Shopping Blues

Everytime i buy something, especially groceries, inadvertently, on Saturdays, my blood pressure would shoot up a few notches. I would be stumped each time the cashier asks me whether I would like a shopping bag for my purchase, only to realise it was a Saturday a few seconds later. So, my Saturday shopping trips are ruined for the past 6 years, all thanks to the wonderful state government of Selangor.

Are those plastic bags? It's ok. No one will know if I put them in this trendy shopping bag.

Has anyone ever wondered how effective this No Plastic Bag Day campaign has been? How do you quantify it's success anyway? Do they weigh the amount of plastic bags on Saturdays and compare the results to the other days of the week?

Also, the dry season is already upon us. Water rationing might be a possibility during the coming months. The government don't know when yet, but it could be anytime. To some, going without water is only a small inconvenience compared to banning plastic bags.

I actually do care about the environment. But I also prefer too use my common sense. I am acutely aware of the importance of clean rivers which are the source of our water. So, 6 years on, do we have clean rivers? No! Do we get enough supply of clean water? Hell No!!! Because now they blame it on the shortfall of rain!!! And in case you have not noticed, most retailers have stopped giving those recycled carton boxes!

It is a stupid campaign, just like those who came up with it! It is stupid because a few plastic bags don't make a difference and there are bigger problems like polluted rivers! We have to put up with these moronic ideas because we have people with the IQ of cabbages runnning around, who can't even do their jobs in supplying water, much less save the earth!

Rant ends... till next Saturday...

The truth behind politics

Politics is one profession that does not require any qualifications. Anyone can become one if they choose to. You just need to be a good talker and entertainer. Once you are there, the world is your oyster...

So, for those of you who are getting nowhere in your careers but want a shortcut to the good life, politics beckons you. No special qualifications required, nor skills or talents. You don't need to build anything, save anyone nor sell anything. You don't even have to justify or prove yourself to your bosses (the people) but you do need to suck up to your superiors in your chosen party.

You just need to keep telling the people how hard you "work" and "sacrifice" for the country and how much you "care" for them. You must constantly remind the people to be grateful to you. And most importantly, always blame the other party for any failures and problems, and the people themselves for voting the wrong party.

Perks include, but not limited to, a good pay scale with double or triple increments every 5 years or so, lifetime pension, generous allowances and benefits plus overseas trips (working trips- if you want to be politically correct), and much more. Nobody knows what your job scope is and you just need to show your face every 5 years during election time...

After you are elected, just pretend that it's the people who control you, and then come up with laws to control them.

Don't you ever wonder why elected politicians have such good pay packages and benefits? Wouldn't you think that those who actually have to pick up a shovel 12 hours a day building or feeding the nation, would be better rewarded instead?

Taken: Brides

They came for elderly, living or departed. Then they came for your kids. Now, they've have come for your brides. Sounds like a tagline for a horror movie doesn't it?

We have the police force to catch the criminals. For everyone else, there's JAIS.

Whoever thinks Malaysia is not an Islamic country is clearly delusional. Malaysia was never a secular state in it's full sense because we enforce Sharia Laws. A secular country does not instituitionalise religious laws. Secularism separates state and religion.

Red indicates states with state religions. Blue indicates those without state religions aka secular. Source- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secular_state

In the scale between liberalism and theocracy in Malaysia, and judging by recent and past developments, the scale tilts in favour of religion.

The Muslim religious authorities have been slowly asserting their powers for the past 20 years. Many incidents such as this that have been publicised through the years, and then forgotten. The people have short memories. Everytime an incident is publicised, they react as though it's something new.

I can't speak for the Muslims, but the possibility of Buddhist monks or Hindu priests doing the same, is close to zero. Because the Buddhists and Hindu communities will not tolerate such meddling and abuse.

Excerpts from an article:

Jais denies raiding Hindu temple, says wanted to speak to bride about her religion 

 - http://news.malaysia.msn.com/tmi/jais-denies-raiding-hindu-temple-says-wanted-to-speak-to-bride-about-her-religion

• only investigating complaints from the public and took a statement from the bride to ascertain her religious status. 

I wonder which members of the public complained. I suspect it would have to be those close to the bride and bridegrooms' families. It also proves that JAIS have absolute authority over Muslims.

• Checks on the bride's MyKad showed that she was Muslim, and Jais officers took her away for questioning before she was released. 

• department acted under Selangor’s Non-Islamic Religions (Control of Propagation Among Muslims)

In this country, it is easy to convert to Islam. Even kids are able to do it. But to get out, not so easy. And in this case, the bride being a Muslim, will not be able to marry any guy who is not a Muslim. It's the law. She will need to go through the lenghty process to change her religion out of Islam.

• Jais's actions have been condemned by the Malaysia Hindu Sangam, the Bar Council and the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf)

• The Bar's human rights committee co-chair Andrew Khoo said Jais's action of going into the temple was tantamount to trespassing. 

• "We have a serious problem in this country. The civil service is dominated by Malay and Muslim-centric officers who bulldoze their personal beliefs in the supremacy of their religion in the government administration. - P. Waytha Moorthy 

JAIS would be considered to have trespassed if the temple was closed. If it happened during visiting hours, it is open to the public. Morever, they have authority to do so because a Muslim was in the compound. Remember, Muslims are under their authority.

Apparently, the bride's father converted the kids to Islam when they were young, before he abandoned them. The kids grew up as Hindus, so I presume the rest of the family and their mother are Hindus. Has it ever occured to anyone why such conversion incidences are so prevalent among Hindus?

Anyway, even if this couple managed to get married and have kids, what are the chances that JAIS will not come after their kids years down the road?

To avoid future problems, perhaps it should be regulated that when non-Muslims convert to Islam, their families should be notified and reactions recorded. For minors, consent from both parents should be mandatory.

But the easiest solution is to just keep out of people's personal lives.

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Hindraf: Jais raid on Hindu wedding unlawful

PETALING JAYA: The NGO Hindraf has accused the Selangor Islamic Religious Affairs Department (Jais) of conducting an unlawful and unconstitutional raid on a wedding reception that was being held in a Hindu temple.

“This action by Jais clearly shows disrespect to the sensitivities of non-Muslims and their place of worship. They clearly crossed the boundaries of their jurisdiction,” said Hindraf chief, P Waythamoorthy.

“The overzealous attitude by the Jais officers shows that they are given a free hand to interfere into the personal life of a non-Muslim individual and they seem to have impunity from the law.
“The absolute arbitrary power of these Jais officers to interfere into the non-Muslim affairs needs to be stopped immediately.

“There is a clear infringement of Article 11 of the supreme law of this country as seen in this matter.”
Yesterday Jais stopped a Hindu wedding in Petaling Jaya and detained the 32 year old bride.

Jais are investigating the case under the 1988 Enactment (Control of Propagation Amongst Muslims), which cites it as an offense to persuade, influence or incite any Muslim to change their faith.
According to a Jais official, the bride’s identity card identifies her as a Muslim.

“The woman did not know that her father had registered her and three of her siblings as Muslims.
“She only found out when a relative saw their birth certificates,” the unnamed Jais official was quoted as saying in a Malay news daily yesterday.

Her father, who had abandoned her a long time ago, had been responsible for registering her as a Muslim but she was raised and grew up as a Hindu.

She said that she had gone to the National Registration Department (NRD) to make a change on the religious status in her MyKad, once in 2007 and again last April.

She failed on both attempts as she was unable to obtain her father’s signature. - http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2014/06/02/hindraf-jais-raid-on-hindu-wedding-unlawful/

Teluk Intan by-election: Gerakan's Datuk Mah Siew Keong Wins

Congratulations to Datuk Mah for his win! It was a narrow win, a hard-fought win nonetheless. He will have to work hard if he wants to keep it come next elections. Dyana actually didn't fare too badly for a greenhorn. Depending on DAP's internal politics and Lim Kit Siang's grand plan, this could either be her first or last foray as a candidate.

If I were a voter, I would have chosen Datuk Mah over Dyana. Well, call me old fashioned or "stupid" (like Anwar Ibrahim likes to call those Chinese who vote for BN), but a fresh-grad, 20+ year old girl just doesn't inspire much confidence. I feel that she is too inexperienced, even requiring the DAP elders to babysit her during PCs. But then again, she's not the first youngster to be groomed by Lim Kit Siang to protect his son's throne.

This by-election result showed us a few things:

1. It was DAP's experiment to gauge how much of the Malay votes can be swayed by fielding a Malay girl. Right now, DAP has only 2 Malay MPs from DAP, Bukit Bendera – Zairil Khir Johari and Raub - Mohd Ariff Sabri bin Abdul Aziz. Both won in Chinese majority seats.

( According to Lim Guan Eng: "Race is still relevant in elections, but we are trying to make it irrelevant," Guan Eng, the DAP secretary-general, told The Malaysian Insider in reference to the Chinese-based party's push for more Malay candidates. - See more at: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/race-age-stand-in-the-way-of-daps-new-politics#sthash.TCEu7ZVE.dpuf )

Ironically, the results show that many Chinese (about 65% of Chinese voters) voted for a Malay girl. And presumably many Malays voted for a Chinese man. The only issue I can see is the general disdain the Malays have towards DAP, which has also affected the Malay support for PAS & PKR. If DAP is really serious about making race irrelevant, it's easier to swap seats with PAS.

2. If Dyana had won, DAP will be able to attract many more young Malays to join the party because they will stand a better chance to further their political careers. Since DAP is trying to appear more multi-racial, these young Malays will be groomed and fast-tracked to contest in seats where Malay-Chinese majority are marginal. The result from this by-election will probably require them to rethink their plans.

3. The fact that DAP could field anyone they fancy and still manages to get about 50% of the total votes shows us that Pakatan Rakyat supporters, specifically DAP ones, will still vote anything DAP dishes out to them. I'm actually curious to see what their next serving would look like.

4. A lot of opinions have been given by all and sundry as to the reason for DAP's lost. But I suspect the major reason is the sabotage by the unhappy Teluk Intan/Perak DAP grassroots for fielding an unknown newcomer  as a candidate, thus depriving other more senior leaders their chance. Someone like this guy, perhaps?

They say DAP would definitely win if this guy was chosen to contest. Probably. He is a bit of a celebrity with the Chinese youths and should be able to win them over easily. The Chinese are reportedly very much impressed with his eloquent use of adjectives during his colourful speeches. If elected, he will most certainly be in good company...

Anyway, judging by the responses from the BN camp, it's obvious that this win was a real morale booster for them. On the other hand, this has broken DAPs momentum of clean sweeps... Overall, DAP still has the Chinese in their back pocket, but lately, the percentage has reduced. Could be the water and hudud issue. But it can be easily fixed come next election... I wonder if it's Lim Guan Eng's turn to go bald? I doubt his wife would be keen to have her mane shorn in a Chinese temple every 5 years.

For variety, maybe this?

Hopefully, common sense and logic would prevail among the people from now on... but I have my doubts.

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Teluk Intan by-election: Barisan wins by 238 votes

Saturday May 31, 2014 MYT 10:11:14 PM

PETALING JAYA: It was a cliff-hanger ending for the Teluk Intan by-election with Barisan Nasional's Datuk Mah Siew Keong winning by 238 votes.

The Gerakan chief garnered 20,157 votes against his opponent DAP's Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud, who had 19,919 votes. There were 543 spoilt votes.

It was a close fight with both sides leading at various stage of the count, but Mah emerged victorious in the end.

DAP appears to have conceded defeat in a tweet via @dapmalaysia acknowledging that Barisan had won by more than 500 votes.

Mah's win is a major upset because the incumbent was DAP, which had won Teluk Intan with a majority of more than 7,000 votes in the 13th general election.

Election Commission chairman Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof said there were 40,236 voters or 66.67% turnout in the by-election, including early voters.

- http://www.thestar.com.my/News/Nation/2014/05/31/Teluk-Intan-Mah-wins/

Tun Mahathir is Proton Chairman

Well, well. It looks like the good times are back... for Proton that is. It can be safely assumed that Malaysian's will continue paying ridiculous prices for their cars forever. What does it tell us about the company when it needs an ex-Prime Minister to "make it a success"? Wouldn't they be better off by appointing internationally successful professionals instead? Like other auto companies who hired established professionals to be part of their team? Like KIA's Design Director, Peter Schreyer?

Anyway, whatever suggestions given by auto industry experts in Malaysia all these years are purely academic. It's not like the people at Proton doesn't know.

The question is, do the Malaysian public still care whether Proton succeeds or not? All car buyers are only concerned about one thing, the price of cars! Something is seriously wrong when we have to take 9-year loans for a car.

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Tun Mahathir confirms appointment as Proton chairman

KUALA LUMPUR: Former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has confirmed that he will be appointed Chairman of Proton Holdings Bhd.

The official announcement is expected to be made tomorrow.

"My plan is to work with Proton, and make it (Proton) a success," he told reporters before the Asian Banker Annual Leadership Achievement Awards Dinner 2014 here tonight.

Read more: Tun Mahathir confirms appointment as Proton chairman - Latest - New Straits Times http://www.nst.com.my/latest/tun-mahathir-confirms-appointment-as-proton-chairman-1.601747#ixzz32Kx6lhrA

The Invention of Lying

Happy Wesak Day

Health, Contentment & Trust are things we often take for granted. We live in a material world. We need money for shelter, food, education, etc. Therefore, in our journey in life, let us not let our lives be dictated by money and wealth. When you are happy with whatever you have, that's contentment.

Trust, sadly is in short supply these days. I've noticed that people, in their pursuit of wealth, are willing to do almost anything. Especially those who have a decent education and job, white-collar workers and professionals. Even with a job and paycheck, they are not contented. Some will cheat, steal, and even betray their families and make use of their friends. Blinded by greed and accustomed to unethical ways, sometimes, they are not even aware that they have committed a crime or offence that could ruin their lives and the lives of those they've wronged. Trust means very little to them. 

Trust is also lacking in business, friendship, and even politics. Trust is abused so often, people have become accustomed to it. What becomes of a society, when trust means so little? Has trust lost it's value in modern times?

Health is the most precious gain and contentment the greatest wealth. A trustworthy person is the best kinsman, Nibbana the highest bliss.

Ārogyaparamā lābhā santuṭṭhiparamaṃ dhanaṃ
Vissāsaparamā ñātī nibbāṇaparamaṃ sukhaṃ.

- Dhammapada Verse 204

https://www.facebook.com/tbcm.org.my

Monks at the Sri Lanka Buddhist temple in Sentul, preparing colourful paper lanterns to hang around the temple grounds during the Wesak celebrations.

Reuse and reduce: Juliet Wong Ming Sze, 10, shows a cut-out plastic bottle made by students of the Buddhist Institute Sunday Dhamma School in Brickfileds to hold lotus candles.

 

A greener, more meaningful event to mark Wesak Day 

SOME Buddhist temples are trying to ensure that this year’s Wesak Day will be a greener event by building their own floats with recycled materials and by not using disposable utensils.

Sri Lanka Buddhist Temple deputy chief monk Rev Siriwimala said Wesak should be a day to focus on Buddha and his teachings.

“Wesak is a day where we commemorate his birth, enlightenment and death but we should also take time to thank Mother Nature for what she has given us.

“We will not play loud music as we want to create a more peaceful environment for devotees,” he said.

The temple decided to cut costs by making the procession floats themselves instead of paying outsiders to construct them.

Read more here: http://www.thestar.com.my/News/Community/2014/05/13/A-greener-more-meaningful-event-Buddhist-devotees-and-monks-take-ecofriendly-measures-to-mark-Wesak/