bobjots : redux

Once again the collective conscience of Malaysians are (or at least should be) hit by the revelation of another human being being subject to physical abuse by virtue of that person being a migrant worker. The tragedy is that this time, the abused person ended up losing her life. I am referring to the recent tragic [...]

Some of you have mentioned that you have not been able to add your Malaysian bank account information to your PayPal account. I gave a call to PayPal’s customer service people in Singapore and followed up with an e-mail enquiring about this. I have been informed that PayPal had yet to complete their systems update that [...]

I am not sure how I missed this but apparently PayPal is now fully functional in Malaysia. This means Malaysian account holders are now able to not just withdraw their PayPal funds into credit and debit cards but also to their Malaysian bank accounts. PayPal is now also able to support transactions in Malaysian Ringgit [...]

When I was a wee lad (ok .. maybe not that wee ..), I was a member of a uniformed youth organisation, The Boys’ Brigade (BB). I had the privilege of serving with two different Companies (as local units are called) in very different settings. The first Company (Coy.) I joined was the 1st Teluk [...]

The current flag of Malaysia was first raised in September 16, 1963 to replace the previous flag of the Federation of Malaya which was almost identical to the current flag except for the number of stripes (11 from the current 14) and points in the Federation Star (11 from the current 14). This variation was [...]

As many of you are aware, a non-partisan group of Malaysians initiated a very welcomed solidarity initiative on September 16, 2009. They invited fellow Malaysians to join in a day of fasting in conjunction with the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan as well as the 46th anniversary of the founding of our nation, Malaysia. The stated [...]

More than half a century ago, our fathers and their fathers came together to forge a new nation out of a hodge-podge collection of semi-feudal states and Crown Colonies bearing new hopes and dreams for a future founded upon the principles of liberty and justice, ever seeking the welfare and happiness of the people and [...]

I was just reminded that my Alma Mater, St. Anthony’s School of Teluk Anson / Teluk Intan, is commemorating her 77th year this year. Not very old as far as La Sallian schools go but one that has seen 3 generations of my family pass through her portals. But not many people can claim that [...]

This is the time of the year again when we commemorate our journey to nationhood with the Merdeka celebrations. Some would cynically tell me that there is nothing worthwhile left to celebrate. Others are less pessimistic. There are those who will also tell us that we lack patriotism because we criticise the “government” too much. Personally [...]

Watching this latest release from 15Malaysia (HT: Sivin Kit) reminded me of why I first got actively involved in social concerns. It was back in 1994-95 when the old Damansara “Cowboy Town” (aka Kampung Damansara Dalam) was targeted for demolition and re-development. The exercise involved the re-location of a few hundred families, in some cases by [...]

One of the more perplexing parables in the Gospels would be the Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard (Matthew 20:1-16). Perplexing because it really gnaws on what we would assume to be positive values, ie. hard work, fair compensation, et al. One other story from the Gospels that struck me as odd in my [...]

Steven Koster wrote about attending his daughter’s college freshman orientation and gave some of his own thoughts about what, to me, reads like a manifesto for Christians to engage education and learning as a ministry and an extension of worship. Some of the more salient points mentioned are: God’s call on Christians to engage God’s world [...]

At least that’s the friendly advice from the “official” auntie of the Malaysian rakyat.   This and other gems from Zedeck Siew at the Nut Graph. Only one problem noted .. where’s the trademark big hair of our BN ladies and our patriotic contribution to the hairspray industry?