Malaysia, Why No University City?

This article was published in The New Straits Times, April 1st 2013

A friend of mine asked me to write a chapter in a book which revolved around the topic of medical education in Malaysia and it forced me to compare the education system between Malaysia and other countries. Suddenly it dawned to me: ‘Why Malaysia does not have a University city?’ University cities are cities that are built around a University, and its environment is purely academic that the economical activities of the city depends on the existence of the University, with the students being the driving force that lights up the city into a bright garden city of knowledge. We have a few in the world, like Oxford, Cambridge, Boston, or perhaps an example much closer to us, Bandung.

I have lived in two University cities throughout my life, namely Boston and Bandung, and have been to Oxford once, and what I can say is that we have nothing like those cities in Malaysia. Take Oxford, the whole city exudes an academic atmosphere. Just stepping into the city makes you feel smarter by 10 IQ points. Unlike the Universities we have, there are no walled boundaries to the University, and nobody is going to stop you at the entrance of the city to check on your student I.D. Oxford is the city, and the city is a University. The academic environment is evident through the people walking around the city carrying books, coffee shop with tables stacked with large mind maps and a group of students discussing around it. Bookshops selling all academic textbooks you can find in the world, and your casual walk by the sidewalk won’t be complete without a student stopping you to ask things like: ‘We’re running a survey for our research, would you mind participating? There will be a surprise gift’ and gives you a wink, which makes it hard for you to reject.

Then there’s Harvard in Boston. Unlike Oxford, the use of the word Harvard and Boston are not interchangeable, but when people say Boston, Harvard is the first thing that comes to mind. The whole Harvard compound is filled with shops that are built by Harvard students, for Harvard students. The Harvard Coop is essentially a student cooperative, like the student Co-Op we have here that sell stationeries, exercise books and food, except that instead of selling stationeries, exercise books and food, they sell everything and operate like a shopping mall. I had to spend half a day at the books section marveling at the wide range of books from academic textbooks to biographies to fiction that they have. The Universities also acts as a catalyst for NGOs, social and even political movements. For example, 'Partners in Health' which now operates in more than 20 developing countries across the world to cure infectious diseases was founded by Dr Paul Farmer when he was a Harvard medical student. The NGO is based in Boston and is largely fueled by Harvard student volunteers. Boston is also the birth place of ‘Health Leads’ which was founded by Harvard student Rebecca Onie, which now operates in 5 cities around United States to provide healthcare beyond the hospital walls. The organization is also largely student-driven, with volunteers from Harvard and Boston University. When the population of a city are largely made up of intellectuals, the people are open to new ideas and foreign culture. I still remember my years in Boston where we went from house to house in a large group for Marhaban during Eid and the people on the streets would greet us with ‘Happy Eid!’ and smiled and waved at us as we were crossing the road. In exchange, when their children went from house to house for trick or treats during Halloween, we gave them candies. There is acceptance of religion and culture because among intellectuals, the level of understanding is very high. We never get shallow debates about why my religion or culture is better than yours. What we get is volunteer services organized together by mosques, churches and synagogues that serves the same purpose of providing for the poor living in the city.

In University cities, learning happens all the time, inside or outside the classroom. I remembered one of the students in Harvard telling me that he’s having dinner with his study group and his Professor at a nearby restaurant before having their extra class at night. Then at one time I realize that many waiters and people behind the cashiers are part time workers and are actually university students. The girl behind the cashier reading the Constitution of the United States of America’? She’s actually a Harvard law student making ends meet by working as a part time cashier. Because the shops in University cities are catered for students, their working hours are very flexible and tailored towards their class schedules. It seems that the whole city is a communion between the university and the community.

University cities are not only achievable in developed nations. Even Bandung in Indonesia developed because of the existence of Padjajaran University, which is virtually embedded into the city. Ask anyone who has been to Bandung and they would say ‘Padjajaran University’ sounds familiar, or at least the black-yellow crest which became the logo and identity of Padjajaran University looks familiar. The university and the city depends on each other. We have faculty buildings scattered around the city, in between shopping malls and housing areas. When I was studying in Bandung, I was hanging out in a shopping mall and I met my Indonesian friend, asking her if she is out shopping, watching a movie or anything. She answered, oh no, she just went to the ‘free speech’ corner near the mall where crowds gather to hear some political science students talk about democracy. Do you ever get that in Malaysia? When the whole city is driven by the force of knowledge, smart things happen and we do not get too many stupid things happening. It also encourages students from different faculties to gather and communicate with each other. When there is more interaction between students of different fields, the spirit of interprofessional learning is very much alive. The openness of one faculty towards another allows me as a medical student to join an event organized by the Political Science faculty which finally ends up by finding myself one day inside the United Nations building in New York. Amazing things happen when we venture into other fields that seems foreign to us.

In Malaysia, we have UKM in Bangi. But Bangi is not a University city. Outside the UKM compound, Bangi is just another city. No bookshops founded by students. No study groups taking place at cafés in shopping malls. No ‘free speech’ corner set up where crowds of people gather such as shopping malls. If UKM is wiped off Bangi, Bangi would still be Bangi. The students do not play a large role in the survival of the city. Same goes to Gombak which houses UIA. Gombak has always been Gombak even before UIA came, and people would relate Gombak more to the indigenous people living in Batu 12 than UIA. How about Tronoh which has UTP? Outside the UTP compound, Tronoh is basically a dead town. I do not like to write ideal things without coming up with a solution idea. So recently, almost all the major universities in Malaysia are given autonomy by the government, which essentially means they can do whatever they want to that is best for the university. Perhaps prior to being given autonomy, Universities are not given the independence to expand and assimilate university entities into the city, like turning the Co-op into a shopping mall, starting a business for students, allowing businesses to operate inside university compounds. This might sound like a foreign idea, but imagine a pharmaceutical company building its facilities inside the university compound, with open collaboration with the university. They would have all the financial resources as a business, and all the intellectual knowledge from the university. Students from the business faculty can learn about business there, and students of medicine, biomedical science and pharmacy can learn the latest advancements in medical drugs and research, thanks to the financial strength of a private company.

All this while we thought that universities are able to generate income through researches and patents. However, this proves to take a lot of time, a lot of trial and error, and the risks are too high. Many researches in the end do not generate income for the University. I know that money making should not be a priority for a University, but nowadays, for a research centre to flourish, they need to have a lot of financial support. Universities can no longer depend on the government for financial support. My suggestion is, other than developing cities for investors like the one we are going to have in Nusa Jaya, Johor, how about investing in University cities?. Develop Bangi, develop Gombak, develop Tronoh into a University city. The results wouldn’t be seen immediately, but it will in the long run. Do you know what Facebook, Microsoft and Apple have in common? They are all founded in university cities, by university dropouts. Because in a university city, dropping out of a university does not mean being expelled from the city. That is where their learning continues, and they continue to have the support of fellow intellectual friends that together spark off a digital revolution. University cities are a catalyst for greater things to happen. It is like a place where great mind gathers to make the world a better place. We should look at Universities not as a mechanical structure where lessons are taught but a ground for sparking change and revolutions driven by knowledge. Perhaps someday Malaysia will have its own University city. I am not a person in the position to make things as big as this happen, but if it happens someday, I am glad that someone up there in the social hierarchy finally echo my thoughts.  

Tun Dr Mahathir Used To Be My Imaginary Grandfather

Most Malaysians of my generation would remember Tun Dr Mahathir throughout their childhood as the Prime Minister of Malaysia. But things are a little bit different for me. Thanks to my elder sister, I remember Tun Dr Mahathir throughout my childhood as my grandfather, or Tok Ayah. I could not understand her motive, but whenever Tun Mahathir came up on TV or the newspaper, she would say to me ''Opie, tengok ni, Tok Ayah masuk TV!''. As a child 4 or 5 years of age, of course I would believe in anything she said. So I believe that I have 3 Tok Ayahs. One is Tok Ayah kampung who lives in Batu Pahat, another one is Tok Ayah PJ who lives in Petaling Jaya, and the last one is Tok Ayah the Prime Minister. My delusion that the Prime Minister is actually my grandfather was so strong that one day me and my family went to a 'Disney on Ice' show premiere in Kuala Lumpur. Tun Mahathir was there with Tun Siti Hasmah. At the end of the show we had a chance to shake his hands, and I went to him and said 'Hi Tok Ayah!'. I could not remember the expression on his face at that time but it must have been a surprised one.

The delusion weans off as I grew older, I no longer look up as him as my grandfather, but I still look up at him as my inspiration. I could not believe that after 20 years, I get to speak to him again at an event held by my University. Tun Mahathir is a much older man now. Even early in his speech he seems to fumble with words, forgetting some of the things he wanted to say, but as his speech goes on, he speaks as well as he spoke 20 years ago. I fully took this chance to ask him a question, in an effort have a form of conversation with him. I asked a friend to record the video, and I shall put it here to preserve the memory:

Both ardent fans of him and his political enemies seems to agree that he has done a lot for the country. I was inspired by what he said in his speech, that he does everything for the love of the nation, he could not bare people looking down on his nation, and he feels humiliated that during his time the country were always under the rule of another. His love for the nation is above everything else. I have read a few of his autobiographies, the most prominent of course being his own memoir 'A Doctor in the House'. I was inspired when he said that his training as a medical doctor contributes much to his way of thinking when he solves problems as a Prime Minister. He admits that doctors has a systematic approach to solving problems, and that approach can be used not only to treat patients but to treat political, economic and social problems. At the age of 87, it is amazing that he can still be active writing, giving speeches and attending events. I am sure that when he looks back to his past life, he can be proud that he has changed the lives of many for the better. That is the life I want to live. To serve, to change people's lives, to be remembered, to leave a legend. I know it will be hard, but we have only 2 choices: either to tip-toe through life, avoiding getting bruised and die without a trace, or we can live a life full of ups and downs, filled with challenges...and be remembered long after we are dead and gone.Tun Dr Mahathir lived a legendary life, and I will always remember him as THE Prime Minister, and my imaginary childhood grandfather :)

Me and Tun Dr Mahathir after book signing

Tentang 'Ketuanan Melayu'

Saya rasa kita tidak perlu terlalu risau jika 'ketuanan Melayu' hilang atau tercalar. Ianya takkan tercalar selagi kita sendiri tidak membenarkannya tercalar. Integrity Melayu tercalar selalunya berlaku bukan kerana anasir luar, tapi kerana kita sendiri yang mencalarkannya dengan meninggalkan pengangan agama, menerima rasuah dan mengabaikan tanggungjawab dan amanah. Jika kita memandang politik, ekonomi dan sains sosial itu sebagai satu ibadah, kita mungkin akan selangkah lebih maju menjadi negara dengan Islam sebagai agama rasmi paling maju di dunia. Pandanglah membina negara yang aman dan makmur sebagai satu medium terbaik untuk keredhaanNya dan mencapai syurga di akhirat. Integrity Melayu itu dilindungi Islam yang kekal, bukan hanya sekadar dilindungi perlembagaan yang boleh diubah-ubah

On Education Reforms

Much has been said by politicians and the media about education reforms. Let me give my opinion on the education reform that I would like to see in our country. As facts are important to be remembered, I think that students have become empty boxes to be filled in with syllabuses that need to be finished by certain dates. The current education focuses too much on remembering things than encouraging students to think. The spark of creativity is just not there. More than 70% of jobs that will be in demand in the next 10 years have not even existed today. If we focus only in filling these students with facts and figures that only applies to the present day, these knowledge would become obsolete if we do not encourage creative thinking. Creative thinking allows them to grow the present knowledge to suit any future environment they will live in and any job demands that will be created.

Students should read books outside of their school syllabus in free times. Many would disagree and say ‘even the things that I am supposed to learn in my syllabus has not been finished, how can I read something else?’ This is a very common thinking and they are actually missing the point. The point of learning is not to take in as much as information and vomit it out exactly word by word on the exams paper. Knowledge has to be digested by the mind to cultivate an intelligent way of thinking. The level of creativity and critical thinking is the important thing. I define creativity as when the line of thinking is not exactly a line but a network of lines connecting an area of knowledge to another. Hence, the more variety of knowledge we acquire, the more of our ability to think creatively will flourish. Our brain is an amazing organ. Once it learns something, that something can be used in all sorts of situation. However, we fail to recognize this ability and when we learn an area of knowledge we only apply it on that same area of knowledge. 

I like to take examples in medicine as I am a medical student. Medical students learn about diseases. Yes, we need to remember all those facts about the human anatomy, the bacteriology of the etiologic agents and what’s wrong with the physiology going behind it. Then we use these facts and have them in mind when trying to diagnose a patient. We think hard to diagnose that patient and with time we successfully come out with the correct diagnosis. However, when facing a problem in life that needs to be solved in a creative way, many are unable to access the same level of creativity as they are able to do in diagnosing patients. This is because of a narrow mindset that one knowledge is only for a certain field of area. 

The same creativity in thinking when diagnosing a patient should also be used to creatively to think in a larger context and apply it to other things that may bring good effect to the greater community, like diagnosing what is wrong with the politics and economies of today. However, many students are so stuck in their own field that when a peer goes out to join forums and read books on things outside their field, like business, economics or politics, would get a skeptical look and being asked the usual question of: ''Are you going to be a doctor or what? Focus on your studies!''. The irony thing is that I have been in student organizations most of my student life, and some of the organizations has nothing to do with my field of education, but somehow I find most of the people who are very actively involved in these work are the ones who actually score in exams. How can this be possible, when we have even less time than our peers to study? Again, it's about cultivating a way of thinking. The more experience we get, the more knowledge we gain, the better our way of thinking, and the better our ability to tackle exam questions that require critical thinking. Still, many are stuck up in formal educations and insist that we must finish certain syllabus in a certain time, and for them, to finish reading these things, they must leave all other co-curricular activities that would actually develop a better way of thinking. To top it all off, I remember that even the exam papers in high schools demand that students remember word by word the facts and figures.

I read a book called ‘Are You Smart Enough To Work At Google?’ It consists of trivia can questions that needs a certain way of thinking to answer. They never asked about certain names and dates that need to be remembered and vomited out. I believe that in the future, jobs in demand will be require similar thinking skills of workers that Google today demands. If we were working toward a high-income nation, we should start to really reform our education so that every Malaysian has what it takes to work in Google-like companies.

Fine Tune Criteria for Overseas Voters

This post was published in The Sun Daily, Feb 3rd 2012 (link)

With reference to ‘’No Tax, No Vote’’ (front page of The Sun Daily, Feb 1), I would like to comment on the Election Commission (EC)’s proposal to exclude overseas Malaysians who are not taxpayers from voting in parliamentary or state elections. The news, not surprisingly, has been received with mixed reactions. The main concern, as iterated by the DAP Socialist Youth chief Anthony Loke and Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections (Bersih 2.0) steering committee member Maria Chin is about the students studying overseas. So far, The EC has only mentioned that the mechanisms of exclusion include the number of years a person does not pay tax to Malaysia. As far as I am sure that the EC will further discuss with the Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) and include more criteria for the exclusion (such as excusing those who are not eligible to pay taxes in the first place), I do hope that its further details be disclosed as soon as possible to avoid more commotion and spreading of rumours which will ultimately stain the credibility of the EC which has just started to gain back the confidence of citizens. 

 

The mechanism that has been disclosed would not suffice. Malaysians stay overseas for a number of different reasons. We cannot judge the intentions of their stay or whether they are loyal or not to the country based on the number of years they have been away. This is especially true for students taking a course in medicine, which of all courses take the lengthiest time to graduate. Medical students studying overseas spend an average of 5 years as undergraduate students, and an average of further 4 years as postgraduate students. They might be ineligible to pay taxes in the first place when they first flew overseas, and would continue to be so as they continue with post graduate studies. Without considering this fact, the EC might dismiss these students as those who overstayed and ousted as non-patriotic, hence not allowed to vote. Some medical students have no choice to stay longer overseas because there is limited space to further their studies in Malaysia, and our country really needs more medical students to return as specialists in the health care field in order to realize our vision of becoming a high-income nation by 2020. Excluding students would make them feel side lined and discriminated against, and would eventually further perpetuate the brain drain that we are having.

I personally think that as a proposal, it is still open to suggestions and revisions and people should not over react to the disclosure by the EC Chairman. There is still time to go into the details of the proposal and give feedbacks that would hopefully be taken into considerations by the EC. Ultimately, we want all Malaysians to contribute to the country, and excluding students from voting is surely not one of the ways. 

Lutfi Fadil Lokman
Chairman,

Society of Medical Students, MMA

Talking About A Greener Kuala Lumpur

Green tidings! Malaysia has been ranked 25th out 132 countries in the Environmental Performance Index (EPI) 2011 at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland yesterday (source). That’s the best in Asean and 3^rd in Asia-Pacific, preceded only by Japan and New Zealand. Despite our popular belief that our air is polluted and not healthy enough to breathe in, the international committee honoured us with an amazing 97.3% performance score in terms of air quality. We also scored a 95% in agriculture 95% and 90.1% in biodiversity and habitats. Other aspects evaluated include climate change, fisheries, forestry and water pollution. This amazing feat puts us in the same league as those of high scoring countries such as Germany, Iceland, Finland, Denmark, Japan and Belgium.

The Environmental Performance Index (EPI) was developed by Yale University and Columbia University in collaboration with the World Economic Forum and the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission

 This new benchmark announced by the WEF proved that despite the rapid transformation going on in our country, our environments are still taken care. It reiterates my point in last post ‘Talking about a Greater KL’ that modernization must never be at the expense of natural environment. I think a good way to judge a country’s environment is to look at the place where it is most likely to be polluted: the big cities. If the environment in the big cities is taken care of, most likely the whole country would follow suit. Many people don’t realize that Kuala Lumpur is indeed a green city. I have visited numerous cities around the world, and realized that most modern cities do not have much trees planted around them. They do have big parks (like the Central Park in New York City), but the greeneries are only concentrated on a piece of land, while the other parts of the city are filled with concrete. In our city, the streets are lined by trees, and even small pieces of land in roundabouts are used to landscape small gardens (and we still have pieces of land concentrated with greeneries smacked right in the city centre such as the KLCC Garden, Taman Tasik Perdana and Taman Tasik Titiwangsa).

Taman Tasik Titiwangsa

If we maintain this standard, we are well on our way to our target of being the top 20 most liveable cities by the year 2020. But however, according to WHO standards we are still falling behind. Today, the amount of green space per person in Kuala Lumpur is only 12 square metres, which is below the WHO standards of 16 square metres per person. That is why the government under the Economic Transformation Programme (ETP) has made ‘Greening Greater KL/KV to Ensure Every Resident Enjoys Sufficient Green Space’ as one of its Entry Point Projects (EPP). Three key initiatives will be taken to realise 3 goals. The first is to adopt a green-focused development policy for both government and private redevelopments. Second, to employ creative landscaping methods including dense foliage tree planting, rooftop greening and vertical landscaping, and third, to integrate parks and promote outdoor events, where integrated park systems will be created to include parks of all sizes, landscaped boulevards and paths and public open spaces, where different open spaces in the city are connected through green trails. 

Many KL-ites themselves do not realize that we have green icons which stretch from Masjid Negara to Tugu Negara comprising of the Islamic Arts Museum, Planetarium Negara, Memorial Tun Abdul Razak, Panggung Anniversary, Perdana Botanical Garden, Orkid Garden, Deer Park, Bird Park, Butterfly Park and Tugu Negara. These attractions could be developed and combined into a big stretch of park with green trails connecting them to lure the green-inclined tourists. The benefits of growing a green city are infinite. For the citizens, it would improve liveability through a more comfortable living environment and creating space for healthy recreational activities. It would also create a sustainable environment by reducing inner city temperature and greenhouse gases. Economically, it would indirectly contribute to our gross national income through commercial activities and attracting more investors, especially from the west where ‘green policy’ has always been of concern and inquired when making business dealings.

All these initiatives gave a new hope to our country, but we cannot just depend on the policy makers to maintain and improve this standard of environment without ourselves as citizens, the essence of Malaysia itself to take part. Taking part doesn’t mean we have to do garden landscaping around the city or picking up all the rubbish we can find around the city (though it would be great if you can). As everything else great in the world, it all starts with small steps, like by creating awareness. Start by simply making and effort to stop open burning, stop throwing rubbish into drains and rivers and start using public transports and carpooling. Stop being so pessimistic saying ‘We will never be like this country, we will never be like that country’, because as what the world rankings has shown recently, yes we will, and maybe even better! As a fellow young citizen of Malaysia, I am going to take part in this green transformation going on in Malaysia. Are you?

Get Private Sector Doctor To Teach

This post was published in The Sun Daily, Jan 27th 2012 (link) and re-published in the Daily Express, Feb 5th 2012 (link)

With reference to “MMC to be corporatised” (Front page of The Sun Daily, Jan 25), as chairman of the Society of Medical Students, MMA and on behalf of Malaysian medical students, I welcome the news and hope that an amendment to the Medical Act 1971 to corporatise the Malaysian Medical Council will be passed. As the ones who will be working in the midst of the resultant outcome of policy decisions today, we hope the amendment will result in a better professional body that monitors the quality of healthcare and medical education as independently as possible from individual interest or government bureaucracy. In moving towards developed nation status, the corporatisation will hopefully result in a body as effective in maintaining standards of healthcare as those in first world countries such as the General Medical Council of the UK.

We also welcome the news from Health Ministry director-general Datuk Seri Hasan Abdul Rahman that the list of recognised universities is to be shortened and reviewed more frequently to maintain standards. We hope that once the amendment is passed, issues similar to this that involve the accreditation of medical schools will be decided more independently. Although the issue of the houseman glut has quietened down, there is always the issue of a glut in medical officers to look into. With the increasing number of housemen and limited spaces for postgraduate study to become a specialist, this will be an issue that we as medical students today will face in the future. There are currently 35 medical institutions producing undergraduates, but only three produce postgraduates – UKM, UM and USM. We hope the MMC will look into this issue.

As a student, my ideas might be naïve, but may I suggest that the government with the support of the MMC start encouraging the private sector to be involved in postgraduate medical education. As the Economic Transformation Programme announced by the prime minister places the private sector in a vital role to transform the economy, medical education should follow suit. The private sector has more than enough resources in terms of the numerous private hospitals and doctors that far outnumber those in public service. In terms of teachability of doctors, as a student in one of the top public universities in Malaysia, I have seen very talented lecturers going out to private practice for better pay in order to support their families. The teaching spirit is still in their hearts, but as per the Malay saying “jangan monyet di hutan disusukan, anak di rumah mati kelaparan”, they would of course prioritise supporting their families over teaching. Not given the chance to teach, that spirit might slowly die away, which would be a waste of the country’s talent. I am sure that given the chance, many doctors in the private sector would be willing to teach postgraduate students. 

I believe successful people succeed because they do what interests them and what they are passionate about. With the limited number of spaces to pursue medical specialties, many would have to choose a specialty not because they are interested in it, but because it is the only one available. If the private sector can fill this increasing demand, better productivity in terms of healthcare awaits the nation as doctors give their all and produce better research in areas that interest them. Adam Smith changed the economy by recognising the benefits of specialisation of labour in the production process. The same goes for healthcare.

In the end, as in many first world countries, healthcare, research and education would have to go hand in hand – as is practised by world class private medical institutions like John Hopkins and Mayo Clinic in the US. To reach developed nation status, both the private and public sectors must play their part in nation building. As medical students, we are unable to be directly involved in policy making, but we hope our views are taken into consideration and our voices of concern heard. We wish the best for the future of our healthcare and medical education, so that one day when we become a part of the system, we can proudly tell the world “I am a Malaysian doctor”.

Lutfi Fadil Lokman
Chairman
Society of Medical Students, MMA

Talking About a Greater Kuala Lumpur

This post was featured in the official blog of the Malaysian Economic Transformation Programme under the Performance and Delivery Unit (PEMANDU), Prime Minister's Department: (link)

A Chapter in the Malaysian Economic Transformation Program (ETP) Handbook

It came out in the newspaper today that our Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said Malaysia offers the best package in the world in terms of standard of living and amenities (link). While ‘best in the world’ might be received with skeptical eyes by some, I think there is already a whole lot of negativism on other blogs and online portals that I think it wouldn't hurt to spread some positivity around. The Prime Minister further commented that once projects such as the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) and River of Life has been completed, it would transform the face of Kuala Lumpur and will be among the quantum leaps that will enable Kuala Lumpur to match major cities of the world, such as London, New York and Tokyo.

It was a twist of fate that got me looking first hand at the final drafts and blueprints of future Kuala Lumpur, or ‘Greater Kuala Lumpur’ as our government calls it. My Special Study Module research team were actually looking for the most detailed map of Kuala Lumpur because we were doing some disease prevalence research which involves some heavy geography and map-reading. We initially went to the KL library (which was so fine-looking with all that glass windows) to search for the map, but as with anything else in research, one thing led to another, and somehow we ended up at the 11th floor of DBKL building (The Kuala Lumpur Town Hall), where the Master Planner Department lies. As we were discussing with one of the staff there about the Kuala Lumpur map we were looking for, my eyes couldn't stop wandering around the room. I failed to pay attention to the discussion for more than 10 minutes because the room was filled with posters and blueprints of the Greater Kuala Lumpur that efficaciously caught my attention. I couldn’t help but to excuse myself, get up, and look at these plans one by one. Some of the posters were the written objectives, mission and vision of Greater Kuala Lumpur (which can be summed up by the catchy phrase ’20-20 by 2020’: being the top 20 in city economic growth and top 20 most liveable cities in the world by the year 2020), some were the blueprints for the MRT project, and some were the step by step plan for The River of Life project.

All these plans were set out in detail by the Kuala Lumpur Town Hall. It is like a road map for the future. I first heard of the Greater Kuala Lumpur during the event where I met the Deputy Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin in UKM Bangi (link). Before the lunch with him, I had the opportunity to hear from Dato’ Idris Jala, the CEO of Performance Management and Delivery Unit (Pemandu), who was also there, about Malaysia’s National Key Economic Areas (NKEA). Pemandu is responsible for Malaysia’s Economic Transformation Programme (ETP), and one of the key economic transformations is the formation of Greater Kuala Lumpur. It was a very enlightening session. According to him, the population of Kuala Lumpur is targeted to increase from the current 6 million to 10 million by the year 2020. To accommodate this growth in population, an expansion of the city centre must take place. Hence, Greater KL actually extends beyond the boundaries of Kuala Lumpur. It is defined as the area covered by 10 municipalities, each governed by local authorities: DB Kuala Lumpur (DBKL), Perbadanan Putrajaya, MB Shah Alam (MBSA), MB Petaling Jaya (MBPJ), MP Klang (MPK), MP Kajang, MP Subang Jaya (MPSJ), MP Selayang, MP Ampang Jaya (MPAJ) and MD Sepang: 

Also, to accommodate the increase in population density, it makes perfect sense to provide a reliable transport to move the mass of people around, into, and out of the city. This is where the MRT project comes in. Looking at the plans reminded me of the London underground tube. I used the tube quite often every time I am in London, and I find it quite reliable (except recently where heavy maintenance works was going on in preparation for the 2012 London Olympics). It is impressive that they have such extensive networks, with a central line (the Circle Line) which goes around the city in a circle loop, so when there is an obstruction or breakdown in any of the other lines, the passengers can always take the circle line to bypass it (unless the Circle Line itself breaks down). Although they have thought of this system decades ago, I am glad that Malaysia is also going to extend its reaches of mass rapid transit to cover more areas and construct a central line too that goes in a loop around KL.
 

The talk by Dato’ Idris Jala, the CEO of Performance Management and Delivery Unit (Pemandu)

As for now, the proposal is to build an underground MRT line designated ‘MRT Line 2’ that will be looping around the city centre. Extending from this circle line are further extensions: the Red Line will go from Damansara in the northwest to Serdang in the southeast, the Green Line will be from Kepong in the northeast to Cheras in the southwest, and both lines will pass through the city of Kuala Lumpur and converge at Dataran Perdana (Kuala Lumpur International Financial District) near Jalan Tun Razak. Sounds cool, doesn’t it? I am sure that this will indeed stimulate the growth of the economy by providing easier transport for businesses, create jobs for more people, and developing areas throughout the lines traversed by the MRT, hence creating even more businesses and jobs.

 
Urban development and maintenance of the natural environment rarely goes hand in hand. Hence I am glad that while urbanization and modernization takes place, the government has not left the natural environment out of the way. Living in Gombak for over a half of my life, I am well acquainted with the dirty polluted waters of the Gombak River. I’ve always known that our rivers were under-utilized natural assets. Great civilizations has been built upon rivers, and here we have two prominent rivers running through the city centre and not much has been done to tap into its capabilities. When I was a child, I used to cycle across the Gombak River through a bridge in Kampung Changkat to buy some Playstation CDs in Taman Greenwood. Every time I passed across the bridge I would observe the murky waters scattered with floating rubbish and god knows what peculiar looking objects. I’ve always seen beautiful rivers in Discovery Channel but they were all far out of town. It has been embedded in my mind that rivers running through a city will always be dirty and polluted. However, my visit to Korea 2 years ago changed my perception. They had a river running through Seoul called the Cheonggyecheon River. The river was amazingly clean, even safe for human contact and there were pedestrian walkways all along the river. I thought how comforting it is to be able to take a walk along the river after a hard day of work in the city.
 

A snapshot of Cheonggyecheon River I took in Seoul. The river runs through the city and is so clean that the people spend time just sitting by watching the water. It's a small river as compared to the ones in KL, hence we might have a bigger potential if the River of Life project is a success

At that moment, I thought of Gombak and Klang River and I remembered thinking negatively that Malaysian rivers will never be that way. Hence, I am quite surprised the first time I hear about the River of Life project. I know it would be a daunting task to clean the rivers that has been polluted for years. However, I am positive, with the right management of the project, the rivers can be cleaned and beautified and transform Kuala Lumpur into an environmental friendly city. The rivers could also be a source of economic earnings through creating vibrant waterfronts like in Vancouver, Auckland, Geneva or Seoul. It could also be great for recreational purposes, so KL-ites would not have to go far to de-stress. The possibilities are infinite. Here is a video about the River of Life project that you should watch:

All these plans have got me excited and hopeful. However, my true hope is that the development of Malaysia is beyond the material. The civic mindedness of the people remains a greater challenge. If people can just throw things out of their car windows on clean streets like Jalan Tun Razak, what would stop them from throwing rubbish into clean rivers? I hope that our civic mindedness also grew with the developments and economy. However instead of being negative about the future of Malaysia, why not do something about it? Being overly pessimistic and skeptical doesn’t help. Everybody wants a better future for themselves and their children, but not many go past the whining and start making a change. As fellow citizen, I am going to be a part of this transformation going on in Malaysia, are you?

Are We Modernizing or Westernizing?

A few months ago, I wrote a light-hearted piece about modernization and westernization titled ‘If Malaysians Rule the World’. This article is the heavier version of it, where I would like to discuss the difference between westernization and modernization, and are we heading towards the former or the latter?

 

We live in a western-centric world. Everything that is new, and everything that replaces the old, looks western: from the things we eat, (think of McDonald’s and KFC), the things we wear (think of blue jeans) to the things we listen to (think of rock and pop music) are all moving towards a western outlook. This process of ‘westernization’ goes beyond appearances. Companies all over the world are managed by ‘standard business practice’ mostly developed in western countries. Politically, democratic parliaments, constitutions and law are modeled after western countries. Economically, central banks and trade policies were also from the west. So significant was this process that we just have to wonder when did all of this started? 

Then there is modernization. How different is modernization from westernization? The highly influential American political scientist Samuel P. Huntington argues in his book ‘Clash of Civilizations’ that modernization is about industrialization, urbanization, rising levels of literacy, education and wealth, while the things that make a society western, in contrast, are unique: the classical legacy, the separation of religious bodies from the state and governance, democracy, the rule of law, the civil society. The west, Huntington argues, were western long before it was modern. However, in the world we live in today most of the things that are modern seem western. Even Japan, the highly modern country coveted for its ability to maintain traditional customs is well known to be great imitators of the west. They are the only country in Asia, which has a national baseball tournament outside of America. With modernization and westernization becoming almost indistinctive, can a society become modern without being western? Fareed Zakaria in his book ‘The Post-American World and the Rise of the Rest’ predicted that with the rise of countries such as China, India, Japan and Korea, economic dominance, which most likely will be followed by political dominance, will move direction towards the east. The question is: Will this future look modern or western?

The Post-American World by Fareed Zakaria. Entertaining and informative read

The reason for all this might sound stupendously modest: everyone wants to succeed, and people tend to copy from those who have succeeded. Modernization advances a society towards success. While many aspects of the western society drive towards modernity, not everything that is western is modern. If what Fareed Zakaria postulates in his book is true, the time is more crucial than ever to distinguish between the two. If we look at the things that make things modern, they are not necessarily distinctively western, but they are distinctively universal, practical and appealing to the mass public. McDonalds and Coca-Cola made it around the world because they can be affordable, and can be found almost anywhere. Blue jeans are popular because they are comfortable and able to withstand prolonged wear and tear in any weather. Democracy is spreading across the world because it gives and spreads power to all citizens, not just certain people. Western economic policies appeal because they amass wealth for those who are the smartest and most hardworking, not to certain people with certain blood lineages. If I could sum it up, I would say that modernization are the things that drives a society towards success, brought by its practicality and benefit towards the mass public, to as much people as possible in that society.

With the frenzy of following the footsteps of western countries in order to become so called modern, the hardest challenge that we face today is to really examine and analyse which ones really drives the society forward by giving the most benefit to most people. It is possible to maintain our Asian values while modernizing at the same time, to achieve industrialization, urbanization, rising levels of literacy, education and wealth without letting go of our grassroots and religious belief. However, with the constant bombardment of western media made in Hollywood, it is easy to become delusional and try to live the so called ‘American Dream’ right here in Malaysia. The fact is what you see in movies and TV series are not as what it seems in the real world. There are no such schools and clubs as gleeful as the ones in Glee, there are no such drama, good looking and sexy doctors as the ones in Grey’s Anatomy, there is no person that knows every disease under the sun such as House. Everything is not as free as it seems. There is no total freedom of speech. If there is, why are people being locked up for speaking against the Jews, for being (accused of) anti-Semitic and for denying the holocaust? We are fooled by TV series to believe that there is total acceptance in America. If there is total acceptance in society, try clicking on any news about same-sex marriage in America and read how many comments were negative. The media and scholars might claim that they are open to acceptance, but it is them, not the general public that forms the majority of society that speaks. If their society are still struggling, trying to bring these western cultures into our country is not going to spearhead our country towards modernity. Success in the west was not brought up by the separation of religion from daily life. Atheist and scientologist claim that they advance science by separating themselves from religion, but most of their names remain obscure compared to the scientists who were well known to be highly religious such as Albert Einstein, Isaac Newton, Avicenna, Al Farabi, Gregor Mandel, Averroes and Al-Kindi. Seperation of religion from daily work is distinctively western, and we have our own Asian values that may drive us towards modernity.

Moving towards a modern society involves implementing things that benefits most people, so when small groups inspired by such foreign western ideology going against religious belief create havoc to fight for something that benefits certain small groups but incite fear and discontent towards the majority of the people, it is right for those in power to take action before it flares up. Like a surgeon, a leader has to excise a tumor before it grows malignant and spreads to other parts of the body. The task of being a leader for such a diverse population is admittedly very challenging. With the difference in background and education, deciding on which action to take could be a huge dilemma, for every decision that he makes will disappoint some party if not another. How do you make a decision that does least harm to the whole of the nation? For me, the answer is to truly question which action drives the nation forward, and which were just an imitation of a delusional nation far far away.

How Singaporeans Pick Doctors in Malaysia?

A friend sent me a link to a blog of a Singaporean writer. Basically the blog responds to the following I've pasted below. However, I felt that although his respond was not enough a disagreement and I am compelled to write my own respond. Here was the issue raised:

In Malaysia, pick an Indian/Chinese doctor, not a Malay doctor

Given the bumiputra policy, there is a loss of selective pressure which leads to the decrease in mean ability of Malays as a whole. Contrast that with the Indians and Chinese who have to fight tooth and nail, who have to drag themselves to the front of the pack in order to get into the limited spaces in medical school (the rest of the quota being taken up by bumiputras). It’s a no-brainer. The Indians and Chinese who graduate from medical school must be really good. The Malays… not so sure.

This is my response:

Everybody has a right for their own opinion, and as the writer has an opinion about picking doctors in Malaysia, my opinion is that the writer is shamefully racist for even coming out with the idea of choosing doctors based on the color of their skin. I don't know if Singaporeans have this sort of mentality, but it is clearly an evidence of low level of thinking when someone picks a doctor to save their life based on their race. A sound minded person would choose his or her doctor based on the doctor's record of experience and achievements. By the number of successful surgery he has done or the number of precise diagnoses and treatment he has come out with. Each individual vary, and every race has their own high and low achievers. The color of skin has never been a good measure of credibility.

I believe the bumiputra policy has nothing to do with the quality of Malaysian doctors today because in medical faculties, it has been a long-time gone issue. Right now where I study, and most of the public universities, the ratio between bumi and non bumi are 1:1. There is competition, but we compete between individuals, never between races, why should we? As Malaysians, we are smart enough to realize that medicine relies heavily on teamwork among individuals regardless of race, religion or belief. A doctor would refer a complicated case to the best doctor available specializing in that case, not the doctor who has the most similar skin color. There was never an 'Anugerah Kaum Terbaik', and even if there is (maybe they have one in Singapore), what good does it meant to win awards when you can't even think in terms of simple logic such as choosing a doctor based on his or her records of reliability and not the color of the skin?

How Malacca Was Discovered (Alternate Ending)

Teacher: Okay everyone, please sit down and open page 23. Today we’re learning about the discovery of Malacca

(Flipping of pages)

Teacher: Aminah, can you find Malacca on the map?

Aminah: Yes, teacher, here it is!

Teacher: Good! Okay, class, who discovered Malacca?

Class: Aminah!

(Silence)

Teacher: Okay, but NO! It’s Parameswara

Class: Ooooh…

Amir: Teacher, who is Parameswara?

Teacher: He’s a prince. He ran away from his home, Palembang because it has fallen into the hands of Majapahit

Amir: Why did he run away from home? Did he hate his parents?

Teacher: No, because his hometown was conquered by outsiders so he has to find a new place to rule

Aminah: Did his parents hate him because he’s bald?

Teacher: Ugh, I told you, this has nothing to do with his parents!

Amir: They’re not related?

Teacher: No, they’re not!

Amir: Then who gave birth to Parameswara?

Teacher: Okay forget it! So one day Parameswara ran away from his parents’ house to find a new home, get it?

Class: Ooooh…

Teacher: First, he went to Temasik, now known as Singapore. At first, the ruler there gave him protection, but then...you know what happened? He killed that ruler!

Amir: OMG! You mean Singapore's name hasn't always been Singapore?

(Long silence)

Teacher: Ugh, yeah…but that’s not the point. Can you focus? I said, he killed the ruler of Temasik in order to become the new ruler!

Aminah: Oh no!!!

(Actually, triggered by the word 'new ruler' Aminah just realized she forgot to bring her new ruler for mathematics)

Teacher: The people of Temasik were angry and didn’t want Parameswara to become their new ruler, so he went off again to a place that will soon become Malacca. Now, who knows where Malacca gets its name from?

Class: (Silence, looking at each other)

Teacher: Okay, so Parameswara was tired from running away, so he went on to rest under a tree by the river, when suddenly came a Kijang. Parameswara brought along his hunting dogs. Uhhh, what a tasty feast the kijang would be! Yum yum! So Parameswara commanded his dogs to catch the kijang...go get 'em my faithful dogs!

Amir: Parameswara can talk dog language?

Teacher: No,it's just for the sake of narration. He must have pointed his fingers at the Kijang and the dog understood

Amir: The dogs can read Parameswara’s mind?

Teacher: Yeah, sort of. ..Anyway, as soon as the dog was about to bite the Kijang, the Kijang kicked the dog away, and into the river!

Aminah: Oh, poor little puppy! Can they swim?

Teacher: No, they can’t

Aminah: So, they drown and died? (watery eyes)

Teacher: I’m afraid so

Aminah: Waaaaaa! (Cries heavily)

Teacher: Now, now Aminah, don’t cry…I was mistaken. I’m sure there are fishermen there at the river, so the dogs must have landed in their boats safe and sound, and the fishermen took them home and feed them to become healthy dogs

Aminah: Really? Yay!

Teacher: So, Parameswara was astonished by the strength of the Kijang. So, he asked his bodyguard ‘I’ve never seen a kijang so strong! What the hell is the name of this tree I’m resting under?’

Amir: Wait, what does the tree has to do with the kijangs and the dogs and the fishermen?

Teacher: Nothing. Because Parameswara already know the name of his dogs, John and Denver, the name of that kijang, Sang Kijang, and also the name of his bodyguard, Ali Rustam, so he needs to ask something he hadn’t known already!

Class: Ooooh…

Teacher: So, the guard answered ‘Uh…I think it’s Malacca’. ‘Malacca?’ Parameswara replied. ''What a great name for a country! That’s it, I’m going to build a country here, and name it Malacca! Melaka Maju 2010!'' So that’s how Malacca was founded

END!

This must be the river that the dogs were kicked into

If Malaysians Rule The World

Got this idea while nearly dozing off in a 'hubungan etnik' class last Saturday. The lecturer talked about Westernization, and this idea came to me: What if Malaysians rule the world, what would 'Malaysianization' sound like? Here's a sneak peek:

OLD TOWN WHITE COFFEE, BROADWAY, NEW YORK

(The door opens)

Bartender: Welcome to Old Town! What can I get you?

John: Hazelnut white coffee for me…and you?

Jessica: I’ll just have the original white coffee

Bartender: Aite, that’s it? Have a seat, will serve u

John: Great, thanks man!

(John and Jessica took a seat by the window. Outside, it is snowing)

John: Sure is cold outside, nothing like a good cup of hot white coffee!

Jessica: Totally! Thank God we have Old Town at our place. Heard they ain’t got any down in Florida

John: For real? Well that sucks. But ever since Old Town got in here, every other shop’s turning into a café now. Put up weird names too: Starbucks, Coffee Bean, and Gloria Jeans? Can you believe it? I mean, c’mon, who the hell would put up their own name up for a café? If it's Haji Tapah it'd sound cool...but Gloria Jeans??

Jessica: Yeah, well, but I’m sure it’s a long way to go before they can catch up with Old Town. I’ve tried their coffee. Nothing like white coffee…like they’re making white coffee using tea leaves

John: Guess we’ll stick to Old Town for now. Speaking of the weather, have you’ve seen our friends’ photo on Facebook? Those studying overseas…in Malaysia?

Jessica: Hell yeah, God, I’m so jealous of them! There it’s like summer every day, and here we are, stuck in this frickin’cold weather with our cars sinkin‘ in the snow

John: Yeah, I know. Sucks to be us. Why didn’t you study there again? I thought you were on top of your class?

Jessica: Yeah I nailed 2400 for my SAT, 4.00 GPA, 34 for MCATS, and got pending offer for a scholarship to National University of Malaysia, but…

John: Shit, National University of Malaysia…like the ones in the movies?

Jessica: Yeah, like in the movies…anyway, my mom wouldn’t let me go there. You know how Republican she is. Just because Bush didn’t like Mahathir, she has this delusion that the old Harvard school is better than any university in the world. The joint’s 100 years older than this country, for God’s sake!

John: Dang, what a waste! Should have given me your scholarship!

Jessica: Yeah, oh well, it’s kinda hard to enter Malaysia nowadays. We have to apply for VISA now. The government found out that many US citizens overstayed there after finishing their studies

John: Haha, of course, who doesn’t want to? We get better pay there, the job’s secure, and we don’t have to pay a single cent for healthcare services! Geez, I wonder when that Obama will finally walk his healthcare reform talk. It has been years.

Jessica: Hm, oh by the way think I’m gonna visit Malaysia next year.

John: For real? Dang, can I come along please, please, pleaseee? I wanna see their 100 storey mega tower!

Jessica: Where do you live John, in a cave? Don't you ever read MalaysiaKini? Now they're not even sure if they're gonna build that frickin' tower. The Malaysians don't want it.

John: What the hell?! Why?

Jessica: Hell do I know, guess they already got too much towers.

John: Bloody rich country...

Jessica: Yeah. They rule the economy. Anyway, I’m starting to learn Manglish slang now

John: Give me a preview

Jessica: Well, okay: Aiya John, if you want to follow me to Malaysia ah…you got to learn to speak Manglish you knooow? So, how do I sound? Good or not? Goood rite? I know it’s good maa!

John: Holy shit, u sound exactly like Phua Chu Kang’s wife!

Jessica: Phua Chu Kang’s Singaporean

John: Yeah, whatever, they sound the same

Jessica: It seems like everybody’s putting on a fake Manglish accent around here. It’s true what our 'Ethnic Relations' lecturer said. The kids nowadays are so influenced by Malaysians. They’re ‘Malaysianized’.

John: Yeah, they waste their money and time at tanning saloons and beaches to get their fake tan. Color their hair black, putting on dark contact lenses. Geez, what’s wrong with these young people?

Jessica: I don’t know. People just don’t appreciate our own culture anymore. The country singer’s are losing their popularity. Like, who listens to Hannah Montana or Taylor Swift anymore? Even Lady Gaga's extreme attention seeking behavior didn't take our kids' eyes off Maya Karin

John: Yeah, kids these days. All they know is Zee Avi, Yuna, Nana, Mawi, Aizat. Oh, and have you heard that Colbie O’Donnis made a duet with Mizz Nina?

Jessica: Whaaat? Colbie O’Donnis with Mizz frickin' Nina? How the hell did they get him to sing with her?

John: I don’t know, they must have pulled some strings

Jessica: Oh geez

(Awkward silence)

Jessica: Think we should get moving. You know your cheap 'General Motors which went bankrupt' car can’t last for long in the snow

John: Yeah, let’s go. Dang, how I wish I have a Proton Inspira!

END

I know this is far from the reality, but come on man, let's love our country, yeah!

The Muslim Dilemma

The upheavals in Arab countries can be traced down to an unequal society. There are the rich, the poor, and nothing in between. It is a sad fact that this scenario plagues many Muslim nations. It might be the factor that none of the Muslim countries being classified as a developed nation. Not UAE with its architectural splendour, or even Turkey with its proud secularism. The scenario is made worse when the rich use their power to put favour on their side, manipulating the system, lobbying others and executing competitions. Speaking in particular of the Arab countries, those who call themselves ‘in power’ are in fact delusional. It is no secret that most of the Arab leaders are put in the throne by the help of Western countries, therefore forever being indebted. If they are in fact in power, why do they seek help and protection from the West? Isn’t that a sign of weakness?

How did we come to this? Why are we so weak both politically and economically? Is it because in Islam, success in this world is not worthy of pursuit compared to the success in the afterlife? Does Islam teach its followers to settle with weakness in this world, to live in poverty, to be oppressed, looked down upon, killed and slaughtered, because the world is just transitory? If so, if Islam teaches us to completely focus on the afterlife and ignore worldly matters, why would Salahudin Al Ayubi dedicate his whole lifetime to conquer Jerusalem? Why would Sultan Ahmad Al-Fatih risk his life to conquer Constantinople? Why would Taariq bin Ziyad take the hardships of bowing Andalucían kings to their knees? If worldly success is not that important, why wouldn’t they stay in the comfort of their homes, and spend their time doing usrahs, waiting for people to come and join in instead of them going out into the world to inspire people to embrace Islam?

The nations in power today are not afraid to oppress and discriminate against Muslims because they know that we are weak. They know that we are incapable of defending ourselves and will always depend on them for economic stability. Hence, they can do what they will. Every Muslim know that there will be a day where Islam will rise again, but how do we expect the forthcoming of that glorious age, when we let ourselves ignore success in this world and be content with weakness? Many believe that the rise of Islam in the future will be attributed by swords, shields and courage of steel. I beg to differ. I believe that the rise of Islam will not be through military might. In fact, it has never been. I won’t deny that Islam has great military strength throughout its glorious days, but it doesn’t mean that Islam won the world by the tip of the sword. In fact, the Quran states that it is forbidden to make others to embrace Islam by force. Islam was spread by the message of truth, peace and love. People in the past embraced Islam willingly because for the first time in their lives, they see justice and equal treatments towards all layers of society. Whether you are a slave or an aristocrat, you get the same protection, the same treatment and the same opportunity to achieve success. Our weakness today can easily be traced down to these rhetoric questions: where is the justice today? Where is the equal treatments to all layers of society?

It is surprising that when talking about the glorious days of Islam, many of us focus on military rather than economic domination. Military force could not last for centuries, but a sustained economy and stable society could. During the time of Caliph Umar Abdul Aziz, the economy was so stable that they achieved 0% poverty rate. The government at one time had no idea on whom to give zakat aid to. This impressive economy feat leads to a stable society, witnessed by decrease in crime rates, social ills and corruption to the level of non-existence. Logically, why would you rob or accept bribe from others when you truly have enough for yourself? Sadly, today many hold on stringently to the belief that money corrupts. They dismiss the fact that poverty corrupts society just as well. We resist the pursuit of financial wealth, believing that wealth corrupts moral and distracts us from religion. Humans have the gift to choose. With or without money, if a person chooses to corrupt himself, become corrupt he will. The thing is that with money, it gives you the opportunity to help the poor. Without money, it gives you the burden of helping yourself.

It is high time we restore the image of Islam. It is time to practice what we preach in sermons, usrahs and religious talks. Until when do we da’wah among ourselves in closed vicinities and expect the world outside to change? Many give talks about social ills ruining the Muslim society, but few ever went down the stage to tackle the root of the problem: poverty and socio-economic inequality. Not many are brave enough to pursue economic dominance, believing ‘duit tak bawak mati’ and just let fellow Muslims ‘mati’ by economic oppression. Many still choose courses on ‘Cara-cara bercinta menurut Islam’ and ‘Mendirikan mahligai rumah tangga’ over courses on international relations, socioeconomics and modern science that could truly advance the Muslim society. Many are inspired by the courage of Salahudin Al-Ayubi, but yet few are courageous enough just to stand up and speak. Many are furious when the non-Muslims label Islam as terrorists but few ever took the time to get involved with the public to show them what Islam is all about. Isn’t education by example the best way to inspire others to embrace Islam? Everything in life is about balance, Islam never separates between the world and afterlife success. It is time to compete and become winners in all aspect of the world. Let us get involved in international issue, acquire knowledge that could advance the Muslim society and pursue success. Isn't the azan we hear 5 times a day has the phrase 'Let us achieve success?'. Here’s hoping that our generation is the one that contributes to the beginning of the rise of Islam. InsyaAllah