4th Journal Entry

        Day after day, time passed away, and I just can’t believe that I’ve been here for 3 months. Now, we are all preparing for the final exam which will be started on the 26th of October. Wow.. It is just around the corner. Hmm, but the thing is, I haven’t finish my revision yet. Argh, there are still a lot of assignments to do. And the PBL! We have one more PBL before we can celebrate our independence from those nightmares. Insyaallah, we’ll give our best. For Mdm Maryam, this is the last journal entry. And I would like to ask for your forgiveness for any mistake or late submission of my journal entries. Okay, let us focus on the task which is the 4th journal entry for this semester. But what should I write? Hahaha.. Since we only have 3 weeks before the ‘war’, I should write about the final exam that might give birth to ‘numerous bloodsheds and tears’ for those who did not put their best effort in their preparation for the exam. Yet, in the 2nd entry, I’ve wrote about the final exam. So I have no idea regarding what should I share with you this time. If I have a girlfriend, maybe I can just write a story, a long story, to tell you how much this heart are beating for her. But unfortunately, I have none. hehe.. Ha, maybe I can share with you, my opinion pertaining to the law which is seems to be very funny and odd to me when I first read it. It is the law for ATTEMPTED SUICIDE. 

      I would like to pin out an old joke pertaining to punishment for suicide and attempted suicide.

Q: What's the punishment for suicide?

A: Life imprisonment.

Q: What's the punishment for attempted suicide?

A: Hanging.

      Yeah, oddity continues to be put before relevancy as punishment for attempted suicide is on the line for those who are trying to commit such ‘offence’. It is cruel to visit a troubled man with punishment on his failure to die. It seems awfully mean to add to the woes of those who have failed by bringing them up on charges. Section 309 of the Penal Code stated that anyone guilty of attempted suicide could face imprisonment of up to a year or fined or both. This law led to perspiration rather than inspiration to those non-government organisations and individuals who are striving in their endeavour to combat suicide in our society, thus this law seems to be irrelevant to be enforced.

      The joke up there enshrines the first flaw of the law which is it is not consistent as it can only punish those who have failed; the ones who succeed in their attempt are beyond the reach of law. This is a great departure from Article 7 of the United Declaration of Human Right (UDHR) which stated that, “All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law. All are entitled to equal protection against any discrimination in violation of this Declaration and against any incitement to such discrimination”. In addition to that, Article 8(1) of the Federal Constitution of Malaysia envisaged the same; “All persons are equal before the law and entitled to the equal protection of the law”. If suicide is not an offence, why should we punish those troubled men who are attempting suicide? By punishing them, we are actually in effect of putting them in double terrific jeopardy. 

      Furthermore, punishment for attempted suicide usually failed at any test of logic to act as deterrence. But, our police today are considering to enforce the law which they claim might combat this disease from growing their roots in our society. Tan Sri Ismail Omar was reported saying that to NST. Yes, I’m aware of the statistic pin out by the Malaysian Psychiatric Association which stated that suicide rates have increased by 60 per cent in the past 45 years, with an estimated seven people attempting suicide daily. Yet, I do not ever think anyone would be deterred from attempting suicide by the impending punishment if they failed in their suicide attempt. I’m in the position of opposing the myth. Punishing people for attempted suicide will only push them nearer to the edge of that cliff that they are standing on. Instead of taking 10 pills of Panadol, they’ll make sure they succeed, and take 20. Instead of drinking one bottle of detergent, they’ll now drink 5. Instead of just cutting their wrists, they will now cut their wrists and jump from 10th floor. According to Dr Benjamin Tan, those who are attempting suicide would feel further traumatised if they are charged in court. By enforcing the law, some will be driven to commit suicide, AGAIN!

      In a nutshell, based on the two flaws that that have been enshrined in my entry, I totally condemn punishment for attempted suicide. Yeah, it is true, who am I to condemn the law made by our Parliament. But I think, this is the right place and the right time that I can use my freedom of speech under article 10 of the Federal Constitution to speak out and urge our experts to check on this law. In 1961, Great Britain abolished criminal penalties for attempting to commit suicide. India is also considering abolishing those punishments. It is a historical fact that our legal system and law were adopted mainly from these countries. So, why should we sing the old song and ignore the new rhythm which seems to be much more relevant? Should we, today, in the ever changing trends of the society continue with and adhere to this anomaly? The answer is, totally NO!

      Hmm, that’s all I have to share with you. I hope it is acceptable, not as a controversial issue or criticise, but for academic purposes. As the conclusion, I love to pin out the lyrics of the brilliant song by the Scorpion; “Wind of Change”. Enjoy it!

I follow the Moskva
Down to Gorky Park
Listening to the wind of change
An August summer night
Soldiers passing by
Listening to the wind of change

The world closing in
Did you ever think
That we could be so close,like brothers
The future's in the air
I can feel it everywhere
Blowing with the wind of change

Chorus:
Take me to the magic of the moment
On a glory night
Where the children of tomorrow dream away
In the wind of change

Walking down the street
Distant memories
Are buried in the past forever

I fallow the Moskva
Down to Gorky Park
Listening to the wind of change

Take me to the magic of the moment
On a glory night
Where the children of tomorrow share their dreams
With you and me

Take me to the magic of the moment
On a glory night
Where the children of tomorrow dream away
In the wind of change

The wind of change blows straight
Into the face of time
Like a stormwind that will ring
The freedom bell for peace of mind
Let your balalaika sing
What my guitar wants to say

Take me to the magic of the moment
On a glory night
Where the children of tomorrow share their dreams
With you and me

Take me to the magic of the moment
On a glory night
Where the children of tomorrow dream away
In the wind of change.

3rd Journal Entry

          “We sent Our Messengers with clear signs and sent down with them the Book and the measure in order to establish justice among people”. [Al-Hadid (57:25)]

                What is justice? For some jurists, it looks like impossible to answer the question of what justice is. Yeah, maybe it’s true. Something which is considered as just by a group of people may become unjust to another. Referring back to the concept of justice in Islam envisaged in the words of Allah stated above, justice or ‘adl in Arabic means, placing something in its rightful place. It seems to be simple, but to uphold justice in our daily life is not an easy obligation. And INJUSTICE? What’s the meaning of INJUSTICE? May be there is no need for me to propose an ultimate definition of the word as everyone understand what injustice is. We can simply get the meaning based on the definition of justice. In this entry, I would like (actually I’ve been asked by my lecturer..hehe) to give my commentary regarding the element of injustice which took place in the magnificent movie of “The Other Boleyn Girl”. For those who never watch this film which depicts the Henry VIII's royal court in 16^th century, I suggest you not to hesitate. Enjoy the great movie, and you’ll be surprised. Not just because of the charm of Mary Boleyn(Scarlet Johanson) and her sister, Anne Boleyn(Natalie Portman), but also because of the ability of the film’s cast to keep a strong and genuine emotional.

          Let us now talk about INJUSTICE. George, who was executed in front of the public for the charge of an offence that he never did, was a victim of INJUSTICE!!! Mary who was neglected by King Henry VIII after nearly suffers a miscarriage, was a victim of INJUSTICE!!! Anne, who was sexually assaulted after refused to lie with the King, was a victim of INJUSTICE!!! Catherine of Aragon, who had been betrayed by the King after her failure to give England a male heir, was a victim of INJUSTICE!!! Even the King, who had been lied by Mary regarding Anne’s union with Percy, was a victim of INJUSTICE!!! Since INJUSTICE is the “heartbeat” of this story, I don’t prefer to dig up and explain every single injustice which faced by the characters.

"Everyone improves the standing of his family through his daughters."- Sir Thomas Boleyn.

          This is the INJUSTICE that I would like to comment; “Injustice towards women”. Not to say that I’m acting like a hero who is willing to fight for women’s right, but I just can’t stand as a man who did nothing when women are treated horribly (I ‘dedicate’ this special quotation for the King and Sir Thomas). As I mentioned before, the forms of mistreatment are made evident throughout the film. Besides Mary, Anne, and Catherine of Aragon, we can clearly see the injustice suffered by the mother of the two Boleyn sisters as everything went wrong for all her children after they sacrificed their own needs and happiness for the sake of their father’s political ambition. It is hard for us to see the two Boleyn sisters quarrel with each other. Undoubtedly, it was even harder for the mother. In the hassle of all the injustice occurred, Mary’s bewilderment at the manifest injustice might be the film’s sharpest emotional hook. Even though she was the one who faced the greatest challenge in her life, she was not hesitate to return to the court and lies on Anne's behalf, she was still willing to stay with her sister at the court, and she fulfilled her last promise to Anne and left the court with Elizabeth, the girl Anne gave to the King.

          In addition, I would like to submit my opinion regarding the position of women in our society today. If in the 16^th century, women in England was treated with horrible injustice, in this day and age, there is no more such prejudice and discrimination towards women as they play a very vital role in almost each society throughout the world. Hillary Clinton, Sarah Palin, Oprah Winfrey, the late Benazir Butho, Datin Seri Azizah, Siti Nurhaliza. These are some examples of women who grasp the wisdom of their life and prove to us that we are all equal, we have the same potential, the same capacity. And don’t ever forget, majority of our lecturers are women, including the lecturer of the English for Law Subject, the gorgeous Mdm Maryam. J Thanks mdm, you are a very good lecturer, I know it deep in my heart(bonus marks, please!!!!hehe..I’m just joking).

          

          Last but not least, if Sir Thomas and King Henry VIII are still alive, I would like to present to them, the Convention On The Elimination of Discrimination Against Women 1979 which states that discrimination against women violates the principles of equality of rights and respect for human dignity..My Lord, Sir, nowadays, women are close to our heart.. No! NO! NO! They are not just close to our heart, but the truth is, they are the heart of our society. J To conclude my 3^rd journal entry, I love to post two poems. These poems are not material to the entry, but I hope, all girls and women will be smiling after reading it. Just to honour all of you. =)

IN LOVE

"The day you appeared I lost my heart
To you, to love.
And from that day I cannot part
From you, from love.
You hold me tight
To you, to love.
In my thoughts all day and night
Of you, of love.
I offer all that I have to give
To you, to love.
And all my days I want to live

With you, in love."

2nd Reflection

Usually, when a girl looks into the mirror, they are actually worried about their pimples. But for me, when I look into the mirror every morning, the first thing that I see is a stressful face, a face of a man who are regretting his yesterday, a face which expresses a very tough situation that the man is facing. Yeah, I am actually looking at my face. Oh no, I got just a few weeks before the final exams. English for Law! The Malaysian Legal System! The Law of Contract! The Law of Constitution! Why are ‘you’ chasing me like a criminal offender??? I am just a soldier who forgot to reload his bullets. I am just a teenager, who loves to play the Pro Evolution Soccer game every night rather than reading the full text of cases. I am just a man who treats the law books like his own bloody enemies. And surely, ‘you’ cannot put the blame on me for not getting ready yet to transform my pens into swords and fight in your arena, my dearly examinations. BUT, I am the person who should blame myself for wasting the whole three months without proper preparation for the war. During these three valuable months in the National University of Malaysia (UKM), I should at least master the Document of Destiny by Prof Shad Saleem Faruqi. If alphabet is the basic lesson for kids, the Document of Destiny is the most important foundation for a law student in Malaysia. Argh, there are still other books such as “Mengenali Undang-Undang Kontrak Malaysia” by Dr Sakina and “Pengenalan Kepada Sistem Perundangan Malaysia” written by Datin Dr Noor Aziah to study. In addition to those sufferings, I also have a lot of assignments to do. The PBL! The presentation of my study regarding the relationship between sports and diversities in Malaysia! The presentation of the study of medical negligence in Malaysia! And I almost forgot the presentation of my English for Law’s project! Oh, I am getting sick and bemused of presentations. I wish I could stay at home, just sit back and relax, enjoying the cartoon series of “Upin and Ipin” with my youngest brother, Muhammad Amirull Aiminn.

                        (Muhammad Amirull Aiminn, a diehard fan of Upin and Ipin.)

                 If I can reverse the time, surely I will not install this Pro Evolution Soccer game into my beloved laptop. I got indulge into the habit of playing the game whenever I got free times. Fernando Torres, Steven Gerrard, Pepe Reina, Cristiano Ronaldo. Those are my closest friends every time I play the game, the players who perform their best in every tournament.  Now, I am aware that from the very beginning I must be ‘close’ to the judges such as Lord Atkin, Lord Denning, Tun Sallah Abbas, Tun Muhammad Suffian, and their judgements, not the players and their games. What should I do? Should I jump from the top of Za’ba residential college’s building? Or, should I give up and just ‘tawakal’? Hmmm... Sink or swim, I need to sit for the exams. From now, I have to motivate and remind myself that the ability to pass the examinations with flying colours is indeed a valuable quality. It shows that I am able to express my thought and ideas in a manner others can understand. It also shows that I have acquired a certain amount of knowledge in this branch of study. Therefore, I must give my best to empower myself with the knowledge and understanding pertaining to the particular subjects. I challenge myself to prove to others, that this man is ready to grasp the wisdom of law study. Hey guys, now I can feel the wind of change blowing into my will. Let us burn out our midnight candles and push ourselves to the top speed so we can manage to score in the becoming final examinations. For the Muslims, do not forget to raise our hands and make do’a like the Prophet taught us (sounds like the lyrics of the song by Maher Zain, Barakallah. Hahaha). Never look back, just take the sad song and make it better. Good luck to myself, and to all my fellow friends. Last but not least, I would like to thank all the lecturers for teaching me from ‘zero to hero’.hahaha.. I’m much beholden to all of you for your kindness. May Allah bless you.

Reflection

The decision to become a lawyer came up to me when I was still in primary school. Surprisingly, I’m now at The National University of Malaysia.  Studying law in the UKM is one of the main ways leading to the accomplishment of my academic and career goals. Wow!!!Sounds very extravagant, right? Haha.. I used to study law at Universiti Teknologi Mara before. There were only Malays, people who are communicating in bahasa, joking with matters which can easily be understood, sharing the same culture and tradition. But now, there are majority of Chinese in my class, with just a drop in the ocean of Indian, and a few of them are Malays. But that is not the ultimate problem, and mingle with people from other races is also not a problem actually. I have set that as a priority for me. Understanding my own culture makes me more open to other cultures.  I have communicated with people of different backgrounds in secondary school and my capacity to respect the ways that are different from mine has always helped me. I am totally sure that there would have been less ethnic conflicts if people really did respect and try to understand other cultures and their ways. It is my pleasures to know Chuah, Apple, Stephanie, Suren and other non-Malay students. I know that I should not only fit the educational community of UKM but also give my classmates an example of cultural flexibility and respect to different points of view. But, to be honest, I’m getting more and more drown into the wave of missing my old friends, all the law foundation students of Uitm 2009/2010 session. Their smiles, their laugh, their love, that usually motivate me to study have gone from my grasp. Mustafa, why don’t you here, to crap and talk nonsense all the time? Ijad, why don’t you here, to make foolish jokes and eating my ‘keropok’? Argh, guys, I miss all of you. Yet, I should not take it in the negative way. We are still law students, our goal are still the same, to be a good technical liars. Aren’t we? Hahaha.. Stop talking crap Muhammad Amirull Afiqq, you have to submit a reflection to your English For Law’s lecturer, the gorgeous Mdm Maryam. hehe.. Okay, let us focus on the reflection.

 As I said before, I’m here to study law, and I hope I will manage to pass this course with flying colours in this honourable university. I know that the lecturers at this university, have a lot to share with the students and I am looking forward dedicating myself to the process of getting knowledge that I have been dreaming about for so long. Yeah, our 1^st class, the law of contract class with Dr Sakina who is an expert in this sort of law. Before entering her class, I’ve read a quarter of the first chapter of her book, entitled “Mengenali Undang-Undang Kontrak di Malaysia”. It was a truly amazing book which refresh my memory pertaining to the seven element of contract that have been taught by Puan Che Audah, my beloved lecturer when I was in law foundation programme. There is still green in my mind, the moment when Dr Sakina asked the class to vote for their class representative. It is just The Mighty Allah who knows my feeling when they nominated me for the post. ”Oh,no! I don’t want to be the servant of the class for the entire of my first year”. It was the beginning of the end of my relaxing life; I WON the ‘general election’. Actually, I was predicting the result, since there was a lot of coincidence that happened along the ‘Minggu Pengenalan Pelajar’. ‘Minggu Pengenalan Pelajar’ is our 1^st week in UKM. In that week, I joined my residential college team for Vice Chancellor’s Cup of Malay Debate Competition. Accidentally, our team went through the grand final. Accidentally, again, my picture appeared as the wallpaper of UKM’s portal. I was wondering why my picture was there since we were just the 1^st runner up. And because of that picture, my lecturers and classmates know me as ‘pendebat’, who they had chosen as the class representative. And know, I am who I am, a law student, a class representative, a debater, an emcee, and etc.

No matter how busy and exhausted I am, I have to strive diligently to grasp my ultimate goal as a student, and the most important one, as the elder brother of my younger brothers and sisters. I should say that studying here is a magnificent opportunity for me to excel in my academic and therefore career goals and I would take it for an honour to study here getting the knowledge from the best professionals in the sphere of legal study such as Dr Sakina, Dr Che Norlia, Datin Noor Aziah, Dr Suzanna and others. I am not a fast learner, but it will never curtail my spirit and ability to be a good law student.