The stuff of Google

There I was at work, innocently googling Basel II related articles, which is very relevant to what I do, by the way, and BAM! Google sneaks one on me.



Sneaky.

Part 2: The trials and tribulations of enrolling into the CFA Program

So they've responded to my CFA enquiry (as from The trials and tribulations of enrolling into the CFA Program). This time, I actually did get it in the email. This is what they said:

Miss [X],

I apologize if the previous response did not fully answer your questions. You should make your check payable to CFA Institute.

Our address is as follows:
CFA Institute
560 Ray C. Hunt Drive
PO Box
3668
Charlottesville, VA 22903-0668
USA

Mailed payments can take 2 to 3 weeks to process. After your application has been processed, we will send a receipt by e-mail.

Feel free to contact us again if you have any other questions.

Regards,
Katrina Smoot
Client Services

Visit our website at www.cfainstitute.org.
Learn more about the CFA Program at http://www.cfainstitute.org/cfaprog/index.html.
Learn more about the CIPM Program at http://www.cfainstitute.org/cipm/index.html.

Well now that's an answer to a customer service query. I apologise to the CFA people for being so snippy, but I figured if I didn't outline clearly what I needed, they wouldn't give it to me.

The verdict? I have to enrol in December's exam, because it'd take too long for the check to clear and stuff. Sigh. Suck.

Yes, we're civilised

From BBC: Pollution turns Chinese river red:

Water supplies to about 200,000 people in central China have been contaminated by pollution, which has turned branches of a major river system red.

At least three tributaries of the Han river - a branch of the Yangtze - have been affected.

State media reported high levels of chemicals in the water.

A chemical spill is thought be the cause, but the source has not yet been identified and an investigation has been launched.

Gao Qijin, a water company official in Xinguo, Jianli County, told Xinhua that the water in the Dongjing river had become red with large amounts of bubbles.

From BBC: Rice voices regret over rape case:

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has voiced deep regret over a US marine's alleged rape of a girl on the Japanese island of Okinawa.

Thousands of US troops are based in Okinawa, Japan's southern-most island.

Many Okinawans dislike the US presence, and in 1995 there were mass protests after American troops gang-raped a 12-year-old girl there.

"We just regret deeply that this happened," Ms Rice said of the recent case, in which 38-year-old Marine Staff Sgt Tyrone Hadnott is accused of raping a 14-year-old girl in his car.

From BBC: BMW to cut 5,600 jobs this year:

BMW is to cut 5,600 jobs by the end of this year, as it aims to reduce costs.

The carmaker said 2,500 full-time manufacturing positions will go, as will 2,500 part-time factory roles, and 600 sales and distribution jobs.

From BBC: Row over Nigeria nudity picture:

A female Nigerian politician badly beaten by a local MP is standing by the publication of a revealing photograph showing her injuries in a hospital bed.

Habiba Garba told the BBC she wanted people to see the reality of violence against women in northern Nigeria.

But Kano State authorities say they have received complaints the picture breaks Muslim rules about nudity.

From BBC: Melbourne 'refugee camp' opened:

A simulated refugee camp has been set up in Melbourne to show Australians the sort of hardship suffered by millions of people around the world.

"Refugee Realities" is the work of the charity Oxfam, set in a fictitious desert, with
fake landmines and security checkpoints.

Visitors are faced with the realities that confront millions of refugees.

"This is a desert and it's also a landmine field," said the project's director Stephanie Cousins.

"The idea in this space is to give people a sense of how unsettling it would feel fleeing in a dangerous setting where they can't be sure of their footing.

"It's based on the true stories of former refugees now living in Australia."

From The Star: Four thugs nabbed:

KANGAR: Four men believed to have assaulted two reporters when Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim was giving a ceramah at the Beseri Barisan Nasional operation room in Padang Besar yesterday have been detained.

Police said the incident occurred at midnight when Rashidi was told to leave the room by a group of men.

“When I refused, one of them grabbed my shirt and pulled me out of the room,” said Rashidi.

He claimed he was dragged to the roadside in front of a shoplot, outside the hall, surrounded by a group of people who subsequently assaulted him.

From Bloomberg: Japan's Production Falls 2%, Twice as Much as Predicted:

Feb. 28 (Bloomberg) -- Japan's January factory production fell at twice the pace economists predicted as a deepening U.S. slump weakened demand for cars and electronics.

Companies cut output 2 percent from December, when it rose 1.4 percent, the Trade Ministry said today in Tokyo. The median estimate of 47 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News was for a 0.8 percent decline.

The yen traded at 106.45 per dollar at 10:51 a.m. in Tokyo from 106.39 before the reports were published. The yield on Japan's 10-year bond fell half a basis point to 1.42 percent.

Companies plan to cut production in February as well, today's report showed. Manufacturers see output sliding 2.9 percent from January and rebounding 2.8 percent in March.

``It's highly likely production will fall in the first quarter, which would signal Japan is a soft patch at the very least,'' said Hiroaki Muto, a senior economist at Sumitomo Mitsui Asset Management Co. in Tokyo.

From The Star: Hunt on for the Tigerman:

ALOR STAR: He was very famous in 2003 – often seen driving around town with a tiger in the back seat of his four-wheel drive.

However, yesterday he became infamous –when Kedah police placed him on the list of most wanted persons in the state.

And his crime is not for driving around with a tiger in the back of his vehicle but for armed robbery involving RM3.19mil.

The “Tigerman” is being sought in connection with an armoured car robbery in Gurun on Feb 5.

In the incident, three masked men staged a daring robbery at the Gurun Rest and Recreation (R&R) stop on the North-South Expressway heading north towards Alor Star, escaping with more than RM3mil.

The robbers struck as the security guards were unloading the cash from an armoured vehicle to replenish an automated teller machine at the rest stop.

Kedah Police Chief Deputy Commisioner (DCP) Datuk Syed Ismail Syed Azizan said police had recovered part of the cash.

“We have so far recovered RM523,750 of the RM3.19mil and believe that “Tigerman” has stashed the remaining cash somewhere else.

“Besides the cash, we also seized a homemade pistol and seven .38 live bullets,” he said.

It is learnt that policemen who went to suspect's house were shocked when they found two tigers and several snakes in the compound.

DCP Syed Ismail said they have informed the state Wildlife and National Parks Department to capture the tigers and snakes.

From NST: Deaf mute students face rape charges:

SHAH ALAM: Three community college students -- all deaf and mute -- were yesterday charged in two Sessions Courts with raping their classmate in her rented apartment.

The accused -- Mohd Anwar Iswah, Mohd Saiful Izzuan Ahmad Saidi and Muhammad Aizad Ariffin -- all 21, were charged separately with raping the 20-year-old woman, also deaf and mute, at an apartment in Selayang Heights, Selayang Baru, Gombak.

They claimed trial to committing the offence between 3pm and 4pm on Feb 14.

Counsel Mohd Faiz Fadzil, appearing for the three, said in mitigation in both courts that the alleged offence was committed in the victim's rented apartment, and that it was unlikely that it was non-consensual.

"The accused and the victim continued going to class together and mingled as usual. It was only five days after the incident that she lodged the police report," he said.

From NST: 21 youths in gang fight freed:

BUKIT MERTAJAM: Police on Tuesday released 21 youths who had been detained since New Year's Day for being involved in a gang fight.

They were detained under the Emergency Ordinance and held at the Jalan Pattani and Butterworth lock-ups.Another 11 youths detained have been placed under restricted residence.

They were picked up from Kampung Manis, Prima Prai and Jalan Baru after a clash near the Prima Prai flats on New Year's eve.

From The Star: Hadi: Character assassination is fine:

BESUT: PAS president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang has given party candidates the green light to engage in character assassination of their opponents during their ceramah.

Yes, we are truly civilised.

On the Dangerous Topics of Islam and Hadith Reformation

I'd previously written on the revision of the Hadith by Ankara University (from BBC: Turkey in radical revision of Islamic texts). I decided to have a looksee as to what the reception to this announcement was, and I was quite surprised.

Recent surfing of the internet over the past few months have shown me that staunch Muslims today are very open to using the internet as a method of communication to discuss relevant issues, and to seek advice on what is proper and what isn't. What's awesome is that these forums sometimes require you to cite sources for whatever argument it is that you're touting, which discourages the ridiculous flamings that you get at regular forums. Also, I think they're very strictly moderated.

Responses to the proposed revision are mixed. More mixed than expected. SunniForum, for example, has a good mix of opinions. To quote a few from SunniForum: Hadiths being reformed:

"Does anyone have the article from an Islamic website, I don't want to make any judgements based on what BBC is telling us"

"They actually started doing project last year or the year before, when they removed some hadith like the saying that a woman was a bad omen.We really need more information on their methodology. This needn't be the disaster it's looking like at present, inshallah."

"i will look at the proof they come up with for WHY they deny this or that hadith. then, i will decide if i am convinced or not!we need to quit being so close minded though. i am sure that there will be some things they implement that may not be good, but at least wait until they finish the project to see if they are right or not. do not judge yet because we do not yet have their reasoning.i find some hadiths to be silly, like that the earth was created in 6 days, or that fevers come from fire of hell. some of these defy modern science and logic. therefore i am not going to blindly follow a hadith.so i will wait for their proof and see. maybe it will convince me, maybe not. let's just wait before jumping to conclusions!"

"These so-called scholars think it right to determine what was said and what wasn't by RasoolAllah (saw).. Sounds very funny coming from a country which does not allow a mere headscarf at their universities or workplaces.. I think it would have been more understandable if Oxford wanted to carry out the study.. May Allah show the misled people in Turkey the right way.. Ameen"

So you see, Muslims aren't quite as close minded as many think. Someone also mentioned that there are books on Hadith, which discuss what is weak and what isn't. This interests me.

Moving on, I found a damned interesting article referring to a Ignác Goldhizer, a Jewish Hungarian orientalist (I don't know what that means either), who was quite renowned in the fields of Islamic study. His pièce de resistance? An essay called Muhammedanische Studien, which, according to Wikipedia: Ignác Goldhizer:

[S]howed how Hadith reflected the legal and doctrinal controversies of the two centuries after the death of Mohammed rather than the words of Mohamed himself. He was strong believer in the view that Islamic law owes its origins to Roman Law ...

Which I always suspected but obviously could never prove or find the time to research. Going back to the interesting article which was apparently addressing a different issue, I believe this quote serves my purpose quite well. From ArmenianDiaspora.com: Debating Islam's "Golden Age":

The problem now is that such acts have been attributed to the Prophet Muhammad who is the model to be emulated by all Muslims. Hence, while even worse wars might have been perpetrated in the world by rulers long since forgotten, the acts and sayings of Muhammad concerning non-Muslims are still binding for over a billion Muslims today.

I believe this is the problem that the Ankara University is trying to rectify. The problem is in drawing the line between arbitrary interpretation, educated guesses, and justifiable modifications.

I think the conclusion then, is that maybe this revision isn't a new idea, but was a long time coming. The reception may be warmer than expected, but this article only came out today, and the Muslims who've found the internet and the forums that I've found may just be looking for Muslims much like them: those who are willing to discuss it. Malaysian Muslims are famously single-minded and closed to discussion, much like the education system brought us up to be. I still think there's going to be trouble.

Murder in Argentina

From BBC: Death jolts Argentine baby trial:

A key witness in a trial in Argentina about the fate of babies stolen from political prisoners during the "Dirty War" has been found dead.

Police are investigating whether the former army officer, Lt Col Paul Navone, killed himself.

Human rights investigators believe he may have been murdered to prevent him revealing details of a traumatic case that has shocked the country.

His body was found in a park near his home in the central city of Cordoba. There was a single bullet wound to his head and a handgun was found nearby.

He had been due to testify about what happened to twins born to a political dissident, Raquel Negro, during military rule in Argentina between 1976 and 1983.

Reunited

Campaigners estimate that 200 babies were taken from their parents and given up for adoption to childless couples working for, or sympathetic to, the military government.

The birth parents then disappeared - probably among the estimated 30,000 people killed during the Dirty War.

Eighty-eight of those stolen children - now in their late twenties and early thirties - have been identified.

They were tracked down by grandparents who formed a human rights organisation, the Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo.

They have urged the Argentine authorities to fully investigate the death of Col Navone, saying he would not be the first witness to human rights abuses to be killed, or to disappear in mysterious circumstances.

Scandalous! I can see it now. It'll be another Jane Doe mystery: "Jane Doe and the twenty-year-old babies".

But seriously. Way to have history written by the winners. Looks like the Nazis and the Australians weren't the only ones to pull this trick.

The trials and tribulations of enrolling into the CFA Program

I invite you to join me in my quest to enrol into the CFA Program. Laugh with me at the highs. Cry with me at the lows. Stress with me when I study. Here we go. Hold on tight.

My Query #1 (18th Feb):

I tried repeatedly on Friday (15th Feb) to enrol for the June 2008 exam. However, the website did not accept both the credit cards that I tried.

I called the relevant bank to check on my credit card's status, and they said that they had gotten no attempts to charge anything on the card, meaning that the rejection was from your website.

Further attempts were again unsuccessful. Can I find out what the problem is? According to the bank, my credit card has sufficient funds and should not have any problems charging the fees to it. Also, is there any way you can enrol me into the June 2008 exam?

Their Answer #1 (20th Feb):

6158398 Miss [X] Thank you for contacting us. We accept credit cards (American Express, Diners Club, JCB, MasterCard or Visa), personal or corporate checks, and money orders as payment. We also accept wire transfer payments. The instructions are as follows: Wire Transfers within the US SunTrust Bank 919 E. Main St. Richmond, VA 23219 ABA # 061000104 Account Name: CFA Institute Account # 201580721 Wire Transfers from outside the US SunTrust Bank 25 Park Place Atlanta, GA 30303 Swift Code: SNTRUS3A Account Name: CFA Institute Account # 201580721 Please be sure to let us know of the purpose for the wire. Your name and CFA Institute ID number and/or invoice number (if applicable) must appear on the wire or we will return the funds to your bank. We can not accept debit cards. Harry King Client Services Visit our website at www.cfainstitute.org. Learn more about the CFA Program at www.cfainstitute.org/cfaprog. Learn more about the CIPM Program at www.cfainstitute.org/cipm. The following service request has been assigned to you: Service Request Number: 1-80869761 Date Opened : 2/17/2008 08:26:40 PM Severity : Priority : 3-Medium Product : Abstract : Failed enrollment Description : I tried repeatedly on Friday (15th Feb) to enrol for the June 2008 exam. However, the website did not accept both the credit cards that I tried. I called the relevant bank to check on ...

That's it. Complete with ... and everything. Exactly like that.

My Query #2 (27th Feb):

Hi,

Just to make it clear, I'm not happy with the customer service reply that I received for SR# 1-80869761.

While the answer was sufficient (I would rate it a 4 out of 10), it didn't give me any details for a payment by personal check. I've scoured the FAQs and the website and haven't found anything other than "we accept personal checks", which is all well and good, but, and to make sure you don't confuse the question,

1. WHO DO I MAKE THE CHECK OUT TO?
2. WHERE DO I MAIL THE CHECK TO?
3. HOW LONG WILL IT TAKE BEFORE THE PAYMENT IS REFLECTED ONLINE?
4. HOW LONG BEFORE I GET A RECEIPT?

I would really appreciate if I get a relevant answer soon, as the exam is fast approaching. Thanks.

Let's see what they say.

I smell trouble brewing

From BBC: Turkey in radical revision of Islamic texts:

Turkey is preparing to publish a document that represents a revolutionary reinterpretation of Islam - and a controversial and radical modernisation of the religion.

The country's powerful Department of Religious Affairs has commissioned a team of theologians at Ankara University to carry out a fundamental revision of the Hadith, the second most sacred text in Islam after the Koran.

The Hadith is a collection of thousands of sayings reputed to come from the Prophet Muhammad.

As such, it is the principal guide for Muslims in interpreting the Koran and the source of the vast majority of Islamic law, or Sharia.

But the Turkish state has come to see the Hadith as having an often negative influence on a society it is in a hurry to modernise, and believes it responsible for obscuring the original values of Islam.

It says that a significant number of the sayings were never uttered by Muhammad, and even some that were need now to be reinterpreted.

'Reformation'

The forensic examination of the Hadiths has taken place in Ankara University's School of Theology.

An adviser to the project, Felix Koerner, says some of the sayings - also known individually as "hadiths" - can be shown to have been invented hundreds of years after the Prophet Muhammad died, to serve the purposes of contemporary society.

"Unfortunately you can even justify through alleged hadiths, the Muslim - or pseudo-Muslim - practice of female genital mutilation," he says.

"You can find messages which say 'that is what the Prophet ordered us to do'. But you can show historically how they came into being, as influences from other cultures, that were then projected onto Islamic tradition."

The argument is that Islamic tradition has been gradually hijacked by various - often conservative - cultures, seeking to use the religion for various forms of social control.

Turkey is intent on sweeping away that "cultural baggage" and returning to a form of Islam it claims accords with its original values and those of the Prophet.

Revolutionary

But this is where the revolutionary nature of the work becomes apparent. Even some sayings accepted as being genuinely spoken by Muhammad have been altered and reinterpreted.

Prof Mehmet Gormez, a senior official in the Department of Religious Affairs and an expert on the Hadith, gives a telling example.

"There are some messages that ban women from travelling for three days or more without their husband's permission and they are genuine.

"But this isn't a religious ban. It came about because in the Prophet's time it simply wasn't safe for a woman to travel alone like that. But as time has passed, people have made permanent what was only supposed to be a temporary ban for safety reasons."

The project justifies such bold interference in the 1,400-year-old content of the Hadith by rigorous academic research.

Prof Gormez points out that in another speech, the Prophet said "he longed for the day when a woman might travel long distances alone".

So, he argues, it is clear what the Prophet's goal was.

Original spirit

Yet, until now, the ban has remained in the text, and helps to restrict the free movement of some Muslim women to this day.

As part of its aggressive programme of renewal, Turkey has given theological training to 450 women, and appointed them as senior imams called "vaizes".

They have been given the task of explaining the original spirit of Islam to remote communities in Turkey's vast interior.

One of the women, Hulya Koc, looked out over a sea of headscarves at a town meeting in central Turkey and told the women of the equality, justice and human rights guaranteed by an accurate interpretation of the Koran - one guided and confirmed by the revised Hadith.

She says that, at the moment, Islam is being widely used to justify the violent suppression of women.

"There are honour killings," she explains.

Er, how do I comment on this? On the one hand, this is exactly what I've been touting all the while: that some of the things we hold dear were never said by the Prophet SAW, but by others. What we take as haram was haram for good reason back in the day, but there is no reason for it to be today.

But this writer needs to be a whole lot more careful when she writes about this, because it looks like she's saying Islam as it is today justifies honour killings.

Talking inflation

Just so you know the facts:

• Inflation was lower in Jan 08 at 2.3%.
• Prices of clothes, footwear and communications have been and will continue declining.
• The price of food and non-alcoholic beverages rose at a slower pace of 3.9% in Jan 08 from 4.2% in Dec 07. It's expected to trend higher in Feb 08, due to CNY festive demand.
• Increasing prices of food and commodities is expected to have upward pressure in inflation in 2008 as a whole.

suicide doors: keeping you informed.

To the man in the beige Toyota Vios who refused to pay the entry fee for the Supercars for Charity event

To the man in the beige Toyota Vios who refused to pay the RM10 entry fee at the Supercars for Charity event,

I’m not entirely sure if you drove a Toyota Vios, but I’m pretty sure it was beige. You arrived at the Supercars Charity Drive held at Sepang International Circuit at about 4p.m. where I was manning the entrance. There were 4 people in your car: you, a woman in the passenger seat who I assume was your wife, and two others in the backseat. Quite possibly your second and third wives.

I asked you for the RM10 per person entrance fee, which was to go in its entirety to charity. The whole day was organized and executed entirely by volunteers, donated services and donated funds. Not one sen of that RM10 would have gone to anyone else but those who needed it. What was your answer?

“I was invited.”

What did I say? “It’s an entrance fee, for charity.”

Did you say, “Oh, well it’s for charity. That’s alright, then,” like most people do?

No. What you said was, “Wait ah, let me call. We were invited, you know.”

At this point, I just sighed, looked at you with contempt and said, “Just go. Just go through.”

And then, for some odd reason, you said, “Just go?” I suppose it must have been the small capacity of your brain that couldn’t grasp a sudden change in action, from your handphone to driving your car.

I said, “Yes, just go through.”

I bet you thought it was because you were an important person, that I recognized who you were as an invitee. I bet you thought that was why I let you go. Or maybe not. Maybe you heard the, “We don’t want your money” that I threw at you as you drove off.

I let you go through because, at 4p.m. after standing in the sun all day, voluntarily collecting money for those in need, I couldn’t be bothered to tell you that you were, in fact, invited to a charity event. A charity event where charity was requested of you. Charity not in the form of you showing up and gracing us with your presence, but of you gracing our palms with currency. Quite obviously you needed the RM10 more than the flood victims did.

May I point out that Datuk Azman Yahaya, who drove up in his new Lamborghini LP640 and sent his Porsche GT3 on a trailer in advance, who not only donated thousands of Ringgit to pay for the insurance for the two cars to be at the event, but also donated his personal time to participate in the event, paid the RM10 entry fee.

As did the obviously much poorer man and his wife, mother and two kids who arrived in the beat up Proton Saga Hatchback just to see the cars and “ambil gambar” with them, because they’d never seen such cars before, or had the chance to be so close to them.

And the Indian man in the moderately beaten up red car, who only had RM11 in his wallet, but quite happily surrendered RM10 to me.

But no. You didn’t contribute to charity. At a charity event. I hope you realize that that look on my face when I told you to go through was contempt. And I hope to god that through the miracle of the internet, you find this letter and realize that this was you.

That is all.

Elections escapades

It's all about the hope. From The Star: Grandma, 89, steals the show:

The divorced grandmother, possibly the oldest ever candidate in the elections, was announced as an independent candidate for Kuala Terengganu.

It was her fifth effort to qualify for candidacy. She said that she failed in her last four attempts due to technicalities and lack of documentation.

Many were initially sceptical of her intent at the nomination centre at Kompleks Seri
Iman here, but when returning officer Datuk Mat Razali Kassim officially stamped her candidacy, amusement filled the room.

The odds are stacked against her, as she will be up against seasoned politicians like PAS vice-president Mohamad Sabu and Barisan Nasional’s Datuk Razali Ismail.

Both politicians, however, took time to chat with Maimun, who appeared frail but zesty.

Even Barisan candidate for Batu Burok Nordiana Shafie wished the Kampung Pengadang Akar resident, who runs a kain songket business, well for the March 8 polls.

Maimun told newsmen that she did not mind raising RM10,000 to register as a candidate, and the RM5,000 as campaign deposit.

Speaking in a heavy Terengganu accent, she said it was money well spent “because I can talk and want to talk to the people.”

“I want to right the wrongs and bring down the prices of necessities,” she added.

She was also accompanied by her close friends Sinah Ali, 67, and Semah Said, 53, who acted as seconder and proposer respectively.

She will be using her own party name – Party Tanah Melayu Beragama Islam – to contest.

I think it's admirable that she still believes in a pure democracy, and the issues winning the votes. Power to the people!

From The Star: Kurup: I was punched:

KOTA KINABALU: A moment’s joy turned to pain for Parti Bersatu Rakyat Sabah president Tan Sri Joseph Kurup.

He was walking out of the Nabawan community hall after being declared winner of the Pensiangan parliamentary seat when someone punched him in the face.

“I was shaking hands with my supporters when this man jumped at me and I felt something hit me in the face and it became chaotic after that.

“I have an idea who he is. I feel saddened because it is not our culture to resort to violence,” he said after lodging a police report.

Kurup said he remained in high spirits despite the incident and was ready to serve his Pensiangan constituents.

The announcement that Kurup won the seat uncontested came at 5pm.

Election Commission director Md Idrus Ismail said the late confirmation was because
returning officer Bubudan O.T. Majalu had faxed in the names of three candidates for Pensiangan to the EC's headquarters here.

He said the commission thus assumed that there was a contest in Pensiangan among Kurup, Danny Anthony Andipai of Parti Keadilan Rakyat and Independent Saineh Usau.

However, upon checking, EC officials discovered that the returning officer had rejected the other candidates because they arrived late.

The two rejected candidates later lodged police reports that they were “blocked” from going to the centre.

Sabah Barisan Nasional is on track towards a clean sweep after bagging two parliamentary and one state seats on nomination day.

Nice. Democracy in action.