What drives you?

"THEY CAME FIRST for the Communists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist.
THEN THEY CAME for the trade unionists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist.
THEN THEY CAME for the Jews, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew.
THEN THEY CAME for me and by that time no one was left to speak up."

Pastor Martin Niemöller (1892–1984) about the inactivity of German intellectuals following the Nazi rise to power and the purging of their chosen targets, group after group.Niemöller was an anti-Communist and supported Hitler's rise to power at first. But when Hitler insisted on the supremacy of the state over religion, Niemöller became disillusioned. He became the leader of a group of German clergymen opposed to Hitler. Unlike Niemöller, they gave in to the Nazis' threats. Hitler personally detested Niemöller and in 1937 had him arrested and eventually confined in the Sachsenhausen and Dachau concentration camps. Niemöller was released in 1945 by the Allies. He continued his career in Germany as a clergyman and as a leading voice of penance and reconciliation for the German people after World War II. His statement, sometimes presented as a poem, is well-known, frequently quoted, and is a popular model for describing the dangers of political apathy, as it often begins with specific and targeted fear and hatred which soon escalates out of control.......from Wikipedia.

Why am I writing all of the above? That is because I just completed reading two autographed books of Dr Kua Kia Soong when he presented to us when we invited he and his wife, Anne to join us for dinner at our place a few months back. Actually, I have read his May 13 book based on his research in UK when its Home Ministry declassified some of its earlier documents when Malaysia was in its infancy. The books presented were titled, ' The Patriot Game' and '445 days under ISA'.
I was particularly moved by his second book. He was narrating his day to day account of his experience from the day of arrest (28.10.87) under Operasi Lalang to his release on 14.4.89 and the issues surrounding the dark era at the height of Mahathirism. He also described how Anne and his kids (4 and 6) handled the whole ordeal. I gathered from the book that he must be a caring father and husband.
My mind started wandering, yet again...
Would I do what he did? What drives him to do what he did? The mental capacity and resilience must be exceptionally strong to endure all the separation from family, confinement and abuse by individuals who have hardly half your IQ to stand firm on your ground to prove that a spade is indeed a spade. I can unashamedly admit that I am too chicken-hearted to withstand this journey. I am too lazy to fight for my rights against all odds to prove my point! My answer to people who hurl abuses and accusations would be, "Okay, if you say so!" Everything will find its own steady state - with or without divine intervention. There is no use fighting for anything (following the true teaching of Lao Tze). I am also too chicken-hearted to die for my country. I can only talk, that is all. No, sire, not me, thank you! My answer is an emphatic NO!
During the rehabilitation programme, Dr Kua was advised, "Why do you like to create trouble, why can't you be like Prof Khoo Kay Kim?" To this his reply was, "The country does not two Prof Khoos!" Same would be my reply. Somebody got to do the dirty job. If not the world would not have seen Mahatma Gandhi (who was walking in and out of prison like going to canteen) or Nelson Mandela (who was incarcerated for 27 long years). That is if your struggle and beliefs are appreciated by the masses; if not, you will indeed live and die a miserably frustrating life. Take the example of Chin Peng who, at the twilight age of 80, is still trying to come back to his motherland (Malaysia) to spend his remaining years. The motherland that, being the nationalist that he was, he (via his movement) tried to wrestle from the mighty British Empire. Communism, which was fashionable at the turn of 20th century, was his way of Independence for Malaya. His struggle continued through the Japanese occupation during World War 2, temporarily ruling the country before the British returned to claim stake. Suddenly, Chin Peng and his men were the bad guys and propaganda after propaganda had made them villains many times over! During the heights of the good old days of Socialist/Communist paranoia, the British whose Empire once did not see the sun set decided to hand over helm to what appeared like a non-radical, non-labour minded aristocrats in the form of Alliance Party to govern the new nation and the rest is history as the victors depicted.
I believe that changes starts with the man in the mirror and charity begin at home. If everyone takes the trouble to ensure that things are run well in each own family, the country will run well itself. That is the trouble. Life is not so easy. Managing human is the most difficult kind of management as the needs of various personalities have to be satisfied.
 Let me see what an Australian has to say about Malaysia. I am now reading Dean John's (a blogger regularly featured on Malaysiakini) book, 'Missing Malaysia'. By virtue of being married to a Malaysian, this blogger becomes more than qualified to pen his tongue-in-cheek style of sarcastic two sen's worth of soliloquy of the injustices in Malaysia. Seriously, it is a good read.

Yet another wake up call!

Dr. A P J ABDUL KALAAM'S SPEECH
IN HYDERABAD

"I have three visions for India. In 3000 years of our history, people from all over the world have come and invaded us, captured our lands, conquered our minds. From Alexander onwards. The Greeks, the Turks, the Moguls, the Portuguese, the British, the French, the Dutch, all of them came and looted us, took over what was ours. Yet we have not done this to any other nation. We have not conquered anyone. We have not grabbed their land, their culture, their history and tried to enforce our way of life on them.
Why? Because we respect the freedom of others. That is why my first vision is that of FREEDOM.
I believe that India got its first vision of this in 1857, when we started the war of independence. It is this freedom that we must protect and nurture and build on. If we are not free, no one will respect us.
My second vision for India is DEVELOPMENT. For fifty years we have been a developing nation. It is time we see ourselves as a developed nation. We are among top 5 nations of the world in terms of GDP. We have 10 percent growth rate in most areas. Our poverty levels are falling. Our achievements are being globally recognized today. Yet we lack the self-confidence to see ourselves as a developed nation, self- reliant and
self-assured. Isn't this incorrect?
I have a THIRD vision. India must stand up to the world. Because I believe that, unless India stands up to the world, no one will respect us. Only strength respects strength. We must be strong not only as a military power but also as an economic power. Both must go hand-in-hand. My good fortune was to have worked with three great minds. Dr. Vikram Sarabhai of the Dept. of space, Professor Satish Dhawan, who succeeded him and Dr.Brahm Prakash, father of nuclear material. I was lucky to have worked with all three of them closely and consider this the great opportunity of my life.
I see four milestones in my career:
Twenty years I spent in ISRO. I was given the opportunity to be the project director for India's first satellite launch vehicle, SLV3. The one that launched Rohini. These years played a very important role in my life of Scientist. After my ISRO years, I joined DRDO and got a chance to be the part of India's guided missile program. It was my second bliss when Agni met its mission requirements in 1994. The Dept. of Atomic Energy and DRDO had this tremendous partnership in the recent nuclear tests, on May 11 and 13. This was the third bliss. that India can make it, that we are no longer a developing nation but one of them. It made me feel very proud as an Indian.
The fact that we have now developed for Agni a re-entry structure, for which we have developed this new material. A Very light material called carbon-carbon. One day an orthopedic surgeon from Nizam Institute of Medical Sciences visited my laboratory. He lifted the material and found it so light that he took me to his hospital and showed me his patients. There were these little girls and boys with heavy metallic calipers weighing over three kg. each, dragging their feet around. He said to me: Please remove the pain of my
patients. In three weeks, we made these floor reaction Orthosis 300-gram calipers and took them to the orthopedic center. The children didn't believe their eyes. From dragging around a three kg. Load on their legs, they could now move around! Their parents had tears in their eyes. That was my fourth bliss!Why is the media here so negative? Why are we in India so embarrassed to recognize our own strengths, our achievements? We are such a great nation. We have so many amazing success stories but we refuse to
acknowledge them. Why?
· We are the first in milk production.
· We are number one in Remote sensing satellites.
· We are the second largest producer of wheat.
· We are the second largest producer of rice.
Look at Dr. Sudarshan; he has transferred the tribal village into a self-sustaining, self driving unit. There are millions of such achievements but our media is only obsessed in the bad news and failures and disasters. I was in Tel Aviv once and I was reading the Israeli newspaper. It was the day after a lot of attacks and bombardments and deaths had taken place. The Hamas had struck. But the front page of the newspaper had the picture of a Jewish gentleman who in five years had transformed his desert land into an orchid and a granary. It was this inspiring picture that everyone woke up to. The gory details of killings, bombardments, deaths, were inside in the newspaper, buried among other news.

In India we only read about death, sickness, terrorism, crime. Why are we so NEGATIVE?
Another question: Why are we, as a nation so obsessed with foreign things? We want foreign TVs, we want foreign shirts. We want foreign technology. Why this obsession with everything imported. Do we not realize that self-respect comes with self reliance? I was in Hyderabad giving this lecture, when a 14 year old girl asked me for my autograph. I asked her what her goal in life is. She replied: I want to live in a developed
India. For her, you and I will have to build this developed India. You must proclaim. India is not an under-developed nation; it is a highly developed nation.
Do you have 10 minutes? Allow me to come back with a vengeance. Got 10 minutes for your country? If yes, then read;
Otherwise, choice is yours.
YOU say that our government is inefficient.
YOU say that our laws are too old.
YOU say that the municipality does not pick up the garbage.
YOU say that the phones don't work; the railways are a joke,
The airline is the worst in the world, mails never reach their destination.
YOU say that our country has been fed to the dogs and is the absolute pits.
YOU say, say and say.
What do YOU do about it? Take a person on his way to Singapore.
Give him a name - YOURS. Give him a face - YOURS.
YOU walk out of the airport and you are at your International best. In Singapore you don't throw cigarette butts on the roads or eat in the stores. YOU are as proud of their Underground Links as they are.
You pay $5 (approx. Rs.60) to drive through Orchard Road (equivalent of Mahim Causeway or Peddler Road) between 5 PM and 8 PM. YOU comeback to the parking lot to punch your parking ticket if you have over stayed in a restaurant or a shopping mall irrespective of your status identity. In Singapore you don't
say anything, DO YOU?
YOU would not dare to eat in public during Ramadan, in Dubai.
YOU would not dare to go out without your head covered in Jeddah.
YOU would not dare to buy an employee of the telephone exchange in London at 10 pounds (Rs.650) a month to, "see to it that my STD and ISD calls are billed to someone else."
YOU would not dare to speed beyond 55 mph (88 km/h) in Washington and then tell the traffic cop, "Jaanta hai sala main kaun hoon (Do you know who I am?). I am so and so's son. Take your two bucks and get lost."

YOU wouldn't chuck an empty coconut shell anywhere other than the garbage pail on the beaches in Australia and New Zealand. Why don't YOU spit paan on the streets of Tokyo?
Why don't YOU use examination jockeys or buy fake certificates in Boston?
We are still talking of the same YOU.
YOU who can respect and conform to a foreign system in other countries but cannot in your own. You who will throw papers and cigarettes on the road the moment you touch Indian ground. If you can be an involved and appreciative citizen in an alien country, why cannot you be the same here in India? Once in an interview, the famous Ex-municipal commissioner of Bombay, Mr.Tinaikar, had a point to make. "Rich people's dogs are walked on the streets to leave their affluent droppings all over the place," he said. "And then the same people turn around to criticize and blame the authorities for inefficiency and dirty pavements. What do they expect the officers to do? Go down with a broom every time their dog feels the pressure in his bowels? In America every dog owner has to clean up after his pet has done the job. Same in Japan. Will the Indian citizen do that here?" He's right. We go to the polls to choose a government and after that forfeit all responsibility. We sit back wanting to be pampered and expect the government to do everything for us whilst our contribution is totally negative. We expect the government to clean up but we are not going to stop chucking garbage all over the place nor are we going to stop to pick up a stray piece of paper and throw it in the bin. We expect the railways to provide clean bathrooms but we are not going to learn the proper use of bathrooms. We want Indian Airlines and Air India to provide the best of food and toiletries but we are not going to stop pilfering at the least opportunity. This applies even to the staff who is known not to pass on the service to the public. When it comes to burning social issues Like those related to women, dowry, girl child and others, we make loud drawing room protestations and continue to do the reverse at home. Our excuse? "It's the whole system which has to change, how will it matter if I alone forego my sons' rights to a dowry." So
Who’s going to change the system? What does a system consist of? Very conveniently for us it consists of our neighbors, other households, other cities, other communities and the government. But definitely not me and YOU. When it comes to us actually making a positive contribution to the system we lock ourselves along with our families into a safe cocoon and look into the distance at countries far away and wait for a Mr. Clean to come along & work miracles for us with a majestic sweep of his hand or we leave the country and run away.

Like lazy cowards hounded by our fears we run to America to bask in their glory and praise their system. When New York becomes insecure we run to England. When England experiences unemployment, we take the next flight out to the Gulf. When the Gulf is war struck, we demand to be rescued and brought home by the Indian government. Everybody is out to abuse and rape the country. Nobody thinks of feeding the system. Our conscience is mortgaged to money.
Dear Indians, The article is highly thought inductive, calls for a great deal of introspection and pricks one's conscience too....I am echoing J.F.Kennedy's words to his fellow Americans to relate to Indians.....
"ASK WHAT WE CAN DO FOR INDIA AND DO WHAT HAS TO BE DONE TO
MAKE INDIA WHAT AMERICA AND OTHER WESTERN COUNTRIES ARE
TODAY"

Thank you
Dr. A P J Abdul Kalaam
Honorable President of INDIA                

khalsa raj karega!

15.8.2010 (63 years ago, India was declared an independent nation)
Just the other day, I was exercising with my old friend, Bhupi, a 50 plus Sardarji who is die hard sports enthusiast who sometimes exercises twice a day! In his younger days, he was a national hockey player at one time. After retiring optionally from DBKL, he went into full time money lending business with lots of money and time in his hands. He does not like to classify himself as a man of leisure but is into active family life and exercise. His current passion is long distance cycling. He just completed a 160km competition in Ipoh recently.
When I returned home after exercise, my son told me that somehow Surds like to friend me! "Absolutely not true!", I said.
I, like most Malaysians, am a chameleon. I will sway like lallang to the direction of the breeze. To a Sikh friend, I would wish 'Sat Sri Akaal'; to a Tamil, sollungge! [சொல்லுங்க]!; in Cantonese, 'sek fan mo?'; in Hockkein, 'chiak pa boi?' Unfortunately, I cannot say 'Assalamualaikkum' to my Muslim friends without raising an eyebrow as it is tantamount to blasphemy for a kafir (a non believer) to utter such divine greetings. Interestingly, their Muslims in Indonesia and the Indian subcontinent do not share this sentiment. In these countries, it is perfectly cordial and respectful for a kafir to wish a believer in his religious greetings, including Kudha hafiz!
I digress as usual...
I have had many Punjabi friends since childhood to present life. I also have friends from ethnic groups, as well.
Just for the record, a little revision for the uninitiated. Punjab is a state in India. After Indian Independence (incidentally it is today!) and the Partition,a large chunk of Punjab became Pakistan. Ironically, the present Prime Minister was born in a district of Punjab which is in Pakistan now. Punjabis are predominantly Sikhs (a religion founded in the 15th century by Guru Nanak and others) but they are also Hindus, Muslims and Christians amongst them. The Sikhs, as predetermined by their 9th guru (Guru Gobind Singh) have agreed to have 5Ks as identifying features -

• Kesh: Hair unshorn representation of saintliness.
• Kangha: a comb to keep hair clean and untangled.
• Kara: a iron/steel bracelet to denote one universal God and to keep you handcuffed from doing wrong
• Kacchha: a piece of practical wear to denote modesty.
• Kirpan: a steel dagger for your defence and to defend the helpless.

I think it was to identify each other in war as they were at combat against the tyranny of the Moghul Empire whose soldiers were dressed almost like them with turban, hirsuitisme and all, just like how the Americans confuse them for the Talibans.

The first documented Sikhs to have set foot on Malayan soil are two Anti British troublemakers (freedom fighters) who were exiled to be imprisoned in Singapore. The true influx of Sikh into this peninsular were as soldiers and security personnel. In spite of only comprising 0.37% population of Malaysia, they have become quite a force to be reckoned with, economically as well as politically. They are essentially very industrious but thrifty people. Personally, I know of a retired school guard who had the reputation of being an enterprising money-lender. Even the school teachers and headmaster was his regular clients. He is now a 80 something living in a semi-detached double storey house reaping the benefit of his earlier endeavours. 
Another good quality that they hold is a good community support. The community has a temple of worship in most towns and nobody can go hungry in a town with gurudwara. There is a joke which says that you can drop a Sardarji off the air at any part of Earth; all he has to do his find a fellow Sardarji when he reaches the ground. After a few pleasantries, they will realise that they are somehow related and the visitor will be given shelter, board, breakfast and others. 

It is fashionable to have car bumper stickers these days. At one time, people use to show off their alma mater - Cornell, MIT, Illinois etcetera. I once saw a taxi with a sticker which said 'Sekolah pondok aje'. After some time, they used to flaunt religious beliefs - Quranic verses, 'Say Hare Krishna and be happy', 'Amithaba', 'Satnam Sri Vaheguru' etcetera... You must have also seen stickers which say 'Khalsa Raj Karega', loosely translated in a non-literary way to mean 'Sikhs will rule the world' or 'Singh is King!'. (Yeah, everybody wants to rule the world!)
 This prophecy is said to have come through when Mr. Manmohan Singh, a Cambridge graduate, took the helm of the prime minister of the biggest democracy in the world, India, in 2004. 

The Lion of Jeluong

Another lion who has been playing a pivotal role in the rule of democracy in this country is Mr. Karpal Singh Deol (a.k.a. the lion of Jelutong), the Chairman of one of the biggest opposition party of Malaysia, DAP. In spite of being wheelchair bound after a freak whiplash injury, being imprisoned for sedition in the notorious 1987 Operasi Lallang under the draconian law of ISA as well the countless threats to his life and legal suits hurled at him, his lion hearted roar remains as ferocious as ever.
I once heard an interview with a Kollywood actor named Thalaivasal Vijay (not the Illaya Thalapathi but the other not so glamorous one). He was relating his experience in New Delhi in his younger days when he and his friends were travelling in a taxi driven by a Sikh genleman, cracking Sardarji jokes! When they paid their fare, the cab driver returned Rs. 1. He told Vijay to donate that Rs. 1 to the first Sardarji beggar that he sees. It had been over 10 years since the incident but Vijay is yet to find a Sardarji beggar. That, we can all agree. Most of us have not seen one either. 

Harminder Singh @ Ham of ADOI

My liaison with Surds started in primary school. As you may recall, Amma had an aversion to us mixing with Indian students in school but Surds do not count due to their astute academic and oratory skills. Aqbal Singh Sambhi @ Thomas Aqbal was my close friend in Hutchings School. Of course, he is now a senior lawyer in Singapore with a Facebook fan club on his theological views.  Then there was Darshan when I was working: A huge man with a size 13 shoes and size 8 1/2 gloves, referred by friends as 'Bindrawale'. Then, there is Ham Singh, a family friend who is a hotshot in the local advertising scene.

Cub of Penang, now in Puchong!

Persian emblem,
not to be confused
with Khalsa 

In short, the Sikhs have come a long way since the sword wielding days of the 1500s.

         

Just do it!

Society has determined certain norms and code of conduct for its members to follow. Examples of this would include various transportation rules, theological decrees, social etiquette (like eating with the right hand in the Eastern world) among others. For generations we have been drilled into our psyche that there are two sexes: the male gender and the female counterpart. This union of man and woman is said to be the seed of life and basis of life itself. The Sivaling(am) basically denotes the explosive power of the union of these two sexes. And in the late 20th century the third sex came out of the closet to announce to the world of their desire in the open! This ambiguity actually predates civilization itself as transgenders have been mentioned in Egyptian, Buddhist, Hindu and many more scriptures. In the past they have been suppressing their thoughts so as not tip the balance and not to be stoned to death. Tamil Nadu boasts of 300,000 hijras (as they are called). Even a country crawling with Islamic fundamentalists have accepted transgenders in certain landmark court judgements.

• In the Mahabharata, before the Kurukshetra War, Aravan offers his lifeblood to goddess Kali to ensure the victory of the Pandavas, and Kali agrees to grant him power. On the night before the battle, Aravan expresses a desire to get married before he dies. No woman was willing to marry a man doomed to die in a few hours, so Krishna assumes the form of a beautiful woman called Mohini and marries him. In South India, hijras claim Aravan as their progenitor and call themselves "aravanis". 
• Puranic story of the origin of God Ayyappa tells of Vishnu as Mohini becomes pregnant from Shiva, and gives birth to Ayyappa, who he-she abandons in shame. http://www.weirdasianews.com/2010/06/02/indias-transgendered-festival-crowning-koovagam/

Kalki, transsexual &social activist

Hijras in Islamabad!

At Koovagam festival

In a way, these people have to be respected. They know what they want in life and have the guts (@b**!s) to admit and exhibit their sexuality, unlike some who lead fake lives just to please the society! Of course they try to justify their actions by bringing religion into it.
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Tuesday July 24, 2007
Devotees from Malaysia and Singapore fulfil vows to deity for transsexuals

By WANI MUTHIAH

KLANG: 
The five-day celebrations dedicated to Goddess Bahuchara Mataji, the Hindu presiding deity for transsexuals, ended yesterday in a ceremony that saw some 400 participants from Malaysia and Singapore at a temple in Pandamaran near here.
The temple, dedicated to the deity whose main temple is in Shankhalpoor in Gujarat, India, is owned and managed by the local Hindu transgender community. The celebrations began last Thursday with the highlight on the third day when devotees fulfilled vows by carrying pal kudam (milk pots) and thee chatti (earthen pots with fire). Dressed in green sarees, the official colour for Bahuchara Mataji, the entourage, led by the community’s matriarch M. Asha Devi, 63, carried the pal kudam and thee chatti to the temple.

Two devotees balancing milk pots.

This was followed by a chariot procession in the evening with Pandamaran assemblyman Datuk Dr Teh Kim Poo as the event's special guest. Asha Devi said preparations for the celebrations began several months ago, as arrangements had to be made to accommodate the devotees.
“Devotees also prepare themselves by fasting for at least three months before carrying the pal kudam and thee chatti,” said Asha Devi, who runs a food outlet in Kuala Lumpur.
According to her, a flag bearing the Goddess’ emblem was raised on the first day followed by an ubayam (special prayers) on the second day.
“The fourth day was also observed with prayers for Mataji. On the final day, which is today, we have special prayers for a male deity known as Veera Vetai Karar Muniandy followed by anathanam (feeding of the masses),” she added. Meanwhile, S. Komathi, 50, who cooked for the devotees, said this year’s event was special as they were praying hard to obtain a piece of land from the state government to build a proper temple. “The temple is currently situated in the home of one of our members’ grandmothers. Due to space constraints we cannot do any renovation,” said Komathi who owns a flower shop in Klang. Komathi said the community badly needed a bigger temple to accommodate the crowd. “In the past, it was only our community which prayed here but now others are also coming to the temple.” For K. Janani, 27, who came all the way from Singapore to carry the pal kudam, the event was both fun and colourful. “I like the festive atmosphere. I have been coming here for the past two years to offer prayers as our community does not have a dedicated temple in Singapore,” Janani added.

Not everyone can be Mother Theresa!

Mother Theresa

All of us, Malaysians, have come a long way since our forefathers' days...

Arriving in Malaya as coolies in the 1930s, many of their descendants have mostly progressed by leaps and bounds. There are, however, a small fraction of the population for whom time decided to stand still or rather they decided to stand still and see the world just pass them by. They are contended to live in the 1950's. For them, the sun still rises...

My better half received a call from my children's school principal for a call of duty. An Indian boy had requested two months' leave from school to work as a lorry assistant; the job his father was doing before he was incapacitated after he fractured his leg. She was sent on a fact finding mission to help out in whatever possible way. After the whole of visiting the household, she had only one thing to say - some people cannot be helped as they do not help themselves!

Datin Paduka Mangalam

The said boy is a Form 2 boy is the eldest in a family of 8. His mother is 32 years young, with a busy obstetric career has the youngest child of 2. They all live as one happy family together, together with the maternal grandmother and the maternal uncle in a 2 room flat! (deja vu?). True, the father was home bound moving around in crutches. He was unfit to work as a lorry attendant but fit enough to join his friend on his motorcycle for a drink during my wife's visit. The children were all growing wild like wildflowers in the meadows or mushrooms after a desert downpour with their own make shift toys and games oblivious to their gloomy future ahead. They were all undernourished and small for their age.The second child was cycling down in the flat compound as he was not attending school at all. Reason? He did not possess a birth certificate because the parents did not register him earlier and the father had no time to sort out matters in the National Registration Department in Putrajaya!
The mother of the boy, a housewife, found it not possible to supplement the family income either by working at home or outside. "Someone has to mind the kids. I tried to get employment as a kitchen helper but the restaurateurs are more keen on foreigners instead!" she said in Tamil, of course! I think it is because the locals are not disciplined, more demanding and fickle minded. Sometimes they do not turn for work, citing need to attend funerals - for the grand auntie's grandmother's sister whom I thought had died many times!!! ...just an example...
The maternal grandmother could not help around during this crisis had she had to attend a temple ceremony in Kuantan. And the maternal uncle had to run his scrap metal stall under a nearby tree. On top of all these, the family has to vacate the rented flat as their rent is long overdue. The plot gets thicker and more pathetic as time went on. My wife just fled from the scene. There was only so much she could stomach. I later told her that not everyone can be Mother Theresa or Mother Mangalam.
She, being herself, did not leave things just like that. She contacted the DAP liaison officer to relate the whole family's predicament. Surprise! Surprise! They were well aware of their situation as they had been informed by the flat local Rukun Tetangga committee. Their earlier attempts proved futile as the head of the family had channeled the aid to quench his undying desire to hit the bottle! So, is there no solution for these nihilistic people? Is this vicious cycle destined to continue into their next generation? All of us are only concerned for the helpless children. Through no fault of theirs, via the sins of their parents, their future looks so bleak that they have to don night goggles with infrared vision.
Next on my  wife's help list is Datuk Saravanan, the FT minister.
When you encounter a spooky situation, whom do you call? The Ghostbusters, of course! And when you are caught in a catch 22 situation as above, who do you call? Mother Theresa? Mother Mangalam? The hugging Amma who will hug you and keep you satisfied? Or a street evangelist like Pastor Indra Shan who has the drive, passion and patience to serve and knock some sense into these marginalised people of the society.  
And the sun still rises for these people...

A nostalgic trip..down memory lane...

8.8.10

Accompanied by the music of BFM 89.9FM in the background, I drove down the highway to Damansara as I drove down memory lane to meet up my school friends whom I have not seen for almost 30 years! (spare a few). Incidentally, BFM was interviewing an American DJ (a Carl Hemm @ DJ Carlito from Richmond, VA) who had endured half a globe's 25 hours' journey to visit Singapore and Malaysia to fulfil his ambition of meeting icons of the Malaysian 'Pop Yeh Yeh' bygone era and compile a DVD commentary. How appropriate! Me, down memory lane and a DJ going into the past! What coincidence. He was rattling off names of Pop Yeh Yeh artistes that even I, a Malaysian, have not heard of. (e.g. Adnan Othman, S. Mariam, Kassim Selamat* and the Swallows, Hornets, etc.) Amazing! It is just like a friend's daughter who is studying in Yale where some of her Caucasian lecturers would converse with her in Tamil as they had done Tamil literature or language. The irony was that my friend's daughter (a Tamil) could not speak Tamil!

Coming back to the reunion....

This background music set the pace to my trip down nostalgic lane.

The lunch was held at Lala Chong Halal Seafood Restaurant at Kayu Ara Damansara. The spread of food was the usual fare, nothing to shout about. Anyway, everyone was there for there for the fellowship, rather than the food. Since it was an impromptu last minute event, many could not make it. About 12 guys and girls (of 47 years) turned up at the event. Except for Mano, I have not met most of the attendees since I left PFS in 1982 - 28 years previously. Most of them who attended were quite trim, of course with receding hairlines, greying hair and rarefying mane! Some of the guys brought in their family. 

After the tete-a-tete which included declining standards of PFS and the good old times, we all went our separate ways into our respective separate lives, hoping to meet up again in near future. In the pipeline was a plan to organise a major reunion in Penang when we were 50!

It is interesting that the reunion was just chit chatting about old times; not for networking business prospects. It is just a congregation of people who felt secure and found comfort in reminiscing their childhood so as to rejuvenate their lives in the present time. Well, I managed to...
*P.S. For the die hard P. Ramlee fans, the name Kassim Selamat may ring a bell. In 'Ibu Mertua-ku', P. Ramlee took the role of a blind saxophonist - Kassim Selamat!

Kassim Selamat & Swallows

Lunch atop the skyscraper

Long before this part of the world was fighting for self-rule, at the time when the colonial master's civilization was awed upon, in the 1930s when the world was in its worst recession and our rubber was dirt cheap and we were fighting beri-beri, see what they had in the city of New York, US of A! The following pictures were taken by an American photographer, Charles Ebberts, depicting skyscraper workers during their lunch break somewhere in 1935. Even though I am neither an expert in photography nor a shutterbug myself, I still appreciate good pictures. Whether it is the view of the concrete jungle of New York or the serene pearly white hue of the Himalayas, somehow, there is nothing like the romanticism of black and white photographs!

While Malaya then was also standing pretty, in its own way, looking like this...

Pictures are depicting - High Street,KL; Sunset in Malaya: Ipoh Turf Club; Tanjung Malim Railway Station; Johore Bahru and Causeway; First Malay Movie (Laila Majnu 30s); GEC radio advertisement; Beach Road, Singapore; Communists 'Freedom Fighters'/'Terrorists in Malaysia.