Customs and Traditions

2 Corinthians 9
7 Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver.

People likes cheerful people because they are bubbly, fun and exciting. Who wouldn't want to be with these kind of people? 

Mark 11
22 And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God. 23 For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith. 24 Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.

Think positive okay? Because it is the golden rule.

So when we think of customs and traditions, we retain the cheerful ones. I think the street dancing and chanting are amusing and entertaining. Like here we kiss the hand of our elders as sign of respect. My cousins refer to us as Big Brothers and Big Sisters because our father is older than their father. Imagine a grown man saying Big Brother to a child. It is odd but nonetheless amusing and harmless.

Nowadays aside from tourism, the internet and media gives you a view of the customs and traditions of people from all over the globe. 

Hey do you know that the Caste system in India was already abolished upon their independence in 1950? Yes just watched a documentary about this in ArirangTV. I was not informed earlier. They have this Dalit people who lived in the slums because they are still being looked down upon. Probably this is the inspiration of Slumdog Millionaire. Its about a boy from the hood of Indian slums who participated in the contest Who Wants To Be A Millionaire and wins it from his accumulated knowledge. 

So when you do not develop your people, you will not develop yourself. Because progress is co-dependence. We need peacemakers in India. Isn't it much sweeter if Indians become peacemakers themselves because it is their own land and people? 

Bruce Lee and his master Ip Man

Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen became great players and led the team into championships because they challenged each other in the gym. Like Maverick and Iceman are Top Guns because the rivals pushed each other in competition. Of course they have the talent in the first place so they developed it. Like we said we have to have contentment. Because we are gifted with varying talents. So do not be bitter when people are better than you. Nor look down upon people who are less talented than you are.

Am I crying because I cannot jump? I am not. I can only dribble about 6 times before pulling to a stop. I only play in sandlots. I cannot fly a plane. I'm a frustrated actor. Just learn to be confident with your abilities okay?

The writer/director of Slumdog Millionaire is M. Night Shyamalan who is also known for the horror/suspense movie The Sixth Sense. It has the tagline "I see dead people". The movie is about a boy who sees ghosts and the character of Bruce Willis who does not understand why he lost connection with his wife. The surprise ending is that the man realized he is a ghost himself.

Shyamalan also produced Unbreakable which also stars Bruce Willis and Samuel L. Jackson who played as mutants who represent the extreme ends of a spectrum. Bruce Willis is like the physically powerful "hero" who ran into accidents but comes out unscathed at all times. He reported for work with no absences ever recorded. He faked shoulder injury in college football because he wants to live normally. In contrast with the "villain" Samuel L. Jackson is like the cartoon character Megamind with an amazing mind but his bones are brittle so he is injured all the time in accidents. But he is a mutant so he always survive.

Of course in the UK and their offspring Malaysia and Singapore, it is a right hand drive over there because I read Jack Higgins and Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan. From the flags, Australia and New Zealand are expats. Is it true that the IRA punisher is a gunshot to the knee cap cause you be crippled? Is it peaceful to go there in Ireland? Because they supposed to be natural sharpshooters. Or so I read. Is there a leprechaun? Its the logo of the Boston Celtics so they represent Irish people. India is not an expat cause it is not patterned after the UK. Find a new road okay?

Leprechauns are bankers in Harry Potter. Harry Potter has four houses. A-HA. So the story is really about England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland. Neat. Of course Harry has to be in England.

So what we showing here is co-dependency. Like mentor-ship in the case of Ip Man and Bruce Lee. In Slam Dunk, it is the art of passing between teammates to win in basketball. The master and student pushes each other to get better. Teammates push each other to get better. Rivals also push each other to get better. But like in sports, we must uphold the values of sportsmanship which promotes fairness, ethics and respect to competitors. I'm not saying you be chummy with rivals. Be yourself cause if you pissed off, you just avoid them.