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Saturday, January 3, 2015

Welcome to Year 2015

One of my favourite games is chess. It has been years since I last played the game though.
In a game of chess, the most basic piece is the pawn. It has a very limited view, ie only the box in the front of it. It kills by taking the piece on the left or right side of the box in front of it. Most of the time, the pawn's main function is to be sacrificed. If it is lucky, it gets to the end of the board and gets promoted.

Next is my favourite piece, the rook. It can go straight... across the board and sideways. Having 2 rooks operating together or with a queen, it is the ultimate attacking force.
Next to the rook is the knight. Others love the knight as it can jump over your opponent's pieces and wreck havoc of its defence.

Then comes the bishop. Similar to the rook, a bishop can move far and wide. But a bishop is weaker as it only operates within his own box colour.

The ostensible most powerful piece on the board is the queen. Its move is a combination of both rook
and bishop. The only weakness it has is when trapped and facing a knight, her fate is almost doomed.
The most important piece on the board is the king. It is both the most powerful and the weakest at the same time. It is powerful as long as it is alive. But it is weakest as the moment it is checked, it is the most vulnerable piece on the board.

No one piece can win the game alone. All the pieces need to work together to win a game.
Likewise, in our own lives. We are merely pawns in the moves by political leaders. Most of us are only able to see what is around us. Without the necessary information, we will continue to be the pawns in the game.

Political leaders (king) on the other hand, themselves are vulnerable. Many of them are surrounded by advisors (rooks, bishops and queens) who sometimes too do not know what they are doing. But they are strong enough to inflict damage in the area of their control.

Then comes a child, or a pet cat or dog, and down the table holding the chess board.
External forces are around us. As much as we want to believe that we are in a controlled environment, external forces will try to influence our steps, or worse, topple all of us down.
To our political leaders on both sides of the political divide, we the pawns do not want to be your chess pieces to maintain your power. You are not our masters. Enough politicking. Time to serve the rakyat, not the rakyat serving you.

And since today is 1st January 2015, first day of a year, make it your resolution to serve the rakyat for the next 364 days.

PS - oh ya. We the rakyat must not just talk only too. Let's work together to build this country together.

First published on Facebook on Jan 1, 2015 at hour 1421 (GMT + 8).

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