Please Make Mobile Blogging Easy

Everything is moving into mobile devices nowadays. Blogging, naturally, should be on such platforms as well. Yes, we do have many apps, for example, which allow us to blog while we are on the move.

However, so far, I am finding blogging using my smartphone rather challenging. Perhaps, it is due to style I write and how I normally combine words and photos, to send my message across. The other issue is about formating, where the experience on my mobile device is different from when I am using my Mac at home.

Can't blogging be made easier on all these mobile devices? Perhaps, this is already 'old school' from the perspective of the apps developers. Given that people can express themselves through many social network platforms, blogging which leverages on the more traditional 'website' approach seems to be very old concept indeed.

I am using different platforms to reach different audiences with different messages. That's why blogging to me is still an important avenue to express my views. There is no limitation in terms of access although I tend to use social media to promote the articles I wrote.

Having the ability to blog from mobile devices is important given ideas can come when you are travelling or outside you home.

Well, I am just trying to blog while my family is enjoying their dinner, just to test whether the experience has changed.

Happy blogging.

Who Is Responsible For Integrity?

I was invited to share my views around integrity at the launch of the Youth For Integrity project over the weekend. It was officiated by Datuk Paul Low, the Minister in the Prime Minister Department who are in-charge of public governance and integrity issues. Around 80 youths who were mainly students from the institutions of higher learning around Kuala Lumpur participated in the programme.

Together with me was Tan Sri Abu Kassim Mohamed, the Chief Commissioner, Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC). Other key individuals who were invited to share their views on integrity and anti-corruption were Tunku Aziz Tunku Ibrahim, the President of Anti-Corruption Foundation and Cynthia Gabriel, the Founder of the Centre to Combat Corruption & Cronyism.

One thing that was agreed upon by all the panellists was that for Malaysia to move forward, it needed further strengthening of integrity and governance across the board. Somehow, we had drifted into a situation where good governance and the demonstration integrity are clearly short in the eyes of the public. 

Many commented on the role of enforcement agencies in addressing the issue of corruption. Among the questions asked were how MACC conducted its investigation and whether those who are in the higher echelons of the society are spared. Tan Sri Abu Kassim explained about the check and balance structure around MACC and I was requested to share my experience as one of the former member of its Operational Review Panel. 

The issue of the meaning of integrity and regulation was also discussed. One quote that struck me was from Tunku Aziz where he remarked "We are overly regulated but hopelessly enforced".

At the end, everyone agreed that to ensure a just and fair society to be enjoyed by all citizens, strengthening of integrity in each and every Malaysian is the foundation. However, the answer to the question of who should be responsible for integrity remained an elusive one!

All panellists agreed that integrity is the outcome of many inputs from our families, friends and the environment which we live in but to pinpoint to the exact drivers was very difficult. My view was that for a person to be able to do the right thing when nobody is watching involves the values and beliefs of the person, the values of the organisation where he or she is attached to and what the society as a whole believes as right and wrong as well.

While beauty is in the eye of the beholder, there is nothing that we can do to influence whether a person could be seen as beautiful or not. However, we still have the opportunity to instil integrity as the core value of our society. We can start this with ourselves, our children, friends and those who are within our sphere of influence.

Judging from the questions raised by the youths, I am convinced that they treasure integrity as one of the building blocks in building this nation towards what we aspire in the future. In them lies our hope that Malaysia will be a country that provides its citizens with prosperity and opportunity that are shared fairly and justly.

Suflan as I remember him (Updated)

I was having breakfast with a junior from my secondary school when I received the message of the passing away of Suflan, a colleague who just left the organisation we both serve a number of weeks earlier.

The last time I saw him was around two weeks earlier. Myself and a number of other colleagues of mine visited him at the hospital where he was undergoing treatment for the illness he was enduring. While we all could sense his pain, Suflan was excited seeing us and we certainly had a very honest and meaningful conversation about the experiences that we went through together. He accepted his situation and was very clear of how the final leg of his journey would be.

Professionally we did not necessarily agree with each other on all issues. Sometimes, our views could be well apart. I am really pleased that at the end of the day, nothing was taken at the personal level. After all, we are fellow mortals who are on the same journey towards our destinies.

An avid musicians, Suflan brought his creative minds into an organisation which are dealing with serious issues. Sometimes he was very philosophical and would argue his viewpoints from totally unique angles. Over time, I could appreciate where he was coming from and Suflan was consistent with the foundation of his thoughts and views.

Towards the last few months of his final journey Suflan wanted to share his feelings and thoughts through his blog. I am sure you will be touched with the stories and the carefully chosen words he used.

I feel what he wrote in one of the postings indicated the clarity that he had in his mind on his final days:

"Today, when staring at my own mortality straight in the face, I realise that prayer and remembrance of God is really not for His benefit. It is for ours. It is a practice and discipline that allows you to clear a channel of energy tapping into and communicating with forces of the unseen, that in turn helps you function on a day to day basis with clarity of thought and purpose. Perhaps had I known this before, much of my life would not have been a journey through a barren desert"

It was too early to wish Suflan good bye but Allah knows what is the best for him. May Allah accords Suflan with His forgiveness and blessings and may we see each other again in Jannah.

إِنَّا لِلّهِ وَإِنَّـا إِلَيْهِ رَاجِعونَ 

اللهم اغْفِرْ لَهُ وارْحَمهُ وعافِهِ واعفُ عنه

Choices in Life

I was sharing about professional judgment and scepticism with accounting students at Universiti Malaya last Friday. Quite a heavy topic for those who are still learning about the accountancy profession. However, I reminded the students that judgment is what we do everyday. I quoted the example of the shirts they were wearing when attending the session. Yes, even selecting what you are going to wear involves judgment. It is something that we do everyday, as a sign that we are still alive.

Reflecting on the issue of judgement, it is normally predicated on a range of choices. Rightfully, the choices should be premised on facts, assumptions, thoughts and the values that we believe in. In deciding which of the choices we would be acting on, I suppose one will try to ensure his or her personal interests would be best served by the chosen path. 

How do we decide which option would best serve our interests? Do we take into consideration the effect to others, especially on issues where the option  would cause many people to experience the consequences of our judgement? I suppose the width of our net of consideration would be dependent on the subject, our position and more importantly what guides us in determining right and wrong, our values.

As one moves up higher in the hierarchy of the society, the consequences of one's judgment would have more significant influence over the society. Whether one is a politician, judge, public officer or spiritual leader, one cannot just think about oneself alone. Unfortunately, based on many things which we are seeing and hearing today, we might be wondering whether the better good of the society is paramount when people in the higher echelons exercise their judgments. Mere mortals like you and me are also subjected to this question in the little things that we do in the space which we could influence.

For those who believe in the Day of Judgement where all actions that they make in this world would be scrutinised and judged by the Lord of the Lords, I am sure they would appreciate that every single decision is a step towards salvation or retribution. 

One may hold the highest of position and could be feeling invisible, however, one may not escape the consequences of one's judgement or decision, what more when such decisions and actions are abusive and cause troubles to people. On the other hand, one could be humiliated and shamed now, but later, in the afterlife, such challenging experience could be the pathway for eternal happiness.

We certainly have many choices in what we do. Some may feel fulfilled if the choices we take provide us with the maximum benefits to us in terms of wealth and other material gains. Some would go beyond our self-interest and would also consider what is the greater good of the society. Off course the choices are ours and the consequences would also be ours and ours alone.

Have a great weekend : )

Pak Engku - The Down to Earth Accountant

Just imagine when you were the new kid on block and the youngest of them all. How would you feel when you were surrounded by more senior people, may who were known for their achievements and contributions to the country? Intimidated?

That was how I felt when joining the Malaysian Institute of Accountants (MIA) council for the first time in 2000. However, to my surprise, many of them were humble and nice, notwithstanding their stature in the society. Different from many people out there who have not achieved much but behave as if the whole world owe them a lot.

One of the personalities that provided me with many insights, wisdom, guidance and support when I was involved in the accountancy profession was Raja Dato' Seri Abdul Aziz Raja Salim or more fondly known as Pak Engku. He was the only person that had the privilege of being both the Director General of Inland Revenue and later the Accountant General. I believe this record would not be broken forever. Having him on the Council was helpful indeed, especially when we had to deal with the government and public sector.

Not only Pak Engku was very approachable, he was very forthcoming in sharing his experiences, something which I treasure until today. By helping me to understand the contexts of certain events in the past, Pak Engku provided me with the right perspectives and insights which were relevant in my work at the MIA and in dealing with the society at large.

Honesty and integrity were characters which Pak Engku was associated with. Pak Engku had been very consistent in demonstrating that those values could be applied in the work that we do, irrespective of where we are in the hierarchy of the society.  I suppose people in his generation understood the meaning of nation building differently than many of us today. Many of them were involved in the setting up of many institutions which became the pillars of our society until today. Under those situation, having the best interest of the society in mind would be important than trying to promote self-interests.

We used to travel together to the ASEAN Federation of Accountants (AFA) Council meetings where both of us were council members. Certainly he was well respected by his peers in the region and when the council were having difficulties to address certain delicate issues, views from Pak Engku would carried weight in the final decisions. Whenever we travelled, we will have coffee after dinner together with his wife, fondly known as Mak Engku. This was when we shared many stories around the profession and society, conversations which were rich in insights and wisdom. In fact, what I learnt during these coffee sessions were really helpful later in my life.

Let me share a bit about Pak Engku and Mak Engku. They were certainly a very loving couple although as with many others they tend to have different views on many things. However, their love and affection to one another were obvious. There was an incident in Bangkok when we decided to explore night shopping and agreed to meet at a particular place. They were split and I was with Mak Engku. Somehow, we did not meet the other group where Pak Engku was with. Mak Engku decided to proceed with our plan. We did not realise that Pak Engku was so worried that he went back to the hotel and waited for Mak Engku at the lobby. We only realised this when we reached the hotel and saw him waiting anxiously. Both were great singers and they would never disappoint us at karaoke sessions which were the norms during AFA Council meetings those days.

Pak Engku was called back by his Creator on 4 March 2015. Certainly it was a great loss to the country. A towering Malaysian with honest heart, somebody like him will be difficult to replaced. إِنَّا لِلّهِ وَإِنَّـا إِلَيْهِ رَاجِعونَ‎ Surely we belong to Allah and surely to Him we shall return. It was an honour to know him and be guided by his wisdom and insights. 

اللهم اغْفِرْ لَهُ وارْحَمهُ وعافِهِ واعفُ عنه

Building a Nation

A friend of mine who is a Chartered Accountant from Australia (his father was also a Chartered Accountant from Australia!) forwarded me with number of old newspaper articles regarding the Colombo Plan, an initiative to advance the social and economic status of people from South East Asia.

It was very interesting that accountancy was identified as a profession which is important in nation building. Hence, under the Colombo Plan, quite a number of young Malays from Malaysia was sent to Australia to pursue the Chartered Accountancy qualification. 

Given that NO CONCESSION was given to these young Malaysians, they were selected based on their potential. Way back in the 50's, when globalisation was yet to be a concern and the need to be competitive was not as critical as today, these young Malays were expected to achieve the same standards as those Chartered Accountants in Australia. 

It is very difficult for me not to acknowledge the progressiveness of the thinking of out forefathers in building this nation. To be successful, one has to attain REAL COMPETENCY and COMPETENCY CANNOT BE FAKED through nice soundings qualification when the underlying substance were never tested and proven.

Fast forward into the future and more than 60 years later, we are still struggling to decide whether accountants here should demonstrate their competency before being recognised as one! 

If we consider the earlier batches of Malays who pursued and attained their professional qualification in Australia under the Colombo Plan, they did not disappoint the nation. Many were involved in the setting up of many institutions which are the pillars of our society today. Some when into public accountancy and were the pioneers in setting up what presently known as the Big-4 firms. Others went into entrepreneurship and some ended up as successful entrepreneurs or professional managers.

Nation building is tough and it requires people who are capable and have the ability to compete with the best. Once we pitch our people just to be the average Joe, the risks of complacency and mediocrity would be amplified and as a nation we could lose our competitiveness.

Let's have some ideas about the Colombo Plan on accountancy from these newspaper cuttings.

When The Flood Recedes, What Do We Do?

There is no further need to discuss about the extent of damages caused by the recent flooding at the East Coast. Kelantan is one of the affected states and also one of the worst affected. As I am writing, the extent of the damages is still being counted (I hope) by the authorities (plural emphasised!).

There is no doubt of the citizenship spirits being demonstrated by ordinary Malaysians in helping those affected. I am sure many people received donations, assistance and help from people who they do not know or even met in their lives before. The volunteer themselves distributed goods donated by those who remained faceless, using facilities e.g. helicopters and 4x4 vehicles that came from nowhere. The faces of the donors will remain faceless and won't appear on tv or even social media.

While there are still places and people where food and other needs are still required, there will be a stage where more serious thinking (I am not seeing that being demonstrated, perhaps because we cannot see what in people's mind) need to be demonstrated and executed.

The victims could be classified into several categories. Those who lost their houses, those with houses but lost everything else, those whose source of income disappeared and those who can't move on with their lives because those around them fall into the earlier categories. Each of them would require different kind of assistance and this is where data and information become important. Unfortunately, this task would have to be taken by people with authorities, no amount of volunteerism could make up any shortcoming of those with power.

I am not sure how much is being worked on the re-construction stage of this continuing episode. For those who lost everything, how would they re-start their  lives? Would they be building their homes at the same spot where their houses were built, at the low level areas which are flooded year-in and year-out? Could they be moved to higher grounds? Do they need to pay for the land? Wow, so many questions! I managed to ask one of them about when would they be rebuilding their homes. The answer was very simple, "We had been rebuilding our homes a number of times and they kept on being destroyed when it flooded. Each time we build, it would cost us RM 30,000 to RM 40,000. We had given up!".

Many of us would be able to recall the song Bangau Oh Bangau. It is about finding the cause of a thin stork, which the blame eventually fall on the snake. Honestly, I have not seen any Bangau in Kuala Krai or it's surrounding area but I also hope that this song is not going to be played and replayed as well.

When Malaysians Come Together (Updated)

Without fail Malaysians will demonstrate their citizenship commitments when there is a need. This is more obvious when unfortunate events occur, when their fellow citizen brothers and sisters have to cope with challenges beyond their control.

The major flood which hit the east coast of Malaysia, especially Kelantan has created opportunities for Malaysians to come together again. Instead of just expressing their sadness on social media, many turn up themselves with all sort of relief goods to be given to those experiencing difficulties. The road leading to Kuala Krai was jammed with cars, lorries and 4x4 transporting relief goods and volunteers.

The extent of catastrophe this time around is beyond the experience of the past. Many had to leave their homes at the very last minute, when the water was rushing into their home, as they thought that they were on safe grounds, as before. Many lost their homes which were swept away and many more lost their valuables. Worse, while the water had receded days ago, some are still without proper meals and basic hygienic utilities. Electricity and water have not been reconnected because many electric sub-stations and water pumping stations were out of commissioned due to the flood.

If you were at ground zero, you will be amazed with the spirit of being Malaysians being manifested by people from all walk of life. Relief goods are arriving from everywhere, sent by so many people from all parts of the country and the roads leading to the affected areas were jammed with so many 4x4 and other vehicles ferrying goods and volunteers. While there were helicopters ferrying the same, many individuals and corporations hired helicopters to help out. It was sad when I was informed at one stage, aviation fuel was lacking.

A lot more could be written about this episode of flooding but not enough words would be able to record the sense of brotherhood being displayed but suffice to say that we, Malaysians, do have big hearts and could be counted on when needed.

Perhaps we could have more of this during peace time, when more efforts need to be provided to strengthen key public institutions which are critical for the society to be taken care of. As a country we need to be competitive. We cannot rely on historical service level and performance standards to address future demands and needs of our fellow Malaysians. Clearer exit policies for civil servants who clearly fail to perform must be made transparent and strictly enforced. It is not worth spending taxpayers money on people who only warn their official chairs but fail to deliver when the people on the street (kampungs included) really need the services.

More contributions would be needed to held the unfortunate Malaysians to move on with their lives after the flood. Kept on being Malaysians and let's live the Malaysian spirit.

The Awaited "Boh"

I was brought up in the heart of Kota Bharu, the capital of Kelantan at the East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia (or Malaya based on the Malaysian Agreement). When my parents were serving the government in Machang in the south, I was with my grandparents (my mom's untie and her husband - Nenek and Atok) who were childless but were responsible in bringing up few other family members will full of love and affection.

Located at the Kelantan delta, towards the sea, flooding was a natural phenomena. Flood is referred to as "Boh" in the Kelantanese dialect. It normally occurs when the North-East monsoon which blows from November until March bringing heavy rain to the highlands in the south and causing high waves which slows the flow of water form the Kelantan river into the South China Sea.

Without much knowledge of weather forecasting or geography, many Kelantanese, Atok included, could read the weather patterns and guessed when the flood would arrive. We could also differentiate whether the flood was caused by local rain pour or from water flowing from the highlands based on the colour of the water. Atok, in his younger days, used to be a trader. He went to sell stuffs in Hulu Kelantan using bamboo raft and brought things back to Kota Bharu. I will write more about this wonderful Atok, a person who was very strict about honesty and integrity, later.

Boh is something which not considered evil to many Kelantanese, then. Perhaps there were more trees which could absorb the heavy rainfall and slowed the flow of the water from the south to the Kelantan delta. Now, as people pursue their millions, logging is one of the keys to wealth, both for the loggers and those with power to approve logging concessions.

When I was small, the colour of the Kelantanese river was blueish but now it is just like the "the tarik" as we know it. Even when those who are inclined to Islamic ideas are in power, I have not seen any changes in the logging practices in the highlands. Just wondering whether the Islam as believed by this group has no environmental protection element when Islam, as I understand it, treats environment protection as part of good governance, expected from any government. 

Flood or boh was celebrated as a sort of festivities, in most cases. I could hardly recall a time when they were catastrophic. I could still recall swimming in the cold flood water and most people would be moving around the flooded town with certain feeling of enjoyment. I was aware places which would be severely hit and people would need to be evacuated. Perhaps because these places were at the lowlands, we were not that sensitive to the sufferings of these unfortunate Kelantanese. Many senior Kelantanse would recall Boh Air Merah, one of the major floods where the colour of the water was reddish, as one of the severe ones which caused heavy damage in Kelantan.

It is very sad to know many parts of Kelantan are flooded this few days, amongst the worst in the history of the state. Just by knowing the level of the flood water in certain places, whether they are at knee, naval or chest levels, I could gauge the severity. I was told that many areas which were not flooded before are experiencing severe flooding. Many people are stranded without supply of food. How do I know this? I have friends on the ground sharing with me the real situations on the ground which are not reported on tv. This is how technology has made the difference when disasters occur. No longer realities could be painted differently.

One elements of flood is its predictability. While many will say, and I believe, that this is an act of god (what else happen without his command?), I can't accept any excuse that those who are in charge of flood relief were not able to prepare themselves earlier. It will always start with heavy rain but that alone is not enough to create a disaster. When the wind start to be stronger, we will start to worry. And then, there are places which will be flooded EVERY YEAR without miss, and as mentioned earlier, this happen only as a particular part of the year. Off course the severity could not be predicted but those who are paid to do the job has no excuse for not being prepared.

I salute Malaysians who have on their own accord arranged volunteer flood relief efforts, in addition to those from the authorities. This is also a new trend where volunteer works could outpace official efforts, in certain situations. When citizens have to take charge, what does this mean?

How do we know the worse would be over, when Chinese New Year comes, as simple as that.

The value of a tourist spot

Islands are natural tourist attractions. While Malaysia does not have many islands such as Indonesia and Singapore, we have managed to developed many of our islands, especially from the tourism perspectives.

Penang or also known as the Pearl of the Orient has been a famous commercial centre since the early days. Once a free-port, Penang today is still famous for its tourism appeal although economically it has managed to attract many global electronic manufacturers to locate their facilities around the island.

Tioman and Redang are other islands which are known for their beautiful beaches and marine lives. Their value propositions are different from Penang. Sipadan in Sabah is one of the best dive locations in the world. As a person who use to dive before, I have not been there as I was told that once you go to Sipadan, other dive sites will not be the same again.

I suppose islands have their natural beauty and that attracts people to  go and enjoy those natural features which having a break from their normal routine at their offices or businesses. Naturally, with higher number of tourists, the demand for infrastructures will increase, resulting in more buildings and other facilities are built. This will later spur commerce and more physical structures would be needed as well. How far should we go before these new additions to the ecosystem start to provide reduced value, from the angle of tourism?

I don't have the answer but certainly I would like to see more of the natural beauty to be preserved so that they can be enjoyed by our children and theirs.

These are some of the photos of Langkawi from my recent visit. Mostly on the natural beauty of the island taken using my iPhone 6.

Golfing at the Els Club, Datai, Langkawi.

The world, from the eyes of a crab.

The reflection of the raising sun.

A fishing boat, waiting for its owner.

How tall is this light house?

Morning cruise?

Hoping for early morning luck!

Noah's ark?

Having breakfast

Landing down!

An Orphan Golfer I am

There are many milestones in one's life but not that often one's club membership gets terminated. This happened to me today when officially my membership of Perangsang Templer Golf Club (PTGC) was terminated. The PTGC had been sold to a property developer to be developed into a mixed-development project.

PTGC is not the first golf club that suffers from this fate. Many other golf clubs around the Klang Valley are being developed into property projects due to the increase in property prices. Too tempting for the owner to maintain the clubs facilities and dealing with members' behaviours when the other option is to sell the properties off for handsome profits.

Although PTGC was owned by the Selangor state government which has a lot of money in its bank account, the temptation to "unlock the asset value' was too high. Notwithstanding the green surroundings of the club which is irreplaceable, as many people would say, "money speaks"!. I am not sure, in the case of preserving the ecosystem for future Selangorians, this was a wise move.

Some may argue that golf is an elitist sport. Well, I am not sure in the context of where we are as a society today, providing opportunities for Joe Malaysians who are from the middle to low income bracket to have something useful to do over the weekend is so. This was what PTGC did.

Anyway, this is already history. While some of the club members are trying to frustrate the deal through some level interventions, the fate of the PTGC was sealed when the membership of the members are terminated effective from today.

Just to capture the memories of the golf course, I went to play for the last time on Saturday. I did not play well but it was a memorable one. For a club which helped me to reduce my golf handicap from 36 to 24 (or about there), it deserves a posting here.

A Faceless Hero

I shall not mention his name but this is not because he is the person whose name is not supposed to be named like Lord Voldemort. Rather he was an ordinary Malaysian who believed in doing the right thing based on his faith and principles and later endured the consequences, whether they were pleasant or otherwise.

He was an uncle to my late mother and we in the family loved him dearly. Having obtained his basic education through the religious system, he went on to Singapore for the Bachelor of Arts degree from then, the University of Malaya. This aggregation of religious and philosophical background, I suppose, shaped him into a person with impeccable integrity, demonstrated thorough his public service records thereafter.

Throughout his public service life, he assumed many important positions with the Federal government, as a teacher, leading the Anti-corruption agency, being the officer at the ministry of education and ministry of public enterprise and was in charge of Islamic affairs, to name the few. Later in his life, he was involved in the setting up of the International Islamic University and became the first Registrar. When he retired he went back to teaching English to school leavers who were pursuing their Quranic memorisation certificate at an institution set up by the Federal government.

Being honest and living what he believed were his trademark. Off course, such conducts may not necessarily be appreciated by the power that be, resulting in him being passed over when it came to promotion. Many of his juniors bypassed him in the civil service hierarchy  He never felt upset and never regretted his decisions and conducts, until the end of his life. He always reminded us to be honest, say Bismillah (the name of the supreme God) and do what we think is right and let Allah determines the outcomes.

He related to me a number of incidences which he experienced which later on became the guiding principles in my life in being truthful to myself. When he was serving a state government, it was customary in those days for senior civil servants to enjoy wine and spirit after meetings. Being one of the junior officers, he was asked to prepare cocktails for the senior civil servants. Knowing that this was against his principles, he mixed everything up to the extent that the drinks became in consumable. He was never asked to do that job again after that.

There was once an occasion when he brought a number of Muslim scholars to Europe to see for themselves modern ways of living and realities. When they passed the red light district he could see the embarrassment on the faces of the scholars. That was the person he was, always want Islam to be understood in the context of its surroundings, not just from parochial perspectives as what many of us would normally do.

Due to his integrity, there were many instances that he did not carry the instructions from his superiors, which at times came from the highest level of leadership then, which he did not agree due to his principles. This resulted in him being in their bad books. That was an occasion when he was cold storaged with just a desk and a chair at Masjid Negara. People were hoping that he will give up and resigned. He persisted to stay on and eventually prevailed.

From his dying bed he reminded me "not to be afraid of people", meaning only and only Allah can determine my fate. Such a simple advise is really a heavy task to follow through. In the world where we seek worldly pleasures, not being liked by those who are in power in unthinkable. This is something which I am still struggling to apply.

People like him are very rare nowadays. Apart from financial gains, being popular and doing things asked from those higher ups, irrespective of the principles behind the instructions, would result in many other rewards such as titles and honours. We forgot that the ultimate stakeholders are those who are affected by the decisions we make and that finally all our conducts will be scrutinised in the hereafter (this is what Muslims are supposed to believe and their conducts should be consistent with ultimate test).

In my book, this uncle of my mother is a hero, notwithstanding that he is not a household name and many of his deeds are not known to the many lives who he had assisted.

May Allah forgive all his wrongdoings and place him with those who enjoys success in the life hereafter.

Misquoting Muhammad

This is certainly an interesting topic not just for Muslims but those whose life are affected by Muslims. In countries where Muslims form a majority, there would be numerous groups claiming to represent the true teaching of Islam.

Islam is premised on two sources of truth, the direct revelation from Allah which is known as the Quran and the commands, conducts and approval of Muhammad, the Prophet of Allah, known as the Sunnah. Beyond these two sources are opinions of scholars, which would only be counted if the opinions are based on the principles derived from the two earlier sources.

I first heard about this book, Misquoting Muhammad, written by Johathan Brown when I was watching discussion by Mohd Asri Zainal Abidin or more fondly known by Dr MAZA. Asri is a scholar who is not only knowledgeable about Sunnah but has been able to connect Islamic principles with today's realities, especially in the context of a multi-religion, multi-ethnic society like Malaysia. Perhaps, his fellowship at Oxford (he is presently there for a second time) provides him with better understanding of interfaith issues.

Jonathan Brown was not known to me as a Muslim scholar. However, since I knew about his book (which I have not read) I have been watching videos of him discussing Islam in places where Islam is not a dominant thought in the societies. I could sense that Muslims in those societies are under pressure to demonstrate that their believe are compatible with whatever prevailing main stream views.

This is an example of how Jonathan's way of thoughts seems to be helpful when Islam is discussed within a more complex and intellectual societies. A bit bored to those who prefer immediate explanation.

On the other hand, in societies where Muslims form the majority, Islam is exposed to the risks of being practices based on how it is understood from many Muslims who inherit whatever version of Islam without the need to question whether that version of Islam that they practice is compatible to even the Quran and the Sunnah. People tend to follow without understanding and worse, impose whatever belief that they have on others. I call this situation 'artificial superiority' especially when this superiority is perceived to be driven by legislative power.

I suppose listening to scholars like Asri and Jonathan would provide the perspective of Islam which seemed to be missing nowadays, the one which engages people both at their intellectual level as well as with their hearts.

Given the complexity of the world which we are living in, the issue of whether Muhammad was misquoted or even abused by his own followers will continue to be we us.