Time and Date

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Dinar Emas dan Dirham Perak

Kesohoran dinar sebagai satu mata wang rasmi dalam sektor ekonomi sudah lama tersemat dalam lembaran sejarah Tamadun Islam. Dewasa ini komoditi ini seringkali dicanangkan sebagai instrumen alternatif dalam aktiviti ekonomi dunia semasa. Fakta ini adalah berasaskan kepada nilai intrinsik atau tersendiri yang diyakini boleh digunapakai secara lebih meluas serta konsisten. Namun demikian, masih ramai belum mengetahui dari mana dan bagaimana ia boleh berkembang sehingga menjadi satu mata wang utama dalam kronologi ketamadunan Islam.

Sekiranya dinar emas mampu dinobatkan sebagai mata wang utama pada ketika itu adalah tidak mustahil seandainya penggunaan komoditi ini boleh diperkenalkan semula sebagai mata wang alternatif pada alaf baru ini. Barangkali slogan Nothing Beats Gold, Zero Inflation in 1400 years adalah amat berketepatan dan bersesuaian dalam menyatakan hakikat tersebut.


bersama admin jutawanemas.com..Syukor Hashim.

Terfikirkah anda semenjak zaman Nabi Muhammad SAW lagi, kita tidak pernah mendengar serta mengalami keadaan inflasi. Tetapi pada hari ini ungkapan tersebut seringkali “menjelma“ sambil disulami atau lebih sinonim dengan kelesuan ekonomi sejagat. Kenapa semua ini boleh berlaku? Jawapannya ialah mata wang konvensional yang tersedia ada tidak lagi berlandaskan pada sandaran emas secara mutlak. Justeru marilah kita mengimbas kembali keunggulan serta kegemilangan dinar emas semenjak bermulanya era ketamadunan Islam.

Kijang Emas keluaran Bank Negara.1 ounce= 31.105 gram.


Masyarakat Arab Jahiliyyah pada ketika itu menggunakan dinar emas Heraclius Byzantine yang berasal dari negeri Syam manakala dirham perak Sasaniyah pula dari Iraq. Tatkala itu mereka tidak mempunyai mata wang tersendiri untuk melaksanakan urusniaga perniagaan dalam mahupun luar negara.

Penggunaan kedua-dua mata wang ini adalah bagi memudahkan urusniaga terutamanya pada masa yang melibatkan perdagangan utama di Syam pada musim panas manakala di Yaman pada musim sejuk. Namun demikian, keadaan mulai berubah apabila Nabi Muhammad SAW dipilih sebagai Rasul, dinar dan dirham telah dinaiktarafkan sebagai matawang rasmi urusniaga sektor ekonomi kerana terdapat keseragaman bagi tujuan memudahkan urusniaga.

Ketika ini jugalah reka bentuk berunsur Islam mula digunakan dalam penempaan dinar serta dirham. Pada tahun 18H atau 20H, Saidina Omar RA telah menambah pada dirham Sasaniyah beberapa elemen dengan tulisan khat Kufi seperti Bismillah, Bismillah Rabbi dan Alhamdullillah serta sesetengahnya Muhammad Rasulullah yang ditempa pada keliling gambar Kisra.

Beliau turut menetapkan piawaian bahawa 10 dirham bersamaan 7 dinar dan ini kekal digunapakai sehingga kini. Satu dinar mempunyai 91.6 peratus atau 22 karat seberat 4.25 gram manakala dirham ialah syiling perak seberat 2.975 gram.

1 Dinar bersamaan harga seekor kambing dewasa..sejak Zaman Nabi lg.

Emas kebal inflasi. Sapa nak beli kambing? hehehe...

Pengalaman bersama Prof Ramli bersama team dia mengoperasi Kambing di UM.

Jermasia; Jerman + Malaysia..Baka yang berjaya di lahirkan.

Pregnancy Test..khas utk Kambing, ibu mengandung dilarang keras oleh Kementerian Kesihatan Malaysia untuk mencuba.

eh, iklan kambing byk la sangat..sambung balik.

Dalam rekaan ini ukiran pada permukaan mata wang adalah rekabentuk Islam yang khusus tanpa wujudnya elemen-elemen Byzantine dan Parsi muncul pada tahun 76H hasil cetusan idea Khalifah Abd al-Malik bin Marwan pada zaman Bani Umaiyyah. Senario ini turut dimangkinkan oleh perselisihan faham yang berlaku antara baginda dengan Raja Rom. Pada ketika itu khalifah Abd Al-Malik bin Marwan telah diktiraf oleh Ibn Jarir al-Tabari dan Ibn al-Athir sebagai perintis menempa dinar dan dirham dalam unsur-unsur Islam.

Aplikasi dinar tidak hanya berlegar di bumi Arab tetapi melangkaui kepada ketamadunan Andalusia. Kegiatan perdagangan berkembang pesat selama 700 tahun di Andalusia telah memangkin penggunaan dinar emas serta perak sebagai mata wang utama.

Pada tahun 716 M, umat Islam Andalusia telah mula menempa dinar emas dengan ukiran bahasa Arab serta ditulis “Muhammad Rasulluah” di samping mencatatkan nama Andalusia iaitu tempat tempahan dinar berserta tahun diperbuat. Di belakang dinar emas ini turut diukir dengan tulisan Latin yang bersesuaian dengan kehidupan masyarakat Islam Andalusia pada ketika itu.

Bukti sejarah juga menunjukkan bahawa setelah tamatnya pemerintahan Andalusia, masyarakat semasa pemerintahan Kristian masih meneruskan penggunaan dinar emas selama lebih 400 tahun. Dalam era moden ini, pada tahun 1992 dinar emas pertama Eropah kembali ditempah di Granada, Sepanyol yang sekaligus merupakan sesuatu peristiwa yang sungguh menarik.

Menurut analisa yang dibuat sepanjang kecemerlangannya dinar emas turut mengalami ketidaktentuan terhadap cabaran serta krisis semasa. Pada suatu ketika stok emas tidak mencukupi memandangkan siri peperangan semakin meruncing. Justeru perak dicampurkan tembaga menjadi matawang rasmi dan digunakan di Mesir serta Syam di bawah pentadbiran Bani Ayyub.

Penggunaan dinar serta dirham terus bertahan aplikasinya pada masa keagungan kerajaan Othmaniah Turki (1299M-1924M). Pada hari ini, nama dinar serta dirham masih digunakan sebagai mata wang rasmi di beberapa buah negara di Timur Tengah seperti dinar di Tunisia, Kuwait, Libya, Bahrain, Algeria, Jordan manakala dirham Di Emiriah Arab Bersatu, Qatar dan Maghribi.

Di Malaysia berkat pengalaman kelesuan ekonomi global pada 1997 dinar emas yang diperbuat daripada emas 916 telah mula dikembalikan kegemilangan sebagai medium penyimpan nilai yang tinggi, stabil, sentiasa berpotensi untuk meningkat nilai serta komoditi yang paling selamat.

Dalam konteks yang lebih luas dinar emas turut mampu dijadikan perantaraan urusniaga , gaji dan bonus pekerja, mahar dan hantaran perkahwinan, urusan haji dan umrah, zakat dan serta semua pembayaran perniagaan dalam dan luar negara bagi negara yang berminat.

Hal ini kerana dinar emas mempunyai nilai intrinsik atau tersendiri yang diterimapakai oleh masyarakat dunia. Nilai emas adalah stabil dan meningkat dari semasa ke semasa berbanding mata wang konvesional yang seringkali menjadi mangsa “serang hendap” para penyangak mata wang antarabangsa bagi mengaut keuntungan mudah dan besar.

Monday, December 27, 2010

Friday, December 24, 2010

Cashews



Cashews helps you "Eat for Your Immune System" because a serving (2oz - 58.6g) provides 10% or higher of your daily value for the immune healthy minerals selenium and zinc plus they contain antioxidants in the form of polyphenolic phytochemicals.

Selenium deficiency has been shown to impair the immune system, in fact some research suggests selenium can also stimulate an immune response even when selenium status is relatively normal. It is thought this mineral plays a role in the signaling involved in the eliciting of the immune response - some viruses are known to become more virulent when selenium is low. Similarly, low zinc status is also associated with an impaired immune response - those suffering from it become more susceptible to infections such as diarrhea, pneumonia and malaria.

Also, the sort of age-related declines in immune function seen in the elderly (increased infection rates etc.) mirror those of zinc deficiency. The antioxidant phytochemicals present in 2 oz of cashew nuts, as evidenced by an ORAC score of 1,106, may also play a key role in immune function. The decline in immune function seen in extreme athletes (marathon runners) and soldiers after physical exertion is similar to that seen in old age.

North Carolinas' Appalachian State University researchers suggest antioxidant polyphenols like quercetin can significantly reduce infection rates in such populations therefore improving a weakened immune function.

--link---

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18522619?ordinalpos=1&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_DefaultReportPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSum

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

CASH FLOW MANAGEMENT

CASH FLOW MANAGEMENT: GETTING A CLUE.

CASH IS A KING; CASH IS THE OXYGEN. NO MATTER HOW YOU EXPRESS IT- YES, YOU’VE GOT THE IDEA. CASH IS CRITICAL. LET’S FIND OUT WHY..
A COMPANY MAY HAVE GOOD PROFIT BUT WITHOUT CASH, IT WILL DIE. SALES ARE VITAL TO YOUR BUSINESS BUT THAT IS ONLY THE FIRST STEP. ALWAYS REMEMBER THAT A SALE IS NOT A SALE UNTIL YOU RECEIVE THE PAYMENT. UNTIL THAT POINT, A SALE IS ACTUALLY A MERE GIFT.
ON THE OTHER HAND, COMPANES WHICH HAVE NOT MADE PROFITS FOR YEARS BUT HAVE A SOLID CASH-FLOW FOUNDATION WILL CONTINUE TO RUN. THIS SHOULD NOT BE A SURPRICE – THEY HAVE THE MONEY TO BUY GOODS; PAY SALARIES, RENTALS AND SO ON. FOR THIS REASON, THE INFLOW AND OUTFLOW OF CASH NEED TO BE CAREFULLY MONITORED AND CONTROLLED SINCE EFFECTIVE CASH FLOW MANAGEMENT WILL HELP PROTECT THE FINANCIAL SECURITY OF YOUR BUSINESS.
GOOD CASH FLOW

IF U ARE CURRENTLY RUNNING A BUSINESS,DO YOU KNOW IF YOUR BUSINESS HAS GOOD CASH-FLOW? YOU WILL DEFINITELY HAVE THE ANSWER IF YOU KNOW WHAT GOOD CASH-FLOW IS ALL AOUT. LOOK AT YOUR ABILITY TO PAY YOUR BILLS ON A REGULAR BASIS. THIS IS THE SIMPLEST FORM TO MEASURE YOUR CASH-FLOW. GOOD CASH-FLOW MEANS THAT THE COMPANY’S INCOME AND ECPENDITURES ARE MANAGED IN SUCH A WAY IT ALLOWS THE BUSINESS TO HAVE CASH AVAILABLE TO PAY BILLS ON TIME.
CASH-FLOW CYCLE.

FIRST, YOUR BUSIESS USES CASH TO ACQUIRE RESOURCES SUCH AS RAW MATERIALS, EMPLOYEES AND OTHERS. SECOND, USING THESE RESOURCES, GOODS AND SERVICES ARE PRODUCED. THIRD, THE GOODS AND SERVICES ARE THEN SOLD TO CUSTOMERS. FINALLY, YOU COLLECT AND DEPOSIT THE PAYMENT; AND NEXT, THE FLOW REPEATS. THIS IS A COMMON CYCLE IN A TYPICAL BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT, ISN’T IT?

WHAT IS EQUALLY IMPORTANT IS THAT YOU APPROPRIATELY MANAGE AND CONTROL THESE CASH ONFLOWS AND OUTFLOWS.
CASH-FLOW MANAGEMENT IS VITAL TO THE HEALTH OF YOUR BUSINESS. IF YOU DO NOT CAREFULLY MONITOR YOUR CASH-FLOW AND TAKE CORRETIVE ACTIONS WHEN NECESSARY, YOUR BUSINESS MAY FIND ITSELF SINKING INTO TROUBLE.

IN MOST CASES, CASH INFLOWS SEEM TO LAG BEHIND YOUR CASH INFLOWS SEEM TO LAG BEHIND YOUR CASH OUTFLOWS,LEAVING YOUR BUSINESS SHORT OF CASH. THIS MONEY SHORTAGE IS YOUR CASH-FLOW GAP. EFFECTIVE CASH-FLOW MANAGEMENT ENABLES YOU TO BUILD CASH BALANCES TO NARROW OR COMPLETELY CLOSE YOUR CASH-FLOW GAP. START BY EXAMINING THE VARIOUS COMPONENTS OF YOUR CASH INFLOWS AND OUTFLOWS THAT AFFECT THE CASH-FLOW OF YOUR BUSINESS.
CASH CONVERSION CYCLE
- THE PERIOD OF TIME REQUIRED TO CONVERT RESOURCE INPUTS INTO CASH FLOWS.
O FORMULA- (ICP+RCP)-PCP=CASH CONVERSION CYCLE.

1. ICP:INVENTORY CONVERSION PERIOD
A. DURATION TO CONVERT RAW MATERIALS INTO PRODUCTS AND SERVICES.

2. RCP: RECEIVABLES CONVERSION PERIOD
A. DURATION TO CONVERT SALES INTO CASH INFLOWS.

3. PCP: PAYABLES CONVERSION PERIOD.
A. DURATION BETWEEN PURCHASE OR USAGE OF INPUTS PAYMENT.



TRICK
 MINIMISE ICP
 MINIMISE RCP
 MAXIMISE PCP
 CONSIDER THE OVERALL NEEDS OF THE BUSINESS.

TIPS IN BRIEF
1. FIND THE RIGHT SUPPLIERS AND PRACTICE THE ART OF NEGOTIATION.
2. KEEP STOCK LEVEL UNDER CONTROL. CONSIDER TO ORDER LESS STOCKS BUT MORE

FREQUENTLY.
3. IMPROVE SALES OPERATIONS TO INCREASE SALES AND PROFITABILITY.
4. USE FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE AND OVERDRAFT FACILITIES TO COPE WITH SHORT-TERM DOWNTURNS,I.E ECONOMIC CRISIS.

Sunday, December 12, 2010

Mengapa kita perlu menyimpan emas?



Seperti yang kita sudah sedia maklum, emas memang menjadi sumber pelaburan paling selamat sejak dari zaman dulu lagi. Tetapi masih ramai lagi rakyat di Malaysia ini tidak menyedari akan kepentingan pelaburan emas ini.

Mengapa kita perlu menyimpan emas?

1. Emas ialah kekayaan yang sebenarnya
—————————————————-——
Sejak dari dulu lagi emas menjadi simbol kekayaan hinggalah zaman sekarang. Selain itu juga emas tidak boleh dibinasakan. Sesuatu benda yang menjadi penyimpan kekayaan mestilah mempunyai sifat tidak boleh dibinasakan. Sebab itu makanan, haiwan dan tumbuh-tumbuhan tidak boleh menjadi penyimpan kekayaan. Ini kerana di dalam jangka masa panjang kesemua benda tersebut akan binasa.

Sesuatu benda yang boleh dibinasakan dengan mudah tidak boleh
menjadi penyimpan kekayaan yang terunggul.

2. Harga emas sentiasa meningkat dalam jangka masa panjang.
—————————————————————–—————————–
Sejak 10 tahun yang lalu harga emas telah mula meningkat. Siapa
yang simpan emas sejak masa itu, memang menguntungkan!

Purata kenaikan harga emas adalah sekitar 27% setahun. Siapa nak
bagi anda untung setinggi ini? ASB jika tinggi pun, anda akan dapat 12% setahun. Yang mana satu lebih untung?

Jika anda kawin pada tahun 2001, barang kemas 916 dibeli pada harga RM50 segram. Pada hari ini, emas 916 mencecah harga RM150 segram!!

3. Nilai wang kertas sentiasa jatuh di dalam jangka masa panjang
—————————————————————–——————————-
Senang saja. Sebagai contoh, pada tahun 1980an, kebanyakan pelajar sekolah membawa antara 20 sen dan 30 sen sebagai duit poket. Duit tersebut cukup untuk membeli nasi dan air minum. Bagaimana dengan sekarang – tahun 2010? RM 5 sehari pun tidak cukup..

4. Aset yang terunggul
————————————
Tidak ada aset lain yang boleh menandingi kecairan emas. Ia bukan sahaja boleh dicairkan di Malaysia tetapi boleh dicairkan di seluruh dunia. Katakanlah negara kita dilanda peperangan. Kita lari dengan membawa emas ke negara lain. Ianya boleh ditukarkan kepada wang kertas negara itu. Dan dengan emas itu, kita mampu hidup di negara tersebut. Lain pula jika kita membawa wang kertas kita, adakah ianya laku di negara lain? Ibarat ‘wang kertas Iraq’ yang sama sekali tidak bernilai akibat peperangan.

5. Ia tidak boleh dimanipulasikan
—————————————————-
Emas sukar diperoleh dan tidak boleh dicipta. Jadi, ia tidak boleh dimanipulasikan. Kuantitinya tidak boleh ditambah dengan mudah. Ini menyebabkan emas sentiasa bernilai.

Ini berbeza sekali dengan wang kertas. Ia boleh dicetak sesuka hati oleh pemerintah. Jika jumlah cetakan terlalu tinggi, maka nilainya akan menurun. Rm 1 juta hari ini tidak akan bernilai RM1 juta lagi pada 5 tahun akan datang...=)

Abu Bakr ibn Abi Maryam reported that he heard the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, say: "A time is certainly coming over mankind in which there will be nothing [left] which will be of use save a dinar and a dirham." (The Musnad of Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal)

Gold and silver are the most stable currency the world has ever seen.Protect your wealth by buying gold and silver.

Saturday, December 11, 2010

Islam rejects 'Ketuanan Melayu'

I congratulate the former Mufti of Perlis for his recent statement chiding those who talk about "Malay supremacy".

Dr Asri Zainul Abidin is right in making a comparison between this silly battlecry of a section of politicians to Jewish supremacy, which underlines Zionism and all the ugliness that it represents. Of course, this statement by Asri did not make headlines in Utusan Malaysia or the other UMNO-owned media, unlike his previous opinion calling for Anwar Ibrahim's retirement.

It is also sad that while UMNO leaders in their ignorance keep harping on this racist and un-Islamic notion, not much effort was done by the leaders of PAS or the Muslim scholars in PKR to argue their opposition to this kind of racism from a religious point of view. Much of the issues have been argued from a political and constitutional point of view, and this has led many to suspect that PAS's stance has more to do with votes than their religious ideology.

A cursory glance of this hotch potch "Malay supremacy" will reveal that it has nothing to do with either the Federal constitution or the status of Islam. It is wrong to keep linking the position of Islam to this un-Islamic and racist belief that a certain race should be given preference and their culture should be held in more esteem than others.

Islam came to de-bunk the myth that there is any chosen race in the eyes of God, and characters like Perkasa and UMNO, who call themselves Muslims, threaten to bring us back to the age of the Jahiliyah Arabs.

PAS and PKR leaders should argue the Islamic stand on "Malay supremacy", and as said by PKR president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail recently, it is better for the Malays to become a dignified race rather than clinging on the 'ketuanan Melayu'. One also should appreciate our former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who once said that there is no point talking about ketuanan Melayu when most Malays work as coolies. Of course, this great Malaysian uncle keeps evolving despite his age.

The Qur'an is explicit of its stance against any notion of racial supremacy and many verses remind us of our origin from Adam and Eve, and who the real chosen people are, i.e. those who are fearful of Allah Almighty.

Prophet Muhammad's final sermon is also a warning to all those Muslims who are toying with racism, when he declared: "An Arab has no superiority over a non-Arab nor a non-Arab has any superiority over an Arab; also a black has no superiority over white, nor a white has any superiority over black, except by piety and good action (Taqwa). Indeed the best among you is the one with the best character (Taqwa).

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Pemimpin Patut Lapar?

"Pemimpin sepatutnya berlapar kerana rakyat bukan rakyat berlapar kerana pemimpin," kata pensyarah Universiti Utara Malaysia, Dr Ahmad Bashir Abdul Aziz.
Beliau menyatakan ketika menyampaikan ceramah pada Sambutan Maal Hijrah 1432H Peringkat Negeri Pualu Pinang di perkarangan Masjid Daerah Seberang Perai Tengah, Bandar Perda, malam tadi.

Menurutnya, pemimpin hari ini wajar meniru apa yang Rasullulah s.a.w lakukan sewaktu berusaha mengorek parit ketika menghadapi perang Khandak yang mana Baginda turut bersama sahabat bertungkus lumus bekerja mengorek parit untuk menghalang kemaraan tentara kafir.

Tetapi, katanya hari ini orang kenyang dengan makanan sehingga tidak menghiraukan Islam serta membiarkan rakyat menderita dengan masalah.

Hari ini, katanya ada juga rakyat terpaksa meletakkan batu di atas perut bukan kerana menahan lapar sebaliknya kerana terlalu kenyang atau kata lain 'mengah' dengan tujuan membuang angin.

Ketika Baginda sedang menahan lapar rupa-rupanya Abdullah bin Jabir sedang melihat kelakuan Baginda, maka terus menghampiri untuk mengajak Baginda makan kerana ada sedikit makanan di rumahnya.

Selepas diberitahu sambungnya, Rasullulah s.a.w memanggil semua sahabat dan petugas yang begitu ramai untuk bersama menikmati makanan yang ada di rumah Abdullah bin Jabir.

"Sekali lagi menyaksikan Baginda s.a.w bukan orang yang tamak atau mementingkan diri sebaliknya mementingkan rakyat untuk bersama menikmati makanan yang ada.

“Jika kita, yang penting sapu dulu baru bagi tahu orang," ujarnya diiringi ketawa orang ramai.

Beliau menambah, apabila Rasullulah tiba di rumah Abdullah, Baginda berpesan agar isterinya tidak mengangkat makanan daripada dapur apabila siap masak dan meletakkan tangan di atas makanan serta berdoa.

Akhirnya, makanan yang boleh dimakan dua hingga tiga orang dapat dinikmati oleh ribuan sahabat yang lain.

“Kalau hari ini ramai orang hilang tanggungjawab untuk menjaga kepentingan umum sebaliknya lebih kepada mengutamakan dirinya,” ujarnya.

Walaupun Baginda s.a.w berhadapan dengan adu domba, fitnah, provokasi dan cabaran yang teruk tetapi Baginda menghadapinya dengan baik dan dilihat mampu merealisasikan apa yang diinginkan oleh Islam.

Justeru itu, katanya sikap tamak, kepentingan diri, bongkah dan berbangga diri hendaklah dibuang jauh sempena Maal Hijrah mudah-mudahan apa yang dilakukan mendapat keberkatan dari Allah SWT.

Turut sama mendengar ceramah beliau ialah Tun Dr Abdul Rahman Abas, Ketua Menteri, Lim Guan Eng, timbalannya, Dr Mansor Othman, Pegawai Kewangan Negeri, Datuk Farisan Darus, Yang Dipertua Majlis Agama Islam Pulau Pinang (Maipp), Ustaz Elias Zakaria, ketua-ketua jabatan dan orang ramai.

Sambutan kali ini juga menyaksikan Profr Madya Dr Radzi Othman dianugerahkan sebagai Tokoh Maal Hijrah. Manakala Tokoh Saudara Kita diberikan kepada Muhamad Asyraf Tan Abdullah, Ibu Mithali Puan Juriah, Bapa Mithali Haji Abdul Razak Zakaria dan Tokok Pendakwah dianugerahkan kepada Ustaz Roslan Che Ros.

Monday, December 6, 2010

Hadeeth 6 from Imam Nawawi's Forty Hadeeth

"Truly, what is lawful is evident, and what is unlawful is evident and in between the two are matters which are doubtful which may people do not know. He who guards against doubtful things keeps his religion and honour blamless, and he who indulges in doubtful things indulges in fact in unlawful things, just as a shepherd who pastures his flock round a preserve will soon pasture them in it. Beware, every king has a preserve, and the things Allah has declared unlawful are His preserves. Beware, in the body there is a flesh; if it is sound, the whole body is sound, and if it is corrupt, the whole body is corrupt, and behold, it is the heart."

(Mutafaqqun Alaih)


Lessons from the Hadeeth

Imam al-Bukhari recorded this Hadeeth as the opening of his Musannaf on the Book of Trade. There is much wisdom as to why he did that.


If one is to find much contentment in striving for the path of Allah, then maintaining a life clearly within the permissible bounds, is a crucial necessity.


Consider the following daily matters;
- our food
- our dressing
- our work
- our worship elements
- our interaction with others

Don't look at how minor the sin that is you committed, but look at the glory of the one you disobeyed.

Take home message; stay away from the grey area as that is better for you..[Allah knows best]..



Salam Maal Hijrah! May Allah shower us with His guidance and bless...

Saturday, December 4, 2010

Corruption

The word “corruption” comes from a Latin word meaning “to break” or “to destroy”. Corruption is a cancer that steals from the poor, eats away at governance and moral fibre, and destroys trust. Although corruption exists in both the private and public sector, the corruption of the public sector is a more fundamental evil. This is because the public sector is the enforcer and arbiter of the rules that hold us together, the custodians of our common resources.

Corruption is the abuse of public office for personal gain.

• Corruption exacts a huge toll on our economy

o In a survey of more than 150 high ranking public officials and top citizens from over 60 developing nations, these officials ranked corruption as the biggest obstacle to development and growth in their countries.

o Corruption empties out the public purse, causes massive misallocation of resources, dampens trade and scares away investors

o The World Bank estimates that corruption can reduce a country’s growth rate by 0.5 to 1 percentage points per year. Where there is a lack of transparency and a weak court system, investors stay away.

o Corruption is a form of theft. But it is a form of theft that also damages what is not stolen. This is because corruption involves the capture of decisions involving public funds. Corrupt decisions mis-allocate public resources and cause tremendous waste in the expenditure of public money. Public money is poured down the drain when projects are selected not because of the value they deliver to the public but because of what can be skimmed from them.

• But corruption is more than an economic cost. It is a curse that attacks the root of the tree. Corruption destroys trust, which is nothing less than the glue holding a society and its institutions together. When it becomes rampant and is conducted with impunity, it also demoralizes even those public servants not involved in it. The common people’s experience with government breeds the expectation that they need to pay before things will move. Small businesses suffer as city hall officials come on their rounds to collect mandatory “donations.”

It is time we recognized corruption as the single biggest threat to our nation. In our economy, corruption is the root of our inability to to make the economic leap that we know we are capable of. There is no other reason why a country so blessed with natural resources, a favourable climate and such immense talent should not have done a lot better than we have.

In our political system, corruption is the real reason why our political parties refuse to reform. In the party I belong to it has debased a once noble nationalism and a concern with the welfare of marginalised people into a rush for the gravy train. The economic development we must bring our people is reduced to nothing more than patronage, and patronage is inflated into a right.

The root cause is in our political parties. It is an open secret that tender inflation is standard operating procedure. Within the parties and among politicians, it is already an understood matter that party followers must be ‘fed’. Politics is an expensive business, after all. Where else are we to get the funds? Thus theft of public goods is normalised and socialised among an entire community, and what we had planned to attain by capability is seen by some as something to be attained through politics.

Politicians are the villains in this piece, but they themselves the villains but they themselves are also trapped. The leadership is trapped because they are beholden to political followers who demand that they are looked after. They demand patronage, and the turn the party’s struggle for the welfare of a community into their sense of entitlement to that patronage. So they take their slice of the project. By the time they they and each person down the line all the way down to the contractor takes a lot and there is not enough left to do a decent job, bridges collapse, highways crack, stadiums collapse, hospitals run out of medicine, schoolchildren are cheated in their textbooks. Corruption may look to its perpetrators like a crime without victims, but it leaves a trail of destruction.

No domain seems safe. The humble school canteen is the domain of Umno branch chiefs. The golf course become a favoured way to pass the cash over. We can place bets for RM5000 a hole. For some reason one party keeps losing. And there are 18 holes. Money thus obtained is legal. It can be banked.

We spend billions on the refurbishment of defence equipment; on fighter jets, frigates and submarines. Whe a supplier lays on an exorbitant commission to some shadowy middleman, that commision is built into the price the government pays. That money comes from the ordinary Malaysian.

Military toys are very expensive. I remember from my time in the Ministry of Finance. Even then, patrol craft cost about RM280mil each.

We loved Exocet missiles. As Minister, I had to sign each time the military fired an Exocet missile for testing. Every time we test fired one of them, RM2mil literally went out with a bang. When the UK went to war against Argentina, the UK Government came back to borrow them from us because outside of the UK we had the most of them in the world. We must have been under some extraordinary military threat which I did not understand.

The list is long: procurement of food and clothing for the military, medicine for hospitals and so on. In all these things the Government has been extraordinarily generous. And paid extraordinarily high prices.

Government servants have to face pressure from politicians who expect to be given these contracts because they need money for politics. This corruption is justified because the party’s struggle is sacred. The civil servants can either join the game or be bypassed.

For every government job big or small that goes down, someone feels entitled to a slice of the pie, not because they can do the job, not because they have some special talent or service to offer, but because it is their right. They do not realise that what they demand is the abuse of power for the sake of personal gain, or party gain. They elect those leaders among themselves who are most capable of playing this game. So we get as our leaders people who have distinguished themselves not by their ability to serve the public but at their long proven ability to be party warlords, which is to say, distributors of patronage. And that is a euphemistic way of saying that because of corruption the old, stupid and the criminal are elevated to positions of power while young, talented and honest individuals are frozen out. Corruption destroys national wealth, erodes institutions and undermines character. And it also destroys the process by which a community finds its leaders.

The consequence of this is that the majority are marginalized. Government contracts circulate among a small group of people. Despite all attempts at control and brainwashing, the majority soon catch up to the game.

This game cannot last forever. The longer it is played the more people hate the government and the governing class. They vote against the government, not for the Opposition. They resent the government of the day. In 2008 we saw how the Malaysian people feel about the abuse of power and incompetence caused by corruption.

Since party funding has become the excuse and the vehicle for wholesale corruption, any measure we take to fight it must include the reform of political funding.

It is time we enact a law regulating donations to political parties. Donations must be capped. No donor is to give more than a specified limit, on pain of prosecution. This it to try to prevent special interests from dominating parties. Such money is source of corruption.

Let us limit political donations by law. On top that let the government set up a fund to provide funding to registered political party for their legitimate operational needs. This money can be distributed based on objective criteria and governed by an independent panel. This would close off the excuse that the parties need to raise political funding through government contracts.

Another idea is that we should freeze the bank accounts of people who are being investigated for corruption. Public servants and politicians are by law required to be able to demonstrate the sources of their assets. Those with suspiciously ample asssets should have these assets frozen until they can come up with evidence that they have accumulated them by political means.

This may sound harsh, but only because we live in a country in which almost no one ever gets nabbed for corruption. In China, those found guilty are shot.

In Malaysia we read about MACC investigating this and that but there are no convictions. No one has been punished. We are the nation with no consequences. The MACC finds no fault. The courts do not convict. And our newspapers do not have the independence and vigour to follow up.

We have an MACC with no results. It was a good idea to model our anti-corruption agency after one of the most successful in the world, Hong Kong’s ICAC. However we have taken just bits and pieces of that model. So really this will be no more than PR exercise unless we adopt the model wholesale.

We should repeal the OSA so that people can go to the MACC and the authorities with documentary information on corrupt practice. As things stand, any document which might be incriminating to corrupt public officials is stamped an Offical Secret. A whistleblower risks 7 yrs jail for being in possession of such documents.

We need to identify rot eating through our roots as a nation. It is corruption. We cannot expect the corrupt to embrace reform. It is time for our citizens to stand up and call corruption by its name, and demand reform.