Sajakkini

Fathi Aris Omar : Tiada Noktah

The political processes of all nations are wider and deeper than the formal institutions designed to regulate them; some of the most critical decisions concerning the direction of public life [….] are made in the unformalized realms of what [Emile] Durkheim called ‘collective conscience’…. – Clifford Geertz, The interpretation of cultures (2000: 316)

Rumusan Geertz, ahli antropologi tersohor Amerika Syarikat, ini tidaklah baru. Gianbattista Vico, seorang pemikir Itali pada abad ke-19, pernah merungut: “homo non intelligendo fit omnia.” Maksudnya kira-kira, “manusia menjadi dirinya seperti hari ini tanpa memahami apa yang berlaku (yang telah membentuknya)”.

Demokrasi dan Islam, tidak terkecuali. Sama ada sekular atau agama, ideologi politik terjaring dalam satu himpunan faktor pengaruh yang cukup kompleks untuk dikenali kecuali dengan kesedaran, penelitian dan renungan yang mendalam. Kalau kita jujur, sejarah idea demokrasi dan Islam, dalam konteksnya di negara ini, haruslah disemak kembali agar kita tidak terserempak dengan ‘buaya di air yang tenang.’ (more…)

By all accounts, mine is a pretty safe life. Have never smoked, used to go to pubs for the music but have never drank, never done drugs except for what they’ve managed to hide in legalised medication. Been on rollercoasters once or twice but couldn’t figure out exactly how the adrenaline-thingy is supposed to be fun - if you have to practically put your life on the line to feel alive then what the hell is wrong with you?

Never had a one-night stand. Entering premature old age as I am, I’ve even come to consider recreational sex as being over-rated. Too much hassle for three minutes of pleasure, really. If it even gets to be that long.

I have discovered/invented other ways of having fun, but to the typical man they’d probably be about as exciting as putting on three condoms and a deepsea-diving suit when you’re with Monica Bellucci. My main cardinal sin is that I sleep too much. How much more boring can a person be? I’m so grey that if I stood next to a tombstone, drunks would ignore the grave markers and piss on me instead. (more…)