Why Thailand? Why now?

Thailand is suffering from the worst flood that it has ever seen. It is almost 3 months now. Over 500 people have died. 2 million displaced. 

Why? Why Thailand? Why now?

Is having a woman Prime Minister, in Yingluck Shinawatra, in Thailand for the first time, a bad omen for the nation? 

Or are the heavens angry because Thailand had gone overboard by permitting its citizens to fight among themselves (the red and yellow shirt fiascos), without due regard and respect to its monarchies that they so worshipped? 

Or has the prevalence and passive acceptance of vices, especially, that of sexual in nature made the nation reap the punishment in this form? Or is it an act of nature or nature's wrath?

Only time will tell. 

After Gaddafi, who?

Saddam Hussein is dead.
Osama Bin Laden is dead.
Muammar Gaddafi is dead.
All under different circumstances.
But still the same, they were all anti-west, especially the USA.
The tempting question now is,
Who next?

Datuk Seri Najib's Budget Gaffe

The Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib made his Budget 2012 disclosure on Friday October 7, 2011. I thought he was doing a good job, offering the business concerns and the public this and that until when nearly at the end of his speech, he, in the humorous style of his, almost like tongue in cheek, mentioned that the members of the parliament will even have their allowances raised if both the ruling Barisan Nasional Party and the Opposition parties agreed. The members of the ruling party laughed. This is money freely given. Surely the opposition party members will agree along! Others, too, laughed together. Even I could not help smiling. It is all about money, then.

But I had my reservation. This will be a fodder for the opposition party to use it in this time of approaching election  to tell the Malaysians that they have the economic well being of the people at heart foremost, and that they are foregoing the increase in their allowance so that the money can be used for the people’s urgent needs.

That is exactly what happened. Next day I saw in an English Daily that opposition party members Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad and Azmin Ali opposed the plan saying that the time was not right and focus should be on the people and the rising cost of living and not on the allowances.

Poor PM. He should be regretting he said it. Knowing the opposition, they would be harping on this matter during their election speeches.

Deeply tinted helmet visors...grumble...grumble..

I wish the government did not rescind on its requirement for motorcyclist not to wear deeply tinted helmet visors. Deeply tinted visors do pose social setbacks. For one, we would not even realize the person who had just passed us by or near us is our friend because of his fully hidden face. Hesitation will always be there when we should be greeting each other unreservedly.

And we need not say a lot about robberies, burglaries or snatch-thefts done by the rogues wearing fully tinted helmets. No one can recognize them. Even pictures taken by hidden cameras won’t be of any use.

I hope the authorities bring back the rule forbidding motorcyclists wearing helmets with deeply tinted visors.

Help the paupers, please.

The Second Finance Minister of Malaysia, Datuk Seri Ahmad Husni Hanadzlah had recently said, in Ipoh, that those earning less than RM3,000 per month will be helped to get through the rising cost of living.

This really baffles me a bit. In my small town of mine, namely Taiping, if one were to even mention that he was a RM2,000 per month earner he will get some respect. He should be a senior staff or something. For RM3,000 one could be a manager. From what I have seen most of the people in the private sector are getting monthly salaries of way below RM1,000. If people getting RM3,000 per month are taken as low wage earners, then the latter ones are surely paupers.

One day we may see the managers and the paupers queuing up together for some food stamps. I hope the government takes care of the paupers first. Me? I am a pauper, too!

A believer of all religions.

Hari Raya Puasa is just around the corner, most probably, on the 30^th of August, 2011, and I am sure my Muslim friends should be eagerly waiting for their great day. A day when they can openly consume food and drinks without looking over their shoulders for the Puasa enforcing authorities. 

Oh, no, this does not mean I am saying all my friends do not observe the Puasa obligation. There do exist a few whose stomachs seem to be unable to go without food. They don’t seem to have the will power to do as the religion of Islam asks them to do; to fast during the day for a month.

I am a great respecter of religions and their faiths and when I see hordes of Malays queuing up to buy breakfast and lunches at the kedai mamaks, I don’t know whether to be understanding or to give them a look of disapproval.

Seems like there is a great deal to be done by the Islamic authorities to convince these puasa-faulters to observe the requirement of Islam.