Aiyoh... I am so fed up with Pakatan Rakyat.

In-fighting, in-fighting and more in-fighting. I've talked about this so many times and I am bored with this topic.

If you have been following this blog, you'll have noticed that I have been quiet for an entire week. I thought that I would have plenty of time to write over the long weekend but was too uninspired to do any writing.

Habis-habis in-fighting in PR. It's so obvious what's going on.

1. UMNO is using Hassan Ali to take back Selangor.
2. Hassan Ali wants to be MB.
3. PAS Pusat is powerless over PAS Selangor.
4. Anwar is at a lost because he can't get PAS top leadership to act.

And while all these are going on, Khalid Ibrahim is too busy stuffing lemang and rendang into his already very big bulging tummy. And he is clueless anyway on what to do. Might as well just eat.

Pakatan leaders, you guys suck! Big time.

You have to stop relying on the rakyat's sympathy and show us some capabilities. Most of us are not your supporters - we are just not that into BN. You can be a lion, a zebra, a giraffe, a hippo and school of penguins for all we care. We merely crossed the other box which does not carry the picture of a scale. Remember this.

Go on like this and you will turn away a lot of potential voters. They may not vote BN but neither will they vote you. PR is not giving anyone any excuse to vote PR in as government.

Discipline is a major issue within PR.

PKR, DAP and PAS have no discipline. No law and order. No rules. Anything goes. Crack the whip for crying out loud. But nooooo... offending so and so will rock the boat. So and so has influence over this camp and that camp. What is the difference between PKR, DAP, PAS, UMNO, MCA and MIC? None. All parties are controlled by warlords.

Rubbish la Pakatan Rakyat. Utter rubbish. PR will not move forward unless law and order are in place. To achieve that, each party must have strong leadership to helm the parties. Being voted president makes you a leader, but it says nothing about you being a good leader. And at the top of the PR triangle must be an ultimate leader who calls the shot.

Anwar is powerless at the moment.

History told us that no war had ever been won without a clear outstanding leader. No corporate can grow and move forward without a clear outstanding leader. For crying out loud, you even need a leader to run a gotong-royong. There must always be a, that's singular, THE ONE. He who is given the mandate by the other leaders must have control over the other leaders who appoint him. Else, how can problems be solved. Else, how else can strategies be implemented?

Ancient Chinese knew this. Ancient Romans knew this. Just because you have a group of people under a tent does not mean you have control over them. What makes the likes of Shi Huang Ti, Julius Caesar and Genghis Khan great were their abilities to control and command the many heads of countries and colonies under them. These 'ancient' buggers knew this. But 'modern' Pakatan Rakyat knows none.

Can the 3 parties honestly mandate Anwar to lead them? Can they mandate Anwar as PR's The One? If not, then PR will be just another one hit wonder. If not, even if PR can form the next government, what can be achieved? What guarantees are there that the new government will not break upon winning? Who ever said that UMNO will tutup kedai the moment they lose GE13? Who ever said that Najib will take a 5 year break the moment BN loses GE13?

PR is not a loose coalition. It is a very loose coalition. There is almost nothing but a 2 alphabets holding PKR, DAP and PAS together. If you guys have no intentions to firm the grip, let us all call it a day - you won't last a month in the federal government even if we give it to you anyway.

...

The Star is turning into an absolute shame.

The degradation from bad to worse over the past couple of years is very much in sync with the appointment of Wong Chun Wai as the Group Chief Editor of The Star. In the past, we could forcibly accept that The Star had to be pro-government as they are constantly being monitored post Tun M's Operasi Lalang. The Star is a business; they had to "toe the line" to survive.

But The Star of present has lost its objectives of being "The People's Paper". Wong Chun Wai has forgotten his journalism ethics. And he has taken The Star to an all time low.

The Star is an MCA paper - we all know that. Politics has no ethics - we all know that. Ong Tee Keat and Chua Soi Lek are now fighting for their political survival - we all know that. But there is honour even among thieves. Ong Tee Keat and Wong Chun Wai via and The Star are lower than that.

Wong Chun Wai had used The Star to assist Ong Tee Keat to attack Chua Soi Lek. I don't care who between the 2 political conmen will win the battle, but to attack Chua Soi Lek in this manner is highly unethical.

On Sunday 13.9.09. The Star headlined "Ong: The Truth Will Be Revealed":

Although sacked MCA deputy president Dr Chua Soi Lek has denied forming a new party called Parti Cintai Malaysia, the truth behind it will be revealed in due time.

MCA president Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat said many people did not believe him when he mentioned the formation of the party last month.

“However, it is now proven that it does exist. You don’t have to listen to me or Dr Chua, but the truth will prevail one day,” he told a press conference after delivering his keynote address at the National Entrepreneurs Convention here yesterday.

On Monday 14.9.09, The Star posted a tiny errata box titled "Ong Did Not Say It":

IN our report Sunday headlined “Ong: The truth will be revealed”, it has been pointed out to us that the MCA president Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat did not say what was reported in the subheading “Chua formed a new party last month”.

We apologise for the error.

Hang on. Is The Star telling us that with MCA controlling The Star, The Star is allowed to publish such damaging news about Chua Soi Lek without first getting approvals from Ong Tee Keat and Clement Hii? And if Ong didn't say it then the entire article must have also been somebody's fabrication during his jamban break. Big news do get published easily in The Star eh?! Uncle, you think we Malaysians are that stupid? (Both middle fingers up!)

This is sabotage at the highest order. Ong Tee Keat is using a national paper to sabotage his opponent and Wong Chun Wai is a party to it. How more dirty can you guys get? I don't know if such horribly named Parti Cintai Malaysia exist and neither am I bothered. The point is Ong Tee Keat and Wong Chun Wai pushed their agenda against Chua Soi Lek with what looks like unsubstantiated claims on headlines only to retract it via a small errata the next day. The damage has already been done. And most readers would have missed the errata posting. So so low... So so unethical... It is only in MCA where anything goes. How many other political parties out there will trap their own leader with a spy camera while he shags his girlfriend with porn showing on a laptop? Oh I heard la about the going-ons in the dvd. Not that I've seen the dvd. It's illegal. And I also heard she blew him too. I heard la. Oral sex is illegal in Malaysia, mind you.

By the way, I am not throwing my support for Chua Soi Lek (no way man...) but wrong is wrong.

Why would Wong Chun Wai want to help Ong Tee Keat? I say Wong Chun Wai is simply covering his own arse. This supposedly staunch Christian is willing to sell his soul to the devil just to protect his warm seat at the pinnacle of The Star. Ethics and righteousness can take the seats behind this warm one. Wong Chun Wai has never been seen to be supportive of Chua Soi Lek since his sex escapades first surfaced. In fact, The Star has been far from being subtle about it. I also don't recall there being any support for Chua Soi Lek when he was running for his MCA Deputy Presidency. They instead character assassin him with their constant tagging of him with his baggage. Imagine if Chua Soi Lek managed to out-seat Ong Tee Keat in their fight. I am sure Wong Chun Wai will have to clear his table in no time and take another long leave to Jerusalem. Clement Hii will follow suit but he looks more like the Dongguan or Shenzhen type.

And that's not all with Wong Chun Wai.

Either Wong Chun Wai has a crush on Rosmah Mansor or he worships her. Or maybe he is just a good pet. How else can you explain the daily pictures of Rosmah Mansor in The Star. Yes, at least 1 hideous picture everyday. Many do not realise this but if you do a "Where's Rosmah" in The Star every day, you will know what I am talking about.

And the England. The England. The Star has no quality control. There are so many grammatical errors - even on front pages. I've picked them out so many times. I know the editors can't read all articles but at least have the decency to get your front page right. Imagine foreigners reading this national best selling newspapers of ours. So embarrassing.

And stop copying and pasting an entire article from foreign newspapers. It is common for our newspapers to pull news from foreign newspapers in the global section or international sports section. Sometimes they will simply add "The Guardian reported...". And then the editor stops reading the article. It is horrifying when the article goes on to say "We can confirm that...". Please la. This is a public newspaper. Had your personnel been more diligent, they would have easily picked that up and have it replaced with "The Guardian confirm that...". By the way, is that not plagiarism?

Why I still buy The Star? I have to put it down to habit. A dumb one I should say at the expense of 2 telur separuh masak every day. But I spend less time reading the papers nowadays. I speed through the local section and business, zoom past Section 2, flip pass classifieds and Metro, read the international section, and concentrate on international sports. And not to be missed every Tuesday is a full page of Dilbert.

This video titled Slovak Sling by Woo Ming Jin is damn farni. It stars everybody's favourite Harith Iskandar as a corrupted politician and Patrick 'Niamah' Teoh as a corruption facilitator (is that the word or should it be 'briber'? Hahaha...).

This video captures the common knowledge of corruption among our politicians and police force and how they (literally) strip you naked with their greed. And the fact that the video involves an illegal dvd peddlar is so Malaysian.

Have a good laugh...

Note: This video is part of the 15 Malaysia project.




...

Someone emailed me these pictures.

I am unsure of the authenticity of the pictures or if they have been doctored.

Interesting pictures though...





















Sham sure looked like he enjoyed his beer... That's an Anchor, right?
















So many chicks! Looks like a cool hippy partie... And hey, that's Sham again!















Anchor? What's with the blacked out eyes anyway? These are key witnessess eh... There he is again!





















I was told that this is Tengku Marsila, Sham's wife. Somebody's tipsy...

To win a game of football you have to score. And to score, you will need to attack. Put it simply, you will not win a football game if you defend all 90 minutes. You may get lucky when the other team does a boo-boo and accidentally lets in an own goal but that's by sheer good luck on your side and pure bad luck on the other side.

Let's see some real life EPL examples (or BPL as some call it, but to me, it's the English Premier League, Barclays or Carling or whatever else does not matter).

Bolton has never won the EPL and it is very unlikely that the Trotters will in the near future. The likes of Stoke, the Wolves, the Cottagers etc. aren't gonna lift the EPL trophy either. And who do you see winning the EPL over and over again? (EPL i.e. post creation of the Premier League). The Red Devils, the Gunners and the Blues.

(Note: The red side of Liverpool is an anomaly of the highest order.)

What is the difference between the teams above who win the EPL and those who don't? Glaringly, the likes of United, the Gunners and Chelski play attacking football. They attack and attack all through their games, And mind you, it is not only their strikers who are good; the attacking concept is well-oiled through the team. From van der Sar throwing a quick ball to Evra, who accelerates to midfield, who then passes the ball to lightning quick ol' Giggsy, who then squares the ball to Wazza for a ding over the opposition goalkeeper.

If you don't attack, you don't score. If you don't score, you don't win

Football is life! And as such, everything in football can be related to real life; politics included.

Pakatan Rakyat, learn from Sir Alex, Arsene and (once) the Special One. If you don't attack, you don’t win. I see this as a problem with PR. PR is now a Bolton. PR won promotion to the Premier League. But will PR win the EPL defending, defending and defending. All these defending while the Chelski of BN with all the money continues to pump in money to attack, attack and attack.

PR, you've got to do an Arsenal of 03/04 - The Invincibles - the team who won the league unbeaten. To me, that's the best team in the history of the EPL. Being a United fan, that statement pains me but it carries a lot of weight. Brilliant attacking play. Do you, PR, want to defend your 5 states all the way til the next GE? You've already lost Perak. (By the way, just continue sniping at them. Why let Zambry and gang rest?) And BN is attacking you non-stop; putting in red-card harsh tackles in Selangor but still getting away because the referee has been bought.

Start attacking now. Terengganu looks weak. Their defenders are no longer in sync with the goalkeeper. Why are you still passing the ball around on your side of the field? Attack them now! Get the cross-overs. And then do the right thing, please. Dissolve the state assembly and get a fresh mandate from the rakyat.

Negeri Sembilan looks like another potential. Bagan Pinang is not a good ground to attack - the game starts with a 0-1 (5,000 guaranteed postal votes out of 15,000 registered voters). But this is 1 state where it is do-able.

Johor and Pahang may be tough. But attack all states. Melaka. Sarawak. Sabah (ok... this is like playing against Real Madrid but with the right strategy...).

Get more states between now and the next GE. You may not be successful at all attempts but at least BN is kept busy defending for once as opposed to now where BN is attacking while PR is defending. You've got to counter-attack them now. Do you want to win the Malaysian Parliament League?

If you attack them relentlessly, you have already won the psyche battle. Their ADUNs and MPs are weak on their own. All of them have baggages. Find their weaknesses and bring them down. You may not have the referee, linesmen or even the ball boy with you, but you have the spectators on your side. Politics is dirty. So play dirty. Dive in the penalty box if you have to, but don't get caught! Remember the United-Arsenal match in season 04/05 when United roughed up Jose Antonio Reyes so badly that he was never the same player again after that game? United won the game and ended The Invincibles’ unbeaten streak continued from the previous season. Look at Drogba, Essien and Ballack week in week out. Sometimes you just have to play dirty to win (especially against dirtier opponents and bias officials).

I know many of you PR fellas aren't that smart in reading between the lines. In the previous paragraph I basically said: Do a Perak on them. Blackmail them. Force them to resign or frog over. Anything goes. Do things at the back, but maintain your cleanliness in the eyes of the public. And do things with a bit of class, please. Maintain good perception; we need not know what goes on in the kitchen of a restaurant. Then go back to the rakyat for a new mandate.

To you holier than thou out there reading this, there is no morals in politics la ok. And ethics are kept somewhere at your lower back somewhere near the end of your spine. If you can’t stand being wily, I suggest you play congkak or 5 stones.

And dear PR, while you keep BN's state machineries busy with your attacks, attack their MPs. That's like the Champions' League. Can you do a Manchester United of 07/08 winning both the EPL and the Champions League. You need a big squad and a good manager. You need to be technically and tactically sound. Strike them when they are too busy. Strike them when they are spread too thin. Strike them when they are over-whelmed with distrust among themselves. But you need to first be on the offensive to create chaos among them. Be offensive. They have already started all the above against you. Are you just gonna defend or are you gonna counter attack them? Learn a trick or 2 from Man U. Watch Brazil play.

Saudara Anwar, enough of defensive football. 5-4-1 is not going to win you anything. 5-1-3-1 may get you somewhere. I say go for a 4-4-2. Attacking football is your best way forward. But remember to go back to the rakyat for a fresh mandate. We will give it to you.

I cannot imagine any decent Malaysian who is not angry with the entire cow head fiasco. From the act of brandishing the severed cow head, the down right stupid and irresponsible statements of Hishammuddin Hussein (and Khir Toyo) down to the 'dialogue' held with the so called residents of the Section 23 Shah Alam.

This has been an embarrassing episode in the evolution of mankind. And to the Malay race in particular.

I find it hard to keep my anger away with this stupid issue. Yes, stupid. Stupid because - what is the real issue behind this issue?

I am not a religious person. In fact, I can hardly associate myself strongly with any religion. Maybe I simply have not receive the calling. And as such, I don't usually like to write on religious matter. But I will make an exception. And being a person who is indifferent towards all religions - Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Christianity, Judaism, Sikh - I think I can present a non-interested party point of view on this stupid stupid issue. And I believe that many Malaysians out there share my point of view.

(Oh because religion is sensitive and sacred, I will watch my choice of words. I'll try real hard not to swear. Damn!)

According to all sources, the Muslim residents are against the building of a Hindu temple so close to their residence. Ummm... what's the problem? What is so wrong with having a place of worship of another religion close to your house? Or next to your house?

Mr. Home Minister said that having a Hindu temple close to the homes of the 'majority Muslims' makes the Muslims uncomfortable? And he can relate to their predicament.

How does a Hindu temple nearby make a Muslim uncomfortable? Do you develop a rash? Do you get constant headaches? No, you don't. So what is so uncomfortable?

I simply cannot comprehend what is going on in the minds of these Muslims of Section 23. I believe that Islam is a beautiful religion (or way of life as some will like it to be called). I am no Islamic scholar but logic tells me that Islam has to be good or else it cannot be the most popular religion on planet Earth.

And I need not be an expert of the Quran to say that there will be no where in the Quran where you will find that the Quran calls for Muslims to stay far away from the place of worship of another religion. If you believe that there is one, then you have interpreted the Quran wrongly. Very very wrongly. Or you have been grossly misled by someone else. I know for a fact that Islam calls for fostering of closer and stronger relations among mankind. I do not believe that a holy book will preach negativities among mankind.

How can Muslim kids playing at the playground near a Hindu temple make the Muslim parents uncomfortable? There are no monsters in the temples you know?

Are they afraid that having their children growing up near a Hindu temple will see the children taking a likeness towards Hinduism? I hope this is not true because if it is, then these people are poor Muslims who do not really believe in their religion. Do you not have faith in your own religion? Do you have such little faith in your own believes that you see your own children being swayed into the arms of another religion simply because of the presence of another religion nearby? For crying out loud, this is not what religion is all about. Your faith and your believe is what is in you and not what you appear to be or not how you act or what you call yourself or how you name your descendants.

Your faith, and the religion you profess, is a spiritual connection between you and your god. And I belief that this is one critical factor that is missing from the mass of 'religious' people today. Most people who claim to be religious have no inkling of what their religion is all about. And I am not talking about Muslims only.

Our makers (if you believe in one) give us this complex object placed right at the top of our heads called the brain. This object, which is alien to many, has many functions and one of its major functions is to help us think. Evaluate subject matters. Process logic. Understand and interpret matters affecting us, surrounding us. Try using it sometimes.

Honestly people...

How does taking a step into a Buddhist or Taoist temple make you a lesser Christian?

How does reading a Christian bible make you a lesser Hindu?

How does having a Hindu temple near your house make you a lesser Muslim?

Hishammuddin Hussein, are you very sure of what you are doing? Do you have what it takes to live with the repercussions of the words you uttered today? You have better realise that you have set a very dangerous precedent today.

Here are extracts (from Malaysian Insider) of what Sham had to say.

On the use of a cow’s head during last Friday’s demonstration:

They, the organizers, … didn’t even know that somebody was going to bring the head of the cow during that demonstration.

On why police allowed the 50 demonstrators to proceed without interruption:

Hishammuddin told reporters that the police allowed the demonstrators to proceed because the numbers of protestors were small.

Put is simply, this is what Sham has to say:

1. Pleading ignorance will get you out of trouble with the government and police. And the ISA is dead.

2. Any gatherings with head counts numbering 50 and below will be allowed from now onwards. No permit or permission required to be applied from the authorities. Again, the ISA is dead.

I did not come up with the above. Hishammuddin Hussein did.

In the future, should any group of less than 50 people gather outside a church and burn the bible at its footstep, no action can be taken by the police and government authorities. Those who gather can simply plead ignorance of the intention of someone to burn the bible and they will be let off scot free. Hishammuddin, are you going to be responsible for any repercussions?

In the future, should any group of less than 50 people gather outside the Kuan Yin temple and bring along, yet another, cow’s head, step and spit at it, no action can be taken by the police and government authorities. Those who gathered can simply plead ignorance of the intention of someone to bring the cow’s head and they will be let off scot free. Hishammuddin, are you going to be responsible for any repercussions?

In the future, should any group of less than 50 people gather outside a mosque and bring along a pig’s head, step and spit at it, no action can be taken by the police and government authorities. Those who gathered can simply plead ignorance of the intention of someone to bring the pig’s head and they will be let off scot free. Hishammuddin, are you going to be responsible for any repercussions?

In the future, should any group of less than 50 people gather at Wisma MCA and bring along a keris, wave it, kiss it and call for the keris to be soaked in Chinese blood, no action can be taken by the police and government authorities. Those who gathered can simply plead ignorance of the intention of someone to bring the keris and they will be let off scot free. Hishammuddin, are you going to be responsible for any repercussions?

In the future, should any group of less than 50 people gather outside UMNO’s HQ, PWTC, and bring along a full size roasted pig, chop it and feast on it at the doorstep of PWTC, no action can be taken by the police and government authorities. Those who gathered can simply plead ignorance of the intention of someone to bring the pig and they will be let off scot free. Hishammuddin, are you going to be responsible for any repercussions?

Hishammuddin Hussein, you have set a precedent. A very dangerous precedent. This is what happens when you choose to effect the law based on your whims. How are you going to justify taking action against 1 scenario but not against another? You are simply making life impossible for yourself, you idiot. Your myopic action today will only throw the country into further lawlessness. A law is only good when it is consistently applied. But what do you know about the law? What do UMNO and BN know about the law?

You are a dirty politician who has a set of laws for UMNO and another for the rest of Malaysia.

You are a racist who has a set of laws for your band of fanatic Malays and another for the rest of Malaysia.

You are a coward who has a set of laws for your band of extremist Muslims and another for the rest of Malaysia.

If I were a politician, I’ll be ashamed of you.

If I were a Malay, I’ll be ashamed of you.

If I were a Muslim, I’ll be ashamed of you.

Shame on you, Mr. Home Minister. Shame on you.

You are the Home Minister and it is your duty to preserve law and order in this country. Instead you along with Musa The Terrible are screwing us rakyat left, right and centre. How did a job this important land on your laps? You just do not have it within yourself to stand up for what is right and reject what is wrong. We, the rakyat, do not need a leader like you.

You are a finished article as far as I am concern. You will not get the vote of any Malaysian Chinese. You will not get the vote of any Malaysian Indian. And the best part is, the majority of Malaysian Malays will not vote for you.

Start scouting for yourself a cosy beach home in the Pacifics with the money you robbed from us. Your days are numbered.

By the way, I wore black on Monday 31 August, did you?

By Syed Akbar Ali

Many, many years ago circa 1997 when I wrote a column in The Sun newspaper, I wrote once about our temples, mosques and other places of worship getting too noisy. My article was reproduced by some nut from PAS in the Harakah or somewhere. He was asking people to get angry at me.

At that time we lived on a 17^th floor condo in Pantai Hillpark. Nine years before in 1988 my wife and I (with our baby son) lived for a while in a rented flat in Subang Jaya.

In both places we lived close to mosques and suraus. In Subang Jaya there was a surau immediately behind our flat. Early each morning about 5 a.m. they would start blasting the chanting and recitations etc on their loudspeakers. Our baby son would start crying from his sleep.

(Most recently my good friend Jahamy keeps sending me smses at about 6:00 am in the morning. When I asked him why so early, he said there is a masjid nearby which wakes him up too!)

In Pantai Hillpark, the local mosque would have their ceramah – sometimes up to 9 pm and beyond. Even 17 floors up the condo and some distance away, we could hear their chatter.

I also worked at Maybank (Menara Maybank, Jalan Tun Perak). In the evenings after work, my colleagues and I would sometimes adjourn for tea at our foodcourt. Just nearby, as you come up the small road from Jalan Pudu, there is a Hindu temple at the corner. In the evenings this little Hindu temple would incessantly ring its very loud bell. It used to really rattle my ears. I would have to strain my ears to hear my friends talking.

In other countries you keep your noises inside your temples, churches and mosques. I think that is a very Islamic and civilized thing to do. In Germany church bells can only be heard inside their own walls and not beyond their compound. Neighbours have a right to complain about noise pollution from church bells. The same applies to the call for prayer or azan from mosques in Germany. All sounds must remain within the four walls of your place of worship.

I am sure if there are Hindu temples in Germany, their bells must also abide by the same rules. Its called curbing noise pollution.

Here I would like to point out that the loudness of the ceramah at the mosques or the loudness of the call to prayer has got absolutely nothing to do with their religious fervour.

Instead it has got everything to do with the inventive genius of “kafir” sound engineers in Sony of Japan or Samsung of Korea. As the “kafir” Japanese and Korean sound engineers become more inventive, so do the mosques around the world become louder. The religious fervour is not linked to the faith but to the power of the latest sound systems from Sony, Samsung and LG.

The relevant question to ask would be : what kind of religious fervour is that?

To be true to the faith, the call to prayer should be made using the human voice alone, unaided by 100MW or 250MW “Made In Japan” loudspeakers.

I really feel that all our places of worship inside Malaysia (of all religions) must be governed by zoning laws pertaining to noise pollution. Keep it down. Don’t make noise and disturb the neighbourhood.

My view is also that compared to our population now - there are far too many mosques and suraus, far too many temples and far too many churches in our country. There are thousands of Hindu temples, there are far too many suraus and mosques being built and there are also too many shophouses being converted into churches. The Calvary Church people are building a huge RM160.0 million worship centre close to my house in Bukit Jalil. Do we really need so many places of worship?

If you go to Kuala Kubu Bahru, they have built a huge mosque in the town. I think this mosque can accommodate all the inhabitants of Kuala Kubu Bahru town, including the non Muslims. It rarely has a full house in the congregation.

In Putrajaya the immensely beautiful Putrajaya Mosque also suffers emptiness most of the time. Only on Fridays and the Hari Raya there is a large congregation. On other days few people attend this mosque. Yet just about a kilometer away the latest testimony to religious hubris – a spanking new RM200 million stainless steel mosque also known as the “Masjid Besi” - with a capacity of 20,000 worshippers - has just been opened. This “masjid besi” is going to remain empty too.

But the saddest of all mosques is the huge and beautiful mosque that has been built just outside the KLIA. You cant miss it when you drive to the KLIA. The huge mosque stands alone with hardly anyone stopping over for prayers. It is totally out of the way.

I was in Kedah, driving through the gorgeous paddy fields beyond Alor Setar when suddenly out of the green paddy loomed this huge brand new yellow painted mosque with a huge dome. I am sure that mosque too could also have absorbed all the men, women and children in the surrounding village and still have space to spare.

There is a reason why mosques are getting so huge and so many. They are lucrative construction contracts – Government contracts. So if you are a local politician and you need to pass out some goodies in your precinct, a mosque contract would do the job just right. Plus the bigger the mosque the better it is – and who will dare oppose the building of a larger mosque because building mosques begats ‘pahala’ or blessings.

And unfortunately many mosques have now also become a rebut kuasa place for the political animals who wear turbans and gorilla facial hair. They use the mosques to sow hatred and divide the community further. Here are some interesting verses from the Quran.

Surah 9:107 “There are those who abuse the masjid by practicing idol worship, dividing the believers, and providing comfort to those who oppose GOD and His messenger. They solemnly swear: "Our intentions are honorable!" GOD bears witness that they are liars.”

Surah 9:108 “You shall never stand in such a masjid. A masjid that is established on the basis of righteousness from the first day is more worthy of your standing therein. In it, there are people who love to be purified. GOD loves those who purify themselves.”

The same goes for temples and churches. Temples and churches also generate ‘money’ at the donation box. They provide other “services” like solemnizing marriages, “blessing” babies, blessing a new car, blessing a new business premise etc etc. All this generates money. That is indeed a powerful aphrodisiac to lord it over the worshippers. Temples and churches are not exempt from feuds, squabbles and fighting over money.

Religion does divide people. This is a scientific fact. It is a necessary requirement for religion. If you join one religion, you must leave another. It is mutually exclusive. If you accept one type of holy spirit, then all the others must become unholy. You simply cannot have two holy spirits. They would start arguing with each other.

No apologies offered but these views of mine do not extend to the “deen” of Islam of my choosing – “deen” being a way of life. I am referring to the Islam that is kept safe and secure in the Quran. I am happy to note that even the non Muslims have begun to understand what is in the Quran and use the knowledge to good effect.

Recently a Guna something being an Editor of the Star wrote an article about the Karthika Dewi Shukarno affair. Guna wrote that the ‘scholars say that the Quran does not prescribe any punishment’ for consuming alchohol.

I am glad that Guna knows the content of the Quran pertaining to punishment and consuming alchohol. I also hope he will get to know much more about the Quran. This is useful information.

The Islam that I have come to know and appreciate is the same Islam that compels me to write these views today about mosques, churches and temples. The Islam that I have come to know is far removed from the hate and divisiveness that is ordinarily potrayed on tv and in the media (and also in Shah Alam on Friday).

I am a Muslim. I am NOT one of them (or maybe one of YOU).

“Religion” (as opposed to the “deen” or way of life of Islam) is indeed the opium of the masses. Religion has too often been thwarted to become one of the most divisive forces ever created by mankind. More wars have been fought over religion and more people have been killed over religion than anything else. Religion is like radioactivity. You touch it you sure “kena”.

If we claim to be sensible people all of us must seriously consider if we really need any type of too intrusive (or pervasive) religion in our lives?

Ponder the following. Compare spending one hour in your place of worship with spending one hour in the library. Compare spending an hour in “devotions” with an hour taking a brisk walk. Compare spending an hour listening to a religious sermon with an hour listening to classical music or listening to a professional speaking about something useful.

Now please answer me this:

Which activity can lead you to carrying a severed cow’s head to insult someone ? Which activity can lead you to say that your neighbour believes in unholy spirits?

Which activity can lead you to be inconsiderate of your neighbours right to peace and quiet?

Which activity can lead you to hate your fellow man based on caste or sect?

Which activity would cause you to like or dislike a person because of his dietary preferences (pork or non pork eating, beef or non beef eating, vegetarian or non vegetarian)?

Do answer honestly. I hope it will help you get a better idea of the common variety of “religion”.

As I said before, I am a hardcore, fundamental, extremist Muslim. So to end this, here are some quotes from my favorite book the Quran :

Surah 9:31 “They have set up their priests and religious scholars as lords, instead of GOD. Others deified the Messiah, son of Mary. They were all commanded to serve only one god. There is no god except He. Be He glorified, high above having any partners.”

Surah 9:34 “O you who believe, many religious leaders and preachers take the people's money illicitly, and repel from the path of GOD. Those who hoard the gold and silver, and do not spend them in the cause of GOD, promise them a painful retribution.”

How true. Sadaqallaah – God has spoken the truth.