Small Talks

i am a few days late to find out about this: lately there's this outrageous government proposal to impose restrictions on women traveling alone abroad. check this out, they are proposing that women who intend to travel abroad should obtain a written consent from families or employer before doing so. reason? to curb drug trafficking! uhhh.. let me check the date. yepp its year 2008, i'm not mistaken or hallucinating, am i? why then does it feel like i'm reading news that sounded as if its dated half a century back??? (news source: click here)

and then there's this blogger who runs an independent news site - Malaysia Today, chose to go to jail instead of paying bail after he was accused of sedition for implying that Malaysia's deputy PM might be involved in a murder case (for the complete article, click here). when is my beloved country going to learn that the more they suppress their people - such as discussing about the so-called sensitive issues i.e. politics, religions, races and sex -the more the people will fight to overcome it? do they really think we're still the ignorant village people who had no access to any other source of alternative news and knowledge?

Sometimes i really question the capability of the people who govern our country. anyways. Raja Petra was released from jail and is resting at home now. on a side note, i was reading up on some articles about European Union the other day for my French assignment, and i stumbled upon this website about Republic of Slovenia, who's currently holding the EU's rotating presidency, (no i'm not gonna talk about politics or anything serious/intellectual), and i saw the portraits of all their ministers. you gotta check them out: The Slovenian Government. then compare it to our very own Malaysian cabinet members. now i don't wanna sound discriminating or anything, but don't you think there's a huge difference, whether it's the presentation of the site, portraits taken, or even the looks of the ministers (and i'm not talking about skin color, hairstyle, facial features, fashion sense or pose okay)? i can't put it in words, but somehow the ministers of the former government really looked like they're the cream of the crop in their arena, able to lead and possess a certain kind of assurance in their eyes. i don't know.. it's as if, you can see through the pictures and somehow be convinced of their capability. but the same can't be said of the latter. there's an air of ... sloppiness. as if they're there because they have to be there, and not because they wanna do something great for the country.

maybe it's just my interpretation of the portraits. after all, they're just pictures, and looks are often deceiving. let's hope i'm wrong, and we won't hear more of the ludicrous news such as the travel ban on women for the purpose of curbing drug smuggling. -_- often times i find it hard to convey to people my Malaysian pride, because there are so many core reasons Malaysia used to take pride in and values we treasured that seemed to dissipate into thin air today. either that, or they never really existed and were just fabrications for people to make-believe. what's the point of having one of the tallest buildings when the core is kind of rotten. sighhh. i just hope things will continue to change for the better...