Tommy Peters' Bicycles

Datuk Dr. Haron Din of PAS recently said “PAS will implement hudud once the party takes control of the central government” and Datuk Nik Aziz remarked that Pakatan Rakyat will eventually accept the Islamic ideology. To its credit, PAS has been consistent, if not correct, in its position that Islam will have no traction or relevance without the Sharia, its legal code, and that the code is incomplete without the ‘Hudud’. Although the MCA appears to be the only party to openly castigate PAS, when juxtaposed with the Prime Minister’s call to “ make mosques a place for everyone irrespective of ideology or political belief and that we should not be harsh and always talk about the punishment for committing a sin” , it is becoming increasing clear where the real bone of contention lies, in particular for those who voted the Pakatan Rakyat to their unprecedented win. While PKR and DAP are busy deliberating the prospect of forming the Federal government, it is rhetorical to ask if t...

A review of Martha Stout’s ' The Sociopath Next Door'  We think of sociopaths as violent, although most are quite ordinary with disorders undetected. I realised her lack of conscience is deflected and masked quite well with a mastery of the blame game. Masters of this game tend to be quite calm and composed when they contend with equally equipped opponents, but ironically, they are flustered and irritated when they contend with non-masters or those who do not understand how the game is played. She strutted into a meeting without the ingredients and was battered, admonished, and embarrassed in front of her peers. Her brashness was stripped, and her ego was dented. A phone call subsequently indicated the game was imminent, and twenty-four hours later, it is in full swing, but with a non-master. Thirty-four hours into the event, she is all flustered and irritated. My question is, does she hone her skills when playing the game with a master or non-mas...

In March 2008 Saudi King Abdullah proposed an inter-faith dialogue between Muslims, Christians and Jews. It is interesting to note that his proposal did not include Hindus, Buddhists and other faiths but that is an issue of another post. The monarch made the call during the melee of Geert Wilders’ Fitna. He made the call from a position of weakness, at a point where Islam was, and still is, in considerable ‘focus’ but while he clamoured for moral equivalency with Christians and Jews by referring to them as 'our brothers', he had the temerity to demonise ‘atheism’ in the process. Quote (King Abdullah – The Sun March 26 th 2008) :- “We have lost sincerity, morals, fidelity and attachment to our religions and to humanity, deploring the disintegration of the family and rise of atheism in the world, a frightening phenomenon that all religions must confront and vanquish” (emphasis mine) Quote (Raymond Ibrahim - VDH Papers April 2nd 2008) .... t he Arabian kingdom, however...