Kuala Terengganu Tanah Tumpahnya Darahku

Cantek amoi di Kka'pung Cine,
Beli akok kat Pasor Payang,
Singgah sebetor kat Kedai Maidin

Jengoh s'betor gerai Ayoh Pin,
Goreng pisang kopi O cap dakyah Teko,
Dok berahi ciskek Secret Recipe tu,

Hidup mewoh tapi dok bahagia,
Jauh merantau tapi hati dok sedap rasa,
Ikang kembung cicoh budu, itulah penenang jiwa,

Hujang emah di negri orghang,
Hujang batu di negri dghi'ri,
Doksoh kabo, baek lagi negri dghi'ri,

Found a blog by a fellow-KTian Kampung Boy which kinda rings back the good ol'chinatown (Jalan Kampung Cina, now named with horrendous named Jalan Bandar) where I lived and grow up all my life, where there is a nearby chinese hawker centre, chinese food morning market and plenty of glorious and cheap restaurants around.

Local Chinese ganu-kite specialities include roti paung, pulut panggang, kepok chuey (chinese version of steamed kerepok lekor), saitou kepok keping (sliced kerepok made of Parang fish), liulian kuey (durian cake), sekaya pulut, chim kuey (crab cake), calong ikan (pure fish balls, no flour involved)
The map (courtesy of Kampung Boy) shows where my life was revolved upon 21 years of my life, my mother's life, my grandmother's life and my great grandmother's life and my ancestor's life. It holds a lot of history and significance for our family that it is impossible for us to be uprooted. The picture below is my ancestral home that is currently been taken care by a distant relative. It could be the oldest house in the whole of Jalan Bandar.

Probably one of the greatest things that I appreciate from Terengganu is the close proximity with the Malay community and culture, although we still retain many part of our 'chinese-ness'. Our daily interaction with the community in business, daily shopping, work, schooling, eating! forces us to seek to understand each other better. We befriend each other quite easily, and my mom's muslim colleagues have no qualms eating together at our home, and we have no qualms visiting their homes in neat fishing villages in the nice suburbs of Kuala Terengganu. We speak superior malay language than most non-malays and malays from outside terengganu (ahaha, from my narrow point of view of course), have greater appeciation towards Islam, Malay arts, culture, politics and social structure. I must say that I still have fetish over kebaya and sarong, which I think is quite sexy.

I enjoy the slow and steady pace of life in the semi-urbanised town, with mild-pollution rate and almost-traffic congestion free (which is gonna end soon thanks to Badawi's East Coast Economic Corridor and Monsoon Cup with random people like Michelle Yeoh and John Todt being given Datukship by the Terengganu Sultan), with great natural setting of tranquil fishing villages, great island resorts and rainforests all around.

I like the society with well-mannered Malays with their great sense of budi bahasa, simple genuine friendship, and moderate-religiosity (which is slowly changing due to urbanisation, materialism and fundamentalism). I also like the Chinese with their lack of racial prejudice or ignorance towards other ethnicities unlike their counterparts elsewhere, and the Indians who are too small in number and thus largely being able to integrate with both malay and non-malay society. Many of us are from the middle lower classes of society, which made us identify with majority rural poor, yet having strong chinese values of hardwork, entrepreneurship and education (it is changing too).

Probably I also greatly enjoy the close-knitted small christian community of about 1000 comprising of ten churches (which is largely overlooked), yet slowly impacting the local community. The fellowship is genuine, the passion is great, the ecumenical outlook is encouraging, yet they are largely discouraged by the lack of trained ministers who would be willing to teach-shepherd-lead the congregations. Many full-time workers were sent out of this community to despite its small number. Local outreach are growing with few social services like two church-operated kindergarden, three-four major youth ministries, one old folks home and university group. Urbanisation took a huge toll on the churches as youths leave the town to bigger cities like KL and never came back. There are some sense of elitism since the english speaking community is very small, largely comprised of professionals and semi-professionals.

Probably what would be the ideal is that the english speaking churches could tap on their gifts to impact society by greater engagement with the community (which is largely chinese or malay-speaking) or providing providing specialised social services to the community like special education, english-classes, vocational training, life-long education, youth intervention programme and community development. They can also be a forefront on fostering greater interethnic relations, Christian-Islam interfaith dialogue, sociopolitical awareness amongst youths and speaking against religious extremism and fundamentalism in such strategic context.

On a sarcastic note, since MCA's research had allegedly claimed that they are part of the vocal G2 group, together with the Rotarians and Lions, probably all should collaborate in delivering community services. However, they are pretty much comprised of elitist cliques, dubbed by my mom as the "bijok people" (vocal, smart and opinionated rich professionals living in rich suburbs).

By the way I found another authentic Terengganu blogger, Awang Goneng at Kecek-kecek who recently published a book

By the way, I wish to apologise to my non-east coast friends and readers if by anyway I've being sarcastic in my narrow anti-elitist, anti-rich and famous and anti-"pantai barat" descriptions. As part of your cultural knowledge, it is not a criticism towards anyone in particular, but just the way that some of us in the East Coast stereotype people who are not like us :D. It is similar like how Kiwis stereotype Aussies, Malaysian stereotyping Singaporeans and Indonesians.

Be assured that my current university education will lead me to the upper rungs of society. Besides, the lack of eligible girls from Terengganu might lead me to marry someone outside my hometown and thus migrate to the west coast. It is highly possible that my Western education will lead me to be vocal and opinionated too (after all it is Pemikiran Kritis dan Kreatif by the Higher Education Minister isn't it?). The fact that I own a computer, afford the luxury of broadband, and the mastery of the English language might possibly made me the top 10% of the Terengganu-an population.

What a hypocrite!

Probably in a few years from now (God-forbid), I will end up being part of the vocal, smart, opinionated, rich professional who lives in rich suburbs, and hence be the subject of my own cynicism and criticism. (I hope that I don't end up living at Kuala Ibai Golf Resort, oblivious to my poor neighbours of Kampung Cendering).

Minority Role in Nation Building

“No one can deny it. From the time of our ancestors till today, the community has contributed in various areas including economic, cultural and education. This is our country! We have worked hand-in-hand with the Malays, Indians and other communities for several generations to turn the nation into what it is today. The country’s achievement is the joint efforts of all races. We shall continue to stay united and work together for a better future,” -- Ong Ka Ting

I wonder what would be the christian version of that speech?

"No one can deny it. From the time of the first christian church was set until today, the community has contributed enormously in education and social services. Many good schools and hospitals were started by christians, educating and improving the standard of living among thousands of Malaysians of all ethnicity and religions post-merdeka.

Although we may not be seen working hand-in-hand directly with other communities, our presence can be felt in urban places in the Klang Valley and East Malaysia, turning the nation into what it is today. Many christians today are involved in various aspects of Malaysian life in politics, civil service, business and education.

The country's peace and harmony is the joint effort of different communities. We shall continue to live peacefully with each other, understanding each other and contribute together for a better future. We are working with other communities to dream for a better Malaysia, a country that is founded upon freedom, love and justice."

Tricked By Irvin

Irvin sent me a text today saying there's OCF. I happily changed my plan to study in uni and went to the chapel for 15minutes. Then I realised I was tricked. wth

A friend far far away.

Today I found out that one of my old friend in NLRC, who got married with a Malaysian student in Germany, and then followed her husband over to Stuttgart, finally had a blog! Oh, how I miss her friendship and company, and the good times in Shah Alam. She looks happy with her hubby and friends over there!

I am busy

I am busy
(by Geoff Saroea)

My son said, come and play with me
I said, I am busy

My daughter said, take me to my rehearsal
I said, I am busy

My spouse said, today is Sunday, let's go to church
I said, I am busy

My family said, it's bedtime, let's pray
I said, I am busy

My neighbour said, I need your help
I said, I am busy

My spouse said, guests are coming today
I said, I am busy

My family said, you need to take a break
I said, I am busy

My pastor said, Jesus is coming soon, are you ready?
I said, I am busy

My doctor said, you are going to die
I said, I am busy

Secular Sacred Divide

In 1939, Bonhoeffer a German pastor and theologian during WWII joined a secret group of high-ranking military officers based in the Abwehr, or Military intelligence Office, who wanted to overthrow the National Socialist regime by killing Hitler.

He was arrested in April 1943 after money used to help Jews escape to Switzerland was traced to him. He was charged with conspiracy and imprisoned in Berlin for a year and a half. After the unsuccessful July 20 Plot in 1944, Bonhoeffer's connections with the conspirators were discovered.

He was moved to a series of prisons and concentration camps ending at Flossenbürg. Here, he was executed by hanging at dawn on 9 April 1945, just three weeks before the liberation of the city

This is the fate of the one who knows not the barrier between the the secular and the sacred and makes no reason to stop bringing God's ethics into his world. For killing Hitler was a lesser evil than silent ignorance.

Gaeng Som - Sour Fish Curry

Finally I've found something that I really really really really miss back home, Gaeng Som or Siampeng Assam Hu (literally Thai Assam Fish in Hokkien-Malay). It is my family's favourite dish since my granny is half-thai chinese from Sungai Kolok and we use to have that almost every meal when we go visit her.




Real Thai blog captured the art of making authentic Gaeng Som with red snapper. The blogger made a rather interesting statement about the extent of its spiciness.



Kaeng som (which I will continue to call it here) actually translates as “sour curry”, but the predominate taste is usually that of spicy. Very spicy. I consider this to be probably the spiciest curry in the country (which says a lot in a country of spicy curries!).



Despite facing the prospect of diarrhoea each time I have assam hu, I thought that every drop of the soup is worth the hell. I usually take it with heaps of rice and liberal amount of cold water to soothe down the stinging hot aftertaste.

The ingredients include the gaeng som paste made of blended small chillies, dried chilles, fresh tumeric, garlic and shrimp paste (belacan in Malay, stir-fried and boiled with dried tamarind, lime juice, fish sauce (nam plaa), pineapples and fish (preferably red snapper or mackerel, even though any fish would do).

Miniature Earth

http://www.miniature-earth.com/me_english.htm

Covenant Theology vs New Covenant Theology?

"Covenant Theology
Covenant theology believes that God has structured his relationship with humanity by covenants rather than dispensations. For example, in Scripture we explicitly read of various covenants functioning as the major stages in redemptive history, such as the covenant with Abraham, the giving of the law, the covenant with David, and the new covenant. These post-fall covenants are not new tests of man's faithfulness to each new stage of revelation (as are the dispensations in dispensationalism), but are rather differing administrations of the single, overarching covenant of grace.

The covenant of grace is one of two fundamental covenants in covenant theology. It structures God's post-fall relationship to mankind; pre-fall, God structured His relationship by the covenant of works. The covenant of grace is best understood in relation to the covenant of works.

The covenant of works, instituted in the Garden of Eden, was the promise that perfect obedience would be rewarded with eternal life. Adam was created sinless but with the capability of falling into sin. Had he remained faithful in the time of temptation in the Garden (the "probationary period"), he would have been made incapable of sinning and secured in an eternal and unbreakable right standing with God.

But Adam sinned and broke the covenant, and thereby subjected himself and all his descendants to the penalty for covenant-breaking, condemnation. God in His mercy therefore instituted the "covenant of grace," which is the promise of redemption and eternal life to those who would believe in the (coming) redeemer. The requirement of perfect obedience for eternal life is not annulled by the covenant of grace, but is rather fulfilled by Christ on behalf of His people, since now that all are sinners no one can meet the condition of perfect obedience by his own performance. The covenant of grace, then, does not set aside the covenant of works but rather fulfills it.

As mentioned above, covenant theology emphasizes that there is only one covenant of grace, and that all of the various redemptive covenants that we read of in the Scripture are simply differing administrations of this one covenant. In support, it is pointed out that a covenant is in essence simply a sovereignly given promise (usually with stipulations), and since there is only one promise of salvation (namely, by grace through faith), it follows that there is therefore only one covenant of grace. All of the specific redemptive covenants we read of (the Abrahamic, Mosaic, etc.) are various and culminating expressions of the covenant of grace.

New Covenant Theology
New covenant theology typically does not hold to a covenant of works or one overarching covenant of grace (although they would still argue for only one way of salvation). The essential difference between New Covenant Theology (hereafter NCT) and Covenant Theology (CT), however, concerns the Mosaic Law. CT holds that the Mosaic Law can be divided into three groups of laws--those regulating the government of Israel (civil laws), ceremonial laws, and moral laws. The ceremonial law and civil law are no longer in force because the former was fulfilled in Christ and the latter only applied to Israel's theocracy, which is now defunct. But the moral law continues.

NCT argues that one cannot divide the law up in that way, as though part of the Mosaic Law can be abrogated while the rest remains in force. The Mosaic Law is a unity, they say, and so if part of it is canceled, all of it must be canceled. On top of this, they say that the New Testament clearly teaches that the Mosaic Law as a whole is superseded in Christ. It is, in other words, no longer our direct and immediate source of guidance. The Mosaic Law, as a law, is no longer binding on the believer.

Does this mean that believers are not bound by any divine law? No, because the Mosaic Law has been replaced by the law of Christ. NCT makes a distinction between the eternal moral law of God and the code in which God expresses that law to us. The Mosaic Law is an expression of God's eternal moral law as a particular code which also contains positive regulations pertinent to the code's particular temporal purpose, and therefore the cancellation of the Mosaic Law does not mean that the eternal moral law is itself canceled. Rather, upon canceling the Mosaic Law, God gave us a different expression of his eternal moral law--namely, the Law of Christ, consisting in the moral instructions of Christ's teaching and the New Testament. The key issue that NCT seeks to raise is: Where do we look to see the expression of God's eternal moral law today--do we look to Moses, or to Christ? NCT says we look to Christ.

There are many similarities between the Law of Christ and Mosaic Law, but that does not change the fact that the Mosaic Law has been canceled and that, therefore, we are not to look to it for direct guidance but rather to the New Testament. For example, England and the US have many similar laws (for example, murder is illegal in both countries). Nonetheless, the English are not under the laws of America, but of England. If an English citizen murders in England, he is held accountable for breaking England's law against murder, not America's law against murder.

The benefit of NCT, its advocates argue, is that it solves the difficulty of trying to figure out which of the Mosaic laws apply to us today. On their understanding, since the Mosaic Law is no longer a direct and immediate source of guidance, we look to the Law of Christ for our direct guidance. Although the Mosaic Law is no longer a binding law code in the NT era, it still has the authority, not of law, but of prophetic witness. As such, it fills out and explains certain concepts in both the old and new covenant law. " -- sourced from Desiring God

Burma : Ethics is not confined to books and temples

Farish Noor said,

"It is sometimes said that in the post-Enlightenment age we live in there is little concern for religion and that religion has no place in society. Worst still, the political instrumentalisation of religion for clearly divisive and sectarian ends has further added scepticism for many who believe that religion is best kept out of politics and the public domain, where it has often been abused. (A view that many would concur with).

Unfortunately today any talk of religious ethics is often met with images of Bible-thumping evangelists talking of holy wars and moral crusades, angry bearded fanatics burning books and nosey neighbours spying on what the people next door are doing. Are religion and ethics destined to remain forever trapped in the nonsensical and pointless debate over who is holier and who wears his or her religion on the sleeves? Has religion nothing to say on pressing issues of the day such as fundamental political rights and liberties, democracy and rule of law?

The problem faced by many progressive theologians today is having to translate ethics and morality into modern public life without falling into the numerous pitfalls that lie before it: More often than not when morality makes an appearance in the public political domain it is at the behest of right-wing conservatives who merely wish to use ethics and morality as yet another means of domesticating society and controlling the masses. Then there are the political elites who have turned religious ethics into a mere ideology, fit only for vote-winning and the demonisation of other communities deemed ‘deviant’, ‘infidels’ and ‘Others’. What is needed now is a new vocabulary of religious ethics that takes ethics into the public domain of the present, addressing issues of today and speaking the language of ordinary people living in the 21st century.

Religion, if it is to be real and relevant, cannot be trapped in the myth of some pristine golden age of the past. The morality of religion is not to be found in temples, mosques or churches; or in books and tomes that have been left to rot in libraries of monasteries. One does not find God’s ethics in outdated rituals and empty religious praxis, any more than in the length of beards, the size of turbans and the cut of one’s holy robes...

...What is happening in Burma right now is not just important for the country, but it is also important for Buddhism, and all other religions by extension. It proves that religion can have a meaningful impact when its ethics are translated into a real-life context and ethics is something acted out in the public domain, rather than discussed in an abstract manner."

‘Produce inquisitive students’

I was amused reading a statement by Rafiah Salim UM VC about producing inquisitive students here. She was saying that "most students in the country were passive and tended to absorb in total what was imparted by teachers without question."

She also calls for a reform in the national curriculum and urging educators to promote greater interaction with the students beyond rote learning.

It took 50 years to learn that? wow.

John Calvin Menggalakkan Riba?

Contoh Soalan SPM Kertas Sejarah pra-2004

Ajaran John Calvin membuka peluang perniagaan kepada penganut agama
Kristian kerana

A Amalan sistem ekonomi bebas digalakkan
B Amalan sistem mata wang boleh digunakan
C Amalan jimat cermat digalakkan
D Amalan riba yang berpatutan dibenarkan

...................................................

Saya masih mengingati topik Reformasi Eropah dalam kertas Sejarah SPM yang berkisar tentang Martin Luther dan John Calvin. Pada masa itu, rata-rata daripada kita tidaklah memahami dengan banyak tentang era Reformation, tetapi menurut buku teks, John Calvin yang mengetuai Reformation di Geneva, telah dikatakan sebagai seorang yang menggalakkan perkembangan ekonomi, seperti membenarkan riba.

Besar kemungkinan bahawa penggubal kurikulum sejarah mengambil idea tersebut daripada teori Kapitalisme Protestan oleh Max Weber dalam bukunya "The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism", yang memberi tesis bahawa Kapitalisme berasal daripada golongan Kalvinis yang telah menggalakkan pengikutnya untuk bergiat dalam dunia sekular, dunia perniagaan dan perdagangan, dan pengumpulan harta kekayaan untuk pelaburan.

Menurut Ensiklopedia Wikipedia, "Dalam ketiadaan institusi keagamaan seperti Gereja Katolik Roma yang mengesahkan kesejahteraan akhirat, Weber berhujah bahawa orang Protestan mencari tanda-tanda lain untuk mengesahkan keselamatan mereka. Oleh kerana Calvin mengajar doktrin predestinasi ganda dua, seseorang tidak dapat mencapai keselamatan melalui usaha sendiri, seseorang perlulah percaya bahawa dia sememangnya telah dipilih untuk diselamatkan, tanpa ragu-ragu: ketidakyakinan kepada diri sendiri adalah tanda lemahnya iman. Oleh itu, keyakinan kepada diri sendiri menjadi tanda jaminan rahmat Tuhan.

Kejayaan duniawi menjadi kayu pengukur keyakinan diri tersebut... "

Weber berpendapat bahawa golongan Calvinis digalakkan untuk bekerja keras dan bersemangat dalam kerjaya sekular mereka. Oleh yang demikian, mereka lebih banyak mengumpulkan kekayaan. Mereka juga melarang pengikut mereka daripada membazirkan wang dan menyatakan bahawa pembelian barangan mewah adalah dosa. Derma kepada gereja berkurang kerana jumlah gereja Protestan yang sedikit, sama juga dengan derma kepada orang miskin dan kebajikan dikatakan tidak wajar kerana akan menggalakkan orang untuk mengemis dan menjadi pemalas yang membebankan. Orang malas dilihat bekerja dilihat sebagai gagal untuk memuliakan Tuhan.

Weber menyatakan bahawa idea agama ini telah mempengaruhi perkembangan orde ekonomi Eropah dan Amerika Syarikat, seperti rationalisme dalam bidang sains, penggabungan pemerhatian dengan matematik, sains ilmiah dan perundangan, pembentukan sistem pentadbiran kerajaan dan pentadbiran perniagaan yang sistematik.

Tetapi persoalannya, adakah wajar penggubal kurikulum sejarah mendakwa bahawa Calvin membenarkan riba (usury dalam BI)? Saya berpendapat bahawa deskripsi sedemikian tidak wajar kerana beberapa faktor.

a) Teori Max Weber tidak seharusnya digunakan untuk menerangkan fenomena Reformation oleh John Calvin.

Teori beliau masih menjadi sumber perdebatan dan pengkajian ilmiah. Teori perkembangan kegiatan perdagangan dan perniagaan Eropah yang dikatakan oleh golongan Calvinis, walaupun adalah penerangan yang munasabah, saya berpendapat tidak patut dijadikan konsep utama dalam kurikulum. Sebaliknya, sumbangan John Calvin dalam reformasi institusi dan ajaran agama Kristian, dan perpecahan dengan institusi Katolik Roma perlulah diutamakan, kerana begitulah intipati Reformasi Eropah.

b) Riba tidak menjadi isu besar dalam sejarah Kristian, dan mungkin tidak menjadi isu kepada John Calvin pada zaman Reformation

Riba dilarang oleh agama Islam seperti dalam Surah Al-Baqarah 275 - 280, tetapi tidak ditekankan dalam Alkitab. Dalam Perjanjian Lama, riba tidak menjadi amalan. Tetapi dalam Perjanjian Baru, Yesus memberikan contoh pemberian bunga oleh bank (Lukas 19:23).

Alkitab lebih menekankan pemberian persepuluh daripada pendapatan bani Israel kepada Tuhan, dan keadilan ekonomi and sosial, seperti tidak menindas orang-orang miskin. Mungkin dalam sejarah gereja, St. Thomas Aquinaslah lebih lantang berhujah menentang caj bunga.

Kalvin dalam menggalakkan kegiatan ekonomi mungkin membenarkan caj bunga yang berpatutan, tetapi saya tidak yakin bahawa beliau menjadikan caj bunga sebagai faktor terbesar dalam perjuangan Reformation beliau. Menyatakan caj bunga dalam topik Reformation yang sememangnya telahpun pendek, tidaklah wajar kerana banyak lagi aspek Reformation yang lebih relevan.

c) Penghayatan sejarah haruslah dihayati daripada perspektif yang berbeza-beza untuk meluaskan pemahaman

Saya mengesyaki bahawa penggubalan kurikulum sejarah mempunyai bias terhadap pentafsiran sejarah dari kacamata penggubal sendiri, yang saya rasa datang daripada perspektif sejarawan Islam, sebagaimana yang kita tahu, mengharamkan riba. Tetapi saya rasa, isu riba tidak patut dijadikan kayu pengukur kepada fenomena Reformation, kerana kedua-duanya kurang berkait.

Justeru, untuk memberi penerangan yang wajar fakta-fakta dan pentafsiran sejarah, saya mencadangkan agar kurikulum sejarah digubal secara lebih inklusif dengan memasukkan perspektif daripada ahli-sejarah daripada perspektif yang berlainan, untuk memperluas dan memperkaya lagi penghayatan sejarah kita.

Birthdays

One of my friend told me one day that she wasn't invited for someone's birthday even though all of us are in a same social network. I was quite surprised when I realised that. It certainly gives us a sense of exclusion, and worse still a sense of unbelonging.

Is it natural for us to exclude those that we do not know very well?
Is it natural for us to belong to those who we have close affinity with?
What about those that we do not have close affinity with, do we still belong?
What makes us belong to each other?
How can we make people feel belong to each other?
With multiplicity and the complexity of relationships and community, how can we create true belonging to each other?

My proposition is "friendships and relationships do not determine our mortality survival rate, but they give value to our survival. They can fail and may not meet expectations. They require time and hardwork to build and maintain.

Christian community should be a model of how genuine and true relationships are formed, even though they may not be perfect. In christian communities, our reason to belong to each other must not be based on national, cultural, gender, interests, languages, age-groups, denominations nor persuasions, but on Christ alone.

It is Christ that unites and builds the 'church', and it is Christ that brings everything into harmony in his Kingdom. If we look for common ground to unite people, more than our unity in Christ, we are risking ourselves into idolatry in our attempts to create community.

It is through unity in Christ where Jews and Gentiles are reconciled, the rich and the poor are brought together, the popular and the social outcast eat together, the Pakeha and the Maori become mates, the old and the young laugh together, the male and the female stand together, the medical student and the law students watch revues together, the DOTA players and DOTA haters sing together, the musically inclined and the non-musically inclined performed in concerts together, the socially-inclined and the socially-inept are invited to birthday parties together"

How beautiful is the Kingdom!

Search for the Divine

"The search for truth is not over in our present times of postmodern thought. It never was.... The search for Truth is vital, because ultimately it is a search for God. And He has been revealed in Jesus." – Dr. Cees Dekker, professor, Delft Institute of Technology, preface to the Dutch edition of Finding God Beyond Harvard

I wonder whether the search for immortality through the medical sciences and technology through the physical sciences is the search for the divine?

How Retard?

Loneliness & Solitude

"Loneliness and the feeling of being unwanted is the most terrible poverty."
-- Mother Teresa

I encountered many lonely people in my life daily, and many people struggle with that seen and unseen, realised and unrealisingly. Even then, loneliness can't be defined or there is no set parameter to measure the extent, duration and severity of loneliness.

We either choose to recognise the loneliness, deny it or do something with it. Either way we do not escape from loneliness. However, there is another middle way, solitude.

According to Richard J. Foster, solitude is an inner fulfillment, while loneliness is inner emptiness. Solitude is a voluntary retreat from the company of other people and loneliness seems beyond our control.

And Paul Tillich writes, "Loneliness expresses the pain of being alone and solitude expresses the glory of being alone".

Solitude is the ability to enjoy inward quietness. Times of solitude are frequently enriching and refreshing if we use them wisely. When we choose times of limited seclusion we often experience new perspectives that help us know more fully the things that really matter. Solitude is the prerequisite for creativity and the place in which we can discover the treasure chest of tranquility and serenity and all their benefits.

Loneliness is not simply a matter of being alone, but rather the feeling that no one really cares what happens to you. It is the painful awareness that we lack close and meaningful contact with others, which produces feelings of being cut off from them.

If you are lonely examine your fears and your attitudes. Have you built walls of defense instead of bridges? Are you afraid of closeness with others, getting hurt, failing, or perhaps the pain of losing someone you love?

Are you filling your life by being busy, seeking out and spending time with people you may not particularly like? Or are you filling up the spaces of your life with lots of noise from the radio, TV, DVD's or surfing the net endlessly?

How can we turn our loneliness into solitude, fulfilling our inner self with outflowing love, that we may love other lonely people around us?

Because He Lives (Version 2)

God sent His Son, they called him Jesus
He came to love and bring justice,
He came and die, to bring a New World
And life is worth the living just because its here!

Because He lives, we can hope tomorrow,
Because He lives, justice shall come,
Because we know, we know He holds the future,
The battle's worth the fighting just because He lives

How sweet to have a World to dream for,
And feel the hope and joy it brings,
But greater still the calm assurance,
That we can face persecution because He lives,

And then one day, justice will prevail,
I'll forgive my enemies with love,
When the struggle, gives way to victory,
I'll see the light of glory and I know He lives,

Is Buddha Political?

I am always amazed by collective peaceful retaliation, of how struggles against oppressive regimes and corrupt despots, that exploit the people, and recently few groups have emerged, in our own backyard and also in Myanmar.

It is even more emotive and thrilling to see how the religiously devoted monks of Myanmar, hundreds of thousand of them marching on the street, championing for justice and freedom. I wonder whether the monks would ask, "Is Buddha political?". I wonder whether buddhists around the world would say, "we should not ask for our democratic rights, but should focus more on meditation and breathing". If this is the case, then I would have to look towards the Dalai Lama and the Burmese monks in Myanmar and Vietnam (who burnt themselves against the Vietnamese regime) for more explanation.

In KL, the lawyers marched with suits and briefcases, with the scorching hot sun and rain in Putrajaya, calling for accountability and restoration of confidence towards the judiciary system. I am glad that there are a number of G2 people of the christian persuasion (apart from the so-called Rotary, Lions and peranakan sect) who do share the passion for justice in Malaysia. But there are only a handful of people who wet their hands while others just watch.

I wonder whether the rest of the G2 people do feel the same passion for justice with the handful few in KL and Burma. Is Jesus political? If Jesus is, then shouldn't we feel the same way Jesus felt about love and justice? What would Jesus do? What would Jesus say about corruption in the political establishment of the day?

Do we only voice our concerns when it directly affects our lifelihood (only during the petrol price hike, threat to our 'modern' affluent lifestyle, as Kar Yong blogged about)? Do we care more of ourselves than others who are persecuted and marginalised (religious converts, Burmese grassroots, mistreated migrant workers, poor rural and East Malaysians, orang Aslis)?

I wonder Jesus during the 1st century, in his scandalous act of destroying the stalls of the merchants in the Temple and chasing them away from corrupting the temple, eating with the unclean, and preaching another new Kingdom of Heaven and dying on the cross, would fit into our description of activism today?

Would Jesus be someone like Aung San Suu Kyi, speaking forth against the junta? Or be like Karpal Singh speaking against the corruption of justice? Or like Kim Kong speaking for freedom of worship?

We always sing about the suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus. Do we sing about the life of Jesus as much? Do we sing as much about his life; how he turned the tables of the merchants, work during the sabbath, heal the sick and do miracles, eat with the outcast, challenge the corrupt establishment?

Do we live like Jesus today? WWJD?

The Non-violent Retaliation

Buddhist monk burning himself in protesting against the anti-vietnamese regime in the 1960s.