End of the 2009 Challenge

1. The 2009 Title Challenge

From not wanting to believe we could mount a title challenge, to ruing the fact that this could have been our year but for the unfortunate home draws against the lesser clubs. To me, it was a simple question of belief, which in the beginning was emerging but did not have the fullest conviction. Yet after the destruction of RM and MU, we could see the measured performances against all-comers, the ability to raise our game to not just win, but destroy the opposition. By then, of course, MU had the advantage – four, and then six points ahead, leaving the challenge to die after MU’s Arsenal draw.

What was most encouraging was the whole team structure – the formation, the performances, the substitutes, and embedded successfully throughout the whole core and exuding from its pores the mentality, the character and the confidence of winning regardless of who they face. It’s a most scary proposition now that the team in on the brink of domination if they can continue on this trajectory. The only concern would be that the additions to the squad this summer may have the unintended disruptive effects it had when trying to bed in Keane into the side early on in the season. The solution to that was his ejection though perhaps other considerations played their part too, as in his dropping value relative to his meager attacking contributions. Other additions this summer may not have similar outcomes.

I remember writing about Alonso and his impact in the Sunderland game after replacing Plessis (what happened to him?!), and I’m pleased that he had sustained that level of performance throughout the season. He stood out as the engine room of the team enabling all the other mechanisms to move and work in synchronicity. I believe without Alonso, and he has been a mainstay throughout the season, the challenge wouldn’t have been on at all. He would be my man of the season, and if he does leave to be replaced by Barry, I would be truly disappointed.

2. Building a future

I am in the process of finding my hedgehog, the overlap between what makes me the best, what can drive my economic engine and what drives my passion. It’s an important quest, and who knows if I do find it or not? But it should make for an interesting quest.

Islamic finance faces legal tussle

No bed of roses is cosy, certainly not for implementation of
syariah-based financial system. Let's hope that this serves to inculcate
a greater amount of resolve amongst the practitioners of the system. A
successful implementation of an Islamic-based financial system, and
thereby creating an alternative system to the interest-based,
material-oriented capitalism which overrides ethics and morality in its
decision flow, could signal a viable alternative political and social
order also based on a Syariah orientation.

Any which way, my sparring session with Fadzlan over lunch, gave this
nugget upon reflection of several PAS personalities. If you want to
handle and lead people, see how best you can lead yourself.. Ie your
self-discipline. Do you smoke, do women, treat others kindly, solicit
sex inappropiately, flirt, etc?

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From: http://www2.themalaysianinsider.com/lite/articles.php?id=26195

Legal wrangles to test Islamic banking as boom fades

KUALA LUMPUR, May 12 - A wave of debt defaults is set to hit Islamic
banks as deals sour amid the global slowdown, testing the legal
framework and stability of an industry already facing the biggest slump
in its 30-year history.

The global economic downturn that punctured Islamic banking's growth
bubble is also expected to bring many shariah financing structures under
the legal microscope for the first time in centres such as Dubai,
Bahrain and Malaysia.

But the expected increase in commercial disputes raises questions about
whether conventional legal systems can deal with the highly specialised
niche industry which has evolved into a US$1 trillion (RM3.52 trillion)
industry handling government and corporate debt.

It could also test the foundations of the Islamic banking system, which
the Asian Development Bank estimates is growing by 10-15 per cent a
year, but which some bankers and lawyers say stills lack a strong
cohesive regulatory and legal framework.

Judges will have to weigh conventional law and sharia (Islamic law) used
in contracts, and legal uncertainty over key contract provisions could
hurt the industry's ability to bounce back when the global economy
recovers.

"The industry will be watching to ensure any legal disputes are settled
in a transparent manner which gives certainty to the contract terms
entered into," said Davide Barzilai, a London-based Islamic finance
lawyer with Norton Rose.

"If there a string of cases which result in contracts being overturned
by the court for breach of sharia alone, then this could have a material
impact on the growth of the industry."

Fuelled by a recent rush of oil money, Islamic bankers innovated on the
basic financing model, taking it beyond sale and profit-sharing
contracts to more complex derivatives which are harder for courts to
deal with.

Islam's rules on transparency kept shariah banks from subprime mortgage
loans that mauled Western banks, but their vast exposure to the property
sector, especially in the Gulf, is taking a toll as global real estate
markets slide.

Gulf Arab companies deemed most vulnerable to the downturn include large
United Arab Emirates (UAE) real estate developers, such as Dubai-listed
Islamic mortgage firms Amlak and Tamweel.

CRUNCH TIME?

Defaults and litigation are expected to jump as the ailing world
economy, tough financial markets and stalled projects make it harder for
firms to repay banks and asset values plummet.

Over half of the residential and commercial property projects due for
completion in Dubai between 2009 and 2012 have been cancelled or
suspended, Jones Lang LaSalle said in March.

But Islamic banking's legal framework is as fragmented as other aspects
of the industry, with little case law to guide judges. Many judges are
also unskilled in shariah, and the relationship between Islamic and
secular law is unclear.

"It's a contest between shariah law and common law," said Islamic
banking lawyer Mohamad Illiayas.

"Cases have gone to court where there is a problem of conflicts and
inconsistencies but the English courts have always ruled in favour of
common law."

He cited a 2004 case involving Shamil Bank of Bahrain where an English
court refused to apply shariah law to a murabaha contract (a popular
contract of sale). The court said two systems of law cannot govern one
contract.

In Malaysia, home to the world's top Islamic bond market, only a handful
of cases have come before the high courts in almost three decades, with
most involving basic home loan cases.

Judges' expertise has been in focus after some courts questioned the
validity of the bai bithaman ajil contract, a type of deferred payment
sale, sowing confusion in the industry.

The contract was recently declared valid by an appellate court, but
Malaysian authorities now plan to force judges to refer to national
shariah advisers when handling Islamic finance cases.

"Looking purely at the formal qualifications and experience of judges,
it would be hard to expect them to be fully aware of all the relevant
intricacies of Islamic finance," said Megat Hizaini Hassan, an Islamic
finance lawyer with Zaid Ibrahim.

In the Gulf Arab region, law firms have started to build up Islamic
finance expertise but their skills is almost exclusively limited to
consulting banks on deal structures and drafting contracts, and most
have yet to see a court room from inside.

Islamic finance disputes can be referred to arbitration by specialists
but many Malaysian cases still go court. In Bahrain, such cases have
mostly gone to dispute resolution committees staffed by judges and
specialised central bank officials.

But arbitration is not problem-free, either.

"We will still have to resort to common law at one stage or the other,"
said Illiayas. "Even after the arbitration award is given, if you want
to enforce that award you still have to go to court." - Reuters