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KOMUNITI KEDAYAN MALAYSIA (KKM) KINI KOMUNITI KEDAYAN SEJAGAT (KKS)

2009-11-28T12:11:00.011+08:00

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KOMUNITI KEDAYAN MALAYSIA KINI KOMUNITI KEDAYAN SEJAGAT

Paadian Sabran Mamit semasa di Kuala Lumpur

Paadian Sabran Mamit (kiri) dan Abdul Samat Kasah semasa perjumpaan di Kuala Lumpur pada Sabtu, November 21, 2009

Pengasas Komuniti Kedayan Malaysia (KKM) telah sebulat suara bersetuju untuk menukar nama KKM ke Komuniti Kedayan Sejagat (KKS). Langkah ini adalah bertujuan untuk menterjemahkan semangat “PAADIAN” dikalangan bangsa Kedayan yang majoritinya bermastautin sebagai penduduk asal kepulauan Borneo.

Kepulauan Borneo yang terdiri dari tiga buah negara berbeza tetapi rata-rata mempunyai bangsa dan budaya yang sama. Salah satu bangsa yang terdapat diketiga-tiga negara tersebut ialah bangsa Kedayan. Bangsa Kedayan terdapat di Malaysia (Sabah & Sarawak), Negara Brunei Darusalam dan Indonesia (Kalimantan). Oleh yang demikian pertukaran nama dari Komuniti Kedayan Malaysia ke Komuniti Kedayan Sejagat lebih menepati hasrat dan aspirsi komuniti siber Kedayan untuk berinteraksi dan berkomunikasi melampaui batas kewarganegaraan dan kenegaraan tetapi atas dasar semangat “PAADIAN”. Semangat “PAADIAN” yang kental dan tidak pernah terganggu gugat berkurun lamanya dikalangan bangsa Kedayan dan sewajarnya dipelihara dan dipupuk demi generasi mendatang.

Inisiatif ini merupakan julung-kalinya diketengahkan dalam bentuk dan format yang menepati perkembangan teknologi internet yang tidak syak lagi menjadi paksi dalam mencapai objektif pengwujudan Komuniti Kedayan Sejagat. Teknologi internet amat berkuasa dan mampu untuk mencipta jaringan bangsa Kedayan yang sebelum ini tidak terlintas difikiran kita. Sesiapa juga yang menyertai jaringan KKS akan mempelajari sesuatu yang baru setiap hari khususnya dari aspek bahasa. Selama ini kita mengambil pendirian mudah bahawa bangsa Kedayan mempunyai bahasa yang sama walaupun dimana mereka berada. Namun setelah menyertai jaringan KKS, persepsi tersebut agak meleset kerana terdapat perbezaan ungkapan kata-kata yang ketara diantara Kedayan Sarawak, Sabah dan Negara Brunei Darusalam. Lebih menakjubkan terdapat beberapa nama benda yang begitu mudah dan senang difahami oleh Kedayan dari Sipitang tetapi tidak diketahui oleh Kedayan dari Limbang! Demikian juga halnya dengan beberapa ungkapan kata-kata yang selama ini digunakan oleh masyarakat Kedayan di Sarawak dan ungkapan kata-kata tersebut telah diterima pakai sebagai bahasa Kedayan walhal sebenarnya ialah perkataan dari Bahasa Brunei. Namun begitu setelah dijelaskan kepada mereka bahawa ungkapan kata-kata tersebut adalah Bahasa Brunei, mereka menerima dengan hati terbuka dan saya melihat penggunaan ungkapan kata-kata Kedayan asli telah mula digunakan secara meluas di dalam jaringan KKS.

Apabila anda berada di jaringan KKS, anda seolah-olah berhadapan dengan “paadian-paadian” dari tempat yang berbeza dan hanya mengambil beberapa saat sahaja untuk dapat berbual mesra diantara satu dengan lain. Inilah semangat “PAADIAN” bangsa Kedayan dan apabila ianya disokong oleh teknologi internet, terciptalah satu penyatuan yang kukuh melampaui batas negara dan kewarganegaraan!

Topik-topik yang dibincangkan didalam jaringan KKS adalah bebas dan tidak terbatas kepada perkara-perkara berkaitan bahasa dan budaya sahaja, asalkan ianya dibincang dengan cara yang berhemah dan tidak menyentuh sensitiviti kaum atau bangsa lain. Saya sendiri memerhatikan secara dekat dan berinteraksi dengan peserta jaringan KKS dan saya dapati tahap intelek dan kematangan mereka adalah amat tinggi. Rata-rata meraka berumur dibawah 30an dan berpendidikan tinggi. Malah terdapat beberapa peserta yang telah memiliki Ijazah Sarjana (Masters degree) dan terdapat juga yang sedang dan bakal mengikuti program Doktor Falsafah di IPTA tersohor negara kita. Inilah rupabentuk dan lanskap bangsa Kedayan yang bakal menerajui dan menghidup kembali warisan bangsa Kedayan.

Pengasas jaringan KKS amat mengharapkan penyertaan aktif bangsa Kedayan dari Kalimantan dan Negara Brunei Darussalam. Disamping itu pihak kami di KKS menyeru kepada pelajar-pelajar Kedayan dan komuniti professional Kedayan dalam dan luar negara untuk menyertai jaringan ini atas nama Bangsa Kedayan dan semangat “PAADIAN” yang amat kita cintai ini.

SELAMAT MENYERTAI KOMUNITI KEDAYAN SEJAGAT.

STRYDER BuddyZ Adventure Sports Recreational

2009-11-13T00:02:00.012+08:00

You're also welcome to visit my other blogs http://itsurday.blogspot.com/ and http://simply-kedayan.weebly.com/

Kepada anda yang berminat dengan sukan ekstrem (adrenaline rush) seperti water rafting, climbing, scuba diving, paintball dan sebagainya, sila lawat STRYDER BuddyZ Adventure Sports Recreational di Facebook. Taip Stryder dalam "search" di Facebook dan klik STRYDER BuddyZ Adventure Sports Recreational. Syarikat ini menawarkan pakej-pakej istimewa untuk yang berminat.

Aktiviti akan datang ialah Stryder Buddyz - Paintball Scenario @ Paintball Valley. Butir butir lanjut adalah seperti berikut: -

Host: STRYDER BuddyZ Adventure Sports Recreational
Network: Global
Date: Saturday, December 5, 2009
Time: 11:00am - 2:00pm
Location: Paintball Valley, Taman Pertanian Malaysia
Street: Jalan Liku 8/1, Seksyen 8
City/Town: Shah Alam, Malaysia

Butiran lanjut boleh di dapati di Facebook STRYDER BuddyZ Adventure Sports Recreational.

Pengasas STRYDER BuddyZ Adventure Sports Recreational Muhammad Afzali bin Abd Samat (kiri) dan Syed Zahidi Al-Edros

Company Information

Taking into account the features of a strider, we at Stryder Enterprise offers and welcome anyone who requires a quick adrenalin rush through adventure sports and recreational. To stride above water, under water or some where in between.

Established as soon as we signed up with SSM on 26 November 2008, we have adamantly been proposing out to our friends, families and every other means of communication, to join us in our journey to healthy living and living life to the fullest.

We seek to understand and respect our client's ( Whom We Call Buddies ) unique abilities and the search for uniqueness or simply just to be one with nature.

Our Company has been meticulously built with adrenaline junkies who have got nothing better to do but to have FUN, responsibly! We are serious when it comes to having fun.

Website: Please click here.

KOMUNITI KEDAYAN MALAYSIA DI FACEBOOK

2009-11-10T14:37:00.014+08:00

You're also welcome to visit my other blogs http://itsurday.blogspot.com/ and http://simply-kedayan.weebly.com/

'Snap shot' muka hadapan Komuniti Kedayan Malaysia

Generasi muda Kedayan yang terdiri dari Sabran Mamit (creator), Julie Zuliana
(Perhubungan Lahad Datu), Salim Mamit (Perhubungan Subang, Selangor), Rosdi Kamis
(Perhubungan Kota Kinabalu), Siti Shaefaridah Bte Suhaili (Perhubungan Kuala Lumpur)
Aslina Juti (Perhubungan Terengganu), Maimon Semion (Perhubungan Seremban)telah merintis sistem interaksi social melalui Facebook yang bertajuk KOMUNITI KEDAYAN MALAYSIA (KKM). Tahniah saya ucapkan kepada mereka kerana berjaya mengwujudkan KKM dan saya dapati amat popular dikalangan komuniti Kedayan di seluruh Malaysia dan Brunei Darussalam.

Sabran Mamit (creator)

Julie Zuliana (Perhubungan Lahad Datu)

Salim Mamit ( Perhubungan Subang, Selangor)

Rosdi Kamis (Perhubungan Kota Kinabalu)

Siti Shaefaridah Bte Suhaili (Perhubungan Kuala Lumpur)

Aslina Juti (Perhubungan Terengganu)

Maimon Semion (Perhubungan Seremban)

Kepada anak Kedayan, keturunan Kedayan dan sesiapa saja yang berminat untuk menyertai komuniti ini sila daftarkan diri sekarang. Bahasa utama yang digunakan ialah Bahasa Kedayan. Hidup Kedayan!

Untuk akses anda perlu ada akaun Facebook dan taip Kedayan didalam ruang "search" atau klik disini.

BAHASA KEDAYAN AKAN PUPUS DALAM TAHUN 2100?

2009-11-08T20:26:00.011+08:00

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BAHASA KEDAYAN AKAN PUPUS DALAM TAHUN 2100?

BAHAGIAN 1

Benarkah Bahasa Kedayan akan pupus dalam tahun 2100? Berdasarkan kepada anggaran yang dibuat oleh pakar-pakar bahasa diantara 3,400 hingga 6.120 bahasa akan pupus diambang tahun 2100, satu statistik yang lebih suram dari anggaran biasa ia itu lebih kurang satu “kematian” bahasa dalam tempoh dua minggu.

Kenyataan tersebut amat menggerunkan dimana berdasarkan kepada ciri-ciri Bahasa Kedayan pada masa kini, berkemungkinan besar bahasa tersebut akan tergolong didalam kelompok yang disebutkan diatas. Bagi sesetengah orang Kedayan, soal kepupusan bahasa ibunda bangsa Kedayan tidak perlu dirisaukan kerana tahun 2100 lama lagi dan sudah tentu kita yang hidup dialaf ini pastinya tidak akan menyaksikan kepupusan bahasa ibunda tercinta ini. Jangan tia diingau akan tu wang, batah lagi tahun 2100 atu. Oang patuhaan macam kita anie tantu inda sampai hidup sampai tahun 2100. Palis-palis kauja dangan.

Namun begitu saya yakin para aktivis bahasa dan bangsa Kedayan sama ada di Sabah, Sarawak dan Negara Brunei Darussalam tentunya berasa gusar apabila bahasa ibunda yang dipertuturkan setiap hari di kampong-kampong Kedayan, di pasar-pasar Kedayan dan di kedai kopi Kedayan akan pupus dalam tempoh masa 90 tahun dari sekarang.

Saya cuba dengan sedaya upaya saya untuk merungkai permasalahan ini didalam artikal bertajuk BAHASA KEDAYAN AKAN PUPUS DALAM TAHUN 2100? yang akan saya bahagikan kepada tiga bahagian kesemuanya. Harapan saya ialah akan wujud kesedaran dikalangan anak bangsa Kedayan untuk membentuk strategi-strategi tertentu demi bahasa ibunda tercinta ini agar ianya tidak pupus ditelan zaman.

Sebagai mukadimah, saya perturunkan sebuah artikal yang saya rasa berwibawa dipetik dari laman web Global Policy Forum bertajuk “Many World Languages on Brink of Extinction, U.N. Says.“ Artikal ini ditulis oleh Darlene Superville, Associated Press bertarikh Jun 19, 2001.

Terlebih dahulu saya memohon maaf sekiranya alihbahasa yang saya buat sendiri tidak menepati teks asal artikal berkenaan. Sekiranya terdapat alihbahasa yang kurang jelas, sila rujuk kepada teks asal yang urlnya saya sediakan. Selamat membaca.

“Many World Languages on Brink of Extinction, U.N. Says.“

Oleh Darlene Superville
Associated Press
June 19 , 2001
Alihbahasa : A.S. Kasah

Berumur 83 tahun, Marie Smith mempunyai ramai kawan. Malangnya semua sudah tiada lagi untuk dia berbual bicara didalam bahasa ibundanya. Dia adalah insan terakhir yang boleh bertutur Eyak, satu bahasa asli di Alaska dan dijangka akan pupus setelah Smith meninggal dunia.

“Bersendirian adalah amat menggerunkan,” dia memberitahu The Associated Press hari Isnin. “Saya mempunyai ramai kawan. Saya mempunyai ramai anak namun saya tidak mempunyai sesiapa untuk bertutur didalam bahasa Eyak”.

Eyak bukanlah satu-satunya bahasa yang mempunyai masa depan yang suram. Dikalangan 6,800 bahasa pertuturan dunia, separuh hingga 90% akan mengalami kepupusan pada akhir kurun ini, demikian ramalan pakar-pakar bahasa. Mengikut Worldwatch Institute, sebuah organisasi yang memantau trend global, salah satu sebab ialah separuh dari bahasa-bahasa tersebut hanya dikuasai atau dipertuturkan oleh kurang dari 2,500 orang setiap satu.

Bahasa memerlukan sekurang-kurangnya 100,000 penutur untuk dapat bertahan dialaf ini, ujar UNESCO, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. Peperangan dan penghapusan bangsa / ethik (genocide) atau pembunuhan kaum, bencana alam, penerimaan bahasa-bahasa dominan seperti Bahasa Cina dan Russia, dan pengharaman / larangan pihak pemerintah terhadap sesuatu bahasa juga menyumbang keatas kepupusan bahasa-bahasa tersebut. “Didalam hal ini ia hampir sama dengan ancaman yang melanda spesies,” ujar Payal Sampat, seorang penyelidik Worldwatch yang menulis tentang isu ini didalam majalah institut berkenaan bagi bulan May – Jun.

Udihe dan Arikapu, yang masing-masing ditutur di Siberia dan hutan belantara Amazon, adalah diantara bahasa-bahasa yang tergolong didalam bahaya. Dari lebih kurang 100 orang penutur Udihe dan Arikapu, kini telah berkurangan kepada enam penutur terakhir, ujar Worldwatch. Pakar-pakar bahasa juga telah mengesahkan bahawa Smith adalah penutur Eyak terakhir yang diketahui.

Adalah sesuatu yang amat menyusahkan untuk mendapatkan orang yang boleh mengucapkan “terima kasih” didalam bahasa Navajo dari kalangan suku-kaum American Indian (ahehee), “hello” didalam bahasa Maori (kia ora), atau “Me na vyn cows Sawsnak!” (I will not speak English!) didalam bahasa Cornish.

Riak dari kehilangan (sesuatu bahasa) tersebut memberi kesan merentasi batas komuniti yang terlibat. Apabila sesuatu bahasa pupus, pakar bahasa, ahli antropologi dan yang lain akan kehilangan sumber bahan yang kaya untuk bahan kajian mereka mendokumenkan sejarah bangsa, mengkaji apa yang mereka ketahui dan menjejaki pergerakan mereka. Secara umumnya dunia akan mengalami kekurangan kepelbagaian bahasa.

Pada bulan Januari, gempa bumi di barat India telah mengorbankan lebih kurang 30,000 penutur Kutchi, dan sekarang hanya tinggal 770,000. Manx, dari Isle of Man di Lautan Irish, telah lenyap pada tahun 1974 apabila penutur terakhirnya meninggal dunia. Dalam tahun 1992, meninggalnya seorang peladang Turkey adalah noktah bagi Ubykh, bahasa dari kawasan Caucasus yang memiliki konsonan terbanyak pernah direkodkan didalam sesuatu bahasa berjumlah 81 kesemuanya. Terdapat 8 buah negara yang menyumbang lebih dari separuh dari semua bahasa. Negara-negara berkenaan, mengikut susunan ialah Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, Nigeria, India, Mexico, Cameroon, Australia dan Barzil.

Kepupusan bahasa-bahasa tersebut bukannya perkara baharu; ribuan bahasa dikhuatiri telah pupus. “Perkara yang ketara ialah pada masa ini ianya berlaku dengan kadar yang amat membimbangkan,” ujar Megan Crowhurst, pengerusi ahli jawatkuasa Linguistic Society of America bagi bahasa-bahasa diambang kepupusan. Pakar-pakar bahasa percaya diantara 3,400 hingga 6.120 bahasa akan pupus diambang tahun 2100, satu statistic yang lebih suram dari anggaran biasa ia itu lebih kurang satu “kematian” bahasa dalam temph dua minggu.

Tetapi terdapat beberapa bahasa yang hidup semula dari kepupusan. Pada tahun 1983, penduduk Hawaii telah mengwujudkan ‘Aha Punana Leo bertujuan untuk memperkenalkan semula bahasa ibunda mereka di negeri tersebut, termasuk sekolah-sekolah umum. Bahasa Hawaii hampir-hampir pupus setelah Amerika Syarikat mengharamkan sekolah-sekolah mengajar bahasa berkenaan kepada pelajar-pekajar mereka setelah merampas negeri tersebut pada tahun 1898. ‘Aha Punana Leo, yang bermakna “sarang bahasa (language nest)” telah diperkenalkan semula di peringkat pra-sekolah dalam tahun 1984, diikuti dengan sekolah menengah yang berhasil melahirkan graduan-graduan perintis dalam Bahasa Hawaii dalam tahun 1999. Sekarang terdapat diantara 7,000 hingga 10,000 orang Hawaii boleh bertutur bahasa ibunda mereka berbanding dengan kurang dari 1,000 orang dalam tahun 1983, ujar Luahiwa Namahoe, jurucakap organisasi tersebut.

“Kami hanya mahu Bahasa Hawaii dikembalikan ditempat asalnya,” jelas Namahoe. “Kalau anda tidak boleh bertutur disini, dimana lagi?”

Ditempat-tempat lain, usaha sedang giat dilaksanakan untuk menghidupkan Cornish, bahasa penduduk Cornwall, England, yang dipercayai telah pupus disekitar tahun 1777, demikian juga halnya dengan bahasa-bahasa Mayan purba di Mexico.

Dalam tempoh satu abad kebelakangan ini, Hebrew berkembang dari bahasa tulisan ke bahasa lisan yang dituturkan oleh 5 juta orang penduduk Isreal. Inisiatif-inisiatif lain untuk menghidupkan Welsh, Navajo, Maori New Zealand dan bahasa-bahasa lain yang berasal dari Botswana.

Pemerintah boleh membantu dengan menghapuskan larangan terhadap sesuatu bahasa, dan kanak-kanak wajar diberi galakan untuk bertutur bahasa-bahasa lain sebagai tambahan kepada bahasa ibunda mereka, ujar Sampat dari Worldwatch, yang juga fasih berbahasa Perancis dan Sepanyol dan dibesarkan bertutur dalam bahasa-bahasa India seperti Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati dan Kutchi.

Bersambung.....

Sumber : Sila klik disini.

ANAK KEDAYAN IN THE IRONMAN RACE

2009-10-08T15:23:00.097+08:00

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ANAK KEDAYAN IN THE IRONMAN RACE

Fadhli (Lee) Khairon bin Abd Samat

The inaugural Ironman 70.3 Putrajaya triathlon race was held Sunday, October 4, 2009 at Putrajaya. The race consists of 1.8km swim, 90.1km cycle and 21.1km run. It is one of the toughest competition on earth where human strengths i.e physical and mental are put to test to the maximum.

The Inaugural Ironman 70.3 Putrajaya draws huge participants from all over the world and amongst them is a Kedayan, Fadhli Khairon bin Abd Samat, 24 from Malaysia.

Fadhli at the Finish Line - Ubo Robert Weitz, relay participant(2nd from left) #294 is a great motivator for Fadhli. Fadhli was in the verge of "mental breakdown" towards the end of the race until the kind lady came to the rescue, giving him the motivation to finish the race. According to Fadhli, his physical agility was superb but his mental ability was letting him down. The biggest blunder in any sport is the mental ability to sustain performance. Thank you very much Ms Ubo Robert Weitz for your kindness.

Ms Ubo Robert Weitz and his family are seen escorting Fadhli to the Finish Line. Great lady!

This is Fadhli's first participation in the Ironman triathlon, although he had participated in numerous Malaysian cycling circuits in the past three years. According to Fadhli, "It is the true test of endurance and only those who are physically and mentally prepared would finish the race."

The Swim (1.8 KM)

The cycle (90.1 KM)

The Run (21.1 KM)

The total distance for swim, cycle and run is 113 kilometres. I was a long distance runner (10,000 metres) during my school days but not 113 kilometres!

I have the honour to share with the readers some of the images in and around the inaugural Ironman 70.3 Putrajaya triathlon race. Enjoy them.

Lake and Pullman Hotel (right) at dawn

Fadhli before the race

Elicia bt Abdullah (left) and Fadhli

Waiting to be numbered

Numbering in progress

From left - Fadhli, Esmenn and Elicia

From left - Elicia, Chow, Fadhli and Esmenn, parading numbers

Warming-up

From left - Elicia, Fadhli and Esmenn

From left - Esmenn, Fadhli and Elicia

Fadhli, Esmenn and other participants

Fadhli and the other participants

Participants

Spectators (Toasts for breakfast)

Water Boys / Girls

Elicia Abdullah nearing the finish line.

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SELAMAT HARI RAYA AIDIL FITRI. MINAL AIDZIN WAL FAIDZIN

2009-09-17T11:34:00.010+08:00

Dalam kerendahan hati ada ketinggian budi. Dalam kemiskinan harta ada kekayaan jiwa. Dalam kelembutan lidah ada juga keterlanjuran kata. Dalam gurau dan senda ada khilaf dan dosa. MOHON AMPUN DAN MAAF DI ATAS SEGALANYA. EID MUBARAK.

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Latar belakang Sejarah Kaum Kedayan di Sabah

2009-09-10T10:17:00.002+08:00

Artikal berkenaan boleh didapati sekarang. Sila klik disini untuk mendapatkannya. - Blog Administrator

LATARBELAKANG SEJARAH KAUM KEDAYAN DI SABAH

2009-09-05T09:23:00.010+08:00

Saya amat teruja membaca artikal yang saya perolehi dari http://www.slideshare.net/nautica08/kedayan#postComment bertajuk Latarbelakang Sejarah Kaum Kedayan di Sabah yang saya sendiri tidak pasti penulis asal artikal berkenaan (Izyan Bakar???). Saya juga amat sukacita sekiranya penulis asal artikal ini dapat menghubungi saya secara peribadi (email) atau melalui ruang komen tersedia kerana saya mempunyai banyak artikal-artikal / dokumen-dokumen dari sahabat-sahabat sebangsa di Negara Brunei D.S. berkaitan sejarah Kedayan. Artikal / dokumen berkenaan tidak dapat saya "proses" disebabkan saya tidak mempunyai kepakaran dibidang berkenaan. Saya boleh dihubungi melalui email askasah@gmail.com.

Pada hemat saya inilah satu-satunya artikal yang berasaskan kajian ilmiah berkaitan sukukaum Kedayan di Sabah yang pernah saya ketahui. Mungkin ada lagi tulisan / karya / tesis yang seumpamanya yang masih belum diketengahkan untuk bacaan / tatapan umum, namun demikian sehingga perkara itu berlaku saya secara peribadi ingin mengucapkan syabas dan tahniah kepada penulis artikal ini yang telah berjaya menghasilkan sebuah kajian yang terperinci berkaitan sejarah kaum Kedayan di Sabah.

Saya juga ingin mengucapkan terimakasih kepada izyan bakar yang bermurah hati menyediakan html code bagi kemudahan embed artikal berkenaan.

Sebelum saya mengulas dengan lebih lanjut mengenai artikal ini, saya terlebih dahulu ingin memberi peluang kepada pembaca / pelawat setia blog ini meneliti semua fakta yang terdapat di dalam artikal berkenaan sepertimana yang dipaparkan dibawah ini. Sila hantar komen-komen anda (jika ada)untuk tatapan bersama. - Blog Administrator

MAKLUMAN - [This document has been removed and is no longer available.] Demikian bunyi mesej apabila anda klik URL di atas. Begitupun, saya akan usahakan agar dokumen tersebut dapat kembali ke blog ini dalam kadar yang segera. Harap maaf. - Blog Administrator

Lets Read The Quran

2009-09-02T05:57:00.004+08:00

Surah Ali-Imran ayat 19 yang bermaksud, Agama yang benar di sisi Allah ialah Islam (tunduk patuh), dan orang-orang yang diberi al-Kitab tidak berselisih, melainkan setelah pengetahuan datang kepada mereka kerana keangkuhan antara mereka. Dan sesiapa yang tidak percaya kepada ayat-ayat Allah, maka sesungguhnya Allah cepat membuat perhitungan. 3:19
(berselisih kerana angkuh; tidak percaya kepada ayat-ayat Allah)

Surah Ali-Imran ayat 85 yang bermaksud, Sesiapa mencari agama selain daripada Islam, ia tidak akan diterima daripadanya, dan di akhirat dia adalah antara orang-orang yang rugi. 3:85

ANUGERAH ILAHI TERISTIMEWA DI BULAN RAMADAN AL-MUBARAK

2009-08-29T10:05:00.028+08:00

Firman Allah SWT di dalam Surah Al-Baqarah Ayat 128 yang bermaksud, Wahai Tuhan kami! Jadikanlah kami berdua: Orang-orang Islam (yang berserah diri) kepadaMu dan jadikanlah daripada keturunan kami: Umat Islam (yang berserah diri) kepadamu dan tunjukkanlah kepada kami syariat dan cara-cara ibadat kami dan terimalah taubat kami, sesungguhnya Engkaulah Maha Penerima taubat, lagi Maha Mengasihani. 2:128

Rasulullah SAW pernah bersabda yang bermaksud: Apabila seorang anak Adam (manusia) meninggal dunia, maka akan terputuslah pahala segala amalannya melainkan pahala tiga amalan salih, iaitu sedekah jariah, ilmu yang bermanfaat dan anak salih yang mendoakan orang tuanya. (Hadis riwayat Muslim)

Gambar ini diambil diluar cermin tingkap bilik bayi. Pantulan cahaya menyebabkan warna tidak sekata dibahagian kepala bayi.

Tag bayi

Dua orang "atuk" yang amat teruja.

YBhg Dato Dr Siti Zaliha, Obstetrician in attendance

"Tuha tahku asanya sudah bacucu anie. Andangnya sudah tuha bah jua uja dangan, nganya batah bahawu tah bacucu. Tapi jaan jua, hati kakal muda jamu"

ANUGERAH ILAHI TERISTIMEWA DI BULAN RAMADAN AL-MUBARAK

Pagi ini 29 Ogos, 2009 bersamaan 8 Ramadan 1430H jam 03:48 HRS di Subang Jaya Medical Centre lahirlah seorang bayi lelaki seberat 3.06 kg yang masih belum dinamakan semasa blog ini dikemaskini. Kepada anda yang sudah berpengalaman menerima cucu pertama, saya faham perasaan masing-masing pada saat itu yang sukar untuk digambarkan dengan kata-kata. Inilah yang terjadi kepada saya dan isteri serta kedua-dua bisan kami yang masing-masing menanti kelahiran cucu pertama kami.

Anak perempuan kami telah selamat melahirkan seorang bayi lelaki yang sihat seberat 3.06 kg yang telah disempurnakan oleh Obstetrician YBhg Dato Dr Siti Zaliha dan dibantu oleh Paediatrician Dr Sofiah di Subang Jaya Medical Centre.

Saya bagi pihak keluarga ingin mengucapkan ribuan terima kasih kepada YBhg Dato Dr Siti Zaliha dan ahli pasukannya yang telah melaksanakan proses kelahiran tanpa sebarang komplikasi.

Semoga cucu pertama ini dan cucu-cucu yang bakal mendatang akan menjadi anak-anak yang solih dan solehah. Amin.

Sebuah Puisi Indah Nukilan Sdra Hipani Alwi

2009-08-28T15:31:00.009+08:00

Sdra Hipani Alwi
Jurutera Awam
Jabatan Kerja Raya, Mukah.

SEBUAH KAMPUNG, SEJUTA HARAPAN : Kedayan Tiris

Katanya ada sungai yang kontang
langit cerah membelah bumi
ada padi menghempas diri
katanya ada huma penuh sengsara
ada petani tidak kesampaian.

Katanya ada suara kecil terpencil
terjerat antara pohon-pohon
katanya ada janji dikaji
ada suara pada ranting-ranting
ada dendangan angin sembilu
katanya ada serigala memecah sunyi.

Kampung Kedayan Tiris
sebuah kampung sejuta harapan
terpencil di hutan belantara
dihimpit gunung sebelah utara
nafasnya tersekat ditinggal pembangunan
ada janji tinggal kenangan.

Katanya ada bukit yang bangkit
hujan malan membanjiri lurah
ada panggilan memecah sunyi
katanya ada impian penuh harapan
ada mimpi di embun pagi.

Kampung Kedayan Tiris
sebuah kampung kehausan belaian
cuma sungai nadi penggerak
gunung Serawi megah menanti
deru jentolak menolak balak
hasil bumi hanya igauaan
pribumi tersendat kaku dan lesu.

Hipani Alwi
Miri
3.6.1992

Sumber : Sila klik disini.

TAKBIR HARI RAYA

2009-08-26T21:29:00.010+08:00

Hari Raya Aidil Fitri
Sunat bertakbir 1 hari - bermula waktu Maghrib malam 1 Syawal, 'Isyak, Subuh, Dzuhur & 'Asar.
Tamat sebaik masuk maghrib 2 Syawal.

Hari Raya Aidil Adha - Haji - Korban
Sunat bertakbir 4 hari - bermula maghrib 10 Dzulhijjah (malam raya) sehingga hujung asar 13 Dzulhijjah.

Firman Allah: "Dan sempurnakanlah ibadah puasa kamu mengikut bilangan hari dalam bulan Ramadhan (29 atau 30 hari), dan bertakbirlah (membesarkan Allah) atas petunjuk-Nya yang diberikan kepadamu, supaya kamu bersyukur." (AlBaqarah : 185)

Sabda Rasullullah s.a.w. pula: "Hiasilah Hari Raya kamu dengan takbir dan tahmid."

Lafaz Takbir Hari Raya Aidil Fitri & Aidil Adha

Lafaz Takbir Raya

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PANDUAN SEMBAHYANG SUNAT TARAWIH

2009-08-26T20:49:00.007+08:00

Assalamu'alaikum wbt, Saudara Muslimin & Muslimat. Panduan Sembahyang Sunat Tarawih ini dikeluarkan oleh Jabatan Kemajuan Islam Malaysia (Jakim). Sila muat turun / save ke pc atau notebook anda untuk rujukan dimasa hadapan. Selamat beramal.

Muaturun disini ATAU

Sila klik disini, ATAU

Panduan_Sembahyang...

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Discover the Very Unique Brunei's Kedayan Music

2009-08-18T15:13:00.002+08:00

The Kedayan are an ethnic group living in Brunei, and in some parts of Labuan, Sabah and Sarawak among the islands of Borneo. Kedayans have a unique heritage and their culture is as uniquely important to Brunei as its language and music.

Kedayan music is indigenous to the Brunei Malays and is performed by its people especially during special occasions. The music is accompanied by different instruments such as percussions, drums, gongs, and stringed instruments of different forms. The music also goes with ethnic dancers wearing the traditional warrior’s attire.

Kedayan music is both relaxing and fun at the same time. As it is passed from generation to generation, Kedayan music evolved into a more modern and aesthetic music to accommodate the taste of younger generation. Although time has seen its subtle change, it still maintains its original ethnic and traditional melody. Travelers visiting Brunei often come to see the Kedayans and experience their one-of-a-kind music ensembles. This has become one of the mainstream attractions of a visit to Brunei.

The Aduk-aduk dance is performed during special occasions such as weddings, harvest seasons, and other public holidays. It is an entertaining dance to watch, with the colorful attires and the lively music activities. There are dances where the women are grouped together dancing with the men but have a different dance routine altogether. The steps are very easy to follow and most often, tourists and visitors enjoy the rhythm so much that they tend to dance along.
The Kedayan music is indeed a very captivating music to listen to. With the dance and the music, it’s really a captivating event to see in Brunei. Get to feel the Brunei experience when you hear the Bruneian’s Kedayan music. It is more like an interpretative dance, where the natives can express their minds and beliefs through dance and music.

Although Kedayans are known to be a closely-knit community, travelers are always welcome to visit their town where they can learn and discover the life and culture of the Kedayan people by listening and witnessing their own native music. The dance routines and music activities are usually being held at the town’s public parks where it is truly open for the public to see.
The Kedayans are really proud of their music which fascinated the interest of many travelers from around the world. Kedayan music is still being performed in the Kedayan community these days, and a trip here to get the chance on hearing their music would definitely complete a Brunei journey.

Source : Please click here.

Selamat Menjalani Ibadah Puasa

2009-08-16T21:45:00.002+08:00

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ

شَہۡرُ رَمَضَانَ ٱلَّذِىٓ أُنزِلَ فِيهِ ٱلۡقُرۡءَانُ هُدً۬ى لِّلنَّاسِ وَبَيِّنَـٰتٍ۬ مِّنَ ٱلۡهُدَىٰ وَٱلۡفُرۡقَانِ‌ۚ فَمَن شَہِدَ مِنكُمُ ٱلشَّہۡرَ فَلۡيَصُمۡهُ‌ۖ وَمَن ڪَانَ مَرِيضًا أَوۡ عَلَىٰ سَفَرٍ۬ فَعِدَّةٌ۬ مِّنۡ أَيَّامٍ أُخَرَ‌ۗ يُرِيدُ ٱللَّهُ بِڪُمُ ٱلۡيُسۡرَ وَلَا يُرِيدُ بِڪُمُ ٱلۡعُسۡرَ وَلِتُڪۡمِلُواْ ٱلۡعِدَّةَ وَلِتُڪَبِّرُواْ ٱللَّهَ عَلَىٰ مَا هَدَٮٰكُمۡ وَلَعَلَّڪُمۡ تَشۡكُرُونَ

Bulan Ramadan yang padanya Al-Qur'an diturunkan untuk menjadi satu petunjuk bagi manusia, dan sebagai bukti-bukti yang jelas daripada Petunjuk itu, dan Pembeza. Maka hendaklah orang-orang antara kamu yang menyaksikan (hadir) pada bulan itu, berpuasa; dan sesiapa yang sakit, atau dalam perjalanan, maka sebilangan daripada hari-hari yang lain. Allah menghendaki kemudahan bagi kamu, dan tidak menghendaki kesukaran bagi kamu; dan agar kamu mencukupkan bilangan, dan mengagungkan Allah, bahawa Dia telah memberi petunjuk kepada kamu supaya kamu berterima kasih - 2:185

Gambar-gambar Peribadi Pemilik Blog di GATA 2009

2009-08-05T20:27:00.014+08:00

Imej-imej berikut adalah gambar foto pemilik blog bersama-sama dengan sahabat-sahabat yang juga sebahagian dari tenaga penggerak disebalik kejayaan Festival GATA 2009.

Sila klik imej-imej tersebut untuk gambar foto yang lebih besar.

Pemilik blog bersama dengan Sdra Sabri bin Hj Mohd Noh, Pegawai Eksekutif, Sipitang District Council Merangkap AJK Pelaksana Gata Sipitang 2009.

Pemilik blog (tiga dari kiri) bersama dengan Sdra Zulkiflee bin Hj Ahmad (kiri sekali), Penolong Pegawai Pembangunan Daerah Sipitang, Merangkap Penolong Setiausaha AJK Induk dan Setiausaha AJK Pelaksana Gata Sipitang 2009 dan Sdra Maidun bin Hj. Sisak (kanan sekali), Pengacara Gata Sipitang 2009 yang juga merupakan pengacara tersohor di Daerah Sipitang.

Pemilik blog (kiri) bersama dengan Sdra Maidun bin Hj. Sisak

Festival GATA, Sipitang 2009

2009-08-05T17:56:00.010+08:00

Festival GATA, Sipitang 2009 yang telah berlangsung dengan jayanya mulai 31 Julai, 2009 hingga 2 Ogos, 2009 di pekan Sipitang telah memberi banyak maklumat terkini berkaitan pembangunan daerah kelahiran saya yang sekian lama saya tinggalkan. Ini merupakan Festival GATA pertama yang saya kunjungi sejak ianya dianjurkan mulai tahun 2003. Festival GATA dianjurkan setiap dua tahun sekali dan festival seterusnya akan diadakan pada tahun 2011.

Mengimbau kembali dizaman persekolahan saya dalam tahun 50an dan awal 70an, pada masa itu festival sedemikian hanya dikenali sebagai Tamu Besar. Masa berlalu begitu cepat, Festival GATA yang mengambilalih Tamu Besar dengan format dan penampilan yang moden dan segar amat menarik sekali. Saya difahamkan tidak kurang dari 30,000 pengunjung telah membanjiri GATA 2009 yang terdiri dari penduduk setempat, Sarawak, Negara Brunei D.S.dan Kalimantan.

Susuncara GATA 2009 telah disusun sedemikian rupa menepati tema GATA 2009 iaitu "Melestari Warisan Budaya". Pertandingan dan persembahan sukan rakyat iaitu permainan Gasing dan Tarik Tali (Tarik Kalat), persembahan Gambus & seni silat serta makanan tradisi suku-kaum Daerah Sipitang adalah acara-acara utama yang menjadi daya tarikan kepada pengunjung-pengunjung ke festival ini.

"Tag line" GATA 2009 ialah "Daie Sipitang Kuan Biskita" (Dari Sipitang Untuk Anda) merupakan kombinasi tiga dialek utama Daerah Sipitang iaitu Kedayan, Lundayeh / Murut dan Brunei.

Tahniah dan Syabas saya ucapkan kepada Jawatkuasa Induk dan Jawatankuasa Pelaksana yang telah dapat menjayakan Festival GATA, Sipitang 2009 dengan jayanya. Tahniah!

Saya juga berpeluang mengambil gambar kenang-kenangan di Festival GATA 2009, Sipitang untuk tatapan pengunjung blog ini.

Sila klik imej-imej berikut untuk gambar yang lebih besar.

Sila klik disini untuk artikal berkaitan.

GAMBAR SATELIT PEKAN MESAPOL

2009-01-29T21:41:00.003+08:00

Imej berikut saya perolehi dari Google Earth, versi terbaharu. Sebelum daripada ini (versi lama), sebahagian besar Pulau Borneo tidak dapat di lihat dengan jelas kecuali bandar-bandar besar dan tempat-tempat yang menarik. Di dalam versi terbaru Google Earth, sebahagian besar dari bandar dan pekan Negeri Sabah boleh dilihat dengan jelas. Contohnya adalah seperti berikut. Imej ini diambil sebelum dua deret Kedai Mesapol terbakar.

SELAMAT HARI RAYA AIDIL FITRI. MINAL AIDZIN WAL FAIDZIN

2008-09-30T01:21:00.000+08:00

SELAMAT MENUNAIKAN IBADAH PUASA

2008-08-31T17:30:00.003+08:00

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ

In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful

Surah Al-Baqarah Ayat 185

شَہۡرُ رَمَضَانَ ٱلَّذِىٓ أُنزِلَ فِيهِ ٱلۡقُرۡءَانُ هُدً۬ى لِّلنَّاسِ وَبَيِّنَـٰتٍ۬ مِّنَ ٱلۡهُدَىٰ وَٱلۡفُرۡقَانِ‌ۚ فَمَن شَہِدَ مِنكُمُ ٱلشَّہۡرَ فَلۡيَصُمۡهُ‌ۖ وَمَن ڪَانَ مَرِيضًا أَوۡ عَلَىٰ سَفَرٍ۬ فَعِدَّةٌ۬ مِّنۡ أَيَّامٍ أُخَرَ‌ۗ يُرِيدُ ٱللَّهُ بِڪُمُ ٱلۡيُسۡرَ وَلَا يُرِيدُ بِڪُمُ ٱلۡعُسۡرَ وَلِتُڪۡمِلُواْ ٱلۡعِدَّةَ وَلِتُڪَبِّرُواْ ٱللَّهَ عَلَىٰ مَا هَدَٮٰكُمۡ وَلَعَلَّڪُمۡ تَشۡكُرُونَ (١٨٥)

The month of Ramadân in which was revealed the Qur'ân, a guidance for mankind and clear proofs for the guidance and the criterion (between right and wrong). So whoever of you sights (the crescent on the first night of) the month (of Ramadân i.e. is present at his home), he must observe Saum (fasts) that month, and whoever is ill or on a journey, the same number [of days which one did not observe Saum (fasts) must be made up] from other days. Allâh intends for you ease, and He does not want to make things difficult for you. (He wants that you) must complete the same number (of days), and that you must magnify Allâh [i.e. to say Takbîr (Allâhu-Akbar; Allâh is the Most Great) for having guided you so that you may be grateful to Him. – Surah Al-Baqarah Ayat 185

Selamat Menjalani Ibadah Puasa. Semoga Allah SWT menerima puasa dan amalan-amalan lain yang kita tunaikan serta amal kebajikan yang kita lakukan di bulan Al-Mubarak ini. Amin.

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LAUNCHING OF THE MYSTIC OF BORNEO – KADAYAN

2008-06-28T08:50:00.009+08:00

Readers might recall that on November 10, 2007 last year, the above book was featured in Reaping the Benefits. 7 months later, on Thursday, June 26, 2008 the book was officially launched by Sabah's Minister of Tourism, Culture and Environment, Datuk Masidi Manjun in Kota Kinabalu. Congratulations to Sdr Amde Sidik on the launching of his book entitled The Mystic of Borneo – Kadayan.

The author busy obliging requests for his autogaph. From right are Mr Thanda (Amde's teacher), Sindumin Assemblyman Ahmad Bujang and former Senator Isli Siput. (Pix courtesy of http://sikmading.blogspot.com/)

The launching ceremony was held at Sabah Society and attended by prominent Sabah Kadayan leaders amongst them were Y.B. Tuan Hj Ahmad bin Hj Bujang, ADUN Sindumin and Y. Bhg Datuk Hj Isli Hj Siput, ex-Malaysian Senator and a businessman. The presence of Mr G. Thanda, Amde’s former teacher in Government Junior Secondary School (GJSS), Sipitang was a touching moment for Sdr Amde Sidik.

The book is now available at major book stores nationwide and my message to all the Kadayans / Kedayans out there please get a copy. It is about Kadayan / Kedayan and by having a copy in your possession may help our children and the future Kedayan / Kadayan generation to know their root.

Once again I would like to congratulate Sdr Amde Sidik on the launching of his book entitled The Mystic of Borneo – Kadayan. Well done!!!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY

2008-05-11T06:59:00.001+08:00

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SIPITANG IN NATIONAL NEWS

2008-04-29T07:38:00.002+08:00

New Straits Times, Monday, April 28, 2008

'Unsafe camps will be closed'

GUA MUSANG: The National Service Training Department has warned that it would close any of the National Service (NS) camps found to be unsafe for trainees as had been done to the Kubena Camp in Sipitang, Sabah on Wednesday.

Its director-general, Datuk Abdul Hadi Awang Kechil, said the closing of the Kubena Camp was because of a danger of landslides; the 343 trainees there have been moved to other camps in Sabah and Peninsular Malaysia.

He said the camp was ordered to close temporarily to give time to its management to prevent the landslides before the third batch of trainees were taken in.

"We will make inspections and after that, if safety is still unsatisfactory, we will maintain the closure," Abdul Hadi said while visiting NS trainees at the Etnobotani Camp here yesterday.

According to Abdul Hadi, 270 trainees from Sabah and Sarawak and 73 from Peninsular Malaysia were enrolled at the Kubena camp.

"We used a Royal Malaysian Air Force C130 aircraft to transport the 73 back. They were placed in three camps in Selangor." - Bernama

THE NET: TO CUT OR NOT TO CUT?

2008-04-28T17:58:00.006+08:00

Stories by Rozana Sani

Ruby feels the moves taken to censor the Internet are doomed for failure.

Muhamad Akmal says objectionable info can be countered with feedback.

Chan cites learning to recognise what is right or wrong is important.

Abdul Samat thinks that self-censorship is the most practical method.

Internet censorship seems to be gaining momentum as there is growing concern that certain information on the Web could lead to various sensitivities related to religious, moral, social, financial and political issues. Is this a step in the right direction, or another pointless exercise?

Blocking bad vibes

THE online environment where there is a free flow of information contains both good and bad, depending on one’s point of view. Some believe the “bad” content need to be controlled or suppressed from being accessed by the general public to stem negative actions or reactions – hence, the measure to censor the Internet as in the case of Indonesia and France.

Others think censorship of information is futile due to the underlying distributed technology of the Internet. For example, residents of a country that bans certain Web sites can easily find the content on servers outside the country. Hence, the need for other types of measures.

Trained architect, businesswoman and self-confessed serial blogger Ruby Ahmad strongly feels the moves taken to censor the Internet are all doomed for failure.

“We live in a highly wired, interconnected world and I can only think of one way to prevent users from not using the Internet ‘correctly’, and that is by preventing them from buying or using computers,” she said, tongue-in-cheek.

“Unsavoury content is deemed disgusting and unacceptable to some, but is very acceptable to others. It’s like the durian. I heard a food critic described it as perhaps the most revolting thing on earth. But personally, I quite like the D22!

“Law enforcement as an effective way to filter content is only possible if there is a unified global law in place. This is not possible as all countries have their separate agendas, goals, aspirations and other differing reasons,” she continued.

Student Muhamad Akmal Mohammad said rather than rely on content censorship which has technology limitations and inadequacies, a piece of objectionable information can be countered with feedback. This should be done in an intelligent manner, like answering the issues which were expressed by videos in YouTube, by producing videos, or maybe research papers.

“When it comes to sensitive issues, it is normal to see people get angry. It is, in fact, necessary to get angry to show that we are concerned about the issue, but being angry alone won’t help much in dealing with such issues and situations. Speculations arouse because people want to talk about something, but they actually don’t know much about it. Or even if they do know, they only know about it on the surface.

“If we are to provide them with what’s what, how’s how and why’s why regarding the issues they are speculating, we are actually doing two things here: putting a full-stop on the speculation, and spreading the truth. Isn’t that good?” said Muhamad.

For Janet Chan, chief executive officer of interactive marketing specialist Tyraco Sdn Bhd, learning to recognise what is right and what is wrong is the only way to avoid the negative impact of the Internet.

“The Internet, in my opinion, should not be barred as a medium unless it is necessary to keep check and balance of the most precious things on earth – which is life itself,” she shared.

Chan said a person would only know if something is right or wrong when he or she is exposed to, told or learn through experiences. And there is experience in abundance on the Net.

“Sometimes right or wrong can be very subjective in many different cultures on different things. Things could be white for me and white means good and black is considered bad or evil for many. But in some cultures, black means good and brave and white is the other way round, etc. The Internet can provide that kind of exposure for us to learn from different opinions and point of views,” she said.

Meanwhile, blogger Abdul Samat Kasah feels that Net censorship is not a long-term solution pertaining to issues like religion sensitivities, hate speech, pornography, excessive violence, bomb-making instructions, and information about crime, violence and drug use. Self-censorship, he feels, is the most practical method to overcome the woes of restricting or regulating Internet access.

“People would know what is on a particular site if they already knew how to get there. It is their responsibility to make their own decisions as to whether or not this material is appropriate for them. If they feel there is a possibility they might be appalled by this material, they can choose not to view it.

“If people are not sure about this material, or if they are in favour of it, then they take an acceptable risk when they choose to view it. Undoubtedly, this material should not be censored merely because some people cannot make rational decisions for themselves,” he said.

In conclusion, where restricting or regulating Internet access is concerned, Malaysia has to strike a balance where in one hand, we would like to narrow the digital divide and on the other hand, we want to take back what is given, he added.

SELF-REGULATION SHOULD BEGIN AT HOME

IN Malaysia, matters involving objectionable online content is governed by the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 (CMA ‘98) that covers the main areas for electronic content issues. There is also the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Content Code (Content Code), enforced by the Communications and Multimedia Content Forum of Malaysia (CMCF), covering the do’s and don’t’s that is to be adhered to by the communications and multimedia industry.

According to CMCF’s executive director Mohd Mustaffa Fazil Mohd Abdan, the body had received several complaints on issues over Internet content that took various forms in the past.

Where complaints were of a seditious nature, inciting racial disharmony or in any other form that contravenes the provisions of the Act that is further expanded by the Content Code, the CMCF will take the necessary action via its Complaints Bureau.

“Through the bureau, appropriate actions may be taken by either the CMCF itself or the case may be referred to the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), or even the complainant may be advised to lodge a police report if need be. We may also liaise with our members who are specialists in the industry to advise and implement any action to be taken,” he said.

“As the public may be unaware of our role, the number of complaints received have not been immense. However, we hope to change this through future awareness programmes,” he added.

Mohd Mustaffa said the CMCF is a strong proponent of having “self-regulation” in place for the industry.

“As we are the designated body for industry self-regulation, we continuously urge the industry and members of the public to exercise it. The key to self-regulation is that it begins at home,” he stressed.

As for the content, whether it may be “savoury” or “unsavoury”, it may be accessed with considerable ease nowadays. The responsibility to ensure that only desirable content is consumed lies with the individual. An individual should be his or her own moral guardian and to those under their respective care (for instance, children, students, etc).

“This is where the Content Code exists to provide a platform of guidance for the public and industry to determine what kind of content is considered desirable and acceptable,” said Mohd Mustaffa.

Individuals can play his or her part in dealing with “unsavoury” content via self-regulation or by lodging a complaint with the CMCF Complaints Bureau in writing, e-mail to secretariat@cmcf.org.my or filling out the online complaints form available on www.cmcf.org.my.

“In the global sphere, should there be any offences that may be committed abroad and having its effect locally, the CMCF will work with the MCMC as the appropriate body to deal with such issues,” he added.

THE NET: TO CUT OR NOT TO CUT?

2008-04-28T11:08:00.005+08:00

Tech&U Channel of New Straits Times today's edition (Monday, April 28,2008)is featuring an article (cover story) entitled "THE NET: TO CUT OR NOT TO CUT". Several comments by the general public, including my comments are featured inside the article.

The article is written by Tech&U editorial, Rozana Sani. To know more about the contents of the article please get a copy of today's edition of NST newspaper. The full article will be published in this blog tomorrow (Tuesday, April 29, 2008). - Blog Administrator

Comments from Sdr Arkin Hj Garai on SPECIAL TRIBUTE TO LAKUTAN RIVER (MESAPOL RIVER)

2008-03-26T11:37:00.010+08:00

Sdr Arkin Hj Garai

Here is an interesting comment from a friend of mine (pic) which he emailed to me this morning. Thank you so much for his kind attention on my articles published in the blogs. Thank you so much. - Blog Administrator

QUOTE - "Yang kau caaita dalam artikal "Tambuakaa Sungai Mesapol" - ku fikir lebeh sesuai ikan tu di damaii KASILI. Ai ku damit biani kami bajaul di limbauuh sungai di kg Pantai pun sepupu ku luih lauk yg macam uja mu atu cuma damit dikit (macam lamak batis), lauk tu kami galar kasili. Mun tambuakaa ani sandi dikit - ia lebeh merupakan hidupan "jadi-jadian".
Coba kau tanya2 dangan lain.

Nice article. TQ
Arkin" - UNQUOTE

Keeping Kedayan Heritage Alive

2008-03-24T23:12:00.013+08:00

As promised, depicted below is the full article entitled Keeping Kedayan Heritage Alive as featured in Tech&U Channel of New Straits Times on Monday, March 24, 2008. The Blog Administrator wish to express his sincere gratitude to Cik Rozana Sani, Tech&U Editorial for her effort featuring this article in the country's most esteem print media. Thank you. - Blog Administrator

by Rozana Sani

MANY Malaysians would probably draw a blank look if asked whether they know of the Kedayan, even if they have Kedayan blood in their heritage. This is where freelance consultant Abdul Samat Kasah wants to play a role.

A Kedayan by birth, the 54-year-old who resides in Subang Jaya has made it his cause to share and impart what he knows about his cultural heritage through his blog, Fast Forward.

“I come from a minority ethnic group called Kedayan (pronounced as Kadayan in local dialect). The Borneo Island is the ancestral land of the Kedayan,” he shares.

The Kedayan are largely found in Brunei, Sabah, Sarawak and Labuan. The majority of the Kedayan in Sabah are found in Sipitang, Labuan, Beaufort and Papar, whereas in Sarawak they are mostly in Lawas, Limbang, Miri (Sibuti and Bekenu) and a small number in Bintulu.

“There is very little information and resources about the Kedayan people in cyberspace. My blog is one of the few resources available specifically designed to focus on the Kedayan cultural heritage written in a different manner and style. It is narrated in such a way shifts the paradigm from the traditional way of writing articles about cultures and traditions as found in most books,” Abdul Samat tells Tech&U.

Biodata

Abdul Samat Kasah is a true-blooded Kedayan of Sabah origin. He was born in Kampung Mesapol in Sipitang district.

His early education started in 1960 where he attended GPS (Government Primary School) Mesapol. After completing his primary education, he proceeded his secondary education at GJSS (Government Junior Secondary School) Sipitang up to Form 3 and subsequently did Forms 4 and 5 at Sabah College in Kota Kinabalu.

Abdul Samat is an electronic engineering graduate from Brighton Polytechnic (now University of Brighton) in the United Kingdom in 1981. Prior to that, he obtained his Diploma in Communication Engineering from Universiti Teknologi Malaysia.

He served Jabatan Telekom Malaysia and Telekom Malaysia Berhad as technical assistant and engineer in various fields, including transmission, switching and civil aviation.

He also served in non-engineering fields such as training, human resource and security management.

Abdul Samat is an associate member of Harvard Business School Alumni Club of Malaysia.

He can be contacted at askasah@gmail.com.

A story to tell

AS Kedayan readers navigate through the articles written in the blog, Abdul Samat says they would probably realise that the contents of the blog are reminiscence of their life story and experience, from their childhood days to wherever they are now.

“For the new Kedayan generation who have not undergone the tough and challenging childhood days experienced by my generation, the articles found in the blog would provide them with interesting reading materials that can be verified through their living parents and elders. In this manner, their parents and elders, particularly those who do not have the opportunity to narrate their life story to their grown-up children would be saved from doing so just by reading the articles in the blog.”

The articles depicted in the blog are written in English. Abdul Samat says this is done so as to encourage the new Kedayan generation in particular and other readers in general to appreciate English as their second language.

Getting hits

ABDUL Samat started Fast Forward on Nov 6 last year, which to-date has recorded over 2,700 hits.

“Inviting traffic to the blog is not a simple task, particularly reaching out to the Kedayan communities or individuals in Sabah, Sarawak, Peninsular Malaysia, Brunei and Kedayans living overseas. I used all the available resources and platforms in cyberspace to reach my target audience – community portals, groups, forums, blogs, Web sites, e-mail, etc,” he says.

Abdul Samat finds the response encouraging so far. Fast Forward, he says, must be read together with his other blog entitled

Reaping the Benefits (http://itsurday.blogspot.com). Some of the page elements available in Reaping the Benefits are not repeated in Fast Forward.

“Readers would be able to see that Reaping the Benefits is heavily populated with various features. Page elements such as video clips, Web links and friends’ blogs are not featured in Fast Forward. I have featured 19 page elements in Fast Forward all together, from contact form and playlists for Al-Quran, Kedayan songs and background music to Chatter Box and Counters to record hits, online visitors and live traffic feed,” he elaborates.

The reasons those features are displayed in the blog, he says, are simply to make it more interesting.

Readers can get those features and paste them in their blogs. In other words, the blog is a resource centre for all the needs and requirements of any blogger.

Readers can access the article online by clicking here.

KEEPING KEDAYAN HERITAGE ALIVE

2008-03-24T10:33:00.003+08:00

Assalamualaikum wbt and Good Day,

Dear readers,

Tech&U Channel (page 17)of New Straits Times Newspaper today's edition is featuring an article entitled "KEEPING KEDAYAN HERITAGE ALIVE". The article is written by Rozana Sani of Tech&U editorial. If you would like to read the article and know more about "Keeping Kedayan Heritage Alive" kindly purchase a copy of NST newspaper (today's edition}.

The full article will be published in this blogsites tomorrow. Thank you for your support. - Blog Administrator

CHILDHOOD DAYS – ESSENTIAL SKILLS (Part 11)

2008-03-23T11:09:00.023+08:00

The Transformation of Superstitions into Tradition

The Kadayan kids of my time were living in a unique environment where modernisation was not expected to arrive in the next twenty years or so then. We were surrounded by nature; our livelihoods, to certain extent were highly influenced by the environment we lived in. As mentioned several times in the previous articles the Kadayan people close relationship with nature from that of the forest, jungle, rivers, wild animals, birds, fishes and jungle produces (fruits, roots and shoots) were part of our upbringings.

Our elders taught us the skills on how to find food from mainly two sources; first from nature itself and secondly from traditional farming methodologies i.e. hill paddy, fruit trees, vegetables and roots. Food sources acquired from nature were considered as gift from Allah SWT to the Kadayan people. Such food sources were abundant and “free” and the only costs tied to them were our time and energy finding them.

The Olden Days Kadayan people were naturally superstitious, a common characteristic of the world’s tribal communities and great ancient civilisations. Superstitions amongst the Kadayan community are mostly linked to the belief that some form of rituals, choosing the right day, date, & time had to be performed or determined before performing or embarking on certain tasks to ensure safe, swift and successful implementation of the tasks. As time passed by, what used to be strong superstitions amongst the Kadayan people were transformed into merely a tradition without any significant influence to their faith as the professors of Islam religion. I have written some interesting articles related to the Olden Days Kadayan which may be of interest to the readers in my other blog entitled Reaping the Benefits. Please click here to find out more.

Long beans

When I was a small kid my late mother used to tell me not to plant leafy vegetables such as long beans, cucumbers, pumpkins, etc. on Saturday, the leaves would be swarmed and eaten by pests such as caterpillars (larva of a butterfly or moth) and grasshoppers. The other interesting situation as told by my late mother was to lick my palm and put it at the forehead by saying “Sia sia pun kaladina” when I have to leave the house before consuming any food that I was asked to do so. My late mother also used to ask me to touch the food such as rice, boiled tapioca, etc. before going out. Such action would ensure my safety while playing or performing any tasks outside the house. Our forefathers used to believe that by doing so it would neutralised the effect of “kapuhonan” believed to be the “invincible power” that caused accidents and injuries.

Other interesting examples with regard to the Kadayan people’s superstitions are as follows: -

1. Not to go out during “hujan panas” (raining with sunshine). Our forefathers used to believe that during “hujan panas” super natural beings would come out for a walk and to avoid stumbling with them, the kids were refrained from going out at the time. Breaching the code of conduct would cause the kids to suffer “kataguan”. “Kataguan” is a syndrome believes to be caused by invisible supernatural beings in contact with the humans. The common effects of “kataguan” are continuous crying, nightmares, high fever, and a more serious effect would be memory lapsed. If such symptoms persisted, our parents would call a spiritually competent person of the village to treat the effect of “kataguan”;

2. Not to play or perform any tasks at dusk. Our forefathers used to believe that such time is an accident prone time of the day and also the time when supernatural beings are roaming about to do their chores. My late mother used to give me the following advices (in Kadayan dialect): -

sunset

a. Jangan bamain aie malamaie (Don’t play at dusk)
b. Jangan tidoo aie malamaie (Don't sleep at dusk)
c. Jangan bakaaja aie malamaie (Don’t work at dusk)
d. Jangan basiul aie malamaie (Don’t whistle at dusk)
e. Jangan bagalap aie malamaie (Don’t crack jokes at dusk)

There were a lot of known Kadayan superstitions / traditions where some form of initiation rituals had to be performed prior to embarking or performing certain tasks the Kadayan people normally do. Depicted below are some of the situations: -

1. Opening of new settlement area or land for farming (Nataki). Click here to know more about Nataki.
2. Building New Houses (“Mahunjam”)
3. Planting paddy (especially “nugal & ngatam”}
4. Planting of cash crops
5. Marriages
6. Going hunting, fishing (Manuba).
7. Individual leaving the village for a long duration of time
8. Circumcision
9. etc.

Our forefathers used to believe that forest and jungle were the home of supernatural beings such as jin, iblis and shaitan. It was only appropriate before ones embark on a journey into the forest or jungle; some rituals had to be performed to ensure that the supernatural beings would recognise that the humans visiting their territories came in good faith not to make wars or create troubles.

kayu ara

The jin, iblis and shaitan, being supernatural beings would caused troubles to the humans regardless of the situations. It is their nature to trouble human beings anywhere. The kids of my time were well-informed of the dos and don’ts while in the forest or jungle. We were told to avoid places where supernatural beings love to stay such as in a gloomy places, large trees with buttress roots, a large parasite tree called “kayu aa” with hanging roots, large boulders, caves, etc. These are the places where supernatural beings are likely to be found and to avoid those places at all costs. Being small kids we complied 100% with our parents’ advice and never come close to those places. Another good advice from our elders pertaining to our forest or jungle adventures are as follows: -

a. Never mention to each other if we see extra ordinary “things” while in the forest or jungle;
b. Do not crack any jokes, talk loudly or whistling (basiul);
c. Never harm insects and small animals;
d. Never throw any food remnants (rice, fish bones, etc.) all over the places;
e. If we need to consume fish we caught while in the jungle in a simple barbeque style, the “stomach / belly” part had to be taken out. We were told that the supernatural beings would recognise the smell from the smoke whether the fish belly is taken out or other wise. The supernatural beings would be very angry if fishes were barbequed with its belly in and thus creating whirlpool of wind (twister) that disturbed the serenity and tranquillity of the jungle. If such situation persisted, we have only two options, firstly try to “persuade” the beings to stop the twister or secondly run away as fast as we could from the “disaster zone”. I would take the second option!

To be continued…

GOT NOTICED BY THE MEDIA AGAIN

2008-02-25T15:16:00.016+08:00

Tech&U Channel of New Straits Times

I would like to extend my sincere gratitude to Cik Rozana Sani and her Tech&U Team for their excellent research work in tracking down my uniform resource locators (urls) and featuring them in their esteemed newspaper. Thank you.- Blog Administrator

By Tech&U Team

Depicted below is the full article entitled Rise of Silver Bloggers as featured in Tech&U Channel of the New Straits Times newspaper today's edition (Monday, February 25, 2008)- Blog Administrator

RISE OF SILVER BLOGGERS (Full article)

QUOTE - Forget coffee shops, gardening and crossword puzzles. Blogging, often considered the domain of the young, is gaining a foothold as a new leisurely option for the middle-aged and senior citizens alike.

Sharing wisdom and experience

THE Internet and its spin-offs such as social networking sites and blogs are not just for the younger generation as the middle-aged and senior citizens, although small in number, are also fast in adopting such modern communication tools for various reasons.

Based on Tech&U’s Internet survey on Web sites and blogs, there are quite a number of blogs belonging to people in this age group. And the topics of the blogs are diverse and colourful, reflecting the wisdom, experience and many moods of these silver bloggers.

Some examples are Seeing Malaysia My Way, Bibliobibuli, Dari Dapur Makcik Kampung and Di Bawah Rang Ikang Kering.

“I enjoy writing and getting things off my chest,” said Tengku Mohd Ali Bustaman, the writer of Di Bawah Rang Ikang Kering (http://bustamann.blogspot.com/).

Pokku, as he is fondly known, is a 63-year-old pensioner from Kuala Lumpur. For him, blogging is one way to inform and entertain his children who are all abroad. He started blogging since August 2004 and has since attracted a string of followers.

“Others have come to appreciate my stories and occasionally my advice and voted my blog as the Best Malaysia Blog in 2004 (http://simonworld.mu.nu/archives/056981.php),” said Pokku, who writes mostly about his home State, Terengganu, and social commentaries.

Pokku’s love for blogging began with a comment on a post in one of his daughters’ blog.

While most senior citizens might find technology or computers a no-no, this is not the case with Pokku.

“I was computer literate even before the PC became a household item. I set up a national computer club, Commodore Users Exchange, in 1985,” he said.

For Penangite Peter Tan, his blog, The Digital Awakenin (http://www.petertan.com/blog/), is a reflection of his life as a wheelchair user trying to enjoy life to the fullest.

A blogger for the past five years, Tan is a peer counsellor for the Independent Living Programme for People with Disabilities in Malaysia and also for the Kuala Lumpur Independent Living Centre.

“In the beginning, it was just about myself. Then my mother who had leukaemia became severely ill. It became a place for me to express my fears, insufficiencies, desperation, helplessness and eventually grief when she passed away,” he said.

The next phase of Tan’s blog chronicles his involvement in the Independent Living Movement that took him on a journey to Tokyo, Bangkok and Seoul.

“Advocacy is part of the Independent Living Movement. It was an awakening and realisation of my place in society as a disabled person and the rights I have as a citizen of this country. It traces my work in advocacy and promoting equality of opportunities for disabled people in the areas of accessibility to public transport and built environment,” he said.

“In between those are stories of my life, issues related to spinal cord injury, my friends, the people I have met, the places I have been to, faith, thoughts, opinions and everything else that caught my fancy.”

For Tan, blogging is a powerful tool.

“Where once disabled people had little avenues to express the frustrations that we face in society, we now can do it openly at very little cost. Our reach has become so much wider. Where once we could only tell to people we meet, now we can tell it to everyone who has an Internet connection,” he said.

To date, Tan has posted slightly over 1,000 entries in his blog.

For Captain Yusof Ahmad, 60, from Kelana Jaya, his passion for blogging started in November 2006.

“I started blogging to record and share my thoughts, anecdotes, life experiences, etc. Lately, I got a bit ‘political’ in light of what’s happening in the country,” said the former pilot superintendent of the Klang Port Authority and pioneer general manager of West Port.

The owner of the blog The Ancient Mariner (http://cyusof.blogspot.com/) blogs as a means to express himself. “Perhaps this is much better than shooting the breeze with idle kopitiam talk,” he said.

Despite his age, technology is never an issue for Yusof as he has been quite computer savvy since his working days.

“I was quite active writing in a number of alumni and professional e-group Web sites and thought I might as well go ‘solo’ by blogging where I can command a wider international audience,” he said.

Freelance consultant Abdul Samat Kasah may only have some five months under his blogging belt, but he already has four blogs running. The 54-year-old, who hails from Subang Jaya, cites time as his major constraint in blogging, and not technology since he is an electronics engineer by training.

“What drives me to blog is my passion about Internet technology, my aim to document my life story, my ethnic cultural heritage and of course, to share my working experience with others. Depending on time availability, I update my blogs daily, weekly, fortnightly or even monthly. You can see the transaction from my blogs,” he said.

The uniform resource locators for Abdul Samat’s blogs are http://itsurday.blogspot.com/, which focuses on current affairs, cultural heritage, religion, etc; http://darahkedayan.blogspot.com/, which is essentially about his life story; http://wiratidakdisanjung.blogspot.com/, which focuses on his working experience; and http://simply-kedayan.weebly.com/, which is on his ethnic group done up in the Kedayan dialect.

The Kedayan reside in Brunei, Labuan, Sabah and parts of Sarawak on the island of Borneo.

Convenient and cheap way to keep in touch

Ismail Omar seems to view the hype in blogging today as a natural progression from earlier tools made available on the Internet combined with convenience to communicate with friends and relatives.

“I started blogging since 1994 on the Geocities site. I am not a serious blogger as I really do not have much to tell the public, unlike some of our famous bloggers,” said the 68-year-old electrical engineer who has been residing in Kuala Lumpur since 1970.

His blog, Teh Tarek Kurang Manis (http://labokin.blogspot.com), mainly focuses on his family and friends and their golfing achievements.

He confesses that he seldom updates his personal blogs, but he updates two Blogspot pages regularly for two Toastmasters clubs where he is a member. He also runs a Yahoo group and a Google group for some of his friends.

“I like seeing my work published online even though I know no one else reads it. It is also a means of keeping in touch with friends and family. I think more people should take an interest in this aspect of keeping in touch. It is a very cheap method. You just need a PC and broadband connection, and the rest takes care of itself,” Ismail said.

For “bokjae”, a retiree and full-time home caregiver to his stroke-survivor wife, blogging is a means through which both of them can reconnect with others in the world.

In his early 60s, bokjae created a blog in late November 2006 at the encouragement and help from a good friend, Doris, a much younger work-at-home mum who hosts a couple of successful blogs.

Listening..Learning..Living (http://jangbokjae.blogspot.com/) is about living, and sharing bokjae and his wife’s life experiences as well as their journey through a stroke from a survivor’s angle and a caregiver’s viewpoint.

“As a full-time home caregiver to a stroke survivor, we are very much home-bound. Places that we used to go are no longer easily accessible. I am not saying that we have a lot of spare time. In fact, it’s the opposite – caregivers never have enough time.

“However, blogging provides an avenue where one can keep in touch with other people and learn from others who are going through similar experiences and of course, make new friends through social networks, all from the comfort of your home,” bokjae said.

Another enticement, according to him, is that through blogging one can make some pocket money.

“To me, it’s better than spending all the time on golf courses, mahjong tables, chatting at coffee shops, which I notice many retirees tend to do and this often leads to arguments. As I venture into blogging, I begin to realise that it is also a place for ongoing learning.”

Bokjae also pointed out that blogging does not need much technical know-how.

“It’s a matter of interest and desire to learn. Age is not an obstacle. Of course, English being the language on the Internet, it would be easier for those who know English. However, there are blogs in other languages, too!”

On how often he updates his blog, bokjae said he does not follow any hard and fast rules, but advice by top bloggers is to write every day, not blog every day.

“In the whole of 2007, I had done 393 posts, so it averages to one post a day. At times, I do a couple of posts in a day, but at times nothing for at least a week. Of course, if you neglect your blog for too long, then your readers would leave or think you have ‘closed shop’, so to say.” - UNQUOTE

Readers can access the article via http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/techNu/Monday/CoverStory/20080225123522/Article/index_html

GOT NOTICED BY THE MEDIA AGAIN

2008-02-25T11:15:00.004+08:00

Tech&U Channel of New Straits Times

RISE OF SILVER BLOGGERS

If you care to read New Straits Times today’s edition (Monday, 25 February 2008) under Tech&U channel, you would be able to see a front page illustration of a silver blogger. Tech&U (Monday edition) is featuring blogging activities by middle-aged and senior citizens.

Once again, the writer of the four blogs namely Reaping the Benefits, Fast Forward, Simply Kedayan and Unsung Heroes got noticed by the media and is being featured in today’s edition of Tech&U channel of NST newspaper.

The full edition of the Rise of Silver Bloggers will be published in this blog as soon as possible. For early sneak preview of the article, quoted below are the paragraphs mentioning the writer and his four blogs for your reading pleasure.

QUOTE – Freelance consultant Abdul Samat Kasah may only have some five months under his blogging belt, but he already has four blogs running. The 54-year old, who hails from Subang Jaya, cites time as his major constraint in blogging, and not technology since he is an electronic engineer by training.

“What drives me to blog is my passion about internet technology, my aim is to document my life story, my ethnic cultural heritage and of course, to share my working experience with others. Depending on time availability, I update my blogs daily, weekly, fortnightly or even monthly. You can see the transactions on my blogs.” He said.

The uniform resource locators (url) for Abdul Samat’s blogs are http://itsurday.blogspot.com/ which focuses on current affairs, cultural heritage, religion, etc; http://darahkedayan.blogspot.com/ which is essentially about his life story; http://wiratidakdisanjung.blogspot.com/ which focuses on his working experience; and http://simply-kedayan.weebly.com/ , which is on his ethnic group done up in the Kedayan dialect.

The Kedayan reside in Brunei, Labuan, Sabah and parts of Sarawak on the Island of Borneo.-UNQUOTE

A caption of Fast Forward front page is also depicted in the article featuring Rise of Silver Bloggers (page 4 of Tech&U channel).

I would like to extend my sincere gratitude to Cik Rozana Sani and her Tech&U Team for their excellent research work in tracking down my uniform resource locators (urls) and featuring them in their esteemed newspaper. Thank you.

SPECIAL TRIBUTE TO LAKUTAN RIVER (MESAPOL RIVER)

2008-02-22T16:03:00.037+08:00

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ
وَأَلۡقَىٰ فِى ٱلۡأَرۡضِ رَوَٲسِىَ أَن تَمِيدَ بِڪُمۡ وَأَنۡہَـٰرً۬ا وَسُبُلاً۬ لَّعَلَّڪُمۡ تَہۡتَدُونَ

In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
Firman Allah SWT di dalam Surah An-Nahl Ayat 15 yang bermaksud,

Dan Dia mengadakan gunung-gunung di bumi supaya bumi itu tidak goncang bersama kamu, (dan Dia menciptakan) sungai-sungai dan jalan-jalan agar kamu mendapat petunjuk – Surah An-Nahl Ayat 15

(And He has set up on the earth, mountains standing firm, lest it should shake with you; and rivers and roads; that ye may guide yourselves – Surah An-Nahl Ayat 15)

Polluted River

The Kadayan people in our village seldom called Lakutan River by its name; they simply called the river as “Sungai Basaa” literally translated as “Big River”. If my memory served me right there were a few well known “limbauh” along the river (mostly upstream) such as Limbauh Chandung, Buka, Paha, Kibit and Bangkala and many more.

Lakutan River or Sungai Basaa is synonym to the Kadayan people of Mesapol. The river “belongs” to the Kadayan people and no other ethnic group could claim that the river “belongs” to them. Its existence was meant for the Kadayan people, providing them with abundant food supply; it is their life line and I for one am greatly indebted to the river and proud to be associated with the river.

Quarry activities in action

A couple of years ago, my childhood friend told me that Sungai Basaa now has been badly polluted by the logging and quarry activities upstream, I was so annoyed by the disturbing news only to direct my anger to the people who are motivated by greed with absolute neglect of the environment and the “living” Lakutan River which has been so generous to the Kadayan people for generations. If the logging and quarry activities are not stopped immediately, I am afraid the Lakutan River and its famous limbauh Chandung, Buka, Paha, Kibit and Bangkala and many others would be history and only to be remembered by a few elderly village folks like me. This is the very reason why I am creating this blog, to create awareness and documenting memoirs of my childhood days for the new Kadayan generation to read, appreciate and understand the importance of paying respect for the environment and keeping records of our historical pasts.

Serene, Tranquil and Peaceful

The used to be serene, tranquil and peaceful Lakutan River populated by its natural habitat of variety of fishes, crustacean, reptiles and mammals is now doomed to oblivion. The serenity of Lakutan River was best described by its crystal clear water cascading through natural river rocks and pebbles (batu kaangan) and I can still remember very well that as the morning sun ray penetrated the heavy foliage covering some parts of the river, I could see the so natural water evaporation process by its misty appearance above the water surface. It was an awesome sight! Just amazing!

As I stepped into the water, the tiny prawns would congregate around my feet and tickled them with their minute claws as if they were telling me not to disturb their beautiful home. Even the tiny fry like “bantang” would come all around me biting softly almost every parts of my skinny body as if they were giving the same message as the tiny prawns just did. For those who understand, the message is clear. I am not an environmentalist BUT I value nature, its beauty, serenity, tranquillity and peacefulness that God has created for mankind. The Lakutan River and all rivers for that matter deserved to be treated with great care and respect.

The Lakutan River was once upon a time a home of Kadayan “legendary snakes” called “TAMBUAKAA” in Kadayan dialect. “Tambuakaa” is not a myth or a legend, it was REAL. I have seen it with my very own eyes sometime in 1960 or 1961. The reason I called it as “legendary snakes” is simply because the description of “tambuakaa” as told by our elders were over emphasised having fiery eyes, the scales are as big as a “cuik” (saucer) and its length and size is about the length and size of a coconut tree.

Ninik Nasir (pronounced as Nasee in Kadayan dialect) who was our immediate neighbour caught the “tambuakaa” single-handed from one of the “limbauh” in Sungai Lakutan which I am unable to recall the “limbauh” name. It was about 15 feet Long, dark brown in colour with grey spots all over its body (from head to tail). Ninik Nasee was one of the few remaining Kadayan elders of our village who was spiritually competent at the time. Not a single living soul in our village ever caught a “tambukaa” and when Ninik Nasee caught one, it was indeed a big surprise to everyone. All the village folks congregated to our neighbourhood to have a glimpse of the “tambuakaa” caught by Ninik Nasee. Beside my late father, I was one of the first few to have a glimpse of the legendary “beast”.

Kali Sungku (Mastacembelus Circumcinctus)

At first glance, I thought it was a python which is commonly found in our neighbourhood, but looking at the head and the tail and the dorsal fin, definitely it was not a python. Having a closed look at the animal, Ninik Nasee, my late father and a couple of village folks collectively agreed that the “tambuakaa” caught was actually an OVER-GROWN / OVER-SIZED KALI SUNGKU. Kali sungku is a common eel like fish with elongated / protruding mouth, thorny dorsal fin and a tail just like a cat fish tail. The standard size of a kali sungku (picture), scientifically known as mastacembelus circumcinctus is about one to one and a half foot in length.

According to Ninik Nasee, who was hardly 5 foot tall, it took him about four hours to land and over power the 15-foot legendary “beast”. Firstly, catching a 15-foot “tambuakaa” was indeed not an ordinary catch and the person who fished it out was indeed not an ordinary catcher. Secondly, the distance Ninik Nasee had to endure carrying / pulling the “animal” from the river to his house was definitely more than 2 miles. Where did that great energy come from! Just incredible!

It was just a pity that an imaging technology known as photography was not available to the Kadayan community at the time. Should a camera was available then; such an image would be priceless! Nevertheless, I am lucky to be still alive to tell the tale of the Kadayan’s legendary snake called “TAMBUAKAA”.

The legendary “tambuakaa” was not consumed but was buried respectfully by the village folks. That was the first and the last Kadayan’s legendary “tambuakaa” ever caught in the history of Mesapol’s Kadayan and with the river’s current dilapidated state, I doubt the “tambuakaa” ever survive again and I can safely declare that the species is forever extinct.

The continuous blatant disregard of the environment particularly by the logging and quarry activities had caused ecological imbalance, thus nature would take its cause to correct the imbalance by destructing the serenity, tranquillity and peacefulness of the environment. Greedy people could not care less about the environment because their object is to make as much money as possible at the expense of every thing including the most precious gift of all given by God to mankind i.e. the environment we live in.

Observing the slow and agonising death of the most resourceful river of the Kadayan people is indeed a gruesome, intimidating, shameful and ugly episode in Kadayan history. The logging and quarry companies are controlled only at the most by five Board of Directors respectively, against army of people from the law enforcement agencies, Kadayan community leaders, the whole Kadayan population within the vicinity and two prominent Kadayan leaders, the ADUN and MP respectively yet we succumb ourselves at the mercy of a few people by only helplessly watching the Lakutan River to suffer the slow and agonising death.

With the general election just around the corner, I just hope the new democratically elected representatives of the rakyat both at the State and Federal level to spend a few minutes of their “precious” time to care for the environment particularly the logging and quarry activities that had caused unimaginable suffering to our most resourceful river i.e. the Lakutan River.

CHILDHOOD DAYS – ESSENTIAL SKILLS (Part 10)

2008-02-22T16:01:00.007+08:00

Tuba (cont….)

Traditionally, the Kadayan village head would determine the frequency of “manuba”. Under normal circumstances the “manuba” festival is an annual affair or depending on the fish population in the river. The Kadayan people are expert in determining the fish population and their sizes and the types of fish residing in the “limbauh”. The methods used to determine such situation were crude yet effective. Some of the methods used were through observation in which the village folks were asked to go to the selected “limbauh” to see if there were any indications that the “limbauh” was heavily populated such as movements created by the fish at the water surface. Such movement is called “tunggap” in Kadayan dialect. “Tunggap” is an action by the fish gasping for air at the water surface or fish trying to capture its prey such as large insects and small animals or falling / floating fruits and nuts at the water surface. If the “limbauh” is populated by lots of fish, then the frequency of “tunggap” would be very regular. Bigger fish normally produced more dramatic “tunggap” where the splashing would be stronger and there were occasions that larger fish would jump out from the water as well.

Tapioca Plant

The other common method used by the village folks was simply to fish at the “limbauh” using “hamboo” instead of normal fishing rods. “Hamboo” is used to catch bigger fish, whereas rods and lines are for smaller fish. Logically speaking when the “limbauh” is heavily populated with fish, then the catch would be bountiful. Another common method used by the village folks to determine the fish population was by throwing tapioca leaves into the “limbauh”. Larger fish such as “tuyan” and “pulihan” love to eat the tapioca leaves where the fish upon noticing the impact of the leaves at the water surface would instantaneously grasp the leaves with dramatic splash.

Satisfied with the results of their site survey, the village folks would return to the village to give a SITREP (situation report) to the village head, The village head would convene a meeting attended by senior village folks to determine the date of the “manuba” festival and the necessary preparations to be undertaken prior to the festival,

“Tuyan” and “pulihan” were highly sought river fish by the Kadayan people. Both types of fish were considered as delicacy even until today, where a kilogram of “pulihan” may fetch up to RM85.00 and sometime even more. In my childhood days, the “tuyan” and “pulihan” population were still abundance in Lakutan River or sometime called Mesapol River.

To be continued....

CHILDHOOD DAYS – ESSENTIAL SKILLS (Part 9)

2008-02-19T17:00:00.032+08:00

In this series of my life story, I would like to share a few more must-have skills of Kadayan kids of my time.

As mentioned several times in the previous series of this article, river is the food supply chain particularly for fish, prawns, crabs, etc. which is the main source of protein for everyone in my village especially growing up kids of my time. There were several ways as taught by our elders how to catch fresh water fish, prawns and crabs from nearby rivers. The most common and simple methods are as follows:-

1.Fishing lines

We did not have the luxury of expensive fishing rods to use during our childhood days. Our fishing rods were made of dried palm tree known as “sungsum”. “Sungsum” is a species of palm tree with lots of thorns covering its trunk. “Sungsum” fruits are edible and very sour in taste.

Our fishing lines were simple just by tying nylon fishing line at the end of the “sungsum” rod about 8 – 10 feet in length. At the other end of the line is the fishing hook, a small lead and a float. That is it; we are ready to go fishing.

Earth worms were our favourite bait. Beside that we used “dadak” as bait as well to catch smaller fish like bantang, putihan, and limbungau. “Dadak” is made from rice flour mixed with a little bit of prawn paste (balacan) and water. The smell from the prawn paste attracts the fish to the bait.

Cat fish (keli & haruan), putingkang, daun buluh, kaok and prawns (udang galah, cancudik and bangkutut) were attracted to earth worms rather than “dadak”. Other baits used were crickets, maggots (hambataa), and sometimes little grasshoppers. Fishing fresh water fish was usually done in late afternoon and it constituted as part of our daily routine except for during pigeons’ season where we spent most of our time trapping the birds in the nearby forest.

In most cases we did not catch much fish but the catch was enough for our dinner and the next day lunch.

2.Bubu

Bubu

Bubu is a fish trap made of bamboo and rattan where once the fish and prawns were inside the “bubu” they would not be able to escape. The fish, prawns and crabs were lured into the “bubu” by special baits. The favourite baits for prawns and crabs were medium burnt tapioca and rubber seeds. The baits also attracted some fish like bantang, putihan, limbungau, putingkang and daun buluh.

Cat fish (kali) were caught by special bait known as “pangalaban” fruits. “Pangalaban” tree is native to Borneo Island and can not be found in Peninsular Malaysia.

There are two types of “pangalaban” fruits. The ripe fruits are being distinguished by their pink and green colours. The green ripe “pangalaban” fruits are known as “tamuda” and the pink ones are simply called “pangalaban.” Both fruits are edible, succulent and very tasty. “Pangalaban” fruits must be “cooked” prior to consuming them. The fruits contain some kind of toxin commonly known as “pahang” in Kadayan dialect. Never consume “pangalaban” fruits direct from trees; no doubt they are very tempting due to their attractive colours. The toxin could be very lethal that caused numbness in the tongue and mouth area and later attacks the nervous system. The “tamuda” is known to be containing less toxin.

Cat Fish

“Pangalaban” fruits are prepared for consumption by pouring boiling water into the fruits inside a container (normally a small basin) and the hot water needed to be drained out after about 5 minutes. Common salt is then added and mixed with the fruits. To ensure that the salts are properly mixed with the fruits, the fruits are turned and tossed by the action known as “tampi”.

“Pangalaban” fruits taste very much like avocado. The “pangalaban” seeds are very much similar to that of avocado as well in terms of colour (brownish) and shape except “pangalaban” seeds are smaller in size. Caution: Never consume “pangalaban” seeds, the toxin concentration in the seeds are extremely high. Even birds, squirrels and monkeys refrain themselves from consuming the seeds.

Only ripe “pangalaban” fruits are used as baits inside the “bubu”. The fruits are effective as baits for cat fish where within a few minutes the “bubu” is put inside the water, the cat fish start to enter the trap to consume the bait. The fruits are considered “magical” as far as its usage to catch cat fish is concerned. Personally, I used to catch full load of cat fish inside the trap. More often than not, eels are also attracted to the “pangalaban” fruits where I used to catch a few eels together with the cat fish. The Kadayan community in my village, I would say, seldom / do not consume the eels although it is permissible to do so in Islam. The reason, I think is its shape which resembles the snake. Most of the eels caught by the trap were let go into the river only to be caught again next time. In Japan eels are considered as delicacy. There are several eel’s farms in Malaysia, particularly in the State of Pahang where matured eels are exported to Japan as well as for local consumption.

River Eels

In Kadayan tradition, eels are used as “salusuh” to facilitate easy child birth. Eels are kept inside a container called “tajau” and the water from the container is drunk by the expecting mother on daily basis particularly upon reaching the ninth month of pregnancy. The Kadayan people believe that the water from the “slippery” eels would make child birth easier.

3.Pasoo

“Pasoo” is the most practical way of catching larger fish such as “tuyan” and “pulihan”. There is a drawback of “pasoo”, which is, it catches only a single fish at one time. It is made of the thorny part of a rattan plant. The thorns of the rattan plant are curvy (upwards) in shape. The thorny plant is cut into pieces to be made into “pasoo”. The idea is to position the curvy thorns inwards the “pasoo” to facilitate the fish to go inside but are hindered by the thorns for backwards movement.

4.Tuba

Tuba Plant (Derris elliptica)

“Tuba” is a poison vine and is commonly grown by village folks around their houses. It is the roots of the “tuba” plant that are useful to the Kadayan people. The juice from the “tuba” roots is whitish in colour and very lethal, especially to the fish. The juice of the “tuba” roots contains some kind of toxin known as rotenone which is used by the Kadayan people to “weaken” the fish both for fresh and sea water fish.

The “tuba” roots are cut into pieces about a foot in length and its juice is extracted by pounding the roots with a wooden bat. The pounding action would soften the roots to facilitate the juice extraction by squeezing them.

In a Kadayan community, “manuba” (verb) can be a big affair and in most cases it turned out to be a “festival” involving all the village folks, men, women and children. “Manuba” is an annual affair involving rituals and some form of spiritual powers. The village head would nominate an experienced and spiritually competent person to lead the “manuba” ritual.

The spiritual leader with a few companions would conduct a site visit to the part of the river where the “manuba” is going to be performed. The basic requirement for “manuba” is to have at least one “limbauh” along the river to be included in the flow-path of the “tuba” juice. “Limbauh” is a Kadayan word for a deep section of the river where bigger fish reside. If there are other “limbauh” within the vicinity, then the spiritual leader would include them as well.

There were cases that I have known at least three “limbauh” were included by the spiritual leader in the “manuba” festival.

The “manuba” festival was held in the morning. The village folks would congregate at the site determined by the spiritual leader bringing with them the fishing gears such as “siut, pukat, baangai, sangkap and not to forget cooked rice wrapped in “upih” for their lunch.

Before the “manuba” ritual is performed by the spiritual leader, several layers of fish net were installed across the river near to the last “limbauh” (down stream). The fish net with larger space size would be installed nearer to the last “limbauh” followed by smaller space size net one after another. The idea is to catch the biggest fish first and letting the smaller ones to pass through only to be netted by the next net so on and so forth.

The spiritual leader would call and instruct everybody to congregate behind him and under no circumstances anyone should be in the river or at river banks in front of the spiritual leader (down stream) when the ritual is about to begin. When the spiritual leader is satisfied that everyone are behind him, then the “manuba” ritual begins. The spiritual leader would chant some spells / incantations and begins to squeeze the “tuba” roots. He would not require much “tuba” roots to cover a river distance of 1 – 2 kilometres. By the way, I forget to mention that “tuba” roots are counted by “bingkas”. One “bingkas” consisted about 3 – 5 pieces of cut “tuba” roots tied together depending on their sizes. In most cases the spiritual leader would require one or two “bingkas” for the initiation rituals.

River Wave or Benak in Sarawak River

The moment the spiritual leader completed the initiation ritual, everyone were asked to be quiet and there we saw the true power of the Kadayan spiritual leader. The water start to produce bubbles as if the river is boiling stretching across the river banks slowly moving down stream and to everyone’s astonishment the fish, large and small were jumping up and down from the water. What a spectacular sight! The spiritual leader would wash his hands to indicate that the initiation ritual is complete and then the frenzy of catching the semi-conscious fish began.

The men were given the task to look after the fish nets down river and the women and children were enjoying catching fish at shallow water with their “siut” and “sangkap”. The fish were kept inside a “baangai” tied onto their backs.

The irony of the “manuba” ritual is that, logically speaking there is no way that a small amount of “tuba” juice would be effective to cover huge volume of water for a river distance of about 1 KM. The dilution process would take place almost immediately in a fast flowing river and not to mention the distance it has to cover! The dynamics behind the whole ritual is not the toxin from the “tuba” roots, but what is more important is the power of the spiritual leader.

Traditionally, the idea of “manuba” festival was not to poison and kill the fish. The idea is to “weaken” the fish to a semi-conscious state to facilitate easy catching. Very seldom we see dead and floating fish during “manuba” festival, but what we could see were fish reaching the surface grasping for oxygen in their semi-conscious state. The term used by the Kadayan people to describe the semi-conscious state is “hayong”. The fish in “hayong” state would resume consciousness after a few hours and would swim normally again, that is if they are lucky enough to escape the “siut” of the hungry village folks.

The memories of attending “manuba” festival with my parents would last forever. The “manuba” festival is A LOST TRADITION of the Kadayan people and the today generations of Kadayan people would not be able to experience such festival anymore due to the fact that the authority had banned the festival to safeguard the fish population and the prevention of several species of fresh water fish from extinction.

To be continued…….

CHILDHOOD DAYS – Essential Skills (Part 8)

2008-01-17T15:55:00.002+08:00

ِبِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ
In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful

"And eat of the things which Allâh has provided for you, lawful and good, and fear Allâh in Whom you believe". – Surah Al-Maeda Ayat 88

[Makanlah daripada apa yang Allah merezekikan kamu, yang halal dan baik; dan takutilah Allah, yang kepada-Nya kamu orang-orang mukmin.] – Surah Al-Maeda Ayat 88

In this series of my life story, I would like to share a few more must-have skills of Kadayan kids of my time.

Trapping birds and small animals

There were many types of birds and small animals in the nearby forest / secondary jungle of our village. We were taught by our elders which birds and small animals are edible and inedible according to our religion, Islam. The most common bird and small animal we used to catch were wild pigeon (buung punai) and mouse deer (palanduk). There were other edible birds such as “puagam” and wild chicken (hayam hutan) but they were too difficult to catch by small kids. Normally “puagam” and wild chickens were caught by elders and similarly larger animals like deer (payau) and antelope (kijang} were caught only by elders using sophisticated traps.

There were three methods commonly used by Kadayan people to catch wild pigeons (buung punai) namely jaat, malagau and pukat (fishing net). Before I go any further to describe each of the methods, I just would like to give a general overview of the bird called wild pigeon. Wild pigeon is native bird of Borneo Island and are found in Sabah, Sarawak, Brunei and Kalimantan. As kids we were told that there were two types of pigeons namely “punai tanah” (ground pigeon) and “punai dahan” (literally translated as branch pigeon). Unlike “punai tanah”, “punai dahan” does not go to the ground to look for seeds and fruits but remains on tree tops most of the time.

The unique characteristic of the “punai tanah” is that despite the abundance of other fruits and nuts in the jungle, their favourite picks are still the sadaman fruits / seeds and interestingly the birds do not pick the fruits from trees but they come down to the ground looking for fruits and seeds.

The Kadayan people must have observed such unique habits of the wild pigeons and eventually devised methods to catch them by using “jaat” and “malagau”. Both methods are ground-based whereas the other method using the fishing net is air-borne.

Sadaman tree is found almost every where in the forest and secondary jungle. The trees do not grow very tall where the average height is around 20 – 30 feet at the most and the fruiting season is one or twice a year. The wild pigeons were in abundance during the fruiting seasons of the sadaman trees. The sadaman fruits are small, yellowish green in colour, covered with sticky resin like substance. Beside durian tree, sadaman tree is considered as an iconic tree amongst the Kadayan community due to its contribution to the food supply chain i.e. the much needed protein source from the wild pigeons.. The song entitled “daun sadaman” by Ibrahim Hj Diman is a tribute to the iconic tree and the readers can listen to the song provided in this blog.

Wild pigeon (buung punai)

Jaat

Jaat is a simple, yet effective trap to catch wild pigeons. The “jaat’ is constructed by using a strong thread, a stick / stem of a young tree (the size of adult male middle finger) of hard wood type as “bingkasan” and tiny tree branches as a holder of the thread tied from the “bingkasan”. The stick / stem of the young tree is pinned to the earth perpendicular to the ground level. The thread is tied at the top end of the stick / stem in which the other end of the thread is the adjustable knot or technically known as Adjustable Grip Hitch adjusted to about 2 feet in circumference. A tiny straight stem / branch of about one and a half inches in length is tied before the simple knot that would be fixed to the trap mechanism where the pigeon is expected to step onto it. When the pigeon steps on the trap, the “bingkasan” would be released immediately at high speed and snap the pigeon’s leg via the adjustable knot. Eureka!!! I just caught a pigeon.

Before “jaat” is installed, the ground under the sadaman tree is cleared of dried leaves, rotten tree trunks and small tree branches. The sadaman fruits are collected to be spread onto the cleared ground later as baits for the pigeons. Of course it is not sufficient to install only one “jaat”. On average we installed about 50 – 60 jaat that would guarantee good catch. Usually we came back to visit the jaat twice a day to harvest the catch and to do maintenance jobs like putting back the jaat to its normal position, clearing leaves and small branches and collecting sadaman fruits as baits.

The pigeon caught by the jaat is carefully untied from the trap to avoid dismembering its feathers from the body. Pigeon’s feathers unlike chickens are very soft and can be easily dismembered from its body. The pigeons are then carefully put inside a porous gunny sack for safe keeping. The gunny sack needs to be porous to prevent the pigeons from suffocation. The darkness inside the gunny sack keeps the pigeons calm. During the peak season, the average caught per day is around 20 – 30 birds. These birds are kept inside a special cage or rather a bird’s house and are fed with maize and sometime rice to be fattened before they are being slaughtered for consumption. When I was a small kid, I used to keep about 200 – 300 birds in a single bird’s cage. Such amount would be able to supply my family with enough protein for at least 3 – 4 months.

The birds are slaughtered according to Islamic rite, prepared and cooked. The pigeon’s can be cooked in variety of ways for example cook in curry, soup, deep fried, grilled and any way you like to suit your taste. The pigeon meat is very sweet and tasty.

Malagau

Literally speaking “malagau” means calling. It is derived from the word “lagau” (verb) and when applied to wild pigeons it means calling the birds. “Lagau” in Kadayan dialect is normally directed to human beings and a few “tame / domesticated” animals such as cats and chickens but seldom used to call wild birds and animals. So there is a catch here, malagau is not just imitating the chirping and singing of the wild pigeons to make them come to the caller, but it involves spiritual element here. Under normal circumstances, no matter how hard you try to imitate the chirping and singing of the wild pigeons, the birds would never come to you. I have tried this myself, where at the end of the day, not single birds came close to my location, not even a sign of them around me. As I have mentioned in http://itsurday.blogspot.com/ the spiritual and supernatural power are manifested in almost every aspect of Kadayan livelihood.

When I was a small kid, there were not many people in our village having the skill of malagau, may be just three or four people but there were elderly persons and all of them had passed away already. I used to follow and watch an elderly Kadayan man performing malagau when I was 10 or 11 years old. This is how it was done. A small hut is built or not even a hut, just a shack made of tree branches and leaves as hiding place for the caller. In Kadayan dialect we call the shack as “baumbun”. The most important device in performing malagau is a device called “suling” (flute). “Suling” is a musical instrument made from bamboo and strictly speaking, the sound of “suling” does not really mimic the chirping and singing of the wild pigeon. The other device used in "malagau" is a long stick attached with a simple knot thread at its end to catch the pigeon on its neck. The bird’s “landing area” is called “galanggang”, a small space in front of the shack cleared of dried leaves, tree branches and other objects that would hamper the process of catching the birds.

Fresh wild pigeon meat

An initiation ritual is done by the caller before the calling process is done. The ritual involves chanting of magical spells coupled with other physical things that last for a few minutes. When that is done the caller sits back inside the shack and starts to play his “suling”. It is hard to believe that all of a sudden the wild pigeons start to arrive, first the birds are perching on the tree branches and later they come down to the “galanggang” surrendering their necks to the caller to be caught and later ended up in a cooking pot.

Not every time the caller is lucky, there were occasions as told by the village elders where the sound of the caller’s “suling” attracted supernatural beings instead of the wild pigeons. We were told that the supernatural beings came in an impressive style by creating vortex of whirlwind / small scale twister around the vicinity where small trees were being uprooted and tree branches fell down due to the power of the whirlwind. The Kadayan elders who were skilful in performing “malagau” expected such predicament and their counter-measures were so effective that the whirlwind would stop immediately and within seconds everything would come back to normalcy.

“Malagau” is considered by Kadayan people as the most effective way of catching wild pigeons in large quantity. On a lucky day, a caller may catch a couple of hundreds birds and when they reach the figure, they’ll call it a day.

Fishing net

Kadayan people are very innovative in devising methods to catch birds, fish and wild animals. Fishing net, as the name suggests is used to catch fish in the river or at sea, but the Kadayan people used them to catch wild pigeons as well. The principle is the same, where in rivers and sea the target are fish whereas on air the target are birds such as wild pigeons.

The modus operandi (MO) of catching wild pigeons using this method is simple. The requirements are two very long wooden or bamboo poles and a stretch of fishing net of the right net space size attached to the poles. The net space size can be half an inch, one inch, so on and so forth. If the net space size is larger than the bird’s size, then the birds would be able to pass through.

In the evening, as darkness approaches, so are the wild pigeons rushing for home to their favourite trees. It is not difficult to exactly pin point the flight path taken by the birds because being birds they always follow the same route everyday. When the flight paths are identified, what is left is to erect the fishing net across the path and just wait.

The fishing net is made of clear, colourless nylon called “tangsi”. As darkness approaches, the birds’ eyesight would be very poor where the fishing nets are virtually invisible to the birds. Upon the arrival at the fishing nets, that would be the end of their flying session. Next would be the cooking pots.

Buung Taipas in the wild

Mundul Taipas

“Taipas” is a beautiful, small, green tropical bird of parrot family with red and blue patch under its neck and on its head respectively. “Taipas” is inedible, but they are caught as pets due to its natural beauty. In the 50s and 60s, almost every Kadayan households kept the birds as pet. “Taipas” are easy to maintain where their favourite food are ripe banana, papaya, sugar cane and surprisingly you wouldn’t like to hear this, its rice “mouth-digested” soften with lots and lots of saliva. The “taipas” loves it. Never feed the ‘taipas” with anything that contains salt. The birds will die in a matter of hours if they are being fed with salty food.

“Mundul taipas” is synonym to the Kadayan community in Sabah, Sarawak and Brunei Darussalam. My definition of “Mundul Taipas” is to catch birds called “taipas” by using similar bird placed inside a cage as the calling bird to attract the wild “taipas”, coupled with sticky glue like substance spread over a long stick placed on tree branches where the oncoming wild “taipas” would likely to perch.

There are a few rules to be observed when performing “mundul taipas”. Firstly, the knowledge of climbing trees. The wild “taipas” would never come to the ground or any height near to it. We have to climb until the tree tops to place the cage of the calling “taipas” and of course a stick with the glue spread all over it. Secondly the calling bird must possess special ability to chirp and sing that would attract other wild “taipas”. If you don’t have the climbing skill, don’t even think about “mundul taipas’.

Buung Taipas in a Cage

The glue like substance is actually derived from resin / latex of a “timbaan” tree. Timbaan tree can easily be found in the forest / secondary jungle of the Borneo Island. The resin / latex are collected and exposed to open air to coagulate. No hydrochloric acid (HCL) is required for coagulation. The glue is stored inside a small can (sardine or condensed milk can) and taken out as and when its usage is required.

When wild “taipas” is caught in a sticky situation, they are unable to escape until they are being taken out from their misery by someone. As cruel as it sounds but the birds actually are very safe and quite comfortable after the feathers and legs are massaged with coconut oil. It only takes one or two hours before the birds could fly normally again after they are being caught. The birds are kept inside a special cage ready to be sold or given as gift.

To be continued…….

SELAMAT MENYAMBUT MA'AL HIJRAH 1429 H

2008-01-09T09:36:00.001+08:00

Assalamu'alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh,

Besempena dengan Maal Hijrah yang akan kita sambut esok, saya dan seluruh ahli keluarga ingin mengucapkan Selamat Menyambut Maal Hijrah 1429 H. Semoga di tahun baru ini kita akan dimurahkan rezeki dan sentiasa mendapat rahmat dan hidayah dari Allah SWT.

Jutaan terima kasih saya ucapkan kepada pengunjung-pengunjung yang budiman yang selama ini telah menyokong kemunculan blog ini.

Salam hormat. Terima kasih.

CHILDHOOD DAYS - Essential Skills (Part 7)

2008-01-06T14:38:00.001+08:00

As agreed by most people, childhood days were the most memorable days of our life. I gained most of the survival skills when I was at the age of 6 – 12 years old and surprisingly those skills constitutes the bigger part of my circle of influence. As I’ve mentioned earlier, my life story is the most extreme case where our family living standard was just at the lowest level of Maslow Hierarchy of Needs. For those of us who are not quite familiar with Maslow Hierarchy of Needs, let me refresh you what it is all about.

Maslow Hierarchy of Needs (Click to enlarge)

Physiological Needs

These are biological needs. They consist of needs for oxygen, food, water, and a relatively constant body temperature. They are the strongest needs because if a person were deprived of all needs, the physiological ones would come first in the person's search for satisfaction.

Safety Needs

When all physiological needs are satisfied and are no longer controlling thoughts and behaviours, the needs for security can become active. Adults have little awareness of their security needs except in times of emergency or periods of disorganization in the social structure (such as widespread rioting). Children often display the signs of insecurity and the need to be safe.

Needs of Love, Affection and Belongingness

When the needs for safety and for physiological well-being are satisfied, the next class of needs for love, affection and belongingness can emerge. Maslow states that people seek to overcome feelings of loneliness and alienation. This involves both giving and receiving love, affection and the sense of belonging.

Needs for Esteem

When the first three classes of needs are satisfied, the needs for esteem can become dominant. These involve needs for both self-esteem and for the esteem a person gets from others. Humans have a need for a stable, firmly based, high level of self-respect, and respect from others. When these needs are satisfied, the person feels self-confident and valuable as a person in the world. When these needs are frustrated, the person feels inferior, weak, helpless and worthless.

Needs for Self-Actualization

When all of the foregoing needs are satisfied, then and only then are the needs for self-actualization activated. Maslow describes self-actualization as a person's need to be and do that which the person was "born to do." "A musician must make music, an artist must paint, and a poet must write." These needs make themselves felt in signs of restlessness. The person feels on edge, tense, lacking something, in short, restless. If a person is hungry, unsafe, not loved or accepted, or lacking self-esteem, it is very easy to know what the person is restless about. It is not always clear what a person wants when there is a need for self-actualization.

As you can see, when I mentioned that our living condition was at the lowest level of Maslow Hierarchy of Needs, that was it, just food, clothing, water and shelter. When you are in that condition, it is suffice to mention here that survival is the key factor. In order for the kids of my generation to survive, we were compelled to acquire skills to live in a harsh and challenging environment. The most important skill of all is to sustain the food supply chain i.e. planting hill paddy and cash crops. Any disruption to the food supply chain would result in famine and diseases caused by malnutrition and poor healthcare.

Malnutrition was notable amongst the kids of my generation including myself, where we did not have enough supply of protein, vitamins and minerals. Our staple food is rice, which is very rich in carbohydrate but our daily diet lacked in much needed protein for our healthy growth. We did not have the luxury of consuming meat (beef, venison, chicken) regularly, may be once or twice a year during wedding ceremonies or annual feast. Our main supply of protein came from the river and occasionally the sea. Fresh water fish, prawns and crabs were caught by fishing lines, traps, nets and fish poison (extract from "tuba" plant)which will be discussed in detail later. We never caught fresh water fish in large quantity due to the storage problem. The only way to preserve the fish was by salting and drying them, thus we have salted fish which can be stored for longer duration.

Pulihan fish in captivity

If we ever caught large quantity of fish such as through fish poisoning (tuba), the other method of preservation engaged by the village folks was by smoking, thus we have smoked “tuyan” or smoked “pulihan” NOT smoked salmon. We do not have salmon in tropical rivers. "Tuyan" and "pulihan" are much sought fresh water fish even to this days. The fish tastes good, very fatty with plenty of tiny bones which makes it difficult to consume. Kindly note that fish poisoning by using tuba plant extract is not practice anymore by Kadayan people in our village. It has been abandoned since the seventies due to the fact that the tuba plant extract is quite lethal where small fish were poisoned and killed which eventually reduces the fish population in the rivers. Fresh water fish now are caught by using fishing lines, nets and fish traps.

Kids of my generation were compelled to acquire various skills, not by our parents but by the environment we lived in. Some of the skills are as follows: -

Climbing trees

Climbing tress was a must have skill. Some girls of my generation were better climbers than boys. Our “boyhood” was challenged severely by the predicament, where those boys who did not know how to climb would be teased day in day out by other boys and the girls too. What a shame!

The skill of climbing is widely used to pluck fruits such as “rambutans, pulasan (maitam), mangoes, mangosteen, sour fruits (asam kandis and asam aur), betel nuts, coconuts and of course not to forget for trapping of birds known as “mundul taipas”. Taipas is a beautiful, small, green tropical bird of parrot family with red patch under its neck.

As I have mentioned in my earlier articles, the Kadayan village or settlements were mostly located near rivers. As usual, small rivers (may be streams) were covered by strong jutting tree branches which we used as a jumping platform into the river. Kids who were unable to climb would definitely miss all the funs and excitements of jumping from tree branches into the river. It was a great fun actually.

Small knowledge of herbs with medicinal value

Amongst the indigenous people of Borneo, Kadayan people are well known for their knowledge on medicinal herbs. The trade has been passed from generation to generation by their elders and kids of my generation were taught basic knowledge of medicinal herbs but on a smaller scale. As mentioned earlier in my other article you can ask any Kadayan / Kedayan kids then, “What’s the cure for diarrhoea (bagah)?” or “How do you stop blood flowing out from small cuts?” I can bet you; every kids of my time know the answer. The herb used to treat the former is guava leave (daun biabas) or “timbaan” shoots (pucuk timbaan). The later is effectively treated by “kuduk-kuduk” leaves.

Besides knowing various medicinal herbs we were also taught basic spells to use together with the medicinal herbs.

Self-defence (silat)

Martial arts were taught by elders as early as the age of 7, where we learned basic steps of self-defence. It is typical to see martial arts courts in Kadayan villages in the 50s and 60s. The main purpose of self-defence was to train ourselves in observing strict self-discipline and creating sense of alertness for any unsuspected trouble coming to our village.

Bailey Bridge or Jambatan Basi as called by the Kadayan people

The worst security threat to the Kadayan community particularly in the forties and fifties was the HEAD HUNTERS (Panggait). The stories of head hunters were told by Kadayan elders from generation to generation but kids of my time only heard the rumours that head hunters were terrorising our village. As far as I can remember, rumours about head hunters were rife when new bridges (Bailey bridge) were to be built by the British. We were told that two decapitated human heads (kalambigi commonly known in Kadayan dialect) were required to be buried at both ends of the bridge to strengthen and resist the raging force of nature i.e. flood. This belief was so strong amongst the Kadayan community and whenever such rumours persisted the village would be put under full alert (code RED). All the children, women and elderly people were either confined at home or if there were necessities to move around they must be in group accompanied by elders.

Such security threat compelled the Kadayan community to defend themselves by several methods where one of them was to equip the community with martial arts as self-defence. The other method commonly practiced by the Kadayan people was to use some form of spiritual powers known as “guis” to prevent strangers from entering the village. Guis is the invincible fence to deter intruders from tress-passing. It is the first line of defence under the direct Command, Control, Communication and Intelligence (C3I)of the village head. Usually the village head would communicate with the "spiritual master" to prepare the necessery arrangements after obtaining sufficient intelligence information from the village folks or from other sources with regards to the security threats affecting the village. The security protection in a Kadayan village is a smaller scale of C3I or C4I in the military and law enforcement agencies.

In the Olden Days Kadayan environment the first line of defence should be formidable. If there was any breach of security in which intruders managed to penetrate the defence system, the "spritual master" would be replaced or asked to sharpen his power by going for isolation / seclusion for a period of 40 days in a "wasai" to undergo a process known as "bataak" in Kadayan dialect. This process is necessery to maintain and safeguarding the dignity of the affected village. When the news reached other Kadayan villages about the flaws in the village defence system, the village head and folks would suffer tremndous pressure particularly when they were being offered assistance from other villages. Accepting help meant conceding defeat, which was a taboo in Olden Days Kadayan culture.

Such security protection was of vital importance in a life or death environment. The Kadayan people would gave their lives to protect their families & their community and should the intruders successfully penetrated the defence system, they will fight with all their might until to the last drop of their blood. The readers would be able to read more on this subject matter at Reaping the Benefits (http://itsurday.blogspot.com/) entitled Olden Days Kadayan.

I was able to witness the effectiveness of "guis" power where two strangers / intruders were caught red handed, unable to move (temporarily paralysed / disabled) in the vicinity of our village. I did not know for sure if the strangers / intruders were the head hunters but rumours were spreading like wild fire that they were head hunters looking for two victims to be used in bridge building. The two persons caught were from a well known indigenous people of Borneo famous for their head hunting practices. This incident happened in the late fifties.

To be continued…….

PLANTING HILL PADDY AND CASH CROPS (Part 6)

2007-12-23T06:53:00.001+08:00

Padi Bukit / Padi Huma

If you remember in my earlier article entitled WHERE DO THE KADAYANS STAND IN HARI GAWAI & TADAU KAAMATAN? dated October 5, 2007, I have narrated the work processes of planting hill paddy. To refresh our memory, depicted below are the known processes as I remember them: -

1. Nataki
2. Nyuuki
3. Maimba / Nabas
4. Nunu tabasan
5. Nugal
6. Maumput
7. Ngatam and Maladun

I also mentioned other things related to planting hill paddy such as basung, takiding, siawung, maladun, ngamping, duong, lasung, halu, batingkung, etc.

As a typical Kadayan village kid in the 50s, my experience in planting hill paddy is quite good. No doubt I was still at a tender age of 6 – 7 years old then, but as I mentioned earlier, due to the harsh and challenging environment we lived in, we were matured much earlier than expected.

Out of the seven work processes mentioned above, process #1 is the most “spiritual” in nature. I said so because I have the privilege to be acquainted with the person who was well-known for performing NATAKI, none other than my grand father (from my mother side, the one I mentioned in the other blog is from my father side) himself. My grand father died in Kg Naluyan, in our house at the age of 70+ years in late sixties. He was buried in Tanjung Hubi, Mesapol. My late mother and my late uncle were buried side by side with my grand father in the same “bakut”. My late uncle and my late mother were the only children of my late grand father. My late grand father’s name was Muhammad bin Ghafar and I’m very sure some of the elders in Labuan and in Lawas still remember him. He performed NATAKI in Labuan, Lawas and of course Sipitang. He was very mobile, same like my other grand father, where he spent most of his time performing NATAKI all over the places where his service are required.

For the benefit of those who are not familiar with the term NATAKI (sounds very Japanese but it's Kadayan), let me refresh your mind. Nataki is a ritual performed to keep away SUPERNATURAL BEINGS (Jin, iblis and shaitan) from the area intended to be used as paddy cultivation. NATAKI is conducted by a very special person (usually elderly person), highly knowledgeable and spiritually competent. Adherence to the code is of paramount importance to the Kadayans people then, otherwise things wouldn't go smooth as required.

Personally I have seen how my late grand father performed NATAKI. Normally it took the whole day to perform NATAKI depending on the area and of course the “numbers of SUPERNATURAL BEINGS to be shifted from the location.”

بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيم
In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful

Firman Allah SWT di dalam Surah Ar-Rahman Ayat 15 yang bermaksud
Dan Dia mencipta jin daripada api yang tiada asap (And the jinn did He create of smokeless fire) – Surah Ar-Rahman Ayat 15

Firman Allah SWT di dalam Surah Al-Araf Ayat 11 yang bermaksud,
Kami mencipta kamu, kemudian Kami membentuk kamu, kemudian Kami berkata kepada para malaikat, "Sujudlah kamu kepada Adam"; maka mereka sujud, kecuali Iblis; ia bukanlah daripada orang-orang yang sujud. (And We created you, then fashioned you, then told the angels: Fall ye prostrate before Adam! And they fell prostrate, all save Iblis, who was not of those who make prostration) – Surah Al-Araf Ayat 11

Firman Allah SWT di dalam Surah Al-Baqara Ayat 168 yang bermaksud,
Wahai manusia, makanlah apa yang di bumi, yang halal dan baik, dan janganlah mengikuti langkah-langkah syaitan; ia adalah musuh yang nyata bagi kamu. (O mankind! Eat of that which is lawful and wholesome in the earth, and follow not the footsteps of the devil. Lo! he is an open enemy for you) – Surah Al-Baqara Ayat 168

It is a tradition amongst the Kadayan community to perform NATAKI first before performing any other work processes on the land intended for paddy cultivation. The tradition is based on their belief that beings such as Jin, Iblis and Syaitan do exist as widely quoted in the holy quran. Some of the ayat referring to those beings are mentioned above.

It is not understood why the Kadayan people associate the jungle and forest as the residence of supernatural beings. Jin, Iblis and Syaitan do exist every where regardless of the jungle and forest. I would not delve into the issue; let the Kadayan experts on the topic conduct research and studies on the association of Jin, Iblis and Syaitan with the forest and jungle. I presume this again has something to do with the Kadayan people strong RELATIONSHIP WITH NATURE.

I did not have the opportunity to learn how to perform NATAKI from my late grand father, because I was still a small kid then. To me it was a great waste because none of my family members and even close relatives knows how to perform NATAKI. To me, the art of performing NATAKI is a noble deed, simply because it is something to do with lending hands to others who require them. My late grand father had been performing NATAKI for his entire life. It was his profession besides helping others through his knowledge of Kadayan traditional medicine. ”May Allah SWT bless his soul”

After performing NATAKI and the intended land for paddy cultivation is declared “safe”, all other work processes would follow suit. Planting hill paddy in actual sense was not difficult but very laborious. Clearing of forest and jungle were done bare handed by using machete, axe, baliung (a sort of cutting device), without the aid of machinery such as chain saws. Clearing of forest and jungle were not done alone by the owner, but it was done through the help of other village folks. The spirit of “togetherness” amongst the Kadayan people was so deeply embedded in their culture where all laborious tasks related to hill paddy cultivation were done through this system. This system was so effective where large area of land could be cleared within a short period of time by maybe 20 to 30 village folks.

Since this topic was discussed in my earlier article, it is not my intention to elaborate much further, suffice it is to mention here that as a typical Kadayan kid of my time, I had the opportunity to gain substantial knowledge on the hill paddy cultivation. Nevertheless I do not feel it complete, if I do not mention three most memorable things in my life about hill paddy cultivation which are “caangin, padi mangat and batat, hantimun, sikui and gandum”

It is again a tradition amongst the Kadayan community to plant cash crops such as BATAT (honey dew melon), hantimun (cucumber) and sikui (water melon) and corns / maize along side with the paddy. The crops were harvested together with the paddy and sometimes earlier.

“CAANGIN” (Kincir Angin) known as wind farm in English was a common sight in a Kadayan hill paddy cultivation. The blade of a CAANGIN is made of light wood which would be able to rotate fast upon wind blowing onto it. The blade was made in such away that it would rotate in a clockwise direction and producing sound that blends beautifully with nature. Other important components of CAANGIN are bamboo, wooden poles and dried palm leaves as tail to balance the CAANGIN. Even after more than 40 years had passed since I last heard the sound of CAANGIN, it is still fresh in my mind. It is too nostalgic a sound to be forgotten.

Sitting in a “JUNJUNG” facing the paddy field, feeling the warm breeze, listening to the sound of CAANGIN, watching flock of birds flying across the paddy field, smelling the aroma of PADI SADONG, listening to the music of the forest / jungle, having a meal of rice with salted fish wrapped with “UPIH” and ripe batat and sikui as desserts were the most memorable experience I ever had in my entire life. I wish I could turn back time.

To be continued ……….

DETENTION OF HINDRAF LEADERS UNDER INTERNAL SECURITY ACT (ISA)

2007-12-14T12:00:00.000+08:00

From left, P.UTHAYAKUMAR, M. MANOHARAN, R. KENGADHARAN, V. GANABATIRAU and T. VASANTHAKUMAR.

Note : Due to the seriousness of Hindraf actions to our National Security, I publish the write-up in both blogs.

I am not a journalist neither a columnist nor a writer, I am just an ordinary person like many other Malaysians who appreciates our value system to operate normally without any disruption. Our value system is the most unique, rarely found in other parts of the world. We maintain peace, security and political stability through racial and religious tolerance amongst the multi religious, multi racial and multi ethnic society of Malaysian people. We upheld the value system since the inception of this blessed nation half a century ago. Every Malaysian people are taught to uphold the value system since the very day we have the taste of education. Our family institutions, TASKA, TABIKA, primary schools, secondary schools, colleges and universities teach and propagate the value system accordingly. Our education system is proven to be effective in creating time-tested Malaysian people unique value system none other than high level of tolerance in all aspects of our dealings. It is embedded as part of Malaysian people culture which is too costly to live without it.

Malaysian people from all walks of life understand the meaning of tolerance more than any body else in this universe. It is our culture to respect others and we expect others to reciprocate such respects. Managing a multi-racial, multi-religious and multi-ethnic country like Malaysia is not a simple task. All the previous Prime Ministers and the current Prime Minister share a unique leadership quality i.e. to continuously upholding the value system which is regarded as the main ingredient of our success story. As an ordinary citizen, I have the opportunity to live in all eras of the previous and current leaderships of our beloved Prime Ministers. Their legacies live on.

This blessed nation had experienced both easy and turbulent times where we have been tested in the most intense way during the Emergency era, May 13th and the economic crisis. The Malaysian success stories in overcoming major political, racial and economic crisis and tragedies is not by chance but are the results of cohesiveness between the Malaysian people and the government. The dynamics behind the cohesiveness is none other than our extraordinaire high level of TOLERANCE which is the essence of our value system.

Under the leadership of our Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, he reengineers good governance through the initiatives of Islam Hadhari, open management style, human capital development, efficient service delivery system and lastly but not the least is the integrity and transparency in all dealings and business conducts in the public and private sectors respectively. The initiatives are the driving force to escalate our nation’s status to the next level by year 2020. The government had provided the necessary tools to facilitate the realisation of Vision 2020. The way forward as I see it had been planned and strategised in the most tactful manner to avoid miss outs that may lead to the dissatisfaction of the beneficiary i.e. the Malaysian people.

In our journey to achieve the national goals we expect to encounter impediments as rightly put by an English proverb which says, "A smooth sea never made a skillful mariner." Everything is difficult before it becomes easy.

Since its inception, Malaysia had experienced tough challenges of subversive elements, racial tensions, economic crisis and extremism mentioned above. All the past Prime Ministers had proven their credibility and effectiveness in managing national crisis and tragedies where the testimonials are what Malaysia is today.

In the recent weeks the bustling and “business as usual” environment in the capital city of Kuala Lumpur were disrupted by the epitome of mass street protest by groups calling themselves BERSIH and later followed by Hindraf (Hindu Rights Action Force). The incidents were highly sensationalised by foreign media where representative from BERSIH and Hindraf were given substantial airtime to voice their so called grievances. Malaysian Government was under intense scrutiny by the foreign media purportedly for the discrepancies in the Election Commission registered voters list and failure to address racial disparities amongst the Malaysian people of Indian origins. Later Malaysian Government was blatantly accused of practicing ethnic cleansing or genocide to the Indian people in Malaysia.

The Royal Malaysian Police obtained court orders to refrain Hindraf from organising street mass protest but such orders were being ignored by Hindraf. Several Police personnel in the course of executing their duties were injured and Police vehicles were damaged by the unruly behaviour of Hindraf supporters. In the course of maintaining peace and order in the capital city of Kuala Lumpur, many Hindraf supporters and its leaders were being detained by the Police and subsequently being charged in the court of law and some were released on bails. Despite the government efforts to use the court of law to address the Hindraf leaders and supporters wrong doings, Hindraf leaders were continuously pursuing their goals by going overseas to garner support. It was widely reported in local media that the Hindraf leaders were meeting terrorist organisation overseas for reasons only known to them.

Yesterday, December 13, 2007 five leaders of the Hindraf have been detained under the Internal Security Act (ISA), with police saying more could be picked up. The detained leaders are P. Uthayakumar, M. Manoharan, R. Kengadharan, V. Ganabatirau and K. Vasantha Kumar. Bukit Aman police officers picked them up between 12.30pm and 2.30pm yesterday.

Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Musa Hassan said they were picked up under Section 8(1) of the ISA after Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, who is also Internal Security Minister, signed their detention order. Their detention is for two years.

The price for disrupting peace and stability in a multi religious, multi racial and multi ethnic country like Malaysia is exceeding far beyond the detention of Hindraf leaders under the Internal Security Act. Being part of Malaysian people Hindraf leaders and supporters who were born and breed in this country should know the consequences of their actions. The backlashes of their actions are far reaching and long lasting, transcending across Malaysian boundaries that will jeopardise FDI and tourism industry.

The decision by the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, who is also Internal Security Minister to sign the ISA detention order for the five Hindraf leaders is timely and in line with the Malaysian people aspiration to have peace, security and stability in this country. Let this be a lesson to other trouble makers that our value system is too precious and too esteem to be adulterated and compromised by corrupt minded people like Hindraf.

Well done Mr. Prime Minister, Sir!!!

Kindly visit http://itsurday.blogspot.com/ for an article entitled Is Internal Security Act (ISA) a Draconian Law?

A GOOD COMMAND OF ENGLISH (Part 5)

2007-12-09T10:41:00.001+08:00

In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful
Firman Allah SWT didalam Surah Al-Baqarah ayat 110 yang bermaksud.

Dan lakukanlah solat, dan berikanlah zakat, dan apa sahaja kebaikan yang kamu mendahulukan untuk jiwa kamu, kamu akan mendapatinya di sisi Allah. Sesungguhnya Allah melihat apa yang kamu buat ....Surah Al-Baqarah ayat 110

Establish worship, and pay the poor-due; and whatever of good ye send before (you) for your souls, ye will find it with Allah. Lo! Allah is Seer of what ye do....Surah Al-Baqarah ayat 110

Al-Quran

In the previous write-ups, I have narrated the overview of my place of birth, my family back ground, economies of Kadayan / Kedayan people in my village and of course the most important skills that I have to acquire as a normal kampong boy of my time i.e. tapping rubber, swimming and diving.

In this part of my write-up, I would like to delve into other attributes that were considered as “must-have” and considered as the most important critical success factors amongst the Kadayan / Kedayan community in order to survive a harsh and challenging environment. Some of the skills were taught by our parents and the village elders as early as the age of 5years old. Depicted below are the most important attributes / skills to be acquired by Kadayan / Kedayan kids and youths of my time: -

1. Reciting of our holy Quran, praying and azan (calling for prayer)
2. Planting hill paddy; fruit trees, etc.
3. Climbing trees;
4. Small knowledge of medicinal herbs;
5. Self-defence (silat);
6. Trapping birds and small animals;
7. Catching fish, prawns and crabs (fresh and salt water);
8. Small knowledge on dos and don’ts while in the jungle and at sea;
9. Using and maintaining our most useful companion i.e. machete (parang);
10. Slaughtering of birds and small animals according to Islamic rite;
11. Knowledge on First Aid (usage of herbs to treat cuts, burns & other injuries, constipation, diarrhoea, tooth ace, common fever, snake bites, etc.);
12. What to do if lost in the jungle;
13. What to do if seeing things of paranormal in nature;
14. How to prepare / make wajit and kalupis.

Amongst other things, the Kadayan / Kedayan people are also well known for their “expertise” in traditional medicinal herbs. You can ask any Kadayan / Kedayan kids then, “What’s the cure for diarrhoea (bagah)?” or “How do you stop blood flowing out from small cuts?” I can bet you; every kids of my time know the answer. The herb used to treat the former is guava leave (daun biabas) or “timbaan” shoots (pucuk timbaan). The later is effectively treated by “kuduk-kuduk” leaves. Trust me, if you are caught in an emergency situation just like above, please do not hesitate to use the herbs to treat your case. Believe me, it works and has no side effects!!! Provided of course you know how to identify the plants, otherwise you will end up chewing other shoots and young leaves which may be toxic or even lethal. Just be careful.

LEARNING HOW TO RECITE / READ AL-QURAN, PERFORMING PRAYER AND AZAN (CALLING FOR PRAYER)

In late 50s and early 60s most parents in our village began to realise, the importance of religious teachings and practices to be given to their children. That included my parents of course. As early as the age of 5, we were taught how to read and memorise by heart the Arabic alphabet and subsequently proceed to the next level, one after another as stated in the “alip-alip” or “muqadam”. Alip-alip amongst other, contains all the surah of the 30th juzu’ of the Holy Quran or commonly known as Juzu’ ‘Amma. Firstly every one of us must memorised surah Al-Fatihah, failure to do so will result in canning (kana hacut). Only later for instance, we started from Juzu 'amma with surah 114 (An-Naas) and then we gradually increase to surah 113 (Al-Falaq), 112 (Al-Ikhlas), 111 (Al-Masad), etc.

There were two very important aspects of reciting Al-Quran as taught by my late father i.e. ability to recite with the correct pronunciation (tajweed) and ability to memorise the surah in full. Only later did I realise that how important it was to be able to memorise the surah Al-Fatihah and other surah in Juzu’ ‘Amma, because I have to recite that during prayer. My late father taught me how to pray when I was six years of age. Learning how to pray without the basic knowledge of reciting Al-Quran was almost impossible. Every verse in our prayer is compulsory / mandatory to be recited in Al-Quran language i.e. Arabic.

The Quran teaching method adopted by our elders in my time has a significant setback. No doubt we were so fluent in reciting Al-Quran verses, but we were not taught the meaning and translation of the verses. That was the major setback. When I was in England, I met several Arabs from Sudan, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia etc, where finally we became very good friends. They used to come to my apartment for lunch or dinner with their families to have a taste of Malaysian cuisine. My wife is a very good cook.

They used to ask me a lot of questions about Islam and our holy quran and how Islamic studies are taught in Malaysia. One day my friend from Iraq by the name of Ali Sabah-Nouri asked me to recite the verses from al-quran. So as usual I performed ablution (berwuduk) and I took the al-quran and recited part of surah Al-Baqarah. He was astonished to hear my way of reciting Al-Quran. Actually I am quite good in reciting Al-Quran in “taranum” style because one of my ustadzs who taught me how to recite Al-Quran in “taranum” way was Ust. Maarif, the former Qari representing Sabah in our National Musabaqah Al-Quran Championship in early 70s. I am also deeply indebted to a few ustadzs from Semenanjung like Ust. Sulaiman Ramlan, Ust. Jamaludin, Ust. Ishak and of course my Sabahan Ust. Maarif who had devoted their time to teach me in person how to recite Al-Quran in taranum style and good tajweed. May Allah SWT judge them accordingly for the good deeds they have done in spreading and propagating the words of Islam. I was so fortunate to be given a personal coaching by Ust. Maarif at that time due to the fact that I was chosen to perform Al-Quran recitation in front of hundreds may be thousands of people during district level Maulidur Rasul Celebration in Sipitang.

Brunswick Square, Hove, East Sussex - Old Victorian Apartments where my family used to live for 3 years while studying in England.

By the way, back to my story in England, my Arab friend Ali Sabah-Nouri was so amazed to hearing my recitation of Surah Al-Baqarah in taranum way. He told me he never heard anybody in his country reciting Al-Quran in the way I just did. You see, the Kadayan / Kedayan people are so special in many ways, even the Arab appreciated his way of reciting Al-Quran. But there is one BUT……when he asked me “Do you speak Arabic? That was one tough simple question to answer. I answered him “NO”. “But how come you are so fluent in reciting Al-Quran yet you don’t speak Arabic?” So I have difficult time explaining to him our Quran teaching methodology in Malaysia. As a matter of fact, I learned a little Arabic when I was studying in a religious school in Sipitang. Ust Sulaiman taught us Arabic Language subject. I still can speak a few words in Arabic and now I begin to watch ART Channel and Al-Jazeera Channel/Arabic to slowly learn the language. I would like to caution the readers that not all the programs in ART TV used standard Arabic language. Programs from Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Tunisia and Morocco are spoken in standard Arabic but program from Lebanon especially the TOP 10 Chart and other entertainment programs are not in standard Arabic. It is Arabic but intense in Lebanese dialects and accents.

During my time, children with exceptionally good vocal were often asked to perform AZAN (call for prayer, spelled as ATHAN by Arabic speaking countries) in our surau, especially during Maghrib and Isya’ prayer time. I was so fortunate and very grateful to Allah SWT for conferring me with good vocal to recite Al-Quran and to perform azan (athan) during my childhood days. That was great many years ago, now as I grew older things had changed a lot especially the vocal, not for the better but for the worst.

To be continued…….
Badudun tah jua aah http://itsurday.blogspot.com/ New article is availabe for your reading pleasure. Thanks.

A GOOD COMMAND OF ENGLISH (Part 4)

2007-12-06T21:59:00.001+08:00

Pre-school Era

This is a very interesting topic to venture. In late 50s and early 60s the word “pre-school” did not exist in my vocabulary. Nowadays our children have the taste of pre-school education as early as 2 years of age where they are being sent to TASKA (Taman Asuhan Kanak-Kanak) and / or TABIKA (Taman Bimbingan Kanak-Kanak). TASKA is designed to cater children at the age of 2 – 4 years old whereas TABIKA is to cater children at the age of 4 – 6 years old. The parents have several options which TASKA or TABIKA to send their children to. There are English, Bahasa Malaysia and Islamic pre-school centres.

My pre-school education was simple and straight forward, no TASKA neither TABIKA, just a RELATIONSHIP WITH NATURE. This may sound awkward to some people, but that’s the reality of life which forms part of my life story. Living in a remote Kadayan village surrounded by forest and jungle with no modern facilities such as piped water, electricity, telephone, road, etc; what more do you expect? The closest thing in my life was nature i.e. the forest, jungle and rivers. Nature taught me the meaning of life, to be matured earlier than expected in order to survive the harsh and challenging environment.

I acquired the skill of swimming at the age of 5 – 6 years old. I can still remember very well, the first time I learnt how to swim. Some of the readers may or may not believe that I used “kutin gatah” as a buoy to support me afloat at the early days of my self-taught swimming lesson. I am sure the readers of my generation who were hailed from Mesapol understand very well what “kutin gatah” is. “Kutin gatah” is made from large cooking oil or kerosene container. Biscuit containers are not suitable for making “kutin gatah” because they have large round openings at the top centre, whereas the cooking oil or kerosene containers have small opening at the top corner which makes it very suitable for making “kutin gatah”. The containers were either obtained for free from shopkeepers or bought at a nominal price. To make “kutin gatah”, the container has to be cut into half, where the sharp edges are evenly folded outward for safety reason. One container can make two “kutin gatah”.

Why do we call them “kutin gatah”? Well that is a good question. For the benefit of those who are not familiar of what I am talking about, it is called “kutin gatah” because it is used to place filtered latex ready for coagulation. “Kutin gatah” with its rectangular shape, plays a very important role in the process of turning fresh latex into rubber sheets.

For the benefit of the readers who are not familiar with the process, let me take you through the passage of time, way back into the late 50s, my pre-school era when I was taught how to tap rubber and all the work processes related to it. The work processes are as follows: -

1. Fresh latex is collected from individual rubber tree by a process called “mbangkit”. “Mbangkit” simply means collecting the cups from individual tree which contains latex and pour the content into a large bucket or other suitable container;

2. The latex is then taken to a place called “inggin gatah”. “Inggin gatah” is derived from English words “rubber engine”, which is self-explanatory.

3. At “inggin gatah” the fresh latex is filtered by using “tapisan gatah” and subsequently poured into “kutin gatah” normally at half-full;

4. A right proportion of diluted HCL (Hydrochloric acid) is added into the fresh latex inside the “kutin gatah”. HCL is used to coagulate the latex;

5. The latex must be well stirred to ensure the HCL is evenly mixed with the latex. The stirring device is made from wood which looks similar to a wooden spatula used in our kitchen, only slightly larger. In Kadayan we called it “pahuaa gatah”;

6. It takes only a little while before the latex coagulates normally about 10 – 15 minutes or may be less. The coagulated latex must not be left any longer; otherwise the process of flattening it would be difficult. Flattening the coagulated latex is done by hands which is known as “pieek” in Kadayan dialect. This process is important to facilitate the next process i.e. turning it into rubber sheets by machining using “inggin gatah”;

7. There are two types of “inggin gatah” commonly known as “inggin alus” and inggin kasaa” or sometimes called “inggin bunga”. The functions of the two machines are mainly to smoothen and further flatten the harden latex into nicely shaped rectangular sheets, whereas “inggin bunga” is used to create patterns, thus making the rubber sheets more thinner for easy drying;

8. The rubber sheets are hung on a wooden pole or bamboo pole known as “panjamuan gatah” in an open space for drying. The raw rubber sheets, which are white in colour, contain a lot of acidic (HCL) water and that is why the drying process is so important to drain the water out from the raw rubber sheets;

9. The drying process would take a couple of days during shinny day, otherwise it will require a longer time during rainy season;

Where was I? Too much digress aaa…(purposely done), anywhere actually I was talking about using “kutin gatah” as a floatation device used in self-taught swimming lesson. Believe it or not, that was how I acquired the skill of swimming, crude yet effective. I did not have the luxury of a swimming tutor to teach me how to swim in a nice swimming pool with fancy life jacket and what not; I learnt to swim in a deep and fast flowing river. It took less than a fortnight for an average kampong boy like me, to learn how to swim. Prior to that every kampong boys at the age of 6 – 7 years old must know how to remain under water for a couple of minutes or so by holding on to something like a wooden pole for example.

The art of diving and remaining under water for some time is crucial before anyone can learn how to swim. I do not know if this is the right technique or otherwise in a proper swimming lesson, at less it worked for me and other kampong boys just fine. The logic is simple, if you learn how to swim without knowing the skill to remain under water, the risk is that you will get drown easily while swimming. We were taught by the elders to recite verses from Al-Quran while remaining under water to exercise our lungs. The other reason for the elders asking us to recite verses from Al-Quran while under water is to improve our vocal and vocal control while reciting Al-Quran.

Acquiring swimming and diving skills are of paramount important to all the kampong boys then. It is common to see young boys at the age of 6 – 7 years old are able to swim and dive freely. We were so grateful to Allah SWT, that as far as I could remember we did not have any death cases caused by drowning in our village, even during flood season. The other factor contributing to such a good safety record was that we always abide to what our parents told us to do and not to do. We never dispute and disobey the words of our parents and elders.

to be continued.....

A GOOD COMMAND OF ENGLISH (Part 3)

2007-12-04T12:48:00.001+08:00

Tapping a rubber tree

General Overview of My Kampung and My Family Background

I just would like to begin my analysis of the above subject matter by walking down memory lane of my childhood days in a typical Kadayan village. I was born in a small village known as Kampung Babangkung in Mesapol. Mesapol in the 50s was a small town (now slightly better)with only 2 rows of shop houses, a wet market, a cinema, a small capacity Strowger step-by-step telephone exchange with a VHF / UHF radio transmitter/receiver (80- 100 foot mast), police station, a government primary school and a Chung Hwa Primary School, a surau (but our village folks called the surau as Masjid Mesapol)and a gravel road linking Pekan Mesapol with Pekan Sipitang. The old Masjid Mesapol is situated in a different location from the existing mosque. The road linking Kg Naluyan with Pekan Mesapol was not ready until 1963. Prior to 1963, Kg Naluyan was linked with Pekan Mesapol only by foot-path. I have to endure the agony of walking about 10 KM everyday to and from school along the foot-path covered high up with heavy foliage of secondary jungle and orchard trees, BARE-FOOTED! Just imagine that!

Kg Babangkung is about 2 kilometers from Pekan Mesapol. According to my late mother, our wooden house in Kg Babangkung was burnt down to ashes when I was merely a year old. The location of our house in Kg Babangkung was shown to me by my late mother when I was about 6 or 7 years of age. The burnt pillars and traces of burnt wooden structure were still visible when I visited the location in late 50s. There were several houses within the vicinity and one of them was quite a big typical Kadayan house owned by the late Nenek Tangkim and Nenek Piut. I have the opportunity to listen to both elderly couples telling me the story of how our house was burnt. It was indeed a sad, sad story. I still remember very well, my late mother shed her tears when visiting the site of our burnt house despite the passage of time exceeding 6 years. It was a tough life then, no Yang Berhormat to turn to, no Jabatan Kebajikan to provide the assistance needed, no TV3 to highlight the plight of my family then, alone and only alone. Only now I realised how my late mother was so hurt by the incident to the extent she was unable to hide the unbearable pain inside her heart. I was so touched and this is for you mom -“Mom, you were the best ever gift given to me by Allah SWT, may Allah bless your soul”

After the incident in Kg Babangkung, my family moved to another kampung known as Kg Naluyan which is about 5 - 6 kilometers from Pekan Mesapol. There, in kg Naluyan, my late father acquired 3 plots of agriculture land to be planted with rubber trees as instructed by the government then. The government provided the village folks, including my father with high grade rubber seedlings which is widely known as “gatah kawin”. “Gatah Kawin” is a hybrid species obtained by bud grafting a normal rubber plant with high grade rubber plant, thus producing “gatah kawin”. All these bud grafting processes were done by trained technicians at the Agriculture Department. The rubber seedlings or commonly known as “bibit gatah” amongst the village folks, were provided by the Agriculture Department to the land owners to be planted in their respective plots of land. Besides providing the rubber seedlings, the Agriculture Department also provided the rubber planters with fertilizer and technical advice.

The scientific name for natural rubber tree is Hevea Brasiliensis. For the younger generation of Kadayan who may or may not know the history of rubber trees, let me refresh your memory with a little bit of history: -

In 1876, Sir Henry Wickham, at the request of the India Office, collected and shipped from Brazil 70,000 seeds from the wild rubber tree. These were rushed to Kew Gardens in London and planted in specially prepared hot-houses. The small number, which survived, were taken in 1877 to Ceylon and later to Malaysia and other countries of South-east Asia.

As mentioned above, natural rubber trees were not native of this country but were brought to this part of the world from Brazil by the British, thus its scientific name bears the word brasil as in Hevea Brasiliensis.

“Gatah kawin” had two distinctive advantages over the normal “gatah kampung”. Firstly the time taken to reach maturity stage i.e. a point where village folks can start tapping the rubber is about 5 - 6 years and secondly it produces more latex. For my father and other rubber planters in our kampung then, that was a real breakthrough. The village folks could see the potential of “gatah kawin” and how it can improve their livelihood.

The Kadayan people in my kampung were associated with three major economic activities i.e. tapping rubber, planting hill paddy and planting cash and long term crops. Rubber trees are tapped to produce latex (gatah), processed into sheets, dried and sold for money. Planting hill paddy provided the village folks with uninterrupted supply of rice which is our staple food. The fertile land and rivers were the main source of food supply chain. The village folks planted cash and long term crops to supplement their daily needs of fruits, vegetables and grains and the river provided them with much needed protein source i.e. fish and fresh water prawns. The other source of protein in their diet was derived from kampung chicken. The Kedayan people were well known for their skills in rearing kampung chicken and fighting cocks. Overtime, the Kedayan people had mastered the ability to treat and prevent chicken diseases effectively with natural herbs.

The cash and long term crops provided the village folks with mean of sustaining their food supply chain. The cash crops comprising mainly of grains, roots and vegetables such as corn / maize, banana, groundnuts, chillies, green peas, tapioca, yams, long beans, brinjals, lady's fingers, cucumbers, angled loofah (petola), water melons, honey dew (batat), etc. are the most common ones. On the other hand, long term crops comprising mainly of seasonal fruit trees such as duyan, taap, tibadak, ambutan, mambangan, mampalam, manggis, maitam, tampoi, santul, langsat, ambai, kambayau are the most common fruit trees associated with the Kadayan community. These fruit trees guaranteed the village folks with good returns during the fruiting season especially the durians, langsat, kambayau and the rambutans. It is important to note that not every village folks owned their own orchard; only those with sufficient land area were able to plant fruit trees on a small and medium scale. On the other hand, it is a tradition for the Kadayan people to plant fruit trees around their houses such as rambutans, guava, jack fruit (nangka) and of course banana trees. The fruit trees, besides giving them food source, also provide good shelter for their house against the hot tropical climate.

The village folk’s economy was generated mainly from rubber and fresh fruits & vegetables. The proceeds they obtained from selling dried rubber sheets, fresh fruits and vegetables were used to buy basic necessities and provisions such as clothing, sugar, salt, coffee, tea, salted fish and occasionally fresh sea water fish. Most village folks did not buy rice, due to the fact that they have enough supply of rice all year round. The Kedayan people keep their paddy inside the “duong” and take the paddy out as per their requirement from time to time to be dried in the sun on “mangkuang” mats and subsequently pound the paddy using “halu & lasong” to separate the grains from its husks.

Life in the fifties and sixties were far from easy. My parents had to raise 6 children through unimaginable hard work of tapping rubber , planting hill paddy and at the same time maintaining the orchard and short term crops. Rubber prices were not stable then, it ranges between 20 cents to 30 cents per kati in early sixties. Just imagine to earn 10 ringgit per day then you have to have 30 – 50 kati of rubber sheets. To achieve 50 kati of rubber by one person per day was almost unachievable task. The average weight of rubber sheets a person can get per day was between 10 – 15 kati which is equivalent to an income of 2 ringgit and 4.50 ringgit per day. Average monthly income of an average Kadayan family was around 60 ringgit to 150 ringgit per month, that is if they were tapping rubber from their own rubber plantations. In most cases, the village folks did not have their own rubber trees to tap but depending on other people rubber trees through a system known as “pajak” or “napan”. Both systems were referring to a profit sharing concept and their only difference is the former refers to a long term contract whereas the later refers to a daily contract. In this case the monthly income would be very much less may be in the range of 50 ringgit to 100 ringgit.

The contract mentioned here is not a written contract but a verbal one. Kadayan community was and still is a closely knitted society where “trust” is the bonding force between them. So, whatever verbal agreement they have committed between themselves, both parties will abide that for a long, long time unless verbally terminated by either party.

My upbringing and childhood days were very much influenced by the environment in a typical Kadayan kampung, where rubber tapping, planting hill paddy, planting cash and long term crops and catching fresh water fish and prawns & occasionally “nyuluh di pasiee” were part of my circle of influence.

To be continued ....

EVERY SUCCESS STORY IS ALSO A STORY OF GREAT FAILURE

2007-11-27T22:40:00.001+08:00

In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

He it is Who hath placed you as viceroys of the earth and hath exalted some of you in rank above others, that He may try you by (the test of) that which He hath given you. Lo! Thy Lord is swift in prosecution, and Lo! He verily is Forgiving, Merciful.-Surah Al-Anaam ayat 165

Allah SWT berfirman di dalam al-quran Surah Al-Anaam ayat 165 yang bermaksud:

Dia yang melantik kamu khalifah-khalifah (pengganti-pengganti) di bumi, dan menaikkan sebahagian kamu dalam darjat di atas sebahagian yang lain, supaya Dia menguji kamu pada apa yang Dia memberikan kamu. Sesungguhnya, Pemelihara kamu cepat dalam pembalasan sewajarnya; dan sesungguhnya Dia Pengampun, Pengasih.- Surah Al-Anaam ayat 165

A model of an 1879 street light burns in the Edison Museum in Edison, N.J., in front of a portrait of inventor Thomas A. Edison.

EVERY SUCCESS STORY IS ALSO A STORY OF GREAT FAILURE

Failure is the highway to success. Tom Watson Sr. said, , "If you want to succeed double your failure rate."

If you study history, you will find that all stories of success are also stories of great failures. But people don't see the failures. They only see one side of the picture and they say that person got lucky: "He must have been at the right place at the right time."

Let me share someone's life history with you.

Abraham Lincoln
This was a man who failed in business at the age of 21 ; was defeated in a legislative race at age 22; failed again in business at age 24; overcame the death of his sweetheart at age 26; had a nervous breakdown at age 27; lost a congressional race at age 34; lost a senatorial race at age 45; failed in an effort to become vice-president at age 47; lost a senatorial race at age 49; and was elected president of the United States at age 52. This man was Abraham Lincoln.

Would you call him a failure? He could have quit. But to Lincoln, defeat was a detour and not a dead end.

Lee De Forest
In 1913, Lee De Forest, inventor of the triodes tube, was charged by the district attorney for using fraudulent means to mislead the public into buying stocks of his company by claiming that he could transmit the human voice across the Atlantic. He was publicly humiliated. Can you imagine where we would be without his invention?

Wright Brothers
A New York Times editorial on December 10, 1903, questioned the wisdom of the Wright Brothers who were trying to invent a machine, heavier than air, that would fly. One week later, at Kitty Hawk, the Wright Brothers took their famous flight.

Colonel Sanders
Colonel Sanders, at age 65, with a beat-up car and a $100 check from Social Security, realized he had to do something. He remembered his mother's recipe and went out selling. How many doors did he have to knock on before he got his first order? It is estimated that he had knocked on more than a thousand doors before he got his first order. How many of us quit after three tries, ten tries, a hundred tries, and then we say we tried as hard as we could?

Walt Disney
As a young cartoonist, Walt Disney faced many rejections from newspaper editors, who said he had no talent. One day a minister at a church hired him to draw some cartoons. Disney was working out of a small mouse¬ infested shed near the church. After seeing a small mouse, he was inspired. That was the start of Mickey Mouse.

Successful people don't do great things, they only do small things in a great way.

Thomas Edison
One day a partially deaf four year old kid came home with a note in his pocket from his teacher, "Your Tommy is too stupid to learn, get him out of the school." His mother read the note and answered, "My Tommy is not stupid to learn, I will teach him myself." And that Tommy grew up to be the great Thomas Edison. Thomas Edison had only three months of formal schooling and he was partially deaf.

In 1914, Thomas Edison, at age 67, lost his factory, which was worth a few million dollars, to fire. It had very little insurance. No longer a young man, Edison watched his lifetime effort go up in smoke and said, "There is great value in disaster. All our mistakes are burnt up. Thank God we can start anew." In spite of disaster, three weeks later, he invented the phonograph. What an attitude!

Henry Ford
Henry Ford forgot to put the reverse gear in the first car he made.

Do you consider these people failures? They succeeded in spite of problems, not in the absence of them. But to the outside world, it appears as though they just got lucky.

All success stories are stories of great failures. The only difference is that every time they failed, they bounced back. This is called failing forward, rather than backward. You learn and move forward. Learn from your failure and keep moving.

Below are more examples of the failures of successful people:

1. Thomas Edison failed approximately 10,000 times while he was working on the light bulb.
2. Henry Ford was broke at the age of 40.
3. Lee Iacocca was fired by Henry Ford II at the age of 54.
4. Young Beethoven was told that he had no talent for music, but he gave some of the best music to the world.

Setbacks are inevitable in life. A setback can act as a driving force and also teach us humility. In grief you will find courage and faith to overcome the setback. We need to learn to become victors, not victims. Fear and doubt short-circuit the mind.

Ask yourself after every setback: What did I learn from this experience? Only then will you be able to turn a stumbling block into a stepping stone.

A GOOD COMMAND OF ENGLISH (Part II)

2007-11-25T09:15:00.001+08:00

In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

Allah SWT berfirman di dalam Al-quran Surah Al-Baqarah ayat 155 yang bermaksud "Sungguh, Kami akan menguji kamu dengan sesuatu daripada ketakutan, dan kelaparan, dan kekurangan harta, dan jiwa, dan buah-buahan; dan berilah berita gembira kepada orang-orang yang sabar."

What went wrong (www)?

Let me begin with this simple question. What actually went very wrong with our education systems resulting in poor command of English language amongst the school leavers and university graduates? To answer the question I need to analyse my very own circle of influence, to find out if there are any attributes that are extremely different in comparison to our children, brothers and sisters circle of influence. I can only speak for myself who were fortunate enough to enjoy two governments i.e. British Rule and of course the Federation of Malaysia AND two examination systems (Form 5 Level) i.e. Senior Cambridge (SC) and Malaysian Certificate of Education (MCE).

This case study is based on my life story which will make easier for me to narrate the experience rather than to have a generic scenario which will posed several constraints for me to write freely. The other reason why I choose my life story as a basis of the analysis is simply because my case is “the worst case scenario” by any standards.

My Early Education Circle of Influence – Depicted below are the main headings that I would based my analysis of “What Went Wrong (www)?” with our education system resulting in poor command of English language amongst our school leavers and university graduates. Kadayan school leavers and university graduates are no exception.

1. My family background
2. Our standard of Living
3. Pre-school education
4. Physical condition of my primary school
5. Medium of instruction
6. Teaching methodologies
7. Subjects taught
8. Text books
9. Resource centre (library)
10. Pupils
11. Teachers
12. Co-curriculum
13. School discipline and punishments
14. Tests & examinations
15. Other school facilities
16. Exposure to outside world (radio and newspapers)
17. Others

…………to be continued

WINNERS vs LOSERS

2007-11-24T22:44:00.002+08:00

In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful
Firman Allah SWT di dalam al-quran Surah al-Ra‘d, ayat 11 yang bermaksud: Sesungguhnya Allah tidak mengubah nasib sesuatu kaum sebelum kaum itu mengubah apa yang ada pada dirinya sendiri.

Table 1 - Winners vs Losers (Click to enlarge)

William James of Harvard University said, "If you are going to change your life, you need to start immediately and do it flamboyantly."

A GOOD COMMAND OF ENGLISH (Part 1)

2007-11-22T22:59:00.001+08:00

Part 1

I’m prompted to publish this write-up after receiving an e-mail from a good friend of mine and viewing some of the video clips in YouTube with regard to an interview between Al-Jazeera TV (English) and a Cabinet Minister pertaining to the so called “illegal rally” organised by BERSIH on Saturday, November 10, 2007. One of the video clips had been viewed by almost 10,000 users at the time when the writer is publishing this post.

I am not going to comment on the video clips neither the verbal English of the concerned Cabinet Minister nor his way of managing the international press. A great number of the local bloggers had done that by expressing their independent views with regard to the interview between Al-Jazeera TV (English) and the Cabinet Minister. I just love this quote from one of the bloggers "His style of answering questions posed by Aljazeera- an international TV interview, downgraded him from a status of statesman to a mere ketua kampong or perhaps even less." The titles of the video clips posted at the YouTube are self explanatory.

The readers can access the video clips from YouTube as mentioned above to appreciate the different between good and “not so good” command of verbal English albeit the Cabinet Minister’s journalistic experience / back ground and the portfolio he is holding in the Government.

The objective of this posting is to create awareness amongst the Kadayan / Kedayan people in particular and non-Kadayan / Kedayan in general on the importance of a good command of written and verbal English and how to generate interests amongst our children to position English as a second language.

It is a known fact that most of our university graduates and school leavers particularly amongst the bumiputeras are weak in written and verbal English. My personal experience in conducting job interviews in a GLC (Government Link Company) since the 80’s until Y2K were the testimony of such predicament. Being an interview panel chairman / member, I insisted the candidates to speak English through out the interview session. It was a sad affair, where majority of the bumiputera candidates were not proficient in English, even those who were graduated from overseas universities of English speaking countries (United Kingdom, USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand) were equally poor in verbal English.

A good command of English does not necessary mean that you have to speak English in British or North American accent or slang. In simple terms, it means correct grammar, correct pronunciation, moderate speed and above all the listener understands what you are saying. Avoid using jargons and words difficult to understand.

Now is not the time to blame our National Education Policy for producing school leavers and university graduates not proficient in English language, particularly amongst the bumiputeras. I’m not going to repeat what has been widely said in the media, parliament, and by the two Education Ministers about the issue, suffice it is to mention here that the government is aware of the issue in hand and the way forward is to formulate effective & working action plans to remedy the weaknesses.

……to be continued

THE DEFINITION OF SUCCESS

2007-11-20T09:05:00.001+08:00

Earl Nightingale

HOW DO WE DEFINE SUCCESS?

What makes a person successful? How do we recognize success?
To some people, success might mean wealth. To others, it is recognition, good health, good family, happiness, satisfaction, and peace of mind. What this really tells us is that success is subjective. It can mean different things to different people. The definition that I feel summarizes "success" well is:

Success is the progressive realization of a worthy goal.- Earl Nightingale

Let's look at these definitions carefully.

"Progressive" means that success is a journey, not a destination. We never arrive. After we reach one goal, we go on to the next and the next and the next.

"Realization" means it is an experience. Outside forces cannot make me feel successful. I have to feel it within myself. It is internal not external.

"Worthy" refers to our value system. Which way are we heading? Positive or negative? Worthiness determines the quality of the journey. That is what gives meaning and fulfillment. Success without fulfillment is empty.

Why "Goals" are important? Because they give us a sense of direction.
Success does not mean being accepted by everyone. There are some groups I would not want to be accepted by, out of choice. I would rather be criticized by fools than appreciated by unsavory characters.

I define success as a manifestation of good luck that results from inspiration, aspiration, desperation and perspiration; generally in that sequence.

Success and happiness go hand in hand. Success is getting what you want and happiness is wanting what you get!

Existence alone is not success! It is a lot more!
Do more than exist -- live
Do more than touch -- feel
Do more than look -- observe
Do more than read -- absorb
Do more than hear -- listen
Do more than listen -- understand
- John H. Rhodes

Success by Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)

To laugh often and much;
to win the respect of intelligent people
and the affection of children;
to earn the appreciation of honest critics
and endure the betrayal of false friends;
to appreciate beauty; to find the best in others;
to leave the world a bit better,
whether by a healthy child,
a garden patch
or a redeemed social condition;
to know even one life has breathed easier
because you have lived.
This is to have succeeded

Interesting comments from the blog reader

2007-11-19T21:42:00.001+08:00

Depicted below are the comments I received over my e-mail and I would like to share the comments with other readers. It is a very informative, interesting and highly intellectual comments and I leave it to the readers to read and evaluate the comments. For the sender, I thank you for the comment.

QUOTE - "The story at http://darahkedayan.blogspot.com/ has little to do with
intelligence or even knowledge. It has to do with the failure to
recognise that his own land is full of diamonds. This is a failure of
knowledge, not of intelligence because he was successful before he
started becoming greedy.

If you want to discuss what intelligence is you may start with my blogspot at
http://scientificintelligence.blogspot.com

Actually it is not easy to define success scientifically.
Do you consider Hitler or Bill Gates as a success?

How about those in between? Are they a success or a failure?

Those walking encyclopaedias such as Einstein and Newton, why do you
consider them as failures because they are only in between? Or because
they are not well off financially.

Actually, in order to understand how to evaluate success is to
understand Shannon's Information Theory which is the basis of my
intelligence theory. You don't need to define how useful any
information is. You just measure how much information content there
is.

Is monetary wealth the only criteria for success?

Walking encyclopedias may not be respected by many people because they
are poor, but I certainly welcome them because they contribute to more
knowledge. Just look at the wealth of knowledge that our ancestors had
accumulated, such as the food that had been invented by our ancestors.
In order to preserve their knowledge for eternity, we should document
them as quickly and as permanently as possible. Blogspots are
certainly the best way of doing it at the moment. That is why
http://sabahexoticfood.blogspot.com was setup.- UNQUOTE

EDUCATION DOES NOT MEAN GOOD JUDGEMENT

2007-11-18T20:01:00.001+08:00

Harvard University

There is a story about a man who sold hot dogs by the roadside. He was illiterate, so he never read newspapers. He was hard of hearing, so he never listened to the radio. His eyes were weak, so he never watched television. But enthusiastically, he sold lots of hot dogs. His sales and profit went up. He ordered more meat and got himself a bigger and a better stove. As his business was growing, the son, who had recently graduated from college, joined his father.

Then something strange happened. The son asked, "Dad, aren't you aware of the great recession that is coming our way?" The father replied, "No, but tell me about it." The son said, "The international situation is terrible. The domestic is even worse. We should be prepared for the coming bad time." The man thought that since his son had been to college, read the papers, and listened to the radio, he ought to know and his advice should not be taken lightly. So the next day, the father cut down his order for the meat and buns, took down the sign and was no longer enthusiastic. Very soon, fewer and fewer people bothered to stop at his hot dog stand. And his sales started coming down rapidly. The father said to his son, "Son, you were right. We are in the middle of a recession. I am glad you warned me ahead of time."

What is the moral of the story?

1. Many times we confuse intelligence with good judgment.
2. A person may have high intelligence but poor judgment.
3. Choose your advisers carefully and use your judgment.
4. A person can and will be successful with or without formal education if they have the 5 Cs:
• character
• commitment
• conviction
• courtesy
• courage
5. The tragedy is that there are many walking encyclopaedias who are living failures.

Look at this: -

A study attributed to Harvard University found that when a person gets a job, 85% of the time it is because of their attitude, and only 15% of the time because of how smart they are and how many facts and figures they know. Surprisingly, almost 100% of education dollars go to teach facts and figures which account for only 15% of success in work!

Islam - Way of Life

2007-11-11T00:56:00.001+08:00

Al-quran

Some of the lessons learnt from Quran that apply to our general living!

1. Respect and honour all human beings irrespective of their religion, colour, race, sex, language, status, property, birth, profession/job and so on [17/70]

2. Talk straight, to the point, without any ambiguity or deception [33/70]

3. Choose best words to speak and say them in the best possible way [17/53, 2/83]

4. Do not shout. Speak politely keeping your voice low. [31/19]

5. Always speak the truth. Shun words that are deceitful and ostentatious [22/30]

6. Do not confound truth with falsehood [2/42]

7. Say with your mouth what is in your heart [3/167]

8. Speak in a civilised manner in a language that is recognised by the society and is commonly used [4/5]

9. When you voice an opinion, be just, even if it is against a relative [6/152]

10. Do not be a bragging boaster [31/18]

11. Do not talk, listen or do anything vain [23/3, 28/55]

12. Do not participate in any paltry. If you pass near a futile play, then pass by with dignity [25/72]

13. Do not verge upon any immodesty or lewdness whether surreptitious or overt [6/151].

14. If, unintentionally, any misconduct occurs by you, then correct yourself expeditiously [3/134].

15. Do not be contemptuous or arrogant with people [31/18]

16. Do not walk haughtily or with conceit [17/37, 31/18]

17. Be moderate in thy pace [31/19]

18. Walk with humility and sedateness [25/63]

19. Keep your gazes lowered devoid of any lecherous leers and salacious stares [24/30-31, 40/19].

20. If you do not have complete knowledge about anything, better keep your mouth shut. You might think that speaking about something without full knowledge is a trivial matter. But it might have grave consequences [24/15-16]

21. When you hear something malicious about someone, keep a favourable view about him/her until you attain full knowledge about the matter. Consider others innocent until they are proven guilty with solid and truthful evidence [24/12-13]

22. Ascertain the truth of any news, lest you smite someone in ignorance and afterwards repent of what you did [49/6]

23. Do not follow blindly any information of which you have no direct knowledge. (Using your faculties of perception and conception) you must verify it for yourself. In the Court of your Lord, you will be held accountable for your hearing, sight, and the faculty of reasoning [17/36].

24. Never think that you have reached the final stage of knowledge and nobody knows more than yourself. Remember! Above everyone endowed with knowledge is another endowed with more knowledge [12/76]. Even the Prophet [p.b.u.h] was asked to keep praying, "O My sustainer! Advance me in knowledge." [20:114]

25. The believers are but a single Brotherhood. Live like members of one family, brothers and sisters unto one another [49/10].

26. Do not make mockery of others or ridicule others [49/11]

27. Do not defame others [49/11]

28. Do not insult others by nicknames [49/11]

29. Avoid suspicion and guesswork. Suspicion and guesswork might deplete your communal energy [49/12]

30. Spy not upon one another [49/12]

31. Do not backbite one another [49/12]

32. When you meet each other, offer good wishes and blessings for safety. One who conveys to you a message of safety and security and also when a courteous greeting is offered to you, meet it with a greeting still more courteous or (at least) of equal courtesy [4/86]

33. When you enter your own home or the home of somebody else, compliment the inmates [24/61]

34. Do not enter houses other than your own until you have sought permission; and then greet the inmates and wish them a life of blessing, purity and pleasure [24/27]

35. Treat kindly Your parents, Relatives, The orphans And those who have been left alone in the society [4/36]

36. Take care of the needy, the disabled, those whose hard earned income is insufficient to meet their needs, And those whose businesses have stalled, And those who have lost their jobs. [4/36]

37. Treat kindly Your related neighbours, and unrelated neighbours, Companions by your side in public gatherings, or public transportation. [4/36]

38. Be generous to the needy wayfarer, the homeless son of the street, and the one who reaches you in a destitute condition [4/36]

39. Be nice to people who work under your care. [4/36]

40. Do not follow up what you have given to others to afflict them with reminders of your generosity [2/262].

41. Do not expect a return for your good behaviour, not even thanks [76/9]

42. Cooperate with one another in good deeds and do not cooperate with others in evil and bad matters [5/2]

43. Do no try to impress people on account of self-proclaimed virtues [53/32]

44. You should enjoin right conduct on others but mend your own ways first. Actions speak louder than words. You must first practice good deeds yourself, then preach [2/44]

45. Correct yourself and your families first [before trying to correct others] [66/6]

46. Pardon gracefully if anyone among you who commits a bad deed out of ignorance, and then repents and amends [6/54, 3/134]

47. Divert and sublimate your anger and potentially virulent emotions to creative energy, and become a source of tranquility and comfort to people [3/134]

48. Call people to the Way of your Lord with wisdom and beautiful exhortation. Reason with them most decently [16/125]

49. Leave to themselves those who do not give any importance to the Divine code and have adopted and consider it as mere play and amusement [6/70]

50. Sit not in the company of those who ridicule Divine Law unless they engage in some other conversation [4/140]

51. Do not be jealous of those who are blessed [4/54]

52. In your collective life, make rooms for others [58/11]

53. When invited to dine, Go at the appointed time. Do not arrive too early to wait for the preparation of meal or linger after eating to engage in bootless babble. Such things may cause inconvenience to the host [33/53]

54. Eat and drink [what is lawful] in moderation [7/31].

55. Do not squander your wealth senselessly [17/26]

56. Fulfil your promises and commitments [17/34]

57. Keep yourself clean, pure [9/108, 4/43, 5/6].

58. Dress-up in agreeable attire and adorn yourself with exquisite character from inside out [7/26]

59. Seek your provision only by fair endeavour [29/17, 2/188]

60. Do not devour the wealth and property of others unjustly, nor bribe the officials or the judges to deprive others of their possessions [2/188]

Taken from:
http://english.islamway.com/bindex.php?section=article&id=271
Thanks to Hamzah Hasan for the article.

acres of diamonds

2007-11-09T15:05:00.001+08:00

ACRES OF DIAMONDS

There was a farmer in Africa who was happy and content. He was happy because he was content. He was content because he was happy. One day a wise man came to him and told him about the glory of diamonds and the power that goes along with them. The wise man said, "If you had a diamond the size of your thumb, you could have your own city. If you had a diamond the size of your fist, you could probably own your own country." And then he went away. That night the farmer couldn't sleep. He was unhappy and he was discontent. He was unhappy because he was discontent and discontent because he was unhappy.
The next morning he made arrangements to sell off his farm, took care of his family and went in search of diamonds. He looked all over Africa and couldn't find any. He looked all through Europe and couldn't find any. When he got to Spain, he was emotionally, physically and financially broke. He got so disheartened that he threw himself into the Barcelona River and committed suicide.
Back home, the person who had bought his farm was watering the camels at a stream that ran through the farm. Across the stream, the rays of the morning sun hit a stone and made it sparkle like a rainbow. He thought it would look good on the mantle piece. He picked up the stone and put it in the living room. That afternoon the wise man came and saw the stone sparkling. He asked, "Is Hafiz back?" The new owner said, "No, why do you ask?" The wise man said, "Because that is a diamond. I recognize one when I see one." The man said, no, that's just a stone I picked up from the stream. Come, I'll show you. There are many more." They went and picked some samples and sent them for analysis. Sure enough, the stones were diamonds. They found that the farm was indeed covered with acres and acres of diamonds.*

What is the moral of this story?
There are five morals:
1. When our attitude is right, we realize that we are all walking on acres and acres of diamonds.

• Attributed to Dr Russel Conwell .
• Opportunity is always under our feet. We don't have to go anywhere. All we need to do is recognize it.

2. The grass on the other side always looks greener.
3. While we are dyeing the grass on the other side, there are others who are dyeing the grass on our side. They would be happy to trade places with us.
4. When people don't know how to recognize oppor¬tunity, they complain of noise when it knocks.
5. The same opportunity never knocks twice. The next one may be better or worse, but it is never the same one.

do it right the first time, every time

2007-11-08T18:31:00.001+08:00

Michelangelo was working on a statue for several days and he was taking a long time to retouch every small detail which seemed rather insignificant to a bystander. When asked why he did it, Michelangelo replied, "Trifles make perfection and perfection is no trifle."
Most people forget how fast you did a job, but they remember how well it was done.

If a man is called to be street sweeper, he should sweep streets
even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music,
or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well
that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, here
lived a great street sweeper who did his job well.

--Martin Luger King, Jr.

managing problems

2007-11-08T18:25:00.002+08:00

People who have overcome obstacles are more secure than those who have never faced them . We all have problems and we feel discouraged some time. Most people get disappointed; but winners don't get disheartened. The answer is perseverance.
An English proverb says, "A smooth sea never made a skillful mariner." Everything is difficult before it becomes easy. We cannot run away from our problems. Only losers quit and give up.

Suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem.

--Abigail Van Buren

under construction

2007-11-06T21:05:00.000+08:00