Patriotic family

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Patriotic family

by Kumarathevan Balakrishnan

The Jalur Gemilang is the pride of this household in Ipoh.

« Seen this somewhere

Proud to be Malaysian

Friday September 16, 2011

TRULY I am proud to be a Malaysian. I love this country because I was nurtured to be patriotic by my parents since childhood. I believe Malaysia is a land flowing with “milk and honey” – blessed with so many different cultures, languages, natural resources and opportunities.

On Aug 31, we enjoyed the Merdeka Day holiday. Probably this was the first time we did not really “celebrate” Independence Day on the actual date. We will do so today, which is also Malaysia Day.

Don’t take our unity and peace for granted. As Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said, we should move from mere tolerance to acceptance to achieve greater unity among our multi-racial, multi-cultural and multi-religious society. We should start to walk this path.

We have the responsibility to show our patriotism by loving our country and our countrymen regardless of race, culture, religion or language. Due respect for one another is paramount.

All Malaysians must be more sensitive in handling religious and cultural issues for the sake of religious and racial harmony.

Stop pointing fingers, throwing accusations, showing disrespect for the sanctity of places of worship, publishing controversial articles, photos or advertisements via mass media, condemning one another’s beliefs and politicising sensitive issues that could cause racial tension.

The Government should emphasise even more constantly, in any way possible, the five tenets of the Rukunegara – Belief in God; Loyalty to King and Country; Upholding the Constitution; Rule of Law; Good Social Behaviour and Morality.

All quarters – Government and non-governmental organisations (NGO) – should continue to combat the various social illnesses and provide jobs for the unemployed and better jobs and positions for those who are capable and deserving without looking at one’s creed or colour.

We must also encourage youngsters to pursue higher education and take up self-improvement courses even as the Government continues to create better education opportunities for them.

To ensure the success of the nation-building process, we should not forget to help the poor and the needy of all races in whichever way possible. If we decide rightfully, we can be a blessing to our beloved country.

Imagine how beautiful it will always be if all races attend open house gatherings on festive seasons, sit together to watch sports events on big screens, take part in multi-racial programmes, go camping or on outings, sit and chat at coffee shops or ‘warung makan’ or eat durians together.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that the Government, politicians or NGOs and the citizens are not doing anything.

I’m just emphasising on learning from past events and what’s happening around us.

I have worked in a Malay press for years and most of my friends are Muslims. I join in buka puasa and festive open house events in the office or in their houses and even attend functions organised at mosques.

I believe all will be well if we practice moderate living, acceptance and mutual respect for one another. Let’s continue to pray for unity and peace. Together we can make Malaysia a better place to live in.

Selamat Merdeka and Happy Malaysia Day! God bless Malaysia.

KUMARATHEVAN BALAKRISHNAN,

Gua Musang, Kelantan.

LOVE & FORGIVENESS

Posted on The Star - Citizen Blog on Monday, January 11, 2010

 

   In this past few days, our nation that was always looked up as a peaceful, multi-racial and multi-cultural country was slapped with one of the worst religiously motivated attack on churches in our country’s history.

 

   The arson attack on eight churches in Klang Valley and other parts of the country have been condemned by our Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak as well as political leaders of both the ruling and opposition parties.

   Some call this the black day and some others say that this is truly a sad day for Malaysia. This is an act of extremism, which could dampen the government’s effort in promoting 1Malaysia concept.

   Never the less, the beauty of these scenario is that the leaders of the Metro Tabernacle Church - that was badly effected in these incident - said that they do not harbour any ill-feelings against the culprits but choose to forgive those responsible.

   The senior pastor of the church, Rev Ong Sek Leang was quoted saying: “We have a congregation of about 1,700 who are Godly and forgiving.” 

   That is a peaceful and Christ-like remark. I salute them for their stand. This shows their true Christian spirit of love and forgiveness. We should love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us.

   Jesus Christ told His disciples: “If someone slaps you on your left cheek, give also the right side.” – This shows that we should forgive ‘on the spot’ anyone who hurts us. Easy to say but it takes courage to practice. 

   The other beautiful part is, many non government organizations including the Muslim brothers condemn the unlawful and unIslamic action and some NGO's even offered to make security rounds around churches to make sure it's safety.

   I believe, we should continue to be kind and tender hearted to one another and forgive one another.

  Let us together do everything possible on our part to leave in peace with everybody and  not revenge anyone.

SALAM 1MALAYSIA!

by: Kumarathevan Balakrishnan

Comments

The phrase "If someone slaps you on your left cheek, give also the right side" has been widely misused and misunderstood. There is no recorded incident in the Bible that Jesus actually did that, even when he was persecuted. The whole moral of that phrase is simply not to retaliate. And I applaud the Christians for doing just that.

By klyong2502, 11-Jan-2010 

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For the pastor to say "I forgive" is not as easy as reported. It takes a lot of soul searching and prayers, I am sure to be able to say what he said! I praise the Lord for giving him the strength to say what he said. Not all professing Christians can say what he said, that is for sure! However, by saying it, he has given strength to many others, not only in his congregation but other Christians and I hope non-Christians, too, that our God, a God of love and therefore forgiving in nature, will always give us the Strength to do the near impossible if we pray to Him and trust in Him and be guided by Him. This is our strength and I am sure many true Muslims share this with us, because we believe in the same almighty and powerful God/Allah!

By victorchew46, 12-Jan-2010

KJ GENERATION NEWSLETTER

THE
1 MALAYSIA concept that has been introduced by our Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak since he took office and highly promoted by the government is not in vain.

  This concept, which is to bring a greater unity among Malaysians of different races and cultural background become reality when nine friends from various ethnic group decided to travel all the way from Kuala Lumpur for about five hours to conduct program in Gua Musang, Kelantan.

   In these two days of Character Building Program called “Towards Destiny” organized by KJ Generation Resources on the 15^th and 16^th December, ten youngsters age between nine and 19 years old, also from various races participated.

  Even though the participants were not many but they truly enjoyed the program as well as the benefit of fellowshipping among different cultured people. In fact, the whole event was like a cultural program. There were Malays, Indians, Chinese, Indigenous people (Orang Asli), a Caucasian and a person of Bapa Nyonya origin.

  To make this event a memorable one, the facilitating team age between 13 and 31 years old decided to sing the 1 Malaysia theme song “Satu Suara”. The participants had the privilege to learn the song and perform together.

  Besides singing and teaching some motivational songs, the team also led some sessions on setting goals and dreams including ways to achieve it and appreciating different cultures.

  One of the interesting sessions was the “talent time” where both the facilitators and the participants join hands to perform two sketches. One of it was about a group of residence of different culture get together to be involved in a ‘gotong royong’ to clean up their residential area while another group showed how various races united themselves to fight for the independents of our country.

  The facilitators also played games with the participants including ‘blanket game’, ‘fill me - stretch your potential’ and ‘spider web - you are not alone’ to instill unity and trust among different races. Through these, the participants also learned conflict management.

  At the end of the program, the participants were given certificates and gifts. The participants enjoyed the whole program and wanted more events such as this.

  The facilitators, who enjoyed the nature of Gua Musang, wanted to come back here again to explore this tourism destination and conduct other nation building events in the future.

  KJ Generation Resources wants to personally thank the facilitating team comprising of five male and four female led by Jacqueline Hoe Min Yi. Among others were V.Barnabas Ganesan, Collin Singam, Michael Lean Chien Er, Almer Anjang Harun, Ivan Lim Ai Vern, Lydia Bah Ngah, Rebecca Yong Keng Shen and Chelsea Ashley Bee Cen Wells.

A BIG THANK YOU!!

"Team work always produces success" - Kumar.

  

End