I'm back

It's been 18 months since I left this blog unattended. Now I've decided that I needed to come back to this space that I have left. I kinda of miss blogging but I'm about to start soon. So this post is to say, Hey, Sakthi is back.

Malaysia has forgotten Tunku, and Tunku would not recognise Malaysia

Malaysia has forgotten Tunku, and Tunku would not recognise Malaysia

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Meditation II

GOD OUR LOVING FATHER

As I was putting my daughter, Ivy to sleep, she hugged me and said, "Papa, I love you". Now that beats anything. Imagine a father's feelings. One of the most wonderful revelations in the Bible is that of God as our Father who loves us. Jesus himself was constantly in touch with his Father throughout his ministry on this earth.

The Parable of the Prodigal Son paints a wonderful picture of loving Father. There are three aspects of the character of the father that we can learn from this parable, which helps us understand the father heart of God.

i. He loved his son enough to let him leave home.

In the Jewish tradition, a father’s role meant many hours of teaching him the laws of God. He would prepare his son to be a righteous and responsible member of the Jewish community. Now that the son has reached age, he must choose. For a father to respond this way to his rebellious son shows that the father understood the heart of God.

ii. He loved his son deeply that he watched everyday for him to return home.

Every day his Father stood at the end of the road and watched for him. How great was his patience and compassion. In this story it is the knowledge of his father’s love that finally brings this son to the place of repentance.

iii. He loved his son so much that when he returned home, he did not condemn his son but forgave him.

In fact when we read this parable, we notice that he was not a waiting Father but a running father. He embraces his long lost son. He is totally forgiving. His action says it all.

See in what manner that the Father loves us that he calls us sons and daughters. It grieves Him when we sin or He sees us hurting others. He weeps for us and waits for us. To know him is to love him. And to love him is to obey him. One attribute of God that not even the best parent can hope to imitate – that is God’s ability to be with us all the time.

Meditation

This was one of the meditations that I wrote and would want to share with you

The Lord’s Prayer

True, whole prayer is nothing but love. – St. Augustine

Scripture Text: Matthew 6: 5-15

Are you weary of praying? Do you feel that your prayers are ineffective? Do you wonder if God is listening? Prayless people cut themselves off from God’s prevailing power. The frequent result is the familiar feeling of being overwhelmed, overrun, beaten down, pushed down.

To pray is to change. Prayer has been the avenue that God has used to transform us. Prayer is the way we consciously realize our relationship with God. Karl Barth, rightly affirmed, “The first and basic act of theological work is prayer.” Not to pray is to deny our Christian faith.

At the heart of Jesus’ own life were the moments when he withdrew from the crowds in order to be alone with his Father. He wanted us to enter into that same experience of knowing God as our Father. So the prayer he teaches us starts in that way: ‘Our Father’. Knowing God as our Father includes bringing him our personal and intimate needs and belongings. Each of us can think of God as ‘my Father’.

The Lord’s Prayer is an expression of faith, not only in what it says, but in what it assumes. The assumption is that we, human beings are not self-sufficient. It is not a sign of weakness to pray but a sign of genuine humanity. Prayer is not merely for emergencies, but is thankful praise that acknowledges our true dependence on God.

Thank God that the Lord’s Prayer does not belong to any one denomination. It is his gift to all of us and shared by all of us. To pray ‘Our Father’ helps to remind us that we belong to the people of God.

Reflection

Read the Lord’s Prayer and reflect on its importance of it in your daily life. Determine to make it of greater use throughout the day.

[P.Sakthivel]

Why PAS lost in the Bagan Pinang by-election

Looks like we know now why Pakatan lost to BN in the by election at Bagan Pinang. Look at the goodies that BN dished out.
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In the run-up to the Bagan Pinang by-election there were allegations that BN offered many 'sweeteners' to win over the voters.

PAS had even threatened to lodge a report with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) over the alleged 'goodies' offered by Defence Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and Negri Sembilan Menteri Besar Mohamad Hasan to entice army personnel to vote for BN.

Below are the promises made to the Bagan Pinang folk in the run-up to the landslide victory for BN's Isa Samad in the Oct 11 by-election.

Sept 27: Tourism Minister Ng Yen Yen announces that the Negri Sembilan state government will cooperate with the Tourism Ministry to attract more than six million transit passengers from the KL International Airport (KLIA) to the state.

Click here to read Malaysiakini report.

Policeman vs Penan girl: who is worth more?

This statement was written by Katrina Jorine Maliamauv, daughter of Irene Fernandez. It’s her respond the article in Malaysiakini: “No budget, so no to rape probe”.
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The bile is rising in my throat.

For more than ten years at least, Penan girls have been raped, violated and sexually abused. The Penan women in the community have been at dire risk of various forms of sexual assault and harassment.

Young, young, school going girls have made the difficult step to come forward and say that they have been raped by members of the logging companies.

The life and dignity of a Penan woman, however, appears to be worth less than RM3600.

Investigations into the allegations of rape and abuse by loggers in Sarawak against the Penan girls have led nowhere.

Today, the Sarawak police say they can only afford the RM100 000 needed to pay for police personnel, and not the RM3600 proposed to pay for the much-needed Penan-Malay translators, if the 6-day investigation into these allegations were to be carried out.

The police can spend RM15 million on a by-election in Kuala Terengganu, but RM3600 to pay for an essential part of an investigation into rape of children is too much?

By the way, how much was spent by the police on “guarding public interest” during the recent peaceful assembly in Kuala Lumpur?

Is the interest of the people in power worth more than the safety, security and basic rights of the Penans?

The Sarawak Contingent –where the blame is being placed now- is certainly being reflected in a despicable light.

To read more click here on Suan Loone's Blog

Yasmin Ahmad we shall miss you.

Director Yasmin Ahmad, who provoked controversy with films that dealt with subjects like interracial relations and teenage angst in this conservative mostly Muslim country, has died aged 51. We shall miss her. Her talents showed that she was one of the best creative directors. She ventured into flims that touched the human soul.

We shall miss her. Goodbye Yasmin, you will not be forgotten. You will remain in our hearts.

For a fuller report read Malaysiakini's website report.

I CANNOT BE NEUTRAL ABOUT ISSUES OF MORALITY by Goh Keat Peng

I CANNOT BE NEUTRAL ABOUT ISSUES OF MORALITY

Goh Keat Peng

As a Christian, I cannot keep to my seat, or shut my mouth and stay neutral over issues of morality.

So I emerge today from my several months of silence and non-involvement to say that what transpired yesterday is immoral, unacceptable and unconscionable.

Why was a witness being held for questioning for ten hours and only released at 3.45am? What kind of case is it and what is the urgency of the case in question that the witness had to be deprived of sleep and forcibly kept awake till 3.45am? Was the nation deemed to be in grave danger had the witness in question been sent home at a respectable time and asked to report again for questioning the next morning? The nation could endure long years of waiting over so many other much longer pending cases involving so much more public money and have much greater weight in public interest but this particular case could not wait for the next morning when the witness in question would have been fresher and better rested? What kind of interrogation was he subjected to on the fateful night without end? Why was it that a witness had to be isolated from his lawyer and forced to be in the sole company of officers with no other neutral person/s present? Because he was in the sole company of officers who were interrogating him, how would his side of the story be ever told? And how would, why should the officers in question be trusted when they tell the nation what actually transpired during that fateful night the witness lost his life? There were no other witness/es present so how would these officers in question clear their own involvement or clear their own names in this sad story?

Isn’t it true that a medical doctor should carry out the examination of a patient of the opposite sex in the presence of at least one other person? This is a wise procedure so that should any allegation of wrongful conduct be raised against him or her, the doctor would have some neutral testimony to defend him or her.

There have been too many instances of contravention against natural justice in this country involving the agencies and instruments of state. There have been too many victims. The neutrality of these instruments of state is questionable.

I CANNOT REMAIN NEUTRAL ABOUT ISSUES OF MORALITY.

This is not about partisan politics. I expect my friends from both sides of the parliamentary divide to speak up. I expect to hear from all political parties and all who hold public office at all levels to speak up. I want especially to hear from Maximus Ongkili, Bernard Dompok, Lee Hwa Beng, Loh Seng Kok who publicly profess the Christian Faith to speak up.

I expect the churches and the church leadership to speak up including those I know personally such as Hwa Yung, Ng Moon Hing and many others.

Of course all of the above persons should state their own views and even fault my manner of speaking or reasoning. But silence is not an option. Leaders do not have the option of keeping their opinion to themselves. They must lend their voices to voices which have been silenced.

A young life has been lost on the very eve of his wedding. Siblings, parents, colleagues and a fiance are in inconsolable grief. WHY SO? WHO WILL BE NEXT?

A reflection

I was looking at this passage from Isaiah chapter 33:1.

How terrible it will be for you who destroy others but have not been destroyed yet. 

How terrible it will be for you, traitor whom no one has turned yet.

When you stop destroying, other will destroy you.

When you stop turning against others, they will turn against you.

[Isaiah 33:1, New Century Version]

I began to think of political dramas, scandals and betrayals in our Malaysian politics as I reflected on this verse. An endless and vicious cycle of hatred and the quest for power for selfish gain. How true it speaks about most of our Malaysian politicians and their devious methods. Do they not realise that what they do to others, will ultimately be their own downfall.

Sayings of George W Bush

• 'The vast majority of our imports come from outside the country.'
  
• 'If we don't succeed, we run the risk of failure.'
  
• 'One word sums up probably the responsibility of any Governor, and that one word is 'to be prepared'.'
  
• 'I have made good judgments in the past. I have made good judgments in the future.'
  
• 'The future will be better tomorrow.'
  
• 'We're going to have the best educated American people in the world.'
  
• 'I stand by all the misstatements that I've made.'
  
• 'We have a firm commitment to NATO, we are a part of NATO. We have a firm commitment to Europe . We are a part of Europe'
  
• 'Public speaking is very easy.'
  
• 'A low voter turnout is an indication of fewer people going to the polls.'
  
• 'I have opinions of my own -- strong opinions -- but I don't always agree with them.'
  
• 'We are ready for any unforeseen event that may or may not occur.'
  
• 'It isn't pollution that's harming the environment. It's the impurities in our air and water that are doing it.'
  

Pieces in life

A journey

Friends we are on a journey

Time has been our judge

It seems it will never end

Neither death nor life are victors

But partners of a greater plan

 

Show me then your life

Must it be cradled with greatness?

What do you seek then?

A moment in life

When you found the meaning of life

 

Walk with me then

Hold me close to you

Will you not cradle me in your arms

When you welcomed me and forgave me

 

Seek not the one, who crushes you

But be the one who forgives

And shows the meaning of life

Friendship…

- P. Sakthivel

What a mess

 Read here Malaysiakini's article.

 Decision on sultan's 'absolute power' unprecedented

Humayun Kabir | May 23, 09 3:39pm

The Court of Appeal judgment giving the sultan absolute power to dismiss the menteri besar is setting a dangerous precedent for a non-elected monarch to dismiss an elected head of state without going through the  process of the state legislative assembly, said Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin’s lawyer .

 Leong said: “The power to dismiss (by the sultan) has always been believed not to exist but now the Court of Appeal has enlarged the monarch’s power to dismiss the head of  the state government

 “What happens if another sultan takes over (Perak) or for that matter any sultan of any state is given such powers which can be abused by the monarch?,” he asked.

 He said: “The Court of Appeal judgment has set a dangerous precedent which will lead to the abuse of the separation of powers between the monarchy, the executive, the legislative and the judiciary.”

 “This means the menteri besar can be dismissed by the sultan without going through the state assembly merely by a group of assemblymen going to the palace and informing the ruler that a majority no longer supports the menteri besar.”

 Leong’s arguments are:

 (1) Although the sultan has the power to determine whether or not to grant a dissolution, there is no express power for him to dismiss the menteri besar even after he has determined that the menteri besar has lost the confidence of the majority of the assemblymen.

 (2) The sultan’s discretionary powers are to be found in Article 16 of the Perak Constitution only and no where else.

 (3) Article 18 of the Perak constitution provides that: “In the exercise of his functions under the Constitution of this state or any law or as a member of the Conference of Rulers, his Royal Highness shall act in accordance with the advice of the executive council…”

 (4)  In 1994, the Federal Constitution was amended to stress that: “Where the Yang di-Pertuan Agong is to act in accordance with advice, on advice, or after considering advice,” he must act in accordance with that advice.

 Court of Appeal is plainly wrong in its judgment

 (5) Professor RH Heckling’s “Malaysian Public Law” in page 76 has written that the pivot on which the whole of the constitution turns is that the power of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong (the Sultan) can only as a general rule be exercised in accordance with the advice of democratically-elected ministers (exco).

 (6) The Court of Appeal therefore has interpreted the Perak constitution to allow the sultan to act without advice and without any such express power in the Perak constitution and therefore is plainly wrong in its judgment.

 (7) We will submit to the Federal Court that if the sultan has no such power to dismiss, he also has no power to deem the office vacant.

 Leong said: “How can the High Court findings of fact that Nizar has not lost the confidence of the majority of the aduns be reversed by the Court of Appeal? For what reason? We want to know so we are going to appeal against the decision to the Federal Court soon.”

 He said: “It is a long and established principle of law that an appeal court does not reverse the High Court’s findings of fact. In this case, it was an express finding that Nizar had not lost the confidence of the majority.

 “The High Court judge made the decision after seeing and hearing the witnesses.

 “However, the Court of Appeal is substituting its own finding for that of the High Court despite not having had the advantage of first hand evidence of the witnesses,” he added.