The thing that got me thinking bout our country more in depth is actually triggered by an event that happened over in Korea regarding a Korean idol which hailed from another country (Yes, SX, I’m writing this after your comment).. Anyways, that poor guy went to Korea to fulfil his dreams a few years ago, all alone, without any friends, family members to support him and a whole list of things he is forced to adapt to almost immediately.. e.g. Their language, food, customs, cultures, etc etc… After being deprived of much love and cafe, he made a mistake by writing about his frustrations to his friend through the net… (Hence it should have been private and personal ppl!! Sheesh…) Anyway, the Koreans are fuming right now over the things he said FOUR years ago and are isolating him NOW.. (Boycotting, banning, or whatever else that sounds nice to your ears…) I think it’s immature of them to do so and plain unfair.. It’s not like you never did or said anything that you’ll regret ever before and yet he was judged.. Just like that… Even after a public apology, he is not let off the hook… Give him a break ppl… And from what I know, what he wrote is not even that bad… Just some boyish longings for his home…
That being said, it’s easy to point fingers huh?? And yet look at the state of our country right now.. We were known as the friendliest Asian country once and just glance through the headlines of any national papers today.. Racial disunity, political unrest, crisis, crimes rate going up etc etc etc.. And how about the simple thing of sugar shortage?? I dunno how you feel but I for one just think it shouldn’t happen.. True, it’s a good time for us to learn not to consume so much of sugar and yet somehow I feel like it’s cause of everyone getting so scared that they’ll never have sweet taste on their tongues that they rushed out and bought the whole mini-mart near them out of sugar… Or the ever changing forums on whether to teach this or that in this language or that.. The funny thing is, you can almost guess someone’s age by the medium they were taught in.. Like those from the 50s will be English educated, those from the 60s will be in Malay medium schools… Nowadays, you can guess the year someone graduated from as it just keeps changing over time… Then there’s concerts that kept on getting cancelled.. Or on the alcohol issue… I think it’s a good time to start praying for our nation… To pray that we would be more tolerant to each other, to be more just in our decision making especially for those in that position, to be more transparent and honest in our dealings, to be more far-sighted and think about the future of our nation and not just temporary personal gain…
I’ve also learnt this from CF yesterday.. You know how we always introduce ourselves as so & so from ________ normally?? I’ve noticed that (We don’t even do it consciously sometimes) we personally tend to support those from the same states more… Just like how you’ll be more tolerant and forgiving to the same race or religion… And that you’ll be more critical towards those that are not… Until someone said, I’m _______ from Malaysia.. lol… Talk about 1Malaysia!! It’s simple stuffs like this that makes one patriotic… Not how many times you talk about how you will sacrifice your life for the country or how good if _______ or ______ changes or how you dislike _______ or how other places are so much better…. Being patriotic is to defend your country’s good name, and not only so, to uphold its name… It’s easy to defend something as you don’t need to waste any effort or discipline, I mean, how hard is it to just pay lip service?? But to truly love and hope for the best of the nation?? That’s a whole new level.. I’m one who believes that everything happens for a reason and that we’re not accidentally here …. So for now, at this moment, I love my country and will pray for its development, peace and security… What’s your take???
PS If you know who’s the Korean artist I’m talking about, do leave me a comment, I would LOVE to hear what do you think about the whole thing because I so like him a lot!! XD
The interior of the place… I missed the Harley Davidson feel it once gave.. Now it’s just plain old boring… I think certain religious group went there accidentally and started bleeding from the nose looking at posters of half-nude women on big bikes and demanded they tone down a bit.. (While taking the posters home as evidence or something.. Sheesh…)
PS As requested, a SeReNe style loud shout out to my awesome roommate, WP!!!! I KNOW we’ll have a blast!!! Much love… XOXOXO