By Golly! How Can muslims accept lies after lies?Recently during the hari raya holidays or Eid Mubarak my cousin husband came with her family but what spews form his mouth upset me not so much was he rude which he wasn't but because he spew lies about Neil Armstrong. There is a Mental Blockade of the muslim ummah to identify the truth and not to glorify half truth. You need not grab straws or create unbelievable stories to shore your faith, it only shows your lack of faith in the religion. My Cousin's Husband is into tabligh, they go round the world sometimes to promote the religion that is to convert others to Islam. Fine, I have no problem with that but isn't it sad that these people could do that but others in malaysia are not allowed too. What about them brainwashing the Muslim to believe in fantasies or 'tahyul' isn't it againts the fatwa or religious edict spewed forth by the clergies regarding all the monster shows that at one time banned to be produce here in malaysia!

What made me so angry is his believe that Neil Armstrong is a Muslim, which now has been proven as false. He came to Malaysia 2002 and denied that he a Muslim yet this guy who came with the Jubah and beard and wearing a Muslim still could tell an outright lie! And my Mother think what he says is true, my God it irks me that let me tell him off and call him a liar! It startle my Mother and my Sister but lies must not be told and propegated in order to prolethesize your faith. I can't accept that. Here is an excerp of the denial by Neil Armstong for the readers perusal.

In the following some statements about this issue, authorized by Mr. Armstrong, to speak on his behalf.
NEIL A. ARMSTRONG
LEBANON, OHIO 45036

July 14,1983

Mr. Phil Parshall Director
Asian Research Center
International Christian
Fellowship 29524 Bobrich
Livonia, Michigan 48152

Dear Mr. Parshall:

Mr. Armstrong has asked me to reply to your letter and to thank you for the courtesy of your inquiry. The reports of his conversion to Islam and of hearing
the voice of Adzan on the moon and elsewhere are all untrue.

Several publications in Malaysia, Indonesia and other countries have published these reports without verification. We apologize for any inconvenience that this ncompetent journalism may have caused you.

Subsequently, Mr. Armstrong agreed to participate in a telephone interview, reiterating his reaction to these stories. I am enclosing copies of the United States
State Department's communications prior to and after that interview.

Sincerely

Vivian White
Administrative Aide



Comments: In our possession is a photocopy of this letter which is identical in text to the above, except that the street address and phone number of Mr. Armstrong contained in that copy are deleted. The above also shows where this idea came from, that Mr. Armstrong supposedly lives in Lebanon. Yes, Lebanon is true, yet this "Lebanon" is not in the Middle East, but in the Midwest of the United States of America.

A statement by the US State Department sent to all embassies and consulates in the Islamic world:

P 04085 0Z MAR 83 ZEX
FM SECSTATE WASHD C
TO ALL DIPLOMATIC AND CONSULAR POSTS PRIORITY
BI
UNCLAS STATE 056309

FOLLOWING REPEAT SENT ACTION ALL EAST ASIAN AND
PACIFIC DIPLOMATIC POSTS DID MAR 02.

QUOTE: UNCLAS STATE 056309
E.O. 12356: N/A
TAGS: PREL, PGOV, US, ID
SUBJECT: ALLEGED CONVERSION OF ENIL ARMSTRONG TO ISLAM
---------------------------------------------

REF: JAKARTA 3081 AND 2374 (NOT ..)

1. FORMER ASTRONAUT NEIL ARMSTRONG, NOW IN PRIVATE
BUSINESS, HAS BEEN THE SUBJECT OF PRESS REPORTS IN
EGYPT, MALAYSIA AND INDONESIA (AND PERHAPS ELSEWHERE)
ALLEGING HIS CONVERSION TO ISLAM DURING HIS LANDING ON
THE MOON IN 1969. AS A RESULT OF SUCH REPORTS,
ARMSTRONG HAS RECEIVED COMMUNICATIONS FROM INDIVIDUALS
AND RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATIONS, AND A FEELER FROM AT LEAST
ONE GOVERNMENT, ABOUT HIS POSSIBLE PARTICIPATION IN
ISLAMIC ACTIVITIES.

2. WHILE STRESSING HIS STRONG DESIRE NOT TO OFFEND
ANYONE OR SHOW DISRESPECT FOR ANY RELIGION, ARMSTRONG
HAS ADVISED DEPARTMENT THAT REPORTS OF HIS CONVERSION
TO ISLAM ARE INACCURATE.

3. IF POST RECEIVE QUERIES ON THIS MATTER, ARMSTRONG
REQUESTS THAT THEY POLITELY BUT FIRMLY INFORM QUERYING
PARTY THAT HE HAS NOT CONVERTED TO ISLAM AND HAS NO
CURRENT PLANS OR DESIRE TO TRAVEL OVERSEAS TO
PARTICIPATE IN ISLAMIC RELIGOUS ACTIVITIES.

Furthermore, the following letter to the editor was printed in the Journal Arabia, The Islamic World Review, Issue June 1985/Ramadan 1405, page 5:

A MUSLIM OVER THE MOON?

Arabia is by far the superior newsmagazine regarding what is going on in the Muslim world today. Your reporting is extremely thorough and seeks to be as objective as
possible. Your willingness to criticise political policies as well as religious happenings in the Muslim world is refreshing. As an American I would feel your slant on the West is basically fair. It would be most helpful if you would dispel a misconception prevalent in almost all Muslim countries. From Morocco to the
Philippines it is commonly believed that Neil Armstrong heard the Azan on the moon, converted to Islam and is now engaged in the full-time propagation of the Muslim faith.

The US State Department has issued a memo saying that the story about Armstrong's conversion was untrue. The memo said "While stressing his strong desire not to offend anyone or show disrespect for any religion, Armstrong has advised department that reports of his conversion to Islam are inaccurate." The memo further says, "if post receives queries on this matter, Armstrong requests that they politely but firmly inform querying party that he has not converted to Islam and has no current plans or desires to travel overseas to participate in Islamic religious activities."


N.B. The memo was sent to all our diplomatic and consular posts.

Dr Phil Parshall
Director, Asian Research Centre Manila, Philippines

Neil Alden ArmstrongAstronaut
Date of Birth:
August 5, 1930

Place of Birth:
Wapakoneta, Ohio
Joined NASA:
September 17, 1962
Left NASA:
1970
Space Flights:
2
Time in Space:
8.58 days
Number of EVAs:
2
Total EVA Time:
2.97 hours
MISSION ASSIGNMENTS
Gemini 5Assignment: Backup Crew and Capcom
Gemini 8Assignment: Prime CrewFlight Duration: 0.45 days
Gemini 9AAssignment: Capcom
Gemini 11Assignment: Backup Crew
Apollo 8Assignment: Backup Crew and Capcom
Apollo 11Assignment: Prime CrewFlight Duration: 8.14 days
HIGHLIGHTS
Armstrong attended Purdue University and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in aeronautical engineering in 1955. The Korean War interrupted his education when he went to fly 78 combat missions F9F-2 jet fighters. He was awarded the Air Medal and two Gold Stars. After the war he continued his education at the University of Southern California, where he earned a Master of Science Degree in aerospace engineering.
Joined the NACA (National Advisory Committee for Areonautics, later became NASA) in 1955. He transfered to the NACA's High Speed Flight Station at Edwards Air Force Base (now NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center) later that year. He served as a aeronautical research scientist and pilot.
As a research pilot Armstrong flew the F-100A and F-100C, the F-101, and the F-104A. Other planes he flew included the X-1B, X-5, F-105, F-106, B-47, KC-135, and Paresev. He had a total of over 2450 flying hours by the time he left Dryden.
Before it was cancelled Armstrong was a member of the USAF-NASA Dyna-Soar Pilot Consultant Group. He studied the X-20 Dyna-Soar approaches and abort maneuvers using F-102A and F5D aircraft.
Armstrong was a part of the X-15 program from the beginning and was involved in both the piloting and engineering aspects. He made seven flights in the X-15 rocket plane between December 1960 and July 1962. He reached the altitude of 207,500 feet and the speed of 3,989 (Mach 4).
After being selected in the second group of NASA astronauts in 1962, his first space flight was aboard Gemini 8 with Dave Scott. Gemini 8 conducted the first ever docking in space, but shortly afterwards the spacecraft began spinning out of control. Undocking from the Agena target only made the spinning worse and the spinning was nearing the point where the astronauts might pass out. Armstrong decided to shut down the reaction control thrusters and regain control using a second set of thrusters only intended for re-entry. This required that the mission be cut short and they splashed down in the contingency recovery zone in the western Pacific Ocean. It was Armstrongs actions that prevented his and Dave Scott's deaths... and ultimately resulted in Armstrong being named Commander of Apollo 11.
During the Apollo 11 mission Armstrong became the first human to ever set foot on the Moon. His first words were "That's one small step for man... one giant leap for mankind." He was joined shortly afterwards by Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin and together they spent over two hours on the lunar surface.
After the Moon landing, and the world tour that followed, Armstrong became the Deputy Associate Administrator for Aeronautics at NASA Headquarters. He left NASA in 1971 to become Professor of Engineering at the University of Cincinnati, a post he held until 1979.
He has been on the board of a number of corporations including Cardwell International Ltd. (1980-1982), Computing Technologies for Aviation Inc. (1982-1992), Eaton Corp. (1981-1999), and AIL Systems Inc.
From 1985 to 1986 Armstrong served on the National Commission on Space, a presidential committee to develop goals for a national space program into the 21st century. He was also Vice Chairman of the committee investigating the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster in 1986. During the early 1990s he hosted an aviation documentary series for television entitled First Flights.
Armstrong has been the recipient of numerous awards, including the Presidential Medal for Freedom and the Robert J. Collier Trophy in 1969; the Robert H. Goddard Memorial Trophy in 1970; the Congressional Space Medal of Honor in 1978; and many medals from other countries.

Picture of a Taiwanese Native Woman who is believe is from which the Malay Race descended from. Filipinoes Dancers and natives and not to forget the Maories all descended from the Malay Stock

Malay! What is a Malay according to Wikipedia A Malay is an ethnic group of a larger group of the Malay Race which is the Austronesian peoples. Hog wash! Why because Malays and malay race are the same! Sure when you talk about the Malay, 99% are muslim(according to Wikipedia) but when you talk about the malay race less than 30% are muslim! After all you are talking all of the Austronesian people that include the filipinoes and indonesians and not to forget the south islanders,( Maories, Hawaians etc).

Is there a conspiracy to say Malays are Muslims and never have been hindus or buddhist before! That is what happening here in Malaysia. My sister who is a teacher lament the fact that World History are no more taught in schools but a sanitised Islamic History is being drummed in the National School. No wonder the Chinese and Indians are shunning the National School and people talk about the polarisation of school and don't seem to know the reason, while the truth is they know but refuse to acknowledge!


The Malays and Muslim intellectuals must realise that we achieve our independence have nothing to do with Islam although the foundation of fairness that exist in Islam helps but it should not be connected with the faith and if you read the book Malay Dilemma by Tun you realise during the Japanese invasion certain so called enlightened Muslim told their congregation that it is the coming of the Armageddon! Blimey!!! How the Malays have forgotten that I do not understand I am for Malay rights but as long as it is justified. I understand the Malays plight, I emphatise with their sufferings but it must not be at the expense of other races! I am for positive discrimination but not wholesale. When Kennedy introduce affirmative policy for the blacks I applauded that in fact our new Economic Policy is base on this concept but even I understand too much "crutch" for the Malays is not good. They will not become competitive enough for the real world and what is done now here is creating a false idea of greatness and thus children now here in Malaysia do not posses the critical mind that is sorely needed to drive Malaysia foreward! I end here with a song sung by I think Mandy Patikin. It is a combination of two songs. Just look and listen!

The Hearse, the coffin the farewell,flypast and the Guard. The Big Building is the Istana ie Palace

HE FUNERAL
In 1959 the Sultan of Johore Sir Ibrahim died in London and his body was returned to Johore Bahru for a state funeral. The photographs below were my record of the days events.
The Sultans hearse is taken to the Istana Besar. Here is an excerpt of his death that appears in the papers in London

Shrubs in the Fairway
Monday, May. 18, 1959

In a hotel suite at London's Grosveno House last week, Sir Ibrahim, the 85-year old Sultan of Johore, died of "genera debility." He had passed his last years quietly, watching TV. going to the theater, enjoying the company of his sixth wife, Sultana Marcella, and his adored eight-year-old daughter, Princess Meriam. "He was very rich, very brave and very, very fond of Britain," said the Daily Express, with an imperial sigh for the good old days. Men on three continents traded reminiscences about the strapping Sultan's prowess in love, tiger hunting and polo, told of his great generosity, autocratic tantrums and noble eccentricities. Some of them:
¶ As a young man, the Sultan used to slip from his dull capital of Johore Bharu across the strait to Singapore, where his pursuit of wine, women and song was so uninhibited that annoyed British authorities established a 10 p.m. curfew for the young monarch's own good, and set a brace of policemen on his heels to enforce it. If a car had the temerity to pass him on a Johore highway, the Sultan would improve his marksmanship by shooting its rear tires.
¶ In 1930 the Sultan's catchable eye was caught by Helen Wilson, the Scottish wife of his physician. He divorced his four Malayan wives by the Moslem formula of telling them "Get out" three times before witnesses. Helen Wilson sailed home for the more laborious Western process of divorcing her husband, married the Sultan later that year, and honeymooned with him in the U.S., where the Sultan was equally affable with President Franklin Roosevelt and Mae West.
¶ In London for the 1937 coronation of King George VI, the Sultan's roving eye focused on a British show girl named Lydia Hill. Hurriedly muttering triple "Get outs" to Sultana Helen and giving her $250,000 in jewels and a yearly alimony of $25,000, the Sultan sailed for home with Lydia.When Singapore's British society behaved stuffily toward his show-girl fiancee, the Sultan struck back by firing all the Britons in his service and planting shrubs on the fairways and greens of the golf course used by the sahibs, which was on his property. But the romance faltered, and Lydia Hill, wearing a large diamond ring, returned to London and was killed in the blitz. "I am heartbroken," said the Sultan, who had followed her to Britain. A few days later he met reddish-blonde Rumanian Marcella Mendl and married her, explaining: "It was love at first sight."
¶ During the war, the Sultan gave $4,200,000 to the British war effort, did not lose heart even when the Japanese swept down through Johore and captured Singapore. With his wife he swore off liquor until the British reconquest. When Johore was "liberated" in 1945, the joyous Sultan cried out: "Now we can break our vow. Open the champagne!"

Despite his lively interest in women and wine, the Sultan brilliantly managed Johore, a jungle state the size of New Jersey with a population of nearly a million Malays, Indians and Chinese. When he took power in 1895 on the death of his father, the Sultan shifted the economy from opium and gambling to rubber. With other Malay states, Johore now produces one-third of the world's natural rubber. He angrily opposed self-rule for Malaya, outraged local nationalists by snapping: "It is all very well to clamor for independence, but where are your warships, your planes and your army to withstand aggression from the outside?"
The new Sultan of Johore is 64-year-old Ismail, whose mother was one of Sir Ibrahim's original four Malay wives. But Ismail can rule for only a few weeks in the semi-autocratic fashion of his dead father. Next month Johore will elect an Executive Council headed by a Prime Minister, and the Sultan will become a purely constitutional figurehead. The old days are gone, and the old ways are dying, but even the most nationalist opponents of the late, crotchety Sultan experienced a sense of loss. Said one: "He was Malaya's grand old man. His service to the Malay people will long be remembered."

The only white woman from scotland which has a stamp dedicated to her for her marriage to the Sultan.

Sultan Ibrahim in all his glory! Smashing Playboy isn't he?

Of all the Sultan that endears himself to me is Sultan Sir Ibrahim of Johore. He rules Johore after Sultan Sir Abu Bakar and in fact was the second Sultan that rule Johore from the Temenggong Line. His mother was half Chinese and half White and he inherit the features of a Caucasian and a true anglophile. He was among the richest Man in the world before the war and courted even Heddy Lamarr or Dorothy Lamour. A great sex machine his exploit is legendary and at the ripe old age of 70 he fathered a child with a romanian woman whom he married Princess Mariam and in the 70's Princess Mariam was a known celebrity. I do not know what happen to her but below is an excerpt from a newspaper in 1931 when he married a scotwoman

Scottish Sultana
Monday, Nov. 30, 1931

Vast Asia's southernmost tip is the Sultanate of Johore. Last week amid dazzling pomp a well-preserved Scotswoman of 41 was crowned Sultana of Johore. Highly pleased seemed her new husband, H. H. Sir Ibrahim, Sultan of Johore, 58, an earnest ruler who lists among his recreations "rubber planting."
Johore knows the new Scottish Sultana of old. Years ago she came out as the charming bride of Dr. William Wilson, who doctored the Sultan. Gradually the Sultan began to call Mrs. Wilson by her first name, Helen, and stage tiger hunts in her honor.
She reciprocated. The Sultan, to his vast delight, was made an Hon. Fellow of the Scottish Zoological Society. Finally Mrs. Wilson divorced Dr. Wilson and went back to Scotland. Fast followed the Sultan. In London last October they were married in Woking Mosque, were later received by King George & Queen Mary.
In Johore Bahru, capital of Johore, last week Sultana Helen appeared at her coronation in a Paris gown of shell-pink Venetian lace. Like Queen Mary's on state occasions, her bosom blazed with enormous diamonds. Her neck could not be seen beneath its ropes of pearls, and the diamond earrings of Dr. Wilson's former wife reached almost to her shoulders.
As the Coronation ritual proceeded Sultana Helen made her responses with a soft Scottish burr. At last, with the Lesser (female) Crown of Johore firmly planted on her Nordic head, she rode with swart Sultan Sir Ibrahim triumphantly around Johore Bahru, received the abject homage of its groveling, grinning populace.
Cooler than the nearby island of Singapore. Johore is just the realm for a Scottish Sultana. Officially the Sultan is "independent," but accepts a thumping yearly British subsidy and does as he is told. In greatest breadth Johore is only 100 mi., in greatest length 165 mi. Mostly covered with green forests, Johore supports an easy-going population of 337,000 who export rubber, import strong drink, including Scotch.

Major-General Sultan Sir Ibrahim Ibni Almarhum Sultan Sir Abu Bakar (1873- 1959). SULTAN Sir Ibrahim Ibni Almarhum Sultan Sir Abu Bakar, who ruled Johor for over 63 years, probably the longest reign in the country's history, was born in Istana Bidadari, Serangoon, Singapore on September 17, 1873.

Sultan Sir Ibrahim Sultan Sir Abu Bakar, the first Sultan to reign over his subjects for 63 years died at Grosvenor House, London on May 8, 1959 after a long illness.

What is the significant of sultan Ibrahim? He founded UMNO not to ask for independence but to safeguard his reign which has been curb by the British in 1946. He was suppose to be the first Agong but was upset that Malaya achieve independence that he spend the nex two years in London before meeting his maker. The Next in line was Sultan Sir Abu Bakar of Pahang but since the Sultan has eyes for woman too and just got married to Maira Menando a starlet the Majlis Raja-raja Melayu or the Malay ruler conference decided to ask the Negeri Sembilan to be the first Agong or King of Malaysia.

I am fascinated with Sultan Ibrahim and I will post pictures of this great malay libido when I can find where i put all the picture! By the way below is his divorce form the scotswoman as printed in the papers!

"Divorce!"
Monday, Apr. 11, 1938

To a Mohammedan potentate, divorce is scarcely any problem at all. Under Mohammedan law he can terminate his marriage simply by saying to his wife at three specified times within a period of four successive months: "Talak! Talak Talak!" ("Divorce! Divorce! Divorce!").
In Singapore last week the news came out that H. H. the Sultan Ibrahim of Johore, one of the wealthiest Mohammedan potentates and an international swankster who has presented $2,500,000 to His Britannic Majesty's Government as a contribution toward building the Singapore naval base (TIME, Feb. 21), has of late been saying "Talak!" Thus His Highness has ended one of the most notable marriages in the Mayfair set, and one which for seven years had given every promise of strengthening the already cordial relations between Johore and England.
His Highness came to the throne of Johore in 1895, is one of the few potentates of such undoubted bravery that it has been his custom to hunt tigers afoot—the usual way is from a howdah. Years ago His Highness was attracted by the Scottish wife of his youthful physician, Dr. William Wilson. She was 17 years his junior, the daughter of a comfortable Glasgow family.
In 1930 the Sultan, then 57, followed Mrs. Wilson, who had left Johore and obtained a divorce, to England, married her, and by Johore's influence was able to get her presented at Court to King George V and Queen Mary, averse in general to receiving a divorcée. Back in Johore, the Sultan & Sultana celebrated their coronation on Nov. 18, 1931 with maximum Oriental pomp. The jewels worn by Her Highness were worth over $250,000 by conservative estimate. The Sultana promised the high priests of Johore to adopt the faith and customs of this Malay state. In 1934 Their Highnesses made a round-the-world tour, were photographed with Mae West. Last spring they were in London for the Coronation, feted everywhere in Mayfair and received by the new King & Queen.
In Johore it was considered beneath the dignity of Sultan Ibrahim to announce last week why he had divorced Sultana Helen, automatically depriving her of her rank. His Highness has a son, Crown Prince Ismail Tunku Mahkota of Johore, by his previous Malay wife, and most of his native subjects were delighted to have seen the last of "the Scotswoman." A British civil marriage performed in London, where the Sultan also married Mrs. Wilson at a mosque, had not at latest reports been dissolved, in Johore has never been considered worth the paper it was written on.

said zahari 2001 Said Zahari and wife Salamah

This is a story of Said Zahari. I've been receiving a lot of flack for my opposition to Lee Kuan Yew and Singapore. I hope this story about the scond longest political detainee of Singapore left no doubt on the authocratic behaviour of LKY and Singapore Government!

The cruelty of this regime20 Feb 06 http://singaporerebel.blogspot.com/2006/02/families-of-political-detainees.html
The best years of Singapore's economic development were also the darkest, politically. From independence in 1965 to the double-digit growths of the 1980s, dozens, perhaps hundreds, of political detainees remained incarcerated in Singapore's prisons, without trial. While very little is known about the lives of political detainees in Singapore, even more overlooked are the families of these detainees. Below is a rare account by Salamah bte Abdul Wahab, the wife of political detainee Said Zahari, on how she struggled to raise her family, in the absence of her husband and father of her four children, for 17 years. The interview was recorded by Michael Fernandez in Malaysia a few years ago. An ex-detainee himself, Mr Fernandez told me recently that among the hardships faced by families of political detainees, the family of Said Zahari had probably suffered the most. Salamah passed away on December 29, 2004.
In July 1961, the Utusan Melayu staff went on strike in Kuala Lumpur and Singapore when UMNO wanted to control its editorial policy. Said Zahari ,its editor-in-chief, not only lost his job but also was banned from entering Malaya by the Tunku. It was lifted by Dr.Mahathir Mohamed in 1989 when he was a Singapore citizen. For the next one and a half years during this politically ferment period he gave seminars and talks to various civic groups - students, media, and trade unions. I knew Said Zahari's family quite well; I was able to have a frank exchange of views and information a few weeks ago at their home (Subang Jaya USJ).The whole family was there: Said and his wife Salamah, their eldest son, Roesman older daughter, Rismawati, Norman, and the youngest, Noorlinda and also most of the grandchildren. During the early hours of the morning of 2nd Feb 1963, a team of Internal Security Officers in Singapore led by ASP Hashim arrested Said Zahari. About 120 leftwing activists were also detained in the Operation Cold Store. Salamah bte Abdul Wahab, the wife of Said, whose kids Roesman (6 years), Rismawati (5), Norman (3) who was adopted by Salamah's sister (he was not around), and the youngest, to be born a few months later, was perhaps kicking her mother's womb in protest against the ISD officers. On seeing the silent tears of Salamah, ASP Hashim tried to comfort her : "Don't worry, cik Salamah, we are taking Encik Said...only for a while."Thereafter, Salamah was always looking through the main door everyday for a taxi or a car to stop and let out Said. Three days went by, no sign of Said;. A week past, and still no sign of her husband. She tried to pacify her two older children saying, "Bapak would be back soon. He is away on work!" It was not until three weeks later that she was allowed to see him for a brief 20 minutes in the Central Police Station lock-up in Singapore. She was upset with ASP Hashim for his "for a while" statement, a fellow Malay and a Muslim. She felt there was no need for him to lie to her. She found it difficult to forgive. MF: I believe that while Said was working, you never went to work. You stayed at home to look after your husband and children. What did you do? Salamah: For the first nearly six years, we lived with my parents in Singapore. My father Abdul Wahab, a well-known jockey/trainer, had a few houses in Singapore, KL, Ipoh and Penang. We hardly experienced any difficulties. The children went to school regularly. Little Linda was going to K.G. II Chinese Medium, and some of Said's political friends came regularly to the house to help Linda in her studies, particularly Chinese.MF: After your parents moved out to live in KL, what did you do to earn a living? Salamah : I sold hawkers food. At that time, Roesman (15) and Rismawati (14) had only a vague idea that their father was a "political detainee". They could not understand its true meaning. For that matter, I too have only a hazy idea of what "political detainee" meant. At times, both Roesman and Risma used to grumble. Because their father was cooped up in prison, they had to do a lot of chores which Bapak should or would have done. They had to get up very early at 5.00 am, cut vegetables, wash the fish including the ikan bilis, boil and cut the eggs, wash and cut the banana leaves, boil the rice and other little chores. But the grumpiest part of their daily routine was rushing back to the hawker stall at Kallang Place immediately after school in order to help wash up and pack up the pots and pans. In those days it was not easy to get a trishaw to go home. On the way, I used to drop at the Geylang Serai market to buy the groceries for the following day. Both Roesman and Risma had to come back to the market to carry the things back home. Thus the children had very little time to study or play with other children of their age. It was tough for them and I must admit that quite often for small mistakes, I used to cane them. I vented all my frustrations on them. And if the beating was at night, the older ones used to run out of the house and the next victim was the smallest, Linda! At this point, Linda, who was seated on the floor leaning against her mother's lap, gestured to me the beatings she used to get! The whole family burst out laughing at her precise gestures. It was on these occasions that I longed for my husband to be beside me to comfort me, to advise me what to do, to lighten my aching burden of responsibilities, to help me rest from these daily increasing problems which were taking a heavy toll on my nerves. And I often had splitting headaches . Many a time I felt like giving up in despair, but every time I thought of doing that, the thought of facing Said after that was the shame I could not think about. But what kept me going was the promise I made to Said when he teasingly asked me once and I replied rather heroically," I'll carry on somehow, don't worry." MF: You had an operation at the Singapore General Hospital. When was it ,Salamah, Is it ok to talk about it? I hope its not too painful to dwell on it. Salamah: No. It is a bit painful still to recall. Yes, it was one of the darkest trials of my life. It was in June 1968. I was lying semi-conscious in the hospital after my operation to remove my cancerous breast. In my heart I really wished that the operation would free me from this cruel world. When I was admitted, our family friend, Dr Beatrice Chen, a kidney specialist, and wife of Dr Lim Hock Siew, a fellow detainee with my husband, did not tell me that I had cancer, that my breast was to be removed! I heard the truth from Said's mouth when he was brought to the Hospital, escorted by two Internal Security Officers. Conflict with authoritiesDuring the Interview, Salamah related a few incidents she could remember vividly.On one occasion, the Internal Security Officers at the weekly family visit in Changi Prison introduced a rule not to allow more than two people at a time. Salamah brought her two older children, Roesman and Rismawati. They would not allow Risma in. It was a human tug-of-war between Salamah on one side and an ISD officer on other side. The little Risma provided herself as the "rope". Salamah shouted and cursed them for their inhuman behaviour, till they gave up in despair and cancelled the "rule of two only." Another rule they introduced was not to allow detainees to receive cooked food from home except on festive occasions like Chinese New Year, Deepavali, Hari Raya Puasa and Hari Raya Haji. On a Hari Raya Puasa occasion, the ISD officers wanted to cut up the ketupat (steamed rice in a thatched-leafy container) into several pieces for "security" reasons. Salamah protested and scolded them. "These are for human beings to eat, not for animals!", she lashed out at them. When she angrily picked up the bunch of ketupat to throw at them, they relented and gave in. They even wanted to cut up the chicken in the chicken-curry. Her outburst was so furious that they gave up but warned her that it was the last time she would get away with it. She was also unhappy with the Singapore authorities for discriminating her. Though she was born in KL, she lived most of her life in Singapore. She studied in the Methodist Girl's School in Singapore. In 1968, when she applied for a hawker's licence to sell food, the Government turned it down, saying she was a Malaysian. She had to rent a stall to sell food. Quite often, the stall-owners got into trouble if they were not around whenever the health officer came to inspect the stalls. Conflicts with relativesPerhaps the most heart-rending trauma that Salamah, the wife of Said Zahari, experienced was from the relatives of both sides - hers and his. When the newspapers were howling mad at Said's friendship with the Brunei rebel leader Azahari and his friendship with Lim Chin Siong, Mahadeva and others, Salamah came under increasing pressure from the relatives. They often hinted unkind words; sneered at her helplessness; poked fun at her children about their absent father; made snide remarks about her freedom from her husband. Salamah related to me an incident that took place in her mother's house in late 1968 when her parents were preparing to move to KL permanently. It was a few months after her cancer operation and just after she started selling food at a hawker's stall. Salamah's mother invited Said's mother, some of his brothers and his sister for a kendoori (a Malay feast) in her mother's house. Apart from her parents, her sisters and a couple of her brothers were also present. It was a rare occasion that Salamah witnessed. When all were assembled in the hall, Said's mother asked her about the food business. When she told her it was " susah"(difficult), she added, "memang-lah" (of course, it was difficult).Said's mother continued, "Did you tell Said it was tough?" When Salamah didn't answer, Said's mother shouted, "Tell me ,why didn't you tell him? Why didn't you ask him to come out? To look after you and his children? Why?" "I have never seen Said's mother so angry", Salamah recounted to me. "I answered rather meekly, 'I didn't want to upset Said unduly'. She lashed out again, "What rubbish are you talking?" Then a female voice, who shall remain unnamed ,said, in an even tone, "Listen, we all wish you and the children a good life. You can't have that by selling hawker's food. You must persuade, no, force him to come out. If he is stubborn, give him an ultimatum and then divorce him and get married again. You are still young!" Then several voices murmured, "betul!" (true) .I couldn't take it any more. Then I shouted, "I can't do that!" Then her own mother also added, "It's for your own good." Then another female voice shouted sarcastically, "She doesn't want to ask Said to come out because she can be free to do what she wants." These cruel words pierced her like stab wounds. Covering her tearful eyes, Salamah ran out of the house, wanted to escape from everybody and everything. She went behind the house and just sobbed and cried her heart out. Their words were certainly cruel, but were they malicious? Or were they uttered out of genuine concern for her and her chidren? Salamah cursed her husband within her heart for putting her through such malicious attacks, but she recovered soon enough to take comfort in her passionate love for her husband. Their heartless words only strengthened her love for her husband, and faith in Allah, and she prayed hard for greater patience and strength to bear these and more tribulations. The childrenA few weeks ago, I interviewed Said Zahari, his wife Salamah, his four children and most of his 16 grandchildren who were there, and whom Said described as his "only wealth", at his small terrace house in USJ, Subang Jaya, KL. Roesman, 44, was a tower of strength to his mother and his brother and two sisters. Though he could not understand at first why bapak(father) was sitting in prison while he and his sisters toiled with his mother to support the family. Gradually when he understood that bapak was struggling even in prison to fight for social justice, he adopted his father's ideals as his own and tried to live up to it as the loyal son of Said Zahari. Roesman studied law at a private college in KL but had to abandon it halfway in order to go back to Singapore to help his mother sell food. He worked hard to support his mother, lived as an example to his brother and sisters, later to his wife and his two daughters of whose achievements he's justly proud. Rismawati, literary-minded like her father, was the letter-writer for the family. She used to give her father all the news of the family in her weekly letters. With her husband, she runs a kindergarten and childcare centre. Norman Noordin alias Norman Said was adopted by his mother's older sister, a nurse, Saliah, who married Dr. Raja Ahmad Noordin (now Tan Sri Raja Ahmad Noordin) . He was educated in the UK and US. He's now a senior executive in a private firm. Norman lives near his natural parents and visits them regularly. Noorlinda, the baby of the family, has six children of her own to look after. However she refuses to have a maid even though her engineer husband advised her to have one. She was in her mother's womb when papa was arrested in 1963. She had no feeling for her father until very recently. Though she's 38, she told a human Rights Convention in KL, when she was only 12, in 1975, the ISD officers in Singapore never allowed her father to touch her or cuddle her, and that she could only speak to her father over the phone whenever she visited him in prison. She grew up a stranger to her father. Said's two eldest grand-daughters (Roesman's) are Shirin and Shauna, both in their late teens, told me that, "toh (grand-dad) has been and will always be our role model". Shirin just completed her Diploma in Mass Communication and likely to follow her grandfather's footsteps, and Shauna is entering International Islamic University to study law. Both are not only lovely-looking but are very bright, particularly very skilful in English language. They had their early education in Singapore. Conclusion: Who sacrificed and suffered the most? For the family and for the country: Was it Said Zahari the husband, or Salamah, the wife? It is obvious, as Said Zahari himself stated in his dedication to the book Dark Clouds At Dawn (A Political Memoir) that her "sacrifices and sufferings were a thousand times more than mine" . The real heroine in this tragic story is Salamah. Why did she sacrifice the man she loved so passionately to Changi Prison, the husband on whom her children and she depended, the father of her young kids? Was it for some personal glory or for some financial reward? Or for some high position in society? She went through this trauma for 17 years, for what? Some would call her a "fool", some others would merely "pity" her, and very few would really support her unwavering stand. Was the sacrifices and suffering she went through only for the love of her husband? Was it anything to do with Said Zahari's ideal of democracy, social justice and press freedom which is still a burning issue? I asked Salamah (now 65): Have all the wounds you received, both physical and emotional from various sources, been healed ever since Said lost his editorship job in 1961? She hesitated for a moment, frowned and knit her eyebrows and said slowly and deliberately,"Most of them have healed. But the big scars like the one on my breast will never heal...Would be permanent scars to remind both of us what we went through together." Michael Fernandez has been a long-time family friend of Said Zahari and was with him in the Changi Prison in Singapore.

Another posting worth reading and keeping


16/10: Giving the Koran a history: Holy Book under scrutiny
Category: General
Posted by: Raja Petra
Critical readings of the Muslim scripture offer alternative interpretations of well-known passagesScholars draw techniques of textual criticism from those used to analyze Bible Lebanon WireMoncef Ben Abdeljelil is a small academic, presently pinned between two large journalists. Back to the wall, he is ruminating on alternative readings of the Koran. "Details I will leave to future study," says Abdeljelil. "But I think some of the different readings we find will affect the female condition, tolerance vis-a-vis Jews and Christians. Another will effect legislation ...." He reaches for his pipe, then puts it back in the ashtray. "This is the exciting thing about these alternative readings. We need to rethink the whole legal aspect of what can be drawn from the Koran. I believe this critical edition will enlarge our thinking about women's condition, religious tolerance, what we call human rights." A professor of literature and human science at Sousse University in Tunis, Abdeljelil heads a team of scholars compiling a critical edition of the Koran. The book will publish a number of alternative readings found in a collection of Koranic mashaf (mas-Haf, or manuscripts), ­some dating from the first Islamic century ­that had been stockpiled in the Grand Mosque in Sanaa and uncovered three decades ago. Abdeljelil and his colleagues were in Beirut recently attending a Koranic studies workshop, Modernity and Islam, sponsored by the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, the foundation of the German-Christian Democratic Party. The conference brought together scholars from as far afield as Yemen and Germany and approaches ranging from the traditional to the radical, the latter potentially quite upsetting to devout Muslims. The first tentative conclusions published by researchers with access to the Yemeni mashaf reveal that in several cases the organization of the text is different ­the suras (chapters) sometimes in a different order ­and that there are differences in the text itself. Because published findings are few, though, it is still impossible to say how wide is the divergence from the authoritative text. Abdeljelil speculates that, were his small team bolstered with more scholars, the edition could be published in as soon as 10 years. He is cautiously enthusiastic about the project. He has good reason to be cautious. Since its revelation, the central scripture of the Muslim community has been kept outside history in a way that has no equivalent in the Christian tradition. The Old and New Testaments have been scrutinized by textual critics since the 19th century,­ peeling back the several, often dissonant, voices from various eras that were cobbled together to form the Christian scripture. For devout Muslims, treating the Koran in this manner is inconceivable. Where Christians generally concede that the Bible was written by men, the Koran is believed to have been handed down from God to the Prophet Mohammed, without human intervention, in Arabic, perfect, immutable in message, language, style, and form. The oneness of the Koran stands as a metaphor for Islam's conception of the oneness of God. By applying the same techniques of textual criticism that have been used with the Bible, Abdeljelil and his colleagues are giving the Koran a history. Abdeljelil is quick to note that this project is not the first of its kind. European scholars have been looking at the Yemeni mashaf for years now. He would point out that within Islamic heritage there are different readings of the Koranic text. But the impact of the critical edition will be profound."In the Sanaa parchments we found a radically different method of transcription, a different way of reading the Koran. "It could change some sharp interpretations of the text," he says, "and will lead to another way of thinking about the Koran. "In Islamic thought today you have fundamentalist projects, all of them fighting against new ways of rethinking Islam. They argue that the Koran doesn't allow new approaches and interpretations. 'We can't change anything,' they say. "To fix the meanings of the discourse within the Koran forever is dangerous. This text is embedded in history and has to be reviewed in this light..... This project is not only about editing the text but initiating new ways of re-interpreting the Koran." Contentious as it is, the Tunisian project was not the most controversial one discussed in Beirut. Late in 2000 a small press in Germany published Die Syro-aramaeische Lesart des Koran (The Syro-Aramaic Reading of the Koran). The author, a philologist writing under the pseudonym Christoph Luxenberg, has proposed that the Koran as we know it today is a misreading. Luxenberg asserts that Koranic Arabic is not Arabic at all, at least not in the sense assumed by the classical commentators. It is written, rather, in the dialect of the Prophet's tribe, the Meccan Quraysh, and heavily influenced by Aramaic. Luxenberg's premise is that the Aramaic language, the lingua franca of the Prophet Mohammed, the language of culture and Christian liturgy, had a profound influence on the Koran. Extensive borrowing was necessary simply because at the time of the Prophet, Arabic was not yet sophisticated enough for scriptural composition. Though his ideas were very much in play at the Beirut workshop, the man responsible for the most contentious thesis in Koranic studies today was absent. One of Luxenberg's advocates is Michael Marx, a graduate student at the Free University of Berlin. "If we understand that Arabic had no scriptural tradition before the Koran, rock inscriptions aside,­ if we imagine the Prophet living in a city where Christians and their scripture were present, it's no wonder that certain liturgical terms -­ salat (prayer), zakat (religious charity) ­- seeped into Arabic from Syriac. "Luxenberg suggests that even the word 'Koran' is Syriac, derived from qeryana, a term from the Christian liturgy that means 'lectionary',­ a book of set liturgical readings. Luxenberg goes back in time to ask the question of what may have happened, why is the Koran as it is? Maybe he exaggerates in arguing that everything can be explained in term of Aramaic. "But languages don't die after all," he continues, "they leave traces. Imagine people learning these two languages ­ there will invariably be traces of one felt upon the other. "Contemporary dialects of Arabic have many Aramaic substrata. But the languages are so close that the borrowings are unconscious." When an authoritative text of the Koran was finally set down - a task commanded by Uthman, the third caliph ­- it was done with neither the diacritical marks (the dots) that distinguish individual letters nor short vowels. Luxenberg argues that by the time Muslim commentators got to interpreting the precise meaning of the text, two centuries after the Prophet's death, the Aramaic loan words were mis-read as Arabic.His method of inquiry is a complex one, but basically Luxenberg has read certain problematic passages of the Koran through an Aramaic lens. To a modern eye, his readings sometimes make more sense in the context of the sura. They often radically change the meaning. One of Luxenberg's more elegant re-readings comes during a difficult section of sura 19 (known as Surat Mariam, or Mary's Sura). Mary has given birth to Jesus out of wedlock and, fearing people's response, has fled her home. Then God reassures her: "Then he called to her from beneath her: 'Grieve not; thy Lord hath placed beneath thee a streamlet.'" Luxenberg is not alone in being baffled by the meaning of this line. Re-translating the sentence as one with Aramaic loan words, he concludes that it should be read: "He called to her immediately after her laying-down (to give birth): 'Grieve not; thy Lord has made your laying-down legitimate.'" Another more contentious conclusion was picked up by journalists at the New York Times and the Guardian after Sept. 11, 2001, because it seems to have direct implications for the aspirations of those hijackers, and Muslim suicide bombers generally. It concerns the houris, the angels or virgins whom, it is written, await those who attain paradise. Luxenberg argues that "hur" are not virgins but grapes or raisins, specifically white grapes ­- which were considered a great delicacy at the time. Luxenberg's restored version of the houris lines thus reads: "We will let them (the blessed in Paradise) be refreshed with white (grapes), (like) jewels (of crystal)." It is a less sensual notion of everlasting life to be sure, but, given that the virgins have always been said to be female, a less patriarchal one as well. For Marx the most important thing about Luxenberg's book is that it raises certain questions that -­ for reason of historical circumstance alone ­- have become taboo. On one hand post-colonial cultural studies has come to be marked by political correctness. On the other hand the post-WWII era saw the decline of German as a language of scholarly inquiry outside Germany; since the philologists' approach to Koranic studies was the forte of German-language scholarship, it has come to be considered old-fashioned. "In the midst of this," Marx says, "the question of what happened in the first two centuries of Islamic history was lost. "These two centuries are a sort of dark age for us. Something happened in the 7th and 8th centuries, but we only know about it through texts from the late 8th through 10th centuries. "It seems to me," Marx remarks, "that there's something questionable about the proposition that the Muslim oral tradition worked so perfectly." The Luxenberg thesis is quite separate from Abdeljelil's critical work on the Koran. Luxenberg worked not with old mashaf but the 1923 Egyptian edition of the Koran. The Tunisians are skeptical of Luxenberg's conclusions but they support his method. "As an approach we are not bothered by what Luxenberg has proposed, nor with his premise that there are languages that had an impact upon Arabic. In fact we would go so far as to encourage it." Abdeljelil and his colleagues have problems with Luxenberg drawing conclusions drawn from the 1923 text rather than the mashaf. Also "you .... have to consider the 'oral text' as well (as the written texts) .... If you do not do so, you will be unable to make very critical conclusions. "A third issue is that you cannot talk about .... the Syriac origins of words, phrases and so forth, without considering other genres of literature. Arabic poetry for instance. The Koran is a genre of literature and you need to compare the genres to understand how the Syriac and the Arabic languages shared the culture at that time. This is lacking in Luxenberg." One thing the Luxenberg and Abdeljelil projects do have in common is that, though scholarly enterprises, they are implicitly political as well. Indeed, as Marx points out, the issue of deciding upon the authoritative text of the Koran is inherently political. "The idea of canonizing a text is to close it down. What's before Uthman (ie before 640-650CE) is open to discussion. It's a black box .... The important thing is, Uthman wants Muslims in the newly conquered lands to be referring to the same text. This makes the political intent clear." Inevitably the issue of Koranic investigation too is political. One example of a Muslim response to the present line of Koranic research came in a 1987 paper Method Against Truth: Orientalism and Koranic Studies , an invective against Western Koranic scholarship by critic S. Parvez Manzoor. "At the greatest hour of his worldly triumph," he writes, "Western man, co-ordinating the powers of the State, Church and Academia, launched his most determined assault on the citadel of Muslim faith. All the aberrant streaks of his arrogant personality ­- its reckless rationalism, its world-domineering phantasy and its sectarian fanaticism ­- joined in an unholy conspiracy to dislodge the Muslim Scripture from its firmly entrenched position as the epitome of historic authenticity and moral unassailability. The ultimate trophy .... was the Muslim mind itself." Gregor Meiering isn't afraid of being accused of cultural imperialism. Meiering, the resident representative at the Near East regional office of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, was the animateur for the two-day workshop in Beirut. "Although the Foundation has a program, convictions, and an agenda, we usually share this agenda, program and convictions with a local partner who works with us, is interested in the same topics, asks the same questions. They do not necessarily give the same answers but they are involved in a common enterprise. "This is the case .... whether promoting democracy or the rule of law or regional cooperation or in dealing with globalization, economic issues or, as now, cultural dialogue that can be but needn't necessarily be linked to religion. "You'll find that not only are we doing things that other people are interested in -­ in Tunis, Yemen, Lebanon ­- but topics that have already been very high on the agenda in the past. "There is more of a rediscovery of things in this than an inventing of an artificial Orient that, by consequence, would be dominated by people from outside this Orient." Meiering is an unabashed orientalist and a critic of the discipline's best-known critic. "I very much reject the notion of Orientalism as used by Edward Said," he says. "I do so openly." His main problem with Said is that he looks at the work of two 19th-century orientalists and implicates the entire literature in their shortcomings. He also faults Said for not examining German orientalist work. "There is one structural weakness to Said's argument," Meiering continues, ".... Orientalists, he says, produce an image of the east, place all orientals into it and then make it easily manipulable. "But if it were all just invented, all imagined, why is it that all these peoples have become victims ­- if you would like to see it that way -­ of colonialism? If (orientalist) ideas were completely wrong, how have these countries come to control the peoples of the Orient? There must, then, have been something true in their assessment, something insightful in what they wrote." Though engaged in the political critique of his discipline, he regards the re-reading of the Koran to be a banal exercise. "If you go back into the history of Islamic thought you'll find that many arguments being raised by scholars today .... have been raised by scholars of the Muslim tradition. "You could qualify the entire effort to determine the genuine traditions of the Prophet from the invented ones as an historical-critical enterprise by Muslim scholars throughout the centuries. (Today's orientalists) look at their own historical-critical methods as a prolongation of (older) techniques. "Certainly the fact that there has been such a reluctance on the part of Muslims ­- Muslim scholars included ­- makes the project not only a philological one but a social and political one." When pressed to acknowledge that the enterprise has an inherently liberal agenda, Meiering is frank. "I can't stress too much that the intellectual plays a role in politics and in society. The present situation in this region calls for a renewal of this role." Intellectuals, he says, serve a mediating role in society and in this regard (the foundation) refuses to be exclusive in the sorts of intellectuals it deals with. "In past decades attempts have been made to make progress quicker and more thoroughly by sidelining what was called conservative elements and betting on technocrats and secular intellectuals ­- both by foreign agents and local regimes. No successes emerged." At the end of the day Meiering simply refuses to see East-West relations as a dialogue of the powerful and powerless. "People see globalization as Westernization. But globalization hasn't been Westernization since the 19th century. The Europeanization of the world is done. We are now living in an era in which the empire has, as it were, struck back -­ rai music and Indian restaurants." Devout Muslims might be forgiven if they do not see things in such benevolent terms. Indeed, it is difficult not to notice that, at this particular workshop at least, there was a curious correspondence between Luxenberg skeptics (Arabs) and Luxenberg advocates (generally Europeans). Similarly the critical edition of the Koran is, so far, a wholly Tunisian venture, its scholars the product of the most westward-looking legal and education systems in the Arab world. Marx sees the divided response to Luxenberg as less a political matter than an existential one. "Arab Muslim scholars grow up with a different perspective of the Koran because their upbringing with Arabic. I'm less emotionally attached to a given reading because I learned the language much later. "Acquiring knowledge at a young age is very different from doing so later. It isn't simply an intellectual matter, but emotional as well. It's like telling a grownup that his parents aren't really his parents." The scholars agree that their fiddling with the Koran will likely not be well received. "The popular response will never be positive," says Abdeljelil. "Even if our project were done by true Muslims in a very Islamic country, people would never accept it because the popular imagination is manipulated by different trends. The massive number of population ... believe this text is a divine work that cannot be touched." Abdeljelil advocates a sort of intellectual trickle-down theory of Koranic criticism. "I think this project should first be initiated within academic circles. After that you could bring it to workshops, theses and dissertations. Then, after 10 or 15 years, you can bring it to a broader segment of society. "If you even talk about the distinction between the mashaf and the Koran, a very obvious idea, people will say 'He is not a believer.'" Abdeljelil takes up his pipe again. "Never mind the people. In our workshop in Beirut, a scholar asked us, 'How can you make this distinction?'"

Well I went to Padang again last week and this time for the three days I was there I got involve with a Quake. When I reach there on Tuesday a quake hit the town at 4 in the afternoon. I was there in my room discussing with a lawyer. It was the first time for me to fell a quake. I heard about it but never ever feel a temor before but that day it was something new. The chair shake for a few moments. You could feel the room swaying and kind of cool really. The hotel I stayed in, at the heart of town suffered major damages before because of big quake previously so we got a major discount not knowing why?



Although in Indonesia the hotel is regarded safe but being Malaysian you tend to doubt it. The quake was reported to be 5.6 on the richter scale. The next day this time at night around 10 pm local time or 11 here a quake hit us again. I was on the bed and it was rolicking like when you making love so it was kind of nice. This time was longer and it hit again at 1 in the morning. Luckilly we left padang in the morning back. At the airport we read the local Newspaper and it said that the Quake was at 6.5 on the richter scale this time. Phew! but to the locals it is normal, to them quake is a normal occurence almost daily since the big Quake which hit Padang just before the begining of the holy month of Ramadhan. Expects say that Padang will be hit by a major quake soon.



I hope it be over soon. I kind of feel a bit worried because I might be spending more time there soon after the Eid Festival. Touch wood. I was in Myanamar and what happen now is sad for me. I guess the people are poor and beside having the junta as thegovernment they have to contend with the embargo that is impose by the west. I always maintain the people will suffer and since the price of oil has gone astronomiclly high and the government can't afford to subsidise the oil anymore the people suffer. Mind you Burma has oil and gas but can't be exploited. I am able to get an oilfield for myself, yes, there is courruption but I think it is everywhere.

Even in the states especially those who follow the states history will noted during the 30's how corruption profilerated inthe US government even now. It is unfair the people has to suffer but I know that by doing business in Burma it will eleviate the people standard of living. Jobs can be created and at least burmese can work. I never like politics but it must be look in the context of creating work for people and as Maslow theory state the basic human needs are basically food and shelter. we need to fulfill that first if ever we want to help. Don't talk about human rights if the basic rights can't be provided for.

Here's a letter I wrote to a dear dear of mine. We haven't met but we have been in touch for the last 27 odd years. She be a Grandma soon and I myself am not married yet how times flew.

Dear Christine
I hate to talk politics but sometimes we should. Any embargo against Myanmar would only burden the people. I remember when embargo were made against Iraq during Sadam Hussein the one that suffer was the Iraqian People.
Now the one that suffer will be the people of Burma. There is no quick solution to the problem, trouble with the west they always looking for a quick solution that would result in more hardship and pain. If the west is truly interested than just come in and overthrow the government, in short invade, why create unnecessary hardship?
But that is the trouble with UN and the rest diplomacy don't work and economic embargo won't because the Generals are rich I know I am dealing with them. I will still continue business because i know at the end of the day the people will have some benefit although little.
There is a lot of Grey areas in the world today,nothing is really black and white. It is easier to paint everything in black and white and to compartmentalize people as demons and angels but most of the time they are neither totally angelic or totally villainous, Humans are like that, they can be vengeful to their enemies and doting father next.
I am sorry so let's not talk about Myanmar the point is we try to show a little kindness to be more charitable and god's willing it will go a long way to help others, that is what we should do and strive for. Ihave to go now and i am still waiting for your measurement and send David's one too. Maybe I get him a Batik Shirt done.

love

tot

Yes she call me tot I have to go now my birthday was last two days on the 3rd of October so I am getting old. I am tired basically.