Taking a break

We embarked on a journey to let people know what was happening to them, and what they could do to protect themselves and 'heal' themselves. The journey was well-planned and executed, but many did not want to hear what was being said, either because they failed to see the good of it or because they expected something else.

But the journey will continue nonetheless.

And we will begin a journey to Batam tomorrow, to take a break, regroup and re-strategise on future journeys, insha Allah.

Beck

As many of you would know, I've had a fair share of folk with the same name as the title of this entry.

As I was having a late-night dinner after having put my son to sleep after a challenging 2 hours (the boy refuses to sleep!), my eye caught this really wierd music video on MTV and I found that it was the song "Loser" by Beck. I've heard of Beck but never really heard his songs properly or seen his music videos.

The video was something dreamt up of by some drug-addicted crazy fellow with a penchance for creating wild pastiches spanning a multitude of genres and topics. It was fantastic. I continued to watch and found that it was some "Beck Special" with all his hit songs and crazy videos like Sexx Laws and Nausea.

Read about him here and I'm afraid I can't locate any of the videos I watched on TV.

Trivia

I don't know why, but the ST likes to report on the most trivial of things.

The latest is the whole choping-seats-with-tissue-paper issue. I mean - yes, it's a practice which sucks. But what's the point in debating it in the mainstream media? The article I read was going on and on about the practice, and that some SMU students are campaigning against it, and that people aren't supporting it, and, and, and... I think it's ridiculous.

There are a 1,001 things which are irritating in Singapore. Urine-laden lifts. Choping seats with tissue. Ah peks/mahs who jostle for MRT/bus seats and brazenly jaywalk. Burnt joss paper on pavements where people walk. The list goes on. But can we discuss all this in the mainstream papers? I'd rather not waste time reading those things in the papers.

By the way, Thaksin divorced his wife.

Victory

Barack Obama's speech was truly inspiring - a message for the universal values of equality and the limitless potential of meritocracy.

I think his victory in the US Presidential Elections is a victory for all minority peoples in the world. He has this aura of "Hey, I know you" around him that has endeared all his supporters in and outside of America. Frankly, I was ecstatic that he won, and by a huge-ass margin at that.

Let's hope to see a more inclusive and consultative America in the coming years.

Too Fast Too Furious

Sometimes, things move too fast. You have trouble keeping up with new developments and are forced to focus on a few things... while others get neglected. Like this blog. So that's the gist of why there's been such a large gap between the last post and this.

For the last few weeks I've been involved in the development of an idea that sprouted during a quiet after-maghrib chill-out session at Masjid Moulana Ali at Raffles Place. I thought of all the bayaans (religious talks) that I'd been to, trying to recall the most memorable ones. I couldn't recall any, save for some tafsir sessions by the current Bencoolen mosque imam.

Then I thought of Raffles Place... and the current global financial crisis. The cycle of lending and re-lending and loans becoming toxic was very complex for me to understand. Many Indian Muslim folks work at Raffles Place, and in the coming months, the impact was going to be felt. I was feeling uncomfortable that many of them folks might not even know what the current crisis was about, and why something some rich bankers did (or did not do) impacted us in Singapore. How would they know that there was this great big recession coming their way?

Bayaan. Crisis. It occured to me that bayaans needed to move from topics like "What One Should Do to Avoid Hell-Fire" and "Guaranteeing Your Place in Jannah" to ones that discussed what Allah says we must do when faced with a global recession. Things that Allah and the Prophet s.aw. have already told us to do (the broad "policy" directions, if you may) during times of crisis, modern or medieval.

I spoke to a few "brudders" to get their sense of the possibility of organising such a bayaan, and they were receptive to the idea. We spent a good few days securing the speakers and finalising the details. Insha Allah, come 23 Nov 08, we hope to have a useful session on the global financial crisis and what people can do during the tough times ahead.