www.wansaiful.com

Extremely busy in the last few days. Preparation for post-conference (Conservative party conference, that is) canvassing raid. Work has been quite hectic. And The Malaysia Think Tank London needs some serious business planning.

The event we organised last week was a great success. Tickets were “sold out” just three days after we advertised the event! More interestingly, we even attracted the attention of high-ranking officials of the Malaysian High Commission. Nevertheless, all was good. Some very good points were raised in the discussion. I was most impressed with the ability of the young generation to address the issue calmly. Yes, there were some heated bits. But, as I said, it is all good.

I met with Alex Singleton, Director General of the Globalisation Institute yesterday. With him was the man (allegedly) behind Guido Fawkes - whose blog is rich with Westminster gossips, and perhaps the only man who has ever been to Tony Blair’s monthly press conference wearing round neck t-shirt and shorts,. I am not sure if he wants people to know his real name, so I will call him Guido.

Guido made me think hard about The Malaysia Thinktank London. One question that got me thinking was, how will we “beam” our ideas to Malaysia from London? As we know, the Malaysian press is not completely free. And if the press does not support us, how will we do it?

I discussed the operations of a think tank with Alex. What should the structure be like? Is a Board necessary? Do I need to register as a limited company? How do I appoint an Academic Advisory Council? How do I build something from scratch? How do I select Associates / Fellows?

And I must say that Alex is extremely generous with advice. Since the Globalisation Institute itself is relatively very young, I learnt a lot from Alex. The one thing that strikes me was his determination and his clear vision of what he wants to do. If anything, I must get a clearer picture of where it is that we are heading.

A lot of thinking to be done this weekend. I must discipline myself, and start putting things on paper.

Apart from last week’s event, there was one other achievement worth mentioning. The Malaysia Thinktank London is now on the Atlas’ Think Tank Directory. I have just submitted a brief description to be added there. You will find us if you search for Malaysia.

So….the Pope has spoken.

And many are angry what he has said.

I can understand the anger, but I cannot justify it.

The content of the speech is actually good. The Pope spoke about his experience in university, the relationship between religion and science, the concept of “holy war”, and a few other things.

Yes, when he touched on the issue of holy war, he quoted the Byzantine Emperor Manuel II Paleologus who said “”Show me just what Muhammad brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached.” 

What is wrong with quoting the Emperor? 

Since when did we Muslims become so sensitive to political correctness such that we respond with hostility when someone quotes what was said by an Emperor more than six hundred years ago?   

The reaction towards, and subsequent condemnations of, the speech is deplorable. This is a world leader presenting well-researched arguments. I see nothing wrong with what the Pope said.

It seems that some Muslims have become so obsessed wth political correctness. As soon as someone says something that they find offensive, they will go ape.

Now, if anyone really wants to be so obsessed with political correctness, let me present you with a challenge.

You say that the Pope has quoted a phrase that offends Muslims and therefore he must be condemned. Would be ready to commit yourself to not quote anything that offends others?

Do you remember the hadith that says:

“Tidak akan berlakunya Qiamat sehinggalah saling berbunuh-bunuhan antara Yahudi Dan Orang Islam, sehinggalah Orang Islam akan membunh Orang Yahudi dan Orang Yahudi akan lari menyembunyikan diri di belakang pokok-pokok dan batu, lalu berkatalah pokok-pokok dan batu-batu, Wahai Muslim Wahai Hamba Allah! Yahudi berada di belakangku, datanglah dan bunuhlah dia.”

If Jews claim that they are hurt by the hadith, would you be willing to commit yourself to never quote it again?

Do you still think hostility towards the speech is justifiable?

Those who think that the Pope should apologise for hurting Muslims, do you also think our beloved Prophet (s.a.w) should apologise for saying such thing about the Jews?

The Malaysia Thinktank London is organizing a roundtable discussion on “Positive Discrimination in Malaysia: Should we continue to favour the Malays?”

The details are as below:

Date: Thursday, 21 September 2006

Time: 6.00pm for 6.15pm until 8.00pm latest

Venue: Central London (details to be confirmed)

Lead discussant: Dato Kamarudin Jaffar

Further info at www.malaysiathinktank.org.uk

Blair is in deep trouble. Even colleagues in my very non-political office has started talking about betting on his departure date.

It really is embarassing when the Prime Minister is forced to do something which he has ruled out just a few days earlier - set his timetable for departure.

It is also shambolic that Brown tried to portray as if he has nothing to do with the whole thing. On Sunday AM later today, he will say that he had nothing to do with what has happened. Who in the world would believe this? Even if it is true, there is still one big question - why did he stay silence throughout? It is the silence that is so deafening.

But David Cameron has been great. From what I heard, the whole front bench has been told not to say too much. This is exactly the right move. New Labour should be allowed self-destruct. And they are doing a great job at it too. Any attempts to interfere, or to meddle in New Labour’s internal affairs, would only make them re-group and unite again.

I had a conversation with a PAS leader a few weeks ago. I asked why is PAS so keen to be seen as if they were with Tun M? I was given the textbook answer - we must listen to everyone and support anybody who is telling the truth. I also asked about why we had to comment on Khairy’s inflammatory statement on race relations in Malaysia when the MCA and Gerakan were already doing it for us.

On both questons I received unsatisfactory answers.

I would prefer if PAS stayed out of anything that could lead UMNO or BN to self-destruct. This is simple political strategy - if your enemy is heading towards division, don’t do anything that would give them a reason to re-unite.

I just completed a project management training with Inspirandum today. Those who are serious about managing projects (be it research projects or more operational ones), I would strongly recommend this firm to you.

We focused on a product led approach to project management. This is new to me as my previous exposure to project management has always been on activity led approaches. It took quite a while to take in the things being discussed but once you do get it, it becomes easy.

The past few weeks has been very good.

I am marching on with the Malaysia Thinktank London project.

About two weeks ago I met with Julian Morris, Founder and Executive Director of International Policy Network. We spoke about the basic structure a think tank can adopt, and the types of activities that could be run. Based on his own experience of setting up the IPN, he also gave some good advise on how to start a think tank.

Yesterday I met with Dr John Meadowcroft, Deputy Editorial Director at the Institute of Economic Affairs. Apart from discussion on how a think tank is run, and what distinguishes the IEA from the likes of ASI and Policy Exchange, we also briefly talked about political economy and how the misunderstanding of thje concept resulted in its rejection by some. We also discussed about the possibility of transmitting ideas he presented in some of his writings to the Malay speaking audience. I learnt that the IEA focuses more on the long term impact of ideas rather than day-to-day “political combat”.

I have a few more meetings scheduled over the next few weeks. I am also in contact with Dr Imad Ahmad of Minaret of Freedom Institute and others from Atlas and Cato. I think the focus is becoming clearer now that I am getting advice from those “in the know”. (And I am hoping that the Malaysia Thinktank London will soon go into Atlas’ thinktank directory)

There is a conference on Ibn Khaldun in Madrid in November. If everything goes according to plan, I should be going there too. The problem, even IRTI people do not have the full address of the Islamic Cultural Centre in Madrid, where the conference will be held, or the fees to attend. I am holding off booking the flight and accommodation until I have the full information.