It´s all about respecting one another

It´s been a while since I last posted in here. Life has been kinda hectic. However, upon stumbling upon this article, I felt it a need to save it in here. 

There´s been so many issues going on all around lately. From the worsening politics in Malaysia to the ISIS and etc. This article - as you can read later - is about the Muslim students thinking and wanting issues bent completely to fully accommodate them alone. Upon the rejection, everyone cries discrimination and racism.

I wonder if they ever stop to ponder....... you are a "visitor" in a foreign land. It´s kinda like... someone invites you to their home, but you turn around and try to "enforce" your own rules and upbringing into their home, and then when the host denies you, you cry foul! So who is the one who is lacking of "brains" and "thinking mentality" at the moment? To think that you students have managed to go all the way to University level of education, I would expect that maybe to an extent you have a sense of logic within you.

Happy reading.

Original Article Link : Muslim Students Demand Special Treatment, University Offers 8 Epic Word

Muslim Students Demand Special Treatment, University Offers 8 Epic Words

Posted on March 17, 2016 by Dom the Conservative

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Along with two other colleges, the Technical University of Berlin has refuted Muslim students’ unreasonable demands.

After a group of Muslim college students began taking over a university’s “multi-faith” room, establishing gender segregation and allowing in only Muslims, the school decided to show that they wouldn’t be bullied by political correctness, issuing the perfect 8-word response in an official letter to the Islamic supremacists.

After abuse by Muslim students, campus prayer rooms which were meant for all faiths at the Technical University of Berlin have been shut down, along with prayer rooms at two other universities, the Technical University of Dortmund and the university of Essen Duisburg, prompting the Islamic community to cry “racism.” However, instead of cowering to the minority’s demands, the schools are standing their ground — and with good reason.

When confronted with accusations of discrimination and Islamophobia, TU Berlin President Christian Thompsen simply responded that “higher education and religion should be kept separate,” according to the Norwegian Defence League.

“It boiled down to the fundamental question — do we want religious facilities at our universities? I think higher education and religion should be kept separate,” Thompsen said. “Previously Muslims didn’t have much opportunity to practise their religion in Berlin. But now there are enough prayer rooms the students can use – perhaps not within walking distance, but a few stops away by bus. A prayer room at the university is no longer necessary.”

The decision came after Muslim men began driving out women and non-Muslims from one of the inter-faith prayer room, proving their tendency to abuse the tolerance so graciously afforded them in Western countries.

“The room was created in a time where the Muslim students had no place nearby to go for prayers,” Thomsen said to Süddeutsche Zeitung (SZ). “The next places for Muslim students to pray may be not in walking distance, but with a bus it’s just two or three stations away.”

The universities also cited fairness, reminding that it would be bias to offer Muslims special treatment. Since it’s impossible to accommodate all beliefs, everyone will equally have no designated area specifically for religious worship.

“With more than 130 nations at our university, we can’t offer a room for every religion or culture,” the university added. “The room was installed in a time in which there were no places for Muslims to go nearby. This has changed in the past two decades.”

Of course, many of the Muslim students are dissatisfied with equality and demand tolerance while subsequently being intolerant of other faiths. Muslims had driven out other faiths and established Sharia gender apartheid, as is legislated in Islamic countries. However, they proceeded to complain that they were being discriminated against when the rooms, which couldn’t be used by anyone but them, were shut down.

The West needs to adopt the “abuse it, lose it” policy towards foreign cultures and faiths. If you cannot reciprocate the tolerance given to you, you are not worthy of tolerating. If you cannot respect those who’ve offered you respect, your demands will be refuted.

Muslims have proven in every country where they become a large minority that they are incapable of both practicing their religion and respecting other faiths, cultures, and laws. It is time for us to realize this incompatibility, not as a deficiency in our own democracy, but as their own unwillingness to coexist with us.

H/T [The Local]
Photo Credit [Daily Caller, TU Berlin]

Original article can be found @ Why Readers, Scientifically, Are the Best People To Fall In Love With (Clickable Link)

An interesting read to ponder upon. To think of it... I used to think I was a weirdo as I can put myself in the book and feel everything the characters are feeling

Happy Reading and Happy Friday folks 

Why Readers, Scientifically, Are The Best People To Fall In Love With

Lauren Martin in CultureJul 9, 2014 • 1:59pm

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Ever finished a book? I mean, truly finished one? Cover to cover. Closed the spine with that slow awakening that comes with reentering consciousness?

You take a breath, deep from the bottom of your lungs and sit there. Book in both hands, your head staring down at the cover, back page or wall in front of you.

You’re grateful, thoughtful, pensive. You feel like a piece of you was just gained and lost. You’ve just experienced something deep, something intimate. (Maybe, erotic?) You just had an intense and somewhat transient metamorphosis.

Like falling in love with a stranger you will never see again, you ache with the yearning and sadness of an ended affair, but at the same time, feel satisfied. Full from the experience, the connection, the richness that comes after digesting another soul. You feel fed, if only for a little while.

This type of reading, according to TIME magazine’s Annie Murphy Paul, is called “deep reading,” a practice that is soon to be extinct now that people are skimming more and reading less.

Readers, like voicemail leavers and card writers, are now a dying breed, their numbers decreasing with every GIF list and online tabloid.

The worst part about this looming extinction is that readers are proven to be nicer and smarter than the average human, and maybe the only people worth falling in love with on this shallow hell on earth.

According to both 2006 and 2009 studies published by Raymond Mar, a psychologist at York University in Canada, and Keith Oatley, a professor of cognitive psychology at the University of Toronto, those who read fiction are capable of the most empathy and “theory of mind,” which is the ability to hold opinions, beliefs and interests apart from their own.

They can entertain other ideas, without rejecting them and still retain their own. While this is supposed to be an innate trait in all humans, it requires varying levels of social experiences to bring into fruition and probably the reason your last partner was such a narcissist.

Did you ever see your ex with a book? Did you ever talk about books? If you didn’t, maybe you should think about changing your type.

It’s no surprise that readers are better people. Having experienced someone else’s life through abstract eyes, they’ve learned what it’s like to leave their bodies and see the world through other frames of reference.

They have access to hundreds of souls, and the collected wisdom of all them. They have seen things you’ll never understand and have experienced deaths of people you’ll never know.

They’ve learned what it’s like to be a woman, and a man. They know what it’s like to watch someone suffer. They are wise beyond their years.

Another 2010 study by Mar reinforces this idea with results that prove the more stories children have read to them, the keener their “theory of mind.” So while everyone thinks their kids are the best, the ones who read have the edge as they truly are the wiser, more adaptable and understanding children.

Because reading is something that molds you and adds to your character. Each triumph, lesson and pivotal moment of the protagonist becomes your own.

Every ache, pain and harsh truth becomes yours to bear. You’ve traveled with authors and experienced the pain, sorrow and anguish they suffered while writing through it. You’ve lived a thousand lives and come back to learn from each of them.

If you’re still looking for someone to complete you, to fill the void of your singly-healed heart, look for the breed that’s dying out. You will find them in coffee shops, parks and subways.

You will see them with backpacks, shoulder bags and suitcases. They will be inquisitive and soulful, and you will know by the first few minutes of talking to them.

They Won’t Talk To You… They’ll Speak To You

They will write you letters and texts in verse. They are verbose, but not in the obnoxious way. They do not merely answer questions and give statements, but counter with deep thoughts and profound theories. They will enrapture you with their knowledge of words and ideas.

According to the study, “What Reading Does For The Mind” by Anne E. Cunningham of the University of California, Berkeley, reading provides a vocabulary lesson that children could never attain by schooling.

According to Cunningham, “the bulk of vocabulary growth during a child’s lifetime occurs indirectly through language exposure rather than through direct teaching.”

Do yourself a favor and date someone who really knows how to use their tongue.

---

They Don’t Just Get You… They Understand You

You should only fall in love with someone who can see your soul. It should be someone who has reached inside you and holds those innermost parts of you no one could find before. It should be someone who doesn’t just know you, but wholly and completely understands you.

According to Psychologist David Comer Kidd, at the New School for Social Research, “What great writers do is to turn you into the writer. In literary fiction, the incompleteness of the characters turns your mind to trying to understand the minds of others.”

This is proved over and over again, the more people take to reading. Their ability to connect with characters they haven’t met makes their understanding of the people around them much easier.

They have the capacity for empathy. They may not always agree with you, but they will try to see things from your point of view.

---

They’re Not Just Smart… They’re Wise

Being overly smart is obnoxious, being wise is a turn on. There’s something irresistible about someone you can learn from. The need for banter and witty conversation is more imperative than you may believe, and falling in love with a reader will enhance not just the conversation, but the level of it.

According to Cunningham, readers are more intelligent, due to their increased vocabulary and memory skills, along with their ability to spot patterns. They have higher cognitive functions than the average non-reader and can communicate more thoroughly and effectively.

Finding someone who reads is like dating a thousand souls. It’s gaining the experience they’ve gained from everything they’ve ever read and the wisdom that comes with those experiences. It’s like dating a professor, a romantic and an explorer.

If you date someone who reads, then you, too, will live a thousand different lives.

Photo Courtesy: We Heart It

Interesting to read

Found an interesting article that might be good to read on

The Original article can be found on the : Most People Don´t Know Enough About Malaysia And Its Government (Clickable link)

Most people don’t know enough about Malaysia and its government. Here’s what you should understand.

• BY ADAM TAYLOR

• March 20 at 7:10 pm

A map of Malaysia (Laris Karklis / The Washington Post)

Malaysia's government is in the spotlight due to its handling of the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, which disappeared just 40 minutes after leaving Kuala Lumpur en route to Beijing on March 8.

It's an unusual situation for the country. Malaysia doesn't usually make headlines -- it's not a huge tourist destination, like its neighbor Thailand, and it hasn't had a recent disaster like the Philippines or Indonesia. Instead, Malaysia has mostly become known as a quiet success in Southeast Asia in recent years, where GDP per capita was well ahead of Thailand and Indonesia and the economy was expected to grow between 4.5 percent and 5.5 percent in 2014.

Now, with the Malaysian government facing scrutiny from all corners, everyone is beginning to wonder: Is there more to Malaysia than meets the eye?

The geography and history of Malaysia

Look at a map of modern Malaysia and the geography of the place may strike you as unusual. Roughly half of the country exists on the Malay Peninsula, bordering the lowest tip of Thailand. The other part of the country is on the northern part of Borneo island, which it shares with Indonesia. In both of these two parts there are smaller states: the city-state of Singapore, which sits just off the coast of the Malay Peninsula, and Brunei, which is in the Malaysian part of Borneo.

The modern Malaysian state began with the Federation of Malaya's independence from the British Empire in 1957, but the area had been populated for a far longer time -- in Sarawak's Niah Caves in East Malaysia, there's evidence of human remains from40,000 years ago. The first independent state covering the region is commonly considered to be the Malacca sultanate, an Islamic Malay monarchy that controlled the area from 1400 to 1511, when the city of Malacca was captured by a Portuguese invasion. After a long period of Portuguese rule, the Dutch took it over in 1641, with the British Empire gradually taking over Penang in 1786, Singapore in 1819, and Malacca itself in 1824, ultimately securing control of what would later become Malaysia.

British rule continued until World War II, when Japanese troops were able to overrun the unprepared British authorities and take over the area. After Japan lost the war, the British returned but could not regain the authority they had before due to their war. An anti-colonial insurgency known as the "Malayan Emergency" began in 1948, compelling Britain to create the Federation of Malaysia that same year, which in turn became became independent in 1957. In 1963, modern Malaysia was created with the Malaysia Agreement; North Borneo, Sarawak and Singapore joined it in a new independent state, though Singapore would be expelled two years later. (Brunei, which had once been at the center of the Bruneian Empire, remained an independent, and oil-rich, sultanate).

Malaysia's complicated ethnic politics

Toward the end of British rule, the United Malays National Organization (UMNO) emerged as a political force dedicated to protecting ethnic Malays and the Islamic religion. Since independence, the party has been a part of every government alliance.

Today, Malaysia is a constitutional monarchy, loosely modeled after the United Kingdom: The head of state is the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, effectively a monarch elected by Malaysia's traditional Malay rulers. The prime minister is the head of government, officially appointed by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong to lead a majority in Malaysia's lower house of parliament. While the constitution of Malaysia, which came into force in 1957, says all Malaysian citizens are equal, Bumiputera (a designation that refers to the indigenous people of Malaysia, including ethnic Malays) are singled out for special treatment in Article 153. That section of the constitution begins:

1. It shall be the responsibility of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong to safeguard the special position of the Malays and natives of any of the States of Sabah and Sarawak and the legitimate interests of other communities in accordance with the provisions of this Article.

The logic behind Article 153 was that Chinese and Indian immigrants to Malaysia had been favored during British rule, and both had subsequently gained economically while Malays and others remained in poverty.

After independence, these economic disparities had begun to cause problems in the country: Singapore's removal from Malaysia was based in part upon a number of race riots that took place in the country between Chinese and Malay groups in 1964, and Kuala Lumpur had its own race riots in 1969. In 1971, economic measures referred to as the “New Economic Policy” (NEP) were implemented to favor Bumiputera, offering them positive discrimination in the civil service and business in a bid to improve their economic standing.

The quiet, yet successful, economy

Under British rule, Malaysia became one of the world's biggest exporters of tin, palm oil and rubber. And as one of the three countries that controls the Strait of Malacca, an important shipping route, it still plays a key role in international trade. High-tech manufacturing has  become a successful part of Malaysia's economy, and Kuala Lumpur is now a global center for Islamic banking. The city is also home to Petronas Towers, which replaced Chicago's Sears Tower (now Willis Tower) as the world's tallest building in 1998 and held the title until 2004.

All this has resulted in a pretty favorable economy. The Doing Business Project recently ranked the country as 6th in its annual rankings, and GDP per capita is higher than neighbors like Thailand and Indonesia.

Despite these good signs, there have been criticisms that the country's ethnic policies were in effect creating a lack of competition and stifling opportunities for non-Bumiputera. The Economist recently noted that 25 percent of the population is thought to be Chinese and to control much of the country's business, while Indians were said to be around 7 percent and overrepresented in professional careers. The magazine warned that Malaysia faces a brain-drain unless more opportunities are put in place for non-Bumiputera ethnic groups.

An angry opposition

As you might expect, 50 years of virtually uncontested rule has resulted in some problems. Writing recently for Bloomberg Businessweek, Joshua Karlantzick argued that the country's ruling coalition only managed to win elections last year due to "gerrymandering, outright thuggery, and opposition parties’ inability to stop squabbling and make connections with rural voters." Despite some minor signs of change, the NEP remains a significant factor in Malaysian political life and its business world, with the ruling parties apparently afraid to alienate the Malay majority who make their base.

The Malaysian government's manner of dealing with opposition leaders also appears to show it's on the back foot. The best-known opposition leader, Anwar Ibrahim, was sent to jail on corruption and sodomy charges in 2000. While the sodomy charges were overturned in 2004 and he was released, Anwar is now facing the threat of jail again on more sodomy charges.

An ethnic Malay and former member of UMNO, Anwar was once deputy prime minister of Malaysia but fell out with leaders. He now leads a multi-ethnic three-party opposition group called Pakatan Rakyat, running on a manifesto that aims to end the NEP ethnic policies and promote a system of meritocracy.

Why this all matters to MH370

The response to the disappearance of MH370 from the Malaysian government and Malaysia Airlines (a state-run company) is seen by many as evidence of a lack of ability among the country's political and business elite -- a result of decades of positive discrimination in favor of Malays and a lack of competition in business and politics. Malaysian officials aren't used to dealing with a free and open press, and they have blundered in their attempts to deflect questions about the plane. While they are no longer suspected of involvement in the plane's disappearance, the fact that two passengers were traveling on fake documents has embarrassed both the airline and the state.

It's possible Malaysia's internal politics could have played a direct role in the plane's disappearance. It's true, for example, that pilot Zaharie Ahmad Shah was a member of an opposition party and distantly related to Anwar (Anwar himself has said that the speculation about political motives was "grossly unfair" to the pilot). The country's Muslim Brotherhood-styled Islamist party, the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS), is also a part of Anwar's opposition coalition and increasing in popularity, though speculation about an Islamist-backed terrorist attack remains just speculation.

A more likely problem for Malaysia is that of perception. A country once known for its quietly strong economy is becoming better known as something else: a disorganized, unmeritocratic country completely unable to cope with a real emergency.

Adam Taylor writes about foreign affairs for the Washington Post. Originally from London, he studied at the University of Manchester and Columbia University. You can follow him on Twitter here.

Somehow, reading this article from Bloomberg entitled Malaysia Risk Tops Philippines on Najib Budget Gap (Clickable link) makes me feel and think that it´s gonna be more than just a tough start for Malaysians in 2014. I am not a Finance student nor do I understand much about those fancy numbers, but what I am reading... just doesn´t sound very good.

Malaysia Risk Tops Philippines on Najib Budget Gap

By Yumi Teso, Liau Y-Sing and Lilian Karunungan  Sep 6, 2013 5:59 AM GMT+0200  

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Photographer: Goh Seng Chong/Bloomberg

Najib Razak, Malaysia's prime minister, is facing rising debt levels as he seeks to... Read More

Malaysia’s default risk climbed above that of the Philippines for the first time as Prime Minister Najib Razak seeks to avoid a debt-rating cut, while his counterpart pitches for upgrades.

Contracts insuring Malaysian bonds against non-payment rose 63 basis points this year to 141, compared with an advance of 33 to 139 for its lower-rated neighbor, according to data provider CMA. Malaysia’s 10-year ringgit yield jumped 44 basis points to 3.92 percent, 16 basis points higher than the rate on similar-maturity Philippine notes, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

Najib announced fuel price increases on Sept. 2 for the first time since 2010 to curb subsidies that have strained the budget, after Fitch Ratings cut its outlook on the nation’s A-rating to negative from stable on July 30. Philippine President Benigno Aquino is the only contender in Southeast Asia for an upgrade as Moody’s Investors Service placed its Ba1 ranking on review July 25, signaling an increase to investment grade.

“Malaysia’s creditworthiness is deteriorating and the country needs to address its fiscal and structural problems,” Nicholas Spiro, London-based managing director of Spiro Sovereign Strategy and a former consultant at Medley Global Advisors LLC, said in a Sept. 3 interview. “The Philippines is a lower investment-grade credit whose strengths have become more apparent.”

Photographer: Sanjit Das/Bloomberg

A man waits to cross a street outside the Petronas Twin Towers (KLCC) in Kuala Lumpur.... Read More

Rising Debt

The premium investors pay on Malaysia five-year credit-default swaps over those of the Philippines reached 10 basis points on Aug. 23, the most in CMA data going back to 2004. The cost was lower as recently as three weeks ago. The Philippines won investment-grade status this year from Fitch and Standard & Poor’s after cutting its budget deficit.

Malaysian government notes handed investors a 0.3 percent return in 2013, compared with 7 percent for the Philippines, the best performance among Southeast Asia’s five-biggest economies, according to indexes compiled by HSBC Holdings Plc.

Najib is facing rising debt levels as he seeks to attain developed-nation status by 2020, in addition to slowing economic growth and a shrinking current-account surplus. Fitch cited the country’s indebtedness and lack of budgetary reform for the rating outlook cut in July, saying Malaysia risks a downgrade in 18 months to 24 months unless it improves the fiscal position.

‘Warning Messages’

The prime minister is aiming to lower the budget deficit relative to gross domestic product to 4 percent in 2013, double President Aquino’s goal, while Malaysia’s debt-to-GDP ratio is 53.3 percent, compared with 51.5 percent in the Philippines.

“I am more bullish on the Philippines,” Sacha Tihanyi, a Scotiabank strategist in Hong Kong, said in a Sept. 4 interview. “The ratings agencies have been sending warning messages implying that without fiscal consolidation, Malaysia may be on the road to a ratings downgrade.”

Najib seems to be heeding those warnings with his decision to raise fuel prices, which drew a positive response from bond investors. The yield on Malaysia’s 3.48 percent ringgit-denominated notes maturing March 2023 fell 12 basis points, or 0.12 percentage point, to 3.97 percent this week, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

He announced plans on Sept. 2 to bolster the nation’s finances that included a delay in some state-building projects that have high import contents in an effort to stem the current-account shrinkage. Strengthening the fiscal deficit position is vital to sustaining the economy’s resilience and enhancing public and investor confidence, he said, helping halt a selloff in 10-year debt over the past two weeks.

‘Bit Overblown’

An improvement in fiscal balances should drive the 10-year yield lower, Morgan Stanley said in a Sept. 3 report written by a team led by Rashique Rahman, co-head of global emerging-currency strategy in New York. The bank recommends clients bet on a narrowing gap between two- and 10-year yields.

The spread widened 29 basis points this quarter to 70 basis points, compared with a narrowing of 42 to 63 for the Philippines, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

“Fiscal worries about Malaysia are a bit overblown,” Saktiandi Supaat, the Singapore-based head of foreign-exchange research at Malayan Banking Bhd. (MAY), the nation’s largest lender, said in a Sept. 3 interview. Still, he added, “Najib needs to really do something on fiscal reforms in addition to what he’s done Sept. 2.”

The leaders of Malaysia and the Philippines are both having to contend with capital outflows from emerging-markets amid signals from the Federal Reserve that it may pare monetary stimulus, sending many Asian currencies lower.

Currency Slump

Malaysia’s ringgit weakened 4.8 percent this quarter, more than the 3.1 percent loss in the Philippine peso, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Indonesia’s rupiah dropped 11.2 percent, the Thai baht 4.2 percent and Singapore’s dollar 1 percent.

International investors have pulled about $44 billion from emerging-market stock and bond funds since the end of May, EPFR Global, the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based research company, reported Aug. 23.

Malaysia is more vulnerable to capital outflows than some of its regional peers, partly due to its high reliance on foreign ownership of debt and the deterioration in the current account, according to Credit Suisse Group AG. The ringgit faces the most pressure among Asian currencies after theIndian rupee and Indonesia’s rupiah, Santitarn Sathirathai, Singapore-based economist at Credit Suisse, wrote in a research note Aug. 20.

Global funds held 28 percent of Malaysian government securities at the end of July, central bank data show. That compared with August readings in Indonesia and Thailand of 31 percent and 7.8 percent, respectively. Similar figures for the Philippines aren’t available.

‘Right Direction’

Foreigners cut holdings of Malaysia’s sovereign and corporate bonds by 13 billion ringgit ($3.9 billion) in July, the most since September 2011, to 215.9 billion ringgit, according to the latest central bank data.

Malaysia’s budget deficit is likely to be higher than the official forecast of 4 percent in 2013 even after the cut in fuel subsidies, according to Moody’s. Without additional reforms, the government’s fiscal targets are “increasingly out of reach,” analysts Christian de Guzman and Bart Oosterveld wrote in an e-mailed report on Sept. 4.

Investors were selling “weaker fundamental” countries like India and Indonesia and now that’s spreading to Malaysia and Thailand, Wee-Ming Ting, the Singapore-based head of Asian fixed income at Pictet Asset Management, which oversees $24.3 billion in emerging-market bonds globally, said in a Sept. 4 interview.

“That’s why we see suddenly the underperformance in Malaysian assets in the CDS,” Ting said. “The reduction in the subsidy is the right direction overall.”

To contact the reporters on this story: Yumi Teso in Bangkok at yteso1@bloomberg.net; Liau Y-Sing in Kuala Lumpur at yliau@bloomberg.net; Lilian Karunungan in Singapore atlkarunungan@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: James Regan at jregan19@bloomberg.net