To Parade or Not to Parade?

That's not the question. The question is whether we remember and try to emulate him and what he stood for.

I suppose Guan Eng has reasons good enough not to allow maulid parades. Maybe it's because people (Muslims, rather) have lost the essence of  remembering Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w). Nevertheless, I doubt if Guan Eng cares what the Muslims believe in or not. It may be because it costs too much before and after the event for the local government to bear. I don't know. However, Ustaz Asri (of Perlis)put it quite nicely: there's no need for (any) religious parades or processions at all! Quite nicely -- no cost incurred prior, and no rubbish in the aftermath.

I believe remembering Rasulullah can be done minus the parades. The ceramahs or discussions about the significance of Rasulullah's mission on earth can still continue. But more than that is the ongoing reverence in private. Through the years of having parades or congregating in stadiums, with almost all of the participants having normally been coerced to take part, the essence of the maulid is lost.

I believe the day is to be remembered, as Prophet Muhammad is the last prophet who brought the final, and complete teachings of Islam. One of his main aims was to inculcate good akhlaq (manners) to the ummah. A famous hadith is that someone had asked Aishah (the Prophet's wife) what the akhlaq of Rasulullah was, and she answered: the Quran. One of Rasulullah's hadith was that none shall enter Paradise except one who has got good conduct. 

I recently looked up in a few books about his akhlaq, and what this 'good conduct' was, and was reminded that it encompasses a wide range of adab. Not easy to emulate. To me, it will be and has been a very daunting task. 

Let me just highlight a few from a long list: to give up pride, haughtiness, bad treatment of enemy, amassing wealth, enmity, and so on. 
He was forgiving.
He used to select the easier of two things. 
He used to be the first to give salam to anyone he met.
He was humble and modest.
He used to visit the sick, mend his own shoes, help his wives in their house chores...

Oh, dear. Parading is the easy part, practicing the teachings is the other.

Sixth Day

The Chinese are superstitious. Certain numbers are supposed to bring prosperity, while others could spell disaster. Thus many would marry on an 'auspicious' date. This year, 10th October will surely see many Chinese couples tying the knot.

A girl born in the year of the Tiger may not be a good life partner, for 'obvious' reasons. Feng shui may be a boon to some(the Feng shui masters?) or a bane to others (architects?). 

Saturday saw hubby and I trotting to a nice hotel in town, having accepted an invitation by a friend for yee sang. It's a nice, uppity hotel and I felt lighthearted. As we told our friends when they arrived later, hubby and I got 'ong', for as soon as we arrived, we could hear the doom-doom-cher of the drums and cymbals of the lion dance starting. There were three lions altogether, all manouvered by teenage boys. All were very nimble prancing away on the narrow beams, some at least six feet high. One young performer fell, though, the poor thing; but he quickly scrambled to his feet and climbed into position in no time at all. I myself prefer dancing dragons to lions. They are more regal, I feel.

    

So, here are some pictures of the yee sang and dim sum we had on the sixth day. Yee sang is believed to usher good luck: the higher you toss the ingredients, the better.

The Long Weekend

I am sure everybody looks forward to long weekends like what we just had in Malaysia, in conjunction with the Chinese New Year. This year, I feel the Chinese New Year celebrations were rather quiet. There weren't many of the Lion dances nor the firecrackers (I know these are banned, but it never stopped them previously). My Chinese family didn't really celebrate, due to the death of an aunt on the day itself.

The break was sooo good; although most of the time I was playing catch up with the housework, did a bit of reading, and a little office work. 

Basically we stayed home, apart from the visit to a friend's house on Monday. Now, I'm looking forward to next weekend! Maulid weekend.

Wakil of Rakyat

Deputy Prime Minister launched the Juara Rakyat programme last weekend, which was covered quite extensively by the media. The BN people, especially so the PM and his deputy seem to work very hard these days, which is good. They should be. They should have been. There have been quite a few initiatives: the Gagasan 1 Malaysia, the KPI project for the ministers, and now the Juara Rakyat programme.


Tan Sri Muhyiddin was asked about the current support for BN. He replied it was gaining the people'support. I don't know. If its only indication is the current troubles that are happening within PKR, I don't think they translate into people's support for BN. If it is indicated by the turnout of the Juara programme, I don't think so either.


The Juara Rakyat programme was held to get BN leaders to get down to the grassroots level and get their hands 'dirty' with the everyday experiences of the people. The Wakil Rakyats have to know what is happening in their constituency, Tan Sri Muhyiddin mentioned.

Now wait a minute. Do they need a programme like this to get closer to the rakyat? Isn't it a given that when you are elected as a Wakil, you work FOR the rakyat? No need for programmes like that. No silk batiks, branded shoes, no colognes nor perfumes when you visit our wet market. No need for make up when you join us at our teh tarik warung (please do something about the drainage system). No red carpet please when you visit schools in Cheruk Paloh. Steer away from where your aides point you to, but go off the beaten track and you may find a child who is too poor to attend school, or an aunty too weak to get medical treatment and the like. Shop where we shop and persevere when you get stuck in our jams.

Haiyya, it's no rocket science. And this piece goes to the PKR and Independent Wakils. And anyone aspiring to be one.

Have a good week!