Of Con Artists and the Conned

First they targetted mak chiks and ah chims with their magic stones, then it was your average man in the street with their magic chemical to produce US$, then it was some businessmen with their offer of assistance to get that coveted Datukship......the list goes on. And, if events of last week were anything to go by, they have progressed to mass conning. There was this family of 15 being cheated by a "medium" of their cash and jewellery (read here) and on the back of this, 8000 people were reportedly conned by a four star "general" (story here).

Which all leaves me perplexed.

Is it because our conmen and women are par excellence? Or are Malaysians just plain naive and gullible. Maybe its our greed and lust for power. But then again, it may be the culture of Bolehland's society. When everything is possible, why not reap the most from whoever want to believe in you, says the conmen. When everthing is possible, why not try our luck, says the conned.

I have no answer.

Mid-week thoughts by Weekends

Father and son

When you are as old as me and your son is also a blogger, you can imagine the offline "debates" we have before anything gets blogged. Last weekend was a case in point and the issue was tak bolehwood. In the event, my son got his blog out on Saturday and I was distracted to the extent of missing my self-imposed dateline of Sunday night updating.

All that is passe, now that KL Datuk Bandar has lifted the ban on ICT. All I hope is that ICT will treasure the space they posses to articulate artistically the issues affecting Malaysian society, institutions, government, etc. ICT will do well to note that this space is part of the "Public Sphere" in a democracy and acting therein entails a degree of responsibilty. "Self-censorship" is not necessarily a bad word.


The English Premier League

They are in town - the Blues, Magpies and the other Blues (Chelsea, Newcastle and Birmingham footbal clubs) - for the inaugural FA Premier League Asia Cup competition. This will be held at the Bukit Jalil stadium this comming weekend.

If you are a sports fan you will know all about it. If you are not one you would possibly have heard about it.
As preparation for the 2003/04 season (which starts in August) the English clubs play "warm up" matches, both in England and overseas. For the three teams mentioned above the Bukit Jalil tournament is part of their pre-season programme.

Come August, millions of fans around the world will talk, eat and sleep football. Some for the sheer joy of watching the "beautiful" game (as the legendary Pele, the Brazilian footballer called it); some to make money from legal and illegal betting; and some to be spared the embrassment of being told they are not in tune with "worldly affairs" when on returning to the office after the weekend they are confronted with "Did you watch the game last night?' and they can only reply "Ugh?". Even bloggers take time off from current affairs to blog on soccer. Such is the magic of English football.

Malaysians are no different, your truely included. I dare to say that the whole spectrum of our society knows something about the EPL, if not a lot, at least the words - MU or Beckham(much as it pained me to mention this). In another month, all appointments for Saturday nights are off unless the venue for the function, etc provides sufficient TVs with Astro subscription. It will also be the time for re-stocking the pantry with beers, coke, pepsi, syrup bandung, canned chinchau, kachang goreng, keropok, chips and not forgetting Maggie's what have you.

Alas, if only the same energy and effort can be channelled to the Other Premier League. But that is another story. Read Lazarus Rokk, NST Sports Editor column in today's(23/7) New Straits Times, Counterpoint , for context.

As for me, my preparation for the season includes a trip to Highbury to check out on the new kit in early August. Up the Gunners.

Old Folks "Tales" Continued

As if on cue, this letter, Why so cold to the old? was published in the NST today.

Weekends knows of a some what similar case with another rail transport company, Putra LRT. A few years back it introduced concessionary cards for senior citizens. Very noble but, as always, economic reason saw the withdrawal of the concession. It seemed that the reduction of their overall ticket price structure (they were very high in the first place) did not permit continuation of the concession.

So much for good coporate citizenship.

Old Folks

When I get older losing my hair,
Many years from now............

Will you still need me, will you still feed me,
When I am sixty-four.
(From the Beatles' "When I am 64")

Last Friday, a colleague, on entering the office, exclaimed that he just "saw this old and bald man walking hand in hand with this pretty young lady". As expected a discussion ensued and amongst others, centered on whether the "sweet young thing" was the old man's darling or his daughter. In the end everybody was left to their own conclusions.

My thoughts on this was, did it matter who the lady was? If we stop moralizing, we may even laud the SYT for helping the old man LIVE his life, whatever their motivation. In their twilight years the old would welcome such gestures of care for all their contribution to family and country.

And do Malaysia and Malaysians care? I am not so sure that this happens widely.

Anyone who uses public transport would have, at one time or another, noticed how the old are sidelined in the rush to board the bus or train. If they lucky to squeeze through and board they have another battle, to find a seat. This is just an example but, if you care to think about it , you can find many more.

Corporate Malaysia also shows traces of this "unfriendliness" to the old. It would appear that a lot of our companies have not heard of "concessions". How meaningfull it would be to a retiree if he can get discounts for travel, entertainment or dining. It will help to stretch his/her retirement funds a bit. Don't they deserve a better life at this stage of their life.

What about the notoriously long queues and wait at Government clinics, departments and office. Even the young and able-bodied are drained of their energy. What more the warga tua ? Surely priority according to age should be the order of the day thereat. The powers that be are not that friendly to the old, are they?

Enough said.

Thinking Malaysians

I used to comment to family and friends that in this country of ours, despite everything negative that has happened, its re-assuring to know that there are thinking Malaysians around who collectively gives hope for a better Malaysia.

Today, I came across another one.

I.I. of Petaling Jaya wrote about the influence of Harry Potter as it affects his family, which I think could also be relevant to many of us. His letter in the NST can be read in full here but I like to reproduce an extract here -

"Brought up as a typical Malay child watching black and white movies on TV, I was never remotely influenced by the magic and witchcraft of Batu Belah, Batu Bertangkup, Bawang Putih, Bawang Merah or Si Tanggang.

We knew then, and now, that these were the stuff of fantasy and were none the worse for the experience. What I discovered about HP was the magic that it wrought on my daughters: before they refused to read English, preferring Malay novellas.

Now I can say proudly that their English is as good as their Bahasa Malaysia. For that, I thank you , J.K. Rowling. That really was the magic, apart from giving my family a pleasant diversion from the violence-ridden fare offered in the media,"

That really is being broad-minded.

Of "Doa" reciting and Malaysian schools

Its funny how everytime I read or hear about some controversy in Malaysian schools, my mind would moved into "rewind" mode. And what a long rewinding it would be - back a generation ago to when I was a school boy. Then I would make comparisons between "nowadays" and "those days"and end up lamenting the state of our schools presently. This time around it was the Doa reciting problem in a Penang school (read Jeff Ooi's Screenshots for blogs on this issue).

Nowadays - Doa reciting in schools before classes. Islamic in substance. Racial understones. Controversy. Politicians jumped in to lead parents protest. The establishment explained the need for all these prayer sessions. They also pass the buck on the somewhat insensitive way their very own policy was implemented to some headmasters.

Those Days - Singing the School song before classes. Lyrics were neutral as to ethnicity and religion. They extoll mainly the universal values of hard work, respect and the like. Also emphasised the school's "esprit de corp", so useful as a stepping stone leading to unity. NO controversy. Period.

Who says that there are no lessons to learn form the past?