Do it, even though you may not get the credit

I really like this video, even though it is in Thai, and not English. The short midget in the video is the embodiment of the "never say die" attitude that we need among the citizens, and his selfless efforts are enjoyed by all.

It is true that in life, we sometimes sacrifice for others without them even knowing. And other people, who may know it or not, often take credit for the work that we do. But if you want to do something for the good of the people, do it, even though you may not get the credit.

Too often, we hear others grumble that this isn't good enough, or that isn't as it should be. And if you should catch them in that moment when they grumble in response to something that has just happened, it is the right time to ask, "What will you do about it?" And you shouldn't be surprised to hear the response, "I will not do anything...."

Why do some people insist on doing nothing?

Because it's easier to do nothing, than to do something. Just stay put.

Because doing nothing costs nothing. And you don't believe in being generous.

Because when you do something, you risk doing it wrong. And getting criticised for it.

Because there are just too many things that need doing. And so it's easier to leave it all aside and let it sort itself out.

And because doing nothing frees up time for doing something. Because when you decide to do something, you cannot do nothing.

But there's a misconception there.

Because by doing nothing, it costs you nothing today. But that doesn't mean that it will not affect you tomorrow.

Because what you do (or don't do) today will affect you, tomorrow.

And because doing nothing when you could have done something means having forfeited your right to take positive action to save yourself.

So do something.

Save the country. Save yourselves. Don't just stand there....

Pergi Bala, or How I Misheard A Song

Recently I was attending an official function.

We wanted to celebrate our athletes who had done well in Rio. And so we invited them to come for a special dinner. All the athletes who had gone to Rio came, including the silver medalists.

Their names were called one by one, and they marched in to jubilant cheers. Even the ones that weren't so famous got the cheers. But not many people were clapping, because many people were taking photos.

We need to learn how to hear the important messages in life.

We stood close to the red carpet, and one of my friends asked us to turn our backs to the carpet so that he could take a group selfie with the athletes walking in the background. But once the athletes started walking in, lots of people started crowding behind us, and blocked the view of the athletes. So we stopped trying to do that.

Do not impose your religion on others.

Once upon a time, there was a headmaster in Sarawak.

The headmaster was a Muslim. He was overzealous, and he converted a non-Muslim student to Islam. The parents made a big fuss over it, and he was transferred to a new school.

Then, at the new school, he was just as overzealous. He decreed that all crosses and crucifixes were to be removed. Even the ones kept below the students' blouses. The ones that hung around their necks and nestled easily next to the students' hearts.

Yes, even those.

Here is a link to the original article.

The flag of Sarawak.

My Response to the 1MDB Scandal

It's Famous...

Yes, it is. It's everywhere in the international news at the moment. But it doesn't mean that it's true. People always ask me what I think about 1MDB. I say that it's a company owned by MOF. Then they ask me about the man on top. I say that every person is innocent until proven guilty. People tend to stifle a laugh when they hear that. 

1MDB has been in the international news recently. 

The Special Month of Ramadhan

The month of Ramadhan is upon us, and for Moslem friends, it means a special time of fasting and prayer. Ramadhan is the ninth month in the Moslem calendar. The Moslem calendar is lunar-based and its first year began in the year of Prophet Mohammed's Hijrah (meaning "emigration", and alternatively found as Hijra, Hejira, Hegira) to Medina (Madinah).

Prime Minister Dato Seri Najib Tun Razak on his blog, wrote:

Ramadan can be a time of great spiritual growth and brotherhood, just as Malaysia can be a country free of poverty if we are committed to making it happen.
(Source: 1Malaysia.com.my, Have A Blessed Ramadhan)

On Fasting

The act of fasting during the month of Ramadhan is obligatory upon all Moslems. One such injunction to fast is as follows:

"Oh ye who believe,
Fasting is prescribed to you
As it was prescribed to those before you
That ye may learn self restraint".
- Sura Baqara verse 183
(Source: My Sinchew.com, 22nd August 2009. It's Ramadan)

The typical day of a Moslem's life during Ramadhan can be divided into two portions: Fasting, and non-fasting. Many Moslem friends I know have woken up in the middle of the night to take their meal of "sahur" before commencing the fast. Fasting begins upon the break of dawn. (Source: Islam Online, Do Not Miss Your Sahur) MUIS (Majlis Ugama Islam Singapura) states on its website that "Fasting starts with Subuh, not Imsak nor Syuruk." (Source: Majlis Ugama Islam Singapura, Frequently Asked Questions.)

According to Adil Salahi, in the above piece "Do Not Miss Your Sahur", fasting among Moslem communities differs from that of the Jews, in that fasting for Jews begins from the moment they wake up, right to sunset, when the fast is broken. The Jews do not have an equivalent to sahur. But you should know that Moslems are encouraged to defer their meal of sahur until the last possible minute. (Source: Islam Online, Do Not Miss Your Sahur) I suppose this statement will dispel any ideas of an extra-early sahur (some creative people might imagine that it's possible to extend supper right to sahur).

During the hours of fasting, Moslems are encouraged to put effort into following the teachings of the Qur'an. They are told to avoid as much as possible from thoughts and acts which are obscene, impure, sexual, etc. (Ref: Wikipedia, Ramadan.) MuslimConverts.com, a website geared towards Muslim Converts, says that the following are forbidden during the hours of fasting: food and drink, sexual intercourse, and masturbation. (Source: MuslimConverts.com, Ramadan 2009 Special)

Fast is broken at sunset. In countries where the hours of the day have become longer, sunset falls at a later hour. The fast, as a consequence, is broken at a later hour as well. According to KIVI TV:

Ramadan, the Muslim holy month, will begin in August for the first time in 33 years this year. Moreover, it will be creeping deeper into summer for each of the next seven years because the Islamic lunar calendar is roughly 11 days shorter than the international solar calendar. That means Muslims in the U.S. face longer, hotter days of religious devotion because of longer, hotter summer days ...
(Source: KIVI TV, 22nd August 2009. Longer, hotter days strain Islamic holy month.)

This means that people would be breaking fast later, and sleeping later, as a consequence. It may mean that performance will have to suffer as a form of trade off. But Moslems frequently remind themselves that the Battle of Badr was fought with warriors from the Moslem side fasting throughout the month of Ramadhan. (Source: MuslimConverts.com, Ramadan 2009 Special.)

What happens if the fast happens to be broken? From the KIVI TV website again:

... the longer, hotter days re-emphasize another element of the Ramadan season: God's forgiveness. For Muslims who break the fast, they can make up the day any time before Ramadan the next year.

According to the Jamiatul Ulama (Council of Muslim Theologians), Johannesburg, there are ten (10) valid grounds for not observing the fast.

VALID REASONS FOR NOT OBSERVING THE FAST
There are ten valid reasons on account of which one is allowed not to observe the Fast and they are as follows:

1. Being on a journey;
2. Sickness;
3. Pregnancy;
4. Suckling;
5. Intensity of hunger and thirst;
6. Weakness and old age;
7. Risk of life;
8. Jihâd;
9. Unconsciousness;
10. Insanity.
[Source]

Prayers

During this month, Moslems will be praying for extended periods of time throughout the night. These are known as "terawih" prayers.

Further Reading
I found the following post on the Ramadhan Blog and it was quite good: Benefits of Ramadhan (We Need Ramadhan).

A simple question and answer format explanation of Ramadhan fasting from a Moslem's perspective is found at Examiner.com's Answers to common questions non-Muslims ask about fasting in Ramadhan (Source: Examiner.com, 23rd August 2009).

Wikipedia's page on Ramadan is also quite instructive.

Finally, for Moslems in particular, The Islamic Workplace's Ramadan 101 + Ramadan Duas from Qur'an and Sunnah is quite an eye-opener. But if that doesn't get your attention, perhaps the link to various free e-book downloads at The Islamic Workplace might!

1 Malaysia and the new Malaysian equation

Malaysia's sixth Prime Minister, Dato Seri Najib Tun Abdul Razak, has taken the helm of the nation and has just completed the first 100 days of his ascent to office. Along with it, he has promoted the slogan, "1 Malaysia", in order to unite the variegated communities in this nation and encourage nation building. The slogan has, however, been quite ambiguous in its interpretation, no thanks to the vagueness of what it means. It has not been spelt out in full. What do my fellow Malaysians make of this slogan? What does it mean? Malaysia has always been one and the same. Yet we all have our own views of what Malaysia means. East and West Malaysia? Rich and poor Malaysia? Privileged and unprivileged Malaysia? Modern and backward Malaysia? Malay and non-Malay Malaysia? Bumiputra and non-Bumiputra Malaysia? Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat Malaysia? What does it mean?

As a nation which aspires to walk together to mutual prosperity in the new millenium, we have faced setback after setback since the turn of the millenium. We now approach the end of the first decade of the millenium: what can we do to achieve unity amongst our children, and grandchildren? My personal opinion is that efforts should be made to recognise, and incorporate, the various communities. They who are backward, no matter where they are, no matter what race and no matter what religion, should be given equal opportunity to progress. If a prime minister is sincere, he must give equal opportunity to all people, and not institutionalize the segregation and victimization of minority communities. Indeed an equation for a multi-racial country can be considered fair only if the majority consider it acceptable and fair to switch places with the minority. If it were otherwise, all talk by representatives of the majority is only word of mouth, and unrepresentative of anything significant.

What do you think?

**************

Further reading:

• Our Prime Minister's blog at www.1Malaysia.com.my (English section)
• NST: They criticise 1Malaysia but, horrors, they want Najib to succeed (25-6-2009) Extract: "The ‘People First, Performance Now’ enunciation last week in the Dewan Rakyat was the first time he pitched it inside the House before the meanest horde of cynical sceptics from PKR, DAP and Pas, whose MPs’ hearts may agree with the basic precepts of 1Malaysia but predictably, whose political heads went with beastly instincts - rip the concept at its infancy before it can grow some legs."
• The Malaysian Insider: The malaise of 1Malaysia (24-6-2009) Extract: "But what about the rest of the country? What about the Chinese, Indians, Kadazandusuns, Dayaks, Sikhs, Eurasians and others? What role will they play in a Malay unity government? Who will look after the interests of non-Malays? Will crumbs be tossed their way?"
• Khairy Jamaluddin: 1Malaysia vs 3Malaysia (3-7-2009) Extract: "In BN, there clearly exists a working understanding between the component parties - this system has been the foundation of our leadership and the harmony within the coalition."
• Bernama: Islam Hadhari has similarity to 1Malaysia (30-6-2009) Extract: "Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Maj-Gen (R) Datuk Jamil Khir Baharom said the Opposition claim that Islam Hadhari had failed and not linked to 1Malaysia was untrue."
• Bernama: Najib confident BN, UMNO and Malaysia will support liberalisation measures (3-7-2009) Extract: "Times have changed, old instruments have not really worked, not delivered. But this whole notion of having a fair and equitable society is a dream and I think all Malaysians share that dream. It is just that it must be fair in the way we implement it, we must ensure that no ethnic group is marginalised and disincentivised as well. So, within the premise of what I have mentioned, I came up with the tag line of 1Malaysia, and I am interpreting 1Malaysia of specific policies but we must work together as one people, one nation and above all one dream."

I sincerely hope that the implementation of the 1Malaysia policy will be equitable to all. Again, I would like to say that an equation will be considered fair to all concerned if all players in the equation do not mind changing places. Although it is a hypothetical test, it will show you whether a certain party is only talking nonsense or trying to make a genuine effort.