A Brexiteer

A lot of arguments and discussions have been going on in the UK in the past few weeks about leaving or remaining in the EU.  Much scaremongering and selective facts and figures have been put forward to (supposedly) guide the voter in making a decision.

The most ferocious debate concerns the issue of immigration.  The argument has been over-simplified with the Leave people being tagged as racists and bigots by the Remain campaign, whose voices strongly represent the liberal urban elites - especially in and around London.

Daily Mail - DM Comment  21 June 2016

Frank Field - The Guardian 14 June 2016

Daily Mail DM Comment 21 June 2016

Until 2004 when East Europeans joined the EU, there was no large scale migration to Britain.  There are now 3.3 million EU nationals living in Britain - up by 2 Million since 2003.  Unlike migrants from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and parts of Africa, they do not have to go through the hurdles of an English language test, or a UK citizenship test.  As soon as they enter Britain they are granted special privileges - and eventually all the rights of a British national - because they are members of the EU.  Unlike other non-EU migrants, their numbers cannot be restricted as UK as a member of the EU are bound by European treaties and European law.

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In comparison, I reckon Sabah and Sarawak got a better deal when they joined Malaysia.   For instance Peninsular Malaysians need a work permit to work in East Malaysia and they are also restricted from  buying land in these two states.

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If I am in Leicester right now, I would vote for LEAVE.  My reasons are very personal because of my  empathy and concern for the plight of my work mates, my  working class friends.

http://anaksihamid.blogspot.my/2010/11/some-good-people.html

These mates of mine and all the other places I worked at are the ones who pay the price of the EU's "Freedom of Movement" i.e the right to migrate within the EU to whereever the grass is greener.  I  know the problems they are facing: unemployment , short term contracts, reduced benefits, school place for their kids, and registration at Doctors' Surgeries.

The Unions who are supposed to represent them have done nowt and somehow managed to put their backsides on two stools - Leave and Remain!!

 Daily Mail - by Ian Dury & James Slack, 20 June 2016

Paul Mason - The Guardian 20 June 2016

These are the 'native' population that have been thrown on the scrap heap in the name of globalisation and free-market economics practised by their neo-liberal elites in both the Labour and Conservative Parties

Paul Mason - The Guardian 20 June 2016

If their anger is not placated the rise of more right-wing extremists in Britain is inevitable.

The other consequence of this anti-immigration mood is the effect on those refugees who are desperately and justifiably in need of support, of the most basic of security.    In comparison to such people, the relatively secure East Europeans, tripping around looking for greener pastures, are very privileged people indeed.

Mondoweiss - 9 Sept 2015

Must Read:  http://mondoweiss.net/2015/09/refugee-crisis-since/?utm_source=Mondoweiss+List&utm_campaign=ce4670a808-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_b86bace129-ce4670a808-398542561


I cannot help but observe the uncanny similarity of 'class politics' in Britain and here in Malaysia - of the gaping fissure between the luvvie elite in the urban centres and the hoi polloi poorer working class.  In Malaysia it's the gap between the city centres like KL and Penang and the rural/smaller towns.  In Britain there is the North-South divide with the well-heeled 'salariat' ensconced in the South.

This piece by Umar Mukhtar makes my point .....

Read:http://www.malaysia-today.net/zaids-imbecile-infantile-and-arrogant-response-to-being-confirmed-that-he-is-not-so-clever-after-all/

...... especially:

Umar Mukhtar - reference as above

Umar Mukhtar - reference as above

Alas, in Britain, for my working class mates; and in Malaysia for friends like Osman and Aishah - our local road sweepers from Kampung Ayer Kuning, near Kampar - they shall for ever be the mentimum tossed and scraped by the durian.

I shall await with trepidation the results of the Referendum.

Sunday School teachers, entertainers, celebrities, politicians, Methodist ministers, Catholic priests - fathers & stepfathers, uncles, teachers ........

When  news of Huckle's litany of child abuse got to Malaysia two weeks ago, I recalled this nursery rhyme I learned in Primary One.

One, two buckle my shoe,
Three, four, shut the door,
Five, six, pick up sticks.
Seven, eight. lay them straight.
Nine, ten, a big fat hen.

With Richard Huckle in mind this is my revised version

Nursery rhyme for a Sunday School Teacher

One, two, unbuckle my shoe.
Three, four, (he) shuts the door.
Five, six, he made me sick.
Seven, eight, I'm ridden with self-hate,
Nine, ten, a big, evil man.

Here's one victim's recall of the abuse she suffered - cited in a Report on Child Abuse in the Methodist Church in Britain,

I have learned that it is impossible to recover from sexual abuse when no one recognises the seriousness of it.  My church did not want a scandal, my parents did not want a scandal.  I was left to feel worthless and devalued, while the man was left to get on with his life and, for all I know, repeat the crime with someone else."  

Read more in

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/may/28/methodist-church-in-britain-apologises-for-historical-abuse


As for Huckle, after admitting to 71 offences of abuse against children between the ages of 6 months to 12 years from 2006 to 2014, an English Court sentenced him to 22 life sentences - to be served for at least 25 years. It's mind-boggling for any lay person to figure out "22 life sentences" when this pervert has got only one life.  What and whose purpose does this  punishment serve?

Penitent ??  Or grateful and relieved?  

As for his victims and their families, they face a life sentence too for what they suffered, knowing that by 2041, when Huckle is just 55, he will be set loose on society.

Only this time, I hope the CPS (Crown Prosecution Service), the NCA (National Crime Agency) and the might of the British Judiciary will guarantee that Huckle remains in his motherland and keep him away from the poorer people of the world - whether they are Christians or not!

This predator has a record of writing and admitting :

1.  " Impoverished kids are definitely much more easier to seduce than middle class western kids."   (Mail Online 2 June 2016)   

2,  "As long as I keep a broad number of contacts amongst the poorer people I know, I'm sure some would be inclined for someone of 'high status' such as myself to be caring for their kids for long or short term."    (BuzzFeed 2 June 2016)

      Note: 'high status' means white and westerner.

In Malaysia, much outrage was expressed by both authorities and NGOs - as well it should be.

 

Mail Online 2 June

As for the NCA - they were using "legislation that allows UK nationals to be prosecuted in the UK for offences committed overseas."  One cannot help but realise that this seemingly decent piece of legislation has a double edged sword : one to ensure punishment of British miscreants abroad, the other is to protect their criminals from any 'alien' (?) or 'barbaric'(?) justice system. - punishments like death sentences are anathema to the liberal western system of justice,  Maybe that is why Huckle looked relieved and held his hands in prayer after sentencing at the Old Bailey.


An example of responses from Malaysia's NGOs :

Certainly after this case, Malaysia needs not only to enforce a stronger protection of children, harsh punishment for the perpetrators, but also more transnational cooperation in nabbing and prosecuting the paedophiles.

But wait a moment.   Britain hardly has a creditable record of protecting their children either.

1. There's the much loved entertainer Sir Jimmy Savile.

From humble DJ to Lord of the Realm

Top of the Paedophile Parade.

Who?  Me??

2.  Australia's entertainer-export to Britain and the Commonwealth.

This was no kangaroo court.

How did he get away with 33 years of sexual offences?

3. Lord  Greville Janner - a scion of Leicester society

That police were pressured by politicians - you mean this is possible in  a non-banana republic/state like Great Britain?

4.  Glam rocker Gary Glitter.

All that glitters is not gold.

5.  Then there are institutions like Children's Homes and the long-running involvement of the Church in child abuse.  The Catholic Church especially has a long history of covering up for the perpetrators while the victims are shunted aside.  Here's just one example from the US, but the revelations go further afield to many other parts of the world.

6.  Just last year the Methodist Church made an apology to the 2,000 cases of physical and sexual abuse within the institution  dating from the 1950s.   "The children's charity National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children  (NSPCC) described it as a horrifying catalogue of abuse."

Sorry is no cure!

7.  Politicians and Paedophilia

     i) Dolphin Square

Dolphin Square

          ii) Elm House

Read this if you have the stomach for it.

http://www.channel4.com/news/vip-paedophile-ring-westminster-abuse-elm-guest-dolphin


And listen to Richard Kerr - the victim's pain.

We in Malaysia have a lot to learn about dealing with sexual and child abuse, about the enactment of laws to protect the child and punish the perpetrators, about counselling and helping the victims and their families.    BUT ....  we also need to turn to the values and mores of our own culture before taking on wholesale the methods and ethos of countries like Britain.

A few years ago, when Gary Glitter was exposed as a paedophile who had set up in Cambodia to ravage children, with impunity it seemed, there were many in Malaysia (including myself) who breathed a sigh of relief: no, it could never happen in Malaysia.

But now it has.  What lessons shall we learn from this awful milestone?

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Postscript:  Listening to Richard Kerr brings back distressing memories of my failure as a teacher, for turning my back on a cry for help.

Today, she would be almost the same age as Richard Kerr.  I dearly hope she survived
 her pain.

My one massive failing as a teacher.

But I do feel a sense of warmth when, many years ago, I demonstrated my support and care for one of my senior boys - who had been abused by his own father - when he was diagnosed with VD.  The teachers gossiped about him, told each other tales of how to keep their distance away from him in class.

During my geography lesson, I went to his desk and demonstrated how to measure the length of a river with a string on his textbook - Bunnett's Kajian Peta.  I shall never forget the happy smile he gave me.  He was eventually cleared of his blight and he must be a grandfather by now.

A Malay Malady - Episode 2

Caution:  There is a point to this long pictorial posting which you will discover towards the end.

1. What could be more  Malay than a rumah kampung?  This is a photograph from 1966.

Our  kampung house - 691 Pasir Panjang Road, Singapore

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2. What could be more  meticulous than this drawing?

Carving on a tiang seri of a kampung house.

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3. What could be more  joyous than remembering :

1.  a walk in the kampung ......

The old lady is how Iain Buchanan remembers his mother-in-law, AsH's mother

......  and this image was prompted by this 1948 (?) photo of her brother Mustapha taking a walk with Macik Ayik at Kampung Chantek, Dunearn Road.

2.  Here is a tikar  in the making, from Fatimah's Kampung .

AsH had such fond memories of the tikar on the floor - whch was much more flexible and portable than a sofa bed.  " It was as if all those years of use, all the sitting upon and the rolling up and the shaking out, had moulded it perfectly to Atok's comfort."

This mat has travelled from Singapore to Brunei (1978), then to Leicester (1984) and finally to Kuala Lumpur (2007).  I bought it in Port Dickson in 1970.

3.  AsH was a tomboy - with breaks in between  - like putting on the school uniform, or for Hari Raya or family outings.  Nevertheless she treasured the plywood doll house that Abah made for his two little girls.  The spouse drew this doll house for Fatimah, which looked more posh and traditional.

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4. What could be more  unforgettable than Busu's wedding in the small town where I was born. Like  many Malays from the kampungs and small towns of Malaya in the 1950s, the opportunity for employment was not in the shops or industries in Kuala Lumpur or Penang or Ipoh or Seremban or Johor Baru.   Their best chance was to enrol in the Police or British Armed Forces. Here, they did not merely "square bash" on the Parade Square.  They learned a trade, depending on which unit they joined.  They acquired discipline and initiative and enterprise.  When I was teaching at Sekolah Menengah Yusof Ishak from the late 1960s, I could not help but notice how the children of these soldiers were far more hardworking and enthusiastic about learning..  Their turnout was always clean and smart, their homework was always submitted on time and they gave us teachers far less disciplinary problems.

Busu Kamaruddin bin Moin was one of these enterprising Malays from Selangor.  He enrolled in the RAF (Singapore) and with a steady and secure income he was able to give some financial help to his much-loved kakak, our Macik Munah and her family.  Her greatest joy was to see her  adik bongsu married.  Between them there was not much money to be had for Busu's big day.  Her cousins (all male, including my Abah) offered and gave some assistance but they were determined to make it on their own.  It was a simple and unforgettable wedding.  Busu was a quiet and sweet uncle.  Ma'Busu was a lively and loving aunt.  This photograph says it all for us and the extended family.

3 - Macik Munah

To commemorate this special event the spouse recreated the above photograph - by drawing it in  hundreds of thousands (perhaps around a million) black dots (to imitate pixels).  He was determined to be absolutely computer-free and this was the result.

"Atok used to joke about the plastic tablecloth and the tent for the wedding feast that leaked."

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5. What could be more  yummy than the finger-licking taste of durian from the kampung?

Abah,  a Sanitary Inspector by profession was a civilian in the RAMC.

Abah's colleagues and students would come back from home trips to the kampung and we would be feted with our favourite durian, rambutan, mangosteen, ikan sepat from the sawah, tempoyak, kerdas and petai.  He would tell us stories about durian-hunting in the kampung and that inspired this drawing .....

Durian Watch

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6. What could be  a greater tribute to Allah's creation than to imitate the beauty and glory of the forest in these images?

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7. What could be more  devastating than to see this splendour  destroyed by man and his greed?

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8. What could be more  graphic than this geographer's portrayal of the 'development' of his wife's tanah air through an LRT window?

The First Half - beginning with the forest ....

........ and the Second Half ending with the concrete jungle.

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9. What could be more  loving than one man's love for his Malay wife and her tanah air to set out on an 8-year labour of love to write an illustrated story of Fatimah's Kampung ?

Note the vignette of the petai, the author's favourite ulam.

 

"Now, looking back, it is good to know that the two of us could eventually come together, and- by creating Fatimah and her Kampung - could say something we both needed to say."

For my 70th birthday the spouse drew a series of pictures for his little tropical flower - my favourite, the bunga tahi ayam.   This one is the best.

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Today's posting by AsH is quite unusual.  Made up mainly of a series of  illustrations from her spouse's book (published in 2008) AND smothered with 'copyright Iain Buchanan' on each one, readers may be forgiven if they think proprietorial AsH is touting her husband's book.  Well, if I am publicising and hawking Fatimah's Kampung I should have done that years ago!

I merely desire to explain the learning, the research, the skills, the patience, commitment and especially the love that went into Fatimah's Kampung by Iain Buchanan - Ash's soulmate!

In a quaint and depressing way, this posting is to illustrate another piece of Malay Malady.  I am angry, I am ashamed, and I am sad when I have to face the extent to which a member of my bangsa has such cheek to pilfer someone else's toil and labour to earn a living and to profit from such an act of cheating.

My good friend and neighbour, Zarina puts it so neatly, " Kak, to our Malays, only arak and babi are haram!"

10. What could be more   despicable than this?

The above was plagiarised and purloined and corrupted into this

 No wonder Information Technology is such a popular subject in Malaysia!

By the way, this business was given a leg-up in Utusan Malaysia February 2014.

And now a song of apology and comfort from a Malay wife to her  Scottish-English husband.

A Malay Malady - Episode 1

When the corporeal parts and trappings of  the Malay-Muslim's garments,  physical appearance, titles, education, talent and wealth are removed, we all look anatomically the same - in the eyes of God, and to the worms that consume and recycle our earthly flesh.  Ashes to ashes, dust to dust, so to speak.

My people - kings and ministers, tycoons, paupers, CEOs, and Directors, managers and supervisors, taxi drivers, road sweepers,  soldiers, policemen, farmers and fishermen, should take a  look at the image below and try to realise that is what they all look like inside when all the flesh and blood turn to mush.

"Alas, poor Yorick.  I knew him well" said Hamlet when he picked up Yorick's skull at the graveyard.

If only I could express that same sentiment when I encounter - in the flesh - some of my fellow-Malay men and women.

A Malay Skull - May 1839 Encyclopaedias and Dictionaries, Part II page 252.

After that brief euphoria in my last posting I find myself back in the pits of another Kafkaesque engagement with Malaiseian bureaucracy.

Just last week on Thursday in a certain government department, we had the bizarre privilege of encountering a government Pegawai  - a government servant - whose explanation of the convoluted workings of his department  was injected with repeats of  "Dengar!", "Dengar Sini!", "Dengar ya!" in a tone that you would use to a dog or a cretin; who very ostentatiously rolled his eyes and looked to Heaven when I started to explain myself; and who shared smirks with the female officer at the next counter - who broke out into giggles at our predicament.

The Malay-Muslim male seems to have a penchant for eye-rolling when talking to a Malay-Muslim female . I used to think this was just a peculiarity of the highly educated Malay-Muslim male who thinks he is the epitome of the cat's pyjamas.

From A little jaunt into escapism - 9 August 2015

 But from last week's experience it seems to happen across the board.  Is it because Malay-Muslim females are somehow an inferior species?

Anne - my stepmother-in-law -  gave me this advice when I lamented about the racist abuses thrown at me in Leicester.  "Just visualize these sick people sitting on their toilet with their trousers draped around their feet!"

So, what vision do I create?   I reckon this pegawai to be in his early 30s,   Let me picture him as a snotty toddler wrapped in his kain lampin.  Thirty years ago, throw-away nappies like Pampers were not in vogue except for very select parts of the urban elite.  And thirty years ago, I had just finished my Masters and was embarking on a new life as a married and retired ex-teacher in Leicester.

 And now, in a government office, he is being publicly rude to me in front of his female junior colleague.  I suppose I could be his grandmother's age and if he had been a Malay-Muslim Singaporean his emak and  bapak could have been one of my former students.

I guess I was so upset and too stunned to recite this bidalan to him.

Hidup di-dunia biar beradat             Let's live in this world by the rules of old,
Bahasa tidak berjual beli.                 For manners are not to be bought and sold.

(Extracted from Malay Proverbs,Bidal Melayu by A.W.Hamilton 1937)

But then what's the point?  Too many of our young(er) selfie-and-self-obsessed anak bangsa have lost the art, the sound and rhythm of their cultural background to modernisation, to arabisation, to occidentalisation and to nihilism.  The Lunchais are bobbing on their Labu-labu - long live the me-layu!

The Chinese maintain their tong pao ( of the same womb).  The Malays are divesting theirs into the tong sampah.

                                     
                                          Tiada Gentar Membela Diri dan Pusaka Asli


                                         

We are now certified .....

..... as a legally married couple in the eyes of the Akta Undang-Undang Keluarga Islam (Wilayah-Wilayah Persekutuan) 1984, Seksyen 31 (4).

What a relief!  It's like the rich and gooey icing on a Not-so-Secret Recipe Wedding Anniversary Cake.

We have been married for 30 years.  Our marriage was in 1986 at Masjid Assyakirin Jurong, Singapore.  We were issued a wedding certificate by MUIS Singapore.  It was all strictly above board and fully compliant with both the  secular and religious rulings.  We did not opt for some murky corner in Cambodia, Thailand or Indonesia - the various Malaysian versions of Gretna Green.

Before I took up Malaysian citizenship ( which was a heartfelt conscious desire to return to the land of my forefathers), the spouse and I would include our MUIS marriage certificate as a must-have item in our luggage.  It does look a tad travel-worn by now because it accompanied us on our family visits to Batu Pahat/Segamat/ Kuala Lumpur, to our jalan-jalan in Penang, Kedah, Perak, Negri Sembilan, Melaka, Sabah and Sarawak.  We were warned about Khalwat ; about being caught like a wetback in the US, i.e tangkap basah.

With my change of nationality, I discovered to my horror that we had to go through the nightmarish process of justifying the legality (religious) of our marriage despite our 30-year Marriage  Certificate  from  MUIS Singapore.  One day, perhaps one day, I'll write down the whole gory details of that re-certification drama and trauma which turned my brain bald and my spirit shapeless.

But right now I'm so thankful for that piece of paper which contains just a re-write of the details in our Singapore Marriage Certificate.  But  JAWI forgot to include an important item which MUIS Singapore had assiduously noted down - the name Donald Iain Buchanan @ Mohd Yassir Buchanan bin Abdullah - the genesis of which the religious authorities in Kuala Lumpur were very concerned about. 

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A matter of language - Certify, Certifiable and Certification

Finally we must be very careful in our use of words :  To certify (as a verb), means to attest to as the truth or meeting a standard.  Certifiable - which is derived from the verb certify - can be used in two ways.  Firstly it can refer to documents which are certifiable - i.e they can or must be certified.  But throughout all of that period leading up to our Certification  we carried the albatross of the other meaning of certifiable.

That version of certifiable means 'a crazy person' - albeit it's an informal use - but most of the time we did feel like we were in a loony bin or a sin bin!!

You can read of my weary despair at http://anaksihamid.blogspot.my/2015/12/were-off-well-weve-been-off-for-years.html

 At last I can hope and begin to pick up the pieces of AsH.  Thank you all for the patience and indulgence,

Selam (**) kan Malaysia

A fateful portent??

.... snipped from ...

......  a gathering of the saviours of Malaysia.

Got back home just 36 hours ago and it looks like I'll have to get into diving gear if I am to be saved by the above as they bring down the wretched vessel that is Malaysia.

It seems all is not well  and so we have this gathering of  chalk and cheese, a motley crew of men, coming and crawling from the  hallowed halls  and woodwork of politics, civil groups and the media.  How  can their Campaign benefit the Rakyat - except to " sapu chat di rumah yang burok".

We were often reminded ; when elephants get into battle, we - the hoi-polloi - have to get out of the way.

It's difficult for this septuagenarian to distance herself from this made-in-Malaysia soap opera.  It brings to mind the fable  about  "The Horse, Hunter and Stag".

A quarrel had arisen between the Horse and the Stag, so the Horse came to a Hunter to ask his help to take revenge on the Stag.  The Hunter agreed, but said: " If you desire to conquer the Stag, you must permit me to place this piece of iron between your jaws, so that I may guide you with these reins, and allow this saddle to be placed upon your back so that I may keep steady upon you as we  follow after our enemy."  The Horse agreed to the conditions, and the Hunter soon saddled and bridled him.  Then with the aid of the Hunter the Horse soon overcame the Stag, and said to the Hunter: " Now, get off, and remove those things from my mouth and back."

" Not so fast, friend," said the Hunter.  " I have now got you under bit and spur, and prefer to keep you as you are at present."

But I have to make a slight change to the above fable.  The Horse and the Stag actually inhabit the same territory and have a very similar diet.  Although they have four legs they are not as well constructed to outwit the two-legged Hunter's shewdness and tactics.

In this tale about the Horse, the Stag and the Hunter, what lesson can be learned?  Don't you get a feeling of deja vu?  It has happened before in  the history of the Malay domain : during the fall of the Malacca Sultanate, the acquisition of Singapore, the creation of the Straits Settlements, the Federated Malay States, the Unfederated Malay States, the Malayan Union and  even the terms of  Merdeka in 1957.


One last thought before  I  leave to catch up on my jet lag : Jong Pechah, Yu Kenyang.