steif

Posted on April 29, 2006 by Tricia

heiß

kalt

aber steif und ein bisschen

müde

ich muss immer erlinnen, wir sind in dieser

zwischen Zeit 

Posted in Language, Personal | 3 Comments

MGG Pillai

Posted on April 28, 2006 by Tricia

Ode to MGG Pillai, journalist who dared to speak out for a cause. He passed away this morning due to heart complications. His blog will now be a heritage site, his last article written just 8 days ago, for Harakah.

I must admit I didn't read his blog as often… but like all writers, his column pieces and articles will continue to live on after him.

Posted in The Cause | 1 Comment

Theo-on-the-Go

Posted on April 28, 2006 by Tricia

These are some of the issues I've been thinking about recently, amongst many others. It is basically a very brief summary of the problems faced by Christians/non-Christians when the question of Science comes up against Theology. Very Simply Done. (adhering to the KISS rule)

If objective science really shows evidence of Evolution, how is this reconciled with the story of Creation in the Bible?

Some possible views:

  1. First Cause Theory. God created the first cell, and all further developments from that first cell, into the diverse conglomerate of creatures, took place according to evolution.
  2. Theistic Evolution. God's First-Hand in directing the evolution of creation of creatures. The belief in macro-evolution and not micro-evolution. So, God's invisible hand was there all along, gently directing each development towards a particular end in mind.
  3. It is impossible to reconcile the Bible and Evolution, because the very theory of Evolution itself states that it is based on the law of natural selection. This defeats the purpose of, and need for, a divine Hand. So,
    • Only Evolution is correct.
    • Only the Bible is correct. The "young earth creationism" theory that the Earth is only 6000 years old, according to the literal text in Genesis.

      The problem for Christians accepting either options 1. or 2. is that even if there was the possibility of a theistic evolution, in which God had a design-hand, there is therefore no ONE ADAM and ONE EVE. In Genesis, the Bible talks clearly about specific genealogies, with specific people. ("Adam had a son named Seth, who fathered Enosh, who fathered Kenan and so on….") To accept even a theistic evolution, one has to concede that Adam is no longer an individual person but a vague title given to represent the entire process of evolution.

      The second problem is that of sin. If sin entered the world through Eve and Adam, two specific people, at which point does sin enter the world through evolution? When Man becomes "conscious" enough to have sin enter him? The entire biblical theology of Original Sin then falls apart.

      Some responses to this are:

      1. The term "Father of" in the Bible may mean stretching many generations. "Years" in the Bible may be symbolic and not literal.
      2. Theory that God created the world 6000 years ago, but made it seem as if it had already existed for ancient of days. The "ancient world" was necessary for the next processes to take place.
      3. There is a huge time gap between verses 1 and 2 in Genesis Chapter 1. After "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth", there was a great period of time in which He might or might not have created other beings; we know not. This could also account for dinosaurs in this period. These created beings might not have had soul nor conscience. Thereafter, in verse 2 onwards, God decided to create a being in His very image, hence Adam and Eve.

      A very simplistic summary. It is always necessary for me to pen down my thoughts, preferably in numerical order, to clear up the constant mess and tangled strings in my head. At least the thought process becomes linear, if not ever solved!

      Posted in Religion, Theology | 3 Comments

      Laughter the best medicine

      Posted on April 27, 2006 by Tricia

      Today I heard many funny statements that made me laugh out loud.

      "Equal opportunity for all does not necessarily lead to National Unity."

      "Having 5 more non-Bumiputera students placed in a specialised academic institution would not in any way contribute to Unity."

      "Islamic banking was introduced and nobody complained about it. Now it is introduced within the government's development framework. What's the problem with that?"

      "Hi!! Good morning!!"

      Okay, so the last statement came from yours truly, while greeting someone she honestly thought looked familiar and she recognised, thereafter mumbling a confused "ohh…. just greeting you, sir…"

      Posted in The Cause | Leave a comment

      Public Space Morality

      Posted on April 25, 2006 by Tricia

      Do you know that Islam Hadhari is going to be (or is already) the basis for Malaysia to move forward in all levels of development? Yes, socio-economic development.

      Islam Hadhari was introduced in 2004 as a comprehensive and universal development framework for the nation.

      Let's investigate two ways I could respond to this:

      1) First, I could practise verstehen (read: German for understand), or putting myself into their shoes. Islam is a holistic religion, that basically sees the religion as central to how one views the world. In fact, it is no more a religion than it is a 'state of being', since the word Muslim really means 'one who subjects himself to the will of God'. So, anything under the span of the heavens that is under the comprehensive authority of God, is basically Islamic in nature. It matters not whether a label is specifically placed. A person who helps someone altruistically is practising an Islamic act. As a Christian, I understand this exact way of thinking. I would say the same, that a generous and selfless act is in fact Christian in nature.

      When you therefore are able to extract the morals away from theology of every religion, yes indeed religions do seem to preach the same teachings. Do good, be kind and gentle, forgiving to all, advocate social justice. This is the public space morality, the public sphere where commonalities can be addressed adequately – for the sake of society's good.

      However, things aren't usually so black-and-white. Hence, response no. 2…

      2) It is all well and good if all religions can really agree upon the public space morality. However, I do think this is only possible in terms of the spirit of the law, not the letter of the law. In other words, we can conceptually agree upon what is good and bad. We can agree that intention to do evil is unilaterally a no-no. But the problem comes about when we talk about the daily practice of it. I am fearful that when there exists a contradiction on the definition of decency of dressing, behaviour and language, one religion's moral values might override another's. No guessing whose.

      As I responded recently to my own posting, it seems nothing will change if one party remains inward looking. They too ought to look into Max Weber's verstehen to comprehend that to a non-Muslim, even widely practised common Islamic moral values seem preposterous if imposed upon one.

      I personally agree with most of the Islamic (Hadhari) moral precepts (theoretically: belief in God, a just and trustworthy government, etc). But how about atheists and agnostics? What sort of public space morality is available to them, that which is congruent with Islam?

      Then I would have to go into a thorough study of the beginnings of Morality and Ethics: Kant and the like… How laborious! *grin*

      Posted in Reflections, Religion | 2 Comments

      Adventure into Iron River

      Posted on April 25, 2006 by Tricia

      DSC00028 (WinCE).JPGSo began my journey into the great Iron River district (Sungai Besi), in search of the Great Plan, the much-talked-about jewel that has not ceased to create a furor amongst Its People. Based on the instructions provided by the Map Maker, I braved the crowds of cars on the usual busy roads… and found the obscure Kedai Buku SPNB in the inner shrubs of the wood, the only shop that sells the 9th Malaysia Plan in the whole Klang Valley.

      DSC00027 (WinCE).JPGIt is located in Sg. Besi, upon Jalan Satu (One Road, literally lah!) and hidden away behind black grill. The shop is relatively small considering the fact that it is the only place selling official documents publicly – things like the Federal Constitution, other legal Acts, the Ninth Malaysia Plan, the full report from the Special Commission to investigate the Police Force, the report on Body Searches conducted by the Police, Economic Reports released by the Ministry of Finance etc.

      Browsing through the thick of the jungle, finally emerged with my spoils of the day with several juicy documents, which I think should be owned by all Malaysians alike. If you're a citizen of Malaysia, you ought to know what laws govern your every action. If you think it is important, or simply if you are interested to know what Malaysian laws are all about (since you are living in this country!), get a copy of the Internal Security Act, the Official Secrets Act, Sedition Act, the Federal Constitution, and all others that pertain to your own businesses. I found out interesting things like Malaysia even has its own Martial Arts Act, Multimedia and Communications Commission Act! These form the very core of Malaysia. Since the information is being made publicly available to us, why not know about it? You don't want to contravene the law now, do you? As Robocop says, oh yes indeed, Uphold The Law.

      Posted in Literature, The Cause | Leave a comment

      OCD Complex

      Posted on April 25, 2006 by Tricia

      I took this Online Personality Disorder Test a couple of months ago, and it seems my results are the same.. I am high on "Obsessive Compulsive Disorder"…. wonder if this is a negative trait. I suppose I'll have to accept that this is who I really am!

      Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

      What is Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder?

      Quick Summary:

      While Obsessive-Compulsive personality disorder (OCDP) sounds similar in name to obsessive-compulsive anxiety disorder, the two are markedly different disorders. People with obsessive-compulsive personality disorder are overly focused on orderliness and perfection. Their need to do everything "right" often interferes with their productivity. They tend to get caught up in the details and miss the bigger picture. They set unreasonably high standards for themselves and others, and tend to be very critical of others when they do not live up to these high standards. They avoid working in teams, believing others to be too careless or incompetent. They avoid making decisions because they fear making mistakes and are rarely generous with their time or money. They often have difficulty expressing emotion.

      Symptoms of Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder:

      • Need for perfection and excessive discipline
      • Preoccupation with orderliness
      • Inflexibility
      • Lack of generosity
      • Hyper-focus on details and rules
      • Excessive devotion to work

      Additional Information:

      The potential for improvement with treatment is better for obsessive-compulsive personality disorder than for other personality disorders. A combination of medication and therapy tends to yield positive results.

      Posted in Personal | 3 Comments

      FoI

      Posted on April 25, 2006 by Tricia

      Interestingly enough, when doing my personal research on Freedom of Information in Malaysia, my blog comes up in the top 10 searches on Google! Apparently there isn't too much information online itself on freedom of information in our country.  

      A rather sad irony.

      Posted in The Cause | Leave a comment

      Undoing

      Posted on April 24, 2006 by Tricia

      This is one version of response to current efforts undertaken to restore a Constitutional Malaysia. (You can still sign the online petition) Here freedom of speech is given an ugly name, and is labelled as a Western concept. The fact that human rights is also attacked and played down in the following letter is telling of the larger opinion its writings reflect. I'm not one to stir up dissent but I'm rather amazed at what I read. Check it out below. More blogging to come… right now, signing off after a busy but rewarding weekend.

      Dear friends

      It very unfortunate for me to received comment that slanders me as ignorant and other wild accusation. Clearly show that the person him/herself ignorant about him/her religion and understanding.

      Malaysia as Islamic Country

      I do belief that Malaysia is an Islamic country not just from 1957 but dated from Malacca Sultanate. It is important we that accept this as it already manifested in the federal constitution that Islam as official religion of federation. Yet it’s not denying others to profess any religion and ensure protection of all.

      To conclude 200% for sure that Malaysia is Islamic country. Why so hard for others to accept the basic and fundamental of our nation. Its not that you are deny professing whatever religion. Yet these people don’t want to accept that Islam is the official religion. This is the issue.

      Secularism fanatic.

      Lately there is a small group try to gain support, promoting and infuse secularism in Malaysia. They use whatever means to shake the bedrock of our country. I strongly oppose to turn Malaysia into secular country which against the value that we all carried. I do believed that Malaysian need to show 200% support to Islam Hadhari to clearly show that secularism don’t have place in this country.

      The model of secularism such freedom to profess any religion, freedom of speech and human right already delivered by Malaysia. I see the secularism is carries by the people with hidden agenda. I do have a bad feeling about this that it will bring disaster to Malaysia. We cannot tolerate with secularism.

      Emotional and out of context

      I did attend a seminar organized by Article 11 and Bar Council which the outcome pretty shameful as small group of people cry that they have more right than others and try to interfere Islam matter by requesting the abolishment of Article 121 (1A). This is totally absurd and unjust to Malaysian Muslim. The amendment introduce because the Muslim had treated unjustly by court before the amendment took place. And now we heard that this small group wants to reintroduce this unjustly article under banner of justice. Totally absurd.

      During the seminar several individual did quoted some cases that clearly being interpreted according to personal emotion and out of context. Just to backup their issue and to rise up sympathy. All in the name of freedom of speech and even seek protection under Article 11. I do wonder if they using this as a platform to gain support before they destroy the harmony of this nation.

      Time to accept and realized.

      I do hope for those who still clouded will realized and accept that Malaysia will never adopt secularism and Malaysia is Islamic nation as accepted before and after Merdeka. Don’t live in denial. For sake of this country lets focus on more important issue such as the merger of different school system that creates and nurture division among us. And I do believe we should move forwards for better Malaysia.

      That’s all for now my friends. Please do share your view with clear mind and cold head.

      Sayonara!

      (Taken from Muslim-Brothers.org) 

      Posted in The Cause | 5 Comments

      Wake up!

      Posted on April 20, 2006 by Tricia

      Our country's Rukunegara is stated at the front page of any official document, and yet all contents thereafter rudely ignore it. Wake up, planners! Wake up, writers! Wake up, prominent leaders!

      Our Nation, Malaysia is dedicated to: Achieving a greater unity for all her people; maintaining a democratic way of life; creating a just society in which the wealth of the nation shall be equitably distributed; ensuring a liberal approach to her rich and diverse cultural tradition, and building a progressive society which shall be oriented to modern science and technology.

      Posted in The Cause | Leave a comment