The Truth Revealed

Saturday, August 25, 2007

The UMNO Ministers and The Bloggers



In the farthest reaches of the desert there was a city in which all the people were blind. A king and his army were passing through that region, and camped outside the city. The king had with him a great elephant, which he used for heavy work and to frighten his enemies in battle. The people of the city had heard of elephants, but never had the opportunity to know one. Out rushed 6 young men, determined to discover what the elephant was like.

The first young man, in his haste, ran straight into the side of the elephant. He spread out his arms and felt the animal's broad, smooth side. He sniffed the air, and thought, "This is an animal, my nose leaves no doubt of that, but this animal is like a wall." He rushed back to the city to tell of his discovery.

The second young blind man, feeling through the air, grasped the elephant's trunk. The elephant was surprised by this, and snorted loudly. The young man, startled in turn, exclaimed, "This elephant is like a snake, but it is so huge that its hot breath makes a snorting sound." He turned to run back to the city and tell his tale.

The third young blind man walked into the elephant's tusk. He felt the hard, smooth ivory surface of the tusk, listened as it scraped through the sand, then as the elephant lifted the tusk out, he could feel its pointed tip. "How wonderful!" he thought. "The elephant is hard and sharp like a spear, and yet it makes noises and smells like an animal!" Off he ran.

The fourth young blind man reached low with his hands, and found one of the elephant's legs. He reached around and hugged it, feeling its rough skin. Just then, the elephant stomped that foot, and the man let go. "No wonder this elephant frightens the king's enemies," he thought. "It is like a tree trunk or a mighty column, yet it bends, is very strong, and strikes the ground with great force." Feeling a little frightened himself, he fled back to the city.

The fifth young blind man found the elephant's tail. "I don't see what all the excitement is about," he said. "The elephant is nothing but a frayed bit of rope." He dropped the tail and ran after the others.

The sixth young blind man was in a hurry, not wanting to be left behind. He heard and felt the air as it was pushed by the elephant's flapping ear, then grasped the ear itself and felt its thin roughness. He laughed with delight. "This wonderful elephant is like a living fan." And, like the others, he was satisfied with his quick first impression and headed back to the city.

But finally, an old blind man came. He had left the city, walking in his usual slow way, content to take his time and study the elephant thoroughly. He walked all around the elephant, touching every part of it, smelling it, listening to all of its sounds. He found the elephant's mouth and fed the animal a treat, then petted it on its great trunk. Finally he returned to the city, only to find it in an uproar. Each of the six young men had acquired followers who eagerly heard his story. But then, as the people found that there were six different contradictory descriptions, they all began to argue. The old man quietly listened to the fighting. "It's like a wall!" "No, it's like a snake!" "No, it's like a spear!" "No, it's like a tree!" "No, it's like a rope!" "No, it's like a fan!"

The old man turned and went home, laughing as he remembered his own foolishness as a young man. Like these, he once hastily concluded that he understood the whole of something when he had experienced only a part. He laughed again as he remembered his greater foolishness of once being unwilling to discover truth for himself, depending wholly on others' teachings. But he laughed hardest of all as he realized that he had become the only one in the city who did not know what an elephant is like.

The story is used to illustrate many principles. None of us see it the same way, and it is far more than what any one of us can experience at any one time. This is akin to Zainuddin Likens Some Bloggers To Karaoke Singers

KARAOKE SINGER ala Zainuddin
“Knowing in part may make a fine tale, but wisdom comes from seeing the whole”.



Interpretation (by Carl Strang): The above text combines many features from the sources, and adds a few twists of my own. Less interpretation seems called for in this fable, which in all versions supplies interpretations of its own. The Sufis extend it further, however, pointing out that this story comments on the folly of attempting to use the physical senses and logic to comprehend spiritual matters. The blind men thus can be seen as representing our physical senses and logical tendencies.

Sources: Backstein, Karen. 1992. The Blind Men and the Elephant. Scholastic, N.Y.

Collard, Geri. 1997. Pers. com.

Kohlhofer, Merrill. 1997. Pers. com.

Quigley, Lillian. 1959. The Blind Men and the Elephant. Charles Scribners Sons, N.Y.

Saxe, John Godfrey. 1963. The Blind Men and the Elephant. McGraw-Hill, N.Y.

Shah, Idries. 1967. Tales of the Dervishes. E.P. Dutton, N.Y.

Young, Ed. (Publ. date not found). Seven Blind Mice. Philomel Books, N.Y.



Wednesday, August 15, 2007

Rio Tinto: Sarawak Aluminium Company

Following the signing of the agreement, a new joint venture company was formed, Sarawak Aluminium Company. This mega project will be sited at Similajau near Bintulu in the state of Sarawak. Rio Tinto holds 60 per cent stake in the project and 40 per cent is held by CMS. Full story, click here and here
Latest related articles, click here



RIO TINTO’S ABYSMAL RECORD

While we can conclude that Alcan itself heavily supplies the arms industry and is invading Africa as it invades Iceland, it is now part of Rio Tinto, the world's largest private mining company, “long criticized for gross human rights violations dating back to its support of apartheid in Southern Africa.”

We will name some of the many cases. Rio Tinto has been known to subject it’s own workers to poisoning in mines, having security guards shooting locals on the spot looking for small amounts of gold in one of it’s mines and having union-members spied upon or fired in its Brazilian gold mines.

Rio Tinto has been involved with mercenary scandals. The Papua New Guinean (PNG) Government, in joint venture with Rio Tinto, hired private mercenary companies Sandline International, a London-based private military company, composed primarily of former British and South African special forces soldiers, which had been involved in the civil wars in Angola and Sierra Leone and were now paid to fight the population of Bougainville, an island near PNG. The mine had been closed by the people of the island because of the disastrous ecological effects.

Citizens of Bougainville have filed a class action lawsuit in the United States against Rio Tinto arising from the environmental damage caused by the mine and war crimes occurring during the civil war years. In August 2006, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit rejected Rio Tinto's effort to dismiss the claim.
Full story, click
here



TO THE PEOPLE OF BINTULU, PARTICULARLY SIMILAJAU AND SURROUNDING AREAS, AND THE PEOPLE OF SARAWAK IN GENERAL, PLEASE BE AWARE OF THE SERIOUSNESS OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL / ECOLOGICAL IMPACTS OF THIS PROJECT ON THE WELL BEING AND HEALTH OF THE PEOPLE.

PLEASE EXPLAIN THE SERIOUSNESS IMPACT OF THIS PROJECT TO THE PEOPLE. BE WARN, IT HAS A VERY SERIOUS IMPLICATIONS ON THE PEOPLE'S HEALTH.

WE WANTS DEVELOPMENT, BUT NOT AT THE EXPENSE OF THE PEOPLE LIFE



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