So far, the response towards the Micah Mandate has been encouraging. We wish we could do more but currently we are working within our limitations. One must be reminded we do not have a single full time staff running the site. 🙂 We have been updating the site on Fridays thus far, and today a trial run Monday update. Here’s the new stuff:
MY REPLY By Goh Keat Peng
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Not for a moment are we objecting to alternative ways of helping consumers in the longer term or wiser use of public funds. But no matter how reasonable these arguments may be, the question remains: these things have not been done over all these years by the powers that be and so it will take quite a leap of faith to believe that with this latest huge price hike in fuel they are going to do the right thing. The track record up to now does not inspire optimism on my part.
Even the newspapers headlines which says, “Cost cutting to save RM2 billion” provokes anger as the report reveals that all this while ministers and deputy ministers were entitled to paid holidays outside Malaysia and Asean. Just think! Over all these years with such a big cabinet, how much money has already left the nation’s coffers.
Commentary
Submission or Subversion? By Sivin Kit
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The way the inspired author of the book of revelation uses language like “Babylon the great”, “Mother of Prostitutes” and “the abominations of the earth” on the ruling empire of his time does not sound to me as unqualified submission. It clearly shows how a minority people of faith under persecution, with some facing martyrdom, were able to resist and even subvert ungodly and unrighteous powers through perseverance, intercession, worship, and a greater vision of who is really the one in control of the way history will play out at the end.
Such a vision painted in the book of Revelation empowers those who are marginalized in society to not give up, and make the needed changes to show one’s faithfulness to this vision and the one who gave this vision. This is clearly seen in the letters to the seven churches in Asia Minor in the first three chapters. John Howard Yoder, in his landmark book The Politics of Jesus presses this point by highlighting a basic assumption in the author of the book of Revelation whom he calls a seer,
“The substantial assumption which moves the seer is that God is an actor. How God acts can be expressed only in metaphors which our mechanically formed world vision can only consider fantastic or poetic. Nonetheless, the addressees of “revelation” are expected or commanded to behave differently, within the system of the real world, because of that “information” which has been “disclosed” to them about God as purposeful actor.”
Reflection
1 JESUS DRAWS NEAR AND WALKS WITH ME By Koichi Ohtawa
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In his Life Revision Seminars, Koichi Ohtawa helps groups of individuals and church pastors both in Japan and elsewhere to review and revise their mindset and lifestyle to achieve equilibrium and effectiveness of purpose. Starting this week, The Micah Mandate will post his series of fifteen articles on a weekly basis.
Commentary
Corruption: Perceptions and Realities by TK Tan
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Many of us are urbanized middle-class citizens. And we live very coccooned lives, away from harsh realities that others might face. We view the world around us as mostly benign, with people doing most things in moderation. And so we are shocked by stories about the Zakarias, the women who spend public money like their own, millions spent on sporting events that bring no benefit, and judges who so distrust the system that they could keep quiet about wrong-doings for more than a decade. We cannot imagine a school that lacks water and electricity, much less that one-third of Malaysian schools fall into this category. We cannot imagine that a person has to choose to eat broth for lunch and to skip dinner in these modern times but I read that many will have to do that, earning only RM800 per month or RM30 per day part-time, in Kuala Lumpur
Commentary
CONVERSION ISSUES AND LEGAL RIGHTS by Zarizana Abdul Aziz
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SHAMALA, Subashini, Nyonya Tahir, Lina Joy, Moorthy, Revathi. These are names recognisable to Malaysians.
The issues which emerge upon the conversion of a family member are multi-fold and have great implications on our most fundamental human rights. They are the subject of reform proposals today. We cannot afford to be left out of this debate. Some of these issues are discussed below.
As a starting point, it is clear that we all have the right to choose our own religion. Freedom of religion is recognised in international human rights conventions and the Federal Constitution. It is the personal choice of a person and founded on a person’s faith and conviction.
