PAS Power.

Thirty days in power, the Mosque elected Committee which took effect on 1 June 2009 made some changes and subjective decisions which upset the kampong residents especially the veterans and the regulars. It is of my personal interest to record the following episodes so that these events could be my guide and my advice to anyone who wants to hold positions in any institution. The harmony and unity in any kampong depends solely on its leadership. It is utmost important to choose the right people for the right job.

Basis of reference: Kampong Raja Uda is within the constituency of Pandamaran N 47 won by DAP. PAS is given the power to administer the Kampong due to the Pakatan partnership.


Following is a TRUE STORY that transpired during the first month of the Mosque empowerment. It is my personal observation and as a permanent resident I exercise my observations as per se.


4 June 2009 - A young boy passed away in the kampong. The early morning of 5 June 2009, the Nazir with one of his followers, OTK went to Yang Mulia Raja Nazri’s house the Caretaker of the Saham Wakaf & Kereta Jenazah. They insisted the Van jenazah to be handed to them. Without much ado and quarrel, Raja Nazri handed the Van together with the Registration Card. OTK a controversial personality in the kampong is now the man on the wheel. The Van Jenazah is actually belongs to the Kampong Saham Wakaf and a separate entity altogether from the Mosque. The Van expenses are all under the Saham Wakaf and never acquired any fund from the Mosque. While the grabbing took place, the Ketua Kampong was away attending the PAS Muktamar in Shah Alam. He was totally unaware what was happening. Unfortunately the new Nazir and OTK were ignorant of the Van Jenazah history. The Kampong residents raised their eyebrows when they saw that the Van is in the custody of the Mosque Committee and driven by OTK. When it was brought to the attention of the Ketua Kampong, he apprehended the Nazir who let the cat out of the bag that it was OTK that pestered him to request for the handover. The Ketua Kampong was embarrassed but damage had been done. The credibility of the Ketua Kampong was at stake due to the arrogance of OTK. OTK had been aiming to drive the newly acquired Toyota Estima and at the same time would be a source of income to him. When the old Van jenazah was operational, a Toyota Liteace, he was not at all interested to drive. Maybe he was interested but no one offered him and he probably shy to ask as Raja Nazri was a member of the former Mosque Committee.

5 June 2009. - OTK declared to the Bilal that he had now taken over the position of Siak from the appointed Siak, OPD. OPD is another controversial figure as he was a drug addict. There was a tussle between the two O but OPD the appointed Siak insisted that the position is still his and he was the one that was elected. Who appointed OTK to replace OPD, nobody knows. I shook my head in disbelief. All of a sudden, once the new Mosque Committee came to power, OTK became cocky and arrogant showing off that PAS is the government of the day and in full power. He actually aimed for the Imam position but nobody wanted to propose his name during the nomination. OTK once arrogantly wrote on the Mosque white board, “Air con nak buat datok ke?” when the former Committee did not switched on all the Mosque air conditions for economic stringency. I don’t know why OTK is so anti establishment with the former Mosque Committee. His request was rejected when he wanted to be an Imam on one Friday subuh prayer to conduct the “sujud sejadah”. Normally on Thursday evening after the Maghreb prayer the congregation would recite the “yasin” with the Imam but OTK would singly dislodged himself from the congregation. At khenduri tahlil he would refrain from referring to the yasin book to show off that he can memorize the surah yasin. Memorizing the surah yasin alone does not qualify him to be an Ulamak. In Islamic term, we call it “riak”. It is rather astonishing that even though he hates the guts of certain people in the Kampong but when that particular person organized a khenduri, OTK would be presence in the house. He abandoned his pride (and water face) in order to get a few ringgits and kain pelikat. I chose to keep my distance from this “Ahli Majlis Fatwa” for he commented that the Imam recitation is wrong, the Bilal cannot call the azan correctly, and in fact everybody is wrong except him. I only practice fardhuain and I don’t rob the Van jenazah and make a living out of it.

After the Friday prayers, all the new Committee was looking at each other how to unlock the donations boxes. They contacted the previous Committee and it was told that all the keys had been handed to the new Committee but the new Committee was too proud to go into details. The donation boxes were finally unlocked after the Asar prayer. The problem here, the new Committee failed to designate the various responsibilities among themselves and they don’t bother asking the former Committee the standard operating procedures. They treat the former Committee members as stern enemies who align to UMNO. The Generals were not in town. The Nazir work in Putrajaya, the Secretary in Petaling Jaya and the Treasurer can be anywhere in Selangor/ KL and they are performing their Friday prayers elsewhere. Unlike the former Committee, the Deputy Nazir, the Secretary and the Treasurer are all Pensioners and kampong in house. Before the bank close for the day, the collections already bank in.

6 June 2009 - PAS brought in their very own Ustaz to preach after the Maghreb prayer. This particular Ustaz was telling the congregation that anybody can be easily ISA even if you carry along a parang. Detention without trial is against Islam. I agree 100% with him. ISA (Internal Security Act) is a major political issue in Malaysia where the present federal government is implementing. This upset, Wahab an UMNO supporter presence among the congregation. Wahab confronted the Ustaz and told him to concentrate only on religious matters rather than politics. The congregation was divided on this matter depending on which political party they belong. The Orang Besar Daerah had conveyed clearly to the Ketua kampong, His Royal Highness proclamation - no politic at places of worship, schools and Hospitals. Personally I do not condone Wahab sudden outburst but Malaysia being democratic, anybody can air their grouses depending how the individual does it.

10 June 2009 – Meeting was held between the former Nazir, Wahab, local UMNO representative and the Ketua Kampong. The Meeting was to sort out several teething problems with the Mosque change of government and the main topic of discussion was about the Van jenazah. They were looking for amicable solutions for win - win situations for the sake of the kampong and Mosque harmony. It is a known fact that about 80% of the local residents are UMNO supporters and the remaining 20% are PAS members who are mostly recent migrants to the Kampong or rather an Outsider. Going back to history, the kampong is the first Malay settlement in Malaya, set up in 1952 by RIDA. Only a few of the first settlers still alive today and most of the local residents are children and grandchildren of the pioneers. Their ancestor’s effort to develop the Kampong and the Mosque from scratch is nostalgic, sweat and blood and I don’t blame them when overnight PAS is trying to manage the Kampong and the Mosque in particular. My personal observation the changing over of the Committee was not done in a diplomatic and harmonious way. It should be Nazir to Nazir, Secretary to Secretary and Treasurer to Treasurer. It was done en bloc and the end result was confusion. One of the elected woman representative was purposely omitted from the list and she was a member of the former Committee. When confronted the Ketua Kampong declared that it was a mistake and up to this date the mistake was not amended.

18 June 2009 – Just after the subuh prayer the photograph of the Mosque Marhaban group was removed by the Mosque committee whereas the notification of Keadilan Port Klang Adun Day Care Centre (political advertisement) remained intact at the Mosque notice board. The Marhaban group is part of the Mosque activity and partly sponsored and encouraged by the former Mosque Committee. There is no PAS member participated in the Marhaban group and in 2008 the group came out Champion among the Mosques in Klang District. The group was also invited to the Astro Marhaban Programme. I don’t see the rationale why the Committee is against the Marhaban group. Are they instigating for a confrontation? It is definitely not a good sign to instill harmony in the Mosque if they persist to be arrogant and less smart. The patient of some has its limit. The Mosque is not the right place to invoke tension. Marhaban…..is it bidaah? Marhaban is an Arabic word for welcome. The first recitation was the welcoming of the Holy Prophet during His Holiness hijrah from Mekah to Medina. The morale here, when we want to do something, think first, refrain from hurting the feelings of others. Unless of course, you have ulterior motive to get even. Is this Islamic?

19 June 2009 – Before the Friday prayer one of the Mosque Committee member took the microphone and announced to the congregation that the during the takeover on 1 June 2009 the coffer handed over by the old Committee was RM 19,174.44 and minus the orphans fund the balance was only RM 14,681.44. He urged the congregation to donate willingly to the Mosque fund so that activities during the coming Ramadan can proceed. He related the amount of fund that the Mosque had, since 31 Dec 2006 and had depleted from RM 100,850.26 as at 31 December 2007 to RM 14,681.44 during the takeover on 1 June 2009. However he did not mentioned how the money was spent; especially a big chunk of it was spent on the installation of air conditions. Point of declaration: Those accounts were audited and passed during the Annual General Meetings and they have no ground to dispute. I began to question the motive of the announcement and it was totally uncalled for. The truth was not emphasized and this tantamount to lies and misleading the congregation. In Islamic term is fitnah. Spreading fitnah in the House of Allah is an extreme sin. Help me God. An unsigned account statement from ending 31 December 2006 was also posted on the Mosque Notice Board. Why unsigned? It was not reflecting the truth and comprehensive details. They know that. If apprehended, the responsible party can easily deny because it is unsigned. The motive is to mislead the reader, giving the impression that the former Committee was extravagant. The trick is in my pocket. However, the normal congregation is not stupid. Perhaps they are less smart because it make the people realize how unprofessional they are. Most readers conclude their own perceptions of the new Committee.

There was a change of modus operandi collecting donations from the congregation. The new Committee now decided to utilize the service of Sekolah Ugama school boys carrying a small bag each and collect from each and every one of the congregation. The system of steel locked boxes plying at each row adopted by the old Mosque Committee now scrapped. At the end of the Friday prayer, the amount collected was only about RM 800 compared to the old system which was in the region between RM 1200 – 1300. I accept change but the change must be for the betterment. If it is for the worse or for the sake of discarding the old Committee system then it is tantamount to vengeance. Vengeance is not encouraged in Islam. Change with vengeance and insincerity will not succeed and sooner it would collapse. Allah is watching whatever we do in this world. If the system works, why want to abandon it?

23 June 2009 – Ustaz Azman Abdul Halim newly invitee Ustaz by the new Committee came to preach at the Mosque in between Maghreb and Isyakh. Suddenly the Mosque was exceptionally crowded by PAS local members as well as PAS imported members from other Mosques. I laud the crowd for it is good that the House of Allah should be crowded. I hope it remain that way. The question however, why when there is a presence of Ustaz by their invitee, these people come to the Mosque? Why not before or why not at any other normal praying time? The usual Ustaz who normally preach at the Mosque do not receive such exceptional reception. PAS members stayed away and during the period pre took over, they prefer to congregate and pray at their Markas. They refused to attend the Mosque Annual General Meeting and instead they conduct their own at the warung and coffee shops. During the call of Maghreb azan, they still hang around at the warungs. During Ramadan they conducted the sunat terawikh prayer at their Markas instead of joining the Mosque congregation. They performed their own korban. They distanced themselves from the Mosque and now since they had taken over the Mosque administration, surprisingly some of them (only some) recognize the road leading to the Mosque. Alhamdullilah….. for Allah had bestowed hidayah upon them and that is the hikmah that Barisan Nasional fell. It would be interesting to see what would happen if Barisan Nasional manage to recapture Selangor. Would they revert to their old habits? The faith of Islam we embrace is for the sake of Allah and applicable to all Muslims irrespective whether we are PAS member or UMNO member. That’s the universal Muslim akidah. We go to Mosque for the divine of Allah and we cannot abandon the Mosque just because we dislike somebody among the congregation or we don’t like the Committee Members. Only Allah can judge for we are all servants of the Almighty. Allah does not distinguish nor segregate the political party we belong to. Its high time PAS members evaluate themselves and ponder whether thou is perfect than thee? All are facing the same direction, kiblat when we pray in the Mosque and its wajib shoulder to shoulder for unity in Islam brotherhood.

24 June 2009 - Reliable sources obtained that OTK charged RM 200 for the service of transporting a demised lady from the Hospital to the House and from the House to the graveyard yesterday. Someone consulted Raja Nazri and was informed that the total charge is normally RM 80 if affordable. If not it would be free of charge and considered as sedekah or amal jariah. Normally RM 50 will add to the saham coffer for maintenance and replacement. My reliable source got further information that OTK only handed RM 100 to the Ketua Kampong and the balance of RM 100, OTK pocketed. The blessings by Allah for carrying a jenazah is seven times the size of Uhud Mountain but if your intention (nawaitu) is for monetary gain, then Allah would bless you with only the monetary gain. That’s the trouble when you fail to study in depth about Islam, in Islamic term is jahil. Those who had performed the Haj or Umrah can visualize how big Uhud Mountain is and if the akidah is strong, one would do it for free.

25 June 2009 – After the yasin recitation, in between Maghreb and Isyakh prayer, the Secretary announced that OTK had been appointed by the Committee to be as Siak 3. The obvious reason, the appointment of OPD as Siak 2 is controversial as the kampong folks know that he is a drug addict and his reliability and personality questionable. OPD was however nowhere to be seen during the announcement. I began to notice that they are going to slowly brush him aside or frustrate him. After all, their mission had accomplished on OPD when they made used of him to nominate their names during the election process and nominations closed to block off other eligible candidates for being nominated. Some, who are eligible, declined due to PAS domination and pre planned agenda. Probably high on cloud nine OPD did his job very well. Since he was so outspoken and spokesman at the Election process, he was unanimously elected as Siak 2 by those presence who were utterly disgusted with the whole affair.

Surprisingly, the Ketua Kampong had been appointed as Chairman of Saham Wakaf and Kereta jenazah Bureau. Eyebrows rose because the Saham Wakaf and Kereta jenazah was never under the management of the Mosque. Who appointed him? Self appointed? The JKK? The Mosque Committee? There was no meeting or whatsoever by the kampong residents to elect him as the Chairman. I wish to explore further to comprehend the appointment.

The Nazir emphasized on quality praying. Quality praying? Allah had set the minimum standard and it is the Almighty who decides whether the solat is blessed or just exercise. The basic fundamental, once you step out from the house to the Mosque, your heart must be clean and pure. The intention (nawaitu) is only one, for the sake of Allah. If the heart is full of vengeance, hatred etc, forget about going to the Mosque. Go to the Dangdut, perhaps the body is healthier by twisting the buttocks. One very important aspect about praying, one must be free from personal debt. If one is in debt to a fellow human being and no intention of paying, all the amal ibadat would not get Allah blessing and just hanging.

The congregation was also told that the construction of the new Mosque would tentatively complete in December 2011, insya’alah. I wish and pray nothing but the best and I also hope that the construction of the Mosque would not be similar to the era of Barisan Nasional where delay and defects to construction is a norm. A reliable source, the new Contractor is PAS appointed, that make no difference between PAS and UMNO.

26 June 2009 – Before the Friday prayer several announcements were made. The various Chairman of the bureaus and new elected Committee Members. The salient point, the Mosque Committee had given notice to the New Mosque Committee (made up from the old Mosque Committee) to hand over to the Mosque Committee all matters pertaining to the construction of the New Mosque, files, money etc. They had set 4 July 2009 as dateline. It is interesting to watch what would be the outcome. I was told, when the JKK wanted to take over the affair of the new Mosque, a meeting was held sometimes in April 2009 between Jabatan Agama Islam Selangor (JAIS), Jawatan Kuasa Kampong (JKK) the New Mosque Committee and the Orang Besar Daerah (OBD) the representative of the Royal Highness the Sultan. The Yang Di Pertua PAS Klang cum member of MPK Board requested that it should be handed to them to reflect the new state administration under Pakatan Rakyat. The consensus was the Committee of the New Mosque would be status quo and would oversee the project until completion. The OBD gave that specific instruction however advised additional Committee members can be incorporated. Now the Mosque Committee would want to take over where the JKK failed. JAIS and the OBD had said it loud and clear. To be fair to them, I suggest hold a referendum among the kampong people, who should handle the affair of the New Mosque.

The questions arise whether the Nazir and the Secretary can handle the New Mosque project? Even the Khairat Kematian where they are the Treasurer and the Secretary respectively is still hanging with six years Annual General Meeting not held. They have mess up the six years accounting of the Khairat Kematian and I have my reservation and deep concern if ever they succeed in handling the affair of the New Mosque.

After the Maghreb prayer, few of us sat down with one of the Imam and he told us that at the first Committee meeting where he was invited as the capacity of Imam the meeting agreed upon that the Van Jenazah to be returned under the custody of Raja Nazri. Now the story is the other way round and he began to doubt the credibility of the Ketua Kampong. ”Cakap tak serupa bikin.” The Imam quoted, I don’t trust him anymore.

During the commencement of Isyakh prayer, the Nazir pulled Ajeem out from the end of the first row (saf) and asked him to pray elsewhere not among the congregation. Ajeem is a mongoloid retarded teenager, illiterate and speech flawed but he frequents the Mosque and normally we directed him to pray right at the end of the first row. Even the Imam had no objections. Ajeem may not pray the right way and his wuduk questionable but Allah knows best. In the House of Allah all are equal. Ajeem is clean from all sins and his heart is definitely much purer than any mentally normal person including me or the Nazir himself. Ajeem possess no vengeance, hate, jealousy, lies and dislike for anybody. As human he has feelings. He often greets everybody with a smile and his version of asalamualaikum. His place is guaranteed in Heaven and Allah promised that. We should treat him special as he is going to be the permanent residence of Jannatul firdhaus.(supreme kingdom of Heaven). Allah created Ajeem, sends him to this world, made us to encounter with him maybe to test our akidah. Ajeem had been well accepted and treated in the Mosque until I witnessed this "unislamic" treatment to a fellow human being in the House of Allah. I had witnessed all sorts of human beings, spastic, retarded and disable praying among the congregation in Masjidilharam (the Grand Mosque in Mekah), nobody pull them away to pray elsewhere. I would laud the Nazir implementing change and quality praying, if he goes around the kampong with a loudspeaker requesting the residents to come out and pray together (berjemaah) in the Mosque. I would render my 100% support. At the very least, a crowded Mosque would reflect unity among the residents in general. There are residents who never even step into the Mosque, even on Friday, these are the people the Nazir should approach and coax them to the Mosque. The basic in house element of a Nazir is humble, down to earth, environmental friendly and as capable of an Imam. I keep my distance for I very well know I am not as capable as an Imam, perhaps best suit to be Towkay Dangdut. Even Towkay Dangdut need to be environmental friendly otherwise regular customers would run away. I chose the right measurement that fit my body physique.

29 June 2009 – After the Isyakh prayer, OTK approached one of my friends to take over driving the Van Jenazah. OTK heard the Kampong residents complaining of the RM 200 he charged for transporting a jenazah recently. He reiterated that he was working overtime transporting the jenazah late at night. Why didn’t he think of the risks before grabbing the Van Jenazah? Didn’t he know that human being die at any time within the day? My friend declined not because he cannot drive but because the situation of the Van Jenazah has become a controversy and a talk among the Kampong residents.

30 June 2009 – There is no likely the Van Jenazah would be returned to Raja Nazri. I hope they can prove me wrong or until they come to their senses. For the past two nights of 29th and 30th June, PAS invitee Ustaz, failed to turn up at the Mosque to preach.


Conclusion:

Since majority of the new Committee members are PAS members, they should portray the true Islamic teaching and be exemplary, then people would be more interested with the party. To convince, the approach must be right. The Mosque is a place for unity and to enhance brotherhood in Islam.

Sometimes it’s convenient and easier to work with the devils that you know than the unknown strangers you just befriended, a legacy my late father used to advise me. The people wanted change, that’s why Pakatan Rakyat won in Selangor. If this is the type of change the people are getting, I bet the people would revert to the devil that they know. The saf was closed, harmonious and united. No grudges, ill feelings, negative perception and personality conflict. We then can give full concentration (kyushuk) during prayers.

These write out is to relate how less smart people can be when power suddenly in hand. Greed and irrational decisions can lead to the failure of an institution, even a country, so to say.

I hope my children and my children’s children can take this as an example (iktibar) to choose the right people for the right job. Everything that we do in this world there is the hikmah and the iktibar and we all pray to Allah every day, for the siratulmustakim (shows us the straight and correct path). The best and simple guide of life is the surah Alfatihah.

I would blog the events as it develops.

Copy rights reserved.