Up till a concert a few days ago, everything seems to be ok even though if all hell is stacked upon me I'll cope with it. I've always dreamt of bed of soft green grass even though I am absolutely sure that there are none of those waiting for me to lie on. Or maybe I have been too idealistic in life, always dreaming of an utopia form the corner of my brain that everything is set and settled in my head, anything that I do which I am indifferent will be the one I like later on in life (or at least be damn good at it).
But then Joshua Radin came to London. I was never a fan of this dude, someone made me go for that concert. But half way through the concert, something struck my head. This man was a songwriter and one day he decided to be a singer 5-6 years ago. Now he's an 'upcoming' singer (or at least he looked like he's enjoying the songs he's churning out and make good dough out of it) So he enjoys his stuff, so what? But wait, he is enjoying his stuff, but what about me? Am I going to be the person that when I look at my future self I'll be the successful person I've been dreaming of, having a job which I have passion in or at least a well paid professional job? Assuming he is enjoying his stuff, he is now in my words living his life as he wants it to be. So, is he the majority, or the privileged few who could enjoy what he aspires to be in the past?
Then fear came in to me. The future is so uncertain, how exactly Man could move on with so many uncertainties? Man craves certainty; law is a perfect example of our desires. Courts love justice, but I think in all actual truth I think the courts love precedents and legal certainty rather than justice. Maybe that is the reason why people love Lord Denning, with equal numbers who scorn him (I secretly believe people do not like the way he judges, especially other judges) as he would always find a way to put 'justice' first than precedents, certainty or principles.
Back to the main topic, this Joshua Radin struck me so hard that I actually feel sad and have self-pity upon myself even though I don't give a rats ass about him or his songs. Assumptions again, he is actually ENJOYING what he is doing and as for me, well it is up to Fate to show what I'm going to have. The only comfort for me is if I put enough effort/determination/whatever you call it, I could change the course of Fate. But will it be for the better or worse? I do not know.
Monday, April 12, 2010
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Sunday, August 9, 2009
ISA
So many a time I read and listen about ISA, but never really bothered to get into the nitty gritty of this Act until now. I do know roughly what ISA does, but after reading for a few hours this starts to make me realise that we are not that “free” after all.
NOTE: Do let me know if I get my facts wrong.
ISA gives the government to arrest a person without a warrant. Under the ISA, a police officer can arrest you as long as the police officer believes that you’re committing/about to commit acts which would cause harm or damage to:
a) Security of Malaysia; or
b) Maintenance of essential services; or
c) Economic life
That can make you stay in prison/lockup for 60 days. If they want to keep you a little longer, the Home Minister can issue an order of detention for another 2 years, as long he/she is satisfied that detention is necessary to prevent you from committing the acts mentioned above.
Article 5 mentioned that any person who is arrested must be informed of their offence and must have access to lawyers. Article 10 grants us the freedom of speech, the right to assemble peacefully and the right to form associations to every Malaysian citizen, but Parliament can impose restriction of these rights.
The exclusion clause of our Constitution: Article 149. This allows Parliament to cease one’s fundamental rights under the Constitution under the interest of national security or public order. This is where ISA can go around our fundamental rights ‘enshrined’ under the Constitution.
ISA gives a lot of power to the Executive since they can arrest anyone they think should be arrested. According to Tunku Abdul Rahman and Tun Abdul Razak (from Wiki), basically the ISA was created in order to be ‘used solely against the communists’. Now I don’t know, since the threat of the Insurgency is long gone.
The wording of the ISA is very vague indeed and it gives the government loads of discretion. Even if we think the person’s actions are not within the ISA, the police officer or minister may think otherwise. A peaceful demonstration albeit an illegal one may not be considered as threatening to me, but in their eyes they may think it is so.
Do you think it is fair to give them such enormous powers?
NOTE: Do let me know if I get my facts wrong.
ISA gives the government to arrest a person without a warrant. Under the ISA, a police officer can arrest you as long as the police officer believes that you’re committing/about to commit acts which would cause harm or damage to:
a) Security of Malaysia; or
b) Maintenance of essential services; or
c) Economic life
That can make you stay in prison/lockup for 60 days. If they want to keep you a little longer, the Home Minister can issue an order of detention for another 2 years, as long he/she is satisfied that detention is necessary to prevent you from committing the acts mentioned above.
Article 5 mentioned that any person who is arrested must be informed of their offence and must have access to lawyers. Article 10 grants us the freedom of speech, the right to assemble peacefully and the right to form associations to every Malaysian citizen, but Parliament can impose restriction of these rights.
The exclusion clause of our Constitution: Article 149. This allows Parliament to cease one’s fundamental rights under the Constitution under the interest of national security or public order. This is where ISA can go around our fundamental rights ‘enshrined’ under the Constitution.
ISA gives a lot of power to the Executive since they can arrest anyone they think should be arrested. According to Tunku Abdul Rahman and Tun Abdul Razak (from Wiki), basically the ISA was created in order to be ‘used solely against the communists’. Now I don’t know, since the threat of the Insurgency is long gone.
The wording of the ISA is very vague indeed and it gives the government loads of discretion. Even if we think the person’s actions are not within the ISA, the police officer or minister may think otherwise. A peaceful demonstration albeit an illegal one may not be considered as threatening to me, but in their eyes they may think it is so.
Do you think it is fair to give them such enormous powers?
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Home sweet home, is it?
Interestingly I have nothing much to think about these days, except for the change back to BM in science and maths. It's just a populist measure for the sake of those who are afraid to lose their mother tongue.
When I first got back, I realised that the internet was too slow and the weather too warm, plus my sleeping patterns were screwed up. Now everything seems to get into place now, with my tolerence with heat is back to my pre-UK days. Eating very well, and the food here is 100 times better than the ones in the UK. No more fish and chips and kebabs for a few months. Just plain Malaysian food.
There are some things that will never change - the motorcyclists in Penang are still the same - Kings of the Road. Of course until they get hit by a lorry because they think they're invisible and still wanna *gaduh* with them.
Thinking back, the whole year away really changed me - either for the better or worse. When people go abroad for studies, it is either soak up some of the values they preach, or totally shun it and decide to be a really conservative person, or the other way around, take up the worst of their values to bring it back home. It is like either you embrace it or shut the door away from it.
Another amazing thing is, people still cling on to their roots even though they are now considered another country's citizen, while embracing their new country's values too. It just reminded me of the Malay proverb, 'Melayu tak akan hilang di dunia' - and I think it rings true not just for Malays, but also of all other races.
We might now be following every single thing we used to do, but we'll definately retain most or at least some of our values. So why so much fear of losing one's Malay-ness or Chinese-ness back home?
When I first got back, I realised that the internet was too slow and the weather too warm, plus my sleeping patterns were screwed up. Now everything seems to get into place now, with my tolerence with heat is back to my pre-UK days. Eating very well, and the food here is 100 times better than the ones in the UK. No more fish and chips and kebabs for a few months. Just plain Malaysian food.
There are some things that will never change - the motorcyclists in Penang are still the same - Kings of the Road. Of course until they get hit by a lorry because they think they're invisible and still wanna *gaduh* with them.
Thinking back, the whole year away really changed me - either for the better or worse. When people go abroad for studies, it is either soak up some of the values they preach, or totally shun it and decide to be a really conservative person, or the other way around, take up the worst of their values to bring it back home. It is like either you embrace it or shut the door away from it.
Another amazing thing is, people still cling on to their roots even though they are now considered another country's citizen, while embracing their new country's values too. It just reminded me of the Malay proverb, 'Melayu tak akan hilang di dunia' - and I think it rings true not just for Malays, but also of all other races.
We might now be following every single thing we used to do, but we'll definately retain most or at least some of our values. So why so much fear of losing one's Malay-ness or Chinese-ness back home?
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Out and Alive!!
Ahh, results just came out and thank God I passed. Phew. Now just aiming in getting back home and enjoy for the next three months. Lol.
Monday, June 8, 2009
Summer Break
Just got back from my mini Euro-trip. Was really tired but I did enjoyed myself then. Now cracking my head on which law firms in Malaysia should I go for my attachments and thinking twice on whether I could survive the 3rd year with heavy subjects.
For now, I'm just toying around with the 3rd year subjects (I know, I can't believe that I actually bothered to read up even before 3rd year even started because I'm usually very very lazy!!). In addition to that, I’m having my daily dosage of CS courtesy of Dinesh plus shows on the internet.
In the next few days I have to look around for a storage place to dump all my stuff here so I can only bring less than 15 kilos of junk back home, so I could have more space to bring foodstuff back into the UK. Anyone who knows a cheap place to dump things let me know, lol.
For now, I'm just toying around with the 3rd year subjects (I know, I can't believe that I actually bothered to read up even before 3rd year even started because I'm usually very very lazy!!). In addition to that, I’m having my daily dosage of CS courtesy of Dinesh plus shows on the internet.
In the next few days I have to look around for a storage place to dump all my stuff here so I can only bring less than 15 kilos of junk back home, so I could have more space to bring foodstuff back into the UK. Anyone who knows a cheap place to dump things let me know, lol.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
A is for Annoying
I know this is not something I should grumble upon, but I find it really annoying to find terms in the media stating, 'Islamist regime' or 'Islamist terrorists' or anything along that line. Yes, some (or most) of you may argue that the reason these groups are defined that way because religion, plays a part or a big influence in that organisation/country.
However, there are a lot of anomalies. The media don't define LRA (Lord's Resistence Army) in Uganda as 'Christian militias' - though they claim to rule the country according to the Ten Commandments. Or Tamil Tigers as 'Tamil seperatists' - since their aim is create an independent Tamil state in Sri Lanka.
It is either a plain term telling them they are 'terrorists', 'rebels' or 'regime' than putting terms like 'Islamists', 'Christians' or other faiths. It is just fucking annoying and misleading, giving the impression to people who don't read or bother to know that what they read is true. Plus, in my opinion, putting religion beside the word 'terrorists' is repulsive to me, whatever religion it might be.
However, there are a lot of anomalies. The media don't define LRA (Lord's Resistence Army) in Uganda as 'Christian militias' - though they claim to rule the country according to the Ten Commandments. Or Tamil Tigers as 'Tamil seperatists' - since their aim is create an independent Tamil state in Sri Lanka.
It is either a plain term telling them they are 'terrorists', 'rebels' or 'regime' than putting terms like 'Islamists', 'Christians' or other faiths. It is just fucking annoying and misleading, giving the impression to people who don't read or bother to know that what they read is true. Plus, in my opinion, putting religion beside the word 'terrorists' is repulsive to me, whatever religion it might be.
Friday, February 27, 2009
I can feel spring is coming!!! :D:D:D
It was really warm when I walked to uni today. I'm just hoping for the tulips and all those spring time flowers to bloom. Hehehehe. It's so fun and nice. The sun shines, and I feel happy. Lol.
Friday, February 6, 2009
Reflections
It has been a while since I've posted any materials on this blog, all thanks to the very tight schedule I'm having for the past few weeks.
It seems to me now that I've questioned myself over a lot of matters, especially over matters back home and here. The mentality and perception of the peoples I've seen are different, the way things are done are different and they also have differing priorities. They have social ills, but differnent - they have knife crimes, we have rempits. Politics are different too - they have cash for questions/make new laws, we have corruption/money politics.
But there are things they do we would never do it back home without a night in jail back home, and vice versa.
It is weird to see that people here can march the streets and the police don't seem to mind, as long as you protest peacefully. When the same thing happens back home, the protesters will be greeted with water cannons and tear gas.
People here can express their outrage towards their governments openly and without fear as long its not slander with proper avenues for them to do so, and there will always be academics to critically assess the law or the conduct of politicians. Back home, those who criticise the government too loudly would likely to be locked up in Kamunting under the ISA.
The people here expects the MP/minister/government to be answerable to the people, the mandate. I don't think the situation applies back home, except when it concerns subsidies. The people here could criticise their governments so bluntly that its may reach to the point that the government never had any merits. Back home, its all about the good things our government does, and never had any bad press. Brown always get the boot, while Badawi always gets roses in the press.
Their Opposition parties are given the chance to ask questions and do tyr to hold the ruling government into account, while back home anything raised by the Opposition will be rejected by the Speaker on the grounds that it is not important and urgent.
The law here too have laws which seem arbitrary, like their Anti-Terrorism Act, but that is for suspected terrorists. Even that, the Act had a lot of opposition. Back home, ISA is used mostly against political figures, with the slightest of suspision, if not none. *Note though, due to the stronger majority in Dewan Rakyat, the controversial DNA Identification Bill had recieved a lot of opposition. No idea whether the Bill was passed or not.
The country I'm currently studying at has no written constitution with the name, 'the Constitution'. With only 'constitutional' statutes and conventions, it surprises me is that the country never got itself into anarchy. Back home, we have the Federal Constitution which have been amended over 700 times in the past 50 years, and I don't know what the amendments are. The American Constitution has only been amended a few times over their 250 year history. Why is that so?
As much as many things I admire about them, there were also things made by their politicians that remind me of the situation back home. The UK was hit by a change-in-law-just-pay-us-with-money scandal in the House of Lords, and a few here and there scandals.
We are at crossroads: to take a better path to success or the path to oblivion?
I know people will tell me, 'Hey, you can't compare our country with another country. Our's different. We have different histories and backgrounds. Plus, why are you looking up at other countries?'
My answer is this: I'm not saying the other country is better, because they have their bad share of things too. However, there are certain things they are good at, and I think it's good to have a look and learn from it. I'm not comparing and say that just because they did a better job we're have to blindly follow them. I'm just saying that we have room for improvement. They're not perfect too. Buang yang keruh, ambil yang jernih.
I was told by someone that we'll never progress because of the mentality of our people - they will never change due to our history, how our nation was born. I beg to differ. I think we can, according to someone I had a lively discussion, the road may be long and winding, but we can do it.
It seems to me now that I've questioned myself over a lot of matters, especially over matters back home and here. The mentality and perception of the peoples I've seen are different, the way things are done are different and they also have differing priorities. They have social ills, but differnent - they have knife crimes, we have rempits. Politics are different too - they have cash for questions/make new laws, we have corruption/money politics.
But there are things they do we would never do it back home without a night in jail back home, and vice versa.
It is weird to see that people here can march the streets and the police don't seem to mind, as long as you protest peacefully. When the same thing happens back home, the protesters will be greeted with water cannons and tear gas.
People here can express their outrage towards their governments openly and without fear as long its not slander with proper avenues for them to do so, and there will always be academics to critically assess the law or the conduct of politicians. Back home, those who criticise the government too loudly would likely to be locked up in Kamunting under the ISA.
The people here expects the MP/minister/government to be answerable to the people, the mandate. I don't think the situation applies back home, except when it concerns subsidies. The people here could criticise their governments so bluntly that its may reach to the point that the government never had any merits. Back home, its all about the good things our government does, and never had any bad press. Brown always get the boot, while Badawi always gets roses in the press.
Their Opposition parties are given the chance to ask questions and do tyr to hold the ruling government into account, while back home anything raised by the Opposition will be rejected by the Speaker on the grounds that it is not important and urgent.
The law here too have laws which seem arbitrary, like their Anti-Terrorism Act, but that is for suspected terrorists. Even that, the Act had a lot of opposition. Back home, ISA is used mostly against political figures, with the slightest of suspision, if not none. *Note though, due to the stronger majority in Dewan Rakyat, the controversial DNA Identification Bill had recieved a lot of opposition. No idea whether the Bill was passed or not.
The country I'm currently studying at has no written constitution with the name, 'the Constitution'. With only 'constitutional' statutes and conventions, it surprises me is that the country never got itself into anarchy. Back home, we have the Federal Constitution which have been amended over 700 times in the past 50 years, and I don't know what the amendments are. The American Constitution has only been amended a few times over their 250 year history. Why is that so?
As much as many things I admire about them, there were also things made by their politicians that remind me of the situation back home. The UK was hit by a change-in-law-just-pay-us-with-money scandal in the House of Lords, and a few here and there scandals.
We are at crossroads: to take a better path to success or the path to oblivion?
I know people will tell me, 'Hey, you can't compare our country with another country. Our's different. We have different histories and backgrounds. Plus, why are you looking up at other countries?'
My answer is this: I'm not saying the other country is better, because they have their bad share of things too. However, there are certain things they are good at, and I think it's good to have a look and learn from it. I'm not comparing and say that just because they did a better job we're have to blindly follow them. I'm just saying that we have room for improvement. They're not perfect too. Buang yang keruh, ambil yang jernih.
I was told by someone that we'll never progress because of the mentality of our people - they will never change due to our history, how our nation was born. I beg to differ. I think we can, according to someone I had a lively discussion, the road may be long and winding, but we can do it.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Spring... Term
After a month resting, exploring and playing around, its back to lectures and tutorials. Damn, I wish the holidays were a bit more longer.
What I did during the Christmas holidays were mostly exploring. Went to Newcastle, Cardiff, Bath and most of all Land's End (southern most part of England). Finally, my childhood dreams came true, and I dare say the 6 hour drive was worth it. Good view from there too.
Read BBC online, and I've just found out that 1000 people have lost their lives in the Gaza conflict. Out of the 1000, almost 400 of them were children and women. So far 13 Israelis lost their lives, with 3 civilians killed.
Its kind of disheartening to see lives lost in the Middle East. It does not matter whose side you're on - either Palestinians or Israelis. When I read the newspapers or watch the telly about people protesting against the conflict, there are two sides: either you are a pro-Palestinian or pro-Israeli. Both sides will never ever condemn the side they are supposting. For example, watch the video from this link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7822656.stm
That was from a pro-Israeli point of view. They say that Hamas should stop sending rockets, but they never say that the Israeli Government to allow the Gaza border to open up so humnitarian aid could be given to needy Palestinians. They never say that the Israeli settlers to stop occupying Palestinian land illegally. They never say that their government should respect all UN resolutions. They never say that their government should go back to the 1967 border.
I haven't gotten a pro-Palestinian, or I should say pro-Hamas video which I could show you, but generally they will never ever mention the lines 'Hamas should stop fighting and start sitting down and talk about getting into good terms with the Isrealis for the sake of Palestinians.'
I am sick of hearing the same old story, with the sound of modern weapons and suicide bombers. If we read about how an average Palestinian lives in Gaza, you can understand why they resort to such unethical and extreme measures to have themselves to be heard. Food and water are scarce. If there are food, probably you have to que in a very long line. If you want to go anywhere, you have to spend hours and hours going through Israeli army controlled checkpoints. That if you are lucky. They could just not allow you to pass through. And it doesn't look nice, with all the barbwire and armed soldiers. Sometimes they will be bullied by the Isreali army, and some may have their relatives or friends being shot dead. Or you are in a UN shelter seeking refuge from Israeli bombs, but the place you seek refuge in was bombed by the Israeli Air Force. You die. Funny thing is, the Israeli Defence Ministry will come out with this statement: "It is regrettable that this incident happened. We will conduct an investigation." But nothing will be heard ever since.
I rarely get to read about how an odinary Israeli living within the radius of Hamas-fired rockets, but surely it is scary for them. Imagine having a walk and soon "BANG!!", a rocket just landed and exploded in front of you. That if you're lucky. What happens if it lands on you? Another point is that the Israelis have been enduring rocket attacks from Hamas for a few years. I suppose they're quite pissed after being bombarded by rockets. One of the reasons why Olmert's government wanted to wage war with Hamas in Gaza was to stop Hamas launching rockets. However, was the attack proportionate to the justification saught? Massive military attack with schools, UN buildings, hospitals bombed? Continous air raids? Give only a three hour window for humanitarian aid?
Additionally, Gaza is now practically a prison: Israel and Egypt closed their borders with Gaza. The Israeli Navy blocks all sea traffic into and out of Gaza. How can a small patch of land sustain large ammounts of people? That is why Palestinians need humanitarian aid: people simply have nothing, nothing, nothing.
I am trying to be a neutral person when it comes to this crisis - I do not want to be emotionally driven. But it is hard for me not to put the bulk of the blame to the Israeli Government for being inconsiderate, careless killing of innocent civilians and not confroming to international standards of conduct in armed conflict. The same goes with Hamas's launching of rockets into Israel.
Why Palestinians support Hamas? How could the Palestinians not support them when Fatah is corrupted and more or less a toothless tiger? With all the circumstances around them, you may think that they have come to the point of desperation. Try looking the situation with a cat or a dog pushed into a corner, when it feels threatened they will bite. They're there. They're living for the sake of living.
Quoting the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, "The effect of war is more dangerous than war. It is sowing seeds of extremism around the region." Taking the words from him may make people think I'm a leftist or an extremist considering Syria is one of the few countries under Bush's 'Axis of Evil', lol. But hey, I think he's true for once. Suicide bombers in response to killing children; intifada's in response to air raids. This is what I can summarise why Palestinians and Israelis never stop fighting for 60 years.
I can safely say that Israel fights to prove that its strong for a tiny nation, while Palestine fights for its survival.
I think if i were to make a proper post about this, probably it would be the length of a thesis.
There are links for you to read more about this crisis: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/middle_east/2001/israel_and_the_palestinians/default.stm. This will lead you to more opinions, news and stories.
What I did during the Christmas holidays were mostly exploring. Went to Newcastle, Cardiff, Bath and most of all Land's End (southern most part of England). Finally, my childhood dreams came true, and I dare say the 6 hour drive was worth it. Good view from there too.
Read BBC online, and I've just found out that 1000 people have lost their lives in the Gaza conflict. Out of the 1000, almost 400 of them were children and women. So far 13 Israelis lost their lives, with 3 civilians killed.
Its kind of disheartening to see lives lost in the Middle East. It does not matter whose side you're on - either Palestinians or Israelis. When I read the newspapers or watch the telly about people protesting against the conflict, there are two sides: either you are a pro-Palestinian or pro-Israeli. Both sides will never ever condemn the side they are supposting. For example, watch the video from this link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7822656.stm
That was from a pro-Israeli point of view. They say that Hamas should stop sending rockets, but they never say that the Israeli Government to allow the Gaza border to open up so humnitarian aid could be given to needy Palestinians. They never say that the Israeli settlers to stop occupying Palestinian land illegally. They never say that their government should respect all UN resolutions. They never say that their government should go back to the 1967 border.
I haven't gotten a pro-Palestinian, or I should say pro-Hamas video which I could show you, but generally they will never ever mention the lines 'Hamas should stop fighting and start sitting down and talk about getting into good terms with the Isrealis for the sake of Palestinians.'
I am sick of hearing the same old story, with the sound of modern weapons and suicide bombers. If we read about how an average Palestinian lives in Gaza, you can understand why they resort to such unethical and extreme measures to have themselves to be heard. Food and water are scarce. If there are food, probably you have to que in a very long line. If you want to go anywhere, you have to spend hours and hours going through Israeli army controlled checkpoints. That if you are lucky. They could just not allow you to pass through. And it doesn't look nice, with all the barbwire and armed soldiers. Sometimes they will be bullied by the Isreali army, and some may have their relatives or friends being shot dead. Or you are in a UN shelter seeking refuge from Israeli bombs, but the place you seek refuge in was bombed by the Israeli Air Force. You die. Funny thing is, the Israeli Defence Ministry will come out with this statement: "It is regrettable that this incident happened. We will conduct an investigation." But nothing will be heard ever since.
I rarely get to read about how an odinary Israeli living within the radius of Hamas-fired rockets, but surely it is scary for them. Imagine having a walk and soon "BANG!!", a rocket just landed and exploded in front of you. That if you're lucky. What happens if it lands on you? Another point is that the Israelis have been enduring rocket attacks from Hamas for a few years. I suppose they're quite pissed after being bombarded by rockets. One of the reasons why Olmert's government wanted to wage war with Hamas in Gaza was to stop Hamas launching rockets. However, was the attack proportionate to the justification saught? Massive military attack with schools, UN buildings, hospitals bombed? Continous air raids? Give only a three hour window for humanitarian aid?
Additionally, Gaza is now practically a prison: Israel and Egypt closed their borders with Gaza. The Israeli Navy blocks all sea traffic into and out of Gaza. How can a small patch of land sustain large ammounts of people? That is why Palestinians need humanitarian aid: people simply have nothing, nothing, nothing.
I am trying to be a neutral person when it comes to this crisis - I do not want to be emotionally driven. But it is hard for me not to put the bulk of the blame to the Israeli Government for being inconsiderate, careless killing of innocent civilians and not confroming to international standards of conduct in armed conflict. The same goes with Hamas's launching of rockets into Israel.
Why Palestinians support Hamas? How could the Palestinians not support them when Fatah is corrupted and more or less a toothless tiger? With all the circumstances around them, you may think that they have come to the point of desperation. Try looking the situation with a cat or a dog pushed into a corner, when it feels threatened they will bite. They're there. They're living for the sake of living.
Quoting the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, "The effect of war is more dangerous than war. It is sowing seeds of extremism around the region." Taking the words from him may make people think I'm a leftist or an extremist considering Syria is one of the few countries under Bush's 'Axis of Evil', lol. But hey, I think he's true for once. Suicide bombers in response to killing children; intifada's in response to air raids. This is what I can summarise why Palestinians and Israelis never stop fighting for 60 years.
I can safely say that Israel fights to prove that its strong for a tiny nation, while Palestine fights for its survival.
I think if i were to make a proper post about this, probably it would be the length of a thesis.
There are links for you to read more about this crisis: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/middle_east/2001/israel_and_the_palestinians/default.stm. This will lead you to more opinions, news and stories.
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Ground Zero
Still in it. Still smelling the burning smell of metal.
On another note, I want to have Anberlin's latest album, New Surrender. Anyone want to sponsor me one?
On another note, I want to have Anberlin's latest album, New Surrender. Anyone want to sponsor me one?
Monday, November 10, 2008
The Crazy Weekend
Last weekend I went for two events - Firstly Nottingham Games (Duh, in Nottingham) and Socialism 2008 in London.
Well, Nottingham Games is basically an event which every Malaysia society in the UK gathered around and plays sports with each other. I participated in football 5-a-side (like futsal, but the goal post is way wider and lower). Lost three matches and drew one. The Nottingham team was really good. Practically they have a gala time shooting every 20 seconds and their shots are really accurate. Don't know who won the football league though. After losing, went to the dining hall and bought nasi lemak. It was just average but I ate it as if I haven't eaten for days. Too bad I didn't buy more.
The next day I went to London with my sore aching muscles. I had to force myself to wake up and for once I thought I'll never will. Reached ULU and met my good old friend, Chansey. We straight away went for a discussion about the Tiananmen Square uprising. There were many differing opinions about it. Actually, too many that it is useless to mention it here.
But what I found interesting was the talk about Marxist economics. Again, I won't dwell about what Marxist economics are and the weakness of Capitalism for the simple reason I don't think I have understood everything they said. However, I think that the speaker's statement about Capitalism is a never a stable concept rings true to me, taking into consideration about the economic recessions we have been experiencing in the past 10 years. I do not agree with everything they say, but I am really pleased that I have looked on both sides of the coin.
One thing that surprises me is that they made a lot of reference to Karl Marx. Imagine hearing bad things about Karl Marx all your life and suddenly you've heard something good about him. It felt weird, neither in a good or a bad way. In addition to that, I could feel that strong sense of glorifying the founding people of Socialism like Marx, Engel and Trotsky, plus the way they address each other as ‘comrades’.
When you come to think of it, it is amazing that the UK allowed them to have a socialist party in the first place. Try talking about socialism back home and I'll be labelled as a heretic. I am not defending socialism; it is just that we are so close-minded that we never really put it to thought what is socialism and what are their pros and cons.
Had a 'rally' at the end of the day, with some of their influential members talking around, mostly nasty shots towards the Labour Party and the need to have a left-wing party for the workers. They even had an anthem at the end of it. They raised their hands with their fists clenched, while I stood quietly as a sign of respect towards them (without the fist).
Later, Chansey and Steve sent me back to Euston Station because they feared about me walking alone at the middle of the night in London (Thanks and I'm sorry that you had send me to the Tube. I appreciate it though!!).
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Reading
It has been a week here in Reading for me. The past few days were really busy due to a lot of things that needed to be dealt with. People may find going to new places exciting but I'm doing this with some reservations, for the simple reason that this is not some a week or two holiday. I'm going to be here for the whole year, which may bring new and unforeseen challenges.
But the week has been really good for me. I managed to settle down quickly before the class starts and even settled the important stuffs within a few days. I even managed to go to the town centre for the weekend and tried shopping for some good decent hoodies/jackets, but to no avail (actually I found a good one, but it is really expensive when I translate it to Ringgit).
I found out that Brits are really social people, and they don't mind talking to strangers. Lol. I was paying for my stationeries at the counter when a man talked to me and said, "You're really lucky to be a student". He was referring to the 10% discounts I could get by showing my student card. I replied to him, saying that it was never too late to be one. He was like, "I love studying. You'll never stop learning till you die." I agreed. Later, he introduced himself as Lough and gave me a handshake, saying "Welcome to the UK". I walked out from the store and thought to myself, the Brits aren't bad after all. Of course there are those bad and stuck up ones, but I think generally if you are kind to them, they would do the same thing to you.
That's about it folks. Oh, there are a few pictures which I took over the weekend:
A picture at one of the canals there (I think).
This one is at a park by the name of Chestnut Walk (Oscar Wilde Memorial).
More pictures.
Forbury Gardens.
This statue is to commemorate the fallen British soldiers from the Berkshire area in World War II.
Pretty flowers (in Yuffie language)
But the week has been really good for me. I managed to settle down quickly before the class starts and even settled the important stuffs within a few days. I even managed to go to the town centre for the weekend and tried shopping for some good decent hoodies/jackets, but to no avail (actually I found a good one, but it is really expensive when I translate it to Ringgit).
I found out that Brits are really social people, and they don't mind talking to strangers. Lol. I was paying for my stationeries at the counter when a man talked to me and said, "You're really lucky to be a student". He was referring to the 10% discounts I could get by showing my student card. I replied to him, saying that it was never too late to be one. He was like, "I love studying. You'll never stop learning till you die." I agreed. Later, he introduced himself as Lough and gave me a handshake, saying "Welcome to the UK". I walked out from the store and thought to myself, the Brits aren't bad after all. Of course there are those bad and stuck up ones, but I think generally if you are kind to them, they would do the same thing to you.
That's about it folks. Oh, there are a few pictures which I took over the weekend:
A picture at one of the canals there (I think).
This one is at a park by the name of Chestnut Walk (Oscar Wilde Memorial).
More pictures.
Forbury Gardens.
This statue is to commemorate the fallen British soldiers from the Berkshire area in World War II.
Pretty flowers (in Yuffie language)
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Malay Dilemma: The Fencesitter's Point of View (Part II)
I personally think that it is unfair for me to talk about the Malays and continuously putting them under the microscope. Additionally, I think it is unfair for people to be wholly critical about the Malays without being critical to other races too. Too many a time people talk about the Malays but so little talk about the others. Therefore, this time I think I should talk about the others, primarily on the Chinese, since I am half-Chinese which I can relate myself to.
The Chinese are really hard working and resourceful people, thus explaining the fact that most tend to be successful.
There are generally two groups of Chinese. One is the understanding and tolerant group, and the other the really Chinese Chinese. These Chinese Chinese tend to mix with their own group, and mixing with others is a no-no. Like I've said in my previous entries, too many a time I've been unsuccessful to mix with them because I'm not Chinese enough or I'm tainted with non-Chinese blood, and the fact I can't speak Mandarin or other dialects. A friend of mine who is Malay, got shooed from learning Mandarin because he's not Chinese. I got scolded by an old Chinese man because I can't speak Mandarin, and got a lot of angry stares from them.
Additionally, a friend of mine who studied at a prestigious Chinese school told me that he always got mocked by his Mandarin teacher just because he can't read the language good enough. It was up to the point that he was mocked in front of his class as a 'foreigner', which is degrading when you are in that situation.
Facts will give you circumstantial evidence that they tend to click within their own group. According to Ong Ka Ting, which I've read in the Star, he mentioned that about 90% of Chinese studies in Chinese schools. That means a whole generation of Chinese students to mix with their own group, and when they grow up they only know to talk, live, and be Chinese, not Malaysians they are supposed to be.
I know that Chinese schools produce students with good grades, but why defining people according to race/language today? This is Malaysia, not pre-independence Malaya or China. The national language is Bahasa Malaysia, not Mandarin. Do not be surprised that there are people who can't even speak Bahasa Malaysia even though they are born and bred here.
That brings me to the recent uproar about the Malaysian being locked up in an immigration lock up for six months unlawfully because she could not remember her IC and she can't speak BM. The immigration buggers thought she was Sri Lankan. Yes, it is true that the Immigration department buggers did not do their job properly and did not bother to check her claims that she is a Malaysian. But please, after so long living here, can't she at least speak bahasa pasar? Even my grandmother who was an immigrant from China could speak decent BM. My goodness.
Another one was the recent visit by the former Indian president. He made a speech, the whole hall was full. And everyone clapped. More amazing is that there was a whole mob just to take pictures of him. Even after 50 years, there are still people who regard highly of India or China than our own country.
Sometimes I think that there is some tiny truth in Ahmad's comments, though his are really stupid and very racist in nature. The conservative Malay man will see that his race is being condemned by other races. Remember the Negarakuku song which made mockery of the azan and the Malays? Hindraf, which accuse that the Malays are committing a systematic genocide against the Indians (this point, I really doubt this)? Surely he would have thought, "If they can condemn my race, so do I."
My point is that when you started to allow one to pass racist statements without any punishment for it, then others will follow suit. Even though the Negarakuku songwriter apologised for his deeds, he should have not been spared just by an apology. He must face the law, which translates into just punishment. His sentence could be reduced since he apologised, but he still has to face the music. Now that he just got away with it, the impression now is that people can pass any statements without any fear of a backlash or punishment. What about freedom of speech? Singapore sues people who defame their leaders, and most of them ended up bankrupt. You'll end up in hot soup if you make bad statements about coloured people in US. Answer: there is a limit to freedom of speech.
Personally, I think it is hypocritical of these people to just pass comments about azan being too loud. You expect them to tone down, but on the other hand you allow scantily clad women to dance around the stage just to appease the “ghosts” during the hungry ghost festival with high volume. Roads are closed just to make way for these shows. Pglgh. Hypocrites. Thank god for the rising cost of fuel, or else these shows would still go on. Now at least they put cultural shows, which is way better than the former.
Once that race bashing starts, it's a cycle. Unless someone steps in and say "Stop, this is too much!" and punish them severely for their actions, I don't see the end of it.
Malays are another group too. Some still have the perception of non-Malays as pendatang. It has been more than 50 years; they should be shredding that mentality off. Malays must accept that they are Malaysians. Plus, most of the Malays here can originate their ancestry to Indonesia anyway. So they are not the indigenous people after all. The only real indigenous people here are the Orang Asli.
I really don’t know now. Everything seems wrong. Everyone hates the other race. We define ourselves by race and not nationality. It’s a big mess here. Who is going to clean it up? We can’t expect others to do the cleaning, because they will ask us for a price. We have to clean it up ourselves.
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Warrgh! Banner
I'm just psychologically tired from all the worst case scenarios I'm facing now. You name it, I've been through it. And I have not even stepped my bloody foot on Reading yet.
Additionally, it doesn't help too when everyone is relatively screaming on my face.
Additionally, it doesn't help too when everyone is relatively screaming on my face.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
What have we gotten ourselves into?
Can anyone agree with me on this point? Our politicians have been doing a lot of fucked up stuff, both the government and the opposition. Do you think that it is time to stop this crap and focus on more important issues like the economy, education and security?
Our economy is not doing well now due to the US sub-prime market. To top it off, our politics is so unstable that we are driving investors away. All because of one person so eager to be PM by asking MP's to jump ship. Oh, and a very weak PM.
Our kids are not interested in studying now because they don't understand what their teachers are trying to teach them. It's not the teachers fault - it is the systems' fault.
Just recently a lady got slashed, stabbed and killed by robbers in front of the police. More worrying, it happened in a gated community, supposedly safe.
But all our politicians are interested in saving their own asses, not doing things in the interests the rakyat. They are supposed to go to Parliament to debate, make and amend laws but instead they go to Parliament just to curse around.
The good politician got scolded by his own party members for doing something which was right, while the bad politician who made very racist remarks got the backing of the whole state party behind him.
Can someone tell those fucking politicians and say, "Hey, stop this crap. Do your work. Properly."
Our economy is not doing well now due to the US sub-prime market. To top it off, our politics is so unstable that we are driving investors away. All because of one person so eager to be PM by asking MP's to jump ship. Oh, and a very weak PM.
Our kids are not interested in studying now because they don't understand what their teachers are trying to teach them. It's not the teachers fault - it is the systems' fault.
Just recently a lady got slashed, stabbed and killed by robbers in front of the police. More worrying, it happened in a gated community, supposedly safe.
But all our politicians are interested in saving their own asses, not doing things in the interests the rakyat. They are supposed to go to Parliament to debate, make and amend laws but instead they go to Parliament just to curse around.
The good politician got scolded by his own party members for doing something which was right, while the bad politician who made very racist remarks got the backing of the whole state party behind him.
Can someone tell those fucking politicians and say, "Hey, stop this crap. Do your work. Properly."
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Mirror
People always think I'm defensive.
People think I have no common sense.
People think I'm just bull.
But I always ask myself, "Is it me or is it THEM?"
People think I have no common sense.
People think I'm just bull.
But I always ask myself, "Is it me or is it THEM?"
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Malay Dilemma: A Fencesitter's Point of view
A lot has been said about the Malay Rights whether it should be maintained or it should be abolished. A point to make on this issue: the Malay Rights had been a ‘social contract’ between the majority Malays and the non-Malays in exchange for the non-Malays to get citizenship based on jus soli principle. This was agreed when Malaya then was about to gain independence from the British.
Examples of Malay Rights are the quota system in education and in companies, financial help, priority in getting government contracts, etc.
The Malay Rights was a good idea then when the Malays, in general do not have the upper hand in economy, finance and education compared to the non-Malays, especially the Chinese. To ensure political stability in the country, it has been agreed upon that Malay Rights should be granted in order to have some ‘equilibrium’ in Malaysian society. That had been the understanding then and it was enforced again with the introduction of the New Economy Policy (NEP) for the Malays after the May 13th riots.
The idea of Malay Rights was a good one, which is to help the Malays in getting out of the poverty they were associated with, and to a certain extent to help them to be in the same playing field with the non-Malays. After that, it should be expected that the Malay Rights to be removed gradually as they start to develop themselves.
However, the Malay Rights had been ‘stated’ by political parties like UMNO, that Malay Rights is a right and cannot be questioned on the grounds that it is something that has been engraved into the Federal Constitution. It is true that the Malay Rights is inside the Federal Constitution, no doubt about that. But the Malay Rights has become a restriction for the non-Malays to progress too. Giving rights is one thing and restricting is another.
I’ll give you an example. There are two students. One is Malay and another is an Indian. Both of them go through the same education path by going for primary and secondary school, plus having Form 6 as their pre-U studies. Both did very well in their exams, let say 4 A’s (straight A’s) and have good extracurricular studies. Both of them wanted to pursue medicine, which has a very limited space in local universities. If the system could only choose one of them, they would pick the Malay student. This is called privilege. What if the Malay student have only 2 A’s? This is where the restrictive part comes in. The Malay student gets the offer instead of the Indian student even though the Indian has better results. Also contributing to it is the very restrictive nature of the quota system for non-Malays, only giving 10% of the places allocated. It should have been at least 30% of the allocated spaces. Reason for that is that the composition of non-Malays in the country is roughly about 40% of the population. Putting only a 10% of places in local universities makes a strong negative statement on our multi-cultural society.
When only 10% of non-Malays are only selected into the local universities, no wonder most of the non-Malay families are aching their backs off to send their kids to private colleges and foreign universities. Those are the lucky ones. There are even some who don’t have enough money to buy a plane ticket. It just pains me to see that so many hardworking kids did not get what they deserved just because of a restrictive policy.
That is the problem about the Malay Rights: giving to people who are not supposed to get it but gets it because of the term ’Bumiputra’ in his or her IC. That should not be the case. We should not deprive the non-Malays of opportunities just because of over-restrictive nature of Malay Rights.
But I have to admit that there is a certain degree of success of the Malay rights. More Malay people start to appreciate the value of good education. I’ve seen brilliant Malay minds. I’ve seen very hardworking ones when I was in Matrikulasi and they are as hard working as any other hardworking person.
As for the business sector, I have no comments as I have no sound knowledge in that field. But what I can say is that, seeing the amount of money invested into helping the Malays, only a few managed to be successful. Why? Have a look at the building industry. Many contracts are given to Bumiputra contractors by the government. However, only a small percentage does the constructing work themselves. Instead of doing the projects properly on their own, they sold off their tenders to another contractor (mostly non-Bumiputra contractors) for a quick buck. In the end, the intent of helping Bumiputra contractors to gain experience in the construction industry goes to dust.
After 30 years since the first implementation of the NEP, there is still no concrete evidence that the Malays had gained the success rate that Malays should achieve. If this were the case, we have to look the reason why NEP does not work. Are the strategies applied not relevant? Is it the lack of management organisation? Does the privileges given helped? Is the implementation faulty? Or just plain UMNO giving out contracts and incentives to their own cronies? These are the critical questions we have to answer. Giving special privileges must come with a degree of success.
According to an opposition MB, he stated that only the ones within the inner circle of UMNO will benefit from the NEP. It seems that NEP is helping the UMNO Malays and not the average Malay person who are in need. If it is so, we have to kick out the cronies and start giving out to deserving people who need it most.
One consequence of the over-zealous implementation of Malay Rights is the loss of brilliant Malaysian non-Malay minds to other countries. Malaysia has dedicated about 20% of its annual expenditure on education, among the highest in the world but ends up wasting their resources to other nations. Why? Most of these great minds are hindered by the bureaucracy in the government sector and quite frequently racist policies made by over-restricting the quota for non-Malays in education and in research and development. Most of these people are willing to work for less pay. But what they cannot stand is the restrictions imposed on them.
Another point is to abolish Malay rights altogether. This has been in my mind for years: pro or con? There are questions in my head that needs a definitive answer before making such a decision. What will happen if Malay Rights are to be abolished? Would this cause the Malays to lose their dear political strength to make up for their economical weaknesses? If that happens, would there be political instability in the country? What socio-economic changes will we see when that happens?
The reason why Malay Rights are here is because the Malays fear to become the aborigines, the Red Indians in their own country, being the one with no power, oppressed and having limited rights. If the Malay Rights are to be removed, what safeguards they have in order for them not to be in same position as those two? Malays are very sensitive people when it comes to this issue. They fear to become slaves in their own soil. The fear is still in their hearts, even after decades of independence.
But we could not blame 100% for them being this way. This fear is also at the hearts of other races. If Malay Rights are to be removed, the Malays will certainly say that in a sense, the non-Malays have more rights. How? The existence of Chinese schools and Tamil schools. Try removing those two schools out. You will surely see riots and demonstrations within 24 hours. I suppose that last time people do not make a big puss about Malay Rights because the Malays get to have what they want and non-bumis got what they want too, generally.
I've heard from someone that the existences of Chinese and Tamil schools are guaranteed by the Constitution. I'm not sure about that, so I'm only going to say is that if it is true, then removing Malay Rights would virtually be irremovable, if not only to be slightly restricted.
I personally think that we will never reach a conclusion unless both sides are willing to let go of their privileges. The Chinese and Tamil schools must go, only then they can start talking about removing Malay Rights.
When we try to balance one, the other would offset itself. Like Malay Rights, during its conception changes its socio-economic atmosphere, so does when it is removed.
Personally, I don’t know how this should be addressed, but I think that one day the Malay Rights should be totally removed. But not today with a complete removal of Malay Rights but instead as I mentioned earlier that the rights should be gradually removed as they progressed.
But one thing for sure, I oppose the over-restrictive and over-zealousness nature the Malay Rights had become. Privileges and restrictions are two different words. What should be something constructive has become an object of oppression to another. We have to remember that we not just uphold the welfare of the Malays, but also our fellow non-Malays. After all, we are all Malaysians.
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