The Malaysian Insider

NOV 11 — Some time ago I was interviewed by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation for a radio feature, and was asked about “… the creeping conservatism of (Islam) in Malaysia)…”. When I responded (to Kartika’s whipping) that this was what many Muslims wanted, even though they felt that an example should be made on the ruling elite who drank and led corrupt and un-Islamic lifestyles, Kartika’s punishment was apt. True Muslims would not or dare err.

NOV 6 — They are young, hungry, with a displaced sense of humour of the Beavis and Butthead kind. They come in all shapes and sizes, and always looking to "shadow" a public figure, preferably rich and connected, because they’re looking for a shortcut to not … riches, but a commission amounting to maybe RM10,000? RM100,000?

And as one told me recently, he would then spread his "assets" throughout the whole year, by getting sloshed at the Asian Heritage Row, spending time at the mamaks nursing a hangover and trying to talk tough to chicks, and yeah, shadowing another public figure for some small project. And yes, everyone is a potential connection.

OCT 21 — It certainly felt like a moment out of the Last Supper. With Azhar seated at the middle of the table — calm, unassuming, surveying all of us, smiling at the right moments — I had the impression that we were in the company of a benevolent being. Though in this case, benevolence is subjective.

If the casual onlooker had seen the ten of us that night, he would have thought that we were a motley group of friends, breaking fast together, in a kopitiam based in one of KL’s many red-light districts. Perhaps he would have thought we were a family. We salam-ed each other, we laughed and talked, we were the picture of friendship.

OCT 7 — My brother-in-law wrote this in his Facebook notes:

My Thoughts On the First Week of Syawal

On the 3rd day of Raya, we went back to Teluk Intan, my mother’s hometown. We have not gone back for several years since my maternal grandmother passed on. The town has changed a bit here and there. Now, it has McDonald’s, Old Town Kopitiam and a Giant hypermarket.

SEPT 23 — These are men and women whom you will never read or hear about. They may be well known to their community, but their "fame" stays there, in that circle.

You are probably familiar with the sight of them, on their kapchais or small, beat-up cars, wearing a kopiah or tudung as they go about their days. They are greeted with delight when they visit their young students’ homes to teach them tajweed and Fardhu Ain, but they will never be revered as the ulamas who rule this country.