ضريبة السلع والخدمات- GST

           It is getting colder here, in Nottingham. I’ve seen the leaves turn from green to red and yellow, and now the trees look lifeless and barren as autumn dictates its rules. As I struggle in these unknown territories of freezing mornings and nights with chilling winds, I really could not care less about my country thousands of miles away and its problems- I need to warm myself first.

          Who cares about complicated taxes and screwed up politicians anyway?  We students are better off playing games on the next-generation consoles or reading rather pointless writings upon philosophy and absurd ways of life. If you are a slightly decent person then I would say that we should just concentrate upon our studies and get stuck in libraries reading things you can’t understand over and over again.

            If you don’t enjoy games, then you can watch movies or try to write some funny things on your blog to increase your followers. Or else, just watch some cat videos on Youtube  or weird stunts made by Japanese people. Sleeping the whole day is a better thing to do , rather than writing about taxes. It’s a depressing thing to write about, when the economics class doesn’t really make any sense anyway.

           I decided to write today because human beings have a sense of responsibility and some sort of love towards justice and equality, no matter how complacent   and indulgent they are. Thus, after hours of gaming and doing pointless things as written above, I hereby decided to purify my soul and do some good.

                GST is a tax. We should really care about it, and we have no option but to care, since the ones paying the six percent is ourselves. Unless if you were born a millionaire and you have too much money to spend, then you are better off doing something else. It’s a substitution to the income tax.

              Income tax is an inefficient method of taxation, as many people can get away with it. Our nation’s income tax has a filing system, which involves filling in information about our income and expenses in a year, details about assets and family members. This information will be processed by LHDN, and that will determine the amount of tax you have to pay. People can easily falsify this information to avoid paying tax, by simply cheating on the number of children and wives they have, or through creative accounting, and many other ways.

                  Since most Malaysians are middle income earners, they are not even obligated to pay taxes.  Only about a million out of 12 million workers in Malaysia pay income taxes, and that explains the inefficiency.

               GST on the other hand applies to almost every kind of goods and services, and thus even those who avoided tax before will have to pay the burden. GST is a substitution tax, in the sense that when it is implemented, income tax is lowered-it is a substitute to the ineffective income tax.

          Sales and services tax (SST) which was implemented before was just as inefficient. It is limited to only 25 groups of trades, and applies only to retailers-the ones at the end of the production chain. In other words, you don’t have to pay tax if you are not the final consumer. GST applies tax to all stages of production, so if the retailers are not qualified for GST, manufacturers will have to pay the tax for they purchases from suppliers of raw goods , and then they will sell the produced goods to retailers at a higher price  and taxed with same percentage. The difference between the 6 percent paid to the supplier of raw foods and the 6 percent sold to the retailer is paid to the government.

                 I need to learn the art of simplifying things. Sorry if you don’t understand that- go read some more.

To make it simple, as GST applies to all stages of production, people have no choice but to pay. Period.

             We are not against taxation or specifically, GST. It is an efficient taxation system, and it will definitely bring more income for the government. Honestly, it is an improvement, and we should support a better system of bureaucracy.  Supposedly, as the nation’s income increases, there is more room for development and the betterment of people’s lives . Without taxes, the beloved government can’t afford to build  roads and schools for our children.  Damaged trains will not be repaired, teachers be unpaid, doctors starved to death, hospitals stop working , and there won’t be any subsidy for  gas and food either.

                 Therefore , we should be thankful to the government who had to raise taxes for our sake, albeit rather reluctantly. Without  them the country would have turned into a sparse desert, a warzone without a 

legit currency. Like seriously.

                  What the heck.

            It is an undeniable fact that the government had been complacent in the handling of our money, or as one can see in the Auditor’s report, they revelled in wasting it. Why should excess in spending caused by corruption and misuse of funds be paid by the people? Shouldn’t they limit their expenses before asking people to pay more?  Stating that GST would not raise the price of goods is a lie. Even implementing it will cost a lot to firms, as they are required to hire accountants , buy computers and programming systems to calculate taxes that need to be paid to the government. Production costs will increase , as electricity bills will rise , and so will the price of raw goods-the exception of GST to electricity only includes the first 200 units.

                   I like to reiterate that we do  not have problems with taxes. It is for the sake of the country and the people. The only problem we have is with the way the money is spent, and the motivation of those rulers spending it.

         It is cold here, and we pay GST  at the rate of 20% in the UK. Yet we feel nothing wrong about it. Because the governance is trustworthy, and we know where does our money goes to. 

              

Bangladeshi Workers' Front

                           Let us pray for our neighbours in the Philippines; may Allah give them strength and ease their hardship.

          I have been staring at the screen for too long, thinking about ways to begin this particular essay, but nothing comes to mind, so this awkward sentence will serve as the introduction. Sorry for that. I had been thinking about the value of human lives , the value of my own, and the value of yours ,and suddenly had the urge to write something and make myself look clever. That way, I might raise the value of my life higher than yours.

             

   Please continue reading even though the previous paragraph makes no sense. Thanks.

            In economics , a rational consumer is assumed to be able to rate and define his preferences, in an ordinal way. A friend of mine for example, likes coffee more than tea, and likes tea more than orange juice. If he ranks his preferences, then coffee would take the first place, and orange juice the third . Can we do such rankings upon human lives?

                If I have four wives , perhaps I can make a ranking based upon the performance of each of my wives; I seriously think it would be disastrous at the end though. We have had various measures of valuing human lives; starting from rankings in school examinations to achievements in the work place. People who had succeeded  in their education and their careers might value themselves more than others, just like some ministers who view themselves high apart from penniless villagers who sometimes can’t even read.

           Those who studied abroad might think that they are better than their local counterparts- perhaps even going as far as saying that local students are narrow minded and closed to worldly views. Can we really put values upon people’s lives that way?

                In our religion, there is no such thing. No matter how highly accomplished one is, there is no way that he can claim that the value of his life is higher than others. The competition is open and fair in this religion, that no one has an advantage over the other. A beggar can always be better than a king-and the case is almost always so. Poor people can be better than the rich; in the judgement of Allah- after all He  values the deeds of men and the condition of their hearts- not education certificates and yearly incomes.

           

    Even a religious scholar can’t claim that he is better than a sinner, since at the end , nobody knows what are they going to be.

            I am trying to establish an agreement with you that we can’t value our lives more than others.   We do not have the knowledge of other people’s deeds and the condition of their hearts, and thus we are unable to judge others.

                 If you agree with the previous statement, then I would like to add another factor that we had used to differentiate ourselves from others; national borders and IDs. I have seen people cringing at the sight of foreigners in  the city centre, sometimes even swearing at them out of spite. In my hometown for example, there had been an influx of Bangladeshis   who came to work in construction sites and factories, and the city centre is crowded with these newcomers in the weekends.

         People have become afraid   to walk  in the city and had refrained from doing so, citing safety reasons and increasing street crimes. They put the blame upon the foreign workers. They speak as if  their own sons and neighbours are saints; free of any crimes and wrongdoings. We put the value of our lives higher than those immigrants, because we are citizens of this country. We made it sound as if those people are less civilized than we are, yet we don’t have any right to do so.

          The recent shooting case was a prime example. When the security guard-supposedly a foreigner- shot the bank officer  in the face, the majority of foreign workers received the blame. We somehow managed to stereotype all those foreign workers as the leading cause for crimes and violence. We blame them, as if our own citizens did not shoot others in the face.

               What is it that makes the lot of us regard themselves better than those immigrants? Is it because we are citizens of this country, and they aren’t? This world was not created with borders. Such lines and fences never existed to begin with. Why should we restrict ourselves in man-made borders, and  go to the extent of discriminating the ones outside?

              A difference in income does not make us better than those foreign workers with minimum wages.  The difference in nationality never gives us any advantage upon any people, nor does our birthplace, skin colour and race. We do not own the land, and neither does the government, that we might put borders and claim the nation as ours. I might sound like a communist there- but it’s true- as our time upon this planet is just so short.

 

         It seems ironic that while we try to fight racism in this country, discriminating immigrants does not seem like a wrong thing to do. As if that in itself is not racism.

        I will not go as far as to stand in the city centre and  give free hugs to immigrants. But I will say this; we have no rights to claim that the value of our lives is ever better than anyone else.

The Sacred Name~

Hisashiburi.

             Humans always have irrational fears to various sorts of things. My younger sisters have excessive fear towards lizards and the likes of it, that they would burst into tears and run off every time I bring a wriggling gecko in my hands into the house. Well, that  sort of fear is  better defined as a phobia. And that fear my sisters have is quite rational, as I had been chasing them with lizards every chance I get. A fear is irrational when there is absolutely no reason to freak out at all. Fear towards  ghosts is irrational, perhaps, as nobody in this world was ever murdered or eaten alive by ethereal beings.  The fear that arose among some muslims that their brothers would get confused by Christians who use the name Allah in their bibles , is an irrational fear, one that has no basis at all.

                My muslim brothers aren't Pokemon that can get confused by certain psychic attacks. I recognize the lack of depth in religious knowledge among the vast majority, but at least, give them some credit.

 

Sahih International

Say, "O People of the Scripture, come to a word that is equitable between us and you - that we will not worship except Allah and not associate anything with Him and not take one another as lords instead of Allah ." But if they turn away, then say, "Bear witness that we are Muslims [submitting to Him]."(3;64)

           The attempt to ban the use of the name of Allah by non-muslims in their publications seems like a claim that Allah is a god exclusive to muslims only. The phrase rabbul muslimin is nowhere to be found in the Quran, and Allah introduces himself again and again as the  rabbul alamin. We certainly have no rights for exclusivity , because He is the God of all creatures, men and women, even if they are Christians , Hindu, Buddhists and even atheists who do not even believe in god. It doesn't even matter if they believe in Allah or not, because regardless of their choices and beliefs, Allah is the only God for all, and there is nothing they can do to change it. Is it logical, that when they recognize the name of God, we try to ban the non-muslims from even saying it?

Sahih International

Say, "To whom belongs whatever is in the heavens and earth?" Say, "To Allah ." He has decreed upon Himself mercy. He will surely assemble you for the Day of Resurrection, about which there is no doubt. Those who will lose themselves [that Day] do not believe.

(AL-An'am ,12)

               We are not given the exclusivity to Islam if we are born muslims. We are also not given the right to ban others from Islam. The fact that  we have the same God can be used to spark further debates and discussions between religions , which I believe will only bring others closer to Islam. Muslims won't convert to other religions just because the name Allah is in their books. There are always other reasons that cause such tragedies to occur. As stupid as we Malays are, converting for that reason would bring us to a level similar to  singular cell organisms. What are we afraid of? Why is inter-religion debates a  taboo in this multicultural country?           

          This is not an attempt to advocate pluralism, and if this writing seems to be doing just that, please enlighten me.

          Under the clutches of this irrational fear , we tried to limit our interactions with non-muslims , because we believed that every single one of them is conspiring against us, working towards our downfall, or planning a massacre of muslims in the near future. Well, what the hell? The paranoia that exists among Malays that there is an attempt to put some pig blood in every food we have is a good example.

            It is not fun to live as a pessimist , or in this case, as conspiracy theorists. To waste away our lives imagining malicious schemes that are being plotted against us  by people we barely know about , that is really not a healthy way to live. Everything is a conspiracy. There are too many  Chinese shops in a city-there's a conspiracy behind all that . A new big church is built- there are freemasons running in their rooms.  Rather than imagining conspiracies and making stories about these evil plots, we are better off working for the economy and the well-being of muslims. In  other words, we should face the reality.

                  Allah told Nabi Musa to talk to Firaun with a gentle speech , so that he might be reminded of Allah or be made to fear Him. Firaun was a dictator, a transgressor, and Nabi Musa is told to interact with him with kindness. Yet, in our country, we try to ban our kind-hearted fellow citizens from using the name of God, we march in front of courts ,yelling our rights for exclusivity.

Sahih International

Go, both of you, to Pharaoh. Indeed, he has transgressed.

Sahih International

And speak to him with gentle speech that perhaps he may be reminded or fear [ Allah ]."(Taha; 43-44)

                 If we proceed with the act of banning the use of the name of God by others, what will we achieve? Will the number of Muslims converting to other religions decrease? It won't. Will the gap and antagonism between Islam and other religions increase? Most probably so. I fear that the verdict made by the court about the ban is not a case for celebration; it is a cause for grief.

Peace, yo

TPPA~

           Free trade is what the name itself implies. A trade that is free. A simple explanation for  free trade is like a market where traders can sell whatever they want, regardless of the amount, to whomever they wish to sell to, without having to bear taxes or be restricted under government policies. By committing to free trade policies, governments do not discriminate against imports or interfere with exports by applying tariffs (to imports) or subsidies (to exports) or quotas.

            In theory there should be nothing wrong with free trade. In fact, through comparative advantage, goods are made cheaper, and there would be a higher amount of goods produced , with addition of variations in production.  What the heck is comparative advantage? Read that yourself.

              People should start reading before they agree to protest against something.  Associating capitalism with the evil Satan while not knowing  what capitalism itself is, for example, is plain bigotry. Naming liberalism as a heretic West ideology, without even knowing  the basis of liberalism is not what intellectuals do; it is not what people with brains should ever practice. Regarding TPPA , just because the media overhyped it as a bad thing, that does not mean that we should jump into the bandwagon  and protest against it .

          To cut it short , TPPA or Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement is an agreement of free trade. Countries which signed this agreement are entitled to deregulate their trade policies when dealing with foreign firms from other signatory countries. That would reduce import tariffs and loosen environmental and safety regulations previously  restricted upon imports. This will obviously encourage investment and increase the volume of both imports and exports in a country. An increase in foreign investment and demand for exports would bring to an increase in job opportunities and therefore reduce unemployment. In what way is this TPPA bad? Please ignore the nuances of reports in the net that employs a rather negative tone about TPPA without even trying to explain about it.

 Sorry for being so boring. I don't know how to make this fun.

                 I am an advocate for free trade. If the Malaysian government actually trusted in free trade, my father and his neighbours would have bought Mercedes and Bentley instead of those mysterious local cars-haha- because free trade is the exact opposite of  protectionist policies  that Mahathir loved so much. Excise duties would be  reduced, quotas would be removed and imported cars would be so much cheaper. The same goes for all imported goods which appear expensive , while the actual cost is less than half the price.

            The problem with TPPA is that  the agreement undermines the voice of the people who voted for the government. If Malaysia joins TPPA, the government would have to conform to deregulation, and this is made without the people's consent. Environmental laws would be inapplicable to foreign laws, as they have obtained the 'right for free trade'. Firms can even demand compensation if domestic environmental policies are applied to them. Frankly, there is no way those hundreds of thousands of Malaysians who protested against Lynas , those who stood up against industrial pollution would ever support this agreement. To add to that , if Malaysia wishes to amend their policies to make them applicable against those foreign firms, we would require the agreement of all signatory countries to make it happen. In other words , should the people demand for better control upon pollution , there is no way the government could impose such laws upon those invincible firms.

                      To make it simpler, if a foreign firm pollutes a river in Malaysia, and our environmental laws demand them to pay for the damages, the firm can sue our government for compensation, because they were denied of 'potential future profits' . This is just so wrong , it doesn't even make sense anymore.                                                                                          

                    If a foreign firm build their factories here , domestic laws would again be inapplicable against their operations. Under TPPA, investors are given rights to procure land, resources, build factories ,or anything else they invested in. It doesn't matter that they are given rights to explore our resources, but to give them protection against safety and environmental laws is not something reasonable.

     

                The lack of regulation would mean that imported goods would undergo less safety and health checks. Therefore ,even  if imported food from signatory countries contain elements that make people dumb or grow extra limbs, we would just bring them in , in the name of free trade.

            TPPA grants too much freedom for investors and foreign firms. While it's true that free trade would bring in more job opportunities and economic growth, there is no reason to give foreign firms the rights to violate our resources and pollute our lands as they see fit.

             Forgive my exaggerations. Correct me if I am wrong.

Peace.

Red Flowers~

                 The trees here are blooming with red flowers, this time of the year, when it is never certain whether the day is going to be sunny or rainy. I have grown accustomed with the coldness of the mornings and the extreme heat of the noon.   I like it when the scenery painted with red flowers is fused with the horrible smell coming from the rubber plantations; it is confusing  and seems just wrong. Such a beautiful place , and such a terrible atmosphere to breathe in; love and hate becomes one. Ah, sorry, I'm writing this because another exercise paper would make me puke my soul out, so forgive me if the following words seem incomprehensible.

              I am leaving this place in a matter of days, when it is most beautiful; when the trees are painted red. I can only wish that we could leave this place when it is not this breathtakingly  magnificent, so that it won't be hard for me to leave this place that I despise so much.

it's not this much of a redness

          I am writing this post as an apology towards a friend who had been apologizing to me every day in these two years. He has done absolutely nothing wrong , yet he kept saying sorry for every single thing he ever did. My friend apologizes to me for waking me up for Subuh prayers, and he would say sorry for not waking me up. He would apologize for making a joke, and he apologizes for making bad jokes. Everything seems wrong, and I do not understand why.

                Even though what he did had absolutely no effect or correlation whatsoever upon my soul , he would blame himself for it. It seems like he would apologize if the air we breathe in stink of spoilt rubber , or if it rains, or if I have a fever, or if I forget my lunch. It is very depressing to carry the burden of guilt of the whole earth, yet my friend takes upon himself every single thing that happens. Sometimes I feel sad for my friend because of his tendency towards blaming himself, but sometimes I feel like punching him in the face.

                My roommate and I fart at our leisure, because it is human nature , and there is nothing wrong with it. Unless if the word fart is beyond your tolerance threshold.  My friend however apologizes every single time he farts, and that is just unacceptable. What the fish man.

     

             Forget the previous paragraph.

               Even if the day is a perfectly fine day, windy and coloured with fallen red petals, without even a hint of the stinking rubber, it seems that my friend would find something to apologize for.

             The main problem is that my friend is an extremely kind guy. He has never refused to help me with my studies, nor is he ever reluctant to share his notes and books. Sometimes he would pack breakfast for me when I am unable to come to the dining hall in the mornings; for various  reasons obviously. He is the one who reminds me of important things ; dates and tasks to be settled; all of which I tend to forget. In this place where  everyone else seems uninterested with religion, he would always speak to me about hadith; their matan and the meanings, surahs and ayahs in the Quran. My friend is like an angel, soaring in the sky painted with red trees; his kindness overwhelms me and rendered me speechless. When an angel apologizes to you , the burden to forgive is too heavy and depressing, especially when there is nothing wrong in the  first place.

                  Due to the high frequency of apologies being said, I feel like he does not regard me as his friend at all. Friends do not have to apologize for most of the stuff we did. Eat my food and smack my head, I won't even care. The only moment that you have to apologize is if you kidnap my sisters and burn  my house down.

                   My economics teacher taught me that the excess of supply of a good would reduce the price, as the marginal utility diminishes for every extra consumption.  Too many apologies would reduce the value of the word  "sorry", I guess, similar to the story of the boy who cried wolf. The third time when the shepherd boy cried for help, this time against a real wolf, none of the villagers come to his rescue. The next time my friend apologizes, I would never know whether  his apology is sincere, or just born out of routine.

                I guess that I must sound like a mean and judging schmuck who are unable to appreciate others.  Well then ,sorry for that.

              I have no idea whether my friend and I would ever meet again after these two year's end.        After all we would be leaving this desolate place painted with red trees. I would be happy if we could part ways without being guilty. He would feel guilty because he always feel that way. I would feel guilty because I was never able to say sorry.

  

  Peace.     

The Macai Mentality

            The word macai, according to a very suspicious open dictionary, means a group of people with low mentality, gullible , and easily influenced by negative perceptions. This weird dictionary further defines macai as stalwart supporters of a particular political party. I would prefer to define macai as supporters of a group , with a loyalty beyond the boundaries  of reason, and sometimes seeks to justify the acts of their leaders, although they are  clearly wrong. In Malay, the coin word for the acts of a macai is "kesetiaan tak berbelah bahagi" .

                  I have  no reason to write something so unpleasant, but this is just an analysis I made after months of observation.

                       Macais and the macai mentality exists everywhere, in every group and party. The very existence of the macai mentality has succeeded to halt the progress of our nation's political development.  The general characteristics of a macai is as follows;

1. Seeks to justify every action and decisions made by their leaders, without trying to question it.

2. Employs baseless assumptions , slanders and pointless accusations  due to the lack of facts on their side.

3. The ones who swears on every political Facebook post.

4. Those people who are going to dance and sing like hooligans tomorrow morning.

5. People who consider those sodomy cases and sex videos as legit.

6. Every person that ever said that we should be grateful to the government.

7. ISMA

             A macai can either have all of those above, or even only one of them, to be qualified as a macai. The reason for their unwavering loyalty is beyond me- I have an idea for it, but that will take another post for it. Dr Tariq Ramadan wrote about critical loyalty in his book, What I  Believe. Critical loyalty is the exact opposite of macais' stalwartness. People with a critical loyalty  believes in their ideology, but they seek to question the acts made by their leaders, before they decide to follow. Islam is the true religion, but that does not mean that I have to justify every act made by Muslims. If some Muslims decided to bomb people alive for fun, then I should criticize such actions.

             Dan Ariely mentioned about possessing an ideology in his writings. The concept of possession of ideology is similar to the possession of our personal assets. Say that I have a bike that I ride to college every day. I bought  that bike with hard-earned cash, and the bike has done so many things for me. I formed an emotional bond with my bike, and I do like it very  much. Therefore , I put a great value upon that bike, and when I decide to sell it, it is most probable that the price that I put is much higher than anyone would want the bike for. The same goes for an ideology. When one took a liking in an idea, they put more value on it than anyone else, and they seek to justify every single deficit that the ideology has. For example, ISMA members enjoyed their activities so much, for it is so fulfilling, that they decided to accept and justify every action that their leader took. That is just an example.

          Although I support PAS and its endeavours, that does not mean that I should agree  and justify every acts made by the party. The act of some supporters who seek to justify every single action that PAS took, for the reason that they are ulama'  and they know more, classifies them as macais. We don't need this kind of people in our journey. This is a democracy, not  a monarchy. Every single person has the right and the ability to question everything. Being an underling ,or just a normal member does not reduce our brain capacity, nor does it take away our rights to question everything.

[And they should consider that] when those who have been followed disassociate themselves from those who followed [them], and they [all] see the punishment, and cut off from them are the ties [of relationship],

Sahih International

Those who followed will say, "If only we had another turn [at worldly life] so we could disassociate ourselves from them as they have disassociated themselves from us." Thus will Allah show them their deeds as regrets upon them. And they are never to emerge from the Fire. (Al-Baqarah, 166-167)

          This is not a war , where you either kill or be killed. This is just an election , where we have choices to make, and we question ourselves on which choice to make. I need to question myself to find out whether I understand the ridiculous MRP theory in college. I need to question myself to see whether this post makes sense or not. Question everything, my friend.

          To question is not to deny, nor does it seek to reject. To question is to reiterate  our faith and belief in something.

            A faith without questions is just blind love. Remember , my friend, to question is to understand , not to deny. Ah, what is love without understanding

                   Be free of the macai mentality , my friend. Think by yourselves.

Lies~

                 As an Economics student, I have learned with great emphasis, that doing an analysis with a baseless assumption is a grave error.   I myself considered it a sin , because of the number of times my teachers get annoyed for wild assumptions I wrote in my essays. It resulted in my works being degraded as  'highschool level' essays- a cruel and deep insult. An example for a baseless assumption is like  suggesting that children will die out of hunger, should the government stops giving book vouchers. It has no correlation with the main issue whatsoever, and there is no reason that it would happen. I think a better example is like suggesting that Japan should enforce its infrastructure now, because Ultraman and his lovely monsters are going to appear in Kyoto soon.

himpunan rakyat kl112

                 An Economist that works upon baseless premises should die alone in a terrible death, eaten by dogs in a monsoon drain, for his analysis is misleading and wrong, and decisions made from his views will lead to an economic downfall. He would work better as a manga writer or a novelist, for his imagination is very likely to be powerful. Politicians that utilize baseless assumptions  should become hikikomoris, beings that would never interact  with  people, for these kind of men are dangerous to the society and the nation

.

           A better word for 'baseless assumptions' made by politicians would be 'lies'. This is because those assumptions are not true, they have no supporting evidence, and there is no reason that it would happen. However, for the people who believes those assumptions, it becomes an 'inconceivable fear'. They fear for  predictions that have no reason to happen, similar to people believing in shamans making predictions about their fates.

                 My mother always tell me not to lie to anyone.  So did every wonderful mother upon this planet. My religion taught me not to lie, and so did every other religion in this world. It is not just a lie, it is a universal sin. Telling lies is a sin that has been recognized since the beginning of time, and it is an act despised by anyone. Lies break friendships, relationships, and lies hurt our hearts. I would lose your trust should I lie to you, my friend, and for that reason, I promise I won't lie to you, no matter what it is. Should there is something that I can't tell you, I won't  make lies to cover it up, but I would just be quiet about it, and I won't say a word. Such is the Bro Code that I learned.

              If lying is a universally recognized sin, then why does it  become acceptable in politics? Does lying become right in the name of a better government and a better nation?

              Tonight , in his Labour Day speech, our Prime Minister said that " it is hard to achieve peace and harmony, it takes tens of years. But chaos and disorder can happen overnight". What is he trying to imply here? I respect him for he is a skillful politician, but such statement is an example of a subtle lie, an impression put in our minds without us realizing it.

              Such assumptions might seem harmless , for it seems to be just a part of a campaign slogan , but the truth is , it is a lie. For example, BN has banners in my town that said these words; "vote for PR , and the country goes bankrupt in two years". Some might say that it is just a prediction about the future, so it is not a lie, it is not a sin. Nobody can lie about things that have yet to happen. However, I choose to disagree. If I suggest to you, that a kind friend of mine , who has done nothing wrong before, that he is  going to a gay bar next week , to gain money before going to the UK, what will you think of it? Is it fine because it is just an assumption of a thing that is yet to happen? Is it fine then, to take my words , and spread it to everyone in your Facebook friends' list?

                  I went to a BTN camp last month, and at the end of the camp, they showed us students a video about the violence in the middle east, Narathiwat, Palestine and Ambon, among a few of the places. We were shown people being shot alive, cut apart, and their brains scattered on the roads. Houses and schools were burnt down, and the people were deprived of their basic needs. They concluded the video by saying that we should appreciate the peace in our country, and for the sake of that peace , we students should keep the current government in power.

btn in a nutshell

          They didn't even have to mention that should PR come in power , something terrible will happen to this country. It was such a subtle and crafty lie , that I felt so sick and disgusted.

            It is time that people stop acting based upon these lies. There is no reason whatsoever that LBGTs will be legitimate when PR comes in power. There is no proof that DAP will turn this country into a communist heaven that kills all Malays, and surrender this country to Singapore. But there is always a proof that the current government is corrupted to the core  . I agree that being cautious is good for us Muslims, but being cautious upon baseless things is just plain wrong.

  "  O you who have believed, be persistently standing firm for Allah , witnesses in justice, and do not let the hatred of a people prevent you from being just. Be just; that is nearer to righteousness. And fear Allah ; indeed, Allah is Acquainted with what you do." ( Al-Maidah, 8)


       Isn't it time that this country becomes a democratic country, with the parties discussing about policies for the future of our religion, and our country, instead of all those lies? Be free of brainwashing lies and inconceivable fears, my friend. Vote for a change.

  Happy Labour's Day~~