Sinatra_Z - Thinking Out Loud

Like I said,

It's thinking out loud, don't take it seriously or literally.

Merely a thought that I decided to pen (or type) about.


The thing is, I always tend to fall for, have a crush on, fancy or have the hots (whatever definition it may be) for those activist passionate with something NGO sort of types.


The sort that want's to change things for the better and always have some sort of issue with the status quo. I mean I too have issues with the Status Quo and I too want to change things, but these issues are more towars the current state of Malaysia and you know pretty much very hyped up about it.


Be it economically, humanitarian wise, democratically and various other selfless moral high ground agenda.


In other words the sort that, well, hates UMNO alot.


And me being the fanboy that I am, who whistles to the Party Song when I'm driving (I think it's catchy) and actually have a flag and other party paraphernalia in my hood in case there's a by election emergency, here is where the problem arises.


It's not that I have any problems or issues with any other sort of types, it's just that I always wondered what it would be like to get involved with someone opposite, sado masochism? Opposite attraction?


I was wondering would it be cool to fake the whole damn thing. You know, join an NGO with a cause I don't give two shits about, something about the rights of dogs or some other NGO with the name Something "Rakyat" in it. Sitting in a circle listening to some psuedo bohemian hippie wannabe's rendition of his horribly badly worded poetry against the evil imprisonment of the people while sitting beside that hot hippe chick pretending to be utterly concerned and feel to the words of that half drunk half high so called "reformist". We'd listen to bob dylan or something and love freely all around while run around on a football field pretending it to be a lush large grassland freeing ourselves from the shackles of society in the name of love.


Sounds sweet.


But the thing is, I'm very easy to be found on the Internet and once she reads my stuff, about how right wing I can be, I bet things are going to get pretty dicey. It's like those folks who met me at conferences and later follow me on twitter, Oooh he is Mr Right all right, Right Wing that is.


Mana mau cari lah a hippie activist chick who dosen't uses the internet.


Anyway it's just a random thought so don't read too much into it. Plus it's late and I always think of weird things at this hour.


I guess in the end what's the point of getting involved with someone if you can't be yourself no?


The right wingness, UMNO thing, sarcasm, frank sinatra belching, keris lover and lame corny pick up lines comes with whole package.


Well no one's perfect.


I think that's a good way to end this thought.


Good Night Folks!

Sinatra_Z - Melayu Arak dan Babi

Penulisan Terbaru di TMI - http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/opinion/article/melayu-arak-dan-babi/

23 SEPT — Assalamualaikum dan salam sejahtera kepada para pembaca yang budiman sekalian. Sebelum nukilan ini diteruskan ingin saya mengucapkan Selamat Hari Raya dan Maaf Zahir Batin sekiranya anda ada rasa terguris atau marah dengan penulisan saya sebelum ini.

Sesungguhnya yang baik itu semuanya adalah dari Allah Taala dan yang buruk itu semuanya dari Anwar Ibrahim. Oh ya sebelum saya lupa juga Selamat Menyambut Hari Malaysia pada 16 September dengan tema tahun ini “Harapan Menuju ke Putrajaya, Harapan Tinggal Harapan.”

Kali ini penulis akan cuba membincarakan isu yang cukup sensitif yang melibatkan orang-orang Melayu. Mengikut perlembagaan takrifan orang Melayu itu mestilah beragama Islam, jadi tak usahlah anda nak beria-ria terasa semangat Asabiyyah sebab tajuk perbincangan kita berkisarkan Melayu.

Pasti ada yang mempersoalkan apa kejadahnya si Zaidel ini tiba-tiba membincangkan mengenai perkara-perkara yang cukup sensitif di kalangan orang Melayu. Yakni dua perkara yang haram untuk diminum mahupun dimakan di sisi Islam. Tidak, bukanlah niat saya untuk mempersoalkan Majlis Fatwa Kebangsaan atau mana-mana ahli politik yang bergelar Tuan Guru, akan tetapi sekadar pemerhatian saya mengenai sensitiviti yang jauh berbeza di kalangan orang Melayu mengenai dua perkara yang haram ini. Sebagai contoh mari kita lihat situasi di bawah ini.

Encik Romzi Talib Ibrahim (rekaan semata-mata) pergi makan di Restoran Makanan Laut Wong Kah Siang 888 (rekaan semata-mata) dan mula memesan makanan kepada pelayan berbangsa Myanmar yang jauh lebih fasih berbahasa kebangsaan dari kebanyakan rakyat Malaysia.

“Ni, ketam ni ketam laut ke ketam dua alam ni?”

“Ni ketam laut encik bukan ketam batu yang sungai tu.”

“Betul ke ni?”

“Ye encik semua makanan sini makanan laut yang halal” jawab Pelayan itu.

“Awak takde letak apa-apa minyak babi ke apa ke?”

“Minyak babi tak letak dengan ‘seafood’ encik, lagipun minyak babi mahal, rugi.”

“OK bagus, kalau macam tu bagi saya ketam cili, kailan, nasi tiga dengan ikan ni satu”

“Minum apa encik?”

“Ah kasi Carlsberg satu jug.”

Walaupun terkedu dengan pesanan Encik Romzi yang cukup mengelirukan, Mazhab manakah agaknya yang diambil kira ketika memesan makanan (Barangkali Mazhab Ayah Pin), namun kenyataan ianya begitulah. Yakni, orang Melayu ni anehnya yang begitu sensitif tentang soal babi tidak mempunyai sebarang masaalah tentang soal arak, maka di sinilah perbincangan kita bermula tentang mengapa dan pemikiran orang Melayu boleh jadi begitu.

Antara babi dan arak

Di dalam minda orang Melayu secara umumnya bila disebut babi, tidak seperti orang-orang China. Mindanya tidak akan membayangkan masakan-masakan enak babi panggang dengan kulit coklat merekah lagi berminyak. Akan tetapi terbayang di mindanya seekor binatang yang hodoh, gemuk serta memakan sampah, sisa kumbahan najis dan bau busuk yang mencemar sungai serta alam sekitar.

Pada masa yang sama apabila disebut arak, tidak pula terbayang wajah kanak-kanak yang mati akibat dari pemandu mabuk, atau air kencing iblis apatah lagi anggur basi yang dipijak kaki perempuan anak dara tua dari Eropah. Apa yang terbayang ialah Encik James Bond dengan berpakaian cantik memesan Martini yang dikocak, bukan dikacau.

Terima kasih kepada media massa barat yang menayangkan serta membawa budaya yang mengaitkan sesuatu yang haram itu kepada perkara-perkara yang menarik maka penerimaan terhadap arak itu adalah lebih baik dari babi dan saya syak ini berlaku bukan sahaja di Malaysia. Lagipun pernahkan anda melihat seorang pengintip antarabangsa memesan “bak kut teh” sambil ditemani gadis jelita? Sesungguhnya tidak!

Alang-alang dah haram....

Saya sendiri juga pernah mempersoalkan perkara ini, yang mana alang-alang dah buat benda haram, contohnya seperti meminum minuman keras, kenapa pula hendak menjaga tentang soal halal-haram yang lain. Sebab saya pernah terjumpa dengan dua golongan yang boleh dikatakan sedikit aneh yang mana, golongan pertama, lelaki Melayu yang main perempuan tetapi tidak minum arak, golongan kedua adalah Melayu minum tapi langung tak berani main perempuan sebelum berkahwin, zina dijauhi, apa kejadahnya?

Memang pelik kalau difikirkan akan tetapi pernah saya menerima jawapan bernas yang saya pasti merupakan corak pemikiran secara umum orang Melayu.

“Dah satu dosa tu cukuplah yang nak tambah-tambah lagi buat apa, ye lah aku dah buat salah, itu kelemahan aku tapi yang menggatal nak tambah dosa berbakul-bakul apa kejadahnya?”

Haram tetap haram

Sebab itu apabila saya terdengar golongan Melayu minoriti yang berbincang soal keMelayuan dan hukum Islam sambil memegang segelas wine merah hasil dari kekayaan kontrak DEB (kini menjadi pengkritik DEB) yang menyatakan sebenarnya batas undang-undang serta golongan haluan kanan yang menyebabkan Melayu secara umumnya tertekan untuk tidak menjadi lebih “liberal” itu adalah suatu kenyataan yang tidak berapa tepat.

Sebagai contoh kita lihat dalam kes sebat Kartika, yang mana walaupun dari segi suasana politik sekarang, masih tidak mendapat tentangan keras dari orang Melayu secara umumnya dan sesetengah pihak agak terkejut apabila tidak mendapat sambutan golongan perempuan Melayu muda. Yang nampak adalah golongan bukan Islam yang lebih kehadapan, malah lebih membuatkan isu ini kelam adalah apabila Kartika sendiri tidak melakukan apa yang sesetengah pihak harapkan apabila dia lebih pasrah dari marah, insaf dari bantah.

Kerana walaupun anda menjerit soal hak asasi manusia, soal hak wanita dan sebagainya, sebagai orang Islam perbuatan itu sendiri telah dianggap salah, iaitu meminum arak, apatah lagi di halayak ramai. Mentalitinya mudah, yang haram tetap haram walaupun kadang-kadang kita tidak berasa selesa denganya.

Kesimpulan

Barangkali itulah kesimpulan yang dapat kita lihat dari segi pemikiran orang Melayu secara umumnya (saya kata umumnya, bukan semua). Paling kurang pun, kesimpulan yang saya buat berdasarkan pemerhatian saya sendiri, tanpa apa-apa kajian mahupun statistik.Kalau tidak bersetuju nyatakanlah tanpa segan silu.

Bagi saya menarik melihat “paradoks” atau percanggahan pemikiran yang ada di kalangan orang Melayu dan ini bukan sahaja terbatas terhadap tajuk di atas sahaja. Sebagaimana ada perempuan yang tidak bertudung tidak membantah hukum hudud dan lelaki lembut (mahu jadi perempuan) boleh hadir menunaikan sembahyang Jumaat.

Bukan saya menghalalkan apa-apa tindakan di atas, cuma sekadar merenung sesuatu yang di perhatikan sejak sekian lama, pelik tapi benar. Barangkali kesimpulan yang terbaik boleh saya terbitkan adalah suatu ayat yang pernah saya dengar suatu ketika dahulu: “Orang Melayu ni boleh ajak minum, boleh ajak makan babi tapi jangan harap langsung nak suruh dia keluar Islam.”

Sinatra_Z - So I walked into a Casino

Went to Genting the other day,

wanted to drink coffee in a cooler weather so that I can pretend that I actually drink Starbucks at New York.Ok yeah, poser in the highest degree but let's just say I was bored and Genting was just 20 minutes away so there I went.Upon arriving heard that the chinese dudes wanted to gamble for a bit so I decided to see what's the hoopla was all about.

Of course me being a Muslim we are prohibited entering a Casino (by Malaysian Law) but I figure if a baju Melayu clad uncle can get away buying Sports Toto on a friday afternoon I might as well try to check it out, it's NOT that I'm going to gamble anyway. Apparently the officers did try to stop me at the entrance, but me being me all excited simply dashed inside while they were calling

"Abang... bang... bang!"

In the end Carmen had to take the heat when the police officer, failing to stop me asked Carmen for her MyKad.

Anyway enough of that.

I have seen gambling parlour before in the form of horse racing slot machines cum a snooker centre mushrooming a while back around KL and Selangor but after the crackdown the only gambling thing that I ever witnessed was the betting during World Cup amongst my fellow peers. So when I entered the casino hall called "Hollywood" I was taken aback at how different it was. Instead of the image of nice sharp dressed looking people throwing cards and drinking martinis (Casion Royale of James Bond) the whole damn place looked like an arcade.

I still can't shrug off the Image of a 60 plus year old Uncles and Aunties playing "Star Wars" slot machines trying to get pictures of Darth Vader and Star Destroyers alligned three in a row.

It was quite fun though when Jason Chua became my tour guide, explaining and guiding me through the various games around the casino, from table to table. We watched people played Baccarat, Roulette, Poker, Dice and etc. It hit me then (to the amusement of Jason Chua) that most of these games (if not all) require very little intellectual or brain activity.

So throw away that scene in "God Of Gambler" where Chow Yun Fatt does that awesome card thingie where they try to calculate and bluff each other with their cards. NO, in a Casino, they try to have a minimal drama as possible because the more time spend on fancy card moves the less time they have in screwing over your money.

Perhaps the most mindless game of them all when Jason pointed me out to a table in which he describes as

"The fastest way to lose or win your money, mostly losing lah, hahaha"

It was this game in which the banker takes a card, then you take a card, then place your bets, both opens it and the bigger card wins.

"Eh Chua, game ni siapa card besar menang eh?"

"Yup! Hahahaha"

"Gila bangang!"

"Do you know that the minimum bet for this game is 50 ringgit."

Holy crap, throw away the image of sharply dressed spies and young women throwing dice over a table, majority of the place is filled with senior citizens spending away their savings and pension.

After that night I realised that amongst the vices, gambling (especially gambling at a casino) are probably the vice that I least understand. I mean say that you commit adultery or spend your hard earned money on prostitute, I get it, you waste your money on a service, fine, so yeah you can give yourself a hand job but you think that masseuse gives you more pleasure, it sounds stupid but hey at least you're paying for something that you get! Or the fact that you blow your money on drinking, okay it's expensive and in the end all you're going to do is get a hangover and throw up. But hey at least there's that momentarily intoxication, you actually getting something for your money, a product, a fancy looking water that makes women prettier, I get it. But gambling? Especially in a Casino where you know damn well the Odds are ridiculously stacked up against you, the fact that you put money to lose money in a game that you have very little control over, that I do not get. Literally you have people, putting money on the table, then he looks at the croupier shuffling cards, throwing ball or tossing dice and then take that money away from you. In certain cases you don't even get to hold the damn card.

But I guess it made sense when Tommy Sky puts it this way

"It's the act of Purchasing a Dream"

Which is why some commit suicide, I mean what's the point of living when you have lost your dreams.

Sinatra_Z - Logging Out

For it is at times like these,

in the early morning hours,

where solitude rule and the occasional sounds of crickets and motorcycle speeding over the freeway,

my mind murmurs,

of mindless thoughts dancing prancing imagining away.

Solitude in a way,

can make you think thoughtful matters,

usually quite harmless,

yet sometimes solitude can conjure up pictures,

sometimes quite disturbing, unnverving and the occasional ridiculous ideas.

Maybe that's how Hitler wrote Mein Kampf.

You see I have been doing many things alone before,

always had the balls to go solo,

I watched movies alone when I felt like it,

karaoke, dine, stroll and even walk into a party filled with strangers,

In the middle of the field at night and just sit,

conjuring up images based on random cloud movements,

sitting alone listening to wind chimes,

thinking of things that happend back in those times.

Then on one fateful night,

One of those quiet lonely ones,

I dreamt of being alone, old and alone,

with all the power and influence that a man can hold,

in a lovely mansion with the occasional asistant dropping by,

relaying messages, commands or advice,

planning things behind the scenes,

the sort of man who control real power,

something like J Edgar Hoover,

and somehow in that dream,

I didn't feel alarmed, shocked and there was this absence of scare.

Null, Void, Zilch, to me it wasn't a nightmare.

Quite pleasant actually,

I seemed to be okay with it.

Sleeping alone in a lovely home,

It felt quite comfortable,

Which is why when I woke up,

I said so myself "Perhaps It's time to meet new people"

"And occasionally log out from the Internet"

Hi my name is Zaidel, Nice meeting you.

I think I'd better get back to the real world.

Good Night Folks

Sinatra_Z - Remember Remember

Remember Remember,
16th of September,
Anwar's Treason and Plot,

For I find no reason,
for this deceitful felon,
SHOULD EVER BE FORGOT!!

Nursery Rhyme dedicated to Gay Fox

Sinatra_Z - Semangat Muhibbah

I was driving Soh back,

somehow we got to talk on why I dislike Yasmin Ahmad's movies, it seems artificial and fake to me. Somehow it goes on to Petronas Ads usually involving your typical Ali, Ah Chong, Muthu doing something really gay.


"Bloody hell man, aku dulu masa kecik kawan baik dengan Ramesh tapi pergi mati la aku nak nyanyi lagu Ikan di laut asam di darat untuk dia!"


"Soh ko dengar sini, pergi matilah aku nak kawan dengan kau untuk semangat muhibbah ke, sebab ko cina ke, apatah lagi sebab ko makan babi takde kena mengena, muhibbah can go jatuh in the longkang! Aku kawan dengan ko sebab ko ni bangang sikit, macam aku. Hua hua hua"


Soh pun jawab "Babi sedap sial"


So to me,

thats what 1Malaysia is all about.


P/S


"Orang kata kawan dengan budak Cina nanti pandai matematik, tipu sial, kau dahlah selalu fail math masa sekolah dulu!"


"Orang kata kawan dengan budak melayu ni nanti berbudi bahasa, tipu sial, kau punya bahasa langung tidak budiman"


Sinatra_Z - Selamat Hari Raya

Janda Baik indahnya hutan,
Janda Nakal indahnya lain,
Selamat hari raya saya ucapkan,
Pohon maaf zahir dan batin

Ikhlas Dari -

Zaidel Baharuddin @ Sinatra_Z @ Lipas Sepi