Nov.4 Election

I think Sarah Pilin should go for a beauty contest and not run for the office of Vice President.

A person for the office of president or vice-president should be widely traveled and has taken up official duties overseas for a number of years. In this way he will learn that the rest of the world are human beings too like him, not just pawns in a game of chess. Actual experience cannot be substituted by reading books. Those books are probably written by people who have no experience themselves.. I have a feeling that George Bush thinks that human beings are only found in America and Europe. If he had been to Iraq for example and had one or two drinks with the locals, things would have been different. As it is he has been conducting the war like playing a computer game.

Pilin may be good at PTA, as a mayor or even as a governor but she cannot apply these experience in runing a country. Her hunting and fishing experience would not be of much help either. Thats the past time of an ex-president!

Come to think of it Obama is equally inexperienced. He had never been a governor or a mayor. That makes him even more inexperienced that Pilin.

God save the world

Kick Back!

During my years of working life, I received many small kick backs and I am going to describe two of them to my fellow Malaysians so that they know some of the hanky pankies in the country.

A college in Terengganu planned to build a mosque for its students. The public came to know about it. A man approached me and he said he could offer a chandelier for the mosque for a cool RM75,000.00 of which RM5000-00 would be my share. Unfortunately / Fortunately the college canceled the plan.

On another occasion I placed an order for RM40,000-00 worth of electrical equipment at a local shop,. Later when I went to the shop, I started admiring a Yamaha Electric Organ on display. I didn't admire it on purpose! The manager asked me to take it home although I told him I could not afford it.. He insisted and I obliged. What does the law say about all this unsolicited gifts

Today I wonder how much is the kick back for the purchase of a fighter jet or a submarine

Dear Prime Minister

I have just been emplaced in the "Warga Emas" Category and that automatically puts me in the Veteran UMNO Group. Such being the case, I am concerned with dwindling support UMNO is getting today.

There should be changes in UMNO. and a change should begin at the top, the UMNO leadership which has been paying scant attention to the demographic changes in the country in the last fifty years . Take note that Malaysians today are more educated, more in numbers, the majority are young, more urbanized and enjoy a much higher standard of living like never before in the history of Malaysia. Their value system too changes. It was UMNO that brought out all these changes but the changes do not work out to UMNO's advantage. Young Malaysians don't like UMNO. UMNO changes the country for the better but it forgets to change itself. As a result UMNO remains fuedalistic and archaic. Time to update yourself UMNO

A Childish Prank

The Sodomy Charge levelled at Anuar Ibrahim recently was a childish prank that undermined the credibility of BN that initiated it. The prank was first intended to knock out PR from Permatang Pauh but it back fired and knocked out BN instead. The prank bears the hall mark of that green horn MP from Rembau who has such a grip on the Prime Minister. BN should learn it by now that such childish prank would not longer work with Malaysians who are today not as dumb as they were fifty years ago..The first time Anuar got this sodomy charge nonsense was ten years ago and in the general election of 1999, BN did badly. My home state fell to the opposition. The next sodomy charge against Anuar would wipe out BN completely

American Espionage in Malaysia

Anuar Ibrahim, the ex-Deputy Malaysian Prime Minister who fell out from grace, has friends in high places in Washington DC. After serving his term, he went on a speaking tour of United States where he had a field day bashing Malaysia.

United States wants to make Anuar another stooge to replace the one in Pakistan that has resigned. United States needs Malaysia to fight its War on Terror where Muslims kill Muslims. United States needs Malaysia to set up another Military Base here to contain China.

Anuar is presently talking about bringing $400 mil. foreign investment into Malaysia if he becomes PM. From where is the investment coming from, if not from United States. If it is true, how come the present government does not know it. Then again Anuar is predicting 30 law makers from the ruling coalition would jump ship. Each law maker would not accept anything less than $10 mIL to get into Anuar's camp. United States provides all the funding

America's Obsession with Security

America is obsessed with security. They over react to imagined treat. When I was there, there were Fall-Out shelters where people could take refuge in an unlikely event of a nuclear attack. They tested the air raid siren every week to make sure it would not fail when the need arises. My daughter who went to school in Tenn. two years ago told me things like Red Alert, air port security and how she was detained for an hour when her name did not appear in the data base. George is fighting a war in al Queda land because he did not want those hordes of bearded guys to bring their fight to America. This was done in the name of security. Another thing done in the name of security is building those nuclear shields in Europe purportly to intercept Russian and Iranian missiles. All this effort to get security actually make things more insecure because their fingers are always on the trigger.
American are such insecure people.

Unexplainable Phenomena

1 Once an F16 flew low over my roof top. I watched it screaming towards the South China Sea until it disappeared from view. In my mind I saw it crashed into the sea. It did. The evening news reported

2. The phone rings. Even before I pick it up , I know which one of my children is on the line. I am right in 50% of the time.

3. I am driving then I come to a turn in the road where I cannot see the oncoming vehicles. Something always tells me whether the road ahead is clear or not.

4. Some extra money is coming my way. Before I even get the money, I know that something is bound to go wrong that needs fixing - car needs a new battery, washing machine breaks down etc..It happens every time. without fail. I sort of expect it.

5. When I was young I liked to play a game; I would focus on the neck of the girl in front of me
and said "look back, look back, look back many times" and in many cases she would look back at me!

Is this psychic power? I don't know. They say we all live inside an invisible power capsule that can travel ahead of us through time and space.

Barnabas and Paul

There was a rift between two Biblical figures, Barnabas and Paul which has serious implication on Christianity today. The former was a disciple of Jesus so his words were more credible especially when he talked of Jesus as a human being without any divinity attached. The Gospel of Barnabas which he wrote gained currency in Rome for 300 years but later expunged by papal decree. Paul on the other hand was never a disciple. Though a Jew, he was a Roman citizen and spent most of his life there. Paul's religious dogma was based on his experience of contemporary Greek and Roman beliefs. He came to the front of religious authority in Rome and the Roman Empire, his center of activities. Paul was also in league with the Roman emperor who wasn't really interested in Christianity but was more interested in keeping the empire united through religion. In this Paul compromised with Roman beliefs and legends and Christians grew in number and strength. Ideas such as Son of God and Trinity from the pagan Roman entered Christianity. Church leaders from many places were alarmed and swooped down on Rome to register their objection to the concept of Trinity which they said were later interpolation not found in earlier Gospels. There were still Christians in Rome who protested against Trinity and fearing a split in the Empire, the emperor called for a meeting of church leaders at Nicea in 325 AD to resolve once and for all the issue of Trinity. Some of the church leaders who were known to be anti-Trinity never made it to the meeting. They mysteriously disappeared on the way. So the pro-Trinity group won the day and so it remains to this day.

Stages in The Development of Islam

Stage 1: Total failure. Rejection of Monotheism.

Prophets	Holy Books	Notes
Noah (Nuh)	-	Entire communities destroyed by God
Hud (Hud)	-
Shiloh (Salleh)	-
Lot (Luth)	-

Stage 2: The Israelites are first people to accept monotheism - initial success. Later, Islam became corrupted that resulted in the formation of break away religions Judaism and Christianity.

Prophets	Holy Books	Notes
Abraham (Ibrahim)	-
Isaac (Ishak)	-
Jacob (Yaakub)	-	Son of God? Exodus 4:22
Joseph (Yusof)	-
Job (Ayub)
Ezekiel (Zulkifli)
Jonah (Yunus)
Moses (Musa)	Torah (Taurat)	God's punishment- Israel was attacked several times, cities destroyed, people taken into captivity.
Aaron (Harun)
Elias (Alias)
Eliza (Ilyasa)
David (Daud)	Psalm (Zabur)	Son of God? Psalm 2:2
Solomon (Sulaiman)
Zachariah (Zakaria)
John (Yahya)
Jesus (Isa)	Bible (Injil)	Son of God? John 3:18

Stage 3: Success

Prophets	Holy Books	Notes
Ishmael (Ismail)	-	Eldest son of Abraham
Mohammad	Koraan	Message for the whole world. The last prophet - there won't be any more after him.

Verses

To many people, a verse is a line in a poem or a line in the holy books, Bible or Quran. To a Muslim a verse from the Quran is treated with respect and reverence. To a Muslim a verse is not limited to what is written down in the Quran only. In fact a verse needs not be in written form only. A tree is a verse in the sense that it carries God's message. The message is - the tree is His creation. So there are verses around us. Being aware of God's creation is being aware of His presence. God is love Christians agree with me. And you can feel His love. I can bet the world looks a lot more beautiful when you see God behind it.

One beautiful thing about Islam is that God gives out points (rewards) to people who can "read" His verses.This is one way of earning points (Its like getting extra credit hours at the university) and at the same time enjoying the verses.

Chief White Cloud I mentioned before, probably could could read the verses around him. That explains why he feels trees and lakes are his brothers.

George Bush Money Politics

The secret is out.George Bush paid Musharaff to be his ally in the war on terror. The people of Pakistan screamed their heads off against supporting America. Didn't Bush also give money to the leaders of England Spain and Italy to support his war plan? People in these countries also screamed their heads off against the invasion of Iraq.

All this happened because Christian America are not interested in upholding God's laws, the only true way to salvation. There isn't much God's laws in the Bible anyway. In my search for Biblical laws, I found such rudimentary things like "Thou shall not steal thy neighbor's donkey" Or the damage one has to pay if somebody's donkey falls in the hole you made. It is unlike Islam where for example volumes of law books on banking based on the Quranic principles have been written down. Its the same with trade, agreement, law of inheritance etc

In the absence of divine laws, the West succumbs to greed, power and selfishness. Be it known Jesus Christ cannot give divine guidance. Only God can give it. It doesn't matter whether its a Muslim God or a Christian God because there is only one God. No point arguing about it.

Islam / Christian Beliefs

Some Christian prayers got into my blog. They are good. In fact Muslims can use them as well with modification of course.
Christian: God so loved the world that He gave His only one son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life
Islam:God so loved the world that He promised whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life
Christian:You can choose to ask Jesus Christ to forgive your sins and comes in your life as your Lord and savior
Islam: You can choose to ask God to forgive your sins and comes in your life as your Lord and Savior
Christians: Lord Jesus I believe you are the son of God
Islam: O Prophet, I do not believe you are the son of God
Christian:Reaching out to God is only possible through Jesus Christ
Islam: Reaching out to God is possible 24 hours a day without having to go through Jesus Christ
Christian: Jesus can forgive sins
Islam: Only God can forgive sins

Jesus' Prophecy

In the Quran Chapter 61 Verse 6, Jesus said

When Jesus the son of Mary said O Children of Israel! Behold I am an Apostle of God unto you sent to confirm the truth of whatever still remains in the Torah and to give the glad tiding of an Apostle who shall come after me whose name shall be Ahmad (61:6)

In the original Bible written in Aramaic ( A Semitic language spoken in Palestine during the time of Jesus) Ahmad was written as Mauhamana both means Much Praised. The original Bible was translated into Greek. The Greek had the habit of translating every word from the original Bible including all the names. Mauhamana had been translated to Perikytos a Greek word which means Much Praised. Then the Greek Bible was translated into Latin Perikytos became Perikleet and the meaning changed from Much Praised to Comforter. The Christians believe Perikleet refers to a spirit and not to a human person. They also believe Jesus Prophecy regarding the arrival of Perikleet had already been fulfilled with the arrival of the spirit ten days after crucifixion. This was the spirit that later came to be known as The Holy Ghost which makes up a part of Trinity

Note: Ahmad and Muhammad are the same in Arabic

Another Traveller's Tales

We hit Auckland one beautiful Sunday morning. Not a shop was opened. Eateries too were closed. By evening we were really hungry. We came to a small shop selling drinks and sandwiches .
However, the sandwiches were staffed with bacon - a prohibited food unless in emergency. I considered the situation emergency enough but my friend disagreed. He said we could still walk. So not yet emergency So we compromised by taking drinks only. Today when I think about it I realized that my friend then was stronger than me physically and spiritually

How Free Choice Began

Some of the things in the Quran are allegorical and we should not take them literally. For example
the Quran tells us about Adam and Eve being taught the name of animals. It wasn't the naming of actual animals but rather the initiation of conceptual thinking which was necessary for man's intellectual development. In the beginning Adam and Eve were instinctive beings like animals that live by instinct. Animals have been naked right to this day and so did Adan and Eve at one time. Animals to this this day are not capable of conceptual thinking and so did Adam in the beginning. The eating of the forbidden fruit was also an allegory to describe man's first act of disobedience to God. As a result of this disobedience, Adam and Eve came to be aware of the presence of evil. With this awareness, the concept of free choice began that enable human to discern right from wrong, good from evil. Evey human person is endowed with good and evil impulses implanted or embedded in him/her.

I think Satan has a specific role assigned by God to invoke the evil impulses in man - sort of colloborating with God to test mankind. I also think Satan would not end up in hell because God mentioned that He is giving Satan a respite - a time span to return to the fold.On Judgment Day
Satan would say to the sinners "Don't blame me. I never had the power to make you evil. I only invoked you evil impulse and you responded. Blame yourselves" Religion has a specific task too and that is to appeal to the good impulse of man.

Cultural Norm

In Dunedin I put up with Saiful (Not his real name) a final year student at the University of Otago. He took me around and the sight seeing trip include a stop at the city's strip tease joint. We were drinking fresh juice in the dimly lit room when we were joined by a woman named Sue. Saiful must have known her before because he introduced her to me as one of the share holders of the joint. Enterprising young woman, I thought. After a while she excused herself and half an hour later, to my surprise, she appeared on stage doing the strip tease. What I could not help thinking over and over again was that at one moment she was fully clothed at my table and in the next moment, she was completely bare on stage. That was indeed a new experience. What was the norm in one country, was not so in my country. I consider my experience as part of my education in my quest to get to know the world

Atonement

I am only putting down my thoughts and some people might get offended. I am sorry

1. Can Jesus atone the sin of Christians by sacrificing himself?
2. Was Jesus a suicide bomber who kills himself so that others get the benefit?
3.What about people who lived before the time of Jesus - Abraham and Moses died unatoned.
Can we imagine these two prophets going to hell?
4. Why did God sacrifice His "son"? God who has so much power need not resort to sacrificing
His "Son" in order to get a job done
5. Is the sin atoned for limited to that of the Original Sin only? What about other sins like invading Iraq for instance or telling lies about WMD
6. Since the Original Sin is a myth, Jesus is in fact atoning a non-existence sin.
7. Is there any part of the Bible that says Jesus has been given the authority to forgive sin?
8. Forgiving sin is the prerogative of God. Only He knows the circumstance how a sin was committed.
So only He can evaluate the deserving case.
9. Sin is the outcome of breaking God's rules and no body can accept repentance on God's behalf.
God has not relegated this authority to any body. Relegating authority means weakness on God's
part. and God is not so.
10. Is it possible that atonement is a scheme devised by early church leaders like Paul to get the
pagan Roman to accept Christianity? Sort of blackmailing?

The Sin of Adam

1. God forgives all sins except the sin of blasphemy that is ascribing divinity to other things beside Him.
An example of blasphemy is elevating Jesus to the status of god incarnation.
2. God loves His creatures and is compassionate in all His dealings. It is unthinkable that He refuses Adam's plea for forgiveness.
3. God is the fountain of justice. He would not make descendants of Adam suffer for his sin. Making them suffer, amounts to taking revenge. God does not do that kind of thing.
4. The sin of Adam is nothing compared to the sin of Israelites who worshiped the golden calf in Exodus. Yet, the Quran says, God blots out the sin of those Israelites. Surely He would do the same with the sin of Adam which was comparatively much smaller
5. God said in the Quran that He has accepted the repentance of Adam
6. Even the Bible states that one is responsible for one's sin only and is not responsible for the sin of others

Where does the doctrine of original sin begin?

Just to please

Sometimes we casually tell something to a friend for example about a Harley Davidson bike you saw recently. Your friend may think you are a Harley Davidson fan but actually you are not. To please you, he buys a Harley Davidson magazine for you.

Something like this happened to me in Christchurch once. In the morning we visited a primary school where children welcomed us with a music performance. Later we moved to a secondary school and I told the teacher there what I saw in the morning. Thinking that I was interested in music, he took me to a class to watch students practicing on their instruments. That was a situation where he tried to please me and I tried to please him.

That evening I told my NZ host all the places I visited during the day. Then he picked up the phone
to reserve two seats at the music festival in the Town Hall. It was not the performance that matters but the hospitality.

Traveller's Tales

When I was a student in Wellington, I made a trip south to Dunedin. I didn't have much money then but I knew that money would be banked-in into my account in two days by the NZ government. Two days later, I walked into the BNZ office in Dunedin to make a withdrawal I was already broke by then and I needed the money for the fare back to Wellington..The teller asked for my ID but I forgot to bring it. I pleaded with her but she insisted on ID. Desperate, I started taking off my wind-breaker, pull-over, shirt piece by piece to show the teller the university T shirt I was wearing beneath hoping that she would accept it in place of ID. People in the bank watched in amazement. The teller was amused. I got the money finally

Another Son of God?

I am always intrigued by what the Koraan and the Bible say.- their similarities and their differences.
All this while I always thought that there was only "One son of God" in the name of Jesus Christ as claimed by the Christians, but later I discovered something else......There was another one

I was reading the Koraan (Translation by Muhammad Assad) Chapter 5 Al-Ma'idah Verse 18 where I came across the following:

"Both the Jews and the Christians say 'We are God's children' "

Then I picked up the Bible (New King James Version) to find out whether it says anything about this "God's second son".. I found it in two places:

Exodus iv 22.23 in which God says "Israel is my son. My first born"

Jeremiah xxxi 9 God says "I am the father of Israel"

For my Muslim friends who are not familiar with the names of the Biblical prophets Israel refer to Nabi Yaakub. It is from this "Israel" we get the name "Bani Israel" (The tribe of Israel) so often mentioned the Koraan

Muslim View of Jews and Christians

Muslims view Jews and Christians as their former brothers in Islam who abandoned the faith to form break-away religions - Judaism and Christianity. The Quran refers to the Christians and the Jews as
"ahl-Kitab" or People of the Book because of the revelation they received from God - the Torah and the Gospel which are required reading for the Muslims. In fact believing in them constitute an article of faith.

Muslims revered the same prophets as the Christians and the Jews. Moses and Jesus get mentioned more often in the Quran than in the Bible. So if the Christians and the Jews want to see the original teaching of Moses and Jesus, look it up in the Quran.

The Muslims look upon the Jews and the Christians as infidels

Christian / Jews look at Muslims

An American rabbi once said the Jews gave the world Christianity and Islam based on the fact that Jesus and Muhammad were all descendent of the Patriarch Abraham who they said was the first Jew. So the rabbi recognized the common geneology of Jesus and Muhammad but they do not recognize the prophet hood of these two; To them Jesus was an illegitimate child of Mary and Muhammad was not qualified for prophet hood because he was not as Israelite. The Jews believe that only an Israelite could become a prophet because they are "The Chosen People". The Jews look upon Muslim as infidels

The Christians look at the Muslims as a people who also inherit the sin of Adam (The Doctrine of the Original Sin) but have not been atoned by Jesus Christ. Such being the case Muslims are not getting any salvation because to them salvation is only through Jesus. Christians also look upon Muslim as infidels.

As I see it

I remember watching an old movie that shows a little school house on the praire. Kids in their sunday best received religious instructions there. The rustic setting was probably America of the Abe Lincoln era. Nice folks then, became presidents. They didn't bother the world so much as today. I also remember reading a tattered Play Boy Magazine that ran a story about an atheist by the name of Madlyn Murray (I hope I got the spelling right). She campaigned for the abolition of religious indoctrination in schools. She said it was unconstitutional . Americans should be allowed to choose any religion or no religion they like. Such was the argument in the name of freedom. Congress agreed and that was it. It is no coincidence that later day American presidents bothered the world so much. What do Americans of today worship? I think they worship the mighty dollar, the female bosom and the nuclear war heads, in that order. They resort to robbing the world's resources to satisfy their huge appetite for oil and power. However they gave respectable name for that - democratization and regime change.

The Birth of Jesus

Mary was visited by an angel who brought the glad tiding (good news) from God that she was about to give birth to a child, Besides the good news the angel also brought the soul of Jesus and even a name to be given to him at birth. The name was "Isa" in Hebrew and rendered "Jesus" in Greek.

In the Quran Chapter 32 Verse 9, God talks about the ever recurring creation and evolution of the human embryo.

"and then He forms him and breath into him His spirit"

On the Christian belief that Jesus is the son of God. the Quran has this to say.

"Jesus, like other human beings, is a soul created by Him"

According to Muslim belief, a person is made of two substances -the physical body made from the produce of the Earth and the spiritual body created somewhere else, outside Earth and sent to the developing foetus by an angel. God has created billions and billions of human foetus similiar to that of Jesus. The only difference with Jesus was the manner fertilization of the ovum took place. The rest of humanity requires the need of a male sperm but in case of Jesus such need was not neccessary. God, who Himself created the system how fertilization takes place, surely knows how to make an exception in case of Jesus.

What the Jews say.....

I discover that the Jews say such awful things about Jesus. To them Jesus was an illegitimate child because he was born without an earthly father. On this accusation of the Jews, the Quran says in Chapter 4 Verse 156

'.. the awful calumny they uttered against Mary.." (4:156)

If the Jews could accept the creation of Adam, why couldn't they accept the miraculous birth of Jesus.
Birth and conception involve nothing more than the fertilization of the female ovum by a tiny male sperm. This is easy for God.

In verse 157 that follows, the Quran states '.. and they boast 'Behold we have slain Jesus Christ
son of Mary". However, the Quran denies the slaying and the crucification of Jesus as the next line of the verse above states " They did not slay him and neither did they crucify him but it only seemed to them as if it had been so"

In spite of all that happened the Jews and the Christians remain allies

An Annecdote

The other day, I met a tourist at the beach of Batu Buruk and I asked her where she was from

'Where are you from?" I asked
"No where" she answered with a smile
"Where?" I asked her again, thinking that she was being playful giving that kind of answer
"No where" she gave me the same answer

Seeing that I was confused, she wrote something on a piece of paper and handed it to me.
It says NORWAY

Homosexuality

Homosexuality is condemned by both the Quran and the Bible. In Malaysia it is an unbailable ofence
which carries a jail term of 20 years upon conviction. But in European countries, homosexuality is
tolerated based on the principle of human freedom. Some states in America even allow same-sex marriages. This is a clear case where state laws nullify divine laws.

Human beings are created to be heterosexual. The first human, Adam was himself a heterosexual because
the female vagina is designed to accomodate the male penis for the purpose of transmitting sperm
to the ovaries to ensure the procurement of the human race. The anus is never designed for sexual penetration. It is strictly designed as a passage for the excretion of human faceas. I do not understand why some men prefer anal intercourse which I find disgusting.

One possible reason why prohibition of homosexuality is not heeded in the West, is because the Bible written by scribes of the first century lack that intellectual sophistication that would appeal to people of the 21st century. The Quran on the other hand defines homosexuality and lays down in unequivocal manner the need for reliable witness and the punishment to be meted out upon conviction

Get Your Butt Off

Soon after Russia attacked Georgia, the two presidential candidates, Obama and Mc Cain were asked how they would handle the situation if one of them gets to sit in the Oval Office next year.THERE WE GO AGAIN. America has no business to police the world. Thats the job for the United Nation.

America, we don't need your help. Thats why Malaysia turned down your offer to fight pirates in the Straits of Malacca. Thats why Thailand too rejects your offer to fight insurgents in the south. Once America moves in, its difficult to get them to move out

Where is Malaysia?

I think elderly New Zealanders do not know whether Malaysia is a city, a country or where it is located.
I found this out while waiting for a bus in the suburb of Christchurch. An elderly lady came to me and told me she had a son in Berlin. Although I had never been to that city I told her;

"Berlin is a nice place" I said
"Are you from Berlin?" she asked me excitedly
"No" I said " I am from Malaysia"
"Is it far from Berlin?" she asked me again innocently

The bus came and the conversation ended.there. She must have thought Malaysia is in Germany!

Killer America

There are crazy people out there in America who would fire a gun into a crowd for no apparent reason. It happened at Virginia Tech. and it happened at Northern Illinois

There are also crazy people out there in Washington who would start a war for no apparent reason. It happened in Vietnam and it is happening in Iraq. In Virginia Tech and Northern Illinois, only a handful got killed but the wars in Vietnam the number killed has surpassed more than four million - 3 mil. in Vietnam and 1.2 mil.in Iraq.. Its mind boggling looking at America's madness

The killers in Virginia Tech and Northern Illinois who were subsequently killed, numbered only two. But the killers who killed and got themselves killed in Vietnam and Iraq, numbered 55,000 - 51,000 in Vietnam and more than 4000 in Iraq.

America has got a lot of blood on its hands. a Christian nation possessed by the devil.

New Zealand Anecdotes

1. Foreigners sometimes take things literally. I had this experience in Christchurch. I was with a group of foreign students visiting a school there. As our host was taking us around, a plane suddenly appeared climbing into the sky after taking off from a nearby airport.

"There goes another 747" said our host. We looked up at the unmistakable outline of the jumbo jet.
However, a student from China was having some difficulty. "I can't see the number you mentioned" he complained.

2. In New Zealand I learned some strange things about life there. Once I went to see the supervisor of the place where I worked. There was a framed photograph of a man on her desk.

"My husband " she said
"Handsome " I remarked "Just like John Wayne"
She shakes her head and raised her aye brawl "It's a shame" she sighed "At home he doesn't speak to me - he speaks only to his dog"

Inter Faith Immersion Program

I am always intrigued by verses which are common in both the Quran and the Bible. For example in Matthew 4.10 Jesus says "You shall worship the Lord your God and Him only you shall serve" In the Quran Chapter 3 Verse 51 Jesus says "God is my sustainer and your sustainer. Worship Him alone"

Another common thing between the messenger of Islam and the messenger of Christianity is that both are the descendants of the Patriach Abraham and both are spiritually related as all other Biblical prophets.

The most common thing of all is Islam says Muslims and Christian worship the same God. Chrirstians
also says the same according to Dr.Ben Johnson of Colombia Theological Seminary, Decatur USA.
I support Dr.Johnson's effort to start an Inter Faith Immersion Program aimed at bringing Christians and Muslim together so as to bring to an end hostilities between the two great religions

Christians and Muslims should respect each other's belief where they differ for example the Christians belief in the divinity of Jesus

Pepsi Cola / Coca Cola

I used to have high hope that Obama would one day change American foreign policy if elected president. I was looking forward to the day when my Muslim brethrens in the Middle East would be able to live in peace again. Today I am very disappointed. Obama has made a 360 degree turn. He is no different from George W.Bush. This shows us one thing. Whoever becomes the president will have to worship Yahoweh , that powerful god in Israel.

Democrat and Republican are like Pepsi Cola and Coca Cola - same stuff inside, a drink concorted with Jewish herbs. The difference is only in branding

America needs another George Washington to fight another war of independence and this time around, independence from the Jews

Chief White Cloud

When I was in school I remember reading a letter from Chief White Cloud to the America president. In the letter, the Chief said white men didn't understand that trees, lakes, mountains etc. were brothers of the red men (Indians). The Chief wrote the letter because all that the white men wanted was more and more Indian lands. I too didn't understand what the Chief meant until much later when I started reading the Quran. I discovered that every thing on earth, living or non living with no exception, was created by God and I am also included in this creation. Every thing is subsevient to Him and forever extolling His glory. In this sense every thing is my brethren and I am living in a big family that fills up the whole universe. I am indeed a part of the greater scheme of things.

When I pray I can feel that my brethren, sand, leaves and birds are praying with me and the prayer resonates through out the universe heading towards God. Prayer becomes a pleasure and ceases to be a dull monotonous routine

Dear George:

You are responsible for the deaths of millions of innocent lives ( directly through bombing and indirectly through sanctions), the destruction of properties worth billions of dollars, the misery and the agony of the living who escaped your bombs, which cannot be measured in dollars and cents. For all this , you have amassed on yourself a huge amount of sins which cannot be redeemed or written off. The records are with God- every tiny bit of it. You are a Christian, aren't you? Did Jesus say sinners cannot get away with what they did? You are doomed to hell fire. Jesus would not intercede an evil person like you. You have betrayed the trust of your fellow American. Instead of spending their tax money for their benefit, you are spending trillions of dollars of their hard earned cash to finance the Jewish wars in the Middle East. I feel sorry for the Americans.

America Attitudes

I hate some of the American attitudes; they question our political process, human rights, free press and judicery. Why are Americans so snoopy? No body has elected them to oversee affairs of other countries. A case in point is the on going Anuar sodomy charge. The American has the cheek to remind Malaysia to give him a fair trial. We also would like to remind America to put those Guantanamo detainees on trail and make it a fair one.

Then again this dude Bush has the audacity to remind China to improve its human right.
America's human right is not that good either. Bush is talking shit

Rewrite the Bible

Since the Bible has been written many times over and over, why not rewrite it one more time. What we have today is the result of rewriting. The Bible used to be much longer but certain parts have been expunged since then. It has been done before so no harm doing it again. When rewriting this time leave out the irrelevant unimportant details such as about somebody's ancestors or how somebody did something. Also leave out sensational stories like in the Chapter King, when David was was
sick, a virgin was placed at his side to keep him warm; or a tall tales in the same chapter about Solomon having 700 wives and 300 concubines. Instead concentrate more on the actual message of God in more details so that man can be guided by it. If this is done I think the size of the Bible can be further reduced by 50%

When compared to the Bible, the Quran is more down to earth. It even tells us how to chose a bride - who we can marry and who we cannot marry, when to abstain from sexual contact, divorce and alimony, inheritance, crime and punishment etc. The list is a long one. A bishop in England has proposed that the Brits adopt some of the Islamic marriage laws.

Biblical Prophesies

They have written a lot of prophesies in the Bible especially about what could possibly happen in the Middle East in the future. I have read the Bible but have yet to find the basis of these many prophesies. I remember a pastor from South Africa telling the late Ahmed Deedat that the Bible
prophesied the out break of the second world war and even the advent of Henry Kissinger, the one time American secretary of state. Ahmed Deedat then asked the pastor whether the Bible also
prophesied the advent of Prophet Muhammad. The pastor replied emphatically No. Its strange how
Henry Kissinger got prophesied but Muhammad got left out.

The pastor could only be lying or ignorant or both. He didn't know the staff of his trade. The advent of
Prophet Muhammad was prophesied both in the old and new testaments. The followers of the Bible had been called upon to spread this prophesy and not to suppress it

Please refer to Deuteronomy 18. 15. 18

Is the Bible Original?

Researchers who want to establish the historicity / autheticity of the Bible turn to all sorts of sources except the Quran. One researcher wants to know whether some words in the Bible have been changed over the years. Here is the answer

Quran Chapter 2 Verse 76 is reproduced below:

"Woe, then, unto whom who write down, with their own hands something which they claim to be divine writ and then say 'This is from God in order to aquire a trifling gain thereby. Woe then for what their hands have written and woe unto them for all that they may have gained" (2-76)

If one believes in the Quran revealed 600 years after the Bible, then he gets the answer.

9/11 in Malaysia

In July 2001, I played host to a group of 15 young Americans visiting Malaysia. I put them in the students' dorm of a secondary school for one week. Food and shelter and sightseeing bus were provided. That was a part of our program to improve the standard of English of our students by making them talk to real people about real thing. It was a success. In no time students started talking - sometime with an exegerated American accent!. People in the community heard about the Americans. They invited the Americans for an overnight stay in their homes. I got many calls and I ran out of Americans to give away. There was a lot of good will.generated from this The American should have brought in their camera crew along to records all the activities such as the cultural show where American sang Th Yellow Roses of Taxes in the school hall. I had talks with the local education authority and they agreed to continue accepting Americans in the years to come.

Then came 9/11 a few months later. Scenes of carnage were shown nightly on TV. Students asked me why, in disbelief. I too couldn't stand the sight of bleeding Afghan amidst the ruins of their bombed out shelter. Anti American feeling set in and spread out engulfing the whole of Malaysia.

Another request for visit came again from America. I was too upset to reply

I hope Obama gets the White House job and stop attacking Muslim countries, Then I would welcome the American again

Native Culture

In New Zealand I got the chance of observing a fertility rites of the natives there. It was held in the dining room of the student dorm where I stayed. In Wellington the rites was better known as wine and cheese. There were lots of grubs on the table and lots of beer too that came on taps.There were lots of girls as well from the another student dorm. The band in attendance belted away hard rock music. Some natives took the floor dancing. Others whiled away their time talking , eating and drinking. I wonder how they could hear each other in all that din. Two hours into the night, things came to slow down. Some took their female guests out side. yes I remember it was moonlit. Some took their female guests back to their rooms to do whatever came naturally. An adventurous Malaysian decided to go native himself. He had a tall female in tow. As they passed me, he grinned "She wants to teach me
English conversation" he said. This was among my earliest encounter with the native culture.

Ignorant Americans

Americans refuse to learn the name system of Muslims. They keep reffering to that al Queda leader as "bin Laden" which actually mean "The son of Laden". The leader's real name is "Osama". The name system in Islam is Given Name followed by the father's name. I had the same problem in America. They kept calling me by my father's name every time.

American are probably not aware of food restriction imposed on Muslim. We Muslim do not take pork. We do not even touch the plate that has been used to serve pork.

Once a professor invited us for tea. He served us pizza with pork topping. We told him we did not eat pork and his reply "Don't worry, I'll remove it". When he was busy fixing the drinks in the kitchen, I stuffed the pizza into my back pack leaving a small portion for the professor. When he brought out the drinks, he was delighted to see the plates almost empty.

I remember America

I remember a lot more things about America besides McDonald and Burger King.I find driving there is easy when compared to Malaysia. Although I had to change lanes frequently on the road, that was not a problem. It could be done with a flick of the turn signal. Then vehicles at the back would give way to let me proceed to the next lane. May be the American were courteous or may be they didn't want their cars damaged if they hit the rear of my battered Oldsmobile. In Malaysia every time I change lane, I am taking a risk of being hit by the car behind.

Once I went for a holiday in Florida. It was snowing heavily when I started. An hour into the journey, I came across a man having problem starting his car. He flagged me down and asked me to jump his car. After the engine rev. to life again, he reached for his wallet and shoved a ten dollar bill into my jacket. I thanked him but returned the money. He was doing what was normal in America and I responded with what was normal in Malaysia.

I like rural America where folks speak like villagers in Malaysia. Once I went to my favorite fishing spot and walked into the store to get the bait. The guy at the counter greeted me "Hi, out of town.Never seen you before" It was a genuine greeting that came from the heart unlike the greeting of the woman at the reception of the hotel lobby - so professional and impersonal. Still on the topic of folksy talks, I remember a man who came to me when he saw the Illinois number plate of my car, when I stopped for gas in Florida. "How's Illinois today?" he asked."Bad" I answered "Snow every where". He was very Malaysian. Then I will also not forget another guy who greeted me "Hey brother can you spare me a dollar"

From all this little insignificant events I made an important discovery- American are people