Shahnon.com is back!

I have to admit, it does feel a bit awkward to be blogging again after being on hiatus for more than a month. I reckon it might take some time to keep up with my usual blogging momentum.

I am so glad that I am done with my MA degree. The first six months of the year was probably the most hectic moment in my life, ever. I can't wait for my second convo! :)

Now that I have all the time in the world, I am planning to make some changes to this site. Sometimes I missed the good old days of blogging, whereby changing the design of a blog once a month or at least once in three months, is part of the blogging activity. The early top bloggers consists of mostly IT and multimedia savvy Internet users. But I guess time has changed. And so does the Malaysian blogging scene.

Today, anybody can own a domain on the Internet, and there's nothing much to shout about. I can still remember clearly how excited I was when I first uploaded my "index.html" file to the Geocities free web hosting site. That was in February 2002. Back then, I didn't know the meaning of 'blog'. So I used 'journal' instead, and my web space was boringly named, "Shahnon's Personal Website". Haha. :P

Anyways, this is just some random ramblings. Am not trying to angkat bakul, but just reminiscing the good old days.


Stay tuned!

New Malay Indian party?

New Malay Indian party vows no street protests
Malaysia Sun
Wednesday 20th May, 2009

Petaling Jaya, May 20 : The newly-formed Indian origin Malaysia Makkal Sakti Party will not resort to street protests, preferring to solve things through discussions.

Party president and former Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) national coordinator R.S. Thanenthiran said grievances could be heard through round-table discussions.

"Enough fighting on the streets. We are more determined than ever that non-violence is the way forward with dignity and justice," he told reporters on Tuesday.

Read the headline above. I think it contains some serious error. I believe it should be read as "Indian Malaysian party". 'Malay Indian party' sounds more like a Malay based party in India. Hehe.

I wonder who owns the website. It doesn't look like it is owned by a Malaysian. The flag at the top of the website looks more like an American flag - without the yellow star and crescent.


On another unrelated event, I'd like to share Rehman Rashid's take on the "Indian Malaysian" or "Malaysian Indian" terminology in his article, "Which is the adjective, and which the noun?" in the NST. I find his views rather interesting, yet very strange that nobody has ever talked or discussed about it all these years. Here's an excerpt of his article.

"Malaysian Indian", "Malaysian Chinese" -- this must be the only nation in the world where ethnic communities are so designated. No one's ever heard of "American African", "Australian Vietnamese" or "Canadian French", so why "Malaysian Indian"?

and

For our purposes, however, it's well past time to rectify this strange and unwholesome anomaly. We are Indian, Chinese and Malay Malaysians, as we are Muslim, Christian, Buddhist and Hindu Malaysians, as we are tall, short, thin and fat Malaysians.

Thank you bro Rehman for writing such a thought-provoking article.
What say you?

Raja Petra in the news

Anak Raja Petra didakwa tuduhan mencuri
SHAH ALAM 19 Mei - Anak kedua penulis blog Raja Petra Raja Kamaruddin mengaku bersalah di Mahkamah Majistret di sini hari ini atas empat pertuduhan mencuri dan memiliki motosikal curi serta melakukan pecah rumah di sekitar Shah Alam.

Raja Azman Raja Petra, 33, dari No. 5, Jalan BRP 5/5, Bukit Rahman Putra, Sungai Buloh didakwa mencuri sebuah motosikal Yamaha RXZ nombor pendaftaran BJQ 9597 bernilai RM8,000 milik seorang lelaki, Syaiful Setapa.

Tertuduh juga mengaku mencuri sebuah telefon bimbit Nokia, sebuah jam tangan Seiko dan serangkai kunci motosikal yang kesemuanya dianggarkan berjumlah RM3,850 dari sebuah kediaman milik Saipul Adli Mohamad Yunus.

Oh dear. Pete, what happened to your son? Sudah-sudahlah nak lawan Istana Selangor tu. Tak ke mana pun. He he.

Wesak Day, Kuala Lumpur

Wesak Procession in KL, near Central Market.

I just got back from spending half day in KL when I came across the Wesak procession above, by accident. Fortunately, I saw it from afar, or else I would've use the same road and probably still stuck in the traffic jam. :p

Happy Wesak Day to all Malaysians.

Soe Hok Gie - Catatan Seorang Demonstran

source:Wikimedia

New book in town! Thanks to Zulhabri and gang for his new effort in bringing excellent books from across the shores. Just to share this piece of news here; if you're interested into more alternative books head over to the "Arts for Grabs + KL Alternative Books" at The Annexe Gallery this weekend.

One of Gie's famous quote in his book was;

"Seorang filsuf Yunani pernah menulis … nasib terbaik adalah tidak dilahirkan, yang kedua dilahirkan tapi mati muda, dan yang tersial adalah umur tua. Rasa-rasanya memang begitu. Bahagialah mereka yang mati muda."

This roughly translates to English as "A Greek philosopher once wrote... The best fate is that of the unborns, the second one is that of those born yet die young, and the worst is that of those who die in the old age. I feel that this is right: Happy are those who die young." [Wapedia]

In the same event, Dr. Farish Noor will be presenting his lecture on Batik as a "Trans-Cultural Signifier". I really hope to settle off my work soon to attend the lecture.

Perak MB's new blog

Perak Mentri Besar, Dato Seri Dr. Zambry Abdul Kadir has got a new blog. www.zambry.com

In his first blog entry, Zambry took a swipe at Lim Kit Siang, where the DAP supremo called him a "caveman" Mentri Besar for banning alternative media from covering the upcoming Perak assembly. Kit Siang must have a short memory because it was barely a month or so ago when his son, Lim Guan Eng banned the News Straits Time (NST) from covering the Penang state government events. This is just pure and simple hypocrisy, isn't it?

It's so damn bloody easy for one to talk about press freedom, democracy, rule of law and all other political jargons when one is not in power. But when the power is in their hand, they failed. Guan Eng's NST boycott is a clear testament to this.

DAP talks so much about democracy, but look at their so-called "democratic" party. Kit Siang has been at the helm of party since the days of Tunku Abdul Rahman. Four Prime Ministers, from Tun Razak to Abdullah Badawi have come and gone, but the great Kit Siang is still around, holding great influence in the party via the DAP 'prince'.

That is why, all the talk about their political idealism is just nonsense. They failed to walk the talk. Kit Siang and Samy Velly belongs to the same political generation and of the same political mind. Both had successfully squashed all internal party dissent throughout the years. Besides the contrasting political ideologies between the two, the other differences between Kit Siang and Samy Vellu is that the latter had the chance to serve in government as a cabinet Minister for more than 20 years, and thus exposing himself to a greater deal of criticism and scrutiny.

You may say Mahathir Mohamad was the same during his premiership, but in my view, Mahathir is one who knows when he has step down. He is famously quoted for saying, something along the line of; "Kalau nak berhenti makan, berhenti masa tengah sedap makan". And I think he did just that in 2003.

Manohara's family vs Kelantan royal palace

Manohara giving SOS signal?

Above is an article from Tribun Makassar (Makassar - home of Najib Razak's forefathers) on the current hot issue in Indonesia; the kidnapping and abuse of Manohara Odelia Pinot, wife of the Kelantan royal prince, Tengku Fakhry.

Here's a transcript of the dot points in the article.

1. Manohara dan suaminya tampak menonton pertandingan bola
2. Tapi ibunya melihat ekspresi Manohara sedang minta pertolongan
3. Kerajaan (Kesultanan) Kelantan utus pembantu rumah tangga ke Indonesia - Untuk jelaskan kondisi Manohara (Betul ke ni?)
4. Ibu Mano tersinggung pembantu rumah tangga yang diutus

So, who is right? Manohara or the Kelantan royal family? It saddens me if what Manohara's mother claims to be true, that the royal palace sent over their "pembantu rumah tangga" to Indonesia to settle this issue? Oh well, I prefer to see this matter being resolved amicably between the two families without the need to go to the court.

And as usual, the nationalist Indonesian media just love to sensationalize anti-Malaysia sentiments by showing Malaysia as a big bully, a country with no respect for others, and funnily even the Yang diPertuan Agong Sultan Mizan wasn't spared either. Probably some of them don't know that there are 9 royal families in Malaysia.