Wednesday 24 September 2008

STIGMA BERTUDUNG DAN TIDAK BERTUDUNG : the essence of Malayzation and Islamization

DEFINISI PEMAKAIAN TUDUNG DI MALAYSIA --

A muslim girl in Malaysia is always portrayed as one with a head scarf or tudung as it is referred to in our language, the longer the tudung, the better the goodness and the sweetness of this muslim girl. On the other hand, a Muslim girl not wearing a tudung, is portrayed as the essence of evil, the drawer of bad fate and just cast aside in society as someone who lives in the modern world with no thought of her religion. i am writing here today, to vent out my anger, disagreement and also criticize the people who have criticized both of these situations, i stand on no side, and i write with an open mind. Whatever i have written, comes sincerely from my thougths and everyone is free to comment upon this.

WANITA-WANITA YANG MEMAKAI TUDUNG

Sometimes, people who do not understand why women wear the tudung criticize them, thinking that women with tudung are outdated, unfashionable, unknowledgeable and all the other UNs put together. Most of my friends do don the tudung and they are the opposite of this. of course, in this world, there are some who are narrow minded, but not all of them are like that. some women wear the tudung because of our malay society who accepts only muslimahs who do, some do not even understand why they wear it, they simply wear it because others do. that is why in our society today, we can see some people wearing the tudung who are not as good as they appear to be. this shows that the tudung does not really portray who a person is, it never is about how long your tudung is, its always inside that counts.

We hear news from other countries where they ban the use of the headscarf in public places like schools and so on. i do not agree with this and i think it is a shameful thing to do to people who choose to cover their heads and hair. it is in already in the new milennia for Gods sake, its a free country, and everyone is permitted to do what they think is right. I am against this ban and i am against people who have a stigma against modern women wearing the tudung.

In Turkey, under the evil regime of Kamal Antartuk, Muslimahs were dragged to the ground for wearing headscarves and were spit on for doing what they think is right in the religion. I cried when i saw my fellow Muslims fall to the ground while still keeping close to their faiths to Allah.

SAYA TIDAK MEMAKAI TUDUNG

I write this statement boldly to proclaim that i am not wearing the tudung at this point of time. But, i warn you, that does not make me less a muslim than any others. i LOVE my religion,I BELIEVE in only ONE GOD and most of all, i try my best to do all the things needed in the daily life of a muslimah. i hate the fact that when i tell people that i want to improve myself in the Islamic way, the first thing people say is to wear a tudung. Some people who do not wear tudung are more islamic than some who do, I am not self-proclaiming myself how pious i am, but thats just the way it is.

The stigma around people who do not wear the tudung is actually even more stronger than to the people who do. Yes, there are women who do not practice the Islamic ways eventhough they are muslims, but most who do not wear the tudung, still pray 5 times a day, read the Holy Quran, and believe in what God has proclaimed

PROKLAMASI MALAYZATION DAN ISLAMIZATION

Let there be a big barrier between these 2 thoughts, the MALAYS and the MUSLIMS. To me, i respect the people who wear the tudung, from my point of view, it is actually an honour to wear one, where it checks the modesty of a muslimah. BUT...NEVER EVER think that to become more of a muslim, the girl who does not wear one must straight away don a tudung on her head.NO! if one day, i were to wear a tudung, i do not want to wear one because of the Malay society, not to impress people with how much i cover my modesty...BUT its for the LOVE OF THE ONLY GOD THAT I BELEIVE IN AND THE ONLY RELIGION THAT I HOLD. islam

Tuesday 16 September 2008

DIE ANOTHER DAY

If we were to die today, what would you do in the last few seconds of your life. I asked myself this question a few months ago, when i woke up from a nightmare, in which i had only a few seconds to live, and all that i have done passed through my head.

Im 21, and what have i achieved in my life so far...am i just another dot in this large world...?When i was smaller, i dreamed big dreams....i wanted to be well known in this world, in a good way, maybe join the Olympic Games, maybe be a young philantrophist, maybe rule the world.....but what have i achieved in these 21 years of my life?....none of that...what have you achieved in yours up until now?

If you were to die today....would you have regretted not climbing mount everest, not being able to see the world, or something simple like not being able to love your family and tell them they mean a lot to you....regrets, theres nothing good about regrets, its just something we should never do....always do what is right before it is too late right...i hope that all of us can do this


sometimes we need a reminder to tell us, life does not last forever...we are just actors in this universe, one day, we will all shrivel up and retire, some of us take the bus to hell, some of us take a first class flight to heaven...lets book our flight ticket and hope we get the front seat..

lETs start with an inventory of what have we achieved in our lives and what we dream of accomplishing....people who are succesful, start with big dreams which live on to become a reality...so dream big, pray hard, play hard, and remain focused....everyone has their own capabilities....just free our dreams, and it will all come out.


Tuesday 2 September 2008

My 4th and last week here

Ramadhan has just dawned on the 1st of September all around the world. I would like to wish everyone a happy ramadhan and may this holy month bring us peace and tranquility in our busy lives. i just came back from the Toronto Mosque where we performed our Maghrib prayers. There, i met a fellow moslem sister from Indonesia who is an active member of the mosque which is situated about 20 minutes from where we are staying. Anyway, we moved to a new suite today, a smaller one but its for the best as only my parents will be staying for the following months.

i cant wait to get back to Indonesia to start my new life as a third year student. i pray that Allah will bless me with a happy and fulfilling year..InsyaAllah...I have lots of new things to write in my blog that i had thought of during the summer, but im waiting until i go back and can write nicely...

Hmm, what do i have to say? well ...lots... ok, in the posts before, i forgot to mention that i went to Buskerfest at St Lawrence Market. it is a street festival filled with lots of street performers. if i have time, i would really like to post some videos of --- A MAN GOING THROUGH A SMALL SQUASH RACKET --- AND LOADS MORE!! The days after that, i went with mommy to the CN Tower which was ironically just behind our apartment. That was not such a good trip. But the day after that, we went to Casa Loma and Spadina Museum, that was worth it because Casa Loma is a very big castle-like-mansion built by this really rich canadian named Henry something2...which i had forgot...ill look it up again. The castle was amazing!it had more than 100 rooms and for your information...u know the movie X-MEN AND THE PACIFIER??well, most of the movie was taken at this very castle!! Do wait until i get back to indonesia and have time to show you all the pictures, they are really magnificent, wait for the pictures ok!

Then, yesterday, (31 august), we went to Wasaga Beach...I basked in the sun for the last time..it was great! we had a picnic on the beach. but the best thing is, the beach is not a sea!!instead, it is a lake!the longest freshwater beach in the world! there were so many people there, it was like a spring-fling and we enjoyed it very much!

Today, is daddys birthday, we did not celebrate it much as we were tired from the moving and all. but tomorrow, we are going to have dinner at Big DAddys Resto. it serves louisiana food which my dad misses from his days back when he was in university. i will put more photos, but not today, im too lazy...hehe...dont mind me...and i will make another post to conclude the whole holiday i had this summer...so wait up!!