just minishorts.

This has been an awfully difficult week. I've got a long overdue focus piece on my desk and I can't seem to find the right words to phrase the issues that require discussion. My home's Internet access has pooped because my phone line's gone dead (and I didn't even realize this until last night) and the people at TM told me that they'd send someone to my house to fix things up.

Now here's the stupid part. You wanna send people over to my house, during office hours, which is within the hours of 8.30 am to 5.30 pm, yeah? Like who's going to be at home to open the door for you to check my line? Not everyone does telecommuting yeah? I wish I had that luxury, but as it is, the salaries for people who opt to work at home just aren't that desirable yet.

You know I received a mail from a friend who's working overseas (he's posted there for about 3 years) talking about the shocking 12% hike. Quoting him, 'If I pay RM100 now, next month onwards I'll have to fork out RM112! That's too much.'

Aiyeh…. see hoh, we seem to have this tendency of exagerating and simplifying things, yeah? It's so much easier to comprehend the 12% hike by calculating it in terms of RM100, RM12 increase, yah? Fact is, when they say that the tariff is increased by 12%, you've got to go back to the kWh units and calculate from there. Which means that a current household bill of RM100 will see an extra RM6.XX added to the bills when the June bill comes. The 12% ought not be counted in terms of RM 1 lah. The increase is substantial yes, but it's NOT THAT substantial to the effect of RM0.12 sen for every RM1 in the bills lah.

Other things:

I've missed the gym for 6 days and I can feel my muscles beginning to turn to flab already. Sigh.

Mum's out of town for five days so I've got the whole house to myself.

I'm very happy that Taylor Hick's has won AI. I like Katherine (she's awfully pretty, yeah?) but I think her voice, although powerful, just isn't as unconventional as Taylor. Taylor's different, and I like that.

Shahriman Latif said that I'm just about one of the most widely read bloggers in the country. I'd like to rectify that. The reputation precedes the reality, and I think the situation is not really 'positive' in that sense, for me.

Then again, I've also got myself a two-year's supply of Evening Primrose Oil, FOC, seeing that my PMS can sometimes overrule my good sense (although it's been quite a while since I did a hormone-related rant). I'll tell you about the sponsorship sometime in another post yeah?

I just popped by to ramble a few incoherent lines just so that I could get back to work with some issues taken off my shoulders.

Well it was, a good experience, to say the least. And the outcome was quite wonderful, assuming that no one actually went ahead and brought names to the real-world authorities.

Whether or not the blogosphere is a complement to reality does not matter. Like Mei has so aptly put it, this is a case of a fight in a sandbox. Trust in our intelligence and civility to bring up a disagreement in a polite manner, and trust the defence to state his case, after given the time to do so and ponder on it. And when I say 'give it time', I mean, give it time.

Looking back on why going to the authorities was not appropriate. See it's so much easier to run back to a simpler argument you see, 'Don't curb freedom of speech and etc., and etc.,' when the case is so much simpler. I think the issue here is not to bring a criminal to justice, because come on here, MENJ is far from being a terrorist. The only kind of 'terror' he seems to strike is with his choice of words, but it's not like anyone has exploded or died by virtue of the slander that we've all been so enraged over, right?

Was it an apology accepted? I think most of us are satisfied, yes, but we're eagerly awaiting the day for MENJ to catch up with us and realize that the beauty in a peaceful society is best appreciated because of that one fact that differences are allowed to co-exist in harmony. That human beings, regardless of races, colours and creed, will have the sense to keep antagonistic tendencies to ourselves and allow that same love for respect to take its natural course.

It's easy for us to say 'run to the authorities' outloud, because we know that being deviant from the norm is always a left-winger's disopportunity. It leaves us with an 80% chance of winning the case, that's why we're called the majority, you see. And that's just it, knowing that you're right after all should suffice. Do you really need a certificate of approval, stamped and signed by a certain member of higher authority to affirm your convictions? Surely we're more sensible than that. That said, it really is easier to be reckless when the stakes are not so high. In this case, to put it crudely, our 'chances of winning' were more than definite ANYWAY.

So the ultimate effect was a desired one, and it's time to move on. And BECAUSE Walski69 (why haven't I heard of you before?) has been so kind to tag me with a meme, and yeah because I need a little chill out time (don't we all), I'm taking up the challenge.

i am minishorts.
i just want to say thank you to everyone for behaving like civil-minded bloggers would.
i said 'thank you'.
i want to learn how to blog with more neutrality and less profanities. and I'm still learning.
i wish my trolls would stop using my past and slips against me. mistakes aren't meant to be glorious-lah.
i hate people who think they know me just by reading my blog.
i miss not having to work for a living.
i fear God.
i hear that tigers were battling penguins over the weekend.
i wonder what happened to the natural course of things?
i regret so many awful things i've said before in this blog.
i am glad i've said them so that i now have the chance to admit regret.
i sing in the shower when no one is at home.
i cry when people do stupid things in the name of God.
i am not always very just, usually I'm quite irrational
i made three bowls of tiramisu for my boyfriend's birthday, and he said i'm bad at estimating portions.
i write for a living, sometimes. i'm working on an awfully difficult article at this point in time.
i confused salt for sugar once, and drank salty coffee as a result of that.
i need more sleeping time.
i should lose more weight.
i start my days with a prayer for grace at work.
i finish my working days hoping that the weekend comes quickly.

In the muhibah spirit of the blogosphere, I'm going to tag MENJ, ban or no ban on Malaysian IPs. Here you go. And then the other person to be tagged has got to be Shahriman Latif, because I think his blog is ultra cool.

Maybe some of you have been waiting for my take on the development of things. Or to see what I'm going to do next, for example, take it to the authorities-ke, make it known to more important circles-ke, so that some kind of justice and action can be taken towards the kind of insult that so many of us have had to endure over the past week.

And then, if you sit and think again, is it really necessary? Because I'm not very keen on bringing in authorities into the picture when all that is warranted, is a public apology, and a commitment on Mohd Elfie's part to tone down on his mission 'to expose and destroy (misrepresentation of) Christianity'.

Which brings me back to the original discourse, and Mohd Elfie's fervent defense that 'Despite this, however, I have never reciprocated with something similar or do anything outright discriminatory to Christians in general who only wish peace and respect for others' faiths.'

You know it's far more macho and dignified to at least own up to the kind of discriminatory remarks you have been dishing out in liberal doses for the benefit of your visitors. You expect us to believe you? Come on, take a look, the Net is literally, an open net and it catches evidence.

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Before I head on, I have to openly remind my readers that I have NO tolerance for religious bigots, and I have demonstrated this principle since the beginning of my site.

I do not care whether you are Muslim, Christian, Buddhist or Hindu, if I see something is wrong and dangerous, I will address it. And I have done this before, to Buddhists, to Christians, and just yesterday, I have written an open post to the editors of Bismika Allahuma, 'In your name, Allah', expressing my intolerance of the recent article.

My last rebuttal with a Christian was on the topic of Dooms-Day Evangelists, and in that post I had renounced the need for many missionaries to express that Christianity was a message that was meant to be preached along the themes of life after death.

In the same post I also pointed out that it was absurd for so-called 'practising Buddhists' to release animals by the masses into overpopulated lake, as I discovered at the famous Sungai Besi Mining Pool, where the Palace of the Golden Horses is. If you do not know this, this is what I saw, happening there: a Buddhist sect, legal of course, has been practising the release of animals (fish and tortoises) into the lake. Alas some of the tortoises/turtles are NOT meant to live in that lake, and as it is, the lake has far too many animals in it fighting for food. Instead of being give a new lease of life, I dread to see that these poor creatures are released to die. And this is still happening.

That said, this is the content of the article published in Bismika Allahuma:

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This post is dedicated to the editors and administrators of Bismika Allahuma, translated as 'In the Name of Allah'. With regards to THIS POST.

I don't see how you can proclaim to respect the People of the Book, and other Christians alike, when it is obvious from this single sentence on the front page of a blog you openly claim to be 'scholarly' and administered by you, that you and your kind have first on your list of things to do, an objective to wipe out Christianity.

THERE IS NOTHING PEACEFUL ABOUT A GROUP OF PEOPLE WHO CHOOSE TO MAKE OPEN THEIR INTENTIONS AND THEIR HOPE IS FOR A WORLD WITHOUT CHRISTIANITY ANOTHER RELIGION. Even if Islam takes over Christianity as the largest religion in the world, it doesn't mean that Christianity will be wiped out.

Do you not understand the peace on earth is not about wiping out another person's beliefs and to unify everything under ONE single religion?

Good Lord, I cannot believe some people. And to hide under the umbrella of one religion, and to claim God as their own. Even worser, being so fervent that they can very frighteningly, imply that a whole lot of believers who believe in the same God, have that same ideal too.

I see now, my fellow blogger MENJ, whom I remember, when he sent me a copy of his book, BUDDHISM: A MUSLIM PRIMER for that review so long ago, signing off his name, as 'your Muslim friend, MENJ, ' suggesting that he came in peace, and that this was someone far more gentle and kind than the rude and caustic words he can be capable of spewing whenever someone REMOTELY suggests that he's overtly BIGOTED.

Tell me MENJ, how do you expect me to believe you and your message that you come in peace, when you so openly say on the first page of your blog, this:

A vision of the future

What the future could be, a vision of the world without Christianity. How you as a Muslim can help us.

No one is misquoting you, my 'I come in peace' friend, because the article that you've put just below those lines are anything, but 'peaceful'. I quote the first paragraph of the fake document:

Latest reports quote that after years of being in operation, the scholarly Malaysian website, Bismika Allahuma, located at www.bismikaallahuma.org and managed by a Malaysian, have succeeded in their task of exposing Christianity and destroying it.

If this is your version of a vision for the ultimate victory of your website, well then, all the things that they say about your being a religious bigot and terrorist HAVE TO BE TRUE.

And don't come to me with anything like, 'That site is not for non-Muslims to read, and it is none of your business,' or 'That is my own opinion and I can damn well write anything I want.'

Don't throw that kind of 'scholarly' rebuttal to me, because, and the scary thing is that THAT SITE OF YOURS is being read by MANY, MANY Malaysians alike, and if it is meant for Muslims, all the worse. What kind of propoganda are you PUTTING into the mind of your fellow believers?

WHAT KIND OF GLORIOUS ISLAMIC STATE ARE YOU PAINTING FOR PEOPLE LIKE US TO LOOK FORWARD TO?

I HATE TO HAVE TO REMIND YOU SO OPENLY HERE IN MINISHORTS.NET but, excuse me, one of the reasons I love Malaysia, and why I love my friends so much is the fact that I can embrace ANY RELIGION I want, go to Church on Sundays, and know that during Christmas, my Muslim friends will wish me Merry Christmas, with genuine affection. I know that during Wesak, I can happily drive my mother to the nearby temple, and even though I myself face questions from Christian friends alike for my choices in life, I know I can still hold myself up with my own personal beliefs.

YES. I know there are CONTRADICTING LINES in both our religions that CAN cause us to be religious enemies all the way. But I have never, ever, in my ENTIRE LIFE, heard a Christian talk about wiping out Islam, the way you so openly declare that the destruction of Christianity is what you look forward to. If you have suffered any persecution from Christians, well I am sorry for their behaviour.

But it is not in human nature, to return violence, with violence. The tendency to return hate with hate is something that we should all TRY very hard to stay far away from.

Victory is not sought by wiping out, or destroying a stronger nemesis. That is an archaic misconception that remains archaic for obvious reasons. We have not progressed this far in life to enjoy the considerable peace that we have now just to see it being ridiculed and corrupted by the likes of you, who loudly profess to be 'scholars' in Islamic writing and comparative religion. If your version of comparative religion serves no purpose except of that to 'expose' and 'destroy' the tenets of another religion, well I have to burst your bubble here then.

Comparative religion is not about comparing several religions with each other in order to outprove one another. Comparative religion exists so that we can learn about each other's differences and define ways to co-exist in harmony DESPITE the obvious fundamentals within EACH religion that insists that ONE is more superior than the other. It exists because it is necessary to learn how to RESPECT each other, so that this world, bequeathed unto us by Almighty God, will persevere in spite of our differences in geography, idealogy and skin colour.

And so, MENJ (and people who actually agree with his bigot-like opinions), let me tell you one thing: that as long as there are Christians in this world, the religion will not be destroyed. EVEN ONE CHRISTIAN, confirms the existence of this belief system. As long as there are Buddhists, Buddhism will not be depleted. As long as there are Hindus, Hinduism will thrive. And I know this, as long as there are Muslims like you, the bruised image of Islam will never be restored to its former glory.

Unless of course,you choose to take out the peoples of this world with beliefs contrary to yours, by means of violent force, and then perhaps, you can see that vision printed of yours, come real.

And it is SHAMEFUL to put your bigoted opinions under the name of BISMIKA ALLAHUMA, which means, 'In your name, Allah.'

If THAT POST is indicative of what YOU plan to do in Allah's name, God knows what kind of disgusting things you can be further capable of. Yes of course, I understand it is your intention to use the site to counter anti-Islamic websites, but substituting that noble mission in order to uphold your beliefs, with an anti-other religion website is certainly NOT something that you should do in any God's name.

Now, readers, if you are a Muslim reading this, tell me, do you think you'd like to help a fellow Muslim like the ones in support of Bismika Allahuma to 'expose Christianity and destroy it'?