Blasphemer

It is definitely a great display of the the power of the law, where someone as high ranking as the sitting governor of Jakarta, Indonesia can be taken to prison. The law has been upheld by the judiciary and relevant enforcement bodies. This may be good for Indonesia, seeing that bribery and other "petty" crimes have become part-and-parcel of the daily lives of most Indonesians.

However, what is worrisome is this could become a landmark rulling, where non-Muslims are at risk of being prosecuted and sent to prison simply for discussing Islam in any way other than prescribed by the Indonesian Ulama Council. Honestly, I do not think these political and religious differences should be a divider of citizen unity. If one could not tolerate, accept or celebrate such differences, where can there be Unity in Diversity? There is no need to send someone into prison for two years under the crime of blasphemy.

Quoting from a discussion thread, "Indonesia along with Turkey, Malaysia, and other countries were once known as secular states. The world was led to believe that while Islam was the state religion, its treatment of all its citizens would be equal, regardless of religion. This is no longer the case as each of these states has taken the dictatorial route, where the line between politics and religion has slowly but surely disappeared".

In my own country, only the "liberal Muslims" are allowed to criticize the various activities done in the name of Islam while getting ostracized in the process. But should people who speak their mind be prosecuted? I do think every adult could think and reject any falsehood on their own. For instance, when Ahok lost the election, it is a clear sign that Ahok's administration is not appreciated by the people of Jakarta. Democracy gave its citizen a way to show their support for their leaders, though it does not entirely show the capability and integrity of the said leaders. As such, there is no need for such a conviction against Ahok.

Just my personal opinion.

Moonwisher

Yay, time to go for another photoshoot
Hopefully this time the stars will be visible
and I will get better photos
compared to my previous trip to Semenyih Dam
My friend also took the liberty to study
about the weather, moon phase and light pollution
so hopefully both of us will get better photos this time around

For now, allow me to post
a photo that was taken on last week

Soul Phrase

When I first started paying attention at ACG characters, I have always looked at male characters who were short or child-like. That was approximately 10 years ago. Some of the characters that caught my interest at that time include Harry Potter, Yellow (Pokemon Adventure), Edward Elric (Fullmetal Alchemist) and Ruronin Kenshin (Samurai X).

My interest to cosplay short male characters was probably because I used to be a short boy during secondary school. During my first year of secondary education (7th grade), I am the shortest boy in class. I still remember my parents and grandparents were so worried that I would stay short for the rest of my life. Alas, I was constantly forced to drink traditional supplements such as old groundnut root soup which was believed to be able to improve height growth. During that period, I actually resigned myself to the fate of being a short person for the rest of my life. Likewise, I started to look up at fictional male characters that happened to be not tall. Perhaps I was just finding a role model, fictional or real, to guide me in the challenges I will face in the future for being short.

Heroes and Heroines- Characters' Medley

With only 5 more weeks before my maiden orchestra concert
I cannot help but to get excited about the event
It's been a very long time since I was charmed
by the fascinating music of Kingdom Hearts franchise
where I got to know the existence of the goddess, Shimomura Yoko

The Solvent of Life

It's been 6 days since I have started my work at the sewage treatment plant (STP) in the state of Kedah. Overall, the work that I have to do is really exhausting that I regret signing up for this in the first place. But I guess I need to keep to my words and complete the task as I have volunteered to do so in the first place - to carry out measurement of various water quality parameters at one-hour intervals for 24-hours, twice in a week's time.

Even before this task is being carried out, I was given a very short notice of the actual date to do this task. In fact, I only received confirmation to go to the site two days before the actual date. Upon receiving confirmation, I quickly book the flight tickets, borrow the equipment and depart to the study site - a STP with an advanced treatment technology.

So far, I have survived a 24-hour ordeal and I am living through another 24-hour challenge at the time of writing. It was truly tormenting both mentally and physically to stay awake and carry on with my tasks. But somehow, Gaia decides to sympathize with my plight and showed mercy in various ways: there was always an overcast sky to shelter me from the deadly sun laser and the pretty starlit-sky provides a temporal distraction from my fatigue.

As I am on an island, I thought it would be apt to be reading books about the sea. "My Old Man and the Sea" is the current book that I am reading, which records in detail the journey of a father-son pair as they sail around Cape Horn in a 25-foot boat powered by the winds and waves.

Final Fiction

There are two game plots that I would be referring in the upcoming write-up, namely Bravely Default: Flying Fairy (BDFF) and its sequel, Bravely Second: End Layer (BSEL).

Remaining Glow

 

It's kinda scary that I have live much of my life in solitude and I find great comfort in that solitude. As a result, I find it really hard to let anyone into my world. It's not that I do not have good friends and companions to share my life, but I do think that my introvert behaviour and my love for solitude are too extreme. Every now and then, I find it difficult to socialize with others, particular with new people, fundamentally due to my poor ability to comprehend and empathize others.

Looking back, the consequences of such introverted behaviours are far-reaching: Day-after-day, I continue to be consummated by my hobbies in solitude.

How did this happened? Was it a self-defense mechanism from emotional suffering? Perhaps over-indulgence in my hobbies? Or could it be a case of social ineptness? The answers remained unknown to me.

Anyhow, this reflection blog post was written as a respond to a failed Amagami challenge (link).