Obituary : Peter Young

A gentle giant passes – Amar Singh & Lim Swee Im

On June 28, 2014, quietly and with little fanfare, one of the greatest of Malaysians has died. He has now gone on to be with God for all eternity, receiving a reward far beyond what many of us can ever hope to receive.

Rev Peter Young (pic) was a gentle giant. A truly great Englishman who swapped his British citizenship for a Malaysian passport to serve the underprivileged here.

He was a rare man amongst men, one whose heart of compassion was far bigger than any tiny ego he may have had. He never clung to power or fame, thus remaining unrecognised and unacknowledged for his great service to our people, whom he adopted and loved as his own.

Peter was an exemplary person. He has done a great service for Malaysians. He is an inspiration to many of us, as his life speaks louder than his words.
Many people have probably never heard of him, as he is not one to "blow his own trumpet". Allow us to share some of his life and contributions to our country.

We first met Peter when he was with Malaysian CARE in 1980. He happened to live near our home and we became friends through mutual interests and beliefs. He was appointed the first executive director of Malaysian CARE in January 1980, a Christian organisation aimed at showing God’s love by action in the community.

Through inspiration and leadership of Peter, his wife Betty and others involved with Malaysian CARE, many marginalised Malaysians were reached and supported. At this time the social services by the government was in its infancy and most NGOs were doing "charity work".

Peter tried to move our hearts and minds from a "charity model" to a "social and rights model". In this, his vision was very far ahead of most of us. He worked by setting up model services that others could see and pattern after.
Pioneer work was started with Rumah Care, a home for children whose parents were patients and residents of the Sungai Buluh Leprosarium. Soon after, work and sheltered homes were set up for the mentally ill, prisoners, drug dependents and disabled persons.

In this Peter was a landmark and watershed in the history of social work in Malaysia. Without his work and example, we would have been much slower in developing services as well as poorer at focusing our energy on the right areas and right approach.

Our contact with Peter continued and he was instrumental in encouraging our hearts, and the hearts of many, to turn to look at the needs of the poor, disabled, disadvantaged, marginalised and outcast in Malaysia. In this his heart was truly after God’s.

Peter was never one to cling on to his past achievements. I remember vividly at one Asia-Pacific Paediatric Conference in 1993, where everyone was talking about the physically disabled. Peter instead presented a paper on the needs of children with intellectual and learning problems. Another paradigm shift for many of us. This area is now recognised as an enormous need in the country.

Peter never needed to cling on to power or have fame and recognition. I still remember clearly what he said when I met him at Malaysian CARE during its early days, and when I was still a young and immature doctor. He expressly stated his intent was to build up Malaysian CARE and then to hand over the organisation to a local born Malaysian when its foundations had become firm and stable.

True to his original intent, after many hard decades of labour down the road, he stepped down and handed over the leadership completely, without further interference or intervention, to a local born Malaysian. He did all the hard work when the organisation was unknown, and gave it all away to another person just when the organisation had become a recognised and well known force for social service. He was content to just fade away and remain forgotten by younger generations.

As said, after many years, he left Malaysian CARE in capable hands and started "Dignity and Services" - an advocacy group to promote the needs and champion the cause of persons with learning disabilities.

Dignity and Services gave birth to United Voice which is the first and only registered self advocacy group for members with learning disabilities in the country. He also helped to start "The Micah Mandate", a Christian-based public interest advocacy ministry that seeks a transformation of Malaysia through justice, mercy and humility.

Peter has spoken and shared at many meetings and through books and writings over many years. He speaks simply but with passion and conviction. He is by nature a quiet and reserved man but has a great sense of humour. Spending an hour with him is to be with a true VIP, a servant of God. In Malaysia, those who most deserve awards, are often least likely to get them. Many get awards just for occupying a position without doing much work. Peter deserves awards many times over for the depth and scope of his work.

In memory of Peter, we ask that we jointly “Make the Right Real” (Incheon Disability Strategy). We know what is needed in our country to heal our social problems, let’s work together to make this happen.

We have lost our focus as a nation and are fascinated with grandeur, twin towers and feeding the rich. Too little of government expenditure, tax payers' ringgit, are spent on supporting those in need. Our social services (Welfare Department) are poorly funded and very poorly staffed. Few of the staff in the Welfare Department are trained social workers.

Peter, as a true Malaysian, would be delighted if we rose to the occasion and grew significantly the services for the poor and disabled, disadvantaged, marginalised and outcast.

Peter has gone Home, one of Malaysia’s greatest humanitarians, a wonderful man of God.

But Peter remains in our hearts.

Peter remains in the work that he has started, sustained, flourished and multiplied.

We bless you Peter and your beloved wife Betty, who stood alongside you in your hard years of labour, for your inspiration, dedication and loyalty to Malaysia and Malaysians.

Malaysia is so much poorer without your physical and spiritual presence. We are glad you are with the God whom you love with your entire being. – June 30, 2014.




* Datuk Dr Amar-Singh HSS and Datin Dr Lim Swee Im read The Malaysian Insider.

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insider.

Malaysian issue I don't like #1

I found this history of the Bible Society of Malaysia on a blog post of one of the members involved in the bible confiscation by JAIS saga in January 2014 in Malaysia.


RECOLLECTIONS: AL-KITAB’S CHEQUERED PAST Standard

March 14, 2014: The seizure of 321 copies of the Malay Bible was nothing new to The Bible Society of Malaysia (BSM). The raid and the arrest of Sinclair and me, well, that was something we did not expect nor had experienced before. The following is a history of government action against the Al-Kitab leading up to the events of January 2, 2014.

1981: Before BSM was registered as a society in 1985, the predecessor of the Al-Kitab was already banned. On December 2, 1981, the Ministry of Home Affairs issued an order banning the Indonesian Al-Kitab which was used by Malay-speaking East Malaysian Christians since the early days of the twentieth century. There was no local edition of the Bible in Bahasa Malaysia available then. According to the gazetted order, the printing, sale, issue, circulation or possession of the Indonesian Al-Kitab was prejudicial to the security of the country.

1982: As a result of an outcry from the Christian community, the Home Minister in 1982 modified the order to say that the ban of the Al-Kitab is subject to its possession or use only by Christians in Church. In other words, from an absolute ban, it was modified to a partial ban.

1995: BSM publishes the first ever Malaysian Malay-language Bible, the Al-Kitab: Berita Baik.

1998: A shipment of the Indonesian Al-Kitab was detained at Port Kelang by KDN (Kementerian Dalam Negeri or Home Affairs Ministry) and released only after the words “Untuk Agama Kristian” (For the Christian Religion) were stamped on the inside front cover of every copy.

2001: Another shipment of the Indonesian Al-Kitab was detained. KDN officers required the Bibles to be stamped but the BSM refused to do so. After 2 weeks, the shipment was released by KDN on the condition that the bibles should not be distributed.

2003: In March, the Iban bible, Bup Kudus, another Malaysian language Bible published by BSM was banned. The Iban word for God “Allah Ta’ala” was thought to be a use of the word “Allah.” As a result of public pressure and objection by the Christian community, the government lifted the ban a few weeks later.

In April, a shipment of 1,000 copies of the Indonesian Al-Kitab was detained by KDN at Port Kelang.

2005: In mid-2005, the Prime Minister, Abdullah Badawi, agreed to release the bibles on condition they be stamped with a cross and the words “Penerbitan Kristian” on the first page before they are distributed. It took another 2 years for the bibles to be released.

2006: BSM thought that KDN’s harassment of BSM imports of bibles could be avoided by having the Al-Kitab printed locally. In February, KDN officers visited BSM’s printer in Penang and ordered work on the printing of the Malaysian Al-Kitab to be stopped. After some meetings with the General Secretary, Mr. Joel Ng, KDN said that the bibles must have the cross and the words “Penerbitan Kristian” on its front cover.

2007: KDN wrote to BSM revising its earlier condition and required the words “Untuk Agama Kristian” to be imprinted on the front cover of the Al-Kitab. By that time, the covers of the Penang batch of bibles had already been prepared using the words of the earlier condition.

In 2007, the 1,000 copies of the Indonesian Al-Kitabdetained by KDN in 2003 was finally released.

2009: KDN seized 5,000 copies of the Malaysian Malay Bible, the Al-Kitab Berita Baik. After complaints by the Christian community, KDN agrees to release it in 2010 but did not do so.

2011: In March, BSM initiated a prayer campaign for the release of the 5,000 copies of the Al-Kitab. Extensive press coverage and impending Sarawak state elections turned this into a national issue and embarrassment for the Federal Government. KDN agreed to release the bibles but stamped and serialized each copy before doing so. Christians cried desecration. In April, the Government issued the “Ten Points Solution” allowing the Malay Bible to be imported or printed locally provided that copies meant for West Malaysia should have the symbol of the cross and the word “Penerbitan Christian” (Christian Publication) printed on its front cover.

Mark Deeble

http://markdeeble.wordpress.com

Today I discovered something sad.

A blog of a photographer of wildlife in Africa. Stunning photos and terrible stories. Poachers, the weather and what keeps the wild life population sustainable.

Racism in Malaysia

Below is a comment made on a website called: Present Tense Media on the post Racism In Malaysia



" I grew up with so much racism that by the time I was a teenager I was certain about one thing: that I had to leave this country. Being half Indian & half Malay (Javanese) I did not belong anywhere. I spoke Malyalam so wasn’t accepted in the Tamil-speaking Indian clique. I was always dismissed as Indian from the way I look by the Malays but then I’d be in Agama class so all sorts of questions start – most common one, “so, your father’s a convert or your mother?” Used to piss me off to no end. Which prompted me to dig into history, my family’s, my country’s so that I have a perfect comeback – that by the time these arrogant idiots ancestors discovered Islam, my dad’s Indian ancestors were already Muslims for a few generations! Knowledge, I learnt, is power.

The worst experience I had was when I was 12, attending a Qur’an class, which my parents paid for, with my brothers. The Ustazah, a bleeding bigoted racist bitch, called one of my brothers “keling” for not able to memorize a Surah! I walked up to her and asked her what kind of person would call a child keling but has no issue taking the same keling’s money and dragged my brothers out and never went back.

I married a Cina boy from Malacca who went to a public uni and was ostracized by the Chinese there because he spoke good English. And excellent Malay. And very bad Cantonese. And did not read or write in Chinese!

Being in HR consultancy for more thn 15 years, working with various MNCs in Malaysia, I learnt that racism at workplace is usually topdown. If the manager is of certain race, he/she would hire only people of the same race – this applies to all the races. Because there are predominantly more Chinese in the private sector, so would the hiring requirement skew towards that one race. Salary discrimination – don’t even get me started! I have at many instances, come across people being hired for the same level job, doing the same bloody thing, similar background, same qualification, same level of experience, the Chinese one paid TWICE as much ad the non-Chinese. I also learnt that nothing ever happens when you highlight such things because the HR Director, MDs, were all Chinese too. Someone need to inform these MNCs pledging equal employment that those words are just mere words to their local managers, it means jack shit in the real world where racism is rife.

This is the sad fact.

Now that my not-Cina-enough his and I are raising 2 multiracial kids, we decided to leave the country. Tanahairku sudah tidak sesuai untuk anak-anakku. Unfortunately."

The French and the American

From a blog called A lady in the city


Un guide culturel transatlantique

Amélie Poulain et son fabuleux destin à Montmartrevs Carrie Bradshaw, l’héroïne de Sex & the City que l’on croise dans l’Upper East Side à Manhattan.

Un macaron chez Ladur ou un cupcake chez Magnolia Bakery ?

Au-delà des clichés

Les façades parisiennes de style haussmannien en pierre de taille vs les immeubles en briques et leurs escaliers de secours externes

Un Parisien à New-York

Jean-Luc Godard, cinéaste de la Nouvelle Vague, illustre le parisien intelloet Woody Allen, son pendant New-yorkais

Yayoi Kusama

I saw this picture in a magazine. It came with an advertisement for her exhibition in MOCA Shanghai. I absolutely loved her eyes and the startling expression from her eyebrows. I related to it quite nicely. On Facebook, I said I loved her hair, but it was just what she said to me in her expression. The replies I got told me who she was and that she admitted herself into a mental institution while she continued to work. My comment to that was, "Wow! did she do that to get someone to cook and clean for her? Most men get married." She did this when she was 46, so there is hope for me yet. About Yayoi Kusama in the Sydney Morning Herald 

Her collection: Infinity

Her work with Louis Vuitton

The pumpkin sculpture in Naoshima Island

Whitney Museum

A lady in the city

MH 370

Curious and curiouser, I am led to believe that this theft of a Boeing 777 has been the perfect crime.

Here is the Playback: http://www.flightradar24.com/2014-03...MAS370/2d81a27

Above is the playback of the ADS-B signal received by a company called flightradar24, a company that has put the location of all aircraft with an ADS-B transponder on the internet for everyone to see.

More insight from the flight radar forum:

What about military submarines? Wouldn't there be Chinese + US submarines (at least? - also Indian, Russian?) in the Indian Ocean with sophisticated equipment on 24/7 and able to catch the noise of a plunging aircraft? Assuming that they shared info on such noise wouldn't they be able to triangulate a crash location (if indeed this is what happened)?

IF the following info I gather from the internet is accurate:

1) Australia's OTH radar coverage

JORS_640px.png

2) The "official" OTH radar range is 3000 km (i.e. unofficially could be farther)

3) Current area of south Indian Ocean search

mh370_australia_search_2103_840_441_100.jpg


Then wouldn't/couldn't this translate to Australia actually detected MH370 on the day it vanished (at their outermost OTH radar envelop), hence their focus on searching this area from the start?

But it doesn't make sense that AUS would with-hold this kind of info?!?!


Just wondering....



I am reading that sound can travel far without loosing much energy along specific depth channels so I am hoping that it would be similar along the water surface (i'm not an acoustic engineer)....




http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/satellite-locates-malaysian-flight-370-still-flying-seven-hours-after-takeoff/2014/03/15/96627a24-ac86-11e3-a06a-e3230a43d6cb_graphic.html