Progress

Progress is not difficult. Take what you have, do the obvious thing. Sometimes the obvious thing is deceptive. Sometimes the obvious thing is to ask for advice. Sometimes the advice is wrong. How you manage the wrong information sends you into an epistemological bucket ... some are scientists, some are naive, some are more or less emotive, some are feckless. These are all valid approaches, unless someone can persuade you otherwise.

Halal Food Public Policy in Malaysia

A comprehensive policy should reduce duplication of effort between food safety for Muslims vs non-Muslims. If the more stringent criteria is set for Muslims, then the open question is whether the more stringent criteria should be applied to non-Muslims as well, such that there is only one standard at the Federal level.

The problem with Malaysians is both, that they are unable to articulate these issues, and that they get annoyed at each other's incompetence of articulation before anyone has a chance to improve the articulation ... such that the debates get bogged down with emotion before reaching substantial progress.

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Saya sokong cadangan penghalalan secara rasmi setiap perniagaan yang tidak memakai "lesen tak halal".

Selain menafikan hak perokok, penyelewangan ekonomi tersebut akan memaksa setiap peniaga menghalalkan rataian bekalan sumber manusianya ... begitula kita boleh memulakan pencucian tadbir jabatan imigresen, dan KDN secara berkeseluruhan. Lagipun, tertekanlah peniaga di Malaysia, supaya memuhibahkan tempat kerja dan pasaran antarakaumkita.

Demi kejelasan pentadbiran tanahkita.

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And having been challenged on the prudence of such statements, if I may say so, in times like these, it is prudent to note the Laws of Malaysia, Penal Code, Act 574, 

Section 298A, "Causing, etc., disharmony, disunity, or feelings of enmity, hatred or ill-will, or prejudicing, etc., the maintenance of harmony or unity, on grounds of religion".

Subsection 3.b " that anything lawfully done by any religious official appointed, or by any religious authority established, constituted or appointed, by or under any written law, in the exercise of any power, or in the discharge of any duty, or in the performance of any function, of a religious character, by virtue of being so appointed, established or constituted, is not acceptable to such person, or should not be accepted by any other person or persons, or does not accord with or fulfil the requirements of that religion, or is otherwise wrong or improper,"

... does not forbid discussions aspiring to determine the economic optimisation of public policy which increases harmony, happiness, and improvement in the commons benefitting all races and religions as a form of public good.

Online Values

I've spent most of my social life online since the 90s. My rationale is that it's where I get the maximum bang for my buck.

When I worked in the tech and lifestyle industries, Facebook was a rolodex. To keep up with culture, one simply scrolls for things one is unaware of. As late as 2016, I could still run out of things to learn on Facebook ... since then, content has improved.

Now as a student, I just do the same on LinkedIn. Any terminology encountered is backlogged for study.

Tell me, where do you get better value? Going to class?

3Rs Public Policy / Race, Religion, Royalty, in Malaysia

Malaysians altogether need to be come less sensitive about Race, Religion, and Royalty, or the country will never grow beyond its teenage capabilities of public discourse.

You can quote this, file a police report, do whatever you like. But I think, it remains legal to assert this, and it is worth asserting. Otherwise we did not do our part in nation-building.

The censorship of public discourse must end. The censorship of questions must end. The ability to govern questions and discourse without censorship is necessary for progress.

Values, Goals, Strategy, Tactics, Survivors

Survival is overrated. I only do it because it is amusing. But not everyone is sufficiently in command of their facilities to identify life as their muse. So a Smithian question, why do you persist?

Pitiful are those who survive for any other reason than amusement. For some it is a matter of fear. For some it is duty. For some it is a paradoxical torment they call passion. Why do you trouble yourselves?

Most living things do not choose to be alive, or to fight to stay alive. Most living things are simply born that way. And the boundary between what is living and what is not ... is quite simply vacuous, when we realise that we are only as free as the things we make.

How Should Anyone Pick Their Certifications?

The discussion needs more dimensionality :

D1 : 

does a profession pay well?

- economics : will there be a constant demand for this profession? or reduced demand? or increasing demand?

- economics : will there be a constant supply of professionals? or reduced supply? or increasing supply?

- only with that, can you forecast the future earnings of this profession

D2 :

 does a profession pay within a narrow range, or a wide range?

- economics : narrow : then one doesn't need to be too worried, as long as one can get into the profession : consider [ commissioner of oaths ]

- economics : wide : then it depends on one's expectations within the range ... consider, in Malaysia, 40yo doctor pay is 10k to 100k depending on [ quality of planning and execution ] 

D3 : 

does getting into a profession, and competing within the profession, depend a lot or a little on cert?

- economics : do your professional earnings change, if your grades are poor or good in college?

- economics : do your professional earnings change, if your cert-institution is different?

D4 : 

what are the other benefits of attending an institution, besides impact on professional qualifications, and professional earnings?

- economics : learning, fun, social networking ( arguably the largest predictor of future earning )

D5 : what are the opportunity costs of attending any institution, or entering any profession?

- economics : is the degree expensive, or free of charge? are there other professions which doesn't require degrees?

etc.

This is the MINIMUM discussion to be had with ( twelve-year-olds ), as they already have to start aiming for what happens ( by the time they are seventeen ).

Who choses to stay under duress?

Rhetorical strategy : "No choice but to submit," weasel words for disavowment of agency, normative victimisation, acknowledgement of costs, empathy with pain ... moving the burden of proof, from one asserted to have free will, to the asserter.