Common Dilemmas in Hinduism ~ Malaysian Style Part I

Hinduism has been around for more than 10 000 years. Most of us practice Hinduism which is inherited from our parents. Whatever was taught to us, are what we are practicing now. And what we are practicing now is what we are going to teach our children. Most of us just practice without knowing the exact reason. There are things that need proper clarifications

1.  There are many temples built in Malaysia. For instance, a religious event in Hinduism usually happens to be, those who can afford offer free food to all and for those in middle class donate money to the temple and making the temple rich and richer. And they feel that they will get blessings from God. Bear in mind no matter how much food you offer, God is not going to eat the food. The temple is so rich with gold where as our Tamil schools are still in poverty. Our Tamil students do not have proper tables and chairs to study. God seeks love and sincerity, not MONEY.

1. 2.       Next, Thaipusam. It is actually regarded to fulfilling our vows. Some take “kavadi” just to show off, to impress other. I have a question. There are 3 people in Batu Caves during Thaipusam. 1 takes “pall kudam”, 1 takes simple “kavadi” and the other take “vette mulle”-the act of body piercing. Who gets the most blessing? Most of you will think that the 1 who pierces the body will get the most blessing. You are wrong. The fact is, the 1 who really does it for God with sincerity, pure intention will get the most blessing regardless of it being just a “pall kudam”. The concept is faith and love not the more you suffer, the more blessing you get. But some pierces their body for their own satisfaction not seeking blessings. Get your facts right, make appropriate judgement.

MU Kavadi

Livepool Kavadi

Multi-Storey Kavadi

1. 3.       Moving on, the most common problem is having an encounter with the “samiyar”- those who claim to foresee the future. When I was a kid, aged 9 years old. He told me I am playful and naughty. My mum believed him as if he told something unusual regarding a normal child’s behavior  When I was 15, he told that my friends are bad company and if possible, avoid them. My mum believed him as if he told something unusual regarding a teenager’s lifestyle. When I was 20,  he told me I have a girlfriend and not to ride motorcycles, but at that time I did not have a girlfriend. His predictions were not true, yet my mum again agreed with him as if he told something really out of this world regarding a 20 year old. It was all fake, it is not called future sight, and it is mere facts and the most common behaviours at that particular age. Everyone can predict the future if they can explain a normal human behaviour depending on their on a guy/girl age period. If the “samiyar” told us that I had a gf at the age of 9 it is abnormal, and I would have believed him if the facts were true about me. Yet people still trust and pay money just to listen to so called future predictions from the mouth of a “samiyar”, at least rm 50 per consultation.  Recently he told me that I will be having a bad time and need to do a ritual, which will cost rm300. I did not want to do it. However, my mother did it for me. 1 month later the same temple where the “samiyar” was, robbed. I started to ponder, if he can tell me that I will be having a bad time, why didn’t he predict the fate of his own temple as well? I started to question about Hinduism,until I met a brother who knows about religion really well. He told me that never question the superiority of God. Humans are the ones who manipulate religion who their own benefits. Religion, now becoming more of a business, you need to pay money for everything. I think soon it will be just like in India where you need to pay money before entering temple. You need to pay more if you want to get nearer to the altar

              Part 2 is coming.......

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Selfish Malaysian

Being Malaysian is the next best thing happen to me.  A country full of diversity and consistently growing towards improvement. Now let see the ugly part of Malaysia. The keyword “SELFISH” will be the post for today. How selfish can Malaysian be in their daily life? Let me show you how three main races in Malaysia can be selfish enough to make other Malaysian miserable.

1)We shall start with our Majority group. These people are so particular about food. They have to fulfill halal requirement in order consume their food. No harm in that since it is compulsory in religious practice. They are too particular about Halal, to the extent that major portion of them do not go to a Chinese restaurant since the food might have contact with PORK which is “Haram” for Muslims. No harm in that also. Everyone respect your believes and follows. But they tend to forget that other races have such restrictions as well. Indian who follows Hindus religion does not eat “BEEF” or any product made out of cow. But still we can see that Beef served exactly beside chicken in almost every Malay Restaurant. Won’t they feel the same as how you feel about pork being kept near your food and eating at Chinese restaurant? There were circumstances where beef served in an official event and when there are Hindu participants questioning “Why beef? We can’t eat beef you know”, they will like “Ei, Korang tak makan daging ke, sorry sorry”. Is this the type of Ignorance we need in Malaysia?

2)Second of all, let’s see how our Chinese brothers and sisters make use of their selfishness. One word, “TRAFFIC”. This may seem like a stereotype but we will come across of this situation a lot in Malaysian roads. You may make your own judgement. First of all, most Chinese friends here use big and luxurious cars. What happens is tolerance of giving way for vehicle to enter in front of them. The distance might be reasonable for cars from left to enter right lane, but once this Chinese friend in right lane sees someone wants to enter in front of him, he will accelerate to the max not to give way for that friend from left lane. I don’t see how many seconds get delayed giving the poor man space to enter. In addition, if they had to change lane they will enter blindly by just putting signal (sometime no indicators) and expect others to give way for them. Next is the use of emergency lane as extra lane when heavy traffic jams. The ignorance takes place where emergency lanes are mostly used by motorcyclist to travel. They don’t give damn and use the emergency lane to move faster than other vehicles, forgetting the fact that everyone is in hurry. The worst of all they don’t care to use the left and right signal when changing lanes. Even they got honked; they pretend not to hear it. Basically every other race also does these mistakes as well, but our Chinese friend will be the professional leader in this case. Is this the type of Ignorance we need in Malaysia?

3)Finally, let us see our Macha, how his selfish acts creates nuisance for others. Whether it’s “Thaipusam” or “Thiruvila”(Temple annual celebration), only thing that run in their mind is alcohol and dance party in public. They place drink stall along the roads, and play a loud song with their extreme woofer so that they get people’s attention. They’ll just start to dance at every stall and dance like bunch of monkeys and scream their lungs out. And they call that “FUN”. If one stare at those groups of monkeys with hatred and the next thing you see is your head get chopped off. It supposed to be a holy event. Those who live in the surrounding gets disturbed by the noise made.  Worst of all, the drunken monkeys move around disturb the public. I think they can get all that in a PUB and DISCO rather creating your own DISCO and PUB at public. And the recent trend is that having the hand blower and blows the horn during at Thaipusam day. This is not football stadium; it is temple and a place to fulfill your religious responsibility. You are creating public nuisance by honking around. Is this the type of Ignorance we need in Malaysia?

Being Malaysian is not only about standing still for Negaraku and wishing Happy Merdeka during Independence Day. It’s about understanding each other and giving mutual comfort. Being selfish will only create Chaos not Solution. Every single one of us has flaws towards each other. Let’s rectify and create a more understanding society. Let’s throw away our selfish nature and work towards self-belongingness..  Malaysia Tanah Airku…..

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Ultras Malaya : Bersama Selamanya

                Ditubuhkan pada tahun 2007 dan menggelarkan mereka sebagai Ultras Malaya (UM), sekumpulan penyokong kecil pada awalnya kini kian bertambah dari segi jumlah ahlinya. Sentiasa bersama squad Harimau Malaya disaat dijulang dan dihina. UM tidak peduli keputusan perlawanan. Bagi mereka, sokongan padu tetap bersama mengiringi pasukan kebangsaan Malaysia. Kini UM telah berjaya menempatakn nama sebagai antara kumpulan penyokong yang terbaik di Asia Tenggara. Bezanya UM dengan ultras-ultras negara lain ialah semua ultras-ultras negeri di Malaysia bergabung tatkala menyokong perlawanan Malaysia.

                Sudah lama saya menyimpan hasrat untuk bersama UM. Akhirnya, saya dapat bersama UM pada perlawanan tempoh hari menentang Thailand. Saya bersama seorang rakan saya dari Ultras Johor membawa saya ke Curva iaitu tempat UM berkumpul dan memberi sokongan padu di stadium. Hubungan antara ahli UM cukup akrab. Saling bersalaman dan memeluk apabila berjumpa, bukan sahaja sesama Ultras Johor malah dengan ultras negeri lain.

                Suasana di Curva cukup meriah sekali. Di situ, tidak kira anda berasal dari negeri mana, pandangan politik mahupun kaya atau miskin semua bersorak demi Malaysia. Saya terkejut dalam kalangan UM juga terdiri daripada golongan professional seperti doktor, jurutera, cikgu malah pegawai berpangkat tinggi.

                         

      
             Sepanjang perlawanan, saya bersoak sambil bernyanyi. Saya amat kagum dengan Capo ( cheer leader) di hadapan yang sentiasa memberi arahan dengan bersemangat.Capo memandang komrads dan membelakangi padang untuk memberikan arahan. Saya rasa tidak ada 1 minit perlawanan pun yang Capo menonton. Bagi dia, sokongan padu untuk Harimau Malaya lebih penting.

   “PERGI KE STADIUM UNTUK MEYOKONG               BUKAN MENONTON

                Ada 2 insiden yang saya ragui semasa saya di Curva

1. Kami berdiri sepanjang perlawanan. Terdengar suara dari belakang yang menyuruh kami yang berada di hadapan supaya duduk. Setahu saya, budaya di Curva memang berdiri sepanjang perlawanan dan benyanyi bersama
2. Ada sekumpulan remaja di hadapan saya yang duduk sepanjang perlawanan dan tidak turut bernyanyi bersama. Bagi saya, mereka hanya ingin bersama UM hanya untuk glamour.UM bukan untuk glamour. Tidak guna anda berbangga dengan UM jika anda tidak mahu mengeluarkan SUARA KERAMAT anda.

Perbualan dengan rakan-rakan dari Ultras negeri lain, saya dapati perkara menarik berkaitan UM

1. UM turun ke stadium lebih awal dan sudah mula bernyanyi
2. UM solat berjemaah di stadium sebelum perlawanan
3. Bendera Malaysia yang bersaiz gergasi dipikul oleh sekurang-kurangny 40 ahli UM. Ini tidak termasuk Tifo yang lain
4. UM antara orang yang terakhir meninggalkan stadium selepas perlawanan tamat.
5. Semasa Malaysia menjaraingkan gol, saya melihat beberapa ahli UM menitiskan air mata tanda gembira.
6. It is more than what you all think......

                             

Bagi mereka yang berminat menyertai UM, amat dialu-alukan. Lagi ramai, lagi meriah. Tetapi, pastikan beberapa peraturan dipatuhi supaya semuanya berjalan lancar.

1. Sila pakai kasut
2. Memakai tshirt berwarna hitam atau jersi Malaysia
3. Sila bawa mafla atau bendera Malaysia
4. Patuh pada arahan Capo dan ikut
5. Jangan malu untuk keluarkan suara anda
6. Tunjukkan semangat kesukanan yang tinggi
7. Buat persiapan awal dengan menhafal lagu-lagu UM supaya tidak terpinga-pinga semasa di Curva.

                

Malaysia is my flag,

Harimau Malaya is my team,
Ultras Malaya is my Family and
Hitam Kuning is my colour

By,

(>_<)"

bheng

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