Spread Your Legs

I was brought up to 'close your legs' whenever I sat down in public. The reason?
Simply because of four words: You are a girl.
I understand if one was wearing a skirt or a dress, spreading your legs wide whilst sitting may be unsightly but why is it so when I'm wearing shorts or pants?

As a kid, I always felt rather restricted whenever I had to constantly clench my thighs together. I would sometimes cross my legs but that too was unacceptable for a kid in the eyes of my mother. I had to be conscious of my social etiquette which I did not understand and my mother would shoot daggers at me whenever she caught my thigh muscles taking a rest.

Guys could open their legs as much (I know why they had to) as they wanted when they sat and the wider they spread their legs, the more we perceive them as being manly or macho.

Which brings me to my point today. Sexism.
The never ending battle against chauvinistic pigs.

I never understood why a vagina makes such a huge difference. Just because of our seemingly different sexual organs, women receive lower benefits economically with lower pay at work, significantly lower work opportunities and a lesser pay as compared to men at work. While we deliver equal if not better results, the sad reality is that women are always losing out just because we are the 'fairer' sex.
.

A perfect illustration

So my question is if we are the 'fairer' sex, shouldn't we be treated fairly?  

Upon my exploration into this topic, I stumbled upon the Gender Equity Index conducted by Social Watch. Malaysia ranks first from the very pit bottom in gender equality in East Asia.
Read more here: http://www.socialwatch.org/node/14577

We are as bad as Laos and Cambodia. Seriously this is no joke given that Malaysia prides itself as being so economically and socially advanced as compared to our neighbours, yet the welfare of women are basically thrown out the window. You don't have to look too far, just look at the number of female ministers in our past Cabinet. I'm pretty sure you could count all our female ministers with one hand.

Socially, I've seen sexism all around me growing up, but I was too young to know how to coin that unfairness that I've seen with my own eyes and heard with my own ears.

I was a school prefect. Being Standard 6, 12 years old is the time where girls peak faster than boys, emotionally and mentally so we are naturally more matured than our male peers. Having said that, the discipline teacher would elect a new head prefect and assistant head prefect among the graduating students of that year. So there stood a very capable classmate, always first in class, a natural leader and a respected figure among students (currently a Petronas scholar studying accounting in the University of Sydney) and another friend who was from the second class, had a playful attitude and was of a softer character (I lost touch with this friend). Not that there was anything wrong with being more sensitive, but he would bend rules in favour of his friends which was definitely not a sign of good leadership. Lo and behold, the guy from the second class was opted as the head prefect. A surprise? Not at all. Cause he was after all a guy and my classmate was a girl.

I listened on as my discipline teacher, shockingly a female teacher told me and my dejected friend that she was sorry but the headmaster wanted the position of a head prefect to go to a boy. At the expense of a much better leader that is. There wasn't any choice but to let him take the helm of the prefect board but it was the assistant head prefect who had to do all the work ultimately.

At that young age, I was brainwashed to think that men would always be more superior than women, no matter how smart, how capable we are, even if we were even better than them and that we could prove it.  

Thankfully, I then proceeded to enrol in an all girl's secondary school which used to be a mission school. By the time I left, I didn't only take with me 5 years of knowledge but I was also imparted with values that moulded me to who I am today.

My brush with sexism did not end there. I later joined Judo and became a competitive player. I trained as hard as the guys in my team yet when I won, they would pass remarks of 'If i was a female, i would've won gold too. The male categories are much tougher than girls'. I do not know if they were envious or threatened but I understood then that every fight was not only about victory, I had to fight for something even more as a female: respect.

Winning something means nothing without respect

Even in the world of sports where unity and fairness is preached lies a dark side of social inequality which I believe is prevalent not only in Judo but almost every single other sports out there. If a girl plays football, she's almost a lesbian. I don't hear that being uttered when a guy does gymnastics! Sports like squash and tennis always offer higher cash prizes to males!

Enough is enough. I support that if women were to be treated equally, then we should not be spared of sexual harassment charges, rape charges or the rotan if convicted. We cannot argue for equal rights if we continue to play the weak card when it comes to punishments. It will be hard to fight for equal rights in a nation that is still very much male engineered. I honestly have yet to see any real social changes to women's rights and being a realist, this would undoubtedly be a tough fight against society but I believe there are other girls, ladies and women out there who share the same vision as I do.

Its time to demand for more respect ladies. We can all make a difference.

The "Us versus Them" mentality, The Malaysian Muslim mentality

   Growing up as a Muslim boy who isn't Malay in a country where the religion of a specific race is determined and set in stone in its constitution sure has led me to question, every once in a while, of whether i will ever fit in or be socially included by people of my own religion without having to change my principles and very mixed yet rich culture to which i am very proud of. Yet time and time again, i never felt like i belong or fit into the cookie-cutter definition of what it means to be a "Malaysian Muslim". Throw in the fact that I am a Sabahan and had spent the majority of my existence there became further ground for social persecution when I had to make the big move to West Malaysia to further my studies. Putting it in simple words without sounding too melodramatic, i was having a hard time adjusting and making friends. 

   You see, I come from a place where we celebrate diversity to its very definition. It is perfectly normal to have families who don't necessarily practice the same faith or celebrate the same thing but respect and celebrate the celebrations together anyway. In fact, that is how it is with my family. 

Making my point

   Upon going to West Malaysia, i noticed a stark difference in culture. Growing up, I often see local adverts celebrating the diversity that is Malaysia and yet i don't necessarily see it translate in real life. Suddenly, my self-introductions seem to begin with people trying to figure out what my race or religion is so as to put me into a box where everyone would assume i should belong into. Once they realize I don't fit into that box, i'm out and forced to find my way with fellow outcasts of mainstream society. I immediately notice that I needed to make a choice -- To fit in, i needed to become more culturally Malay, or culturally Chinese, or culturally... you get the point. 

  This is a point that ties together with the point that I really want to make, that is, finding my identity as a Malaysian Muslim. 

The "Us versus Them" mentality

    The thing that i always noticed is that most of these very particular groups of fanatic (i'm not sure if that's the right word to describe them) Malay Muslims is that they are plague with constant paranoia, per harps instilled by institutionalized racism or religionist attitude portrayed within Malaysian politics in everyday life. It is safe to say that they have a strict idea of what a Muslim ought to be and blame everything and/or everyone else without first looking into themselves, if they happen to come across a fellow Muslim who doesn't necessarily fit into their idea of what a Muslim ought to be. Often times, they would blame and demonize western countries and their culture or purport the idea that liberalism and pluralism shall be the downfall of the Malay Muslim community or that people from other religions are out to convert them without realizing that they are using hatred as a medium to convey their dissatisfaction. It seems to me that these group of Malay Muslims are convincing themselves of the Islamic character of these practices through a rejection of the west or the idea of diversity, on the basis of a simplistic reasoning that stipulates that "the less western, the more Islamic" or "the more Malay, the more Islamic". Hence, I think the main problem for the Muslim community in Malaysia comes from those who are ignorant of Malaysian society for what it really is, that is, the fact that Malaysia is a vibrantly diverse country filled with people of different races, cultures and beliefs. 

Reconciling my faith and my identity as a Malaysian

    I was inspired to write this blog post upon listening and reading the written work of a brilliant man called Tariq Ramadan.

 

Tariq Ramadan, who is an academic and writer, purport the idea that it is necessary to interpret the Qur'an, rather than simply reading the Arabic text, in order to understand its meaning and to practice Islamic philosophy (the continuous search for wisdom in the light of Islamic view of life, the universe, ethics, society and so on). 

He emphasizes that there is a difference between religion and culture and that they are too often confused. He argues that citizenship and religion are separate concepts which should not be mixed. With that in mind, i realized that there is no conflict about being a Muslim and a Malaysian who believes in the spirit of diversity and respect. I do not need to be "more Malay" to be "more Muslim". What i needed to do was to re-examine the fundamental texts of Islam (primarily the Qur'an) and understand them in light of my own cultural background, influenced by Malaysian society.  

Authentic "contribution" to Malaysian society as a Muslim

In Tariq Ramadan's book, To Be a European Muslim on page 150, he wrote that "Muslims now attain, in the space of testimony, the meaning of an essential duty and of an exacting responsibility: to contribute, wherever they are, to promoting good and equity within and through human brotherhood. Muslims' outlook must now change from the reality of "protection" alone to that of an authentic "contribution."

   In other words, Malaysian Muslims and political leaders need to get out of the "Us versus Them" mentality and learn to actively contribute to the growth of the Malaysian society as one nation. In my opinion, the Malaysian Muslim community has been bad at representing itself, and that this has allowed other Malaysians to confuse Islam with cultural traits, as well as political problems. Believe me, if i had a dollar for every time i was mistaken for a Malay because I am a Muslim, i would be rich by now. Muslim political leaders and Malaysian Muslims need to cease from being overly defensive and learn to engage sufficiently with the non-Muslim society and vice-versa if we wish to move forward as a nation as it seems to me that Muslim leadership in Malaysia is partly responsible for the shaky relations between Malay muslims and the rest of the society. We need to whole-heartedly accept the fact that Malaysia is a multi-cultural and multi-racial country with people of differing beliefs if we ever want to properly contribute to the growth of our beloved nation. 

 It's high time Malaysian Muslims take responsibility for their faith and put it to good use in promoting good and equity within and through human brotherhood rather than irresponsibly using it as a political tool to serve their own selfish agenda. 
  

   

Monkey Saw, Monkey Did!

Now here's a hilarious but true experiment on what happens when you reward unequally for equal work.

See any similarities to real life here? Ahhhh, bourgeois living....

Note: Thanks to Hillary for sharing!

To All Racists, Here's What You Owe Refugees

Freddie Mercury - ironic how so many
idolise him, a refugee, yet persecute
refugees with their miniscule mindset and racist attitudes. 

With the book, Managing Yaa-hoos! newly-released, it certainly has raised enough eyebrows. One of which is that for every book sold, it contributes to one hour of free training for an underprivileged youth or refugee.

"Why should you train refugees?" Because every child is my child. Even one who doesn't belong to me. Even one who looks nothing like me.

"We've got enough of our own poor children." I'll share with you what one donor said to me when I told her she could channel her money/free training to poor youths - it's much popular as Malaysians prefer that rather than refugees. She said, "It's because it's easier to raise money for orphans, or local causes that I want to support more difficult, less popular ones."

"I don't trust Africans." My question is: Were they refugees?

The sole Somali refugee I met had to mix with Arab refugees because he didn't want to get involved with his own race, whom he admits is so involved in crime... he wanted a different life for himself. And the Arabs accepted this 'stray' because in essence, aren't they all in the same boat?

He was a boy who wanted a chance at real change for his life. A refugee who saw the nonsense his own people were up to, and decided he wanted nothing to do with it. And yet, Malaysians sit in their high, ivory tower and deny this boy a chance, because of his colour.

SO...

Here's what history will show. That some of the greatest minds that ever crossed the face of this earth... were once refugees:

Lord Maurice Saatchi & Charles Saatchi - Founder of Saatchi & Saatchi advertising agency. Their father was an Iraqi Jewish refugee.

Peter Carl Faberge, the famous Russian jeweller and whose namesake Faberge eggs and other jewelleries take after. He fled Finland.

Aristotle Onassis - need we say more on who this tycoon is? Formerly richest man in the world who was a Greek refugee.

Supermodel Alek Wek, she fled Sudan with her family.

Bob Marley - A Jamaican refugee. All Rastafarians, bow down right now...

Freddie Mercury, who else but Queen would've made it so good. He fled Zanzibar during the Indian Massacre.

Gloria Estefan, iconic Latin American singer in the late 80s and 90s. Her father was a Cuban refugee.

Sir John Tenniel, a descendent of Huguenot refugees who was a cartoonist and book illustrator.

And my personal favourite: Marc Chagall, the painter who revolutionised the art world. And always left it to the viewer to draw their own meaning from his dream-like deft-defying style. A personal favourite is his painting posted somewhere in our previous entry. But then again, there are so many to choose from. But perhaps the most fitting for this post is The Wandering Jew.

It epitomises the plight of all displaced persons, people who have fled their country in search of peace, a better future, freedom, persecution... Where would we be without them?

Managing Yaa-hoos!

Join us at the Sunway Education Expo!

Akasaa's talk on Social Innovations - The Never-Ending Saga: Of Time Banking, Spring Chickens & Strutting Sally's.

Be the first to get a copy of our book: Managing Yaa-hoos! True accounts of unscrupulous conduct & the 'nobodies' who change things. 

Malaysia's first book reviewed by London School of Economics, Amnesty International Malaysia, International Women's Rights Action Watch-Asia Pacific.

The Talk: Oct 7 10:30AM
The Booth: Oct 6 & 7 from 8am-5pm

The Mind Battle

Our mind can be tuned to block out pain,

To turn pain into strength,

But it could also be wired to exaggerate the pain. 

The mind makes or breaks you.

I was told by a teacher that I would be a tomboy at 12.

I've heard people laughing and poking fun at me for my size.

I've been told no guys would like me because I'm not attractive.

No one believed that I was just an unpolished jewel, eagerly waiting for the right time to shine.

But to me it doesn't matter. 

As long as I had the courage, faith and strength to carry on, 

No words can inflict harm if I do not allow it to hurt me.

I cannot even fathom how much I've learnt through Awake Minds. 

Maturity, confidence, and discipline to spirituality.

Learning is the easy part. Applying what you've learnt to life is the challenge.

I made a goal that after my exams, I would start jogging everyday to build my stamina and lose weight besides controlling my diet and watching what I eat because I've been eating unhealthy junk prior to exams.

The biggest part of losing weight is not about the diet or the exercise.

It ultimately boils down to how successful you are in controlling your mind. 

I have come to a realization that this is just a microcosm of life itself. 

Life is ultimately the battle of the mind, not if I am better than the person next to me.

If it was not for a senior's advice, I would had never kicked start my plan.

I told him how I would want to lose more weight by running but the weather has been a huge stumbling block (it's winter and it tends to rain almost everyday)

His solution for me was simple. 

"Rain or shine, just run"

His advice knocked me hard. 

It hit me that I was too busy making excuses, using talk but no actions to comfort my laziness.

I am pretty fond of excuses.

Excuses are like Valium or Prozac to the mind.

Only difference is its au naturale as compared to the synthetic drugs generating big bucks for pharmaceutical companies. 

Excuses are so poisonous and dangerous it becomes addictive and a habit that's so hard to break.

Now I clearly see the difference and reason between a winner and a loser. 

One puts words into actions, and the other actions into mere words.

Most Successful Women 2012 Award

Akasaa Founder & Director, Angela Yap, was one of 10 recipients of Jessica Malaysia's inaugural award for Most Successful Women 2012.

She joins the ranks of Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan, co-chair of Bersih, and Datin Paduka Marina Mahathir, social activist and writer, who also received the honour this year.

Our congratulations to these women who've contributed to the building of a true Malaysian spirit!

Watch the video here on her acceptance: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNi5lRPc798

Angela is featured here in May's issue of Jessica Malaysia:

 

Honour In Labour

Labour Day Parade in Toronto.

As we usher in Labour Day, I remember a time when Labour had great dignity attached to it.

Today, if you tell someone that you labour for a living, they'll take two steps back and then make a run for it. Why? Coz nobody wants to hang around with a chump who toils for a living... like Bangladeshi workers or Indonesian maids.

Everyone wants to snuggle up to success, to the man at the top of a ladder rather than the guy holding it.

But to labour doesn't mean being a Labourer or from the lower classes. In fact, anyone whose focus is to put in an honest day's work every day, Labours for his/her profession.

The world has changed drastically.

Most of the developed world no longer "makes" anything. America has downsized Detroit, the UK no longer manages it's customer service and Europeans no longer manage their own books.

But all great countries, were built on hard labour. Forefathers who believed in dignity, from doing it on your own rather than at someone else's expense for cheap. From smelters to tappers, miners to carpenters, medical officers to administrators... everything we have today is built on the legacy of someone else's sweat and toil.

There's a lot of pride that comes from having to do something on your own. From getting your hands dirty. From remembering what it feels to get a fair wage for the job.

For instance, the going rate for getting your car washed in the city is $10. And no one gets their car washed on a cloudy day so it's obvious the sun is shining and the car washers toil under the heat. After watching the boys working and sweating to clean the car, I used to give them $12. Because it's an honest day's job.

Some people are appalled. I've been told off for 'spoiling the market'. But everyone's got their pet splurge. Mine isn't beer.  

If you check your insurance policy, the investment linked fund you bought 4 years ago is worth very little today. In fact, if you sold it, you'd be bearing a loss.

The customer service agent is always gonna tell you to hold on because it's a good policy. On what grounds? Ummmm... She can't quite tell. That's the prepared speech they trained them to spout whenever anyone considers surrendering their policy. Don't question - just say it. Even if it's not true. So is that an honest day's work? No, it's not.

When someone offered his services as a consultant to a fellow entrepreneur to raise funds for a project, this self appointed consultant tells him, "You're naive to think you'll be seeing actual cash in your bank account. In my experience, they usually never pay up."

Which speaks volumes about the capacity of the consultant and his style of advising potential clients. Why would I need to hire anyone who's expecting to bring zero into my account?

There was a time when managing another persons' affairs was a position of trust, not a philosophy lesson. If you can't deliver the goods, leave it to the next person who can. Don't try to convince the other that they're naive in believing that they will be paid what's owed. That's not consulting, that's your own personal agenda shining through. Needless to say, not an honest day's work.

Respecting people's time is another. Too often, the little SMEs that hold immense knowledge obtained through hard work and toil... are violated. Big boys that ask them to pitch for jobs just to hear the idea and then pass the job on to their friends. Or private phone calls from officials who openly ask to 'pick your brains' and request access to your presentations and research materials.

That's not an honest day's work because it disrespects the person who took the time and effort to perfect their work into an art form.

So what IS an honest days work?

It's giving it everything you've got, no matter the outcome. Whether you're working for someone or running your own outfit. Cleaning the toilet or balancing the books. You owe it to no one else but yourself.

It's in being judicious and objective when executing your office. Dropping your Ego, Prejudices, Special Interests at the door. Otherwise, you can only see what you want to see, not what IS.

By referring to the past to make a decision in the present... that's not honest, wise or even a real decision. It's a reaction. And in reaction, there is no creativity, there's nothing new, no blossoming of understanding.

An honest days work is having the courage to tell the Truth... to our opponents as well as our friends. All relationships are secondary when one understands how dire it is to speak the Truth - and how many family and friends you will lose along the way. But being unpopular and without friends never hurt anybody. You get more time to tend to your inner garden.

It's also living up to your word. That if you'll make that call, or finish that piece of work... you will. But if you're not planning to... have the courage to say that too. But don't evade, avoid or change the subject. You may dodge the bullet. Whether you can hold your head up is another matter.

An honest day's work is apologising when you've made a mistake... and withholding an apology when you haven't. To say you're sorry when you aren't... belittles everyone. Time will sort that out. The real ones will stay. Others will never stay too long.

That's how the gravy train works. Chooooo-choooooo! On to the next fad! While the true Labour on...

Inspiration: How Value-Added Teachers Change The Face of Education

To all great Educators out there - past and present - who've changed lives by giving students something money can never buy... HOPE.

Here's the Columbia Uni study covering 18 million in statistical tracking over 20 years, proving how value-added teachers (those who give more than just knowledge and whose students show greater improvement than others in the curve) can significantly change the outcome in the lives of young people - their income, social status, occupation.

Click here: Columbia's 20-year study on Value-Added Education

Here's an excerpt from the Financial Times and their write-up on the study:

"The notion that a teacher can make a difference in an individual’s life is a familiar one, but now academics have discovered that the impact a good teacher can have goes much further than first realised.

According to professors from Columbia Business School and Harvard University a good teacher can affect students’ entire lives, from where they live, to how much they earn and even the age at which they have children."

Read more here: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/638fb35e-7e71-11e1-b20a-00144feab49a.html#axzz1rGzaUTZ3

Holding On Inside - Fear?

A question is posed:

Osho,
These days here with you are certainly the most beautiful. Doing nothing, so much time to sit silently in the garden, in my room, and watch the trees dancing in the wind, sparkling in the sun. So much beauty.

My mind is finally getting used to the idea of being turned off. I am so peaceful, so happy. Now, today, again going inside on this path of silence, with thoughts drifting away and emptiness surrounding me, I am aware of a tension inside me as if I am holding on to something.
Osho, what am I holding on to, and how do I let go?

It is not difficult to find out what you are holding on to, what your subtle tension is inside. You are feeling peaceful, you are feeling silent, you are feeling blissful as you have never felt. Hence, side by side, a fear must be lurking inside that soon you will be going from here and will this peace, this silence, this blissfulness remain a part of you? Or the moment you are away from me, will it disappear? This fear is not only within you, it is in every disciple’s mind, that when you are here it is one thing and when you go back to the marketplace, into the world, you will find it more miserable, more saddening than before because now you have something to compare it with.

Have you seen…? By the side of the road you are standing in darkness, and a car passes with its headlights on. The darkness disappears for a moment. The car has gone, but strangely enough after the car has gone the darkness is greater than it was before the car had come. You have seen the light; now there is a comparison.

This fear is natural. Only one thing can be done about it, and that is not to repress it but let it surface. You are repressing; that’s why you are not finding what it is that is troubling you somewhere inside. Allow it to surface. Experience that fear also. Accept the fear, and accept the challenge of the fear. Tell your mind, “It does not matter where I am. Whatever I have experienced, it is my experience and I can create it again.” It may have been triggered in my presence, but it is not my experience, it is your experience. Let it be deeply settled in you that it is your experience, it has nothing to do with me. I may have been a catalytic agent, but the experience is yours. And now, once it has happened, you can create it again anywhere in the world. Maybe in the beginning you will find it a little difficult, because you have become accustomed, and associated it with my presence. But it is not dependent on my presence.

It is just as if you light a candle with another candle – but once the candle is lit, it has its own flame. Perhaps in the beginning it needed to be close enough to another flame, but once it catches the flame, it has its own; it is no longer dependent. And when you go away, you will experience what I am saying – but give it a chance. Don’t decide that “Now it cannot happen because the master is not here.”

The master was needed to make you aware that it is something within you. Now you have seen it. Close your eyes anywhere, and you can recreate the silence, the beauty, the bliss. You can even recreate the presence of the master – that is the most difficult part, but not impossible. It depends on how intense is your love, how deep is your trust.


But no need to try it; first try those things which you can create within yourself. And once you have created all those things then you can try the tremendously beautiful experiment of creating the presence of the master.


So don’t be worried; just bring your fear to the surface. And it is not only in you; it is in everyone. It is something in the nature of things. So don’t give it too much importance either; just accept it as a natural phenomenon which will disappear by your little experiments away from me.


I guarantee it will disappear, because I have guaranteed it to thousands of my sannyasins and it has disappeared from their lives. There is no reason why it should not disappear from your life. The principles are the same; there are no exceptions.

Adults say the darnedest things

As fresh faced kids, we all listened intently to the adults in our life who told us what we were meant to be when we got bigger, older and wiser.
The first ambition I ever had was to be Spider-man. I had no idea how genetically modified spider bites worked, or how to get a genetically modified spider, for that matter. Still, it was Spider-man I wanted to be, and I was not going to settle for anything less. As I voiced out my opinions, I was constantly told that Spider-man never existed, and he was just a figment of an old man's imagination. Granted, that old man was Stan Lee, but the fact remained that Peter Parker was no more real than the Boogeyman under my bed. So with my head bowed, I finally accepted that I would neither swing from sky scrapers, fight the Green Goblin, nor marry Mary Jane Watson.

As I grew a little older, I wanted to be a mad scientist. Not just any scientist, but a mad one; complete with the crazy hairdo and the beer bottle glasses. As you can imagine, that idea too did not sit too well with the folks. "How are you going to make money", they said. Being a kid of 8 or 9, it never bothered me that someday I would be expected to support a household, or hold what the community and society believed to be a "respectable job". I was never a poor student in school, and most relatives I encountered would make comments on how I would make a great doctor or engineer someday. Why doctor? What's wrong with being a mad scientist, I would ask. The answer was always the same. Son, it's just not done.

And so as I grew into a teenager, I became wiser, and started targeting a 'real ambition'.

Yet, two years after deciding on a profession, I think of all the past ambitions I have had, and ask myself this. Did I actually get any wiser, or was I cowed into accepting the limits society imposed on  me? Guys, you can be whatever you set your mind to be. If I want to be Spider-man, then damn it, I will be Spider-man. Who is to say what is a respectable ambition, and what is not? The thing about potential is that once you doubt its existence, you automatically impose an extremely unforgiving barrier upon yourself, a barrier that unless broken will haunt your every effort at excellence. The effect of this barrier is like the "brick wall" long distance runners face. At a given point in their run, the runner feels the sudden urge to stop, and at that exact instant, it seems almost impossible to go on, and that the best choice would be to quit the race. However, once the barrier is overcome, the runner becomes extremely invigorated, pushing at their boundaries, and astonishing both themselves, and the crowd with their burst of excellence.

Who is to say we cannot do the same? I'll be bold here and say this. I will be whatever the hell I choose to be, regardless of what society expects of me, and honestly, you should too. Enough of being told what we can and can not do. Enough of having our limits imposed and set upon us. Enough of having our endless potential wasted by years of culling. We are all born with unique hues, yet sadly as we grow, we fade into the same shades of grey as the rest of the crowd. I say, stand out! Chase your dreams, however outlandish they may be. Try your hand at whatever it is you want to do, and if you fail, well at least you tried. Nobody won any awards for dreaming. Leave the dreaming to the dreamers and those who missed their boat. We are the youth of the nation, and we will do. 


Go ahead. Chase your dreams. I dare you. I dare us.

So long for now. I'm gonna go look for a radioactive spider.

Media Censorship

[- Post has been removed by SOPA -]




Freedom of speech and expression is everything. Do not let anyone take that away from us.
We are the youth of the nation, and we shall be heard.

Say no to SOPA and PIPA.

Would you believe me if I tell you...

What would you do if one day you realize that everything you've read, every idea that you have was never really yours? What would you do if you realize that your quickest and most reliable source of information about the world, and even about your friends have been filtered out only to fit your view about the world, not about how the world actually is? Would you believe me if I tell you that the internet may be turning you into a bigot? That your favorite social networking sites or search engines are only showing you what you want to see, not what you need to see?

Only you have the answers to this question. My main concern is, if you so willingly believe anything I tell you, then yes, I am very concerned. However, if you took the time to be critical, to analyze every information, every idea, to try and see every possible point of view on one particular issue, then I have no doubt that you'll be able to see the world as it is, not for what you think it is, or in other words, what the internet or the media wants you to think.

The problem with blindly believing every piece of information, especially one that has been accustomed to your view, one that does not challenge your view in any way is that it makes you prone to becoming ignorant, self-centered, dogmatic, and unaccepting of other peoples views or values. Is there any wonder then why people spend more time believing in or creating mindless gossip, arguing, defaming the other person instead of being more productive, exchanging great ideas and actually running the country? *ehem*slight reference to Malaysian politics and society*ehem*

I was inspired to write this post upon watching a video of Eli Pariser, a political and internet activist, talking about The Filter Bubble. As the internet is becoming an important source of information and connection to the rest of the world, I believe that every thinking person who is using the internet should watch this video. Please click HERE. (It's a link to a video from youtube, I'm not blogger-savvy enough to figure out how to share the video here.)

For more information about what exactly is The Filter Bubble. Click HERE.

Awake your Mind, DISCOVER the TRUTH.

Truth Is

We know discrimination by gender, sexual orientation, religion, race or disability is wrong,

Truth is that society

by acknowledging their differences and the need to treat them as equals, are already judging.

We ultimately realize that happiness is the reason for living,

Truth is that society

is ever ready to pop our happy bubble.

We learn that the only right we have is over our virtues and principles we hold in life,

Truth is that society

molds you to compromise your principles in exchange for a superior position on the superficial social ladder. 

We know failure in the quest for excellence would be inevitable

Truth is that society
tells us there is no such thing as perfection and only blaming others would make you feel better.

Yet, the very truth is that there's no truth.
Society's truth is not your truth.
My truth may not be your truth.

In the end, it is how we untangle and break free from the group mind that sets us apart. 

We are fully absorbed in the concept of following the majority that we are so afraid to stand for our truth. 

Why are we defending someone else's truth instead of our own?

What is keeping you and me back?

We keep telling our children to 'think out of the box' then we impose restrictions on them, forcing their retreat.
When a child questions an older figure, why is it seen as offensive if the question has a solid base?
Whoever said that age was the barometer of the quantity of respect awarded?

Professor Ha Joon Chang gave me one of the best advice that's so simple, yet often forgotten that I actually learnt through Awake Minds.

Do not fear. Dare to challenge the authority.
But of course, challenge authority with intelligence, not ego or pride.

Para-Para Paradise

Paradise.
Funny that I still remember how I learnt this word.
I was six, eager to learn, excited to explore the world.
I had a kindergarden friend (her name rhymes with Petronas but I can't recall exactly), she told me how she had spent the weekend in Paradise Sandy Resort with her family. She told me how fun and beautiful Paradise Resort was.

I didn't care about sandy or resort, I just remembered Paradise, so I went home to ask my mother..
'Ma, where is Paradise?'

Her reply didn't satisfy me. She said she does not know where exactly paradise was, that it might be a place that does not exist here. Still unsatisfied, I went to my grandfather, demanding to know where Paradise was. Being a staunch Christian, he told me that its a place he will find Jesus and God waiting for him. Its where people loved by God would be, after they die.

I never understood why my grandfather loved to tell me about death and dying. He always reminded me, how we should not be afraid of dying, because there's a better place called paradise after death. I never gave much thought as a six year old back then. When he passed away, I went into his bedroom to look at his still body. I did not know how to handle a death in a family, but I guess my grandfather prepared me well. I knew my grandfather was happy in paradise and I should be happy for him. That's how I learnt one of the meanings of paradise. I finally found out where Paradise Sandy Resort was when I grew up :D

Where's paradise?
Is it above the fluffy blue clouds?
Or is it under the shades of the lush green trees?
Does it also appear when i'm in doubt?
Or only when I set my mind wild and free?

Where's paradise?
It might be just like what my grandpa used to tell me,
A place where he will be happy for eternity.
Will I lose sight of paradise?
If along the path I strayed aimlessly?


Where's paradise?

Akasaa Nominated for Great Women of Our Time Award

Reproduced from the Malaysian women's weekly blog.

MONDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2011

CATEGORY: Finance & Commerce

To vote via SMS for Akasaa: 

Send to 32733. Type MWW<space>GWOT<space>NAME<space>NRIC<space>08<space>EMAIL

Angela Yap, 30, Founder & Director, Akasaa 

When her former employer encountered financial difficulties and stopped paying her salary for eight months, she saw how even the most heavily regulated system was not foolproof against unethical practises.

“I saw how human greed could ruin lives, but felt that business still held that great potential to change lives.”

Combining her experience and knowledge as a corporate strategist, she set up Akasaa, a publications, communications and consulting specialist that does business with a difference – it helps companies execute business strategies with a conscience.

“I wanted Akasaa to become the change I wish to see in global business - by managing finances well, putting people before profits and to create strategies that will always be a force for good,” she explains.

Her social consciousness had an early start. Upon graduation, Angela worked with the United Nations Development Programme-TUGI, a regional programme dedicated to pursuing urban governance issues in South & Southeast Asia. At age 22, she became the youngest elected Board of Governor to Amnesty International in Malaysia.

In a short duration of three years, Akasaa has witnessed encouraging results, chalking up big names like Sunway, Astro and Public Mutual as clients. She has also contributed her knowledge to a diverse range of social, historical and economic issues by co-authoring or editing the critically acclaimed books like Answering is an Art, which has been praised by the Western Australian education council as an innovative approach to teaching business issues; Cities, Citizens & Civilizations: FAQ on Good Urban Governance for the United Nations Development Programmes (2004); Be Aware of Yourself C.C.C. (2009).

But like the breed of social entrepreneurs who go against the tide of "business as usual", Angela also likes to highlight lessons we can learn from the ordinary. Expressing her admiration for a popular burger seller, she writes in an editorial, “More than just a great meal, I'd just gained insight into a small business that chose to put people ahead of profits, a focus that many forgo.”

While social entrepreneurship is still a relatively new business model in Malaysia, pay-it-forward moments like this keep Angela motivated:

“After a motivational workshop I ran a session for refugees to help them overcome depression, a participant said the technique had worked so well for her that she taught other women. I'll never forget how that moment because it didn't hit me until then the immensity of what our work meant to others.”

“Every letter, card and thank you note sits on my shelf to remind me that Akasaa doesn't need to be a giant like Coca-Cola. We just need to do great work, with great sincerity and keep the courage to think different.”

“Everyone can choose to stand up and make a difference - to radically change humanity by using our knowledge the right way.”

Death & Depression: Stand up and speak!

As depression and suicide rates increase around the world, it's time we all reflect on life and ask: Is my life meaningful? Do I want this? and if it's not, what do I really want?

This New York Times piece talks about suicide in North Korea, but it's really reflective of all that's happening around the world as we all become more affluent, and life gets more meaningless for many.

By the way, national suicide rates in Malaysia and for many Asian countries are hush-hush and kept under lock and key. Research methodologies are private and very few article address this deeply disturbing trend among us.

Suicide is one... but what about the number people who are depressed and don't have an outlet to talk to? What about other suicidal tendencies... self-mutilation, alcoholism, drug abuse.

When will we all grow up enough to be able to talk about this? Or are we waiting for it to happen to someone we know before we look life in the face and have the courage to address the ugly and work to turn things around.

Let's stop sweeping things under the carpet and start addressing things to make a change.

Read this NYT article: Stressed & Depressed, Koreans Avoid Therapy

You've got 15 SECONDS to make them HAPPY!!

For Sandy Greenawalt, this is her purpose every day as she wakes and goes for work as a toll collector.

I've heard about this HAPPY woman as i was watching another episode of Oprah Winfrey's farewell season show. She was interviewing "Happy People" with Goldie Hawn co-hosting. As an avid Oprah Winfrey show fan, she played a huge part in forming the person that I am today as I watch her interview countless inspirational individuals. (between you and me, and anyone who will read this, i cried like a newborn baby when her talk show ended.)

Today, I was inspired by a woman who collects tolls.

Here is an excerpt taken from Pennlive :

Winfrey marveled at Greenawalt’s ability to enjoy a job many might find dull and thankless.

“She said the worst job must be in a toll booth. She asked if I like coming to work,” the 56-year-old Greenawalt said.

Over a live Internet telephone/video connection — Skype — she told Oprah she loves it. Brief chats with drivers are sprinkled with endearments. Everyone is sweetie, or hon or darlin’. She makes change while singing to Beach Boys and other '50s and '60s tunes on the radio. She wears costumes on holidays. Regular commuters share good news and pictures of their children.

On a recent frigid day, Greenawalt revealed her celebrated charm. “You be careful out there now, OK?” she said to a driver.

She asked others about road conditions, their work day and health. “Out there in the lanes is where the fun is,” Greenawalt said. “I love people. I really do. You have 15 seconds to make them smile and 99 percent of them will smile.”

Some cherish her simple courtesies. A woman whose car hit a deer along the highway parked at the interchange, stepped out and wrung her hands in distress. Greenawalt consoled her. The next day, a lush poinsettia plant came with a note of gratitude."

Upon hearing about her, I can't help but smile. Her happiness is contagious and it made me realized that the power of happiness lies in our own hands. Happiness is LEARNED, therefore we can CHOOSE happiness. Greenawalt was taught Happiness by her mother, and she chose to live Happy.

If a toll collector all the way from Pennsylvania can make me smile in 15 seconds, then I know i can do the same for those around me. If everyone feels the same way, then the world would be a happier and better place wouldn't it?

We've Lost A Legend

 Woke up to the saddest news today - the world has lost a legend.

Steve Jobs is dead.

He defined the defiant spirit of a rebellious generation and typified the best of what it meant to be an intellectual rebel. Just spoke about him yesterday and he leaves an emptiness in the world of being a truthful individual, caring about consumers getting a good deal and making life beautifully seamless in technology.

Deeply influenced by indian spiritualism in his early days, he was a practitioner of the path who never said what was popular or politically correct, was deeply driven by a need to be honest in all aspects of work and changing the world. He's done more than any other thinker in the way we perceive and relate to technology.

http://www.tech24hours.com/2011/08/kainchi-ashram-in-nainital-uttarakhand.html

Some time for mourning for a great soul.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/06/business/steve-jobs-of-apple-dies-at-56.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1&hp

Who Are We?

In an ever-expanding Universe... who are we?

How we live in our comfort zone thinking and believing that we are important, that we make a difference, that our lives have a meaning. Yet when stacked up against an ever-expanding infinity - we're not even a speck in time and space.

This can only be seen in two ways:

#1 Nothing matters, so why bother?

#2 Nothing matters, so what do we have to lose?

I've always been in the let's-go-for-broke camp :)


Am reposting the article that triggered off this rambling... from the New York Times who took this off the wires:

Studies of Universe's Expansion Win Physics Nobel

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Published: October 4, 2011 at 8:51 AM ET

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STOCKHOLM (AP) — Three U.S.-born scientists won the Nobel Prizein physics on Tuesday for overturning a fundamental assumption in their field by showing that the expansion of the universe is constantly accelerating.

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Their discovery created a new portrait of the eventual fate of the universe: a place of super-low temperatures and black skies unbroken by the light of galaxies moving away from each other at incredible speed.

Physicists had assumed for decades that the expansion of the universe was getting ever-slower, meaning that in billions of years it would resemble today's universe in many important ways.

Then, working in separate research teams during the 1990s, Saul Perlmutter, Brian Schmidt and Adam Riess found that the light from more than 50 distant exploding stars was far weaker than they expected, meaning that galaxies had to be racing away from each other at increasing speed.

The acceleration is driven by what scientists call dark energy, a cosmic force that is one of the great mysteries of the universe.

The Nobel-winning discovery implies instead that the universe will get increasingly colder as matter spreads across ever-vaster distances in space, said Lars Bergstrom, secretary of the Nobel physics committee.

He said galaxies that are 3 million light years away from Earth move at a speed of around 44 miles per second (70 kilometers per second). Galaxies that are 6 million light years away move twice as fast.

The research implies that billions of years from now, the universe will become "a very, very large, but very cold and lonely place," said Charles Blue, spokesman for the American Institute of Physics.

In contrast to the big bang, that fate has been called the "big rip" to indicate how galaxies would be torn apart, he said.

Galaxies will be flying away so quickly that their light could not travel across the universe to distant observers as it does today, making the sky appear black, he said.

"For almost a century the universe has been known to be expanding as a consequence of the Big Bang about 14 billion years ago," the citation said. "However the discovery that this expansion is accelerating is astounding. If the expansion will continue to speed up the universe will end in ice."

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said Perlmutter would receive half of the 10 million kronor ($1.5 million) award, with Riess and Schmidt, a U.S.-born Australian, splitting the other half.

Perlmutter, 52, heads the Supernova Cosmology Project at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and University of California, Berkeley.

Schmidt, 44, is the head of the High-z Supernova Search Team at the Australian National University in Weston Creek, Australia.

Riess, 41, is an astronomy professor at Johns Hopkins University and Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, Maryland.

Schmidt said he was just sitting down to have dinner with his family in Canberra, Australia, when the phone call came from the academy.

"I was somewhat suspicious when the Swedish voice came on," Schmidt told The Associated Press. "My knees sort of went weak and I had to walk around and sort my senses out."

Riess said his "jaw dropped" when he received an early-morning call at his home in Baltimore from a bunch of Swedish men and realized "it wasn't Ikea," the Swedish furniture retailer. "I'm dazed," he told AP.

The discovery was "the biggest shakeup in physics, in my opinion, in the last 30 years," said Phillip Schewe, a physicist and spokesman at the Joint Quantum Institute, which is operated by the University of Maryland and the federal government.

"I remember everyone thinking at the time (that) there was some mistake," Schewe said. But there was no mistake, and in fact the basic finding was confirmed later by other measurements. For example, other scientists found evidence for it when they analyzed the microwave radiation left over from the big bang that still bathes the universe, he said.

Perlmutter told AP his team made the discovery in steps, analyzing the data and assuming it was wrong.

"And after months, you finally believe it," he said. "It's not quite a surprise anymore. I tell people it's the longest "aha!" experience that you've ever had."

Fred Dylla, executive director of the American Institute of Physics, said the prize confirmed an idea from Albert Einstein, called the cosmological constant, that Einstein inserted in his general theory of relativity, a cornerstone of modern physics.

Einstein later repudiated that idea as his "biggest blunder," but it did lead to a lot of theoretical and experimental studies, Dylla said.

The physics prize was the second Nobel to be announced this year. On Monday the medicine prize went to American Bruce Beutler and French scientist Jules Hoffmann who shared it with Canadian-born Ralph Steinman for their discoveries about the immune system. Steinman died three days before the announcement but since his death was not known to the committee, they decided he should keep the Nobel. Since 1974, Nobels have been awarded only to living scientists.

The Nobel Prizes were established in the will of Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel, and have been handed out since 1901.

Last year's physics award went to Russian-born scientists Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov for groundbreaking experiments with graphene, the strongest and thinnest material known to mankind.

The prizes are handed out every year on Dec. 10, on the anniversary of Nobel's death in 1896.

___

Malin Rising in Stockholm, Malcolm Ritter in New York, Kristen Gelineau in Sydney, Jessica Gresko in Washington and Greg Moore in Phoenix, Arizona, contributed.