The Justice League

Justice must not only be done but must be seen to be done.

I swear i could not recall who said  that even if my life depended on it. Thank god my life is not dependent on for i would  long be dead. The bottomline  is someone, somewhere, sometime did utter those pearls of wisdom.

What is justice then? Ask any criminal whether the conviction and punishment meted out is just and you will get a resounding no. The victims of those crime will say hell yes. So if justice must seen to be done, whose eyes are we supposed to be looking out from to be able to see justice being done? Or, is "justice being done/seen to be done" concept is an a moral concept? but justice cannot be a moral as it represents positive values and equally then the concept of justice may not be treated as a moral.

The truth is, there is always the perception that justice is never done. While this perception do not change the segment of society that holds on to this belief changes all the time. These changes are based on the personal beliefs of an individual in a given scenario or on an issue. Be reminded that i am not saying there are none holding the opposite view of justice being done but they too differ in their composition.

This is testament from the fact that two individuals growing up in a similar condition could hold vastly differing views about a same issue. So can we say the stimuli from our surrounding shape us or is it that our perception of the stimuli shape our views on them?

Oh well...why are we thinking about this now right? It is friday after all.....

of Governments and Men

I am baffled by some of the purported explanation that the government is giving in justifying its acts. More and more as our society evolve into a mature and educated society,the more absurd these explanations sound.

Take for instance the increase in sugar prices. Sure, if we are honest, the 20cents increase is not much.It is the reasoning that is given for the increase that is baffling. We are told that billions can be saved from this and we stand to gain as rakyats and of course the other excuse of how sugar is bad etc etc etc.

First up, we do not need a government that thinks that it is our parents, berating us on our sugar consumption. I agree that excessive intake of sweet stuff is bad. what i disagree is the government imposing its will and paternalistic views on us. Sure, its only a small issue such as this today but left unchecked, the govt would be preaching all the do's and dont's in every aspect of our lives. This is an issue of choice and we make our own choices.

Now lets talk about the billions we could save (or have saved). Haven't we heard that one before? How is this saving is supposed to benefit rakyat? By building a new istana negara ?(can i rent the old one please.....?) By building new tolled roads that we have to pay through our noses anyways to use it ?(and why does the minister(s) just pass by toll booths without paying or stopping for that matter?) By building hospitals in major cities and forgetting the out laying areas? By failing to provide adequate standard of living for average citizens (read exorbitant prices for average quality consumer goods)? So how does this savings are to benefit the rakyat?

But of course they need to save billions because how else are they to pay for directly negotiated contracts which supplies below par goods and services at highly inflated prices? It must be fun to do business with the govt.

Ultimate the people wont care for a govt that does not care for them. Governments are the will of people and should not impose its will on the people. A democratic govt which loses its representative character is no longer a legitimate govt. A govt can lose its representative character when it no longer represents the will of the people.

Sure the average citizen will understand the need for corporations to make money. Like i said, we understand the need to make money not the greed to make money. Prices of services are provided in this country escalates due to greed. There is nothing wrong if corporations are to make 1 billion less you know. Accessibility to goods and services will be vastly increased if only business world is not too greedy. And the irony is, greater accesibility translates into profit. But of course we too love the american capitalist model where the one with the money rules. The danger is when you start to treat the govt as a capitalist enterprise. The govt is always a socialistic enterprise. The social well being of the people is its main business.

But hey, what do we know?