农历初七捞生

 

今天下午，我邀了三家人到欣洋酒楼捞生庆祝农历正月初七全人类的生日。三家人口喊“身体健康，万事如意，风生水起，兴，旺，发”欢呼声丸成癸卯年的愿望。

Unlike Jomo I am not a full blown economist ('full blown' implies 'fully developed'. Literally it means 'fully inflated') For my "liberal arts" degree in the US (management and engineering) I read some economics as well (including political economics). Enough to give me a grasp of what is going on. I have also read some since then. Hence I approach all my thoughts on the NEP based entirely on economic principles. ABSOLUTELY NO RACIAL IDEAS AT ALL. WHY? Because you cannot look for the recipe for Japanese sushi in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. It is just not there. The two (economics and income disparity / wealth disparity) are completely unrelated. Yes income disparity and wealth disparity create economic issues aka "economic problems" in a society but the reasons and the causes for that disparity have nothing to do with economic principles. There are other non economic issues that cause those disparities.Please bear this in mind as I will dwell a bit more into this.There is such a thing as affirmative action but the NEP has become nothing more than a political gimmick. And as I keep repeating many times you cannot find the "principles" of the NEP in any economics textbook. The fact that they decided to call it the new "economic" policy is proof enough they were mocking 'economic theory'. it was just a political gimmick. It should be called exactly what it is - a racial policy.I have said many times before the income and wealth disparity is not an "economic problem". The disparities between the races are due almost entirely to cultural, traditional and religious factors. Social factors. You can still see it now, despite the passage of 52 years of the NEP. After 52 years we see university graduates prefer to be motorbike riding delivery boys. They dont like the discipline of a 9-5 job. They want to work when they feel like it. And these are still considered the "aggrieved groups" - their grievance is they do not want to follow the norms that makes the rest of the world function. Yet they expect to enjoy similar or BETTER outcomes!! You want to work 'ikut suka hati' and then you expect to be richer than your neighbour who slogs from morning until evening?What is 'positive discrimination'? Positive discrimination in favour of bumiputras means negative discrimination against non Malays. Its as simple as that.Positive discrimination simply means that the Indian student with all As is not going to get his medical seat at the government university. Or that Indian doctor in the government service is going to be denied leave to go for government funded further studies. My suggestion is (which I like to repeat for the umpteenth time and will keep repeating it - because that is what makes ideas stick : frequency and repetition) to marry affirmative action with meritocracy and the market economy. There must be risk and reward. There must be carrots and sticks. YOU CANNOT ALLOW EQUAL REWARDS WITHOUT TAKING EQUAL RISK.Do not obstruct the Malays / bumiputras from taking risk. They have to face the risks of the marketplace. Without taking risks the economic disparities will only last forever.In no time the Rohingyas can displace the Chinese fish sellers at the pasar borong. In no time the Bangladeshis can displace Chinese traders in Petaling Street. In no time the Pakistanis can dominate the computer shops at Low Yat. So what is wrong with the Malays?And whatever you do - do not obstruct the non Malays, non bumis from doing whatever they want to do. Let that Indian student who is qualified enter the medical faculty. Let that Indian doctor pursue her post graduate studies. WHY? As I said my reasoning is purely economic. Which many people do not seem to understand.There is a GREAT BIG HOLE in the New Economic Policy. What is the GREAT BIG HOLE in the New Economic Policy? Answer : It is funded by taxpayers money. To make the NEP happen the government must continue to collect taxes from the public.Even the government's oil monopoly will not be able to provide enough money to fund the NEP policies anymore. When the NEP began in 1971 the population was around TEN MILLION people. Now 52 years later the population is 34 million people. The queue for free money, free handouts and free everything is MORE THAN THREE TIMES longer. The population of Malaysia in 2023 is 34,308,525, a 1.09% increase from 2022. The population of Malaysia in 2022 was 33,938,221, a 1.09% increase from 2021. The population of Malaysia in 2021 was 33,573,874, a 1.13% increase from 2020. The population of Malaysia in 2020 was 33,199,993, a 1.21% increase from 2019.Plus there are other great shocks coming in the oil industry. Recall in 2014 oil prices crashed - even down to US$0.00 per barrel. It will happen again. Israel is a gas exporter now. Egypt has discovered a huge gas field. So has Turkey. Morocco has discovered a ONE BILLION BARREL offshore oilfield. There is oil and gas popping up everywher

这篇文章，把中国春节写得深入人心，推荐给您，敬请阅读。春节的伟大之处，在于一个国家能不分天寒地冻与春暖花开的地域，居然这么自然、情愿、真心实意地加入如此重大的一次盛典，还是每年一次，从不间断，它的凝聚力到底在哪里呢？这就是家庭中亲情的力量，让中国人能够自觉地遵循着人伦的大道，它大于宗教，大于政治，大于金钱，不管家在穷乡僻壤的山野，还是在灯红酒绿的都市，都要千里迢迢、跋山涉水往家奔，谁也阻挡不住中国人回家过年的脚步。习俗的认同，是生活状态的一致性体现，长久生活状态的融合，势必形成共同的集体人格，从而构筑了中华民族的文化价值观念，这个文化的主脉，就是以家为核心衍生出的亲情之线。一个人即便走到天涯海角，心中都扯着一根无形的线。有多少中国人，就有多少条线，这些线织在一起，就是中国人用情感编织的血脉之网。这种巨大的凝聚力历久不衰，任皇权更迭、王旗易帜，中国人回家过年去滋润亲情的初心始终不改。“有钱没钱回家过年”，就是中国人对宗族血脉的寻根问祖。有人曾经担忧过域外的圣诞节、情人节之类的节日，会淡化中国人对自己传统节日的固守。可当人们在春运的当口，站在车站、码头、机场看看那些奔家去的人流，你就知道，心之所向，是怎样一种势不可挡的力量。就算把全世界的节日，都写在日历上，也撼动不了对中国春节的想往。一个融化在文化基因中的传统节日，对这个民族有如此强大的整合能力，多么令人惊叹。我们的春节，是我们对文化的认同、是对文化的自信，是文化自觉汇聚成的民俗、民心、民意。我们的春节，是全世界华人热爱生活、看重亲情的最好体现！伟大的民族必然诞生伟大的文化，伟大的文化必将凝聚伟大的民族！伟大不是吹出来的，是庞大的族群，经过几千年的磨难锤炼而根植血脉的认同，这就是中华文明生生不息的魅力所在！

兔气扬眉庆豐年

 

人活着就要开开心心过日子，不管是穷困还是富裕。以前常听人说：“王小二过年——一年不如一年”，过年不就是个人的平常心态是否能跨越年关，设身处境去感染节日所带来的与家人团聚时的温馨，欢愉，热闹气氛吗？

 

以前在乡下，家境穷困，寅吃卯粮，受尽白眼的日子都一一挨过了，如今七老八十，吃喝拉撒如常，除了年纪越来越大，平时还能在老家庭院活动筋骨，晒晒太阳，稍微劳作，天天感恩还有一大群网友，学生与老同事互相牵挂，WhatsApp频频问候道安，虚寒问暖，我真感恩造物对我的无限温馨的眷恋，周到的照顾。

我喜欢传承传统，逢年过节不忘初衷，贯彻始终，虽说时代要改变了，要以顺应潮流，生活起居不妨采取“穷则变，变则通，通则久”的策略，要不然就会被潮流所淘汰；眼前，我们不也天天在祈望腐败的政府必须不断的改朝换代，须要一批高瞻远瞩，充满魄力，有革新理念与毅力的领导来推动，这样才符合新陈代谢的自然规律，先调整自己思维，不拘泥于形式，以简便的方式也可以达致预定的目标，何乐不为？

近年来，打从教书生涯退休后，收入减半，面对惨淡的余生，除了买书，阅报，养鱼，养狗，写作练习书法，出国旅行，偶而参与本地华团挥春比赛的评判。这些开销还是自己开源节流，将些许储蓄投入股市，赚取一些被动收入来应付越来越恶化的通货膨胀。结果左右逢源，不但改善家庭开销，还勉强保持生活品质，维护晚年的尊严，不必依靠女儿。如此一来，一方面可以接触资讯工艺，磨砺心智，也间接远离失意，回忆，失忆等时下有人戏称：“三个亿”。

癸卯年关来临，路经石头城书店书报摊，摊主埋头抄写佛教经文，他再三交代，要我替他写对联。他指明横批就是“阿弥陀佛”，上联我借用明代潮州状元林大钦的“天増岁月人増寿”，下联改为一个字“春满乾坤佛满门”。我自己心境愉悦，别人也应该如此吧！自己也凑成两句：“虎辞疫祛万象新，兔气扬眉庆豐年”——舍得舍得，再多的日常开销，付出了又回笼，心境越来越欢愉，人生到了了无挂碍的境界，祈福“人到无求品自高”的境界。

运笔至此，想到宋代诗人罗大经的诗：“尽日寻春不见春，芒鞋踏遍陇头云;归来笑拈梅花嗅，春在指头已十分”。所以说，人的心态不由处境而改变而是人心是否以平常心去对待，解析生活环境，能领悟生活的真谛，也是一种福气。