Thursday, March 27, 2008

Target Climate Change



picture and article below from www.stuff.co.nz





Can you and I make a difference?
Maybe not, but why dont we try?

As we all know, we are consuming more and more oil, fossil fuel, coal and wood as well as clearing forest to make way for development. What development?
Is exchanging rainforest for concrete jungle good?

The debate about green house gases and climate change is over, BUT we are dragging our feet when it comes to what should be done.

We shall consume less resources, and target carbon neutral. ie given choice between walking or cycling and driving to anywhere, we should opt for cycling or walking.

We shall plant more carbon absorber, ie trees, and not clearing trees and jungle for palm oil plantation, even though govt says that biodiesel is the next big thing.

We shall not pollute our environment, and this include not wasting resources and recyclable.

You can add more, and we shall do the utmost we can..

Climate change shatters huge ice shelf
By REBECCA PALMER and PAUL EASTON - The Dominion Post | Thursday, 27 March 2008


OFF THE SHELF: A 415sq/km chunk of the Wilkins Ice Shelf has collapsed into the Ancarctic ocean.

A gigantic Antarctic ice shelf is collapsing and global warming is being blamed.


An iceberg 41 kilometres long and 2.5km wide fell off the Wilkins Ice Shelf on the Antarctic Peninsula in late February.

That triggered the disintegration of 405 square kilometres of ice.

The entire ice shelf - the size of the Hawke's Bay region - is now in danger of disintegrating.

The destruction was captured in satellite pictures from the National Snow and Ice Data Center in the United States.

Scientists said a thin strand of ice about 6km wide was all that was stopping the remaining 13,680sq km shelf from collapsing.

Professor Tim Naish, of Victoria University's Antarctic Research Centre, said the breakup was part of a pattern seen for about 50 years. Ice breaks were fully expected.

"They're likely to be a more frequent event."

The Antarctic Peninsula had warmed by about 2½ degrees in the past 50 years - more than other parts of the world. Remnants of the shelf could end up near New Zealand, he said.

In 2006, large icebergs drifted up the South Island's east coast.

Professor Naish said the breakdown of the Wilkins shelf would not contribute to rising sea levels. He compared it to an ice-cube in a glass of water - when the cube melts, the water level does not go up, as it has already been displaced.

But the disappearance of ice shelves could cause connected glaciers to melt and flow into the ocean more quickly, which would raise sea levels.

Niwa principal scientist David Wratt said the ice shelf collapse was likely to be a result of climate change. "It's certainly a sign that things are happening."

The peninsula's Larsen Ice Shelf had collapsed in 2002, with 500 billion tonnes of ice breaking up into bergs in less than a month.

Ted Scambos, a glaciologist at the snow and ice data center, alerted the British Antarctic Survey when he saw a big chunk of the Wilkins shelf breaking away on satellite images.

An aircraft was sent to check the size of the collapse.

"Big, hefty chunks of ice, the size of small houses, look as though they've been thrown around like rubble -it's like an explosion," researcher Jim Elliot said.

By March 8, about 570sq km had broken off, including the chunk Dr Scambos had seen.

"I didn't expect to see things happen this quickly," British Antarctic Survey scientist David Vaughan said. "The ice shelf is hanging by a thread."

Dr Vaughan, who earlier predicted the Wilkins shelf would collapse in 30 years, said the collapse was the result of global warming.

Dr Scambos said scientists believed the shelf had been in place for hundreds of years.

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Greenpeace Rainbow Warrior




Picture of Rainbow Warrior and Hellenic Sea courtesy of www.stuff.co.nz and www.greenpeace.org

click here for video HERE

Hellenic Sea is a coal carrier, filled up with coal destined for India. The coal comes from West Coast, near Greymouth, Stockton mines. And very soon from Pike River Coal as well. In NZ, these mines are operated by state owned company Solid Energy, but Pike River Coal is another new company.

It just natural that in the West Coast coal seams grow wild all over the place. When I had a stint there in late eighties Buller County Council and had a chance travelling the district, all the people had to do is dig the ground at the right places to get coal. If you go to Charleston, you can see the coal seam by the road side.
True that it is not economical to mine because the seam is not thick and some of the coal is not of high quality. ie dirty coal.

Because of isolation, its miles from anywhere, there is not much economic activity, so the West Coasters are the lowest income earner in the nation.

WHy should the people prevented from exploiting Nature's resources if the mining practice is good and doesnt pollute the environment. True that back in the eighties the river in Denniston and Granity runs black, but things has changed from then, the mining practice has improved.

Iam not against coal mining, as long as their practice doesnt desecrate the land. The coal will be used to make steel, which is recycleable, unlike plastic which is from oil.

Plase campaign against fossil fuel first, and against private car use, because that is guzzling a lot of black gold.

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

In Vox Populi Malaysiakini

Here it is I cut and paste my writing that was in Malaysiakini Vox Populi on Monday.

'Invite T'ganu MB to cross over, PAS'
Mar 24, 08 11:48am
PAS Terengganu should do the right thing - simply invite Ahmad Said to join PAS or if Ahmad Said doesn’t want to join PAS, support him to form the new Terengganu government.

On MB crisis deepens in Terengganu

Noor Yahaya Hamzah: So Ahmad Said, you have been kicked out of Umno because you defied the PM Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. Kudos to Ahmad Said, you are my hero. You know where your loyalty should lie, to the Sultan, first and your country, as written in the Rukunegara. As long as the ‘titah perintah Tuanku’ is not against Allah's laws and commandments. Your loyalty is absolutely not to the prime minister for the Sultan’s word takes precedent.

Now that Ahmad Said is the Sultan-appointed Menteri Besar, without support from his Umno colleagues, I can see only one solution to this problem, and it depends on PAS Terengganu.

Here I call on PAS Terengganu to do the right thing - simply invite Ahmad Said to join PAS or if Ahmad Said doesn’t want to join PAS, support him to form the new Terengganu government. For the sake of Terengganu.

Teganu oh Teganu II

The only time I have been to Terengganu was back in the early 95. Even then it was only to that small town or kampung at the Pahang border, and I walked from that Impiana Resort on my own. I didnt pay much for that holiday at Impiana, I got the 3 nights there almost free.
How do I got it so cheap? Well, back at the end of 94, the place where I used to work, Makro Shah Alam had annual dinner. I won 3 nights at Impiana Resort in the cabutan bertuah.
So one weekend we took buses from KL to Kuantan, then another bus to Terengganu which dropped us off at Impiana. We always wanted to see Kampung Cherating, so we hired bikes from the hotel, and bike to Cherating, some miles away from Impiana. Cherating was tourist village even back then, with motels and restaurants and discos.

Now back to Teganu II.
Only ysterday I wrote this piece suggesting Ahmad Said join PAS or PAS bury hatchet with him and support him to form Terengganu Govt. We cant let this impasse gone too long, not good for Terengganu.

How 24 hours is a long time in politics. How surprised I am to read the news that now PAS support the palace appointed Menteri Besar.
Good on PAS. It shows that PAS is very good, the welfare of rakyat Terengganu is utmost important to PAS Terengganu than letting PM Abdullah and Idris Jusoh's UMNO squabble for oil royalty.

Also read this letter in Malaysiakini outlining that Sultan Terengganu has the ultimate power in appointing Menteri Besar, and not PM Abdullah Badawi.

Simply said, PM Abdullah Badawi doesnt have the constitutional power to overide the Sultan. This country Malaysia is not a Republic, not like Indonesia or Philippines. Abdullah Badawi IS NOT president of Malaysia.

Even though he said otherwise... in my opinion, this time he has overstepped..

Monday, March 24, 2008

Teganu oh Teganu, Why Dont Ahmad Said Join PAS or...

Pucuk Pimpinan UMNO Terengganu telah menderhaka kepada Tuanku Sultan, itu lah ringkasan yang dapat saya fahami. Maaf kalau fahaman saya itu salah.

The news says that Istana Terengganu appoints Ahmad Said as Menteri Besar, but PM Abdullah Badawi appoints Idris Jusoh. Read the news here in Malayiakini. And HERE. Also HERE in Malaysia-today.

So Ahmad Said has been kicked out of UMNO because he defied PM Abdullah Badawi. Kudos to Ahmad Said, you are my HERO. You know where your loyalty shoulld lie, to the Sultan, first and your country, as written in the Rukunegara. As long as the "titah perintah Tuanku" is not against Allah's laws and commandments. Absolutely not to the Prime Minister, Tuanku Sultan takes precedent.

Now that Ahmad Said is the Sultan appointed Menteri Besar, without support from his UMNO colleagues.

I can see one solution to this problem, and it depends on PAS Terengganu. As we know, BN Terengganu wins by a simple majority, the difference to PAS held seats is only 2.

Ahmad Said could simply join PAS, and then could get enough number to govern. Or PAS Terengganu simply could bury their hatchet and make an understanding to support Ahmad Said and they, ie PAS Terengganu and Ahmad Said, could form the new Terengganu Govt.

Here I call on PAS Terengganu to do the right thing, simply invite Ahmad Said to join PAS or if Ahmad Said doesnt want to join PAS, support him to form the new Terengganu Government.


For the sake of Terengganu. If Ahmad Said is a decent person that is...

As for this report in this blog about Ahmad Said's wrong doing, well is it true? If that is true, why Kemaman folk still voted him in the last PRU12?

Dont tell me that he bought their votes with kain batik and keropok lekor..

Saturday, March 22, 2008

Greenpeace Rainbow Warrior II at Lyttelton




Tere I was at the bow of the Rainbow Warrior II, a converted trawler that has become the the sailing ship of the Greenpeace movement.

The ship is at port in Lyttelton this weekend, so I take the FREE, yes free tour onto the ship. Took the kids along. They enjoyed the day.

Last weekend another Greenpeace ship, the Esperanza was here too, at the dry dock undergoing repairs after their sojourn in the Antarctic seas chasing the Japanese whaling ships.

Greenpeace Rainbow Warrior II at Lyttelton





Greenpeace Rainbow Warrior II at Lyttelton





Greenpeace Rainbow Warrior II at Lyttelton





Greenpeace Rainbow Warrior II at Lyttelton





Heads Rolled, PM Still Standing..IV

In my previous posting, I mention that if Opposition BR Parliamentarians want to get rid of PM Abdullah, they could start a 'no confidence vote'. How politics changed the situation in a few days. That some BN parliamentarians are ready to switch sides. PM Abdullah's Govt is getting more precarious by the day.

Report courtesy of Malaysiakini.

In a fully functioning democracy, parliamentarians may belong to some party, but in voting, they dont have to vote according to what their party want. That is valid on any issue and on any piece of legislation. After all, they are the lawmakers. They should serve only their constituents, not their party or their party boss (aka BN President in this case).

So if Opposition leader put in 'no confidence vote', parliamentarians should be given chance to ask their constituents. After all they are the representative of their constituents.

Why, are they afraid of being kicked out of BN? Or disciplined by BN? They are 'wakil rakyat' NOT 'wakil Abdullah Badawi' and this country of ours is a democracy and NOT dictatorship like Iraq under Saddam.

All these bickering and infighting within UMNO takes your mind off the real issue at hand. THE ECONOMY STUPID. Has anything been done to the unemployment, inflation and the stagnant economy lately? The rest of the world are worrying about the R word, RECESSION. Just because we are net exporter of crude oil doesnt mean that we are immune to USA recession.
If this is prolonged for extended time, we the rakyat would be the real loser.

Malaysia need a new leader, any leader. Even Mahathir knows that, thats why he backed Tengku Razaleigh's call for EGM. All Parliamentarians knows that. Even BN Parliamentarians knows that.

The rakyat has given the message dont they? They vote for anything but BN.

When will these UMNO plutocrats will understand the message, that their time is up?

Pak Lah Please Resign..

Bila Kiamat Hanya Dacing Yang Tinggal

Hari khiamat, hanya dacing yang tinggal: Khairy @ Yahoo! Video

Power juga ye dacing ni... CLICK on the picture to see the video

Bulan (PAS) hancur, bintang hancur, gunung hancur..HANYA dacing (BN) yang tinggal.

Monday, March 17, 2008

Dear PM, Its Time to Exit Gracefully III (b4 its 2 late)



Heck, the call for PM to resign is louder and numerous these days. As in English, saying, when the hound dogs smell the blood, their baying gets louder and more strident. (No pun intended)

Not just Mukhriz is calling for PM Abdullah to resign, its seems that Mukhriz is gaining a following from many other UMNO leaders around the country.

And what is this report saying that he will be disciplined by UMNO top brass? Is there no room for dissent and disagreement in UMNO? True to its form, UMNO is a feudal thinking, feudal acting organisation. Heck, this sounds like 15 century Tanah Melayu, when the Malay Sultans had the absolute power. This reminds me of that boring and flowery Hang Tuah movie whereby Hang Tuah (M. Nasir) couldnt marry his lover (Tiara Jaquelina) because the Sultan forbids!

Is PM Abdullah the 'sultan' of UMNO is he?

Here is the link to Malaysiakini report saying PM Abdullah's days are numbered.

Hey look here another report in Malaysiakini saying Tengku Razaleigh calling for EGM to discuss 'certain thing'.

Doesnt that sound like a CHECKMATE?

All this before PM Abdullah even announce the line up of his new cabinet and the first session of Parliament.

If the Opposition Parliamentarians want to get rid of PM Abdullah, (now that the Opposition has 82 seat, and denied BN 2/3 majority) they could simply start a 'no confidence vote' in Parliament. If Opposition get support from some BN Parliamentarian, PM Abdullah could be unseated, (a mild term) pronto.

But if Opposition is smart, its better for Opposition to have weak PM than strong pragmatic one. So the the next PRU13, Opposition would have a better chance of forming the Government.

For the sake of Malaysia, its better to have a strong pragmatic and forward looking leader than a weakling. Yes PM position is untenable.

Saturday, March 15, 2008

Dear PM, Its Time to Exit Gracefully II

Keeping abreast with Malaysian news is full time work these days. New development just come up every hour.

In my previous posting, likened PM Abdullah situation to a king on the chess board. His poor showing this election prompted certain quarters to call for his resignation. Those few leaders from MCA, MIC, Gerakan has already lost the election or refuse cabinet positions.

Well, at least they still have face leaving the national political scene. Except of course Samy Vellu, who can see his predicament since last November, but still go ahead contesting. He deserved to lose, and lose face.

NOW THAT PM ABDULLAH REFUSE TO RESIGN..

But his pawns are already falling one by one.

Take Shahidan Kassim for example. He got recommendation from PM Abdullah, BUT Raja Perlis doesnt want him. Now he make the mistake of calling for showdown with Raja Perlis and ADUN.

What if Perlis ADUN call his bluff and get out of BN?

Reports says that Sultan Terengganu is going to snub PM Abdullah's choice for Menteri Besar.

Yes another pawn...

I cant wait to see the CHECKMATE.

Dear PM, Its Time To Exit Gracefully

LAst Year in November, just after the Bersih and Hindraf demonstrations, I wrote this article calling for PM Abdullah Badawi to call the election.

Now I would also join Mukhriz Mahathir and others calling for PM Abdullah to resign, or at least make announcement that he will resign in the future, say a few months time. Want to read the full report from BERNAMA? Read it here.

Rocky's Bru has this copy of Mukhriz letter to PM.

A GRACEFUL EXIT - in another words.

In Asian societies, face (air muka) is important. True that Mukhriz shouldnt have called for PM Abdullah's resignation yet, not before he sent a letter to ask for PM announcing his resignation in a few months time. Six month max.

That way PM Abdullah would still have some face left.

But now that its all in the open, PM Abdullah's best choice is to announce his leaving in the near future.
Its kinda CHECKMATE, if you play CHESS.

True he could have resign straightaway after the election and still have his face intact, just like MCA and Gerakan leaders.

This way, he can still set up the cabinet the way he want, and placing his people, (Khairy?) in cabinet and make difficult for his successor to undo.

my 2 sen worth

Pak Lah Dan Khairy



my friend Alex send me this picture.
funny eh?



"Muta'ah, PAS main DAP ikut kiri, Anwar main dua dua ikut belakang." says Khairy

Thursday, March 13, 2008

Lawak Pilihanraya, Election Jokes, Samy Vellu Jokes II

someone forwarded this jokes, lets share.

Election jokes
by
malaysiakini. com

(1) Barisan has announced that its new national symbol is the Condom,
because it accurately reflects the government stance. A condom allows
for inflation, halts production, destroys the next generation,
protects a bunch of pricks and gives us a sense of security while
we're actually being screwed!



(2) Pak Lah and Samy Vellu were in a helicopter looking down Kuala
Lumpur. Pak Lah said, "Samy, if I throw two RM100 notes down, two
people will be happy."

Not wanting to be outdone, Samy said, "If I throw 200 RM1 notes, 200
people will be happy."

The pilot heard the conversation and said, "If I throw the two of you
down, 27 million Malaysians will be happy."



(3) Three guys were arguing as to what race Adam and Eve were. The
Malay guy said they must be Malay as they are so good looking. The
Chinese guy said that they must be Chinese as they are so calm even
with a snake.

The Indian guy said that they must be Malaysian-Indian as they have no
shelter, no clothes, no money, share one apple, advised by a snake who
told them that they are living in paradise!

DAMN GOOD ONE BELOW

(4) Pak Lah, Najib, Shahrizat and Anwar were sitting in a KTM train
heading up to Penang for campaigning. Near Ipoh, the train goes
through a tunnel and it gets completely dark.

Suddenly there is a kissing sound and then a slap!

The train comes out of the tunnel. Shahrizat and Pak Lah are sitting
there looking perplexed.

Najib is bent over holding his face, which is red from an apparent slap.

All of them remain diplomatic and nobody says anything.

Pak Lah is thinking: "These guys are all crazy after Shahrizat. Najib
must have tried to kiss her in the tunnel. Very proper that she
slapped him."

Shahrizat is thinking: "Najib must have moved to kiss me, but kissed
Pak Lah instead and got slapped."

Najib is thinking: "Damn it, Pak Lah must have tried to kiss
Shahrizat, she thought it was me and slapped me instead."

Anwar is thinking: "If this train goes through another tunnel, I could
make another kissing sound and slap Najib again."



(5) Barisan wins the election. To celebrate, they decide to send more
angkasawan to space. Najib calls together a group of Umnoputra
cosmonauts.

Saudara saudara sekalian, we successfully sent our man Muzaffar to
space using tax payers' money the last time. Since we have more than
enough tax payers' money, the Cabinet has decided that you will all
now fly to the sun.

But Datuk, we will be burnt to crisp.

Jangan takut, the Barisan government has thought of everything ... you
will fly at night!



(6) Today's election brings to mind the old Northern Ireland election
slogan - "VOTE EARLY AND VOTE OFTEN"



(7) A priest is dying in a church. Before he dies, he asked for Pak La
La La Lah and Khai Ri Ri Riry to be beside his deathbed. Both of them
were excited at this opportunity because they thought it would be good
for their image with the elections right around the corner.

At the priest's deathbed, they asked, "Father, why did you ask us to
be with you on your deathbed?"

The priest replied, "Because I wanted to die like Jesus Christ. He
died between two thieves, and I wanted to do the same."

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Goverments CAN be brought down by Bloggers

Last year in November I wrote this piece.

READ HERE

But before I write more ramblings, I must congratulate the winners of this election PRU 12.

Congratulations to PAK LAH, aka Prime Minister for winning the election by simple majority and managed to form a new Govt for Malaysia.

Congratulations to our new YB from Barisan Rakyat aka Barisan Alternatif (alternative to what?) or also known as the loose coalition of PKR, PAS and DAP.

Conratulations to the loose coalition of PAS, PKR and DAP for managing to wrest the states of Kedah, Pulau Pinang, Perak and Selangor from BN. ANd most importantly for managing to form new states Govt without any bickering.

Now that the election is over, please get over it and get back to work.Remember your job is to serve the rakyat and not, absolutely not to line the new Govt with new cronies etc.

We the rakyat take it to our heart that the new Govt will be transparent, and take our interest as priority. I like it when hte first press release by Anwar Ibrahim in Malaysiakini talk about poverty, inflation and housing issues as their main priority, and not this and that corridor and development. YBs were again reminded that the mandate of the rakyat of all races, the rakyat were not voting on the basis of race anymore.

As Nik Aziz the MB of Kelantan said, " Buat apa bina masjid cantik cantik, Masjid Kristal, Masjid Putrajaya, Taman tamadun Islam dan lain lain kalau rakyat masih miskin dan tak mampu nak makan dua kali sehari, anak anak mereka tak mampu pergi sekolah?"

How many bloggers who contested in this election have made it to Parliament and State DUN? A few.

Indeed some Govts has been brought down by bloggers. Because bloggers, together with Malaysiakini, Malaysia-today and Harakahdaily (to name a few) has now become mainstream media in Malaysia. Yes bloggers become mainstream media. Govt controlled media like NST, Berita Harian and The Star are not relevant anymore, unless you want to read rag stories.

Here are some that I know.

Zulkifli Noordin

Jeff OOi

Anwar Ibrahim

Elizabeth Wong

Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad

YOU add, I will publish.

Sunday, March 09, 2008

Engkaukah Itu Hishamuddin Hussein?


A Chinese friend of mine used to work at a resort in Langkawi. He was F& B Manager there. You know the one that cost RM500-2000 per night, depending whether a room or villa suite. In the 1999 Malaysian election, when BN was almost losing, the former PM Mahathir hold long late night session meeting at the resort.

This friend had to stay late to serve and take care these VVIPs. He always maintained that BN will always win come what may. There are tactics and extra bag undi that can be deployed at last minutes.
For example, Najib could have lost that 1999 election, if not for the extra undi that Mahathir have in reserve. Whether this is truth or not, only Allah knows.

Ahh, congratulation to Hishamuddin Hussein for winning the seat in Parliament. This Chinese friend said that Hisham used to arrive the resort on a big Harley Davidson.
"He is a cool guy" he said.
"'Come on man, let your staff do the work, lets have cigar.' Hisham said. So aku borak dengan Hisham lah"
The VVIP used to charter boat and have their meeting on the boat.

Yesterday I was surfing and found this blogpage that has Hisham's picture.

KLIK HERE

Must be a good drink he is drinking. I remember a brand of drink that look like that!

Congratulation Zulkifli Noordin

COngrats is in order.

This could be classified as the winning of the underdog.
News just in.
Zulkifli Noordin won by 7000 majority!
Allahhu Akbar!

been trying to access Malaysiakini website. couldnt, it was just too busy.

I would say this PRU12 is election whereby traditional govt newsmedia has been bypassed.
Bloggers and independent news site rules.

Khairy Jamaludin kah itu?

Last time i looked, the feedback reached 200+ already.
Tak tahulah samada itu sahih ke tidak.
the website has a disclaimer;
BAHAWA KESAHIHAN VIDEO TIDAK DI JAMIN.

Question;
WHo is stupid enough taking own video doing things like that?
If this is done in say 5-10 yrs ago, digital video camera was not common back then.
but still possible.
Its very much possible that this is 'lakonan' by some people who are antikhairy.

YANG PASTI:
it has become the most sought after video in the internet.

YANG PASTI:
that male fella is one lazy bugger, he just lie down doing nothing. what kind of porn star is that?

link disini, and it may be taken down anytime soon. watch it while you can.

REAL HOT!

No the story hasnt broke into Malaysiakini yet!

as the disclaimer said, i say DONT TRUST THIS.

Saturday, March 08, 2008

Wajibkah Kita Mengundi?

the focus of malaysian news now in in the election. PRU12. Malaysiakini has been free for the past week, just for this. Most of Malaysiakini page ia now devoted to PRU12.
Here is a writing by Ibnu Walid; I found this interesting.

Tunaikan Tanggungjawab Mengundi Kita
Assalamualaikum kepada semua bakal-bakal pengundi dan pembaca yang budiman. Aku terpanggil untuk menulis coretan ini bukan kerana ingin memihak kepada mana-mana parti atau pemimpin tetapi kerana suatu persoalan yang berlegar di benak fikiranku dan ingin aku mengajak saudara-saudari sekalian bertanya kepada diri dan hati masing-masing TANGGUNGJAWAB MENGUNDI KITA KERANA APA?
Mungkin ada diantara saudara-saudari tertanya-tanya bagaimana persoalan ini terlintas difikiran aku? Sebenarnya ia timbul setelah aku mendengar satu sesi ceramah agama di surau perumahan yang aku diami. Ceramah yang diberikan oleh ustaz berkenaan bukanlah suatu ceramah politik, ianya ceramah mingguan, tetapi penceritaan di dalam cermahnya membuatkan aku tertanya kepada diri sendiri akan persoalan di atas.
Selepas solat sunat sesudah solat magrib, ustaz tersebut pun memulakan ceramah beliau. Seperti biasa isi ceramahnya adalah tentang dosa dan pahala. Pada mulanya aku mendengar seperti biasa kerana topik sedemikian sering kali di ulangi ketika khutbah jumaat.
Kemudian ceramah beliau menjadi menarik lebih-lebih lagi bila semua makmum yang hadir mendengar dengan khsyuk. Ustaz tersebut berbicara mengenai seorang pencuri yang dibicara didepan Allah s.w.t di padang Masyhar.
Ditanya oleh Allah s.w.t kepada si pencuri walaupun Allah maha mengetahui akan segala sesuatu yang dilakukan oleh hamba-hambanya, ; " Wahai si polan, kenapa kamu hanya di hukum penjara 3 tahun di atas kesalahan mencuri sedangkan kesalahan yang kamu lakukan mempunyai saksi dan bukti yang nyata dan sepatutnya kamu dikenakan hukuman potong tangan"
Jawap si pencuri, "Wahai Tuhanku, bukanlah aku yang meminta hukuman ini, tapi hukuman ini telah diberikan oleh hakim yang mengadili aku".
Begitulah di mahsyar, masing-masing akan cuba melepaskan diri sendiri dan segalanya akan diadili dengan seadilnya dihadapan Allah s.w.t
Allah s.w.t kemudian memerintahkan hakim tersebut mengadap dan bertanya, " Wahai hakim, kenapa kamu menjatuhkan hukuman tersebut kepada si pencuri ini?" Maka jawab sihakim, "Wahai Tuhanku, sesungguhnya amanah yang diberikan kepadaku ini terbatas dan aku tiada kuasa dan upaya untuk melakukannya." Bertanya lagi Allah s.w.t kepada sihakim, " Maka siapa pula yang memberi kamu akan kuasa itu?" . Jawab sihakim, "Mereka yang membuat akta dan perlembagaan iaitu kerajaan yang di barisi oleh ahli-ahli kabinet negaraku".
Allah s.w.t kemudian memerintahkan pula para-para ahli kabinet dibicarakan, " Wahai kamu semua, kenapa kamu membuat akta dan perlembagaan sedemikian yang bercangah sama sekali dengan hukum Ku?" Jawab ahli-ahli kabinet " Wahai Tuhan kami, sememangnya kami menolak hukum Mu selama kami memerintah dengan memberi berbagai alasan untuk tidak melaksanakannya tapi jangan lah hanya kami di persalahkan kerana kami tidak akan membuat akta yang melawan hukum Mu sekiranya rakyat tidak memilih kami".
Allah s.w.t kemudian memerintah kan semua rakyat yang memilih ahli-ahli kabinet tersebut mengadap dan bertanya dengan penuh kemurkaan "Wahai kamu sekalian, mengapa kamu sekalian memilih mereka-mereka ini yang menolak hukum Ku secara terang-terangan dan memberi berbagai alasan untuk tidak melaksanakan hukum Ku.
Maka jawablah si rakyat dengan ketakutan yang amat dahsyat kerana dimahsyar tidak ada lagi dolak dalih yang dapat digunakan. Ada diantaranya menjawap "Wahai Tuhan Ku, aku memilih mereka kerana dihadiahkan baju dan kain." Ada pula yang menjawap, " Aku memilih mereka kerana ingin kemewahan dan kesenangan dunia.", Selain itu ada yang menjawap "Aku memilih mereka kerana inginkan projek-projek". Ada juga yang menjawab " Aku memilih mereka kerana aku tidak yakin kerajaan yang melaksanakan hukum Islam boleh memerintah". Ada lagi yang menjawap, " Aku memilih mereka kerana tidak yakin dengan undang-undang Islam". Dan yang menyedihkan ada yang menjawab, "Kami memilih mereka kerana di hadiahkan sekampit beras, sekilo gula dan sekilo tepung". Maka dengan murkanya Allah memeritahkan kesemuanya dengan berkata, "Masuk lah kamu semua ke dalam neraka Ku, sesungguh nya azab Ku amat lah pedih dan terimalah balasan siksa diatas apa yang telah kamu lakukan dan dustakan." Nauzubillah.
Pada penutupan ceramahnya, Ustaz tersebut berkata, " Kalau saudara-saudari tidak percaya perkara seperti ini akan berlaku di mahsyar nanti, tunggu lah saya nanti di sana, kalau apa yang saya katakana ini bohong atau dusta semata".
Dalam perjalan aku kerumah, apa yang berlegar di fikiran aku adalah persoalan " AKU MENGUNDI NANTI KERANA APA??? Setibanya aku di pintu pagar rumah, dengan rasa yakin dan teguh aku mendapat jawapannya, AKU MENGUNDI KERANA ALLAH S.W.T DAN ISLAM.
Kepada saudara-saudariku semua, tanyalah diri masing-masing AKU MENGUNDI KERANA APA??? Tepuk dada tanya IMAN.
Wassalam.

Ibnu Walid

Hadith :
Rasulullah s.a.w. bersabda yang bermaksud: "Akan lahir selepas aku beberapa pemimpin yang mementingkan diri sendiri dan yang melakukan perkara-perkara yang tidak disukai oleh kamu. Para Sahabat bertanya, "Wahai Rasulullah apakah yang engkau hendak perintah dikalangan kami ini sekiranya terdapat perkara seperti itu? "Baginda s.a.w. menjawab, " hendaklah kamu menunaikan tanggungjawab kamu dan memohon kepada Allah segala hak-hak yang kamu perlukan."
Riwayat Al-Bukhari dan Muslim

Friday, March 07, 2008

Pengundi Hantu


member aku si fudzail sent this pix.

as this article in Malaysiakini is saying, there are 62 Ismail Ibrahims born on the same date>.

What is the probability of that?

Monday, March 03, 2008

Which Party Promises Minimum Wage?

My previous article on minimum wage was on the letter section on Malaysiakini some time ago.

Look at the case of Brazil, a basket case Latin American under IMF supervision back in the mid 90's. Now Brazil's economy is booming, and their Govt is taking steps to distribute income equitably.

My question:
Do we have a Govt that have 'fair income distribution' amongst it policies?

Brazil raises minimum wage by 9 per cent

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AP): Brazil raised its minimum wage by 9.2 percent Saturday to 415 reals (US$248; euro163) a month, boosting millions of salaries and pensions based on multiples of the base salary.

The increase from 380 reals (US$226.80; euro149.30) was more than twice the 2007 rate of inflation, a traditional index for pay raises in Brazil. Inflation last year was 4.5 percent.

The impact is greatest on lower-class families, with pensioners and salaried workers who earn little more than the minimum wage, economists said.

"It improves the income of more than 12 million pensioners and government retirees (and) heats up the local economy,'' economist Marcelo Neri, of the respected Getulio Vargas Foundation, told government news agency Agencia Brasil.

But the Union Statistics Department, or Dieese, said the raise was still insufficient to cover a family's basic needs, as stipulated in the constitution. An adequate minimum wage for a family of four is 1,924.59 reals ($1,149; euro756), Dieese said.

"That's an estimate of how much the minimum wage should be to adequately compensate labor,'' said economist Jose Mauricio Soares.