Category: Sosial

UAE Tells Citizens To Avoid National Dress While Abroad After Man Held In US

The United Arab Emirates has urged men to avoid wearing the white robes, headscarf and headband of the national dress when travelling abroad, after a businessman visiting the United States was wrestled to the ground and held as an Islamic State suspect.

UAE media reported that the Emirati man was detained in Avon, Ohio, last week after a female clerk at a local hotel called 911 to report what she had described as a man affiliated to Islamic State, according to the Arabic-language al-Bayan newspaper. It only identified him by his initials.

The English language The National said the receptionist at the Fairfield Inn hotel called the police after she heard the man talking on his phone in the hotel lobby.

Gulf News, another UAE newspaper, published photos of the Emirati man in white robes being wrestled to the ground and handcuffed before being led away by police.

In a message on a Foreign Ministry Twitter account focusing on citizens travelling abroad, the ministry said on Saturday (Jul 2):

“For citizens travelling outside the country, and in order to ensure their safety, we point out not to wear formal dress while travelling, especially in public places,” the message dated July 2 stated, without referring to the Avon incident.

The Foreign Ministry, in a message posted on its website in Arabic and English, urged citizens to abide by the laws of countries they are visiting. It alerted women to countries in Europe whose laws prohibit wearing of face covers, also without referring to the incident in Avon.

Local newspapers said Avon police released the man after they realised their mistake, but he fainted and needed hospital treatment.

Al-Bayan reported that the citizen had hired a lawyer to pursue the case, saying he had received no apology from either the police or the hotel.

Source: ChannelNewsAsia

July 3, 2016
Perusuh Bakar Masjid Di Myanmar, Ketegangan Agama Memuncak

Sekumpulan perusuh yang menghayunkan senjata membakar sebuah masjid di Myanmar, lapor media negara itu.

Ia merupakan serangan kedua terhadap sebuah masjid di Myanmar dalam tempoh hanya seminggu, sedang sentimen anti-Islam meluap-luap di negara yang kebanyakan penduduknya beragama Buddha itu.

Myanmar bergelut dengan insiden-insiden rusuhan agama berdarah sejak beberapa tahun ini. Ketegangan di antara suku kaum dan sentimen tegar di kalangan penganut Buddha yang kian meningkat menjadi cabaran yang sukar ditangani pemerintah baru pimpinan Aung San Suu Kyi.

Semalam (1 Julai), sekumpulan penduduk kampung di Hpakrant, kota perlombongan jed di utara wilayah Kachin, menggeledah sebuah masjid dengan “menghayunkan kayu, pisau dan senjata lain” sebelum membakarnya, menurut akhbar Global New Light of Myanmar.

“Kumpulan itu langsung tidak dapat dikawal. Bangunan itu hangus dibakar oleh kumpulan perusuh itu,” lapor akhbar tersebut, sambil menambah kumpulan tersebut mengamuk setelah satu pertikaian tentang pembinaan masjid itu.

Tiada orang ditangkap berhubung kes itu, menurut laporan itu.

Rusuhan itu berlaku selepas satu lawatan selama 12 hari ke negara itu oleh seorang penyiasat hak asasi Pertubuhan Bangsa-Bangsa Bersatu (PBB) yang memberi amaran bahawa “ketegangan antara agama terus berleluasa di kalangan masyarakat Myanmar”.

Dalam sidang media bagi menggulung lawatannya semalam, Yanghee Lee menyeru pihak berkuasa supaya menyiasat pemusnahan sebuah lagi masjid di tengah Bago lewat bulan lalu.

“Pemerintah mesti menunjukkan bahawa menghasut dan melakukan keganasan terhadap masyarakat minoriti etnik atau agama tidak boleh dibenarkan di Myanmar,” katanya.

Sikap tidak bertoleransi terhadap agama lain kian meningkat di negara itu sejak beberapa tahun kebelakangan ini, dan mengancam untuk menggugat demokrasi di negara itu sejak pemerintahan junta mengundurkan diri pada 2011.

Pihak berkuasa keberatan untuk mengenakan dakwaan kerana takut ia akan mencetuskan lebih banyak rusuhan.

Keganasan agama yang paling dahsyat berlaku di wilayah Rakhine pada 2012, yang meragut puluhan nyawa dan memaksa puluhan ribu warga Muslim Rohingya menetap di kem-kem lusuh.

Wilayah Rakhine kekal sebagai wilayah di Myanmar di mana hubungan antara masyarakat berlainan agama paling tegang, dengan masyarakat Islam disekat pergerakan mereka dan juga akses kepada khidmat-khidmat asas dan pekerjaan.

Cik Lee menggesa pemerintah baru negara itu supaya menjadikan usaha menamatkan diskriminasi terhadap masyarakat Islam di wilayah itu sebagai keutamaan yang genting.

Cik Suu Kyi, pemenang Hadiah Nobel Keamanan yang memperjuangkan usaha Myanmar menentang rejim tentera di negara itu, mengecewakan kumpulan-kumpulan hak asasi kerana tidak mengambil langkah lebih segera untuk menghuraikan isu masyarakat Rohingya.

Source: Berita MediaCorp

July 3, 2016
Mohd Khair: Learn About Islam From The Correct And Credible Sources

My Dear Non-Muslim Friends,

For any non-Muslim interested to know more about Islam, the Quran and its text, please seek assistance from the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (MUIS) or any nearby mosque or the Singapore Muslim Converts Association or the Singapore Islamic Teachers and Scholars Association (PERGAS).

Do not rely on online sources, especially those sites used by extremist or terrorist groups which subvert Islam by claiming to be Islamic or an authority in Islam whereas they are NOT.

Those online sites do not represent Islam nor the Muslim World.

And please remember that ISIS and its predecessor Al Qaeda are unIslamic groups. The entire Muslim World and entire Islamic Scholars have condemned all the terrorist acts by such groups.

And as far as suicide bombers and their actions are concerned, they are neither Islamic nor sanctioned in Islam and by its Scholars.

So, please do yourselves a favour. If you need more information about Islam. Muslims and interpretations of the Quranic texts, seek help from MUIS, Mosques or PERGAS or other Recognised Muslim Organisations like the Singapore Muslim Converts Association.

Do not ask Google Sheikh for it will only lead you astray and make you an extremist in your views about Islam and Muslims

Source: Mohd Khair

July 3, 2016
Hotel Jen Pamerkan Karya Usahawan Tempatan

Hotel Jen di Tanglin membuka pintunya kepada para usahawan baru tempatan untuk menjual produk-produk mereka.

Tujuannya untuk menggalak inovasi dan kreativiti serta menyediakan wadah untuk para usahawan berbakat mempamerkan jenama mereka bagi pelanggan antarabangsa.

15 usahawan baru tempatan berpeluang mempamerkan produk-produk mereka di hotel empat bintang, Hotel Jen Tanglin dalam acara ‘A Superlife Affair’.

Acara dua hari itu merupakan sebahagian daripada kempen #NextJen oleh Hotel Jen yang bermatlamat untuk mendedahkan jenama-jenama tempatan di peringkat antarabangsa.

Arfian Ishak, 29 tahun, pengasas syarikat yang memanggang dan membekal biji kopi ‘Nomad The Gallant’ adalah satu-satunya usahawan muda Melayu yang dipamerkan.

“Sekarang ekonomi tidak berapa baik, ini adalah cara untuk kekalkan atau tambahkan lagi pendapatan dalam perniagaan. Saya mahu mencabar diri sendiri untuk melihat sejauh mana dan tahap saya boleh capai,” kata beliau.

Arfian yang mempunyai 10 tahun pengalaman dalam industri kopi, memanggang sendiri biji kopi dari Brazil dan India lalu mencampurkannya.

Campuran jenis kopi tersebut yang diberi nama “Exodus” kemudian dibekalkan kepada 18 tempat di Singapura termasuk kafe Jen’s the Kitchen On-The Go di Hotel Jen Tanglin.

Akur terdapat persaingan sengit di kalangan peniaga baru, Arfian berpegang kepada prinsip tidak mudah menyerah.

“Tidak takut untuk menghadapi orang yang lagi berjaya. Kadang-kadang mereka adalah orang yang boleh memberi nasihat. Jadi banyak bergaul, tidak boleh malu dan segan bak kekata, “malu bertanya sesat jalan”,” tambah beliau lagi.

Arfian bakal membuka dua cawangan kafe di The Arcade dan Stanley Road menjelang akhir bulan ini.

Acara ‘A Superlife Affair’ di Hotel Jen Tanglin berakhir esok (2 Julai).

Source: Berita MediaCorp

July 1, 2016
13 Year Old Adik Greatest Wish? To Break Fast With His Mother

Ahmad is like many other 13-year-olds.

He is bold, boisterous and is optimistic in a way only a young person can be.

But his greatest wish is to break fast with his mother.

For the second year in a row, he is spending Ramadan away from her.

It is only when this subject was raised that we saw a change in the boy.

“I’m quite jealous when I see some of the residents go out and break their fast with their family members,” Ahmad told The New Paper, with notable sadness.

Ahmad (not his real name) has spent more than a year at Pertapis Children’s Home.

According to Mr Sophian Kayat, the head of the home, Ahmad and his older brother were placed in the home’s care in March last year after a court order to protect them.

Their mother had been abused by Ahmad’s stepfather.

She stays in a separate welfare home.

“

I’m quite jealous when I see some of the residents go out and break their fast with their family members.

— Ahmad

When Ahmad was first admitted to the home, he understood why he was being separated from his mother, but it was still hard.

“Ahmad is close to his mother so when he was first admitted here, he was moody and easily agitated,” said Ahmad’s case manager, Miss Hamidah Otheman, 25.

“It took him three to four months before he was able to deal with his emotions and settle into life in the welfare home,” she added.

Ahmad described last year’s fasting month: “I was very sad because it was the first time that I was fasting away from my mother.

“This year, it’s better because I’m already used to it and I have friends here.”

BREAKING FAST: Ahmad breaking fast with donors. The donors had sponsored the food that day.

When TNP visited the home in Kovan, Ahmad was having his school holidays.

He and the other children at the home clamoured to play games during their morning break.

During the school holidays, the children are allowed to play from 7.30am to 9am.

He loves to play football. The home has a small field — about a quarter the size of a normal football field.

“I support Chelsea and Fernando Torres is my favourite player,” he shared between kicks towards an old goalpost.

OBSERVING: A young resident at the home looking on as Ahmad and his friends play football.

Even though Ahmad is away from his mother, but he does not complain about the home.

In fact, he credits the home for helping him to get through the Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE), which he took last year.

“The tuition and the support programmes that they have helped to push my grades up and I was able to pass my PSLE,” he said.

PRACTICE: Ahmad practicing the worksheets which were given to him by the home.

“I want to study hard and get into polytechnic and study aerospace engineering,” said the secondary school student.

“I heard that there are a lot of jobs as an aerospace engineer.”

This is more than personal ambition. He wants to be able to give back to the welfare home.

“Maybe in the future, I can sponsor an event for them or maybe make an activity programme for them,” he said.

“

Ahmad is close to his mother, so when he was first admitted here, he was moody and was easily agitated.

— Miss Hamidah Otheman, Ahmad’s case manager at Pertapis

But for now, all he wants is to be reunited with his mother.

According to Mr Sophian, Ahmad’s wish may be granted in the near future.

He says that the next stage for Ahmad is to spend and extended home leave with his mother.

“So long as safety is not compromised, we should be heading towards reunification.”

Source: www.tnp.sg

July 1, 2016