Silence

Apologies for the long silence. It has been very busy recently. The address www.wansaiful.com will be directed to a different page as soon as we decide when to start campaigning. This blog will remain but the address will change to provolution.wordpress.com. In fact, it may better if provolution.wordpress.com is used from now onwards to access the blog.

Keep up the momentum

What an excellent election outcome for the Conservatives! A significant increase in the number of councillors nationwide. More councils are now under Conservative control. And Labour was kicked down to third place in terms of their share of votes!!!

Calling up 200+ candidates on Wednesday was worth it after all!!!

The outcome is proof that David Cameron’s message is getting through to people on the ground. The message sent out from head office was positive and forward-looking. No negative campaigning. No smearing. It was, simply, good.

What made it better was the emphasis on local associations running their own show in their own areas. The only big issue put forward from central office was the environment - all councils have responsibility for clean and green environment. But local associations have the freedom to decide what issues they want to campaign on. They know their areas better. They should be trusted to run their own campaign as they see fit. This resulted in activists in Trafford campaigining on very different issue from those in South Bedfordshire or Chorley. While Labour was mired in problems they created themselves, and while the LibDems were (and still is) struggling to decide why they exist at all, Conservatives' activists were motivated and their campaigns were well-targetted. Luton’s local council election is next year. We are now still in the process of selecting candidates, and my selection panel is this Friday. I have put my name forward as a potential candidate and will attend the selection panel on Friday.

Luton Borough Council has 48 councillors. Currently, we have 21 Liberal Democrat, 20 Labour, 3 independents, and 4 Conservative councillors. The LibDems control the Council Executives (i.e.: the cabinet), but the Conservatives have relatively strong say due to the council not being under the LibDems’ overall control. The aim next year is to significantly increase the number of seats, and we are targeting quite a few wards. We cannot be complacent. The task ahead is huge, especially in multicultural boroughs like Luton. Let us hope the momentum created in this election will remain until next year.

What an exciting day!

My first day at the Conservatives Research Department today. An extremely good day! Officially, I am on the DTI team. But the work (even on the first day) is very varied. I can’t go into the details for confidentiality reasons, but suffice to say that my longer term responsibility is to assist with policy on social enterprise. But I also had a look into nuclear policy and the party’s stand on Hamas. On top of that, I helped coordinate the intelligence gathering process for the local elections, and did some work that may be useful in tomorrow’s Prime Minister’s Question. If there is time, which I don’t think there will be, I may go out campaigning tomorrow.

Why Conservatives?

I had a (very) long telephone conversation last night about why Conservatives, and not Labour. My decision is based on the answer to one question: "Which party is best for Britain?" If you compare this, this and this, I think it is obvious that smaller state, greater trust and freedom to the people (to look after local services, the environment, the local community, etc) lower taxation, and stronger economy will bring the most benefits to everyone living in this country. I was repeatedly asked why not the LibDems? They were the one who went all out to oppose the Iraq invasion. My answer to this question is, I do not support a party based on just one decision they may have made. To argue that everyone must go with the LibDems just because of their policy on Iraq is extremely short-sighted. And then there was the compulsory question "Isn't Labour more friendly to the Muslims?". To that question, my answer is that being friendly to Muslims is not necessarily being friendly to Islam, nor does it imply that they are doing the right thing. Muslims and Islam are two different entities. Do not confuse the two terms for Muslims are not necessarily Islamic (should I give an example of how a Muslim can use Islam as a veil for devious behaviour?).

No to New Casino in Luton

I have been following news on how Luton Borough Council plans to redevelop the former Vauxhall site (Napier’s Park). I was alarmed to learn that the Council is considering opening a large casino there. I am most disappointed to learn that the Liberal Democrat Council Executives have already submitted an application to the Department of Culture, Media and Sports back in March 2006. A new large casino will only create more social problems to Luton, Dunstable and nearby areas. More casinos will obviously lead to more gambling, which in turn will increase the risk of addiction to gambling. Should this proposal proceed, there will almost definitely be other associated problems like broken families, debt-related depression, and many more. There are already two casinos in Luton, in addition to several betting shops. Surely these are enough. We do not need a new large casino. The Liberal Democrat councillors tried to justify the new large casino by saying that it will create job opportunities for Luton. They played down the risks of crime and anti-social behaviour. I attended the Council Executive meeting yesterday. When asked what research they have done to investigate the potential social impacts, Cllr Franks (Council Leader) said that social implications of the project will only be considered when they receive a proper casino license application. Surely they should have conducted a proper study before submitting any application to central government! And I simply do not understand why they limit the potential impacts to just crime and anti-social behaviour. Do they not realize that gambling-related problems are more varied than that? The Council must withdraw the application immediately. I am now organizing a petition to that effect, to support one that was lodged by Salvation Army and the Methodist Church. If you are from Luton / Dunstable and would like to join my campaign, please drop me an email at ws@wansaiful.com

St George

Yesterday, Sunday 23 April, was St George's Day.

I went to the St George's Day Festival in Luton, which was a rather small do, with shows mainly for children. We should have had a bigger celebration to commemorate the life of this great man.

Excerpt from April 2006 Emel Magazine:

"St George was born in Cappadocia, in modern day Turkey to an army soldier and a mother from Lydda, now known as Lod in Palestine. After his father's death, George's mother took her infant son back to her home town of Lydda where he grew up to serve as an officer in the Roman army, like his father before him. When ordered by a pagan ruler, the Emperor Diocletian, to pay tribute to Roman gods, he refused and faced prolonged periods of torture - in some stories as long as seven years, ending with a gruesome death: sliced in half and beheaded...

... George's death occurred around the fourth century AD, some 300 years before the last prophet of Islam completed the Message of God to His creation with the Qur'an. Thus as a true follower of monotheism Muslims regard him as dying in a state of submission to the One Creator. Or in Arabic - of dying in a state of Islam"

Don't get over-excited.

I said in my previous post that recent events taught me two valuable lessons, viz.:

1. before you decide whom to trust, think carefully.

2. if you want to be evil, put on a religious mask. It is the best disguise ever. The entry generated many comments, some of which are rather irresponsible. Quite a few people are a bit over-excited. I am now deleting that entry and all associated comments. Move on lah…

On trust

David Cameron spoke about the importance of trust in the recent Conservative Spring Forum. A good friend of mine also spoke about trust when I last saw him. I am contemplating a post about my experience with the "trust" issue. I have an interesting experience with "trust" but I am not sure if I should post it. Give me another one or two nights.

Conservative Spring Forum

Just got back from the Spring Forum in Manchester. Just one line for now: "The fire of hope is burning bright once again"

Muslims can be evil too.

I had a very interesting discussion earlier today. Someone called me to ask why I organise events / circles / usrah that focus almost totally on “Western” ideas. The phrase used was “konsep Barat yang terlampau” (extreme Western concepts?). Why do I not bring in Islamic concept. I have two problems with this statement. First, what is “extreme Western concepts”?. Secondly, since when do we separate things into Islamic and Western? Is this not the basis of secularism? Labelling one chapter of knowledge as Islamic, while the other as “Western”? Then it dawned onto me that the guy was actually talking about the references I use. I prefer to use texts produced by the likes of the Institute of Economic Affairs and the Adam Smith Institute. Rather than quoting Hayek and Smith, he preferred if I quote from some Arabic names. What an idiotic argument!!! I refuse to divide knowledge into Islamic and Western. I refuse to be secular. If Arabic words are taken to be more Islamic than “Western” ones, it would be extremely easy to fool us Muslims. If I quote from an Arab name like Ibn Waraq, would he believe me more? And, Arab / Malay names, qualifications in Islamic studies or knowledge of Islam are not necessarily indications of piety / taqwa. Some Muslims, under the guise of their previous education in Islamic studies, are far more evil than the crooks and thieves out there. At least when thieves steal, they do not use religious arguments to justfify the theft. But some Muslims shamelessly use their knowledge of Islam to justify their evil deeds.