WHAT THE HELL.

Source: The Star, 22 May 2008

SCHOOL UNIFORM SEXY, SAYS GROUP

KUALA LUMPUR: A Malaysian group condemned the uniform worn by girls at government schools, saying it encouraged rape and pre-marital sex.

“The white blouse is too transparent for girls and it becomes a source of attraction,” National Islamic Students Association of Malaysia vice-president Munirah Bahari said in a statement.

“It becomes a distraction to men, who are drawn to it, whether or not they like looking at it,” she said, calling for a review of uniform policy so that it did not violate Islamic ideals.

In multicultural Malaysia, home to majority-Muslim Malays as well as ethnic Chinese and Indians, female students at government schools have a choice of wearing a white blouse with a knee-length skirt or pinafore.

They may also wear a “baju kurung” and a headscarf is optional for Malay students.

Munirah said that “covering up” according to Islamic precepts was important to fend off social ills, including “rape, sexual harassment and even premarital sex.”

“This leads to babies born out of wedlock and, to an extent, even prostitution,” she said.

“Decent clothes which are not revealing can prevent and protect women from any untoward situations,” she said, suggesting that girls wear a blouse of a different colour or with an undergarment.

However, the girls themselves also came in for criticism, with the association saying that some used the white blouse to lure men.

“This is the source of the problem, where we can see that schoolgirls themselves are capable of using this to attract men to them,” Munirah said.

“This could see them getting molested, having premarital sex and all sorts of things.” – AFP

Thank you, Munirah Bahari, for your enlightening logic. We now know the cause behind all those cases of rape, pre-marital sex, sexual harassment, babies born out of wedlock, prostitution, molestation and the unmentionable "all sorts of things".

The uniforms of schoolgirls.

Sure, Nik Aziz spouts the "blame women for rape" story every now and then, but sane people don't listen to him anyway. It BLOWS MY MIND that a young, educated female is capable of exhorting garbage which would only set her, her female counterparts and her country back.

My one hope for the country was that one day in the near future, people like Nik Aziz would all be dead, and the younger generation would realise how destructive this kind of fundamentalism is, realise it can never instil harmony in a multicultural society and instead, embrace progressive thinking, like some Malay leaders and thinkers have encouraged their own to do. Dr. Mahathir Mohammad, Karim Raslan, Dina Zaman - they've done a world of good by braving the backlash from their own, and being vocal about the importance of progressive thinking - whether in terms of religion or the 'rights' issue (but that's a whole other kettle of fish). In a country where race is such a sensitive issue, we depend on people like them to help the country open its mind, knowing how difficult it is for non-Malays to comment on such issues without stirring up racial tensions.

Then people like Bahari come along. What a tragedy.

malaysia makes the news again!

It's been a little over a week now since I came back from Adelaide, and it's been full steam ahead with assignments and deadlines, hence the lack of a post-tournament update. I would like to reflect on the tournament eventually, preferably when I've got more pictures and time. In short though, AUG was fantastic. I'm still recovering from a bruised finger and developing shin splints, but people, for the BRONZE MEDAL at the national level, it was every bit worth it!

I've been a little out of touch with news back home since the Mahathir hoo-ha, but it seems every time I do check, there is never a dearth of similarly amusing stories to entertain me. Ah Malaysia! How I love thee.

Malaysia cracks down on "salad language"

All the other links in the article are worth clicking on too. Unsurprisingly, such a development opens up floodgates for the usual lost-in-translation digs. It's funny how so many well-worn English phrases become suspicious sexual innuendoes once translated into BM, as pointed out by the M'sian blogger linked in the article and the comments on his comments page.

Joystick - Kayu Gembira
Touch N' Go - Raba dan Pergi
Plug and Play Device - Peralatan Cucuk dan Main

*giggles*

But oh goodness, MyKad to Kadaku... And Rais' suggestion that 'Boulevard' be changed to 'Lebuh Perdana' is laughable. As if our road names weren't long enough already. As a commenter implied, they (well, the government) were the ones who came up with Cyberjaya (name of a suburb) in the first place.

Seeing 'bahasa rojak' translated as 'salad language' was interesting. I've never seen that version before. In fact, I've never seen any version before, so maybe that's why. My sister's speech is a prime example of bahasa rojak. Everytime I go back, I never fail to gawp at the progress she's made in fusing 3 different languages together in one sentence. This would then be followed by much teasing and laughing from her 2 other helpful and supportive siblings, and an admonition from my mom, "Don't speak like rojak!"...the irony of which, I've just realised.

While we're on the topic of languages, I stumbled across a blog written entirely in Hokkien some time ago. It's hilarious if you know Hokkien, so, sorry for those who miss out. He recently posted lyrics to a Hokkien song I've been half-heartedly searching for, which made me happy. Hokkien songs bring up such vivid memories of my dad, Chinese New Year and grandiose Chinese hotel wedding dinners.

Happy mid-autumn festival! I want mooooncake...mmm double yolk...

mixed messages

From The Australian 'Cut & Paste' section on Wednesday:

Outgoing RBA chief Ian Macfarlane in The Australian Financial Review, gives The Australian credit for the budget tax cuts:
BASICALLY before the February inquiry, and I sat down with [Treasury Secretary] Ken [Henry] beforehand, I said, you know, this is crazy. All these people who desire huge tax cuts. I mean you've got people in the Liberal Party, people in the Labor Party, you've got the press, led by The Australian, they want these huge tax cuts.

I mean what? Why is The Australian boasting about lobbying for tax cuts using this excerpt? Obviously Macfarlane is saying, "What's wrong with these crazy people asking for huge tax cuts? Can't they see we're trying to curb inflation?!"

In an effort to unravel this mystery, I hunted down the actual AFR article. Right enough,

Mr. Macfarlane noted that public demand for tax cuts was running at a high level at the time and he felt he had to 'pour cold water on that'...

[update]

The mystery was solved today, when I came across more articles in The Australian about this recent blamefest of who said what about the tax cuts. The Australian dedicated half an editorial to the now (somewhat) infamous cut & paste, saying:

ON Wednesday, this newspaper's Cut & Paste column quoted former Reserve Bank chief Ian Macfarlane, who, in speaking to the Australian Financial Review, complained about those campaigning for huge tax cuts – specifically: ". . . the press, led by The Australian, they want these huge tax cuts". Above his words was a cheeky introduction claiming credit for the tax relief offered in this year's budget. Not everyone saw the humour.

Cheeky introduction, hey? A bit too subtle in my opinion - if it genuinely was meant to be cheeky - who knows. I'm sceptical, firstly, because the Cut & Paste section isn't usually known for its levity. I didn't see the humour, and apparently neither did "Treasurer Peter Costello [who] called it a 'chutzpah of the first order'."

Secondly, Mr. Macfarlane has reportedly been getting huffy at people misinterpreting that very quote (where he calls everyone crazy). He said,

"Unfortunately my answer was completely misinterpreted. It was interpreted as saying, 'You should go out there and have...really big tax cuts'."

So, either I (and Peter Costello) don't have a sense of humour, or The Australian doesn't for trying to pull a "cheeky" blurb out of the blue.

Anyhow, this blamefest raises a more important issue - were the tax cuts responsible for last month's interest rate hike, and if so, who was to blame for the tax cuts? Macfarlane, Costello and Howard have all said different things at different times, complained that they've been misinterpreted and/or denied that they said or meant this or that. Thus, I've reconstructed the conversation below to try wrap my head around what's been going on so far.

February
Macfarlane: You people are crazy. Everyone wanting huge tax cuts n'all...craazy.

May
Costello: My beloved Australians, here are your tax cuts. Vote for us!
Australians: Costello is our hero!

August
Macfarlane: Too...much inflationary pressures...must...raise interest rates!
Australians: It's your fault Costello! Thanks to your tax cuts raising everyone's disposable income and spending, the RBA has raised interest rates.

September [interest rates still high]

Australians: Stupid Macfarlane...You said we could have big tax cuts.
Macfarlane: I never said that! How dare Costello tell you that I urged him to cut taxes?!
Costello: Bitch, I never told 'em anything like that! It was Howard.
Macfarlane: Oops, sorry. I thought it was you.
Howard: Yeah, I said it, but I'm prime minister and I rule.

Australians: So who said what now?
Macfarlane: Okay, so what I said was we could afford tax cuts, but a very modest one. And the tax cut Costello gave you was a modest one, which I support. I'm tired of people misinterpreting what I say.
Costello: What he said. Now leemelone.
Howard: [actual quote from Feb] Well I thought what the governor of the Reserve Bank said is exactly the same as what Mr. Costello has said, and that is that if there is a capacity for some tax relief...it's a question of what the balance and mix is.

And so it goes.

Anyway, going back to the issue, who was to blame for the tax cuts? Who cares. Were the tax cuts (partly) responsible for the interest rate hike? I'm inclined to think so. My basic economic knowledge tells me that tax cuts raise disposable income which raises consumption, which adds to inflationary pressures, which justifies interest rate hikes.

The Australian argues that "rates are climbing largely because the economy is straining for reform, not because of it." (thus defending their wisdom in lobbying for tax cuts) If they mean structural reforms relating directly to the reduction of capacity constraints, fair enough. But the editorial seems to be talking about a tax reform, and for lack of elaboration on these tax reforms in the article and my own lack of knowledge on them, I shall end this post here, and pick it up again when I know enough to talk about it.

Toodles!