AFP - 9/30/2009
Indonesia dresses up after batik 'victory' over Malaysia
Indonesia's president is pressing the country's 234 million people to wear batik clothes to celebrate a triumph over neighbour Malaysia in a poisonous feud over cultural heritage.
The UN cultural organisation UNESCO is set this week to add Indonesia's method of making the cloth -- through a laborious process of wax-dipping and dying -- to its list of the world's Intangible Cultural Heritage.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has instructed Indonesians to celebrate the day the decision becomes official, Friday, by donning their best shirts, dresses, blouses and sarongs made from the material.
"I urge Indonesians wherever they are to wear batik on October 2," Yudhoyono was quoted as saying this week by state news agency Antara while in the United States for the G20 meeting of world leaders.
Yudhoyono said the country should have a "batik party" to let the world know that the artform comes from Indonesia.
Media here have been in triumphal mode over the impending UNESCO decision, which is the latest chapter in a spat that has seen protests over Malaysia's alleged "theft" of everything from batik to dances and songs.
Many Indonesians say the use of batik techniques and motifs by Malaysians is outright plagiarism.
But Indonesian Heritage Society batik expert Judi Achjadi said UNESCO's recognition of Indonesian batik doesn't mean Malaysia, which has its own tradition of making the cloth, has no right to the artform, which is spread across Asia, the Middle East and Africa.
"The focus of this achievement shouldn't be on Malaysia," Achjadi said. "They have their own batik and this doesn't stop them from promoting theirs."
UNESCO culture specialist Masanori Nagaoka said the recognition for Indonesia's cloth does not mean other countries cannot claim batik, but simply that Indonesia's government went to the trouble to submit a nomination.
The dispute between the two nations came to a head in August when it was misreported that Malaysia had screened tourism advertisements featuring the traditional "pendet" dance of Indonesia's Hindu-majority Bali island.
Outrage over the "theft" has continued to circulate in Indonesia, despite the fact that the ad in the end turned out to be a promotion for a Discovery Channel programme.
While the recognition of batik has been broadly welcomed, fashion designer Edward Hutabarat said the actual enthusiasm for Indonesians to wear the cloth has been on the wane.
"Batik clothing and couture was booming here in 2007. Everyone was wearing it at the malls all of a sudden, but it cooled down the year after," Hutabarat said.
"As cultural heritage, batik needs to be more than just a trend.
"Consumers still think a six million rupiah (600 dollar) piece of batik is very expensive but it can take up to six people over a whole year to create a piece of batik."
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Tango Part Of World Cultural Heritage
AFP - 9/30/2009
UN declares tango part of world cultural heritage
The United Nations has declared the sultry tango dance steps of Argentina and Uruguay part of the world's "intangible cultural heritage", UNESCO diplomats told AFP on Wednesday.
The United Nations cultural organisation is holding a meeting of 400 experts in the Gulf state of Abu Dhabi to agree on list of world arts and traditions that should be safeguarded for humanity.
Tango is a tradition of music and dance, developed in working-class dance halls in the Latin American cities of Buenos Aires and Montevideo and now known all over the world as a symbol of sensuous romance.
UN declares tango part of world cultural heritage
The United Nations has declared the sultry tango dance steps of Argentina and Uruguay part of the world's "intangible cultural heritage", UNESCO diplomats told AFP on Wednesday.
The United Nations cultural organisation is holding a meeting of 400 experts in the Gulf state of Abu Dhabi to agree on list of world arts and traditions that should be safeguarded for humanity.
Tango is a tradition of music and dance, developed in working-class dance halls in the Latin American cities of Buenos Aires and Montevideo and now known all over the world as a symbol of sensuous romance.
Pacific Tsunami Hit Samoa
Pacific tsunami death toll rises to 100
by Tamara McLean, AAP
September 30, 2009
Samoan Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi is "shocked beyond belief" by the devastation to his Pacific nation from a giant tsunami.
The towering waves sparked by an early morning earthquake swept ashore on Samoa and American Samoa, flooding and flattening villages, killing about 100 people including one Australian, with more than 1,000 displaced.
Looking shaken and distressed Malielegaoi described it as an "unimaginable" tragedy.
"So much has gone. So many people are gone," the Prime Minister said on board a flight from Auckland to the Samoan capital of Apia.
The 8.3 magnitude quake struck between Samoa and American Samoa at 6.48am on Tuesday (3.48am Wednesday AEST).
A Tasmanian woman has been reported dead with six other Australians missing and three in hospital.
One New Zealander is also dead, with the death tolls of both countries expected to rise.
Early reports suggest most of the 20 villages on the southern side of the main island, Upolu, had been levelled by the waves.
A new hospital in the village of Poutasi has been flattened, forcing the injured to make the one hour journey to Apia hospital.
Malielegaoi said his own village of Lepa was decimated.
"Thankfully the alarm sounded on the radio and gave people time to climb to higher ground," he said.
"But not everyone escaped."
Two sick children who were en route to hospital for flu treatment were swept away in floodwaters.
"Their car was just taken away," the Prime Minister said.
Deputy Samoan PM Misa Telefoni said Joe Annandale, owner of the popular Sinalei Resort and regional mayor of the ravaged south coast, had been critically injured.
Annandale also lost his wife Tui, one of Samoa's richest women, who was believed to have been killed while trying to save children in the village of Poutasi.
Her body was found washed up in a tree.
"I know these people well and these are not the sort of people who run away when children are in trouble," Telefoni said.
The village where the resort was based, Fiumu, was flattened as was the neighbouring Maninoa, home to the destroyed Coconuts Resort - a regular haunt for Australian tourists.
New Zealand tourist Graeme Ansell said the beach village of Faofao on Upolu Island was levelled.
"It was very quick. The whole village has been wiped out," Ansell told National Radio from a hill near Samoa's capital, Apia.
"There's not a building standing. We've all clambered up hills, and one of our party has a broken leg. There will be people in a great lot of need 'round here."
New Zealand's acting Prime Minister Bill English said one New Zealander had died in Samoa.
"We have one reliable but as yet unconfirmed report of a New Zealand death," Acting Prime Minister Bill English told a press conference on Wednesday.
"The informed judgment we are getting is there are likely to be more New Zealand fatalities."
Early reports from American Samoa put the death toll at 22.
But the death toll was likely to increase, Michael Sala, Homeland Security director in American Samoa, told AFP.
"It could take a week or so before we know the full extent."
Sala said it was the wall of water, which he estimated at 7.5 metres high, which did most of the damage as it swept ashore about 20 minutes after the earthquake, demolishing buildings in coastal areas.
Mase Akapo, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service, said the deaths occurred in four different villages on the main island of Tutuila, with six in the western area of Leone.
American Samoa Governor Togiola Tulafono said at least 50 people were injured.
There were also reports of thousands of people left homeless in American Samoa.
Deaths have also been reported in Tonga.
Six people are dead and four people are missing, a government official says.
New Zealand Foreign Minister Murray McCully said the northern tip of Tonga had been impacted by the tsunami.
He said there were reports of five deaths on the northern island of Tonga.
"There are, obviously, concerns about other casualties there and until we are able to get more information from there I can't go further than that."
Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) said it was aware of reports of damage, death and injuries in the Niua islands in Tonga.
Other countries in the Pacific do not appear to have been affected, at this stage.
Australia, New Zealand and the United States are scrambling resources to help Samoa.
US President Barack Obama declared a major disaster in American Samoa, sending federal aid to help recovery efforts in the US territory.
The earthquake triggered a tsunami warning for the South Pacific region, from American Samoa to New Zealand, although Australia was excluded. That warning was later cancelled.
A few hours after the tsunami, warning sirens again blasted across Samoa but the latest alert was a false alarm, local news reporters said.
"According the met office, no official warning was issued, so the sirens were a false alarm," said Keni Lesa of the Samoa Observer.
Yahoo!7 News
by Tamara McLean, AAP
September 30, 2009
Samoan Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi is "shocked beyond belief" by the devastation to his Pacific nation from a giant tsunami.
The towering waves sparked by an early morning earthquake swept ashore on Samoa and American Samoa, flooding and flattening villages, killing about 100 people including one Australian, with more than 1,000 displaced.
Looking shaken and distressed Malielegaoi described it as an "unimaginable" tragedy.
"So much has gone. So many people are gone," the Prime Minister said on board a flight from Auckland to the Samoan capital of Apia.
The 8.3 magnitude quake struck between Samoa and American Samoa at 6.48am on Tuesday (3.48am Wednesday AEST).
A Tasmanian woman has been reported dead with six other Australians missing and three in hospital.
One New Zealander is also dead, with the death tolls of both countries expected to rise.
Early reports suggest most of the 20 villages on the southern side of the main island, Upolu, had been levelled by the waves.
A new hospital in the village of Poutasi has been flattened, forcing the injured to make the one hour journey to Apia hospital.
Malielegaoi said his own village of Lepa was decimated.
"Thankfully the alarm sounded on the radio and gave people time to climb to higher ground," he said.
"But not everyone escaped."
Two sick children who were en route to hospital for flu treatment were swept away in floodwaters.
"Their car was just taken away," the Prime Minister said.
Deputy Samoan PM Misa Telefoni said Joe Annandale, owner of the popular Sinalei Resort and regional mayor of the ravaged south coast, had been critically injured.
Annandale also lost his wife Tui, one of Samoa's richest women, who was believed to have been killed while trying to save children in the village of Poutasi.
Her body was found washed up in a tree.
"I know these people well and these are not the sort of people who run away when children are in trouble," Telefoni said.
The village where the resort was based, Fiumu, was flattened as was the neighbouring Maninoa, home to the destroyed Coconuts Resort - a regular haunt for Australian tourists.
New Zealand tourist Graeme Ansell said the beach village of Faofao on Upolu Island was levelled.
"It was very quick. The whole village has been wiped out," Ansell told National Radio from a hill near Samoa's capital, Apia.
"There's not a building standing. We've all clambered up hills, and one of our party has a broken leg. There will be people in a great lot of need 'round here."
New Zealand's acting Prime Minister Bill English said one New Zealander had died in Samoa.
"We have one reliable but as yet unconfirmed report of a New Zealand death," Acting Prime Minister Bill English told a press conference on Wednesday.
"The informed judgment we are getting is there are likely to be more New Zealand fatalities."
Early reports from American Samoa put the death toll at 22.
But the death toll was likely to increase, Michael Sala, Homeland Security director in American Samoa, told AFP.
"It could take a week or so before we know the full extent."
Sala said it was the wall of water, which he estimated at 7.5 metres high, which did most of the damage as it swept ashore about 20 minutes after the earthquake, demolishing buildings in coastal areas.
Mase Akapo, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service, said the deaths occurred in four different villages on the main island of Tutuila, with six in the western area of Leone.
American Samoa Governor Togiola Tulafono said at least 50 people were injured.
There were also reports of thousands of people left homeless in American Samoa.
Deaths have also been reported in Tonga.
Six people are dead and four people are missing, a government official says.
New Zealand Foreign Minister Murray McCully said the northern tip of Tonga had been impacted by the tsunami.
He said there were reports of five deaths on the northern island of Tonga.
"There are, obviously, concerns about other casualties there and until we are able to get more information from there I can't go further than that."
Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) said it was aware of reports of damage, death and injuries in the Niua islands in Tonga.
Other countries in the Pacific do not appear to have been affected, at this stage.
Australia, New Zealand and the United States are scrambling resources to help Samoa.
US President Barack Obama declared a major disaster in American Samoa, sending federal aid to help recovery efforts in the US territory.
The earthquake triggered a tsunami warning for the South Pacific region, from American Samoa to New Zealand, although Australia was excluded. That warning was later cancelled.
A few hours after the tsunami, warning sirens again blasted across Samoa but the latest alert was a false alarm, local news reporters said.
"According the met office, no official warning was issued, so the sirens were a false alarm," said Keni Lesa of the Samoa Observer.
Yahoo!7 News
Isa Will Do Well
(The Star) PORT DICKSON: Former Negri Sembilan mentri besar Tan Sri Isa Samad is the Barisan Nasional candidate for the Bagan Pinang by-election on Oct 11.
Deputy Umno president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, before making the announcement, teased the thousands of Barisan supporters and local Bagan Pinang folk by asking who they wanted as the by-election candidate.
Wide support: A large crowd of people turned up during the announcement of Barisan Nasional’s candidate for the Teluk Kemang constituency Tuesday.
The crowd shouted out Isa’s name and Muhyiddin said: “Yes, it will be Isa.”
The moment Isa’s name was announced at a Hari Raya do in Batu 6, Teluk Kemang here, the crowd cheered and roared in approval.
Muhyiddin, the Barisan election director, said the decision was made based on a detailed study on the wishes of the local Bagan Pinang community.
“We are confident that with his qualifications and support from the local community, Isa will do well for Barisan,” he said.
Muhyiddin added that Isa had contributed greatly to the local community and never stopped his services despite challenges that he faced over the years.
He later told reporters that Isa, like himself, had also encountered political problems in the past.
“Voters know Isa’s aspirations and we must acknowledge the wishes of the constituents here who want Isa to be their elected representative.
“We want to continue providing development in Bagan Pinang and Isa can help because he has been here for a long time,” he added.
Isa, in an immediate response, said with the support of the Barisan leadership, he would defend the seat and win it with a bigger majority.
Isa added that he expected the Opposition to “invent” issues in thei r attempt to wrest the seat from Barisan.
This will be the first time Isa is contesting in his own backyard although he has been the Teluk Kemang Umno division chief for 30 years.
“Throughout my political career, I had always contested in Linggi,” he said. Linggi is a neighbouring state seat under the same PKR-controlled Teluk Kemang parliamentary constituency.
Isa advised those working for the Barisan by-election machinery not to be complacent and over-confident.
Umno information chief Datuk Ahmad Maslan said it was unfair to criticise Isa’s nomination because of his party disciplinary problems.
“He is like a stained shirt that had been cleaned. He has already been punished in the political sense and we should move forward,” he added.
The state seat became vacant after Barisan’s Azman Mohammad Noor died on Sept 4.
Isa was the Negri Sembilan mentri besar for 22 years.
With Isa’s candidacy for the by-election, most political commentators said Barisan was widely expected to win the seat.
courtesy of MT
Deputy Umno president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, before making the announcement, teased the thousands of Barisan supporters and local Bagan Pinang folk by asking who they wanted as the by-election candidate.
Wide support: A large crowd of people turned up during the announcement of Barisan Nasional’s candidate for the Teluk Kemang constituency Tuesday.
The crowd shouted out Isa’s name and Muhyiddin said: “Yes, it will be Isa.”
The moment Isa’s name was announced at a Hari Raya do in Batu 6, Teluk Kemang here, the crowd cheered and roared in approval.
Muhyiddin, the Barisan election director, said the decision was made based on a detailed study on the wishes of the local Bagan Pinang community.
“We are confident that with his qualifications and support from the local community, Isa will do well for Barisan,” he said.
Muhyiddin added that Isa had contributed greatly to the local community and never stopped his services despite challenges that he faced over the years.
He later told reporters that Isa, like himself, had also encountered political problems in the past.
“Voters know Isa’s aspirations and we must acknowledge the wishes of the constituents here who want Isa to be their elected representative.
“We want to continue providing development in Bagan Pinang and Isa can help because he has been here for a long time,” he added.
Isa, in an immediate response, said with the support of the Barisan leadership, he would defend the seat and win it with a bigger majority.
Isa added that he expected the Opposition to “invent” issues in thei r attempt to wrest the seat from Barisan.
This will be the first time Isa is contesting in his own backyard although he has been the Teluk Kemang Umno division chief for 30 years.
“Throughout my political career, I had always contested in Linggi,” he said. Linggi is a neighbouring state seat under the same PKR-controlled Teluk Kemang parliamentary constituency.
Isa advised those working for the Barisan by-election machinery not to be complacent and over-confident.
Umno information chief Datuk Ahmad Maslan said it was unfair to criticise Isa’s nomination because of his party disciplinary problems.
“He is like a stained shirt that had been cleaned. He has already been punished in the political sense and we should move forward,” he added.
The state seat became vacant after Barisan’s Azman Mohammad Noor died on Sept 4.
Isa was the Negri Sembilan mentri besar for 22 years.
With Isa’s candidacy for the by-election, most political commentators said Barisan was widely expected to win the seat.
courtesy of MT
Tainted Politicians Should Exit Quietly
‘TAINTED POLITICIANS SHOULD EXIT QUIETLY’
Wednesday, 30 September 2009
(The Star) PETALING JAYA: Politicians with a “tainted image” should leave quietly, said Kuala Lumpur-Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall Wanita chief Alice Lee.
“Leaders must know when to step down,” she said.
Politicians, apart from being capable and talented, must also uphold morality, she added.
Suspended MCA deputy president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek, with a tainted image, should not lead the party, Lee said.
Citing an example, she said Jeffery Archer, a member of the British Parliament and deputy chairman of the Conservative Party, had to resign after he reportedly paid for the services of a prostitute in 1986.
“Even though his wife said that he was a good husband, Archer still had to leave to prevent him from becoming the burden of the Conservative Party,” she said.
Lee said Dr Chua had admitted he was the one in the sex video clip.
“With such baggages, can he still lead MCA?
“Do you think Dr Chua can still bring glory to the party with such an introduction?” she asked.
Wednesday, 30 September 2009
(The Star) PETALING JAYA: Politicians with a “tainted image” should leave quietly, said Kuala Lumpur-Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall Wanita chief Alice Lee.
“Leaders must know when to step down,” she said.
Politicians, apart from being capable and talented, must also uphold morality, she added.
Suspended MCA deputy president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek, with a tainted image, should not lead the party, Lee said.
Citing an example, she said Jeffery Archer, a member of the British Parliament and deputy chairman of the Conservative Party, had to resign after he reportedly paid for the services of a prostitute in 1986.
“Even though his wife said that he was a good husband, Archer still had to leave to prevent him from becoming the burden of the Conservative Party,” she said.
Lee said Dr Chua had admitted he was the one in the sex video clip.
“With such baggages, can he still lead MCA?
“Do you think Dr Chua can still bring glory to the party with such an introduction?” she asked.
Death To Your Culture
SAME OLD UMNO, SAME OLD ETHICS
Wednesday, 30 September 2009
by M. Bakri Musa
copied from MT with courtesy
for reading only
post comments at MT (mt.m2day.org/)
Biar mati anak, jangan mati adat! (Sacrifice your child if need be, but never your tradition!) Growing up in Negri Sembilan, that wisdom of my culture was continually drummed into me. To those outside the clan, that adage may seem extreme, an ugly manifestation of unyielding and irrational conservatism.
With my children now grown up, I recognize the verity of that village wisdom. Yes, it was hammered into me on the importance of our cultural tradition of fealty towards elders (our parents in particular), but there was also the equally important reciprocal tradition for the elders (who are presumably wiser) to be more patient and forgiving of their young.
It is this fidelity to adat (tradition) that made my parents not put a guilt trip upon me when I chose a path that was not what they had expected. Cognizant of this adat too is what made me not stand in the way of my children when they too decided to venture on a journey beyond what is familiar to me.
My old Negri saying could be more accurately re-stated as: Jaga adat, jaga anak! (Save our tradition, and save our children!) Such an intricate system of social norms however, would easily be shattered if any of its component parts were to be compromised or exploited.
Consider the esteemed cultural trait of respect and loyalty to leaders and kings, and the associated severe penalty for derhaka (treachery). In tandem with that however, there is the reciprocal tradition encapsulated in the saying: Raja adil raja di sembah; Raja zalim raja di sanggah (Venerate the just king; defy the tyrant).
Yes, my culture demands that I revere and be loyal to my leaders and elders, but they must also be fully aware of the traditional countervailing restraints not to abuse that reverence I have of them.
Consider the nomination of Isa Samad to be UMNO’s standard bearer in the upcoming Bagan Pinang by-election. He was a Mentri Besar for 22 years and a Federal minister for a few years after that. He is the typical ‘local boy done good.’ His fellow villagers in Port Dickson have every right to be proud of him. To them, no honor however exalted would be adequate for him; they would wish upon him even more.
Thus it should not surprise us or Isa Samad that they would want him, and no one else, to have the singular honor to represent them in the state legislature. The surprise is that many are surprised by this expected and proper gesture of generosity on the part of Isa’s people towards him.
As per our adat however, it is not for the people to deny Isa Samad this honor; that would leave a bitter taste in their collective mouth as well as an affront to their cultural sensitivities. Rather it is for Isa Samad to have the wisdom and magnanimity to decline that honor. If he were to do that at the first round, again as per custom, they would again beg him to reconsider, and again Isa Samad should decline.
The social norms demand that these back and forth offers and declines would go on for at least three rounds, all to demonstrate (or at least make a show of) the “genuineness” of the gesture. Anything less and it would risk being interpreted as perfunctory, and less than genuine.
It is through such displays of finesse and subtleties that our culture and traditions have stood the test of time and smoothed our social order. Alas today our traditional values and generosities have been abused not by outsiders but by our own people. It is our own leaders and kin who betray us and our values, as so crudely and ruthlessly demonstrated by Isa Samad.
Nonetheless true to our tradition of “Raja zalim raja di sembah; Raja zalim raja di sanggah,” we should not hesitate, and do so in no uncertain terms, to sanggah (defy) these leaders.
UMNO’s Wet-Finger-In-the-Air Leaders
When UMNO chose a disbarred lawyer to contest the recent by-election in Penang, I commented that the next time around expect the party to scrounge even lower in search of even slimier characters to represent the party. I ventured that it would be difficult to find someone more unworthy than a disbarred lawyer, but trust those UMNO folks, they would find someone. I did not expect to be proven right, and so soon.
In Isa Samad UMNO has someone who had been expelled from the party for “money politics,” the euphemism for corruption. Knowing UMNO’s shady ethics, to be expelled for that must take some doing.
In justifying his party’s pick, UMNO’s Deputy President Muhyiddin Yassin declared, “We have decided that this is what the people want.” He was jubilant when making that declaration. Surrounded as he was by senior leaders of the Barisan and fellow ministers, and judging by their beaming smiles and other body language, they too shared his enthusiasm for the candidate.
Just in case we might miss the point, Muhyiddin went on to reassure everyone that the choice was made “after much thought and scrutiny.” Meaning, it was deliberate.
Even ignoring Isa Samad’s blatant bribing of UMNO delegates and then bragging about it (the reason for his expulsion), the more fundamental issue is this. The man has nothing more to offer the state after serving as Mentri Besar for over 24 years. If he had any talent or innovative ideas, that should have been obvious during all those years.
At this stage of their careers, leaders like Isa Samad should be seeking out and mentoring the next generation of leaders, not desperately hogging the stage, and their followers’ fast dwindling reservoir of respect and gratitude.
Only last week Muhyiddin was at pains to point out that he was intent on seeking fresh talent, especially after the Bagan Pinang branch folks brazenly declared that Isa was their only choice. In succumbing to local pressure, Muhyiddin’s leadership is nothing more than wet-finger-in-the-air variety. That is fine in leading a herd of kerbau (water buffaloes) but not a nation aspiring for Vision 2020.
There is nothing wrong with a leader sticking his wet finger in the air to check the prevailing wind if that would lead him to trim his sails and steer his ship of state better, while keeping his eye on the compass. Indeed that is the hallmark of a skilled skipper. However, if you keep changing course and be oblivious of the compass, you will never reach your destination.
The earlier rhetoric about UMNO having “to change or be changed” is now proven to be nothing more than just “cock talk,” to put it in the local vernacular. Muhyiddin is also Deputy Prime Minister, a heart beat away from the nation’s top job. This preview of his leadership does not reassure me.
In picking Isa, Muhyiddin obviously had to compromise his principles and abandon his commitment to reforming the party. He should be reminded of the old Xeno mathematical paradox: You will never reach your destination if you are satisfied at reaching only the halfway mark at every try.
Once you start compromising your principle at the first obstacle, then it gets easier the next time. Soon you would have no scruples compromising all your principles. By that time you would not only be willing to dispense with your adat but you also would be willing to part with your first-born, just to get your way.
Your corruption then would have been complete, with nothing worthy left to defend or honour. Then it would be: Mati adat dan mati anak (Death to your culture, and death to your children).
Wednesday, 30 September 2009
by M. Bakri Musa
copied from MT with courtesy
for reading only
post comments at MT (mt.m2day.org/)
Biar mati anak, jangan mati adat! (Sacrifice your child if need be, but never your tradition!) Growing up in Negri Sembilan, that wisdom of my culture was continually drummed into me. To those outside the clan, that adage may seem extreme, an ugly manifestation of unyielding and irrational conservatism.
With my children now grown up, I recognize the verity of that village wisdom. Yes, it was hammered into me on the importance of our cultural tradition of fealty towards elders (our parents in particular), but there was also the equally important reciprocal tradition for the elders (who are presumably wiser) to be more patient and forgiving of their young.
It is this fidelity to adat (tradition) that made my parents not put a guilt trip upon me when I chose a path that was not what they had expected. Cognizant of this adat too is what made me not stand in the way of my children when they too decided to venture on a journey beyond what is familiar to me.
My old Negri saying could be more accurately re-stated as: Jaga adat, jaga anak! (Save our tradition, and save our children!) Such an intricate system of social norms however, would easily be shattered if any of its component parts were to be compromised or exploited.
Consider the esteemed cultural trait of respect and loyalty to leaders and kings, and the associated severe penalty for derhaka (treachery). In tandem with that however, there is the reciprocal tradition encapsulated in the saying: Raja adil raja di sembah; Raja zalim raja di sanggah (Venerate the just king; defy the tyrant).
Yes, my culture demands that I revere and be loyal to my leaders and elders, but they must also be fully aware of the traditional countervailing restraints not to abuse that reverence I have of them.
Consider the nomination of Isa Samad to be UMNO’s standard bearer in the upcoming Bagan Pinang by-election. He was a Mentri Besar for 22 years and a Federal minister for a few years after that. He is the typical ‘local boy done good.’ His fellow villagers in Port Dickson have every right to be proud of him. To them, no honor however exalted would be adequate for him; they would wish upon him even more.
Thus it should not surprise us or Isa Samad that they would want him, and no one else, to have the singular honor to represent them in the state legislature. The surprise is that many are surprised by this expected and proper gesture of generosity on the part of Isa’s people towards him.
As per our adat however, it is not for the people to deny Isa Samad this honor; that would leave a bitter taste in their collective mouth as well as an affront to their cultural sensitivities. Rather it is for Isa Samad to have the wisdom and magnanimity to decline that honor. If he were to do that at the first round, again as per custom, they would again beg him to reconsider, and again Isa Samad should decline.
The social norms demand that these back and forth offers and declines would go on for at least three rounds, all to demonstrate (or at least make a show of) the “genuineness” of the gesture. Anything less and it would risk being interpreted as perfunctory, and less than genuine.
It is through such displays of finesse and subtleties that our culture and traditions have stood the test of time and smoothed our social order. Alas today our traditional values and generosities have been abused not by outsiders but by our own people. It is our own leaders and kin who betray us and our values, as so crudely and ruthlessly demonstrated by Isa Samad.
Nonetheless true to our tradition of “Raja zalim raja di sembah; Raja zalim raja di sanggah,” we should not hesitate, and do so in no uncertain terms, to sanggah (defy) these leaders.
UMNO’s Wet-Finger-In-the-Air Leaders
When UMNO chose a disbarred lawyer to contest the recent by-election in Penang, I commented that the next time around expect the party to scrounge even lower in search of even slimier characters to represent the party. I ventured that it would be difficult to find someone more unworthy than a disbarred lawyer, but trust those UMNO folks, they would find someone. I did not expect to be proven right, and so soon.
In Isa Samad UMNO has someone who had been expelled from the party for “money politics,” the euphemism for corruption. Knowing UMNO’s shady ethics, to be expelled for that must take some doing.
In justifying his party’s pick, UMNO’s Deputy President Muhyiddin Yassin declared, “We have decided that this is what the people want.” He was jubilant when making that declaration. Surrounded as he was by senior leaders of the Barisan and fellow ministers, and judging by their beaming smiles and other body language, they too shared his enthusiasm for the candidate.
Just in case we might miss the point, Muhyiddin went on to reassure everyone that the choice was made “after much thought and scrutiny.” Meaning, it was deliberate.
Even ignoring Isa Samad’s blatant bribing of UMNO delegates and then bragging about it (the reason for his expulsion), the more fundamental issue is this. The man has nothing more to offer the state after serving as Mentri Besar for over 24 years. If he had any talent or innovative ideas, that should have been obvious during all those years.
At this stage of their careers, leaders like Isa Samad should be seeking out and mentoring the next generation of leaders, not desperately hogging the stage, and their followers’ fast dwindling reservoir of respect and gratitude.
Only last week Muhyiddin was at pains to point out that he was intent on seeking fresh talent, especially after the Bagan Pinang branch folks brazenly declared that Isa was their only choice. In succumbing to local pressure, Muhyiddin’s leadership is nothing more than wet-finger-in-the-air variety. That is fine in leading a herd of kerbau (water buffaloes) but not a nation aspiring for Vision 2020.
There is nothing wrong with a leader sticking his wet finger in the air to check the prevailing wind if that would lead him to trim his sails and steer his ship of state better, while keeping his eye on the compass. Indeed that is the hallmark of a skilled skipper. However, if you keep changing course and be oblivious of the compass, you will never reach your destination.
The earlier rhetoric about UMNO having “to change or be changed” is now proven to be nothing more than just “cock talk,” to put it in the local vernacular. Muhyiddin is also Deputy Prime Minister, a heart beat away from the nation’s top job. This preview of his leadership does not reassure me.
In picking Isa, Muhyiddin obviously had to compromise his principles and abandon his commitment to reforming the party. He should be reminded of the old Xeno mathematical paradox: You will never reach your destination if you are satisfied at reaching only the halfway mark at every try.
Once you start compromising your principle at the first obstacle, then it gets easier the next time. Soon you would have no scruples compromising all your principles. By that time you would not only be willing to dispense with your adat but you also would be willing to part with your first-born, just to get your way.
Your corruption then would have been complete, with nothing worthy left to defend or honour. Then it would be: Mati adat dan mati anak (Death to your culture, and death to your children).
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
"Bruno" Film Banned In Malaysia
Malaysia bans Baron Cohen's 'Bruno' film
By JULIA ZAPPEI, Associated Press Writer
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia
Malaysia has banned U.S. box office hit "Bruno" by Sacha Baron Cohen because it highlights gay life and has gay sex scenes, an official said Tuesday.
"Bruno" _ following Baron Cohen's hit "Borat" _ is centered around the adventures of a flamboyant gay fashion journalist from Austria.
An official from Malaysia's Film Censorship Board said the movie was considered unacceptable because of its story line, offensive language, jokes and racy nature. She declined to be named, citing protocol.
"It's banned because the story is based on gay life ... There are a lot of sex scenes," she said. "It's contrary to our culture."
Gay sex, or "carnal intercourse against the order of nature," is punishable by up to 20 years in jail and whipping in Malaysia. Sex toys, politically incorrect comments and jokes about religion also irked the censors, she said.
She said censors vetted the movie last month, and the distributor was notified.
Ukraine has also banned the film, and some Austrian officials have spoken out against it, but have not taken action.
Baron Cohen's previous movie "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan" made fun of the former Soviet republic of Kazakhstan and the United States and was banned in Kazakhstan and Russia.
Malaysia also decided in early September to ban another American hit, the horror film "Halloween II," because of its gory scenes and excessive violence, the official said. The distributor was informed and can appeal the decision.
A Muslim-majority nation of 28 million people, Malaysia has strict public morality rules, including those applying to entertainment. U.S. R&B star Beyonce Knowles, who is scheduled to perform here on Oct. 25, has promised to wear conservative attire for the show.
By JULIA ZAPPEI, Associated Press Writer
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia
Malaysia has banned U.S. box office hit "Bruno" by Sacha Baron Cohen because it highlights gay life and has gay sex scenes, an official said Tuesday.
"Bruno" _ following Baron Cohen's hit "Borat" _ is centered around the adventures of a flamboyant gay fashion journalist from Austria.
An official from Malaysia's Film Censorship Board said the movie was considered unacceptable because of its story line, offensive language, jokes and racy nature. She declined to be named, citing protocol.
"It's banned because the story is based on gay life ... There are a lot of sex scenes," she said. "It's contrary to our culture."
Gay sex, or "carnal intercourse against the order of nature," is punishable by up to 20 years in jail and whipping in Malaysia. Sex toys, politically incorrect comments and jokes about religion also irked the censors, she said.
She said censors vetted the movie last month, and the distributor was notified.
Ukraine has also banned the film, and some Austrian officials have spoken out against it, but have not taken action.
Baron Cohen's previous movie "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan" made fun of the former Soviet republic of Kazakhstan and the United States and was banned in Kazakhstan and Russia.
Malaysia also decided in early September to ban another American hit, the horror film "Halloween II," because of its gory scenes and excessive violence, the official said. The distributor was informed and can appeal the decision.
A Muslim-majority nation of 28 million people, Malaysia has strict public morality rules, including those applying to entertainment. U.S. R&B star Beyonce Knowles, who is scheduled to perform here on Oct. 25, has promised to wear conservative attire for the show.
Woman's Caning To Go Ahead
Beer-drinking Muslim woman's caning to go ahead
AP - Tuesday, September 29, 2009
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia
A judge in Malaysia has upheld a court verdict to cane a Muslim woman for drinking beer, news reports said Monday, re-igniting a controversy over Islamic justice in this moderate Muslim-majority country.
The Star newspaper's Web site and national news agency Bernama said the chief Shariah judge of Pahang state ruled that a Shariah High Court's verdict against Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno, 32, was correct and should stay.
If the punishment is carried out, Kartika would become the first Muslim woman to be caned in Malaysia, where about 60 percent of the 28 million people are Muslims. No date was immediately set for the caning.
Kartika, a former model and nurse, was sentenced in July to six strokes of the cane and a fine of 5,000 ringgit ($1,400) for drinking beer in December 2007 at a beach resort in violation of Islamic laws. Islam forbids Muslims from drinking alcohol.
Kartika, who pleaded guilty, refused to appeal her sentence and was on the verge of being caned on Aug. 24. But the punishment was halted at the last minute following an uproar in the media and among rights activists.
Instead, the government asked the Shariah High Court Appeals Panel in Kuantan, the capital of Pahang, to review the verdict.
"I found that the High Court Judge had acted accordingly within his jurisdiction as provided" by relevant laws of Pahang state, Pahang Shariah Chief Judge Abdul Hamid Abdul Rahman told The Star.
"As such, the decision stays," he was quoted as saying.
He said it was now up to the Pahang Islamic Religious Department to implement the punishment. The department's officials, who are like morality police, routinely conduct raids to catch people violating Islamic laws but most perpetrators are usually let off with fines.
Kartika has said previously she is ready to be caned.
The caning would be done with a thin stick on the back and would be largely symbolic rather than aimed at causing pain, unlike the caning of rapists and drug smugglers with a thick rattan stick on bare buttocks that causes the skin to break and leave scars.
But activists say even a gentle caning raises the broader question of whether such Islamic laws should intrude into Muslims' private lives and whether radical Islam is creeping into the judiciary.
Malaysia follows a dual-track justice system. Shariah laws apply to Muslims in all personal matters. Non-Muslims _ Chinese, Indians, Sikhs and other minorities _ are covered by civil laws, and are free to drink.
Only three states in Malaysia _ Pahang, Perlis and Kelantan _ impose caning for drinking alcohol. In the other 10 states it is punishable by a fine.
Yahoo! News
AP - Tuesday, September 29, 2009
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia
A judge in Malaysia has upheld a court verdict to cane a Muslim woman for drinking beer, news reports said Monday, re-igniting a controversy over Islamic justice in this moderate Muslim-majority country.
The Star newspaper's Web site and national news agency Bernama said the chief Shariah judge of Pahang state ruled that a Shariah High Court's verdict against Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno, 32, was correct and should stay.
If the punishment is carried out, Kartika would become the first Muslim woman to be caned in Malaysia, where about 60 percent of the 28 million people are Muslims. No date was immediately set for the caning.
Kartika, a former model and nurse, was sentenced in July to six strokes of the cane and a fine of 5,000 ringgit ($1,400) for drinking beer in December 2007 at a beach resort in violation of Islamic laws. Islam forbids Muslims from drinking alcohol.
Kartika, who pleaded guilty, refused to appeal her sentence and was on the verge of being caned on Aug. 24. But the punishment was halted at the last minute following an uproar in the media and among rights activists.
Instead, the government asked the Shariah High Court Appeals Panel in Kuantan, the capital of Pahang, to review the verdict.
"I found that the High Court Judge had acted accordingly within his jurisdiction as provided" by relevant laws of Pahang state, Pahang Shariah Chief Judge Abdul Hamid Abdul Rahman told The Star.
"As such, the decision stays," he was quoted as saying.
He said it was now up to the Pahang Islamic Religious Department to implement the punishment. The department's officials, who are like morality police, routinely conduct raids to catch people violating Islamic laws but most perpetrators are usually let off with fines.
Kartika has said previously she is ready to be caned.
The caning would be done with a thin stick on the back and would be largely symbolic rather than aimed at causing pain, unlike the caning of rapists and drug smugglers with a thick rattan stick on bare buttocks that causes the skin to break and leave scars.
But activists say even a gentle caning raises the broader question of whether such Islamic laws should intrude into Muslims' private lives and whether radical Islam is creeping into the judiciary.
Malaysia follows a dual-track justice system. Shariah laws apply to Muslims in all personal matters. Non-Muslims _ Chinese, Indians, Sikhs and other minorities _ are covered by civil laws, and are free to drink.
Only three states in Malaysia _ Pahang, Perlis and Kelantan _ impose caning for drinking alcohol. In the other 10 states it is punishable by a fine.
Yahoo! News
Getting To The Bottom Of It
Monday September 28, 2009
By S.S. YOGA
The Star Lifestyle
THE Yellow Submarine is arguably the most famous submarine in the world even if it’s only a figment of the wonderful imagination of the Beatles (courtesy of the group’s 1968 animated feature film, soundtrack album and title song).
A real submarine is a vessel normally with a crew, operating independently below the surface of the water – at times, at great depth. They are often referred to as “boats”.
The English word “U-boat” for a German submarine (infamous during the two world wars) comes from the German word for submarine, U-Boot (an abbreviation of Unterseeboot, German for “undersea boat”).
Submarines can range from compact two-person vessels to monstrous ones like the Typhoon class from Russia.
Gargantuan: The humongous Russian Typhoon class submarine.
Their capability to remain underwater can stretch from a couple of hours to even six months (especially nuclear-powered ones).
Apart from nuclear power, subs can also run on an electric-diesel combination. Now there are even hybrids that use diesel and liquid oxygen or hydrogen fuel cells.
Modern submarines are best described as cigar-shaped or with a “teardrop hull” – the hull being the outer body of the sub.
The shape helps reduce hydrodynamic drag when submerged but increases drag when the vessel surfaces.
There is a vertical structure located off centre closer to the front of the sub (as opposed to the rear where the propeller, or pump jet, is).
Ninja turtle: The ‘Turtle’ submarine.
Americans call it the “sail”, while Europeans prefer “fin”.
It is beneath this structure that the periscope, electronic masts (radio, radar, etc) and the control room (or the Conn) are normally located.
As subs are designed for use at great depths, there is immense pressure on the vessel. Smaller subs have single hulls but the bigger ones have double hulls.
The inner hull (pressure hull) protects the crew and the vessel from the water pressure and insulates them from freezing temperatures.
The outer hull shapes the submarine’s body. The ballast tanks, which control the ship’s buoyancy, are located between the two hulls.
Submarines are a mix of metal (the hull), air and water (the ballast). Submarines have to sink or float and this works on the principle of displacement of water and buoyancy.
Air is compressed and water fills the ballast, making the vessel denser than the surrounding ocean water and so it sinks.
When it has reached the level it wants, a certain amount of air is pumped back in so that the submarine hovers at that level.
Row your boat: A painting depicting what is apparently the first working submarine, designed by Cornelius Drebbel, on London’s Thames River in 1623.
And when it needs to rise, more air is pumped in, forcing the water out and making it lighter.
It’s not only the crew that have to worry about their weight (they need to keep fit and healthy) but the submarine itself too.
Burning fuel and using supplies change the weight of the sub.
So it has to be kept “trim” and there are two tanks (called trim tanks, of course): one in the front and one at the back that allow water to be pumped in or out.
Two controls are used for steering: the rudder for side to side (or yaw) movements and diving planes for rise and descent (or pitch).
There are two sets of diving planes: the sail planes (at the sail) and the stern planes at the back (stern) of the boat where the rudder and propeller are.
And let’s not forget how a submarine locates other vessels in the area while remaining undetected – it uses sonar (sounds waves travelling through water that hit an object).
Passive sonar uses sound from other objects to detect them; active sonar has the sub releasing a burst of sound that gives off a “ping”.
When the sound wave hits an object, it is reflected back and shows on the sub’s screen as a blip. The danger is that the enemy vessel may also detect this “ping”.
Are you ready now for your voyage to the bottom of the sea?
Sourced mainly from www.yesmag.ca/how_work/submarine.html and www.globalsecurity.org.
The Star
By S.S. YOGA
The Star Lifestyle
THE Yellow Submarine is arguably the most famous submarine in the world even if it’s only a figment of the wonderful imagination of the Beatles (courtesy of the group’s 1968 animated feature film, soundtrack album and title song).
A real submarine is a vessel normally with a crew, operating independently below the surface of the water – at times, at great depth. They are often referred to as “boats”.
The English word “U-boat” for a German submarine (infamous during the two world wars) comes from the German word for submarine, U-Boot (an abbreviation of Unterseeboot, German for “undersea boat”).
Submarines can range from compact two-person vessels to monstrous ones like the Typhoon class from Russia.
Gargantuan: The humongous Russian Typhoon class submarine.
Their capability to remain underwater can stretch from a couple of hours to even six months (especially nuclear-powered ones).
Apart from nuclear power, subs can also run on an electric-diesel combination. Now there are even hybrids that use diesel and liquid oxygen or hydrogen fuel cells.
Modern submarines are best described as cigar-shaped or with a “teardrop hull” – the hull being the outer body of the sub.
The shape helps reduce hydrodynamic drag when submerged but increases drag when the vessel surfaces.
There is a vertical structure located off centre closer to the front of the sub (as opposed to the rear where the propeller, or pump jet, is).
Ninja turtle: The ‘Turtle’ submarine.
Americans call it the “sail”, while Europeans prefer “fin”.
It is beneath this structure that the periscope, electronic masts (radio, radar, etc) and the control room (or the Conn) are normally located.
As subs are designed for use at great depths, there is immense pressure on the vessel. Smaller subs have single hulls but the bigger ones have double hulls.
The inner hull (pressure hull) protects the crew and the vessel from the water pressure and insulates them from freezing temperatures.
The outer hull shapes the submarine’s body. The ballast tanks, which control the ship’s buoyancy, are located between the two hulls.
Submarines are a mix of metal (the hull), air and water (the ballast). Submarines have to sink or float and this works on the principle of displacement of water and buoyancy.
Air is compressed and water fills the ballast, making the vessel denser than the surrounding ocean water and so it sinks.
When it has reached the level it wants, a certain amount of air is pumped back in so that the submarine hovers at that level.
Row your boat: A painting depicting what is apparently the first working submarine, designed by Cornelius Drebbel, on London’s Thames River in 1623.
And when it needs to rise, more air is pumped in, forcing the water out and making it lighter.
It’s not only the crew that have to worry about their weight (they need to keep fit and healthy) but the submarine itself too.
Burning fuel and using supplies change the weight of the sub.
So it has to be kept “trim” and there are two tanks (called trim tanks, of course): one in the front and one at the back that allow water to be pumped in or out.
Two controls are used for steering: the rudder for side to side (or yaw) movements and diving planes for rise and descent (or pitch).
There are two sets of diving planes: the sail planes (at the sail) and the stern planes at the back (stern) of the boat where the rudder and propeller are.
And let’s not forget how a submarine locates other vessels in the area while remaining undetected – it uses sonar (sounds waves travelling through water that hit an object).
Passive sonar uses sound from other objects to detect them; active sonar has the sub releasing a burst of sound that gives off a “ping”.
When the sound wave hits an object, it is reflected back and shows on the sub’s screen as a blip. The danger is that the enemy vessel may also detect this “ping”.
Are you ready now for your voyage to the bottom of the sea?
Sourced mainly from www.yesmag.ca/how_work/submarine.html and www.globalsecurity.org.
The Star
Glorious Food
Monday September 28, 2009
Food, glorious food
But Then Again with MARY SCHNEDER
I’VE just returned from a two-week assignment in Italy.
Although it was largely a working trip, I did manage to schedule some time away from my laptop, and my note-taking, and my recordings to enjoy all that my surroundings had to offer.
One of the most memorable moments of my trip saw me sitting alfresco, on the same street in Florence where Michelangelo’s statue of David can be found, enjoying a Ravioli di Magro and a glass of full-bodied red wine.
“It doesn’t get much better than this,” I found myself thinking.
“All this great culture, great food, great wine, great weather …” Perhaps a thesaurus at hand to give me an alternative for the word “great” might now give you a more accurate description of my surroundings, but everything sure felt great that day.
Another happy day saw me sitting in a client’s sun-filled garden, enjoying creamy lasagne, bruschetta and the sweetest tomatoes I’ve ever tasted and a glass of sparkling white wine – Italian Prozac, as I call it.
I enjoyed the lively company of two teenagers as my host pampered me.
After living on my own for six months, it was good to be with a family again – the great food just made it extra special.
Even on those days when I was working, I still managed to appreciate the Italian lifestyle.
Every morning found me in a bar around the corner from my office enjoying the company of a colleague, a frothy cappuccino and a cream-filled pastry. Workday mornings really don’t get much better than that.
I could go on, but I’m liable to get extremely hungry, wander off into my kitchen in search of sustenance and forget that I’m actually working. Such is the power of good food.
Of course, my gourmet trip came to an abrupt end as soon as I left Italian soil. There’s nothing like airline food, if indeed it can be called food, to bring you back down to earth, so to speak.
Despite my in-flight abstinence, I was painfully aware that I had some excess baggage in tow when I finally landed at Penang’s international airport – excess baggage that I couldn’t stow away in my fridge along with my stash of Italian cheese and salami.
My hedonistic stay in Italy had obviously taken its toll.
Of course, it didn’t help matters that my daughter, who is studying culinary arts at a college in Kuala Lumpur, had returned home for the long Raya break and was eager to pander to my every hunger pang.
After a sumptuous lunch, I slipped my jet-lagged body between crisp, virgin bed sheets and fell into a deep sleep, only to be woken by my daughter just before dusk.
It was time to get ready for her 18th birthday celebration. And what’s a celebration without good food?
“I’ve started so I’ll finish,” I told myself as I slipped into a loose-fitting dress. “My daughter’s birthday is more important than taking care of a few extra inches on my hips.”
Many of life’s other celebrations also revolve around food. There’s nothing quite like the pleasure I get from uniting with friends and family around a table to commemorate achievements, milestones and traditions.
For example, Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without a roast turkey; my birthday wouldn’t be complete without a dinner with the same two girlfriends who have celebrated with me every year for more than 20 years; and even the passing of a loved one calls for good food to comfort family and friends as they gather to remember a life just past.
When I’m feeling under the weather, food also features largely – I usually revert to the comfort food of my childhood.
On many occasions, I’ve sat down to a bowl of mashed potatoes smothered in gravy and followed by a cup of hot chocolate. Not a nutritionally sound meal, but it soothes me in a way that little else can.
I most certainly don’t live to eat, but my life would be a sadder place without the food I enjoy and the joy that comes from a shared meal.
The Star Lifestyle
Food, glorious food
But Then Again with MARY SCHNEDER
I’VE just returned from a two-week assignment in Italy.
Although it was largely a working trip, I did manage to schedule some time away from my laptop, and my note-taking, and my recordings to enjoy all that my surroundings had to offer.
One of the most memorable moments of my trip saw me sitting alfresco, on the same street in Florence where Michelangelo’s statue of David can be found, enjoying a Ravioli di Magro and a glass of full-bodied red wine.
“It doesn’t get much better than this,” I found myself thinking.
“All this great culture, great food, great wine, great weather …” Perhaps a thesaurus at hand to give me an alternative for the word “great” might now give you a more accurate description of my surroundings, but everything sure felt great that day.
Another happy day saw me sitting in a client’s sun-filled garden, enjoying creamy lasagne, bruschetta and the sweetest tomatoes I’ve ever tasted and a glass of sparkling white wine – Italian Prozac, as I call it.
I enjoyed the lively company of two teenagers as my host pampered me.
After living on my own for six months, it was good to be with a family again – the great food just made it extra special.
Even on those days when I was working, I still managed to appreciate the Italian lifestyle.
Every morning found me in a bar around the corner from my office enjoying the company of a colleague, a frothy cappuccino and a cream-filled pastry. Workday mornings really don’t get much better than that.
I could go on, but I’m liable to get extremely hungry, wander off into my kitchen in search of sustenance and forget that I’m actually working. Such is the power of good food.
Of course, my gourmet trip came to an abrupt end as soon as I left Italian soil. There’s nothing like airline food, if indeed it can be called food, to bring you back down to earth, so to speak.
Despite my in-flight abstinence, I was painfully aware that I had some excess baggage in tow when I finally landed at Penang’s international airport – excess baggage that I couldn’t stow away in my fridge along with my stash of Italian cheese and salami.
My hedonistic stay in Italy had obviously taken its toll.
Of course, it didn’t help matters that my daughter, who is studying culinary arts at a college in Kuala Lumpur, had returned home for the long Raya break and was eager to pander to my every hunger pang.
After a sumptuous lunch, I slipped my jet-lagged body between crisp, virgin bed sheets and fell into a deep sleep, only to be woken by my daughter just before dusk.
It was time to get ready for her 18th birthday celebration. And what’s a celebration without good food?
“I’ve started so I’ll finish,” I told myself as I slipped into a loose-fitting dress. “My daughter’s birthday is more important than taking care of a few extra inches on my hips.”
Many of life’s other celebrations also revolve around food. There’s nothing quite like the pleasure I get from uniting with friends and family around a table to commemorate achievements, milestones and traditions.
For example, Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without a roast turkey; my birthday wouldn’t be complete without a dinner with the same two girlfriends who have celebrated with me every year for more than 20 years; and even the passing of a loved one calls for good food to comfort family and friends as they gather to remember a life just past.
When I’m feeling under the weather, food also features largely – I usually revert to the comfort food of my childhood.
On many occasions, I’ve sat down to a bowl of mashed potatoes smothered in gravy and followed by a cup of hot chocolate. Not a nutritionally sound meal, but it soothes me in a way that little else can.
I most certainly don’t live to eat, but my life would be a sadder place without the food I enjoy and the joy that comes from a shared meal.
The Star Lifestyle
Polygamy Club Woos Malaysians
Monday September 28, 2009
Here come the brides: Polygamy club woos Malaysians
RAWANG: When she was practicing law, Kartini Maarof once went beyond the call of duty for her divorce client.
She arranged for Rohaya Mohamad, a mother of seven, to be married again - to Kartini's own husband.
The spouse they have shared for a decade is 43-year-old Ikramullah Ashaari, who has four wives and 17 children.
His 72-year-old father has 38 offspring from five marriages, without ever having flouted Islam's prescribed limit of four wives at a time.
Polygamy is legal for Muslims in Malaysia, though not widespread.
The Ashaari clan believes it should be.
Last month it launched a "Polygamy Club" that claims the noble aim of helping single mothers, reformed prostitutes and women who feel they are past the marrying age.
"We want to change the way people perceive polygamy, so that it will be seen as something beautiful instead of something disgusting," said Hatijah Aam, the founder of the club. She is the fourth wife of Ikramullah's father, Ashaari Muhammad.
Polygamy may seem out of place in an Asian democracy proud of its skyscrapers, high-tech skills and go-getter economy.
But it retains a foothold in this Muslim-majority country of 27 million where piety is deeply embedded and Muslims can be arrested for drinking alcohol or consorting with the opposite sex unless a couple is married.
The government also polices religious practice.
Ashaari, the family patriarch, used to head an Islamic sect that was banned in 1994 as heretical because it projected Ashaari as an absolver of sinners.
Most of the Polygamy Club members belonged to the sect, and there's nothing illegal about how they live now, so long as they're Muslims.
For the one-third of the population that isn't Muslim, polygamy is unlawful.
The practice used to be more common but has dwindled to an estimated 2 percent of all Muslim marriages as women have become freer and careers have opened up for them.
The polygamists point out that the Prophet Muhammad is thought to have married about a dozen women in his lifetime, including widows in need of protection.
"Some people treat polygamy as a laughing matter because they do not fully comprehend it," says Ikramullah, a jovial businessman and son of his father's first wife.
"But a community that practices it would know that it is not bizarre. In fact, you would be teased if you were a man with only one wife."
The club claims to number 300 husbands and 700 wives.
It hopes to cultivate examples of happy households to counter women's rights activists who say some spouses and children suffer in polygamous marriages.
Club members say polygamy deters adultery and would improve the marriage prospects of ex-prostitutes if more men were available to marry them.
But Shahrizat Abdul Jalil, the Muslim female minister in charge of family policy, says polygamy "is not a culture that is encouraged in our society."
Sisters in Islam, an advocacy group campaigning against polygamy, says it isn't good for women.
"If people choose to be monogamous, there are enough men for every woman," it said in a statement to The Associated Press.
One opponent of polygamy is a 42-year-old business executive who asked to be identified only as Sharifah.
She said she threatened to divorce her husband of nearly 15 years after he told her last year that he had fallen in love with a divorced mother of three, felt she needed help, and wanted to marry her.
"I felt like my fairy tale had ended," Sharifah said.
"He was my soul mate. ... I couldn't believe it was happening. Then I started to scream at him."
She said some people told her that agreeing to a second wife would secure her place in heaven.
But Sharifah, the breadwinner for her two children and jobless husband, refused to give in. The couple underwent marriage counseling and Sharifah's husband has promised not to marry the other woman.
"Women have to make a stand. We are getting more progressive. We know our rights," she said. "I will not enter into a polygamous marriage. I know I deserve better."
Kartini, 41, says polygamy has served her well; while she was busy arguing court cases, her husband's first wife would cook, clean and look after the children.
"The wives can complement each other," she said.
"Of course, you miss your husband and there are natural feelings of competition and jealousy at first.
But after a while, you try to become friends and you learn that you can share your problems with each other."
The club says most of its husbands keep each spouse in a home of her own unless the women agree to live under one roof. Many husbands rotate their days among households.
The tight-knit family is concentrated in Rawang, a town outside Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia's largest city.
They gather for religious holidays and other festivities, such as a recent "Family Day" where they performed songs for each other and picnicked.
They mingle easily in public, chatting and joking like any ordinary family.
The club is funded by the family's grocery stores, restaurants and other businesses. It plans to offer matchmaking, wedding planning and marriage counseling.
Hatijah, who became the patriarch's fourth wife in 1982, used to be skeptical of polygamy, and agreed to the marriage because she worried that at 27, she was getting too old to find a husband.
Now 54 and a mother of eight, she says: "What is wrong with sharing a husband? I've been doing so for nearly 30 years."
AP
Here come the brides: Polygamy club woos Malaysians
RAWANG: When she was practicing law, Kartini Maarof once went beyond the call of duty for her divorce client.
She arranged for Rohaya Mohamad, a mother of seven, to be married again - to Kartini's own husband.
The spouse they have shared for a decade is 43-year-old Ikramullah Ashaari, who has four wives and 17 children.
His 72-year-old father has 38 offspring from five marriages, without ever having flouted Islam's prescribed limit of four wives at a time.
Polygamy is legal for Muslims in Malaysia, though not widespread.
The Ashaari clan believes it should be.
Last month it launched a "Polygamy Club" that claims the noble aim of helping single mothers, reformed prostitutes and women who feel they are past the marrying age.
"We want to change the way people perceive polygamy, so that it will be seen as something beautiful instead of something disgusting," said Hatijah Aam, the founder of the club. She is the fourth wife of Ikramullah's father, Ashaari Muhammad.
Polygamy may seem out of place in an Asian democracy proud of its skyscrapers, high-tech skills and go-getter economy.
But it retains a foothold in this Muslim-majority country of 27 million where piety is deeply embedded and Muslims can be arrested for drinking alcohol or consorting with the opposite sex unless a couple is married.
The government also polices religious practice.
Ashaari, the family patriarch, used to head an Islamic sect that was banned in 1994 as heretical because it projected Ashaari as an absolver of sinners.
Most of the Polygamy Club members belonged to the sect, and there's nothing illegal about how they live now, so long as they're Muslims.
For the one-third of the population that isn't Muslim, polygamy is unlawful.
The practice used to be more common but has dwindled to an estimated 2 percent of all Muslim marriages as women have become freer and careers have opened up for them.
The polygamists point out that the Prophet Muhammad is thought to have married about a dozen women in his lifetime, including widows in need of protection.
"Some people treat polygamy as a laughing matter because they do not fully comprehend it," says Ikramullah, a jovial businessman and son of his father's first wife.
"But a community that practices it would know that it is not bizarre. In fact, you would be teased if you were a man with only one wife."
The club claims to number 300 husbands and 700 wives.
It hopes to cultivate examples of happy households to counter women's rights activists who say some spouses and children suffer in polygamous marriages.
Club members say polygamy deters adultery and would improve the marriage prospects of ex-prostitutes if more men were available to marry them.
But Shahrizat Abdul Jalil, the Muslim female minister in charge of family policy, says polygamy "is not a culture that is encouraged in our society."
Sisters in Islam, an advocacy group campaigning against polygamy, says it isn't good for women.
"If people choose to be monogamous, there are enough men for every woman," it said in a statement to The Associated Press.
One opponent of polygamy is a 42-year-old business executive who asked to be identified only as Sharifah.
She said she threatened to divorce her husband of nearly 15 years after he told her last year that he had fallen in love with a divorced mother of three, felt she needed help, and wanted to marry her.
"I felt like my fairy tale had ended," Sharifah said.
"He was my soul mate. ... I couldn't believe it was happening. Then I started to scream at him."
She said some people told her that agreeing to a second wife would secure her place in heaven.
But Sharifah, the breadwinner for her two children and jobless husband, refused to give in. The couple underwent marriage counseling and Sharifah's husband has promised not to marry the other woman.
"Women have to make a stand. We are getting more progressive. We know our rights," she said. "I will not enter into a polygamous marriage. I know I deserve better."
Kartini, 41, says polygamy has served her well; while she was busy arguing court cases, her husband's first wife would cook, clean and look after the children.
"The wives can complement each other," she said.
"Of course, you miss your husband and there are natural feelings of competition and jealousy at first.
But after a while, you try to become friends and you learn that you can share your problems with each other."
The club says most of its husbands keep each spouse in a home of her own unless the women agree to live under one roof. Many husbands rotate their days among households.
The tight-knit family is concentrated in Rawang, a town outside Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia's largest city.
They gather for religious holidays and other festivities, such as a recent "Family Day" where they performed songs for each other and picnicked.
They mingle easily in public, chatting and joking like any ordinary family.
The club is funded by the family's grocery stores, restaurants and other businesses. It plans to offer matchmaking, wedding planning and marriage counseling.
Hatijah, who became the patriarch's fourth wife in 1982, used to be skeptical of polygamy, and agreed to the marriage because she worried that at 27, she was getting too old to find a husband.
Now 54 and a mother of eight, she says: "What is wrong with sharing a husband? I've been doing so for nearly 30 years."
AP
Fetish Sex Hubby Needs Psychiatric Help
Monday September 28, 2009
Fetish sex hubby needs psychiatric help, says exco man
KUALA TERENGGANU: A 35-year-old man who inserted various objects, including his toes, into his wife’s private parts to satisfy his lust needs psychiatric attention immediately, Terengganu executive councillor Ashaari Idris said.
Ashaari, who is also state Welfare, Community Development and Women’s Affairs Committee chairman said, the man, from Besut, needed help before he preyed on others, particularly young girls to satisfy his sexual desires.
The man’s 28-year-old wife lodged a report against her husband last Monday, alleging that he had inserted various objects into her private parts.
“This man should be referred to a psychotherapist to treat his sexual disorder before he targets innocents,” he told The Star yesterday.
Ashaari said the wife claimed that she endured much pain each time the couple had intercourse because of the husband’s actions.
“The wife could no longer tolerate the man’s sexual acts and she lodged a report against him.
“This is a rare thing in our society, especially in a small place like Besut,” he said.
In her report, the housewife alleged that her husband had tried to insert his toes into her private parts again at 1am on Monday, triggering a heated argument between the couple.
She lodged a report at 4am at the Besut police headquarters the same day. The couple, who have been married for five years, have a three-year-old son.
The police later referred the case to the Besut Religious Department after a medical report on the housewife revealed there were no injuries on her.
The couple was said to have previously separated for a while before reconciling a few months ago.
By R.S.N. MURALI
The Star
Fetish sex hubby needs psychiatric help, says exco man
KUALA TERENGGANU: A 35-year-old man who inserted various objects, including his toes, into his wife’s private parts to satisfy his lust needs psychiatric attention immediately, Terengganu executive councillor Ashaari Idris said.
Ashaari, who is also state Welfare, Community Development and Women’s Affairs Committee chairman said, the man, from Besut, needed help before he preyed on others, particularly young girls to satisfy his sexual desires.
The man’s 28-year-old wife lodged a report against her husband last Monday, alleging that he had inserted various objects into her private parts.
“This man should be referred to a psychotherapist to treat his sexual disorder before he targets innocents,” he told The Star yesterday.
Ashaari said the wife claimed that she endured much pain each time the couple had intercourse because of the husband’s actions.
“The wife could no longer tolerate the man’s sexual acts and she lodged a report against him.
“This is a rare thing in our society, especially in a small place like Besut,” he said.
In her report, the housewife alleged that her husband had tried to insert his toes into her private parts again at 1am on Monday, triggering a heated argument between the couple.
She lodged a report at 4am at the Besut police headquarters the same day. The couple, who have been married for five years, have a three-year-old son.
The police later referred the case to the Besut Religious Department after a medical report on the housewife revealed there were no injuries on her.
The couple was said to have previously separated for a while before reconciling a few months ago.
By R.S.N. MURALI
The Star
Monday, September 28, 2009
Why Women Have Sex
According to a new book, there are 237 reasons why women have sex. And most of them have little to do with romance or pleasure
by Tanya Gold
The Guardian, Monday 28 September 2009
Perefect symmetry: Brad Pitt and Geena Davis in Thelma and Louise. Photograph: Ronald Grant Archive
Do you want to know why women have sex with men with tiny little feet? I am stroking a book called Why Women Have Sex. It is by Cindy Meston, a clinical psychologist, and David Buss, an evolutionary psychologist. It is a very thick, bulging book. I've never really wondered Why Women Have Sex. But after years of not asking the question, the answer is splayed before me.
Meston and Buss have interviewed 1,006 women from all over the world about their sexual motivation, and in doing so they have identified 237 different reasons why women have sex.
Not 235. Not 236. But 237. And what are they? From the reams of confessions, it emerges that women have sex for physical, emotional and material reasons; to boost their self-esteem, to keep their lovers, or because they are raped or coerced. Love? That's just a song. We are among the bad apes now.
Why, I ask Meston, have people never really talked about this? Alfred Kinsey, the "father" of sexology, asked 7,985 people about their sexual histories in the 1940s and 50s; Masters and Johnson observed people having orgasms for most of the 60s. But they never asked why. Why?
"People just assumed the answer was obvious," Meston says. "To feel good. Nobody has really talked about how women can use sex for all sorts of resources." She rattles off a list and as she says it, I realise I knew it all along: "promotion, money, drugs, bartering, for revenge, to get back at a partner who has cheated on them. To make themselves feel good. To make their partners feel bad." Women, she says, "can use sex at every stage of the relationship, from luring a man into the relationship, to try and keep a man so he is fulfilled and doesn't stray. Duty. Using sex to get rid of him or to make him jealous."
"We never ever expected it to be so diverse," she says. "From the altruistic to the borderline evil." Evil? "Wanting to give someone a sexually transmitted infection," she explains. I turn to the book. I am slightly afraid of it. Who wants to have their romantic fantasies reduced to evolutional processes?
The first question asked is: what thrills women? Or, as the book puts it: "Why do the faces of Antonio Banderas and George Clooney excite so many women?"
We are, apparently, scrabbling around for what biologists call "genetic benefits" and "resource benefits". Genetic benefits are the genes that produce healthy children. Resource benefits are the things that help us protect our healthy children, which is why women sometimes like men with big houses. Jane Eyre, I think, can be read as a love letter to a big house.
"When a woman is sexually attracted to a man because he smells good, she doesn't know why she is sexually attracted to that man," says Buss. "She doesn't know that he might have a MHC gene complex complimentary to hers, or that he smells good because he has symmetrical features."
So Why Women Have Sex is partly a primer for decoding personal ads. Tall, symmetrical face, cartoonish V-shaped body? I have good genes for your brats. Affluent, GSOH – if too fond of acronyms – and kind? I have resource benefits for your brats. I knew this already; that is how Bill Clinton got sex, despite his astonishing resemblance to a moving potato. It also explains why Vladimir Putin has become a sex god and poses topless with his fishing rod.
Then I learn why women marry accountants; it's a trade-off. "Clooneyish" men tend to be unfaithful, because men have a different genetic agenda from women – they want to impregnate lots of healthy women. Meston and Buss call them "risk-taking, womanising 'bad boys'". So, women might use sex to bag a less dazzling but more faithful mate. He will have fewer genetic benefits but more resource benefits that he will make available, because he will not run away. This explains why women marry accountants. Accountants stick around – and sometimes they have tiny little feet!
And so to the main reason women have sex. The idol of "women do it for love, and men for joy" lies broken on the rug like a mutilated sex toy: it's orgasm, orgasm, orgasm. "A lot of women in our studies said they just wanted sex for the pure physical pleasure," Meston says. Meston and Buss garnish this revelation with so much amazing detail that I am distracted. I can't concentrate. Did you know that the World Health Organisation has a Women's Orgasm Committee? That "the G-spot" is named after the German physician Ernst Gräfenberg? That there are 26 definitions of orgasm?
And so, to the second most important reason why women have sex – love. "Romantic love," Meston and Buss write, "is the topic of more than 1,000 songs sold on iTunes." And, if people don't have love, terrible things can happen, in literature and life: "Cleopatra poisoned herself with a snake and Ophelia went mad and drowned." Women say they use sex to express love and to get it, and to try to keep it.
Love: an insurance policy
And what is love? Love is apparently a form of "long-term commitment insurance" that ensures your mate is less likely to leave you, should your legs fall off or your ovaries fall out. Take that, Danielle Steele – you may think you live in 2009 but your genes are still in the stone age, with only chest hair between you and a bloody death. We also get data which confirms that, due to the chemicals your brain produces – dopamine, norepinephrine and phenylethylamine – you are, when you are in love, technically what I have always suspected you to be – mad as Stalin.
And is the world mad? According to surveys, which Meston and Buss helpfully whip out from their inexhaustible box of every survey ever surveyed, 73% of Russian women are in love, and 63% of Japanese women are in love. What percentage of women in north London are in love, they know not. But not as many men are in love. Only 61% of Russian men are in love and only 41% of Japanese men are in love. Which means that 12% of Russian women and 22% of Japanese women are totally wasting their time.
And then there is sex as man-theft. "Sometimes men who are high in mate value are in relationships or many of them simply pursue a short-term sexual strategy and don't want commitment," Buss explains. "There isn't this huge pool of highly desirable men just sitting out there waiting for women." It's true. So how do we liberate desirable men from other women? We "mate poach". And how do we do that? We "compete to embody what men want" – high heels to show off our pelvises, lip-gloss to make men think about vaginas, and we see off our rivals with slander. We spread gossip – "She's easy!" – because that makes the slandered woman less inviting to men as a long-term partner. She may get short-term genetic benefits but she can sing all night for the resource benefits, like a cat sitting out in the rain. Then – then! – the gossiper mates with the man herself.
We also use sex to "mate guard". I love this phrase. It is so evocative an image – I can see a man in a cage, and a woman with a spear and a bottle of baby oil. Women regularly have sex with their mates to stop them seeking it elsewhere. Mate guarding is closely related to "a sense of duty", a popular reason for sex, best expressed by the Meston and Buss interviewee who says: "Most of the time I just lie there and make lists in my head. I grunt once in a while so he knows I'm awake, and then I tell him how great it was when it's over. We are happily married."
Women often mate guard by flaunting healthy sexual relationships. "In a very public display of presumed rivalry," Meston writes, "in 2008 singer and actress Jessica Simpson appeared with her boyfriend, Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo, wearing a shirt with the tagline Real Girls Eat Meat. Fans interpreted it as a competitive dig at Romo's previous mate, who is a vegetarian."
Meston and Buss also explain why the girls in my class at school went down like dominoes in 1990. One week we were maidens, the following week, we were not. We were, apparently, having sex to see if we liked it, so we could tell other schoolgirls that we had done it and to practise sexual techniques: "As a woman I don't want to be a dead fish," says one female. Another interviewee wanted to practise for her wedding night.
The authors lubricate this with a description of the male genitalia, again food themed. I include it because I am immature. "In Masters & Johnson's [1966] study of over 300 flaccid penises the largest was 5.5 inches long (about the size of a bratwurst sausage); the smallest non-erect penis was 2.25 inches (about the size of a breakfast sausage)."
Ever had sex out of pity and wondered why? "Women," say Meston and Buss, "for the most part, are the ones who give soup to the sick, cookies to the elderly and . . . sex to the forlorn." "Tired, but he wanted it," says one female. Pause for more amazing detail: fat people are more likely to stay in a relationship because no one else wants them.
Women also mate to get the things they think they want – drugs, handbags, jobs, drugs. "The degree to which economics plays out in sexual motivations," Buss says, "surprised me. Not just prostitution. Sex economics plays out even in regular relationships. Women have sex so that the guy would mow the lawn or take out the garbage. You exchange sex for dinner." He quotes some students from the University of Michigan. It is an affluent university, but 9% of students said they had "initiated an attempt to trade sex for some tangible benefit".
Medicinal sex
Then there is sex to feel better. Women use sex to cure their migraines. This is explained by the release of endormorphins during sex – they are a pain reliever. Sex can even help relieve period pains. (Why are periods called periods? Please, someone tell me. Write in.)
Women also have sex because they are raped, coerced or lied to, although we have defences against deception – men will often copulate on the first date, women on the third, so they will know it is love (madness). Some use sex to tell their partner they don't want them any more – by sleeping with somebody else. Some use it to feel desirable; some to get a new car. There are very few things we will not use sex for. As Meston says, "Women can use sex at every stage of the relationship."
And there you have it – most of the reasons why women have sex, although, as Meston says, "There are probably a few more." Probably. Before I read this book I watched women eating men in ignorance. Now, when I look at them, I can hear David Attenborough talking in my head: "The larger female is closing in on her prey. The smaller female has been ostracised by her rival's machinations, and slinks away." The complex human race has been reduced in my mind to a group of little apes, running around, rutting and squeaking.
I am not sure if I feel empowered or dismayed. I thought that my lover adored me. No – it is because I have a symmetrical face. "I love you so much," he would say, if he could read his evolutionary impulses, "because you have a symmetrical face!" "Oh, how I love the smell of your compatible genes!" I would say back. "Symmetrical face!" "Compatible genes!" "Symmetrical face!" "Compatible genes!" And so we would osculate (kiss). I am really just a monkey trying to survive. I close the book.
I think I knew that.
by Tanya Gold
The Guardian, Monday 28 September 2009
Perefect symmetry: Brad Pitt and Geena Davis in Thelma and Louise. Photograph: Ronald Grant Archive
Do you want to know why women have sex with men with tiny little feet? I am stroking a book called Why Women Have Sex. It is by Cindy Meston, a clinical psychologist, and David Buss, an evolutionary psychologist. It is a very thick, bulging book. I've never really wondered Why Women Have Sex. But after years of not asking the question, the answer is splayed before me.
Meston and Buss have interviewed 1,006 women from all over the world about their sexual motivation, and in doing so they have identified 237 different reasons why women have sex.
Not 235. Not 236. But 237. And what are they? From the reams of confessions, it emerges that women have sex for physical, emotional and material reasons; to boost their self-esteem, to keep their lovers, or because they are raped or coerced. Love? That's just a song. We are among the bad apes now.
Why, I ask Meston, have people never really talked about this? Alfred Kinsey, the "father" of sexology, asked 7,985 people about their sexual histories in the 1940s and 50s; Masters and Johnson observed people having orgasms for most of the 60s. But they never asked why. Why?
"People just assumed the answer was obvious," Meston says. "To feel good. Nobody has really talked about how women can use sex for all sorts of resources." She rattles off a list and as she says it, I realise I knew it all along: "promotion, money, drugs, bartering, for revenge, to get back at a partner who has cheated on them. To make themselves feel good. To make their partners feel bad." Women, she says, "can use sex at every stage of the relationship, from luring a man into the relationship, to try and keep a man so he is fulfilled and doesn't stray. Duty. Using sex to get rid of him or to make him jealous."
"We never ever expected it to be so diverse," she says. "From the altruistic to the borderline evil." Evil? "Wanting to give someone a sexually transmitted infection," she explains. I turn to the book. I am slightly afraid of it. Who wants to have their romantic fantasies reduced to evolutional processes?
The first question asked is: what thrills women? Or, as the book puts it: "Why do the faces of Antonio Banderas and George Clooney excite so many women?"
We are, apparently, scrabbling around for what biologists call "genetic benefits" and "resource benefits". Genetic benefits are the genes that produce healthy children. Resource benefits are the things that help us protect our healthy children, which is why women sometimes like men with big houses. Jane Eyre, I think, can be read as a love letter to a big house.
"When a woman is sexually attracted to a man because he smells good, she doesn't know why she is sexually attracted to that man," says Buss. "She doesn't know that he might have a MHC gene complex complimentary to hers, or that he smells good because he has symmetrical features."
So Why Women Have Sex is partly a primer for decoding personal ads. Tall, symmetrical face, cartoonish V-shaped body? I have good genes for your brats. Affluent, GSOH – if too fond of acronyms – and kind? I have resource benefits for your brats. I knew this already; that is how Bill Clinton got sex, despite his astonishing resemblance to a moving potato. It also explains why Vladimir Putin has become a sex god and poses topless with his fishing rod.
Then I learn why women marry accountants; it's a trade-off. "Clooneyish" men tend to be unfaithful, because men have a different genetic agenda from women – they want to impregnate lots of healthy women. Meston and Buss call them "risk-taking, womanising 'bad boys'". So, women might use sex to bag a less dazzling but more faithful mate. He will have fewer genetic benefits but more resource benefits that he will make available, because he will not run away. This explains why women marry accountants. Accountants stick around – and sometimes they have tiny little feet!
And so to the main reason women have sex. The idol of "women do it for love, and men for joy" lies broken on the rug like a mutilated sex toy: it's orgasm, orgasm, orgasm. "A lot of women in our studies said they just wanted sex for the pure physical pleasure," Meston says. Meston and Buss garnish this revelation with so much amazing detail that I am distracted. I can't concentrate. Did you know that the World Health Organisation has a Women's Orgasm Committee? That "the G-spot" is named after the German physician Ernst Gräfenberg? That there are 26 definitions of orgasm?
And so, to the second most important reason why women have sex – love. "Romantic love," Meston and Buss write, "is the topic of more than 1,000 songs sold on iTunes." And, if people don't have love, terrible things can happen, in literature and life: "Cleopatra poisoned herself with a snake and Ophelia went mad and drowned." Women say they use sex to express love and to get it, and to try to keep it.
Love: an insurance policy
And what is love? Love is apparently a form of "long-term commitment insurance" that ensures your mate is less likely to leave you, should your legs fall off or your ovaries fall out. Take that, Danielle Steele – you may think you live in 2009 but your genes are still in the stone age, with only chest hair between you and a bloody death. We also get data which confirms that, due to the chemicals your brain produces – dopamine, norepinephrine and phenylethylamine – you are, when you are in love, technically what I have always suspected you to be – mad as Stalin.
And is the world mad? According to surveys, which Meston and Buss helpfully whip out from their inexhaustible box of every survey ever surveyed, 73% of Russian women are in love, and 63% of Japanese women are in love. What percentage of women in north London are in love, they know not. But not as many men are in love. Only 61% of Russian men are in love and only 41% of Japanese men are in love. Which means that 12% of Russian women and 22% of Japanese women are totally wasting their time.
And then there is sex as man-theft. "Sometimes men who are high in mate value are in relationships or many of them simply pursue a short-term sexual strategy and don't want commitment," Buss explains. "There isn't this huge pool of highly desirable men just sitting out there waiting for women." It's true. So how do we liberate desirable men from other women? We "mate poach". And how do we do that? We "compete to embody what men want" – high heels to show off our pelvises, lip-gloss to make men think about vaginas, and we see off our rivals with slander. We spread gossip – "She's easy!" – because that makes the slandered woman less inviting to men as a long-term partner. She may get short-term genetic benefits but she can sing all night for the resource benefits, like a cat sitting out in the rain. Then – then! – the gossiper mates with the man herself.
We also use sex to "mate guard". I love this phrase. It is so evocative an image – I can see a man in a cage, and a woman with a spear and a bottle of baby oil. Women regularly have sex with their mates to stop them seeking it elsewhere. Mate guarding is closely related to "a sense of duty", a popular reason for sex, best expressed by the Meston and Buss interviewee who says: "Most of the time I just lie there and make lists in my head. I grunt once in a while so he knows I'm awake, and then I tell him how great it was when it's over. We are happily married."
Women often mate guard by flaunting healthy sexual relationships. "In a very public display of presumed rivalry," Meston writes, "in 2008 singer and actress Jessica Simpson appeared with her boyfriend, Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo, wearing a shirt with the tagline Real Girls Eat Meat. Fans interpreted it as a competitive dig at Romo's previous mate, who is a vegetarian."
Meston and Buss also explain why the girls in my class at school went down like dominoes in 1990. One week we were maidens, the following week, we were not. We were, apparently, having sex to see if we liked it, so we could tell other schoolgirls that we had done it and to practise sexual techniques: "As a woman I don't want to be a dead fish," says one female. Another interviewee wanted to practise for her wedding night.
The authors lubricate this with a description of the male genitalia, again food themed. I include it because I am immature. "In Masters & Johnson's [1966] study of over 300 flaccid penises the largest was 5.5 inches long (about the size of a bratwurst sausage); the smallest non-erect penis was 2.25 inches (about the size of a breakfast sausage)."
Ever had sex out of pity and wondered why? "Women," say Meston and Buss, "for the most part, are the ones who give soup to the sick, cookies to the elderly and . . . sex to the forlorn." "Tired, but he wanted it," says one female. Pause for more amazing detail: fat people are more likely to stay in a relationship because no one else wants them.
Women also mate to get the things they think they want – drugs, handbags, jobs, drugs. "The degree to which economics plays out in sexual motivations," Buss says, "surprised me. Not just prostitution. Sex economics plays out even in regular relationships. Women have sex so that the guy would mow the lawn or take out the garbage. You exchange sex for dinner." He quotes some students from the University of Michigan. It is an affluent university, but 9% of students said they had "initiated an attempt to trade sex for some tangible benefit".
Medicinal sex
Then there is sex to feel better. Women use sex to cure their migraines. This is explained by the release of endormorphins during sex – they are a pain reliever. Sex can even help relieve period pains. (Why are periods called periods? Please, someone tell me. Write in.)
Women also have sex because they are raped, coerced or lied to, although we have defences against deception – men will often copulate on the first date, women on the third, so they will know it is love (madness). Some use sex to tell their partner they don't want them any more – by sleeping with somebody else. Some use it to feel desirable; some to get a new car. There are very few things we will not use sex for. As Meston says, "Women can use sex at every stage of the relationship."
And there you have it – most of the reasons why women have sex, although, as Meston says, "There are probably a few more." Probably. Before I read this book I watched women eating men in ignorance. Now, when I look at them, I can hear David Attenborough talking in my head: "The larger female is closing in on her prey. The smaller female has been ostracised by her rival's machinations, and slinks away." The complex human race has been reduced in my mind to a group of little apes, running around, rutting and squeaking.
I am not sure if I feel empowered or dismayed. I thought that my lover adored me. No – it is because I have a symmetrical face. "I love you so much," he would say, if he could read his evolutionary impulses, "because you have a symmetrical face!" "Oh, how I love the smell of your compatible genes!" I would say back. "Symmetrical face!" "Compatible genes!" "Symmetrical face!" "Compatible genes!" And so we would osculate (kiss). I am really just a monkey trying to survive. I close the book.
I think I knew that.
The Muslim Is Honest and Truthful
The Muslim is Honest and Truthful in All His Affairs
From Abu Hurairah (radhiyallah hu ‘anhu) who said that Allah’s Messenger, Muhammdas pbuh said:
“Three things are the sign of the hypocrite: when he speaks he tells lies, when he promises he breaks it, and when he is trusted he proves to be dishonest”(Hadith reported by Bukhari and Muslim)
So he is truthful and honest in his speech, faithful to his promise, trustworthy in carrying out that which he has been entrusted with. He does not deceive or defraud, he does not tell lies and is not guilty of hypocrisy. So truthfulness and honesty are two main good qualities whereas falsehood is the root of corruption and evil. His honesty keeps him far away from evil and foul deeds and sickness of the heart. Therefore whatever action he does, he does it for Allah the One free and far removed from all defects, not to attain some worldly position, fame or repute. So his motto is Knowledge for Knowledge.
From Abu Hurairah (radhiyallah hu ‘anhu) who said that Allah’s Messenger, Muhammdas pbuh said:
“Three things are the sign of the hypocrite: when he speaks he tells lies, when he promises he breaks it, and when he is trusted he proves to be dishonest”(Hadith reported by Bukhari and Muslim)
So he is truthful and honest in his speech, faithful to his promise, trustworthy in carrying out that which he has been entrusted with. He does not deceive or defraud, he does not tell lies and is not guilty of hypocrisy. So truthfulness and honesty are two main good qualities whereas falsehood is the root of corruption and evil. His honesty keeps him far away from evil and foul deeds and sickness of the heart. Therefore whatever action he does, he does it for Allah the One free and far removed from all defects, not to attain some worldly position, fame or repute. So his motto is Knowledge for Knowledge.
Tired, Hired Hearts
Sunday September 27, 2009
Your heart might be in your work, but is work putting your heart first?
ARE you working your heart into an early grave? According to the World Heart Federation (WHF), at least four out of five premature deaths from heart disease and stroke – together, the leading cause of death in Malaysia and worldwide – could be prevented by being physical active, eating healthily, and not smoking.
So the answer is most likely “yes” if your job keeps you in the office for so long that you haven’t the time or energy to exercise; or it stresses you out so much that you take frequent smoking breaks to cope; or you tend to skip breakfast and starve through lunch in order to finish one last piece of work after another, only to binge on the nearest available comfort food after that.
If that’s the case, you need to consider making some heart-friendly changes at work. There’s no better day to start than today (apart from yesterday), because today is international World Heart Day 2009.
Heart at work
This focus of this year’s World Heart Day is on changing attitudes towards cardiovascular health at work.
Most of us spend over half our active hours at work, so where we work and what we do there has a great impact on our physical, mental, and social health.
The workplace can be a prime breeding ground for stress (deadlines, deadlines); depression (“Why didn’t I get promoted!?”); back problems and repetitive stress injuries; and unhealthy eating habits (sugary, fatty snacks at multiple tea breaks, unbalanced hawker meals). In other words, it can be an environment that gets you down while increasing your risk of heart disease and stroke, among other diseases.
Or, it can be a healthy and enabling environment that integrates health promotion, education, and screenings into employee schedules. In other words, an environment that promotes all-round wellness while reducing your risk of chronic diseases. The benefits of the healthy option are many and obvious:
·It saves lives. Almost half of those who die from chronic diseases die during the productive periods of their lives (ages 15 to 69). Since many of the causes of these diseases are controllable, a few gentle prods and timely screenings can make a big difference.
·It increases personal well-being. Physically active employees are full of endorphins - mood-boosting hormones that create a sense of wellness. As a result, they enjoy their work more, experience increased concentration and mental alertness, often have better rapport with colleagues, and cope better with tension. In short, they are much more pleasant to work with.
·It has social benefits. Group activities with colleagues or outside work are great ways to meet people outside your usual team and expand your network of friends. Feeling healthy and developing new skills builds confidence and can help you feel more in control of your life.
·It pays back. It takes a healthy workforce to power a healthy business. Tangible benefits include increased productivity; reduced absenteeism, organisational conflict, and medical costs (for both employers and employees); fewer workplace injuries; a positive corporate image with increased brand value; and improved morale, loyalty, and staff retention.
Which situation you find yourself in depends largely on the prevailing attitude of your employer, and somewhat on yours. If you think the outcomes above sound good, read on to see how you can make them a reality.
Tips for employers
·Take a stand. Establish in-house health policies, e.g. no tobacco use in the building, free annual flu vaccinations, health screenings or even an apple a day, and explain why they are being implemented.
·Educate. Offer information to workers, such as leaflets and posters telling people about the risk factors for heart disease and stroke, e.g. those currently available at world-heart-federation.org/what-we-do/world-heart-day/.
·Encourage exercise at/near work. A moderate amount of exercise – at least 30 minutes a day, three times a week – can reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. Set up a company gym or work out a subsidised corporate package at a nearby private gym for your workers.
Alternatively, get creative like advertising agency Leo Burnett Kuala Lumpur. Not only did the company subsidise weekly yoga lessons for staff members, it literally brought the lessons to them. The classes were conducted in their office itself to accommodate busy executives who were chained to their desks while waiting for completed work and client decisions.
·Encourage exercise away from work. Do a little corridor research and see if there is a large group of line dancers, soccer players, or rock climbers who would be happy to exercise more frequently if the activity was subsidised. If futsal isn’t popular, maybe paintball will be.
·Encourage physical activity during work. For example, from May to August this year, Tawakal Hospital, KL, ran a use-the-stairs campaign, during which staff members were assigned to groups and made to use the hospital staircases (instead of the lifts) on rotation. This worked out to each person hiking up and down for two out of five working days a week.
·Encourage good eating habits. If you have a canteen, offer information about the calorie and fat content of the food provided, and encourage and/or subsidise the provision of healthy options (less fat, less salt, use more whole grains, natural products, fruits, and vegetables.)
In his long career, Heart Foundation of Malaysia director and consultant cardiologist Datuk Dr. Khoo Kah Lin hasn’t come across a local company that does so, but hopes many will take the initiative. (The only example he can recall is the cafeteria of the Heart House, the headquarters of the American College of Cardiology in Washington D.C.)
“Certainly it will help a lot. Eating well, either at home, at the office, or outside has a big role to play,” he says.
But can you issue instructions and start straightaway? Not without a sound education process, cautions Dr. Khoo. Canteen operators need to be educated on what healthy food is and isn’t. And since canteen operators are businessmen, consumers need to support the operators. It will take time and money, but, in his opinion, it will be time and money well spent.
Tips for employees:
·Know your numbers. Keep track of your blood pressure, cholesterol and glucose levels, abdominal girth and Body Mass Index.
Ask your doctor two “normal” questions at your check ups: what the normal range of a given reading is and what the normal range for you is (only possible if you go regularly.) Assess your overall cardiovascular disease risk with him and develop an action plan to improve your cardiovascular health.
·Give up smoking. Your risk of coronary heart disease will be halved within a year and will return to a normal level over time.
·Get active. Take the stairs; fill up a cup – not a bottle – at the water cooler, so you have to walk back and forth more often; pace while waiting for photocopies; walk around your building during your break; park further away from your office entrance and speed-walk to it; or do a few desk press-ups (like a push-up, but off the edge of your desk.)
·Eat better. Choose healthier options (see above), or bring food from home if none are available. Be wary of processed foods; they’re more convenient on the go, but they often contain high levels of salt and sugar.
Eat at least five servings of fruit and vegetables a day. Fruits are especially cheap and available in handy, ready-to-eat portions, so you’ve no excuse. Examples of one serving include an apple, or two pisang mas, or a small fistful of cauliflower. For a fantastic guide on 5-a-day, visit www.5aday.nhs.uk.
If you want to forget all the palaver about saturated versus unsaturated fat, poly- and monounsaturated fat, and trans-fat versus non-trans-fat (cis-fat, if you’re curious), then abide by Dr. Khoo’s simple rule: minimise fat intake, period. As he says on the Asian Food Channel programme Palm Oil: Good Fat, Bad Fat - “As far as I’m concerned, there’s no such thing as a good fat.”
·Speak up. If there are policy changes you’d like to see, don’t just dream/gripe about them.
Do your homework (What can be done? What’s being done successfully elsewhere?); then enlist supporters (How many workers want this change?); then structure your case (What are the benefits for all concerned, especially the company as a whole?); then present your case to your human resource department. Be a catalyst for change in your organisation.
The Star
Your heart might be in your work, but is work putting your heart first?
ARE you working your heart into an early grave? According to the World Heart Federation (WHF), at least four out of five premature deaths from heart disease and stroke – together, the leading cause of death in Malaysia and worldwide – could be prevented by being physical active, eating healthily, and not smoking.
So the answer is most likely “yes” if your job keeps you in the office for so long that you haven’t the time or energy to exercise; or it stresses you out so much that you take frequent smoking breaks to cope; or you tend to skip breakfast and starve through lunch in order to finish one last piece of work after another, only to binge on the nearest available comfort food after that.
If that’s the case, you need to consider making some heart-friendly changes at work. There’s no better day to start than today (apart from yesterday), because today is international World Heart Day 2009.
Heart at work
This focus of this year’s World Heart Day is on changing attitudes towards cardiovascular health at work.
Most of us spend over half our active hours at work, so where we work and what we do there has a great impact on our physical, mental, and social health.
The workplace can be a prime breeding ground for stress (deadlines, deadlines); depression (“Why didn’t I get promoted!?”); back problems and repetitive stress injuries; and unhealthy eating habits (sugary, fatty snacks at multiple tea breaks, unbalanced hawker meals). In other words, it can be an environment that gets you down while increasing your risk of heart disease and stroke, among other diseases.
Or, it can be a healthy and enabling environment that integrates health promotion, education, and screenings into employee schedules. In other words, an environment that promotes all-round wellness while reducing your risk of chronic diseases. The benefits of the healthy option are many and obvious:
·It saves lives. Almost half of those who die from chronic diseases die during the productive periods of their lives (ages 15 to 69). Since many of the causes of these diseases are controllable, a few gentle prods and timely screenings can make a big difference.
·It increases personal well-being. Physically active employees are full of endorphins - mood-boosting hormones that create a sense of wellness. As a result, they enjoy their work more, experience increased concentration and mental alertness, often have better rapport with colleagues, and cope better with tension. In short, they are much more pleasant to work with.
·It has social benefits. Group activities with colleagues or outside work are great ways to meet people outside your usual team and expand your network of friends. Feeling healthy and developing new skills builds confidence and can help you feel more in control of your life.
·It pays back. It takes a healthy workforce to power a healthy business. Tangible benefits include increased productivity; reduced absenteeism, organisational conflict, and medical costs (for both employers and employees); fewer workplace injuries; a positive corporate image with increased brand value; and improved morale, loyalty, and staff retention.
Which situation you find yourself in depends largely on the prevailing attitude of your employer, and somewhat on yours. If you think the outcomes above sound good, read on to see how you can make them a reality.
Tips for employers
·Take a stand. Establish in-house health policies, e.g. no tobacco use in the building, free annual flu vaccinations, health screenings or even an apple a day, and explain why they are being implemented.
·Educate. Offer information to workers, such as leaflets and posters telling people about the risk factors for heart disease and stroke, e.g. those currently available at world-heart-federation.org/what-we-do/world-heart-day/.
·Encourage exercise at/near work. A moderate amount of exercise – at least 30 minutes a day, three times a week – can reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. Set up a company gym or work out a subsidised corporate package at a nearby private gym for your workers.
Alternatively, get creative like advertising agency Leo Burnett Kuala Lumpur. Not only did the company subsidise weekly yoga lessons for staff members, it literally brought the lessons to them. The classes were conducted in their office itself to accommodate busy executives who were chained to their desks while waiting for completed work and client decisions.
·Encourage exercise away from work. Do a little corridor research and see if there is a large group of line dancers, soccer players, or rock climbers who would be happy to exercise more frequently if the activity was subsidised. If futsal isn’t popular, maybe paintball will be.
·Encourage physical activity during work. For example, from May to August this year, Tawakal Hospital, KL, ran a use-the-stairs campaign, during which staff members were assigned to groups and made to use the hospital staircases (instead of the lifts) on rotation. This worked out to each person hiking up and down for two out of five working days a week.
·Encourage good eating habits. If you have a canteen, offer information about the calorie and fat content of the food provided, and encourage and/or subsidise the provision of healthy options (less fat, less salt, use more whole grains, natural products, fruits, and vegetables.)
In his long career, Heart Foundation of Malaysia director and consultant cardiologist Datuk Dr. Khoo Kah Lin hasn’t come across a local company that does so, but hopes many will take the initiative. (The only example he can recall is the cafeteria of the Heart House, the headquarters of the American College of Cardiology in Washington D.C.)
“Certainly it will help a lot. Eating well, either at home, at the office, or outside has a big role to play,” he says.
But can you issue instructions and start straightaway? Not without a sound education process, cautions Dr. Khoo. Canteen operators need to be educated on what healthy food is and isn’t. And since canteen operators are businessmen, consumers need to support the operators. It will take time and money, but, in his opinion, it will be time and money well spent.
Tips for employees:
·Know your numbers. Keep track of your blood pressure, cholesterol and glucose levels, abdominal girth and Body Mass Index.
Ask your doctor two “normal” questions at your check ups: what the normal range of a given reading is and what the normal range for you is (only possible if you go regularly.) Assess your overall cardiovascular disease risk with him and develop an action plan to improve your cardiovascular health.
·Give up smoking. Your risk of coronary heart disease will be halved within a year and will return to a normal level over time.
·Get active. Take the stairs; fill up a cup – not a bottle – at the water cooler, so you have to walk back and forth more often; pace while waiting for photocopies; walk around your building during your break; park further away from your office entrance and speed-walk to it; or do a few desk press-ups (like a push-up, but off the edge of your desk.)
·Eat better. Choose healthier options (see above), or bring food from home if none are available. Be wary of processed foods; they’re more convenient on the go, but they often contain high levels of salt and sugar.
Eat at least five servings of fruit and vegetables a day. Fruits are especially cheap and available in handy, ready-to-eat portions, so you’ve no excuse. Examples of one serving include an apple, or two pisang mas, or a small fistful of cauliflower. For a fantastic guide on 5-a-day, visit www.5aday.nhs.uk.
If you want to forget all the palaver about saturated versus unsaturated fat, poly- and monounsaturated fat, and trans-fat versus non-trans-fat (cis-fat, if you’re curious), then abide by Dr. Khoo’s simple rule: minimise fat intake, period. As he says on the Asian Food Channel programme Palm Oil: Good Fat, Bad Fat - “As far as I’m concerned, there’s no such thing as a good fat.”
·Speak up. If there are policy changes you’d like to see, don’t just dream/gripe about them.
Do your homework (What can be done? What’s being done successfully elsewhere?); then enlist supporters (How many workers want this change?); then structure your case (What are the benefits for all concerned, especially the company as a whole?); then present your case to your human resource department. Be a catalyst for change in your organisation.
The Star
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Human Traffickers Eye Children and Women
KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 25 (Bernama)
"If you promise to give me a place to stay, food to eat and opportunity to go to school, then I would gladly return home.
"I do not want to live in hardship, life here is difficult but it is much worse back in my homeland", said Cham, a 12-year-old Cambodian boy who this writer met during an operation by the authorities to weed out illegal immigrants in Sabah.
Cham was among the thousands of foreign children smuggled into Malaysia, either to work or seek temporary refuge before being shipped to other countries.
TRANSIT POINT
Cham's case was nothing new as Malaysia has been known to be used as a transit point for human trafficking.
History had shown that Malaysia was the destination of people including traders from other countries. The foreign merchants came here to trade in almost anything including raw materials like rubber, tin and palm oil.
This is so as Malaysia is located right in the centre of Southeast Asia, on one half is the mainland countries of Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Myanmmar, Vietnam and the other half being Brunei, Philippines, Singapore, Indonesia and Timor Leste.
Tenaganita Anti Human Trafficking coordinator Aegile Fernandez said due to this fact, it was no surprise that Malaysia became the haven for human traffickers who used the country as a staging point before relocating their 'merchandise' elsewhere.
Tenaganita is a non-governmental organisation (NGO) which is actively involved in monitoring human trafficking activities.
She said the human traffickers also promised the syndicates' victims that Malaysia, a prosperous and peaceful country, was the 'haven' that they were looking for.
ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS
Human trafficking is closely related to the illegal immigrants issue.
Most of these illegal immigrants came to Malaysia after being offered 'lucrative' jobs by those who brought them into the country.
However when these foreigners, most of them who came from Thailand, Cambodia, Philippines and Indonesia, failed to get the jobs promised, they became the pawns of human trafficking.
According to Tenaganita statistics, the demand for children and women to be made workers and also for the flesh trade was on the rise.
The statistics showed that from May 1, 2004 until May this year, 117 foreign children and women were involved in modern day human slavery in this country.
"Among the victims were children as young as 12 years old and women who were senior citizens. Some were lured by the promise of good wages and legal employment but the actual fact was that they were victims of human trafficking", said Fernandez.
BASIC NEEDS OF MODERN DAY SLAVES
It is common knowledge that some of these immigrants came to this country voluntarily to seek a better life as compared to that in their homeland.
Fernandez said for the foreign women, they needed food, accommodation and money while the modern day slaves (children), they sought a shelter, education and food.
She said the immigrants were not able to obtain these basic neccesities back in their home countries and that was the main reason why they had to migrate abroad to look for better life and money.
Hence, they easily became the prey of human traffickers who promised what they had dreamt of.
"The human traffickers also promised things like beautiful clothes and the likes, money that could be sent home, cars and others to camouflage their real intentions," she said.
Fernandez said the victims were then swayed by the offer of a good life in foreign land.
There were also women who followed their boyfriends for love, money and comfortable life abroad, she said.
"Unfortunately it was too late for these women when they found out later that they were tricked into white slavery," said Fernandez, adding that Malaysian women should also be aware of a similar tactic by foreign men.
GUISE FOR HUMAN TRAFFICKING
There are several guises used by the human traffickers to deceive their victims.
They used the 'female order bride' tag for women who were smuggled into the country to work almost round-the-clock in order to pay back the money owed to the syndicates.
"In the morning the women worked as rubber tappers. In the afternoon they became part-time maids like washing clothes, cleaning up the house and cooking food. At night they were in the flesh trade," said Fernandez.
The term 'cash and carry' refers to full-time prostitutes. Locals and tourists would pick the women of their choice from catalogues provided by cab drivers.
The clients would then be brought to the rendezvous with the prostitutes and paid after 'services rendered'.
As for 'fisherman stowes', they were men from Cambodia, Philippines, Thailand and Indonesia who were forced to work on fishing trawlers off the coast of Kelantan, Terengganu, Sabah and Sarawak.
Fernandez said most of these modern day slaves were given only three days leave within a month. They worked round-the-clock and if they fell sick, they were deprived of adequate medical attention.
Those who got badly sick and died were simply thrown overboard, she said.
SEVERE MENTAL TRAUMA
Due to the severe mental trauma that they faced, many of the victims of human trafficking resorted to committing suicide.
Fernandez said most of the vitims that were mentally traumatised were women and children and they were difficult to be treated.
"There was one case, where a woman was forced into white slavery. She experienced severe mental trauma and had tried to escape. As a result she felt dirty and bathed herself often. She also kept away from others and the outside world," said Fernandez.
Her ordeal began when she was 12 years old when she came from Cambodia to Malaysia and later moved to England.
She had attempted to escape from the clutches of the syndicate but failed. As punishment, she was stripped naked and hung upside down while her fingers were inserted into live electric sockets," said Fernandez.
Tenaganita managed to rescue her when she was 16 years old. But then she had already contracted HIV and now she is in a shelter home.
Fernandez said the victim was so traumatised and had contemplated suicide. She also refused to meet her parents and undergo medical examination. She became a reclusive.
According to Fernandez, victims of the syndicates were forced to consume heroin or cocaine during the day to make them asleep. At night they were forced to take ecstasy to entertain clients.
She said neighbours should not simply ignore anything suspicious that happened within their surroundings.
"They should instead be inquisitive and nosey apart from calling in the authorities if they witnessed anything suspicious," she added .
by Mohd Faizal Hassan dan Kurniawati Kamarudin
BERNAMA
"If you promise to give me a place to stay, food to eat and opportunity to go to school, then I would gladly return home.
"I do not want to live in hardship, life here is difficult but it is much worse back in my homeland", said Cham, a 12-year-old Cambodian boy who this writer met during an operation by the authorities to weed out illegal immigrants in Sabah.
Cham was among the thousands of foreign children smuggled into Malaysia, either to work or seek temporary refuge before being shipped to other countries.
TRANSIT POINT
Cham's case was nothing new as Malaysia has been known to be used as a transit point for human trafficking.
History had shown that Malaysia was the destination of people including traders from other countries. The foreign merchants came here to trade in almost anything including raw materials like rubber, tin and palm oil.
This is so as Malaysia is located right in the centre of Southeast Asia, on one half is the mainland countries of Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Myanmmar, Vietnam and the other half being Brunei, Philippines, Singapore, Indonesia and Timor Leste.
Tenaganita Anti Human Trafficking coordinator Aegile Fernandez said due to this fact, it was no surprise that Malaysia became the haven for human traffickers who used the country as a staging point before relocating their 'merchandise' elsewhere.
Tenaganita is a non-governmental organisation (NGO) which is actively involved in monitoring human trafficking activities.
She said the human traffickers also promised the syndicates' victims that Malaysia, a prosperous and peaceful country, was the 'haven' that they were looking for.
ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS
Human trafficking is closely related to the illegal immigrants issue.
Most of these illegal immigrants came to Malaysia after being offered 'lucrative' jobs by those who brought them into the country.
However when these foreigners, most of them who came from Thailand, Cambodia, Philippines and Indonesia, failed to get the jobs promised, they became the pawns of human trafficking.
According to Tenaganita statistics, the demand for children and women to be made workers and also for the flesh trade was on the rise.
The statistics showed that from May 1, 2004 until May this year, 117 foreign children and women were involved in modern day human slavery in this country.
"Among the victims were children as young as 12 years old and women who were senior citizens. Some were lured by the promise of good wages and legal employment but the actual fact was that they were victims of human trafficking", said Fernandez.
BASIC NEEDS OF MODERN DAY SLAVES
It is common knowledge that some of these immigrants came to this country voluntarily to seek a better life as compared to that in their homeland.
Fernandez said for the foreign women, they needed food, accommodation and money while the modern day slaves (children), they sought a shelter, education and food.
She said the immigrants were not able to obtain these basic neccesities back in their home countries and that was the main reason why they had to migrate abroad to look for better life and money.
Hence, they easily became the prey of human traffickers who promised what they had dreamt of.
"The human traffickers also promised things like beautiful clothes and the likes, money that could be sent home, cars and others to camouflage their real intentions," she said.
Fernandez said the victims were then swayed by the offer of a good life in foreign land.
There were also women who followed their boyfriends for love, money and comfortable life abroad, she said.
"Unfortunately it was too late for these women when they found out later that they were tricked into white slavery," said Fernandez, adding that Malaysian women should also be aware of a similar tactic by foreign men.
GUISE FOR HUMAN TRAFFICKING
There are several guises used by the human traffickers to deceive their victims.
They used the 'female order bride' tag for women who were smuggled into the country to work almost round-the-clock in order to pay back the money owed to the syndicates.
"In the morning the women worked as rubber tappers. In the afternoon they became part-time maids like washing clothes, cleaning up the house and cooking food. At night they were in the flesh trade," said Fernandez.
The term 'cash and carry' refers to full-time prostitutes. Locals and tourists would pick the women of their choice from catalogues provided by cab drivers.
The clients would then be brought to the rendezvous with the prostitutes and paid after 'services rendered'.
As for 'fisherman stowes', they were men from Cambodia, Philippines, Thailand and Indonesia who were forced to work on fishing trawlers off the coast of Kelantan, Terengganu, Sabah and Sarawak.
Fernandez said most of these modern day slaves were given only three days leave within a month. They worked round-the-clock and if they fell sick, they were deprived of adequate medical attention.
Those who got badly sick and died were simply thrown overboard, she said.
SEVERE MENTAL TRAUMA
Due to the severe mental trauma that they faced, many of the victims of human trafficking resorted to committing suicide.
Fernandez said most of the vitims that were mentally traumatised were women and children and they were difficult to be treated.
"There was one case, where a woman was forced into white slavery. She experienced severe mental trauma and had tried to escape. As a result she felt dirty and bathed herself often. She also kept away from others and the outside world," said Fernandez.
Her ordeal began when she was 12 years old when she came from Cambodia to Malaysia and later moved to England.
She had attempted to escape from the clutches of the syndicate but failed. As punishment, she was stripped naked and hung upside down while her fingers were inserted into live electric sockets," said Fernandez.
Tenaganita managed to rescue her when she was 16 years old. But then she had already contracted HIV and now she is in a shelter home.
Fernandez said the victim was so traumatised and had contemplated suicide. She also refused to meet her parents and undergo medical examination. She became a reclusive.
According to Fernandez, victims of the syndicates were forced to consume heroin or cocaine during the day to make them asleep. At night they were forced to take ecstasy to entertain clients.
She said neighbours should not simply ignore anything suspicious that happened within their surroundings.
"They should instead be inquisitive and nosey apart from calling in the authorities if they witnessed anything suspicious," she added .
by Mohd Faizal Hassan dan Kurniawati Kamarudin
BERNAMA
RM168M Start-Up Capital For 1Malaysia F1 Team
RM168 Million Start-Up Capital For 1Malaysia, Annual Budget Estimated At RM308 Million
KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 25 (Bernama)
1Malaysia F1 Team will have a start-up capital of RM168 million (about US$45 Million) while the team's baseline annual budget is estimated at RM308 million.
In a statement, the team said Proton Holdings Bhd will licence its Lotus brand to the 1Malaysia F1 Team (1MF1T).
The partnership licence will include a variety of benefits for both Lotus and Proton involving technology transfer, marketing rights and employment opportunities, both within the national F1 Team, at the team's technical centre in Sepang and its satellite base in Norfolk, United Kingdom, it said.
1MF1T is a privately-funded project and jointly owned by Tune Group, Naza Group and Litespeed UK.
Tune Group is jointly-owned by 1MF1T Team Principal Datuk Seri Tony Fernandes and 1MF1T Director Datuk Kamarudin Meranun. Other Directors of 1MF1T are SM Nasarudin SM Nasimuddin, the Chief Executive Officer of Naza Group and Zahri Ismail of 1Malaysia F1 Sdn Bhd.
The government holds no equity in the project, either directly or indirectly, through any of the government-linked companies.
The team will collaborate with Universiti Teknologi Malaysia and Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS to help realise the aspiration of creating a growing class of high-technology and knowledge-intensive human capital for the country.
Composites Technology Research Malaysia (CTRM), a leading composites manufacturing expert, will also be part of the project, the team said.
Plans are in the advanced stage to develop the 1Malaysia F1 Team technical, research and development and manufacturing centre on a eight hectare site at the Sepang International Circuit.
Fernandes described the team as a lifetime achievement for all Malaysians.
"Other countries have been bidding hard for this spot but Malaysia, through our concerted effort and strength in the true spirit of 1Malaysia, managed to pull it through.
"This will be an excellent opportunity for Malaysian corporates to share this dream that has finally come through," he said.
Fernandes said the project would help Malaysia move up the value chain by emphasising on innovation and technology.
"Having been involved in Formula One, we are very excited at Malaysia owning a Formula One team and the amazing benefits it will bring the country," he added.
Fernandes also said the team was delighted to be partnering Proton in a way that allowed both to focus on its core businesses yet share the benefits of the collaboration in a mutually beneficial manner.
"I am equally pleased too that we are able to announce that every day we are deepening our relationships with CTRM and SIC, with UTM and UTP. It's an immense privilege to be working with institutions that have embraced the spirit of the Prime Minister's 1Malaysia vision," he said.
In short, Fernandes said the programme was specifically designed to strengthen Malaysia's industrial base, inspire students to focus on a wide variety of skills, boost the country's image as a tourist destination and provide a competitive advantage for the nation on the world stage.
Proton's Managing Director Datuk Syed Zainal Abidin Syed Mohamed Tahir said the company as very excited and supportive of the Malaysian initiative.
"Through the impending licencing arrangement between Lotus and the team, the brand association will be beneficial to both Lotus and Proton would definitely heighten global brand awareness," he said.
Similarly, Syed Zainal said the Proton Group also hopes to capitalise on this opportunity from a technical and engineering aspect.
"The exposure to be obtained from Formula 1 racing is invaluable, especially when Lotus is a renowned sports car manufacturer and a respectable engineering firm," he said.
The team will rapidly integrate a Malaysian technical and pit crew totalling some 200 people managed by one of Formula One's most respected and accomplished Technical Director, Mike Gascoyne.
The team has already recruited a core team of international experts with proven track records in the many and various engineering, design and manufacturing disciplines.
This is to ensure the 1Malaysia F1 team is of international standard, readiness and capable of competing with the world's greatest racing marquees on the world's most prestigious racing stage.
The 1Malaysia F1 Team project takes its name from the "1Malaysia - People First, Performance Now" policy mooted by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak earlier this year.
The policy aims at unifying Malaysians in celebrating the co-operation amongst its multi-ethnic, multi-cultural and multi-religious society for the betterment of the nation.
BERNAMA
KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 25 (Bernama)
1Malaysia F1 Team will have a start-up capital of RM168 million (about US$45 Million) while the team's baseline annual budget is estimated at RM308 million.
In a statement, the team said Proton Holdings Bhd will licence its Lotus brand to the 1Malaysia F1 Team (1MF1T).
The partnership licence will include a variety of benefits for both Lotus and Proton involving technology transfer, marketing rights and employment opportunities, both within the national F1 Team, at the team's technical centre in Sepang and its satellite base in Norfolk, United Kingdom, it said.
1MF1T is a privately-funded project and jointly owned by Tune Group, Naza Group and Litespeed UK.
Tune Group is jointly-owned by 1MF1T Team Principal Datuk Seri Tony Fernandes and 1MF1T Director Datuk Kamarudin Meranun. Other Directors of 1MF1T are SM Nasarudin SM Nasimuddin, the Chief Executive Officer of Naza Group and Zahri Ismail of 1Malaysia F1 Sdn Bhd.
The government holds no equity in the project, either directly or indirectly, through any of the government-linked companies.
The team will collaborate with Universiti Teknologi Malaysia and Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS to help realise the aspiration of creating a growing class of high-technology and knowledge-intensive human capital for the country.
Composites Technology Research Malaysia (CTRM), a leading composites manufacturing expert, will also be part of the project, the team said.
Plans are in the advanced stage to develop the 1Malaysia F1 Team technical, research and development and manufacturing centre on a eight hectare site at the Sepang International Circuit.
Fernandes described the team as a lifetime achievement for all Malaysians.
"Other countries have been bidding hard for this spot but Malaysia, through our concerted effort and strength in the true spirit of 1Malaysia, managed to pull it through.
"This will be an excellent opportunity for Malaysian corporates to share this dream that has finally come through," he said.
Fernandes said the project would help Malaysia move up the value chain by emphasising on innovation and technology.
"Having been involved in Formula One, we are very excited at Malaysia owning a Formula One team and the amazing benefits it will bring the country," he added.
Fernandes also said the team was delighted to be partnering Proton in a way that allowed both to focus on its core businesses yet share the benefits of the collaboration in a mutually beneficial manner.
"I am equally pleased too that we are able to announce that every day we are deepening our relationships with CTRM and SIC, with UTM and UTP. It's an immense privilege to be working with institutions that have embraced the spirit of the Prime Minister's 1Malaysia vision," he said.
In short, Fernandes said the programme was specifically designed to strengthen Malaysia's industrial base, inspire students to focus on a wide variety of skills, boost the country's image as a tourist destination and provide a competitive advantage for the nation on the world stage.
Proton's Managing Director Datuk Syed Zainal Abidin Syed Mohamed Tahir said the company as very excited and supportive of the Malaysian initiative.
"Through the impending licencing arrangement between Lotus and the team, the brand association will be beneficial to both Lotus and Proton would definitely heighten global brand awareness," he said.
Similarly, Syed Zainal said the Proton Group also hopes to capitalise on this opportunity from a technical and engineering aspect.
"The exposure to be obtained from Formula 1 racing is invaluable, especially when Lotus is a renowned sports car manufacturer and a respectable engineering firm," he said.
The team will rapidly integrate a Malaysian technical and pit crew totalling some 200 people managed by one of Formula One's most respected and accomplished Technical Director, Mike Gascoyne.
The team has already recruited a core team of international experts with proven track records in the many and various engineering, design and manufacturing disciplines.
This is to ensure the 1Malaysia F1 team is of international standard, readiness and capable of competing with the world's greatest racing marquees on the world's most prestigious racing stage.
The 1Malaysia F1 Team project takes its name from the "1Malaysia - People First, Performance Now" policy mooted by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak earlier this year.
The policy aims at unifying Malaysians in celebrating the co-operation amongst its multi-ethnic, multi-cultural and multi-religious society for the betterment of the nation.
BERNAMA
100 Mins In The Life Of Gaddafi
UN general assembly: 100 minutes in the life of Muammar Gaddafi
Eccentric Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi lives up to his reputation during his first visit to America
Ed Pilkington in New York
guardian.co.uk,
Wednesday 23 September 2009
Muammar Gaddafi addresses the UN general assembly in New York. It was meant to be a day of global reconciliation, when the new leader of the free world put all the rancour of the past eight years behind him and heralded an era of unity. And so it might have been were it not for a short man, swathed in saffron robes and a black felt hat waving his arms around and shouting: "Terrorism!"
Muammar Gaddafi - for it was he - grabbed his 15 minutes of fame at the UN building in New York today and ran with it. He ran with it so hard he stretched it to an hour and 40 minutes, six times longer than his allotted slot, to the dismay of UN organisers.
On his first visit to the US, and in his maiden address to the UN general assembly, Gaddafi fully lived up to his reputation for eccentricity, bloody-mindedness and extreme verbiage.
He tore up a copy of the UN charter in front of startled delegates, accused the security council of being an al-Qaida like terrorist body, called for George Bush and Tony Blair to be put on trial for the Iraq war, demanded $7.7tn in compensation for the ravages of colonialism on Africa, and wondered whether swine flu was a biological weapon created in a military laboratory. At one point, he even demanded to know who was behind the killing of JFK. All in all, a pretty ordinary 100 minutes in the life of the colonel.
To be fair, this was a man suffering from severe sleep deprivation. The US state department, New York city council and Donald Trump had prevented him from laying his weary head in an air-conditioned tent in New Jersey, Central Park and Bedford respectively, and the resulting strain was evident.
"I woke up at 4am, before dawn!" Gaddafi lamented about an hour into his speech, adding for the benefit of the jetlagged diplomats seated stony-faced in front of him: "You should be asleep! You're all tired after a sleepless night!"
Gaddafi certainly knows how to woo a crowd, particularly at important junctures such as this. This was after all his big chance to cement Libya's re-entry into the bosom of the international community after 20 years in the wilderness.
The technique he chose to do so - cunningly - was to blatantly insult his audience. The representatives of the 192 nations assembled in the assembly hall were no better, he told them, than orators at Hyde Park's Speakers' Corner. "You make your speech and then you disappear. That's all you are right now."
He then turned his wrath on to America, Britain, France, Russia and China - the permanent members of the security council, or "terror council" as he renamed it. Their veto was tantamount to terrorism. "This is terrorism, like the terrorism of al-Qaida. Terrorism is not just al-Qaida, it takes many forms."
In case the point was lost on anyone, he tore up his copy of the UN rule book.
Having thus abused and alienated 99.99% of the world's top diplomats, he suddenly changed tack, heaping praise and devotion on the one man he appears to respect. "Now the black man doesn't have to sit in the back of the bus, the American people made him president and we are proud of that. We would be happy if Obama stayed president of America forever."
Poor Barack Obama. Having Gaddafi applaud his stance towards the world must have been as pleasing as being congratulated on his domestic policy by the leader of the birthers, who insist Obama was not born in America.
In an example of exquisite stage management in which the UN appears to specialise, Gaddafi was scheduled to speak immediately after Obama's first historic address to the general assembly.
If Gaddafi upstaged everybody inside the austere UN assembly hall, outside the building the PR message would have been a little less to his liking.
Relatives of the victims of Pan Am 103 gathered in New York's First Avenue bearing posters saying "Murderer" and venting their anger about the hero's welcome given to the Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset al-Megrahi last month.
That aside, the self-proclaimed king of kings, figurehead of a thousand African kingdoms, must have been chuffed by how his morning had turned out. Now, where to pitch that tent?
A lot of hot air
UN protocol stipulates that heads of state addressing the general assembly must keep to time limits – 15 minutes since rules changed in 2003. Muammar Gaddafi's 100 minutes was clearly way too much, although modest compared with Cuba's Fidel Castro, who in 1960 spoke for a record four hours and 29 minutes, also to the general assembly. The overall record for a non-head of state is held by India's then UN ambassador, Krishna Menon, in 1957. He was defending India's stand on Kashmir to the security council. "People went out and had lunch and came back, and then went and had dinner and came back and he was still going at it," one fan remembered later. It came in at over nine hours, non-stop. Ian Black
Eccentric Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi lives up to his reputation during his first visit to America
Ed Pilkington in New York
guardian.co.uk,
Wednesday 23 September 2009
Muammar Gaddafi addresses the UN general assembly in New York. It was meant to be a day of global reconciliation, when the new leader of the free world put all the rancour of the past eight years behind him and heralded an era of unity. And so it might have been were it not for a short man, swathed in saffron robes and a black felt hat waving his arms around and shouting: "Terrorism!"
Muammar Gaddafi - for it was he - grabbed his 15 minutes of fame at the UN building in New York today and ran with it. He ran with it so hard he stretched it to an hour and 40 minutes, six times longer than his allotted slot, to the dismay of UN organisers.
On his first visit to the US, and in his maiden address to the UN general assembly, Gaddafi fully lived up to his reputation for eccentricity, bloody-mindedness and extreme verbiage.
He tore up a copy of the UN charter in front of startled delegates, accused the security council of being an al-Qaida like terrorist body, called for George Bush and Tony Blair to be put on trial for the Iraq war, demanded $7.7tn in compensation for the ravages of colonialism on Africa, and wondered whether swine flu was a biological weapon created in a military laboratory. At one point, he even demanded to know who was behind the killing of JFK. All in all, a pretty ordinary 100 minutes in the life of the colonel.
To be fair, this was a man suffering from severe sleep deprivation. The US state department, New York city council and Donald Trump had prevented him from laying his weary head in an air-conditioned tent in New Jersey, Central Park and Bedford respectively, and the resulting strain was evident.
"I woke up at 4am, before dawn!" Gaddafi lamented about an hour into his speech, adding for the benefit of the jetlagged diplomats seated stony-faced in front of him: "You should be asleep! You're all tired after a sleepless night!"
Gaddafi certainly knows how to woo a crowd, particularly at important junctures such as this. This was after all his big chance to cement Libya's re-entry into the bosom of the international community after 20 years in the wilderness.
The technique he chose to do so - cunningly - was to blatantly insult his audience. The representatives of the 192 nations assembled in the assembly hall were no better, he told them, than orators at Hyde Park's Speakers' Corner. "You make your speech and then you disappear. That's all you are right now."
He then turned his wrath on to America, Britain, France, Russia and China - the permanent members of the security council, or "terror council" as he renamed it. Their veto was tantamount to terrorism. "This is terrorism, like the terrorism of al-Qaida. Terrorism is not just al-Qaida, it takes many forms."
In case the point was lost on anyone, he tore up his copy of the UN rule book.
Having thus abused and alienated 99.99% of the world's top diplomats, he suddenly changed tack, heaping praise and devotion on the one man he appears to respect. "Now the black man doesn't have to sit in the back of the bus, the American people made him president and we are proud of that. We would be happy if Obama stayed president of America forever."
Poor Barack Obama. Having Gaddafi applaud his stance towards the world must have been as pleasing as being congratulated on his domestic policy by the leader of the birthers, who insist Obama was not born in America.
In an example of exquisite stage management in which the UN appears to specialise, Gaddafi was scheduled to speak immediately after Obama's first historic address to the general assembly.
If Gaddafi upstaged everybody inside the austere UN assembly hall, outside the building the PR message would have been a little less to his liking.
Relatives of the victims of Pan Am 103 gathered in New York's First Avenue bearing posters saying "Murderer" and venting their anger about the hero's welcome given to the Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset al-Megrahi last month.
That aside, the self-proclaimed king of kings, figurehead of a thousand African kingdoms, must have been chuffed by how his morning had turned out. Now, where to pitch that tent?
A lot of hot air
UN protocol stipulates that heads of state addressing the general assembly must keep to time limits – 15 minutes since rules changed in 2003. Muammar Gaddafi's 100 minutes was clearly way too much, although modest compared with Cuba's Fidel Castro, who in 1960 spoke for a record four hours and 29 minutes, also to the general assembly. The overall record for a non-head of state is held by India's then UN ambassador, Krishna Menon, in 1957. He was defending India's stand on Kashmir to the security council. "People went out and had lunch and came back, and then went and had dinner and came back and he was still going at it," one fan remembered later. It came in at over nine hours, non-stop. Ian Black
Getting Rich Together
IN Rich Brother, Rich Sister, Robert Kiyosaki says: “Every book I write gets criticised. I expect it, I welcome it!”
Super. I won’t hold back then. There are maybe six people in the world who have not read Kiyosaki’s best-selling Rich Dad, Poor Dad. I am one of them.
Who wants to be a millionaire? Not me. If you want to be rich, go ahead, just don’t drag me along. If someone gave me a million dollars I would give it away. (Don’t believe it? Try me.)
Tell Kiyosaki fans that and they would probably look at you as if you’ve admitted to not brushing your teeth since you were eight.
The reason I gave this book a go was because Kiyosaki has a sister who is a Buddhist nun. That sparked my interest. Maybe, just maybe I would find something to like about this writer after all, I thought. Or not.
Kiyosaki semi-quotes the Chinese proverb, “Give a man a fish, you feed him for a day. Teach him to fish and you feed him for a lifetime”.
He rephrases it to make less sense and gets confused about the proverb’s origin – that seems to happen a lot in his book. It does not seem to bother him.
Back to the fish. In most situations, it’s a great proverb.
In Kiyosaki’s case, he uses it to explain why he does not want to use his considerable wealth to help someone – not a stranger or even a distant relative looking to be bailed out of his gambling debts, but his sister, a Buddhist nun who has given her life to charitable causes. Emi has cancer and cannot afford the treatment. Her rich big brother tells her to raise her own money.
Not in those words, of course. He “teaches” her to fish by getting her to co-write this book and use the royalties to help herself.
Lucky for her, his name is on the cover too, so the book will, undoubtedly, sell like hot cakes.
If your name appeared on a book cover along with, say, Dan Brown’s, you could afford a lot of fish, too.
When Kiyosaki is not making my stomach churn, he is being plain annoying. He says everything twice. And then he says it again. And then he repeats it. So reading his book is like being with someone who speaks veerrrryy sloowwly. He over-explains things and illustrates with bizarre examples. Then he says it all again.
Take the expression “drink the Kool-Aid”. One explanation for the origins of this phrase is that it refers to the 1978 tragedy in Jonestown, Guyana, when blind obedience led to hundreds of people committing suicide by consuming poison mixed with a soft drink just because their cult leader told them to (actually, it wasn’t Kool-Aid but it is this drink that has come to be associated with the event).
Although Robert refers to the tragedy, he eventually and rather strangely forgets what he was saying.
He starts talking about how there are many flavours of Kool-Aid, and if you do not like any of them, you have to mix your own. What this means exactly, or symbolically, for that matter, I have no idea.
Most of what Kiyosaki says has been said by others before him – only they said it better.
When he does have an original thought, though, things just get odd. After hundreds of pages of griping about things that do not make sense about religion, he finds evidence of God.
Before this point, he had written “god” with a lowercase “g”. After deciding there’s an Almighty Being who gives cash rewards, he starts using the uppercase. Just one instance of how boorish he is!
Half the book is his sister Emi’s, so I hoped it would improve. Unfortunately, the best I can say about her section is that she is not as annoying as her brother.
I have no complaints about her “teachings” except that, like her brother, she has nothing new to say (except that being a nun is no excuse for not shopping around for proper insurance). If you want to read about Buddhism, there are hundreds of better books.
Robert Kiyosaki is famous and worshipped so this book will make it onto every best-seller list. All I can say is: Don’t drink the Kool-Aid.
Review by AMY DE KANTER
The Star
Super. I won’t hold back then. There are maybe six people in the world who have not read Kiyosaki’s best-selling Rich Dad, Poor Dad. I am one of them.
Who wants to be a millionaire? Not me. If you want to be rich, go ahead, just don’t drag me along. If someone gave me a million dollars I would give it away. (Don’t believe it? Try me.)
Tell Kiyosaki fans that and they would probably look at you as if you’ve admitted to not brushing your teeth since you were eight.
The reason I gave this book a go was because Kiyosaki has a sister who is a Buddhist nun. That sparked my interest. Maybe, just maybe I would find something to like about this writer after all, I thought. Or not.
Kiyosaki semi-quotes the Chinese proverb, “Give a man a fish, you feed him for a day. Teach him to fish and you feed him for a lifetime”.
He rephrases it to make less sense and gets confused about the proverb’s origin – that seems to happen a lot in his book. It does not seem to bother him.
Back to the fish. In most situations, it’s a great proverb.
In Kiyosaki’s case, he uses it to explain why he does not want to use his considerable wealth to help someone – not a stranger or even a distant relative looking to be bailed out of his gambling debts, but his sister, a Buddhist nun who has given her life to charitable causes. Emi has cancer and cannot afford the treatment. Her rich big brother tells her to raise her own money.
Not in those words, of course. He “teaches” her to fish by getting her to co-write this book and use the royalties to help herself.
Lucky for her, his name is on the cover too, so the book will, undoubtedly, sell like hot cakes.
If your name appeared on a book cover along with, say, Dan Brown’s, you could afford a lot of fish, too.
When Kiyosaki is not making my stomach churn, he is being plain annoying. He says everything twice. And then he says it again. And then he repeats it. So reading his book is like being with someone who speaks veerrrryy sloowwly. He over-explains things and illustrates with bizarre examples. Then he says it all again.
Take the expression “drink the Kool-Aid”. One explanation for the origins of this phrase is that it refers to the 1978 tragedy in Jonestown, Guyana, when blind obedience led to hundreds of people committing suicide by consuming poison mixed with a soft drink just because their cult leader told them to (actually, it wasn’t Kool-Aid but it is this drink that has come to be associated with the event).
Although Robert refers to the tragedy, he eventually and rather strangely forgets what he was saying.
He starts talking about how there are many flavours of Kool-Aid, and if you do not like any of them, you have to mix your own. What this means exactly, or symbolically, for that matter, I have no idea.
Most of what Kiyosaki says has been said by others before him – only they said it better.
When he does have an original thought, though, things just get odd. After hundreds of pages of griping about things that do not make sense about religion, he finds evidence of God.
Before this point, he had written “god” with a lowercase “g”. After deciding there’s an Almighty Being who gives cash rewards, he starts using the uppercase. Just one instance of how boorish he is!
Half the book is his sister Emi’s, so I hoped it would improve. Unfortunately, the best I can say about her section is that she is not as annoying as her brother.
I have no complaints about her “teachings” except that, like her brother, she has nothing new to say (except that being a nun is no excuse for not shopping around for proper insurance). If you want to read about Buddhism, there are hundreds of better books.
Robert Kiyosaki is famous and worshipped so this book will make it onto every best-seller list. All I can say is: Don’t drink the Kool-Aid.
Review by AMY DE KANTER
The Star
Friday, September 25, 2009
Lifeless Hearts
Dead Hearts (or Lifeless Hearts)
by Imam ibn al-Qayyim al-Jawziyyah rahimahullaah.
While thousands of Muslims are killed all over the world, and while tens of thousands are imprisoned and tortured for calling to the path of Allah and for enjoining the good and forbidding the evil, most Muslims remain remarkably silent and have no worry except for the material things of life. Their hearts have been filled with the love of this life and the forgetfulness of the Hereafter.
Allah says in the Qur'an: "You will indeed find them, of all people, most greedy of life, even more than those who do not believe in Resurrection. Each one of them wishes he could be given a life of a thousand years. But the grant of such life will not save him even a little from due punishment. For Allah sees well all that they do."
(Quran, Al Baqarah, 2:96)
dead tree
Many Muslims today have become so much attached to their life that their desire is to dwell among their family, house, money and commerce. They have forgotten that matters of the Hereafter should come before matters of this life and that we must strive to follow the orders of Allah, not just those we find easy and convenient to follow. Some Muslims today claim that it is better to perform extra prayers and extra fasting rather than enjoin the good and forbid the evil or defend the lives of weak Muslims. Such people would even blame the Muslims who strive to perform these obligations.
all alone
This is what Ibn al-Qayyim had to say about such people: ''The Shaitan (satan) has misled most people by beautifying for them the performance of certain voluntary acts of worship such as voluntary prayers and voluntary fasting while neglecting other obligatory acts of worship such as enjoining the good and eradicating the evil, to the extent that they do not even make the intention of performing them whenever they are able to. Such people are considered by the scholars to be on the bottom of the scale of religion: For the essence of our religion is to perform what Allah ordered us to do. The one who does not perform his obligations is actually worse than the one who performs sins. Anyone having some knowledge about the revelation of Allah, the guidance of the Prophet Muhammad SAW, and the life of the companions would conclude that those who are pointed at today as the most pious people are in fact the least pious. Indeed, what kind of piety is there in a person who witnesses Allah's sanctities being violated, his religion abandoned, the Sunnah of His Messenger shunned, and yet remains still with a cold heart and a shut mouth' Such a person is like a dumb Shaitan! In the same way the one who talks falsehood is a speaking Shaitan. Isn't the misfortune of Islam due only to those who whenever their life and food are secure, would not care about what happens to the religion? The best among them would offer a sorry face. But if they were challenged in one of the things their heart is attached to like their money, they would spare no efforts to get it back. These people, besides deserving the anger of Allah, are afflicted with the greatest calamity without even knowing it: They have a dead heart. Indeed the more alive a person's heart is, the stronger its anger for the sake of Allah and the more complete his support to Islam and Muslims." (A'alaam al-Muwaqqi'een, volume 2, page 176).
darkness
www.positive-action.net/
by Imam ibn al-Qayyim al-Jawziyyah rahimahullaah.
While thousands of Muslims are killed all over the world, and while tens of thousands are imprisoned and tortured for calling to the path of Allah and for enjoining the good and forbidding the evil, most Muslims remain remarkably silent and have no worry except for the material things of life. Their hearts have been filled with the love of this life and the forgetfulness of the Hereafter.
Allah says in the Qur'an: "You will indeed find them, of all people, most greedy of life, even more than those who do not believe in Resurrection. Each one of them wishes he could be given a life of a thousand years. But the grant of such life will not save him even a little from due punishment. For Allah sees well all that they do."
(Quran, Al Baqarah, 2:96)
dead tree
Many Muslims today have become so much attached to their life that their desire is to dwell among their family, house, money and commerce. They have forgotten that matters of the Hereafter should come before matters of this life and that we must strive to follow the orders of Allah, not just those we find easy and convenient to follow. Some Muslims today claim that it is better to perform extra prayers and extra fasting rather than enjoin the good and forbid the evil or defend the lives of weak Muslims. Such people would even blame the Muslims who strive to perform these obligations.
all alone
This is what Ibn al-Qayyim had to say about such people: ''The Shaitan (satan) has misled most people by beautifying for them the performance of certain voluntary acts of worship such as voluntary prayers and voluntary fasting while neglecting other obligatory acts of worship such as enjoining the good and eradicating the evil, to the extent that they do not even make the intention of performing them whenever they are able to. Such people are considered by the scholars to be on the bottom of the scale of religion: For the essence of our religion is to perform what Allah ordered us to do. The one who does not perform his obligations is actually worse than the one who performs sins. Anyone having some knowledge about the revelation of Allah, the guidance of the Prophet Muhammad SAW, and the life of the companions would conclude that those who are pointed at today as the most pious people are in fact the least pious. Indeed, what kind of piety is there in a person who witnesses Allah's sanctities being violated, his religion abandoned, the Sunnah of His Messenger shunned, and yet remains still with a cold heart and a shut mouth' Such a person is like a dumb Shaitan! In the same way the one who talks falsehood is a speaking Shaitan. Isn't the misfortune of Islam due only to those who whenever their life and food are secure, would not care about what happens to the religion? The best among them would offer a sorry face. But if they were challenged in one of the things their heart is attached to like their money, they would spare no efforts to get it back. These people, besides deserving the anger of Allah, are afflicted with the greatest calamity without even knowing it: They have a dead heart. Indeed the more alive a person's heart is, the stronger its anger for the sake of Allah and the more complete his support to Islam and Muslims." (A'alaam al-Muwaqqi'een, volume 2, page 176).
darkness
www.positive-action.net/
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