Do not read these! Banned!

Here is a piece of interesting information that I saw in the online media, Malaysian Insider, recently. The Malaysian Insider, and especially, the writer of the article, Ivan Yeo, rightly gets my gratitude for letting me go back to the past and coming back to the present!

No. it’s not about some nostalgia events or anything like that. Well, it’s just about reads; what the Malaysians should read and what they should not.  Ivan Hoe pointed out the site where one can get the list of the banned reading materials by the Home Ministry. Of course, Little Red Riding Hood and Alice in Wonderland or Sindbad the Sailor are not amongst list of banned reads or books of the Malaysian authorities (a wink from my eye).

From the year 1971 until now about 1517 books, pamphlets and magazines have been banned. Most of them touch on Islam and sex. Some on political ideologies and others on what the banners say.  It is impossible and demeaning of me to list them all out here. I did try but I gave up after putting in the latest 10 books that were written in English which you can see below. For the rest just go to the website kdn.gov.my and get the whole lot.

1.   Allah, Liberty And Love - Irshad Manji – 2012

2.   "WHERE DID I COME FROM?" -  Peter Mayle – 2012

3.   The March To Putrajaya-Malaysia's New Era Is At Hand -  Kim Quek – 2010

4.   1 FUNNY MALAYSIA -  Zunar – 2010

5.   The Jewel of Medina - Sherry Jones – 2009

6.   Qabil & Habil S. Aneesa - 2009

7.   Ibrahim a.s. And Sarah S. Aneesa – 2009

8.   The Trouble With Islam Today -  Irshad Manji – 2009

9.   The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam (And The Crusades) -  Robert Spencer – 2009

     10. ANTICHRIST ISLAM'S AWAITED MESSIAH Joel Richardson -2009

Prem Rawat - the 'peace'ful man

Prem Rawat , the famous orator on ‘global peace’  is indeed a great philosophical speaker. However, I noticed that in all his speeches he emphasizes that people can find peace and happiness only from their inner self and there are no other ways about it. Proof of this can be seen from an adaptation from his speech that I especially like and cannot seem to forget. It may not be exact, but I have tried to be as close as possible. (In one of his numerous speeches he was trying to explain what real peace is).

A person went to a man and asked, “Excuse me, sir. You look so happy. How is it so?

And the man replied, “I am happy because I am at peace because I have money in abundance, I have bungalows, I have servants, I have cars, I have….....” he carried on.

The person saw a monk nearby and asked him why he looked so happy. The monk answered, “I am at peace because I don’t have money, I don’t have bungalows, I don’t have……” and he carried on.

The audience laughed and clapped as though it was an indication of their agreement. I, too, could not help admiring his gift of words to execute his explanations.

Well, you, too, can judge his speeches for yourself. Just type his name in 'Youtube'.

Short Takes - The Malaysian woman driver

The car is running at a reckless speed on the road. It squeezes left and right, overtaking cars, as though, they are stationary objects. It doesn’t let any other car to overtake it, increasing its speed. It, finally, stops at an apartment in town. A woman gets out. Now, she is all soft and tender. Her face has this innocent and timid girl look. This is the Malaysian woman driver, before she sits in the driver’s seat!

                               
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The present government may be corrupt, or may even play dirty, when nearing election. But the opposition parties aren’t any better. There are continuous stream of infighting amongst them. There isn’t any assurance that they would stay united, and concentrate on working for the welfare of the populace.

Well, the ruling government has the blue Barisan Nasional (National Front) flag, with the dice symbol, as the main united party flag representation, and displays it everywhere. The opposition parties say they are united, under the name of Party Rakyat, but, until now, I don’t really know which is their united party flag. This shows how well they are organized! Well, it’s time to really do a deep thinking, as to whom to vote for.

                              
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Who says PAS is a racist party? No, it is not racial. It welcomes all the races - Chinese, Indians, etc - in its fold.

Only that they should be Muslims!