How should we judge a government?

In Malaysia, if you don't watch television or read newspapers, you are uninformed; but if you do, you are misinformed!

"If you're not careful, the newspapers will have you hating the people who are being oppressed, and loving the people who are doing the oppressing." - Malcolm X

Never argue with stupid people, they will drag you down to their level and then beat you with experience - Mark Twain

Why we should be against censorship in a court of law: Publicity is the very soul of justice … it keeps the judge himself, while trying, under trial. - Jeremy Bentham

"Our government is like a baby's alimentary canal, with a happy appetite at one end and no
responsibility at the other. " - Ronald Reagan

Government fed by the people

Government fed by the people

Career options

Career options
I suggest government... because nobody has ever been caught.

Corruption so prevalent it affects English language?

Corruption so prevalent it affects English language?
Corruption is so prevalent it affects English language?

When there's too much dirt...

When there's too much dirt...
We need better tools... to cover up mega corruptions.

Prevent bullying now!

Prevent bullying now!
If you're not going to speak up, how is the world supposed to know you exist? “Orang boleh pandai setinggi langit, tapi selama ia tidak menulis, ia akan hilang di dalam masyarakat dan dari sejarah.” - Ananta Prameodya Toer (Your intellect may soar to the sky but if you do not write, you will be lost from society and to history.)

Monday, May 05, 2008

Know contentment to feel happier

A few weeks back, I bought a decorative piece of bamboo, carved with two Chinese characters: ‘chee chook’. This is similar to those, which are made of green-coloured stones passing off as jade, usually with a big character ‘fook’ for good luck.

I was instantly taken in by ‘chee chook’, which according to my poor knowledge of Chinese, means to know Contentment. Unlike the usual ones for prosperity, which are in red embroidery and jade, this one is in dark brown with the two characters in natural bamboo colour which seems more meaningful for what it is.

Soon after, a friend emailed to me the following story, which is most apt for people like us to know how lucky we are, and not to feel discontented and always compare with those with material wealth:

Have you ever, at any one time, had the feeling that life is bad, real bad, and you wish you were in another situation?

You find life make things difficult for you, work sucks, life sucks, everything seems to go wrong...

Read the following story... it may change your views about life:

After a conversation with one of my friends, he told me despite taking 2 jobs, he brings back barely above 1K per month, he is happy as he is.

I wonder how he can be as happy as he is, considering he has to skimp his life with the low pay to support a pair of old parents, in-laws, a wife, 2 daughters and the many bills of a household.

He explained that it was through one incident that he saw in India that happened a few years ago when he was really feeling low and touring India after a major setback.

He said that right in front of his very eyes he saw an Indian mother chop off her child's right hand with a chopper. The helplessness in the mother's eyes, the scream of pain from the innocent 4-year-old child haunted him until today.

You may ask why did the mother do so; had the child been naughty, had the child's hand been infected?? No, it was done for two simple words-- -TO BEG!

The desperate mother deliberately caused the child to be handicapped so that the child could go out to the streets to beg.

Taken aback by the scene, he dropped a piece of bread he was eating half-way. And almost instantly, a flock 5 or 6 children swamped towards this small piece of bread which was covered with sand, robbing bits from one another. The natural reaction of hunger.

Stricken by the happenings, he instructed his guide to drive him to the nearest bakery. He arrived at two bakeries and bought every single loaf of bread he found in the bakeries. The owner was dumbfounded but willingly sold everything. He spent less than $100 to obtain about 400 loaves of bread (this is less than $0..25 per loaf) and spent another $100 to get daily necessities.

Off he went in the truck full of bread into the streets. As he distributed the bread and necessities to the children (mostly handicapped) and a few adults, he received cheers and bows from these unfortunate. For the first time in his life he wondered how people can give up their dignity for a loaf of bread which cost less than $0.25.

He began to tell himself how fortunate he is. How fortunate he is to be able to have a complete body, have a job! , have a family, have the chance to complain what food is nice and what isn't nice, have the chance to be clothed, have the many things that these people in front of him are deprived of...

Now I begin to think and feel it, too! Was my life really that bad? Perhaps... no, I should not feel bad at all... What about you? Maybe the next time you think you are, think about the child who lost one hand to beg on the streets.

"Contentment is not the fulfilment of what you want, it is the realization of how much you already have."

When the door of happiness closes, another opens, but often times we look so long at the closed door that we don't see the one which has been opened for us.

It's true that we don't know what we've got until we lose it, but it's also true that! we don't know what we've been missing until it arrives.

The happiest of people don't necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the most of everything that comes along their way.

The brightest future will always be based on a forgotten past, you can't go on well in life until you let go of your past failures and heartaches.

With this story in mind, I am terribly disappointed with our PM when I read this headline in Malaysiakini:

“The premier says unions can hold even “100 demonstrations” but nothing can change the fact that the government cannot implement a minimum wage policy”

Well, I do not have the figures of the number of workers who are below the minimum wage asked for, but at a guess, for a few million workers to be able to have a decent standard of living might cost at least a few billions a year. Surely, there are many instances of wastage of public funds which if properly controlled, our government would be able to afford.

Just because the opposition goes for so-called populist policies does not mean BN cannot compete for the benefit of more people.

2 comments:

Muda said...

Does this mean what Pak Lah says that he is the PM for all malaysians are just rhetorics or a plain lie ?

PM should not tell lies , correct ?

Except when dissolving Parliament and being confronted about his son not getting any government contracts .

KoSong Cafe said...

Thanks muda for your comment.

Leaders are known for rhetorics, what more BN leaders, and especially Pak Lah, with so many nice slogans to keep us happy for a while.

For someone who appears to be simple and with religious background, his expensive taste in residence (renovation costs), travel (new jet please) and company of pretty ladies like Michelle Yeoh really makes me wonder.

Lies or no lies, action speaks louder than words.