Existing is not Living

Living in poverty is a nightmare for many the world over, from India to North Korea and our neighbouring Indonesia, the very poor merely exist, not living. In Malaysia, there are still people who are trying to make ends meet and struggling for a bowl of rice everyday. This fact must not be denied by any quarters. And we mustn't compare ourselves with populous nations like India and Indonesia. Whilst TV3 did their rounds to show help and care are rendered to the poor, others may just be left there to fend for themselves. Lest we forget the rich in Malaysia are well taken care of. Maslow's theory is practically forgotten by many in the administration who are resigned to their procedural box. Only Politics can change things around and politicians are key players to uplifting the mere existence of the poor. No, I am not talking of living standards here. The very poor have none of that.

The ISA - They protest for a good reason

A Police with no baton and out to win hearts and minds is way better than one with a baton, shouting to keep law and order.The ISA in Malaysia is outdated, biased and should not have been there in the first place. People calling for it to be abolished and demonstrating peacefully to show their frustration is exercising a right and must be given a chance to be heard. Only a police state will shut them off. This is dangerous. A beginning of a mini IRAN here in Malaysia is unwise. May 13th had been a painful lesson.
Sometimes our leaders need to use common sense to see the viewpoints of those on the other side of the fence instead of over indulging in politics and generically treating the opposition as trouble makers.

The Stock Market and You

All because of money! You will sit there for hours, oblivious about what's happening outside, submitting yourself to the screen and the figures. You may be tired and you couldn't be bothered, a quick run to the coffee shop next door will see you in the company of many others who are like you, money minded, losing will be a bad day winning will bring some smiles. The power of money brings greed, it brings materialism, breeds hatred, jealousy, pomposity, pride and drive many to forsake integrity and humbleness. This is the real thing the world over, whether bullish, bearish or otherwise, the stock market dictates economies for nations on this planet Earth. And without you, things won't work! You are in it for the love of money and more money! Called what you may, trading, gambling, excitement, hobby, a past time income, I will sum it up as GREED, the greed for more money!

Fear and You

Fear mongering is about making you shrink into your cocoons. The Inspector General of Police was dead serious about people spreading unfounded rumours. Rumours can create fear and havoc and sow the seeds of discord amongst people and communities. A young politician questioned by the authorities was found dead mysteriously. Sad and strange!
And just now I heard about this new political party they called PARTY CINTA MALAYSIA...to me in Sarawak it matters when things move so fast in KL. Like a game of poker, politics comes in all forms, in all norms, styles and sometimes disguised to win minds, destroy thoughts, instill ideologies, even for racial extermination. I guess we all need to be on guard. Honour the 1Malaysia concept, please!

Just a THOUGHT speaking up

No government, not even your parents, brothers or sisters can stop you from expressing your own views and opinions. If views and opinions can help propel you to great heights, they can also destroy you at the blink of an eye. For words are sharper than the sword.
In a free society, you should not be stopped from speaking your minds on how your government is being run. It is your right. But rights too have their limits and limits are dictated by who are in power. Raja Petra Kamaruddin went beyond the boundaries in speaking up to what he believed were the truth and ended up in muddy waters. Now he is a wanted man. He disappeared from sight, only his blog remains.
Do not let this one unhealthy incident fooled you from expressing your views and opinions. Keep away from what you know are half truths, lies and the like. And so be it if anyone were to take you as being negative for upholding the truth. That's your right of choice to right the wrong!

Survival of Democracy

Democracy is the one man's vote for freedom. It has survived and it has indeed evolved into some unruly versions over the last two decades or so. In Malaysia, it is alive and well, colourful and tainted with an Islamic touch.
Democracy comes in many facets, abused and dictated by groups and organizations, camouflaged by ideas and cloaked in disguise. It is winning the world and has survived. Regardless of how extreme it may be, nations like Israel and Iran are practicing democracy in their own ways and rights.
Britain has a throne in the monarchy, the President rules in the US with veto powers and countries like Pakistan and Singapore have both a President and a Prime Minister. If democracy rings the bell of freedom for many the world over, let us be reminded that it will never be futile therefore to fight for its purity.

Thieves are Thieves

Thieves are out to steal. Only a handful steal for food, out of hunger. But all are up to no good. In Kuala Lumpur, thieves are a menace to society. Besides robbing you in your own homes, they also carry out their trade as pedestrians, lurking at back lanes and side walks, ready to pounce their victims every time an opportunity arises. Many would snatch and run, more often than not, into the crowd. Many too would depend on their motorbikes to make the run into the traffic. These bikers, now known as "road samseng" choose their targets well, their preference are ladies and mothers.
Have you ever thought what drives a person to steal? Money, yes. Fun, no. To the thief, stealing is an easy way to get money but with a very high risk. This is known to them. Thieves are much cleverer than what you think they are not. It is an art.They even lurk in the internet, the best cover for disguise.
I will reserve my thoughts on commercial thieves and thieves manipulating the system, robbing you and me out of our hard earned cash. Don't ever be one!

Anger and frustration

Anger is not about the mind but our feelings controlling our thoughts. People vent their anger because they cannot control their thoughts, fear engulfed their brains and their thoughts become negative. To the angry person, all things negative are "good". Whilst anger is completely normal, it can get out of control and turn destructive. This is when rage and fury takes over.
It is instinctive of humans to express anger with aggressiveness. Being aggressive is downright unhealthy when we become physically abusive. It can happen anywhere, at home, in the office or even in parliament. It would be good that Malaysians are given simple basic training on how to control anger. We can begin with the schools, as a head start.
All it needs are 3 basic approaches and that is, expressing, suppressing and calming. Yes, anger can be suppressed, redirected and converted into constructive behaviour. People who easily become angry have a low tolerance of frustration. Family values and respect at an early age can go a long way to help Malaysians become a more pleasant people with high values for one another.

Just coffee shop talk

"I don't trust the law anymore in Malaysia". I was in a coffee shop this evening and overheard the next table talking, not that I want to eavesdrop, but that was their point of discussion. There they were, citizens of our country, discussing about our judicial system, judges taking sides and the system politically manipulated. Such negative outbursts are the nucleus of the atom. Setting the negatively charged electrons to vibrate will ionised the molecules. In our body, the effect is disastrous. Humans are diseased from this simple basic phenomena. It's unwise to write-off the coffee shop talk.

Who are the BIGGEST Liars?

I woke up this morning thinking who are the biggest liars on earth. To be fair, let's pick your choice from businessmen, educationists, philanthropists, scientists, economists, engineers, financiers, accountants and politicians. Now, think.
Good, you have got your answer!

Black is the VENOM

A learned Malaysian Chinese gentleman was recently arrested and released for introducing the 1BLACKMalaysia. Black which symbolically implies mourning, sooty, sinister, sleek and deadly is the ‘venom’. Of course there’s no harm in wearing black clothing but wearing black towards a cause, significantly as a sign of protest will create harm. It has created harm. No doubt about that. This is a passive response or shall I say a passive resistance, his game plan was clearly, as I see it, to uphold democracy and the freedom of speech. The rationale to sit passively, vigil like, is Gandhian in nature, the non aggressive stance has but one clear objective and that is, to protest. That’s the motive, to protest. The norm with individuals is, they will only protest out of frustration. Protests in whatever form can turn ugly because people, being human beings can become aggressive when faced with failure to attain their goals.

No harsh tactics, please

Harsh tactics in any given society for the sake of keeping law and order will create dissatisfaction and breed the seeds of discord. We cannot achieve this ONE MALAYSIA concept with discord because human beings are human beings wherever they maybe. They have feelings, emotions, sentiments, eyes to see, ears to listen and uppermost, brains to think.

Prostitution...the wow of the flesh trade.

Prostitution is not a good word. As one of the oldest trade known to mankind, it has blemished the reputation of emperors, kings and presidents. Yet some nations today thrive economically on what they have to offer via prostitution. Social escort services you see advertised legally are mere cover-ups. Let's be clear about that.
Paris is not clean, Hong Kong is not clean, Singapore is not clean and certainly KL is not clean. I won't want to mention some other cities around us. They have filtered prostitution to make it a legal trade. So much can be said about this flesh trade. Students are not spared and soliciting for customers during their semester breaks is nothing new...wow.

A small but important experience

This is based on my own experience and also from the many comments I received from Malaysians travelling to the UK and Australia where white people are the majority. The word is mannerism imbibed in their culture. Such remarks like Thank You, I am Sorry and How are you Sir? are used without hesitant amongst themselves and also to us Asians. Taking it positively, Malaysians of all races can take this as a cue and learn to be more polite...wow!

We decide our destiny...

We cannot achieve the objective of being ONE without peace, love and compassion. We can go on praying for others, even do our best for others unselfishly and still cannot be one if we ignore the conflicts within our own souls, our own families, and our own communities.

Change is not about managing others but ourselves. We cannot force the world to change anymore than we can force an individual to change. We need to start with ourselves, to do our part, how small it maybe, to set the course, do our best and trust that as we do it, we send out a resonance to others around inviting them to do the same. Barack Obama is the living proof of change with the message of peace, love and compassion. He has been in office for more than a 100 days and is making inroads into change.

For each and every one of you who is a Malaysian reading this note from me, take a stand and do your part. Do your part by working on yourself. Stop worrying about the things that you cannot change. Stop worrying about what other people are saying or doing. Instead, do what you can in each moment of each day to be a shining example of peace, love, and compassion.

SATAN - the world's greatest ENEMY - Busy body?

Satan has been described as a notorious busy-body. The internet WIKI says 'A busy body is someone, male or female, that needs to know everyone's business ....' wow...for that matter, busy bodies are all over the place and all over the web ... poking their noses and wanting to know what you are doing. Is this the work of SATAN? Honestly I don't know the answer.
In Sarawak, the malay kampong folks would called it in BM, '...menjaga tepi kain orang'. Of course what transpired is what we called GOSSIPING in English. Gossips are always about people. Most are baseless, half-truths and laughable. Almost all are due to the work of busy bodies. And Satan is laughing away alright! wow...

The ONE MALAYSIA CONCEPT

The BM forum over tv1 tonight was interesting...a Dr.was around as moderator. While we can go on arguing over the subject matter and Malaysians are good at that, we can never be clear on the objective if there are NO Terms of Reference to the concept. The terms of reference (the blueprint) must initially be set by the PM himself. How can we deliberate objectively on something we are not clear of.
I feel the educational system must first be addressed. Children from DAY 1 at school must be integrated into a system where there is a common language (BM) for all and a common identity (the Malaysian identity) for all. Breaking them up into Tamil, Malay or Chinese schools like what we have now is just doing the opposite and the concept will be a far cry!

PM means business - a new agenda

I woke up this morning feeling happy that we have now a PM who means business. My first thoughts was Obama in the US, Najib in Malaysia. Our PM has got down to business.
He wants doers in the Malaysian civil service, not mere seat warmers. So, it's a clear message to all government servants to 'pull up their socks'. Of course, the Malaysian civil service is mainly staffed by Bumiputeras, the malays dominating.
You and I both know that our civil service has for many years been subjected to all kinds of political bureaucracy and far from performing their best, the majority slumber into a lack lustre mode. So our dear Najib has taken a bold step in the right direction and winning support. Hopefully the people can see a new beginning. It needs a tremendous amount of effort to clean up the mess, mend the loop holes and replace the non-performers. The whole machinery from the top down needs a shake-up and re vamping will take time. But still it boils down to the individual worker to do his or her part to help the system recover, failing which we will only be dreaming...wow!

This thing called KANGTAO

or Kangtou...doesn't matter the spelling...it's a DEAL between 2 parties with a common intention of making money, a monetary gain of sort by hook or by crook. WOW...in Malaysia, Kangtou is practiced at the highest level, it played on my imagination whilst I was browsing the Sarawak Talk last night where the blame game is rife, postings of a personal nature, laughable at times, some are true with solid facts. The Chief Minister and his Ministers etc are certainly not spared...wow, they are featured almost daily...the reason is obvious ...
Would it be an uphill task to eradicate it...I thought schools have moral studies but if teachers are on the take themselves, what do you expect? Well, we have to start somewhere with this "i scratch your back, you scratch my back" thing!

Who are the rich in Malaysia?

Our honoured home minister said '... the rich, the poor will always be there...' wow...will always be here in Malaysia, if that was what he meant. Just an opinion alright...the poor even exist in the US, so don't kick up the dust. Extremist views like those of some bloggers are not my cup of tea. I have some principles that I honour and cherish. Wow...of course he said that following the announcement by our PM about abolishing the quota system which has plagued some quarters for many many years here in the country...wow now it's gone...so no more that 30% secured for the Malays...we open the door...that's a good deal...on the other hand, facts are facts, you don't have to ask, you only need to see that the Chinese are the 'rich' lot here in Malaysia, more so in Sarawak...You struggle to pay for your Proton, they are already owning a Camry. No, no insinuation here...just facts!
Did I spray some pepper?...wowoic...got it?? Yea, i wish to emphasise that STYLE comes in many forms...you have yours, I have mine. This is my blog, my style of writing, I am original. If you have any comments, then post it...I will come back to you.