Plastered Over

The wall was falling down. It was in a terrible state of disrepair.

Finally, the workmen were summoned to do something about it.

There were sounds of hacking.

There sounds of hammering.

And then silence.

Suddenly the appearance of a workman over the top of the fence on the other side.

He was applying cement OVER the crumbling wall. Rather than taking it down first before building a new one, he was plastering over the old one as it was.

So often we do that with relationships too. Instead of dealing with the fundamental problem, we put on a facade, a face, a front.

This is a recipe for a future downfall. And a big one at that.

For the Asking

He had been working very hard for long hours. He didnt do it to be rewarded. Nonetheless, when someone else was given a reward and not him, he felt it. It didnt seem fair.

She had been working very hard for a long time. She didnt do it to get recognition. Nonetheless, when someone else whom she had mentioned as being a part of the project got most of the recognition and praise, she felt it. It didnt seem fair either.

And yet.....

To speak out would seem to be blowing one's own trumpet. Self praise is no praise at all.

Would being silent come across as being humble? Or would one be perceived as a door mat?

The phrase "Your reward will be in heaven" rankles sometimes. But WHEN should one speak out, if at all?

Wisdom required.

And the Man said whoever asked, He would give of it liberally.

It would be best to ask for that above all else.

Can Someone Tell Me?

The New Straits Times said in EDITORIAL: Not yet the final frontier

"WHEN plans were made to launch a Malaysian into space, some wondered how such an endeavour could be beneficial. Or whether it was even at all possible. That question was answered definitively on Wednesday when the Soyuz rocket blasted into the infinite reaches of space with our own angkasawan on board. Malaysians watching the live telecast across the nation would have doubtlessly felt a transcendent surge of pride when the rocket lifted off, trailing a plume of brilliant orange from the arid plains of central Kazakhstan. History has been made. A Malaysian has achieved a feat that just several years ago was beyond anyone's wildest imaginings, and it proves beyond a flicker of doubt that Malaysia, certainly and absolutely, "boleh". The efforts and sacrifices of Dr Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor Sheikh Mustapha and certainly all the others who have helped propel the nation to such stratospheric heights deserve the highest approbation."

and more

Editorial: Coming to Earth
"MALAYSIANS," said Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak on Dr Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor Sheikh Mustapha's safe touchdown last Sunday afternoon on the steppes of Kazakhstan, "can stand a few inches taller now that we have had a Malaysian travel in space."

But then there is talk about needing A Bigger Budget. It is reported that "More money needs to be allocated for scientific research and development for Malaysia to experience a "big bang " in this sector."

Malaysian Biotechnology Corporation Sdn Bhd chairman Tan Sri Dr Ahmad Zaharuddin Idrus is quoted as saying ".....the experiments conducted by our first astronaut were of great importance in generating scientific knowledge, and not just an attempt to create an icon of a successful Malaysian space programme."The cost of sending one man into space should not be questioned as it hails the country stepping into the space programme. This is a genuine scientific project," he said at the Astro office in Technology Park Malaysia.

But why do we need to spend so much just to generate scientific knowledge? Money that could surely be better spent elsewhere?

Can someone tell me why this angkasawan thing is so much to be lauded? After all, there are people who, with the right price, go into space as Space Tourists....

The Re-Merger of Singapore and Malaysia?

The newspapers report-

KUALA LUMPUR: Singapore would be happy to rejoin Malaysia if it surpassed the island’s success, its former prime minister and Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew said.

“They have all the resources. If they would just educate the Chinese and the Indians, use them and treat them as citizens, they can equal us and even do better than us, and we would be happy to rejoin them,” he said in an interview with the Asia Institute of the University of California, Los Angeles, published earlier this week.

Bernama reported that the Singapore founding father had made similar remarks in June 1996, raising a storm on both sides of the Causeway with the then prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad saying he did not think the time had come for a merger yet.

Dr Mahathir also described the remarks as just a means “to jolt Singaporeans” to their senses.

Asked about Singapore’s “sense of endangerment” and why it worried about its survivability in the long run, Lee replied: “Where are we? Are we in the Caribbean? Are we next to America, like the Bahamas?

“Are we in the Mediterranean, like Malta, next to Italy? Are we like Hong Kong, next to China and, therefore, will become part of China?

“Singapore is a superstructure built on what? On 700 square kilometres and a lot of smart ideas that have worked so far — but the whole thing could come undone very quickly.

“When (Malaysia) kicked us out (in 1965), the expectation was that we would fail and we would go back on their terms, not on the terms we agreed with them under the British.

“Our problems are not just between states, this is a problem between races and religions and civilisations.

“We are a standing indictment of all the things that they could be doing differently.”

Analysts in Singapore, however, do not see any possibility of a Malaysia-Singapore merger.

“The chances of a re-merger in 1996 and in 2007 are the same — zero,” said Dr Ooi Kee Beng, co-ordinator of the Malaysia study programme at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies and author of The Reluctant Politician: Tun Dr Ismail and His Time.

“The very idea of a re-merger on Singapore’s terms is appalling to most Malays,” Ooi told the Today newspaper. — Bernama

Another response-

'Kuan Yew should not dwell on the past'

KUALA LUMPUR: Singapore's Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew should not pass uncalled-for remarks about Malaysia and its people.

Referring to comments by the former prime minister published by the local media yesterday, Gerakan secretary-general Datuk Seri Chia Kwang Chye said the remarks were "unstatesman-like".

Lee had said that Singapore would be happy to rejoin Malaysia if it surpassed the island's success.

"They have the resources. If they would just educate the Chinese and the Indians, use them and treat them as citizens, they can equal us and even do better than us. "We would be happy to rejoin them," Lee had said in an interview with the Asia Institute of the University of California, Los Angeles.

Chia said Malaysia and Singapore had their own success stories.

"Let's build on this and not dwell on history." Meanwhile, DAP chairman Karpal Singh said that the destiny of Singapore and Malaysia was intertwined."

Singapore must realise that it has Malaysia, a country endowed with natural resources, as its hinterland. A day will come when Singapore will burst at its seams."

"Pure logic demands that one day Singapore will have to return to the fold by rejoining Malaysia for its survival, whether it likes to or not," he said.

Seems to me that there is a lot of truth in both articles....

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