Capitalism - POV Shahrul Azmi

It is amazing that a year ago the world economy collapsed just because a company by the name of Pak Leman Brothers was on the verge of bankruptcy. Why it is, Lehman was so important? Why was this company a starter to massive negative domino that affected the entire world?

One after another country came up with what they called the stimulus package, not excluding our country Malaysia. The world panic, one after another analyst came up with intelligent prediction such that the recovery might only be possible in 2015.

Yesterday I watched Al Jazeera economic review and they concluded that we are out of the misery but far from regaining the same peak just before the collapsed… the black day

How do they measure all this? What GDP and all other jargons? Why are we panicking when they are the one having problem? At 2:15 in the morning I took out my pen and a piece of paper. POV Shahrul Azmi – what the f*ck is all this?

God created the universe with its basic necessity; if we share, the world will have enough and the mankind will survive. That is ‘ideal’.

Some people get a little bit greedy and they think they deserve more mainly due to their hard work and brain that are better than the others (which they tend to forget that God created that too).

The ‘genius’ created ways to earn more, simply by improvisation of common practices and procedures. So they earn more by selling their inventions. What happen to the people with less brain, surely they will need to work harder in order to earn the latest inventions and keep up with improvement.

The chain will then continue, the one on top of the pyramid will make more money and the one at the bottom will suffer. This concept is viable in the beginning but what are the effect when population grows and the resources runs dry?

Take starbucks for instance, it was a business invented by the capitalist with deceiving objectives. The idea was to have coffee shops where one can relax with friends, having the best brewed coffee, and definitely look cool doing it. What was wrong with the existing coffee shop? Why does it need to be so expensive?

It is a matter of choice to be or not to be associated to the chain but the capitalist is no stupid. Since capital is not restriction to them, they will allocate substantial amount convincing the general public on the necessity to be part of the cool coffee drinking society. Before you notice, you’ll sip your first mocha.

Well, what do you think happen when we don’t have the money to drink at starbucks? Will the capitalist let us go and close the outlets? Of cost they wouldn’t do that, they will try to make you come no matter what. They will make you work for more money or they could be lending their money to you with massive interest with one thing in mind… you buy their products.

How do they loan you money? They are not bank? Remember, they are the one with capital and you’re the one without.

This is what they do, and it is scary. First they will tell you the bad news, the economy is collapsing and something need to be done or else the giants will fall. General public should continue to spend or else dooms day.

What would we normally do? Yes, PANIC. Daddy will tell their bosses about it, the bosses will tell the government that they are in trouble and at the end of it the whole country will be panicking and the government will hit the red button.

Remember what I told you about god creations and the resources? This is where it links. We will dig more oil, take out the savings, and withdraw the EPF continue with all other action ignoring the future plan. Next, the prime minister call up press, follow up with a statement, “This is the 50 Billion stimulus package, spend it wisely”. At a corner you can see the capitalist smiling… they are coming back.

Pusat Tahfiz Amal? Selling Posters?

photo courtesy of the photographer

“Just give them the money and you will get the reward from God, as long you are ‘ikhlas’ you will get it” a friend.

Pusat Tahfiz Amal, you buy the calendar at RM10 each (the printing course might be 10% of that) or you can just give them the money at any amount as long as you’re ikhlas, the ill manner boy with songkok will surely accept any amount. Innocent today but they will be aggressive if you bombard them with questions in the next 5 days.

This is two weeks ago,

Shahrul Azmi: Adik tak sekolah ke?

The Boy: Sekolah tahfiz kat kedah abang.

Shahrul Azmi: Bila adik sekolah kalau adik ada kat KL

The Boy : Kite orang ada kelas 2 minggu kat PD

Yesterday I saw the same boy, so I asked him why he wasn’t in school; the answer was a carbon copy of the previous… Swear to God I feel like an idiot and I can smell the piss…

Shahrul Azmi: 2 minggu lepas kau cakap dekat aku kau ada camp dekat PD, sekarang kau ada lagi kat sini… bila masa ko belajar.

The Boy: Kita belajar lepas subuhla bang… (And ciow…)

He raised his voice and took the right step by leaving me or else he might be answering more questions, surely, empty handed.

I went thru internet, the issue is nothing new but no real solution to the problem can be found, maybe I should continue digging…

I call up Majlis agama Islam Kedah or MAIK at 04 7333288, a lady answered the phone and she told me that Pusat Tahfiz Amal was asked to stop using kids for collecting donation, when I requested for the official documentation for that she told me to leave my number and Datuk’s Secretary (so wadda??) will call me….nothing till now….

Moment after I made another phone call, this time to JAIS( Jabatan Agama Islam Selangor), 4 extensions later I managed to talk to Zakuan, an officer in JAIS. (03 55243600-ext2096)

This is what he told me;

1. JAIS don’t give any permission to Pusat Tahfiz Amal on collecting donation
2. They must produce an official letter from JAIS.
3. JAIS will never release letter with phrases like ‘Tolong Bantu mereka’ or any other that carry such sentiment.
4. Neither Afghan nor Pakistan individual collector received any letter from JAIS
5. However, JAIS cannot do anything coz there is no enactment allowing them to take action (weird huh? why do the collectors need to get permission from JAIS?)

He told me to report this matter to police… (Damn! Can’t they do that for me, it is his job anyway)

Come to think of it, Pusat Tahfiz Amal is not collecting donation, they’re doing business by selling the posters, legitimate huh? But the fact that they are using under age workers is sickening!! Where do I go from here?

I will never let this go… not this time

Random

I am looking at the dumb ass, motivated but sometime too ambitious. He thinks he can do everything, anything that others can do, but he is no more than the jack who tried every trade in the universe but often short in mastering any. Is that a mirror I’m looking at? Damn! It is.

Things are backfiring, time is running ever so fast, today is Monday and the next time you check, tomorrow is next Monday. The pile of paper is getting thicker and thicker, the sun is not shining forever but as long we stay together things will get clearer.

Mom is laying still, not that still but I can feel the agony of not doing anything. My dad is looking at his hand only to notice the decay as he’s approaching the 90’s, the life he never imagine. So far, I’m in the good book but lately the pressure is too much, as if the demon wanting me to be with them.

What the hack with one? Be it four or five as long as they don’t kill each other. If you really want to have one, you should be like one, equal and fair. None can sit in the big Mercedes looking through window every morning without noticing the ugly roads ahead, none can stay in the big house overlooking the lakes and none shall be admitted with doctors and nurses smiling, waiting for the ‘agong’s head’. Literally the same, can we do that?

Are we proud of Mikail or do we hail the Michael we used to know? Let god judge him but be thankful to the music and the dance, or was it the music and the dance that brought us into deeper shit? Once again, it is not your judgement that counts.

It is now DdS, no longer Dd. Danial and Deena are really happy to have Sara. Sleepless in Bangi, a new leading role for my wife, Jaja. The ugly husband is thankful but he is an idiot and I’m so sorry for that.

Buying Happiness

- this piece is dedicated to kye who is always happy.......

What is happiness? It is all about showing the feeling of pleasure or contentment, according to the oxford thinker who came out with the book they call dictionary. Do you buy happiness? How much? What’s the price? Some said it’s free but others would spend some amount of money to be happy.

We go to work every day for one thing in common, money. Why do we need money then? To buy food, pay bills, shelters, educations and thousands other reasons. Do you feel happy having bigger house? Do you feel the pleasure of getting new car? Are you guys happy with the widest plasma screen tv, the most expensive piece of watch, the nicest garden with pools and gazebo, the expensive dinner at one of the restaurant that you pay RM17.90 for a glass of coke, do you?

Wiseman once said, money can’t buy happiness but the same wise man would charge you RM200 for a session of ‘Seminar Wang Bukan Segalanya - kebahagiaan menurut agama’. Ask Datuk Dr FK how much he makes every time he preaches about our happiness.

The world is so fucked up that happiness is gauge by ringgit and sen. Media will set the standards and working class people will do all they can to be part of the higher society. One can climb the hierarchy but never can he reach the peak, coz there is no climax to happiness, you’re just walking on the surface ofthe globe.

Today I’m not happy with the RM5.80 coffee at this kopitiam and for once money can’t buy me happiness or could it be that the amount of money I have is not enough for me to be happy.

The Prince and the 'prince'

Machiavelli once wrote about the prince. In a nutshell, a prince must either be feared or loved to stay in power, neither of those, the Prince is just another proletariat in a state, similar to you and me.

Five years ago we were granted with a new king, and how happy were we to have the new king replacing the old throne that ruled for more than 20 years, which according to several, the former was cruelled and feared by the populace.

We failed to notice from the beginning that the new king brought with him a ‘prince’ who his favorite’s book is ‘the Prince’ by Machiavelli. K with the big J was not a real prince but a ‘prince’ by marriage but acted strangely like he was the real prince who soon will be the King.

For five years the ‘prince’ lived in the forbidden city of ‘Kingdom of Heaven’, never loved but at all times feared by the populace. With fear came hatred and with hatred came the courage, the courage to overthrow the king, the only way to eliminate the arrogant ‘prince’.

March 2008, the populace march to the Forbidden City and sent a message to the King, ‘we hate you mainly because of your son in law, behold, the wave is coming and the scene is going to be ugly’.

A year later the King Lah succumbs to the pressure and handed the power to a former prince who was the son of a king that once ruled the Kingdom of Heaven as cereal as the King Lah himself.

Yesterday, the new King announced the new occupant of the Forbidden City, one of them was the former prince, Prince M&M, the son of the famous King MM. As for the ‘prince’, he’ll only be shouting from outside the Forbidden City.

Amazingly, I have a thing in common with Prince M&M; we came from the same schooling system, the MRSM courtesy of the late King Razak, father of the present King. The system taught us so much about principalities and perhaps we opt for different path.

These are few quotes for different people,

To the new Prince M&M,

"...a wise prince should establish himself on that which is his own control and not in that of others; he must endeavor to avoid hatred, as is noted." – Machiavelli

To the ‘prince’

“…If people don’t like you, don’t force” – Pak Usop (my dad)

To Shahrul Azmi
“… For whatever it is, get your work done” – My Boss

Coming Soon

Average ‘Mat’ is resemblance to an average Joe in the states, a nobody in this country where cars accident is the epic centre of attraction to both, the good Samaritans and the 4D lottery addicts.

So many books portray the uniqueness of this country, Malaysia of its colorful race and diversified religions, too often by authors from the top of the success pyramid, never from ordinary Malaysian. This is a view from an average ‘Mat’ struggling day in day out to keep up in this race, ‘KIASU of them all’.

From squatters in Kerinchi to the hills of rich and famous in Damansara, Malaysians render a story of their own. None of the stories matter so much to the people in power, however it is a journey to cherish for the average 'Mat'.

Mid Valley, One Utama and all major shopping malls are running out of weekends and car parks. Try getting close to nature on that particular moment; trust me you will feel like an alien to the flocking ‘Mat Saleh’. Look anywhere else, you’ll find little Jakarta or Bangladesh. The tiny little column ‘places to visit’ on daily newspapers is always left unseen, Malaysian need to be told, “There are other things to do apart from window shopping”.

Well, this average early 30’s Malay guy is taking the risk of his life (one of many stupid decisions he has taken) by writing a book in the midst of global financial meltdown, let alone competing with hundreds of publications with genre of none other than ‘How to get rich’, the Holy Book to hungry materialistic Homo sapiens of Klang ‘pretentious’ Valley. F**k that! He needs to open this Pandora’s Box.

Equipped with pen, papers and the ever reliable national car-Iswara, this is a valedictory tour on the many highways of Klang Valley courtesy of Mr. Samy. No 1001 steps to be rich, just a scribble of life we often see but hardly notice.

Open letter to Anwar Ibrahim

Dear Anwar Ibrahim,

What the f*ck is happening dude? I thought we can trust you, the saint that will bring power back to the people. Look at what is happening dude? The state that I love so much is in chaos, my sultan is angry, my 88 years old father is suffering every time he watch tv and my inbox had exceeded its quota.

I hate liars, I hate bastards who abandoned their troops because of money, I hate those who kiss and tell after intimate/hardcore homo act, I hate those who spend government money at casino’s everywhere in the world and not feeling guilty about it, I hate KJ for so many reasons but on top of all that, at this f*cking moment; I HATE YOU!!!!

Remember 16th September? You should remember that particular date and I’m so sure you remember because I saw you on the net at that particular day. You and your lovely wife sat in front of the believers, as usual, confidently convincing. Did you remember giving instruction to the current irrelevant prime minister? Did you remember asking him to hand in power politely? Did you remember giving me hope? Did you remember telling us that you have more than enough MPs to be in your boat or ship or vessel or whatever synonym to that?

Tonight I heard something different from the coalition, IT IS WRONG TO GO AGAINTS WHAT THE PEOPLE VOTE FOR… IT IS NOT DEMOCRATIC… WE NEED ELECTION TO DECIDE…. THE SULTAN SHOULD TAKE NOTE ON PUBLIC OPINION….
Dude,

You of all people should have predicted all this, BN is doing what you failed to execute, you should know the idiots who are in your ship, f*ck the 50 million offer, the fact that they succumb to that is sickening. I’m your friend although you don’t know me that well and I wish we can be friend forever but all the ongoing blunders are making me confused, shall I stay or move on. However if you can offer me RM50 million, I might forgive and forget….I’m human after all.

Thank you.

Shahrul Azmi