Bersih 4.0- A Peaceful Assembly to Express Human Rights

Undeniably, 29th -30th August are remarkable dates for the nation where Bersih 4.0 rallies were held in K.L., Kota Kinabalu and Kuching with the five demands including:

• Free and Fair Elections (Bersihkan Pilihanraya)
• A Transparent Government (Kerajaan Bersih)
• The Right to Demonstrate (Hak Membantah)
• Strengthening the Parliamentary Democracy System (Kukuhkan Demokrasi Parlimen)
• Saving the national economy (Selamatkan Ekonomi Malaysia)

The news regarding power manipulation of the politicians with the rampant corruptions mentioned in Wall Street Journal, The Edge and other legitimate parties have raised the attention of the public, suffice to say that it made many people frustrated and angry. As President Obama said, “The arc of human progress has been shaped by individuals with the freedom to assemble and by organizations outside of government that insisted upon democratic change.” When street demonstrations are allowed in U.S, Bangkok , Hong Kong and European countries, I don't see the reason why street demonstrations is disallowed in a country which declares practicing democracy. The freedom of speech is a sacrosanct right which is an embodiment of a free and democratic society. After all, there is something that those people need to think about what had led to the Bersih 4.0. Some call Bersih 4.0 as rallies or streets demonstration, while I think there's more suitable words to name the event i.e. a peaceful assembly despite of the leaders' photo being stamped.

While some think that those who wave the national flag are patriots, I opine that those who really care about the countries' present and future are the real patriots. There's no perfect leaders in the world, it is inevitable for bad comments and criticism arising from the public towards the leaders' incompetence. The pretty harsh truth is you can't guarantee you have 100% true followers or 100% of residents who like and support you. A country cannot thrive if others' opinions are not appreciated. Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown, a reliable leader should be open-minded towards criticism, have responsibility to lead his/her followers well and to be a good example to them. In my opinion, a good leader should often evaluate his or her attitude, perform duties honestly and align action with the words spoken. Let's see what are the characteristics that should be possessed by a good servant leader stated by Skip Prichard:

• Values diverse opinions -Unity in diversity! You have your own belief, but you have no rights to stop me having diverse opinion.
• Cultivates a culture of trust - Yes, truthfully, a good leader has to gain the residents' trust.
• Develops other leaders - He/ she should have the commitment for growth of others regardless religions, races /creed. 
• Helps people with life issues (not just work issues)
• Encourages
• Sells instead of tells.
• Thinks “you” not “me.”-Someone who is thinking only, “How does this benefit me?” is disqualified. After all, the servant leaders are being selected to serve the flocks, not themselves.
• Thinks long-term- Think about the next generation, making choices to benefit the future.
• Acts with humility.

Nevertheless, rallies might not be a good avenue for patriotism but it's obviously shown that the strong desires of the desperate Malaysians regardless religion and races wanting a change for an enhanced country! The Malaysians' desire is simple, requiring a country with strong culture of accountability and integrity instilled in civil service and government institutions' servants.

Would you want to do a headcount?

Credits: Malaysiakini.com

Credits: Malaysiakini.com

The supports from the oversea countries.

Credits: Malaysiakini.com

Credits: Malaysiakini.com

The "tsunami" of yellow balloons, people with yellow shirts, yellow umbrellas.
Credits: Astrowani

The rights to voice out the demands despite the multicultural and multiracial background of each other.

"Bersih"- The cleanliness of the streets are not ignored too.

It's bona fide to say that manpower should not belittled and I truly believe the progress of the country lies on the hands of residents as the sayings from Confucius "the water that bears the boat is the same that swallows it up" (水能载舟,亦能覆舟). Majority of the signboards, banners and hairbands have clearly stated the demands of the Bersih 4.0 supporters i.e. a fair election, a stable economy, good governance with fairness and justice, freedom of speech and non-censored news over the media savvy. Some Good Samaritans even offered free meals for the supporters who had stayed overnight, provided clean water for Muslims to perform their prayers and voluntarily clean the streets where rallies were held.  It's fortunate that Bersih 4.0 was concluded in a peaceful manner without water guns, tear-gas and violence. The people dispersed peacefully after singing the national song patriotically.

A quote to share:
"Think like a man of action, act like a man of thought." - Henri Bergson
The reputation of yours is affected by your own actions and attitudes.

* This is the personal opinion of the writer and does not necessarily represent the views of the rest of Malaysians * 

Other blogs/articles regarding Bersih 4.0:

• Bersih 4.0-Cry of Malaysians
• Bersih 4.0 takes over in K.L.

10 Things to Let Go to Make Rooms for Self-Improvement

In life, we have many ambitious desires which are achievable and we persevere stoically to achieve them. We usually have a long wish list such as building a wonderful family, have a supportive lover, a big house, to be a rich billionaire, trips to overseas and etc. Sometimes, things do not come towards our expectation and it feels like the world has turned upside down. I've recently read an meaningful article that we have too many things that we need, want or desire, but we could never make room to own the rest without letting go some things that we shall eliminate. I hope to give myself a birthday gift this year by letting go these 10 things for a healthier, happier and more successful life.

Clear the negative things to make space for things that're worth holding onto.

10 things that cause pain, suffer, unhappiness should be let go to make life less complicated and make rooms for happiness and self-improvement.

1. Prioritize others' thoughts/ opinions over your own self

We spend too much time worrying and thinking about others' thought and opinions or craving for others' attention. We often being influenced by people that we care of and some of them would like to change us to become whom they wish we are. We take the comments, critics, opinions or others more serious than our own inner voice. A change of better self is for our own, not to impress others. Also, we used to think of ways to please or impress others, yet we forget that the true happiness is created by us, not depends on the others' approval/ thought. We shall not forget that the price tag (value) of ourselves depends on how we create for our own. A quote I like very much," Don't make somebody a priority if they only make you as an option".

The purpose of life is to please our own selves and create own "price tag".

2. Grudges

Time and tides awaits for no men, life is short to be spent for grudges. There's often sound advice from surrounding people that we should forgive the wrongdoings and the enemies. Some people do not deserve the forgiveness, however the decision to make a closure for nursing the bitterness is still on our own hands. If we keep overwhelmed with the thought of condoning the enemies, I think it's easier to let go the grudges although struggles happen during this process.

Don't live in the silly drama.

3. The ideal belief of "forever"

When we hold onto some things, we used to have the belief of owning them forever. Neither richness, health, happiness,time, luck, opportunities nor love, none will be there forever. Pretty often, we tend to forget that things are change over the time. In fact, life is full of dramatically changes and almost everything is temporary. Just like there's often sunshine after the thunderstorm. Similarly, the same goes to the downside of life, nothing is as painful as staying stuck somewhere you do not belong. The ideal belief of things will stay forever should be let go, I often remind myself to hold onto the present and appreciate the people who stay around me now.

Live in present and appreciate the current moment.

4. Self-defeating

Psychologically interpretation of self-defeating is a self-protection method after being hurt or when face with difficulties. As the sayings from Eckhart Tolle "The mind is a superb instrument if used rightly. Used wrongly, however, it becomes very destructive.”,self-defeating could prevent us to face the realities stoically. Problem exists and will not lose no matter how much self-defeating talk/ thought are sounded nicer.It's bona fide to say that it's more realistic to acknowledge and admit the weak part of ourselves, pick up the pieces of broken self, re-compile and stand up after the fall.

Storing too much negative things, there's no room for happiness.

You may lose something good, but you could gain better in the future.

5. Procrastination/ lackadaisical attititude

Procrastination is the worst habit I want to let go as the action towards the goals always being delayed. A trainer once told me that the more days you procrastinate, the more days you delay being the one you want to be. This relates to my goal of achieving 50kg weight and it seems so hard to achieve as I am the procrastinator.

Don't take another day of blessings for granted, make use of it!

6. Toxic people

As the word "toxic" sounds, these circle of people which brings negative thought, hatred or uncomfortable feeling, it's best to detached from these kind of people. It's a norm where we used to have these toxic people around us, either in workplace, friend's circle, neighborhood, relatives and etc. There's a book worth reading i.e. " Toxic People: 10 Ways Of Dealing With People Who Make Your Life Miserable" written by Dr. Lilian Glass, with 10 proven techniques for successfully dealing with them, including: Tension-Blowout, Unplugging, Direct Confrontation, Humor, Giving Them Love and Kindness,Mirroring and other techniques. Well, a simple way for us to let go of these toxic people for a simpler life is unplug.

People come into our lives to serve some sorts of purpose, as blessings, as lesson, as a seasonal "Santa Claus" .
Some come into our lives to teach us how to let go.

7.  Setting High Expectations

Have you ever find yourself suffering from the expectations that you set for your own self? The expectations you set have plagued your life, causing sorrow, disappointment, frustration, forlorn and etc. We used to persistently maintaining the expectation even we have clearly understood that these expectations are unrealistic. Also, we usually repeat the same mistakes over time i.e expecting too much from the ones we care. Somehow, I noticed that I used to bewildered by my own expectations, consequently losing confidence and positive mindset whenever the expectation goes against the life-flow.  My dad; a wise man's words "Be in the moment of choices, then value and discover the opportunities rather than trap in the squares of expectations that you have set for yourself.".  On the side note, do we make S.M.A.R.T (Acronym for  Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Timely) expectations?  Back off to protect ourselves if the expectation (goal) is unattainable.

"Expectation is the root of all heartache"~ William Shakespeare

8. Waiting 

Good things don't come towards yourself. You have to seek for it rather than wait for it to happen. Same goes to opportunities and pursuit of happiness. Although there are articles mentioning that good things are worth waiting for, however the recent tragedies of MH370, MH17 and unexpected accidents have changed my mind. We do not what will happen during the next second, why should we spend time to wait for something that might not happen. Rather than waiting, it's advisable to live in the present, utilize every seconds, minutes and hours now for improving own self or for the important ones such as family and those we love and care.

Always be prepared to reach for the stars!

9. Unnecessary Insecurity

Maslow's hierarchy of needs has portrayed the fundamental needs ranged from physiological needs, safety needs, love and belonging, esteem and self-actualization. With basic needs of food, shelter and clothing are relatively satisfied, we will prioritize on safety needs such as personal safety, job security, health security and etc. Unnecessary insecurity often come from our own judgment, own doubts over ourselves, guessing games and silly drama we created in brain. The consequences of unnecessary insecurity often jeopardize relationships and detrimental to our health. I personally agree that if there's something that causes insecurity constantly, perhaps it's not belonged to you.

Have faith and be positive!

10. Negative Comparisons/ Judgment

One of the most self-blinding and defeating habits that many of us have is the tendency to compare ourselves to others. During young age, the people surrounding used to say" X has better results than you", " your height is lower than Y" , " Z enters a better school than yours" and etc. When age grows, I've the tendency of comparing myself with others via these metrics such as job function, income level, job title and etc. Sometimes, I feel proud of myself for doing better, yet these kind of comparisons used to jeopardize the self-esteem, providing much more fear that " I did not perform better that I thought that I could be".  During the recent training I attended, the trainer had taught us to transform the comparison process to self-evaluation process by learning and taking up the other person's qualities, strength and talents. The self-evaluation process could help reducing jealousy and learn to admit own weaknesses while acknowledging others' accomplishments.

Learn to accept imperfections.

There's always a light shining in the darkness.

We confine by the walls we build ourselves,

let's step out from comfort zone
to grow, to be happier, to free ourselves from negativity, to be successful.

Other articles worth reading: http://thoughtcatalog.com/heidi-priebe/2015/08/7-harsh-truths-that-will-make-you-a-more-powerful-person/ 

The Mask behind The Face

There are days and nights when the struggle is real. During the days,you wear a mask, pretending to be you are alright. The mask is like a language expressing the emotion that you choose to create.

The people around you may be seeing the mask depicting a happy expression, but they never know the genuine feeling behind the mask.

Masks could serve many purposes. It is inevitable to see people wearing masks in front of others. The mask serves the purpose of hiding the weakness of someone in front of someone he cares. The mask can make someone to build up his confidence, finding his courage to battle in life. During ancient times, the Roman tournaments soldiers wore masks on their helmets to protect themselves against dangers during the war. The masks are worn during the contemporary age is to protect from emotional and physical danger from the most dangerous animal of the world i.e. human. Some use masks to hide their fear. Some use masks of coolness to hide their loneliness. Some wear masks depicting the happiness to hide the sorrow.

Also, the answer " I am fine" will be said when people asked if we are okay. 

Conversely, the heart is wounded.

The sound of the heartbeat dominates the still air during nights, where you finally have to admit the feeling deep inside your heart - unhappiness. The cycle of depression becomes a norm where you wake up from the shattered dreams with teary eyes. You have to force yourself to return to sleep or suffer insomnia till morning, and begin the day with a fake smile.

 Fake smile is on the face, 

because you still have to face others whom you don't hope them to know your genuine feeling.

But, most people say the the best make up for girls is smile.

So, I have to mask a smile!

Something that you didn't notice...

the story from my eyes.

Could you see the tears that hold by my eyes?

One day, let's take our masks off. 

Clear the throats and mention that all the nonsense dramas are over.

We become ourselves again. 

Expectation.

Past.

Sadness.

Let it go~

Things That Rhyme with Life- Family, Friends, Relationship and Work

Have you ever wondered how you defined the essential things of your life? Below are my definitions of few important things in my life. 

Family is endless love stories. The words itself representing “Father and Mother, I love you!". Family is the best gift that has awarded to my life. Family- the strongest bond which link me to you...

So, how I define relationship? I opine that a relationship is respecting the differences of each other.Despite of gender difference, I am meaning the difference of behaviors, attitudes and hobbies. Secondly, equal balance of commitments for each other would be good as couples should give and take. If one party keeps putting efforts while another receiving party does not show the same, I don't think a relationship will last long. 

Next, a relationship is about learning to complement each other. Complement and compromise are essential in relationships as these make both need each other. Apart from appreciating the similarities, I opine that relationship is also about the happiness of the party is essential to my own. A healthy affair or relationship shall make both happy. The imperfections of which shall be accepted as we shall understand that nobody is perfect. Again, it is impossible to have no arguments or misunderstandings, however, it doesn't mean that you shall leave each other after the quarrels. Besides that, most of the marriage vows would have " I will hold you for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer...., to love and to cherish, till death do us part, and hereto I pledge you my faithfulness." This shows that a relationship is about never give up each other in any circumstances.

Two persons able to come to be in the same boat named "Relationship" by sharing the same feelings for each other. Relationship is not only about love, but also about having trust, loyalty and being supportive to the loved one. The distance might be a temporary hindrance, yet communications, commitments and sharings shall be long-lasting to produce a good ending. Last but not least, relationship is about the people that you want to be in life.

Sometimes, I need someone that can let me cry in his hug, instead of on the bed.

There are many categories of friends, ranging from hi-bye friends, contact friends, common friends, close friends and true friends. For me, true friend is the one who can listen to my repeated stories and all kinds of nags and dramas. While others are treating you as a bull-shit, he or she will still stand by you. Nah.. a true friend has to accept the imperfections of me. When you are at your peak of achievements, the true buddy will cheer for you sharing the glory. For me, a true friend shall forgive the mistakes and accept the ugliest side in front of him or her. Hmm.. did you tried wearing pyjamas or not bathe for few days in front of your friends? Did they point out you are smelly yet still willing to be at your side? Succinctly stated, a true friend is someone who gives me dozes of happiness and able to shine like a star.

What's your childhood life about? Mine is full of tears, candies, sleeps, games and etcetera. Being the first kid of my family, I am always proud to say that I am the first gift for parents' happiness. Okay, I am not sure how much headaches I have provided them when I grow up. The big thing I did in my childhood life is dreaming to be an adult and have various ambitious dreams like being doctor, scientist to save the world and so on.

My primary school and secondary school life are basically linked with books and exams. Hence, I am more interested with explanation of my university life. My university life is about puppy love (smirks), food tours, social life accompanied with movies and travels, last-minutes studies, late night sleeps  and naps during day time, class cancellations which had us in cloud nine, declaration of honeymoon whenever examinations finish and etcetera. My university life ends and follows by the tiring work-life.

What is your working life about? The 8 C's of my working life:

• Car in which that I stuck in before and after working.
• Caffeine obsession. - My dating with coffee during tiring days-
• Clock-in early and clock-out at late hours with most works are ranked as URGENT work.
• Career is the name for work.
• Cash is the reason that I am working.
• Call for new opportunities to enhance myself. So, boss, any new opportunities or chances for me to develop?
• Criticism or scoldings which come from superiors, colleagues and customers occasionally. （Okay, they never know spoken words are like sharp knives, causing me bad moods.)
• Climb the ladder of career

Guess that You Don't Even Bother...

Guess that You Don't Even Bother

I never have the chance to say goodbye,

Perhaps you are just meant too much,

But sooner or later I’m gonna have to let go,

In order to move on my journey,

Instead of holding tight to the past.

My heart is an open window,

Things just come and go,

But nobody ever stays like he/she promises.

But if you stop by and listen to it carefully,

You will notice it is broken piece by piece.

No one is going to last forever,

People leave and people change.

Sometimes,

we're left alone wondering why our life became hell,

But sometimes we are left wondering

how we met the people that shaped us,

made us into who we are now.

Sometimes,

I don't even know how could the story ever started,

and how it ended with...and do you want to know the worst part?
i never got my last goodbye, no i love you, no nothing.
just tears, pain and heart ache.

Loving you doesn't scare me,

Just the thought that you don’t love me, it does.

I think about you more than i should

but my mind doesn't seem to care, and neither do I.

Sometimes, i wonder if you love me for the things i've done

or that you love me because of who I am;

Or because I am the person who see's you

for everything you don’t see yourself as.

Yeah, life is just like a merry-go-round,

with ups and downs...

People used to say stand up where you fell,

but I would say lie there till there's the time to stand up again.

Some people wish for luxury,

And others wish for health,

But what do i wish for? I wish for you to be happy.

So that I will be too...=)

Love shouldn't hurt like it does