Biar Cherdik

Bismillahirrahmanirrahim.
Assalamualaikum wbt.

1. Pilihan raya kian hampir.

2. Antara yang rancak sekarang ialah kempen demi kempen.

3. Maka banyaklah fakta dan auta yang keluar.

4. Saya ingin mengajak agar kita lebih cerdik dalam beberapa perkara penting tentang statistik yang dikeluarkan.

5. Jangan biarkan diri kita ditipu begitu mudah.

6. Pertama, terdapat istilah seperti relative number dan absolute number.

7. Contoh relative number ialah dalam bentuk peratusan. Contohnya 50%.

8. Contoh absolute number pula ialah seperti 50.

9. Apa bezanya? 

10. Contoh mudah. Katakan saya kata saya ada RM50. 

11. Kawan saya namanya Ally pulak katanya ada 50% daripada duit saya.

12. Walaupun angkanya adalah sama (angka 5 dan 0) dalam RM50 dan 50%, namun maksudnya berbeza.

13. Kalau kita tukarkan dua-dua tadi dalam bentuk absolute number, saya ada RM50 dan Ally pulak hanya ada 50% daripada RM50 yakni RM25.

14. Maka, saya lebih banyak duit daripada Ally. 50% hanya relative number sahaja.

15. Demikian pula katakan saya kata Ally hanya ada 1% daripada kekayaan ayahnya.

16. Dan ayahnya ada RM1 juta.

17. Maka 1% dan RM50 memang nampak macam RM50 lebih besar. Tapi 1% daripada RM 1 juta ditukarkan dalam bentuk absolute number ialah RM 10 000!

18. Justeru, saya mintak kita jangan tertipu dengan angka melainkan kita betul-betul faham maksudnya.

19. Ada satu lagi contoh (yang lebih kompleks tetapi penting) saya nak kongsikan, kemudian saya tutup artikel ni.

20. Dari segi statistik.

21. Katakan hari ini saya kata pada tahun 2013, terdapat 50% pelajar UiTM lulus ujian.

22. Dan saya bandingkan dengan tahun 2012, yang hanya terdapat 10% yang lulus ujian.

23. Bayangkan pada tahun 2012 dan 2013, terdapat jumlah pelajar UiTM seramai 100 orang.

24. Sepintas lalu, kita akan kata, tahun 2013 menunjukkan ada peningkatan yang jauh lebih baik (daripada 10% kepada 50% peratus pelajar lulus).

25. Tapi hati-hati, kita mungkin tertipu. Caranya adalah untuk memahami dahulu apa kriteria untuk lulus.

26. Katakan pada tahun 2013, markah untuk lulus ialah 50 markah.

27. Dan pada tahun itu, seramai 50 orang mendapat 50 markah atau lebih, maka secara automatik ada 50 orang (yakni 50%)  yang lulus.

28. Tapi pada tahun sebelumnya, markah lulus ialah 70 markah (kriteria berbeza).

29. Bayangkan kalau 90 orang pada tahun 2012 mendapat markah 60 dan selebihnya (10 orang) mendapat 70 markah ke atas.

30. Maka hanya sepuluh orang (10%) sahaja yang dikira lulus pada tahun 2012, sedangkan 90% yang lain dikira gagal kerana mendapat kurang daripada 70 markah.

31. Padahal, 90 orang yang lain semuanya mendapat markah 60 dan sepatutnya dikira sebagai pelajar yang lulus jika kriteria tahun 2013 (50 markah sudah lulus) diambil kira.

32. Dengan kata lain, jika kita membuat perbandingan yang adil (apple to apple) maka kita akan dapati bahawa menggunakan kriteria 50 markah sebagai markah lulus, walaupun 50% pelajar lulus pada tahun 2013, sebenarnya tahun sebelumnya (2012), SEMUA PELAJAR LULUS!

33. Ringkasnya, fakta sekarang sudah jadi terbalik. Tadi kita ingat tahun 2013 menunjukkan peningkatan. Tetapi realiti sebenar adalah sebaliknya.

34. Demikianlah antara beberapa perkara berkaitan angka yang saya rasa orang awam perlu fahami agar tak tertipu.

35. Walaupun contoh yang saya bagi hanyalah dalam bentuk teori, tetapi realitinya ia berlaku dan menjadi alat mudah untuk menipu orang yang tak berilmu.

36. Contoh paling mudah adalah jika kita ambil pertumbuhan ekonomi negara.

37. Katakan hari ini pertumbuhan ekonomi Singapura ialah 1% dan kita pula 5%.

38. Kita mungkin dengan mudahnya menganggap kita lebih baik daripada Singapura.

39. Tapi tak semestinya.

40. Kenapa? Ya, kerana angka itu ialah relative number.  Dan seperti yang disebutkan dalam contoh teori di atas, kita kena ambil kira bagaimana angka ini didatangkan.

41. Misalnya, pertumbuhan ekonomi jika dikira berdasarkan Keluaran Dalam Negara Kasar (KDNK) negara (Perhatian: Ini contoh sahaja).

42. Jika KDNK negara kita ialah RM100 billion dan KDNK negara Singapura pula ialah (dalam matawang Malaysia) RM 700 billion, maka 1% daripada RM700 billion lebih baik berbanding 5% daripada RM100 billion!

43. Dengan kata lain, dalam bentuk absolute number, pertumbuhan ekonomi negara kita hanya RM 5 billion (5% KDNK) berbanding negara Singapura iaitu sejumlah RM 7 billion (1% KDNK).

44. Ini belum lagi diperincikan lebih lanjut lagi, contohnya dengan mengambil kira bilangan penduduk negara. Kerana pastinya apabila lebih ramai penduduk, sepatutnya pertumbuhan ekonomi dan pendapatan negara lebih besar.

45. Oleh itu, dengan logik mudah, kita memerlukan pertumbuhan ekonomi yang lebih besar untuk menampung bilangan rakyat yang lebih ramai berbanding Singapura.

46. Dengan kata lain, berhati-hatilah dengan angka. Jangan sampai cempedak menjadi nangka. Kelak menyesal penuh duka. 

47. Sebagai penutup, suka saya kaitkan sikit dengan Al-Quran. Dalam Al-Quran itu, bukan sekadar huruf yang kita lihat dan baca.

48. Di dalamnya mengandungi maksud yang mendalam lebih dalam daripada lautan terdalam.

49. Dan wujudnya ia anugerah terbesar buat seluruh alam, baik siang mahupun malam, mana mungkin tak rasa tergamam. Saya akhiri dengan Allahuaklam.

Wassalamualaikum wbt.

Takbir!!

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Ocean

Bismillahirrahmanirrahim.

Assalamualaikum wbt.

1. I am always fascinated by the fact that we mankind are very much limited with knowledge. It is far from being the same like the quantity of water in the ocean.

2. Nonetheless, even ocean, if likened to knowledge, has limits. Hence the sandy beach.

3. But when we think of our knowledge as maybe only a drop of water, God's knowledge is not even only the ocean, lest we forget.

Say: "If the ocean were ink (wherewith to write out) the words of my Lord, sooner would the ocean be exhausted than would the words of my Lord, even if we added another ocean like it, for its aid."
Surah Al-Kahf, aayat no. 109

4. It is said that one who gains knowledge will start to feel arrogant. Then he gains more knowledge, and starts to feel humble. Then he gains even more knowledge, and begins to realize that he knows nothing.

5. I am writing this article as a brief commentary to an open letter by Mr Ravinder (MR) to Datuk Ridhuan Tee (DRT) which concerns Islam and the entire ummah in its general sense (I believe so, not to exaggerate).

6. The open letter (here) is actually a response to DRT's article (here).

7. One would agree with me that the series of questions written by MR has very much to do with the concept of justice in Islam.

8. Nevertheless what is also interesting is to carefully analyse one of the things he pointed out in the article.

9. On his sixth question, he explicitly (and precisely) argues that had there been more than one God, they (the Gods) will fight between each other! Indeed this is already mentioned in the Quran more than 14 hundred years ago in Surah Al-Mu'minun, aayat no. 91.

10. I don't think MR is a Muslim (please correct me if my fact is wrong), but it is something huge (on his part as a non-Muslim) to agree to the concept of monotheism in Islam, that there is no God but only One God, whose name is Allah (not a name Muslims nor anybody give, but revealed by Allah Himself).

11. Though there are 2 more religions other than Islam that claim to be monotheistic, Islam however makes it explicit and strongly emphasized that not only God is One, He doesn't beget neither begotten and that He does not appear to be in three persons, as believed by the Christians.

12. Now, as to the problems of injustice by God, we Muslims believe that if He is unjust, then He can't be a God in the first place. In fact, it is a blatant injustice to think that God is unjust.

13. For instance, MR questioned that if God were to punish non-Muslims in Hell, why create non-Muslims in the first place?

14. The answer to this question will cover and address many other questions also in the article.

15. Islam teaches us that Allah has created every baby born to be pure, and therefore, effectively a Muslim, even if he was born into a non-Muslim family.

16. What this means is simple. If a baby from a non-Muslim family dies before reaching an age that he can consciously and freely choose to be or not to be a Muslim, then he will die as a Muslim.

17. So those who ask question to God, should now ask themselves this question. If you already know that God will punish non-Muslims in Hellfire, why on earth now do you want to remain a non-Muslim?

18. In other words, God gives us the free will.

19. Let's consider a very simple analogy. Yes, God has created fire to be hot and destructive. But you have the free will (by permission of God) to use your intellect not to burn yourself with the fire. If you jump into the fire and die, will you then blame God?

20. I'll address 2 more main questions from the article, then I'll wrap up and finish.

21. On the issue raised that one who becomes a Muslim will then become a Malay, that is simply a misunderstanding.

22. Islam has very much affected the way the Malays think and the way the Malays lead their life to an extent that it's very difficult to separate between Islam and Malay (in Malaysia).

23. Undoubtedly, it has done the same to people from many different parts of the world too, proving how 'compatible' Islam is with every human being, regardless of their background, skin color and origin.

24. However, Islam never says that one has to change his blood if he were to become a Muslim.

25. Instead, Islam with its flexibility and universality does acknowledge certain parts of variety in religious practice that conforms to factors such as the place where one lives.

26. There is no doubt that in Malaysia, most Muslims are the Malays. Hence, it seems as if the Islamic culture is constructed in a way that is very closely related to the culture of the Malays. One simple example would be the way the Muslims dress. As if a Muslim is one who adorns himself with Baju Melayu or Baju Kurung traditionally worn by the Malays.

27. This is a fact to acknowledge. However one should avoid going to an extreme to say that this is the only option.

28. I personally believe, in reality, if a Muslim Chinese for instance were to wear Baju Melayu or Baju Kurung, he is still a Chinese by blood. And it is not wrong for him to wear other than Baju Melayu, the same way it's not wrong for him to wear Baju Melayu.

29. Ultimately, one who forces a Chinese or Indian Muslim to wear what the Muslim Malay wears is not doing the right thing. Similarly, one can not say that those non-Malay Muslims who wear any Malay traditional clothes is now becoming a Malay!

30. That's unfair and may have originated from a sick heart, if not arrogance. Wal 'iyaa zubillah.

31. The last point to make here is on the absurdity of MR's claim that God is partial (pilih kasih) if He only loves people who profess a certain religion.

32. Look. This is not a question of love from a mother to her different children who decide to choose different flavors of ice cream. Of course the mother should love all the children despite their different preference for ice cream flavors.

33. When it comes to religion though, it's totally a different issue. If one of the children, not only hates his mother, but also claims that he comes from another mother and that his real mother doesn't even exist in the first place, than the real mother has all the right not to love such an ungrateful child!

34. Similarly, in matters of religion, one has to carefully make comparison between their concepts of God.

35. When one religion believes in One only true God, and the other believing in not only other God but many Gods, both religions can't be correct! It's impossible for blue to be the same with green.

36. So the blame is not on God. The blame is on one who arrogantly denies truth in the first place. And of course I as a Muslim believes that Islam is the only accepted religion and if you beg to differ, then you, just like me, have the responsibility to prove your case.

37. That is however a completely different issue to discuss at length here.

38. The main point is that, it is rational to accept the fact that only one religion is true and accepted by God, if the religion itself, differs significantly in its fundamental teachings.

39. In other words, 2 plus 2 can't be other number than 4. As simple as that.

40. To conclude, I would like to invite all of us the Muslims to struggle (jihad) on learning 'ilm (knowledge).

41. We should not let this world distract us, if we realize that we are all travelers or wayfarers who seek life on earth no other than to know Allah better.

42. Our destination is there. This is only a journey.

43. The moment we understand the importance of knowledge, we will then appreciate the importance of education. This is what we have to extensively address in this age of trials and tribulations.

44. Be inspired by the knowledge of God.

45. Look at the photo above. Imagine how many components are involved just to make a car.

46. But this invention is never close to the magnificent beauty of our own creation.

47. As a simple illustration, if we were to take out our blood vessels and measure its length, we will be very surprised that it is 95 000 km long, twice the distance one can make around this entire globe. And that is just in one single man!

48. Subhanallah, exalted is He.

"........Not a leaf falls but that He knows it......."
Surah Al-An'am, aayat no. 59

49. We can't even count exactly how many trees are there on earth. Not even how many species of trees. Let alone to count the number of leaves born by trees.

50. Or even if we could, we will never be able to be aware of every single one of it when it falls. But Allah knows. Nothing can escape from the knowledge of Him the Almighty, All-Knowing.

51. Can you see how little and tiny we are in the sight of God?

52. Yet we dare not to believe in Him?

53. Hence again, I would like to call upon myself and all Muslims out there to increase our love for knowledge ('ilm).

54. And We Muslims should most importantly seek knowledge to know God with certainty (al-yaqeen). That is the most important knowledge of all. 

55. Otherwise, we will not gain the peace (salaam) we always long for and suffer from too many uncertainties (syak) and unsolved questions.

56. We decide. To choose to swim in the ocean. Or drowned by questions.

57. Allahuaklam. Wassalamualaikum wbt.

Read more "Ocean"

Doa, Berdoa dan Didoakan

Bismillahirrahmanirrahim.

Assalamualaikum wbt.

1. Kita umat Islam dibekalkan senjata.

2. Tapi kita bukan terrorist. Senjata kita ialah doa.

Surah Ali-'Imran: Potongan ayat 173

3. Kerana doa itu tanda kebergantungan kita pada Allah SWT. Cukuplah hanya Allah sebagai pelindung kita. Cukup cukup sudah... cukup hanyalah Allah saja..... *nyanyi sikit boleh?*

4. Bila sebut tentang terrorist apa yang cukup menarik ialah kaitannya dengan perkataan jihad.

5. Orang yang tak faham (termasuk orang Islam), bila sebut jihad, terus ingat bom, berani mati, perang, bunuh orang dan lain-lain.

6. Padahal orang yang berjihadlah orang yang paling aman (peaceful).

7. Kerana jihad daripada perkataan Arab, jahada, membawa maksud bersungguh-sungguh dan berusaha keras (to strive or struggle).

8. Maka sesiapa yang bersungguh-sungguh (berjihad) dalam mempertahankan kesabaran dan melawan nafsu marahnya, dialah orang yang akan dulu sekali mengelak daripada menzalimi orang lain, baik bergaduh, berperang, mahupun mengambil nyawa orang lain (membunuh).

9. Dengan kata lain, kalau betul-betul difahami istilah jihad, orang bukan Islam bukan akan takut pada perkataan itu, malah mereka yang akan menyeru umat Islam agar berjihad!

10. Penting: Kita tak boleh nafikan bahawa berjuang di medan perang itu salah satu bentuk jihad yang diiktiraf oleh Islam (bukan fokus artikel ini). Maka, penjelasan saya di atas bukan berniat untuk menyempitkan pemahaman kita pada istilah jihad.

11. Baik. Kita sambung. Kita sembang.

12. Kita tak berdoa hanya selepas solat dan dengan menadah tangan ke langit.

13. Bahkan nama orang yang kita panggil pun satu doa. Begitu juga nama kita. Ia satu doa insya Allah. 

P/S: Nama saya Asyraf ;-)

14. Moga segala yang baik keluar daripada mulut kita diaminkan oleh para malaikat.

15. Sesungguhnya Allah Maha Mendengar dan Maha mengabulkan doa.

16. Lihat bagaimana Nabi SAW sentiasa mendoakan sahabat. 

17. Contohnya, Anas bin Malik RA.

18. Nabi SAW mendoakan rezeki dan anak-anak yang banyak kepadanya serta keberkatan bagi kedua-duanya.

19. Berkat doa Nabi SAW, harta Anas bin Malik cukup banyak dan Allah SWT telah mengurniakannya lebih 100 orang anak masha Allah!

20. Adab kita terhadap para Rasul pun disulam dengan doa. Bukankah kita berselawat jika kita menyebut nama Muhammad bin Abdullah kekasih Allah?

21. Allahumma solli wa sallim 'ala sayyidina habibina Muhammad.. 

22. Begitu juga yang lain. Adam AS. Idris AS. Ibrahim AS. Musa AS. Isa AS.

23. AS bukan Amerika Syarikat. AS di sini maksudnya 'Alaihis Salam (kudoakan baginya keselamatan). Kita mendoakan para nabi yang terdahulu. Tidak lupa para sahabat Nabi (radhiallahu anhum- moga Allah meredhai mereka) dan juga para ulamak (rahimahumullah- moga Allah merahmati mereka).

24. Malah bila berterima kasih pun kita berdoa.

25. Jazakumullahu khairan kaseera. Erti ucapan terima kasih ini ialah semoga Allah membalas kepadamu dengan ganjaran (kebaikan) yang sebanyak-banyaknya.

26. Masha Allah. Kalau kita berterima kasih, berapa banyaklah sangat kasih kita yang hanya diungkapkan dengan kata-kata itu.

27. Namun berterima kasih dengan MENDOAKAN ganjaran daripada Allah SWT adalah satu hadiah yang cukup berharga. Kerana perbendaharaan Allah tiada had dan tak putus-putus!

28. Doa lain yang saya nak sentuh ialah amalan memberi salam. Sedar tak kita bahawa ia satu doa?

29. Assalamualaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh.

30. Ertinya: (Ku doakan) keselamatan dan kesejahteraan bagimu, serta rahmat Allah dan keberkatan-Nya.

31. Bahkan dalam syurga nanti, kita akan sentiasa mendengar ucapan salam ini. Malah daripada Allah SWT. Subhanallah!

32. Ertinya: (Mereka juga beroleh) ucapan salam sejahtera daripada Tuhan yang Maha Mengasihani. Rujuk Surah Yaasin, ayat 57.

33. Sebagai penutup, izinkan saya sentuh isu yang meletup.

34. Politik dan kesatuan umat Islam.

35. Pilihan Raya kian hampir. Saya nak bertanding. Eh tak. Saya nak bersanding. Eh, pun tak. Saya nak membanding. Ok kali ni betul.

36. Nak banding apa?

37. Doa kita. Perhatikanlah. Jika kita ada sifat ikhlas, insya Allah lain cara kita berfikir tentang orang lain.

38. Kenapa kita fikir kita saja yang betul?

39. Saya tak mahu berhujah panjang. Cuma satu saja pinta saya.

40. Kalau parti politik, memang dah biasa sangat tu. Tapi saya nak bercakap tentang persatuan dan badan-badan bukan kerajaan (NGO) lain. Terutamanya yang berjuang atas nama Islam.

41. Pelajar dan siswa selalunya memang aktif berpersatuan.

42. Ingatlah. Islam menggalakkan berlumba-lumba membuat kebaikan.

43. Tetapi bukan berlumba-lumba menafikan kebaikan orang.

44. Kalau persatuan yang kita sertai hari ni, ada sikap seolah-olah itulah persatuan yang terbaik, sekaligus memasukkan perasaan negatif terhadap persatuan yang lain, tinggalkanlah persatuan itu. Seriously.

45. Kalau tak mahu, janganlah terikut-ikut.

46. Kita semua, ada kelemahan. Tapi kita semua ada peranan.

47. Mainkan peranan itu. Iktiraf sumbangan orang lain.

48. Dan saya harap tiada sangka buruk terhadap saya.

49. Demi Allah, saya bukan tujukan kepada mana-mana persatuan secara tunggal.

50. Cuma saya perhatikan, seolah-olah ia ada di mana-mana. Membunuh semangat kesatuan. 

51. Dari dalam. Menusuk tajam. Kejam.

52. Ingatlah akan pesan Allah SWT melalui kisah iblis yang kafir akibat sifat bongkak dan besar kepala.

53. Kata iblis (ketika diminta sujud hormat Nabi Adam AS), "Aku lebih baik daripadanya. Engkau (Allah) ciptakan aku daripada api, dia daripada tanah." Surah Al-A'raf, ayat 12.

54. Suka saya tamatkan celoteh kali ini dengan mengambil satu ayat Al-Quran (malah ini satu doa) yang cukup bermakna untuk kita renungi dan amalkan bersama-sama insya Allah.

"Wahai Tuhan Kami! Ampunkanlah dosa kami dan dosa saudara-saudara kami yang mendahului kami dalam iman, dan janganlah Engkau jadikan dalam hati perasaan hasad dengki dan dendam terhadap orang-orang yang beriman. Wahai Tuhan kami! Sesungguhnya Engkau Amat Melimpah Belas kasihan dan RahmatMu."

(Surah Hasyr, ayat 10)

55. Berdoalah. Insya Allah kita akan sentiasa didoakan. 

Wallahuaklam. Wassalamualaikum wbt.

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Reversing The Tape

Bismillahirrahmanirrahim.
Assalamualaikum wbt.

1. Entertainment is one of the ways through which foreign idea finds its way into the mind of Muslims.

2. Because we may regard it as an entertainment, we may not realize that it is forbidden in Islam, or that it can harmfully affect the way we think or perceive something.

3. One quick example is gambling and betting. It may be a form of very popular entertainment, but the fact that it entertains, doesn't make it automatically permissible in Islam.

4. Sports is another example that can be used as a disguise to manipulate our pure mind. 

5. For instance, the pole dancing, which is popular in strip clubs (and of course you'll have cheap naked or almost naked women performing- please don't imagine) is now disguised as a form of sports. Seriously I ain't kidding. Perhaps, acrobatic gymnastics sounds more 'scientific and sporting' and that's what pole dancing is now representing.

6. This is very dangerous. People forget, that Rose for instance, even if we call it Lily, it still smells like a Rose.

7. Let me give you one last very good example.

8. Are you gay?

9. Some decades ago, it is absolutely okay for a Muslim like me to say that I am gay. Because gay simply means 'happy' do you know that?

10. So now gay means to be homosexual (may Allah protect us), don't even dare to say that you are gay in the public! (not that you can be privately gay ok =p)

11. The point here is, our mind is being exploited in such pitiful ways.

12. Because we think that gay means happy, so it's ok to have homosexuals because they are happy! This is the way the brain works! We'll be inclined to accept something bad if it's dubbed with some kind of nice names! Beware!

13. I actually wanted to talk about something else hehe.

14. But still, this has everything to do with media and entertainment.

15. This is my personal opinion, my personal observation. With due respect, you may not agree. I accept that wholeheartedly insya Allah.

16. From my point of view, there is (as if) a 'wonderful' process of building a society in Malaysia with strong faith in ghost.

17. Not faith in God, but faith in ghost.

I hope I have carefully picked the least horror photo ;-)

18. Here is how I see it works.

19. First, there will be a story about love. A strong powerful love. Then comes jealousy and hatred, and then murder (a tragedy). Then the murdered becomes a ghost, searching revenge and haunt the murderer and other people. Typical. Yet effective to make one 'believes' in ghost.

20. Let's track the flow again. You have firstly love, then a tragedy and then puff! Comes a ghost.

21. Look, why don't we reverse the tape?

22. Alright, think of this very carefully now. This is the 'reversal'. The one we should have adopted.

23. Firstly, we can learn about God. Allah, the One and Only God. 

24. From there, we understand that life is a test and the 'examiner' is God. So any form of tragedy is no longer a tragedy, but a test instead! Rather than dealing with it with frustration, we will equip ourselves with contentment and patience (redha and sobr) because that is the purpose of a test in the first place!

25. This (contentment and patience) is a proof of eeman and love that we have towards Allah, which will eventually help us attain peace and serenity.

26. Can you see the backward flow now?

27. We are reversing the tape.

28. Earlier we have (1) Love -> (2) Tragedy -> (3) Ghost

29. Now reversing it backward, we eliminate ghost and bring in God (Allah) to create a better story line!

(3) Peace  <- (2) Test (Contentment) <- (1) God

30. And that's all for now.

31. Thank you for your time. Let's learn about God, not ghost. Fear the former, not the latter.

Wallahuaklam. Wassalamualaikum wbt.

P/S: By the way, seriously I am not gay.

Let's reverse the tape..

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