Wednesday 3 December 2014
OPINION: Stand in Solidarity with Courageous Women’s Human Rights Defenders
They adopted a comprehensive and ambitious plan to guarantee women the same rights as men to be educated and develop their potential. The same rights as men to choose their profession. The same rights to lead communities and nations, and make choices about their own lives without fear of violence or reprisal.
No longer would hundreds of thousands of women die every year in childbirth because of health care policies and systems that neglected their care. No longer would women earn considerably less than men. No longer would discriminatory laws govern marriage, land, property and inheritance.
In the years that followed, the world has witnessed tremendous progress: the number of women in the work force has increased; there is almost gender parity in schooling at the primary level; the maternal mortality ratio declined by almost 50 percent; and more women are in leadership positions.
Importantly, governments talk about women's rights as human rights and women's rights and gender equality are acknowledged as legitimate and indispensable goals.
However, the world is still far from the vision articulated in Beijing. Approximately one in three women throughout the world will experience physical and/or sexual violence in their lifetime. Less than a quarter of parliamentarians in the world are women.3
In over 50 countries there is no legal protection for women against domestic violence. Almost 300,000 women and girls died in 2013 from causes related to pregnancy and childbirth. Approximately one in three married women aged 20 to 24 were child brides.
In many parts of the world, women and girls cannot make decisions on their most private matters – sexuality, marriage, children. Girls and women who pursue their own life choices are still murdered by their own families in the dishonourable practice of so-called honour killings.
All of our societies remain affected by stereotypes based on the inferiority of women which often denigrate, humiliate and sexualise them.
Today we have the responsibility to protect the progress made in the past 20 years and address the remaining challenges. In doing so, we must recognise the vital role of women who defend human rights, often at great risk to themselves and their families precisely because they are viewed as stepping outside socially prescriptive gender stereotypes.
We must recognise the role of all people, women and men, who publicly call for gender equality and often, as a result, find themselves the victim of archaic and patriarchal, but powerful, threats to their reputations, their work and even their lives.
These extraordinary individuals – women's human rights defenders – operate in hostile environments, where arguments of cultural relativism are common and often against the background of the rise of extremist, misogynistic groups, which threaten to dismantle the gains of the past.
Attacks against women who stand up to demand their human rights and individuals who advocate for gender equality are often designed to keep women in their "place." In some areas of the world, women who participate in public demonstrations are told to go home to take care of their children.
Consider the recent example of a newspaper publishing naked photos of a woman, claiming she was a well-known activist – an attack designed to shame this defender into silence. In other places, when women claim their right to affordable modern methods of contraception, they are labelled as prostitutes in smear campaigns seeking to undermine their credibility.
Online attacks against those who speak for women's human rights and gender equality by so-called "trolls" - who threaten heinous crimes - are increasingly reported.
These attacks have a common thread – they rely on gender stereotypes and deeply entrenched discriminatory social norms in an attempt to silence those who challenge the age old system of gender inequality. However, these defenders will not be silenced, and we must stand in solidarity with them against these cowardly attacks.
This is why my office has decided to launch a campaign to pay tribute to women and men who defy stereotypes and fight for women's human rights. The campaign runs from Human Rights Day, Dec. 10 this year, to International Women's Day, Mar. 8, 2015. We encourage everyone to join the ranks of these strong and inspiring advocates, on social media (#reflect2protect) and on the ground.
As we approach the 20-year anniversary of Beijing, discrimination and violence against women, and the stereotypes that confine them into narrowly fixed roles must end. Women have the right to make their own decisions about their lives and their bodies.
Guaranteeing and implementing these rights are non-negotiable obligations of all states. Women human rights defenders were instrumental in securing the ambitious programme laid out in Beijing. Their work, their activism and their courage deserve our recognition, our support and our respect.
credit to Global Issue
Sunday 16 November 2014
Ebola and ISIS: A Learning Exchange Between U.N. and Faith-based Organisations
NEW YORK, Nov 13 (IPS) - The simultaneity presented by the outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus on one hand and militant barbarism ostensibly in the name of Islam on the other present the international development community - particularly the United Nations and international NGOs – with challenges, as well as opportunities.
At first sight, the two are unrelated phenomena. One appears to be largely focused on the collapse of health services in three countries, and to a lesser extent, on economic and political ramifications thereof.3
The other, i.e., ISIS/ISIL/IS, appears to be a complex basket of geopolitical conflagrations involving a violently militant political Islam, weak governance dynamics, botched uprisings, transnational youth disaffection, arms proliferation -- all to name but a few.
So what is the connection and why is this relevant to international development and humanitarian engagement?
In a Strategic Learning Exchange organised by several United Nations bodies, and attended by U.N. development and humanitarian staff, and their counterparts from a number of international faith-based development NGOs, which took place in Turin, Italy last week, the confluence of these challenges was tackled head-on.
The U.N. and faith-based NGO staff present work both in their headquarter organisations as well as on the ground in countries in Africa, Asia, and the Arab region.
In both sets of cases, there are realties of overstretched service providers seeking to respond, in real time, to rising death tolls, collapsing state-run services, and the actual inability to deliver basic necessities to communities struggling to stay alive because of diverse, but nevertheless man-made, barriers.
Some of these are run by those carrying arms and demarcating territories as off limits while those within them are imprisoned, tortured, killed, terrorized, and starved. Other barriers are made of communities hiding their ill and their dead, distrusting and fearing those seeking to help, and anguished over the loss not just of loved ones, but also of care-takers, sources of income, and means of protection.
But there are other barriers which the last few weeks and months have revealed as well, some of which present long-term challenges to institutional and organisational cultures, as well as to the entire ethos of international humanitarianism and development as we know it today.
The response to the Ebola virus, first and foremost, focused on the medical aspects – which was/is urgent and unquestionable.
But it took months before international aid workers realised one of many tipping points in the equation of death and disease transmission: that burial methods were key, and that even though there are manuals which seek to regulate those methods so as to ensure medical safety, there was relatively less attention paid to the combined matter of values, dignity and local cultural practices in such crisis contexts.
Burying the dead in a community touches the very belief systems which give value and meaning to life. How those infected with Ebola were buried had to be tackled in a way that bridged the very legitimate medical health concerns, but also enabled the family and community members to go on living - with some shred of meaningfulness to their already traumatised selves – while not getting infected.
When this particular dilemma was noted, faith leaders have been hastily assembled to advise on burial methods which bridge dignity with safety in these particular circumstances. But the broader and more long-term roles of ‘sensitising' and bridging the medical-cultural gap between international aid workers, local medical personnel and over-wrought communities have yet to be worked out.
And the opportunity to address this medical-cultural gap (which is not new to development or humanitarian work) extends beyond burials of the dead and medical care for the living, to providing psycho-social support, and ensuring economic livelihoods. In these areas, too, faith-based NGOs have roles to play.
The militancy of ISIS and the repercussions of the war currently being waged both with and against them presents a similar set of cultural challenges to national and international actors.
This cultural feature was reiterated with cases from the same Arab region involving Hizbullah, Hamas, and now ISIS. How to navigate practical roadblocks controlled by parties you are not supposed to be talking to as a matter of principle, and who question the very legitimacy of your mandate, as a matter of practice - precisely because it does not ‘do religion' and is part of a ‘Western secular agenda'?
Yes, there are manuals and protocols and procedures governing the provision of services and rules of engagement - in compliance with international human rights obligations. Yet, some hard questions are now glaring: should any form of ‘dialogue' or outreach be possible between those who speak human rights law, and those who wish to speak only of "God's laws"?
Are there lessons to be learned from prior engagement with (now relatively more mainstream) Hizbullah and Hamas, which may have resulted in a different trajectory for the engagement with ISIS today, perhaps?
Boko Haram's actions in Nigeria and al-Qaeda's presence (and elimination of Bin Laden) in Afghanistan have highlighted a link between religious dogma and critical health implications. Unlike with Ebola however, a possible role for faith leaders – and other faith-based humanitarian and development actors – has not been solicited. At least, not openly so.
And yet, could these roles shed some light on the particular ability of some religious actors to maneuver within humanitarian emergencies in these specific circumstances?
Could a clearer appreciation of the potential value-added of faith-based interventions - which have to be distinguished from those of ISIS, al-Qaeda, Boko Haram, etc. - increase understanding of and dealing with a world view that is costing lives, now and in the future?
ISIS claims religion in its very name, ethos and gruesome actions. Can the international humanitarian and development worlds afford to continue to ignore religious dynamics – precisely because of the extent to which their actions challenge human rights-based actions?
And if the international community makes a choice to deal with any religious overtones - and is not capacitated in its current frameworks to do so – whose assistance will be needed to call upon, in which fora and with what means?
There are answers to some of these questions already percolating in several policy-making corridors, inherent in the experience of many cadres working with faith-based/ faith-inspired development NGOs, and academics who have devoted decades of research.
What was clear from the discussions in Turin, and other roundtables on religion and development, is that these questions have to be posed, because the answers belie multiple opportunities.
Women’s Safety Schemes Go Mobile in India
Immediately, two frantic calls followed.
"I am safe," Chaudhury assured her distressed friends. "I was just checking that the app works."
She uses VithU, a mobile phone app developed by Channel V, which was launched in November last year in India in the aftermath of the horrific rape-murder of a 23-year-old paramedical student in a moving bus in the Indian capital on Dec. 16, 2012.
The smart phone app is activated by tapping twice on an icon on the screen, which instantly sends the following message to pre-loaded emergency contacts: ‘I am in danger. I need help. Please follow my location', along with details of the sender's whereabouts.
"Fortunately I have never faced a situation where I felt the need to use it," Chaudhury tells IPS. "But I think it is important to have it. I don't think girls should have to live in constant fear of an attack but at the same time we cannot live in denial.
"We know bad things are happening out there and it's wise to take certain precautions," she explains.
After 'Nirbhaya'
3While dime-a-dozen safety apps are now available in India, mostly launched by mobile phone companies and other private groups, the Government of India plans to launch a safety app of its own later this month, as an auxiliary service to the existing 181 helpline for women, which was started after the fatal Delhi bus rape.
"This new app will also facilitate pre-registering of crimes based on perceived threats," says Khadijah Faruqui, a women's rights activist and human rights lawyer who is heading the 181 Helpline.
Safety apps are just one of many responses to the 2012 gang rape, which sparked massive protests around this country of 1.2 billion, with scores of people taking to the streets to demand tougher laws, increased security measures, sensitization of the police force and stronger government action to tackle sexual violence against women.
Lawmakers and politicians responded to the tragedy by pushing out the Criminal Law Amendment Ordinance, 2013, which incorporates various sexual crimes into the penal code, and promises stiffer penalties for offenses such as stalking, voyeurism or harassment.
The government also established six new fast-track courts to hear rape cases, and experts say there has been an explosion in public debate about women's safety.
Still, millions of women continue to live in fear, while the frequency and brutality of rapes appears unchanged despite tougher laws.
The latest figures provided by India's National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) in 2012 point to 24,923 rapes per year, while police reports from various cities show an alarming rise in assaults in 2013-2014.
India's financial hub, Mumbai, which used to be considered a safe place for women, witnessed a 43-percent rise in the number of reported rapes this year compared to the previous year, according to the city's police.
Meanwhile, the capital city saw an alarming five-fold rise in sexual assaults in 2013, police records say.
An abundance of apps
Against this backdrop, many women have welcomed the rise in innovative solutions to the constant threat of sexual violence.
For instance, Microsoft India recently released the safety application called ‘Guardian' for Windows phones, which allows users to select a ‘track me' feature that enables friends and family to follow the person in real-time using cloud services, among others.
The app also comes with an SOS alert function and a feature that allows the user to record evidence of an attack.
According to Microsoft-IT India Managing Director Raj Biyani, "It is a robust personal security app with more safety features and capabilities than any other comparable app available to Indian smart phone users today."
Then there is Circle of 6, which won the 2011 Apps Against Abuse challenge sponsored by the Obama Administration and works by offering users a number of icons that send the user's selected ‘circle' messages for help, interruption, or advice.
Originally designed to guard against date rapes in the United States, the app's developers saw a 1,000-percent rise in the number of downloads in India after the Nirbhaya tragedy, prompting them to translate the app into Hindi and tailor it to fit the Indian context.
According to Circle of 6–New Delhi, the app has been programmed in both English and Hindi and it has been designed in a gender-neutral manner.
Says Nancy Schwartzman, a representative of the team who created Circle of 6, "Administrations should make Circle of 6 a priority and should invest in the future of safety with this technology. Circle of 6 is a smart and efficient way to centralize both social and emergency communications."
The app creators said the hotlines have been pre-programmed so that they are in sync with the 24/7 women's hotline of New Delhi and the women counseling and support service run by the NGO Jagori.
A user of the app, who feels uneasy to contact the police, can also reach out to the Lawyer's Collective, a leading public interest legal service provider.
Government gets on board
Taking its cue from private initiatives by IT firms and advocacy groups, the government is now pouring resources into the issue of women's safety.
Under former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the finance ministry approved proposals aimed at streamlining police, mobile and legal services in the country, resulting in the creation of a fund worth one trillion rupees (about 16 billion dollars) to be used exclusively on projects aimed at enhancing women's safety.
For example, a proposal by the ministry of home affairs, designed in consultation with the ministry of information technology, calls for integration of the police administration with the mobile phone network to rapidly trace and respond to distress calls.
The ministry of information technology also plans to issue instructions to all mobile phone manufacturers to introduce a mandatory SOS alert button to all handsets.
The scheme will be launched in 157 cities in two phases.
Yet another project – known in its initial stage as ‘design and development of an affordable electronic personal safety device' – being undertaken by the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) aims to roll out a self-contained safety system in the form of a wristwatch.
India's ministry of road transport and highways has proposed a scheme that will cover 32 towns, each with a population of over one million people, where public transportation vehicles will be fitted with GPS tracking devices to enhance law enforcement's ability to respond to attacks.
Still, an app alone cannot solve the massive problem of violence against women in India, with an average of 57 cases of rape reported every day, according to an analysis of government data by the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI).
According to Jasmeen Patheja, founder of a student-led project at the Srishti School of Art, Design and Technology in Bangalore known as Blank Noise, the "solution is not in the app itself, but its function and role and space for intervention."
But Rimi B. Chatterjee, a writer and activist based in Kolkata who also teaches English in the prestigious Jadavpur University, which is leading a viral protest against the molestation of a girl student on campus in September this year, is skeptical about the effectiveness of the apps.
"I am personally not sure about their efficacy and I fear that they can actually be launched by companies to bank on the insecurity of women to make money. So I have never advised my students to use them," says Chatterjee.
"The solution to women's safety is in the counselling and training of men and not in development of apps. The problem is not with the women, it lies with men and their mindset, as young men are learning to disrespect women from their seniors," she says.
However, according to Faruqui, an app like the one to be launched in connection with the 181 Helpline on Nov. 25, on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, the aim will be to address the gaps in the existing apps and ensure that a woman in distress can find timely assistance.
25 Years After Rights Convention, Children Still Need More Protection
UNITED NATIONS, Nov 14 (IPS) - Next week marks 25 years since the adoption of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, a historic commitment to children and the most widely accepted human rights treaty in history.
The CRC outlines universal rights for all children, including the right to health care, education, protection and the time and space to play. And it changed the way children are viewed, from objects that need care and charity, to human beings, with a distinct set of rights and with their own voices that deserve to be heard.3
My career with UNICEF began the same year the CRC was adopted, and I have seen profound progress in children's lives. Since 1989 the number of children who die before their fifth birthday has been reduced by nearly half. Pregnant women are far more likely to receive antenatal care and a significantly higher proportion of children now go to school and have clean water to drink.
We must celebrate these important achievements.
But this anniversary must also be used to critically examine areas of children's lives that have seen far less progress and acknowledge that millions of children have their fundamental rights violated every day.
Fresh in my mind right now are deadly bomb attacks on schools in northern Nigeria and Syria, Central American children braving perilous journeys to flee violence, children being recruited to fight in South Sudan and gang rapes in India.
These crises and events are stunning in their scope and depravity, and in the depth of suffering our children endure. As upsetting as they are, they play out alongside acts of violence against children that happen everywhere and every day.
Twenty-five years after the adoption of the CRC, we clearly must do more to protect our children.
Our children endure a cacophony of violence too often in silence, and too often under an unspoken assumption that violence against children is to some degree tolerable.
Our children endure it in spite of overwhelming scientific evidence of the long-lasting physical, psychological, emotional, and social consequences they suffer well into adulthood because of such violence.
Our children endure it in spite of most countries' national laws and international law and despite 25 years of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Earlier this year UNICEF released the largest-ever global compilation of data on violence against children. The figures are staggering and provide indisputable evidence that violence against children is a global phenomenon, cutting across every geographic, ethnic, cultural, social and economic divide. The data shows violence against children is tolerated, even justified, by adults and by children themselves.
As we reflect on the last 25 years, we must also look forward and commit to doing things differently. Now, more than any other point in history, we have the knowledge and ability to protect our children, and with this ability comes the obligation to do so.
First, children need protection from the crises that play out in the public eye, like conflicts in Iraq, Syria, South Sudan and others.
We also need programmes that work at preventing and responding to the everyday, hidden violence. Initiatives like a programme in Turkey that reduced physical punishment of children by more than 70 percent in two years. Or child protection centres in Kenya that respond to thousands of cases every year. Or a safe schools programme in Croatia that cut the number of children being bullied in half.
Countries must also strengthen their child protection systems - networks of organisations, services, laws, and processes - that provide families with support so they can make sure children are protected.
And finally, as we approach the end of the Millennium Development Goals, world leaders must prioritise child protection as we look towards 2015 and beyond.
As a long-serving UNICEF official, and more importantly as a mother, I want for children everywhere what I want for my own daughter – a world where every child is protected from violence.
The 25th Anniversary of the Convention of the Rights of the Child provides an opportunity to recommit to the promise we made to children, and take the urgent action needed now to protect them from harm.
Pushing the Voice of Syrian Women For a New Future
For Yasmine Merei, managing editor of the Syrian women's magazine Saiedet Souria, the upset of traditional family roles and the shaking off of a culture of fear have wrought positive effects.
Many Syrian women have unfortunately been forced to become the breadwinners of their families, with their husbands missing, in jail, injured or killed, she told IPS, but while fending for themselves can be a terrifying experience, it can also free women from the traditional bonds placed on them.
3‘'If he isn't the one who pays for everything and has that specific role in society, he no longer has the right to tell you what to do'', added Mohammad Mallak, the founder and editor-in-chief of the magazine, which translates as ‘Syrian Women', and was founded early this year.
Mallak also runs a partner magazine, Dawda (‘Noise'), from the same office in the southern Turkish city of Gaziantep.
Few of the women in the magazine's photos have their heads covered, and Merei took off her headscarf earlier this year, after wearing it ‘'for about twenty years'' as part of her upbringing in a poor, conservative Sunni family.
Merei said that she started taking part in the 2011 protests due to the unjustness of Syrian law, especially as concerns women. As examples, she noted a longstanding law against Syrian women giving citizenship to their children and widespread, unpunished honour killings.
A former Master's student in linguistics, Merei – like many Syrian women – has become responsible for providing for her immediate family, sending money to her mother and her brothers, both of whom were jailed for protesting and released only after large bribes were paid.
Her elderly father died shortly after he, too, had been imprisoned and the family forced to flee their home.
Telling women's stories does not simply mean female victims recounting the horrors and hardships of their lives, however.
Although it does not shy away from stories of women who have suffered greatly, Merei wants mainly to provide women with the information they need to have a wider view on the world and a voice in a revolution that has largely left their views unheard.
A first-hand account from a woman who was tortured in Syrian regime prisons sits alongside a review of Germaine Greer's ‘The Female Eunuch' and an interview with a female police officer in opposition-held areas in the pages of the magazine and on its Facebook page.
Articles on how forced economic dependence negatively affects both women and national economies overall, others discussing potential health problems found in refugee camps such as tuberculosis, a regular column by a female lawyer still in regime areas who previously spent 13 years in prison for political reasons and two translated articles from international media give breadth to the magazine's roughly 50 pages per issue.
Saiedet Souria publishes sections of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) – the ‘'international bill of rights for women'' adopted by the U.N. General Assembly in 1979 – in every issue, and will publish it in its entirety in the next, she said.
The magazine itself only has a print run of between 4,500 and 5,000 copies per issue (with roughly 3,500 distributed inside Syria through one of its four offices), bit its Facebook page where the articles are regularly posted is followed by over 40,000.
For a country where Facebook and Youtube were banned from 2007 until early February 2011, and where internet and electricity are scarce, this is a significant number. Syria has been on Reporters Without Borders' Internet enemies list since the list was established in 2006.
In addition to offices in Daraa, Damascus, Suweida and Qamishli, another will soon be opened in Aleppo, Merei said.
‘'All of the ten women who work for us inside get a regular salary of 200 dollars,'' she explained, ‘'and are responsible for distributing the copies as well as bringing women together for meetings and similar initiatives.''
The copies are given out at markets and local councils, and in at least one location, noted Merei, the women have a system to recirculate the limited copies once they have finished with them.
Reporters Without Borders has held two workshops for the magazine, in April and September of this year, and offered to donate equipment to the magazine, but ‘' we had basic equipment – regular printers, computers'' from an initial investment made by Mallak, she said.
‘'But what we really needed was paper and ink, to get the magazine to as many women as possible. And so RSF made an exception and offered us that, instead.''
The goal, she said, is to ‘'help Syrian women regain confidence in themselves.''
A confidence undermined by the war and by the use of ‘religion' to control women in Islamist areas which, when she last went to them earlier this year, ‘'seemed like the country had gone back to the Stone Ages."
‘'I am a Sunni Muslim but the Islam there is not like any I know.''
‘'One of the major problems is that Syria's intelligentsia are all either in jail, abroad or dead,'' one Syrian, who has lived most of his life abroad but came back recently to help try to set up university classes in opposition-held Aleppo, told IPS. ‘'There is almost no one to structure anything, no one to put forward ideas.''
This is what the magazine and it correlated activities are trying to address, as well, Merei said. ‘'We are trying to give Syrians the knowledge they are going to need in the future,'' she said.
Thursday 30 October 2014
Two Men Capture 765-Pound Gator By Hand
Two alligator hunters snagged what might be the biggest alligator ever caught by hand in the state of Florida. Keith Kelley and Kelly Sziy had been tracking the giant alligator for months, and this week they finally caught it using only their bare hands, some hooks, and a rope. The massive beast was measured at 13 feet, 4 inches, and weighed in at 765 pounds. It actually broke the scale when they weighed it. Florida officials are checking to see if it is the largest gator ever caught by hand.
lets watch the video....
Friday 24 October 2014
Ku Nan reveals houses below RM200,000 to be built in FT – Bernama
A piece of land has been identified in the federal territories (FT) for a project to build houses that cost below RM200,000 each, to enable more middle-income earners to own a house.
Without stating its location, Federal Territories Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor (pic) said his ministry was now discussing with the FT Land and Mines Department on the housing project.
"We have the land and will ask the developer to build as many houses costing below RM200,000," he said in Putrajaya today after witnessing the balloting for units of the Federal Territory Affordable Housing Project (Rumawip), Residensi Pandanmas 2, Kuala Lumpur.
He said the type of housing, the size of units and name of the housing project had not been decided yet but would be announced soon.
Adnan said the selected developer for the project must have a good record and the financial capacity to carry out the project to ensure it could be completed on time.
He said the project was mooted by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak who wished to see Malaysians of all levels in society to at least own a house each.
Adnan also said that his ministry had between October 2013 and October this year, approved 23.40% of the projects to build affordable homes at RM300,000 and below each.
Today's balloting session was for 200 units at Residensi Pandanmas 2 priced as RM300,000 each and expected to be ready in October 2018.
Adnan said the first balloting session involved 300 units, and 1,720 units more would be offered to eligible FT residents. – Bernama, October 23, 2014.
Thursday 23 October 2014
In ‘touch a dog’ issue, scholars see modernisation of Muslim youth
The recent “touch a dog” event in Selangor is a sign of changing times for Muslims in Malaysia, as youth exposed to a variety of religious reading materials begin to move beyond the traditional practices of their forefathers, Muslim scholars said.
The challenge now is for religious authorities to deal with the modernisation of Malaysian Muslims, said former Perlis mufti Professor Datuk Dr Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin, who believes the backlash against Sunday’s programme had worsened the situation.
He said critics of the “I want to touch a dog event” had reacted too emotionally and created a mountain out of a molehill.
“This is the problem with some Muslims, how do we deal with the modernising landscape? We cannot manage it as if we were from the dark ages. We must handle these modern changes in a mature manner,” he told The Malaysian Insider.
“We should not present Islam as an extremist religion, and keep fighting one another. We are not the Taliban.”
He dismissed claims from some clerics that the programme would eventually encourage premarital sex and was an insult to Islam.
“People are just being too emotional, when in fact this is a small issue and can be resolved easily.”
The Department of Islamic Development Malaysia (Jakim) is now probing into the event’s organisers, saying that the programme should not have been held as it contravened the Shafie school of jurisprudence, which views dogs as unclean.
But International Islamic University Malaysia (UIA) lecturer Dr Maszlee Malik said Muslim youth were no longer confining themselves to Shafie’s teachings and were now opening themselves up to the various branches of Islam practised worldwide.
“Muslim youth are now exposed to the other schools of jurisprudence through books, the media and the Internet.
“They are exposed to the fatwa by clerics from the Maliki school of jurisprudence which does not view dogs as unclean and does not prohibit touching dogs,” Maszlee told The Malaysian Insider.
There are four schools of jurisprudence among Sunni Muslims: Maliki, Hanbali, Hanafi and Shafie. All four schools are accepted among Sunni Muslims as being within the confines of Islam.
However, Malaysian Muslims traditionally follow the Shafie school of jurisprudence, which has a stricter view of dogs.
Jakim also recently declared Shafiie as being the “official” school of jurisprudence in Malaysia.
Despite this, Asri said in a Facebook post on Tuesday that Muslims were free to switch between schools.
Citing Syrian scholar Wahba Zuhayli, he said people were encouraged to follow any of the four jurists and that it was not compulsory to commit to just one school of jurisprudence.
Maszlee said the Maliki school of jurisprudence was gaining traction among Muslim youth here.
“The flood of international, English-speaking Muslim scholars who have mastered a variety of schools of jurisprudence and Islamic knowledge in the media appear to have convinced the urban youth.
“Their tolerance and wisdom have won over the youth, who find that the Maliki teachings they bring appealing,” said Maszlee.
Asri told The Malaysian Insider that even if Malaysian Muslims wished to adhere to Shafiie’s view on dogs, critics of the “I want to touch a dog” were still guilty of double standard.
He said many of Shafiie’s teachings were openly violated in Malaysia, yet the authorities did not blink an eye.
“If we want to stand by the Shafie school of jurisprudence, many of his teachings are contravened in Malaysia. For example, Shafie does not allow men and women (who are not related by blood or marriage) to shake hands.
“Yet, all the male and female leaders shake hands with one another and no one makes a fuss about it being an insult to the Shafie school of jurisprudence.”
Muslim preacher and former PAS Selangor Ulama committee member Wan Ji Wan Husin said it was shallow of some quarters to say that the “I want to touch a dog” event was part of a “liberal and plural” agenda.
“It is shallow to say that because Imam Abd Al-Bar issued a fatwa saying it was only makruh (disliked, but permitted) to keep dogs (simply as pets or companions) and he is neither a plural or liberal figure.
“I notice that criticism towards the programme is not based on knowledge, but on long, deeply rooted sentiments (among Malaysians) that dogs are disgusting creatures.”
Wan Ji said society must be educated on the laws pertaining to touching and keeping dogs so that they understand the issue better.
“The Quran makes it clear that dogs can be used for hunting, with the hadith (prophetic traditions) stating that dogs can be kept to protect you and your livestock.”
Sunday 5 October 2014
World's Best Places to Visit : PARIS TRAVEL TIPS
The City of Light draws millions of visitors every year with its unforgettable ambiance. Of course, the divine cuisine and vast art collections deserve some of the credit as well. The gentle River Seine rambles through the city, flanked by stately museums, centuries-old churches, and blocks of Rococo- and Neoclassic-design architecture, further enhanced by charming trees and glowing streetlamps. Peppering the Seine's cobbled walks and graceful bridges are impossibly chic Parisians, probably on their way to the market, cafe or cinema.
Containing world-class museums, fashion, cuisine, and an atmosphere all its own, Paris is also a city of "many splendors," as Ernest Hemingway recalled in his memoir, "A Moveable Feast." Visit the Centre Pompidou, enjoy gourmet pastries, shop couture on the Champs Élysées or hit the boutiques in Les Halles, take in the view atop the Eiffel Tower, or even plan a day trip to Versailles Palace. But don't miss out on the simple pleasure of meandering the marvelous arrondissements (districts).
How To Save Money in Paris
Get the Paris Visite pass
- This card grants you unlimited travel on the métro, bus and RER trains around the city, and also offers discounts on admission for many top attractions and tours.
Eat prix-fixe
- If you want a taste of fine dining, enjoy it at lunch when highly acclaimed restaurants offer cost-efficient fixed-price menus.
Shop Monoprix for souvenirs
- This Target equivalent has just about everything at affordable prices.
Paris Culture & Customs
There's this idea that Parisians stick up their noses to Americans — that they're notoriously unfriendly and even rude. However, a little savoir-faire, or diplomacy, helps. So, try to speak the language, if only a kindly bonjour (hello or good day) or bonsoir (good evening). If you're at a loss for words, politely ask the waiter or shop attendant pouvez-vous m'aider? (can you help me?) or parlez-vous anglais (do you speak English?). Another helpful phrase: Excusez-moi (pardon me or excuse me). Try to blend into the refined sophistication of Parisian life rather than stick out as a loud, garish or uncouth visitor.
Speaking of trying to blend in … Paris is one of the most fashionable cities in the world. Leave the fanny packs at home. After all, everyone from Marie Antoinette and Coco Chanel to Yves Saint Laurent and Christian Lacroix got their start in haute-couture fashion in Paris — and their influence remains. Blend in with the locals by dressing stylishly and taking pride in what you choose to wear. But take note, certain items of clothing such as shorts and sneakers are frowned upon, especially in restaurants and night clubs.
France uses the euro, with €1 EUR equaling roughly $1.35 USD, and major credit cards are accepted at most establishments in Paris. Keep in mind the exchange rate when you tip and make purchases. Some smaller bakeries or bistros may only take cash, though, so research ahead of time. Most restaurants and cafes will include a 10 to 15 percent service charge (service compris) on the bill. You can leave some additional change for exceptional service, if you wish. Taxi drivers tend to expect a 5 to 10 percent tip, though usually rounding to the nearest euro or two will often suffice. You may also encounter fees to use the bathroom in some restaurants and bathroom attendants in many bars in Paris. If the fee isn't collected ahead of the use of the facilities, it's polite to leave 50 cents to a euro for the attendants.
Paris Dining
Similar to many other international cities, Paris offers a surplus of restaurants that serve up everything from Asian fusion dishes to nouveaux bistro fare. And because France invented a widely adopted style of cooking, the food in Paris is très bien. Look for upscale establishments in the 1er arrondissement (1st district) and in Marais, as well as around Champs-Elysées and the Eiffel Tower. The 2ème arrondissement has a number of cheap eateries and cafes, as does Montmartre.
No matter where you choose to dine, you should sample some French staples like soupe à l'oignon gratinée (French onion soup), croque-monsieur (a grilled cheese and ham sandwich smothered in more melted cheese), steak frites (steak and french fries) and coquilles St-Jacques (seasoned scallops topped with cheese and bread curmbs served in a shell). Those with a sweet tooth should save room to try some of the following French desserts: macarons, pain au chocolat (chocolate croissants), puits d'amours (large puff pastries filled with vanilla cream and drizzled with caramel sauce) or crêpes (fixins' range from Nutella to bananas and berries).
For a meal on the go, pick up a baguette sandwich at a traiteurs or grab a quick savory crêpe at a crêperie or crepe stand. Chocolat chaud (hot chocolate), café crème (coffee with cream) and other drinks can be enjoyed at any of the city's many cafes. And if you want to save some euros, head to the local grocer and pick up some snacks for the day. Cheaper bistros and brasseries abound, but for some French fine-dining, splurge at Guy Savoy, Bistrot Paul Bert or Chez Andre, among other pricey yet delicious dining establishments.
Famed foodie Julia Child wrote "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" — rather than something Rachel Ray-esque like "30 Minute French Meals" — because French meal preparation is an art. Even the art of perfecting French specialties (wine, cheese, pastry) are a reflection of the time and care put into a meal. Likewise, linger over your French fine-dining experience, realizing that the food is meant to be savored rather than gulped. And remember, elbows off the table!
Credit to Travel
COCKROACH FARM IN CHINA
Mmmm, lovely cockroaches. Indestructible, nuclear bomb surviving lovely cockroaches. Most people consider them at best a bit grim, at worst a massive pest. But not Tian Tinglei, who gave up his job in Liaocheng city to return to the country and live among the creepy crawlies.
He's actually become a bit of a fan of them, farming nearly one square mile of bugs. Apparently, he's become rather fond of their oily, shiny skin. Mmmmm! A long-time a lover of creepy crawlies, the 32-year-old got the idea for a cockroach farm after a friend who worked in a pharmacy told him about the use of the bugs as a cheap source of protein and medication.
But, why, oh why, would you do it? Well, they sell for $16 a kilo, which doesn't sound like a lot, but means Tian is bringing in a fortune from his crop. Roach’s shells and oil are used in Chinese medicine to treat everything from heart disease to hepatitis and burns.
Unsurprisingly, however, many people aren't so keen on smearing themselves in roach oil, so it's not usually marketed as being, well, what it is. Still, Tian seems pretty proud of his little buggy empire, and fair enough. Maybe when the world’s ended and he and his cockroaches are all that are left, he'll be the one laughing.
Difficult words: indestructible (cannot be destroyed), grim (not nice), pest (destructive insect that attacks people’s food), creepy (making you feel unwell), crawly (something which moves on four legs with its body close to the ground), roach (cockroach), hepatitis (a sickness when there’s something wrong with the liver), smear (cover).
Credit to Newsinlevel