Photo Source : Wikipedia
This famous photo, well the 90's kids will recognise it as Rage Against The Machine debut album cover, is a self-immolation by Thich Quang Duc, a Buddhist monk, protesting against Ngo Dinh Diem South Vietnamese government on June 11 1963.
Ngo Dinh Diem, the government leader then, is a bachelor, and has a brother, Ngo Dinh Nhu which served as his "advisor", hence holding political power. Nhu's wife, known as Madame Nhu, is somehow considered as the government First Lady. Weird isn't it?
What's more weirder was Madame Nhu's response to this self immolation.
"Let them burn and we shall clap our hands."
“if the Buddhists wish to have another barbecue, I will be glad to supply the gasoline and a match."
If you read Robert Greene's books, he would have advised you, if you have an enemy, do not mock him/her, but eliminate him/her. If you mock your enemy but didn't finish them off, the wrath from the embarassment they suffered will haunt you.
Somehow on November 1963, Madame Nhu's husband and her brother in law was assasinated. Surprisingly she was in US with her kids during the assasination, and she never returned to Vietnam again.
Just in mere 5 months the tides have changed.
Madame Nhu
Photo Source : Wikipedia
RATM debut album cover.
Source : Wikipedia
Story 1 : Hujan emas di negeri orang, hujan batu di negeri sendiri
Most of my cousins from Johor, together with their boyfriends and girlfriends, somehow works in Singapore, and travels daily in and out from Malaysia to Singapore. They rented rooms at Johor Baru, and came back on weekends to meet their family.
Retail, factories and shipyards.
Let's face it. Economy is not that good in Malaysia. Housing is too expensive. The cost of living, and the headaches, etc. The currency rate of 3 to 1. What's more to say?
I have cousins who somehow at this moment, plucking fruits at Australia. Whether legal or illegal, it's not for me to comment.
Anyhow,
I noticed, whenever my stepfather, or any relatives from KL, try to start a political topic over cups of tea while enjoying "kuih",...somehow my cousins, one by one, will somehow take their cup of tea and move over somewhere else.
And they end up watching Disney XD at Astro together with me over some non-sense action.
It's pretty easy actually.
Whether you're pro government or oppo, we don't know and we don't care.
Everybody's tired.
The economy's not good, everybody had to go that extra mile just to get the same income enjoyed previously, and for that, we still want to listen to pretty speeches?
I was wrong before. I always write people being stupid for not thinking critically and bla bla bla.
Actually, we are just damn plain tired.
When we are tired, we don't care of pretty idealistic speeches, which somehow, doesn't bring that incredible change.
We somehow knew, it is just hopeless hoping.
And so we didn't care.
Nobody did in the first place, anyway.
In the end, no matter what anybody say, it's that extra money in the pocket that matters. The one that paid the damn bills and bought those nice foods and quality things to enjoy with loved ones.
Story 2 : Blind
Pretty mei mei who actually carried guns to fight and not just hiding behind the computer keyboard and monitor
Photo Source : Pinterest
There was this old relative of mine, his age is 65 years old, so compared to my 61 year old mom, he is quite "young".
But he looked old. He had that "look old" quality of an old guy.
Somehow during the few days I stayed in Kota Tinggi, I indeed got trapped in the political speeches and critics over dinner/lunch table by the political uncles and aunties. Simply because it is dinner and lunch. It is because it is considered rude eating briyani rice with mutton curry c/w masak merah chicken in the living room watching Disney XD.
You have to eat that wonderful dish in the dining room, listening to your uncle and aunties, which somehow, had transformed to General Mao Ze Dong or Aung San Suu Kyi debating on Malaysian politics, whether good or bad.
I didn't had time to determine which facts were good, or bad, or whether this talk would won them Nobel Prize, because I was busy chewing that surrendipitious wonderful amazing delicious delighting astonishing tender cooked mutton.
Even my wife forgotten about my existence. I looked at her, and damn, she was in her own hysterical happiness.
And this 65 year old relative of mine, who keeps talking about politics with others, I noticed he keeps spilling his rice.
Actually, I wanted to go and lick those spilled rice, believe me, you probably would, because even my noisy wife was drowned in silence enjoying the dish.
Somehow, I observed him and waitied for my old relative to finish his dish.
It was that particular feeling when watching an old helpless old man/woman. But in the same time, you're astonished by his will to speak politically. As if he knew his days are near, and he need to dispense all his all-these-hard-working-years knowledge.
Each word, with a fiery emotion, with a tiring breath.
And the food keeps spilling.
By the time he ended, he didn't ate much, so I offered to take his plate to the kitchen sink.
I was surprised somehow, when I, and that relative of mine, standing together side by side at the kitchen sink.
I opened the tap water, he hold out his hand.
And somehow the water flowed downwards. But never touched his wrinkled hand. The water didn't touch his wrinkled hand.
Because his hand is at a distance from the flowing water.
It was then I realised.
He couldn't see properly. He couldn't estimate distance because his eyesight is poor.
No wonder he keeps spilling his food.
Those silence moments when I realised something.
I observed him a while. He still speaks. He still wanted to be heard. But he couldn't take that cup of tea. So I took it for him, and passed to his hand.
Some hours later, when he wanted to go back, he couldn't find his shoes. Some cousins of mine pointed to him the shoes. I just went down, hold his feet, and helped him to wear his shoes.
He then spoke to my uncle of something, proudly, actually.
But I notice, he always stand back quite some distance while talking to my uncle.
My guess, might not be correct, old people sometimes are far sighted. They could not see things near to them.
I hold his hand and together we walked to the car.
I opened the car door and helped him to get in.
He said thank you to me profusely. But I just kept my silence.
I just think it's better for me to be in silence because like most old people, they cannot see things near to them.
Anyhow, I think I end this post now and wrote the other stories later. Simply because it didn't fit this entry's title.
(Ross, Jones, Sirotto)
Let us have peace, let us have life
Let us escape the cruel night
Let us have time, let the sun shine
Let us beware the deadly sign
The day is coming
Armageddon's near
Inferno's coming
Can we survive the blitzkrieg?
The blitzkrieg
The blitzkrieg
Save us from fate, save us from hate
Save ourselves before it's too late
Come to our need, hear our plea
Save ourselves before the earth bleeds
The day is dawning
The time is near
Aliens calling
Can we survive the blitzkrieg?