p.s: I still do know that I owe my blog my post on the sights and sounds of Penang. The pictures are still not available for now though. So just chill.
Interestingly Malaysians have gone bonkers over everyoneconnects.net. I am still in the dark of what or who is everyoneconnects.net. Commercial advertisement? song? music video? all-in-one? But I’ll leave it there.
I was just reminiscing of that time when I used to dig Age of Empires. For those of you who were gamers between the 90’s till now, you’d definitely come across this one. I guess if I were to play it today, I’d laugh at the graphics and sound and all of the antics presented in that very game. But back then, it was the coolest thing ever. One thing I did learn from that game, besides knowing how to use cheat codes (OK! I admit!), was that it sort of gave a picture of how or what an ancient civilization looked like. And to be a strong empire, you’d need good walls, good artillery, good soldiers, good supplies, etc.
Amazingly we know of such stories too. First came the Portuguese, then the Dutch, then the British, then the Japanese, then the British again. Colonial powers came with such displays of firepower and military precision. All our keris and lembings had to be recycled for satay sticks and all that silat moves had to be replaced for potty training since the colonists brought new toilet technology as well.There was this bickering about one politician hailing the keris to symbolize the power of the Malays (heard about that?), well I’d only wonder why someone forgot to hail a gun in return!
Anyways back to my original train of thought. It was then, that physical and violent displays of strength marked a good, strong, and wealthy nation. It is somewhat the same in the Bible. The Israelite’s success marked the God behind them which also marked them as a people to be feared. But today it is a whole different story.
It is no longer material capability that governs a standard, it is how efficient someone is. The internet is one example. It has introduced a border less world. A country that is capable of the internet, foresees good economic and financial capabilities. Conquest has a new name. 
This calls on us for reflection. Somewhat reminding us that the methods of old are gone. What defines good then, may not be good now. Some say objective truth stands true throughout time, fine. I can agree. But there are things within these truths that change. Just like how a country is gaged to be modern and strong and good then is different from how a country is modern and good now. Modern and good are objective truths. But how it is, is totally different.
I hope that we’d understand that even religious systems and beliefs take that form of ideal. That while we uphold the truths of it, we’d understand that it is after all subject to interpretation; even differing interpretations. When we’d get hold of these overarching truths and allow people to express themselves freely within them, then it is possible that we’d be a progressive religious people group. If not, we’d just continue regressing with the pride of the past as our only source of comfort. Definitely sucks by the way, because with regress comes extremism and an ugly Big Mac.
