Nenek In Her Mystery World

Seeing Japanese soldiers around Nenek's house in Kempas was a usual sight during Japanese Occupation as these soldiers used to ask her ( Nenek's ) mother, to cook for them.

But there was once, when one of these soldiers while walking past Nenek's house, he saw a Chinese woman, into her late pregnancy.
One of the Japanese soldier caught the woman, tied both her hands to her back.
Both her legs were tied too.

Then, without showing any sympathy, the Japanese soldier thrust his long sword into the woman's big belly...

Nenek pre-schooling age then, ran into her house.
She told her mother of what she had just saw: The Chinese woman's belly oozing blood...

Her mother without further delay, quickly bundled her.
They ran further into the deeper jungle of Kempas, to Lukud.
Lukud was the third place of residence for the family of two in Johor Bahru, since Japanese landed in Tanah Melayu, Malaya.

Before, they were staying in Stulang Darat.
Their house was bombed by the invading force.
The only house in the village that escaped the bombing, despite all surrounding houses flattened and on fire, was that belonged to Haji Rashid's.
But that was with his family's rituals safeguarding it.

Often, the young Nenek saw Haji Rashid with his children would sit around the house.
Then ritual prayers were recited.

When Nenek could feel the earth trembling and wobbling, she knew that the very big and very tall giant guard that looked after Haji Rashid's house, was walking around his compound.

****** 

For the past few nights, the Japanese soldier who strike the pregnant Chinese woman's belly with his long sharp sword appeared in Nenek's sleep.
He brought along the woman with him.

He went to Nenek, asking for rice for him to eat. 

"Tak mau, tak mau kasi engkau. Engkau setan."

Nenek refused to give him any food.
He was a satan to her.

Both the soldier and the woman appeared in Nenek's sleep for a few nights, before Nenek prepared a handful of rice grains mixed with turmeric and rock salt.
She mixed them together and throw it around her house.
Then the dream stopped.

****** 

That was what was being said by Nenek when my daughter and I visited her in her new house in Kempas.

The girl was very close to her Nenek.
The grandmother used to be our next door neighbour.
She treated my daughter as her own grandchild, always showed the girl her greatest concern, always preparing her favourite asam pedas kepala ikan sembilang, whenever the girl was around.
The grandmother was forever willing to stretch her limited finance that she had, for her granddaughter.

I knew that Kempas used to be a black area.
It is only recently that housing development in Kempas took place.

I had heard of communist activity in Kempas area.
One of my husband's friend, his brother disappeared for good in the jungle.
Until today, there is still no trace to his alive or dead body.

My husband's cousin was caught, beaten and thrown into jail.
All of my husband's siblings and relatives, except him, went to Chinese school.
The cousin was suspected to be a communist as one of his friend had vaguely linked to the jungle party.

My husband said, being Chinese and staying not far from forested area, they easy fall prey into becoming one.
So, any Chinese then, could be suspected to be a communist.

The cousin however, was freed from jail.
Alive and kicking today, thriving in his automobile business.

****** 

It was only yesterday that I knew Kempas had its own story of Japanese Occupation to tell.

Life has almost comes to a complete circle for Nenek.
Her house she lives in, today, is around the place where she fled after seeing the Japanese soldier with the pregnant Chinese woman.

The peaceful river in front of Nenek's house, with spring water flowing down stream, she said yesterday, its water used to be red.
It was where can easily be found, many Chinese heads and bodies... separated.

In the meantime, Nenek is till mixing a handful of rice grains with turmeric and rock salt.
She is still placing the mixture all around her house.

The Maid - Chosen Over Mate (2)

Picking Maid Over Mate 

Is it a fetish?
THOMAS Jefferson was alleged to have sired several children with Sally Hemings, a slave at Monticello. Famous politician senator Strom Thurmond went to bed with his African-American maid and kept it a secret until he was 100 years old. Though one would assume this age-old practice of having sex with the "help" has long passed since the days of slavery, this is not the case at all.

Be it a fetish for French maid costumes and feather dusters, or a series of power trips, men are still turned on by their maids, as revealed in the recent case of former California governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Last month, the 63-year-old Terminator star finally came clean about his affair and the "love child" he had with a two-decade-long household employee.
While his story is shocking, some countries have taken the maid fetish to another level.

In Japan, meido kafe (maid cafe) is the hottest trend in town. Designed to look like private homes, establishments like Tokyo's Cure Maid Cafe feature young waitresses dressed in French maid costumes.

They treat diners like masters and mistresses, sometimes offering massages and even kneeling by the table to stir cream and sugar into beverages.

Fuelled by sexy maid-themed anime, the trend is now taking off in Asia, too.

Are Malaysians spared from being enamoured with the help? Apparently not. 

Growing trend in maid-employer affairs
A maid agency operator in Klang says he is noticing a growing trend in husbands taking a liking to maids.

"I've run a maid agency for more than six years without any problems. However, for the past two years, there's been a rise in husbands hoping to 'bed' their maids.

"Since most of the maids I provide are young Filipino girls, who clean apartments on an hourly basis, many employers assume they can get away with taking advantage of them."

Florence, a part-time maid, was lured to Malaysia by a man whom she met on the Internet. She was hoping to start a new life in Malaysia and earn a decent living.

"I was happy when my boyfriend told me to meet him in Malaysia. He said there were good jobs here and I would earn a decent living.

"As soon as I arrived in Klang, my boyfriend introduced me to a maid agency boss. He said I had to work for about four hours in an apartment, cleaning and doing the laundry. The boss was willing to drop and pick me up from the apartment guardhouse.

"My first few jobs were simple; I only had to deal with the 'maam' of the apartments.

"One day, I was asked to clean a new client's apartment and was shocked to find only the husband there. I did my work as usual.

"But, when I went to make the bed, I heard someone entering and locking the door. I was scared to see the husband in the room. He said he wanted to make sure I was doing a good job.

"But when I felt his arms around my waist, I started yelling. He told me not to worry because he would pay me a lot of money to have sex with him. I pushed him aside and screamed even louder.

"He got scared the neighbours might hear me, so he left the room. I quickly packed my things and left."
Because of her harrowing experience, Florence is planning to return to the Philippines as soon as she has enough money. 

Victims choose silence
Ananda S.P., who runs a maid agency in the Klang Valley, believes such cases are rampant but most victims choose to be silent.

"There are no statistics to show how many of these cases exist because most of the maids are threatened. They only talk about the problem when they're about to leave the country or have already left. Only about one in 50 cases is reported to us during their contract period.

"Generally, this is a problem with Indonesian and Filipino maids. This could be because there's a higher ratio of them here and many of them are also attractive."

Ananda believes there are two sides to the coin: if there are no givers, there won't be any takers.

"These days, most wives spend less time at home and more at work. Men, on the other hand, hold higher positions and have the flexibility to be in the house more.

"Most of the time, these men strike a conversation with the maid. They ask about the maid's background and financial situation before feigning sympathy. Before long, they tempt the maid with extra cash and goodies.

"From the maid's perspective, since she's already married, this is similar to 'servicing' another master. Although this is far from being acceptable, most maids give in to temptation because of their financial situation back home."

Ananda says although most of these sexual advances are consensual, the marriage is at risk.

"In many instances, the maid will try to break up the home by finding favour with the husband. This is where trouble begins because once a wife starts to be suspicious, she will want the maid to leave. In the end, the maid will lose earning a living in Malaysia.

"Sometimes, the maid gets pregnant and is afraid to go home. She usually seeks an abortion. If this happens, we ask the husband to pay compensation to the maid to enable her to return to her country. More often than not, this breaks up the marriage and the couple get divorced.

"However, if the maid is forced to have sexual relations with her employer, we act in the best interests of the maid. We lodge a police report unless the maid is agreeable to the compensation."

Ananda says employers should realise that when they employ a maid, they're inviting a guest into their home, who probably has no money or contacts. They are responsible for her safety and well-being. She's not there to be a sex slave.

HELP University College vice-president and psychologist Dr Goh Chee Leong believes the strength of a marriage is the predictor for whether affairs happen.

"The will and discipline of either party determine the strength of a marriage. When a party is weak, that's when you give in to temptation.

"Wives or husbands who encounter situations like these should not blame themselves; the fault lies with the party who has cheated.

"Human beings are people with will and have the freedom to make their own decisions. No one is forced to cheat because as human beings, we pride ourselves in controlling our instincts and impulses. When we feel tempted, we have the strength to resist that temptation."

Source: New Straits Times - July 3, 2011

Of Lifestyle Death And Women Pursuit Lifestyle Living

Allison Pearson: Death Should Not Be As Easy As Going To The Dentist
Allison Pearson on the unbearably moving case of terminally ill Peter Smedley, who chose to visit Dignitas; and why women love nothing more than a bit of benevolent sexism.
 
'A gentle good humour and stuff upper lip': Peter and Christine Smedley.

Two stories of the week.
The philanthropist Bill Gates passed round the hat and collected $4.3 billion for vaccinations which can eradicate simple diseases in the developing world.
Nine million children who would have died unnecessarily may soon have the right to live.
Meanwhile, in Switzerland, Sir Terry Pratchett, the best-selling novelist, was leading a campaign for another mortal right.

“Peter Lawrence Smedley, are you sure you want to drink this medicament with which you will sleep and die?”

“Yes, I’m quite sure.”

It sounded like a marriage, but it was actually a new rite of passage for humanity.
The death ceremony.
Peter, a charming retired hotelier, was pledging himself to Hades.

With the admin taken care of, Erika, the kindly Swiss death assistant, passed the poison cup to the 71-year-old motor-neurone disease sufferer.
He drank it down and, minutes later, there was a terrible, hoarse rasping sound.
The dying man asked for water.
The death assistant shook her head and hushed him.
We could no longer see Mr Smedley’s face because the camera had tactfully looked away and focused on Sir Terry instead, but Peter’s last words were as clear as they were unbearable:
“My wife’s very good at putting me to sleep just by rubbing my hands. Be strong, my darling.”

This assisted suicide, yours for £10,000 from Dignitas in Zurich, inclusive of ashes, was at the centre of Sir Terry Pratchett’s controversial BBC2 documentary, Choosing to Die.
It was very hard to watch without crying.
Even Sir Terry, the most vocal champion of the right to pencil your own extinction in the diary as if death were a dental appointment, snuffled away a few tears.
Most piercing of all was the way Mr Smedley and his wife Christine, immaculate in pearls, maintained a gentle good humour and stiff upper lip on what was the last day of their 34-year marriage.

“This has been a happy event,” announced Sir Terry afterwards.
“We’ve seen a man die peacefully, more or less in the arms of his wife. When we think of all the ways people can die, that would count as a result.”

I wouldn’t call it a result.
Sad and troubling, most definitely, with shades of Nazi eugenics and a fearful banality – the Dignitas clinic sits on a rumbling industrial estate, which lends a production-line air to one of life’s great mysteries.
Instead of Dylan Thomas urging us to rage against the dying of the light, Peter and Christine were offered coffee and a chocolate.
Milk or plain?
To be or not to be?
Welcome to the Travelodge of doom.

The BBC received 900 complaints about Choosing to Die.
Barely a murmur when you consider that 700 irate viewers rang in to protest that extended motor racing was allowed to bump off Antiques Roadshow.
Anti-euthanasia campaigners said the Pratchett documentary painted an idealised picture of assisted death rather than contributing to an honest debate.
That isn’t so.
It was a deeply thoughtful and moving programme orchestrated by a 63-year-old word wizard under the curse of Alzheimer’s.
Sir Terry is angry that terminally ill Britons, like himself, have to go to Switzerland to be put out of their misery. He fancies dying on his own sunlit lawn, drinking the fatal draught while listening to Thomas Tallis.

It’s a seductive picture, isn’t it?
As seductive as those TV commercials for Quietus, the over-the-counter suicide kit in Children of Men.
Set in the UK in 2027, P D James’s dystopic novel imagines a time when adults are encouraged to kill themselves with a product which soothingly offers to take the choice out of your hands.
You can be sure, dear reader, that when the state-sanctioned putting down of the sick, the disabled and the elderly comes, it won’t look like a factory run by Joseph Goebbels.
It will look like a lifestyle choice.
Make that a deathstyle choice.

That’s why, although Sir Terry, the lovely Smedleys and anyone in fear of a prolonged, painful death have my deepest sympathy, I feel we have to be vigilant and hold the line.
Imagine a clapped-out NHS, which can barely transplant the right kidney, being put in charge of legalised killing.
And if the private sector were involved, how soon before they’d be offering three for two?

You think I’m joking?
The single most shocking fact in Choosing to Die was that 21 per cent of the clients that Dignitas has put to sleep did not have progressive or terminal illnesses, but suffered from a “weariness of life”.
Dear God, if we adopt that criterion, every mum on the Friday afternoon of half-term would be queuing up for a merciful beaker of Paraquat.

While thousands of very sick people register for Dignitas, in the end most choose not to use it.
Knowing you can go quickly and painlessly if you have to seems to provide the strength to stay and see it through.
Let’s be honest, what really scares us is the thought of dying alone in some rank “care” home or being left on a hospital trolley, our shrunken self-respect barely covered by a blue paper gown.
Before we introduce a right to die, how about supporting the right to live our final days without shame?

The British people have not, overnight, become crazed converts to euthanasia, it’s just that too often the alternative is so cruel and awful.
Eighty per cent of us say we want to pass away in our own beds surrounded by family.
Yet the dire state of half of primary care trusts means that 60 per cent end up dying in hospital, where you have to plead for a glass of water.

Terry Pratchett admitted to Mick, an ebullient taxi driver whose motor-neurone disease is being managed by a terrific hospice, that Lady Pratchett does not agree with him on assisted dying.

“Maybe she wants to take care of you?” said Mick’s own wife pointedly.

“She does,” said Sir Terry sadly.

And what’s wrong with that?
Suffering can be our greatest trial but also, for the sufferer and for those who care for them, one of our greatest opportunities for love.
As Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali says:
“Again and again, people have told me how much they have learned about themselves and others at this time in their lives.”

I’m sure he’s right, and all my humane instincts recoil from the cold indignity of Dignitas.
And yet, at the back of my mind, a small voice keeps saying:
“If I had Alzheimer’s and knew that my self was about to vanish, like sand through a sieve, would I want the rest of me to go on?”

*******

You have to admit these are baffling times for blokes.
Thousands of angry young women marched through London wearing bras, suspenders and skirts shorter than a text message on something called a SlutWalk.
I suppose those wearing black PVC corsets are what you might call Basque Separatists.
Any males who ogled, gawped, fell off their bikes, crashed the car or even got lightly steamed-up specs were guilty of judging a female’s availability by her appearance.
No means No, even when a woman’s dressed like a prostitute saying Yes.
Got that?

Meanwhile, another protest by women was going on outside the tragically retrograde new Playboy Club. These females were objecting to the club’s 50 bunny girls being tricked out with tails and ears for the delectation of customers.
“Is the bunny an empowering role for the modern girl or a frivolous sexist plaything?” asked one commentator.
Hmm, give me till the end of this sentence to think about that.
Emmeline Pankhurst and the girls might be a bit surprised to learn they chained themselves to railings so that Hayley from Dunbarton could celebrate her empowerment by sticking a powder puff on her arse.

As if all this wasn’t confusing enough, the Society for the Psychology of Women in Washington DC has just decreed that chivalry is actually “benevolent sexism”.
Researchers warn that there are many acts of unnoticed sexism taking place every day.
They have drawn up a helpful list so we can all be on our guard: a man offering to help his wife with heavy shopping, man calling a group of men and women “guys” and offering to do the driving on long-distance journeys.
Even men who shower their woman with “unwanted affection” or say they cannot live without her could also be sexist.
Phew.
Thank goodness there’s no danger of that kind of thing happening in my house!

It would take a book to unpick this cat’s cradle of contradictions, but let me say two things.
First, north America, where the SlutWalks originated, has the most atrocious maternity leave in the Western world.
Women quit work practically on the day they give birth and are expected to be back in weeks.
If young women are going to take to the streets, then let them fight for the right to have decent time with their babies, not to get their boobs out.

Second, I hereby declare myself the founding member of Women For Benevolent Sexism.
Any gents who want to help me with a suitcase, hold a door open or smile eagerly and say,
“That’s my pleasure, young lady,” please go ahead.

Source: The Telegraph - Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Not Just 'Imam Muda', But Eternal Leader

"Imam Muda" or Young Leader, a Malaysian television series with 10 young men between 19 and 27 entered the show.
Another reality show thrusts for viewers.

For a simple reason that these young men are not hopefuls of 'Akademi Fantasia', 'Malaysian Idol', 'Mari Berdansa'... and many more reality show that I am not possible to keep track,
not the reality fit for soul food,
these young men had voluntarily opted the responsibility to place heavy baggages on their shoulders, had their private lives 'intruded into',
'out of pity', I do not follow the reality show from day one on Astro Oasis 106 when “Imam Muda” first aired last year, which the participants were only Malaysians.   

'Imam Muda', said to be a hit Islamic reality show, yes, I heard about it, but honestly I did not follow.
One reality show after another.
A copycat nation?
Hopefully, not us at all.
To keep up with trend, now we need a reality show to choose a highly religious leader who should be seen fit and worthy to lead the society?

The end result, according to Izelan Basar, station manager for the Malaysian satellite television station which produces the show, they wanted to do the best they could to attract youths to be closer to the religion.

But the further end result is what I feared then, as we have no see-through 'kasyaf' eyes, able to penetrate the unknown.

These young men, with long future years ahead, are thrown into the limelight.

They can plan their future, but they cannot predict them.

We can point straight to Qada' and Qadar, fated that things should happen when it's 'not according to plan'.
We can be the best planner of the best, but in the end, it is up to HIM to execute or abort it.

People tend to remember the 'once only' mistake than the positive doings we do all our lives.

Many people are less forgiving, lesser than HE who creates us.

People and prints tend to harp over the black tiny dot of ones doing, over, and over, and over again.

I had read and observed many cases, befell to those well known in this region, when once only mistake done, all goodness will go into the drain.

Even when things done are not mistake, but not according to norm or culture, the masses are too easy with accusation, even fault not those well known, but masses themselves, for having 'half full half empty' understanding.

But when I heard "Assalaamu'alaikum, saya Mujahid, berasal dari Woodlands, Singapura... Memecah suatu tradisi, meneruskan perjalanan suatu kehidupan..." on tv in a house I visited few Wednesday nights ago, that was the turning point for Me to know more about the reality show.
I would have not recognised him, if not for the resemblence of his father's feature.

As was My previous sharing, when too many Muslims from Pakistan married among their own relatives, wrong perception of Islamic teaching was reflected.

I submitted myself to become a victim of wrong perception too.
When too many local reality show, 'Mentor', 'Raja Lawak', 'Maharaja Lawak'... were served on platters to us, to Me then , 'Imam Muda' was on such category too.
How wrong was I then.

Credit should be given to Tuan Asmawi Tuan Umar.
He made his presentation to Radio Television Malaysia (RTM) for the 'Imam Muda' reality program.
But it was turned down, as RTM already had its reality show.
The same proposal was made to TV9 but it already had 'Akademi Al-Qur'an'.
Although he was under great pressure to bring forth his idea to realisation, but he still has great confidence in HIM.

He will be helped if he wants to help others to HIS path.
He brought forward his working paper to Astro, but the Malay panel was sceptical, not interested in his idea, since Astro already has had its AF and RL.

He then seek permission to see their superior, who came all the way from India.
The response was "Good!", knowing imam's duty and responsibility is more than a priest.

“Imam Muda”, a Malaysian Islamic reality show first aired in 2010.
It is to create a new generation of young and credible ' imams', training them towards depicting a true picture on the essence and responsibility of being true leaders. 

“This is not like other programs that have no religious values,” said the show’s chief judge and 'imam' at the National Mosque, Al-Fadhil Dato' Hasan Mahmud Al-Hafiz, a former prayer leader at Malaysia’s national mosque.  
“We have no shouting or jumping. We provide spiritual food. We’re not looking for a singer or a fashion model.”

This formula works in 21st century Malaysia.
Other reality TV have crowned chefs, designers, hair stylists, models, singers, but religious leaders?
Malaysia Boleh.
Unlike other reality show, showing their best at runway walk-offs and challenging among themselves at quickfire cooking challenges, these young men, they have no jumping, prancing around or shouting.

They enrich the spirit.
They performed 'fadhu kifayah', dia yang buat, kita tak payah, attended to corpses at morgue that had gone unclaimed for weeks and burying them, joined police crackdown on "Mat Rempit", teenage motorcyclists and counselled unmarried pregnant mothers-to-be.
This journey is documented in the program, dealing with a highly important institution amidst the crumbling society of I have full right of what I want to do, not what I need to do in this progressive nations.

When imam of the past used to be always someone ancient-schooled with old-fashioned thinking and refused to understand the youngs, Astro Oasis is steering towards a new generation of young, credible, and progressive leaders.
They are unearthing and training new versatile imams, giving information to the society on the importance of versatility towards the right path.
We are witnessing the process of finding true essence in the modern and progressive imam. 

"Imam Muda" is the most-watched program ever on Astro Oasis, an Islamic-themed cable channel.
Even the programme creators were thrilled by its success in achieving their goal of bringing young generation closer to their faith, with aim to find leaders who will connect with youths, keeping faith close to their heart amidst nowadays generation immersed in fun-filled pop culture.

Astro Oasis had already paved the way for ten 'Imam Muda' last year, and GOD Willing, another ten for this year.

These talented good young men, from the beginning, it is made clear of their intention is not for fame, not for money, not for showing of how good they are.

It's truly amazing with the idea of using reality tv to search for today's young people to become tomorrow's religious leader.
This bizzarre marriage between religion and pop culture is working miracle, sparked a new level of interest for believers, and took the world by storm.
The reality show proved that the amount of potentially good program is enormous.

The show is midway, (tonight too, if I am not mistaken. I had not really sit down to specially watch the program, just snippets here and there) through its 10-week stint.
It's producers are looking for pious but progressive Muslims who can prove that religion remains relevant to Malaysian youths despite the pop culture and other negative influences.

The show has become the Islamic-themed channel’s most-watched program ever.
It debuted to great popularity in Malaysia, and the programme has gained global attentions.  
'Imam Muda' was shown to 3.7 million viewers worldwide, surpassing 'Akademi Al-Qur'an' viewers, many times more.
Even its Facebook site has surpassed its 370, 000 fans and is still growing.

******

I had worked with Mujahid's mother, and I had worked under his father.

Mujahid had been my kindergarten student, and so was his few siblings.

Once, some time last year, on Friday visiting My ex-colleagues, before An-Nur underwent total renovation, I heard a very familiar voice reciting verses from The Holy Qur'an.

I was listening attentively to the familiar voice when My friend said,  

"Your son lah, Mujahid."

I was surprised because he was in secular school.

But like father like son, "kemana tumpahnya kuah, kalau bukan kenasi."

I had made known to his father that I would prefer children to get real exposure of the truly mixed Singapore races.

Never mind the father's a UIA graduate, and any other university for that matter, and it's ok I obtain my master from u-never-study education centre.

No doubt Mujahid's parents are both theologically inclined, but I would prefer Mujahid to be sent to secular school, given his active and outgoing nature.

No doubt the father was My principal, but I had often voiced out My views despite opposing his.

I had to let him weigh rationally a piece of My mind as I had always look upon the late Ustaz Taha Suhaimi.

Born on a Thursday, July 27, 1916.

Although his father, Sheikh Muhammad Fadhlallah as-Suhaimi, had helped to establish Kulliyah Al-'Attas in Johor Bahru and founded Madrasah Al-Ma'arif in Ipoh Lane in 1936, yet the young Taha Suhaimi received his early education at the Raffles Institution.

He later spent eight years studying at Al-Azhar University in Cairo, Egypt.

Since he went to Al-Azhar to sincerely seek knowledge, and not certification, he returned to Singapore to become a lecturer at the Ngee Ann College.

He was also the first president of the Syari'ah Court.

After his father, Sheikh Muhammad Fadhlallah as-Suhaimi's demise in August 16, 1964, at 78 years of age, Ustaz Taha took charge of Madrasah Al-Ma'arif. 
 It was first built in Tanjung Katong before resited at wakaf land in Ipoh Lane in 1939 by Shaikh Omar Bamadhaj.

An all-girls' Islamic school, it is one of six full-time Islamic madrasahs for primary, secondary and pre-university levels students in Singapore.

With futuristic vision the school master was empowered with, I remember looking at old pictures of the 70s of Madrasah AlMa'arif, with Chinese teachers.
They had even enrolled Chinese staff for the future generation.

Its school curriculum has always emphasis the balance of theology studies and secular subjects from the Singapore Ministry of Education, a more well-rounded and wholesome education.

In 1971, Al-Ma'arif had its students sat for the first GCE 'O' and 'A' Level as private candidates, more than twenty years earlier before the madrasah curriculum was revamped by MUIS, the Singapore Islamic Council, to include the curriculum from the Ministry of Education.

Madrasah Al-Ma'arif Al-Islamiah has since moved to Lorong 39, Geylang.

Ustaz Taha As-Suhaimi had authored 'Biography of Sheikh Muhammad Bin 'Abdullah As-Suhaimi' (his grandfather), 'Commentary of the Surah Yasin' Hajj and 'Umrah', 'Proofs Concerning the Validity of the Qur'an', 'The Book of Fasting, 'The Book of Fiqh', The Science of  Tawhid', 'The True Meaning of Heresy', 'Qadha' and Qadar,  all in Malay.

Some of his English writings are 'Has the Bible Been Altered?' and 'Muhammad Foretold in the Earlier Scriptures'.  

He passed away on Tuesday, June 8, 1999. 

May we benefit from knowing him.
Al-Faatihah.

Rare Earth - From China To Malaysia

People Pay Price For World's Rare Earths Addiction

BAOTOU, China--Peasant farmer Wang Tao used to grow corn, potatoes and wheat within a stone's throw of a dumping ground for rare earths waste until toxic chemicals leaked into the water supply and poisoned his land.

Farmers living near the 10-square-kilometer expanse in northern China say they have lost teeth and their hair has turned white while tests show the soil and water contain high levels of cancer-causing radioactive materials.

“We are victims. The tailings dam has contaminated us,” Wang, 60, told AFP at his home near Baotou city in Inner Mongolia, home to the world's largest deposits of rare earths, which are vital in making many high-tech products.

“In this place, if you eat the contaminated food or drink the contaminated water it will harm your body,” Wang said, pointing towards lifeless fields now strewn with rubbish around Dalahai village, a few hundred meters from the dump.

China produces more than 95 percent of the world's rare earths — 17 elements used in the manufacture of products ranging from iPods to flat-screen televisions and electric cars.
Two-thirds of that is processed in mineral-rich Baotou on the edge of the Gobi desert.

Environmental groups have long criticized rare earths mining for spewing toxic chemicals and radioactive thorium and uranium into the air, water and soil, which can cause cancer and birth defects among residents and animals.

Beijing, keen to burnish its green credentials and tighten its grip over the highly sought-after metals, has started cleaning up the industry by closing illegal mines, setting tougher environmental standards and restricting exports.

But Wang and the other farmers in Dalahai blame state-owned giant Baogang Group, China's largest producer of rare earths and a major iron ore miner and steel producer, for poisoning their fields and ruining their livelihoods.

Strong winds whip across the dump's millions of tonnes of waste, blowing toxic and radioactive materials towards surrounding villages.

“It is the pollution from the tailings dam,” Wang Er, 52, told AFP, pointing a dirty finger at his spiky hair which started turning white 30 years ago.

Baogang, which has rare earths and iron ore refineries stretching for about seven kilometers along a road in the area, did not respond to AFP requests for comment. 

But a 2006 study by local environment authorities showed levels of thorium, a by-product of rare earths processing, in Dalahai's soil were 36 times higher than other areas of Baotou, state media have reported. 

“People are suffering severely,” the Chinese-language National Business Daily said in December, citing the official study. 
Sixty-six villagers died of cancer between 1993 and 2005 while crop yields fell “substantially.”

“There is not one step of the rare earth mining process that is not disastrous to the environment,” Greenpeace China's toxics campaign manager Jamie Choi said in a recent report.
Choi said the impact of the government crackdown depends on whether it is “implemented properly.”

But the environmental damage already caused by rare earths mining in China could be irreversible, according to Wang Guozhen, a former vice president of the government-linked China Nonferrous Engineering and Research Institute.

As demand for rare earths soars, China is slashing export quotas. 
Analysts say Beijing wants to drive up global prices and preserve the metals for its own burgeoning high-tech industries.
The moves have prompted complaints from foreign high-tech producers while the United States and Australia have responded by developing or reopening mines shuttered when cheaper Chinese supplies became available.

Several kilometers from the massive dumping ground is the privately-owned Baotou City Hong Tianyu Rare Earths Factory — one of dozens of operators processing rare earths, iron and coal in a dusty no-man's land.

Workers wearing blue uniforms and army camouflage runners inhale toxic fumes as huge spinning steel pipes process tonnes of rare earths bound for high-tech manufacturers in China, Japan, the United States and elsewhere.

A production manager surnamed Wang told AFP the factory produces “several thousand tonnes of rare earths a year” and the toxic waste is piped to another dumping ground in the area.

The desolate fields around Wang's village have been left fallow as farmers wait for government compensation. Some appear to have fled already, with empty houses and shops along dusty roads falling into disrepair.

Authorities have offered to pay farmers 60,000 yuan per mu (US$9,200 per 0.067 hectares) so they can move to a new village four kilometers away. 

But they won't have land to till and the farmers say the compensation is inadequate. 

Source: China Post - Monday, May 2, 2011

******

Twenty Years On, Malaysia Makes Another Rare Earth Bet 
By Shannon Teoh

A worker waters the site of a rare earth metals mine in Jiangxi. China holds a virtual monopoly on rare earth supply. — file pic

KUALA LUMPUR, March 9 — Malaysia is gambling on a new processing plant in Kuantan to produce metals possibly worth over RM5 billion a year, nearly two decades after protests forced Mitsubishi Chemicals to close down a rare earth plant near Ipoh due to environmental damage — damage which it is still trying to clean up today. A New York Times (NYT) report said today Australian mining company Lynas’s refinery in Kuantan could break China’s chokehold on rare earth metals that are crucial to high technology products such as Apple’s iPhone, the Toyota Prius and Boeing’s smart bombs, said the newspaper.
“If rare earth prices stay at current lofty levels, the refinery will generate US$1.7 billion (RM5 billion) a year in exports starting late next year, equal to nearly one per cent of the entire Malaysian economy,” the newspaper said.
“But as Malaysia learned the hard way a few decades ago, refining rare earth ore usually leaves thousands of tons of low-level radioactive waste behind,” it added, referring to a plant in Bukit Merah.
The Bukit Merah Asian Rare Earth plant near Ipoh was also reported by the New York Times to be still quietly undergoing a US$100 million cleanup exercise despite shutting down in 1992.
The New York Times reported that as many as 2,500 workers are rushing to complete a US$230 million plant in Gebeng, near Kuantan, that will refine slightly radioactive ore from Australia.
It said it will be the first such plant outside China in nearly three decades as the rest of the world became wary of the environmental hazards, leaving China to control 95 per cent of global supply of the rare metals.
Beijing’s recent moves to limit exports of rare earth has propelled world prices of the material to record highs, sending industrial countries scrambling for alternatives, the report continued.
This has spurred Australian mining company Lynas to rush the refinery, which it says will meet nearly a third of the world’s demand for rare earth materials.
According to the NYT, the Malaysian government was eager for the investment by Lynas, even offering a 12-year tax holiday.
It quoted Raja Datuk Abdul Aziz bin Raja Adnan, the director-general of the Malaysian Atomic Energy Licensing Board, who said the project was only approved after an inter-agency review.
He said the report indicated that the imported ore and subsequent waste would have low enough levels of radioactivity to be manageable and safe.
“We have learned we shouldn’t give anybody a free hand,” Raja Adnan told the newspaper.
However, toxicologist Dr. Jayabalan A. Thambyappa, who has treated leukaemia victims whose illnesses he and others have attributed to the Mitsubishi plant, contends that low or not, exposure to such material remains hazardous.
“The word ‘low’ here is just a matter of perception — it’s a carcinogen,” said Dr Jayabalan.
The Bukit Merah plant was opened by Japanese company Mitsubishi Chemicals in 1985, before being shuttered in 1992 following years of protests by residents concerned with pollution, the NYT said.
Rare earths, a group of 17 elements found near the bottom of the periodic table, are not radioactive themselves.
But virtually every rare earth ore deposit around the world contains, in varying concentrations, a slightly radioactive element called thorium.

Source: The Malaysian Insider - Wednesday, March 9, 2011

******

Malaysians Don’t Need Rare Earth Plant

I AM amazed that Nicholas Curtis of Lynas can say that there is no risk to his country’s nuclear waste that he wants to keep here in Malaysia (“Firm assures public of ‘zero radiation exposure’” – The Star, April 13).
His own fellow Australians don’t agree with him. He cannot take the waste back to Australia, so he will try and persuade Malaysians to let him keep his dangerous by-product here.
He and his family don’t have to live next to the rare earth plant in Kuantan. So it is easy for him to say what he has to say to do what he wants.
He cannot simply turn Malaysia into an international toxic waste dump. Some Australian MPs are now very concerned about the radiation from the nuclear waste from Lynas’ proposed project. Our leaders in Malaysia must not let the people down.
Malaysians are not less educated or less knowledgeable than Australians. We are not less health conscious.
Malaysians cannot be fooled so easily by the soothing words of a company producing controversial and hazardous by-products.
If Lynas cannot help produce toxic waste, and it cannot find any country willing to store its waste, it should return to its own country to do business. Otherwise it should switch to another line of business.
There is already some controversy surrounding Lynas’ application for a licence from the Atomic Energy Licensing Board. We don’t need more controversies here.
Malaysians also don’t need a rare earth plant that its home country won’t accept. Thank you very much.
AMIR HUSSEIN,
Kuala Lumpur.

Source: The Star - April 15, 2011

China Mistress, The Home-Wrecker

Divorcee's Lonely War Against China 'Mistresses' 
by Maureen Koh

SHE leaves her four-room HDB flat in Clementi early in the morning and takes a bus to Chinatown, where she will spend the day.
It is a ritual she faithfully carries out four times a week. Her mission: To seek out "odd" couples, or rather, mainland Chinese women with middle- aged Singaporean men.
And when she spots "those suspicious ones", she whips out her digital camera, a voice recorder and a notepad. Madam Tay Wanqing, 46, is not a private investigator tailing and spying on adulterous men. She is out for revenge.
"It's war," she declared to The New Paper at her flat, "against these women who break up other people's families."
Stacked neatly in one bedroom, which is locked whenever Madam Tay leaves her home, are boxes of what she calls "incriminating evidence against the cheap women". 

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The boxes are separated into three groups: "Case Closed", "In Progress" and "Given Up".
She declined to show its contents. What started out as a personal vendetta against mistresses has turned into an obsession for the housewife and mother of a teenager.
Unable to convince her to give up her obsession, her family members recently stopped all contact with her.
In a separate interview, her brother, Mr Tay Wantian, said: "Of course I love my sister, but it's like my parents and I have given up hope on her.
"We feel that she's gone off the deep end."
Madam Tay is aware of her family's objections and unhappiness. But she insists that she, too, is helpless.
"My brother keeps saying that I've gone mad, but if I stopped what I'm doing, I'd really go crazy," she said.
"I lost my husband after 25 years of marriage and I lost my son. What else do I have to live for?"
She was spurred into playing vigilante by her husband's previous affairs - three, she claimed - with Chinese nationals in 10 years.
Madam Tay said: "By the third affair, I gave up all hope and realised that no matter what happened, there'd always be another woman."
The couple, who have an 18-year-old son, filed for divorce in 2009.
That marked the start of her mission: To wipe out all the "wu ya" (crows) and "xiao long nu" (little dragon women). These are derogatory terms used to describe women from China.
Said Madam Tay: "I felt something had to be done. I didn't have anyone to help me when my husband was cheating on me and I had to depend on private investigators, which cost me money.
"Here, I don't charge anyone for my services."
Madam Tay was reluctant to elaborate on her "spying" techniques, adding that she was worried it would give her away and hinder her work. When she is on a mission, she scans the area for odd-looking couples.
She claimed to have learnt to tell the difference between married couples and adulterous pairs. She said her hunches have been about "90 per cent" correct so far.
After she has surreptitiously snapped pictures and taken videos of the couple, her next job is to track the men. But here's where she sometimes faces an obstacle.
Said Madam Tay: "I don't drive and some of these men do. I usually have to call for a cab, but if I don't get one, then it means starting all over again."
For the men whose addresses she has successfully uncovered, she will return another day to "present her evidence and break the news".
She admitted: "But not everyone appreciates my kaypoh (busybody) ways."
Sometimes, Madam Tay takes things into her own hands and confronts the mistresses.
She said: "I create a scene in public to shame them."
Hers is a dangerous obsession. She has been beaten before, by both the mistresses and the cheating men. Once, a man even called the police to complain of being harassed.
Madam Tay was let off with a warning.
Despite that, she is determined to continue with her mission because "for every one woman I can help, it's a point in heaven for me", she said.
With her approval, we spoke to one such grateful woman. Shop assistant Emily Yeo, 42, had suspected that her husband of five years was having an affair.
She told The New Paper: "But given my $1,000 a month salary, I couldn't afford a PI."
Madam Yeo, who has a five-year-old daughter, said she was shocked when Madam Tay knocked on her door on National Day last year.
She said: "At first I thought she was the mistress. Then, she showed me photos and a blurry video recording of my husband being intimate with a Chinese beer promoter."
Both women "hugged each other and cried for an hour".
Madam Yeo, who has filed for divorce, said: "I think my pain was dulled because I had (Madam Tay's) support."
Women like Madam Yeo give Madam Tay the strength to go on.
Said Madam Tay: "I still have my savings, but if that is depleted one day, I'm prepared to sell the flat."

****** 

Hubby Had Three Affairs
MADAM Tay Wanqing said her woes began in June 1999, when she learnt of her businessman husband's first affair with a Chinese study mama. The woman was working as a part-time cleaner in his food manufacturing company.
Madam Tay's husband fired the woman and, said Madam Tay, "we were happy for a while". The couple even went on a month-long second honeymoon trip to Europe.
But, in 2002, she noted a change in her husband's wardrobe and behaviour.
"He started wearing trendier colours and kept late nights," said Madam Tay.
Suspicious of her husband, she spent more than $2,000 to hire a private investigator (PI) who tracked her cheating spouse for eight days. She said she found out that her husband had setup a love nest with a karaoke hostess.
Madam Tay said: "I was so furious that I went to the condominium (unit) to confront the woman. She challenged me, telling me I should know how to keep my husband under control."
Madam Tay said she confronted her husband, who promptly promised to end the affair. But Madam Tay had a breakdown and was warded at the Institute of Mental Health for three months.
She said it strained her relationship with her son.
Said Madam Tay: "It was the worst time of my life. I swore I'd never allow him to hurt me again."
Again, her husband promised to change. He behaved for a few years - until late 2005, she said. This time, she spent $3,000 to hire another PI for 10 days.
The PI gathered enough evidence to show that her husband was cheating on her with a mamasan, Madam Tay said. It was the last straw and she filed for a divorce.
She said: "I realised that no matter what, my husband would never change his ways."
Madam Tay was given joint custody of her son, but he chose to live with his father.
"It hurt to be betrayed by the two men I love." 

Upset family wants her to 'come to her senses'
WHILE Madam Tay Wanqing is passionate about being a champion for wives with cheating husbands, her family members feel otherwise.
They are upset that everything they've done to convince Madam Tay to give up her obsession has been unsuccessful. And when this reporter first contacted her brother, Mr Tay Wantian, he was upset to learn that The New Paper would be running an interview with his only sister.
Mr Tay, 50, who runs a hair salon, said: "I think it's not right to encourage my sister, not when we feel she seriously needs help with her mental state."
His parents, who are in their late 70s, have "sort of disowned my sister", he added, "and you can't blame them".
Aside from worrying about her mental well-being, Mr Tay said they were also concerned over her personal safety.
"She has been beaten up before, yet she refuses to stop," he said.
"We know she needs to focus on something but spending her time and money this way is madness."
He is particularly worried because Madam Tay has always been an introvert and has few friends.
"Even when she was suffering because of her husband's infidelity, she didn't confide in us.
"It was only when she had to be warded at the Institute of Mental Health that we found out what happened."
When Madam Tay was discharged, he and his parents advised her to leave her husband.
Mr Tay said: "But my sister said she could not live without him and chose to give him another chance.
"Sceptical as we were, we supported Qing."
But following that, Madam Tay gradually withdrew from the family, said Mr Tay.
"She visited my parents less often and when they called, she'd just say she was busy with housework," he said.
It wasn't until Madam Tay was beaten up by one of the women that the family found out what she was doing.
Mr Tay said: "We were so shocked. My mother kept pleading with Qing to let go of the past and start life anew."
He added: "We've cajoled, we've shouted, we've threatened and we've begged her, but she's too stubborn to listen.
"She even threatened to kill herself if we pushed her too much."
Attempts to get Madam Tay to seek professional counselling were also unsuccessful, said Mr Tay.
"Much as we know she is hurting badly, there's only so much we can do to try and help her," he added.
"We can only hope she'll come to her senses one day, soon, before it's too late." 

This article was first published in The New Paper - Wednesday, March 16, 2011.

Java's Merapi And Its Green Lady

Merapi is being associated with Mbah Marijan. But to associate Merapi with Nyai Gadung Melati too? Who is Nyai Gadung Melati? 

Channel News Asia did interview Mbah Marijan and I happened to watch the programme when it was shown - on October 26, the Tuesday that he was found dead, buried under Merapi's ash.
His life is believed to have been snapped instantly by the 1,000-degree Celsius cloud of gas and ash.  
His responsibility as Merapi's gatekeeper led to his refusal to evacuate the October 26 eruption and his body was found in a praying position. He died still honouring his words as Merapi's gatekeeper - with responsibility well intact. 
As he had said in 2006, "Everybody has their duty. Reporter, soldier, police, they have their duty. I also have a duty to stand here".
The Yogyakarta Palace, where he was a chosen palace servant (hamba dalem) there, was said that the palace had 'known long before it happened that Mbah Marijan would be taken by Merapi'.

The late Mbah Marijan is a well respected man who lived only about 5 kilometres (3m) from Merapi's peak in his home village of Kinahrejo.
The Merapi's folks believe the late Mbah Marijan had the ability to communicate with the Merapi's 'unseen beings'.
They believed he would be warned in a vision if an eruption was imminent.

The late Mbah Marijan is known for his dedication and loyalty to the king.
He was a chosen palace servant (abdi dalem) for the Yogyakarta Sultanate in 1970 by Sultan Hamengku Buwono IX and was named Mas Penewu Suraksohargo by the sultan.
His duty was, as an assistant to his father who was the then Merapi's gatekeeper until the father's death on March 3, 1982, when Mbah Marijan became the official Merapi's gatekeeper.
He spoke using refined 'palace' (Kraton) language - always soothing to the ears.

For Yogyakarta Sultanate, Merapi holds a significant cosmological symbolism, because it is forming a sacred north-south axis line between Merapi peak and Southern Ocean (Indian Ocean).
Merapi peak is a sacred axis - according to Javanese ancestral belief - the axis runs along Malioboro street to Northern Alun alun (square) across Yogyakarta's Kraton, and to the southern Alun-alun, all the way to Bantul -  Bantul's batiks  had been considered as world heritage by the UN.
The Sultan of Yogyakarta, Sultan Hamengku Buwono IX for now, is the leader of the Javanese kingdom.

Because of the history that goes way back before Islam came to the country, even though Indonesia is acknowledged as a republic country, Yogyakarta , or Solo to some, is always a 'special state' (D.I.Y - Daerah Istimewa Yogyakarta) to the Indonesians, especially the Javanese.

Mount Merapi

Merapi, which elevates on the main Java island, plays a great role in Javanese way of life, beliefs and livings - its more than just a volcanic mountain - Merapi is a special Javanese heritage and the heritage is a living thing too - it breathes - smoke can be seen emerging from the mountaintop almost all year round.
Merapi, being the youngest in a group of volcanoes in southern Java, is growing.
And as any growing human, a massive lava dome 'formed its height' near the tip of Merapi's crater.

As human who has to be look after, and whose body temperature undergoing subtle changes when not feeling well, so is Mount Merapi - It breathes, it grows, it sneezes, it coughs, it clears its phlegm, it sleeps and now it has awakened! - Not eruption -  Experts monitoring Merapi's awakening were reported as being 'baffled' despite earlier predictions that the earlier eruptions following the initial blast in the earlier weeks would ease pressure of building up behind a magma dome.

****** 

Mbah Marijan was surprised when Nyai Gadung Melati did appear in his dream. 
Something BIG is going to happen???
Only GOD knows, but it is not a good sign as Nyai Gadung Melati would occasionally appears in dreams of some 'selected' Merapi's villagers - to warn them of the coming Merapi's eruption. 
Mount Merapi and all mountain that matter, need to be pleased, need to be look after. 

Nyai Gadung Melati is fourth in line to Merapi unseen monarchy headed by King Kiyai Merapi. 
These 'unseen beings' to the naked eyes, made of fire by THE CREATOR, has its palace (Kraton) in Merapi's crater.  
Kiyai Merapi's main man, Kiyai Sapu Jagad, holds the key to the volcano and its pending eruption - but all eruption is not without its own mystical origins - mankind contributed to the factor too.  
Third in line is Kiyai Megantara, in charge of weather and the surroundings.  

Merapi has nine 'unseen guardians' and Nyai (Lady) Gadung Melati ( Leaf Green), the fourth, is in charge of merapi's environment - vegetations and animals - with staff of hundreds of ladies, are said all dressed in green - and their main duty is to look after Merapi's greeneries and fertility. 

Nyai  Gadung Melati is assisted too by Ada Kartadimeja - overseeing livestocks and always appear in common Merapi villagers' dreams about the coming eruption and steps that need to be taken.
The villagers living on Merapi's slopes rely on natural signs rather than official orders - usually they heeded not government warnings of evacuation, but the advice of the mountain’s official 'gatekeeper'. 
Or, they dream of Ada Kartadimeja, or some fortunate ones would dream of Nyai Gadung Melati.
Beside dreams, the villagers too, will always be on the look out for lightning around Merapi's peak, thundering clouds and days of ash raining down, or animals unusual activities and these animals' moving down the Merapi's slopes.

All mountains in Java islands are the dwelling places of the 'unseen beings' - so is Mount Merapi.
Their dwelling places and the surroundings need to be acknowledged, should not be disturbed - and the local folks knew that pretty well.
Unnecessary forest clearing is strictly forbidden!!!
Shifting or looting of forests' possessions have its consequences.

Javanese folks are known for their choicest of words, lest these words are offending to the ears, not only to mankind, but to the 'unseen beings' too - These 'unseen beings' hear and understand the conversations of human beings around them, and they just know how it is to be hurt.
These 'unseen beings' live with mother nature, appreciate mother nature, and they expect the same harmony living with us, human beings - not relieving ourselves - anywhere human beings assumed all-right, no eyes seeing them.
Not anywhere, any place in the forest is a relieving place. Some places up the mountain is sacred too. 

Local folks know and understand what should and should not be done, but not outsiders - and this seemed to anger Nyai Gadung Melati.
She feels ashamed, she feels hurt with them, seeing their abhor characters.

In 2004, the Ministry of Forestry declared a 6,410 hectares national park around Mount Merapi - the local residents were baffled.
During the 2006 Merapi 'awakened', local residents were reluctant to leave fearing their residences would be confiscated for further expansion of the national park.

Despite the devastation, lives lost and homes destroyed, Merapi's dwellers accept their fate - it's DIVINE retribution. 
The spate of recent disasters are warning signs to those who are out of touch with nature and not keeping and honouring their positions which they had promised to shoulder.

Indonesia, with 220 million people, which Muslims being the majority, greatly believe the 'unseen beings' - either in religious context or by way of ancestral belief: The spiritual past and an unseen kingdom that exists in Merapi's crater.

After thousands of years living dangerously, and Islam being the religion of most Javanese, it is hard to shed off the mythology and belief alongside the majority's religious believe. 

The Shouldn't Be Breadwinner

Woman In Her 70s Deliver Water To Support Family

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Gao Meiyun, who is in her 70s, has to climb the stairs carrying bottled water weighing 20 kilograms to her clients every day, even though she weighs less than 38 kilograms. Gao lives with her sick son and grandson in Shijingshan District of Beijing, and the burden falls on her sore shoulders. [Photo/Xinhua]
 




Gao looks at her house piled with water bottles and takes a break. The house has neither air conditioner nor a fun making people feel a little suffocated. [Photo/Xinhua]

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Gao suffers a severe cough and other illnesses but has no money for medical care, as all the money gained from her water station is used to support her family. [Photo/Xinhua]





Gao considers how many bottles of water she needs to sell in a day. If she stocks more bottles than she needs in a day, she will have less money to buy food. [Photo/Xinhua]

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Gao loads a 20-kilogram bottle of water for delivery. [Photo/Xinhua]

 

Gao takes a breath after climbing the stairs while making a delivery. [Photo/Xinhua]