Being Children Again

I did not set out early morning on Merdeka Day to capture this picture. My Merdeka Day shots would have been the typical scene of Merdeka Day parade colours and gleaming faces of people from all walks of life at the parade.

Instead, a beautiful scene was there in front of me as if it had been set up and choreographed for a photo shoot. It was such an illustrative scene and so telling of what every Merdeka Day means to me – living under the strong foundation that our forefathers have built, carefree life in a pristine environment; prospering in freedom to pursue our dreams in a safe and peaceful country. What looms in the far horizon is for us to invent today.

Beyond displaying our Jalur Gemilang, every Merdeka Day is our moment to invent the future, building on the foundation created by those who fought for Merdeka, sacrificed for our freedom and prosperity. Inventing the future today is perhaps a great way of honouring those who fought and sacrificed for us.

How do we invent the future today? My answer is: pay more taxes and go beyond the superficial show of patriotism. Instead of just for nationalistic displays, let the flying Jalur Gemilang be the beacon of our commitment to our nation’s future. For our nation’s future is the future of our children and their children’s children.

What our nation’s future will be, depends to a large extent, on our capacity and capability to pay more tax and on the capacity and capability of our children.

So, Merdeka Day means independence from our own self-imposed limitations to develop our competencies, to gain new insights and to broaden our horizons. Merdeka Day means independence from indulgence in trivia (of which are plenty on the internet). Merdeka Day means independence from tendencies to celebrate mediocrity. Merdeka Day means independence from our selfishness to share knowledge and to contribute as responsible citizens.

Merdeka Day means being children again – being without inhibitions to explore, being free from mental constraints to pursue new dreams, being brave to invent the future.

Ten Orgasms Per Hour Zone

Would putting up signs that look like speed limits, but tell pedestrians that they are in, for example, a "10 Smiles Per Hour Zone" be frivolous nonsense and a waste of taxpayers' money?

I feel compelled to write about this today after my mother complained to me about how strange it was that the shopkeepers at Cabang Tiga market in Kuala Terengganu did not wear any smile and were unfriendly. Certainly, for a state that has many long stretches of beautiful beaches and rich cultural heritage, it's strange. The supposedly world class equistrian resort is staffed by people who find it so difficult to smile and greet visitors.

In the 1970's, American psychologists Alice Isen and Paula Levin conducted an experiment in which some randomly selected people making a phone call found a ten-cent coin left behind by a previous caller, and others did not. All subjects were then given an opportunity to help a woman pick up a folder of papers she dropped in front of them.

Isen and Levin claimed that of the 16 who found a coin, 14 helped the woman, while of the 25 who did not find a coin, only one helped her. A further study found a similar difference in willingness to mail an addressed letter that had been left behind in the phone booth: those who found the coin were more likely to mail the letter.

While the differences shown by Isen and Levin seem orgasmic, very small positive experiences can make people not only feel better about themselves, but also be more helpful to others. There is little doubt that being in a good mood makes people feel better about themselves and more likely to help others. Psychologists refer to it as the "glow of goodwill."

Can it be concluded that Terengganu people lack positive experiences? I'm looking for an explanation as to why drivers in Kuala Terengganu have very little sense of consideration for others - slow drivers hog the fast lane, motorcyclists hog one whole lane, cars are parked in parking lots that aren't theirs.

Why shouldn't taking small steps that may produce such a glow be part of the role of government?

Don't we all want our children and those who live in our communities after the present generation has gone to have the same or even better opportunities for a good quality of life as today's residents have. To protect that quality of life, we have to be able to measure all the varied aspects that contribute to it - and friendliness is one of them.

For both state gov't and local municipalities, preventing crime is a far higher priority than encouraging friendship and cooperation. In his recent book Happiness: Lessons from a New Science, Professor Richard Layard of the London School of Economics has argued that promoting friendship is often easy, cheap, and can have big payoffs in making people happier.

So why shouldn't that be a focus of public policy?

In Australia's Port Phillip, the Mayor says that putting up the signs is an attempt to encourage people to smile or say "G'day"—the standard Australian greeting—to both neighbors and strangers as they stroll down the street. Mayor Janet Bolitho adds that smiling, encourages people to feel more connected with each other and safer, so it reduces fear of crime—an important element in the quality of life of many neighborhoods.

In a related effort to get its residents to know each other, the city government also facilitates street parties. It leaves the details to the locals, but offers organizational advice, loans out barbecues and sun umbrellas, and covers the public liability insurance. Many people who have lived in the same street for many years meet each other for the first time at a street party.

All of this is part of a larger program that attempts to measure changes in the city's quality of life, so that the city council can know whether it is taking the community in a desirable direction. The council wants Port Phillip to be a sustainable community, not merely in an environmental sense, but also in terms of social equity, economic viability, and cultural vitality.

Port Phillip does not consider private car ownership as a sign of prosperity, instead, it hails a declining number of cars—and rising use of public transport—as a sign of progress in reducing greenhouse gas emissions while encouraging a healthier lifestyle in which people are more inclined to walk or ride a bike.

Can Kuching use this measure of quality of city life: the proportion of people who smile at you in the city?

Source: Project Syndicate http://www.project-syndicate.org/

Best Chicken Rice in Kuala Terengganu

The name Batu Buruk (literally, means ugly rock) may not sound appealing. When in Kuala Terengganu, it is a place not to be missed. It's a one-stop local food haven or haven for local food.

Discover food varieties you can't get anywhere else in the country. Savour the crispy crusted fried seafood - crunchy on the outside, juicy on the inside. Seafood may be limited in variety, but surely fresh from the sea. The Hainanese chicken rice stall in Batu Buruk beach is one of a kind - generous serving of tasty roasted chicken with a choice of 2 vegetables. Probably the best chicken rice you can find in Kuala Terengganu.

I don't have the word "sex" in the title of this post because it's post number 70.