A Burmese Hari Raya

We had the priviledge to visit a burmese family for Hari Raya. Their children come to our Sunday School. We had a good time getting to know them better, their children were friendly, hospitable and made us feel very much at home.

Some of their stories are really touching, and I can’t share all of them here, but here are some that I can.

The man in the background of the picture below, he lives in Ampang as a municipal worker. He is a relative visiting the family we were visiting. He has  a wife and two children in Burma. He has not seen them in 17 years. The oldest child, is 17.

Titus giving apples to the children

This pretty girl here in the next picture loves to learn, but the government has refused entry of foreign children into our local schools. So she stays at home and helps mum look after the other kids.

The eldest girl and Sophia spent some girl-time.

They are our friends. We had a good time.

 

They served us some really, really, really, hot beef curry and nasi himpit. It was awesome. Did I mention it was hot?

The next time you meet someone underpriviledged, take time to talk to them, more importantly, listen to their stories, there’s just so much to learn!

Why I won’t get Olympic Games fever

A sculpture signifying the torch run at the beijing olympic complex

The world is crazy with Olympic fever. This olympics makes it the most expensive ever. The opening ceremony was among the most elaborate and grandest ever had.

Many countries in the world will be keeping their eyes peeled on the medal tallies. Huge rewards are being offered to sportsmen and sportswomen who excel and bring home honour to the country.

So what’s the hype?

I’m just listing here some reasons why I don’t think much of the Olympics…

The ‘ancient’ Olympics

Though unconfirmed, the Olympic games was started with some roots in Greek mythology. Heracles started it in tribute to his father Zeus, king of the gods, god of thunder and sky. I don’t believe in Greek gods because my bible tells me

And this is the eternal life, that they should know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent.
(John 17:3)

Jesus prayed to Father saying He’s the ONLY – the exclusive and only one rightful to be called, TRUE – the ‘real’ and true God. All other ‘gods’ are counterfeits and have no truth in them. They are given the position of god, but they have no divine nature. No divine power. No divine glory.

So to take a keen interest in an event that was established with the purpose to glorify a man (though the Greeks consider him a god), is pointless to me. The time I spend, I’d rather use to the glory of the true and living God.

And everything, whatever ye may do in word or in deed, do all things in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father by him.
(Colossians 3:17)

The ‘revived’ Olympics

When Pierre de Courbertin wanted to revive the Olympics in 19th century, his motivation was to

1. Help the French become more athletic

2. Get young men from all over the world to unite in sport, rather than clash in war.

Noble reasons. But what has been achieved in the past 2 centuries?

Have there been less wars? No. In fact the 2 world wars still happened after the Olympics was revived.

Has there been more unity? No. Countries have learn to be more diplomatic, but in reality, none trust their own neighbor. I can’t remember the year, but there was one Olympics where a bomb blew in one of the complexes and 100+ people got injured. It was a terrorist attack. This year, there was huge Tibet-China skirmishes in the wake of the Olympics and jeopardized the torch run in several stages.

Someone has defined madness as “doing the same thing repeatedly, but expecting different results”. In the same vein, so many Olympics have been held with the hope of the holy grail of peace and unity in the world. The Olympics has clearly not acheived its purposes. So why do it? I suggest some reasons:

1. Financial gain.

With the huge investment countries in hosting such games, come also huge sponsorship and stake holder investment deals. For 2008 Beijing Olympics, more than 2billion is expected to come back to the government in just investors coming to take stakes in the infrastructure build. How that’s going to make up for the 43billion spent since 2001, i don’t know.

2. Human pride

In the ancient Olympics, only men (the stronger sex) were allowed to participate, and they had to compete completely nude. The reason was to celebrate the strength and ability of the human body. Nothing has changed much since then. In over 2 centuries, the only improvement was instead of being nude, they wear tight fitting lycra bodysuits which cleave to every curve and crease. All in the name of aerodynamics. Rubbish.

My bible tells me

And God looked upon the earth, and behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted its way on the earth.
(Genesis 6:12)

…It is sown in corruption…it is sown dishonour…it is sown a natural body…(1Cor15:42-43)

The human body has a problem. It has a nature that has the propensity and ability to dishonour, disregard and disobey God. Why celebrate it? The fastest athlete and the crippled man end in the same place, the grave. The strongest human and the weakest beggar end in the same place, the grave.

Men like to boast. Among the driving factors of the Olympics, is competition, success, name, fame and glory.

Should I glory then in men?

But now ye glory in your vauntings: all such glorying is evil.
(James 4:16)
…so as to be a boast for me in Christ’s day, that I have not run in vain nor laboured in vain.
(Philippians 2:16)
But he that boasts, let him boast in the Lord.
(II Corinthians 10:17)

When I consider the glory of the One who died and gave Himself for me, and today expects that I give my all to him, I have no interest in partaking in the glorification of man.

Yup, this Olympics, I’ll be the party pooper.

Chinese new year in monochrome

Was tagged to do this.

Yes, I broke some rules, too bad ;-P

New Year’s Eve… The coffee shops were packed with people. I had to wait almost 10 minutes to get a place to sit. Here’s a man I shared a table with while I had my blood (teh si peng) transfusion.

Convinced Titus’s grandparents to baby sit him while Chin Ai and me took a break. Was nice having some just-the-two-of-us-ness. Had some ice-cream at Haagen Daaz. Mmmm.

Here we are making some funny faces.

My father in law expertly prepared a super steam boat for our reunion dinner. Here he is waiting patiently for everyone to gather round the feast.

Titus wasn’t so patient though.

Titus trying to dig uncle Joseph’s nose… yuk!

Post dinner conversations. In this pic, my brother in law, Joseph and Titus’s great grandmother. Wow.

Family time – Titus and Uncle Joseph.

Family Time – Joseph and poh poh

Lunch at Sushi King. Unc Eddie enjoying the free flow of green tea.

Titus and uncle Joseph having a light moment

He’s got penangite blood alright. So young sitting like apek beca.

This is a picture to keep. Titus and his great grandmother.

On an empty road, the man with the wheelchair sets the pace. Respect!

Belum BERSIH lagi

BERSIH is Malay for clean.

On Saturday, a number of rakyat (citizens) made their voice heard. The King has seen their heartcry, and the government has been given a solemn warning that the present generation are not to be taken lightly.

BERSIH thoughts:
1. I had read the memorandum some months ago, and very impressed by suggestions and I think they are very valid and, more importantly, doable steps that can be taken to restore the credibility of the Election Committee and the electoral system.

2. Despite the fact that my mother nearly missed her bus back to Penang on Saturday due to the traffic jams (I getting ready to ask who should I refer to to get a bus ticket refund if we missed it), I’m happy for the outcome of BERSIH’s rally. That the King was willing to receive the memorandum from His people, is a glimmer of hope that there could be reforms, initiated not by the Prime Minister, but by the Sovereign of the country Himself.

3. I’m impressed by the planning done for the rally, right down to the 500cc superbike pillioned by Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to break through the traffic jam to reach the palace gates on time.

4. Its funny to read of the government now fully utilising the mainstream media to condemn the rally and label 40,000 people braving heavy rain and police action, chemical sprays and tear gasses to pursue something they believe in, a political gimmick (The Star, 12Nov2007, page 2).

Dear government, if it is a political gimmick, wouldn’t you agree, they are surely outdoing your gimmicks (like sending an astronaut to space! Haha!)? There is no smoke without fire. The opposition parties are one thing, but to get over 70 non-governmental bodies to cooperate with them, is not an easy thing to do. Obviously they have good reason to support the rally.
The government has just proven its iron claw on mainstream media (read free speech) in its response through and the content in it (mainstream media).

5. It’s a fantastic feeling to see many Malaysians saying Daulat Tuanku!, showing that people have not given up hope on their King, or given in to the idea of a puppet King.

6. Its wonderful to see a good number of non-governmental bodies, including the opposition, identifying issues of common benefit to the people, like the importance of clean elections, and setting aside differences to pursue it wholeheartedly. If only this could be trend in many issues, where constitutional adherence, as well as common and civil good takes first (and only?) place, then the opposition would be able to form a credible alternative to the ruling coalition, and give the people real sense of security when voting against the ruling coalition.

7. Watching some of the videos, I found the crowd to be quite rowdy indeed. Angry, incensed, verbal abuse of the police and government. It could quite easily have been a very violent encounter. Don’t blame all the violence on the police.
The civil disobedience displayed was not quite the stuff we would have seen Ghandi practice.

8. With the ‘success’ of BERSIH’s rally, we must ask ourselves how far are we willing to make civil disobedience a Malaysian way?
Does this rally become the precedence for all future unhappiness?
Fuel prices are going to be raised soon. What colour should we wear this time?

9. It’ll be interesting to know how many of the numbers that appeared, actually know what the memorandum contained? More interestingly, how many were really interested in governmental reform and understood the implications of the reforms on themselves? Eg, if the new government is sworn in and bumiputera priviledges are reduced (in accordance to constitution), how many of the 40,000 would say “Long live the government”?

10. The rally eventually adopted a very Muslim flavour to it, with the shouts of Allahu Akbar quite pronounced. Its no surprise however, as many of the protesters were Malays, but I wonder if Lim Kit Siang also echoed their hails? I’ve nothing against the Muslims in this regard, after all we have all learnt to tolerate the five-times-daily prayers at mosques, but seeing this is supposed to be a rakyats’ rally, I’m not very comfortable with the resulting Muslim taste to the BERSIH rally.

11. Today we hear the cries of Daulat Tuanku! because we still have hope. Would we be saying the same thing if His Royal Highness, after reading the petition, does not do anything? We need to decide on our response. We have now put ourselves in the hands of the Malaysia’s Sovreign. Do we accept the Sovreign decree, or turn against Him as well and continue protesting?

12. The winds of change have come, be prepared for a new government, here are just two possibilities we must be prepared for:
a. Foreign investment may slow down, as investors may withold funds as the wait and see the stability and outcome of the first government change in the history of independent Malaysia
b. If the new government inherits huge debts, further fuel subsidies may be cut, resulting in higher fuel prices
c. The opposition parties have NEVER been able to totally agree on a political manifesto because of their extremely diverse objectives. There is no indication of change in this area in the recent months nor years, and there is no guarantee that things will be better, let alone the same, if the opposition gets into power.
d. If the King decrees the implementation of the points outlined in the memorandum, and the ruling coalition still wins, are we ready to accept the fact, or shall we go on another rally?

13. The country is far from being BERSIH, and Saturday was a start, but I wouldn’t want Saturday to be a trend.

Christians, be reminded. Whatever reforms we succeed in making, will never usher in the Millenial Kingdom. As long as the government is being run by men and women with a sinful nature, there will be results of that same nature, corruption, injustice, selfishness, etc…

True national peace and properity on earth will only be realized when the Lord Jesus comes to reign on the earth for a thousand years, and the false ‘holy grail’ called democracy is done away with and replaced by the monarchy of the King of kings, and Lord of lords, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Come Lord Jesus!

Sour grapes await our angkasawan

First of all, I feel sorry for Dr Sheikh Muzaffar. Who knows how proud he is of becoming the first malaysian angkasawan? If I were in his space boots, I would be very happy and proud. The stories I’d be able to tell my friends and family over a teh tarik, and to think that my posterity would always have in their minds that their ol’ man was an angkasawan would be something to cherish. He is indeed extremely priviledged, and I’m sure he earned his place, beating many others, to get that place seat on the Soyuz. Speaking on how the seat was made available, here’s what I learnt today:

The Malaysian Angkasawan programme is an offset from the RM3.42bil deal with the Russians for the purchase of 18 Sukhoi Su-30 MKM fighter jets for the Royal Malaysian Air Force.

Russia agreed to offer one seat for a Malaysian to join their crew in an expedition to the International Space Station, and bear the training cost of the country’s first batch of Angkasawan. – The Star, 22 October 2007

Dr. Sheikh is back on earth. He may, in his free time, Google the terms angkasawan and malaysian astronaut and other related terms to see what the perception of many are. I doubt he’ll be very encouraged by what he sees. So many blogs out there, are criticising the program, its usefulness, saying it’s a ‘show off’, a ‘farce’, and all the rest. Worse still, HE is being criticised! Why is Dr. Sheikh being criticised? Because he trained endlessly, and had to spend months away from family, and had to endure tremendous physical and emotional challenges, to mug and study tons of reading material, to becoming the first Malaysian astronaut? He doesn’t deserve to be criticized. He doesn’t deserve to be called a lab rat. The Malaysian Space Program may be questionable, but not him. Give him a break.

Yes, he may have not had a very mission critical role to play up there. But what did you expect for a country that has very little experience in space travel?

Did you expect him to pilot be the technical engineer of the spacecraft?

Did you expect him to be the pyro coordinator?

Did you expect him to be the propulsion engineer?

Did you expect him to be the re-entry engineer?

A space mission is not a bicycle ride. There are no room for mistakes. No room for novices to handle mission critical tasks. In all reasonableness, I’m glad Dr. Sheikh didn’t do anything he wasn’t experienced enough to do. I would prefer the best and most experienced people doing what they do best.

I did chuckle when I read what he planned to do in space, but hey, just take it with a pinch of salt. No one’s done that before! Don’t we all try to do something different sometimes?

Dr. Sheikh, I’m happy for you, and your achievements. I’m sure you’re dying to share the knowledge you’ve learnt.

I just feel that when Dr. Sheikh is targeted personally for criticism, its just a ‘sour grape’ feeling, that someone else got it, and you didn’t. People are unhappy with the government for the program, but poor Dr. Sheikh will be the man to eat the sour grapes.

Secondly, reading all the criticism and feeling the negativity about the whole issue, its just so nostalgic. We Malaysians have always something negative to say. We always have something to complain. Is this the first time we’re complaining about something?

No.

Remember Penang Bridge? Originally planned to be 3 laned, but due to opposition, brought down to two. Now we have to add the third lane.

Remember Proton? Tin can! Unreliable! Yet it’s the highest selling brand in the country.

Remember KLIA? What a waste of money! Yet we bask in pride, when people praise our airport.

Remember Twin Towers and KLCC? Show off! Yet a visit there on any given day shows how many people frequent the place.

Remember Putrajaya? Expensive! Yet most of the housing development projects there sell very well!

And now the space program.

I’m not saying the costs involved in the above are justified. I’m a tax payer myself and truly feel that the funds could be channelled to more immediate needs, there are schools to be built, low cost housing to be built, infrastucture to be improved, oh yes, thelistgoeson.

Beloved Malaysia, we’re not doing anything different from what other countries with space programs are doing.

The Americans are still bickering about their space program:

http://www.taxpayer.net/space/index.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_the_Space_Shuttle_program

http://physicsandphysicists.blogspot.com/2007/08/endeavour-lifts-off-and-its-waste-of.html

Just take a look on the positive side. At least the government didn’t start its own space program and build its own space shuttle and spend billions of our taxpayer money right? At least, not yet.