Keroncong Kuala Lumpur, by Tan Sri P Ramlee

It's the Malaysia season (August-September. What year? Every year. Gee, you ask a silly question ...)

So here's a link to Keroncong Kuala Lumpur, part of the Anak Bapak film (1968), sung by the late Tan Sri P Ramlee. It's his tribute to the Malaysian ideal.




Lyrics:
Kuala Lumpur, ibu negara Malaysia,
Aman serta makmur, setelah Merdeka,
Tanah subur, hasilnya kaya-raya,
Jadi kebanggaan kejayaan bangsa.

Rakyat sehati sejiwa,
Satu bahasa, satu bangsa, 
Tanda kegagahan negara,
Malaysia merdeka.

Waktu malam, cahaya menjulang tinggi,
Parlimen tersergam, lambang demokrasi

(Instrumental)

Waktu malam, cahaya menjulang tinggi,
Parlimen tersergam, lambang demokrasi.

For some reason...

Oh dear. Seems I haven't updated this blog as often as I had hoped. A bit busy with thesis and the pursuit of academic article publication, but still...

While I was writing my thesis chapter, my mind wanders and wanders, and suddenly it stops at one memory of myself from the past and latches on. Strange how the minds does that, eventually leading me to write this entry at 3 in the morning.

So I spent some time reminiscing about the past. My past during my undergraduate years, specifically.

I really should start writing about my university life. Call it 'My Years in University: Ramblings of an Undergraduate' or whatever. Separate them into personal stories, pretentious pseudo-philosophical musings, university activities, romance (or the lack of it), trips. I should write them for archival keepsake when I'm older. They could label it [[SP????, Ruzaini Fikri Papers, entry, date of entry]]. Of course, I should be famous or important enough for my materials to be deemed significant to warrant entry into the National Archives-

...but I'm getting way off tangent.

No specifics here, but the memories left me smiling, and laughing, and frowning, and fuming, and laughing nervously in that 'in-hindsight-that-was-kinda-funny' way, and even red with embarrassment. Sometimes I feel that should I be mysteriously bestowed or loaned a time-travel ability, I would go back in time and probably punch myself in the face (I'm talking about you, me from 2010). I've had good and bad experiences, some of the bad ones, I admit, was of my own doing.

Do I have regrets? Of course I do. I'm not one of those people who say they have none because 'it made me the person I am today' or some other bull. Do I wish I could go back in time and change some of my life choices or decisions? Sure, I've given it some thought.

But I know that 'one of those people' has a point. I am who I am today because of my past. I like to think those undergraduate years taught me something, and made me a better person today than I was then.

I turned out fine. I like me. You know what? If I do have time-travelling abilities, I'd go meet 2010 Me and tell him 'future's not that bad. Sure, the Middle East's still burning and American policemen are closing down lemonade stands, but you/me, we're fine. Totally fine.'

Then I'd go further back in time and try to kill Hitler, but that never actually works.

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/HitlersTimeTravelExemptionAct

An Internet Joke

I should be writing a review on the Sultans of Science exhibition. Hopefully it'll be done by the end of the week. Meanwhile, here's a joke I found on the internet.


"George Bush, Tony Blair and Gerhard Schröder are at the North Sea.

Suddenly Blair says: "We have a submarine that can stay underwater for 10 days without refueling."

Bush replies: "That's nothing! We can stay underwater for 30 days without needing to refuel."

Schröder looks a little embarrassed and remains silent. Suddenly a submarine arises from the ocean, the door opens and a man appears: "Heil Hitler! We need diesel!""

Scariest. Story. Ever.

So ur wid yo honi and ur makin out wen the phone ringz. U ansr it n da voice sayz "wut r u doin wit ma daughter?"
u tel ur girl n she say "ma dad is ded."

THEN WHO WAS PHONE?

Wow...just wow...Just found a worst story than 5eva

"gurl stops meking out n asks boi to get potartz.

he dus.

den gurl teks deep breff. den gurl sais "bf i am pregnent will u stay ma bf" n he seys "no".

gurl iz hertbrokn.

gurl cried n runz awaii from boi wiffout eatin poptart n she has low blood suga so she fols.

boi runs ova 2 her.

she ded

boi crie "i sed i no b ur bf...cuz i wona b ur husband!"

he screems n frows poptart @ wol....a bootiful diomand ring wus insyd.

*** LIK DIS IF U CRY EVERTIM***"

Wow...just...a part of my brain just died...

I luv u 5eva (aka I'm sure there are worse stories, I just haven't found them yet)

A gurl was walkin 2 skewl wit her bf n they were crossin da rode. she sed "bbz will u luv me 4evr" he said "NO..""
da gurl cryed N ran across da rode b4 da green man came on the sine. boy was cryin and went to pic up her body.
she was ded.
he whispered 2 her corpse
"I ment to sey I will luv u 5ever......"
(dat mean he luv her moar dan 4evr.....)
like dis if u cry evry time

What is this I don't even...I mean...
...
What? O_O

My view: of the shooting of a 14-year old girl

Shocked.

That was what I felt when I read the news 3 days ago. I am just...shocked.

The news? A 14-year old girl (Malala Yousafzai) was shot in the head and neck by the Taliban in the Swat region of Pakistan. She is now in a hospital, struggling to live, but chillingly, the spokesperson of the Taliban, Ehsanullah Ehsan, said they'd finish the job if she survived this attack.

Her crime? She wanted to learn. Malala came into prominence in 2009 when she wrote a blog in the BBC of her fears of the Taliban destroying her homeland in the Swat valley. Being the daughter of an educator, she would have been taught the value of an education, something the Taliban, during its tyrannical rule of Afghanistan (if there is any condemnation by any Muslim country of Taliban rule in Afghanistan, I have yet to hear about it), denied to their own women (read 'Chapter 8: A Vanished Gender' in Ahmed Rashid's insightful book, 'Taliban: Islam, Oil and the New Great Game in Central Asia' (published 2001)).

The Taliban in the news provided a different reason, blaming her 'Western-influence' and her speaking out against the Taliban ('using dirty language against us'). If this is the case, the Taliban is more despicable than I thought. 'Of course, how dare this GIRL speak up against us? I mean, we kill anyone that speaks bad of us, anyway, but a GIRL? It's just too much...'

I didn't think this news would affect me that much. After all, the violence the people in Afghanistan and Pakistan suffered, caused by the Taliban, the Pakistani military, and American presence, is in the news all the time. There's even a joke in my old debate team that you don't really need to update material on topics related to the two regions. But for some reason, this news disturbed me greatly. Just a day before the news, I bought 'Keududukan Wanita dalam Islam' by HAMKA, and though his arguments are not new to me, I am fascinated by his flow of language, arguing for equality of women in Islam (even in matters of politics). Studying history, I am also reminded of the struggle of the 19th and early 20th century Muslim reformers, of Afghani and Abduh, and especially the Kaum Muda of Malaya (led by Syed Syeikh al-Hadi) that argued for the equality of women, which could only be achieved if they were given EDUCATION. A professor of mine said once that the legacy of the Kaum Muda is the women in universities today studying for their PhDs, becoming doctors, scientists, teachers, etc.

Which is why this news is just shocking. I thought this whole issue of women's right to education should be done by now. 

I've been looking through Facebook, seeing if anyone felt the same indignation as I did. I was hoping the same people that voiced outrage over the silly film insulting the Prophet Muhammad would also protest against this violence against a girl (by extension, violence against women). This is done in the name of Islam, which I would argue is a much greater insult to Islam. I don't see it. In fact, the only other FB page that bothered to post this news (DrMAZA) is answered by commenters that are still deciding whether or not this is one of those 'Jewish, American infidel lies'.

Where is the outrage? Pakistan voiced some protest over the shooting, with the Sunni Ittehad Council issued a fatwa condemning the gunman and the Taliban. But where is the proper outrage? Shouldn't you follow the example of the Muslims of Benghazi, that united to drive militias out of their city following the murder of US Ambassador Chris Stevens just a month ago?

The Muslims in this country love to protest for issues related to Islam after Friday prayers, like the situation in Palestine, in Gaza, in Lebanon, in Chechnya, in Afghanistan, in Iraq. We protest against the Prophet Muhammad cartoons and the recent film issue. We even had the cheeck to issue death threats against cartoonists for this. I ask you Muslims, where is your sense of indignation now? I dare you to march out and demonstrate against the Taliban. I dare you to organise a demonstration against this great insult to Islam. I dare you to condemn the Taliban treating women like dirt, when God and the Prophet himself declared men and women as equals.

Links to the news:

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/10/world/asia/teen-school-activist-malala-yousafzai-survives-hit-by-pakistani-taliban.html?_r=2&hp

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/oct/12/malala-yousafzai-fatwa-gunmen-pakistan?newsfeed=true

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/13/world/asia/malala-yousafzai-faces-new-taliban-threat.html