Made in Japan

A Japanese man was in a hurry to go to the KLIA airport, so he took a Proton taxi. The taxi driver took his sweet time driving within the speed limit but the Jap was getting impatient.

The following is their conversation on the way to the airport .

A Toyota Camry overtook t he taxi.....zoom....

Jap: Look ...look ...Toyota!! ...very fast!!!.... made in Japan!
Proton...no good.... made in Malaysia .

Driver: yah....

After a few minutes a Nissan overtook the taxi....zoom.

Jap: look.... look.... Nissan!!!..... very good!! very fast! made in Japan! Proton.... no good.... made in Malaysia

Driver: yah....yah...

After a few minutes a Honda overtook the taxi...zooom. !

Jap: look.... look... Honda!!.... very GOOD!!....very fast!!....made
in Japan! Proton...no good...made in Malaysia

Driver: yah...yah...yah....!

Arriving at the airport,the Jap is about to pay the taxi driver.

Jap: How much?

Driver: RM150/-

Jap: Oh... very expensive..... you overcharge ! !

Driver: Noooo .... look .... look .... Sony meter!!....very good!!....
very fast!.... Made in Japan!

It is difficult to ask people to donate their money for a good cause today, without receiving plentiful of rejections and curses on the face. As we all understand, unsolicited visits no matter how good the intentions are – are unwelcome. The foot in the door practice to ask people for money does not work anymore. People distrust “volunteers” who ask for money with the excuses that they are broke or they have donated. Besides, too many crooks are around spoiling the good-intentions of the volunteers. However, what if we substitute “money” with “blood”, will it result the same rejections as asking people to donate money?

I hope not. Donating blood creates a mutually beneficial relationship between the donor and the receiver. Donating blood saves lives. For one donation from a person, s/he can save up to 3lives. How else can you save 3 lives within an hour right? Blood itself cannot be manufactured like other household items; it can only be received from the sources that carry it.

Well, if you are a little self-centered, and still disagree with donating your blood, for hygienic reasons, I assure you that the process of blood donation is very safe and hygienic, and also glamorous. There maybe a sting when the doctor/ nurse inject the needle to your skin, but there is no pain during the process.

Moreover, giving blood reaffirms pride in your own health. You will also be rewarded with mini physical checkups, including blood pressure check, heart rate, temperature and iron levels, and it’s also the fastest way to lose a pound! Remember, not everyone, has the opportunity, like you and I, to donate blood due to poor health reasons.

Particularly for men, donating blood is a life-saving for the donor himself. Since, men are at higher risk for “iron overload” disorder, (due to too much iron that builds up in the blood), donating blood, can allow early detection for the donor. The doctor/nurse will ring the donor up immediately if there are any faults in the blood. Research shows if men give blood 3 times a year, they can reduce their “iron overload” and therefore decrease their risk of heart-attack by as much as 50%.

Lastly but not least, blood donors are true heroes and heroines. If all eligible donors would donate on a regular basis, 4 to 6 times a year, blood shortages could be a thing of the past. If you are a parent, you are setting up a positive example for your children to volunteer in the future. You are contributing to a vital community service which actually makes the world a better place to be. And the best part is that, it does not even cost you a cent to save 3 lives.

Guest Check

I am attracted to the image on my left for several reasons. At first glance, the image above looks pretty ordinary. A receipt from a restaurant as there are words, ‘Server’, ‘Table’, and ‘Guests’ printed on the paper. If you are into 4D Magnum gambling, you can play around with the numbers – 755774 and try your luck by submitting only 4 digits and hope that you will be the next millionaire.

It does look simple when you only glance at this receipt. In fact, for those who don’t even look at their receipts after their purchases, I do not expect them to look at what is written on the paper itself. However, sometimes it’s wise to look at what is printed on the content as people or even computers have the tendency to make mistakes - wrong information might be written wrongly or typo error.

“She’s the reason I stopped thinking about suicide”. Sounds like a suicidal note. Why is it written on a receipt? Hiring a private detective to answer the questions might be a little costly and I cannot really afford it at the moment, nonetheless, after several days of ruminating at this receipt and the phrase…

I believe that playing with Death on a receipt is rather absurd. Even though, it might end up as a joke, I finally decided that it’s more than a joke. Death and suicide is the end of a journey or destruction. It is devastating for the victim’s family and friends when the victim passed away. Fundamentally, Death is not a joke.

Sometimes, people think that the unhappiness they are feeling and experiencing will go on forever. Everything that is happening to them is “here” and “now”. There cannot be a brighter future around the corner. They believe that no one can help them. Being helplessness and hopeless in their asphyxiating bubble(s) finally lead them to no where but suicide. They believe that they can either choose to live with the pain, or end it by ending their life.

The ultimate decision could be fatal.

The only set of solutions to solve this Death equation is to take the victim’s message seriously. Listen to him or her. Do not leave him or her alone. Call the crisis line for assistance.

I was once suicidal and I am glad that someone listened to me.

Suicide can be prevented.

Dogs, Without Homes

Most of the neighbors around my dad’s house own either one or two dogs or more. As we have the privileged of owning dog(s), we also expect the dogs to bark, amidst day or night. I used to kid with my sister that the dogs have their private orchestra at night. I swear, my dog, Brownie or Nie-nie sings the whole night. Even though, I will be sleep deprived the next day, nevertheless, I am glad that she is a good watchdog. She barks whenever she sees a stranger. I have another pet dog, Coco, who is playful at heart and flirty when he meets girls. On the contrary, Nie-nie gets all excited when she sees boys. My mom always says how lucky these two dogs are, because outside of our house compound and around our area, there are also a lot of stray dogs. Dogs, without homes.

If you hang around a little more, walk down two streets, behind my house, near the bridge, you will see a lot of stray dogs, all looking unpleasantly dirty, contaminated with infecting germs, having unattractive thinness that beats Gucci models, and crestfallen eyes. They are supposed to be man’s best friend, but for hundreds of thousands of dogs in Malaysia and elsewhere, to them, their existing condition is nothing, compare to the betrayal from their owners.

These sights always bring tears to my eyes and I will always try my best to divert my eyes to other more pleasant things. However, their existence has forced me to rethink about the root of their problem. At the end of the day, I realized that the biggest problem lay not on the dogs, but the owners – the Man and the Woman.

Without further acknowledging the options for the dog, both the Man and the Woman will abandon their dogs when they realize that the dog (or other animals) gets to expensive to be taken care of, in terms of medication, food and etc. Secondly, when they do abandon the dogs to the streets, the Man and the Woman do not sterilize the dog, subsequently allowing the dog to breed, leaving the society with out-of-control dog population. Thirdly, due to the carelessness of the Man and Woman, their dog escaped from their sight, and never return to them, thus, increasing the dog’s chances of contributing to the out-of-control dog population. I guess the man and the woman did not realize that leaving the dog to fend for itself, is a very selfish choice. The dog will be scared, lonely and in a poor state of health. What were the Man and Women thinking?

Stray dogs are not the only problem around my area. It is a big problem in every urban city. If you are an animal lover and have a sense for justice, your heart will be aching when you realize that how many stray dogs (and other animals) are being caged for the Olympics preparation in Beijing. Caging them and providing them with food, is considerably kind of the government officials. However, for the reason of saving money, the officials caged the dogs; abandon them in rural areas, without nourishing them, leaving them to their slow antagonizing deaths. Unable to survive the cruelty that gnaws them at them, one by one, the dogs die every single day.

We, the human beings always boast of our intelligence, beating the dolphins and chimpanzees. However, when it comes to cruelty, none of the mammals beat our initiatives of being vicious, sadistic, merciless, brutal and barbarous. Seriously, there is nothing to be boast about.

Rejected Matter: Trash and Litter

Whether we are traveling locally or overseas, we have half-expected or expected, ourselves to meet different people, to see different sights, to enjoy different culture. A humorous experience is memorable. A thrilling experience is unforgettable.

A ‘dirty’ experience is an eye-sore. What if you have psyched yourself for the whole week to swim next to the corals at the famous ABC Beach and found out that when you first step into the water, you are welcome by dead corals and rotting striped butterfly fish? What if you just finished your high-tea or spa from a 7 star hotel and have decided to do some sightseeing downtown and all you see are litterbugs littering. Isn’t it offensive to the moral and aesthetic sense?

Even though the only ‘travel’ that I have been doing so far, is just from home to work, I have seen enough litterbugs to really disgust me up to my spine for my whole entire life. A man who was driving in front of me unwind his car window, and threw his finished Milo plastic bag to the roadside.

A kid who was riding with parents in a Mercedes will again unwind the car window to throw out the empty Macdonald wrapper. If you were there, you seriously can see how horrified I was at the particular moment. It left me wondering in stupefaction - People of all ages, sizes, and social and religion background litter.

Why?

When I saw them littering, I really want to step out from my car and ask them, “What if I start littering in your bedroom or your house, how would you feel?” “What on earth were you thinking when you flung your empty Milo plastic bag out from the car window?” and “Why did you let your kid litter like an uncivilized person?” “Do you not know that littering is a big problem?”

Obviously, the answer is no.

Save my breath and anger, I thought. It is senseless to even communicate with people like them.

Litter is a big problem. Many people are totally unaware they contribute to this problem because they have many misconceptions about littering.

Myths: For smokers, they probably carry this thought that, “Throwing butts does not harm anything, besides everyone does it”.
Facts: Cigarettes contain poisonous chemicals harmful to animals and environment. They contribute to several thousand fires each year, and take up to 5 years to degrade.

Myths: For people, who toss fruits, they probably carry this thought that, “It is okay to toss fruit, they are biodegradable”.
Facts: Thousands of animals are injured or killed trying to get food littered on highways. Fruit takes 2 years to biodegrade.

Myths: For narrow-minded people, they probably carry this thought that, “Littering creates jobs”.
Facts: Litter cost money. Cleaning up litter costs about 9times more than it costs to collect trash from public and private trash receptacles.

Myths: For lacking of flexibility or breadth of view people, they probably carry this thought that, “One small wrapper won’t matter. It’s so small, who will notice?”
Facts: Litter begets litter. Litter leads to lower property values and crime. If no one picks up the wrapper, it will take 30 years to degrade.

Where do you see litter most often on top of your mind?

Pasar malam. Special event venues. Roadways and highways. High traffic and everyday locations and transition points.

Again, why do people litter? Why do we, the human race have fatally inherited this offensive littering behavior?

Because:

(1) People today lack the knowledge of how to care for the environment.

(2) People are inclined to litter more because litter has already accumulated.

(3) People lack the social pressure to not litter.

(4) People are inspired to litter more due to the absence of penalties or consistent enforcement.

(5) People find limited disposal containers

(6) People often feel no sense of pride in the areas they are littering.

(7) People do not view the item they are littering as litter.

Litter is ugly. It reduces the aesthetic quality of our surroundings and it can also harm wildlife and us. Please stop littering and share this with people around you. All it takes to stop littering is a little discipline and awareness for the environment and mankind.

Love, Passion, Orgasms - Sexual Practices

Spring is officially here. The daffodils are peeking up. The sun is reclaiming its evening hours. According to legend, you should be able to stand on an egg at the moment of the spring equinox. You can stop by at a nursery or visit a friend with a green thumb to get a fresh pot of flowers. If lemons are easily accessible to you, you can easily make lemon juice and share it with your neighbors. This is the joy of spring! Birds establish it’s nesting territory by singing repeatedly, announcing its presence to competitors and potential female/male alike, and by vigorously chasing intruders away. Eventually, the female/male establishes a peaceful coexistence with neighboring birds and its own species. The mating season begins!

Birds do it, bees do it
Even educated fleas do it
Let’s do it, let’s fall in love

Let the courtship scene begin in mankind too! But, wait, what if a child suddenly asks you to describe what “sex” means to him or her, how would you respond? Embarrassed? Ignorant? Dumbfounded? Or..? It is easy for the birds, bees and fleas to do it. Likewise, it is also easy for mankind to do it too, but we, especially the adults simply cannot simply ignore the child’s question when she or he brings it up. Ignorant can be malicious. So what is the best way to introduce kids and teens about “Sex”? Education, I suppose.

In Malaysia, I believe that the ministry of education has not implemented sex education in the education system, yet. I did some probing here and there and all I found was nothing but an article written on April 11th 2005 by The Star stating that sex education will be forwarded to the cabinet for approval and could be taught within 2 years.

Again, I am unable to find any statistics about teenage pregnancies in Malaysia. Maybe I am tracing the statistics from the wrong angle. Nonetheless, I am unsure whether I should be thankful or disturbed by the fact that there is not much effort to create statistics about teenage pregnancy.

I supposed if it is challenging to impose “Sex” education classes in primary or high school level, efforts could be instituted in a graduate course about “Adolescent Sexuality” or “Towards Safer Sex Society” or along those lines. Research states that Netherlands youths exhibit the most liberal attitudes towards sexuality and sexual behavior. Most of the youth first intercourse is at the age or 17. Followed by youths in Germany and France, whom experienced their first sex experiences at the age of 16. I wonder would a Malaysia youth exhibit the same result – Having sex at the age of 16 or 17?

All young people easily recognize, and just as easily dismiss, paternalistic and condescending approaches. Young people need to feel that they are respected as thinking, competent human beings, primarily because, young people believe that they are capable of making educated decisions about their sexual health of their own volition. However, this comes at a price – educated decisions cannot be made on the basis of false information. Accurate, honest facts are necessary, by definition, for responsible, educated decision making.

In today’s environment, where everyone we go, are saturated with sex, youth today are bombarded with mixed messages – we are to be sexy and cool, and at the same time healthy and abstinent. A parent’s proposal for sexual abstinence, based on the infamous “because I said so”, will not work against hundreds of contradictory messages from multiple sources (media).

I am not saying lets burn our television or magazines or let’s promote sex parties by giving free condoms. I believe the best weapon is information - Accurate, comprehensive information to empower youths to make rational decision. Slogans like “Just Say No” won’t work without communicating equal portion of information to the youths. While it is easy to see youth as once large group, many times, individuals are again individuals made out of individuals with situations and characters. Simply speaking, individual youths just want to be uniquely distinct from others of the same kind.

I find that the ABC approach that is being use in Uganda could work in Malaysia, if the Ministry of Education ever implemented “Sex Education” it here. I like this approach because it is not judgmental. Applied properly, it results a win-win situation for all parties. This approach not only respects the decision making abilities of young people but also promotes safe sex. However, it can only work if the government is consistent in promoting this approach – Abstinence, Be Faithful and use Condoms.

Couch potatoes might say that the ABC approach has been implemented and was unsuccessful. I argue it’s not true, because the campaign probably did not consistently advocate this approach properly. Honest, comprehensive sex education has not beenMalaysia, or elsewhere. Let’s push for this to happen.

My first step

This is my first time blogging in blog spot and I will be more specific when I blog here. I am currently blogging through multiply.com. However, my blog there is not as specified as how I want my blog spot to be. After reading a lot of articles and having deja vu's about my writings back in college, I have decided to once again start blogging about images. I have not find any images that caught my eye yet, but as soon as I find them, I will blog about it.

Additionally, I will also dedicate my blogging to analyzing the role of mass media and freedom of speech around the world. I know a lot of scholars have already researched million times on the role of mass media. Still, I believe that opinions are valuable albeit from a commoner like me.

If I come upon queer news or interesting stories from books and the mass media, I will also make an effort to write it down in order to share it with audiences. In regards of the audience, I hope I am able to build a steady readership.

Lastly but not least, I am excited and hopefully, I will be able to blog in Japanese in future.