Asiah Abd Jalil

   Hari ni buka Friendster, wow… I have caused a stir because of my previous entry. As predicted, ramai yang terasa, even though I didn’t mention any name. Tapi kerana I bercakap secara general, maka kelihatannya I was referring to the whole batch as macam hampas. It was an experiment, and I did find what I wished for. Anyway, no regret. Siapa terasa, terasalah. Anyone can drop comments, in fact feel free to counter attack me in your own blog. People insist me untuk express depan-depan next time, don’t be coward, don’t just use faked freedom over the internet. Yes, I’ve tried once, in fact twice, or maybe thrice, I mean regarding pre-law students’ issues. And each time I did that, I received arguments juga, pros and conts. That is life, there will always be a group of people who are with you and another group who are against you.

   For the last few days, I’ve been busy SMSing. Again, I involved myself in arguments. Normally I pick persons to argue with. I don’t like arguments that bring me nowhere or give me nothing or with the persons I don’t care. But for the past few days, I argued with someone whom I respect so much through out my entire life. My aim was not to win the arguments, but to just cause a stir, to cause doubt and to induce further investigations. Today the arguments are over, after lots of lazer-melazer, ungkit-mengungkit, rude questions and character killing. How did it end? After I explained why I am so firm with what I hold on to. Am I satisfied? No! I feel bad. But I learned something. It would be much easier if we be sincere right from the beginning. Sometimes unnecessary arguments could totally be avoided by just being open. Getting hurt at the initial stage is better than at later stage.

   And today, I have successfully membunuh karektor seseorang, in English it is called character killing. In law, it is a weapon usually used in court untuk memusnahkan kredibiliti witnesses. Just watch a few legal dramas and you will understand what I mean. Hinakah perbuatan membunuh karektor seseorang? Dalam Islam, it is allowed when it involves legal issues. For example, penagih arak tak layak jadi saksi, buktikan dia penagih arak, dan kesaksiannya di mahkamah boleh ditolak. Itu bicara undang-undang. Tapi adakah patut kita membunuh karektor orang di sekeliling kita? Lebih-lebih lagi orang-orang who are close to us. Itulah yang cuba I elakkan. I tak mahu benda-benda buruk tu terbongkar dek kerana lidah I. Biarlah ia diketahui melalui orang lain dan medium lain. But at last, yang cuba dielak itulah yang berlaku. And the person whom I argued with now feels cheated and backstabbed, sebab dia tak diberitahu lebih awal tentang character the person in question.

   If I am a practising lawyer, kemampuan untuk character killing is an asset. Untuk membunuh karektor dan kredibiliti seseorang, you have to dig his history, his past, his records, his background, his social circle, his affiliations, etc. It requires extra efforts, good contacts, creativity and wisdom, and add sedikit perasaan tak belas kasihan. I am sure I will learn about it more during my degree program and during chambering, if I get the chance. For the time being, apa yang I buat adalah semberono, mengikut perasaan dan emosi, tak professional, and maybe I have to admit this, berniat jahat. I tak suka jadi jahat. Tapi I tak kisah dilabel orang mulut lazer, as long as I tahu apa yang I cakap tu betul. Masalahnya, ada orang yang look up at you, and believe deeply in what you say. Maka when you talk bad about someone, you have actually killed that person’s character when many people really trust you on that facts. Worse case scenario bila orang menyebarkan pula cerita tu claiming that ianya dipetik dari sumber sahih.

   Abang cakap sometimes I ni kejam, sesuai la I ambil bidang undang-undang. Kalau jadi public prosecutor, agaknya takde belas kasihan dah to the accused. Hehehe, I choose to take that as pujian, instead of bad label. Sometimes I kutuk artis macam nak rak. I pernah argued dengan seorang sister in tabligh ni. She said, daripada kita kutuk artis tu, baik kita doakan dia, entah-entah satu hari nanti si artis jadi lebih baik dari kita. I replied, kita kutuk apa yang dia lakukan sekarang, kalau dia berfoya-foya kat night club, minum arak, kena tangkap khalwat, kutuk apa yang dia buat, sebab malaikat pun kutuk orang macam tu. Kalau semua ahli masyarakat tak nak kutuk, sebaliknya diam diri dan berdoa supaya si artis berubah, maka berleluasalah perbuatan maksiat tu sebab takde positive disapproval from the society. Sometimes I pun pelik. Reporters melaporkan macam-macam keburukan artis, memang character killing habis, tapi kita boleh seronok pulak baca kat tabloid, dah tu populariti artis tu melonjak gila-gila lepas tu.

   Setiap kita ada dark sides of ourselves. Jangan ingat character killing ni kat bab-bab serius macam jenayah, moral dan akhlak aje. Kalau you ada kes tak bayar income tax ke, tak settle credit cards ke, etc. itu pun boleh jadi elemen nak mengganggu hidup you. Macam Ustaz Harun Din, pernah sekali dia tak boleh jadi calon pilihan raya sebab dia pernah jamin sorang student belajar and that student had failed to pay back the loan, Ustaz Harun Din was only a guarantor, itu pun dijadikan issue oleh opponents. Itulah dunia. Itulah manusia. Of course judgment manusia takkan boleh seadil judgment Allah di Padang Mahsyar.