Puan Esah (CsH)

We got back to the house and the cats on Thursday mid-afternoon. They still remembered us and there was no sulking or biting despite our absence. Phew!!!
The verandah smelled of cat's pee because the neighbourhood's tom cats have been using our premises for loads of fun and games. As for the garden, it can but thrive in the tropics. The bunga tahi ayam, the bougainvillea, the cup and saucer flowers were bursting with bloom except for the frangipani, the spouse's favourite flower.

Where we live, the developers have planted a series of bunga cempaka on the wayside and when they are in full bloom the fragrance is quite intoxicating. The spaces in between (which are actually public domain) have been planted with flowering plants, trees of various shapes and sizes, serai and lengkuas by the house owners who live opposite these public plots.

Our neighbours, Puan Esah and Encik Yusof who live a few doors away from us had taken over a little plot about 2m x 1m in size and she had vegetables, chilis, serai, daun kunyit, lengkuas, banana and papaya plants growing in it. Typical kampung plants. They also made a kind of makeshift wooden fencing around this little garden. Again, typical kampung. Puan Esah came from a kampung in Malacca and she said to me they missed their kampung and the life style they had. Now they were in this Kuala Lumpur suburbia because this was where their children were. (That was exactly the same reason why my sister and 'Bang Long moved from their cosy house in Batu Pahat to Kuala Lumpur.)

Then about a year ago, workers from Majlis Bandaran came along, ripped up the little garden , dug up all the plants and threw them away. We found out later that this was done at the behest of the Datin who lived opposite the garden. She regarded it as an eyesore. Fair enough - but this was not part of her property and to add insult to injury she took over the same plot and started to plant (or rather got her maid to plant) a variety of flowers to provide a 'pleasant ' view from her house. She claimed she loved gardening but the garden plot of her corner house had been extended with concrete to enlarge her terrace house! It was a squalid thing to do, to chase out these kampung folks from this little plot and then to covet the same space for their ends, to grow pretty flowers. To me , this is the kind of mentality you often find amongst the Malay nouveau riche , our new middle class, or perhaps our new 'feudal overlords'.
In fact we were invited to visit their house and admire their English wallpaper!!

Years ago, Abah said to me the Malays are particularly partial to one nasty disposition - dengki, meaning spiteful. After over 50 years of independence, modernisation, material accretion and revitalized religious zeal, this streak still persists - from the lowest to the highest level. You don't need others to break up the Malays. They can do a jolly good job on their own. Thank you very much.

So, on the Thursday we got back, we went up the hill to buy some basic provisions. We bumped into Encik Yusof, he shook and held on to my hand and with tears shimmering in his eyes he said Puan Esah died just a few days ago on Saturday. I called Iain and he hugged our neighbour and Encik Yusuf recounted to us her last few hours. At last, Esah, you will find your little garden. Alfatihah.

Tired of Thinking and Travelling (CsH) (another alliteration!!!)

Tomorrow CX 252 will carry us to Hong Kong and from there CX 723 will get us back to Kuala Lumpur.

So, goodbye to number 43.
Goodbye to the roses, busy lizzies, geraniums, lavender, and sweet williams.
Goodbye to fish and chips at Market Harborough on Wednesdays [because on Wednesdays OAPs (Old Age Pensioners) get a 30% discount].
Goodbye to small bags of chips at Leicester market. To hell with the cholestorol.
Goodbye to my favourite shop, Animal Rescue - to June and Monica on Mondays and to Sheila and Deanna on Tuesdays and Fridays.
Goodbye to our staunch friends like Jack, Doug, Dorothy, Anne and young Yasir.

Hello to number 19.
Hello to Abdul Hamid's 2 children, to his 7 grandchildren, and his 9 1/2 great grandchildren and the lovely in-laws of course!
Hello to Jai, Lely, Oi Bek, and Ruqxana in Singapore.
Hello also to Din and Ben and other friends in KL.
AND to Comot, Hitam, Rusty and Socks - our 4 legged friends.
Mustn't forget tosay mornings and teh tarik.



One does get tired of thinking but Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) wrote :

WE ARE ALL IN THE GUTTER BUT SOME OF US ARE LOOKING AT THE STARS

This blog will shut down until AsH (thanks for the acronym Din) recovers from jet lag and resumes (ab)normal services.

Nah's taken my(?) cat!! boo! hoo! hoo!

"Hantu Jembalang" in Leicester

I walked into the City Centre today to do a bit of shopping and to enjoy my (small) bag of chips before we leave on Wednesday. It was a soothing day, not too hot, it was just nice. I know I will miss cool days like these when we get back to KL, but there are also many other compensations - like the ferocious rain and thunder and the wonderful streaks of lightning in the sky.

I boarded Bus No 22 as usual to get home. At the stop for the Railway Station, about 8-9 well-dressed, clean looking young men and women got in. They were all Caucasians except for one Afro-American and another youngster from Africa. They all spoke with an American accent and they had badges which indicated Church of the Latter Day Saints. All the young men went upstairs and 2 of the women took up seats downstairs and one decided to sit next to me although there were other seats available on the bus.

And I said to myself "here it comes". Indeed I was right. As soon as she was seated, she turned to me, smiled so sweetly and said "How are you?" This is the conversation.
Me : Fine, thank you.
Mormon Girl (MG): Isn't this lovely weather?
(Bus travellers in Leicester, whether they are white or brown or black generally keep to themselves, at the most they exchange smiles. But they will come to your aid if you require any help.)
Me: Not too bad (I know people in England always love to talk about the weather but
this girl sounded like she had just recently completed a course on how to start
a chat in England)
MG: Do you live here? ( She was beginning to irritate me. This was the usual patter)
Me: No answer, I just nodded my head and looked out of the window)
MG: Does your family live here? (still full of smiles)
Me: ('That's it' I said to myself. I've had enough) Do you mind if I don't talk to
you? I would prefer to be left alone.
MG: Oh, it's nice to talk, isn't it? (still full of smiles)

I ignored her and she knew I would not play her game. And I was left in peace.

I am no cranky, bad-tempered old woman. But, many, many times I've gone through these farcical and slimy attempts of Christian evangelists to engage my attention with the hope that I can be successfully converted. They do not want my friendship. They want my soul! I have never seen any attempts to convert a native English. She could have sat next to several other Caucasians in the bus and plagued them with her sickly sweetness

I recalled a summer's day, sometime in 1994. I was walking home and this sweet middle aged lady started talking to me and she said "What a lovely frock you're wearing". I said "thank you" and I thought it was kind of her to say that. I was quite naive then and was not aware of their modus operandi. We walked together and started chatting. Then she asked me "Do you know Jesus?"

Me: Oh yes!
She : Do you know that Jesus died for you - that he died for our sins?
Me: Ummmm, is it?
She: Do you want to be saved?Me: From what? ( I think my face was looking more and more pinched and worried)
She: From Sin!! (she was getting quite excited and querulous)
Me: But I do have my own religion.
She looked fiercely at me and asked "What?"
Me: I'm a Muslim.
You should have seen her face!! I must admit I was quite frightened.
She: You Mahometans will burn in the fires of hell unless you accept Jesus. You must
repent.
I realised this was getting nasty and I said to her as gently as I could, despite my anger.
Me: Look, you have your religion and I have mine. Can't we respect each other's
rights?

She kept on screaming and yelling at me. That I must seek for salvation and accept Jesus as my saviour.
Me: But we Muslims accept Jesus! He is one of our prophets.

She became apoplectic and I am sure if she had a Cross in her hand, she would be waving it at me, like they do to Vampires and other nasty Apparitions.

That incident utterly shocked me and that's when I started my reading on the History of Christianity and its ways and purposes. That's also when I discovered Ahmad Deedat - he is one man I truly admire. If I could only have just 0.1 percent of his knowledge and tenacity.
More than any Ulama and Ayatollah, he has done a great service for his faith in facing the Judaeo Christian wraths and deceits against Islam - in their arena.

I find that all religions and beliefs teach us to be good and kind. Not all Christians want to SAVE my soul. But it troubles me a lot when I read about the Christian Evangelists' agenda and how they work to achieve their objectives.

Those young Mormons in the bus and others who knock on doors in the mainly Asian and non-Christian neighbourhoods of Leicester are well trained and well endowed to do what they are doing. It seems that the Mormons own a big chunk of the gambling 'industry' in Las Vegas. So they can afford to take a gamble on seducing us to give up our faith. And they have made big strides in achieving their target.

And they represent only a tiny, tiny tip of the iceberg.

And I hope this explains my rancour. They have really spoilt what promised to be a lovely day. Never mind, tomorrow will be a better day.

Hello Ben - The World's Greatest Boyfriend

I am tired of talking to you on the phone and 'chatting' on Yahoo Messenger.



Yes, you are still as handsome as ever and yes, still as macho as ever.
We really, really hope you can make it to KL when we're back. Then we all (and your new friend Iain) could go "walking through the windy park, and take a drive along the beach", or see the stars at Jurong Hill.
I shall make sure you will not cheat at Gin Rummy, this time.

1977 was a good year!!!

In those days I made you stand on the chair as punishment because you were such a pest. Today, this will cause you more agony.

Civilized Casualties in Afghanistan

Remember that 1996 movie "Executive Decision" about the hijacking of a 747 jetliner by Islamic terrorists? We were watching it on the video in the Express Bus from Kuala Lumpur to Batu Pahat. However we were more fascinated by an elderly Hajjah sitting just a couple of seats in front of us. She was quite hypnotized watching this American movie peppered with shoutings of Allahu Akbar. I cannot imagine what was going on in her mind.
Well, that was not the first or the last of Hollywood movies that capitalise on demonizing and mocking Islam for political and pecuniary purposes.
Let's put the shoe on the other foot and listen to this.

The above is a hymn, an invisible inspiration at the core of Western politics and policies - from Imperialism to the War on Terror.

As to the War on Terror in Iraq, Afghanistan, and of course Guantanamo Bay, Norman Solomon has this 'Orwellian Logic 101 - A few simple lessons' - to contribute.
"When they put bombs in cars and kill people, they're uncivilized killers. When we put bombs on missiles and kill people, we're upholding civilized values. When they kill, they're terrorists. When we kill, we're striking against terror."


Photograph : Alauddin Khani/AP
This is how a terrorist is buried. He's an insurgent, a killer.


This shows a hero. He's a warrior, he died defending our freedom.

Two nights ago, Channel 4 News revealed the compensation given by the British MOD (Ministry of Defence) to civilians killed in Afghanistan as a result of their 'tactics'. Firstly it involves a long drawn out process for the relatives concerned. Secondly they have a tough job to prove that they are 'genuine' victims.

Photograph: Fraidoon Pooyaa/AP
An Afghani woman and child terrorised out of their minds.

We were informed by Channel 4 News that the MOD gave a compensation of USD210(MYR 741) for an Afghani mother killed by British firepower.
How much is a Muslim woman worth - alive or dead - compared to a Judaeo-Christian woman?
Will she be less worthless had she discarded her burqa and her hijab?
Will there be a bonus value on her if she emulates the norms and mores of the West like President Sarkozy's glamorous wife?

Finally,

We are all culpable : for hiding our heads in the sand.

TRUTH IS NEVER PURE, AND RARELY SIMPLE. (Oscar Wilde: 1854-1900)

A History Lesson for Hana

When Hana was little - with Tok 'Mok in 1996


This is the proud heart-rending song that celebrated the heroism of The Battle of the Alamo. Ma'ngah was also quite taken when I first heard it in the 60s but then in the 1980s I believed that Ronald Reagan was a great President and that the Americans, in trying to 'save' us from Communism in Vietnam had been fighting a clean war against the barbaric Vietcong. Doesn't this sound like the war in Iraq and Afghanistan? When I was in school we read about ancient Greek and Roman myths. My favourite was "Jason and the Golden Fleece" and Horatius a 6th century Roman hero standing alone on a bridge fighting off the Etruscans.

There are, today, many modern myths created about war, genocides, the victims, the heroes and heroines - ultimately the bad guys always come from the non-Causasian, non-Christian stables. Because I was so taken in by the gallantry of David Crockett 'a la John Wayne', William Travis etc etc I was quite shocked to discover that the purveyors of American history have been quite economical with the truth. Richard D. Santos (see the first article below) did not deny the men of the Alamo garrison were heroic (and neither can we because they were heavily outnumbered). We should also regard the Iraqis and Afghanis and Palestinians in the same light but they are the wrong colour and the wrong religion although they are, therefore, the right enemy.
Check these two articles for the myths. You'll find no end of glorious stories of the brave Texans in Google.
1. Read
this
and
this



Sorry to land you with this reading list tho' I know how much work you've got at UM. Also I will give you a test when we get back next week. But also do not worry, ma'ngah's feeling quite fulfilled and satisfied doing this posting.

P.S. Thermopylae (seen in the video) refers to the battle in 450 BC between the Greeks and the Persian Empire. Some historians think this battle between the West as symbolized by Greece and the East as represented in Persia has never ever ended. Also the West preferred to call that part of the world Persia whilst the 'Persians' preferred Iran - just like Mumbai became Bombay and Tumasik became Singapura and then Singapore.

Tit for Tat for Tatty Tirades (Don't you just love alliterations?)

In the past week or so, I have been clearing out my collection of newspaper cuttings from 1988 to 2004. Unlike Ann Widdecombe MP, who spent £900 of taxpayer money on her own personal newspaper cuttings service, I did mine all on my own. During my rummaging, I came across this article in the Sunday Telegraph of Oct 19 2003.
See this

This chastisement of Dr Mahathir Mohamad was written by John Simpson CBE (Commander of the British Empire), the BBC's well-known World Affairs Editor. His resume is formidable. Read this report by Jessica Hodgson of MediaGuardian, Tuesday 13 November 2001.

"The BBC's John Simpson claimed the glory for the Northern Alliance's rout of the Taliban today in Kabul when he joined other BBC staff in the Afghan capital.
Simpson told Sue MacGregor on the BBC's Today programme: 'It was only BBC people who liberated this city. We got in ahead of Northern Alliance troops. I can't tell you what a joy it was. I felt very proud indeed to be part of an organisation that could push forward ahead of the rest.'
Simpson, the BBC's World Affairs editor and a veteran journalist who has covered most of the most significant world conflicts of the last 20 years, has a reputation for tenaciousness and bravery."

Firstly a caveat before I proceed. I am not writing this to champion and defend Dr Mahathir Mohamad, a former PM of Malaysia. The article by JS was written 6 years ago on the retirement of Dr Mahathir as PM of Malaysia. I am more interested in looking at the modus operandi of journalists and writers as they diminish and demolish someone's achievement and character, especially someone who does not sing from their hymn book.

To be accused of anti-Semitism or of saying anything critical about Jews and Israel is like being given the kiss of death. There are no holds barred on writing anything derogatory about any other nation, or people or their beliefs. No one says it is anti-Muslim to criticise, mock and denigrate Islam, its institutions and its followers. Of course there are strict rules too about comments on race, gender and sexual orientation. But in the eyes of the world, anti-Semitism - in whatever shape or form it is devised by the 'victims' and their adherents - is the most vile transgression, totally unacceptable.

But there is, to me, another great misdemeanour - that of ignoring the old proverb: "People who live in glass houses should not throw stones". When it comes to anti-Semitism no one can hold a candle to JS's Motherland's hero : Sir Winston Churchill. Like JS he was also a journalist writing about wars in foreign fields. Ex-PMs of Britain like Margaret Thatcher and Tony Blair look on him as their mentor, their political idol. The neo-cons regard him in the highest esteem and the Washington Post in November 2001 said : "Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to the words of Winston Churchill."

HERE ARE SOME OF HIS WORDS.

1. Francis Fukuyama was not the first voice to talk about the clash of civilization i.e. the clash between the progressive West and decadent Islam. In his book "The River War" Churchill wrote:

How dreadful are the curses which Mohammedanism lays on its votaries! Besides the fanatical frenzy, which is as dangerous in a man as hydrophobia in a dog, there is this fearful fatalistic apathy. The effects are apparent in many countries. Improvident habits,slovenly systems of agriculture, sluggish methods of commerce, and insecurity of property exist wherever the followers of the Prophet rule or live. A degraded sensualism deprives this life of its grace and refinement; the next of its dignity and sanctity. The fact that in Mohamedan law every woman must belong to some man as his absolute property - either as a child, a wife, or a concubine - must delay the final extinction of slavery until the faith of Islam has ceased to be a great power among men. Individual Moslems may show splendid qualities. Thousands become the brave and loyal soldiers of the Queen: all know how to die. But the influence of the religion paralyzes the social development of those who follow it. No stronger retrograde force exists in the world. Far from being moribund, Mohammedanism is a militant and proselytizing faith. It has already spread throughout Central Africa; raising fearless warriors at every step; and were it not that Christianity is sheltered in the strong arms of science - the science against which it had vainly struggled - the civilization of modern Europe might fall, as fell the civilization of ancient Rome.

John Simpson, Anthony Burgess, Christopher Hitchens, Martin Amis and even our coloured brother V.S. Naipaul were all suckled on this Churchillian milk. We are the 'retrograde force' that sticks in their throats.

2. On Eugenics: WC told Lord Asquith in 1910, "The unnatural and increasing rapid growth of the feeble-minded and insane classes, coupled.......with a steady restriction among the thrifty, energetic and superior stocks constitutes a national and race danger." It's hard to see any difference between this and Hitler's 'racial hygiene'.

3. To quote Michael Lind: Churchill, a lifelong supporter of Zionism, was a social Darwinist who preferred Jews to Arabs..........he wrote of the legitimacy of displacing 'the Red Indians of America or the black people of Australia. . I do not admit that a wrong has been done....... a stronger race, a higher grade race, a more worldly-wise race, has come in and taken their place.'

4. As regards that mother of all tyrants, Saddam Hussein, and his use of poison gas against the Kurds, perhaps he learned from the precedent set by WC when he was Colonial Secretary in 1919 - WC wanted to use gas against the stubborn Arabs and added 'I do not understand the squeamishness about the use of gas against uncivilized tribes.'

5. Here comes the piece de resistance - the mother and father of The Great Thoughts of Winston Churchill. In the Illustrated Sunday Herald in 1920 he wrote that 'Jews were behind world revolutions everywhere.' He added:

This movement among the Jews is not new. From the days of Spartacus-Weishaupt to those of Karl Marx, and down to Trotsky (Russia), Bela Kun (Hungary), Rosa Luxemburg (Germany), and Emma Goldman (the United States) ..... this worldwide conspiracy for the overthrow of civilization and for the reconstitution of society on the basis of arrested development, of envious malevolence, and impossible equality has been steadily growing.

If Jews who are the denizens of the underworld of the great cities of Europe and America could have their homeland , perhaps they would not conspire for the overthrow of civilization.

Dr Mahathir, President Mugabe, President Ahmedinejad - eat your heart out. In the accusations made against you for rabid anti-Semitism you have been outclassed by Sir Winston Churchill.

Thank you to Michael Lind for most of the details on the thoughts of Sir Winston Churchill

Mr John Simpson, do your homework.