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.)

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Do you love me or the children more?

Hypothetical questions on situations which are unlikely to happen can create unexpected problems. There are some questions in life which are better left alone.

I was reading a magazine, Psychologies, and chanced upon this true story.

The day my husband vanished

Excerpts from an article by Cristina Otto in Psychologies magazine:

One conversation
Looking back I can pinpoint the moment everything changed between us – incredibly, it was during the course of one single conversation. We'd been watching the film Sophie's Choice and Jeremy asked me, 'if you had to choose who to save – me or the children – who would it be?' I tried not to answer, saying, 'The love I have for you is totally different from the love I have for our children.' But he insisted I make a choice. Finally I said, 'My children are totally helpless, they're my babies. I carried them inside me. If I had to choose I would choose them.' I was shocked by his emotional reaction. The tears started rolling down his face as he said, 'I would save you because with you I could have other children, but if I chose the children, they could never give me another you.' After that something changed for ever between us. Jeremy would go out to play golf and not come back until the next day. The first few times it happened I was frantic – waiting up all night. When he returned he'd merely say he'd been 'with friends' and offered no further explanation...

Searching for closure
Over the years, I've had to accept that Jeremy was a different man from the person I thought I'd married. Perhaps by leaving like that he meant somehow to punish me for, as he saw it, loving our children more than him, but even though I can rationalise his actions I still find them hard to believe.

Now when I look at Helena and Peter I am incredibly proud. I love them so much and they're so well-adjusted. I'm blessed to have them and if I had to go through this again to get them, I would do it gladly. But deep down I still want closure. I need to ask Jeremy just one question: 'Why did you leave us?' My children are growing up – Peter is 18, Helen is 20 – and they too need to look into his eyes and find out why he left. Otherwise I'm worried they'll be searching for that answer for the rest of their lives.

Link

4 comments:

KoSong Cafe said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
KoSong Cafe said...

The dilemma mentioned could have happened to us, about 20 years ago on our first and only visit to Pulau Kapas, off Terengganu, an eastern state of West Malaysia.

Our family of 5 and a sister-in-law's family of 5 were on this trip. I had no idea that we had to use a speedboat without life-jackets to cross over. Just imagine boarding a small boat to cross a few nautical miles without wearing any life-jackets! Against my better judgment, I had to go along and I feared for our lives on both journeys. The boat sped across the sea, bouncing now and again, on and off water.

If anything happened while out at sea, I did not think any of us could survive. Even good swimmers might have problem keeping afloat for long, but what about the kids? Who was supposed to be saved first? The likely scenario would be a parent who is a good swimmer would have jeopardized his or her own life in trying to save the kids in an emergency situation. I am not a swimmer, though I can float lying face up, and I know I will be the first to go down.

julian said...

wow i was feeling down----unable to access MT yet but reading this article i accept its a challenge in life-----thanks mate

KoSong Cafe said...

Thanks Julian for your comments, and you're welcome.