May

1

A sad day for foreign workers in Malaysia

May 1, 2008 | Leave a Comment

Gandhi once said that, “The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.” No doubt, my animal-loving friends will agree with him. Indeed, I have shared this quote with friends from SPCA and they enthusiastically agreed.

Apart from humane treatment of animals, I believe one of the points made by that very wise man was that we can judge ourselves by how we treat others that are less fortunate than ourselves, especially those who cannot fend for themselves.

On that note, I am sad to share this May Day message with my fellow Malaysians. I just read the April 21-28, 2008 copy of Newsweek magazine, which had an article entitled “Lured Into Bondage”. When I first saw the heading “The New Wage Slaves” on the cover of the magazine, I thought it was referring to some other lesser developed country. Alas, to my dismay, the article is actually on Malaysia. Please do check out the link above.
Read more

Apr

11

Auguries of Innocence

April 11, 2008 | Leave a Comment

by William Blake

To see a world in a grain of sand,
And a heaven in a wild flower,
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand,
And eternity in an hour.

A robin redbreast in a cage
Puts all heaven in a rage.

A dove-house fill’d with doves and pigeons
Shudders hell thro’ all its regions.
A dog starv’d at his master’s gate
Predicts the ruin of the state.

A horse misused upon the road
Calls to heaven for human blood.
Each outcry of the hunted hare
A fibre from the brain does tear.

A skylark wounded in the wing,
A cherubim does cease to sing.
The game-cock clipt and arm’d for fight
Does the rising sun affright.

Every wolf’s and lion’s howl
Raises from hell a human soul.
Read more

Jan

29

Why I was arrested

January 29, 2008 | 8 Comments

I was arrested at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, 26 January 2008, at a foodcourt in the vicinity of Jalan Yap Kwan Seng, Kuala Lumpur. I was released unconditionally from Pudu Jail (now known as Balai Polis Jalan Hang Tuah) at approximately 10:30 p.m. on Sunday, 27 January 2008, after a magistrate rejected a remand application by the police to further detain me (and nine other people, including Tian Chua and Dr. Hatta).

Obviously, I was annoyed that I was arrested (see photo) whilst I was trying to ask the police why they wanted to arrest Tian Chua and Dr. Hatta, especially when they were merely having drinks and talking to journalists at that time. I knew that the over-zealous SB (special branch police officer) simply decided to arrest me because I questioned their actions. Indeed, when I asked an officer by the name of Woon who was standing nearby whether he was sure that the proper orders have been given to arrest me, he brushed aside my query and did not dare to say anything. Moreover, the location where we were arrested was beyond the one kilometre boundaries illustrated in the preventive court order obtained by the police.
Read more

Dec

21

False Religion (By Rabindranath Tagore)

December 21, 2007 | 2 Comments

Those who in the name of Faith embrace illusion,
Kill and are killed.
Even the atheist gets God’s blessings –
Does not boast of his religion;
With reverence he lights the lamp of Reason
And pays his homage not to scriptures,
But to the good in man.

The bigot insults his own religion
When he slays a man of another faith.
Conduct he judges not in the light of Reason;
In the temple he raises the blood-stained banner
And worships the devil in the name of God.
Read more

Aug

27

Sick and tired

August 27, 2007 | Leave a Comment

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…
Read more

Aug

25

Make some noise / Give peace a chance

August 25, 2007 | Leave a Comment

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.
Read more

Aug

24

Let’s celebrate together

August 24, 2007 | Leave a Comment

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.

Aug

5

Speak up… but think first

August 5, 2007 | Leave a Comment

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.
Read more

Aug

3

Prayers for Humanity

August 3, 2007 | Leave a Comment

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!”

1

Countdown to Merdeka

August 1, 2007 | Leave a Comment

Considering it’s August – the Merdeka month – I’d like to start with a more positive and inspirational posting… Click on the image on the left for the message.

Check out pravsworld. The pics and words can sometimes give us a different and better perspective on things…

Happy Merdeka! (whatever it means to you…)

keep looking »

Recently Written

Index

Archives

Admin

Search

May

1