Poverty. Can there be a world without it?

I think it has been the endless quest of man to eradicate poverty. The reason for that is simple. No one wants to see another human being in misery and surviving on a day to day basis. But yet in so many parts of the world we do encounter poverty everyday. And for alot of people they become immune to it? Why? Is it because something dies inside of us and we just dont want to acknowledge anymore or is it because when we see a poor person struggling to make ends meet we thank god that we have been saved from such existence?

Now i have lived in a third world country most of my life. Where i come from you will find beggars on the streets everywhere from traffic lights to those going house to house. Out of a population of 180 million people, yes 180 million people almost 50 percent are surviving on one to two dollars a day. These are people who have 3-4 children and a household to run and most of them survive on 6000-7000 rupees or a little more a month. If i were to convert that into US dollars it would amount to a little less than 100 dollars a month!! A hundred dollars a month imagine feeding your children off that every month. Just thinking about such circumstances would force you not to work and become psychotic!

So why doesn't poverty end? There have been numerous schemes invented, numerous associations built, numerous organizations dedicated to that end. Still if anything poverty has been increasing? I still wonder as to the cause of that. The economist will pin it to the distribution of wealth, the sociologist will pin it to the structural in equality in society. Either way it is my guess that we are supposed to live with poverty till the end of time. Yes i mention the end of time again since it is on my mind these days. I have seen all kinds of poor people from the handicapped to the severely disfigured. Every time i turn them away something dies inside me. I help one it sometimes feels like a drop in the ocean. You help one a hundred other hungry mouths come to ask for help. Then the real gravity of the situation hits home. No matter what one person does is never going to be enough. I remember that situation from the movie blood diamond when the heroine of the movie realizes that whatever she does is never going to be enough. Its a gut wrenching feeling. It turns to jelly even the bravest of men.

Like any other decent human being i dont like seeing my fellow humans rumaging around trash to find a morsel to eat. A friend of mine put so succinctly the situation these fellows face. He said in regards to their situation "My diamonds are spread in a trash can". Indeed their diamonds are spread in a trash can, the difference in going hungry maybe finding one can of aluminum or two. I pray to God no one i know ever has to go through such a dehumanizing experience.

I know i have been rambling on for a while now without much point. It seems all over the place. At the end of it all my question is can poverty ever really end? Or is it a utopian dream that is never going to be realized? Will our fellow human beings live in humiliation and their future generations to come? Or is it necessary as they say someone has to sweep the floors, if everyone is rich who is going to do that? Looking for your erstwhile comments.

Speechless......

Don't know what came over me today. I was searching for this documentary that was much hyped about in Pakistan. It is called the "The Hidden Truth". A few years back everybody was watching it and i was recommended by a bazillion people to watch it as well. It is about the end of times and how the prophecies of the Prophet (PBUH) and the Qur'an are coming true, signalling an end of the world. Of course i didn't watch it, because i was not into a big fan of such documentaries in those days. So i skipped it. Now a few years after, something compelled me to search for it on youtube. I did find it but the audio quality was so poor that it was not worth watching.

During this same period of searching something else i came across this other video, which has left me speechless. Its about a baby born in Dagestan, Russia, a severe conflict zone, with Quranic verses appearing on his body and then disappearing and then reappearing. The most miraculous thing is that the parents were christian! Now on a side note i also concur that the end times are near, but unlike most people i don't think it will end in 2012. Rather i feel that the process has started, and from now until that time it could take a hundred or a thousand years. Or it could be tomorrow. Only Allah knows best. Anyhow please watch this video and tell me what you think. I just feel its a miracle that i had never heard of before. As the title said i was speechless watching this!

Kankung Belacan I Heard Him Say...

A tasty bunch of green goodness indeed!

I know i know. You must be wondering what the hell is klumzy saying! Hes trying to show off his bahasa melayu skills already. Well its not like that. You see, I think most of my life i have been an avid meat lover. Alot of the times i seriously thought that a meal without meat is unfullfiling. That is until i met Miss Kankung. or Kangkong. What or who is this Miss Kankung? Now when you live Malaysia, this is one of the best loved dishes the people like to eat around here. It is a form of water spinach as they say, and is usually called a friend of spinach. But it is way different and tastes much different as well.

If you go to any stall or restaurant in Malaysia you will sure to hear someone say Kankung Belacan Terima Kasih. It is a wondrous dish that is stir fried to perfection and just cooked enough to let the kangkung remain crispy and nutritious.

What is belacan? It is another very much used ingredient in Malay cooking. Actually its used pretty much everywhere in South East Asia, and is known in English as shrimp paste. I have never seen how they make it, but i can safely assume all the tiny shrimp that aren’t worth much are made into a paste that is then dried into a cake, which seamlessly mixes with dishes to give it beautiful notes of seafood flavor. It is very cheap to buy here as well. A good bunch of Kangkung that can feed three people costs only around 1 RM. This is 30 US Cents. The Belacan also costs around 1 RM. This can last for a good number of uses as the paste “disc” is around 4 inches in diameter. Following is a typical way to make this dish, taken from http://www.malaysianfood.net/recipes/recipekangkungbelacan.htm:

INGREDIENTS :

• 1lb Kangkung [also called Water Spinach or Water Convolvulus], washed well in water, drained and cut into 2-3 inch lengths
• 3 tbsp peanut or vegetable oil
• 1½ tsp sugar
• salt
• 2 tbsp dried shrimp
• 3 tbsp or to taste, chili paste
• 6 shallots, peeled
• 4 cloves garlic, peeled
• 2 tsp belacan, also spelt belachan or blacan [dried shrimp paste]

      To Prepare :

• Soak dried prawns in hot boiling water till softened, drain, reserve some of the liquid
• Using a mortar & pestle or blender, grind the softened dried prawns, shallots, garlic, belacan, chili paste into a chunky paste
• Heat wok on high, add 2 tbsp peanut or vegetable oil, stir-fry the paste for 1-2 mins, reduce heat cook until quite toasted and turns a shade darker - careful not to burn!
• Add the kangkung, sugar, and salt if necessary [*Note: belacan is salty]
• Stir-fry on high heat, about 2-3 mins
• Dish onto a serving dish while it is still quite crisp and serve hot immediately

The End result should isn't something like this:

Looks sloppy, And oh the red bits are chilly!!

Simple isnt it? Now i know you folks from rest of the world must be wondering where to get these things from? I think for European and North American Visitors they can visit an oriental store and try finding it there. As for my peeps in Asia that aren’t part of South East Asia, well you need to come on over here and give it a try. It will be a memorable experience! And believe me it tastes much better than it looks! P.S I am still an avid meat lover, but have added Kangkung to my loves next to a fine Argentinean steak :)

Micky Mouse Isnt Gonna Help Child Abuse

Recently, there has been this trend that has been going around facebook. It states that "Since children around the world suffer abuse, to eradicate that or something, every person should put a cartoon as his display picture and not a human face should be seen on facebook till the 6th of December 2010."

Now, i know it might sound condescending on my part, but what the hell is that going to do? Is that going to lessen the suffering in some way or stop future suffering of children? No its not!!! Its time people on facebook and other social media wake up to this fact and realize that web 2.0 isnt going to change the world like that. Changing display pictures or putting a status to something is not going to change the reality of things in this world. The world may have evolved through and on the internet but the reality is most of the world does not have access to the internet and still live on a day to day basis not caring what facebook is.

I just feel it is this kind of thinking that stems from unimaginative minds who try to utilize these platforms in the most unimaginative ways. The only way to change someone's life or stop abuse is to do it physically and not electronically. Its through living their life for a day  or atleast knowing how that feels. Ask the children who are abused who tom and jerry are and the likelihehood is they wouldnt know. They didnt spend their childhood watching cartoons, they spent it dealing with their everyday abuse and poverty like situation.

I maybe ranting that is true, but i just feel to imbue such powers to such trivial acts is just as pathetic. I just wish they would say 'Hey lets all change our display pictures to cartoons because we miss our childhood and we just need something else to do on facebook'. Acitivites like this are meant to be fun but all i am saying is grow up people and stop thinking web 2.0 is the solution for everything. Get off your asses and do something!

I am waiting on your thoughts on this subject. Any comments as long as they are sound and come from a sane mind are welcome. No trolls allowed please :).

P.S I didnt change my display picture to a cartoon. My suggestion is everybody change their picture to something like the picture above to hit the point home and get people thinking through imagery.

Learning Bahasa Malayu.... A niche language!

Bahasa is the common language to most of South East Asia which includes Malaysia, Indonesia and parts of Thailand. Now Bahasa Malayu is the Malaysian version of the language, and is spoken throughout Malaysia with slight variations here and there. Since i am new myself to Malaysia, i always wanted to learn the language. Although most people here understand English and can converse in English, i think as any traveller will know, knowing the local language can be more fun and one can end up having a better experience of living in the country.

Now surprising to note is that there are people who have been living here almost two years and cannot speak a word of Bahasa Malayu. That to me is shocking. Although it is understood that unlike other countries English is used widely in Malaysia, it is still beyond understanding as to why someone would not learn the language. And these people intend to stay long term! A lack of focus of priorities maybe? Anyhow, i am an avid learner and have scoured the internet far and wide in trying to find ... wait for it... a FREE resource to learn this wonderful language. After hours and hours of searching i think i could only come up with one worthwhile link, which walks you through the language and helps you write and read at the same time. It also includes lessons and audio recordings to familiarize oneself with the language even better. Hats off to the author for doing such an effort.

Now i am not sure if Rosetta stone offers a Bahasa Malayu module, but when i used it last i was not too impressed with their teaching method, which to me seems not that amazing. Although people have commented to the opposite i still stick with the fact that Rosetta stone sucks! The only software out there that does offer limited trial for Bahasa Malayu is Byki. You can search for it on google and go to their website. Byki is a bit better, but for more options you need to buy them online, hence not fulfilling the free criteria.

One point to note is that Bahasa in Indonesia differs from Bahasa in Malaysia and hence the resources for both cannot be interchanged. Although the language is very very very similar, there are still differences which make them different enough to learn them separately. I know Malaysia and Indonesia have fights about this all the time!! Thats ok, we just want to learn the language.

Anyhow I am pasting the link for the the site, which i use to learn the language. It is:

http://malay.pgoh13.com/

An additional resource which i find invaluable nowdays is Google Translate. It is reliable but still should not be trusted on fully. The address for that is:

http://translate.google.com/

Finally, here is another resource that can be used for those looking for more information. It is not as precise but still can ignite your wander lust for searching new links. :)

http://katakiralyi.fortunecity.com/Useful_Links_Malay_Language.html

However, I hope you find these resources worthwhile and i know when i post this i am not appealing to a majority who wants to learn Mandarin or the western languages. It is only for those who can appreciate the charm of living and working in this beautiful tropical country. As always leave your comments or opinions as that is what makes this experience truly Web 2.0!

Wanna be more like A B Green!! YO!

Lol. Funny way to start any blog post i imagine. I came across this video a few days ago. Now here is the story guys, there is this guy called A B Green, and like all the youtube generation he loves to show off his 'skills' on video so that the whole world can puke on his talent.

Here is the link to the video guys, i know you wont comment without seeing the real deal :)



Now what makes Mr A B Green so nauseous is that he pretends to be black when he is actually white. His rapping is so bad that he would probably get beat up outside starbucks And lastly he thinks he is so fly that he can have sex with catherine zeta jones if he wished.

Now thats just a description the real question here is? Would have you sex with this guy? Or Do girls love such self confidence? Leave your interesting comments below.

I know the Design is lame!

Sorry for the lame design guys, I am still trying to learn this software and making the best out of it. I hope you can bear with me as slowly but surely i will get alot of my chest.