Change of government, change of hearts?

It sometimes baffles me to see why something which is quite obvious to me is not to others (or it is made to appear so?).
If one were to peruse our mainstream papers, it is quite apparent that there is concerted effort to discredit the two opposition held state governments of Penang and Selangor. They (the forces above) make it appear as if everything is going on bad in these places. If there is a hitch in the hill funicular train service, it appears on the headlines. Also if a baby in a day care nursery in Penang drowns in a bath tub; if the illegal nursery (of the plant variety) in Selangor is asked to vacate after so many years occupying the state plot without paying a single sen of rent, the state is pictured as heartless and do not have the welfare of the people at heart!
The wise man knows that civil servants (even if you are uncivil in your behaviour) are independent of the government of the day. The supposed masters of these servants are citizen of the country, not the dogmatic political dogs.
The local authorities are malaise and not proactive in their outlook, so much so that change of guards have no real bearing on its day to day functioning. It will just be another case of the same worn out clowns who has run out of ideas in a different set of costumes  performing the same routine...

Winds of Change

One generation ago, parents insisted that children should get dressed on a Sunday morning for a family outing at the temple. Children obediently followed with raising any objections. Without fail, they would diligently follow the proceedings in the temple and partake in their activities.
The newer generation, however, being more vocal and assertive in their likes and dislikes, just stay from the temples as they find more interesting things to do outside the temple during the designated prayer times on Sunday mornings. As more and more youngsters of Generation-Y and beyond are not conversant in their mother tongues, they find the whole proceedings an exercise in futility as the lingua franca in most temple activities and sermons are neither English nor Malay!
To draw back these group of people to the path of righteousness and prevent them from going astray, one the temples I go to occasionally have started to have weekly 20-minute talk by non-religious figures (regular people with regular clothes minus the bodily applications of holy ashes or sandalwood paste)  in English on topics related to Hinduism. This particular abode of worship have also started youth dance classes, language classes, social services (to help the needy, not guest relations, of course!) and have even included youngsters in their temple committee!
In another church, the music accompaniment during the services is by a band akin to a rock and roll band.  The idea behind this move is to draw the young congregation back to the House of God. In most first world countries, studies have shown that people only go to church on their wedding or somebody's funeral (and theirs too, they are sent to, naturally).
Just like a snake charmer who convinces his spectators that his snakes (who are naturally deaf to sounds) are indeed dancing to their tune, modern day parents are dancing around with snake charmers' flute like madmen trying to get the children do what is good for them as so they perceive. They do not want their dear beloveds to live to regret missing it. But is it really good for them? Who knows? Only time will tell... At least the parents' conscious is clear!