June 30, 2017

I talk rubbish


I talk rubbish ... that’s what people tell me. Why do people say that? I think there are a couple of thoughts about this.

First ... yes, I admit sometimes I really talk rubbish ... just a few days ago in a small gathering among friends at my house ... I talk rubbish again when I met a 12 years old ... hey, it’s whisky I am talking about ya, don’t let your thoughts wander too far away.

Whisky and I somehow gets stuck together when we meet ... looks like we cannot have enough of each other and the end result is a lot of rubbish talk ... plus a severe headache the next morning. So after the last bottle, I think I will stay away from 12 and 18 years old for a long time ... you see, when I am drunk, I really talk rubbish.

Second ... maybe people think I talk rubbish because they don’t see things the way I do ... or they don’t want to see the way I do. Also maybe because people don’t like the way I interpret things.  You see, I am a very direct person, I tell it like it is ... I don’t mince my words nor do I sugar coat what I say ... that means I tell you the truth, the fact, the reality, the exactness, the common sense, the rational and the logic reasoning of things.

Let me illustrate ... some time ago I went to a temple with my relative because he wanted to make festive offerings to the deities. At the temple, I saw many beggars begging at the courtyard ... then we went into the inner hall where people make their offerings. There were many people making offerings and I also noticed that these people were also asking the deities for something  ... good health, fortune, wealth, business opportunities, good exam results, lottery winnings and so on and so forth ... I am sure that everyone was asking for something.

 As we were leaving the temple, I saw a donation box at the doors and there were a few words on the box asking for money to upkeep the temple ... it was at that moment I made a remark based on what I observed at the temple. I told my relative that the temple is not a place for worshipping or praying ... it is just a place for begging. At the courtyard, the beggars were begging ... inside the hall, the people were begging and at the doors, the caretakers of temple were begging. And there was a guy (probably one of the temple’s caretakers) standing behind the donation box ... he heard what I said and I can tell you he was not pleased ... when my relative saw this, he quickly told me ... “eh shut up lah, stop talking rubbish”.

But I was just telling what I saw at the temple but maybe people don’t see things the way I see it and people don’t like to hear how I tell it like it is ... so they say I talk rubbish.

Let me tell you another story ... also in a temple many years ago but this time it is in a temple where they worship the deity of General Guan Yu. While walking around, I saw the caretaker of the temple putting up electric candles at the altar of the deity. You know, those plastic candles with a flickering bulb at the top? I don’t know why but I asked the caretaker ... "Uncle, why use electric candles?" He gave me a cynical look and then said (something to this effect) ... “young man, we are in modern days now, we use electricity, we move on with time and technology and we are not those old fashion temples ... have you not watch Star Wars? ... you are so lack of knowledge young man”.

Wow, I was taken aback for awhile but when I regained my composure ... I snapped back with my acerbic tongue ... “Uncle, really ah, modern ah, move on with time and technology and Star Wars ah ... then why General Guan Yu is still wearing ancient clothing and holding an ancient sword (a kind of halberd) ... he should be like Darth Vader, holding a powerful lightsaber and maybe on top the altar there should be a banner that says “May The Force Be With You” ... come on ... General Guan Yu need to move on with time and technology too ... why only the candles???”.

The caretaker was speechless for a while and when he recovered from my acerbic lash, he shouted ... “you don’t talk rubbish in my temple” and told me to get out.

So I want to ask ... did I talk rubbish at both incidents? Not really, I just look at thing in a different perspective and maybe I interpret things in other probabilities.

Like when people ask me what do I believe in ... I tell them that I believe in asking questions and I can accept that there may not be answers but I cannot accept just being given answers and not ask any questions.

For me to believe in something that exist or existed ... there must be some scientific proofs, logic reasoning, archeological findings, proper research, factual evidence or written historical facts to verify its existence. I can accept and understand that many things cannot be explained now ... so I just leave it as it is and hopefully someday in the years to come they can be explained and proven by the same criteria that I mentioned.

When I tell people that even though at this moment no one in the world have solid proofs that higher intelligent beings exist or existed but based on many high precision ancient engineering finds, logic assumptions and archeological investigations in many sites around the world ... there is a possibility that the so call “god” actually came in a spacecraft. For saying that ... I got a long list of feedbacks from many people and almost all said  ... “you are really talking rubbish”.

So you see ... people say I talk rubbish just because of the way I see and tell things. I don’t think I want to change the way I see things and I will still tell it like it is ... or like what many people say it is ... rubbish.