WHAT SAY YOU, MY BIDAYUH FRIENDS?

I came across this piece of article in http://brokenshield.blogspot.com and I suggest that everybody should read it and learn a thing or two. This goes to all those who are involved with SALCRA. Read it...sit back...think about it...and make up your mind.

Wednesday, April 29

Jabu under fire over NCR scheme ~ Malaysiakini

Taken from http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/103229

By Tony Thien Apr 28, 09 12:38pm

A Miri-based Dayak NGO has taken Sarawak's most senior Dayak minister Alfred Jabu to task for 'once again shortchanging the community' through one of the state government's most praised native customary land development schemes’ commonly known as 'konsep baru' or new concept.

It cited the latest incident which involved the Iban communities from Rumah Belili and Rumah Ranggong situated at Ulu Niah, Miri Division.

Borneo Resources Institute Malaysia (Brimas) executive director Mark Bujang said last Thursday, Jabu (right) handed out a total of RM436,708.20 in dividends and bonuses to 226 participants of the Ulu Niah NCR Joint Venture Project.

At first glance, he said, the total amount seems reasonable if the payment of dividends and bonuses are for the year 2008, but upon checking with the participants, it was learnt that this is the first time in 10 years that the JV project has paid out dividends or bonuses.

“If we were to make the assumption that the dividends and bonuses are divided equally among the scheme participants, each participant would receive about RM1,932,” he added.

Divide that by 10 years, he said, each participant would only get RM193 per year. This, he added, is a far cry from the government's promise that the scheme would uplift the socio-economic status of the Dayaks.

Snek Bagat, one of the residents of Rumah Ranggong, said: "I was looking forward to receiving the dividends and bonuses from our investment (in the JV project). But I was shocked to find out that our investment only yielded 50 cents per month after 10 years. Not enough to buy a cup of coffee."

Why the sudden need to do so?

Meanwhile, Bujang questioned the need to hand out dividends and bonuses after 10 years. "Why does the government and the JV company have a sudden interest with the NCR landowners after they have been neglected all these while?"

"Is it because that the community of Rumah Belili and Rumah Ranggong are suing the private investor BLD Resources Sdn. Bhd. for not keeping its end of the bargain?" he asked.

Previously, in 1999, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between BLD Sdn. Bhd (sister company of BLD Resources), Sarawak Land Development Board (SLDB) and the NCR landowners at Ulu Niah, where Rumah Belili and Rumah Ranggong were the participating longhouses, to develop the Ulu Niah NCR land based on the ‘konsep baru’ scheme.

Jabu and the then Sarawak Minister for Housing Celestine Ujang handed out the 10 percent upfront payment worth RM294,990 in 2001.

However, in 2008, a resident of Rumah Ranggong, Changgai Dali was sued by BLD Resources for allegedly trespassing into BLD’s plantation. When Changgai and his longhouse folks disputed this they discovered to their horror that their NCR JV project was cancelled - reason given was the government made a mistake saying the land is NCR.

Commenting on the dividends and bonuses received, Changgai said: "We thank Jabu for handing out the dividends and bonuses to us, but we are not happy with the amount."

"How come after all these years, this is all we get? Jabu not once mentioned the status of our land during the ceremony. When I asked Jabu if he could withdraw the provisional lease of the company, he replied that he does not have the authority," he added.

Problems in other schemes

In another case, Jabu also handed out dividends amounting to RM52 million to 16,480 participants for the year 2008 in another NCR land development scheme managed by another state government agency, the Sarawak Land Consolidation and Rehabilitation Authority (Salcra), where Jabu is also its chairman.

According to an article sourced from a blogsite, Anilnetto.com, Salcra should have netted profits amounting to RM292 million for 2008 taking into account the price of oil palm that year. Jabu announced that another RM22 million had been set aside for loan repayments.

The article went on to say that the net balance after dividends and loan repayments should have amounted to RM218 million, or RM13,240 per participant.

The article questioned Salcra on where the balance of the money went. The article went on to state that even if 50 percent is withheld to allow for reinvestment and replanting, that would still amount to RM109 million or RM6,620 per participant to be accounted for.

In another NCR JV scheme in Suai, Miri Division, the Penans from Kampung Ugos threatened to withdraw from the said scheme launched by Jabu himself in 1998 if the state government agency the Sarawak Land Development Board (SLDB) did not disclose transparently the official documents, records, JV agreements and statement of accounts of the company.

The Penans also complained that they do not know how SLDB arrived at the amount of dividends paid which is exactly RM500,000 and they do not know which private investor company is in the JV. Some of the scheme participants have died not knowing what will happen to their land and their investment.

Inconsistent, insensitive translations of ‘Allah’? (Part 2)

A response to Prof Dzulkifli by Fr Martin Harun (Part 2)

Source: http://www.heraldmalaysia.com/news/storydetails.php/A-response-to-Prof-Dzulkifli-by-Fr-Martin-Harun/362-2-3

Prof Dzulkifli: The consequence of this translation will be that Muslims will be confronted with blasphemous ideas that ‘Allah’ has a son; that ‘Allah’s son was born in the manger; that ‘Allah’s son was crucified; that ‘Allah’s son died for all of us. This may have public order implications under section 298 of the Malaysian Penal Code which forbids the wounding of religious feelings.

Fr Martin: Such a statement could amount to forbidding the presence of Christianity altogether. Prof Zulkifli forgets that Bible and Biblical Literature are intended for Christian readers.

Prof Dzulkifli: As it stands, the use of ‘Allah’ the way it is can only arouse suspicions as to why an Arabic word is used for an Indonesia- Malay translation of the Gospel. Why not use the Hebrew or Armenia (Should it not be Aramaic? Editor’s Note) equivalents, instead?

Fr Martin: In a bible translation Hebrew and Greek words have to be translated, and — as said — the best and most enduring translation for the concept of Elohim and Theos has been the Malay/Indonesian word ‘Allah’. In our language ‘Allah’ is no longer an Arabic word with Arabic grammatical and syntactic rules, but has already for centuries become a Malay/Indonesian word that listens to our own language rules. E.g. we can say “Tuhan, Allah kita” which is impossible in Arabic.

Prof Dzulkifli: To add on to this suspicion is why there is no insistence that examples in the fore-mentioned names be substituted with the Arabic equivalent, including places like ‘Jerusalem’ which is substituted by ‘Yerusalem’ which is not the name in Arabic either.

Fr Martin: Once again, our bible translation is not a translation from Arabic or into Arabic.

Prof Dzulkifli: On the contrary, there are biblical names that are readily rendered to the equivalent Arabic in the translation. The examples are numerous, for instance: David as Daud; Zacharias as Zakharia; Aaron as Harun; Joseph as Yusuf; Moses as Musa; law of Moses as Taurat Musa (though, more appropriately it should have been ‘hukum Musa’, since there is the specific term ‘Torah’ for ‘Taurat’).

Fr Martin: Malay and Indonesian languages are enriched by the influence of many languages, Sanskrit, Portuguese, Arabic, Dutch, English, bahasa daerah, etc. Any of these originally ‘loanwords’ or name transliterations can be used by the translating community if it sounds familiar to them and is an adequate rendering. There is no rule that all should be taken from one background, or none from another. Language is a living and always developing mixed reality. The community itself has to decide about choices that fit best. Translation cannot be decided by outsiders with rigid consistency rules.

Prof Dzulkifli: The final straw is when the patriarch ‘Abraham’ who is the fountain head for Judaism, Christianity and Islam is also not rendered to Arabic ‘Ibrahim’ — but left as ‘Abraham’. Here, the inconsistencies, inaccuracies and insensitivities in the use and misuse of the word ‘Allah’ become even clearer. And this must be the concern of all.

Fr Martin: Abraham is a close transliteration of the Hebrew and the Ancient Greek (Abraam). No need for intervention from transliteration in a third language, and no dictionary forbids one language to have several ransliterations that function in different communities or subcultures.

Inconsistent, insensitive translations of ‘Allah’?

A response to Prof Dzulkifli by Fr Martin Harun

Source: http://www.heraldmalaysia.com/news/storydetails.php/A-response-to-Prof-Dzulkifli-by-Fr-Martin-Harun/362-1-3

By: Dzulkifli Abdul Razak (Wed, 11 Mar 2009)
Prof Dzulkifli Abdul Razak in his article in The Sun on Mar 11, wrote about the Christian Bible and its translation in Bahasa Indonesia (Alkitab). Unfortunately he manifested not only his lack of understanding in the specified field of bible translation but also an inadequate knowledge of basic Christian concepts. Hence we have asked Fr Martin Harun, OFM, a biblical scholar, to respond to his article. Fr Martin is a member of the Lembaga Alkitab Indonesia. Please note that we have not altered the original article of Prof Dzulkifli. The response of Fr Martin is in bold beneath those statements that are inaccurate or which do not measure up to good scholarship.

Prof Dzulfikli Abdul Razak: The use of the term ‘Allah’ has captured the attention of the media again. Of late, even a newspaper from down south carried a commentary on the issue. The slant is usually political, and not religious, and does not throw any new light on the issue. It also does not appeal to the intellect; instead, it seems to border more on emotions that further confuse the issue.

[We disagree with the above sentence. In our response to what follows we challenge the subjective views of the author. Our statements are based on historical facts and intellectual objectivity. (Editor’s Note)]

To all Muslims the term ‘Allah’ is laden with the concept of Tauhid — that ‘Allah’ is “the One and Only” as defined in the Quranic language, which happens to be Arabic. ‘Allah’ cannot be understood without this concept of his oneness. Any attempt to do so will amount to a vulgarism of sort, and an affront to Muslims.

Fr Martin Harun: All Christians in the Arabic world and Indonesia and Malaysia who use the word ‘Allah’ for God, confess ‘Allah’ yang Esa. Christian Trinitarian belief is monotheistic, although not in the same sense as Muslim monotheistic belief. Each religion has of course its own specific definitions, as has been acknowledged by Muslims and Christians from the very beginning.

Prof Dzulkifli: Moving forward, let us briefly try and understand the reasons for Muslim misgivings by using the Bahasa Indonesia version which is translated from the English New King James Version and authorised by Konperensi Waligerja Indonesia (Edition, 2004). Let us randomly take The Gospel according to Luke, translated as Injil Lukas, to briefly illustrate the point.

Fr Harun: Alkitab Terjemahan Baru and Alkitab Bahasa Indonesia Sehari-hari both are translated not from any other modern language like English but from the original Hebrew and Greek text. When translating Elohim and Theos with ‘Allah,’ the translations follow an already long established translation tradition. Since the seventeenth century bible translations in Malay have used the word ‘Allah’ as the best word available in the Malay language to express the monotheistic concept of Elohim and Theos.

Prof Dzulkifli: In Luke, ‘God’ is generally substituted by ‘Allah’, whereas ‘Tuhan’ is commonly used to substitute ‘the Lord". Note the article ‘the’ applies to ‘Tuhan,’ but not to ‘Allah’. Hence, where there is ‘the Lord God’ in the English version, it becomes ‘Tuhan Allah’. ‘The Lord their God’ becomes ‘Tuhan, Allah mereka’. Note the use of a comma!

Fr Harun: Alkitab is not translated from English, but from Hebrew and Greek. ‘Allah’ is not chosen as an Arabic word, but as an already Malay/Indonesian word that best expresses the meaning of Elohim and Theos in the biblical texts, and Tuhan best expresses the meaning of Adonai / Kurios in the biblical language. So every comparison with English and also Arabic is irrelevant and highly confusing.

Prof Dzulkifli: On some occasions though, ‘God’ is also translated as ‘Tuhan’, though ‘God’ in this example does not carry the article ‘the’ as in ‘the Lord’. So does it mean there is a time when ‘God’ is not ‘Allah’? Or that ‘Tuhan’ is ‘Allah’ after all?

Fr Harun: This happens only in the Old Testament, more often in the book of Ezekiel when the Hebrew text says Adonai YHWH (pronounced Adonai Adonai, harfiah Tuhan Tuhan). In many bible translations in many languages, starting from the Latin Vulgate this repetition has been avoided by translating ‘Tuhan Allah’, ‘Dominus Deus’, ‘Lord God’, ‘Herr Gott’, ‘Seigneur Dieu’. The Indonesian Alkitab Terjemahan Baru follows this old use, but could also opt for a different way, e.g. ‘TUHAN Yang Mahatinggi’ (BIS), ‘like Sovereign LORD’ (NIV).

Prof Dzulkifli: Yet, on other occasions, ‘Allah’ is used as substitute for ‘the LESUS.’ But then, ‘the LESUS your God’ is rendered as ‘Tuhan, Allahmu’ — note again the comma!.

Fr Harun: There is no word as ‘the LESUS.’ Prof Dzulkifli may have meant ‘the Christ’ meaning ‘the Lord.’ The word ‘Allah/Theos’ is never used for Jesus in his earthly existence, but some times in liturgical contexts for either the preexistent Logos, Word (John 1:1) or the Christ (John 20:28) as Thomas said to the risen Jesus, “My Lord, My God”, ‘Tuhanku, Allahku’, so always in celebrating his unity with the One God.

Prof Dzulkifli: Just from these few random examples, one can already sense the complexity and confusion in the use of ‘Allah’ in the translated version. To make matters even more confusing, the biblical name ‘Mary’ is rendered as ‘Maria’ — when the Quranic equivalent would have been ‘Maryam’; And ‘John’ as ‘Yohanes’ instead of ‘Yahaya.’ Or for that matter ‘Gabriel’ is not even translated but kept as it is. The Quranic ‘Jibrail’ as an equivalent is not even considered! How about ‘Jesus’ himself? Why is this rendered as ‘Yesus’, rather than ‘Isa’? In the Quran both are the sons of Mary or Maryam.

Fr Harun: Names are a different question. They are not translated, but can be transliterated from the original language in different ways according to the use of the receiving language group. The confusion is 100 per cent created by Prof Dzulkifli himself who keeps on forgetting the Bible is not translated via English or Arabic, but from Hebrew and Greek direct into Malay/Indonesian language. Not knowing Hebrew and Greek Prof Dzulkifli should not judge any translation from those languages, as I myself not knowing Arabic would not dare to judge any Indonesian translation from Arabic.

Prof Dzulkifli: If the worry is that the use of the word ‘Isa’ in the Quran is limited only to him being the son of man and not of ‘Allah’; unlike what is understood for the biblical ‘Jesus’ — then should not the same consideration and sensitivity for Muslim feeling be shown when ‘Allah’ is used in the translation, without any concern for the Quranic Tauhidic concept. This inconsistency, indifference and arrogance is rather obvious when it comes to the biblical ‘the Son of God’ and the use of ‘Anak Allah’ as an equivalent in the translation — something which is conceptually outright not acceptable to Muslims. In fact, it tantamounts to the denial of the concept of ‘Allah’ as explained in the Quran, Surah Al- Ikhlas 112: 3 that “He begets not, nor was He begotten. And there is none co-equal or comparable to Him”.

Fr Martin: In any language the same common word for God is filled with different concepts, since the users of this same language have different religious convictions. These differences are to be respected, without anyone claiming monopoly to the common language. The more so in this case, since the use of the word ‘Allah’ in early Christian circles precedes its use in the Quran.

Inconsistent, insensitive translations of ‘Allah’?

A response to Prof Dzulkifli by Fr Martin Harun

By: Dzulkifli Abdul Razak (Wed, 11 Mar 2009)
Prof Dzulkifli Abdul Razak in his article in The Sun on Mar 11, wrote about the Christian Bible and its translation in Bahasa Indonesia (Alkitab). Unfortunately he manifested not only his lack of understanding in the specified field of bible translation but also an inadequate knowledge of basic Christian concepts. Hence we have asked Fr Martin Harun, OFM, a biblical scholar, to respond to his article. Fr Martin is a member of the Lembaga Alkitab Indonesia. Please note that we have not altered the original article of Prof Dzulkifli. The response of Fr Martin is in bold beneath those statements that are inaccurate or which do not measure up to good scholarship.

Prof Dzulfikli Abdul Razak: The use of the term ‘Allah’ has captured the attention of the media again. Of late, even a newspaper from down south carried a commentary on the issue. The slant is usually political, and not religious, and does not throw any new light on the issue. It also does not appeal to the intellect; instead, it seems to border more on emotions that further confuse the issue.

[We disagree with the above sentence. In our response to what follows we challenge the subjective views of the author. Our statements are based on historical facts and intellectual objectivity. (Editor’s Note)]

To all Muslims the term ‘Allah’ is laden with the concept of Tauhid — that ‘Allah’ is “the One and Only” as defined in the Quranic language, which happens to be Arabic. ‘Allah’ cannot be understood without this concept of his oneness. Any attempt to do so will amount to a vulgarism of sort, and an affront to Muslims.

Fr Martin Harun: All Christians in the Arabic world and Indonesia and Malaysia who use the word ‘Allah’ for God, confess ‘Allah’ yang Esa. Christian Trinitarian belief is monotheistic, although not in the same sense as Muslim monotheistic belief. Each religion has of course its own specific definitions, as has been acknowledged by Muslims and Christians from the very beginning.

Prof Dzulkifli: Moving forward, let us briefly try and understand the reasons for Muslim misgivings by using the Bahasa Indonesia version which is translated from the English New King James Version and authorised by Konperensi Waligerja Indonesia (Edition, 2004). Let us randomly take The Gospel according to Luke, translated as Injil Lukas, to briefly illustrate the point.

Fr Harun: Alkitab Terjemahan Baru and Alkitab Bahasa Indonesia Sehari-hari both are translated not from any other modern language like English but from the original Hebrew and Greek text. When translating Elohim and Theos with ‘Allah,’ the translations follow an already long established translation tradition. Since the seventeenth century bible translations in Malay have used the word ‘Allah’ as the best word available in the Malay language to express the monotheistic concept of Elohim and Theos.

Prof Dzulkifli: In Luke, ‘God’ is generally substituted by ‘Allah’, whereas ‘Tuhan’ is commonly used to substitute ‘the Lord". Note the article ‘the’ applies to ‘Tuhan,’ but not to ‘Allah’. Hence, where there is ‘the Lord God’ in the English version, it becomes ‘Tuhan Allah’. ‘The Lord their God’ becomes ‘Tuhan, Allah mereka’. Note the use of a comma!

Fr Harun: Alkitab is not translated from English, but from Hebrew and Greek. ‘Allah’ is not chosen as an Arabic word, but as an already Malay/Indonesian word that best expresses the meaning of Elohim and Theos in the biblical texts, and Tuhan best expresses the meaning of Adonai / Kurios in the biblical language. So every comparison with English and also Arabic is irrelevant and highly confusing.

Prof Dzulkifli: On some occasions though, ‘God’ is also translated as ‘Tuhan’, though ‘God’ in this example does not carry the article ‘the’ as in ‘the Lord’. So does it mean there is a time when ‘God’ is not ‘Allah’? Or that ‘Tuhan’ is ‘Allah’ after all?

Fr Harun: This happens only in the Old Testament, more often in the book of Ezekiel when the Hebrew text says Adonai YHWH (pronounced Adonai Adonai, harfiah Tuhan Tuhan). In many bible translations in many languages, starting from the Latin Vulgate this repetition has been avoided by translating ‘Tuhan Allah’, ‘Dominus Deus’, ‘Lord God’, ‘Herr Gott’, ‘Seigneur Dieu’. The Indonesian Alkitab Terjemahan Baru follows this old use, but could also opt for a different way, e.g. ‘TUHAN Yang Mahatinggi’ (BIS), ‘like Sovereign LORD’ (NIV).

Prof Dzulkifli: Yet, on other occasions, ‘Allah’ is used as substitute for ‘the LESUS.’ But then, ‘the LESUS your God’ is rendered as ‘Tuhan, Allahmu’ — note again the comma!.

Fr Harun: There is no word as ‘the LESUS.’ Prof Dzulkifli may have meant ‘the Christ’ meaning ‘the Lord.’ The word ‘Allah/Theos’ is never used for Jesus in his earthly existence, but some times in liturgical contexts for either the preexistent Logos, Word (John 1:1) or the Christ (John 20:28) as Thomas said to the risen Jesus, “My Lord, My God”, ‘Tuhanku, Allahku’, so always in celebrating his unity with the One God.

Prof Dzulkifli: Just from these few random examples, one can already sense the complexity and confusion in the use of ‘Allah’ in the translated version. To make matters even more confusing, the biblical name ‘Mary’ is rendered as ‘Maria’ — when the Quranic equivalent would have been ‘Maryam’; And ‘John’ as ‘Yohanes’ instead of ‘Yahaya.’ Or for that matter ‘Gabriel’ is not even translated but kept as it is. The Quranic ‘Jibrail’ as an equivalent is not even considered! How about ‘Jesus’ himself? Why is this rendered as ‘Yesus’, rather than ‘Isa’? In the Quran both are the sons of Mary or Maryam.

Fr Harun: Names are a different question. They are not translated, but can be transliterated from the original language in different ways according to the use of the receiving language group. The confusion is 100 per cent created by Prof Dzulkifli himself who keeps on forgetting the Bible is not translated via English or Arabic, but from Hebrew and Greek direct into Malay/Indonesian language. Not knowing Hebrew and Greek Prof Dzulkifli should not judge any translation from those languages, as I myself not knowing Arabic would not dare to judge any Indonesian translation from Arabic.

Prof Dzulkifli: If the worry is that the use of the word ‘Isa’ in the Quran is limited only to him being the son of man and not of ‘Allah’; unlike what is understood for the biblical ‘Jesus’ — then should not the same consideration and sensitivity for Muslim feeling be shown when ‘Allah’ is used in the translation, without any concern for the Quranic Tauhidic concept. This inconsistency, indifference and arrogance is rather obvious when it comes to the biblical ‘the Son of God’ and the use of ‘Anak Allah’ as an equivalent in the translation — something which is conceptually outright not acceptable to Muslims. In fact, it tantamounts to the denial of the concept of ‘Allah’ as explained in the Quran, Surah Al- Ikhlas 112: 3 that “He begets not, nor was He begotten. And there is none co-equal or comparable to Him”.

Fr Martin: In any language the same common word for God is filled with different concepts, since the users of this same language have different religious convictions. These differences are to be respected, without anyone claiming monopoly to the common language. The more so in this case, since the use of the word ‘Allah’ in early Christian circles precedes its use in the Quran.

BEWARE! ‘Bible’ without “Allah” promoted in Book Fair

Source: http://www.heraldmalaysia.com/news/storydetails.php/‘Bible’-without-“Allah”-promoted-in-Book-Fair/500-1-1

By Fr Lawrence Andrew, SJ
KUALA LUMPUR: A ‘bible’ in Indonesian Malay but without the word “Allah” used in it was promoted during the International Book Fair held recently at the Putra World Trade Centre, Kuala Lumpur. The promoters had the book on display among other Islamic books on the first days of the Book Fair.

They also had leaflets for the whole period of the same Book Fair from April 17 - 26, among other Islamic leaflets, announcing that the “KITAB SUCI” has been printed.

Though they did not have any ‘Kitab Suci’ for sale, they instead suggested that the book be purchased on an online order using the website address they provided We are reminded of an earlier incident when a “Gospel of Barnabas” was on sale in a number of Muslim bookshops but not in any Christian bookshop. That ‘Gospel’, we know, is a false ‘gospel’ written by a Muslim.

On hearing of the publication — “Kitab Suci”, we wrote to the publishers in Indonesia to enquire if this edition of the “Kitab Suci” was approved by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference or the Bible Society of Indonesia (BSI). Our email returned with the tag ‘delivery failure’.

We then wrote to the two Authorities that approve the publication of the Bible in Indonesia. Their reply was in the negative. We were informed by a member of the Indonesian Bible Society that this “Kitab Suci” was done on the basis of J.P. Green’s literal translation. He wrote that “to some extent it differs from the earlier plagiaristic (sic) version.”

What this means is that there was an earlier version in which the word “Allah”, or God, was replaced with “Elohim” and “Tuhan” , or “Lord”, with “Yahweh” in the K. This is crass plagiarism! Faced with this situation, we read the first chapter of the Gospel of St John in English, and took note that there were only two words, namely GOD and LORD used in this chapter.

Then we turned to the ORIGINAL VERSION IN GREEK of the same first chapter of the Gospel according to John and we found that the terms “Elohim” and “Yahweh” were NOT used but instead “Theos” for God and “Kurios” for Lord.

Therefore, how can the publishers of “Kitab Suci” mention in the flyer distributed at PWTC that “it was not to make a new translation, nor yet to make of a bad one a good one but to make a good one better”? It is obvious that the original Greek version did not have ELOHIM and YAHWEH. Are these publishers, who have no authority to publish the Bible, saying that the original Greek version is wrong? What is their evidence for such an assumption?

What is certain, however, is that the publishers have cheated in the first instance by their manipulation of the words ELOHIM and YAHWEH, had second thoughts about their plagiarized version, and therefore have amended the current version of their “Kitab Suci”. This version varies from the earlier plagiaristic version. But the BSI pointed out to us that “anybody familiar with the Indonesian Standard Version (Alkitab Terjemahan Baru, 1974) would be able to detect their more covert plagiarism of the publishers of the “Kitab Suci.”

We as Christians are naturally disturbed by the fact that such a publication has been allowed to be promoted in Malaysia — one which does not have the approval of the authorities that give recognition to the credibility and trustworthiness of the translation of a bible. Are we, through this publication, condoning the stealing of another’s intellectual property without any qualms about this theft? This is outrageous, to say the least.

**************************************************************

BE VERY CAREFUL MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS IN CHRIST.

I REALLY SALUTE THESE GUYS!

Bangla Bangers, (later followed by Chop Shop: London Garage), is a reality program on Discovery Channel about an eccentric Bangladeshi car designer (Leepu) and a straight talking Cockney mechanic by the name of Bernie Fineman. In every episode they try to make a supercar out of a car they buy at a wrecking yard.

Leepu, whose real name is Nizamuddin Awlia, converts rusting old cars into Ferrari and Lamborghini styled cars and limousines in his small workshop in Dhaka, Bangladesh. What makes these episodes notable is that the cars are built in a small garage using only basic tools and the bodywork is hand cut and shaped using sheet metal. With the help of the mechanic (Bernie Fineman) the improvements are sometimes remarkable.

******************************************************************************

I've watched that reality program in Astro a few times. I was really amazed, not only by their final and completed work but also by their effort. Well, we don't really know what they have been through behind the scenes but I still love what they have done to those wrecks. After all the yelling and everything, they still managed to show that they were able to create some beautiful cars with only BASIC TOOLS! Imagine what they can come up with if they are given high tech tools and parts.

I wonder why we Bidayuh can't come up with some thing more or less like that. I mean not only creating beautiful cars out of wrecks but also in other fields. I believe that there are so many talented Bidayuh out there that need to come out and show what you can really do. So come on guys! Show your talent. Work hard and smart to show that you also can shine.

INI JAWAPAN SAYA!

Blog saya ini baru sahaja beroperasi tetapi sudah ada suara-suara yang kurang bersetuju dengan apa yang saya paparkan di sini. Ada juga suara yang kononnya bimbang jika ada pihak-pihak yang tidak senang dengan apa yang saya tulis. (Komen-komennya tak sesuai untuk disiarkan!)

Terima kasih di atas segala pandangan, pendapat serta nasihat daripada anda semua. Biar saya jawab kesemuanya dengan sejelas-jelasnya.

Ini adalah blog saya, yang saya bina dengan pengetahuan saya yang cetek tentang dunia IT. Ini tempat saya meluahkan pendapat dan pandangan saya. Satu daripada harapan saya ialah melakukan atau menyumbang sesuatu untuk masyarakat saya. Saya tidak memerlukan pandangan atau pendapat orang lain tentang bagaimana saya harus ‘bercakap’ di dalam blog saya. Jika itu yang berlaku, dan saya menulis mengikut apa yang orang lain mahu, maka blog ini akan menjadi blog orang-orang itu!

Ini bukan blog politik! Saya bukan orang politik dan saya tidak mahu bermimpi untuk jadi orang politik. Mungkin ada yang beranggapan bahawa sebagai seorang guru, saya tidak harus mengkritik orang kerajaan. Saudara-saudari, saya bekerja untuk rakyat! Rakyat yang membayar gaji saya dan saya akan bekerja bersama-sama dengan mana-mana kerajaan pemerintah tidak kira sama ada kerajaan BN atau kerajaan lain yang memerintah negara ini. Saya bukan mengkritik kerajaan tetapi saya hanya akan mengkritik mana-mana individu yang tidak bersungguh-sungguh menjalankan kewajipan dan tanggungjawabnya terhadap bangsanya sendiri!

Saya berusia 38 tahun dan selama tempoh itu, saya membesar sebagai seorang yang miskin dan hina. Saya telah berusaha untuk tidak merungut kerana saya telah memahami dan menerima keadaan diri saya seadanya. Namun, saya masih merasa tidak berpuas hati apabila memerhati keadaan sekeliling dan melihat sebahagian besar anak bangsa saya masih hidup di takuk lama dan punya mentaliti yang jauh ketinggalan dari bangsa-bangsa lain.

Moyang kita dari Tembawang, Indonesia suatu ketika dahulu punya keinginan dan semangat yang kental, sanggup berhijrah beratus-ratus batu jauhnya untuk mencari kehidupan yang jauh lebih baik. Kemudian mereka juga terpaksa berjuang untuk mempertahankan diri mereka daripada semua ancaman. Mengapa kita tidak punya semangat dan mentaliti seperti itu sekarang? Apakah kita patut berpuas hati setakat ini sahaja? Mengapa apabila kita semua kehilangan banyak hak-hak kita ketika ini, kita mula menunding jari dan meletakkan kesalahan pada pihak lain? Mengapa kita tidak mahu menerima hakikat bahawa sikap kita sendiri pada mulanya yang mengakibatkan diri kita kehilangan begitu banyak? Bukankah sikap kita sendiri yang menyebabkan kita tertindas selama ini?

Atas kesedaran inilah saya ingin berusaha untuk menimbulkan kesedaran yang sama di kalangan bangsa kita. Saya tidak mencadangkan agar kita semua pergi berperang menentang sesiapa sahaja. Saya cuma ingin kita semua bersatu semula sebagai satu bangsa, sama-sama berusaha untuk mempertahankan apa yang moyang kita tinggalkan untuk kita, atau cuba mendapatkan kembali apa yang sepatutnya menjadi hakmilik kita. Mana-mana individu atau pihak yang melakukan sesuatu yang bertujuan untuk kepentingan dirinya sendiri harus disingkirkan. Pihak-pihak ini berkeupayaan untuk memporak-perandakan dan membuat kita berperang sesama sendiri. Yang ruginya pula siapa?

Walau sekuat mana pun keinginan saya untuk melihat bangsa kita bersatu-padu, saya hanya seorang manusia kecil yang tidak punya kemampuan besar untuk melaksanakan segala keinginan saya. Namun begitu, kekurangan itu tidak akan mematahkan semangat saya untuk membuat sumbangan dan tanggungjawab saya. Blog ini merupakan salah satu medan untuk saya melakukan sesuatu. Walaupun ianya cuma satu sumbangan kecil, setidak-tidaknya saya sudah mula berusaha melakukan bahagian saya. Saya tidak mahu menjadi seperti mereka-mereka yang hanya tahu ‘cakap besar’ tentang perjuangan mereka untuk bangsa mereka tetapi setelah itu mereka hanya memikirkan tentang berapa banyak untung yang mereka boleh dapat daripada bangsa mereka sendiri! Hipokrit!

Jadi...kepada mereka-mereka yang tak suka dengan apa yang saya buat dan tulis di sini, baik tutup browser anda dan pergi buat kerja lain. Itu lebih baik.

Kenapa banyak intelektual wanita bidayuh memilih lelaki melayu sebagai pasangan hidup?

Persoalan di atas hanya dapat dijawab oleh golongan yang berkenaan. Walau bagaimanapun, saya akan cuba untuk menjawab persoalan itu melalui perspektif saya sebagai seorang intelektual wanita Bidayuh.Untuk makluman para pembaca, saya belum lagi berumahtangga dan pada masa ini saya sedang bertugas sebagai seorang Pembantu Penyelidik di Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS) sementara menunggu permohonan bagi melanjutkan pengajian di peringkat sarjana (Master) saya diluluskan.

Memandangkan saya merupakan generasi muda Bidayuh yang berusia 20-an, saya sangat terdedah dengan banyak isu yang melanda generasi seusia saya.Dalam isu ini, golongan intelektual wanita Bidayuh tidak sepatutnya dipersalahkan. Mereka telah terperangkap dalam banyak situasi dan berada dalam banyak dilema. Di sini, saya tegaskan bahawa lelaki Bidayuh itu sendiri patut dipersalahkan. Saya ada banyak hujah untuk mempersalahkan lelaki Bidayuh. Salah satu kesilapan besar lelaki Bidayuh adalah tahap pendidikan mereka.Menurut kajian yang telah dijalankan oleh Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM), kini, 65% pelajar di institusi pengajian tinggi (IPT) adalah terdiri daripada wanita, saya sendiri menyedari akan hakikat ini. Ke mana perginya lelaki? Melalui pemerhatian saya, baki yang 35% itu, kebanyakannya terdiri daripada lelaki Melayu, Cina, dan India, lelaki Dayak atau lelaki Bidayuh bilangan mereka mampu dikira dengan jari. Dalam UNIMAS sendiri, adalah sukar bagi saya untuk terjumpa dengan lelaki Bidayuh.

Tahun berganti tahun, bilangan lelaki Bidayuh semakin berkurang di IPT. Berbeza pula keadaannya dengan wanita Bidayuh, bilangan mereka adalah sangat banyak di IPT.Ke mana hilangnya lelaki Bidayuh? Majoriti masyarakat Bidayuh tinggal di kawasan luar bandar, di kampung misalnya. Saya telah melawat ke banyak kampung Bidayuh di sekitar daerah Bau, sambil makan angin, saya juga memerhati corak kehidupan masyarakat kampung tersebut. Kampung memang sinonim dengan golongan tua pada masa dahulu, tetapi kini, keadaan itu telah berubah di mana golongan lelaki muda Bidayuh turut merupakan antara penduduk terbanyak di kampung-kampung, manakala golongan wanita muda Bidayuh pula kurang.Statistik secara kasar menunjukkan majoriti lelaki Bidayuh hanya melanjutkan pelajaran sehingga ke peringkat Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) sahaja, ada pula yang telah menamatkan pelajaran mereka sebelum sampai di peringkat itu. Ke mana hala tuju mereka selepas itu?

Kebanyakan daripada mereka menjadi ahli PPB (Persatuan Penganggur Bersatu) seperti kata lelaki-lelaki Bidayuh di Bau. Jika mereka tidak menganggotai PPB, mereka akan berhijrah ke bandar untuk bekerja sebagai buruh kasar. Ahli-ahli PPB ini pula sememangnya setia dengan persatuan dan ahli-ahli yang lain. Boleh dikatakan hampir tiap-tiap hari mereka mengadakan mesyuarat, mesyuarat dalam erti kata melepak. Melepak sambil berbual-bual kosong. Jika tidak melepak, mereka akan beramai-ramai masuk ke hutan untuk memancing atau memburu. Satu perkara yang telah membuatkan saya tabik kepada ahli-ahli PPB adalah mereka tidak terjebak dengan aktiviti-aktiviti yang tidak sihat.Di samping itu, 2 masalah yang telah sekian lama menjadi duri dalam daging adalah aktiviti merokok dan meminum alkohol. 2 aktiviti ini memang telah menjadi aktiviti wajib bagi mereka yang bergelar ahli PPB dan mereka yang bekerja sebagai buruh kasar. Kita semua sedia maklum bahawa harga rokok dan alkohol semakin naik, walaupun sedemikian, mereka masih mampu juga untuk memilikinya. Rokok sebagai contoh, dalam 5 orang kawan, apabila 4 daripadanya tidak mempunyai rokok, tetapi yang seorang lagi mempunyainya, maka yang seorang ini akan berkongsi rokok tersebut dengan 4 orang kawan itu. Jika tidak berkongsi sekotak, mereka akan berkongsi sebatang, 4 orang kawan itu tadi tidak akan melupakan jasa kawan yang seorang ini dan mereka pasti akan membalasnya dengan situasi yang sama. Bagi alkohol pula, mereka akan “collect” duit untuk membelinya jika tidak di “sponsor” oleh mana-mana kawan.

Satu lagi aktiviti lelaki-lelaki muda Bidayuh adalah mereka gemar untuk bersiar-siar menggunakan motosikal pada waktu petang. Hari-hari mereka dihabiskan begitu sahaja dan kehidupan mereka boleh dikatakan sangat selamba, mereka tidak pernah memikirkan hala tuju masa depan mereka. Lelaki Bidayuh bukanlah pemalas, mereka hanya tidak prihatin dengan diri mereka, mereka tidak mahu berusaha untuk memajukan diri mereka, dan salah satu cara untuk memajukan diri adalah melalui penguasaan dalam ilmu pengetahuan.Begitukah sikap lelaki Bidayuh yang kita sebagai wanita Bidayuh akan pilih untuk dijadikan sebagai pasangan hidup? Saya dapat merasakan sudah tentu banyak wanita Bidayuh yang akan mengatakan tidak. Saya sangat mengambil-berat tentang isu ini kerana ia adalah masalah kita bersama. Saya ingin melihat lelaki-lelaki Bidayuh bangkit semula untuk menyelamatkan maruah mereka.Oleh itu, tidak hairanlah jika banyak intelektual wanita Bidayuh telah memilih lelaki Melayu sebagai pasangan hidup mereka kerana banyak lelaki Melayu yang setaraf tahap pendidikannya dengan mereka berbanding lelaki Bidayuh. Jalan ini telah dipilih untuk menyelamatkan maruah golongan intelektual wanita Bidayuh jika mereka tidak mahu dipandang serong oleh masyarakat sekeliling, sama ada dikatakan memiliki suami yang berpangkat rendah atau dipanggil anak dara tua.

Posting di atas boleh dibaca di laman ini: http://86generation.blogspot.com/2009/01/kenapa-banyak-intelektual-wanita.html

BN wins in Batang Ai. Well, the people of Batang Ai have made up their minds and voted for BN after all the sufferings that they have gone through all these years. That was their choices. BGB says good luck to them all. Lets see what will happen in the future to the people of Batang Ai. If it happens that history repeats itself again and the people continues to suffer, BGB says "Serves you right! You asked for it!

MR. Y.B, WHAT SAY YOU?

The above picture is an extract from The Borneo Post, dated 20.02.2009. It is actually a respond by the Kedup assemblyman to a report which was published by the same newspaper earlier. The earlier report mentioned about the bad condition of the Jalan Terbat which links 6 bidayuh villages and 2 primary schools with Mongkos road. The affected residents from the villages had requested for the authority to help and do some repair works. When the help that they requested did not come, they decided to publish their report in a local newspaper.

BGB (Bidayuh Generasi Baru) decided to reproduce some parts of the respond from the Kedup assemblyman here and give its own responses. BGB’s comments are in dark red.


KUCHING: Kedup assemblyman Frederick Bayoi said he has requested the Serian District Public Works engineer to seek funds from the government for repairing Jalan Terbat in Tebakang.

BGB: So, where is the fund, sir? It has been almost two months now. Did you say that you have requested the SPWD to seek funds? We are wondering now..would it not be appropriate if you instructed them to request for the funds instead of requesting them to seek? This is very unusual. Firstly, we thought that you, as an assemblyman, the peoples’ rep, should have more authority than the engineers and secondly, to seek for funds? When one seeks, it does not mean that he will certainly find the thing that he is looking or seeking for! Maybe this can explain why there has been no fund until this very moment.

He pointed out that to get the funds for road repair faster, they should apply under the category of ‘Roads damaged by flood’.

BGB: Who are they that you were referring to, sir? The engineers? Again, what’s the latest news about their seeking? We don’t see any work being done at any section of the damaged road. Were you referring to the affected villagers? Well, sir, the villagers have been living in one of the remote areas in Serian district for many, many years. Do you expect them to know what to do, where to go, what fund under what category? Come on, sir! We say that you should have come to meet your people long before anything happens, to make some ceramah or talks on issues like disaster funds and many other things that everybody there should know about. Isn’t that your job and responsibility? Why waited until disasters strike?

Since the government has already allocated millions of ringgit to remedy situations linked to problems caused by the flood, he might as well try to apply for the fund under such category, said Bayoi who is also walikota Samarahan. He said he empathized with his constituents but expressed regrets that Jalan Terbat was not yet tar-sealed due to delay in getting allocation from the federal government. He said proposals were made several years ago to get the road upgraded as well as get it maintained from time to time, especially when its poor condition was aggravated by two floods and heavy rains recently. “I am concerned about the poor state of the road. But since the allocation of about RM10 millions for the upgrading of the road has been delayed, I will try to get some immediate fund under the category of ‘Roads damaged by flood’.

BGB: These statements are very confusing indeed. If the government has already allocated millions of ringgits to remedy emergency situations, does that not mean that the government does have the money? Why then, that particular road was not yet tar-sealed? Why the delay? If BGB is not mistaken, the compensations have been paid to the land owners whose land were affected by the upgrading project, why the delay then? Do you know, sir, that rumors have been moving around in that area saying that you ‘took’ some allocations for that road to somewhere else. How true? I don’t know. Go there and ask for yourself.

He said he might also have to raise the issue in the next State Legislative Assembly sitting, probably in May, on getting the allocation for the upgrading of the 8km Jalan Terbat.

BGB: What, sir? Did you say you ‘might also have to raise’? The word might is used to show that a person’s intention will or will not be done by him. Which one is yours, sir? And ‘have to’?? Why the ‘have to’? Is it not your job is to voice out the rakyat’s needs and wants at the right place and time? The SLA is not a place for begging that makes you ‘have to’ voice out the rakyat’s needs. By the way, you and the previous reps should have brought up the issue a long, long time ago, over and over again, not probably in May 2009! We guess that if the SLA sitting is not in May, it might be in June, July, August, September, October, November, December..2010, 2011 and the list goes on and on.

He also said his constituents should also channel their complaints directly to the Public Works Department (JKR) if roads and bridges are damaged by flood; to the Agriculture Department if their crops are destroyed by flood and the Welfare Department if they need immediate assistance following natural disasters.

BGB: Yeah, right… Didn’t the reps from the 6 villages come to tell JKR and you about their road’s condition? Was it not you who said “Anyap jawi inya beken nug opis aku.” which means “No other faces came to my office…” to that headman of Kpg Mapu Kijabu? For our readers’ information, Jalan Terbat was already in bad condition even long, long before the last two heavy downpours. Can you imagine how many times the reps from the 6 villagers came to see the YB in his office? Joking or not, BGB says that the YB’s words to that headman were very RUDE indeed. How could he, as a YB who is known as a religious person said some things like that?


NOW HERE ARE THE LATEST UPDATES FOR YOU MR. YB, IF YOU CARE ENOUGH TO KNOW;

1. The road is now in terrible condition. No repair work done except a visit by two black, red and yellow pick-up trucks for sight seeing right after the 1st report in the BP. A visit to the workshop is a must in 1 or 2 days for the passenger van drivers to do some repair work on their vehicles. You care to pay for it, sir?

2. Two more landslides happened just a few days after your respond in the paper and covered half of the road, just above the slippery and muddy hill. They are still there.

3. The main wooden and metal bridge is in poor and dangerous condition. Broken planks are everywhere and the teachers from the nearby primary school couldn’t do the repair work any longer.

4. Some caring and responsible villagers did a little repair work at some sections of the road using their own resources and time while you were enjoying your cozy home and lifestyle over there.

5. PKR has already infiltrated the area and has recruited many new young members especially those who are very frustrated by you. If you and your friends are smart enough, you will not take that for granted.

6. Don’t blame the villagers for going to the press. You know why! We think that you owe them lots of explainations!

Projek Naik Taraf Jalan Kampung

Melihat kepada papan tanda yang tertera di dalam gambar, seseorang yang melintasinya pasti akan menganggap bahawa laluan ke kampung tersebut memang sudah elok dan telah dinaiktarafkan. Namun hakikatnya jauh sekali daripada tanggapan itu.

Laporan penuh akan menyusul....