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"Malaysia is one of the most confusing parts of Asia," A friend just told me when I asked about this issue. "Gender identity is the least of their problems."
Joe has been there many times on business and has dreaded each and every trip. Not because he is gay, they tend to leave westerners alone since they bring money into the econonmy.
He tells me that the hardest part about the visit is not Islam or the very real third world outlook people have there, it is breathing the air that is so difficult. China usually gets the blame as the world's worst polluter, but then Malaysia must run a close second.
People there burn everything. Trees, trash, even their sewage goes up in smoke. At noon Joe says you can barely see the sun for the perpetual stinking haze in the cities. Lung cancer and resporatory diseases run rampant, and yet many people still smoke cigarettes.
But despite indications that some of the people are quite educated, and then promptly leave, the country seems to wallow in ignorance. It would be the ideal place for the religion of ignorance to flourish, and so Islam does quite well there.
Just as in parts of the Middle East, those who preach Islam are less educated than a European first former. The "one book" syndrome has affected the minds of many just as the Bible did in the Middle Ages. A lack of world view leads people to foist off this little effeminate boys scheme as a means of mind control.
Perhaps all those "experts" who chose the boys for this program will share their lists of the subjects with one another. Islam has certainly supported acts of buggery over the centuries, as have many in the Christian sects.
"Religion is the opiate of the masses," Marx said. Perhaps he knew something more about that smoke drifting around Malaysian cities. They all seem to be on drugs.
Age appears to be best in four things; old wood best to burn, old wine to drink, old friends to trust, and old authors to read. (Sir Francis Bacon 1561-1626)
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timmy
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Has no life at all |
Location: UK, in Devon
Registered: February 2003
Messages: 13751
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Those whose geography is limited don;t understand that Malaysia is a sovereign nation. They use it and mean the collection of nations in the area. Probably this leads to lack of focus when trying to change Malaysia's mind.
http://tinyurl.com/4yzwsnw is Malaysia. Note how complex are its borders. Then see how enormous it is, embracing more than one different culture across the various areas of land. It has ghastly parts and amazing parts.
But we have a job to do. We need to understand it and influence it.
Author of Queer Me! Halfway Between Flying and Crying - the true story of life for a gay boy in the Swinging Sixties in a British all male Public School
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Malaysia is just one of several Commonwealth countries where just being gay is illegal. Are other Commonwealth countries unable or unwilling to bring pressure on these countries to change?
Is the Commonwealth still a functioning political entity?
(\\__/) And if you don't believe The sun will rise
(='.'=) Stand alone and greet The coming night
(")_(") In the last remaining light. (C. Cornell)
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