My Views – Dr.Chris Anthony MBBS,MS,FRCSEd,AM

How willing are we to take up our cross?

This Sunday we will be celebrating Palm Sunday which will mark the beginning of the Holy Week in our Church calendar. As we set foot into this auspicious week, it may be the right time for us to reflect on and adopt the virtues that Jesus demonstrated during his triumphant entry into Jerusalem, the washing of the feet and the subsequent Passion and death on the cross.

The triumphant entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday indicates the willingness of Jesus to stand up for the truth despite knowing well that it is going to cost Him his life. Almost every day we too are faced with situations where we have to stand up in defense of truth. It will be extremely difficult for us do so especially if the person whom we have to stand up against is our superior or those in positions of power and influence.

How do we measure up to Jesus when we are asked to stand up for truth such times in our own lives? Do we take the easy way out and follow the masses or stand up to be counted knowing that by doing so we may be penalized? In times of trouble do we abandon those under our care for fear of reprisal? Do we betray those who have been loyal to us in times of need for some material gains?

The washing of the feet of his apostles on Holy Thursday was an act of extreme humility that Jesus wants us to emulate in our own lives. “If I, then, the Lord and Master, have washed your feet, you must wash each other’s feet”(John13:14). In His Passion and death he demonstrated his forgiveness towards even those who insulted and persecuted him in the cruelest form. Instead of retaliating with anger and vengeance he reacted with love and forgiveness saying, “Father, forgive them; they do not know what they are doing”(Luke 23:34).

Most of us will not be able to do what he did but that is what we must try to do to be worthy to be called his followers. At least we can reflect on ourselves to see how we compare to Jesus.  Do we harbor hatred and anger against those who have hurt us? Are we willing to forgive those who have hurt us? Are we willing to go out of the way to seek forgiveness from those we have hurt?We may be willing to take the easy way out to pray for them and do some penance as a form of seeking forgiveness but more important is to personally approach them to admit our mistakes.Are we prepared to that?

On Good Friday we commemorate the Passion of Christ that led to his crucifixion.Passion should be more than a lesson in history but a lesson in life for us to stand up for truth and justice. Jesus accepted all the persecution and humiliation of his Passion willingly without anger and hatred for those who inflicted pain and insult on him.

Jesus humbly accepted his punishment which he knew was unfair and unjust. However he accepted all that willingly without fighting back or defending himself. He did not show even the slightest anger or retaliation for being victimized, falsely accused and sentenced by the kangaroo court that tried him.

We too in own small ways are often falsely accused, humiliated and punished for standing up for truth, by the authorities in the government, our places of work, families and even in the church. When we are denied our rights we fight back fiercely, sometimes with vengeance. We organize protests, demonstrations, hurl verbal abuses and resort to legal recourse. We may even resort to violence and wars to redeem our lost rights.

The Holy Week culminates in the resurrection of Jesus, that symbolizes his victory over death and sin. His resurrection gives us hope that if we continue to do his will and suffer as a result we too will one day come out victorious over our own sins and death.

Where do we seek Jesus?

Of late, like in all religions, there has been an over-emphasis on the rituals than the substance on which the church was founded. The celebrations during the Holy Week are full of rituals to which we all seem to be more attracted rather than the real principles for which Jesus suffered and died – Humility,Forgiveness and unselfish Love (Agape).

The church asks to charity during the period of Lent and many of us do so faithfully. However we seem to give more importance to rituals in the church than to good deeds which unfortunately had taken a secondary role. We have the wrong notion that by adhering faithfully to the many rituals that we have we can be saved. This might have been right when we were children but it is time we grow up.

After many years of following these rituals faithfully I now begin to wonder whether Jesus is all about rituals. I now know for sure Jesus is not about waving palms, fasting, reading and enacting His Passion and feeling sorry for his unjust and cruel death on the cross. It is not just about cueing up to kiss the cross as a mark our venerationfor the man who died on it over 2000 years ago. Jesus is not just about history where we enact his birth, life and death but He is about the present and future. Iam now convinced that Jesus is about the way we live in the midst of fellow men. He is about going the extra mile to touchthe hearts of others by our emotions, words, actions and attitude towards them, especially those in helpless situation. Jesus is about us seeing Him in each and every person we meet.

The following true stories helped to illustrate what Jesus should mean to me and I am sure it should also be the same to you as well.

The first story is about a friend whose attitude towards her maid really touched me. Her maid, with whom she was not happy as she always took advantage of her kindness, came one day after recovering from a short illness. She looked so weak and could hardly do her work. On enquiring what had happened to her, the maid told her she had eaten a decent meal for many days as she was sick. She hardly had any money to buy food for herself. My friend was so disturbed by the plight of her maid that she not only cooked some special food for her but also gave her RM50.00 to buy for her food. The maid was so grateful that she stayed longer that day to help out.

The second story isabout another friend who visited an old folk’s home with his colleagues. They spent some time talking to the inmates and presented a mahjong table bought from their contributions to be used by the old folks there. He described the happiness he felt on seeing the response from the old folks who were so delighted to see them. He described how he was touched by one of the inmates, a young handicapped boy, who rushed forward to open the gate and gave them the warmest welcome with a most radiant smile of happiness. The incident made my friend conclude, “Happiness is doing something, however small it may be, for others without expecting anything and seeing them being happy”.

My friend had just reinforced a very hard fact of life that we often tend to forget. We need not do big things but little things with great love and expecting nothing in return. We will get true happiness in seeing others happy without expecting anything.

The third story is about a seventy year old man who has been fighting his wife’s cancer for the many years.His wife is now terminally ill but he continues to shoulder on his responsibilities to her. She has become very demanding and gets angry and loses her temper over many trivial things that he overlooks but he continues to keep his cool fully realizing it will not long when she will leave him for good. Her friends and relatives ‘leave’ her one by one as she lingers on.The doctors treating her have given uu and even her pastor seems to be conveniently avoiding her.The husband is the only one there for her twenty four hours without fail.

These are just a few true stories of the some good people whose good deeds have touched me during this period of Lent. There are many more such good people in our midst doing many such good deeds quietly without much publicity. Unfortunately we passthem by without noticing them as they were mere ordinary people with small deeds,nothing to shout about. However these are the small people whose small deeds that really matter in the final outcome.

When we finally meet our creator,God is not going to ask us whether we prayed, fasted or abstained from eating meat.He is not going to ask us whether we went to church,waved palms,burnt candles,carried his statue in procession or kissed the crossed on which he was crucified. No, He is not going to ask all these things which we do faithfully without fail. On the other hand as mother Teresa said He will ask us, ”When I was hungry did you feed me, when I was naked did you clothe me, when I was sick did you consoleme, when I was in prison did you visit  me ……. “

I begin to realize that Holy Week is not about just praying, fasting, abstaining from certain food or attending the various rituals in the church. It is more about touching the heart of someone who is in pain, agony or distress not by our big deeds but the small things in life that we tend to overlook. Jesus is not dead but risen and is alive, not it the beautiful and elaborate rituals that we perform but waiting for us to seek Himin each and every person whom we encounter. The only way to find Him is to touch the heart of these people in whom He dwells.

Wishing you all a blessed Holy Week and a Joyous Easter

Repent, rehabilitate and move forward

It looks like the Catholic Church seems to be perpetually stuck with sex scandals involving its clergy. Child sex abuse appears to be so widespread and entrenched among the Church hierarchy that it finds difficult to get out of the scandal let alone redeem itself from the grievous sin.

First it was the sex scandal that rocked the Church in the US in 2007 where a huge sum of money, in the region of US$2 billion, was paid as compensation to the victims. Not only such a huge sum was wasted but the scandal itself dealt a serious blow to the credibility of the Catholic Church as a moral leader in the world. The secular international media left no stone unturned to inflict the greatest degree of insult on the Catholic Church.

Before the Church could recover from the effects of the clergy sex scandal in the US we are again hit by similar scandals in Ireland, Netherlands and now in Germany. It looks that such sex abuses among the clergy may be much more widespread than we imagined. It has placed the greatest challenge to the Church today.

Pope Benedict XVI has promised to fight hard to overcome the crisis by getting to the root cause of this problem. His recent strongly worded letter to the Irish bishops is commendable. His sincere and open apology to the victims of sex abuse is timely and greatly admirable. His willingness to openly discuss the humiliating scandal should be emulated by his brother clergymen. However the question is whether the Pope’s attempts to heal will succeed? Will he be able to redeem the Church to regain its past glory? People who looked up to the church are now condemning and ridiculing it as it has lost its authority to preach morality.

Throughout the ages the greatest weakness of man was sex and it is continues to be so till today. Many powerful kingdoms, empires, nations and families have been destroyed by passions driven by sex. It is not going to be the end but will continue to do so till the end of times. Will sex bring down the once powerful and influential Catholic Church? To our dismay the answer seems to in the affirmative at least in the US and Europe.

The sexual abuse crisis in the Catholic Church actually has been composed of two interlocking, but distinct, problems: the priests who abused, and the bishops who failed to clean it up when they should have known better.

Although sexual abuses may be among the commonest crimes these days but the attempted cover up at the highest level of the hierarchy is a much bigger offence than the crime itself. If such abuses can occur in a society that is so educated and liberal as in U.S. and Europe it is frightening to imagine what may be happening in poorer so called Catholic countries where the clergy is revered for their godly functions.

It is unthinkable that such crimes were committed by our own priests against innocent children from their own congregation. It is even more dreadful to imagine they have continued to carry out their sacred liturgical duties despite living in such sinful states which they condemn in their sermons every week.

It is sad that many of us seem to be oblivious to what is happening in our church within and without. While the secular media keep harping on it there is total blackout of the crisis in our churches, in the bulletins and publications such as the Herald. While it is it is natural for us to shun from discussing such sex abuse due to embarrassment but it has to be addressed. The people must be told the truth however bitter and painful it may be. Admitting the truth may bring us humiliation in front of men but forgiveness and praise in the eyes of God. Instead of sweeping it under the carpet, we should use it as a lesson to prevent similar activities in the future.

The sex scandal is just an extreme example of the atrocities going on in the church. It is a sign that all is not well in our Church which is now becoming increasingly more irrelevant in the lives of modern men. Are we diverging from the true teachings of Jesus on which the Church was founded? Have we become too arrogant as to believe that ours is the only true faith that leads to God and ridicule others who differ from us? Have we become more ritualistic being obsessed with form rather than substance? Are our teachings becoming obsolete and cannot stand up to the scrutiny of modern scientific research?

The sex scandal also calls for a review of the selection and training of our priests. We may be facing an acute shortage of priests but does that justify the selection anyone who comes by? We say it is a calling by God but how do we recognize His calling? Why are our young men shunning the priesthood as a vocation? Why aren’t the teachings of the Church attractive to the youth anymore? In short are we becoming irrelevant in the lives of modern man? These are the hard questions on which we must ponder and to which we must find honest answers.

This is not the time to find fault and criticize the priests who have got astray. Who has not sinned anyway to cast the first stone? It is timely to repent, rehabilitate and put the past to rest and move forward with our mission of building God’s Kingdom on earth.

This scandal must also be a lesson for us all who claim to be followers of Christ. We must ask Christ to give us not just the courage, strength and wisdom to fight all the worldly temptations of greed and lust but also the humility to accept our weaknesses and seek forgiveness from those whom we have hurt.

Let us pray for those innocent victims of the sex abuse. Let us pray and do whatever we can for a speedy recovery from the wounds of their assault. Let us also pray for our priests who were involved in the scandal. May they repent and find consolation and forgiveness in the mercy of Christ.

The Pope’s apology to the victims of these sex scandals paves the way forwards for reconciliation and repentance. Let’s pray that the Holy Spirit guide and strengthen out Holy Father to find a solution to the crisis that has plagued our beloved Church.

In less than a week we will be observing Ash Wednesday, a day of fast, abstinence and prayer. It is day when we are reminded of our mortal bodies which will perish one day by the imposition of ashes on our foreheads by the priest.

We still remember the words the priest uttered when imposing the ashes on our foreheads when we were children – “Remember man that thou art dust and unto dust thou shall return”. These words of our priest, though very meaningful did not mean much to us at that tender age. When we were young, we were full of strength, energy and vitality. Death appeared alien to us. We considered ourselves to be strong and invincible and we continue to enjoy life to the fullest.

Today being much older, inflicted with so many ailments and our vitality is rapidly draining away, we realize that death is something a real and imminent. We have already witnessed the death of many of our friends and relatives, some of whom were very dear to us. Today what our priest proclaimed on every Ash Wednesday has become more significant.

The imposition of ashes reminds us, despite our social status and glamour, that we are all mere mortals and our physical bodies, however strong and beautiful, would perish one day. Today we may be alive with great power, wealth, beauty and strength but tomorrow our bodies may be reduced to nothing but dust. Reflecting on those words of the priest makes should make us realize that greed for material comforts of our mortal bodies is indeed foolish. In fact it is more important to cultivate the love of Christ that is within each and every one of us, which will bring everlasting rewards from God.

Today we take leave from our jobs to fast, abstain and receive the ashes without fail, but has the significance of the act really touched us in the way it should? Many of us don’t even know what the priest is saying or doing. We receive the ashes because it is a trend which we have to follow like we did as children.

This is the reality of the fast moving world today, to follow the trend in order to be accepted into the system. The trend involves rampant breaches of God’s laws – greed, lust, cheating, corruption, adultery, hate and violence; in fact the list is endless. The sad thing is that we are slowly but surely beginning to accept these “sins” as norms with total disregard for the teachings of Jesus but still claim to be his followers. We are tempted to follow the trend as if we don’t we’ll be left behind in this keenly competitive world.

Life has become a keenly contested race which we have to win at all times and at all costs to protect and safeguard our mortal bodies. We are least perturbed that by our win someone else more deserving may have lost, which does not seem to bother us. The real test of our faith is whether we can go against the trend to be magnanimous to allow someone more deserving than us to win at times.

As Christians can we say “NO” to this worldly trend and follow that set by Christ? Let’s pause to reflect on the true meaning of the words that we will once again hear this Ash Wednesday as we receive the ashes on our foreheads, “Remember man that thou art dust and unto dust thou shall return”.

Let this Ash Wednesday be a reminder that our mortal bodies are not going to take us far in the Kingdom of God. May those words give us some strength and courage to say “NO” to the material trend that is fashionable today. May they give us some meaning in the direction we are heading in our own lives.

Dr.Chris Anthony

Tools to prepare oneself to sacrifice

I received a sms from a friend urging us to continue praying for the Appeals Court to uphold the verdict of the High Court to allow Herald to use the world “Allah” in its publication. In the message he says that the best approach to the “Allah” issue is the way of Jesus – pray and fast.

Yes we are all praying that the verdict will be in our favor. Who does not want to win anyway? Here we should pause and ponder on what Jesus himself did when he was brought to be tried for blasphemy. Did Jesus pray and fast to win his case? He did pray and fast not for winning his case but to prepare himself for the ultimate sacrifice for us, the death on the cross. He knew he is going to be humiliated, tortured and crucified and he needed all the strength and courage to accept that unjust verdict without a fight. He knew he had to go through the harshest punishment without anger or hatred but only forgiveness and love for his “enemies”.

Today we are faced with a similar predicament in the dispute over the word “Allah”. We are asked to give up the word, not our lives unlike in the case of Jesus, for the comfort of our neighbor but we are unwilling for many reasons. Now we are asked to pray and fast to gain victory but will prayer and fasting per se bring us the victory we all long for?

Prayer and fasting to obtain what we want, to my mind, does not seem logical and sound. It would be acts of selfishness if we do that for such purposes. Instead praying and fasting should be means to prepare ourselves mentally and physically to sacrifice something that we treasure for the sake our love for our neighbor, who could even be our enemy.

Following Christ is not keeping our gains to ourselves but to give up some of our victories to our neighbor in move to allay his fears and anxieties. Being Christ-like is to adopt the humane values of peaceful coexistence with our neighbors and even our enemies.

Our Muslim neighbors, especially those from PAS have acknowledged our right to use “Allah”. All they ask for is time for many among them to fully understand that our demands are not sinister.Will it be too much for us to give in to their requests for lasting peace and harmony?

Our nation is going through some really difficult times and we must do everything possible to ensure peace and harmony is maintained at all costs. Let us pray and fast if necessary that God will give us the wisdom, strength and courage to sacrifice something we treasure badly, the word Allah in this case, as a gesture of love to our neighbor which is what this year’s Lent in particular and Christianity in general is all about.

They make or break the family

When we were young we strived very hard to achieve success which we believed could bring us lasting happiness. We worked very hard and many of us may have been rewarded with success after success and that to great extent brought us the happiness that we longed for. We established a happy family with our spouse and children. We watched the children grow and their every success added additional happiness in our lives. At that tender age the kids followed whatever we say without questions. There was absolute obedience and blind loyalty. Our family was our world then and it was the source of all our happiness. We become convinced our family was a really blessed one as God seemed to be answering all our prayers.

As we reached our middle age and our children leave home for the college we are happy and we use all our life savings to sponsor their education in the best universities. We even mortgage all we have to provide their education as we believe they were our best investments. For many parents their problems begin when their children leave college and become independent adults.

The following story is about such a happy family which has been thrown into sadness, disarray and chaos by the rebellious and stupid behavior of the eldest child which happens to be girl. The parents of this girl are well respected people with a good standing in society. They brought up their children in a very loving and united manner where they were provided for all their needs. Abundant love was in the air which they all enjoyed and appreciated during their childhood. To the children the world centered around their parents whom they considered were the best in the world.

The daughter being the only girl had a special place in their hearts in particular the father’s, who used to support her all the way sometimes rather blindly and continue to do so even today. She was so attached to the family that she refused to go overseas to pursue her education despite getting excellent results. When she first left for a local college she broke down and wept so much when the parents left her in the hostel. There was so much sadness in the family for the subsequent few months due to this separation which was the first such experience for the family. The daughter even confessed she refused to go overseas because she could not bear the pain of separating from them even for short period. That much love she had for her parents and siblings.

The parents and daughter communicated by phone few times a day and they went down to visit her almost every other week, travelling about a 1000km each time. Life went on well with for more than a year until the daughter fell in love with a married man with children of her age. Her parents, who lead a life of high morals, were overwhelmed with shock and disbelief when they came to know of the daughter’s unbelievable act.

Divorce and adultery which they strongly disapprove and condemn have become a reality in the life of their own daughter whom they brought up with great love and affection. The dreams they had for her were suddenly squashed and for them it was as though the world has come to an end. Despite advising her to stop the relationship with him she continued secretly for the next 2 years, until she said she could not forget him.

Soon after graduation, she started working and earned quite well but refused to forgo the relationship with the man. Despite many attempts trying to reason out with her, she did not want to see any logic in what they told her. Her disobedience and rebellious behavior caused chaos in the family. Everyone in the family, including her, was sad and depressed. The happiness in the family that was the envy of many was lost and the parents kept praying hard and doing all they could to change her mind.
Will the daughter ever come to her senses and get out of her wrong decision in life? Will she ever repent and make her parents and her family happy once again? It remains to be seen?

Why do children change so drastically from being highly obedient to totally disobedient individuals? How can they lose the tremendous respect they had for the parents just like so suddenly? How can they fail to understand the agony the parents are going through, the same parents whom they loved so much earlier? Why do they refuse to see the wrong that they are doing? These are some of the questions that pass through my mind as I try to analyze the above story.

This is a typical story of a child who for some reason got astray and refuses to see the sadness and sorrow in the faces of her parents. To the child it is nothing wrong in going out with a married person but to the parents it is seriously wrong and an act of betrayal that cannot be forgiven. Every family these days may have such a child who causes great pain to the parents. We may say it is the generation gap that adopts a new value system that may be alien to the parents but where will it all lead to?

One of the greatest challenges to parents today is to bring up the children to become successful people. Many parents go through so much pain for the well being of their children. They spend sleepless nights taking care when the children are sick. They cry when the children are in pain or meet failures of some sort. They slog day and night to earn enough to make their lives comfortable at the expense of their own health.

Parents do all these not because they want to be rewarded by the children later but because of the boundless love they have for them. Unfortunately many such parents are ignored and not given the due respect they deserve for all that they have done.
The parents don’t ask for money, comforts or food. All they ask for is for the children to continue giving them the due respect by listening to them on important issues in life especially when they are obviously wrong. It is behaving like children again that give them the happiness that they long for. Is that too much for the children to give to the very people who have sacrificed everything in their lives for their well being?

Where do we go from here?

The High Court verdict favoring the Christians on the Allah issue has been largely magnified and politicized by many quarters for their own benefits. It resulted in the firebombing of several churches all over the country. It was interesting that although the majority of Muslims were not comfortable with the idea of Christians calling God Allah but nevertheless the vast majority of them strongly opposed the attacks on churches that followed. These acts of arson were condemned severely by many Muslims themselves including many prominent Islamic scholars, leaders and politicians from both sides.

The reconciliatory gestures and goodwill of moderate Muslims towards Christians that followed were unbelievable and unprecedented. The peaceful and mature response from the Christians appealing for calm and forgiveness too was encouraging. The whole episode though undesirable, brought positive results for the future of inter-religious relations that form the basis of long term peace and harmony in multi-racial and multi-religious Malaysia.

The courts are not the best places to solve inter-religious disputes especially in our country, where politicization of almost every institution has eroded their integrity. Furthermore race and religion are rather emotional and sensitive issues that can only be solved by dialogue in the spirit of goodwill and brotherhood. Unless we can create an environment of goodwill and brotherhood there will be no compromise which is so vital for overcoming inter-ethnic conflicts.

Well we have passed that stage and now the High Court has decided in our favor but the Umno-led government and politicians are not ready to accept the verdict and have appealed against it. There is a high possibility the appeal will be upheld and we will be back to where we started but minus the goodwill we had with the government. Where do we go from here? The only way forward is dialogue, Muslim, Christian and Muslim-Christian and ultimately inter-faith which more Muslims are beginning to accept.
For the Muslims in the country this issue has divided them in terms of their opinion regarding the court verdict. Since then have been attempts by moderate Muslims to organize dialogue and debate among them in a peaceful and civil manner with regards to the legal, religious and socio-politic implications of the High Court verdict. This is indeed encouraging as it may be the beginning of the moderates taking control to lead them into the middle path.

There seem to be general agreement among the Muslims that historically the word Allah has been used by non-Muslims all over the world. However they seem to be alarmed at the thought of it being used here. This is basically due to deeply rooted fundamental insecurities with which Malay leaders must come to terms. From a very young age the Muslims are segregated and taught that Allah belongs to them alone and non-Muslims are to call God by other names. All of a sudden when the latter want to claim Allah as also theirs, it is only natural for them to react with suspicion and anger.

We see some positive signs and we must give them time which is always on our side. Let us find ways to strengthen the moderate Muslims further and not weaken them by demanding that our rights be granted immediately. By doing so we would only be playing into the hands of the minority extremists who would not hesitate to use violence to stop us from being granted our rights.

It is also timely for us Catholics and Christians of all other denominations to get together like our Muslim brethren to find a common middle ground in dealing with this and many other inter-religious disputes in the country. We have a God-given opportunity for us to unite despite the differences among us and we must not foolish to let it pass. If we who believe in Jesus cannot unite in his name, it would be naïve of us to expect to unite with those who do not believe in him.

At the same time as Catholics we must examine ourselves to see whether we ourselves are taking a moderate stand which we expect the Muslims to so. Do we see the logic and reason of those who differ from us? Are we reasonable in our demands from others? Are we listening to those we claim to serve?

We will most likely reach a deadlock in the Allah dispute if the Appeals Court squashes the High Court judgment. What next for us? Fr.Lawrence Andrew S.J, the editor of Herald, did the wiset thing by agreeing to the stay of the High Court judgment and refrain from using Allah while waiting for the appeal. We should continue refraining regardless of the outcome of the appeal and try to build on the unexpected goodwill shown to us by many fellow Muslims for long term peace.

The proper thing for the Church now is to go back to its people for internal dialogue and debate to get their feedback and opinion. It is the people who are affected by what the Church does not the clergy who hardly deal with fellow Muslims. It is the people who live, work and interact with Muslims day and night. It is their children who play, eat, study and grow up together with Muslim children. How can they do these in peace and harmony if there is so much mutual suspicion and ill-feeling among them in the neighborhood, offices, schools and places of work? Unfortunately such dialogue and debate are never a practice in our Catholic Church.

The clergy, who represent the people, must consider the people’s interests in whatever actions they resort to in disputes that the church may encounter from time to time. These should not be seen merely from a legal, historic or theological aspect but from a humane one that takes into consideration the good human values of peaceful co-existence – a considerate and caring attitude that tries to understand and allay the fears and anxiety of one another, however unreasonable they may be, especially those from a different race and creed.

Dr.Chris Anthony

Her children mean everything to her

Many people pass us by in our lives but often only the bad draw our attention whereas the good people pass by without us noticing them. This is because of the humble nature of the latter. We are too busy with our lives that we fail to pay any attention to them. If only we pauses a while and reflect on their goodness we may be better persons in this world, where the good seem to be rarely appreciated and rewarded. The bad on the other hand seem to be rewarded with one success after another. Every person, big or small, weak or strong, rich or poor, has something to contribute to us, the good must be an example of what we should be and the bad of what we should not be.

Mdm.Q is one such person who crossed my life whom I consider should be an example of what we should all ape. She may not have high academic qualifications, no position of power or wealth but she remains a living example of what a human should be – live to benefit someone else other than your own self and family. She may not have a towering physique but she possesses the great virtues that many of us badly lack – discipline, righteousness and kindness.

Mdm.Q is now in her fifties and lives with her family, a husband and three beautiful children. Since her marriage at the age of 26 she ploughed her way through life with the man she chose to build a successful and happy family which meant everything to her. Her family was her life and it was the centre of the world for her. She gave everything she had for the well being of her family.

Since she got married she adopted her husband’s family as her own. She never stopped her husband from helping his family but only encouraged him to do more for them. This is a rare situation these days where the daughter-in- law creates a lot of problems for the family into which she gets married, which results in the breakup of a once happy and united family.

In the case of Mdm.Q, she is so close to her in-laws that they confide more in her than their own children. Her late father-in-law had such an exalted opinion of her which he confessed during the final days of his life. To me this speaks volumes of the inherent goodness of Mdm.Q who goes out of the way to offer her services to anyone whom she meets not just her children or members of her own family.

Mdm.Q has a very special love for her children. She takes great pains to ensure all their needs are taken take of – food, clothing, and health and she is particularly a good companion for them. Food has always been a very important component of her love. When she got married she did know how much about cooking but today she is a fantastic cook able to prepare any dish be it Indian, Chinese or Western cuisine. It was all because of her love for the children that inspired her to go all out to learn cooking the hard way of trial and error. Although many have tasted her food there is yet one to say anything negative about her cooking.

She wakes up every day before five in the morning so that breakfast can be ready before the children to go school. She continues to do that religiously day after day without fail for over 20 years. Even the cockroaches and rats which she fears so much could deter from doing that. I am told one can count the number of days when she had failed to get up in time. Such was her discipline and commitment to her children whom she loved so much.

She left her daughter under the care of her mother- in-law soon after birth as she could not find a baby sitter to satisfy her requirements. When she realized that her daughter was not getting enough of her personal attention, Mdm.Q willingly gave up her job without making a fuss unlike many others. From then on she became a full time housewife to take of her children which she did excellently and continues to do so till today. She often describes her job as a homemaker as more important and challenging than being an income earner which we all will agree.

She slogged day and night to build her beautiful family into a united and tremendously happy one that was the envy of many, friend and foe alike. God was so happy with her but He wanted to reveal more of her goodness for others to follow and so He decided to give her some greater challenges in her life in the form of her children.
He sons did not do that well in their studies as expected in our materialistic, competitive and selfish society. However they were great in ways that are far more important than academic excellence. Their love, obedience and loyalty to her are more valuable than all the As in examinations. Mdm.Q accepted their shortcomings with so much humility and full trust in God believing that He has His strange ways of rewarding people who do good without any ulterior motives. I am very sure the Lord will reward her for this unshakable trust in Him in the near future.

Greater challenge and shock came in the form of her daughter who made a very major mistake in the choice of her life partner.The daughter’s choice breached every principle in life that were so dear to the mother – righteousness, honesty and high morals. The choice upset her so much that she was terribly shaken mentally, emotionally and physically. It is strange and puzzling that despite all the love and sacrifice rendered in bringing them up some children turn out to be disobedient and rebellious. This is the greatest pain that Mdm.Q is unable to endure.

Yet she says she has full confidence that God will bring a change in the daughter for the better. She believes that He will guide her sons to succeed in their lives. She strongly believes that God has His own reasons for trying her. She firmly believes that God will only try the good but will never forsake them when it really matters.

In fact all her children are wonderful in their own ways, being very good and full of love and extremely caring for the mother. They are polite, simple, courteous and always helpful to those in need including the elders, at a time when the young of today have little time for the elderly and infirm. She says she could not have asked for children better than what she has been bestowed. She always has and will continue to have a special place for them in her heart and her only hope is that they too will have one for her in theirs.

The great Chinese philosopher once said “ Do not do unto others what you do not like when done unto you” and Mdm Q is guided by the believe that we must go out of the way to do to others what we would like them to do to us.

Some people are placed in this world to be used as examples for others to admire and follow or despise and reject. Mdm.Q belongs to the former category. She is a classical example who clearly demonstrates my philosophy in life, “Life is a challenge with ups and downs, what is important in this journey is to do the right thing always under all circumstances and God will always be on our side come what may”.

Her children mean everything to her

Many people pass us by in our lives but often only the bad draw our attention whereas the good people pass by without us noticing them. This is because of the humble nature of the latter. We are too busy with our lives that we fail to pay any attention to them. If only we pauses a while and reflect on their goodness we may be better persons in this world, where the good seem to be rarely appreciated and rewarded. The bad on the other hand seem to be rewarded with one success after another. Every person, big or small, weak or strong, rich or poor, has something to contribute to us, the good must be an example of what we should be and the bad of what we should not be.

Mdm.Q is one such person who crossed my life whom I consider should be an example of what we should all ape. She may not have high academic qualifications, no position of power or wealth but she remains a living example of what a human should be – live to benefit someone else other than your own self and family. She may not have a towering physique but she possesses the great virtues that many of us badly lack – discipline, righteousness and kindness.

Mdm.Q is now in her fifties and lives with her family, a husband and three beautiful children. Since her marriage at the age of 26 she ploughed her way through life with the man she chose to build a successful and happy family which meant everything to her. Her family was her life and it was the centre of the world for her. She gave everything she had for the well being of her family.

Since she got married she adopted her husband’s family as her own. She never stopped her husband from helping his family but only encouraged him to do more for them. This is a rare situation these days where the daughter-in- law creates a lot of problems for the family into which she gets married, which results in the breakup of a once happy and united family.

In the case of Mdm.Q, she is so close to her in-laws that they confide more in her than their own children. Her late father-in-law had such an exalted opinion of her which he confessed during the final days of his life. To me this speaks volumes of the inherent goodness of Mdm.Q who goes out of the way to offer her services to anyone whom she meets not just her children or members of her own family.
Mdm.Q has a very special love for her children. She takes great pains to ensure all their needs are taken take of – food, clothing, and health and she is particularly a good companion for them. Food has always been a very important component of her love. When she got married she did know how much about cooking but today she is a fantastic cook able to prepare any dish be it Indian, Chinese or Western cuisine. It was all because of her love for the children that inspired her to go all out to learn cooking the hard way of trial and error. Although many have tasted her food there is yet one to say anything negative about her cooking.
She wakes up every day before five in the morning so that breakfast can be ready before the children to go school. She continues to do that religiously day after day without fail for over 20 years. Even the cockroaches and rats which she fears so much could deter from doing that. I am told one can count the number of days when she had failed to get up in time. Such was her discipline and commitment to her children whom she loved so much.

She left her daughter under the care of her mother- in-law soon after birth as she could not find a baby sitter to satisfy her requirements. When she realized that her daughter was not getting enough of her personal attention, Mdm.Q willingly gave up her job without making a fuss unlike many others. From then on she became a full time housewife to take of her children which she did excellently and continues to do so till today. She often describes her job as a homemaker as more important and challenging than being an income earner which we all will agree.
She slogged day and night to build her beautiful family into a united and tremendously happy one that was the envy of many, friend and foe alike. God was so happy with her but He wanted to reveal more of her goodness for others to follow and so He decided to give her some greater challenges in her life in the form of her children.

He sons did not do that well in their studies as expected in our materialistic, competitive and selfish society. However they were great in ways that are far more important than academic excellence. Their love, obedience and loyalty to her are more valuable than all the As in examinations. Mdm.Q accepted their shortcomings with so much humility and full trust in God believing that He has His strange ways of rewarding people who do good without any ulterior motives. I am very sure the Lord will reward her for this unshakable trust in Him in the near future.

Greater challenge and shock came in the form of her daughter who made a very major mistake in the choice of her life partner.The daughter’s choice breached every principle in life that were so dear to the mother – righteousness, honesty and high morals. The choice upset her so much that she was terribly shaken mentally, emotionally and physically. It is strange and puzzling that despite all the love and sacrifice rendered in bringing them up some children turn out to be disobedient and rebellious. This is the greatest pain that Mdm.Q is unable to endure.

Yet she says she has full confidence that God will bring a change in the daughter for the better. She believes that He will guide her sons to succeed in their lives. She strongly believes that God has His own reasons for trying her. She firmly believes that God will only try the good but will never forsake them when it really matters.
In fact all her children are wonderful in their own ways, being very good and full of love and extremely caring for the mother. They are polite, simple, courteous and always helpful to those in need including the elders, at a time when the young of today have little time for the elderly and infirm. She says she could not have asked for children better than what she has been bestowed. She always has and will continue to have a special place for them in her heart and her only hope is that they too will have one for her in theirs.

The great Chinese philosopher once said “ Do not do unto others what you do not like when done unto you” and Mdm Q is guided by the believe that we must go out of the way to do to others what we would like them to do to us.

Some people are placed in this world to be used as examples for others to admire and follow or despise and reject. Mdm.Q belongs to the former category. She is a classical example who clearly demonstrates my philosophy in life, “Life is a challenge with ups and downs, what is important in this journey is to do the right thing always under all circumstances and God will always be on our side come what may”.

Her children mean everything to her

Many people pass us by in our lives but often only the bad draw our attention whereas the good people pass by without us noticing them. This is because of the humble nature of the latter. We are too busy with our lives that we fail to pay any attention to them. If only we pauses a while and reflect on their goodness we may be better persons in this world, where the good seem to be rarely appreciated and rewarded. The bad on the other hand seem to be rewarded with one success after another. Every person, big or small, weak or strong, rich or poor, has something to contribute to us, the good must be an example of what we should be and the bad of what we should not be.

Mdm.Q is one such person who crossed my life whom I consider should be an example of what we should all ape. She may not have high academic qualifications, no position of power or wealth but she remains a living example of what a human should be – live to benefit someone else other than your own self and family. She may not have a towering physique but she possesses the great virtues that many of us badly lack – discipline, righteousness and kindness.

Mdm.Q is now in her fifties and lives with her family, a husband and three beautiful children. Since her marriage at the age of 26 she ploughed her way through life with the man she chose to build a successful and happy family which meant everything to her. Her family was her life and it was the centre of the world for her. She gave everything she had for the well being of her family.

Since she got married she adopted her husband’s family as her own. She never stopped her husband from helping his family but only encouraged him to do more for them. This is a rare situation these days where the daughter-in- law creates a lot of problems for the family into which she gets married, which results in the breakup of a once happy and united family.

In the case of Mdm.Q, she is so close to her in-laws that they confide more in her than their own children. Her late father-in-law had such an exalted opinion of her which he confessed during the final days of his life. To me this speaks volumes of the inherent goodness of Mdm.Q who goes out of the way to offer her services to anyone whom she meets not just her children or members of her own family.
Mdm.Q has a very special love for her children. She takes great pains to ensure all their needs are taken take of – food, clothing, and health and she is particularly a good companion for them. Food has always been a very important component of her love. When she got married she did know how much about cooking but today she is a fantastic cook able to prepare any dish be it Indian, Chinese or Western cuisine. It was all because of her love for the children that inspired her to go all out to learn cooking the hard way of trial and error. Although many have tasted her food there is yet one to say anything negative about her cooking.
She wakes up every day before five in the morning so that breakfast can be ready before the children to go school. She continues to do that religiously day after day without fail for over 20 years. Even the cockroaches and rats which she fears so much could deter from doing that. I am told one can count the number of days when she had failed to get up in time. Such was her discipline and commitment to her children whom she loved so much.

She left her daughter under the care of her mother- in-law soon after birth as she could not find a baby sitter to satisfy her requirements. When she realized that her daughter was not getting enough of her personal attention, Mdm.Q willingly gave up her job without making a fuss unlike many others. From then on she became a full time housewife to take of her children which she did excellently and continues to do so till today. She often describes her job as a homemaker as more important and challenging than being an income earner which we all will agree.
She slogged day and night to build her beautiful family into a united and tremendously happy one that was the envy of many, friend and foe alike. God was so happy with her but He wanted to reveal more of her goodness for others to follow and so He decided to give her some greater challenges in her life in the form of her children.

He sons did not do that well in their studies as expected in our materialistic, competitive and selfish society. However they were great in ways that are far more important than academic excellence. Their love, obedience and loyalty to her are more valuable than all the As in examinations. Mdm.Q accepted their shortcomings with so much humility and full trust in God believing that He has His strange ways of rewarding people who do good without any ulterior motives. I am very sure the Lord will reward her for this unshakable trust in Him in the near future.

Greater challenge and shock came in the form of her daughter who made a very major mistake in the choice of her life partner.The daughter’s choice breached every principle in life that were so dear to the mother – righteousness, honesty and high morals. The choice upset her so much that she was terribly shaken mentally, emotionally and physically. It is strange and puzzling that despite all the love and sacrifice rendered in bringing them up some children turn out to be disobedient and rebellious. This is the greatest pain that Mdm.Q is unable to endure.

Yet she says she has full confidence that God will bring a change in the daughter for the better. She believes that He will guide her sons to succeed in their lives. She strongly believes that God has His own reasons for trying her. She firmly believes that God will only try the good but will never forsake them when it really matters.
In fact all her children are wonderful in their own ways, being very good and full of love and extremely caring for the mother. They are polite, simple, courteous and always helpful to those in need including the elders, at a time when the young of today have little time for the elderly and infirm. She says she could not have asked for children better than what she has been bestowed. She always has and will continue to have a special place for them in her heart and her only hope is that they too will have one for her in theirs.

The great Chinese philosopher once said “ Do not do unto others what you do not like when done unto you” and Mdm Q is guided by the believe that we must go out of the way to do to others what we would like them to do to us.

Some people are placed in this world to be used as examples for others to admire and follow or despise and reject. Mdm.Q belongs to the former category. She is a classical example who clearly demonstrates my philosophy in life, “Life is a challenge with ups and downs, what is important in this journey is to do the right thing always under all circumstances and God will always be on our side come what may”.

Tapping the inherent goodwill among Malaysians

Forge inter-religious dialogue

The High court decision on the use of the word to describe God did not go down well with the Muslim population. Although many did not agree with the verdict, the majority opted to redress it in a peaceful way. However we witnessed some tense and defining moments due arson attacks on churches by some extremists and opportunists with political motives.

While we feared for the worst, the inherent goodness that ensued from the majority Malaysians, especially our Muslim brethren, saved the nation from the brink of disaster. The vast majority of Malaysians, including Muslims, condemned the attacks in the strongest terms. Many Muslim scholars and leaders had harsh words for those who carried out these attacks.

The Christians on the other hand kept calm and avoided aggravating matters. There was a rare show of concern for Christians by fellow Muslims following the attacks. Despite being deeply hurt, Christians offered prayers for peace and their sermons emphasised on love and forgiveness. On the other hand many Muslim groups reciprocated with gestures of goodwill. Some even volunteered to guard the churches. Even the politicians across the political divide came forward to condemn the attacks and offered aid and reassurance. On the whole an air of repentance and forgiveness prevailed which helped bring the tension down quickly. It must be noted that the moderate majority on both sides managed to take control to deny the minority extremists a chance to disrupt the peace and stability. Moreover it exposed the inherent goodwill in them by their conciliatory gestures that were unprecedented.

The whole episode demonstrated a high level of wisdom and maturity of the people which was underestimated all these years. They have made it clear that they are not going to allow a few opportunists to undermine the peace and harmony that we have cherished all these years. Although these attacks on the church were undesirable and dangerous, nevertheless, it revealed the inherent goodwill in the majority of Malaysians. It also shows that the people are beginning to accept the stark realities of the need to coexist peacefully. They must not just tolerate but accept and respect each other’s differences.

The dispute over the use of a name of God is far from over but with so much inherent goodwill among the people there is a good chance that it can be solved amicably if it is not politicized further. There is a need to understand the emotional and legal implications of the issue on the disputing parties who must compromise. Long-term solution is by means of dialogue and goodwill not legal suits which will only aggravate the tense situation. While I admit we have the constitutional right to use Allah but we must understand its implications in our local context.

The Muslims in Malaysia, we must understand, have been brought up from a very young age that the name belongs to them alone and they have great emotional attachments to it. They are not going to give up their perceived copyrights without a fight which we must avoid at all costs Fortunately we seem to have reached a state where the moderates among them are beginning to see things differently and it is a matter of time they will be prepared to accept others to use the name as well. Inter-faith dialogue that was a taboo before is being accepted by an increasing number of Muslims which is indeed a positive sign. We need patience to achieve an amicable solution in peaceful manner. We have agreed as a sign of goodwill to the stay of the High Court order which is a good and considerate move. When the Appeals Court upholds the appeal it would be wise for us to leave it at that and negotiate to be allowed to use the word in Sabah and Sarawak as it being done now.

Meanwhile let’s work for the time, hopefully after 2013, when we can have a more civil and fairer inter-faith dialogue not only on this issue but many others that we see being unjust to us. As Christians being a party to this dispute what can we do to encourage and harness the prevalent spirit of goodwill that is in the air? The answer to this comes from none other than Jesus himself, who demonstrated to the extreme by his Passion, the two greatest virtues of humility and forgiveness. There is no better time than the coming season of Lent, to adopt these two virtues in dialogue with our ‘enemies’to bring an end to the dispute.

This dispute has revealed a more matured populace which is paving the way for positive political developments towards greater racial and religious tolerance and a multiracial approach in governance. These changes may be slow but with God’s grace, have definitely begun. We should not sabotage these developments by insisting on our rights prematurely as by doing so we would have to take the blame for the perpetration of racism and religious fanaticism that has plagued Malaysians for over 50 years.

Dr.Chris Anthony