T Connection

Happy Birthday to Me

2011-01-14T03:39:00.000-08:00

Best surprise birthday gift ever!

Modern Civilization – where privacy and safety live no more

2010-11-05T18:51:00.000-07:00

Do you remember a time when there was a home phone that everyone in the family shared? If some guy was calling your daughter, everyone knew because anyone could answer the phone, no secrets. If your son was supposed to be home by 10, he’d be home because he couldn’t use the excuse that he “tried to call to say he was running late but his battery was dead”.Nowadays there are mobile phones and every member of the household who can form a sentence has one.

Do you track your kids via GPS? How do you know somebody else isn’t tracking them? You can be sure that marketers are using this same technology to develop highly targeted advertising. According to a recent study, almost 70 percent of teenagers have included their physical location in their social networking status update. What happened to privacy? What happened to safety? If you really think you need this technology, you should at least set the privacy settings to the strictest level.

Ok so maybe you don’t use tracking software but surely you use Bluetooth. You can share family photos and videos with it. You can even send your son a copy of the chemistry lecture you downloaded from Youtube for him. Bluetooth is great but did you know that it can help people to hack into your mobile phone?

Do you allow your kids to post pictures or videos on the internet? Judging from the number of such files found online, its clearly normal and acceptable to share visual representations of ourselves with the world. But getting back to you personally, Are you aware of the content your kids are posting on social networking sites and blogs? Are there pictures of themselves? Do they include other family members? Do the pictures show the inside of your home, or members of your family in various states of undress? Perhaps the pictures show you or your child doing something that you wouldn’t want certain people to see, people like your fellow worshipper or maybe the human resources director at the company where you just applied for a job. Some employers have learned how to access profiles we think are private. This stuff, from real skeletons to slightly embarrassing events, is all part of our online footprint, following us well beyond the moment of seemingly minor indiscretions.

What kind of world are we living in? Don’t we care if everyone knows everything about us? Personally, I don’t want the whole world to know what the inside of my home looks like. I don’t want them to know where my daughter’s birthmark is. I don’t want them to see my son shaking his booty in a silly half naked costume while joking round with friends. I even get upset if I mistakenly send a mass email publishing the addresses. I’ve done this a few times and promptly sent an apology to the whole list of people for not typing their address into the BCC line.

It’s just out of control. We can all find things to enjoy about mobile phones and the internet but isn’t it time we each took a personal look at what our use of these technologies says about us. If privacy is not of concern, what about safety? Parents have a responsibility to protect their children and this means possessing a certain degree of control of their actions. Mobile phones seem to help in that you can call you child and check on them when you want to, but so can anyone else. Your kid can lie in bed talking on the phone to some seedy character, unbeknownst to their parents. I don’t even want to think about what my kids are doing through social networking sites but that’s just sticking my head in the sand. It’s really scary when I think about it but think about it I must.

I want to go back and proofread this, check spelling, grammar and review the organization of this rant but the clock is ticking. I think I’ll just post it as is.

One last thing – I invite you topost comments describing good and bad experiences with the technology described above. In addition please feel free to post links to informative websites as well.

Thank you

May some ounce of privacy and a whole lot of security be with you.

Saharan Secrets

2010-08-08T17:24:00.000-07:00

“Islamic” terrorists in Somalia? Christians against Muslims in Sudan, in Nigeria…? What’s the latest news from Africa? What isn’t the American media telling us?

Am I the only one

2010-07-28T08:30:00.000-07:00

Am I the only one who reads wedding announcements and obituaries for pleasure?I mean...when it comes to the wedding announcements and stories, I'm just a sucker for love stories. It's wonderful to read about people coming together and finding happiness. We don't know what's in store for them down the line but reading about the courtship and wedding always makes me say awwwwwwwwwwwwwww.

Then I have this thing about interracial/intercultural couples. I guess I like reading about them because I can relate, but moreso because it appeases that part of me that wish we could all "just get along" in this crazy world.

I read obits because we all need to be reminded of our mortality. We ought to think about it daily if we really want to stay on track. When you read an obit, you might ask yourself what (if anything) you are actively working towards so that you can leave behind something good - not just for your kids but for humanity.

In any case, just thought I'd share my thoughts with you.

Hope all is well with you and yours.

A Delicious Memory

2010-04-22T09:27:00.000-07:00

Lately, I keep seeing a fried snack that looks familiar but I know it’s not the delicious appetizer it reminds me of. After all, I’m way over here in Malaysia. So what happens? Now I find myself craving them every other day.

“The ambiguous origins of this Southern classic could rival that of eggs Benedict. Some claim that the starchy nuggets, typically served alongside fried catfish, were made from leftover cornmeal coating and tossed to the dogs to quiet them while dinner was being made (hence the name). Other stories credit American slaves, who fashioned them from unused meal, added onion and plunged them into hot oil. These days, (they) often take the place of bread at eateries south of the Mason Dixon.”

What are they?

If you’re in North Carolina, you can find them at Cook Out restaurant, a dozen for only 99cents!

If you’re willing to accept a northern attempt, you can find them in Manhattan but maybe it’s better to make them at home. Feel free to post your own favorite recipe as a comment.

Bon appetit

Whether near or far

2010-02-07T21:14:00.000-08:00

I’m browsing an African American history website, Hafizah’s sitting a few feet away.
A picture of Ella pops up.

Hafizah: there’s a singer

Me: a singer? Ah… that’s Ella Fitzgerald

Hafizah: Elephants what?...

Me: ELLA FITZgerald

Somehow I mention the word “scat” and when she asks what that is I have to let her hear for herself. With just the right search words I come up with…

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There’s nothing like stepping back from a portrait to help you see just how beautiful it is. I’ve been overseas for over six years now and on moments when I watch videos like this one I have to say again and again, you can take the African American out of America, but the pride in African American culture remains.

Black Sheep Returneth 2010

2009-11-13T03:44:00.000-08:00

baa baa black sheep
have you any wool?

yes sir yes sir
3 bags full

nuf to pay for a hotel
so as not to pose imposition

nuf to pay kids school fees
and take em to physician

baa baa black sheep sho you got nuf wool?
yes sir yes sir just be cool

Change of “heart”?

2009-04-08T15:26:00.000-07:00

Gee…what with the sanctions carried out, the ICC’s position and citizen protests about what is happening in Darfur, I thought the US had a clear stance on relations with Sudan.

But I woke up this morning and found that they’re talking a different talk.

The US envoy to Sudan arrived in Khartoum “with his hands open” saying that the “US and Sudan want to be partners”. Obama says his envoy is going to try to help make peace between the rebels and the government.

Sound familiar?

There’s always something so terribly selfish at the heart of US statements and actions.
Let me not say anything else on the matter. I don’t want to risk future incrimination. Even our right to the freedom of speech is “flexible”.

Divide and Conquer: Let Faith Save the Day

2009-04-08T05:02:00.000-07:00

If you were running for your life, would you seek refuge in a place where the evil gather?

Capitalism or Democracy: Can you have your cake and eat it to?

2009-01-26T18:36:00.000-08:00

Conventional wisdom holds that where either capitalism or democracy flourishes, the other must soon follow. Yet today, their fortunes are beginning to diverge.

How Capitalism Is Killing Democracy

By Robert B. Reich
Foreign Policy, September/October 2007

It was supposed to be a match made in heaven. Capitalism and democracy, we’ve long been told, are the twin ideological pillars capable of bringing unprecedented prosperity and freedom to the world. In recent decades, the duo has shared a common ascent. By almost any measure, global capitalism is triumphant. Most nations around the world are today part of a single, integrated, and turbocharged global market. Democracy has enjoyed a similar renaissance. Three decades ago, a third of the world’s nations held free elections; today, nearly two thirds do.

Conventional wisdom holds that where either capitalism or democracy flourishes, the other must soon follow. Yet today, their fortunes are beginning to diverge. Capitalism, long sold as the yin to democracy’s yang, is thriving, while democracy is struggling to keep up. China, poised to become the world’s third largest capitalist nation this year after the United States and Japan, has embraced market freedom, but not political freedom. Many economically successful nations—from Russia to Mexico—are democracies in name only. They are encumbered by the same problems that have hobbled American democracy in recent years, allowing corporations and elites buoyed by runaway economic success to undermine the government’s capacity to respond to citizens’ concerns.

Read the full article here: http://www.robertreich.org/reich/20070901.asp

Thank you CBS & Bob Simon

2009-01-26T17:33:00.000-08:00

This is an objective report of Palestinian life that I don’t hesitate to say is rare for the US media to present.

Watch CBS Videos Online

George in da House (of Commons)

2009-01-25T09:25:00.000-08:00

Double standards…

Speak!

2009-01-11T13:21:00.000-08:00

Speak the truth George, as you ALWAYS do.

See What its Like

2009-01-10T12:10:00.000-08:00

B'TSELEM - The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories was established in 1989 by a group of prominent academics, attorneys, journalists, and Knesset members. It endeavors to document and educate the Israeli public and policymakers about human rights violations in the Occupied Territories, combat the phenomenon of denial prevalent among the Israeli public, and help create a human rights culture in Israel.

I'm so pleased to find that they exist and surprised that the Zionists have not rooted them out. In fact, look what I found at their website?

B'Tselem invites you to see video footage of Israeli human rights violations.

Increasing Awareness

2009-01-09T21:04:00.000-08:00

You are wanted in Bangsar January 18th.

Have you visited the COMPLETE website?

Here's what we're doing on the 18th. Please join us and bring your friends.

Hit em where it hurts

2009-01-09T01:54:00.000-08:00

I want to write a proper post but I've got to go across town to a COMPLETE meeting.

So let me just say, I was happy to come across the website for the Global BDS Movement. Ever hear of it?

Instead of rockets and stones, why not arm ourselves with B, D and S.

BDSMovement.net is born out of the need to offer all those interested and active in the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement a shared space for information, analysis, exchange of ideas and experiences.

Here is an example of action:

British telecommunications firm FreedomCall has terminated its cooperation with Israel's MobileMax due to the IDF operation in Gaza.

"We received an email from the British company informing us that it is severing all ties with us and any other Israeli company following Israel's strike in Gaza," said CEO Raanan Cohen.

"We weren't expecting this from them and there was no prior warning. I don't intend to appeal to them or answer the letter."

The email from FreedomCall said, "As a result of the Israeli government action in the last few days we will no longer be in a position to consider doing business with yourself or any other Israeli company."
MobileMax, established in 2004, produces a program providing cellular phones with inexpensive international service.

To find out more, please visit their website. http://www.bdsmovement.net/

A Penny for your Resolutions

2009-01-09T01:33:00.000-08:00

Last night, The United Nations backed what is being called "a milestone resolution" which calls for an end to military action by all sides in the Gaza Strip. This resolution calls for an "immediate and durable" ceasefire and was backed by 14 out of 15 members of the security council. (Guess what country abstained.)
UK Foreign Secretary David Miliband said that by passing this resolution the UN had "served its purpose", and he urged the international community to "turn the words (of the resolution) into changes on the ground".

How and when will this declaration impact events on the ground?

While Miliband sat in New York expressing hope, discussions of a peace plan took place in Cairo. At the same time the Israeli aggressions against Gaza continued in full force.

For years the international community has turned a blind eye to Israel's violations of international law. We all know that the legal worth and weight of U.N. resolutions are notoriously irrelevant. Why should this time be any different? (Sadly, the vast majority of the governments violating UN Security Council resolutions are close allies of the United States)

I have to agree with Miliband's statement that:

"The UN can pass resolutions, but it is the decisions of the people on the ground that can make the difference between peace and war"

Muchas Gracias Mr. President

2009-01-09T00:23:00.000-08:00

President Hugo Chavez has strongly condemned Israel for its actions against the Palestinian people and

called on Israelis to stand up against their government.
"The Israeli army is cowardly attacking worn-out, innocent people, while they claim that they are defending their people," Mr Chavez said during a visit to a children's hospital in Caracas.
"I call on the people of Israel to stand up against that government, to demand, to put a hand on their hearts and look at their children, and I call on the world to stop this madness."
As the first country to take a diplomatic step in protest of the violence in Gaza, Venezuela has ordered the expulsion of the Israeli ambassador to Caracas and a number of diplomatic staff।

These words, followed by actions, were taken in a show of solidarity with the Palestinians. Imagine what could happen if other countries took the same stance.

Thank you Mr. Congressman

2009-01-08T21:48:00.001-08:00

I'll be the first to say that I don't trust politicians. But, I'm happy to say we've got at least one real man in Congress today. At least there's one man who's got the courage to stand up and say the truth.

On the House floor, Rep. Kucinich said:

“What is going on in America? We have trillions for a war machine and banks while our government stands by and sniffs at the slaughter of innocents in Gaza, where Israel is blocking aid for wounded Palestinians. Here’s today’s Washington Post it says: ‘The International Committee of the Red Cross said Thursday that it found at least 15 bodies and several children, emaciated but alive - - in a row of shattered houses in the Gaza strip and accused the Israeli military of preventing ambulances from reaching the site for four days....12 corpses lying on mattresses in one home, along with four young children lying next to their dead mothers.’ That’s a quote.
“Today U.S. tax dollars, U.S. jets and U.S. helicopters provided to Israel are enabling the slaughter in Gaza. The Administration enables Israel to press forward with the attack against defenseless civilians; blocks efforts promoting a cease-fire at the UN; and refuses to make Israel comply with conditions that arms shipments not be used for aggression. Israel is going to receive $30 billion in a ten-year period for military assistance, without having to abide by any humanitarian principles, international laws or standards of basic human decency. Wake up America.”

In his statement to Congress, Rep. Kucinich said:
“We cannot truly celebrate a New Year, a new Congress and a new administration if all we see is the same old destruction in the Middle East with US weapons being illegally used to kill children.
“I oppose Hamas' rocket attacks on Israel. The rocket attacks, even to try to end the blockade, have no moral justification, are illegal and must stop.
“But how can Israel claim self defense when it bombs Gaza which has no army, no air force, no navy and has been under a constant blockade?
“How can Israel claim self defense when its bombs destroy UN schools, killing children?
“The children of Palestinians and the children of Israel both deserve life. But the lives of the children of Gaza are cynically discounted as ‘human shields.’ Massacres are being rationalized. Israel's ‘moral high ground’ in Gaza, a growing pile of small bones in a graveyard.
“The Administration knows Israel is using US weapons, paid for by US taxpayers, with disproportionate force creating a collective punishment of Gazans, assuring an escalation of conflict, clear violations of the Arms Export Control Act.
“Israel was given U.S. weapons on condition they would not be used for aggression or escalation. The outgoing Administration must finally stand for the rule of law, not the rule of force.”
Rep Kucinich also sent notice to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice that Israel’s actions in Gaza since December 27th, 2008, may constitute a violation of the AECA.

In his letter, Rep. Kucinich wrote in part:
“…I hereby request an examination of Israel’s compliance with the provisions of the Arms Export Control Act of 1976 (AECA)…
“The extensive destruction of such civilian institutions violates Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which prohibits the wanton destruction of property and collective punishment of a civilian population. There have also been reports of bombings of United Nations (UN) schools, despite the fact that Israeli Defense Forces were allegedly given coordinates of the facilities prior to the current escalation in violence। The blockade that Israel has imposed on Gaza since 2006 has further exacerbated the extent of collateral damage, as hospitals and morgues have been unable to cope with the magnitude of deaths and injuries as a result of the current escalation in violence and hospitals lack proper supplies needed to treat the injured…”

Let's THANK CONGRESSMAN KUCINICH for his courageous stand in support of both the rule of law and peace with justice in the Middle East.

Write to:
The Honorable Dennis J. Kucinich
2445 Rayburn House Office Building
United States House of Representatives
Washington, DC २०५१५

P.S. Behind every man who is willing to face evil, there's a beautiful intelligent tall lady ready to stand beside him!

Not Just Another Day Off

2008-12-22T19:31:00.000-08:00

After Hannukah, Christmas and New Year's Day, folks will be observing MLK Day.

Do you know the history of this holiday? The act which Congress passed in '94 to give us this day off was entitled the King Holiday and Service Act. It was in fact designated as a national day of volunteer service. Instead of another day off from work or school, Congress asked Americans to celebrate Dr. King's legacy by moving from having dialog about issues in our communities to going out and taking action to deal with those issues.

Having voted a man of colour into the White House, one might assume that instead of singing We Shall Overcome, we can now say we HAVE overcome. Look away from the White House, past the lawn and down the road a piece. It would be better to look at the racial dimensions of inequality cited by the Institute for Policy Studies. Perhaps a look at this video would help to put Dr. King's dream into a contemporary perspective and to formulate ideas about the best way to spend MLK day.

Participation in the King Day of Service has grown steadily over the past decade, ...with projects involving the tutoring and mentoring children, painting schools and senior centers, delivering meals, and building homes. Many of the projects started on King Day continue to engage volunteers beyond the holiday and impact the community year-round

.

To learn more about how you can participate, visit the MLK Day website.

(For those of you saying - What's she preaching? She isn't even living here anymore! I want you to know that damaged as it may be, my heart is there and if you have any suggestions as to how I can do my part from abroad, by all means, please share them with me)

Thank God for the troubles we've seen and the mercy he has shown us because without them both we could not grow closer to him.

Thank God for each day he gives us to work toward improving ourselves and contributing towards a better future for humanity.

In all Fairness, Mr. Prosecutor

2008-07-20T18:42:00.000-07:00

You know I haven't got even the most minuscule particle of sympathy for Al-Bashir, a man I believe has committed the disgusting crime of killing his own people. However, I think Paul Roberts makes several significant points in the article below that moves the focus from one caliber of war criminal to another.

WAR CRIMES PARADOX
By PAUL CRAIG ROBERTS

…an International Criminal Court prosecutor wants to bring charges against Sudan’s president, Omar al-Bashir, for crimes against humanity and war crimes.

I have no sympathy for people who make others suffer. Nevertheless, I wonder at the International Criminal Court’s pick from the assortment of war criminals? Why al-Bashir?

Is it because Sudan is a powerless state, and the International Criminal Court hasn’t the courage to name George W. Bush and Tony Blair as war criminals?

Bush and Blair’s crimes against humanity in Iraq and Afghanistan dwarf, at least in the number of deaths and displaced persons, the terrible situation in Darfur.
The highest estimate of Darfur casualties is 400,000, one-third the number of Iraqis who have died as a result of Bush’s invasion. Moreover, the conflict in the Sudan is an internal one, whereas Bush illegally invaded two foreign countries, war crimes under the Nuremberg Standard. Bush’s war crimes were enabled by the political leaders of the UK, Spain, Canada, and Australia. The leaders of every member of the “coalition of the willing to commit war crimes” are candidates for the dock.

But of course the Great Moral West does not commit war crimes. War crimes are charges fobbed off on people demonized by the Western media, such as the Serbian Milosovic and the Sudanese al-Bashir.
Every week the Israeli government evicts Palestinians from their homes, steals their land, and kills Palestinian women and children. These crimes against humanity have been going on for decades. Except for a few Israeli human rights organizations, no one complains about it. Palestinians are defined as “terrorists,” and “terrorists” can be treated inhumanely without complaint.

Iraqis and Afghans suffer the same fate. Iraqis who resist US occupation of their country are “terrorists.” Taliban is a demonized name. Every Afghan killed--even those attending wedding parties--is claimed to be Taliban by the US military. Iraqis and Afghans can be murdered at will by American and NATO troops without anyone raising human rights issues.

The International Criminal Court is a bureaucracy. It has a budget, and it needs to do something to justify its budget. Lacking teeth and courage, it goes after the petty war criminals and leaves the big ones alone.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m for holding all governments accountable for their criminal actions. It is the hypocrisy to which I object. The West gives itself and Israel a pass while damning everyone else. Even human rights groups fall into the trap. Rights activists don’t see the buffoonery in their complaint that President Bush, who has violated more human rights than any person alive, is letting China off the hook for human rights abuses by attending the Olympics hosted by China.
President Bush claims that the enormous destruction and death he has brought to Iraq and Afghanistan are necessary in order for Americans to be safe. If we are accepting excuses this feeble, Milosovic passed muster with his excuse that as the head of state he was obliged to try to preserve the state’s territorial integrity. Is al-Bashir supposed to accept secession in the Sudan, something that Lincoln would not accept from the Confederacy? How long would al-Bashir last if he partitioned Sudan?

Last October the Atlanta Journal-Constitution had a photo on its front page above the fold of an elderly man with mikes shoved in his face. Paul Henss, 85 years old, is being deported from the US, where he has lived for 53 years, because Eli Rosenbaum, director the the US State Department’s Nazi-hunting bureaucracy, declared him a war criminal for training guard dogs used at German concentration camps. Henss was 22 years old when World War II ended.

A (guy) who trained guard dogs is being deported as a war criminal, but the head of state who launched two wars of naked aggression, resulting in the deaths of more than 1.2 million people, and who has the entire world on edge awaiting his third war of aggression, this time against Iran, is received respectfully by foreign governments. Corporations and trade associations will pay him $100,000 per speech when he leaves office. He will make millions of dollars more from memoirs written by a ghostwriter.
Does no one see the paradox of deporting Henss while leaving the war criminal in the White House?

After having read this, I turned to David Swanson’s Open Letter to Luis Moreno-Ocampo, Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court

Oh Mandy

2008-06-22T01:58:00.000-07:00

Al Rawsha
Hubbly Bubbly
Sweet tea
Funny stories
Memories
Will you remember this night?

(this is all I can remember from the silly poem I wrote in Atieh’s notebook as a memento of our dinner)

I want to thank three of my students who treated me to a delicious dinner tonight.
(No, I didn’t smoke any shisha)

There was way too much to choose from on the menu and I was really perplexed for a while. I thought maybe I’d get kabsa, then I thought maybe moussaka, but then they told me about Mandy. It’s smoked rice?….mmmm….that sounds interesting, I’ll take that.

It was really delicious and I’d definitely order it again.

I couldn’t get away without a bit of baklava and several cups of tea. (the basboussa was disappointing, not as good as my friend Ummo’s).

Emad, the short verse you sung was beautiful.
Marwan, as usual your storytelling was amusing.

Ati, tell your friend that the joke I wanted to play on my daughter went really well.
I showed her the “stones”. She asked me if they were real and I said “yeah, see look!” Then I put one in my mouth and bit on it with the intention of showing her how hard it was. Once she accepted that it was a rock, I then proceeded to chew and swallow. You should have seen the look on her face! It was hilarious to observe. Mission accomplished. Thanks for the great prop. Iranian’s sure are creative when it comes to making sweets.

I went from assorted biscuits for breakfast to creamy seafood pasta and chicken meatballs for lunch to lox and cream cheese for afternoon snack. I don’t know how, but I managed to make room for Mandy Lamb and dessert.

As I struggle to keep my eyes open long enough to post this, I must say it has been a delicious day

Thank you to http://www.awhiffoflemongrass.com for posting the only photo I could find that truly looks like the delicious Mandy I ate.

Laila

2008-06-21T20:13:00.000-07:00

On the way home the other day, I had a rather talkative female taxi driver. I thought my life was complicated, but I think hers puts mine in the slow lane.

Five times she has married and divorced Malaysian men. She has three daughters from three different husbands. Now she drives a taxi part time to pay off the debts of one or more of the former husbands.

From the back seat I marveled at her smooth driving, fluent English and the lovely tone of her voice. During the trip from the center to the outskirts of KL, she received three calls from customers that she promptly turned down. The first was an old Chinese bloke who has previously called her for a ride home from drinking bouts, then tried to make passes at her. She didn’t want to be bothered with him. That’s not what she’s being paid for she said. Then there was the woman in Brickfields who wanted a ride to (all places) someplace in Brickfields! Lol! There was another call from someone speaking Malay but he must have been to far away for her to take the job so she said “no” to him too. She took all these calls without any evidence of being distracted from her driving. After all, she is both the receptionist, and the manager of her red and white mobile office.

I shuddered to think of her riding the roads of KL late at night, and felt the need to tell her. After all, she’s my sister. As we pulled up at my house, I told her to be careful and that I would keep her in my prayers. I told her that I wished she could make ends meet by carrying regular trustworthy customers instead of taking her chances with anyone who hails her cab. I took four of her cards with the intention of passing them to Muslimahs who refrain from riding with males. I know of a few niqabis that would appreciate having her number.

She said that her friends told her not to pick up men and blacks. I suppose I can understand why her friends would say that, about men, and about blacks. Between the prejudices and the facts, she should keep her eyes open on both fronts. There are some bad men in this world, some of them are Black and some of them are even Malaysian।

She went on and on about it and then said that “not all black men are bad.”
LOL!
Did she forget for a minute that I was Black?
I told her “I know, my father isn’t bad”
(she totally missed that and kept talking)

The subject of racism aside, I think this sister is the epitomy of the modern woman. She is not a woman, she is a wannabe superhero – SUPERWOMAN. She’s got the beautiful face and voice of a woman, but life has forced her to make some tough decisions. She’s doing “a man’s job”. The world we live in today doesn’t really allow women to be ladies in the traditional sense. But that’s a whole other blogpost. In fact, that’s a book! Let me leave you there, before I get into trouble!

You Can’t Take it With You

2008-06-21T18:50:00.000-07:00

Big Bro’s email reminder: get life insurance, don’t be a burden on your family (they’ve got to bury you and take care of your kids)

T’s reply: Islamic burials are simple and you need not fly me back home from whatever country I’m in at the time. I’ll work on setting up something for the kids, God willing.

Cousin Nicky’s email reminder: Don’t expect an inheritance (he attaches this NY Times article)

T’s reply: Oh I wasn’t expecting anything anyway, but what I’d like is…

Plez’s J.A. Rogers books
That old school bench from Plez’s grammar school (last time I looked it was in the basement, hope he didn’t put it out with the trash)
Some of those old home videos (Lake Sebago, various dude ranches, Xmas gatherings etc)
And I don’t know whose “holding” them for me, but Unca James left me some paintings of scenes from Hampton. I’d like my property (feel free to ship it to Malaysia so a sister can put a piece of African American history up on the wall)

So, what would you like to inherit?
And what do you have that you think would be of value to someone?

Maybe it’s scary to think about that kind of thing, for some folks. The idea of meeting one’s maker I mean. I personally am not ready to meet him. I’ve got way too much work to do, but at the same time, when our time comes there’s no choice in the matter.

From him we come and to him we return.

Mind Your Language

2008-06-19T14:42:00.000-07:00

I just had a conversation with an agent that left a nasty taste in my mouth.

I know that there is racism in this world, but I like to pretend that there isn’t. We all like to pretend. Don't come out and tell me to my face that my nationality and race matter when I'm looking for a place to live. You’ve got to sugar coat it. Have some kind of tact, some kind of decency, some kind of professionalism.

I had this guy's number in my phone from the last time i was looking for a condo apt.
I sent him an sms with my specifications.

He calls while I'm watching Mind Your Language on YouTube and eating Chili con Carne over brown rice.

First he says, you're a foreigner, right? Then he asks what country I’m from. Not in the mood for that question, I ask him if it makes a difference. He says “yes, to the homeowners.” I let him know that I don't appreciate that. He says its the way it is.

He pushes further with my reality check. Landlords expect that foreigners won't rent for long so that’s a problem. Yeah but you didn’t just ask me whether I’m a foreigner. You asked my nationality. He says again that it matters to the owners. Then, he tells me that in my budget I "cannot live amongst whites"

WHAT?
Then he says that "whites" means "foreigners," Then I say that I live in a place where there are foreigners (I name the place) and he says “yes but those are Africans”

LOL!

you 8@#$@#^ idiot
Now, you've really pissed me off !

I tell him that I've got brown skin and have nothing against living with people who have brown skin. I tell him that I don't think I want to rent from someone who cares about such things. I tell him that I'm an American and ask him what reputation we have.
i.e. if you tell the owner I'm American, what are they going to assume about me?

I notice that many folks here equate being American with being white. Havn’t they ever heard of any famous African Americans? Don’t they see them in the bootleg films they sell like hotcakes at the farmer’s markets for three dollars. If I say I'm American they respond with "yeah but where were you born, or where are your parents from". I think to myself, havn’t they ever heard of the generations of colored folks who helped build the Great US of A?

A few years ago I heard about the reputation that Arabs have in the hotel industry here (they have “special rates” for them).
I ask the agent, “What will they assume about me if you tell them I'm American?” He then says he doesn’t want to “go into all that.” Let him ‘find me an apartment then after that we can go for a drink and talk about all that.’

We end the conversation with him saying that he just wants to help me find a place.
I say yeah well maybe and hang up.

Then i decide i dont' want his help.
Other agents have helped in the past without being so blatant about the racism

I sms him:

"There is a way to speak to people which avoids directly offending them. You are obviously doing fine speaking to people without concern for that, so I don’t think you will care if I decline your assistance. I thank you for replying but no need for further follow up"

he replies by sms:
Thank you for not wasting my time

I reply by sms:
you are QUITE welcome, Raj

His name is Raj
Indian!
Half of them are 10 times as brown as I am!
and they are victims of racism here too!

But i guess its just a game some folks are willing to play

Disgusting

disgusting taste left in my mouth
not the chili con carne
the world con racism
Meanwhile back “at home”…

Mounting evidence, provided by the Urban Institute in its 2000 Housing Discrimination Study and reaffirmed by the National Fair Housing Alliance along with other researchers, demonstrates that African-Americans and Hispanics encounter some form of discrimination in approximately 20 percent of their initial visits to a real estate sales or rental agent, and that at least 3 million instances of unlawful discrimination occur each year. Yet funding for fair housing enforcement has been steadily reduced in recent years, and there is little discussion of these problems outside the fair housing advocacy community.

And back in KL, I’ll wait to hear from all the other agents I contacted.
Maybe they will have a style that is easier to stomach.

And I will be happy to live amongst the Africans and Chinese and Arabs and Malays in my current area. No problem, who needs to live amongst the "Whites", paying ridiculous amounts of money for rent. Let them have their extravagance. I'll have my extravagance in the hereafter, God willing.

Picking Cotton: Part 1 of 2

2008-04-23T21:05:00.000-07:00

“Cotton pickin” (No offense).
What does this expression mean to you? Is it foul language? Is it racially motivated?

Well, I haven’t the time or desire to babble about Lou Dobbs’ slip up the other day. I don’t want to talk about race. Let’s talk about the business of picking cotton, and let’s talk about justice.

I want to share with you an “American Negro Ballad” (not ballad in the sense of a slow song, but ballad in the sense of poetry). I came across it for the first time in one of my daughter’s literature text books. The book was published in 1963, hence the term “negro” is used.

According to James Miller’s The Origins of the Mississippi Delta Blues, these “American negro ballads” are said to have

“…romanticized certain aspects of cultural ideology and were drawn from courtier style, European poetry... Other ballads took historical or social inspiration and meshed them into song. One of the most famous of these was The Boll Weevil.”

While surfing for pictures of the weevil and accounts of cotton picking, I came across some interesting blogposts.

One sort of romanticized it from the perspective of a sharecropper in the mid 1950s. It was an honest way to make a living and something of a social gathering.

The other post made a statement that I suppose Lou Dobbs would chime in on, that while yesterday’s “negroes” provided free labour by picking cotton, today Black kids can pick cotton as part of a science class excursion, alongside white kids.

That’s true, but read this excerpt from Robert Weathersby’s WPA slave narrative and you’ll know what perspective I had in mind when I read the ballad of the boll weevil.

"De fiel' wuk was done from sun to sun. De fiel' hands went out early in de mornings after de horn had blowed an' dey had all et breakfas' at Marse's house. When dey reached de fiels dey went to plowing, strowing fertlize, planting an' hoeing. At twelve o'clock a cowhorn was blowed an' dey would go in to dinner, den dey would go back an' wuk till nite. In gethering time fiels full ob 'em would cut rake, bind an' stack. Wagons would be coming an' gwine stacked high wid grain an' stuff dey had growed. Acres an' acres o' snowy white cotton would be dotted here an' deir wid bunches o' slaves a picking cotton wid deir long sacks dragging from deir sholdiers. De darkies had a big time a singing, shouting, an' hollering Scary ghos' tales would be tole an' tales o hoo-doo an' all kinds o' superstion dat de darkies believed in. Dey believed in all kinds o' signs an' stuff lak dat. De Overseers was alwas' close by to see dat de wuk was kept a gwine. When nite come on dey took out, et supper an' den hit de hay (to bed, a negro saying as their beds were of hay) dead tired.

When I read the ballad of the boll weevil, I didn’t think about sharecropping at all. I didn’t’ think about a rainbow of kids on a modern day science trip. I thought about folks who picked cotton by force. I thought about folks who used words and music to survive in the cruel world they were born into. I thought about the folks I’m proud to call my ancestors because of their emotional and spiritual strength.

Now that I’ve said all that, I’m too tired to type out the whole ballad!

So for now, here’s the first stanza:

Oh, de boll weevil am a little black bug,
Come from Mexico, dey say.
Come all de way to Texas,
Jus‘ a-lookin’ for a place to stay,
Jus’ a-lookin’ for a home, jus’ a-lookin’ for a home,

Nothing Left to Give

2008-04-23T21:00:00.000-07:00

Imagine if the “third world” and “developing” masses woke up and boycotted their occupier.

Imagine if they stopped importing things they can produce for themselves.

What if they stopped trying to adopt ways of life so foreign and poisonous to their own survival?

Could they think enough to take pride in their own history and culture?

Apparently not.

Instead they invite Uncle Sam over for tea and biscuits,
Then insist he stay for dinner
Then offer him a cozy room for the night
Then it’s nothing for them to hand over their daughter the next day.
So what’s left?

I knew the US had to have some role in the food crisis, i just hadn't put two and two together yet. This article did if for me.

Guess Who (or what) ???

2008-04-23T20:05:00.000-07:00

This is how you play the game:
Read the post and guess the identity of “the entity” described and other requested details.
Post your guess.

Only after you have posted your guess should you follow the link at the end of the post. Cmon, don’t cheat. POST YOUR GUESS FIRST!

It’s described as "vatican sized” and occupies 104 acres of prime real estate
It has 20 blast-resistant buildings
It's equipped with its own electricity and water systems
It has its own anti-missile defense system
For the staff there’s a store, indoor and outdoor basketball courts, a volleyball court, and an indoor Olympic-size swimming pool

It cost over three quarters of a billion dollars to construct

Although it’s located in an Arabic speaking country, only 33 of its 1000 staff speak Arabic (and only six speak it fluently)

In addition to staff there are several thousand guards, cooks, and handymen

It has been described as more than a citadel, even if it falls short of a city-state.

It will now cost Americans $1.2 billion a year to maintain.

Have you guessed yet?

The above stats came from Tomgram: 12 Reasons to Get Out of Iraq (specifically reason number 5)

Click here to read more about “THE THING” describe above.

Let Us Prosper but Not Forget:

2008-04-15T19:52:00.000-07:00

Thoughts about Development in the Motherland (Part One)

Whenever I think of Goree Island the only visions I see are of my ancestors being loaded onto ships. Now I hear that there are plans to develop a resort there.

I don't know...it seems sacrilegious somehow…

A FORMER PLAN
Back in the 1960s, Mr. Club Med also had plans to build a resort there but they were going to have the audacity to exclude Africans from membership. Ms. Katherine Dunham just happened to be working in Senegal at that time and when she got wind of it she took the issue to her personal friend, Leopold Senghor (president of Senegal). Furthermore, she helped to gather religious leaders to fight the project. In the end, they were successful in blocking Mr. CM’s outrageous scheme. Because of their efforts, Goree Island has been preserved as a historic site and many African Americans travel there to view the last images of Africa seen by their ancestors.

LOOKING TO THE FUTURE
We live in a new era, so I suppose the time for such a venture may be just right. Why not bring tourist money to Senegal. Why not invite international (and local) tourists to enjoy the beach and the cuisine.

At the same time this is an opportunity to educate people about our history, as it has played itself out on both sides of the Atlantic. A resort at this location can encourage people worldwide to see the Slave House with its famous "Door of No Return". If there is one thing people need more of, its education. People need to know and understand more about the true history of the world. This resort could encourage more descendants of slaves to visit as well, perhaps healing wounds and developing new bonds with Africans.

In addition to the social, emotional and spiritual benefits, the developers of this project should work with the local government and private industry to make certain that THE SENEGALESE PEOPLE reap the financial benefits of this endeavor. All in all, this project must ensure that respect is maintained for the Senegalese people and the environment.

CAN I GO? CAN I GO?
I’m remembering the vacant Teacher post at British Council in Dakar that I heard about recently. As I read the posting I thought mmmmmmmm I can smell the thiébou dieune and the yassa.....I can hear the kora music..... I could practice my French, but alas I must serve out my sentence (oops, i mean contract) here in KL. In any case, it looks like they'll be needing to refresh their Arabic and English language communication skills in Dakar to accomodate the new influx of tourists, God willing.

WHERE THERE’S PAIN, THERE’S A SONG
The theme of Steel Pulse’s last album is the impact of the slave trade. It’s entitled 'African Holocaust' and it features a single called Door of No Return. In conjunction with the 200th Anniversary of the Abolition of Slavery in Britain and Black History Month. the video for this single opened at The Times BFI 51st London Film Festival. I’m not to keen on the song itself, but the video does keep important memories alive (try to watch it till the end).

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

What was originally meant to be a quick email to a few friends has become this blogpost. It’s a rush job but I hope you enjoyed it. I look forward to your comments.

Big Bro’s on the Tube too

2008-04-10T02:49:00.000-07:00

Hmmm…I could post that tour of Big Bro’s new pad he sent me on YouTube, but I don’t’ think he’d like that. Besides, he is already featured there in two spots.

As much as we’d love to see him in action, these are just audio clips.
click here for a classic

Here's the Acid Rain Forest Mix

Eek! I’m on the Tube

2008-04-10T02:34:00.000-07:00

I think it’s interesting that we know so little about each other.

On the paternal side, I knew cousin Monica had left for Japan to teach English, met a great guy, married, had a baby and settled down in Yokohama.

When I left for Asia four years ago, my maternal Cousin Charles said “you’re the first one in the family to go and make a life for themselves overseas”। Little did I know, cousin Kim was already traipsing round the globe doing the same thing Monica was doing and that I would end up doing – teaching English.

I had no clue what my maternal cousin Barry was doing all these years. I haven’t a clue what his kids do or any of my maternal cousins for that matter. Pretty sad. When’s somebody going to organize a family reunion? (I plan to bring the family to visit the US next fall, hint, hint)

One of these days we have to put together a collection of our resumes (CVs). I think it would prove to be quite an interesting learning experience.

For now, I’d like to invite you to have a look at what I do for a living. I just got the word today. You can catch me, my colleagues and my students on You Tube now.

Here's proof that BC Kuala Lumpur has a diverse teaching staff.

Here are the results of my escape from NYCHA. (experience and qualifications)

Keep in touch y’all

Barry’s Been Busy

2008-04-05T06:27:00.000-07:00

I’d like to congratulate my cousin Barry on the completion and release of the book he co-authored entitled:

Background Screening and Investigations: Managing Hiring Risk from the HR and Security Perspectives. I haven’t kept up with him over the years and only knew that he was somewhere on the west coast. Well he’s been quite the traveler, quite the educator/trainer. There is so much I did not know about my cousin Barry, Executive Director of the National Institute for Prevention of Workplace Violence, Inc. He served as the Workplace Violence Prevention consultant for the State of California for over nine years, providing consulting and training to managers and employees. Some of his other clients include Gillette, Canon, Beckman-Coulter, CA Department of Transportation, Southern California Edison, Orange County Sanitation, National Transit Institute, City of Pasadena, Blue Shield Foundation, Macy’s, Peterson Brothers Construction, District of Columbia Water & Sanitation Authority, etc. He also teaches human resource management courses at several universities.

His book describes all aspects of the employment background screening processes - its history and evolution, the necessity of implementing a screening process, and the creation of a comprehensive policy. Barry and his co-author show how security and human resources professionals can cooperate with each other to overcome legal obstacles facilitating successful screening processes.

I’ve come out of blogger hibernation to post this information about him for the benefit of the younger generation. May God bless them with the realization of the unique qualities they have to offer this world, and may they strive to be the best they can be in their chosen field.

I Won’t Complain

2007-10-28T00:36:00.000-07:00

I've had some good days
I've had some hills to climb
I've had some weary days
And some sleepless nights

But when I look around
And I think things over
All of my good days
Outweigh my bad days
I won't complain

Sometimes the clouds are low
I can hardly see the road
I ask a question, Lord
Lord, why so much pain?
But he knows what's best for me
Although my weary eyes
They can't see
So I'll just say thank you Lord
I won't complain

The Lord
Has been so good to me
He's been good to me
More than this old world or you could ever be
He's been so good
To me

He dried all of my tears away
Turned my midnights into day
So I'll just say thank you Lord
I've been lied on
But thank you Lord
I've been talked about
But thank you Lord
I've been misunderstood
But thank you Lord
You might be sick
Body reeking with pain
But thank you Lord
The bills are due
Don't know where the money coming from
But thank you Lord
Thank you Lord
Thank you Lord
I want
I want to thank God
God
God
God
Has been so good to me
He's been good to me
More than this old world or you could ever be
He's been so good
He's been so good
He's been so good
So good
So good
So good
So good
To me
He dried all of my tears away
Turned my midnight into day

lyrics by Paul Jones

Inquiring Minds

2007-08-21T19:38:00.000-07:00

WHO

comes from an economically disadvantaged family?
probably gets called “honey” and “mommy” every day?
could enter a room and explain the way sound travels in it?
likes to spend time with microscopic organisms?
sees the physical universe as a phenomenon in time and space worth studying full time?
plays a musical wind instrument consisting of a conical, usually brass tube with keys or valves and a mouthpiece with one reed?

Have any of these people touched your life, even indirectly?

To answer these questions and to find out what they all have in common, check out this page from Science Update.

this post is dedicated to the Kouyate and the Delane kids
and all the other kids who are “stuck in unfortunate circumstances”
Imagine having to drop out of school because your father can't afford to pay your school fees. What would you do? What if your father homeschooled you until you "knew more than he did". Could you perhaps grow up to invent the fastest computer in the world? Dr. Philip Emeagwali did.

when you really look at it with eyes wide open,
life is what YOU make it, God willing

deco-spicable

2007-08-06T21:46:00.000-07:00

I saw the most bizarre thing at the store last night.

I was in the section of a store where you find baskets and dishes and other household goods. There was a small rack with decorative stickers entitled “the art of deco”. There was a sort of “cottage in the woods” theme, a “fish bones” theme, a “Santa Claus” theme, and then….

there was the 9-11 theme!

The heading read “US Under Attack”. I was shocked. We took a picture of it to prove to you that it was real.

My senior year in college, I worked in the World Trade Center. (building 1, 55th floor)
I later worked in the building next door (90 Church Street) and would have been there that day if not for the fact that I transferred uptown after my last maternity leave. My colleagues who were still working downtown, looked out the window and saw people jumping from the first building hit, to escape the flames and meet their death below.

What exactly is decorative about buildings burning? Who would want to paste pictures on their wall of death and destruction?

What does this assortment say about……Malaysians?

I think it’s safe to say that anyone I know, be they Malaysian or expatriate, would be as outraged to see those stickers as I was.

Guess Who (or what) ???

2007-07-13T23:02:00.000-07:00

This is how you play the game: Read the post and guess the identity of “the one” described and other requested details. Post your guess. Only after you have posted your guess should you follow the link at the end of the post. Cmon, don’t cheat. POST YOUR GUESS FIRST!

It has been described as a 'poor people's paradise', complete with games, freaks a boardwalk and a beach.
Haven’t been there in ages but when I hear its name the memories return and, three “c” words come to mind: cotton candy and cyclone.
A few developers want to have their way with it.

Guess what it is and post now.

Then, read this.

Guess Who (or what) ???

2007-07-13T22:54:00.000-07:00

Read the post and guess the identity of “the one” described and other requested details. Post your guess. Only after you have posted your guess should you follow the link at the end of the post. Cmon, don’t cheat. This is an easy one so no peaking. POST YOUR GUESS FIRST!

It is known to spend millions on sheet music, musical instruments, and accessories.

It once had its own dairy which it now leases out and it currently owns a stable.

It owns hundreds of thousands of creatures (many of whom are used for experimentation).

It owns an assortment of materials from zinc, lead, cobalt, chromium, and mercury to precious metals such as platinum, palladium, and industrial diamonds.

It is a slumlord and at the same time its own home is of course “magnificent”.

It’s footprint stomps “from Antigua and Hong Kong to Kenya and Peru”.

Oh, and its also got some vehicles, ships and aircrafts.

so....who is it?
Did you post your guess yet?

Find the answer here.

Guess Who (or what) ???

2007-07-13T22:37:00.000-07:00

This is how you play the game: Read the post and guess the identity of “the one” described and other requested details. Post your guess. Only after you have posted your guess should you follow the link at the end of the post. Cmon, don’t cheat. POST YOUR GUESS FIRST!

"You want to catch them off guard. You want to catch them in their sleep ... You grab the man of the house. You rip him out of bed in front of his wife. You put him up against the wall...”

Can you guess who the speaker is and who/what he is referring to?

POST YOUR GUESS FIRST, then find out who it is here.

KEY-uh-lin

2007-07-01T16:22:00.000-07:00

In preparation for my “new lifestyle” I’ve been asking around for beauty tips.
This facial mask recipe came from a Senegalese friend.

Ingredients:
parsley, smooth kaolin powder, 1 egg yolk , henna and lemon.

Preparation:

wash the parsley and then plunge it into hot water for 3 minutes
mix the kaolin powder with parsley water
put in the egg yolk, followed by henna and 3 drops of lemon
mix it all until it becomes homogeneous
apply to your face and let it react for 5 to 10 minutes
wash with tepid water

Until today, I don’t recall ever hearing of kaolin. So naturally I started surfing the web.

KAOLIN, a.k.a. china clay, nacrite, kaolinite, calcined kaolin, and metakaolin is described by Wikipedia as:

one of the most common minerals; it is mined, as kaolin, in Brazil, France, United Kingdom, Germany, India, Australia, Korea , the People's Republic of China, and the southeastern U.S. states of Georgia, Florida, and, to a lesser extent, South Carolina.

Did you know that the Kaolin Capital of the World is Washington County, Georgia? In fact, they have a kaolin festival every fall in Sandersville.

Botanical.com describes kaolin as

“the most versatile and easily applied clay that is commonly found in skincare preparations and cosmetics. It’s a fine, fluffy clay that has natural absorbency properties and is frequently found in powders, body packs, skin care products, and deodorants.”

They sell a pound for five US dollars.

Still not clear on why it’s used in a mask recipe? Well, it’s absorbent qualities are used to draw out impurities and toxins. It is excellent for ridding the skin of excess oil, dirt, pollutions and other waste materials.
Check out the links on this page to learn more about the use of clay in cosmetics.

Serina Kaolin, cites its other benefits and uses as…

Benefits
• naturally-occurring clay mineral which is inert and harmless, even if consumed
• Fine particle size (average particle size is one micron)
• Anti-diarrhoea properties
• Good suspension characteristics
• Soft and non-abrasive (Mohs hardness: 2)
• Consistent creamy-white colour

Besides Cosmetics and Facial Masks, Kaolin is Used in:
• Internal and external pharmaceutical compositions
• Diarrhoea/intestinal treatment (remember kaopectate?)
• Tablets
• Fuller's Earth and foot powders
• Foods
• Soaps
• As a carrier, filler or anti-caking agent
• For suspending, thickening and tablet binding applications

The friend who sent the mask recipe prefaced it by saying: “I don’t know if Malaysian markets have kaolin…”. Now, I’ve got to find out. They do produce it here, but finding it in the form I would need to prepare the mask might be a dilemma. If you know otherwise, do let me know. According to the A to Z of Materials, there are three producers in Malaysia but the main end use isn’t cosmetics.

As for production trends within Asia generally…

The past two decades have witnessed the exhaustion of many natural resources in Europe and North America. In addition high labour costs and increasing environmental constraints have been imposed. This has encouraged interest and investment in the resources in the less populated and/or less developed nations. In terms of clay resources, those within Asia are potentially capable of supplying both the indigenous and export markets, with particular reference to the Asian market where significant industrial growth is predicted to occur during the first half of the 21st Century, with China leading the way. (Azom.com)

If you are interested in making your own cosmetics, you can find recipes at makingcosmetics.com. You name it, they’ve got the recipe: hair relaxers, antipersperants and deoderants, and even mascara and eyeliner. Those recipes are way to much like chemistry lab for me though so if you have any traditional recipes, (you know….the kind made from stuff in the kitchen), please share them.

Grandma’s Baby’s Friday Nights

2007-05-13T02:51:00.000-07:00

Unlike the Malaysians, I prefer for my kids to be in bed by 10. Its torture trying to get them up for morning prayer, and just as bad trying to get them up for classes. But when it comes to Friday nights, I push bedtime back a bit for “Grandma’s baby” to attend a silat class in the flats across the main road from us. He ends up getting home near 11 but it’s worth it. Among the benefits he says that it gives him are that it…

Tests his strength – (physical only, from what I can see so far)

Challenges him – he thinks he knows everything else so at least he’s humbling himself to learn something from someone

Gives him a chance to socialize – We walk down the street sometimes and neighborhood Malay kids will say hello to him, that’s more than I can say for myself!

Teaches him about Malay culture – hmm, reminds me….gotta turn him onto Gamelan.

Gives him confidence – well alhamdulilllah. Most teens are deficient in that area so good for him.

According to silat melayu dot com:

“Silat refers to a group of martial art styles found in the Melayu Archipelago, most of which sits within South East Asia. The Melayu people of Malaysia practice a melting pot of styles that have been largely developed from indigenous and foreign fighting styles, making them methods which are highly adaptive to different combat situations.”

Want to see some action? Check out the Silat Melayu blog for some videos posted on you tube by silat.tv.

I have a feeling he stops for a roti canai or two on the way home, but when “Grandma’s baby” gets home he is n – i – c – e and tired….

So I don’t have to say a word. He just falls into bed.

;- ) Thank you guru Mhd.

OurSundayEvenings

2007-04-27T17:10:00.000-07:00

Who: All God’s Chillun Got Rhythm

What: Drum Circle

When: 5:30 – 8ish

Where: Tugu Park, Kuala Lumpur

Why: (click and learn)

!

2007-04-27T16:45:00.000-07:00

Anup Shah, Media in the United States, GlobalIssues.org, Last updated: Sunday, April 01, 2007

Cword

2007-04-26T17:17:00.000-07:00

Each country produces is own type of corruption and no system is corruption-free. Corruption affects every country. Every year, over $1 trillion is paid in bribes with devastating consequences

LOSING EMAILS

DOCTORING REPORTS

DESTROYING EVIDENCE

OBSTRUCTING OVERSIGHT

EXCLUDING INFO FROM WAR CASUALTY COUNTS

USING POWER TO ADVANCE PERSONAL INTERESTS

USING INFLUENCE TO DESTROY POLITICAL OPPONENTS

Sound familiar?

The pot loves to call the kettle black but lets be real...
Corruption isn't just a “third world” phenomenon.
Deceit is deceipt, any way you dress it up.
In a boubou or a three piece suit,
smoking the finest cigar or sipping spiced coffee...

Lying, cheating and trickery are sins in any religion
Crime is crime whether its blue collar or white collar.
Before "the civilised world" goes making the world "safe for democracy" perhaps they ought to clean up their own back yard.

What efforts are being made to break the American“Culture Of Corruption”?

guns

2007-04-21T05:55:00.000-07:00

When a terribly disturbed young man was taking 32 lives in the US, what do you think was happening in Japan, where “regulations on handgun ownership are among the tightest in the world”?

What about that saying: Guns don’t kill, People do

We can talk about gun control, but what about looking at the people with histories of antisocial behaviour? What about looking at the cause of the behaviour?

In Richmond..

A moment of silence

Here in Malaysia, one of the TV networks ran an sms poll asking viewers whether they think the US gun culture played a major role in what became the Virginia Tech tragedy.

I thought to myself, ‘what does the average Malaysian really know about US gun culture, except what they see in the media, from films to news to songs on the radio.?

For that matter, what do I know about it.’ I’m from the suburbs, had a pretty sheltered childhood. I lived in NYC for fifteen years and by the grace of God, I rarely came into contact with this “gun culture”.

So, it’s time I read up on it. Then, perhaps I’ll post on the subject again. I’d feel better about it once I’ve educated myself on the subject. Then again, all over the net everyone is already talking about it. Maybe the talk needs to move from the net to the courthouse…

In Washington D.C.

Pro-Gun Bills Marching Through Texas Legislature!

But

Meanwhile in Houston…

By the way, Malaysians think US gun culture is to blame for the violence that occurred in Virginia this week.

Like I said, I’m ignorant about the US gun culture that the world is glaring at lately, but from what I can see it seems that preventing the violence does not simply boil down to one simple solution. It is one that is complex. What is simple to see is that something needs to be done without further delay. It seems as if you’re not safe at the post office, at school, or at work.

As always, your comments are greatly appreciated.

Don't do what I do, Do what I say

2007-02-26T13:41:00.000-08:00

What do you call someone who tries to frighten people or governments into doing what he/she wants by using or threatening violence?

a terrorist

What do you call someone who provides financial support for terrorist activities?...Is it a crime?

"When the Bush administration shut down the nation's largest Muslim charity five years ago, officials of the Dallas-based foundation denied allegations it was linked to terrorists and insisted that a number of accusations were fabricated by the government.

Now, attorneys for the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development say the government's own documents provide evidence of that claim. "

(Los Angeles Times)

In fact, the US government is funding terrorists in Iran. Why? This is one way they have chosen to "persuade" the Iranian government to give up its nuclear programme. This is interesting. The UN says that US claims about Iran's nuclear programme are "unreliable". Sounds kind of like the alleged weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. But lets just say we really could trust the US in its claims about Iran's nuclear programme. Let's just say we could trust the US government every time it tells us that someone poses a threat to us that warrants an act of terrorism sponsored by US taxpayers. Do you believe this is the first time the American government has funded such activity, not just in Iran, but in the Americas and all over the world?

(At the same time the US government uses Iranian weapons to stir up trouble in Iraq)

Does that mean that there are times when terrorism is acceptable behaviour and perhaps necessary? Is it acceptable when a government is condoning the terror?

Terrorism has certainly existed for a long time and been perpetrated by all kinds of people in all kinds of places. But when exactly is it OK to be a terrorist?

Keeping Up With T

2007-02-25T14:22:00.000-08:00

Wow, I'd almost forgotten about one of the main purposes of this blog. It's about time I posted a bit about what's going on over here.

I'm still in KL
(Kuala Lumpur.....that's in Malaysia....you know, in Southeast Asia.....ok, see map below)

(sorry about the clarity of this map....maybe if you click on it it will be clearer....)

My British Council contract ends in four weeks and I'm counting down the days. My heart's grown weary of that gig and looking forward to something new (tell ya bout that later, inshallah).

ok, this is a really weak post but just thought i'd throw it in real quick.
It's not like yall check in every day anyhow!

Luv u just the same

"A time comes when silence is betrayal."

2007-02-25T13:52:00.000-08:00

Back home, Black History month is almost over (shortest month of the year). So it's fitting for me to post a bit of Black History which is truly: World History.

Every year, almost like clockwork, Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech gets airplay. The charismatic orator is frozen on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in August 1963. No doubt it was a great presentation, deeply moving and full of dazzling poetry and inspiring images. But it was not his most important speech, nor was it his most courageous one. That was to come on April 4, 1967 in Riverside Church in New York. There King demonstrated his political maturity and understanding of how the system works. He moved beyond a simple race analysis to include class and foreign policy issues. He forcefully denounced the war in Vietnam. He called the US "the greatest purveyor of violence in the world" and he deplored the "giant triplets of racism, extreme materialism and militarism." Exactly one year later King was assassinated in Memphis. In his "Beyond Vietnam" speech delivered at New York's Riverside Church on April 4, 1967 -- a year to the day before he was murdered -- King called the United States "the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today."

The abstract and photo above were found at Alternative Radio

Were you alive when he made that speech?
The folks at Global Research bring you the speech in text and audio format so you can see that the "madness" hasn't ceased.

Then there's the YouTube video...

No News is Bad News

2007-02-16T07:56:00.000-08:00

Study: U.S. Media overlooked major humanitarian stories in 2006

By Haider Rizvi
Last year millions of people in many countries lost their lives as a result of wars, violence, disease and hunger, yet the major television networks in the United States did not tell their stories to the U.S. public, a new study on media coverage notes. click here to read more

Ostrich Removes Head From Sand

2007-02-07T10:37:00.000-08:00

When I was a kid I didn’t like boxing. Boxing was that annoyance that sporadically interrupted my weekend TV time. Whenever there was a big match, my Dad and an otherwise forgotten neighbor suddenly became buddies and sent me on my way as they set up their snacks and chairs for at least 120 minutes of pugilistic performances. I didn’t like boxing at all. That is, until I met a boxer when I was in my late teens. Suddenly it was real and I developed an interest in it an even an appreciation for it.
Until recently I’d been like an ostrich with his head buried in the sand when it came to following the news. I got so sick of hearing nothing but bad news. Furthermore I didn’t have time to weed through the pages of celebrity gossip and other useless data. When it came to the American media, I agreed with Dr. Goodword and still do agree with him today when he says:
"... very few people in the US media are even familiar with the issues (where familiar means having read several books and dozens of articles on the subject). The result has been a rush to yellow journalism, unearthing scandals, embarrassing public officials for no ostensible reason.
The problem is that with 24-hour news and competition from every side, there simply aren’t enough scandals to fill the time and pages. So the media flog a long since dead horse and derive from the exercise nothing more than insipid vapors portrayed as news. In doing so, the media become less and less relevant.
An interesting bit of support for this last claim can be seen in the growth of the number of feature documentaries. I can remember when documentaries were considered boring films shown only in schools. Now, documentaries like “An Inconvenient Truth”, “The Corporation”, “Who Killed the Electric Car?”—to mention a few I’ve recently viewed—are receiving feature runs in commercial theaters. Why are they so popular all of a sudden? Because they bring us the news while CNN, ABC, CBS, and NBC race to see which can dredge up the most inane event of the day.”

Years ago I decided that I would rather be uninformed if being informed meant knowing who was having who’s baby. I also got tired of hearing about people who were less fortunate than me because they come from a country with an affinity for infighting and corruption (as if there is no corruption in the US and Rodney King and everybody are just “getting along” fine). I just couldn’t be bothered. Tell me the weather forecast and I was done. I just couldn’t be bothered.

Then, I met a journalist. I immediately developed a different perspective of the media. Suddenly it was real and I developed an interest in it and even an appreciation for it. I’m allowing a regular stream of “news” into my life now. But don’t get me wrong. I don’t’ believe everything I read, and I still have to weed through the junk. I read news now, but I tread far beyond the rags financed by American conglomerates. I try to expose myself to a broader spectrum of propaganda. Oops! Did I say propaganda? I meant “news” of course. Like the New York Times slogan says "All the News That’s Fit to Print."

I’m still living in the climate that turned me into that ostrich, but just as meeting that boxer 20 years ago made boxing worth a look, meeting my new friend, the TV station editor, has made journalism somehow more humane to me. Today, I try to read a bit every day, but I don’t fool myself into following the news blindly. Deep down I know that as wonderful as journalists may be…with all their good intentions, and the sacrifices many of them make, some paying with their lives, in the end, there is still a limit to how much control they have over the final outcome. They may have every desire to bring a great story to the screen, or the page, one that reaches out to the people and enlightens them, but in the end we can’t be sure we’ve got the real story.
Isn’t that right Mr. Editor?

What's STILL Goin On?

2007-01-27T08:31:00.001-08:00

One Man's Garbage is ...

2007-01-25T15:19:00.000-08:00

Last night in class, the teacher encouraged us to start keeping a dream journal. I wasn't rushing out to buy a new book because I just haven't been remembering any of my dreams lately. It's strange. It seems it has been that way for maybe a year. Then, this morning I woke up and said to myself "hey, I just had a dream and I actually remember it!". I quickly opened a page in MS Word and jotted down whatever I could recall in bullet form. The focus of the dream seemed to be my cousin Charles. Soon after, while sifting through various news stories I came across one that made me smile. It's subject was a man named Charles.

It's actually an old story, but I think it's worth telling again. Did you hear about the homeless man who found savings bonds while sifting through trash?...

A homeless Detroit man who returned $20,738.88 in savings bonds he found in a dumpster to their rightful owner has been rewarded with cash and a job.

Charles Moore, who found the bonds while sifting through clothing in a dumpster outside a local church, was given $100 by the family of Ernest Lehto, who bought the bonds in the 1980's, The Detroit News reported.

But the rewards did not stop there. Two suburban businessmen, inspired by Moore's actions, awarded the man $1,200 for his honesty and found him a job, WXYZ-TV, Detroit, reported Tuesday.

The 31 savings bonds, with a total face value of $8,900, had matured to $20,738.88 after being purchased for $4,450 about 20 years ago, the Detroit News reported.

The lesson of it all is; best policy is honesty and honesty pays off, Moore said.

(UPI)

Mr. Moore was nominated for Beliefnet's Most Inspiring Person of the Year 2006. To read about other nominees and the winner (The Amish community of Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania) check out the writeup at the Beliefnet website, but PLEASE avoid the temptation to get a live psychic reading! Instead, put your trust in our creator and know that he has the best in store for you. Like Moore did at the moment he decided to return the bonds, live your life knowing that the creator is always watching and will reward you for your actions and even your thoughts, if not in this life, in the hereafter. :-)

p.s. Charles isn't homeless anymore

Yes! but What about...

2007-01-25T07:12:00.000-08:00

"And so, at last and at least, the words come. The evidence is now so thuddingly inescapable that even George W. Bush - a man who, when pricked, bleeds oil - has acknowledged the serious challenge of global climate change."

Johann Hari, Independent Online News

He did it!
He actually attempted to show some concern about the environment in his State of the Union address. That's great, but...

What about the mounting trade deficit?
What about what the fact that there doesn't seem to be much support for his plans in Iraq.
O.K., I don't expect him to care about what's happening overseas but what about what is happening (and failing to happen) at home?

What about issues like HEALTH CARE, EDUCATION, EMPLOYMENT and RETIREMENT INSECURITY... From what I understand he didn't even address these concerns.

He has mentioned them in previous addresses, but have these problems disappeared, or does he just want us to forget them?

When I read over some statistics that show the gap between what Bush has projected in previous addresses and today's reality, I laughed out loud to keep from crying inside. Are you aware of the numbers? If not, please check out the Campaign For America's Future website. Be sure to share this information with others, especially those who believe that the US is "doing just fine."

"Last night's State of the Union address revealed that the state of this president is still delusional."

Robert Borosage, The Huffington Post

Hot Numbers part 2

2007-01-22T16:00:00.000-08:00

Let’s see, where was I?....Oh yes, our lovely environment:

According to the executive director of the Sierra Club, "Everywhere but the White House, America has stopped debating whether global warming is real and started taking significant steps to meet this mounting threat."

Alhamdulillah (Hallelujah) It's great to see that "the people" are not waiting for “their government” to develop an action plan. All across the US, there are cities that have made a commitment to address global warming by signing the U.S. Mayor’s Climate Protection Agreement. Is your city one of the cities working to implement better energy solutions?

Even though I'm from the suburbs, I did make New York City my home for almost two decades so I was happy to read that my "second hometown" was one of the first major cities to sign on to the Mayor’s Climate Protection Agreement. NYC pioneered green city laws and energy efficiency programs. The City has one of the largest fleets of hybrid vehicles in service. The City introduced hybrid taxis that cut emissions and save cabbies money.

Why don't you check out what's happening in some other "cool US cities"?

Here in Malaysia, the oil reserves are scheduled to die out in ten years. In fact Malaysia may become an oil importer by 2009. A good thing is that there are significant gas reserves here. Already, public transport (taxis and buses) run on natural gas. Compared to petrol, natural gas is much better for the environment and cheaper. ("Petrol" is the UK English word for "gasoline". I've been here so long that my English leans towards British English sometimes.)

I've ventured out of Kuala Lumpur & Shah Alam only once to ride up to Kedah with my friend. As we drove up to this northern state, I saw more palm trees in one day than I will probably ever see for the rest of my life. I couldn’t help but wonder what benefits come from all those trees.

Did you know that palm oil is the second most produced oil in the world? Malaysia is the world’s leading producer. And what does this have to do with my post about the environment? Well, biodiesel fuel made from palm oil is an environmentally- friendly, renewable energy source.

So after all those hot numbers, there is some hope, in the US and in the world. I suppose it’s time we all took a look at what is happening, in the world, in our country, in our city, in our own homes. What responsibility are we ourselves taking for the environment? What CAN we do?

There is an organization in New York that finds and helps people to use innovative, practical ways to solve the most urgent environmental problems. I hope you’ll bookmark their website and other sites like it, then try to keep abreast of this topic. I hope you’ll try to find a way to do your part and to inform your friends and family so that they can do their part.

After all, don’t we owe it to our creator to take care of this place we call home?

HOT NUMBERS, and yet there is HOPE

2007-01-19T14:56:00.000-08:00

When I was a kid, Christmas was always white with snow. How about now? Even though I'm "on the other side of the world" (as my dad called it when I told him I was moving to Southeast Asia) I still check the forecast for New York every day.

I think yesterday was the first time this winter that I saw a temperature that would allow a snowflake to form. Am I right? I mean, maybe I missed a day but i know the numbers have been high.

Here are a few "hot numbers"
for your information*

Rank of 2006 as hottest year on record in the continental United States.

Rank of THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA as top global warming polluter in the world.

Percent increase of America's carbon dioxide emissions from the burning of fossil fuels since 1990.

Percent increase of America's carbon dioxide emissions forecasted by 2020 if we do not cap pollution.

Percent decrease in U.S. global warming pollution required by 2050 to prevent the worst consequences of global warming.

Number of days by which the US fire season has increased over the past 20 years - tied closely to increased temperatures and earlier snowmelt.

Number of people around the world who could be displaced by more intense droughts, sea level rise and flooding by 2080.

Number of U.S. mayors (representing 55 million Americans) who have signed the U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement pledging to meet or beat Kyoto goals in their communities.

Number of federal bills passed to cap America's global warming pollution.

Number of times GEORGE B. has mentioned "global warming" or "climate change" in his previous State of the Union speeches.

After stats like those, I got to wondering what it would take for states other than California to see the signs and take action. I started reading a bit and found that the wake up calls are being heard after all. I'd like to share my findings with you but Yusuf just woke up and duty calls!

this post is To Be Continued tomorrow, inshallah (God willing)

*Sources: The U.S. National Climatic Data Center, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, Environmental Protection Agency, the Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change, Science, U.S. Mayors Climate Protection Agreement.

The U.K. Is Repossessing The U.S.A.

2007-01-18T02:01:00.000-08:00

Did you hear? The U.K. Is Repossessing The U.S.A.

I am not sure where this comes from, but i really got a kick out of it. I received it from one of my British colleagues the other day. Enjoy...

A Message from John Cleese to the citizens of the United States of America:

In light of your failure to elect a competent President of the USA and thus to govern yourselves, we hereby give notice of the revocation of your independence, effective immediately.

Her Sovereign Majesty Queen Elizabeth II will resume monarchical duties over all states, commonwealths, and territories(excepting Kansas , which she does not fancy).

Your new prime minister, Tony Blair, will appoint a governor for America without the need for further elections.

Congress and the Senate will be disbanded.

A questionnaire may be circulated next year to determine whether any of you noticed.

To aid in the transition to a British Crown Dependency, the following rules are introduced with immediate effect:

You should look up "revocation" in the Oxford English Dictionary)

1. Then look up aluminium, and check the pronunciation guide. You will be Amazed at just how wrongly you have been pronouncing it.

2. The letter 'U' will be reinstated in words such as 'favour' and ‘neighbour.' Likewise, you will learn to spell 'doughnut' without skipping half the letters and the suffix -ize will be replaced by the suffix -ise.

Generally, you will be expected to raise your vocabulary to acceptable levels (look up 'vocabulary').

3. Using the same twenty-seven words interspersed with filler noises such as "like" and "you know" is an unacceptable and inefficient form of communication.

There is no such thing as US English. We will let Microsoft know on your behalf.

The Microsoft spell-checker will be adjusted to take account of the reinstated letter 'u' and the elimination of -ize.

You will relearn your original national anthem, God Save The Queen.

4. July 4th will no longer be celebrated as a holiday.

5. You will learn to resolve personal issues without using guns,
lawyers, or therapists. The fact that you need so many lawyers and therapists shows that you're not adult enough to be independent.

6. Guns should only be handled by adults. If you're not adult enough to sort things out without suing someone or speaking to a therapist then you're not grown up enough to handle a gun. Therefore, you will no longer be allowed to own or carry anything more dangerous than a vegetable peeler.

A permit will be required if you wish to carry a vegetable peeler in public.

7. All American cars are hereby banned. They are crap and this is for your own good. When we show you German cars, you will understand what we mean.

8. All intersections will be replaced with roundabouts, and you will start driving on the left with immediate effect.

At the same time, you will go metric with immediate effect and without the benefit of conversion Tables.

Both roundabouts and metrication will help you understand the British sense of humour.

9. The Former USA will adopt UK prices on petrol (which you have been calling gasoline) -- roughly $6/US gallon. Get used to it.

10. You will learn to make real chips. Those things you call French fries are not real chips, and those things you insist on calling potato chips are properly called crisps. Real chips are thick cut, fried in animal fat, and dressed not with catsup but with vinegar.

11. The cold tasteless stuff you insist on calling beer is not actually beer at all. Henceforth, only proper British Bitter will be referred to as Beer, and European brews of known and accepted provenance will be referred to as Lager. American brands will be referred to as Near-Frozen Gnat's Urine, so that all can be sold without risk of further confusion.

12. Hollywood will be required occasionally to cast English actors as good guys. Hollywood will also be required to cast English actors to play English characters.

Watching Andie Macdowell attempt English dialogue in Four Weddings and a Funeral was an experience akin to having one's ears removed with a cheese grater.

13. You will cease playing American football. There is only one kind of proper football; you call it soccer. Those of you brave enough will, in time, be allowed to play rugby (which has some similarities to American Football, but does not involve stopping for a rest every twenty seconds or wearing full kevlar body
Armour like a bunch of nancies).

14. Further, you will stop playing baseball. It is not reasonable to host an event called the World Series for a game which is not played outside of America . Since only 2.1% of you are aware that there is a world beyond your borders, your error is understandable.

15. You must tell us who killed JFK. It's been driving us mad.

16. An internal revenue agent (i.e. Tax collector) from Her Majesty's Government will be with you shortly to ensure the acquisition of all monies due (backdated to 1776).

17. Daily Tea Time begins promptly at 4 pm with proper cups, never mugs, with high quality biscuits (cookies) and cakes; strawberries in season.

John Cleese

Officer Streeter Reporting for Duty!

2007-01-12T14:11:00.000-08:00

Wow, haven't posted since my birthday?
Well, I've been busy as usual; the kids, teaching, homework (for creative writing course)
But that doesn't mean I haven't had you in my thoughts.
That was especially the case when I got a real blast from the past yesterday!
Opened my inbox to find a very dear old friend there.
Well he is more than a friend. He's my cousin.
He probably won't ever see this post because he's "not really a computer person".
But then again, he laughed out loud in his email to me (using "LOL")
wonder where he learned that!

Just glad to hear from him and want to congratulate him on his new job as a bridge and tunnel officer!

Did you know?...

Part 1022 of the Rules and Regulations Governing the Use of the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority Facilities prohibits certain types of vehicles, such as:

Vehicles with flat, solid, or metal tires
Bicycles, but they may be walked across the Cross Bay Veterans Memorial Bridge, the Marine Parkway-Gil Hodges Memorial Bridge, and the Triborough Bridge on sidewalks (This requirement is often unpopular among bicyclists, especially on the Triborough Bridge with long spans.)
Mopeds
Horses and horse-drawn vehicles

The Henry Hudson Bridge also prohibits commercial traffic.

From the description I read of the job, it's sounds like pretty honorable work, Cuz. I'm proud of you :-)(click here for a look at Sungai Besi toll plaza, the largest expressway toll plaza in Malaysia)

gotta get ready for work now, Thanks for stopping by!

p.s. yesterday was Hafizah's 9th birthday. If you want to send her a smile, you can reach her at fizakouyate at yahoo. She'd love to hear from you.

Happy Birthday to Me!

2007-01-03T04:49:00.000-08:00

Over four decades ago my parents packed up their belongings and grabbed my brothers and left the Bronx for good. They moved into a house about 15 minutes away. There wasn't a picket fence, but they did have a dog. After a short time in their new suburban home God saw fit to give them a bouncing baby girl. A formally welcome canine border soon got his walking papers. (Sorry Rex, we didn't have anything against german shephards but Mommy gave Daddy an ultimatum. It's only right he'd choose me over you.)

Now, 41 years later and many miles away, I sit and think about how I will spend my 41st birthday. It's the first day back to work after a greatly appreciated break. I have to teach in the morning. No problem working on my birthday, gotta pay the rent, right? It's only a three hour class.

Yes, that would have been fine but I just got a call to cover an afternoon class and in my usual style, I gave in. (Ugh!) So, there goes my day. But, there is a bright side to my day. It will show itself after sundown. You'll never guess what it is...

Everytime a taxi driver asks me if I'm a student, (they assume all "young" expats are students) I respond , "I wish I could stop teaching and become a student."

For my birthday, I'll get my wish!

After a long day of teaching, I'm going to attend the first lesson of a creative writing course . I'm going to give up standing in front of the class for once and take a seat and enjoy myself.

The only problem I have now is deciding what kind of cake to bring to class!

A Season for Giving

2007-01-01T14:47:00.000-08:00

"The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others."
Author:Gandhi

X-mas Reflections –Part 2

2006-12-24T18:22:00.000-08:00

Back home, it's Christmas eve.

Here in Malaysia, it's Monday morning but not a normal Monday morning.

It's a national holiday.
For me, it's just another day.
I normally don't work on Mondays.

No, I don’t celebrate it anymore and I don’t have the same jaded view of it that I had as a child. I once read in a bible that we should not copy the pagans by going into the forest and chopping down a tree then decorating it with gold and silver…I believe I read this in Leviticus. I can't tell you which version of the Bible I read it in. (I wonder how many versions there are) Nothing in the bible says to celebrate his birth. He never told his disciples to celebrate his birthday. There are many Christians who don’t even celebrate Christmas so I don’t see it as a religious holiday.

Maybe some would say I think this because I am not a Christian and I am somehow confused, however, there is no conflict inside me about it. Muslims love the prophet Jesus , peace be upon him. Because most of my family and colleagues/friends celebrate Christmas, it does find its way into my life and I can't escape it. I live in a Muslim majority country but there is a tree bigger than the one in Rockefeller center in the KLCC Suria mall at Petronas Towers. I rush past it (I find malls gaudy anytime of year). Then when I reach my destination, I don't wish people merry christmas, and I find it comical that people wish it to me knowing that I am a Muslim. I look at this day without any spiritual confusion. The reality is that there are many faiths in this world and we are all sharing this earth. I like to focus on what we have in common.

It’s all peaceful for me. You see, I believe that when many people celebrate Christmas, it’s not about any particular holy scripture, or believing that God was born on December 25^th. For many people Christmas is about focusing on the love and peace Jesus (peace be upon him) taught us to have and show others. For them it’s about giving gifts to make others smile from the inside out. For them it’s about receiving something special from that special someone. It’s about sharing time together and having a delicious meal, and looking back on the year that has passed and looking forward to the year ahead.

So, enough lumps of coal. Let me close with a few quotes that I hope will calm whatever rumbles I may have stirred in you above.

"I sometimes think we expect too much of Christmas Day. We try to crowd into it the long arrears of kindliness and humanity of the whole year. As for me, I like to take my Christmas a little at a time, all through the year. And thus I drift along into the holidays, let them overtake me unexpectedly, waking up some fine morning and suddenly saying to myself: 'Why this is Christmas Day!"

Ray Stannard Baker

"I do come home at Christmas. We all do, or we all should. We all come home, or ought to come home, for a short holiday -- the longer, the better -- from the great boarding school where we are forever working at our arithmetical slates, to take, and give a rest."

Charles Dickens

"Christmas! The very word brings joy to our hearts. No matter how we may dread the rush, the long Christmas lists for gifts and cards to be bought and given, when Christmas Day comes there is still the same warm feeling we had as children, the same warmth that enfolds our hearts and our homes."

Joan Winmill Brown

"Time was with most of us, when Christmas Day, encircling all our limited world like a magic ring, left nothing out for us to miss or seek; bound together all our home enjoyments, affections, and hopes; grouped everything and everyone round the Christmas fire, and make the little picture shining in our bright young eyes, complete."

Charles Dickens

"It is Christmas in the heart that puts Christmas in the air."

W. T. Ellis

Wishing you all, the best of health
and true spiritual enlightenment in the coming year.

X-mas Reflections –Part 1

2006-12-24T13:40:00.000-08:00

warning: this is not going to be a sappy X-mas blog entry. I’ve inserted a few lumps of coal amidst the poinsettas.

When I was a kid I thought Christmas was about celebrating the birthday of Jesus Christ.

Now that I’m a forty year old who has been Muslim for about 15 years, I don’t quite see it that way. For one thing, I know that scholars (Christian ones included) don’t know the actual date that our prophet Jesus (peace be upon him) was born. So, to call it a celebration of the anniversay of his birth wouldn’t be accurate, but it is a time when people remember his birth and celebrate his character and teachings. For some it’s religious, for others its commercial and for others it’s a combination.

I warned you. Here’s one of the lumps of coal. It appeals to the Marketing major in me.

“From a commercial point of view, if Christmas did not exist it would be necessary to invent it.”

Katharine Whitehorn, Roundabout

For me, Chritsmas is a part of my past that I enjoy sharing with others because it gives me a chance to reminisce about a time when my family was shaped a bit differently and held together more tightly…..or so it seemed to a naïve little girl…..

A friend asked me yesterday, “Do you miss (celebrating) Christmas?”

My reply: No, I don’t’ miss celebrating it at all, but I do have the fondest memories of it.

What kid feels like helping to clean up a dusty old three story house? Well, knowing that it was to welcome Christmas made it easier. Somehow the dusting and washing and vacuuming and sweeping (and sometimes shoveling) seemed less like a chore at Christmas time.

“Once again we find ourselves enmeshed in the Holiday Season, that very special time of year when we join with our loved ones in sharing centuries-old traditions such as trying to find a parking space at the mall. We traditionally do this in my family by driving around the parking lot until we see a shopper emerge from the mall, then we follow her, in very much the same spirit as the Three Wise Men, who 2,000 years ago followed a star, week after week, until it led them to a parking space.”

Dave Barry

It was fun when my parents gave us what seemed like a whole lot of money and sent us to the mall to buy gifts for our relatives. Christmas was celebrated with my maternal relatives and there were sure enough of them. God blessed Willie and Nicie with 12 kids and by the time I was born that meant spending Christmas with about ten uncles and aunts and their children. I really loved the way our house was packed with relatives.

"Oh look, yet another Christmas TV special! How touching to have the meaning of Christmas brought to us by cola, fast food, and beer... Who'd have ever guessed that product consumption, popular entertainment, and spirituality would mix so harmoniously?"

Bill Watterson, Calvin & Hobbes

Need I talk about the food? Let’s see, if I was serving myself now my plate would be filled with some sweet potatoes, turkey (dark meat), stuffing, collard greens, a bit of cranberry sauce…..and for dessert it would be a tough decision….that white cake with the melt in your mouth chocolate icing (God Bless Aunt Lene) some coconut cake (God Bless Aunt Lene some more) or how about the sweet potatoe pie…..I don’t’ know, best thing is to eat some now, have some more tomorrow, maybe freeze some.

Christmas cheer, yes I remember that wonderful feeling, but there’s always a scrooge somewhere…

"Bah Humbug! Out upon merry Christmas! What's Christmas time to you but a time for paying bills without money; a time for finding yourself a year older, but not an hour richer...? If I could work my will," said Scrooge indignantly, "every idiot who goes about with 'Merry Christmas' upon his lips should be boiled with his won pudding, and buried with a stake of holly through his heart. He should!"

Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol

Oh don’t be such a scrooge, Scrooge!

It was fun “playing Santa”. We had this family ritual where two children would distribute gifts by announcing the recipient and giver, then making our way through the crowd of relatives to deliver it. The recipient would then open the package and react accordingly. People often exclaimed “oh, just what I wanted!” Next, the recipient had to stand up and show the gift to everyone announcing who it was from.

It is said that one year, a certain “stone faced boy” held up his gift and said

“hmm….just what I didn’t want!”

LOL! ( I love you “Stone Face”)

It's X-mas day here but still X-mas eve back home in New York. I guess I'll give Mommy and Daddy a call.

More reflections tomorrow, God willing.

Death and Taxes

2006-12-20T16:45:00.000-08:00

Well, death is sure to come.
Taxes...
I used to think there was no way around them.
They were just a fact of life to me.
Now that I'm abroad I don't think much about US income tax.
Then one day I came across an intersting fact.

The Supreme Court ruled that our government has no       authority to impose a direct unapportioned tax on the labor of       the American people.

(when i read that i thought about all the money I have paid in taxes over the years...)

You don't believe me? You think I'm crazy? I didn't make it all up. Take a few minutes to view this video...

When Palm Trees + Petronas Towers = Paradise

2006-12-19T02:45:00.000-08:00

We're on a term break and most of the teachers have left town to celebrate the holidays back in the UK or elsewhere. I don't have any travel plans so I'm doing three days of placement testing this week. (Students take a written test followed by a short verbal test with a teacher, in order to confirm the validity of their written test score).

I usually start off with:
"Hi, My name is _ _ _ _ _, what's your name?"
(I could look at their test paper to get their name but the point is to get them to talk, and check their listening ability).

Then I sometimes say:

"I'm from the United States, where are you from?"
Again, I could see it on the test paper. I only ask this question when the person is not Malaysian. Sometimes they are from a place where the US is busy sticking its nose, you know..... a place that's got oil or some other interesting resource. If they are from a place where the US military is "busy" the person and I often laugh out loud with eachother. We realise that we are suppose to be enemies yet we are sitting there helping each other, ignoring whatever is going on back home.

If the person is not Malaysian I then ask:

"How long have you been in Malaysia?"

That tense may be a bit confusing for a beginner.

If I get a blank stare, I use hand motions and change my question to:
"When did you arrive in Malaysia?"
People usually answer anything from 3 days to 6 months.

Naturally I then ask:
"What do you think of Malaysia?"
The Koreans and the Iranians always answer:
"It's very hot!"
In general people say that "it's very beautiful here" and "the people are very kind"

Today, I was on my own for the afternoon testing. I had 17 people to assess. There was a cute little girl sitting waiting for her dad to finish his exam. I almost forgot she was there because she was so quiet. When I got near the end of testing, a very handsome man with a wonderful smile on his face, came to the table and sat down. (It was his cute little girl waiting). He sat down and handed me his paper. Right away the letters "I" "R" "A" "Q" bounced off his test page. I introduced myself as usual and immediately asked how long he'd been in Malaysia. He had arrived quite recently.

I then asked what he thought of Malaysia.
He looked me straight in the eye and said...
"Well, the difference between here and the place that I come from is like the difference between heaven and hell."

At that moment...I felt there was not much more I wanted to ask.

There was a moment of silence that felt more like a few minutes. I thought of those brothers in Tayaran square. Unlike some men who sit around waiting for a job to find them, these guys were out looking for work, only to have someone lure them over to their vehicle with hope, and then massacre them. Here this man sat in front of me and I never asked myself if he was Sunni or Shia or even Muslim at all. I looked at him and saw a man, a father, a human being. I looked at him and saw someone so grateful to be alive.

I've said to myself that if I wake up one day and don't think the palm trees are beautiful and exotic anymore, it means I've been here to long. Every day I pass them I think to myself: wow, this place is beautiful. What a blessing it is to be here. What a blessing it is to have my job, to have a few good friends to have my kids, to have our health.

I asked this man, "how long do you plan to stay here?"

Again he looked me straight in the eye.

He responded with a very serious look on his face, "Forever".

2 Minutes of Fame - Revisited

2006-12-14T08:20:00.000-08:00

When it was being aired at a lunchtime staff meeting I practically hid under the table.

Sure, I wanted a copy of it to send to some special people in my life, but I had no real interest in watching it myself. I had no interest in reliving that corny comment I'd made about food being an expression of love. I had no interest in seeing that bright lip gloss I had let them paste on my routinely low-key lips.

Reezal passed me a copy at the office today and tonight, I finally got up the nerve to watch it.
Watch what? The recording of a television interview I participated in with some colleagues over a month ago.

I watched it with the kids. My eldest daughter (the one everyone insists looks just like me) couldn't watch the whole thing. She said it was to weird seeing Mommy on TV. The 13 and 9 year old watched eagerly and enjoyed it (or was it just another excuse to avoid bedtime...).
For me, well I liked the music at the beginning. I've always liked Latin percussion. Tom, he looked half his age. The camera didn't do Susanna or Mina justice. As for me....well, that wasn't me. I mean that's not the person I see staring back at me when I look in the mirror. That's not the person I hear addressing a class of 20 EFL students every day. Who was that woman masquerading as me, wearing my clothes and using my name?

Of course I recognised her. She did a really good impression of me. She probably teaches parts of my lessons when my mind is not where it should be. But really, that was not me on the screen. The person I saw sounded different somehow. It was her voice that gave her away. I'm not just talking about the tone of the voice. Of course while we are speaking it distorts the sound somewhat for us but when I looked at that recording, it was like I was watching some girl from New York, some girl who....

Yes, I'm from New York but it was some other girl, not me.

Really...really strange.

Have you had this experience to?

We can look at ourselves in the mirror every day. We recognise that person looking back at us.
We can hear ourselves talking to others. It's the same voice we always hear.
Yet, when we see and hear recordings of ourselves it's like we are meeting someone somehow different.

Why is that?