A couple of weeks ago, I was literally sick… probably from unhealthy living, but I also believe that it’s got something to do with this sickening government of ours. And now I feel very tired of fighting… in the usual way, that is.

It’s about time we got radical and really give it to the Umnoputeras and their Troopers… The “Decepticons of Malaysia”.

Well, I attended the get-together at Blog House on Saturday, and although I’ve never really considered myself a blogger like Jeff Ooi or Rocky, I was quite happy to see the crowd there…
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I remember that my former colleague at Suaram, Eli, once called me a Lennonist because I had an email address with the domain name “givepeaceachance.com”. Well, here I am, preaching peace again.

Frankly speaking, I didn’t know much about the atrocities in Darfur despite the emails I received from Amnesty International. I only bothered to find out more about the conflict in Darfur after I bought the “Make Some Noise, Save Darfur” album.

These days, not many netizens go to the music store to buy CDs anymore. I know I don’t. I still go and loiter around to check out the latest titles, but I don’t usually buy them anymore; unless I spot something really good.
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Wow! We’re just one week away from the historic 50th anniversary of Merdeka. Alas, I don’t feel very festive… Indeed, I’m going to “celebrate” Merdeka with my dad and sister in Singapore. With the way things are in Malaysia, I don’t feel “patriotic” at all.

However, I do want to give my support to the motley crew that’s come up with the 50:44 Malaysia Merdeka celebrations. I’ll definitely be back from Singapore to check things out at the Pasar Seni Annexe.

I was reading Malaysiakini the past couple of days and kept seeing reports about the judiciary – about the judicial rot and what needs to be done. In my honest and humble opinion, Mr. Param Cumaraswamy’s suggestion of a “stocktaking” exercise is not going to do the judiciary any good at all.

Come on, we all know where the rot starts from – the Umno hegemony of our political system. And that hegemony has spread its tentacles to the judicial system, the economic system and anything else that can help Umno stay in power and continue raking in the rakyat’s money.
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I watched Transformers for the second time yesterday… at the IMAX cinema! Well, frankly speaking, despite the bigger screen, second time round it’s not that exciting anymore. I even caught some “z’s”…

Anyway, what’s interesting was that I’ve been wanting to write a post about the good vs. evil concept – some autobots protect, others destroy. Well, it’s pretty obvious who represents the Decepticons in Malaysia. I don’t know if you’d agree that the opposition parties represent the humans-friendly autobots.

Whatever it is, I liked what Optimus Prime said at the end of the movie – something about humanity’s “capacity for courage”.
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It’s regrettable that Tony Pua lodged a police report against Kelab Penyokong Maya Umno (KPMU), which allegedly insulted Christians and Christianity. Indeed, it’s unfortunate that he even instigated the police to “arrest the writer, editor, publisher and the owner of the website and investigate them under the Sedition Act”. (Check out the Malaysiakini report.)

Just to clarify, I don’t condone anyone insulting Christians and Christianity, or any other religion for that matter. However, I do have a problem with condoning the use of sedition legislation.
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This morning, on a whim, I checked out our Opposition Leader’s website, and chanced upon a hot-off-the-press posting by Dr. Chen Man Hin. In his posting, Dr. Chen suggested that the Prime Minister invite Raja Nazrin Shah, the Crown Prince of Perak, to be his personal adviser, in light of the latter’s speech at the first Malaysian Student Leaders Summit 2007.

For what it’s worth, I must say that that’s an ingenius and interesting idea from Dr. Chen. I wonder what Raja Nazrin thinks. (By the way, Raja Nazrin’s credentials are quite impressive. Check out the link to his entry in Wikipedia above.)
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I just started reading a new book (one of many!). I’m halfway through the preface only, and I already find it intriguing.

By the way, this is a true account of the author’s career as an economic hit man. In his own words:

“Economic hit men (EHMs) are highly paid professionals who cheat countries around the globe out of trillions of dollars. They funnel money from the World Bank, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and other foreign “aid” organizations into the coffers of huge corporations and the pockets of a few wealthy families who control the planet’s natural resources. Their tools include fraudulent financial reports, rigged elections, payoffs, extortion, sex, and murder. They play a game as old as empire, but one that has taken on new terrifying dimensions during this time of globalization.
I should know; I was an EHM.”
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Last night, after a meeting where I made a presentation on strategy, I left with mixed feelings. On the one hand, I was relieved that I managed to do my job and make the presentation according to plan. On the other hand, though, I was a bit disappointed with the reaction of certain individuals in the meeting.

My presentation, basically, looked at the current situation of the organisation, the hopes of the organisation, the strategies available and, last but not least, urgent areas for focus.

No doubt, there will always be supporters and detractors in whatever we do. And, I’ve attended enough meetings to know that some people just talk for the sake of talking.
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Here are a couple of prayers that I feel are quite timely for humanity.

The first one was apparently recited by a pastor in Kansas state, at the opening session of their senate:

“Heavenly Father, we come before you today to ask your forgiveness and to seek your direction and guidance. We know Your Word says, ‘Woe to those who call evil good’, but that is exactly what we have done. We have lost our spiritual equilibrium and reversed our values. We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery. We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare. We have killed our unborn and called it choice. We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable. We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building self esteem. We have abused power and called it politics. We have coveted our neighbor’s possessions and called it ambition. We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it freedom of expression. We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefathers and called it enlightenment. Search us, oh God, and know our hearts today; cleanse us from every sin and set us free. Amen!”

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