<body>
    Prophet Muhammad(s.a.w.) Shaikh'Abd Al-Qadir Al-Jilani Naqshbandi Taweez Malaysiaku Gemilang, design by Nor Azian A. Hasan Bloggers United Portal
    mytravellingjournalpix
    This is a Flickr badge showing photos in a set called Travels. Make your own badge here.
    myfunphotographypix
    This is a Flickr badge showing public photos from hatz_laser. Make your own badge here.
    mymosquepix
    This is a Flickr badge showing public photos from hatzmosque. Make your own badge here.
    myloonyfriendsfunpix
    postvoice.blogspot.com
    This is a Flickr badge showing public photos from postvoice. Make your own badge here.
    mymysticpix
    This is a Flickr badge showing public photos and videos from hatzmystic. Make your own badge here.
    manjauncle
    Skype Me™! My status Hatzputra at Facebook this is Hatz's profile Friendster Hatzputra Myspace Hatzputra
    My books collection Secrets of the Kingdom The Last True Story-Iraq Stylin' with CSS Digital Terrorism ARMED WITH CAMERAS The Society of the Muslim Brothers in Egypt
    MacWorld Wired MAGAZINE National Geographic Magazine Technology Review
    National Geographic's Most Amazing Moments The Atomic Cafe (1982) Hotel Rwanda (2005) Inu-Yasha-The Movie 3
    Demon Days by Gorillaz X&Y by Coldplay Dynamite by Jamiroquai Monkey Business by Black Eye Peas Hotel by Moby Push the Button by The Chemical Brothers
    Search Now:
    Amazon Logo


    Two audiobooks for FREE from Audible
Technorati ranking
thanks to Sabahan.com Top 50 list - Feb 2007

This space presents my personal insights into creativities, films, musics, apple mac, visual design, photography, travel adventures, people, news, voices on my beloved country 'Malaysia' and abit about my spiritual journey in the inner-spiritual dimension of Islam. No script, No instructions. Just sharing a brief of the world that inspires me, the books on my shelves, where I work and the project I do, my current passion or simply talk about what's on my mind! But this is not a one-way thingie. This is just part of the matrix. Have your say in the "conversation", just say something. View and enjoy my live broadcast showreels, please be patient while the files are loading.

Broadcasting my showreels & favorite showcases
Click here, if you can't see video player (www.freewebs.com)

MacMachine Some edited footages I shot during a New York City trip for Human Rights Watch International Film Festival and the New York Asian Film Festival in June 2005. Nearly mugged wandering around. It's a little tribute to this lovely city and people but NOT to Bush and his administration. It got this wonderful creative aura energy that hard to explain. Anyway, this video here will tell on how I felt being in the "City That Never Sleeps". Edited with the background music of U2 from the album "All that you can't leave behind, New York - 2000 ".

Islamic Sufism BroadcastCurrently I produce or direct people-driven stories and news related to muslims.net in MIDDLE EAST and ASIA PACIFIC for a global broadcaster in HD High Definition. At times I design, direct and produce on-air promotions, show packaging, channel branding, music videos, commercials and corporate videos. Versatile with AVID, Final Cut Studio nonlinear editing suite, Adobe After Effects, ProAnimator, Photoshop and Illustrator. Enjoy the rest of my broadcast list which showcases my past project, travelblog & my own personal spiritual Islamic journey of self-discovery.

Your Ad Here

Friday, August 31, 2007

Race clouds Malaysia's 50th [via aljazeera.net]

" Independence celebrations emphasise unity but tensions
remain below the surface [Reuters] "

[via aljazeera.net]
Malaysia marks 50 years of independence on Friday with a show of national unity. Ethnic Malay, Chinese and Indian performers will come together in a day of colourful celebrations. But the parades and performances mask a country questioning its multicultural traditions. Today ethnic Malays make up slightly more than half of the population – about 27 million – but control less than 20 per cent of the economy.

The minority Chinese form about 24 per cent of the population but own 40 per cent of the nation's wealth. In an attempt to address this divide, in 1971 the government set up its New Economic Policy, giving ethnic Malays preference in jobs, education and business. But instead of closing the economic gap, many believe the policy, known as the Bumiputra system, has widened the rift between the races.

Colonial Malaya

The iconic Petronas Twin Towers, loomimg high over Kuala Lumpur, are a striking reminder of how far Malaysia has come since independence. Malaysia, known as Malaya back then, was a very different place in 1957. The departing British empire left behind an extremely diverse infant nation, comprising large communities of ethnic Malays, Chinese and Indians.

More than half of the country lived below the national poverty line, the bulk of whom were ethnic Malays. From the very beginning, national unity was a preoccupation for Malaysia's leaders. Fifty years on, Malaysians are still struggling to find the best ways to get along with each other.

Images of the diverse cultures are exploited to promote tourism. Malaysia, the slogan goes, is "truly Asia".

Tensions

But below the surface tensions are simmering, having burst into racial riots in the past. In 2001, Subramanian, an ethnic Indian handyman, was in the wrong place at the wrong time. "Two motorbikes with four persons suddenly attacked me… I was wounded," he recalls. "I saw their hand. They were holding a knife about four feet long. I ran to escape but they still chased me and chopped."

The New Economic Policy was designed as an economic affirmative action programme favouring ethnic Malays, but it was at the expense of other communities.

Expression for change

People were also not allowed to express their views on racial or religious issues. That has all changed now, but the issue still stirs controversy.

Last month Wee Meng Chee, an ethnic Chinese, posted a rap song on the internet based on Negaraku, the national anthem. In the homemade video he criticises the government for promoting the interests of ethnic Malays. The video caused an outcry in the Malaysian media, with demands from some areas that he be charged under the country's sedition laws for his perceived disrespect. Musa Hitam, a former Malaysian deputy prime minister, hopes the new openness under the current leadership will be positive.

"This sort of expression of dissatisfaction, even based on racial feelings should and could be used in order to improve ourselves," he told Al Jazeera. Malaysia now is one of the richest nations in South-East Asia and is on the verge of ending absolute poverty.

As a resuly many people are openly asking if the affirmative action laws favouring ethnic Malays are really still necessary.

Right approach

Chandra Muzaffar, a social scientist and former opposition politician, says Malaysia's greatest achievement is inter-ethnic peace, which he says is not the same as unity.

"It's not a question of doing this because we're in the 21st century... it is the right approach for all times." What is needed, he says, is "a non-ethnic approach, where the overriding concern is by looking at a person's socio-economic situation, at the needs and realities."

So what of Malaysia's plan to foster unity in the next 50 years?

The government has launched a national service programme aimed at bringing together young people of all races specifically to encourage more social mixing. But a Saturday night out at Kuala Lumpur's hotspots does not show much mixing between the races, something young Malaysians are aware of.

But there are possible signs of changes. One young woman said her generation wanted to break down the racial stereotypes – of Malays as farmers, Chinese as businessmen and Indians as shopkeepers.

In another 50 years time, she says, she hopes that everyone would work together as Malaysians and not as different races.

In Malaysia, race relations have always been an issue but the question is how the leadership will stop tensions from boiling over again.

>>> "HOPE is a tangible commodity that energizes people and communities."

Labels: ,

0 Conversation:

Post a Comment

Friday, August 17, 2007

Raja Nazrin voice for racial harmony


'The Rakyat' kept calling for Raja Nazrin to be our next Prime Minister. Actually 'the rakyat' cannot just make anyone the PM of Malaysia. The rules say that the elected person, has to be the head of UMNO. How can we change the current leadership? Voting wisely this coming election? Changes within UMNO elite? Would it work?

Raja Nazrin had been making big hints about how things should be in several speeches already. The most remarkable being challenges and prospects for nation building: A lesson for the young and bright – his keynote address at the first Student Leaders' Summit on Aug 5.

The first, he said, is to recognize the Rule of Law and the inviolability of the Constitution, stressing that the supreme law of the land provides adequate checks and balances against excesses through the separation of powers between the executive, legislative and judicial branches, with each protected from encroachment by the other.

The second element he cited is economic and social justice for all. He said all groups in society, regardless of ethnic group, religion or gender, must participate in making decisions that affect their lives and livelihoods.

“The people we work and play with, the friendships we make must never be constrained by ethnicity."

“Preconceptions, parochialism and chauvinism can be eradicated if we interact actively with others of a different ethnic group or religion – even if it is just one teacher, one man, or one schoolmate. In many areas, this is absent and it must change,” he said.

The third vital essential highlighted by the prince is good governance. He said institutions of governance must show and generate norms and behaviour that are fundamentally efficient, productive and just.

“Only those who are capable, responsible and scrupulously honest should be allowed to serve in positions of leadership. The inefficient, incompetent and, most importantly, the corrupt, should be held in absolute contempt.”

“We must have leaders who are earnest in maintaining unity, never resorting to religious or ethnic posturing to further political careers at the expense of peace and security. Should they fail in this respect, they must be held accountable and answerable before the law.”

The prince also suggested several ways for young Malaysians to “tenaciously forge this nation”, beginning with getting copies of the Federal Constitution and familiarizing themselves with the rights enshrined in the document. He advised them to study the country’s history and former leaders like Tun Dr Ismail Abdul Rahman who dreamed of a nation without color lines, ethnic borders nor any group feeling a sense of inferiority. He told them to take “personal ownership” over the well being of the country, hold on to their ideals instead of giving way to apathy, cynicism or opportunism.

The prince urged the young to take active part in community services that promoted interaction among the races, serve the country to the best of their abilities and not shy away from working in the public sector.


Then in Sunday Star, former IGP Tun Hanif Omar gets pretty vocal. Even the Sultan of Selangor had his say in The Star.

Some excerpt from yesterday newspaper here in Singapore "The Straits Times"

[via:The Straits Times by Ooi Kee Beng]

ROYAL IMPACT: In a country where royalty is often silent, a vocal prince speaking about issues that interest the general public has been more than welcomed...The question that remains is: How far will he let himself go, and how far will he be allowed by the powers that be to go?

THE crown prince of Malaysia's Perak state, Raja Nazrin Shah, holder of a Harvard University PhD in Political Economy and Government, has always been a respected personage in Malaysia, but never nearly as much as he is esteemed at present.

Why this is so is explained by his choice of issues in a series of speeches he has been giving recently, and by how his focus earns ready response among common Malaysians.

In a real sense, this love affair acts as a painful reminder of what it is that ails the present regime in 50-year-old Malaysia.

Perhaps this new phase in Raja Nazrin's relationship with Malaysia's citizens started a fortnight after the annual meeting of the dominant United Malays National Organisation (Umno) in November 2006 at which provocative remarks were made by party members against non-Malays despite the proceedings being telecast live.

Feelings ran high for a while, testing even the patience of non-Malay parties within the ruling coalition. Deeply concerned, Raja Nazrin pondered openly in a newspaper interview then that 'dividing lines of race' had become prevalent after the 1969 racial riots, eclipsing the perception first generation leaders held that national unity must come before all else.

Despite the enviable economic progress that Malaysia has enjoyed since 1969, inter-racial attitudes have indeed deteriorated from a give-and-take attitude to a belief that progress is a zero- sum game, which leaves little room for 'humility, generosity of spirit and intellectual curiosity'.

The key question the prince asked was: 'Why has economic wealth not improved inter-ethnic relations?' His answers were as simple as they were clear: first, Malaysians no longer considered diversity a blessing; second, there were too many immature and irresponsible leaders using parochialism for their own ends; and third, racial and religious segregation was being encouraged and allowed from a very young age.

The nine months or so following that interview have seen the prince utilising a series of platforms to voice his worries and speak against the belief that national unity was achievable through domination by one race, one religion or one ideology.

He instead urged that mutual understanding, genuine respect, good role models and sound institutions were what a diverse Malaysia needed.

On April 3, he made an excellent speech (excerpts of which were published in these pages) to young Malaysians, calling for the Constitution, the Rukunegara (Principles of the Nation) and Vision 2020 to be 'defended and promoted'. Most noteworthy was his statement that 'Malaysians of all races, religions and geographic locations need to believe beyond a shadow of a doubt that they have a place under the Malaysian sun'.

'The price of racial and cultural intolerance,' he added, 'must be made prohibitively high.' His great fear was that young Malaysians would, given present trying times, increasingly entertain 'cynicism and hopelessness'.

He reiterated his stand two days later at the Ave Maria Convent in Ipoh, calling on students to defend the 'unique identity' that had evolved out of racial diversity. He donated RM100,000 (S$44,000) to the Catholic school. The following week, he gave RM100,000 to Sam Tet Secondary School, and on that occasion advised teachers and parents to teach their children to reject 'racial extremism and religious fanaticism'.

Throughout May, the 50-year-old prince was busy with his marriage to Zara Salim Davidson. Not only was the news of the royal wedding welcomed, Raja Nazrin's advice to firms and individuals to avoid buying advertising space to congratulate him and his family and to donate the money to charity instead went down very well with his countrymen.

His popularity increased further when he declined a state offer to fund the wedding, saying that he would bear all expenses himself.

Raja Nazrin continued to develop his thoughts about reforming Malaysia further, and on July 30 he gave a speech in commemoration of the late Prof Syed Hussein Alatas, Malaysia's most famous social scientist.

He spoke then against corruption, an issue that has concerned and frustrated Malaysians for decades, and warned that 'once corruption becomes widespread, it will no longer seem immoral and unlawful - just business as usual'. He called for regulatory and institutional curbs, and proposed that those with 'a chequered past or clear evidence of questionable morality' should not be allowed to take office.

Although the prince has always avoided criticising the present administration directly, his words nevertheless echo the widespread displeasure Malaysians feel about Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi's lack of success, and will, in fighting corruption, and with the fact that many who are in power are tainted by allegations of corruption.

On Aug 3, speaking at the launch of the Malay translation of a book on Malaysia's former deputy prime minister Tun Dr Ismail (disclosure: I wrote the English original of the book, The Reluctant Politician) at Universiti Malaya, Raja Nazrin was overcome by emotion several times. He later told friends that it was because he was overwhelmingly reminded of the sacrifices that the late Tun Dr Ismail had made for the country, and of how much still needed to be done.

While the prince had spoken of the need for role models before, he had not provided any names to emulate. He seemed now to have found character traits worth promulgating in Tun Dr Ismail Abdul Rahman. Praising his commitment, integrity and openmindedness, he said that he saw in Tun Dr Ismail 'a statesman, an inspirational leader and a visionary...who envisaged a Malaysia for all without colour lines, without ethnic borders and without any one group feeling a sense of inferiority'.

Again, the prince's disappointment in certain leaders could be discerned: 'The citizens' loyalty to their leaders must not be defiled by the actions of leaders...driven by greed to obtain wealth for themselves and their families.'

He ended his poignant speech by declaring to Tun Dr Ismail's family that 'the country and the people are indebted to you'.

Two days later, the prince continued along the same vein when addressing the inaugural Student Leaders Summit in Kuala Lumpur. He asserted that rule of law, inviolability of the Constitution, economic and social justice for all, good governance and a thriving civil society were necessary for successful nation building.

He advised his young audience to familiarise themselves with the Constitution, seek inspiration from history, study past sacrifices made by exemplary leaders such as Tun Dr Ismail, take personal ownership over the well-being of the country, resist cynicism and opportunism, promote inter-ethnic activities and develop their personal capacity.

In closing, he reminded his audience that while expertise of all sorts could be imported, what could not be bought or hired was integrity.

In a country where royalty is often silent, a vocal prince speaking about issues that interest the general public has been more than welcomed. The approach the prince has developed over the last few months strikes a chord with many, even leading an opposition leader to request that he be made adviser to the prime minister.

The question that remains is: How far will he let himself go, and how far will he be allowed by the powers that be to go?

Labels: ,

0 Conversation:

Post a Comment

Friday, August 10, 2007

power to The Conference of Rulers (Majlis Raja-Raja)


rulers wars, originally uploaded by hatzjourney.

Malaysiakini quotes a report from Wednesday's edition of The Straits Times that the Conference of Rulers (Majlis Raja-Raja) has recently made a rare ruling by rejecting the PM's nominated candidate to fill the vacant post of Chief Judge of Malaya (CJM), the third highest-ranking official in the judiciary.

Under the Malaysian constitution, the rulers are to be consulted on certain key government appointments such as judges or members of the Election Commission. In the case of judicial appointments, the Prime Minister makes the recommendations after discussion with the Chief Justice.

Apparently this might be in response to concern from the legal fraternity that relatively junior judges have been appointed over the heads of more senior judges like Gopal Sri Ram. The Straits Times report suggested that the Prime Minister may have had an audience with HRH Sultan Azlan Shah, who was a former Lord President (now known as Chief Justice), regarding this matter.

Finally, power to the Sultan? Watch this saga, as this battle unfold between Malaysian Royalty Ruler and Malaysia's ruling party. Here an interesting read from Imran Imtiaz Shah Yacob for Asia Sentinel, posted by: Raja Petra at malaysia-today.net.

This is like the 'Star Wars' saga, and Raja Petra appear to be the "jedi knight", battling against the evil UMNO Empire with their "stormtroopers" aka "cybertroopers from Lisbo Planet". He is the 'Hans Solo' implementing strategy in the battle between UMNO and the Rulers. Read his laser post on this issue. It is about time the Yang di-Pertuan Agong (King of Malaysia) act on his responsibility for safeguarding the rights and privileges of all citizens of Malaysia.

|||

Labels: ,

0 Conversation:

Post a Comment

Thursday, August 09, 2007

Support of malaysia-today.net website, defend bloggers' right

[via The Star]

The wife of Malaysia Today website owner Raja Petra Kamarudin refused to answer questions posed to her by the police, citing the Syariah law as her reason. Marina Lee Abdullah said: “I refused to answer any question as the Syariah law states I must first have permission from my husband to do so.

“I don't have to answer them. There is no need to,” she told reporters as she was leaving the Dang Wangi district police headquarters at about 12.30pm yesterday. Accompanied by her husband, she met two senior police officers at 11am.

The police had questioned Marina, 50, pertaining to investigations against her husband, who had allegedly insulted the country and the Yang di-Pertuan Agong on the website. Among those present to show their support were fellow blogger Ahirudin Attan, also known as Rocky, and The Star columnist and social activist Datuk Marina Mahathir.

On July 27, police questioned Raja Petra following a report lodged by Umno information chief Tan Sri Muhammad Muhammad Taib. Muhammad Taib alleged that comments and remarks published on Raja Petra's website on July 11 had insulted the King, degraded Islam and could incite hatred and violence in Malaysia’s multi-racial society. You can read more related news at Malaysia-Today and Malaysiakini.

Labels:

0 Conversation:

Post a Comment

pirate
“ Better to be a Pirate than to join the Navy ”

Steve Jobs - Referring to the pirate flag that flew over Apple’s headquaters in 1983. I believe that quote was one of three keyphrases for a large Apple meeting/conference, and the Pirate flag was attached to the Macintosh building after that meeting. So the flag was actually a reaction to that.