Passed my exams, started my job as a doctor, did 4 months of medicine and now just started my surgical job. Enjoying it so far, steep learning curve but I guess that’s the case with most jobs out there.

Will start blogging again about various things that I feel strongly about or I find interesting / worthwhile. Finally have that blogging feeling again.

Owh and I will be getting engaged and married soon . Will keep you posted .

Its reputation preceeds itself to such an extent that the term ‘medical finals’ applies to this exam only. And only this. Despite the fact that as a doctor you sit for soooo many exams, ‘medical finals’ is the one and only. Numero uno.

And it is just over 24 hours away from me.

Pray for me and my friends people!!! Insya Allah!

I have often dreamed
Of a far off place
Where a hero’s welcome
Would be waiting for me
Where the crowds will cheer
When they see my face
And a voice keeps saying
This is where I’m meant to be

I’ll be there someday
I can go the distance
I will find my way
If I can be strong
I know every mile
Will be worth my while
When I go the distance
I’ll be right where I belong

Down an unknown road
To embrace my fate
Though the road may wander
It will lead me to you
And a thousand years
Would be worth the wait
It may take a lifetime
But somehow I’ll see it through

And I won’t look back
I can go the distance
And I’ll stay on track
No I won’t accept defeat
It’s an uphill slope
But I won’t lose hope
Till I go the distance
And my journey is complete

But to look beyond the glory is the hardest part
For a hero’s strength is measured by his heart

Like a shooting star
I can go the distance
I will search the world
I will face its harms
I don’t care how far
I can go the distance
TillI find my hero’s welcome
Waiting in your arms…

I will search the world
I will face its harms
TillI find my hero’s welcome
Waiting in your arms…

“But to look beyond the glory is the hardest part
For a hero’s strength is measured by his heart”

Indeed. Wassalam.

So, the Malaysian government today announced that they will be making a U-turn on the decision to teach Maths and Science in English. It will be done in phases and hopefully by 2012 everybody at school will be back to square one; learning in BM.

I actually support this idea and congrats to Tan Sri Muhyiddin for having the balls to make this decision. Let me tell you why.

First and foremost, we must ask ourselves, what do we want to achieve in the long run? I am sure most if not all of you will unanimously and fervently say that ‘We want our kids to be better in English!!’.  Good.

Now we must understand one very important principle to this argument. Read the title of this post. Yerp, teaching maths and science in English does not equate to having a better command of the language. Those who think that it does, you have to rethink. Don’t believe me? Ask any language expert, and they will tell you that to master a language, you need to learn things like grammar, pronounciation, sentence structures, and actually speaking the language itself. I don’t see how learning Maths and Science in English will contribute to that because they are both very theoretical subjects. You have to understand the concepts in the subjects that transcend language anyway. How many times did you write a sentence when you were doing your sums? Not often I suppose.

Having said that, how DO we achieve our initial purpose? To get better in English? Ahh, here is something that we actually need to focus on. Not the Maths and Science stuff. What we actually need is a complete reshuffle of the way we teach English and the amount of time we spend learning English as a language on its own, NOT as a MEDIUM to learn other subjects. I can assure you based on my own experiences that mastering English comes from lots of reading and learning the language itself and not through learning it in Maths or Science or History or even Geography for that matter!

Once you’ve mastered the language, everything else will take care of themselves. Trust me, we will be better off devising new ways to encourage students to speak English and make learning English more fun rather than bog them down with difficult terms and concepts in Maths and Science that they struggle to even comprehend in BM. Before you run, you must learn to walk. We learnt Science and Maths in Malay and we did fine.

So, go and learn the language first. Focus on mastering your English, then everything else will sort out itself. Forget Maths and Science, even Sociology or Theoretical Physics in English won’t scare you by then.

All this while, we have actually been trying to solve the problem from the wrong end.

*The views expressed on this blog are entirely the author’s and in no way reflective of public opinion

Front view of Khir Toyo's 'Bali-themed palace'

SHAH ALAM, July 6 — Selangor’s opposition leader is under the spotlight again, this time for allegedly building a palatial mansion which dwarfs the infamous Istana Zakaria built by the late Port Klang assemblyman Datuk Zakaria Md Deros, but in an immediate reaction Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Khir Toyo denied he had spent more than RM20 million on the house.

DAP’s Ng See Lim today revealed documents which allegedly confirms allegations which first surfaced over the Internet months ago that Dr Khir owns the mansion on Jalan Suasa 7/1L in Shah Alam.

The Sekinchan assemblyman said the resort-like home of the former mentri besar had been built on two plots of land measuring over 50,000 sq ft or 1.17acres.

In comparison, Istana Zakaria which brought about the political downfall of the infamous Port Klang assemblyman had 16 bedrooms, 21 bathrooms and built on 43,000 sq feet of land in Kampung Idaman, Klang.

Ng, who produced documents from the State Land Department, said Dr Khir had purchased one lot measuring of 31,794 sq feet for RM2.9 million while another lot measuring 20,427 sq feet was purchased for RM900,000.

He further alleges that the mansion, which sits behind high walls, was built at a further cost of RM20 million.

Speaking to reporters later, Dr Khir said he had bought the home for only RM3.5 million with a loan from HSBC.

“I have nothing to hide. Everything is above board,” he said.

Earlier, Ng had taken reporters to visit the house and alleged that Dr Khir could not have been able to afford the house on his income as a mentri besar.

“The house was built according to Balinese architecture with furniture from Bail, and it also has a pool.”

“I would like Dr Mohd Khir, who was a dentist before becoming mentri besar for eight years, to explain how he accumulated so much wealth that he could afford to build the house that cost at least RM24 million.”

Based on the public income declaration of Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim, Ng worked out that Dr Khir’s income to be no more than RM48,000 a month while he was mentri besar.

This would come to RM576,000 a year or RM4.6 million while he was mentri besar between August 2000 and March 2008. As mentri besar, Dr Khir would have been barred from engaging in business.

Ng said the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) must act and investigate how Dr Khir could afford the house.

He said the MACC could obtain all the necessary documents from the land office and did not have to interview him or wait for a report to be lodged.

According to documents given to the press, Dr Khir and his wife Datin Seri Zahrah Kechik had obtained the land from Ditamas Sdn Bhd in 2007 while construction of the house was completed some time this year.

Photographs of the property which show a swimming pool and several buildings first surfaced on the antikhirtoyo.blogspot website on March 20, just before the Umno elections.

Asked about it then, Dr Khir said it was the work of his enemies in Umno.

Dr Khir, who had been a frontrunner in the contest for the Umno Youth chief’s post, eventually lost the election to Khairy Jamaluddin.

Eventhough he is leaving he did mention that he won’t be going to Anfield as he loves the United fans so much it would be disrespectful to do so. I sure hope he doesn’t go to City as I can’t bear the possibility of him putting one past us in the derby. Sir Alex has got a massive task at hand this summer to replace him and that other guy, what’s his name.

But as always, in Fergie we trust.

What we need instead is ‘kaedah yang betul’ to reach the conclusion of ‘this society is haram and that society is haram’. For instance, if we disagree with certain issues raised by SIS, we need to list them down and invite them to defend themselves against these issues that we think are wrong. If they clearly failed to do so and are proven ‘wrong’ based on facts and structured debate, then it’s justified to ban them. Otherwise, people would just freely ban others on the basis of disagreement which I think is not reflective of Islam’s approach to things; which has always been based on facts. We need to demonstrate justice and do things systematically, as is always proposed by Islam.

The reason being, eventhough some issues being brought up by SIS is at loggerheads with Islam’s recommendations (eg: issue of polygamy), they have also done some good things like fighting for rights of women while religious authorities at times fail to defend women’s rights. Kes mahkamah syariah bertimbun-timbun unsettled for instance. Kadang-kadang religous authorities sendiri menjadi instrument for oppresion of women and tarnish the name of our religion. They talk about religion so much but fail to ‘membela wanita’. This we have to admit.

Let’s clear our heads and give SIS a chance to defend themselves and discuss openly with our ulamas. It not only demonstrates the compassion and wisdom of the Muslims but also a good chance for us to do da’wah as well.

Just a thought.

Wassalam.

Ade sedikit perkongsian untuk hari Jumaat. I was talking to a friend a couple of weeks ago, in fact I think it was about sometime in March. He said to me, “You know what Zaid, the current hard times we are facing will see the rise of extremist ideas and all the right-wing guys will be coming out again”. I wasn’t sure what to make of it at that time as I didn’t have enough information nor experience to make a sound judgement but fast forward 2 months and now I think I know what he meant.

During the Great Depression of the 1930s, two of the world’s most “successful” economies were those of Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany. In hindsight, this sounds perverse – even obscene. But at the time, political leaders from around the world watched the Italian and German economic experiments and, in many cases, lauded them. The Germans and Italians introduced new economic concepts that remarkably worked successfully during the depression.

During a 1937 visit to Germany, Canadian prime minister William Lyon Mackenzie King noted in his diary how “impressed” he was by Adolf Hitler’s labour policies. In the U.S., as German cultural historian Wolfgang Schivelbusch recounts in his book Three New Deals, then president Franklin Roosevelt pronounced himself “deeply impressed by what (Italian dictator Benito Mussolini) has accomplished…”

These individuals made these comments not because they favoured Hitler’s murderous anti-Semitism or Mussolini’s brutal blackshirt tactics. Far from it. But they knew that credit should be given where it’s due. The combination of authoritarianism and capitalism that Hitler and Mussolini used to great effect to reduce unemployment and revive their respective economies attracted admirers. Huge amounts of public money were spend on public works and military development. But how did they prevent trade unions from interfering by doing things like demanding higher wages? They banned them. Trade unions were banned so that the economic revival would be smooth and free of interference, an example of labour-management cooperation that appealed to a lot of people, particularly Canadian PM at the time William Lyon Mackenzie King.

Somewhat unsurprisingly, most Germans and Italians like what their leaders were doing. Because I quote “With the notable exceptions of Jews, Communists, social democrats, liberals, Roma, gays, dissident pastors and anyone with a shred of conscience – most Germans and Italians were materially better off than they had been.”

Kenapa saye beritahu semua ini? Relevankah dengan kita? Pakcik khutbah Jumaat MRI last week pon ade menyebut something along these lines.

Well, it is worth keeping all the above in mind as we head into what most economists say will be the worst economic slump since the Great Depression in the 1930s. We should learn from history and the Great Depression teaches us two things:

1. Firstly capitalism doesn’t necessarily need liberalism or even democracy to be successful. Tidak percaya? Lihatlah China. In fact in the 1930s, many people believed that an authoritarian market economy could pave the way to a higher standard of living.
2. Secondly, it is human nature that in times of stress and hardship, people are more vulnerable. They want strong leaders and fear outsiders. Enough of all this democracy crap, we want to limit immigrants etc2. “Stop stealing our jobs!” People will be desperate to hold on to what they have and quick to find scapegoats.
This theory can be applied to most events that cause stress and fear in people. We all saw what happened after 9/11. A similar version of right-wing populism was aimed at Muslims and swept across the US.

Now we are on the brink of an economic version. It is just waiting to happen.

The signs are already there. Rush Limbaugh who is a right-wing radio show host in the US has been openly labeled as a fool and criticized time and time again. But 20 million Americans still listen to him every week, more audience perhaps than most politicians get. His message of anger and resentment resonates with many Americans. Migrant Mexican workers continue to get the brunt of the blame for “stealing jobs”. As the economy gets worse, these right-wing views will surely gain more followers.

In the UK, the NHS is cutting down on foreign doctors continuing postgraduate training. The recent changes to Tier 1 applications to extend stay in Britain means that some doctors have to find work somewhere else. Ironically, NHS is also adhering to the new European Working Time Directive (EWTD) that prevents doctors from working more than 48 hours/week but at the same time they are struggling to meet rota demands.

Last autumn, leaders of the G-20 (so called 20 of the world’s strongest economies) made a promise not to raise any new trade barriers. But since then the US has blatantly introduced “Buy America” in Presiden Obama’s stimulus package. How weird is that? And according to the World Bank, as many as 16 countries have probably done something similar too.

All this seems like bad news but history very rarely repeats itself in such an obvious manner. We are not going to see fascism on all the front pages of tomorrow’s papers. The current economic crisis has solutions that do not require dictatorship and one that we all hope the politicians will stumble upon soon, if they are not already looking for it. Because if they continue to offer useless nostrums to get us out of this hole that we are in, there is always that potential of simple and dangerous ideas coming into play. They are lurking in the background waiting to pounce on any opportunity and first signs of weakness.

That is the bit of history that usually repeats itself.

Satu perkara yang aku ingin kongsi selama aku berada disini. Mungkin post2 terdahulu lebih kepada perkongsian secara general tetapi kali ini aku mengkhususkan kepada satu perkara..
Melihat kpd sejarah aku yang lepas2 tak pernah terfikir untuk aku melibatkan diri dengan program2 agama.. Sebut shj program agama, “aa takpe aa korang pegi laa dulu, esok lusa dapat hidayah aku join aa”. Tapi jahat mana manusia ni, ade jugak rasa nak jadik baik sikit2. Aku masih lagi ‘dasyat’ seperti dulu, tapi Alhamdulillah masih ada yang sudi nak kongsi dan sabar dalam membawa ‘kami’ utk sama2 belajar agama sikit2..

Cuma aku sedikit terkilan apabila bercakap soal gerak kerja dakwah ini, sebagai permulaan aku syorkan korang baca article Lihatlah persamaan, kesampingan perbezaan.. ini. Lama aku simpan article ini, sudah masanya aku rasa ake perlu kongsi..

Alhamdulillah di bumi bertuah ini, masalah yg disebut dlm article ini tidak ketara. Ya ianya wujud, suatu ketika dulu agak ketara namun lama kelamaan menjadi semakin baik..

3 tahun disini, pernah aku menyaksikan atau mendengar kisah kumpulan yang menggerakkan dakwah ini..

1) Jika persatuan lain organise event, dengan sengaja mereka pon nak buat program pada masa yang sama.. mengelakkan maksiat katanya, hinggakan untuk mengelakkan orang ke program agama yang dianjurkan pihak lain, mereka organise “easter egg treasure hunt”.. Itu Islamik namanya? Pernah satu ketika apb ‘kakak2 usrah’ tahu bahawa satu geng nak ke program umum dianjurkan pihak lain, terus ‘kakak2′ serang geng ini dan menghalang mereka..

2) Dihalang ke bbq atas alasan bercampur laki2 dan perempuan walhal pihak penganjur dah umumkan bahawa diasingkan laki2 dan perempuan.. atas alasan membuka pintu maksiat.. tapi bila laki2 dan perempuan ke winter trip dlm satu kenderaan tidak jadi masalah atas alasan keselamatan.. Cubalah lihat macam mana ikhwah dari negara2 lain mcm mana, Indonesia contohnya, byk2 aktiviti2 laki2 dan perempuan tapi masih menjaga adab2 yang ditetapkan. Ditanam kalau ada laki2 ada dlm lif, jgn naik, naik tangga.. kalau laki2 masuk, keluar naik tangga.. suatu hari nanti kerja di KLCC tingkat 77, kau nak naik tangga?

kalau nak cerita perkara2 remeh dan kecil ini, aku boleh bukukan semua kisah2 ini. Namun apa yang sangat2 aku kecewa apabila mereka..

1) memulaukan, mengasingkan, ketepikan pihak yang mempunyai pandangan atau pendekatan yang berbeza.

2) Menghalang rakan2 untuk hadir ke program umum dianjurkan pihak lain atas alasan takut berbeza pendapat. Kau tak nak pergi tak payah laa pergi, tapi takyah laa halang orang lain nak pergi..

3) Pernah terjadi seorang rakan dipulaukan hanya kerana dia nie berlatar belakangkan tabligh. Kisahnya jika diingat2 kelakar pon ada, geram pon ada..

4) Satu dialog.. a:kami nak keluar usrah b:kalau tak boleh keluar macam mana? a:Agama ni kene paksa2 ker? b:Kalau kau keluar, kau takkan diajak lagi apa2 program atau aktiviti lepas nie a: kami tak kisah..

Kisah2 yang berlaku pasal paksa memaksa nie terlalu byk.. mcm aku katakan tadi, aku boleh bukukan kisah2 ini.. Semua kejadian adalah kejadian sebenar yang diceritakan sendiri oleh orang yang mengalaminya ataupun dtgnya dari sanad yang aku percaya..

Satu perkara yang aku kurang senang adalah mengenai sikap secretive dlm berdakwah.. Aku rasa ramai yang pernah alami perkara ini.. aku ingin berkongsi apa yang aku tahu..
gerak kerja di OZ sama dengan di Mesir. Kalau di Malaysia adanya 2 (atau lebih) kumpulan besar yang bergerak aktif. Kedua-duanya claim bahawa mereka membawa fahaman Ikhwanul Muslimin. Satu kumpulan yang belajar di Mesir dan bawa pulang ke Msia satu lagi dpt dari Europe tetapi asalnya Mesir jugak. Yang belajar di Mesir ini bawa pula ke OZ, NZ dan timur tengah. sbb tu OZ dan mesir paternnya sama. tapi di Mesir mereka ada sebab yang nyata kenapa mereka perlu adanya unsur2 secretive. Tetapi cara yang sama tidak diperlukan di OZ dan NZ. Sami’na wa atho’na.. patuh dan taat.itu yang aku nampak apa yang cuba ditanam. memang betul adanya bab sami’na wa atho’na dlm Islam namun matlamat dan tujuan serta punca perlu jelas terlebih dahulu..

Perkara ini bukan sahaja berlaku di sini, di Melben lebih teruk, Sydney kurang sikit sbb mereka mmg tak bercampur.. Perkara ini berlaku di manchester, di nottingham, di moscow, di Ireland di Washington, di Jakarta senang cerita di seluruh dunia..

Apa yang aku kongsi di sini bukanlah ingin mencari salah sapa2. Byk perkara2 yang sebenarnya sudah byk improvement. Apa yang aku lihat sekarang, sebagai sebuah jemaah, keaadaan bertambah-tambah baik namun masih ada golongan yang fanatik terutamanya dari golongan sisters. Aku tak membuat tuduhan melulu, tak percaya tgk laa sendiri berapa ramai yang pada asalnya komited tapi kerana setelah dirasakan cukup lama, ‘adik2′ nie masih lagi tak bertudung labuh, masih lagi bertegur2 dengan lelaki, akhirnya mereka ditinggalkan secara halus..

Cerita2 di atas adalah apa yang terjadi suatu ketika dahulu. Alhamdulillah pada tahun ini di pihak brothers perkara2 ini hampir tidak berlaku lagi, namun aku difahamkan di pihak sisters masih ada lagi sikit2.. bukan shj di bumi bertuah ini, di tempat2 lain juga.. Janganlah hanya kerana ‘adik2′ tidak berminat dengan program2 agama ataupun mereka sedikit lambat dlm mengikut silibus, mereka diketepikan, tidak lagi bertegur sapa apatah lagi bertukar senyuman. Berilah sedikit masa..

Bukan niat aku untuk salahkan sape2 apatah lagi mencari seteru tapi sebagai seorang rakan, aku rasa perlu aku luahkan apa yang terbuku dihati.. Syeikh Yusuf Estes pernah menyebut:

“My father used to say to me, your true friend is the one who told you that your mouth is smelly, need to figure out something. Your pseudo friend is the one who only talk in your back if he found your mouth is smelly”

Apapun perbezaan pendekatan, gerak kerja, silibus mahupun fahaman politik akan tiba satu masa apabila kita dipanggil untuk bersama atas dasar pegangan akidah yang sama, utamakanlah perjuangan kita yang asal..

Seronok melihat rakan2 lelaki beramah mesra dan tersenyum sesama sendiri dlm setiap aktiviti pada tahun ini.. kali terakhir kita bersama ketika Iftar kasih Mesra tempoh hari.. harap2 pihak sisters juga begitu.. Senyumlah kerana senyuman itu ubat kepada banyak penyakit..

Ya Allah, buatlah negeri ini selalu tersenyum..

This year’s Ramadhan is a bit different for me. I’ve learned a few more things about myself as well as other people. It’s been one of the toughest Ramadhans so far as I’ve had a packed timetable for the whole month, but also one of the most enlightening. I want to share something with my fellow friends that I have observed throughout this holy month and hope that we all can learn something from it.

We are fast becoming a group of people who turn religion into rituals. And I mean, we Muslims especially from our part of the world tend to do all the good things during Ramadhan and yet fail to add that to our overall behaviour and personality during other times of the year. Some people fast just because everybody else fasts and they have been fasting every year since they were 8 or 9. What they fail to understand is the principles behind the ibadah, which isn’t merely not eating and drinking, but imposing an overall degree of control over our bad impulses. Being good when everybody else is doing good is not something surprising and probably fairly easy to do. But being able to still do good when the temptataion is so high to do the wrong things is what makes a man truly great. What is even worrying is that even during Ramadhan our good behaviour can be very periodic and interlaced with glimpses of bad akhlak.

So why does this happen? Well, there are many reasons for this of course. As I’ve mentioned earlier, we sometimes forget the principles behind the ibadah itself and take it just for its face-value and ritualistic aspects. Pray 5 times a day, tarawikh 8 rakaat every night, fast 30 days a year, which are all the things that people do collectively and can tend to be very ritualistic. When the ibadah becomes mere physical acts and loses its thinking process and ‘penghayatan’, then we will have a problem. That’s what they will become, just rituals and we will not be able to expand on that. Which is why we sometimes see people who, on the outside look more religious than others but on closer inspection, are found out and prove to be surprisingly the opposite. Baffles the mind at times, but does happen.

So I am reminding first and foremost myself and then my fellow friends, that we need to look at ourselves and see whether our work during Ramadhan has been reflected in our overall manner and performance throughout the year. If it doesn’t, or there’s something that doesn’t seem quite right and does not add up, then maybe we need to rethink the way we do things.

I sometimes think of religion as akin to something that we wear. If you’ve got nice jackets and pants but wear really smelly socks or torn shoes, then it just doesn’t look quite right does it?

Eid Mubarak everyone .