A tribute to Michael Jackson, on his birthday month

                                              

Michael Joseph Jackson, was his name 

Born on August twenty ninth, of nineteen fifty eight 

Was destined from the very beginning, to fame 

To 'shock and awe' the crowds was his trait. 

Amaze did he, the people of this very divided earth 

With his so bewildering endowment of songs 

And dances of exhilaration and mirth 

That the world forgot its rights and wrongs! 

Now, he is gone, went away on June twenty fifth, of twenty zero nine 

To be with God and to, finally, have the peace 

That he so craved for, in this land of yours and mine 

But never did attain, till the dance of his heart did cease. 

A thriller like him come but once in a life time 

To unite this world split by race, religion and creed 

To name him the icon of unity will be no crime 

Just a simple accolade that will be gladly agreed.

But alas! In the later part of his life, tarnished was his image

For the unsavory deeds he was suspected to have done

And which were, mercilessly, published, page after page

Please God, forgive him of misgivings, as he is also Your son!

He died, but still lived, in the hearts of his fans

In every corner of this wide, wild world

They hummed his songs of thrill, and songs of romance

While on his name their fingers and eyes swirled!

How Thou God!

Boy! God sure has a tough job in His hands. Here, there is a fan of Real Madrid FC looking up in the sky, praying to Him for Real Madrid FC to beat Barcelona, and at the other end of the stadium, there is another one, praying for Barcelona to win! Whom shall He help, without hurting the other! Life sure is tough for God!

A girl, in a house of God, is praying for the love of her favourite guy, and that guy is praying for the love of another damsel! Poor God, how is He going to solve this! He has to do something! He, at the least, may have to change their love-wish. No, that’s God’s problem. I can’t insinuate anything! I can only make the problem bigger for Him!

A guy is buying lottery ticket at a counter and is silently praying to God that he may strike it rich so that he may settle all his debts, and have plenty more to have the luxury life, that he had always dreamed of. God, sure, is in a dilemma! Will granting this guy’s wish make it a happy ending for him, or is he going to be a cause of several problems in the future. What a headache for God!

“Oh, God!” two parents were praying in a house of worship, “please let our son pass his exam with flying colours!” Aw, come on people! You are pushing God into a corner! How can God make your son pass, let alone with flying colours, when all the while your son was neglecting his studies and was enjoying himself loafing around with his friends, wasting precious time and money playing computer games in the cybercafes?

Enough said! Millions, all over the world are praying to God for something. How is He going to satisfy all their requests? He, sure, has hell of a tough job! Doesn’t He deserve a break? A break! Oh, my God! What am I saying!

Asian top news of the times - Najib

Mention 1MDB and words like Malaysia, Najib, MO1, Jho Low, money laundering and even USA’s DOJ (Department Of Justice) will come into one’s mind. It is so. because of the consistent frequency of those words being printed and mentioned in local and international media, over the past few years. Other words, too, may appear in one’s mind like Rosmah, hand bags, jewels, watches and so on, but that is for another day! (wink).

To be precise, during these past few years, seven criminal cases were filed against the former Prime Minister, Najib, in regards to 1MDB. On Tuesday, July 28, 2020, the Kuala Lumpur High Court Judge, Mohamad Nazlan found the former and 6th Prime Minister of Malaysia, Dato Seri Najib Abdul Razak, guilty on all seven criminal cases, that were brought up against him. Three cases were for criminal breach of trust, three cases were for money laundering and one case was for abuse for power. All the cases were connected to SRC International, a commercial unit of the frequently mentioned investment company, 1MDB, said to be the brainchild of Najib. Mr Najib was sentenced to 12 years jail for abuse of power, and 10 years each for the rest of the 6 cases. 

What? A total of 72 years? Will Najib last that long, you may ask, having pondered in your mind. I, too. Pondered, I mean! I rechecked the news. 

Actually, I was relieved. Najib was sentenced to 12 years in jail with a fine of RM210 million or about 49 million US Dollars. The Judge had ordered the jail term to run concurrently, as the seven cases were interlinked. I did check the word ‘concurrently’ in the dictionary. It said – at the same or simultaneously.

Phew! What an escape for Najib, and what a relief for me. A relief for me, because, I did not like Najib, a former Prime Minister of my lovely nation, Malaysia, to make prison as his first home for an endless 72 years. To me, once a normal person becomes a politician, he, involuntarily, becomes a crook. He pursues and practices various techniques to hold on to power and money. All of them, them politicians, become adapted to it. Sorry, that is how I feel. No, correction. I am not sorry at all I feel that way! It's the way it is.

Coming back to Najib, he is no different from all the others. Najib claims he did not know how that huge sum of money came into his account. RM42 million or 10 million US Dollars, is not a small sum! Maybe, so much money was moving here and there into his accounts, and poor Najib, didn’t know where to check. Ha ha! what a joke! Thank you, Najib, sir.

And a big thank you for starting the BR1M - Bantuan Rakyat 1Malaysia , a cash payment scheme for the Malaysian people, which is still being followed by subsequent governments. If not for anything else, the people of Malaysia will still remember you for that, the BR1M scheme. And 1Malaysia.

By the way, Najib is not going to jail, straightaway. He is still a free man, pending an appeal to the Court of Appeal. His lead defense lawyer, Muhammad Shafee Abdullah has applied for a stay of execution for both the jail term and the fine, and the Judge had granted it. Najib had been slapped with a bail amount of RM2 million or about 500,000 US Dollars in two sureties.

Najib is not completely free, though. He may visit various places of attraction within Malaysia, but of those visits, two visits in a month should be to the nearest police station!

Murder in Malaysia (old post, revisited)

The news of the murders in Banting, a district of Kuala Langat in Selangor, of Cosmetics millionairess, Datuk Sosilawati Lawiya, 47 of Gombak, Selangor together with 3 others, namely, Noohisham, 38 (bank officer), Ahmad Kamil, 32 (lawyer) and Kamaruddin, 44 (driver for Sosilawati), has pushed back all other noteworthy news in Malaysia for these past few days. News of the appointment of the new Inspector General of Police, Tan Sri Ismail bin omar, the Hari Raya celebrations and, to an extent, even the installation of the Sultan of Kelantan went almost unnoticed.

It all started on the 6th September 2010, with the police saying that they had received report of their disappearance, since 30th August, by the families concerned.

The police were efficient in their investigations, and they were able to confirm, a few days later, that they had been murdered, and their bodies burnt in a plantation site called, Ladang Gadong, Tanjong Sepat. Their ashes were said to have been thrown in the river, nearby.

Two lawyer brothers, 38 and 41, who were said to be main culprits have been arrested. They were also said to be involved in the strange disappearances of a few other people of note, which the police are, vigorously,  reinvestigating.

It has been concluded that money, in the millions was involved, and that, basically, it was the result of a business dealing gone awry.

It is hoped the criminals who so mercilessly took away the precious God-given lives would be swiftly brought to justice. The punishment should be really and truly be a deterrent to the other would be murderers.

(On March 16, 2017, former lawyer Pathmanabhan, 47 and farm workers Thilaiyalagan, 25 and Kathavarayan, 37, were found guilty of the gruesome murders of Sosilawati and her three aides by five panels of judges led by Chief Justice Tun Arifin zakaria of the Malaysian Federal Court, and were sentenced to death).

Another thing, a real head scratcher; nowhere, was it mentioned, outright, how the four of them were killed before being burnt. One Malaysian Daily mentioned that Noohisham's DNA was found on a cricket bat, and the others' DNA profiles were found on blood stains on zinc sheets.