www.wansaiful.com

I recently learnt that you can actually post using Blackberry. So, let’s see if this works.

I am now in transit in Dubai, on my way to KL. We boarded almost an hour ago but there is something wrong with the plane’s wheel. Can’t take-off until the wheel is replaced. The captain was trying to joke by saying that Emirates look after their planes very well, they change the wheels very regularly. Yeah… What about this 1 hour delay???

Malaysia Think Tank’s Project to Advance Democratic Institutions (PADI) invites you to

Seminar on Rule of Law

2:00-4:00 pm, Sunday 24 August 2008
Residence Hotel, UNITEN, Bangi, Selangor

Moderator:
‘Abidin Muhriz, Director, Malaysia Think Tank and Head of PADI

Panellists:
Professor Shad Saleem Faruqi, Universiti Teknologi MARA.
YM Raja Aziz Addrusse, former President of the Malaysian Bar Council.
Professor Abdul Aziz Bari, International Islamic University of Malaysia.

To attend, please send your details to register@malaysiathinktank.org

Since the day I first told friends that I am a liberal, I keep having to answer two questions. The first one is “If you are really a Muslim, how can you call yourself a liberal?” And the second is “What type of PAS member would believe in liberal ideas. Isn’t Islam already complete?” The fact that these questions were asked shows how seriously misunderstood the word “liberal” is.

Clearing the confusion about what liberalism is not easy. But we have to start somewhere. That is why my friends and I in the Malaysia Think Tank will be organising Freedom Academy (Akademi Merdeka) at Residence Hotel, Bangi, on 22-24 August 2008. Do join us if you want to further explore liberal ideas from a religion-neutral perspective. But, to start with, in this short article (which will be followed by more on this issue), let me try to explain some of the principles of liberalism and why I, as a Muslim, see no contradiction between my faith and my political ideology.
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I mentioned previously that I hosted YB Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad in London for a couple of days. Dr Dzulkefly is MP for Kuala Selangor, central comittee member of PAS and head of PAS Research Centre.

Teddy Chen, a successful restaurateur in London, kindly hosted a dinner for Dr Dzulkefly on Sunday 13 July. We were joined by Cllr Edmond Yeo, a member of MTT’s International Advisory Board. Dr Ooi Kee Beng (and his family) and Ustaz Maszlee Malik also tagged along.

Seriously good food. Seriously good company.

No, you cannot say that lah...

Teddy (left) making a point to Dr Dzul. Next to him was Maszlee and Kee Beng

Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad and Cllr Edmond Yeo

It’s Saturday. Shopping day. The shop we went to had mangosteens and durians.

I just bought the mangosteens. They are teeny, but costs £2.00 for a pack of five.

Mangosteen - 5 for £2.00

I never fully realised the significance of the Iskandar Development Region until this evening, when I had a good chat with Dato Ikmal Hijaz Hashim, CEO of IRDA. He was in London for business but had the chance to belanja minum teh at Sheraton Park Lane. 800,000 skilled jobs. Doubling the income per capita. Attracting a very significant amount of foreign investments. Building huge new infrastructure.

Massive project.

Tonight I had dinner with Stephen Timms MP (Minister for Employment and Welfare Reform) and Dianne Abbott MP.

We had a good almost 3 hour discussion on a wide range of topics, but the main one was around ethnic minority unemployment because that was the issue that Stephen raised and he brought with him some very interesting statistics.

Yasmin Alibhai Brown (Journalist, The Independent) and Yasmin Qureshi (Labour parliamentary candidate) arrived a bit late but their contributions were superb.

With Dianne Abbott MP after dinner