Scanning through the Singapore Straits Times on the plane home, I breezed past the header, reading "Fiction 2006" by mistake.
I took a double take, refocused my sleepy eyes and reread the word.
It said "Election 2006".
Perhaps my first reading of it isn't too far from the truth. First impressions don't lie.
It's out online! Click here.
In particular, let me direct your attention to Chapter 16, which talks about Achieving Growth with Distribution.
Go ahead and scroll down to point 16.18, which highlights the fact that the Gini coefficient has increased from 1999 to 2004. What this means: A growing income inequality both within and between the races. To quote from the Plan, the (income) inequality among Bumiputera was the highest compared with the Chinese and Indians. Think about that for a bit. The gap between the rich and the poor is worst for … which group?
The next few points are also relevant: look at employment restructuring and restructuring of ownership and control of the corporate sector. Who are the winners? Who are the losers?
Tonight we had an absolutely wonderfully done-up multimedia version of the famous debate between Ahmed Deedat and Josh McDowell, on "Was Christ Crucified?", and you can find the entire transcript of it here.
Deedat speaks with convincing confidence, but some of his arguments flail when he takes sentences and verses out of its context. He should know better though, because critics of Islam tend to do the same for the Qur'an, which I also feel is very unfair.
In any form of analytic literature, one is called to observe the context through which the passage is written. Only then will you garner its full flavour and gain the most understanding of its writings.
The basic thrust of the arguments of the night centred upon the identity of Christ. Whether or not he really died, and rose again – for upon this Christianity is grounded. If this were false, everything falls apart. The overriding question is to call upon history; nothing else proves or disproves.
An objective assessment is that for this debate, McDowell had the upper hand, using personal testimony which is powerful. However, I am told that Deedat's other debate with another Christian scholar maintained him as victor of the day, and one that most Muslims refer to. I must check this one out too.
What I say: In studying the Qur'an, the Bible and other written teachings, context is important. I am going to read the Qur'an in my room tonight and will remember to investigate it with the context in mind. If I expect the same of my holy book, I should objectively do the same for all others. A friend has an interesting take on Islam, which I'll try to summarise here soon.
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The true princes of Malaysian earth, the community of the Orang Asli, is by large the most marginalised group in our country. While our country goes through major efforts in its attempt to ensure the rights of the Bumiputera are enshrined in the Constitution and that policies are formulated to push for this, many forget that Orang Aslis are as much if not more so Bumiputera material!
Domestic laws have not given much protection to the Orang Asli. A special unit has been set up to protect and aid them, but to what end? They don't even have proper rights to their land they live on; and land that their forefathers had always lived on, I might add.
Last Saturday I had the privilege of visiting a small village in Sungai Buloh, under a continuous project of CDPC and Malaysian Care. Helped to teach English to these kids, who, although living so near the city centre, choose not to go to school because they get discriminated against in school.
One story from another village is that despite government's efforts for free material and clothes, it takes such a lot of red tape to get it right. Shoes and clothes don't fit. You have to go through lengths of explaining before you get your free stuff!
What struck me was their simplicity in living. No requirement of anything other than basic food and water. And yet, what a beautifully simple environment. As we forcibly drew the attention of the little uns to the alphabet, and we droned on in A-B-C, I couldn't help but drift off to the sounds of a guitar and singing in the background. Kampung-style, sitting by the steps and singing happy tunes with dogs running crazily around at your feet. Why urbanise the happy rural folk?
If it is for one reason, it is for their future substinence. As more and more ground is gazetted for development, sooner or later their source of food will be depleted. Hunting for wild boars, monkeys and snakes will be a thing of the past. And they'll be forced out into their version of "wild" – proper office jobs. Think Crocodile Dundee oblivion of city life.
But call me Ulu. It still thrills me to the bone to experience living by the jungle, using the river stream as a source of water, swinging on a hammock and raising my eyebrows high at the sight of a pet baby monkey clinging on to a little girl's chest.
Living in the city, working in the city, driving in the city.
Requires a certain ability. To maintain a sense of cool calm and collected disposition. Which is why I've resorted to singing in the car in between meetings, sitting in the middle of massive traffic jams, horning cars, strings raining down hard on my rooftop.
Yes, hectic city living can result in something good. Music composition coming into fruition, hopping from meeting to meeting behind my wheel! Creativity through the mundane indeed.
Have been contemplating this for a couple of days, and can't get round a solution yet.
A hypothetical situation for you to think about:
Picture a society you live in that is dominated by a Mafia group. (It is not too difficult to imagine this, as many countries are ridden with similar situations: the original nation of the Godfather, Yakuza, the Triads and so on.)
The Mafia continually extorts money from all around you. Because they are so powerful, everyone kowtows to them. Security money is taken away, pocketed for their personal gains, and all alike know this. You are helpless, just watch from afar and silently curse and swear at their lack of compassion and justice. There are some people who attempt to soften their blows by promoting real justice, so they form a small anti-Mafia group, but this does not avail to much as its members get injured, or lured into the Mafia itself.
One day, a friend of yours admits to you that he is part of the Mafia. You think this is an incredulous notion. This is a betrayal of beliefs. How can he readily subscribe to extortion, corruption, greed and violence?
His answer is, this is the only way to rob Peter to pay Paul. Why fight a futile battle from the outside when it works effectively from within? Sacrifice a bit of your idealistic principles and get down to real-life working for the better, he claims.
Is the sacrifice principally wrong? If so, what is the alternative, if fighting a looming Mafia group is a losing battle in itself?
Malaysia aspires to be a developed country by year 2020.
Yes, my beloved land aspires to be a developed country that practices the following:
Yes, it certainly looks as if the leaders of my country have read through the following documents with a scrutinising eye:
I congratulate them, because it does look like they've done their homework! They seem to be serious about becoming a developed nation that is well-respected and on par with those ahead of us. This comes as a pleasant surprise, since I'm sure much of their time is taken up by busily saving the country, politicising issues, or both. Here's to the next 15 years towards becoming a First World Nation! Malaysia Boleh! Despite everything that people (those irritating opposing ones who obviously don't care about National Unity and purposely bring up sensitive issues just to ruffle our finely-oiled feathers) say, surely boleh!
I took a German course for 9 months in my year abroad. Because it is so similar in form to English, it was a breeze to me and I could chatter to friends quickly. Basic conversation, of course.
In Berlin I joined with a youth team to speak with other international students about their beliefs in God. Forced into using the only language they could speak, I fumbled and flopped around looking for the right words. Explaining something philosophical is tough in English, and what more so in a foreign language and with no proper training!
Instead of saying "Jesus hat uns vergeben" (Jesus has forgiven us), I made the blooper of saying "Jesus hat uns vergessen" (Jesus has forgotten us).
I must have left a trail of people with raised eyebrows, clouded thoughts and a confused disposition!
Keine Ahnung, Keine Ahnung…!
What does equality really mean when it comes to good governance? Don't both the right and leftists talk about the concept? They mean different things though.
When the communists talked about equality, it meant equal sharing of resources through and through. The idea of an elite holding all the power and capital of the land was a no-no. Instead, all worked for the benefit of all alike. This was equality to them.
When democracies talk about equality, it means equal opportunities for all alike. Every individual having access to the same pool of resources, but it depends very much on what the person decides to do with this given opportunity. So, if one person decides to use the opportunity to better his disposition, and really does it, we congratulate him. If someone else is incapable of using the opportunity in the same manner, this is excusable because perhaps he is not cut out for that sort of thing.
What is equality really? Once we are clear on its definition it makes things easier. No point talking about equality when it is merely a vague term thrown up in the air for all to gawk at.
Does equality mean equal sharing of resources? Or equal opportunity?
I believe it is the latter.
Did any of you watch 13 going on 30? The nutty magazine revamp, done by Jennifer Garner's rival at the office that blended elements of the modern society, rave and colour, boom and bust, hype and explosion, mystery and revolutionary, ghastly and cluttered all at once.
Well, unfortunately that was the first impression I got of M! The Opera, currently running at Istana Budaya in Kuala Lumpur.
While the singing and dancing were fantabulous, with amazing talent from the Malaysians, and the orchestra doing a superb job, these were individual talents that unfortunately were not able to get in sync with the other. In a team, no one player can take the limelight and last night, the orchestra was definitely trying to steal some volume space from the singers.
It was a convoluted storyline. True, it wanted to recreate a world of mystery and darkness, tradition and myth, and combine this with modernity and trends. But it was just too much. Too many complicated details with a vague script. (If I hadn't read the synopsis in the programme, which by the way costs RM15, I would have spaced out in the entire performance.)
Conducting it in two languages is a commendable act, pardon the pun. It is great that both Malay and English are used, but add this to the above confusion and you get a hodge-podge of words that you continually find difficult to follow. (The subtitles helped some, with the exception of minor errors in the middle of the performance…)
The songs failed to blow me away. Was there a signature song? Perhaps just one – the love song M sings to Sepi. Besides this, the others seem to lose a structure: introduction, chorus climax and resolution ending. The songs weren't quite songs.
The combination of overpowering orchestra, complicated storyline, switching back and forth between languages, having to read subtitles simultaneously, a non-stop flow of confusing scenes, made me rather weary.
Musicals of all time Miss Saigon, Phantom of the Opera, and less-known Blood Brothers all have something in common. A relatively simple dialogue, even in singing. The audience that does not understand abstract, high-level dialogue will not fully appreciate the full story.
But quality of the performers on stage: excellent, excellent, excellent.
Singers: Superb. Dancers: Superb. Costumes: Superb. Traditional instruments: Superb.
I hope to see more Malaysian musicals (done well)!
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