Monday, November 20, 2006

Eid Mubaraq 1427

Staff of FSPPP.













Academic members of FSPPP.

Wednesday, November 08, 2006

Bangsa Melayu

The Vision 2020 & National Agenda blueprints define 'bangsa Malaysia' fairly comprehensively. Now, look at what one scholar (Ismail Noor, 2003) has got to say about 'bangsa Melayu'. Maybe after this we can have a closer look at some of the self-explained definitions of a Chinese, Indian etc.
“The Malay is a practising Muslim, residing in Malaysia, whose roots go back to his ancestors of the Old Malcca Empire and of those who were sons of the soil in the other parts of the Malay archipelago, strecthing as far back in history as 3000BC. The Malay is endowed with a cultural heritage that has made him known throughout as the “gentleman of the world”. The Malay lives in a sanguine environment that is free from the vagaries of the weather and the harshness of natural calamities. The grace that God Almighty has bestowed upon the Malay has moulded him into a person who follows the path of temperence, making him a gentle and considerate person. His attributes and personality are clearly reflected even in the fine art of Malay cultural dance, whihc is expressed in slow and graceful movements depicting his affinity with the peaceful surroundings. The Malay is also a wonderful and gracious host to his guests, and this has been depicted in the writings of not a few Westerners, at times putting him at a disadvantageous position when dealing with pthers. But over time, he has also learned to manage his boundaries, be they physical or psychological, well. The modern Malay is suave, savvy, enterprising and values-driven. The globalised world will be his next battleground.”

Monday, November 06, 2006

Bangsa Malaysia?

Datuk Abdul Ghani Osman, the Chief Minister of Johor had recently iterated his view on Dr. Lim Kheng Yaik & M.Kayveas's much propagated slogan of Bangsa Malaysia. Read his view, here.

Friday, November 03, 2006

"Think"

“There are seven sins in the world:

Wealth without work, pleasure without conscience, knowledge without character, commerce without morality, science without humanity, worship without sacrifice and politics without principle.”

(M. K. Gandhi)

Thursday, November 02, 2006

Leadership & Leading

The government yesterday announced the establishment of Akept - Akademi Kepimpinan Pengajian Tinggi - which emphasises on the leadership aspect of teaching staff in all public institutions (of higher learning). (Not long ago, the Star published an open letter written by a university lecturer in the Klang Valley). The establishment of the academy is indeed timely and welcomed. As a beginning, the academy is emphasising on the leadership skills of academics. In the future, the terms of reference of the academy perhaps, can be extended, focusing more on the people.
Leadership is not all about skills. It is about the quality of people that we have in ummah, in the society. Islam, as a din, regards man as the vicegerent of God on earth. Every man is entrusted onto him trust (amanah) and responsibility to rule and dominate the earth according to God’s will and purpose, as laid out by the al-Qur’an (Al-Baqarah (2): 30). In doing so – i.e dominating the earth – human must, at all time, hold on to the condition that they remain obidient to God, that is, being God’s servant, or ‘abd Allah. It is, therefore, pertinent to note that Islam views leadership as a trust that comes with responsibilities. As opposed to the Western tradition, where the trust is normally observed and emphasised in the form of organisational objectives, Islam relates leadership with the trust which is from God. Thus, it is clearly stated that the basic conception of leadership is man-centred.
The term din is not the same as the concept ‘religion’ as interpreted and understood throughout Western religious history. Here, din is understood in such a way that, all the basic connotations inherent in the term are conceived as gathered into a single unity of coherent meaning as reflected in the Holy Qur’an and in the Arabic language to which it belongs. Thus, as iterated by many scholars (e.g Syed Muhammad Naquib; Syyed Hossein Nasr), the primary significations of the term din can be reduced to four: (1) indebtedness; (2) submissiveness; (3) judicious power; (4) natural inclination or tendency.

Wednesday, November 01, 2006

Malay Leaders

(It is Zahier's birthday today (November 1st). Happy birthday, Zahier. God bless you. God bless us.)

Perhaps perceptions of some Malay politicans and partisan regarding leadership concept is worth considered, as narrated in the following example. Shortly after the UMNO split in 1987, the general sentiment of some Malays partisan – as reported by mainstream newspapers – were reported to be quite critical of how idealistic their leaders attributes should be. As Milne & Mauzy (1999:4) observed, the sentiment was that,“The leader must fight for the Malay cause, should not be sombong, should have tokoh (style), and preferably, should be of aristocratic birth.”Some other desirable traits or features were also mentioned, such as tradition, harmony, and peaceful succession, while disapproval of impatience and ambition was expressed.