clever Dick, clever Mat, clever Ah Beng, clever Muthu ???

                                Your trouser cuffs are dirty,
                      And your shoes are laced up wrong,
                     You'd better take off your homburg,
                      'Cos your overcoat is too long.
                                           Procol Harum




I know most bloggers ignore all or some comments but I feel I owe a response to those who bother to write.

However, old habits die hard.  This retired, but not retiring teacher cannot resist picking at shoddy and awkwardly pompous comments that turn up on this blog.  I do refrain from doing a thorough 'marking' because I think it is wonderful enough that we non-westerners can write in a language that is not our mother tongue - typical grammatical errors can be expected, for instance using the word 'critique' as a verb when it is actually a noun.

But I do hold the line on careless and sloppy use of words and on crooked thinking and arguments.

Take this comment from my posting  on " A Parting Shot " .

1.  What is meant by "passive-aggressive"?  Technically, it denotes a "type of behaviour or personality characterised by indirect resistance to the demands of others and an avoidance of direct confirmation".

The poem referred to in "A Parting Shot" is a very direct statement; not of resistance against those who make demands (on the Malays) , but on the Malays themselves, to wake up and pull up their socks, so to speak.  The tone is scathing and contemptuous, and there's no mincing of words or beating about the bush.

2.  "Passive-aggressive" also refers to "a defense mechanism that allows people who aren't comfortable being openly aggressive to get what they want under the guise of still trying to please others.  They want their way but they also want everyone to still like them".

I certainly agree with the above definition as a characterisation of the Malays and their leadership in the Peninsula, from the late 1940s to the 1950s prior to Independence - and especially today!  But it was NOT a defence mechanism at all - call it the Malay attitude of tolerance, of 'give and take', of 'tidak apa', of being stupidly lackadaisical about their tomorrows, but above all, let's face it - the Malays had no choice at all.  They had 'to please others' - simply because the economy was not in their hands then (and still isn't today), and  the demographic composition was stacked against them -they were almost a minority in their homeland (indeed, for a time, if we include the Straits Settlements, they were.)

BUT, the poet  was not succumbing to being passive-aggressive' - he was not 'crying in his beer'  (or teh tarik) , he was not seeking to be 'liked', he was just angry and frustrated with his fellow Malays.

Flammenwerfer (FW) does not approve of this poem and his 'defense mechanism' is simply to write it off as 'crap'.  Well,exactly which "Crap" is  FW referring to?  "Crap" as in :

(a) faeces?- well, we ALL produce that! ....
(b) work of extremely poor quality ......
(c) talk at length in a foolish and boring way ?

As for (b) and (c) -  ah ha, some of us do it much better than others!

I reckon the Anon poet has managed to put across many more serious issues than FW gives him credit for

3. FW has to be more specific about his second criticism.  In the first sentence he referred to 'Malay labourers', then  to follow up his argument he rants about how  "locals won't work for Indon wages" or even when offered higher wages.  Don't locals include Chinese and Indians as well?  Make up your mind!  Or does he think that being unskilled coolie labourers is the domain of the Malays only?

And by the way have you ever heard of any Malaysian developer, contractor, or any other tycoons who are willing to pay more to local workers? If they do, pigs will fly!  Even in Singapore (as FW is keen to quote Singapore as comparison) - the Singaporeans do not want to see themselves relegated to a coolie status just to keep body and soul and HDB flat together.

If the powers that be really want to get locals to do such manual labour.  motivate them by providing at least a minimum wage, to assist them with training and upgrading skills or apprenticeship and provide schemes for topping-up wages.  Can you envisage Malaysian taukehs and tycoons falling over themselves to make such a contribution?

4. As to the economy and the Chinese, the retort 'tell me something new'  smacks of  a typical  dismissive smugness of the social media-speak generation, especially when it comes to discussing any issues to do with  'race'.  Does this throwaway statement  mean that FW endorses and supports this unhealthy status quo?   Or is he lost for words?

Of course the domination of the Chinese in the Malaysian economy is nothing 'new'!  But does that mean that our anonymous poet cannot provoke his kinsmen to get off their bums and challenge this unsatisfactory supremacy - as the native Africans did in Apartheid South Africa or as American Blacks achieved in the 60s and 70s or as even the indigenous communities of New Zealand and Australia are doing in their homeland?

But this is not just a struggle of the natives of the ex-colonies. Today, developed, wealthy, white nations like UK are worried and trying their darnedest to avoid inflicting on themselves what they perpetrated in countries like Malaya, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand for instance.

Check this :

In an article in the Daily Mail (May 14, 2013) Tim Shipman noted what Lord Mandelson a former Cabinet Minister said in 2009:  " Migrants are filling gaps in our labour market that Britons are not available to fill or unwilling to fill.  (Doesn't that sound familiar - remember the British gripe about 'lazy' Malays?) There has not been an adverse effect on employment of British nationals."

Mandelson then did a 180 degree turn.   In May 2013 he admitted: "I think we have to realise that the entry of migrants to the labour market is hard for people who are finding it very difficult to get jobs, or to keep jobs."

In other words, Britons are now fearful of and hostile to the growing number of 'foreigners' and immigrants  in their midst.  Between 1997 and 2010, migration to Britain totalled  2.2 million.  Even sane voices like the former Archbishop of Canterbury were warning about this undesirable situation.

Read: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1054703/Unlimited-immigration-lead-violence-Britains-streets-warns-Archbishop-Canterbury.html

It was precisely this "engineered mass immigration" that the British imposed on the Malay Peninsula and the outer islands as of the early part of the 20th century.  This was the result.

We have to live with this multi-cultural (?), divisive (?)  'legacy' of imperial Britain.  And I reckon the natives and the immigrants are trying to do the best they can in a very difficult cultural and economic brew.

Check this:  

The scenario presented in the above graph is giving Australians (especially those of European descent) the jitters. According to research by the Sydney Daily Telegraph (May 2012), more than half of Australians want an end to further immigration.  I do wonder whether this included  many 'Asian Australians'!  After all, here in Leicester - just like the native Brits - the Asian Brits (mainly from South Asia) are quite hostile to more immigration from Sudan, Iraq, Somalia and lately East Europeans into Britain!     Only yesterday, our Gujerati neighbour bemoaned the behaviour of the foreigners on our street - and he meant the East Europeans!

Although official voices in Australia claim that "people are concerned that the present rate of population growth is not sustainable and is going to make Australia a poorer place to live"  ( Professor Bob Birrell, Monash University), it is obvious that their main concern is not simply based on numbers but the racial composition of Australia as well.

In 1947, just 0.3% of the Australian population were born in Asia; in 1981 it was 2.5% and by 2010 it had grown to just 9%.   And Australians are still worried!

So FW, what's new in Malaysia?  What's new in Great Britain?  What's new in Australia?  What's the big deal?

Remember the White Australia Policy?  Remember how Malaysia in the 1970s and 1980s was pilloried for failing to respond to the plight of  refugees - The Boat People, who by the way were mainly Vietnamese of Chinese descent - from Vietnam at the end of the Vietnam War?  They even made a movie about the dastardly, heartless  Malaysian Government pushing out the Boat People. Well, nearly 50 years later, Australia is having to deal with their "Boat People" - mainly refugees from the war in Afghanistan. These victims of a war wreaked by Judaeo-Christian nations are being detained and  'processed' on islands like Nauru, which is just 21 square kilometres in size and made up almost entirely of solid phosphate.

Nauru  (Torsten Blackwood: AFP)

5.  As to the professional class who are mainly Indians, FW takes the same nonchalant, liberal and trendy stand. He must be thinking, 'for heaven's sake, whats the fuss about?'  It's happening "even in Singapore"!

FW should read more and pontificate less.  Read how born-and-bred Singaporeans are chomping at the bit about being 'swamped' by foreigners from China, India, Malaysia and the Philippines.  This was what the Prime Minister Mr Lee Hsien Loong said in July 2013:

" In fact, if I can get another 10 billionaires to move to Singapore and set up their base here, my Gini coefficient will get worse but I think Singaporeans will be better off, because they will bring in business, bring in opportunities, open new doors and create new jobs, and I think that is the attitude with which we must approach this problem." 

This is slightly different from Lord Mandelson's objective and his forefathers' colonial tactics.  But it reminds me of Australia's and New Zealand's conditions - in the 1970s and later - for Asians seeking to migrate into their hallowed domain.  You must bring with you a dowry, of a certain sum of lolly (Vietnamese refugees brought their gold bars) and a professional qualification to boot.

If  FW is a born-and-bred Singaporean who has nowhere else to migrate to - he would not be too laidback  by "this growing trend."

6. " Warong makan..  (So you want Malays jadi jaga?)"  I'm a bit lost here.  What is FW getting at?  I think no one wants the Malays to be 'jaga'.  In fact, in Malaysia and Singapore, Malays have a hard time trying to shed the image of them being the drivers and gardeners of the taukehs, and the white and brown Tuans.

Just 6 years ago, a Penangite Dato who sees himself as an impresario came to our house to talk about the spouse's illustrated book "Fatimah's Kampung".  He wanted Iain to make about 100 signed copies of a selected set of illustrations, to be exhibited and sold to his avant garde clientele.  Of course my Scottish  spouse adamantly refused the suggestion.  When the spouse moved to the kitchen to make the tea, this Dato spoke to me and asked, " Do you want the money?"   Hand on my heart - those were his very words to me.

You see - in the eyes of this Chinese Dato -  I am a Malay and a Malay can be easily bought.  That was how (some) Malays from the west of Johor, desperate for money to go on the Hajj or for celebrating grand weddings would sell their land to the lowest bidder. But looking at the nature of modern Malays today, indeed they can be easily bought and sold.

As for the Dato's Malay driver, when we suggested that the driver come in and take a seat at the verandah - instead of remaining inside the parked car - we were given a flat 'no' by the Dato.

7.  "There is nothing to be proud of about using Jawi ....... not an original Malay alphabet."  FW is paddling in dangerous waters here.

Of course it's in Arabic - this was after all, before the arrival of the Christian Europeans - the  Malay-Muslim Archipelago.

'Apadah'!! Why then did Tuan Syers write a letter in Jawi to  Kapitan China Yap Ah Loy?

 

"What is so proud" about using a foreign alphabet - the Roman alphabet?  The Roman alphabet was 'introduced' into Malaya by the colonial powers - to make it easy for all, especially the non-Malays to 'communicate' with the Malays.  The Roman alphabet has its benefits.  But with regards to Jawi, please do not poke your nose into areas which you are decidedly biased and ignorant of.  What would be your take if the Chinese and Indian alphabet were romanized as well?

As FW is so dismissive of Jawi, perhaps he/she should be aware of his/her linguistic style and ability. Two languages, Malay and English, have been mongrelized in this slick little piece.  The Anon poet that he pooh-poohs at least has the dignity and ability to express his concerns in his language.

8.  Now we come to FW's piece de resistance.  Am I supposed to be honoured because FW  "look forward to reading it (my blog) for its evocative nostalgia of days when we were less racially conscious."?   He/she has pressed all the right buttons that the so-called liberals in Malaysia are so fond of - words like 'less racially conscious',  'evocative nostalgia' -  of the way we were.  Such sentiments are found in the playground of the well-heeled urbanites, the sophisticated, English-speaking/writing champagne socialists and 'human rights' activists lounging in their Bangsar and Georgetown salons.

Spare me the condescension !

For the information of FW and others like him/her, AsH is not a coffee table site dedicated to   reminiscences and pretty pictures of 'the way we were'.  If that has not registered with the likes of FW then he/she should read and learn from a comment made by a 14 year old Nasir Roslan :

Hi ... my paternal grandpa is an orang laut/orang pulau too ...  the original inhabitants of S'pore.

Here is one young soul who understands and relates to what I am doing in my blog.  He does not look only for "evocative nostalgia" - he is discovering himself and his heritage.  Nasir's comment makes it all worthwhile.

 Read : http://anaksihamid.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/alimah-bt-awang-anak-jati-singapura.html

I must admit that this riposte is like hitting a fly with a sledgehammer.  But there are so many out there in the ether like this Api Pelontar : that's the translation into Malay of  Flammenwerfer.   So I might as well demolish as many flies as I can with this posting.

Finally, I hope this sentence is not "out of place" for Api Pelontar.  I reckon you are a Malaysian and as I cannot tell what you are because "the blogger profile cannot be displayed"   I shall end with this :  Podah! Mai chuay si, lah! Pergi berambus!

ps.  A 'clever Dick'  is someone who has a high opinion of  his/her ability or knowledge.



                                             

The Antics of AsH

Our GP Dr Newley  confirmed that I have a  'good heart', after an ECG two weeks ago.  I had decided that during this time back in Leicester I need to submit myself to the equivalent  of an MOT, which is a test check for a vehicle to make sure it is in  roadworthy condition.  Despite the results of the ECG, and despite doubling the blood pressure medication, the breathlessness did not go away.  Went for another visit, only to be told I had an infection and thus given a week of antibiotics.  Tomorrow I'll be taking a test for asthma to check on my 'heavy breathing' - which happens when I'm up and about, but not on the telephone hee hee.

I was advised by Dr Newley to get out of my comfort zone and undertake exercises, as if I don't get enough walking into the City Centre and running around and going up and down the stairs doing domestic chores.  A lot of the time I moan  and wish that Rodiah, our home-help in Setiawangsa, was just a  bus journey away.

Our outdoor gym at Victoria Park,  a Zone of Discomfort.

AsH getting out of her comfort zone, being supervised by the spouse (in the shadow).  Note the handbag between the shadow  and Ash.

Old age sneaks up on you when your back is turned.  It is no fun even though my brother-in-law Harun  (Abang Long), who is slowly losing his eyesight to glaucoma, said to me before we left Kuala Lumpur:  "No, old age is beautiful".    Bless him and his wisdom.

Deep in me, I accept and appreciate the life I have and all its blessings, and its up and downs.  But for one who has led a pretty active and mobile life, losing my precious ability to walk and walk and walk on God's earth requires some forbearance.

See that handbag in the picture above?  Four and a half hours' ago, it was stolen while we were having lunch at British Home Stores.  It was placed just next to me, either on the floor or draped on my chair.  The most worrying loss was the Debit Card, the National Insurance Card and my Bus Pass and the whole set of our house keys.

For the first time since I was 60, I had to pay for my bus fare - GBP 1.90 (for just over a mile).  When I first came to Leicester in 1984, it was just 22p!  The police were very kind and helpful.  After reporting the theft on the phone (undertaken by the HSBC staff), I received two calls from Leicestershire Police as they needed more details and to record the information.  Just 10 minutes ago I was informed that they had gone to  BHS to make an inquiry.  BHS  it seemed, had no CCTV camera in the restaurant.  I was then given some advice about handbag security for a pensioner.  It's a sign of our times that even restful places like a restaurant have to install a CCTV camera!

There you are 'Bang Long - you would not have had that nasty experience in Kuala Lumpur. We have wandered in the streets of Mumbai, twice in the mid-1980s, and had no such problem.   At the turn of the century, in South Africa, we  took the local 'pirate taxi' in Port Elizabeth to get to the city centre, where  we  walked about in an all-Black and near-ghetto area looking for bookshops - and we suffered no such grief.

But the world today, to put it mildly, is not a nice place.  There are people who want too much without having or wanting, to do the hard work  for instance, the bankers and those in the investment industry.  With the growing gap between the rich and the poor, the have-nots are desirous and seduced into grabbing what they can to savour the 'good life'  of the well-heeled.  The media and the communication industry are culpable - titillating the appetite for all the gimmicky baggage of a materialistic lifestyle.  The sense of shame and accountabilty  -  personal or otherwise -  is just non-existent today.  Greed Rules OK.  But isn't that what an old fogey like me would say?

In half an hour's time the locksmith is coming to change the locks so that we can go to bed tonight feeling safe and sound.  Tomorrow we will go to the City Council to replace the Bus Pass.  As for the National Insurance Card that will have to wait.  We know there's a lucrative racket going on for selling National Insurance Cards.  It's a valuable item to gain, enabling you to get a job in UK without any questions asked.

P.S. I had planned this posting to be a riposte on one of the comments in a previous posting.  But that will have to wait - again!

Pa'Ngah and Ma'Ngah balik.

We have been taking this journey (since the mid-1980s) to Heathrow from Singapore/Malaysia for at least 37 times and this time we had the most hair-raising landing.  The weather was bad enough as the plane started landing procedure and when Etihad touched the runway it began skidding madly like a car going out of control on a wet and slippery road or like driving on black ice.

But for the grace of God and a good pilot we got back safely.

So here I am writing a 'good morning' post accompanied by my constant companion - a big mug of coffee in my "Best 70 year old in the World" mug, says the Mug!

Whenever my sister Maznah and Abang Long came for a visit , we would hear this voice from the back seat, saying quite frequently, " Cantik-nya ; kuasa Allah."   This picture taken at 6.30 this morning - from where I'm doing this posting - is for you 'Nah, because I know how you love clouds.

Why this?  The cases I mean, not the shy macho male in the background doing the washing up.  We hate arriving at Terminal 4 because it means having to lug our luggage (by train) to Terminal 3 where we would then pick up the coach for the 3-hour journey to Leicester.  Old age and decrepitude forced us to ask for help from little Wania's father.

Wania in plaster, three months ago.

But he was otherwise occupied, on standby, waiting for Wania's mother to deliver Wania's little sibling.  So Mubashir came to the rescue.  He needed a photo of our luggage to see whether there was enough room in his 2-door car.   But all's well and Mubashir got us safely home.  Here were two young Pakistanis helping out a MOG (Malay ole git) and a British SOG (silly ole git).  What a wonderful world!!


But not really - for as long as such ideology continues to rain blood on Palestine and Gaza.

It's lovely to be back in our little haven here and I miss you all back home, especially our three moggies in Setiawangsa.  I think Comot was trying to make a point here, or she was just eyeing the ikan bilis in the bottle .

A Parting Shot

Two days ago my brother Mus sent me this poem which he got from Facebook.

It breaks my heart to read this passionate and sharp declamation.  This unknown warrior has underscored all my grief about the Malays of the late 20th and early 21st century.  Here is one soul who can see the total picture and we must take heed of his poignant plea for unity.

I have selected several images from my books on pre-1957 Malaya, cartoons, postcard and some of my own photographs to accompany this brilliant poem.  I think the spirit and commitment of Usman Awang still lives on.

Hai melayu!

rumahmu semua dibina indonesia,
ekonomi pula dikuasai cina,
golongan professional semuanya india,
warung makan pun, mamak dan siam yang berkuasa,
warga bangla pula menjadi jaga,

"Malay Shop"

orang Nepal yang menabur baja,

orang pakistan usung karpet jaja merata,
lalu melayu ada apa?
harapkan ustaz, saling menyesat,

harapkan hiburan, lagi best filem barat,

harapkan bahasa, banyak telah bertukar kesat,
harapkan tulisan, jawi pun mereka hambat,

harapkan tanah, banyak digadai kepada korporat.

Malay Street, Singapore

Hai melayu!
masih mendabik menjadi tuan,
sibuk mahu menjadi tuan,
rupanya kerja kelas bawahan,
ditipu mentah orang atasan,

konon perjuangan ini untuk kalian!
kerja sikit, sembang kencang,
banyak rungut, sikit rancang,

siapa tegur, dituduh lancang
duduk warung, gigit kacang!


Hai melayu!
konon kau pantang dicabar,
konon kau tangkas menyambar,

tapi cuma indah khabar,

rentakmu makin lama main hambar
kau melayu aku pun melayu, aku menulis bukan cemburu,
aku mahu engkau tahu,
kenapa melayu tak macam dulu ........


Hai melayu!
jari mu hebat bertutur di facebook alam maya,
bila berdepan ekonomi semasa kau tidak berdaya,

kau cuma tahu bergaya,


Hai melayu!
kau melaung-laung di jalan raya
bagi tahu kepada dunia ini bumi aku yang punya.

A little mosque in a big street in Penang.

pada hakikat ia digadai kepada sepet yang kaya!


Hai melayu!
kerana hendak bergaya kau gadai pusaka,

bila dah kaya kau jadi puaka,

bukalah minda mu,
bersatulah bangsa ku,
kerana malaya bukan lagi milik mu!

Emergency Festival Poster

aku pun melayu

engkau pun melayu, bodoh sombong harus di tepis,

riak, bongkak dan hasad dengki sesama bangsa harus guris,
bersatulah melayu kerana agama, bangsa, moyang-moyang yang telah berjasa,

by Ian Morrison

kerana ini mungkin peluang akhir bangsaku untuk negara, berjasa dan berkuasa .......

SELAMAT HARI MERDEKA - MALAYSIA 57

                              ***********************


There is no desire and pressure for going back to  life before Merdeka but Malays have to remember and appreciate where they came from.  What they have acquired today was built upon the dreams and passion,
sacrifice and enterprise of yesterday.

Top 10 tips for happiness by Pope Francis

Speaking in the Argentine Weekly "Viva" this week  ( which was also the second(?) or third (?) week of the massacre in Gaza)  Pope Francis shared with the world his recipe for happiness.

Readhttp://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/pope-francis-issues-top-10-tips-for-happiness-9639488.html

1.  ' Live and let live '  which is similar to the saying in Rome ' Move forward and let others do the same."

Image 1

I think it very much depends on who is holding the gun and the money-bag.


2.   "Be giving of yourself to others."   People need to be open and generous ......

Image 2.  "We are left with nothing.  Our vocabulary is full of words:demolition, detention, beatings, killings and closures."  From War on Want, Association of Gaza Artists.  I bought a series of these postcards in the early 1990s.

Well, the Palestinians have been very giving ; of their land, their homes, their livelihood, their children and their lives.


3.  "Proceed calmly in life"

Image 3.  Mor Ostrovski, an Israeli Defence (?) Force (IDF) sniper,  calmly aiming at the back of the head of a Palestinian boy.

Read http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/18/israeli-sniper-photo-child-crosshairs-instagram_n_2711977.html

It's easy to be calm when you are holding the gun and clutching the money-bag.


4.  A healthy sense of leisure.  The Pope said  "consumerism has brought us anxiety."

Here's a picture of fulfilling consumerism.

Image 4.  " Spot the baby in the buggy!"  A mother doing her post - Christmas Sale shopping in Leicester.  Picture from the Daily Mail.

 The Pope further added, " ... set aside time to play with the children and turn off the TV when they sit down to eat."

 Looking for sustenance in the rubbish dump in Catholic Philippines.

As for eating in front of the TV, the urban poor of the Philippines survive on food scraps from trash bags.

Read  http://edition.cnn.com/2012/04/30/world/asia/philippines-pagpag-slums/

For the past month or so,  there should be a warning sign about watching TV while eating.  You may just about throw out your stomach contents if you are confronted with this.

 5.   Sundays should be holidays.  Sunday is for family.

As for the families of these children, there will be no dinners on Sunday or Monday or Tuesday etc, etc  only grief and heartache.

As for this Rabbi, he has chosen which children do not deserve the Pope's vision of a family Sunday.

6.  Find innovative ways to create dignified jobs for young people.

Young Palestinians will not face unemployment problems because they have been culled by the Zionists.  For those who survive, there won't be problems like 'drug addiction' and 'suicide' which was referred to by the Pope.  They just live in abject poverty and fear and degradation.

Perhaps the Pope was thinking of young people in United Kingdom, a nation who are great friends of Israel. Their young people have no worries over their tomorrows.

 7.  Respect and take care of nature.  Environmental degradation " is one of the biggest challenges we have."

Often on my trips to New Zealand to visit the spouse's relatives, I have to endure questions or comments about how terrible Malaysia is with regards  to deforestation and environmental vandalism.  But when I observe how treeless NZ is - and how sheep are more populous than humans, I reckon they take the prize for hypocrisy when it comes to deforestation.

Read  http://envirohistorynz.com/2012/08/05/burning-new-zealands-forests/

According to the above article, one small burn-off of forest on the east coast of North Island, in the 1900s, destroyed 30,000 acres of indigenous forest.  We are rapped on the knuckles for cutting the forests for oil palm, the Kiwis do it for sheep.  We are regarded as vandals when the slash and burn technique is used for forest clearance.  Well, the Kiwis did it many, many years ago as from the 1900s because they found this technique  low-cost and efficient.   According to the same article " the rate of forest loss in NZ is the highest in the world."  So, 'goosey-goosey gander, whither shall you wander?  Upstairs and downstairs in the master's chamber.'

I took this photograph of a forest clearance on the road somewhere between Kuching and Lubok Hantu in the mid-1980s.

Now take a look at this one.

The image above shows a clear-cut forest in Oregon (Credit Calibas).

Read http://www.americanforests.org/magazine/article/north-american-forests-in-the-age-of-man/

And here's another self-righteous "green" country - Great Britain - selling off their woodland "to meet financial targets imposed by successive governments."

Read  http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/revealed-the-true-scale-of-britains-woodland-selloff-6278861.html

Sermon for the Day:  People who live in glass-houses should not throw stones.


8.  Stop being negative.  "Needing to talk badly about others indicates low self-esteem."  That means "I feel so low that instead of picking myself up I have to cut others down."

Image 6

Image 6A

Oh dear, if the two groups above do what they do because they suffer from low esteem, where do the Gazans fit in?  According to the Israelis they are no different from cockroaches.



9.  Don't proselytize:  respect other's beliefs.  Bravo, Bravo, Bravo!!!
 -
Long, long ago Christian missionaries came on the coat-tails of Western Imperialism to convert heathens, but especially Muslims to Catholicism and later Protestantism.

See http://anaksihamid.blogspot.com/2014/01/the-camel-and-arab-metaphor-for-allah.html

Today we do not see any less fervour in capturing the souls of  Muslims and others.  The method may have changed but the desire and objectives remain the same.

Read  http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2002/september9/1.34.html?paging=off

Sermon forToday :  Fine Words Butter no Parsnips.


10.  Work for Peace. " We are living in a time of many wars."

Peace will not come if there is no Justice.

The Pope further added, " the call for peace must be shouted."  It all depends on who shouts the loudest and on what and whose terms?

The British, the Balfour Treaty and the Zionist State of Israel.

Image 7

Image 8

Image 9

Finally, my gratitude to the Pope for showing me the path to happiness.  I do apologize if  my translation seems jaundiced and unpalatable.  But we do not live in a fair and promising world - especially for the Palestinians and Gazans and many, many others.




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I do recommend Mohammed Jehan Khan's blog  http://mohammedjehankhan.wordpress.com/2014/07/03/understanding-israel-history-facts-and-quotes/

It is one of the best on Palestine and Zionism.  Furthermore, he draws his own cartoons - a remarkable young man - wish we could have a homegrown version like him.  Images 1, 4A, 6, 6A, 7, 8, and 9 were taken from his blog.  Thank you Mohammed Jehan Khan.