Someone shared these lessons with me…

I’ve learned that I like my teacher because she cries when we sing “Silent Night”.
Age 5

I’ve learned that our dog doesn’t want to eat my broccoli either.
Age 7

I’ve learned that when I wave to people in the country, they stop what they are doing and wave back.
Age 9

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Once again, I’d like to comment on Dr. Chandra Muzaffar’s article, but this time, I agree with what he’s saying.

Basically, I agree that “when we go beyond labels such as ‘secular’ and ‘Islamic’ and connect with the substance of our three principal documents we will discover that there is a degree of congruence between the two positions.” And the three documents that Dr. Chandra is talking about are the Federal Constitution, the Rukunegara and Vision 2020.

Now, my question is, how do we move forward from this apparent impasse? It’s very obvious that the current hooha is created by the Deputy Prime Minister for political reasons. Indeed, it’s so idiotic for him to make such a statement that I won’t even go into the so-called debate.
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If you thought the weather in UK was bad, it just got worse. As far as I’m concerned, this is a very real sign that the earth is undergoing extreme “hormonal changes”. And if we don’t start taking steps to change our destructive lifestyles, we’re not going to leave much of a legacy to our children.

By the way, if you haven’t yet watched Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth, check it out.

After chatting with a friend about my blog, I realised that I need to be a bit more positive about things, and also more constructive.

Hence, after some reflection about my “apartheid posting”, I believe there is a better way forward for Malaysia. At least in terms of patching up racial relations between the different ethnic communities.

Actually, I started writing this posting yesterday but had to stop for lunch, meetings and so forth. Anyway, it’s just as well that I didn’t finish it yesterday because I just read Dr. Chandra Muzaffar’s comment in the NST this morning. Frankly, I am surprised Dr. Chandra still has so much confidence in the government and the Parliament.
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It is sad that the law in Malaysia has become what it is today.

One of the worst things about it is that the judiciary is no longer a counterbalance in the so-called doctrine of separation of powers. I say “so-called” because this doctrine does not apply in our beloved country.

As far as I’m concerned, the recent trial-by-media of Justice Gopal Sri Ram to be an insidious meddling of the judiciary by the invisible but powerful hand of certain quarters. I believe any intelligent Malaysian who knows a thing or two about the personalities involved in the case will know what I am talking about. And as far as I can tell, Justice Gopal Sri Ram is an excellent judge, although sometimes he may be a bit difficult to handle in court.
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After reading Patrick Teoh’s blog, I figured we must be a member of the Axis of Stupidity. Niamah, indeed.

Oddly, whilst reading former President Gorbachev’s speech, I was reminded of how “slow” we are. In his speech, Gorbachev commented about the 5½ decades of Cold War – the confrontation, the hostility, sometimes open, sometimes concealed.

Further on in his speech, Gorbachev said:

“We have already graduated from the primary school of instruction in mutual understanding.”

Well, we’ve had 5 decades of Merdeka… Are we even out of kindergarten yet?

‘Nuff said?

I was just watching Water, and a scene somehow connected with a few scenes in my own life.

The scene (in the movie), depicts a holy man saying “Such ignorance. It’s this ignorance that is our misfortune”, and then a widow arrives.

After greeting her, he asks the widow “… you’ve been doing this service for many years. So many years of sacrifice and devotion. Do you feel closer to self-liberation?” After a long pause, she replies slowly, “If… self-liberation means… detachment from worldly desires… Then, no, I’m no closer.”
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What is this country’s authorities up to? It’s like after having concocted an original lie, they now have to keep piling on more lies to cover up the original lie.

What on earth do we need an Institute of Ethnic Relations set up for? Read today’s NST if you don’t know what I’m talking about.

I think most of us know how to have good relations with our neighbours, irrespective of race or colour. I don’t know about the rest of you but my elders, including my teachers and scoutmasters, have taught me to care for people, to be polite, to respect other cultures and so on and so forth.
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Just finished watching ‘I Not Stupid 2′ last night and found, despite the contrived scenes, a lot of truth in it. Especially about adults and how they act and react.

To quote the great Frank Zappa, “The world’s most plentiful ingredient is stupidity.”

We in Malaysia, so clever hor?! Here’s a poem (from an email) for us to chew on:
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I believe bell hooks said that.

I’ve been reflecting quite a bit over the past few weeks, especially given that I’ve been nursing a bad back and shoulder (probably stress related), and I’ve been reminded of some earlier lessons in life.

I was elected president of the Methodist Boys’ School Old Boys Association last month. (The website has not been updated at the time of this posting.)

Since then, I’ve observed many instances of so-called leaders shirking responsibility and not doing the right thing by the members. And yet, they can hypocritically position themselves as being altruistic and charitable in their pursuits.
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