Kotobian Tadao Kaamatan

Yesterday was a holiday to us Sabahan. It was Harvest Festival, Tadao Kaamatan, Drinking Day. A day everyone is entitled to drink their kidneys off and shout "Aramaiti!"

We (my family) spent the day drinking teh tarik at Tanjung Aru beachside. 3 years ago Tanjung Aru was a strip of sand with steamed corn and peanuts vendors alongside it. Now, we have to pay RM1.20 for the parking ticket and we will be subjected to choose our outing option. There's an exclusive mini mall for the rich and famous and a gudang-style shelter with stalls within for the nonchalant and careless, divided by a 3 metre gate. Classic.

We then went to watch the ending of the Pirate Trilogy at Cathay which is next to another cineplex, Golden Screen Cinema, divided by a two-way road. Cathay is comfortable and expensive. GSC is cheap and manky.

After the suggestively prolonged parlay-ing, we went to Pasar Filipin to buy a whole chicken for me to make my parent-permitted, baby-approved abalone-chicken soup. The fish-smelling, soot-filled Pasar Filipin is just infront of the bulky larger-than-life 5-star Le Meridien Hotel.

Anyone who visits Kota Kinabalu will notice that there are 6 Mega Malls under construction and the city itself is promisingly similar to Penang. The difference being, Sabah is the second poorest state in Malaysia and has the highest poverty rate. Sabah's poverty rate is twelve times Sarawak's poverty rate. The rich and poor gap is so obvious that overlooking it is just so blardy stewpeed.

I can never understand Sabah's politics. Never. The rich gets richer (especially politicians and their chinese businessmen parasites) and the poor gets poorer. And nobody's complaning.

With so many political parties, how could Umno be in charged of this state for the longest time? What happened to the rotation system? And seeing the state of the Wolf of Borneo, I could not help but wonder whether Musa Aman gives a damn about his state or not. Is he at all concerned? After a long mandate, results proven that he hasn't the slightest concern for people in the Pedalaman and their Kais Pagi Makan Pagi Kais Petang Makan Petang lifestyle.

So is it politically wrong that I, a citizen who is witnessing the slow and ongoing injustice to conclude that Sabah is operated by a very corrupted organization?

It doesn't even matter anymore does it, when the Wonder Juice does its wonders and poverty is swept away by temporary intoxication. Aramaiti everybody, Aramaiti!

Gila Apa?

The Milo/Teh/Kopi ais price hike is amusing.

Coke/Sprite/100+ is cheaper than a glass of Milo ais. It's inflation gone terribly wrong.

I don't mind the price hike but only when the content of a glass of milo ais contains:

-nutricious malt

-fresh milk

-milo

-without ice

instead of

-a spoonful of milo

-3 spoons of substandard condensed milk

-warm water

-a glass full of ice

Restaurant owners, you're not making any sense! A can of chilled malty milo only costs about RM1.30 - RM1.50 from can drinks dispensers and you're charging us RM1.80- RM2.00 for this crappy milo ais that tastes of liquified sugar made by clumsy wives of Indonesian labourers in recycled plastic cups filled with a cupful of friekin' ICE ! Fucka-dilly-doo, while you're at it, why don't you guys go further and charge 50 cent for a glass of ice?

Wait, a glass of ice IS 50 cent!

Ever heard of the B-word?

(I'll let you off with a hint: it's not boobs, bitch or bologna)

Lebai Gurun

My family is either enjoying the cool breeze of Kundasang or busily gorging couterfeit-bonanza miscellaneous items in cheap Hatyai. I'm at home, where my heart is. I call this chapter of my life: Big Green Jealous Beast in Denial.

As I grabed an umbrella and took a stroll to the supermarket, painting Crocker hills on the grey sky and slightly tapping my feet to the rythm of the rain, I shook off my impression of Mary Poppins and remembered an interesting situation involving me, my father and a mosque.

We were on our way to Gurun for its infamous Bihun Soup Gurun; a contender of my father's Best in the World food list. We stopped by a mosque to perform our Asar Prayer.

The mosque was shady and smelled of clean underwear. Just after the Azan was sounded, a herd of Kopiah and Serban wearing kampung folks neared the parameter of the mosque in unison. Like penguins. Or old folks with gout. As they entered the mosque and began to chat about kampung politics, they stopped at their tracks when they saw me and my father.

"Ada apa-apa?" One of the men mumbled under his breath.

"Ada ape-ape ape?" I offered a salam, thinking 'lose the KL accent, this is Gurun.'

"Nak periksa masjid ka?"

"Tak tak, nak sembahyang."

"Owhhhh." The herd continued walking to the centre of the mosque. I deserved that, I thought. It was habitual of me to dressed up in my 'site visit' attire. I sat down and observed them ambiguously. One of them opened a typical exercise book and began preaching about the importance of pertaining one's Iman. I took interest and listened to the whole Usrah from the corner of the mosque, all the while scribbling some important points on my sketchbook.

After praying, I distant myself from the crowd and read my own doa. An elderly man with wrinkled serban approached me with a put-on smile and asked "Awat tak doa sekali?" I answered. "Saya tak faham la doa Imam, saya doa sendiri lagi afdhal." He nodded dissaprovingly. I didn't care less.

As we walked to exit the mosque, one of the elderly man who personafies as the leader of the group pat my back, signalling me to hault.

"Ya pakcik?"

"Awat hang tak doa sekali? Bapak hang tak ajaq ka?" His tone was condescending.

"Takda la pakcik, saya tak paham doa tu jadi saya doa sendiri."

"Hang reti sembahyang ka? Mana ada orang buat lagu tu!" My father sensed the commotion and exited the mosque. He knew that I am entitled of my own commotion. Haha.

"Takpala pakcik, nanti lain kali saya doa skali." I answered as calmly possible, playing my cards carefully.

"Aku tau, hang muallaf, baru masuk Islam tapi toksah nak berlagak lagu hang tau! Lain kali hang ikot saja kami, jangan soal-soal. Nanti masok neraka!"

I managed to say "Insya allah..." instead of the much desired "Fuck You man..."

God! I pulled myself out from the crowd and smiled a -I'm in a rush-I don't have time for this- smile. I got into the car and told my father everything. Bapak began his usual lecture.

"Lebai mentality. Let them be. They talk about religion and scare people away with their brand of autocratic Islam. Think about it this way, they pray and learned about things they'd learned before over and over again. We pray, learn new things and serve our country by becoming successful. I'm not trying to be judgemental but that's how things are."

Yep, that's how things are. Lebai = Religion inspired fraternity club.

As we drove by the mosque, a group of malay teenagers and kids were playing football, oblivious to the calling of the Azan earlier. With people like the Lebais in the Kampung, I can't really blame them for being ignorant (or scared) of their responsibities.

Yep, that's how things are.

My whole family either enjoying the cold breeze of Kundasang or engrossing themselves with conterfeit-bonanza shopping at Hatyai. I'm home, where my heart is. I call this part of my life: green jealous beast in denial.

Akademia Fucktasia~~~

Last night, like everybody else, I was watching the Finale of Akademi Fantasia. It was cheesy. Not mozzarella cheesy but blue cheese cheesy.

Honestly though, I see a whole different light in the logic of AF. It seems to me that AF is another one sided manifestation of monetary gain, don't you think? Yeah sure the students, teachers and critics are Bumiputera but the sponsors are mostly Non-Muslims.

Well AF is broadcasted in Astro and was primarily sponsored by Hotlink(Maxis). Duh-uh. The sub-sponsors too were mostly non-muslims. (about 90%) Entah la guys, but I feel that muslims were puppeteered to lure in huge monetary gain from muslim viewers and voters. And remember, we muslims are the among the poorest in our country. I know for a fact that visual hedonism is our (M'sian Muslim) favourite past time but come on... don't you think that AF is a waste of our hard-earned money.

First of all, we PAY for Astro to watch AF and vote for our favourite teenager that suits our voyueristic pleasure and we still have to endure advertisments and promotions during Diari AF and Konsert AF?

Aznil kept saying that our votes (50 cent each) are the students' loan to success but to what extend? Have you not realize that more than half of Muslims in Malaysia live in poverty and 10% of us are hardcore poor?

Do you know who are in dire need of loan? Your children lah. Yes, we teenagers have to depend on PTPTN to keep our university life aloft and will be heavy in debts in yearsssssss to come (very important point-must exaggerate!) Our chinese peers are sent abroad in prestigious universities and colleges and guess what? I'm jealous. Who in fucking hell is not?

While they are exposed to cultural diversities, we are stuck in our parents' house during holidays watching AF. Our parents have enough petty change to spare Aswad from being eliminated and not us from pursuing better education. Now tell me, does that make sense to you?

The Danish Muslim Heroine

What an inspiration! We should have more people like Asmaa in Malaysia. The bunch could slap some sense to those chauvinist pigs we call Yang Amat Berhormat.

by Ian Traynor,

The Guardian

ODENSE, DENMARK - In the land that launched the cartoons war between Islam and the west, Asmaa Abdol-Hamid finds herself on the frontline,gearing up for a new battle.

The 25-year-old social worker, student and town councillor describes herself as a feminist, a democrat, and a socialist. She has gay friends,opposes the death penalty, supports abortion rights, and could not careless what goes on in other people's bedrooms. In short, a tolerant Scandinavian and European.

She is also a Palestinian and a devout Muslim who insists on wearing a headscarf, who refuses, on religious grounds, to shake hands with males,and who is bidding fair to be the first Muslim woman ever to enter the Folketing, the Danish parliament in Copenhagen.

For the extreme right, the young activist is a political provocateur, anagent of Islamic fundamentalism bent on infiltrating the seat of Danish democracy. To many on the left, Ms Abdol-Hamid is also problematic, personifying through her dress the reactionary repression of women and an illiberal religious agenda that should have no place in her leftwing"red-green" alliance of socialists and environmentalists.

As a result of announcing her parliamentary candidacy earlier this month, the young Muslim and Danish citizen has been thrust to the centre of a debate tormenting Denmark and the rest of western Europe - on the place and values of Islam in modern Europe and the treatment of large Muslim minorities.

Ms Abdol-Hamid is unfazed. "I see more Islam here in Denmark than in Iran or in other places in the Middle East," she says. "It's easier tobe a Muslim in Denmark than in Saudi Arabia. I don't feel a stranger here. I'm interested in politics. I want to talk about this society,about political issues. But I'm not in politics because I'm a Muslim."

Her ambition, combined with her insistence on flaunting her religious affiliation, have outraged the Danish political establishment and triggered a new bout of soul-searching almost two years after the publication of cartoons of the Prophet ignited violence and protest across the Islamic world.

"This goes far beyond the extreme right," says Toger Seidenfaden, editorof the Politiken daily newspaper. "Asmaa is insisting on the right to be a religious Muslim and that's provoking broad debate among the public."

The key issue is the headscarf and whether it can be accommodated in parliament. This month Ms Abdol-Hamid gained the candidacy for a safe Copenhagen seat for the leftwing Unity List.

The Danish People's Party or DFP, the far-right movement that unofficially props up the weak centre-right government of the prime minister, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, is on the warpath. A couple of DFP politicians compared the headscarf to the Nazi swastika. One described the prospective MP as "brainwashed".

"We don't like the idea of her performing as an Islamist in the parliament," says DFP spokesman Kim Eskildsen. "We find it wrong that she'll use the parliament as a tool for Islamism ... We don't consider this woman a Nazi. But the way the headscarf is used is comparable toother totalitarian symbols."

The happiest country in the world, according to one detailed survey of international living standards and public attitudes, Denmark is economically highly successful, with the lowest unemployment in the EU.

For the country's 200,000 Muslims and immigrants, however, that happiness is increasingly somewhere else. By virtue of the DFP's influence on the centre-right government, Denmark has enacted the tightest anti-immigration legislation in Europe in recent years.

Many Danes married to foreigners now commute into Copenhagen every day from the southern Swedish town of Malmo across the bridge linking the two cities because they cannot obtain residence for their spouses athome.

Ms Abdol-Hamid, who shares a one-room council flat with one of her six sisters in the "ghetto" of Vollsmose, in the town of Odense, says her political mission is to fight for this underclass.

"This is such a rich country. But we have people in Denmark in deep poverty and nobody helps them. For me the welfare system is very close to Islam. But we need to change the government."

But conservative Muslim leaders are also disapproving of her activism."Some Muslims don't think it's right for a female to act like this. They go to my father and tell him, get her married, get her married," she laughs. "Others think you can't be Muslim and Danish at the same time. Some of the Muslims and the extreme right are just the same.

"And there are women in my party who say that anyone who wears the headscarf is oppressed. It's like they think I'm dumb. They're taking away my individuality. We need the right to choose. It's up to us whether or not we wear headscarves.

"They think I'm a woman from the Middle East. No. I'm a Danish Muslim."

Marching With Nothing but Courage

Watch the video. I literally cried watching it.

To make those zionists out of ammunition, boycott their products. I know its hard but its harder to see and feel more and more of our brothers and sisters dying.