Tun Mahathir
Yesterday, I went for a jog with my buddies Eugene and Wen Hao at the Cyberjaya lake after work. We drove up to the lake and parked along the road leading to the lake. As we were doing our stretches and loosening up, 2 cars drove into the lake. It was a luxury Mercedes followed by a Perdana. We were saying to each other “Who the heck is driving in to this public lake?”
Then out came 2 guys first, a Malay and Indian. They walked for a distance to check the place out, and then came out Tun Dr. Mahathir bin Mohamad himself. Accompanied by his wife Tun Dr Siti Hasmah Bt Mohd Ali, a lady friend and some obvious bodyguards, they went for a walk along the Cyberjaya Lake. Everyone at the lake noticed them. They all kept a distance and let him enjoy the peace and quiet evening.
This is the first time I’ve seen him in person, and he’s really thin and looks frail now. He probably looks like that because of the 2 heart surgeries he had last year, but he seems well. I guess not many have even seen him in person at all. Standing just a few meters away from him, Eugene, Wen Hao and I just looked at each other and in almost disbelieve. You might be thinking, “What’s the big deal?” “He’s an ex prime minister, not the current one” “So?” I bet, if you were in my shoes at that time, you may have felt what I felt, “Gosh, it’s him!” To me, he’s a visionary and probably one of the most influential and admired leaders of our time. Despite commonly reported accusations, criticism and slandering suggesting he is not Mr. Clean or flawless in managing a country, he’s proven to have won admirers and respect from people all over.
What I like and admire about Tun Mahathir? For one, he fights for the lesser known or marginalized. He has been known to criticize western and developed countries which look down on developing countries. In believing and trusting in his country and its people, he often doesn’t listen to western leaders without any solid justification on why Malaysia should listen to them. I guess, he has a lot of pride in his country and doesn’t want foreigners controlling us and telling us what is best for us. In terms of influence, there was a time he managed to convince some leaders such as Prime Minister of France, President of Russia and Counselor of Germany to listen to Malaysian views in certain political matters like war on Iraq. This eventually let to them not interfering in the war. I guess the most that impresses me was that he managed to make developed countries understand the importance of having smaller or developing nations the chance to be able to speak freely like other developed nations. He may have not been the pioneer in making lesser known countries stand out, but he sure made in impact when he spoke up at various General Assembly of UN Summits.
Thank You Tun Mahathir, for all your efforts, sacrifices and hard work. Your bravery and vision has brought us to heights we have never thought possible years ago.
How to ask a girl outGuy: "You free tomorrow night?"
Girl: "No."
Guy: "Tuesday night?"
Girl: "Yea, why?"
Guy: "Wanna go on a date?"
Girl: "WHAT!?"
Guy: "I said, are you free around eight?"
Girl: "Oh, erm... yea... I thought you said something else."
Stumbled upon this from http://ayandy.blogspot.com. Good one Andrew!
Huh? You mean to say I can’t use Allah when praying?
Recently, there was a concern that arose with regards to the Herald Publication (Online version: http://www.herald.com.my/) in our local scene. To be honest, I was disturbed and a little startled. Of all the things that have happened so far in our beloved country in 2007 (mind you, it’s also our country’s 50th year Anniversary of Independence), this one has raised alarms to Catholics and fellow Christians alike. Instead of celebrating the success of a peaceful, developing, flourishing and harmonious Malaysia, consisting of a multi-racial community, again we are faced with a debatable and unmistakably controversial topic. A topic which I feel is a bump on the road or a hitch in moving forward for greater success and setting a good example to developing nations. For many of you who were oblivious with the issue, this is what happened:
I was planning to give you guys the long story of what happened, then I found one article online that sums up the whole topic:-
In short, at first, The Herald’s publication license was not renewed because we used the word Allah to refer to God. Then it was renewed with no restrictions on the use of the name Allah. I gave a big sigh of relieve when I heard this in Church when Father Paulino Miranda (a man I greatly admire) announced it during mass when I attended Mass at Church of Divine Mercy, Shah Alam. Later on, we realized we sighed a relieve and celebrated all too soon, when we got the news that the publication of the Herald was renewed on the condition that we do not use the name Allah as it “has long been the practice of this country that the world Allah refers to God according to the Muslim faith” according to Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Abdullah Mohd Zin; who was instructed by the Prime Minister to clear the air after the Rakyat’s Cabinet decided. I don’t know about you, but somehow, I fail to see how the Cabinet represents the Rakyat as we, the real Rakyat don’t feel the same. Unless the Cabinet thinks majority is enough to “do the right thing”, then I guess we have no choice but to obey and be happy and grateful for what we have, even if it means us changing our practices and believes, for Cabinet knows what best for the Rakyat.
Discussions from the Foreign Scene regarding this matter:
(Kindly do not read these links below if you’re not used to or prepared for deliberate criticism and tolerating the opinion of others)
Malaysian row over word for “God”
Definitions and interpretations:
Before we pass judgment on what happened, let us pause for a moment and digest the various definitions and interpretations of Allah for a moment:-
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The website
http://www.godallah.com/ quotes:
The word "Allah" is the perfect description of the "One God" of monotheism for Jews, Christians and Muslims!
Is "Allah" only for Islam and Muslims?
[No! It is for All Three Abrahamic Faiths.]
"Allah" is the same word used by Christian Arabs and Jewish Arabs in their Bible, centuries before Islam came.
Standard Arabic word for God, used by Arab Christians as well as by Muslims.
Derived from an old Semitic root refering to the Divine and used in the Canaanite El, the Mesopotamian ilu, and the biblical Elohim, the word Allah is used by all Arabic-speaking Muslims, Christians, Jews, and others.
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So, do we really want to accept the logic and explanation behind the cabinet’s decision to not allow non-Muslims to use the name Allah in praying and in publications when clearly, they did not make the necessary effort in finding out the history behind the name Allah and given enough thought and consideration of Christians in the country and the possible conclusions foreign nations will make before making such a decision? Guess that’s why we always end up electing them to make such decisions, for the good of the Rakyat.
Whats my opinion on this?
I’m comfortable referring to my god as God Almighty, Ever Loving God, Merciful God, or Wonderful God. And since I believe in the Holy Trinity, (God our Father, Jesus the Son and the Holy Spirit), I shall continue to refer my beloved God as just God; short, sweet and simple, yet just by pronouncing it, makes you what to pause in silence for a moment as reverence to it’s deep and holy meaning. I shall not argue with those who are insisting a certain name belongs to them. I cannot see how this has become a big deal in the first place, when Allah was first used by people even before the Muslim religion was practiced. Anyhow, I believe every one is free to call their Almighty God with any name they desire, but it’s not nice to ban others to not use names that they do not own nor have prove it’s meant only to refer to their religious believes only. As we move forward into the future and evolve into a new generation of thinking, rationalizing, caring and considerate society to co-exist peacefully with others, we have to open our eyes, ears and heart and be sensitive towards the feelings and opinions of others. Just because we’ve been observing the same practice and usage of words throughout the generations, doesn’t make it ours. We share what is good and pure, and rid ourselves of hate, arrogance and selfishness. I have a lot of Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist and a few Sikh friends. As a multi-racial community, we share a few things in common, we all learnt to be friends with one another, we accepted each other as who we actually are, and we treat each others with decency and respect as we would like to be treated. That to me is Malaysian. Kindly be one!
I wonder why they came up with the Unity Band campaign to celebrate 50 years of Independence. I guess they sense even after 50 years growing together, the Rakyat isn't together, then how can we be stronger? May I make a suggestion? Make decisions jointly and with everyone's consent. Consider everyone's views and compromise on debatable issues. Move forward, not backwards! United we stand, divided we fall. Well, as a member of the Rakyat, that's my opinion.
Christmas 2007
Christmas this year can be summed up as a monetarily costly, turkey & lamb gobbling, laughter filled, wine drunk and most definitely a tiring affair. I sent about 30 invites and about half turned up, which is what I actually anticipated as I had the tiniest of places to host it, my residence in sunway college hostels. No, I’m not a lecturer in Sunway college, but since my dad works here in sunway college apartments, we were given an apartment to live in and the family lives with him lor. We’re hoping to get a house of our own this year…
My cousin Juliana and Aunt Margaret came over a few days earlier to assist in having our home look a bit more Christmassy. They did a fantastic job as some people who came over during the Open house on the 25th commented they loved the tree decorations and the house had been ornamented tastefully to suit the occasion.
The Tree after modifications… Thanks Anna and Aunt Margaret. Can you spot the tiny Candy Canes?
On Christmas Eve, my family and I attended the 6:30pm Christmas Mass at Assumption church, PJ. It was a beautiful celebration by Father Simon. Haven’t been to Assumption since February, so it was really nice seeing some familiar faces. Suprisingly also was a tap on my shoulder by Sharon Mahendra, a workmate of mine from my offce. Didn’t get to chat much, as people were rushing back and we had to leave for my uncle Harry’s in Damansara, same place as where my friend Fiona stays. Though I keep forgetting the name of the place.
The Tree at Uncle Harry’s
Leftover after we’ve had seconds and thirds. Yerp, besides Turkey and Lamb, we have duck as usual.
Uncle Harry as Santa Claus! He was sporting enough to be our Santa as the host. Picture taken with the small ones before present giving.
Family Picture by the tree
With the warm turkey and lamb served, along with lots of wine and liquor, Christmas tree all lit up, and Christmas carols playing at the background, I welcomed my friends for the usual end of the year Christmas gathering from 12pm till 7pm on Christmas Day.
Thilak and Leonard leading the way
Cousin Juliana helping out by carving the turkey
Since I was busy entertaining guests, I didn’t really have time to take pictures of all who came. I enjoyed the day seating in a circle, shared jokes, drank wine and played some party games whilst listening to Christmas Carols. We laughed hysterically at jokes by Calvin and Leonard. A big thank you to those who came, Theva, Thilak, Wen Hao, Yen, Eugene, Calvin, Ravin, Leonard, May, Vino, Devi, Shuba, Edna, Annette, Jessica. You guys rock! Though all of you forgot about the Candy Canes on the Christmas Tree when leaving. Please don't forget this year! *hint-hint* ;-)
Cantankerous
Now here’s a word you don’t hear everyday. I’ve stumbled upon this word a few times when reading magazines and newspaper, but never really understood its meaning. I first heard this word back in Secondary school days when a friend of mine, Kuhan Nagaratnam introduced this word to the whole school on English day. Every Wednesdays, we’d have an assembly in the morning and for 15 minutes; we’d have the word of the week and a short sketch or performance to improve our command of English. Kuhan has gone on to be a pilot and flying all over with Airasia and I’m stuck on the ground seated in an office cubicle. I should have done more public speaking and teaching English at that time, I sometimes wonder.
Cantankerous means unwilling to cooperate; stubbornly obstructive; disagreeable to deal with. In a sentence, instead of saying “He’s an argumentative man” you can rephrase it as “He’s cantankerous”. Sounds odd, but hey, doesn’t it sound weirdly funny, yet differently cool? So there you go, go forth and use this word wisely. For those who know this word and used it’s context correctly all this while, whilst knowing it’s actually meaning fully, good for you! Yes, I’m that naïve with loads of words in the dictionary.
It’s been more than a year since I last blogged, the reason mostly being that I never took the initiative to seat and write and also that I never had a fast enough internet service at home. I can’t promise I’ll update my blog on a regular basis, but I’ll surely try now that I’ve got izzi (
http://www.izzi.com.my/). It’s a 4G wireless broadband service which is only currently available in the Klang Valley. I’be been using izziyou and thus far haven’t experienced downtime, bootup connection within 3 seconds, surfying webpages and chatting online with ease. I’ve no complaints, so I’m pretty happy with its performance. Read it’s website to know more.
Well, that's all for now. Hope to upload some pics the next time around...
Labels: cantankerous, izzi
