It's the economy, stupid

As if you don't already know, most of the unhappiness index in Malaysia today is connected to the prices of consumer goods and services. 

Why are prices so sticky, as in why didn't the price of consumer goods and services adjust downwards after the change of government on May 9, 2018?

This is something that the Malaysian government has failed to explain to the Malaysian public.

The fact is that while political players come and go, the economic players pretty much remain unchanged. The consumption patterns remain unchanged. The supply chain remains unchanged.

So, what can new political masters do with the levers of power in government? Push the wrong button and shit may happen. So, what to do?

To avoid being blamed (though it's a little late in the day now because the shit has already hit the fan) the government needs to explain to the Malaysian public on why the price of so many consumer goods and services haven't fallen.

It's a sticky wicket.

This is a failure of communication by the new Malaysian government. 

It's been a year now. Time to get the act together. 

Tanpa Kebanggaan Tiada Malu

If you have no Pride, you will have no Shame.

Malaysia's Schooling System

"If it ain't broke, don't fix it". That is the old saw that has been a vital piece of wisdom for engineers for a long time.

In the 1960s, the intention was to foster National Unity and National Integration through the co-option of the mission schools into the National School System. The medium of instruction was to be changed from English to Bahasa Malaysia. The Junior Cambridge and Senior Cambridge examination system would be localised into the LCE and MCE. Later it would morph into SRP and SPM.

What went wrong after that?

How did the quality of education go down?

How did religion become so dominant in the National School System?

We should all note the reality that the 1960s ethos and the second decade of the new millennium are completely different epochs. It should be quite clear that the state of Malaysia's schools system is in disarray.

National objectives have not been met. What was the intended outcome? What went wrong?

Malaysian families, as always, practical and effective, quickly found alternative ways to get their children schooled at a standard that allowed them to enter into the workforce with the necessary skill sets to earn a living. They resorted to the Chinese-medium schools.

Leave aside polemics and rhetoric. Cast aside racial arguments. Throw away prejudice and invective. Just measure the schooling system by looking at OUTCOMES. That is the sure and objective measure. 

The issue of Malaysian schooling systems is a large one with different aspects. All these create confusion and distractions.

My suggestion is that everyone starts with getting the National School System fixed. This, as I previously blogged, requires an open and inclusive consultative process. 

The shape of Malaysia's future is at stake here.

Malaysia's Gettysburg Address

As Ministers for media and communications go in Malaysia, there are 2 standouts. One is Tan Sri Ghazali Shafie who was a good friend of Tun Razak. The other is Tok Mat, Datuk Mohamad Rahmat.

The post is now held by Gobind Singh Deo.

What Malaysians need now more than anything else is a sense of good cheer.

And, what Malaysians need is a timely reminder of the tenets of the Rukunegara which shone a light and, gave a sense of direction to Malaysians in our hour of darkness.

In the euphoria of the change of federal government in May 9 last year, many assumed that the Malaysians who voted for BN to remain would swing to the new government. The jury is still out on this matter.

But, whoever is in charge of the federal government has a sacred duty to keep multiracial Malaysia intact.

Everyone loves to feel good. Malaysians have every reason to feel good. But in order to feel good we often need something to trigger the chemicals in our body that makes us feel good.

The current federal government should be reminded that it needs to invoke the Rukunegara that all Malaysians have embraced since 1970, without any question at all.

What the Minister for Communications and Multimedia needs to do is to get the talent within his Ministry and the talent that is out there in the Malaysian entertainment, media, advertising and communications sectors to get onto the bandwagon and create content that will remind Malaysians to feel good about each other.

Who can argue with the principles enshrined in the Rukunegara?

The Rukunegara is a work of genius. It is economical in language. It is categorical. It is enumerated. It is a national mantra. 

It is Malaysia's version of the Gettysburg Address.

I invite the Minister of Communications and Multimedia to use the Rukunegara to change Malaysian mindsets for the better.

Malu Troll in Malaysia Baru

It must be annoying and confusing for many to see people who are charged with serious breaches of public trust, corruption and assorted financial crimes walk freely among us. Worse still, these accused persons wear smug expressions and appear to carry on their daily lives with nary a worry in the world. Further unkind blows are received when we read about their capers in social media and the adoration they receive from certain sections of the Malaysian polity.

One may begin to wonder ... hmmmm ... do crimes really pay? Can one really get away with it? What gives? Is our system of laws really broken? Why haven't the accused persons been thrown in jail?

The due process of the law is, indeed, annoying. It comes across and being slow, lumbering, languid, emotionless, uncaring and, cold. One has to be stoic.

If nothing else, our criminal justice system requires the accuser to be patient. This is due to the basic principle adopted only in the recent two centuries that an accused person must be presumed innocent until proven otherwise.

Annoying as it may be, this system is far, far better than the one used by Torquemada in the Spanish Inquisition and, the Star Chamber used in 17th Century England.

The long arm of the law will reach the guilty parties. By charging the accused persons, the noose is already around their necks. The noose may be loose now because the trials haven't started. It will start tightening around the necks of the accused once the trial gets under way. 

Malaysia Baru is a work in progress. Everyone needs to do their own small positive part. Have faith that change has started and, it is in progress.

UEC

The current debate about the United Examination Certificate (UEC) that applies to private Malaysian schools where the medium of instruction is mostly in the Mandarin language is a red herring.

All Malaysian educationists of all stripes should be asked to stand down on the matter. 

It is not an urgent matter. It is an aspirational matter.

Instead, all Malaysian educationists should focus on why the mainstream schools have seriously underperformed over the past few decades.

What went wrong?

In approaching the matter, the government must be the convener and facilitator. Avoid polemics. Focus on syllabus, focus on teaching talent, focus on good morals and behaviour as befits a multi-racial Malaysia, focus on skills that will help to earn a livelihood.

The new government is already moving on this. But, this new government lacks patience. It wants to be seen to have gotten things done, which usually means small issues like shoe colour, while failing to communicate on the bigger issues such as the quality of education.

My suggestion is that this new government start various inclusive processes that involves active consultation with various community groups.

Those of us who studied in mainstream schools have found that since the mid-1980s, the quality of education has gone down. 

The funny thing is that the syllabus is still good. So, why the anomalous situation?

All 3 of my children went through Malaysian mainstream schools. There was tuition, of course. But, they have gone on to tertiary studies in foreign lands and earned high scores and graduated. 

So, if the syllabus looks to be okay, what else is wrong with the mainstream schools?

I will make this one observation.

As my youngest child reached the end of her Standard 6, the new Pengetua Sekolah decided to build a huge surau at the teacher's car park right in the front entrance to the school. The teachers were told to park in the school padang. The padang was at a lower level to the school building so the teachers had to climb a flight of steps to reach the school building. And, if it rained, the padang would become muddy.

So, the playing field became smaller. The grand entrance to the school was obstructed by the surau building. Teachers had to park far away and trudged to the school.

I was quite perturbed as to why the education system was unable to tell the Pengetua that his faith is his personal business and, plonking a building at the teacher's car park would affect the school's processes. The teachers were griping  about the situation but felt emasculated.

Let us leave aside the UEC for now. All educationists must be invited by the new government to contribute to the rebuilding of the mainstream education system.

And, just to put things in stark perspective, understand that whatever that is decided now will take at least a decade or, a generation, to reach fruition. That is how dire the situation is.

All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others

The Malaysian political narrative is so badly twisted that we will not see it changed for many decades to come. For the foreseeable future it will be about the Malay race and, Islam.

First of all, there are good reasons why religion and politics should never mix. If religion teaches us not to question anything that comes from the apex of the religion, then, how does one question any injustice or unfairness? How does one question irrationality? How does one question abuse of discretionary power? These were questions that lead to the Reformation in Europe several centuries ago. This was the horrid challenge of that Age that led to a healthy skepticism that required the separation of religion from politics. And, it did not happen overnight. It took many, many more centuries of separating the chaff of superstition and ignorance and indolence from the wheat that is Knowledge. 

This, is the singular challenge that will dog the Malaysian political narrative for a long, long time. And, with the meagre and paltry level of intellect in Malaysia's academic circles, the job of creating a new generation of academics that can rival the generation that came of age in the 1970s, especially in Universiti Malaya, is a tall one. But, we must keep trying and keep going.

Second, the ghosts of memories of Onn Jaafar and Tan Cheng Lock should always haunt Malaysians. In their infinite wisdom these gentlemen saw the necessity of political collaboration that transcends factionalism based on the colour of the skin. I am old enough to be allowed to fantasise and postulate a what-might-have-been scenario. 

Had the leadership of the Independence of Malaya Party and the Malayan Chinese Association been allowed to coalesce in 1951 it would have gone on to win the municipal elections and the nascent pre-Merdeka Legislative Assembly. How would the political narrative have evolved if Onn Jaafar, who courageously walked away from an adoring Malay base and the UMNO that he helped to form, had become the Chief Minister of the pre-Merdeka Malaya? This is a question that should haunt us.

But *sigh*, here we are.

Let's not kid ourselves la. Parti Pribumi wants to be the new UMNO.

Malaysians can only hope that we live in a land free from corruption.

But, for the foreseeable future, we will have a political narrative that is reminiscent of George Orwell's Animal Farm (1945), we will always be confronted with this one Commandment (even after getting rid of the enemy)-

ALL ANIMALS ARE EQUAL, BUT SOME ANIMALS ARE MORE EQUAL THAN OTHERS.

How to avoid mollycoddling the free riders

The wise leader does not make a show of holiness or pass out grades for good performance. That would create a climate of success and failure.

Competition and jealousy follow.

Emphasizing material success is the same: those who have a lot become greedy, and those who have little become thieves.

When you reinforce appearances, people scramble to please. The wise leader pays respectful attention to all behaviour.

Thus the group becomes open to more and more possibilities of behaviour. People learn a great deal when they are open to everything and not just figuring out what pleases the teacher.

The leader shows that style is no substitute for substance, that knowing certain facts is not more powerful than simple wisdom, that creating an impression is not more potent than acting from one's center.

The students learn that effective action arises out of silence and a clear sense of being. In this they find a source of peace.

They discover that the person who is down-to-earth can do what needs doing more effectively than the person who is merely busy.

Chapter 3 Tao Te-ching; John Heider (1985)

ICERD Absurd

The words are plain and easy to understand. Article 1(1) of ICERD sets the tone and it is a general proposition. Read it-

1. In this Convention, the term "racial discrimination" shall mean any distinction, exclusion, restriction or preference based on race, colour, descent, or national or ethnic origin which has the purpose or effect of nullifying or impairing the recognition, enjoyment or exercise, on an equal footing, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural or any other field of public life. 

The general proposition in Article 1(1) of ICERD and the rest of the ICERD document is qualified by Article 1(4). Read it-

4. Special measures taken for the sole purpose of securing adequate advancement of certain racial or ethnic groups or individuals requiring such protection as may be necessary in order to ensure such groups or individuals equal enjoyment or exercise of human rights and fundamental freedoms shall not be deemed racial discrimination, provided, however, that such measures do not, as a consequence, lead to the maintenance of separate rights for different racial groups and that they shall not be continued after the objectives for which they were taken have been achieved.

Anyone with a reasonable mind will see that ICERD's Article 1(4) accepts the existence of a provision such as Article 153 in the Federal Constitution of Malaysia.

But, where are the reasonable minds in Malaysia?

Brexit

A part of me has always been intrigued and in bewildered awe of the United Kingdom; England, in particular. How a small, nondescript island in the Northern reaches of the European continent could turn around years of pillage by the Vikings and dominance of the Romans and, then, transform into a feisty island of recalcitrants that embraced Protestantism in the wake of the much more powerful Catholics in Rome and Spain... it goes on and on because it is so well documented... the subsequent pushing of the frontiers of mathematics, astronomy, poetry, music and... the dominant dark side of Imperialism... all this history and all these achievements... leading to the moribund state of the sad display of how the political leaders of Britain has behaved in the past 2 years in the wake of the Brexit decision. I almost feel like I am a witness to how the Egyptians went from builders of the Sphinx and the pyramids to what exists today. Past glories don't count for anything when all the cards are on the table for the game that is on right now... this bit comes from a memory of a footnote in an undergraduate economics text written by Richard Lipsey.

So, here and now, we have a situation where the European Court of Justice comprising some 20-odd justices (how such a large number of legal personages can ever come to any decision is a high level art form) has ruled that the UK can unilaterally revoke its original invocation of Article 50. 

In one swift move, the UK has a chance to press on a button to stop the countdown. After that the UK can go for a fresh referendum to vote again on whether to exit the European Union. Here's a chance. Right here.

But mired in the miasma of the quicksand of ego and misguided myopia, Theresa May and her lemmings in Cabinet and some in the Backbenches, have confined themselves to playing the role of Alec Guinness's character in The Bridge Over The River Kwai, where having built the wooden bridge that would be of strategic logistical importance to the Japanese Army and, at great cost to the lives and limbs of his fellow Prisoners of War, he blows the whistle to the Japanese when he discovers evidence of a plan to blow up the bridge. The moral here, if it is lost in my crazy words, is if Theresa May and her coterie believes that the amount of time they have invested in a multitude of scenarios for Brexit justifies their refusal to consider the revocation of the original Article 50 invocation, then, they are on the wrong side of history.

The reason why the older Britons voted in the majority for Brexit was due to the threat of open borders in the summer of 2016 when droves of illegals traipsed freely through Europe in the Northerly direction. 

But, equally compelling is that the majority of the younger Britons, though not enough of them went to vote, wanted to remain in Europe.

The UK can and, should, engage the EU on the silliness of the open border policy. It is a naive policy as everyone can see by now. That is something that can be placed on the agenda. But remaining in the EU is the economically sensible thing to do.

Mrs May has the chance to correct an egregious error of judgment by the British public. The mood of a buyers remorse is now very clear. In any scenario, the UK economy without Europe is destined to shrink. That is a horrid legacy that Theresa May can avoid, if she has a sufficient sense of history and context.

Carlos Ghosn

The news of the arrest of Carlos Ghosn by Japanese prosecutors for having allegedly understated his income between 2010 and some years after is a stark reminder that much as we speak of progress as Humankind with leaps and bounds of technology etc etc we actually haven't changed much from our basic nature as one of the species of animals that inhabit the Earth.

The old male lion in a pride that gets ousted by a challenger. The old male wolf in a pack that gets ousted by a challenger. The list goes on and on. The old rooster; the old gorilla...

It is in the nature of things that nothing is permanent.

Ghosn led a moribund Renault brand to incredible success. Then, he led the moribund Nissan brand to uproarious success.

Success breeds its own festering pool of nasty negativity and jealousy.

The wise leader keeps his ego in check so that he will know when to leave. 

If the leader forgets and lets his ego take over, challengers will plot and subvert the leader. 

David Attenborough should do a documentary that reminds us on how animalistic corporate behaviour is.

The Ghosn saga, where the flimsiest of prosecutorial charges that brings down an ageing, successful leader by cowardly hidden daggers, makes politicians look like honest dealers!

At least politicians are unable to deny that theirs is a dirty, cesspool where scumbags try to drown each other; a bizarre and twisted dishonest, unavoidable transparency.

The denial mindset of the corporate sector creates the pretense of bespoke suits, silk ties, luxury marques, shiny offices of steel and glass and ambitious industriousness tempered by good corporate governance. Behind the facade is the ugly truth of animal behaviour.

A backstabbing dagger is always wielded by a coward. 

And, one more thing; the Ghosn saga reminds us to never overstay our welcome.

Time to restore Internet freedom in Malaysia

I presume this will be done in due course, but, a little more haste would be good. Let's restore Malaysia's internet access to where it was before Salleh Said Keruak screwed it up with this stupid image-

Humpty Dumpty on the false coverage of anti-fake news law

I'm not sure why, but I just cracked up when I read an article in FMT that reported on the minister responsible for communications and multimedia's denunciation of allegedly false coverage of the anti fake news law that is due to become a new law of the land in Malaysia. The circuity of the logic and word play is just too delicious to bear. The irony of the situation will surely be lost on the people concerned. 

Anyway, must we really legislate on everything?

Surely the originator of the expression "fake news", Donald Trump, has shown how easy it is to classify all inconvenient truths as fake news. The way Trump dealt with adverse news coverage is to repeat his assertion of fake news as many times as possible. 

Eventually the point is reached where the people who believe in him and support him finds reassurance that if their Dear Leader has angrily asserted that any particular news on any event or matter that is unfavourable or inconvenient to him was fake, then, it was indeed fake. It's as simple as that.

Trump has shown how effective that strategy is. No need for legislation. Just in his speech and his tweets, he has been able to deal with adverse news. No need for legislation. Just have a thick skin. Isn't a thick skin one of the main criteria for being a political leader?

It's all so silly, so much so that the Humpty Dumptys who want to legislate everything should really fall off the wall if only to get some good sense knocked into their heads.

pix sourced from here

“When I use a word,’ Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, ‘it means just what I choose it to mean — neither more nor less.’

’The question is,’ said Alice, ‘whether you can make words mean so many different things.’

’The question is,’ said Humpty Dumpty, ‘which is to be master — that’s all.”

- Lewis Carroll; Through the Looking Glass-

Kurang ajar - The loss of collective memory

The origin and purpose of ancient structures such as the Pyramids, Stonehenge, Nazca Lines, Easter Island and so on is lost in time. We have no idea why the old human communities used so much resources and expended so much time to build these monuments. There has been a loss of collective memory.

Sometimes we get lucky. Someone presciently decided that etchings carved into stones might preserve the written thoughts and observations of the time. Thus, from the confluence of Tigris and Euphrates we learnt from the etchings on the stone tablets of Gilgamesh and his epic saga. 

What of humankind in the 21st century? Imagine a dystopian scenario where a plague took out most of humanity. The infrastructure is intact. But with no one left to maintain them, all machines and means of production will become useless and non-functioning.

How would humankind keep its collective memory and knowledge?

In such a scenario it is likely that the collective memory and knowledge will be mostly lost in two generations. The third generation will have very little memory and knowledge to acquire.

One generation averages between twenty to twenty-five years. 

 

Malaysians born today will be the third generation.

How much of the collective memory has been lost already?

I was in a business meeting a few days ago. One of my business partners who is in his mid-thirties expressed incredulity that Sabah and Sarawak would require work permits. "Aren't they part of Malaysia?", he asked. Bewildered.

In a non-derogatory context, one might say (or, think) in an avuncular tone, that after the first generation, Malaysians in the following generations are increasingly, kurang ajar.

There is much ignorance borne of indolent minds that has very little curiosity about anything except that which Facebook, Twitter and Instagram fobs into the smart device in hand.

And, it isn't just about the formation of Malaysia. It's about how our Founding Generation wanted to work together and live together in happy harmony; Asiatics who are independent from colonial rule.

How quickly we forget.

Malaysian Politics circa 2017

One of the things I realised in recent times is why the geriatrics who were my superiors when I started work were so cynical. Time, age and experience teaches you the difficulty of being effective. And, it also teaches you how ineffective you really are if you cling on to certain ideals ... like "work-life balance". 

Anyways, that's just that. 

Malaysian politics has reached its nadir.

What is a nadir you may ask. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary claims that "nadir" Has Arabic Roots - Nadir is part of the galaxy of scientific words that have come to us from Arabic, a language that has made important contributions in the vocabulary of mathematics, astronomy, medicine, and chemistry. Nadir derives from an Arabic word meaning "opposite"—the opposite, that is, of the zenith, or the highest point of the celestial sphere, the one vertically above the observer. (The word zenith itself is a modification of another Arabic word that means "the way over one's head.") The English poet John Donne is first on record as having used nadir in the figurative sense of "lowest point" in a sermon he wrote in 1627.

In the context of Malaysia, much of the blame of where we're at can be directed straight at Dr M.

He did this. And, he cannnot undo it. 

This prospect haunts him. I suspect this haunting is why he's going about doing what he's doing now. All that he's doing at his nonagenarian stage is to attempt to exorcise the demons that he had unleashed.

In may ways, Dr M made Malaysia a retarded community.

What is a retard you may ask? The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines retard as a verb to-

1. 1.

   
   

   delay or hold back in terms of progress or development.

   
   

   "his progress was retarded by his limp"

   
   

   synonyms:

   delay, slow down, slow up, hold back, set back, keep back, hold up, postpone, put back, detain, decelerate, put a brake on

Copy. Paste. Forward.

The problem with social media is that there is no filter. In the era of print and licensed broadcasting content had to undergo natural filters in the form of editorial evaluation. Social media allows anyone to publish.

Content that was worthy only of kedai kopi chatter now screams for attention in social media chat groups. The awful realisation is that when shit is dispensed by a friend or someone we know, we toss away our normal discerning nature and just click on the message; often will bad outcomes.

I recently made the mistake of clicking on a message sent to a social media group that I am a part of. The video had no accompanying message or warning. Immediately I was exposed to a horrible running imagery of a young man with a serious facial injury. With indignation I blasted a message to inquire about the point of posting such a horrible video. Hours later the contrite contributor apologetically explained that he "inadvertently" left out an accompanying written warning about using a mobile device while charging the battery.

The idiom, with friends like these who needs enemies comes to mind.

Copy. Paste. Forward. This mindless automechanical act when using social media must be stopped by general and widespread public oppobrium. Alas! I fantasise.

The wet dreams of a chain letter writer

On February 8, 1996, at the U.S. Library of Congress, Bill Clinton, as the U.S. President, signed the telecommunications law that pretty much formally kicked off the "information superhighway" that acknowledged the growing importance of the internet. Watching on was his deputy, Al Gore Jr. Access to information for all was the Utopian goal.

Nearly a decade after that, the New York Times journalist, Thomas Friedman wrote a bestselling book on how the world had, as it were, become flat. He highlighted the phenomenon of companies leveraging on the internet to improve productivity and delivery of goods and services to everyone.

About the same time as when Friedman was busily jotting down the material for his book, young Mark Zuckerberg and his friends were putting together the greatest disruptive internet application of all, Facebook. Thus, came the dawn of the awesome and awful social media. Eventually, Twitter was also birthed as social media for the word-challenged individual.

Put in that very brief context, we can observe the many parallel timelines of the evolution of the information superhighway that Clinton and Gore extolled. Many, many good things have come from the information highway since 1996.

I am arguing that the jury is still out on the value of social media.

Two decades on from 1996, the greatest democracy on earth, with a population numbering just under 300 million citizens and, having one of the wealthiest societies ever imagined, the United States of America elected Donald Trump, an outsider of sorts from the mainstream of political leadership in the U.S.

The observation I am offering and, this applies to all current affairs and political matters throughout the world today, is that when Friedman wrote about the world being flat, he wasn't thinking about the Flat World thinkers. But in his use of the the phrase, "The world is flat", Friedman had actually inadvertently put the finger on a basal feature of the information highway; social media.

Democratising the information superhighway has led to the creation of social media that has begat people receiving fake news and forwarding it to family and friends and, thus, has created a global culture of indolence. Nobody cares if news or information is fake. If you forward it to your friend, your friend will forward it on. 

This era of social media is the mischievious writer of chain letter's greatest and wettest of all wet dreams.

Living in a world with a surfeit of religiosity

I was really and truly minding my own business when, in my late teens, I suddenly found myself surrounded by sisters who had embraced monotheism. In my blinkered teenage view of the world, this had happened overnight. One moment they were siblings I could amuse with my boyish antics and slapstick behavior. In the next, they were "people of the Book" whose chief interest was the discussion of Hell for people like me, who had not seen the light and, therefore the "error" of my ways.

They became boring to me.

Whereas, in the past, they engaged me with questions about my experiences, usually bad ones, during the day when my father dragged me in the hot afternoons to walkabouts in rubber and oil palm estates that I really had no interest in; unless it was to look for the odd tiger barbs that inhabited the pristine streams that meandered through the estates. I would regale my sisters with my misadventures and astute observations about the rustic personages that my father would meet in kopi tiams in the hamlets that existed before we reached the end of the world where the plantations were located.

I would tell them funny stories about how a flaying seat belt slapped my father numerous times while he was driving. How I almost choked while stifling my body's urgent need to bellow out a hearty laugh at my father; for, that was not the done thing back in the day, when your father was a distant and giant of a man; a banyan tree that sheltered us from all that was bad in the world. It was not only poor form to laugh at your father under any circumstance; well, not in front of him any way. Or, my perplexed feeling when my father bellowed with laughter at a pig's plight when a small lorry carrying pigs wrapped in rattan netting had, somehow lost one of its porcine cargo that rolled off the little lorry into a ditch in a single lane laterite road.

These things I could no longer amuse my sisters with because their agenda was the urgent need to persuade me to embrace their monotheism in order to save my soul.

I found them terribly boring.

They couldn't even articulate an answer to my show-stopping question. That question to them was, how a truly blameless and pure soul as our mother, who could never embrace their monotheism, could ever be consigned to Hell merely for being a non-believer.

I think they found me boring and, unamusing after those failed proselytizing sessions.

That was one of the indicators that I had achieved adolescence.

For many years, I lost my sisters to monotheism. In many ways, I have never found them again.

If you haven't already realized by now, I will say this; I am polytheistic in my beliefs and, happily so. I am part of a belief system that is self-empowering and absolutely benign.

I am not asked to get points for the Afterlife by chasing around for other souls to join the club. I am told to behave myself in accordance with accepted social norms and, to commit no intentional harm on any other soul; sentient or not. I am not to impinge on the peaceful existence of others. And, that is how I am living my life.

... damn! Got interrupted by the missus ...

    This is the way the world ends
    This is the way the world ends
    This is the way the world ends
    Not with a bang but a whimper.
    - TS Eliot: The Hollow Men (1925)-

Moderates must speak up — Mohd Sheriff bin Mohd Kassim

Malaysia has non-leaders leading it nowadays. That is the root of the problem.

Whatever said and done, race relations and religion must be heavily policed in Malaysia. This is because it is so easy for incendiary talk to ignite misunderstanding.

This is where we are after decades of poor leadership, especially since 1981.

G25 is endemic of the current sick reality. It comprises Muslim Malaysians that hold sensible views. It is exclusive in its moderation. Read the report here.

It appears that if any such groupings have mixed ethnicity, their voice will be diluted.

Beggars cannot be choosers, I guess.

So, here I am. A non-Muslim Malaysian who finds peculiar and perplexed but positive ambivalence about being drawn to the category of "moderate". I guess it means that I am not "extreme" or "indifferent". But, who knows what the other categories are?

How the hell did we arrive here?

When did being "Malaysian" transform into the necessity of being a "Moderate Malaysian"?

It appears more so than ever that 1981 was a very bad year for Malaysia.

The only problem is that we didn't know it at the time.

Flying the flag

Malaysians should always raise the national flag, the Jalur Gemilang, at every opportunity. More so during the season that straddles 31st August and 16th September in every year.

Although there will be times when the mood is sombre due to political or economic challenges, raising the flag should be a matter of routine. It just shows our love of Malaysia, the country that we were born in; the country we live in; the country that we will die in.

We shouldn't NOT fly the flag just because we are angry of any transient politicians. That would be giving these people who are temporarily in the limelight too much recognition.

These nasty personalities are transitory. They will fade away and disappear. 

But, Malaysia will be around beyond our lifetime. 

We should fly the flag because of our love for Malaysia. We should fly the flag because we believe that things will turn around for the better.

I debated whether to hoist the flag this year as I have done for many, many years now. In the end, I decided to hoist the flag and see it flutter in full glory in the windy compound of my home.

I am glad I flew the flag.

It will continue to fly through to 16th September.

And, it flutters in my home compound not because I support the current crop of politicians who are in power; it flutters not because I don't support these politicians - for these people are irrelevant to my flying the flag; it flutters in my home compound because I am Malaysian.