Nelson Mandela, Konsert Hari Ini, Keadilan Antara Kaum, Puisi "Manis"

"Freee-eee.. Nelson Mandela.."

Lirik lagu tu masih terngiang-ngiang di kepala aku. Ketika itu tahun 1988. Aku masih kecil. Rakyat UK telah mengadakan konsert besar-besaran di Stadium Wembley, England, sebagai tanda protes mereka terhadap dasar perkauman rejim Apartheid di Afrika Selatan ketika itu.. mereka, bersama warga dunia, menuntut pembebasan Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela..

Banyak telah berlaku semenjak itu. Dasar Apartheid telah dimansuhkan di Afrika Selatan. Nelson Mandela telah dibebaskan, malah sempat memimpin negaranya sebagai Presiden. Beliau terus menjadi inspirasi buat pejuang2 keadilan dan anti-perkauman di seluruh dunia. Aku pula menjadi remaja dan seterusnya dewasa, menyaksikan pelbagai sifat perkauman yang masih wujud di sekeliling aku. Ya lah. Itu realiti.

Hari ini, suatu konsert amal besar-besaran bakal diadakan untuk meraikan ulangtahun hari lahir Nelson Mandela yang ke-90. Acara ini bertujuan membantu perjuangan terkininya dalam meningkatkan kesedaran tentang HIV/AIDS di rantau Afrika. Menyaksikan keterujaan media di UK memaparkan persiapan untuk acara ini hanya mengingatkan aku kepada konsert di Stadium Wembley yang diadakan 20 tahun dahulu. Kebetulan aku berada di sini semula ketika ini.

Sejak dibebaskan, Nelson Mandela telah melibatkan diri dalam pelbagai isu serta penyelesaian pelbagai konflik di rantau Afrika (konflik2 peribadi tu lain cerita la). Sungguhpun begitu, beliau barangkali akan lebih dikenang sebagai pejuang keadilan antara kaum. Puisi "Manis" adalah antara puisi2 aku yang tersiar baru2 ini. Yang memahami cara penulisan aku mungkin dapat mengagak apakah kaitannya dengan perjuangan insan2 seperti Nelson Mandela.

[Nota ditambah pada 15/7/2008: Puisi "Manis" telah di-delete di sini dan di-paste ke dalam blog post yang seterusnya.]

A Silly Argument

I don't think all arguments are bad. Some arguments are necessary. I suppose, arguments that are constructed in a civil manner can be considered as debates, and to me, debates are healthy. They're healthier than merely cursing people, and they're healthier than resorting to physical violence or war.

A good debate is when there is a direct clash of ideas, where a person is able to engage in a head-on combat with another person, and where both parties choose and explain the best points to justify their ideas. As an analogy, a clash of ideas would look like this:

Tom: The glass is half EMPTY, because of this, this, this..

Jerry: The glass is half FULL, because of this, this, this..

Here, both Tom and Jerry get to debate their ideas head-on, so all is fine.

Recently, however, two people found themselves caught in a silly argument. An argument is "silly" when it does not even involve any clash of ideas, but instead is just a series of misunderstandings about one another's words.

A silly argument does not really allow anyone to debate properly, because one's point has been misunderstood by the other party, or one's words have been taken out of context completely. The recent silly argument was NOT related to glass/water/plastic/orange juice whatsoever, but the following example is just an analogy of what happened:

Tom: I think the glass is half empty, because of this, this, this..

Jerry: You know what? I think that isn't a real glass.. maybe it's made of plastic.. hehe..

[NOTE: This was an attempt by Jerry to purposely shift the topic, and the standard friendly giggle was included at the end.]

Tom: It doesn't matter whether it's glass or plastic, the point is it's half empty because of this, this, this..

Jerry: Hmm.. You know, I think we already have the technology to make plastic look like that.. Anyway, I understand your point, though.. :)

[NOTE: Jerry inserted a smiley, indicating that he was not trying to be confrontational.]

Tom: You SAY you understand my point but ACTUALLY you DON'T understand my point. If you understood my point, you wouldn't keep on talking like that.

[NOTE: An accusation was hurled at Jerry. Tom has now accused Jerry of overstating Jerry's own ability to understand. Jerry does not like to be accused that way, because Jerry is the type who would simply admit things he does not understand.]

Jerry: Hey.. I do understand what you meant about the glass being half empty, but I was only saying that THAT "glass" you're referring to might not really be glass and that we probably have the technology to make plastic look like that. That's all. I wasn't condemning your point. I was only talking about the material of that "glass".

Tom: See, there you go again. You don't understand my point.

Jerry: I do understand your point about the glass being half empty. Let me reiterate, I'm just talking about the possibility of that "glass" not being made of glass. You didn't understand my point so you thought I didn't understand your point. Right?

Tom: Hey, I do understand your point, ok? You said it's plastic when I said it's glass. See, I understand your point, but wait a minute.. Oh, so you have a theory about that glass being plastic, is it? Well, my friend, your plastic theory is ridiculous anyway. You clearly don't know what you're talking about.

Jerry: Fine, my theory is ridiculous. But still, you should not have said I don't understand your point. I do understand your point about the glass being half empty, ever since you first mentioned about it.. So, don't think I don't understand your point!

[Along the way, some other people decide to join the "series of misunderstandings". They are Donald, Daisy, Mickey, Minnie and Goofy.]

Donald: Tom and Jerry, you guys should get a room!

Daisy: Come on, man. Why should you guys argue about the orange juice in that glass? Some people like orange juice, some people don't. We all have our own favourite drinks. Live with it.

Mickey: I love orange juice. It doesn't matter what these two guys say. I just love orange juice.

Minnie: Guys, please don't argue over orange juice.

Goofy: I think these guys are only discussing about the taste of orange juice.

[NOTE: Obviously they misunderstood Tom's point and Jerry's point.. But wait, Donald had a good point, though.]

Tom: I'm out of here, nobody understands me. This has been a stupid debate.

Jerry: I'm out of here too. This wasn't supposed to be a debate in the first place.

As I see it, there wasn't supposed to be an argument at all between the two. At first, Jerry was only trying to shift the subject. He was not really responding to Tom's point.. Jerry could have done it in a better way, and he was about to, but instead Jerry was caught in that "feeling of being offended" when Tom accused Jerry of overstating his own ability to understand. As mentioned aboved, Jerry is a person who would simply admit it if he really does not understand something, because there's no harm in admitting that he does not understand something.. but once an accusation is hurled at him, then he won't take it lying down. He's got some ego too, man.

Whatever it is, they both can now laugh about the whole episode.. Of course, as friends, they would still chat and argue in the future, but the preference would certainly be for proper debates rather than silly arguments like this one.. :)

Apakah Maksud Sebenar "Perpecahan Bangsa"?

Hari ni aku ada banyak masa untuk baca topik2 dalam email group alumni sekolah aku. Walaupun ada macam2 topik yg best, malangnya bab pilihanraya pulak yang caught my attention (mungkin sebab baru2 ni selalu sangat bump into cerita, berita & blog tentang politik.. maklumlah, musim "raya").

Aku agak bangga dengan senior2 yang berbincang dalam email group tu sebab diorang takdelah terlebih-lebih bergaduh pasal politik. Sejak dulu lagi aku berpendapat bahawa tak kiralah apa2 pun fahaman/parti/politician yang kita mungkin sokong, adalah penting untuk kita membincangkan hal2 kepentingan awam dengan cara yang matang dan terbuka.

Dalam negara kita yang tercinta ni, aku rasa aku dah saksikan terlalu ramai politician duk bertelagah tentang pelbagai isu tanpa menilai betul2 apa yang diorang cakapkan.. Tak kurang juga politicians yang simply buat statement utk meraih sokongan melalui sentimen perkauman dan agama walaupun statement2 tu langsung tak melakarkan "the whole truth" tentang sesuatu isu..

Pada pendapat aku, bila berbincang atau berbahas tentang politik, kita perlu lebih matang daripada politicians yang ada (both Government & Opposition), dan bersedia mengakui kebenaran yang terkandung dalam pernyataan orang lain, walaupun kita tak semestinya bersetuju 100% dengan orang itu. Kita bukan berbahas untuk menebus maruah diri. Kita berbahas untuk mencari kebenaran (lainlah kalau kita ni orang yang suka berbahas untuk memijak lawan dan mendabik dada). My point is, kita tak perlu malu jika kita tak "menang" sesuatu hujah.

Menyedari aku hanyalah junior biasa, aku tak ada "bidasan" untuk sesiapa dalam email group tersebut, tapi aku cuma ada beberapa kemusykilan. Kemusykilan2 tu pun bukannya kemusykilan2 baru. Sekadar yang hinggap kembali di kepala setelah isu "perpecahan bangsa" ditimbulkan oleh sesetengah seniors di situ:

1) Benarkah jika manusia daripada satu bangsa menyokong parti/politicians yang berbeza, maka mereka secara automatik dianggap "berpecah-belah"? Kalau INILAH definisi "berpecah-belah" yang sebenar, maka mungkin setiap bangsa di dunia ini "berpecah-belah" sebab tak menyokong hanya satu parti untuk setiap bangsa? Bagaimanakah pula bangsa2 maju di dunia ini mencapai tahap kemajuan mereka sedangkan - kalau ikut definisi ini - mereka semuanya "berpecah-belah" juga? (malah ada yang siap berperang & berbunuhan sesama sendiri)

2) In the first place, apakah pengertian "perpaduan bangsa"? Adakah ia bererti "semua orang menyokong parti/politicians yang sama" atau adakah ia bererti "semua orang mahu membangunkan bangsa/negara untuk kemakmuran rakyat seluruhnya walaupun berbeza fahaman politik"? Atau adakah pengertiannya lain daripada semua ni?

3) Adakah "perbezaan pendapat" sama ertinya dengan "berpecah-belah"? Kalau ya, maka ada ker parti politik yang takde pergeseran, konflik dalaman atau perbezaan pendapat di kalangan ahli2nya?

4) Bolehkah seorang politician benar2 "pecah-belahkan" seluruh bangsa jika segala isu yang diperkatakannya hanyalah pembohongan dan terbukti hanya pembohongan, atau mungkinkah terdapat sedikit-sebanyak kebenaran juga dalam isu2 yang diperkatakannya yang memerlukan kita meneliti isu2 tersebut serta memperbaiki keadaan negara untuk kebaikan kita bersama - tak kiralah sama ada kita "cinta" atau "benci" politician itu?

Bagi aku, orang yang ekstrim dengan pendapat masing2 dan memaksa pendapat mereka ke atas orang lain, mereka itulah yang memecah-belahkan manusia.. dan mereka terdapat dalam mana2 parti, bangsa atau agama sekalipun..

Sekadar beberapa persoalan zaman budak-budak...

Neither Ritual Nor Spiritual?

They were cute. They meow-ed to me. They brushed their furry heads against my feet. They got the food they wanted. They ate.. and they left. Obviously, I'm talking about some cats I've encountered.. but this blog post isn't really about them.

When I was small, I was taught that when we "bersalam raya" or "beraya" with a person, we should bend down in humility, extend both our hands to the person's hand(s), look at the person in the eye as sincerely as possible, ask for forgiveness and really really mean it. Of course the subsequent action would be to place our hands to our chest, which signifies "bringing the love to the heart".

[Oh yes, my parents didn't encourage the tradition of kissing the hands of others so that's why I didn't mention hand-kissing. To be honest, even I would get uncomfortable when children suddenly kiss my hand while "bersalam", especially when I've just had some strong-smelling curry with roti canai or whatever.]

Anyway, I was taught that when we ask for forgiveness from a person, it doesn't matter whether we've known the person for a long time or it's just the first time we've ever met the person.

This is because, if we've known the person for a long time, then there'd most probably be some kind of mistake that we've done to the person, whether in the form of thoughts, words or actions. If it's just the first time we've met the person, then there might still be some form of mistake that we've done during that first meeting, which may have offended the person even though the person did not express her/his discontent.

However, everytime we celebrate Aidilfitri after Ramadan, I could witness this scene in many houses:

A group of children enters the house of the host. They know the host, as they all live in the same neighbourhood.

Host: Nak duit raya ke nak makan? (You want raya money or you want to eat?)
Children: Duit raya!!! (Raya money!!!)
Host: Ok, mai beraya. (Ok, let's beraya.)

The group of children then approaches the host. They take turns to extend their hands to the host's hands, they take the money from the host and they leave. In other words:

No eye contact (probably because of stage fright).
No asking for forgiveness (maybe because they've already asked for something else).
No sign of uttering a simple "Thank you" (perhaps because it's a foreign language).

Hmm.. I'm just not sure whether we're training children to understand what "humility, gratitude and asking for forgiveness" means or whether we're training them to become efficient beggars & subsidy-worshippers instead. In my humble opinion, children don't need US to train them to become efficient beggars & subsidy-worshippers. Cats could do a better job in that department.

P/S: It's 19 October 2007. I'm in Langkawi, playing with island cats.

The Defensive John Lemon

"..I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one.." [John Lennon]

"Though a person may not achieve much by dreaming, at least that's how he may know he has reached puberty.." [John Lemon]

OK, OK.. so John Lemon changed some parts of his sentence since the last time he wrote a comment in this blog. Those changes were only for the purpose of making certain words more consistent and making the sentence less generalizing. After all, John Lemon hates people who generalize or stereotype other people. He thinks it's just not fair.. and there's already too little fairness in the world.

In fact, John Lemon knows that his current sentence above STILL doesn't sound fair, because it uses "he" instead of "she/he".. but WAIT, John Lemon has an explanation.. He says, the reason is, he doesn't know anything about female adolescent dreams. He has only experienced male adolescent dreams.

Fine. John Lemon can be very defensive sometimes. That's fair enough...

P/S: John Lemon acknowledges that dreaming can make a person achieve many things.. but he threw away his dream a very long time ago so he's just trying to be negatively sarcastic but positively symbolic all at the same time.. oh boy..

Anak Melayu Ter-Paranoid

Post yang sebelum ni, aku delete sebab aku jadik ter-paranoid.. Aku ter-paranoid bukan sebab apa.. tapi sebab aku tau.. kengkadang tu, apa yang kita fikir/cakap/tulis, walaupun dengan niat yang cukup ikhlas ("bona fide giler" la katakan), akan tetap ada orang yang salah faham, sengaja tak faham atau sengaja nak putarbelitkan fikiran/kata-kata kita.. lagi-lagi kalau isu yang disentuh tu berkenaan hubungan kaum, prejudis dan politik..

Mungkin jugak.. aku ter-paranoid ni sebab ada satu zaman dalam hidup aku (dulu) yang i find myself asyik ter-involve dengan aktiviti menangkis salahfaham ni, so aku mungkin dah malas nak terlibat dengan kerja2 mcm tu.. maka aku delete je lah post tu..

Masalahnya.. sampai hari ni.. aku masih tak puas hati dengan kata2 seseorang yang menganggap pandangan aku ni lah yang "membahayakan". Bagi aku, pandangan dia tu lah yang terlalu dipengaruhi mainstream propaganda. Bukan bermaksud mainstream propaganda semuanya salah. Tidak. Bagi aku, mainstream propaganda pun kadang2 ada benarnya, tapi it may not tell us the WHOLE truth, dan sebab itulah orang yang waras pun masih tergerak untuk mempertikaikannya.. Walaupun aku takkan publish semula that post yang telah aku delete, aku tetap ada beberapa soklan nak lempar kat sini..

1. Salahkah untuk kita MENGAKUI bahawa prejudis perkauman dalam masyarakat kita (prasangka dan cemburu antara kaum) masih wujud?

2. Adakah dengan MENAFIKAN (deny) bahawa kita mempunyai kelemahan, kita akan dapat memperbaiki kelemahan2 tersebut dan maju?

3. Adakah "kuasa asing dari luar negara" akan menjajah ekonomi kita jika kita mengakui kelemahan kita, ataupun adakah "kuasa asing dari luar negara" sudahpun tahu pelbagai kelemahan kita dan sememangnya pun sedang menjajah ekonomi kita?

4. Adakah "penjajahan" itu boleh dilabelkan pada warna kulit atau asal-usul geografi semata-mata, ataupun adakah penjajahan itu boleh berlaku even di kalangan atau sesama bangsa sendiri?

5. Adakah "pengaruh asing" itu sememangnya sesuatu yang buruk atau adakah "pengaruh asing" itulah yang menjadikan budaya sesuatu bangsa berkembang?

6. Adakah "Melayu" itu suatu bangsa yang muncul dengan tiba2, atau Melayu itu sendiri adalah hasil daripada elemen2 dan PENGARUH ASING, baik dari segi genetik, budaya, bahasa, agama, ilmu, pemikiran dan sebagainya?

Whatever it is.. i just hope kita tak kongkong diri dalam self-labelled boxes dan berbangga dengan perkara2 yang tak sehebat mana.. Jangan salahfaham.. Aku bukan pengkhianat.. Aku bangga jadi anak Melayu, tapi kebanggaan aku terhadap Melayu ni terletak pada sifat2 kemelayuan yang - bagi aku - bermaksud, antara lain; kehalusan budi, kesaksamaan, compassionate and ACCOMODATING.

Tapi, kalau setakat nak takut-takutkan saudara se-Melayu dengan ancaman-ancaman "penjajahan bentuk baru" tanpa memahami punca asal berlakunya ketidakadilan, aku rasa susah la kita nak tangkis sebarang penjajahan pun.. dan susah la jugak untuk kita nak majukan bangsa Melayu dan juga bangsa Manusia..

Ok.. cukuplah setakat ni.

"Pandangan Kau Ni Bahaya, Kau Tau Tak???"

There's a thing about being patriotic and a thing about being parrotic (as in, being a parrot). What one person calls necessary is what some other person calls crazy, and vice versa. We all know that.. but sometimes.. it SUCKS..

[all the following paragraphs of this post - on race relations, prejudice and politics -have been DELETED...]


[Note added on 26/1/2008: The title of this post was actually what someone said to me on the day of this post, yet to me, I should have been the one saying it to him...]

DUMB "ARSE"S, DUMB "ASS"ES, or Simply DUMB

Question 1: Why CAN'T we offend other people?

Question 2: Why CAN'T we be honest with our personal opinions and let others know how silly they seem to us?

I've always wanted to shout DUMB ARSE or DUMB ASS to a number of people in my life. Now's probably the chance for me, so here's a list of some of the DUMB ARSES or DUMB ASSES in my life, yes, YOU, who may fall under the category of the:

1. People who feel they're so cool when in fact they make me wanna puke on them and then invite others to puke on them too. If only my puke were as smelly as their big fat egos...

2. People who love to conquer conversations among friends as if they're the Mr. or Mrs. Know-it-All of everything, when in fact, the contents that spill out of their mouths can be refuted or shot down very easily by a thing called "knowledge" and something else called "common sense", but they just don't know that coz other ppl don't have the heart to embarrass them. Tak sanggup je.

3. People who are so judgmental about other people's personal lives and makes it their life goal to sensationalize every detail of stories even they're not sure about, not realizing that the doubts they cast upon others could be casted even worse upon themselves, and that the details they spread around are so incorrect.

4. People who underestimate other people just because of the way they look or the language they talk, especially salespersons in shopping malls who refuse to entertain my questions about high-priced items just because I don't dress stylishly and I prefer to speak Bahasa Melayu. The treatment is usually different when I wear "work clothes" or when I speak English. You bloody twits with double standards, you!

5. People who look down upon those who are silent, quiet and not very glamourous. Come on, lah! You think they're ugly ducklings coz you just don't know their worth. (OK, this one's in defense of some very smart, sensible yet "silent" people I know.)

6. People who don't keep their promises (or at least inform me when they couldn't be able to keep their promises) and then come up with lies and excuses to cover their business's arse, as if I wouldn't know or find out that they're lying.

7. People who like to generalize issues, for example, a person who labels anything Western (or Non-Western, depending on where the person doesn't come from) as "uncivilized", or a person who blames either Christians, Muslims, Communists or Jews for EVERY problem in the world, or a person who thinks the opposite sex must surely be this and that..

OK, 7 categories should be enough for the time being.