An eye for an eye?

Just to keep my blog up-to-date, I will just publish my journal article that I wrote for my school assignment. Here it goes:

An old saying “an eye for an eye” means a person who injures another person has to compensate for what they had done. This saying is also applied to the law of some countries which practise capital punishment which is an act of executing a person by legal process, because he/she commits certain type of crime. Capital punishment is really controversial, which has sparked debates on whether death penalty should be practiced or not. We strongly support the practice of capital punishment based on the following concrete reasons.

Firstly, the core idea of death penalty is that certain atrocious crimes deserve nothing but death. Crimes such as kidnap, terrorism, crime against humanity, and massacre are absolutely inhumane, which criminals do not have any sympathy toward others and their family’s excruciating suffering. These criminals are considered nothing but animals, because they have already lost their conscience. Therefore, death penalty is a “just retribution” for the criminals to pay back the price equal to the atrocity they had caused. Furthermore, only sending these criminal to death means that justice has been served to the victims and their family.

Though it seems cruel, capital punishment is an effective deterrence against other future criminals. One proverb states that a person would never cry upon seeing the tomb. Since fear of dying is a nature of human being, a person will feel uncomfortable to commit a crime. Before deciding to murder someone, a murderer would imagine the possible result happening to him/her afterward. Additionally, a person always bears in his/her mind that if he/she killed someone, someday he/she would be executed to death as a consequence. A study conducted by Professor Steven K. Layson of University of North Caronlina showed that one execution could effectively deter 18 murderers. Thus, capital punishment can obviously help reduce the number of serious crimes.

            Last but not least, the cost of keeping the criminals serving life sentence imprisonment is such as waste of taxpayers’ money. The limited resource, instead of spending on these inhumane criminals, should be diverted to more important sectors such public health, education, infrastructure to build the welfare of one country, which results in the development and economic growth, whereas feeding those brutal prisoners would not provide any benefits by no means.  

Taking everything into account, though deemed as cruel act, capital punishment, if legalized, would do more good than harm. All those thugs and vicious criminals deserve such punishment; it will not only serve justice to those innocent victims but also as a warning to others that “crime does not pay”. Also, the government could cut the expense for those outlaws during their imprisonment and spend on other important public sectors. In essence, the passing of this law will not only the decrease the crime rate but also insure the sense of security among people in the country.

The Winner is the King

There are many political heroes in the world today, because they have attain valuable achievement for their own country, namely Ho Chi Minh (Vietam), Mao Tse Dong (China), Samdech Hun Sen (Cambodia), Franklin Roosevelt (U.S.A) and the list goes on. However, I have some questions that remain unsolved about some heroes if there was some slight change in history.

What if Pol Pot remained in power until today and achieved his Great Leap Forward policy and consolidate Kampuchea Krom and Cambodia, would he be called a hero for Cambodia today, although his regime left more than 2 millions Cambodian dead? Would he be charged of Crime against Humanity and War Crime?

Would Mao Tse Dong still be considered a hero for China if after his death Taiwan invaded Mainland China and successfully overthrew the Communist government? Let’s not forget that Chairman Mao’s Cultural Revolution is responsible for the lives of more than 40 million innocent Chinese?

What if Adolf Hilter won the World War II and conquered the world, would people call him a criminal and sent him to the court? Would he be called an ultimate hero of the world?

“The winner is the king, whereas the loser is the criminal.” This sentence is nothing but the true when it comes to politics. As you can see, there are many political prisoners nowadays and they are not called “HEROES”, because they are losers. Losers have to bow down to the winner. However, heroes today may not permanently be the heroes in the future.

Make Me Feel Important!!!

For this journal, I really want to write about one intriguing characteristic of human psychology which I believe most of us shares. This idea just popped in my mind when my teacher said something unexpectedly to me. It was one time when my teacher praising me that my journal writings were rather interesting to read in front of his students. I could not believe myself that just only these few words can truly give a big smile on my face (I was trying to be humble by not smiling and showing that I am proud, although I was really happy and proud at his words). These few words could effectively instill a sense of accomplishment and pride inside of me, pushing me to continue to put further effort on what I am doing. Admittedly, I totally want to hear these kinds of words again. Am I big-headed and too proud of myself? No, I am. Believe me most of us would feel the same way as I do. In so many ways, human beings have many things in common. One of which is the tendency to hear people saying something good to you or about you. It is just natural that these kinds of words are really pleasant to listen to and we love to hear it.

I strongly believe that most of us held an “invisible sign” over our heads that say “Make Me Feel Important!” We, human being, do not like to listen to criticism or any negative comments. This philosophy can also be applied to my case. I do not want my teacher to criticize at all at my journals, because I do not want to feel embarrassed. More often than not, these good words or praise can boost people’s morale, confidence, motivation and spirit to achieve more great matters.

Moreover, I really encourage you to try to say something good to your friends, colleagues or family, because firstly it can make them feel pleased and secondly he/she will have a positive feeling toward you and more importantly like to talk to you. For example, “Hey Bopha. You look really nice with your new outfit today.” or “Did you lose some weight? You seem to look prettier.” Again, this is human being. We utterly love to hear these kinds of words and nobody can deny that. Imagine if you meet a person and tell him that he/she looks fatter and older than before, he/she would secretly dislike inside her mind (although she tries to smile and laugh at you, pretending that it is funny). These good words are also useful for persuasion. Say, you want to ask your classmate to solve an exercise for you. If you directly ask him for help, he might feel hesitated. How about telling him/her that you have heard that he/she is talented in solving difficult exercises, would it not make him/her happy and willing to help you?

Remember the “Make Me Feel Important” sign on every person’s head. What you say to another person COUNTS!!!    

The Winner is the King!!!

For Religion or For Development??

On 11th April 2011, 2 days before Khmer New Year, I had the chance to go to Kompong Cham province to celebrate the official opening of a pagoda's dining hall (a hall where people will place the food for worshiping to their ancestor). This new pagoda's dining costs at least 70.000 USD. The money is from the combination of Katen and Bon Pka and donation from other people. Those people who play a huge role in the establishment of the dining hall was awarded with prestigious medals in front many people. One surprising thing struck into my mind when i looked at the damaged road in front of the pagoda (damaged for more than 10 years), the improper sanitation and the condition of the villagers' house. Should the money better be used for the development of the village rather than of the pagoda? It is admittedly a generous act from all of the generous people. However, the development of people's living standard is much more important and should be on top of the agenda rather than at the expense of the new building of pagoda and dignity for the rich.

The 70.000USD could be divert to the development of the village in many sectors that bring about tremendous benefits. The road has been very bumpy in the dry season and very difficult to travel in the rainy season. The money can be used to construct a smooth cement road that can last for a very long time. Investment on the electricity can also take place. Life is really difficult in the village because still there is no electricity in the village. In addition, the money can be invested in clean water system for the government, because nowadays water is very expensive. By doing so, it can save the villagers some more money to spend on other specific products. Furthermore, news schools and schools materials can also be brought by this money.

The main problem is people do not have the will to donate their money to this village development project. They prefer to donate to the ceremony of the pagoda because they believe that they would receive more good deed. As far as I am concerned, by developing the village, you can liberate people from poverty and ignorance. This is a greater deed than any other charity in the whole world.

What does friendship mean to me?

My name is LENG Bun Meng. Mr. Gurkan calls me "Class Monitor" because I used to be the class monitor for 11B and 12B haha. You know whenever i am feeling down, I will always go to a very spectacular place, a place full of memories, a place full of friendship, a place full of warmth, www.12bfriends.com to check out the old photos and articles. I couldn't believe my eyes that we had built many wonderful experience together. I really just can't stop smiling after vividly seeing these nostalgic memory.  It's been 8 years since I first began my journey with you guys. I remembered that not many of you really like me. I don't know why too.

The Wise Old Man

Hello everyone!! I have found this great motivational and inspirational story from my friend, and I would like to share it. The story is about:

A man of 92 years, short, very well-presented, who takes great care in his appearance, is moving into an old people’s home today.

His wife of 70 has recently died, and he is obliged to leave his home.

After waiting several hours in the retirement home lobby, he gently smiles as he is told that his room is ready.   

As he slowly walks to the elevator, using his cane, I describe his small room to him, including the sheet hung at the window which serves as a curtain.

"I like it very much", he says, with the enthusiasm of an 8 year old boy who has just been given a new puppy.

"Sir, you haven’t even seen the room yet, hang on a moment, we are almost there. "

" That has nothing to do with it ", he replies.

" Happiness is something I choose in advance.  Whether or not I like the room does not depend on the furniture, or the decor – rather it depends on how I decide to see it. "

" It is already decided in my mind that I like my room.  It is a decision I take every morning when I wake up. "   

" I can choose.  I can spend my day in bed enumerating all the difficulties that I have with the parts of my body that no longer work very well, or I can get up and give thanks to heaven for those parts that are still in working order. "

" Every day is a gift, and as long as I can open my eyes, I will focus on the new day, and all the happy memories that I have built up during my life. "

" Old age is like a bank account.  You withdraw in later life what you have deposited along the way. "

So, my advice to you is to deposit all the happiness you can in your bank account of memories.  

Thank you for your part in filling my account with happy memories, which I am still continuing to fill…

 So the lesson here is to

- Free your heart from hate
- Free your mind from worry
- Live simple
- Give more
- Expect less :) and you will be happy!