Aku Kerapkali Dirogol

Aku berani bersumpah. Pengalaman2 yang aku bakal tulis ni benar2 belaka. Dah lama aku nak luahkan dan ceritakan, tapi aku cuma memendamkannya.. Semoga kali ni aku dapat luahkan dan ceritakan dengan tenang..

AYAT INI ADALAH KENYATAAN/FAKTA:
Orang lain kerap kali memasukkan sesuatu ke dalam tubuh badan aku, walaupun aku tak merelakannya.

Elemen2 penting di sini:
(i) orang lain;
(ii) memasukkan sesuatu ke dalam tubuh badan aku; dan
(iii) aku tak merelakannya.

Walaupun aku menganggapnya sebagai "rogol", keadaan yang aku maksudkan ni tak ditakrifkan sebagai rogol di bawah Kanun Keseksaan kita ataupun akta2 lain, maka aku tak dapat membuat laporan rasmi atau mengharapkan kawan2 dalam PDRM atau Pejabat Peguam Negara mengambil tindakan terhadap mereka yang buat perkara ni kepada aku.

Itu dari segi undang2 jenayah. Dari segi undang2 sivil pula, kalaupun perkara ni boleh tergolong sebagai kesalahan Tort, aku rasa susah aku nak buktikan secara spesifik yang kesalahan ni dilakukan oleh para pelaku.. elemen2 Tort tak lengkap..

Agaknya, inilah masalah yang dihadapi oleh orang lain yang macam aku. Kerap kali, bila keluar dari rumah, bila berada di tempat awam.. ada saja sesuatu benda yang dimasukkan ke dalam tubuh badan kitorang, walaupun kitorang tak merelakannya. "Sesuatu benda" yang aku maksudkan ni.. ialah asap rokok..

Sebelum sesiapa terus declare perang dengan aku, elok aku kata di sini yang aku TAK benci kepada semua orang yang merokok. Malah, aku rasa.. mungkin 90% daripada kawan2 aku - baik lelaki mahupun perempuan - adalah active smokers (golongan yang hisap batang ... rokok), manakala 10% yang selebihnya adalah passive smokers (golongan yang terpaksa hisap asap rokok orang lain dan menghadapi risiko kesihatan yang lebih teruk).

Bagi aku, selagi orang tak kacau aku dari segi fizikal atau mental, selagi itu aku tak kacau dia. Kawan2 aku pun tau, kalau diorang nak rokok sampai sasau setiap hari pun aku tak kisah, sebab apa2 yang diorang buat, asalkan tak melibatkan aku, aku anggap sebagai hal peribadi masing2. Aku ada pandangan tertentu untuk diri aku sendiri, tapi hak masing2 adalah hak masing2.

Pada masa yang sama, aku respek kawan2 aku yang memang tau aku tak suka jadi passive smoker. Bila diorang melepak dengan aku, diorang dengan baik hatinya akan budget supaya asap rokok diorang pergi ke tempat lain. Dalam ruang yang sempit pun diorang boleh bagi asap rokok diorang cilok keluar. Giler abi dowh. Itu tandanya diorang ada skill.. dan diorang hormat member. Bagi aku, orang yang menghormati orang lain, layak dihormati kembali.

Yang jadi masalah bagi aku hanyalah bila asap rokok orang benar2 mencerobohi tubuh badan aku dalam keadaan2 yang mana aku jelas tak merelakannya (ada juga keadaan yang mana aku merelakannya, contohnya bila aku masuk ke tempat yang aku tau sememangnya penuh dengan asap rokok). Maka, dalam keadaan tubuh badan aku ditembusi jauh ke dalam TANPA kerelaan aku, aku menganggap diri aku telah DIROGOL (bunyik dayus siot.. ah pedulik apa.. ini blog aku!).

Bukannya aku tak reti mengelak asap rokok atau tak reti pilih tempat yang jauh dari perogol2 ni, tapi kadang2 tu, walaupun aku dah elak atau pilih tempat sehabis baik pun, adaaa je jerebu melanda dan mengubah indeks pencemaran udara di sekeliling aku.. Malah, dalam ruang "non-smoking" di restoran atau hotel pun adaaa je perogol yang selamba menunjukkan kehebatannya membentuk isyarat asap..

Bukan semua perokok berperangai macam perogol2 ni. Kalangan yang melampau ni sajalah yang membuatkan aku marah.. Perogol2 terlampau ni, secara sedar atau tak sedar (dengan niat atau tidak), adalah manusia yang gagal menghormati orang lain..

Diorang adalah penceroboh yang MENCABUL KEHORMATAN orang lain. Sebab apa aku kata macam tu? Sebab diorang gagal menghormati TUBUH BADAN orang lain..

Diorang adalah penceroboh individu; MENGISI LUBANG hidung dan saluran pernafasan orang lain DENGAN sisa BATANG yang mempunyai lebih daripada 4000 jenis racun yang bakal tersebar di seluruh badan orang itu (kalau diorang setakat nak rosakkan badan sendiri tu, tak kisah lah, tapi ini badan orang lain)..

Diorang juga adalah penceroboh negara; Aku bukannya BERMAIN-MAIN jika aku katakan bahawa diorang umpama boneka "pihak musuh" yang bertugas merosakkan paru2 di DADA rakyat tempatan DENGAN kesudian diorang untuk terus menyokong syarikat2 rokok yang RAKUS.. Yang kaya semakin kaya, yang miskin semakin miskin (kartel/industri rokok rata2 dah kena belasah oleh mahkamah2 dan undang2 di banyak negara maju, so sekarang syarikat2 rokok ni memberi tumpuan kepada rakyat negara2 membangun sebagai pasaran "pak sanggup" jangka panjang)..

Hmm.. Jadi, apa solution untuk masalah rogol macam ni?

Mungkin orang macam aku patut bawak kipas kecik, yang saiznya macam bekas pepper spray tu. Kalau ada orang nak merogol je, kitorang boleh halakan kipas kecik tu kat muka para perogol, supaya asap rokok diorang pusing balik ke muka diorang. Diorang kan suka asap rokok? Buat apa bagi asap rokok tu kepada kitorang yang tak nak asap rokok? Membazir je.. Sekurang2nya, kipas kecik kitorang mampu tolong diorang dalam me-maksimum-kan nikmat merokok.. Kekeke.. Tapi ye lah ye lah.. Aku tau lah.. segala racun daripada asap rokok bukannya boleh dihalau dengan satu kipas kecik tuu pun..

Tukang-Tukang Tilik Politik

Aku selalu terserempak dengan tukang-tukang tilik politik, baik di alam cyber mahupun di luar alam cyber. Tukang-tukang tilik yang dimaksudkan ini biasanya mempunyai ciri-ciri yang sama bila mereka menulis atau bercakap tentang politik, iaitu:

1) Suka dan mudah mengandaikan (assume) bahawa sesuatu yang mereka baca/dengar itu adalah "benar", sedangkan sumber-sumber yang "boleh dipercayai" pun tak semuanya boleh dipercayai, malah "orang dalam" sekalipun adakalanya sengaja diperdayakan oleh orang-orang atasnya untuk tujuan2 tertentu;

2) Suka generalize fikiran dan perasaan manusia, seolah-olah apa yang mereka fikirkan dan rasai itu sama dan sebijik sepertimana semua orang lain fikirkan dan rasai;

3) Suka men-stereotype-kan orang lain berdasarkan kaum/agama/jantina, sedangkan stereotype itu hanyalah akibat prejudis atau pengalaman hidup mereka semata-mata dan tak semestinya benar dalam setiap kes atau keadaan;

Berbekalkan ciri-ciri di atas, tukang-tukang tilik ini akan menulis atau bercakap tentang apa yang akan berlaku kepada negara jika pemimpin ini atau pemimpin itu memimpin negara, atau jika parti ini atau parti itu menguasai Kerajaan.. seolah-olah mereka ini Tuhan yang mengetahui segala-galanya, termasuk masa depan dan niat sebenar manusia.

Hakikatnya.. Ada sebab mengapa aku tak suka mengandaikan bahawa seseorang pemimpin itu baik atau jahat berdasarkan sumber-sumber yang tidak dibuktikan kesahihannya. Ada sebab mengapa aku tak suka meramalkan keputusan sesuatu Pilihanraya UMUM berdasarkan fikiran atau perasaan aku sendiri. Dan, ada sebab mengapa aku tak suka men-stereotype-kan pemikiran politik rakyat Malaysia berdasarkan kaum, agama atau jantinanya..

Hmm.. Mungkin aku dah bosan dengan kebanyakan tilikan politik yang aku baca/dengar. Sebab tu aku meluahkan perkara ni di sini. Sekurang-kurangnya aku boleh la meluahkan macam ni selagi aku sendiri belum menjadi seorang tukang tilik politik.. hehe..

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.

An Opinion on "An Opinion on the PhD"

I would not have written this post if it hadn't been for my friend's ability to copy and paste. He pasted an article by Dr A Murad Merican in his blog post "An Opinion on the PhD" (link here). The article is about what the “PhD” means and does not mean. For example, "Obtaining a PhD is only the beginning towards becoming a scholar, but a scholar does not necessarily need to have a PhD to be one." (Quoted words are my friend's interpretation of the article - See, I'm good at pasting too.)

My comment in his blog apparently became so long so I decided to turn it into my blog post as well.. Haha.. Here it is:

I read this article in the newspaper a few weeks ago and felt it was very timely. Timely because our Ministry of Higher Education had just recently launched its strategic plan (which includes aiming for a few more thousand PhD holders by 2010) and some local universities are now racing to become "Apex Universities” under this plan (yup, new status-labels, dudes).

I do think that achieving a GENUINE doctorate degree is a challenging and rewarding task. A person is forced to acquire and progress with excellent transferable skills every step of the way. From the preliminary coursework to the proper research work, involving mental debates, a well-founded written thesis and oral defence sessions, the process isn’t easy (unless one merely buys a fake PhD or DBA like some Malaysian businessmen, internet millionaires and celebrities do).

However, more doctorate holders among our academics do not necessarily guarantee better quality education/research from our universities. When there’s no academic freedom (due to the lack of freedom of information and expression, thanks to many constitutional amendments, laws and rules which I hate to remind ourselves), then how can the pursuit of the truth (knowledge) really benefit?

I agree with the statement that PhD holders & Professors are not necessarily scholars & intellectuals (and vice versa). In certain cases – and I’m simply adding this point on my own – some of them are NOT EVEN RESEARCHERS. To be honest, I’m not referring to those academics who don’t do much academic research work etc. What bothers me more are those who hold high academic offices but are completely prejudicial (towards certain views) and extremely biased (in believing certain people) when making crucial decisions. Does a researcher really think and act that way?

These people, to my mind, are simply a disgrace to their own profession as “researchers”. One does not “search again” for the truth by making terribly prejudicial and biased calls. We term it as “tanpa usul periksa” (without investigation) in Malay. To me, researchers could be the best of judges, but these people I’m referring to are just politician-wannabes.

Luckily, I've also met many PhD holders and Professors who are very humble and do not expect their views to “conquer everyone else's” (despite all the knowledge and educated justifications that they have in reaching their conclusions). To me, this is what the pursuit of knowledge is supposed to teach a person; Humility. The more one learns about the world, the more one discovers how much one does not really know.

"Common Errs" of Not Just Commoners (2006)

Look here... 31 August 1957 is NOT “Malaysia’s Birthday”. "Malaysia" did not even exist yet on that date! The media & advertising companies can be quite ignorant when it comes to the nation’s history.. but then again, even our history text books seem to please a certain propaganda.

31 August 1957 was the date the Tunku proclaimed the independence of MALAYA. It was NOT the birthday of MALAYSIA. Malaysia’s birthday was about 6 years later, on 16 September 1963.

Ever since my school years, I just get disturbed whenever I come across these little things (just another disturbed child I suppose). Another example is how we love to spell & pronounce the word “DEFINASI” instead of “DEFINISI”. Even in English it should be DEFIN-I-TION and not DEFIN-A-TION. [Also remember = Definite, Definitely.]

How about the misuse of “It’s mean” that we introduced to the world of modern English?
Sentence example: “I love Earth. It’s mean, I love my planet.”
Guys, this is wrong! I mean, it's good to love the planet but.. “IT’S MEAN” (“ia kejam”) is not what you mean in this context. What you should say is “IT MEANS” (“ia bermakna”). Please note that the “S” sound comes after the MEAN.

Then, the common confusion regarding the “Malay” words FAKTA (fact) and FAKTOR (factor). Many people including national leaders tend to mix these words up. They have different meanings lah.. Yes, I know we all make mistakes and that “to err is human”.. but it’s also human to help point out what could be corrected and improved.. so I’m just being human lah kan...

Well, guys, tomorrow’s the 31st.. so Happy Merdeka ("National Day of Malaysia" is probably the best description).. and may we find our own meaning of freedom & independence..

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.