Monday, August 22, 2011

A contrast to those wonderful people I wrote about yesterday.

Yesterday, I wrote about people whom I know to be some of the most wonderful people in the world, with not just plenty of love for their fellow humans but also for the animals. I also questioned how many would stop to help someone whom they do not know.

Well, today I read in the Star online that a hungry man waiting for his meal to break his fast during this holy month became angry with the waiter. upon being told that he would have to wait his turn as meals are delivered according to the placing of the order with the earlier orders delivered first before coming to the later orders, he lost his temper and beat up the poor waiter who was merely doing his job. Only the other waiters came to help to pacify the man while the others refused to be involved, allowing the poor waiter to be beaten up for about ten minutes when the other waiters had to run away when the man started to use the chairs to hit them.

According to the Star newspaper, a witness said, "The co-workers ran away, after which the man beat the victim for over 10 minutes before leaving. The other diners did not intervene." See! None of the others bothered to lift a finger to help the poor waiter. Here was a human in trouble; what if it had been just a little animal!

So, I was not exaggerating when I wrote that it takes goodness and greatness and all those beautiful humane qualities to be as God would have us be; to be sympathetic, compassionate and loving. Some people just do not have those qualities.

Sunday, August 21, 2011

They are some of the most wonderful people on earth.

Yesterday, as I was trekking up the hill at Semarak, I saw this friend, Ah Fook, struggling down the hill with a big dog in his arms. Ah Fook was at most times suffering from pain in his joints due to gout. Nevertheless, there he was, his body bent sideways to support the dog which was hurt in its belly and one of its legs.

Seeing him almost unable to carry on any further with his task, I quickly offered him my help to take over his task. Even though I was stronger, I still found the dog sufficiently heavy to wish to reach the bottom of the hill as quickly as possible with it in my arms, as my arms were feeling the strain of its weight.

When we reached the foot of the hill, Ah Fook was just behind me, anxious more for the dog than for his painful joints. I put the dog, which was unable to walk, under a tree. It was too early to get the right type of medicine for it. So we had to leave it there with Ah Fook insisting on coming back later with the medicine for the dog.

The dog was fortunate to have a friend in Ah Fook as, with his help, the dog was certainly much better this morning. Ah Fook brought along food as well as the medicine for the dog and it surely was hungry for it quickly gobbled up every little piece of food that was brought. Ah Fook is obviously one of those beautiful people who not only love his fellow humans but also the animals that could be tamed. I believe he could even love a tiger if the tiger had allowed him to go close enough.

Ah Fook is not the only person I know of who cares for all living things. Yeoh, a small beautiful lady, has just as big and great a heart as the best of all the wonderful people I know. Once she heard about a couple who had to move elsewhere to work, leaving two dogs in their house unattended. Yeoh immediately offered to help, driving out of her way to feed the dogs using her own money and wash the area the dogs had to stay. After many months, when she got a place of her own; she was staying with her sister before this; she asked the couple for permission to take those two dogs home so that she could care for them. What a gal!

Not only that! Once a friend's cat was sick. No, it was actually not this friend's cat. This friend, Teoh, saw a poor cat knocked down by a car. It laid on the ground attempting without success to move. Teoh went out of his car to see what he could do for the cat. He found it with a hurt leg, quickly took it into his car and drove home. Uncertain as to what to do, he phoned Yeoh and Yeoh phoned me to ask my son to look at the cat to see what was wrong with it. So, it was that they came to my place at about eleven that morning. No bones seem to be broken, just pain and trauma, so the four of us took it to a shop which sells medicine for animals and then took it along for our lunch as by then it was well past one o'clock.

Well, a cat took up so much of Teoh's and Yeoh's time although it was the first time they have ever laid eyes on it. Would every human do the same for any animal? Well, not every human. That is why I consider such friends extraordinary. I believe God will always look after such wonderful people. If only the world is populated by such wonderful humans, what a beautiful world this would be. God would be so proud of us too.

Thursday, August 18, 2011

Do gays come from God?

Recently, there was much discussion in the internet concerning gays when news revealed that a gay pastor was marrying her boyfriend. It caught my attention and I must say that I could not help but went into the net to find the truth.

As far as I know gays are what they are because of their feelings. Mentally and emotionally, they are of one sex while possessing the body of another. Poor them! It's like having to fit their round bodies into square spaces; perhaps the other way around.

This pastor, for example has a male body but his or her mind and emotions are female. With the mind and emotions of a female, she falls for a male, obviously.

But then, many are of the opinion that such minds and emotions are either cultivated or a result of certain unfortunate or undesirable desires of the gay.So, what is the truth? The truth, I believe, is important as we should not hamper or obstruct a person who genuinely think and feel as a female if that person could only find happiness in being one. It would be wrong of us to deny a person his/her right to find happiness in this world as long as he/she hurts no one.

So, into the internet I went and read about a pair of male twins, one of whom behaved like a female even from the age of eighteen months. Certainly, someone at that tender age cannot have thought of changing the sex he was given at birth. Could it have been in the genes? Yet, the other twin was behaving correctly for his sex! So, it was not genes, perhaps!? And when asked at a later age whether he was happy with feeling and thinking like a female, he gave an affirmative answer. Now, scientist have not come to the conclusion that it was genes. Still, that male child grew up with all the emotions and thoughts of a female. Like it or not, that child was a gay even before he understood anything about differences in sex.

Then again, there was another research that found gays are most often found in all boys' families. How is that so? Scientist are still trying to find a reason for it. Scientist have not come out with a firm verdict on how gays come about. However, from the study on the twins, it is a fact that a male child as young as eighteen months feel and therefore behave like a female. Can we fault this gay? Apparently, he was created this way. It needs not be considered a mistake of God in creating a gay just as we do not look upon the blind, the deaf, the dumb and the crippled as mistakes in God's creation. I would say they were created with a mission on earth. It could have been the mission to inspire the ordinary who finds no incentive to achieve more. This, in fact, was again indicated to me what had earlier dawned upon me; especially when I was having a five-year old blind girl pianist overwhelm me with her talent at the piano. If she can perform so well at that age despite her supposedly handicap, why can't we ordinary folks do better with our own capabilities? For myself, I am fortunate to have these people remind me to strive even harder and achieve even more; as a result of which I do three types of jobs, teaching, breeding and massaging, at the age of sixty-five despite having retired as a school teacher for ten years.

And because of them, I appreciate what I have even more so much so I use all my capabilities as much as possible for as long as possible. No, I am not tired from doing so much and enjoying so much; I am happy.

Coming back to gays, perhaps it is time ordinary people allow them space to live their lives as befits their mind and emotions. Let us be more understanding, more sympathetic, more compassionate with our fellow humans. Let us not create more pain and suffering. As it is there is sufficient pain throughout the world to not need us to add to it.

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Are religions as God wishes?

Nowadays, in Malaysia, there are so many problems due to a few objectives that religions are so zealous about. And it is not without good reason that they aim to keep the members of their faith from straying to another faith. After all, it is human nature to ensure that members of any organisation they belong to increase in number in time. This good intention could be considered good if it does not bring along anger and distrust when there is suspicion that someone is straying.

When there is such suspicion, there is anger against those thought to be straying and distrust of the people such suspected strays or wayward ones associates with. With that comes accusing fingers that other faiths could be stealing their members.
And it becomes a very sensitive issue, an issue which can divide friends and citizens.

And I always thought, and still do, that religion is God's teaching for the good of all mankind, not just for a selected group or nation. Read the holy books and they teach us that everything on earth is the creation of God. As such, we must respect each other, respect other people their ways of living and their beliefs. The holy books urged us to be good to each other for all men and women are brothers and sisters, to forgive or be merciful, to be compassionate as we are all fallible humans. In Christianity, God even sent His son to die for our sins.

Yet, throughout the world so many problems arise due to religion. Man knows the greatness of God and with that understanding, some abuse His name to achieve their own ends. Sometimes I wonder how such people can pretend to be holy and religious and perform deeds obviously far from the wishes of God.

I write the last sentence through my own personal experience. You see, as a young man I was very interested in spiritual things and God. I searched for truth in many places, entering temples, churches and mosques. I still remember the time I was given a white robe to wear before stepping into a mosque. I talked to mediums, pastors and priests. I watched as elderly women who claimed not to have married because of giving time to God. Unfortunately for religions, I happened to witness with my own eyes and ears a happening which caused me to look even deeper into religions.

There was this old lady with her beads, her mouth wording prayers as she slowly walked along. A young man suddenly came through the door and went hurriedly past her into an inner portion of the house. The lady's chanting suddenly stopped and turning slightly towards the receding figure of the man who had just passed, she cursed him. It was a great shock to me. How could such a seemingly religious person utter such words? But, that was what she did! My eyes and ears certainly did not deceive me.

So, as a result of that shock I examined in further detail the various practices in religions. I found that, although there was much that must be true, there are some words that must have been put into God's mouth. And as religions divide themselves into sects, we find that there are also so many different interpretations of God's words. Which is right? Well, I found that the humans in a particular sect would consider their own interpretation as correct and others wrong.

With so many differences, which religion should I join? Eventually, although I like and enjoy the practices of some religions, I decided to just be with God as I have through my life known that God is always with me. Each day I thank God for that.