforgettable, larger than life figure, Walt Whitman and Dylan Thomas rolled into one. He was magnificently ugly, unkempt and unwashed, pugnacious and ferociously sarcastic ("Those who kiss ass shouldn't complain of wind"), promiscuous, gluttonous, bibulous, blasphemous and irredeemably bohemian -- and he wondered why he couldn't get a position at court. And Qasim, you ask? He was the Caliph's vizier, who, fearful of the poet's wicked tongue, graciously poisoned him at supper. Rumi, though, had the last laugh. Upon quaffing the fatal potion and having a good burp, Rumi rose to leave. Qasim asked where he was off to, and Rumi replied he was going where the vizier had sent him. "In that case, convey my greetings to my father," Qasim said, thinking himself very witty. "I am not going to the fires of hell," Rumi replied. (Well, I needed something for Q.)
R is for religious tolerance and racial equality
Yes, hard as that might be for some to believe, Islam was the first major religion, certainly the first monotheistic one, to practice religious tolerance. Not that Muslim tribesmen didn't put to the sword those who refused to convert -- they committed their fair share of well-documented massacres early on -- but military success came so swiftly to them and on such a vast scale, that they found themselves burdened with an empire, and needed all the help they could get from their cleverer subjects to run it. They were, after all, warriors, not administrators. As rulers they were lenient, even generous (unlike the Germanic tribes that ravaged the late Roman Empire). Besides, Jews and Christians were "People of the Book" -- Islam borrowed much from its elders; Abraham, Moses and Christ are recognized prophets in the Koran -- and as long as they paid their tithe to the Caliph and kept out of trouble, they were free to do as they wished (the Zoroastrians in Persia were treated in similar fashion). "Holy Toledo," the meeting point of the three great religions, became a model of religious tolerance and harmony -- an idyll that ended when the Christian kings of the north recaptured it in 1085.
(Until the rise of Holland in the 17th century, if you were Jewish it was generally better for your overall health and well-being to live in Muslim lands such as North Africa, the Levant or Turkey than almost anywhere in Christendom, particularly those places where Catholicism prevailed. French missionaries are to blame for introducing the virus of anti-Semitism to the Middle East in the 19th century.) Of the three great thinkers who flourished under Islamic rule, one was non-Muslim, Maimonides of Cordoba (1135-1204), author of "The Guide for the Perplexed," who was Jewish. Like Avicenna and his fellow Cordoban, Averroes, Maimonides attempted to reconcile Aristotelian philosophy with religious belief. He died in Alexandria, where he founded the great synagogue.
Regarding race, Islam is colorblind, which came as a surprise to Malcolm X on his pilgrimage to Mecca, where he found himself worshipping alongside blond-haired, blue-eyed white devils. Unlike Christianity, which justified racial slavery (blacks were inferior, less than human and so forth) by citing Ham in the Old Testament, Islam emphasized the equality of man before the eyes of God, whether black or white, rich or poor, man or woman. But, as we all know, what is preached isn't necessarily what is practiced. The cruel irony of Malcolm X's revelation, which challenged his ideas and changed the course of his life, was that he had it in a country that didn't abolish slavery until 1973. (Slavery exists today, despite claims to the contrary, in Mauritania and in the Sudan, both Muslim nations, the latter a fundamentalist state that has prosecuted a genocidal war against its southern, African half for more than 20 years. None of this, of course, was brought up at the United Nations conference on slavery in September.) And although the British, Dutch and Portuguese dominated the Atlantic slave trade in Caryl Philips' "Atlantic Sound," the Arabs held a firm whip hand in East Africa, built entire ports and cities devoted solely to that very profitable end, and played a significant role as middlemen throughout the continent. Still, it is good to know that Islam is colorblind.
S is for shatranj
modern chess originated in Northern India in the 7th century A.D., where it was called chaturanga, it was introduced to Spain and Sicily a century later by Moorish invaders and Saracen traders. Shatranj, which means "king's game" (shah tranj), differs slightly from the game we know today, in that instead of a queen there was a firzan, and in place of the bishop there was a fil (of course). The game was slower, with pawns allowed to advance but one square in the opening and no castling allowed. Victory came from checkmate (from the Persian, "Shah mat," the King is lost or helpless), stalemate or a "bare king" (the king alone, like Richard III at Bosworth Field). Some caliphs played "living chess" -- human pieces, slaves or prisoners -- the downside for the participants being possible decapitation if one was captured. As depicted by the Elizabethan playwright Christopher Marlowe, Tamburlaine -- in real life infamous for the Sack of Baghdad in which a million people died -- was fond of this pastime.
T is for turban
Let's face it, the turban, the burnoose, that wild and crazy Arafat thingy the college kids love to wear, whatever you wish to call it, is a brilliant fashion accessory. Imagine Edith Sitwell, Audrey Hepburn or David Hume without theirs; you can't, can you? With a little bit of water moistened about the inside you have a portable air conditioner. The turban was an early instance of form following function, though I have a feeling Sitwell, Hepburn and Hume were unaware of all this. Speaking of turbans, you need the right setting for one, too, something out of an odalisque by Ingres or Matisse: muslin, damask, chintz to cover sofas and pillows -- Moorish appurtenances on which to seat your little keester and to rest your weary head -- while being fanned by eunuchs, of course.
U is for university
The concept of the university originated with the madrassas, which were centers devoted to religious instruction, as they are in considerably less cosmopolitan forms in Muslim nations today. The first madrassas in Spain, in Malaga, Zaragoza and Cordoba, which later evolved into universities, started in the 11th century. The foundation of Damascus University dates back to the 8th century.
V is for venetian glass
Venetian glass blowers, famed for their miraculously intricate and delicate creations, learned their secrets from the Arabs (and went on to monopolize the glass trade for centuries). Islamic artisans and craftsmen, renowned for their ceramics, armory and masonry, made a deep impression on their Spanish, French and Italian counterparts. One could easily compose an alphabet of objects, decorative and otherwise, from Aubusson tapestries to the engravings on Zildjian cymbals, that bear traces of Arabic and Islamic design and calligraphy.
W is for watermelon
This is just one of the many crops the Arabs introduced to the West. Others include artichokes, rice, cotton, asparagus, oranges (from "naranj"), lemons, limes, figs, dates, spinach and eggplants. Arab methods of irrigation, which made the desert bloom, are still utilized today in North Africa and the Iberian Peninsula, as are the wells and aqueducts they built.
X is for Xenophon
Have you heard of him? Friend of Socrates and Plato, guest at the Symposium, author of a treatise on horses (the Hippike), Xenophon, in truth, was a bit of bore. Nevertheless, we're better off for knowing him because of the company he kept. Aristotle was a special favorite of Islamic scholars and thinkers such as Avicenna and Averroes, particularly for his "Ethics." Much of what remains of the Greek classics was salvaged, translated -- into classical Arabic, Hebrew, Latin, Persian and vernacular languages such as Castillian -- and interpreted under the aegis of the Arabs, with non-Muslims, anonymous scribes and great thinkers alike playing their parts (Maimonides comes to mind). Contrary to popular belief, it was Christian fanatics who sacked the Great Library of Alexandria (they followed up with a pogrom), decades before Muhammad was born.
Y is for the yearning one (el taleb)
Like Scotsmen and their kilts, there's more going on under those burqas than you might think. El taleb, or "the yearning one," is one of the 46 different kinds of vulvae described in the ninth chapter of the Arabian equivalent of "The Kama Sutra," "The Perfumed Garden of the Shaykh Nefzawi," translated by my favorite roaming Brit (a very short list, that), the randy Sir Richard Burton. "This vagina is met with in a few women only. With some it is natural; with others it becomes what it is by long abstinence. It is burning for a member, and having got one in its embrace, it refuses to part with it until its fire is completely extinguished"; talk about vagina monologues. (Note, fair ladies, there's a similar chapter on male equipment.) Other chapters deal with the act of generation, with praiseworthy men and women, with contemptible men and women, with positions other than the missionary (mullah position, anyone?), with arousal techniques, with impotence and sterility, with pregnancy, and so on and so forth. In contrast to the early Christians, the Arabs had a refreshing view of sex -- it was for pleasure, too, not just procreation.
Z is for zero
From "zefira," or cipher. Nought, nothing, nil. What a concept. Carried over from India to the West by the Arabs. Less than zero? Well, you're getting into negative numbers there ...
Dr M Terbang jumpa Fidel Castro
Dr. M transit di ManchesterSeorang rakan black 14 merakamkan pertemuan dengan Dr. M sewaktu transit (ambil minyak) di Manchester dalam perjalanan ke Cuba, untuk jumpa Fidel Castro.
Baca di sini.
Sementara itu Huzair Sulaiman menulis di STAR mengenai 'Mahathir Years'.
Kali pertama saya bertemu Dr. M apabila dia membuat lawatan rasmi ke New Zealand dalam tahun 1984. Kemudian dia merasmikan bangunan operasi Sri Pentas TV3.
Tahun 2002, beliau mengadakan lawatan rasmi ke Dubai Internet City (DIC) dan saya menjadi pengendali lawatan bagi pihak DIC. Tetapi saya enggan bertemu dengan beliau kerana masih marah membara dengan apa yang dilakukannya semasa era reformasi.
Ketika ini dalam usia yang semakin tersisa, Dr. M menjadi pengkritik no. 1 Pak Lah dan masih tidak mahu melihat Anwar sebagai PM.
Mungkin pertemuan Dr. M dengan Fidel Castro antara yang terakhir buat dua diktator, tidak pasti siapa yang akan dahulu meninggalkan dunia fana (termasuk kita...). Yang pasti, sama ada anda benci atau suka pada keduanya, mereka sudah menjadi lagenda.
Bagaimana dengan Mugabe, Dr. M? Tidak mahu melawat kawan baik yang juga dalam keadaan nazak usia politiknya?
Antara Blog 2 Mantan MB Selangor
Tan Sri dan Datuk Sri yang keduanya mantan MB Selangor sudah melangkah ke alam blogging.
Satu perkembangan menarik kerana perbedaan usia dan status masa kini. Tan Sri kembali ke persada politik melalui tiket senator dan menjadi menteri pusat serta ketua penerangan parti terbesar melayu.
Tan Sri Mat Tyson ini pernah didakwa di Brisbane kerana membawa duit berjuta dalam guni dan mengaku di mahkamah tidak boleh berbahasa Inggeris. Juga melarikan puteri raja untuk dinikahkan di Golok.
Kalau dari segi melihat tarikh lupus, sepatutnya beliau sudah pencen sahaja dari politik. Tetapi Pak Lah memerlukan khidmat beliau untuk mencepatkan kepupusan parti yang didokong. Maka Tan Sri sanggup bermatian mempertahankan Pak Lah.
Manakala Datuk Seri yang meluluskan projek ternak babi besar-besaran kemudian menafikannya kini menjadi ketua pembangkang di DUN Selangor. Selain mahu kembali menjadi doktor gigi dan orang biasa. Nampak awet muda dengan khasiat tempe.
Datuk Seri ini kini lantang menempelak Pak Lah dan mahukan peralihan kuasa di segerakan di peringkat pimpinan tinggi. Suara protes sebegini sudah semakin kerap dan bengit di dengar di mana-mana, Datuk Seri mungkin mengikut arus untuk survival.
Begitulah nasib manusia. Yang penting mereka sudah sama berblog setelah tsunami pilihanraya menenggelamkan parti mereka di Selangor.
Mungkin kita dapat mengenal mereka secara lebih dekat melalui blog masing-masing. Tak kenal maka tak cinta...bila dah kenal blog makan jatuh cinta....
(Harap Tan Seri tidaklah 'outsourced' kan blog sebab ada tersebut 'beliau' bukan 'saya'! Opps, sudah dibetulkan...tetapi Tan Sri ada banyak masakah untuk menjawab komen?)
Satu perkembangan menarik kerana perbedaan usia dan status masa kini. Tan Sri kembali ke persada politik melalui tiket senator dan menjadi menteri pusat serta ketua penerangan parti terbesar melayu.
Tan Sri Mat Tyson ini pernah didakwa di Brisbane kerana membawa duit berjuta dalam guni dan mengaku di mahkamah tidak boleh berbahasa Inggeris. Juga melarikan puteri raja untuk dinikahkan di Golok.Kalau dari segi melihat tarikh lupus, sepatutnya beliau sudah pencen sahaja dari politik. Tetapi Pak Lah memerlukan khidmat beliau untuk mencepatkan kepupusan parti yang didokong. Maka Tan Sri sanggup bermatian mempertahankan Pak Lah.
Manakala Datuk Seri yang meluluskan projek ternak babi besar-besaran kemudian menafikannya kini menjadi ketua pembangkang di DUN Selangor. Selain mahu kembali menjadi doktor gigi dan orang biasa. Nampak awet muda dengan khasiat tempe.Datuk Seri ini kini lantang menempelak Pak Lah dan mahukan peralihan kuasa di segerakan di peringkat pimpinan tinggi. Suara protes sebegini sudah semakin kerap dan bengit di dengar di mana-mana, Datuk Seri mungkin mengikut arus untuk survival.
Begitulah nasib manusia. Yang penting mereka sudah sama berblog setelah tsunami pilihanraya menenggelamkan parti mereka di Selangor.
Mungkin kita dapat mengenal mereka secara lebih dekat melalui blog masing-masing. Tak kenal maka tak cinta...bila dah kenal blog makan jatuh cinta....
(Harap Tan Seri tidaklah 'outsourced' kan blog sebab ada tersebut 'beliau' bukan 'saya'! Opps, sudah dibetulkan...tetapi Tan Sri ada banyak masakah untuk menjawab komen?)
MSC Pun Tenggelam Dalam Koridor
Nampaknya salah satu cetusan mega Dr. M yang bernama MSC seakan tidak ujud lagi dalam kerangka pembangunan negara. Tidak pasti sejauh mana tahap kejayaan MSC ketika ini dibawah Pak Lah yang sibuk dengan pelbagai koridor dan selepas pilihanraya ke 12, tanpa disedari mengujudkan KORIDOR 5 negeri Pakatan Rakyat.
Sudah berapa banyak wang rakyat yang dileburkan dalam MSC? Ketika ini MSC dibawah MDEC (bertukar nama dari MDC).
Sewaktu di Dubai Internet City (DIC) tahun 2000, saya teringat pernah menerima kunjungan dari aruah Tan Sri pengerusi MDC ketika itu. CEO DIC meminta saya mengiringinya dalam mesyuarat pertama.
Dari mesyuarat itu, setelah pusing sana sini, aruah Tan Sri tersebut bersama seorang pengurus kanan (wanita) akhirnya mahu menawarkan MDC sebagai konsultan kepada DIC.
CEO berpaling kepada saya yang mencemik kerana salah satu sebab saya bekerja di DIC adalah hasil tulisan, "Learning From Malaysia's MISTAKES" (in developing MSC). Artikel yang berdasarkan pengalaman saya memohon status MSC untuk TV3.
Begitupun saya membantu MDC untuk menangani MOU dengan DIC sewaktu Dr. M datang melawat. MOU itu saya tulis 100% dengan memasukkan unsur-unsur berat sebelah kepada MDC. Malangnya, orang kita memang kaki MOU, selepas MOU, tiada apa yang berlaku!
Sebelas tahun lalu, saya pernah bersemangat menulis mengenai MSC yang muncul di halaman editorial Berita Harian. Membaca kembali artikel pertama siri memuji MSC ini sedikit melucukan...manusia boleh berubah terutama apabila sudah cukup maklumat untuk membuat keputusan.
Berita Harian - Khamis, 20.11.97
Patriotisme dalam pelaksanaan MSC
BANYAK sudah diperkatakan mengenai MSC dan sudah hampir semua lapisan masyarakat mengetahui sedikit sebanyak mengenainya. Dari kempen memasyarakatkan IT sehingga kepada pelbagai seminar mengenainya yang berterusan menyemarakkan MSC sebagai agenda utama semua pihak. Pengurus IT TV3, MOHD FUDZAIL MOHD NOR membicarakan soal MSC itu dari sudut mewujudkan jiwa patriotik.
IKHTIAR mewujudkan Koridor Raya Multimedia (MSC) dianggap berani dan ke depan. Peralihan penekanan dari pertanian ke industri, dari pembekal sumber mentah kepada pengeluar barangan siap, MSC membawa kita melangkau ke satu era yang berteraskan kepada multimedia. Ia satu usaha patriotik dalam meneruskan pengisian kemerdekaan dan pembinaan ke arah kegemilangan dalam pelbagai bidang.
Begitupun, ketika semuanya masih baru bermula, kita harus juga sama merenung sejauh manakah teknologi boleh menjadi alat patriotik dan bukan sekadar satu penerusan penjajahan yang menjadikan kita tidak lebih daripada tempat percubaan.
Terlalu bergantung kepada luar akan memberikan kesan negatif dalam jangka waktu yang panjang. Kebanyakan negara yang berkurangan sumber teknologi sendiri semakin terjerat dengan negara pengeluar dan selalunya turut mempengaruhi keadaan politik dan budaya. Contohnya terlalu banyak dan kita sendiri turut mengalaminya. Patriotik tidak lagi sekadar perlambangan untuk menyemarakkan semangat kecintaan pada negara, tetapi lebih merupakan pelaksanaan yang bersifat buatan Malaysia sepenuhnya oleh rakyat Malaysia untuk pasaran Malaysia dan global.
Tidak keterlaluan jika dikatakan Proton sukar dikaitkan dengan patriotik kerana seperti yang diketahui semua orang, enjin, reka bentuk asal dan bahagian tertentunya masih lagi dibuat di Jepun. Kita juga tidak boleh menjadikan kereta Lotus sebagai lambang patriotik dengan sebab yang kita semua tahu.
Malah pada hari ini beberapa bangunan tertentu yang menjadi mercu tanda bukan sahaja tidak dari hasil daya kreatif rakyat tempatan malah dibangunkan juga oleh pakar dan buruh asing.
Dalam bidang sukan misalnya, kegagalan negara dalam bola sepak Sukan SEA Jakarta baru-baru ini menunjukkan betapa kita bersikap patriotik dan menganggap kekalahan dengan Laos sebagai menjatuhkan maruah negara. Kita juga cukup terhina apabila Perdana Menteri kita dipersendakan oleh media atau pemimpin Barat.
Malah kerana semangat patriotiklah kita mencapai kemerdekaan dan membangunkan negara ke arah kemajuan pada hari ini. Bendera, lagu dan pakaian kebangsaan sudah menjadi lambang patriotik tradisi.
Hakikatnya, kita masih belum mempunyai produk yang bertaraf dunia. Menurut Menteri Kewangan sewaktu membentangkan belanjawan baru-baru ini, ramai rakyat tempatan yang masih menganggap barangan tempatan adalah 'kodi' yakni tidak bermutu. Persepsi yang seakan menjadi satu kepercayaan dari generasi ke generasi ini memang tidak mengejutkan. Barat berjaya mempengaruhi minda kita bahawa yang datang dari Barat itu semuanya bermutu dan mempunyai kelas.
Keikhlasan pihak yang bertanggungjawab dalam memasarkan barangan tempatan juga adalah diragui. Kita dapat melihat bagaimana patriotisme bangsa Jepun dan Korea memberi pulangan ekonomi kepada negara mereka. Siapa lagi yang harus memberi sokongan jika tidak rakyat tempatan.
Memang tidak semua barangan tempatan itu bermutu. Seperti juga tidak semua barangan buatan luar negara itu bermutu. Nilai bukanlah ditentukan oleh jenama dan buatan mana, tetapi pada barangan atau produk itu sendiri.
Apabila MSC kini menjadi sebahagian daripada perbendaharaan kata rakyat Malaysia, bersamanya perlu ada semangat patriotik yang intipatinya pula menjadi pemangkin ke arah sebuah negara maju hasil daya usaha bersama. Bukan sekadar kita menjadi pencetus idea dan pengguna sedangkan isi dan strukturnya adalah daripada orang lain.
MSC adalah peluang dan saluran terbaik untuk menjadi tapak kepada hasil yang boleh membawa semangat patriotik yang lebih kukuh. Memang kita masih memerlukan bantuan luar. Malah adalah mustahil untuk mendapatkan 100 peratus sumber tempatan. Tetapi ianya tidak bermakna kita tidak boleh melakukannya sekiranya kita bersatu mengumpulkan semua pakar tempatan dalam satu kumpulan.
Sumber perkakasan dan perisian asas memang semuanya adalah bahan import yang sukar untuk kita sendiri menghasilkannya dalam waktu terdekat ini. Tetapi aplikasi yang tertentu, terutama kerajaan elektronik mestilah dibangunkan sepenuhnya oleh rakyat tempatan.
Kita boleh melahirkan produk tempatan yang bertaraf dunia sekiranya kita menerima sokongan padu daripada semua pihak. Perisian komputer untuk MSC misalnya boleh menerima pasaran global sekiranya berhasil.
MSC akan turut membangunkan dua buah kota bestari yakni Cyberjaya dan Putrajaya. Bolehkah kita menganggap Cyberjaya bercorak antarabangsa, manakala Putrajaya adalah sepenuhnya bersifat dan berjiwa Malaysia. Adalah patriotik namanya apabila Putrajaya sebagai pusat pentadbiran baru negara, dari pembangunan hartanah, infrastruktur, bangunan sehingga aplikasi-aplikasi perdana di bawah sasaran MSC, adalah sepenuhnya hasil daya usaha rakyat Malaysia.
Putrajaya sebagai 'showcase' yang menjadi lambang kemajuan rakyat tempatan setelah kita mengisi kemerdekaan adalah milik rakyat seluruhnya. Seratus peratus buatan Malaysia.
Melaungkan slogan "Malaysia Boleh" dan "Beli barangan buatan Malaysia" bukan sekadar bermusim atau kempen tertentu. Kita tidak mahu sebuah projek yang sebesar serta sepenting ini dan bakal menjadi asas kepada corak pentadbiran baru negara tidak lebih daripada kulit semata-mata yang sekadar menampakkan buatan Malaysia.
Aplikasi-aplikasi perdana terutama kerajaan elektronik yang mengandungi modul-modul perintis seperti sistem sumber manusia, penghantaran elektronik, pembelian elektronik, pejabat generik dan sistem monitoring projek akan digunakan oleh seluruh rakyat Malaysia sepenuhnya menjelang tahun 2000.
Kerajaan elektronik misalnya bakal menjadi alat komunikasi dua hala antara rakyat dan kerajaan yang mengurangkan karenah birokrasi. Malah menjadikan kerajaan lebih telus untuk didekati rakyat.
Semua aplikasi ini juga menggunakan teknolgi terkini dan memerlukan pembangunan perisian. Kepakaran tempatan yang sedia ada sebenarnya sudah memadai untuk memenuhi keperluan ini. Peluang dan kepercayaan adalah perlu bersama semangat patriotik untuk kita berbangga dengan produk tempatan. Kebimbangan ini lahir kerana CFRP (yang ditulis sepenuhnya dalam bahasa Inggeris tanpa versi bahasa Melayu) terbuka untuk semua, bukan sahaja menerima cadangan dari syarikat tempatan, malah luar negeri yang sudah lama bertapak dan mempunyai segala sumber yang perlu.
Kelebihan itu seakan membuka ruang pada mereka yang tidak mempunyai semangat patriotik kepada Malaysia, sekadar tempat berniaga dan membuat untung. Dan rakyat tempatan akan hanya menjadi pengguna semata-mata, kerana kemungkinan besar pelabur akan mengambil ramai sumber tenaga IT dari luar yang lebih murah, seperti India atau Filipina.
Ianya sudah berlaku dalam beberapa sektor industri sebelum ini. Kita hanya mendapat faedah jangka pendek daripada pelabur yang kini mula mencari tapak baru yang lebih kompetitif di negara lain. Kebimbangan ini juga bukan disebabkan oleh semangat patriotik membuta tuli dan sempit. Teknologi akan menjadi komoditi di alaf mendatang dan MSC adalah berasaskan teknologi maklumat, sesuatu yang ingin kita kuasai. Malah hak cipta intelektual dalam bentuk perisian aplikasi ini penting sebagai komoditi.
Sebagai pemangkin ke arah itu, MSC tidak boleh lari daripada menjadi sumber patriotik rakyat Malaysia yang berteraskan teknologi. Generasi kemudian tentu mendapat faedah besar apabila generasi hari ini menyediakan tapak kukuh untuk mereka mengembangkan MSC seterusnya.
Kita ingin ramai rakyat tempatan berjaya seperti Bill Gates atau memiliki syarikat IT seperti Microsoft, Oracle atau Sun suatu hari nanti. Seperti mana kita turut rasa patriotik dengan Petronas dan dua tiga yang lain. Patriotik kerana ia sepenuhnya dibangun dan ditadbir oleh rakyat tempatan.
Kita bukan mengatakan harus menutup pintu pada syarikat IT luar dari melabur kerana ruang MSC adalah terlalu besar dan tidak mungkin sepenuhnya dibangunkan oleh rakyat tempatan. Cyberjaya adalah untuk mereka melebarkan R&D atau operasi mereka di dunia sebelah sini.
Malah Perdana Menteri tidak jemu-jemu dan berjaya menarik ramai pelabur asing sama ada syarikat gergasi atau tidak ke Cyberjaya. Usaha ini bakal menjanjikan suasana kompetitif dan seterusnya menggalakkan usaha sama 'menang menang' dengan pelabur tempatan.
Syarikat tempatan pula jangan pula mengambil kesempatan dengan menjual nama semata-mata dan mengambil bahagian sekadar di kulit, bukan isinya. MoU yang ditandatangani bukan sekadar hiasan dan publisiti murahan, tetapi perkongsian teknologi dan kepakaran yang menguntungkan negara.
Jika penyelewengan terus berlaku dalam perlaksanaan MSC, betapalah segala perancangan hari ini akan menjadi satu pengkhianatan terbesar pada generasi Malaysia mendatang. Terutama pada Bumiputera yang sudah kehilangan keistimewaan di bumi Cyberjaya.
Kesimpulannya dengan usaha ke arah meramaikan kelas menengah, sikap tidak terlalu bergantung pada luar, merealisasikan Wawasan 2020 dan mengukuhkan semangat patriotik Malaysia, adalah diharapkan pada mereka yang bertanggungjawab dengan pelaksanaan MSC di semua peringkat untuk sama menjadi patriotik dengan teknologi dan kebolehan anak-anak tempatan.
Siapa lagi kalau bukan kita sendiri yang boleh mengubah nasib kita dan generasi baru Malaysia di negara tercinta ini.
Lapangan Terbang Dubai yang sentiasa sesak akan lebih sesak sepanjang musim panas. Dubai juga bijak dalam memastikan bilik-bilik hotel tidak kosong dengan menganjurkan Dubai Summer Surprises yang menyaksikan musim panas di gurun lebih meriah. Berpusu-pusu pelancung datang ke Dubai walau suhu boleh mencecah 50 darjah.
Begitupun kebanyakan berpendapat yang pekerjaan mereka masih terjamin. 16 peratus Arab ekspatriat menjangka akan meninggalkan UAE dalam 5 hingga 6 tahun lagi, manakala 14 ekspatriat Asia (bermaksud India/Pakistan) mahu menetap dalam 3 hingga 4 tahun. Ekspatriat Barat pula hanya mahu menetap tidak lebih dari 3 tahun.
Sudah berapa banyak wang rakyat yang dileburkan dalam MSC? Ketika ini MSC dibawah MDEC (bertukar nama dari MDC).
Sewaktu di Dubai Internet City (DIC) tahun 2000, saya teringat pernah menerima kunjungan dari aruah Tan Sri pengerusi MDC ketika itu. CEO DIC meminta saya mengiringinya dalam mesyuarat pertama.
Dari mesyuarat itu, setelah pusing sana sini, aruah Tan Sri tersebut bersama seorang pengurus kanan (wanita) akhirnya mahu menawarkan MDC sebagai konsultan kepada DIC.
CEO berpaling kepada saya yang mencemik kerana salah satu sebab saya bekerja di DIC adalah hasil tulisan, "Learning From Malaysia's MISTAKES" (in developing MSC). Artikel yang berdasarkan pengalaman saya memohon status MSC untuk TV3.
Begitupun saya membantu MDC untuk menangani MOU dengan DIC sewaktu Dr. M datang melawat. MOU itu saya tulis 100% dengan memasukkan unsur-unsur berat sebelah kepada MDC. Malangnya, orang kita memang kaki MOU, selepas MOU, tiada apa yang berlaku!
Sebelas tahun lalu, saya pernah bersemangat menulis mengenai MSC yang muncul di halaman editorial Berita Harian. Membaca kembali artikel pertama siri memuji MSC ini sedikit melucukan...manusia boleh berubah terutama apabila sudah cukup maklumat untuk membuat keputusan.
Berita Harian - Khamis, 20.11.97
Patriotisme dalam pelaksanaan MSC
BANYAK sudah diperkatakan mengenai MSC dan sudah hampir semua lapisan masyarakat mengetahui sedikit sebanyak mengenainya. Dari kempen memasyarakatkan IT sehingga kepada pelbagai seminar mengenainya yang berterusan menyemarakkan MSC sebagai agenda utama semua pihak. Pengurus IT TV3, MOHD FUDZAIL MOHD NOR membicarakan soal MSC itu dari sudut mewujudkan jiwa patriotik.
IKHTIAR mewujudkan Koridor Raya Multimedia (MSC) dianggap berani dan ke depan. Peralihan penekanan dari pertanian ke industri, dari pembekal sumber mentah kepada pengeluar barangan siap, MSC membawa kita melangkau ke satu era yang berteraskan kepada multimedia. Ia satu usaha patriotik dalam meneruskan pengisian kemerdekaan dan pembinaan ke arah kegemilangan dalam pelbagai bidang.
Begitupun, ketika semuanya masih baru bermula, kita harus juga sama merenung sejauh manakah teknologi boleh menjadi alat patriotik dan bukan sekadar satu penerusan penjajahan yang menjadikan kita tidak lebih daripada tempat percubaan.
Terlalu bergantung kepada luar akan memberikan kesan negatif dalam jangka waktu yang panjang. Kebanyakan negara yang berkurangan sumber teknologi sendiri semakin terjerat dengan negara pengeluar dan selalunya turut mempengaruhi keadaan politik dan budaya. Contohnya terlalu banyak dan kita sendiri turut mengalaminya. Patriotik tidak lagi sekadar perlambangan untuk menyemarakkan semangat kecintaan pada negara, tetapi lebih merupakan pelaksanaan yang bersifat buatan Malaysia sepenuhnya oleh rakyat Malaysia untuk pasaran Malaysia dan global.
Tidak keterlaluan jika dikatakan Proton sukar dikaitkan dengan patriotik kerana seperti yang diketahui semua orang, enjin, reka bentuk asal dan bahagian tertentunya masih lagi dibuat di Jepun. Kita juga tidak boleh menjadikan kereta Lotus sebagai lambang patriotik dengan sebab yang kita semua tahu.
Malah pada hari ini beberapa bangunan tertentu yang menjadi mercu tanda bukan sahaja tidak dari hasil daya kreatif rakyat tempatan malah dibangunkan juga oleh pakar dan buruh asing.
Dalam bidang sukan misalnya, kegagalan negara dalam bola sepak Sukan SEA Jakarta baru-baru ini menunjukkan betapa kita bersikap patriotik dan menganggap kekalahan dengan Laos sebagai menjatuhkan maruah negara. Kita juga cukup terhina apabila Perdana Menteri kita dipersendakan oleh media atau pemimpin Barat.
Malah kerana semangat patriotiklah kita mencapai kemerdekaan dan membangunkan negara ke arah kemajuan pada hari ini. Bendera, lagu dan pakaian kebangsaan sudah menjadi lambang patriotik tradisi.
Hakikatnya, kita masih belum mempunyai produk yang bertaraf dunia. Menurut Menteri Kewangan sewaktu membentangkan belanjawan baru-baru ini, ramai rakyat tempatan yang masih menganggap barangan tempatan adalah 'kodi' yakni tidak bermutu. Persepsi yang seakan menjadi satu kepercayaan dari generasi ke generasi ini memang tidak mengejutkan. Barat berjaya mempengaruhi minda kita bahawa yang datang dari Barat itu semuanya bermutu dan mempunyai kelas.
Keikhlasan pihak yang bertanggungjawab dalam memasarkan barangan tempatan juga adalah diragui. Kita dapat melihat bagaimana patriotisme bangsa Jepun dan Korea memberi pulangan ekonomi kepada negara mereka. Siapa lagi yang harus memberi sokongan jika tidak rakyat tempatan.
Memang tidak semua barangan tempatan itu bermutu. Seperti juga tidak semua barangan buatan luar negara itu bermutu. Nilai bukanlah ditentukan oleh jenama dan buatan mana, tetapi pada barangan atau produk itu sendiri.
Apabila MSC kini menjadi sebahagian daripada perbendaharaan kata rakyat Malaysia, bersamanya perlu ada semangat patriotik yang intipatinya pula menjadi pemangkin ke arah sebuah negara maju hasil daya usaha bersama. Bukan sekadar kita menjadi pencetus idea dan pengguna sedangkan isi dan strukturnya adalah daripada orang lain.
MSC adalah peluang dan saluran terbaik untuk menjadi tapak kepada hasil yang boleh membawa semangat patriotik yang lebih kukuh. Memang kita masih memerlukan bantuan luar. Malah adalah mustahil untuk mendapatkan 100 peratus sumber tempatan. Tetapi ianya tidak bermakna kita tidak boleh melakukannya sekiranya kita bersatu mengumpulkan semua pakar tempatan dalam satu kumpulan.
Sumber perkakasan dan perisian asas memang semuanya adalah bahan import yang sukar untuk kita sendiri menghasilkannya dalam waktu terdekat ini. Tetapi aplikasi yang tertentu, terutama kerajaan elektronik mestilah dibangunkan sepenuhnya oleh rakyat tempatan.
Kita boleh melahirkan produk tempatan yang bertaraf dunia sekiranya kita menerima sokongan padu daripada semua pihak. Perisian komputer untuk MSC misalnya boleh menerima pasaran global sekiranya berhasil.
MSC akan turut membangunkan dua buah kota bestari yakni Cyberjaya dan Putrajaya. Bolehkah kita menganggap Cyberjaya bercorak antarabangsa, manakala Putrajaya adalah sepenuhnya bersifat dan berjiwa Malaysia. Adalah patriotik namanya apabila Putrajaya sebagai pusat pentadbiran baru negara, dari pembangunan hartanah, infrastruktur, bangunan sehingga aplikasi-aplikasi perdana di bawah sasaran MSC, adalah sepenuhnya hasil daya usaha rakyat Malaysia.
Putrajaya sebagai 'showcase' yang menjadi lambang kemajuan rakyat tempatan setelah kita mengisi kemerdekaan adalah milik rakyat seluruhnya. Seratus peratus buatan Malaysia.
Melaungkan slogan "Malaysia Boleh" dan "Beli barangan buatan Malaysia" bukan sekadar bermusim atau kempen tertentu. Kita tidak mahu sebuah projek yang sebesar serta sepenting ini dan bakal menjadi asas kepada corak pentadbiran baru negara tidak lebih daripada kulit semata-mata yang sekadar menampakkan buatan Malaysia.
Aplikasi-aplikasi perdana terutama kerajaan elektronik yang mengandungi modul-modul perintis seperti sistem sumber manusia, penghantaran elektronik, pembelian elektronik, pejabat generik dan sistem monitoring projek akan digunakan oleh seluruh rakyat Malaysia sepenuhnya menjelang tahun 2000.
Kerajaan elektronik misalnya bakal menjadi alat komunikasi dua hala antara rakyat dan kerajaan yang mengurangkan karenah birokrasi. Malah menjadikan kerajaan lebih telus untuk didekati rakyat.
Semua aplikasi ini juga menggunakan teknolgi terkini dan memerlukan pembangunan perisian. Kepakaran tempatan yang sedia ada sebenarnya sudah memadai untuk memenuhi keperluan ini. Peluang dan kepercayaan adalah perlu bersama semangat patriotik untuk kita berbangga dengan produk tempatan. Kebimbangan ini lahir kerana CFRP (yang ditulis sepenuhnya dalam bahasa Inggeris tanpa versi bahasa Melayu) terbuka untuk semua, bukan sahaja menerima cadangan dari syarikat tempatan, malah luar negeri yang sudah lama bertapak dan mempunyai segala sumber yang perlu.
Kelebihan itu seakan membuka ruang pada mereka yang tidak mempunyai semangat patriotik kepada Malaysia, sekadar tempat berniaga dan membuat untung. Dan rakyat tempatan akan hanya menjadi pengguna semata-mata, kerana kemungkinan besar pelabur akan mengambil ramai sumber tenaga IT dari luar yang lebih murah, seperti India atau Filipina.
Ianya sudah berlaku dalam beberapa sektor industri sebelum ini. Kita hanya mendapat faedah jangka pendek daripada pelabur yang kini mula mencari tapak baru yang lebih kompetitif di negara lain. Kebimbangan ini juga bukan disebabkan oleh semangat patriotik membuta tuli dan sempit. Teknologi akan menjadi komoditi di alaf mendatang dan MSC adalah berasaskan teknologi maklumat, sesuatu yang ingin kita kuasai. Malah hak cipta intelektual dalam bentuk perisian aplikasi ini penting sebagai komoditi.
Sebagai pemangkin ke arah itu, MSC tidak boleh lari daripada menjadi sumber patriotik rakyat Malaysia yang berteraskan teknologi. Generasi kemudian tentu mendapat faedah besar apabila generasi hari ini menyediakan tapak kukuh untuk mereka mengembangkan MSC seterusnya.
Kita ingin ramai rakyat tempatan berjaya seperti Bill Gates atau memiliki syarikat IT seperti Microsoft, Oracle atau Sun suatu hari nanti. Seperti mana kita turut rasa patriotik dengan Petronas dan dua tiga yang lain. Patriotik kerana ia sepenuhnya dibangun dan ditadbir oleh rakyat tempatan.
Kita bukan mengatakan harus menutup pintu pada syarikat IT luar dari melabur kerana ruang MSC adalah terlalu besar dan tidak mungkin sepenuhnya dibangunkan oleh rakyat tempatan. Cyberjaya adalah untuk mereka melebarkan R&D atau operasi mereka di dunia sebelah sini.
Malah Perdana Menteri tidak jemu-jemu dan berjaya menarik ramai pelabur asing sama ada syarikat gergasi atau tidak ke Cyberjaya. Usaha ini bakal menjanjikan suasana kompetitif dan seterusnya menggalakkan usaha sama 'menang menang' dengan pelabur tempatan.
Syarikat tempatan pula jangan pula mengambil kesempatan dengan menjual nama semata-mata dan mengambil bahagian sekadar di kulit, bukan isinya. MoU yang ditandatangani bukan sekadar hiasan dan publisiti murahan, tetapi perkongsian teknologi dan kepakaran yang menguntungkan negara.
Jika penyelewengan terus berlaku dalam perlaksanaan MSC, betapalah segala perancangan hari ini akan menjadi satu pengkhianatan terbesar pada generasi Malaysia mendatang. Terutama pada Bumiputera yang sudah kehilangan keistimewaan di bumi Cyberjaya.
Kesimpulannya dengan usaha ke arah meramaikan kelas menengah, sikap tidak terlalu bergantung pada luar, merealisasikan Wawasan 2020 dan mengukuhkan semangat patriotik Malaysia, adalah diharapkan pada mereka yang bertanggungjawab dengan pelaksanaan MSC di semua peringkat untuk sama menjadi patriotik dengan teknologi dan kebolehan anak-anak tempatan.
Siapa lagi kalau bukan kita sendiri yang boleh mengubah nasib kita dan generasi baru Malaysia di negara tercinta ini.
Dubai - Hujan Emas Dan Hujan Batu
Seorang sahabat Emirati yang bertugas sebagai pegawai protokol di pejabat bertanya mengenai cuti di Malaysia. Sahabat ini adalah salah seorang teman sepermainan Putera Mahkota Dubai dan beliau nampak serius mengenai percutian di Malaysia.
Saya sudah menjadi 'pegawai promosi' pelancungan Malaysia sejak awal 2000. Walau apapun perspektif politik, kebanggaan terhadap negara sendiri tidak pudar.
Sahabat ini sudah menjelajah dunia tetapi masih belum ke Malaysia dan tahun ini beliau akan mendarat di KLIA bersama ratusan ribu pelancung Arab lain.
Menjelang musim panas, boleh dikatakan semua, sama ada Emirati atau ekspatriat sudah atau mula merancang untuk bercuti. Dengan suhu yang semakin naik dan humiditi yang tinggi, majoriti ekspatriat tentunya mahu pulang bercuti di tanahair masing-masing, manakala Emirati dan sebahagian ekspatriat lain mahu makan angin.
Lapangan Terbang Dubai yang sentiasa sesak akan lebih sesak sepanjang musim panas. Dubai juga bijak dalam memastikan bilik-bilik hotel tidak kosong dengan menganjurkan Dubai Summer Surprises yang menyaksikan musim panas di gurun lebih meriah. Berpusu-pusu pelancung datang ke Dubai walau suhu boleh mencecah 50 darjah.
Sememangnya Malaysia adalah destinasi popular untuk warga Arab dan ekspatriat di Timur Tengah. Semakin banyak penerbangan untuk menampung permintaan dan tentunya harga tiket juga tidak semurah dahulu, seperti juga pelbagai harga barangan dan sewa rumah yang melambung.
Dengan inflasi dan penurunan nilai USD dimana Dirham ditambatkan kepada USD, cabaran besar buat ekspatriat yang datang kerana wang. Tetapi dari bancian terbaru, 42% ekspatriat mengatakan mereka tidak dapat menyimpan apa-apa dalam keadaan sekarang. Semuanya pendapatan dibelanjakan untuk menampung kehidupan.
Lebih memeranjatkan:-
- 17% dari ekspatriat menanggung hutang
- 28% menghantar keluarga pulang (3 kali tinggi dafri 2006)
- 45% berpindah rumah kerana sewa yang meningkat (kenaikan 14% berbanding 2006)
Begitupun kebanyakan berpendapat yang pekerjaan mereka masih terjamin. 16 peratus Arab ekspatriat menjangka akan meninggalkan UAE dalam 5 hingga 6 tahun lagi, manakala 14 ekspatriat Asia (bermaksud India/Pakistan) mahu menetap dalam 3 hingga 4 tahun. Ekspatriat Barat pula hanya mahu menetap tidak lebih dari 3 tahun.
Bagaimana dengan ekspatriat Malaysia?
Bagi saya pula sedang berkira-kira untuk 'take a break' dari Dubai dengan berhijrah ke Eropah atau Canada. Kalau ada rezeki hujung tahun.
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