Saturday February 12, 2011 at 0:42

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How Badly Do You Want It?

I.e., what would you be willing to give up for it? Or what’s it worth to you?

Someone once asked me, “How badly do you want it?” I can’t remember what “it” was or even the context of the question, but I remember the question and I remember how hard it hit home.

It’s so easy to say I wish I had this or I want to do that, but it’s a lot harder to decide what price we’d be willing to pay for this and that. It’s also easy to look at things other people have accomplished and put it down to luck, but in doing that, we’ve just belittled their sacrifice and effort because nothing of worth comes without effort.

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Monday January 11, 2010 at 22:48

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I Don’t Understand

The events dominating Malaysian news headlines these past few days breaks my heart. When the first news reports of the church bombings came out, my first thoughts were, “I want to be home. With my people. That’s where I should be.”

I don’t understand what’s happening. The Malays I grew up with and went to school with would not do these things. The Malays I worked with would not do these things. Am I missing something? And it doesn’t help that I have many friends in one of the churches that was targeted (,never mind that I’ve lost touch with them).

The thing that upsets me the most is that for all appearances, it seems as if these people are itching for a fight and will use any excuse to start a war. If it’s not stepping on cow heads to insult the Hindus, it’s tossing molotov cocktails at churches. They have literally threatened to spill blood if their dignity is insulted, but how dignified can you be if you intentionally desecrate what some consider to be a sacred symbol and vandalize and destroy buildings? If you have no dignity, it is impossible for me to insult it.

So many Malay Muslims have spoken about the context of the use of the noun “Allah” and yet these people don’t care. They don’t care that the “Allah” has been used as a translation for God in Sabah and Sarawak for eons, they don’t care that Christians in Indonesia and the Middle East also use “Allah” as a translation for God. They say things in Malaysia are different but they can’t explain why or how. They say it’s different and expect us to just accept it. This must be how their religious classes are conducted.

Yes, we are different from Indonesia. My Indonesian Chinese friends do not have any friends who are Javanese or Acehnese, etc. They all went to private schools where they led insular existences apart from the other races. We in Malaysia do not. I went to a public school. So did my brother, cousins, parents, aunts, uncles and grandparents. I have friends who are Malays, Indians, Eurasians and mutts comprised of more than one race. One of my father’s cousins married a Malay, which means technically, I have a Malay aunt. My parents’ house is flanked one one side by an Indian home and on the other side by a Malay home. Across from us, one Chinese Buddhist family and one Chinese Christian family. So no, I don’t understand what’s going on. It has never been a part of my understanding of what Malaysia is. I don’t understand why some people are offended when we eat pork. I don’t expect them to eat any. More for me if you don’t want some, I say. I don’t understand why they are offended that I like dogs. You don’t have to like them if you don’t want to. At least dogs don’t lob molotov cocktails at every little thing that offends them.

Do you see where I’m going here? Is it obvious to you how ridiculous all of this is? Full grown adults throwing temper tantrums and behaving like petulant children. Respect is earned. If you want us to respect you and your beliefs, then act like it.

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