ICONOCLAST OR IDIOTS ?

HANTU LAUT
(A Secularist and Pacifist)

"Never underestimate the destructive power of stupid people I'm happy to report that we at Pedestrian Infidel are continuing to get under the skins and piss off Muslims. The honor is ours!"

That's the opening paragraph of an anti-Islamic blogger who was irked by my article 'Judaism, Christianity and Islam: Are we in compatible ?'

The article is not an affront to Judaism and Christianity and I had not the slightest intention to insult or desecrate the two religions. The article merely stated the history of Jewish persecution over the past two millennium by the Romans and later Christians. For those who don't have the stomach to digest history and accept that the human race irrespective of race, colour and creed are capable of committing injustices, atrocities and genocides, are either pretending to be ignorant or living in a state of denial of the crimes committed by their forefathers.As the Bible teaches all Christians " Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" NEW TESTAMENT, John,VIII,13.

Men of all creeds had, over the millennium, forsaken religion and God to pursue personal glory through expansion of territory, ideology and sphere of influence.Hegemonic control of countries and the people had always been through forceful means.No conquest had been achieved without bloodshed and atrocities committed on the vanquished. Alexander the Great had conquered many territories as far east as India.He had no need for such vast stretch of land, needless to say, he did it for personal glory. The Roman empire covered most countries in Europe and those around the Mediterranean. This so called civilisation had, in pursuing the expansion of its empire, committed untold atrocities on the people defeated and conquered by them.Jesus Christ, a Galilean Jew, a central figure in Christianity was accused of sedition against the Roman Empire and was crucified. He died in the most horrible way. The persecution of Jews and Christians went on for a few centuries in the Roman Empire.After 313 CE, Christianity was legalised and had become the official state religion.

When Hitler became the 'Fuhrer' in 1934 he had a vision of a great German Empire that he perceived should cover half the globe, ruled and populated only by people of unadulterated Aryan blood. His madness brought great destruction, massive loss of human lives and mass extermination of Jews in most part of Europe.In Russia, at about the same time, Stalin, killed few millions of his countrymen in the 'Great Purge', anyone who opposed or perceived to oppose him were either killed or sent to the Gulag, a forced labour camp where prisoners worked like slaves under most atrocious conditions.In Cambodia from 1975 to 1979, Pol Pot, another mad man, senselessly massacred about 2 millions of his own people, many professionals were killed to satisfy his whims of turning the country to an agrarian society.In 1994 the biggest genocide in recent time killed almost 1.0 million ethnic Tutsis in Rwanda, mostly hacked to death by Hutu militiamen in 100 days, the most efficient killing spree ever recorded. In Iraq, Saddam Hussein massacred few thousands Kurds after an attempted assassination on his life. Genocide in Darfur and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Don't you see the similarities in all of them.None of this atrocities and wars were for religion, they were for the greed of men.

I will further show how the West, which are mostly Christian populated nations were so embroiled in hypocrisy,they forgot what they preach, they don't do what they have preached.

There had been many genocides in the world where the Western powers and the United States, the self-proclaimed global policemen had closed their eyes to. The genocide in Combodia, the genocide in Rwanda, the ethnic cleansing in Bosnia and the current genocide in Darfur. Where were the morally upright and caring American? Why didn't the President send his troops to stop the massacre of innocent civilians by invading the country and bring the leaders to trial and execute them like what they did to Saddam Hussein. Do the Americans love the Iraqis more than the black African ? Or was it Iraqis' oil that they love ?

America pick and choose where they want to be. Its priority is America's economic interest not human lives.The American administration don't give a damn, even if there were another holocaust as long as it does not injure the American economy.

To take the criminal actions of Osama and other terrorist organisations that shouted jihad as, teachings of the Koran, to inflict violence on Jews and Christians, is nothing but bad intention of the anti-Islamic groups to rile up the Muslims even further.Osama is not the typical Muslim, he is an outcaste, a pariah of the Islamic ummah, a mad man, who, not unlike George Bush, perceived violence as a solution to stop violence. To equate violence to Islam is a complete lack of profundity. A Western chauvinism and a misplaced self-fulfilling doctrine of superiority, the dogmas of the Western nations.

The days of miracles are over, God doesn't speak to men any more. It is man who speaks to man to do evil things.The person who strapped bomb onto his body and blow himself and other innocent people up were the product of evil man, not evil religion.

How would you, yes you!, the one that find honor to piss off Muslims and insult Mohammad, the sacred prophet of Islam, benefited from your action. Don't you think your malicious actions could worsen the problem? What do you hope to achieve by doing such derogatory task of insulting other religion ? Do you think you are any better than the mad Muslims that you are trying to incite?

WHO ARE THE MORONS:THE LAWYERS OR THE POLITICIANS

HANTU LAUT

The controversy surrounding the VK Lingam video will soon be a top earner at the box-office.Anwar Ibrahim has promised a second part or, in cinematic term, the sequel.

Is Anwar throwing cautions to the wind by openly implicating the Chief Justice, Ahmad Fairuz as the person at the other end of the line. In a forum held at a hotel in Kuala Lumpur on the 29th Sept attended by 250 odd crowd, Anwar promised a second part of the clip. In the forum titled 'From Nurin to Chief Justice:A collapse of law and order' he said he would like to see Ahmad Fairuz, who had vehemently denied any involvement, defend himself at the trail.Is there going to be a trail ? How can he be so sure it was Ahmad Fairuz.Has he ever considered, no matter how remote it is, the possibility that the video conversation could have been VK Lingam's play acting to show how influential he is, to impress certain people.

The snake in the grass, whoever he was, probably realized the value of the spurious video to the opposition to gain political mileage. Why was the man in a slumber for so long before waking up and found the good fortune the video would bring him ? Why didn't the video surface during the last general election ?

Another angle that Anwar may be, too blinded to look at, is the possibility that the whole thing was staged by people with an axe to grind with the Chief Justice or to embarrass Badawi's government.

Fabrication and lies are not unknown in politics. The recent doctored picture of Najib, which unashamedly, was the handiwork of his man, Chief Information Officer of PKR, Tian Chua was a disgraceful attempt to mislead the people. Anwar seems to condone and encourage this kind of unconscionable action within his party. Whether Najib is guilty or not is not the point, the point is why stooped so low to try gain political mileage.What kind of message are you sending to the people ? Can you form an honest government when you are prepared to use underhand tactics.

Nobody would really know whether the man was Ahmad Fairuz, unless the case goes to court after investigation. Is it fair to accuse the man without substantive evidence ? I thought the law in this country says "You are innocent until proven guilty".

Do you think the people would believe him after the 'Najib' incident ? This could be just another ploy to discredit the government.Surprisingly, the law fraternity, presumably inspired by their learned friends in Pakistan, had without any hesitation, decided to join in the circus and marched from the Palace of Justice to the Prime Minister's office to submit a memorandum. Like Anwar, have they decided that Fairuz is guilty ?. Do you really need 2000 lawyers to submit a memorandum to the Prime Minister ? Are they showing the way to the people how to conduct demonstration, protest march and civil disobedience ?

The authenticity of the video seems doubtful.The sound is much too clear to be picked up by cellular phone microphone. The man, VK Lingam, if that was him, was using a cellphone and moving about all the time, but surprisingly the voice is still crisp, without any distortion whatsoever, making it more like a voice-over and dubbing work.

Has Anwar and PKR reached a bridge that's difficult to cross to continue their journey to the seats of government. The general consensus is that PKR might not do well in this coming election and are desperately in need of a new formula to boost its popularity.

'Saddam Killed Mandela' - Bush at news conference.

HANTU LAUT

You wouldn't believe it, how stupid this man is.Was he joking ? His facial expression didn't show he was. This is the man who run the most powerful nation on planet Earth.This man is intellectually deficient, as I have stated in my article 'A Message For Mr Bush'. His knowledge on foreign affairs sucks. His foreign affair policy.....war...war and war !

Has America ever won a war ? The answer is no.

The American helped to stop the 2nd World War by dropping the atomic bombs on civilian population in Hiroshima and Nagasaki killing hundreds of thousand innocent Japanese civilians.They never won the war through conventional warfare. In the Korean War, they managed to split the country into two.They lost the Vietnam War after over a decade of fighting that killed over a million Vietnamese and ravaged the country.

They can never win the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. It is almost five years now, are Iraq and Afghanistan safer now than before ? Has America brought peace to these two countries ?

Ask, George Bush. He would tell you he had won the war and sent the terrorists to oblivion.

God bless America !

God! Please save the world from this madman.

THE VIOLENT CITY; 20 WAYS YOU CAN AVOID BEING A VICTIM OF VIOLENCE.

HANTU LAUT

There are multitude of dangers in the city.Do you know you can die in numerous ways in the city, from being robbed and killed in your own home to being run over by a car to being mugged and killed on the streets. You read horror stories of rape, robbery, kidnapping and murder almost every day in the newspapers. You can also die from man made and natural calamities, road rage, pollution, poisoning, fire, earthquake and hosts of other hazard that probably never crossed your mind.

Recently, the whole nation was in a state of shock and anger by the rape and murder of an innocent young girl, eight-year old Nurin.She went missing for almost a month and was later found dead, her body stuffed in a bag.She was kept by her perpetrator for almost a month, probably tortured, repeatedly rape and finally killed. Few years ago was the case of Canny Ong, abducted,raped and killed. Than, there was the high profile murder case of Noritta Shamsudin, a girl who reputedly lived in the fast lane, killed in her own apartment.Her case still remains unsolved.

The criminals are getting bolder and more ruthless. Bank robberies in Peninsula Malaysia are common occurrences, even the homes of ex IGPs were not spared, they have no fear at all that the occupants have firearms.These hardcore criminals had no fear of the law.They are prepared to kill or be killed

The highest possible way you can die in the city is in road accidents.Malaysia has one of the highest road fatalities in the world.In 2003, we have the highest road fatalities amongst the OECD countries. In that year, Malaysia had 6,286 fatalities and per capita death rate of 26.75 out of a population of 24 million, Japan, on the other hand, had 8,877 fatalities and per capita death of 6.97 out of 127 millions people.Last year, we had 6,287 deaths with per capita death of 23.5. Not much of an improvement, taking into consideration more and better roads had been built.

Malaysians are one of the worst drivers in the world, discourteous, impulsive and reckless. Your chance of you getting knock down while crossing a street in the city is pretty high.The third world mentality are still very much entrenched in the minds of many Malaysians.The so-called friendly and caring Malaysian become a wild beast once he is behind the wheel. Queue-jumping and jumping the red light are common occurrences.Overtaking using the road shoulder or layby are very common when roads are congested. Equally annoying are misplaced courtesy of many motorists in this country had by giving way to these road offenders.My experience on British and American highways were completely different, if you jumped the queue, no one will give way to you till the cows come home, you probably learnt a lesson too late and believe me, you wouldn’t want to do it again for the rest of your life.Malaysians should take a leaf from the this type of driving culture.

Living in the city can be an urban nightmare.You must develop an attitude to urban life that will help you cope with all kinds of situations.The daily stress of driving on choked highways and looking for a place to park your car can be exasperating.Family and financial problems can have a disastrous outcome for those incapable of coping with stress.There are many stress-inducing factors in the city.Attack or robbery, fear if illness, fear of losing employment, financial constraint and many more can all prey on the mind. Money, unfortunately, is most vital for urban survival, without money, staying in the city is next to impossible.In a big city like Kuala Lumpur earning less than RM3,000. per month would probably mean your are living below the urban poverty line.

Kuala Lumpur, together with its satellite towns and suburbs, has about 3 millions people, not a huge metropolis, but have many inherent problems. The gleaming skyscrapers that adorned the skyline, the beautiful looking highways and flyovers are all false facade.The city has one of the worst traffic management system for any modern city.The public transport system is equally horrendous.Flagging down a taxi during peak hours is a game of chance.If it stops to pick you up, the driver decides where he would like to go.If you are lucky, he agrees to take you, you would soon realize, you are not so lucky after all, the fare he demands would be so exorbitantly high, you would very much like to land a punch on him.At this time of the day, the meter is obsolete, the cab driver is king.

During peak hours, at certain locations, policemen are deployed to direct traffic, taking over the job of the antiquated traffic lights.In heavy downpour, flash flood in low laying areas can happened within the hour and immobilize traffic to a standstill.Infrastructure development has not kept pace with the proliferation of motorized vehicle. Tempers can run high on choked highways and are recipes for road rages.

Malaysia can learn a lesson or two from Singapore how to make a city functional.In Singapore all traffic lights have intelligence sensors, it can automatically adjusts, to regulate the traffic flow according to demand.It can adjusts to give more time to the direction with the greatest demand. In Kuala Lumpur, traffic light once installed are left to its own devices.

In Kuala Lumpur, driving alone at night on a lonely stretch of road has its risks.If you are somehow unlucky , you may encounter the Malaysian version of the ‘Hell Angels” called the ‘Mat Rempits’, mostly Malay boys with nocturnal habits and obnoxious personality, riding those noisy little Japanese bikes, invariably looked down upon by their richer cousins on the Harleys.These are the road maniacs of Kuala Lumpur, the kamikaze riders who are prepared to risk their lives for the price of a pittance and a sexual trophy. The later probably gave them the adrenalin to risk their lives.

For many people the greatest threat in the urban jungle is that of violence. Mugging, snatch thieve and other violent crimes have increased considerably in recent years.People are less prepared to go to help others in trouble.There were cases where good Samaritans had been killed while helping those under attack. There is no point risking your life if you can’t really help.

In April 2003, at Kota Kinabalu, a 12-year old boy was stabbed to death in a crowded place in broad daylight and nobody came to his rescue in spite of his cries for help.On Wednesday 19^th Sept 200, a woman in Wangsa Maju was abducted from her house by unidentified men armed with knives.Her fate is not known yet.On 20^th Sept at Kajang, a Datuk and his family were robbed by ten men armed with parang after overpowering two security guards.They escaped with RM1 million in cash and valuables. On 24^th Sept, at Kepong, two women were raped and murdered in their own apartment. Few years back a man was waylaid in the carpark of his upmarket apartment, bundled into his car, driven to a remote area and dumped, the criminals went back to his apartment, gained entrance with his house keys, robbed and gang rape the wife.Crime statistic shows average of 6 rapes a day in Malaysia.

Fear is an element that can cause high mental stresses.It is not something to be ashamed of, as long as we do not lose control of reality.Fear can even be an asset.It can make you wary and more alert at home or on the streets.It can give you a presence of mind in an emergency situation.Fear can also built up the adrenalin rush in your body, giving you that superman’s feats, doing things that seems impossible when you are at ease.It is important that you are able to differentiate fear from panic.Never let your fear turned to panic.Panic will make you act irrationally and in all likely hood endanger yourself and your family.

In a life-threatening situation don’t make yourself vulnerable.Use your common sense.Don’t try to be a hero if you don’t have the upper hand.Those who makes crime their profession are less dangerous than the amateur and the opportunist.The amateurs are more likely to do grievous hurt or kill you if they panic.Any criminal that show sign of nervousness and panic should definitely be handled with care.

There are many ways we can insulate ourselves and reduce the chances of being victim of violence. Below are a few tips I would like to share with my readers.

AT HOME

The first place to make safe and secure are our homes.

1.Make sure all windows and doors are secured against intruder.If you can afford it, installed burglar alarm. They are getting cheaper, more sophisticated and more reliable.If you are staying in a house, keeping dogs would be an added protection.Dogs are the first line of defence, their barking will alert you that an intruder may be nearby.Dogs need to be schooled for obedience training, otherwise you may upset your neighbours, if your dogs bark incessantly.If you have a big compound, it is advisable to keep more than one dog.Most Malays don’t keep dogs, it’s more culture than religion.Islam do not forbids Muslims from keeping dogs.Only the dog’s saliva is considered unhygienic.

2.Iron-grilled windows do not guarantee to keep intruders out but they can be a hazard to the occupants and a fire-trap in the event of a fire. They are also not exactly burglar-proof.The materials used are mostly mild steel bar and plates and can easily snap under pressure.Some buglers used a small hydraulic jack to break the welded joint.It’s fast and noiseless.

3.Burglars biggest enemy are noise and bright light.Most people tend to switch-off their porch and garden lights at night to save electricity.This could be penny wise and pound foolish.A bright situation could deter would be buglers.Used energy-saving bulbs to bring down your power bills.Darkness is burglar’s best friend, if you can afford it,don’t tempt them.

4.If your house is broken into while you and your family are at home, don’t panic or try to apprehend the burglar.Most burglars and robbers come to steal your money and valuables, not to kill you.Stay calm and give them whatever they wanted.Better losing you money and valuables than losing your life or member of your family.Never presume that you see only one burglar and you think he is alone, he may have some friends somewhere in the house or outside.If you have young daughters, if it is possible, ask them to cover up with a bed sheet or blanket and to avoid eyes contact with the burglars.It will not guarantee to stop rape but it would reduce the chances as compared to, if they are fully exposed.

5.If a stranger call at your house, do not open your gate to let him into your compound, go out and speak to him over the gate.If he insisted of coming in under the pretext of coming to inspect something, call the police immediately.Locked your doors and stay in the house until the police arrive.If you are in an apartment always keep the safety chain on and speak through the gap.Never let any stranger in, if you are alone in the apartment.

6.Young children should always be taught not to talk to strangers.Children should also be taught not to follow anyone, including relatives and friends, unless specifically allowed by the parents.Those going to school on a school bus must be back as usual.If your child missed coming home and you don’t know where he is, lodge an immediate report at the nearest police station.Always monitor your child movement at home and when they are out by themselves or out with you.There were cases where children had disappeared from shopping complex due to negligence of parents.Never leave your child unattended in the car, even for a few seconds.Never let your child to go out on their own.

7.Fire, can be your friend or worst enemy.Many house fire are started by carelessness and negligence.Never leave an open flame unattended in the kitchen or elsewhere in the house. The smallest candle can become a monstrous fire.It is good practice to keep some fire extinguishers in the house.To avoid electrical fire, never overload your power points, learn to keep the wattage within the allowed limit and always switch off any appliances not in use.If you are going for a long holiday it is good practice to switch off the main power supply to your TV,video,computer,etc and only keep on the essential one for your refrigerator, freezers and burglar alarm.

8.Keep away all medicine, drugs and poisonous chemical away from children, store them in a place where children can’t reach them.Discard unused medicine.

ON THE ROAD

9.Always check your car for the basic operational and safety requirement, brakes, clutch, tyre and tyre pressure, lights, lubricant, fuel and water in the radiator/windscreen washer.These are basic requirement that will decide whether your car will keep you alive or kill you on the road.

10.Always respect the highway codes.Never jump queue or the red light.Never drive under influence of alcohol.Learn defensive driving skill.Try to be courteous to other road users.Be helpful and give way to those in a tight situation even though it is your right of way.

11.Don’t be a road bully.Likewise, don’t be victim to road bully.If you are caught in an ugly situation, leave the scene as quickly as possible.If you are being pursued, drive to the nearest police station.Always try to remember or jot down the registration number of the car and give it to the police.

12.Always lock all your doors while in the car.If you think you are in imminent danger while waiting at a traffic light, drive away if the course is clear. It is better to pay a fine than being abducted and killed.Stick to the route you know best, especially at night, and do not drive alone on lonely and unfamiliar road.

13.Park your car in an area where there are likely to be more people around.Avoid basement car park in shopping complexes at night. Some can be very deserted after 7 p.m and a potential criminals hunting ground.

14.Never leave your house address, telephone number and house keys in your car.Put all items like laptop, camera , bag, etc in the booth of you car.

ON THE STREET

15.Don’t walk through narrow and lonely lane at night even if it can shorten the journey to your destination.

16.Take the route that you know best or which you think is the safest.

17.Keep an eye on your children if they are with you, don’t let them wander away.

18.Don’t be easily taken in by touts.There are all kinds, hanging around the streets and shops, peddling their wares.Ignore them and tell the persistent ones in no uncertain term, that you will report them to the police if they continue to disturb you.

19.Unless you have to, avoid very crowded place.This is where pickpockets and snatch thieves hang around.You can also lose track of your children in a melee.

20.Lastly, whatever you do, be it shopping, eating and entertainment always be street smart, don’t let greed take over your common sense.

Most of us are creature of habits and take a lot of things for granted.We only blame ourselves after something untoward happened and the damage done.You are what you think you are and you will achieve what you think you will. Your safety and that of your family is your responsibility.Take whatever precautions necessary to protect them.