I Will Not Let My Pain Go Vain

Posted on August 27, 2013 by Jasveena R Prabhagaran

My heart aches,

It is the pain it carries,

When justice got delayed,

I should have known that,

It is justice denied,

My heart aches,

As I was left helpless,

Cruelty is the ruling factor,

In which the weak and the good,

Got consumed,

My heart aches,

It is yearning for a revenge,

A red revenge,

For a forced-justice,

My heart aches,

It is getting alleviated,

When I just knew the fact,

That I could trade the pain,

With victory and revenge,

My heart aches,

It is not that bad,

I got my voice for justice now,

I will speak,

And the whole world would hear,

I will never stop,

As I will never let my pain,

Go vain !!

Your Shame Won\’t Alleviate Mine

Posted on August 22, 2013 by Jasveena R Prabhagaran

What\’s the point of covering your shame?

http://youtube.googleapis.com/v/j5Zvwje3c50&source=uds

Thanking +Adrianna Joleigh for letting me know about this documentary on YouTube. As we know, India has been in the spotlight since December last year for rising rape cases throughout the nation. Women in India have come together to protest the sexual discrimination and endless violence they have to face on a daily basis. Ever since the Dehli Gang Rape case incident, more rape cases are discovered day by day and it doesn\’t seem to get any better.

India\’s image has been tarnished with world-wide accusations. Men in India are horny bastards. India is not a safe country for women. These are some of the statements that you can see in the comments for the video above. It is definitely a shameful issue for a country and its citizen. I\’m feeling really sorry for the victims and I hope for a better future for women in India.

But the question is, how do you REALLY feel when you watch the video or while reading this post? Are you feeling disgusted about India? Did your subconscious voice just told you that these Indian men are horrible? If you are from a safer place where you have been protected from these violence all your life, do you really think you are safe? Can you assure that your children\’s safety is protected?

Indian men don\’t deserve their women. I said that in one of my older posts. But I have also mentioned that the same rule applies for all men regardless of their race or nationality. The huge misconception in our society when we come across any hideous news happening elsewhere in the world is to assume that we are in a safer part of the world and instantly feel thankful for it.

I wanted to make a snapshot of some of the comments under the video but when I came back a day later, it was flooded by hundreds of comments and I lost track of the earlier comments. From my observation, some Indians were admitting to the fact that the situation is getting worse in India for women when authorities are not taking proper measures to arrest the rising sexual violence and rape cases whereas some are trying to protect their shame by diverting the attention to countries like Saudi Arabia and Africa where women are treated like slaves with restrictions imposed in the name of religion.

Will their shame alleviate your shame, India? No. Are we still going to see more women being raped and subjected to brutality? Yes! Because if we are not going to admit that our men are terrible and the situation is getting out of hand, people would continue to protect the name of the nation and shame of the society by pin-pointing to what is happening all around the globe. I agree that countries like America, Australia and Canada are not safe either and you can\’t claim these countries to be safe as the suicide case of Rehtaeh Parsons serves as an evidence that no where on this earth is really safe.

The only way to handle this brutality is by acknowledging the issue and start implementing better rules and regulations on sexual violators so that we can see hope for women renewing itself with no expiration date. On the other hand, it is time to reflect this issue upon our own country and see where do we actually stand when it comes to crimes like sexual harassment and rapes. Just because the media caught one country for its shameful incident, we can\’t be taking it for granted and throwing wild accusations. May be our shame is being swept under the carpet and could be the next talk of the world when someone were to reveal it.

I welcome your thoughts and views ! Thank you for your feedback

Bikini and Modesty

Posted on June 26, 2013 by Jasveena R Prabhagaran

Bikini or Burka?What really defines Modesty?
Image grabbed here

I have just watched a video from YouTube, a speech by Jessica Rey, an actress and a designer who has sparked a debate between the conservative and modernised world about swimwear. Jesicca says that the bikini has dis-empowered women where they allow themselves to be objectified by men. Is itsy-bitsy really that bad? Here it is the video of Jessica with her speech

Now, before we really look into the issue, think of all the aspects that needed to be analysed.

Does showing your skin means being bitchy?
What modesty really is?
Where do women’s choice lies and to what extent it is acceptable?

The society has this terrible idea ingrained on it’s mind for a very long time. Back in the stone age, when people don’t know what clothes are, they don’t find it awkward to be naked. As time passes and when the world entered into the evolution era, clothes were invented to cover themselves from the harsh environment. Together with that reason, people started to cover themselves as they viewed human body as a sacred asset. Here, at this point, comes in modesty. And this is completely fine. People covering themselves because they feel the urge to uphold their dignity.

But to cover yourself because you’re afraid that men see you as an object? This is where the problem starts from.

Like Jessica has said, the invention of bikini was with the intention to objectify women. The definition of women’s skin has become SEXY. Who on earth really came up with this word? People have started to view women in a different manner and when they show some skin, it is called sexy. Women have been exploited as objects in various fields from modelling to advertisement ever since then. Have you ever felt that it is a huge discrimination when men who employ models for their business calling another common women on street sluts just because they wear low cut blouses? I say the length of the dress is not going to make a difference in addressing the real issue we have.

A lady who fully covers but treats her daughter-in-law like her slave versus a lady who wears a low-cut dress but does charity work during the weekend? Who is the woman with the bad behaviour? I’m not saying that reverting back to the old swimwear is a bad idea, but the intention in doing that causes more damage to the society as we seem to be seeking approval from people, mainly the gentlemen who may not be so ‘gentle and nice’.

Change In Mentality Is What We Need Now

I feel the amount of skin you show shouldn’t be used to judge a woman and the common notion of showing skin means sexy or bitchy has to be eradicated all together. When you cover just because you don’t want a man to look down upon you, you are merely seeking an approval and dancing to his tune. Force that ignorance and arrogance out of them and let them know a woman is a woman and nothing else grants them the right to objectify her, whether or not they reveal skin.

What modesty really is? I personally don’t reveal too much skin,because I don’t think I would carry myself well and this is a personal opinion. Another lady or may be even you reading this, if you are a lady, would feel comfortable walking down the street with a skirt above knee length that looks fine and not obscene. Everyone has different a personality to carry and if we were to judge someone based on their appearance alone, I believe we are in the wrong track all together. A well-mannered woman can only be identified through the way she behaves with another human being.

If showing skin is wrong, then every woman in the modelling industry has to resign to be labelled a ‘good’ lady. Even prostitutes would be slammed hard on this issue if it is wrong to show skin. Do we even grant women to make a choice? To me, it is very wrong for a woman to allow her body to be objectified and for a man to take advantage of any woman no matter how she dresses up. While I feel it is wrong to allow people to objectify us, ladies who are in the fashion line would feel that it is their profession and they would stand up for their choice. At the end of the day, it is about giving woman the power to choose what they want and taking decisions based on their choice.

Democracy Is Dying!!

Posted on May 5, 2013 by Jasveena R Prabhagaran

Too frustrated to post this up now on the ”clean” Malaysian election. Wait for the updates!

Sorry. DEMOCRACY IS DEAD. Period.
Malaysians,
We are all mourning the death of democracy at our country. We are frustrated and deeply irritated with the fact that there were fraudulent during our election. Despite all these anger and outrages, what we have learned from GE 13 are:

1) We are UNITED
For some reason now, we are all united, we are against the ruling government not because of racial intolerance. We have stood together, Malay, Chinese and Indian, to VOICE our opinion out. That is the real victory.

2) We are GETTING there
We have come this far against the cronies. We have shown improvement for the a CHANGE. We broke the majority votes the ruling government had. Despite the Bangla illegal voters and frauds, we still did made a change!

3) Voice out for YOURSELVES
The government is not going to help you if you don’t help yourself. This election has waken up more citizens. 85% of people came out to cast their vote. This means the level of awareness has been drastically increased. YOU as an individual should make the CHANGE

4) Say NO to racism
We have learned to say no to racism! We have learned that we shouldn’t give in to the racial sparks. This is the real victory.

What we ~~can~~ should do more:

1) Check your voting STATUS
Many were fooled during last minute as they realised they were not listed among the voters list. My friend is one of them. He has voted before so he has not checked as his name should be registered, logically. So don’t give in to these act of fraudulent. Check your names against 6 months earlier at least.

2) Get everyone register as VOTERS
I’m not sure how much effect does this post of mine going to impose, some of you may remember, some of you not. The best thing to do for yourself and family is to get all your family members who are 21 and above to register as voters and vote

3) Don’t quit VOTING
My father and grandparents who were voters for so many years did not complain much or said they are not going to vote. So all the first time voters and young voters, continue voting. You will make the MAGIC one day!

4) Support the PROTEST
Support the NGO’s who are protesting against the EC for fair election and cleaner Malaysia as a whole. Show your support by educating people around you on what they are supposed to know.

5) Don’t be a FOOL
If you are someone who are afraid of voting against the government, this message goes to you. No one would catch you and put you behind the bars for exercising your rights. Stop being the world class fool!

6) Be EC Election Agents
For those who could do this, you ought to be the EC watching agents on the day of poll! I guess that would increase transparency. Have more people of all races join in for this.

Last but not least, life has to go on. This is our country. You can’t run away and live in other place when you can’t fight for your rights here, the place where you were born. I applaud the act of the public chasing the phantom voters away! That was mind-blowing!

Love you Malaysia!

Claim Your RIGHTS!!!

Posted on May 5, 2013 by Jasveena R Prabhagaran

While the Malaysian election is going on now, the entire citizens of Malaysia are anxiously awaiting the results! Phantom voters and dirty electoral rolls are one of the main concerns for the people or ‘rakyat’ as majority of them want CHANGE to be implemented in the country. Updating these news as we are getting results in a few hours time! Pray for the best Malaysia!!

7/05 Pray? Does even praying helps now when things turned out so hideous? So yeah coming to the purpose of this entry, I went to collect my portion of money for transport expenses incurred to come home for voting from one of the government political party’s office on the day of election. What I found out was a bunch of ignorance society waiting over there for the same purpose too. As the election heat was still on during that day, people acted very concerned towards their rights all of a sudden.

What do you do when you approach a government office to claim something? I’m pretty sure you would bring your identification and relevant documents with you. On top of that, when something concerns money, you need to inform the ones in charge that you would be coming to collect your money so that they could make an arrangement for it. Why on earth are our Malaysian Indians living on ridiculous ignorance and blame the authorities for not granting them money as they fail to inform people in charge about it?!

I saw them all blaming the lady for not giving them transport money. When the lady clarified the situation and told the people that they are responsible to notify about it earlier to ease preparation and arrangement, the public rebelled and said they DON’T KNOW about the procedures before hand. Does that even counted as a valid reason?

I abhor the I DON’T KNOW statement here! Ignorance is not always BLISS people!

Your I DON’T KNOW means:

1) You are escaping from further questions on your knowledge or credibility to exercise your rights the correct way.

2) You are a pathetic opportunist to dig your invalid share on public money.

3) You expect people to work for you all the time and for the information come knocking your door.

4) You are not steadfast and do not educate yourself on exercising your rights the fair way.

People, be fair when it comes to claiming your rights! Know what you are supposed to do and how to do it before you even think of stepping at people’s door and start speaking for yourselves. That’s a better identity of educated people and citizen! Don’t shame yourself!

Traits of An Ass – The Male Chauvinist

Posted on April 25, 2013 by Jasveena R Prabhagaran

Look at the picture, look at the comment

Im dedicating this blog post for fellow blogger and friend +Arunesh Dwivedi for coming up with his own thoughts on the same picture and comments I’m discussing about. His blog post can be viewed here

Why wouldn’t I get furious? Why wouldn’t I feel like bashing someone up? I happened to see this beautiful picture with very deep meaning, that is not suggesting anything obscene, a picture which I thought worth sharing for its message but upon reading the comments I have decided to share this on my blog post to convey my own message!

That old man, yes, the one who brilliantly related this picture to male orgasm out of the blue! I went to check his profile out! What I saw was nothing but his blog posts which he shared on his page (which wasn’t entertained by anyone anyway). A blog dedicated to show the world how filthy his mind could be and how disrespectful he is towards women!

Now, we all have access to adult jokes and we do come across them every now and then. But, relating a picture like this to sexuality is an act of an ass! There is a need to draw a limit to everything and this man has clearly swayed from the limit of addressing something to sexual jokes! The never ending rape cases and violence against women are a result of people with sick mentalities like this. Why?

1. Objectifying Women

Men like that Mr. Malhotra take women merely as an object, purely to satisfy their uncontrollable sexual pleasure. Just like greed and jealousy, when one fails to control his/her emotions, identify and analyse what is taking control over him/her, he/she falls prey to the play of the mind and feelings! When someone gets engrossed in sexual issues, they fail to see a woman as a human being. Excessive sexuality would undeniably lead to unhealthy communication with people around you and that’s when women are objectified! Their eyes go beyond face while talking to women and all they do is to check out on women’s physical attributes. Ask them why, they say men are like that, they tend to be so! Plain trait of a male chauvinist!

2. Man As The Superior Sex

While glancing through his page, I found a post with its title suggesting young women marrying older men for money! This purely suggests that men like him having a cheap perception on women, that women can be bought and they are something that can be owned! Men like Malhotra can never respect another woman or treat her with equality. He can never do justice neither to his family nor his wife! They are always in a pathetic perception that men could treat ladies anyway they want and it’s the women’s responsibility to uphold their dignity and safeguard themselves!

3. Ignoring Violence Against Women

Today, I read on two articles relating to India. One man called a minister was saying that women get raped because they act in such suggestive manner. Another news is about a 14 year old boy raping a 6 year old girl in Dehli. I feel both these news are closely related to the issue I’m discussing now. When men like Malhotra become ministers, these are the news you could expect to hear on a daily basis. The family of the 5 year old kid who got raped was given some amount of money to close the case down by the police force. People like these are the root cause of the evil bedevilling the society and corrupting them to the extent that women seems to be the second sex forever in the eye of the world!

To those who think its okay to harm a kid for your male orgasm, I suggest you to dig a hole and shove your thing inside! Let the innocent child alone unharmed!

Boston Bombing: News Coverage Adds Value To Death?

Posted on April 19, 2013 by Jasveena R Prabhagaran

I have been called to write my thoughts on this issue as I have been seeing some articles around in the internet by some people who have different opinions on the recent incident of Boston bombing. While some of us feel bad for the horrible act of terrorism in Boston, regardless of what race the victims belong to, some others feel that the world is not considering the death of hundreds others in other part of the world as severely as the three victims who died in Boston bombing especially in the Muslim world and this fact has caused an uproar in the society.

Who to blame for? What stand should the society take when it comes to terrorism?

While I was organising my thoughts to write on this entry, I have got a G+ notification from +Shanique Roca in the morning for a post in G+ that closely relates to my discussion that I felt so motivated to write on it.

When I browsed through the post, I never felt like reading any comment as I know it has somehow turned into a racial issue and the comments for the thread kept coming for people choose to talk for their own people. Much to my dismay, I feel the community in Google+ has failed to identify the MESSAGE that the picture in the post was trying to convey. I felt the Syrian community, while trying to say that they too encounter similar situation, is also extending their condolences for Boston. I’m still figuring out what went wrong until the post has caused an uproar among the G+ community itself.

1) 3 Vs. 300 or even 3000

It is saddening that terrorism is not getting an even media coverage worldwide. The world of media and news are more focused on issues pertaining developed countries like the States and this has caused uneasiness among people from Third World Country on the fact that their voices aren’t heard off as much as people in Boston or just anywhere else in the world where news about their country reaches the entire world within a couple of of hours. I feel this is the root cause of all ill thoughts bedevilling all societies. I feel the amount of death shouldn’t be the sole measure of how worthy life is. People fail to realise that even when Boston gets the attention of media, someone somewhere else in the same country is being discriminated, is being killed just like the way the Syrians are getting killed and it’s NOT in the cover of any newspaper. While some issues come to limelight, some still remains undiscovered. Syria is one of the example, but there are so many countries sharing the same fate such as Sri Lanka on the issue of brutal mass murder of Indians in Sri Lanka.

2) Prejudices

It is WRONG to judge every single Muslims you see on the road as a terrorist just because you have heard some of them have taken part in terrorism before. It is also wrong to judge that ALL Americans harbour resentment towards the Muslims and they do bad to the Muslims. I love reading stories from the Middle East and I feel the difficulties living life there and some stories of bold women inspire me a lot. The latest book I read on Middle East is the Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin. It is a real life story portraying an American’s effort in building schools for girls in Pakistan in return of the favour the mountain villagers have done for him during his expedition to climb K4. This is an ongoing humanitarian work which received its resources from Americans. Greg was strongly opposed by some fellow countrymen and claimed his work as an act of betrayal to the country when 7/11 incident occurred. While some others applaud his effort and acknowledged the fact that only love can drive hatred away. So while humanitarian works are still being done by part of the Western countries to the ones on the other side of the world, it is not justified to judge a race based on an event alone.

Maybe someday the world would come the realisation that harbouring anger and revenge will not provide the eternal solutions to terrorism. Boston and Syria, you are in our prayers!

Free or Fair Education?

Posted on April 14, 2013 by Jasveena R Prabhagaran

The issue of free education has come to limelight few months back in Malaysia as the 13^th General Election is coming soon next month. It has been something all students have been looking forward to and various political parties have come up with different mandates to attract student voters and fulfill their demands. The demand arises due to the fact that many students are still struggling to clear their student loan and find themselves stuck in the midst of other debts shortly after graduating.

What happens when a student graduates with the burden of student loan? The education fee everywhere varies with your choice of study and university. Courses like medicine and engineering would inevitably cost much more than language studies or management courses. On the other hand, you should pay more when you get enrolled in universities with high reputation as the value of your certificate and education increases with the quality of the studies they offer. So, at average a student who newly graduates would have to pay an amount of RM 50,000. Apart from that, graduate students face the burden of paying monthly installment for their vehicles and managing monthly expenses such as house rentals.

So, with an average pay of RM 3,000 for fresh graduates, they find it difficult to cope with the ridiculous cost of living while paying off their debts. Hence, the demand for free education has arisen. How important free education is and what expenses will it be implemented? Many countries in the European Union which provide free education tax their citizens on other fees like registration and administration.

What can be done to ease graduate students’ burden? What really matters in an education system? I’m a student with some amount of education loan to face after my graduation and I feel free education is not the issue that should top the priority of lawmakers and students. I feel that by enlarging the duration for loan payback and demolishing the interest taxed on student loans, students should be able to settle their debts after having a well-established job.

While free education is an idea to be celebrated, I feel fair education should be the focal point of lawmakers and those in the education sector. Fair education is still a dream never came true for many people all over the world. Discrimination is education still prevails through various forms such as race and gender. For women in the Middle East, getting a balanced and fair education like their brothers is still a struggle and a dream seems impossible. While in some other countries, chances to pursue higher education are brighter for students of a particular race and religion which dampen the spirit of other students who have done equally well in studies. Worse still, education is a privilege for the rich when the poor suffer from extreme poverty. Discrimination against gender, race, skin colour and religion when it comes to education has to come to an end. Only then a country will truly flourish and the best brains of a nation can emerge champions to serve the people better. After all, everyone is entitled to have the opportunity to learn. So, what difference can it make when we neglect fair education and fight for free education instead?