Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Yosef Bong

Yosef Bong. Born 27 March 2012 at 1pm. Weighed 2.6kg.

Progress despite opposition

Christians are often depicted in Scripture as on a journey through the wilderness of this world to the Kingdom of God. In Ephesians 4:14, the apostle Paul places this journey on the turbulent waters of a sea, where the winds can rise to blow us off course. However, contrary winds can be weathered by tacking against them, allowing us to make forward progress toward our destination despite the opposition.

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Wisdom camouflaged as a fool

A little boy named David used to hang out at the local corner market. The other boys teased him constantly, saying that Johnny was two bricks shy of a load or two pickles short of a barrel. Puzzled about their behavior, the store owner eavesdropped on their conversation one day.

David stood silently as the boys offered him a choice between a nickel or a dime. David took the nickel. The boys immediately laughed, saying he was too dumb to know that the bigger coin was worthless. The store owner took him aside and said, “David, those boys are making fun of you. They think you don’t know a dime is worth more than a nickel. Are you really grabbing the nickel because it’s bigger?”

David turned to the store owner and with a big grin on his face, he said, “Well, if I took the dime, they’d stop playing the game. And so far, I’ve saved twenty dollars!” The other boys in the neighborhood may think that Johnny is a fool, but David certainly is wiser than them all.

Friday, March 16, 2012

Big Promotion

Thanks to Lemuel Craft
I work in a doctor’s office and was recently promoted to office manager. I’m nervous about how I will perform and have been driving myself crazy. I have never worked in a leadership role before, so I know I have a lot to learn. I was the assistant to the previous office manager and she trained me well, so I hope things will go smoothly. My first big assignment is to change our cable package for the waiting room. My boss and I went through all of the office’s financial documents when I took over this position and he can’t believe we are paying so much when the TV usually stays on the same channel for hours. People are generally happy if the TV is on a news channel, and they rarely ever change it. I searched cable tv for business and immediately found some cheaper packages that will be more well suited to our needs. I hope that my boss is happy with the decision and that he starts to trust me. I would hate to let him down after he gave me such a great opportunity.

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

What is a miracle?

A Miracle is not the suspension of natural law, but the operation of a higher law.

A Tree Planted By The Water

A pastor and a farmer were talking one day in a local cafĂ© about the farmer’s soybean and corn crops. Rain had been abundant in recent weeks, and the results were evident. The soybeans and corn were shooting up dramatically. “All of this rain must be a great relief to you,” the pastor said. The farmer replied, “My crops are especially vulnerable now.” ‘What do you mean?” the pastor asked. The farmer replied, “Even a short drought could have a devastating effect.” “Why is that?” the pastor asked. The farmer explained, “When it rains so much, the plants are not required to push their roots deeper into the earth in search of water. All of the roots remain near the surface. If a drought hits and begins to dry out the earth, it also dries out those shallow roots. The plants then die quickly.” He concluded, “A good plant needs deep roots that can withstand what happens above the ground.”

Monday, March 05, 2012

Citizens to Pendatangs

By Ice Cream Seller I am no science buff but remember reading about putting frogs in cold water and then slowly putting the water to boil. The frogs (unlike the Perak species) will die as they will be unaware of the change in temperature that will ultimately prove fatal. Dear Malaysian brethren of whatever ilk - we will suffer the same fate as the innocent frogs if we let the country spiral to another Iran or Pakistan . I am - in today's parlance - a 3rd generation pendatang. Lets call it GENPENTIGA - Generasi Pendatang Tiga. I suppose it can't be that bad when a GENPENDUA became PM for 22 years. But then he metamorphosed into a Malay and cut his Indian roots - only to go back to Kerala recently to see if there were any offshoots, I suppose, or perhaps some trait of mortality dictated that he visit his roots in his autumn days. I look at my children GENPEMPAT - Generasi Pendatang Empat and wonder what place they have left under our sun. Should I leave them in the water where they are comfortable or kick them out of their 'comfort water'? Old frogs like me might as well die in the Malaysian water anyway - we are fast reaching our 'sell by' date. I would like to share, if I may, some developments and events that have brought me to this juncture and by doing so, hope that the GENPEMPAT open their eyes wider and see beyond what meets the eye. These are in no order of priority - but illustrate the point to me nonetheless. FUAD STEPHENS I am no East Malaysian but I remember how he perished in a plane crash with a few others. What if his plane was sabotaged? What would have been if this did not happen? Would Sabah be the same as it is today - with millions of new Malaysians? Would he have stood up to the shenanigans in KL? would Sabah be 1 / 4 partner in Malaysia together with the Malaya, Singapore and Sarawak instead of being colonised into 1 / 13 and be submissive to Putrajaya ? Would Malaysia be the same today? Perak Heist What played out in the 'transfer' back to BN control opened my eyes as to what could happen on a Federal level. If the elected Speaker can be literally dragged out of his seat, what is there to suggest they can't drag you out of your house? Remember, you are a PENDATANG. Of course, his replacement could not be a Malay so they had to get another PENDATANG to be the puppet - to try and even the score. The new MB is also a PENDATANG but he has the right qualification as PM GENPENDUA - if you get my drift. Selangor The goings on currently in Selangor mirror Perak to some degree. The previous MB - also a GENPENDUA but with the deemed suitable qualifications ran the administration like a bandit in Java but still has not been brought to the 14th floor in Shah Alam to coerce some information from him about how he managed to have such a successful dental practice to be able to own a palace bigger than what he could have seen in Java. Teoh Beng Hock Pendatangs beware. If your children are getting married soon, even the next day, keep them under 'house arrest' for their own safety. Every time my kids go out, we worry till they are back safe. If you work for the 'wrong' boss, it could cost you your life. But then, if you work for the 'right ' boss, you may save your life and yet lose your soul. So PENDATANGS, choose between your life and your soul. Kugan I ask myself, if the same fate would have been met if it was someone with a fairer complexion or at least the same 'qualification' as the ex-MB of the same state in which he died. Kugan and his type are today seen as an 'inconvenience', pests, scroungers and lately even christened 'pariahs'. I suspect Kugan had deeper roots in Malaysia than the ex-MB. Whatever wrong he may have done, the video clips of his relatives barging into the mortuary and the outpouring of anguish left a lasting impression. In the same vein, when one of my staff was killed in a motor accident, the records at the mortuary showed that the cause of death was 'MABUK'. He was a teetotaller. On my insistence and with the timely arrival of the foreign pathologist who was employed there, the records were corrected. Just because he was of Indian origin, it was felt apt to put in 'MABUK"! History Syllabus In the school that I went to (VI), we were taught history only till Form 3 - unless you did Arts in Forms 4 & 5. My children were both Science stream students till Form 5 but they had to do History. I had a peek at their textbooks - seems like History has changed a fair bit. They are fed rubbish, to put it mildly. It is HIS STORY as told and imagined by a few bigots. My daughter's book had an image of a Sikh with a turban - but with the description Orang Bengali!. Don't they know that Bengalis are from Bengal and Sikhs are Punjabis - from Punjab ? I suppose this is is to be expected when many wear the mantle of 'Malay' despite coming from all corners of Asia - they have tried to lose trace of where they originate. Turks, Arabs, Chinese, Indians, Pakistanis, Bangladeshis, Cambodians, Thais are all re-badged? Malays. We now await the Africans, Caucasians and Eskimos to join ranks and be members of UMNO Baru. A relative of Obama might yet lead Malaysia . SPM Answer Scripts (I laugh so loud on this...) When my children sat for their SPM examinations a few years ago, they had to tick a box to indicate if they were Muslim or not. Was it because they were in need of divine intervention in the event they are not Muslim? Or were the scripts marked according to whether they were halal or not? Matriculation Courses It is widely accepted that the successor to the HSC - the STPM, is a tough examination. But stroll into an STPM class and you will observe that the Bumi students are conspicuously less. They are doing matriculation which we are led to believe is on par with STPM for entry to local universities. GENPEMPAT are likewise conspicuously less in matriculation courses. The intakes to universities are then claimed to be on merit - despite being based on different examinations. With all this, how does one unify a nation? ALLAH The very fact that there is an attempt to copyright this word shows acute insecurity. In Pakistan , I was greeted with 'Assalammulaikum' during my work visits there. To them, it was just being polite and civil. Here, it becomes 'confusing' and threatening. The fact that the Catholic church won a High Court case in this matter only to have it appealed with no hearing date in sight illustrates the insecurity and illuminates the deceit of the authorities. SABAH When they joined to form MALAYSIA , little did they realise that this majority Christian state was going to be swamped by aliens to the extent that the aliens outnumber the natives. The flushing in of these aliens over a concentrated period of time had a very sinister motive. Pendatangs should always be conscious of this. In Malay I call it NIAT JAHAT. The parallel that comes to mind for me is Ali Jinnah and his actions in carving out Pakistan (history as I learned many, many years after leaving school) from pre independence India . Till today, Pakistan knows no peace for a sustained time. Judiciary The man in the street seeks justice on earth in the courts. Our judicial system simply fails the test on perception alone. Our history books as they stand are not going to record how this institution degenerated into the sewers by the actions of 1 man principally. The AG has an image problem (and I am not referring to his face). The CJ is supposed to be on record as having admitted to bribing clerks or junior staff to get things moving during his time as a lawyer. Add to that he was an UMNO member. Pendatang - do you see the writing on the wall? Scaling Mt Everest 2 of the mountaineers who reached the summit were of Indian origin. Rumour has it that the premier at the time was dismayed that the leader couldn't be there instead due to blisters on his feet. The injured leader however, never begrudged them and shared in the joy of the conquest. One of the 2 has since died and his widow is still bewildered over the snatching of his body on claims that her husband had 'masuk Islam'. Pendatang, when you die, your wife may be subject to so many hassles you wonder if it was worth conquering Everest. Your carcass is more important than your conquest. (I use the term 'carcass' deliberately.) Jail for Lim Guan Eng This Pendatang is now a Chief Minister and doing a damn good job - in between ducking attacks form Utusan and Umno and their stooges. But remember he went to jail for speaking up for a victim of rape. From a perverse point of view, was it because he was a Pendatang and the alleged perpetrator was not? Pity there wasn't Wikileaks then. Cow head Incident Blatant, flagrant, insulting. But not as dangerous as a candlelight vigil with women taking part. Whilst the cow's head went on display in Shah Alam, the Home Minister went on display to show the cow brains over television. That the police allowed them to bring it all the way to the MB's office gate shows their partiality as far as I am concerned. Mark this episode, Pendatangs. RELA Malaysia 's own fifth column. Just observe how they move about like uniformed thugs - especially raiding foreign workers' quarters. They are just insecure bullies garbed in state sponsored uniforms. Many are not in it for love of country. More for love of money - from extortions. Close parallel to what exists in Iran . Ideal source for extra judicial activities - so Pendatangs, be wary. Also 'progressive/liberal/moderate Muslims need to be aware. Again, just like what happened over the years in Iran and Pakistan . PROTON A car I have vowed never to buy - for what it represents. Aggregate all the money to protect this deity, we could have used the same to fund a decent public transport system in the country. Like others taken for a ride, I beamed with 'pride' when the first car was launched. Now, it has become a mirror of the NEP implementation - overpriced, under-performing, waste of resources. I suspect the hidden agenda behind this project was to have a HALAL car. BUKA PUASA My Muslim friends tell me that Buka Puasa is a time to have a simple meal to break the fast. What we are having on display is an orgy of gluttony. Tables in hotels overflow onto passageways and corridors for this time of year. And many a time, the host of a table is a Pendatang. The guests come sometimes shamelessly comparing the offerings at different hotels in front of their paying hosts. Is there any meaning left in this supposedly holy month? Ivory Coast The person clinging to power in the Ivory Coast - at great cost to his country - is giving us a taste of what can happen in Malaysia . Please pay attention to what Laurent Gbagbo does. The same ingredients are here. UMNO will take heart from him, from the Burmese Junta, from Mahinda Rajapaksa in Sri Lanka , from Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe . For Ibrahim Ali, these are angels sent from heaven and will be given honorary PERKASA membership. Legacy of Mahathir There is no denying his intellect. Unfortunately, I will remember him as the person who singularly destroyed what Malaysia was to me. No need to elucidate - it is there for all to see. The Malaysia as I knew and loved is no more. It died a slow death after battling cancer for 22 years but is there hope for resurrection in the horizon - not for me but for GENPEMPAT? As much as my heart tried to resist despairing over the state of being of this nation, it is fighting a losing battle. My hope is only in God that through all the destruction that is happening now, there is hope of change. - David Bong