If God had been a Liberal there wouldn't have been Ten Commandments, there would have been Ten Suggestions. ~ Malcolm Bradbury, After Dinner Game
Politics is supposed to be the second-oldest profession. I have come to realize that it bears a very close resemblance to the first. ~ Ronald Reagan
A politician is a fellow who will lay down YOUR life for his country. ~ Texas Guinan
A religion that gives nothing, costs nothing, and suffers nothing, is worth nothing. -- Martin Luther
In the beginning the church was a fellowship of men and women centering on the living Christ. Then the church moved to Greece where it became a philosophy. Then it moved to Rome where it became an institution. Next, it moved to Europe, where it became a culture. And, finally, it moved to America where it became an enterprise.-- Richard Halverson
Saturday, August 28, 2010
Friday, August 27, 2010
Our Unity has become a Novelty!
Dr M is spewing such venomous words these days and there seem to be no letting go from this grand old man of Malaysian politics. And he seems to be just fine for a man of his age. I always thought that when you grew older you tend to mellow down somewhat but not for this fellow.
There has also been much condemnation from across the board such as Zaid Ibrahim, Lim Kit Siang, ArtHarun to the man on the street. I too would like to say a few words about his latest article (Is meritocracy racist?).
He ended his article with 3 words; “So be it”.
Dr M, when you wrote that article of yours you mean to say you do not care whatever happens to this country? That you do not care that this country is ruled by incompetent leaders? That you do not want to see the Malay race stand on their own feet. Why?
When you said those last 3 words you mean to say come what may this country of ours must continually depend on a group of racist and bigoted people so they can still be in power so you and your family can still suck out every last penny from this land.
You are such a mean person to encourage your own people to feel weak & inferior just because you think so! But after all you are not a true Malay by heritage aren’t you?
Come on la. You think we can’t see through your words. We thinking Malaysians know that you do not have the welfare of the Malays at heart. If you do then you would have encourage & propel them to greater heights.
If you did you would have made sure they reach their full potential and the 30% Bumiputera equity long time ago. After all, you were a dictator for 22 years in Malaysia. What stopped you?
I for one know that the Malays (and others) have begun to stand on their own feet. In fact, they have started to think & feel on their own. And that worries you to the core.
You are afraid that if the Malays start to think & feel for themselves you are in trouble. And you are already in trouble because the power base which you have been depending on & manipulating all this while is no longer under your thumb anymore.
And lastly Dr M you have turn our unity to such a novelty! Turning our melting port of Malaysia to the burning port of Asia.
I just hope your last 3 words will be your last 3 in public. But hey, who is there to stop you. After all you are a firm believer of free speech no?
There has also been much condemnation from across the board such as Zaid Ibrahim, Lim Kit Siang, ArtHarun to the man on the street. I too would like to say a few words about his latest article (Is meritocracy racist?).
He ended his article with 3 words; “So be it”.
Dr M, when you wrote that article of yours you mean to say you do not care whatever happens to this country? That you do not care that this country is ruled by incompetent leaders? That you do not want to see the Malay race stand on their own feet. Why?
When you said those last 3 words you mean to say come what may this country of ours must continually depend on a group of racist and bigoted people so they can still be in power so you and your family can still suck out every last penny from this land.
You are such a mean person to encourage your own people to feel weak & inferior just because you think so! But after all you are not a true Malay by heritage aren’t you?
Come on la. You think we can’t see through your words. We thinking Malaysians know that you do not have the welfare of the Malays at heart. If you do then you would have encourage & propel them to greater heights.
If you did you would have made sure they reach their full potential and the 30% Bumiputera equity long time ago. After all, you were a dictator for 22 years in Malaysia. What stopped you?
I for one know that the Malays (and others) have begun to stand on their own feet. In fact, they have started to think & feel on their own. And that worries you to the core.
You are afraid that if the Malays start to think & feel for themselves you are in trouble. And you are already in trouble because the power base which you have been depending on & manipulating all this while is no longer under your thumb anymore.
And lastly Dr M you have turn our unity to such a novelty! Turning our melting port of Malaysia to the burning port of Asia.
I just hope your last 3 words will be your last 3 in public. But hey, who is there to stop you. After all you are a firm believer of free speech no?
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
The Boiling Pot of Malaysia Truly Asia
First they managed to capture Perak successfully. Then, it was Selangor’s turn but failed even with all the sand mining fiasco. Kedah was their next move but somehow it fizzled out and they got uninterested. Now, the attack is on my home state Penang.
I am talking about UMNO/BN “strategy” to seize all these states at whatever cost. In Perak & Selangor the issue was mainly money, royalty & illegal sand mining to initiate a change of government. In Penang UMNO specifically used Religion to bring down the PR government here.
This is where it gets interesting. UMNO knows pretty well when politics mix with religion for some selfish dubious means you are inviting trouble. Big trouble I mean. After all Utusan is always there to exaggerate any of this issue to the hilt and mind you it did.
The Penang government responded swiftly by doing several things like challenging UMNO to make a police report and doing its own investigation.
But what does this show? I believe it shows a few things:-
- UMNO’s (im)morality in using their very own religion (Islam) for selfish end while they claim to be defender of that very faith. This is Realpolitik for you!
- UMNO knows no bound whatsover when they use Religion in despicable way to re-gain the Malay support which has ben dwindling since GE2008.
- UMNO’s desire to see Penang goverment destroyed at all cost. That was the end in their mind. If their campaign succeeded there would have been terrible consequences for sure. After all UMNO was playing with fire when they brought this issue out.
So, do you think Religion matters now? It does matter to me for I do not want to see any religion for that matter to be twisted and manipulated by a select few for their own selfish gains.
I also think it does matter to UMNO especially when it suits their narrow, crooked and twisted agenda!
How about you Malaysians?
I am talking about UMNO/BN “strategy” to seize all these states at whatever cost. In Perak & Selangor the issue was mainly money, royalty & illegal sand mining to initiate a change of government. In Penang UMNO specifically used Religion to bring down the PR government here.
This is where it gets interesting. UMNO knows pretty well when politics mix with religion for some selfish dubious means you are inviting trouble. Big trouble I mean. After all Utusan is always there to exaggerate any of this issue to the hilt and mind you it did.
The Penang government responded swiftly by doing several things like challenging UMNO to make a police report and doing its own investigation.
But what does this show? I believe it shows a few things:-
- UMNO’s (im)morality in using their very own religion (Islam) for selfish end while they claim to be defender of that very faith. This is Realpolitik for you!
- UMNO knows no bound whatsover when they use Religion in despicable way to re-gain the Malay support which has ben dwindling since GE2008.
- UMNO’s desire to see Penang goverment destroyed at all cost. That was the end in their mind. If their campaign succeeded there would have been terrible consequences for sure. After all UMNO was playing with fire when they brought this issue out.
So, do you think Religion matters now? It does matter to me for I do not want to see any religion for that matter to be twisted and manipulated by a select few for their own selfish gains.
I also think it does matter to UMNO especially when it suits their narrow, crooked and twisted agenda!
How about you Malaysians?
Friday, August 20, 2010
Never to Caesar what belongs to God!
Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God (Matt 22:21). ..Never to Caesar what belongs to God!
Many of us would like to think that the above words from Jesus were to divide faith from our public domain (politics included). But what was in Jesus’s mind when He answered with those powerful words above? Let’s see what the context was.
Some Pharisees & Herodians were eager to put Jesus in trouble with the authorities. I’m sure they had some grudge on Him after He called them a tomb, snakes and what not.
They wanted to get more than just even with Jesus. They wanted to finish Him off.
So, they threw Him a question “Should we pay or shouldn’t we pay taxes to Caesar?” (Matt 22:17)
This was a very specific but dangerous question brought about by 2 groups of dangerous people. If Jesus was born in Malaysia and He happen to answer them wrongly the authorities would have Him charged under the Sedition Act of course!
Look at His answer:-
- Firstly, Jesus accused them of trapping Him (Matt 22:18)
- Secondly, He asks for a coin from them. Most probably He wanted to expose their hypocrisy coz they are not supposed to carry/bring in a heathen coin into the temple (Matt 22:19)
- Lastly, He climaxed it with an answer “Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God” a brilliant example of Jesus’s skill thinking on His feet! (Matt 22:21)
This narrative shows that we have an obligation to both. By no means are we to substitute one for God’s area and the other areas.
But what happens after paying taxes to the government? Do we have a say on how it should be used for the benefit of its people/rakyat?
Jesus didn’t say much on that. So, does that mean we are supposed to be quiet when WE KNOW pretty well that our taxes is being used for questionable projects/ventures?
That our money is being used as a source of wealth to feed cronies & the wanton greed of their families.
That our taxes is being used to further plunder & corrupt our country.
What is our response then? Pray, pay & obey?
How about you?
Many of us would like to think that the above words from Jesus were to divide faith from our public domain (politics included). But what was in Jesus’s mind when He answered with those powerful words above? Let’s see what the context was.
Some Pharisees & Herodians were eager to put Jesus in trouble with the authorities. I’m sure they had some grudge on Him after He called them a tomb, snakes and what not.
They wanted to get more than just even with Jesus. They wanted to finish Him off.
So, they threw Him a question “Should we pay or shouldn’t we pay taxes to Caesar?” (Matt 22:17)
This was a very specific but dangerous question brought about by 2 groups of dangerous people. If Jesus was born in Malaysia and He happen to answer them wrongly the authorities would have Him charged under the Sedition Act of course!
Look at His answer:-
- Firstly, Jesus accused them of trapping Him (Matt 22:18)
- Secondly, He asks for a coin from them. Most probably He wanted to expose their hypocrisy coz they are not supposed to carry/bring in a heathen coin into the temple (Matt 22:19)
- Lastly, He climaxed it with an answer “Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God” a brilliant example of Jesus’s skill thinking on His feet! (Matt 22:21)
This narrative shows that we have an obligation to both. By no means are we to substitute one for God’s area and the other areas.
But what happens after paying taxes to the government? Do we have a say on how it should be used for the benefit of its people/rakyat?
Jesus didn’t say much on that. So, does that mean we are supposed to be quiet when WE KNOW pretty well that our taxes is being used for questionable projects/ventures?
That our money is being used as a source of wealth to feed cronies & the wanton greed of their families.
That our taxes is being used to further plunder & corrupt our country.
What is our response then? Pray, pay & obey?
How about you?
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Welcome!
Hi everyone,
Yes, so I’ve made it into the bloggers cyber world. This is really exciting from me actually. To be able to pen down my thoughts, words, ramblings and what not into the World Wide Web.
And, what is this Reality Bytes all about? What is really biting or bothering you now? For some it would be their jobs, their next meal, their children’s education/welfare, security, faith/religion, cost of living, housing, corruption, bills to pay, medical, insurance etc. For some it would be the politics in this country Malaysia and the way religion/faith is played out here. Is it good or just the opposite? Or is there a connection between the two?
Ever wondered why this is happening? I do but somehow the answer that I found is quite unsatisfactory. Hence, the need to share openly what’s on my mind. As they say two heads are better than one and I’m not doing this alone. Hoping your ideas or musings no matter how insignificant you think they are can be shared on this blog.
So, with this I welcome all of you to Reality Bytes (realitybytesdmd.blogspot.com).
damian
Yes, so I’ve made it into the bloggers cyber world. This is really exciting from me actually. To be able to pen down my thoughts, words, ramblings and what not into the World Wide Web.
And, what is this Reality Bytes all about? What is really biting or bothering you now? For some it would be their jobs, their next meal, their children’s education/welfare, security, faith/religion, cost of living, housing, corruption, bills to pay, medical, insurance etc. For some it would be the politics in this country Malaysia and the way religion/faith is played out here. Is it good or just the opposite? Or is there a connection between the two?
Ever wondered why this is happening? I do but somehow the answer that I found is quite unsatisfactory. Hence, the need to share openly what’s on my mind. As they say two heads are better than one and I’m not doing this alone. Hoping your ideas or musings no matter how insignificant you think they are can be shared on this blog.
So, with this I welcome all of you to Reality Bytes (realitybytesdmd.blogspot.com).
damian
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)