golden age blog

Just to confirm.

2011-12-23T17:22:00.001+08:00

Biography

2010-02-16T12:23:00.003+08:00

I believe that everyone should write his/her biography. It helps to reflect on ones achievements and failures, it helps to see where one has been and to look ahead (if you have the time) to where one wants to be. No regrets but just nostalgic.

I have always wondered what my parents were like, what life they have had/led, and what were in their minds, what they thought about. Unfortunately my parents were illiterate, thus no record is left behind of their lives. What I have are just memories of them, sweet memories and bitter memories.

I have written my life story, which I started about 20 years ago, which I have kept and keep on editing for about 10 to 15 years, and I have published it. Though its only for my own use, and/or maybe my generations of the future may want to know about me then I have the record. Or just that they may not want to know at all, well its really up to them. But I have my biography written,. I have not published many copies, and I have published that outside Malaysia because in Malaysia publishers will want a minimum number of copies published.

I believe that blog like this is also part of one’s biography.

And in 2004 I had a heart attack and had to be hospitalised. I have written a small book on that, and I wish to share my experience with others and with my future generations.

Smoking

2010-02-16T09:07:00.000+08:00

In Malaysia, looking at the picture/photo outside a box of cigarette would already put you off from smoking cigarettes forever. But the no. of smokers (seems to be in Malaysia) do not seems to have been reduced. Why is this?

Don’t smokers know that they create problems to their own health? Don’t they realise that they are anti-social? Don’t they realise that other people are trying to be healthy, unlike them?

I have a few friends who have died of lung cancer, maybe it might have been caused by some other factors, but smoking may be one of the causes, if not the main cause. I am not an expert in this area, but I have certain articles which say so. Even then why is it that many Governments are not in favour of smoking if they are not a danger to public health? Why is it that in restaurants they have special rooms for smokers and non-smokers are put in other areas? Why is it that in certain factories (in the tropic) they even ask those to smoke to do so outside the building? And yet people smoke.

Can I forget this?

2009-11-08T23:04:00.002+08:00

Can I forget this?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8jJ1ORIOes&feature=related

A whiter shade of pale.

Facebook | My Photos - Our footprint

2009-10-29T18:17:00.000+08:00

Facebook | My Photos - Our footprint

For less than RM50

2009-10-27T06:50:00.016+08:00

USD1 = RM3.5 presently.

Our dinner at a small restaurant in Kuala Sepetang near Taiping, Perak, Malaysia for the 4 of us only costed us less than RM50. Cheap by any standard when we consider that we had more than 1 kg of fresh sea prawns cooked. Kuala Sepetang is famous for its fresh prawns.

This was the first time that we ever visited the restaurant.

And the restaurants seemed to be well patronised.

And these were the people that made it happened.

Memories of 1985

2009-10-19T07:59:00.002+08:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQtlrBziyzI&feature=player_embedded#

Just a private observation in Bandung.

2009-10-03T09:36:00.000+08:00

On my recent trip to Bandung I observed certain order of traffic movement made by Indonesian drivers over there. This is not an official but just a private observation made when riding on a small van (Kijang) driven by an Indonesian hired driver. The Indonesian in Bandung drive on the left.

The traffic flow in Bandung was not as heavy as that of Kuala Lumpur, maybe its because of their way of driving or maybe because of the traffic system. I did not observe any roundabout ( I may be corrected in that observation) but I observed triangles where drivers take to turning right using the near side of the triangle or turning left following that side of the triangle. There is a certain ‘give way’ attitude to smoothen the traffic flow. And I observed that those Indonesian drivers were not as aggressive as Malaysian drivers and they do have the sense of ‘give way’.

I observed that if a river wanted to overtake in a heavy traffic, he gave a slight horn and the front driver understood the signal and would let the back driver passed. Even if the back driver wanted to overtake a motorcyclist, he horned to warn the motorcyclist and the motorcyclist would gave away. With such attitude, driving seemed cool, and non-aggressive driving was almost non-existence.

Somehow I did not see many Policemen on the street of Bandung. But I saw on a few occasions where a Traffic Policeman controlling the traffic, and this happened when it was a peak period such as the evening and the morning ‘rush’ hours. But those Indonesian drivers were ‘rushing’ with great patient.

And parking areas are marked on the street (and I do not really know whether the Bandung ‘Town Council’ charged for parking), and private parking areas are charged a certain rate (RP 20,000 per entry I think it was) or a certain tip (expected) to those employed to look after traffic movements in those areas. These ‘employed’ people are very efficient in getting you a parking space (at a fee of course) and very efficient in getting you out of a parking space in such heavy traffic situations. They used whistles to warm of on coming drivers about their ‘client’ wanting to get out of their parking areas. (No Policemen helped). This to me was a very efficient arrangement as it reduced the time for anyone trying to get out of the parking area as well as increasing safety to back out or to move out of a parking area. (I remember that in Thailand they have similar arrangement). These people were probably employed by the building or the business owner (of the building concerned).

And of motorcyclist, they may not follow 100% the rules of crash helmets or the rules of riding a motorbike of more than 2 to a motorbike, but they seemed to be careful lot with no waving among the car traffic, at least the majority of them. And motorcycles speeding? Did not see them in town or on the outskirts of town.

I thought that the traffic arrangement in Bandung was quite efficient. Is that the situation over the whole of Indonesia?

Private thoughts on Bandung experience.

2009-10-01T08:42:00.025+08:00

After Raya this year, a friend asked me and my wife to join a Co. trip to Bandung

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bandung). All these while I have always avoided any trip to Indonesia, for reasons privy to me alone. But my wife have been to Indonesia many time before.

From the air I saw Bandung. “Quite disorganised” I thought. My prejudice was already showing. And when we landed, we had it easy going through the Immigration and the Custom. And as it was a Co. trip, transport and meals have been arranged, so was accommodation.

We had our first lunch at a Padang restaurant. The food was reasonably good, ……. I had had very limited Padang restaurant experience. One has to go to a Padang restaurant in Indonesia to appreciate what are served and how they serve them.

We checked into a hotel, a small hotel, 4-star they say, in the outskirt of Bandung not too far away from the Airport and the main commercial area. Reasonably good hotel it was. (About RM150 a night stay) Named Karang Setra (http://www.karangsetrahotel.com/default.asp). After a short rest, the group had arranged to go shopping at a factory outlet in Bandung. And I must say that there are a lot of factory outlets in Bandung (or is it in the whole of Indonesia?)……. Don’t ask me why and how but there they were …… where one can buy cheap “branded” clothings and accessories. Not only tourists go to these ‘outlets’ but many local also go there. In fact for the next 3 days, the ‘team’ went shopping most of the time in these ‘outlets’. But there are also ‘pasar’ where these are not called ‘outlets’ where local clothings (western and middle eastern designs) are sold at a reasonably cheap price (cheaper than in Malaysia …… probably taking advantage of the cheap labour in Indonesia).

My first impression of Bandung? Life is hard over there. Probably life is hard all over Indonesia for the lower classes but the upper crust of society have it easy. People are basically selling on the streets whatever they can sell. At some traffic junctions they even sells stuff to car occupiers when cars stop at traffic lights. In the markets they even try to persuade you to buy even fancy cloth hangers, fancy stoneware necklaces and even shopping carrying bags. And in the more popular tourist places they even follow you around, ‘selling’ their stuff.

Foodwise, I would say that ‘never’ to eat at street stalls. (on one of my wife’s visits to Indonesia a few years back she ate at one of the street stall in her last day of the visit, and she came back to Malaysia with typhoid). There are many street stalls, of all sorts and one famous food they have is ‘baso’, a sort of soup filled with meat ball and vege or even soya bean stuff. Very tempting, but if you have to eat ‘baso’ do so at a reputable restaurant. (‘baso’ men sometime ply their ‘baso’ from street to street on their shoulders).

I had some opportunity to visit places in Bandung. One place which we visited was Tangkuman Perahu (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tangkuban_Perahu), a non-active volcano (it probably was just remaining silent!). Impressive place except for the entrance price was a bit expensive for foreign tourists (about RM20 per head: USD1 = RM 3.5; in Indonesian currency of course) and about RM5.00 for local tourists (in Indoenesian currency of course). Many local tourists I observe go there, The place was packed with tourists (and with temporary canvas lean-to sheds made by local to sell clothings and their local tourist souvenirs artifacts) and people trying to push their souvenirs stuff (pushing hard even to right on your nose). Quite a nuisance really, but the fact to see a real volcano was worth the going.

“pushing right to your nose” in their hard selling tactic is the rule of the day for all these ‘poor’ in Bandung (probably in the whole of Indonesia) and one just cannot get away from them, they are every where ……… you just have to live with them and have to learn to say “NO!”.

I must also add that Bandung is a nice place. It was where Soukarno was imprisoned by the Dutch and also where he organized the Bandung Conference (a historical landmark) when he was the President of the Republic of Indonesia. And Bandung still has many old Dutch houses, now being used as commercial or educational centres. New buildings are also being built in Bandung, the latest being an international standard shopping complex called Paris Van Java (http://toen.multiply.com/reviews/item/35). And it has many mosques and a few churches. I am told that 80% of the population are Muslims and the rest are of all sorts of religion and with the majority of the Chinese origin being Christians.

I must say that the temperature in Bandung is very mild, temperature probably in the morning being at about 25 deg C and about 27 deg C to 28 deg C in the afternoon. The humidity is reasonably low. Quite a comfortable place to live.

Transportation in Bandung is reasonably efficient. One can hire a car (Kijang) with a driver for about RM150 a day, or one can take the town taxi which is reasonably fared, or one can even go on a horse driven cart. But if one knows one’s way, one can take a ‘mini bus’, a van converted into public transport which normally are very packed with people. Or one can walk about as the weather is reasonably mild with low humidity.

If you in Indoenesia, do buy their ‘batik’. It’s the best, I think.

We were there for 4 days and 3 night. It was quite an experience.

The fare from Kuala Lumpur to Bandung. One may enquire from Air Asia (http://www.airasia.com/site/en/home.jsp).

Fisherman returning

2009-09-04T19:05:00.004+08:00

One afternoon I ended up at a fisherman jetty in Kuala Kemaman, Trengganu. And they had a good catch that day. And everyone seemed very happy.

http://when-i-m-65.blogspot.com/2007/11/just-local-tourist-in-kemaman-trengganu.html

My Playlist

2009-07-31T07:24:00.000+08:00

http://www.playlist.com/mylias

some (not all) of the songs I like.

Best of Arabic

2009-07-30T22:34:00.002+08:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ML3zitUsPI

A beautiful Arabic song

We are the world

2009-07-26T17:45:00.002+08:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WmxT21uFRwM&feature=related

This song haunts me.

In memory of Farah Fawcett

2009-06-26T17:49:00.000+08:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohHaVTNMLBI

In memory of Michael Jackson

2009-06-26T17:47:00.001+08:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXTShQX10_s

On the Highway to KL

2009-06-16T08:13:00.003+08:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qHLqWKoR1g

Traveling to Kuala Lumpur by the Malaysian East Coast Highway can be very boring if one does not appreciate the scenery along the way.
.
This is a video I took when I traveled by the Highway to Kuala Lumpur last week. I started off in Kuantan, a town by the coast in the State of Pahang, and along the way I took the video just for the fun of it. But later I decided to share it with anyone interested on how such traveling feels like. I traveled by bus (a coach) and I took the video from the passenger’s front seat.

The scenery can be just one type if one were to look at it in a monochrome. Just green. But as one starts to analyse what one sees, then the picture becomes picturesque. One can see palm oil trees, rubber trees and these belong the Felda settlements, and a many acacia trees planted the Highway owner to give shade as well as probably to keep the soil of the road table from eroding. And one sees R&R where one can stop to rest (if one wants to) and have meals, and also later a beautiful bridge across a wide river, the Pahang River. And some local houses, a couple of villages, Chinese New Villages these are, and a few toll booth where one has to pay toll to use the Highway. One may even see abandoned padi fields in certain spots along the Highway.

Then as one comes nearer to Kuala Lumpur one has to cross the Main Range where the road are now more winding and one can see hills and mountains up front. That part of the Highway is actually now called the Karak Highway. At one spot near the Bukit Tinggi Chinese village one has to climb a steep hill, where the bus overtook a couple of timber lorries, and other buses and cars overtaking us going up the hill. Then one has to go through a tunnel, and out on the other side.

Along the way one may also see electrical transmission towers and communication transmisison towers.

One starts off from Pahang State and ended up in Selangor State after the tunnel. Along the way in Pahang, we came across a couple of road repairs being done where the traffic was diverted. And after the tunnel the Highway has to go down winding steep road elbows which if not taken properly or carefully one may end up in the ravine below. And before one reaches the last toll, the ‘gate to Kuala Lumpur’ one sees an orang asli (abroginese) settlement and may even get a glimpse the Malaysia International Islamic University buildings. And after the last toll, the traffic became heavier and one knows that one is now on the outskirt of Kuala Lumpur City.

Beetle

2009-06-04T22:54:00.006+08:00

While walking about in Kuantan (Malaysia) town today I saw this beetle. There were about half a dozen of them but I only concentrated on this creature. Its about nearly 2 inches long. It was upside down when I saw it, then it sort of turnover showing its back, and again it went upside down and tried to fly away. It did not succeed to fly away. It tried to encouraged it to crawl away but it did not want to. So I left it there.

Just a moth.

2009-06-03T22:37:00.003+08:00

Being not an expert in this area, but I have photographed some moth of a certain species which are quite plentiful in Kuantan (Malaysia) at this time of the year; they come flying about in the bright light in early morning hours until late in the morning (when the sun is up) when they then disappear. I suppose I cannot call it disappear, they seem to die for one reason or another leaving their beautiful wings fluttering about on the floor. Do they last for just one day? I do not really know.

What I can say is that the creature is beautiful. The size? The head and the thorax combine is just about 1 inches long.

Just maybe

2009-05-22T15:27:00.004+08:00

The other day while eating at an eating shop at Genting Sempah near Genting Highland, on my way to Kuala Lumpur, I happened to site this guy (photo shown).

Well I thought, maybe he was that famous guy.

http://afdlinshauki.blogspot.com/

He wasn't unfortunately, but maybe given the same opportunity he may be famous as well. Who knows.

Maxwell Hill (Bukit Larut) Taiping, Perak, Malaysia.

2009-04-25T10:44:00.036+08:00

The photo of the man (Mr Ishak), the Land Rover driver who took us safely up a mountain road with 93 hairpin bends to a height 1036 meters of over a distance of 10.2 km.

Up the hill called Bukit Larut which in the olden days was known as Maxwell Hill in Taiping, Perak, Malaysia.

This is how the Hills (white speck in the distance) looks like from Taiping Town (photo taken early in the morning when the cloud has not yet cleared).

Maxwell Hill used to be a cooling resort for the British who were working in Taiping, which was the capital “City” of the State of Perak, and which once upon time was the richest District in Malaya, a District where tin plentiful and was mined, and where the Chinese (from mainland China) first settled with their skills of mining for tin. It would have been the Capital ‘City’ of Malaysia had not Yap Ah Loy (the Chinese Kapitan) moved to Kuala Lumpur where he prospected for more tin after he decided that tin in Taiping might be exhausted in a couple of more years from then (and he was right). The Chinese and the Malays in Taiping (Larut then) were fighting over tin in those days, and peace was made after the British intervened. Peace at a price to the Malays. That is why the place was made to be called Taiping.

Back to the Maxwell Hill, it’s a beautiful place, the temperature may go as low as 17 deg C at the lowest point. And Taiping has the highest measurement of rainfall in Malaya, maybe because the mountain (hills) is the agent of convection current.

The Hill has a few bunglows for rent, some with caretaker and some with no caretaker. What is lacking is that there is no canteen or ‘café’ where one can get food unless one brings along ones own food for a picnic up the Hill. One may of course rent a bunglow for an overnight stay up the Hill, price ranging from RM200 to RM 300 per night, (RM3.3 = USD 1.0) doing your own cooking. The bunglow may be having from 3 to 4 rooms, comfortably housing about 10 people a night.

But one may also rent a chalet, very close to the top of the Hill, with arranged catering provided for.

And close by is a Telecom Transmission towers station.

And the flowers on top of the hill, they are exquisite. One may see butterflies and moths, and at the bottom of the Hill one may even meet a monkey.

The path to the top as I said earlier has 93 hair pin bends, and a driver has to be very skilled to manoeuvre these bends. And when one sees vehicle coming down (which is rare) when one is drive up, one has to stop to let the other vehicle/s pass, the road is that narrow.

It’s a popular spot for hill walkers. I observed that there are 3 stopping stations for these walkers up the hill, and some walkers taking the short cut jungle road to reach these huts. The walkers seem to range from young schoolboys to old man of maybe over 60 years old. And some walkers even use these stopping stations as their tea house where they rest or even eat lunch in these stopping huts. In fact one may see cooking facilities up there in these huts where they boil water (fresh hill water) to make tea (or coffee).

Its an experience of a life time to go up the hill.

One can only go up by the Land Rover provided the Hill Management, One cannot bring ones own vehicle, except those with proper permission given by the Authority, caterer (Contractors) or the Telecom people.

Historically, the road up the Hill was constructed under (?) the supervision of William Edward Maxwell who was appointed Assistant Resident of Perak in 1875. The British built the first Prison in Perak, then the Taiping / Port Weld (now renamed Kuala Sepetang) railway line, (where an elephant was killed when it charged a moving train) and then the road up the Maxwell Hill. They must have used Indian labourers who got paid pittance. How did they build the road? By hand! And using hand tools called ‘cangkol’ probably, pick axe, spade and shovel (I think) as well. How did they break up the rocks? I am told that they heated up the rock by setting fire underneath them, and then pouring cold water over the rock. The rock broke under the differential temperature. And they then chipped these broken rocks where appropriate and pushed and roll over the rock down hill.

There is a proposal to put cable car to the top of the hill from the bottom. But the Authority has yet to approve that. And I hope that the scheme does not get approved.

The Hill itself is an asset to Taiping in particular and to Malaysia in general. It has a natural environment. But the biggest asset is that it has a virgin tropical jungle, undisturbed and with logs worth RM millions. A lot of people are eyeing those logs and to date no approval had been given to cut these trees and logs down. And I pray that the Authority will never approve loggings in that area.

View of Taiping Town from the Hill.

That Bukir Larut (Maxwell Hill) is one of the most beautiful spot on this earth to my thinking.

For further refernce,

http://www.cuti.com.my/album/thumbnails.php?album=88

http://malaysiabudgethotel.com/destinations/perak/maxwell-hill.html

http://www.journeymalaysia.com/MH_maxwell.htm

http://blog.malaysiastory.com/maxwell-hill/

http://www.nature-escapes-kuala-lumpur.com/Maxwell-Hill.html

Hijab

2009-04-12T22:58:00.001+08:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7lxAvpZlGNw

As a Muslim, I am very much in support of the proper dress for Muslim women.

some lovely music

2009-03-19T08:48:00.002+08:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5H4qtlvA0j0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_HXUhShhmY

The Upper reaches of the Kelang River.

2009-03-18T18:57:00.012+08:00

Upper reaches of the Kelang River, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, a fishing, a catching, a wetting, anxious faces, happy faces, expectant faces, young and old, a string. Never mind the dirty polluted river waters. Just an evening activity, while it rained in the mountains. Food for the day, for the family, maybe fish for sale.

Smile

2009-02-28T18:42:00.003+08:00

I saw this in one of the blogs that I came across, and I was so impressed that I have copied the video (without the blog owner's permission ..... and I trust that if he discovers my blog here he will forgive me). Thank you mate.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iu-rLA4POkI&eurl=http://pescarulamator.blogspot.com/

Just a memory

2008-12-28T17:33:00.003+08:00

Just a memory. 1962 at the old Kuala Lumpur International Airport, prior to leaving Malaya for the UK. And many in the photo are no longer with us.

The Temptations

2008-12-26T07:48:00.002+08:00

I am not a Christian, but I am a fan of The Temptations. And I find that this song by the Temptations is very very melodious.

Sacrifice

2008-12-11T16:06:00.000+08:00

The Koraan says,
Surah Al-Kauther:
1. To thee have We granted the Fount (Of Abundance).
2. Therefore to thy Lord turn in Prayer and Sacrifice.
3. For he who hateth thee He will be cut off (from Future Hope).

And accordingly for the Eid-ul-Adha, whic fell on 08 Dec. 2008 this year, we did just that, sacrificed a 4 footed animal, in this case a cow.

The phenomena of lawlessness

2008-11-22T22:37:00.002+08:00

The phenomena of lawlessness is inherent in the heart of most of us Malayasian (I believe). Though the Authority keeps telling us that Malaysia is a safe country. Safe compared to which country?

Every day life in Malaysia is quite peaceful but cases have been reported (and known) of rape, snatch thefts, murders but most of these are blamed (conveniently) on the immigrants (illegal) population. Conveniently of course.

But the most observable evidence of close to lawlessness being that Malaysian treat traffic lights as ‘suggestions’ instead of mandatory. One may many time see many motorcycles beating the red traffic signal when (they think) that the coast is clear. And I have seen cars also doing the same when (I think that they think that the coast is clear and that there are no Traffic Policeman around). There are traffic light junctions where there are hidden cameras, but many of these camera s are really ‘decorations’. Like many things in Malaysia, there are lot and lots of Laws but the implementation is questionable.

And Malaysians like to live in cages, that is their houses are protective grilled everywhere, doors, windows and for that matter any opening. I suppose these are precautionary measures, and I believe that those grills help to prevent burglaries or robberies. But some time these are carried over board. Here are some photos of apartments where every window seems to be uglily (and presumbably) safely grilled. Or that we Malaysians (majority) like (or preferred) to live in 'bird cages'

Except for one or two or daring owners of apartment owners who have no grill at all.

I sometime wonder if those daring ones get burgled or robbed. I hate to think what will happened to these grilled apartments if a fire ever occur in them, how do the occupants escape. In my career (when investigating the cause of fire, with other agencies) I have seen burnt bodies of the elderly and children hurdled together near grilled windows after a fire.

These photoes are only showing what happens in a cluster of apartments. One will see no exceptions when one visits terraced houses, single or double storeyed, or even big single bunglows/houses or even mansions. The main difference being that the richer the occupants are the more decorative or sophisticated are the grills; probably with battery operated or electrically operated burglar alarms or even cctv cameras ........... and I must say some even have guards for a group of houses and those who can afford it a guard (on shift) for each house.

Well, that is us Malaysians, and our ’prison’ mentality. We actually imprison ourselves, and I suppose its is safer for people to live in a prison than for many of us us to live outside, where we also ‘imprison’ ourselves.

Old but not antique

2008-11-19T17:12:00.001+08:00

At least 50 years old. Its a collectors item. Saw one in Kuantan (Malaysia) last week but could not make it stop. Luckily saw almost identical this week in Kuala Lumpur, the photoes. Except for the modified engine electrical system, the rest seemed original.

Yesterday, yes I was there when it happened.

2008-11-10T22:49:00.001+08:00

I was not in the actual concert hall, I was watching the show on (B&W) TV.

Some time I need some humour.

2008-11-09T10:13:00.000+08:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hUjdzdWbsU

Faces

2008-10-29T14:16:00.001+08:00

In ones life one may meet a lot faces, some time one likes the face, sometime no, sometime one is fascinated, other time just could not careless, but faces one meets, one remembers some and one forgets most ...... even if one meets again. Some time ones dreams of a face, sometimes just at a glance, probably hundreds of thousands faces one sees eye to eye, other in photographs, and others probabaly when surfing the internet. Others one might tells oneself "I wish I can meet that face again", but most not to be.

The photoes were taken at a party yesterday. Like them?
o

None of my business ........ yet

2008-10-24T18:00:00.001+08:00

http://video.tagged.com/?v=efACWYRNRcQ

Just doing a job

2008-10-21T22:07:00.001+08:00

Its a part of my job to travel to Taiping (Malaysia) every so often. In the early days I used to stay the night in Ipoh (Malaysia) but soon I was a bit bored of Ipoh. Not that Ipoh is not an interesting place but I soon got bored with the hotels I stayed in. Don't ask me why.

And so I decided to travel up to Taiping to spend the night after I have finished my jobs south of Ipoh and in Ipoh. I have a few other jobs to do in Taiping, and in those days when I used to spent the night in Ipoh, I drove up the next morning to Taiping.

In Taiping I used to spend the night at Sri Malaysia Hotel Taiping . Its a big chain of budget hotels. Its at a good location, but I wanted a hotel right in Town. So I ended up at this hotel. Its a pleasant little hotel.

It close to the Taiping Main Masjid.

And one of my favourite view of Taiping its the range of hills (more like a range of mountain) behind the Town. Been up there when I was a school boy, and I intend to go up the hill again (perhaps someday). And from the Hotel I could see the hill very clearly.

And I am fascinated with some old buildings in Taiping.
The Perak Museum, which is under renovation is beautiful.

An old high official (British) residence probably (now used as a Malaysian Army Club).

An an old colonial wooden house, which seemed to have been neglected but looked like its under repair now.

Hari Raya AidilFitri 2008 (Eid el Fitr 1429)

2008-09-30T09:13:00.001+08:00

Allah-u Akbar!, Allah-u Akbar!, Allah-u Akbar!. Selamat Hari Raya every one (Eid Mubarak)
The Hari Raya fell on 1st Oct. 2008 (in Malaysia that is), a Wednesday. And fasting month for another year is gone. How many of us will be here in the next fasting month, next Ramadan?
Every Muslim should always look forward toa fasting month and is sad when the fasting month (Ramadan) is gone. Fasting month is a month of many blessings. A hungry day and one always look foreward to ‘iftar’, the breaking of the fast at sunset. And a Muslim feels sad when the fasting month is gone, sad that a month of blessing is gone.
At home, we always seems to be blessed. Our table is full when the family gets together fot ‘iftar’.

And when the family is away, we still have enough.

For me this year Hari Raya is very special. I was given a very expensive present Hari Raya gift by my daughter Souraya. I was given a laptop, an Acer Aspire One. I have in all my life (to the best of my rememberance) never received such an expensive gift before, such a valuable gift.

And for remembrance of this Hari Raya, I have included here a video of an azan, a Subuh prayer azan, by Ustaz Haji Indra Gunawan, an Idonesian Al-Hafiz ( person who can remember and recite the whole of the Koraan) at our local prayer house (surau), in Wangsa Maju Kuala Lumpur, on the morning of Sunday 28th September 2008, just 2 days before the Hari Raya.

We thank Allah for our good fortune and goood health this year.

I thought .......... pretty good!

2008-09-08T14:59:00.000+08:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANRPmTZRqkg

Neglected

2008-09-04T15:20:00.000+08:00

I have neglected this blog somehow.

I have been busy with my two latest blogs, which are closer to my heart.
http://atuklias.blogspot.com
and
http://mykuantanapartment.blogspot.com

I shall get back into this blog later.

Those were the days.

2008-08-20T22:30:00.001+08:00

My friends, as if the world would never end.

I had my first Lambretta as a student in the UK. Similar to the above. And I shall never forget the accident I had on it (a total wreck but it was repaired by the Insurance and like new it was), the other unmentionable pleasures on it and the trip to Northern Europe (with a friend) with it. And the cash I got when I sold it, enough for me to for a holiday in Spain.

The accident? I had just newly bought the scooter, and I was driving to the Devils Dyke from Brighton, when at a T-junction I could not stop to let through the heavy traffic, so to play safe I hit the road "Give Way' sign post. It was in England then, a kind passersby took me to the Hove Hospital where they cleaned and stitched up my head wounds (then crash helmet was not mandatory, and my thick rimmed glasses saved my face from further damage), washed up my blood splattered clothings. They being honest people then, I did not loose a single 'penny' from my pockets in my clothings. They even sent me back to my dig and I looked like a proper stitched up Frankestine. And my friends took care of my wrecked scooter by sending it to a workshop.

But I could not really compete with the Mods of London who really decorated their more powerful Lambretta.

Home made.

2008-08-18T18:10:00.001+08:00

Home made firework, in a thick bamboo container.

And home made sedan chair, of bamboo frame, in a shape of a boat.

All for a couple, in a wedding ceremony in Malaysia.

And then the night after the official marriage ceremony, they are made to ride on the sedan chair, carried on the shoulders of the village youths, and greeted with the fireworks.

This is not just another noise!

2008-08-18T09:42:00.005+08:00

This may sound like a noise but its not. It has a recognised beat to it. Its a kompang, (similar beat but with a drum added), a bit noisy but the people there liked it.

It was at a Malay wedding.

And the night before they have this saucer dance (Malay = tari piring) in honour of the bride and the groom.

Medicine man of Temerloh (Malaysia).

2008-08-07T15:06:00.000+08:00

He is only available on Sundays at the location..

His pantun, and sinsong ways of selling his medicines attract the crowd.

I like this place.

2008-07-24T18:30:00.002+08:00

There is a town in Malaysia called Taiping

It was the centre of activities for tin-mining for a long time, initially when tin was earlier discovered and mined in Malaya (then, Malaysia now). I am told that ‘taiping’ is a Chinese word for ‘forever peace’ (I stand corrected here) because when the Chinese first arrived in that area and started to mine tin, they were opposed strongly by the local Malays. I don’t really know the history of Taiping, but every time Taiping is mentioned, the name Ngah Ibrahim a local Malay Leader, keeps cropping up. It was because of all the fighting, feuds and killings that brought the British into Taiping to established a ‘peace’ town. In the olden days it was called Matang (again I stand corrected).

However I shall not go into the history of Taiping, as my knowledge in this area is almost nil. I just want o say that Taiping is one of the most pleasant town in Malaysia today. As you drive into Taiping, into the older part of the town, the streets seems to criss-crossed, the shop houses (mostly two storey brick buildings with 5 footways, built before the WW II) in square formation, with some old mosques and the Taiping Hospital in the middle. At the end of the town is the Administrative area. Go further and you are in open space called the Taiping Lake Garden, where in the old days it used to be the tin mining areas. Now it’s a very green area, with old trees, mostly raintrees and matured tall tembusu trees. Just on the fringe of the Taiping Lake Garden you will find the Prison (which used to be the main prison in Malaya), the Taiping Museum, and all the schools. Go further you will end up at the foot of the hills which used to be known as Maxwell Hill, now called Bukut Larut. Just before the foot of the hills you will find the very well maintained and kept British War Cemetary, and a few natural cool water pools. I remembergoing to those pools in my younger days. If you dare to go by the Land Rover up the hill, through some of the most curvy, narrow and winding roads in the country, you will find yourself in cool air of the hills, where even daffodils will grow. And from the hill you will see the whole of the Taiping Town. In my young days I had hiked up the hill from the bottom, not by the road but by climbing the steep slopes.

Taiping has got a military garrison, and in addition to the prison it also has got an intern centre where people are keep without trail in a camp called the Kemunting Camp, where political dissidents are kept under the Internal Security Act. Thus Taiping peaceful as its is, it has an evil secret which is quite unpleasant.

Whatever evil Taiping has, it has some of the most pleasant aspects, the people are friendly, air fresh and cool (according to weather records, Taiping had the highest rainfall in the whole country) and the food reasonable good. Just the other night I went to their night food stalls and I had this taufoo and sotong kangkong.

By looking at the photo you will know what they are. And in the end my wife and I dug into the concoction,

and we had a very pleasant dinner.

Once a year this region has its fruit season. And you can imagine what variety of fruits they have.
Durian, with skin,

and when you open it and keep in a plastic container. See the beautiful flesh on the seeds,

Rambutan,

Cependek, a sort of smallish jack fruit,

Mangosteen

And a few others like petai , langsat ,
pamelo

and even bananas.

Durian and petai are fruits smelling to high heaven and the other fruits are all sweet to the taste that when you care eat them with your hands and fingers you will have sticky fingers (you may even lick your fingers to get the better taste of those fruits). Most locval over here eat fruits with their hands, and you can imagine the results.

And now after going there a few times a year on duty, I am just beginning to like the place. Remember that I went to a residential school about 40 km south of this town. So I am no stranger to Taiping really.

Taiping can be reached on the net through ‘taiping talk’

wedding gift containers.

2008-07-19T10:38:00.001+08:00

In a Malay wedding in Malaysia, not only the exchange of vows is essential, but the exchange of gifts between the bride and the groom are also essentials. The quality of the wedding shows by the quality of the gifts and the containers where the gifts are put in during the wedding ceremony.

Below are some of the better quality gift in the containers that are exchanged nowadays. The photoes show what the bride will present to the groom; note the quality of the containers.

We liked the British.

2008-07-18T18:25:00.002+08:00

They came, they saw and they conquered. And we (the Malays) subjugated ourselves to them.

When I read in an eGroup (which I am a member) about what happened in a kampung (village) in Pahang, Malaysia, after the WW II and just before the Malayan Emergency of 1948 or about, on how they formed groups to fight the British in the Administrative District where my kampung (village) was situated, then I begin to recollect what happened in my own kampung (village) at about the same time.

Those trying to fight the British were what I might call anti-British. They were branded as bandits and Communists by the British rulers. But in my own kampung (village) and in the neighbouring kampung (village), we were pro-British. The anti-British kampungs (villages) were only about 10 miles downriver from our kampong (village). In those days paved roads were rare commodities, travel was always by the main rivers, in this case the wide and slow flowing Pahang River.

Let us start with the village school, a primary school where 6 years to 12 years old went, and I went there in my childhood days. The British Doctors & nurses used to come to the school to medically examine us and to take care of our health. They brought medicines, powdered milk and distributed (for free) the milk to the pupils.

Our lives were basically under (and ruled) the British. And I had the impression that we liked them. The British District Officer (looking after the District Administration and the Land Office) used to come to our kampung (village) once a year during the collection of land revenue. And he was a chatty chap as well, though he talked with a very strong English/British accent. Small in stature and almost fair haired, I remember him as smoking a pipe, young guy, in white shorts, whiter shirt, white stocking up to about just below the knees and wearing a sort of leather shoes, and carrying a walking stick. And he was always there to supervise the collection of the land revenue. He came in a house boat (pulled along by a diesel engined boat) similar to what the Sultan then had.

And we used to be given free film show every month, well almost, on showing how bad the bandits (Communists) were. Propaganda that was. Of course there were other films showing development for the country, and even Charlie Chaplin films which the folks loved best.

We had British soldiers coming into the kampung (village) showing the kampung folks how to use shotguns (and sometime semi-automatic weapons). They always seemed to have biscuits to be given to the children, I was one of them; but we could not really tell whether they were dog’s biscuits. And at time Gurkha soldiers used to march through our kampung (village). No British or Gurkha soldier got shot in our village, though in some other villages a few miles away some people did not took to much liking that the British and Gurkhas soldiers who visited those villages.

Our village is by the wide and slow flowing Pahang River. And about 3 to 4 miles inland the British buffalo bombers were bombing nests of bandits (Communists) in the jungle and by the hills. Later, in life, after reading the book My Side of History by Chin Peng (the Communist leader of Malaya), it was his men that the British was bombing.

Why I conclude that we were pro-British? We never made the British and Gurkha soldiers felt unwelcome. And we never took pop shots at them. And our Penghulu (village head man) was on very friendly terms with them. The British provided him with a revolver which he carried around for his self (and probably family)protection, though he was not (as far as I knew) given a personal bodyguard. But his house was well fenced up, and many thick stockades were built on the inner side of the fencing and the villagers took turn to guard his house at night. The bandits (Communists) used to come many times at nights to try to capture him (the Communist has high price on his head), but they mostly only managed to shoot into the air, it was too dark to see their target. Over the years the Communists came many times on many nights. And the villagers guarding his house fired back, using whatever shotguns they had. And in the morning we children then used to go to the ‘fort’ to hear what happened the night before, the men boasting about their shooting experience, and to collect whatever bullets that got stuck in the trees surrounding the ‘fort’, bullets from the shooting the night before. No villager got killed and until today I do not know if any of the Communist even got killed. And the penghulu (village headman) went about managing the village in the day time as though nothing happened the night before. In fact in the day time it was very safe in the village then, the village folks just went about their business, planting padi or tapping rubber trees.

The penghulu (village headman) must have been a brave man, and the British liked him. In fact in some ways he tried to please the British by being very good to them and speaking in a soft tone to the British and to the villagers, just like the English speaking their language in the colonies.

In the neighbouring village, the same thing happened and again to the best of my knowledge no fatalities occurred, even though the Communists attacked that penghulu’s (village headman) house more often than that at our village. Now this penghulu (village headman) was more dignified looking, he had been given a revolver and an armed bodyguard by the British. He used to dress like the British, white shorts, white shirt, white stocking up to just below the knees, walking with a walking stick (British gait), hair well greased and combed back, and sometimes wearing a hat, but in most cases wearing a songkok ( the Malay velvet head gear). He was on a higher wanted list than the penghulu (village headman) of my village. This neighbouring penghulu (village headman) guy was a proper coloured colonial whiteman then.

Our two villages were the model pro-British village in the Administrative District then.

Abdullah Munshi

2008-07-16T17:26:00.004+08:00

The voyage of Abdullah, translated by AE Coope.

This book gives insights into what the States of Pahang, Trengganu, and Kelantan were like in about AD 1838. These States are all now in the new country called Malaysia.

I wish to just quote a few paragraphs from the book.

“I saw that the country of Pahang looked like an orchard; there were no market places or shopping centres; nor were there any regular paths, except in Kampong China where there was a practicable path about 100 yards long. I was sorry to see how neglected and overgrown the country was owing to the laziness and slackness of the people. But anything you sow or plant will grow, and all the trees looked fruitful”

“As for the people, as far as I could see, not one in ten did any work; the majority of them loafed about all day in poverty and vice. And each man carried four or five kinds of weapons and never parted from them”

“There were some who liked to make themselves smart and wore fine jackets and trousers, but they did not earn their living by work”

“Many of them were thin and pale – obvious opium smokers”.

"The people’s houses were all made of thatch; some were large and some small, all of them on dry land. The surroundings of the houses were thick with undergrowth, and they were sighted higgledy-piggledy, some in the jungle, some on the shore. Some of the compounds were fenced, some not; each man followed his own fancy. There were clusters of houses at intervals all along the river front”

“Under the houses was a lot of filth; each house had under it a puddle and piles of rubbish; when one entered a house, the stink seemed to fill one’s nose. Some people just let the undergrowth grow. Some lit smudges every day under the house to smoke out mosquitoes; if one went into these houses, one at once had achoking feeling and ones eyes watered and smarted”

The question is, has the above changed?

Of Trengganu he said,

"I question the Head of Customs …………".

“’There is no market at this time of day,’ he said. ‘The market is held only in the evening. As regards the laws of the country, you must not keep an umbrella up when passing the house of a Raja. And you must not wear shoes or yellow clothes of fine muslin. All these are absolutely forbidden’”

“But when it comes to prohibitions which are sensible and beneficial to mankind, nothing is said! What about the smoking of opium, which ruins people! What about all the different kinds of gambling that go on, and bad customs learned from the Chinese! There is no doubt that they ruin the people, but they are not forbidden”.

“What about clothes stiff with dirt, not washed for four or five months! (Full of lice too – sit awhile and catch some lice as you sit!) That is not forbidden.”

“And all through the town there are puddles and rubbish and filth and undergrowth full of snakes and almost high enough to harbour tigers. But that does not matter!”

“The houses were scattered about without order or arrangement; each man had built as pleased, and the fences of compounds were not aligned. The houses were high and thatched, and surrounded were filthy, and under the houses was rubbish and also stagnant water. Most of the houses had piles of coconut husks under them; they used to light it with at night to smoke out the mosquitoes. All around the houses were coconuts. In each cluster of houses was a chapel, also thatched.”

“The houses had no regular frontage; some had their backs to the path, some their front, some were built on a line with it; in some places the path between the houses was so narrow that one could only squeeze through.”

“The people’s clothes were poor and dirty, and their persons were unclean. But everyone carried four of five javelins and a kris and cutlass. Their work consists of carrying weapons hither and thither! It is the women who sell in the market and act as hawkers and do all the work necessary for the earning of a living. But the men are drones; they eat and sleep and repair their weapons – that is they do.”

Has the custom changed todate?

On Kelantan then.

“The shore was thick with thousands of people, all armed; every man had six or seven javelin, a chopper or cutlass or sword, and a kris at his waist; some had guns – they bristled like the branches of dead trees.”

“I notice that among all those thousands of men there were none really fair skinned; one or two were fairly light-brown, the rest quite black.”

And later in the book,

“As we went along I saw many trees which had been shattered or had their branches broken by shot; some indeed had collapse. And many houses had been riddled with shots”

“In distance the cannon roared uncreasingly”
“On top of the fortification were two large cannons which were continually firing and registering hit on the Bendahara’s house”

And the stories in Kelantan was most interesting.

Nothing really has changed in all the three States, except that now instead of using weapons, they use political will.

Another artist

2008-07-11T17:30:00.002+08:00

This morning when passing the Shell Fountain at Kuantan Town (Malaysia) I happened to see some painting being displayed. I stopped to take a look and found them to be good (at least to me). One showing Munshi Abdullah, famous both in Malaysia and Singapore, arriving in Trengganu (Malaysia) in his book Kesah Pelayaran Abdullah (a must read book called 'The Voyage of Abdullah' translated by A.E. Coope, The Lotus Library, Oxford University Press 1967).

And another a Malay worrier named Abd Rahman Limbong showing he was about to fight the British soldiers in the early days of Trengganu (Malaysia). Those soldiers happened to be mostly Malays recruited by the British then.

And the artist was Osman bin Limat, a local artist.

He told me that he had been an artist for a long time, probably one of the first few who started the artist Association in Kuantan (Malaysia). I have no mean to confirm that. But his work was good.

Kuantan (Malaysia) seems to have quite a few artist, good ones they are. I am familiar with Ismail Hussein a book where I have included many of his art work, at Hyatt Regency Hotel by the Kuantan (Malaysia) beach. Earlier I wrote in my blog about him.

And recently about Mohd Noor a new comer in the local art world, I am told.

My earlier blog on an artist in Kuantan (Malaysia) was on Artist Mee .

I am sure this meeting with Osman, the artist will not be the last meeting with good artist of Kuantan Town (Malaysia).

.

wasps again

2008-07-08T13:57:00.002+08:00

(Click on the posting heading to see the previous story on wasps)

The story of red wasp seems to present itself in real life. We discovered a red wasp nest right in front of our windows, of our apartment in Kuantan (Malaysia).

It was about the size of a soccer ball.

And it was active, and may grow bigger if allowed to remain there. However it was to be noted that the insects built the nest on a stalk of a palm leave, so it was not on a very strong support. The stalk of the palm leave may give away due to the weight of the wasp nest (the weight will increase as the size of the nest grows) or that the palm leaves may die when the stalk of those leaves at the bottom dies (one after the other, in a series normally) and falls off. If either event happens the nest falls off (together with the stalk and the leaves), then we the residents of the apartments will be in such a danger of being attacked and stung by these wasps. Actually in such a panic situation the wasp will attack anything that moves, and we human tend to move about out in our daily activities.

We informed the local Fire Brigade (in Malaysia its called The Fire and Rescue Department), whom we were told would be the right Department to report to, that morning when we discovered the wasps’ nest. They came when it was dark (normally wasps cannot see its target in the dark, we are told), unprepared as they were, they managed to get some rags and a pole, and they burned down the wasps nest.

The next morning I took these photographs.

The wasps casualty.

The next, in one of the nest's layers (looking like a bees nest), still having some of the live larva inside, and a wasp trying to salvage the nest.

A closer look at the dead larva on the ground next to the burnt nest.

And looking up I could still see a few of the live wasps trying to locate the nest at the palm stalk, they are dangerous now, they will seek revenge.

After being ignored.

2008-07-05T06:57:00.004+08:00

After seemingly ignored of maintenance for sometime (long time in fact), and the Kuantan (Malaysia) Town Council has left it seemingly to rot, the Medan Pelancong (Tourist Square) of Kuantan (Malaysia) has now resigned to its fate of going to be turned into a locality of a hotel (of international standard?)

Many of us who were in Kuantan (Malaysia) or have grown up in Kuantan (Malaysia) in the 70s would have remembered how popular Medan Pelancong (Tourist Square) Kuantan was. All the nice/and good Malay restaurants

and all the Malay souvenir shops were there.

What I remembered most were the big udang galah (river prawns) in those Malay restaurants, and they were cheap in those days. Nowadays udang galah (river prawns) are only eaten by the rich and the famous (and mostly only available in Japanese Restaurants in Kuala Lumpur).

Local (Malaysian) newspapers have mentioned that Medan Pelancong (Tourist Square) Kuantan will no longer be there by about the end of this year, most probably. It will be torn down to make ways for a hotel (of international standard?) to be built there, so the news say.

What will happen to the tenants there? According to the report they have already been asked to shift out or move (to a more expensive areas, for the rich and famous?).

I just do not know why the Kuantan (Malaysia) Town Council (MPK) does not make complexes like Pasar Payang in Trengganu (Malaysia) or Pasar Siti Khatijah in Kota Baharu (Kelantan, Malaysia) for the these Malays tenants who were in the Medan Pelanacong (Tourist Square) as an alternative site for them to do business. Or for tourists (in Malaysia today the State of Pahang always talk about being a destination for tourists) to Kuantan (Malaysia) to go to buy local products, just like what are available in Pasar Payang (Trengganu, Malaysia) or Pasar Siti Khatijah in Kota Baharu (Kelantan Malaysia) or even like Pekan Rabu in Alor Setar (a northern town in the State of Kedah, Malaysia). Kuantan is seen only to be built to cater for the rich and famous, so it seems.

These photos are what the deplorable state the Medan Pelancong (Tourist Square) Kuantan looks like today. Just for the scrap book. Maybe all these will be gone tomorrow......just a memory.

A wedding

2008-06-28T22:32:00.006+08:00

A wedding, its one of the most common topic so many people blog on. And in Malaysia, wedding is really a ceremony and many of us Malaysian tend to write on that eventful day, other than of course many people like to write on politics in the country.

In this blog I will write, what everyone have been writing or have written, nothing more and nothing less, what I observed and I feel and how I view such ceremonies. I have touched on this subject many times, though very indirectly.

Today, Saturday 27th of June 2008 I attended one such wedding. It was in the open ground close to the sports complex of the Islamic International University, Kuala Lumpur. It was just a normal wedding celebration, where in this case the groom’s side is holding the party, and only last week the bride side held a party, where the groom had to sign all the legal papers for these two to be legally married.

As you enter the location, you are ushered by the hosts, usually the parents or the relative of the groom or even the brothers and sisters. As a token they give you an egg or similar gifts, probably in token of appreciation for the wedding gift which you may have brought along with you. Even if you do not have such gift they will still give you the egg. The egg probably represent or symbolic of the couple being productive.

Actually nothing is said about this, but I am just assuming. Sometime such token is not given when you enter, they may give it to you while you are eating the food served or even when you leave. But in most cases, when you leave you give your host token ‘payment’ for the hospitality. Not much, but a fair sum, maybe just RM 50.00 or even more if you are well off. I have known people giving up to RM 1000.00, but these are on very exceptional circumstances. But don’t be surprise if the hosts gets so much more when the guest may be trying to curry favour.

Of course the VIP tables are all set,

food ready to be served.

And some may even be served. You may eat when you arrive, at the specified time of arrival and you may leave after such eating.

And the kitchen is ever ready to provide more food.

Actually the host had already estimated how much food may be required, he already knows his number of guests expected. Unexpected guest may not exist at all, people are shy to go to such feast if not invited.

And the stage is set, where the bride and the groom will sit, they are the ‘king for the day’. These are specially decorated seats.

And of course the bride and the groom

and the flower girls. Probably having the flower girls is influenced by the western ways.

And of course the music.

A proper set up, some even may have DJs to entertain the guests. A more expensive wedding may even hire a live band. Of course a more expensive wedding may even be held in hotel ballrooms.

Once seated then they greeted, in this case by ‘pancak silat’. ‘Silat’ is actually the Malay way of self defence, but traditionally it alsao have a sort of introductory dance, so the Malays use that as a mean of greeting. But of course they must also show their prowse in the self defence.

And the ‘merenjis’ ceremony, which is really a Hindu influence which somehow are carried over by the Malays to this day, mind you Malays are Muslims. A conflict? I wouldn’t really know but I do not believe in the ‘merenjis’ any more, so I do partake in such a ceremony. The ceremony? I cannot really describe it now, it has been transformed over a period. What do they do? Just watch it on the video.

And then the usual thing of ‘eating at the couple’s table' (now being prepared) with the close relatives and to be witnessed by the guests present

and ‘cutting the wedding cake’ which is really a western influence.

A wedding may cost a lot of money, so the family or the couple will spend according to what they can afford. The wedding described above was just a normal wedding which did not require a lot of money to be done with. There may be more grand weddings or some simple wedding, depending on circumstances.

Kompang

2008-06-19T22:37:00.000+08:00

Kompang is actually small rebana used commonly in Malaysia in Malay weddings. What is the significant? I have no idea really, but I suppose to create that happy atmosphere. Sometime they accompany the ‘drum beat’ with words, to make it more complete. Personally I don’t like it that way, I prefer just to listen to the ‘drum beat’.

http://www.musicmall-asia.com/malaysia/instruments/kompang.html

The above site page describes what a ‘kompang’ is. It’s a sort of drum, a sort of musical instrument. You may need to click on An example of how the kompang sounds to listen to the sample sound. But that sample sound is too short for anyone to appreciate how they really sound.

http://www.musicmall-asia.com/malaysia/folk/kompang.html

And that site page it gives you the kompang rhythm.

http://allmalaysia.info/msiaknow/arts/music_kompang.asp

The page tells you where kompang are performed.

I have included here a very normal Malay wedding video, showing how the kompang is used in the ceremony. Just listen to the ‘drum beat’ in the background of this video.

(To enjoy the full sound, play the video once, when it gets cut ‘off’ and ‘on’. Then click on the Replay button once the first session is done).

Going back a bit (of my life).

2008-06-18T18:25:00.002+08:00

http://oldfortyfives.com/TakeMeBackToTheFifties.htm

http://cruzintheavenue.com/TakeMeBackToTheSixties.htm

Wasp (Red wasp, Malay = Tebuan)

2008-06-17T18:10:00.001+08:00

When I was a young boy living in the rural Malay village, I did not realise how dangerous these insects are. We knew somehow not to go too near them, they sting, and they sting really bad. It did not matter if only one attacked you but when they come in swarm then you are in big trouble. My father was once bitten by a swarm of them, and after that his hair turned white where he got stung on the head. Actually then it was not difficult to get bitten by these insects; in the tropical jungle they may make their nests anywhere at medium height on tress or even in the undergrowth attached to a grove of rattan or a clump of bamboo.

In the urban area it may be a different setting but they are as dangerous.

And when you accidentally disturb them then they come after you maybe one at a time initially but as you panic and try to run then whole nest occupant may come after you, and in a nest there are maybe hundreds of them. How fast you run they can still go after you, and in a jungle or even in the tropical undergrowth, how fast can you run before you trip?, either on roots of trees or even small trees in your path or even big logs that fallen along a clear jungle path. In an open ground you might just outrun them but they will chase you to almost ‘the end of the flat earth’. They say that if you are near a body of water, or a river, you may take something that can float, say a coconut or even your hat, you jump into the water and let the thing that float floats and you dine into the water holding your breath underwater. The insects will attack the floating object. But in reality how long can you hold your breath underwater (if you can swim that is) or if you do not panic can you just swim under water away from them. If luck is on you side you might just be safe while the insects go after the floating object.

These insects normally are out and about mostly singly during flowering seasons. But during fruit seasons, especially when ‘langsat’ ripens (and some ‘langsat’ fruits may fall to the ground breaking the skin and exposing the sweet juicy flesh) this is the time when these insects are out and about in numbers eating that sweet flesh. And don’t you dare disturb them.

Children being children, and living in the rural Malay village there was nothing more fun than carrying catapults around and shooting at anything from small birds to wasp nests. We used to do that and we never got stung whenever we shot at wasp nests. But others walking by unknowingly have been heard to have got stung after our escaped.

Technically this is how the insect is described:
Head, thorax and gaster with erected stiff hairs from each punctures. Head as wide as thorax, dark brown or brownish red; compound eyes kidney-liked with three ocelli; antennae dark brown and last segment pale brown; clypeus black or brownish red with black margin posteriorly, many punctures on the clypeus actually coarse and strong, posterior side of clypeus with blunt triangular lobes; mandibles dark brown to black. Pronotum, mesonotum and propodeum dark brown to black, propodeum usually smooth and impunctate, the median groove short and deep at base, barely continued to the apex of the propodeum. Legs dark brown or black, reddish brown towards the tarsi. Wings dark fuscous and pale brown along their apical margins; tegulae dark brown. Gaster usually dark brown to black; the second segment bright yellow or yellow orange.
This species is a subterranean wasp. Adults are medium to large sized, dark brown to black and yellowish orange marked on the gaster. This species is very similar to Vespa affinis, but easily distinguished from the latter by bright yellow or yellow orange at the second gastral segment.

The photo on the left shows the insect in an hopeless situation when its sting has been somehow detached from its tail.

And some sites of reference:

http://www.treknature.com/gallery/Asia/India/photo87929.htm

http://venomlist.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=17368

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/6419395

http://www.vespa-bicolor.net/main/vespid/vespa-tropica.htm

My late father

2008-06-16T23:42:00.000+08:00

On Father’s Day, Sunday June 15, I have to write in appreciation of my late father who left us about 40 years ago. A person who was born in a Malay most rural settings, unwell, never went to school, almost fully illiterate except that he might just be able to read and recite the Koraan verses. And who got married very young on an arranged marriage to a cousion in the village, had a still born child by that first marriage, and got divorced almost immediately. He re-married a young women, after that, who became my mother, with whom they another son, my younger brother. And that marriage did not last, and my mother was asked to be divorced from him by his family, for some reason which I still do not know the details. How he managed to look after us after that I did not know and still don’t. And he re-married after we were already at school, and I was then in a residential school far away. That marriage gave him a daughter and another son. He was then already very sickly and he died in the Kuala Lumpur GH, a place which he never visited before in his life; the furthest that he had been to town then was Temerloh (Pahang, Malaysia) by boat and Mentakab (about 5 km from Temerloh in a NE direction) by train, both places were only about 20 km from where he lived.

But my father was the only one who produced children among his two brothers and a sister. That to me was and is an achievement.

In appreciation and rememberance of my late father.

In good faith.

2008-06-12T16:30:00.001+08:00

It is in good faith that anyone being a Muslim (or claiming to be a Muslim) has to say and believe strongly in the shuhadah (there is only one Allah to pray to and Muhammad is His Prophet), pray (the Muslim ways) 5 times a day at specified times, fast for 30 days (the Muslim ways) during the month of Ramadan (a Muslim lunar month), pay tithes when due, and go for pilgrimage to Mekah when one can afford it.

In addition a Muslim has to have a strong faith (aqidah) (belief) in Allah SWT, all of Allah Angels, all of Allah Prophets, at least in 4 of Allah’s Good Books, the Days of Reckoning (the end of the world as we know it), and Qadak & Qadar (all happenings are thro’ Allah SWT’s will).

My above understanding of Islam in brief.

One very useful activity in Islam is to remind all Muslims about the religion, and its obligations and this is often done through ‘tazkirah’ ( a reminding session) between the prayers of Maghrib (early evening prayer) and Isha (Isya) (the late night prayer), which is about a period of 1 hour. In Malaysia this is usually done in the mosque (big or small house of prayers) where Muslims have already done their Maghrib prayers together (jemaah) properly. And those giving these ‘reminders’ are usually learned and schooled Muslims or those with very wide knowledge of Islam, and who may speak the language of the congregation. And the person must be acceptable to the congregation. If a person does not speak the language, there will be no communication and no ‘reminder’. And probably the congregation may not even be interested to listen.

Here are some scenes as how these ‘reminders’ are conveyed.

Here a person giving the ‘reminder’ speaking in front of the crowd (congregation), all ears and waiting for the Isha prayers.

But in more up to date mosques they even use DVD, like as shown.

Whatever method is used, how attentive the congregations are (like in the photoes below, of the congregation sitting on the back rows listening attentively to the 'reminder'), its the end results that count.

Need the Muslim congregation be reminded time and again over their obligations and responsibilities to the religion of Islam and to Allah?

Doughnut

2008-06-11T21:59:00.000+08:00

I have always wondered how they make such beautiful, right sized, all look alike doughnuts. I have often visited the local branch of Dunkin' Donut shops, and have tasted some of their doughnuts. Pretty tasty they are too. But they are too sugary or their toppings are too sweet, and I do not take sweet stuff.

Today I happened to be at a new shopping complex in town where in one of the shops they sell doughnuts.

And those making them are placed in a transparent glass compartment, and one can see all the process of making doughnuts of all sorts, just the basic because they put the toppings after the basic doughnuts have been shaped, made and cooked in an oven.

Now I know how they make them always of the right and similar sizes. They use flattened dough (I do not know the composition of the dough, neither the temperature of the oven nor the actual process of how the toppings are put), cutting them to the right size by a rounded face hand held cutter.

Then the rest of the process follows, until you have these beautiful tasty fluffy doughnuts.

A pity though, I did not buy any doughnut today.

South Asian restaurants

2008-06-11T10:02:00.001+08:00

In Malaysia, restaurants run by people of the South Asian origin (mostly of Indian origin) are many, and in towns in Malaysia they flourish. They sell from rice (and curry ) of all sorts (some disguised as 'nasi kandar'), and foods originated from locally Malaysia, and now they even sell (and serve) food originated from Thailand. And they employ authentic South Asia cooks (so I am told) and the waiters/waitresses from local, imported Indonesian girls and some time even those from Thailand and Myanmar (legal and illegal comers). In all towns in Malaysia they seem to grow like mushrooms after a heavy rain, overtaking all other types of restaurants. They say they serve 'halal' food, and I believe that most of them do, the owners claiming that they are Muslims, but are often questionable, though there are owners who do not claim such but they claim that they serve 'halal' food. Those who claim to be Muslims sometime wear skull caps like the Muslims, some even have Koraan ayats (extracts from the words of the Koraan) all over the restaurants, and some may even go further to have Koraan recital from CD contineously playing.

What do they sell? Mostly rice and curry (of all sorts except beef in most cases), locally concocted breads like 'chapati', 'roti tempayan' (cooked in big earthern ware pots with fire inside) and 'roti canai' (a sort of thin layered pancake made from flour, eggs and condensed milk) and 'tosai' (a thin crusted pancake of rice flower, so I am told).

In most of these restaurants their service is excellent.

Any visitor to Malaysia will easily find these restaurants all over the places and they serve cheaper food than if you go to hotels or fancy restaurants.

The only kind of restaurants they cannot compete with are the Chinese restaurants which normally have pork in their menu/dishes. Many (I am told) Chinese like pork and Muslims do not eat pork (not allowed by the Koraan).

In the town of Kuantan (Malaysia), where I spend a lot of my time, this is one of such restaurants that serve very tasty South Indian/Malaysian dishes. And its very popular with the tourists (local and from overseas). But the owner is a non-Muslim but (he tells me) the food are all 'halal'.

Snails

2008-06-10T15:09:00.001+08:00

I have some free time today, so I just keep on writing on this blog.

Snails, yes those hard shell slimy creatures. Are these the snails for the famous escargot? I have tasted escargot before but they do not look like these snails. Probably they have already been cooked, added butter (and mint and stuff like that) to the cooked stuff and then installed in porcelain shells before they serve them to you. I do not know really.... to us in Malaysia we do not eat snails, escargot or not. Many have not even seen snails, they hide in tall grass, and when they come out, people tend to step on them and break the shells and in doing so killing them. And when you plant vegetables in the garde3n, they become pests. They tend to eat the outerskin (bark) of the young plant, thus killing the plant. So the farmers (or even gardeners) spread pellet poisons on the ground to kill these snails. But looking at them now, they are just harmless creatures.

If you can bear the horizontal position.

2008-06-10T14:40:00.000+08:00

Just an artist.

2008-06-10T12:35:00.001+08:00

The other day while roaming about the Kuantan Town (Malaysia) I happened to come across this retiree artist in the compound of the Shell (not the oil company) Fountain, in the middle of the Town.

A lonely figure he was, and it was past the peak hours of people doing business in that area, the time was about 2.00 in the hot and humid tropical afternoon. He had a grandchild with him, I assumed that it was his grandchild as the boy child was very young.

Was the artist name Mohd Nor? I cannot really recollect.

His work looked very plain, mostly water colour and mostly of local scenes. What attracted me was the variety, the number of paintings and how cheap they were. He sold an A4 size water color painting at an average price of RM10 (USD1=RM3.30) and that is cheap.

my 3rd grandson

2008-05-31T10:18:00.000+08:00

It has been close to one month now since my third grandson was born. And it has been a long time since I have any addition to the family. Well here he is, photo taken less than 1 week ago.

And to welcome him, I have made a blog called atuklias. Atuk is actually a short form of grandfather (in Malay) and of course lias is me. And there I have gathered all my grandchildren, not many really, just 3 of them.

Seroja

2008-05-30T17:40:00.002+08:00

What a beautiful girl, a sweet voice, a beautiful music and a beautiful song.

IKEA

2008-05-28T17:29:00.001+08:00

It has been a long time since I have visited IKEA of Kuala Lumpur. What is IKEA famous for? Furniture and meat ball.

So today my wife and I decided to spent the morning there. My wife ate their meat balls and I only had a chicken leg with all their allowed vege and potatoes. I enjoyed my chicken leg and the coffee after though I do not really drink coffee normally. And we went into their sales areas and we bought some minor furniture parts, we could hardly bought much as their prices are a bit up market. Cannot blame them, their designers are mostly from the first world country. One thing I must say about IKEA, their toilets are very clean and very prude; they are enclosed on all sides from top to bottom. In some other Department Stores in Kuala Lumpur that I have visited, their toilets are observably less clean with the enclosure only for the middle but leaving the top and bottom open, people cannot see you but can see your feet and hear you. While sitting on the loo at IKEA I could not help but feel spied upon by this.

This is the first time that I went to walk into the connecting building call the Curve. Beautiful place, with many supermarkets and eating places. I regretted that I had already eaten at the IKEA building before visiting the Curve. I could have some very nice (and probably cheaper)local dishes at the Curve.

A Malay singer.

2008-05-15T16:30:00.001+08:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=byyysZOPU1Q

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zcJ4szFrtRw

an up and coming Malay singer.

Mothers Day

2008-05-10T22:51:00.000+08:00

I am writing this on the night of 11 May 2008. Tomorrow is Mothers Day. I still remember my mother, though she is long gone. She passed away about 33 years ago. I never really knew my mother, though I knew that she loved me, and my brother. But I had never really returned that love, I did not know how. She was divorced from my father and remarried, and she suffered in that second marriage. In the end she died alone, and I did not even had the time to attend her burial. My other relatives buried (with thank from me and my brother) her even before I arrived back to the location of her death. If only I had 'really' knew my mother, if only I could say "I love you" to my mother. If only ......... its too late now.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDx14VpRWSk&feature=related

This is Malaysia ............ today

2008-05-10T09:37:00.000+08:00

This is Malaysia today.......... even after 8th March 2008. Tomorrow, ......... lets hope for better days.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AtSRluxGBIk

Dua (Doa)

2008-05-08T17:04:00.000+08:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ov4cTTUUA8g

Give thanks to Allah

2008-05-07T15:58:00.000+08:00

that was a new year that was ....... 2008

2008-01-25T11:02:00.000+08:00

people coming in into mesjid on a Friday morning before Friday prayers.

2008-01-25T10:58:00.000+08:00

She ......... is just enjoying a pleasant Sunday morning

2008-01-06T10:59:00.000+08:00

in the garden by the beach, among the people.

Its was a Friday

2008-01-04T17:15:00.000+08:00

Eid Adha 2007

2007-12-20T17:29:00.000+08:00

Praise be to Allah.

Takbir!

Just a memory, now.

2007-12-17T07:59:00.000+08:00

He was my neighbour, not immediate neighbour but a close neighbour. We chat, we talked, we laughed, we exchange news. We meet at the local Surau (Muslim prayer house) occassionally.

And he passed away on Thursday night last. And we all will miss such a good, kind, and unassuming man.

Our condolence to his wife and his family.

May Allah bless his soul.

--

Rising waters

2007-12-12T23:06:00.000+08:00

In the East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia, come October each year, Government and people will start preparing to reduce the effect of the North East Monsoon wind and rising waters causing widespread flooding. The monsoon season may last from 3 to 4 months. Normally the effect is not that much nowadays, unlike in the old days when there was widespread flooding. But once in a while, say in every 10 years, the flood can be devastating, creating loses to lives and properties. In such cases, the Government assists in bringing people to safety, and in providing them food and shelter until the worse is over, then the people return to their homes, or to whatever is left of what they once called home; and life starts all over again, untill the next monsoon season. This is an annual affairs so the Government and the people get used to such exercise.

There are however some people who look forward to the monsoon season floodings. Children look forward to them because that is when they can swim or play in shallow water close to home, if the water does not become too dangerous, while others to the expected Government helps if the water rises dangerously. And to some, making some money from the sales of fresh water fish.

The other day, I went to a place a few kilometers from where I live, where water was rising and many roads were closed due to the flooding. What I found were people catching fresh water fish and selling them by the road side. The flood water as the result of heavy monsoon rain has brought the fish from the surrounding small rivers and streams into the larger body of water, the flood that is, and these fish can easily be caught by putting fish net in strategic places in the flooded areas. All kinds of tropical fresh water fish maybe be caught, mostly small fish but some bigger fish may also be caught. And they sell these by the road side. There is a good demand for such fresh water fish caught in the flood water, they are fresh, clean and quite succulent, though these fresh water fish have many small bones in their sweet flesh.

Water has cut off this road to a small village nearby, but the villages take this in their stride, they have small boats to ferry them out, and they put up fish net to catch fish (those white floats in the top right hand corner of the first photograph & centre left in the second photograph).

In a bigger body of flood water, people really go fishing and sell them to passers by.

These people are waiting to buy fresh water fish to be collected from some fish net in the bigger body of a flooded valley.

And some youth taking advantage of the flooding, caught some fresh water fish in the nearby flooded stream and also sell them by the road side,

A day's outing

2007-12-08T23:14:00.000+08:00

The monsoon rain is here, its December, and it has been raining for a few days now, not consistently but in short period of heavy downpours. And I was bored staying at home, doing nothing productive but just going through all the mails and arguing on the internet. So I decided, agreed by my wife, to go for a spin, rain or shine. We decided to explore a nearby town called Pekan (about 50 km away), which is called the Royal Town of Pahang. Why? The royalty of Pahang had for generations made that town their place of residence until of late where many have moved to Kuantan or even as far away as Kuala Lumpur. Yet the Sultan of Pahang has his office officially in Pekan.

It was pouring when we started, and along the way we saw water rising in many low lying areas. But they were not dangerous because the rate of rise is very slow, and not sudden, and the roads are now raised to a higher level than the surrounding areas. We drove on until we reached Pekan about 45 minutes to 1 hour later.

I had planned to visit the Farmers Market in Pekan, so we drove there first. Not much really, not as impressive as in Temerloh. Yes, there were people selling and buying but the crowd was rather small, probably the weather was of concern to them and not on their side, though the sun was shining at the location. The sellers, as usual, were selling clothings in bulk, fish and vegetables and some locally made delicacies. I was not impressed with the Market.

We left the place and I visited the Pekan Museum. While my wife and her sister, who came with us accompanied by her husbanad, went to the Sultans Polo Ground, near the Palace, in Pekan town. She said she was impressed with the upkeep of the Polo Ground.

I visited first the Sultan Abu Baker Museum, really some people call it the “Pekan Museum”.

In reality its the Museum showing basically the history of the Pahang Royalty. Not much, except that there were many photographs and souvenirs of the father of the present Sultan of Pahang and also those of the present Sultan. No camera was allowed in the Museum but I managed to take some photoes of the present Sultan’s father’s car using my hand phone camera.

I was there for about half an hour, and there were very few visitors there.

And on coming out, I went to visit the Boat Museum across the road, on the banks of the nearby river. There I must say I was impressed. The Museum though not well maintained but has a variety of old boats for show. It brings me many memories of the boats I used to ride on as a young boy growing up by the Pahang River beside which I was born, upriver about 200 km from Pekan. I used to take rides on some of these boats.

The inverted V–shaped roofed boat looked like the first boat I ever went in to ride, downriver, on a first visit to Temerloh town years ago, my first ever visit to a real town. The flat board at the rear of the boat was where the outboard engine was placed.

The other boats which were then commonly used in my village were these dugout canoes. These were used to travel short distances by and along the river, for purposes of fishing for visiting friends and relatives across the river. The older version,

and the newer version.

The other boats are the ones I only see pictures of but have never taken any ride in. Very decorative, and I am sure these decorations have some purpose. Looking at those high bow, these must be boats used in the sea.

And the racing boats ……..

Regret though they never showed the ‘house’ boat where the late Sultan of Pahang (Sultan Abu Bakar) used to ride on when he visited the riverine villages when he was the Sultan. He used to visit (if my recollection is right) those riverine villages almost every year, to see and to listen to his subjects. And the ‘house’ boat was a the only mean he could go to these villages then, and at that time the Pahang River was still quite deep, unlike now where there are a lot of sand banks. It was complete ‘hotel’ for him, his ‘joget girls’ (dancing girls) and a set of boat crew. The house boat had no engine, so it used to be pulled by another boat, a diesel engined boat I think.

On going back we decided to leave Pekan after lunch; the food that we had at a small Malay restaurant in Pekan town was just to keep our stomach full but not really satisfying. We decided to go by a more rural road along the Pahang River, the road going upstream. It was a good road, but one cannot help but see that the folks living by the river banks are not that well off. And they rear fresh water fish for a living, at least as one of the means of earning a living. Probably they also tap rubber as well, I would not really know. The houses were good and close together as we started the journey from Pekan town but gradually became more far apart and more dilapidated as we moved on. Then about one-half hours to 45 minutes later the houses were less apart and more well built again, mostly of brick. Untill we reached the bridge crossing the Pahang River along the Kuantan – Segamat Highway, and we have to cross that river via that bridge to get back to Kuantan, about another half an hour journey to reach Kuantan Town. And we saw this young man with a big catfish which he just caught, in his net he said.

And by the time we were on our way to Kuantan, the rain had stopped and the sun was shining again until we reached Kuantan Town.

Imagine

2007-11-17T12:39:00.000+08:00

http://www.youtube.com/v/0Bcxwhzyh7c

Ray Charles.

2007-11-17T11:52:00.000+08:00

One of my favourites................just maybe my favourite.

You want the votes? Bloody earn it.

2007-11-11T14:21:00.000+08:00

This write up does not belong to me, it belongs to someone else, to the original writer. I am blogging it down here, for keep sake, for the future, for anyone interested to read what had happened on that cool rainy day in Kuala Lumpur, when the Malaysian Government of the day decided that its people should be contained, and democracy is only a word.

mylias

Saturday, November 10, 2007

And soon, You will not be able to Breathe: My report from the Bersih Rally
Rashaad Ali

This is not some second-hand story; this is an account from the front line.

These are not borrowed photographs (not shown here, but one probably can be obtain them in YouTube or some other write ups); these are pictures from the epicentre.

Because that was what the situation descended to in the city centre this afternoon, where my entire view of the present government was shattered the moment I saw those first gas cannisters fly. You can read it in a paper, on a website, in a forwarded email, but the magnanimity of the brutality will never compare to the panic that infiltrated into my being, and the fear that I now harbour for the government.

You could feel the stillness in the air, the sudden descent of tension into the atmosphere. Ominous signs paraded before us, my younger brother, my sister and I, before we even left the house. We headed toward the city via the Putra LRT, where Shaz managed this almost candid shot of policemen in RapidKL uniforms being briefed by a senior officer.

Once we exited the station at Masjid Jamek, we were greeted by the ever heart-warming sight of riot police. Here they call them the Federal Reserve Unit, but they are nothing more than mercenaries in uniform. Zealots armed with batons and gas launchers, completely apathetic to the growing crowd, swollen by passer-bys and passionate Malaysians. The police sprayed preliminary water-cannon fire on the crowd, which I wasn't to concerned about. It was only upon reaching home that I found out they were contaminated with chemicals.

Now there is something of great importance that I need to stress; in no way, absolutely none, did the demonstrators aim to incite the police. There was lots of chanting, of slogan shouting, of crowd rallying, but there was no hatred or contempt hurled against those in power. In short, we did not merit the treatment we received. One may say, "But it was an illegal gathering anyway." How can the executive issue a decree banning the people in a democracy from voicing their opinion? We are not looking for a riot. We're not looking for impeachment. We're not looking for a revolution. We want clean elections. After all, if the government did its job efficiently, without corruption,racism and wanton aggression, why would we want to vote for the opposition? The demonstration today was truly a model demonstration. A peaceful, passionate crowd standing defiant, in a completely passive manner. It was a moment to remember, the solidarity on the faces of others as we stared down the threats in the hope of a better tomorrow.

All until the police became violent.

And then God played his hand; the heavens opened as it started to pour. As the precipitation flowed down my skin, a sickening sight developed before my eyes. If you notice in the above picture, the corner was crowded with people, having made some headway, only for cannon fire to push us back to the aforementioned corner. That's when the police formed a line, and fired tear gas at the crowd.

Fellow Malaysians, firing on their countrymen.
It wasn't so much as the actual shooting which was horrendous, but seeing them take their line of sight made my stomach turn. These uncompassionate robots, protectors of the society shooting against the people they swear to protect. Here they are, ladies and gentlemen, "dispersing crowds", while paedophiles run riot, pun very much intended.

When they fired, they shot directly infront of the crowd. Shaz and I happened to be caught in between a mass of bodies and a drain barrier. Just like some bad war movie, everything seemed to happen in slow motion, as the cannister rolled to a stop barely 10 feet away. Time sped back to normal as the people around me started scrambling into the nearby station. Shaz and I were stuck outside, but fortunately, my brother was pulled in by a fairy-tale hero.

"Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death", but don't give me tear gas. The following account is in no way dramatisation, it is, as it is. Maybe it was my severe underestimation of the pain, both physical and psychological, that caused my hesitation. If not for the rain, I shudder to think of the potential pain. Had I known...

Completely immobile and covering our faces with wet cloths, we were powerless for a good 45 seconds to the gas. Initially, you feel a sting in your nose. As the pain increases, it ignites your eyeballs into blindness. As the pain mounts unbearable, tears streaming uncontrollably out of your eyes, the gas enters the pores on your face, the sensation acid to the pH. As you try and escape the gas, running literally blindly, with your skin aflame, the gas enters your lungs, constricting respiration to almost nil. Every inhalation you take is void of oxygen, and soon you will not be able to breathe. More than once the thought of death surfaced in my mind, as I moved with, not fought against the crowd to clear the area. Shazee later told me she thought she was as good as gone as well. Tear gas brings you to the edge of death, only for you to be resuscitated back into Hell.

Finally, we broke into the station, where the gas was less. The stations themselves had all been shutdown, effectively freezing all those in the city centre, as the station officials looked on with barely masked glee. The three of us huddled in a small corner, tears, mucus and saliva smeared all over our faces like a child's hand painting, resisting the temptation to throw up. We sat there recuperating for much of the time, before continuing down the street, away from the uncivil servants. We lingered on the corner, based on utter foolishness, that the police wouldn't shoot again with so many ordinary civilians. Around us were myriad characters, women and children, to armchair politicians raised to a fury.

And then they fired again.

Now I'm unaware in the ensuing panic whether they fired two volleys or one, for as we moved away from the gas (by the way, huge kudos to all BERSIH chaps for ensuring people kept cool) we turned into the corner. The shots were similar to the first episode in that they were fired infront of the crowd, however, as we entered the corner there was ANOTHER canister on my right barely 10 feet away. What luck.

As we scrambled yet again, in my mind I was still able to ponder, as the familiar pain returns, "Are they aware of how devastatingly painful it is?" I question the tactics of the police. Why fire so unbelievably close to the crowd? The gas is supposed to deter and disperse, not to cause chaos and anarchy. How would they have liked it, that fatalistic sensation creeping upon themselves?

We were able to move quicker this time. The crowd pushed and heaved past empty buildings, knocking over motorcycles carelessly parked. An entry point of one office building, and we all rushed in, taking to the stairs, and as the sensation died down the sight in the stairwell was one to behold. Like some kind of urban warfare, there were people slumped against the wall, faces in disarray, completely broken in spirit, trying to regain some semblance of composure. Around went a saviour passing out salt, which miraculously rid us of the worst effects almost instantly. Resigned to painful defeat, we decided to walk back home, with public transport at the mercy of the government.

Funnily enough, we found ourselves walking towards Istana Negara, where the memo was to be passed to the king. And i've just learned from dad that as we left the city, people lingered on as a decoy, while a mass gathering took place at the Istana. Ingenious, when you see the size of the crowd. Once again, hats off and big kudos the the organisers who did a fantastic job of keeping everyone calm, orderly, help direct traffic, etcetera etcetera.
At the Istana, it was a normal looking sort of demonstration, one which did not look like it was gonna get ugly. Cheers as I presume the memo was handed over, and the crowd slowly dispersed. As quickly as the tear gas hit, it was all over.

Even now, as I write this, I feel a mild headache coming on. It may or may not be a side effect, but surely the worrying thing is my willingness to believe it is born out of injustice. For now, I have come to a deeper understanding as to why private security is still employed despite the police, and I may cower everytime I see smoke or smell something foreign in the air.
Today serves as a landmark for my patriotism. Today serves as a landmark for the nation's patriotism, for in the face of such cruelty and opposition we prevailed and were crowned victors of the day. I also hope, that with the events of today, change shall, God willing, be effected. The people have spoken, the people have risen, the people have taken action. The onus passes to the King as a test of strength, and to the government to clean up its act.

You want the votes? Bloody earn it.

RASHAAD ALI

Vietnamese

2007-11-09T10:46:00.000+08:00

Walking through a side road of Kuantan (Malaysia), in the bushes near the Chinese Graveyard area in Jalan Bukit Ubi I saw this.

Just a local tourist in Kemaman, Trengganu, Malaysia.

2007-11-08T22:40:00.000+08:00

Thursday 8th Nov. 2007, being a public holiday, I decided to take a trip to Kemaman, a not so big town just across the border of Pahang, north, in Trengganu, also close to the sea on the east coast. Every time I go to that town (and I go there often in the course of my work, past and present), I have always been impressed with how clean the town is, and hedges on the road dividers so well trimmed. What the secret? The Town Council workers work very hard to maintain that condition. Morning and evening one sees them working; I have actually seen them working before, and today I also saw them even at about 3 pm under the hot sun. And how is the town kept clean. FINE!, that is why, the notice board says so.

Kemaman is an old town but rejuvenated by the finding of oil and gas off its coast and by the PETRONAS oil and gas plants in another town just north of it. The economic spill over has created wealth in Kemaman. And one can see the old and the new in the town, the coffee house (Kopitiam), the Bank, and a car park full of cars among the old buildings with old tiled roofs, old fashioned and new fashioned windows, and a board showing that a lady must cover her head. It’s a town of contrast.

And a curry house. This curry house serves very tasty and succulent curry dishes. The owner looks Chinese, but he is actually a Muslim, with a Chinese mother and a Malay father.

And at the Kemaman River mouth is where all the fresh fish is landed. Saw a lone lobster among all the fish.

And local folks, mostly fishermen just came back from the sea, killing time playing draughts.

And shells for sale.

It’s a peaceful little location with development just about coming.

Bright days ahead.

2007-11-06T07:05:00.000+08:00

The sudden demise of my good friend on Monday last week was a sad moment for me and for all my other 'still alive' classmates. But the living has got to go on living, and I traveled back to the East Coast set to go to work again. And the bright sky and the rainbow ahead changed my mood to looking ahead for better days.

A Grat Loss!

2007-10-31T13:55:00.000+08:00

Monday 30th Oct 2007, a friend, a classmate, my personal Cardiologist, Dr Nik Zainal, died in a vehicle accident in late afternoon. And he was buried in a cemetary in Kuala Lumpur on the late Tuesday morning 31 Oct 2007. He was a great loss to me personally, to all those who knew him, and to Malaysia generally; he was a renowned Cardiologist of the country.

My last blog on him was in http://mckkpatikan.blogspot.com under the title AUGUST 31st.

And I mentioned him in my blog http://kiss-met.blogspot.com under a series of blogs on "My Heart" in Nov 2004.

May Allah bless his soul and be with him always.

(More blogs and article will follow on this friend).

a bad experience

2007-10-27T15:42:00.000+08:00

A letter I e-mailed to a hotel in Ipoh (Malaysia).

I want to share some bad experience I had with Syuen Hotel Ipoh.
My wife and I were guest at the Hotel in Room 641 on Monday 22/10/2007. The problem may seem small, but it just shows how inefficient the Hotel is.
When I checked in into the room late that afternoon, all seems well. But a few hours later when my wife tried the room phone, it was not working. I contacted the Hotel by my handphone reporting the problem. A Technician came but he could not resolve the problem (I presume that he could not resolve the problem as he never came back and never gave us the feedback, neither did the Hotel management gave us the feedback ). And the room phone never got repaired even untill we checked out the next morning.
When it was getting dark, my wife wanted to order Nasi Goreng for dinner, ordering for delivery to the room. Again I had to use my handphone to contact the Hotel (as the room phone was never repaired). Who I told the person (a Hotel staff) at the other end that I wanted to order Nasi Goreng (delivered to the room) he straight away connected me to the Restaurant (I presume). I spoke to a lady and told her what I wanted and I also told her my room number. After about 1 hour, the Nasi Goreng did not come, we went down to the restaurant downstairs to have our meal,. (By that time we were no longer hungry, the thought of the inefficient hotel service was too much for us).
I related this experience that my wife and I went through to your Duty Manager that evening.
This was a bad experience, and I am writing this so that the same situation will not happen to other future Syuen Hotel guest.

my place of birth

2007-10-21T08:07:00.000+08:00

its great when I can show the whole world my place of birth.

kampung lipat kajang: the kampung (village) is an old Malay kampung, the old folks have passed away, and young folks have migrated out. its like an abandoned kampung. old wooden houses are still standing, empty. but new houses are being built, mostly of bricks now, but the rate of re-population is very slow. plots of land (rubber trees, abandoned padi fields, orchards) are left unattended mostly.

Hari Raya (Eid) eat.

2007-10-16T07:48:00.000+08:00

One of the traditional ways of celebrating Eid is to have an 'eat'. Of course the religious traditions are always practised, but the eating part is a must.

At my friends house,

and some cookies (in jars),

And then they came to my place (picture taken before an 'eat' at my place), watching TV whilst waiting for food to be served on the table.

Eid

2007-10-14T11:58:00.000+08:00

Eid al-Fitri fell officially on Saturday 13 Oct. 2007 this year. But there was always controversies on the actual day.

http://www.eastandard.net/hm_news/news.php?articleid=1143975978

Why Idd is pegged on the sighting of new moon

By Athman Amran

Some Kenyan Muslims celebrated Eid on Friday before the official announcement by the Chief Kadhi, Sheikh Hammad Kassim.

But the majority marked the day on Saturday following an official statement from Kassim.

Prophet Muhammad commanded his followers to "start and end the fast (Ramadhan) with the sighting of the moon. Picture: Tabitha Otwori
Year in year out, controversies mar the start and end of Ramadhan, when Muslims fast and pray.

Ramadhan falls in the ninth month of the Muslim calendar.

It is the time when Muslims fast from dawn to sunset. It is followed by Eid-Ul-Fitr holiday, which was officially observed on Saturday. Ramadhan is also the month of prayers when Muslims believe the holy Koran was first revealed to Prophet Muhammad.

Because Ramadhan is the most revered event in the Muslim calendar, the day it starts and ends is important to the faithful.

In recent years, controversy has erupted over when the event should start and end.

The controversy is because it has been impossible to predetermine when a new month begins, as this can only be known when the New Moon is spotted.

It is only when the Crescent Moon is seen that Muslims mark the new month.

The Muslim calendar is a lunar calendar with 12 months (354 days) in a year. It is about 11 days shorter than the ordinary calendar (Gregorian calendar), making Islamic holidays shift each year.

The Islamic calendar is also called the Hijri calendar. This is because the first year was during the Hijra, when Prophet Muhammad emigrated from Mecca to Medina, fleeing persecution from Meccans who were against his new religion.

The calendar is used to date events in many predominantly Muslim countries. It is also used by Muslims to determine when to celebrate holy days.

This strict observation of the moon, to start the month has made it impossible to know the exact date when Ramadhan begins and ends to usher in Eid-Ul-Fitr.

This scenario has brought controversy not only among Kenyan Muslims but others worldwide.

Muhammad stressed the strictness of observing the New Moon more than 1,400 years ago.

The prophet is quoted as saying: "Start and end fast (Ramadhan) with the sighting of the moon and if the moon cannot be sighted on the 29th, then count the days to 30".

The New Moon, in astronomical terms, is the lunar phase that occurs when it lies between Earth and the Sun in its monthly orbital motion around the Earth.

The illuminated half of the moon at this time faces the sun and its dark portion faces earth. The moon would thus be invisible from earth.

National Council of Crescent

The first visible crescent moon appears over the western horizon briefly between sunset and moonset. The precise time and date of the appearance would be thus influenced by the geographic location of the observer.

Most Muslims check with local mosques or other members of the community to see if leaders have sighted the moon.

The National Council of Crescent has been put in place to observe the New Moon and ensure that Kenyans begin and end fast simultaneously. The council was created on September 9 after a meeting of 41 Muslim scholars.

Chairman of Majlis Ulamaa Sheikh Khalfan Khamis chairs the Nairobi panel while the Chief Kadhi chairs the Mombasa panel. The Nairobi panel liaises with the Mombasa panel, as it is the Chief Kadhi who officially announces the beginning and end of Ramadhan.

"We want to ensure that the confusion on days to start and end Ramadhan is a thing of the past," Khamis told The Sunday Standard.

Khamis says scholars from Tanzania and Zanzibar are in the Mombasa panel as the two countries co-operate in ensuring that Muslims mark Islamic holidays concurrently.

But Uganda has opted to follow the Saudi calendar, which depends on "astronomical" calculations.

The Chief Kadhi and other kadhis all over the country usually provide their telephone numbers to be contacted by any Muslim who observes the New Moon from any part of the country. This information has to be strictly verified to ensure it is not a hoax before the Chief Kadhi makes an official announcement.

Kassim says that there is now less confusion among Kenyan Muslims as to when to begin and end Ramadhan.

The council has representatives on the ground who get information and confirm when the New Moon is sighted in their respective regions.

The representatives are from Majlis Ulamaa, the Supreme Council of Kenya Muslims, the Council of Imams and Preachers of Kenya among other Islamic organisations.

"We got information from all the regions on Thursday evening that the New Moon was not sighted. In majority of Muslim countries they had also not sighted the New Moon on that day," the Chief Kadhi told The Sunday Standard.

He said they even received reports from Tanzania and Zanzibar that the New Moon was not sighted on Thursday.

He said Uganda was the exception as they follow Saudi Arabia since the days of former president the late Iddi Amin Dada.

Other Islamic countries, too, have committees for observing the New Moon, for purposes of observing important Islamic days.

At times, there have been regional differences in the exact date of Eid, with some Muslims fasting for 29 days and some for 30 days.

In Malaysia, they use sighting of the moon and astronomical calculation to verify the date. But the calculation is only used to verify the sighting of the moon (the exact time the moon is spotted).

Saudi Arabia has adopted a calendar based on astronomical New Moon, which has been controversial. The calendar has been adopted to create a predictable structure of dates linked to spotting of the moon. The Saudi authorities, knowing that this would be against the command of the Prophet, insist that the calendar is only for administrative purposes and has no role when it comes to determining religious dates.

just about 3 years ago to the day

2007-10-12T09:23:00.000+08:00

just about 3 years ago to the day, I had a major heart operations.

I wrote all that in my blog,
http://kiss-met.blogspot.com
under a series of blogs called "My Heart", which I wrote in about mid-November 2004. Just remembering.

wonderful world

2007-09-26T07:58:00.000+08:00

clipped from www.youtube.com

I have been too serious have I? Maybe this will cheer us all.

ugly scenes

2007-09-24T12:17:00.000+08:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OI8381T6dI8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FdDBcpge4QI&mode=related&search=

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fq7PxjTlLto&NR=1

When you see ugly scenes like these, you wonder what is actually happening in our lives, forget our country for the time being. How could this have happened? What started it? One never know what really happens really, the Govt. will try to tell their side of the story and the rioters theirs. In the end there is no solution, no action and and ............... it can recurr again anytime, any where.

halal

2007-09-23T12:22:00.000+08:00

http://www.halaljournal.com/

The above is an interesting site for those interested in "halal" issues.

wild

2007-09-20T16:21:00.000+08:00

I have photographs all sorts of flowers of Malaysia, and I even had published a small book on it (http://stores.lulu.com/store.php?fAcctID=). But nothing in my mind can beat this wild orchid which I photographed a few months ago in a durian plantation of an old friend. And the orchid plant thrived on one of his durian trees. I thought that the flowers were really beautiful, pure white and wild.

a sports complex

2007-09-19T14:22:00.000+08:00

Imagine having a sports complex almost right next to your doorstep. Its happening. The spot was already earmarked for a sports complex, which was supposed to be built about 15 years ago. But for the change of hand of the land title and beauracracy, it was delayed untill now. The Sports Complex now being built by the Malaysian Sports Council.

Imagine them building facilities such as an Olympic sized swimming pool, a few futsal courts, a grandstand, a football field, and a 6 lane synthetic track. Surely the resident nearby will benefit from such facilities, even if we have to pay to go in or utilise them.

I live on the outer fringe of Kuala Lumpur City and there is no sports facility near our housing estate. But with this sports complex now being built, we are very close and within reach to a very well equipped sports complex.

Two extreme ends

2007-09-16T08:39:00.000+08:00

Its early Ramadan, the Muslim fasting month. The streets of Kuala Lmpur are busy with shoppers. But among the happiness, there is sadness, even in the early part of the month. Shoppers are busy queing up at the paying counter of the Carrefour hypermarket, these people are the rich ones. There are 42 paying counters in all, and all are full of waiting customers.

But a few kilometer way, near another shopping complex, I spied this old lady waiting, begging with her empty bowl, earning probably a few RM for the day to feed herself (and probably her children).

Its a stark extreme in this country of paradise.

a moth?

2007-09-10T23:25:00.000+08:00

A moth? or an angel? The body was just about 1.5 inch long.

Saw this on the floor under my apartment when I got back last week. A beauty, something that I have never seen before, and I doubt if I ever will see it again. Its now gone ........... forever.

Roti canai

2007-09-08T12:23:00.000+08:00

One of Malaysia favourite breakfast is a sort of pancake, made from dough of flour, condensed milk, and egg. The soft malleable dough is 'thinned' by thrown it about in the air (a special skill is needed here) and folded and cooked over a hot plate, lubricated with oil, cooked untill almost crisped. And mostly eaten with curry, or any gravy that you wish to have it with, or even with sugar (in some parts of Malaysia). You normally have the pancake with 'teh tarik' (tea sweetened with condensed milk and sugar, thrown about in the air from one cup to another, the mixture not spooned stired. Here again a special skill is needed to make the concoction).

A Treatment System.

2007-08-29T23:35:00.000+08:00

These 2 pretty ladies,

were at an exhibition, which I happened to walk into yesterday, they exhibiting a traditional treatment system. Maybe that is not the correct name, but for the purpose of this blog is good enough. But if anyone is interested then the interested party can always e-mail: Aniza

What caught my eyes were these two products, namely virgin coconut oil,

and honey, from wild tropical jungle tree top bees.

I thought they were special, and reasonably priced. And now I know where to get them when I or anyone else want them.

Thai but outside Thailand.

2007-08-27T23:07:00.000+08:00

I have been told that it was there, but I have very little idea on how to find it. They say that the place serves very good Thai dishes, its outside Kuala Lumpur, in a village somewhere, Sungei Buluh the name is. They say that the place is called De’ Chiang Mai. Sounds exotic. They tried to give directions but I have by then found it difficult even to understand the direction they gave.

And today, I was quite near the place they mentioned and I asked somebody I know nearby to give me a more specific direction. It was still sketchy but as it was only late morning, so I drove around to find it. The challenge being that to get to the place there are crossings of highways nearby and if I miss one turn I might hit one of the highways and may end up at a far distant place. I was lucky, and I found it in a little village full of other ‘copied’ Thai food restaurants, nurseries and cheap cement tiles workshops worked by probably Indonesian immigrants.

A very impressive, place,

Impressive internal decorations,

Impressive dining tables,

Impressive food,

And impressive owner.

Nearby within the same facilities they have their own vegetable plots where they plant ’pandan’ and all other plant ingredients for good Thai tasting food.

The price is quite reasonable for the facilities that one gets, but the distance from town is not conducive for quick lunch. And they open from 12 noon to 10.30 at night only. And no hard liquor is served, the owner being a Muslim.

They prayed.

2007-08-27T09:06:00.000+08:00

They prayed last night.

Some Chinese do that. Its the part of the year and part of the month in the Chinese Calendar when they pray for (or is it to) their ancestors.

Can we trust them?

2007-08-23T14:50:00.000+08:00

We live in housing estates, alarms (some), gated (all) and with security (few). We have all sorts of people, unknown to us, visiting our estates. Salesman, beggars, cleaners, grass cutter, charity organisation people, rubbish collectors people, neighbours visitors etc etc. In addition we have (some of us) servants/helpers (Indonesians or Phillipinos). Can we really trust these people? Are we very sure that any one of them not trying to break in into your house? Or they have friends who are burglars waiting for information from them to asses the situation on how to break into your house? And the house helpers, don’t they have people who are staying outside who are ever so willing to befriend them to gain information on how to gain access into your house. Or for that matter the grass cutter who always seemed to wear ski mask when they cut grass in the vicinity of your house. And the rubbish collectors who are always seemed to be a foreigner. And what about the odd job man doing jobs in your neighbour’s house, or those workers re-building/renovating some houses in your estates? All are possible. And can any one of them be a Government Agent looking for anti-Government behaviour in you?
Or am I being paranoid?

Internet Business.

2007-08-23T14:45:00.000+08:00

In this blog I have a long list of possible internet business, in the right hand column. I have subscribed to some of them, one or two with payments though all others for free. When thinking it over, when I pay, then others pay, and others again pay and so on, there will be a big collection and the originator can make a lot of money. Not that I envy them, they must have brains to start the business, and they must know all the loop holes in the Laws.

However I have certain reservations for those ‘free’ from subscription. The bottom line, when you scroll to the bottom of the page you will find that you will still have to pay. In the end you pay if you want to get involved in the business. Just like the small prints in an Insurance Policy, you hardly read them but these are the important clauses which may make or invalidate the Insurance. And you are not really sure of the return though, bearing in mind that the originator has already made his/her return.

My thinking aloud really, but I am just wondering whether my thinking has any logic in them.