Something You Don't See Happening in Malaysia

"I've got to own up to my mistake, which is that ultimately it's important for this administration to send a message that there aren't two sets of rules. You know, one for prominent people and one for ordinary folks who have to pay their taxes." President Obama

To know what brought about that piece of accountability, read the story here.

Points To Think About

"Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it whether it exists or not, diagnosing it incorrectly, and applying the wrong remedy." Sir Ernest Benn

"The people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same way in any country." Hermann Goering

Just 2 quotes from the book, Beyond Terror - The Truth About the Real Threats to Our World. I picked this gem up from Borders' bargain bin for only RM14, after 50% discount.

Another recommended viewing is the documentary The 11th Hour narrated by Leonardo DiCaprio. I bought this DVD when I was down in Singapore last year for the Nike Human Race. This is the lesser known environmental awareness program to Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth. Now that I've watched both, I can say that they're both different in their message delivery and both are highly recommended. The 11th Hour is now available at our local Speedy and larger home video retailers. The messages delivered in the last 5 minutes alone are already worth the price of the DVD.

Chew On This

Spotted this on one section of the wall at the Nike Sales Malaysia office. That's the bottom line folks! Like it or not, you'd better get busy living or get busy dying. Have a great week!

Imagine

This was written by Scott Cameron, one of my forum friends. It's a good read and puts things in perspective.

 

World Population: 6,602,224,175 (July 2007 est.) (6 billion)

 

Runners, walkers and wheelers are very nice people as are the volunteers and organizers for the very most part. 

 

It is always very interesting meeting such people from all over the world or from around the block when at a race. 

 

All I have met get along with each other regardless of their disposition.

 

I just heard on the news that one country, the USA, has spent $ 300,000,000,000 ($ 300 billion) on the war in Iraq. No doubt other countries have spent considerable dollars as well, including Iraq.

 

Imagine if we took $ 300,000,000,000 we could buy 3,000,000,000 (3 billion) pairs of $ 100 running shoes. 

 

If we bought $ 50 shoes we would have 6,000,000,000 (6 billion) pairs of shoes.  This would be more than enough pairs of shoes for every person in the world to run, walk and wheel together.

 

If each runner, walker and wheeler brought their own piece of fruit, bagel and water the 6 billion of us could get together for a great post race party all the while looking forward to the next race.

 

After the post race party...then what? 

 

Plan for the next run, walk, wheel event or go back to war?

 

Remembrance Day > 11th hour, 11th day, 11th month.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remembrance_Day. There are also some running events going on at the same time throughout the world ... and some wars.

 

Run, walk, wheel - not war.  Imagine if it was that simple.

Are Human Beings Beyond Redemption?

This isn't a theological posting. I'm not going to pretend that I'm a pious person nor claim to be lofty enough nor understand the issues of the world. There are going to be lots more questions asked and there won't be any answers. I was reading the newspaper over breakfast and was "assaulted" with so many sad and disturbing news.

It's either some unethical politicians, some "oversight" by some authorities, some knee-jerk reaction towards current issues plaguing the country, natural disasters (like the coal mine cave-ins in the US and China, and the fires that are consuming Greece), villagers in Papua New Guinea who buried AIDS sufferers alive, global warming, the death of an abused toddler, the continuing ravage of Africa, murders, assassinations...

The world we're living in today is pretty messed up. What kind of world will my kids grow up in? Will they be resourceful and tough enough to survive? Will they get opportunities to be the best they can be? Will they be safe? Will there be greater responsibility practiced towards fellow human beings and the environment we live in? We're not going to be around for long in this world but our children's lives have just started. Whatever we plan on doing to rectify the situation, we had better start doing now. Be it be more environmentally conscious, educating our children to be forthright, honest, unswayed, or simply be kinder and patient towards fellow human beings.

At that point I suddenly felt like going home and hug my kids.

I think it was Thoreau who said something like (can't remember the exact phrase) "Stubborn people don't want to be told to change because they want to see. Let them see!"

"Be the change you want to see in the world."

- Mahatma Gandhi

I'm not a smart person but the message seems to be, it's up to us to turn things around. We have to be Agents of Change. And I'm assuming that's the message, as I've said I don't have answers.

Thanks Deena!

"Great preparation gave me my worst finishing time. I will always respect the marathon for the punishment and pride it continues to offer."
Deena Kastor



Thanks for the wise words, Deena. If a superb athlete like you are still subjected to such setbacks, who am I, a mere mortal, to complain? You're still my hero. Let's rock our next marathons!

Read more about Deena's recent Boston Marathon experience here.

A Patience-Testing Week

"The marathon's about being in contention over the last 10K. That's when it's about what you have in your core. You have run all the strength, all the superficial fitness out of yourself, and it really comes down to what's left inside you. To be able to draw deep and pull something out of yourself is one of the most tremendous things about the marathon."
Rob de Castella, 1981 world record holder of the Marathon from Australia who was also a 3--time Olympian

It's been a week since I was hit with a cold. I thought I'd recovered only to discover that there are still remnants of it - if you can call a cold that. I found that out while attempting a 20K with the Saturday Gang and I started out well. After reaching the 5K point, the mucus in my nose were becoming quite irritating to the point it's distracting my breathing. At the pace I was going, that was a major thing - I was unable to inhale and exhale comfortably and trying to do all that was tiring me out. I cut short the long run and turned back to the surprise of the others who were trailing behind (I had started ahead of them). As expected my week's mileage was shitty but a good thing was that I could still run at sub-6 minute pace. I rested today and resumed my cold medication and had a good afternoon nap.

There will be further disruptions to my training come May 26th when we're sending my Mom and 2 kids back to Penang to spend the school holidays there. We should be leaving KL at 10am after I return from the usual Saturday ritual and coming back on Sunday after lunch. Then we will be returning once again to Penang to pick them up on the same weekend that I am scheduled to do my longest and final run. Now how the heck am I going to work around those 2 Sundays?!

Twin Tuesday

"A marathon is so much more than 42k. It is the sum of who we are in one challenge."
I like the above quote very much. It was in one of the 400+ emails that was sent out to Steve urging him on towards to the Boston Marathon finish line. I shall pause for awhile and reflect on the 2 sentences.