Respect Yourself First

I work part-time on campus. I'm one of the three lab assistants helping Al, the lab coordinator for the Petroleum Engineering Department here at school.

One of the most interesting part in doing this part-time job with Al is that he'll at times give us advices one might usually regard as "wisdom". And sure, I personally think Al is a wise man.

This morning, first thing after Chrissy (one of the three lab assistants) and I reported ourselves to work, we updated him about some work stuff. Later we deviated into other topics and one of them was concerning women and respect.

Al talked quite a lot on it. He said some men are just not respecting women, thinking that men are superior to women, etc. etc. He obviously was against that, and I couldn't agree more with him. We believe women should be equally respected in any circumstances.

"But...", Al continued, "...women should know how to respect themselves first before they want or demand men to respect them"

He later suggested that if physical beauty is the only thing that a woman put forward to let themselves be regarded as, while neglecting the fact that she also has other non-physical qualities and achievements, then most likely this woman will be treated as such. Most likely men will treat them like objects - beautiful objects, of course, but nothing more than that. And when this happens, it's the woman's fault and she doesn't have much room to ask for men to give them the respect they actually deserve.

And I thought...

In other words, women should not only "sell" their physical attractiveness, because if they do, that'll be the only thing men will appreciate about them. If women also "sell" their other humanly self-qualities, they'll be much more appreciated as an equally respected human being.

But you know, men are not noble, either. Some men, even with women who respect themselves in the first place, will still think that women are mere objects who are inferior to them. In this case, then it's the man's fault for not respecting the woman. And if you meet one of these men, you'll immediately see the word "J.E.R.K" hugely printed right up on their forehead.

And I believe the whole respecting-yourself-first idea should also go to men. Notice how some men let beautiful women manipulate themselves and treating them unfairly but will still like the woman and humbly say sorry every single time he has the chance to. And notice every time the man stands up for himself, then woman will later give him more of the respect that man deserves. Dating expert, David Deangelo, for example, describes this as something like "Not letting women treat you with second-class behavior".

And I guess this "law" is quite universal that it is actually true in a lot of other circumstances. It's logical, and it makes a lot of sense, too. See - if we do not respect ourselves, how can we ever expect other people to give it to us in return, right?

What Zionists' Don't Want The World To Know

Take three minutes to watch this video. Americans are not exposed to these kinds of news. I'd like to take back some of my earlier comments saying that their media is free. Surely, if something has an ownership, it'll best represent the interests of its owner, right? And the "free" American media is just the same as any other controlled media we see around the world, especially when it comes to US foreign policies. I'd strongly suggest Americans who'd like to know what it's actually like out there to search somewhere else other than what you're fed on that huge TV you have. The internet might be the most independent media of all.

Now, let us together pray so that the Palestinians will be more protected from the filthy Zionists. And so that Allah will damn those Zionists who have no heart to the point that going into someone else's home and breaking walls do not seem to be something to feel guilty of anymore.

Humbled

An open letter to whom it may concern

It's so hard
That it hurts inside it kills me slowly
Whenever this feeling comes
It just makes me feel humbled all over again

I am angry
I am mad
Not towards you but towards myself
But nothing could be done
Thus my only choice is to feel humbled

I may not be the ideal one
And I may not be the best
But no matter what happens
I know I will try my best
To be responsible, to be respectful
To have your trust, and to be sincere in this

I apologize
If you were hurt
I know it's hard to forgive

I do not know if you will ever forgive me
Or even to spare me a chance to prove myself
But what I do know - is that

My apology sincerely comes from the bottom of my humbled heart

I'm sorry...

Ron Paul Is America's Only Hope

Photo credit: AP / Charlie Neibergall.

Living in the US has given me the tempias of the upcoming Presidential Election - taking place end of 2008. I have not read much of the candidates, but amidst my ignorance, I used to prefer Barack Obama.

But I've given up on Obama. Now it's Ron Paul time.

One might ask: Why the hell should you care about whoever becomes the US President? It's not like you're gonna be able to vote. Dude, you're a Malaysian for God's sake!

My answer: Well, because the US' Foreign Policies are vital to the rest of the world, thus knowing who gets to be the President will also guide us as to what should we anticipate in the near future , for example - more wars or no wars anymore? I am a human being living on this earth and somehow I do care what happens to the people in Iraq, Iran, Vietnam, and any other countries. I'd like to know if world peace will be restored or eroded more and more.

Now, I'd like to clarify that the reason I like Ron Paul is not because he is a Republican. Actually, in many ways, Ron Paul's ideas actually do not sound too Republican. I like Ron Paul particularly because of his ideas to restore the American constitution back in place just like what their founding fathers wanted back then. Many in America believe that for various reasons, the systems that they have today are slowly taking away Americans' sovereignty. Ron Paul is the only candidate who doesn't support the War against Iraq, and at the same time he seems to be the only one who is against the Patriot Act - an act similar to the famous Malaysian Internal Security Act (ISA). These outdated and colonial-like acts give governments unlimited power to jail anyone that they wish without trial in court and even without our rights to appoint a lawyer to defend ourselves. And in my opinion, these kinds of laws should not exist anymore in this world for any reason. If one is said to be guilty, he/she should have the right to at least defend him/herself before getting charged and jailed.

Also, learning (or I might also call it grilled) by a two hour movie Zeitgeist, I am now all clear that just as much as what should be done to Malaysia, so much should also be done in America. And to me, as we speak, the only man who seems to realize on what the main problems Americans are facing is Ron Paul.

So, what are the main problems that Americans are facing?

To answer this, first, let me talk about the movie Zeitgeist. The movie is somewhat an independent movie which costed me two hours of my afternoon sleep. But I'm glad I "paid" the two hour to gain some useful realizations as to what is really happening in American economy.

The movie has three parts, where the first part scrutinizes the existence of Jesus Christ (or probably even God) which I certainly do not agree with simply because I'm a Muslim and we firmly believe in the existence of Jesus (who is regarded as one of our Prophets before Muhammad).

But the other two parts, however, are mind-blogging. Too many facts (even some not properly cited) have been presented and they support one another you just can't deny that something wrong has been going really wrong with this world even from the beginning of the 20th century.

The two parts talk about the 9/11 attack (plus some previous world wars) and the Federal Reserve System (which is something like Malaysia's Bank Negara but privately-controlled). Net result - too disturbing to churn.

There is simply too much to be said about the movie that I would recommend all of you to spend some time watching it. And I especially recommend watching the last two parts. You can skip that first one.

And so, why Ron Paul? This time, my answer is: "Easy. Watch Zeitgeist on Google Video, search Ron Paul on Youtube, and you'll see what I'm trying to say"

Peace and out.

Freedom Of Speech - Dutch Style

Have you seen the latest Dutch hit, "Fitna"? If you haven't, you should. Go to YouTube and you'll find it there.

It is amusing to know that some people are producing videos or cartoons that they know are sensitive to Muslims, and later say

"Hey, this is freedom of speech! I can write and do whatever I want because we the civilized countries know better than you developing countries do! This is freedom of speech. You know nothing about it. So don't get offended, because if you do then I'm gonna call you terrorists!"

Pathetic.

That's the only description I could say to the people who can't distinguish between what is proper and what is not. These "civilized" people can't even tell if they're only using freedom of speech without taking somebody else's dignity or not.

Let's take this conversation as an example on how confused these people are:

Friend: Geert, I have two hands. Can I say that I should have freedom for my two hands to do whatever that I want? I mean, I should be able to pick up anything and use my hands to hold anything that I want, right?

Geert Wilders: Oh, yes! Why not? We humans have freedom in doing anything that we want!

And so Friend walked towards Geert Wilder's wife who's standing next to him and landed his hand on her ****** (you choose, whichever part that is sensitive).

Flabbergasted, Geert Wilders punched Friend on the face as hard as he could. He could not believe Friend had such an intention. With his nose bleeding, Friend said

Friend: What the hell, Geert?! You just told me that I could use my hands for anything. You said my two hands have freedom!

Geert Wilders: Are you stupid or what?! This is my wife. I treasure her the most and of course someone touching my wife is something that is offensive to me. I won't ever allow you to do that, and I don't care how much freedom your two hands have, you still can't go touching some private parts which are sensitive to some!! Limit that freedom you have, will you?!

And seeing that scene from far, a Muslim guy shook his head seeing how stupid Geert Wilders is. He talks about freedom of speech, but he doesn't know how to limit his. He doesn't know what offends others and yet he gets offended when others touch his wife's private part because to him, "it is offensive". UUuuu. Now he's talking about what's offensive and what's not.

Besides some European countries, freedom of speech is also common in America. People make fun of others on the Comedy Central TV channel, but yet they still know what should be the limits. And knowing that some jokes could be offensive, most stand up comedians prefer to use self-depreciating jokes, where they would humiliate themselves, their own race, their religion, or their own family members. Even in America people know how to use freedom of speech while behaving themselves.

But Geert Wilders? To him, freedom of speech is smearing other people's religion. He seems to know freedom of speech better than anyone else in the whole world.

I guess this is freedom of speech - Dutch style.

Shame on you, Geert.

Excellence Speaks for Itself

Excellence comes from various ways. Being a respectable leader, an intelligent student, a man who's good with women, an active philanthropist, a caring parent, a successful businessperson - all categorized under what I call excellence.

Now. Excellence is not a living thing, but would all of you believe me if I say that excellence speaks for itself?

Just by looking at the way successful individuals deal with situations, we know that they are indeed good at what they're doing. Somehow, the skill radiates some kind of message that's saying "Hey, I'm good at doing this job". For instance, listening to some prominent leaders' speeches tells us instantly that he/she has some credibility in what he/she is doing.

While excellence is achieved by many, not everyone who has it know that excellence actually speaks for itself. Or they probably know it, but they think it's not enough to just let excellence does its job. Thus they also tend to "speak" for the excellence that they have achieved.

I have once heard some people saying

"When you've done a good job, let success speak for itself - don't interrupt"...

Until today I believe that there's so much truth in these words. There is absolutely no need for all of us to "interrupt" when our excellence can project its own image to others without our help.

I for one think that if we ever try to speak for our own excellence, it only shows that we're only irritating others into thinking that we're actually not that excellent after all. In a layman's term, this is what we call "bragging". Yes, if we need that much attention from others to show them how much we've got, we now fall far far below the level of excellence, plus we will lose respect from others at the same time.

Why is this so? If there's more effort put into trying to send the same message, logic tells us that the effect should be greater, am I right?

Errr, No...

Unfortunately, this time it doesn't work that way. This time even Mr. Logic is wrong. But why?

My opinion is this: It is because the act of praising our own self is not even part of excellence. Rather, it is a sign of our insecurity - due to the fact that we need to "project it", or else, we'd think that there's no way others can see the excellence if we live it alone to speak by itself.

But you know, the worst part of all is this - while some of us think that by telling others would alleviate our status, it'll actually just do the opposite. It instantaneously kill our reputation.

And it's sad when some of us just never learn.