Blog

Datuk M. Nasir Bergelar Doktor

SINTOK (Kedah): Seniman Datuk M. Nasir menerima Ijazah Kehormat Doktor Falsafah (Pengurusan Industri Kreatif) daripada Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM) di sini kelmarin.

Beliau yang ditemani isterinya, Datin Marlia Musa, menerima penghormatan itu di Majlis Konvokesyen ke-27 universiti tersebut.

Semasa berucap selepas menerima ijazah itu, M. Nasir berkata komposer dan penerbit lagu perlu menjalankan satu kajian yang mendalam mengenai cara Korea mempromosikan budaya K-Pop dan mempelajari cara mereka membawa muzik setempat ke persada global.

Beliau berkata budaya K-Pop yang telah menjadi sensasi global ialah satu contoh baik bagi mengeksport seni Malaysia, terutamanya muzik, kepada dunia.

M. Nasir berkata walaupun kumpulan muzik K-Pop tidak dibentangkan sesuatu yang berbeza daripada genre pop umum, kemampuan mereka memasarkan produk adalah luar biasa.

“Kami perlu mengkaji bagaimana orang Korea melakukannya dengan muzik K-Pop,” katanya.

Penyanyi dan penulis lagu mapan itu berkata penulis lagu perlu belajar cara mengurus aspek perniagaan dalam seni mereka.

“Kami boleh menghasilkan lagu-lagu yang hebat tetapi kami tidak akan ke mana jika kami tidak tahu bagaimana meletak dan memasarkan produk kepada penonton tukikan dan awam,” ujarnya.

M. Nasir turut memuji penghibur Malaysia yang menebar sayap ke pasaran asing dan berkata lebih ramai yang perlu digalakkan berbuat sedemikian.

“Kita perlu bekerja keras menyesuaikan muzik kita dengan pasaran antarabangsa dan menggunakan saluran yang betul untuk mendedahkannya sehingga orang dari negara lain akan jatuh cinta dengan produk kita,” ujarnya.

Beliau turut mengucapkan terima kasih kepada UUM kerana menganugerahkan beliau dengan Ijazah Kehormat Kedoktoran dan berkata ia merupakan satu pengiktirafan yang besar bagi industri tempatan.

Naib Canselor UUM, Profesor Datuk Dr Mohamed Mustafa Ishak, berkata M. Nasir telah dipilih oleh senat universiti kerana sumbangan besar beliau kepada industri kreatif.

“Industri kreatif, seperti muzik, mempunyai potensi ekonomi yang besar bukan sahaja untuk pasaran tempatan, bahkan di peringkat antarabangsa juga.

“Kami perlu modal insan yang terlatih untuk menguruskan industri ini dan bawanya ke tahap yang lebih tinggi. Sebab itulah UUM memperkenalkan Ijazah Sarjana Muda dalam bidang Pengurusan Industri Kreatif ini,” ujar Dr Mustafa.

Selain M. Nasir, UUM juga menganugerahkan ijazah kehormat dalam pengurusan pembangunan kepada mantan presiden Kongres India Malaysia (MIC), Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu. – The New Straits Times.

Source: www.beritaharian.sg

November 10, 2014
Yusuf Islam’s Return to Performing Music Received Criticism From Some Muslims

Yusuf Islam – formerly known as Cat Stevens – has rarely been seen on stage since he converted to Islam in 1977. In recent years, however, he has returned to live performing and, with new album Tell ‘Em I’m Gone out last month, Yusuf played two sold-out gigs in London this week as part of his European tour.

The British musician has now revealed that his decision to start producing and performing music again led to criticism from some Muslims.

“I was getting criticism from the Muslim community: why are you picking up a guitar again? What’s happening to you?” the 66-year-old said in an interview with AFP.

“I say: listen to me, this is part of Islamic civilisation, we have lost our contact with it, we lost our vibrant approach to life and to culture.”

Yusuf, who is performing songs from the new album, as well as classics such as Wild World, Moonshadow and Peace Train from his 1960s and 1970s heyday on the tour, said of his dual identity: “I’m a mirror glass for the Muslims as well as the Western world, which looks at me in a slightly different way, but they are looking in the same mirror.”

Yusuf will also return to the United States for his first tour there in 35 years. It comes 10 years after he was banned from the country after his name appeared on a no-fly list – a fact he blamed on mistaken identification.

“I feel very welcome now,” he said and described his inauguration into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2014 as a “significant moment where they kind of remembered me”.

“I think it’s [the tour] going to be pretty good, I’m hoping,” he said.

“One song I do is The First Cut is the Deepest. I try to remind people I wrote that song, not Rod Stewart.” Yusuf continued.

When he first converted to Islam in 1977, Yusuf hung up his guitar to dedicate himself to philanthropic and educational work.

He attracted controversy in 1989 when he defended the fatwa issued by Iran’s Ayatollah Khomeini calling for Muslims to kill British author Salman Rushdie for blasphemy. He later dismissed his remarks as in bad taste, but there are many who still reproach him for not apologising.

After his US experience, two British newspapers alleged that he was involved in terrorism. Yusuf successfully sued them for libel, but the whole experience has left its mark.

“It’s always on the knife’s edge as far as I am concerned,” he said of his relationship with the media. “I can never quite trust anybody anymore.”

Everyone, however, is welcome to come and see him perform live. “People who want to remember me as Cat Stevens – welcome. Those who want me as Yusuf, you’re here,” he said.

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

November 10, 2014
TheOnlineCitizen To Register With MDA

MEDIA RELEASE

The Opinion Collaborative Ltd (TOC Ltd) has submitted its registration forms to the Media Development Authority (MDA) on 10 November, as requested by MDA to do so under the Broadcasting (Class Licence) Notification.

In the interest of transparency, we are publishing with this announcement the blank forms that MDA had requested for TOC Ltd to complete, and also the latest round of correspondence with MDA, detailing some of the areas we have sought clarification on.

We would also like to express three observations from this registration process.

Firstly, our working relationship with MDA has been frank but friendly, and we have met amicably as equal parties who are equally interested in Singapore media’s scene, albeit for different reasons.

Secondly, we echo the concerns made earlier by the FreeMyInternet group: That MDA’s excessive and unwarranted concern with foreign funding has hampered its ability to be an effective media developer. Through this exercise, MDA has exhibited a lack of understanding in how the new media environment in Singapore operates, particularly for a social enterprise that depends on donations for revenue. MDA’s obsession with foreign funding, unfortunately, also hampers our operational effectiveness – as owners of a small business, we cannot possibly afford to spend time filling in forms every month (see image).

As such, MDA should do away with such a regulatory framework completely. We would like to remind MDA of its stated aim for media regulation: “In supporting the growth of Singapore’s media sector, MDA fosters a conducive business environment through regulatory policies that encourage investment and innovation, while providing more content choices for consumers.” We do not see how this regulatory framework helps it achieve that.

And thirdly, the completion of this registration effectively means that The Online Citizen (TOC) is registered three times with the need to fulfil three different obligations, under two different identities with two different government agencies.

The fact that we have complied with all these indicates that fears of foreign sources funding TOC are completely unfounded. As such, we look forward to the Prime Minister’s Office lifting the gazetting requirements on TOC as a “political association”.

Note:
Since 4 June 2014, The Online Citizen has been under the ownership and management of The Opinion Collaborative Ltd, a social enterprise registered under the Companies Act. In this arrangement, TOC retains its full editorial independence, while ceding its administrative and management functions, including those of fund-raising and revenue generation, to TOC Ltd. More information is available in an earlier media release.

Source: www.theonlinecitizen.com

November 10, 2014
Government Ministries Refuse To Hire 60 Year Old Retirees

The Government is trying very hard to extend the employment of those aged 60 and above.

However, the effort seems focused on those already in employment at the age of 60, then continuing on to 62 or 65.

Various schemes in place are not meant for those in their early 60s who retired earlier and now want to get back to work after a gap of one to two years.

I retired last year at age 59 and, having turned 60 this year, decided to get back into the workforce.

I tried applying for positions in various ministries and government agencies.

There was usually no reply, except for a handful of rejections, even for positions such as administrative assistant.

I have more than 30 years of experience working in a multinational company in the oil industry and have done some lecturing at a polytechnic recently.

Yet, when I applied to be a relief teacher, I received a rejection from the Education Ministry.

I didn’t even get a shot at an interview.

Perhaps the Manpower Ministry could look at how to get the “young elderly” aged 60 to 65 employed.

Surely it shouldn’t exclude those who have retired and later want to work again and are willing to accept lower wages.

Lui Chiew Yee

Source: www.allsingaporestuff.com

November 10, 2014
Sisters In Islam: Malaysia Not A Theocratic Dictatorship

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 10 — Women’s advocacy group Sisters in Islam (SIS) has told minister Datuk Seri Jamil Khir Baharom that Malaysia is a democracy and not a theocratic dictatorship.

The Muslim women’s rights NGO also said shariah laws are man-made and therefore not infallible, pointing out that the recent court challenges by SIS against a fatwa and by a group of Muslim transgender men against a state shariah law prohibiting cross-dressing were challenges to the “unjust and inefficient” Islamic legal system in Malaysia.

“We would like to remind the minister that Malaysia is a democratic country, not a theocratic dictatorship,” Datin Paduka Marina Mahathir, a member of SIS’ board of directors, told Malay Mail Online.

“Our Federal Constitution guarantees the fundamental liberties of every citizen including Muslims. The rule of law applies to everyone, and everyone has a right to seek redress in the courts if they feel they have been unfairly treated,” she added.

SIS also expressed alarm at the call by Jamil Khir, who is the minister in the Prime Minister’s Department in charge of Islamic affairs, for all Muslims to defend their faith from liberal ideologies “by any method”.

“Does this mean he is giving the go-ahead for anyone to take vigilante action against those the minister deems un-Islamic, including violence? Does this mean that should anyone physically attack such persons, the state will take no action against them?” Marina asked.

Jamil Khir said yesterday that in a “new wave” of assault, Muslim transgenders and SIS are colluding with Islam’s enemies to put its religious institutions on trial in a secular court.

The minister was responding to two recent court challenges where state Islamic authorities were cast into a defensive role, with one initiated by SIS at the High Court here against a Selangor religious edict, or fatwa, declaring their organisation and its members “deviants”.

The other was a separate case mounted by a group of transgender men who were convicted of cross-dressing under the Negri Sembilan state shariah law, which they won at the Court of Appeal Friday.

A three-judge panel at the Court of Appeal had unanimously ruled Section 66 of the Negri Sembilan Syariah Criminal Enactment 1992 to be unconstitutional as it violated the three Muslim men’s right to freedom of expression.

Jamil Khir said Islamic institutions like the state Islamic councils must work together to face “this new wave against Islam”, claiming that there is an “agenda” outside the country’s predominant religion aiming to twist the faith of Muslims.

Malaysia’s religious authorities have long derided liberalism and pluralism, with Friday sermons nationwide claiming a conspiracy by “enemies of Islam” to manipulate Muslims through ideas like secularism, socialism, feminism and positivism, in addition to the two.

Source: www.themalaymailonline.com

November 10, 2014