Thursday, October 23, 2008

A Voice from the Future


I woke up on the morning of my 55th birthday, logged on my computer and realize that ALL my EPF saving had disappeared! I drove to the EPF Office to enquire and found that the offices were closed! Shut down! There were many people at the premises looking for answers as to what happened to the savings. No one was there. No answers!

Driving back home, I passed the once mighty twin towers of Petronas. Avenue K is empty and ran down.  The MCA building was also empty and abandoned. Few shop open the once popular Ampang Shopping complex.  Embassy street was also deserted. The mignificant twin towers was no more Petronas' Twin Towers, it was now Shell's Twin Tower. Petronas ran out of money and force sold it to Shell!  On the street of Jalan Ampang, there were homeless people wondering aimlessly through the scrap and rubbish hoping to find what little that can. The executives running around in their ties and fancy suits were no more to be seen, Is this KL, Malaysia? What has become of this once beautiful country? A country abundance of natural resources. One of elite member oil producing nation, nett exporter of petrolium?

I shook my head as I drove home. I cannot forgive the people who "borrowed" billions of ringgit from our EPF savings to "invest" in the equities market back in October 2008 when the market was most volatile. A market in the middle of a financial crisis that saw the collapse of the great Lehman Brothers, Meryill Lynch and many others. A market that saw stock markets across the world dive day after day into a seemingly bottomless pit. What wisdom, if any, our leaders had to do the exact opposite of what the world did to try to resolve the financial crisis at that time! Instead of stimulating the economy and building confidence in the banking industry, we were the only country in the world that gambled threw hard earned savings in plunging stock market - against all advice.  In bad times as then, Maybank bought BII in Indonesia for a hefty price against financial advisors. Nobody knew the details and why thewre was a need to push through the deal. Now Maybank is under receivership and our Government cannot guarantee deposits. Maybank willprobably be history in the coming days. Why did they not learn from ING just a couple of weeks before that! They could have just cut lost and lose RM400 million! I was really angry.

Now I am driving through Kuala Lumpur, a city that's lost it glory, wallowing in economic despair and recession. Gone were the days when our economy was booming befitting an oil exporting nation. 

The people who made those stupid decisions had nothing to worry, they were rich, super rich. Probably do not even understand what hunger is. Their children had silver spoons in their mouth, were sent overseas for studies early in their age. By passed the local education their parents were custodian of. The can afford the best schools in the UK, Australiaand elsewhere. I continue to worry about my future and my children's while I could have sat back and enjoyed the fruits of my labour.  

Anyway, these people are all dead now. Can't even remember their names.  We only remember them for their greed, arrogrance and above all for their stupidity in squandering the nation's wealth.

I now have to continue working hard to support my children. I would like to think all is not lost, there is hope.

I sincerely HOPE so.



Sunday, October 19, 2008

Songs, Balloons, Candles & Rain

I was at the Jalan Utara Padang again this evening. This time there were music, singing and balloons! Balloons with "NO TO ISA" were released symbolizing freedom! Yes, there was also the rain -which did not deter the people.

This time the crowd was definitely bigger. I estimate it to be about 400-500 people.

Found a video and collection of photos and links here. You get cool "Bebaskan RPK" ringstones too

Show your support, click here for the Memorandum Demanding the Abolition of the Internal Security Act 1960. Please get your organization to endorse and sign.

SEE YOU NEXT WEEK at the front of AmCorp Mall!

No to ISA!




Sunday, October 12, 2008

Candlelight Vigil @ PJ, Oct 12 2008

Joined as estimated 300 people at the candlelight vigil in front of the Amcorp Mall in PJ (Jalan Utara Padang) tonight. Met some friends there and we all agreed that we are doing this our future, the future of our children!

ABOLISH THE ISA! Release all ALL detainees or charge them!


part of the estimated 300 people

the message is clear 'NO 2 ISA"


YB Lim Kit Siang was there too


kids & family all joined in

More pictures and detailed report at The People's Parliament


Tuesday, October 07, 2008

National Service or National Slaughter


A comprehensive summary on why we should NOT send our children to NS (now "National Slaughter", courtsy of NutGraph)

Full story HERE 

A Call for Peace - A Reflection on Buddhism, Freedom and the ISA

The political events over the past months in Malaysia has create much uncertainty. Compounded by economic uncertainty arising fallout of large financial institutions, gives more reasons for concerns. Amidst all this, what is most fearful in the heart of many Malaysian is the unstable political environment. What concerns and upsets most is the manner so-called dissidents and oppositions are dealt with. In particular, the detention without trial - selected individuals accused of being threats to the peace of the nation. Their detention is known as Section 73(1) Internal Security Act (ISA) 1960. This act states that:

"Any police officer may without warrant arrest and detain pending enquiries any person in respect of whom he has reason to believe that there are grounds which would justify his detention under section 8; and that he has acted or is about to act or is likely to act in any manner prejudicial to the security of Malaysia or any part thereof or to maintenance of essential services therein or to the economic life thereof."

Further in Section 8 ISA: Power to order detention or restriction of persons.

"(i) If the Minister is satisfied that the detention of any person is necessary with a view to preventing him from acting in any manner prejudicial to the security of Malaysia or any part thereof or to the maintenance of essential services therein or the economic life thereof, he may make an order (hereinafter referred to as a detention order) directing that that person be detained for any period not exceeding two years."

As of today there are 64 known detainees were detained since 2001, not given a chance at ball to defend themselves through due legal process. (A full list is available at http://www.aliran.com/oldsite/monthly/2001/3e.htm). Some are alleged terrorists; some are accused of being spies while at one of them are a blogger. Some held for more than seven years with no freedom in sight.

I know many Buddhist friends are greatly aware of this topic of discussion. Many of my friends take these discussions to the coffee shops, or even at private corners of Buddhist temples. One thing we cannot deny is that this issue has a greater implication to our society as a whole. To most of us, it much more than we want to know and to accept. Being a Buddhist, this Act represents a direct contradiction to the teachings and principles of the Buddha Dharma.


The overcoming of dukkha and the spirit of Siddhartha's Renunciation

As a Buddhist it pains me to see this dukkha inflicted unnecessarily to individuals. It pains me to see one of these detainee did not get to see his daughter at her deathbed. With two daughters of my own, my heart cried to the story of Shahrial Sirin, detained for 7 years WITHOUT TRIAL under the ISA. The authorities delayed the decision to allow him to return to visit his daughter who was in coma at the Kajang Hospital. She died 3 1/2 hours after her father arrived. This is just one story.  I asked myself, how can we continue to recite the following every week (daily in some cases). Yet continue to go on with life as if nothing is happening?


Jatipi dukkha jarapi dukkha maranampi dukkham

Soka.parideva. dukkha domanas. supuyasapi dukkha        

(Birth is suffering, ageing is suffering, and death is suffering;

Sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief and despair are suffering;)

 

Is this the thought Prince Siddhartha experienced when he saw the Four Sights that was so powerful that led him to leave the palace?  Is it doing something about the dukkha in line with the spirit of renunciation? If this is the spirit of renunciation of Siddhartha, how can we, as followers of the Buddha's teachings, sit and be quiet and continue to focus inward into our vipassana practices oblivious to what's happening outside. Did the Buddha not speak of compassion?

There is even Pali word for it, it's "karuṇā".  Karuṇā is one of the four "divine abodes" (brahmavihara), along with lovingkindness (metta), sympathetic joy (mudita) and equanimity (upekkha). In the Pali Canon, the Buddha recommends cultivating these four virtuous mental states to both householders and the monastic. When one develops these four states, the Buddha advises radiating them in all directions, as in the following stock canonical phrase regarding karuṇā:

"He keeps pervading the first direction — as well as the second direction, the third, & the fourth — with an awareness imbued with compassion. Thus he keeps pervading above, below, & all around, everywhere & in every respect the all-encompassing cosmos with an awareness imbued with compassion: abundant, expansive, immeasurable, free from hostility, free from ill will."  Kālāmā Sutta (AN 3.65)

In the Pali commentaries Karuṇā is the desire to remove harm and suffering (ahita-dukkha-apanaya-kāmatā) from others (SN-A 128). 

We should do what we can to show compassion now. Show the detainees (and their families) the Buddhists do care.

 

Buddhism & the Overcoming of Fear

Why are we not expressing our Karuṇā? I organized a Puja and Mediation for the ISA detainees and hardly a handful of people turned up? No big temples or Buddhist organizations have organized such Puja at the point of writing this reflection. I spoke to some Buddhist friends and two answers came out the most. The first is often, "I am not affected (so do not need to bother)". I will talk more about this later.  The more common respond is "aren't you afraid that YOU might arrested under the ISA too? In other words, FEAR.

If Siddhartha feared for his life and feared the loss of his lifestyle, he would not have left the comfort of His palace. We would have NO Buddhism today! This article and magazine would not exist!  The Buddha said that fear is an obstruction to the development of calm and insight

Let me share this article. Taken from a lecture entitle The Psychology of Emotions in Buddhist Perspective by Dr. Padmasiri de Silva:

Fear is often caused by strong desires (ta.nhaaya jaayati bhaya.m) [Dhp 216] Strong desires and attachment to either persons or things cause fear because if we cling to some precious and valuable object, ................ 

………… It is the same with the attachment to one's own self: a threat to one's life, sickness, the threat of losing one's job or reputation — all these situations are conditions for the emergence of fear. It is due to the strong self-preservative drive (bhavata.nhaa) which in turn is fed by the bhavaraaga anusaya (the lurking tendency to crave for existence) that fear becomes such an agitating condition........

....Thus restlessness and worry blind one's vision of oneself, and form an obstruction to the development of tranquility and insight. [AN 5.193]

         Source: http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/desilva-p/wheel237.html 

We cannot stick our heads in the sand believing everything is okay, hiding in the thought that our private meditation practice is more important. This mindset is call delusion. We must strive to overcome FEAR.

 

Buddha Dharma = Freedom

The Dharma that the Buddha discovered expounds several important principles beginning with freedom and the cessation of dukkha. The ultimate aim of Buddhism is to achieve absolute freedom from the cycle of life and death, this freedom is known as Nirvana or Nibbana. Achieving this means have the right conditions. 

Hence, I personally feel that it is our right to speak up, support and provide some form of solidarity to people who have been detained under this Internal Security Act (ISA). We need to strive to create the right conditions for our practice now, we cannot wait for these conditions to appear.  How can we truly practice when there is fear.  Some have argues with me that, “look we are free to practice and have our temples, why stir up problem”.   My response is simple, this called “being selfish” and against the teachings of the four brahmaviharas.

We must do something.  Making an effort is “karma”. Karma is not waiting for something to happen to us – and we decide if it is good or bad karma.

It is very clear that making effort to change is a blessing. The Buddha in the Maha-Mangala Sutta advised us that Patirupadesavaso ca  (To dwell in a suitable locality is a supreme blessing).  If any of our detainees are relatives, we will think and act differently - what if they are our relatives, brothers and sisters in this same house called Malaysia. We would do something for our relatives.  In the same Sutta, the Buddha also advised that Naatakaana~n ca sa"ngaho: Helping one's relatives is a supreme blessing.  

We do not help our relatives by taking to the streets and cause chaos, we just need to focus on our minds and send METTA to those who are detained - and to make it known that our Buddhist brothers and sisters are in support.

In the same way, we must not forget the people who signed the arrest orders including the people that executed the orders. They too need our METTA. There are no enemies according the Buddha’s teachings – just people who have not seen certain wisdoms yet. In the Maha-Mangala Sutta as well, we are reminded of Khanti: Patience and Tapo: Energetic self-restraint.  That’s the way we show, support and solidarity.

There is so much more to write about this as it is the topic right now. Suffice that as Buddhist, we are also citizens of this country that wants a country to be ruled by the rule of law and justice and there is way to do it.  This message is even more powerful in the Mahayana tradition, where a Bodhisattva vows:

        I vow to liberate all beings, without number   眾生無邊誓願度

Let’s begin by looking at our own backyard in a place called Kamunting. In this place, people are detained and held with no opportunity of justice bestowed upon them.

What we do nor indeed affects our future, our children and their children. Doing something today is Pubbe ca katapu~n~nataa: Having made merit in the past. What we do today is the past that affects our future. This is the land where we and our children (and their children will be). Doing something can make a difference!

Lastly, I leave you with this prayer:

 Evoking the presence of the great compassion, let us fill our hearts with our own compassion - towards ourselves and towards all living beings.

Let us pray that all living beings realise that they are all brothers and sisters, all nourished from the same source of life. (Buddhist Prayer on World Peace Day, 2007)

 

 May all Beings be well and happy always, may all being find RELEASE.



Wednesday, October 01, 2008

Hari Raya at PM's Open House (Updated)

Updated: Oct 3, 2008

HERE'S SOMETHING YOU CAN DO:
If you would like to support the abolishment of ISA and push for the release of RPK, Hindraf 5 and other, here are some of the stuff you can do:

1. Send emails to PM, Cabinet Ministers (at this time, over 30,00 emails have been sent): click HERE.
2. Sign petition-online: click on http://www.petitiononline.com/isa1234/petition.html
3. Raise International Awareness, click HERE


FYI, there are many version of the event in the media. If you read the MSM, you might get a different picture. One thing for sure, there was no "commotion".  It was peaceful, not threatening in anyway.  Check out blog here and here (and many more) for commentary on what the MSM had to say.

=============
Yes, I was there! Those who know me knows that under normal circumstances, I would NEVER go where hundreds or thousands of people gather and queue for food. We went NOT for the food but to deliver a message to the PM and that is the ISA should be abolished. All the detainees should be freed and be accorded the due process of the law if there are charges to be made. I was there because a fellow blogger is detained and having to spend his Raya in detention because we spoke up. RPK is not alone for sure! I am no activist, but I think at times we need to make a stand and this one of the times. Haris of People's Parliament wrote a great report and with lots of pictures.

pic by Haris Ibrahim of People's Parliament

More reports and pictures here, here, here , here and here.

Selamat Hari Raya to RPK and all detainees. Special wishes to all my friends too, drive carefully and safely -have a good and blessed Aidil Fitri.







Rethinking Family & Children (2): Being Socially Engaged


Interesting site, do check it out!

One of the things I have been doing very often nowadays is sharing social, political and political discussions with my children. The media gives us a lot of such opportunities. Although they are only 11 & 12 years, I feel these discussions, done without hatred or anger, are being understood and are important for a couple of reasons:

1. It is important to have a point of view (POV). It does not matter it is who is wrong or right, it is important one that we have one. Sometimes our POV may change, but its fine.

2. Speak out for what you believe in. One of the hallmarks of a mature society is to be able to live in freedom to express ourselves -without fear. I believe that the Internal Security Act (ISA) should be abolished. I believe we as parents we should make known to my kids and our stand and they understand why (at least to some extent).

It is also important to articulate that there will be many different views and perspectives to any given subject. Underlining rules of engagement such as respect and justice must be present. One of the key lessons learnt is encapsulated in this phase, "I strongly disagree with your point of view but I will fiercely defend your right to express it"

As a parent why am I doing all this?

Answer: For our children, helping them to think, be creative and appreciate their own skills and potentials. Above all, to help them grow. To do that, we must have a conducive environment.

A summary can be found in a corporate profile of a multinational corporation which states that employees to be truly creative, freedom is most important. This profile states the following "freedoms" which I just realize that I have been applying in our home. They are:

Freedom from Fear Freedom to Fail Freedom to Be

In this country, freedom is a rare commodity. We need to work hard to attain it. We need to be socially-engaged parents.