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.

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.

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.

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?

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!!).

The Socialism 2008 was worth it even though now I’m suffering due to lack of sleep and rest. Lol.

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)

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.