On things back home

Those of us who keep track of things back home in Malaysia may have realised that there was an election over the weekend. The results thus far have been astounding. The Opposition took 5 states (out of 13), and the National Front's (Barisan Nasional) share of seats in Parliament was reduced from 91% to 63%. Crucially, they can not pass constitutional amendments without a 2/3 majority in Parliament.

There is a stack of opinions and comments going around re the Malaysian election, so I wont repeat most of them. You guys can look it up yourselves =) A good starting point is malaysiakini.com. For the government's point of view, take a look at thestar.com.my.

However, I do have some points to make:

• Firstly, congrats to the Opposition for their success. However, they now have a much greater responsibility. It's always a lot more difficult to criticise other's actions than to do the right thing yourself. For the country's long-term future, let's hope they do a good job running those 5 states, and as a strong Opposition. Why? If they mess things up, the next election will not be pretty for them as Barisan will basically be able to say: "you guys had a go, and cocked it up". And they would be absolutely correct. There will be a huge loss of credibility for the Opposition (not that Barisan has much to speak of anyways). However, Barisan would likely win strongly again, and that will be that for Malaysian democracy.
• If the Opposition do a good job, then we'll see, for the first time a viable Opposition, which can only be good for the country. Absolute power corrupts, and a strong Opposition (preferably denying Barisan the 2/3 majority needed for constitutional amendments) is a great check and balance.
• I suspect that the election result was due to popular discontent expressed in a nationwide vote against Barisan, as opposed to a vote affirming the Opposition. Their laundry isn't that clean either, and they have a lot of hard work ahead of them. There are parallels that could be drawn with the recent Australian election. I read it as a vote against the Liberals (who were getting rather stale), rather than a vote for the Labor party, given that the latter had its own history of economic mismanagement and corruption.
  
• Another point... i suspect the dominant political party in a neighbour down south should have reason to get nervous. So far in Malaysia (based on my observations), we've seen a coalition which has had uninterrupted power for 40 years given a good slap on the face by the electorate, for a myriad of reasons. If it can happen up north, it can happen down south too (albeit for different reasons). The point here is that political leaders really have to beware of being seen as complacent or arrogant. Eventually, the people will have their say... and it may not be pretty.
  

Personally, I'm not a fan of Barisan for obvious reasons - rampant corruption and cronyism, the NEP, and the fact that it is a coalition of race-based parties (when most countries have moved on to ideology-based parties, we're still looking at colour). Nevertheless, it has done a decent job in bringing the country to where it is today (whether by luck or merit). The country had a 50% poverty rate at Independence. Like it or not, they did make a difference, and I'd still prefer them running the country, as opposed to an opposition coalition comprising of an Islamist party advocating a Malaysian theocracy (PAS), a predominantly Chinese party (DAP), and a Justice Party led by a man who has his own skeletons in the closet (PKR).

Just one last thought - wouldn't it be great if we didn't base political parties on race? Why should we assume that people of the same race have the same ideologies/interests? Why should we assume that a Malay man can never empathise with a Chinese/Indian man or v.v.? I stopped looking at people on the basis of race a long time ago once i realised that people rise and fall on their own merits, not on the basis of their skin colour.

In a sense, categorising people's political preferences on the basis of race dehumanises them. It pigeonholes them into a box - eg Chinese people will always vote for whoever takes care of their beloved economy. It may be true for 99% of Chinese people (joke there), but it is not necessarily true for everyone with a 3-syllable name. Some of us have realised that there are things in life more important than Mammon - freedom (whether religious, political, economic), equality (in society) etc etc.

In conclusion, we can't really pigeonhole everyone on the basis of race - and that is why I believe race-based politics is an anachronism.

Based on some conversations with some good friends, and some personal observations, I think it is arguable that society, at large, is confused about man. What does it mean to be a man today? What are his responsibilities? What is he supposed to aspire to?

I obviously don't intend to cover this whole subject in one blog post. But I aim to explore it in a long-term manner. Obviously at some point, something I say on these pages will raise someone's hackles. I'm cool with that as people can agree to disagree. Its why humans are special creations - we're all unique. To be honest, if you agree or disagree or couldn't care less, do say so. I really would appreciate your contributions to this discussion. I don't claim to be the authority on manhood. Rather, I'm going to explore the topic online (ie think out loud) and I'll try to look at it from different perspectives.

So where do I start?

"in the beginning"

The Bible's depiction of creation refers to God saying: "let us make human beings in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule [over the rest of creation]" (Genesis 1:26). There are no gender distinctions at this point, and so you could clearly argue that there is a mandate on humankind (whether male or female) to rule.

The first mention of gender comes the very next verse:
"So God created human beings in His own image,
in the image of God He created them;
male and female He created them" (Genesis 1:27)

Something interesting here: via repetition, God emphasises the fact that we are created in His image - and men and women are a reflection of different aspects of His image.

What does "image" mean? Character. Thus, the way men are, and the way women are, reflect different aspects of the way God's character is. So far so good? Excellent - I'll end off for now...

week 1

This might be the slackest timetable i've had for a while (well since Honours last year). As my tutorials are fortnightly, I only have to attend uni 2 days a week every other fortnight - on Mondays and Thursdays. Good or bad? Well to be honest I'm not sure. On one hand, I save heaps of time in terms of getting to uni (public transport takes me nearly an hour). On the other hand, it does mean I have less time to catch up with the people that matter (well those that reside near UWA anyways). Which is difficult, because after all people do matter.

On another note, I've realised that this year, I really need to start hitting the career trail, which begins on Monday with me attending a careers fair at the Convention Centre. I have no idea what the dress code is, so i might just go smart casual and have a bob each way, so to speak. I tend to have recurring nightmares of being the person who is either too casually or too formally dressed. But i need to start thinking about the career side of things. After all, my time at UWA approaches an end.

Finally, something my pastor said at a sermon many weeks ago still resounds in my head. Basically, in layman's terms, he said that God will make you into the person (give you the attributes/gifts) which will allow you to achieve His purpose for your life. For some reason, I'd got it into my head that my personality, with its general introversion, occasional moments of aggression (exhibited on sporting fields) and a tendency to be intense (well because I am intense) would prevent me from doing certain things in life (eg be an good youth leader/preacher/lawyer). Untrue. God will change you - if you let Him. God will mould you - if you let Him. My prayer is that I let God shape me in His image, the one I was created to be in. I just have to make sure I don't use my perceptions of who I am personality-wise as an excuse to limit what He can do.

Uni awaits

The semester starts tomorrow for real... on a public holiday. Well actually I'm looking forward to it a little. It means I'm getting along with my life - summer holidays sometimes feel like a long delay for me - not that i don't enjoy holidays, it's just that after a while you want to do something.

A little recap of what happened to me over summer (obviously because I'm narcissistic and it all has to be about me - well not really - it is my blog after all)

• Was the best man for Dave's wedding - went home to KL - caught up with relatives
• Sundays were, strangely enough the days on which i woke up the earliest (there's an ugly sentence for you) - worship team duties =).
  
• Played a decent amount of tennis with Jon Q - actually I've really been enjoying the games - probably because we're pretty even so far - he's the more consistent player, I'm the sneakier one so the games often get quite interesting.
• Didn't find a job - but I'm tutoring Micro 101 this semester, so it isn't that much of an issue
• Volunteered a few times with Drug ARM's Street Van - now that is a challenge - talking to people you have never met from a world far apart from yours - having said that, I enjoy it immensely.
  
• Music + Lyrics - played a lot of guitar this summer - also had to scramble to write up a camp song, which was finally finalised yesterday with A Tan. I recall someone actually hitting her head on the floor saying "thank God" after finishing writing the song =). will play it for the Camp Comm tomorrow night - hope my voice holds up.
• Went to the Young Adults camp yesterday for a day - actually I had a ball - it was pretty good to catch up with the YAs - they're not that old =P
  
• more obliquely - I got challenged to grow over the summer. Got forced to grow up pretty quickly. But ultimately, I got God's love and that's what matters at the very end.