Penangnites came for PSY, not Najib, says Susan Loone
About 30,000 braved the sweltering heat to see top South Korean pop star Psy gallop on stage to perform his world famous ‘Oppa Gangnam style’ at the BN’s open house in Penang today.
They were with Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak at Penang state BN Chinese New Year (CNY) open house held at the Han Chiang College field.The numbers were short of the expected 80,000, although a police officer on his rounds said he estimated the crowd as about 50,000.
As Najib was entering the venue, the emcee shouted “Are you ready for Psy! Are you ready for Oppa Gangnam style!” before welcoming the PM and his entourage of BN leaders.
Despite the emcee asking the people to give PM a rousing welcome, the crowd was mostly subdued, many fanning themselves under the burning February heat.
Puteri UMNO and BN supporters were seen waving ‘I love PM!’ banners but they were in the minority. Nibong Tebal MIC chief R Rajagopal said he had arranged 10 buses to the event.
When asked why he was not shouting “I love PM!”, the 62-year-old retiree replied “It’s okay, I’ve done a lot of that already”.
Attired in red traditional Chinese shirts, Najib and wife Rosmah Mansor together with children Ashman and Nooryana Najwa, arrived at 10.48am and were greeted by a lion dance troupe and a Chingay procession. He was accompanied by state BN leaders Teng Chang Yeow, Teng Hock Nan, and Tourism Minister Ng Yen Yen as well as former premier Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.
Yellow, green and red
As of 9.30am when the programme started, traffic was smooth and hundreds of police and volunteers corps were stationed at various points to direct traffic and manage the crowd.
When met on the field, Penang Plice chief Abdul Rahim Hanafi estimated the crowd to be about 50,000 to 60,000. “We deployed about 1,200 personnel today and it is a peaceful gathering,” he told Malaysiakini.
Many were seen in yellow, green and red. There were also UMNO members wearing red as it is their party’s colour. There were also those wearing the T-shirts of NGO BERSIH.
One, Alex Tan, 27 (right) from Klang, said he came to see Psy and to support Pakatan.
“I arrived as early as 7am with five others,” he added.
Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng had earlier advised the public to wear yellow in a show of support for BERSIH, green for environment and red for change, but his suggestion didn’t go down well with BN leaders.
Initially, participants were not allowed to enter the field without special passes of ‘I love PM’ stickers and many were at a loss as to where to get them.
This is the first time BN had organised its CNY function in the open, at the Han Chiang field which has begun to be a symbol of Pakatan Rakyat.
Pakatan, with DAP leading, held a gathering here before the 2008 general election where thousands turned up to show their support, leading the opposition coalition to victory on March 8 that year.
Before Najib and his entourage arrived, the crowd was entertained by several performances from an orchestra. Traditional dances and a dragon and phoenix dance were also featured.
In his speech, state BN chief Teng Chang Yeow said BN had brought the best in the world and Asia through 1Malaysia initiator of Najib.”We want to bring the best to Penang,” he added.
Goodies for those with ‘pink papers’
At the end of event, the crowd lined up at the Han Chiang stadium venue for angpow, goodie bags and boxes of oranges. A senior citizen at the scene said that only people with special ‘pink papers’ were given the handouts by a group in ‘Kelab Penyokong BN’ attire.
“I managed to get three packets of angpow, a bag with packets of rice and packets of other edible stuff and a box of oranges,” he told Malaysiakini, telling this reporter to line up and get the goodies before they ran out.
Commentary on Azharudin M Dali’s Sejarah Masyarakat India di Malaysia
by Dr. Ranjit Singh Malhi (received via e-mail)
The Malaysian Sikh Community has the distinction of being a progressive and dynamic community which within one generation was transformed from predominantly being one of policemen, bullock carters, watchmen, dairymen and mining labourers into doctors, lawyers, teachers and other professionals. The Sikhs, proportionately, have perhaps the largest number of professionals compared to any other group in Malaysia.
Unfortunately, the history of the Sikhs in Malaysia is yet to be fully written and has received scant academic attention to date. In this regard, the latest book by Dr. Azharudin Mohamed Dali of the University of Malaya entitled Sejarah Masyarakat India di Malaysia with one entire chapter on the Sikh Community is greatly welcomed.
I am currently completing a book pertaining to the social, economic and political history of the Sikhs in Malaysia. Allow me to share with your readers numerous factual errors pertaining to the Malaysian Sikh Community in Dr. Azharudin’s book as shown in the table below to avoid them being repeated in subsequent writings. To be fair, two of the factual errors can be traced to the sources cited by Dr. Azharudin.
Errors
Facts (Authoritative Sources)
1.
Date the Order of the Khalsa was instituted (pg. 110) – 1619
1699
2.
Date Khalsa Diwan Malaya was established (pg. 113) – 1902
27 December 1903
3.
Sikhs have not objected to being referred to as “Bengalis” (pg. 14)
In April 2008, Sikhs objected strongly when Perak’s Menteri Besar, Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin wrongly referred to the Sikhs as “Bengalis”
4.
There was only one Sikh organization in Malaya in 1917 (pg. 112)
There were at least five Sikh organizations in Malaya in 1917: Khalsa Diwan Malaya, Sri Guru Singh Sabha Ipoh, Sri Guru Singh Sabha Pusing, Sri Guru Singh Sabha Larut and Sri Guru Singh Sabha Central Workshops (Sentul)
5.
Name of Sikh organization formed in 1926 (pg. 112) - Malaya Khalsa Diwan
Guru Khalsa Diwan Malaya
6.
Date Sikh commercial immigrants arrived in Malaya in significant numbers (pg. 106) - early twentieth century
Late 1920s
7.
Name of second MIC President (pg. 111) - Bodh Singh
Budh Singh
8.
Khalsa Diwan Malaya of Selangor was formed in May 1918 (pg. 113)
Khalsa Diwan Malaya of Selangor was registered in January 1918
9.
Wir Singh was in Singapore until December 1915 before leaving for Penang and Perlis (pg. 120)
Wir Singh was in Perlis in January 1915 and when Jagat Singh was arrested in May 1915, he fled to Sumatra to continue his anti-British activities
10.
Date Komagata Maru (ship) arrived in Vancouver (pg. 119) – 21 May 1914
23 May 1914
Additionally, Dr. Azharudin gives the erroneous impression that the Sikhs of the Malay States Guides (MSG) stationed at Singapore played a major role in the Singapore Mutiny of February 1915. The hard truth is that the 1915 Mutiny was a rebellion against the British started and conducted almost entirely by one half of the 5th Light Infantry regiment (Muslim Rajputs) of the British Indian Army stationed at Singapore. The ringleaders of the mutiny – Subedar Dunde Khan, Jemedar Chisti Khan and Havildar Imtiaz Ali – and Sepoy Ismail Khan who fired the first shot of the mutiny were all men of the 5th Light Infantry.
Only eleven (7 Sikhs and four Muslims) out of about 97 men of the MSG (Mountain Battery) stationed at Singapore were charged and convicted of complicity in the mutiny. The seven Sikhs were found in Tiong Bahru where shooting had taken place in the vicinity and two of their rifles having been recently fired. Six of the Sikhs were sentenced to nine months and the seventh sentenced to eleven months of imprisonment.
According to Dr. T. R. Sareen in his book, Secret Documents on Singapore Mutiny 1915, the seven Sikhs were sentenced to imprisonment under very flimsy circumstantial evidence. Both the rifles confirmed to have been fired were not used by the Sikhs against any British officers or troops loyal to them. It is highly likely that these rifles were thrust upon the Sikhs by the native officers of the 5th Light Infantry when the rebellion broke out. The four other Guides (non-Sikhs) were sentenced to imprisonment terms of between one and a half to two years “without hard labour” for being absent from their camp for three days and having arms in their possession, a few of which belonged to the 5th Light Infantry.
There was no evidence at all that the Mountain Battery of the MSG had participated in the outrages committed by the 5th Light Infantry. When the mutiny broke out, most of the Guides ran away to Singapore town and some surrendered themselves at the Central Police Station.
Later evidence revealed that some men of the MSG were intimidated to join the mutineers and that two Sikhs of the Mountain Battery of the MSG removed the breechblocks of two artillery guns and buried them in the ground. Both guns were later recovered after the mutiny.
The role of the MSG in the 1915 Mutiny has been aptly summarized by Dr. T. R. Sareen as follows: “… there is no shred of evidence to connect the individuals (of MSG) with any of the outrages or with various detachments of mutineers … their conduct though lacking in initiative, was perhaps justifiable.”
To sum up, out of the 202 men tried by court-martial for their involvement in the 1915 Mutiny, only 11 belonged to the MSG and all of the 47 insurgents sentenced to death and executed were men of the 5th Light Infantry.
We wish all Mandarin friends and associates at home here in Malaysia and around the world Cong Xi Fa Cai. All the best and let us make the world a better and more peaceful place.
Although Asian astrologists have not given 2013 a thumps up, we of the human race must persevere to make it a good one. To some extent, we are masters of our fate.
For us in Malaysia, 2013 is an election year since rumours in Kuala Lumpur have it that GE-13 will be held at the end of March. The campaign season which began in 2009 with our country on auto-pilot since has entered its final phase.
We await to read the manifestos of both UMNO-Barisan and Pakatan Rakyat and scrutinize their list of candidates for the national and state elections. Please decide wisely and choose a government that genuinely listens to, and serves us well.
GE-13 promises to be a hotly contested one. But that is normal in adversarial politics. But once elections are over and the outcome is known, we must accept the newly mandated government and work to support it, holding it fully accountable for its decisions and actions. That is democracy and good citizenship.
Dr Kamsiah and I want a government that fights corruption, uses our money to benefit the entire nation, and makes our streets, work places, schools, shopping malls, and our homes safe. We need competent and honest Ministers in the new Cabinet who are imbued with some idealism and the will to do what is right and do it right to take the country towards its goal of becoming a developed nation by 2020.
In the Year of the Snake which is supposed to be a very challenging one, let us start thinking we are Malaysians, not “pendatangs” and “kafirs” on the one side and “sons (and daughters) of the soil” and believers on the other. Let us act as proud, hardworking, honest and self-reliant people. We can accomplish great tasks and overcome challenges, only if we do it together. A House divided cannot stand. All the best to you. Cong Xi Fa Cai–Dr. Kamsiah and Din Merican
Despite the global sensation created by South Korean artist Psy, PAS spiritual leader Nik Abdul Aziz Nik has been oblivious about it and even mistook Psy for a woman.
Even Psy is not exempted from PAS’ Modesty Rules
According to a Sin Chew Daily report yesterday, he urged Psy to tutup aurat (protect modesty) when told by media that BN has invited a South Korean celebrity to perform at its Chinese New Year open house on February 11.
When told that Psy is a man, Nik Aziz was concerned whether the content of the songs is positive for the youngsters.The 82-year-old politician also asked reporters, “In what language does he sing?” and after being told that it is Korean, he was perplexed on why people listen to songs in a language that they do not understand.
The Kelantan Menteri Besar commented that it is extravagant to hire foreign performers as the resources can be used to develop local artists.
“Don’t we have many local singers? Why don’t we hire local youths? Isn’t is better to spend the money on our youths?” he asked.
Psy, or Park Jae-sang, is a South Korean singer, songwriter, rapper, dancer and record producer, who gained global fame after his hit single ‘Gangnam Style’ featuring his horse-riding dance became a worldwide sensation.
It is estimated that the cost to invite him to perform just the hit song would easily hit RM1 million. However, BN leaders have clarified that Psy’s performance will not cost BN or the government a single sen as it will be sponsored by private companies, but the Opposition and many people remained unconvinced.
DALAM siri temuramah Suaris bersama Dr Bakri Musa bahagian kedua, Dr menyatakan pentingnya orang Melayu bersama pemimpin-pemimpinnya melakukan anjakan dengan mengubah pemikiran mereka ke arah kemajuan dan rasionaliti. Mereka tidak sepatutnya taksub kepada ajaran mahu pun arahan yang meminta mereka supaya berfikiran jumud, mundur ke belakang sekalipun arahan itu datangnya dari seorang ulama atau pemimpin utama. Mereka juga diseru supaya membuang kebergantungan berlebihan mereka kepada tongkat (bantuan kerajaan) supaya mereka lebih berdikari dan percaya diri.
Ikuti temuramah tersebut selengkapnya.
Suaris: Dr Mahathir dalam satu rancangan di Astro Awani beberapa hari lepas berkata orang Melayu akan terus ketinggalan sekiranya tidak dibantu, yang diistilahkan beliau sebagai tongkat. Adakah Dr bersetuju orang Melayu terus diberikan tongkat berkenaan. Sampai bila bantuan ini perlu diteruskan?
Dr Bakri: Kalau orang Melayu sekarang masih lagi kebelakangan selepas lebih daripada 55 tahun di “bantu” oleh kerajaan UMNO, kita patut periksa dengan teliti apakah yang disifatkan “bantuan” itu.
Sebagai ibu bapa kita sedia maklum betapa mustahaknya cara kita membantu anak anak kita. Kalau kita selalu sahaja memanjakan, jangan harapkan mereka menjadi cemerlang. Kalau kita terlalu kuat atau “strict,” mungkin mereka akan hilang ketegasan sendiri (self-confidence). Begitu juga kalau kita selalu memburukkan dan memberatkan kelemahan mereka.
Dalam rawatan moden, seseorang yang sudah dibedah tulang punggungnya jarang diberi tongkat; kalau diberi hanya untuk seminggu dua sahaja. Sebaliknya, pesakit diberi physiotherapy untuk tujuan berjalan sendiri tanpa tongkat. Pesakit yang saya bedah, pada keesokan harinya saya menyuruh dia bangun berjalan tanpa pertolongan.
Banyak bahayanya jika si pesakit terbaring sahaja di atas katil, antaranya darah beku (blood clot) yang boleh mengakibatkan maut. Pesakit yang saya bedah kerana appendicitis biasanya keluar dari hospital pada esok hari dan kembali berkerja dalam tempoh seminggu. Dua puloh tahun dahulu, si pesakit seumpama tinggal di hospital lebih seminggu.
Satu wawasan perubatan ialah jika badan kita (sama ada urat, tulang, dan juga otak) tidak di kerjakan atau dilatih ia akan menjadi lemah dan reput. Jika saya ikatkan bujang (pemuda) yang kuat dan sehat di atas katil dan “bantu” dia makan, mandi dan sebagainya supaya dia tak payah pun bergerak satu urat, tak sampai seminggu hamba Allah itu tidak akan boleh bangun sendiri; dia akan memohon tongkat sebab badannya sudah menjadi lemah. Itu bahayanya “menolong” berlebih- lebihan.
Kita perlu kaji dengan teliti mengapa “pertolongan” yang diberi kepada kaum kita oleh kerajaan UMNO tidak berkesan.
Dr. Mahathir pernah merawat pesakit. Kalau si pesakit tidak sembuh dengan ubat dan rawatan yang diberi, patutkah si doktor terus dengan ubat dan rawatan yang sama bertahun- tahun? Mungkin si pesakit patut dibantu dengan Penicillin, bukan Panadol.
Kadang kadang, walau pun ubat yang diberi itu sesuai, mungkin sukatan yang diberi tidak mencukupi atau berlebihan. Betul, Panadol akan menurunkan demam, tetapi hanya jika diberi dalam sukatan yang berpatutan. Kalau diberi suku pil sahaja, demam takkan turun, dan kita akan salahkan ubat!
Kalau kita bagi ubat berlebihan, itu pun boleh menjadi bisa dan bahaya. Di Amerika setiap tahun berapa orang kanak-kanak maut kerana ibu memberi Tylenol (ubat seperti Panadol) berlebihan mengikut sukatan yang sesuai untuk orang dewasa.
Kalaupun kita bagi ubat yang sesuai serta sukatan yang berpatutan tetapi pesakit masih tidak sembuh, ini bermakna kita patut dan mesti tukar “diagnosis” dan rawatan kita. Penyakit seperti appendicitis memerlukan pembedahan, bukan penicillin.
Mungkin pembaca kurang selesa dengan metafora perubatan, jadi saya gunakan gambaran peladang. Di ladang, kalau kita tidak cabutkan dengan habis-habisan termasuk uratnya, lalang akan gembur dan menimbun serta merosakkan tanaman yang berharga. Apa lagi kalau kita “tolong” lalang itu dengan membajakannya!
Kebun UMNO sekarang ditimbuni lalang. Kalau kita hendak menolong UMNO dan orang Melayu pada umumnya, kita patut semburkan racun Round Up untuk membunuh lalang-lalang itu supaya kita boleh tanam benda yang berguna dan mereka berpeluang bangun. Tetapi apa yang kita buat sekarang? Kita bajakan lalang! Alasannya, betul lalang, tetapi lalang Melayu! Kita mesti tolong sebab Melayu!
“Pertolongan” yang dihebohkan oleh Dr. Mahathir dan pemimpin-pemimpin UMNO saya sifatkan seumpama membajakan lalang. Akibatnya banyak dan lumayan lalang Melayu sekarang; Isa Samad sekarang sembur sebagai peneraju FELDA. Dia dibuktikan bersalah “wang politik” oleh kerabatnya dalam UMNO beberapa tahun lepas. Khir Toyo satu lagi lalang Melayu yang sekarang sembur dalam istana kayangannya yang dibiayai oleh (wang) rakyat.
Di bahagian swasta, lalang Tajuddin Ramli hampir mengorbankan kebun MAS. Banyak lagi lalang di Utusan dan New Straits Times. Dalilnya, pembaca NST sekarang tak sampai separuh daripada sepuluh tahun dahulu. Lalang Melayulah yang menimbun dan akhirnya memusnahkan Bank Bumiputra. Kita tidak hairan dengan kehijauan dan kesuburan lalang, walau pun lalang Melayu!
Pemimpin Melayu seperti Mahathir patut tekun mencari jalan lain yang lebih bererti dan berkesan untuk menolong kaum kita. Jangan hanya suka memuaskan hati dengan mencaci dan membangkitkan kononnya kelemahan bangsa kita. Masyarakat Melayu sekarang berkehendakkan pertolongan racun Roundup bukan baja Urea untuk menghapuskan ahli lalang dalam masyarakat kita. Kebun kita sudah dibanjiri lalang.
Ada pepatah Kristian yang saya terjemahkan lebih kurang seperti berikut. Kalau kita menolong si miskin dengan memberinya seekor ikan, dia akan dapat makan hanya sehari. Tetapi kalau kita tolong dengan mengajar dia mengail, dia akan dapat makan selama hidup. Kalau tolong lebih sedikit, seumpama memberi pinjaman untuk membeli sampan, dia akan mengail laut yang luas dan dapat menanggung sekampung.
Kita tidak menolong kaum kita dengan memberi kuota masuk universiti dengan senang, lesen mengimport dan kontrak-kontrak lumayan, atau menyuruh perusahaan bangsa lain mengambil pengarah-pengarah (biasanya ahli politik) Melayu. Jauh sekali! Itu hanya membajakan lalang. Mereka hanya “ersatz capitalists” atau perusahaan menenggek, bukan tulen.
Pertolongan yang lebih bermakna dan berkatnya berpanjangan ialah jika kita menolong orang Melayu berfikir sendiri. Bebaskan otak orang Melayu. Kalau ungkapan kita masa tahun lima puluhan dahulu ialah “Merdeka Tanah Melayu,” sekarang slogan kita mestilah, “Merdeka Minda Melayu!
Itulah tema buku saya terakhir, “Liberating The Malay Mind.” Apakah yang saya maksudkan dengan minda merdeka? Konsep ini lebih terang dijelaskan melalui cerita seorang alim, Mullah Nasaruddin. Ia terkenal kerana mengajar melalui contoh yang ringkas dan jenaka diri sendiri.
Dia ada jiran yang suka meminjam keldai Mullah tetapi lalai untuk mengembalikannya. Pada satu hari jiran itu datang untuk meminjam binatang itu. Pak Mullah, (yang telah) menjangkakan permintaan itu, telah dulunya menyorokkan binatang itu di dalam reban dan tidak ternampak dari luar. Bila jiran itu memohon, Mullah Nasaruddin dengan lenang membalas, “Keldai ku sudah dipinjam oleh abangku semalam.”
Bila jiran itu kecewa pusing balik, dia kedengaran binatang itu melaung dalam reban. “Kau katakan keldai telah dipinjam oleh abang kau.”
Mullah serta-merta menjawab, “Kau lebih percayai ringkikan keldai lebih daripada suara Mullah?”
Seorang yang mempunyai minda merdeka lebih mempercayai laungan keldai itu; mereka yang mempunyai minda yang masih dipenjarakan oleh adat dan budaya akan turut mempercayai Mullah walaupun keldai itu ada di hadapan mata.
Kita mesti melatih orang Melayu supaya bila kita dengar laungan keldai kita mesti mempercayai telinga kita walau pun Pak Lebai mengatakan itu hanya suara rekaan sahaja.
Dalam buku terakhir, saya mengemukakan empat cara untuk membebaskan minda Melayu. Pertama, membebaskan sebaran am dan punca-punca maklumat dan berita serta pandangan. Kedua, mengadakan sistem pendidikan yang bebas (liberal education) dan berlandasan kukuh atas asas sains dan matematik.
Ketiga, mendorongkan perusahan dan perdagangan dalam masyarakat kita; iaitu mengalakkan orang Melayu menjadi kaum perusahaan. Bila kita berdagang, kita sifatkan orang bangsa lain bukan sebagai pendatang tetapi bakal pelanggan kita. Maknanya, asas keuntungan kita!
Keempat, kita mesti kaji semula bagaimana kita mengajar agama kepada anak- anak kita serta bagaimana kita mengamalkan agama yang suci ini. Islam telah membebaskan kaum Bedouin Arab yang kanun, membebaskan mereka dari Zaman Jahiliyah kepada Zaman Cahaya. Begitu juga Islam patut membebaskan orang Melayu memulai dengan membebaskan minda kita.
Tanpa membebaskan minda Melayu, tidak kira berapa billion pertolongan kita beri, seberapa lumayan kontrak, AP serta kuota-kuota lain kita hadiahkan, atau berapa senangnya anak-anak kita masuk universiti, itu semuanya tidak bermakna atau berkesan. Semuanya itu bukan “pertolongan” yang tulin, bahkan hanya candu untuk syok sendiri dan hisapan khayalan sahaja. Semuanya saya umpamakan membajakan lalang.
Sebagai negara merdeka Malaysia telah mencapai banyak kejayaan. Kalau kita merdekakan minda Melayu, tidak terhad kejayaan kita sebagai perseorangan dan juga sebagai masyarakat. Yang indahnya, bila minda kita merdeka, ia tidak boleh lagi dipenjarakan.
Tidak payahlah kita ragukan unsur-unsur seperti globalisasi dan neokolonial. Kita tidak lagi bimbang bila anak kita fasih dalam bahasa Inggeris atau bahasa asing. Dengan minda merdeka kita tidak akan berasa terancam bila makhluk Allah lain menggunakan istilah ‘Allah’.
Merdekakan minda Melayu! Itulah satu pertolongan yang berkesan dan tak terharga!
Berbalik semula ke ‘tongkat’ yang paling dihargai oleh Mahathir dan kerabatnya dalam UMNO, bagaimana kita boleh mengharap orang-orang kampung membuang tongkat kecil kayu mereka sedangkan tongkat emas yang beberapa lagi indah dan besar diberi kepada sultan-sultan, raja- raja dan menteri- menteri?
Kita marah bila Pak Mat di Kampong Kerinchi menyelewengkan wang pinjaman MARA dua tiga ratus ringgit untuk memajukan warung kopinya untuk membeli baju sekolah anaknya, tetapi bila suami menteri menyelewengkan berjuta- juta duit rakyat untuk membeli kondo mewah, pemimpin seperti Mahathir senyap sahaja.
Melayu tak payah diberi tongkat apa-apa pun. Pertolongan yang patut diberi ialah untuk membebaskan minda kita. Kalau hendak beri pertolongan, hanya tolonglah sedikit mencabut lalang di kebun kita supaya pisang, timun dan kacang kita boleh berpeluang tumbuh. Kalau enggan berbuat demikian, tolong janganlah bajakan lalang tu!
WHEN you’re a ballerina in training, one is taught discipline through conformity. Uniformed leotards, peach-pink shoes, buns, belts, bars, tights and tutus are the same for everyone in class, no exceptions.
Every movement is coordinated with the music to precise timing, and like the toys in the Nutcracker, the foundation of being a ballerina is meticulous, coordinated and exact.
Conformity (picture of obedient Malay women in uniform) makes it easier for those above to control us, but for the minions it provides two options, the first relinquishes us from the painful task of thinking and the second, it stops us knowing what we really want – it stops us from dreaming for more and demands a sense of contentment.
For many that fear of being put down stops them from standing up or speaking out against injustices, or sharing their opinions for change. And so a large majority go along this path of obey, listen and follow with the mantra – let’s not rock the boat.
It sounds all too familiar because the alternatives are always either be grateful or if you don’t like it here then leave. And that is exactly why we have so many qualified Malaysians who do not want to return home. So where is the platform for mature discourse?
In our country, conformity equates to unquestionable allegiance to a political party while solidarity means that we are cohesive based on race and religion, when really our political leanings should be based on tangible policies that will benefit the nation and its citizens, not just blindly following every claim and every promise.
What we lack is the space for political tolerance, a key principle of democracy (Personally, I am not a fan of the word tolerance, but for all intent and purposes, as I continue to quote social science research, I will conform and use the word tolerance).
Following Samuel A. Stouffer’s famous study on Communism, conformity, and civil liberties: a cross-section of the Nation speaks its mind, social scientist James L. Gibson writes, “Those who do not feel free to express themselves politically are more likely to be intolerant of others, to have less heterogeneous peer groups and less tolerant spouses and to live in less tolerant communities.” What are the implications and consequences of such political intolerance?
According to the Inter-Parliamentary Union which works in close cooperation with the United Nations, it is the lack of education and political participation, freedom of expression through open dialogue even with those of diverse political opinion and a pluralistic media that is allowed to present diverse and critical views.
Instead in Malaysia we have people who rally followers to burn Bibles, leaders who incite hate, politicians in deep trouble blaming the media for sensationalist reporting, when in fact their wrongdoings themselves have made even the dullest method of reporting look shockingly embellished. Shall we then just listen, obey and conform?
Perhaps what is most disturbing is that this mentality to conform is limiting those in our schools and universities. Being able to think critically and articulate an argument is met with put-downs and lectures on staying in line. How then do we groom future leaders, or maybe we only want to groom those who toe the line.
These are not skills they need for politics alone, it is skills we need as a nation wanting to progress in various fields. Our schools and universities should be building a generation of socially engaged, politically aware and highly educated people. We don’t just need thinking people, we need thinking people who are vocal, speak sense and have the conviction to uphold their civic duties.
We aren’t the only nation that suffers from political intolerance, but being an election year, our tolerance levels for accepting and respecting viewpoints that differ are noticeably below par.
Conformity allowed for the 1993 “Project IC” to happen. Clearly, 20 years on, it’s not as easy to keep people silent. It’s one thing to conform in a ballet class, but looking at history, it wasn’t the conformists who are remembered but those who dared to speak their minds that made a difference.
Natalie likes Jum Hightower’s quote “The opposite of courage is not cowardice, it is conformity. Even a dead fish can go with the flow”. Comments: letters@thesundaily.com
With the state of racial and religious things entire in our beloved Malaysia today – rumours of a festival of Bible-burning, continuing humiliation of the Malaysian Indians especially, the death of critical sensibility in our public universities, the devastating revelations of the ‘Sabah IC-gate’ plot, the issue of ‘stateless Indians’ and the criminalisation of children not able to be schooled because they were born ‘stateless’ and a host of other issues Malaysianly unbecoming.
I have decided to travel down the path of nostalgia. I am quite sure many of you reading this column would agree that the late sixties and early seventies presented a good frame of reference of what it means to be Malaysian and what ‘national identity’ could be about. Names upon names came back to me as I conjure fond memories.
There was a certain kind of magic, innocence, and sincerity to foster a Malaysian identity, back then. It didn’t matter what race you were, one could love to one’s heart’s content folks like these: P Ramlee, AR Tompel, Aziz Sattar, Saloma, Siput Sarawak, Ayappan, Lim Goh Poh, Andre Goh, Kartina Dahari, Orchid Abdullah, soccer players like V Arumugam the ‘Spider Man’, Soh Chin Aun ‘The Towkay’(right), Shaharuddin Abdullah the cool guy, Mokhtar Dahari ‘Super Mokh’, Santokh Singh, and many other great names that helped make Malaysian Malaysia proud.
One could laugh at the comedian-ventriloquist Jamali Shadat’s jokes, remember names such a V Sambanthan, Khir Johari, the great statesman Dr Ismail Abdul Rahman, Tan Siew Sin, Temenggung Jugah (the man with a really cool haircut I so wanted one… ), Aishah Ghani, and of course the reluctant but down-to-earth and benevolent multiculturalist-statesman Tunku Abdul Rahman with his famous uncontrollable blurting of Malay curse words and his philosophy of “oil and water can never mix”. A simple, yet profound life was back then…
Those were the days before today… when hell is breaking loose. What happened to the ethos of that genre, I wonder. Growing up in the early 70s, different words to describe reality, practices, and possibilities were dancing happily around me. Perhaps those street names tune us to calmness… Jalan/Lorong Aman, Sentosa, Bahagia, Rahmat, Syukur, Ne’mat, and Merdeka…
All these shaped the child’s mind, such as that of mine growing up with a fascination of names, as if living is about being taught names and being able to “read the self and the word” in order to be liberated.
There were also words related to spirituality; words such as ‘sembah-Hyang’, marhaban, berzanji, kenduri, berkhatan, and bersugi gigi… There were also cool words related to Malay magic such as jampi serapah, tangkal, kemenyan, dukun, pawang, and of course the “mambang laut-mambang darat-mambang udara” trinity/trio”…
Smooth-sailing seventies
Back in the day of the smooth-sailing seventies people were happy wearing what ought to be simple fashion and accessories… kebaya, baju kurong (not a straitjacket mind you), baju Melayu Telok Blangah, terompah, selipar chapal, selipar Jepun… manik koran, and all kinds of Malay, Chinese, and Indian ‘bling bling’ to adorn oneself with cultural niceties
Growing up in the kampong, I was not attuned to hearing totally foreign words, imported from elsewhere to denote and connote the self, spirituality, and salvation, and “saving the soul of others”; words such as solat, dakwah, ushrah, tarbiyyah jihad, muzakarah, jubah, serban, hijab, purdah, burqah, niqab, Arqam, tabligh, Ayatollah, muktamaar, buah tamar, or even Daulah Islamiyah…
Not that I knew or had even heard of… until the beginning of the eighties when these words like Karl Marx would became technologies of the “body, mind, and spirit” that changed the social relations of production and the ideological landscape of the country and the consciousness of a segment of Malay people… And I never heard anyone wanting to burn the Bible nor shout “Allahu Akbar” (God is great) when scoring goals in a friendly kampong football match.
And the beauty of living back in the day was how the self was constructed out of the early introduction to pluralism/ multiculturalism such that in me, every time the Chinese spirit of Bruce Lee possesses me, I could just go out and beat up my best friend Fook Shiang for example. We could then walk to town and overdose on the Indian food tosei and capati. Along the way we would stop by breezy Lido beach to grab a bite of the Javanesse soul food tauhu (tofu) sumbat.
Next, we could stop by at our teacher’s house and listen to his stories of Malay spiritual powers and magic called ‘Ilmu Budi Suci’ where the energy within possibly called the ‘chi’ can be harnessed so that one could kick like Bruce Lee without even touching your enemy!
Then, back in the day, we could go home after that to watch Joe Bugner got punched out into outer space by the ‘Black Superman’ named Muhammad Ali. I could still remember the words of the announcer … “Annnddd in thissss corneerrr… weighing 220 pounds… from Louisville Kentucky… the undisputed world champion… Moooo hammaaaad… Aaaa Liiii… Aaaa Liiiii… Aaaa Liiii…” to the sounds of the audience gone berserk.
I could go on and one with this nostalgic; a trip down memory lane of the seventies especially, just by recalling words and words that were synonymous with a world that was about to enter globalisation but was dealing with a strange brew of modernisation and uneven development – a Malaysia before Mahathirism.
That was true multiculturalism without any strand of today’s idiocy. That was our Malaysia with a lot of sense and sensibility.
DR AZLY RAHMAN, who was born in Singapore and grew up in Johor Baru, holds a Columbia University (New York) doctorate in International Education Development and Master’s degrees in the fields of Education, International Affairs, Peace Studies and Communication. He has taught more than 40 courses in six different departments and has written more than 300 analyses on Malaysia. His teaching experience spans Malaysia and the United States, over a wide range of subjects from elementary to graduate education. He currently resides in the United States.
Taman Nurani — Islamic Impressions In Malaysian Contemporary Art at Galeri Petronas elucidates the artists’ ceaseless pursuit of the divine, writes Sarah NH Vogeler
IT is always a vivifying experience visiting Galeri Petronas, far from the madding crowd, in another universe with no sales personnel and pitches.Just art. Plenty of it. Bliss.
Its latest engagement: A voluminous 57 works, beginning from the 1970s, highlighting compelling pieces in the collections of Galeri Petronas, The National Visual Art Gallery and several private collectors.
These have been classed under four themes: Abstract Works: Manifestations Of Spirituality; Landscapes: Reflections Of God’s Greatness; Cultural And Traditional Motifs: The Continuation Of Tradition Into Contemporary Art; and, Calligraphy: Transformation In Contemporary Art.
Guest curator Professor Dr Muliyadi Mahamood explains: “Taman Nurani aspires to contemplate the development of form and content of works with an Islamic motif in Contemporary Malaysian Art; to put forward works pervaded with an Islamic inspiration as a reflection of the artists’ commitment in visualising the spiritual element of art, and to analyse the impact of related aspects on the development of contemporary Islamic art in Malaysia.”
Within the ambience of contemporary Malaysian art, Abstract Works: Manifestations Of Spirituality showcases restrained and methodical works with abstract ministrations based on geometrics, contours and motifs, and the more revealing and impulsive caresses of an organic persuasion; both styles equally cogent, as seen in Dr Sulaiman Esa’s Nurani (1983) and Ke Arah Tauhid (1983).
One of the most salient artists exploring Islamic issues in the context of contemporary art in Malaysia, Sulaiman’s investigations represent the acme of the Tawhid concept. He emphasises: “Through Islamic art, a Muslim artist strives to integrate his religious belief/life with his creative/artistic one.”
This complex approach is also evident in Langit Dan Bumi I and III (1998 and 2000 respectively) by Malaysia’s National Art Laureate, the late Datuk Syed Ahmad Jamal (right), whose 1978 Rupa dan Jiwa exhibition held in Universiti Malaya became an impetus to re-examine the artistic characteristics of Malay art.
Following a seminar held in Institut Teknologi Mara’s School of Art and Design (now the Faculty of Art and Design, Universiti Teknologi Mara) in 1979, Muliyadi observed that a significant number of Malaysian artists attempted to constitute a kinship between traditional and contemporary forms of art, including through the visualisation of an Islamic inspiration, giving birth to exhibitions such as Malaysian Islamic Art: Traditional And Contemporary Art (Festival Istiqlal, Jakarta, 1991), Islamic Identity In Malaysian Art: Achievements and Challenges (National Art Gallery, 1992) and The Malay World Exhibition (National Art Gallery — Galeriwan, 1999).
The expression and revelation of spirituality immortalising the artists’ sentiment and insight is perceptible in Abdul Latiff Mohidin’s visually-arresting Gita Summer II (2005) and Voyage I & II (2005), Mohd Sanip Lasman’s The Grace (1990), Siti Zainon Ismail’s Kubah Hijau Jingga (1994), Khalil Ibrahim’s After Figure (1990), Sharifah Fatimah Syed Zubir’s Illusion (1983) and Two Figures (1988), and Roskang Jailani’s Nature XIV (2002).
And one’s tracks are halted by the sight of Ramlan Abdullah’s larger-than-life Unity In Diversity (2012), a steel construct which dismisses the conviction of an alpha and omega; there is no beginning or end, only the infinite.
In Landscapes: Reflections Of God’s Greatness, Abdul Latiff Mohidin’s Teluk Kumbar-I (2005), Yusof Ghani’s Rimba Terjun (2000), Pasir Mas (2000) and Batu Laut (2000), Ilse Noor’s Kebun Mimpi (1982) and Taman Impian (1989) all lean towards the four stages of the creative process of Islamic art as indicated by Professor Dr D’zul Haimi Md Zain in his book, Seni Islam (2007); imitation of nature, conception, stylisation and abstraction.
These artists’ portrayal of nature spurns naturalism, depicting its exquisite complexion in a more conformed manner. Raja Zahabuddin Raja Yaacob’s Keagungan Tuhan (1991), Haron Mokhtar’s Nostalgia Masjid Jamek, Kuala Lumpur (1989) and Mohd Azlan Mohd Amin’s Amalan Mulia II (1992) channels the intimation of Islam through Man’s profound reverence to God.
Professor Dr Zakaria Ali stated in Seni Dan Seniman (1989) that art must be refined, useful, cohesive, balanced and significant.In Taman Nurani, the cultural and traditional motifs utilised, although florid, are also powerful as attributes of the Malay culture which is rooted in Islam.
These artists are driven by their devotional and cultural environment, as well as the search for a national identity, as seen in Hashim Hassan’s Deir Yassin Dikenang (1987), Khatijah Sanusi’s Warisan II (1994), Mastura Abdul Rahman’s Interior No 29 (1987), Sharifah Fatimah Syed Zubir’s Garden of the Heart II (2004), Awang Damit Ahmad’s Essence of Culture III (1991), Ruzaika Omar Basaree’s Siri Dungun (1981), Fatimah Chik’s Unity In Harmony (1996) and Nizar Kamal Ariffin’s Pohon Beringin (2001).
Some of the more prominent Malaysian artists who use or are inspired by calligraphy in their art include Syed Ahmad Jamal, Ahmad Khalid Yusof, Omar Basaree and Omar Rahmad.
Taman Nurani beckons the world with Omar Basaree’s gold emblazoned Iqra (1969) alongside Ahmad Khalid Yusof’s Dimensi (1992), Nizar Kamal Ariffin’s Khat Muhammad (2006), Omar Rahmad’s Kalimah Syahadah (1984), Husin Hourmain’s Menanti Senja (2010), and Harun Abdullah Combees’ Allah Muhammad (1994). Calligraphy mirrors the artists’ reference to the Holy Quran, the decisive beacon for Muslims.
We have come a long way since Universiti Malaya’s 1975-endeavoured Pameran Seni Khat (initiated by Syed Ahmad Jamal). From then to Taman Nurani, we have witnessed a momentous and eloquent progression in Malaysian Islamic contemporary art, which Muliyadi hinted at the possibility of an extended world tour — London, Paris, New York perhaps?
As Professor Dr Zakaria Ali, the Harvard alumni-artist-scholar-extraordinaire succinctly summarises, a remounting of Taman Nurani is pivotal to gain international recognition, for fear of becoming insular otherwise. And as evidenced in the works, these Malaysian artists are of world calibre.
They bring to mind the lyrics of an M.Nasir song, of a soul which seeks:
Hanya kepadamu kekasih
Aku tinggalkan
Jawapan yang belum kutemukan
Yang bakal aku nantikan
Bila malam menjemputku lena beradu
It is the collective and lingering response from Taman Nurani; one of contemplation, of longing, in search of the sacrosanct.
Professional politicians know they need to approach voters with the same razor-like focus employed by Nestle, Coca-cola and Unilever as they chart their sales strategies.
THIS year, 2013, will be an election year. The nation’s thirteenth polls have been the most eagerly anticipated in living memory. Indeed, it is as if we have been waiting for this contest ever since March 8, 2008.
It has been an agonising five years, as the advantage has shifted between the two relatively evenly-matched coalitions.There have been moments, sometimes even months (such as the past three months) when Barisan Nasional had seized the momentum. At other times, Pakatan Rakyat had been dominant.
Needless to say however, unexpected “black swan” type events have emerged seemingly from nowhere, time and again over the past five years to derail any sides’ long-term advantage.
Still, the recent US presidential elections and Barack Obama’s dramatic victory are a very good indication of emerging global electoral trends.First and foremost is the extent to which “gut instinct” – the raison d’être of columnists such as myself, has been eclipsed by polling, data-gathering and analysis.
Massive computing power means we have to check and double-check our hypotheses. “Gut instinct” is for the amateurs. Professional politicians know they need to approach voters with the same razor-like focus employed by Nestle, Coca Cola and Unilever as they chart their sales strategies.
Technology has been a game-changer all round. The “air war” – the mass, blanketing of TV with political advertising has been superseded by the “ground game” – coordinated, grassroots campaigning that reaches out, energises and mobilises voters individually.
Increasingly, strategists have begun to realise that TV advertising is an extremely blunt and, at times, ineffective tool. Other tactics – posters, fliers and mass e-mails – also have limited impact.
In Malaysia, the increasing penetration of smart phone devices (promoted by the Barisan Administration) has given voters a powerful tool. With an Internet-enabled device in hand, individuals can check, personally and immediately, the veracity of any political pronouncements.
Indeed, the information era has started to make free-to-air television obsolete as a propaganda machine. At the same time, the idea of there being just one “Malay” voice or identity is beginning to fracture. Once again, technology is hastening this challenge as people discover that there are many Malay “identities”. This will free people to explore regional, cultural and linguistic differences, as separate Bajau, Bugis and Illanun traditions, for example, gather in strength.
The result will be a less monolithic Malay society. Instead, individuals will realise that they have choices: some will be more formally religious; some will be drawn to spiritualism and Sufism, whereas others will be more focused on lifestyle choices – environmentalism, health, sports, high culture and the arts.
There will, of course, be many who feel that liberalism and cosmopolitanism are not at odds with Malay culture. Whatever the case, social media has provided a critical platform for all these communities to emerge, interface, survive and flourish.
The Obama campaign harnessed these same trends to spectacular effect.His strategists realised that the Republicans (and especially their Tea Party faction) were wedded to “gut instinct” and divisively racist rhetoric.
They recognised underlying demographic trends that showed American communities becoming more diverse and plural. Utilising the President’s vast resources, Obama’s team created an unparalleled nationwide organisation to reach out to potential voters through their friends and local networks, tapping into places where people congregated such as barber shops and cafes.
As they created this alliance of shared interests, Obama the “Great Uniter” was able to knit together a rainbow coalition of diverse communities – Hispanic, African-American, the young and highly-educated, thereby balancing out the once-dominant power of white Caucasian males.
This has been a powerful formula. It also allowed his campaign to regain momentum despite the very obvious economic failings of his first term.
Sure, America is not Malaysia. Not all examples are transferable. However, technology is the same the world over and technology is “freeing up” the individual. It is also providing politicians with the tools to be more professional and scientific.
This is something we have to keep in mind as we head to the polls. As I said, the “gut instinct” in politics is dead.
The actor, former governor and author of the memoir “Total Recall” says today’s cleaned-up versions of Grimms’ fairy tales are nothing like the horror versions he read as a child.
What book is on your night stand now?
Right now I’m reading a book called “Incognito,” by David Eagleman, about the human brain. I’ve always been interested in psychology, so learning about the things that influence our thinking is really important for me. In bodybuilding, I was known for “psyching” out my opponents with mind tricks. I wish I had this book then because the stuff I was doing was Mickey Mouse compared with what’s in this book.
What was the last truly great book you read?
Walter Isaacson’s biography of Steve Jobs. I absolutely love to hear stories about people who have tremendous vision; and when you talk about vision, Steve Jobs has to be in the conversation. He was such a revolutionary. It is completely inspirational to read about someone who saw the world, imagined something better, and then went out and made his vision a reality.
I got to know Steve when I was governor of California, and he wanted to help pass a law to encourage organ donation. A lot of people have the drive to be successful, but not the same drive to give back once they’ve found success. Steve saw what it was like to desperately need an organ, and he could have easily just paid for his operation and been done with it. Instead, he came with his big vision and wanted to rewrite the laws to make it easier. He did the necessary work, and we were able to hammer out a law and push it through. I think that his compassion should be a bigger part of his legacy. His story is the ultimate California dream.
What is your favorite literary genre? Any guilty pleasures?
I prefer nonfiction, especially biographies and history books. You could spend your whole life reading history and you would still have several more lifetimes’ worth of learning to do. I don’t have much time in my schedule to read, so when I have a chance to sit down and get into a book, I want to make sure it is a story of greatness that inspires and teaches.
Some of my favorite books about politics are Reagan’s autobiography “An American Life” as well as Lou Cannon’s incredible anthology about him, and James Wooten’s “Dasher: The Roots and the Rising of Jimmy Carter.” Of course I have mentioned many times how much Milton and Rose Friedman’s “Free to Choose” contributed to my economic views.
And what books would you suggest to an aspiring governor?
I think Doris Kearns Goodwin’s “Team of Rivals” is incredibly important. Today’s politicians can learn so much from Lincoln. I think the most important lesson is that, despite our politics, we should never treat each other as enemies. We can have disagreements about the direction of the country, but at the end of the day we all want to serve our country. Lincoln proved a powerful lesson by appointing his critics and political foes to his cabinet. He wanted the best minds around him offering advice. Not Republican or Democrat minds. Just the best minds. All of us can learn from that.
Are there any books you found to be particularly insightful about California?
I think any of Kevin Starr’s books fit the bill. No one — no one — knows California like Kevin Starr. When I ran for governor, I read binder after binder of briefings, but none of it taught me as much as one lunch with Kevin. He is an incredible historian, and he writes in a way that always makes what he’s saying interesting. To this day, every time I see Kevin, I learn something new.
If you could require the president to read one book, what would it be?
I could never choose one book for a president. There are so many things you need to learn. I would have to say, “Here is a book about Eisenhower building the highway system, so you can read about the vision it takes to build up our country, because we need to build again. Here is a book about how we developed our current energy policy, because we need to learn from that as we plan for our future energy needs.” Then I would give them a kindergarten teacher’s manual and let them know, “You’re going to need this when you deal with Congress.”
What were your favorite books as a child? Did you have a favorite character or hero?
When I was young, we were constantly exposed to the works of Peter Rosegger, who was a hero in Styria, my home state. He wrote incredible stories with a focus on our region, so he was one of the favorites.
We also constantly read these terribly violent stories by the Grimm Brothers. I mean, the cleaned-up versions of these are nowhere near the horror stories we used to read. It’s no wonder my brother was a total scaredy-cat and afraid to walk home alone after you realize he had been exposed to the tales of the Grimm Brothers.
But I have to say that Karl May wrote my favorite stories. He was a German who had never seen a real cowboy or Indian, but somehow he wrote fantastic stories about this wise Apache chief named Winnetou and his cowboy friend Old Shatterhand. The stories taught me a powerful lesson about getting along despite differences, but more importantly, they opened up my world and gave me a window to see America. I still don’t understand how Karl May was able to paint such an incredible picture of something he had never seen, but I do know that the cowboy stories immediately captured my attention and made me interested to learn everything I could about America.
If you could meet any writer, dead or alive, who would it be? What would you want to know?
Winston Churchill. He is one of my heroes, and when I look at all of the books he somehow had time to write, it just blows my mind. To be such a vital figure in modern history and at the same time write incredible history . . . I would love to talk to him about how he had time to be great as a leader and as a writer. If there is one person who shows us the power of history, it has to be him. It’s an old cliché that history repeats himself, but when you read Churchill’s speeches attacking the idea of appeasing Hitler or warning about the cold war, you realize how brilliant he was. He was ahead of the game, which is a funny thing to say about someone who spent his spare time writing and researching history.
What’s the best movie based on a book you’ve seen recently?
I love everything about the “Harry Potter” franchise. You have an incredible, epic journey with amazing characters that I think plays just as well on the screen as it does on the page. But I’m also a sucker for a major success story, and it is very difficult to match J. K. Rowling in that category. Talk about inspiration: to go from being a struggling single parent to where she is today, it’s just incredible. I love to hear stories like that, and her personal story is as epic as the stories she wrote about Harry Potter.
If you could play any character from literature, who would it be?
One of my favorite characters in history is Cincinnatus, and I’ve read everything I can find about him. I would love to play him in a film about ancient Rome. He was given the keys to the kingdom — pure, absolute power! — and he did the job and then went back to his farm. He didn’t get drunk on the power. He did the job he was asked to do, dealt with the invasion and walked away. That is the purest form of public service I can imagine, and it would be fun to try to capture that character on film.
The United States was lucky to have George Washington as a founding father, because he had that same civic virtue, and of course he had read about and admired Cincinnatus.
A version of this article appeared in print on December 30, 2012, on page BR9 of the Sunday Book Review with the headline: By the Book: Arnold Schwarzenegger
An air of festivity surrounded the official launch of the DAP’s catchy multi-language ‘Ubah-Rocket style’ video at the Kuala Lumpur and Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall last night.
The individual who caught the most attention was ‘Datin B’, who dressed up as Malaysia’s ‘First Lady’ aka Rosmah Mansor, the Premier’s wife.
Datin B called herself ‘momma’ in a sketch depicting Rosmah’s allegedly expensive and extravagant taste in clothes and handbags, among other items. Many present took photographs with Datin B, who featured prominently in the four-minute Ubah video.
DAP national publicity secretary Tony Pua, who produced the video, said the DAP got started after secretary-general Lim Guan Eng suggested last September that a video be made based on the ‘Oppa Gangnam’ style popularised by South Korean rapper Psy.
“Lim asked whether I had watched the video as it was very ‘hot’. It was a month after Psy launched the video and it had registered 178 million hits … (it) has become a worldwide phenomenon,” Pua said.
“There was difficulty in making the video as the authorities, namely the highway authorities and light rail transit (LRT) officials, stopped the shooting.”
Shooting was stopped twice along the Linkaran Trans Kota Sdn Bhd (Litrak) highway, while security personnel stopped shooting at malls in the vicinity of Jalan Bukit Bintang in Kuala Lumpur.
“I had to ask assistant producer (Serdang MP) Teo Nie Ching to negotiate with security (personnel) to shoot the scene (in a mall), assuring them there was nothing negative,” Pua said.
In recording the ‘Datin B’ footage at a LRT station, the crew had to move between the Kelana Jaya and Damai stations because security personnel became suspicious.
“Nevertheless, we managed to finish shooting the video and produce it in the various languages,” he said in thanking the crew for their efforts.
At the launch, several bloopers were screened, including one depicting Litrak highway officials laughing in the background as a scene was being recorded.Another showed ‘Datin B’ pretending to fall several times at a LRT station.
Campaign via social media
Pua urged DAP supporters to share the video clip with friends and colleagues as part of the party’s campaign election material. “Please ‘like’ it on Facebook, and share in on Facebook, Youtube or Twitter to drive the message across to the people,” he added.
The video was first shown at the DAP national congress last month. Also present at the official launch BERSIH co-chairperson A Samad Said.
Let us all first thank God that the Mayan End of the World prediction did not materialise. We think we are still around in the physical sense. Are we? I think we have become virtual people linked together via the Internet and advances in telephony. We can debate that next year (2013).
It has come again to this time of the year when our Christian brothers and sisters and holiday makers the world over will be celebrating Christmas. It is a time of joy and peace in our troubled world, and of goodwill among men, a time we put our differences aside and celebrate our rich diversity, and also a time we leave our egos (and some of us have over inflated egos no doubt) on the sidelines. In that spirit, Dr Kamsiah and I take this opportunity to wish you all a Merry ‘Xmas and May God Be with you as you celebrate this very special day.
Six days later on December 31 evening, Dr Kamsiah and I–and you all too- will be ushering in the New Year. Yes, 2013. We will be joining our friends at the Royal Selangor Golf Club for a dinner and some wholesome entertainment. For us in Malaysia, 2013 will be an Election Year. Politicians will be vying for our votes with lots of promises and goodies. There will be plenty of stories and exposes; that is normal in adversarial politics, but let us keep our cool and vote wisely. Our votes will count as we Malaysians will decide the government we want. We deserve what we will be getting.
Dr Kamsiah and I wish you a Happy and Prosperous New Year and thank you all for the support you have given this blog throughout 2012. Your comments are welcome, if you write with consideration and respect for differences. The delete button will be used sparingly, and that is a promise. Please play by the rules and you will be fine. I want your comments as feedback to the next Government on what their policies and programmes should be. It must know that we have a right to demand good governance.
Before we get too worked up and become serious, let us listen to some old and popular Xmas tunes and relax.–Dr. Kamsiah and Din Merican
Ravi Shankar, the Indian sitarist and composer whose collaborations with Western classical musicians as well as rock stars helped foster a worldwide appreciation of India’s traditional music, died Tuesday in a hospital near his home in Southern California. He was 92.
Mr. Shankar had suffered from upper respiratory and heart ailments in the last year and underwent heart-valve replacement surgery last Thursday, his family said in a statement.
Mr. Shankar, a soft-spoken, eloquent man whose performance style embodied a virtuosity that transcended musical languages, was trained in both Eastern and Western musical traditions. Although Western audiences were often mystified by the odd sounds and shapes of the instruments when he began touring in Europe and the United States in the early 1950s, Mr. Shankar and his ensemble gradually built a large following for Indian music.
His instrument, the sitar, has a small rounded body and a long neck with a resonating gourd at the top. It has 6 melody strings and 25 sympathetic strings (which are not played but resonate freely as the other strings are plucked). Sitar performances are partly improvised, but the improvisations are strictly governed by a repertory of ragas (melodic patterns representing specific moods, times of day, seasons of the year or events) and talas (intricate rhythmic patterns) that date back several millenniums.
Mr. Shankar’s quest for a Western audience was helped in 1965 when George Harrison of the Beatles began to study the sitar with him. But Harrison was not the first Western musician to seek Mr. Shankar’s guidance. In 1952 he met and began performing with the violinist Yehudi Menuhin, with whom he made three recordings for EMI: “West Meets East” (1967), “West Meets East, Vol. 2” (1968) and “Improvisations: East Meets West” (1977).
Mr. Shankar loved to mix the music of different cultures. He collaborated with the flutist Jean-Pierre Rampal and the jazz saxophonist and composer John Coltrane, who had become fascinated with Indian music and philosophy in the early ’60s. Coltrane met with Mr. Shankar several times from 1964 to 1966 to learn the basics of ragas, talas and Indian improvisation techniques. Coltrane named his son Ravi after Mr. Shankar.
Mr. Shankar also collaborated with several prominent Japanese musicians — Hozan Yamamoto, a shakuhachi player, and Susumu Miyashita, a koto player — on “East Greets East,” a 1978 recording in which Indian and Japanese influences intermingled.
In addition to his frequent tours as a sitarist Mr. Shankar was a prolific composer of film music (including the score for Richard Attenborough’s “Gandhi” in 1982), ballets, electronic works and concertos for sitar and Western orchestras.
In 1988 his seven-movement “Swar Milan” was performed at the Palace of Culture in Moscow by an ensemble of 140 musicians, including the Russian Folk Ensemble, members of the Moscow Philharmonic and the Ministry of Culture Chorus, as well as Mr. Shankar’s own group of Indian musicians. And in 1990 he collaborated with the Minimalist composer Philip Glass — who had worked as his assistant on the film score for “Chappaqua” in the late 1960s — on “Passages,” a recording of works he and Mr. Glass composed for each other.
“I have always had an instinct for doing new things,” Mr. Shankar said in 1985. “Call it good or bad, I love to experiment.”
Ravi Shankar, whose formal name was Robindra Shankar Chowdhury, was born on April 7, 1920, in Varanasi, India, to a family of musicians and dancers. His older brother Uday directed a touring Indian dance troupe, which Ravi joined when he was 10. Within five years he had become one of the company’s star soloists. He also discovered that he had a facility with the sitar and the sarod, another stringed instrument, as well as the flute and the tabla, an Indian drum.
The idea of helping Western listeners appreciate the intricacies of Indian music occurred to him during his years as a dancer.
“My brother had a house in Paris,” he recalled in one interview. “To it came many Western classical musicians. These musicians all made the same point: ‘Indian music,’ they said, ‘is beautiful when we hear it with the dancers. On its own it is repetitious and monotonous.’ They talked as if Indian music were an ethnic phenomenon, just another museum piece. Even when they were being decent and kind, I was furious. And at the same time sorry for them. Indian music was so rich and varied and deep. These people hadn’t penetrated even the outer skin.”
Mr. Shankar soon found, however, that as a young, self-taught musician he had not penetrated very deeply either. In 1936 an Indian court musician, Allaudin Khan, joined the company for a year and set Mr. Shankar on a different path.
“He was the first person frank enough to tell me that I had talent but that I was wasting it — that I was going nowhere, doing nothing,” Mr. Shankar said. “Everyone else was full of praise, but he killed my ego and made me humble.”
When Mr. Shankar asked Mr. Khan to teach him, he was told that he could learn to play the sitar only after he decided to give up the worldly life he was leading and devote himself fully to his studies. In 1937 Mr. Shankar gave up dancing, sold his Western clothes and returned to India to become a musician.
“I surrendered myself to the old way,” he said, “and let me tell you, it was difficult for me to go from places like New York and Chicago to a remote village full of mosquitoes, bedbugs, lizards and snakes, with frogs croaking all night. I was just like a Western young man. But I overcame all that.”
After studying with Mr. Khan for seven years and marrying his daughter, Annapurna, also a sitarist, Mr. Shankar began his performing career in India. In the 1940s he started bringing Eastern and Western currents together in ballet scores and incidental music for films, including Satyajit Ray’s “Apu” trilogy, in the late 1950s. In 1949 he was appointed music director of All India Radio. There he formed the National Orchestra, an ensemble of both Indian and Western classical instruments.
Mr. Shankar became increasingly interested in touring outside India in the early 1950s. His appetite was whetted further when he undertook a tour of the Soviet Union in 1954 and was invited to perform in London and New York. But it wasn’t until 1956 that he began spending long periods outside India. That year, he left his position at All India Radio and undertook tours of Europe and the United States.
Through his recitals, as well as recordings on the Columbia and World Pacific labels, Mr. Shankar built a Western following for the sitar. Interest in the instrument exploded in 1965, when Harrison encountered a sitar on the set of “Help!,” the Beatles’ second film. Intrigued by the instrument’s complexity, he learned its rudiments and used it on a Beatles recording, “Norwegian Wood,” that year.
The Rolling Stones, the Animals, the Byrds and other rock groups quickly followed suit, although few went as far as Harrison, who recorded several songs that appeared on Beatles albums with Indian musicians, rather than his band mates. By the summer of 1967 the sitar was in vogue in the rock world.
At first Mr. Shankar reveled in the attention his connection with popular culture brought him, and he performed for huge audiences at the Monterey International Pop Festival in 1967 and at Woodstock in 1969. He also performed, with the tabla virtuoso Alla Rakha and the sarod player Ali Akbar Khan, at an all-star concert at Madison Square Garden in 1971 that Harrison organized to help Mr. Shankar raise money for the victims of political upheaval in Bangladesh.
Mr. Shankar eventually came to regard his participation in rock festivals as a mistake. Looking back at that era, he said he deplored the use of his music, which has its roots in an ancient spiritual tradition, as a backdrop for drug taking.
“On one hand,” he said in a 1985 interview, “I was lucky to have been there at a time when society was changing. And although much of the hippie movement seemed superficial, there was also a lot of sincerity in it, and a tremendous amount of energy. What disturbed me, though, was the use of drugs and the mixing of drugs with our music. And I was hurt by the idea that our classical music was treated as a fad — something that is very common in Western countries.
“People would come to my concerts stoned, and they would sit in the audience drinking Coke and making out with their girlfriends. I found it very humiliating, and there were many times I picked up my sitar and walked away.
“I tried to make the young people sit properly and listen. I assured them that if they wanted to be high, I could make them feel high through the music, without drugs, if they’d only give me a chance. It was a terrible experience at the time.
“But you know, many of those young people still come to our concerts. They have matured, they are free from drugs, and they have a better attitude. And this makes me happy that I went through all that. I have come full circle.”
He maintained his friendship and working relationship with Harrison, who released a recording of a 1972 performance by Mr. Shankar on the Beatles’ Apple label and produced a recording in a more popular style — short, bright-edged songs with vocals, rather than expansive instrumental improvisations — by Shankar Family and Friends (who included Harrison, listed in the credits as Hari Georgeson, as well as the bassist Klaus Voorman, the pianist Nicky Hopkins, the organist Billy Preston and the flutist Tom Scott) on his own Dark Horse label in 1974. That year, Mr. Shankar toured the United States with Harrison. They last worked together in 1997, when Harrison produced Mr. Shankar’s “Chants of India” CD for EMI.
Mr. Shankar continued to be regarded in the West as the most eloquent spokesman for his country’s music. But his popularity abroad and his experiments with Western musical sounds and styles drew criticism among traditionalists in India.
“In India I have been called a destroyer,” he said in 1981. “But that is only because they mixed my identity as a performer and as a composer. As a composer I have tried everything, even electronic music and avant-garde. But as a performer I am, believe me, getting more classical and more orthodox, jealously protecting the heritage that I have learned.”
Mr. Shankar was a member of the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the Indian Parliament, from 1986 to 1992.He taught extensively in the United States. In the late 1960s he founded a school of Indian music, the Kinnara School, in Los Angeles. He was a visiting professor at City College in New York in 1967. Recordings of his City College lectures were the basis for “Learning Indian Music,” a set of cassettes that explain the basics of the style. Mr. Shankar was the subject of a documentary film, “Raga: A Journey Into the Soul of India,” in 1971, and published two autobiographies: “My Life, My Music” in 1969 and “Raga Mala” in 1997.
In 2010 the Ravi Shankar Foundation started a record label using a variation of the name of his collaboration with Menuhin, East Meets West Music, which began by reissuing some of his historic recordings and films, including “Raga.” Mr. Shankar’s first marriage, to Annapurna Devi, ended in the late 1960s. They had a son, Shubhendra Shankar, who died in 1992. He also had long relationships with Kamala Shastri, a dancer; and Sue Jones, a concert producer, with whom he had a daughter, the singer Norah Jones, in 1979; as well as Sukanya Rajan, whom he married in 1989. Mr. Shankar and Ms. Rajan had a daughter, the sitar virtuoso Anoushka Shankar, in 1981. He is survived by his wife and two daughters as well as three grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
“If I’ve accomplished anything in these past 30 years,” Mr. Shankar said in the 1985 interview, “it’s that I have been able to open the door to our music in the West. I enjoy seeing other Indian musicians — old and young — coming to Europe and America and having some success. I’m happy to have contributed to that.
“Of course now there is a whole new generation out there, so we have to start all over again. To a degree their interest in India has been kindled by ‘Gandhi,’ ‘Passage to India’ and ‘The Jewel in the Crown.’ What we have to do now is convey to them an awareness of the richness and diversity of our culture.”
Dave Brubeck, the pianist and composer who helped make jazz popular again in the 1950s and ’60s with recordings like “Time Out,” the first jazz album to sell a million copies, and “Take Five,” the still instantly recognizable hit single that was that album’s centerpiece, died on Wednesday in Norwalk, Conn. He would have turned 92 on Thursday.
He died while on his way to a cardiology appointment, Russell Gloyd, his producer, conductor and manager for 36 years, said. Mr. Brubeck lived in Wilton, Conn.
In a long and successful career, Mr. Brubeck brought a distinctive mixture of experimentation and accessibility that won over listeners who had been trained to the sonic dimensions of the three-minute pop single.
Mr. Brubeck experimented with time signatures and polytonality and explored musical theater and the oratorio, baroque compositional devices and foreign modes. He did not always please the critics, who often described his music as schematic, bombastic and — a word he particularly disliked — stolid. But his very stubbornness and strangeness — the blockiness of his playing, the oppositional push-and-pull between his piano and Paul Desmond’s alto saxophone — make the Brubeck quartet’s best work still sound original.
Outside of the group’s most famous originals, which had the charm and durability of pop songs ( “Blue Rondo à la Turk,” “It’s a Raggy Waltz” and “Take Five”), some of its best work was in its overhauls of standards like “You Go to My Head,” “All the Things You Are” and “Pennies From Heaven.”
David Warren Brubeck was born on Dec. 6, 1920, in Concord, Calif., near San Francisco. Surrounded by farms, his family lived a bucolic life: his father, Pete, was a cattle buyer for a meat company, and his mother, Elizabeth, was a choir director at the nearby Presbyterian church. When Mr. Brubeck was 11, the family moved to Ione, Calif., where his father managed a 45,000-acre cattle ranch and owned his own 1,200 acres.
Forbidden to listen to the radio — his mother believed that if you wanted to hear music you should play it — Mr. Brubeck and his two brothers all played various instruments and knew classical études, spirituals and cowboy songs. He learned most of this music by ear: because he was born cross-eyed, sight-reading was nearly impossible for him in his early years as a musician.
Playing for Local Dances
When Mr. Brubeck was 14, a laundryman who led a dance band encouraged him to perform in public, at Lions Club gatherings and Western swing dances; he was paid $8 for playing from 9 p.m. to 4 a.m., with a one-hour break. But until he went to college he was an aspiring rancher, not an aspiring musician.
At the College of the Pacific, in Stockton, he first studied to be a veterinarian but switched to music after a year. It was there that he learned about 20th-century culture and read about Freud, Marx and serial music; it was also there that he met Iola Whitlock, a fellow student, who became his wife in 1942.
He graduated that year and was immediately drafted. For two years he played with the Army band at Camp Haan, in Southern California. In 1944 Private Brubeck became a rifleman, entering basic training — first in Texas, then in Maryland — and was then sent to Metz, in northeast France, for further preparation for combat.
When his new commanding officer heard him accompany a Red Cross traveling show one day, Mr. Brubeck recalled, he told his aide-de-camp, “I don’t want that boy to go to the front.” Thereafter, Mr. Brubeck led a band that was trucked into combat areas to play for the troops. He was near the front twice, during the Battle of the Bulge, but he never fought.
Finished with the Army at 25, Mr. Brubeck moved with his wife into an apartment in Oakland, Calif., and, on a G.I. Bill scholarship, studied at Mills College there with the French composer Darius Milhaud. Milhaud asked the jazz musicians in his class to write fugues for jazz ensembles, and Mr. Brubeck played the results at a series of performances at the college. Mr. Brubeck had such admiration for his teacher that he named his first son, born in 1947, Darius.
An Instant Partnership with Paul Desmond
Mr. Brubeck first met his most important musical colleague, Mr. Desmond, the alto saxophonist, in an Army band in 1943. Mr. Desmond was a perfect foil; his lovely, impassive tone was as ethereal as Mr. Brubeck’s style was densely chorded. In 1947 they met again and found instant musical rapport, fascinated by the challenge of using counterpoint in jazz.
Mr. Brubeck’s first group, an octet formed in 1946, contained several of Milhaud’s students, and played pieces influenced by his teachings, using canonlike elements. The group’s earliest recorded work predated a much more famous set of similarly temperate jazz recordings, the 1948-50 Miles Davis Nonet work later packaged as “Birth of the Cool.”
In the late 1940s and early ’50s Mr. Brubeck also led a trio with Ron Crotty on bass and Cal Tjader on drums. It was around this time that he started to develop an audience. He was given an initial boost by the San Francisco disc jockey Jimmy Lyons, later the founder of the Monterey Jazz Festival, who plugged the band on KNBC radio and helped secure it a record deal with Coronet.
In 1951 the trio expanded to a quartet, with Mr. Desmond returning. (The permanent lineup change was perhaps inevitable, as Mr. Desmond was desperate to join his old friend’s increasingly popular band, but it may also have had to do with physical necessity: Mr. Brubeck had suffered a serious neck injury while swimming in Hawaii, limiting his dexterity, and he needed another soloist to help carry the music.)
Quickly the constitutionally different men — Mr. Brubeck open, ambitious and imposing; Mr. Desmond private, high-living and self-effacing — developed their lines of musical communication. By the time of an engagement in Boston in the fall of 1952 they had become one of jazz’s greatest combinations.
The next part of the equation was a record label, and for that Mr. Brubeck had found another booster: Fantasy Records, just started by the brothers Max and Sol Weiss, who owned a record-pressing plant and had little interest in jazz apart from wanting to make a profit from it.
They did, eventually, with Mr. Brubeck. But Iola Brubeck also played a role in the growth of his audience. Before Mr. Brubeck became a client of the prominent manager Joe Glaser, she handled her husband’s business affairs. In 1953 she wrote to more than a hundred universities, suggesting that the quartet would be willing to play for student associations. The college circuit became the group’s bread and butter, and by the end of the 1950s it had sold hundreds of thousands of copies of its albums “Jazz at Oberlin” and “Jazz Goes to College.”
In 1954 Mr. Brubeck became only the second jazz musician (after Louis Armstrong) to be featured on the cover of Time magazine. That year he signed with Columbia Records, promising to deliver two albums a year, and built a house in Oakland.
For all his conceptualizing, Mr. Brubeck often seemed more guileless and stubborn country boy than intellectual. It is often noted that his piece “The Duke” — memorably recorded by Miles Davis and Gil Evans in 1957 on their collaborative album “Miles Ahead” — runs through all 12 keys in the first eight bars. But Mr. Brubeck contended that he never realized that until a music professor told him.
Mr. Brubeck’s very personal musical language situated him far from the Bud Powell school of bebop rhythm and harmony; he relied more on chords, lots and lots of them, than on sizzling, hornlike right-hand lines. (He may have come by this outsiderness naturally, as a function of his background: jazz by way of rural isolation and modernist academia. He was, Ted Gioia wrote in his book “West Coast Jazz,” inspired “by the process of improvisation rather than by its history.”)
It took a little while for Mr. Brubeck to capitalize on the greater visibility his deal with Columbia gave him, and as he accommodated success a certain segment of the jazz audience began to turn against him. (The 1957 album “Dave Digs Disney,” on which he played songs from Walt Disney movies, didn’t help his credibility among critics and connoisseurs.) Still, by the end of the decade he had broken through with mainstream audiences in a bigger way than almost any jazz musician since World War II.
In 1958, as part of a State Department program that brought jazz as an offer of good will during the cold war, his quartet traveled in the Middle East and India, and Mr. Brubeck became intrigued by musical languages that didn’t stick to 4/4 time — what he called “march-style jazz,” the meter that had been the music’s bedrock. The result was the album “Time Out,” recorded in 1959. With the hits “Take Five” (composed by Mr. Desmond in 5/4 meter and prominently featuring the quartet’s gifted drummer, Joe Morello) and “Blue Rondo à la Turk” (composed by Mr. Brubeck in 9/8), the album propelled Mr. Brubeck onto the pop charts.
Initially, Mr. Brubeck said, the album was released without high expectations from the record company. But when disc jockeys in the Midwest started playing “Take Five,” the song became a national phenomenon. After the album had been out for 18 months, Columbia released “Take Five” as a 45 r.p.m. single, edited for radio, with “Blue Rondo” on the B side. Both album and single became hits; the album “Time Out” has since sold about two million copies.
Standing Up to Racism
In 1960, realizing that most of the quartet’s work centered on the East Coast, the Brubecks, with their children, Dan, Michael, Chris, Darius and Catherine, moved to Wilton, where they stayed. They later had one more child, Matthew.
Genial as Mr. Brubeck could seem, he had strong convictions. In the 1950s he had to stand up to college deans who asked him not to perform with a racially mixed band (his bassist, Gene Wright, was black). He also refused to tour in South Africa in 1958 when asked to sign a contract stipulating that his band would be all white. With his wife as lyricist, he wrote “The Real Ambassadors,” a jazz musical that dealt with race relations. With a cast that included Louis Armstrong, it was released on LP in 1962 but staged only once, at that year’s Monterey Jazz Festival.
When Mr. Brubeck’s quartet broke up in 1967, after 17 years, he spent more time with his family and followed new paths. In 1969 he composed “Elementals” (subtitled “Concerto for Anyone Who Can Afford an Orchestra”), a concerto grosso for 45-piece ensemble. He later wrote an oratorio and four cantatas, a mass, two ballets and works for jazz combo with orchestra. Most of his commissioned pieces from the late ’60s on, many of them collaborations with his wife, whose contributions included lyrics and librettos, were classical works.
As a composer, Mr. Brubeck used jazz to address religious themes and to bridge social and political divides. His cantata “The Gates of Justice,” from 1969, dealt with blacks and Jews in America; another cantata, “Truth Is Fallen” (1972), lamented the killing of student protesters at Kent State University in 1970, with a score including orchestra, electric guitars and police sirens. He played during the Reagan-Gorbachev summit meeting in 1988 and he composed entrance music for Pope John Paul II’s visit to Candlestick Park in San Francisco in 1987.
Another Quartet
In 1968 he formed a quartet with the baritone saxophonist Gerry Mulligan, and later he began working with his musician sons Darius (a pianist), Chris (a bassist), Dan (a drummer) and Matthew (a cellist). He performed and recorded with them often, most definitively on “In Their Own Sweet Way” (Telarc, 1997). The classic Brubeck quartet regrouped only once, in 1976, for a 25th-anniversary tour.
Mr. Brubeck’s son Michael died in 2009. In addition to his other sons and his daughter, Mr. Brubeck is survived by his wife; 10 grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.
Mr. Brubeck resumed working with a quartet in the late 1970s — finally settling into a long-term touring group featuring the saxophonist Bobby Militello— and thereafter never stopped writing, touring and performing his hits. To the end he was a major draw at festivals.
In 1999 Mr. Brubeck was named a Jazz Master by the National Endowment for the Arts. Ten years later he received a Kennedy Center Honor for his contribution to American culture. He gave his archives to his alma mater.
Despite health problems, Mr. Brubeck was still working as recently as 2011. In November 2010, just a month after undergoing heart surgery and receiving a pacemaker, he performed at the Blue Note in Manhattan. Nate Chinen of The Times, noting that Mr. Brubeck had already “softened his pianism, replacing the old hammer-and-anvil attack with something almost airy,” wrote that his playing at the Blue Note “was the picture of judicious clarity, its well-placed chordal accents suggesting a riffing horn section.”
Mr. Brubeck once explained succinctly what jazz meant to him. “One of the reasons I believe in jazz,” he said, “is that the oneness of man can come through the rhythm of your heart. It’s the same anyplace in the world, that heartbeat. It’s the first thing you hear when you’re born — or before you’re born — and it’s the last thing you hear.”
Daniel E. Slotnik contributed reporting.
This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:
Correction: December 5, 2012
An earlier version of this obituary erroneously attributed a distinction to Mr. Brubeck. He was the second jazz musician to be featured on the cover of Time magazine, not the first. That version also misstated the name of a song at one point. It is “Take Five,” not “Time Out.” (“Time Out” is the name of the album on which “Take Five” first appeared.) It also said that “Take Five” was the first jazz single to sell a million copies, instead it was the album “Time Out” that sold over a million copies.
A version of this article appeared in print on December 6, 2012, on page A1 of the New York edition with the headline: His Music Gave Jazz New Pop.
For decades, the government had regarded chasing after gross domestic product and accumulation of reserves as the supreme objective, done at the expense of other developments. However, it still lacks the “graces of a civilised society” such as music, culture and the arts.
WITH the foreign population topping a historic two million mark, materialistic Singapore is seeking to turn more towards values it was rarely famous for.
“We can’t just measure our success by GDP growth…but also by the growth of our values: compassion, empathy, altruism, love for our fellow citizens,” said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.
This is the second time in three months Lee has referred to the softer part of nation-building, something not often emphasised in 47 years of independence.
It comes at a time when division in this over-crowded city is growing between locals and foreigners as well as between Singaporeans themselves.
In his National Day Rally in August, Lee dwelt on how Singapore could become a home with heart, where people become more gracious.He also set up a “national conversation” in which values became a regular theme.
Society is undergoing a period of transformation as more foreigners continue to be admitted to fuel its economic growth and make up for a low birthrate.
At end of 2011, the number of foreign workers, including permanent residents, reached 1.926 million, but by mid-2012, it totaled 2.027 million – 38% of a population of 5.3 million.
For decades, the government had regarded chasing after gross domestic product and accumulation of reserves as the supreme objective, done at the expense of other developments.
The result has been a “golden era” of economic growth. But as Lee Kuan Yew, then Senior Minister, himself admitted eight years ago Singapore was every bit a First World nation.
However, it still lacked the “graces of a civilised society” such as music, culture and the arts.
“The generation now in their 30s to 50s can take Singapore there in the next 15 to 20 years. The best is yet to be,” Lee added. It implied he was leaving the problem to the current leadership under his son to resolve, and could be the cause of PM Lee to start emphasising on “compassion, empathy, altruism, love for our fellow citizens.”
The pursuit of the dollar – from the government and corporations downwards to the ordinary citizens – has become so strong that it has clouded some Singaporeans’ sense of ethics and morality.
This money preoccupation stems from many of the young to senior citizens who flock to 4-D shops and casinos.It includes employers who exploit foreign workers before packing them home and girls traded into prostitution by boyfriends, all under the influence of making money.
I have heard cases of kids expressing shame at their father’s small Japanese car “when their friends were being driven in luxury vehicles”.One child reportedly told his father not to pick him up in his old car too close to his school gate.
Some teachers commented that it began with the schools and the choice of studies. For most students acquiring knowledge or serving society is the last thing on their mind.
“By and large students choose subject they can easily score distinctions rather than what they like or need,” said a retired school principal.
As a result few readily choose to study literature or history, which are useful to learn but hard to score good grades, she said.They are also shunned by parents because they don’t make money.
Yet these subjects often teach young people about humanity about what is right and what is wrong about life.
I remember the occasion when (then Deputy Prime Minister) Dr Goh Keng Swee called for a wider teaching of Humanities not only for individuals but society as a whole.
Books like Shakespeare, the Three Kingdoms or English literature are not only interesting, but are a treasure cove on ethics and morals.Science, Math and Engineering are useful, but just as important to any society is the old wisdom or values.
In Singapore we have too many who choose to study finance, medicine and law where the money is.
The habit of sitting quietly to read a literature book or the humanities helps to moderate temptations of modern times and provides a balanced sense of right and wrong.It teaches us to express ourselves and articulate well.
“We learn what we should do or not do, what we should say or not say.Literature is not a popular subject among Singapore’s students. Our education system as everyone well knows places a huge emphasis on scores and grades,” wrote Elaine Ee.
Holding a masters degree in Comparative Post Colonial Literature from the University of London, she said: “Waxing lyrical about the benefits of studying literature doesn’t address the issue that Singapore schools face either.As long as grades remain what makes or breaks a student in our system.”
A local DJ, Anna Lim commented to Lianhe Wanbao that Singaporeans are well educated but have poor upbringing.
“Singaporeans reserve seats with tissue paper packets and they leave trash behind after gatherings”, she said.
“On the MRT, they do not give up their seats to the needy, neither do they allow alighting passengers to get off before squeezing their way into the carriage.”
Students compete both academically and in the sporting arena, she said. “It certainly makes us afraid and it saddens their teachers,” she said.
Happy Divali to Our Friends of the Hindu Faith and the Sikh Community in Malaysia and Around the World
My wife, Dr. Kamsiah and I wish our friends and associates of the Hindu Faith and the Sikh community in Malaysia and around the world a Happy, Peaceful and Prosperous Divali, which falls tomorrow, November 13, 2012.
We are grateful for your support and interest in what we bring to you on this blog. We wish to promote rational discourse and mutual understanding between people of different cultures, religions and political affiliations.
Since this blog appeared some 5 years ago, we have made a lot of friends and some formidable adversaries. We have our differences, but so far, we have been able to keep our exchanges at a very decent, positive and constructive level. We learned a lot from our interactions with you in cyberspace.
Day by day, it has become clear to Dr. Kamsiah and I that there are no correct answers or solutions to the problems and challenges that confront us all. But with patience and mutual understanding, we shall prevail in our quest for peaceful co-existence, if we keep thinking, looking, listening and feeling.
We respect your Faith because it is one of the great religions known to humanity. Let us remind ourselves of the significance of Diwali as celebrated in India, Malaysia and elsewhere.–Dr. Kamsiah and Din Merican
The Significance of Diwali
–Compiled by Annemarie
“The Diwali or Deepavali festival marks the victory of good over evil. The Sanskrit word “Deepavali” means “an array of lights” and signifies the victory of brightness over darkness. As the knowledge of Sanskrit diminished, the name was popularly modified to Diwali, especially in northern India.
On Diwali, the goddess Laxmi, a symbol of prosperity, is worshipped. People wear new clothes, share sweets and light firecrackers. The North Indian business community usually starts their financial new year on Diwali and new account books are opened on this day.
Hindus find cause to celebrate this festival for different reasons. In the North, Diwali celebrates the return of Lord Rama, King of Ayodhya, with his wife Sita and brother Lakshmana from a 14-year exile and a war in which he vanquished the demon king Ravana.
It is believed that the people lit oil lamps all along the way to light the royal family’s path in the darkness. In North India, the festival is held on “Amavasya” (or “moonless night”), the final day of the Vikram calendar. The following day marks the beginning of the North Indian New Year.
In South India, Diwali festival often commemorates the conquering of the Asura Naraka, a powerful king of Assam, who imprisoned tens of thousands of inhabitants. It was Krishna who finally subdued Naraka and freed the prisoners. It is celebrated in the Tamil month of aipasi (thula month) ‘naraka chaturdasi’ thithi, preceding amavasai.
The preparations begin the day before, when the oven is cleaned, smeared with lime, four or five kumkum dots are applied, and then it is filled with water for the next day’s oil bath. The house is washed and decorated with kolam (rangoli) patterns with kavi (red oxide). In the pooja room, betel leaves, betel nuts, plaintain fruits, flowers, sandal paste, kumkum, gingelly oil, turmeric powder, scented powder are kept. Crackers and new dresses are placed in a plate after smearing a little kumkum or sandal paste.
In the north, most communities observe the custom of lighting lamps. However, in the south, the custom of lighting baked earthen lamps is not so much part of this festival as it is of the Karthikai celebrations a fortnight later. The lights signify a welcome to prosperity in the form of Lakshmi, and the fireworks are supposed to scare away evil spirits.
Deepavali celebrations in south India begin early in the morning. The eldest family member applies sesame oil on the heads of all the family members. Then, it’s off for a bath, beginning with the youngest in the family. They emerge with new clothes and a look of anticipation at the thought of bursting crackers, which symbolizes the killing of the demon king Narakasur.
Lehiyan: But before that comes Lehiyan, the bitter concoction, to cleanse the system of its festive over-eating! Then to the crackers.
Murukku: A puja is performed for the family deities in the morning. Breakfast consists of murukku , a sweet dish and, of course, idli or dosa.
Wish fulfilment: Some communities believe that when Narakasur was to be killed, Lord Krishna asked him his last wish. Narakasura replied that he wanted to enjoy the last day of his life in a grand manner and Diwali was celebrated. That was the beginning and the practice continued.
In the evening, lamps are lighted and crackers are burst. As most of the cracker manufacturing units are in Tamil Nadu, there is no dearth of fireworks here.”
The Budget 2013 Speech was delivered by the Prime Minister Najib last Friday. The debate continues in Parliament while both the mainstream and alternative media have given their take on the budget proposals and we ourselves have expressed our opinion on it. Now let us have some entertainment.
Dr Kamsiah and I thought that we should bring you music from contemporary singers in Indonesia for this weekend. We think they are talented and outstanding because they have passion for music. So, let us start with some slow romantic songs by Melly Goeslow, Ari Lasso, Roosa and the dynamic Ruth Sahanaya.
We then bring in Harvey Malaiholo, a favorite of Din’s, who ends our entertainment with four of his popular tunes. Harvey has a great voice and it does not surprise us that he is popular in his country but also in Malaysia. We hope you like our choices. Have a great weekend.–Dr. Kamsiah and Din Merican
Are you ready for Oppa Gangnam style!” before welcoming the PM and his entourage of BN leaders.
Attired in red traditional Chinese shirts, Najib and wife Rosmah Mansor together with children Ashman and Nooryana Najwa, arrived at 10.48am and were greeted by a lion dance troupe and a Chingay procession. He was accompanied by state BN leaders Teng Chang Yeow, Teng Hock Nan, and Tourism Minister Ng Yen Yen as well as former premier Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.
One, Alex Tan, 27 (right) from Klang, said he came to see Psy and to support Pakatan.
The 82-year-old politician also asked reporters, “In what language does he sing?” and after being told that it is Korean, he was perplexed on why people listen to songs in a language that they do not understand.
And the beauty of living back in the day was how the self was constructed out of the early introduction to pluralism/ multiculturalism such that in me, every time the Chinese spirit of Bruce Lee possesses me, I could just go out and beat up my best friend Fook Shiang for example. We could then walk to town and overdose on the Indian food tosei and capati. Along the way we would stop by breezy Lido beach to grab a bite of the Javanesse soul food tauhu (tofu) sumbat.
The individual who caught the most attention was ‘Datin B’, who dressed up as Malaysia’s ‘First Lady’ aka Rosmah Mansor, the Premier’s wife.
“Lim asked whether I had watched the video as it was very ‘hot’. It was a month after Psy launched the video and it had registered 178 million hits … (it) has become a worldwide phenomenon,” Pua said.
In recording the ‘Datin B’ footage at a LRT station, the crew had to move between the Kelana Jaya and Damai stations because security personnel became suspicious.
They emerge with new clothes and a look of anticipation at the thought of bursting crackers, which symbolizes the killing of the demon king Narakasur.
