Thursday 18 June 2015

Ramadan Reflections – Day 1

Salam

Ramadan is here again, and it is the best time for me churn out my creative writing juices because I prefer to remain awake after Suhoor till Zuhr. Mainly because sleeping after a full meal is not a recommended option, but also because it is the most productive time of the day and it will be wasted if spent on menial tasks such a routine work-related jobs or never-ending home chores, both of which can be pushed forward for the times when my brain functions at reduced rates. So the better part of the morning will be best for me to dedicate the time to produce articles of a varied nature, ranging the span of my interests. As the list of subject matter that I can potentially cover is numerous, I'll entitle it with headers such as Politics, Economy, Miscellaneous, etc. as appropriate; to aid the reader to identify what to read, if ever. Well, here goes.


 

Politics

It has been a while since I have been active in UMNO activities. Subsequent to my declaration of intent to move my registered Bahagian from Setiawangsa to Putrajaya in the Persidangan Perwakilan Pemuda UMNO Bahagian Setiawangsa 2014, I have mostly refrained from participating in any activities organized. I did initiate contact with the relevant Ketua Pemuda (KP) UMNO Cawangan in UMNO Bahagian Putrajaya to effect my transfer, but after an initial impromptu invitation to a Cawangan event by the KP which I missed, there were no further communications. Since I am in no hurry myself, I will probably get in touch again with the KP in due time to ensure my pending transfer is made good. I am unfortunately still listed as the KP UMNO Cawangan Bukit Setiawangsa in the roll call for 2015, for which I missed out on organising the year's Persidangan Pemuda UMNO Cawangan Bukit Setiawangsa due to logistical issues. Seeing that I cannot really serve the area so far removed from my physical base, it made no sense either to keep up pretences of the Pemuda UMNO being active and alive in UMNO Cawangan Bukit Setiawangsa. Oh well, I am sure the Ketua UMNO Cawangan Bukit Setiawangsa can make suitable arrangements in my absence.

So how is all this of interest to UMNO members (especially Pemuda UMNO) or other political followers? No doubt, someone, somewhere, out there is watching my movements after the initial foray of my bid to become Ketua Pemuda UMNO Malaysia. As it stands, the basis of my bid still remains relevant, in that Pemuda UMNO is still not putting forth an agenda for the youth that will safeguard our future, at least economically. Notwithstanding that I still owe the current Ketua Pemuda UMNO the gist of this agenda that I intend to put forward (I made a personal promise to Khairy), it is very disheartening to see the youth leadership of the political party that is UMNO—from which the governing administration of Malaysia is mainly formed—still lacks the vision and mission for the future generation. The burden of knowledge in how the economic agenda of the Muslims ought to be transformed for our promised future is indeed weighing on me, but a lone effort gets nowhere fast, and I am still struggling to prepare a concise plan to elucidate the ideas.

Coming back to the relevance of this rambling, my plan is thus to first officiate the move from Bahagian Setiawangsa to Bahagian Putrajaya. Then to see how I fit in and further my ideas accordingly. Probably build a support base along the way. And come 2016 when UMNO elections are due, I will reconsider my options. After all, if no one (in UMNO, at least) is doing it (helping shape the future of our generation), then someone needs to do it. "Sufficiency duty" or fardh al-kifāya, as they call it.

The above is, of course, an agenda mainly personal in nature – a speck in the larger picture of turmoil currently ongoing in UMNO; where the undercurrents of the grassroots are increasingly surging against the top echelon, with our embattled UMNO President Najib cutting a lone figure going on the defensive in the ongoing scandal-wrecked 1MDB fiasco. Intellectual critics like me are not easily fooled by the various non-answer drivels diverting from the main issues. I will explore this matter in another reflection, but with an attempt to offer objective actions rather than just blabbing more blame. After all, this is Ramadan, and I must try to account all such efforts in a way that bring blessed benefits, not sinful insinuations.


 

Till the next post.

Shukran


 


 

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