vk

2007-06-25T17:59:00.000+08:00

Hypocrisy

Hypocrisy and hypocrites are everywhere
This is the world we are living in?
Where all the good people gone?

What is said, is not meant, and what is meant is not done
Smile for the sake of smiling, shake hands for the sake of shaking them
Nothing comes from the heart and soul.

This is the world we are living in
We say culture is important, we need to uphold them
At the same time, we are the one who breaks them, and use it where it suits us only

We are of human race, Homo sapiens, no doubt about that
Religion, ethnicity, caste and creed, now this is where the doubt is
Sense of belonging, to a group is most important than anything else in the world ?

Who do we belong to? What we belong to? Why?
Does it matter, if I’m a Jewish, and marry a Muslim?
Doest it matter, if I’m a Christian and converts to Buddhism?

Why it matters to many, and why it does not matter to some?
Why some say, they don’t have to belong to this group, and still live a good life?
The other says that this is what we are, and we should not change this!

What we are changing here? Is it the basic essence of ourselves that we are changing?
Are we changing a way of life or simply going out of this group, to live our own life?
Would this change, changes the balance of the universe forever?

Why the fear, my dear hypocrites of the world?
Have you not changed silently before, and then coming back to re-join?
Even being in the group, you still do not uphold the principles and philosophy of it.

Superficial, the outer layer, that’s what matters
Inner core, is not something that to be seen outside, and this can be forgotten
This is what happening, and this is what perceives to be important

We are unique, and yet we are same in many different ways
We force everyone else to believe, in what we believe in.
We believe that we need to bring back those who sway from this way

It is noble on how we save each other
How noble it can be if what we do, is actually destroying some one else’s happiness
We continue to do this, thinking we are saving them

What we are saving here?
Are we saving ourselves, as by not saving the “drifters” we will be damned?
Damnation of the self, that is the greatest fear!

What is there to fear?
We are made of flesh and blood bearing the soul that operates the body with our mind
Then where are all this religion, race, caste and creed here?

A way of life, this is how it all started
A guide for the people, to live in peace and harmony in this universe
What this has become now? Wage War to uphold this?

Hypocrites of the world !
Stop this lie and deceit in the name of religion, ethnicity, caste and creed
Don’t you see what this is doing to us, the human soul?

We are becoming soulless creatures, driven by this hypocrisy
We are becoming animals with religion, and culture
Why we are lying to ourselves and others?

2006-11-02T15:26:00.000+08:00

I HAVE A DREAM …

Turmoil everywhere, injustice is rampant but we should not fail to see the beauty that lies beneath us. Constructive criticism is always welcomed but when you just shout out the anger within without justifying the cause of it, it becomes vain.

What do I mean here? Some may think it is BS but then it is the confused state of my mind on the injustices that happening around, and my inability to do anything about it.

Why confused? It is because if I give a constructive criticism on the issue that I’m about to reveal, I might be punished with the legacy system that British left us. This system, I say is escapism route of leaders that could get away with anything, by using this against people.

When on August 28, 1963, from the steps of Lincoln Memorial, Martin Luther King, Jr delivered his speech, he said:

"I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: 'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."

His dream came true, when Civil Rights Act was passed in 1964, and following this Voting Rights Act was passed in 1965.
He was named Man of the Year by TIME magazine for the year 1963, and the following year got the Nobel Peace Prize.

On the other hand, after 43 years of that speech, now I have the dream. Still pondering on what will be the future like, of my nation. Can I call that, MY NATION?
Am I allowed to do that, because I see I am still treated like a second class Citizen, in my own nation. It could be just what I am feeling, but what lead me to feel like this?

Every people of the country are instrumental in developing the country whether directly or indirectly, but what will be the basis of a government in developing the people?

Do you think poverty could be reduced by helping people based on their ethnicity? Or
Do you think it could only be reduced if the root cause of the problem are identified according to ethnicity and then it is used as useful information to help people overall without looking only at their ethnicity as a basis of improvement?
This of course I’m talking for a nation with multi cultural background.

Economic and social condition of people from particular ethnicity, could be improved if we could identify their specific problems and provide solutions and implementation plan.
Further action plan in monitoring the successfulness of the implementation need to be customized from time to time looking at the dynamism of the results obtained.

The question is if we could improve only one segment of the population from one ethnic background, does this helps to improve the condition of the nation overall?
By helping one particular ethnic of people alone, what justice it brings to others?
A policy derived to help only one particular ethnic? What about others that is also instrumental in developing the country?
What about their needs, and what is the solution for their problems?

When one man with an income of 100,000 dollar a year, and a man that earns only 50,000 dollar a year, goes to buy a house, the man who earns 100,000 dollar a year gets a discount of at least 5%, just because he belongs to particular ethnic group.
Does this sounds logic to you?

Poverty exists regardless of ethnicity, policies derived based on ethnicity and to help only one particular ethnic group?
Where this leads to?Reduction of poverty of overall population of a nation?
Development of people of the nation?
What is the objective of all this?

We often reminded and philosophy of education of the country says “Building One Race, Building One Nation” but I wonder why do I still asked in many enrolment and registration forms, what Race I belong to? This often disturbed me, but I said to myself this is only used to serve me better, but this is not the case, this is how I am treated “differently.”

I love MY Country and I will continue to serve MY Country, whether or not I am accepted as the “Son of the Soil” or not. To the policy makers I am still not eligible to be called true countrymen, and I will be still treated as “Non-Son of the Soil” in all aspects of my life.

I still believe as what been believed and dreamt by Martin Luther King, Jr, when he said:

"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."

I believe in this dream, and hope it is not in vain.
Do you have a dream? Do you believe in MY dream?

2006-04-18T19:37:00.000+08:00

DINNER TIME !

Its dinner time, and Chef VK is ready with the dishes.
This time the turnout was overwhelming, the seats were fully booked and everyone had a jolly good meal (at least thats what i hoped).

Usually its Sunday lunch but this time, i wanted to cook more with less pressure, so i changed it to dinner time:)
The main dishes were, Chicken Curry, "Bah Kut Teh" and "Fried Tuna Sambal."
Yeah thats right i am vegetarian, but i still do cook non-vegetarian stuff.

Anyway this dinner was done 4 weeks ago, after that I already did 2 lunches and another dinner:)

I think something is wrong with my cam’s setting so you could see the images below with “ghostly effect.”

Dean & Daniela : "Lets scoop them before it finishes"

Chantrelle: "Mmm..I'm gonna wait and see what happens to them after they ate it"

Santos: "Who can challenge my chopsticks skills? "

VK : "Nothing Else Matters"

"Kampung" style

VK: "Bad girl...bad girls, what ya' gonna do, when they come for u"

Presence of "Supernatural" being at the dinner

After a long hard day of eating, what better way to relax than having a good, clean, fun gossip time:)

2006-03-30T12:07:00.000+08:00

COLOUR ME !

Its spring time, and guess what ? I'm still in Vietnam:)
Anyway, spring or no spring its the same for me, as in Malaysia, there is only one season that is sunny and rainy all year long:)

This is first time in my life experiencing winter and now spring in Hanoi.
Yet again, i don't experience the 'real spring' time, as in Hanoi, its still look like winter.
The temperature changes abruptly, today its 23 degrees celcius and next day it becomes like 10 degree celsius.

Indians in Hanoi, is quite active in organising activities and celebrating indian festivals making everyone feels like home. This is my first time joining one of their activities, its the celebration of spring season, called "HOLI."

How its being celebrated?
Well, i don't really know, how they actually celebrate this in India, as i have never lived nor been to India but i do know how it is celebrated in Hanoi.

As you enter the compound of the holi festival celebration, you are given coloured powders (probably this is made of flour), to be used to "colour" anyone that you feel like colouring:)
I walked in and i met some friends that was very interested in making me look more "vibrant".

Do i look like a War Lord or some Red Indian Chief? :)

Well i made sure, everyone look more vibrant than I am, if anybody go against me, this is the punishment, get spanked in the ass and drink my beer:) See what i mean:)

Sorry this was the verbal warning:) Following was the action.

but all done in a good spirit of sporting:)

Well you have seen the PUNISHER and the PUNISHED now lets see the rest of the team.

"Pocahontas"

"The Original Founder of Craiglist." Mr. Craig is now retired and teaching English for the well-being of Vietnamese people.

"Captain Smith" with Mr. Craig

"Last of the Mohicans" with the "Last Lady Samurai"

"Italian Rock Star" and retired "Spice Girl"

Well...in short, everyone had FUN:)

2005-12-21T16:02:00.000+08:00

VIETNAMESE ARE NOT CHINESE ! I REPEAT VIETNAMESE ARE NOT CHINESE!
(please stop saying that everything Vietnamese do is from Chinese)

"Dr. Albert Chuchward, distinguished scholar, anthropologist, and archeologist theorizes that the earliest humans came from the region of the Great Lakes in East Africa, approximately 2 million years ago. This early human species eventually spread over the entire continent.
Dr. L.S.B. Leakey, in 1963, found primitive human fossils, 1.2 million years old in East Africa.

The African ancestry of the human race is now generally accepted as a fact.
Dr. Eric Higgs, of Cambridge University has made a study of the migration of ancient men, and claims that the first man of Europe came to the continent from central and east Africa about 200,000 years ago.

A noted German scholar, Herr Enger Georg states:
A splendid era of blacks seems to have preceded all later races. There must once have been a tremendous Negro expansion, since the original masters of all the lands between Liberia and the Cape of Good Hope and East India were primitive and probably dwarfed black men.

In 1988, the findings of anthropologists Christopher B. Stringer and Peter Andrews, of the British Museum of Natural History further confirmed the single-origin theory, that Homo Sapiens had evolved from an African Homo Erectus group, 200,000 years ago who had later migrated to Asia and Europe about 100,000 later.
Both scientists contend that fossil evidence supports their single-origin theory.
They also note that the oldest modern looking human fossils, from Western Europe, are only 35,000 years old."

This means we are all Africans. The facts direct us to think in that way, but is it true we are all Africans ? Is Vietnamese, Africans too?

Many will beg to differ.

Over the years we are shaped according to the environment we live in and this creates a new way of living and this in turn becomes a new culture.
Culture is everything symbolic we learn. All culture is learned but not everything learned is cultural. Learning starts at birth and continues until death. It is a process of becoming human.

In this context Vietnamese have learned from Chinese and Chinese have learned from the Vietnamese. This learning process, have shaped the culture that we see now.
Vietnamese might have similarity in terms of food and customs but this does not mean that Vietnamese are Chinese and all that they do are from Chinese.

This is the Culture of Vietnamese.

Every nation has its own cultural representation and existence but this diversification are sometime co-related and hence create a cultural coherence between the nation in the same region.
This is the case between Vietnam and China.

After all this, some might still think, Vietnamese follows Chinese way.
One word of advice, please do not say this to a Vietnamese:)

2005-12-16T22:39:00.000+08:00

FRIENDS IN HANOI

Look at the one who is looking right at the camera with a Mr. Bean smile (well not seen that smile for long), his name is Fish, Andy Fish.

He is a cool, fun guy to hang out with. Day time he works as a graphic designer cum web designer and night time cum manager for bar called Sloppy Joe's:) Well he might be sloppy but certainly you can see he is very hardworking.

Could you see at the far end on the left, a hidden smile coming from a big guy ?(oops u could not see that he is big right, sorry Bert!). Well you already know, his name is Bert and we are roomies:) or shall i say housemates. Actually he is my landlord. He is an e-government consultant for government offices in Vietnam and sometimes my love consultant too:)

Look at the lady that wants to smile but not sure whether to smile, but at last tried to smile (unfortunately before the full smile is shown i pressed the buttton). She is Alicia, she is working for NGO that deals with childrens and communities in the province. What a good soul! Not many cares about these things nowadays. She is only 23 years old, not sure whether she is single and available, I will update on this soon. E-mail me if u need her info soon, maybe i could use some of my intelligence unit here to find out:)

Well nevermind telling about others, they are all busy eating.
Yeah one is busy sleeping and the another person is a Bollywood star, so i didn't show her because i need to pay royalty if i do:)
You could only see the back of her head and her name is Bina. Never heard?
(you must be joking).

Before i forget, do u see any blurry image in the photo, something in blue, on the right?
I do not know how it got into there.
This house might be haunted. It looks like something i have seen in the Korean horror movie:)
By the way, i got to know the Korean ghost, her name is Quynh Anh ( actually she is vietnamese but converted to Korean, because Korean ghost have celebrity status). I call her Queen (or Queen Anne- this is her english name used when she is attending the Royal London Ghost Gathering).

Well I am not alone in Hanoi:)

2005-12-15T00:29:00.000+08:00

ISN'T LIFE FUNNY ?

When you least expect something to happen that is when, it happens to you,
but when you want it very badly it don't come by.

Isn't that Funny ?

When you lost something and you are looking for it, it is so difficult to find it,
but when you are not looking, that is when it is right in front of your eyes.

Isn't Life Funny ?

When you are not ready for love, love knocks your heart,
but when you are looking for it, the door just won't open.

Isn't that Funny ?

When you love someone so deeply, hoping that person will have the same feeling towards you,
that is when you are turned down,
but when you just want to be friends, that is when you are hoped to love.

Isn't Life Funny?

Yes, indeed it is.

Can we blame this on "Karma"?
The law of actions, that for every action made it will have an equal and opposite reaction (sounds like Newton's 3rd Law of Motion? Well i'm sure Newton got it from the Law of Karma).

What we have done in the past that we deserve this?
What possibly we could have done wrong?
I wonder...

I am still wondering...
Do anyone have any idea what I'm talking here ?

How funnier it gets?
I wonder...

2005-12-12T18:55:00.000+08:00

MIND SPEAKS MANY...HONEY or MONEY ?

Male, 28, Single and Confused. Anybody Interested ?

Mind A : Hell No! Thats not what i want. I want financial freedom.
Mind B : Yeah, that's right i need you, I really can't live without you.

Confusion of the mind continues.....

Have you been confused lately by your own mind?

When you least expected, that is when it happens.
Shit Happens, well in this case Love Happens !

Kind of strange, but this is the confusion of the mind.
Or is it the heart?

Shall i just go with the flow or shall i create the flow?
Am i allowed to do that..create my own flow?

I do care about her, but is this what i need now ?
If i just concentrate in what i do now, i might be able to retire in another 5 years. Isn't that sounds more interesting?

What my mind say now?

Mind A : Don't be a love fool, forget all this crap, get over it and continue on with what you are doing, concentrate and work hard, smart, and you will enjoy better love later.

Mind B : You are not going to get this chance again, you can do both, you know you can do it, you have done it before. This time its better and she is the one, even she denies. This is the best time of your life.

Well the confusion continues....

Mind C : This is not the only issue you have, does she love you, or even have the slightest feeling for you ? Have you thought about it, that she only sees you as a friend and nothing more than that?
What happens when she denies you? When she says that she don't want to see you anymore?
Is this worth it, to jeopardize the wonderful friendship you have?

The confusion grows ....

MIND speaks many.

Have you experienced this before, in the crossroads, and don't know what you should do?

2005-11-29T23:45:00.000+08:00

Does ANYONE CARE ?

Do you agree that with Education one can change their living standards?

What stand in between of one person's rights to have a decent Education ?
Ourselves?

When there is no money to even eat what is the value of Education?
This is the thought that put everyone back in the same state they were, that is POVERTY.
But what can they do? You need Money to even study.

If i say we can change all this from P with the help of E and the only thing we need to give is M, would you help ?
That looks like a mathemathical equation right? Well life certainly is about numbers.
Lets help them to equate the equation. Lets help them with the numbers.

Remember Huong? The girl in the story below, the one that gave me the rose?
The one that was selling Wrigleys Spearmint gum at the lake?

Well here is the chance to help lovely kids like Huong to get back to school.
Please click on the link below that will open the window to your own heart.
HELP THESE KIDS to get a decent Education!

http://www.bdcf.org/programs.php

2005-11-28T17:45:00.000+08:00

THE FIRST FLOWER FROM A GIRL IN HANOI

(mail to my friend on my day in Hanoi...I am still in Hanoi and I'm enjoying it)

Dear Queen,

Hope you’re fine.
Yesterday after the lunch I headed to the Hoan Kiem Lake.
I got the usual smiles from people, not forgetting the smiles that I get from wonderfully beautiful girls.

As I was sitting down, every hawker was harassing me, and I just gave them the smile and said "no" in Vietnamese language.
But this one little girl was practically begging me to buy her Wrigleys Spearmint gums for almost ten minutes.
Every one passing by was looking at me and was laughing at me.

I looked at this sweet looking girl, gave her 10,000 dong and I said “You just keep it, I don’t need the gum.”
She was very happy and she said thanks and she went away.

What I didn’t expect is that, she came back with a stalk of rose in her hand and presented me with it. It was so sweet of her to ever think of doing it.
She spent another at least half an hour sitting beside me and talking to me. It was like chicken and duck talking, because I was talking in my elementary (or worse) Vietnamese language and she was talking in her elementary English to me.
She is 13 years old and she lives in Nam Dinh and her name is Huong(All this I got to know using my elementary Vietnamese).
She is such a sweet girl.

After that I headed to Dakshin Restaurant for my Dosa for dinner. I met some Indians from India and had a chat with them.
Later I was invited for a tea in one of my friend’s house in Tran Duy Hung and by the time I got back it was 11.30pm.

I had a fun day yesterday, how was yours?

2005-08-08T18:25:00.000+08:00

EVOLUTION OF 3 CENT !!!

2005-08-04T16:00:00.000+08:00

LATEST HIP-HOP SENSATION !

2005-07-21T11:06:00.000+08:00

MIX MARRIAGES ....ANYONE?

Living in a multi ethnic society we are exposed to the different facets of people's life and people that comes from different cultural upbringing. Though many like to keep themselves with their own "kind", there are still a big group that loves to mingle and “mix” with the other "kind."

In this way, a lot could be understood and tolerated to create a harmonious society.

Some don't just stop in mingling around and being friends, they take another step forward in forming a love relationship and continue on to marriage.
It is now common to see ethnics of Malay marrying Indian, Chinese marrying Malay or Indian marrying Chinese.

We are becoming a "melting pot". Becoming the true Malaysian race.

In the international context, there are a lot of Malaysian marrying people of different nationality such as Thai, Vietnamese, American, Irish and Arabs.

"Opposite attracts", it is a very true saying, but how these "Opposites" adapt to each other?
Different culture meet and clash, how this is handled?
How this people continue on to live in harmony even if their very basic principles of life differs ?

2005-07-15T11:45:00.000+08:00

MISTAKE IS DONE! WHAT IS NEXT?
Scrutinize the person who is responsible for it? OR
Objectively guide the person to solve the problem in hand?
Which is the right course of action?

MISTAKE is inevitable, everyone makes one but the difference is how you can learn from that MISTAKE to be wiser and not repeat it again. At the same time you solve the problem caused from it objectively before it gets worst.

Above is the ideal scenario on how we could deal with it.

But what happens when you have done the MISTAKE not knowingly and instead of the above happening, you are being blamed and scrutinized on why the MISTAKE can occur?

Instead of you being guided or given a chance to solve the problem arose from it, you are put into series of bombardment on why the mistake happened.

Is this necessary? Is this the only way to prove the point that you have done the MISTAKE and you have to realize you have done one and change?

Isn't that what is done can't be undone, and we could only find a way to salvage it?

What you do, if it was your staff that has done a MISTAKE? How you deal with it?

2005-07-15T00:52:00.000+08:00

WORK FOR PASSION OR MONEY ? WHICH IS MORE IMPORTANT ?

Have this question raised in your mind before?
Seriously why are we all working?
Of course its for the money right? All the bills and loans that we have to pay keeps us on working.

But is that all, work for money to sustain our life ?
What about PASSION ?
Isn't that the driving force in us to be keep interested in the work that we do?

Some people go for the MONEY first and then build the PASSION for the work and
Some go for the PASSION and MONEY that they get is the fruits that they reap out of their passion.

What happens when PASSION dies and you are only working for the MONEY ?
Would the person last in his job just for the sake of the MONEY?

2005-07-14T02:47:00.000+08:00

HOW TO MAKE PEOPLE REALIZE THEIR MISTAKES ?

Have you come across a situation when person who does mistake, don't realize that they are doing one and keep on pointing to others even when they are told that they are doing one ?
Worst is, they keep on doing this mistake.
This is a dangerous situation to be, because this person would pose threat to many others and and along the way these many others would be hurt (emotionally or mentally).

Then what happens to all this people who are being hurt?

IF in a relationship : He/She might leave or in a marriage it might end up in a divorce
IF in an organisation: He/She will leave or resign (the organisation might loose a valuable person here)
IF in a Family : This situation would create a rift between the family members.

In whatever stuation we are in, this scenarios would not be a good one to live with.
Change is a must.

How to make these people realize....?

2005-07-13T14:21:00.000+08:00

THE MAN WHO SHOWED THE FINGER !