Selamat Hari Merdeka

Reflection > Celebration

Thieves in the Parliament

Let this be an allegory of what is happening to this country. If there are thieves in the Parliament, what more elsewhere?

The State, Power, Study, Others.

My friend asked me why anyone would want power and not relinquish it. Obviously he has not been or spoken with a politician. Anyone who has a certain amount of power eventually gets addicted to it. Relinquishing an addiction is not easy, of course.

I've been thumbing through Johnson's Wild Grass as light reading, and the stories in there are certainly thought provoking and tear jerking. How could the government - even in a so called progressive nation - be that bad?

If there's one thing we can deduce, it's that not everyone has a good nature. Or perhaps it's just that people are afraid, afraid of change. Afraid of losing something they've always had for a long, long time. I need to read more. There's no other way for me to find out; armchair reasoning can only get you so far, after all.

Currently working my way through a history of SEA. Made up of two volumes, but then the 1400s don't really interest me. But of course, history never bores me. =)

By the way, Swinburne's Existence of God is unintentionally hilarious; I had to reread each sentence thrice. But clearly its not quite layman level reading, so yes, I must grant that. Interesting nonetheless. My background in logic is unfortunately pitiful (I never got beyond an education in informal logic), which certainly doesn't help.

One and a half months to go before we climb Mount Kinabalu. I'm quite excited; although I'm sadly still trying to fine-tune my fitness plan. *Sigh* Give me self-discipline, but not yet!

Perspective.

These articles, one by the President of Russia and the other by Georgia are good examples of starkly different perspectives; with each one believing he is right. Worth reading.

Medvedev's opening:

On Tuesday Russia recognised the independence of the territories of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. It was not a step taken lightly, or without full consideration of the consequences. But all possible outcomes had to be weighed against a sober understanding of the situation – the histories of the Abkhaz and Ossetian peoples, their freely expressed desire for independence, the tragic events of the past weeks and inter­national precedents for such a move.

Saakashvili's opening:

Any doubts about why Russia invaded Georgia have now been erased. By illegally  recog­nising the Georgian territories of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, Dmitry Medvedev, Russia’s president, made clear that Moscow’s goal is to redraw the map of Europe using force.

This war was never about South Ossetia or Georgia. Moscow is using its invasion, prepared over years, to rebuild its empire, seize greater control of Europe’s energy supplies and punish those who believed democracy could flourish on its borders.

So. Who's right?

In Progress - Part One

• Overhaul blog layout.
• Draw up study curriculum for next 3 months - to clear backlogs of psychology and history (including the Decline & Fall of the Roman Empire, bleh) material.
• Pray.
  

Slowing Down

I love it when life slows down. The tedium of routine (is that a redundant phrase?) is removed and one can practically do whatsoever he or she desires. This I enjoy.

So then, what am I doing? Or rather, what should I be doing? Some say I should start working. So far, I have not been wholly satisfied with most of my jobs - paid and unpaid, although my most recent one turned out to be the one I enjoyed the most. I don't mind office work but I can't certainly imagine doing it forever. Perhaps as a springboard to another one, but isn't that what those 50 year old white-collar workers always say?

Bleh. As one person stated the obvious to me, the entry level salaries in Malaysia is very low. Still, me being me, I don't mind. I may not like to slug out 5 days a week for a 20,000 a year job but sometimes you just got to do it.*

And politics continues to amuse me as much as it makes me feel fed up and indifferent. Haha, delight I derive from it. From the looks of it, we need a three party system.

4Chan inspired pics never cease to amuse me.

Olympics is over, and we come out with a silver. No gold yet, sadly. Something has to change surely, if we're going to seriously compete. I just wonder what that might be.

I've also started writing again. Let's see how far I can get into my novel, or maybe I would just throw in the towel and call it a short story, haha.

As I always love to say, we shall see. Because some things I just hate to speculate on.

S.D.G.

The Great Unknown

Change never was so fun. I noticed that when your usual routine starts fading away - and you haven't replaced it with something else - then there's a subtle excitement about what is to come. Of course, it may very well be wishful thinking. When you have not much that you are required to do, then comes all the things that you want to do. My routine will start building up again, inevitably.

But by then you already know what to do and how you're going to do it. At least, I hope. =)

P.S. I turn 18 today. Woo.

Olympic Hope.

So for once I'm not going to go all cynical and recite whatever version of the (in)famous abused child and the Malaysian football/hockey/etc. team joke.

I actually think Malaysia is going to get a gold. Okay, judging from our past record, it is more like a hope. But we have a shot, at least judging from our badminton team's performance (which is - for better or worse - our only chance at Olympic glory).

Most of the other athletes competing - so far - have only given lacklustre performances. But our shuttlers are exciting. They are actually...good.

Hope. Ah, we shall see. =)

Why Muslims Can't Convert In Malaysia etc. etc.

Here's a sample of why.

You tak suka? You keluar negara.

I keep thinking of that when I was reading it. But I don't think we should follow that option. Engage, engage. We learn when we discuss, not by shutting up. Bar should hold a debate with the protesters. But yes, I am extremely disappointed.

Re-alignment.

Hey, it doesn't hurt to get your priorities straight. I face many months of virtual idleness (with the exception of a few side activities) before me. I expect that time to be thoroughly filled up with my research projects as well as several long-term, 'dream' ones.

Speaking of which, its not that hard to achieve dreams. I plan to achieve mine in less than 5 years time. That is, if everything goes to plan. It should, it should. =)

S.D.G.