Flag bearers

Personal reflection (faith)

The war stories tell of soldiers who march out to face their enemies and perish by the blade of the sword or the bullet of the gun. Some march out valiantly, some march out reluctantly, but the bullets don't favor anyone. At the battlefield, a prominent soldier carries in his arms the pride of the army, and the spirit behind their foolish march onward: the flag. He knows very well that everyone in the opposition will take their aim to bring him down, just as everyone behind him will take their aim to kill the other flag bearer. But he also knows of other foolish ones like him who wait to pick up the flag when that happens.

The flag bearers in the war know that they run into their deaths for representing their army and taunting their opponents, if only for a few moments. They don't whine when the bullet meets the flesh- they subscribed for it. They don't quit at the prospect of being shot. They share the same fate of their commander-in-chief, in victory or in suffering.

Likewise in the matter of faith, the flags we carry bring, and will bring

slander, false accusations/labeling, punishment for standing up to the right thing, betrayal, rejection, disrespect, mockery, deception, being used, abuse, assault, misrepresentation...

..but grace abounds for us to march on.

Just a quick follow-up to the post below particularly regarding the scholarship and education system in Malaysia. Some facts to consider (*taken from unicef, unescap) that prompted my questions:

• About half of the youth in Malaysia are not 'urban' youth.
• Only 29 % of the Malaysian youth between 15-23 have a tertiary education
• Only 34 Indian youth received the PSD overseas scholarships this year (NST 15th May)
• 25% of average Malaysian families survive on a household earning of less than RM 1000 a month (quoted in the Eighth Malaysian Plan)

I read with interest an interview with the Public Service director-general in the newspaper today, and think some steps taken should be rightfully applauded, like the steps taken to punish government-funded students who study overseas and refuse to return home to serve the country (a total waste of our tax-payers money):

"Before 2003, if you broke your bond, you or your guarantor had to pay. The amount was less than what was spent on you. But now, the penalty is the actual cost (of what was spent on the student). So, before this, if you were doing medicine, you had to pay RM160,000, which is less than a year’s scholarship. We spend RM1.2 million for each medical student. But over 90 per cent of our students come back. The ones who don’t come back are mostly medical students. If they don’t come back, we get their guarantors." - Tan Sri Ismail Adam

That being said, my opinion stems from the logic that monetary aid can benefit two groups of Malaysian youth:

1) The group that applies for a scholarship/loan and, if rejected, can still afford to pursue tertiary education

2) The group that applies for a scholarship/loan and, if rejected, cannot afford to pursue tertiary education

This was not covered in the interview, and my contention is that the criteria points-system of 70- academic excellence, 10- interview, 10- family economic background and 10- co-curricular activities, should be revised in favour of the lower-income earning groups. The second group should be given priority, and not just a mere 10 points bonus. Hey, some youth are already getting more pocket-money than 25% of all the families in the country (imagine 5 family members per family) every month.

According to the 8th MP, only 9.8% of Malaysian families have a household income of more than RM 5000 (the top of the income class). Let's assume these people can afford to send their kids to universities.

If one makes a further assumption that in each family there is 1 youth, 90 out of 100 youth in Malaysia are born to families that earn less than RM5000 a month. The lower the income groups get, the more difficult it is to support youth planning to pursue their education. Why give so much money to the top of the income classes who can afford it, when the bottom can barely get by with daily necessities and deserve this more? Which is more pressing- award according to merit (easily attained by the rich who have resources available to them) or aid for the poorer groups? Giving more money to the rich who already have the resources to study and who don't really need it is another form of elitism, I'm afraid.

Just consider: Rm 1000 per month, shared between 5 family members who have to eat, pay for school/electricity/water/petrol/rent bills... and then compare it to your monthly spending as an 'urban' youth.

Do things make sense? This is the world we'll live in for the next 50 or so years. The world of 6.6 billion, out of which 1.1 billion live on less than US$ 1 a day.

No sense

The main challenge of the current generation here lies not in the poverty of the land, nor in the inadequate resources available to us to live comfortable lives. No, by the toil and economic struggles of the generations before us, this generation was born into a world of convenience, luxury and extravagance; and our challenge is of a different type. Set on the road to success, most of us traverse along the path of materialism and glory forgetting that we leave several precious things behind as well. And thus some things no longer make sense...

It doesn't make sense that some entertainment programs are structured in a way that puts an entity or person down in order to elevate another. Many of the salient themes on the television consist of those that condemn lousy cars, lousy food or lousy people, ignorant of the context in which they are found: lousy cars serve to provide cheap and affordable transportation for the middle-class citizens, lousy food is good enough to fill the stomachs of those who do not afford escargots and Wellington steaks, and lousy talent does not stop people from being happy singing or dancing. Yet, imperfection is capitalized upon, and our comedy is another's tragedy. It doesn't make sense that this happens in the same world whose inhabitants suffer and lose their lives to catastrophes and human injustice.

It doesn't make sense that in a nation that faces a brain-drain problem, generous scholarships are awarded to the already rich and privileged (whose wealth could purchase them the best schools, books and teachers) or to a select race or group- at the expense of the equally competent, only less privileged and their rights to education to fulfill a pathetic quota. The poor drop out of schools and dream a distant dream of a tertiary education while the rich are sent to expensive foreign universities by government funding , where they obtain their degrees and often times, eventually stay on and become even richer, not wanting to return and work for the nation; some even scoffing at the incompetence of their homeland and exalting the cultures they weren’t born to. And while this is not a generalization of all the 'rich', it doesn't make sense that a government that aims to get as many people educated as possible in order to increase human capital could fail in delivering subsidies and financial aid to the people who need them the most.

It doesn't make sense that 'cats prefer to bark'; and when Malaysians perceive anything non-Malaysian to be more superior. When the very dreams our parents instilled in us involve working hard, to study overseas, to stay there and have good lives- we are nothing short of Malaysians with an identity crisis. While they mean well, some forget that they cheat the country of its voices, by sending them away. It doesn't make sense that an average and fairly blessed country with problems not unlike other countries is perceived to be a place to escape from. When Englishmen could be so proud of their country, or Americans boast about their home, and when both countries are flawed in their own ways- what a sin it is to be discontented with a beautiful country like ours! There is a difference between realizing our country's lack and the need to improve, and pure discontentment and cynicism.

Oh, many things don't make sense today, but when people realize these disparities in logic, they must stand up in their own ways. Malaysian youth must be proud citizens, proud of who they were born to be, and proud of who they are. Those who stay back must realize their privilege to do so, while those who leave temporarily must be effective ambassadors of this land.
We must all have a passion for our land, our families, our loved ones and our roots - to help make sense, and most of all, we must love who God made us to be.

Not a matter of when, but how

"All men die; not all men really live"
-Braveheart

Unsung heroes

A display of sheer gut and spirit. I am more than impressed and challenged. The irony of stories like these is many of us, privileged ones, would probably be more interested in Paris Hilton and her chihuahua, never once hearing of extraordinary, inspiring individuals like her, who put us all who have hands to shame. Life is put into a proper perspective, just watching these unsung heroes live their lives...

The 4 letter word

“Stubbornness” always carries negative connotations, but at times it seems to me that love takes the form of stubbornness when the rainbows and laughter fade. How much is one capable of being stretched to love, despite circumstances that provide justification for ‘returning the punch’ rather than ‘turning the other cheek’? Against all opposition, accusations, prejudice, misunderstanding, differences, contrasting ideologies, backgrounds, colour, abilities (or the lack of), time (or the lack of), how far can one continue to love relentlessly until the limit is breached- if there should be a limit?

The more I think about it the more it occurs to me that this concerns all levels- from the national to the simple, everyday friendships. I can only aspire to love like Christ

Richard the Butler: You found God, sir?
William Wilberforce: I think He found me.
-Amazing Grace (2006)

The simple heart

In 1991 a census was taken on “Population and Housing”. It was found that the urban population was at 62% nationwide . It is now 2008, 17 years later. Today, Malaysia ranks 34^th in the list of countries based on GDP (Gross Domestic Product), suggesting an average financial standing and economic size. We have a commendable economy, but statistics aside, the trend of modernization is catching on….

Half a century ago, our forefathers toiled in labor to bring the people out the jungles into the cities. Immigrants, traveling with the clothes on their backs were pioneers of a sacrificing generation; one that left their homes to give comfort to their future offspring. This was the typical vision for the generation then: the legacy of a better economic and financial state for the future generations. With every generation that has passed, most of us have now stepped closer to the ‘city’, if we haven’t already entered. Success stories are being written of rural boys working to the top in the capital city, aboriginals obtaining scholarships, students setting records of A’s achieved in national exams, the rich becoming richer, the good becoming the best. But something is missing.

We ARE becoming better. But only in a certain way that the world holds. There is a problem with moving up- we forget there is essentially no ‘up’.

Perhaps this is why the hegemony of power will always be controlled by an elite group; call it what you want: politicians, bishops, kings, tycoons, overstaying MIC leaders. This thirst for greatness ironically puts us further away from it; for in every class in society, the chase for it has made men leave many things behind.

Among these things is the simple heart.

In the midst of all the seriousness of life or situations we ‘wake up’ to or grow to discover, there is always a voice that wakes me up in the morning; one which sings in an off-key set of notes; but never fails to remind me that for all that this life could ever offer, there’s nothing quite like simplicity. At times, this voice would be accompanied with a three-stringed worn-out guitar, strummed out of rhythm with a broken melody.

As I learn more about a complex world in the newspapers, I am reminded of a simple soul who lives under the same roof as I do; who at the sound of the auto-gate opening, rushes to the windows where she waves to her father returning from work with a broad smile on her face. Oblivious to the complexities of the world and the ambitions many of the people of her age would be growing up with should she be normal, her life is pure and speaks a message of its own, unlike the superficial lives everywhere. I wonder whether she is in fact abnormal, or just really, the rest of the world.

It is at these times that I look at her and I know that she’s a living reminder that God made us all simple at heart, and more do I understand the truth that the ‘least’ become the greatest in His kingdom. There are more deserving lives to be mentioned in my writings (one as hers) and more around us to emulate, apart from great men who started wars they died in, and big names that people forget when other big names replace them. There are more ways to ‘be better’. There is another race for ‘greatness’ which takes a reverse route that we wouldn’t commonly take, in which the contestants almost seem to run the wrong way, as the participants of the world would see.

Am I anti-progress, to say we must shun great plans for ourselves and stop looking for the best in the world? No. Progress will find us with time. The best of the world is in the simplest of places, and the greatest ‘plans’ are ones made without a ‘my’ in front. In all that we awaken to, from the political, economic, academic- we must never abandon a simple heart; one that statistics will never record, but lives remember.