PAHANG-DELIGHTS

2007-09-30T00:16:00.000-07:00

EMPING NOSTALGIA – Part 2

I remember that emping is available only or mostly after padi harvesting time. And so this traditional emping "dish" is not usually part of the dishes and traditional offerings served during Malay festivals of Hari Raya Puasa (or Aidil Fitri) and Aidil Adha unlike the ketupat or lemang.

This is probably because the two festivals follow the Islamic calendar, and during certain years they do not occur during those padi harvests time. Otherwise I could just wait until the next festival to taste it.

I remember also when I was still a small child in the 1950s, my aunties or uncles from Temerloh, Pahang, when making day-visits or longer to my home, would bring along with them fruits or traditional cakes (kuih) like dodol, wajik, or bahulu, and of course after padi harvest time, a small pack of rice and emping.

Usually, the emping dish would be made straightaway by my mother, helped by my elder sisters, and served before my aunties and uncles leave. And we will all have a good eat on the mengkuang mat on the floor, with light banters usually and small good-hearted gossips about other close relatives sometimes, before they bade farewell.

In the old days, relatives and friends freely share their bountiful harvests from the padi fields, fruit trees or orchards with other close relatives and friends.

It helped to tighten family ties and invariably strengthen the bonds of kinship and friendship among relatives and friends.

That’s the old Malay way that I remember.

Everyone was joyous and kind. Fruits that are in abundance or in season, like rambutans, durians, mangosteens, langsat and chiku., are freely given away in big gunny sacks to other relatives, neighbours and friends.

And so are padi and rice after harvest, and sometimes even chickens, ducks and goats. There were no economic or financial constraints or consideration. Bounty harvests are meant to be shared around.

Alas, now, in these modern times of technology, rocket science, and commercialism, everything must be paid for. Nothing is gotten for free. Whether fruits or … emping.

But that is understandable because the fruit trees and padi fields, planted and cultivated by my relatives in Temerloh, Pahang have all, in a sense, been 'destroyed', having to make way for modern housing and commercial, industrial and business development.

So there are no more God’s gifts that can be shared with others freely.

My Favorite Emping Recipe

The way I like to eat emping, my favorite style (or my dear mom’s method), is to mix them with grated coconut flesh and gula melaka (brown sugar). The traditional, round-wheel-shaped gula melaka that my mom usually kept in the kitchen, must first be cut and sliced into tiny pieces.

The three ingredients (emping, grated coconut flesh and gula melaka) are then mixed in a bowl, with a little salt added, and then served. With the right mixture of coconut and gula melaka, the final result or "concoction" tastes really yummy and delicious.

Why? Because this emping dish will present a delightful range and array of tastes.

It will taste a little sweet because of the gula melaka, but also fibrous and chewy because of the coconut flesh, and a bit salty with the pinch of salt, while the crunchy, dry and hard emping will sort of harmonise the whole taste!

Aww, please, I cannot describe further this tasty emping snack without wishing for a real taste of it again.

So, off I shall go now to the hypermarkets... but ... sigh... I don’t ever remember seeing them sold anywhere in those modern "facilities"...

Well then, I'll just have to remember to get them at some other rural kampung shops where padi is still planted, like in Kedah or Kelantan, whenever I pass through the villages.

And maybe then and only then, can I get to introduce the emping delicacy of my childhood days to my already grown up children.

But it’s better late than never.

2007-09-27T21:35:00.000-07:00

LONGING FOR THE TASTE OF EMPING – Part 1

Emping - crunchy and delicious in the traditional way. It sounds very exotic.

Actually it’s just a local food delight that I always looked forward to relishing during my young-eating-everything-yummy days of nonchalance and naivete.

But it is a food delight that, through the evolution of time, now seems hard to find or procure, and, come to think of it, might perhaps soon cease to exist with each passing day because of modern development.

What is Emping?

Emping, to those who don’t know this Malay word, is those thin and flat pounded rice.

It is somewhat similar to oats. So what oat is to wheat, emping is actually rice, the staple food of most Asians, that has been pounded into dry, thin and flat pieces.

Sadly, emping, as mentioned earlier, is difficult to find and seldom found sold in shops in the city nowadays. I should know because I cannot remember ever seeing any, because otherwise I would have bought at least a small pack and share the joys of the traditional emping "dish" recipe with my children.

Living in the city has actually devoid my children from tasting something that I, in my childhood days, relished with the utmost pleasure, as emping were available rather aplenty during the good old days.

But now, emping can, perhaps, only be found at the traditional villages in the rural suburbs where padi is planted. I say, "perhaps" because I’m not too sure whether the modern padi farmers now apportion some of their harvested padi and rice to make them into emping. I hope they still do, because in the olden days, my padi-planter relatives always did.

And that was how I tasted and loved those thin pounded rice.

I lived in Temerloh, Pahang, when small, and most of my relatives then, besides being businessmen and rubber tappers, were also padi planters there. I remember padi planting was an economic activity quite extensively undertaken by my close relatives around the Batu Satu and Sungai Rabit areas in those old days.

Now of course, if we go to Temerloh, we cannot see any more padi fields. The new generation of my relatives living there are no more padi planters. They are businessmen and entrepreneurs (big and small) or are officers and office employees in the government and the private sectors.

Temerloh has, instead, been transformed into a fast burgeoning and busy commercial and industrial town in Pahang. I think it is the second largest town in Pahang after Kuantan, the state capital.

The rice fields that I remember where padi was planted by my aunties and uncles in the 1950s are now all occupied and transplanted by modern cement and brick buildings – shop-houses, residential estates and other structured properties.

And when in those old days the padi fields seemed to be quite a distance away from town, now if they had still existed, those padi fields will be really smack in the middle of town.

Sad feeling... I sometimes feel like I lost a certain part of my life whenever I pass those padi areas that are no more.

Well, never mind. That’s what is known as development. It’s for the good of the country and the folks.

And the best way to soothe the nostalgic mind is always to look forward to the future, right?

2007-09-24T10:08:00.000-07:00

I STILL REMEMBER THE DELIGHTFUL TASTE OF TURTLE EGGS

Turtle eggs used to be my favorite delicacy when small.

When I was living in Temerloh, Pahang in the 1950’s, I can still remember my father bringing back loads of those round, ping-pong-like, soft-but-unbreakable eggs he bought from his working travels to the states of Trengganu and Kelantan.

Even when my family moved to Kuala Lumpur in the 1960’s, I remember eating and relishing those turtle eggs brought by relatives and friends of my parents from Pahang when they came to visit us in the big city.

Well, the turtle eggs were sort of something different from the usual "buah tangan" or gifts given by visiting friends or relatives, a delightful Malay traditional practice when making visits.

Normally snacks and delicacies like "dodol" and other traditional cakes (kuih) are brought when visiting. But more usually, there’ll sometimes be a big sackful of the fruits in season, like rambutans, langsat, and that "King of fruits", the durians.

And of course when I was young, like other young children, I always look forward to visits by relatives not only because of the buah tangan, but the greater thrill of meeting my cousins of similar age as well. We could play all kinds of games together, although sometimes the play would turn into friendly "fights". Ah, I digress...

Back to turtle eggs...

But as I grew up and the years went by, I found that those tasty turtle eggs seemed to decline in quantity. Well, evidently less of those turtles came up to nest at the beaches in Pahang and Terengganu during the 1990’s. This phenomenon was reflected by the higher prices for the eggs sold, and the scarcity of finding sellers of turtle eggs. I don't think I ever ate any of them during those times until now.

HOW I ATE TURTLE EGGS

I don’t know and I can't tell about other ways of eating or cooking turtle eggs. That’s because in my family I remember only one way done by my mother.

My mom would boil the turtle eggs just like she would boil chicken eggs, and that is by putting the eggs in a pot full of water and letting them cook under a hot fire.

But when fully boiled, unlike chicken or duck eggs, I remember those turtle eggs will float to the top of the pot, perhaps because of the hot air trapped in the shell. And although seems soft, their egg shells don’t break easily like chicken’s or duck’s eggs.

Well, turtle eggs taste especially good when taken just after it has been boiled and when the inside yolk is warm.

I remember my favorite way to eat them was just to make a small opening in the soft shell with my fingers. Then, I will put a bit of "kicap" or salty soy sauce through the opening, and the whole egg is sucked from the small opening. Ooowah, yummy, yummy, really delicious!!

But even without the soy sauce, turtle eggs taste somewhat a bit salty, and the orange yolk has a sandy or grainy feel to it.

No, I can never forget those great delightful taste. Really.

I would eat loads of them if I could, but usually my parents would set a quota of four or five only for each of us in the family (of seven siblings), so everyone gets a fair share.

Now, my dear friends, why am I telling this story? What’s my point?

Oh, read my next blog post.

2007-05-17T02:34:00.000-07:00

BE KIND TO OUR TURTLES
AND THE OBVIOUS NEED FOR THEIR PRESERVATION - PART 3

Besides the Cherating Turtle Sanctuary at Chendor Beach, Pahang, there is a turtle breeding station ("Pusat Penetasan Penyu") at Pasir Panjang Beach in Segari, near Pulau Pangkor, Perak. (Visit this pulau-pangkor.com website for the story).

There is also a Turtle Park at Pulau Selingaan, off Sabah, Malaysia, where tourists from all over the world come to watch turtles laying their eggs in their natural habitat on three designated islands where they are protected. (Read more about it here at mousetourstravels.com).

But sadly, the ecologically diverse waters around Sabah have been attracting illegal foreign vessels for many years. Marine department records over the past 3 years, showed that many Vietnamese, Chinese, and Filipino vessels have been detained for intrusion and illegal fishing.

To protect our marine resources, they (foreign fishermen) must be stopped from catching, trapping and killing the turtles. Already and unfortunately, the number of turtles in our waters is declining.

It used to be said that these young turtles were eaten by birds, crabs and other land animals before they reach the sea. And then they are eaten by bigger fishes when deep in the waters. All blames for the depletion and endangering the turtle species were alluded to the animal kingdom.

Well, it’s high time we impute blame to the illegal trawler fishermen from overseas, not just the bigger fishes or other animals in the sea.

We cannot discount humankind, because we know that humans too were responsible. And we cannot say we have no brains and intelligence, or we have frailties. Those fishes and animals eat the baby turtles because they were created so, as Nature’s plan and control of the eco-system for the benefit of all creatures, including humans.

But humans have no such excuse. We have no reason to kill the turtles, because it’s not part of our staple food, never been, if I may say, by any culture anywhere in this world.

Killing an already grown turtle, those that had successfully cleared some stages in their already difficult life process, and for unproven, nay if I may say so, for deceitful and quack medicinal purpose, is way too absurd for my thinking.

Maybe I don’t have a high IQ or EQ or whatever, but the notion that dead turtles have medicinal values is like saying that other dead animals all have medicinal values. Why not use dead rats? They’re plentiful too, enough to cater for all libidous males in this world, perhaps. And the idea of using dead turtles for medicinal purpose is much too gory and queer to be considered a joke.

No, killing turtles is no joke. Its inhumane, uncalled for, and those responsible must be brought to book and penalized properly.

Once we upset the eco-systems of the world, then we will all be in trouble. By we, I mean us, humankind. This has been said umpteenth times by umpteenth people in this world. I’m just repeating the sad truth.

If it doesn’t happen during our lifetime or in our generation, make no mistake, it will start to happen during our children’s generations and descendants.

Let’s all be wise.

"Give knowledge to a wise man and he will be yet wiser", so says someone famous in the past I forget.

Well, I say, give also knowledge to a stupid man or any man for that matter, and he will also be yet wiser, I’m sure.

As always, wise up, friends, (and me,too).

2007-05-15T08:09:00.000-07:00

BE KIND TO OUR TURTLES
AND THE OBVIOUS NEED FOR THEIR PRESERVATION - PART 2

There is a turtle sanctuary at Chendor, about 30 km from Kuantan, Pahang, known as the Cherating Turtle Sanctuary. There, turtle eggs are kept and hatched in a special enclosed hatchery, and we can watch the young turtles crawl in their hundreds back to the sea after they’re hatched.

Here and today, in the state of Pahang at Chendor and Cherating we welcome with open arms and with extended help all those adorable turtles to come and breed at our beaches, as they had done hundreds of years ago nonchalantly, may I say, until it declined rather "recently", in the early 1990’s.

They used to come in droves, laying hundreds and thousands of eggs, and at the same time teaching the many humans and tourists who watched them in awe, about the Greatness of the Almighty, the Creator, the Beneficent, who blesseth humans with uncommonness and diversity of life on Earth.

The greenback turtles and other species that come to lay their eggs on the beaches of Chendor and elsewhere in the east coast states should as well be accorded respect and welcome fit for royalties in the human sphere.

Because they are the last bastions of their species that can perhaps rejuvenate their own population back into bigger numbers and help to restore the ecological balance, not just restoring the lost tourist numbers in the east coast states.

Turtle-watching, I remember was a popular event in the 1970’s until late 1980’s at the beaches of the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia, especially of Chendor and Cherating in Pahang, and Rantau Abang in Terengganu. I remember watching the event sometime in late 1970.

Nowadays the word "dearth" perhaps correctly paints the non-event, as turtle killing, trappings and improper fishing had depleted and endangered their numbers.

And perhaps now we know that those illegal fishermen from overseas, like China, Vietnam and Phillipines, fishing illegally in our waters, had been depleting our natural resources, part of our tourist attractions, and condemning turtle eggs to hatcheries, and grown turtles to medicinal pots.

And that is not to say our own fishermen are innocent. There were and still are many cases of turtles found dead, caught in their nets. It is time that they learn to avoid fishing in waters where turtles feed and live.

After all, turtles and other creatures of the sea help to sustain the ecological balance in the vast waters of the oceans, that in the end will determine whether humankind will continue to exist or perish.

Tsunami, anyone?

2007-05-14T20:11:00.000-07:00

BE KIND TO OUR TURTLES
AND THE OBVIOUS NEED FOR THEIR PRESERVATION – PART 1

I read with disdain, and I’m sure I’m not alone, about the dead turtles found by the Malaysian marine police when they caught a Chinese trawler fishing illegally in Malaysian waters in Sabah a few months ago.

I can’t really express how cruel I thought those fishermen were, maybe how stupid they were really, since the turtles were actually caught to be made into traditional medicines, of all things.

In what century are they living? Medicines made from dead creatures? That, in my view, is pushing alternative medicine too far. Beyond the twilight zone it is. With really doubtful results at that.

And the next day another trawler with a bigger haul of turtles was caught. Well, kudos to the Malaysian Marine Police. Those are the type of news I would love to hear about our police department.

Then, later, of course with profound glee, I read in the newspapers that the skipper and crew of the Chinese trawler caught with 274 protected turtles were slapped with more than RM1.88 million, yes million, in fines by the magistrate's court in Kota Kinabalu. And they were ordered to be jailed between six and 18 months each if in default.

And I unreservedly say, yes,yes,yes, they deserve those huge fines. Truly and rightly deserve it.

And good riddance to them. The stiff penalties meted out to these felons should serve as stern warnings to others that turtles, especially our turtles, are worth more than the worth of whatever value as traditional medicines they would get.

But, just a reminder, we must never for a moment forget about conservation of turtles. That is more important than all the huge fines and jail terms. The advice that "Prevention is better than cure" has been touted for so long it’s becoming a cliché nobody listens to.

And fining and jailing the crooked fishermen will not help come to life the turtles that had been killed. Dead turtles cannot breed.

But we can disseminate information to all those fishermen of neighboring countries of our desire to preserve, at all costs, these adorable turtles, and of their priceless value to humankind.

Perhaps, these fishermen may be following orders by their bosses out of ignorance, or just maybe following old living practices of their fathers and fore-fathers, without knowledge of the changing environment.

So information needs to be disseminated to these maybe poor, illiterate, but rather unconscionable fishermen of our neighboring countries, about our stand on preservation of these adorable creatures of the sea, the turtles.

Hopefully, knowledge of the importance of preserving turtles will help to reduce and subsequently eliminate fishing of turtles in our waters, making our beaches conducive again to their laying eggs for continued generation of their species.

But then again, just "hopefully".

2007-05-10T02:45:00.000-07:00

LIVING TENUOUSLY IN A WORLD OF IMBALANCES

We, humans, are living in a world of imbalances.

No dispute about that. And it’s not just a few, simple imbalances that we have to contend with. It’s more like maybe too much for our liking. Complicated, complex and discernibly unbalanced scales putting the world we live in a rather precarious state.

Ecological imbalance, wealth imbalance, education imbalances, social imbalances, work -related imbalances, personal – intelligence, raw physical imbalances (I’m handsome, you’re not, and I’m gorgeous and pretty, you’re plain Jane, sorts). Well, what should I say, the whole spectrum of social, political, religious, ecological and what have you more, varieties of imbalances.

A motley of imbalances, spreading outwards and touching the phenomena of tall and short, democratic systems and dictatorships, big salaries and those with AIDS (adequate-income deficiency syndrome ? Well, I’m in).

The imbalances are not restricted to just discrepancy between a rich and a poor man in wealth terms, but it covers and climbs up the broader political ladder discriminating between rich and poor nations, to the pinnacle of all imbalances, of rich and poor souls.

Well, let’s ramble about a known imbalance.

The Pahang Malays have been known to be great warriors and patriots, always fighting for their motherland - Pahang. And real warriors like Datuk Bahaman, Mat Kilau, Tok Gajah, Pak Sako, Manap Jepun, Tun Razak and a whole array of real men against British colonialism in the country, were mostly Pahang born and bred. The question that begs to be answered is "Why the imbalance? Other states too were colonized."

Well, the answer may well be that the majority of Pahang Malays have always been poor. They live by the banks of the rivers, planting padi and fishing in the rivers and seas to put food on the table. And thanks to the Almighty, the Beneficent, food could always be had.

But humans are such that if incursions into their life make for imbalances in their routines, then the invaders should be prepared for retaliation. Encroachments and imposed changes especially externally engineered, invite imbalanced decisions and actions. So be it, they say.

Emotions become imbalanced, more self-centered and motherland-centered, and intelligence gets more topsy-turvy. People with hunger pangs in their stomach, unless balanced by feel-good sensations elsewhere, will do anything to protect themselves, their family and motherland. Hence the rise of heroes.

But then it may be that because food is easy to obtain and life is easy as it comes and goes in daily life, fighting against incursions and invasions also upgrades the soul to a higher level. An inner sense of responsibility to protect valued subordinates, relatives and connected friends, in fact to the land and home they love and abide - nothing invokes the sensibilities more than someone from somewhere else intending and conspiring to take them away, or changing them, parting ownership. Hence the rise of heroes (and villains too).

Well, I better stop here. I know I didn’t answer the question. I can’t talk politics. It’s too deep for my knowledge and intelligence, too complicated for me to comprehend or justify, and too sensitive to perhaps suggest any political thought here.

So, coming back to the topic of my babbling -- of imbalances in this world.

We, humans, right now, I dare say, are living precipitously in a world of global imbalance in a specific, rather ghoulish realm that spells disaster of the greatest proportions.

I am talking about imbalances in the military realm, of bullies and the bullied, of advanced nations taking up the unilateral role as judges and policemen of the world, inevitably becoming real bullies of this life.

It is as though this world properly needs rigorous one-sided judgments and policing by any nation, that then begins threatening each and every other nation with a taste of its perceived military strength and might.

This is the state of imbalances inherent in the world today. We have self-assumed leaders of unbalanced mind, bordering on insanity with childish notions of grandeur, with simpleton views of justice, but constituting no less a real threat to the continuity of mankind.

We are all on a sharply precipitous edge, really. Another piece of improper conduct by any self-assumed leader of this world, nay, any childish notions of self-grandeur as I said, and, teng teng teng, the world and human life as we all know it (don’t we all?), will tether on the brink of extinction ourselves.

If we don’t wake up and work continuously to adjust, twist and turn the screws (in all childish heads of adults) to make everything right again, or in short, be wise, we humans may be extinguished forever.

All of us in this generation should learn. Do learn from the Vietnam war, do learn from the Korean war, from the two world wars and from the wars of the Romans, Spartans, Mongols, Greeks and what have you. Do learn the simple truth.

That all wars kill humans.

Ahh, what an incoherent and rather imbalanced babble I’m putting in my blog today. Perhaps someone can make it comprehensible. Or is it already?

Well, never mind. My imbalanced mind today will inevitably balance out those characteristically over-zealous, over-balanced minds that exist every second, minute, hour and day, of life in this world.

Wise up friends, (and me too).

2007-04-08T21:44:00.000-07:00

OF THE BLIND AND THE SIGHTED

I cannot but feel mostly inferior when I see blind men and women. Mostly, though not always.

And I'm motivated by them, especially those with the cane in hand, making their way to somewhere. Home, maybe, or work-place, maybe too, but with a definite purpose. And they walk with a repertoire of songs in their mouths! Joyful of life, cheerful, not whining in regrets or self-pity. Ever met one who doesn't smile when you talk to them?

A case in point. At the shopping mall where my dear wife has her shop, there is a group of blind, (or nowadays called the visually-challenged or visually-impaired) men and women, about five of them, who brings cheer to the place whenever they walk past. They have an outlet in the mall too, rendering reflexology services to the public. I believe they want independence and dignity.

This group of blind people is led by one guy by the name of Hasidi Hassan. We just call him Shidi. Just about less than forty years old, Shidi became blind in both eyes when he was involved in an accident, about ten years ago.

"I knew I would be blind when blood spurted from both my eyes during the accident", he said to me when I asked whether he was born blind. He said it happened after he was returning home from a football (soccer) match. At the time he was employed with PROTON, (the Malaysian national car manufacturer) and he was one of the company's star players. And he played football not only for PROTON, but also with one of the states in Malaysia.

I know without him telling me, that it must have been a terrible time for him, a handsome man with fair complexion, to have lost one of the most important gifts for living a normal life. And when he left PROTON, I could imagine that it was perhaps a year or two of depression and self-whining, regretting an incident for which it had been ordained.

But then Shidi must have known that negativism will get one nowhere. He developed a positive attitude, filled perhaps with the knowledge that the Almighty, the Benevolent, the Merciful, who has taken the gift, will give back to him another gift that is meant only to a few - namely great courage to face life in the future. The gift of indefatigable courage to live life close to normality, just like the other vision-impaired persons in the past or those in the future, who were blessed and gifted and who had shown extraordinary courage in the face of adversity.

Having selected his future undertaking, Shidi was selected to go to China where he learnt the art and science of reflexology and acupuncture in a learning hospital there. After coming back to the country having spent some time practising his skills in China, he got himself accredited and obtained a certificate of proficiency as a masseur certified by the Malaysian Association of the Blind (MAB).

The Almighty in the Glorious Quran had said that he would test men according to their capability and strength. Well, the Almighty had definitely shown to me that Shidi had that extra capability and strength to live his life fully, perhaps better than I, or some other, could ever live, fully sighted.

Me, I cannot but think that I may not be able to do the things he had done, if I had been in his position. Maybe I would have opted to live my life doing nothing but begging, and depending on charity.

That's why I feel inferior in the presence of blind people. They seem so much stronger in living their lives with a great handicap.

The Almighty is All Knowledgeable and all Knowing. He knows what are good to each and everyone of us. So we cannot but be thankful to Him whether in adversity or in prosperity, with or without sight. He knows what He is doing, no question about that. And blessed will be to those who are thankful to Him, for He Blesses those who are patient with adversities.

In the beginning of this blog I said I almost always feel kind of inferior when I see these visually-impaired people. But mostly, not all the time. Because I do not feel inferior when I see those blind ones going round begging or selling cards for donation, accompanied by a fully sighted partner. No, not those beggars. I may sympathise with them, but I don't feel inferior.

I may donate to those who play music on the sidewalks, entertaining all and sundry with their usually heart-rending sad songs. But I think highest of those like Shidi, who prepare themselves for a vocation. Leading very close to an ordinary and normal life except of being not sighted.

In Temerloh, Pahang, there is training center where the visually impaired are taught various skills, including basket weaving and other traditional and local skills. They sell their finely crafted wares at the sunday markets, and to companies and sellers of local handicrafts.

Again I say that I only feel inferior to those like Shidi, who stand up against their adversity and inadequacy with dignity and pride as a human being. Independently making money by taking a job instead of begging and asking for donations.

Yet while in constraints, they still retain that character of a human being, always cheerful, happy and talkative, ever helpful and courteous.

They crack jokes, like once when my dear wife said to him when he was passing her shop, "Wah Shidi, cepat saja jalan"(Wow Shidi, that's a fast walk"). And he replied, "Dah nampak dah" ("Can see already"), although he was poking around with his cane. Really a great pun on words, him seeing or really having memorised the crooked path to his work place, only through his mind.

And sometimes he sings a bit loud while walking, and when someone asked him why he sings so loud while walking, his response is "Nanti orang tak nampak" ("people may not see me"), implying that the sighted ones might bump against him, instead of the other way round, especially around corners. Perhaps this is true as those with good eyesight sometimes move forward but are really groping in the light without looking in front of them.

Well, to people like Shidi, I say "What a life!", being blessed while in adversity. Living life cheerfully.

We never know, but perhaps people like Shidi, unlike the majority of the sighted ones, do not take adversity as a handicap or a failed predicament but just as another path of life, to be fully lived.

This is as it should be. We, the sighted ones, do have lessons to learn from those without sight.

Before I forget, those of you who are in Kuala Lumpur, who would want to meet Shidi, and get a really superb foot, body and other massages (I recommend it), he has his business set up at the following address :

Maju Therapy Zone, Lot No. 41 & 42, Souk Al-TAR, 2nd Floor, Maju Junction Mall, Jalan Sultan Ismail, 50250 Kuala Lumpur.

He can be contacted at 013-364 5541 or 03-2693 3523 for appointments.

Well, life's like that. And life is short. Do make the best of it.

2007-02-27T19:27:00.000-08:00

Live and let live.

A universal motto for all - humans, of course - to live by.

Especially relevant to those living in the fringes of the jungle and forests, where man is not alone. On those land where man shares the earth with animals, fishes, birds, insects, the whole lot of flora and fauna of this world.

Humans have taken thousands of hectares of the animals’ habitats and forests for the sake of development and economic exploitations. And in doing so had upset and destroyed the unique eco-systems and structures of the land.

Let me share a letter written by someone to a local Malay-language newspaper, who penned his opinion based on his life experience living with animals around his orchards, and on the sage advice of his late father. I think it’s worth to put his suggestions here for all to read.

Unfortunately though, I can only recall the gist of the letter, having thrown or misplaced the newspaper cutting I had actually kept somewhere for future reference. But the message, the sage advice and pertinent thoughts he wrote, are concretely etched and retained in my memory, for my having read and re-read the letter for its sheer simplicity and human passion.

If I remember correctly, in essence, the writer suggested ways to combat or live with the animals surrounding the orchard of fruit trees belonging to his family, without having to kill or destroy them or their natural habitats. He suggested that : -

* Fences erected should be built with a wide gap or perimeter, with some distance between the fruit trees planted and the tall trees of the forests, so that they cannot jump or swing from the forest trees to the fruit trees.

* All around the perimeter fences, to hang shirts or clothes (used ones that still retain sweat or body odor) on the fences because the animals will steer away from the area when they smell the odor of humans.

* On the sides of the fruit trees to swipe a little swab of bar soaps to dissuade wild boars from damaging the trees.

* Whenever the wild monkeys congregate or gather at one place, to light up fire- crackers on high poles or trees, the sounds of which will scare them away. The sound will also scare away squirrels and other pest like bats and birds from the area.

Well, it has been known that the use of guns to kill animals are not really effective, and may also endanger humans when the targets or pellets go astray and especially dangerous when shooting during dark hours and at night.

Of course the welfare of the farmers and orchard owners should also be taken into account when deciding on ways to counter-act against wild animals. The Wildlife and Game Department should also make sure that these animals are scattered and spread out in the forests.

The Department should ensure that the jungle animals should not be concentrated at just an area near the lands of farmers that will cause economic ruin, and consequently creating anger of farmers that could lead to their killing in the name of pests.

Shooting the animals is an inhumane method. It is especially sad when a female monkey who is still milk-feeding her baby is shot. Watch carefully and see that when it has been shot the mother monkey might fall to the ground, but it will climb up again to hug its baby before dying. And of course the baby monkey, without its mother’s milk, will sooner or later die of starvation.
A real pity. Inhumane.

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

Animals are God’s creations, like humans too. We are humans because we have been given innate feelings of compassion, sadness, and a host of others, feelings collectively known as "humane feelings".

But most importantly we have been given intelligence and thinking abilities, with a big brain to use at our disposal and collectively. So we should find and think out alternative ways to live with the animals who are part of this earth, and who I imagine, had helped we humans to extend our live-span through a thoroughly efficient eco-system we ourselves cannot create.

We don’t like to die early too. We like to live longer in this world, just like the animals do, I’m sure.

If we can adopt better ways without resorting to killing the animals, then we will be helping to conserve the existence of other creatures of God in our midst, and helping to restore and preserve the ecosystem, that in the final result, will subsequently help us all.

Whenever we meddle, destroy or disturb the eco-system, then watch out for Mother Nature’s wrath. It is of no use to us having destroyed fruit trees, after we have killed the animals in the jungles.

The state of Pahang is wonderfully blessed with acres and hectares of virgin rainforests and jungles. It is meet that we keep them that way. As years progress, we see a diminishing of these rainforests and jungles, to both necessary and unnecessary development.

What is necessary and what is unnecessary development, all of us humans know inherently, and have the brains to think and determine what’s right. I will leave it at that.

Preserve our wildlife. Civilisation and civilised people are about conserving our invaluable flora and fauna.

Live and let live.

2006-11-15T23:45:00.000-08:00

FEELING POLITICAL

I was in Temerloh, Pahang yesterday, just passing by. It’s the small town where I was born, more than half a century ago.

I love to watch the town grow day by day. Stopped by at the small mosque for zohor prayers, and saw buffaloes grazing on the grass just beside the mosque.

Drove later to town for an ikan patin meal , and watched with awe development of commercial projects, and rows of new shop-lots coming up in middle of the town.

But strangely, today I'm feeling a bit political, just a wee bit though, being always apolitical, the winning stance in life and death.

So I'll just pen something and just let it go for whatever its worth. Even if it’s only two sen. Just to let it get off my mind.

Well it’s about an issue widely published in the country’s newspapers recently.

I’m talking about the two Malay words "Bangsa Malaysia".

So, now I have questions.

* Will Bangsa Malaysia be a reality?

* Can we really move or shove ourselves towards that ideal direction with perfect impunity from social, cultural and religious consequences?

* But most importantly, the end result - does it make for a peaceful, harmonious, prosperous Malaysia?

I don’t know the answers, and I don’t profess to know where to look for the answers.

But from what was published, I read aplenty a mish-mash of ideas and suggestions, and mostly provocations of personal thoughts bordering on racism.

My take on this issue?

Well, it’s great to start from the beginning, and start defining. Not definition of the concept, because I think that’s for the polticians, but of the two words.

Bangsa Malaysia literally means (I think) "Malaysian race", a different ethnic being from what we have now -- Malays, Chinese, Indians, Ibans, Kadazans, etc. It’s a mixture or a cross-breed of the various races making up the citizens of the country.

To really actualize the concept and reality of a whole new set and generation of ethnic beings called "Bangsa Malaysia", it goes without saying that it will naturally has to be effected through none other then the mechanism of progeny and evolution.

And I think this will take a long, long time, even if we start now. It's a sort of creation of a sub-race resembling maybe the phenomena of the Babas of Malacca and the Chitties of Penang.

But will that solve our problem?

No, because now that there is a Bangsa Malaysia, then there are questions arising from the consequences of cross-breeding: -

* What is the official religion of Bangsa Malaysia?

* What is the culture of Bangsa Malaysia?

* Will it be just another of those mish-mash mixture of religion and culture? A rojak race?

I don’t know about other religion, but Islam cannot change. Once a Muslim, you cannot change religion. It’s forever, unchangeable. So now, must all Bangsa Malaysia be Muslims?

Our YAB Deputy Prime Minister said that Bangsa Malaysia is just a state of mind. I agree fully.

I take that to also mean that it is not a unique cross-breed race, but a multi-racial breed forming the Malaysian society, acting, behaving, and producing collective good for the country, thinking Malaysian in whatever they do, and benefiting all and sundry.

Blessed are those who help others and in turn being helped themselves and in the final analysis everyone and all races are protected, and in fact enhanced in all aspects, economically, culturally and socially.

What’s more important than those things? Meat-loaves and roti canai, you say? Ha Ha.

Well, let’s be serious.

So, where does this take me then?

My friends, let me say this. I already see a Bangsa Malaysia, today and everyday.

We are Bangsa Malaysia when we go to the poll stations and vote those we think are best suited for running the country, whatever their race.

We are Bangsa Malaysia when we stand together and cheer our sportsmen and the country during international games and tournaments, when we share their triumphs and victories, and when we share together their grieve and sadness when they fail or falter.

We are Bangsa Malaysia when we understand each other’s culture and respect them fully. And when we visit, participate and enjoy all religious festivals and cultural celebrations, together, without prejudice.

And when we love this land of ours in the company of many others, with the knowledge that the depth, spread and varieties of cultures and religions invariably spice up, and add value to, our daily lives.

We are Bangsa Malaysia when we wake up each morning and we know we have food on the table and we are thankful that we live in a harmonious and prosperous land, not somewhere in a melting pot of hunger and internal strifes.

We are Bangsa Malaysia when we see the sunrise in the east and sunset in the west, and .. (or, err, is it the other way round?)

Ahhh, a sure sign that I should stop babbling on this, especially when I forget which direction the sun sets... ummm ..

So fellow Malaysians, Bangsa Malaysia is already here. It defies definition or ever really needs defining.

An ethnic being or race will always remain one forever.

Someone said that God made man white, yellow, malay, red and black. That's bulls-eye to me. Right on target. Any cross-breeding will definitely still stay within that color spectrum.

Collectively we are and have been a Bangsa Malaysia in mind, thought and spirit, and most of all, in our actions.

And yes, my verbose musings, murmurings and ramblings on this complicated issue won’t ever find the solutions and answers even until the sun sets and rises many times over (umm...still, is it west or east?).

Or the buffaloes in Temerloh town come home to the developed commercial shop-lots (to window-shop).

So, enjoy!

2006-11-12T08:25:00.000-08:00

- HARI RAYA AIDIL FITRI SERIES -

HARI RAYA SONGS AND OLD AGE

I said earlier in the other post that a great singer usually makes a Hari Raya song popular and loveable, ensuring perenniality to the songs. And I did hint or rather suggest that both Datuk Siti Nurhaliza and Mawi get done an unforgettable Hari Raya song to make their names be forever remembered come Hari Raya time.

But as always there’s the odd one out. There’s the Hari Raya song by Aman Shah. He’s no great singer to me and I can’t identify other good songs that he has. That Raya song seems to be the only song that I know or ever remember him sing.

His Raya song, I can’t for the life of me know why, somewhat touches me and, like the lyrics of the song by the Carpenters, puts me high on a pedestal, for no justifiable reason. I don’t share at all the reality of the lyrics, but somehow just his rendition affects my sentiments. Perhaps his unique voice co-incidentally blends nicely with the song.

By the way, have you ever heard your favorite Hari Raya song being sung by someone else?

Well, I have heard some other singer sing a few of my favorite Aidil Fitri songs, but there is no such “festivity” or “melancholic” effect. I find most to be just another of those bland renditions to fill air space.

And most times it does the opposite and the great song gets somewhat spoilt by the new singers.

This may be due to the musical arrangement or the singer’s voice and style of singing. Really, I believe a singer’s personal character or persona plus his rendition either makes or spoils a song.

Maybe that’s why we find there are great singers and the just So – so’s. The great ones put extra feelings in their singing, feel deeply the lyrics, while the So-so’s just belt out loud, no bother, just to finish the song.

The So-so’s may perhaps have tried to put their feelings in the song but then again maybe it’s the knowledge that it’s not their own original song that the end result seems to falter. And because of the song's inextricable identification with the original singer.

Anyway, during the recent Hari Raya, I heard a rather unique exception to the above notion that the old Hari Raya songs cannot be improved upon.

And it was Awie, the rocker, who somehow was able to render what was to me an acceptable, no, rather loveable and smooth, rock version of the Raya song by S. Jibeng. Perhaps his divorce just before Raya brought the right emotions to his rendition.

That’s no mean achievement because to improve on an already popular and established song takes extra effort and profound knowledge of the audience’s preferences.

But then Awie has been on the music scene for about twenty years already. He should know.

An accomplished singer and musician should know how to go about singing other people’s song with finesse.

Ahh, maybe yes, I’m getting older day by day. That means I’m getting more sentimental and easier (but not easily) moved by little emotions. And perhaps become a sort of a nostalgia maniac, sometimes for no reason at all.

Getting older day by day means (self praise now) having more mature thoughts and more experience. And talking about songs generally, one suddenly becomes more discerning.

Old men can perhaps tell whether a song will eventually be popular, evergreen or otherwise, because old men are wise, most times, in the things and issues they have cared or learnt about.

But then I think (just my own thoughts though), maybe most Malays are extra sentimental beings. That’s why they like entertainment, and that is why they are sometimes left behind in some other non-sentimental aspects of life.

But again, what is life if there are no varieties? What is life if we don’t
appreciate having a little entertainment, even if they bring out and fill our life with sadness?

What’s that again? Entertainment that fills us with sadness? Humm.

Ah, varieties are the spice of life – without which not.

Everyone is agreed on that. Right?

Until next time, just my rumblings here ... for those who care to read.

Enjoy.

www.pahang-delights.com - Where adventures, cultures and pleasures come alive.

2006-11-09T19:45:00.000-08:00

- HARI RAYA AIDIL FITRI SERIES -

GREAT SINGERS MAKE THEIR HARI RAYA SONGS GREAT

I mentioned in one of my blogs that some Hari Raya Aidil Fitri songs can move people. Their tunes and lyrics can sometimes inexplicably create feelings of nostalgia and sadness, or feelings of joy and merriment – by just listening to them.

The song sung by Tan Sri P.Ramlee, "Dendang Perantau" has such an effect to those far from home, like my friend I mentioned in the other blog page. Especially to those far from their dearest mum and dad, their brothers and sisters, or their dearest wife or husband and children.

The song will sometimes make a strong person cry, maybe not visible outside but in his heart and mind.

Another Hari Raya song that can make one sad and homesick come Aidil Fitri is the song "Dari Jauh Ku Pohon Maaf" by Sudirman Haji Arshad, or just "Sudi" to his fans. I know of a few friends who did.

The lyrics tell of a traveler, unable to return home for the festive occasion, and so he could only ask for forgiveness from his parents from afar. I bet this song will make those security guards, policemen, or soldiers, and office workers, on duty on Hari Raya day feel lonesome for home. But then sacrifices will have to be made by some for the benefits of the majority.

It is not only the lyrics that can create the sad feelings but perhaps also the singer himself – his voice, his style of singing and sometimes his own persona.

The late S. Jibeng with his perennial Raya song, for instance, is himself blind, and his singing always bring the connotations of someone handicapped by something physical, unable to really enjoy the celebrations like normal people.

With the song carrying that persona of him celebrating a festive occasion with a tinge of melancholy, many people will inevitably or unconsciously associate with the song and the singer himself.

So much for sob songs.

While I'm rambling about popular and great Raya songs, I have to confess that when I first heard the song "Satu Hari Di Hari Raya" by M.Nasir, when it first came out maybe 20 odd years ago, I really hate it.

It was so much different, of a different genre, from the Hari Raya songs of P.Ramlee, Saloma and Fazidah Joned and my other favorites I’m used to at the time.

But then great songs will grow and grow on you, always sounding better and better every year, describing perhaps new dimensions that came to your life. They therefore relate to you, and suddenly the songs that you initially don’t like, become your favorite ones.

In fact this M. Nasir’s song is now one of my "must-listen-to and must-be-played on the air-waves" songs to make my Hari Raya day. It is, to me, a classic "hate-it-at-first-but-later-somehow-love-it" kind of song.

GREAT SINGERS HAVE AT LEAST ONE GREAT, LOVABLE SONG

Perhaps great singers make the songs great. The songs are popular not because of the tune or lyrics but because the singer singing the song makes it so. All the really top popular Malay singers of their time, have at least one perennial Hari Raya song to their name.

P. Ramlee, Saloma, Sudirman and the rest I mentioned previously, have ensured their names will not be forgotten by having a song to be constantly played come the festival.

That’s why I’m still waiting for some great songs from the current popular singers in Malaysia, like Datuk Siti Nurhaliza. I know Datuk Siti Nurhaliza has one or two Hari Raya songs already, but they are just so-so to me, nothing memorable or loveable. She should get a song-writer to compose one great Hari Raya song. Maybe M. Nasir could do this one for her.

And I know Mawi hasn’t made one yet.

Well, I've said it. "Every top popular singer of his/her time must at least produce one great , loveable and perennial Hari Raya song for future generations to remember them by."

So Datuk Siti and Mawi, you heard me.

Enjoy.

Pahang-delights.com - Where adventures, cultures and pleasures come alive.

2006-11-08T19:50:00.000-08:00

-HARI RAYA AIDIL FITRI SERIES-
GREAT SONGS MAKE FOR A DELIGHTFUL HARI RAYA AIDIL FITRI

On the second day of the recent Hari Raya Aidil Fitri celebrations, I found myself alone in Tok Boh’s house in Kuantan, Pahang, when the other family members went visiting the neighbors.

We were all supposed to go to the surrounding houses, but I decided not to, since I was rather tired and my tummy was already filled to the brim after the morning rounds. I mentioned I’ll go round the next day, however.

Making myself cosy on the long sofa, I had the radio switched on, after already been bored with watching television. My head was also soon to be sailing away, really tired. I was looking forward to the ZZZ, zzz's, to refresh myself again.

I remember such activities weren’t that tiring before. But these days tiredness and my body seems to be close friends.

But before my mind could sail away, before the ZZZ, zzz’s overtook me, there were all these Raya songs on the radio, one after another. For no reason, feeling excited by the songs, I got up and started singing and humming the songs I knew.

Well, on the air were the evergreen songs of Aidil Fitri by Tan Sri P.Ramlee, Saloma, Sudirman, Fazidah Joned, Ahmad Jais, Aman Shah, Aishah, M. Nasir, S. Jibeng, Sharifah Aini, and others.

Come to think of it, there really are many Aidil Fitri songs now, although my favorite ones count to only about ten. During my childhood days, I remember there were only the songs by Saloma, P.Ramlee and Fazidah Joned.

To me, the "newer" songs sung by Ahmad Jais, Sudirman, M.Nasir, Aman Shah, Aishah, Sharifah Aini, Rafeah Buang, plus those old "classic" Raya songs, are really the sounds of Hari Raya – evergreen songs that to me will never ever cease to be played on the air-waves over and over again come every Hari Raya Aidl Fitri.

Songs, I dare say, that will never cease unless Hari Raya Aidil Fitri is no more celebrated, and unless those songs also happen to be erased in our minds and from our memories forever. Maybe that will happen later when we get older and our minds and memories start to dysfunction and fade.

I enjoyed listening to the radio that day – the local Kuantan FM, (or is it called Pahang FM?). The songs played were quite a mixture of songs of joy and laughter, happiness, sadness and melancholy.

And they got my mind clicking back on my stored memories of yesteryears.

I remember the first year I started working, I stayed in a terrace house at Taman Gelora in Kuantan with two other bachelor housemates. Jaaffar Latif, from Batu Pahat, Johore was an officer with MIDA, and the other, Mahussin Deris, who hails from Kelantan, a DARA officer. And I was with the Pahang State Development Corporation then.

We were all in fact rookies working in Kuantan, having just graduated, and we all had just obtained our driving licences and bought our own cars.

Well, I still remember that first year of Hari Raya in 1979 because my friend, Mahussin Deris, had made up his mind, although tinge with sadness, not to go back home for the Raya. If I remember correctly, I think he said that it’s not worth the long distance travel back home with only two days of official holidays. His application for additional leaves from the boss was not granted.

Although he sounded really adamant to celebrate Raya in Kuantan at that time, in the end he actually went back home to celebrate.

Well, I was greatly surprised when he told me so after we all came back from Raya, since before Jaaffar and I left Kuantan in the morning of the eve of Raya, it was quite settled that he would be okay alone and will celebrate the Raya with his office friends living in Kuantan.

Relating his change of mind, he said that while alone in his room, listening to the radio, the song "Dendang Perantau" by the late Tan Sri P. Ramlee came on the air. That song really moved him and, rather inexplicably, pangs of nostalgia and homesickness overcame him.

The longing to be home with his mum and siblings was so strong that somehow he gathered courage and immediately packed his bags and drove the more than 6-hours journey that same night. Driving back at a little before midnight, he made it home in the early morning.

Well, even in the early 1980’s there were no highways in the east coast and the roads then were not so good. Driving at night 500 kilometers away to Kelantan was really not advisable, especially for a lone rookie driver with a new car, and with the roads during those days mostly dark and sparsely lighted.

But such is the power of a great Hari Raya song. It can move feelings.

No doubt, every Raya song has some rather nostalgic memory, some unexplained and unique sentimental feeling, to some people.

Sometimes whatever we try to do, the song will bring back memories, recalling some sad, some happy or maybe just plain memories of life during our younger days.

Perhaps for those with great capacity for nostalgia and sentimental feelings, lest you succumb to your emotions, my only obvious advice is for you to refrain from switching on the radios or television during the festival.

And just sleep yourself away... ZZZ, ZZZ, zzz, zzz ...

Enjoy.

www.pahang-delights.com where adventures, cultures and pleasures come alive.

2006-11-07T09:29:00.000-08:00

ELEPHANTS AND CROSSINGS

I read with interest today in a daily newspaper about a nine-year-old elephant being hit by a lorry on the East-West Highway in Batu Melintang, Perak. The incident happened while it was crossing the road on October 30, 2006 and the jumbo wounded his leg.

The pachyderm, named Mat Lawar, was later sent to the elephant sanctuary at Kuala Gandah, Pahang (The National Elephant Conservation Center).

The newspaper story also mentioned that it took two hours for the park rangers and two adult female elephants (machyderms?), Cik Mek and Lokimala (what wonderful names) to guide Mat Lawar on to the lorry transporter.

(Well, if I was Mat Lawar myself, I wouldn’t say no to two wonderful females goading me to a sanctuary, right? Because, if I’m really lucky, there could be more females there too ... ah, pardon me, what absurd thoughts.)

The press didn’t mention how big the lorry was, but I believe it will need jumbo trucks or lorries hauled by the likes of a Mercedes or Hino to be able to carry and pull the weight of the jumbo.

Ah, Mat Lawar – I wonder. He must be rather handsome to the female elephants and the park rangers who in their daily jobs, look at faces of jumbos and know the difference between handsome and so-so.

That’s because Mat Lawar doesn’t strike me as "lawa" (handsome) from the newspaper picture of him. Well, I‘ll be kind to him. Maybe, just maybe, it could be that he is not photogenic, and that perhaps he is actually lawa "in person".

And (my theory) maybe that was probably why he got hit in the first place.

This pachyderm’s looks must be so awesome that the lorry driver forgot his driving. Just like the story of the really handsome Prophet Joseph (Yusof), when all the women cut their fingers instead of cutting the foodstuff they were preparing, when he suddenly appeared in the kitchen.

But I know, I know. Actually "Lawar" refers to the nearby village where the jumbo was found. Ah, perhaps the village folks must be lawa (handsome) then.

So, anyone out there -- you young males and females -- anybody, interested? Bother to find out? Any damsels or sirs in distress? You never can know, you might just find your handsome or pretty one (the one in your dreams) living there, in Lawar Village! And he or she is all for your taking. Oh well, just joking.

Anyway, I said "with interest" in the beginning of this blog because I remember reading (maybe a month ago) an article in one of the papers, on how motorists and drivers should behave when faced with elephants on the roads.

I have not driven at any of the highways, or any roads for that matter, where there are favorite crossings of elephants.

The only animals I used to meet during my drives in the rural areas of Pahang during my younger days were just the occasional buffaloes, cows, goats and sheep. Of course, fowls like chickens, geese and ducks were quite normal.

And cows sleeping on the roads at night were prevalent in the olden days and I think they do even now at the more remote kampung areas. Well, animals want their rest, leisure and comforts too, once in a while, at least before humans partake their body meat in their own leisure and comfort. So give them the chance, folks.

Anyway, the advice or guidelines listed on the signboards at the East-West Highway make good and interesting reading to me.

Erected by the Perak Wildlife and National Parks Department, they certainly offer excellent advice to ensure humans don’t’ provoke elephants to become aggressive.

The advice (in Bahasa Malaysia) listed on the signboards erected along the stretch between Grik and Banding (about 160km from Ipoh, Perak) are (my general translation) as follows: -

------------------------------------------------------------------
BEWARE OF ELEPHANTS CROSSING!

1. Don’t honk (or blow your horn)
2. Stop and give way (to the elephants)
3. Do not get out of the vehicle
4. Do not approach the elephants
5. Do not throw objects at them
6. Use a lower light at night

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

Ah, really excellent advice for motorists to ensure their own safety at elephant crossings along the highways. These should be part of the highway courses for learner drivers.

And well, my, my… (I’m getting thoughts of bullies on the city roads in my mind now.) Yes, maybe those are good, pertinent advice also to the human hell-drivers in the cities.

So I say, "DBKL and you Municipal Councils, put up those same signboards in your city roads as well."

And then perhaps, we might see a sharp decline in accidents and road-bullying cases in the cities.

Just PERHAPS...

Enjoy.

http://www.pahang-delights.com - where adventures, pleasures and cultures come alive .

2006-09-20T08:42:00.000-07:00

My first Blog

Welcome to the first of my blog journal. Or rather, transcription of my babbles and chatters on everything under this wonderful universe of ours.

In this blog pages of mine, I will babble on everything under the sun. I will relate and comment on events and non-events, happenings and non-happenings, views and non-views, living and dead things, the past, present and future, whatever.

Never mind my English, or the grammar. English's not my mother tongue or my first language. You understand what I say, anyway.

Well, my own blog site. Cool, is how I feel.

Never knew how to do it until now. But it matters not. Life is short. We have to make the best of it.

Otherwise, who'll make the best of my life if it isn't me. I don't expect anybody else, not even my own wife, children, best friends, uncle or auntie, 'cos I am irrelevant to them, and they have their own lives to think about.

Life is about "me", not "you" or "them". And I want to do whatever I want. Of course within limits.

The same goes to them, or you who is reading this. My advice is, make the best of your own life.

You own it, you decide what you want to do with it.

"Life is short. Make the best of it." Somebody said those words, and I can't remember who.

But those words are true.

Life is indeed short. In the old , ancient days, man did live to a thousand years. And they are as comparatively big, like the dinosaurs.

But man today will only live at the most to 130 years, and then it's good-bye forever.

The many extra-long graves still found today, dispersed in various parts of the world are evidences of how tall ancient man were. Fifteen to twenty feet long graves are common.

But are tall men as clever or intelligent as the shorter ones today?

Well, to me the man of yesterday and the man of today are still the same.

The only difference is - only those who know and understand the greatness of God are the intelligent ones.

Others have second tier intelligence, or to be direct, stupid and ignorant.

Those who kneel and prostrate to God, the Creator, are the intelligent, clever ones, because life is not just on Earth.

Life on Earth is something temporal, a short destination where tests are given, to determine one's prominence after life.

Unlike death, which is permanent.

People ask, where do we actually go after death?

Cremated into dusts, eaten by worms and left only with bones, where do we go then? A special place in the universe? Or deep inside Earth itself? Or free like the bubbles in the water and clouds in the sky?

Emm,(it's late) the babble on this in a later blog, when inspirations come alive.

See ye.

Pahang-delights.com -- where adventures, pleasures and cultures come alive.