life and death

5 days ago, my world got turned upside down when my boss and partner died suddenly without a hint of warning to us all. One day he was in office and making phone calls as usual to lunch with his business associates and the next he was gone. Now we as his partners have to take care of his estate and the continuity of the partnership and firm. We have had to set aside personal sentiments and notions of loyalty and seek legal advice ourselves as to the legal implications of his untimely death, especially what now we, as his surviving partners, are to do. The problem is that my late partner's son is not a lawyer which rather complicates things. We cannot let him assume the reins of the practice and step into his father's shoes because of this, as much as we may personally feel obliged to do so. The assets capital and Good Will of the firm belongs to the estate of my late partner and it is up to us now as the surviving partners whether to buy over the Good Will of the firm to continue the practice in the same name and style as before or to dissolve the partnership and call it a day. Me and my 2 other partners have come up with an initial sum of RM20,000 each to keep things running but we cannot personally pick up the daily expenses of the firm indefinitely. As such, a meeting with the family of my deceased partner and the representatives of the state bar has been arranged over the next few days so that we could iron out the various issues we have to deal with on an urgent basis. 

I pray that God grants my late partner rest in heaven and mercy for his soul and divine guidance for us in managing his affairs and our partnership.

Are you loyal to...

I'm often confronted with the question of my loyalties by people sympathetic to the Malaysian government. It's like they expect me to be stumped by the question. And my answer to them is just this: I am loyal to Malaysia. All the way. Absolutely. I love Malaysia. Malaysia is my home and I never want to live anywhere else.

BUT I am NOT loyal to the ruling party that is Barisan Nasional. I am not loyal to the people who moved the goalposts since Independence to criminalise our liberties by various religious enactments be they at state level or federal level. I am not loyal to those goalpost movers who cite the social contract which as far as i am concerned were breached again and again by the same people citing it all the time.
I am not loyal to people who snoop on their neighbours to spy on their private affairs and play the part of the moral police. I am not loyal to people who scream at me when i go to the beach and hold my wife's hand. I am not loyal to people who desecrate churches or temples or other houses of worship. I am not loyal to people who threaten me by brandishing the keris. I am not loyal to people who proclaim that Malaysia is an Islamic state and deny Malaysia's secular origins. I am not loyal to people who undermine the independence of and denigrate our judiciary. I am not loyal to judges whose decisions reek of collusion with the Executive arm of government or fear of hellfire due to their particular religious faith. I am not loyal to people who incite racial hatred and then call on others not to incite racial hatred. I am not loyal to people who exhort us lesser mortals to do as they say and not do as they do. Last but not least, I am not loyal to people who are government servants/elected officials who treat the organs of government as their own personal fiefdom to do as they please and milk the system and taxpayers for all it's worth.

Ok this is just a quick, off-the-cuff shortlist of my lack of loyalties. The next guy who questions my loyalties please read the above and eat my last week's worn underpants. Salut.