[Kisah dulu-dulu] Debat Islam Liberal dan Konservatif dari Perspektif Sejarah Islam

Nota: Ini adalah bahagian kedua posting saya mengenai Liberal Islam vs Conservative. Sebelum posting ini ditulis, ada pihak di kalangan professional muda di dalam Promuda yang menyimpulkan bahawa Sikap Konservatif adalah punca kepada kejumudan Ummah (Conservativeness leads to the stagnation of the Ummah). Dalam posting ini saya menjelaskan bahawa bertentangan dengan fahaman `so called liberalist' ini, Islam tidak jatuh kerana umat Islam bersikap `konservatif', tetapi dalam kes Salahuddin Al-Ayyubi, sikap konservatif ini yang membolehkan umat Islam menawan Jurusalem. Sebenarnya apa yang hendak saya gambarkan dalam posting ini adalah, pertama, jangan menyamakan sikap konservatif itu dengan salah tafsir atau pemikiran jumud. Kedua, bukan soal konservatif atau liberal yang menyebabkan Empayar Islam berkembang pesat atau runtuh, tetapi faktor perpaduan ummah, keamanan dan penguasaan ilmu pengetahuan serta penciptaan. 

From:  "penjejak badai" <badai2001@h...>
Date:  Mon Dec 3, 2001  12:41 pm
Subject:  LiberalIslam vs Conservative Pt2

Dear all,

Let us look back at the history of Islamic Empire.

The prophet, Muhammad SAW passed away on 8th June 632. The success of the empire/nation continued under the two Caliphs Abu Bakar (RA) and Omar (RA). During the first six year of Caliph Usman's (RA) leadership, the nation still progressed very well until disturbance took place during the 2nd half of Caliph Usman's leadership. This continued till Caliph Ali's reign. After that Muawiyah (the first ruler of Umaiyah Empire had to deal with rebellion, factions and also outside threat from the Roman Empire. 4 of his successors faced the same problem but later able to unite the Muslim ummah. This struggle took place from the year 660 to 705.


Later during the ruling of next successors from 705-724, Muslim started to excell back. Under the leadership of Caliph Umar Abd Aziz (year 717-720), Muslim experienced peace, and were able to develop and progress well. During that time science, chemistry and medicine started to be taught and developed at the mosque as centre of learning. Imam Hanafi and Imam Malik, two authotirities in fiqh lived during this time.


After that Muslim faced another downfall, and Abbassiah Government took over from Umaiyah. It was only during the ruling of Caliphs al-Mahdi (775-785) Harun al-Rasyid (786-809) and al-Makmum (813-833) Islamic Empire started to rise and shine again. They were able to maintain peace and therefore they were able to spend more time to develop the society and nation. The peak of the development took place during Caliph al-Makmum ruling. Besides trading and construction of beautiful city, other contributions were 1. Initiation of knowledge 2. publication of books 3. Translation of knowledge from foreign and other civilisations into Arabic, or from Arab world into foreign languages.


Islamic Knowledge also has developed very rapidly and systematically during this period. Tafsir (Interpretation of al-Quran), Hadith (collection, compilation of the prophet words and actions)- the 6 authorities in this field Bukhari, Muslim, Abu Dawud, Tarmizi, Qazwini and Nisai lived during this time. Fiqh - Imam Abu Hanifah, Imam Malik lived during this period, and Imam Syafie and Hanbali started their own schools of thought during this period. Translation - Jabir bin Hayan, known in Europe as Geber. Hunain bin Ishak (a doctor and philosopher) translated books on philosophy, astronomy, medicine, mathematics. Medicine - al-Razi, Ibnu Sina. Astronomi, algebra - al-Khawarismi, Physics - al-Razi, Jabir bin Hayyan, Philosophy - al-Kindi, al-Farabi etc.


Then after that it faced another downfall again until the time of Al-Hakam II (961-967) the ruler of Umaiyah Government in Spain, Salahuddin al-Ayyubi(1169-1192) the ruler of Ayyubiah in Egypt, Sultan Murad II (1421-1451) the ruler of Usmaniah in Tukey. If we read the full history, the factor of the downfall of Islamic Empire was not 100% due to conservativeness. In fact Salahuddin al-Ayyubi won the Crusade War due to their `conservativeness'. 


Conservative, liberal, lax and extremisme need to be defined carefully before we jump into conclusion of what lead to the stagnation of the Muslim progress. 


By detailing down the history, we could see that after Rasulullah SAW passed away there was a gap of nearly 100 years before the Muslim revived. It faced downfall and revived again after nearly 100 years later. It progressed at the best rate 200 years after the prophet passed away.


During this time these people were `conservative', 4 authorities in Fiqh lived during this period, 6 authorities in Hadis also lived during this period. How could we jumped into conclusion that, Islamic Empire faced downfall due to conservativeness, when we hardly define what `conservative' actually means?

I'll reveal further in my next posting.

tun

[Kisah dulu-dulu] Perdebatan mengenai `Islam Liberal vs Konservatif'

[Nota: Bagi memahami konteks tulisan ini, saya ingin menjelaskan bahawa posting ini ditulis selepas tragedi 9/11. Ketika itu Islam diserang hebat dan terdapat profesional muda Melayu yang menjadi keliru akibat serangan-serangan ini. Pada ketika itu lahir sekumpulan profesional Melayu yang cuba mentafsirkan Islam tanpa menggunakan kaedah yang diwariskan oleh para ulama muktabar, sebaliknya menggunakan reasoning/logik akal yang berlandaskan kefahaman mereka yang terbatas mengenai konteks dan asbab-ul nuzul hukum dan perintah Allah swt. Terdapat sejumlah profesional muda yang terpengaruh dengan pemikiran `the so called liberalist' ini, seterusnya menjadi keliru dan akhirnya menggunakan semula hujah yang hampir serupa pendekatan dan nadanya dalam perbahasan-perbahasan di dalam promuda_circle. Salah satu perdebatan yang panas ketika itu adalah mengenai Liberal Islam dan Conservative.]  

From:  "penjejak badai"
Date:  Mon Dec 3, 2001  12:41 pm
Subject:  Liberal Islam vs Conservative Pt1

Dear all, an interesting subject to be discussed...

When a doctor (medical officer or general practicioner) concludes a 
diagnosis on a patient, the one who could provide the 2nd opinion, must be a 
person who possesses similar authority or higher (of that). That person must be a doctor 
also. Should both of them are not sure, then they would refer the case to a 
physician, who has higher authority to further examine the patient. If he 
thought that an operation is needed, then he will pass the case to a 
surgeon. Once passed, any opinion or decision made on the best procedures 
will be discussed among the surgeon without interference from the physician. 
Same goes when a person is brought to Emergency Room. The fate of the 
patient, will be decided by the person who hold the highest authority in the 
ER, who are the ER specialists. No one will interfere.


In the above scenario, we learn that every faculty of knowledge has its own 
authority, who handles research, decision making, cases and other related matters. 
We respect that, and as a lay person, in most occassions we treat them as 
experts in their field.


But why, in the institution of cleric (ulama), we treat the matter 
differently? And some dare enough to ask the muslim ummah to take the role 
of interpreting Islam from ulama....... Do we treat this person as 
liberalist or do we treat this person as an extreme at the other end?


To every muslim, Islam is not a religion of worshipping god only. It is also not 
a religion of rituals and prayers only. It is not human made and not 
derived from human philosophy. To every muslim, Islam is a way of life. It 
touches every corners of human affairs with his God, other humans, and also the 
universe. It covers the field of faith, ethics, ibadah and muamalah, which 
describes the regulation of all human affairs, including social, economy, 
science, constitution, international affairs. It is a complex faculty on its 
own, and of course not everyone could be regarded as authority or specialist 
in this faculty of knowledge.


The search for truth according to Islam is not based on the largest vote 
that you get, as what you see in `Who wants to be a Millionaire' proggramme. 
It must be based on these sources according to its merit and superiority. It 
must be first referred to al-Quran, then al-hadith, then ijma' (cleric 
consensus), qiyas (logical deduction from the quran and hadith), maslahah 
mursalah (public welfare neither commended or prohibited in any Islamic 
source) or istihsan (acceptance of a rule because of its superior equity in 
comparison with an establish law).


If we see that it is really ridiculous to ask any person to take the 
role of a professionally trained doctor, then we would also admit that it is 
ridiculous for a person to ask the ummah to take the role of interpreting 
Islam from the ulama.


I am not saying, whatever decree (fatwa) that comes out from a person of that 
authority is 100% accurate. Same goes with all the diagnosis and prognosis 
made by a doctor. It is not 100% accurate. But this people learn 
systematically from basic to the highest level of learning, tested literally 
and practically, practice practically their knowledge, and some of them even 
specialize in certain fields and worth to be respected as authority in their 
fields.


I would see that there are people who repeat the attempt of Zahiriyah 
(literalist) school centuries ago. The only different is that, the older 
version of Zahiriyah interpret Islam with little fundemental knowledge of 
Islam but the newer version interpret Islam without fundemental knowledge of 
Islam and under the influence of western values and philosophy.


I do not have much time now, but I would discuss further this topic in my 
next posting.


tun

[Kisah Dulu-dulu] Menyanggah tulisan Farish Noor "Ummah, not ulama, should call the shot"

Berikutan tragedi `serangan pengganas' 9/11 pada tahun 2001, Islam menjadi mangsa serangan. Di Malaysia, ketika itu, terdapat sejumlah golongan profesional muda yang bukan sahaja menyerang Islam dan cuba mentafsirkan Islam menggunakan logik semasa, tetapi mereka juga menyerang Melayu, agendanya dan Institusi Raja-Raja Melayu. Promuda_Circle merupakan salah satu wadah di mana berlakunya perdebatan yang hebat mengenai Islam dan Melayu. 

Saya terpanggil untuk memberi respon terhadap artikel Farish Noor bertajuk "Ummah, not ulama, should call the shot" yang cukup meresahkan. Artikel yang dipanjangkan oleh salah seorang ahli Promuda itu jelas menunjukkan pemikiran sosialisme dan logik akal yang tidak bersandarkan kaedah tradisi dalam tafsiran al-Quran dan al-Hadis. Sebelum saya memberikan respon, Abdul Rahman aka Jimmy Hoffa telah memberi pandangannya terlebih dahulu untuk menyanggah pandangan Farish Noor di sini. Pandangan saya adalah seperti di bawah dan boleh diikuti seperti dalam mailing group Promuda_Circle di sini:

Dear all,

Each and every time Jimmy Hoffa and Farish Nor spelled out their thought, I am
made worried that their statements might lead to confusion to the other
`truth seekers’. This is because both of them claim that their thoughts are
`Islamic based’ although they move towards different directions. One tried
to describe Islam via (according to him) `fundamental’ belief, and the other
try to `liberate’ (according to him) Islam from `liberalist' point of view.


Are we made confused? I do not know about the rest, but the previous Jimmy
Hoffa posting indicates that he is no longer submitting himself to factual
argument like he used to preach earlier. I would like to discuss on that,
unfortunately time does not permit me to do so.


Farish Nor arguments as always, try to use logic and reason, although
sometimes they do not really comes from Islam itself and sometimes are purely
rhetoric. Let us try to follow Farish style and argue his statements using
logic:


Farish said “…Islam is an egalitarian creed that recognises no essential
hierarchy between individuals. The universal message of Islam was sent to
mankind as a whole and not to a select grouping only. The emergence of the
ulama — now with their costumes and accessories—is a later phenomenon which
has no basis in Islam.”


As we understood al-Quran is revealed in arabic, although it was sent to
mankind as a whole, the least assistance that non-arabic speaking people
need, would be the translation from arabic to their own languange. Islam is
not sent to Arabs only, but the arabs can understand al-Quran instantly
since it was revealed in arabic.


The language of Al-Quran is not ordinary to the Arabs themselves. It
possesses high literature values. They, themselves need assistance to
comprehend al-Quran. An ordinary `badouin’ would not be able to understand
fully the teaching of al-Quran but of course they could understand it
literally.


Al-Quran does not reveal Islamic teaching in detail, therefore a
messenger, the prophet Muhammad saw was sent to explain the teaching in
detail. The best description of the teaching was well observed by his
closest companions. His companions learned what he taught by heart (those
who illiterate) and some wrote them on goats skin. They recited and passed
his teaching to the next generations. Along the way, of course there were
people who tried to distort the teaching by creating something that were
not said, done by the prophet in order to support their own interest. The
previous ulamas have created methods and come out with regulation and
condition to eliminate such falsehood.


To a Muslim, Islamic teaching is always relevant through out generations
till the end of the world. There are things, which are new, and did not
exist during the prophet's time, and the muslim has to think on how to deal
with them. Since al-Quran and the prophet’s sunnah (words, practice etc)
provide general guidelines to deal with these phenomenon, the ulama and all
muslim have to study thoroughly these guidelines before coming out with a
respectable opinion to deal with them.


This is where Farish Nor is trapped. I will agree with him 100% should he
say that `wisdom is not monopolized by any individual or any group’. Anyone,
from the Greek, Athens, Indian, Persian or Chinese civilizations could come
out with his own wisdom to deal with every new thing and phenomenon in the
world. The only occasion, where they might fail is when they try to `find,
describe and illustrate god’. To Muslim belief, al-Quran is the guide to
understand about this subject. Muslim also believe that the `Injil’ and the
`Taurat’ are the guide for the Christians and Jews


In the case of to come with an `edict’, I still recommend that – we should
respect the specialty. A person who read book on medicine does not qualify
himself as a surgeon. Even a medical officer can’t claim that he is
qualified to consult a patient in a surgeon capacity.


There is no restriction or prohibition for the intellectuals to discuss
matter with ulamas. The depth and width of every knowledge faculty (except
for martial art) has increased and keep increasing. There is no one person, who
can claim that he is the master of all knowledge faculties. To come out with
best solution, experts from every faculty of knowledge have to discuss issues thoroughly
together.


The term used is `discuss’, not debate and not criticize. And the aim should
be best described as – a continuous effort to find the truth, which could
benefit the mankind and the universe.


I agree with Farish statement that ` Islam, as I have stated time and again,
is simply too important to be left in the hands of the ulama. While it is
true that not every Muslim is an expert on Islamic law, theology and
history, this does not mean that we do not have the right to speak and ask
questions about it’. However I also believe that, `Islam is much too
important to let any Tom, Dick and Harry to come out with an edict,
especially when they do not have appropriate knowledge.’


Remember that religion is not only destroyed when people submit to the
extreme side of the teaching but also destroyed when people are too lax when
submitting to it. Careful and moderate – are the best ways to deal with it.

tun

[Kisah dulu-dulu] #PPSMI: Terjemahan bukan usaha yang praktikal

Untuk mendapatkan persetujuan di kalangan profesional muda ketika itu bukanlah mudah. Anda perlu berhujah dengan golongan profesional muda yang bukan saja lepasan IPTA/S dalam negara, tetapi juga graduan IPTA/S Luar Negara. Ketika ini Promuda masih belum mengeluarkan kenyataan rasmi dan perbahasan mengenai usaha penterjemahan hangat. turut terlibat dalam perbahasan adalah saudara Najib, seorang profesional muda dalam bidang penterjemahan, seorang yang hebat dan menguasai 7 bahasa dunia. Ikuti perbahasan kami di
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/promuda_circle/message/2546 .

Di bawah adalah pandangan saya mengenai usaha penterjemahan. Ambil perhatian bahawa, saya turut menyebut tentang Bahasa Kebangsaan sebagai Bahasa Malaysia yang berasal dari Bahasa Melayu (ketika itu), tetapi hari ini saya berpandangan, istilah yang lebih tepat bukan Bahasa Malaysia, tetapi Bahasa Melayu.

Dear all,

Let me start my 2nd posting on this subject by saying that I fully agree

with the statement by our professional translator, that mass translation

would not be that practical, to solve language barrier in ICT era.

It is an egg and hen situation. I also have to say that I agree with

Nazrin’s points that it might work somewhere else, where the multi-ethnicity

history does not cause much problem.

By the way, we have to agree, language does unite people. Reason – why

Mandarin is officially used in China, and why Sukarno stressed so hard on

Bahasa Indonesia. I’ve mentioned earlier in previous postings that Melayu,

is only one tribe of many tribes in Indonesia. Dayak speak their own

language, same goes to Bugis, Javanese, Sunda, Nias, Batak etc.

In order to achieve national unity, Bahasa Indonesia was initiated and every

tribe has to sacrifice their own language for the sake of national interest.

Sukarno even sent back some Chinese to mainland China, when some of them

disrespect the national language and traditions. In Medan, Chinese student,

who speaks in their language during school, will get gang bashed by the

natives. In Indonesia there is no such thing as Chinese School. Everyone

sacrifices or made to sacrifice, for the sake of national unity in

Indonesia.

Same goes to the natives in Malaysia. I have explained earlier that we,

Malays, in Malaysia are called as `Malays’ since we followed Kesultanan

Melayu Melaka, which was founded by Parameswara, or Permaisura, who is from

the Melayu tribe, the native of Palembang.

Malays in Malaysia consist of Melayu, Bugis, Jawa, Melayu Pattani, Melayu

Kelantan, etc. Bahasa Malaysia is actually something, which is so different

from the mother tongue of these natives. However for the sake of National

Unity, these tribes sacrificed, or else you’ll see in Bagan Datoh, the shops

there, will only employ Javanese, since the Javanese are the dominant

population there. Now we see that the younger generation of Javanese do not

really speak Javanese amongst them, they speak National Language, which is

Bahasa Melayu/Malaysia.…..

So now, what about the Kadazan Dusun, Bajau and the rest, they also

sacrifice to learn Bahasa Malaysia. I have to agree with Nazrin, Kelantanese

speak in Bahasa Kelantan, not dialect Kelantan.. the languange is so

different than the rest, as if it was brought into Malaysia by alien.

Diarrhea, is `cerah perut’, when the BM is `cirit birit’. Plastic bag, is

`beg plastik’ but, to Kelantanese, it is `supit’. And Kelantanese also have

to sacrifice their language for the sake of national unity.

But, I feel sad when that doesn’t really happen in Chinese community. Some

of them fight so hard for vernacular school, at the expense of national

unity. In the cause of their fight, they tarnish the image of national

school and they do not agree with the idea of mixing the children from the

young age. Vernacular schools do reflect the support towards Bahasa

Malaysia, let me explain……

Back to the translation issue, it works in Indonesia since it has 270 m

population, and 23 m of them are in Jakarta. Say only 10% of the population

really has good reading habit, the market size is already 27 m, which is

considerably large market. But in Malaysia, we have only 23 m people. Say

60% reads – 13 m. But say out of 13 m, only 50% has very good reading habit,

then we have only 6.5 m who will read translated Malay books.

And just say out of this 6.5 m, Malay is 60% of the population, then we will

only have 3.9 m readers. Why do I exclude the non-Malays?

Let me share an open secret – unlike Indonesian Chinese and Indian who are

forced to read Bahasa Indonesia books, Malaysian Chinese and Indians do not

really read Malay Books. Many of them do not support the National Language.

Then what kind of market size, which is available for mass translation work.

Small. Tiny. Of course the book will lose its commercial values. So Ahram

idea will not really work since Malaysia do not have big market for such

book. One of the reason – no support from our own people.

I bet not many non-Malays keep any recent Malay book in their personal

library. Even some Malays don’t……

They will give so many excuses, eg. (there is no good books in Malay

Language) but I do not have time discuss about it now. Let me just conclude

by saying `Language will only exist if the people choose to support its

usage’ – judging from support that we have in Malaysia, not enough support

given by the non-Malays.

Sound a little bit racist? Those who know me, knows that I see Praba as

Praba, not as Indian Praba. I see Perrine, a nice looking lady who sat next

to me during Hamid Albar dinner talk, who has dimple on her cheek and has a

beautiful smile, as Perrine, not as Chinese Perrine. But someone regarded me

as an ultra-Malay. Then who actually is a racist?

I have to speak the truth here. I do not see anyone who is more racist then

those who reject Bahasa Kebangsaan, only because it is derived from Bahasa

Melayu. They reject Sekolah Kebangsaan because it is in Bahasa Melayu

medium. They do it at the expense of national unity…….. Can’t anyone see

Bahasa Malaysia as Bahasa Kebangsaan, not really Bahasa Melayu. The language

that suppose to unite us like the one that unites the Chinese in China,

Indonesian in Indonesia, Even though it is called Bahasa Melayu, it is not

actually the same than that of Malay tribe language in Indonesia.

National Language should be our identity, but proficiency in English is a

must to ensure competency in ICT era – but do not say that it is the main

reason why 94% Malay graduates are unemployed, especially in Malaysia…..

I’ll discuss further ……

tun

[Kisah dulu-dulu] Asal usul #PPSMI

Heh heh heh, saya terjumpa kembali posting saya mengenai Program Pengajaran dan Pembelajaran Sains dan Matematik dalam Bahasa Inggeris (PPSMI) dalam promuda_circle yahoo groups. Ketika itu saya dikenali sebagai Penjejak Badai; bahasa Cina - Nie Feng. Posting ini menceritakan tentang asal usul bagaimana perdebatan mengenai Bahasa Inggeris bermula dan oleh kerana ia merupakan isu yang panas, maka kami golongan professional muda pada waktu itu berpandangan bahawa input kami perlu diberikan kepada Perdana Menteri dan Kerajaan agar keputusan yang diambil adalah tepat. Ikuti perdebatan kami di sini.

Selepas Perdana Menteri Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir menyelar nasionalis bahasa atas sikap mereka yang menyebabkan ramai anak Melayu gagal menguasai bahasa Inggeris dengan baik pada 3 Mei 2002, Awang Selamat dari Utusan Malaysia telah mencadangkan penubuhan kembali sekolah beraliran Inggeris. Cadangan ini telah menyebabkan ramai berasa marah dan resah. Salah seorang daripada mereka adalah Ketua Pergerakan Pemuda UMNO Malaysia ketika itu, Datuk Hishammuddin Tun Hussien.

Saya berada di PWTC ketika Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir berucap mengenai perkara ini dan saya juga ada merekodkan kenyataan akhbar Datuk Hishammuddin ketika itu.

RE: [PROMUDA-Circle] Joining the fray

Sdr Romil,

Sebelum kita melalut bercakap perkara yang bukan-bukan, adalah lebih baik

kita melihat apakah asal-usulnya perkara ini dijadikan isu.

Pada hari Jumaat, 3 Mei 2002, PM menyelar Nasionalis Bahasa yang tidak

prihatin terhadap nasib bangsa Melayu, yang akhirnya menyebabkan mereka

tidak benar-benar menguasai Bahasa Inggeris. Beliau menyebut perkara ini,

ketika menyampaikan ucaptama Pelancaran IT Pemuda sempena seminar

Pembudayaan ICT.

Hal ini telah disambut oleh Awang Sulung (Awang Selamat sebenarnya), dalam Mingguan Malaysia, dan beliaulah orang yang dengan tidak tentu pasal mencadangkan di adakan sekolah aliran Inggeris.

Timbul juga persoalan, tentang kadar penggangguran yang tinggi dikaitkan

dengan masalah penguasaan bahasa Inggeris, kononnya ditimbulkan oleh

Persatuan Majikan-majikan, sebagai masalah utama kenapa graduan Bumiputera

tidak diambil bekerja.

Saudara Romil, kita boleh bersikap rasional apabila kita melihat ke dalam

hati sendiri dan mencari kejujuran.

1. Kaitan Bahasa Inggeris dan pekerjaan

94% graduan Melayu mengganggur bukan semata-mata kerana penguasaan bahasa

Inggeris yang lemah. Pernahkah saudara bekerja dengan juruprogram komputer

dari India, yang kurang fasih penguasaan bahasa Inggeris. Do you know what

he told me? Your English is better than mine..... yang mana saya tahu, saya

tidaklah mampu bercakap dan memahami bahasa Inggeris lebih hebat dari

saudara-saudara yang berijazah Oxford, Stanford dan lain-lain dari luar

negara.

Ada 2 sebab kenapa dia diambil bekerja 1. Kecekapan/kebolehan 2. Murah. Dia

boleh berbahasa Inggeris yang agak kelam kabut, tidak berbeza dengan saya,

bagaimanapun kami berdua tetap mempunyai pekerjaan yang baik.

Maafkan saya Praba, jika saya menyebut dalam industri pekerjaan tetap

berlaku pilih kasih. Sebagai seorang yang berlatar belakangkan industri

farmaseutikal, saya melihat jelas apabila satu-satu syarikat multinasional

farmaseutikal di`Cina'kan atau di`India'kan. Dalam satu temuduga yang

menjijikkan ke atas rakan saya, seorang pengurus dengan penuh prejudis

mengatakan orang Melayu tidak mungkin boleh berjaya dalam `sales', dan

soalan-soalan diajukan seterusnya sangat berbau perkauman.

Mungkin di sini salah satu sebab kenapa beliau tidak diambil bekerja adalah

kerana warna kulit dan tidak selari dengan dasar pengurusan, iaitu sama ada

untuk meng`kuning'kan atau meng`hitam'kan organisasi. Jadi hanya jika

organisasi itu dikuasai oleh orang Melayu, atau Melayu diperlukan untuk

tujuan-tujuan tertentu, atau connection `bapa-bapa' orang tertentu, barulah

kemungkinan untuk menjawat jawatan ada dalam sesetengah organisasi. Mungkin

berbau prejudis, tapi ianya wujud.

Dalam hal ini DEB adalah benar, untuk memastikan lebih ramai orang Melayu

menguasai perniagaan yang besar. Yang tidak benar, adalah ramai yang

dilantik menjadi `Pengarah Besar', lupa tanggungjawab besar ini, sebaik

sahaja membeli kereta dan rumah besar.

2. Bahasa Inggeris dalam Revolusi ICT

Tidak dinafikan Bahasa Inggeris sangat penting dalam era ICT. Kebanjiran

maklumat akan menyebabkan, biar 1000 atau 2000 orang yang diperuntukkan

untuk tujuan penterjemahan, tidak sempat menterjemahkan segala sesuatu.

Bukan hanya Malaysia, malah China, Jepun, Jerman menyedari perkara ini.

Tidak mungkin semua maklumat dalam laman web boleh diterjemahkan dengan

cepat. Tidak mungkin semua judul buku dapat diterjemahkan dengan segera.

Sekira negara seperti China juga terpaksa berubah akibat tekanan ini, kenapa

tidak kita. Cuma persoalannya adalkah aliran bahasa Inggeris akan membantu

atau lebih merosakkan keadaan?

Kita minum teh dulu....... Bila sempat saya akan bincangkan lagi.

tun