Wednesday 6 April 2011

Saleh Kadang2 Chong ...

Last night, I was interviewed again by Radio Free Sarawak.

Papa Orang Utan asked me for the latest on SNAP.

Split into three factions, I told him.

The good, the bad, and the ugly.

Yes, there are still good men in SNAP, albeit few, who are oblivious to the BN connection.

Who’re the ugly in SNAP?

As far as I know, one man.

Paul Kadang.

This ex-PKR deputy sec-gen is now the link to the KL operatives acting in cahoots with and under the directions of BN.

Who are the KL operatives?

Ex-PKR Sec-Gen,Salehuddin Hashim is the main operator, with former PKR communications director, Jonson Chong in tow, as Saleh’s errand boy.

There you have it.

The ex-PKR unholy trinity.

The odd thing is that, even as I write up this post, Jonson, who is still a PKR member, is in Kuching working out of the SNAP headquarters.

I sms’d Jonsan a few days ago to ask whether his present involvement with SNAP is not an infraction of PKR party discipline.

He replied to say that he did not think so.

I wonder if the PKR disciplinary committee takes the same view?

On 15th March, in a telephone conversation between Jonson and I, to an inquiry from me about the source of funding for SNAP, and if it was coming from BN, Jonson responded that he did not quite know, but then asked whether it mattered if the funding was coming from BN if the objective was to dethrone Taib?

I was speechless.

That’s the good and the ugly in SNAP.

The bad?

The coming days will reveal these.

Origins of Poco-poco: Jamaican, Christian or just Indonesian?

Origins of Poco-poco: Jamaican, Christian or just Indonesian?

by ZURAIRI AR on APRIL 4, 2011

Post image for Origins of Poco-poco: Jamaican, Christian or just Indonesian?

The declaration of poco-poco as haram was a simple case of bad research, paranoia and one man’s crusade

Perak Mufti Harussani Zakaria has taken it upon himself to declare the poco-poco dance haram in his state, with the convenient excuse that the dance has Christian roots.

Here is a copy of the alleged letter of declaration by Harussani’s office, circulated to various bodies in Perak:

Poco-poco haram mufti letterFrom this letter, we can surmise that poco-poco is deemed haram by Harussani because:

  1. It has elements of spirit worship
  2. It is widely practised in Jamaica
  3. It has Christian elements

Let us say that by the end of this article, we can prove that all three assertions are total bullshit.

What is poco-poco?

To those who have never heard of the word before this, we present to you poco-poco:

In a Malaysian context, it is a dance usually incorporated in exercise routines. It is also popular dance in celebrations, events and parties, notably by middle-aged women.

The reason for this might be because it is so easy to learn, and undoubtedly bloody fun when performed in a crowd.

When it is performed, it is almost always accompanied by the same song in the video above, which tells of a man’s admiration for a woman.

Why is poco-poco Christian?

Seriously, who the hell knows? However, Harussani insists that the dance is haram since its movements make a cross when you step right then step left, move to the front and to the back…

Well, that’s what you do when you do a fucking line dance, which essentially what poco-poco is.

If moving in a certain way could magically transform someone into a Christian, then perhaps a lot of other crosses should be banned too, as testified by many #fatwaaprifools we have gathered.

The issue of poco-poco being Christian is not a new one. A Bruneian, Eva Wanda, noted in 2009 that she received a chain email claiming that the dance was from the Philippines, and widely danced by the Christians there.

If you remember correctly, just before that in 2008 there was also a furore on the banning of yoga for its supposed Hindu elements.

Perhaps after two years of misplaced concern of Muslims over claims such as the one in the chain email, the Perak Mufti decided to play it safe, and banned the dance outright, after being misled by his research.

What is the origin of poco-poco?

Many would agree that the exact origin of poco-poco is undetermined, but it is clear the dance was made popular in East Indonesia, specifically Ambon in Moluccas (Maluku Islands).

A Minahasan website chronicles the three popular community dances in Indonesia: poco-poco, tebe-tebe and sajojo. In it an interview reveals that the dances spread throughout the country after the army brought them back from East Indonesia:

Poco-poco, Tebe-tebe and Sajojo, are popular since the 1990s. In the beginning with the military who had served in Timor, the Moluccas and Irian. “They learned these specific dances in their leisure time. When they returned to Java it became common in Java an elsewhere” said Jery, teacher of community and ballroom dances with the AAU (airforce), Kodim (Military Commandos) and Polda (Police) in Yogya.

How is poco-poco spirit worship and Jamaican?

This assertions would not be so hilarious if it wasn’t such a silly case of misinterpretation. In researching the term “poco-poco”, Harussani (or his incompetent researchers) might have stumbled upon the Jamaican slang “poco”.

We present to you an excerpt from the Dictionary of Jamaican English (Cassidy and Le Page; 2002):

In it, “poco” is an abbreviation of “pocomania”, which is defined as such:

…of which dances wildly performed under possession by ‘ancestral spirits’ , and induced catalepsy, are the two prominent features

The phrase “poco-poco” is also used as a reply to a greeting, meaning roughly “so-so” — “not too bad” or “not too good”.

Now, herein lies the kicker: in both use, the words are pronounced ‘pou-ko’ or ‘po-ko’.

If you are familiar with poco-poco dance, you would know that it is pronounced ‘po-cho’.

Not only there is NO documented cases of the same poco-poco dance ever being performed in Jamaica, the words are even pronounced differently over there, with even far different meanings.

Meanings which had gravely misled Harussani into linking poco-poco with Jamaica, and even more ridiculous, spirit worship.

What use is a fatwa then?

By now we have seen that the spirit worshipping part of poco-poco was a result of a shoddy research by the Perak Mufti office, and instead of Jamaica, the dance was originally from Ambon, Indonesia. We can see that the dance is only as Christian as going through a crossroad, which is a big “fuck no”.

The fact that people are allowing a man to decide the way some of us live our lives down to what we can or can not dance is just revolting. A fatwa is not only inconsistent between states, it is also commanded by a man whom the people never agreed to representing them, and has a power to decide based on his and his views alone, based on his interpretation of some holy texts.

The arrogance of a mufti such as Harussani is evident in the way he handles criticism against him. As reported by The Malaysian Insider, he will not even back down if the National Fatwa Council (NFC) declares otherwise:

“It is haram. Why should we withdraw? Haram is haram and practising it can cause syirik (ascribing partners to Allah). Even if the whole of Malaysia rejects my stand, I will still say it is haram.

“I said it is haram because it originates from non-Muslim traditions. Whatever is the purpose of doing it, including exercise, it is still haram,” said the outspoken scholar.

The Department of Islamic Development (Jakim) director-general said the poco-poco fatwa would be discussed along with other issues at the meeting.

But Harussani said that “even if the NFC says it is not haram, I will not withdraw the fatwa.”

“On what basis can they say it is not haram? It is danced in church. Why can’t we have zapin or drills like with the military? You just need 30 minutes and you’ll be sweating, just like back in school,” he added.

Added to that, many — including Perak Mentri Besar Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir and Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department in charge of Islamic affairs, Jamil Khir Baharom — are urging Muslims to not question a fatwa, despite its batshit craziness.

I say this to the Muslims: how many of you then, would dare to question for what’s right?

IGP STILL "Investigating" ..... Patience please!


IGP, what's there to investigate?
Apr 6, 11 1:34pm
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Anak Bangsa Malaysia: The crimes are known to the public - producing and distributing a pornographic film and criminal defamation of Anwar Ibrahim. The three perpetrators of the crimes are known to the public, having gone so far as to openly admit their responsibility - former Malacca CM Abdul Rahim Thamby Chik, businessman Shazryl Eskay Abdullah and Perkasa treasurer Shuib Lazim. Yet the police and Home Ministry seem to be slow in taking action. This deliberate refusal to act can be construed as criminal dereliction of duty by the PDRM and Home Ministry. But then again, when have Umno-BN, the PDRM and the Home Ministry ever cared about such a trifling thing as the law, except where it can be twisted to serve their purpose?

Docs: I suggest that PKR organises a public screening of the sex clip in Dataran Merdeka. If police were to arrest the PKR personnel, then we can yet again prove to the rakyat that the police are indeed working for Umno, and not the rakyat.

Lim Chong Leong: What is there to investigate? The trio were the ones to leak it because they were the only ones with the video. Of course, the police will 'investigate' for as long as it takes for theSarawak election and the 13th general election to come and go to tarnish Anwar. They need this because of the horrible script, casting and directing in the Sodomy II trial sandiwara, which looks fake.

Pakman: IGP Ismail Omar, please don't make a fool of yourself and sully the already poor image of your force. What is there to investigate, when you have Rahim Thamby Chik's admission as one of the men behind the screening at the Carcosa Seri Negara? Don't waste the taxpayers' money by spending needless man hours and money to look for the culprits. Your actions should be impartial and not be seen as being in favour of Umno/BN.

Nenek T: The Datuk Trio say the video was passed on to the police and the police say they do not know how a snippet was posted on YouTube. No one else has the video. So it is either Datuk T or the police who leaked it. It can't be the law-abiding police force, so it must be Datuk T. So please arrest the Datuk Trio and question them.

Louis: Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein and IGP, stop all the sandiwara. The public has already drawn the conclusion. It's simple and easy. Datuk T claimed that there is only one tape. The one and only tape had been surrendered to the police. What conclusion can one draw? It is as clear as daylight. An idiot can even tell who has leaked the recording to YouTube.

Louis: IGP, if only the police can act fairly and firmly, this whole episode would have ended long ago without controversy. It is only that the police were reluctant to press charges and arrest the trio that makes the public fed up. The sex video actually did not achieve the aims of smearing the name of the opposition leader. In fact, the public have suddenly become more sympathetic to him and his family. Indeed, the people want the trio to be charged. Now the sex video has been uploaded on YouTube, again it backfired. This time the public thought that the police were responsible for it, since they are in possession of the only copy of the video. Once again, the credibility and integrity of the police are being questioned.