The Islamic Side of Promiscuous Patong : A Monsoon Beach Life & Discovering The Malay Diaspora @ Phuket, Thailand.

Asean offers a lot of adventures and new places. I admit that I used to have that “colonized mindsets” that to explore the world was to venture out the Caucasian-dominated countries – Europe, Australasia, etc. But last year’s experience to Vietnam (REFER to https://undomiel84.wordpress.com/2017/07/06/my-vietnam-eid-experience-ho-chi-minh-the-asean-halal-tourism-the-grandeur-of-french-indochina-architecture-the-american-conquest-of-miss-saigon/) had changed my perspective and I now know that each country has its own gems to be savoured and appreciated. Anyway, it was actually an eleventh hour plan. My sister and I had that mutual consensus circa on the 24th Ramadhan and it was agreed that we would be flying off to Phuket, Thailand of the 4th Eid of Syawal (18th June 2018).

The Andaman Sea tidal was so ferocious! I have never seen wave like that!

I flew solo via Air Asia while Kakak flew with both my nephews via Malindo Air. Abang Zam, my brother-in-law, however, would fly over to Phuket on the day after via Air Asia due to some professional errands. I arrived earlier at Phuket International Airport as at 7.05 a.m. and waited half an hour for my sister and nephews. We then negotiated with the car dealers at the airport and decided to take a Toyota Vios from ASAP (REFER to the website at https://www.asapcarrent.com/en) for 3, 354.45 Bahts throughout 3 days. By using Waze/Google Maps, we drove all the way from Phuket Airport which is situated at the north side of the island to Patong Beach, situated at the west side of the island. The journey took around 2 hours, given the nature of weather and traffic.

Look at them. So brave! Hahahah! Very nonchalant and couldn’t care less about the waves. Eeeks!

We explored Patong Beach as we arrived early at the area and our hotel check-in time was at 2 p.m. It was so intimidating and eerie seeing the ferocious wave of the Andaman Sea crushing the beach but you could see that some tourists were nonchalant by that – they kept swimming and to the extend of going towards the middle parts of the ocean! Perhaps, they were good swimmers? Anyway, it was also ethereal to experience that kind of atmopshere – and I had that spontaneous empathic feeling, wondering what must have been like to be trapped in an area when the deadly 2004 tsunami hit the shore of Phuket? Nauzubillah.

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Our budget hotel, The Capitano Beach Hotel. Do check it out, folks! My sister is good with this. 

The cafe. But there is no service at night. And my room with Rifqi.

As it is now a monsoon season, rain and strong current of the ocean are already expected (so, island-hopping was definitely a no-no). We got the shock of our life when we saw the tidal became too ferocious and the splash could be seen at the terrace brink of the beach! Haha! Our lodging, Capitano Hotel was a budget hotel with Grecian influence. You could see the vivid Greek flag colours – blue and white dominated the interior hues of the hotel. Rifqi and I were in a room with 2 single beds (as I would be going back two days earlier than them due to my UPM’s Comprehensive Exam) while Kakak and Raess were in a bigger room with two Queen beds. The hotel was cozy with cute balconies to hangout. We just spend our first day being the lazy sloths as we were so tired.

 

Kusuma Seafood Alley Restaurant. A Halal-certified place. It has only small kitchen but the service was rather swift.

Nevertheless we had another experiences when the hotel suddenly experienced electricity glitch! Everything was pitch black and we could hear the wind was howling like crazy outside! When I looked outside, I saw leaves of the coconut trees blown by the monsoon wind, and I have to admit that in my heart I was praying – “Ya ALLAH, please don’t let it be another tsunami!” We couldn’t use the tab or taking bath as perhaps the water refilling was electrically-controlled by the machinery? Anyway, it was solved around 40 minutes although we actually experience two times of these electrical fiasco (my sister was thinking of moving to another hotel!). That night, we went to a Halal stall named Kusuma which was a mere stone-throw away from our hotel. It is amazing to converse accented-Malay with the owner and savouring the same familiar Thai delicacies just like back in Malaysia. I guess this was an eye-opening experience for me on the breadth of our global Malay diaspora population (all this while, I only watched these in TV documentaries or read but this time, I witness this myself). 

Patong Mosque, Masjid Nurul Islam.

 

The exterior design, the minbar and the staircase leading up to the prayer hall. All for #ShahrillsJejakMasjid craze.

The ablution section and the interior design of the dome.

On the 2nd day, which was on 19th June; Kakak fell ill. Her stomach was feeling very uneasy and she became lethargic, pale and nauseous. Since she is the leader of the pack and I couldn’t drive a Vios (would learn this later on using my mom’s Vios!), our mobility was almost crippled. So, I thought of just walking to the Patong Mosque as I estimated that it would be that far (saw the building in the car on our first day). So, Rifqi and I walked; by relying on the public WIFI which occasionally disappeared! We were walking for 40 minutes and it was raining heavily – and I realized we were actually walking to the opposite direction from the mosque! Haha! So, Rifqi and I practically ran under the rain and took a shelter at a shopping mall called Jungceylon. It was a memorable experience, though. Haha! We finally arrived at the mosque via the car as Kakak managed to pull strength to drive – since a Halal restaurant was nearby the mosque. It was nice seeing the Islamic element though you are far away from Malaysia. The feeling of unison was eminent.

Enchanting architecture, isn’t it? The beauty of Siam.

Can’t help but felt as if you are in the film “Anna And The King” or “The King and I”. Haha!

We went to visit The Chalong Temple Park to see the Siamese magnificent revered architectures. I instantaneously had that “The King and I” moment where Anna Leonowenns, the British governess who came to Siam to teach King Mongkut’s many children – in my mind! Haha! It was another ethereal experience. By the time we got back, it was already 7.40 p.m. and Kakak became more ill as we had to face congested traffic and rainy weather. I had to bring Rifqi to Kusuma to buy foods for them while Abang Zam who was scheduled to arrive at Phuket circa 9.40 p.m. would have to travel alone via mini taxi to Patong Beach as Kakak couldn’t muster any strength to drive anymore. Around 10.45 p.m., Abang Zam arrived at our lodging.

The alley where promiscuity at its paramount moment. Not suitable for kids, please!

The sin city and its famous transportation.

Since that would be my last night at Phuket, I thought of exploring the nightlife – not for any promiscuous activity but to observe the commotion. I went out alone to explore the Patong Beach boulevard and alleys and it took me around 45 sweaty minutes. I could see prostitutes and ladyboys coaxing horny blokes (mostly Arabs! Haha!) and some table dancers with skimpy clothes. Hooters waitresses also were wearing their “official costumes” to serve the people. Now, seeing these sex workers doing their own bidding to keep breads on the tables make me ponder. We, the “holier” people always see them as filthy or dirty. But the truth? We are worse – only that we do not parade our wrongdoings so vividly in the public. We move behind the curtains in discreet. This reminds me of A. Samad Said’s “Salina” and the Broadway’s “Miss Saigon”. Truthfully, there’s always an untold, deep story behind every sex worker – as to why they chose that and what prompted them. And we are not holier than them. We SHOULD REMEMBER that, no?

The scenes at Patong Beach, Phuket Island. Is that the Phuket’s version of David Hasselhoff in Baywatch? Haha! Go, lifeguard!

Black is the epitome colour to hide your figure. You can become skinny if you wear black. If you are a scrawny addict who think having bony 52kg and lower weightage is attractive, just wear black all the time! Hahahah! But not for me, I don’t wanna balloon up but I also don’t feel my old weight of 52 kg is attractive. Nay.

On my last day 20th June 2018, the weather was still rainy and Kakak was still bedridden and threw up couple of times. Possibly food poisoning? To kill time, I explored Patong beach with Rifqi and we played chess and hanged out at the beach together. I explained to him about the 2004 Phuket tsunami and showed him the video as we witnessed the dark clouds and ferocious wave of Andaman Sea. During lunch time, Abang Zam drove the car to the Halal resturant, Saveena (situated opposite the Patong Mosque) and around 6 p.m, we made way to the airport. By right Kakak was thinking of bringing me to the Tiger Kingdom but the plan didn’t materialize as she was feeling very weary. It was raining heavily with congested traffic. Initially Kakak was stubborn to drive but she couldn’t go any further and stopped at Patong Seaview Point and finally let Abang Zam drove. Finally after 2 hours and a half, we arrived at the airport. They had to rush back to Patong once they dropped me. I was touched seeing them weathering the traffic and all to send me.

Do visit this Saveena Halal Restaurant. Just opposite the Mosque!

The Air Asia flight was delayed and I only got to fly circa 11.00 p.m. I arrived at KLIA2 around 1.30 a.m. and Putrajaya circa 3.00 a.m. So, I already collected my Comprehensive Exam questions (will be writing about it later on!) at my supervisor’s office at 9 a.m. On whole, I am looking forward to have another vacation in Thailand. Khap Khun Krap.

Beautiful Patong Beach lookout Point. Goodbye, Phuket. Maybe I’ll be back!

An Eid reward for myself – a Tommy Hilfiger. To give my body that nice smell. Miaow. Haha!

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Malaysia, A New Chapter @ The Historical Malaysian 14th General Election (Episode 5) : The Unexpected Malay Tsunami – Mahathir Vs Najib!

The 13th Malaysian general election held in 2013 was dubbed as the “Chinese Tsunami” as it was reported that the the towns with predominant Chinese populations had voted for the Opposition. The then-Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak could not confine his frustration and blatantly “questioning the loyalty of the Malaysian Chinese” due to this avalanche of antagonistic support for Barisan Nasional.

I have predicted there would be Malay Tsunami prior to the 14th General Election. And I’ve written an “opinion letter” to the The Star and News Straits Times but of course they did not publish the letter; maybe because I was sounding quite amateurish and I don’t hold any Doctorate in my name to boast – and to add to the fact that I was writing not in favour of Barisan Nasional; also could be one the reasons. Sigh. Haha.

It was unexpected and nobody saw this coming. The 14th Malaysian general election witnessed drastic change in the pattern of the Malay voters. UMNO with its staunch Malay supporters has never been defeated due to its historical origin and the principle to uphold the Malay Supremacy.

But for the last 3 years, it was so apparent that UMNO under the reign of Datuk Seri Najib Razak was filled with discrepancies and abused by the people in the organization. Questionable amount of money siphoned into UMNO and the avid followers gained profits without contributing anything much to the society other than being the “thugs and servants” of the UMNO leaders. You could see those who were active in UMNO by “kissing the asses of the UMNO leaders” were boasting off their political influences and parading lavish lifestyles to the society. You didn’t have to be such a high flyer in the brain department – all you have to do was to be one of the UMNO leaders’ entourage members and “do what they want you to do”, you are meant to have a lavish lifestyle! And THAT really annoyed the plain Rakyat. We don’t hate UMNO but we hate the “langau” (termites/vermin) who have been abusing the power within, including their ass-kissing followers!

Said the very rude Nazri Aziz. Rakyat kept wondering why the then-Prime Minister Najib Razak never bothered to reprimand this kind of Minister. 

The Rakyat was suffocated. We didn’t know where to turn to. As for the Malays who were being kept bombarded with the sentiment of Malay Supremacy and how by not voting for UMNO, the privilege would be raped; voting for Opposition would mean that one was “jeopardizing the fates of the Malays”. But then, Tun Mahathir came along. Of course he was the ex-Prime Minister, famously known for his “My Way” autocratic, no-nonsense Machiavellian Mahathirism – but The Rakyat was seeking for a reliable political figure to thwart Najib Razak and Mahathir filled the gap. As for the Malays, they already know who is Mahathir. As the champion of Malay rights since the beginning of his premiership in 1981, Mahathir always prioritized the Malays without neglecting the rights of the other Malaysians as well. Given this commendable track record – and by the fact that Najib Razak had only added salts to the wound by :-

• removing Mahathir’s political posters;
• using the mainstream media to paint Mahathir as “power-hungry, senile man”;
• sacking all of Mahathir’s aides who have been serving him for 35 years;
• not saying anything to reprimand the younger Ministers who have been issuing RUDE statements (such as Nazri Aziz, Jamal Jamban, etc);

– all these only contributed to Najib’s loss and the increasing support for Mahathir.

The headline dated 5th April 2018. Najib should have acknowledged the Malay Tsunami instead of belittling the power of Rakyat. 

Now Rafizi Ramli claimed that Mahathir wasn’t the pulling factor for the votes favouring Pakatan Harapan against Barisan Nasional. Perhaps, the claim was right but specifically for the Malays, it was only because of Mahathir. Not because of Anwar Ibrahim’s Reformasi; not because of Rafizi Ramli’s multiple “scandals exposures” – but all because of Mahathir. If it was not for him, most of the Malays would still be voting for Barisan Nasional. And the truth bites. It is what it is. Therefore as an amateurish summary, I can vouch that the Malay tsunami happened due to two factors; the pulling factor was Mahathir, and the pushing factor was Najib. And Rafizi Ramli should be more careful with his words as the lethal words could backfire him, more than ever.

Malaysia, A New Chapter @ The Historical Malaysian 14th General Election (Episode 4) : Anwar Ibrahim, The Phoenix That Rises From The Ashes (Former Political Outcast, Now De Facto Leader).

The recent 14th general election held on the 9th May 2018 also witnessed another major deal. Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim who was convicted for alleged sodomy and the man behind the 1997’s Reformasi (Reformation) campaign due to his dismissal as Tun Mahathir’s Deputy Prime Minister – has been granted immediate and full pardon by The Agong. It was another unexpected news in Malaysian political arena.

Wan Azizah is seen as the epitome of a good Malay Muslim wife. Throughout the ordained acquittal of sodomy allegation, she stays beside her husband and even fights for what she thinks is right. She never gives up and remains stoic. 

Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim was said to be the rightful successor to Tun Mahathir. It was said that Tun Mahathir himself saw the potential in him that Mahathir personally groomed him as the successor – until the 1997 financial crisis hit our shore and the launching of Reformasi. It is not far-fetched to say that the Reformasi campaign managed to split the Malays into two camps – one camp was the pro-Government people and the other camp was the anti-Government (notoriously labeling Mahathir as “Mahafiraun”, etc). And I remember at this point of time that the then-opposition political parties such as PAS and DAP were beginning to widen their influences. 

Who would have thought that Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim will be granted Agong’s pardon? Malaysian political arena is indeed full of colours!

Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim is certainly the inspiration and idol for so many progressive Malay Muslims. From my own amateurish observation, most of my Muslim professional acquaintances really idolize him; for his Islamic-affiliated background (he was once involved with ABIM and all of his female family members don the Shariah-compliance attires) and also for his eloquence in public speaking. To many, he was certainly the best successor to Mahathir.

The controversial bruised eyes – it was said that the man who was responsible for this was the then Inspector General of Police, Abdul Rahim Noor.

As for now, his wife Dato’ Seri Wan Azizah Ismail is Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister. It is said that once Tun Mahathir completed his 2 years tenure, he will be “giving way” for Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim as the 8th Prime Minister. As the marhaen Plain Rakyat, one could not help but wonder if Anwar ever harbour ill will against Tun Mahathir for the 1998 fiasco? Will he seek subtle vengeance or all the hatchets to be buried for the sake of our nation? We will have to see what the future lies ahead. But of course the most important thing of all is to restore Malaysia’s glory and prosperity. Amin.

 

Anwar has long being touted as Mahathir’s most rightful successor – until the 1997-1998’s fiasco. Will they bury the hatchets for the sake of Malaysia? Amin.

Malaysia, A New Chapter @ The Historical Malaysian 14th General Election (Episode 3) : For The Love Of Hermès Birkin Bags @ Rosmah Mansor Is The Malaysian Imelda Marcos?

Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor, the wife of our 6th Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak has certainly garnered herself an infamous reputation as an “avid shopaholic”. Although prior to 14th General Election no one in the mainstream media dared to publicly declare this – but, thanks to the alternative media such as blogs and social media – but people have been talking about this for ages. The Hermes Birkin handbag was no exception. It was catapulted into spotlight circa 2-3 years if I am not mistaken; pictured on a supposed private jet and was viralled in the social media by the then-Opposition cybertroopers. Of course, it was then labelled as a “fake news” and government civilian like me would not dare to even share such news. So in the end, the news was sort of, faded away. Until this week.

The Malaysian policemen reportedly raided a private condominium belonged to Datuk Seri Najib Razak and seized “more than 284 boxes of luxury items, along with 72 bags of jewellery, cash of various denominations, watches and other valuables.” And of course, voila! These boxes contained the notoriously expensive designer bags namely the Hermes Birkin! This has certainly caused ruckus and to the extend of angering the Malaysians who are now facing  higher cost of living due to the introduction of GST (although GST boosts the nation economy on the bigger picture BUT thinking the perspective on a microscopic angle – who needs to shoulder the role as the paymaster? Not the then-Prime Minister, not the rich Community Leaders / Members of The Parliament – it’s all on the plain Rakyat!), budget-cutting in almost every department especially the very much-needed scholarships AND the most ironic thing of all was the salary INCREMENT for the Members of Parliament (no brainer, right??!). Sheesh!

Suddenly, Hermes Birkin has become a well-known designer bag among Malaysians, even among the Middle Class people. I guess it will now go down the historical road as a brand associated to Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor. (,”)

The Hermes Birkin bag is so expensive that the starting pricing of the bag is reported to be circa RM 1million. There are so many reasons as to why a Hermes Birkin bag is so expensive (you guys can check various fashionista’s blog; or investigative websites) – it is said that because of the rare materials (exotic hides) used to fashion the bag with the assorted diamonds adding up to the glamorous facade; it is also because the bags are hand-sewn and supposedly that the Hermes artisans would be trained 5 years down the road before he/she is given the opportunity to create own Hermes bag – and one would have to wait a long queue in order to purchase it unless if there is a “connection” involved. Geez. And we the Plain Malaysian Rakyat with potential to further studies abroad are being denied scholarships! Seriously?!

Apart from the Hermes Birkin bags scandal (which cemented as one of the most popular hashtags in Twitter recently), Rosmah’s image is also smeared by the allegations made by her daughter, Azreen and son-in-law, the celebrity Fazley Yaakob in Instagram. The duo claimed that Rosmah had been terrorizing their lives since the early stages of their marriage as Rosmah didn’t give any blessing to the union. There were also allegations involving witch doctors and money laundering-and-forced-to-be-cash-mules.

Fazley claimed that Rosmah’s expression in the picture was a clear conviction of the “behind-the-scene” emotional clash between Rosmah and the couple.

As at 20th May 2018, Rosmah has issued a statement through her lawyer M Puravelan and the firm Tetuan Valen & Oh, claiming that the government should be more professional and exempted from any biases. She also urged that extra precaution measures must be adhered in the investigation to avoid loopholes because it seemed that “sensitive information leaked to the social media reflect poor professionalism of the people who are conducting the investigation.”

Taken from Fazley’s Instagram.

So in the meantime, we can only wait for the upcoming revelation of the whole saga. Well, some of the international analysts are even making comparison between Rosmah and Imelda Marcos due to the lavish lifestyle. Now, what say you? I reserve my comment. (,”)

Malaysia, A New Chapter @ The Historical Malaysian 14th General Election (Episode 2) : The Return of Malaysian Jedi @ Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohammad As The 7th Prime Minister of Malaysia.

One thing that can be dubbed for the Malaysian political scene arena these days – it is so much better than the corny soap operas on TV. So much things happened and if you blink an eye, you are about to miss the wagon!

First and foremost, of course was the re-elected Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad as our 7th Prime Minister. Who would have thought that this beloved 4th Prime Minister would be sworn-in after 15 years abdicating the post in favour of the younger leaders? In 2003 Mahathir knew he had to leave the top post as soon as possible as his popularity declined after the Anwar Ibrahim incident. It wouldn’t be far-fetched to say that the friction between Malays was eminent when Anwar Ibrahim launched the “Reformasi” campaign against Mahathir and the latter was dubbed as dictator by Anwar Ibrahim’s camps (fondly known as The “Anwarinas”). So Mahathir made up his mind – it would be better for him to abdicate the post, leaving with honour rather than being “cast away with no dignity”.

 

Mahathir in the UMNO Assembly 2002 after announcing the shocking news that he would abdicate in 2003. According to my Supervisor Prof Muati, UMNO Assembly speeches texts were the only texts that Mahathir would pen himself every year – a testament of how Malay affairs are his deep interest. Wait, was that Azalina?? Well, well, well. Didn’t she recently bashed Mahathir prior to this 14th General Election? LOL!

Anwar Ibrahim’s 1998 infamous “Reformasi”. A campaign that managed to split Malay Muslims into two camps. As a son of an FRU policeman, I witnessed my father and neighbours in Penang were forced to undergo rigorous training in order to execute the assigned task – to disassemble the crowd. I remember that the little children in my neighborhood were asked to throw rocks and all sorts of things to the FRU troops – serving as simulation to face the real threat in KL. It was such a sad scene seeing the policemen being treated as such. And I remembered that an elderly relative accused my father for being “Malay traitor” just because he was working as an FRU policeman against this Reformasi – and this was lashed out during Aidilfitri 1998. I remember things vividly.

Political analysts saw this as the transition from Mahathirism into “Islamic Hadhari” (proposed by 5th Prime Minister Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi) and then the infamous “1 Malaysia” (coined by 6th Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak). Mahathir is never shy to express his opinions during the reigning of these two prime ministers. Tun Abdullah abdicated the post when Barisan Nasional witnessed major loss but thankfully was still able to secure enough seats to form Government whereas Datuk Seri Najib Razak was seen as somewhat a ‘saviour’ successor that would be able to ‘pick up the pieces’ weakened by the Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s mediocre leadership.

Unfortunately, when Najib started to introduce GST and the scandalous 1MDB – along with the infamous reputation of his wife, Datin Seri Rosmah (will write on this later on); the favouritism wavered. Mahathir intensified his defiance against Najib’s regime and the latter who initially tried to make peace with the former but proved to no avail, had decided to throw red paint back at Mahathir by illustrating him as the “traitor of the Malays”. The iconic KLCC image was taken out from TV3’s news slot (TV3 is known as an avid media supporter – to the extend of being EXTRA avid!) and Mahathir’s legacies (images, contributions, etc) were excluded in all of the government’s official occasions! And there was even a suggestion by a BN fanatic supporter that the KLCC to be bulldozed! The level of ignorance clouded by political preference, I say.

 

So, the rest was history. And no one sees this coming. After 60 years, an Opposition Coalition managed to topple the BN-ruled governance. The historical 9th of May 2018 will be marked as the Red-Letter Day – a symbol of People’s Power – finally the Rakyat stands together to combat the corrupted politicians. It was said that a total of 82.32% voters turned up that day to exercise their rights as Malaysians (and so did I via the Postal Vote as well as acting as the Voting Clerk!). After so much controversy ignited prior to the Election Day (being that Wednesday was chosen as the Election Day, forcing the then-Government to grant public holiday after pressured by the Malaysian netizens; Mahathir’s face poster was taken down by The Registry of Societies Malaysia, ROS; etc), the Opposition Coalition namely The Pakatan Harapan managed to secure 113 seats (121 seats as Part Warisan Sabah who managed to secure 8 seats in Sabah) against Barisan Nasional’s 79 seats. 

 

In 1981, Mahathir took the oath as our 4th Prime Minister.

And now in 2018, Mahathir took oath as the 7th Prime Minister of Malaysia.

Malaysians were waiting anxiously on the 10th May 2018 for the live telecast of Prime Minister Oath-Taking ceremony. First it was said that occasion would be held at 9.30 a.m. (I was still feeling drowsy and dizzy due to the commitment as the Voting Clerk on the previous day BUT I forced myself not to fall asleep! Haha!); then they said it would be held at 5.00 p.m.; and finally adjourned to 9.30 p.m. It was such a melancholic event, seeing the visibly tired 92 years old Mahathir bravely weathered the essential protocol. In addition it is also very inspiring to note that despite Malaysians were given 2 days of public holidays, Mahathir was not wasting anymore time to work; setting up committees to iron down ruffled matters. It is said that the given 4 days off (inclusive the weekend) were not due to being “jovial, merryweather matter” but in order to “freeze the outflow of the currency” as KLCI was closed – I am not sure whether this is true or not; friends who are more well-versed could rectify this fact for me.

So, at this juncture 10 days after the election, Mahathir has already enlisted “The Council of Elders” that would be shaping the skeleton of Government’s directions with prominent members such as Tun Daim Zainuddin. Tan Sri Zeti Akhtar Aziz, Tan Sri Hassan Merican, Tan Sri Robert Kuok and Dr Jomo Kwame Sundaram. He also announced the whole set of new ministers (initially it was said that Mahathir would also be the Minister of Education but later backed off out of respect to the Pakatan Harapan’s Pledge; I honestly disheartened by this. I had wished that as a teacher, I would have the opportunity to be directly under the governance of Mahathir. But, I am sure the newly-appointed Dr Maszlee Malik is the best choice as so far, I only read good reviews from friends who are familiar with his works). GST and the toll pricing would be reviewed later on. Honestly, I am inspired by Mahathir – at 92 years old he could resort living a simple life by taking vacations all over the world with his family – but he chose to serve the country until his last breath. You can’t help but adore this man who was branded as a Malay Ultra. As a commoner who did not have affluent upbringing like the previous Prime Minister, Mahathir understands the plights of the Middle Class and Lower Class Malaysians, especially the Malays.

The Council of Elders @ The Eminent Persons – established to shape the skeleton of our nation’s direction within these 100 days. Amin.

And now after 8 years serving as a Government civilian, I could proudly declare that “I Love My Prime Minister”! Haha!

God bless him. At 92 years old. Amin. You inspire me so much as a Middle Class Malay Muslim. Whenever I feel so tired travelling from my school serving as a teacher to UPM for my PhD affairs, I think of you and your age; and I am instantaneously almost inspired. Amin.

Malaysia, A New Chapter @ The Historical Malaysian 14th General Election (Episode 1) : Fulfilling Duties As A Responsible Malaysian – Postal Voting & The Voting Clerk!

It’s a New Malaysia, with a new dawn and a new dusk! It has been a whirlwind week – historical and tiring. And I have to say that I am EXTREMELY honoured to be given chance to be part of it. As y’all know, Malaysia is experiencing a new paradigm shift in its political scene – for the first time in the 60 years, the Opposition Coalition managed to win the General Election and is elected as the new administrator, toppling down the ruling party Barisan Nasional – which is unheard of prior to this! AND, no words could describe my feeling as I have been involved directly in this 14th General Election as the Voting Clerk and on top of that, I’ve fulfilled the obligation as a Malaysian by doing the postal vote, as well!

 

My first Postal Vote! It came to my school on 7th May 2018! I thought it would never came. I went to the Pejabat Tanah Hulu Selangor for the form – as per Ustaz Harris’s advice. And at (right), preparing the setting for our Voting Place. I was honoured to be part of this election by executing two tasks; – voting and as one of the Election crews.

On the 8th May 2018, the school was given a holiday as it would be used as the voting place. My team and I (Kak Pah, Huda, Kak Noraini and our leader, the bubbly Nazirah) gathered at my school SK Serendah at 5.00 p.m. for the first time to prepare the assigned voting place – Channel 2 which was to be catered for Malaysians aged 40s and 50s. It was quite a topsy-turvy moment for me as I was dealing with my own personal drama as well – my precious Myvi was forced to be left at the Sungai Choh PERODUA Service Center for a night due to the “motor fan” insufficiency which could lead to overheating state of the engine if I were to force-drive the car back to Batang Kali! Luckily my parents were in Batang Kali as they planned to fetch my sister back to Jitra, with them. So, anyway – everything was settled prior to the 14th General Election and that was the most important thing of all, no? Alhamdulillah.

Getting ready as the First Clerk! Kak Noraini and I. Little did I knew that it would be such a long and tiring day!

We hang the official posters; we erected the voting boxes; we labelled the stations; and we prepared the voting paraphernalia. Around 7.00 p.m., we called the day off.

The glass/plastic box for the ballots.

On the day itself dated 9th May 2018 (The 14th General Election), I woke up around 4.30 a.m as my team leader, Nazirah was to arrive at my place at 5.00 a.m. – we both needed to arrive at Kuala Kubu Bharu Hall, the Main Voting Terminal (the mecca for the voting ballots to be assembled for the whole Hulu Selangor!) to collect the ballots and the plastic/glass voting boxes at least BEFORE 6 a.m.! As we were both feeling sleepy, drowsy and hungry, we decided to have a quick breakfast at a Mamak’s stall at Kuala Kubu Bharu (a dosage of Nescafe helped to enlighten the mood!) and then hurried to the Hall. We thought we were the early birds but apparently, there were a lot of other EARLIER birds as a lot of vehicles thronged the compound of the Hall, immensely! As soon as Nazirah and I reached the door of the hall, the policeman asked the name of our school and assigned us to a policewoman to escort us way towards SK Serendah.

The infamous Voting Ink. Luckily I didn’t dip my finger this time as Postal Voters were not required to dip finger but to have a witness to verify our identity by counter-signing the forms.

So we reached Sk Serendah circa 6.10 a.m. It was pitch black and I could see several policemen as well as the feisty Kak Rosnormala who happened to be under Ustaz Harris’s team was already there. I performed Subuh prayer at PIBG Room (courtesy of Ustaz Harris) and helped Nazirah to arrange the setting of our voting place. Circa 7.00 a.m., the rest of our teammates emerged; we had simple breakfast together – courtesy of Kak Sarah and Kak Pah (the so-called breakfast prepared by the SPR (Suruhanjaya Pilihanraya Malaysia)/ EC (Election Commission) was no where to be seen!). We had to be swift as people were already queuing as early as 7.45 a.m. because as soon as the clock struck at 8.00 o’clock, the voting place should be opened for the public, by hook or crook.

These big bags were the ones that Nazirah, my Team Leader and I had been carrying back and forth from SK Serendah to the Kuala Kubu Bharu Hall.

As the First Voting Clerk, my task was the first in line among of all the 4 clerks. Hence, according to the Standard of Procedure (SOP) briefed to us, I must :-

• Asked for Identification Card (IC);
• Checked for the verification of the number with the given record by SPRM/GC;
• To look upon the face of the voter whether the face printed on the IC resembled the real face of the voter, or not;
• To check the fingers of the voter, to ensure that he/she did not vote more than once;
• To YELL OUT LOUD the details of the voters as per the chronology so that the political agents could hear them loud and clear :- The NUMBER of the page where the name of the voter was recorded; the BILANGAN (turn); The 12 DIGITS of Malaysian IC numbers; and the FULL NAME of the voter.

 

Selfie before 8.00 a.m. Before the eyes became tired and the face lost its glow. Hahahaha!

Seemed simple but try doing it for 4 and half consecutive hours, from 8.00 a.m. until 12.30 p.m! Now THAT WAS A HEADACHE and sore to the throat! And I almost went “black-out” as I was feeling dizzy while trying to enumerate the numbers – didn’t even have time to have pause as people were thronging non-stop, endlessly!! And I was a bit pissed off with the political agents – for the record, my voice is considered as “highly-audible” in my school, without a microphone and everyone in the Channel 2 Voting Place could hear my voice CLEARLY – and yet, some of the political agents were not paying attention when I  read the details, once or twice; forcing me to REPEAT, again!!! And obviously, I wasn’t happy with it, so I was showing my protest by increasing the volume of my voice! Haha! And that got me backfired as my voice gradually turned coarse and croaky – until now! Well, the price of sacrifice to the nation, no? Hehe.

The data book where I was supposed to call the details for each voters. Out of the registered 712, 600++ voters turned up; leaving merely 50++ people as absentees! So you could imagine the number of voters! Kudos Malaysians! Although I was tired, I was happy with the turnout.

At this juncture, I couldn’t take it anymore! Feeling tired and worn off – but of course, the flow of the people thronging in was getting heavier around noon. Thus, around 12.30 p.m., I changed role with my other teammate, Kak Noraini who happened to be the Second Clerk, in charge of ensuring voters to dip in their fingers. With that simple task, I slowly regained my strength, and took back the task around 2.30-3.30 p.m.; and then another round of hiatus; changing role with Huda and Kak Pah – before resuming the post circa 4.00-5.00 p.m.

Kak Pah posing with the glass box prior to 8.00 o’clock. She was my PIBG Treasurer mentor and an accounting graduate. So, she is a go-to person when it comes about counting and enumerating notes and ledgers. And I had great chemistry working with her. Thanks for all the knowledge sharing, Kak Pah!

At 5.00 p.m., the Voting Place was officially close after operating for 10 hours consecutively. BUT, my work was far from done. We took a rest for half an hour and started the counting process at 5.30 p.m. Since there were two glass boxes representing the State and Parliamentary Seats, the four of us were segregated into two; Kak Pah and I handled the State Seat whereas Huda and Kak Noraini handled the Parliamentary Seat.

Some of the funny images shared in my WhatsApps groups during the period of 14th General Election! LOL!

First, we poured down the whole 600++ ballots into two containers in front of all the political parties’ agents. Then, we assembled the ballots into 10 ballots for each pile so that it would be easier for us to get the number of the ballots right and to tally with the records jotted by own Team Leader and all the political agents. Next, we had to segregate the 600++ ballots according to political votes – Barisan Nasional, PAS, PKR and Bebas. As we opened the result, we had to demonstrate that in front of all the agents to get their agreements and also consensus whether the votes were rejected or ambiguous. After that, we had to recount each of the votes, now as per to each of the competing political parties. Now, one political party agent disagreed with our enumeration as he claimed that it did not tally with his. So Kak Pah and I had to spent another 15 minutes enumerating the ONE VOTE GONE MISSING. Alhamdulillah, the problem resolved. This whole tiring process took around 2 hours to complete from 5.30 p.m. till 7.30 p.m. and the four of us operated these by STANDING THE WHOLE TIME; while the political agents remained seated (Sheesh!) in front of us. Really, it was so freaking tiring!

Flags of political parties.

Now, at 8.00 p.m., my team had already completed the whole process. Alhamdulillah, the political agents in our Voting Place were also very cooperative and helped us despite the dramatic and unexpected losses. Kak Pah, Huda and Kak Noraini went back but I had to escort my Team Leader back to Kuala Kubu Bharu Hall (as the First Clerk) along with the assigned policewoman. We left SK Serendah as at 9.00 p.m. as the policemen wanted every team to be escorted in one whole big convoy (perhaps due to security reason!). We arrived at the Kuala Kubu Bharu Hall around 35 minutes in the pitch dark night (well, it is Hulu Selangor, what do you expect??!) and the compound was congested! So, Nazirah and I took the bags with the ballots into the hall and gave them to the crews in charge. As the Team Leader, Nazirah had to settle the black-and-white errands on the stage along with the other leaders, so I’ve to wait for her for about another 30 minutes!

Azwan Ali a.k.a. Diva AA. Wasn’t he a great sport and a comical relief for all of us? Thumbs up for his flamboyance and he even nailed 90 votes! Hahahahaa!

By that time, I was already feeling drowsy and nauseated – probably because I only ate the “beehoon” at 3.30 p.m. which was catered for our breakfast; I couldn’t find the supposedly meal sponsored by the SPR. Sigh. Anyway, we went out from Kuala Kubu Bharu Hall circa 10.35 p.m. and arrived at Batang Kali around 11.10 p.m. and it was raining heavily. My head throbbed and I didn’t care about the whole political hullabaloos in social media/WhatsApps – I simply went to bed and slept.

Malaysians are really creative! The combination of political flags made into a gown. Wow!

Of course the next morning on 10th May 2018, I woke up at 6.00 a.m. because I wasn’t sure who won the election and the agreeable plan prior to the election was that school would resume its normal operation on the 10th of May. As I skimmed and scanned, I read the circular initiated by my Headmaster claiming that Thursday and Friday (10th and 11th May 2018) were gazetted as Public Holidays! So, Alhamdulillah!! BUT, I have to say that although I was still feeling the dizziness due to the tiring Election Day, I couldn’t resume my sleep as I was excited to follow the whole political scenes – a historical one, indeed!

The famous image circulated on Datuk Seri Najib and Datin Seri Rosmah. Now, is Datin Seri Rosmah our very own Malaysian Imelda Marcos? I will write my opinion on this in the upcoming blog entry!

Public holidays!

Now, who would have thought? I myself didn’t see this coming although I played my part in contributing to this, I admit! I will write on the Kedahans’ political avalanche sentiment in the upcoming entry. Congrats!

Like many other Malaysians, I was anticipating the appointment of our beloved Che’ Det, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad as our 7th Prime Minister at 9.30 a.m. but alas, it was adjourned to 9.30 p.m. due to many inevitable reasons. I have to say that I am honoured to be part of this historical election. I would comment more on this election and my personal opinion in the upcoming entry. But, I am glad I did my part as a responsible Malaysian. Who would have thought that I would grow as a sensible Malaysian adult – when I was this reckless and “I-despise-politics-because-it-is-dirty” teenager 10 years ago (yes, I didn’t vote in 2008 when I was working in the bank and I remembered that Abang Ali, our AFFIN Islamic clerk/bouncer was quite disappointed with me); and now I was one of the Election Commission’s clerks??! Life is full of experiences that are meant to make us wiser, no?

Love you. And I envy when people in Facebook keeps updating their personal selfies with you and I’ve got none. Maybe I won’t be meeting you as you are now 92 years old. But always know that you are in my heart. I’ve always been Mahathir’s man all these while – as so many Kedahans/ Northerners. Only we didn’t speak that out loud due to bureaucracies and red tapes. I love you, Che’ Det. You inspire the New Malay spirit in me. One of the reasons why I am pursuing my PhD now. 

Kudos to Malaysians. We dare to face the new music, exercising the true meaning of democracy, rising up to topple nepotism and kleptocracy (well, that is hard but at least not the ones who commit that in the large scales and burdened that onto the our shoulders, no?) and make our voice heard, the voice of the Rakyat. God bless, Malaysia!

An experience to remember for the lifetime. I was one of the election clerks in the 14th General Election. The historical, unexpected “Mother of All Election”!

My 2nd Research Committee Members’ Meeting : The PhD Research Diverged – Rhetorical Criticism @ Focus Group Discussion Approach? (Goodbye Angelina Jolie, Hello Dr. Mahathir?)

After so many futile attempts since last year’s December, I finally managed to conduct the 2nd PhD Committee Members Meeting on 29th March 2018. But minus one member which was Dr. Moniza Waheed as she is currently attached outside of the university with scholarship, abroad! So, I had the meeting with my Chairperson, Prof. Dr. Abdul Muati and Dr. Hamisah at the faculty’s Bilik Kesuma. Thank you so much to the Supervisor’s Personal Assistant, Iecha for helping me so much. God bless her; what a kind and helping soul, she is!

Prof Muati & Dr. Hamisah – my PhD Committee Members. Dr. Moniza is outside of radar. Hehe.

Based on the discussion, my committee members were not happy with the direction of my research. It seemed that I am still having vague idea on how Neo-Aristotelian analysis should have been conducted. My preliminary analysis was not in-depth and they were afraid if I were to continue doing this, I would not be able to defend my thesis in viva because what I’ve given them were simply superficial. 

Dr. Hamisah said that Neo-Aristotelian is an old philosophical communication method and to comprehend it is to read more about it. To her it seems that my analysis did not reflect what an aspiring rhetorician should have been. Prof Muati concurred with her as my analysis was merely on the coding layers, with no in-depth proposal. Hence, Dr. Hamisah proposed that instead of focusing on rhetorical criticism of speeches, why don’t I gauge the feedback from audience :-

• survey distribution?
• quasi-experimental?

I was a bit on daze as these are quantitative approaches whereas rhetoric is meant for qualitative, no? But I guess she had points on the fact that I should have shift my artifact; instead of the speeches, I should get from the perspective of the outsiders, the audience. 

 

Prof Muati concurred with that by proposing me to conduct :-

• Focus Group Discussion (FGD)

; and I could refer to Madiha Hashmi’s thesis (who happened to be one of his students and I’ve got the chance to interact with her when I was pursuing my Master’s Degree) as she was also doing Rhetoric but with FGD as her artifact (subject).

  

The two journals spun from Madiha’s thesis. She is amazing, no doubt!

In addition, Dr. Hamisah expressed that choosing Angelina Jolie may be risky and wasted – the chance for the thesis to be commercialized here locally is thin; I would mostly keep the thesis for my own personal archive. On contrary if I were to choose a local orator, I would probably stand the chance to commercialize the findings; let’s say if I were to study Dr. Mahathir’s speeches. The current scenario is very interesting in terms of academic perspective. Years ago, perhaps people were quite hesitant to express their honest perception of Dr. Mahathir’s rhetoric as he was the reigning Prime Minister. By studying his speeches now that he is in the opposition side, it is expected that the findings would be richer and varicoloured – and the prospect of commercializing it is high! Prof Muati was teasing me saying that maybe I chose Angelina Jolie because I was a hardcore fan but he agreed with Dr. Hamisah on the practicality. Besides, a lot of people have been studying Dr. Mahathir (including Prof. Muati’s!) and all I could do was just to get these research and flipped to the “Future Recommendations” to see the gap of knowledge and emulate that to my new research! Moreover, I am still going to study Rhetoric but from other subject perspective!

Your PhD research is like your baby. You nurture it deep in you. So you get sentimental with it. It’s like you are pregnant with it. When anyone asks about the progress or say something bad, you are quite taken aback and sensitive. That is normal for PhD candidate. 

I have to confess that I do have that sentimental element. I have been devoting myself with Angelina Jolie for the past 3 semesters (9 months) and out of a sudden, I was told that this isn’t relevant and would be hard to defend in viva. Furthermore, I already went through my Proposal Defence (REFER to https://undomiel84.wordpress.com/2017/12/16/my-ph-d-proposal-defense-an-unarmed-academic-duelling-battlefield-the-self-discovery-of-my-own-strength-the-power-of-mothers-doa/) last December 2017! Nevertheless, Prof Muati and Dr. Hamisah are definitely not forcing me. They are simply assisting me, forecasting to whatever difficulties I may encounter during the final phase of my research if I were still adamant on doing Angelina Jolie. They asked me to go back and ponder and present them new manuscript/analysis/proposal in the next two weeks time.

So for the past two weeks, I have been referring to theses suggested by Prof Muati. I’ve read Madiha’s thesis “Discerning Goodness of Leaders Using Thin-Sliced Judgement of Nonverbal Cues Among Lay Malaysian and Chinese Perceivers” and the two journals she spun from thesis :-

1. Interpreting Cues of Goodness: Thin Sliced Judgment of Malaysians and Chinese towards Political Leaders;
2. Exploring Perceptions of Goodness Among the Malaysian and Chinese University Students: A Focus Group Study.

I have also reread the thesis by Khor Mi Nee “A Rhetorical Analysis of Speeches Delivered by Malaysian Chief Executive Officers According to Economic Climate (1998-2008). From Madiha’s thesis, I understand the perspective of which my Committee Members would like me to see. By having that Focus Group Discussion as a sturdy and stable methodology, it would serve as a great scaffolding for my research as so far it seems that my rhetorical criticism is not yet, ‘in-depth”. From Khor Mi Nee’s thesis, I now get the picture of the “in-depth” analysis I am supposed to do – that is to peruse  line-by-line of the speeches. 

One of the journals spun from Khor Mi Nee’s thesis.

As conclusion, I feel like I still want to give my Angelina Jolie’s rhetorical criticism another try and at the same time, try to see Dr. Mahathir’s possible rhetorical angle with Focus Group Discussion incorporated in it. So at this juncture, I hope I can hand two manuscripts to my Committee Members, hopefully by this week :-

• Improvised rhetorical criticism analysis of Angelina Jolie
• Focus Group Discussion approach to study rhetorical elements of Dr. Mahathir’s speeches.

 

Angelina Jolie or Dr. Mahathir? You know, I am equally fascinated with Dr. Mahathir as I am to Angelina Jolie. In fact, I have written a few blog entries on him, Che’ Det so the idea of being gravitated towards him is no question because I am his ardent fan. BUT, I still harbour that sentimental value towards Angelina Jolie’s research. But maybe like what my friend Sha commented in my Facebook – I can always “revisit” Angelina Jolie once I’ve got my PhD, no? For the time being, focus on what’s practical and necessary! So far, Che’ Det predominates the scene. but we’ll see on the outcomes of my manuscripts.

Insya ALLAH. Amin. Hopefully this 4th semester goes well.