DEVADASI:PROSTITUTION IN THE NAME OF GOD IN INDIA

This content is highly graphic. Reader discretion is advised.

The devadasi ( deva, meaning god and dasi, meaning slave) system is an ancient Hindu system that was widely practiced centuries ago. The devadasis in that bygone era were well versed in performing arts consisting of classical dance and music. Those yesteryear devadasis were the kings’ concubines.

Fast forward to 2013, this practice still exists in southern India with a morbid and sordid twist, concentrated in the state of Karnataka, southern India.

In the Hindu social structure, better known as the caste system, the Dalits also popularly known as untouchables, belong to the lowest caste and they are denied basic human rights, making them stuck in a rut and regress as India progresses ironically. They are viewed with utter repugnance and are said to be polluted, hence, untouchable.

Now, the Dalits are practising this devadasi system although the Indian government banned it in 1988 out of sheer desperation and abject poverty.

Young Dalit girls, as young as 4 years old who hail from poor families are dedicated to the goddess Yellama, the Hindu goddess of fertility. No longer allowed to marry a mortal, they are expected to bestow their entire life to the service of the goddess.

Once an initiated girl hits puberty, her virginity would be auctioned off by her family to the highest bidder  and he would ‘deflower’ her, she, being only a child.

Those who are the customers of the devadasis are wealthy, upper caste men and since paradoxically most devadasi belong to the untouchable caste, the upper caste men who use the devadasi service say that they are untouchable by day but touchable by night.

16 year old Roopa was dedicated to the goddess when she was 10 and she remembers how it was the first time:

“The first time was very hard. It was painful and since my vagina opening was too small to commence intercourse, the man who was supposed to sleep with me for the first time, slashed my vagina with a razor blade.”

Eyes, downcast, Roopa recalled that she bled profusely and couldn’t sit for days out of excruciating pain.

Ever since her virginity was auctioned, Roopa has been financially supporting her family by working as a sex worker out of her home in a village close to Saundatti.   

Parvattamma, another devadasi recounted that when she had a daughter at 14, she was sent to work in the red light district in Mumbai.

Parwattama religiously sent the money she earned by selling her body until she was tested HIV positive. She seethed, “We are a cursed community. Men use us and then throw us away.”

She has, since returned home in Mudhol, south India weakened by AIDS and unable to work.

Parvattama, now 26 plans to dedicate her own daughter to Yellama simply because there is no any other option or hope for her daughter.

“I will die soon because of this disease. After my death, who is going to look after my daughter? You tell me,” Parvattama asked.

Kariamma, a devadasi herself has 5 children and she has no idea who are their fathers.

India’s women’s rights activists say that it is a vicious cycle. Families sell off their daughters into prostitution, veneered by god and religion norms. Then, the women who work as devadasi bear daughters and then the inability to give a new lease of life to their daughters, drive the mothers to dedicate their daughters to Yellama as seen in Parvattama’s case.This phenomenon severs the prospect of acquiring an education for the girls and in turn brake this socially noxious devadasi system.

Education for women is the only tool to do away the devadasi custom and the ticket out of poverty.

An organisation working towards the eradication of the devadasi system, says that although the dedication ceremonies are banned, the practice is still prevalent, as families and priests conduct them in secretly.

Once a devadasi reaches her 40s, she would be considered no longer attractive and they would be spurned by their very own family who lived off her earnings and eschewed by the community.

Defeated and with no education and any working skills, aged devadasis are rudely pushed into    a life of begging just to survive while some would become jogathis.

All this cruelty and injustice can be curbed by education and awareness. But India, being a land full of extremes, entrenched sexist and castist mindsets and poverty the battle is an uphill one. 

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WHY POLYANDRY IS PROHIBITED IN ISLAM

Polygamy is endorsed in Islam, but not polyandry and many question this logic of allowing Muslim men take up to four wives but deny the right to have multiple husbands for Muslim women.

Dr Zakir Naik stated  that the foundation of an Islamic society is justice and equity. Allah has created men and women as equal, but with different capabilities and different responsibilities.

Men and women are different, physiologically and psychologically. Their roles and responsibilities are different. Men and women are equal in Islam, but not identical.

Surah Nisa’ Chapter 4 verses 22 to 24 gives the list of women with who you can not marry and it is further mentions in Surah Nisa’ Chapter 4 verse 24 "Also (prohibited are) women already married"

LOGIC SPEAK:

Man and women are equal in Islam. Well how come Muslim men in some Islamic countries deny women education, disallow women from becoming leaders and the head of the country, prohibit women from driving and voting and even venturing out of the confines of a house and whack the daylights out of their wife or wives or even kill them? So much for equality.

The only difference in physiology, psychology , capabilities, responsibilities and non identical trait between men and women is giving birth and for the psychological part, motherly, tender nuance. What Zakir said is a sugarcoated version of women subjugation. An euphemism.

The following points enumerate the reasons why polyandry is prohibited in Islam: 

1. If a man has more than one wife, the parents of the children born of such marriages can easily be identified. The father as well as the mother can easily be identified. In case of a woman marrying more than one husband, only the mother of the children born of such marriages will be identified and not the father. Islam gives tremendous importance to the identification of both parents, mother and father. Psychologists tell us that children who do not know their parents, especially their father undergo severe mental trauma and disturbances. Often they have an unhappy childhood. It is for this reason that the children of prostitutes do not have a healthy childhood. If a child born of such wedlock is admitted in school, and when the mother is asked the name of the father, she would have to give two or more names! I am aware that recent advances in science have made it possible for both the mother and father to be identified with the help of genetic testing. Thus this point which was applicable for the past may not be applicable for the present. 

LOGIC SPEAK:

Psychologists tell  that children who do not know their parents especially their father undergo severe mental trauma and disturbances and they often have an unhappy childhood? In that case, all orphans and those who were brought up by a single parent, especially a single mother are all traumatized and had a dreadful childhood devoid of dreams and aspirations.

Interestingly, prostitution is allowed in Islam but not polyandry.  And, the children of prostitutes don’t have healthy childhoods. So I suppose marrying an 8 year old girl off to a 50 year old man would guarantee the child a happy childhood. She ended up dying on her wedding night. Her innocence and childhood was stolen from her. She knew both her mother and father and they sold her as a child bride and she died at the hands of her husband.  Tell me again if she would have a happy childhood if she is alive today.

As for the genetic testing, thank science, not Allah.

2. Man is more polygamous by nature as compared to a woman. 

LOGIC SPEAK:

Being polygamous is not set in gender. It is set in the psychology of an individual regardless of the individual being male or female. Again, rubbish.

3. Biologically, it is easier for a man to perform his duties as a husband despite having several wives. A woman, in a similar position, having several husbands, will not find it possible to perform her duties as a wife. A woman undergoes several psychological and behavioral changes due to different phases of the menstrual cycle. 

LOGIC SPEAK:

Biologically as in sex? If the above is true, prostitution will run out of business. What? Only women undergo several psychological and behavioral  changes and it is only caused by menstruation? Aah, I see that men don’t  have hormones.

4. A woman who has more than one husband will have several sexual partners at the same time and has a high chance of acquiring venereal or sexually transmitted diseases which can also be transmitted back to her husband even if all of them have no extra-marital sex. This is not the case in a man having more than one wife, and none of them having extra-marital sex. 

LOGIC SPEAK:

How can a woman have a higher risk of contracting STDs by having sex with multiple sexual partners as in husbands if they abstain from extra marital sex? To add the icing to the cake, it seems that the woman might transmit STD back to her husband.  But, in a polygamous relationship, the women somehow become immune from venereal diseases and all is safe for the husband. This logic is as good as an oxymoron.

And, wow, if this is really the word from Allah to Muhammad, supposedly STDs were rampant in that era where pre-marital sex is an abomination.

AIDS was not detected in human beings until 1985 and the disease originated from Africa.

Syphilis and gonorrhea were only discovered in the 19th century by modern medicine.

The above reasons are those that one can easily identify. There are probably many more reasons why Allah, in His Infinite Wisdom, has prohibited polyandry.

LOGIC SPEAK:

Yeah, whatever that floats your boat.

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TRUE LOVE VS PLAIN STUPIDITY

Falling in love is all beautiful, pure and ethereal and for some of high school and college going girls and yuppies who are influenced by Disney princesses films, their notion on love is narrowed as such.

While some girls couple up to empty his pocket or just for time pass, there are many girls banking on true and everlasting love and it is at this point where they lose their ability to judge, reason and use their common sense.

Of course girls can enter the dating scene, dress to impress. They are free to love and live and not be confined in four walls and only settle for arranged marriages. It is 2013, not 1913. But, girls should be wary, shrewd, forward thinking and not be blinded by love to the extent of sending nude photos of themselves to their boyfriends and later mourn regretfully when the photos get misused by those kind of undeserving, lecherous men.

I know that this is an old issue; I have heard many horror stories. But, I am prompted to write this because a friend of mine was mindless enough to MMS herself nude to her boyfriend whom she has been dating only for about 6 months. This girl is very beautiful. I have never seen the guy but I am sure he he is hardly worth it for my sublime friend. 

He had been compelling her to send nude pictures of herself just into 6 months of the relationship. At first, she was aghast and vehemently refused to pander and then the scumbag uttered the ultimate dialogue a girl in love would definitely succumb to, “If you love me truly, do as I say. Don't you trust me?  You only love me this much? Won't you even do this for me? In my heart, I have fixed you as my wife dear. I promise I'll never leave you my sweet pea...” Classic case of planting sugar cane on the lips and emotional coax bordering blackmail all done in the name of everlasting love.

Yes, my friend now has something everlasting but it is not love; it is fear, mental anguish and humiliation because the next thing that happened after she sent the man she loved her full glory, he just disappeared. He could not be contacted and she never heard from him again. Heavens know what he did to her photos and the girl is fearing the worst. While the guy is a 3rd rate criminal, this girl is an educated fool. I pass the buck to the girl. What she did for professing true love is plain stupidity and to think she has known him for 6 months and the amount of trust and love she had for him to pose nude  are far from lucid. 

Take Amanda Todd's case for example. She trusted a stranger on Facebook who cajoled her to send him her topless photo and later he circulated it all over the Internet. The poor girl was also subjected to vitriolic bullying and harassment both in real life and on social networks until she ended up taking her own life. 

A guy who loves a girl sincerely and for all intents and purposes wants to make her his better half would never ask for her nude profile or sex at anytime of their period of dating. Girls must understand that first. Don't be so vulnerable and impressionable. Be mindful and think. Learn to tell the difference between love and lust and a gentleman and a sex maniac. No point crying after you got screwed. What you lost will never come back.

Worse cases are where guys talk their girlfriends into sending their nude profiles to them only to threaten them for sexual favors in return for them not releasing their nudity on Internet porn sites. Many girls are suffering in silence. I say they deserve it for being anything but wise. On a sympathetic note, inasmuch as what has been done cannot be undone these kinds of cases can be easily solved by the interference of law and order.

But, girls, please know and understand and stay away from such sick predators who are only interested of getting you laid down and then leave you in a lurch. Prevention is better than cure. Those prurient individuals don't deserve to live what more love. The next minute your boyfriend asks you for your nude pictures take it as a Danger sign and activate your 'On full alert mode'. And if he coerces you, dump the bugger because he is only in love with your physique, not your character and convictions. Believe me, he is not worth it.

There are good guys out there who are cultured and upright so girls do an assessment to the guys who approach you. Besides looking out for the life sustaining 5 Cs, include another C for Character. Be choosy because it is your life which is up for stake. Love a guy who is deserving of your love. 

Select good guys, get hitched then get married and have just the right number of children and live happily. Don't get entrapped with good for nothing guys and suffer. This is my message. Thank you and greetings.

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PREGNANT TEENS FIND IT DIFFICULT TO REVEAL THEIR CONDITION TO OTHERS

Getting pregnant out of wedlock while still being in school is a real burden and in some cultures, communities and societies, a shame.

That is why many pregnant teenagers choose not to tell anyone that they are pregnant, taking the matter into their own hands, which of course, in most cases impact both the teen mother and her baby adversely.

One teen, who lives with her parents somehow managed to conceal her pregnancy from them and gave birth alone at home, when her parents were not at home. After the ordeal, she left her baby at a baby hatch nearby and only returned two weeks later for the baby.

Wiping tears from her cheeks, the 16 year old sobbed that her boyfriend convinced her to have sex and later, after she told him that she was pregnant, he left her.

“I love my baby and I want the best for her. That’s why I didn't dump her and left her in the baby hatch so that at least she will have a promising future. And, since my baby is a girl, I want her not to be as naive as I was,” she said pointedly.

A seventeen year old, who found herself pregnant, was terrified that her parents would find out about her pregnancy. Having managed to hide her growing tummy, she too, gave birth home alone.

After delivery, she managed to drive herself to the foundation and hand over her baby to the staff there.

The Orphan Care Foundation trustee said that it is strange that her parents did not notice their daughter’s pregnancy despite living in the same house.

“This shows how unattached some parents are with their children and how unaware parents are about their children’s activities and whereabouts,” the trustee added.

At least the helpless and hapless young mothers mentioned above didn't abandon their babies at inhospitable environments which almost always leads to agonizing and slow death for the infants.

Women’s Aid Organization executive director said that baby hatches are proving to be an important way to tackle issues of baby dumping due to unwanted pregnancies.

The setting up of more baby hatches would be good because it gives these women to give up their babies for adoption anonymously, saving them from scrutiny and condemnation from the society.

Nonetheless, this is only a short term solution. The long term solution is to tackle the root cause of the problem and this only can be done through sex education in schools.

Baby dumping is skyrocketing and in Islamic countries like Malaysia, an average of seven babies are dumped each month and half of the abandoned babies die by the time they are found, some, so decomposed, their gender could not be determined.

Teen pregnancy is also rampant in African nations and other, poor underdeveloped countries, out of wedlock or otherwise.

When there is a rise in the number of teenage mothers, you know your country is going through a crisis because this is the earliest sign to show that the citizens of a nation are approaching a downfall.

Teenage mothers have a lot of barriers in raising a child. Eventually, the poorly raised child would become the youth of the nation, hailing from a education deprived, broken family, and an abysmal social background and these youngsters are supposedly the future leaders of the nation. So, it’s a vicious cycle. 

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THE TRUTH ABOUT ATHEISTS AND ATHEISM

Atheists are often seen in a very bad light by some theists.  But, atheists make theists of different religions unite. All of a sudden, a different god or gods or goddesses become all accepted in the facing of someone who don’t believe in god and it evokes not only amusement but a point to ponder.

Here are some interesting truths about atheism:

Atheism is not a religion created to reject other religions.  As a matter of fact, atheism is a by-product of theism. Atheism is motivated by palpable evidence, driven by reason and dedicated to logic, something theism glaringly lack. Atheism came into being after the manifestation of theism. Simply put, atheism is the opposite of theism.

There are no Hindu atheists, Christian atheists, Islam atheists and whatnot. Atheists disassociate and detach themselves from all religions, not only the religion they are born into. Richard Dawkins, a famous atheist once noted that children being born into a particular religion is as ridiculous as having children being born into a particular political affiliation. Unlike theists who rubbish the existence of other religious establishments and glorify their own as the ‘right religion’ and the ‘right god’, atheists rubbish all religions, religious scriptures and gods, that come in the religious package; atheists don’t take sides.

Theists claim that atheists are immoral since they don’t have a set of guidelines contained in a perceived celestial holy reference book or scripture on ethical behavior to follow. This claim is further fortified by the veracity of famous dictators in the past were atheists, eg: Joseph Stalin. For those autocrats, atheism was a means to an end to further their self serving agendas rather than the renunciation of organized religion. Atheists of today hold that humans are inherently capable to be good without having an ethereal entity that functions both as a boogeyman and a rewarder to keep us in line. This is why atheism extends to humanism for after all two working hands are better than a thousand clasped in prayers. Instead of being good for the promise of heaven, atheists aim to create paradise on earth, which is better lest afterlife heaven and hell don’t exist.

There is another claim that atheists are satanists.” Since you don’t worship god, you must worship the devil.” This is so myopic; for the theists, only two extremes exist, black or white, it’s either you like black or loathe black and vice versa, settling on one of the two extremes. For atheists, it is all shades of grey between the black and white extremes in the doing of vis a vis. As far atheists are concerned, they don’t believe in a talking snake as much as they don’t believe in a psychedelic monkey god that flies, assumes any shape it wants, with a mace rolling on its finger and carried a mountain in its hand and is immortal. As ludicrous as the idea of a goody-two shoes sky daddy  who is omniscient, omnipresent and omnipotent, so is a fallen angel whose mission is to  poison the minds of humans and entice humans to indulge in vice for atheists.

Atheists hold that aliens could have given mankind a few starters and one common thing in all religions is they worship skywards and motion upward when referring to god. Perhaps we have been praying to ancient aliens. But, space exploration is yet to find god up there thus far so this is another anomaly for theists.

Atheists are dogmatic, some theists swear by this proclamation. It is not the case. Atheists are ready to evolve as some establishments get ruled out by better evidence that  disproves previous establishment through discovery and research and in atheism, it is science. That is why many science people like Stephen Hawking, Albert Einstein, Carl Sagan, Neil deGrass Tyson are atheists. It is simply because science doesn't relate to religion; both are poles apart. Science tells you that dinosaurs have lived on earth billions of years ago and the proof is fossil, in the form of skeletal remains and fossil fuel formed billions of years ago. And, we happily fill our vehicles’ petrol tank with oil that took billions of years to form in the earth crust and preach in churches that the universe is only several thousand years old and that God created the earth in seven days and then teach in school that man originated from apes, ruling Adam, Eve and the Garden of Eden out.

Most atheists are agnostic atheists. Richard Dawkins is perhaps the most famous agnostic atheists. While dismissing his hard earned reputation as a militant atheist, Dawkins admitted that he is actually agnostic as he can’t prove God doesn't exist.

He said: 'On a scale of seven, where one means I know he exists, and seven I know he doesn't, I call myself a six.'

Professor Dawkins went on to say he believed was a '6.9', stating: 'That doesn't mean I'm absolutely confident, that I absolutely know, because I don’t.”

The age old question atheists ask is:

Did God create religion or did religion create God?

With theists saying that humans manipulated religion and unearthly injunctions to further their agendas, creating hundreds of sects and denominations, it is increasingly becoming clear that religion and God ideals are man made.

But, it is not yet proved. The argument will continue.

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GET RID OF PIMPLES ON YOUR BACK

Pimple breakout on your back is indeed unsightly and will affect your confidence when wearing back bearing ensembles. Besides your back and face, pimples may appear on your chest, upper arms and derriere,  making you uncomfortable and abashed. Here are some tips for you get rid of pimples on those areas.

Frequent cleansing

In order to prevent or reduce pimples on your back, cleanse your back with mild, antibacterial salisilic based body cleanser and rinse off with warm water. Bathe immediately after you perspire because if you let perspiration sit on your body, it will clog your pores and induce bacterial growth that will lead to pimples.  

Exfoliation

Exfoliation is another step to attain great, smooth and glowing skin. Exfoliation removes dead skin cells and dirt from the surface of skin thus preventing pimples. Experiment with a number of exfoliators on the market until you find the one which suits you best. Loofah scrub is a natural, inexpensive exfoliator that leaves your skin fresh and clear.

Medication

Tropical pimple cream or gel containing benzoyl peroxide can be used to get rid of pimples on your back. Apply it on your back twice daily after showering and make sure your skin completely absorb it before you get dressed.   

Choose the suitable fabric

Compared to synthetic clothes, choose cotton clothes which absorb sweat and let your skin breathe. When working outdoors, ensure that your undergarments are clean to prevent bacterial growth on skin that trigger pimples.

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A PERSPECTIVE ON ATHEISM

More and more people especially young people are rejecting religious indoctrination and the image of God nowadays.

A large number of theists  perceive atheism as a religion that rejects other religions. If atheism is a religion then unemployment is a job. That’s how ill-fitting it is.

The term, atheism, should not exist in the first place. It is simply an admission of the obvious. Atheists are moved by a dedication for reason. Saying that the earth is only several thousand years old and filling your petrol tank with fossil fuel formed billions of years ago in the earth’s crust defies all logic.

There are no terms to describe people who believe Michael Jackson is still alive or people who believe that Richard Dawkins is the Satan. Same goes to atheism. It is a state of self realization and introspection. Skepticism is the tool – atheism is the consequence. The lack of reason in religions brings about skepticism which births atheism.  Atheism is merely noise reasonable people generate in the presence of unjustified religious beliefs. It is ironic that people outgrow from believing in fairy tales but not God when both simply don’t have manifestation evidence.

Atheists are said to be amoral because there is a perception that one is not capable to be good without god.  To atheists, morality exists outside religion and even predates religion. This means humans are fundamentally capable to display ethical behavior without the promise of reward or threat of punishment to be virtuous . It is something innate and natural, a psychological condition controlled by conscience. This extends many atheists into humanism where the emphasis is on the work of improving human condition, rather than worshiping god, realizing that two working hands can do more than a thousand hands clasped in prayer.

Atheists don’t hate God or religion. Atheists simply don’t believe in god and buy religious indoctrination. How to hate something that doesn't exist or non evident or believed to be non existent? The question is flawed in itself. And, there are no Christian atheists, Hindu atheists or Islam atheists. Atheists encompass when it comes to God, be it Jesus, Lord Vishnu or Allah as well as religions. Some believers put their hands down that atheists worship the Satan. Since you don’t believe in God, you must believe in the Devil right? So myopic is their view point. Satan manifests in religious scriptures as God’s enemy and like how atheists don’t believe in god, they don’t believe in Satan either in any form, be it a talking snake or a fallen angel on the same wavelength on how Jesus walked on water and how Hanuman tried to eat the sun up simply because it defies all logic and reason.

Atheists are not bigots. Atheists are receptive to new facts and evidence to supersede their existing form of thought and cognitive and critical thinking process. This is why many people of science are atheists. Science is able to rule out previous scientific establishments with new discoveries. Science corrects itself when it is wrong, and gains explanatory power in the process whereas religious scriptures are not susceptible to change, being static and immutable.

Below is an interview with an eloquent atheist who walks among us:

Is he e last word of who u are? Or which bills of urs is he going to be paying this month? No his not on my friends li

QS: When did you find yourself drawn to atheism and what is the reason behind it?

ANS:  Well there is two parts to this. I naturally became an atheist by the time I finished high school. I use the word naturally, because I think I never really believed in a god since a very small child.

So, whatever phases I went through in between, including praying, visiting places of worship and godmen etc etc was more because of the superstitious society and community I grew up in, rather than because I thought there was a god. It’s like a fake relationship, sooner or later you will realize the waste of time.

QS:  Were you a closet atheist at any stage in your life in which you didn't believe in god?

ANS:  Well I was brought up by my dads sisters until I was seven and they were Christian converts. So my early childhood included Sunday schools and church. As a child, i realized that this god was even more unreliable than my aunt’s rusted car. They  thought me to be good and do good and god will always protect you. God disappeared when my literature teacher decided to beat the crap out of me and many, many more incidents in my young life. So as a young child, i soon realized that this god is most probably a part timer.

QS: When did you decide to go open with your atheism and how others reacted to it?

ANS:   I remember sitting on the staircase leading to the top floor of our house in and sulking because my aunt refused to take me to KFC and buy me the robot watch. Than I remembered god.  So I started cursing god with all the bad words i knew at that age. You know, sitting in the semi darkness cursing at god, challenging him to do his best. When I thought about that day, I realized the reason why I was cursing and insulting god and picking a fight with him was because I naturally knew there was no such thing as god

I was barely five years old when this happened.

I was five and I instinctively understood that this god adults talk about, something is wrong with him because he does not behave or function like how adults told me he would.

The last time I was religiously ritual was when I was 12.  A one year period.  The prayers altar was my domain. Dropped it like a ton of elephant dung when one day I asked myself why am I kidding myself. Again the proof of gods absenteeism, both in real life and in attending to the duties that prescribed omnipresence to him led me to atheism.

So I don’t visit the places of worship of the religion my family espouse out of my own vocation. But Ido go through the rituals when its family prayer day at the local places of worship. It was like a social outing. That was until I was about 19. That was the first time I realized how religion and superstition actually harms people.

QS:  Please elaborate 'harm'

My cousin committed suicide. I was very close to him. I was overseas and from what little news I heard of him, I knew that he was chronically depressed and his binge drinking aggravated things. Than the binge drinking brought an even more serious problem, paranoid schizophrenia. Anyway, every time I talk to my mom I tell her,” Look, he needs medical attention.” His immediate family are big believers in this religious pile of junk. So they kept taking him from one temple to another as well as from one religious practitioner to another. I told my mom he is going to either harm himself or harm someone else seriously if we don't intervene. Anyway sometime shortly there after he came back from his binge fully loaded and he downed half a bottle of paraquat

So that is one of the first example I saw how religion actually directly harms people.

He had twins who were seven years old at that time.

QS  I'm terribly sorry for your loss. Final question, are you raising your kids as atheists?

I have thought of this issue briefly, but I have not made any conclusions yet as I believe its still early and I have time. Can we raise atheists? I don't think we can. Atheism is a state of self awareness. A person cannot achieve self awareness if he has been denied the very basis of what leads a person to that state of self realization  So far, from what little thought i have given the subject, I believe that it’s far more important for me to ground the values of my children on the concept of humanism. That is far more important. When you impart strong values based on reality, than the need for them to find values in fairy tales and tall stories will not arise.

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INSTITUTIONALIZED RACISM IN MALAYSIA: THE LAST APARTHEID

To the outside world, Malaysia is well known for her both urban and country’s fascinating tourism attributes and a melting pot of culture and culinary that tantalize senses.

But, beneath all these beckoning aspects lay something sinister that is disintegrating the Malaysian public politically, economically and socially.

In majority Muslim Malays Malaysia, a certain separative veil is present that divides the non Malays from Malays in the aforementioned aspects which was phased in after Malaysia got her independence from the British.

The non Malays in Malaysia, namely the Chinese and Indians were brought to Malaya in the 17th and 18th to work in labour intensive commodity fields by the British during colonial times.

The Chinese and Indians have reached the Malay archipelago to trade and brought Islam to the region centuries ago but the influx was at its peak in the 17th century when the British brought in the Chinese and Indians to build Malaya. The Malays wouldn’t do hard labour so the British turned to an outsource.

When Malaya gained her independence in 1957, the Chinese and Indians who, by then, already planted a firm foothold on the Malaysian soil, having established families, schools and worship places and also fought alongside the Malays to bring independence to Malaya were granted Malaysian citizenship on a pro quid quo basis.

The deal was that non Malays must recognize the special rights of Malays in exchange for their citizenship.  Simply put, the non Malays are considered to be beholden to the Malays, the sons of the soil, having the sobriquet, ‘Bumiputera’ because the Malays were gracious enough to let foreigners populate their land and share the wealth of this land.  All of it seemed so innocuous and the non Malays agreed to the terms and conditions.

In 1963, the Federation of Malaysia was born and the Borneo island of Sabah and Sarawak and Singapore became  part of Malaysia.

The Singapore Chief Minister, Lee Kuan Yew urged to have a Malaysian Malaysia, openly opposing the Bumiputera special rights. Singapore was behaving like a nation within a nation and racial prejudice between the Malays and Chinese culminated in racial riots in Singapore in 1964, killing 23 civilians.

The then Malaysian Prime Minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman, unable to solve this crisis, expelled Singapore from Malaysia and Singapore became a nation of its own, The Republic of Singapore. Singapore is now a First World country and Malaysia is lagging behind it.

The Social Contract, enshrined in the Malaysian constitution safeguards Malays’ special rights and privileges, also termed as Malay supremacy.

During that time, the economic chasm between the Malays, Chinese and Indians was wide.  Despite being the majority, Malays only accounted for 15% of the economic share, the rest was held by the non Malays.

In order to uplift the Malays economically, New Economic Policy, NEP was gazetted. It was launched in 1971 to redistribute wealth and eradicate poverty of the Malays.

The NEP drew to an end in 1990 and it was replaced by National Development Policy which gave the Malays privileges over non Malays in businesses, contracts, public university seats and public service. Instead of focusing on meritocracy in securing seats in public universities, quota system is implemented, favouring Malays.

Fast forward to 2013, these oblique systems created great disparity in Malaysia and is the leading cause for the Malaysian brain drain as non Malays, particularly Chinese and Indians leave the soil they are born on  and move to greener pastures overseas, some settling aboard. Their justification? Their full potential, capacity and capability are suppressed on the land that is their own but the world welcomes them with open arms. The sensible thing to do is to go to where their talent can be developed fully and rewarded duly.

Despite the advertisement, Malaysia Truly Asia and Malaysian unification policies and programmes, racism is still rampant, embroiled in insecurity on the Malays’ part that non Malays would infringe their Bumiputera rights and privileges.

What these Bumiputera favouring policies created is crutch mentality among the Malays especially in those living in rural areas with no access to the internet. Their information only comes from mainstream media which is controlled by the National Front, the ruling coalition which has been in power , forming the Federal Government since Malaysia’s independence.

Racial and religious issues have always been the backbone of politics in Malaysia.

Both the NEP and NDP are considered  a back to back fiasco because they have failed to eradicate poverty especially in timber rich Sabah and oil rich Sarawak of west Malaysia as well as east coast states of peninsula Malaysia. They are the richest states in Malaysia and ironically the poorest, economy and development wise in Malaysia.

So whom did those NEP and NDP benefit?

It benefitted the Malay politicians in the ruling coalition and cronies as they left those poor Malays in a lurch. The Malay lords betrayed their own cause and community they claim they champion.

Standard of education is compromised as grade benchmarks are continuously lowered in order to let the Malays pass and this bred complacency and laziness along with racism among the Malays towards non Malays.

Recently, Bumiputera students in UiTM protested against the suggestion to give 10% seats to non Bumiputera students, telling that it is an infringement of Malay privileges and rights.

Malaysian kids generally don’t get a taste of racism until they apply for public university seats. The rude shock will shake them that all that is matters is your race, not your achievement.

One brave Malay student spoke up against this biased system on Facebook and many non Malays appreciated him for having the guts to spill the inconvenient truth.

With youngsters like these perhaps there is still hope for a Malaysian Malaysia

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OPINIONS FROM COSMOPOLITAN YOUNGSTERS ABOUT THE NEW MISS AMERICA

The newly crowned Miss America is now a subject of praise, poise, controversy and prejudice all wrapped up in a package. Some say that she is not American enough and went on to link her with Al-Qaeda, terrorism and racial slurs.

We conducted an interview targeting youth as to what they think of Nina Duluvari’s win and the racist tweets that followed it.

Here is what they had to say candidly when asked about it randomly:

Ivan, 27, working in the IT field said,” The comments Americans have made about her win are hilarious. "With due respect, this is America" etc etc. If it's worth anything, at least one can be assured of the fact that Americans are perhaps the most animated people on earth!!!”

Hema, 22, a journalism student said that Americans are legendary for being insular and the win of a South Asian on an American platform with the odium that ensued is another proof of Americans living under a coconut shell or in denial of a globalized world where diversity is the key factor.

“She's a freaking Indian for Pete’s sake and some people are calling her Arab! And, she's born in America, which makes her an American. As for those who say she is too dark skinned to be a beauty queen should get a life,” she says.

Divyan, 21, a student said drily,”What do you expect from a bunch of racist, obese morons..”

Another pointed out that why is this even an issue, saying that youngsters should pay more attention on issues that matter, national and world issues that affect humanity in a bigger way. He added, “Syria is screwed up and look at what we are giving eminence for..”

Another one said that all Indians are celebrating the Indian origin Miss America as their blood sister, saying that her victory is a victory against racism when this woman had to prance around wearing a two piece bikini, parading her body to be judged for her beauty. He smugly added, “It’s okay not to be racist but it’s okay to be sexist I suppose.” He also sighed that the woman had to parade around in front of millions in a bikini. which is in his opinion, is as bad as racism itself.

Others brushed off the racist comments as trifle.

Sanmugan, a media professional said, “She has already won the coveted price. No need for us to defend her anymore. Sore losers will always make noises. Let them bark the whole day. Who cares.”

A law student, Thevan opined that she already won the title and sees all these libels as useless which doesn't affect the crown. “Nina nailed it.  All I'm saying is, she won. End of story. Whatever people say ain't gonna mean anything. Let it be any competition at all. There will be people opposing the final decision. Anyhow, somehow someone will oppose. She being an Indian is simply an excuse used,” he shrugged.

Prakash, 31, an IT professional had this to say,”  I'm amused by the beauty with brains bullcrap. Out of so many capable Indian women out there, only the pageant winners who talk in scripts are regarded highly. I rest my case.”

Another student, Angeline Dass, took on a different dimension and said that the issue is not about being female or being a beauty queen; it is about celebrating diversity and fighting racial prejudice. She further stressed her stand,“ Given that my ethnicity is Indian, the general presumption will be that I am supporting Nina Duluvari because she is of my race. It’s a gross misjudgement. I would have rooted the same if a Chinese gets the same treatment in a whole lot of different circumstances, not just a beauty pageant. I concur that brains don't always come in a package with brawn but in this case, Nina is a straight As student and holds a degree in Brain Behaviour and Cognitive Science from the University of Michigan and aspires to be a doctor. Beauty pageants are an isolated case. It is called beauty pageants because the emphasis is on beauty, brains take a backseat So, yeah, I admire Kalpana Chawla and Indra Nooyi more than Aishwarya Rai and Priyanka Chopra for that matter as notable Indian women.

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SEXUAL HARASSMENT, A PERENNIAL PROBLEM

Girls, ladies, women. They are our mothers, grandmothers, sisters, aunts, wives, daughters, friends, educators and they play integral roles in our lives.

In Hinduism, Goddesses are worshiped. Shakthi is said to be complementing the male counterpart, Shiva.

Goddesses idols are revered and priests go through elaborate lengths in order to glorify the deities' manifestation as an unbridled power without which the world will cease to exist.

Is that the case in real life? Are women revered? Are women protected? Are women empowered?

The gang rape and brutalizing of a 23 years old medical student in a moving bus in New Delhi says it all, that women are not revered, not protected what more empowered.

Rapes happen, outcries against rape burst out, the rapists get penalties which are almost always mere slaps on the wrist (the latest being the criminal involved in the Delhi gang rape being sentenced to only 3 years behind bars) and then people forget about it until the next rape happens and it is a vicious cycle in a world we claim civilized.

That is the bitter truth, the grim reality. Women are seen as objects, not as sentient human beings made from skin, flesh and blood.

Ask any woman who has taken the public bus or trains here whether she has been groped at her privates and watch her indisposition to open up.

Yes, we suffer in silence. Heavens knows how many times I've been 'pinched', 'elbowed', 'hit' and 'touched' at my intimate parts in crowded public buses while travelling to school, library and home.

I always tried to avoid crowded buses but sometimes, I had no choice. I had to take crowded buses in order  to be punctual to the places I go.

I would just close my eyes and will the disgust, anger and shame away as my modesty got outraged. At first, I felt my honor and chastity crumble away but later, I accepted it as one of the inconvenience of taking public transport.

This type of condoning only licence men to do whatever they want to women. No More!! If you feel a dickhead caressing your derriere in a crowded public bus, slipper him! If some guy rubs himself on you in a queue, kick him in the groin! Sometimes, humiliation is the biggest and impacting punishment.

And, there is a buck passed to women, men saying that the way they dress turn them on and women actually ask for it. Lame pretext to justify perversion.

Men should not think if a girl wears miniskirt, she is a slut and it is an invitation to rape. If the fault lies in the way women dress, why are the pedophiles and burqa clad women being raped? The fault is not in a woman’s dress sense, the fault is in the minds of some males. Calling them diabolic satans is an euphemism.

What is worse, there seems to be tacit approval from society that this is a norm, an inescapable part of life. This reasoning must change. Nobody really talks about this. This subject evokes malaise but women who are sexually harassed suffer needless trauma.

There is no safety for a lone woman to be out at night. A fear that they are easy prey for sexual offenders and muggers is always inherent. It is a necessitated insecurity fueled and encouraged by gross impunity and ignorance. It shouldn't be the case.

It is only recently where women are slowly venturing out of the confines of a incarcerating homes and patriarchy system with the desire to achieve something in their lives and give back to society, to stand shoulder to shoulder with men, to prove they have the same capacity, potential and  These kind of people will send back women back into the kitchen.

The drilling of giving women respect must begin at home. Teach boys that girls are their equal and subjugating female is a sordid practice.

I am waiting for the day where a woman can feel safe walking alone on a public road, dressed however she wants to, going wherever she wants to, at night. That is the true liberation for women.

Legal penalties for sexual harassment must be made stringent. Penalties should be so harsh that an erection can chicken out.

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SEX EDUCATION, IS IT TIMELY?

In some cultures, sex is a hush hush topic, talking about sex is considered taboo. Parents find it hard to explain when their kids ask them where did I come from or when they ask where am I while browsing through their parents’ wedding photos. More often than not, those innocent questions evoke amusement rather than seriousness and parents would skirt around the issue or tell the age old stork and baby story which would appease their kids’ curiosity albeit momentarily.

It is in such cultures where rape, sexually transmitted diseases, teen pregnancy and baby abandonment are rampant. All of this is due to the suppression of the true facts of sex and its premarital and unprotected aftermath.

Some quarters argue that there is the reproduction chapter in the science subject taught in schools as well as the puberty chapter in the PE subject, thus the non entailment of a separate syllabus of sex education.

At the other end, the argument that arises is that the teaching of all the above lack greater emphasis, perspective and context on how to be responsible for the student’s sexuality and the repercussions of being sexually active too early and the hazards of having multiple sex partners and unprotected sex. The syllabus only expounds the functions of the reproductive system and the bodily changes that takes place during puberty which barely scratches the surface. This brief interlude is not enough to teach students serious matters.

There is a fear that if sex education is taught in schools, it would encourage sexual activity in students even more. To counter that opinion, it is said that kids are going to go out there and have sex anyway so, they would be better off if they know what they are up against should they decide to get sexually active.  With the right knowledge about sex, youngsters would be able to prevent themselves against abuse, exploitation, unintended pregnancies, sexually transmitted diseases and HIV and AIDS. Surely this is the target every parent aim for, the onus of them having to tell their kids about the birds and the bees lifted off their shoulders now that formal education takes care of that.

Appropriate sex education in school may help preventing sexual problems in adulthood and the correct approach and atittude when it comes to sex will lead to a healthy sex life including homosexuality and transgender.

Of course teaching sex education in schools would not only bring rosy, idealistic outcome, there are acquired disadvantages as well.

In many cases and cultures, sex education collides against perceived morals and beliefs. This depends on how sex education is taught in schools, whether they teach abstinence and celibacy along with the hard facts about sex or only focus on safe intercourse, regardless of it happening in or out of wedlock.  The latter would be objected by some religions and family values. Again, this disrupts a uniformed sex education which becomes a real problem when it comes to implementation.

Next, teachers tasked with the teaching of sex education might end up adding their own morals and beliefs into their subject matter instead of focusing on the facts. This could happen due to the lack of training and also the non-uniformity of the syllabus. The atittude of parents, educators or religious leaders in different communities lead to variations in the subject matter being taught in different countries, states and even schools.

The teaching of sex education in schools is still a subjective matter, subject to moot and debate, leaving much to desired. Often times, sex education is given the short shrift, taking sensitivity into consideration.

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BABY DUMPING : WHO SHOULD TAKE THE BLAME?

The increasing rate of teen pregnancy and unwanted pregnancies are leading causes for baby dumping.  The staggering statistics of baby dumping is both alarming and worrying.

This phenomenon is due to desperation, humiliation, ignorance and helplessness among others. But those are not plausible excuses for commiting this inhumane, heinous act.

The major cause of baby dumping stems from the lack of formal education as well as sex education. It is youth which is always related to baby dumping and most of them never finished school, are aged under 20, with no means to support themselves and their child.

Secondly, youth nowadays are increasingly becoming sexually active without proper knowledge about the birds and the bees. Most youth indulge in unprotected sex due to this. Thus, once they get pregnant and give birth, they abandon their newborn at dumpsites, stairwells or any secluded spots and often times, the infant dies before being found by anybody. This takes a toll on the mother too, who may not receive proper post-natal care which can be lfe threatening.

A bone chilling case happened in Malaysia, ironically, an Islamic country. After giving birth in the school toilet, a teenager, desperate to get rid of her baby stuffed her newborn into her schoolbag and the baby was found dead 17 hours later.

According to Hon Diende (2007) lack of parental control also contributes to this sorry state of society. Parents these days trus their children too much and think that they can manage life wisely when the reality is otherwise. When a parent whose daughter was guilty of giving birth in the toilet of a clinic and later shove the baby headfirst into the lavatory, drowning it was asked whether she was aware of her daughter’s pregnancy, she said, “No, I had no idea. I brought her to the clinic when she complained of abdominal pain which turned out to be labour pain.” That statement says a lot, doesn’t it?

Parents should trust their children but only to a certain extent as most teens are still not able to make responsible decisions as hormones overtake sensibilities.  Parents must guide their children for as long as they can. Your children need you; they may not know it, acknowledge it or admit it but they do.

Some teens may not even know that they are pregnant if they do not know what sex entails–unprotected or otherwise. Parents are advised monitor their child’s weight gain and eating habits and their social activities, get to know their childrens’ friends and teachers and check that they stay in school and tuition centers.

Given this dog eat dog world, competetive world, it is a fact that parents cannot monitor the activities of their adolescent children 24/7. But, what they can do is equip their kids with the right knowledge about  sex before they learn all the wrong stuff about sex from porn and ill-informed peers and start experimenting. The scrounge to this though, many cultures consider talking about sex to growing up children as taboo which is very unfortunate and it is in these cultures where baby abandonment is most prevalent, making it a perennial problem.

Since parental bees and birds divulge might not work out, sex education can be introduced in schools so that kids are aware of the consequences of pre-marital and unprotected sex as well as having many sexual partners.

School for pregnant teens  is also another viable way to tackle with baby dumping. Such schools offer education and hope for  the pregnant teen and her baby. Baby hatch too, comes in this category.

Another effective measure to curb this problem is enforcing the law; those who abandon their babies should be charged under the offence of attempted murder and if the abandoned child dies, the charge should be manslaughter or homicide unless the child is stillborn and the decision made after post mortem. Why such strict law should be introduced? It is because the baby was a sentient, complete human being who has every right to live and have been denied that right by the very people who brought he or she to being. This will also make a potential baby dumper  think thrice before committing this crime against humanity.

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