My 2 Cents

Do aliens exist?

noreply@blogger.com (Keith) — Sat, 05 Feb 2011 03:58:00 +0000

Sounds like a strange topic to discuss on a Saturday morning, but bear with me for a while.

I always believed that Aliens don't exist. That the universe might be teaming with life, but we're unlikely to find any such intelligent life in our lifetime or in the next 100 lifetimes. However, a recent discovery over in Peru got me wondering, what if I'm wrong?
This discovery was so shocking to me, that the only thing more shocking was that we've amde 100 such discoveries before I came to know about it. Let me explain.

Drakes Equation

Here's the thing. Scientist have a equation called Drakes equation, which quite understandably was discovered by a man called Frank Drake. The equation states all the known possible variables required for us to actually make contact with alien lifeforms.

1) First of all, there actually needs to be stars in the galaxy for us to find them, since stars support life.

2) Secondly there needs to be planets around those stars that can support life

3) Third, life needs to occur on those planets.

4) Fourth, life needs to evolve till it becomes 'intelligent life'
5) Fifth, that intelligent life then needs to become intelligent enough to actually communicate with the universe (something we only discovered to do in the last 40 years)

6) Sixth, that intelligent life needs to stay around, long enough other intelligent life in the universe to communicate with them. Basically there needs to be two 'intelligent life' planets that fit the first 5 conditions at exactly the same time, in about the same region in the universe and then you'll have CONTACT.

Now, scientist know the number of stars in our galaxy, but the other conditions we know nothing about. Since we never actually encountered other plants with life, let alone intelligent life, we're more or less stumped as to how many planets out there actually have life.
Life on Earth is bloody everywhere

A little closer to home, in our own planet, Life is as abundant as you can get. Life is everywhere in your home, your city, the jungles, the ocean everywhere we can think of.

There are little creatures living at the bottom of the oceans, miles below the surface where the sun rays can't penetrate. They live of the volcanic heat. Now if an asteroid hits the earth, and blocks the sun, these guys wouldn't just survive, they wouldn't even know if the asteroid hit.

There is life in the driest place on earth, the Atacama dessert. This is a dessert so dry, some predict it has never had rainfall in the last 500 years. Even when it does get rainfall, the average for the whole dessert is less than 1 mil per year, but we've found bacteria living in the rocks of the dessert. The rocks trap the moisture in the air from the dessert humidity, which the bacteria live of. Amazing stuff.

Life on earth is everywhere, even in regions we once believed was uninhabitable.

Life in space is another story. Life in space seems rare. Why haven't we seen aliens?If aliens did exist why haven't we met them, and if we haven't met them..why not?

Is absence of proof, the proof of absence?

Not really, and here's why.

The discovery in Peru

Recently a group called "survival" published photos of an "uncontacted tribe". I never really believed that there were entire tribes living in jungles and islands that have never been contacted by humanity. The world wide web may be connecting me and you, but these people haven't seen paved roads, let alone the information super highway. I'm also willing to bet they don't even have facebook accounts, although that may be going a bit too far.

From the survival website, there are about 100 such "uncontacted tribes" on the planet, and the latest policy is that they remain uncontacted.

While we usually like to think highly of our technology and science, contacting such tribes usually end up badly...for them. Living in isolation for the hundreds (if not thousands of years) means that they never fully developed the immunity towards normal diseases we see everyday. Entire villages wiped out by pneumonia and tuberculosis. Diseases we have long been immunized too.

Even without that little disease hiccup, the economics just doesn't work. These tribes live in extremely resource rich environments, of which they have developed a harmonious existence to. We on the other want to pillage it, destroying their very livelihood, and their way of life. We end up assimilating them to 'our' economy and the tribal people often end up at the very bottom of our economic pyramid, ending up becoming prostitutes in most cases.

Just visit uncontactedtribes.org for more information on this fascinating topic.

What does this have to do with Aliens?

The latest policy of the Brazilian, Peruvian and even the Indian government, is to let the isolated tribes remain isolated.

Contacting them usually results in devastating plagues and viruses and economic plunder of their land. Isn't a wonder why they want to remain uncontacted?

Now if you were an Alien race that's mastered space-travel to the point that you can circle the galaxy as quickly as I can circle the block, then the gap between you and the human race is roughly what we're seeing in the jungles of the Amazon of the Andaman Islands.

These people are a good 10 thousands years behind us in terms of technology, and based on many trial-and-error attempts, we've discovered the best way to observe them is from afar. In fact, it's better to not observe them all and just leave them be.

Wouldn't aliens also learn from such experiences? Maybe they are observing us from afar? Maybe they are just hovering in flying saucers and not making contact for our own good, just to prove to some inter-galactic tribunal that we exist and they shouldn't destroy our sun. Sounds strange, sounds implausible, but given what we know if aliens did make contact with us, it wouldn't be to our advantage.

I guess Drake should have added another variable to his equation....whether the alien race that's looking for other intelligent life actually chooses to make contact.

That's my 2 cents. Don't spend it all in one place.

Some people just don't get the internet

noreply@blogger.com (Keith) — Sun, 30 Jan 2011 13:14:00 +0000

"The worst fish head curry in the known universe"

Back when I was in primary school, I was thought something called universal truths, things like the Sun rises in the east, or a cow has four legs were universal truths. They were truths that would remain constant over space and time. Unfortunately, I learnt later on in life that there are few (if any) universal truths. A couple of billion years from now, the star we call the sun would expand to become a red giant, a star so big it would completely cover the earth and burn us in the process. Cows by the sheer nature of evolution, may or may not continue to have four legs, and there will come a time where the species we call cow will cease to exist.

However, while universal truths remain a distant memory from school, some truths remain too hard to swallow. Consider the case of Jothys fish curry, a small restaurant in a small town that was on the wrong end of a blog review at sixthseal.com. One blogger in particular didn't quite enjoy the fish curry, but ranted that Jothys had been underwhelmed by customers, had non-succculent prawns, served fish roe that tasted like cardboard and worst of all...was deemed to be avoided like a bad case of herpes.

I imagine Tharumaraj Sivaperumal as the managing director of Jothys felt compelled to protect the dignity of his restaurant by suing the blogger. I wasn't quite sure what the owner was suing it for, the author (just like you and me) should be entitled to our opinions. Our opinions do not constitute universal truths, but they remain truths nonetheless. If I said I didn't like the color blue and thought blue was boring, then that is my opinion and I am entitled to it. It is also my entitlement to "proclaim my faith" by chastising blue and showing all you blue lovers the error of your ways...but it remains my choice, because it is my opinion. It remains my opinion and as long as I declare it as my opinion, I am the last and only authority on the authenticity of that claim.

The point though is that Jothys didn't just sue the blogger, they sued the giant search engine we all love ..GOOGLE. I'm not entirely sure why, but it was along the lines of "search for Jothys and you see the offending blog but not on Yahoo or Bing". Now as ridiculous as this sounds, the owner would have had more luck suing the host of the website rather than Google. In fact, by suing the blog owner and Google, all the owner is doing is push the page rank on the offending blog higher up in Google. Making it even more likely for people to end up on the offending blog. As more people read about the ridiculous lawsuit, more people search and find it on google and as more people click on that link, Googles algorithm pushes the blog higher up it's rank, making it more visible whenever someone searches for Jothys. Thus, the owner is in fact, doing more to harm his brand than the original blogger.

That's how the internet works. No one person can change the internet, it's built on the values of democracy and trust, that's why Wikipedia is the leading encyclopedia and NOT Encarta. An encyclopedia dependent on a lot of 'little guys' seems to beat out the big guns. Unfortunately, the truth is hard to swallow...especially if you're a Dog Abuser.

Dog Abusers beware..if Malaysians catch you abusing a dog, they will find you.

Last week a video circulating around the internet of a Man abusing a small poodle was highlighted by a local Chinese daily. Now Chinese newspapers don't really enjoy that big a reading circle in Malaysia so to depend on the couple thousands readers that the daily has to find the abuser would be futile...fortunately we have Facebook. A couple of hours after hitting social circles some parties seemed to have found the offending culprit. One Facebook page has claimed that they know the exact identity of the culprit. Not just that, but they claim to know the dogs owner who was shooting the video, and her ex-husband as well and son. It looks like there's no holds barred here.

Once the identity was published, thousands started the usual witch hunt for the culprit. Not one of those who posted vial messages on facebook threatening the owner with grievous bodily hurt ever bothered to lodge a police report. This reminds me of a colleague who promoted political facebook pages while she herself had not registered to vote. You can like all the facebook pages you want, but if you're not a registered voter you're completely missing the point. It all seems now that whatever happens in facebook is more important that what happens in ...real life. Social-network justice seems more important than Social justice.That's why Jothys is more concerned about it's online presence than it's actual presence.

Apparently, actual proof is not neccessary in Social-Network court. It all works on the concept of social proof (popularized by Robert Cialdini in his book Influence). If enough people believe it to be true, then it is true. It's the same reason we don't stop to help accident victims along the highway, because if no one else is stopping, it must be nothing. So if enough people believe that you abused a dog, the you abused a dog. There was no trial, just one very big jury and an extremely quick execution.

Execution was swift and just (or so they say). Death threats looming and tombstones abound. Yet, the cowardice of it all, is that none of those posers on Facebook bothered to lodge a police report, could it be because there is no law in this country to protect the rights of animals? There is the animal act of 1953 that was amended in 2006. Yet none of these 'valiant' defenders of the dogs ever did it. It was either they believed that someone else would report it or that maybe they got the wrong person, either way it's probably something you checked out first BEFORE you created your hate filled facebook page.

But there is hope, if these are indeed the people, then without Facebook we would not have found them. Bravo Facebook.

In fact some parties even gave an offer of Rm5,000 for whoever could find the abuser, well in excess of the maximum Rm200 fine one would get for violation of the animal act of 1953. Which brings me to the final point, if these bunch of cowards and retards can get their act together on Facebook and try to save a dog. How come Haris Ibrahim had to literally beg for money so that the family of R.Gunasegaran could get a second autopsy on what is the 1805th death in custody in Malaysia? Why is it we were willing to go through such extreme emotional punishment on a dog abuser but not on the murderers of Kugan?

Is it because we view these guys as less than dogs? Could the life of humans who have died in Police custody be worth more than a poodle being punished by a tatooed dumb ass? How can society look itself in the mirror, when we look out for dogs more than ourselves? What about Teoh Beng Hock?

There is a silver lining though. Haris managed to raise Rm10k , well in excess of what was required. Bravo Malaysia, you've made me proud. But that dark social network cloud and the level of stupidity involved in all this makes me wonder, is the internet becoming more important that 'real' life, and if so, why do some people not get it?

That's my 2 cents. Don't spend it all in one place.

10 Reasons Christians in Malaysia Should use be allowed to use the word Allah

noreply@blogger.com (Keith) — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 17:23:00 +0000

It's been a long long time since my last post, but finally I'm returning back to my normal life, and I can finally blog again...and watch my movies. (pulp fiction was excellent).

However, I felt I had to write about this Allah as it seems to be getting a bit out of hand. Unfortunately, it's unlikely my blog would do anything about it, but hopefully in some small way it may help to clear the air about this rather controversial issue.

Firstly, let's be clear that it is indeed a political issue. As far as I remember, Dato' Seri Utama Dr. Rais Yatim, the information minister of Malaysia had a rather tough time with the Herald. He was a bit 'displeased' with the Herald publishing articles relating to politics in the run-up to the 2008 general elections in Malaysia. After a bit of a tussle that was leading nowhere, the Ministry then threatened the Herald with not renewing their license simply because the Herald had used the word Allah in it's Bahasa section (the Herald is published in 4 languages). As far as the Ministry was aware the word was only allowed for Muslims. This is where everything starts, The Herald chose to defend it's right to use the word Allah and a half-dozen court hearings later we're right back where we started.

So it is a political issue, it was brought up by a politician for political reasons so say the issue was politicized, is wrong as the issue started off as a political one.

With that in mind, let's move on to a very clear second point in the debate. It shouldn't be a debate. It's not a debate about whether Christians should be allowed to use the word Allah, it should consensus building discussion. To debate for the sake of debating would pit two sides against each other, and as the debate continues both sides become more entrenched in their opinion that any form on consensus becomes unlikely. If we truly wanted to find a solution, we'd move to garner consensus and understanding rather than debates. Unfortunately, too many blogs on both sides of the political and religious divide are guilty of this and it is indeed a sad sight. When we have a entire section of bloggers comparing the trinity to 3-in-1 Nescafe, it doesn't really create an environment of respect necessary for real conversations and dialogue to occur.

Finally we get in on the real meat of the issue, and I won't repeat what you can read elsewhere, but as a Catholic and a citizen of Malaysia I must emphasize my view and state my points.

1) East Malaysian Christians (not just Catholics) have been using the term for generations before the formation of Malaysia. To say they can't use the word is akin to telling them their religion is illegal.

2) The term Allah is an arab word for God. The Arab Christians refer to god as Allah as well. Therefore in it's current form as a Malay word borrowed from the Arab language, it should be 'borrowed' to all those who speak the language and not just the Muslims.(There are Malay Speaking people who are NOT Muslims)

3) Even within the Malay archipelago, the Indonesian Christians refer to god as Allah, yet the Indonesians seem OK with this, while Rais Yatim isn't.

4) It is just impractical and completely useless to ban a specific word from an entire section of the populace based solely on religious beliefs. To say you can't use the word Allah because you are not Muslim is a dangerous path to go down because to accept this is to accept religious discrimination.

5) The whole idea that this stems from the Christian desire to proselytize is actually true. The initial missionaries in this part of the world probably translated the bible to Malay and other various languages to convert the local populace. However, let's be fair, this was hundreds of years ago before Malaysia was formed. It would be fair to say that similar translations were done to the Quran to convert the local populace from Hinduism (or Buddhism) to Islam. The local populace in Sabah and Sarawak who accepted Christianity have their rights as well, and that includes the right to refer to god as Allah. As to how they were converted is irrelevant, what is relevant is they choose to remain Christian and they choose to worship in Malay, and it is their right to do so.

6) For the UMNO members who justify this action as a deterrent to apostasy from within the Muslim community in Malaysia...it is actually an insult to the Muslims (and primarily the Malays). It begets a thinking that in order to convert Muslims in this country, all I would have to do is to 'confuse' them with the word Allah and I would be able to convert Muslims (mostly Malays) en mass. This obviously highlights how highly some of the top dogs of UMNO view their fellow race.

7) To say that the Malay term doesn't lend itself to the Christian understanding of God, is to neglect that the Christian Sabahans and Sarawakians have equal claim to both Malaysia and the Malay Language. They have as much right to declare Allah a Christian only term in Bahasa as the Muslims. To deny this, is to deny the Christian in East Malaysia their rights.

8) Christians and Muslims actually worship the same God (GASP!!). Yes, indeed. While many are unaware of this, let me repeat that Christians and Muslim worship the God of Abraham. Abraham is the patriarch of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, and whichever of the 3 you belong to, you believe that we worship the same God as Abraham...and Abraham only believed in one God. It is our understanding that is different, but the actual God we refer too, the actual SINGLE ENTITY we worship is one and the same, it would indeed be confusing if we'd have to use a different name now would it? Christians believe in the Trinity, but we also believe that there is one and only one God.

9) Why can't we use this as a common ground to improve inter-religious dialogue and understanding. It's bad enough when Jakim goes around with guidelines that Muslims shouldn't attend any function where there are symbols of crosses and crucifixions, what we need now is unity not division. How can we hope to unite the muslims and non-muslims of Malaysia, when my closest Malay friends would be unable to attend my wedding? Or even my wedding dinner for that matter, as we begin any meal with a grace? How do we achieve unity what is being preached is division and isolation for Muslims?

10) We shouldn't let issues like this be decided by politicians, it's way to important an issue to leave them up to bloody politicians.

As a finale though, we have to accept that the Christian understanding of God as a Trinity is not the same as the Muslim understanding of God. Therefore Muslims do feel uncomfortable with these two wildly contradictory understandings to refer to God with the same name Muslims also do feel a very real threat to the position of Islam in Malaysia, although I believe there is no such threat it doesn't discount the fact that a vast section of the Muslim community in Malaysia feel it.

That being said, these issues can only be tackled through inter-religious dialogue, and inter-religious understanding. It would be difficult for this to happen as long as the debate is tied up in court and politicians leading the government charge on this. It's also quite difficult when the Government itself has already entreched itself in one camp thereby closing the door for any sort of dialogue to take place.

That's my 2 cents. Don't spend it all in one place.

What makes a great story? Why Star Wars is better than Avatar?

noreply@blogger.com (Keith) — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 15:53:00 +0000

It's been a whole month since my last post...that speaks volumes about the amount of free-time I have.

Work commitments have been piling up, and organizing a wedding isn't a walk in the park. Just the other day, I went to Ikea which doesn't sound like much until you understand that I get a headache when I shop too long. Any shopping complex that requires a map to navigate is too big for my liking, and it's a great irony of nature that my fiancee can't get from Shah Alam to Klang without the GPS turned on, but can navigate this maze of Ikea which I'm sure was created by an Evil Swedish King intent on making me look foolish.

Between now and then I've watched Saving Private Ryan (I never remembered Vin Diesel in it), Das Untergang , GoodFellas, The Good The Bad and The Ugly , Sinonmbre and two episodes of Star Wars. I also managed to watch the new Toy Story 3 (which is the best Pixar Cartoon EVER) I wondered why something like Star Wars (the original trilogy) outranks Avatar which has so much more vivid Graphics and hyper-realistic effects?

Here's why:

I've always wondered what makes a good story, why some movies seem to succeed while others don't. It's not a straight forward formula, but I do know why movies succeed. Most of the movies I watched introduced to me a new world of fascination and wonder. Star Wars is obvious, it's a whole new Galaxy, it's a whole new re-imagination of reality same goes for Avater, but even the other movies introduce us to worlds we don't know about.

Saving Private Ryan showcased the lives of standard American GIs running into Paris shortly after D-Day, it's a story or reluctant soldiers marching into a mission they never truly believed in. In the end Tom Hanks explained that they just do what they're told so that they can go back home, the soldiers mission is not to kill the enemy, a soldiers mission is to go back home.Fantastic..all 3 hours of it.

Das Untergang, was the flipside of it all. It reveals Hitlers last days to us, as the allies close their grip on Berlin and how Joseph Groebbels refuses to leave the Fuhrer and kills his children to avoid capture. It's just 2 hours of raw emotion, revealing a world we never considered exist, asking the question of "Was Hitler Human?" .

GoodFellas is an biography of a wise-guy, a gangster. It's a world where killing isn't unusual and Gangsters using connections and fear to get what they want. It's a great show made better by great acting, but the story, the story of gangsters and how even though they're criminals...they're the heroes in the movies. Gangster movies are strange in that they make us love the 'bad-guys' they make us understand why they became gangsters, they make us love their arrogance and wish we were like them.

The Good The Bad and The Ugly isn't an out-an-out Western. Set during the American Civil War, Clint Eastwood acts as blond cowboy venturing in search of gold. It's a great movie, and like all Westerns involves a lot of shooting and riding. I don't know why we love Westerns, I guess we love to live in a world of no rules, and every man fended for himself.

Either way, unless you're a Jedi Knight, a Cowboy in the wild west, a Gangster or a Soldier in war, these movies offered a glimpse into worlds we can only imagine. Worlds we're probably not going to experience in real life. It offers an escape from the drudgery of 9-to-5 jobs and normal 'ordinary' lives we lead. We all crave the excitement of war, or a fight, we crave to be the hero or to have one. Each story reveals new worlds with unlimited possibilities to us, each one brings something new. I call this the landscape of the story, and while it's possible to create great stories with normal landscapes (of office workers in 9-to-5 jobs), a landscape helps captivate our imagination and getting us to pay attention, sometimes the landscape is the story.

Peeling away the landscapes of the stories reveal great depth (all great movies have this), but the landscapes they have are equally important. It's impossible to separate the landscape from the story, a story of boy who fights an entire war against his father is great, but would Star Wars have made it to where it is, without things like "The Force" or "Light-sabres" or "Jedi Knights" or "Hans Sole"..and Darth Vader?

Take Avatar for instance, while the imagery was breath-taking and the landscapes were great, the story itself lacked any depth. It was monotonous, it was single dimensioned, there was no twist, no extra layers...you could predict the ending half way through the movie, you couldn't have predicted "No Luke, I am your father".

That's why Avatar is in the list, that even though it lacked any REAL story-telling depth, the story was in the landscape. The landscape was captivating enough to hold our imaginations,it held us in as they explained a story of Man going to war in far-away planet against Aliens who download and upload content into their planet. It's amazing, and it can create a movie.

However, having just a pretty landscape isn't the story in itself. It merely creates a condition for a great story... that's where Star Wars has the edge on Avatar, and that's why it's higher on the list.

Next is the characters, while you remember Darth Vader, and Hans Solo, the Skywalkers, can you name the guys from Avatar? But that's for a later post.

That's my 2 cents. Don't spend it all in one place

Dr. Stragelove - Just Fantastic

noreply@blogger.com (Keith) — Fri, 28 May 2010 13:25:00 +0000

Ever since I started this quest I've had to watch some really boring movies (like Das Boot), but every now and then I get introduced to great movies I would never have watched unless I took the quest.

Dr. Strangelove is a great movie.

There's really nothing more to say, it's a fantastic movie. I had very low expectations of it, but I enjoyed every second of the movie, it was light-hearted comedy with fantastic one-liners and a great story as well.

Think of it as The Sum of All Fears meets ....well The 3 Stooges. The movie isn't slapstick funny, but any movie made in the 1960s that can me me laugh more than 50 years after it was released needs a standing ovation. It may not be the movie for everyone but it sure was the movie for me.

This was an Unusual surprise

noreply@blogger.com (Keith) — Fri, 07 May 2010 15:44:00 +0000

I'm not one to post about my experiences, but today betterworldbooks.com gave me something to laugh about.

I recently purchased a second hand book from the website, that promotes literacy by recycling books, and got this rather strange (in a good way) from them:

Hello Keith,

(Your book(s) asked to write you a personal note - it seemed unusual, but who are we to say no?)

Holy canasta! It's me... it's me! I can't believe it is actually me! You could have picked any of over 2 million books but you picked me! I've got to get packed! How is the weather where you live? Will I need a dust jacket? I can't believe I'm leaving Mishawaka, Indiana already - the friendly people, the Hummer plant, the Linebacker Lounge - so many memories. I don't have much time to say goodbye to everyone, but it's time to see the world!

I can't wait to meet you! You sound like such a well read person. Although, I have to say, it sure has taken you a while! I don't mean to sound ungrateful, but how would you like to spend five months sandwiched between Jane Eyre (drama queen) and Fundamentals of Thermodynamics (pyromaniac)? At least Jane was an upgrade from that stupid book on brewing beer. How many times did the ol' brewmaster have one too many and topple off our shelf at 2am?

I know the trip to meet you will be long and fraught with peril, but after the close calls I've had, I'm ready for anything (besides, some of my best friends are suspense novels). Just five months ago, I thought I was a goner. My owner was moving and couldn't take me with her. I was sure I was landfill bait until I ended up in a Better World Books book drive bin. Thanks to your socially conscious book shopping, I've found a new home. Even better, your book buying dollars are helping kids read from Brazil to Botswana.

Talk about good marketing, now I won't be able to ever forget this purchase. Although I'm quite sure this is an automated message it does add a touch of personality to the order. I recommend the site, and I've purchased other books from them that arrived on time to Malaysia, and cost less than most sites.

For my other book purchases (and I do purchase quite a lot) , I use bookdepository.co.uk which has free shipping to Malaysia.

The Seven Samurai - Initial thoughts

noreply@blogger.com (Keith) — Fri, 07 May 2010 15:31:00 +0000

I've always been fascinated with westerns, so it really intrigued me when I found out that one of the best westerns ever was actually based on a Japanese Movie. The Magnificent Seven Starring Yul Brener, and a movie my dad (whose a western fan) absolutely adores was actually based on a Japanese movie called the Seven Samurai.

In both movies 7 men are chosen by villagers to defend a their village from attacks from Bandits. In the Japanese original, villagers ask the help of seven samurai to help defend their village. The seven are inidividual characters themselves and the characters are built up throughout the movie. It also offers insight into Japanese living, and some parts of the movie I'm sure had specific cultural context which I could not understand.

That being said, the movie extends for more than 2 hours, and the first 1 hour involves little (if any) action. Don't expect all guns a blazing, there are just 3 guns in the movie, and each of them play a specific role. It's when bandits begin to attack the village do things get really interesting, and the movie is proof positive that you don't need multi-million dollar effects to get you excited about action scenes, great action scenes can be shot without CGI, in 4:3 aspect ratio and in Black and White (and you'll still enjoy it).

As the bandits attack, the movie gently moves from insight to Japanese culture to a great action movie that is comparable to the shootouts we so loved in westerns.

I wouldn't know if it's an accurate representation of samurai living, but I loved the story, and I guess you would to. You should watch the movie, but it gets too boring round the middle, just forward it tills the bandits show up, things get really exciting then.

In one word.....unexpected. The action sequence at the end is far more captivating than the beginning. Half way through the movie I expected it to be boring, but the end was truly unexpected.

That's my 2 cents, don't spend it all in one place.

What was the fuss about?

noreply@blogger.com (Keith) — Sat, 01 May 2010 16:01:00 +0000

I understand that 1962 was a long time ago, but I still thought that To Kill A Mockingbird would have been a better film than it turned out to be.

The story about a white man defending a black man in a depression-era south, spends more than a hour before a courtroom scene of the defense. What I expected to be an emotionally charged movie, turned to be nothing more than Huckleberry Finn meets Boston Public. The show was draggy at times, but this was the 1960s, it was a time where there was little to compete for your attention, there was no 3D and the film was shot in a 4:3 ratio. I honestly can't remember the last time I saw a film in 4:3 ratio.

The drudgery continued for nearly one hour, with just a slight (ever so slight) hint of what was to come during the first 60 minutes of the film. This was no high-octane action film, nor was it highly charged emotional one. The climax of one scene was Atticus Finch shooting a mad dog (literally) on the street, I guess this was the equivalent of dodging bullets in The Matrix. The courtroom scene was devoid of most usual courtroom antics, although there was some highly charged emotions in the courtroom, nothing comes even close to "You can't handle the truth" (although nothing could come close to Jack Nicholson).

The show doesn't make sense to me, and probably since I didn't read the book it made even less sense that it should. I was left wondering why this show rates to highly and what the fuss was all about.....until.

Until I stumbled upon wikipedia to find out what this show was all about. Here's the thing, the book (pulitzer prize winning material) was published in 1960, the movie was released 2 years later. The book was so influential it even ha it's place in the Timeline of African American Civil Rights Movement. Not many books can be counted in a timeline for something as monumental as that. It was 5 years after Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white man. There were still things like separate drinking fountains for white and black folk. It's modern day equivalent would be a US General defending a Taliban Soldier for killing and American.

The Movie is around Atticus Finch, and how a White Man defends a black man convicted of raping a white women. This was serious reading material. The Mockingbird itself is metaphor (not many of those in movies these days):

Atticus warns them that, although they can "shoot all the bluejays they want", they must remember that "it's a sin to kill a mockingbird".^[75] Confused, Scout approaches her neighbor Miss Maudie, who explains that mockingbirds never harm other living creatures. She points out that mockingbirds simply provide pleasure with their songs, saying, "They don't do one thing but sing their hearts out for us."^[75] Writer Edwin Bruell summarized the symbolism when he wrote in 1964, "'To kill a mockingbird' is to kill that which is innocent and harmless—like Tom Robinson."

I later read that Atticus Finch was actually a role model for many lawyers and remains to this day one of the most influential figures (fictional or otherwise) in legal circles. There is something to be respected in the character, the movie plays this out well. Although not as powerful a hero story as Schindler's List or Hotel Rwanda, I have no doubt that given the context of the time the movie was released, it was every bit as powerful (or even more so).

In was in the this turning point of American History that Harper Lee decided to publish this book about heroism in the face of hatred, because only in the face of such hatred could such heroism be revealed.

In 1997, the Alabama State Bar erected a monument dedicated to Atticus in Monroeville marking his existence as the "first commemorative milestone in the state's judicial history.

There is in fact more to this that meets the eye. That given the context in which the story was created, and the point in which America stood at the time. This could have been one of the most powerful movies ever made, but I can't know for sure till I fully understand the context, that would come in my final thoughts.

That's my 2 cents. Don't spend it all in one place.

American History X - Final Thoughts

noreply@blogger.com (Keith) — Sat, 01 May 2010 02:38:00 +0000

A lot of people have been giving me stig for not watching American History X when it first came out, but that's beside the point.

The point is that it's a great movie, with a great story that ends with you emotionally evaluating everything you considered. I always believed the greatest story make you think, and American History X just excels in that area.

That being said, the amount of hatred and anger portrayed in nearly every character, proves at times a big distasteful. I'm not American so I wouldn't know what goes on in the minds of the characters, but it does sends chills down your spine to think that is probably a realistic depiction of what goes in on in Urban America (possibly till today).

The show is powerful, and after reflecting on it, I stand by my initial review that this is the best Edward Norton movie ever.

For now that's enough hatred already, and although Hotel Rwanda would be a better show to continue this, my mind can only take so much hate at once. Next up is a 'still' a story about racism, but one that involves a hero, it's based on a Pulitzer prize winning book , To Kill a Mockingbird. Based on the outcome of that one, I'd probably choose to go back to Hotel Rwanda, or Schindler's List. Let's see.

American History X

noreply@blogger.com (Keith) — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 09:19:00 +0000

It's a deeper more engaging version of Blood In Blood Out.Some parts of it you just can't watch, because they've managed to capture so much hate in the movie your natural reaction is to turn away.

A story about a white kid whose fireman father is killed, soon he becomes a protege of a white-supremacist. He then uses his natural leadership to form a small band of white-supremacist to 'protect' themselves. He ends up in jail and comes out of it a changed man, and that's how the movie starts. If you don't end this movie re-evaluating the way you think about race and racist, you'd be the first. I won't give it away, but in the end this white supremacist is saved by two black men.

Ed Norton at his finest, and I mean his absolute finest. There are few performances I have seen that can match his work in this movie. A white supremacist with a swastika on his chest, that goes to prison for killing two blacks trying to steal his car, who could picture Ed Norton in this role? You can't because the notion of Ed Norton you have a skinny guy who played Bruce Banner, so Ed Norton actually

Not much of the supporting cast helps though, Avery Brooks does pull of Dr. Sweeney really well, but everyone else on the cast seems to be a nearly-there kinda way. Which emphasizes just how well Edward Norton took on this role. If you're an Edward Norton fan, you know what I'm talking about.

In the end though, even Ed Norton's brilliant work only reinforces an already brilliant story. You're force to re-evaluate the way we think about skin-heads and white supremacist, they could be just young teens who were in the wrong place at the wrong time. The story is emotional throughout and some parts of it you just can't bear to watch, because they've managed to capture so much hate , your natural reaction is just to turn away.The emotional power made present in every scene.

I was upset with the end. The movie is just filled with hate and anger that you hope towards the end of it they give the characters a break, give them a happy ending. I won't spoil it for you, but I were deciding between Fight Club and this, I'd choose American History X ...hands down.

In one word, American History X is Powerful. In two words it's Must-Watch.

Final thoughts on Fight Club

noreply@blogger.com (Keith) — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 01:45:00 +0000

While I sit here 9.31am on my Labor Day Holiday, I've got the DVD in the player and we're nearly ready to go. I thought I'd write a bit about Fight Club before I proceed to American History X.

To me Edward Norton was always a second-grade actor, never really considered him anywhere near inspiring. However, Fight Club & The Magician seem to be proving me wrong, there is something to his acting that does to a certain extent...inspire. That being said, I feel he still feels boring, although that may be the characters he's chosen. Bruce Banner was never a really inspiring role to take in The Hulk anyway.

Helena Bonham Carter as well seems to be taking these 'semi-crazy' to total 'whacked-out' roles to new heights. I'd always remember her as the evil sorcerer from Harry Porter, but she's also done work for Corpse Bride, Planet of the Apes, Sweeney Todd , Alice in Wonderland, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Terminator and Big Fish. You can tell she's carved out a nice niche for herself, and actually is kinda hot, in a scary terrifying kinda way.

That being said, the story still falls short. Fight Club ends with an absolute bang, and the story isn't engaging enough for me. Maybe it's my preference for real-life stories which fight club certainly is not. I would say the story is a mixture of Old School and Identity. Although it pre-dates both those movies. I was half expecting Will Ferrel to run naked through the movie but that never happened. The ending though, when it all falls into place, is kinda cool and worth the movie. I understand why it's where it is on the list (No. 16), but I would prefer it go a bit lower. There are far better movies below it.

Now I'm waiting for American History X, which I'm told is a pretty good movie about racism. I love those kinda movies. Alright so we're on to American History X (no. 38) starring Edward Norton, and let's see if this guy is all he's cracked up to be.

That's my 2 cents. Don't spend it all in one place.

There really is something at the end

noreply@blogger.com (Keith) — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 15:18:00 +0000

Malaysian politics is full of posers. People who pretend to know things they don't, people who claim they can solve your problems, politicians (all of them) think money is an renewable resource something that never stops growing, that we get from an infinite pool that never ends. It isn't.

I'm fed-up of politics. Fed up of Racist stereotypical bozos running this beautiful country. The government or the opposition, they're no different than anyone. Would you turn down 100 billion dollars if you saw it? So don't judge Mahathir, lest you be Judged.

That's why I'm staying off politics....and moving to movies. The quest for the year is to watch ALL 250 movies on the IMDB top 250. All of them by the end of the year.

If I watched the movie before, I'll watch it again. Movies connect people and provides for more conversation than the weather, yet we rarely tap into this artistic passion we hold. Everybody has a favorite movie...EVERYBODY. So I'm watching them all, chances are I've watched your favorite movie and that gives us something to talk about the next time I see you.

So join me as we move this along.

First Movie of the Quest...FIGHT CLUB.

In one word...GREAT ENDING. Well actually that's two words. I confessed that I forced myself through the middle, I even posted a short review on Facebook before the movie ended. I was wrong. What started out as a boring loser movie (think Nicholas Cage in Weathermen), turns out to be a fantastic thrill at the end. The last ten minutes, I couldn't stop it was an excellent ending to an excellent movie.

Another thing you should know about the movie, is that those flashes in the beginning and the end, that you thought were because of a dirty DVD or a bad download, are there on purpose. Take a closer look at this youtube video.. There's only one word for this, GENIUS.

If you haven't watch it, you don't know what you're missing.

If you've watched it... try looking out for those flashes of Brad Pitt or that...

Well let's just say there really is something at the end.

My 200th Post

noreply@blogger.com (Keith) — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 15:29:00 +0000

This is officially the 200th post of my blog.

Although I haven't posted for nearly 3 months (that's a whole financial quarter), this blog will still live on. It's a strange thing about the internet, that as cost of storage hits near-zero my blog (and all it's quirky contents) will remain forever on record until I intentionally delete it. (or blogger goes bust)

The blog is officially 7 years old, my first post was on April Fools day 2003, and 7 days before my 27th birthday it officially became 7. It's older than the Ipod Nano (but not the Ipod Classic) and is one of the longest endevaours I've ever kept.

7 years is a long time, and just 200 post in that time is a tiny amount any way you slice it. I need to either up my game or give this up. I'm still undecided. Anyway this is to signal to everyone that I'm back and a commitment to this blog is back up and running, and I'll re-valuate this blog from time to time. My next post will be in before the end of the week.

I don't know Islam but I know logic

noreply@blogger.com (Keith) — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 13:58:00 +0000

If the Muslim governments of the Arab states and the secular government of Indonesia (the most populous muslim nation) allow Christians in their countries to call on God as Allah, you have to either accept:

1) Christians cannot call on God as Allah ; the Arab States AND Indonesia have wrongly interpreted Islam - OR
2) Christians can call on God as Allah and there is nothing Theologically wrong with it.

Choose.

If there is nothing wrong with it Theologically, then why is UMNO making so much noise? Otherwise, what makes you entirely certain that everyone else in every nation got the interpretation of Islam wrong , and only our wise Malaysian government got it right?

Learn how to respond to ignorance.

Of course there is a 3rd possibility, that I include here for the sake of completeness, that both the Arab states and Malaysia are right or they both are wrong. This would have to entail that the laws of Islam are not pervasive nor permanent, that they are flexible and change with regards to the context of the country/socio-political influences. I don't think anyone would have you believe that Islam has rules or laws that are flexible based on the country. It's like a Catholic saying abortion is OK as long as you do it in the right country.

Of course, that is where we stand.

Choose where you stand.

Let's all have a talk about Allah

noreply@blogger.com (Keith) — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 01:04:00 +0000

The matter of whether Christians can or cannot used the word Allah is not a matter for merely Muslims and Christians.

Considering that the Sikhs have been referring to Allah as God must bode well for religious ties in this country. Of course UMNO and their hate blogs can't see this oppurtunity, and instead have begun the finger pointing.

The way to end this once and for all, is to have a referendum. A simple referendum that will pose this question to every registered voter in Malaysia:

"Does the government have a right to deny the usage of the word 'Allah' to non-Muslims? "

This is not a religious issue, to consider it a matter for Islam, means we've already assumed that the word Allah 'belongs' to Muslims. It does not belong to anyone, the last time I checked there was no Trademark on Allah. This is a matter for which every strata of society have a say, to make their voice heard.

When churches are being torched, the Hindus , the Buddhist, the Taoist and even Agnostics and Atheist have a say. This is a simple matter of the rights of the minority in a Muslim Majority country.

All the debates can be had and the ceramahs, but at the end of the day, the referendum will prove the final showdown between bigotry and unity.

I'm not afraid. Even though Christians and Sikhs will make up less than 10% of the total vote. I'm not afraid, even though most people who do not bother much about this issue will not vote. I'm not afraid that some Christians view the usage of Allah as theologically unsound and vote YES on the referendum.

I'm not afraid because I strongly believe that the majority of Malays in this country (who by definition are Muslim), feel that the Government has gone overboard. They don't feel threatened if Christians start using Allah, they are not as Myopic and childish as UMNO to believe that they can somehow claim property of Islam. They respect Islam much more than that.

I believe, that in a Referendum, where everybody gets equal voice no matter how loud you shout, we will finally here the voice of the majority, rather than the insignificant minority of bigots like Mahathir. These bigots hope that by shouting loudly, they can mask the actually feelings of my Malay brothers and sisters.

So let's have the referendum, let's see how Barisan does without the Sabah and Sarawak 'fixed deposits'. Let's see whether their 49% popular vote in Peninsular will remain or dwindle to nothingness and go missing like Jet Engines.

Let's see if Najib has the balls to have a Referendum and let's finish this debacle once and for all.

For all those who claim to speak for the Malays, you should support this move. After all Malays make up more than 60% of the country. All you need is the Malay vote and you're fine, you don't even need the non-Malay vote for this. Or are you now questioning your position considering nobody bothered to protest throughout the whole country?

I think Kanna Curry House in Jalan Gasing got more customers for Friday lunch, than this supposedly 'strong' protest had protestors. Which basically says, that more Malaysians are concerned about some delicious fish curry then denying Allah to the non-Muslims.

Speaking of protestors: See the yellow placard behing the guy in Blue. It says: "Treat others the way that they wish to be treated" and the guy actually has a clenched fist. Which is good, because I want to be treated as a Malay in this country and get my 7% bumi discount and APs.

But I believe that his real intention was to say "Treat others the way that YOU wish to be treated", this is the stupidity we're up against. People who probably can't speak english and who don't know the difference between Protestants and Catholic churches. This is the stupidity of people who won't even proof-read placards that may appear in the Newspaper. You're telling me we can't win a referendum against such stupidity.

I believe that Malaysia is at a turning point, the night is darkest just before the dawn, and a dawn is approaching.

UMNO will not last the next General election, that I can guaran-damn-tee. Pack your bags and head for the hills, boys, cause you won't win anymore elections from here on it. You are nothing more than hate-spewing, divisive, egotistical bigots. You'd better be moving your ill-gotten gains of the country, for when you're no longer in power.....the law will hunt your ass down.

So whaddaya say about the referendum? You with me.

That's my 2 cents. Don't spend it all in one place.

How to respond to Ignorance

noreply@blogger.com (Keith) — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 16:54:00 +0000

This Allah debacle is getting out of hand.

We now have an entire alliance of bloggers, calling themselves Bloggers against blasphemy. People who supposedly uphold the sanctity of Islam by dividing Christians and Muslims.

I will point out how to respond to this ignorance, but also ask the question of who insults the name of Allah, the Catholics who worship him or the Muslims who draw cartoons around this name?

Here's how we should respond to this level of Ignorance. Here are the main points these people offer and what you should reply.

1) Why the sudden urge to use "Allah", it will only create mis-trust.
The East Malaysians have been using Allah for centuries, and even Mahathir has admitted that Christians in East Malaysia have been using Allah since before the inception of Malaysia. The question is why the Government has had a sudden urge in preventing us from using it. The government is the one creating mis-trust.

2) It doesn't matter if the Arab world use it, you have to look at the context.
Once again, the context is Malaysia, which includes Sabah and Sarawak and the history of Christianity in Sabah and Sarawak that traditionally used Allah to call on God. The context is Malaysia as a whole, not just peninsular Malaysia, not just Sabah and Sarawak. The people in Sabah and Sarawak and Christians and speak Malay, I know it's hard for UMNO to understand this but there are people in Sabah and Sarawak that can only converse in Malay AND are Christians.

It is their myopia in defining Malaysia as what they see in only Peninsular Malaysia that blinds them from the truth.

3) Allah is the God of the Muslims.
Fair enough, but I worship the God the Abraham. The God of Isaac and Ishmael, the God of Hagar.

I worship the God that appeared to Moses as the burning bush. The God of the Archangel Gabriel who visited Mary at the Annunciation. Who do Muslims worship, isn't it one and the same?

4) The Catholic understanding of Allah is different from the Muslims.
Fair enough, I believe in the Trinity.

Do Muslims believe in Jesus as the Son of God, who came down from Heaven to redeem my sins? Do they believe he rose from the dead?

Would it be right for me to prevent Muslims from referring to Nabi Isa (pbuh), would it be right for Christians to ask Muslims to remove Nabi Isa from any sacred literature as it would confuse the Christians? No.

The correct thing to do is for Christians to educate Christians about the similarities (and differences) between Christianity and Islam, and to embrace the commonalities. Not drive wedges and divide. Just because your understanding is different doesn't mean I can deny you usage of the word Jesus (or Isa). More importantly, Christians do not own Jesus, he is for everyone. I would be ashamed of Christians seeking to remove Jesus from Islamic text.

5) Catholics will use this to convert the Muslims.
Confident Muslims are not easily confused. Muslims will not enter a church and think it is a Mosque simply because we use the word Allah.

If a Muslims child ask why do the Christians worship Allah as well, isn't it a fantastic opportunity for a parent to explain to the child their own faith. It is not a threat to Islam , the usage of Allah is an opportunity for dialogue and understanding.

Why is the topic of conversion such a hot-topic these days. Sure it's illegal, but are Muslims so insecure in their own faith that they are afraid of people converting them? Surely Muslims in this country that take Pendidikan Islam as a subject all the way to Form 5 are more secure in their beliefs and faith than that.... and if they aren't, is that the fault of the Christians or the religious authorities?

I can only pity
I can only pity the self-proclaimed moderate Muslims of Demi Negara, Rocky, Lowyar Kampung, Jebat must die and the bloggers against blasphemy. I can only pity them for their blindness and ignorance, for in their ignorance they sow the seeds of hatred among Muslims and Christians, in their blindness and ignorance they fail to see commonalities choosing instead to focus on the uncommon.

Christianity and Islam have much more in common than one might think. If we compare:

Similarities
1) We both worship a one ever loving and all powerful God.
2) We both believe in the Virgin birth of Jesus (even some Christian denominations do not believe this)
3) We both believe that Marys Son Jesus Ascended into Heaven. (the same Jesus from the Virgin birth)
4) We both believe Moses talked to God at the burning bush (and we both believe the first thing God did was ask him to take of his shoes)
5) We both believe in that Jonah(Yunus) was swallowed by a fish, that John (Yahya) was sent by God to proclaim the coming of Jesus, that David (and his son Solomon) were Kings of Israel and we believe and that there was a great flood in the land of which God saved the righteous Noah(Nuh) by commanding him to build an Ark.

Some Christians churches have chosen to distant themselves from the Virgin Birth, choosing instead to explain the birth of Jesus through Marys rape at the hands of a Roman Soldier. This means that it's possible that Catholics share more in common with Muslims that with people who consider themselves Christians.

Yet no one talks of this. None of these bloggers against Blasphemy would speak of the commons between us, instead they seek to divide us by focusing on aspects that are different, and prevent fruitful and meaningful conversations between Christians and Muslims.

The similarities do not just end there, we share many other beliefs in common:

MORE Similarities
1) We believe in a Heaven and a Hell (it's not as common a belief as you might think)
2) We believe that homosexuality is a sin (many churches do not subscribe to this)

Not just beliefs, but the manner in which we pray:

3) We both have calls to prayer (the Azan and Church Bells) , which annoy and awake others but sound like music to our ears
4) We both have months of fast (Ramadhan and Lent), although I've been slacking on Lent these past few years.
5) We both have one day dedicated for prayer as a community (Friday and Sunday), the Jewish people pray on a Saturday (which works out pretty well)

So therefore, when I hear the Azan near my house, at an hour I have barely awoken it annoys me a little. But I take comfort (and PRIDE) in the fact that my Muslim brother is calling out and worshiping the same God I worship, the same God of Abraham. We may differ on many things, but we both believe that there is but one God. And if we both worship one true God then logically we must be worshiping the same God.

If you were to ask me who create the Heavens and the Earth, I would have no qualms proudly proclaiming it was Allah that did so. My brothers and sisters in East Malaysia would say it so instinctively.

I pity the Muslims that feel differently, I pray they may come to accept these things. They are being stirred up by rash, irrational and power hungry politicians who themselves have hired rash, irrational and hate-spewing bloggers push their agenda of division.

Consider this article from Demi Negara, or this one from Small talks. Rocky claims that these are the views of the 'moderate' Muslim. They only thing moderate about these guys is their blogs. They are nothing more than hate-spewing divisive articles that forget that Malaysia is a country that INCLUDES Sabah and Sarawak. People who have a right to call their God the same name they've been calling him for Centuries.

To insist that Sabahans and Sarawakians change the way they refer to God is similar to insisting that Muslims in other countries refrain from using Allah, or that Muslims should not refer to Jesus unless they refer to him as the Son of God.

The biggest blockers to meaningful dialogue are these guys. They love to divide, they love to play the victim when in fact they oppress ....and continue to oppress. How can we take any of them seriously, when they release articles like this. Who thinks he insults me when he say may Allah bless Augustine Paul? I'm not sure if he's stupid or just plain ignorant, but let me make it clear. I will have no problems at my funeral for people to say "May Allah bless his soul" or anything to that effect.

Why is it I can't use Allah to call on God, but these guys can use the word in comedy and satire? Who is insulting the name of Allah now?

This comic taken from this link. It's the same blogger that's starting the Bloggers against Blasphemy group. As a Christian I can't use Allah simply because of my religion, but a Muslim can draw up a comic mocking the the word and get away scot-free?

That's my 2 cents. Don't spend it all in one place.

May Allah bless Malaysia.

Allah in East Malaysia

noreply@blogger.com (Keith) — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 01:08:00 +0000

Quick....of the top of your head name all countries that have a land border with Malaysia.

Keep that in mind, we'll be using it later.

Mahathir has recently said that :

"I accept the term ‘Allah’ had been used in Sabah and Sarawak before the two states joined Malaysia but it is difficult to stop them from doing so now... but in the peninsular, we have not heard of such practice"

So we have Mahathir Admiting that the status quo BEFORE this was that Christians were "allowed" to use the word Allah. Doesn't this mean that it's the Government that's the one persuing this issue? Doesn't this mean that it's the Government that's dragging this issue and creating un-rest?

It's all in a days work for the UMNO government isn't it.

Christians have been using it all this while and now we have a bunch of rag-tag UMNO hawks stiring tensions over the name. Let's dissect the points one by one:

1) Christians have using the word Allah since before Malaysia was created. FACT

2) Christians in other parts of the world, including Indonesia (where the national language isn't arabic) use the word Allah to refer to God. FACT.

3) If by using the word Allah, Christians can easily conver Muslims, there would be no more Muslims in this country. FACT. (you think it's that easy to convert meh?)

4) UMNO has threatened that Muslims will rise up if pushed against the wall. The actual FACT is that it's the Christians and the Buddhist and the Hindus that are pushed against the wall. Has anyone forgotten the Al-Islam journalist, the Seksyen 23 Cow Head Protest, the Mao Tze statue, the Shah Alam Church that was forced to be built in a Factory lot? Al-Islam may not be a Government arm, but has the Government taken action?

5) UMNO has drawn an analogy that only if Christians agree to Hindus using the name Jesus Christ as one of their gods will they agree that it's fair. CHILDISH. People do not re-name Gods to spite others, and more importantly how you feel is irrelevant as to whether the Government has a legal standing in preventing Christians from using the word Allah. They don't.

6) Nobody seemed to care about the Herald until it began to publish political inclined articles in the run up to the 2008 election. Thank you Home Ministry.

7) UMNO cannot speak for Peninsular Malaysia since Barisan Nasional LOST the popular vote there. Think about it, 51% of the popular vote in Peninsular Malaysia went to Pakatan, therefore if anybody can claim to speak for the residents of Peninsular Malaysia it will be Pakatan. UMNO can speak for East Malaysia, where Christians have been using the term for ages. UMNO represents no one, so Shut up.

8) You cannot divide and conquer East and West Malaysia, we are one country.So the ruling is relevant for both. Furthermore the bahasa section in the Herald is targetted not at Muslims but at East Malaysians whose mother tongue is Bahasa. To say otherwise is ignorant and foolish.

9) Has any Muslim read the Herald? It is most definitely NOT an attempt to convert, the articles there are more community news than anything else. Will it really convert Muslims knowing that Fr. so-and-so has returned from surgery or the form 4 students of Parish so-and-so held a camp? It's like saying the Star Metro section can convert you to Islam. Ignorant and Foolish.

10) Finally, it is just plain stupid for a Government to mandate that Christians cannot use a word simply because they are Christians.........

That's my 2 cents. Don't spend it all in one place.

Oh, and did you forget Brunei? If you did that just reflects our vision of Malaysia, we tend to forget East Malaysia (who by the way contribute significantly to our GDP and Government income)

The story of Allah

noreply@blogger.com (Keith) — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 14:42:00 +0000

Do you believe in God? Specifically do you believe in a One and Only God? Do you believe he has a name? Do you believe this God gets angry and do you believe he will smite down the un-belivers?

When Moses was at the burning bush, God commanded him to go the Isralites(Jews) in Egypt and set his people free. The Isralites were slaves in the Egyptian Empire and Moses was commanded by God to go to the Pharoah and DEMAND the release of his people.

The analogy is someone going up to Barack Obama and DEMANDING that he release the prisoners at Gitmo. Though the Pharoah of ancient egypt was far more powerful and dictatorial than Obama and the slaves of Egypt were an essential part to their economy of grain grown along the Nile.

So Moses obviously stunned and afraid, ask a simple question. Whom shall I say has sent me? What is the name of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob? Gods answer is cryptic, "I am who I am, tell the Isralites I AM has sent me to you"

It is this I AM that many scholars believe is the root of the word Yahweh, the traditional way the Jews call God.

The name of God however is unimportant, the most important part of this great conversation between Moses and God is the fact that God starts it off by introducing himself as the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Abraham is the regarded as the spiritual father of the Jews, Christians and Muslims. Abraham is the central figure in the old testament of Christianity, the central figure in the Torah and central figure of Islam.

The story of Abraham is essential to understanding the commonality between Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

Abram and his wife Sarai were old and without child. One day , God appears to Abram and makes him a promise that his descendants would be as countless as the stars in the night sky. On this night, God commands Abram to change his name to Abraham (a common theme in the bible that when people were chosen for Great things, their names would be changed).

Abraham accepts the promise of God, but his wife Sarai one day persuades Abraham to sleep with their slave girl Hagar. Hagar becomes pregnant and gives Abraham his first son Ishmael. It is during this time that Hagar begins to treat Sarai badly for Sarai was barren and already old.

Then one day three men appear to Abraham and tell him that in 90 days they shall return and Sarai would bear him a son. It is on this occasion that Sarai named is changed to Sarah, and true enough in 90 days Sarah gave birth to a child named Isaac.

After the birth of Isaac, Sarah orders Hagar and Ishmael to leave into the wilderness which makes Abraham sad (since Ishmael was also his son), but an angel of the Lord appears to Abraham promising him that the descendants of Ishamel will also be a great nation. This promised is reinforce in the wilderness, when Hagar desperate for help is approached by and angel that reaffirms Gods promise to Abraham. Ishmael would marry and Egyptian girl.

Abraham has gone from having no sons to two sons, both of which are promised to be the fathers of great nations.

The story continues and Isaac has a Son named Jacob. Jacob would one day wrestle with and angel, and the the angel would give him the name Israel. It is Jacob's twelve sons that would be the twelve tribes of Israel. (did you notice the name change?)

And there in lies the story of Israel, the story of the Jews.

The split between Islam and Judaism lie in this narrative, the Muslims (and Arabs) consider themselves descendants of Ishmael the son of Hagar and that Ishmael is the rightful heir to the Abraham, while the Christians and Jews consider themselves descendants of Isaac (and more specifically his son Jacob).

However, many generations after this narrative, God appears again to a man named Moses and tells Moses that he is the God of Abraham. The same God that both the descendants of Ishmael and the descendants of Isaac worship, and that God would set his people free from slavery in Egypt.

Even with this commonality we have those who would divide and continue to instill hatred and bigotry. Including those that hope to prevent Christians from using the word Allah, a word so common in the Arab world, that the descendants of Ishmael who would convert to Christianity use on a daily basis.

We have those who would protest in order to gain exclusivity to the name of God, and the word 'God'.Are these people so blinded by ignorance and arrogance that they cannot see pass their own bigotry? Claiming exclusivity to a word that they feel threatens national security? Do these people have no shame? Their ignorance, that the Christians of Sabah and Sarawak (the natives of our great nation) have been using the word Allah for hundreds of years.

Their complete ignorance of Sabah and Sarawak is emblematic of their pride that they forget Malaysia is bigger than they imagine it to be, more diverse than their little mono-culture space. Unless they accept that Malaysia is diverse and that every religion and creed is free to profess their religion they are not Malaysians...they are the outsiders, the bigoted hatred of UMNO.They are the ones who should leave Malaysia, they are the ones who shame us.

Let us not focus on our differences but on our commonality the ties that bind us together, should not be threaten by a group of hooligans holding placard pretending to be defenders of their faith. We should reject their version of Hatred and Bigotry, reject their politics of race and religion and more importantly reject their calls for uprising.

That's my 2 cents, don't spend it all in one place.

My Year. Bring on 2010.

noreply@blogger.com (Keith) — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 05:02:00 +0000

I sit here now at the end of the year. Wondering what the hell happened to 2009.

The years are short, but the days are long seems an apt statement, particularly for this year.

I have:

1) Proposed to my wife-to-be in Melaka, we've been together 8 years. I have a feeling we'll be lasting 10 times longer than that.

2) Bought a House (obviously in Klang)

3) Journeyed with my fiancee through her conversion process to become a Catholic (this happened before I proposed to her)

4) Wrote 49 post (including this one) on My2cents.

5) Read a total of 19 books , which I'm hoping to make 21 by the year end. My favorites were paradox of choice and predictably irrational.

6) Discovered typography. I'm still trying to figure out how to get good at it.

7) Visited Pakistan for 2 weeks, and suffered 2 weeks of food poisoning but I still loved the experience.

8) Experienced uncertainties with my job twice in 12 months. The second one is still on-going.

9) Delivered a successful project in Pakistan from Malaysia. (it's not over yet, but we're almost there)

10) Participated in 6 Treasure hunts, finishing 1st place twice. Total prize money is unknown since some of it was merchandise instead of cash.

I have not:

1) Resolved on running 5km in 15 minutes (my new years resolution from 2007!!!)

2) Learned the virtue of patience

3) Spent more time with my family (rather than alone).

4) Saved money.

5) Practiced the guitar (next song You shook me all night long by AC/DC)

6) Motivated my team members. (I did this badly)

7) Read the Bible (at least the important books anyway)

8) Designed an Iphone App (I need a macbook first)

9) Joined a charitable organization

10) ~~Reflected on my year~~ this post takes care of that :)

The version of life you want to avoid

noreply@blogger.com (Keith) — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 02:21:00 +0000

From a great blog everyone should read. Click here to go to business pundit

Swiss ban Minarets: Malays Agree

noreply@blogger.com (Keith) — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 06:40:00 +0000

What would you think if I told you there is a significant Malay population somewhere in Shah Alam, that unanimously agrees to the latest referendum in Switzerland to ban construction of Minarets in the entire country?

What would you think if I told you these Muslim-Malays think that in a democracy the rights of the majority must be heard, and if they don't want Minarets, then Minarets shouldn't be built.

The Swiss, like most European countries, consider themselves forward-thinking and inclusive. Though in a open democratic referendum that the Government themselves have condemned, more swiss voted for a ban than against it. It means that regardless of the economic difficulties to build a Minaret, Muslims in Switzerland would be BANNED altogether from building these structures that stand as symbols of their faith.

As a minority in Malaysia, I understand how these Muslims must feel.

My church is Klang required 10 years before a building permit was approved for our church hall. This is for a church of 8,000 in a multi-racial town and the building was to be built on church property. IT TOOK 10 years.

If the building permit was approved 10 years earlier, as it should, we would have built the church at less than half the price and be a debt-free parish by now. As it stands we have a Rm3.0 million dollar loan that needs to be re-paid in the coming years. All thanks for the state governments stance of not approving the loan.

The Church of the Divine Mercy in Shah Alam, was moved from area to area, until finally it was decided that the church would be built on a factory lot, that the government used the National Land Act to forcefully take from a company. The church on a factory lot. This incidentally is the church that Khalid Samad visited almost immediately after being appointed MP.

This is the same Shah Alam, were recently residents staged the now infamous cow head protest outside the state secretariat to protest the construction of a temple. Apparently the majority muslim population in Shah Alam don't like a temple near their home. These are the Muslims that agree the swiss. These are the Muslims that don't want Minarets in Switzerland. The Muslims of the world, have these few to thank for the Swiss Ban.

Fortunately, we have a quite a few souls that respect everyones right to worship. Fortunately as Malaysians we are inclusive in nature.

The question is, that if we have a referendum, to once and for all, determine if the temple should be built in Shah Alam...... I'm not sure what the result would be.

Currently the only time Malaysians vote is in an election which is held once every 5 years. We gauge political support from these elections. The new-media which includes blogs and the internet and biased towards the opposition (including I admit, this blog) the old-media of newspapers and bernama tv reports and biased towards the government (although bias is an understatement). Any political data we gather from these sources are not accurate enough to gauge public opinion. In most cases of public opinion, the loud minority inherently quell the silent majority and we have no way to know for sure, what the average Malay Muslim in Seksyen 23 Shah Alam actually thinks about the temple.

As a minority in Malaysia, I feel for the Swiss Muslims. They should be allowed to build their own minarets. In Pakistan, I've seen beautiful churches, which have regular service every Sunday. Are Pakistanis more inclusive than the Swiss? On this context the answer is a resounding YES.

Are Pakistanis more inclusive then Malaysians....that's a question for you to ponder.

That's my 2 cents. Don't spend it all in one place.

16 Google Wave Invitations to give out

noreply@blogger.com (Keith) — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 09:40:00 +0000

Google Wave is supposed to be the next big thing on the internet.

What a load???

I can't figure out how to use it correctly. From what I figured sort of like having a group chat in Y!Messenger or MSN Communicator.

Only difference is, that the information will be stored in offline, and you can upload stuff like photos and videos to it. And you can potentially add a lot of people to your wave and have a huge collaborative efforts.

Sounds great, and I plan to create a wave that actually works.

It sounds cool and has lots of potential, only problem is that very few people are on it.

I have 16 invitations, that I'm giving out. If you want one let me know. Only catch is that you have to join my first wave.

keithjosephrozario@gmail.com

The dumbest way to stimulate the economy.

noreply@blogger.com (Keith) — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 15:07:00 +0000

I've been away for more than a month now. Much has happened since then.

I went to Pakistan, where (believe or not) I found a bible in my hotel room at the Avari Towers, and everybody (including my taxi driver) knew where to find beer.

I was ill for a bit, and then was just plain down for a couple of weeks.

Now I'm back, but for my first post in 2 months, I'd thought I'd take it easy and start with something simple to write about.....like how stupid Najib is.

I can write entire volumes on why Najib is an idiot, but I won't. Instead I'll focus on just 2 lines in the recently announced budget.

Rm50 Tax for Credit Card:

Like a lousy tape-recorder we'll first have to tackle this issue of Credit Cards. I personally don't like them, yet I use them because of the massive convenience they provide. I can't remember the last time I had to walk all the way to the cashier just to pump my petrol. Nowadays, I just swipe at the pump and away I go.

Of course, not forgetting it would be impossible for me to buy my books from Kinokuniya or Amazon without my credit cards, and holidays would be a whole lot harder if I couldn't swipe my card at the hotel.

However, taking into account the grim reality that most bankruptcies occur as a result of credit card, and the huge psychological impact a credit card has on your spending habits. Recent research shows that credit cards cause us to spend up to two times more than normal. It only make sense for the government to discourage credit cards.

That however, does not give the Government right to tax me just because I have a credit line with the bank. Has the government lost all innovation that it's great idea to reduce credit cards is to tax me for having one? Why does the government wish to tax a credit facility I have with the bank, the solution would be proper regulation of credit card applications.

Considering that the CTOS/CRISS or whatever it's called can track how many credit cards I have at one time, it should be no problem for the government to regulate what it already knows.

1% reduction of the top marginal tax rate for individuals from 27% to 26%

This is without a doubt, the DUMBEST thing I've ever heard.

Why are we reducing the tax rates for the rich? Shouldn't the rich be paying more taxes.

Maybe the government doesn't understand, that in order to build infrastructure it needs money. Most of this money comes from Petronas, but a sizeable portion comes from income tax, and most of that from the top marginal tax rate.

Most Malaysians don't pay taxes, simply because they earn below the taxable income line. Those that do are mostly from the middle income.

However, it wouldn't surprise me to learn that the top 10% of tax payers contribute more than the remaining 90% combined.

If someone drives around a Rm200,000 BMW, they're likely to be paying anywhere from Rm3,000 to Rm4,000 in car installments a month. They're also likely to be paying another Rm5,000 in house installments. Put those 2 together and the personal income of a person owning a BMW would be Rm20,000. Meaning every BMW owner probably earns around Rm200,000 a year.

The minimum income to start paying income tax is Rm3,000 a month or more precisely Rm36,000 a year. The rate of tax would be roughly 7% per year, compared to the 26% for the BMW owner.

Roughly the amount of tax paid by the BMW owner is nearly 10 times the amount paid by the minimum income worker. That's the state we're in. That's why we need to tax the rich as much as we can, not reduce their taxes.

Most proponents argue that the rich will spend to stimulate the economy. Here's the thing....they're rich. They are ALREADY buying all the food the need, they are ALREADY buying the housing they require and they are ALREADY shopping.

The only difference is that maybe this year they'd buy 2 Coach bags instead of 1, they'd buy a BMW 5-series instead of the 3-series. Maybe they'd buy a higher end Italian suit and maybe they'd get a holiday in Scandinavia instead of Tokyo.

See where this is going, when you're rich, the extra spend you do contributes far less to the economy than meets the eye. Sure the 5-series is RM100,000 more, but it has no impact whatsoever to the economy.

Consider if you reduced taxes on the lower end, making it so the guy earning Rm3,000 doesn't need to pay taxes. That's more spending for the average joe, and more economic stimulus from 250,000 average joes spending, because their spending actually impacts the local economy creating jobs and stimulus to keep it going.

A tax cut to the rich is wrong, we need the money now more than ever, so why don't we INCREASE their taxes by 3% and reduce everybody elses. The Bush tax cuts in America is one of the reason why America is in trouble today...let's hope the same won't happen in Malaysia.

That's my 2 cents don't spend it all in one place.

The dumbest way to stimulate the economy.

noreply@blogger.com (Keith) — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 15:07:00 +0000

Protect Malaysian Girls:10 Tens you need to know about Gardasil

noreply@blogger.com (Keith) — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 07:02:00 +0000

The Malaysian governments recent initiative to vaccinate children against cervical cancer has come as a bit of shock to me and to many Malaysians.

On the face of it, it looks good, to vaccinate girls against what could potentially be a life-threatening disease.

However, besides the obvious fact, that this probably is going to be used to enrich some government UMNO crony to supply Gardasil to the government there are other reasons to be worried about this recent decision.

Of course Gardasil isn't the only vaccine for this, and I will fully admit we don't know if it's Gardasil yet. But that's the point, aren't we uncomfortable not knowing the details?

Here are 10 facts you should know before you send your daughters for their shot. 10 important facts that should at least prompt you to research further before you go jumping in and injecting young Malaysian girls with a vaccine that some medical experts believe to be more dangerous that the disease it's supposed to be protecting you against.

1) According to a CNN report there have been 9700 'adverse' reaction to Gardasil and another 21 deaths following the vaccination. (although none of these deaths were directly linked to the vaccine)

2) In the same report (available on the link above) Gardasil was cited as a 'probable cause' that triggered the young girls auto-immune disease.

3) Gardasil is made by Merck. The same company that gave us the wonderful drug Vioxx.

"About 50,000 people have sued Merck claiming that they or their family members have suffered medical problems such as heart attacks or strokes after taking Vioxx" (source here)

Vioxx was touted as a wonder drug for arthritis, but soon side effects that cause cardiovascular problems were discovered AFTER it's release into the mass market.

4) According to the CDC, Gardasil has been tested in more than 11,000 females 9 to 26 years of age in many countries around the world.Of course it failed to state that this age is not exactly the age in which cervical cancer presents itself. It's like giving cholestrol medication to those aged 9-26, see no instances of heart attack and claim you have a miracle drug for prevention of heart disease. How many 9 year old girls do you know have cervical cancer?

5) Gardasil has been linked to paralysis and even death in girls and women who received the vaccine. One girl developed a degenerative muscle disease 15 months after receiving the vaccine and two lawsuits have now been filed against Merck & Co., the maker of Gardasil, alleging the vaccine caused paralysis in two other girls. (source here)

6) We're not the first to recommend that Gardasil be administered through a state sponsored program. On February 2, 2007, Texas Governor Rick Perry issued an executive order requiring that all Texas schoolgirls receive a questionable vaccine, Gardasil, to prevent a sexually transmitted disease known as HPV. On April 26, 2007 both houses of the Texas Legislature sent a veto-proof bill, requiring two-thirds majorities, to the Governor rescinding his mandate. Gov. Perry had suffered a severe political rebuke

7) Gardasil isn't cheap. The Texas initiative was estimated to have cost upward of 60 million US dollars for 170,000 girls. That's roughly Rm210 million. Whose contract is this going to be?

8) Even with it's high cost, we have no money to investigate the rape of penan girls? Will penan girls get Gardasil?

9) Gardasil only serves to reduce the chances of getting Cervical cancer, and in fact it affects 16 out of 18 strains of HPV that cause Cervical cancer. However, cervical cancer isn't the number one killer of women. Breast cancer has a higher incidence rate of women, and heart disease remains the number killer of men and women in Malaysia. In fact heart disease kills more women in Malaysia than all the cancers combined. So it's probably more effective to have a proper physical education and healthy lunches in schools than it is to vaccinate against HPV.

10) There is an enourmous debate going on about Gardasil, and the ministry of health needs to consider this before it administer a drug on our girls that could potentially kill many of them. What you administer your children is up to you, I'm not saying Gardasil is going to kill your daughter, but I think it's irresponsible to propose nationwide administration of the drug without letting parents know of the potential side effects.

That's my 2 cents. Don't spend it all in one place.