Ruling the Rulers

In the first of a two-part series, Wide Angle columnist Huzir Sulaiman looks at the challenges faced by our Sultans throughout history.

IN 1779, the Dutch Governor of Malacca commissioned a study of Malay court ceremonies. The scribes took as their source a learned mosque official named Abdulmuhit who knew of the traditional ways of the Malacca Sultanate two centuries past. The resulting manuscript, the Adat Raja-Raja Melayu, mentions the ritualised insolence of the Prime Minister towards the Sultan.
According to the commentary of Prof Panuti Hudjiman of the University of Indonesia, when the Sultan summons the Bendahara, or royal Prime Minister, to attend a betrothal ceremony, “the Bendahara has a peculiar way of responding to this royal summons. When the messenger approaches him for the first time, he replies, ‘Datanglah kita mengadap’ (We will come).
“Instead of going straight away to the palace, the Bendahara takes a bath. Again a messenger is sent, only to be told by the Bendahara to return to the palace, as the Bendahara is coming. The Bendahara lets people wait for him: he gets dressed, and waits for a third summons before he obeys.?
“This is to show his position in relation to the king: the Bendahara is chief advisor to the king and is regarded as the power behind the throne. The use of the pluralis majestatis “kita” (the royal “we”) must be an assertion of superiority or arrogance.”
This is not just an isolated case being reported; the Bendahara repeats this ritualised show of arrogance when a new Sultan is crowned and the Bendahara is called back to serve, refusing to approach until the third summons.
We can see from the Adat Raja-Raja Melayu that the tensions between the Malay ruler and his powerful ministers were already encoded in the culture of Malay kingship at the time of its early flowering in the Malacca Sultanate – and I would argue that we are seeing echoes of it today in the recent standoff between Seri Paduka Baginda Yang di-Pertuan Agong, who is also Sultan of Terengganu, and the Prime Minister.
It’s tempting to interpret the degree of interest shown by Their Highnesses the Sultans in the recent selection of Mentris Besar as a sudden flowering of royal activism, to be viewed with either glee or concern, depending on your attitude towards the Federal Government.
Seen from a historical perspective, however, this supposedly new royal intervention in the political arena is just the latest recurrence of the natural and understandable desire of the Malay ruler to actually do a bit of ruling once in a while – a desire that in the last 100 years has been continually constrained by the demands of British imperialists and Malay nationalists alike.
We should not be surprised that the Malay Rulers are making noise now; rather, we should be shocked that they have been quiet for so long. Much as they once had to deal with a ritually rude Bendahara, Their Highnesses have been obliged to accept as graciously as possible the interference of others.
In the colonial period, in the years before World War II, the Unfederated Malay States of Kedah, Perlis, Kelantan, Terengganu, and Johor had British Advisors who in the course of their “advising” attempted with varying degrees of success to govern indirectly.
From 1896, the Federated Malay States of Perak, Selangor, Negri Sembilan, and Pahang had British Residents imposed on them by treaty, and who governed quite directly, making proclamations and decrees that began with the famously offensive formula “The British Resident is pleased to?”.
The Japanese Occupation of Malaya saw some Sultans deposed by the new invaders, and others intimidated into cooperation. After the Japanese surrender, the British Military Administration presented itself to the Malay Rulers as the sole authority capable of recognising them as legitimate. If the Rulers were deemed to have collaborated with the Japanese or, more crucially, if they were not prepared to sign a new set of treaties turning over all their authority to Britain, they would be removed.
Brigadier H.C. Willan’s report on the Sultans on Oct 7, 1945, is a chilling example of the cynical exercise of power:
“In my view it would be wise to approach the Sultan of Johore first with regard to the negotiations for the new treaties. I think in his present state of mind he will sign. He is a realist and is fully aware that he is dependent on H.M.G.’s support ?
“(The Sultan of Selangor) is a pleasant person with not a very strong character and at present is so overjoyed at the return of the British and re-recognition of himself as Sultan, that in my view, he will sign the new treaty ?’’
“In my view the Yam Tuan of Negri Sembilan should be approached next. In his present state of mind he is somewhat depressed and appears to me to be perplexed as to how his State can recover itself and would welcome directions rather than advice?.”
In the end, on pain of being deposed in favour of someone more accommodating, all nine Malay Rulers signed the MacMichael treaties, giving up virtually all their sovereign powers, except those relating to religion and Malay culture.
This first step towards Britain’s planned Malayan Union angered the burgeoning Malay nationalist movement, but scholars have pointed out that it was not so much the curtailment of the Malay Rulers’ powers that affronted Datuk Onn Jaafar and his comrades, as it was the British proposal that citizenship be granted to non-Malays born in Malaya.
It was the perceived threat to the powers of the Malay community, as opposed to the Malay Rulers, that truly galvanised the nationalists. (Indeed, Onn was arguably ambivalent about the Sultans, having in his younger days written newspaper articles critical of the Sultan of Johor.)
On March 30, 1946, the Malay Rulers were gathered in Kuala Lumpur to attend the installation of Sir Edward Gent, the new Governor. As Harry Miller tells it in his biography of Tunku Abdul Rahman, “That afternoon Onn personally conveyed to the Rulers a message from the United Malays National Organisation that it was the ‘desire of their people’ that they should not attend the Governor’s installation, and, indeed, they should ‘desist from taking part in any function connected with the Union.’
“The message went further: If the Rulers insisted on meeting the Governor they would be disowned by the people, who were determined to boycott the Malayan Union.”
Thousands of demonstrators gathered in front of the hotel where the Sultans were staying, shouting “Daulat Tuanku!” and “Hidup Melayu!”
As Miller puts it, “The Rulers walked down to the great crowded porch to receive the obeisance of the demonstrators. This was also a touching scene, although the more unyielding of the leaders in the U.M.N.O. said later, ‘We brought them down those stairs to teach them a lesson. They were lucky we did not destroy them completely for having signed the MacMichael treaties. As it was, we told them we would support them.’”
Caught between the “rock” of the British colonial authorities and the “hard place” of the angry Malay nationalists, the Malay Rulers complained to London that they were coerced into signing the MacMichael treaties, boycotted the Governor’s installation, and maintained a distance from him in public (while maintaining warm and cordial relations in private) until the British realised that the groundswell of opposition to the Malayan Union was too strong, and backed down.
The Federation of Malaya, the compromise constitutional scheme reached in 1948, saw Britain appointing Advisors who were truly advisory, with the states’ executive powers passing to the Mentris Besar.
Nonetheless, it appears clear that the Malay Rulers still feared that they would be emasculated by Umno, and Onn could not entirely reassure them.
As Sir Malcolm MacDonald wrote to Sir Henry Gurney on Dec 15, 1949, “In my talk with him on December 12th, Dato’ Onn told me of his recent talk with the Mentris Besar ? They asked him whether he proposed that the Rulers should be ousted in the near future. He replied emphatically in the negative. He said that probably in due course at least many of the Rulers would be abolished, because the Malays themselves would wish this. But that would not happen for a long time and depended on Malay public opinion.” (Emphasis mine.)
For Malaysians of my generation, who have grown up conditioned by the Sedition Act to not entertain the slightest republican thought, it is shocking to hear the founder of Umno coolly tell the Sultans’ ministers that he supposed Malays would one day wish for the abolition of their Rulers.
Six decades later, that day is still unthinkable.
But from the pre-Merdeka negotiations of the Alliance through to the events of the 1981-2003 era – when the metaphorical Bendahara was not so much ignoring the Sultan’s summons as trying to do the summoning – the Malay Rulers have had to stoically endure many more attempts to curtail their powers. I will examine this in my next column.
> Huzir Sulaiman writes for theatre, film, television, and newspapers.

Watch those eyes

FACE FORTUNEBy MADAM ZORRA

Look at the eyes if you want to know what is in the heart, and not just the expression within them, but also how the eyes are positioned.
This comes in handy when you are dealing with a person you have just met or who is difficult.
Many people who have listened to Simon Cowell’s criticism of contestants on American Idol dislike him immensely and think him arrogant and cruel, but if you look at his eyes you will see how kind and soft he really is. It is not the shape of his eyes (as the shape speaks of a man who has a sharp mind and is very analytical), but the way they droop downwards.
This indicates a sensitive and gentle soul who feels deeply for people and wants to assist them. Perhaps you’ve noticed how he always apologises for his criticism, but as he is good at his job, he tells the truth unwaveringly for the sake of improving the contestants and not to humiliate them.
People with such eyes are easily despondent and can slip into melancholy. It takes little to get them in this mood – just remembering a past sorrow or disappointment can trigger it. They must not wallow in self-pity or sadness.
This negative trait gets worse with age.
David Archuleta, the young, soulful boy who likely will be the next American Idol, has such eyes too. He performs deep, meaningful songs best and has been accused of choosing songs that verge on the dark.
On the other end of the spectrum, people who have eyes that rise towards the temple are tough, selfish, calculating and even vicious.
They can make cold decisions and have very little care for the welfare of others. The higher the upward slant of the eyes, the worse is the trait. Such eyes resemble those of cats and really need no explanation.
Another thing to note about the eyes is how close or how far they are from each other.
The ideal distance is an eye’s breath from each other. When they are close together, it indicates that the person may have tunnel vision or is a bigot. They find it difficult to see the point of view of others. They are self-centred and also very nervous, impatient and highly-strung but they can also be very focused in their attention.
Easily provoked, such people have little thought for others and can be very self-conscious. To say they are mean would not be far from wrong as their first thought is always about themselves.
If you are a girl and have such eyes, it is best to wear make-up at the outer ends of your eyes, drawing the shading towards the temples so as to make them seem further apart. If you are a man, make sure your eyebrows don’t crowd close together above the bridge of your nose.
The opposite of this type of eyes are eyes that are wide-set – more than one eye’s breadth apart. People with such eyes have an open view of things. They are more laid-back and relaxed, with a “let it be” attitude.
They can be careless about many things, especially their safety, reputation and their belongings. They tend to get into trouble especially when they are young because for them nothing is urgent or dangerous.
The most worrying thing about people with such eyes is that their careless disregard for their safety can result in an untimely death. They can also be accused of being reckless about their future.
A person with such eyes is Rihanna. Not only has she got wide set eyes but they are also catlike. Such a combination suggests arrogance and a “could not care less” attitude, which is very provocative.
Another characteristic to note is when the eyes are set at very different levels. Be careful with such people as they can be explosive and very erratic. Many criminal have eyes like this but not everyone with such eyes are criminals!
The ideal eyes are those that are level, with a slight lift at the end. They should be an eye’s breadth apart and shaped either like an almond or a leaf, not too pointed at the point close to the nose. When the inner eye ends with a sharp point, then it is a sign that the person is a spendthrift who gives no thought of saving for a rainy day.
Our eyes, the central focal point of our face, are an important feature when analysing a face for signs of sincerity, compassion, and depth of emotions. Though the shape and position are important, perhaps the best judge of the integrity of a person is whether the person has a calm, direct gaze.
Trust not the shifty-eyed!

Principal decision

Some HMs tend to repeatedly select the same teachers for courses.
TEACHER TALK
BY MALLIKA VASUGI

DILLA returned from her one-week kursus (course) in a rather sulky mood. It was totally out of character for her because if ever there was a teacher in school who actually looked forward to attending week-long in-service courses, Dilla was the one.
Another colleague, Ling, who had done more than her fair share of taking over Dilla’s classes when she was away, once remarked a little wryly that in her opinion, Dilla “embraced the thought of going for week-long professional development courses with the passion people usually reserved for affairs.”
Once Dilla had even volunteered to attend a course for physical and health education teachers, although it was of no interest to her.
The only association she ever had with the subject was doing one relief period for a teacher who was on sick leave.
She was positively glowing when she came back. Five glorious days away from school in a wonderfully luxurious beach resort. Six meals a day in the company of rugby-football coach type hunks.
It makes you feel that this teaching life isn’t half bad after all.”
“So what happened this time?” I asked as she listlessly stirred her coffee and took an unenthusiastic bite out of the limp leftover-from-the morning-recess curry puff.
Dilla gave me an ugly look, frowned at the ustaz who had just sat down at the table next to us and shouted a dire warning to the two students who were still hanging around the school canteen.
“I will never attend another course in my life,” she said, finally setting her teacup down noisily and startling the elderly ustaz who hastily gulped down the rest of his coffee and asked for the bill.
“Never! It was the most boring course I had ever attended in all my 20 teaching years. It was one boring ceramah after another. From dawn to sundown.
“People with straight serious faces intently taking notes – and revising them after tea.”
“Look,” she said with an earnest expression on her face, “can you honestly see me in that kind of crowd?”
“Well it was for your own professional development,” I said “and you did volunteer to go, and if I remember correctly, you volunteered quite heartily.”
Dilla frowned again. “Professional development? The only kind of development I remember getting is here.” She pointed to her waist and sighed. “Two whole kilos - the food was the most exciting thing I remembered.
“The next time,” she said, “you hear me volunteering to replace any teacher who has her leg in a plaster cast or is on maternity leave, give me a sharp thwack on the head with your record book or jab me with the edge of your ghastly wooden giant compasses,” she said.
Another friend, Annette, whom I met up with recently, sighed for exactly the opposite reason.
“I don’t know what it is with my principal,” she said. “Each time there is a letter for me from the district or state education department requiring me to attend meetings or training courses for my professional development, it never gets to me.
“When I ask where the letter went, the office staff tell me that it is with the principal, who has decided that my services are ‘needed’ more in the school than elsewhere, and therefore I am not allowed to leave school.
“Can she actually do that?” I asked. “Wouldn’t it be a breach of some kind of official protocol? She could get into trouble, couldn’t she, by keeping the official letters from you? How would she explain that to the people higher up?”
“Well,” said Annette, “she has her ways. When she knows that there is no option but to allow me to go for these meetings, she shows her displeasure and never fails to make innuendos about what could happen to my laporan tahunan prestasi (annual appraisal) marks.
“Sometimes, some principals forget that the teaching staff under them is not their personal property,” remark-ed Mr Lim, a senior Maths teacher.
They also forget that just like them, teachers also have to be given opportunities for personal professional development, even if it means that they have to leave the school for certain periods of time.
A teacher, who is never given the chance to venture out once in a while to learn new things, interact professionally with those from different schools or even participate in co-curricular activities will eventually dry up, get stuck in a rut and lose interest in teaching.”
“I have this theory,” Lim continued. “Some school principals are reluctant to allow their teachers to leave school because they are afraid their teachers will eventually become ‘better’ than them. ‘Better’ as in more knowledgeable and well-informed.”
Principals probably feel that when their teachers mature professionally they could become a threat to their own positions as chief administrator in the school. It could be some form of insecurity. Or, on the other hand, it could be a genuine case of putting students’ interest first.
I guess only the principals themselves can answer that. And I suppose we cannot ignore the fact that there are teachers who use every conceivable excuse just to get away from school and avoid teaching duties.
Apart from having a short “in-service holiday”, they come back without having gained or contributed much to anyone else or the teaching service. What is worse, all the time they were away, some other teacher had to take on extra duties and fill in for them.
I knew the commitment Annette had towards her job, and I truly sympathised with her for having such a hard time with her principal.
I also reflected on how blessed I have been all my years as a teacher for having principals who had been really supportive each time I had to leave the school to attend or facilitate courses or participate in teachers’ events.
I was thinking about how difficult it would be to work under someone like Annette’s principal when Dilla rushed up to me waving a letter in her hand with the familiar Jabatan Pelajaran (Education Department) letterhead.
“Course-lah,” she said waving the letter under my nose. “Next week. Four days. Four-star hotel. Smack in the heart of the city. They say batik is really cheap there. Imagine, now I have to repack the clothes I unpacked. Or maybe I should just get new clothes. What do you think?”

No legal action against mother of 'home alone' boy

By ANDREA FILMER

PENANG: The state will not push for negligence charges to be filed against the mother of Yeap Jia Hui, the 10-year-old boy who was left home alone for almost two years in an apartment in Batu Ferringhi here.
"Everyone deserves a second chance and Yeap Kim Hong (Jia Hui's mother) seems regretful of her actions.
"The state hopes to play the role of bringing people together rather than keeping them apart," said state Health, Welfare and Caring Society Committee chairman Phee Boon Poh.
Phee said that after persuasion from state Welfare Department officers and other family members, Kim Hong had agreed to allow Jia Hui stay with his grandaunt in Kuantan, Pahang.
Jia Hui will reside in his grandmother's apartment, located a few floors below the unkempt apartment in which he was left alone, for the next month until legal issues are ironed out.
A Welfare Department officer said that this was a temporary measure as the mother still had rights over the child.
"In this sort of case, the grandaunt will be appointed temporary guardian as the mother is currently unfit to take care of the child," the officer said. The Welfare Department is in the process of accessing whether the grandaunt, 59-year-old housewife Yeap Choon Lean, and her retired husband would be able to provide a suitable environment for Jia Hui. Phee also said that the department would sort out a visitation schedule with Kim Hock to enable her to see her son.
"Parents and children should be together and we want to keep the bond of love between the mother and child," he said.
Until last weekend, Jia Hui was fending for himself with the RM30 a month that his mother deposited into a bank account for which she had given him an ATM card.
It was reported that his mother, who was working in Kuala Lumpur, visited him once every two to three weeks.

No longer a shoo-in for Khairy

By JOCELINE TAN
The political tsunami has levelled the playing field and it is going to be a wide-open race for the Umno Youth leadership.
JUST three weeks ago, they were waging a fierce election campaign and raining accusations on each other.
But on Thursday, all that seemed far behind them when the newly-elected and re-elected MPs turned up in Parliament for a briefing.
And this was perhaps best illustrated in a photograph of PKR’s Member of Parliament for Batu

Tian Chua and Barisan Nasional’s MP for Rembau Khairy Jamaluddin walking together in the Parliament lobby, wearing their best smiles.

Khairy has been keeping a rather a low profile since the elections. He is aware of the mood out there about him and the pressure is not about to end just yet.
As such, the man who many assumed would inherit the Umno Youth chief’s chair is now watching the action from the sidelines.
It is still a good eight months before the Umno elections but the race for the Umno Youth leadership has effectively begun.
Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein flagged off the race when he announced that he would not be defending his leadership of the wing.
Civil exchange: Tian Chua and Khairy sharing a light moment as they arrive at Parliament House for briefing.
It was hardly breaking news because Hishammuddin was known to be eyeing one of the three vice-president’s posts since last year. Some even thought the announcement was Hishammuddin’s way of diverting the attention of Umno Youth members from the party’s post-election woes.
Whatever his reason, the contest for Umno Youth chief is going to be a wide open race.
To date, Datuk Mukhriz Mahathir and Datuk Seri Dr Khir Toyo have confirmed they will be vying for the post.
“The political tsunami of March 8 has levelled the playing field. The fear factor is not there anymore and people are not afraid to challenge the status quo,” said an Umno Youth politician.
To put it bluntly, few had been prepared to take on Khairy who was then the leading contender.
But Khairy has suffered considerable political damage from the elections and few see him going for the post for a number of reasons.
First, his candidacy will cause resentment that may spill over to the Prime Minister and he would not want that. Second, public opinion is against him and Umno may have a harder time winning back the non-Malay middle ground with him as the next Youth leader.
Besides, at only 33, he can afford to hold on to his No 2 post in the wing.
But, as an Umno strategist pointed out, three people had a part in the perfect storm during the elections.

One was, no doubt, Khairy and his controversial statements. The other was Hishammuddin who wielded the keris. Then there was Dr Khir whose state officers demolished the Hindu temple.
“Together, they created the perfect storm,” said the Umno strategist.
Even Mukhriz will have to prove that he can do more for the Youth wing than defend his father’s causes.

But these are early days yet. The nominations for posts, including those for the Youth wing, will take place when division meetings start in October and that’s when the games really begin.
More candidates are likely to emerge in the meantime. The possibilities are lawyer Razali Ibrahim and chartered accountant Datuk Norza Zakaria, the Youth heads for Johor and Federal Territory respectively.
They have probably not jumped in yet because they do not have the sort of war chests that Mukhriz and Khir are reputed to have.
Razali may be the dark horse because he is closely allied to Hishammuddin who has reportedly asked him to consider going for the post.
It is not necessarily all over for Khairy because the Umno Youth heads of Perlis, Penang, Perak, Pahang and Terengganu have pledged their support if he goes for the No 1 post.
“He still has our support,” said Perlis Umno Youth head Datuk Rozabil Abdul Rahman.
The catch is that state Youth heads are appointed by the Umno Youth chief and they do not always command the ground.
In fact, their actions have often been criticised as reflecting the interests of the leadership rather than the sentiments on the ground.
Meanwhile, Khairy is playing it cool.
He has neither confirmed nor dismissed his options but said he needs to listen to the grassroots’ views before making a decision.

Suicide pact pupils apologise

BAHAU: The four Year Six pupils from a school near here are out of danger following a suicide bid on Wednesday morning.
When met at the Jempol Hospital yesterday, the 12-year-old girls said they were sorry for their rash behaviour.
“We are sorry to have caused so much anguish to our parents and teachers and promise never to do this again,” said one of them. The girls are expected to be discharged soon.
On Wednesday, they took a combination of the hypertension drug Perindopril, and Paracetamol during recess after being scolded for doing badly in their Bahasa Malaysia monthly test.
The drugs were brought to school by one of the girls in an apparent suicide pact.
State education director Abdullah Mohammad expressed his regret over the incident. “I am waiting for a report on the case,” he said.

Year Six girls attempt suicide after scolding

It was reported on Thursday April 3, 2008 in Bahau, Negeri Sembilan that Four Year Six pupils of a school here attempted suicide yesterday, purportedly after their teacher had threatened them with disciplinary action for doing badly in their Bahasa Malaysia examination.

The four, all girls, were found semi-conscious in their classroom by their classmates just before school was dismissed.
The shocked classmates then informed another teacher who rushed to the girls’ aid.
When the girls were asked why they were feeling sick, one admitted that they had taken the medicine. The teacher then rushed the four to the Jempol hospital. The pupils’ families were immediately notified.

According to a hospital source, the teacher had scolded the four for their poor results on Tuesday and allegedly told them that they would be punished.

“One of the girls brought her parents’ diabetes and hypertension medicine to school the following day and the four decided to consume the tablets,” he said.
“They also wrote a note saying that they were committing suicide as they had disappointed their teacher.”

Two of the girls were reported to be in serious but stable condition.
The state education department has been notified about the incident.

Several weeks ago a young lady doctor also attempted suicided at the hospital she's working after a misunderstanding with a colleague. It is becoming too common to hear these kind of cases happening with such a mere excuses. This is not good for the future of our country.

Plenty of drama at forum to assess polls performance

Plenty of drama at forum to assess polls performance
PETALING JAYA: There were hot speeches and plenty of drama at a forum held to assess Umno’s poor performance in the recently concluded general election.
From calling on Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to take full responsibility and resign, there were accusations at the “Umno Post 12th General Election: An Assessment” forum that the party's top brass comprised of “yes men”.
Former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad provided the keynote address while his son Datuk Mukhriz, who is the newly-elected Jerlun MP, and Batu Pahat MP Dr Puad Zarkashi were among the speakers.
Mukhriz came out and made his stand known, saying there was “something really wrong” with Abdullah’s leadership for his inability to check the rising cost of living, increasing crime, corruption and nepotism.
Dr Puad, who is also the Johor Umno information chief, wanted Abdullah to step down as Prime Minister.
He said people had lost faith in the present leadership.
“Umno has lost its soul,” he said, adding that the party needed huge reform to win back support of the people.
“If we do not act fast, how is Umno going to survive?” he told the packed forum comprising mostly of Umno members.
Dr Puad said Barisan Nasional had lost its two-thirds majority in the parliament and with the Opposition having 82 seats what was needed now was for Umno members to be bold and speak out.
The worst was reserved for another panellist, former Selangor Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Mohamad Khir Toyo, who was booed each time he spoke.
Dr Khir, who is an Umno supreme council, was advised against attending the forum but said he wanted to come to voice his opinions.
Later during a question-and-answer session, a chair was thrown and expletives hurled at someone who suggested that PKR adviser Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim take over the Barisan leadership.
He was then dragged out of the room.
Upset by this, the organiser said people should not get emotional as everyone had the right to speak and raise questions.

DAP man causes scare for Perak govt with resignation letter

By HAH FOONG LIAN and CHRISTINA KOH
IPOH: It was a day of drama for the Perak coalition government when a DAP assemblyman quit from his party, – sending party leaders scrambling – only to retract his resignation six hours later.
The resignation of Buntong assemblyman A. Sivasubramaniam shocked his state chief Ngeh Koo Ham and the rest of the Indian DAP representatives.
Various meetings were convened, including one between Ngeh and Sivasubramaniam and at 6pm, party leaders held a press conference at Wisma DAP and the latter declared he had retracted his resignation.
Sivasubramaniam: Changed his mind after six hours.
His resignation would have put the DAP-PAS-PKR coalition government in a precarious position as it would only have 30 of the state assembly’s 59 members, giving it a razor-thin one seat majority in the house. Barisan Nasional has 28 members.
Sivasubramaniam, who is Perak DAP assistant secretary, had faxed a letter to DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng stating he was dissatisfied with the Perak DAP leadership.
He said he had lost confidence in the state leaders and claimed that Ngeh had not fulfilled his promise of appointing two Indian assemblymen as a state executive council (exco) member.
He added the Perak DAP leadership
had failed to respect “the voice of makkal sakti (People’s Power).”
“The decision was a huge slap for the Indian community and designed to hoodwink the Indian community in Perak,” he said in his letter which was made available to the press.
So it does really matter to him... maybe he wanted to become an exco, or maybe the Menteri Besar whenever the MB is not around....... still power crazy....


He also said even if an Indian Perak DAP member were to get an assembly Speaker or Deputy Speaker, it could not “do much for the Indian community.”

An emergency meeting was held with Ngeh and the other Indian elected representatives.
Up until 3pm, efforts by state DAP leaders to contact Sivasubramaniam failed.
At about 5pm, Ngeh managed to have a five-minute discussion with Sivasubramaniam and the matter was put to rest.

An hour later, a press conference was called where Sivasubramaniam, who is also DAP Socialist Youth committee member, retracted his resignation letter.
He said the whole episode was a “mistake and misunderstanding” on his part.

“The matter has been solved. I am satisfied with Ngeh’s explanation that the post of assembly Speaker would be filled by an Indian leader,” he said.
Sivasubramaniam said his ailing mother was the one who convinced him to discuss his resignation with the party leadership, adding that even if he had resigned, he would have stayed independent.

Ngeh said Perak DAP was not sidelining the interest of the Indian community.
Acknowledging that the party had originally planned to have two Indian assemblymen as exco members, he said the party had then, in principle, agreed to have an Indian assemblyman as state assembly Speaker.
He promised that there would be more Indian representation in the state government compared with the previous administration.
“There is a misunderstanding. We have to first wait for the full list of state appointments. Only then will the people know that we did not neglect the Indian community or the fairer sex,” he said.

On whether the resignation had jeopardised the image of a stable state government or had created a bad impression, Ngeh said: “I hope not. This is just a misunderstanding.”
Asked whether a post was offered to Sivasubramaniam for him to retract his resignation, Ngeh said: “No.”

Bagaimana Syaitan Memasuki Hati Manusia

"..........terlalu cintakan kepada dunia sedangkan kehidupan di akhirat tiada langsung di dalam hatinya, baginya kehidupan hanya sekali sahaja iaitu di dunia.
¨ Terlalu melayan perasaan dan panjang angan-angan kerana sifat ini akan mengeraskan hati.¨ Terlalu rakus kepada kehidupan dunia kerana ia akan membuahkan sifat tamak.

¨ Bakhil dengan apa yang dimiliki dan yang diperolehinya kerana ia merupakan pintu kepada kesombongan.
¨ Riya’, besar diri dan anggkuh kerana ia merupakan punca kepada sifat kemunafikan.¨ Ujub dan sombong.

¨ Sentiasa menyimpan perasaan buruk sangka terhadap orang lain dan berdendam.¨ Memandang remeh akan dosa-dosa kecil kerana ia akan mendorongkan lagi manusia berterusan dalam melakukan dosa kecil dikira sebagai melakukan dosa besar.
¨ Merasa suka dan gembira bila mendapat sesuatu musibah atau azab dari Allah.¨ Memandang rendah kepada orang lain kerana sifat ini merupakan tapak bercambahnya sifat dengki dan membuka pintu kebencian.

¨ Bodoh diatas setiap tindakan dan perbuatan tetapi tidak pula menyedari akan kebodohannya itu sebaliknya merasakan dirinya sentiasa betul.

¨ Suka kepada pujian dan sanjungan kerana ia merupakan punca timbulnya sifat besar diri dan sombong.¨ Ketika sedang marah kerana marah itu merupakan bara api dari neraka.
¨ Putus asa dengan rahmat Allah, sifat ini akan membuatkan seseorang merasakan dunia yang begitu luas ini terlalu sempit baginya, oleh kerana terlalu kecewa ia sanggup melakukan apa saja.

FIKIR-FIKIRKANLAH.......

Kisah Sebuah Jam

Seorang kawan hantar cerita ini mengenai pembuat jam yang sedang bersoaljawab dengan sebuah Jam........ begini kisahnya.... hepi reading


Alkisah, seorang pembuat jam tangan berkata kepada jam yang sedang dibuatnya. “Hai jam, apakah kamu sanggup untuk berdetik paling tidak 31,104,000 kali selama setahun?”
“Ha?,” kata jam terperanjat, “Mana sanggup saya?”
“Bagaimana kalau 86,400 kali dalam sehari?” tanya si pembuat jam.
“Lapan puluh enam ribu empat ratus kali? Dengan jarum yang ramping-ramping seperti ini?” jawab jam penuh keraguan.
“Bagaimana kalau 3,600 kali dalam satu jam?” cadang si pembuat jam.
“Dalam satu jam harus berdetik 3,600 kali? Banyak sekali itu” tetap saja jam ragu-ragu dengan kemampuan dirinya.
Tukang jam dengan penuh kesabaran kemudian berkata lagi kepada si jam. “Kalau begitu, sanggupkah kamu berdetik satu kali setiap detik?”
“Oh, kalau begitu, aku sanggup!” kata jam dengan penuh semangat.
Maka, setelah selesai dibuat, jam itu berdetik satu kali setiap detik. Tanpa terasa, detik demi detik terus berlalu dan jam itu sungguh luar biasa kerana ternyata selama satu tahun penuh dia telah berdetik tanpa henti. Dan itu bererti ia telah berdetik sebanyak 31,104,000 kali.

Morale of the story: Ada kalanya kita ragu-ragu dengan segala tugas pekerjaan yang begitu berat. Tetapi setelah selesai menunaikan kewajipan itu, barulah kita tahu bahawa kita sememangnya manusia yang dikurniakan dengan kehebatan oleh Ilahi.....

Stop the tussle

Perkara yang mungkin tidak patut berlaku, kini sedang mendidih di Trengganu Kita. Apa sebenarnya yang sedang terjadi. Ahmad Said telah pun ditauliahkan untuk bertugas sebagai MB, sedangkan Idris Jusoh mengatakan dia menerima watikah perlantikan sebagai MB daripada YAB PM. Kita semua tahu YABPM tiada kuasa untuk melantik MB sesebuah negeri di dalam negara ini. Selama ini kuasa melantik yang diamalkan adalah turun temurun daripada PM kita yang lama, yang secara tidak sedar telah salah guna kuasa melantik MB untuk diperkenankan oleh DYMM Tuanku. Kini Tuanku-Tuanku mungkin dah sedar bahawa merekalah sebenarnya berkuasa memilih dari kalangan Yang Berhormat sebagai Menteri Besar.

Pada ketika ini, Penasihat undang-undang negara kita, juga dikenali sebagai Pendakwa Raya - the Attorney-General, (datuk gani)sedang cuba untuk bertemu dengan DYMM YDP Agong bagi menyampaikan maksud sebenar perlembagaan negeri itu berkaitan dengan perkara lantikan YAB MB. Tapi usahanya untuk berjumpa pun belum berjaya lagi... susah, dan susahlah nampaknya keadaan di T'ganu Kita...


Harap-harapnya bukan begitu. Kalau DYMM tak suka pada Idris, dan orang UMNO pula tak suka pada Mat Said, tukar saja orang lain yang berkenan di hati DYMM... susah sangat ke?

Sultan mungkin tak akan tukar orang lain, tetapi usaha yang tertentu boleh dibuat bagi mengambil jalan tengah yang bersesuaian dengan keinginan Sultan.. mesti ada punya jalan sebegini sebab Sultan pun tidak mahu negerinya kucar kacir...... Malu pada negeri-negeri lain yang tak biasa dengan peristiwa begini, kan?

Selamat Menyambut Malulidur Rasul 12 Rabiul Awal 1429H

Today is a public holiday because the whole country is celebrating Mawlidar Rasul, The Prophet Muhammad's Birthday. The whole world wherever there are muslim, they the muslim will observe the day reciting prayers for the beloved Prophets, his friends dan decendants. Briefly below is an excertp about the dear Prophet...


By the way the biography on the Prophet can be access this way : http://www.inter-islam.org/Seerah/iSeerah.html

Happy Reading.

Kisah Nabi Muhammad saw.
Semasa umat manusia dalam kegelapan dan suasana jahiliyyah, lahirlah seorang bayi pada 12 Rabiul Awal tahun Gajah di Makkah. Bayi yang dilahirkan bakal membawa perubahan besar bagi sejarah peradaban manusia. Bapa bayi tersebut bernama Abdullah bin Abdul Mutallib yang telah wafat sebelum baginda dilahirkan iaitu sewaktu baginda 7 bulan dalam kandungan ibu. Ibunya bernama Aminah binti Wahab. Kehadiran bayi itu disambut dengan penuh kasih sayang dan dibawa ke ka'abah, kemudian diberikan nama Muhammad, nama yang belum pernah wujud sebelumnya.

Selepas itu Muhammad disusukan selama beberapa hari oleh Thuwaiba, budak suruhan Abu Lahab sementara menunggu kedatangan wanita dari Banu Sa'ad. Adat menyusukan bayi sudah menjadi kebiasaan bagi bangsawan-bangsawan Arab di Makkah. Akhir tiba juga wanita dari Banu Sa'ad yang bernama Halimah bin Abi-Dhuaib yang pada mulanya tidak mahu menerima baginda kerana Muhammad seorang anak yatim. Namun begitu, Halimah membawa pulang juga Muhammad ke pedalaman dengan harapan Tuhan akan memberkati keluarganya. Sejak diambilnya Muhammad sebagai anak susuan, kambing ternakan dan susu kambing-kambing tersebut semakin bertambah. Baginda telah tinggal selama 2 tahun di Sahara dan sesudah itu Halimah membawa baginda kembali kepada Aminah dan membawa pulang semula ke pedalaman.


Kisah Dua Malaikat dan Pembedahan Dada Muhammad


Pada usia dua tahun, baginda didatangi oleh dua orang malaikat yang muncul sebagai lelaki yang berpakaian putih. Mereka bertanggungjawab untuk membedah Muhammad. Pada ketika itu, Halimah dan suaminya tidak menyedari akan kejadian tersebut. Hanya anak mereka yang sebaya menyaksikan kedatangan kedua malaikat tersebut lalu mengkhabarkan kepada Halimah. Halimah lantas memeriksa keadaan Muhammad, namun tiada kesan yang aneh ditemui.

Muhammad tinggal di pedalaman bersama keluarga Halimah selama lima tahun. Selama itu baginda mendapat kasih sayang, kebebasan jiwa dan penjagaan yang baik daripada Halimah dan keluarganya. Selepas itu baginda dibawa pulang kepada datuknya Abdul Mutallib di Makkah.

Datuk baginda, Abdul Mutallib amat menyayangi baginda. Ketika Aminah membawa anaknya itu ke Madinah untuk bertemu dengan saudara-maranya, mereka ditemani oleh Umm Aiman, budak suruhan perempuan yang ditinggalkan oleh bapa baginda. Baginda ditunjukkan tempat wafatnya Abdullah serta tempat dia dikuburkan.

Sesudah sebulan mereka berada di Madinah, Aminah pun bersiap sedia untuk pulang semula ke Makkah. Dia dan rombongannya kembali ke Makkah menaiki dua ekor unta yang memang dibawa dari Makkah semasa mereka datang dahulu. Namun begitu, ketika mereka sampai di Abwa, ibunya pula jatuh sakit dan akhirnya meninggal dunia lalu dikuburkan di situ juga.
Muhammad dibawa pulang ke Makkah oleh Umm Aiman dengan perasaan yang sangat sedih. Maka jadilah Muhammad sebagai seorang anak yatim piatu. Tinggallah baginda dengan datuk yang dicintainya dan bapa-bapa saudaranya.

"Bukankah Dia mendapatimu sebagai seorang yatim, lalu Dia melindungimu. Dan Dia mendapatimu sebagai seorang yang bingung lalu Dia memberikan petunjuk" (Surah Ad-Dhuha, 93: 6-7)


Abdul Mutallib Wafat


Kegembiraannya bersama datuk baginda tidak bertahan lama. Ketika baginda berusia lapan tahun, datuk baginda pula meninggal dunia. Kematian Abdul Mutallib menjadi satu kehilangan besar buat Bani Hashim. Dia mempunyai keteguhan hati, berwibawa, pandangan yang bernas, terhormat dan berpengaruh dikalangan orang Arab. Dia selalu menyediakan makanan dan minuman kepada para tetamu yang berziarah dan membantu penduduk Makkah yang dalam kesusahan.
Muhammad diasuh oleh Abu Talib

Selepas kewafatan datuk baginda, Abu Talib mengambil alih tugas bapanya untuk menjaga anak saudaranya Muhammad. Walaupun Abu Talib kurang mampu berbanding saudaranya yang lain, namun dia mempunyai perasaan yang paling halus dan terhormat di kalangan orang-orang Quraisy.Abu Talib menyayangi Muhammad seperti dia menyayangi anak-anaknya sendiri. Dia juga tertarik dengan budi pekerti Muhammad yang mulia.

Pada suatu hari, ketika mereka berkunjung ke Syam untuk berdagang sewaktu Muhammad berusia 12 tahun, mereka bertemu dengan seorang rahib Kristian yang telah dapat melihat tanda-tanda kenabian pada baginda. Lalu rahib tersebut menasihati Abu Talib supaya tidak pergi jauh ke daerah Syam kerana dikhuatiri orang-orang Yahudi akan menyakiti baginda sekiranya diketahui tanda-tanda tersebut. Abu Talib mengikut nasihat rahib tersebut dan dia tidaak banyak membawa harta dari perjalanan tersebut. Dia pulang segera ke Makkah dan mengasuh anak-anaknya yang ramai. Muhammad juga telah menjadi sebahagian dari keluarganya. Baginda mengikut mereka ke pekan-pekan yang berdekatan dan mendengar sajak-sajak oleh penyair-penyair terkenal dan pidato-pidato oleh penduduk Yahudi yang anti Arab.

Baginda juga diberi tugas sebagai pengembala kambing. Baginda mengembala kambing keluarganya dan kambing penduduk Makkah. Baginda selalu berfikir dan merenung tentang kejadian alam semasa menjalankan tugasnya. Oleh sebab itu baginda jauh dari segala pemikiran manusia nafsu manusia duniawi. Baginda terhindar daripada perbuatan yang sia-sia, sesuai dengan gelaran yang diberikan iaitu "Al-Amin".

Selepas baginda mula meningkat dewasa, baginda disuruh oleh bapa saudaranya untuk membawa barang dagangan Khadijah binti Khuwailid, seorang peniaga yang kaya dan dihormati. Baginda melaksanakan tugasnya dengan penuh ikhlas dan jujur. Khadijah amat tertarik dengan perwatakan mulia baginda dan keupayaan baginda sebagai seorang pedagang. Lalu dia meluahkan rasa hatinya untuk berkahwin dengan Muhammad yang berusia 25 tahun ketika itu. Wanita bangsawan yang berusia 40 tahun itu sangat gembira apabila Muhammad menerima lamarannya lalu berlangsunglah perkahwinan mereka berdua. Bermulalah lembaran baru dalam hidup Muhammad dan Khadijah sebagai suami isteri.

Penurunan Wahyu Pertama

Pada usia 40 tahun, Muhammad telah menerima wahyu yang pertama dan diangkat sebagai nabi sekelian alam. Ketika itu, baginda berada di Gua Hira' dan sentiasa merenung dalam kesunyian, memikirkan nasib umat manusia pada zaman itu. Maka datanglah Malaikat Jibril menyapa dan menyuruhnya membaca ayat quran yang pertama diturunkan kepada Muhammad.

"Bacalah dengan nama Tuhanmu Yang menciptakan" (Al-'Alaq, 96: 1)

Rasulullah pulang dengan penuh rasa gementar lalu diselimuti oleh Khadijah yang cuba menenangkan baginda. Apabila semangat baginda mulai pulih, diceritakan kepada Khadijah tentang kejadian yang telah berlaku.

Kemudian baginda mula berdakwah secara sembunyi-sembunyi bermula dengan kaum kerabatnya untuk mengelakkan kecaman yang hebat daripada penduduk Makkah yang menyembah berhala. Khadijah isterinya adalah wanita pertama yang mempercayai kenabian baginda. Manakala Ali bin Abi Talib adalah lelaki pertama yang beriman dengan ajaran baginda.Dakwah yang sedemikian berlangsung selama tiga tahun di kalangan keluarganya sahaja.

Dakwah Secara Terang-terangan

Setelah turunnya wahyu memerintahkan baginda untuk berdakwah secara terang-terangan, maka Rasulullah pun mula menyebarkan ajaran Islam secara lebih meluas.

"Maka sampaikanlah olehmu secara terang-terangan segala apa yang diperintahkan (kepadamu) dan berpalinglah dari orang-orang yang musyrik." (Al-Hijr, 15:94)

Namun begitu, penduduk Quraisy menentang keras ajaran yang dibawa oleh baginda. Mereka memusuhi baginda dan para pengikut baginda termasuk Abu Lahab, bapa saudara baginda sendiri. Tidak pula bagi Abu Talib, dia selalu melindungi anak saudaranya itu namun dia sangat risau akan keselamatan Rasulullah memandangkan tentangan yang hebat dari kaum Quraisy itu. Lalu dia bertanya tentang rancangan Rasulullah seterusnya. Lantas jawab Rasulullah yang bermaksud:

"Wahai bapa saudaraku, andai matahari diletakkan diletakkan di tangan kiriku dan bulan di tangan kananku, agar aku menghentikan seruan ini, aku tidak akan menghentikannya sehingga agama Allah ini meluas ke segala penjuru atau aku binasa kerananya"

Baginda menghadapi pelbagai tekanan, dugaan, penderitaan, cemuhan dan ejekan daripada penduduk-penduduk Makkah yang jahil dan keras hati untuk beriman dengan Allah. Bukan Rasulullah sahaja yang menerima tentangan yang sedemikian, malah para sahabatnya juga turut merasai penderitaan tersebut seperti Amar dan Bilal bin Rabah yang menerima siksaan yang berat.

Kewafatan Khadijah dan Abu Talib

Rasulullah amat sedih melihat tingkahlaku manusia ketika itu terutama kaum Quraisy kerana baginda tahu akan akibat yang akan diterima oleh mereka nanti. Kesedihan itu makin bertambah apabila isteri kesayangannya wafat pada tahun sepuluh kenabiaannya. Isteri bagindalah yang tidak pernah jemu membantu menyebarkan Islam dan mengorbankan jiwa serta hartanya untuk Islam. Dia juga tidak jemu menghiburkan Rasulullah di saat baginda dirundung kesedihan.

Pada tahun itu juga bapa saudara baginda Abu Talib yang mengasuhnya sejak kecil juga meninggal dunia. Maka bertambahlah kesedihan yang dirasai oleh Rasulullah kerana kehilangan orang-orang yang amat disayangi oleh baginda.

Penghijrahan Ke Madinah

Tekanan daripada orang-orang kafir terhadap perjuangan Rasulullah semakin hebat selepas pemergian isteri dan bapa saudara baginda. Maka Rasulullah mengambil keputusan untuk berhijrah ke Madinah berikutan ancaman daripada kafir Quraisy untuk membunuh baginda.

Rasulullah disambut dengan meriahnya oleh para penduduk Madinah. Mereka digelar kaum Muhajirin manakala penduduk-penduduk Madinah dipanggil golongan Ansar. Seruan baginda diterima baik oleh kebanyakan para penduduk Madinah dan sebuah negara Islam didirikan di bawah pimpinan Rasulullas s.a.w sendiri.

Negara Islam Madinah

Negara Islam yang baru dibina di Madinah mendapat tentangan daripada kaum Quraisy di Makkah dan gangguan dari penduduk Yahudi serta kaum bukan Islam yang lain. Namun begitu, Nabi Muhammad s.a.w berjaya juga menubuhkan sebuah negara Islam yang mengamalkan sepenuhnya pentadbiran dan perundangan yang berlandaskan syariat Islam. Baginda dilantik sebagai ketua agama, tentera dan negara. Semua rakyat mendapat hak yang saksama. Piagam Madinah yang merupakan sebuah kanun atau perjanjian bertulis telah dibentuk. Piagam ini mengandungi beberapa fasal yang melibatkan hubungan antara semua rakyat termasuk kaum bukan Islam dan merangkumi aspek politik, sosial, agama, ekonomi dan ketenteraan. Kandungan piagam adalah berdasarkan wahyu dan dijadikan dasar undang-undang Madinah.

Islam adalah agama yang mementingkan kedamaian. Namun begitu, aspek pertahanan amat penting bagi melindungi agama, masyarakat dan negara. Rasulullah telah menyertai 27 kali ekspedisi tentera untuk mempertahan dan menegakkan keadilan Islam. Peperangan yang ditempuhi baginda ialah Perang Badar (623 M/2 H), Perang Uhud (624 M/3 H), Perang Khandak (626 M/5 H) dan Perang Tabuk (630 M/9 H). Namun tidak semua peperangan diakhiri dengan kemenangan.

Pada tahun 625 M/ 4 Hijrah, Perjanjian Hudaibiyah telah dimeterai antara penduduk Islam Madinah dan kaum Musyrikin Makkah. Maka dengan itu, negara Islam Madinah telah diiktiraf. Nabi Muhammad s.a.w. juga telah berjaya membuka semula kota Makkah pada 630 M/9 H bersama dengan 10 000 orang para pengikutnya.

Perang terakhir yang disertai oleh Rasulullah ialah Perang Tabuk dan baginda dan pengikutnya berjaya mendapat kemenangan. Pada tahun berikutnya, baginda telah menunaikan haji bersama-sama dengan 100 000 orang pengikutnya. Baginda juga telah menyampaikan amanat baginda yang terakhir pada tahun itu juga. Sabda baginda yang bermaksud:

"Wahai sekalian manusia, ketahuilah bahawa Tuhan kamu Maha Esa dan kamu semua adalah daripada satu keturunan iaitu keturunan Nabi Adam a.s. Semulia-mulia manusia di antara kamu di sisi Allah s.w.t. ialah orang yang paling bertakwa. Aku telah tinggalkan kepada kamu dua perkara dan kamu tidak akan sesat selama-lamanya selagi kamu berpegang teguh dengan dua perkara itu, iaitu kitab al-Quran dan Sunnah Rasulullah."

Kewafatan Nabi Muhammad s.a.w

Baginda telah wafat pada bulan Jun tahun 632 M/12 Rabiul Awal tahun 11 Hijrah. Baginda wafat setelah selesai melaksanakan tugasnya sebagai rasul dan pemimpin negara. Baginda berjaya membawa manusia ke jalan yang benar dan menjadi seorang pemimpin yang bertanggungjawab, berilmu dan berkebolehan. Rasulullah adalah contoh terbaik bagi semua manusia sepanjang zaman.

72.22 Carat Diamond

Besarnya berlian ini

Read the following story about it.




A 72.22-carat diamond, so large it could fill a tablespoon, is expected to bring up to $13 million when it goes on auction next month.
Cut from an original rough diamond, the D-color, flawless gem is prized for its pear shape and GIA-graded excellent polish and symmetry. D-color is actually colorless and considered the most highly valued.
It was previewed in Manhattan on Monday and will be offered on April 10 at Sotheby's Hong Kong galleries, which estimates its value at $10 million to $13 million. The buyer has the privilege of naming the stone.
Sotheby's said the most expensive diamond and jewel sold at auction, the pear-shaped, 100.10 carat Star of Season, brought $16.5 million in May 1995.

Buah Naga

A member of the cactus family, the dragon fruits is related to the night blooming cereus. There are many types of the fruit from the South East Asia and South America. The fruit is oblong or over coated with a bright-red or yellow skin with small scales.

It has a white, juicy, sweet, pulp containing many tiny black seeds. Hylocereus species has been commercially grown in the America's and in Vietnam. Early imports in Australia from Columbia are recorded as Hylocereus Ocampensis (red pitaya) and cereus triangularis (yellow pitaya). Cereus triangularis is a synonym of Hylocereus Undatus.

Now it is popularly grown in Malaysia. Jom makan.

DRAGON FRUIT - NUTRITION FACTS
Food Value Per 100g Serving for RED PITIYA:

Moisture 82.5 - 83 g
Protein 0.159 - 0.229 g
Fat 0.21 - 0.61 g
Crude Fiber 0.7 - 0.9 g
Carotene 0.005 -0.012 mg
Calcium 6.3 - 8.8 mg
Phosphorus 30.2 - 36.1 mg
Iron 0.55 - 0.65 mg
Vitamin B1 0.28 - 0.043 mg
Vitamin B2 0.043 - 0.045 mg
Vitamin B3 0.297 - 0.43 mg
Vitamin C 8 - 9 mg
Other 0.54 - 0.68 g

Facts Supply by Malaysian Local Authorities. It might vary from country to country due to the climate, ways of the cultivation and type of the Pitaya.

It can be grown organically, without any pesticide & chemical fertilizer. The Pitaya is rich in vitamins and helpful to our body especially in digestion, preventing colon cancer and diabetes.

The fruits also help to neutralize heavy metal toxic and reduce cholesterol level and high blood pressure. Consume regularly, it can fight against asthma and gout.

The day with the new state goverment

Penangites' enjoy their sunday morning at the markets and coffee shops, chatting away the unfold drama of yesternite. The enthusiasm seems too obvious not to notice that every group member had his own version of why the politcal changes happens.

The indians seems happy with the outcome of the election and so were the chinese and the malays, with exception to the older generations who does look worried that these changes might bring instability to the people.

Travelling in the afternoon, and crossing the Penang Bridge to the island, the traffic is just it usual self.

Even in one of the hypermarket later on, the penangites just look too normal, although the big change in the state goverment had just happen barely 16 hours ago.

I must say that we as penangites are a matured lot. We know what we have done and doing it is just what we did without the need to celebrate since there are miles of things which are more important now, which is to get on going the life as it should be.

Later on in the nite the day has just pass by with penangites busy as usual at the mamak stall , and other food outlets having their dinner with family or friends eating char koay teow or nasi kandar.....

Not much a day after all...........

The swing in Penang that caught everyone by surprise

Koh congratulating Ramasamy who knock him out late last Saturday

TAN Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon looked like the world had collapsed around him on Saturday night.

In a way, it had.

The state government he had led for 18 years had been defeated by the combined might of the DAP, PKR and PAS. His own Gerakan party candidates had been wiped out in Penang and the party was quite out in the cold nationally.

This was probably the worst moment in his political life.

His hair needed a comb, his face was pasty and each time he smiled, it looked more like a grimace. Most of all, he looked defeated.

But the ex-Chief Minister has emerged as the perfect gentleman politician even as the winds of change swept most of his Barisan Nasional colleagues off the political stage.

At 11.45pm he went on national TV to concede defeat to his opponents, as was the constitutional thing to do. He was composed, in control of his emotions and, above all, professional.

He has not had an easy relationship with the media but he won their respect that evening.

Earlier, at 9pm, he had telephoned state DAP chairman Chow Kon Yeow to do the same. He also told Chow that he had informed the Yang di-Pertua Negri of the election outcome.

He also appealed for the people to stay calm because he knew that change of this nature was bound to cause anxiety on the ground.

It was a sudden and stunning end to almost 40 years of Barisan rule in this state.
“They had one bird in hand but they wanted the two in the bush,” said Dr Koh’s operations director O.K. Hun.

The question on many people’s lips now is: How did Dr Koh not see it coming?

The Barisan loss in Penang was devastating. The once invincible coalition had lost 11 of the 13 parliamentary seats it contested. At the state level, it lost 29 out of a total of 40 seats.

It was a night when predictions, assumptions and stereotypes went flying out of the window.
“It looks like our own intelligence sources have gone haywire,” said Hun.

The Chinese vote swing was expected but the degree of swing stunned everyone.
Even before the polls, people had been talking about the “compensation swing” which had been twice postponed – in 1999 when the Chinese backed the ruling party and in 2004 when everyone was swept along by goodwill for the new Prime Minister.

This time, the Chinese swing was not about punishing MCA, which had done a credible job on many Chinese issues, but it was to punish Umno over issues ranging from the revival of the NEP to incidents of “body snatching”.

Issues like Dr Koh’s less than sterling track record, the indecisiveness over the Chief Minister’s post and the fiasco over the indelible ink added to the overall mood.

The Indian vote, a loyal bloc of Barisan votes, also abandoned the coalition.

But the most startling was the Malay swing. West coast Malays are seen as conservative and moderate, yet they snubbed Umno at the ballot box in traditional strongholds like Balik Pulau and turned against a former Umno deputy minister in Nibong Tebal.

There were push and pull factors where the Malay vote was concerned.

It is possible that Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad provided the push – that much of what he had said about government leaders had resonated among urban Malays who then took it to the ballot box.

Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim was without a doubt the pull factor. West coast Malays are not drawn to PAS the way their east counterparts are but Anwar and PKR are an acceptable alternative to them.

People were curious about Anwar, not many had seen him in the flesh since his release and he spoke the populist language.

In Permatang Pauh, older women would hold Datin Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail’s hands, kiss her on both cheeks and say, “Sayang!” as though she were their younger daughter.

Even social critic Dr Chandra Muzaffar’s vilification of Anwar was like water off a duck’s back. Curah air ke daun keladi says the malays.

But the Opposition also had a credible line-up. The new DAP and PKR faces were all professionals, clean-cut and not lugged down by political baggage.

For example, the new Bukit Bendera MP and political scientist Liew Chin Tong is a brilliant strategist who helped Lim Guan Eng plot their assault on Penang.

On the campaign trail, IT consultant and blogger Jeff Ooi had the sharpest learning curve among the lot and he talked and sang his way into voters’ hearts.

The Chinese have always been very tactical with their votes but some are asking whether they have gone overboard this time.

The scenario of a largely Chinese government bench versus an all-Umno opposition bench in Penang is unlikely to add to ethnic relations in the state, something that the new government will have to be very sensitive to.

And while the ground had seemed silent to the Barisan candidates, it was not to the other side.
The DAP-PKR pact knew they would win after the first rally at the Han Chiang High School. After the second and bigger rally, they knew they would get more than one-third of the seats.

“But we did not imagine the sweep would be so massive,” said Liew. Not even when the calls started coming while the votes were being counted.

Seats were falling to them like dominoes and when Pulau Tikus, a state seat favouring Gerakan’s Datuk Seri Dr Teng Hock Nan fell by a 6,106-vote majority to them, they knew they were on the way to a landslide win.

Their supporters were celebrating but the mood among the victors was quite sober because they know they will have to do better than the people they replaced if they do not want to be replaced in five years’ time.

Taken from The Star 10th March 2008 written by Joceline Tan its columnist.

Why Ask Pak Lah to Step Down

Najib nak jadi PM pula???

Bahan bacaan yang dicadangkan -

http://sloone.wordpress.com/2008/03/09/who-says-the-people-accept-najib/

Khairy to blame for BN's electoral defeat

Mar 9, 08 9:05pm

I think his son-in-law played a big role (in the defeat). This young man who has no achievements before but apparently the PM listens to him. said Mahathir at a press conference.


Are you surprised by the results?

Mahathir: I think it’s shocking. Although I expected BN to lose but I did not think that they lost five states.

I'm sorry that I made the wrong choice in Pak Lah. I never expected a PM to reverse all the policies of the government. So I think the people on the whole must have been very angry. All the three communities, the Chinese, the Malays and the Indians, have reacted.

Will Tun pressure Pak Lah to resign?

I think he should accept responsibility for this. Just as in 2004, the huge majority, the huge victory was purportedly due to him 100 percent. Now he should accept 100 percent of the responsibility.

What do you mean by taking responsibility?

He has destroyed Umno, destroyed BN. And he has to be responsible for this terrible defeat.

If he doesn't want to take responsibility, do you think that Umno will do something to make him go?

I think Umno people on the ground are fearful of this man as they have never been before. During my time they would challenge me. Here I was not allowed to speak. I was given invitations to give talk to Umno members but these were withdrawn. They say that the police told them to withdraw it.

When you say ‘step down’, do you mean (from) Umno or PM?

I think he should (step down). The Japanese would have performed ‘hara-kiri’. I think that Najib (Razak) has done very well. He has scored an amazing victory, more than the 2004 elections.

What do you think led to this defeat?

I think his son-in-law (Khairy Jamaluddin) played a big role. This young man who has no achievements before but apparently the PM listens to him more rather than the police, the special branch and the armed forces, who are closer to the ground. They were so taken up with their own newspaper reports that they couldn't hear anything else. They dismissed everything they didn't like.

Do you think the timing of the election was a miscalculation?

It can be called a miscalculation but I doubt if they had waited another year, the results would have been any different.

What were the issues which led to the loss of the states?

Many issues led to the pent-up feelings of the citizens of which despite the economic growth, the people aren't feeling anything. They feel the rise in the cost of living a big factor. They also see that this government is run by one family. When family takes precedence over cabinet, over government, then people will be against it.

Do you think this damage is permanent for BN?

Everything can be reversed if you do things properly. They have been so arrogant that they have suppressed any opinions they don't like and believe in their own reports which are not consistent with what is really happening in the country.

With the opposition making so much inroads in Malaysia, what do you think will happen?

Well, there will be instability for some time. If the opposition is good, they should be able to remedy the situation.

Do you think that Anwar Ibrahim is still relevant?

I think he is relevant but he is not going to become the prime minister of this country.

If you were in Pak Lah's shoes, would you be in a hurry to form the government?

I would take responsibility. If the people want me to resign, I would resign.

After this setback, do you think that Barisan has any hope to remedy this situation?

There is hope. But whether the leaders have the will to repair BN is another question.

Who should succeed Pak Lah?

Najib won by 26,000 votes and this is much more than in 2004 when the BN was very, very popular. On the other hand, Pak Lah - who had a majority of 18,000 before - only has a majority of 11,000 now. The fact is that he lost a number of votes. And there are not many people who have improved (their majority) since 2004.

(Najib???? Boleh caya ke orang ini?)

Yes, his son-in-law won but he only won by a small majority, smaller than previously. He was also in a safe seat.

How to cure Umno?

The person responsible should retreat.

If the Malays had not voted for opposition this would not have happened. Why did the Umno supporters vote for opposition this time?

They feel their situation is under pressure. Inflation is high. Their lives are on the line. The people know that you can say that there is 6 percent growth but where is the 6 percent on their body? They are having to spend more money.

I've said this to Malaysiakini. When you say 6 percent, it is an average. This can be achieved by one person having a very high percentage but the rest have nothing. You can't have this sort of figures and expect people to vote for you.

The intelligent people would know that this is not correct. Those that don't understand all these figures, rather be guided by what is actually happening to them. What is happening to them is the higher cost of living and a lowering of their standard of living.

Going back to the 1969 elections, after the Alliance had lost, you were one of the main agitators for the prime minister (Tunku Abdul Rahman) to transfer his powers to his deputy (Tun Abdul Razak)...

I am in a dilemma as I'm an Umno member.

Are you the agitator again?

I will voice out my opinion. If people ask, I will give my opinion. And my opinion in this matter is that the person responsible should step down.

Looking at the current BN line-up, do you think that the BN government can manage the economy?

No, I don't think they can manage. Even when they have full force and tons of money at their disposal they have not done anything.

Why?

You have to ask the state leaders.

Penang has fallen to DAP, how do you think this will affect the Malays?

It's not just about Penang. If we want to correct that, we have got Malay leaders, we've got a Malay government and the citizens who are Malay must know how to overcome their problems.

What can veterans like Tengku Razaleigh (Hamzah) do to help Umno at this juncture?

They can give ideas.

Is it to revolt and cause Pak Lah to resign?

I am not talking about a rebellion but there must be pressure. And if that pressure is ignored by Pak Lah, then this would turn the matter into a heated confrontation.

Do you think that the opposition success is attributed to Anwar?

I don't think it is so. This is more of something against BN than strong support for the opposition.

They (voters) have no choice. If you don't vote BN, who do you vote for? There are only two candidates. So you vote for the opposition or you don't vote at all. Either way, the BN was going to lose a lot of support.

People say that Umno is still afraid of Pak Lah. So how can they pressure Pak Lah to step down?

I'm sure that there are some brave members out there.

Are there any alternatives for Pak Lah other than to resign?

I don't see any other alternative. The man that is 100 percent responsible has to show that he is responsible.

Some people were saying if BN's two-thirds majority is denied, a repeat of May 13 would take place. Why won't it happen now?

No I don't think it would happen. In the first place, the police have been very careful, telling people no demonstration and no parades.

In 1969, the police gave permission for the opposition to hold a victory parade. And they went to Kampung Baru and started insulting the people there, which caused a reaction. This ended up as a riot. If the police remain strong on these demonstrations and victory parades, I don't think there will be any problems.

Is it time to end racial politics?

I'm going to tell you this (rejection of BN) involves all the races. It's not as if the Chinese reject BN or all the Indians reject BN. Here, you see Chinese, Indian and Malay reject BN except for Sabah and Sarawak.

Umno has retained more seats compared to the other component parties like MIC and MCA. Will they pressure Pak Lah to step down?

That depends on them to whether to apply pressure or not but the Barisan Nasional concept is still relevant. If there is no (MIC chief S) Samy Vellu, then find another Vellu.

Can you comment on Zam (Zainuddin Maidin)? I like this answer.... ha ha

He won or lost? Oh, he lost. Well, the way he was campaigning was really funny, telling people to look at his face and how it doesn't change. But I think that a face that doesn't change can be very boring. Sometimes you must laugh, sometimes you must cry.

He was telling everybody "Ini muka tak bertukar, tak bertukar". Who is interested in his ‘wajar’? If he was Britney Spears, then….

If you had suffered the same defeat, would you have resigned too?

Yes, I would resign if that is the wish of the people. I've always abided by the wish of the people, so much so that people who were against me were brought back into the cabinet, and that includes Pak Lah, Syed Hamid (Syed Albar), Rais Yatim and (Abdul) Kadir Sheikh Fadzil. All these (leaders) were against me.

But when Pak Lah was elected vice-president, I cannot (not appoint him) as he was wanted by Umno. As such I appointed him back into the cabinet.

But you did not resign in 1999?

I did not because we won two-thirds. We won with full Chinese support. Yes, we lost Terengganu and Kelantan but we have always lost Kelantan and Terengganu was for very specific reasons.

Did BN lose because too many people like Samy Vellu had hung on to power too long?

I think that Samy Vellu played a big part in the defeat. When he was in BN, he doesn't allow any of the MIC people to come up to his level. If they come up (to be) deputy or vice-president, he will knock them down and even expel them from the party.

And he wouldn't allow any other Indian party to join BN. (MG) Pandithan tried to join, begged me to allow him and I wanted to agree but we have this consensus in BN that if one party doesn't agree we cannot accept them.

Are you surprised by (ISA detainee) M Manoharan's victory?

This has happened before in 1959 or is it 1964, when PAS used to go from village to village carrying the candidate's shoes and he won.

What can you say about the media’s - especially the mainstream ones' - role in this campaign? Do you think that there should be changes there?

There should be changes. They should report what actually happens and make a proper analysis. Before, they were able to feed back to me what was happening on the ground. Maybe, when they talk about races and things like that, I would have to clamp down on them, which I did in 1987.

Should all the bosses of the newspapers resign too?

They have their constraints. Some of them are my friends and supporters too and they apologise say that they can't help. "It's all this Kali. This Kali," they tell me.

Has Umno become irrelevant?

For the moment, yes. It's not always so. If Umno serves the country well, and looks after all the different races, then Umno will be relevant again.

What is your comment on the young BN candidates losing?

There is this rumour that some of these candidates are Khairy's and that he wants to be prime minister.

Do you think that other BN component leaders should resign too?

I think that one component leader has already been knocked out. As for Ong Ka Ting, it's up to him. This is a very bad defeat for him and MCA and it's never been this bad before.

Everyone says that PAS and DAP cannot work together but if they don't in Selangor and Perak, they can't form state government. What is your take on this?

If they work together they can form state government. If not, then representatives of Umno - if there are many - can form a minority government. But it will be a shaky government.

Are you sad with the results?

Yes, I am although I had hoped that a message would be sent to the government.

Will you return to active politics?

I won't return to active politics but if they want advice, I can give them. How can I return when once I stepped down they treated me like a pariah?

Wake-up Call

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Malaysians awoke on Sunday to the biggest sea-change in politics in almost 40 years, with opposition Islamists and reformists winning control of five states and giving the government a humiliating wake-up call.

Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's multi-racial National Front coalition won just a simple majority in parliament, and his future as leader is in doubt after he watched a record majority collapse to the weakest level ever.

His predecessor, Mahathir Mohamad, urged him to quit. "He should accept responsibility," said Mahathir who now says he made a mistake in picking Abdullah as his successor and that the current deputy premier, Najib Razak, should have taken over.

The streets were unusually quiet on Sunday, with many older Malaysians fearful of trouble. The last time the coalition suffered a heavy setback, in 1969, race riots erupted. Barisan has effectively ruled since independence from Britain in 1957.

"I am shocked. It feels Malaysia is a whole new country. It feels like it has been reborn," Daniel Sia, a 27-year-old civil engineer, said as he did some Sunday shopping in the capital.
Lai Yee Fei, 28, who works at a coffee bar beneath Kuala Lumpur's soaring twin towers, said she was glad that Malaysia now had a strong opposition to press the government.

"It's good to give some pressure for Barisan Nasional," she said. "If the opposition parties can stand up for us, on behalf of us, I think it's good."

Abdullah, who only four years ago led the coalition to a record election victory on a wave of hope for change, faced a bleak political future on Sunday, his aides stunned but not willing to concede that he must step down.

"Frankly, this is not really the time because a lot of component parties (of Barisan) have been decimated," one close aide said, declining to be identified. "We have lost a few people and I think it's time to consolidate."

Abdullah's humbling performance nationally -- the coalition ended up with 62 percent of federal seats, down from 90 percent previously -- was compounded by the fact that his own home state, the industrial heartland of Penang, fell to the opposition.

ISLAMISTS ON THE RISE

The leftist Chinese-backed Democratic Action Party (DAP) won Penang, the hub for Malaysia's electronics industry, which accounts for about half of exports.

The opposition Islamist party PAS scored shock victories in the northern heartland states of Kedah and Perak and easily retained power in its stronghold in northeastern Kelantan state.
DAP and PAS also joined the People's Justice Party, or Parti Keadilan, to take control of the industrial state of Selangor and almost all the seats in capital Kuala Lumpur.

Political experts and economists wondered aloud whether the Barisan government could now pursue its agenda, including plans for $325 billion in development zones across the country.
Without a two-thirds parliamentary majority, Barisan can no longer change the constitution or make some key appointments and could struggle to alter electoral boundaries, powers that the opposition have long maintained were abused by Barisan.

"This is probably not good news for the equity market or the ringgit," said Tim Condon, Singapore-based head of Asia research for investment banking.
The pro-government media, Abdullah's cheer-leader during the campaign, changed tack on Sunday, urging Barisan to ensure better job and education opportunities in this multi-racial nation.
Malaysia is largely a mix of ethnic Malays, which make up about 55 percent of the population, and ethnic Chinese and Indians, who account for about a third.
A protest vote from Chinese and Indians, upset over what they saw as racial inequality in terms of business, job and education opportunities, had been expected. The Indians were merciless, voting out the leader of the coalition's Indian component party and handing a seat to an Indian activist currently in detention.

But Malays, who are all Muslims and traditionally support Barisan in good times and bad, completed a perfect storm for the government, handing the opposition Islamists a record vote in what was perceived as a protest against rising prices.

"Tomorrow we will start building a brighter future," said opposition icon Anwar Ibrahim, de facto leader of Parti Keadilan, which emerged as the biggest opposition party in federal parliament with 31 seats. "This is a new dawn for Malaysia."

Anwar, a Malay and former deputy premier, is widely seen as the only politician who could unify the ideologically divided opposition into a coherent and credible political force, though many political experts see this an almost impossible task.

Anwar was banned from standing in the elections because of a criminal record -- he spent six years in jail until 2004 on what he called trumped-up charges -- but is expected to take over his old seat from his wife, who has held it since his 1998 jailing.

Results from the elections commission as of 0320 GMT showed the National Front with 137 seats in the 222-seat parliament versus 82 for the opposition, with 3 seats still being tallied.

(Writing and additional reporting by Mark Bendeich; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani)
from REUTERS.