Tuesday mussings...

I must admit that I come from the old school of thought and I am very much an old fashioned fella at heart. Yes, I do embraced "modernisation", of course, and yet this so-called modernisation doesn't change the person in me. Sure, the tools of modernisation is convenient, fast , easy, accessible and so on but it doesn't beat the good ol'heart and gut feelings. 

Over the years, I see and feel the deterioration and sometimes , the very death of the very fabrics of our daily life  thoughts and ways. Sure, some old ways needed to be put away but when you are told that this dressing code is wrong or not respectful or not encouraged,  you tend to see where this is heading to. Over the years I have seen extremism have taken over the minds of the people. We were told that we cannot question this right and that right but we are told to just tow the line and "accept" this ruling and that ruling without even the slightest consideration for the feelings of others. Where have our tolerance and respect for each other gone to? When I was younger or even when I was in college, we were always respectful of one another. We knew our cultural celebrations and our difference in race but it is never a problem for us. Those years in  the hockey team, be it , in the school, college , district or even state team, every race was represented and mutual respect was there ; in winning and in losing. We were happy and respectful. We consoled each other when we lost and we toasted when we won. Today, the gap deepened to the brink of exhaustive deceit and all sorts of extreme ideas and extreme stupidity had crept in. It wasn't the ideas of the people but the ideas of leaders who wants to continue to stay in power and experts in the "divide & conquer" mentality. 

Extremism just did not stop at the corridors of our lives but continue to thrive on leaders who constantly play the race trump card to spread lies and hatred among the people. What has YB Hannah Yeo done to deserve such blatant racist remarks? Aren't we all Malaysians or are we individual devils who continue to dwell and masked under our race card banner? Look at our gymnast, Farah. What has she done to deserve such remarks. Mind you, these are athletes that bring honour to the country and we throw such sexist bricks at her? I believe the people who actually throw hurtful comments and remarks about her attire are really the REAL sexual predators who consciously hide under the banner of religion!  For your information, please close your eyes to Malay traditional dances as well during political events because the lady dancers pakai "ketat & sendat" too, yunno. 

The other matter I wish say is that God made Adam and Eve. God did not make Adam & Steve or Eve & Eva. Before you wield your knives, ax, parang or kapak Siam to hack me to death, please be informed that God intended us all to be man or woman. You are born with very REAL genitals to define who you are. If you do not know what you are having or you are having doubt,  you are in real serious trouble. Bad, bad, Science/Biology teacher! Look, I am against gay or lesbian lifestyle. It is choice you make in your life but don't expect other people to accept that because we are all taught that there is only man or woman. There is a very clear defining line. Nothing else in between and anything else is sin. Definitely, I am not having "holier than thou" and I don't judge you in what you believe but our religious beliefs no matter what faith you are in doesn't lie about such things. To fight for rights of this and that is commendable but fighting rights for a good cause is important ; definitely not for a flimsy and free & easy lifestyle. To me , that is not right. I am once reminded by a good wise old man of great faith that "without religion and steadfast faith, human beings are like animals in the jungle."  Like wise, do not hate the person but hate the lifestyle that person is in. So,before you click your "Like" buttons on FB, Twitter, Instagram or whatever.....think it over.  Like I said, hate the lifestyle not the person. Yunno, it is depressing to see young straight men and women being lured into this lifestyle thinking it is acceptable and okay lifestyle. It is not right. Lead your life right is what I will say.

Yunno, pushing all these aside, have you looked at today food prices? My God, they are getting cheaper by the minute!!!! Of course, I am just jackassing you up..... Oops, Edison Cavani won't be happy with that term, yunno.  Tanam sayur, you say, Mr. Minister? Cows also got scandal, fish also got scandal, chicken also shortage ( BTW, you need to check how many days these chicken are cultivated before they go under the sembelih blade! Let me tell you something I learn over the years ; -  Even the chicken farmers ain't touching their chickens! That's right! Something to think about,huh? ) and now have to tanam kangkung lor.....it is cheaper to grow kangkung, right? But old people say, if eat a lot of kangkung , "angin" banyak and that's why "angin" had gone to the Minister's head lar! Sometimes, I do often wonder where our Ministers get their education? Kindergarten or college tepi sungai? One Minister even asked us to support Palestine when people in the rural areas in Sarawak and Sabah are still asking for piped clean water or even electricity supply!!!! Niamah, betul!
  

The stupidest quote I've ever heard today is that the increase of 10 sen @ litre for our petrol price is for the well being of the Malaysian people! My God, the ROT definitely starts from the very top of government of the day. I can NEVER ever imagine that increase in petrol price is for the good of the people! Aiyoooooo....vomit blood when you have leaders like that! O god, how long? How long more do we have to endure such stupidity and morons of the highest level!!!!! 

Observation....

They say people watching can be interesting and I have often being interested in the human aspect of people watching. I don't purposely eavesdrop on conversations but I do pick up hearing conversations mainly because of the work I do in my career.  Yesterday late afternoon, I was having something to eat at a road stall prior to a work survey when I saw a group of school going girls in a table having a gala time speaking and in loud voices too. Mind you, these are 14 year olds having a meal together at their regular place and speaking over a range of subjects. Of course, the notable topics were about boys and money. There were six of them - the boisterous, the quiet, the timid, the die hard follower, the talker and the "couldn't care less". This is how I would identify them. The boisterous was a big size 14 year old and she talks real loud. Her topic of conversation was centred of her own "clever" ways to do this and that and of course, how she could get money off her parents. A show off, they would say in our world and she boasts a lot. The "couldn't care less" was a pint size girl who would just cut through the conversation of the boisterous and questioned everything she says. There would be a lot of back and forth banter between these two while the talker would generally side the boisterous. The quiet stands quietly at the end of the table holding her books close to her bosom and listening to every conversation without making a comment. She would neither talk nor take part in any of the conversation but stood stoically at the edge of the table. I could see that she was a friend of the talker as she would make sign through her facial expressions to the talker as the talker say her piece.

The timid would be be eating her meal quietly as she nods her head once in a while. She would not say a word but would occasionally tried to ease the conversation by asking both the boisterous and the couldn't care less to tone it down. The die hard follower is a friend to the boisterous one. The die hard follower would ask the couldn't care less to listen to the boisterous as she is speaking. The die hard follower was a bespectacled girl and she seemed to enjoy everything that was said by the boisterous one. The boisterous one seemed to be happy with the die hard follower. 

As I was seated at the edge of table on the other side, I just ate my tau kee and fishball meal while sipping nicely my soyabean & cincau combo concoction of  deliciousness. My ears were opened as the conversations were heated up at the other end. It was mainly about who was going to pay for  the bill of the meal which cost them RM 26.50. The boisterous one immediately said that she wasn't going to pay it as she was invited to have something to eat by the die hard follower. The couldn't care less ridiculed the boisterous one by saying that if she was so good in getting money from her parents and all that, why isn't she paying for the meal. The talker says that everyone should chipped in and pay for the meal while the timid is of the view that everyone should pay their own meal. The quiet just stood there quietly and said nothing as she did not have any drinks nor food. In the end, the die hard follower whipped out three RM 10.00 notes and handed it over the the proprietor of the stall. She told everyone to chill out and that she would pay for the meal as she had the money for it. She explained that she was paid recently for helping her parents do some cleaning work in a mall. Everyone asked her if it was okay for her to pay when they all seemed to understand why she had to work with her parents. The quiet one finally spoke up that they should all pay for their own meals and it would be shameful to ask the die hard follower to pay when they , as friends, should know of her financial situation. There was a moment of silence and the timid one reinforced that each should pay their own meal. All of them then forked out the cash and paid the die hard follower for what she had paid out to the proprietor of the stall.

All of a sudden, the talker and the quiet got away from everyone , bid them goodbye and ran towards a Panorama bus at a very tight curve of the road. Daredevils are what I would call them - they jumped across a drain, the bus door opens, they jumped aboard, waved and that's it - they are off! The boisterous then bid everyone good bye as she picked up her bag and walked towards the bus stand. The couldn't care less, the timid and the die hard follower were left at the stall, obviously waiting for someone from the family to pick them up. The couldn't care less said that she would be walking home as her house is nearby while the timid says that her parents would come by after work to pick her. The die hard follower told her friends that her parents would pick her up and then go for some cleaning works later in the evening. By this time, I had finished my meal and savoring the last drop of the soyabean & cincau combo drink. 

I did not know what to make out of the little drama that was unfolded. Well, each to their own interpretation , really.......To me, personally, I see six silly girls who should be concentrating in their studies, work hard  and quit messing up their parents lives as they still have a lot to learn in life. What do you say?

Unsung heroes....

Remembering about the experience of climbing Mount Kinabalu always brings majestic memories to me. It is simply not because that it is the highest mountain in South East Asia but simply because of it mystical and beautiful outlay of its natural beauty that struck such an impression on me.

Yes, when I was younger, I could climb the mountain rather easily but even when I did it with the local boys and girls from SMK Tenghilan, Sabah and from SMK Katholik, Melaka later, I continued to marvel the loving memories it brought me. Even as a new West Malaysian in Sabah at that time, I already knew the culture and the respect for the mountain and the people. I don't go around messing at the mountain. The rock face of the mountain is rough, dangerous and steep. It is not a playground for clowns or jokers. To me, you clown around , you end up at the bottom of the ledge with some real serious injuries or even death. There is something sacred about this mountain and eventhough you can be the most free thinker ever or you do not believe in any of the beliefs that are held near to the heart of the Sabahans, you've just gotta respect that mountain because it is Aki Nabalu - a sacred mountain which held near to the people's heart. So, in all honesty I do not understand the blatant disregard by the foreigners who climbed the mountain and showed so much disrespect by what they did and not even felt remorseful. Shame on you, you idiots! You don't go to people's house, strip naked and urinate in the living room, do you? I don't see an ounce or an aorta of decency in what you are doing!

In all my travels, I could never ever forget the mountain guides who were with us along the climb. Their helpfulness, the steadfast standing by with you at the end, never leaving you behind stance and even their patience are noteworthy indeed. I have always held high regards for them and the work they do. Even in the time of tragedy on 5 June, 2015, I have utmost respect and gratefulness in my heart for these unsung heroes because they are really one dedicated and helpful lot of mountain guides. Many deemed them as paid mountain guides but they are just not that. In times of trouble or first sign of trouble, you can count on them to help you because they are the mountain guides - the true heroes. 

I could speak of these unsung heroes because I have seen them in action and spoken to them in my travels up the mountain. I believed that what I saw helped me realised how fortunate I am at times. I could relate one incident when I saw a porter/mountain guide who carried a gas tank over the bakul and headed up from Timpohon ( starting point) to Laban Rata for a mere RM 20.00.  There was also one time when I saw an old lady carrying beehoon packs twice her height from the same point for about RM 20.00 too. I can tell you right now that it took us as many hours to get to this point while these porters/guides could make 2 or 3 trips per day carrying such items. I really marveled at them those days and still do. It is pure MZ11 power ( legs power) and sheer dedication as guides. You may say that it is livelihood but then again would you carry such weights even when you are sane. They do this day in day out - rain or shine! 

As I read about the death of guides sheltering the children from the falling debris, my heart goes out to the guides and the children. I am gutted to the fact that so many casualties and deaths. My heart bled together with the grieving parents and families of the fallen. I also could not understand why the helicopters could not be sent up for rescue operations when many many years ago, one army big shot landed at the plateau, hit a golf ball and then went down with the same helicopter. Where are the Sabah Air choppers? Where are the so-called sophisticated helicopters we had spent billions on? What is the use of the choppers when you can't even use it for such mercy flights like this? Lives would have been saved, people.  It is not easier said than done - it could have been done had someone had the balls to do it! That is my take of the cowardly act taken by the so-called authorities. 

As I browsed through the pictures of the death of children and guides, I cried not because these people are related to me but simply because I know lives could have been saved had there been a conscientious effort to save them.  Someone could have taken up the responsibility to do the right thing. Obviously, too late when it really matters. 

I commended and applauded the guides who took the decision to bring down the remaining people after the quake. This is the best decision ever and avert more casualties. Had they stayed on the plateau despite knowing that the choppers are not coming, they would have been dead up there too and suffered from hypothermia and lack of oxygen due to the high altitude. Battling the odds, they made it and this is the best decision ever despite walking down without much food and rest. My heart goes out to the survivors and guides for their tenacity to live. 

I salute you, the mountain guides of Mt.Kinabalu. You have made your family proud and you have saved lives that matter. Your peers salute you and the whole world salute you for your gallant efforts despite sacrificing your lives. Rest in peace, gentle lives....................