3 November 2011
The news of Elton John's upcoming show in November 22 at the Gentings Resort, has, as usual, brought out the voice and thoughts of the Conservative Malaysian Islamic Party ( PAS ) represented by their Youth leader, whose stance and views have since gone viral all over the world, except maybe Zimbabwe and Tonga, I guess. And what was the reason of their objection ? " The gay singer promotes hedonism and so the concert would corrupt young Muslims because of his homosexuality ". Really ? My, my ! What a great and erudite man, this PAS Youth Leader, Shahril Azman is . Hello Mr Shahril Azman Abdul Halim Al-Hafiz, I've got an urgent message for you , the Talibhans are actively looking for such great thinkers like you in their midst. Would you like to go over and join them pronto?
Now, I'm trying to be sober and reasonable here instead of shrieking and shooting my mouth off......... Is this the best argument he and the party he represents can put forth to object to a concert ?
And in case my Muslim friends think that as a non-Muslim, I have no jurisdiction to question him, let me gently remind that I'm not questioning his faith, I'm questioning his arrogance for speaking for all Malaysians of all faith in Malaysia. Just as he has the right to speak out for what he thinks, so have I and the rest of right thinking sane Malaysians who can differentiate the wood for the trees.
My argument is simple - I want to be able to attend the Elton John or any Tom, Dick and Harry concert, if I so wish, for its entertainment value, for the singer's voice and his/her songs . It doesn't matter really, it could be a myriad variety of reasons for which I may or may not want to attend the concert . The point is this - who is Sharil to speak on my behalf and take objection ? If he's only informing his party members ( preferably through sms ! ), he should only tell them inside the four walls of his party's office and not seek cheap publicity and open his mouth to all and sundry and in the process usurp my right to watch the Elton John/ Tom, Dick and Harry Show or whatever . It says so in the Malaysian Constitution, Mister, and I suggest that you read all of it before you open your mouth and remove all doubt of your lack of grey matter ! Oh and by the way, if you do so strongly believe that just by attending Elton's concert, everyone will become like Elton, then you should seriously put your money where your mouth is and buy me and all Eltons' fans, two way flight tickets to US , including the concert tickets, of course.
In a country as diversified as ours, there are bound to be different views, perceptions and values acccording to their beliefs and faith. The maxim " one man's meat is another man's poison" hold so true and I'm surprised that a Youth President of a political party is so shallow in thinking and is not aware of it. It's really mind boggling the kind of people elected to party/political posts in this country. Are the citizens so bereft of good and right thinking leaders to elect or are the members of political parties such nitwits and simpletons from the boondocks that they vote for the first one who makes the most noise, like in empty cans? This is directed to not only PAS but to all the 'itsty bitsy', " kuching kurap" and major parties in Malaysia, the Government of the day included .
We have Prime Ministers who blatantly buy voters in elections, Deputy Ministers who flaunt their race first rather than be Malaysian first, a string of imbeciles appointed as Education Ministers who have messed up the education system of this country big time and still doing it with great gusto, the Sports Ministry which bought 23 horses for RM5.66million without approval and the Minister, Datuk Seri Ahmad Shabery Cheek has the cheek to say that he goofed when he explained " we are not a horse-breeding nation and don't have the expertise. We followed the recommendation of foreign breeders enthusiastically " .
That's not all. We have the Ministry of Tourism which paid millions for a facebook feature ( even my good friend ,Tengku Norashikin , a relative newcomer to emails, is facebook savvy in a matter of days ! ) ministries which exceeded their budget by RM3.73 billion ( did you know that our national debt has exceeded 50% (53.1% ) of our GDP at RM 407 billion ), the Ministry of Agriculture disbursed RM8O million to one single feedlot company ( linked to the Minister of Women & Welfare ) which was to produce 60,000 heads of cattle annually for local consumption but which only produced 3,289 heads - meaning the company spent an average of RM25,000 for each cattle which also means about RM 170.00 for a kilo of meat ! ( Now I cannot stop myself )
The list doesn't stop here, of course ,and all these and more were in the Auditor General Tan Sri Ambrin Buang's 2010 report . Go read it, people and decide for your self what our beloved country has come to - the laughing stock of the world and it happens every year ( Now I'm really angry ) The downright stupidest ( if I can call it that ) one of all was the error in placing a decimal point which resulted in a pensioner receiving RM21433.00 a month instead of RM214.33 ( the Sun Nov 1, 2011 )
Also extracted from the Sun,( dated 2 Nov 2011) is a letter written by one Mohd Yusoff which I have copied here
Matter of faithPosted on 2 November 2011 - 05:04am
IT appears that this is a hostile world for Muslims. Every individual, group or organisation appears to be conspiring to erode the faith of Muslims in their religion. Hence about four to five thousand Muslims (out of the expected one million) were crying out to the government for help to protect their faith at the Shah Alam stadium.I find this episode to be sad and pathetic. I would have thought that one’s religious faith, or the onus of guarding one’s faith is on the individual. It is incredulous that a Muslim requires government intervention to help protect his faith. It’s the height of naivety. Muslims everywhere, do grow up.Mohd YusoffShah Alam
Write on, Mr Yusoff, write on for the likes of Sharil and his types
Finally, I received this email going viral and thought that I'd share with my readers. Came at the most opportune moment, it did !
I was doing a highly specific Yoga exercise to relieve Perkatak related stress. Do you discriminate against people who practice Yoga?
Just thinking deeply about the next sponsor for my wife’s handbags and her shopcoholic daughter.
Why did you interrupt me? I had almost figured out a solution to our biggest problem……my monorail.
I wasn't sleeping! I was meditating on the EPG and envisioning a new paradigm for CHOGM….minus the irritating irritaTUN!
Ah, the unique and unpredictable circadian rhythms of the sleepy heads!
This is just a 15 minute power-nap like they raved about in the BTN boot camp.
I love sleep. My life has a tendency to fall apart when I'm awake, you know?
"I'm not asleep... but that doesn't mean I'm awake."
People who say they sleep like a baby usually don't have one.
Pardon me, while I take my power nap. My wives just completed their COW (club of obedient wives) modules last night.
A power nap is when you sleep on someone who's weaker than you.
"Sleep is the most moronic fraternity in the world, with the heaviest dues and the crudest rituals.
"Some people talk in their sleep. Speakers talk while other people sleep.
I'm actually doing a Stress Level Elimination Exercise Plan (SLEEP).
Happy reading and painting
Lakshmi
