Arts Stirs the Human Soul

Its amazing to see how arts, even our dying art, Wayang Kulit can speak powerfully and emotively to the oppressed. The kids of Berembang are amazing.

Absolute Truth

"This is not an easy time to be doing evangelism. I was at a public lecture given by Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Rowan Williams, in Singapore recently. He reminded us that since September 11, there are those who argue that religious communities should surrender any notion of absolute truth. (And if we no longer hold to absolute truth then why bother with the hard work of evangelism.) These voices argue that it is because the different religions believe in absolute truth, and believe different things to be true, that are a key cause of violence and conflict in the world.

Archbishop Williams did not deny that the different religious communities need to work harder at learning how to live together. But he said that to surrender a commitment to absolute truth would not remove intercommunal conflict. If we surrender a commitment to absolute truth, all we will be left with is raw power and the groups with more power will try to subjugate those with less. There will no longer be the ethical leavening of a commitment to any truth higher than us. Intercommunal conflict will continue and may indeed worsen.

Christians should be at the forefront of any attempt to build bridges of understanding between different communities. Among other things, we believe in the dignities of all peoples because we believe that all bear the image of God. But we will not surrender our commitment to absolute truth because the God of the universe has revealed Himself, first in His dealings with Israel, then through Christ, and then through the Bible that bears testimony to His revelation (Hebrews 1:1-4)." -- Soo Inn

All Is Fair In The Service

Since I am going to spend a significant portion if not a whole portion of my life serving in the Public Service, might as well I promote the JPA, my boss.

An article on Civil Service in the Star today interviewed a few people of the minority race on their experience in their career. Liow Tiong Lai mentioned that it is part of chinese culture and history for people to study hard and pass exams in orders to be scholars, and thus civil servants. Haha. This clearly reflects some of our fellow SPM-candidate's craze to score as much A1s as possible.

There are a few myths that surround the civil service I suppose,

1) Discrimination
2) Low pay
3) Lack of job prospects and unfair promotions
4) Cultural barriers with colleagues
5) Negative connotations in regards to the inefficiency of the civil service

Dr Chua Hong Teck says, "We always hear people complaining about how the public delivery system is lacking and how frustrated they feel whenever a task, which involves any government procedure, is so arduous.

Why then do they not become a part of the system and make a change? Do not always complain just because the front liners of any given government department give a bit of hassle...

Therefore, I urge parents to help change their mindset, and in so doing, their children’s. Do not base your assumptions of the public service on just what you hear.

Think of the type of country that you want, and take the effort to make it happen."

Goh Wei Liang says, "Don't criticise and criticise and criticise only. If the public service is that bad, why don't you join us and change the system?"

Datuk Dr. Victor Wee says, "We are a democratic country, and with a more balanced ethnic composition of government servants, the nation would see a more dynamic environment – one that would prove very beneficial to us all as Malaysians."

Kerepoklekor says, "Do not ask what the country can do for you, as yourself what can you do for your country? Complaint somemore lah, later when your straight A1 son become a bonded civil servant then you only know."

Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence

"The whole issue of searching for life is shrouded by *metaphysical* issues. By 'metaphysics' I mean literally mean 'beyond' - physics. Persuasion, conviction, optimism and pessimism about the existence of self-identifying life are an important context in which we do objective science. All that is being said here is that science is not done in a metaphysical vacuum. We do science, give priorities to projects in science and spend resources on the basis of such metaphysics. But metaphysics is a broad area which involves lots of human traits.

Our belief systems - religious or otherwise, our assumptions, our desires and hopes. Perhaps in the case of SETI, our cosmic significance too. We live increasingly in a world looking for spiritual understanding of ourselves. The rejection of traditional religion has opened a way to new spiritual searches. These may be a Paul Davies' 'Mind of God' or new age crystal power or, indeed, spirituality in a quest for aliens. As such there are going to be naysayers and enthusiasts for all sorts of reasons. And equally, for all sorts of reasons, such parties are going to be against or for SETI.

So, we need to understand the issues at two levels. Firstly on the science side we need to strive for excellence at doing the best possible science, and, secondly, inextricably tied to the first, on the metaphysical side, we need to open up debate on the big issues which confront us as human beings. If we should find self-identifying life and it can be proven objectively that such exists then indeed we have found something absolutely astounding! Yet equally, if after many years of work we do not find evidence for artificial signals then we may lose interest or perhaps conclude that, for all intents and purposes, we are alone. Such a conclusion also has far reaching implications."

Dr Frank Stootman, Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence

Of L'Abri Australia and Krispy Kreme

Quoting from the website, "L'Abri is a French word that means shelter. The first L'Abri community was founded in Switzerland in 1955 by Dr. Francis Schaeffer and his wife, Edith. Dr. Schaeffer was a Christian theologian and philosopher who also authored a number of books on theology, philosophy, general culture and the arts.

The L'Abri communities are study centers in Europe, Asia and America where individuals have the opportunity to seek answers to honest questions about God and the significance of human life. L'Abri believes that Christianity speaks to all aspects of life."

Even as I I've been blessed with the hospitality of Dr. Frank and Heather Stootman in their home, L'Abri Australia, in Elderslie an suburb southwest of Sydney on my transit back to Malaysia. Frank is an associate professor in the University of Western Sydney, teaching computer programming while having majored in astrophysics, with quite a great CV as well, including serving as the chairman of SETI Australia (Search For Extraterrestrial Intelligence). How on earth can a serious Christian be seriously involved in searching for UFOs and aliens? You ask him! Heather at the other hand was a tutor in Chemistry, majoring in something that I am not definitely good in, the structure of some chemical molecule and its conformational shapes.

We had great conversations over meal, watching video and having coffee, particularly on the ideas of Francis Schaeffer, history, the Roman empire, faith, God, values, Jesus, Muhammad, society, democracy, totalitarian regimes, China, India, Islam, Buddhism, Western civilisation, the value of human life, humanism, secularism, family life, gardening and classical music.

It has been a very stimulating and refreshing experience to be with him and his wife, learning from their wisdom, imitating their simple and humble lifestyle, as well as knowing them as friends and followers of Jesus, parents of three kids whom do not follow their parents footsteps in the scientific academia.

Its sad that I would have to leave tomorrow for Malaysia. Would love to come back and stay with them longer. Probably one of the anecdotal lesson that I learnt from them is, "grace is a powerful thing. You would give something away and never expect anything in return, and people owe you. Having people owing you is the greatest virtue of all, like how all of us owe God his sacrifice through Jesus".

Besides, I've tried Krispy Kreme for the first time, since I miss that out last year. I would say that it is overrated.

Milford Sound

Milford Sound (Piopiotahi), South Island

Dan jiwaku pun memuji-Mu,
Sungguh besar Kau Tuhanku,

Hear the Scholars Speak

"Malaysians are told, time and again, in the most paternalistic and patronising manner that insults our intelligence, that we need to be guarded, policed and controlled for our own good. We are fed the standard hogwash and bile that demonstrating is a non-Malaysian trait, and that to demonstrate against the abuses by the powers-that-be is unpatriotic, un-Asian and un-Malaysian...

Yet in Malaysia this most fundamental freedom- to speak, to state our opinions, to disagree, to refuse and to resist is denied to us on the spurious notion of national security and integrity. We are denied our fundamental, essential right to be human beings with rational agency and choice and the ability to express that choice...

By whom? By the very same people who decide that they can - if they wish - demonstrate on issues close to their heart and when it suits them by giving them the political standing they need..." -- Farish Noor

"Khalifah Abu Bakar, pemerintah Islam selepas Nabi Muhammad wafat, pada permulaan pemerintahannya, berkata:

“Saya bukanlah yang paling baik di antara kamu. Jika saya betul, sokonglah saya. Jika saya salah, tegurlah saya"..."

Kita diperintah oleh agama kita supaya memerintah dengan adil. Jangan kerana marah kita gagal melakukan keadilan yang dituntut itu. Isu-isu lain tidak penting; yang penting sungutan mereka yang benar dan sah. Mungkin 75% peratus daripada tuntutan mereka tidak benar dan tidak sah, tetapi 25% yang benar dan sah mesti ditangani segera.

Saya orang Melayu. Saya sayang kepada orang Melayu. Tetapi saya tidak boleh sokong orang Melayu yang bersikap fanatik dan perkauman, kerana kita semuanya anak-cucu Adam, makhluk Tuhan yang Tuhan muliakan, sama ada kita Melayu, Cina atau India atau suku-kaum lain. Sebagai makluk Tuhan, kita layak dihormati. Kita pula rakyat Malaysia yang sedang membangunkan negara kita supaya maju dan dihormati di seluruh dunia." -- Kassim Ahmad

"For democracy to have any sort of meaning, it must be part of our lives every day...

It is not just opposition people who engage with the Government. Ordinary people and civil society want to have a say, too... Furthermore, there are people who support or even like most of what the ruling party does but disagree with some of its decisions. Surely, they have the right to voice their concerns?

That right of dissent is a vital component in a democracy, as it helps to ensure that governments are aware that their responsibility and culpability to citizens is something that exists all the time...

The question is how that dissent should be expressed...A democracy needs dissent. It needs a free press; it needs people to express themselves...

Anything less is disrespecting our inalienable and fundamental freedoms." -- Azmi Sharom

Shall We Weep for the Slums of Kuala Lumpur

wwjd in kampung Berembang?

(picture courtesy of politikus)

Bahasa Malaysia, Jiwa Bangsa Berdaulat

I remembered posting up to Utusan Malaysia many moons ago complaining about our lack of appreciation towards Bahasa Malaysia. Many moons ago I was a bit radical and have the supremacist mentality by supporting legal enforcement on the usage of the national language. But today I feel that any amount of draconian or legal enforcement would not change the heart of many. The love of the Malay language comes from education and integration with the wider society, true to the Malay proverb, "tidak kenal maka tidak cinta".

The lack of integration with the wider Malay-speaking society could be possibly one of the reasons many Chinese and Indians do not see the worth of speaking it nor passing it on to their children. This reflects a deeper hidden polarisation within society which stems out from socio-political differences, which is very hard to overcome.

Besides, the dominance of English as the world's lingua franca, and the emerging Mandarin as a new international language would probably pose a challenge to Malaysians to defend their unique heritage. It calls for parents and students to cherish and celebrate, not only the ability to speak in multiple languages, but also to share in the passion of defending our cultural identity.

Probably if there is genuine reconciliation with the bumiputera and the kaum pendatang, and a promise of a true future together, maybe all of us would be more passionate about our national heritage.

Bahasa Jiwa Bangsa