Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Are we trying to reinvent democracy???

What is the Significant of 16 of September?

There are two significant of the said date to the people of Malaysia. No 1, it was the day Malaysia was born. After a few years of independence, it was unavoidable for Malaya to regroup with the other British colony around it to avoid the pressure put open to it by communism activities around the borders of each countries. Then there is also because of the development of socialism and the unbalance of races and the so called threat by the UPP in Singapore. Or was it PAP, I forgotten. (please ractify my fact, because i am so lazy to flip the history book)

Anyway, in order to curb this, Malaya at that time need to increase the number of Bumis thus need to, by hook or by crook to accept (and make them accept. Them are Sabah, Sarawak and Brunei, and apparently Singapore at that time) the collaboration of a new bigger country call Malaysia.

Thus, with many obstacle and heavy process of persuasion Malaysia was establish and the date 16 of September was declared as the date of the formation of Federation of Malaysia. Brunei is not interested, while Singapore decided to be left alone in 1965.

That is the first significant.

The second significant is also political, but not on the concept of national security, but more of a vengeance. Revenge set and orchestrated by a single intellectual and politically experienced person, who may not be very politically powerful, but very influential indeed.

And that revenge was set on a very significant date, the 16th of September 2008.

While the later is selected for the amalgamation of all Malays the Bumis, the former is selected for the devastation of Malay and the Bumis unity. But both need Sabah and Sarawak in a way.

How ironic and very sad.

That is the background based on my understanding, and what I think is not important. What important is what I am going to say NOW.

It’s on the concept of Democracy.

For more than 400 years we fought of tyranny and colonization so we can be independent. We shunt of communism so we can have freedom to choose, we shunt of socialism because we believe in diversification, and thus we choose to live in a democratic way.

We choose Democracy.

In a democracy the people choose. They choose their MPs in a very fair election. The MPs will regroup and those from the biggest party will choose their leader who they conventionally accepted in the social contract to be the head of government of the country even before the government is being formed.

The head of government is the Prime Minister. The YDPA with the constitutional power given to his highnesses will be more than happy to accept that leader to be the PM, because the election will ease His tension and headache in choosing a leader.

So that is how democracy works, the people in a way, decide who they want to be their prime minister. While some good denizens may choose some other Samaritan to be their leader, but Democracy itself believes in the voice of the majority.

Democracy only works if the majority chooses.

So, this is my take. I always admire a strong political figure, those who can have control of a situation and have good charisma to be good leader. It’s not easy to control millions of people especially in a country where diversification of the people and ethnics is their reason for being.

But that political figure must be chosen by the people, not the MPs.

The MPs must realize that they are there because of the people. The MPs view on certain matters might not reflect the needs and wants of the people. The MPs should not suddenly decide whom they want to be their leaders by changing their political flag. This is because when a person select their MPs, most of the time they did not select them because of his ability. Most of the people don’t even know what are the credential and ability of their MPs. Some of them don’t even know who their MPs are.

That is why we have a lot of stupid MPs in the Parliament, especially that one person who brings camera inside the house of Parliament. I sometime feel like running him over with a bus.

But, again what i think of the MPs is not important.

So, they, the people choose the flag or the colour of the party, because they believe in that system when they put a cross on the ballot docket.

The MPs are just there as a connection between the people to their leaders. The MPs are the people they choose to voice up their intention.

So the MPs should not choose for the people. It is very undemocratic if the MPs suddenly decide to jump party just to ensure majority, because that type of majority is no longer a democracy.

It’s a mutiny.

And it’s bad, and unethical and barbaric.

If the MPs still want to exert changes to the political ruling, they should choose a more heroic way of doing it. They can however put a motion to vote of non confident inside the system itself or the party.

If not they, the MPs have to wait for the election, thus that strong, intellectual and very influential political figures like everyone else who wanted to become a leader in a democratic country, should wait until the people is confidently enough to choose him as their leader.

Otherwise he just has to wait.


By the way, not being bias, do we have anyone died of starvation is this country???

But, then again, this is only my humble view, so don't sent anyone to shoot me in the face.

¿Mexican Food?

Hi there!

We've recently received some pictures from Belinda's meals. She says everything was yummy and delicious, and I'm sure it was, but my question is... when we are cooking or eating food from another country (Mexican food this time)... is it just a "substitute" of the "real" thing? I mean, what a mexican could think if he/she eats this?

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Image Hosted by ImageShack.us be patient before the picture!

Mexicans all around the world, write your comments about it! :-D

P.D.: There was a dessert too, passport not included, next time send me a slice or two...


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P.D.: Maybe mexicans think people all around the world have desecrated their culinary traditions... but remember "amigo mío", who is the best ranchera's singer all around the world?





Thanks Belinda! Thanks Rocio!

Self Preservation, Part Two

Having raided the hedgerows, stripped the trees, harvested the vegetable patch and bought the necessary extras from the shops, we set down to transforming the vast array of fruit and vegetables in front of us into a selection of, hopefully, delicious preserves.



There’s something homely and warming, almost antiquated, about making chutneys and jellies, jams and alcoholic drinks. Although it was warm outside and only the merest hint of autumn was present, I had images of dark afternoons and crackling fires in the grate. In my head I was already enjoying the fruits of our labour as the snow came down outside in a soft translucent sheet. Sipping on sloe vodka and munching chunks of cheddar topped with tangy pickle whilst listening to the wind race through the gaps in our ancient front door.

But those times are far off and there was work to be done to before we could realise them rather than just visualise them.

Naturally, we started with the vodka. Making sloe gin, or vodka, is a simple process that takes no more than a few minutes once you have gone to the trouble of picking the berries themselves and stabbing each one with a pin three or four times (which is a real pain in the arse). These little round fruits look similar to blueberries but have an astringency that renders them almost inedible on their own. Although they can be made into a jelly, they really come into their own when turned into a sweet alcoholic drink.



Simply add them to a spirit of your choice with a load of sugar, give it a mix and leave it for about six months, giving it an occasional shake. After the allotted time, strain off the berries and bottle the purple liquor. It should taste pretty good by this point, but will get even better if you can hold off for another half a year. This really is sloe food.

Next up were the elderberries. The white flowers of the elder, so redolent of summer, quickly disappear only to be replaced with hundreds of tiny purple berries. These can be harvested and boiled up with a little water and, again, plenty of sugar. Once strained through muslin and heated to the correct temperature (about 110 degrees), a delicious jelly is the result. Hopefully we’ve made enough to see us through to next autumn, a great accompaniment to a multitude of warming winter dinners from roasts to stews.



For the chutney we turned to the many courgettes that our plants have provided us with over the summer. After roasting them, stuffing them, frying them, braising them and turning them into soup we were a little ‘courgetted out’ so decided to preserve the remainder. Even the most diligent gardener will miss a couple of these fast-growing fruits and large marrows are the inevitable end point and we had a few of these overgrown fellas just waiting to be chopped up and gently cooked with onions, tomatoes, sugar, vinegar and plenty of spices.

Our largest pan proved to be a little too small to take the huge quantity of ingredients that we wanted to turn into jars of homemade chutney so we ended up buying a new cauldron sized pan perfect for making preserves and stocks.



Once all the fresh items had been chopped up, in they went to be cooked gently for three or four hours until the whole lot had reduced down and changed colour to a deep dark brown, a rich and sticky chutney, the smell of which warmed the soul and brought to mind those rich images of crackling log fires and cold winter evenings. I couldn’t wait to try it with a chunk of cheese, so I didn’t and spooned a little onto a slice of cheddar whilst it was still warm. Simple pleasures truly are the best.

Finding that Date!

Since Artist Chef is preoccupied with a lot of things lately--she's still trying to find the perfect date to visit Crepe Chine. It's a crepe restaurant somewhere in Binondo. Maybe this Saturday or next she will go there to grace Apple's invitation. Apple by the way is the owner of Crepe Chine who invited her to try their very famous crepe. She's very excited to taste every dessert she can find. So visiting Crepe Chine will be one sweet day in her life. She's excited now. She will post the experience soon. :-)