Bulan Mei merupakan bulan keramat bagi negara kita yang saban tahun menjadi lambang bagi memperingati jasa dan pengorbanan para guru yang telah banyak mencurahkan jasa dan bakti kepada anak-anak bangsa; saya tidak terkecuali daripada menerima didikan dan kasih sayang kepada insan-insan yang bernama guru sejak saya di sekolah tadika lagi sehinggalah sekarang.
Pada kesempatan ini, saya ingin mengucapkan selamat hari guru kepada seluruh warga pendidik pada amnya dan guru-guru yang pernah mengajar saya khasnya; jasa kalian amatlah saya hargai.
Teringin saya menyingkap semula zaman sekolah menengah dahulu. Inilah pembikinan video untuk hari guru sempena tahun akhir kami semasa berada di sekolah menengah kira-kira 4 tahun lampau:
Jasa kitakorg x pat kmk lupak. Ktkorglah antara sebab kmk jadi kmk ari tok. Terima kaseh byk2... mudahan panjang umo dan murah rezeki ktkorg, cekgu2 kmk.
Berilmu, Beriman, Beramal! Al-Itqan Fil 'Amal! Learning and Labor!
Finally, the Spring Semester is done and I am free from the burden of classes, exams and research papers! Now, I can concentrate my time on doing something else: reading.
My reading list for this summer:
Must finish: 1. The Holy Qur'an (Translation by Abdullah Yusuf Ali) 2. The Bible 3. Bhagavad Gita
Motivated to finish: 4. Islam and Economic Challenges (M.U. Chapra) 5. The Book of I-Ching 6. Issues in Contemporary Islamic Thought (Al-Alwani) Done! (5/14/08) 7. Rethinking Muslim Women and the Veil (Katherine Bullock) 8. Islam and Democracy (Esposito and Voll) Done! (7/12/08) 9. Islam in Transition (Donohue and Voll) 10. The Cross and The Crescent (Richard Fletcher) 11. The Undercover Economist (Tim Harford)
Optional read: 12. Tajdid al-Fikri'l Islami (Muhsin 'Abd. Rahman) 13. Contemplation: An Islamic Psychospiritual Study (Malik Badri) 14. Treatise on Maqasid al-Shari'ah (Ibn Ashur) 15. The Palestine-Israeli Conflict (Cohn-Sherbok and El-Alami) 16. World Philosophies (Ninian Smart) 17. IDIOT'S Guide to Philosophy (Jay Stevenson)
Reading time commences: Monday, May 12,2008 Reading time ends : Sunday, August 24, 2008
I hope I could finish all the readings before the Fall Semester begins. Gotta catch up with a lot of stuff! {>.<}
Earlier this morning, I had a final exam, a rather unconventional one, that is presenting what we had found in a month-long research about media and politics in the United States. More specifically, we embarked on research regarding the nature of coverage of American print media in respect to Vietnam War - its biases, slants, agenda setting, etc.
Shazani, Abby, and Brooke representing the research team (Rebecca and Leila were absent from the picture)
Deliberating the case and the evidences
Defending the case
From the research, we had concluded some findings that are rather surprising especially for me who are relatively unfamiliar with American media. Some of the findings are:
1. Depiction of gory pictures in American media then are common, as opposed to contemporary norms. 2. The sub-humanization of the North Vietnamese Armies (NVAs): the diminution of their military capabilities and their reference to a particular politically-adverse connotation to an ideology. 3. The progress of American media: from being sympathetic to US Government and US Army, into being sympathetic to war protesters and the Vietnamese.
For me, none surprise me more except for the third factor: the change of American media's attitude as the war progresses. Before, I thought American media was 'free' and 'unbiased'. It was not until embarking deep into the research - into the news articles themselves during the 1960s that I discovered that American media had also undergone a process of evolution. Even during the earlier part of Vietnam War, the one-sided propaganda was rife - it was not until during the Tet Offensive to the Battle of Hamburger Hill period that the American media was really 'adverse' against the US government (this period is called the 'adversarial period' in US media history).
Now, allow me bring this discussion into the context of Malaysian media. I believe that Malaysian media is also undergoing the process of change as the American media had about fourty years ago. With the advent of new media such as the blogs and YouTube, the definition of 'media' is being radically redefined especially in the case for Malaysia. It is well known today that the dominance of mainstream American media is shattering (Althaus); this also stands true for Malaysian media when we had witnessed the 'political tsunami' that had denied the Ruling Party the 2/3 majority for the first time in the modern history of Malaysia, arguably partly because of the influence of the new media.
Is the media revolution good or bad for the future development of Malaysian media? Well, let me lay the ground for the two major contending arguments regarding the development. 1) It is bad because the new media is not mediated - people are too free to speak whatever they want including specious and seditious claims. 2) It is good because it promotes space for Democracy and advancing it to a higher level. Now, allow me to elaborate on the first argument.
Perhaps the first argument, in context of Malaysian media, could be explained by Daniel Hallin's Three Spheres Model. According to Hallin, there are three spheres in defining 'fair reporting' namely the Sphere of Consensus, the Sphere of Legitimate Controversy, and the Sphere of Deviance. The first sphere, the Sphere of Consensus, encircles uncontroversial issues agreed by the majority in the society. For example, in context of the American society, capitalism is legitimate, communism is bad, and there is nothing against that. The Sphere of Legitimate Controversy encompasses gray issues where the debates between two-party is equal, or almost equal, in strength. For example, in the United States, the issue recreational drugs - some are for it, others are not. Last but not least, The Sphere of Deviance covers the issues that the society itself as unworthy to be heard. For example, in American society, Marxism is worthless.
Now, in context of Malaysian society, to 'jaga air muka' is very important, especially for the Malays. Unlike other cultures who can 'just fire 'em up' while making condemnations and giving advice, the Malays prefer the subtle way of 'sindiran', 'jangan cakap depan orang', and 'cakap one-on-one' should the need for condemnation and advice arises. The 'jaga air muka' value is so ingrained in the society, or least according to a majority of a society, or a defining power that maintains it, that everything that goes against the norms fall into the Sphere of Deviance. Thus, even the notion of creation blog(a blog by itself is neutral), but if it is associated with the notion of 'menjatuhkan air muka', must be rejected by the society and the dissenters should be punished, and so the argument says.
Now let me bring you to the second argument, that the new media (the blogs, You Tube etc.) spurs Democracy. For this, allow me to utilize the Trustee Model and the Republicanism approach to the understanding of Democracy - this is the model envisioned by America's founding fathers to create a 'just' and 'equal' society based on the constant participation of the people in the matters of national governance and politics. This model requires that there is a need for the people to be constantly informed about the problems in a society so that they could formulate arguments, and the argument will be discussed through a forum, where the best argument prevails. In this context, blogs can be likened as a space for the forum and the cyberspace as the Parliament where arguments can be traded. Because of the lack of space in conventional media that ultimately stifles Democracy because it prevents the right of free-speech, this argument says, the new media provides a ground for those who are unable to get their voice out in the mainstream media to sell their ideas in the cyberspace, the Virtual Parliament.
In respect to the last General Election's result, as far as my faculty of thoughts could offer, I think that the latter argument seems to win more supporters than the former. Although the causal effect (at least an academic research that verifies it, as far as my knowledge goes) is yet to be determined whether or not the new media is the direct cause of the 'political tsunami' in Malaysia, it is obvious that the social activists and politicians are utilizing them to disseminate their ideas to the public - short-circuiting the mainstream media. Secondly, the receivers - the new generation, whom many are computer-literate and whom at least had received the secondary-level of education, are not buying unilateral arguments given the variety of arguments available for them in the Virtual Parliament, the internet. In fact, they can indeed be one of the Virtual MPs themselves by presenting their own arguments in their own blogs and "vote" by making their stand on particular issues.
Now does that mean that the first argument should be debunked? Not in totality because it also has its point - that the space should be conducive for everybody to have meaningful debates and deliberations. If in actual Parliment we have 'Peraturan Mesyuarat' (Point of Order), in Virtual Parliament, we should have similar orders as well. Thus, malicious, blind accusations, vulgar languages and similar misbehavior should not be tolerated by the fellow Virtual MPs, the bloggers. Then can the virtual MPs be credible, respected by other fellow virtual MPs and the virtual rakyats watching them.
Therefore, where to go from now? Is there a chance for mainstream media coalesce with new media given the current situation in Malaysian context. There is a chance, given the will of the people and the acceptance that change is happening over time - forcing the classic model of media understanding, the Hypodermic Needle Model, obsolete. With the advent of new media, everybody who has access to the internet now has a chance to speak - an whoever speak with most substance are supported by the majority, wins!
Reference: Althaus, Scott L. "Free Falls, High Dives, and the Future of Democratic Accountability". The Politics of News The News of Politics. 2nd ed. 2008. CQ Press:Washington D.C. 5 May 2008.
Have you ever wondered how the Muslims may have been treated treated in America? Well, I have wondered, too, and I have wondered for a long time. Currently living in America myself, as an international student, taught me a lot about this civilization. Below is the video that may shed some light (and even a lot of surprises) about how Muslims are treated in the United States:
Now that I assume you have watched the entire video.
To be honest with you, I think my Muslim girl friends do share quite a similar experience with the young lady. I dare saying so because I had a first-hand experience walking along with them along the streets of Urbana-Champaign and get 'reactions' from the by-passers. I shall categorize the reactions into three namely positive, neutral, and negative.
For positive reactions, this usually happen during the daytime and in 'orderly' places such as the Student Union and the classrooms (of course, the streets are not entirely excluded here). What I mean by 'positive' is there are strangers conveying 'salaam' (the greetings of peace and salutations) with such a mild manner that is pleasing to the ears that listen and the eyes that see. Yes, I mean it, because there was once walking down the street, with few of my Muslim girl friends when suddenly a shabby-looking man at the side of the road (I think he is homeless, based on his look), delivered a 'salaam', "assalamualaikum" to us. And of course, we were surprised, and pleasantly surprised! This "incident" happened more than a year ago when I was barely three weeks in America when I was a freshman. Now I am a sophomore, almost a junior.
For the neutral reactions, well, I consider glimpses and gazes from other people 'neutral'. This, I think, that I (or more accurately, my Muslim girl friends) receive more often than the 'positives' and the 'negatives'. Well, you know, you can always feel the 'beam' when somebody tried to catch a glimpse of you when you are queuing up to buy coffee or while you are studying somewhere in the corner of the library. Of course, too much glimpses makes you feel uneasy. But ultimately, I really can't judge because I can't read their mind, can I? It may well that they are thinking about something else (or may be even looking at something else), so, let's cast the pre-judgments away and allow the benefit of the doubt.
For the 'negative' reactions. Now this is a thing unpleasant. Yes, it happens. But to be fair, this situation happens the least of the time if compared to the positives and the neutrals. I had witnessed once, maybe twice, such ugly sight, though. Once, I clearly remembered when we were walking during one night (well, it is well advised that we ought not to loiter the streets at night but we did anyway), a car suddenly passed and the people in there shouted, "GO BACK TO YOUR OWN COUNTRY!!!" and they left. Wowwww... what an experience. And yes, I remembered a friend of mine reported that she had a rotten-egg been thrown at her by the rascal in the car. Drunken guys? Hmm...
Well, for the above cases, I think it happens primarily to the girls, presumably because they wear the hijab on their head. This makes their Muslim identity more revealing. But for me, my 'Muslimness' is more invisible presumably because I am a guy, hence I do not have an immediate religious symbol attached to me and I don't keep beard. Thus, here my personal story follows:
For me, I think my personal experience as a Muslim here is more pleasant. Yes, I make friends with a lot of Americans from various races: Caucasians, African-Americans, Japanese Americans, Chinese-Americans, and even international students from various countries (Austrians, Koreans etc. etc.) and not even once they look down on me because I'm a Muslim. In fact, we had our good time together.
I remembered, during my freshman year, I live in a dorm called "Global Crossroads" (GC). There, I met lots of people from different cultures from various places and yes, later, many of them turned to be my good friends. In GC, every month, we celebrate birthday parties without a miss, thanks to our awesome Resident Advisor, a Korean. Late at night, I still remembered when I had serious talks (with topics ranging from religions to world peace) and pep-talks (such as which girl do you like most) with my dorm-mates from various backgrounds and races.
And do they care me as a Muslim and ask about Islam? Yes!
Yes, they do ask about Islam. One of the most popular question is "why do your [Muslim] friends (the girls) wear the 'thing' on their head (referring to the headscarf or the hijab)? And I need to answer to that. Also, they seem to be quite surprised when I explain to them why Muslims don't drink and they seem to pay their attention to that and yes, they even respect me for not drinking!
I still remember at one time when I joined my American friends in a farewell party at her house. As more people come, they bring along with them And yea, 'Bud Lights', 'Chardonnay', 'Sonoma Valley Red Wine', you name them... and I just counted how many bottles and cans they were and starting to wonder whether they could still be sober after the party is over. Of course, they do not forget me, they bought me a dozen of pepsis and sprites because I told them that I am a teetotaler. And yes, even one of my Austrian girl friend said to me: "well, I tell you, you don't miss a lot of thing by not drinking. there is much more other delicious things that you can drink beside alcohols", when I asked her about what does the wine tastes like. Well, that's about the classic college party. Now I shall bring to you how does American classrooms and professors treat me.
About American classrooms, this is even more interesting. I took few political science courses as well as literature courses in this university. And one that I could never forget is the experience of the openness and integrity of learning in the American classroom. One time, I had a Professor, a Hindu, a very prominent one, his last name is "Gandhi" (and yes, if you remember history, Mohandas Gandhi. My Professor is his grandson). Now, we had this special topic about 'Terrorism, the West and Islam' with him. And guess what? I still remember how my Professor DEFENDED Islam against the stereotypes that may Western colleagues may have learned from the media and their ill-willed politicians. I still remember my Professor's lines, "...it was not Islam who caused the war in Rwanda, it was not Islam who caused the Holocaust, it was not Islam who caused the Vietnam War. Thus, is it fair to blame Islam about the terrorism issue that is plaguing the world today?", and he noted this in a high-strung manner, almost getting angry, I perceive.
Also, I have a Professor, a Christian and a Republican, whom I respect a lot. While I'm doing my Honor research project with him, we discuss lots and lots of thing about matters of the world today, religious issues included. And I can't tell you more how happy and intellectually satisfied I am when I meet him - we exchanged views regarding religion - and yes, he is very much interested in learning what is happening with the Muslim world and about Islam (About why my name has 'Bin' on it etc. etc.). And I am learning from him the wisdom of the Western civilization as well as getting a clearer picture of how a good Christian ought to live their life (now it really reminds me about verses in the Quran saying something about the People of the Book who are sincere and not arrogant).
About my colleagues, I can name you at least two of my American friends who have the Quran and its translations in their possession and are learning Arabic. When I ask one of them why she learns Arabic, she replied: "so that I could understand the Quran better and in its own language." Haha, you know what, I couldn't tell you how humbled I am at the time because there are others who are willing to learn about Islam! Yes, they took the pain of learning Arabic (remember they have no basic at all, not about Islam, not about Middle Eastern languages, not even about Muslims... they start from zilch!). And yes, at other times, I meet with my American friend to have chit-chat, at coffee house, etc. and exchange opinions about life and matters. And yes, they do ask a lot about Islam!
Well, I could write more, but I think this is suffice to give you the general overview about the experience of being a Muslim here in the United States. Of course, I can't speak on behalf of everybody, but certainly, I speak on behalf of myself in my case here in the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. I thank God for giving me such a wonderful experience here by living and learning in the cradle of the West, the United States.
Pssst.... let's join the ride of Yusuf Islam's "Peace Train" and let our face be blown with the Scorpions' "Winds of Change"! :)
It has been quite sometime since I've put something to put on my blog. I wanted to write about Malaysian political situation right now but it obviously takes quite an amount of research to get some substantive points out of the box. I also wanted to write more about Rachel Corrie but it also demands some amount of research so that thoughts regarding her stories would be worth to ponder about. So, after going through few mind-circus and contemplation (and a certain amount of randomness), I decided to end up writing about a Galician* song namely *Canto de Andar by Luar Na Lubre.
Well, it would be best if you listen to the "song" yourself in the first place:
Not familiar with the Galician language? Me neither. This is the lyrics that I found in YouTube, thanks to shangqinli:
Amence pasenino nas terras do solpor As bretemas esvaense coas raiolas do sol Meu amor, meu amor, imos cara o maior Mina amada, meu ben, imos polas terras do Alen Acarina o silencio e escoita o corazon Que moitos dos teus sonos latexan ao deu son E tempo de camino andar e de non esquecer Que o futuro que ha de vir e o que has de facer E o sol vai silandeiro deitandose no mare Facendonos pequenos con tanta immensidade
And here's the English translation and a credit to lamarga1 (I have edited it a bit to make it sounds nicer in English):
It is dawning slowly in the lands of the sunset the -- fade with the first sun rays My love, my love, we go to face the age My beloved, my sweetheart we're going through the lands of Alen. Caress the silence and listen to your heart Because most of your dreams beat at the same song And it's time to go across the way And not to forget the time that will come and what you have to do. And the sun goes silent, delighting in the sea, Making us small with so much immensity.
*Canto = a long epic poem, Latin cantus, "song" (Wikipedia) *Andar = to walk, to function, to do, to go along, to be (About.com)
I am posting this song because it is for me, a rare piece of love song where the singer actually advises his/her lover about the philosophy of life. Hmm... I think we didn't get to hear that too often in the lust-ridden, beauty-worshiping contemporary love songs the TVs, the radios, the I-Pods, and the internet are feeding us today.
