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.)

Saturday, April 06, 2013

Sharyn Shufiyan's Response to the Responses


The statement (in italics, at the end of this post) has just been forwarded to me by a friend. I came across it before and I have no idea about its origin nor if it was in its original unedited form. I searched and found that it first appeared in 2009 and its author Sharyn went through the whole range of misstatements as is common in cyberworld, to suit the agenda of certain bloggers, and she bore the brunt of  accusations as well as accolades because of her original views or purported ones.
Response to the Responses of Suara Cicit Tunku Abdul Rahman
Writer: Sharyn Shufiyan 
Published: Fri, 05 Oct 2012
Information moves quickly and swiftly in this age of technology for the masses. 
With a click of a button, information travels between one person to the other, resulting in 1,000, 2,000, 3,000, 10,000 people reading or watching the same thing as you had just now, before reading this. Information travels so quickly that it is almost impossible to trace the source unless you get an expert to do the digging for you but by the time you found one, 100,000 people might have seen your work or your face already. 
But what’s more scary is how easily information can be altered as it is easily transferred. …”


If I had not stated my relation with Tunku, would the interview piece still have gone viral? I had liked to believe that people had related to my views, not to whom I’m related to. But that’s wishful thinking isn’t it? 
I was naive to think, that after 20 years of Tunku’s passing, the sudden appearance of his descendant; young, female, Malay and Muslim, would not garner any attention. “


It is encouraging that so many people want change and are aspiring for change. And if I had played a role, even if it’s small, in igniting that spark, then that’s something that I had contributed within my own capacity towards a change that’s long overdue.
I was 24 when I did that interview. Now 27, I still stand by every word I said. 
I may be a bit wiser that words can be taken out of context just by adding a few instigative lines. 
I hope that people would also be wiser about sharing information, to understand that altering information, deliberately or otherwise, is not a small matter and carries serious implications. 
Action does not come without intention, honest or selfish, and I would like to believe, in my case, it is the former rather than the latter.”

More:


Suara cicit Tunku Abdul Rahman(东姑的曾孙) - Sharyn Lisa Shufiyan

"Both my parents are Malay. My mum’s heritage includes Chinese, Thai and Arab, while my dad is Minangkabau. Due to my skin colour, I am often mistaken for a Chinese.

I’m happy that I don’t have the typical Malay look but I do get annoyed when people call me Ah Moi or ask me straight up “Are you Chinese or Malay”

Like, why does it matter? Before I used to answer “Malay” but now I’m trying to consciously answer Malaysian instead.

There’s this incident from primary school that I remember till today. Someone told me that I will be called last during Judgement Day because I don’t have a Muslim name. Of course, I was scared then but now that I’m older, I realise that a name is just a name. It doesn’t define you as a good or bad person and there is definitely no such thing as a Muslim name. You can be named Rashid or Ali and still be a Christian.

I’ve heard of the 1Malaysia concept, but I think we don’t need to be told to be united. We’ve come such a long way that it should already be embedded in our hearts and minds that we are united. Unfortunately, you can still see racial discrimination and polarisation. There is still this ethno-centric view that the Malays are the dominant group and their rights must be protected, and non Malays are forever the outsiders.

For the concept to succeed, I think the government should stop with the race politics. It’s tiring, really. We grew up with application forms asking us to tick our race. We should stop painting a negative image of the other races, stop thinking about ‘us’ and ‘them’ and focus on ‘we’, ‘our’ and ‘Malaysians’.

No one should be made uncomfortable in their own home. A dear Chinese friend of mine said to me once, “I don’t feel patriotic because I am not made to feel like Malaysia is my home, and I don’t feel an affinity to China because I have never lived there.

I know some baby Nyonya friends who can trace their lineage back hundreds of years. I’m a fourth generation Malaysian. If I am Bumiputra, why can’t they be, too? Clearly I have issues with the term.

I think the main reason why we still can’t achieve total unity is because of this ‘Malay rights’ concept. I’d rather ‘Malay rights’ be replaced by human rights. So unless we get rid of this Bumiputra status, or reform our views and policies on rights, we will never achieve unity.

For my merdeka wish, I’d like for Malaysians to have more voice, to be respected and heard. I wish that the government would uphold the true essence of parliamentary democracy. I wish for the people to no longer fear and discriminate against each other, to see that we are one and the same.

I wish that Malaysia would truly live up to the tourism spin of Malaysia truly Asia."

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