A Happy Ending

It is heart wrenching to read news that people have been condemned to be executed simply because of the faith they decided to choose. The Sudanese woman, Meriam Yehya Ibrahim was in such a situation (Read here). Fortunately, her case was brought to world attention and through international intervention, her case was brought to a happy ending (Read here).

With the almost endless news of planes found disappeared, shot down or crashed, this story indeed brought some comfort.

Remembering the Abrupt End of the Lives of 298

Barely five months have passed since the disappearance of MAS flight MH370, Malaysia Airlines suffered another catastrophic disaster when another MAS plane MH17 was lost. This time, it was blown off from the sky apparently by a surface-to-air missile. MAS reported that they lost contact with the flight at 10.15pm on 17 July 2014 when it was at the southeastern tip of the Ukrainian airspace not from the Russian border.

 

298 lives were lost in an instant. It is the families and friends who are left behind who need to bear this exceptional tragedy.

On hind sight, any plane that flew along this flight path could have been blown off from the sky since surface-to-air missile launchers were brought into this part of the war zone. We should never forget these 298 people in MH17 who did a heroic service for humanity by "sacrificing" their lives to eliminate the risk on all other flights may have to face when flying across air space of war zones.

To the families of the 298, all right thinking people involved in the investigation have a duty to find out the truth behind this horrendous tragedy or crime.

Back to Jurassic Period in Singapore

Our mango tree is almost 10 years old. For a second year in running, the tree is giving us a fairly good harvest. That gave us another opportunity to be courier of mango to Singapore.

We did have a good time. The photos are testimony of this assertion.

At the ArtScience Museum, Marina Bay Sands

While walking by Clarke Quay to the Esplanade, I found this unique scene: Solitary beside an Iconic Building.

My grandson Nathan would have loved to do this photo session: Be paleontologists and look for the fossils of dinosaurs.

Flying dinosaur found in Liaoning, China - Changyuraptor Yangi, a relative of the mighty Velocriaptor which had the longest feathers of any known dinosaurs, not two but four wings.

JP

Israelis authority has a way of honouring foreign visitors to their country and in particular to Jerusalem. All of us who set foot on Israel and entered Jerusalem were honoured with the title JP, not Justice of Peace by Jerusalem Pilgrim.

A time was specially set aside after dinner to present the Certificates to all pilgrims in one of the hotel function rooms. One of the Directors of the tour company joined the party and presented the Certificate to each pilgrim.

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For visitors who sailed the Sea of Galilee, the local tour operator also issued certificate to attest this experience.

Mazal U'Bracha

On the way back from Nazareth to our hotel in Tiberia on 28 May 2014, our tour guide made a detour to visit a diamond outlet. Unfortunately, no major diamond sale was concluded with any of our tour members. But, we did learn two Hebrew words.

 

All over the world, diamond deals are concluded with a hand shake and the utterance of two Hebrew words "Mazal U'Bracha" which mean "Good luck and blessings".

Interestingly, even though Israel does not produce any diamond, yet, it is one of the three majors centres for polished diamonds, alongside with Belgium and India.

 

Net exports of polished diamonds from Israel for 2011, 2012 and 2013 are US$7.2 billion, $5.6 billion and $6.2 billion respectively.

 

Net exports of rough diamonds for 2011, 2012 and 2013 are US$3.5 billion, $2.8 billion and $2.9 billion respectively.

 

US is the biggest importer of Israelis polished diamond accounting for 37.3%. Hong Kong is second accounting for 27%. For such a small place like Hong Kong compared to the US, I presume that the super rich from mainland China is behind this unusual high percentage.

Remembering the Life of Jesus in the Holy Land

Nations of the Moderates

In Jordan, a country with 92% Muslim population, one could sense that believers of other faiths are not threatened or imposed with bans or restrictions on the ways they practise their faiths. This is markedly different from Malaysia whose political leadership projected the country internationally as a nation of moderates but behaves differently internally.

 

The Jordanian tour guide, Osama, a Muslim told me without hesitation that Christians in Jordan mainly Greek Orthodox are not banned from using the word Allah as this is a term pre-dates Islam. In fact he told our group that there is a mosque in Madaba in Jordan which is named "Jesus Mosque". Unfortunately, we did not have the chance to visit this mosque. I did check the internet later and found this mosque was built in 2008 in Madaba. Malaysians would agree with me that it would be unthinkable to see such a thing happening in Malaysia.

Jesus Mosque

 

Jordan takes full advantage of its historical past and promotes its many biblical sites to the world - Mount Nebo where Moses was shown the Promised land; Bethabara where John the Baptist is believed to have conducted his ministry and where Jesus is believed to be baptised and Petra, one of the new 7 Wonders of the World and is also where Aaron, the brother of Moses is believed to be buried.

Jordan in old biblical times.

 

The most visited site in Jordan is probably the Mosaic City of Madaba. Madaba is made famous by the discovery of a Byzantine-era mosaic map of the Holy Land. This map is now preserved and integrated as part of the floor of the Greek Orthodox Basilica of St. George.

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In Malaysia, a self-claimed nation of the moderates, it would be unthinkable to have a national leader who is a Muslim to enter a church to celebrate Christmas with the Christians.

 

When I entered the Church of St. Catherine, a Catholic Church and a Franciscan Monastery next to the Church of Nativity in Bethlehem, I remembered what the late Yaser Arafat used to do during Christmas Eve. He once said on 23 December 2001:

 

"No one can prevent me from reaching Bethlehem. No one, whoever he is has the right, despite the various weapons at his disposal, to prevent this mighty people from fulfilling its religious duties".

 

Every Christmas Eve since his Palestinian Authority took control of Bethlehem in 1995, Mr. Yaser Arafat who is a Muslim has been attending the midnight service at the Church of St. Catherine. This Church which is next to the Church of the Nativity, built on the site revered by Christians as the place of Jesus' birth.

Interior of the Church of St, Catherine, Bethlehem.

 

Can Malaysia claim to be a nation of the moderates?

Touch to Believe or Told to Believe

Before setting foot on the Holy Land, events and incidents described in the Bible sometimes appeared to be like once-upon-a-time kind of stories that happened at some distant and far away places. In particular, names of places and locations hardly have any impact on the appreciation of the events. That has changed after I visited Israel and part of Jordan.

Throughout the trip, we saw pilgrims doing specific acts to fulfill their long-held wishes - baptism at the Jordan River, touching a piece of relic, praying at a church and the list goes on.

There are people who may find it hard to accept the notion that believers need to "touch" a piece of stone or "feel" a hole in a rock projection or be baptized in the very water Jesus was baptized in order to feel connected to God and be assured of His power.

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Pilgrims come to be baptized in Jordan River.

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We touched a limestone rock outcrop inside the Church of Primacy of St. Peter, Tabgha near Capernaum by the Sea of Galilee which according to tradition is the spot where Jesus is said to have laid out a breakfast of fish and bread for his disciples.

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The Church of Gethsemane also known as the Church of All Nations at Mount Olives contains a stone protrusion which according to tradition is where Jesus knelt and prayed agonizingly the night before his trial and crucifixion. Many pilgrims come to touch and pray at this relic.

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At the Stone of Unction also known as the Stone of Anointing inside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem, we saw streams of people stopping to touch or pray at this relic. According to tradition, this is the place where the body of Jesus was laid after being taken down from the cross and prepared for burial.

Even Pope Francis stopped to pray at this relic during his recent visit to the Holy Land.

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Long queue of pilgrims waiting to touch the rock of Calvary in the Chapel of Crucifixion inside the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. According to tradition, the rock of Calvary contains a cavity said to be where the cross that was used to crucify Jesus was planted.

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Many find such acts objectionable because it is bordering idolatry and cause people to focus on objects rather than the divine being. But then, going through rituals and touching items deemed holy and powerful has been a Jewish tradition. Humans are just curious and they love to touch and see.

Zacchaeus climbed a sycamore tree in order to "see" Jesus. For his effort, salvation came to him (Luke 19:1-10).

In Jericho, we stopped by a sycamore tree to remember Zacchaeus.

 

A woman who simply believed that she would be cured of her internal bleeding problem of 12 years if only she could "touch" the cloak of Jesus. She did just that and she was healed (Mark 5: 25-34).

Naaman, an army commander who suffered from leprosy was told by Prophet Elisha that if he wanted to be cured, he had to go through the ritual of washing himself 7 times in Jordan River. Though reluctantly, he followed through and he was cured (2 Kings 5).

As long as there are individuals who believe in a powerful being in the unseen realm, there will not be a definitive answer whether one needs to touch some holy objects to affirm belief or simply just believe when told to believe.

The Cost of Peace and Security in Israel

Our tour bus entered Jerusalem on 30 May 2014. Upon reaching Mount. Olives, my wife and I disembarked and set foot on this mountain for the first time. This  place evoked many memories, chief among them is the agonising moment Jesus endured in his prayer at Gethsemane the night before his trial and crucifixion the next day.

 

From the mountain looking towards the southwest, we saw the old Jerusalem city - a city that was destroyed and rebuilt countless of times over the centuries with untold misery and suffering. Jerusalem has since the Six-Day War in 1967 been declared as the "eternal capital" of Israel after the latter captured the East Jerusalem in that war.

I was amazed to read the history of this nation and found it beyond comprehension that such a minute country could withstand the might of some of its neighbouring countries combined.

 

The very next day after Israel declared the establishment of this nation on 14 May 1948, its Arab neighbours invaded Israel and fought the Israelis army. In the end, Israel prevailed.

 

In the Six-Day War that lasted six days from 5 to 10 June 1967, Israel fought against three nations - Egypt, Syria and Jordan. Though greatly out-numbered in terms of troops and military hardware, Israel not only won but captured additional territories. In that war, Israel deployed 100,000 troops against the combined opposing troops of 240,000. Israel had 300 combat aircrafts, 800 tanks against 957 combat aircrafts and 2,504 tanks from the Arab nations. Israelis forces won a decisive war and captured the Gaza Strip and Sinai Peninsular from Egypt, the Golan Heights from Syria, West Bank and East Jerusalem from Jordan. This was another story of David verses Goliath (1Samuel 17) or the story of Elijah verses the 400 prophets of Asherah (1 Kings 18: 14-24)!

Map of Israel after the Six-Day War verses the current Israel.

 

Israel has since signed peace treaties with Egypt and Jordan. But peace with the other Arab neighbours is still elusive.

The high wall erected between Israelis territory and the Palestinian-controlled areas like West Bank and the Gaza Strip is testimony to the precariousness and fragility of the peace they have.

Armed troops were common sight in a number of the sites we visited. Here in the Dead Sea, solders moved freely among the tourists. The presence of solders though reassures the visitors of their safety but it also confirms the threat that tourists may have to contend with. With 3.54 million tourists visited Israel in 2013, any let down in security may cost the country dearly.

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After spending time in the "Upper Room" in a building in Mount Zion to remember the institution of the last supper by Jesus, we passed by the Chamber of the Holocaust. Unfortunately, we did not enter to view the content as this was not within the itinerary. This Chamber of the Holocaust serves as a constant reminder of the suffering of the Jewish people. Today, the aim of some of Israel's neighbours to wipe this nation from the face of the earth is still very real to the Israelis. Israel has no illusion about what Iran might do in the event that the Iranians manage to build an atomic bomb.

 

Israel honours individuals who risked their lives to protect its people. While walking around Mt. Zion, I saw a directional sign with the words "Oskar Schindler" near the bus parking lot. I remembered that this German was made famous by the movies "The Schindler's List". He was recognized to have saved many Jews during Nazi's era and he was honoured by Israel and declared as "Righteous Among the Nations". His remains is buried in a grave in Mount Zion after he died on 9 October 1974. He is the only member of the Nazi party honoured in this way. His grave is located near the bus parking lot near the Zion Gate at the southern wall of the old city.

 

Israelis will do whatever it takes to ensure that the peace and security of their nation will not be compromised.

An aerial view of the Wailing Wall and the Al Aqsa Mosque.

Photo downloaded from Internet site.

Today, the greatest sorrow of the religious Jews is to see the site of the Temple Mount (Mount Moriah) is still being occupied by a mosque. Each day, they weep and pray at the Wailing Wall for the day when they can see the restoration of their Temple on Mount Moriah once again.