Konsep, Falsafah dan Objektif Pendidikan

Dalam Kamus Dewan, pendidikan ialah kata nama terbitan daripada kata akar “didik” yang membawa maksud jaga, pelihara, dan ajar. Perkataan “pendidikan”  juga bersinonim dengan ajaran, latihan, tarbiah, pelajaran, bimbingan, asuhan, dan tunjuk ajar (DBP, 2007:350). 

Dalam Bahasa Inggeris, pendidikan disebut  sebagai education (Simpson & Weiner, 1989:74), yang dikatakan berasal daripada cantuman dua kalimah dalam bahasa Latin, iaitu e’ex dan ducereduc bererti “memimpin”; yang dapat diinterpretasikan pula sebagai mengumpul maklumat  ke dalam diri bagi membentuk bakat (Ishak, 1995:4-5). 

Dalam Bahasa Arab, terdapat beberapa kalimah yang merujuk kepada  pendidikan. Mengikut Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas (1979:2-4) dan  Rosnani Hashim (2006:6), antara kalimah yang selalu digunakan ialah seperti  berikut: 

Pertama, Tarbiyyah. Kalimah ini berasal daripada kata dasar rabba, bermaksud mengasuh, memelihara, atau memimpin. Ia juga merujuk kepada proses perkembangan potensi individu, mengasuh, atau mendidik untuk  menuju kepada satu keadaan yang selesa dan matang (Halsted, 2004:522). 

Kedua, Ta’lim. Kalimah ini berasal daripada konotasi ‘alima, bermaksud  mengetahui, memberitahu, melihat, mencerap, atau menanggap. Ia juga  merujuk kepada proses menyampaikan atau menerima ilmu pengetahuan  yang kebiasaannya didapati melalui latihan, arahan, tunjuk ajar, atau lain-lain  bentuk pengajaran (Halsted, 2004:522). 

Ketiga, Ta’dib. Kalimah ini berasal daripada aduba, bermaksud memperhalusi,  berdisiplin, dan berbudaya. Ia juga merujuk kepada proses pembinaan watak  dan pengajaran asas-asas penting untuk hidup bermasyarakat, ini termasuklah memahami dan menerima prinsip yang paling asas sekali, iaitu keadilan  (Naquib al-Attas, 1979:2-4; dan Halsted, 2004:522). 

Jelasnya, pendidikan Islam dijadikan sebagai satu proses mengasuh dan mendidik, membela, melatih, menyucikan, membaikkan, mengawal hawa nafsu,  membentuk ketaatan kepada Allah SWT (Subhanahu Wa-Ta’ala), membentuk  sikap sopan dan beradab (mempunyai akhlak yang baik), dan memadamkan semua sifat tercela yang ada dalam diri manusia. 

Semua definisi ini memberikan  kefahaman bahawa hampir keseluruhan pendidikan yang dikehendaki dalam  Islam ialah merujuk kepada pendidikan rohani manusia selaku hamba Allah  SWT di muka bumi ini bagi memancarkan kejernihan akhlak dan budi pekerti  yang tinggi, selain untuk perkembangan ilmu pengetahuan itu sendiri yang  merupakan medium yang amat penting dalam membangunkan ketamadunan manusia yang hidup di dunia ini.  

Sehubungan itu, ahli-ahli pendidikan umumnya telah memberikan pelbagai definisi berkaitan dengan konsep pendidikan. Menurut Omar Mohd Hashim, dalam ucapannya semasa Kongres Pendidikan Negara yang berlangsung pada 17 Mac 1988, beliau telah mendefinisikan “pendidikan” sebagai pemindahan sesuatu jenis atau kumpulan kemahiran atau pengetahuan daripada seorang  guru kepada murid-muridnya. 

Menurut Hamid Reza Alavi (2008:5), dengan memetik pandangan daripada Hills, “pendidikan” adalah satu proses pembelajaran yang bertujuan untuk memperlengkapkan manusia dengan pengetahuan dan kemahiran yang membolehkan mereka hidup dalam keselesaan. 

Selain itu, tokoh-tokoh falsafah Yunani juga tidak ketinggalan dalam membicarakan berkenaan dengan pendidikan. Menurut Aristotle, yang dipetik daripada Rosnani Hashim (2006), pendidikan ialah pemupukan tabiat-tabiat atau virtues terbaik yang apabila telah dihayati akan menjadikan seseorang itu  sentiasa melakukan yang terbaik. Tambahnya lagi, tabiat yang paling baik ialah  penggunaan akal untuk menaakul atau berfikir. Justeru, pendidikan merupakan satu usaha untuk merealisasikan seoptimum mungkin segala potensi kebaikan yang dimiliki oleh manusia (Hashim, 2006:7). 

Manakala menurut Plato, seorang ahli falsafah dan pendidikan Greek purba, telah mentakrifkan pendidikan  sebagai suatu latihan jasmani dan rohani bagi mencapai kecantikan dan kesempurnaan (dipetik oleh Ishak, 1995:9). 

Ahli-ahli pendidikan Barat pada zaman moden ini juga banyak memberikan  pandangan mereka mengenai konsep pendidikan. Antara mereka ialah Mouly yang mentakrifkan pendidikan sebagai satu proses yang dapat menyesuaikan individu dengan kehidupan sosial, undang-undang, kepercayaan, agama, dan  situasi masyarakat dari satu generasi kepada generasi berikutnya. Pendidikan  juga ditakrifkan sebagai seni atau proses memperoleh ilmu pengetahuan serta tabiat menerusi tunjuk ajar (dipetik oleh Ishak, 1995:9). 

Menurut John Dewey (1930:12) pula, seorang ahli falsafah dan pendidikan di Amerika Syarikat, telah mentakrifkan pendidikan sebagai proses bagi membentuk kecenderungan asasi yang berupa kepercayaan dan perasaan terhadap alam sejagat dan sesama  manusia. Beliau juga mentakrifkan pendidikan sebagai satu proses mengatur dan menambah ilmu pengetahuan yang dimiliki supaya dapat hidup dengan selamat. 

Menurut Stuart Mill, yang dipetik oleh Abdullah Ishak (1995:5), menyatakan bahawa pendidikan bukan sahaja mengandungi erti bagi sesuatu yang kita  lakukan untuk diri kita dan sesuatu yang dilakukan oleh orang lain terhadap kita, yang motifnya untuk memandu kita ke arah yang lebih hampir kepada kesempurnaan fitrah, bahkan untuk memahami daya usaha yang terdapat  pada bakat dan watak seseorang. 

Menurut Home pula, yang dipetik juga oleh  Abdullah Ishak (1995:5), menyatakan bahawa pendidikan ialah suatu proses yang abadi bagi menyesuaikan diri manusia dengan kehidupan, ketahanan, dan kematangan jasmani serta akal fikiran. Pendidikan juga merupakan proses pembelajaran sepanjang masa yang bermula ketika dilahirkan dan berakhir ketika kita mati. 

Ia bermaksud, setiap masa sedar yang digunakan seseorang memperolehi, menganalisis, dan menyerap pengetahuan. 

Menurut Hassan Langgulung: Bahawa pendidikan, sebagai pengembangan potensi, dapat diumpamakan seperti pertumbuhan dan perkembangan bunga-bunga, di mana potensi-potensi tersembunyi yang ada pada benih, berkembang menjadi bunga yang matang dan mekar. Sebagai bandingannya, kanak-kanak itu ialah benih di mana terdapat potensi-potensi yang masih tersembunyi dan tidak nampak; guru adalah tukang kebun yang menerusi kemesraan dan pemeliharaannya yang cermat dapat membuka potensi-potensi yang tersembunyi ini; dan pendidikan adalah proses mengajar-berkebun yang dengan itu kebolehan-kebolehan yang tidak nampak menjadi nampak, melalui pilihan dan penggunaan yang bijak terhadap baja yang sesuai (Langgulung, 2001:18-19). 

Dalam konteks Islam pula, pendidikan merupakan satu pelajaran atau pendidikan bagi kognitif, fizikal, dan roh untuk melahirkan insan yang berperikemanusiaan. Definisi falsafah ini menumpu kepada pembentukan individu seseorang hingga menjadi seorang manusia yang benar-benar sempurna, bukan sahaja dari segi pertambahan ilmu bahkan dari segi pembentukan akhlak dan rohani (Ahmad, 1975:6). 

Manakala menurut H.M Chabib Thoha (1996: 3), pendidikan Islam adalah pendidikan yang falsafah dan tujuan serta teori-teorinya dibangun untuk melaksanakan praktik pendidikan yang didasarkan kepada nilai-nilai Islam yang terkandung dalam Al-Qur’an dan  Hadis Nabi. Syed Muhammad Naquib al-Attas (1992:xvi-xvii) pula memberikan pengertian bahawa pendidikan Islam adalah usaha yang dilakukan oleh pendidik terhadap anak didik untuk pengenalan dan pengakuan tempat-tempat yang benar dari segala sesuatu dari aturan penciptaan sehingga membimbing mereka ke arah kebaikan.

Berdasarkan penerangan di atas dapat disimpulkan bahawa pendidikan merupakan satu proses dan usaha yang praktikal untuk menghasilkan sesuatu, mengubah pandangan, atau cara berfikir, yang seterusnya membawa kepada paradigma atau perubahan dalam tingkah-laku seseorang. Pendidikan merupakan proses yang berlaku secara berterusan kerana ia bukan hanya boleh didapati di dalam kelas-kelas pengajian sahaja, bahkan boleh diperolehi daripada pengalaman, pemerhatian, penggunaan akal rasional, autoriti, dan ilham; manakala dalam konteks Islam, sumber yang paling asas untuk pendidikan adalah diperolehi daripada Al-Qur’an dan Al-Sunnah.

Walau bagaimanapun, Islam tidaklah melihat pendidikan dari skop yang sempit; ia tidak terbatas kepada pendidikan duniawi semata-mata, bahkan meliputi dua lapangan, iaitu di dunia dan di akhirat. Dalam konteks ini, Ibn Khaldun (2000: 549-551) telah membahagikan ilmu kepada dua bahagian yang utama. 

Pertama, ilmu yang berbentuk fardhu ‘ain yang dituntut ke atas setiap orang supaya mengetahui dan mempelajarinya dalam melaksanakan tuntutan agama seperti ilmu tauhid, fiqh, akhlak, akidah, dan sebagainya. 

Kedua, ilmu yang berbentuk fardhu kifayah iaitu ilmu yang mesti ada pada sekumpulan orang dalam masyarakat tanpa melihat kepada individu tertentu seperti ilmu pertukangan, kemahiran, perniagaan, kedoktoran, ekonomi, fizik, astronomi, dan sebagainya yang boleh mandatangkan manfaat kepada manusia. Ini membuktikan bahawa agama Islam tidak mementingkan pencapaian intelektual yang tinggi semata-mata, bahkan perlu dilengkapi dengan kefahaman yang jelas mengenai agama Islam itu sendiri bagi menghasilkan manusia yang cemerlang di dunia mahupun di akhirat.

Di sini juga dapat disimpulkan bahawa tiga perkara penting yang boleh digarap dari beberapa definisi pendidikan di atas ialah: pertama, pendidikan Islam menyangkut aspek jasmani dan rohani yang merupakan dua elemen penting yang tidak boleh dipisahkan. Oleh yang demikian, pembinaan terhadap kedua-dua aspek tersebut haruslah seimbang dan tidak boleh berat sebelah. Kedua, pendidikan Islam dinilai berdasarkan konsep yang wujud pada nilai-nilai agama. Ini bermaksud, pendidikan Islam tidak mengabaikan agama sebagai sumber ilmu itu sendiri, yakni ilmu yang berpaksikan kepada Allah SWT. Ketiga, dalam pendidikan Islam wujud unsur ketaqwaan sebagai matlamat yang harus dicapai. Seperti yang telah kita ketahui bahawa taqwa merupakan benteng yang dapat berfungsi sebagai daya tangkal terhadap pengaruh-pengaruh negatif yang datang dari luar dan boleh merosakkan nilai keagamaan yang ada pada diri seseorang ataupun masyarakat.

Guru Sejati : Sekolah Percuma Dibawah Jambatan di India.

Seorang lelaki menjadi hero di India apabila beliau mengajar kanak-kanak miskin di New Delhi. Malahan beliau menyediakan pendidikan percuma dibawah Jambatan metro, demikian menurut NBC News, Rajesh Kumar Sharma adalah guru yang mengajar sekurang-kurangnya 30 kanak-kanak setiap hari, kebanyakan daripada pelajarnya datang daripada kejiranan perkampungan miskin di sekitar New Delhi.

Sharma menghulurkan bantuan sebagai persiapan kanak-kanak miskin memasuki sekolah kerajaan. Bila ia memulakan tugas sukarela mengajar dibawah jambatan setahun lalu, dia mempunyai 140 pelajar. Kini 70 orang pelajarnya telah bersekolah di sekolah kerajaan. Demikian lapor Yahoo News.

"Cikgu kami memaklumkan kepada kami bila kemiskinan menghimpit, kamu perlu berfikiran terbuka dan ia hanya dapat dilakukan dengan pendidikan" Abhishek, 15, pelajar Sharma membuat kenyataan kepada Indian Express.

Tugas pengajar secara sukarela yang dilakukan oleh Sharma tidak hanya dibawah jambatan sahaja tetapi dia juga mengajar kanak-kanak yang kurang bernasib baik disekitar bandaraya juga.

(Sumber - http://worldtruth.tv/teachers-without-borders-a-free-school-under-a-bridge-in-india/)

Tan Sri Dato Seri Prof. Ir Dr. Sahol Hamid reappointed vice-chancellor of UiTM #UiTM

Y. Bhg. Tan Sri Dato' Sri Prof Ir Dr Sahol Hamid Abu Bakar FASc,PEng S.S.A.P. (Pahang), D.J.M.K. (Kelantan), D.P.M.S. (Selangor), D.S.P.N. (P.Pinang), D.J.N. (P.Pinang), B.C.N. (P.Pinang), D.S.M (Melaka)

KUALA LUMPUR: Tan Sri Prof. Dr Ir. Sahol Hamid Abu Bakar has been reappointed as the vice-chancellor of Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) for another two-year term beginning yesterday, said a statement from the Education Ministry.

Sahol Hamid, who turns 60 on Jan 9, was first appointed UiTM vice-chancellor in January 2010. He was reappointed for a two-year term in January 2011.

The ministry said it was hoped that the reappointment of Sahol Hamid would help UiTM continue to produce high quality bumiputera graduates as well as contribute to community and national development.

Sahol Hamid holds a Master's in Economics and Master's in Civil Engineering from Colorado State University, United States, and a doctorate from the University of Sussex, United Kingdom.

He has served as the dean of the engineering faculty at UiTM, Penang UiTM campus director and deputy vice-chancellor (academic and internationalisation) at the university.

In 2008, Sahol Hamid was appointed director at the project management office of the then Higher Education Ministry.

Sahol Hamid is also the first Malaysian and Asian to have obtained a honorary doctorate in engineering from the University of Stuttgart in Germany. -- BERNAMA

Let's make this a happy new year that really sincere, compassionate, warm-hearted human beings

Let's make this a happy new year.

Today, as we wish each other a Happy New Year, let us determine to be more sincere, compassionate, warm-hearted human beings, trying to make our world a more equal place. That way we'll actually make it a happy year.

When we think of ways how we can bring benefit to others we have almost endless opportunities to do so.

The more one is devoted to bring happiness to others, the more one benefits. This is not some sort of empirical theory but something empirical that can be easily observed.

Selamat Menyambut Tahun Baru 2014

Merenung kembali hari-hari lalu sepanjang 2013, tiada pencapaian yang membanggakan boleh diungkapkan sebagai kenangan. Segalanya seperti biasa sebagaimana tahun-tahun sebelumnya. Seperkara yang pasti ialah usia semakin meningkat dan persiapan melalui hari tua masih belum sempurna. Cabaran utama yang bakal mencabar diri sebagai ketua keluarga seawal hari pertama 2014 ialah tuntutan kos sara hidup yang semakin meningkat. Selama ini pun, keupayaan kewangan hanya mampu untuk memenuhi keperluan asas hidup dan terpaksa mengabaikan semua kemahuan hidup yang difikirkan tidak perlu walaupun hati kata mahu.

Kepada semua pembaca blog saya dan rakan di alam nyata dan alam maya, saya ucapankan Selamat Menyambut Tahun baru dan semoga tahun ini memberikan kita kekuatan untuk terus berusaha sehingga berjaya dalam apa bidang yang kita ceburi. Tiada azam besar yang saya azamkan dalam 2014 ini kecuali membuang 2 tabiat buruk iaitu tabiat suka bertangguh dan tidak menghargai masa dan mengamalkan 2 tabiat baik iaitu menghargai masa dan segera bertindak dlm kesempurnaan. Semoga azam ini akan konsistant sepanjang 2014 sehingga menjadi satu budaya baru dalam hidupan.

Akhir kata, Selamat mengharungi 2014. Tarikh hari ini, 1 Jan 2014, adalah hari yang unik kerana ia jarang berlaku, malahan ia tidak berlaku sejak 19 tahun lalu dalam sejarah pergerakan bulan dan bumi, dimana pada tarikh ini, kita akan memulakan tahun baru dengan bulan yang baru. Bulan baru adalah permulaan yang baru, semangat yang baru dan segala-galanya baru. Semoga 2014 ini membuahkan kehidupan yang lebih bererti daripada tahun-tahun sebelumnya.

Protesters Unite Around Demand For Hun Sen’s Resignation

By The Cambodia Daily - December 30, 2013

Five separate protests in Phnom Penh came to a crescendo Sunday in front of Prime Minister Hun Sen’s office building—the Peace Palace—with an estimated 50,000 protesters marching down Russian Boulevard and calling for the long-serving CPP leader to step down.

Now in their 15th straight day, the opposition CNRP’s demonstrations calling for fresh elections and the prime minister’s resignation have grown in strength this week, with Sunday’s march amounting to the largest protest against Mr. Hun Sen’s government in at least 15 years.

Demonstrators, whose number may have reached 50,000, march down Phnom Penh’s Mao Tse Toung Boulevard on Sunday, calling for the resignation of Prime Minister Hun Sen. (Siv Channa)

Four separate demonstrations, led by anti-eviction activists, civil servants, informal sector workers and monks, joined up with supporters of the opposition CNRP outside the Chinese Embassy on Mao Tse Toung Boulevard at 4:15 p.m. and marched together past Phsar Doeum Kor market, onto Russian Boulevard, past the Ministry of Defense, the Council of Ministers building and, finally, Mr. Hun Sen’s headquarters, before returning to Freedom Park.

The march, which lasted for about four hours and stretched for more than 3 kilometers, was devoid of almost any state security presence until the final stretch on Russian Boulevard, and remained peaceful throughout.

Scattered demonstrations were held throughout the day Sunday, with a group of about 300 Buddhist monks and protesters, led by the Venerable But Buntenh, marching from Freedom Park to the Ministry of Cults and Religion, where they arrived at about 8:30 a.m.

The monks, affiliated with the activist Independent Monks’ Network for Social Justice, blocked the same section of Sisowath Quay that they closed earlier this month when they besieged a meeting of senior clergy to demand a statement be released over the theft on December 10 of the country’s only Buddha relics from Odong mountain.

The monks this time called for Minister of Cults and Religion Min Khin to stand down over the failure of the government to act over the theft of the relics, modifying the “Hun Sen, get out!” chant that has pervaded recent opposition demonstrations to “Min Khin, get out!”

Just after 9:30 a.m., a representative of the ministry came out to receive a petition held by the monks, which calls for Mr. Khin to resign “without conditions within 14 days.”

“Recently, he has not paid attention to the loss of the Buddha relics, and did not take any action…to arrest the robbers to see them punished,” the petition states.

After making a stop to harangue officials at the Ministry of Education, the National Bank and the Ministry of Women’s Affairs, the monks arrived at Wat Phnom after 11 a.m. There, they passed by a hodgepodge of other protests calling for—among other things—rises to the minimum wage, increased civil servant salaries, cheaper fuel, an end to land-grabs and for Mr. Hun Sen to stand down.

Among those groups were about 200 anti-eviction protesters, dressed in traditional white funeral attire and holding lotus flowers, who started their morning at about 8:30 a.m. with a march to City Hall, where they called for the resignation of Phnom Penh Governor Pa Socheatvong.

Arriving outside of Mr. Socheatvong’s office building shortly before 9 a.m., the protesters, who claimed to represent 28 communities in the city who have either been evicted or face eviction, called on the governor to either resolve their disputes or step down.

“I would like to ask Mr. Pa Socheatvong to stop violence against innocent people,” Song Srey Leap, a former resident of the Boeng Kak lake community, shouted through a loudspeaker mounted atop a tuk-tuk.

“We also ask him to step down from his position because he lacks ability,” Ms. Srey Leap added.

City Hall spokesman Long Dimanche said the opposition rally numbered around 20,000 demonstrators, and had doubled in size from last Sunday’s rally as the opposition had trucked supporters in from provincial areas to take part.

On Saturday, the Council of Ministers issued a statement condemning the opposition’s demonstrations, which it said are in violation of the law, and “affects the peoples’ rights and livelihoods.”

“Particularly the flouting of nonviolent demonstration laws; blocking of municipal hall and the road; destroying public and private property, and hampering the operations of public institutions,” the Council of Ministers said in its list of complaints.

After leaving City Hall on Sunday morning, the anti-eviction protesters then marched past Freedom Park, where a few thousand CNRP supporters had already massed, and on to the nearby Council for the Development of Cambodia (CDC), where they called for foreign countries to halt development aid to Mr. Hun Sen’s government.

“We march today to send a message to Mr. Hun Sen to step down from his position because he is incapable of developing the country,” said Tep Vanny, another resident of the former Boeng Kak lake community, who said the CDC and aid donors were complicit in their evictions.

“We would like to condemn the donors because they conspired with the government to mistreat Cambodian people through development,” Ms. Vanny said.

In the afternoon, the monks gathered again, along with representatives of the Independent Democracy of Informal Economy Association and the Cambodia Independent Civil Servant Association (CICA) at the Council of Ministers.

“Prime Minister Hun Sen must tell Mr. Sok Kong [the owner of Sokimex] to lower the price of petrol to 4,000 riel [about $1] per liter. If he does not, we will keep demonstrating every Sunday,” CICA adviser Phuon Sovann said over a loudspeaker.

“We want the government to increase the salary for civil servants to 2 million riel [about $500] per month so that they can live easily!” Mr. Sovann shouted.

Starting their own march at about 2 p.m., opposition leaders Sam Rainsy and Kem Sokha headed south on Monivong Boulevard, before turning east on Mao Tse Toung and circling back via Russian Boulevard, returning more than four hours later to Freedom Park.

Standing in the bed of a pickup truck in the middle of the march, the opposition leaders were followed by Mam Sonando, the popular radio station owner and head of the Association of Democrats, who rode in an SUV.

Also trailing the CNRP president and vice president were Kem Monovithya and Rachel Sam, the daughters of Mr. Sokha and Mr. Rainsy, who, sitting on the roof of another SUV, waved at the crowd and occasionally held their hands up in unison, a pose their fathers’ have made iconic.

Spread throughout the march, protest leaders, sat atop tuk-tuks and speaking over loudspeakers, led the demonstrators in chanting for a re-election and Mr. Hun Sen’s resignation. They also led a call-and-response chant in which they aired their grievances toward the prime minister.

“Who sold the land?” asked the chant leaders, to which protesters answered “Hun Sen.”

When the march arrived at the stretch of Russian Boulevard lined with government buildings, they fanned across both lanes of the street and adjacent gardens and, marching within meters of the Peace Palace’s gates, roared for Mr. Hun Sen to step aside.

A pair of military police officers armed with assault rifles stood outside Mr. Hun Sen’s office building, along with several municipal police, with at least a dozen heavily armed military police standing inside the gates and other security forces perched on the roof.

Returning back to the park well after sunset, Mr. Sokha addressed the crowd of tens of thousands of supporters packed into Freedom Park, calling on Mr. Hun Sen to face the people.

“He’s so cruel that people can no longer stand him,” Mr. Sokha said.

“We have enough people to remove him, but we sympathize with him and will let him think for a few more days,” Mr. Sokha said. “Don’t think that we are afraid. We’re not scared of dying, but of losing our nation,” he continued.

“We can go to Independence Monument, but we don’t want to,” Mr. Sokha said, in obvious reference to Mr. Hun Sen’s residence, adding: “So don’t worry. Sleep tight.”

(Reporting by Phorn Bopha, Aun Pheap, Mech Dara, Alex Willemyns and Colin Meyn)

(Sources - http://www.cambodiadaily.com)

Muhammad Ali: memulangkan semula darjah kebesaran yang pernah diterima - #Sinarharian

• 

SHAH ALAM - Gara-gara artikel ‘Menuntut Hak, Menebus Masa Silam’ yang ditulisnya, bekas Presiden Johor Corp (JCorp), Tan Sri Muhammad Ali Hashim disifatkan menderhaka kepada Raja.

Menurut Setiausaha Jemaah Majlis Diraja Johor, Datuk Abdul Rahim Ramli, artikel berkenaan menyebut nama Tanjung Puteri yang merupakan nama asal Johor dan dikhuatiri artikel itu disalah tafsir oleh sesetengah pihak yang mengaitkannya dengan Sultan Johor.

Semalam, Muhammad Ali telah memulangkan semula ketiga-tiga darjah kebesaran yang pernah diterima iaitu Darjah Dato' Seri Paduka Mahkota Johor (SPMJ), Darjah Dato' Paduka Mahkota Johor (DPMJ) dan Setia Mahkota Johor (SMJ).

Malah menurut beliau, ekoran tidak dapat menerima dakwaan tersebut, Presiden Dewan Perdagangan Islam Malaysia itu akui terpaksa membuat kenyataan melalui media bagi menjelaskan perkara tersebut.

“Kenyataan itu dibuat secara spontan dalam satu sidang media yang diadakan oleh beliau (Abdul Rahim). Jadi, ia satu kenyataan umum tanpa terlebih dahulu mendapat penjelasan daripada saya.

“Jadi, saya anggap itu satu tuduhan dan hukuman dilakukan oleh beliau, sama ada dengan persetujuan jemaahnya sekali (atau tidak)...saya tak tahu,” katanya kepada Sinar Harian Online ketika ditemui pada sidang media khas di Putrajaya, hari ini.

Mengulas lanjut, beliau memberitahu tidak menerima apa-apa maklum balas dari pihak tersebut selepas mengirim surat rasmi bertarikh 18 Disember lalu.

“Saya terpaksa membuat kenyataan media ini. Tetapi oleh sebab Setiausaha Jemaah Majlis Diraja Johor telah memulakan isu ini dengan membuat kenyataan di media secara terbuka, itu tuduhan dan hukuman yang tak dapat saya terima. Lebih-lebih kerana saya tidak pernah diminta memberi penjelasan sebelum itu.

“Saya telah menulis surat kepada mereka bertarikh 18 Disember dan saya maklumkan bahawa dalam tempoh tujuh hari, saya akan serah (darjah kebesaran). Dalam tempoh itu, saya tidak menerima apa-apa maklum balas daripada pihak istana Johor, maka saya ambil keputusan untuk membuat kenyataan media,” katanya.

Beliau menekankan bahawa khidmat bakti selama 30 tahun di JCorp antara bukti nyata taat setia dan sanjungan tinggi kepada kerajaan negeri Johor dan institusi raja.

“Saya telah mencurahkan segala-galanya untuk membina JCorp sekali gus membangun ekonomi negeri Johor selain meningkatkan ekonomi bangsa Melayu.

“Saya tidak rela khidmat sepanjang kerjaya yang diamanahkan, diperlekeh kerana sesungguh ia bukti nyata taat setia dan sanjungan tinggi yang tidak berbelah bahagi kepada kerajaan negeri dan institusi raja,” katanya.

(Sumber - http://www.sinarharian.com.my/semasa/muhammad-ali-saya-terpaksa-buat-kenyataan-media-1.235008)

KEJADIAN LETUPAN BOM DI DAERAH DANOK, PADANG BESAR DAN SADAO, SELATAN THAILAND

Berikutan daripada kejadian lima letupan bom berasingan di tiga daerah di Selatan Thailand iaitu Danok, Padang Besar dan Sadao pada tengahari 22 Disember 2013, Kementerian Luar Negeri ingin memaklumkan bahawa lokasi letupan tersebut adalah seperti berikut:

i)   Di hadapan Balai Polis Padang Besar;
ii)  Di hadapan Balai Polis Sadao;
iii) Di hadapan dan belakang Hotel Oliver, Danok;
iv) Di hadapan Bangkok Disco, Danok; dan
v)  Di hadapan Tesco Lotus, Sadao.

Kementerian Luar Negeri juga ingin memaklumkan jumlah keseluruhan orang awam yang tercedera dalam kejadian itu adalah seramai 27 orang. Namun begitu, tiada rakyat Malaysia yang dilaporkan terlibat dalam kejadian tersebut.

Kebanyakan laluan telah ditutup bagi memudahkan pihak berkuasa tempatan mengawal keadaan. Kedutaan Besar Malaysia di Bangkok dan Konsulat Jeneral Malaysia di Songkhla akan terus berhubung dan bekerjasama dengan pihak berkuasa Thailand bagi memantau keadaan di kawasan yang terlibat dari semasa ke semasa.

(Sumber - Kementerian Luar Negeri)

Psychic Phenomena: Why Scientists Deny It?

Even though films like ‘Inception’, ‘Waking Life‘ and more recently, ‘John Dies at the End’ and ‘Now You See Me’ wouldn’t be approachable without assuming the authenticity of unexplainable events, most people, including most scientists, are unaware of the vast abundance of compelling scientific evidence for psychic phenomena, which has resulted from over a century of para-psychological research. Thousands of archaeological finds also suggest the use of such phenomenon in prehistorictimes.

Hundreds of carefully controlled studies — in which psi researchers continuously redesigned experiments to address comments from their critics — have produced results that demonstrate marginal but statistically significant effects for psi phenomena, especially with regard to telepathy, precognition, and psychokinesis.

Biologist Rupert Sheldrake, Neurologist Vilaynur Ramachandran and Physicist Dean Radin are modern scientific pioneers in this field, and speak of compelling evidence for psychic phenomena, which imply that our minds are also more interconnected to one another than previously imagined.

These perspectives have dramatic implications when they become the basis for how we see the world, where we define boundaries, and how we view the process of extinction.

According to Radin, a meta-analysis of this research demonstrates that the positive results from these studies are significant with odds in the order of many billions to one. Princeton University, the Stanford Research Institute, Duke University, the Institute of Noetic Science, the U.S. and Russian governments, and many other respectable institutions have spent years researching mysterious phenomena such as remote viewing and super-soldiers, and conventional science is at a loss to explain the results.

This question into the authenticity of the research is based on a very deep-seated, kind of knee-jerk prejudice reaction, and there’s nothing new about it. If you read the kind of comments that scientists made about some of the early psychical research in 1880s and ’90s, it was just as ignorant, with almost the same words they use today. Firstly, the reason is ideological. A lot of scientists are committed to a materialist ideology because they cannot imagine a world that would exist otherwise.

Essentially, they think that the mind and the brain are the same thing. The mind is nothing but the brain, or the activity of the brain, so therefore it’s all inside the head. So anything like telepathy, clairvoyance and the like that suggests that there might be mental inferences working beyond the spatial boundaries of the brain simply doesn’t fit into a clockwork view of the world, and therefore it has to be rejected.

This attempt to ignore or reject things that don’t fit into a world view is a very well known human tendency. It’s happened over and over again in the history of science. In the end the evidence wins out, but in the case of psychical phenomena, this denial is still quite strong.

This behavior is akin to the cardinals at the time of Galileo, who didn’t believe there could be craters on the Moon, so they just didn’t want to look through his telescopes which showed that there were. Similarly, in the nineteenth century, creationists who didn’t want to believe in an evolutionary theory had to explain away the fossils as being, in the most extreme case, put there by God to try our faith.

It’s based on a particularly limited belief system — one that was developed in the late eighteenth century, before we knew anything much about genes, electricity and magnetism and certainly before atomic theory and quantum non-locality was known about. It’s really Enlightenment rationalism of the sort of 1790s variety.

The Enlightenment rationalists believed that science and reason should sweep away religion, dogma, and superstition, and this was an ideological and social agenda. In many ways this was liberating and important. We’re all the beneficiaries of this, but it’s become a restrictive dogmatism now, and science has moved on a long way since the late eighteenth century.

Field phenomena were unknown then. A lot of these phenomena that were classified as superstition, like psychic phenomena, really do exist, and they can be explained in terms of fields as Rupert Sheldrake does quite stunningly.

Says Sheldrake: “So I think, in fact, these are reflected in the physical world, as we understand it, through modern physics and the principles that underlie all matter in the universe, which are the formative aspect of fields. Everything is shaped through fields. The gravitational field shapes the whole universe. Quantum fields shape atoms, and electromagnetic fields shape molecules. And morphic fields shape organisms, the arrangement of social groups, and so forth. There are all these fields that give form and order to nature, and there’s energy, which is the moving principle of nature. It’s what makes things happen, change, alter. It’s the principle of activity.”

The only way these phenomena can be understood is its actualization, simultaneously, in information and nervous systems that are separated from each other in space-time by a common non-local domain.

As we understand more about the physics of non-locality — which is really an elaboration of the Einstein-Padolski-Rosen equation and Bell’s Theorem we will have a better way to explain and understand the mechanisms of these happenstance.

Evidence of so-called telepathy, precognition, remembrance of other lifetimes, and prophecy are, when proven authentic, examples of simultaneous actualization of information in different nervous systems from a singular underlying non-local field.

Just as fascinating as the research into psychic phenomena is the controversy that surrounds it. Although surveys conducted by Sheldrake and David J Brown reveal that around 78 percent of the population has had unexplainable “psychic” experiences – remarkable coincidences, uncanny premonitions, precognitive dreams, and seemingly telepathic communications – and scientific evidence supports the validity of these experiences. But many scientists are unaware of this evidence and think that direct brain-to-brain communication is impossible, and that there is no reality to psychic phenomenon.

When Sheldrake and Brown investigated whether pets could anticipate their owner’s arrival in ways not easily explained by conventional science, they approached the phenomena of telepathy as if it were part of the natural world, an adaptive ability that evolved through the process of natural selection, like any other biological trait. But this perspective is unusual in the scientific community.

This ignorance demonstrates the enormous power that a scientific paradigm can hold over a generation of scientists even though all the evidence amassed suggest otherwise, and it makes me wonder: Just how else might our concepts and assumptions be limiting our view of the everything we experience?

As an evidence of this consider how two of the most outspoken atheists – Derren Brown and Richard Dawkins are the most staunch opponents of this theory of interconnectedness and instead choose to reduce everything to rationalizations or tricks in a bag.

Sources:

http://fractalenlightenment.com/15040/spirituality/psychic-phenomena-why-scientists-deny-it

SOMETHING UNKNOWN… IS DOING WE DON’T KNOW WHAT

What the Bleep

Secrets Explained

Science Set Free

Entangled Minds: Extrasensory Experiences in a Quantum Reality

The Emerging Mind

Films on Psychic Phenomena

Understanding Brainwaves to Expand our Consciousness

The human brain is a complex entity constantly at work, sending electrical signals, communicating, building new neural connections and so on. This electrical activity generated by the brain, also known as brainwaves, reflect our state of mind. Reality is not based on outside influences but is an internal process based on our thoughts, perception and emotions. If we deepen our understanding of these brainwave frequencies, we can control our reality.

There are five different kinds of brainwaves – Beta, Alpha, Theta, Delta and Gamma

Humans have 5 different types of brainwave that take us to different levels of consciouness . Each occue at a specific frequency or pattern

It is completely a natural biological occurrence in every human being to experience these different states at various times in a day, and generally one state is dominant.

Did you know that each brainwave has its own set of characteristics representing a unique state of consciousness? Each brainwave state occur in a specific frequency range measured in cycles per second (Hz).

Each type of brainwave played a critical role in our mental development during our childhood. And today, they play an important role in maintaining our health and vitality as adults. Lets take a look at the different brain wave states and the associated benefits and experiences -

Beta (12 to 30 Hz)

Beta are the brainwaves of our normal waking consciousness. It is associated with a heightened state of alertness, logical thinking, problem-solving ability, concentration, when the mind is actively engaged in mental activities. Like a person in active conversation, playing sports or making a presentation would be in a Beta state. But higher Beta levels also result into stress, anxiety and restlessness.

Most people spend their waking lives in a beta state, no wonder many people experience high stress levels in today’s world. At the same time Beta is required for effective functioning in daily life.

Brainwave frequency chart showing the different frequencies and its state of mind

Alpha – (8 to 12 Hz)

Alpha brainwaves are slower in frequency as compared to Beta, which translates to a highly relaxed state of awareness. It is a normal brainwave pattern in people who are naturally relaxed and creative. Like you are daydreaming, or even when one close their eyes and meditate, this frequency enhances your imagination, memory, concentration, creativity, reduces stress so you can focus on learning and performance.

Meditation results in increase in alpha waves, therefore many meditation and energy healing techniques utilize an alpha brain wave for relaxation and healing. Even the use of Cannabis has been linked to an increase in alpha waves in the brain. Children tend to have much higher levels of alpha brainwaves than adults.

Alpha brainwaves are considered the healthiest brainwave range and 10 Hz has widely been accepted as the “safest” brainwave frequency to train.

Listen to the Alpha Brainwave Music -

Theta – (4 to 7 Hz)

Theta brainwave occur during deep relaxation and meditation, light sleep or lucid dreaming including the REM dream state. It is the realm of your subconsciousness, where the mind is capable of profound insight, advanced intuition, healing, and oneness – in Theta state our minds can connect to the universe and manifest life-enhacing changes.

You can also experience vivid visualizations, great inspiration and profound creativity. The lower the brain frequency the faster the learning. Meditation or yoga is credited as being so relaxing because they induce the mind in a trance like state where it starts generating theta waves. People tend to have paranormal, psychic experiences when their brain is full of theta brainwaves.

Most children and teenagers have dominant theta brainwave patterns.

Listen to some Theta Meditation music -

Delta – (0.5 to 4 Hz)

Delta waves are the slowest in frequency but are the highest in amplitude. Observed in deep, dreamless sleep, this frequency is the gateway to the universal mind and the collective unconscious, where information received is otherwise unavailable at the conscious level.

Delta brainwave states have long been associated with healing, because deep sleep is necessary for regeneration and for your body’s self-healing mechanisms! Delta waves in meditation are said to help experienced practitioners access the unconscious mind. It is a dominant brainwave of infants (birth to 24 months) and even adults in deep sleep.

Gamma (25 to 100 Hz)

The Gamma brainwave is the fastest frequency at which the brain functions, where an individual can experience bursts of insight or high-level information processing. Experiments on Tibetan Buddhist monks have shown a correlation between transcendental mental states and gamma waves. When the monks were asked to generate feelings of compassion, their brain activity went into gamma frequency in a rhythmic, coherent manner. It is the state of being ‘in the Zone,’ the feeling that you can do anything.

Altering Brainwave states

All of us experience these brainwave frequencies at different times every day, which take us to different levels of consciousness. Like when you are awake you are in a different brainwave state as compared to when you are sleeping. You can alter your brainwave pattern in order to reach a desired level of consciousness. For example if you can’t get sleep at night when you feel stressed, you can synchronize your brainwave into the frequency that corresponds to sleep using sound.

This technique of synchronizing your brainwave frequencies to an external audio stimuli is known asBrainwave Entrainment. As this process is continued for sometime, the brainwave is tuned to the frequency of external sound and thus achieve the particular frequency level of that sound (alpha, theta or delta).

But you don’t need external stimulus if you can meditate. During meditation you reach a calm and relaxed state, this is the alpha state of consciousness. As the meditation deepens you find yourself being more calm and focused and the brainwave level reaches to theta (and finally to delta) state.

Binaural Beats are a brain wave entrainment audio stimulus that alter your state of consciousness

Ways of Brainwave Entrainment

Binaural Beats

How can a sound with frequency lower than 20 Hz range be audible to the human ear? The answer lies in a specialized sound known as Binaural beats. What it did was simple – playing two different frequencies in each ear, the brain detects the difference between the two frequencies and tunes into the third ‘binaural beat.’

So if you play 400Hz into the right ear, and 410Hz into your left ear (using stereo headphones) your brain produces a third binaural beat pulsing at 10 Hz, which is the difference between the two tones. 10 Hz is also equal to the alpha frequency, which brings about light relaxation, meditation, and creative thinking.
Binaural Beats shall provide you some excellent results often instantly which will help you in many ways. Binaural Beats (Use headphones while listening)

Theta is associated with extreme relaxation, sleep or drowsiness. Generally, one feels a sense of peace and calm when the brain kicks into theta gear.

Isochronic tones

Isochronic tones are switched on and off via predictable patterns, creating a pulse effect that is extremely effective when used for therapeutic reasons

Isochronic are even more intense than binaural beats and considered more effective. An isochronic tone is a single tone that turns on and off in a particular pattern. Each of the tones are distinct and are evenly spaced to be able to create a lasting impression on the brain.

Basically our brains have to do much less work to get the same effects as binaural beats – which allows us to feel more relaxed, get in a more powerful and peaceful meditative state and visualize better. It is recommended to use headphones. Many people who do not respond well to binaural beats often respond very well to isochronic tones.

However, for a permanent life-changing spiritual focus, you need to use traditional meditation methods as your primary tools to access higher dimensions. As you know meditation can also make structural changesto the brain in powerful and positive ways and even the people around you!

Sources:

http://fractalenlightenment.com/14794/spirituality/understanding-braiwaves-to-expand-our-consciousness

Theta Brain Waves

Brain wave Frequencies