I have been in hibernation for more than a year. I am awaken not by earthquake or tsunami this time. It is because I saw this big billboard put up at the roundabout at the Butterworth-Kulim Express Highway and North-South Highway intersection near the JPJ and Immigration Office by a candidate in the Seberang Jaya, Seberang Perai, Penang. It urged voters to "Save KALIMAH ALLAH". The word ALLAH is GOD to my Muslims friends as I knew it since I first went to primary school which was Putra English School (PES) at Jalan Padang Katong, Kangar, Perlis back in 1969 where there were very few Chinese students in my class and school until I went to Derma Secondary School.
There were Islamic religious studies or "Ugama" classes and lessons for the Malay students while the non-Malay students are supposed to attend the Chinese or Tamil language classes during the period designated on our schooling time-table from Sundays to Thursdays(Perlis State then observed weekends on Fridays and Saturdays. Some of us were the only Chinese student in our classroom. As there were only less than ten Chinese and Indian boys and girls combined in our batch or class of 1969, we did not get to enjoy the privilege of learning mother tongue languages since it was too small for the minimum enrollment numbers and for the school to engage the Chinese and Tamil language teachers to teach us. So I did not attend the vernacular school like most of my childhood friends did at Sekolah Rendah Jenis Kebangsaan (China)Hwa Aik, Arau, Perlis or Sekolah Rendah Jenis Kebangsaan (China) Khoon Aik, Kangar, Perlis. Yes, the spelling for Chinese in Malay language then was China instead of "Cina" and "Ugama" and not Agama as in present day Malay spelling.
Those days, we addressed Mr Ali as "Enchik Ali" and not the present day "Encik Ali" while "Syarikat Shamelin"" meaning "Shamelin Company was spelled "Sharikat Shamelin". We have "CH" instead of "C.." and "SH" instead of "SY". "Kedai Runchit" then is Kedai Runcit now. I can still remember our primary school syllabus used English as the language medium for teaching all the subjects except the Bahasa Melayu or Malay language or our National Language and the "Ugama' period where the "Ustaz" or Religious Teacher would teach my Malay classmates and friends. Mathematics and Science were in English. The then Minister of Education was the late Tan Sri Mohd Khir Johari.
So what did those bunch of non-Malays boys and girls do during the Ugama period? We have the option to sit-in the classroom but move to the back of the classroom or hang around with our civic study book outside the classroom corridor and sit-by the drain and do our own activities and keep silent or just listen to and learn the religious studies on Islam and Civilisation. I got to learn a few words of "Jawi" or Arabic writings like Alif Ba Ta as the Quran book was written in "Jawi" and my Malay classmates have to learn to write and read "Jawi" and how to pray to Allah. The Ustaz(Islamic religious teacher) also taught my Muslim classmates and friends that if they are travelling with their family and could not find a mosque or surau in the vicinity when it is time for the five times a day prayers, they can go into nearby Christian Churches which are clean and sacred as long as it does not have the figurines or images of deities but not the Chinese or Hindu Temples to offer prayers to Allah .
Talking about Jawi, there is a little town which is called Jejawi where there is a lower secondary school known as "Syed Sirajuddin Secondary School" which halfway between the Royal town of Arau and the Capital of Kangar. That school was named after the then Crown Prince or Raja Muda of Perlis who is now the present Raja of Perlis.
Well, I was very fortunate to study at the primary school which was named after the late king, His Royal Highness Raja of Perlis Al-Marhum Duli Yang Maha Mulia Tuanku Syed Putra Jamalullail, The Third Yang-Di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia. I remember seeing one of his grandsons which I belief is the current Crown Prince or Raja Muda of Perlis which was my junior which used to be fetched to and from school by the chauffer in a white Mercedes wagon.
Alright, that was just a little excursion into schooling days. Why must I tell you so? Me and my classmates and the batch of 1969 were victims of the flip-flop changes made to our Malaysian Education System when the new Education Minister Tun Dr Mahathir made changes to the medium of teaching of Geography to Ilmu Alam or Geografi and History became Tawarikh or Sejarah and Bahasa Melayu became Bahasa Malaysia. The PMR exams were then known as Lower Cambridge Examination (L.C.E) before it became Sijil Rendah Pelajaran(SRP) which eventually became Penilaian Menegah Rendah(PMR). The Malaysian Certificate of Education (MCE) became Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia(SPM) or SPVM for the Vocational Secondary School and the Higher School Certificate (HSC) became Sijil Tinggi Pelajaran Malaysia(STPM).. Those days, the examinations were conducted together with the Cambridge University Examination Syndicate.
My Geography lesson on Volcano became "Gunung Berapi" or Mountains with Fire. The great Persian Empire Alexander the Great became "Iskandar Zulkarnian". Admiral Zheng He was "Laksamana Cheng Ho", There were history of the Majapahit and Sri Vijaya Empires and Langkasuka Empires and the Malacca Sultanate with is famous Princess Hang Li Po and the Five Warriors Hang Tuah, Hang Jebat, Hang Kasturi, Hang Lekir and Hang Lekiu. Today, somewhat this Hang Tuah history is classified as "Hikayat" or Legend which is like fiction story.
There was this slogan "Bahasa Jiwa Bangsa" which we were instilled with. We are proud to learn the Malay National Language and also the "Rukun Negara" which have five principles declaration at our school assemblies on Sundays. We also sing the Perlis State Anthem
1. Kepercayaan kepada Tuhan (Believe in GOD)
2. Kesetiaan kepada Raja dan Negara (Loyalty to the King and Nation)
3. Keluhuran Perlembagaan.(Supremacy of the Constitution)
4. Kedaulatan Undang-undang(Rule of the Laws)
5. Kesopanan dan kesusilaan (Courtesy and Morality)
As you may know it, "Tuhan" is the Malay word for God. Why our then Prime Minister, the late Tun Abdul Razak who is the father of the current caretaker Prime Minister Najib Razak and his cabinet ministers did not use the word Allah but "Tuhan" when they established the Rukun Negara? I knew my Malay Muslim classmates and friends worshiped their Allah as "Tuhan" and me and my Chinese and Indian classmates worshiped "Tokong-tokong" or Gods and Godesses while my Sikhs classmates worshiped Guru Nanak. In our report cards and school records on religion professed, we were classified as "Ugama Buddha", "Ugama Hindu" and 'Ugama Sikh" or "Lain-Lain" or Others. I hardly come accross a Christian during my schooling days other than the Christian school which is Stella Maris Primary School which has a chapel and a cross on its towering roof at the entrance to its school buildings as my school van driver, Uncle Ah Looi ( of Siamese descent who took us to a Wat or Siamese temple to drop-off one of our friends) would always picked us from Putra English School(PES) before going to pick my hometown friends studying at Stella Maris as that school dismissed the students later than us.
I remember my mommy used to prepare breakfast and foodstuff for me to bring to school in plastic containers and tupperwares for my recess and my father gave me five cent coin for me to buy food and drink during my primary schooling days. She made sure that I have only "halal" food to bring to school to avoid any misunderstandings and warned me not to share anything that is not "halal" with my Muslims classmates. The plastic containers,glasses, cups and spoons and forks in our households are usually exchanged and redeemed through advertising programs by the soap powder companies like FAB, Drives,Breeze, Tiger and Trojan where they sent troops of ladies and aunties carrying the soap products and the redemption gifts in rattan baskets out in convoys of Volkwagen vans.
Wow, the soap detergent like Fab is time tested as the indelible ink used recently at the advance voting for Malaysian Arm forces was reportedly washed away.
There was peace in Perlis on May 13, 1969 even though there were riots in Kuala Lumpur, the Capital of Malaysia due to the General Election results where the "Perikatan", the predecesor of "Barisan National" coalition suffered heavy losses as the opposition parties won more seats. I was at school on that day with all my Chinese, Indian, Sikh and Malay classmates and we were told by our teachers that we can go home early on that day and we were later picked up by our parents and van drivers. When we resumed schooling after that incident, we just lived and played on with our Malay classmates and friends as though nothing had happened. Not only that, my form teacher was Cigku Rokiah and my Bahasa Malaysia and Ugama Cigku Abu Bakar was a motherly and a fatherly figure respectively to all of us. Yes, my Malay classmates and friends used to taunt me and our Chinese classmates "China Communist" or "China babi" = Chinese Pig when we are angry with one another, we would have a shouting war calling them "Tuko" or Pig too. The Ustaz and teachers would tell us to stop taunting and shake hands and be friends and like one big family. We are the truly Malaysian Malaysia living peacefully in harmony and happily with one another. My Muslim friends have been trustworthy and have helped me to learnt more about their culture and religion. There is nothing to fear when God is on your side and the Fire of Hell or "Api Neraka" will not consume you as long as you fear God and obey His commands and not fear Man.
We loved to play football at our school field which was easily the size of three football field which bordered with Stella Marris and the Institut Teknoloji Mara (ITM) which later became the UITM. We played 'Sepak Takraw' at our open cement badminton courts. We cheered our Thomas Cup and Uber Cup badminton teams as we listened to the Radio Malaysia. We used to cheers for our Harimau Malaya which were once Asia power house during the Merdeka Cup with players and idols like "Taukeh" Soh Chin Aun from Melaka, Super Mokh Moktar Dahari from Selangor, Spiderman Arumugam Goakeeper, James Wong from Sabah, Isa and Ali Bakar brothers from Penang and our very own Bakri Ibni from Perlis. We also lined up two by two and sat together at our school canteen when the school brought the black and white television to show everyone the live telecast of the boxing bouts between Cassius Clay or Muhammad Ali and Joe Fazier and the match Muhammad Ali versus Joe Bugner held at Kuala Lumpur. We can all cheered our country's heroes like Tan Aik Huang and Tan Aik Mong, Tan Yee Khan, Eddy Choong, Punch Gunalan, Phua Ah Hua, Saw Swee Leong, Dominic Soong and Cheah Hong Chong, Moo Foot Lian, Foo Kok Keong, Misbun Sidek, Razif and Jailani Sidek, Rashid Sidek, Cheah Soon Kit and Soo Beng Kiang, Tan Boon Heong and Koo Kien Kiat and Datuk Lee Chong Wei and Heroines like Sylvia Ng and Datin Wong Mew Choo for Badminton, Shalin Zulkifli and her bowling compatriots in bowling, and recently, the diving champions like Pandela Rinong and Leong Mun Yee in sports as one Malaysian Voice but we picked our own idols when boxing is not involving Malaysians.
Today, we have some extremists and racists politicians who still stir the racial and religious harmony as though they still lived in the Japanese occupations and under colonial British rules. If Keretapi Tanah Melayu became KTM, it was the passing of train services from Padang Besar, Perlis, Malaysia to Tanjung Pagar in Singapore and to Hatyai in Southern Thailand. It had travelled down the terrains, the padi fields, rubber estates and oil palm estates and jungles and through tunnels and over bridges millions of miles. The scenario had change along the way to tht of residential houses, roads and flyovers and interchange and super structures like skyscrapers in cities like Butteroworth, Ipoh, Kuala Lumpur and Johor Baru and Woodlands in Singapore. It had experienced some derailment because of the communist insurgents sabotage in the past and due to other natural disasters or phenomena or man made quarrels like the Tamjung Pagar-Woodland ICQ terminal issue. KTM has change its engines and wheels from steam locomotives to diesel and electric trains. The tracks have been doubled and electrified from South to North. It has grown and transformed itself.
The dawn of a new Era of Free Colorful Metropolitan Multi-Etnic, Multi-cultural and Multi-religious Malaysia from a nation known as Malaya, a land bestowed with so many resources and talented people of this NegaraKu, Malaysia. The construction of the new electrified double tracking railway lines have been affecting most motorists and Malaysians living in places where the tracks crisscrossed. Some have lost their lives while some have lost their lands and playgrounds and also some historical landmarks demolished in the name of development. The roads and surrounding are dusty pending the completion and clearance of debris. Did the affected people get compensated fairly? Were there any element of cost overrun due to the inflation, commissions or corruptions during procurement and implementation?
Why today we still have politicians who like to be superhero when superman actor like Christopher Reeve also died and cannot save himself? If we are all God fearing people, we know that there is heaven and hell. We know that we can live as long as God allow us our time here on Earth, the garden of Eden particularly in the land called Malaysia with the South China Sea in between the tip of Asia and Borneo Islands.The Chinese when they died, the relatives will arrange for the deceased person a funeral service within their means, a heart warming rite to bid farewell from this world to other world. According to their faiths, the Taoist monks will offer some prayers on the wake service until the funeral and cremation and until the mourning periods are over so that the departed soul will rest in peace and the living will cherish the sweet memories of the moments spent on Earth. Buddhist will have much simpler funeral rites. Then again, the rich and the poor men or women would go to the Judgement on their own. Like the Muslims which offer the "Al-Fathihah prayers", the Christians will offer condolence to the bereaved family members and offer prayers to God.
Christians belief there is only one God and He has many Names. God Almighty the Creator, Merciful, Provider, Love,Emmanuel God with us and etc as in the Holy Bible or "Kitab Injil". I am sure the Holy Quran also tell us that ALLAH = GOD is our Creator and we shared the same ancestors from Adam and Eve ("Adam dan Hawa"). We can call our father -Papa and mother-Mama in (Chinese Hokkien dialect), Lau Peh and Lau Bo(In TeoChew), Ar Pa or Lo Tau (Cantonese), I know my Malay friends call their father, Ayah or Abah and their mother Emak or Mak or Ibu or just Bu. So if you speak Mandarin, it is Fu Ching and Mu Ching. Tantai orThagappanar or Thandhai for father and Amma for mother in Tamil.
When we die, all of us will go to dust. No further word is uttered when we are lying dead. So when you as a child, it is so beautiful to be able to call your parents, papa and mama and likewise, parents love their children and call out their names while we are still living. We are all common descendants of Adam and Eve from the same Human species or Homo Sapiens but with different genes and DNAs as God did not make us exactly like each other. He created us in His Image. We are not like the same Proton Saga cars rolled out from the Proton factory. As we get older and and have other children, the Proton cars manufacturer came out with different models. Unfortunately, humans are not perfect and so the Proton cars are also with defects. You know, the window cannot wind-up properly. INI KALILAH Voters Defect to Pakatan Rakyat. Lain kali Perfect Better Nation. When can we design and build our own car engines like the Koreans and jet engines like Russians to become a nation we can be proud of Made In Malaysia product or "Bangga dengan Barangan Buatan Malaysia"
Now the BIG issue with some of the politicians today is talking about Save "Kalimah ALLAH". There are many learned Muslim Imams, Clergies and Muslim Scholars have already mentioned that the word ALLAH is of Middle-Eastern origin and has long been used by Christians before Islamic Civilisation. So why can't the Christians utter Allah? He is my GOD as I understand He has so many other names? Why only in Sabah and Sarawak states on the Borneo Islands only can the Christian allowed to use Allah in the Kitab Injil or Holy Bible or praise and pray to ALLAH.
Today, in global border-less and internet connected world, you can have access to the Holy Bible at your PC or smartphone and in many language translations anywhere. You can print it and store it as hard-copy as and when you like for your own use and be thankful and mindful of the copyrights for the original contributors and authors. If the so-called religious and pious leader of an NGO who is a godly "orang alim" Muslim threatened to burn all Holy Bibles with the word ALLAH, he will have to burn his PC, tablets and smartphones or stop GOD or ALLAH from revealing Himself to non-Muslims(kafirs) who help to create these gadgets. Even if the Ah Huat or Ah Yong or Ah Soi Leg or Ah Seng or A Singh is allowed to call our GOD "ALLAH", most Chinese will pronounce it with his Chinese accents and slang and God Almighty still know that his beloved children yearn for HIM. Parents, do you like to hear your children call you Papa and MAMA AS OFTEN AS YOU ARE ALIVE?.
Just as I was at the POS office Bukit Mertajam, I bumped into my standard one classmate Aziz and we were so happy because we had not seen each others for a long time and his two elder children were already married. He is now a proud grandfather or "Datuk" of two grandchildren. I told him to invite me to his other younger children's wedding feast or "kenduri" in future. Yes, we are fated or "takdir' to meet by God's grace. My friend replied "Insya Allah" which means God's Willing, we shall meet again soon. Common people like us have common sense and courtesy.
Is GOD=ALLAH for all His Creations and descendants of Adam and Eve to praise HIM or it is only the exclusive Arabic word for politicians in Malaysia to sing to Him. GOD, please save MALAYSIA. If we go to our Honorable Malaysian Judicial Courts, we have to swear in the name of TUHAN =GOD=ALLAH when taking an oath. So please help me GOD. If GOD is the Almighty Creator of me and you, my fellow peace loving Malaysians, the word ALLAH is free because only GOD can save us. Man saves God or God save mankind? God Creator does not need the "Pharisee" humankind to save ALLAH because HE is MERCIFUL and our SAVIOUR.
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To my fellow faithful servants of God and peace loving Malaysians, The Prime Minister and Government of Malaysia, the Court of Justices of Malaya, Sabah and Sarawak and the learned Judges and Justices and His Royal Highness The King and His Brethren Council of Sultans and Raja, DYMM Seri Paduka Baginda Yang Di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia dan Majlis Raja-Raja, may God Bless You Richly and with Good Health, and Grant You Great Wisdom and Understandings so that ALLAH will favor your rule and your "Rakyat" or citizen can live in harmony, in prosperity and at peace with GOD=ALLAH=TUHAN and Man on Earth forever and ever. Amin=Amen.
PEACE BE WITH YOU. SHALOM.
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