PHD SCHOLARSHIP

Very often, my academic ambitions are constrained by lots of problems, from my secondary education until now. Almost guarantee of a scholarship, but might be pulled out due to some unexpected reasons. Haiz… When my education can goes on smoothly???

BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION 2012

This year celebration is interesting. I think this is the year when I received the most number of cakes. One each from my younger sister, Form Six friends, Chinese Studies students and Business and Management students. Just doubt about where is Mass Comm. Anyhow, let the fate be fate. Thanks for those who celebrate my birthday.

OFF TO OFFICE

At last, I am able to go to office already. I have been on Medical Leave for 3 days (2 consecutive days). Sick badly. Maybe it is because of the weather, badly polluted haze.

FREELANCE JOB

I am currently looking for freelance job, better still if it is in subtitling, translation etc. Apart from earning some extra money, wish to learn something new too. I wish to try out something that I haven’t tried before.

WHEN IS 13TH GENERAL ELECTION?

When will Malaysia’s 13th General Election be held? Some says June, some says September. Personally, I believe that it should be the second quarter of the year, which is June. However, due to my personal interest, I would prefer it to be in September or even a later date. What is my personal interest? You will know about that when times come. Hahaha……

INTERESTING WEDDING DINNER

Yesterday, I attended an interesting and special wedding dinner. Special is in term of the arrangement of the flow. She is my sister’s classmate and also my classmate’s sister. Confuse? Hehe… In the dinner, they had a slot for the bridegroom and groom to have a dance, a romantic one. It is open to all couples as well. Next, it is followed by dance floor, party-kind of dance. AWESOME….. First time experience it in a wedding dinner. It is great. I think I will borrow the idea. For my dinner, I will be having a romantic dance session for couples as well. Then, it will be followed by a session of dance floor. I will make sure that most of them dance. HAHAHA…. Make it an interesting and unforgettable one.

PENANG DEBATE OPEN 2012

Penang Debate Open 2012 is a tournament organised by UiTM Penang. It has been one year plus since my last debate tournament. It is such an interesting experience here, apart from debating, meeting with my long-time friends too. It is my pleasure to be in the same contingent with them. It is great that I am able to break until quarter final, but the sad thing is that, I think I left my IPhone changer in the campus. Hope that I will be able to find it back tomorrow. Am already broke now, don’t wish to burn my pocket further.

PERLUKAH SHARIZAT MELETAK JAWATAN KETUA WANITA UMNO?

Politik Malaysia sering kali dipraktikkan dalam keadaan percampuran di mana soal politik dan kerajaan disatukan. Di negara-negara demokrasi liberal seperti Amerika, kedua-dua perkara tersebut diasingkan dengan jelas. Presiden sekiranya berkempen untuk dirinya mahupun partinya, sumber kerajaan tidak akan digunakan. Keadaan ini berbeza dengan keadaan di Malaysia di mana jentera kerajaan sering kali digunakan untuk tujuan politik.

Berbalik kepada isu Sharizat, adakah beliau perlu meletakkan jawatan beliau sebagai Ketua Wanita UMNO memandangkan beliau tidak akan melanjutkan tempoh Senator beliau yang turut membawa maksud tidak dapat menjadi Menteri lagi selepas tempoh perkhidmatan senator beliau tamat pada bulan April ini.

Pertama sekali, beliau dilantik sebagai Menteri atas kapasitinya sebagai seorang senator. Ini bermakna pelantikan ke kedua-dua jawatan Senator dan Menteri adalah atas budi bicara Perdana Menteri. Perdana Menteri merupakan satu-satunya sahaja berhak untuk meneruskan atau menghentikan perkhidmatan beliau biarpun dengan mahupun tanpa alasan kukuh untuk menyokong tindakan Perdana Menteri itu. Ini kerana prinsip yang digunakan dalam keadaan sedemikian adalah “budi bicara Perdana Menteri”.

Walaupun begitu, jawatan Ketua Wanita UMNO bukanlah sesuatu jawatan yang dilantik atas budi bicara. Ini merupakan satu jawatan yang dipilih secara demokrasi oleh delegasi-delegasi Wanita UMNO. Tidak kira apa jua keadaan yang berlaku, meskipun beliau disabitkan dengan kesalahan jenayah, beliau tidak patut didesak meletakkan jawatan atas prinsip kemenangan secara demokrasi kecuali Perlembagaan, Undang-undang mahupun peraturan telah menyatakan sebaliknya. Untuk memaksa beliau meletakkan jawatan, adalah lebih molek untuk menafikan sokongan yang diterima oleh beliau ke jawatan Ketua Wanita UMNO dengan membuktikan bahawa undian yang dimenangi oleh beliau semasa pemilihan Ketua Wanita UMNO sudah tidak menyokong beliau lagi. Ini dapat memenuhi prinsip “kemenangan secara demokrasi” sama ada dengan mencadangkan usul mahupun apa-apa cara yang menepati Perlembagaan UMNO.

Ketiga, dalam situasi praktikal sehingga ke hari ini, walaupun banyak desas-desus yang mengaitkan beliau dan suami beliau dengan skandal penyalahgunaan kuasa, namun yang didakwa sehingga ke hari ini hanyalah suami beliau. Oleh yang demikian, sehingga Sharizat belum disabitkan kesalahan oleh mahkamah, beliau masih tidak bersalah atas prinsip “seseorang itu tidak bersalah sehingga dibuktikan bersalah”. Tambahan pula, kesalahan yang dilakukan oleh pihak ketiga termasuklah ibu bapa, suami isteri, anak, adik-beradik dan sebagainya tidak boleh dijadikan sebagai kayu ukur untuk menentukan kredibiliti seseorang.

Kesimpulannya, sekiranya Perdana Menteri merasakan Sharizat sudah tidak layak untuk memegang jawatan Menteri mahupun Senator, beliau berhak untuk menghentikan perkhidmatan Sharizat kerana pelantikan kedua-dua jawatan tersebut adalah atas budi bicara Perdana Menteri. Namun pada masa yang sama, Sharizat tidak patut didesak untuk meletakkan jawatannya sebagai Ketua Wanita UMNO memandangkan jawatan tersebut adalah dipilih secara demokrasi kecuali kumpulan pendesak berjaya membuktikan bahawa beliau sudah kehilangan sokongan daripada delegasi-delegasi UMNO yang mengundi beliau dalam pilihan raya parti UMNO yang lepas.

OVERSEA SCHOLARSHIP

Really interested to secure a scholarship to study in abroad. However, it is true that it is not easy to get placement in abroad universities, especially those in the top 100 world-ranked. One more month to go. After that, everything might be finalized.

PHUKET-KRABI CRUISE 2.0

I never thought of going to Phuket-Krabi Cruise for second time in such a short interval. Promotion though, no choose, have to go. Hahaha….. This time will have more people joining together; relatives from both my dad and mom side. See you again Star Cruise Libra Phuket-Krabi.

CHUA-LIM DEBATE

I was in a kopitiam in Raja Uda watching the debate. After watching the debate, below are my personal comments on that. I divided it into two perspective, political view and academic view.

Politically, both sides did manage to entertain the crowd. They know what the issues that they should focus on are and what are the issues that they should sweep under the carpet. They are also good in creating an imaginary situation that favour to their side. Thumb up for them. For example, Lim keeps on avoiding issue on PAS. Chua argues that DAP itself has already failed in securing abolishment of Sungai Nyoir toll collection. They also argue in terms of economy, which on the surface level rather than feasible framework. Anyhow, both of them generally are able to please the crowd. Personally, from the beginning, I think that Lim is slightly nervous compared to Chua. Not really sure about this thing, but I analyse it from the tiny actions hand signs coming from him.

However, in an academic or university debating level, both speakers do not really answer the crux of the debate. The main point of contention that Lim needs to answer is the relationship of DAP and PAS. He failed to give an assurance that PAS definitely wouldn’t be able to form an Islamic State while maintaining as a member of PR should they won enough Parliamentary seats. At the end of the day, a grand coalition party is not about a component party alone, but rather the cooperation between all component parties. The success of a single or dominant component party can’t help the overall grand coalition to succeed. This can be seen through UMNO in Penang State Assembly.

Same case happened to Chua. It is already well-known that BN and UMNO are corrupted. I will still be using the same dictum that I used to use. Whatever truth does not important, it is the people perspective that matters. Since corruption image has severely attached to BN generally, Chua needs to address the issue well. If can’t, he needs to at least divert the issue to the contribution of MCA and the worthiness of maintaining MCA in power. It is good for him to pose lots of questions and launch attack on DAP, but he also needs to prove why must the people continue to support MCA.

I am just curious about a few issues. Firstly, as generally known by a lot of people if not all, the toll collection is under the jurisdiction of Federal government. The State government has no authority on that. Anyhow, for fence-sitters, can they really accept the legally true fact? This is because like it or not, the toll is in Penang. How to convince people that they are not responsible for that? Or this is an ignorable issue?

Secondly, they touched on economy issue. However, economy issue is not just as surface as they debate. There are a lot of details that hardly can be understood by commoners. For example, why Penang state government can achieve surplus in such a short time? How can a government survive if keep on giving out money and benefits to the people. Are the people interested in this kind of developmental issues or they can be satisfied easily by giving them benefits only, ignoring the capability or economy efficiency of a government?

Anyhow, what I can notice from this debate is that Lim is trying to get to non-Chinese community as well through this debate. No wonder he is so eager for another round of Malay or English debate. His stance is non-controversial, trying to be as multiracial as possible. At the same time, Chua is trying to prove MCA position is local politics. Nothing’s wrong for both leaders. In fact, it is a good stance since DAP has already have strong support from the Chinese community. So it is the time to get to the non-Chinese community. For MCA, non-Chinese community might not be their concern. Definitely, they wouldn’t have chance to explore to non-Chinese majority seats with the fact that they are a Chinese-based political party and secondly, those seats will be grabbed firmly by UMNO.

In a nutshell, I will say that it is indeed a very good political debate. But sadly, the feasibility part is a bit lacking.

PHUKET-KRABI CRUISE

Waiting eagerly for the destination cruise. Although I used to go to one-day cruise, or they call it cruise-to-nowhere, but heard that this one is great. Nice food, nice performance, off shore etc. Will take more pictures. Hehe…..

IELTS

At last, I have done with my IELTS (International English Language Testing System) exam. Frankly speaking, I am a bit worry about my result. Not confident with it at all. Hope that I can score at least 6.5 for each element and 7.0 for the overall.

DONE WITH PHD PROPOSAL

At last, I do manage to complete my PhD proposal by the year 2011. I am looking for potential supervisor now. In academic term, I think I should be alright. I believe I am able to cope with the issues. But other aspect, I might not be that successful. Don’t know when I can achieve overall success.

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

Am busy preparing proposal for my future research thesis. However, am still wondering around what topic I should focus on. What theories should I apply? How to measure the result etc? A lot of things to think about.

MASTER VIVA

At last, I have done with my Viva. I have passed it too. In my Viva, I realised that professionalism is very important. For professionals especially those who are very highly educated, spending more than half of their lives in academic field whether in receiving knowledge or sharing knowledge, these professionals should draw the line clear enough between their personal feelings and their responsibilities.

11.11.11

为何上帝发明了1至10，还要发明11呢？
是因为上帝想把 1 位单身男与另 1 位单身女串和在一起。
11.11.11 就是上帝特地为单身男女而创造的。
希望他们会有个美好的回忆。

HUDUD LAW: UNSUITABLE OR POLITICAL AGENDA?

Is Hudud Law that bad? Or is it because of General Elections is around the corner, that is why the issue become so controversial and significance. In this issue, we can divide related stakeholders into three components. The first component will be non-Muslim. Basically, non Muslims are the one that not affected by the implementation of Hudud Law. This is because non Muslims are not tied down with Syariah Law. Just like the same case when a Muslim commits adultery with another non Muslim. Only the Muslim will be charged in Syariah Court while the non Muslim will be freed (considering both are not married). So, Hudud Law will be a no difference for non Muslim communities. The second component is the Muslim community that is going for Hudud Law. Without needing to explain further, this group has no problem with the implementation of Hudud Law. The third component is Muslim community who goes against the implementation of Hudud Law in Malaysia. For this group, actually, there is no way other than to accept it. It is true that even the Muslim communities itself, some of them are liberals; some of them are followers of freedom of religion; some of them are free thinkers. Anyhow, the Syariah Law states very clearly that Muslim community in Malaysia must obey Islamic practice and Syariah Law. Just like the same as Muslims must observe fasting during Ramadhan period. If they refuse to do so, they can be charged under Syariah jurisdiction. So, they have no say when it comes to Islamic Law especially when it is stated clearly in Quran.

Anyhow, the main contention of debate should be of this third group. However, the current political scenario has shifted the attention to the first group, which is the furthest link of Hudud Law. In this case, BN is definitely on the upper hand since all the component parties are going against it. But for PR, contradiction stance between DAP and PAS on the issue has put them in a critical position. The issue is parallel the issue of teaching of Mathematics and Science in English. Political merits put ahead of education welfare. So, the politicians should be more mature in debating the issue and weight the pros and cons of the implementation. Debate should focus merely on the suitability of Hudud Law implementation and not be influenced by political merits.

DO OR DIE

Want it or not, we need to accept the fact that Gerakan has moved to the irrelevancy zone post-2008 General Elections. In history of Malaysia politics, a fallen political party especially a ruling party (such as PPP in Perak and Labour Party in Penang) is hard to revive. The only way is to make a big impact or give the people a ‘wow’ factor before gaining back the support. The possibility of Gerakan to be back on track in Penang is very near to zero. What Gerakan can do now is to sustain an existence appearance in Penang (since significance appearance is almost impossible, existence appearance of around 5 state seats and 2 Parliamentary seats should be viable) for the next 2 to 3 terms. After successfully maintain its existence appearance, only then Gerakan can plan to gain back Penang state ruling rights. In business term, Gerakan needs to carry on their business for no profits for at least 10 years. In order to achieve that, there will only be two way. The first way is for the President, Koh Tsu Koon to change his political path; changing from low politics to high politics. Just like what Chua Soi Lek has done for MCA. He gives up a cabinet post so that he is not bonded with cabinet collective responsibility. He becomes more and more vocal even though the issues that he is trying to champion are going to bring the government a hardship. The second way is to choose a new and young leader, a non-controversial one, even with a non-name figure also will do, to lead the party. His or her main responsibility is to give a fresh look for Gerakan, assuming to reform Gerakan from zero. This will be better than lying on Gerakan’s old image which has been tarnished for tens of years especially in Penang.

UNEXPECTED

I never thought people will view my blog nowadays. I think I did not post any link to my blog. Haha… Really unexpected.