Politics (in general)

I'm back in Malaysia. And I think I'm finally ready to do a post on politics.

To me, there is no perfect political system, and there will never be one. Why? Because man is essentially an emotional being. When emotion is the main driving force in life, and the key to making decisions, it will be impossible to have a perfect world/administration/leader. Also, every living thing is biologically programmed to be selfish, as a base instinct, so that the species may survive. As the intellect grows, so does the inborn desire to be selfish. What does this mean? It means that there can never be an administration that truly desires to serve the public, out of purely unselfish reasons.

Democracy is a farce. What is democracy? 2 words. Majority rules. The law of the jungle. The law which our ancestors followed while hunting mammoths. There is strength in numbers. Remember the saying "too many cooks spoil the broth"? In a democracy, there is no guarantee that the best, and most efficient solution to a problem will be implemented, simply because freedom of speech and equal rights will give possibly irrational, possibly rational opponents voice, and thus create a society where people muddle along as best they can.

Dictatorships are efficient, but are they equitable? If the dictator were a man who imposes his will with an iron fist, but his policies were equitable and as fair as possible to all, would there be opposition? Yes, from power-hungry opponents. And no man is that perfect. For power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

Politics is a game. It has been played by all those who have wanted their say in how things are run, all those looking to seize power, all those who think their opinion is more important than others'. It will continue to be played, so long as man governs itself and does not revert to animalistic behavior. And I think that although dictatorships/socialism can create a truly fair society

Something to think about

This is just highly interesting blog post by someone else. It happens to encapsulate everything I've felt about religion at one point or another, just that maybe I've never liked to put down someone based on their beliefs, nor am I that articulate about my feelings. This is a must-read. trust me.

http://noworld4tomorrow.blogspot.com/2008/04/religion-debt-repaid-no-longer-needed.html

Many Unexpected Happenings

First post in a while, mainly because I haven't found anything worth blogging about. As it is, I'm doing this out of sheer boredom, in the midst of trying to figure out economic costs.

There were quite a few things I didn't expect when I came here. One, most recent one, is that people would watch hard-core porn in the TV room (Hopefully this sentence won't lead to dodgy ads appearing on this blog). I mean, this isn't quite your everyday TV show.

I also didn't expect such wonderful inconsistency from our kitchen staff. Sometimes, they can cook some really nice stuff, worthy of being served in a restaurant, and yet, sometimes, they can fail to cook something as simple as rice, so much so that MiG (Indomee Mi Goreng) feels like gourmet cuisine. One of the best desserts I've had was here, a really nice choc cookie cream cake, as good as Secret Recipe's Oreo Cheese Cake. However I've also had incredibly bad chocolate cake, something that vaguely resembles a chocolate brownie, minus the chocolate. Scolarest (catering company) has us at its whim and mercy, explaining why I have overspent on eating out.

What else did I not expect? I did not expect to learn so many new things from the people around me. For example, I learned that Malaysia blocks torrents from overseas, meaning that all the torrents I receive back home are seeded by only Malaysian seeds. No wonder its so slow. I've learned of Saladin, and why he is considered a great leader. I've learned how to be rude in Thai, Japanese and French.

I've picked up new games. Ever heard of Settlers Of Catan? It's the world number one board game, only recently surpassed by some random vampire themed thing, if I'm not mistaken. It really is a very good game, involving intelligence and interaction in equal amounts. Luck, while a factor, is no longer a supreme decider, unlike Risk or Monopoly. I've played Dungeons and Dragons, a wonderful role-playing game where all you need is pencil, paper, dice and imagination. I've learned to play Magic:The Gathering, although I don't own a single card.

Unexpectedly, I've not done many of my favourite activities in a while. I haven't played pool since 2 weeks after I came here, I haven't played badminton, and I haven't been to a cybercafe.

Really, really unexpectedly, I've met an M2 senior. He's part of the class that made the kangaroo-shaped SAM badges. He's been taught by Ms Logesh, Ms Choo and Mrs Goh. He knows all the usual hangouts near Taylors. He is a slacker, but a closet mugger. In short, he is a true M2-ian.

Miss you guys........