New Year Reflections

The year that was and the year that will be

On this last day of the year 2012, let us reflect on our life over the last 12 months. Let us reflect on the good and bad, happiness and sadness, the good we had done to others let us be thankful, the bad we had done to others let us be sorry. If we failed to do any good to others let us resolve to do so in the coming year.

Today is also the day to reflect on the pain we had caused others, intentionally or otherwise. Let us seek forgiveness from those whom we had hurt. If we had done anything wrong it is the time to repent today. If we had hurt our father or mother it is the day to put aside our pride, hug them and say “I am sorry Pa/Ma”

If we had been indifferent to the suffering of people around us let us change our attitude as we cannot live all alone. If we have been indifferent to the ruckus going in our country let us change to insist in having a say in what is happening around.

The power to change is in our hands and let us make full use of that power to bring change to us, our society and nation. Remember the words of Albert Einstein, “ The world is a dangerous place to live not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don't do anything about it.”

Happy New year

  
 

New Year 2013 – Offers a hope for change

Our most important resolution for the New Year, besides our own personal ones, should be to help create a new Malaysia where all citizens can continue to live and prosper harmoniously together without suspicion and hate for one another. In order to achieve this each one of us must take pains to evaluate very carefully and cast our votes wisely in the elections which must be held in early 2013.

The call for clean, free and fair elections continued to be most significant development in 2012 as it was in previous years. The images of the massive turn out of the people from all walks of life onto the streets of Kuala Lumpur and Dataran Merdeka in Bersih 3.0 is still very clear in the minds of the people. Till today as the year comes to a close and the elections due very soon, not enough has been done to address the 8 important electoral reforms demanded by the people.

Besides Bersih, the rise of popular people movements such as the Anti-Lynas, the environmentalist Himpunan Hijau and Himpunan Oren or Anak Felda and the Himpunan Merah championing the Kelantan oil royalty are significant positive developments in 2012.

Meanwhile corruption continues on an unimaginable scale and the most talked about scandal was the National Feedlot Corporation(NFC) scandal popularly called the cow-gate scandal, which became a household name among even ordinary Malaysians. Others were the so called Amangate in Sabah and its associated Nazrigate on the mainland.

The Scorpene scandal involving the alleged corruption in the purchase of submarines from France and the mysterious murder of Mongolian Altantuya also resurfaced to haunt the nation with the continued revelations by  Suaram and carpet dealer Deepak Jaikishan. Although the incidents occurred many years ago it looks like the ghost of Altantunya cannot be laid to rest.

The war of words among former top cops regarding misappropriations in the police force is a serious allegation that has yet to be addressed. It has cast great doubts in the minds of the people about the professionalism in the PDRM which if not acted upon will lead to the total loss of credibility of our police force that will be detrimental to the security of the nation and the people.

The year 2012 also witnessed the rise of many young stars in the political arena, the most notable being   PKR director of strategy Rafizi Ramli, who has earned the respect of Malaysians for his bold exposure of the NFC and other scandals with facts and figures to proof his allegations of corruption.

Against the backdrop of such ongoing major corruption scandals were other lesser moral issues that dominated the headlines in the year. These were related to the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community (LGBT), gender segregation, the “Allah” issue, Islamic state and Hudud laws. As expected the government-controlled main stream media used these issues to play up the differences between PAS and DAP.

Very soon into the new year, Malaysians will go to the polls when they will have to choose the party to rule them for the next 5 years. It is basically a choice between BN and PR. They have to carefully weigh the strengths and weaknesses of the two parties based on past performance and present promises before making their all important choice within the secrecy of the election booths.

The BN has 55 years of experience and has elevated the nation to where it is today. However major corruption, abuse of power with the emasculation of the public institutions, unfair socio-economic and ethnic policies continue unabated under it rule. The BN government appears powerless to overcome these major ills today due to pressures from within. In fact after being in power for so long it seemed to have lost the political will to change to become more people-oriented as it used to be before.

The PR on the other hand is inexperienced and untested in many areas but pledges to put an end to these major corruptions, introduce a more people-oriented socio-economic policies for all and restore the much needed independence of the public institutions, especially the judiciary, police and MACC. It promises to reduce oil and food prices, abolish PTPTN to provide free tertiary education for all, stop the Lynas radioactive project, abolish the AES for traffic offenders and bring to task all those involved in corruption. Their policies may be populist but at least it offers some hope of change for the better.  

With the increasing access to the alternate cyber media, the people today are better informed today of the truth. They are in a better position today to decide who will be a better choice to lead the nation.As we step into 2013 let us pray that the Almighty grant us the wisdom to make the right choice for the dawn of better and happier new Malaysia for all.

A Happy New Year to all fellow Malaysians

Peace-filled New Year 2013

Wishing all a very Happy New Year 2013

May the new Year bring us the peace and happiness that we all long for in our lives.Peace will not fall from the sky nor can it be forced on to us from outside but only come about by our own contribution,sacrifice and efforts.Happiness will not come unless we share our peace with those around us.

Peace & happiness can only be created by us ans alone.Hope each one us will play our role in creating the peaceful environment we all want.

Attaching a video song on peace which learned as a boy in school.

Happy & Peaceful New Year 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOvQLMfppN8

 

Happy New Year 2013

New Year 2013 Message

A big "Thank You" to each and every one of you, for the impact you had on my life this year. Without you,2012 would have been extremely boring and meaningless 
 
May 2013 bring the Tidal Wave of  change in our life, family and country .May Love, Happiness, good health and Bright Future continue to reign in our land
 
And to those who need someone special, may you find that true love.  
To those who need money, may your finances overflow.
 
To those who need caring, may you find a good heart.

To those who like helping others enjoy it and continue doing so more!!
 
To those who need friends, I am still here for you.
 

Thanks for coming into my life

Thank you for being my friend!

                                                    

    ALL THE BEST IN 2013 

 

An Inspiring, Short Christmas Story

Dear friends,

I don't know if the following short Christmas story is true, but whether or not it actually happened, it is a wonderfully inspiring story for people of any faith. 

It is not the value of the gifts we receive that is important but the intentions of the giver behind that gift that natters most. Like Mother Teresa said, it is not the great things we do that is important but the little things done with great love.

In this season of love and sharing, may we all remember the beautiful love of a child, which is innocent and conditional without ulterior motives. Our love and sharing too must that of a child, not expecting anything in return.

I wish you all a meaningful and love-filled Christmas season and New Year ahead. May your days be filled with love, joy and hope.

 

The Gold Wrapping Paper - An Inspiring, Short Christmas Story

Once upon a time, there was a man who worked very hard just to keep food on the table for his family. This particular year a few days before Christmas, he punished his little five-year-old daughter after learning that she had used up the family's only roll of expensive gold wrapping paper.

As money was tight, he became even more upset when on Christmas Eve he saw that the child had used all of the expensive gold paper to decorate one shoebox she had put under the Christmas tree. He also was concerned about where she had gotten money to buy what was in the shoebox.

Nevertheless, the next morning the little girl, filled with excitement, brought the gift box to her father and said, "This is for you, Daddy!"

As he opened the box, the father was embarrassed by his earlier overreaction, now regretting how he had punished her.

But when he opened the shoebox, he found it was empty and again his anger flared. "Don't you know, young lady," he said harshly, "when you give someone a present, there's supposed to be something inside the package!"

The little girl looked up at him with sad tears rolling from her eyes and whispered: "Daddy, it's not empty. I blew kisses into it until it was all full."

The father was crushed. He fell on his knees and put his arms around his precious little girl. He begged her to forgive him for his unnecessary anger.

An accident took the life of the child only a short time later. It is told that the father kept this little gold box by his bed for all the years of his life. Whenever he was discouraged or faced difficult problems, he would open the box, take out an imaginary kiss, and remember the love of this beautiful child who had put it there.


In a very real sense, each of us has been given an invisible golden box filled with unconditional love and kisses from our children, family, friends and God. There is no more precious possession anyone could hold.

    A Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year 

 

Christmas – A time for sharing of goodwill

As Christians all over the world celebrate Christmas, it may be pertinent for them to contemplate on real meaning of this very important day in their religious calendar which is often masked by the over commercialization of the celebrations. Like the festivals of all other major religions the single most important essence of Christmas is sharing. It is a common practice for us in our country to host activities to share our joy, happiness, food, drinks and gifts with our friends and relatives which is indeed a wonderful practice that Malaysians of all ethnicity do in common during their respective festivals.

While we spend the day sharing with friends and relatives, we must not forget to share with strangers, people from other races and those who do not have anything. It may not be money and food that we need to share but happiness which many lack these days. If only we look around we will be surprised to see so many in our midst who lack happiness for many reasons. Most often we may not be able to overcome the cause of their sadness but the least we can do is to bring some cheer by sharing with them the little happiness we have. We may not have much to offer them I but is not the abundance we have that matters but to share the little of the little we have that matters most.

One of the most important possessions that we can share is goodwill that transcends race or creed, which is most needed in our country today. Goodwill is what we all can afford to give freely if only we have the heart to do so. So much hatred is being sown into the minds of the people by many who seek power, position and wealth. This has to be neutralized and that can only be done by the people sharing their goodwill with those of other races and faith. 

As we go about celebrating Christmas let’s not forget that most important need of our country even after 55 years of independence is unity among the many ethnic groups and unless we share our goodwill with other fellow Malaysians, this unity that has been carefully nurtured over the years may not be there to be cherished by the generations to come.