Flood

As you may be aware, several parts of northern Malaysia have been hit by flood - the worst in 20 30 years, according to some news reports. Among the most severely hit in the state of Kedah was Kubang Pasu. Thousands of people have been evacuated and taken to emergency relief centers. I hope none of my friends are affected.

I was supposed to go back the day before yesterday but decided to take emergency leave and watch the situation. Last night I was already on the bus back to Kedah, when they suddenly announced that the bus won't be going beyond Jitra. I quickly stopped the bus and got down. I noticed that I was not alone. A colleague of mine who stays in Changloon town also decided to stay back in KL. Like me, he is a weekend husband (he works in Kedah while his wife works in KL and they get to meet only on weekends). He was quite worried as he has no idea what condition his house was in. I am quite lucky as the house I rent is on high ground and is not affected.

This morning two of my friends who normally drive to work every day from Sungai Petani informed me that the situation has not improved and in fact got worse. They had to turn back from Jitra and were stuck in a terrible jam.

If the rains don’t let up, there is going to be a disaster.

UPDATE:

Alor Star airport has been closed indefinitely.

Who’s Corrupt?

A few days back I met an old friend. While talking about various issues, we got to talking about the recent cases, which have cast a bad light on the Malaysian police. He was criticizing the Malaysian police and implying that they were all corrupt.

This is from a guy who used to regularly speed, double park and drive on the emergency lanes. He also has no qualms about giving money to get away whenever he is caught either.

He even taught me how to do it:

- Look apologetic.
- Give excuses.
- Talk in a low respectful tone.
- Look at the body language.
- And then finally slip in RM20-RM30.
- “And don’t show the money in your wallet”, he warned.

According to him, this was a good example of “you scratch my back, I scratch your back”.

This set me thinking.

To me, it is not only the people who take bribes who are corrupt. Even those who offer bribes are in the wrong.

Anyway here are some of my ideas about improving the entire Royal Malaysian Police force:

1. Improve their pay. At present I feel that they are highly underpaid in relation to their risks and the work hours they put in.
2. Increase the educational entry requirements for officers. At least a degree for an Inspector.
3. Regular retraining. Physical, language, latest crime fighting techniques and human rights.
4. Focus on their main task. That is to fight crime. Leave them out from religious (eg, khalwat raids), political and immigration issues.

It is indeed sad that a few rotten apples have ruined the image of several other dedicated men and women who work day and night to protect us.

I sincerely hope that they regain the respect that they deserve.

The Tudung Issue Revisited

Tudung – head scarf; head covering worn by many Muslim ladies in Malaysia.

Now that the International Islamic University tudung issue has died down, I thought - why not stroke the embers once again.

Recently my wife's cousin started wearing the tudung on her wedding day. It was purely her decision.

I read with interest an article in the NST (I can’t remember which) where the writer pointed out that wearing of the tudung became popular in Malaysia only after the Iranian revolution. Wearing the tudung took off in a big way in Malaysia only during the late 1980’s – a period some people refer to as the Islamization of Malaysia.

During an exhibition in University Malaya, there was an old black and white picture of some ladies (clerical staff) taken during the 70s. My wife recognized one of the ladies as her mother.

One of my her friends remarked “Wah! How sexy.”

According to my mother-in-law, during those days it was considered normal work attire (and it was the fashion). Everybody at work wore sleeveless shirts and skirts and none of them wore a tudung. It was definitely not considered sexy. Now, you would be hard pressed to find even a single Malay lady not wearing the tudung let alone sleeveless shirts and skirts, among the clerical staff of University Malaya. Not even among the non-Malay ladies.

I recall a friend telling me about receiving a culture shock when he finally came back home from the UK where he had stayed some 5 years studying and working. His wife didn’t wear a tudung when she left and she didn’t while she was there and now suddenly it had become an issue. Even a selendang - a loose covering, won’t do any more. Now the perfect way to wear a head covering is to wear it in such a way that not a single strand of hair should be seen.

I am not sure why, but suddenly I see that a lot of the young generation Muslim ladies do not wear the tudung. And a lot of those who used to wear it during their school and University days are no longer wearing it at work.

I guess it’s true. Culture does change. Or has it come the full circle?

A Veteran Journalist Passes Away

I almost forgot to blog about this.

Last Thursday, I was browsing through the New Straits Times when a photograph caught my eye. I was shocked to learn that A. Sri K. Nayagam had passed away early the day before (Nov 30). The former Assistant Editor of the Malay Mail and Asiaweek’s former chief correspondent for Malaysia, passed away at the age of 63 after being bedridden for quite some time.

Picture from the NST

Mr. Nayagam retired from the Malay Mail in 1998 and had started his own PR company.
The veteran journalist was later roped in as the Managing Editor of the South Review magazine, an effort to revive the South, which had been previously published from London. Many don't know it but this influential magazine was Malaysian funded. Unfortunately, it had folded up during the Asian Crisis.

The South Review was aimed at presenting the perspectives of the developing and third world countries (the South countries). It was a valiant effort but after working there for about a year (as a contributor/jack of all trades), I knew that it wouldn't work.

A magazine needs advertisements to survive. This in turn depends on circulation.

The South review was a magazine about the environment, globalisation, current affairs and other serious stuff. You can imagine how difficult it was to sell this kind of magazine in Malaysia, where people don’t either trust or look down on anything published here. As for advertisements, MNC’s would avoid us like the plague and I guess you know why.

Anyway, I really did learn a lot of things from Mr. Nayagam. During lunch, he would regale us with stories from his life as a journalist, some of them quite juicy I might add.

I had minor differences in the way the magazine was being run and soon left for better pastures (or so I thought). I had lost touch with him for quite sometime since I left the magazine. Later learnt that the magazine had folded up from friends who had worked there. I also recall reading somewhere that he was rehired by the NST on contract, which was his last posting.

May his soul rest in peace.

Read his obituary in the NST.

Datuk Nicol

She's finally done it and created history in the process.

Malaysia's golden girl, 22 years old Nicol David's victory (8-10 9-2 9-6 9-7 ) over Rachael Grinham of Australia on Sunday made her the first Asian woman to win the World Open squash title in Hong Kong. Nicol beat reigning World number one, Dutch star Vanessa Atkinson during the semis.



Look at her exploits: The first home player to capture the Malaysian Open, the first Asian woman to win the British Open and the first Asian woman to become world number one. Actually she is not the World No One officially and will only get the title in January.

Anyway, as far as I know, she will the First Malaysian to be ranked a No 1 in any sport.

If anybody deserves a Datukship, it's Nicol. Anybody with me?

Others who blogged about her: Lucia and KG.

UPDATE:

The Malaysian Government announced yesterday that Nicol would be awarded RM20,000/ under the National Sports Council’s (NSC) reward scheme for athletes.

More rewards: Updated 9th Dec. 2005

A medium-cost apartment unit in Bukit Gambier, worth RM180,000, and RM30,000 in cash from the Penang state government.

Appointed as ambassador for healthy living and another apartment in the same housing project by the The Penang Development Corporation (PDC)

I am not Lovin it

Are you one of those guys who regularly eat at McDonalds or any other fast food outlet? Well you might want to read on.

Yesterday night I watched ‘Super Size Me’ on DVD. This documentary won the Best Director Award at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival.



The director, who’s also the narrator and actor, lives on a McDonald diet (eating whatever is on the McDonald menu only) for one whole month to study the effect this has on his life. He also reduces the amount of exercise to match that of the average American.

The guy’s weight goes from 185.5 to 210 lbs in one month. Besides health problems, he faces emotional turmoil and his sex life goes down the drain.

I guess it did make an impact – McDonalds made several changes to its policies and menu in the US following this film’s premiere at the Sundance Film Festival.

It certainly made me think about my unhealthy lifestyle.

I don’t visit fast food joints much and I have never liked McDonalds anyway. As an Ovo-lacto-vegetarian (which means I am a vegetarian who eats eggs and consumer milk products), my choice is limited.

What I really need is to get some regular exercise. Since I got my car, I practically drive everywhere and having a desk job doesn’t help much. In the past 3 years I have gained 3 inches on my waistline. That’s one inch for every year. Scary.

I have decided to reduce my junk food intake, no more snacking in between meals and ban carbonated sugary soft drinks from my diet. However, I still can’t do without coffee. Maybe I should go back to drinking tea. At least it’s a milder form of caffeine.

The most interesting part was under the Bonus parts in the DVD – ‘Smoking Fry’. An experiment carried out by the director. Without giving anything away, I have to tell you it was disgusting.

BTW, its rated PG in the US.

Watch it and don’t blame me it turns you away from burgers and fries forever.

Akad Nikah in Johor

Drove down to Johor Bharu last weekend to attend our dear friends’ Zaza and Hardy’s ‘Akad Nikah’ ceremony. We wouldn’t have missed it for anything and as we keep saying, we are so fortunate that Hardy met Zaza. If you are reading this, you both know what I mean.

We left our house in Kelana Jaya at around 6:30pm, Friday evening. This time, we didn’t bring Rahil along and left her with my in-laws.

It was bumper to bumper from the minute we turned into the Federal highway till just after Port Dickson (took us about 3 hours). After PD, I drove quite fast and might have exceeded the speed limit at a few places. Hope I don’t get any summons.

Anyway, we finally reached Johor Bahru safe but tired at around 12am. Hardy had already booked us a room at Hotel Seri Malaysia, Larkin. The facilities are nothing to shout about but at RM100 per night, I guess we can’t complain much. Had some snacks with the groom who looked a bit haggard but was quite cool.

In the morning all of us gathered at the hotel lobby. It was an honor for us to be part of the groom’s party. We left together in a convoy and set off for Zaza’s house from the hotel around 10:40 am in the morning.

For those not familiar with Malay marriages and customs, the Akad Nikah is a verbal contract between the bride’s father and the groom (in this case Hardy) and presided by a Kadi. The most important part is when the bride’s father or representative (in this case the Kadi) says: I marry thee to (name of bride) with the mas kahwin of Ringitt Malaysia*.

The groom has to reply “Aku terima nikahnya (name of bride) dengan mas kahwinnya Ringitt Malaysia * tunai” which when translated to English means: “I accept this marriage with (name of bride) with a mas kahwin of Ringitt Malaysia - - * cash”.

*Mas Kawin: A nominal fee that seals the signing of the marriage contract. It varies from state to state in Malaysia.

The groom has to say all of this in one breath. If not satisfied, the witness can ask him to repeat it again. Hardy did it in one go. I know of some guys who were so nervous and had to repeat it a couple of times before the witnesses were finally satisfied.

Of course there are other formalities and “adat” or customs, which are quite unique to Malay weddings. I will not go into it and will leave it for the newly married couple to write about it in their respective blogs.

The Sultanah of Johor was there too and she looked quite elegant. First time I ever attended a wedding in Malaysia with royalty in attendance.

I talked to Hardy just before they left for Holland yesterday and asked him how married life feels like. His reply: “I feel wonderful.”

Congratulations and best wishes for the newly married couple.