John Key's Zero Budget

We all understand that the country is in a bad state especially after the two earthquakes that hit Canterbury.  We certainly do need to cut expenses to help rebuild Canterbury.

But, we should not forget that prior to all this, John Key's GST increase was the main cause for the current recession/inflation we are experiencing now.  We have had a GST increase prior to this and John Key surely must have known the repercussions that it would bring.  How could he have not known that a 2.5% increase in the GST would provoke the service providers to further hike up their prices in a very disproportionate rate.  Why reduce tax and create a much negative result by increasing the GST ?  Did John Key make a mistake in his attempt to garner votes?

And then, there were calls to start mining in certain places in New Zealand.  Since New Zealand is located on/close the earthquake fault lines, do we have geologists and scientist assurance that mining (on or close to the fault line) will not to trigger earthquakes?

We understand that the government is sincerely trying hard to bring the country back on its feet.  But, there are many ways going about doing this. Create more opportunities.  Lets build New Zealand as an IT hub, bring in international IT experts to set up bases here with tax relief benefits, build a silicone valley...  Build more universities so that New Zealand can be promoted as an international education hub. Excavating our mineral resources is not the only way out.

John Key's GST increase and lowering of the tax rate just proved that a successful business man may not necessarily be a good prime minister.

Why are the corporate players easily getting off with white-collar crimes?  They swindle millions of public money and escape with just a home detention punishment ? The government then picks up the tabs as a result of this when the victims end up with lost of business, falling sick.....White collar-crime is a criminal offense and should be treated as one. Those found guilty of committing white-collar crimes should be made to return the money swindled, and imprisoned for years. When is the government going to address this issue?

Almost every migrant that comes to New Zealand under the Business Migration category ends up opening a cafe/restaurant/ dairy or saloon.  We have too many restaurants/cafes, dairies and saloons in New Zealand.  So many that most of them are not doing well and are in the verge of closing down.  This is bad for the country.  The Immigration department should look into their Business Immigration policies.  Why not encourage new business migrants to open a different sort of business, something new that could elevate the economy and create more opportunities, instead of creating a competitive business environment that results in other similar businesses to close down.

Instead of selling New Zealand assets to foreigners, why not bring in blue chip investors to invest in new businesses in New Zealand.

We are grateful that New Zealand has a very good welfare system in place.  Welfare is necessary as some people genuinely need it.  But then, there are those who abuse the welfare system.  The government should find ways to bring those on long term welfare to be able to get back on their feet. Training and education is vital here.  Secondly, massive amount of government money is spent on housing and many are in good areas.  Again, there is plenty of money that can be saved here.

I am sure there are lots we just got to have people with the right minds sitting on the round table.

Fate, Destiny and Life

Is a person's life dependent on destiny/fate ?  Is the course of our life predetermined from the day we were born?  Some people believe so and some don't.

If you believe in astrology, horoscope or numerology, then you would probably believe in destiny. Could determining the character of a yet to be born baby via DNA technology be regarded as predetermining the baby's character.  To a certain extent, are we not looking at the destiny of the baby ?

How about astrologers (the genuine ones) who read your palm and horoscopes based on your date of birth and time?

Lets just say for hypothetical  purpose that our life is controlled by destiny.  Then, my question is what is life or the purpose of life and Who or What determines the course of our life ?

Even if you do not believe in destiny, do you really think that science or evolution is the answer for the creation of this whole universe ?  Is evolution responsible in creating the human species whose body structure is so perfect? Almost every single human being is born with a pair of eyes, each eyes identical, everyone has eyes that look almost the same in terms of structure and construction, every human being has a pair of limbs.  The same goes for every animal of various species. We are "created" in such a way that almost every living creature procreates in the same way ! To me this is very intriguing !!

The reason why I am raising this issue is because, I believe that each and everyone of us need to understand who we are and our purpose in life (if there is one) so that we could start to appreciate one another.  If we do not value "life" how could we stop the war mongering and appalling cruelties being inflicted on other fellow human beings?

Do Natural Disasters Awaken Our Human Soul ?

The Christchurch and Japan disasters have shown us how people come together to offer help to those in need. Creed, colour and religion did not come in the way. We see how people get emotional seeing sufferings around them. Somehow sufferings seem to awaken the spirituality within us. For those who believe that humans do have soul, can we sum up that natural disasters and sufferings awakens our human soul?

Can we say that when the soul in us are awakened, we become spiritual, compassion and accepting of others, we become one ?

Since religion and greed are the main cause of conflicts around the world, wouldn't it be good if we could learn to invoke the soul within us without the help of religion ?

The National Christchurch Memorial Service

The National Christchurch Memorial Service will be held today at North Hagley Park. The National Christchurch Memorial Service offers people the opportunity to reflect on recent events and remember the loss of New Zealanders and citizens of other countries. HRH Prince William, Prime Minister John Key, the Governor-General Sir Anand Satyanand, the Mayor of Christchurch Bob Parker and other dignitaries will also be at the service to pay special tribute to the people of Christchurch and all families who have lost loved ones.

Grieving is a journey, not an event.  This memorial service helps those who have lost family members and/or friends to walk through this grieving process with the support of other New Zealanders. Our hearts goes out to all those walking this journey.

A New Day, A New Begining

Good day everyone. This morning, as usual I woke up and after a cup of coffee, I logged on to my computer and checked my mails, read the latest news online and went on with my daily live.  But the difference is that, these days, when I go to sleep at night and wake up in the morning,  I always thank Whoever or Whatever It Is that holds the ultimate power in giving us a fresh new day, allows us  to feel the fresh air, hear the traffic noise, birds chipping, people of different races walking around, our neighbour's house still in tact just as ours...

It is time we start appreciating what we have and the people around us.  If we can wake up every morning and and feel happy or thankful for being able to do the usual things we do and look at people's faces and smile at them, collectively this would bring us closer as human beings and hopefully and probably it would, resonate to the parts of the world which are in conflict and instill the thoughts of love and peace in them.

It is time to end all discords and live in harmony as brothers and sisters regardless of race, religion, color or creed.  We Kiwis will be an example to the rest of the world.

Reforms to Consumer Laws - Good News to Online Purchasers

The Government has agreed to the drafting of a Consumer Law Reform Bill. The Bill is expected to be introduced to Parliament later this year.

The Consumer Law Reform covers the Fair Trading Act, the Consumer Guarantees Act, the Weights and Measures Act, the Layby Sales Act, the Unsolicited Goods and Services Act, the Door to Door Sales Act and the Auctioneers Act.

Once the changes comes into effect, the Consumer Guarantees Act will apply to online traders.  The Consumer Guarantees Act sets out guarantees that goods and services must meet when sold by someone in trade.  Hence professional traders will have to provide the benefits of Consumer Guarantees Act to online purchasers which up to now they have been denied of.

Malaysia vs New Zealand

It was published on Yahoo News that Malaysia canned 30,000 illegal migrants  since 2005. For those of you who don't know Malaysia, it is located in South East Asia.  It is located right below Thailand connected by a thin strip of peninsular, and just above Singapore separated by Straits of Melaka.  Malaysia is multi-cultural just like New Zealand and many other countries in the world.  People are friendly towards tourists but don't let that deceive you by thinking that we are generally very friendly towards everyone.  Yes, I am from Malaysia too.  Malaysia advertises its tourism programmes with the song called "To Know Malaysia is To Love Malaysia" which is also their caption for tourism advertising.  But my advise to you is try your best not to know too much.  Because the more you know, the more you would be disappointed.

Amnesty International says that caning has hit epidemic proportions in Malaysia, where the beatings are administered with a long stick that leaves permanent physical and mental scars.This form of barbaric punishment  is against various international laws. I suspect this 30,000 illegal migrants includes refugees and asylum-seekers too.  Malaysia treats refugees and asylum seekers the same way they treat the illegal migrants - with canes and prison sentences.

There is no freedom of speech in Malaysia and any peaceful gathering would result in massive arrest and gatherers would be charged with unlawful gathering and subjected to detention without trial, a punishment accorded by  Internal Securities Act (ISA).  The ISA gives the government the power to detain a person without trial for any number of years!!.

There are lots of corruption in the country especially in the government sectors.  Everyone in government wants a cut to approve a permit/license or a project.  The country is highly regulated with all the bylaws and regulations and etc but it seems like they are there just to make it easy for those in power to earn money.  A local councilor could easily have 50 million dollars or more in his bank account, all as a result of his very very hard earned corrupt practices.

There is racial prejudices among the three major races, all by the governments doings, to be honest.  The government creates racial disharmony to divide and control. But the public ill feelings over this inequality is subdued by fear of being subjected to the ISA.

I don't know why I am writing this.  I was just browsing the net this morning and read the article on caning of illegal migrants in Malaysia and thought I would comment on that. It also gave me an opportunity to express my appreciation for New Zealand. Sometimes we move so fast that we forget to stop and think what we have.  New Zealand and its people are the best and we should take immense pride in ourselves in being a role model for other countries.   We may have little problems there in here but then, nothing is perfect.  Nevertheless, we will work towards betterment of the country as New Zealanders for all New Zealanders.