Prof. Dr. Nasoha Saabin

Football is one of the oldest games developed by men. Games are created in order to bring amusement to men. There are so many games being developed by men and among the most popular game ever developed by men is football. Everyone in the world loves watching a football games particularly when it involves competition between countries. A football game emerges from a mere amusement game, to a game that provides jobs opportunities to thousands of peoples. Football games have become one of the greatest industries in modern times. Nowadays, everyone in the world, particularly in the west is mad with football. In the west, a player may be bought even with the price of millions of dollars. Football games have become a highly valuable game because of its popularity among the masses. Its popularity among the masses makes football games a very lucrative business and a football player being paid with a very high salary. When a football player is paid with a very high salary, playing football at that level has become a profession. Continue reading →

Offenses are committed when a person breach a certain laws. One of the most common offenses is breaching the traffic laws. Traffic offense is probably the most common offenses committed in any countries of the world. Traffic laws are made in order to ensure the safety of all the vehicles and persons who used the roads. In Malaysia, motorcyclists are the most common road users who break the traffic laws. Because of motorcyclists are the most road users who break the traffic laws, they are also the one who are mostly involved in road accidents. Most motorcyclists seem to understand that the traffic laws are not meant for them but for only for others to follow. Most of the time we saw motorcyclists are making the most traffic offenses. One of the most common traffic offenses, which are committed by motorcyclists, is to ignore the traffic light. Most motorcyclists think when the light is red, only motorcars drivers should stop but not motorcyclists. It appears to me, at all times the motorcyclists in Malaysia are always in a hurry. The way they ride the motorcycles, it looks as if they are the busiest person in this world. They often ride their motorcycles at a lightning speed. I am sure those motorcyclists are normal human being, who will be hurt when involved in road accident. However the way motorcyclists ride their motorcycles; it appears to me as if they are not scared of any injury or even death. In Malaysia, in most cases, motorcars drivers will stop their cars at the junction when the traffic light is red but not to some of the motorcyclists. Some motorcyclists ignore red traffic light and continue to ride their motorcycles. I think this phenomenon at the junction with traffic light is so common only in Malaysia but not in any other countries. When there are policemen around the corner only then I noticed motorcyclists in Malaysia will be observing the rules of traffic light. This behavior of our motorcyclists is very unpleasant and very rude to other road users.
Why do Malaysians motorcyclists behave in such a very unethical ways? Our motorcyclists are so unethical when compared to the motorcyclists in many countries in the western world. What are the reasons, our motorcyclists behave so unethically on the roads. Why our motorcyclists ride their motorcycles in such a speed, which often strike fear to all who are near to them. I do not know what our motorcyclists are trying to show or to achieve by riding in such a very high speed. It is astonished to see, our motorcyclists are having pleasure and fun out of riding motorcycles with such a high speed on public roads. I have not seen or have not known of any countries in this world, where the youngsters are having pleasure and fun out of riding motorcycles in such a high speed on public roads. Malaysia seems to be leading the world in this so call, an illegal sport event. In Malaysia, the youngsters who are having pleasure and fun out of riding motorcycles with a high speed on public roads are call as mat rempit. These mat rempit often organized illegal sport events among themselves, at the middle of the night, on public roads and the winner of the event will be given a reward to sleep with a beautiful girl, known as bohsia. How such unhealthy sport event has developed in Malaysia? What is wrong with our youth and our system of education? Who had designed our system of education, which ends up with such an outcomes? How Malaysian educators can developed an educational system, which is able to produce youngsters with such weird behavior. What is wrong with our teachers and ustaz, who supposed to teach our children good behavior? What type of education and training are given by our parents to our youths at their homes? In my opinion, Malaysia does not seem to be able to educate their youths to become good citizens. The presence of mat rempit and mat dadah in our society clearly shows that the outcomes of our primary and secondary education are not commendable and questionable. Who is to be blame? All of us are to be blame but the first to be blame is our leaders.
Why such erroneous culture has developed among our youth in our country? All of us must admit that we have failed in producing an excellent, responsible and ethical youths. How are we going to treat our youths with such abnormal behaviors? Behaviors are related to belief and mindset. Both belief and mindsets are influenced by the words that our youth are hearing from their parent, teachers and their friends. Wrong or bad words that they hear from them will lead to our youths to have wrong belief and wrong mindset. Initially our youths are hearing the wrong words from their parents, teachers and friends and later on our youths are speaking the same wrong words to others. Speaking and hearing the same wrong words repeatedly, will finally lead to wrong belief and wrong mindset. Both the wrong belief and wrong mindset will lead to wrong behaviors. Our youths have the abnormal behaviors because they have wrong belief and wrong mindset. Our youths are the products of their parents, teachers and their friends. Association of our youths with their parents, teachers and friends, who themselves are having bad behaviors will produce youth with bad behaviors. The bad behaviors of our youth are manifested when they are riding the motorcycles on the public roads. mat rempits and mat dadah is the product of our poor and bad education system. My question is, when, should we start to educate our children? In Islam, we should be educating our children from the day they are able to talk. Do we do this? No, we are not doing what our Prophet Muhammad saw want us to do. Who should teach them? The government must train good teachers to teach our young children. In Malaysia, we start to teach our children only at the age of seven. In order to teach our children the correct belief and correct mindset, Prophet saw ordered us to start teaching our children when our children are still babies. According to experts, correct belief and correct mindset are learned from the time the child is born until the child is about six years old.
Contrary to Islam, we start to educate our children only at the age of seven. Prophet Muhammad saw had advised us to teach our children when they are still babies. Our Prophet saw told us to teach our children to speak about Kalimah; there is no God except Allah, from the day our children are able to talk. Our Prophet saw told us to teach our children about Allah and the fear of Allah. Do we as Muslims really follow the advice of Prophet Muhammad saw? I think there are no Muslims in all over the world who teaches their children about Allah even while their children are still in the cradles. The outcomes that we observe in our children, clearly indicates to us that we are not teaching our children about Allah and the greatness of Allah when they are still babies. I think many Muslims know about the Hadis that we have to learn from the cradles to the graves but Allah does not give Muslims the understanding of this Hadis and the ability to practice the Hadis. Where are the so calls Muslims educators in this world? Why they are not developing a practical method to teach Muslims children even when they are in the cradles? Why Muslim scholars are not talking about these important subjects of imparting correct belief and correct mindset to the children when the children are still in the cradles. Our scholars are busy trying to teach the olds about iman or belief when iman and belief should have been learned when we are still babies. According to experts, correct belief and correct mindset need to be learned before we reach the age of seven. When a child has reached the age of seven, his or her education on belief and mindset are completed. Although there are many Muslims who knows that Muslims need to learn from the time they are in the cradles until they are in the graves yet only very few Muslims who practically obeyed the Hadis.
If our Muslims educators do understand the meaning of that Hadis, they will definitely develop a practical method to teach correct belief and correct mindset to children even when they are in the cradles. In my opinion, Muslims scholars only know about this Hadis but they do not have the belief in this Hadis as well as they do not have the belief on any other Hadis of the Prophet Muhammad saw. When we only know about the Hadis, we will not be able to translate the Hadis into action. We will only be able to translate a Hadis or a verse of Quran into actions when we have believed in the Hadis and the verse of the Quran. Since many Muslims, including Muslim scholars are only Islam in the mouth, many Muslims are not able to translate either the Quran or the Hadis into actions. Our children, before the age of seven, need to learn about correct belief and correct mental outlook. Correct belief and correct mindset are the foundation of their behaviors. Our education system does not include the education on instilling correct belief and correct mental outlook in our children. Ideally the education on correct belief and correct mindset should be implemented on the children from the day the children were born until the day the children are about six years old. With the grace of Allah, I have developed an audio therapy that with the permission of Allah will correct belief and mental outlook of children. The therapy is known as Taska Bestari and the outcomes of the children who had used this therapy have shown very remarkable results. Correct belief and correct mental outlook is the foundation of correct behaviors. In Malaysia, we have many persons with erroneous behaviors because we do not teach our children correct belief and correct mental outlook when they are still babies.
Why some of our youths and some of our old folks, also do not want to obey traffic rules? Some of our old folks also commit traffic offenses when they ride motorcycles or drive taxis. In my opinion, a person who does not obey the traffic laws is a person who has wrong behavior. The wrong behavior is due to his or her wrong belief and wrong mental outlook. What are the wrong belief and the wrong mental outlook do these peoples have? They have the belief that to disobey traffic laws is not wrong, because the rules are made by men and not by Allah. In Malaysia, many Muslims have the belief that we can disregard the rules made by men. This is not true. Our leaders make all the laws in Malaysia and Allah has ordered us to obey the orders of our leaders, provided the orders are not contradictory to the orders of Allah. However, in Malaysia, many do not know this relationship and many who do not want to obey the laws, which are made by the leaders including the traffic laws. Many Muslims in Malaysia seem to believe and think that we do not need to obey the rules that come from the parliament. Since traffic laws are also laws made in the parliament, many Muslims in Malaysia think and believe that it is not sinful to disregard the traffic laws. This wrong belief can only be treated when the government made it compulsory for all motorcars and motorcycles drivers to use audio therapy known as Pemandu Bestari, before they are eligible to be given a driving license.
I had proposed many years ago the use of Pemandu Bestari to the Road Safety Department of Malaysia. Although the Director General of Road Safety Department has agreed to use the therapy but when the idea was presented to Jabatan Pengangkutan Jalan (JPJ) the idea was rejected and because of that, the project was abandoned. In my opinion, JPJ is not so serious in minimizing traffic offenses. Why they are not serious in minimizing traffic offenses? In my opinion, when there are more traffic offenses, there will be more summonses issued by JPJ and when there are more summonses being issued by JPJ, it means more money to JPJ. As usual, peoples love money. In my opinion, the reason why JPJ rejected the idea of using audio therapy to correct belief and mindset of Malaysian’s drivers and motorcyclists is the love of money. We cannot have both money and safety at the same time. Operation Sikap or Ops Sikap which is done by JPJ, every year during the festival seasons are not an operation to correct the behaviors of Malaysian motorcar drivers and motorcyclists but rather an operation to collect more money. Operasi Sikap is a more indirect way of the government to obtain more money from the public. I think the Malaysian government is not focus on what they really want .Does Malaysian government want more peoples to make more traffic offenses and therefore gains more money or does the government want to have roads, which are safe to be used by all Malaysians?
Actually, the government is loosing more money and human capital with more road accidents. The money obtains by the government from traffic offenses is less if compared to the lost of money and human capital from road accidents. If our government, want to have more money collected from traffic offenses, then our government should not do anything at all on road safety. There is no point in making more traffic laws and regulations if we do not want to change the public belief and mindset on road safety. We can only change the behaviors of the peoples on road safety by changing the peoples belief and mindset toward road safety. The Ops Sikap, which is conducted by JPJ every year, will not change the driving behaviors of Malaysians as there is absolutely no relationship at all between behaviors and punishment. Behaviors are only related to the way we believe and the way we think. We should not call the operation conducted by JPJ during the festival seasons as Operasi Sikap but rather we should call it as the operation to collect more money from the public. I have written in many of my previous articles that, with the exception of believers, the basic nature of men is to love money. Road Safety Department wants safety while JPJ want to collect more money. Who should decide? In this case, the Prime Minister should decide on the direction of road safety in this country.
If our government is serious in curtailing traffic offenses, besides using audio therapy, our government should employ civilians who are unemployed to become part-time traffic policemen. These part-time traffic policemen should be positioned at strategic and accident prone areas in the country and equipped with camera so that they are able to photograph the traffic offenders. All traffic offenders should be given heavy penalties and about 10% of the money collected from the penalties should be given as salary to the part-time traffic policemen. In this way, many unemployed Malaysians will become employed as part-time traffic policemen and at the same time helping the government to curtail traffic offenses. These part-time traffic policemen should not be wearing uniforms and work during assorted hours of the day. In this way, the public are trained to obey traffic rules even when there are no policemen around. In my opinion, the government must be serious in curtailing traffic offenses and one of the important reasons why our roads are always jammed with cars and motorcycles is because; they are so many traffic offenders from among the motorcar drivers and motorcyclists in Malaysia.
In Kuala Lumpur, particularly during the peak hours, there are so many from among the motorcars drivers and motorcyclists who break traffic rules, making driving in Kuala Lumpur to be not a pleasant experience. All peoples except the believers fear policemen more than they fear Allah. All people will not break traffic laws only when they knows there are policemen around the corners. Why do they fear policemen more than they fear Allah? They fear policemen more than they fear Allah, because according to them, policemen and not Allah have the power to take away their money, in case they do not follow traffic laws. In order to make the peoples to follow traffic laws we must ensure the peoples know that at all time in Malaysia there are always traffic policemen around the corners ,watching their driving and motorcycling behaviors with their cameras. Because of this, we have no choice but to use the part-time traffic policemen who can work at assorted hours during the day and at the same time our government must embark on large scale programme of correcting belief and mindset of our motorcars drivers and motorcyclists by using audio therapy, Pemandu Bestari. It is unbecoming for Malaysia to have motorcars drivers, who like to cut queue and motorcyclists, ignoring traffic lights when Malaysia want to be known to the world as a progressive country .
Prof Dr Nasoha Saabin
August 2012
Integrative Holistic Wellness Centre

This article is meant to be a hypothesis and it needs to be validated by scientific discoveries.

Recently I went to Malacca to pay a visit to my friend Dr. Abdul Samad the Head of Department of Computer System and Communication at the University Technical Malaysia, Malacca. He invited me at the same time to give lecture to all the lecturers, students and staff of his university on the topic of stress management and performance. I was delighted by the responses from the audience towards my lecture. It was an exciting evening to be in Malacca in the month of Ramadan. In the evening, I break my fast at Hotel Seri Malaysia and after praying solat Tarawih, Dr Abdul Samad and me went to enjoy the scenery of Malacca at night by cruising along the Malacca River. The river cruise along the Malacca river costs about RM10 per person and the ride takes about 45 minutes. We had to wait for our turn to be on board the cruise and when our boat started to sail it was already 10.30 at night. During the cruise my mind started to think about the past and I was wondering how Malacca, during the time of the Sultanates of Malacca was. When the cruise reacheed the mouth of the river, I was wondering where the palace of the Sultan of Malacca was once stood. My opinion is that the Palace must had been situated somewhere near the mouth of the river but now there is not even the ruins of the Palace left to be seen.

When the Portuguese conquered Malacca, they had destroyed the Sultan’s Palace and built a settlement surrounded by a fort known nowadays as the A Formosa. When the Dutch conquered Malacca, they in turn destroyed the A Formosa and built their own fort. What we see in Malacca now, are the buildings built by the Dutch and the British and visiting these buildings make me feel sad because it reminded me of the fallen of the Great Malay Empire to the hands of the European conquerors. I am sure the Europeans had come with cannons and guns while the Malays at those times were using only swords and arrows. With scientific and technological advancements, the European conquerors were able to defeat the Great Malay Empire. Similarly now, Malaysia could easily be defeated, should her being attacked by any of the World superpowers. Malaysia should not think that everybody in the world is just like the Malays, peace loving and accommodating. Once Malaysia becomes more prosperous, other countries might want to conquer Malaysia. Malaysia should be more proactive in protecting her sovereignty. Malaysia must be well equipped with weapons that are at par or more advanced than the weapons built by those superpowers. We never know one day that these superpowers might want to conquer Malaysia the way the Portuguese and the Dutch had conquered Malacca before. Malaysia should learn from history and should be well prepared to protect its sovereignty from the threats of these superpowers. We should not just buy weapons from them forever, but we must strive to be capable of making our own weapons which shall be more advanced than their weapons. We build our own weapons not for the purpose of attacking other countries like what the European conquerors did but solely for the protection of our own sovereignty.

Where was the Palace of the Sultan of Malacca located? We should rebuild that Palace on the same site as it used to be during the time of the Sultan of Malacca, such that it may reminds us of our past glory. I think the Sultan’s Palace was once stood on top of the hill overlooking the mouth of the Malacca River. When the Portuguese destroyed the Sultan’s Palace, they did not just destroy the Palace but they also destroyed our pride and glory. We should rebuild the Sultan’s Palace on the same site and destroy whatever buildings that had been built by the Portuguese or the Dutch on its site. We should bring back our pride and glory by building the Palace again on exactly the same site as it used to be during the time of the Great Sultanate of Malacca.

Where were the graves of all the Sultan of Malacca? None of the Sultans of Malacca were buried in Malacca. Where their bodies were taken to after they died? A friend of mine who claimed to be a descendent of the Sultan of Malacca told me that when a Sultan of Malacca died, his body would be taken to the islands of Riau for burial. Why took the body to the islands of Riau for burial? What was the connection between Riau and the Malaccan Sultanate? The present historian should revisit our history. Did Parameswara really exist? Munshi Abdullah, who was an Indian in origin wrote our history. He could have created the Parameswara figure, in order to make us believe that the Sultanates of Malacca was originated from a Hindu Prince that came from Palembang and later on converted to Islam and changed his name to the Muslim name of Sultan Muzaffar Shah. In my opinion, Parameswara never existed. The first Sultan of Malacca was Sultan Muzaffar Shah and he was one of the Princes of the Sultan of Riau at that time. The Sultan of Riau had sent him to Malacca to become the Sultan of Malacca while Malacca at that time was part of the Great Malay Empire, which covered the whole of Sumatra, the Malay Peninsula, Borneo and part of Java. The Sultan of Riau also sent his princes to become the Sultans in Bengkulu and Tanjong Balai in Sumatra. Malacca is a port and a trading city that handled the business of the empire. Malays were already Muslims long before the so called Parameswara converted to Islam in 1403 AD as claimed. Islam had come to the Malay Archipelago much earlier than 1400 AD and it was impossible that a Hindu King could become the King of the Malays during the period when all Malays were Muslims.

Malays are great people, and is believed to be the descendents of one of the sons of Prophet Jacob or Yaacob. Malays are probably the lost tribe of Bani Israel that had migrated thousands of years ago from the Middle East towards the east. As they migrated towards the east, some of them probably had settled along the way while others continued the journey of migration towards the east. They followed the Himalayan range and moved southward toward the present day Vietnam and Cambodia and then they finally settled in the Malay Archipelago, particularly in the islands of Riau and Sumatra. In Riau, the Malays had established the Malay Sultanate of Riau that covered the island of Sumatra and the Malay Peninsula. The Malaccan Sultanate was part of the Sultanate of Riau. Malays in the Malay Peninsula, the islands of Riau and Sumatra belong to the same Malay race. Even though the Javanese, Banjarese, Acehnese or Bugis are able to speak Malay, but they do not belong to the Malay race.

Malays have been Muslim all the way since the time of Prophet Jacob. Malays originated from one of the sons of Prophet Jacob and since Malays are a member of the family of Bani Israel, they are indeed a special race with special qualities. The only bad quality that the Malays have is laziness. Once the Malays can overcome their laziness, they will become a very brilliant race. Malays could have acquired bad qualities after they got used to the life of comfort and peace in the peaceful Malay Archipelago for hundreds of years. The Malays settled peacefully in the Malay Archipelago and they got used to the life of abundance with plenty of food and water until they got caught in surprise by the attacks of the Portuguese in 1511 AD.

Prof Dr Nasoha Saabin
September 2010
Integrative Holistic Wellness Centre

The Dutch and the British have made the Malays to live in two divided countries, Malaysia and Indonesia. After their independence, the country colonized by the British adopts the name of Malaysia and the country colonized by the Dutch adopt the name of Indonesia. Now some Malays live in Indonesia particularly in Sumatra and the Riau Archipelago and some Malays live in Malaysia. There are also Malays who live as minority groups in Southern Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia. The Malays in Vietnam used to have a Malay Kingdom known as Champa. The Malays that settled in Riau Islands used to have their own Kingdom known as the Malay Sultanate of Riau. The administrative centre for the Malay Sultanate of Riau started in the island of Lingga and towards the ends of its glorious era moved to the small strategic island of Penyegat, an island very close to Pulau Bintan, the capital city of Tanjong Pinang. The journey by ferry from Stulang Laut in Johor Baru took us about 4 hours before we reached Tanjong Pinang. A journey by smaller speed boat to Pulau Penyegat normally takes about 30 minutes.

When we arrived at Pulau Penyegat, we immediately went to a mosque. There is only one mosque in the island named the Mosque of Sultan of Riau. The mosque was built during the time of Sultan Abdul Rahman who became the Sultan of Riau in the nineteenth century (1818 – 1832). The cement was blended with egg yolks and the mosque was built without using a nail. At the entrance of the mosque, there is a display of an Al- Quran, handwrittened by one of the learned scholars of Riau in the nineteenth century. There are many royal graves behind the Mosque. The graves with their tombstones (batu nisan) covered by a yellow cloth indicate royalty. There are so many royal graveyards in the island of Penyegat. We took a tour of the island and visited all the royal graveyards. The presence of royal graveyards in the island of Penyegat clearly indicate that once upon a time, Penyegat was an administrative centre for the Malay Sultanate of Riau. Could there be a possibility that the graves of the Sultans of Malacca are located in Pulau Penyegat or Pulau Lingga? If we can prove that the graves of the Sultans of Malacca are located in the islands of Riau then we can conclude that Malacca was only a trading port for the Malay kingdom of Riau.

Munshi Abdullah wrote that Parameswara, a Hindu Prince who came from Palembang founded Malacca. Munshi Abdullah also wrote that in Malacca, Parameswara converted to Islam and took the name of Sultan Muzaffar Shah. Did Parameswara really existed? Can we trace the origin of Parameswara from the Sultanate of Palembang? Was it true during that time that Palembang Sultanate still embrace Hinduism or had it already converted to Islam. A Batu Bersurat found in Terengganu indicated that Islam has come to the Malayan Peninsula prior to 1303 AD. Where Batu Bersurat came from? Could it be possible that the Batu Bersurat had come from the Islamic Sultanate of Malacca, as during that time there was no indication that there was an Islamic Sultanate in Terengganu?

In my opinion, there is a great possibility that the Batu Bersurat, which is a written document about Islamic laws had come from the Sultan of Malacca. Terengganu at that time could had been under the control of Malacca. In that case, Malacca must have started earlier than 1303 AD and the Sultan in Malacca was one of the Sultans in the Malay Sultanate of Riau. Recently a Batu Nisan engraved with verses from the Quran was found in Pekan, Pahang dated 1028AD. Both the Batu Bersurat in Terengganu and the Batu Nisan in Pekan, Pahang showed that Islam had come to the Malay Peninsula earlier than 1403.It was possible that the Malay Sultanate of Riau started sometimes in 900AD, and the Malays during those days had already embraced Islam. What was written by Munshi Abdullah is not necessarily true as Munshi Abdullah could have written something that he had heard from someone else? Stories passed on from one generation to another generation have very limited authenticity.

In my opinion, we should conduct research in order to ascertain what were written in our history books are accurate. Our present histories were based mainly on the writings of Munshi Abdullah. Munshi Abdullah, an Indian in origin could had written only what he heard from others. Did Munshi Abdullah have substantial evidence to show that Islam came to the Malayan Peninsula only after the conversion of Parameswara to Islam in 1403AD? Was it true what was written by Munshi Abdullah that the Sultanate of Malacca started only in 1403AD and that the Malays were Hindu prior to 1403AD? Could it be possible that the Malays have been Muslim and have never been Hindus? Javanese people are not Malays and they were Hindus before they embraced Islam. Many people can speak Malays but they are not Malays. Dato Seri Anwar Ibrahim is an Indian with some Malay blood and his wife Dr.Wan Azizah is a Chinese with some Malay blood. Their daughter Nurul Izzah is having in her more Indian blood than Chinese blood, with little Malay blood. Dato Seri Anwar Ibrahim and Dr Wan Azizah speak very fluent Bahasa Melayu but they are not Malay. Tun Abdul Razak and his son Dato Seri Najib are Bugis but they speak Bahasa Melayu more fluently than they speak Bahasa Bugis. They are having predominantly Bugis blood with some Malay blood but Bugis are not Malay people. Among all the previous Prime Ministers of Malaysia, none has or had predominantly Malay blood

Prof Dr Nasoha Saabin
October 2010
Integrative Holistic Wellness Centre

Every year operation “SIKAP” was carried out by Jabatan Pengangkutan Jalan or JPJ and met with total failure. Let us ponder and think why the operation is a failure. Undoubtedly accidents cause loss of properties and human capital to the nation. Although we know the reason why we have many road accidents, we are not doing anything to rectify it. We know that road accidents are caused by bad behaviour or bad “SIKAP” on the road but we do not know how to treat bad behaviour or bad “SIKAP”. Who knows the treatment for bad behaviour? Policemen and JPJ officers do not know the treatment for behaviour as it involves the science of human behaviour and the science of medical treatment. Unless there are Policemen or JPJ officers who specialise in the areas of human behaviour and treatment, policemen and JPJ officers will never have a clue on the treatment of human behaviour or “SIKAP”. People who are interested in the treatment of behaviour are doctors who are interested in behavioural therapy. There are very few doctors who are interested in behaviour because most doctors are only interested in removing the symptoms of the diseases and not on the treatment of diseases. Only doctors who are interested in the treatment of diseases holistically are interested in the treatment of behaviour. People such as policemen and JPJ officers who constantly think on catching lawbreakers will not be given the knowledge on behavioural treatment by Allah. Instead they should consult and listen to advice from doctors who specialise in behavioural treatment, and carry out their recommendations.
Every year JPJ officers conduct Operation “SIKAP” or in short “Ops SIKAP” aiming at reducing road accidents. In my opinion “Ops SIKAP” is only in name to reduce accident by improving “SIKAP” of drivers. In reality it is only an operation to issue summons to drivers who do not adhere to traffic rules. It did nothing to improve the “SIKAP” or behaviour of drivers. It is ridiculous to treat bad behaviour with traffic summons. We may issue many summonses to drivers who break the law, but this will prompt them to change their bad behaviour. Behaviour is not related to the issuance of summons. Instead it is related to wrong mindset and wrong belief in driving. As long as we do not change the mindset and belief of our drivers, we will not be able to change their bad driving manners. What can change the mindset and belief of our car drivers, which consequently will change their behaviour for the better? It is not summons or drugs or foods. With all due respect to our law enforcers who are experts in law enforcement, these questions may only be answered by doctors who specialise in behavioural therapy. Mindset and belief can only be changed through spoken words and heard repeatedly over a period of time. The younger the person, and the more repetitive the words are spoken and heard by him, the better will be the results. Our behaviour results from our belief and mindset. Belief and mindset are the result of words we hear and utter repeatedly since the day we were born. We cannot change bad behaviour through eating good food, issuing summons or through punishments or drugs administration. Instead we can change bad behaviour by using a therapy known as self-talk therapy. Self-talk therapy is a therapy to change a person’s mindset and belief, whereby he needs to listen and repeat specific words (short sentences) over and over again for a certain period of time.
About five years ago, I presented the therapy aptly named “PEMANDU BESTARI” to Jabatan Keselamatan Jalan Raya (JKJR) and JPJ. JKJR was impressed, but JPJ was otherwise. JPJ was not interested because, in their view, the inclusion of therapy session requirement will increase the financial burden of consumers. Because of this, the therapy was not used as part of the requirement to obtain or renew driving licence in Malaysia. I think many people including JPJ officials think that it is easy to treat bad behaviour that only by issuing traffic summons to the drivers who flout traffic rules, their bad driving behaviour will be transformed easily to good driving behaviour. How many years have the JPJ officials been conducting the operation known as OPS “SIKAP” but still the bad “SIKAP” or behaviour of Malaysian drivers remain the same or worsening. It is an embarrassing fact that the road accidents statistics is continually on the rise in spite of OPS “SIKAP”. OPS “SIKAP” in my opinion is a total failure. Continuing doing something which has been proven a failure is a sign of utter foolishness. Malaysians are known to have bad behaviour only when they are driving. Bad behaviour while driving is associated with the unique bad qualities that most Malaysians tend to have particularly when they drive. Many Malaysians are highly emotional when they are driving. They can easily get angry or irritated with another driver who is perceived as showing-off their cars or driving ability. Many Malaysians treat the act of driving as a means to show off their flashy cars and driving skill instead of as a means to reach their destination. Many believe and think that their skill and speed in driving, instead of Allah, will cause them to reach their destination. In reality only Allah can cause them to reach their destination safely. When they believe that Allah is the only One who can cause them to reach their destination safely, only then they will drive according to the traffic regulations. Driving following the regulation means we are obeying the orders of Allah. Malaysians must believe that when they are following the traffic rules they are obeying the orders of Allah. Their intention of driving following the traffic rules should be only to please Allah until Allah is pleased. When Allah is pleased Allah will protect and prevent us from all the calamities on the road. Many Malaysians think that driving good cars is a sign of success and driving cars faster than others is a sign of manliness. In reality when a person drives according to the rules laid down by the government they are obeying the orders of Allah. When they obey the orders of Allah to please Allah until Allah is pleased with them, they will become successful.
Many motorcyclists ride against traffic laws because they believe that traffic laws abeyance are meant for drivers and not for them. Riders mainly belong to young groups of people who are highly emotional and ultra sensitive. They regard riding not as a means to reach their destination but as a mean to show off their pride and glamour. Many young motorcyclists use the road as a means to show off their riding skill by riding faster than others. The motorcyclists’ bad behaviour is the result of their wrong beliefs and mindset. “OPS SIKAP” and summons issuing will not eliminate the riders’ bad behaviour. Undoubtedly the government gain money when people settle the summons, but no amount of money collected can offset the loss of properties and human capital. Due to road accidents, our country not only loses properties but also many important and valuable human capitals that we badly need. Road accidents can be prevented and minimised by giving proper treatment for bad behaviour or “SIKAP”. I have presented this to Mr. Surat Singh, the Director General of JKJR and JPJ officials and I think it is time to revisit the use of therapy in preventing road accidents. The introduction of road safety as a subject in our school curriculum will not change the people’s driving behaviour. They may pass the subject on road safety but that does not change their wrong mindset and belief on driving. Knowledge does not change behaviour but mindset and belief do. In order to develop good driving behaviour among Malaysian motorists we urgently need to use the therapy.
Any delay in therapy implementation will result in more accidents on Malaysian road particularly during festive period. With more accidents we will suffer more loss of properties and human life. With the implementation of the therapy we may not expect a sudden drop in road accidents. Instead we may expect to witness a gradual and steady drop in road accidents. We have no other ways to treat bad behaviour. The self-talk therapy is the only method available at the moment which is simple and practical to treat behaviour. Without the government intervention no one will be likely to use the therapy because it is only to change their behaviour. Malaysians will only use the therapy if there are material gains. If the government can impose the rules that driving licence will not be issued unless they pass the test on self-talk therapy, then everyone will take the therapy seriously. If our government is very serious in lowering the road accidents statistics in Malaysia, the government must make it compulsory for all motor vehicle drivers to pass the test on self-talk therapy known as “Pemandu Bestari”. The government can charge the public to buy the therapy programme at a minimum and affordable price. Compared to the huge amount of property and life losses as a result of road accidents, the cost of self-therapy programme is so marginal. In my opinion the use of therapy is so pertinent and effective in reducing the road accidents statistics in Malaysia. Road accidents caused many wives to be widows, husbands without wives and children became orphans. Road accidents are analogous to diseases and it is preventable and treatable. It is the government’s responsibility to take the correct action to stop or at least to reduce the road accidents statistics in Malaysia. Road accidents are not “nasib” or “takdir” that cannot be avoided. Road accidents become our “takdir” because we do not treat the “disease” when we actually have the treatments in our hands.
Our current practice of preferring to issue traffic summons to traffic rules violators will not help us solve our problems in the long run. The statistics of road accidents in Malaysia will continue on the increase following the increase of motor vehicles driven by drivers with bad behaviour. The government must take drastic and practical actions to stop the increase of road accidents. Lectures, advice or songs are insufficient to reduce the number road accidents. The treatment of bad behaviour on the road by using self-talk therapy will Insya’Allah help to reduce road accidents in Malaysia.
Prof Dr Nasoha Saabin
October 2011
Integrative Holistic Wellness Centre