Religious leeches

I never had an affinity with religion. What I observed is, religiosity induces the smoke and mirror effect which dulls critical thinking and hypothetical observation.

I am in the midst of reading Disproving Christianity and Other Secular Writings by David G Mcafee which only fuel my philosophical, intellectual, cogent and spiritual thought process of not wanting anything to do with religion and religious men.

What I found religious men that have followers in this age to be are nothing but parasitic creatures feeding on live flesh aka hard earned money of their followers. In this blog I've mentioned a certain holy man in India that my family holds as their spiritual leader or sarguru. 

That old man passed away last year but my family remains devoted to him and his representative in Malaysia, known by my family as 'guru'.

This guru is a distant relative of ours and I want to write on how he literally sucks the blood out of my brother's benevolence and devotion as well as using my brother fully to his advantage and my brother being totally blind to it. 

Every time there's a festival at temples far away from home, the guru would ask my brother to chauffeur him to the venues and my brother would most obediently oblige. Even yesterday, the damned holy man had asked my brother to drive him to Teluk Intan and my brother took half day leave from work and drove the bloody leech to Teluk Intan and he only returned home past midnight.

I am sorry but I have lost all my respect for this so called spiritual leader who is no different than RPT. That man has sons and sons-in-law but he only calls my brother to take him to places. My dumb brother thinks it's a privilege and waits the man hand and foot and suits his every whim and fancy, failing to see that the guru is fully taking advantage of his trust and devotion.

It seems the guru would offer petrol money to my brother but my brother, who is perhaps the descendant of Karna would refuse and instead of insisting, the guru would chuck the money back into his pocket as observed by my brother's wife who's also pissed off at both the guru and my easily bamboozled brother.

Also, every time when it is the guru's turn to sponsor the food for the fortnightly meditation meetings, which he orders from my brother, the guru would take money out to pay for the food and my brother would decline and the guru shamelessly would tuck the due payment back into his wallet. Also, the guru would pack up the leftovers and take them to his home at the expense of my brother. 

We do not hail from a wealthy family - what we have today is the result of hard work. My brother is a family man. He has a son who'll start schooling next year and he's enrolled in Montessori and Kumon for a headstart. He has mortgage to pay and with GST enforced this April, his financial status is certainly going downhill. That man leaves for work at 6.30 am and only returns after it's dark, sometimes at 11 pm. If he returns any earlier, his son would say, "Daddy, you came home before it's dark today! Is something wrong?" See how the kid is unused to seeing his father coming home early from work. He works on weekends too. The guru knows all that and he's still being such a leech. If I was Anniyan, I would have subjected the guru to kirimi bojinam.

Last year July, my family and I went to see my cousin sister get married. The guru's family was invited as well. It is the golden rule of this religious cult to observe vegetarianism on full moon and dead moon days and the wedding fell on a dead moon day. While my brother, sister-in-law and sister had vegetarian meals, I saw the guru and his family whacking chicken and mutton like nobody's business. They then left so much rice, meat and vegetables uneaten. But, I can't state this hypocrisy and logic at my brother because his mind is so enforced with belief, he will be unable to see logic and reason hence me ranting here.

I never understood why God or religious men professing religion that is said to be descended by god need money. Money is man made so why would god ask money to show Himself to his worshipers when money is something created by his worshipers? Why would a celestial entity need a corporeal entity in order to function? Who is the real god here? Yes, the real god here is money. God nowadays is not Allah, Jesus or Lord Vishnu, it's kaasu, panam, dhuttu, money, money. And a man of conscience would never ask money from others in the name of god. These religious men are voracious, rapacious leeches who suck blood out of dead bodies. They are scavenging vultures on the lookout for carrion, that is, gullible, genuine and hardworking people like my brother.

I'd like to add one more thing to Mr Spock's brilliant observation. If god needs a human invention, that is, money to function and survive than surely that god is one big fat lie because he's dependent on his worshipers and if his worshipers cease from worshiping him, he'll cease to exist. 

Delhi Gang Rape 2012 - Relived

Watched the documentary India's Daughter, The story of Jyoti Singh Pandey yesterday. The horrors in the film rendered me speechless and sleepless. It took me many hours to compose myself in order to write this.

Her parents were full of joy when she was born. They named her Jyoti - meaning light and were happy despite everyone telling them that it's not a boy. She wanted to be a doctor, build a hospital in her village. Her father sold their ancestral land to pay for her studies although relatives were against it for she is just a female. She told her dad to use the money he saved for her wedding to educate her. She worked at an international call centre from 8 pm to 4 am to support herself financially. She only slept for 3-4 hours every night and juggled between work and studies. On 16th December 2012, she came home, relaxed that her exams were over and assured her parents that happiness and a good life are just several steps away and went out to catch a movie with a male friend. All her efforts and hopes ended when these bastards walked into her life and took everything away from her savagely that fateful night..

The Unacceptable Vindications 

The rapist questioning the morality of the girl, "A good girl should not be out of the house at 9.30 pm. Girls should be at home, cooking and cleaning, not being out doing wrong things and wearing the wrong clothes. It takes two hands to clap. A woman is more responsible for rape than a man. She should have just kept quiet and allow the rape, that way we would have just thrown her out after beating her the boy. It's an accident, there are so many rapists out there who have killed their victims but only we got persecuted."

So, Jyoti's crime was being out to watch a movie and working night shifts to put herself through med school makes her not a good girl. So, pulling her entrails out after ramming iron rods into her, throwing her out of the bus and covering up evidence is just an accident. Since there are many rapists out there, who aren't persecuted, his arrest makes it a miscarriage of justice that they got nabbed. That's the exact confidence - that they can do anything to women and escape the court of law. That's the first driving factor, the incipient factor. And, the revelation that there are 250 rape cases incriminating incumbent politicians in pending translates as impunity, corruption, lenient rape laws and money power that can either 'silence', 'harass' or 'finish' victims, their families and witnesses. The latter is exactly why no one stopped for Jyoti and her friend's aid as they lay brutalised and exposed on one of Delhi's busiest roads. And, the fact that the rapist was impenitent after being in jail for 3 years, makes me think what's the point of sustaining him and his confederates' bloody existence.

The rapists' defence lawyers was appalling, to say the least, "She was out on a date with a strange boy. She should have been accompanied by family members (so Saudi Arabic), a girl should not be out of the house after 6.30 pm, bla, bla, bla." In succint the lawyers' opine that Jyoti asked for it. The lawyers are able to put their perspective in a philosophical way, 'a girl is like a flower, diamond, Indian culture is the best culture (when it's shitty culture)", because they are educated but their mentality is no different of the rapists they defend - absolutely gutter and regressive, especially this statement, "A woman means, I immediately put sex in his eyes." His mother ain't a woman? When he sees his mother, immediately sex comes in his eyes? Another lawyer went on to say that he'd set alight his daughter or sister if she engages in premarital activities. Among the other things said by the defense attorneys, I don't know what's worst, the illiterate rapists or the educated lawyers.

It seems they raped Jyoti to teach her a lesson - that a woman should behave like so and so, be submissive around male authority, not fight back, pull her punches around males and basically be their doormat.

And, the families of the rapists either use age old Indian sentiments or circumstantial penury. "I need my son to light up my funeral pyre," "My husband would never do this, if he dies, I'll lose the meaning of life and I would have no choice but to commit suicide. There are many rapists out there, will the police arrest them all? Won't there be no more rapes after this? Why only my husband is prosecuted?" Why? Will the fire on a funeral pyre refuse to burn if a daughter lights it? Are women that dependent on their husband, they have to stick to him after he was declared an evidenced rapist, idolising him in the process and justifying his horrendous crime? And then, the showcasing of the poverty of the rapists, mayhaps to evoke some sympathy for them and justify/dull their crime. Jyoti was poor too and she wanted to rise above it against all odds while her attackers were indulging in fights, alcohol and going to prostitutes. Jyoti's dad was poor and he chose to educate his daughter instead of spending the money on intemperate living. It's about making a choice on what to do with life, not destiny or fate.

Don't do onto others what you won't want others do onto you

Basically, the trauma inflicted on you or the trauma you are born into doesn't give you the right to inflict trauma on others, be it Christian Grey, or the rapists. As humans, we should have conscience. That's what makes us human.

Gender discrimination at the outset in the words of Sheila Dixit is the root cause of crimes against women in India - daughters given less milk and food than sons. The birth of a son is rejoiced but a birth of a daughter is mourned. When a male is constantly subjected to that kind of gender discrimination, that girls are lesser beings than boys and are less important and significant, they tend to develop male entitlement, that they can do anything they want to females and that is the tenor of this case. The lawyers are plainly citing that, a girl shouldn't be out at night, our culture doesn't support male female friendship, she was out on a date and that's unacceptable, justifying the rape and many Indians are supporting such claims fervently. These people would send back girls to the kitchen. 

You know what's really scary? This type of mentality is fast imbuing Malaysians like Ridhuan Tee and religious bodies like JAIS.

Here, Kirron Kher makes the perfect comeback in parliament but India needs to have the will to materialize her incumbent implore of Beti Bachao. Beti Padao. So far, it's all rhetoric, much like our very own 1Malaysia.

What really gets to me is the blatant passableness and the cite of tradition and women's place

The six men just snuffed out a bright light out with the indifference of stomping on an ant and it extends to the Indian mentality that a man is superior than a woman. Jyoti went all out to prove that wrong and paid the ultimate price for it, her life. The horrific details in this documentary will stay with me for a very long time. Hope is there though that in Jyoti's wake, many India's daughters would rise up to the occasion.

You fought the good fight India's daughter and like your name may you continue illuminating dark hearts even in death. 

Straight As dilemma - Relatives' inquiry

Study. Study. Study.

SPM and STPM results are out. Of course I sat for both exams, including UPSR and PMR many moons ago but while I don't remember my results, I do remember my relatives' fret and reaction as to what I got, straight As or not. 

I did not get straight As in UPSR and my mother called me an imbecile for that. Of course I cried my eyes out. Relatives weren't particularly impressed either and I felt kinda worthless.

There is one cousin brother of mine who is of the same age of me. We never talked as kids, as far as I can remember, and teens and were always trying to outdo each other in governmental exams. As luck would have it we were always getting the same results as each other which left us even more resentful of each other. Though, it was undeclared enmity and it was mainly due to us being of different gender. If he was a girl, I would sure as hell talk and hang out with him! Duh!

Okay, for me, rather than having cold feet of what my exam results would turn up, as in how many As I'll churn up, I was having cold feet on what to say to relatives who'd keep the house phone engaged for hours on end. Every time exam results were out, I'd warm the couch beside the house phone, answering a tidal wave of calls, curious or should I say inquisitorial relatives at the other end about every detail regarding my exam results. 

It was a chore. My relatives in the village were ever disdainful of me when I was a child and teen and were always giving me below the belt treatment. My bookish ways were subjected to florid tirades and my mom had a penchant for scolding me right in front of my aunts, uncles and cousins. I survived all that without post trauma but let me assert that words hurt a lot more and stay with you longer than hits and blows.

It was not that I screwed up badly, I did quite well but never got straight As. I was a mostly As student who knew her strengths and concentrated on her strengths and made them her forte. The thing I couldn't stand was the constant comparison my aunts and uncles made with me and their kids, my cousins. At my underachieving cousins, their parents would be like, "Look at Hema, she can do so well. Why can't you be like her?" And, for my aunts whose kids got straight As, it was an opportunity for them to blow their trumpet and my mom would look at me as though I've come home pregnant with a loafer's baby. 

Comparing is very bad. Can you compare an apple with an orange? Nope. That's how kids are. I was a soursop and my cousin brother I mentioned above was a sourplum. I was good in languages, history, geography and science, particularly biology. He was good at math and numbers. Our results, mirrored our subjects of mettle. That was it. I was not stupid for not getting straight As and he was not stupid for scoring a B in Malay language. 

Anyway, my cousin bro settled the scores. He called me up after we got our SPM results and conceded defeat to me as I scored one A extra than him. That was when it struck me that than one extra A is not a big deal. It doesn't account for all my worth and intellect. It's just a grade. I also learned that one As' graph ranking at present is not above reproach, like it used to be until Mahathir took over as education minister and subsequently compromised the standard of Malaysian education.

Nowadays, everyone is obsessed about quantity rather than quality. The latest dilemma is that the numbers of students scoring all As in SPM has dropped.

Students are told to memorise and then regurgitate what they memorised on the exam paper and as a result of such mindless parroting, we have students scoring 17 As in SPM who can't put together a sentence in English and are kicked out from the most unknown universities in UK, let alone Harvard or Cambridge.

Those days, students scoring 1 A or 2 As in MC are considered as high achievers. It was very, very difficult to get all As back then and students studied to learn, not just pass exams in an impressive way. Quality was there.

This is not to slight students who got straight As. This is just to say studying is not equal to learning. Don't study to get straight As. Study to learn new things. Study to expand your knowledge. It's alright if you don't get straight As. Your talent lies elsewhere.

If you judge a fish's capability by its ability to climb trees, then it will live its whole life thinking it's stupid. It is also sad that the Malaysian education system does just that compounded by this rabid covet of straight A +. This phenomena is also exacerbated by nosy relatives who have an OCD to call and milk post exam result blood out of kids who are already disillusioned with the real meaning of education.

Education is not proof of intelligence. Education only enhances intelligence. My grandma never took shade in a school building and she is one of the most smart and competent women I know. She had great real estate acumen and had bought swaths of agricultural land and planted rubber trees on them. It's an incredible feat for a woman in those days. Just imagine if my grandmother was educated. She would be like Margaret Thatcher, I assure you.

Okay, don't get me wrong. I'm not saying one should take education lightly. Education is the best investment you can ever make. No one can take it from you - it stays with you for life. But, you need not know everything. Knowing enough on what will make you augment your life quality is sufficient. Neil deGrasse Tyson need not know how to make foie gra creme brulee. A pastry chef needs to know that but need not know about astrophysics, Tyson needs to know the latter. But, Tyson can learn how to make creme brulee and a pastry chef can learn about astrophysics because one should never stop learning. Homo sapiens is the only species that has a prolonged childhood and lifelong learning and it's shaped by millions of years of evolution.

You may say university dropouts like Bill Gates and Steve Jobs made it big but you can count such dropouts having such meteoric rise in life by the digits on your hands. So, education is crucial and mind you, no knowledge is inferior. Everyone knows something you don't know.

Not wanting to succumb to this post exam result relatives keypochi syndrome, I never asked what my nephews and nieces got in UPSR, PMR and SPM. This year, my nephew got his SPM result and I forbade my mom from calling him to ask what he got. This morning, when I logged into Facebook, I saw a picture of him in graduate robe and I left a message congratulating him. It's not that I don't care about how my nieces and nephews are doing in education, I'm just giving them some space to breathe free, something I was denied.

I did not get straight As and guess what? I turned out not bad! Stop chasing straight As as though your very lives depend on it. Life is much bigger than straight As. And, relatives who weren't there for you while you slogged like nobody's business have no right to jump out of the blue and judge you and your exam results!