Monday, April 11, 2016

Happy Birthday, Roger Putra!

For Wong so loved his Master
That he gave his only begotten Son, Roger,
That whosoever adoreth Him should never want
For affection, but experience everlasting joy!


Roger Reginald Putra
, only begotten Son of Mr Wong, was born today (or around this time, I didn't note the exact moment, alas, not realizing how significant this particular birth would prove). In any case, I know it was the same day - or the day after - Raja Petra Kamarudin (RPK) was released from Kamunting by a truly courageous and honorable High Court judge. That's why he was named Roger Putra, as a tribute to one of the few princes on earth worthy of our love and respect. 7 November 2008, I recall most vividly, was a particularly joyful day for all truth-speaking, justice-loving Malaysians.

[Sadly, re-reading this less than 8 years later, my opinion of RPK has totally changed. His egotism and craving for creature comforts must have gotten the better of his conscience, for he has now become a hardcore Najibite-in-exile and an apologist for Ketuanan Melayu, apart from being the owner of a new BMW.]

Not only was RPK freed from unlawful detention under the evil ISA - but on the same day, Anwar Ibrahim also received a favorable judgment from Sessions Court judge S.M. Komathy Suppiah, allowing his sodomy case to be heard in her court where he might have been accorded a fair trial. However, the crooked Attorney-General appealed her decision and got it overturned by the Appeals Court. The case is now in complete shambles, bringing irredeemable shame to the Malaysian judiciary.

Roger Putra when he was a few weeks old, being mollycoddled by Anoora. Uma Pillai (from Australia) gets the credit for snapping this excellent baby portrait.

Roger, several months old, with a swollen right eye after getting stung by a wasp.

Roger in a pensive moment, looking very much like his illustrious father, the late Mr Wong Beng Oi.

At a very early age Roger began his love affair with the River and became a self-cleaning canine. That's why he's usually quite fragrant. This photo was snapped by my daughter Belle on one of her rare visits.

Roger grooming himself after a playful romp with his friend Prudence on the lawn.



Thank you, Roger Putra, for being such a reliable source of joy in our lives. Few dogs are fortunate enough to be born in our heavenly hologram, where they can run free and be constantly showered with love and good food.

Those of you who regularly read my blog might have noticed that in recent months I haven't had the inclination to say much about local or even global politics. The truth is, everything appears to be in a terminal deadlock. The old political order refuses to give way to the new - and even the new often seems to be repeating the mistakes of the old.

It's becoming clear that the economic and political games humans have been playing out in these holographic fields for thousands of years are now totally passé. We have no choice but to look within ourselves and recognize that these problems are externalizations of erroneous beliefs passed down the generations through the cultural matrix. Our financial institutions are far too recalcitrant to be redeemed and our political systems too corrupt and intertwined with the corporate mafia to be effective instruments of the people's will. And even the people - or at least a great proportion of them - are still trapped in analog mode, reacting with fear to every artificial crisis, instead of responding with love, compassion and understanding.

More and more I'm convinced that we can only liberate ourselves as individuals - one at a time - by our own efforts. How? By consciously upgrading our operating systems and software. Uninstalling irrelevant, divisive and stultifying beliefs and replacing them with open-ended, inclusive, and holistic sensory and neurological perceptions. In other words, it's time to outgrow beliefs that limit and confine us - and define us by nationality, race and religious affiliation.

Imagine: if at least 10% of the population spontaneously chose to disregard race or religion as markers of true identity, the idea of fighting over turf for illusory causes would swiftly become obsolete. Race-based political parties would overnight become meaningless and ineffectual. Humans would quickly become self-governing, eliminating the need for external government - and political parties.

[First posted 7 November 2009]