Why Don't You Arrest Me too?

If you don't know what I'm talking about, I'm talking about Raja Petra's arrest under ISA. Yep, they finally arrested the old guy.

To our dear narrowly-elected Government, do you really think arresting RPK will stop the movement of change? There's a saying that goes something like "If you want to kill a snake, cut off its head". That sure doesn't apply in this situation. You can bet your comfy Cabinet posts on it. Arresting him does not stop Malaysia Today. Arresting him does not stop the general public from disliking you.

In fact, arresting him stirs up a fresh wave of hatred for you. Even if Anwar's September 16 or 20 takeover never materialises, you'll be kicked out next elections anyway.

Or maybe you think that the people will be so inflamed against you that they will take to the streets, giving you an opportunity to declare a state of emergency. If that's the case, you don't realise that the general public will not stoop to violence or anything stupid. Even if there are protests and rallies, huge as they may be, THIS IS NOT ZIMBABWE.

You cannot stop the change movement. You cannot stop the winds of change anymore than you can stop an earthquake. Both of these have one thing in common. They are both acts of God. If it be God's will that you be thrown out of office, then you will be thrown out of office. Whether you go gracefully or in a self-humiliating way, that's your choice.

Arresting RPK changes nothing. We the people know your lies and your corruption. We know your schemes and your dastardly ploys. We know you for the snake that you are. So why don't you come arrest us too, if you're so intent on "keeping the peace"? Go ahead and arrest every single Malaysian who wants change. Go arrest every Malaysian who stands for justice.

I'm one of them too.

Another Sex Before Marriage Post

I read an article in The StarMag yesterday. I'm not going to post it up here (I'm pretty sure there's a law somewhere about plagiarism), not the full thing at least, but some excerpts.

"...I was one of those women who was seeking love after a marriage by giving in to the men who were only after me for sex. All I have to remind me of the four brief relationships were material gifts, not love"

"...However, I was fortunate to have finally found the 'right one' who loves me for myself and makes no demands on me. Although I should be happy, I am overwhelmed by my guilty feelings over my flings and fear one day that my past would be revealed to my current partner, which is why I kept putting off any marriage plans."

"So ladies, it is not worth it even if you are sleeping around for pleasure, for in the long run, you lose your dignity and life becomes meaningless. No amount of washing can take away the dirt I feel on my body!"

No preaching. There's really no need. I personally know people who have 'been there, done that', meaning the sleeping around. For love, for pleasure, whatever. You know what's common about all of them? They all felt the emptiness. Sex with no strings attached is pleasurable, yes, but it can never be fulfilling.

Oh I know there are many arguments about how premarital sex is alright. And seriously, I'm not condemning anyone who is doing it or has done it. It is not the intention for this post to be argumentative or condemning or judgemental. It is merely to state that from what I've seen so far, sex without commitment can never be half as fulfilling as when sex is cherished for what it is, a gift from God for a man and woman who have committed themselves and their lives to each other in a bond of marriage. Nowadays where the so-called "bond" of marriage appears to be so weak, it would seem idealistic to pursue the idea of saving ourselves for marriage. Well, who ever said that idealism is wrong?

Is it such a far-off idea for a man and a woman to fall in love, get married and live happily ever after? Sure, you get so many stores of unfaithful spouses, both sides of the gender. Is the problem with the constitution of marriage? Or is it with the people involved? Can't get along? Work on it. Arguing a lot? Learn how to give in. Sounds simple, doesn't it? Well, maybe it really is that simple. Maybe it's as simple as sitting down with our spouses and communicating. Or are we as a human race too immature to see the simplicity of the matter?

Anyway, I appear to be digressing. Do read this and this.

Cheers people. God bless!

So Ahmad Won't Apologise

It's not really the nature of this blog to be very political, but I can't help but post this, as it seems that not many people know about it (yet) and it certainly raised my eyebrow.

All I can say is...This is just getting more and more entertaining by the day.

Read this for more information =) And to all of you who aren't "racially challenged", have a great day!

A World Bigger Than Us

A good friend of mine is doing an assignment on certain mental disorders. Part of his assignment includes sitting in for sessions with psychiatrists and observing the patients. After a few of those sessions, he told me he feels as if he's been very sheltered his whole life. He didn't elaborate on what those patients had gone through but his exact words were "No one between the ages of 15-25 should ever have to go through those kind of things".

Abuse? Physical, emotional, mental and even sexual abuse? Likely, isn't it? And it affected these people. Results in depression, multiple personality disorders. Basically whatever they'd been through messed up their head real bad.

I did a short stint with an organisation that helped and raised awareness for child sexual (and other forms of) abuse after my college days. I chanced to look into a file one day which documents phone conversations with victims who call in to ask for help or report an incident. I have to admit I was pretty surprised myself at what some of them had been through. 5 year old kids being battered? 9 year old girls being molested and forced to do hideous things?

A cynical person would have said its a sick world we live in. I agree actually. It IS a sick world we live in, where evil abounds. Where some morals have sunk so low that we're worse off than animals. But at the same time, I believe there is hope, and that we CAN make a difference. That's what this post is about; making a difference.

I know some people who read this would immediately start to say "Hey, we're just individuals. We don't have the power to make rules or enforce them. What can we do?". We can do a lot more than it appears. But first let's examine the other alternative; apathy.

So since we 'can't do anything', I suppose all we're supposed to do is turn a blind eye to all the things that go wrong? That sounds absurd really.

What we really need to do is to start taking responsibility for our world. Not just our tiny lil worlds which only include ourselves and our friends and family, but to go beyond that. If we could start taking responsibility for our surroundings, our co-workers, employees, employers, our communities and our countries, wouldn't that make this world a better place? Wouldn't that make a difference?

We who live in Malaysia can consider ourselves to be really blessed. I know we've got a really messy (yet interesting) political scene at the moment, but we don't have major earthquakes, do we? We don't have a war on our hands do we? Here in Malaysia we're relatively safe. Most of us have enough to eat. Learning to count our blessings is not something that's very easy, but it sure opens our eyes to see how much we've been blessed with here.

For everyone who reads this, and also for myself, let's learn to give more of ourselves. We're surrounded by people who need it. Be it money, time, a crying shoulder, whatever. If we could just decide today to take a little more responsibility for a few others. If we could start to take an interest in other people's lives. If we could put ourselves in the shoes of the less fortunate.

Then we would see that there is a world bigger than us. We'd be amazed at the impact the slightest gesture from us could make.

P.S. I suppose I should interject here as a final note that if anyone is interested in sponsoring a less fortunate child, do visit www.worldvision.com.my

My 2 cents =)

To The Voters of Permatang Pauh

Vote with wisdom. Vote for fairness and equality. Vote for justice. Vote for righteousness. Vote for truth.

Vote against petty bribes and corruption. Vote against arrogance. Vote against high-handedness and self centredness. Vote against racial politics.

Vote against Islamization. Vote for hope for this nation. Vote for democracy.

Vote for Malaysia.

I believe in Malaysia. I believe God has a plan for Malaysia, and we have seen the first stirrings in the March 8 elections. I believe we all have a part to play and a hand to deal in this great plan. So many have left this country for greener pastures elsewhere. Let us not join that tide. There is hope yet for Malaysia.

Vote for Malaysia.

The Tale of The Prodigal Son

A tale is told of a young man who grew up in a well-to-do family. A young man hungry for excitement and bright lights. You don't get a lot of those living in a ranch. So he grew impatient with the mundane life he felt was beneath him. He went up to his dad, demanded his share of the inheritance, packed up and left.

Where else would he go? Why, Vegas of course! A fat bank account. A life of indulgence awaited. Parties night and day. Enough lights to light up the Arctic circle like a carnival on the darkest of winter nights. Who could resist?

As you can probably imagine, he had the time of his life. Girls, gambling, cars, suites, booze. Life just went from pleasure to pleasure. No responsibilities. Total freedom. He was surrounded with friends. Life in the fast lane. Fame and fortune.

Money, unlike fruits, don't grow on trees, and it certainly didnt' grow on trees back then either. Money, like any other liquid items, eventually run low. Our prince eventually had to *gasp* find a job. But no one would hire him. There was no way he could pass for a Vegas showgirl after all, and he wasn't really big enough to be a bouncer. His friends couldn't or wouldn't help him. They just simply melted away the minute they smelt trouble.

Finally he got a job taking care of the show horses. He suffered mistreatment from a cruel, greedy employer. And it didn't pay much, obviously, certainly not enough for any of the fine dining he was so used to. Not even enough for a regular cheeseburger and coke from McDs. He spent hours upon hours with smelly, sweaty horses. It's certainly no fun cleaning up after horses, no matter how beautiful they are.

It was hot and hungry work. It finally came to a point where he was driven to eat from the same trough the forses ate from. Did he think, "Hmm, a dash of salt is all it needs to make this a fabulous dish"? Certainly not! It brought back memories of his father's house, where even the lowest servant had better fare then this.

"But how can I go back?" he wonders. After snubbing his father and family and walking out the way he did.

In time his need overcame his shame. He left without looking back and began the journey home. As he approaches home he sees his father standing outside. He hanhs his head in shame, not daring to even look at his father. He's already planned to beg his father for mercy and ask to be accepted as a servant. He's prepared for the worst.

He hears running footsteps.

He gets hit by what feels like an oncoming train. Then he realises it's his father. And his father is hugging him. "My son, my son," he says, "You've come home!". He opens his mouth, his carefully rehearsed speech on the tip of his tongue. He starts to say he's sorry, but his father would not hear a single word of it. He calls his servants and asks them to bring out the finest robe in the house. He drapes that around his son. He pulls off the ring on his finger and puts it on his son's hand. The father orders a feast to be prepared and declares a day of celebration, for his son has come home.

Does that sound unrealistic? Would you do the same if your son did the same thing? I know someone who would - God.

That's our story really. We've been seduced away. An entire generation, an entire world drawn away from their Creator by the temporary pleasures of our Vegas'es.

But here's the truth. Like that father in the story, He awaits us. Standing each day on the doorstep scanning the horizon for our return. And He waits because He is a gentleman, Because it is a choice we make whether to come home or not.

Sooner or later, we all realise that life isn't the bed of roses we wish it would be. Challenges come our way. Financial problems, relationship problems, career problems, you name it. But do we know that there is better fare in our Father's house? Oh no, He doesn't take away our problems. He carries us through them.

Who is this Father? Is the father in the story a fool? No, he just loves. And likewise with God. He loves us. This God who created the stars in the sky and knows them by name (Psalm 147:4). This Father who knows the number of hair upon all our heads (Matthew 10:30). He who preserves our coming in and going out (Psalm 121:8).

He knows us, better than anyone. Better than we know ourselves. Do we know Him?

One Life pt. 2

This post is a continuation from pt 1 (duh). And if I may, I suggest reading that first before this.

So, in Part 1, I told the story of Srey Mom, a child sex worker, who was forced into the heinous trafficking trade. Was that her fault? Certainly not, and I'm sure anyone would agree with me. And yet, there are many children out there who are suffering the same fate she suffered years ago. There are many others who live from hand to mouth and have too little to eat. Others with no clean water. Others who have lost parents to disasters, accidents, murders and so on.

Doesn't that make you think how fortunate we are here in Malaysia? To be born in a place where we have enough to eat. Where there's hardly any chance we'd lose our parents or siblings in wars. Where its generally safe and peaceful.

Oh sure I know this country isn't perfect. No country is. Yes there's crime and corruption. But don't you think as a whole we're a pretty fortunate lot? But no, we don't really, do we? A lot of us complain and grouch about our jobs, and the petty dissatisfactions we have. Please don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to judge others or be condescending. Too many times I'm like that too.

But this One Life exhibition brings to mind about how blessed we are to be here. Do we know that? I'm sure we do, subconsciously. But let's take a minute to reflect here. We've been blessed so so much. We've got jobs. We've got homes. We've got enough. We've got education. We've got so many other things which we take for granted every single day.

You know, there's a saying that goes "You never know what you've got till you lose it". Let's not wait till we lose what we've been blessed with. Let's reflect on the very fact that we have enough for a moment. Maybe not very much, but enough. Yes some of us may have to work 2 or 3 shifts to earn enough to feed ourselves and our kids. But we have enough. Many people out there don't.

Let's give a little out of what we have. I've mentioned this in previous posts. I once got flamed by a guy who said "if you're oprah or someone like that then you'll be rich enough and only then can you make a difference". Here's my take on it. You don't have to be Oprah. You don't have to be rich. Surely a person who has enough can give some to someone who doesn't have enough.

We don't have to give the clothes off our backs or quit our jobs and all become Mother Theresas. We can all make a difference. Small differences, but big differences are made up of small differences. Did you know a single pebble can start an avalanche? Why don't we start an avalanche?

All we need to do is realise how much we have been blessed. And when we've realised that, let's appreciate that. And then let's move towards a better future. We have the power to make a difference in our small ways. The little time or money or whatever that you and I can give can and will make a difference. In the Bible, Jesus multiplied a little boy's lunch to feed 5,000 people. All it took was one boy to be willing to start something. To give something of himself. God did the rest.

Try it, and let's be amazed at the results.

And I quote here the One Life Revolution motto: "You've got one life. Do something"