Cap’n Calico Jack’s Blog

Bukan, bukan memandu di Plus Highway untuk pulang berhari raya di kampung, tetapi memandu kereta Formula Renault 3.5 di Nurburgring pada kelajuan melebihi 170 km/jam. Ya, aden bercakap mengenai about Fairuz Fauzy, pemandu bagi pasukan Mofaz Fortec Motorsport.

Secara kebetulan kawan-kawan anak-anak den datang berkunjung untuk meraikan Hari Raya petang kelmarin dan seperti biasa selepas polishing off the food, mereka berkumpul di depan TV untuk melepak. Nasib baik, kerana pada masa itulah Astro menyiarkan ulangtayang perlumbaan di Jerman yang diadakan pada 19/20 September lalu. Den masih teringat perasaan terharu den suatu malam beberapa bulan dahulu apabila ‘Negara Ku’ bekumandang dan Jalur Gemilang dikibarkan di Hungagoring Circuit di Hungary apabila Fairuz memenangi Race 1 [Renault World Series ada dua perlumbaan, Race 1 dan Race 2, masing-masing berlainan sedikit, pada setiap perjumpaan. Gambar menunjukkan Fairuz di atas podium di Hungary]

Beginilah perjalanan race di Nurburgring:

Race 1 (Timed race, lebih kurang 45 min, reverse grid)

Fairuz, kereta No 19, bermula pada tapak kelima (P5). Aksi perlumbaan mengasyikkan dengan satu perlanggaran yang melibatkan kereta Red Bull pada lap pertama. Fairuz tergelicik sedikit ke tempat ketujuh tetapi telah berjaya memperbaiki kedudukan dengan meraih kembali tempat kelima dalam masa beberapa lap. Di waktu inilah perlumbaan mula menjadi lebih mengasyikkan: Fairuz berentap dengan pemandu dari Britain, Oliver Turvey, wheel to wheel, sehinggalah Fairuz memotong Turvey dari luar dan menutup pintu bagi Turvey apabila track selekoh ke kiri. Bye bye Turvey.

Fairuz sekarang di tempat keempat dan serta merta mengejar Daniil Move yang berada di tempat ketiga. Race (dan championship) leader Bertrand Baguette sudah berada jauh di hadapan, lebih kurang empat ke lima saat terdahulu, dan tidak mungkin sesiapa dapat mengejar beliau. Justeru kamera menumpukan perhatian kepada pergelutan Fairuz dengan Move. Dan Fairuz tidak mengecewakan — beliau memberi tekanan kepada Move dan seterusnya memotong Move dengan satu overtaking ‘move’ yang klasik pada lap 17 kalau tak silap den dan terus berada di tempat ketiga sehinggalah penghabisan perlumbaan. Pemandu di provisonal second place, Lankaster, diberi penalti 10 saat kerana pemanduan berbahaya dan seterusnya Fairuz dinaikkan pangkat ke tempat kedua dengan Move ke tempat ketiga.

Memang hebat pemanduan Fairuz. Semasa perlumbaan, komentator-komentator Eurosports, seorang darinya Carlton Kirby — yang juga komentator Tour de France bagi Eurosport — banyak menumpukan komentari terhadap Fairuz dan mengatakan yang beliau menjangka Fairuz akan membuat sesuatu. Komentator juga memuji Fairuz dengan mengatakan yang Fairuz ini seorang ‘humble, down to earth’ dan ‘cool customer’. Pada akhir perlumbaan, komentator mengatakan yang Fairuz ‘drove supreme’ dan bagi beliau Fairuz merupakan ‘driver of the day’ — high praise indeed.

Terharu dan gembira rasa den dan anak-anak apabila melihat Jalur Gemilang dikibarkan semasa prize-giving di akhir Race 1 [melucukan juga gelagat Fairuz yang agak kekok dengan champagne celebrations di atas podium. Aden rasa orang lain faham dan tidak ‘merayakan’ Fairuz dengan semburan champagne]

Malangnya Race 2 disunting banyak oleh Eurosport dan aksi tidak banyak kelihatan: Fairuz bermula dari tapak keempat dan meraih tempat ketiga. Apapun, sempat juga melihat Fairuz di atas podium sekali lagi. Mungkin penganjur menjangkakan pencapaian lebih dari Fairuz — dan siapa boleh menyalahkan penganjur itu — kerana Jalur Gemilang dikibarkan di kanan (melambangkan tempat kedua) walaupun Fairuz meraih tempat ketiga. Malang sekali bagi Brendon Hartley, seorang New Zealander dan pemenang kedua, apabila bukan sahaja bendera beliau di tempat yang salah (di sebelah kiri), malah bendera Union Jack dikibarkan dan bukannya bendera New Zealand.

Begitulah kehebatan pemanduan anak watan di hari raya. I’ve never met him tetapi aden anak beranak tumpang berasa bangga di atas kerelaan Fairuz Fauzy untuk berada jauh dari kampung untuk beradu di gelanggang lumba kereta. Dan berjaya.

Fairuz Fauzy will never read this piece but it doesn’t matter. To him and people like him, yang berani merantau demi tugas atau urusan lain semasa orang sibuk nak balik kampung, I say Syabas dan Selamat Hari Raya.

Yarr! Yarr!

I don’t know what’s got into me but I was feeling a wee bit ornery when I woke up this mornin’. Must’ve been the overdose of lemang and rendang. Anyway, found me way to Sakmongkol’s and found his latest post regarding Shariah caning: which reminded me of some long conversations I had with Snake and some questions I wanted to ask of an ADUN.

So — as Grokker — I put in a comment to Sakmongkol:

“Selamat Hari Raya, Sakmongkol.

Interesting piece this.

Like you, I think that Kartika’s is a watershed case to test the Shariah system. And I too think the Shariah court’s sentence should be carried out and that Kartika ought to be caned.

For one thing, she has agreed to be caned and for another, the sentence is on the statute books and is therefore lawful. The Hakim Syarie certainly didn’t pluck it out of thin air, I don’t think.

Now the question arises: how did the sentence get on the law books? Was it framed by the syariah lawyers or was it enacted by the Pahang legislature? I believe it was the legislature that put the sentence in the statutes.

The wisdom of the Hakim Syarie in awarding the sentence is a different question. Some may question its wisdom but the best person to answer that question is the qadi himself. He may have good reason for doing so. He has not spoken so we don’t know.

Some of the sentences imposed by the Shariah courts may look bizarre to some but let’s not forget that the common law system also produces some seemingly bizarre sentences: long custodial sentences for stealing RM30 worth of powdered milk to feed a starving baby and a slap on the wrist for swindling people of millions of ringgit.

I’m with you that the SIS and Madame Sharizat have no place in this matter. Both are in the business of looking after women’s interest — and I’ve no problem with that — but the SIS in particular have been fighting for ‘equality’ for women in matters of religion. It cannot be that caning offends their delicate sensibilities because another person, a male Indon PR, has also been sentenced by caning for drinking in public during Ramadhan by the same court; and not a squeak from SIS. Now that Kartika has been treated equally before the law, why are they keen on a revision? Do they, these amazon warriors for equality, now want Kartika to be treated unequally?

Being a former member of the state legislature perhaps you can enlighten us on how Shariah laws were enacted, Sakmongkol — why were they not made uniform by the enacting legislatures and why were seemingly ‘barbarous’ and ‘archaic’ laws put on the statutes? Why were the enforcement mechanisms, so woefully deficient, not thought through before the enactments were passed? And why don’t some politicians feel a sense of shame in their colleagues’ role in bringing odium to Islam through lousy legislation, and continue to pontificate on the matter.”

[Paras are slightly different because of some last minute edits on-site.
I’m putting this in as a matter of record — some of his earliest followers may agree that Sak’s changed a bit since he first started blogging; not sure if he’ll post this.
He hasn’t as at presstime. OK, now to carry on with the holidays]