In our homeland, all 'siblings' must be treated equal.

Citizens of a country must respect the laws of the country. Especially for those people born in a country, that country is their homeland and its laws must be followed. However, since there has been quite a lot of confusion lately regarding which one's homeland is, even among the literate, I wish to illustrate the meaning by saying that Parameswara's homeland was Java. This Pelambang prince who came and founded Malacca left his homeland to settle in Malaya. His children, grandchildren and great grandchildren who were born here can call then Malaya and now Malaysia their homeland. They are now Malaysians or Malaysian Javanese if you like, while their great grandfather, Parameswara was a Javanese. Similarly, Hang Li Po's homeland was China but her descendants who are born here are Malaysian or Malaysian Chinese and their homeland is Malaya or Malaysia. So Malaysians should respect the laws of Malaysia because every citizen elected the politicians who sit in parliament to pass or change any undesirable laws.

As Malaysians we not only respect the country's laws, we also should be patriotic to our country. We must show allegiance to our country. But then that does not mean that we must show our allegiance to people in power. So people in power cannot demand allegiance from the people. Allegiance or loyalty and support from the people can only be fostered through the caring deeds of the people in power, whoever they may be.

Some power crazy people demand allegiance from the people, especially the minority in a country. And when such demands are not met, these people threaten with sending or asking them to return to their homeland when actually the country where they are born is their homeland. These power-crazy people forget that loyalty must be developed through love and care and that those people who are not loyal to them are just as patriotic to their homeland, the land where they are born in.

In fact, by using threats and harsh words, people tend to rebel against such so-called leaders. When people do not love such leaders, the people feel nothing but disgust for them. When that happens it is an indication that they are poor leaders with poor capability to lead.

Such leaders are often found among community leaders who only know how to fight for one particular community, neglecting everybody else. They are often racist. Should I say that? No, I believe these people are not actually racist, rather they make use of race issues or religious issues to become popular, more for their own selfish gains. But then, in that sense they are racist! But they are not actually fighting for the race. They merely make use of the race.

Examine what they say carefully and you find that they even say things which has no truth. One even claim that a particular race has been pushed to the wall and is in danger of losing power when in actual fact their power will always be in the hands of the rulers and the race is a majority community in the country, when the minority is merely asking for fairness in opportunities for all the poor and needy, something which no sane person would oppose.

Certainly, the rich needs no aids for anything. Yet when some politician said that the rich ought not to get discounted prices in purchasing houses, these people make a hue and cry as though those very rich who can afford houses at half a million ringgit still need such discounts. Imagine that! According to such leaders, people who are millionaires need discounts while people do not even have a quarter of a million ringgit have to buy houses without a sen discounted! Why the difference when Malaysia is the homeland for all of them? So why were those rich leaders making so much noise? Perhaps with their huge amount of money they hope to build huge mansions at discounted prices while some others buy their small terrace houses at no discount whatsoever. Not enough money? Sorry, no discount. Wait until you have saved enough, okay? I know you are a Malaysian too.

No, I am not envious of those truly poor people who are given discount for their houses but should not discount be given to all the truly poor Malaysians? Even though I am not filthy rich, I think I am rich enough not to need a discounted house. Of course, if a developer were to be so kind as to give me some discount, I would gratefully accept as I cannot consider myself rich either but I would never demand it or by using other people's situations to obtain it.

There was even one Malaysian Chinese Muslim who believed that Malaysian Chinese born in Malaysia ought not to consider Malaysia as their homeland in saying that those who are not happy with 'an uneven playing field' should go back to their homeland. He simply could not understand the word 'homeland'. What a pity! And he is not illiterate!

All the minority community is hoping to strive for is fairness in their homeland. Just as they are patriotic so do they think of equal opportunities in their own country. If their country where their allegiance and patriotism lie does not treat them as equals whereas can they find equality?

It's a one-world family.

In the news today was a report of a mass dining protest organised by Mia Northrop in Australia against racial attacks, in which the participants sat down to take curry in Indian restaurants. This was in response to attacks on Indians in Australia. The event attracted participation not only in Australia but also in Tokyo, Amsterdam, New York and Stockholm.

The huge success of this protest against racialism is a good indication that the world is becoming less racial and more a one-world family, which we actually are.

It is pretty obvious that the world never was meant to be divided into so many countries, states and races. The world just comprises of some pieces of land and sea. Man, craving for power, laid claims to particular areas and put boundaries on those pieces of land. Even to this so-called civilised day, Man, in this kind of craziness, still fight over land that God bestowed to all mankind. In actual fact, on the very ground where the boundaries of countries are, except for islands, there is no natural dividing feature on the ground itself to indicate where the boundary is!

Who created us to be of a particular race? It is none but the power-crazy leaders who started drawing up imaginary lines (It's all in the mind and drawn on a so-called map.) and declaring that a piece of land was henceforth named America, Canada, India, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and so forth. And the people born in each place are known as a race. Thus, we have Americans, Canadians, Indians, Malaysians, Thais and Vietnamese. Are they truly different? No! The only superficial difference is the colour of their skin which is due to the weather these people and their ancestors endure for so many years.

Take India for example. Part of the country is in the tropics while the northern region has a much cooler climate. The northern Indians are so fair while the southern Indians are so dark. Recently, I met a Tibetan lady who has north Indian features. If I had not been told where she came from, I could have mistaken her for a northern Indian.

So, race is something created by humans. It only exists in the minds of humans. That is how some politicians in Malaysia sometimes use the arguement that people who originate from Indonesia, Java and other places which the British named the Malay Peninsula have not migrated because people from the Malay Peninsula are Malays, even though these people had obviously come from another piece of land that never recognised Malaysia as part of their country. Well, that's how politicians try to twist the facts to suit their own purpose.

The fact is that this is one world. The boundaries, states, countries and races are all man-created. If human can only see this and live as a one-world family, sharing the world together, there will be peace and greater happiness on Earth.

Teamwork in life.

On Saturday, I went as a volunteer to help the Art Excel in The Art of Living Centre in Sungai Petani. We had six groups comprising of six participants in each group. Each group has a mixture of boys and girls. All the participants were below the age of twelve. One of the games played by the groups was to see how they could lie on the floor and form the longest unbroken line in the shortest time possible. They could use anything they have on their body.

The group that won showed many of the qualities essential to success in life, which was what should be the case as that was the aim of the game.

That group used all their name-tag straps, their spectacles, and the boys’ shirts and stretched their hands and legs to form the longest line to win.

Firstly, there was quick thinking on their part. They thought of using whatever they had to achieve their objective. So off came their straps, spectacles, handkerchiefs, and boys’ shirts. This part was copied by the other groups.

Next came speed of action in carrying out the idea. They were aware of what they had to perform, They acted as one without need for further instruction. It showed their attentiveness to what was required of them. They were aware of what is required of each of them.

Of course, there was the element of luck. The length of their arms, legs and bodies was a contributing factor in the game. Just as in life, luck does play a role.

Finally, the most essential cooperation made all the difference; without it the team could not have achieved its goal. I noticed that there was one team where a boy was reluctant to part with his shirt and it was the deciding factor. It caused the team to lose by just a mere few centimeters which could have been overcome with a 40 centimeter-shirt. The boy was not cooperative and was reluctant to comply to the wishes of the other team-mates. The team was only as strong as its weakest member. Again, this has been found to be true.

What does such a game teach us? First and foremost, every member of the team is important. In any endeavour. Choose the strongest or best possible team-mates so as to have the best possible chance for success. Weaknesses in essential factors for a particular field will show when the going gets rough and tough.

Cooperation is necessary, even at the expense of individual considerations. The group must come first. Nothing supersedes it. Without this attitude, dissatisfaction is bound to arise to weaken the strength of the group. Everyone has to work together to move in the same direction.

In a fast changing world, speed in taking action to implement ideas so that projects can materialise fast, thus putting the group in front of its competition.

As we live in communities, the above mentioned qualities ought to be inculcated in our precious children and us so as to have a better opportunity for success and happiness in life.

A family is only as strong as its weakest member.

This morning, I attended the knowledge session to listen to the introduction of Patanjali in The Art of Living Centre in Kedah, Malaysia.

In the introduction is a story of how Patanjali had a thousand people gathered towards the South of Vindiya Mountain in Southern India. He told the listeners that a screen would be placed between them and him. That was the condition for imparting the knowledge. Besides that no one was to move out till the full knowledge had been completely taught.

Everyone was absorbed in the knowledge. With each new knowledge, a new realization came and the enthusiastic energy was so great they found it difficult to contain themselves. Still, they maintained their discipline.

But then, as fate would have it, a young boy felt the need to answer nature’s call. Quietly, thinking no one would notice, he went to the toilet. But when he started to move, the collective consciousness was broken. People turned their heads, looked towards the movement and started to wonder.

“Who’s that? What happened? Who is going out? Why is Patanjali behind the screen? Yes, why is he there?” And some of them lifted the screen to look for Patanjali. As they did so, the place burst into fire and all the nine hundred and ninety-nine people died. Only the boy who went to the toilet survived.

The one who survived was the weakest link in the group. He disconnected the strong chain of discipline the group had formed. He disrupted the collective consciousness. Without the togetherness, people in the group started acting as individuals with their doubts and curiosity. The fire in the story was a symbol of the kind of tragedy that can befall a group when its collective strength was destroyed, destroyed by its weakest link. A chain is only as strong as its weakest link.

In a family, it is also true that it is only as strong as its weakest member. A weak father, a gambler or a drunkard, can easily break up a family. A weak mother, on personal pursuits and neglecting the family can also cause chaos. A pampered child who merely wants personal demands met can bring problems to the parents and the family. Therefore it is in our interest to love, nurture, help, look into the welfare of and be responsible for every member of our family.