Another business trip to New Zealand beckons! For some bizarre reason, I always loathe having to go to NZ. Maybe it's because I am being taken out of my comfort zone, away from my wife and dog, I really wonder what it is. The even stranger thing is, I also loathe having to leave NZ to come home when the time comes. There must be something seriously wrong with me. Anyway, it's only going to be a short trip and should be fairly straightforward. No disasters anticipated. I leave on Monday morning and should be back by Thursday. I should have some time to myself in NZ to do a couple of posts, so I look forward to that.
Well again, it's taken me days to write, but it's given me time to gather some thoughts and discuss something worthwhile. A couple of days ago, I had some email exchanges with a friend (whom I will not name) about the roots of Malays. We started talking about this because I read something on the Star Online about Malay 'reserve' land. This would imply that Malays were the equivalent of the aborigines in Australia. NOT TRUE to the uninitiated! There are tribal communities in peninsular Malaysia termed 'Orang Asli' who are (technically) the true owners of the land. We won't go into Borneo for simplicity. Now, if orang asli were the 'aborigines', then who are the Malays? I always thought they originated from Indonesia. They must have migrated to Malaysia from somewhere. The good friend pointed out that most of the historical records indicated that Hinduism was prevalent in Malaya's early days, before Islam became the big thing. All this must be in the history books somewhere, but I just cannot piece it all together. Anyone with clues, send me a mail at woosyJ@yahoo.com.
A couple of things I've been reading in the Star this week pissed me off - and they had to do with the 'Malaysian-way' of imposing authority. I guess it's OK to boast and act like the big boss if they've got the goods. But if not, they just lose credibility and look like fools. One thing they have to realise (the government in particular) is that people (and the international community) see what they're doing, and although it's their perogative to deal with situations their own way, they have to do it with conviction and consistency. Otherwise they give the impression that they don't know what they're doing. Which is embarrassing as hell, being Malaysian.
Oh, I played golf last week and have been hitting the ball pretty well. I think it's been the slow backswing and better acceleration through the ball. We also teed off at 6.20am last week and we'll be doing that again this week. I have to labour to wake up at 5am but it's the price I have to pay to play the game. Plus, it's quite nice in the morning, and leaves me time to do things (like shopping and going out) in the afternoon.
Have a good weekend, all.
Well again, it's taken me days to write, but it's given me time to gather some thoughts and discuss something worthwhile. A couple of days ago, I had some email exchanges with a friend (whom I will not name) about the roots of Malays. We started talking about this because I read something on the Star Online about Malay 'reserve' land. This would imply that Malays were the equivalent of the aborigines in Australia. NOT TRUE to the uninitiated! There are tribal communities in peninsular Malaysia termed 'Orang Asli' who are (technically) the true owners of the land. We won't go into Borneo for simplicity. Now, if orang asli were the 'aborigines', then who are the Malays? I always thought they originated from Indonesia. They must have migrated to Malaysia from somewhere. The good friend pointed out that most of the historical records indicated that Hinduism was prevalent in Malaya's early days, before Islam became the big thing. All this must be in the history books somewhere, but I just cannot piece it all together. Anyone with clues, send me a mail at woosyJ@yahoo.com.
A couple of things I've been reading in the Star this week pissed me off - and they had to do with the 'Malaysian-way' of imposing authority. I guess it's OK to boast and act like the big boss if they've got the goods. But if not, they just lose credibility and look like fools. One thing they have to realise (the government in particular) is that people (and the international community) see what they're doing, and although it's their perogative to deal with situations their own way, they have to do it with conviction and consistency. Otherwise they give the impression that they don't know what they're doing. Which is embarrassing as hell, being Malaysian.
Oh, I played golf last week and have been hitting the ball pretty well. I think it's been the slow backswing and better acceleration through the ball. We also teed off at 6.20am last week and we'll be doing that again this week. I have to labour to wake up at 5am but it's the price I have to pay to play the game. Plus, it's quite nice in the morning, and leaves me time to do things (like shopping and going out) in the afternoon.
Have a good weekend, all.
posted by Shoemeister at
11:15 AM
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