The curmudgeon returns

We returned last week and looked for our much-missed breakfast of tosay, roti telur, teh tarik and kopi susu kurang manis.  On our frst morning, we headed for the mamak restaurant just up the road. Aaaah puas!!

Next we walked on to Giant Supermarket to stock up on our comestibles.  What joy when we saw on the shelves a bunch of Pisang Emas!  I have never understood why our Malaysian supermarkets tend to stack up mainly Dole and Cavendish Bananas when local Pisang Emas and Pisang Rastali are almost impossible to get hold of.

When we got to the checkout counter we were given a bright smile from the lady serving at the counter.

LADY  Lama tak nampak, hilang ke mana?

SPOUSE  Kita balik kampung - ke kampung Pakcik.

LADY  Oh, bagus tak?

SPOUSE  Bagus, Pakcik suka sejuk.

AsH  (putting forward the pisang emas for payment)  Bagus ya, kali ini ada pisang emas.  Macik                   suka benar pisang 'ni.

LADY  (with a grin on her face)  Pisang emas dibawa belayar ...

AsH  Masak sebiji diatas peti.

          Hutang emas boleh dibayar.

          Hutang budi dibawa mati.

The lady was so surprised, turned to the checkout lady behind her and exclaimed.

LADY  Wah,  dapat habiskan pantun 'ni!!

AsH  (with a smile)  Kami orang lama.

What a lovely welcome home to my Tanah Air.  Pisang Emas and Pantun Melayu.

Maybe all is not lost?!

Growing up in Pasir Panjang, Singapore in the 1950s and 1960s,  Emak brought us up on a regular string of pantuns - to keep us on the straight and narrow and perhaps to remind us not to forget that we are Malays, especially as we were being educated in an English school.  By the way, Emak never had any schooling at all - whether in Arabic, Malay or English.

SM Salim was one of Emak's favourite singers and she loved this song on 'BUDI'.

  

 BUDI - 'mengenang dan membalas budi'  was an attitude that she drummed into our heads.  Budi for her and Abah was not merely confined to the 'receiving' but also the 'giving'.  It was not just a matter of responding with a terima kasih.  It involved appreciating, remembering and reciprocating.

Sad to say, in the 21st century, Malaysians - and especially the Malays - have marginalised and even forgotten this aspect of their culture for other norms like cultivating and accumulating kudos for ensuring themselves a place in paradise.  I cannot speak for Malaysians who are non-Malays but they too I imagine, would have values of BUDI in their culture - and no doubt the 21st century has caught up with them too. 

And this brings me to one crucial aspect of the practice of BUDI - of appreciating the lot we have been given and of counting our blessings: and that is recognizing that we Malaysians have grown and flourished in this generous, tolerant, bountiful, pleasant and peaceful land.

The checkout lady at Giant (she must be in her late fifties), bless her, still remembers her Malay pantun.  Fast forward a decade or two, how many will still apply and appreciate this facet of Malay culture.  These lines from the song above are grim portents of the fate of the Malays.

Datuk Laksmana ka Bangka hulu,
Belayar kapal membawa dagang.
Bagai mana kapal nak lalu,
Kuala sudah dilingkung karang?


                                                         ---------------------------

What did I leave behind in the spouse's kampung?

The British have finally got their divorce from Europe.  It was acrimonious, divisive and at times very nasty.  A decision was made firstly in a referendum over three years ago, then secondly in the European Election of  23 May 2019.  In this, as a PR of UK, I voted for the Brexit Party and Brexit.

My/ Our  reasons can be read here .....

https://anaksihamid.blogspot.com/2010/11/some-good-people.html     here .....

https://anaksihamid.blogspot.com/2016/06/a-brexiteer.html     and here .....

https://anaksihamid.blogspot.com/2019/05/a-lefty-liberals-lament.html

A small digression:  The last posting touches on one of the main reasons why the decision to leave the EU was made - and then confirmed twice, each time more forcefully than before: this was the question of immigration from Eastern Europe.

A week before we left,  the spouse was walking our friend Colin to his car.  One of the Romanian neighbours smiled and wished the two white British Nationals "good morning".  Before 31 January 2020 (when UK officially left the European Union), and since they moved to our street in 2014, they would just scowl at Iain and their wives would bump shoulders against me whenever I walked past them on the pavement.    Why the about-turn in attitude?     I suppose it all boils down to power and the fear of being made powerless - when all it needed, right from the beginning, was respect and goodwill and less arrogance and self-entitlement.

Can  Malaysia learn any lesson from this??


And so, finally, the General Election on 12 December 2019.    This put paid to all the moanings of the Remainers who wanted a Second Referendum because they insisted that the First Referendum of 2016 did not give an acceptable  majority for leaving the EU.

Boris Johnson and the Conservative Party's manifesto of "Get Brexit Done"  was the cue not only for the most devastating defeat in 84 years for a dithering Labour Party,  but also a conclusive decision to leave Europe.

I take heart that my decision to vote for Conservative instead of Labour  was replicated by Labour members in the North.  I have a strong empathy for the North especially when Thatcher's pit closures led to the Miners' strike of 1984-1985, when thousands of men were abandoned to the scrap heap.

  The grief and despair of these Northerners were hard to live with.  We became especially close to them because Iain's Aunt Peggy was a strong supporter and sympathizer with the miners and their families.

Peggy lighting a coal-fire for her old-fashioned oven-water heater.  She has no central heating or refrigerator or television.  But she did accept her nephew's offer to install a telephone in her flat because we grumbled about keeping in easy contact with her and her safety.

Peggy passed away about 15 years ago.  Her hometown Bishop Auckland decided this on 12 December 2019.  They wanted out - they wanted Brexit.

More about Peggy.

1.   https://anaksihamid.blogspot.com/2011/06/fire-of-love-penultimate-episode.html




2.

Well, that's Brexit done and dusted for the spouse's country and my adopted country.

What will be the fate and future of my country and the spouse's adopted country?  Who knows, out of the woodwork we may get  a hero in Malaysia, something like this knight in UK?  Perhaps a Malaysian style Datuk Buckethead???? 

One can but wish, can't one?

  

Democracy delineated, re-delineated and reviewed.

Read this news three days ago.  Oh dear, I thought.  More hot flush from the Yellow T-shirts.

Where were these avengers, the voice of the people, by the people, for the people, when we needed them; to articulate and represent us at the dire and sorry state of our water supply in Selangor, when in early March we were deprived of water for 4 whole days plus plus?  How can the ordinary rakyat  remain bersih without our supply of water?  For the two geriatrics, we only found out about the water cutoff when we brought our two cats to our vet and Aida the receptionist inquired if we were affected by the closure of supply in our area
.
Got home, checked the letter box, there was no  letter informing us of the disruption. Checked with our neighbour - she was just as much in the dark.  Checked with my sister at Bukit Mulia, she was uncertain too as she had had no warning in the post.  So just two days before our departure, the two geriatrics rummaged for all the water containers they could find to store enough water for upstairs and downstairs - both for our use and for Osman our house and cat sitter who would be taking over when we leave. Was this due to a drought like a few years back?  At least then we had a respite when water was turned on at night. Has global warming affected Selangor more than any other part of the country? No, it's due to a typical Malaysian malady - just sheer mismanagement on the part of our corporate and political leaders.

Anyway AsH is just letting off steam about life in our sultry and torrid tropical Selangor.

I found out later what was involved in SPR (see the image above).  SPR is the Suruhanjaya Pilihan Raya or Election Commission (EC) - who is responsible for constituency re-delineation, which has to be conducted every 8 years.  It was done in 2003 for Malaya and Sabah, and in 2005 for Sarawak.  Thus it was due for the coming General Election.

This review has everything to do with the theory and practice of  DEMOCRACY, a system of government we inherited from the British who in turn had taken its mantle and practice from the Greeks. 

However laudable democracy is, I applaud H.L. Mencken's view "Democracy is a form of worship.  It is the worship of Jackals by Jackasses".

I must declare my ignorance of the practice of delineation and reviews of electoral boundaries in various democracies.  Sometimes it's described as gerrymandering.  At  times it is claimed to resolve electoral bias and to equalise electoral constituency sizes.  But in the light of the hi-tech collusion of Cambridge Analytica and Facebook to target the voting and the voter during the Presidential election of the  planet's richest and strongest democracy, redelineation and re-jigging looks quite anaemic.

Nevertheless on 28 March, Malaysia's Election Commission's redelineation report was passed in the Dewan Rakyat - despite a great deal of  robust outcry from the Opposition and their Yellow Legionnaires.

Well, Singapura in 2015 also conducted a similar exercise.  It had a different appellation, it was called the Electoral Boundaries Review Committee (EBRC).  Amongst the changes made; there were more Single Member Constituencies (SMC).  Two SMCs, Joo Chiat and Whampoa  and the Moulmein-Kallang GRC(Group Representative Constituency) vanished.  Naturally all incumbent governments will find sound, solid reasons for their manoeuvres.  The tamperings with the SMCs and GRC were regarded by the Opposition and their supporters as a move by the People's Action Party to "cut their losses".  But outpourings of anger and dissent in Singapura were muted unlike in Malaya. Perhaps this can be attributed to a shortage of supply and demand for Yellow T-shirts in Singapura !

As for the electoral system in USA, it was quite acceptable and legal for a Presidential candidate (Hillary Clinton) to win the popular vote by a 3 million vote margin, lose the Electoral College by 74 votes and yet she had to concede victory to Trump!  That's democracy?

The Electoral College is made up of all the states in the Union. Each state, large or small is granted three electoral votes - from the two Senators and one representative.  There was one delineation, the 23rd Amendment, whereby the capital Washington got at least three electoral votes.  The Census Bureau attempts to balance the number of representatives for a changing population (what Americans describe as 'census-based reapportionment' )  but despite this, Hispanics and Asians remain disadvantaged  in the size of their representation.  If this is democracy in the USA, why do we coloured practitioners have to be whiter than white?

In UK, the Conservatives have been complaining about the pro-Labour electoral bias. I shall not attempt to delve into the mechanics of the bias.  Factors like abstention (which is supposed to help Labour to get more MPs for its votes than the Conservatives)  and the effect of having a third party like the Lib-Dem seem to play a part in the 'mismanagement' of democracy in UK.

I find it interesting that  some members of the Opposition in Malaysia advise voters to abstain from voting in the coming General Election.  I reckon this is part of a voting strategy for victory in an election in a democracy.  I am certain all our political parties have their in-house  (or maybe external too?)  electoral mechanics to service and manipulate the pokery-jiggery necessary to win the next and all other elections.

While we poor sods, the rakyat are brought up on the milk of Abraham Lincoln's platitude of  "Democracy is the government of the people, by the people, for the people" this cynic prefers  to include this caveat by Oscar Wilde.  His version is: "Democracy means simply the bludgeoning of the people, by the people, for the people".

And on the prospect of being further bludgeoned, also beware of these 'hurrah words' like Freedom, Equality, and  Human Rights.

In the next few months in Malaysia, expect more sightings of the likes of Snoopy and the Red Baron.  But despair not, lying in wait are several Great Pumpkins to help whoever with their old and new battle plans.

It is a general popular error to imagine the loudest complainers for the public to be the most anxious for its welfare.  (Edmund Burke, 1729-1797)

Christmas - looking from the back of other eyeballs

Colin, photographer and photography-technician extraordinaire was coming for dinner on the 22nd.

so on the 21st, I took Bus  Number 22  into the city centre to do the shopping.  The bus stopped at the Railway Station to pick up a tall, strapping young man, somewhere in his mid-thirties.  He was carrying a big and heavy rucksack on his back.  He also had a name-tag on a string draped around his neck.

To put it simply: he looked absolutely knackered - but he also wore a grim and dignified countenance. From his build he could have been a policeman, a sports coach or even a British Airways pilot - of someone holding a job that required authority and responsibility.

As the bus approached the City Centre, a comfortably-dressed, middle-aged English lady proceeded to the front of the bus where the young man was sitting, as she was about to get off the bus.

As she went past, she gave him a nice smile and said  "Merry Christmas"

With a wan, worn smile, he replied, "Merry Christmas to you."

This was the rest of the conversation.   (W=English woman;  M=English man.)

W  Are you looking forward to Christmas?

M  Well ..... it's okay, I think ......

W  It's a happy time, isn't it - sharing with family and friends.....? (and she went on and on)

M  (He began to look fed-up as it was obvious he was not prepared to natter on about the joy of Christmas)  To hell with fucking Christmas.  All for one man's birthday.  What has he done for the world?

W  (gasping with shock) Oh .. oh ...

M  I'm sorry, please, I apologise.

The bus stopped and as the woman got down, he wished her, "You have a happy Christmas, love."  


He was a Big Issue vendor.    The Big Issue is a weekly current affairs and entertainment magazine - put out specially to help the homeless......And his rucksack was heavily laden with copies he was hoping to sell - and this he will do without a kiosk or a covered stand.   If it rains or snows, he will stand in the biting cold, for the sake of a tiny income.

                                                            

Figure 1

Figure 2 - A homeless man sleeping outside a big department store House of Fraser

Figure 3

Figure 4 -The East London Mosque contributing to helping the homeless in London.

We Malay-Muslims in Malaysia, have a lot to learn from the Ummah  at the East London Mosque.

Remember these?

See http://anaksihamid.blogspot.co.uk/2010/08/heavy-on-my-mind-part-2.html

Hari Raya 2015

See  -  http://anaksihamid.blogspot.co.uk/2015/07/another-hari-raya.html

Eid in Gaza 2014  (see reference to the above image)

 And there are also the Syrians, Yemenis, Iraqis, Libyans and Rohingyas to remember in their dark days. 

Are the Muslims' pockets so shallow and our hearts so grudging?   

Finally, an anecdote from my childhood to close this post about Christmas.


Makcik Ayik was my mother's best friend (during the 1940s to 1960s) from their days of being neighbours at Kampung Chantek, Dunearn Road, Singapore,

Makcik Ayik and Pakcik Mat (late 1950s)

When I was about 10 years of age my mother would 'park' me at Makcik's  during the school holidays.  As Makcik had no children, my mother thought I would be good company for the dear lady.  Also it got me 'out of her hair' and gave her some peace with her other three brattages.

I quite enjoyed being the only child at her kampung house at Batu 10, Bukit Panjang.  I remembered walking along a rickety wooden bridge across a river  to get to the kampung from Bukit Panjang. Road.

That was over 60 years ago.  Today Batu 10 has been gentrified and un-Malaydified to  TEN MILE JUNCTION.

BATU  10  aka Ten Mile Junction

Just over 60 years ago, on the 25th day of December, I was chatting to Makcik Ayik and I said,

Makcik, hari 'ni hari Krismas.  (Auntie, today is Christmas Day)

She replied, with a quizzical look on her face.

Krismas 'tu apa 'nak??  (Child, what is Christmas?)


Looking back, I reckon my mum's good friend must be thinking what a weird Malay child I am - must be because of all that schooling!!  Christmas ??!?!!

Indeed, we have come a long, long way from those dark days of ignorance!!!!

However, we're no better or kinder than Makcik Ayik's generation.

May next year's winter be happier and more peaceful  than that of  2016, 2015, 2014, 2013 etc etc.


                                     

Damned if you do, damned if you don't - Malaysia's dilemma.

The spectacle of  'boat-people' stranded in the Andaman Sea brought on a sense of deja vu from 40 years ago.

In 1975, the Viet Cong defeat of the Americans led to an exodus of South Vietnamese 'collaborators' and 'sympathizers' to the United  States - initially mainly the well-educated and wealthy Vietnamese - totalling about 125,000.

The second wave began in 1978.   These were the 'boat people' , who were poorer and not as well-educated as the first wave.  They were mainly Vietnam's Chinese, 'long distrusted by the native Vietnamese'.  They were under pressure  because they had to leave their urban homes to go into the rural 'new economic zones' as labourers - and they feared being drafted into the army.  When China attacked Vietnam in 1979, the pressure got even stronger.  The Government imposed 'exit permits' costing about $3000 for those who chose to leave.  But there were many others, both Chinese and Vietnamese, who left sans exit permits because they could not bear the food shortages and living under Communist rule.    [The same scenario if the Malayan Communist Party had 'won' in Malaya?]  

On that journey thousands died as a result of water and food shortages, of drownings and attacks from pirates.  The survivors landed in Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines and Hong Kong. 

Malaysia bore the brunt, because the Peninsula was the boat people's 'first line of  approach'. The east coast states of Trengganu, Kelantan and Pahang, - the poorest states of the Peninsula -  were deluged by flotillas of 'boat-people' landing on their shores. The boat people were coming at the rate of 65,000 a month.    While Thailand was able to send Cambodian refugees escaping Pol Pot's regime back into their homeland,  Malaysia had no such option, she had no common land border with Vietnam or Cambodia.  

The boat people who first landed in 1978 created a 'crisis problem' of 20 years for Malaysia. Malaysia was designated as a 'nation of first asylum',  Refugee camps for Vietnamese and Cambodians were set up in Pulau Bidong  (with 42,000).   "By the time Bidong was closed as a refugee camp on 30 October 1991, about 250,000 Vietnamese had passed through or resided in the camp "  (Wikipedia). Other camps were located at Sungai Besi (1975-1996) and Pulau Tengah.  On the departure of the refugees in 1981, Pulau Tengah, - endowed with beautiful reefs and where leatherback turtles lay their eggs - was declared a marine park.

According to Bram Steen, UNHCR Malaysia, 240,000 Vietnamese refugees from Malaysia had been resettled in third countries and  9,000 others opted to return to Vietnam'.

Check : http://www.unhcr.org/43141e9d4.html

While Malaysia was stretching over backwards to provide transit camps for the refugees, she also co-operated with the UNHCR to facilitate their repatriation to third countries like USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, UK and even Israel.  This task took nearly 20 years.  It was not smooth sailing for Malaysia. The bouquets went to the receiving Western countries.  The brickbats were reserved for Malaysia - and especially from Australia.  The latter even made a movie to castigate Malaysia's attitude towards the boat people.  I refer to the movie Turtle Beach (1992).

From Wikipedia

       

From Wikipedia

I suppose those who were just  "twinkles in their fathers' eyes" during that period  know little or nowt about the social and political problems that Malaysia had to deal with in being the "nation of first asylum" -  including the self- righteous and hypocritical whining of the British and Australians.


When people  opt to migrate, to leave their homeland for another,  two factors are involved - "push" and "pull".     One could say that Chinese immigration from 150 years ago into Malaya and Singapore was based on the the push factor of escaping poverty and the aftermath of wars in China. Unlike present day refugees from Afghanistan, African states south of the Sahara, Iraq and Syria, immigrants from China had an easier rite of entry.  They were needed and welcomed by the British Imperial authority who enabled and encouraged them to start a new life in the Semenanjung and Singapore with the option of returning home whenever they felt like doing so.

Zhonghandi - The late Mr Lee Kuan Yew's ancestral home in Guangdong Province built by his great-grandfather Li Muwen in 1884 with money he had earned in Singapore.

Read : http://www.straitstimes.com/news/singapore/more-singapore-stories/story/ancestral-home-be-turned-tourist-spot-20150326

From Malayan Reader Book 3 - a scene from the 1920s to 1940s.

Because of the positive and profitable experience of life in the Malay Peninsula, the pull  factor further encouraged the migration from China

From Story of Malaya and her Neighbours by Philip Nazareth

The moral is obvious.     Malaya - and Malaysia - have an honourable history of taking in migrants.   Which brings us to the most recent case of "boat people" on Malaysian shores.   In this case, a clear demarcation must be made between economic migrants from Bangla Desh ("pull") and political refugees from Myanmar ("push"). According to a UNHCR statement on 17 May, only 400 of the 1,000 boat people who landed in Langkawi waters  were Rohingya refugees.  The status of the Rohingyas as political refugees is clear cut.  Boat people from Bangla Desh, however, are a very different matter.  If they want to work in Malaysia or Thailand or Indonesia they, unlike the Rohingyas, have the facility and the means to apply through the proper channels like many of their kinsmen in Malaysia.

According to an article in The Australian (11 May 2011) :  "The Rohingya ....  are the second largest group from Burma to flee to Malaysia.  Denied full citizenship, education and travel rights in their native state, where they are routinely harried and harassed, there is little they can do to improve their lot bar leaving their homes for an unsure reception elsewhere.
Refugees International claimed ..... the Rohingya were one of the most persecuted groups in the world.  At least 200,000 have fled from Burma to neighbouring Bangla Desh, where only about one-tenth are recognised as refugees by Bangladesh's government and where most live in squalor.

What are Malaysia's options?  Malaysia is  already  'home' to more than 90,000 refugees and asylum seekers, mostly the mistreated Christian Chins and the even more persecuted Muslim Rohingyas. There are the others like those from Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia and Sri Lanka. Besides these numbers, there are an estimated (a conservative one) 1.5 million people who are "undocumented migrants" mainly labourers from Indonesia.

Most certainly, those stranded on board their boats must be given food and water and medical treatment.   As for landing .... well, that is the nub of the matter - as Australia knows only too well ....

Furthermore : "The Canberra government, which is determined to prevent asylum-seekers from arriving on its shores by boat after a hazardous journey across the Indian Ocean, has warned the protestors they will never be allowed to live in Australia.         Peter Dutton the new Australian Immigration Minister reiterated that there would be 'no softening of Australian policy', that the government maintains 'absolute resolve' that such refugees would 'never arrive in Australia'.

Read :http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/australasia/refugees-detained-in-papua-new-guinea-and-desperate-to-reach-australia-resort-to-hunger-strikes-and-selfharm-9985687.html

For Malaysia, then, it is a double damnation: damned if you do, damned if you don't.   The Malaysian dilemma needs to be analysed in terms of the larger context, of the global displacement of people by wars, poverty and extremism.




Malaysia only needs to observe how the Christian-Caucasian founts of human rights deal with the problem.     Our bleeding heart defenders of human rights - always so quick to follow Western strictures against Malaysia - could learn a little from European, Australian and North American policy and resolutions with regard to migrants - and especially the boat people problem.  They cannot expect Malaysia to be "whiter than white', so to speak.

BUT, there is one stark difference between the plight of the Mediterranean boat people and the one in Southeast Asia.  The former is almost entirely the making of the western world  - the political and economic breakdown of the African states, the War on Terror in the Muslim Middle East and  the pursuit of the Arab Spring in Libya.  It's a case of "the chickens coming home to roost".  However, the main perpetrator of this chaos, the USA has somehow been cushioned from facing culpability.

In the case of the Rohingyas,  Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia bear no responsibility.  The crisis is entirely the creation of Myanmar's extremist political and religious policy.  Those crusaders for elections and a government based on human rights in Myanmar, celebrities like Aung San Suu Kyi should be persuaded to now turn their liberal intentions to stopping the persecution of the Rohingyas.


====================================================================================

POST SCRIPT :  (after my posting) referring to Aung San Suu Kyi

Take a look at : http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/nov/27/aung-san-suu-kyi-is-turning-a-blind-eye-to-human-rights-in-the-name-of-politics

==========================================================================================

As for El Dorado Europe, now facing daily the problem of poor and desperate people crossing the Mediterranean in their thousands trying to get in, is it any surprise that they are now turning to their kinsmen from down under for a solution? ....

One brain wave and trend setter from Australia

Another brain wave, this time from the European Union.

In the past week or so, the print and electronic media in UK have been giving a lot of publicity to the boat-people in the Andaman Sea, as they have with the situation in the Mediterranean.  But embedded in it is a touch of giving Malaysia a 'ticking off ' - almost a re-hash of the criticisms made by Malaysia's human rights brigade.

As a matter of interest, Christian Chins from Myanmar who are stuck in a "ghetto of sorts in Kuala Lumpur's Imbi district" can draw hope from the success of their fellow-Christian Myanmar refugees, the Karens. They (170 Karens ) are happily settled in a small town ( population 2,300) in Victoria (Australia) where they contribute $41m benefit to the local economy working at a local poultry producer Luv-a-Duck.

Australia has this warning for immigrant hopefuls from Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Syria etc.

But there's hope for a select group of people.

From Reuters 7 August 2014

And the British Government (ever ready to learn from Australia?) has just announced exactly the same policy.
                                              *              *             *            *            *

Forty years ago, when Malaysia had to provide refugee camps for Vietnamese boat people, they fought and got the assurance from western countries that these refugees will be repatriated to third countries and/or return to Vietnam.  The Myanmar government have denied any responsibility.  It is obvious that 'third party' countries that are richer than Malaysia will not offer asylum to the Rohingyas.  They are all suffering from 'compassion fatigue' - they just have too much "collateral damage" to deal with - and the EC is well on the way to turning itself into Fortress Europe.

Above all, Malaysia still  has to sort out their present problem of over 1.5 million refugees, asylum seekers and  illegal migrant workers!!

Let the experts deal with the solution - people like Lilianne Fan (a Bangkok- based expert on humanitarian and conflict issues in Asia, research associate at the humanitarian policy group of the UK's Overseas Development Institute), Charles Santiago (Chair of Asean Parliamentarians for Human Rights, a coalition of lawmakers advocating for fundamental rights in Southeast Asia), David Mane (Executive Director of the Refugee and Immigration Legal Centre, Australia and principal solicitor and migration agent) and Jeff Labowitz ( Chief of mission, International Organisation for Migration, Thailand).  See :  http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/may/15/how-to-solve-asian-migrant-boats-crisis-expert-views-rohingya

Whatever suggestions are made by these experts and other pontificators;  some people, some organisations, some countries will have to put their money where their mouth is.

  

A-voting we will go, a-voting we will go .....

Just returned from doing my duty as a PR in the spouse's motherland.

The sky was  grey all day .......

....... not a good omen for getting a strong, gung-ho, no-nonsense government.

I did not do too well either at the polling station because I made a blunder .......

.............  trying to take a photo when the camera was set for movie mode.


This election is a three-in-one - you vote for your City Councillors, the City Mayor and your Member of Parliament.  The most important is the election of your MP - in this case -  for Leicester South.

PS.  Don't be confused by the 'Hadji' in the Conservative candidate's name.  He's of Greek-Cypriot origin - he's not a Muslim.

Of course the big boys (and girl as in SNP's Nicola Sturgeon) have been hogging our news on radio and TV - most of the time slinging mud at each other, telling porky pies and making promises they will not and cannot keep.

From "The Independent"

In this land which is reputed to be the 'Mother of all Parliaments',  and an important fount of democracy, the populace have no faith in, and no truck with, politicians and political parties.  The prediction is for a  'hung' Parliament because the big  Political Parties are equally trusted and mistrusted.

So what's so wonderful about Democracy?

For Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865), democracy is  "Government of the people, by the people, for the people".  It begs the question - which people?  The establishment in USA did not take long to indict and put on trial the "Boston Bomber".  What about the perpetrators of these "mistakes'  made by the forces of law and order in the USA?

For Britain's greatest war hero, Sir Winston Churchill  (1874-1965) :  " No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise.  Indeed, it has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time".

To quote the late Mr Lee Kuan Yew when he was the opposition leader  in 1955  " But we either believe in democracy or we do not.  If we do , then, we must say categorically without qualification, that no restraint from the any (sic)democratic processes, either than by the ordinary law of the land, should be allowed ..................  If you believe that men should be free, then, they should have the right of free association, of free speech, of free publication."  (From Lee Kuan Yew Watch)

Then in 1997, in The Man and His Ideas, 1997,  " You're talking about Rwanda or Bangla Desh, or Cambodia, or the Philippines.  They've got democracy, according to Freedom House.  But have you got a civilized life to lead?  People want economic development first and foremost.  The leaders may talk something else.  You take a poll of any people.  What is it they want?  The right to write an editorial as you like?  They want homes, medicine, jobs, schools."   (From Lee Kuan Yew Watch)

Unfortunately the first three countries mentioned above have not had a good stock of advantages to capitalise upon, like Singapore.  Unlike Singapore, they have been battered by long periods of bloody wars and and they did not inherit a substantial economic legacy like that bequeathed upon Singapore from UK, the island's former rulers.

In UK the  practice of democracy does include a modicum of 'civilized life' and "the right to write an editorial as you like."

But the provision of "bread' alone is not enough.  An overall provision of a good life as in UK and Singapore does not bode well if there's  increasing inequality between the rich and the poor.

In Singapore, 11.4% of the population are millionaires - the highest concentration of millionaires in the world.  But , while the bottom 10% of the population had a monthly income of SGD1,400: those at the top 10% had an income of SGD23,684.
 See  :   http://www.cnbc.com/id/42891768


In UK, according to a May 2014 report, the top 10% own 44% of household wealth, and five rich families in the country have the same wealth as 12 million people.
See :  http://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/oct/28/rich-poor-divide-harming-britain-poll

So, what is an Election for?

Milliband (Labour) says  "Britain only succeeds when all its working people succeed."  Cameron (Conservative) declares  "The choice is clear. You can vote for a stable economy, or financial ruin."  As for Clegg (Liberal Democrat) he promises this platitude, "We will bring a heart to a Tory Government."

For AsH and spouse, who have a stake in this country, who pay our Income Tax and Council Tax, who are buffetted by the rising cost of water and electricity and gas and TV Licence and enduring the grief of living with 'new' (and very inconsiderate) East European immigrants as neighbours - who do we vote for?  Our choice is determined  by "who do we not vote for?"  That's not much of a choice, is it?

Have a good laugh .  The Election madness is over - for the next five years.

Waiting For - Melayu Budiman

First, a small preamble.....

USA, Great Britain, Singapore and Malaysia all claim to be countries run on the principles of democracy.  To quote that very over-simplistic saying of Abraham Lincoln, democracy is "Government of the people, by the people, for the people".

A democracy is not ruled by a king or queen , a hereditary aristocracy,  a few selected persons, religious elites or any other unelected  power group.

USA is a democracy where the President can only get elected to power when he has powerful financial backers to see him through to the White House.  But he who pays the piper plays the tune.

Great Britain on the other hand is regarded as the Mother of Parliaments - whose system of parliamentary democracy is inherited by all or most members of her previous empire - of which Malaysia and Singapore are just two.  But the ruling class - the politicians and the ministers  - are saturated by privately educated, well-heeled Oxbridge graduates.  Not only that :

From Mail Online 28 August 2014

Democracy does not stop the domination of government, business, policing and the legal system, and education in the hands of a particular elite.

Quite interesting is this, the Labour Party (now in the Opposition) started as a party representing the working class and supported by the Trade Unions.  But ever since Tony Blair took over in 1997 and created New Labour  -  "red" Labour became more and more like  "blue"  Conservative - a party of big business and the wealthy.

And just recently it came to light that Labour, which is haemorrhaging from lack of funds has suffered another financial blow.  Because of Labour's anti-Israel stance over Gaza and Palestine her Jewish supporters and financial donors are leaving in droves. Here's a piper who will be losing his tune-maker.

In the case of Singapore there are all the trappings of a democracy but it's a form of democracy made-in-Singapore-for-Singapore only.  To replace the old guard - the leaders who were at the birth of the Republic of Singapore wef 1963 - Singapore designed a very Singaporean version of  anointing new, younger leaders.  This second echelon leadership was appointed and co-opted  from the elites in the professions, the Civil Service and the business sectors.  They joined the PAP only when they were nominated for a Parliamentary seat.

... Now The Nub of the Matter

All that preamble was for the purpose of  expanding on this article I read in Utusan Malaysia a few days ago.  There was this young man ......

......  Dr Mohammad Nawar Ariffin, an UMNO delegate from Kedah who urged that Umno needs an injection of quality to revitalise the party's status and strength.  These words emanate from the son of unschooled and poor padi farmers - who was given the chance by the government (led by UMNO) to progress from poverty to becoming a paediatrician.  He expressed his gratitude for the endeavours of UMNO to help its poor members (like his parents' family) to better themselves.

It must be nice for the old guard in UMNO to listen to this voice of appreciation.  But they must take more seriously Dr Mohammad Nawar's advice (warning?) that "antara kriteria kualiti yang UMNO perlukan adalah integriti, bekerja dengan teliti, bekerja untuk capai tahap prestasi tinggi, hubungan dua hala antara pemimpin dan ahli serta kerja ikhlas dari hati".

There are three key words, integriti, teliti and ikhlas - very crucial requirements for future UMNO leaders and followers who are truly budiman.

UMNO must listen  to such young voices (and many others like him) and give them space and opportunity to contribute to the well-being of  the nation and the Malays.

UMNO must choose its future leaders from the likes of  Dr Mohammad Nawar Ariffin - young Malays with  dedication and ability - and not merely rely on hereditary appointments  and old-boy UMNO  network.


Read : http://www.utusan.com.my/berita/politik/umno-perlukan-ubat-berkualiti-1.30523


                                                 *************************

In the past few months, news coming from Malaysia has got me sick up to the eyeballs.  Evangelist Brazilian football,  the pathetic circus over "I Want to Touch a Dog",  and revelations about stains on carpets and of body fluids during the Sodomy Trial are enough to make you weep.   And as for the recent brouhaha over the bangang and the stupid - well, they will always be with the Malays, where ever and who ever they are.

Thank goodness, I have discovered a piece of hopeful news in Dr Mohammad Nawar Ariffin - not simply because he's an UMNO man.  It's because this old lady can see in him a glimmer of my father's 'fire in the belly' when he organised an UMNO meeting in Kampung Abu Kassim in Singapore in 1952

Abah is seated  8th from left.

.

I hope Dr Mohammad Nawar will carry on the torch of the early founders and leaders of UMNO and that the dinosaurs and fat cats and opportunists and cronies in today's UMNO will realise that the survival of the party and the Malays depends on young blood like the delegate from Kedah.

                                           D' Lloyd - Sa Malam di Malaya

Two of Us - On Our Way Home.

Our good friend Jack has been over on most recent Saturday evenings to watch a very interesting TV programme on "Wild China".  We would share a small supper and after the programme, Jack and spouse would  depart to the latter's study where the two of them would go surfing YouTube for Opera songs,  not the fluffy modern singers like  Katherine Jenkins and Il Divo but the ones from the 30s, 40s and 50s like Amelita Galli-Curci and  a younger Maria Callas.     In the process they discovered a fabulous young tenor from the US called Lawrence Brownlee - Jack, an expert on classical singing, reckons he's the best singer around at the moment.....better than Luciano Pavarotti.

At about 11 pm we would walk Jack back to his house which is just 5-10 minutes away.  Before the three of us became old and decrepit it would have taken us just short of 5 minutes !!

Last Saturday, on our way home from Jack's, we bumped into our former neighbour and friend Doug.  He was walking home alone from Barry's house (about 20 minutes distance from his own house).   The time was nearly a quarter to midnight!   He was just as shocked as we were to meet up so late.  We told him of our trip back to KL and there was a hint of disappointment in his voice when he expressed his regret that we had shared only one get-together since we got back to Leicester.  You see, we had arranged for Doug to pop over for dinner five weeks ago.  But we, especially AsH, had a nasty infection for three weeks and everything had to be put on the back burner including our planned  return at the end of  January.

We got back home, we pondered and we agreed that despite our imminent journey we must have Doug over for a meal.  And we did just that two days ago.  And Doug was so pleased to share the meal and the time.  And we walked him home as well !

Douglas Holly and we went back a long way, since the mid 1980s.  He was then a lecturer at the University of Leicester School of Education.  I had applied to do my Masters at the School of Ed in 1983 when I was about to end my teaching contract in Brunei.  I waited and waited in vain for a reply from them.  Finally I had to call upon my former Geography Tutor who was teaching in Leicester University to make an inquiry.  He got in touch with his 'mature student' Frank Moule who knew a lecturer from the School of Education.  That lecturer was Doug Holly.

Now one could describe  Doug as an old-fashioned liberal - his political stand  would be very much to the left of centre.  He went to see the lecturer-in-charge of Admissions to find out what had happened to my application.  It seemed that this lecturer Dr RK  had chucked my application to the bottom of the pile, simply because it had come from Brunei!  Doug then called upon Morag Carsch who was in charge of one of the courses I was applying for.  They both looked through my 'suitability' and they both advised Dr RK that I should be given a 'yes' reply soon - before I  'relocated' to another University.  I did Doug and Morag proud because I became one out of two students to gain a Distinction in the M.Ed course.  And I did enjoy bumping into Dr. RK whenever  I could - just to gloat.

After the spouse and I got married we visited Doug at his little terrace house at Oxford Avenue.  We liked the cosiness of the Avenue  (and Doug!).   So sometime during late 1986 we bought No 10 Oxford Avenue and we moved in.    I could not think of a better and happier place to live in - our neighbours and the neighbourhood  were just perfect.  Today, sadly, as with most things, it has all changed - for the worse.

We were neighbours for 19 years.  We got on because on many political and social issues we had a lot in common.  However at the height of the protest over Salman Rushdie's  "Satanic Verses" in 1989, we discovered a chink in our relationship.  We could hear on that summer's day in 1989 loud protests against "Satanic Verses" and Salman Rushdie coming over from nearby Victoria Park.  In summer, most of us kept our front doors open.  From Doug's door we heard him shouting angrily against the protests from the Park.  His one sentence  "After all we've done for them!" shocked us.  "Them" referred to the Muslims!  And this came from someone who saw himself as a broad-minded liberal and a vocal supporter of multi-culturalism.

This made me realise that the white man's liberalism, anti-racism  and broadmindedness are really skin-deep. When it comes to Islam and Muslims, that entrenched hostility and insecurity which fills their religion, literature, history and  culture floats up to the surface - even for someone like Doug who sees himself as an atheist.

We decided we had to square this circle with Doug.  We went over to his house and had a civilized discussion about freedom of expression, about the pathological phobia of the West against Islam and Muslims and what we thought of Salman Rushdie the Wog, the darling of British culture and of the literati. It did not break our friendship - we were sensible, thinking adults and were willing to listen to each other.

That incident - and what I saw and heard in later years - pushed me to read and learn even more, especially about Christianity and Western history and culture.

Just after we got married, my father-in-law Professor  K.M. Buchanan posted me a little pamphlet ( from Wales where he was staying)  about what the West owed to the Arabs - in the field of mathematics,  philosophy, architecture, medicine etc. etc.   It was an eye-opener for me.  It only told me how ignorant I had been about the world , about my Muslim world.  I began my own journey into this world and the western Christian world starting with books by Edward Said , Noam Chomsky - and  V.G. Kiernan's "European Empires from Conquest to Collapse (1815-1960)."  For these discoveries I have to thank my father-in-law Keith and his son.

After that little fracas with Doug I articulated my frustration in a long essay about the context of the  "Satanic Verses" issue which I still store in my files.  I wrote a letter of protest to The Independent which was of course heavily edited.

From then until today,  my inquiry and my learning have not ended  The maverick and rebel in me became even more consolidated and tenacious.

As for Doug and us, our friendship grew stronger with the years.  We have a lot of respect for him.  He remains committed to CND, Friends of the Earth and the local Community Committee.  He has lived alone for as long as we've known him.  He has his family who keep in touch with him especially for Birthdays and Christmas but he leaves them very much to themselves and makes sure that he doesn't become a burden to them.  He is a keen solo traveller, has been round the world sans the frills and luxury, goes to the gym and takes a long walk in the English countryside  ( usually ending at the local Pub) every week - and he loves my cooking!

And Doug is 84 years old.

This has turned out to be a long posting when all I wanted to write was about our trip back to KL - arriving InsyaAllah on Friday 21 February - just a day short of my 70th birthday.

"You and I have memories - longer than the road that stretches out ahead."

 Anak si Hamid and Son of Buchanan have travelled a long way - physically and metaphorically - together,  and with people like Doug Holly and Jack Marlowe as inspiration we hope to do a lot more, InsyaAllah.

Not again!!

Is there something wrong with my physical appearance, my hairstyle (what hair??) or my unfashionable clothes that I almost always get picked upon by British Indian Immigration Officers when I enter the portals of the UK Border Agency - this time - for the first time - at Birmingham Airport?  I'm not colour conscious but this is the sixth time or more,  that I have been given an unwarranted strong-arm treatment by a British Indian Immigration Officer.

Normally at Heathrow,  I would join the queue for British and EC Passports.  Some years ago, I was told I could take this channel as  I had a "Settled with Spouse" Visa  ( a Permanent Resident status).  That was a relief as the queue at the "Other Passports" was usually interminably long.  It's similar to Immigration at KLIA where PRs and Malaysian Nationals are accorded the same status.

But not this time.  As soon as we approached the queue, the British Indian "Immigration Officer" made a bee line for me ( and the spouse too) and smartly directed the both of us to the line for "Other Passports".  We protested (very, very mildly) in English - that Iain was a British Passport holder, a Bumiputera so to speak.  He was not an imported Brit!- that of course was not articulated or else accusations of racism would have hit the roof!

He also added that his wife ( the wife bit was strongly stressed) had a "Settled with Spouse" Visa. But no - she pointed us to the same channel.  We were exhausted after an almost 24 hour journey from KL and zombie-like we did what we were told.  We were not that groggy to remember that one must not question anyone in a Uniform - even a Security Guard at a Shopping Centre.

In the queue, a young Chinese lass next to us asked why we were in that particular channel - that we, especially the spouse who was certainly not an "Other" should go to the other shorter queue?  This young lass knocked some sense into our woozy heads and we approached the "Immigration Officer" again.  But no - she was adamant that we stay in the channel she had decided for us.

We reluctantly proceeded as directed but by this time the fuggy clouds in the head were beginning to clear and we sought this Immigration Lady again and explained our situation again.  In exasperation, she retorted that as she was not an immigration officer(????) - we should ask the Immigration officer at the Desk at the end of the queue.   Well, the lady (in impressive uniform) had certainly been taking Immigration matters into her own hands, at a strategic entry point.     And with great authority and forcefulness too!

So why didn't she tell us that earlier?  Why were other "Asians" or rather British Indians not re-directed or challenged when they funneled into the line for "British Passports"?   And even more puzzling, the spouse who looked as native English as 'steak and kidney pie'  was even instructed to not go to his country's channel!!  Where I'm concerned,  that's to be expected - an alien like me??!!!     But an elderly man who was clearly a Bumiputera??

So we took up the 'queue' that we deserved.  But that was not the end of the story.

This time, the 'as English as bacon butty' Officer began to grill me.  But he was not as bolshie and bad-tempered as the Lady British Indian "Immigration" Officer.  Rather, he had the panache of a culture that was used to regarding natives as non-persons.  My Abah described it as a culture that would "cut off the ground from under your feet and make you thank them for it" - he was describing what the British did to his Tanah Air - the Malay Peninsula.

My SWS (Settled with Spouse) visa was located in an old Passport together with other earlier Student Visas which had of course expired.  He flicked through the pages of the Passport several times - took a good look at my visage (what a thankless task) - and to soothe my nerves I try to imagine what he looked like when he's on the loo - in his Uniform.

He mentioned that my visa had 'expired' so I had to ask him to refer (ever so nicely - 'think of him on the loo'- I told myself) to my very official-looking  SWS Visa which granted me indefinite stay. But no, he wanted other evidence.     "There's nothing here,"he said, "that mentions índefinite stay."     Well, that was odd - there was, and the visa had worked for me for nearly thirty years already!   I flashed out another old passport which indicated the same SWS Visa - but not quite as attractive as the original visa which was given to me at the British High Commission in Singapore after we got hitched.  Another diligent perusal  and another vision (for me) of a uniformed man on a loo.

The spouse was by my side to provide significant (?) details like how long we've been married, how I've resided in this country for 30 years and that every few months we leave for Malaysia for medical treatment.
"So when was the last time you left?"  I was then asked.  After my answer, he added another query.  "Did you leave on your own?"

I reckoned I had had enough and sternly asserted,  "My husband has cancer. I never travel without him."

And hence the pearly gates opened!!

Not quite broken, we went to pick up our luggage.  We looked for a trolley - found some huddled in a row.  But sorry matey - you have to pay GBP1 for the privilege.    Typically, the system didn't work: one African lady made an official complaint about losing her change, and the spouse managed  to extract two trolleys for a quid.  How very, very British: they can't even do stinginess with style!

The weather was bright and sunny.  The air was cool and bracing.   The trees, full of autumn colour, were beginning to lose their leaves. I love this part of my husband's tanah air. 

 But this country is still  Yah, Boo, (and)  Sucks!!!