WHY BLAME MELAYU?...

It could have been a cheap Hollywood movie script with anticipated conclusion had the most convenient suspect would have done it. It was to be too easy for the ensuring investigation to have an open and shut case instantaneously had it been that the known suspect been the hand behind the arson and molotov cocktail attacks at Christian places in and outside Klang Valey.

No I do not think us Malays are behind all these. We aint that predictable, simply.

It could have been the work of some people with obvious motive to drive a wedge between us Muslim, the believers and the non-believers in this Allah-blessed country.

It would have been clearly an incongruently and unhesitantly stupid for the Melayu to go around in bikes throwing molotov cocktails and so-called fire bombs to places used by non-believers on weekends.

Our escalating problem today started when some non-believers with unannounced but clear objective were handed down a High Court decision allowing them to use the name ALLAH Subaha Nawataala in their selected publications meant for the certain segments of non-believers.

ALLAH SWBT is exclusively for the believers, period.

And believers we are, us Muslims....Ya Ayuhalazi Na'amanu.....

FORMER PRESS SECRETARY MOURNS THE LOST OF MR PROPAGANDA...

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 1 — Tan Sri Mohamed Rahmat was the best Mr Propaganda, said his former press secretary Zukri Valenteno.

“As Mr Propaganda, he worked alone. He was a ‘one-man team’ and was comfortable that way”, he told Bernama when contacted today.

Zukri said when he was the Information Minister twice, from 1978 to 1982 and from 1987 to 1999, Mohamed had boosted the image of the government and party.

“I consider him as the Information Minister Personified,” he said.

The former information minister and Umno secretary-general died in his sleep at his residence at Bukit Damansara, here today and was laid to rest at the Bukit Kiara Muslim Cemetery after the ‘Asar’ prayer.

Mohamed was supposed to celebrate his 72nd birthday on Monday.

To Zukri, out of the many nicknames given by friends and members of the public, such as Tok Mat, Mat Bulat and so on, the nickname which touched Mohamed the most was Mat Umno, which was given him by former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

He loved Umno very much. One day, he had once said that ‘this is my second home’, referring to his office on the 38th floor, Umno and BN headquarters.

“To him, Umno is the Malays and the Malays are Umno.” Zukri also considered Mohamed as a good and charismatic boss, “a thinker, a strategist and an executor”.

He said Mohamed had implemented many successful campaigns such as Setia Bersama Rakyat or Semarak and the Mesra campaign which had promoted Dr Mahathir and the BN government.

In fact, he had talent in writing several patriotic songs such as Setia and Sejahtera Malaysia.

“As a cabinet minister, Tok Mat had never insisted on protocol, members of the public could see him without any appointment and he would entertain them, whether in his office, parliament building or when he was enjoying his coffee break at the Equatorial Hotel (his favourite) in Kuala Lumpur,” he said.

Zukri, who is now Head of Corporate Communications, Ministry of Rural and Regional Development, had known Mohamed since 1990, when he was a journalist with Bernama, The Star and The Sun before becoming Mohamed’s press secretary for five years from 1995.

He described Mohamed as someone who was talkative and simple, and usually in the office, he would take ‘Teh-O’ and nasi lemak bungkus because the nasi lemak reminded him of his schooling days when he used to sell cakes and nasi lemak.

In addition, Zukri said Mohamed liked the song Rindu Lukisan which he would sing at private functions. Among Mohamed’s quotes on Umno that Zukri would always remember was “For Umno, I’ve done my job but people hate my guts and in the end, they respect me.”

Zukri had once asked Mohamed’s permission to write a book on him entitled Yang Setia, but each time he asked, the reply was “Who wants to read about me”.

Finally, Zukri said he had recently read a book written by Mohamed himself on his experience entitled “Umno: Akhir Sebuah Impian” (Umno: The End Of A Dream). — Bernama


Rest Well Dear Master...

MEA CULPA.....

I have always said to friends that we do not know what we have until we lost it.

Yeah, quite an honest reminder and that was the message I have been repeating to friends not to take things for granted, in fact never ever to do that.

There was a time in my life at Angkasapuri when I told the higher-ups in the newsroom that they do not know what they have in Allahyarham Azman Hashim, a prolific reporter and an accomplished journalist until he walk away only to be treated in a more dignified manner by Bernama.

Strange but most precisely true the same message that I have been telling my circle had taken a reality bite on my own self, surprisingly.

It was quite difficult to admit now that I do not know what I have until I lost it. And it seems that I have quite lost it forever.

Being a serious person with the non-crap-taking i-do-not-suffer-fools attitude I had to pacify myself, amidst the lost, telling that it was in the interim and that I should not worry too much about it, hence little difficulties of having sleepless nights.

But pacifying myself (more of denying oneself) does not do any good and finally I had to concede that I have lost it forever. Game over, period,

However being a highly-confident individual, I am now telling myself its ok, let it go, we will live to fight another day. It was another way of saying never mind to lose now, perhaps and maybe I could win again next time because there will always be a next time.

This is when the terrible pain comes in, bringing with it a rainbow of experience and memories that was already in the past tense. And now one have to live to regret having to go through all these simply because I had taken things for granted.

I should not have taken things for granted, never ever. I was supposed to be the last person not to have taken things for granted. But the human in me got the better of it and as a result, things were taken lightly.

While this is the most unanicipated miscalculation that had now factored in my life, I could never ever forgive onself for committing this faux pass.

Lesson well learnt Brother -- never again take things for granted.

Mea Culpa...

HILANGNYA SEBUTIR BINTANG POLITIK MELAYU MALAYSIA...

Saya kehilangan seorang bekas bos hari ini akan tetapi negara telah kehilangan seorang Patriot.

Umno kehilangan seorang penjawat yang setia dan yang sentiasa berusaha manakala dunia politik Malaysia kehilangan “Mr Propaganda”.

Sekiranya dunia politik Melayu akan sentiasa merindui “Mat Setia, Mat Mesra, Mat Pulai atau Mat Bulat” yang telah pulang ke rahmatullah, kita kehilangan seorang tokoh besar, Tan Sri Mohamed bin Rahmat yang telah menghembuskan nafasnya yang terakhir pagi ini dalam keadaan tenang. Beliau meninggal dalam tidornya dan pada hari Jumaat, 1 Januari 2010.

Menurut isterinya Puan Sri Salbiah Abdul Hamid, beliau sudah tiada ketika dikejutkan pagi tadi untuk rawatan dialisis hariannya.

Patriot, nasionalis, propagandis, strategis, pemikir, penulis lirik, pengubah lagu, perancang kempen dan pelaksana, penulis skrip filem kerajaan, guru sementara, ahli parlimen, setiausaha politik, timbalan menteri, pak duta dan menteri dan menteri kanan… semua ini disatukan dalam satu nama sahaja – Mohamed yang amat tersentuh apabila digelar “Mat Umno” oleh Big Boss yang paling dihormati dan diseganinya.

Saya mengenali Tok Mat sejak 1990 ketika bertugas sebagai wartawan kanan di Bernama dan seterusnya di The Star Publications and akhbar TheSun.

Akhirnya saya diambil berkhidmat sebagai Setiausaha Akhbar beliau pada tahun 1995 dengan kata-kata semangat “I will make you somebody one day”.

Beliau dibersarakan pada tahun 1999 setelah melengkapkan kerjaya politik selama lebih 40 tahun yang sangat berwarna, begitu mencabar, unik dan meninggalkan penanda aras yang tinggi sebagai Menteri Penerangan, Setiausaha Agung Umno dan Setiausaha Agung Barisan Nasional.

Ketiga-tiga jawatan penting itu, laksana kedudukan ketiga dalam Kerajaan dan parti itu disatukan atau unified untuk memberikan beliau ruang yang secukupnya untuk berkarya dan kanvas beliau adalah perjuangan Melayu yang sentiasa beliau sifatkan sebagai “Umno itu Adalah Melayu dan Melayu itu Adalah Umno”.

Tradisi penyatuan ketiga-tiga jawatan itu berterusan dengan kehadiran Tan Sri Mohd Khalil Yaakob, mantan Menteri Besar Pahang yang bertukar ke Kuala Lumpur untuk menggantikan Tok Mat pada Jun 1999.

Bagaimanapun tradisi yang bermula dengan Tok Mat berakhir dengan Tok Khalil kerana kononnya ada yang mencemuh penyatuan itu dengan kata-kata sindiran bahawa pemusatan tiga kedudukan penting itu menjadikan penyandang sangat berkuasa laksana Orang Ketiga dalam kerajaan dan parti.

Tok Mat telah pergi namun bekas tangannya begitu banyak, yang bermakna tiada ternilai jasa dan baktinya kepada Umno, Melayu dan Angkasapuri. Antaranya ialah Surau Muhamadi di Angkasapuri.

Ketika kami di Angkasapuri, Tok Mat sentiasa berseloroh dengan berkata bahawa "engkau tahu tak Angkasapuri ini sentiasa dirahmati (merujuk kepada nama bapanya), diberkati dengan warisan kenabian dan rasul (merujuk kepada timbalannya Dato' Dr Suleiman Mohamed) dan sentiasa afdal dan semporna (merujuk kepada setiausaha parlimen Dato' Mohd Shafie Apdal yang merupakan Ahli Parlimen Semporna)."

Dalam banyak perjalanan saya mengiringi Tok Mat di serata negara ketika menjalankan tugas, beliau amat tersentuh dan sebak apabila menemui "Warong Tok Mat" di Kampung Tok Senik, Langkawi.

Beliau kemudiannya berseloroh untuk menyembunyikan perasaan terharunya denan berkata bahawa "ada jugak kau orang ingat aku eh?". Kata-kata itu ditujukan kepada pengurusan Maju Holdings, pemilik Kampung Tok Senik Village Resort Langkawi.

Namun kami berdua tidak mengetahui samada warong itu benar-benar dinamakan sempena Ahli Parlimen Pulai itu ataupun sebaliknya. Kebetulan peneraju utama syarikat itu orang Johor sepertimana beliau.

Semoga perjalanan Tok Mat dan pertemuannya dengan Sang Pencipta akan aman dan tenang, setenang hembusan nafasnya yang terakhir pagi tadi di kediamannya.

Selamat Jalan GuruKu…