Poh Tiong Ho's Blog – July 2014 Archive (15)

Buddhists dilemma during the colonial days

Buddhism was portrayed as sinful and blasphemous as a religion of the illiterate and backward people. It was then highly fashionable to be Christians, use Christian names, eat with steel forks and steel spoons, and carry a holy book every Sunday.

Buddhists were also hindered in other ways:

1)      Their children must be baptized to be eligiable for birth certificates

2)      Unbaptized…

When Siddhartha attained  Nibbana He wanted to help His former teachers but they were beyond help because they were reborn  as unconscious beings (Asanna Satta). These are beings born because of  the trance they were in and they have no thoughts, but a succession of atoms of and energy. They remain like statues and at the end of many aeons, will again get the rebirth thought and normal life with conscious activity in the three realms with ceaseless renewing existence either in hell,…

Sakyamuni Buddha

He was born in Lumbini garden, under a Sal-tree, when His mother Queen Mahamaya-devi  was on her way to her parents’ home. It is said she washed herself in the pond Puskarni, before giving birth to the Bodhisatta, while holding a brunch of Sal-tree with her right hand  and  her left hand resting on her hips. The Queen passed away one week after His birth. As a prince, He was named Siddhartha Gautama.  Siddhartha means every wish fulfilled.…

Buddhism has never been dogmatic, cynical, dictatorial, or monopolistic. Buddhists tenets have never been ambiguous. They never attempt to hoodwink, mislead, inflate or deceive others, or to exert control over others, things or events. Using force or pressure to induce belief is repugnant to the Buddhists and they also don't use high positions to attract converts. Buddhism does not consist of dictatorial religious laws and religious punishment. The Buddhists never had…

Introduction:

The motive in writing this book is not to show others that Buddhism is superior to all other religions.  It is to revive the teachings and spread it.

Buddhism was not derived from Hinduism and was not stereotyped as many anti-Asian people used to believe. This group of racists said the fire and brimstones hells mentioned in Buddhism were borrowed from Christianity, not realizing that Buddhism was prevalent over 500 years before Jesus was born.

Buddhism and…

Witches and sorcerers use impure sacred forces to frighten or harm others.  So it is also possible to hire these witches and sorcerers to help to ward off deeply felt but at times unreal threats. People say that is more of a faith rather than knowledge upon an assent to the supra empirical. Aren’t all the religions based of faith?

These witches used violence against children, women and men. How many people have been accused of practicing sorcery? Witch hunting is now a global…

They present three quotes for materials or services your company requires, one from the company of their cronies, e.g. Nicholas Chia  Co or Basil Lo  Co, and two from the rivals. The two from the rivals are always the false quotes, which are always with a higher rate. So who will win the bid or tender ?

The next area to watch is the clocking in and…

One resident engineer openly said that he did not want to see accident reports documented because he wanted to show the number of accidents in his yard as zero for the whole year. Quite surprisingly, he was able to cover up all the accidents. No wonder there were cases where the corpses of illegal foreign workers were reported.

The safety officer must report directly to a government body and not to the resident engineer (RE), because the RE can bias against the Safety officer since…

Mosquitoes must be fogged at least once every month. Stagnant pools of water must be removed immediately. Do you know where the mosquito breeding sites are? Most of the breeding grounds are in the construction sites. Errant contractors must be fined so that enforcement actions can be effective.

Chikungunya first started in Singapore in 2008. By 2009, over 1000 people were infested. This disease is transmitted by Aedes mosquitoes, which also spread dengue fever. By…

The fire of hatred

blazes hot inside you

all day

Isn’t it better not to hate others?

When’ll you find peace

and coolness?

Your desires are the causes of your own sufferings

**

You wish to see others dead

their buildings crumble to the ground

their children drop out of high schools

their currency collapses

But in reality, these people grow stronger

Their buildings grow…

In dusty areas or areas with fumes, respirators must be worn. Fine asbestos dust is produced during the manufacture of asbestos products, or while these products are being used in the construction yards.

The nasal hairs in your nose wave back and forth from 8 to 12 times per second. Up to a certain extent, they help to filter the air you breathe in, blocking dirt and dust from getting into your lungs. They sweep the bacteria and other pollutants that enter the nose,…

Before you buy that Condo…..

When you wish to buy a condo, whether it is for living in or to rent out, it is definitely worth spending some time investigating if the developer is a reliable one. The best thing is to look at the condos he had completed and to also talk to those who bought the condos. You will definitely find out a lot of useful information, free of charge. Unscrupulous business practices are on the rise in every country. In some countries, verbal…

Beware of dishonest housing developers

Have you ever wondered why some houses are worth very much less than a new house of the same materials, area and size, at the existing location? Don’t you know why some buildings constructed over a century ago are still standing perfectly today?

Errant home renovation contractors can always get away with their shoddy work because they have friends at high places. Thus shoddy workmanship and misleading…