Please if you have the time, take a look at the plea below and join me in supporting the Emergency Petition for the People of Burma. Every name makes that much difference!
Burma is ruled by one of the most brutal military dictatorships in the world. For decades the Burmese regime has fought off pressure--imprisoning elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi and democracy activists, wiping out thousands of villages, imposing forced labour, creating refugees- But last Tuesday Buddhist monks and nuns, revered in Burma, began marching and chanting prayers. The protests spread as hundreds of thousands of ordinary people and public figures joined in, finding the hope they'd lost. Now they're facing crackdown – so please, show your solidarity to this movement towards reconciliation and democracy and sign the emergency petition supporting the Burmese people -- it'll be delivered to United Nations Security Council members and international media all week: http://www.avaaz.org/en/stand_with_burma/tf.php?cl_tf_sign=1
In the past, Burma's military rulers have massacred the demonstrators and crushed democracy. The world must stand with the Burmese people at this time, to show the military rulers that the world will not tolerate repression and violence. Right now, global leaders are gathering in New York for the annual United Nations summit. In speeches, press interviews but also in real actions, we need them to show Burma's military junta that the global community is willing to act in solidarity with the protesters. Show your solidarity to this movement for peace and democracy and sign the emergency petition supporting the Burmese people. It'll be delivered to UN Security Council members and the UN press corps all week:http://www.avaaz.org/en/stand_with_burma/tf.php?cl_tf_sign=1
Thank you for your kind consideration and time!
Friday 28 September 2007
Thursday 27 September 2007
Glimmer of hope
I wasn't there, but it is evident in many of the blogs (Rocky's Bru, Nuraina A Samad's 3540 Jalan Sudin, Shanghai Fish's The Penguins Walk ...!!!Tony Yew's Justice! We Want Justice!, Jules' Today I "behave like the Opposition", Jeff Ooi's 53 pictures, Patrick Teoh's A Walk for Justice, Polytikus' I Marched - All 8km of it!, Zorro's Today I salute our Malaysian lawyers), that there are a few thousand anak bangsa Malaysia who are willing to walk the talk for a better Malaysia. It is a glimmer of hope for those who. like me, still believe that change is possible.
I have renewed pride in wearing the Malaysian badge and hope with all my heart that changes are not too far away. Hopefully, our government will pause and listen to this plea for justice and consider taking to the dance floor and start swaying towards the inevitable rythmn of change. If it really is for the betterment of anak bangsa malaysia, then why not?
So my friends, lets put on our shoes and start practicing our new groove moves, just in case we have a new wave of music playing in the not so distant future.
(Please also click HERE to take a look at the Petition to His Majesty the Yang DiPertuan Agong by the People's Parliament, so that we may continue this March for Justice).
Tuesday 25 September 2007
Silent resilience
On 26/9/2007, at 11.00 a.m., lawyers will march from the Palace of Justice to the PM’s office in Putrajaya to submit a memorandum to the cabinet calling for the setting up of a Royal Commission to investigate the rot that has set into the judiciary since 1988. All members of civil society, NGOs and NGIs are welcome to join the lawyers on the steps leading up to the Palace of Justice and to then proceed to the PM’s office.
5 buses have been chartered to ferry lawyers and those interested to join in the march from KL to Putrajaya. The buses will leave the Bar secretariat at 9.00 a.m. - People's Parliament.
I wish I was in Malaysia to walk with silent resilience in Putrajaya alongside the lawyers who want our judiciary system restored, alas I am but a million miles away.
I would like to urge all my friends who have always wanted this long overdue change, to walk the talk that we so often do. We have a chance to make a difference, lets take this first step together.
To those who will be participating in the Save the Judiciary march, I am with you in spirit and hope that this will be a new beginning for bangsa Malaysia.
5 buses have been chartered to ferry lawyers and those interested to join in the march from KL to Putrajaya. The buses will leave the Bar secretariat at 9.00 a.m. - People's Parliament.
I wish I was in Malaysia to walk with silent resilience in Putrajaya alongside the lawyers who want our judiciary system restored, alas I am but a million miles away.
I would like to urge all my friends who have always wanted this long overdue change, to walk the talk that we so often do. We have a chance to make a difference, lets take this first step together.
To those who will be participating in the Save the Judiciary march, I am with you in spirit and hope that this will be a new beginning for bangsa Malaysia.
Wednesday 12 September 2007
home is where the heart is...
I have never been away from home during the month of Ramadhan, so this will be the very first time that I will be fasting di perantauan orang, in which I predict will be quite a trying experience for me. I will definitely miss my wonderful family, my dear friends as well as the glorious food. There is definitely no other place in the whole wide world that I'd rather be right now, than back home with my Mummy, Daddy, beautiful sisters and darling brother...or with my friends at the mamak nearby to eat some roti pisang with teh tarik for sahur. Home is defintely where the heart is for me right now...
'Happy Berposa' everyone and Salam Ramadhan Mubarak from this Malaysian Minx in London.
**image taken from http://stuckincustoms.com/index.php
Sunday 9 September 2007
Food x Anak Bangsa Malaysia = Merdeka?
I was humming excitedly while thinking of how significant this years Merdeka celebrations would be for Malaysians around the world. It was only a day later, that we Malaysians in London got the chance to celebrate 50 years of Merdeka (Independence) at the Merdeka Carnival 2007 and here I was, as usual, in a frenzy looking for something to wear AND attempting to make it on time for the opening down on the premises of the Tun Abdul Razak Research Centre in Brickendonbury. By the time I put on my sexy black boots, and braved a horrific traffic jam, I finally arrived one hour twenty minutes after the opening ceremony. *sigh*
A buzz of activities welcomed me when I stepped onto the lush grounds of the Mansion and the familiar smell of satay wafted through the air. Great! It was bad enough that I could barely squeeze into my *oh so* short denim skirt, I was definitely going to pack on the pounds that fateful day. There were food stalls as far as the eye could see and I had already made a severe promise to myself that I would not settle my fluctuating weight problems by buying clothes a dress size bigger.
First stop - the keropok leko stall, second stop - the roti canai stall, third stop - the kuey teow stall…geez, I quickly caught myself from mentally listing the numerous never ending food stalls I wanted to raid, and started my slow crawl around this side of the lawn away from the sinful scrumptious stalls. I stumbled upon ONE souvenir stall selling merchandise (t-shirts, keychains, raya cards), the MAS stall, the Awana or was it the Holiday Inn stall which also sold the ‘magic’ karaoke microphone, durian ice cream *yummy* and some Malaysian fruits. There was the F1 stall and there was the Malaysian Spices and Herbs stall, which much to my delight, was full of Babas curry powder *woohoo*!
So, around 10 non-food stalls, the stage, a handful of LCD plasma screens, countless food stalls…and that ladies and gentlemen, was what summed up our Merdeka celebrations here in sunny London, hmmm, and I almost forgot, our beloved Jalur Gemilang waving proudly in the slight end-of-summer breeze.
To tell you the honest truth, when I had first arrived, my tummy had already cleverly negotiated with my brain and I was completely content with this whole Merdeka Carnival arrangement. I was literally blinded by the sight of glorious food and was going to sing praises of the food, I mean, merdeka celebrations in London.
Until, my friend’s son tugged on my skirt and *God have mercy on my red stilettos* asked me in his polished London accent, “Aunty, what is this whole Merdeka Carnival about? What is Merdeka?” I nearly choked on my jagung bakar. When did they start becoming so smart and ask mind-boggling questions like these. After five minutes of explaining, and realising that his completely blank look was NOT a look of quiet concentration, I pulled him to the nearest plasma screen where he could take a quick look at the short video made by the organisers about Merdeka. It was difficult to actually stand there and concentrate on what was being said ‘cos you had to literally strain your ears to hear anything. We both decidedly gave up, after his attention was diverted by the sight of his brothers jumping up and down on the bouncy castle nearby.
After being ditched by the young gentleman, I found a spot on the lawn and took a quick look at the souvenir programme. Apparently I hadn’t missed much of the opening ceremony, or what little there was of it. There was the raising of Jalur Gemilang, the official opening of the event, the PM’s recorded message then we had Fairuz Fauzy (the young F1 lad) giving a talk on his racing career. Hmm, I respect FF, but really, what did he actually have to do with the real meaning of Merdeka and why was he placed right after the PM’s recorded message?
The rest of the programme included a lion dance, a performance by a local English band, an ever present karaoke contest, a performance by a Malaysian group who is based in England, a sitar performance, as well as the usual raffle draw - but nothing extraordinary for such and auspicious occasion. The only highlight, if there was any, was Shahrizan belting out some soulful jazz numbers and oh yeah, of course the food.
Please, don’t get me wrong, the carnival wasn’t horrible it’s just that it kinda lacked substance. I mean this should have been a full fledged well thought out Merdeka Carnival that oozed semangat anak bangsa Malaysia (the true Malaysian spirit) and executed with the same precision as Blahnik put into the Masai,1997, but instead we were welcomed by a scene akin a mediocre hari kantin affair which you would commonly visit at a Malaysian high school.
Aiseyman, what happened? I mean, first of all, we’re celebrating 50 years of nationhood, I mean 50 years, not two, not ten but 50 years. Second of all, we’re celebrating this auspicious event here in London, the very country we sought independence from.
Is that what the organisers think Merdeka is? Was there not any other way to present our identity, not only to Malaysians living abroad but also the locals and other foreigners alike. Are we incapable of even conjuring a proper identity because we don’t have one? Or is it the incapability of our organisers to properly invoke something worthwhile? I really hope it’s not the latter cos I took a look at the committee list, and boy it was as neverending as the food stalls.
When asked why the days activities were lacking, a committee member replied, “The budget was only approved in July, so we couldn’t do much.” I was completely gobsmacked, it felt like a backhand slap to my hot pink lip glossed face. It sounded as lame an excuse as the infamous, “My dog ate my homework” line.
Whilst trying to recover from the nonchalant answer, I started hacking away at my Air Batu Campur (ABC) and found myself thinking, yet again, is this what the organisers think? Have we been whittled down to a food loving society that has nothing else to offer? I mean food is a great thing, and definitely a plus point in the Malaysian culture, but is that our best foot forward? Is that even the foot that we want to put forward? Aren’t the organisers proud of the Malaysian badge? Couldn’t they have put more thought into what it is to be an anak bangsa Malaysia? How and what it feels to celebrate 50 years of nationhood? Weren’t they enthusiastic to announce to everyone out there, where Malaysia is heading, our vision for the next 50 years? To share with the world who Malaysia is and above all, who her people are?
Or is it because, our organisers themselves don’t have a slingback shoe idea of what should be shouted out to the world?
As I came to the last bits of my ABC, my mind thought about our dear Tunku Abdul Rahman. I thought about how excited he must’ve been when he first proclaimed Merdeka at Dataran Merdeka all those years ago. Isn’t it a shame that not all of us feel the same way? I hope that sometime in the near future, this semangat Malaysia will be reignited with the same passion that he announced those magical words, “Merdeka! Merdeka! Merdeka!”
Selamat Merdeka Malaysia – all my love - anak bangsa Malaysia!
A buzz of activities welcomed me when I stepped onto the lush grounds of the Mansion and the familiar smell of satay wafted through the air. Great! It was bad enough that I could barely squeeze into my *oh so* short denim skirt, I was definitely going to pack on the pounds that fateful day. There were food stalls as far as the eye could see and I had already made a severe promise to myself that I would not settle my fluctuating weight problems by buying clothes a dress size bigger.
First stop - the keropok leko stall, second stop - the roti canai stall, third stop - the kuey teow stall…geez, I quickly caught myself from mentally listing the numerous never ending food stalls I wanted to raid, and started my slow crawl around this side of the lawn away from the sinful scrumptious stalls. I stumbled upon ONE souvenir stall selling merchandise (t-shirts, keychains, raya cards), the MAS stall, the Awana or was it the Holiday Inn stall which also sold the ‘magic’ karaoke microphone, durian ice cream *yummy* and some Malaysian fruits. There was the F1 stall and there was the Malaysian Spices and Herbs stall, which much to my delight, was full of Babas curry powder *woohoo*!
So, around 10 non-food stalls, the stage, a handful of LCD plasma screens, countless food stalls…and that ladies and gentlemen, was what summed up our Merdeka celebrations here in sunny London, hmmm, and I almost forgot, our beloved Jalur Gemilang waving proudly in the slight end-of-summer breeze.
To tell you the honest truth, when I had first arrived, my tummy had already cleverly negotiated with my brain and I was completely content with this whole Merdeka Carnival arrangement. I was literally blinded by the sight of glorious food and was going to sing praises of the food, I mean, merdeka celebrations in London.
Until, my friend’s son tugged on my skirt and *God have mercy on my red stilettos* asked me in his polished London accent, “Aunty, what is this whole Merdeka Carnival about? What is Merdeka?” I nearly choked on my jagung bakar. When did they start becoming so smart and ask mind-boggling questions like these. After five minutes of explaining, and realising that his completely blank look was NOT a look of quiet concentration, I pulled him to the nearest plasma screen where he could take a quick look at the short video made by the organisers about Merdeka. It was difficult to actually stand there and concentrate on what was being said ‘cos you had to literally strain your ears to hear anything. We both decidedly gave up, after his attention was diverted by the sight of his brothers jumping up and down on the bouncy castle nearby.
After being ditched by the young gentleman, I found a spot on the lawn and took a quick look at the souvenir programme. Apparently I hadn’t missed much of the opening ceremony, or what little there was of it. There was the raising of Jalur Gemilang, the official opening of the event, the PM’s recorded message then we had Fairuz Fauzy (the young F1 lad) giving a talk on his racing career. Hmm, I respect FF, but really, what did he actually have to do with the real meaning of Merdeka and why was he placed right after the PM’s recorded message?
The rest of the programme included a lion dance, a performance by a local English band, an ever present karaoke contest, a performance by a Malaysian group who is based in England, a sitar performance, as well as the usual raffle draw - but nothing extraordinary for such and auspicious occasion. The only highlight, if there was any, was Shahrizan belting out some soulful jazz numbers and oh yeah, of course the food.
Please, don’t get me wrong, the carnival wasn’t horrible it’s just that it kinda lacked substance. I mean this should have been a full fledged well thought out Merdeka Carnival that oozed semangat anak bangsa Malaysia (the true Malaysian spirit) and executed with the same precision as Blahnik put into the Masai,1997, but instead we were welcomed by a scene akin a mediocre hari kantin affair which you would commonly visit at a Malaysian high school.
Aiseyman, what happened? I mean, first of all, we’re celebrating 50 years of nationhood, I mean 50 years, not two, not ten but 50 years. Second of all, we’re celebrating this auspicious event here in London, the very country we sought independence from.
Is that what the organisers think Merdeka is? Was there not any other way to present our identity, not only to Malaysians living abroad but also the locals and other foreigners alike. Are we incapable of even conjuring a proper identity because we don’t have one? Or is it the incapability of our organisers to properly invoke something worthwhile? I really hope it’s not the latter cos I took a look at the committee list, and boy it was as neverending as the food stalls.
When asked why the days activities were lacking, a committee member replied, “The budget was only approved in July, so we couldn’t do much.” I was completely gobsmacked, it felt like a backhand slap to my hot pink lip glossed face. It sounded as lame an excuse as the infamous, “My dog ate my homework” line.
Whilst trying to recover from the nonchalant answer, I started hacking away at my Air Batu Campur (ABC) and found myself thinking, yet again, is this what the organisers think? Have we been whittled down to a food loving society that has nothing else to offer? I mean food is a great thing, and definitely a plus point in the Malaysian culture, but is that our best foot forward? Is that even the foot that we want to put forward? Aren’t the organisers proud of the Malaysian badge? Couldn’t they have put more thought into what it is to be an anak bangsa Malaysia? How and what it feels to celebrate 50 years of nationhood? Weren’t they enthusiastic to announce to everyone out there, where Malaysia is heading, our vision for the next 50 years? To share with the world who Malaysia is and above all, who her people are?
Or is it because, our organisers themselves don’t have a slingback shoe idea of what should be shouted out to the world?
As I came to the last bits of my ABC, my mind thought about our dear Tunku Abdul Rahman. I thought about how excited he must’ve been when he first proclaimed Merdeka at Dataran Merdeka all those years ago. Isn’t it a shame that not all of us feel the same way? I hope that sometime in the near future, this semangat Malaysia will be reignited with the same passion that he announced those magical words, “Merdeka! Merdeka! Merdeka!”
Selamat Merdeka Malaysia – all my love - anak bangsa Malaysia!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
