Of Dogs And Men

It seems to me that JAKIM has the "authority" to intepret what GOD, ALLAH, YAHWEH or whatever you wish to call the Divine's, message to humankind is. That suddenly dogs are spawns of evil that will drag you down to the lowest pits of hell just by being touched by them or touching them for no reason. I mean are they stupid, of course people touch dogs for a reason, they touch them to show them that they are cared for. Dog's are one of many of the creature's created by the Divine and put on this earth. Yes they may be dirty, but its not as if soap or any other form of cleansing materials have not been invented.

To those who are against touching dogs i'm cool with that, just don't harass those who want to. I am just tired of seeing on my news feed/twitter feed people supporting but not supporting, here im referring to those who say, "Oh the event was good, but the way it was carried out was wrong". Look regardless of the way it was carried out, it was carried out, if you don't like it then that's your prerogative but when you say stupid shit like that it just makes you look like a dumbfuck. I mean we claim to want to evolve into an educated society but we still have a large majority of people who refuse to educate themselves.

If anything this whole shenanigan about the dogs and threats towards the event organizer, shows to people how retarded SOME Muslims can be. Heck it then leads to the negative perceptions of Islam from those who are not followers, as if the Islamic State hadn't already confirmed most of the negative suspicions. Islam is not an exclusive religion heck its one of the religions that actively accepts converts however in Malaysia, Islam is backed up by racial sentiments and race-based cultural practices. As such the Religion is now an exclusive mark of a "Malay" in this country.

I feel I have ranted enough, all these opinions are my own, challenge me for them if you wish but all i speak is the truth from my current viewpoint.

Peace be upon all,
Ashli Burton Bin Amir

Of Being a Mixed Person in a Society That Idolizes Purity

I was born of an English Mother and a Malay Father, growing up I constantly was asked what my ethnicity was and due to the inculcation of the Malaysian mindset I would answer Malay. The problem here is that I am not nor will I ever be Malay, neither will I be English. I am an amalgamation of different races, religions and cultures. This has then led me to the questioning of many norms within society particularly among the Malays, the Indian and the Chinese. Within each ethnic group there are members who claim to be “purebloods” but are they really? In the History of each Ethnic group there has been an invasion per se of a foreign culture, the simplest example; in the Malay ethnic group there have been introductions of foreign cultural elements such as the Hindu culture in marriage, the introduction of Arabic culture as well as Chinese culture in the way people dress, what more the Malays for all intents and purposes are descended from the Indians, the Chinese, the Arabs. To find a pure “Malay” there is no such thing. However don’t think that they Malays are alone in this belief, even among the Chinese there are those who forget that almost the entirety of their ancestry can be traced back to Genghis Khan who was Mongolian not Chinese, The Indians don’t really suffer this sense of superiority with the exception of those who still believe in the Caste system.

            The thrust of this short article is that for a society that wants to espouse the essence of purity, the idea of their own personal purity is a fallacy. So here’s to celebrating the idea of being an amalgamation of a multitude of races, religions, creeds and cultures.

A Constructivists guide to Vlad Draculea AKA Dracula

I know this is a far cry from my normal rantings, but i feel there is a need to clear the air between what we know was fact and what is fiction...

First things first Vlad Draculea was not the the first son of Vlad Dracul of the Draculesti clan. However the way he got to become the "Impaler Prince" as people call him was due to the internal politicking and political rivalry between the Draculesti and the Danesti clans of Walachia, that is after Mircea Dracul was murdered by those loyal to the Danesti. Take further into account the fact that at the time the Christians under Hungary and the Muslims under the Ottoman empire were jostling for control over the local populace. We see a avenue for the rise of Vlad Draculea, for at the time due to the political authority the Ottomans had over Walachia ,Vlad Draculea together with his Brother Radu were both hostages in the care of Sultan Murad II. Upon the death of their brother Vlad was given the authority and duty to lead and rule Walachia at the behest of the Ottoman Turks.

Having been brought up by the Turks to a certain extent Vlad incorporated certain aspects of turkish culture in his clothing as well as demeanor. This brings us to the aspect in which he is so famously known for "execution via Impaling" just to clarify, impaling was actually a method of execution used by the Ottoman Turks on political prisoners whose mouths could not be silenced. Taking this into account we can see that Vlad learned the best way to instill fear and respect particularly among the nobles of Walachia was through the execution of those who betrayed his brother via the process of Impaling.

As a result many aspects of Vlad Draculea's notoriety was constructed by the political and social landscape in which he both grew up and administrated, while i find his methods crude, he was also a law giver and the best thing to happen to Walachia at the time.