Its been a long time since I had something to write about, and I have to share this article by Nury Vittachi, an ad-man, by all accounts. I first read Vittachi in theSun, and sometimes in Reader's Digest. Read his article here.
The question is : Is the answer to this question no?
Read Eubulides too, as in:
A man says: "What I am saying now is a lie."
If the statement is true, then he is lying, even though the statement is true. If the statement is a lie, then he is not actually lying, even though the statement is a lie. Thus, if the speaker is lying, he tells the truth, and vice versa.
Wiki the guy.
Wednesday, 20 May 2009
Tuesday, 10 March 2009
Opinion Without Thought
The great enemy of the truth is very often not the lie -- deliberate, contrived and dishonest, but the myth, persistent, persuasive, and unrealistic. Belief in myths allows the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought.
John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy
Monday, 23 February 2009
Lies
"The lies we get punished the most for are the lies we tell ourselves."
V. S. Naipaul, In A Free State
V. S. Naipaul, In A Free State
Saturday, 14 February 2009
The Malaysian football mental block
Malaysian football should be over its tried-and-failed gimmicks of hiring English coaches and adopting English training methods. There seems to be a long-running strain of colonial veneration in the upper echelons of our football association always looking for help from the past masters.
We need to remind ourselves that England last won the World Cup in 1966, haven’t come close since, and are themselves experiencing problems with their grassroots setup; having a league over-run by better foreign players, lack of playing space and starry-eyed youngsters.
We have more than 150 countries ahead of us in the FIFA rankings, yet we keep calling on that one country for help.
As an avid player and observer of the game, I can testify that the players in the national team are the best of our crop technically, which is why coaches and managers change, but the team remains the same. What we have are problems in the mental department, specifically toughness, belief and determination.
What we need to do is send our players to the Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Ghana and all the African nations ranked higher than us to learn these attributes from those who live on a tenth of what we live on. Send them to Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar to learn how they play at our level with the poverty they face. Send them to Brazil, Argentina and South America to discover the real love of the game.
But before that, start with accountability lessons for the upper management. They were in charge of hiring coaches and managers, but just can’t stand taking responsibility for their decisions. The CEO who hires bad managers and employees is accountable when they fail. Ministers are accountable when people under them fail. Change needs to start from the top.
We need to remind ourselves that England last won the World Cup in 1966, haven’t come close since, and are themselves experiencing problems with their grassroots setup; having a league over-run by better foreign players, lack of playing space and starry-eyed youngsters.
We have more than 150 countries ahead of us in the FIFA rankings, yet we keep calling on that one country for help.
As an avid player and observer of the game, I can testify that the players in the national team are the best of our crop technically, which is why coaches and managers change, but the team remains the same. What we have are problems in the mental department, specifically toughness, belief and determination.
What we need to do is send our players to the Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Ghana and all the African nations ranked higher than us to learn these attributes from those who live on a tenth of what we live on. Send them to Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar to learn how they play at our level with the poverty they face. Send them to Brazil, Argentina and South America to discover the real love of the game.
But before that, start with accountability lessons for the upper management. They were in charge of hiring coaches and managers, but just can’t stand taking responsibility for their decisions. The CEO who hires bad managers and employees is accountable when they fail. Ministers are accountable when people under them fail. Change needs to start from the top.
We are as barbaric as the Israelis
We are as barbaric as the Israelis
What a shame that barbarism is secretly dwelling in the dark corners of our society. People now seem to enjoy taking the lives of dogs by breaking their skulls and necks and brutally beating them to death.
What is the difference between these heartless humans compared with the Israeli army murdering innocent souls?
Constantly we hear the same old saying that we are forbidden to touch dogs and that this animal is filthy and indecent.
If so, why would God have planted such loyalty and love in this particular animal?
To all my fellow Muslims, I shall quote from Surah Al-Kahf in the Holy Quran verse number 18: “And you would have thought them awake, while they were asleep. And We turned them on their right and on their left sides, and their dog stretching forth his two forelegs at the entrance [of the Cave or in the space near to the entrance of the Cave (as a guard at the gate)]. Had you looked at them, you would certainly have turned back from them in flight, and would certainly have been filled with awe of them.”
If our very own Holy book shows us how loyal and protective these dogs were to those who did not do wrong, where did we learn to hate and despise this animal?
NOROZ Khan,
Kuala Lumpur.
as printed in The Star, 12 February 2009
What a shame that barbarism is secretly dwelling in the dark corners of our society. People now seem to enjoy taking the lives of dogs by breaking their skulls and necks and brutally beating them to death.
What is the difference between these heartless humans compared with the Israeli army murdering innocent souls?
Constantly we hear the same old saying that we are forbidden to touch dogs and that this animal is filthy and indecent.
If so, why would God have planted such loyalty and love in this particular animal?
To all my fellow Muslims, I shall quote from Surah Al-Kahf in the Holy Quran verse number 18: “And you would have thought them awake, while they were asleep. And We turned them on their right and on their left sides, and their dog stretching forth his two forelegs at the entrance [of the Cave or in the space near to the entrance of the Cave (as a guard at the gate)]. Had you looked at them, you would certainly have turned back from them in flight, and would certainly have been filled with awe of them.”
If our very own Holy book shows us how loyal and protective these dogs were to those who did not do wrong, where did we learn to hate and despise this animal?
NOROZ Khan,
Kuala Lumpur.
as printed in The Star, 12 February 2009
Saturday, 7 February 2009
Syed Hamid Albar the comic
Found this old, but relevant BBC interview transcript, from 2007 (thecicak.com).
Particularly liked this point:
Sarah Montague:
There is outside… there is inside Malaysia who say this.. this social contract is actually State racism. What do you say to that?
Dato Seri Syed Hamid Albar:
Oh. I can say the worse about Israeli State racism; in our case we don’t have that provision. You have to look at it in, I think, objectively. I don’t think it is right to look at Malaysia as a racist country. I don’t think it is right. You should see how the infusion of cultures, the getting together, the people get along together.. Yes you can find there are.. people who disagree with it.. there are certain things that people say ‘Ah it’s not perfect,’.. I would be the last person that say this is a perfect situation, but I think we have succeeded in building a multiracial society out of our diversity. We have succeeded in bringing the whole of the Malaysian community, even against the diverse backgrounds, together, to work together. There will come a time… that… if it is the choice of the people, because one person is one vote..
Sarah Montague:
When do you think that time will come..
Dato Seri Syed Hamid Albar:
… That is up to the voters…
Particularly liked this point:
Sarah Montague:
There is outside… there is inside Malaysia who say this.. this social contract is actually State racism. What do you say to that?
Dato Seri Syed Hamid Albar:
Oh. I can say the worse about Israeli State racism; in our case we don’t have that provision. You have to look at it in, I think, objectively. I don’t think it is right to look at Malaysia as a racist country. I don’t think it is right. You should see how the infusion of cultures, the getting together, the people get along together.. Yes you can find there are.. people who disagree with it.. there are certain things that people say ‘Ah it’s not perfect,’.. I would be the last person that say this is a perfect situation, but I think we have succeeded in building a multiracial society out of our diversity. We have succeeded in bringing the whole of the Malaysian community, even against the diverse backgrounds, together, to work together. There will come a time… that… if it is the choice of the people, because one person is one vote..
Sarah Montague:
When do you think that time will come..
Dato Seri Syed Hamid Albar:
… That is up to the voters…
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
