Kisahnya berkisar sebuah keluarga petani: Lahuma si bapa, Jeha si ibu dan tujuh anak perempuan mereka; Sanah, Milah, Jenab, Semek, Liah, Lebar dan Kiah, yang hidup pada pertengahan abad ke-20.
Menjadi keluarga anak tani bukannya mudah. Mereka mengusahakan sawah mereka dengan penat jerih. Hidup dan mati mereka semuanya bergantung pada hasil padi. Padi menjadi segala-galanya.Makanan. Wang. Semuanya datang daripada hasil padi. Walau untuk satu musim, padi tidak boleh terkurang.
Kedaifan keluarga petani ini bertambah teruk apabila Lahuma meninggal dunia akibat terpijak onak nibung. Sebelum itu, selalunya Lahuma mengerjakan sawah mereka dan dibantu oleh Jeha. Tetapi dengan ketiadaan Lahuma, Jeha bersama anak-anak perempuannya pula memikul beban mengerjakan sawah. Namun tenaga Lahuma tidak terganti walaupun dengan gabungan tenaga Jeha dan anak-anak perempuannya.
Mereka mempertahankan pokok-pokok padi mereka daripada banjir, serangan ketam dan burung-burung tiak. Pokok padi boleh mati jika ditenggelami air. Ketam-ketam mematahkan tangkai padi yang muda. Bila padi mula menguning, burung tiak pula datang menyerang, memakan padi.
Malangnnya Jeha tidak dapat bertahan dengan segala kesusahan yang diharunginya sendirian tanpa Lahuma. Banjir, serangan ketam-ketam dan burung-burung tiak menjadikan Jeha tidak keruan dan akhirnya Jeha menjadi gila; meninggalkan pula beban mengusahakan sawah kepada anak-anak dara Jeha.
| Dear folks, I have received this article from Azly Rahman, one of the speakers for Alif Ba Ta 2009. I have enjoyed reading this article. I hope you would enjoy reading this piece as much as I did.. Regards, Shahrir The Asri problematique and the rise of denominational Islam? |  |  |
| Thursday, 05 November 2009 12:38 | |
But in all these and applicable to all religions, the question remains: at what point is innovation in religion allowed, acceptable, and tolerated? At what point is the "denominationalization" of Islam acceptable without the religion being demonized by those who think they have understood the Divine presence but actually clutched by the Devil's right hand? A REPUBLIC OF VIRTUE Azly Rahman http://azlyrahman-illuminations.blogspot.com/
The current uproar over the arrest of Dr. Asri, former Mufti of Perlis interests me. I am not particularly interested in the political and ideological dimension of it; rather in how this issue will develop in this hypermodern country plagued with internal contradictions. “The center cannot hold” as the Irish poet W.B. Yeats once said, and “Things Fall Apart” as the title of the great African novel of Chinua Achebe suggests – these describe the Malaysian theological dilemma, a dilemma that has a history and a future.
Malaysian Muslims are yet faced with another challenging situation; one which presents an interesting extrapolation of the historical dilemma the Muslims have been facing intellectually. Coming soon would be a public intellectual crisis that involves the Grand and subaltern voices in Islam. Those of the Wahabbi, Salafi, Sunni, Syiah, Sufi, and the “denominations derived from traditional and indigenous practices” (the tariqats primarily) will come out in the open to assert the “truth-ness” of their perspective and practice of Islam.
Essentially now, Islam seems to have many 'denominations' based on cultural, geographical, political, economic, and intellectual factors—as a consequence of globalization. Muslims are all part and products of the various authorships of these 'denominations' -- thanks to the power/knowledge matrix of the evolution of Islam. These denominations are even mutating, depending on class and consciousness of the adherents.
On a crude psychological plane in Malaysia, here is the situation, stated in simple terms: The subaltern voices in Islam are clashing with each other. Examples abound. The Sufis are saying that the Wahabbis are on the wrong path, the Wahabbis claim they are preaching the one and true tauhid and that Sufism is a strange invention, the Shiahs in Iran are probably building more powerful weapons against the Sunnis the Mid-east over, the Malaysian government is propagating Hadhari and the halal hub in a haram casino-capitalistic environment, the Malays have produced their own messiahs or Rasul Melayu (Malay prophets) and their variants of Ayah Pins and their Sky Kingdoms, the anti-hadiths are roaming cyberspace declaring themselves Quranic-only Muslims, the liberal Muslims are at loggerheads with the strict ones bent on moral policing, the gangsta-rapper-Busta Rhymes-type Muslims are angry with the soft-spoken Raihan-acapella-type- Muslims, the Sisters in Islam are angry with the Malaysian Brotherhood of Islam or the Ikhwanul Muslims, the Death Metallists are having a field day with all these chaos amongst Muslim ideologues, the Catholics are fighting in court over the issue of the "Allah" ban, the whirling dervishes are still whirling.... it is a postmodern situation in the field of Islam in Malaysia. I hope this is a useful sketch of the postmodern Muslim condition.
Perhaps, in all these lie a possible marriage between philosophy and religion -- finally. In Malaysia though, is this at all possible? |
Program Kedai Kopi Rutgers University.
Waktu program: Sabtu 17 Oktober 2009 (9:00 malam – 11:30 malam)
Senarai yang hadir:
Fahzan
Aishah Nayan
Kwang Huei
Taufik
Farah Najeeha
Kai Li
Najmi
Zahid
Atilia
Manford Goh
Zaim
Hamidah
Foo Tzehkeong
Hanis Haziqah
Jumlah Perbelanjaan: $43.76 untuk minuman, makanan ringan dan lain-lain.
Tuan rumah untuk program, Taufik dan Najmi juga ada menyediakan bihun goreng dan nasi. Ini tidak termasuk dalam $43.76 di atas.
Bahagian 1) Democracy: a Flawed System?
Antara soalan-soalan yang ditimbulkan:
· What is democracy?
· How is it different from other systems?
· Why is democracy more prevalent in today’s world?
· Why is the west more “successful” in holding democracy? Is democracy superior to other political systems?
· Differences of democracy practiced in Malaysia and the rest of the world
Antara respons-respons dari hadirin:
· Democracy is a system that emphasizes on the power of majority of the people to decide the direction the government would take.
· Comparison with other systems such as monarchy, theocracy etc. Theoretically, democracy seems to be the system that favors the mass as a whole. However, it could still be abused and taken advantage of if the people do not really understand how the system works.
· Democracy seems to work successfully in the western countries. A lot of countries in the third world countries theoretically practice democracy (by having election etc), but corruption is still rampant and power abuse is still a norm. This could be attributed to the mentality of people and their knowledge of the working system of democracy.
· Democracy is not the ultimate superior political system. In the history of the development of human civilization, successful empires and civilizations come and go with different political systems. Even the founder democracy, the ancient Greek empire crumbled and fell out of favor. Democracy is probably more relevant today but not saying, 300 years ago. This explains that political system works in cycle of time. Democracy may become less dominant in the future.
· In addition, in democratic countries, decision making sometimes take a long time due to the process that takes place in the parliament or senate. Therefore, in some way, the decision making process in developing countries may better be made by only a small of people to speed up the process of development.
· Democracy in Malaysia: how the political system changed from the sultanate of different states to parliamentary democracy.
Bahagian 2: Problems with current education system
Antara soalan-soalan yang ditimbulkan:
· Does our current education system promote integration between races?
· The dilemma of the language of instruction
· Scholarship program and its impact and effectiveness on Malaysian development
Dan jawapan-jawapan dari hadirin:
· Some audiences disagree with the vernacular schools. Kids do not interact with kids from different racial background from young age. This creates massive misunderstanding and suspicion between races.
· A lot of Chinese feel that national schools only cater Malay students’ interests. They feel these schools are inadequate to cater Chinese students. Some feel that Chinese schools promote more hardworking culture with daily homework and strict regulation (I’m not familiar with Chinese school, so we just take this point anyway)
· Scholarship program has helped Malaysia produce young bright minds. However, the bigger problem is the continuation after graduation and returning to Malaysia from universities abroad. The lack of job and research opportunities that correspond to the qualification hurt the country as students are more interested in finding the opportunities in foreign countries.
Program tamat sekitar jam 11:30 malam.
Prepared by,
Fahzan Ramli
Rutgers University
M. Bakri Musa
Brief Bio
Bakri Musa’s essays on Malaysian issues have appeared in local publications as The Sun Daily and Education Quarterly, as well as international ones like The Far Eastern Economic Review and International Herald Tribune. His commentary has also aired on National Public Radio’s Marketplace. His latest book is Towards A Competitive Malaysia.
Bakri received his undergraduate, medical and masters degrees from the University of Alberta , and was awarded a Research Fellowship from the Medical Research Council of Canada to pursue research in transplant immunology. A published author in his scientific and professional fields, Bakri is a board-certified surgeon and a Fellow of both the American College of Surgeons and the Royal C ollege of Surgeons of Canada .
Prior to coming to California in 1981, Bakri practiced in Oregon , Alberta , and Malaysia . He used to scuba dive and sail his sloop Makan Angin in Monterey Bay , but that time is now taken up tending his Katahdin sheep and free-ranging chicken on his ranch in Morgan Hill , Ca.
M. Bakri Musa
bakrimusa@juno.com
Malaysia May Not Achieve Vision 2020 On Time - Dr Mahathir
KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 29 (Bernama) -- Malaysia might not be able to achieve its Vision 2020 on time, if it does not change its strategy and remains dependent on foreign direct investments, says former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
He said Malaysia should focus on developing major local companies that have the potential to produce their own brands and compete in the global market
"The government must identify these companies and help them grow by lending them money with low interest rate.
"The profit they make will go back to us, the workers and the country," he said during the 14th Civil Service Conference here on Tuesday.
He also said workers at all levels must be paid higher wages but by doing so they must be more productive.
"Then only the industry can produce in greater volumes, gain more profit and contribute to the country's revenue," he said.
Mahathir said Malaysia should become a medium or high cost country because it cannot compete with countries such as China and Taiwan who could offer lower cost manpower and resources to foreign investors.
Speaking to reporters following the event, he said Malaysia was capable of becoming a developed country but might exceed the set time of 2020 due to the global economic downturn which has affected the country.
"However, if we focus on developing local companies and not depend on foreign investments, it will not be impossible to achieve it in the given time," he said.
He also said the fixing of minimum wages and increasing pay will not pay off if there was no restructuring as it could make the situation worse especially if productivity levels remain low.
On the 1Malaysia concept introduced by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, Mahathir said the people, especially the younger generation must be given the opportunity to mingle and study together and build up friendships with different races.
"During my time we had more opportunities to make friends with other races," he said.
-- BERNAMA
Link: http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v5/newsgeneral.php?id=443186
