From today's The Star...2 interesting articles.
School uniform sexy, says group
KUALA LUMPUR: A Malaysian group condemned the uniform worn by girls at government schools, saying it encouraged rape and pre-marital sex. “The white blouse is too transparent for girls and it becomes a source of attraction,” National Islamic Students Association of Malaysia vice-president Munirah Bahari said in a statement.
“It becomes a distraction to men, who are drawn to it, whether or not they like looking at it,” she said, calling for a review of uniform policy so that it did not violate Islamic ideals.
In multicultural Malaysia, home to majority-Muslim Malays as well as ethnic Chinese and Indians, female students at government schools have a choice of wearing a white blouse with a knee-length skirt or pinafore.
They may also wear a “baju kurung” and a headscarf is optional for Malay students.
Munirah said that “covering up” according to Islamic precepts was important to fend off social ills, including “rape, sexual harassment and even premarital sex.”
“This leads to babies born out of wedlock and, to an extent, even prostitution,” she said.
“Decent clothes which are not revealing can prevent and protect women from any untoward situations,” she said, suggesting that girls wear a blouse of a different colour or with an undergarment.
However, the girls themselves also came in for criticism, with the association saying that some used the white blouse to lure men.
“This is the source of the problem, where we can see that schoolgirls themselves are capable of using this to attract men to them,” Munirah said.
“This could see them getting molested, having premarital sex and all sorts of things.” – AFP
Go figure what the minuscule brain above is trying to get at.
And this by Dina Zaman, an interesting insight.
Today’s men not like our fathers
If before divorce was due to infidelity, abuse or disenchantment, nowadays the war cry among young women is that their husbands are lazy and irresponsible. ON MY flight back to Kuala Terengganu last week, I sat next to two young girls who were attending a company seminar. When they heard that I worked for a non-governmental organisation, they said: “Akak, please advise us, we have a problem.”
One of the girls told me her predicament: her husband now uses condoms with her because he’s been sleeping around, and because he didn’t know where the girls have been and because he loves her, the wife, he’s protecting her. From disease.
Wow. Is that love or what?
So I sat there and did an Oprah. When we separated at the airport, I thought to myself: I should have become a Syariah lawyer instead of a writer.
Over the past one year, so many people I knew divorced or were in the act of getting a divorce. If it weren’t the husband catching hold of me at the magazine shop, to ask me to speak to his errant wife, it would be my women friends calling or meeting me to break the news.
Sometimes my readers email me and tell me things. It’s odd, but you never get used to the news of a divorce. To me, it’s heartbreaking to hear of a marriage failing beyond repair.
The perennial question these women ask me, as well as their parents, my parents and aunts and uncles: what has happened to this generation of Malay men? “Why are they not like our fathers?”
My Auntie K’s answer to this was that there was too much MSG in all the food the men ate at the mamaks. My father chuffed up and said, of course no man could be like him; he (my father) was The Original Malay Man. And my mother and some of her friends wonder why, why, why.
If before divorce was due to infidelity, abuse or disenchantment, nowadays the war cry among young women is that their husbands are lazy, irresponsible and just want a flashy lifestyle.
Since their wives are educated and working, duit rokok boleh la tibai kat bini (the wives can support them). And what even boggles the mind is that despite the lack of cash and employment, some of these men actually have girlfriends.
I don’t get it. What kind of woman would want to date a lazy sod? I certainly don’t.
There’s the husband who beats up the wife to the point that her parents have to intervene, as he was starting to abuse his own child.
What does the husband say to the in-laws? If they want him to stop and to divorce the wife, pay him RM1mil. The parents actually do, because they want to save their daughter’s and grandchild’s lives.
Then there’s the harried wife with children who’s been married for over eight years. Every morning, the suami tersayang goes to work in a suit.
One day the ah longs appear at the doorstep and threaten her and the kids and she finds out the truth: the blinkin’ monkey never worked in his life, and had been borrowing money from the sharks. He also had a gambling habit and a “‘lifestyle'.
Then there’s the young cute husband who’s creative. He’s in “media”. Not only does he sleep and eat and live off his in-laws, later on, it is discovered that he bought his foreign degree from the Internet. Yes, he forged it for a few American bucks.
Even stranger, the marriage was not consummated. Last I heard, “I’m still a virgin, Kak Dina.” Aiyoyo. (Why marry-lah if you’re not going to consummate it?) Oh yes, the husband said in a marriage, there’s no sex. Go figure.
He’s too lazy to pray. He doesn’t want to work. He wants to stay home and watch TV. He does not contribute to household expenses. Baru nak apply for tender dah ada GRO. He expects the wife to pay for everything. He expects the father-in-law to pay for everything.
I go to usrahs given by ulamas such as Ustaz Asri, Ustaz Kariman, Ustaz Arifin. You name it.
Even at the usrahs, everyone is asking why divorce is so high and why the current generation of Malay boys are not responsible. Unlike their fathers. And fathers-in-law.
The funny thing is, when the wives give up trying to save their marriages and dive head-on for a divorce, these irresponsible boys suddenly rediscover religion and start behaving like pompous gits.
At the court, one soon to be ex-husband tells the judge the wife is not a good Muslim. Sometimes she does not perform all her five daily prayers.
The soon to be ex-wife then shoots back, if she’s not an isteri mithali what about him? His Friday night out with the boys and coming back reeking of beer and cheap women’s perfume?
He then gets angry and tells her that he is STILL her husband, and he’s a Malay man, a Muslim one, so she better shut up. She tells him to go s***w himself and hopes he gets AIDS.
The judge? Geleng kepala kot.
Just when I, Little Ms D, think it’d be nice to REMARRY, and then my mother can stop pestering me to marry the boyfriend, a story like this crops up and I run off. Marriage is for the brave.
The quality of Malay men can’t have deteriorated that badly, no?
I see an old friend for tea. She looks like a walking aubergine. Brinjal to you. Her husband beats her up for the heck of it and to discipline her. I ask her, why did she marry him?
She tells me: “Dina, I’m like you. Our fathers were diplomats. We had non-Malay boyfriends. But at the end of the day, semoden-moden kita ni, we think of God. So I married him because of bangsa dan ugama. I married a Malay man because I thought of akhirat.”
She weeps and tells me: “Fat lot of good that did me.”
I don’t know why the new generation of Malay men are not like my father and his friends. They are practising Muslims, they’re successful, and they’re monogamous. They don’t beat up their wives. They brought their daughters up to rule the world.
I’d marry someone like my dad and his friends, but that’s disgusting. Can you imagine having a son-in-law the same age as your dad?
So yes. Please. Someone, answer us. Why aren’t Malay men these days like our fathers?
Another makan-makan Thursday.... actually the choice was either Pizza Hut at Tesco or Damiral Grill. Put it to a vote... finally decided on Damiral Grill. The other 3 had already been there once and it's supposed to be ok. Can't miss it cos it's located in one of the new shops beside the road, Jln Pegawai area, near CIMB. The restaurant was practically empty when we arrived.... guess we are always the early birds... either that or people come in later. Anyway, the decor is okay-lah. Actually quite nice. But the music or tv was way too loud. The echo was quite annoying. They should have thought of some curtains or drapes to dampen the sound.
Since we were the only patrons...we took our time in ordering. They had lobster on the menu...I couldn't resist it...so I ordered. But the order was actually a disappointment. It looked okay but when I dug into the lobster...I couldn't really find any lobster meat. The whole concoction was just a cheesy blob. And as I was eating, I actually saw a small prawn. Sheesh!! That shouldn't be, right? Small prawns in place of lobster??? If it had been udang galah pieces, I don't think I would have been able to tell the difference much. One thing for sure, I definitely will not order this again if I ever do go back.
The soup in the bread was okay though. I think all the 6 of us enjoyed 'tearing it up' and dipping it into the bread. Soup was thick and tasty... has to be thick I supposed. Otherwise, the bread will be leaking soup! 8) The mangkuk went into our stomachs too. No wastage at all. Every single drop of soup and crumb disappeared!
The other orders were steak for Huan and lasagna for Siah. Ling and Alyssa had the Combo Platter. The food was quite alright if you are not too fussy! Don't bother asking about getting your steak well done, rare or medium rare cos I think they only do it one style....cooked! The food is not that spectacular but not that bad either. On my way out, I did comment to the cashier about the lobster order. Told him that I couldn't really find any lobster in the dish and the little prawn. For RM42.90, one actually can't expect much. But if they are going to say it is lobster they are serving, then they better make sure that it is lobster and not some udang kecil. Otherwise, serve the real thing and charge the fair price!
