Fauziah Gambus,Wann, Ajai n Nurul,Broery Marantika, Dewa 19, Geisha ,

Tuesday, February 24, 2015

CNN's MH370 expert says Vladimir Putin ordered special ops to steal missing plane | Daily Mail Online

CNN's MH370 expert says Vladimir Putin ordered special ops to steal missing plane | Daily Mail Online





















Vladimir Putin ordered Russian special forces to steal
MH370 and secretly landed it at huge space port in Kazakhstan, claims expert
Jeff Wise is a science author and member of the
Independent Group
Believes MH370 was part of a secret Russian hijack
mission
Putin 'spoofed' the flight data and landed the plane
in Kazakhstan
  
Satellite data suggests plane flew for hours
after losing contact
Experts say it 'strongly suggests' it was deliberately
flown off course 
Flight vanished on March 8, 2014, travelling from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing
PUBLISHED: 16:49 GMT, 24 February
2015 | UPDATED: 22:22 GMT, 24 February 2015

The missing Malaysia Airlines flight 370 was hijacked
on the orders of Vladimir Putin and secretly landed in Kazakhstan, an expert has claimed
in a wild new theory.
Jeff Wise, a U.S. science writer who spearheaded
CNN's coverage of the Boeing 777-200E, has based his outlandish theory on pings
that the plane gave off for seven hours after it went missing, that were
recorded by British telecommunications company Inmarsat.
Wise believes that hijackers 'spoofed' the plane's
navigation data to make it seem like it went in another direction, but flew it
to the Baikonur Cosmodrome, which is leased from Kazakhstan
by Russia.
However Wise admits in New York Magazine that he does not know why Vladimir
Putin would want to steal a plane full of people and that his idea is somewhat
'crazy'.
Scroll down for video 


Saturday, February 21, 2015

Toronto heartbroken over boy we couldn't save | MANDEL | Toronto

Toronto heartbroken over boy we couldn't save | MANDEL | Toronto


In the cold absence of a little boy, an outpouring of
warmth from a city not usually known for showing its emotions.
And yet here it was, thousands of strangers digging
into their wallets, clicking on to a website, donating more than $120,000 and
counting in less than 24 hours to pay for Elijah Marsh’s funeral. Still reeling
from a day of unanswered prayers, we were heartsick that we couldn’t save him,
but at least we could raise money for the grieving relatives he left behind.
“We all needed to show our support for Elijah’s family
and you gave us a means to do it,” wrote Atef ElGindi on the tilt.com campaign launched by Justin
Kozuch.


“Thank you for starting this initiative,” added Sherry
Lake. “It gives us all a feeling of helping when there’s really nothing we can
do...”

Friday, February 20, 2015

Post condolences for Elijah Marsh | Toronto & GTA | News | Toronto Sun






PLEASE DONATE NOW FOR ELIJAH!! THANK YOU SO MUCH. - Campaign for Elijah's funeral shatters goal | Toronto

Campaign for Elijah's funeral shatters goal | Toronto



A campaign to raise money to cover funeral
costs for three-year-old Elijah Marsh has eclipsed its goal in less than 24
hours.
The online campaign set up by Justin
Kozuch aimed to raise $20,000. By 10 a.m. Friday morning it had raised over
$57,000. Marsh died Thursday after wandering out of a relative’s North York
apartment into the extreme cold wearing only a t-shirt, pull-up diapers and
boots.
“The death of this child must be truly
devastating to the family and friends of Elijah, the many members of the law
enforcement and medical community in Toronto, as well as the countless
Torontonians who helped search for him, spread the message of his disappearance
and prayed for his safe return,” Kozuch wrote on the crowd-funding website
Tilt.



Wednesday, February 18, 2015

Alessandro Volta’s 270th Birthday

Alessandro Volta’s 270th Birthday


















As a
new artist here at Google I was given the exciting opportunity to design the
Doodle for Volta as just my second doodle. This was particularly thrilling
given he was the 18th century Italian physicist, chemist and electrical pioneer
who invented the first electrical battery.


To my surprise this discovery almost came by accident while Volta and his
friend Galvani, an anatomy professor, were dissecting a frog. When the animal’s
legs unexpectedly twitched from an electrical discharge, Galvani went on to
hypothesize that animals generated their own electricity, a theory that would
eventually go on to inspire Mary Shelly’s novel, ‘Frankenstein’. But Volta had
his own theory: that the electrical discharge had been caused by two different
metals touching the frog’s body.

Experimenting
with different metals and solutions, Volta ended up creating the first electric
battery: the Voltaic Pile, a stack of alternating metal discs separated by
cardboard and cloth soaked with seawater. But what made this battery so
remarkable was that it was easy to construct out of common materials and
enabled experimenters for the first time to produce steady, predictable flows
of electricity. Within just weeks it inspired a wave of discoveries and
inventions and ushered in a new age of electrical science.
Having
done my initial research I didn’t want to just settle on using Volta’s portrait
for the Doodle, especially since most of the world wouldn’t recognize him. I
wanted instead to represent his accomplishment.


Digging into visual research I looked first for images of his inventions, then
wider to other scientific equipment of the time. WIth an interest in graphic
design I also looked to designs of the period and was especially inspired by
the intricate and ornate details of some early Victorian posters for their
dimensionality and dynamic layout.
With
this inspiration I quickly thumbnailed out some sloppy sketches experimenting
with different concepts and compositions. Some of these I turned around into
quick value compositions in Illustrator to share with my fellow Doodlers. My
original thinking was to show different devices being powered by the battery,
but the concepts felt too busy and distracted from the battery itself.
So I
settled on a simpler layout featuring the battery dead center where it would
simply light up the letters in Google. One key idea I wanted to communicate was
how the voltage of the battery increased as the stack grew. I added electrical
gauges, or voltmeters, which would animate with the stack. In keeping with the
spirit of my reference, I added Volta’s name and the year he invented the
battery as typographic elements.


Having a basic design, I now needed to add more antiquated texture and detail
to make it feel as though it could have been the first advertisement for
the world’s first electrical battery. Switching to Photoshop, I layered in
old paper textures, re-tuned the values and contrast, found a cool engraving
filter and dialed in my fonts. I then sent it out for another round of feedback
and learned a couple more things: namely voltmeters hadn’t been invented yet
and the only kind of electric light that would have existed around the time
were early arc lights.

For the
sake of authenticity, I swapped out the gauges for the ornamental symbols
of Copper and Zinc, swapped out his name for the base elements of the battery,
but kept the illuminated letters for artistic license. With one final
suggestion to translate the text to Italian the design was done.
I
tinkered with different animation timing, finally settling on the letters
coming on one at a time to show the increased voltage now that the voltmeters
were gone, and saved out different formats for different platforms.


So that’s the story of my second Doodle. I hope it brings a little light to the
Doodle process and to this very interesting person. And just for fun, I made a
portrait version...



Tuesday, February 17, 2015

Review: Hawker Malaysian restaurant

Review: Hawker Malaysian restaurant











HAWKER
6.5/10
Address: Shop G.02, 345B-353 Sussex St, Sydney
Phone: 9264 9315
Hours: Lunch 11.30am-2.30pm and dinner
5.30pm-10pm, seven days
Food: Malaysian (street food)
Drink: BYO only
Price: Entrees $8-$16; mains $12-$16;
desserts $6-$8
I’LL be honest, I hate queuing. Sometimes
the end result isn’t worth wasting half your night.
I’m not one for crowds either, unless of
course, I’m being hurled across a moshpit like a madman. However, I have to
concede there are few culinary experiences more deliciously heartwarming than
bouncing between locals to sample their street food.
I don’t know about you, but when I’m
overseas, I’m far more interested in immersing myself in a culture and
consuming as the locals do, than blowing money on international celeb chef’s
half-baked rendition of their original flagship.

Sure, when you hit the streets there can
be a confounding ensemble of creepy crawlies we’re not akin to, but for those
who run the gauntlet the gamble usually pays off. That honesty in food is nigh
impossible to beat.
Hawker, from the good people behind
Malaysian mainstay Mamak, is an energetic homage to the hawker “street food”
eating houses of Asia.
Where Mamak’s influence highlights
Indian’s presence in Malaysian cuisine — seen with the malleable roti (flat
bread) canai, here at Hawker the cuisine focuses on the Chinese (Cantonese and
Hokkien) side. Instead of roti, here there’s classic Chinese-style fried bread
sticks and fried sweetened buns.

Sadly though, on our visit we’re told “the
chef hasn’t quite mastered them yet”, and they’re not available (he has now,
I’m told). It’s a shame, it was the first thing that caught my eye.
The modern, industrial space has all the
enthusiasm of its sibling Mamak — but thankfully, looks less like a food court
in a shopping centre.

Three giant photographs of Malaysian street
food scenes colour the simple space where white walls, high ceilings, and
blonde timber tables and stools are filled and turned over continually to
ensure the queues of people are fed. And boy are they fed well.
Char koay teow is, in my experience, one
of the best. Egg noodles are tossed with prawns, cockles, lap cheong, chilli
and egg. It’s rich, spicy and so damn good.

Meanwhile the ribbed, textural pleasure of
a blackened stingray surprises. The firm, milky rows of flesh are smeared in sambal,
charred, and although small bones may put some off, it’s a minor hazard en
route to heaven.
Then a big, bold white prawn soup puts a Penang white curry front and centre. As you slurp up the
combination of egg noodle and vermicelli, savour the delightful blood jelly
cubes. A generous, fluffy omelet adorned in creamy Sydney rock oysters is simple and satisfying.
Hawker is proof that some things are worth waiting, and yes even queuing, for.





Saturday, February 7, 2015

Mas & Jo - Dr M takes Jokowi for a fast spin – and president cool about it - Nation | The Star Online

Dr M takes Jokowi for a fast spin – and president cool about it - Nation | The Star Online









SUBANG
JAYA: Being driven by a senior citizen at rather high speeds is not something
many people would be comfortable with, but Indonesian President Joko Widodo
demonstrated perfect calm when the “treat” was served.
Jokowi
was one of the rare few who had the privilige of being taken on a three-lap
spin at Proton’s testing track by company chairman Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad as
part of the president’s programme at Proton’s Centre of Excellence here.
Dr
Mahathir, who put a Proton Iriz at a brisk pace throughout, expressed
admiration for Jokowi.
“Normally,
people do not like to be driven on a slope by a 90-year-old, but he was not
frightened — he was happy and smiling,” Dr Mahathir told reporters.
Jokowi
also witnessed a memorandum of understanding signing between Proton and Indonesia’s PT
Adiperkasa Citra Lestari to study the possibility of developing an Indonesian
car.
According
to Dr Mahathir, Jokowi was impressed with Proton.
“He
seemed pleased with what he saw and experienced, and I think he is a man
dedicated to his work.
“He wants
to make Indonesia better and
he thinks that in some areas, Malaysia
might serve as a good model,” Dr Mahathir added.
Later
in KUALA LUMPUR,
Jokowi disregarded protocol when he got out of his car before it entered the
Indonesian embassy in order to greet well-wishers.
Trader
Rohana Sulaiman, 55, said she was shocked that the president came to speak to
her, and even obliged for a photo together.
“I don’t
think I will have the chance to do this if I were in Indonesia,” she said, adding that
many had waited for more than three hours to catch a glimpse of Jokowi.



Friday, February 6, 2015

CHEF MAS MASNAH - VIDEOS - Kuali

VIDEOS - Kuali










“If more of us valued
food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world.”

― J.R.R.
Tolkien

Egyptian military kills 27 militants in the Sinai - World | The Star Online

Egyptian military kills 27 militants in the Sinai - World | The Star Online



CAIRO (Reuters) - Military air strikes killed 27 Islamic
militants in Egypt's Northern Sinai on Friday in one of the biggest security
operations in the region in months, security sources said.
Apache helicopters targeted
militants from the Sinai Province group, which pledges allegiance to Islamic
State, the ultra-hardline militants who have seized swathes of Iraq and Syria, the sources said.
Sinai Province,
fighting to topple the Cairo
government, has claimed responsibility for coordinated attacks that killed more
than 30 members of the security forces in late January.
After that bloodshed,
President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi told Egyptians the country faced a long, tough
battle against militants.
Also on Friday, a bomb
exploded along a street in Egypt's
second largest city Alexandria,
killing one person and wounding four others, security sources said.
Sinai-based militants have
killed hundreds of soldiers and police since then army chief Sisi toppled
president Mohamed Mursi of the Muslim Brotherhood in mid-2013 after mass
protests against his rule.
A security crackdown on
Brotherhood supporters, in which hundreds were killed in the streets and
thousands arrested, has weakened the group.
On Friday, Brotherhood
supporters and security forces clashed in the Cairo suburb of Matariya, the state news
agency reported.
Eighteen people were killed
in the Brotherhood stronghold during the January 25 anniversary of the start of
the 2011 uprising that ousted autocrat Hosni Mubarak.


Egyptian authorities have
also jailed liberal activists, including some who gained prominence in the 2011
popular uprising that toppled autocrat Hosni Mubarak, on charges of violating a
law that effectively bans protests.

Taiwan pilots 'faced problem with one engine, restarted the other' - World | The Star Online

Taiwan pilots 'faced problem with one engine, restarted the other' - World | The Star Online


Monday, February 2, 2015

Jokowi visit shows importance of Jakarta-KL ties, says envoy - Nation | The Star Online

Jokowi visit shows importance of Jakarta-KL ties, says envoy - Nation | The Star Online



KUALA LUMPUR: When Indonesian President Joko
Widodo (pic) arrives on Thursday, Malaysia will become his first
official destination overseas since the leader – fondly known as Jokowi – took
over the republic’s leadership last October.
Indonesian Ambassador Herman Prayitno said the newly-elected
president's first state visit mirrored a long-standing tradition.
“Jokowi will continue (former Indonesian president) Susilo Bambang
Yudhoyono's policies, in which our friendship and ties with Malaysia will be
maintained.
“This first bilateral visit (to Malaysia) also reflects the close
political, economic, cultural and emotional ties between the two nations.
“This is tradition – a courtesy visit. The new president will
discuss what will be carried out in the next five years – his political,
economic and cultural policies, which are suitable to Malaysia,” he said.
Jokowi will be accompanied by First Lady Iriana as well as
Indonesia’s Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi and other key leaders.
The issue of the Malaysia-Indonesian border as well as migrant
workers will be among the main topics to be discussed between Jokowi and Prime
Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak during the three-day visit.
On the issue of maritime border, Herman assured Malaysia that his
country had no intention of exten­ding it, as feared by many nations.
“We (Indonesia) consider ourselves a maritime nation but this does
not mean we will invade or take away other people’s territories. We only want
Indonesians to know that our biggest resource is the sea,” he said.
Herman also said in the future, Indonesia only wanted to send
professionals such as in the manufacturing and agriculture sectors.
“We may want to reduce the number of housemaids as it is difficult
for us to monitor,” he said.
Asked if there would be a change of policies with the new
leadership in the republic, Herman said: “No, because all our presidents
observe the same basic policies in our country.”
On the development of the Asean car, which was mooted by Najib,
the ambassador said Indonesia was looking at it positively and did not have any
problem on cooperating in the matter.


“President Jokowi will visit Proton. Who knows? If we cooperate,
we may produce an Asean car out of Proton,” he said. — Bernama

Justin Bieber’s used basketball shoes, Toronto Maple Leafs comforter on auction to help Stratford food bank | National Post

Justin Bieber’s used basketball shoes, Toronto Maple Leafs comforter on auction to help Stratford food bank | National Post



STRATFORD, Ont. — Justin Bieber fans have
the opportunity to snatch up a few of the Stratford, Ont., native’s personal
items for a good cause.
An eBay auction began
on Saturday with Bieber’s used Toronto Maple Leafs comforter, pillow case,
ceiling light and even a pair of his Nike basketball shoes — all of which were
autographed by the pop star — starting at US$500 each.
The auction will end at noon on Feb. 7 with
the profits going to help support Stratford’s House of Blessing food bank.
Bieber’s grandparents, Diane and Bruce
Dale, donated the items to raise money for the food bank and organizers say Bieber
signed them when he was in the area over the holidays.



Jim Rickards: The Collapse of Oil, Gold Prices, and U.S. Economy

Jim Rickards: The Collapse of Oil, Gold Prices, and U.S. Economy

Sunday, February 1, 2015

Blizzard hits central U.S., heads Northeast; air travel takes a hit - CNN.com

Blizzard hits central U.S., heads Northeast; air travel takes a hit - CNN.com

Australian Open: Williams powers past Sharapova for 19th grand slam title - CNN.com

Australian Open: Williams powers past Sharapova for 19th grand slam title - CNN.com









She may
have been ill but that didn't stop Serena Williams from claiming a 19th grand
slam title Saturday.
The
world No. 1 beat second-ranked Maria Sharapova 6-3 7-6 (5) in the Australian
Open final to move into sole possession of second place in grand slams won in
the Open Era behind Steffi Graf's 22.
And on
this form, matching Graf -- or surpassing the German -- shouldn't be discounted
even if Williams turns 34 in September.
"I
would love to get to 22," Williams told reporters. "But I have to get
to 20 first and then I have to get to 21. There's so many wonderful young
players coming up, so it will be a very big task."
The
American defeated her Russian rival for the 16th straight time, although
Sharapova ensured it was a gripping contest from start to finish.



Liow: Inter-racial partnership will keep country globally competitive - Nation | The Star Online

Liow: Inter-racial partnership will keep country globally competitive - Nation | The Star Online





KUALA LUMPUR: Barisan Nasional will not be
complacent over racial harmony but instead enhance inter-racial partnership to
ensure Malaysia remains globally competitive, said MCA president Datuk Seri
Liow Tiong Lai.
He acknowledged that there was an
increasing number of extremists who encouraged the people to fight for causes
that solely benefit their own race.
“These irresponsible parties try to
portray Barisan’s efforts in promoting a mode­rate society as actions that are
only carried out by the weak,” he said at a forum on “Maritime Silk Road:
Taking Sino-Malaysian Relationship to New Heights” yesterday.
The forum, which was organised by the
Malaysia-China Chamber of Commerce, also discussed about a 21st century
maritime silk road to encourage trade between China and Asean countries.
According to Liow, the 1Malaysia
Innovation Field framework that was launched by MCA in October last year served
as a tool to fight such extremist views.
“The diversity in Malaysia is an
assimilation of Chinese, Indian, Islamic and Nusantara civilisations. This
diversity is a strength of Malaysia and should be used as a tool to face
challenges in the new world,” he said.
Aptly named “Civilisation Magnet” in
Chinese, the framework focuses on how Malaysia’s way in attracting diversity
can become its strength and will be the main topic of discussion during the
forum, which will be held in six sessions throughout the country.
Liow also urged companies present at the
forum to improve their product and servi­ces to target international consumers.
“This forum will provide an opportunity
for businesses to plan and find solutions to problems which may arise from an
integrated economy in Asean,” he said.
On another note, Liow said the Depart­ment
of Civil Aviation’s declaration that MH370 tragedy was an accident was done in
accordance to the Chicago Convention and served to give family members of
passengers and crew a sense of closure.
“It was not meant to upset the next of
kin,” he told reporters.
Asked why family members were only
informed of DCA’s decision at the eleventh hour, Liow cited communication
problems.
“The next of kin committee and Malaysia
Airlines should improve how they communicate with the family members,” he said.







‘Stop instilling fear in people’ - Nation | The Star Online

‘Stop instilling fear in people’ - Nation | The Star Online


PETALING JAYA: Malaysians should not create fear among each other
as this is leading the country down the path of immoderation, said former
Malaysian ambassador to the Netherlands Datuk Noor Farida Ariffin.
She said the rise of religious supremacists and racist groups had
stirred up insecurities among the people.
“There are groups duping Malays into believing that the non-Malays
are a threat, which is illogical. And we are seeing executive exuberance among
religious authorities in cases like unilateral conversion in custody battles,
fatwa against yoga, the Allah issue and the implementation of hudud,” said Noor
Farida, who is also a representative of G25.
“The solution is to stop politicising Islam and to take stern
action against anyone who makes racist statements,” she said at the “Moderation
for Our Nation” forum in Menara Star yesterday.
Other panellists were author-entrepreneur and Usman Awang National
Integration Award recipient Anas Zubedy, Asian Strategy and Leadership
Institute chief executive officer Tan Sri Dr Michael Yeoh and writer-columnist
Dzof Azmi.
Yeoh suggested introducing codes of conduct for politicians and
the media. He said it was important to “spell out” what politicians must do to
reject extremism.



























Doing it her (moderate) way - Nation | The Star Online

Doing it her (moderate) way - Nation | The Star Online




Quote: In our race to be religious, we
forgot our faith.
DESCRIBING herself as a bookworm
scientist, Lyana Khairuddin never thought that she could galvanise more than
100 people to stand up and speak up.
But fire up people she did, and some 5,700
have pledged support for the online petition she started – “I am #26 ”– which
is calling for a public discourse on the position and application of Islamic
laws in the country.
“I am not a lawyer or a politician or have
a famous family. All I love are viruses and Harry Potter, but I know I wanted
to know more about Syariah law because it affects my life,” says the
31-year-old virology lecturer and AIDS researcher at Universiti Malaya.
Something that has always troubled her is
the lack of awareness on the legal jurisdiction and administration of Syariah
law.
“We have to live under this law and I know
nothing about its implementation, and it is often amended without public
consultation. Why can’t we have a consultative process? The people who have to
live with it should be the first people to know.”
Her niggling questions about Islamic law
blew up when she read the open letter by the 25 former civil servants dubbed as
the “Prominent Malays or G25” which raised the same concerns. G25 had called
for a review of the Syariah criminal offences and a consultative process on the
position and application of Islamic law in the country.
Their strongly worded letter also asked
for the supremacy of the Federal Constitution to be upheld in light of the
unresolved disputes between the Syariah and Civil courts.
“I remember reading it and putting it up
on my Facebook Wall and asking, ‘Can people sign this?’
“That also got me thinking, can we have a
movement like this without “prominent” personalities? Can the voices of
ordinary Malaysians like me be heard?”
After getting in touch with the G25
representative, Datuk Noor Farida Ariffin, with the help of the former
ambassador’s relative, writer activist Tariq Ismail, Lyana decided to test the
waters and penned the “I am #26” petition.
Putting herself out on cyberspace was
nerve-wrecking, Lyana shares.
“I kept thinking, what if no one signed
this?”
She need not have worried. From her 20
friends who signed the petition to lend moral support, the number of supporters
rocketed.
“I have to admit that we do need well-known
people among us to get big support. I would not have done it without Tariq and
his group Aura Merdeka,” she says with a laugh.
What touched her was also the support
shown by non-Muslim Malaysians.
“Although the petition is meant for Malays
only, there were many non-Malay Muslims who signed – they started out by
saying, I’m not Malay but I’m Malaysian ...
“I was just touched. Because to me if
Syariah law is implemented it will affect the non-Muslims in the country too,
so I understand their concerns.”
Although she is not sure if moderate Malay
Muslim voices are gaining ground against the cacophony of those with a more
extremist outlook, Lyana is optimistic.
“We can only say that we are trying.
Because if we don’t try, they will assume that we are okay with it.”
> Do you feel that the “I am #26”
campaign is reaching its objectives?
We now have around 5,700 supporters and my
target is to get at least 10,000.
But a friend asked me, “Do you think that
the PM will change the policies just because 5,000 people signed a petition?
And one of the first comments I got was
from a friend who said, “I will only take you seriously once you have 200,000
people, because that is how many supporters Perkasa said it has.”
But I was thinking, “If I got 100 people
by tonight, I’ll be happy.”
I got 200-something by the next morning.
So, even if it is only 200 or over 5,000 supporters, it is still something. It
means more than 5,000 people are thinking, “Yes, we are Muslims but we support
the need for a public discourse on the position and application of Islamic laws
in the country.”
> What is the plan for the petition
now? How are you translating this into action?
We don’t know if we will reach 10,000 or
if the PM will even accept our petition. I am still working on how to give it
to him.
But at least we are having a discourse on
it. Maybe I’ve opened a can of worms, because you are also hearing from the
conservatives who want Syariah law to be upheld and the Federal Constitution to
be amended to “incorporate the needs of the Muslims.”
But people want to know more about the
Constitution and Syariah law. They are talking and writing about it. They are
speaking up and critically analysing it. Everyone has their own opinion, of
course, but to form that opinion, they have to read and do research.
I also hope the discourse will stay at a
level that is civil – we don’t want people to call each other names.
They have started personal attacks on
Datuk Noor Farida (a member of the G25 Prominent Malays) and calling her names.
That is sad. Can’t we have civil discussions without dredging up history and
calling people names?
We need to focus on the issue at hand and
the issue at hand now is that all 13 states in Malaysia implement a Syariah law
system, which is not standardised and causing a lot of confusion. And
ultimately, we are not God, so why are we so judgmental of other people?
> Were you not worried of a backlash?
Someone warned me of cybertroopers – that
they will come after me and I need to hide, change my profile picture and
everything. I was very scared but seeing the momentum the petition was going,
it hit me, what do I have to be scared of?
It (the initiative) is coming from a
concerned citizen of Malaysia who is not an expert in Syariah law but has to
live with it because she’s a Muslim and wants to understand more about it.
And it came from my heart when I started
it, so I thought if people are going to talk bad about me, so be it...
> What’s the worst comment or insult
that has been hurled at you?
It’s happened twice, and only once because
of “I am #26.”
One was when I wrote in my column on an
online news portal about how I missed the spirituality of Islam; I felt that we
in Malaysia are so prone to talking about the rituals of Islam – how you pray,
how many times you go for Haj and whether you wear tudung(headscarf) or
not, as opposed to what is the faith. Someone commented, “You’re not even
wearing a headscarf, how can you talk about Islam?”
Another was when the Malaysian
Consultative Council of Islamic Organisation (Mapim) sent an open letter, which
was supported by 35 Muslim figures, calling for the implementation of Syariah
law and setting up of a high-powered committee to review the Federal
Constitution. They said the people who are asking for a judiciary review of the
Syariah law, the “so-called moderate Muslims”, are actually “extremist
liberals”.
They also criticised The Star’s Voice
of Moderation campaign, saying that all the women in the campaign were not
wearing the tudung.
That is the point I think many Malaysians
have missed totally – that you can be religious without broadcasting it.
To them, for you to be religious, you have
to show it – show that you pray, that you are good...
These comments were hurtful, that I have
no right to talk about my faith because I don’t wear a tudung....
I’ve learnt not to read the comments any
more.
> So what is Moderate Muslim to you?
I don’t know if you have seen this cartoon
online – it shows a scale of Islam from “liberal” and “moderate” to “extreme”.
“Liberal” is on the far left and under
liberal is a woman without a headscarf, on the far right is “extreme” and under
it is a woman in a burqa. In the middle is a woman in a regular headscarf, and
they say this is “moderate”.
Why should we label ourselves as whatever?
Do you believe in living in a Malaysia that is harmonious, where everything is
fine and everyone is happy?
Regardless of which camp you feel you
belong to, I think we have a common belief in this nation. We need to fight for
it and this should be the way we live every day.
Although I don’t believe in labels, I do
see the value of the silent majority speaking up and of like-minded people
getting together, because you see it happening on the other side where
extremists rule – people with extreme thinking getting together and forming
groups.
This is where we need to be careful
though, because we don’t want to do the same – veer towards hatred and call
each other names.
There was also one thing that a friend
told me; she is a non-Muslim who married into the religion. She told me, “Lyana,
for a religion of compassion, I don’t see many compassionate Muslims.”
It made me really sad to hear that. I grew
up with my grand­parents in Penang, and I remember a Chinese neighbour coming
to see my grandfather to ask for air Surah Yasin (water blessed with
a verse believed to be the heart of the Quran) for his sick child.
My grandfather never said, “No.” My
grandfather never said, “This is only for Muslims.”
He would do it because it was the
neighbourly thing to do and it was the compassionate thing to do. That is the
spirituality that we miss because we are adamant to live within the box of
Malay Muslim that we have drawn for ourselves.
I am young but because I was brought up by
my grandparents, I grew up in a household with the old Malaysian values of
compassion and moderation.
And that was how Malay Muslims were before
– we always did things and saw things in moderation and with compassion.
Still, I remember things were fine when I
was growing up until a certain point when suddenly it was not fine for me to go
to my friend’s house for Christmas. What happened to our community? What
changed?
I’ve always believed in the middle way.
When I read (American Islamic scholar)
Hamza Yusuf’s Purification of the Heart, which is about the spirituality
of Islam and taking the middle path in Islam, I realise at the end of the day,
all the religions want people to be good and do good.
The gist of the book is that as Muslims we
need to always be centred and always take the middle path. Whenever there is an
argument, we need to listen to both sides and make a just decision.
> What gives you the right to talk
about Syariah law?
Because I am a Muslim. Because I have to
live with it.
In all honesty, I’m scared to fall in love
and get married because, what if I fall in love with a non-Muslim? The law is
that he has to convert and potong (get circumcised) and all.
So Syariah law affects me personally. We
have to live under this law and I know nothing about its implementation, and it
is often amended or new laws are introduced without public consultation.
The people who have to live with it should
be the first people to know.
As an academic, I also feel that when
there is something that I don’t know, I have to study it, learn more about it.
So, yes, I am not a student of law, I am a scientist, but to me if I don’t know
something I’ll ask, and this is what I’m doing with “I am #26.”
That is why we have point number two in
our petition: elected Members of Parliament and the public need to raise their
awareness on the Federal Constitution and the administration of Islamic law in
Malaysia.
> Some say that you are a typical Gen-Y
activist – just pressing “enter” to fight for a cause. What sort of difference
do you think you are making?
We live in a social media world – it’s a
powerful tool, and as in everything that is given to us, it is us who decide if
it is used for bad or good.
By having an online petition I hope it can
reach out to a lot of people.
There were some who criticised me for just
putting the petition online – saying that we were not reaching those who are in
rural areas or those who have no Internet connection.
Sure, it is easy for me to just do an
online petition, but this is all that I can do for now.
If I didn’t do anything, would it have
made a difference? Maybe, maybe not.
Would change happen if we had a
demonstration outside the PM’s office instead? I don’t know.
It’s just that I always believe in the
middle way and I wanted to try to stand up for what I believe in because I feel
in my heart that I’m losing my Malaysia.