Utopia?

I was walking along the High Street yesterday and my eyes were drawn to a couple of well-dressed individuals. I was curious - after all, you don't get too many folks in suits accosting folks in the middle of the street and shoving pamphlets into their hands. As I got closer, I noticed their name tags 'Mr so-and-so, ambassador of Christ'. I rolled my eyes, and made a quick exit.

I have been known to argue against the implementation of Syariah laws in Malaysia, or anywhere else for that matter. And this line of debate has led some to believe that I'm anti-Islamic and a secularist. This is not quite the truth - I believe that God is infallible and the purpose of religion is to guide mankind in the terribly tortous road that is life. But I also believe that man is weak and will succumb to the temptation of misusing religion for his own gains, whether it's Islam or Catholicism or Judaism or anything else for that matter.

That is why I do not subscribe to the believe that any one religion should reign supreme in a given society. I am more for a secular form of government that is GUIDED by Islamic principles. And at the end of the day, my main issue is with individuals who attempt to justify their acts/deeds under the name of Islam.

Examples abound - Malaysian politicians quoting the Quran whilst being implicated in numerous corruption scandals. Religious 'enforcers' in Penang video-taping a girl after breaking into a room and pulling away her blanket to expose her body; only for the tape to make it to You Tube. Rwandan leaders proclaiming that sanctions against them for genocide are sanctions against Islam. Yusuf al-Qaradawi issuing a fatwa allowing the killing of pregnant Israeli women and their unborn babies on the ground that the babies could grow up to join the Israeli Army. A popular Al-Azhar preacher proclaiming that Muslims who enter paradise will enjoy eternal erections and the company of young boys draped in earrings and necklaces.

Ladies and gentlemen, this is not the Islam that I know of. I won't go into the details of atrocities committed by those claiming to represent other faiths (the continuous atrocities in Palestine and the Inquisition by the Catholic are merely 2 examples that come to mind).

With instances like those mentioned above, you can't possibly expect me to adhere to the traditional belief of not-questioning the authorities as 'they have a better understanding of Islam'. At the end of the day, we are all human beings and are liable to make mistakes. And when you're in a position of power, the tempation to err on the side of yourself is infinitely higher. What's the point of implementing Syariah laws in our country when we can't even implement the laws that already exist? Why run the marathon when you can't even run around the block?

Otherwise, the weekend's been pretty good. Managed to catch up with a number of folks who I've been out of touch with and cleared up a few items in my 'to-do' list. Even better, I managed to spend quite a few moments chatting with Sweetie, who'll be starting at her new workplace tomorrow. Here's wishing you allthe best, hun!

Weird

I've been tagged by Kudo-san to jot down a list of 6 oddities that I can attribute to myself. Easy-peasy, I thought. Then I had to ask myself - what exactly makes a person weird? One societys expectation of what's normal is different from another; heck it differs within my little group of friends.

For example, Sweetie thinks I'm weird for worshipping System of a Down and quoting Yoda, and I even share Kudo's weirdness of not having a standard handwriting and his way of listening to music (I still don't know the lyrics of Smells Like Teen Spirit, for example).

I remember saying way back when that you're only normal if you're weird. Oxymoronic, but true enough wouldn't you agree?

1. I won't eat anything squishy. This includes brinjals and tomatoes. Don't mind the taste, but the sensation is just plain weird to me. You know that lovely feeling you get when your mouth is filled with the burst juices of a warm, crushed cherry tomato? I don't.
2. I am a different person at work. Apparently I can be quite scary at work, and don't smile as often as I do out of it. Maybe it's just the stress of dealing with incompetent buffoons on a daily basis.
3. My hair grows upwards. Yes, an afro is long overdue.
4. I am not very well-informed. I think that I have a great ability to understand things quickly, but I also have an equally fast ability to forget things. So I might nod and make the appropriate 'a'ha' sounds when someone's explaining the physiology of the heart, but I'll be damned if i remember the pressure of the pulmonary artery the next day. Which does not augur well for my MRCP exams. Sigh...
5. I can be OCD-ish when it comes to being organised and tidy.
6. I drink black coffee and tea. I think that adding milk and sugar to either is a travesty. Of course, I then go ahead and make exceptions for frappucinos and a good mug of teh tarik.

Feel free to add a list of 6 in your own blog.

4 seasons

With the weather 'experts' having declared the warmest winter since someone decided that daily measurements of the weather might turn out to be useful, it was declared that we ought to have a pleasant spring at our doorsteps in the not too distant future. After all, global warming can't be all that bad, can it? Naturally (pun intended), Mother Nature had other plans in mind and Carlisle's been beset by rather weird weather for the duration that I've been awake today.

As I walked to work today, huddled in attire that was definitely inadequate for single-digit temperatures, I noticed the ground being wet with snow that was melting quickly. This wasn't even proper snow - it was the kind of snow that would disappear at the slightest provocation, the type of snow that would make a pokok semalu appear as bold as a schizophrenic who is tripping on acid.

At some point during my early morning joyless (and mind-numbing) adventure of inserting venflons into the veins of those unfortunate enough to be hospitalised, the sky thundered and you would not have been mistaken if you were think that day had turned into night. Rendering tests for patient orientation obsolete.

A couple of hours and a cup of coffee later, I was staring whimsically at the golden rays of sunlight that was bathing through the windows as I rythmically felt the bones of the ribcage of this person give way with each chest compression that I was administrating to this patient who decided that today's a good day to die.

When I got bleeped to see a couple of sickies (including one of the yellowest folks I've ever met), it was back to gale-force winds with hailstones. By the time I had finished sorting them out (or at least attempted to do so), the land outside was covered with one of those postcard images of a smooth layer of snow. Winter wonderland has arrived, albeit a few months late.

But as you may have guessed, the peaceful nature of the world outside these walls deteriorated once again; back to howling winds that would give any Nazghul a run for its money. The snow soon dissipated, to be replaced by the usual North England rain that just paints the sky grey and that seems to suck the very essence of joy out of a man's soul. Think Edvard Munch's Scream, but replace the red skyline with the grey coat of a shaggy wolf .

Now it's back to a clear, starry nightsky with frost being built up as I stare outside the windows. One can only hope that it'll remain this way until I get back. If not, I'll be struggling with the cold - hair standing on end, and everything else shrinking away. I've just had a little debate with a staff nurse who believes that global warming is just a massive conspiracy to increase the tax burden on the working class people, but that debate has been abandoned since I could tell that I was going nowhere fast.

Don't particularly care what sort of weather besets Cumbria tomorrow, as I'm off. A little bit of cold would be perfect for snuggling under the duvet and chatting with Sweetie.