Whispers of the Heart

The recent issue of probable petrol and fuel price increase has once again created an uproar among Malaysians in specific although this was a regional affair where the whole world was impacted simultaneously.

The sudden surge was due to the possibility of the government lifting the subsidy cost of petrol from year 2008 based on the financial condition of the motorists; with the intention to lighten the financial burden on those less fortunate or rather those living on a lower range of income. At the same time, the decision to retract the subsidy was also due to the high cost of petrol and also the heavy weight it pose on the government finances as well. In short, the government decided that it was time for us to finally pay for our own petrol without any discount or special promotional price where the significant % will be covered by the government, unless of course, you are poor guy who earns a meagre income.

The first thing that came to my mind when the announcement came on the screen where they were showing this leader talking during one of the meetings on how the prices have gone up and that the government has been really kind to provide subsidy for the petrol to the citizens in the country in an equal distribution. Then an argument was raised on the logic behind the government’s subsidy to everyone when the people are segregated into different financial background and economy status. The reason the government is providing subsidy is to heave off the weight of the cost of the petrol off the shoulders of the motorists in the country. However, the meaning of subsidy should pertain to those who are really in need of the subsidy and not to even the rich who can afford to buy several cars and houses but not able to pay the full price of petrol for their expensive cars.

I was a little bewildered at the statement that the government should start rationing the subsidy to provide for only the poor and not those "rich towkays who drive big cars and cruise through petrol stations". It was a unique situation which leaves one wondering at how do you scrutinize through every single cars that drive into the gas station and to determine their financial status on whether these are "rich towkays" or poor Ah Bengs. It is definitely just a literal thinking of mine but I do think this is an underrated statement without considering the impact in general.

Pushing the issue of technically segregating the rich from the poor when it comes to petrol filling and paymen, another issue that would arise would be the level of discrimination and elevate the disintegration case between the different social status. Are we to pursue the same social discrepancy in distinguishing the rich and poor as in other countries? The fact that Malaysia continues to be one of the harmonious and united country despite the multi-racial community has been something we have been proud over the years. The poor and the rich were always been apart due to the social status but the gap here in this country was not as huge as in other first world countries and we ought to be proud of that. With the implementation of this new policy, one can only imagine the effects of the distinguished entries into the gas station.

The surge in the petrol price increase is also nothing unexpected with the sudden rifts and issues arising but Malaysians would not have expected an approximate of almost ~RM1 increment excluding the subsidy. Thus, it is no surprise that the citizens would start crying out loud. With the upcoming election, it is expected that there will no petrol price increase or so they say, at the moment. However, what next? Once everything is set and after election, what will happen?

On the other hand, the AFTA policy is approaching but with the current probability of the petrol price increase, do we look forward to the policy anymore where we get better prices of that much dreamed of imported car? I doubt so; and I am with the majority who are slowly considering on selling off their cars and hitch/carpool with colleagues and friends.

On the brighter side, perhaps this would help to reduce the pollution caused by the carbon monoxide emitted from the cars exhaust pipes and promote the rates of commuters for the public transport provided. That is also another issue, perhaps the public transport should be ready before we can implement this?

The recent announcement of the successful endorsement of the agreement between Malaysia and China which have nodded to the notion of funding the project of the second bridge to link Penang and the mainland is indeed something to rejoice.

The bridge; which will span for a distance of 23km; with 17km on the water will be the longest bridge in the Asia region and will mark another remarkable architecture to the current archive of the Malaysian pride.

Bidding for a RM2.7billion worth of loan, this bridge marks another history in the Chinese continent as sporting the largest amount of loan China has ever granted any other country. This agreement is definitely more than a paper deal as we also see the beginning of the friendship between Malaysia and the China; the second largest investor in the world.

Beginning is not the right word to be used here to define the relationship between Malaysia and China; as we go all the way back to history; during the Malacca Sultanate period. In fact, back then, there was a good relationship between both governments built upon the basis of respect and political ties. Political marriages were common then and also the presentation of gifts to the respective rulers of the kingdom. Sultan Mansur Shah bridged the ties between both kingdoms through his marriage with the royal princess Hang Li Po; a royal marriage which further strengthened the influence of both kingdoms and the advantage Malacca then had with the strong support from the strong force of China.

Therefore, the statement made by the 2nd Finance Minister of Malaysia was not unfounded when he was quoted as saying that we are literally building a bridge with China with the launch of this project.

It was definitely not an easy feat with to win favours from one of the strongest economic powers in the Asia region and also ranking in one of the top positions in the world. The bridge is the symbol of China’s efforts in building a relationship with Malaysia.

Stemming from the congested and limited bandwidth of the original and foremost bridge which was the main link between the island and the mainland, the second bridge now is expected to be the booster to the northern region in line with the Ninth Malaysia Plan (NMP). Economically, the bridge is also to elevate the growth and financial status in the government and to pave the way to development in the northern region which have been ‘orphaned’ and pale in comparison to the continuous development in the capital which has now reached the status of a metropolitan city.

The second bridge project is on hold due to financial constraints prior to the loan agreement and has been a question mark among fellow Malaysians whether the bridge will materialize. Today, securing the loan has finally cleared the dark clouds and the construction of the second bridge scheduled sometime end of this year and expected to complete by year 2011 has Malaysians residing or working in the northern region can now heave a sigh of relief and they can now look forward to an alternative route of travelling between the island to the mainland and also bidding farewell to the traffic with the 2-lane bridge which ferries the entire population of both mainland states and the island.

Besides the traffic, the second bridge will also be linking the strong influence of China and the growth of Malaysia’s economy with the support rendered and the continuity of the political friendship between both nations which will hopefully also create more future collaboration and supportive opportunities between the countries.

I was inspired by a speech delivered/preached by my parish priest (we call it a sermon) in yesterday’s mass – Sundays’ obligation masses. He touched on the topic of humanity; and also on the parable from the bible which talks about the famous Good Samaritan who actually went out of his way to attend to an injured man by the roadside. During those early days, the Samaritans refer to people who originated from mixed marriages and thus were regarded as half-breed. The Jews consider themselves as the pure bred and the People of God and thus despise the Samaritans.

To cut the long story short, this man who was traveling was robbed of his money and belongings and the robbers even stripped him of his clothings; leaving him naked and injured by the roadside; with the heat of the sun shining upon him. As he was writhing on the grounds, a priest walked by. Now we all know priests and all religious men were highly regarded since those days and still are until today. However, in this story, the priest did a surprising thing; he turned and walked on the path, leaving the man as he did not want to have dirty stains on himself since he was a person of God. Next, a Levite (regarded as the teacher of Law) came by and saw the man in pain. He also strode in his path and left the man there. The next person who came by was a Samaritan, the race which everyone scorned upon as lowly. This man saw the injured man and immediately rushed to his aid; checking to see if he is still alive and further attending to him through the medication and then bandaged him. He carried the man on his own animal and brought him to an inn to take care of him and then even paid the innkeeper to take good care of the man when he left; promising greater returns if he fulfilled his deed when he returns.

     This story is one that touched many; as who would have thought that the most lowly despised and even the enemy of the race would lend a helping hand in times of distress? The war between the two races was not the barrier for the Samaritan to reach out to someone in pain without further hesitation. Simply deciphered as compassion; the Samaritan has performed a human deed; based on instinctive feelings for another man who has fallen. 

     Compassion; a word so simple and basic yet seemed so foreign in the contemporary generation. Human beings are distinguished from the animal kingdom and other beings created by God in the aspects of the grant of mind and feelings.

Being human, we supersede the other beings because of our brain and our living heart where we are blessed with the ability to think and feel to experience the evolving world around us. 

     Sadly, today, we see this virtue of mankind diminishing with time; replaced by the advancement of technology and knowledge.

    The priest also raised an interesting comparison with respects to the parable; the movie Transformers. A sci-fi based story which had its long-time legacy in its creativity; talking about robots and their mission and their transfiguration ability with respects to the situation requirements. The storyline is pretty simple; where it was a battle between the good and the evil robots (not exactly evil but they had a mission to accomplish). Both robots were from the other space or dimension and they had a quest to seize and obtain something which could grant them the highest and most powerful ability to reign other races of their own kind. The mission takes them to planet Earth where the object of their quest is and this has led them to the intervention with the other kind; humans. During their quest, they had to come in live contact with the humans. This is where the robots were distinguished between the good and the bad. The Optimus Primus; termed as the good robots actually fought for their quest but in the mission of doing so, they had another objective; which is protect the humans.

Depicted in the poster which was interestingly divided into 2 sides; the one on the left; with the blue hint represents the good robots who want to protect the humans during their mission and quoted “ We must not hurt the humans”.

On the contrary, since we have the protectors, we also have the destructors; the other side of the poster where the Megabots with the black sting were depicted with their tagline ‘To Destroy’.

Analyzing the movie, the robots both wanted to accomplish their mission by all means but the good robots showed compassion; which brought them out as the protagonist which overshadowed their protagonist counterpart. The Good Robots are also set with the intent of a successful accomplishment but at the same time, they do not want any innocent or others to be hurt or sacrificed in the process; a noble thought which even turned out to be sacrificial when they lost one of their kind during this quest to protect mankind. The Bad robots; set out with the same objective but their mindset was tuned to only accomplishing their mission and the others do not matter; as long as they accomplish their mission and anything that stands in their way will be removed; including innocent humans who were oblivious to their quest.

At this point, my parish priest also raised a food for thought; robots (referring to Optimus Primus) were acting compassionate in a manner which surpass even of mankind. They were intent NOT to hurt anyone in their quest; but back to Earth, how many times have we hurt or been hurt by others of our own kind?

How many have suffered from the tyranny and selfishness of others?

How many has been the “rock” or stepping stone for others’ success?

What has happened to our society? Is life no longer an asset? Except when it is your own?

Have we transformed ourselves into Megabots; just intent on achieving our own missions to fulfill our own happiness that we are not bothered by others who suffered in the process?

Are we comparable to robots? We do not even have feelings anymore and only move in the direction of our mission?

Compassion can be depicted in robots; it may be a movie but are we certain that today, we are still surrounded by compassion and love?

The answer lies in the rates of crimes; murder, robberies, abuses, fights, abortions, which are revolving around us every day when we flip the newspaper pages. Is this still a caring society? Do you stop by to lend a hand to someone in need or in pain if you happen to see them by the roadside?

Everyone is too encompassed with their self-interests that they overlook others beside them; or deemed as not important. If they face obstructions in their path, the only way is to remove them and move ahead with our path. Putting ourselves at risk of danger is simply not worth it for others; furthermore with the ugly sides of the society which has also taken the turn in taking advantage of sympathies and empathies to put themselves at danger when they stretch out their arm to help. Today, if you were to stop your car at the side of the highway to help another car which appeared to have broken down, you may appear in the headlines the next day as a victim of a mob gang or even killed mercilessly for your help which was not needed. Thus it is no wonder most of the people have turned themselves into the priest or Levite who ignored an injured man by the roadside.

Being human is also not easy; there are lots of points which you are looking at to be simply human. You will need to put yourself at risk of danger and to put others ahead of self interests; which may require yourself to put that foot forward to help. How many are willing to do that anymore?

As we upgrade with the evolution of the technology and the status of the society, we notice the increasing rates of crimes in parallel as well. Perhaps compassion has vanished along with the upgrade in the brain; perhaps they are inverse in relation.

Stripping off the compassion and humanly figure as of the priest and the Levite, we may be just mere Megabots in disguise.

It is a CHOICE for you to make that core within you a Optimus or a Megabot.

Anorexics, bulimics, plastic surgery, slimming centers, liposuction, Atkins diets, starving, have all been too familiar in this contemporary world. Nothing is perfect; images of own bodies are distorted and weight gain or fat are viewed as objects of disgust and scorned even on their own bodies.

Young girls have resorted to all sorts of diet fads; ranging from the Atkins diet (low carb) to NO carb diets in their stake to maintain an ideal and thin figure as those who walk the runways. Thin and small in size are the equivalence to beauty and the ultimate road to fame and also happiness. Isn’t this a distorted image which is playing in their minds?

You will be surprised that the population which are obsessed with their body images are highly educated beings; most of whom are placed in professional fields and earning decent monthly wages and yet, all they think about is their body figures rather than participating in healthy activities with the society and in maintaining a good health. I have heard of ladies in my offices talking about putting on weight, going on a diet routine, skipping lunches, etc. Of course, being a lady myself, I will not deny that I conscious of my own image as well. But to the extent of believing in beauty fads and slimming commercials and also in products that can trim those inches off the waist and thighs, it is still rather a skeptical truth for me.

The keyword to this whole phenomenon is trend and vanity. Trend; a positive yet at the same time destructive pattern follows closely with the demands and also the fresh innovations in breaking into sales market and achieving those target figures to meet the revenue. Setting the trend is not difficult; and if we explore into this issue of vanity and delving into our history files, we will find that the beauties of the past were not stick thin figures. In fact, most of them were chubby and some may even call them fat in the modern day’s image dictionary. One of whom was even noted as one of China’s Top 4 Beauties until this day; the ever famous and enchanting Lady Yang (Tang Dynasty). If you have ever seen portrait images of Lady Yang, you will know what I mean.

However, back then, she was not coined as a fat girl and isolated because of her weight, on the contrary, she was the object of affection of many who laid their eyes on her and was even involved in a love triangle between the Emperor and his son; to whom she was wife of. Today, Lady Yang will be considered fat and skinny girls like Nicole Richie or Victoria Beckham will be considered beauties.

See, that is the trend set as we travel through different eras. It is good to lose some weight for the sake of battling against obesity of which various problems could surface but it is another thing if this becomes the prime aim of life to be as thin as possible to make it to the cover pages of the magazines or even a job on the runway.

Young girls today are starving themselves; pushing food off their tables just to make sure they fit into that little bikinis and extra small size of dresses to feel and look good. But the key point is, being vain has also turned this society into a more heartless and creating more individualistic behavior as they strives only to lose weight.

What is the main objective and what is the true meaning of life?

To wear a skimpy bikini and dress with tanned and skinny legs and a flat tummy? At the same time having a stomach that growls at every opportunity?

The most important thing about beauty is not just about looking good physically, it also takes a lot to reform yourselves internally; beauty is only skin deep after all and is never everlasting; no one in this world is immortal and ginsengs are not magic food which preserves your youth. It is a state of mind to feel beautiful and look beautiful. You may be a 200 pounds girl but if you put a smile on your face and place others above your self interests, hey, you are an even more attractive beauty compared to a 40kg girl who is always jealous and plots on others’ downfall.

All that said, it is a matter of choice and perception. I am in no position to say or measure anyone’s beauty; all that prevails is yourself; choose the road you walk…be vain and be slain; or be kind and shine!

Ever been in those situations when you are horribly embarassed in the public or just during that special occasions where all you cared about was looking good and making the best impression in front of others?

All of a sudden, something comes in uninvited and interrupted your whole plan….

You burped….

Your stomach growls in the dead silence…..and making a a very loud and slow rumbling….

Or worse still, there was a horrific sound of gas coming from you (let’s not picture where it came from; leave it to your active imaginations…)

Sounds familiar? It has happened to everyone at least once in their lifetime and you hated those embarassing situations where it lands you in an awkward situation which makes you just want to disappear from the face of earth just for that one instant.

However, coming to investigate the causes of a growling stomach, one will typically associate it with the familiar sounds from your stomach to alert you that you are hungry. When you hear someone’s stomach growling, the first thing that comes to your mind is also, "Hey, he is hungry!"

But, further studies and research have landed me with more profound theory that this is not so. I have previously linked this to gastronomical problems as I never felt hungry whenever I hear growling in my stomach. According to a medical site I found on the web (Medicine.net), doctors/experts have pointed the growling of the stomach was caused by the intestinal movement, or specifically, the motion of air through the intestines. This can initiate the growling sounds as there is friction of the air with the intestines’ walls; and the presence of food is not a ruling factor of whether the sound will be produced. Therefore, this is a new theory on top of the old belief that a growling hunger can only mean one thing; hunger.

The link to gastronomical factors lies in the movement of air as well. As everyone knows, the disorder of gastric is caused by the discomfort of the stomach and also the presence of excessive air and the movement of air within the stomach; accurately, in the intestinal area. And as some sayings goes, you may have swallowed a lot of air thus inviting the air into your stomach, sits there and then causing the major movement and bumping in the stomach. If you still remember, sometimes the elders will always tell you not to talk too much during travel or when you are out in the open air/space and warned you that it will cause wind in your stomach. This is not an entirely baseless statement; sometimes, swallowing a lot of air which are permitted through the passage of your mouth opening can create excessive air in the stomach which further leads to the low rumbling or what we hear or interpret as the growling of the stomach. At the same time, some food which can cause indigestion and the intestines, being unable to digest it may push it along the way and this will cause a symphony of noises which sometimes can be heard; penetrating the walls of your stomach.

Gastritis patients like myself have often been warned against foods that can trigger the pain and also the disorder’s occurrence and those were the foods to be avoided to maintain normal intestinal cycles. However, there are other foods besides fizzy drinks (colas,sprites, etc) and your favourite baked beans (the famous culprit for belching and stomach gases) which cause/trigger gas in the body.According to the source found in the Medicine.net, food which are high in fiber are also responsible for causing indigestion in the small intestines and as it is further dissected by the large intestines; or rather the bacteria which resides there, this will cause the gas in the stomach.

Surprisingly, most of the foods causing these unpleasant turns were actually healthy foods such as vegetables (cauliflowers, broccolis, cabbage, onions, asparagus), beans, fruits (apples, pears, peaches), whole grains, just to name a few. This will tend to confuse people as fruits and vegetables are also important for digestion but yet at the same time, due to its high content in fibre, it actually also leads to indigestion by the small intestines.

Just one advice; though they are healthy and beneficial foods, moderation is the key to avoid any issues. Most of the time, the growling and gas symptoms from your body is not a hazard to your body nor is it alarming. However, if you do feel uncomfortable with an increase/ appearance of new symptoms and also the company of pains and weight loss, then you may perhaps want to consult professional advice from a doctor to perform a thorough medical check-up to prevent further health disorders such as cancer or intestinal diseases.

Live a healthy living and do not let fibre turn you off; just remember that the key to a healthy life is not just consumption of everything good but take note that everything is a balance. Eat and drink in moderation, exercise at a normal rate (not excessive) and also sleep well, and maintain a well state of mind.

~~Your health is your asset~~

On the 1st of July 2007,  The Malaysian’s popular daily newspaper, The Star published on the northern region of the Peninsula which was clouded in the thick haze on the day before. It may have been a trick of the eye to see a blurred vision of the famous 13.5km Penang Bridge and also the Komtar building amongst other skyscraper residential apartments based in the island but with the subsequent reports of the hotspots found in Sumatra, this is definitely a registered fact that the dreaded haze is back.

     Looming over the skies without failure every year, the Sumatran forest fires have been pinpointed as the root cause of the gloomy and depressing atmosphere which clouds the SouthEast Asia region. The country has countlessly been blamed for the reckless behavior of open burning and causing discomfort over the shared space of air over the entire region; and also on the effects this phenomenon had over the neighboring countries. Disputes pursue endlessly and yet, it is a repetitive and recursive event which still continues to haunt the region year by year.

     The identified regions were marked as Sumatra and Kalimantan; as the hotspots in the country which hosts the open burning. The duo was known for its topography of the spread of lush green forests but have been subjected to the blaze for whom the land owners (mainly farmers) who set them to flames to vanquish the prequel of their crops and harvest to make way for the next batch of plantation which explains the reason behind the annual event of open burning. The mass burning all at a simultaneous moment has spurred the release of a massive thick smoke into the air; clogging the pores of the clear skies. This is especially prevalent in the Southeast Asia region; namely countries like Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei and the Philippines which were relatively close in the geographic distance from the burning region. Besides the geography factor, another contributing key factor was the tropical weather which is typically a cycle of dry and moist atmosphere which encouraged the forming of the haze over the region as haze is usually formed in the dry air (as defined by the Wikipedia).

     One of the worst episode of haze was in 2006; when every single country was hit with the most alarming API(Air Pollutant Index) which raised the siren for the health concern among the nation. Everyone was advised against any form of outdoor activities; and some schools even issued off days to ensure that students will not be exposed to any outdoor curricular activities and also the danger of the particles in the air to the younger and less resistant bodies. Besides the health issues, most of the countries suffered a downturn in their revenues as a result of the decrease in the tourism from other continents to the SEA region. Countries’ economies rocketed down which affected most of the commercial markets. Disputes of course,followed again with shouts from the neighboring countries to put a halt to the burning activities which are threatening the harmony of the union of all these countries in the same region.

  ASEAN (The Association of the South East Asian Nations) have then reacted and signed the an agreement/plan with the intervention of Canada. The agreement enclosed the voices of the countries on the haze and pollution level in the other regions affected by the responsible country; termed as the Transboundary Haze Pollution. Also, a plan was also formulated at the same time, the RHAP (Regional Haze Action Plan) which enabled a system to eye and alert the nation for any fires to further implement the Fire Danger Rating System. This has been an immediate and urgent move called to action to stop the haze from permanent damage and the Malaysian Meteorological Service has been active with their activities since 2003.

       Rain water has always been the saviour but at the same time, haze often occurs during the dry spell periods; as mentioned, the main factor for its formulation in the first place. Nations have resorted to tradtional rain doctors (bomohs, dukuns, sifus, etc) to pray and perform magic to "call" upon rain to wet the skies and land and at the same time, wash away the haze and dust particles. Besides, governments have also invested in cloud seeding to trigger artificial rain to clear the skies and other numerous efforts as well have been conducted.

   However, the main issue lies in the awareness; it needs to come from those who started the fires. These are the people who need to know the damage they have created as a result of their convenience and how it has affected not only one or two person but an entire continent to suffer the fate. There should be further enforcement of law to ensure that these errant and irresponsible people are made to stick to their toes when it comes to the environment. Education plays an important role to teach the young not to dwell in harmful activities and to understand the environmental effects.

In all, it is not just a duty of one to ensure that this will not recur but a joint effort to enforce the agreement. And most of all, the responsible country should also play its part. Finger pointing and blaming is inevitable when things happen and the culprit should be responsible and ensure that actions are taken.

Let us pray for the haze to vanish as sudden as it appeared; and in the meantime, do stay indoors and drink lots of water to prevent any unwanted discomforts.

      Writing has always been a passion of mine, and I have came to know my love for it when I started out in school; writing composition, sentences back then. Slowly, I started writing about everything I see in life; anything that captivates my interest or any idea that pops like a lightbulb in the depths of those neurons. It was not long before I started writing short stories, poems and then, articles in school magazines; something which I was always keen about since I started out with my first love for reading; another passion of mine since the age I learnt literature and when I finished reading the first collection of Ladybird books and then moving on to Nancy Drew, Enid Blyton - the inspirational writer who made me think that I want to do something like that; writing for my own and others’ reading pleasure

     I have always wanted to fulfill a small dream of making it into journalism; I am pretty sure I will enjoy my time (part time or full) tapping my little fingers on the keyboard and staring at the screen as my creation appears; word by word as I type. I loved to write so much; that sometimes, the writing flow just got the better of me and I find it hard to stop; back then, when I was back at school preparing for those major government examinations, there was a limit on the wordings on each piece of composition. I was a little upset by the restriction, but I remembered my Form 3 teacher, who just told me, "Write however much you want, just let the flow go, forget about the limitation…." and that stuck in my mind ever since and I proceeded to cover articles of interest and one of my best pieces which I have written in 2 separate articles were on the Violence against Women; which even won me a trip to the States.

      I then got involved into blogging not long after that; and today, I am a proud owner of numerous blogs; ranging from one that delves in casual banter to food, entertainment, news, supernatural and my own travel. Now, I am very interested to run my own zine and thought, Hey, I can just try out; starting as a dummy in the website and then slowly make my way into publishin a zine of my own; doing my own writing unless there is someone out there interested in hiring a freelance writer like myself.

I will use this zine to publish my thoughts and work my way into research and sharing of views on more worldly and earthly issues near to us; so, hope you enjoy my first introductory post (and not be blasted by the impression that I am a lengthy and long-winded writer).

Stay tune to this MoonLight Zine of mine….

Have a nice day!~