UTUSAN MELAYU – ISU RELEVENSI

Ini adalah petikan dari penulisan kawan baik saya mengenai akhbar Utusan Melayu yang telah banyak berjasa kepada umat Melayu Malaysia.

“ Utusan yang terakhir...
Inilah wajah terakhir Utusan Melayu Mingguan:-((
Dimuka depan terpanpang berita sedih yang ianya keluaran terakhir kerana tidak lagi berdaya maju untuk diteruskan pernerbitannya.Terima kasih kepada Interviewer kerana sudi memaklumkan kepada saya.
Sebagai rakyat Malaysia berketurunan Melayu saya amat sedih menerima berita ini.Bangsa Melayu adalah kaum majoriti di Malaysia tapi gagal mengekalkan satu-satu akhbar yang bertulis jawi yang telah banyak berjasa kepada perjuangan bangsa Melayu.Hati tertanya-tanya kenapa ianya gagal tetapi akhbar bahasa Cina dan India mampu hidup dan berdaya maju???
Dua sebab yang diberi oleh pihak pengurusan ialah kekurangan pembaca dan kekeringan iklan.Kedua-duanya adalah sumber pendapatn yang diperlukan untuk membiayai penerbitan akhbar.Semangat sahaja tidak mampu membayar kos penerbitan.
Untuk mendapat ulasan yang lebih terinci, sila baca komen Awang Selamat yang bertajuk,"Lahir zaman papa, mati zaman kaya".
Pada hemat saya yang kurang arif dalam bidang ini,saya akan tunggu dan lihat apa kata dan tindakan pemimpin Melayu dan mereka yang mampu untuk bertindak supaya akhbar Utusan Melayu dalam bentuk asal(tulisan jawi) dapat dihidupkan semula dan bisa berdiri sama tinggi dan duduk sama rendah dengan akhbar-akhbar bangsa-bangsa lain di Malaysia.”

Catatan beliau penuh kekesalan di atas nasib akhbar perintis tersebut. Walaupun begitu saya kurang bersetuju dengan perbandingan yang beliau ajukan vis-a-vis akhbar bahasa Cina dan India kerana akhbar melayu masih kekal dan maju cuma tulisan jawi dalam bentuk akhbar sahaja yang berkubur bersama edisi tersebut.

Berikut adalah komen yang saya tinggalkan di ruangan Comments……

“ Memang Utusan Melayu adalah wadah pejuang bangsa pada zamannya. Ia adalah jiwa melayu. Ia adalah pendorong dan pembuka mata Orang Melayu. Ia adalah medan juang Pahlawan bangsa yang berjuang dengan tinta hitam yang tidak kurang tajamnya daripada besi waja Klewang Tok Raja atau Pedang Katana Samurai Jepun.
Tapi masa berlalu... medan berubah wajah, tanah telah bertukar konkerit, langit sudah diterobosi, pejabat post telah dibayangi Post Office Maya yang mampu menyampaikan message kurang dari 1 saat ...... dan bukan hanya dalam keasyikan mainan kata-kata untuk merangsang perasaan, sekarang kita sudah mampu menyampaikan dalam bentuk suara, gambar, video, teks dalam adunan yang mengikut citarasa. Oleh itu wajarkan kita masih mahu mempertahankan Utusan Melayu dalam bentuk asal tulisan Jawi dengan penuh emosi walaupun ianya sudah kurang cocok dengan peredaran zaman????

Jika UM adalah terkini pada zamannya, adakah ia masih begitu sekarang? Masihkan ia dapat memainkan peranannya dalam dunia sekarang dalam bentuk asalnya? Adakah perlu ia dipertahankan dalam bentuk asal dengan kekuasaan directive dari kepimpinan Melayu sekarang sedangkan ia sudah terlalu uzur dan tidak mampu merobah lonjakan keinginan anak-anak muda yang meronta-ronta dalam dunia tanpa sempadan tanpa sebarang bimbingan dan pimpinan yang relevan dan pragmatis dari cerdik pandai kita yang masih ditakuk lama dan tidak mampu menuruti zaman apatah lagi merintis dan memimpin jalan bagi anak-anak kita di zaman ICT ini? Adakah dengan melanjutkan hayatnya yang sudah dipenghujung dan dibebani batuk kering itu dapat memberikan ia lebih kemuliaan daripada pengkebumian yang penuh adat dan hormat sebagai pahlawan bangsa? Pengunduran yang tepat pada masanya adalah paling baik daripada disungkurkan ke bumi oleh kehendak pasaran sepertimana sekarang...... Sekarang, ianya terlalu trajis….

Reader, pada pendapat saya yang kerdil ini, yang penting bukanlah mediumnya tetapi semangat yang ditatangi cinta tanpa penghujung terhadap anak bangsa kita yang kita dibiarkan sendirian dan dalam kumpulan yang terbuang bermain api ICT dan merenangi dunia tanpa sempadan dari segi capaiannya mahupun bahana kemudharatannya tanpa dibekalkan dengan pedang dan perisai yang sesuai. Kita yang kononnya sudah lama makan garam ini sanggup biarkan anak-anak muda kita mencari haluan sendiri dalam hujan dengan halilintar sabung menyabung gegak gempita meredah dunia penuh kepura-puraan ini sedangkan kita sibuk menangisi pemergian pimpinan lama yang sudah melepasi zaman mujarabnya tanpa mengambil iktibar dari semangat juang mereka untuk terus memacu jalan ke hadapan ke arah sempadan baru yang kita cita-citakan.

Selamat tinggal UM. Semoga jasa dan semangat yang engkau telah hidupkan terus menyala di dalam sanubari anak bangsa tercinta walaubagaimanapun wadah dan wacana yang ditunggangi. Tinggalmu diiringi semerbak wangian syurgawi. Kami tidak akan hilang pedoman tanpamu kerana sebenarnya engkau terus hidup di benak hati anak watan yang engkau telah bentuk dengan ketajaman tinta hitammu. Wassalaam.. “

On hind sight……

Mengapa tidak Utusan Melayu di kekalkan dalam bentuk majalah warisan dan bukan akhbar harian yang perlu sentiasa up-to-date dengan perkembangan maklumat, pemikiran dan peristiwa yang dilaporkan? Mungkin corak penyampaiannya disesuaikan sebagai sebuah majalah….. why not?

TEACHING DESPERADOS

Most people when asked about the teaching profession confess their respect for this time honoured profession. Teachers are likened to angels. They are the groomers of the Nation. They groom future leaders and instill good values in students in preparation for giving service to the Nation, or just to be good citizen. They are the conscience of the society; instilling in the students the filter to differentiate good from evil, right from wrong. Without teachers we will be trudging a sure road to disaster.

Is this picture still correct or just nostalgia from the past? Are the current crops of teachers still the in consonant to this idealistic picture we treasure so much? Or are all these utopia, something we would like it to be but in reality just myths from the past? Do teachers still honour their profession and embrace its ideals or are they just a bunch of working people out to make a living just like any other profession? This is becoming the current reality, a sad reality indeed.

My daughter came back from school today a very agitated and frustrated person. She could not accept her teacher attacking her emotionally for some misunderstanding. Being a sensitive person by nature, she could not accept such callous verbal abuse by someone so respectable as a teacher. When the teacher started blurting out vulgar words, the damage is complete.

What is happening? Are teachers now just teaching desperados, using their classrooms to release their pent-up fury for some household squabbles they failed to settle at home? What is to become to our Nation if teachers are of this type. Are they grooming their students to be the vanguard of the Nation or are they implanting time bombs in the student’s psychological make-up? What is the Ministry doing? Don’t they have psychologists and councilors? Cant they drive this simple message across? The classroom is not an emotional dustbin to dump all pent-up emotions and the students not toilet papers to soak all this s_ _ _ _. If the teachers feel justified using vulgar words to drive some message across, then something must be very wrong indeed. Or are they exhibiting repressed sexual syndrome? My other half seem to think so.

It is time to wake up and stop this march towards becoming a slum Nation where street behaviour and gutter vocabulary become norm and modesty a rare commodity. And where is this better started than in schools. We do not need to limit teaching to nuns, priests, imams or mullahs. It is enough if teachers have some sense of responsibility and aptitude to do their job conscientiously and do not bring disrespect to this auspicious profession. Amin.

TECHNOLOGY SANCTIFIED

Today I feel on top of the world. My friend who just went for pilgrimage called me up from Masjidil Haram. I was af first perplexed receiving a call from a voice so familiar but could not register because in my mind he's out of reach. As the voice registers I was out of balance as it sounded so near. It was a gift. If someone is to give me a present, it could never beat this one. A call from a place so sanctified is a supreme present indeed.

This was in fact a second time I received a tinker from the Masjidil Haram. Sometimes back a good friend of mine also, sent an sms. It was such a delightful present. It embodies so many things. A place like the Masjidil haram and the Masjid Nabawi of Medina is a place where we lose ourselves in devotion to the Almighty, a place where we lose ourselves from this material world and focus onto the next world. To receive an sms and a call from such sanctified places connotes so many good things, things to feel good about, feeling of being remembered and cared, feeling of bond so close and heart warming that beat any other gestures thinkable.

This is Technology Sanctified. Not so long ago to call from Mecca and abroad would cost a fortune. Now with the advent of the VOIP and satellite based technology, such a thing is now possible at reasonable price. With it well wishers could sms and call from such places and bring joy to the recipient. Though the economic factor is the carrier that make this resture possible, it is the remembrance that is most important. If technology could be made to bring this feeling of goodness to all the world, and people feel enticed to use it to such purpose, then this is indeed Sanctified Technology; technology used to add peace and harmony to the world.

Some technology however are used to spread unhappiness and misery to the world. The Hiroshima Episode is indeed a dark glory. The glory earned was through the misery of others, those helpless people who were not party to the war. The modern episode in Afghanistan and Iraq is another. High technology bombs so smart, it could hunt victims deep inside underground caves were used. So much misery spread because someone hate another so much he was prepared to fabricate lies to justify the actions. Hatred, ego trip and call for revenge so compelling someone feel justifed to put his back to views from all the world including the world's official body and carried on avenging missions to punish those he felt associated with the crime. Such misery spread by a black heart through technology.

I wish technology could choose the user. Then I'm convinced technology would only allowed itself to be used to spread good feeling and add to the well being of the world.

I WISH.................

FESTIVAL OF IBADAH

FESTIVAL OF IBADAH

My good friend coined the term Ibadah Festival to describe the atmosphere of ibadah in Ramadhan. It is such an apt term. The two-words phrase speak of so many things, amongst them; performing ibadat full heartedly, complete sincerity, no compulsion, state of full acceptance of the religious injunction, and the state of heart at peace with the Creator. It also speaks of obedience in a jovial and happy mood without any hint of reluctance.

Indeed, Ramadhan is a month to inculcate positive values in Muslims. The act of fasting itself is an exercise in patience and a training of the heart to feel the suffering of those less fortunate than us. Fasting is not only abstinence in partaking of food and drinks but also to control all our faculties including the heart from too much attachment to the base instinct or the animal nature of man and to focus on the spiritual side. By detaching ourselves from food and drinks we weaken the influences from our animal nature in order to nurture our spiritual nature. Strengthening the spirit goes a long way in fostering good values that will keep our animal nature in check. This will help bring peace and harmony in the society.


However, Ibadah is normally seen as an obligation to be done. Fasting is one of the 5 pillars of Islam, thus a major obligation for Muslims. Studies and researches have shown many benefits of fasting to our health. However, without the injunction, not many will perform it on their own accord. Thus the spirit of its performance is based on compulsion. However, having a whole community performing the fast together, breaking of fast together with family members or community members at morehs, tarawih prayer in congregation are festival of sorts. The acts conjure community get togetherness. These are rare occasions and foster festive spirit. It only happen in Ramadhan and not in any other month. Thus Ramadhan is a month to celebrate.


So let us celebrate Ramadhan with Ibadah festival. Throw away the burdensome do thy duty attitude and replace it with festive, merry, jovial mood. Get up in early morning feeling good for sahur together and then to the masjid for Subuh Prayer. Recite the Qur’an and go through the day with calm spirit, absorbing all the day’s turmoils and tribulation like the eye of a storm, tongue guarded against utterring of bad or useless words but wet with zikr to Allah, eyes casted down and averted from the onslaughts of provoking animal based desires, heart touched to sufferrings of others and at the end of the day prepare for the breaking of fast with heart full of syukur to Allah for His Nikmah. As a show of thanks giving, prepare for tarawih prayer in congregation at the mosque and participate in tadarrus. Well, that is a festival indeed; a festival of Ibadah that brings joy and strength to the inner spirit as compared to the more transient joy nature of other types of festival….

FATHERHOOD AND ACCEPTANCE

FATHERHOOD AND ACCEPTANCE

My daughter is going to sit for her exam at our home state. She is the kind who keep things to herself. I am currently working more than 300km away from home. How to I support her, show my concern and help her in her quest? How to I do my paternal duty, be a father in time of his daughter’s need? Is it just enough to phone to give encouragement and pray for her success? A prayer is heard even thousands of miles away, for God is All-Hearing, All-Knowing. To make matter more complicated she’s a daughter who had undergone the father’s disciplinary acts and won’t budge; not in any meaningful way and had kept resentment visible in her countenance. How do I win her heart and in the process help her undergo the trial of her life in confidence? This is delicate indeed. Meanwhile I was just moved to head a section that support the management’s functions and need to be abreast of all situations whether current or any potentially uncomfortable one.

Balancing the needs, I decided that my family’s affair is priority. So I took 3 days off and came back home. I had up to now tried to show acceptance, love and care to offset the sting of acts I had to do, or felt I had to do in the name of fatherhood, i.e; the fatherhood I was made to believe through my upbringing and religious vocation. I had failed. I could see that she had tried to please me, show that it’s okay but I could sense that deep down the resentment is just skin deep. I had failed to bridge the gap and counterbalance the sting of my righteous acts. I need something else. I need to get inside the shell of her unconscious rebellious response. That is akin to extracting a hair from the loaf, so goes a Malay saying. Whatever it is, I have to do it and save my family from the onset of destructive diverging forces and turn it into a cohesive one.

I have somehow got to foster acceptance and drive it home, direct to the heart, not just the brain. The acceptance needs to be felt by the recipient. That is the key to unlock the happiness that got imprisoned not by any bad deed, but acts done out of compulsion to instill good behaviour and perceived good and correct social outlook for a Muslim girl. I have to accept her as herself, devoid of any expectation or mould I would like her to be in. I have to throw away the telescope from which I had so long used to see the world and see and accept the family members as they are. That indeed is a tough act. Without the filters, we seem so naked and vulnerable, a stalk in the wind; to be bent this way and that way according to the direction of the incoming breeze. I failed to see that the vulnerable stalk bent and remain unscathed after a hurricane but the mighty tree got uprooted and left dead. Wisdom is not learned but acquired by a mind free of chains that keep it bonded.

I had since the resolve tried to instill acceptance. I smile as she came home. She responded with a stiff, guarded smile. I call her to dinner (is it the father’s duty, or the daughter? – I forgo this usual line of thought and accept it even when she did not turn up nor say anything. I admit that it irk me some but accept it as it is). I made a point of making small talks and crack lousy jokes no matter how stiff the response or no response for that matter. I jumped to any request for going out no matter in what mood I was at the time. I give counsel when needed so as not to be seen as having disregarded the value system I had hitherto tried to instill without much success. I see her out to school and as usual she took my hand (the Islamic way), kiss it at times and answer her barely audible salam. I keep sending SMS of encouragement and advice when away for work though I receive no answer. I did the small acts of recognising and accepting. I think it gradually penetrated the thick armour she had built to shield herself in to dissipate the effects of my righteous deeds. Two weeks before the big day I called her to sit nearby. She looked shocked and asked why. I just bade her to come. Reluctantly she did. Then I took her hand, and said I forgive her for whatever deeds she had done and accept her for what she is. She seemed shocked but full of relief. I made my wife did the same thing.

Now she’s going to face the exam that will shape her future. I have to give encouragement and show more acceptance. So I took a few days off to be home and show my support. I brought back the `air sembahyang hajat’ the parents at my work place made. She seemed mollified. The night before the exam I invited her to pray together and afterwards perform the `sembahyang hajat’ for her together with the rest of our family including the youngest one who just tagged along. In the supplication, I mention her name and ask Allah in the name of His Rahman attribute to grant her calm and memory to perform in her exam. Afterwards I again utter forgiveness and acceptance but before I could finish she grabbed me and cried. I cried too. I had finally cracked the armour, I think. I have done my duty. I hope and pray that this will be the start of a more comfortable bond based on mutual respect and love, free of convention of rights and wrongs but nevertheless adhered to by free will.

The Eastern Culture is steep in rules regarding code of conduct. The Orthodox Islamic Traditions are very strict in this area. We are taught to observe prayers at very early age and instill the practice to our children from the age of seven. By the age of ten canning is required to enforce prayer and if by the age of twelve they still refuse, the parents were to drove them away from home. Is this from the Qur’an or the understanding / misunderstanding from it? This story regarding Prophet Noah (a.s) IS from the Qur’an (Pickthall’s Translation);

“And it sailed with them amid waves like mountains, and Noah cried unto his son and he was standing aloof: O my son! Come ride with us, and be not with the disbelievers.” (11:42)

“He said: I shall betake me to some mountain that will save me from the water. (Noah) said: This day there is none that saveth from the commandment of Allah save him on whom He hath had mercy. And the wave came in between them, so he was among the drowned.” (11:43)

This story showed that after more than 900 years of dakwah, his son still disbelieves him but Prophet Noah (a.s) never gave up on his son. He tried to make a believer out of his son right to the last day but still remain unsuccessful. So from where do this code that enjoin parents to drive away their children from home after their children’s failure to observe prayer at the age of twelve come from? It contradicts the story told by God in the above verses. The Prophet Noah had accepted his son as a disbeliever but never gave up hope to make a believer out of him. Had he not accepted his son, he would not have called his son to ride with him on the Ark despite knowing of his son’s apostasy. But call he did and in a most gentle way despite 900 years of failure. Did Prophet Noah drive his son away from home? None stated from the Qur’an. How could he has driven his son away but still called him to ride on the Ark meant for believers. Surely this is not the message from the Qur’an. Despite the most dire of circumstances, his son still refuse to come to Prophet Noah. This shows that his son ran away from Prophet Noah, not driven away as enjoined by the code taught to Muslims in pondoks !!!!

Recent experiences and instinct showed me that acceptance is THE KEY. Accept our children for what they are and never give up hope. Forgive them their weaknesses and build up from there. We are not God to punish them. Our role is to educate, love and give hope of good things to come and not be a harbinger of doom. Not to our own children for God’s Sake....

Father's Day

Yesterday on the 19th June 2005; a Father's Day, I got an SMS greeting from my daughter. It was a grateful message thanking me for everything, whatever that means to her. I was away from home on official trip, so there was no way of getting together and jale-jale cari makan. The kind words were so soothing and I replied something like this;

'Being a father is a responsibility and an amanah (thrust). Sometimes we have to be harsh to be kind. If appreciated, there is no word to describe the feeling'

Fatherhood...... Fatherhood is a largely ungrateful task. Sometimes I lament at the `unrewarding' task of being a father compared to being a mother. A mother is a much adored and celebrated task. Songs and praises were made regarding a mother's sacrifice, selfless duty and eternal love. It's true, and we are not against it one single bit. If the children respected and love the mother, then we the fathers are so happy.....it shows that we have done our duty in educating them to be good children. Duty, yes, duty, always duty. That is a father's driving force.

A father could overcome his worst fear and work even as grave digger in the name of duty in raising the family and catering for the family's need. He would shelve his ego and work even as a lowly sewage disposal general worker to support the family. He would brave the sun, rain and fear of height working on high rise building construction site even where safety is barely taken care of. He is able to do all this for the sake of the family, all in the name of duty.

An elderly mother is adored and surrounded by her grandchildren. Each will take her hand and persuade her to stay at his or her place. Her sons and daughters will seek her help to look after the grandchildren or just to love her. But a father ..... he is slowly disregarded and at last spend his time at Kedai Kopi (coffee shop); championing certain topics of debate as if it matters so much when actually all he needed is some attention from the children or grandchildren that is non-existant ....or just made cursorily out of `adat' or responsibility.

A father's worth is soon forgotten after the children manage to stand on their own feet. And he is so proud of them if they have made it in the world. He was king of the house when he provided for the family. Everyone need to seek his permission for most things, especially if it concerns money and it normally does in this world; everything have a price. Soon that passes and he slowly realises that his words are no longer law in his household. One by one his laws and boundary is broken and his grip slowly diminishes. He is no longer king.....

The pride has grown and the lion king is soon to be displaced. Either he bowed down gracefully or be pulled down unceremoniously. So he slowly withdraws and finds solace at Kedai Kopi where he feels needed as long as he can pay for the coffee. We see this everywhere. One who was once so busy, or proud, and never have time to linger at Kedai Kopi in the end attained lifetime membership there.

That is what being a father is all about..... The unsung hero.... The discarded king ..... The forgotten provider.... while the mother was being surrounded by the grandchildren, respected and needed.

A Father's Day made me realise that a father is all about sacrifice and we do it so willingly because it is in our bone; the drive to provide as long as we are needed. When the need is gone, what will happen? We will be gone too, like a discarded old rag at the corner of the house.......

Bloom In A Mist

Bloom in a mist. In a mist of obscurity and bleakness, fresh blooms bring hope and promise of a better tomorrow. In its beauty all the sufferings endured become bearable. Like the angel of hope and mercy it radiates freshness, beauty and promise of all the good things in life.

As the heart opens to its beauty, the misty day no more connote suffering and sadness but emerges as deep tender beauty, the coldness becomes a caressing coolness of fresh breeze and all the bleakness turn to promise.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. So everything have shades of meaning. To find beauty in everything and see hope in every suffering is the mark of a great heart, a heart graced with beauty and a solace to everything around it. In its eye, the heaven is here, always has been and always will be. This is the heart of contentment, peace with the surrounding and peace with The Creator. Verily the Creator has said; I have not created thee in vain.