"Pelajar hari ini, berpelajaran, tetapi moralnya rendah. Kita mengukur kecemerlangan dari jumlah A yang terkumpul, hingga ada sekolah yang menyekat pelajar dari mengambil mata pelajaran tertentu di dalam peperiksaan SPM, demi untuk tidak menjejaskan rekod cemerlang sekolah!"
"Saya merasakan sistem sedia ada dan terpisah-pisah hanya memenuhi akal tapi kurang menitikberatkan kemampuan mengisi hati dan perasaan yang turut berkembang sama dengan kemampuan akal. Proses pengajaran tidak seiring dengan pendidikan."
Link: Akhbar mana yang betul?
"Mendiang mengingatkan Kuan Yew supaya jangan mempercayai Umno sebab politik pemimpin Melayu Umno berasaskan bangsa dan agama. Politik Melayu katanya selalu menggunakan isu perjanjian air untuk menekan dan memberikan ancaman kepada Singapura."
"Berbeza kita di sini, menyertai politik adalah tiket untuk jadi kaya raya. Dengan menyertai politik, segala tender dan projek kita bolot sehingga ahli politik hilang fokus terhadap perjuangan anak bangsa dan membina negara. Lihat sahaja, ketua-ketua kampung, ketua cawangan dan ketua bahagian, jangan dibandingkan dengan ketua pusat, boleh dikatakan rumah mereka seperti mahligai. Jarang kita lihat pemimpin-pemimpin ini hidupnya serba sederhana."
"... masih ada ulamak yang berpandangan, yang datang daripada Melayu itu semua Islamik. Jika datang dari bukan Melayu tidak Islamik."
Link: Komitmen kepada model politik baharu
"Jika dilihat kepada fungsi masjid di zaman Nabi, masjid bukan sahaja pusat mengerjakan ibadat solat semata-mata tetapi pusat segala-galanya. Pendek kata, masjid juga berfungsi sebagai pusat pentadbiran dan pengurusan."
"...Maka tidak hairanlah banyak negara Islam masih lagi mundur kerana pemikiran mereka masih tidak berubah dan suka kepada perkara remeh temeh."
"Saya cukup takut dan bimbang dengan trend hari ini di kalangan orang agama yang bergelar ustaz dan ustazah yang suka membangkitkan atau membawa isu-isu remeh temeh atau cerita-cerita bodoh untuk mendapat perhatian atau menjadi penonton ketawa.
Lebih menggelikan lagi menonton rancangan suami isteri yang dihoskan oleh pasangan ustaz dan ustazah yang begitu meloyakan dengan panggilan-panggilan ling (darling), yang (sayang), bang (abang) dan sebagainya. Ya, kita tidak nafikan panggilan manja itu baik, tetapi janganlah terlalu over atau berbau gatal. Kita tidak mahu nanti digelar sebagai ustaz atau ustazah yang over atau menggatal.
Saya kadang kala amat muak mendengar lawak-lawak bodoh dan cerita-cerita sedih tidak masuk akal semata-mata untuk memikat dan menjadikan penonton menangis dan berbagai lagi aksi over yang meloyakan. Tindakan sebegini, akan menjadi otak kita tidak berkembang, jumud dan tumpul.
Golongan ini tidak banyak berfikir atau membaca, tetapi hanya mencuri idea-idea orang lain agar dapat dipandang hebat."
Link: Bahana bincang perkara remeh
"Yusuf al-Qaradawi menggariskan beberapa perkara untuk mentransformasikan pemikiran umat Islam. Antaranya, mendahulukan perkara yang pasti berbanding yang masih ragu-ragu. Kedua, mendahulukan perkara yang besar berbanding yang kecil. Ketiga, mendahulukan kepentingan umat (Islam) berbanding diri. Keempat, mendahulukan kepentingan berpanjangan berbanding kepentingan sementara. Kelima, mendahulukan kepentingan utama berbanding kepentingan yang rasmi (protokol), dan akhirnya, mendahulukan kepentingan masa depan berbanding masa kini."
"Kadangkala saya amat jelik dengan segelintir Melayu Islam yang mula naik tocang dan lupa diri apabila terasa diri pandai sedikit atau kaya sedikit atau mempunyai kuasa sedikit. Segelintir golongan ini mahu menunjuk pandai sehingga tergadai jati diri. Terlalu bertolak ansur, sehingga akhirnya ditolak secara beransur-ansur. Akibatnya, jati diri, maruah dan hak umat Islam menjadi semakin hancur. "
Link: Transformasi pemikiran Melayu
Thursday, 31 March 2011
Tuesday, 29 March 2011
Tsunami Jepun 2011 - my point of view
Gempa bumi & tsunami Jepun 2011
Dunia gempar dengan berita tsunami yang melanda Jepun sehingga mengorbankan banyak nyawa dan kerosakan. Bencana besar yang menimbul pelbagai reaksi termasuk rakyat Malaysia.
1. Ada yang kata, "inilah tanda kebesaran Tuhan".
Sebenarnya ada banyak tanda kebesaran Tuhan tak perlu tunggu gempa bumi dan tsunami. Dan kalau perhati, statement "Subhanallah, inilah tanda kebesaran Tuhan!" sudah tidak lagi berbunyi selepas kejadian tsunami Jepun. Seolah-olah kebesaran Tuhan hanya sinonim dengan bencana alam yang mengorbankan orang. Ini tak betul.
Alam semesta punya luas, petik saja mana-mana fenomena yang menjelaskan "adanya aturan" (contoh: graviti, orbit, gerhana), bukankah itu juga menunjukkan ke"akbar"an Allah Pemilik hukum?
2. Ada yang kata, "inilah balasan Tuhan kepada orang Jepun".
Ada yang kaitkan video orang Jepun buat benda tak elok contohnya bunuh dolphin ke bunuh ikan paus ke, cepat saja tangan menaip, "oh kejamnya orang Jepun, memang patut mereka mati, memang patut mereka ditimpa tsunami" etc.
Kenapa bila Kuala Lumpur selalu ditimpa banjir kilat, kita tak kata Tuhan sedang menurunkan bala kepada rakyat Malaysia? Padahal KL kan banyak poster perempuan separuh bogel di shopping malls, banyak night clubs, gay clubs, banyak jenayah, rogol, bunuh, rompak, politician tipu rakyat etc.
Oh, KL ni banjir sebab longkang sumbat, kurang saliran air, so kita kena perbaiki sistem saliran, buat terowong SMART etc., oleh itu "kita mestilah tidak membuang sampah merata-rata".
Wah, sungguh bijak kita berfikir dengan teratur bila kena pada diri sendiri.
Dulu tersebar video orang Melayu berdemo tunjuk perasaan sambil pijak kepala lembu sebab sengketa politik. Satu hari kalau bencana berlaku di sini, dan video tu terlepas ke negara lain, agak-agak wajar tak mereka kata, "oh kejamnya mereka sampai pijak kepala lembu, inilah balasan Tuhan kepada orang Malaysia."?
Dah tentu reaksi kita, mereka yang pijak kepala lembu tu bukan suara / tindakan majoriti rakyat, mereka ni segelintir "emosional people" yang memalukan.
Wah! Boleh pula kita fikir rasional.
Kadang-kadang jawapan kita selektif.
Bila banjir tengkujuh di negeri-negeri pantai timur, tak pula kita kata inilah balasan daripada Tuhan. Ataupun banjir di Johor. Atau banjir di Kedah.
Setiap hari rakyat Malaysia mati atas jalanraya sampai 6000 orang setiap tahun, tak ada pula yang kata ini balasan Tuhan. Nak kira tragik, tragik juga. Perut terburai, pecah kepala kena gilis, mati tersepit, mati tak dibantu sebab orang lain sibuk kutip duit syiling, curi beras dan sebagainya.
Saya fikir adalah masuk akal jika kita kata dengan membunuh dolphin / ikan paus akan menyebabkan gangguan ekosistem / rantai makanan dalam kalangan hidupan laut, maka balanya ialah hidupan yang perlu dikawal bilangannya secara ekosistem, bertambah dan mengancam hidupan lain.
Atau, gempa bumi berlaku bila plat-plat bumi yang sentiasa bergerak untuk mencari keseimbangan, sepertimana gunung berapi mengeluarkan lava yang tidak boleh dibendung lagi dalam perut bumi. Maka negara-negara yang berdekatan dengan lingkaran gunung berapi dan garisan plat bumi adalah yang paling terkesan bila berlaku gempa bumi tidak kiralah negara itu dihuni orang Islam (Indonesia) atau orang bukan Islam (Jepun).
Sebenarnya dari zaman saya menuntut di Jepun lagi (2002-2006) sudah diramal akan berlaku gempa bumi yang besar di sekitar kawasan Tokyo, dan mereka sudah lama fikir tentang langkah-langkah menghadapi bila berlaku kelak. Siap buat movie lagi. Sebab tu kita tengok rakyat mereka berdisiplin sesudah ditimpa bencana. Nak ambil makanan pun beratur sampai berkilometer.
Harapkan rakyat Malaysia buat benda sama? Dalam mimpi pun tak jadi. Ini sebenarnya satu bala.
Cuma nak dijadikan cerita gempa bumi & tsunami yang berlaku ni skalanya terlalu besar dan di luar kemampuan manusia untuk mengawal keadaan.
Skala alam semesta, skala bumi sangatlah besar kalau nak dibandingkan dengan skala manusia yang bersengketa tentang ego siapa paling hebat, siapa paling kuat, siapa paling kaya. Dari sudut ini saya setuju.
Planet, matahari, bintang, meteor etc. dengan kepelbagaian bentuk dan fungsi boleh secara harmoni dalam satu sistem, tapi manusia setakat beza warna kulit menindas sesama sendiri dengan pelbagai alasan.
Ya, membunuh dolphin itu sadis dan mesti dihentikan.
Dalam kita menghargai niat baik mengingatkan kepada kebesaran Allah, biarlah statement dikeluarkan itu adil dan tidak berat sebelah.
Bila kena pada orang lain, kata balasan Tuhan.
Bila kena pada diri sendiri, kata Tuhan uji kita, kenalah bersabar.
Dunia gempar dengan berita tsunami yang melanda Jepun sehingga mengorbankan banyak nyawa dan kerosakan. Bencana besar yang menimbul pelbagai reaksi termasuk rakyat Malaysia.
1. Ada yang kata, "inilah tanda kebesaran Tuhan".
Sebenarnya ada banyak tanda kebesaran Tuhan tak perlu tunggu gempa bumi dan tsunami. Dan kalau perhati, statement "Subhanallah, inilah tanda kebesaran Tuhan!" sudah tidak lagi berbunyi selepas kejadian tsunami Jepun. Seolah-olah kebesaran Tuhan hanya sinonim dengan bencana alam yang mengorbankan orang. Ini tak betul.
Alam semesta punya luas, petik saja mana-mana fenomena yang menjelaskan "adanya aturan" (contoh: graviti, orbit, gerhana), bukankah itu juga menunjukkan ke"akbar"an Allah Pemilik hukum?
2. Ada yang kata, "inilah balasan Tuhan kepada orang Jepun".
Ada yang kaitkan video orang Jepun buat benda tak elok contohnya bunuh dolphin ke bunuh ikan paus ke, cepat saja tangan menaip, "oh kejamnya orang Jepun, memang patut mereka mati, memang patut mereka ditimpa tsunami" etc.
Kenapa bila Kuala Lumpur selalu ditimpa banjir kilat, kita tak kata Tuhan sedang menurunkan bala kepada rakyat Malaysia? Padahal KL kan banyak poster perempuan separuh bogel di shopping malls, banyak night clubs, gay clubs, banyak jenayah, rogol, bunuh, rompak, politician tipu rakyat etc.
Oh, KL ni banjir sebab longkang sumbat, kurang saliran air, so kita kena perbaiki sistem saliran, buat terowong SMART etc., oleh itu "kita mestilah tidak membuang sampah merata-rata".
Wah, sungguh bijak kita berfikir dengan teratur bila kena pada diri sendiri.
Dulu tersebar video orang Melayu berdemo tunjuk perasaan sambil pijak kepala lembu sebab sengketa politik. Satu hari kalau bencana berlaku di sini, dan video tu terlepas ke negara lain, agak-agak wajar tak mereka kata, "oh kejamnya mereka sampai pijak kepala lembu, inilah balasan Tuhan kepada orang Malaysia."?
Dah tentu reaksi kita, mereka yang pijak kepala lembu tu bukan suara / tindakan majoriti rakyat, mereka ni segelintir "emosional people" yang memalukan.
Wah! Boleh pula kita fikir rasional.
Kadang-kadang jawapan kita selektif.
Bila banjir tengkujuh di negeri-negeri pantai timur, tak pula kita kata inilah balasan daripada Tuhan. Ataupun banjir di Johor. Atau banjir di Kedah.
Setiap hari rakyat Malaysia mati atas jalanraya sampai 6000 orang setiap tahun, tak ada pula yang kata ini balasan Tuhan. Nak kira tragik, tragik juga. Perut terburai, pecah kepala kena gilis, mati tersepit, mati tak dibantu sebab orang lain sibuk kutip duit syiling, curi beras dan sebagainya.
Saya fikir adalah masuk akal jika kita kata dengan membunuh dolphin / ikan paus akan menyebabkan gangguan ekosistem / rantai makanan dalam kalangan hidupan laut, maka balanya ialah hidupan yang perlu dikawal bilangannya secara ekosistem, bertambah dan mengancam hidupan lain.
Atau, gempa bumi berlaku bila plat-plat bumi yang sentiasa bergerak untuk mencari keseimbangan, sepertimana gunung berapi mengeluarkan lava yang tidak boleh dibendung lagi dalam perut bumi. Maka negara-negara yang berdekatan dengan lingkaran gunung berapi dan garisan plat bumi adalah yang paling terkesan bila berlaku gempa bumi tidak kiralah negara itu dihuni orang Islam (Indonesia) atau orang bukan Islam (Jepun).
Sebenarnya dari zaman saya menuntut di Jepun lagi (2002-2006) sudah diramal akan berlaku gempa bumi yang besar di sekitar kawasan Tokyo, dan mereka sudah lama fikir tentang langkah-langkah menghadapi bila berlaku kelak. Siap buat movie lagi. Sebab tu kita tengok rakyat mereka berdisiplin sesudah ditimpa bencana. Nak ambil makanan pun beratur sampai berkilometer.
Harapkan rakyat Malaysia buat benda sama? Dalam mimpi pun tak jadi. Ini sebenarnya satu bala.
Cuma nak dijadikan cerita gempa bumi & tsunami yang berlaku ni skalanya terlalu besar dan di luar kemampuan manusia untuk mengawal keadaan.
Skala alam semesta, skala bumi sangatlah besar kalau nak dibandingkan dengan skala manusia yang bersengketa tentang ego siapa paling hebat, siapa paling kuat, siapa paling kaya. Dari sudut ini saya setuju.
Planet, matahari, bintang, meteor etc. dengan kepelbagaian bentuk dan fungsi boleh secara harmoni dalam satu sistem, tapi manusia setakat beza warna kulit menindas sesama sendiri dengan pelbagai alasan.
Ya, membunuh dolphin itu sadis dan mesti dihentikan.
Dalam kita menghargai niat baik mengingatkan kepada kebesaran Allah, biarlah statement dikeluarkan itu adil dan tidak berat sebelah.
Bila kena pada orang lain, kata balasan Tuhan.
Bila kena pada diri sendiri, kata Tuhan uji kita, kenalah bersabar.
Wednesday, 23 March 2011
22 Secrets HR Won’t Tell You About Getting a Job
1. “Once you’re unemployed more than six months, you’re considered pretty much unemployable. We assume that other people have already passed you over, so we don’t want anything to do with you.” –Cynthia Shapiro, former human resources executive and author of Corporate Confidential: 50 Secrets Your Company Doesn’t Want You to Know
2. “When it comes to getting a job, who you know really does matter. No matter how nice your résumé is or how great your experience may be, it’s all about connections.” –HR director at a health-care facility
3. “If you’re trying to get a job at a specific company, often the best thing to do is to avoid HR entirely. Find someone at the company you know, or go straight to the hiring manager.” –Shauna Moerke, an HR administrator in Alabama who blogs at hrminion.com
Link: Shine fromYahoo!
2. “When it comes to getting a job, who you know really does matter. No matter how nice your résumé is or how great your experience may be, it’s all about connections.” –HR director at a health-care facility
3. “If you’re trying to get a job at a specific company, often the best thing to do is to avoid HR entirely. Find someone at the company you know, or go straight to the hiring manager.” –Shauna Moerke, an HR administrator in Alabama who blogs at hrminion.com
Link: Shine fromYahoo!
Sunday, 20 March 2011
What is God? - Karen Armstrong
Question: Who or what is God?
Karen Armstrong: We can't say, and that's my answer to you. We can't say what God is, and until the modern period, Jewish, Christian, and Muslim theologians in the three God religions all knew that. They insisted that we have no idea what we meant when we said that God was good, or wise, or intelligent. God is not good, or wise, or intelligent anyway that we know. So, people like Maimonides in the Jewish tradition, Eboncina in the Muslim tradition, Thomas Aquinas in the Christian tradition, insisted that we couldn't even say that God existed because our concept of existence is far too limited and they would have been horrified by the ease with which we talk about God today.
When I was a young girl, I had to learn this definition of God. "God is the supreme spirit who alone, exists of himself, and is infinite in all perfections." Now, I always found that rather dull and I was eight years old when I learned that and it really didn't mean very much to me. But I now also think it's incorrect because it takes it for granted that it's possible simply to draw breath and define – and the word define means literally to set limits upon a reality that has to go beyond anything we think or know.
The trouble with a lot of modern theology and a lot of modern thinking about God, is that we think of God a sort of being like ourselves, but bigger and better with likes and dislikes similar to our own. Now, as the great Protestant theologian, Paul Tillich said, "That's an idolatry. That's making a God in our own image." And that's where some of the awful atrocities of religion happened when people assume that God shares your likes and dislikes. The Crusaders when into battle to kill Muslims and Jews and cried, "God will's it." That was their battle cry. Obviously God willed no such thing. The Crusaders were simply projecting onto a deity they’d created on their own image and likeness, all their hatred and loathing of these faiths and made it endorse some of their most awful prejudices and lethal prejudices. And modern terrorists do the same. And that is why the theologians insisted before the modern period, that it was really better to approach God in silence.
In ancient India, they developed what I think is an authentic model of theological discourse, religious talk about the ultimate. It was called the Remaja Competition. The priests would go out into the forests; we're talking about the 10th century before Christ. And they would make a retreat and put themselves into a different frame of mind. And that's very important, because you can't talk about God in the same way as you would have an argument with a colleague or discuss an abstruse point in law, in politics, or in business. You put yourself in the receptive frame of mind with which we approach music or poetry, which you can measure the difference on a neurological scanner. When they came back the priests would begin the competition and the challenger would kick off and give a description of the Brahman, the ultimate reality that lay beyond the Gods. He would pour into this definition all that he could think, all his knowledge and insight and found a verbal formula, puzzling, illusive, and difficult. But that's what Brahman is.
And then his opponents would have to build on that and respond to him. But the person who won the competition was the person who reduced all of his opponents to silence. And it was in that silence that the Brahman was present. The Brahman was not present in the wordy definitions. It was present only in the stunning realization of the impotence of speech. And Christian, Jewish, and Muslim theologians all developed similar disciplines, similar rituals, to help people realize that when we talk about God we are at the end of what words and thoughts can do.
Well, nowadays, we've forgotten all about that. We talk about God as though he was like a **** or somebody. We ask him to bless our nation, or save our Queen, or give us a fine day for the picnic. And we actually expect him to be on our side in an election or war even though our opponents are also God's children.
So, we think about God far to easily and that's because of a lot of social, intellectual, and scientific changes that have taken place in the western world and that has made God very problematic for a lot of people.
Video link: BigThink
Karen Armstrong: We can't say, and that's my answer to you. We can't say what God is, and until the modern period, Jewish, Christian, and Muslim theologians in the three God religions all knew that. They insisted that we have no idea what we meant when we said that God was good, or wise, or intelligent. God is not good, or wise, or intelligent anyway that we know. So, people like Maimonides in the Jewish tradition, Eboncina in the Muslim tradition, Thomas Aquinas in the Christian tradition, insisted that we couldn't even say that God existed because our concept of existence is far too limited and they would have been horrified by the ease with which we talk about God today.
When I was a young girl, I had to learn this definition of God. "God is the supreme spirit who alone, exists of himself, and is infinite in all perfections." Now, I always found that rather dull and I was eight years old when I learned that and it really didn't mean very much to me. But I now also think it's incorrect because it takes it for granted that it's possible simply to draw breath and define – and the word define means literally to set limits upon a reality that has to go beyond anything we think or know.
The trouble with a lot of modern theology and a lot of modern thinking about God, is that we think of God a sort of being like ourselves, but bigger and better with likes and dislikes similar to our own. Now, as the great Protestant theologian, Paul Tillich said, "That's an idolatry. That's making a God in our own image." And that's where some of the awful atrocities of religion happened when people assume that God shares your likes and dislikes. The Crusaders when into battle to kill Muslims and Jews and cried, "God will's it." That was their battle cry. Obviously God willed no such thing. The Crusaders were simply projecting onto a deity they’d created on their own image and likeness, all their hatred and loathing of these faiths and made it endorse some of their most awful prejudices and lethal prejudices. And modern terrorists do the same. And that is why the theologians insisted before the modern period, that it was really better to approach God in silence.
In ancient India, they developed what I think is an authentic model of theological discourse, religious talk about the ultimate. It was called the Remaja Competition. The priests would go out into the forests; we're talking about the 10th century before Christ. And they would make a retreat and put themselves into a different frame of mind. And that's very important, because you can't talk about God in the same way as you would have an argument with a colleague or discuss an abstruse point in law, in politics, or in business. You put yourself in the receptive frame of mind with which we approach music or poetry, which you can measure the difference on a neurological scanner. When they came back the priests would begin the competition and the challenger would kick off and give a description of the Brahman, the ultimate reality that lay beyond the Gods. He would pour into this definition all that he could think, all his knowledge and insight and found a verbal formula, puzzling, illusive, and difficult. But that's what Brahman is.
And then his opponents would have to build on that and respond to him. But the person who won the competition was the person who reduced all of his opponents to silence. And it was in that silence that the Brahman was present. The Brahman was not present in the wordy definitions. It was present only in the stunning realization of the impotence of speech. And Christian, Jewish, and Muslim theologians all developed similar disciplines, similar rituals, to help people realize that when we talk about God we are at the end of what words and thoughts can do.
Well, nowadays, we've forgotten all about that. We talk about God as though he was like a **** or somebody. We ask him to bless our nation, or save our Queen, or give us a fine day for the picnic. And we actually expect him to be on our side in an election or war even though our opponents are also God's children.
So, we think about God far to easily and that's because of a lot of social, intellectual, and scientific changes that have taken place in the western world and that has made God very problematic for a lot of people.
Video link: BigThink
Thursday, 3 March 2011
25 Ways to Waste Your Money
Plug your financial leaks, and pocket the savings.
Has your budget sprung a leak?
Nearly everyone has spending holes. And as with other kinds of leaks, you may have hardly noticed them. But those small drips can quickly add up to big bucks. The trick is to find the holes and plug them so you can keep more money in your pocket. That extra cash could be the ticket to finally being able to save, invest, or break your cycle of living from paycheck to paycheck.
Link: 25 Ways to Waste Your Money
Has your budget sprung a leak?
Nearly everyone has spending holes. And as with other kinds of leaks, you may have hardly noticed them. But those small drips can quickly add up to big bucks. The trick is to find the holes and plug them so you can keep more money in your pocket. That extra cash could be the ticket to finally being able to save, invest, or break your cycle of living from paycheck to paycheck.
Link: 25 Ways to Waste Your Money
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