Latest in my kampong.

The kampong received a new hearse (van jenazah) as written at the back of the hearse. The model: Toyota Estima. This car was once my dream car and I think it is not suitable as a hearse. There is no partition between the Driver and the coffin stand. It would pose a problem if the Driver is alone delivering the jenazah to and from a particular destination. Whatever, the Mosque Committee had decided on Toyota Estima and the kampong residents had to accept. The dead will now make the last journey in style with air condition.

Coming 01 June 2009, a new Mosque Committee will take over the Mosque administration. There were three nominations for Nazir (Chairman) and Jabatan Agama Islam Selangor had not decided whom to pick. The position of a Nazir must be someone who is able to stand in as an Imam, recite the doa, accepted by the majority of the kampong resident and knowledgeable. As it is, all the three candidates do not meet the criteria. I foresee a potential problem would arise where politic would be drag into the Nazir appointment scenario. I disagree with politic in the Mosque as everybody would be facing the same direction when performing the daily prayers. Unity must prevail in the Mosque.

A new Mosque is in the drawing board, costing about 12 million. Just before the political tsunami, BN government approved the project and awarded to the family of late Zakaria Mat Derus. When the PR government took over the state of Selangor, the project collapsed due to the Contractor could not proceed and to make things worst, Zakaria himself kicked the bucket. I was involved in the initial new Mosque committee but later I resigned due to health problem. The new Mosque committee had collected quite a substantial amount of fund for this new Mosque and they even ordered a new make to order beautiful mihrab. When the new Jawatan Kuasa Kampong was form by the PR government, the JKK wanted to take over the new Mosque committee. JAIS had to intervene and they stated that construction of this new Mosque is directly under JAIS and nothing to do with JKK. A meeting was finally held and the Orang Besar Daerah (OBD), the representative of the Sultan declared that the Sultan had proclaimed Places of worship (eg. Mosque), Schools and Hospitals cannot be politicized in Selangor. JKK remain unhappy and the present new Mosque committee resumes operating as usual.

The General Meeting of the Kampong Khairat Kematian is still not held. In fact it was not held for the past six years and the accounts were in total mess. At the last meeting it was suspended due to the disorderly manner the accounts statement was presented. It could not be resolved even after the cows came home and the best solution was suspension to a later date. What is troubling me is, it’s the same people who manage the khairat kematian is going to take over the Mosque committee in June. So, help me God.

The kampong residents are complaining that it’s expensive to die in this kampong. You need in the region of RM 1000 to pay all expenses. The management of the jenazah is being handled by a certain individual and a price is set for a certain ritual. The rituals are: The loin cloth, the last bath, grave digging, the coffin, service of the imam, the hearse etc with a fixed price. For someone who is a member of the khairat kematian, a certain amount of subsidy would be given. If you are over 60 and registered with the PR government, the state would donate RM 3500 if you kick the bucket. I am happy I fall into that category. For someone who is below 60 and not a member of the khairat kematian an amount of about RM 1000 had to be in hand. As stated by the individual concern, to be cheap, have your own bath (referring to the jenazah). I have no further comment.

Note: I have decided not to sit in any committee in the kampong. Even though I am a PAS member and part of the PR government, I disagree with certain policy that the JKK is implementing in the kampong. Unity is top priority in any kampong or community but the JKK is not going towards it. They are going towards division and only of their kinds and political ideology. They are vindictive. When the BN government was in power, they were sideline and now when they are in power they showed strength. I think it’s not Islamic. They should reciprocate by inviting the BN followers to sit at the same table and manage the kampong welfare together. The majority of the kampong people are Malays and if they can’t even unite the Malays, how in the hell they want to unite the various races.

I believe when you render a service to the Mosque or to society it must be sincere from the heart in the name of Allah. If you expect monetary gain, then your good deed will just go down the drain and one have to answer on the Day of Judgment.