Kamunting

To the world today, Kamunting is famous for its infamous Kamunting Detention Camp for the ISA (Internal Security Act) detainees. The Kamunting Alumni of several thousand people..includes many present-day prominent figures in Bolehland... like the current Chief Minister of Penang, his father - Mr Opposition Emeritus, the Leader of the Opposition , many Members of Parliament etc. who are devoted to shape and progress the nation through the democratic process. They were once considered as a "threat" to the country by the Government, particularly the Home Ministry.

Politicians should know that nothing is permanent, and if the people are tired of the rhetorics and lies and the old arrogance of those in power, they can be removed at the polls. The 308 General Elections, the so-called Political Tsunami, where several states fell into the hands of the Opposite, should serve as a wake-up call for those who are still walk the corridors of power. It is probably conceivable that the same ISA provisions could one day be "accidentally abused/misused" upon the present crop of executors of the same Act?

Kamunting was once a thriving tin mining district with many dredges - the floating excavators for tin ores. It was one of the biggest army bases during the British rule. In the late 60s and early 70s, Kamunting was the booming industrial town of Perak, during which time the Minister of Commerce, Tan Sri Dr Lim Swee Aun, was the local MP for Larut and Matang District. Sanyo stood out for me as a big global brand in Kamunting then.

During the late 60s and early 70s, being a resident of Kamunting ...these were the memories of a simple living, growing up....

Hair cut by my friend's barber father Mr Lim, in Lorong 2

May 13 school holidays, school examinations cancelled

First dates with girl opposite who often invited me over for The Johnny Cash show on TV2

Occasional swimming sessions at the army camp

Cycling time to school over the Lake View hills

Yoke Choy primary school and All Saints secondary schools were prominent landmarks

Hunting for live frogs to practise dissection for Form Six practical examinations

Self taught typing using the Pitman course book

Earned my first pocket money as a popular maths tuition teacher to sis and her classmates

Friend of mine married an elder sister (who later died of sickness) and later married her younger sister

Finished off many expired canned food

Learning to lead as an Assistant Scout Master

Temporary teacher riding a Yamaha 150cc motorcycle

Dad wept for me

Beating of a future police chief

Ipoh, the present Capital city of Perak, also once a big name in tin production in the world, now can only boast of its famous "Ngah Choy Khai" (Bean sprouts and Steam Chicken) plus the recent State Assembly meeting under a big Yam Yam Tree, Kamunting has this Detention Camp which the local residents are not proud to shout about.

Learn to say it now, me included

Dad's headstone stands out as a unique piece of art in Tambun...

with his own calligraphed words, inscribed at the back .......... it reads "Not asking for tons of Gold but just asking for wise chidren and grandchildren."

Dad passed on in 2004.

Dad knew that I appreciate his calligraphy and should have guessed that I would one day honour his skills for all to see. Perhaps more words of comfort and praise should have been spoken when he was bed-ridden before he was finally called to be with the Lord.

That was my first time delivering an eulogy at dad's funeral. He could not then hear all the nice things said about him (spiritually he could be there listening, but that must be different)... and I dedicated a portion of my eulogy for dad, to compliment mom who, at 80 years old then, was listening..... that "she has been a silent supporter and she is the Shinning Light for the Lord in this house...and dad had experienced the love of God through her, her untiring caregiving and loyalty.." Mom now 85, is being cared by a Vietnamese maid, whom she treats like a dear daughter.

Why we must wait to say all the nice things and compliments only during funerals?

One very popular and well-loved pastor who passed away about 2 years ago, had predicted that there would be many who would like say something during his funeral service.... before he died, his instruction was to allow just a handful of speakers, representing different phases of his life. He cautioned the speakers not to be too long-winded or else some of the audience may prefer to be in the coffin than to remain alive listening..
Should not we learn to say the nice things to another person when she or he is still able to appreciate the compliments? Even if you cannot come up with one single good thing to say... at least come up with something positive, an advice, so that he or she can improve before he or she disappears from the face of this earth.

Morrie Schwartz, the sociology professor (in "Tuesdays with Morrie" by Mitch Albom) who was dying and after attended a funeral of a friend who had died suddenly, decided to organise himself a "living funeral" before he died... so that he could be there to hear all the nice things his relatives and friends had to say about him. He cried and laughed with some of them. It was a rousing success!

In 1997, I organised a sit-in session for all staff , each writing on a sheet of paper, ONE nice thing about each and every colleague in the company. Nothing negative was allowed. This one guy who was never good or in the habit of saying anything good about anyone... managed to scribble "OK" on almost every colleague he has interacted. At the end of the session, I personally typed out all the input on an A4 sheet of "certificate' to each staff on all the "nice and positive" words from the 40-odd colleagues. I am sure there is someone out there still keeping his or her "certificate".

We need to constantly remind ourselves of the need to be generous and energetic with giving praises and compliments or just something positive to the other person. Or suggesting some positive alternatives... using the management term called APB (Alternative Positive Behaviours). If there is nothing good to say, a smile will do. "Better to whiten your teeth (smile) at your friend than to give him milk (even if he is thirsty)" - Jewish saying.

Life may not be worth the living if nobody attends your "living funeral" should you decide to organise one...... your friends may just give excuses as they would have their own priorities to get on with their own living..... as in the Parable of the Great Feast (Luke 14: 15-24).

Just be a mortal praising God and all His creation, including your loved ones.

Have you ever been lonely?

"Have you ever been lonely?" - a popular song since the 1930s.... have you ever been blue?

For most people, the answer must have been a yes... one time or another...

Very often the kind of loneliness is caused mostly by temporal or situational failures in human interaction (like broken relationships, relocation, angers or dissappointments, betrayals etc) and other environmental factors. There are many people out there suffering long-term loneliness as a result of low self-esteem, unwantedness and vulnerability (old age?). Sometimes this can lead to clinical depression and even suicide.

Often these are curable and reversible..

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

Have you come across loneliness which is an inescapable part of a person's entire life, like the case of some low to medium-degree autistics?

Birger Sellin (a German born 1973) is an autistic (non high-degree type) since 2 years old. He, just like most autistics, was boxed-in or trapped in his own cold and dark lonely world, not being able to express or communicate his feelings to the outside "normal", but to them, a "confused" world.

For 17 years, he lived in his own world but could only watch (in silence) what was going on around him and within himself. He just could not do things, normal living required of a person. People around him talk things which are hurting and he suffered constant humiliation of being ignored or misunderstood. His own lapses of weird social behaviours, screaming attacks, fits and his stereotypical actions (weird repetitive actions) often embarrassed himself that made him withdraw himself more and more from the real world.

In 1990, Birger was introduced with the "Facilitated Communication" developed by an Australian, Rosemary Crossley. He started, painfully slowly, to type out his inner feelings onto a computer... and has since published a book entitled "I Don't Want To Be Inside Me Anymore".

In another book (first published in 1995); "In Dark Hours I Find My Way - messages from an autistic mind", his first writings reflected and revolved around his inner loneliness. He described this as "being isolated", "buried alive", "I am drowning in loneliness", " a lonely person is always replacing important experience of poor humanity on this earth by constantly talking nonsense in his lonely mind".

Some of the insights into his dark lonely world are in his own words....

"i could never write so much in the daytime perhaps thats because a lonely person likes night better than day
a lonely person orients himself by light and darkness
he doesnt go by any clock the clock of the lonely is a visible socalled system of lightdarkness"

"whatever happens i want to learn to write properly because
it is the way to independence
first i was very scared then it was a lot of fun
relly i would rather say something important if thats
okay there are things a person like
birger thinks in the loneliness because this world ought to know them
its like being buried alive the loneliness of an autistic is like a great clod of
earth weighing down the soul"

"rustling (running marbles through my fingers) is stereotypical behaviour which is really
intoxicating i am only doing visibly what loneliness does invisibly"

"one anxiety i suffer from most of all is how to survive a day
from the settled viewpoints of a chosen person that must surely seem ridiculous
i for my part protect against icy times of day
by setting up a socalled iron important list of questions
an idiot system as it were running away from anxiety
and yet again i am just irritating everyone including myself
the stupid thing is that understanding it is no help"

"total madness is easier than living boxed up in the mistaken isolation already mentioned i cant
find outhow come i have to live walled in like this
i can think clearly inside my head
and i can feel too
but when i want to put the socalled simplest actions into
breathtaking practice in these surroundings outside the crate i cant do it
restlessness comes over me anxiety and idiotic panic bring me almost to despair"

On his mother, he wrote, "a chosen person like an autistics mother will get her reward some day"

On his dying grandfather, he wrote," yes i want to tell an iron story it is about an iron old man
wise but not very rich he wanted to make nonsense visible by
really making serious invisible words visible and making obvious nonsense invisible
a real grandpa never dies
he goes on living in my heart like before and i will never forget him
he was an important wise person to me
he is calm and relaxed and he worked out the words just the way they ought to be
i love him very much" (13 August, 1991)

My question to you is in this song:

"So how can you tell me you're lonely
And say for you the sun don't shine?
Let me take you by the hand and lead you through the
Streets of London
I 'll show you something to make you change your mind.."

The Chinese Empire

Chairman Mao, 2009

2009, Oct 1 China celebrated with pomp and pagentry, the 60th anniversary of Modern China, under communist rule. The massive celebrations, with centre stage in Tiananmen Square, Beijing, were held all across the great nation of 1.3 billion people.

The fireworks (which lasted for more than 30 minutes), the military parade and display of firearms might, the cultural shows , with 300,000 participants and 60 floats, all went well like clock-work and with precision planning and timing. That speaks volume for discipline, dedication, organisation and pride of the most populous nation on earth. They have not only "stood up" since 1949... they have rose above all ..... particularly significance amidst the current economic recession in most of the advanced economies of the world.

When was the beginning of the Chinese Empire?
Mao Tze Tung's declaration of the formation of the People's Republic of China on 1 Oct, 1949?
China's first atomic bomb testing on 16 Oct, 1964? China's first Hygrogen bomb on 14 June, 1967? China's first satellite launch on 24 April, 1970? Deng XiaoPing's reform movement from 1976? China's first manned space flight 15 Oct, 2003?

I would pin it down to 8.08 pm, 8th August, 2008 when President Hu officially opened the Beijing Olympic Games. China announced to the world that she hah put in all the struggles and the people as a whole were ready to lead the world, with the theme song "Beijing Welcomes You" - a Chinese version of Jim Reeves' "Welcome to my world". Part of the lyric says... "With dreams, everyone is a winner.... With courage, there will be miracles.."

At the time when China marched on to become a global economic power, it also marked the beginning of the decline of the present American Empire... experiencing the worst recession since the 1920s depression. The US Federal Reserve has been printing more money to bail out the economy and since the US$ is still the currency used for the oil trade, the global communities are forced to keep the greenback afloat. Particular affected party is China, which currently is the biggest holder of the US Treasury Bonds amounting to about US$800 billion, followed by Japan with US$725 billion. If and when the US recovers from the current shit they are in, China will prosper more and if the US continues to slump... China will be affected short-term but when the world moves away from US$, that will be close to the end of the American Empire.

It is interesting to note the reporting of the Western media on this very special occasion for the awaken giant in the East. The 1.3 billion Chinese in China and the 260 million ethnic Chinese all over the globe would not be discouraged by their attempt to pour "cold water" on this historic event. The western media put in many "buts" in their reports, made with obvious envy and awe. The BBC for example reported... "but the human cost on progress must be very high..." CNN has this to say, "... but China's phenomenal economic growth over the decades has triggered unintended consequences: rising unemployment, growing income gap, endemic corruption, rising criminality, environmental degradation and social malaise.."

China's 5000 years of existence, has not be an invader and unlike other past Empires she has not territorial expansion ambition.... feeding, housing and prospering the life of 1.3b people is in itself a monumental task.

The past empires have collapsed mainly due human factors leading to a situation when the empire was indefensible and unmanageable from external invasion and internal unrest.

The great empires which are now a permanent feature in history:
Roman Empire (44BC - 1453); Ottoman Empire (1299 -1923); German Empire (1871-1922); Russion Empire (1721-1917); USSR (1917-1991) and of course the largest of them all, the British Empire (1583-1977).
The rise and fall of so many great empires in the past should be great lessons for the Chinese rulers of the day... again the elements which can lead to the eventual collapse of the Empire, are even evident now and may become unmanageable when the core group of nation-builders and visionary leaders are gone, replaced by next generations of lost passion and self-interest.

China, being the "Factory of the World" is great for the present time but what makes a nation great is through innovation and invention. Technology advances in sea transportation and supremacy were able to let the British, Dutch, Spanish and Portugese expand their colonialisation during the 15th and 18th centuries. Today, besides being able to stay ahead of competitive food production and basic goods production, speed and efficiency in mass communication is essential.

For the Chinese Communist Party of 75m members , to continue rule the 1.3 billion masses, they need to be relevent and ready to reform to remain the largest single political party in the world. China is big enough to evolve her own style of socialist democracy, at her own phase, without having to be dictated by the inperfect western democracies. And as long as Taiwan is still not an integral part of the Chinese rule, then the Chinese Empire is not complete. Unification of the island state with the Mainland is a matter of time and the PRC Communist Party will eventually call the shot. The longer Taiwan is in the denial state and keeps delaying the process of being part of the Chinese Empire, she will lose out more and more, over time, in her quests for special rights in the final unification.

The sun never used to set on the British Empire..... and today the same sun never sets on the 1.6 billion proud Chinese on this earth (from Mainland China to all corners of the world). The Chinese Empire might just be the last empire on earth before the next coming of the Lord. So let us pray that this empire will be worthy to receive the return of the King of the Universal.

Madoff, the Thief

The 71-year old Bernie Madoff is now serving a 150 years sentence in Butner Prison, North Carolina, USA for admitting to 11 charges of fraud, amounting to more than US$65b. He should be accorded the Title: "The Biggest Thief of the 21st Century."

His Ponzi Scheme, which he started 16 years ago, has attracted thousands of clients, ranging from the rich and famous; foundations; investment fund managers, retirees and ordinary people. Many of those who had invested in his Bernard L Madoff Investment Securities, have got nothing left after the collapse of this evil scheme, bared all by the 2008 economic recession in the USA.
Madoff was finally arrested on the 11th December 2008. He was imprisoned in June 2009.

One wonders what is Madoff thinking about all these victims including his fellow Jew, holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel, who had lost everything from his Foundation and personal wealth. What about the two gentlemen, a French investor and a retired British Army Major, both 65 who committed suicide as a direct result of their losses in their investment with Madoff? No sign of remorse at all?

Madoff, prisoner # 61727-054 is scheduled to be released on the 14th November 2139. May God prolong his life until that date so that he would have sufficient time to start feeling sorry for what he had done to other people's lives.

What made Madoff tick? Did he manage to pull all these through by himself or are there hidden hands involved?

From the marketing angle, Madoff had done a brilliant job in creating a perception and a myth of exclusivity to attract his preys. He had so successfully capitalised on the greatest weakness of men - GREED!

Tired Longevity

"Forever young, I want to be forever young
Do you really want to live forever?
Forever or never...." (song by Alphaville)

Imagine if one is graced by God to live until 65, 75, 85 or 95? The average life span has gone up in many countries and it is probable that if one lives a healthy life style, one may have another 20-ddd years after retirement, to breathe the oxygen on this earth. And if one is a "tired" human being, the 20-odd years would be miserable years.... frightening is it not?

On the other hand, if one happens to be officially pronounced by the doctor of an imminent death sentence, to be executed within 1-2 years - due to some terminal illness like cancer .... what would then be the life planning process to optimise the remaining days?

Both scenarios require a different planning. Should not we have Plan A and Plan B etc?
We cannot be like the words of this Beatles' song: "He is a real nowhere man, sitting in his nowhere land, making all his nowhere plans, for nobody.."

Some of the considerations of a "Bucket list" (order of priority will depend on each individual) may include the following:

1. Sustainence of financial capabilities (without having to burden the next generations) to support a frugal yet comfortable life style.
2. Staying healthy physically and mentally, doing something enjoyable and with passion....for example, targetting for a Hole-In-One in golf and aiming for more thereafter.
3. Stop living in the past and move forward, giving yourself a chance to meet new acquaintances and new experiences each new day.
4. Not to be ashamed of your Faith and Belief. At all times, try to shine your light and live a life of testimony to others.
5. Live to love others; avoiding anger at all times.
6. Live near enough to all your loved ones ... to be a part of your granchildren's formative and growing years...but your base will depend on many factors.... one option is to remain a migratory "snowbird" (travel to the tropics during winter months in the Southern Hemisphere?).
7. Pursue a challenging goal in academia; in creative skills; in a totally new field?

The list can go on..... worth spending time putting thoughts into words; words into plans and plans into actions....

"If tomorrow never comes, will she know how much I loved her?
Did I try in every way to show her every day...." (song by Grath Brookes)

"Tired" people

They are all over the place.... they are not the working people... where do they all come from?


Look at the man at the Pub..
Staring at the crowd outside through the edge of his beer mug; each mug may last an hour
and he would wonder home alone..


Look at the man in the Park..
Watching the pigeons feeding and the birds chirpping away; wandering where their daily ration of food has come from... somehow..


Look at the man in front of the Computer screen..
Trying to communicate and stay in touch with the other "tired" people;
often resulting in being gullible for gossips and recycled jokes..


Look at the man in front of the TV set..
Being constantly fed with typical stereo type images of sufferings and bad news; making him wonder where is God and why has He ever allowed these to happen on a daily basis.


Look at the man in the Nursing home
Gazing at the other inmates with no intention of starting a conversation; listening to the radio playing "Yesterday, when I was young.."

Look at the man in the Dialysis Centre
Painstakingly putting the needles in place; waiting for the long hours of cleansing the system, knowing that the end result is worth the weekly routine..

Look at the man in the Mirror
Realizing that life has passed him by over the years; and it is time to find some meaning in living the sunset years.... perhaps it is time to learn how to RETIRE instead of staying tired.