A Supreme Race?

Why sre mortal beings still so ignorant despite education easily avilable throughout the world?

For any race to consider it supreme, it must be very much better than all the rest of mankind, every individual ofthat race. Should there be even just one individual who is lower in intelligence, less capable than anyone of the human race, weaker financially, spiritually, emotionally or physically, then that race is just like any other race throughout the world, no more supreme than the worst of us.

Yet, in this 21st century, certain portions of the Malays, especially the politicians, claim supremacy over any other race, if not throughout the world, at least in Malaysia. Yet, in the very same breath, these proponents of supremacy demand special rights for their race, using its weaker financial situation as its excuse to be given better opportunities to improve themselves financially.

Looks like these people have not or forgotten that in history, the Japanese and the Germans had once considered themselves the supreme races and had wanted to conquer the world so that the  so-called less sipreme beings of humankind would be under their rule. The world proved them wrong. And in 2018, the supremacy group of politicians under UMNO was defeaated in that year's election, to be replaced with less arrogant, more inclusive politicians from another coalition.

Even with their failure to be supreme, they continued with their superiority rhetoric on race and religion. They refused to realise that the only truly supreme being is God, that all humans are mere mortals with the possibility of mental and physical weaknesses. Some even believe God needs them to defend Him Some even talk as if there are God, putting forth words and thoughts with the implication it comes from God.

They do not understand that all humans are created or born equal. Born into this world where the idea of power has caused some humans to divide this world into countries and states, divided by immaginary lines on land,they came to be known as people of different races. So, the idea of countries, boundaries, states and race are just human creations. It has nothing to do with skin colour either as can be seen from India and its people. The Indians from the cooler North are fair-skinned while the Indians from the hotter South are darker, mainly due to the difference in climate. 

It is never God's intention to divide the human race. Neither was it His intention to have a particular race more superior than any other. It is more of the lust for power that cause this desire for supremacy. We are are humans created with different talents to fulfill the needs of this world. Let us all face this reality.

The joy of friendshp

Every thing may come and go but friendship remains imbedded in our hearts forever. End of May, 2019 brought the arrival of old friends who took the trouble to look up to little old guy. Foo Fook Yuen came all the way from Penang to the sleeping hollow of Sungai Petani, Kedah to see Lee Heng Chye, Lee Ah Ba and I. Apparently, they were college-mates. As for me I got to know Fook Yuen and Ah Bah in Kodiang, Kedah. When Fook Yuen contacted me that morning, I dropped all appointments I dropped all the appointments had made to be with this olde beloved friend whom I missed since it was more than a few years I saw him in Penang.. (I had promised someone a massage, assistance to do something on a computer and given voluntary assistance to a brain-injured child. I have been practising qi kung and learning as much as I could on brain plasticity.)

Soon, I was out to meet Heng chye and Fook Yuen at a coffee-shop for breakfast, a second breakfast for me as I had one earlier. Althoough a simple breakfast, we spent some time in the shop and, to avoid, the discomfort we could be giving the proprietor of the shop, we ordered extra drinks. Wow! We were loaded with too much drinks. Eventually, we decided to call on Sifu Wong Kiew Kit, my sifu and long-time child-hood friend whom I had introduced to Fook Yuen many years back. There, we were really lucky to find sifu not outstation in other parts of the world. With his usual enthusiastic greeting, he invited us in and we enjoyed old times together.

Then, we hoped to try the ferry ride on the Merbok River but was unfortunately to have the rowers gone off early as it was still their fasting month. So, we just explored the jetty, took some photos and headed back to Sungai Petani to see Lee Ah Ba.After exchanging views and news, we took along Ah Ba and his wife for dinner.

For me, the day passed too quickly. So quickly that I remembered my intention to attend to matters at my son's shop at 5.00 pm. only when it was 8.00 pm. Well, it was one of those happiest days of my life. Thank you, Foo Fook Yuen. 

Struck down by a fruit!

Struck down by a fruit!

Sometimes, we think we are in the best of health, with every morning exercise, proper home-cooked meals most of the time, sufficient rest and sleep and daily qi practice; not apain in any joint, 120/70 almost blood pressure, no diabetes no headache attacks or fever for years; and we grow too confident. 

Well, I grow too cocksure and when a durian (a fruit well known for its ability to get the heat in one's body up) comes along as a gift from a friend, I took the whole fruit at one sitting and drank too little water along with it. After all, what can a durian fruit do to me? Of course, I was too wll stuffed and there was there was a little discomfort. Well, that was expected.

However, what i did not expect was a bout of diarrhea and vomiting that took me six days to recover, Through the night of June 23, 2019 from 1.30 am to 6.00 am. I was running to and from from my bed to either the sink or the toilet to throw up or spill out pieces of durian flesh drained from my body. By then I was so dehydrated, I had to drink but whatever liquid went in flowed out a minute or two later. My breathing became heavier as my lungs seem to fight for breath and I tried to do heavy breathing to overcome it to no avail. The situation was to last until Friday evening. I was dizzy from weakness and insufficient intake of food. although things seem to be improving, though a bit too slow for me. 

So, on 26 June, a Wednesday afternoon, i took my problem to a doctor. The doctor was more worried than me and told me to go back for a review the very next day should things no improve. Of course, this stubborn old fool did not go for further check-up, even though the tide had not turned then. I was fortunate to prove myself right when, on Friday evening, the liquid expelling mechanism in the body stopped completely. After that it was fine and life was beautiful once again. 

For record purposes, I found that I had been given Hyoscine N Butylbromide, Diphenoxylate & Atropine Sulphate, Metoclopramide Hcl  and Paracetamol tables. I know paracetamol is for the fever. one of the others is for lessening the activity of the esophagus.    

So, I have learned not to be a glutton even though I am capable of eating a lot. Ao, I am not obese and the amount has always been right for the numerous activities each day. Just that, when a food is termed to be too 'heaty' or 'cooling' I just have to be careful in the amount consumed.

Oh, God. part 2

At the age of ten, I was struck by an illness that almost cost me my life. I lost my appetite and eating certain food made the sickness even worse. Gradually, my parents were losing hope of a cure. Not that they did not try. I was taken from one doctor to another but to no avail. Was it small-pox or chicken-pox? I cannot remember what it was. My poor mother told me not to die as people might think they did not give me enough attention. At that age I was not even worried about death.
We then rented one of the rooms in a big house with a big compound in the front portion. The landlord was wealthy as there was constantly a number of lorries parked there. In one corner of that compound was a tall, big tree where, at its roots was a soil-filled red container, with a number of joss-sticks sticking up from its top. It was placed between two of the tree's huge roots. Here, people from the surrounding area would come to pray to something. Was it a deity or some kind of spirit? Well, I was too young to know.
It was to this place that my parents took me to on one morning. In their despair of finding a cure for my sickness, they place all their hopes on whatever was there. I suppose anyone in their predicament would have done such an act. They bought some fruits, a pair of candles and some joss-sticks to offer whatever was there at the foot of that tree. Their desire for my recovery was sincere and great enough to place all their hopes there. They prayed very hard, asking me to join them in praying for my life. And believe it or not, (Well, I am still strong and healthy at the age of seventy-two.) I slowly but gradually recovered. I took no new batch of medicine but my appetite and strength returned little by little. After a few months of absence from school, I was eventually able to return to school to the surprise of my form-teacher and my class-mates.
A miraculous recovery without the use of any medicine, it definitely was. When I related this to a friend who belonged to a certain religion, he told me it was the work of the devil. Was it the work of the devil? If it was the devil's work, he must have been a good devil, a godly devil. He saved my life, didn't he? Was the devil trying to convince me too join him? To be his disciple? No, it cannot be when that so-called devil was so godly in his deed. He saved me. He gave hope to my despairing parents. Instead of being devilishly delighted with the sadness and hopelessness of my folks and I, he brought in rays of happiness.
So, I believe it is the work of almighty God. If religious people, people who belong to a religion and who believe in God, almighty God, who can reach us in His powerful, mysterious ways, then all God-believing people like me, should believe He has the power to assist us in whatever way necessary. As He is almighty, there is no place he cannot be. His love and blessings will be available no matter the situation. I believe all is possible where God is concerned. No obstacle is too great for Him. Such obstacles only exist in the mind of mortal men who think it is impossible.for this or that to happen. Thank God for that

Oh, God!, part 1

Since young I have believed in the existence of God. I would not have been alive today or be doing what interested me most today if god had not directed me towards it.

When I was young, I was sickly and weak. One such health problem was rheumatic arthritis which attacked me at a most unexpected age, at least for most of the folks at that time, when I was merely six years old. They claimed it was an old person's sickness and here was me, too young to be struck by this kind of pain in the joints. Once it became so painful and the swelling as so bad that I could not walk. I was living in Caunter Hall, Penang at that time. Not far from this Chinese village where my parents rented part of an upper portion of a wooden was a temple where, neighbours told my parents, was a medium who had miraculously cured many who seek her help. So, I was taken there one afternoon when the medium was in a trance. The medium told my parents to leave me on the floor just outside that temple. I must admit her looks and prancing behaviour  in no way gave me any confidence that she was going to be my saviour. Run? I could not even raise myself off the floor. The rheumatic pain was that bad. If i could even walk I would have broken any walking record to disappear from the scene. Helpless, I was. Before I could even cry for help, the huge lady medium was stepping over my feet. But she was fast and soon the torture was over. What a relief! Next, she ordered me to stand up and walk. Well, i did just that. there was certainly no need for a repeated instruction. And i did walk! I walked home all by myself. Unbelievable? For everyone else, perhaps. For me, it happened. What cured me? Was it fear? Was it the work of God? I did not really know. But, looking back after a number of other incidents, I believe it is the work of God through that medium. Why not? After all, we do know that God, no matter where you religious belief lie, is all almighty. He does his will, sometimes through mysterious ways.

Of course, there are those who say that it is the work of the devil, to convince me of its power. If it is really the work of the devil, then these people have to admit that the devil does do good and at least once relieved a poor, painful innocent little boy from agonizing pain. Anyone would have to admit that was a good deed for any devil, even if this little boy could have been a wee bit naughty during that young age. No, I did not become any devil's disciple, as anyone who truly knows me can confirm. So, I would like to think that God, in His mercy, gave this boy, me, a chance to build his health, become more active in activities good for the immune system and the opportunity to be a state gymnastic coach when I became a teacher until my retirement at age fifty-six in 2002. For all this, I have God to thank. Thoughts of Him is constantly with me to this day and the reason for this will be revealed in the next few remembrances of His presence in my life.

Great people we still have.

The article below is taken from the Malaysian Insight, a Malaysian online news portal, as it tells of great people who ought to be examples for many leaders in Malaysia. Many of our leaders, unfortunately, do not have the qualities that the bilal of a surau, Sapno Tukijo, a hotel manager, Subri Hashim, and the Christians, the Christians for Peace and Harmony in Malaysia movement have shown after Penang suffered its worst flood. Well, read on, my friends and know what happened.

The Malaysian Insight

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I’ll do it again, says bilal who opened surau to non-Muslim flood victims

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Looi Sue-Chern Updated about 2 hours ago · Published on 19 Dec 2017 12:00PM · 

Sapno Tukijo was praised and vilified after opening the surau doors to non-Muslims when Taman Free School was inundated with floodwaters. Sapno was honoured at a dinner yesterday. – The Malaysian Insight pic by David ST Loh, December 19, 2017.

LAST month, Penang suffered its worst floods in 30 years. Amid the chaos and destruction, one man became an instant hero when he opened up a surau in Taman Free School to provide shelter for victims.
Sapno Tukijo’s action, however, also painted him as a villain among Muslims, for the bilal had allowed non-Muslims to seek refuge in the surau.
On social media, he was lauded but others vilified him for allowing non-Muslims – some of whom were shirtless and in shorts – into the surau.
“I don’t care about the attacks. The people who criticised me were not at the scene. If they were there, they might have done the same thing,” said Sapno.
“We were experiencing a very bad flood, worse than any before. The water was rising at 2am when people were sleeping,” he said, recalling the storm on November 4 and 5.
“If another disaster happens, I will do it again,” Sapno told The Malaysian Insight last night.
Honoured by Christians
The Taman Free School surau bilal was among those honoured by the Christians for Peace and Harmony in Malaysia movement (CPHM) at its interfaith Christmas dinner at G Hotel yesterday, for helping Penang flood victims irrespective of race, religion and background.
Sapno, who unwittingly found fame for doing what came naturally to him, said he was touched by the gesture.
“I feel thankful. We are all servants of God,” he said.
His newfound fame also earned him the permanent residency he had long applied for.
“I had been waiting for it for 24 years. I just got it last week at the immigration office in Putrajaya,” said the soft-spoken man who has lived in Malaysia for 30 years.
Unsung heroes
Others who also helped the flood victims included hotel manager Subri Hashim, who ferried the victims to the surau.
The Taman Free School resident was on his way to the surau when he saw a Chinese man calling out for help.
“I was on a boat when I saw a Chinese man calling for help. He said that there were old people trapped in their homes in the neighbourhood behind the surau.
“We paddled there and saw people signalling for help with torch lights. Almost every home had elderly people. Some were so frail they had trouble moving.
“We made several trips, as the boat could take only five to six people at a time,” he told The Malaysian Insight.
That day, the double-storey surau was all they had with the floodwaters rising to their necks, Subri said.
“There was nowhere else to go. So, we put everyone on the top floor of the surau.”
Mosques, suraus are open to all
Taman Free School surau treasurer Abd Nasir Salleh said the place of worship became a shelter for about five days until all the flood victims left.
The welfare department, he said, sent officers, doctors and nurses to care for the victims, especially the elderly.
“A Malay family nearby also helped by making drinks for the victims. When people come to our mosques or surau in peace and with good intentions, we have to take care of them,” he said.
Nasir said there was no rule dictating who could enter or not enter mosques or surau.
“Our houses of worship are for all. They are centres for the community and places of charity. Holding prayers or religious events is only one of its many functions.”
Penang Deputy Chief Minister II Mohd Rashid Hasnon, who was the guest of honour at the CPHM event, thanked Sapno and the others for showing good example, adding that they had practised what Islam preached.
CPHM chairman Lee Min Choon said those who had aided flood victims around Penang had shown basic goodness.
“Our religions teach us to serve humanity. We cannot do it without working together, so we must learn to do it despite our differences,” he said.
Global Unity Network (Unity) president Shah Kirit Kakulal Govindji said the various faiths had doctrinal differences but their people should focus on their shared similarities.
“Like in the Quran and Bible, we can find many similarities. Why don’t we agree in areas where we can, and agree to disagree where we cannot?
“It will be good to start by showing tolerance towards each other, before we move on to acceptance and respect.”
Leading by example
CPHM and Unity have been working together for several years, organising events that bring religious leaders from different communities to sit together, and make friends as a way of countering the rising polarisation in Malaysia.
CPHM’s northern region representative Pastor Samuel Teh said while politicians might create situations to gain mileage and serve their own agendas, groups like theirs are organising their “grassroots movement” to bring the communities together and encourage all to work towards a common good.
“It should be like how Sapno and others have broken the barrier and mentality that the surau was exclusively for Muslims through their acts of kindness,” he said.
Shah Kirit said problems among the different races and religions are often caused by misconceptions and prejudices.
“It all depends on how we resolve problems. As community leaders, we can have dialogues among ourselves, and then bring the message to the people we speak to in our respective communities.
“Once the people are educated, there will be no more room for hatred,” he said, adding that politicians’ attempts to fan racial and religious sentiments will also no longer work.
“If we cannot change upwards, then we change downwards,” Shah Kirit said. – December 19, 2017.