Islamic Finance

Just attended the recent Malaysian Islamic Finance 2-day forum...must say it gave me numerous insights into the world of Islamic financial industry..just name it sukuk, mudharabah, musyakarah, ijarah, commodity-based mudharabah, Islamic derivatives, Islamic REITs; talk about product innovation..im impressed..the Islamic finance industy is already said to be worth trillions of US dollars...wow....n to think that the majority of investors in Islamic financial instruments are non-muslims, what a remarkable revelation!

with petro-dollars swelling from the Gulf nations, the industry is reputed to grow even further..now everyone is into Islamic finance..just name it, Bahrain, Dubai, Singapore, Qatar....n Malaysia....Malaysia has already an Islamic finance initiative by the name of the Malaysian Islamic Financial Centre (or MIFC) in place...the next big question is, are we ready to be a major player??

p/s: must say that the moderator by the name of AbdelKader Thomas (Shape) was cool n knowledgable.......

Negaraku....

Em..i guess by now most of us have either heard, read or watched the negaraku rap version orchastrated by a Malaysian who is said to be patriotic....

well,what is happening to our nation..even our own national anthem is made a mockery by our own citizen...one wonders 50 years ago, what our forefathers would have felt if they were to witness this silly act.

But what makes things worse is the fact that this dude inserted the following lyrics in the song (translated):

5 in the morning
Theres even a morning call to wake me up
Sometimes a few of them will sing together
When you listen to it, its like a love duet
The voice ululates like an R&B song
Even though sometimes they sing until its out of tune
Even though sometimes they even sing until their voices break
Some sound like cockerels, but they wake up earlier than them
This way we can know the time to get ready for class and for work

Pukul 5 pagi
Malah ada yang memanggil untuk gerakkan aku diwaktu pagi
Kadangkala mereka menyanyi beramai-ramai
Bila didengar, macam duet lagu cinta
Suaranya bagaikan lagu R&B
Walaupun kadangkala nyanyiannya sumbang
Walaupun kadangkala mereka menyanyi sehingga pecah-pecah suara
Ada yang macam bunyi kokok ayam jantan, tetapi mereka bangun lebih awal (dari ayam jantan)
Lalu kita boleh tahu bila untuk bersiap sedia untuk ke kerja

Now what do u make of the above? For the benefit of those who have not watched the video, the above lyrics were sang with a mosque in the background..em..now what do you make of that? figure it out.. im not trying to be malicous or anything in that direction, its just that i was pondering on the fact that Malaysia is not what it used to be and the fact that Malaysians are becoming brave enough to vent their 'patriotism' in that manner makes me sick..

p/s: http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2007/8/11/nation/20070811201338&sec=nation

Hand of love...

Wah, g.bush and prince abd.aziz (king of saudi arabia) walking hand-in-hand showering each other with er...money?..Must be something good to warrant that kind of VIP treatment..oops forgot, US is planning to provide "military aid" via a weapons deal to selected arab nations and also to Israe-eel (eel?) which will be in the billions of US$....

are we suppose to close one eye on this? is this really true affection between a texan-cowboy and a leader who.....em lets not get personal..

Was my pre-adulthood theory that there truly exists a bloddy conspiracy between the US and the rulers of some arab nations are already starting to reveal itself??

On another note, its interesting to read bout a country which its y-o-y (year on year) inflation rate will hit 100,000% by the year end and with prices of goods and services already rising by 300% (btw the country is Zimbabwe).Wow! its like saying with a RM10 note alone cant buy u a decent plate of nasi lemak..Sheesh! Cant imagine that happening in Malaysia.

Crapping......

Gosh..just realised its nearly been a year since i first stepped into JEK. Felt as if i just entered...Must say working has really knocked the socks off my brain cells..do this do that..crank brains at this and that..go here and there..discuss with people about this and that...multi-tasking, i guess..

i think for the past year,one of the thing's ive missed most is having quality time at night at home during weekdays which i now cherish..could hardly be at home before 8pm, always strapped either in the office or in the car (or in the inefficient Commuter train) contemplating about:

1. why the SMART tunnel is actually SEMAK cos the traffic jam has not improved but has actually worsened.

2. why the traffic jam in KL is soooooooooo congested...from A to B (which normally takes 5-10 minutes) can take an hour.

3. why the Commuter is like a coffin on wheels waiting for the right moment to disintegrate

4. why some people in KL add sambal (what the?) to their curry/dalca when eating roti canai

5. when i will get a pay rise (haha)

BUT most importantly

6. my future n my next move...emm....

In the end, i guess we just have to be grateful with what we have and dont depend & dont harbour high hopes...everyday is a challenge..

p/s: Crappy ranting's again

Malaysia ku..

The news on the death of the 6 army personals involved in the Nuri heli crash was---fated. Even though I don’t know any of them personally, I must say that being a normal citizen, I feel for the family members. Al-Fatihah.

Anyways, I guess someone is enjoying a great time in

Australia

according to RPK whilst the whole nation is going through a difficult patch. The self-destruction of the football squad, and the nuri (which will eventually be phased out) heli crash. The latest being the on-going debate about whether

Malaysia

is an Islamic state or a secular one. Honestly speaking, im for the former and im not being biased just because im a Muslim. Its just that the perception that if a country is an Islamic state, that country will be restrictive, non-Muslims would feel insecure, and the country would be regressing. Utter bull. To hell with the Reid commission recommendation thingy, its just crap. If only we could really prove what is an Islamic state and how everyone including non-muslims would actually feel at ease with the whole way of life. Lets put it this way, if we were able to prove the doubters wrong about this negative connotation on this Islamic state idea only then everyone would be happy.

AND Oh yeah, by the way just to tickle your minds a little, who are the largest consumers of Islamic Banking Products in

Malaysia

? Answer: non-muslims. Why? Go figure out why.

p/s: Islamic state, anyone? Just ignore my rantings.