Klik GAMBAR Dibawah Untuk Lebih Info

Sumber Asal Berita :-

Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News

The journey in life is never a straight line (PART 8)
The journey in life is never a straight line (PART 7)
The journey in life is never a straight line (PART 6)
The journey in life is never a straight line (PART 5)
The journey in life is never a straight line (PART 4)
The journey in life is never a straight line (PART 3)
The journey in life is never a straight line (PART 2)
The journey in life is never a straight line (PART 1)
The Dome of the Rock: an academic study
A game of chance

The journey in life is never a straight line (PART 8)

Posted: 30 Nov 2012 07:02 PM PST

I really did not care too much whether Anwar was going to spend the rest of his days in jail. I felt he deserved jail anyway, if not for sodomy at least for helping Dr Mahathir screw up the country and for making his friends and family rich. But Anwar had started something here, which could be useful to the cause of unseating Dr Mahathir and kicking Umno out. So why not ride on that Reformasi wave and take advantage of it?

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

By mid-1990 I had already wound down most of my businesses or sold off those that could be sold. Fortunately, that was just two years or so before the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis. The bankers I met told me I must be a genius to be able to anticipate this crisis two years before it happened and to get out of the market in time.

The truth is I just no longer had any interest in business. Business sickened me. I felt nauseous when I looked at my business.

Nevertheless, I did not correct this misperception by the bankers. I allowed them to continue to think that I am a genius who anticipated the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis two years before it happened when even the world's best economists could not see that -- or even Malaysia's greatest leaders such as Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and Anwar Ibrahim.

A friend of mine told me that my enemies had got a bomoh (witch doctor) to charm me with black magic ('kena buat', as the Malays would say) so that my heart 'turned' and I felt 'sick' with business. And that is why I just write and write and neglect my business, my friend said.

That was quite true. I did feel sick with business and I was writing and writing, day in and day out. But I am not too sure whether this was because a bomoh had 'buat' me. Anyway, I have seen stranger things in my 62 years, some which defy explanation. I would like to believe, though, that there were no magic spells involved in my 'change of heart'.

Just to digress a bit, another friend told me that every time I came near him he felt that something was 'wrong' (ada tak kena). He said he suspected I 'kena buat orang'. He insisted he take me to meet a 'gifted' person who is known to have the ability to exorcise 'demons' from 'orang kena buat'.

I have always been a curious person who would not hesitate to try anything new, at least once. So I agreed to the exorcism. The 'exorcist' just touched my big toe lightly and I began sweating profusely and wailed like a banshee. My friend could not stand the sound of my screaming so he left the room. He later told me that the scream did not sound like me one bit. It was a most unusual scream that did not sound human at all, he told.

I am not one to believe in the supernatural. But there you are. Believe it or not, that happened, and I still do not know what to make of it. The church, however, believes in such things, as do the majority of Muslims. As far as I am concerned, though, I had found my new 'calling' -- a political activist cum political writer -- and I found this life more interesting than the life of a businessman, something I had been for 20 years.

I think, at 45, I just needed a change, that's all. Call it mid-life crisis if you wish. Or maybe it was because I was almost the same age as when both my parents died so I wanted to do something different before I died. Or call it possession by demons, if you also wish. Your choice!

Anyway, back to the issue of my businesses. For companies like Maroda Sdn Bhd, the Mercedes Benz dealership, I sold my interest to my partner. That was actually a very profitable company and what I regarded as my 'flagship', as I mentioned in the earlier episodes of this series of articles.

I did not make any profit on those shares I sold to my partner. In fact, I made a loss because I transferred my shares at RM1 per share even though I had held on to those shares for more than ten years and a Mercedes Benz dealership is worth at least a million or two in 'goodwill'. Nevertheless, I took a 'haircut' because my partner could not possibly have forked out RM1 million or RM2 million if I had asked him to pay me that.

I practically 'gave' that company to my partner, a result of my disgust regarding the state of affairs. Hmmm…or maybe it was my partner who had got the bomoh to buat me. Smile (Joke only lah).

Another factor that prompted me to sell off my shares in Maroda is the fact that my partner was an Umno man and he was facing a lot of problems from Umno for partnering with an opposition supporter, meaning me. In fact, Umno was lobbying Cycle and Carriage to terminate Maroda's dealership and to give the dealership to an Umno company. Hence, if I had stayed his partner, Maroda would have probably lost the agency anyway.

In fact, Umno had been trying to block Maroda from getting the Mercedes agency since 1980. Shahrir Samad, the then Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, can confirm this because he told my partner so. To be fair to Shahrir, though, he did not do what Umno asked him to do -- to deny Maroda the agency. So not all Umno people are scumbags -- at least not Shahrir Samad, whose brother, Khalid Samad, is the current PAS MP for Shah Alam.

By mid-1998 I was totally retired except for a bihun (fine noodles) factory that I still owned. But I was not involved in the running of that factory. I had a manager to take care of it.

The bihun manufacturing business was not too bad, although you can't become a millionaire in that business -- because it was very competitive and monopolised by the Chinese. Around 50% of our market was our own branding while the other 50% was contract manufacturing -- which means we manufacture for others.

You can't really make money in contract manufacturing because the selling price is too low. But it allowed you to cover your fixed costs such as salaries, etc. Hence you can make a decent profit from your own brand -- which you can sell at a higher price -- and since the fixed costs are already taken care of you only need to worry about the variable or material costs.

1998 was also the time that Anwar Ibrahim was sacked from Umno and the government -- 2nd December 1998 to be exact. And that was a day of celebration for me.

You see, over the three years before that, I had been whacking Anwar Ibrahim kau-kau. I condemned him and even exposed his wrongdoings and revealed details of how all his cronies and family members were getting rich. My 'flagship' article was called 'The Rise and Fall of Anwar Ibrahim', which was published in Harakah, the party organ of PAS.

Anwar's people were, understandably, furious.

In that article I had predicted Anwar's downfall. I also revealed why he was going to fall. I revealed that Anwar was plotting behind Dr Mahathir's back and that the old man took two months leave and appointed Anwar the Acting Prime Minister as a trap for Anwar to walk in to. I then predicted that Dr Mahathir would make his move on Anwar and would finish him off, once and for all, once he returns from his two months leave.

Hence, when it happened exactly as how I predicted it was going to happen, I felt that that was a cause for celebration. I was right and now I could tell everyone, "I told you so!" And when Anwar launched his Reformasi Movement on 2nd September 1998, culminating in the massive rally at Dataran Merdeka on 20th September 1998, I did not 'go to the ground'. I stayed home and watched Anwar get demolished by Dr Mahathir.

It was when I saw Anwar's black eye and we were told that he was handcuffed, blindfolded and beaten up by no less than the IGP himself that I became outraged. I was also quite surprised by the massive turnout at Dataran Merdeka on 20th September. It was then that I realised that Anwar had created a wave of dissent and that there was a strong likelihood the Reformasi Movement could be a platform for our opposition to Umno.

Okay, maybe my reasons for rallying to Anwar's side were less than noble. It was not so much to see justice for Anwar (who did not understand the meaning of the word anyway) but to 'use' Anwar, the new icon of dissent, to further our own cause, which I had personally been involved in since the 1970s. Anwar was using us anyway to fight the system that he was once part of and which he exploited for his own interests. Hence, since he was using us, it was not unfair if we too used him. It was a win-win situation, as they would say today.

So I decided to come out and become active in the Reformasi Movement. But then that triggered other problems for me. My bihun customers began cancelling their contracts. They were under pressure to kill our business.

I met up with the GM of our biggest customer, Anwar Ibrahim's schoolmate in the Malay College Kuala Kangsar (MCKK), and he advised me to remove my name from the company. As long as my name was still in the company they can't give me any more business.

I discussed this matter with another of Anwar's classmates, Lt Kol Yunos Othman, and he agreed to become one of my nominees. I would transfer 500,000 of my shares to him and another 500,000 to another person. He would also take over the running of the business and I was not to show my face at the factory to prove that I had 'sold' the business.

He then told me he needed RM500,000 working capital to finance the business and he brought me to meet someone high up in the bank, another classmate of Anwar. The banker agreed to give the company RM500,000 but they would need security. His bank would give loans based on 50% of the security value if it is vacant land. So the land must be at least RM1 million in value.

I agreed to lend the company my land and the company got the loan. The bihun contracts were reinstated and with a price increase on top of that. And every month I would receive a 'salary' of RM5,000 as agreed.

After a few months the RM5,000 stopped coming. I then found out that the 500,000 shares of the second nominee had been transferred to Lt Kol Yunos. I spoke to my second nominee and she denied that she had transferred the shares. I then went to meet the Company Secretary, Ong Keng Tong, and he said that my nominee had signed the transfer forms in front of him -- which she, again, denied.

Later, I received a letter from the land office informing me that the bank was auctioning off my land. I found out from the bank that not a single Sen of the loan had been paid.

By then I had other problems on my hand -- my detention under ISA -- so I decided to call it a day and just move on. I never spoke to Lt Kol Yunos again and till today I do not know what happened to my factory. I just did not care any more. To me that was my 'previous life' and I no longer wanted to be concerned about my previous life.

Or maybe it was the charm that the bomoh put on me that made me not care. Smile

TO BE CONTINUED

The journey in life is never a straight line (PART 7)

Posted: 29 Nov 2012 06:57 PM PST

Ibak had been watching this mafia for quite some time and had decided that enough is enough. He opened up the meter business to the non-cartel members and we managed to squeeze in. Within three years we walked away with RM40 million in business. But I was the most hated supplier because I ignored the mafia and refused to join the cartel in the price rigging.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

When I reflect on my corporate life, I can probably summarise it as 20 years of the 62 years that I have been walking the face of this earth. I became a businessman at age 24 and 'retired' at age 44. Considering that my father and mother died at ages 46 and 47 respectively, I regarded myself as almost reaching the end of my life.

Hence, maybe, a change of career was in order.

However, I have to admit that my retirement was not actually my choice but the point of frustration that I had reached. When I first started my business in 1974, you could make it with sheer hard work, ingenuity, and plenty of guts to venture into areas where angels fear to tread. However, by 1994, it was no longer about know-how but about know-who.

If you were not aligned to those who walk in the corridors of power then the doors would be closed to you. And mere 'alignment' was not enough. There were also the contributions you had to make to various political funds, all to be made in cash and not with traceable cheques.

I, too, was not exempted from having to 'buy' contracts. In the beginning it was not too bad. A RM500,000 donation to Umno for a RM30 million contract where you earn at least 8% or RM2.4 million was affordable. You still had some money left in your pocket. But when margins dropped to less than 5% and the commissions (or kickbacks) increased to 10%, it was pointless to continue with that type of business.

My wife, Marina, was actually the one who 'pulled the plug', so to speak. As I wrote in the earlier parts of this series, we became 'Born Again' Muslims in the late 1970s and by the early 1980s I was practically a radical Muslim who believed in the Iranian Islamic Revolution and dreamed of such a revolution in Malaysia.

I also became closer to PAS, although still very much a 'closet' supporter because of my business activities. I so very much wanted to come out into the open but I would first have to get out of business to do that. Hence it would have been just a matter of time before I made this switch.

One day, Marina asked me how we could consider ourselves as true Muslims and at the same time indulge in haram activities. When she said haram activities she meant indulging in bribes and giving money to Umno, the enemy of Islam.

What she said made sense but I needed a 'trigger' to spur me into doing the right thing. And that 'right thing' offered itself in the early 1990s. And that story goes as follows.

By 1990, I felt that a change of course was required. For the past 16 years we had been acting as a mere dealer, distributor or agent. No doubt not all our businesses were government business -- maybe about 20% or so -- but we were just selling 'other people's products' and, therefore, were at their mercy.

We needed a product of our own.

I spoke to a friend in TNB and, interestingly enough, he told me that a certain 'mafia' monopolised the electricity meter business and they had formed a cartel and was rigging the price. TNB, therefore, was at their mercy.

I then spoke to someone in GE Singapore who gave me a list of all the electricity meter manufacturers in the world. I found that one manufacturer, Schlumberger from France, was not marketing their meters in Malaysia. (There were many others, of course, but Schlumberger was the best amongst them).

I flew to Paris and met up with a man named Arman Carlier. I proposed a partnership with Schlumberger to manufacture their meters in Malaysia and to try to break into the TNB market.

Arman did not think it was viable. Even 'strong' companies like George Kent (M) Bhd (a company linked to Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak) failed to break into the TNB market. And their meters are actually very good -- Landis and Gyr. So what makes me think we can succeed where others have failed?

I told Arman that our meters must be fully manufactured in ASEAN, with maybe 30% of the components locally manufactured in Malaysia -- and the local content to be increased as we go along. We must then 'dive' at least 20% below the prices of the cartel (they all tender at almost the same price with a couple of Sen price difference).

I was confident we could demolish the cartel and beat the 'mafia' that was merely importing their meters and doing a 'bolt-and-nut' operation. But Arman was still not sure. He knows the TBN market, as Schlumberger had done other business with them, so he knows the mafia has a strong hold on the meter business.

I told Arman that if Schlumberger agrees to set up a factory in Malaysia and they fail to get any business, I was prepared to underwrite the entire operation and reimburse them for all their expenses.

Arman finally agreed and said that he will give the Malaysian operation one year to get the business and that if we fail he will then close the factory down. We sealed the deal and then went to 'Le Crazy Horse' (SEE HERE) to celebrate our new partnership.

The factory was set up but after one year we got nothing. So much time and money spent with nothing to show for it. Arman told me it was time to close shop unless I could assure him we would be able to get at least some business.

I asked him for an extension of three months and he agreed. But that was it. Another three months and then they were going to close shop.

The mafia was determined to keep us out. In the meantime, the cartel was laughing all the way to the bank. I was bracing myself for bad news at the end of that three-month extension.

As I said earlier, a drowning man can come up only three times before he goes down for good. I had gone down twice so far, once in 1975 and again in 1985-1987. It looks like this time I was going to go down for good.

Then, suddenly, the unexpected happened. The General Manager, who was not supposed to retire yet, retired. He got a 'golden handshake' involving a large coal supply contract to prompt him to retire. His deputy, Datuk Ibak Abu Hussein, took over as the new number one.

What a stroke of luck! Schlumberger was just days away from closing down the operation. And that would have meant I would have lost my pants, for the third time. But fate decided it was not yet time for me to die.

Unfortunately, Ibak did not last long as the head honcho of TNB (the mafia hated him as well). He was 'pushed' into retirement and Ani Arope, a Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad-Anwar Ibrahim man, took over (the first time in history an 'outsider' was appointed as the head of TNB).

And that allowed the mafia to bounce back and go for me with a vengeance.

We soon began to lose tender after tender even though our price was the cheapest by far. By the third tender we lost, the TNB mafia approached Schlumberger and told them that as long as Raja Petra Kamarudin is their partner they are never going to get any business from TNB. We also lost the fourth tender and this convinced Schlumberger that the mafia was serious about it.

The second unfortunate thing was that Arman Carlier had been transferred to another division and was no longer heading the meter business in France. The new chap had no 'history' with me so there was no sentimental attachment. Hence he made the decision to 'file for a divorce'.

Schlumberger took on a new Malaysian partner who was 'highly recommended' by the TNB mafia. I found out later that his new partner was linked to Anwar Ibrahim. So it was an 'inside job' after all.

I was so furious I decided to get out of this whole 'rat race' once and for all. This was getting very stressful. Fighting your competitors is one thing. But when your 'own people' stab you in the back and grab what you painfully built up with a lot of risks involved, there was just no point in continuing.

I never forgave Anwar's people for taking away my last shot at making it in the business world. Anwar was the Finance Minister and TNB reported to him. But I never once walked into his office to ask for any help all that time he was Finance Minister (Anwar actually complained about this to one ABIM chap). But for his people to take away what I felt belonged to me was something so intolerable that I decided to throw in the towel and go for a career change.

And this new career change was to become a political activist and political writer. I was part of the corrupt system. I worked within that system that eventually 'ate' me up as well. Now I was going to fight that very system I had operated in.

That was 18 years ago in 1994. Today, I am still doing what I started 18 years ago back in 1994. I now have very low tolerance for abuse of power and corruption, even when committed by those from Pakatan Rakyat. And trust me, it does happen in Pakatan Rakyat as well. After all, many of those Pakatan Rakyat people are the same people who 'makan' me back in the 1990s.

TO BE CONTINUED

The journey in life is never a straight line (PART 6)

Posted: 29 Nov 2012 03:49 PM PST

Actually, I blame the banks for all this. Back in the 1980s, around ten years after starting my business, bank managers were coming to see me to invite me to lunch. They would practically beg me to 'give them some business'. Over lunch they would confirm RM2 million or RM3 million without even asking me what I would do with the money.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

People assume that since I am Malay therefore all my business must have come from government contracts. That is stereotyping and as 'fair' as assuming that since you are Indian you are a drunkard who beats his wife or since you are a Chinese you are dishonest because you worship money.

I do not deny that I did do some government business. Even Chinese and Indians do government business whenever they can. So this is not really a crime. Nevertheless, over 20 years from 1974-1994, my companies did about RM300-350 million in turnover with maybe about 20% of that in government contracts.

And government contracts are really not that profitable, mind you. Sometimes we get away with a profit of only 2.5%. To make 10% or more from a government (supply) job was a rare thing indeed, especially in those 'early days'.

Government jobs are good when you need to go to the bank to raise funds. If you won, say, a RM30 million government contract, this would allow you to borrow RM6 million or even RM10 million.

In those days, even when I did not need the money (since the supplier gave us credit of 60-90 days anyway), I would still go to the bank to borrow. I would use the funds and then pay back what I used within the same month. This would impress the bank like hell -- although they are not too happy with this since they would earn very little when you pay back almost immediately.

The reason I did this was so that, next time, when you really do need funding, you can go back to the bank and get a loan. In the beginning I borrowed RM2 million. By the time I decided to call it a day, I was rolling with RM20 million, all borrowed funds.

You see, branch managers had a quota to fill and they were trying to use me to fill their quota. So they would offer me facilities in the millions even though I did not need the money and would not have known what to do with it anyway.

Once I was even invited for lunch in the executive suite of HSBC in Kuala Lumpur. The Kwailo then asked whether his bank 'could be off assistance' to me. He then offered me RM3 million and instructed his Chinese officer to follow up on this 'application'.

The Chinese officer followed me back to my office and sat down with me to work out the details. But we had one problem. We could not justify the facilities. In other words, we could not show that I needed the money. After cracking our heads for an hour, I told the officer to just forget it. Actually I don't need the money.

I felt good to be able to tell HSBC that I don't need their money. That boosted my image and even more bank managers came a courting when they found out that I told the Kwailo from a Kwalio bank that I don't need their money.

Yes, bank managers get an orgasm when you tell a bank you don't need their money.

It came to a stage that all I needed to do was to phone the MD or GM of the bank and over the phone I could raise a million or two with no questions asked. Of course, I was not the only one enjoying this VIP treatment. All over town banks were throwing money our way.

Then, in mid-1980, the folly of this attitude hit us. Many of us were over-geared. No doubt our loans were 'backed by assets'. But these so-called assets were 'paper assets'. They were stocks and shares trading at ten or twenty times their value -- or worse.

No one cared about PE ratios. In the UK, you may be looking at PE ratios in the single digit. In Malaysia (plus Singapore and Hong Kong) the PE ratios of the 'darlings' of the stock market were sometimes in the triple digits.

That was crazy. Banks should not have touched such company shares with a ten-foot pole. But who thought that the bubble was going to burst? We were on a roller coaster ride and it was going up, up and up. Then, in 1985, it went down, down and down.

It was then that I understood the meaning of 'fair weather bankers'. They invite you to lunch and beg you to borrow from them when you do not need their money. However, when the market turns, they become your 'wakeup call' early in the morning when they phone you to inform you of the 'margin call'.

If you do not 'top up' by the time the market opens for the day, expect them to 'force-sell' your shares. And the more they force-sell the more depressed the market gets and the more depressed the market gets the lower your shares go and the lower your shares go the more margin you need to top up -- and so on and so forth. It basically becomes a vicious cycle.

Now that you need the money the banks no longer want to deal with you. The banks do not want to give you money because you need the money. They only want to give you money when you do not need it.

I was only 35 then and about ten years in business. But I was very rapidly finding out that another word for 'banker' is 'shark'. When they smell blood they go into a feeding frenzy. And when you are floundering in the water trying to keep your head up so that you do not drown, these sharks come up from behind you and bite off your balls.

Yes, we were greedy. I admit that. We may even have been inexperienced and were taking too many risks. But when you are still quite young and new to business, you tend to be like this. That is what being young is all about.

But the banks were also greedy. These banks that have been around for a long time and have seen many recessions come and go should have practiced prudent banking. They should have known that bubbles eventually burst. And they should not have been the ones to inflate the bubble and then, as soon as it shows sign of deflation, they prick the bubble by pulling the rug from under our feet.

Many suffered. Almost everyone, regardless of race, collapsed. Many saw their companies change hands. Some were even unfortunate enough to end up in jail. As I said, at 35 I could afford to pick up the pieces and start all over again. Those who no longer had the luxury of time chose the easy way out by ending their life.

We would have imagined that by 1985-1987 the banks would have learned their lesson. Apparently they did not -- as 1997 and now, 2012, have proven. Banks will still be banks and risk-takers will still be risk-takers.

I am just glad I am no longer in the game where we live day-to-day with the anxiety that when we wake up the following morning we are going to find out that the bottom has fallen out of the market.

As they say: let the borrower beware.

TO BE CONTINUED

The journey in life is never a straight line (PART 5)

Posted: 28 Nov 2012 09:56 PM PST

I had never tendered for fishing nets before so I was not too clear of the costing. I sought the advise of a friend who gave me the previous year's prices and asked me to drop my bid 7% below that price so that we can be the cheapest bidder. That was the most screwed up advice I ever received, as I would soon learn.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Most Malays are Ali Baba businessmen, said Chia Kim Peong a.k.a. Ah Piow. The Chinese use the Malays to get business. You, however, are a Baba Ali businessman. It is the other way around. You use the Chinese to do business. And you do all the work while I just sit back and collect my dividends. Ah Piow probably found that very amusing.

That quip was triggered by an episode involving the fishing net business that I started. I tried to get supplies from the Fusan fishing net manufacturer in Port Kelang but they told me that Nam Lee was their sole distributor.

I tried to meet up with Nam Lee but they refused to see me. They told me they were not interested in my business because they already had more than enough business to handle.

I spoke to Ah Piow who told me that he knows the Nam Lee people very well. He asked me to meet him at their office and he brought me in to meet the Managing Director although we had no prior appointment. I tried many times to meet them but failed and Ah Piow can just walk in unannounced. Clearly contacts are the key to business success.

Nam Lee agreed to supply me the fishing nets on condition that Ah Piow guaranteed my company's debts. Ah Piow told me not to make him 'lose face'. 'Face' is everything to the Chinese so I have to make good my debts to Nam Lee.

Once I had learned the ins and outs of the fishing net business I participated in my first public tender. The tender was for RM12 million and seven companies participated. Amongst the seven were Pernas and Nam Lee plus companies owned by Bank Pertanian and Shamelin, an Umno-linked company founded by Tan Sri Sanusi Junid, the one-time Agriculture Minister.

The buyer called the seven of us for a meeting and I was informed that our prices were 30% below everyone else. They said I had clearly made a mistake so they were giving me the opportunity to withdraw, leaving the remaining six in the race. The RM12 million contract would then be divided six ways, around RM2 million per bidder.

I refused to withdraw and insisted that we remain in the race. I noticed the others around the table, who had been in this game a number of years, whisper and snigger. I was furious. There was no way I was going to withdraw and 'lose face'. I was going to stay and fight even if I lost my pants. And if they were right that I had made a mistake then I stand to lose quite a bit of money. But then this is about 'face', not money.

Because our price was 30% lower than all the rest, they had no choice but to give us the entire contract. The rest got nothing. With variation orders and a two-year extension, the RM12 million contract became RM20 million.

As luck would have it, Korea, which had many fishing net factories (unlike Malaysia which had only one) saw an oversupply situation when the market for fishing nets coincidentally took a dive. Fishing nets have a short shelf life so they needed to dispose off these nets as fast as possible. So now many factories in Korea were scrambling and were trying to dump their nets at fire sale prices.

The Koreans came to see me to try and get me to buy from them. They told me that based on normal pricing I was going to lose money big time because I had made a mistake in my pricing. However, they were prepared to supply me and would allow me to make 2.5% over the contract price.

I told the Koreans that their price was not attractive enough and that I could get the nets cheaper elsewhere. They told me that that would be impossible because nowhere in the world could I get nets at that kind of pricing. I told them in that case they should sit back and watch me do it.

They went off after telling me they will remain in Kuala Lumpur in case I change my mind because they were still interested in doing business with me.

I never called them back. In the meantime, the clock was ticking. I was supposed to supply the nets within 60 days and now 30 days had passed. If I can't get my hands on the supply I would default and the contract would be cancelled plus I would lose the performance bond of RM600,000.

Five days later, the Koreans called again and said they agree to my terms. They will give me 30% and supply all my requirements. But they will require a Letter of Credit. I told them, "No Letter of Credit." They were the ones chasing me, not me chasing them. If they want me to buy from them then they will have to give me 60 days credit.

The deal was sealed and I made my first delivery after requesting a 30-day extension for the first delivery and then 60 days delivery thereafter.

Fusan and Nam Lee were taught a lesson of their lives. Pernas, which had about RM500,000 in unsold stocks had to write off their fishing nets because the rats and cockroaches had eaten all the nets in their store (nets are perishable items when left in the store).

My satisfaction was not in making around RM5 million on that three-year contract that eventually totalled RM20 million. It was in teaching the 'big boys' a lesson to not snigger at me during a meeting as if I did not know what I was doing.

Well, actually I did not know what I was doing. It was just luck and a game of poker with the Koreans that prevented me from losing my pants, yet again. Needless to say, I never tried that stunt again.

TO BE CONTINUED

The journey in life is never a straight line (PART 4)

Posted: 28 Nov 2012 03:28 PM PST

This was no longer about making money. We were already making plenty of money -- Johan's turnover was in the hundreds of millions a year and our business interests were spread out in all the continents of this world. This was about which of the Taikos can become the Taipan. It was a game of prestige. I suppose at that time we felt immortal and lost focus of the objectives of doing business.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

They say a drowning man surfaces only three times. On the third time he goes down he stays down for good. He will never surface again. He will die.

It is now 1991. I was already 17 years in business and had survived two economic recessions and had fought off two bankruptcies. Therefore I could afford only one more collapse before I go down for good and never rise again.

The first crisis I faced was in 1975, merely a few months after I started my business back in 1974. And that story is as follows.

My business partner, Zulkifly Mohd Nor, an ex-Pernas officer, had cleaned out our bank account and had absconded with the company's money. This could only be done with the collaboration of the branch manager of Bank Rakyat Kuala Terengganu.

I confronted the bank manager, Ghazi, and he confirmed he had released all the payments for the sales of the Yanmar engines that we had made to the fishermen. The arrangement was: Bank Rakyat would finance our buyers and would pay us for the cost of the engines. The money was supposed to have been paid directly to the company. However, instead of paying the money into the company's bank account, it had all been diverted to Zulkifly's personal bank account.

I spoke to Michael Toh Hong Hooi, the manager of Chong Lee Leong Seng, our Yanmar supplier, and told him that the money was all gone. Zulkifly had 'kebas' the money and there was nothing left. I only had a few hundred Ringgit in my pocket, and that was all.

Chong Lee Leong Seng can choose to sue us and get us declared bankrupt or they can allow us to 'live' and I will ensure that all the money will eventually be paid back in full. I would also need them to continue giving us credit so that we can continue to trade.

Michael Toh agreed to create two trading accounts for us. 'Account A' would be the old unpaid debt while 'Account B' would be the new credit line that Chong Lee Leong Seng would extend to us. 'Account B' would have a RM30,000 limit with a 90-day credit period. Once we reach 90 days, or we reach the RM30,000 limit, we would have to pay up before more supplies can be made. But each time we paid for 'Account B' we would also have to pay for part of 'Account A'.

In time, it was hoped, 'Account A' would be fully settled.

One more condition that Michael Toh imposed on us was that I would have to take a Chinese partner and give him 30% of the company. This Chinese businessman would offer Chong Lee Leong Seng the 'comfort' of continuing to do business with us.

I was introduced to this Chinese businessman, a man named Chia Kim Peong from Sabak Bernam. Chia gave me RM10,000 as working capital and he guaranteed the RM30,000 credit line from Chong Lee Leong Seng. I would have to 'roll' with this RM10,000 and the RM30,000 credit line from Chong Lee Leong Seng.

When Chia cashed out his 30% interest in my company in 1985, he made about RM300,000 on the RM10,000 he gave me in 1975, not a bad return for just ten years.

With this new 'lease of life' in 1975, it took me three years of hard work to rise again. I practically lived in my car with my daughter, my only child then, Raja Suraya, sleeping in the back seat of the car as I drove from Kelantan to Johor to Kedah to market my Yanmar engines. In 1975, we did only RM300,000 in sales. By 1976 and 1977, we touched RM1 million a year. In 1978, our sales touched RM6 million. And in 1979 and 1980 we did about RM10 million a year in sales.

It took me three years to make our first million. That was in 1978. They say the first million is the most difficult to make. Once you have made your first million then the second million is easier. That is quite true. It took me only two years to make our second million and by 1980 we had RM3 million in cash reserves and had done roughly RM30 million in sales over those five years or so.

We were now Chong Lee Leong Seng's number one Yanmar dealer.

It was now time to go big time. And 'big time' to us then was, of course, to 'go public'. Public listed companies was the measure of a person's success and a status symbol back in 1980.

Michael Toh introduced me to his uncle, Tan Kay Hock (now a 'Tan Sri') -- yes, the man currently in the middle of the George Kent (M) Bhd/Ampang LRT controversy -- who was about to take over a dormant public listed company, Johan Tin (now called Johan Holdings Berhad). I invested heavily in Johan, mainly through bank borrowings (and the main reason for my RM20 million debts which I wrote about earlier in parts 2 and 3 of this series).

From a 'bankrupt' in 1975 to a millionaire in 1980 and a multi-millionaire in 1985 -- I thought nothing was going to stop me. The sky was the limit. I was now in the ranks of the corporate chiefs like Tan Sri Ibrahim (Promet), Vincent Tan (Berjaya), and so on. We were all 'racing' to see whose shares could go the highest. Promet's and Johan's shares had both exceeded RM10 per share but Promet's shares were RM0.20 ahead of Johan's.

This was no longer about making money. We were already making plenty of money -- Johan's turnover was in the hundreds of millions a year and our business interests were spread out in all the continents of this world. This was about which of the Taikos can become the Taipan. It was a game of prestige. I suppose at that time we felt immortal and lost focus of the objectives of doing business.

And we would soon learn that we would pay a heavy price for that arrogance.

In 1985, the recession hit us, followed by the 1987 stock market collapse. What I had made over the last ten years was lost in a mere couple of months. Our RM10 shares dived to less than RM0.50. I was saddled with RM20 million in debts but with shares that could not even cover half that amount. I had no choice but to bail out and embark upon a 'fire sale' -- as related in parts 2 and 3 of this series.

So there you are. I was now, again, broke, and would have to start from the bottom all over again. The dream of becoming the Taipan had now turned into a nightmare. But how do I bounce back with the economy and my personal finances in tatters?

I found out that many companies were still listing their shares but there were no takers. No one wanted to invest in the stock market. Everyone was still licking his/her wounds from the last disaster and it appeared like full recovery may take some years yet.

One company, Hexza Corporation Berhad, was facing this same dilemma. They had issued a few million shares, which the Ministry of Trade and Industry was holding on to but with no investors wanting to pick them up.

I approached the Ministry to enquire into these shares and they told me that they could let me have ten million shares at RM0.65 per share if I wanted them. The Ministry was happy to get rid of these shares that no one wanted. I told them I only wanted a million shares and they told to come back with a bank draft for RM650,000.

I went home and told my wife, Marina, about the offer. She phoned her stockbroker who told her that Hexza was trading at RM0.95 per share. She said it was a good deal and that we should pick up those shares. But let's not be too greedy, Marina said. Let's pick up just one million shares, in case.

Marina dug into her cookie jar and pulled out RM150,000. So we were still short of RM500,000. I went to Kwong Yik Bank and they agreed to give me a loan of RM500,000 -- if we hand over the RM150,000 to the bank and ask the Ministry to issue the shares in the name of Kwong Yik Nominees.

We completed the transaction over the next few days and then lodged the one million Hexza Corporation Berhad shares with the bank. I then told Marina to do what she wanted with them. By the time Marina unloaded the shares a few months later, the shares had climbed to more than RM2 per share. After paying back the bank the RM500,000 we owed them, we managed to walk away with about RM1.5 million in cash.

It was time to reinvest this money and make that RM1.5 million grow to RM15 million.

TO BE CONTINUED

The journey in life is never a straight line (PART 3)

Posted: 27 Nov 2012 07:10 PM PST

Tan Sri Basir Ismail, the Chairman of BBMB, was very angry about what I said. He cancelled my facilities with the bank and gave me 14 days to make full settlement on my loans. According to the manager of BBMB Kuala Terengganu, the interest they earn on my loans covers the entire operating cost for the branch. In fact, we were the second biggest account after the Terengganu State Economic Development Corporation -- or the biggest non-government client.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

It took me a year or so to settle all my debts with the various financial institutions. BBMB (Bank Bumiputra) was the first bank I had to pay off because they gave me only 14 days to do so. That cost me around RM6 million. MBF was another RM3 million, followed by Amanah Chase, also another RM3 million. Kwong Yik, D&C, and Bank Islam totalled RM5 million. By the time I finished with this 'cleaning up' exercise, including those smaller loans here and there, about RM20 million had been settled and that got the banks off my back.

To achieve this, I had to unload all my shares while at the same time not dump too much, too fast, lest that depress the share price. My wife, Marina, handled that part of the exercise, as she was the market 'wizard' in the family. However, we managed to raise only about RM12 million or so due to the selling frenzy at that time.

To cover the shortage, I had to sell off the four shop lots that we owned plus two condos in Kuala Lumpur, one in Bangsar and the other in Subang Jaya. The part that hurt the most was when I had to sell of my 'flagship', my 30% interest in a Mercedes Benz dealership, which was actually quite profitable.

Basically, I was forced to embark upon a 'fire sale' to clean up my debts and then try to restart from the bottom.

The RM6 million that I had to pay off BBMB within 14 days is a story by itself. Around that time, the Malay Chamber of Commerce and Industry organised a seminar, which was officiated by Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, and I was selected as one of the presenters.

In my presentation, I whacked BBMB and said that it had deviated from the objectives of its creation, which was to assist Malays who needed help to get into business. I talked about the BMF scandal in Hong Kong, which resulted in the tragic murder of Jalil Ibrahim, as one example of how it had deviated from its 'charter'.

Just to digress a bit, the man arrested and jailed for Jalil's murder was Dax Mark, a close friend of mine. I am still not sure whether he did murder Jalil but if the court says he did then it must be true. I suppose it is very difficult to accept the possibility that a close friend of yours could be involved in such a high profile murder. There were a few other deaths as well, although some were said to be suicides -- although you can never tell when someone is found drowned in his swimming pool whether it was a suicide or a murder.

I always found Dax quite fascinating. He was married to a MAS stewardess while at the same time he was keeping a SIA stewardess as a mistress. His wife and mistress worked different shifts so both would not be in town at the same time. I asked Dax what would happen if suddenly their shifts were changed and they both landed in town at the same time. How was he going to handle that situation? He shuddered and told me not to tempt fate.

Anyway, back to the issue of the seminar and BBMB. I went on to say that Malaysia is going through a serious economic crisis that is affecting everyone -- Malays, Chinese, Indians and all. The Chinese cooperatives are collapsing and need RM3 billion to bail them out. We are talking in terms of mid-1980s money value, mind you.

The Chinese threatened to abandon MCA and vote DAP if the government does not bail them out. Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad instructed the banks to form a consortium to bail out the Chinese cooperatives, which they did (after all, who can say 'no' to Dr Mahathir).

The Malays, too, I said, need bailing out, just like the Chinese. If the government can bail out the Chinese cooperatives to the tune of RM3 billion (even though it was 'under duress' because of the Chinese threat to abandon MCA and vote DAP), why can't the government also bail out the Malays? Instead of bailing out the Malays, BBMB is taking legal action against defaulters and is filing bankruptcy against them, I explained.

I then quipped that BBMB now stands for 'Basir buat Melayu bankrup'. What do we have to do to get the government's attention? Do we also need to make threats like the Chinese -- threaten to abandon Umno and vote opposition?

I related this story to an old friend of my father, Chai Fook Loong. Uncle Chai was surprised. "Basir knows your late father very well," he said. "Why would he do this to you?" I replied that I did not know why (and at that time I really did not know -- I did not realise it was related to what I had said about Basir).

Uncle Chai phoned Basir and spoke to him. "Kam's son, Raja Petra, is sitting in front of me," Uncle Chai told Basir (my father's close friends used to call him Kam -- pronounced Kem and short for Kamarudin). Before Uncle Chai could say more, Basir replied, "I know who Raja Petra is. His file is on my table and I am looking at it now."

I do not know what else Basir told Uncle Chai because he refused to tell me. He looked extremely perturbed when he put the phone down and just said, "What did you do to the old man? I know him very well and I have never seen him so angry. He is actually a very nice man but today I am seeing another side of him."

I just told Uncle Chai, "Never mind. I think I know why." I did not want to say anything more about the matter. I knew I was in deep shit with Basir.

The seminar was not a total waste, though. Dr Mahathir agreed to the setting up of the Tabung Pemulihan Usahawan (TPU). Bank Negara was to be put in charge of that fund but the Malay Chamber can form its own committee to recommend those businessmen who needed help.

During the many meetings that we held to sieve through the deserving cases to assist, the Chairman told us that certain names on the list would have to be removed from the list. We were furious and demanded to know why. (My name was not one of those on the list, though, because I was not one of those who the banks were suing for bankruptcy).

There was a lot of shouting and table banging and finally the Chairman revealed that the names that are to be removed from the list are those who have been 'blacklisted' by the government. We told the Chairman that Dr Mahathir had promised us that the TPU would be 'politically blind' and that help would be given to Malays in trouble based on their eligibility and not based on their political affiliations.

We told the Chairman that we demand a meeting with Dr Mahathir to clear this matter up. Dr Mahathir had promised us RM500 million and that if RM500 million was not enough he was prepared to increase it to RM1 billion. But start with RM500 million first and see how far that goes, Dr Mahathir said. And Dr Mahathir had also promised that while Bank Negara would be the trustee of the fund, there would be no political interference from Umno.

It was then that the Chairman told us that the instruction to remove certain names from the list did not come from Dr Mahathir but from Anwar Ibrahim. And one of the people who Anwar insisted should not get any assistance was Marina Yusoff.

Imagine my surprise when around ten years or so later, when Dr Mahathir sacked Anwar, Marina Yusoff came out to support Anwar and even joined PKR (then called PKN) and became one of the Vice Presidents of the party.

I later asked marina Yusoff whether she knew that Anwar had tied to 'kill' her back in the late 1980s and she confirmed that she did. In fact, she had to request an audience with Anwar to make peace with him and he agreed to help Marina but would give her only one-third of what she needed.

One-third was far from sufficient to bail her out and eventually her business collapsed. Yet, in spite of that, she still stood by Anwar in his hour of need. And when she joined PKR and opposed Umno in 1999, the government finished her off for good and buried her.

Many say she is stupid for sacrificing herself for Anwar, a man who tried to destroy her ten years earlier. I suppose that stupidity is in most of us.

TO BE CONTINUED

The journey in life is never a straight line (PART 2)

Posted: 26 Nov 2012 10:02 PM PST

I was in dire straights with RM20 million in debts. In today's money value, that would probably be about RM100 million. RM20 million is a lot of money to pay back. However, when my shares were worth RM10.40 and I was sitting on a couple of million shares that was not an issue. Now my shares were trading at only RM0.42.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

My initial response to Anwar Ibrahim's betrayal to the cause was that of hostility. None of us could accept his reason for deserting ABIM to join the very party he had condemned and which we called a party of infidels (parti kafir). We considered Umno a parti kafir not only because they opposed Hudud and the Islamic State but also because they collaborated with non-Muslim parties like MCA, MIC, Gerakan, PPP, etc.

There was no compromise on this issue. Malaysia has to follow the example of Iran. There were no two ways about it. During the Iran-Iraq War, some of the ABIM members made a trip to Iran and visited the battlefront (their bus was riddled with bullets and they all had to 'hit the floor' to avoid getting shot).

When the Iranians visited Malaysia they gave a talk. And I have to admit that their talk inspired me. "Malaysia, today, is like what Iran was 30 years ago. In 30 years time, Malaysia will become just like what Iran is today. We are here to export the Iranian Revolution to Malaysia."

I had goose pimples and my hair stood on end. I wished I were at the frontline with gun in hand fighting for the Iranians against the American lackey, Iraq. Yes, we need a Malaysian Islamic Revolution. And I would have to support PAS to be able to see that happen.

But why is PAS involved in the general election? Imam Khomeini did not participate in general elections. He brought down the Shah through an armed revolution, through violence. After all, general elections are a kafir creation so why are we bothering with that?

We had no choice. We did not have guns or military strength. So we had to participate in general elections as the route to power. Once we are in power we can then abolish general elections and get rid of all the vestiges of British colonialism.

I hated Anwar. He used to dress in Arab gear and would condemn those dressed in coat and tie. Those who dress like kafir become kafir, was what we were told. Now, Anwar is dressed in Savile Row suits. He not only sold out to the kafir. He was aping the kafir. He had become just like the kafir. Once the Malaysian Islamic Revolution starts Anwar must be the first we execute.

Then, one day, Utsaz Fadzil Mohd Noor bumped into Anwar at the airport and he went up to Anwar and hugged him. They then spent half an hour chatting. The PAS diehards, however, stood at one end of the airport and the Umno diehards at the opposite end.

We were puzzled. Did not the Ustaz say that Anwar's excuse for joining Umno was to change Umno from the inside and that Anwar will not only fail to change Umno but instead Umno will change him? And has not Umno changed him into the very animal that we all despise and oppose, at one time Anwar included?

Of course Ustaz Fadzil was hurt and disappointed when Anwar left ABIM to join Umno. But he did not hate Anwar. He still loved Anwar. And he still had hope that Anwar may one day return to the opposition or at least succeed in changing Umno from the inside. Most of us, however, were not that bullish.

When Anwar decided to contest the Umno Youth leadership he called upon his old comrades in ABIM to help him. The ABIM boys in Terengganu spoke to me and asked me to join the team. We are not helping Umno, they said, we are helping Anwar. We still oppose Umno and pray for its destruction. But that should not stop us from supporting Anwar and help him in his climb up the Umno ladder.

I took leave from my business and toured the country to campaign for Anwar. We also sank in quite a bit of money to hold feasts and functions for Anwar to speak at. Invariably, he won. And he won the next two rounds as well. So the effort bore results.

But that began to open up a whole new lot of problems for many of us. We were now hated by both sides of the political divide. Those in the opposition hated us for working for Umno. And those in Umno who saw us as enemies of Umno and the 'private army' of Anwar also hated us.

One of Anwar's diehards, a senior man in the Terengganu Education Department, was 'promoted' as the new Political Secretary to the Terengganu Menteri Besar. Every one knew that the MB hated Anwar like hell. We were not sure whether this 'promotion' was actually a 'buy-over' or a coincidence. Eventually it was proven that he had sold us out.

This was a man who was part of our conspiracy to promote Anwar using the Education Department as the vehicle. He knew all our most confidential plans. Worst of all, he knew all our strengths and weaknesses. So they began attacking us where it hurt most, our business activities. If they can hurt us financially then they can cripple us. And they succeeded in hurting us financially.

It was then that I realised you cannot be a businessman and oppose those who walk in the corridors of power at the same time. It must be one or the other. And I paid that heavy price when I became one of the targets that must be destroyed. In 1985, the economy took a beating and in 1987 the stock market collapsed. I lost everything and now had to start all over again.

I went to see Anwar to ask for help. "Inilah Melayu. Nawaitu kontrek. Why can't you be like the Chinese and stand on your own two feet? The Chinese do not ask for government help when they get into financial trouble."

I walked off and never looked back. I refused to beg. I got out of politics and focused on rebuilding my business. But I first had RM20 million in debts to pay off.

TO BE CONTINUED

The journey in life is never a straight line (PART 1)

Posted: 26 Nov 2012 06:50 PM PST

I delved deeply into religion and two years later, in 1982, I went to Mekah to perform my Haj (pilgrimage). There I met up with the late Haji Fadzil Mohd Noor (the PAS President who died in office in June 2002). I also linked up with Tok Guru Haji Abdul Hadi Awang, Mustafa Ali and a couple of other top PAS leaders from Terengganu.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

When I was in my teens I never suspected that life is actually quite complicated. Then, I would live day-to-day. I lived by the motto 'tomorrow never comes', which is quite true because once tomorrow comes it would be today, if you get what I mean.

Life was all about enjoying yourself -- eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow you may die. And, if you can't avoid dying, then go with a smile on your face because once you die you die, that would be the end of everything. Hence have fun while you still breath.

Then my world, as I knew it, came to an end. My father -- the only breadwinner in the family -- died. And we were all still in school -- all four siblings. That was probably the first greatest shock of my life -- other than the 13 motorcycle accidents that I had prior to my father's death.

My father was only 46. Surely that was too young an age to die, especially when my mother was only 38 and the four of us kids were still at school. That could be considered as the first 'injury' in my life. And, to add insult to this injury, the hundreds of friends and family members that my father had suddenly 'disappeared'.

You see; my father was a 'big man'. That was why I could afford the devil-may-care lifestyle. However, once the 'big man' had gone, no one wanted to know us any more.

I remember the first Hari Raya after my father died. When my father was still alive, the road outside our house would be jam-packed with cars. The place would be almost like the venue of an opposition ceramah -- crowded with people. That first Hari Raya after my father's death, however, not a single person came to our house.

My mother stood looking out the window and cried. I did not know what to do so I phone my father's 'best friend' -- a man I call Uncle Cedric and who now lives in Australia. Uncle Cedric came over to console my mother. Thereafter our days of the Hari Raya 'open house' ended. We realised that now our father had died we no longer have any friends or family members.

It hit me then that we would have to pick up what was left of our lives and get on with it. I got a job that paid RM250 a month and got married soon after that. I was forced to 'restart' my life (or 'reboot' in today's terminology) from the bottom. And it was a long and hard battle to get back to the top, the position I had always known until my father died.

Then the second blow of my life hit me nine years later. My mother, who was only 47, died. She had earlier left Malaysia and had gone back to England. She could no longer live in Malaysia, which was giving her so much 'pain'.

That was in 1980 when I was 30.

My father had died age 46 and my mother at age 47. I was 30. How much longer would I live before I too would die? What was the purpose of life if all it means is you are going to leave this world and cause your family so much pain by your death?

I needed to console myself with the fact that life was not a total waste and that we are all here for a purpose. And to find that answer I turned to Islam. No doubt I was born a Muslim but I was never really a Muslim. I 'became' a Muslim much later in life.

I spent almost a month in Mekah and Medina where I also mingled with the Iranians (who had just had their Islamic Revolution three years before that in 1979). I even joined the Iranians in their anti-Saudi/anti-US demonstration in Mekah that attracted about 100,000 protestors.

A year before that, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad had taken over as the Prime Minister of Malaysia and that same year I did my Haj (1982), Anwar Ibrahim had joined Umno. So this was the 'hot' discussion in Mekah and Medina.

Part of the reason I became a 'radical' Muslim was because of Anwar Ibrahim. Before he joined Umno in 1982 he was the President of ABIM and I attended a few of his ceramah, all organised by PAS, of course. It was in a way Anwar who made me 'see the light' that the future lay with Islam.

Umno was evil. Umno was unIslamic. Umno was a creation of the 'kafir' British. We must oppose Umno and 'turn' to Islam. And turn to Islam I did, in a very big way, even believing that the future was in an Islamic Revolution in Malaysia a la Iran.

Killing and dying in the name of Islam was an acceptable option. This was what I learned during my Haj trip and in my association with the Iranians. This was also what the President of ABIM, Anwar Ibrahim, had been telling us.

But now Anwar had abandoned the Islamic cause to join Umno -- the very organisation he had condemned and had told us to oppose to the death. Anwar was now with the 'infidels' in Umno. Is it, therefore, also halal (kosher) to kill Anwar?

TO BE CONTINUED

The Dome of the Rock: an academic study

Posted: 25 Nov 2012 07:22 PM PST

This is certainly a very interesting hypothesis and quite difficult to dismiss without further examination. The fact that the inscription talks about Jesus and the "Muhammad" in the inscription, if translated to "the praised one", can also be talking about Jesus gives credence to this hypothesis.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

The Dome of the Rock is a shrine or memorial located on the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem. It was built by the Umayyad Caliph Abd al-Malik and was completed in AD 691.

The Temple Mount, known in Hebrew (and in Judaism) as Har haBáyith and in Arabic (and in Islam) as the Haram Ash-Sharif (al-haram al-qudsī ash-sharīf means Noble Sanctuary), is one of the most important religious sites in the Old City of Jerusalem. It has been used as a religious site for thousands of years. At least four religions are known to have used the Temple Mount as their holy site: Judaism, Islam, Christianity, and Roman paganism.

The inscriptions on the Dome of the Rock can be seen below. The two 'key words' in those inscriptions would be "Islam" and "Muhammad". Hence, going by these two key words, the Dome of the Rock is believed to have been built by a Muslim -- the Umayyad Caliph Abd al-Malik -- and it is further believed to have been built as a shrine or memorial to the Prophet Muhammad, the prophet of Islam.

In Arabic, the word "Islam" means "submission" or "surrender", which is derived from the root word "salam". From this root word, you can also derive the words "peace" and "safety". Many people feel that Islam implies some sort of "enslavement to Allah", but others find it more viable to define the word "Islam" as "surrender".

The word "Muhammad" is derived from the Arabic root word "hamd" or "praise". It is the emphatic passive participle of that root and can be translated as "the Oft-Praised One". As for "Ahmad", it is the superlative form of the same root word "hamd", which means "the Highly Praised One".

If you were to interpret the word "Islam" as "submission" or "surrender" and the word "Muhammad" as "the praised one", then the inscriptions will take on an entirely different meaning.

Western scholars are beginning to question whether the Dome of the Rock is a memorial to the Prophet Muhammad or a memorial to Jesus Christ. For example, "Muhammad is the Messenger of God, the blessing of God be on him" can also be interpreted to mean: "The praised one is the Messenger of God, the blessing of God be on him". "Muhammad is the servant of God and His Messenger" can also be interpreted to mean: "The praised one is the servant of God and His Messenger".

Now, assuming that the "Muhammad" in the inscription does not refer to Muhammad the person (the proper noun) but refers to "the praised one" (an adjective), whom, therefore, are they referring to? If you were to look at the other parts of the inscription, it talks about "The Messiah, Jesus son of Mary, was only a Messenger of God". Then it goes on to say: "It befitteth not God that He should take unto Himself a son" and "There is no god but God".

Scholars believe that this is evidence that the inscription is not talking about Prophet Muhammad but about Jesus Christ and that this 'doctrine of faith' is meant to counter or dispute the Christian dogma that Jesus is the Son of God and the Lord (Jesus) -- and that Jesus was merely a messenger or prophet of God.

If these scholars are correct in their assumptions, this throws a whole new light on the more than 1,000-year-old conflict as to who owns this holy site. Was this structure built as a memorial to Prophet Muhammad or to Jesus Christ? And if it is a memorial to Jesus Christ, was it built to counter the Christian dogma of the Holy Trinity and present Jesus as a mere mortal and messenger/prophet of God rather than the Lord and Son of God?

This is certainly a very interesting hypothesis and quite difficult to dismiss without further examination. The fact that the inscription talks about Jesus and the "Muhammad" in the inscription, if translated to "the praised one", can also be referring to Jesus gives credence to this hypothesis.

Nevertheless, it will be very difficult for most people to accept this hypothesis as a possibility considering that for more than 1,000 years people have held on to a certain belief and now you are asking them to rethink this whole thing. You are also telling them that for more than 1,000 years what they believed may not have been correct after all.

One more 'troubling' thing about this hypothesis is that Caliph Abd al-Malik was supposed to be a Muslim. Therefore, if he had built this as a shrine for Jesus Christ rather than Prophet Muhammad, does this mean the Caliph was not a Muslim but a Christian? This would be the most difficult question facing Muslims who may choose to consider this hypothesis as a possibility.

I suppose this is why the Muslim ulama' say you must not think too much because too much thinking may confuse you and lead you astray. Hmm…maybe I should stop thinking about this then.

***************************************************

INSCIPTIONS ON THE DOME OF THE ROCK

INSCRIPTIONS ON THE INSIDE OF THE OCTAGONAL ARCADE

S: In the name of God, the Merciful the Compassionate. There is no god but God. He is One. He has no associate. Unto Him belongeth sovereignity and unto Him belongeth praise. He quickeneth and He giveth death; and He has Power over all things. Muhammad is the servant of God and His Messenger.

SE: Lo! God and His angels shower blessings on the Prophet. O ye who believe! Ask blessings on him and salute him with a worthy salutation. The blessing of God be on him and peace be on him, and may God have mercy. O People of the Book! Do not exaggerate in your religion

E: nor utter aught concerning God save the truth. The Messiah, Jesus son of Mary, was only a Messenger of God, and His Word which He conveyed unto Mary, and a spirit from Him. So believe in God and His messengers, and say not 'Three' – Cease!

NE: better for you! – God is only One God. Far be it removed from His transcendent majesty that He should have a son. His is all that is in the heavens and all that is in the earth. And God is sufficient as Defender. The Messiah will never scorn to be a

N: servant unto God, nor will the favoured angels. Whoso scorneth His service and is proud, all such will He assemble unto Him. Oh God, bless Your Messenger and Your servant Jesus

NW: son of Mary. Peace be on him the day he was born, and the day he dies, and the day he shall be raised alive! Such was Jesus, son of Mary, a statement of the truth concerning which they doubt. It befitteth not God that He should take unto Himself a son. Glory be to Him!

W: When He decreeth a thing, He saith unto it only: Be! and it is. Lo! God is my Lord and your Lord. So serve Him. That is the right path. God is witness that there is no God save Him. And the angels and the men of learning. Maintaining His creation in justice, there is no God save Him,

SW: the Almighty, the Wise. Lo! religion with God Islam. Those who received the Book differed only after knowledge came unto them, through transgression among themselves. Whoso disbelieveth the revelations of God lo! God is swift at reckoning!

INSCRIPTIONS ON THE OUTSIDE OF THE OCTAGONAL ARCADE

S: In the name of God, the Merciful the Compassionate. There is no god but God. He is One. He has no associate. Say: He is God, the One! God, the eternally Besought of all! He begetteth not nor was begotten. And there is none comparable unto Him. Muhammad is the Messenger of God, the blessing of God be on him.

SW: In the name of God, the Merciful the Compassionate. There is no god but God. He is One. He has no associate. Muhammad is the Messenger of God. Lo! God and His angels shower blessings on the Prophet.

W: O ye who believe! Ask blessings on him and salute him with a worthy salutation. In the name of God, the Merciful the Compassionate. There is no god but God. He is One. Praise be to

NW: God, Who hath not taken unto Himself a son, and Who hath no partner in the Sovereignty, nor hath He any protecting friend through dependence. And magnify Him with all magnificence. Muhammad is the Messenger of

N: God, the blessing of God be on him and the angels and His prophets, and peace be on him, and may God have mercy. In the name of God, the Merciful the Compassionate. There is no god but God. He is One. He has no associate.

NE: Unto Him belongeth sovereignty and unto Him belongeth praise. He quickeneth. And He giveth death; and He has Power over all things. Muhammad is the Messenger of God, the blessing of God be on him. May He accept his intercession on the Day of Judgment on behalf of his people.

E: In the name of God, the Merciful the Compassionate. There is no god but God. He is One. He has no associate. Muhammad is the Messenger of God, the blessing of God be on him. The dome was built by servant of God 'Abd

SE: of the Faithful, in the year two and seventy. May God accept from him and be content with him. Amen, Lord of the worlds, praise be to God.

A game of chance

Posted: 24 Nov 2012 01:23 AM PST

Hence, since we are the ones who are going to pay for this mistake, should we not be the ones to decide what is true and what is false? Hence, also, should we not be allowed to decide what we wish to believe in since at the end of the day we are the ones who will suffer the consequences?

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Let's say, before your parents got married, your father was a Muslim and your mother a Christian. Then, when they got married, your mother converted to Islam and a year later you were born. What religion do you think you would be following now?

Let's say, before your parents got married, your father was a Christian and your mother a Muslim. Then, when they got married, your mother converted to Christianity and a year later you were born. What religion do you think you would be following now?

Let's say both your father and mother were Christians. Then, after they got married, they went to Tibet for their honeymoon where they visited a monastery. They were so impressed with how the Buddhist monks lived their lives that your parents converted to Buddhism. One year later you were born. What religion do you think you would be following now?

Today, there is more than a 99% chance you would be following the religion of your parents. There would be less than a 1% chance you would leave the religion of your parents to follow a new religion.

So are you 100% absolutely sure the religion you are following today is the correct religion? It is 'correct' only because you have been brought up in the religion of your parents. What if your parents never cared much for any religion and brought you up in an environment where there was no religion. Would you not probably be an atheist today?

How many of you have pondered on this question? Are you not what you are or who you are because of your parents? What if your parents had made a mistake and left the 'true' religion they were born into to embrace a 'false' religion? The religion you were brought up in would now become the 'true' religion while the earlier religion that your parents abandoned would be the 'false' religion.

Hence which is 'true' and which is 'false'? Is 'true' the new religion of your parents that you were brought up in or their old religion which they abandoned?

Hence, also, is true and false subjective and merely an opinion based on what you have been raised to believe? Or is true and false real and tangible?

Today we fight and argue about what we perceive as true and false. We uphold what we believe to be true and oppose what we believe to be false. However, if our parents had 'changed course' some time in their life by abandoning their old religion in favour of a new one, and they had exposed us to what they believe to be true, then our interpretation of true and false would be what we have been taught to believe to be true and false.

So are we really fighting for the truth or are we fighting for what we have been taught to believe to be true? And are we really confident that God has blessed us with the truth or has Satan misled us into believing that we are following the truth when actually we are following something false?

I suppose one day we will all know the answer to that question. But we will first have to die to get the answer to that question. In the meantime, while we are still alive, we want as many people as possible to follow us down this path of the truth.

But what happens if we are not on the path of truth and we end up leading others down a false path? While we will pay for this error of our ways, are we also going to pay for the error of the others we misled down this same false path? Or will each person pay for their own errors even if that error was made because others misled us?

Yes, there are those who would like to force their beliefs upon us and compel us to follow what they believe to be the right path. But if that so-called right path is actually the wrong path then we who followed them down this wrong path would end up paying for this mistake.

Kredit: www.malaysia-today.net

Sabtu, 1 Disember 2012

Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News

Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News

0 ulasan:

Catat Ulasan