a fleeting stay ...

People rarely get second chances. When we make a serious mistake we seldom get an opportunity for a do-over. Those we have hurt will remember our transgressions for a long time. Maybe forever. Published accounts remind us of the agony of former prisoners and rehabilitated drug addicts who are denied jobs, housing and other services on account of past convictions. They want desperately to clear their records of past crimes however minor these might seem. They want to take a path towards a new start that will help them improve their circumstances. Quite simply, they need a second chance. They want to have a shot at a normal life. But there are conditions attached to the privilege of being bestowed a second chance. Offenders must take full responsibility for their actions and honestly regret what they have done. Islam's concept of taubat  (repentance)   states that wrongdoers must demonstrate sincere remorse, sorrow and guilt, promise not to repeat their mistakes and do good d

Police say they have solved the fatal tahfiz school fire case following the arrests of seven teenagers connected with the deaths of 23 people including learners as young as six years old at the Darul Quran Ittifaqiyah tahfiz centre on September 16, 2017. The suspects had allegedly set fire to the tahfiz centre in Jalan Keramat Hujung, Kuala Lumpur after a name-calling incident between them and some pupils of the school. Apparently they had used two cooking gas cylinders and an accelerator to set the three-storey building on fire early Thursday morning. Police are investigating the case as murder and causing mischief by fire. Police had picked up the suspects between 6.30pm Friday and 2.30am Saturday at different locations in Datuk Keramat, thanks to leads from CCTV recordings and initial forensic evidence that suggested foul play. It is tempting to believe that the case has been cleared up, but in reality many factors promise to complicate the issue. The Keramat tahfiz tragedy is t

The tragic deaths of more than 20 pupils and teachers at a religious school in Datuk Keramat, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia have evoked anger in many Malaysians. They lost their lives in a fire which had gutted the top floor of Pusat Tahfiz Darul Quran Ittifaqiyah on Jalan Keramat Ujung in the early hours of September 14, 2017. As is the case with other disasters, social media was quick to share videos and photos which many said had infringed on the privacy and dignity of victims and their families. Urgent pleas to exercise restraint seemed to have fallen on deaf ears. Sadly, many do not reason entirely from facts and this is part of the way the world works now. The question is, what is the best way to deal with this situation? That is why I am grateful for this  article .

Two weeks of merry-making to usher in the year of the Rooster. Picture by Jehan Mohd. Bloomberg's piece on young Chinese celebrating the Lunar New Year outside China for shopping and sightseeing resonates with the actions of some Malaysians who belong to different ethnic groups. The article describes the trend among some Chinese notably the younger adults, who eschew the traditional pilgrimage back to their hometowns, preferring to spend their seven-day festive break, also known as Spring Festival, exploring the world rather than feeling miserable at home. This will allow them to "bypass the mobs, clogged roads and subways, lousy customer services as well as boredom" -- features, the Bloomberg article says, "mark holidays at home". Their favourite destinations are Japan, South Korea and Southeast Asia and "outbound travel for the holiday break is expected to top a record six million passengers". "Rising incomes and an expanding network o