2008 here I... Aaaaaachooooo! *Sniffle...*

I am currently akin to Rudolph the red nosed reindeer... I have an awful cold and have been sneezing the whole day! Sigh! So in a nutshell, my day has been a sniffling and red-nosed miserable day. The highlight of the day? My dear taking me out for lunch and giving me a lot of T and C. Of course, that's because of the miserable whining and sniffling I used to gain his sympathy... I'm shameless...

 

I have not been blogging lately due to classes during the summer. There has however been a few incidences as of late that has been irking me to a degree. One is the issue whereby other religions are not allowed to use the word "Allah" to address their God. Ok, fine, I may be bias as I am a Christian, and a Catholic at that. I am very proud of my religion, though we do have our shameful moments in history, as with every other religion. Christians have always adopted the "Holier-than-thou" approach to everything. I don't think I'm like that though. Anyways, I oppose the ministry's decision to make the word "Allah" exclusive to Muslims alone.

 

"The one, supreme, and only God, the creator of the world and the universe. The term "Allah" is used by Muslims and many Arabic-speaking Christians alike to refer to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob whom adherents of Christianity, Islam, and Judaism worship.
Muslims use the name "Allah" interchangeably with the name "God."... "

Taken from: http://isaalmasih.net/other/glossary.html

 

Pray tell, what makes it exclusive to Muslims? If I'm not mistaken, the Christians in the middle east call upon God as Allah too. Right? Not to mention, the native Christian communities that speak Malay only have addressed God as Allah for all this while. Even Indonesia does not have the restriction to who gets to use the word. Allah = God. So does that mean that Muslims are not allowed to use the word "Tuhan" and "God"? after all, it would only be fair that they are not allowed to use "non-muslim" terms to address the deity that they pray to.

 

This is the problem with Malaysia. We have a ministry run by close-minded fools (yes, this under-grad who keeps failing genetic subjects has just called you bunch of arrogant, ignorant pricks fools) that think that just because the Malay race in Malaysia is the "superior" race, we have to submit to their extremists. Haven't they seen what extremists have become? Look at Osama, the Al Qaeda, and the Taliban. Nothing good came of these extremists. True, it was in the constitution that they are the "special" race. The "bumiputra" have long been pampered with the NEP which obviously hasn't helped much. At the risk of sounding racist, despite the NEP, large numbers of Malays still live in poverty. I'm not saying all Malays are useless. Don't get me wrong! I have plenty of Malay friends that are much more successful in both academics and life than I am. These few are those that make an effort to break from the mould

 

But I digress, haven't I? I honestly believe that "Allah" should not be limited exclusively to Muslims. It isn't fair to the Christian Malay speaking communities in Malaysia. What's the point of trying to get us to speak our national language more often when you don't even allow us to fully utilise all the word properly? Yes, I know I may be treading on thin ice, but just had to let out my bit to educate others.

 

What's Love?

after falling in and out of relationships, one would think i would know thoroughly what love really is. i'm not talking about platonic love, not talking about love between family members. i'm talking about the feeling that you get whenever you're with that special someone, and all you want to do is hold and hug him/her to bits. i'm talking about the feeling where you look at that someone and you know you'd die for them.

so what exactly is love? it makes us do irrational things. after all, what rational person would want to fall in love? don't get what i mean? let me explain. love makes people do things they don't or won't normally do for themselves or anyone for the matter.

love makes people change who they are to become more desirable to the one they love. love makes you want to break down in tears when that someone you love hurts you. it makes you forgive them nearly the next instance too. love makes you lose all sense of dignity and honour around that person. it makes you want to understand that person. love makes you blind to their faults, though many or few.

love scars you and makes you bitter when it leaves you in a broken manner. love makes you feel broken and incomplete without that special someone holding you or being close by your side. love makes you feel insecure, afraid of losing that person when someone attractive comes along. love makes you irrational. love consumes you, leaving little time and energy for anything other than loving that someone. love possesses your mind, leaving you thinking, pining and dreaming of that someone whenever you're alone.

love leaves you in a mess when that he/she doesn't answer the phone or reply your messages, even if it's because he/she forgot to charge their phone or left upstairs when they're at home. love makes you unbelievably happy and irrationally on cloud 9 when they finally reply you. love makes you worry half to death when your loved one is upset. love makes you wait up to ungodly hours to makes sure they get home safe and sound. love makes you feel guilty when you don't.

love makes you fight to keep that someone near you, despite how much hurt that person has caused you. love makes you stay up late late at night to finish the last touch to the gift you'll give him/her. love makes you tired the next morning with puffy eyes and a pounding headache. love makes you hurt them, and at the same time, hurt yourself even more, if for their own good.

why would anyone want to love? you're being reduced to a heap of blubbering mess when it all falls apart. you disregard yourself and place your loved one before anything in the world. you want to make sure that your loved one is safe and sound where no hurt can come to him/her. you just want them to be happy, even if it isn't with you.

but then again...

love makes you smile at the mere thought that he/she loves you back. love makes you float on the clouds and fills your heart with gladness at every little acknowledgement that you hear from his/her lips. love fills you so full of joy, even if it's for a while, when he/she looks back at you with a smile on his/her face. love makes it all worth it. that sigh of relief and the insane feeling of calm when you know that the one you love is happy and safe is worth all the sleepless hours, all the puffy eyes in the world!

love isn't all about the passion. passion is a by product. love isn't about lust, lust is human nature. love isn't about control, love is free... love trusts... love gives and gives and gives, completely satisfied without recieving, but who wouldn't like recieving. love is compromise. love is eternal.

love can change, fade and ebb away. but like a radioactive component with an extremely long half life, it never goes away. it'll always be there, a reminder for your heart. so what is love? love is a mystery... and i'm happy not really knowing what it is. i'll get to discover it more, everyday, bit by bit. and i'll be happy, because i've loved and been loved.

i have just read this week's newsweek. it's about the war on iraq from the US army personel's point of view. it's really depressing to know that despite so many deaths, Bush still is adamant that he was right and believes that the war would benefit the Iraqis. the ultimate sacrifice of so may young men, fathers, brothers, lovers and friends...

the issue shows the letters the soldiers sent home to their families and when the soldiers died and how. if i wasn't reading it in uni, i think i would have cried reading from cover to cover. it's very sad. words really cannot express the horror and the pain i feel for the families. their loved ones were meant to be away on duty for a few months, which dragged onto years. most of the deceased are either young fathers or kids fresh out of college. this particular letter made me cry... he was just 19.

the iraqis have suffered too. most of the deaths in this war are not the rebells fighting to take back their country. it's the civilians, wrongly accused, wrongly identified and obviously, murdered in cold blood. normal everyday people, people that, if were in m'sia, you'd think of as your mamak, or the guy at your local sundry shop... they were INNOCENT.

Sadam is dead... why hasn't the US left iraq?