Terror from Malaysia

Malaysians should be proud when one of their own was mentioned in the script of the investigative thriller series "Criminal Minds" which is currently shown on TV8 Monday evening. That is of course if the reference was on someone with a great achievement which Malaysians can shout "Malaysia Boleh"! But too bad it was not to be.

While watching the same series yesterday night, which was about some terrorists planning to kill one of the members of the US First Family who was undergoing surgery in a hospital, a familiar name from Malaysia was mentioned. At the middle of the show one of the characters, while discussing the personalities of terrorist bombers made a reference to one of Asia's most wanted man in recent times.

He was talking about Azahari bin Husin, the Malaysian lecturer turned terrorist who mastermind the killing of hundreds of innocent tourists and locals and caused mayhem in the idyllic Bali by bombing various targets in the touristic island including the 2002 Kuta bombing, 2003 JW Marriot Hotel bombing and 2005 Jimbaran and Kuta bombing. Azahari was also the master mind in the 2004 Australian Embassy bombing in Jakarta. The terrorist also know as the "Demolition Man" was gunned down by the Indonesian special forces on November 9, 2005 in East Java.

Azahari Husin and another fellow terrorist Noordin bin Mohammed Top who was killed on 17 September 2009,  created a name for themselves while shaming their home country and fellow peace loving Malaysians when they were hunted after the 2002 Bali bombings and many other terrorist acts since then.

Even though these two terrorists did not caused any structural damage and deaths on Malaysian soil, their barbaric actions in Indonesia brought immense embarrassment and shame to the country. It put a black mark in the history of Malaysia as foreigners and other countries will always remembers Malaysia as the country of origin of these two terrorists that killed hundreds and caused millions of dollars of damages and losses of income to those who depends on tourism for survival in Bali.

Will the victims of their vicious bombings from multiple nationalities will ever forgive them for inflicting the pain, losses and sufferings on them and their love ones? Maybe time will heal the pain and forgiveness is divine but it will be difficult for some victims to forget the incidents and losses at the same.

The heart will still hurts when one remembers the sufferings, but why not strive to let go and move on? Feeling angry and vengeful about these terrorists will not bring back the dead or heal the wounds.- Loka

Sin Chew and free paper

Suddenly a copy of newspaper was pushed over to my hand and I heard a voice saying, "it's free". Before I can even say anything, a copy of the  Sin Chew Daily which is the highest circulated Chinese vernacular newspaper in the country was already in my hands. Initially I thought it was the free Chinese language paper launched recently.

I took a quick turn and saw a man wearing a  T- shirt with Sin Chew emblazoned on it giving out today's paper to everyone in sight - free of charge. Within less than five minutes all the lunch patrons in the coffeeshop was either holding a copy of the paper or laid on the table.

After I took my seat at the only unoccupied table, I have a quick browse of the said "free" paper. Not that I read it, but just to look through on some statistics and photographs related to the UPSR results announced yesterday.

Thinking about it later, I have a hunch that the reason the Sin Chew paper was distributed free today was related to the spat between the paper and the MCA central committee member Ti Lian Ker. Ti had claimed the paper are used to promote the hidden agenda to discredit MCA's president Ong Tee Keat.

Is Sin Chew feeling the heat that the public are upset with its recent purported agenda against Ong Tee Keat and their circulation are dropping by the day. By giving out free papers, Sin Chew hopes its agenda will continue to be read by the public and keep its leading circulation status intact.

Maybe I will visit the coffeeshop again to tomorrow to see if I will be given another free copy of the Sin Chew Daily News.

New Chinese-based Party

Are we looking at the birth of another political party to look after the Chinese interest?

Since majority of the Chinese are already disillusioned with the MCA, the Chinese community will be looking for an alternative new party to look after their interest. Is that what Umno telling MCA's president Ong Tee Keat that MCA is dispensable and can be replaced and forsaken anytime if Tee Keat do not toe the BN, err.....Umno line.

Even though Umno leaders are emphasizing the importance of MCA's unity and stability in the interest of Barisan Nasional, the reality is more on the hidden but well known agenda of Umno's ability to shadow MCA's leadership than anything else. Have we ever heard of any comments from other BN component leaders on the current MCA leadership struggle. None actually. Or maybe just from the chap who is embroiled in the PKFZ fiasco.

It will not be surprising to all if a new Chinese based party is established and given an instant birth certificate of registration after this November 28. Nov 28 is the day when the Liow Tiong Lai's faction called for the 2nd EGM. If the 2nd EGM fails to materialised due to lack of support from the delegates, it spells doomed for Liow and his supporters. Unless of course if Ong Tee Keat is forced to eat humble pie during the meeting called by Najib before Nov 28 and given the ultimatum to give up or get out.

The newly set up Malaysia Makkal Sakti Party was launched by Najib in October this year which clearly gave signal to Samy Vellu's MIC that his party is not indispensable from BN.

But Umno is barking at the wrong tree when it says the Chinese will not support the BN due to MCA's infighting. The reality is that the Chinese voters rejected BN not because of MCA's weaknesses as the main cause but more to the unfair policies, bullying and arrogant attitude of Umno. This was clearly the message in last year's general election when the DAP called upon the Chinese community to teach Umno a lesson by voting out MCA's candidates whom mostly stood in Chinese majority seats or seats with substantial Chinese votes. It is near impossible for the Chinese to vote out any Umno candidates as their candidates always stood in Malay majority seats.

In last year's election, Umno loses in some of their traditional strong hold seats due to the swing of the Malay electorates to PAS or PKR candidates. If Umno thinks that it can represents the Chinese community directly by sidelining the MCA, will Najib takes the challenge to stand in Seputeh against Teresa Kok and Umno deputy president Muhyddin Yassin challenges Lim Kit Siang in Ipoh Timur. If they wins, that will surely proves their support and worth amongst the Chinese community. - Loka

Jalan Dr Seet Kim Beng

Even though Buddhists comprised the second largest religious community in Malaysia, its presence and contribution to the nation's well being and development are seldom recognised and officially endorsed by the government. It is partly due to the Buddhists practice of not seeking glory and also the government's (BN and PR alike) "not aware" of the Buddhists existence because Buddhists did not make any noise or demand.

The Malacca state government recently announced the name change of an existing road to Jalan Dr Seet Kim Beng in honour of the late Venerable Seet Kim Beng for his contributions towards Buddhism and education in this country. This is the first time a public road is name after a Mahayana Buddhist monk. Venerable Kim Beng was the former president of the Malaysian Buddhist Association and founder of the Siang Lin Primary School in Malacca. Hopefully the second road to be named after a Buddhist monk will be a reality soon in Kuala Lumpur.

And now I am waiting for Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng to officially declares Jalan Pangkor in Penang to be renamed Jalan Datuk Chuk Mor. The late Ven. Chuk Mor was the founder president of MBA and established the Triple Wisdom Hall where it is situated along Jalan Pangkor. If Koh Tsu Koon can recommend a datukship for the late Ven. Chuk Mor, don't tell me Lim Guan Eng cannot perform this simple gesture of gratitude to remember the Father of Malaysian Buddhism!

Historically Buddhism has been in place in Malaysia since the 2nd century. Historical artifacts unearthed by archaelogists in different parts of the country are clear evidence of Buddhist influence since the early days before the arrival of Islam and Christianity. Until today there are still traces of Buddhist and Hindu influence in lost kingdoms which have not been seriously explored like the Lost City of Kota Gelanggi. Why further efforts to search and explore the possible great civilization in our doorsteps was not taken up by the authorities has raised many questions which left unanswered.

The government had spent millions to excavate, develop and promote many historical sites to attract locals and tourists alike on the rich history of this land. Historical sites like Kota Lukut near Port Dickson and Fort Cornwallis in Penang are places which can teach our younger generations the traces of this nation. Ancient Buddhist-Hindu sites like Lembah Bujang in Kedah and possibly Kota Gelanggi are important civilizational assets that cannot be replaced or replicate.

Genuine efforts must be taken to tell the story behind these ancient sites as the early Buddhist-Hindu influences are still noticeable in our society today via the customs and practices in the royal households and some words in the Malay language. - Loka

Stepping into a mosque

Are places of worship out of bounds to those who are not followers of the respective religion of the place of worship?

News coming from the Islamic religious authorities in the state of Selangor, Malaysia decreed that non-Muslims are not allowed to step into a mosque. What happens to those non-Muslims visitors who visited the Putrajaya Mosque regularly out of curiousity?

In multi religious country like Malaysia, places of worship has been part of the tourist attractions promoted by the government. These holy places attracted people from all over the world who are keen to experience the different culture of each religion.

Visiting a place of worship other than one's own religion was never an issue. Few months ago I even made the necessary arrangement for an academician from Taiwan to visit the famous Perumal Hindu Temple in Klang. The academician who is a Buddhist was doing a research on the management of different places of worship.

I had attended weddings in churches and walked into Hindu temples without any anxiety that I will be reprimanded by the temple authorities. I think they will be happy to have me meditating within their compound.

As for mosques, I had been there too but the most interesting experience that I had in a mosque is not in Malaysia. It was in 2006 when I was invited to participate in a Buddhists-Muslims dialogue held  in Bangkok.

The dialogue was held amidst the religious tension happening in Southern Thailand. As the participants were cracking their head to look into ways to help to solve the long standing problem, a phone called to one of the participants from South Thailand causes us to cry in our heart. The participant was told one of his relatives was just injured by a bomb blast in the morning. All of us can feel the severity of the problem there and then.

As part of the program we were invited to the mosque to meet up with the Imam, who co-incidentally have relatives in Malaysia too. We walked and sat in the prayers area below the pulpit where the Imam usually gave his weekly Friday sermon. We were later served simple drink and food in the adjoining building.

The mosque has a long history in Bangkok and when we were guided to the graves within the mosque compound, one the mosque committee told us some of the graves belongs to members of the Thai royalty. That's interesting I said to myself.

Our few hours visit was to enable us to have a better understanding on the lifestyles of Muslims and I departed from the mosque with a good feeling that these adherents of Islam who follows the Islamic teachings piously and respect for others will surely make the community they live in a peaceful and better place for all. - Loka