Lim: theSun-Fairest Newspaper – Zam: NO, It champions DAP Malaysian Malaysia; raised matters Offensive to Malays; Question Govt Action, leaked Govt Secrets. Ban It?
While Lim & Zam are arguing over theSUN's role in forming a Bangsa Malaysia or a Malayasian Malaysia; Malaysiakini brings news that matters and H E RE the details of the woes of beauty contestants.
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So once again we observe this differing in opinions and perception and we come back to the classical case that there is no absolute, everyone speaks from his or her own truth. The point is you speak from your own beliefs, your own expressed beliefs. There are truths and there is the definition of a truth. A truth is some expression, which is translatable in every area of consciousness in some manner. What is translatable in every area of consciousness, in some manner? - Reality, tone or color but not YOUR associations. Is it translatable in every area of consciousness, unchangeable? Truth contains no distortion.
There are truths beyond physical experience; constants that are, within themselves, a priori,( accepted without being thought about or questioned) The existence of God is a priori for most people with a religious faith. In a court of law, a priori assumptions about guilt and innocence can be dangerous.
In practical down-to-earth matter, truth should represent accurately your awareness of something. If I were to repeat what someone said, or if I were to explain what I did, then my common definition of it would be that I presented that information as accurately as possible to the person and therefore expressing truth. Yes there is no absolute truth, just what we believe and see. Just like a truth may be identified that the sun in its orb rises and sets every day. In certain positions that is a truth with many individuals, for it is unquestioned and absolute. It merely occurs. It is uncontrollable and there is no other choice. It is what it is. Your sun rises every day. You view this as a truth. Your night follows your day. You view this as a truth. There are many, many, many expressions within your perception that you do not question for you view them as truths. They are absolutes; there is no question. But in this modern era of space travel, if you’re an astronaut, you can view the sun rises many times a day.
But dependent upon your position within your physical world. The sun does not rise and set every day. It rises and remains risen, or it sets and remains set. For it is dependent upon your POSITION which is dependent upon your PERCEPTION, which creates your reality. Truths are mere beliefs, but as you identify them as truths, you do not see them as beliefs.
So the problem is when trying to communicate your truth to somebody who is different, it almost … there becomes a question of honesty, rather than truth. You’re not being dishonest if you’re communicating your truth to another individual whose truth is different than yours, but they may perceive it that way. In a cultural setting, the physical location of a country, the mass beliefs expressed in that country which are reinforced by all of the people incorporate certain absolutes, which become their truths as in religious beliefs. What is significant is that we must recognize objectively that these are NOT actually TRUTHS. They are strongly unquestioned BELIEFS. The belief systems that are strongest to us individually, we would call that a truth. You express it each day within your focuses. You associate with it continuously. Many of your automatic responses are associated within yourselves as truth.
And how the Mass media drums up the spins and change your beliefs
It may outrage your intellect, and the evidence of your physical senses may shout that it is untrue, yet a belief in doing the right thing without a belief in doing the wrong is actually highly realistic. Seekers of truth will find that it contains no distortions. Imaginations follow beliefs; you can find the spin doctors in viscous circles constantly painting pictures in your mind that reinforce “negative” aspects of their stories. The imaginative spins can generate appropriate emotions and the resulting hormonal changes in the body can affect your behavior with others or cause you to interpret events always in the light of their beliefs (their TRUTHS). And so will daily experience will seem to justify what you believe more and more. The media great allies are their imaginations and emotions and these will automatically come into play to reinforce any new beliefs they want to spin with a hidden agenda.
And what has happened after 33 years? Dr Lim K Y asked. We are no longer our natural selves. We have advanced to become overtly materialistic. Linear thinking dominates our existence and the many influences stereotyping a great deal of people following like sheep the materialistic lifestyle.
What we cannot see, smell, hear, taste, feel, or measure seems amorphous and unreal. The limitations of life perceived this way offer a safety net a very comfortable zone. With it comes assurance that we know what we are about.
But if you are the natural self that you are, you use your abilities out of joy. When you use your abilities out of responsibility you distort them. You help and share because you think you should, not because it is a joyful part of your being. And you begin to question, "Who needs my help most?"
Can you imagine the sun thinking, "Who needs my help most? Should I send forth my rays upon this flower, or that one? Which flower needs my help the most?” or the rain saying, "Which blade of grass should I bless with myself?" In nature you find no discrimination or a need for a social contract.
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Zam accuses theSun of promoting 'Malaysian Malaysia'
Updated: 07:50PM Tue, 28 Aug 2007
KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 28, 2007): Information Minister Datuk Seri Zainuddin Maidin said today Gerakan adviser Datuk Seri Dr Lim Keng Yaik's assumption that the Malay and Chinese newspapers favour certain parties and are not fair to all the races was inaccurate. On the contrary, in many issues, "the Chinese and Malay newspapers
are fairer to Malaysia than certain English newspapers. "To say that theSun newspaper is a champion of Bangsa Malaysia shows that Dr Lim Keng Yaik sympathises with the newspaper which has all this while fought more for (the DAP's) 'Malaysian Malaysia'.
"In many issues, theSun newspaper has touched on matters that offend the Malays, including the special rights of the Malays, the New Economic Policy (NEP), the social contract among the races that was agreed upon before Merdeka and also the question of unity in the society," he told a news conference after attending an "Anak-anak
Merdeka and Malaysia" gathering in Angkasapuri here today. (Anak-anak Merdeka are those born on Aug 31, 1957, when the country achieved independence and the Anak Malaysia are those born when Malaysia was formed on Sept 16, 1963.) Lim, who is Energy, Water and Telecommunications Minister, was quoted as saying in Penang on Sunday (Aug 26) that theSun had used the Malaysian approach compared with the other newspapers, which according to him, were biased towards certain parties.
Zainuddin said the newspaper often blew up issues that contradict the federal constitution besides "publishing statements that oppose and question the government's action to suspend the Makal Osai newspaper recently". He said the government acted to ensure that every religion was respected and it showed that the government cared about religious sensitivities. "The Chinese newspapers, which are written and read by the Chinese, do not involve the feelings of the other races but the English language newspapers must be more careful because they are read by all the people," he said.
Zainuddin said theSun had also blown up the issue of the Merdeka Statement, the so-called wish list of the majority of the society which, among others, claimed that racial unity had been fraying at the edges. "theSun has also published articles which leaked government secrets. They have also blown up the issue of the proposal to repeal
the Common Law and published articles rejecting the proposal when it had not been decided whether to implement it," he said. "I've kept the article. What we considered as discussed in the Cabinet was published by theSun.
"What is theSun up to? Are they fighting for a Malaysian Malaysia? Is this what (Datuk Seri Dr) Lim Keng Yaik says is a newspaper that fights for Bangsa Malaysia?" he asked.
"Bangsa Malaysia must be founded on the social contract, the country's principles of law, not outside this (aspect)," he said, reports Malaysia's national news agency Bernama.
Zainuddin said theSun should be viewed as a newspaper that supports the DAP because it fought for a "Malaysian Malaysia", which is the DAP's objective.
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Back to 1974
Regina William Updated: 12:00AM Mon, 27 Aug 2007 , theSUN
PENANG: After 33 years, Barisan Nasional (BN) component parties seem to have forgotten why the coalition was formed in 1974, Gerakan's national adviser Datuk Seri Dr Lim Keng Yaik said yesterday. He said that these days, every issue was looked at with racial undertones. "Why did we form Barisan Nasional in 1974? Why did Gerakan join
Barisan Nasional?" he asked. "Because [Tun Abdul Razak] at that time said please join us to reduce politicking so that we can carry on with the development of the country. "We have now forgotten that," he told some 500 party members attending the Penang Gerakan annual delegates conference.
The Alliance was formed in 1952, comprising Umno and MCA, and later MIC. It later expanded with the inclusion of other parties, like Gerakan and the People's Progressive Party, to form the BN. "It is 2007 now, and 33 years after the BN was formed, we have forgotten what Barisan Nasional is. Even Barisan Nasional parties have forgotten the reason for bringing up Barisan Nasional. "Now it is `Lu toh lu, waa toh waa' (Hokkien for you do your own thing and I do my own thing). "Everything is reflected in racial terms and nobody cares about Malaysian terms, nobody cares about Bangsa Malaysia, either Malays, Chinese, or Indians or others and I think we must come back to basics," Lim said.
"Gerakan must keep to its political ideology and philosophy and we have to hold fast to our non-racial approach, to look after the multi-racial people in this country, that is our political philosophy and ideology. ”We must engage that because the situation in the country, from what I see, is getting worse," he said. "Our stand must be a Bangsa
Malaysia stand and not one based on race." Also present were the party's 34 central committee members, 287 delegates and 150 observers, including acting party president and Penang chief minister Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon.
Lim said that Gerakan had a role to play to remind BN of its original objectives to reduce racial and religious politicking, and to concentrate on development.
"In 1974, we were just starting to develop and we worked together to build the nation and we have come a long way in terms of development. "Now that we have `arrived', we have forgotten our roots and our tendency is more on the differences between the various races and religions," he said.
"However, we are now facing globalisation and if we do not put our hearts and minds together, we are going to be wiped out. "Whatever gains we have made in the last 33 years will be thrown down the drain because we cannot keep up with the competition anymore ... we have to work harder to compete with the rest of the world and not among ourselves," he said. Lim observed that there was no shortage of people who played the race and religious cards, including those who were not politicians.
"If we go (on) like that, we will die standing la," he said. Commenting on Chief Justice Tun Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim's comment that Malaysia should consider doing away with English common law, Lim said it was not up to Ahmad Fairuz to decide on this. Any change in the legal system would need to be passed by the legislature. "I don't care, if he wants to send me to jail. Not much time left for me to be in jail anyway," said Lim, who had the delegates in stitches. To mark the 50th Merdeka, Gerakan has come up with T-shirts with the words "I love Malaysia" and "I love Penang", which were distributed at the conference. Koh called on the government not to make any drastic decision to do away with the English common law, which has been part of Malaysia's legal system for more than 50 years.
"The government must ensure that the calls for change are not for emotional or political reasons. There is no need to change a system that has worked well," he said. He said improvements could be made to the legal system and to ensure that the judiciary functioned efficiently, without having to resort to changing the system drastically.
Referring to Ahmad Fairuz's comments at a law seminar organised last week, Koh stressed the supremacy of the Federal Constitution and the rule of law, which have built a good reputation for Malaysia among foreign investors. "The English common law has worked well and must be maintained and we cannot allow this to be changed to a system which has yet to be tested, as it will damage our integrity and credibility and investors will lose confidence," he said. He said the removal of provisions under Section 5 of the Civil Law Act, which are related to trade and commerce, could affect investments.
Earlier, in his speech, Koh said Malaysians should not let their greatest strength, which is being multi-racial, multicultural and multi-religious, become a liability. He said these features of Malaysian society, including its multi-lingual ability, allowed the people to communicate with 75% of the world's population. He said Malaysians must take full advantage of this. "If we're squabbling among ourselves and fail to accept this multi-faceted asset, it can become a liability." He called on Gerakan members to counter all forms of extremism."We cannot counter racism with racism, or we would be committing the same crime. We have to take a non-racial approach - the Bangsa Malaysia
approach."
Lim praises theSun's Malaysian approach.
PENANG: theSun was singled out at the Penang Gerakan annual delegates conference yesterday for being "Malaysian" in its reports and for not playing on communal sentiments. Gerakan national adviser Datuk Seri Dr Lim Keng Yaik was chiding
local newspapers for writing on issues with racial undertones. "The Chinese press takes one side and the Malay press takes another side," he said. "Is there any Malaysian press where we can talk as Malaysians and as Bangsa Malaysia? Is there any?" he asked.
"theSun!" he said to applause from the delegates. Lim, who is energy, water and communications minister, said it would not augur well for the nation if all the newspapers resorted to reporting based on racial sentiments. Pointing at journalists covering the event, he said: "All of you newspapers, I am scolding you, but I think I have the right, after 35 years in politics, to scold you if you are doing the wrong thing. "We must admit we are a multi-racial, multi-religious and multi-cultural country. "You cannot play on one race only. If you do that, you are going to burn us all alive and this is the message I give to our Gerakan members."
= == = for further reading go HE RE ON
PM - No Racial Riots - Pasir Gudang; Irresponsible Quarters create Tension & Animosity; CJ to Explain Errant Judge; Next Chief Judge Soon
ABOVE & BELOW: The same venue as it happened 50 years ago, now known as Datatan Merdeka. The familiar Clocktower
ABOVE: The first "ladies" following the Negaraku till the Flag was fully raised (BELOW)
