A Political Satire.....

~ TWELVE (12) TOP REASON(S) WHY WE STILL VOTE IN OUR PRESENT GOVT. ~

[ Note : Mind my very bad usage of the English Language! Soily, PPSMI scrapped already-mah! ]

1) Write off RM1,626 million loans of Perwaja Terengganu Sdn.Bhd. eventhough the company is still in existence and business is on-going. Wah! So good ,man. Take loan and no need to repay! Good culture! Like that PTPTN loan , Car loan, House loan, Business loan, Ah Long loan also no need to repay-lor, right?

2) Teoh Beng Hock choked himself and flung himself out of the window of MACC building. The best part is no one is to be blamed. Graft busters and corruption fighters very efficient, man. Whistle blowers on corruption and nonsense must be charged so that others won’t talk. Everything must be swept under the carpet as before. People disappearing from the country or sent to prison for no reason or got beaten up to death in prison/during interrogation? Got meh?

3) Implement AES cameras quickly because some company who issue the summons and maintained the system will get a commission for it. Aiyah! Give RM 500 already, donate RM 600 back okay what – 2 tickets of summons only mah! Can cover. You know lar, give out from the right hand and take back from the left hand lor! Small money must come out then only big money will come in –mah!

4) Never mind if our country is the breeding ground for suicide bombers and masterminds of destruction in the world. As long as they don’t plant bomb in our country, it is okay mah! We are moving forward. We are famous –lar. We have experts in our country who can place C4 explosives and blow the bits out of bodies. Dunno meh?

5) Year by year, wastages are detected in the Auditors Report and no concrete steps to plug these wastages/leakages of public funds. It is okay-lar. No one reads and bothers, mah! So, close one eye. If cannot, close two eyes!

6) It is perfectly alright to maintain 110 overseas accounts worth 1billion while you can spend RM 782,520.55 on your credit card transactions on the first six months of the year because your father is equally powerful and wealthy. Nothing wrong,right? Hmmmnnnnn……just wondering only-ah, If the son is that rich , how about the father,man? Jeng! Jeng! Jeng! Afterall, we are promoting credit card spending - Spend! Spend! Spend! Buy rings, designers bags and jewellery from your savings especially the one you save since you are a school girl-lar!

7) It is definitely alright to lose RM 250million on breeding cows projects while some money could be spent on buying condos. No worries-lar. We must “diversify” business. Cows only won’t make money one. Plunder the public funds. Nobody would know -wan! I scratch your back, you scratch my back-lar but don’t touch my back or I’ll take a DNA sample for later use, ok?

8) A “donation” of RM 40million to one political party and banked in the account of one leader is perfectly okay. We need to survive in our very difficult society environment today. Get support nowadays – so hard. Really must “help” these people or else, they won’t support us. So, never mind. Public money only. Spend-lar a bit.

9) Spend RM 386million for 57 KR1M stores in Sabah and Sarawak or RM 6.7million per store to sell basic necessities like gula, garam,tepong, roti, telor, susu designers bag and jewellery, perhaps. Aiyah! We gotta help “develop” our good neighbours-mah. These people REALLY need these stores because their places don’t have such stores while their leaders have to invest in accounts overseas. It’s business lar – don’t ask too much. Hush! Hush! Setting up stores are not easy nowadays, you know. A lot of intelligence is needed for such matters!

10) It is OKAY to lose RM 26billion every year through corruption. That’s the statement from one of our Ministers recently and we are to accept that fact. Wow! What an exhilarating statement! Bravo! That’s why we are Malaysian-lor. We don’t know how to count, how to read, how to vote also! RM 26 billion, small money-lar.

11) We NEED to frighten our people with lots of threats. If we don’t , how to govern them? Scare them with Jaclyn Victor song “ Harapan Bangsa”! Scare them with RELIGION! Scare them with RACE cards! Scare them about the economic MONOPOLY! ( Not the board game, Monopoly, ok?- Come on –lar, we, Malaysians are quite clever one! ) Scare them with wearing V-neck t-shirts and what not! Scare them with ONE HUNDRED and ONE thing-lar! After all, Malaysians from all walks of life LIKE being scared to death-mah!

12) Essential goods in our country is cheaper comparably to others places in South East Asia. Every day we put it on the TV for people to see, mah. We educate the people. We tell the people how difficult it is for us to maintain such price. You people don’t know –meh? So, we should be thankful that these essentials are priced reasonably. Never mind-lar if prices go up three to four times in a year because the demand is such and the gomen can only help out so much. Gotta pity the gomen-lar because most of these companies which are supplying essentials are GLCs that need a lot of help,wan! They earn more, they help gomen more –lor. Uncle, nephew, niece, daughters, sons, grandfather, grandmother, granddaughter, grandson, long lost cousin and what not sits on these GLC boards to help out –lar. Family help family , ok what! We are not rich-lar but bank accounts ( not one but many ) must have-lor!

Thank you for your time, consideration and your understanding. This community message comes to you from this "not-so-bright" Malaysian who care for this country and the future generations of this country too. 

Walk...

Last evening after work, I managed to get to my exercise grounds at Bukit Beruang Hill and did my walks as usual. Somehow, like all starters, it turned out to be an extremely excruciating climb up as I was really tired after a long day at work. I must admit that I was sluggish and felt burning sensation to my muscles at my legs. The knees are okay but the thighs and calves burned like mad. Anyway, I kept telling myself that I can do it and I just want to stay healthy. I sweat buckets, I tell you but I am glad I did my usual rounds especially at the stretch I call the "Knee Buster Slope". It was good and I enjoyed the nice breeze especially at the slope before the home stretch to the transmission tower area. 

So, I was on my way down when I met a rather large sized young girl struggling to come up the slope. It was obvious that she struggled step by step as she tried to walk up. I guess, she was with some of her friends who had moved up faster than her. They were long gone as I did met up with a group of young people up at the middle section as I walked down. Boy, she really struggled, I mean, REALLY STRUGGLED. With her twisted facial expression, deep breathing and sweating profusely, I looked at her and it reminded a lot about me. So, as she was just at the very second uphill walk, I supposed I wanted to encourage her. So, I stopped on my tracks, turned around and started walking along side her. I said "Hi" , smiled at her and I said something like , " You are doing fine. Step by step will do." Then , she stopped for a while to catch her breath and I also did. She said to me , " Uncle, why don't you go ahead? I will only be blocking your way."  I introduced myself and we struck small talks. Then I started telling her how I struggled like mad too when I first started this and I still do as I take each step up! I told her to walk at her own pace - step by step and that each step is a step of health and personal victory. She seemed to be pumped up and started walking step by step as I walked along side her. By then, I was also panting and struggled as I walked up. I told her in my not-so-smooth breaths ( I felt as though the pump at my heart and oxygen lines had been cut off from me! )  that I struggled a lot too. She smiled and seemed to understand what I was talking about. We then walked together at the "Knee Buster Slope" and we were at the foot when I told her that she has done well so far. This will be her next challenge. She virtually has this "hopelessness" expression look and downcasted. I cheered her up and said that she needed to overcome this and the rest is a piece of cake! She smiled, pointed to the slope, saying " This is a piece of cake?". I answered, " Yeah! A piece of cake" and pointed a finger to side of my head as if telling her that it is all in the head. She looked at me for a while and started the walk. It was a real struggle and painful to see how she struggled. Then, she turned back and said, " You not coming, uncle? " I calmly said to her, " I've conquered this monster just now - twice! It's your turn, girl! Good luck!" By this time, I saw her group of friends were struggling towards the top of slope. Hopefully, they would encourage her then. 

Steadily, I saw the young girl walked up, step by step and now, there were words of encouragement from her friends. I could have sworn that at one corner of my brain seemed to scream out, " Should have done that earlier to her, dudes!" I smiled to myself, turned around and walked down. Just glad that I did my part in encouraging this young lady. Hopefully she will stay healthy and continue walking. Afterall, we all need a good word to the soul once in a while, don't we?

TUKAR atau TAK TUKAR?

I am no stranger to hard core views on my take on life issues and today , I am about to exercise that small ounce of belief in speaking up about the religious institution that had somehow gone so wrong. STINGING is what it will be, I promise you. For months now, I am greatly distressed and saddened by the crisis that had hit the religious institution which I have attended for quite some time. Whatever that was needed to be spoken, I had spoken out daringly and openly during my 15 years in that establishment. Got a few bad names and nasty tagnames along the way but it did not stop me at my tracks. of speaking out. Instead, it made me to take a good hard look of what this establishment is all about and what type of people we can see along the way.  From cunning to non-responsive, quiet, patient, loyal , good to deceptive and to cruel, pure fakeness to veiled selfishness  - we've got it all in this establishment. Let's just say, it's a "rojak-rojak" community ! Whatever services I could render, I have rendered with all my heart and with the very best of my ability. I believed, I have not short-changed anybody and I believed, I had given my very best of my life to this establishment. Never mind, if you think otherwise of me but at least, I could tell you most assuredly that when I stand up there  at my trial when I am long gone, I will not be afraid to state my stand admist all my mistakes or whatever I have done in this little life of mine. 

Now, I must say that there was a time I was seriously and horrendously disappointed at times but thank God for some wonderful and responsible shepherds of other religious establishment who had spoken out comforts from the very Book of Life on each and every Thursday nights and Sunday mornings to ease my pain. For whatever I had gone through, I do feel for the many who had suffered the same fate as I did and probably more hurt than I was but I survived and I will survive because The Healer is always at hand to apply that balm of comfort and solace to my ailing heart. But what about the many who had shy away, withered into oblivion and having to carry the bleeding heart by themselves? We always say that it is the choice made by this individual or that individual but the fact remains that sometimes, the people in their strongest of faith also need a helping hand or even a word or two  - what more for those who are in hurting.

Like I said earlier, whatever that was needed to be said had indeed been said much earlier but somehow, the very shepherd that is heading this establishment did NOT get it! Is it because of family preservation mode? Or is it because of pride and arrogance? Or is it because of the need to hold on to power? Gosh! I have seen many leaders who would wept bucketfuls and tear their brains out crying out swearing on father's or mother's grave of repentance and remorse when in actual fact, it is all a DRAMA! A real drama in the name of self-preservation and preservation of the role played by family members too! It even make our TV soap operas look like child's play,man. It doesn't take a rocket scientist or a genius to know that when your congregation starts leaving your establishment, you know something is so horribly wrong! Isn't it time to examine yourself, your stand, your vision or even your leadership direction? Wouldn't you examine if somehow God's vision of things had suddenly being overshadowed or impaired by your OWN SELF vision instead of His vision?  There is a glaring difference,actually.

A good leader once told me that no man/woman is indispensable. I truly agree with this. When it is time for you to go, you should go gracefully and make your establishment better than it was. I am not talking about facing your adversaries, critics and so on. I am talking about giving up your leadership and move on gracefully without leaving a big mess of a problems behind for others to clean up. I believe, it is time to CLEAN UP the act! Let me be part of the solution for the many who had left the establishment by putting forward the following solutions lest you can stop saying that I am just a critic with no solutions in sight. Here are some of the basic tenets for a healthy religious establishment which I've learnt from my years of association with some of the finest and down to earth people in this land of ours including wonderful shepherds who had colored my life so brightly with their lives.

1) Have a good structure of organisation by building the very foundation of the religious establishment with truth , transparency, accountability and good governance. A complete and comprehensive Church Constitution is A MUST to establish the very strong structure foundation of a religious establishment today. They are many churches out there with good church constitution out there. The Board could meet and device a good one with the input from the members which will then be a comprehensive Church Constitution abide by everyone - from the pastors right down to the members of the church.  Presently, what we have largely in our churches today are just a bunch of religious dictators and Napoleons (with the exception of some genuine pastors out there - Please accept my sincere apologies! )  who does things in their whims and fancies! It certainly hurt to hear the truth, right? I told you so! 

2) Establishment of the clear, precise and definite roles of the Shepherd and the Elders/Deacons/The Board - Let the shepherd/pastor be concerned only of the religious matters/message/duties and NOT to be concerned with other matters such as finance, office matters or even other trivial matters. Let the Board/Deacon/Elders handle the daily affairs by entrusting the job to the trusty Office Manager or Administrator. Pastors SHOULD NOT SIGN CHEQUES or be BANK SIGNATORIES either! Get your paws off the finance matters. Leave that to the Treasurer and to at least two Board Members! 

3) No family members of the pastor/shepherd nor wife should hold any decision making position in the establishment lest the tendencies to dominate/operate the decision making mechanism and influence of decisions made. The church is not the employment agency! Until and unless, it is the calling of God , then consideration should be made. If not, it is just ripping off the church coffers as far as I am concerned.

4) Let the Board of Deacons be people who are elected by the church members themselves through the proper Business Meeting / Annual General Meeting and through balloting which must be done properly and professionally. Would be deacons should be approached by the shepherd or even Elders of the establishment to get a general feedback on their keenness in serving the Deaconship before his/her name is put up for the members to know on his intention to be voted for a deacon position. These should be people of integrity, trustworthy , bold and strong in decision making. Most of the time, we now have deacons who are only "talking": when they are pricked hard or get some nasty words! Like I said, we need men/women who would dare to speak up in truth. Just like any committee, they should go if they perform badly in their duties.They should not hold the position longer than 2 terms as if they are given a licence to go on forever and ever, they will turn into dictator themselves! So, 2 terms max is still the best!

5) Never be afraid to hear from the people - good or bad. Implement a committee who would listen to the grouses/ good reviews from the people. In that way, we can improve and enhance the relationship between the church and the people. Nowadays, it's so disconnected as the church grows bigger. Nowadays, we only have Committee who only wants to hear the sweet and good things lest they have diabetics and see how their limbs get chopped off slowly to a slow death. Be very afraid of wolves in sheep clothings! It's in the Bible- search it and understand it! The church is not for the healthy nor the rich - it is for everyone. The sick, the poor, the rich,  the broken -hearted, the fortunate and the not so fortunate should be welcomed into the church. Not the BMWs, Volvos and the Mercedes drivers are welcomed more than the ice-cream seller or the sweaty old auntie from the nearby pasar! This is a fact that is happening! Open your eyes bigger!

6) Have a PROPER Business Meeting/Annual General Meeting and no flowery gimmick in presenting reports or financial accounts. Each member of the church SHOULD HAVE a copy of the financial accounts in their hands. ( DO NOT COMPROMISE ON THIS! ) No need to keep figures away from the members. They are NOT MORONS nor SPASTIC people. They are REAL people with genuine concerns and they have a right to know. These are people who sow their hard earned money into the kingdom of God. It wouldn't be too much for me to say that even God would require/demand  of WISDOM in how the sowing is reaching the exact target of needs.  Respect is given when transparency, accountability and integrity are met. Creative accounting, youthfulmistic padding of facts which leads to confusion and mind-boggling big accounting words used are a real thing and it is rampant! Be accountable, that's all! 

7) PLEASE practise genuine giving heart. Don't look at the congregation as money bags! Many a times, everything is PAY PAY PAY! I won't be surprised if credit cards machines would be installed one day at the front of church entrance to enhance payment of tithes and offerings! YES! Nothing is free in this world , you may say and I agree that we are to chip in once in a while but asking for priceless meal for the congregation once a month is NOT a BIG BANK BREAKING EXPENSES! It is not that the church is gonna go bust when expenses like these are spent. You will never know how much gestures like this meant to people who may not have anything to eat for days and too shy to voice out. I know because I have seen such people in my life.  It just shows the type of leadership and the leadership attitude we have in our establishment today! I have seen smaller churches giving genuinely to her people that would put the bigger and humongously big churches to dying shame! I applaud you, the giving churches!

8) Please do not embark on bigger building notion if God is not the center of it all or/and unless you hear from God PRECISELY!  Please ensure that everything is done in accordance to the LAWS of this country and in PROPER PROCEDURE! Haphazard hearing from God or selective hearing can be DISASTROUS financially and spiritually. Look, GOD cannot be wrong -only the people who does selective hearing on what they want to hear is wrong! Let it be GOD's building and not some EGO trip! If you're gonna build, make sure, the people in the Committee are truly aware of every decision made or every law followed or even every decision discussed and NOT some half past six answers or notion of "Build First and Face Consequences Later" thing! The consequences can bankrupt the establishment and can derailed faith too,brother! It most certainly did!

9) When appointing new pastors to the church, an interview with the Board MUST be held. A would be potential pastor should be introduced to the members by probationary preaching assignments without the people knowing about the would be potential position of the pastor. In this way, the members would be able to valuate the potentiality of the would be pastor without inhibitions. At the end, a valuation view from the members would be sought before a formal introduction of the potential pastor is made. By that time, the Board would be able to decide if the pastor should be in or out. Afterall, you don't want a potential disaster later on. Seen too many happenings already!

Look, you don't have to implement all these suggestions overnight but if you get the very first foundation right, you would have taken the first right step in re-building a good church for the Lord while many people would appreciate that. That is what I am looking for - NOT an ideal church but a church with great foundation of faith and foundation structure. That's all I am looking for,actually. Say what you want about me but this is my piece of olive branch of views. I often wonder why there are so many hurting people out there, now, I guess,  I know. Let's make a change for the better, shall we? TUKAR atau TAK TUKAR? UBAH atau TAK UBAH? I wonder. I really, really wonder!

. 

Worthy Winner...

Masterchef US is one program that I wouldn't miss whenever I get the chance to laze down at the sofa set and drool at the dishes that are being cooked up. Being in Season 3, the competition was more intense and the twist and turns of events surely give this cooking reality show a real boost. Like some naughty viewers, I searched the electronic media for the "fast forward" episodes and I truly enjoyed this program a lot. By now, you would know who the winner was and I must say that both the finalist were truly great individuals -  the towering Josh and pint-sized, Christine Ha. 

Yunno, I went through the episodes and it is really very very heartwarming and heartening to know that the blind contestant, Christine Ha is a wonderful competitor. I really marvelled at her as even in her disability, she was able to churned out good,simple and heartwarming food. Sure, I could relate to some of the dishes she made like her finale dishes- Thai Papaya Salad, Apple pie, catfish in claypot, Vietnamese pork belly rice and others. Yeah, they weren't complex dishes but they were generally good/street food and  heart warming dishes. I think, that's what clinched it. Through her blog, "The Blind Cook", you could actually "see" her positiveness and how she handled the pressures during the show. I guess, if I were to dissect her personality , I would say - tenacious, stubborn and that good twang of "Never Say Die" attitude! Well, people may say that this is reality TV and so, everything is perceived to let you see what you want to see but generally, you could see that Christine was just a wonderful person. Never in the scheming mode or even devising any plans to plot downfalls of the rest, she stuck to who she was and do her stuff despite her disabilities. Even when she was given a live dungeness crab to cook, she struggled but the Crab Cerviche looked alright to me. I think, she brought a lot of positives to the show and despite all the glitz and glam, she truly did her best. What a competition it turned out to be!

I remembered watching two segments where she was the last to be picked during group challengers - feeding the army boys and feeding the cowboys. It must be devastating for her at that time but somehow, she got through the challenges and her contestant were also quite nice to her. That's positiveness amidst a challenging competition. I also remembered the time when everyone was clearing out after feeding the cowboys and her team had won the challenge, Christine sat alone near the haystack pieces. Either she is enjoying the win or the people had forgotten that she is actually blind. I mean, it is a delight to see her "memorized" the position of things and getting her cooking done all by memory, touch, smell and taste. I guess, when the sight is gone, the other senses would be sharper and I couldn't agree more.     

I guess, the two scenes that tugged my heart was the apple pie challenge and the one Stacey had to leave the competition after losing out on the sushi competition. During the apple pie challenge, she was really looked flustered and she lost a lot of confidence. Gordon Ramsey did good by giving her words of encouragement and the tears flowed. I guess, in many ways, even in our difficult moments, kind words and encouragement will help a long way. 

Who would believe a blind woman could win Masterchef US but Christine Ha did it. Truly a worthy winner. Truly a heart-warming winner indeed! Enjoy the show!

Beruang Hill...

Since being introduced to Bukit Beruang Hill for my evening walks by Dinesh & family, it has become my favourite exercise place. One confession to make though : I've put off exercise for such a long time and I guess, the kilos shows up in some places of the body! So, I am making an effort to start to educate my head and my body! Sure , it is not an easy walk up but I really enjoy the challenge that comes with the walk. For one thing, the walk up consisted of asphalt road to the top and there is a nice sidetracked plateau where one could view Bukit Beruang  and Melaka town from the top.

Make no mistake, the walk up can be punishing for unfit people like me while one stretch of the road up which was quite steep can be quite treacherous too. One slip and you will roll off the road like one big gummy ball! Sure would be embarrassing , I would say. However, seeing elderly folks who are twice my age climbing up the hill had given me the motivation to do likewise. Generally, I met a lot of interesting people on the way up the hill. They are nice folks, actually. There is a nice splash of people who would generally encourage you to steadily go up the hill when you huffed and puffed your way along your journey up. A smile and a thumbs up sign is never far away. I guess, I now understand why this is quite a place for people who wants to have a good workout. People going up and down the hill are generally generous with their fine gestures. This really encourages me a lot. 

By now you would understand and catch the drift  that I am a slow walker but I am genuinely interested to get a good workout. The other day, I walked 10 rounds in brisk walk around the track laid out at the playground of my housing estate and I could have sworn that I hardly break a sweat on the flat ground. SLing could attest to this test of mine. But somehow, climbing this hill made me sweat like a pig in my 30 minutes walk up. Yeah, I huffed , puffed, inched my way up the hill the best I could. It is a satisfying feeling when you get to the end of the line.It is always one more turn or one more steep slope to climb before hitting the top. It is so wonderful when you challenge yourself to conquer the tiredness and the exhaustion. However, many times, the heart will beat so fast as though it is going to burst its cables and what not but somehow, when you get to the last turn before reaching the top, you will get a second wind which will power you to the end. It is a real sense achievement for me, honestly. Sure, your heart, spleen, blood cables, muscle cables and internal organs would do some swapping of places and sometimes spurted with exhaustion and pain but you will survive! I survived indeed and it really feels good to have such a workout. Yunno, it is such a sense of achievement. You just sweat buckets and give your heart a good exercise. At least, you know it is still pumping and not get jammed halfway!

I know that it is only a small hill to many people but to people like me who find exercise such a chore at times, this is really a good workout for me and my family. I must say that when I am walking up , I am at ease and I just sweat it all out at the hill. I may struggle in my walk with small steps but they are always sure steps up. Only recently, I have tried some small running steps down the hill and at the end of the day, my legs just felt so rubbery but very satisfying feeling in my heart. In the short time after work, nowadays, I am able to get one and a half rounds of walking distance in my exercise. That is quite an achievement already for me. In fact, I was determined to make an effort to exercise and get a good thing going. Thank God for the support! Do I feel fine? Do I think I look slimmer? You bet, I feel better, meaner and slimmer!

Plain Dumb!

To get upset is an understatement everytime I get to read articles in the printed media asking for young people to get married in their teens. One idiotic big shot even suggested that if getting these teenagers getting married early will prevent them from indulging in sin, it would be okay or should be encouraged. What type of idiotic, cronic and moronic thinking is this and how could a man of his position come up with such a notion? It is no wonder why our nation's leaders are the laughing stock of the nation and the world in general! They say the darnest and the most moronic thing ever! In the first place, these teenagers should not be having such notions  and secondly , they have a whole new future ahead of them and why should they be thinking of SEX & MARRIAGE at their age, moron! That is why I am saying it out loud that these days, it is children bearing children! If we condone such marriages, we are actually condoning further sin when marriages like this end up in the dumps, infidelity and divorce. By the way, just for information, the divorce rate for such couples are higher and on the rise while many also went unreported or supressed. Make no mistake about this. There are many factors causing such rise like insufficient financial stability, immature & unreadiness for responsibilities, unfulfilled life's desires and dreams, after "the magic" is gone feeling, stress of having children, lepak mentality, drug related problems, social interaction problems and many others.

Can you imagine a teenage mom eloping with another man? Well, if you can't imagine, please imagine it because there are many of such examples around! Can you imagine some teenage mom being someone else kept mistress or a teenage father having mistresses? Sometimes, I can't understand how a young teenage mom who had given birth to children could heartlessly abandoned her child and elope with another man. Look, like it or not, this is the culture that is in play in todays' society. It is rampant and it can be happening at our own backyard. This is not an overseas phenomenon (afterall, we all like to blame it on other people's culture thing! ) but it is a very real thing happening.

All I can say is that let us not be fools to allow such marriages which will only burden the parents as most parents will be funding the marriage and taking care of the couple for some time. This has become a "trend" in these young people who are the "hand-out" mentality generation. You may disagree with me in this matter but look around you. Do you see young teenage couples grapling the hands of their children or even carrying their babies with them as they walk around pasar malams and hawker centres? Do they really know their responsibility as parents to their children? How many young teenage parents do you know who still depended on their families support? How many young mothers and fathers do you see in our pubs, night clubhouses and even karaoke bars having a blast in the night without giving a two hoots about who will be taking care of their children? Many, right? I am not doubting that there are many who are responsible young parents and so on but I am speaking generally to those who have this "have fun first ; consequences later" mentality that needed attention. Like I said, I am not stereotyping every young parent into this category but I would like to see more responsible young parents in our midst.

My mom had one sweet advice on parenthood - If you cannot be a responsible parent , then , don't ever have children. I think, this is apt and precisely my point. Many times, these young ones are so emotional , deeply in the "puppy love" mode and "cloud nine" mode that their brains are virtually snuffed off or starved from the required oxygen to think wisely and logically. The consequences are dire and very real. Let us not encourage such teenage marriage for these young ones. YES, we all learn to be parents along the way through our experiences, hardship and good times and there is no special manual on parenthood or even a successful marriage. The thing is that we all would have a career , a stability that is required in building a relationship & family or even a strong will to stay faithful and true. Nowadays, these things are like dirty words to these young people! I know for the fact that our parents may have married at the age of 14, 15 or even 16 when they were younger but in those days, our father would have to work really hard to provide for us and by then our parents would be that age of being responsible. Mom used to joke that the milk powder plus the chap gantung ones and cow's milk ( more organic! ) those days were much better and potently good plus nutrituous! Nowadays, we only have cows!  This was a different breed of generation - the tenancious, the patient and the hardworking generation. In those days, a young mother could take care of 10 children but in these days, 10 children may not be able to take care of one mother, right?

So, in my considered opinion, I say NO to teenage marriage and whatever sockalingam plans these buffons of leaders devised! I will always say - let those raging hormones wait for a while longer; pick stability in the right foundation of finance, career, responsible mind set and good religious/teaching foundation anytime. Parents, don't be in a rush to sell off your responsibility of equipping your sons or daughters to the scheme of early marriage. We all have a responsible duty to equip our sons and daughters with the correct mindset and right path of life. Haphazard breeding will bring haphazard consequences.       

Faith reminder....

If not Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, the Indian Independence struggle would have taken longer with more bloodshed, division and war. When senior leaders of the Hindu political groups urged Gandhi to respond 'violence with violence' and 'sword with sword', he opposed insisting and exhorting the path of non–violence and peace, which was Gandhi's biggest sword to combat the trained and fully equipped forces.

For sure this great man is one of the most respected leaders of modern history, for not only his life, but also his ideals and his message to the people.Although Hindu, Gandhi had a very close connection with Christianity and admired Jesus very much, often quoting from his favourite 'Sermon on the Mount' chapter in Mathew 5–7.

When the missionary E. Stanley Jones met with Gandhi he asked him, "Mr. Gandhi, though you quote the words of Christ often, why is that you appear to so adamantly reject becoming his follower?" Gandhi replied, "Oh, I don't reject Christ. I love Christ. It's just that so many of you Christians are so unlike Christ."“If Christians would really live according to the teachings of Christ, as found in the Bible, all of India would be Christian today,” he added.

Gandhi's closeness with Christianity began when he was a young man practicing law in South Africa. Apart from being attached with the Christian faith, he intently studied the Bible and the teachings of Jesus, and was also seriously exploring becoming a Christian, which led him to his discovery of a small church gathering in his locality.These strongly entrenched Biblical teachings have always acted a panacea to many of India's problems during its freedom struggle.

After deciding to attend the church service in South Africa, he came across a racial barrier, the church barred his way at the door. "Where do you think you're going, kaffir?" an English man asked Gandhi in a belligerent tone. Gandhi replied, "I'd like to attend worship here." The church elder snarled at him, "There's no room for kaffirs in this church. Get out of here or I'll have my assistants throw you down the steps." This infamous incident forced Gandhi to never again consider being a Christian, but rather adopt what he found in Christianity and its founder Jesus Christ.

In a speech to Women Missionaries in 28 July 1925, he said,

“…although I am myself not a Christian, as an humble student of the Bible, who approaches it with faith and reverence, I wish respectfully to place before you the essence of the Sermon on the Mount...There are thousands of men and women today who, though they may not have heard about the Bible or Jesus have more faith and are more god fearing than Christians who know the Bible and who talk of its Ten Commandments..."

To a Christian missionary Gandhi once said, “To live the gospel is the most effective way most effective in the beginning, in the middle and in the end. …Not just preach but live the life according to the light.... If, therefore, you go on serving people and ask them also to serve, they would understand. But you quote instead John 3:16 and ask them to believe it and that has no appeal to me, and I am sure people will not understand it...the Gospel will be more powerful when practiced and preached. A rose does not need to preach. It simply spreads its fragrance. The fragrance is its own sermon…the fragrance of religious and spiritual life is much finer and subtler than that of the rose.”

Gandhi said during his meeting with an English missioner.

Here I am remembered of Sadhu Sundar Singh who is said to have done more to "indigenize" the churches of India than any figures in the twentieth century. "You have offered us Christianity in a Western cup... Give it to us in an Eastern bowl and we will drink of it," is a famous statement by Singh, who converted from Sikh to Christianity after his personal experience with Jesus, who appeared in his room on one morning in the year 1905, when he was just fifteen years old.

Stanley Jones once asked Gandhi: “How can we make Christianity naturalized in India, not a foreign thing, identified with a foreign government and a foreign people, but a part of the national life of India and contributing its power to India’s uplift?"

Gandhi responded with great clarity,

"First, I would suggest that all Christians, missionaries begin to live more like Jesus Christ.

Second, practice it without adulterating it or toning it down.

Third, emphasize love and make it your working force, for love is central in Christianity.

Fourth, study the non–Christian religions more sympathetically to find the good that is within them, in order to have a more sympathetic approach to the people."

"Therefore it is very important for Christians to practise Christianity among the non-believers so that they can know the real love of Lord Jesus”

What a faith reminder, indeed!~ ( Thank you, Bee Ling ! )

Ice,Cold...

Over the years, the topic of unwanted teenage pregnancies had been the central focal point of my life in trying to educate young people and youths around our community. To me, the discussion on sex and sexually had always been shunned down or playdown by every layer of fabric of the society including the very place of our sanctuary. In actual fact, the more we try to maneuver it away from our topic of discussion, the explosion of such social disaster are bound to happen and it will grow in a disastrous big way, I can assure you. My heart really goes out to these teenagers and youths who had pick up the consequences of their irresponsible and sometimes, irrational hormonal trips of lust and unwanted passion. 

As an adult , we just cannot simply fold our arms, put a smirk on our faces and say "Serves them right for what they did" and moved on to the non-compassion stand we take. Like it or not, I tell it to your faces that we are that prejudice when it comes to such social stigma. We are as guilty as the perpetrators of these young women because we failed to educate our sons and daughters to know their own bodies and the responsibilities they have to uphold. Now, you may ask, " how have we fail?". We fail by our failure to educate our teenage sons and daughters on sexual education or the common term " the birds and the bees". Some male parents even proclaimed their son's prowess in such acts which I find distasteful and shameful. Look! We all have daughters and we all have sons too, yunno.  Would you beat your chest and proclaimed that your son did well if he deflowers someone else daughter? Would you do the same if it is the reverse role? I am appalled at such mentality. I have seen countless parents who tell their children not to ask about sex and wait until they themselves will come to know about it. By then, it would be too late as the ever-ready internet and the "joyful" world will be the educator of our children. For goodness heaven sake, teach them what sex and sexuality is all about. Instill the godly principles in their lives and associated God's word into them to know what is right and what is wrong. Make no mistake that the printed media or even the electronic media influence are strong influences and ever ready influence in a young teenager life. Raging hormones of young teenagers and youths are a real thing. If proper education, proper explanation are given  together with supervision of what activities they are participating in are done, I believe, we can make the teenagers and youth safe in our community. 

Let me be bluntfully truthful that there are so many teenagers and youth out there who just wants to "grow up" so fast that they get trapped by the wolves and vultures of the world. Once, they are showered with exceptional concern & care,  gifts, sweet-talk, money and "promises of the whole entire world", the legs get parted and bodies are ravaged. Some don't even mind being kept woman for such sugar daddies and so on. Worst still, some teenagers carry out experimental sexual acts out of curiosity minus the brains, I would say! Please mind my language but I just wanted to point it out blatantly because I am so sickened by rising teenage pregnancies. What sickened me most is the regret that comes after it all which is a little too late as far as I am concerned. Believe me, this comes from many many conversations with unwed teenage mothers! I am not judging them for what they did but I really felt that preventive measures could have been taken. Look! Promises of marriage from an already married guy is a whole load of bullshit & hogwash,man! Our children need to be wise and able to differentiate what is right and what is wrong straight away!

For one, as parents, we need to keep our communication lines open with our children. We need to know who they mix, where they go and what they are doing. Never mind, if we are seen an intruding into their so-called "space" or deemed as CIA or KGB because sometimes, intruding in space will save their lives. Be wise in what you do so that you would not jeopardise the relationship with your children.  Of course, we also need to be on our knees a lot and pray to God that He would protect our family and children.

I would like to suggest ABC which is to me the simplest form of educating of teenagers and youths.

A   -    Abstain from sex. ( Clear and simple! )

B   -    Be Faithful ( Explain the real meaning and the need to be faithful )

C   -    Know the Consequences    

I leave it to the parents to elaborate on this matter. I hope it will help you.