Klik GAMBAR Dibawah Untuk Lebih Info

Sumber Asal Berita :-

The Malaysian Insider :: Food

---

For a taste of hearty Hakka cuisine Posted: 28 Oct 2011 06:45 PM PDT The Drunken Chicken with Ginger and Rice Wine was very satisfying. — Pictures by Eu Hooi Khaw KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 29 — I like the robust flavours of Hakka food, and Ying Ker Lou comes to mind when I need my Hakka fix. It's not too far away and easy to get to, being located in a shopping centre near where I live. Familiar Hakka dishes would be braised belly pork with yam or with preserved vegetables. Hakka Lui Char or rice with a variety of stirfried vegetables, finely cut, and peanuts, on which is poured a mixed tea "soup" that has ground tea leaves, sesame, peanuts, ikan bilis and basil in it, has become popular in recent years as something quite nutritious and tasty to eat. Crispy pork belly with fermented beancurd... very yummy. We had this in Ying Ker Lou, together with a Hakka Minced Pork Ban Tiao, as the carbo part of our dinner. The Ban Tiao or noodles were slightly sticky and al dente, lovely with the patty of minced pork with cuttlefish, and then minced pork with a strong whiff of salted fish. I could just eat this and be perfectly satisfied. The Lui Char was disappointing though: the "char" or tea part of it was a little diluted and weak in flavour. Stirred with the rice and other ingredients, it tasted flat. I had been looking forward to the Drunken Egg Omelette with Ginger and Rice Wine but we settled for the Drunken Chicken instead. I once had this wonderful omelette fried with lots of ginger and floating in rice wine in this restaurant. Stuffed bittergourd is one of my favourites. It's a traditional confinement food but few breastfeeding mums would take this now. I'm so glad it's on the menu here, a fluffy omelette redolent with ginger and sesame oil, soaking in a rice wine with a hint of sweetness. Ying Ker Lou does this particularly well. But I must say the Drunken Kampung Chicken which came in a black claypot, cooked with lots of crunchy wood fungus and ginger, tasted just as good. It was winey enough, with a light sweetness and a lovely aroma. I'm told that it's hard to get a supply of good Chinese rice wine to cook with. Sometimes a batch of it may even be sour. Crispy Pork Belly with Fermented Beancurd had also caught our fancy, and a delicious aroma floated up as it was brought to the table. The thin slices of pork had this perfect balance of lean and fat, and they were crispy as promised, without being fibrous. Hakka Minced Pork Bian Tiao is a must-try. I can never resist bittergourd if I see it on the menu. This was a bittergourd stuffed with small pieces of pig's stomach, yam, black mushrooms, garlic and chestnuts, and immersed in a stock with wolfberries or kei chee. The slightly crunchy pig's stomach blended well with the yam and mushrooms, and I'm sure if fresh chestnuts instead of dried ones had been used, it would have tasted so much better. Sauteed Assorted Mushrooms Hakka Style was our other vegetable dish — there were shiitake, enoki and eringgi mushrooms, stirfried with red and green peppers that were naturally sweet and tasty. The sauteed mushrooms Hakka style... absolutely delicious. Other dishes on the menu worthy of a return visit include the Fried Intestine with Pineapple, Braised Pork Belly with Yam, Braised Duck with Young Ginger, and Dong Jiang Style Stuffed Beancurd in Hotpot. The prices: Minced Pork Ban Tiao is RM14.90, Drunken Egg with Rice Wine RM16, Crispy Pork Belly with Fermented Beancurd RM26, Stuffed Bittergourd RM21, Drunken Kampung Chicken RM36, Stirfried Assorted Mushrooms RM19. Ying Ker Lou is in several shopping centres in Petaling Jaya and Kuala Lumpur. The one we went to is the original one, on the first floor of The Curve, Mutiara Damansara, Petaling Jaya (Tel: 03-7729-4229). Full content generated by Get Full RSS.

You are subscribed to email updates from The Malaysian Insider :: Food To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email delivery powered by Google
Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610

Kredit: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com

Klik GAMBAR Dibawah Untuk Lebih Info

Sumber Asal Berita :-

The Malaysian Insider :: Sports

---

FA fines Chelsea for player indiscipline at QPR Posted: 28 Oct 2011 08:47 AM PDT LONDON, Oct 28 ― Chelsea were fined £20,000 (RM98,800) by the English FA today after the club admitted a charge of failing to ensure their players behaved properly during last Sunday's London derby at Queens Park Rangers which QPR won 1-0. Chelsea had Jose Bosingwa and Didier Drogba sent off in an eight minute spell in the first half at Loftus Road and had the charge levelled against them for their players surrounding referee Chris Foy following Bosingwa's red card. The FA cited Chelsea for "failing to ensure their players conducted themselves in an orderly fashion". The FA has also asked Chelsea's manager Andre Villas-Boas to explain his comments after the match regarding the way Foy handled the match. The fall-out from the game has also included allegations of racist abuse levelled against Chelsea and England captain John Terry involving QPR defender Anton Ferdinand. The FA has started another investigation. Terry has strenuously denied the charges. ― Reuters Full content generated by Get Full RSS.

Massa fastest for Ferrari on Indian debut Posted: 28 Oct 2011 07:54 AM PDT Ferrari Formula One driver Felipe Massa of Brazil drives during the second practice session ahead of the Indian Formula One Grand Prix at the Buddh International Circuit in Greater Noida, New Delhi on October 28, 2011. ― Reuters pic NOIDA, Oct 28 ― Felipe Massa was fastest for Ferrari today as Formula One's oldest team set the pace at the sport's newest circuit in practice for the inaugural Indian Grand Prix. If the morning was a tale of Indian pride, stray dogs and Englishman Lewis Hamilton collecting a three place grid penalty for ignoring warning flags after setting the quickest lap, the afternoon ended a red letter day with a red car on top. Massa's lap was the fastest yet in the heat and dust of the barely completed US$450 million (RM1.381 billion) Buddh International layout, near New Delhi, clocking a best time of one minute 25.706 seconds. Double world champion Sebastian Vettel was second in both sessions on a day of huge significance for Indian motorsport but with very little importance in a championship whose titles have already been won by the German and his Red Bull team. Fernando Alonso reinforced Ferrari's potential with the third fastest time in the second session after suffering a blown engine in the morning. In keeping with the sense of history, teams hit the track for the first time with the colours of the national flag leading the way. The first car out of the pitlane was the saffron, white and green Force India, driven by Germany's Adrian Sutil. It was followed closely by Team Lotus's Indian reserve Karun Chandhok, the second Force India of Paul di Resta and then Indian racer Narain Karthikeyan in the HRT. Chandhok, who will not race Sunday, had the honour of setting the first timed lap. Karthikeyan, who became the only Indian ever to score points in Formula One when he was at Jordan in 2005, ended the day last on the timing screens but comforted that his presence was what really mattered. Emotional moment "It's an emotional moment for all of us," Force India team principal Vijay Mallya told reporters. "There was a lot of speculation about whether the track would be ready and the event has had its fair share of controversy after what happened with the Commonwealth Games, but we're ready. It's a great track and the drivers love it." A large black stray dog appeared on the main pit straight, one of the longest in the sport, shortly before the first session was due to start. Another appeared minutes into the action, causing practice to be red-flagged for safety reasons for five minutes while the offending canine was rounded up. Hamilton set a best lap of 1:26.836 right at the end of that session to deny Vettel and Red Bull's Australian Mark Webber an immediate one-two on the timesheets but fell foul of the stewards who imposed his sixth penalty of the season. They ruled the 2008 champion and Sauber's Mexican Sergio Perez had both ignored waved double yellow flags warning that a car was being recovered by marshals working close to the track. The penalty meant Hamilton, sporting a helmet with the image of the late reggae singer Bob Marley on top, could no longer hope to start on pole position for a second successive race. There were no dogs to delay matters in the afternoon but the session was again red-flagged when Belgian Jerome D'Ambrosio crashed his Virgin heavily. Many of the drivers' cars and helmets carried the logos and numbers of British racer Dan Wheldon and Italian MotoGP rider Marco Simoncelli, who both died in accidents since the previous Korean Grand Prix. ― Reuters Full content generated by Get Full RSS.

You are subscribed to email updates from The Malaysian Insider :: Sports To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email delivery powered by Google
Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610

Kredit: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com

Klik GAMBAR Dibawah Untuk Lebih Info

Sumber Asal Berita :-

The Malaysian Insider :: Features

---

‘Wife-sharing’ haunts Indian villages as girls decline Posted: 27 Oct 2011 10:23 PM PDT Munni, who goes by one name, in a village community centre in Baghpat. — Reuters pic BAGHPAT, India, Oct 28 — When Munni arrived in this fertile, sugarcane-growing region of north India as a young bride years ago, little did she imagine she would be forced into having sex and bearing children with her husband's two brothers who had failed to find wives. "My husband and his parents said I had to share myself with his brothers," said the woman in her mid-40s, dressed in a yellow sari, sitting in a village community centre in Baghpat district in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh. "They took me whenever they wanted — day or night," said Munni, who had managed to leave her home after three months only on the pretext of visiting a doctor. "When I resisted, they beat me with anything at hand. "Sometimes they threw me out and made me sleep outside or they poured kerosene over me and burned me." Such cases are rarely reported to police because women in these communities are seldom allowed outside the home unaccompanied, and the crimes carry deep stigma for the victims. So there may be many more women like Munni in the mud-hut villages of the area. Munni, who has three sons from her husband and his brothers, has not filed a police complaint either. Social workers say decades of aborting female babies in a deeply patriarchal culture has led to a decline in the population of women in some parts of India, such as Baghpat, and in turn has resulted in rising incidents of rape, human trafficking and the emergence of "wife-sharing" among brothers. Aid workers say the practice of female foeticide has flourished among several communities across the country because of a traditional preference for sons, who are seen as old-age security. "We are already seeing the terrible impacts of falling numbers of females in some communities," says Bhagyashri Dengle, executive director of children's charity Plan India. "We have to take this as a warning sign and we have to do something about it or we'll have a situation where women will constantly be at risk of kidnap, rape and much, much worse." Secret practices Just two hours drive from New Delhi, with its gleaming office towers and swanky malls, where girls clad in jeans ride motor bikes and women occupy senior positions in multi-nationals, the mud-and-brick villages of Baghpat appear a world apart. Here, women veil themselves in the presence of men, are confined to the compounds of their houses as child bearers and home makers, and are forbidden from venturing out unaccompanied. Village men farm the lush sugarcane plantations or sit idle on charpoys, or traditional rope beds, under the shade of trees in white cotton tunics, drinking tea, some smoking hookah pipes while lamenting the lack of brides for their sons and brothers. The figures are telling. According to India's 2011 census, there are only 858 women to every 1,000 men in Baghpat district, compared with the national sex ratio of 940. Child sex ratios in Baghpat are even more skewed and on the decline, with 837 girls in 2011 compared with 850 in 2001 — a trend mirrored across districts in northern Indian states such as Haryana, Punjab and Rajasthan and Gujarat in the west. "In every village, there are at least five or six bachelors who can't find a wife," says Shri Chand, 75, a retired police constable. "In some, there are up to three or four unmarried men in one family. It's a serious problem. "Everything is hush, hush. No one openly admits it, but we all know what is going on. Some families buy brides from other parts of the country, while others have one daughter-in-law living with many unwedded brothers." Sabita Singh, wed at age 14. — Reuters pic Women from other regions such as the states of Jharkhand and West Bengal speak of how their poor families were paid sums of as little as 15,000 rupees (RM936) by middlemen and brought here to wed into a different culture, language and way of life. "It was hard at first, there was so much to learn and I didn't understand anything. I thought I was here to play," said Sabita Singh, 25, who was brought from a village in West Bengal at the age of 14 to marry her husband, 19 years her elder. "I've got used to it," she says holding her third child in her lap. "I miss my freedom." Such exploitation of women is illegal in India, but many of these crimes are gradually becoming acceptable among such close-knit communities because the victims are afraid to speak out and neighbours unwilling to interfere. Some villagers say the practice of brothers sharing a wife has benefits, such as the avoidance of division of family land and other assets among heirs. Others add the shortage of women has, in fact, freed some poor families with daughters from demands for substantial dowries by grooms' families. Social activists say nothing positive can be derived from the increased exploitation of women, recounting cases in the area of young schoolgirls being raped or abducted and auctioned off in public. Unabated abortions Despite laws making pre-natal gender tests illegal, India's 2011 census indicated that efforts to curb female foeticide have been futile. While India's overall female-to-male ratio marginally improved since the last census in 2001, fewer girls were born than boys and the number of girls under six years old plummeted for the fifth decade running. A May study in the British medical journal Lancet found that up to 12 million Indian girls were aborted over the past three decades — resulting in a skewed child sex ratio of 914 girls to every 1,000 boys in 2011 compared with 962 in 1981. Sons, in traditionally male-dominated regions, are viewed as assets — breadwinners who will take care of the family, continue the family name, and perform the last rites of the parents, an important ritual in many faiths. Daughters are seen as a liability, for whom families have to pay substantial wedding dowries. Protecting their chastity is a major concern as instances of pre-marital sex are seen to bring shame and dishonour on families. Women's rights activists say breaking down these deep-rooted, age-old beliefs is a major challenge. "The real solution is to empower girls and women in every way possible," says Neelam Singh, head of Vatsalya, an Indian NGO working on children's and women's issues. "We need to provide them with access to education, healthcare and opportunities which will help them make decisions for themselves and stand up to those who seek to abuse or exploit them." — TrustLaw (TrustLaw is a global news service on women's rights and good governance run by Thomson Reuters Foundation. For more information see www.trust.org/trustlaw) Full content generated by Get Full RSS.

You are subscribed to email updates from The Malaysian Insider :: Features To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email delivery powered by Google
Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610

Kredit: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com

Klik GAMBAR Dibawah Untuk Lebih Info

Sumber Asal Berita :-

The Malaysian Insider :: Showbiz

---

Opera star Domingo lauded in London as one of a kind Posted: 28 Oct 2011 06:53 AM PDT Placido Domingo bows during the curtain call of Placido Domingo Celebration at the Royal Opera House after a special performance to celebrate his 40th anniversary with the Royal Opera in London on October 27, 2011. ― Reuters pic LONDON, Oct 28 ― Spanish singer Placido Domingo marked his 40th anniversary at London's Royal Opera House with a gala concert late yesterday that was greeted with one of the longest and loudest curtain calls the venue has seen in years. Yet amid the celebrations for the 70-year-old's distinguished career, there came warnings that his like may not be seen again in a time when finding the "next big thing" could deny singers the time to develop into genuine greats. For one, unlike many other members of the opera royalty, Domingo does not do hissy fits, tantrums and last-minute cancellations. Instead, it seems, the man with the golden voice and acting abilities appears to be loved just as much for his professionalism and generosity on and off stage. "You'll never hear anyone in the industry say a bad word about him," said veteran opera photographer Rob Moore, who was at Covent Garden in 1971 when Domingo made his debut there. The sellout crowd paying up to 225 pounds a seat saw Domingo perform the final acts of three of his favourite Verdi operas. In "Otello," he sang the title role written for a tenor, the register that made him one of the most famous singers of his generation with Luciano Pavarotti and Jose Carreras. Domingo recently switched to baritone, and performed the title roles in the closing scenes of "Rigoletto" and "Simon Boccanegra." Adrian Hamilton of the Independent newspaper said in his four-star review that Domingo "may have lost the full throat of youth," but argued his dramatic powers were at their height. "No-one dies like Placido Domingo," he wrote of his on-stage demise in Simon Boccanegra. "They don't make them like that any more," he added. "And more's the pity. Domingo belongs to Grand Opera in a way that few male singers do today. He's also a real trouper in a way that virtually none are." "Impatience" threatens future Antonio Pappano, music director at the Royal Opera House, who conducted Domingo, said the experience was less nerve-racking than some might expect. "It's incredibly comforting because ... in his voice there's history and there's time," he said backstage after the performance. But he also voiced concerns that future Domingos may not be given space to develop. "We live in a world where everybody is, you know, 'the next young thing' and 'the next prodigy' and the 'next superstar kid', and now you see what a real career is about. It's built over time. "There's a great impatience in careers. If you've got a beautiful lyrical voice, your voice can grow over time, but if you push it too soon into heavier roles this takes a toll on the voice. We've seen it happen over and over and over again." Don't clap too much For Domingo, the Royal Opera House was in some ways "unbeatable," not least because audiences did not applaud for too long. "This house has always been enormous, I mean the warmth of the public, the company like a family," he told Reuters and London's Evening Standard in a backstage interview. Still dressed in the long gowns of his Simon Boccanegra costume and surrounded by fans and colleagues, he added: "I think the public in London is amazing because you know in some theatres maybe you have anything between half and hour and 40 minutes of curtain calls. "In London I think what's so absolutely amazing is the way they react and they kind of respect the artist ... 10 minutes of London applause, it is equivalent of any other house's half an hour or 40 minutes because it's really like an explosion." Sharing the stage with Domingo at the concert were four Covent Garden debutants, underlining the singer's engagement with discovering new talent. "This is my big thing, to be able to create new artists with my competition and with my young artist programs," Domingo said, speaking in English. "It's really the future when you see these people." Asked whether he was optimistic about opera's future, he replied: "I believe opera is forever, as long as there is sensibility in people." And addressing the economic crisis that has put the notoriously expensive art form out of the reach of many fans, he said: "Always there have been crises and this is of course one of the most difficult times. "I think it's possible to encourage people to work more with co-productions and sometimes you have to cut a little bit the repertoire and the performances, but it is going to be back." ― Reuters Full content generated by Get Full RSS.

Justin Timberlake goes rogue for ‘In Time’ Posted: 28 Oct 2011 06:45 AM PDT Cast member Justin Timberlake poses at the premiere of ''In Time'' at the Regency Village Theatre in Westwood, California on October 20, 2011. ― Reuters pic  LOS ANGELES, Oct 28 ― Justin Timberlake may be riding a new wave of movie stardom as his new film, "In Time," sees its release in theatres today, but the singer-dancer-actor still thinks he's an ordinary man. Timberlake takes the lead role in the sci-fi, action thriller in which director Andrew Niccol takes audiences into a world where time has become the monetary currency. "I found it (the movie) to be very provocative and it made me ask a lot of questions about myself, some of it which I still haven't come up with the answers for, but I like when a movie does that," "The Social Network" actor told Reuters. In a world where everyone stops physically ageing at 25, Timberlake's character, Will Salas, often finds himself with just 24 hours to live, in which he must find ways to earn time in order to prolong his life. "I admired Will, I hope I would fight back the way he does," said Timberlake. "I've never gotten to play a character that I wanted to be like, I don't think, so I was eager to run in his shoes." The 30-year-old "Sexyback" singer has been in the public eye since childhood as lead singer of boy-band juggernaut N*Sync in the 1990s, before shedding his child-star image to become a Grammy-winning solo artist and Hollywood heartthrob. Yet, he doesn't see himself as all that different than the kid who was born in Memphis, Tennessee. "I think I've always looked at myself as an ordinary guy who gets to be in extraordinary situations," said the actor. "Extraordinary" is an understatement. He has conquered pop music, moved into fashion and is doing his best to become a Hollywood movie star. He's doing a good job of it, too. Timberlake has managed his ascendancy carefully, working in supporting roles in high-profile, low-budget movies like "Alpha Dog," voicing a role in animated "Shrek the Third," then breaking through in a key role in last year's award-winning "The Social Network." This year, he starred in comedy "Bad Teacher" and alongside Mila Kunis in romance "Friends With Benefits." Timberlake is now setting his sights on being an action hero with "In Time." Fighting time, saving world The world of "In Time" sees 'time' bartered for goods and services. Time can be given, received and stolen just by people locking arms with each other. When Timberlake's character, Will, is given a windfall of 'time' from a wealthy person, he finds himself fighting against social boundaries and injustice in a city where inhabitants are segregated by time zones according to their level of wealth. "The concept is pretty extreme and it's hard to take that idea and actually ground it to a point where you can actually do it and make it relevant to our society," said "Mamma Mia" actress Amanda Seyfried, who plays his love interest Sylvia. The film has been compared to 1997's "Gattaca," which Niccol directed and 1998's "The Truman Show," which Niccol produced, both films presenting a future world that doesn't veer too far from present day. "Andrew has this ability to toss you into another world, but in a world where you see the metaphors of what's happening today and right now," said Timberlake. The film's themes of wealth inequality may resonate with some present day audiences, and Timberlake found it "serendipitous" that the release of "In Time" coincided with the Occupy Wall Street protests taking place across the US. "I would put Will in the 99 percentile that are protesting Wall Street and Occupy LA," said the actor, adding that the film also addressed the multi-billion dollar beauty industry. The film has received mixed reviews ahead of its release. Variety's Peter DeBruge found that it took advantage of Timberlake's action-hero potential, but the director was "incredibly surface-oriented" in addressing the themes. The Hollywood Reporter's Todd McCarthy said Timberlake "capably carries the film but a glint of true rebelliousness, of a slightly unhinged element in his character's makeup, could have nudged the performance to another level." ― Reuters Full content generated by Get Full RSS.

You are subscribed to email updates from The Malaysian Insider :: Showbiz To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email delivery powered by Google
Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610

Kredit: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com

Klik GAMBAR Dibawah Untuk Lebih Info

Sumber Asal Berita :-

The Malaysian Insider :: Opinion

---

Implement hudud by force, he says Posted: 27 Oct 2011 04:47 PM PDT OCT 28 — "Hudud needs to be implemented by force!" I was shocked to hear an academician, Assoc Prof Dr Mohd Ridhuan Tee Abdullah, utter those words at a recent Islamic forum on hudud. According to the academician who teaches at the National Defence University, time is running out and it looks like the non-Muslims will never accept hudud and Islam. As a Muslim myself, I felt ashamed and embarrassed by what he said at such a public forum. First of all, I would like to ask one vital question. If non-Muslims are not willing to accept hudud or Islam, why question their reasoning for it? The non-Muslims would have made their decision based on what they have seen, heard and observed. Can you blame them if what they've seen has been all negative? So, maybe what he should have said, instead of using force, look within and solve the internal problems before you start preaching outside. Any educated individual who has even a little bit of learned experience, Muslim or non-Muslim, will tell you that Islam is not, and never was, a religion of force. Free will and compulsion is something that is stressed upon in the religion and is stated all over the Quran. Surah Al Baqarah states that: "There is no compulsion in religion. Certainly, right has become clearly distinct from wrong." And this is reaffirmed in Surah Al Ghashiyya: "(Muhammad), preach, you are only a preacher. You do not have full control over them." And again in Surah Qaf: "We know best what they say and you (Muhammad) cannot compel them. Remind, by way of the Quran, those who have fear of My warnings." He also, during the forum, said that hudud is the law of God and that is one of the reasons why it should be implemented even by force. Here, I would like to take the opportunity to remind him that these laws are men's attempt to understand God's decree in a particular context, and hence are man-made. Hudud and syariah rules are really just opinions of jurists from a long time ago (mainly the Abbasid period). This is known as fiqh, or jurisprudence. The laws that are being planned to be implemented today consist of what were made during this long gone period, which did not even resemble our modern society today. And the problems that arise are exactly the kind that we see today. We see it as something archaic, medieval and barbaric. Our society today has evolved way beyond the 8th century of the Abbasid period. And it is only natural to expect the laws to also evolve. Which brings me to the Islamic concept of Khilafat which decrees that a government needs to be ruled by the free choice of the people. And Shura, which means that anything that is to be implemented in a certain society needs to be done with the consultation of the people. Surah Al Shura states: "Those who listen to their Lord, and establish regular prayer; who conduct their affairs by mutual consultation; who spend out of what we bestow on them for sustenance, [are praised]." "The blame is only against those who oppress men with wrong doing and insolently transgress beyond bounds through the land, defying right and justice: for such there will be a penalty grievous." And again in Surah Al Imran: "So by mercy from Allah, [O Muhammad], you were lenient with them. And if you had been rude [in speech] and harsh in heart, they would have disbanded from about you. So pardon them and ask forgiveness for them and consult them in the matter. And when you have decided, then rely upon Allah. Indeed, Allah loves those who rely [upon Him]." For someone with numerous academic qualifications and a member of several Islamic consultative organisations and agencies, he must surely know this. Then, in his rant, he goes on to say that it was never the intention of God to have in existence a multiracial country and that each country is intended for a specific race. By then, I just gave up in exasperation and concluded that no one could actually take the words of this man seriously. Thank God for that! * The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the columnist. Full content generated by Get Full RSS.

Sexual lunacy Posted: 27 Oct 2011 04:32 PM PDT OCT 28 — Any tourist drawn to Malaysia for its beaches, nightlife or diverse culture would not bargain on finding another aspect of Malaysian life in her daily newspapers; a very public obsession with sex. Not just plain old heterosexual making out but sodomy, orgies and illicit sex tapes, to name a few. On any given day, one could be confronted with graphic details of the number of men present in another man's anus, or be inflicted with the supposedly moral advice to Muslim women in a polygamous marriage to have sex with their husband simultaneously. On a slow news day, sex tapes of anybody from a Customs officer to an air steward or a senior politician can be released to add a sexual punch to the news. If nothing else, even minor children of politicians can be accused of sexual harassment. Move on to the classifieds and they seem to be full of offers for seven-star Oriental man-on-man massages available right at your doorstep, or any other combination of sexual services that your imagination may conjure up. The agony aunt columns are also invariably full of lurid descriptions of women being treated despicably by their sex-crazed partners. What gives? Why is a relatively peaceful, middle-income, largely spiritual and charitable nation so obsessed with the outer fringes of sexual behaviour that would be more appropriate to the more outlandish and risqué part of the American pornographic industry? It seems even more astonishing given the fact that Malaysia is at the heart of Asia with its deeply conservative approach to sexuality across cultures and religion. In Malaysia, pornography is officially banned, films and advertising are routinely monitored for sexual innuendos even, and there is a large government department charged with policing the morals of its Muslim population. One could argue that where there is such a stark collision between tradition and modernity on one hand and between the three main races on the other, such interest in otherwise unmentionable sexual practices is inevitable. Young men and women transitioning from small towns to the big bad world of Kuala Lumpur have to grapple with the contrast between their conservative upbringing and the freewheeling nature of the big city where any kind of sexual service is available for a price. Malays, Indians and Chinese kids have to adjust their beliefs on intermarriage to the realities of living in such close proximity to each other. The stresses and strains of these clashes are managed admirably by young people as a whole by learning to divide their self into public and private personas. They learn to be more cosmopolitan and liberal in their outlook when at work or study, but at home they revert back to what their community and faith expect of them in terms of sexuality. But the consequence of leading this double life is often hypocrisy. There is a vicarious kind of pleasure in seeing the sexual escapades of other people in newsprint and the inevitable censure and opprobrium that follows. It vindicates their belief that their own peccadilloes need to be carried out behind closed doors and kept a tightly-guarded secret lest they meet the same fate as those on TV. There is also a sense that whatever these people may project as leaders, they have the same, sometimes outlandish sexual needs and desires as us ordinary folk. And then there are those like the Obedient Wives Club who figure that one way to project Islam as modern is to advocate the absolute limits of sexual behaviour that could possibly be condoned by the religion. Sex as news is the societal compromise Malaysia seems to have made. As long as sex is mentioned as part of real Malaysian life and not content deliberately designed to titillate (apologies), it can be as graphic as it needs to be. Sexual hypocrisy is the Malaysian way. No Debbie Does Dallas here, but Sodomy II in full graphic detail is all the rage. * The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the columnist. Full content generated by Get Full RSS.

You are subscribed to email updates from The Malaysian Insider :: Opinion To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email delivery powered by Google
Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610

Kredit: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com

Klik GAMBAR Dibawah Untuk Lebih Info

Sumber Asal Berita :-

The Malaysian Insider :: Bahasa

---

SPR: Undi awal selain polis, tentera dibawa kepada panel khas Parlimen Posted: 28 Oct 2011 02:30 AM PDT IPOH, 28 Okt - Suruhanjaya Pilihan Raya (SPR) bercadang membenarkan pemilih yang berkhidmat dalam beberapa sektor pekerjaan seperti media, perubatan, penerbangan dan cari gali minyak mengundi secara pos atau mengundi awal bersama polis dan tentera pada pilihan raya umum ke-13 (PRU-13). Pengerusinya Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof (gambar) berkata cadangan itu akan dibincangkan pada mesyuarat Jawatankuasa Pilihan Khas Berhubung Dengan Penambahbaikan Proses Pilihan Raya yang sebelum ini turut menilai beberapa cadangan lain seperti pengunaan dakwat kekal atau biometrik. Jika cadangan dipersetujui, rang undang-undang pindaan peraturan dan undang-undang berkaitan termasuk membolehkan pengundian awal akan dibentangkan di Parlimen, katanya kepada pemberita selepas merasmikan program Taklimat PRU-13 kepada 24 Pegawai Pengurus dan 105 Penolong Pegawai Pengurus Pilihan Raya bagi negeri ini di sini hari ini. Aziz berkata jika sempat kesemua cadangan itu boleh dilaksanakan pada PRU-13. "Kita faham ada beberapa kumpulan media yang tidak dapat pergi mengundi kerana tugas, jadi adakah kita nak biarkan begini? Oleh itu, kita fikir patut buat perubahan supaya mereka ini mengundi pos atau mengundi awal, cadangan ini akan dibawa ke dalam jawatankuasa berkenaan nanti. Sebenarnya, bukan saja media tetapi juga petugas di pesawat seperti pramugari dan pramugara, jururawat dan petugas di pelantar minyak," katanya. Beliau berkata SPR sedang menjalankan kajian berkenaan cadangan-cadangan itu sama ada sesuai dilaksanakan tetapi ia bergantung kepada pindaan peraturan dan undang-undang. Aziz berkata cadangan itu turut membabitkan petugas SPR yang akan diberi pilihan sama ada mahu mengundi awal atau pada hari mengundi sebenar. Beliau berkata jawatankuasa berkenaan juga akan membincangkan pelbagai perkara lain seperti peraturan terbaik semasa proses penamaan calon, kempen dan hari mengundi supaya tidak menimbulkan masalah. Jawatankuasa berkenaan, katanya, telah diberi masa enam bulan iaitu hingga April ini untuk mengemukakan cadangan penuh tetapi ia boleh mengemukakan cadangan sementara kepada SPR atau meminta melanjutkan tempoh itu jika perlu. Mengenai taklimat berkenaan, Aziz berkata Perak adalah negeri ketiga taklimat diadakan selepas Selangor dan Kelantan. Bagaimanapun, beliau berkata penganjuran taklimat itu bukan petanda PRU-13 akan diadakan dalam masa terdekat, apa yang pasti pilihan raya mesti diadakan selewat-lewatnya 28 Jun 2013 iaitu selepas tarikh terbubarnya Dewan Rakyat secara automatik pada 28 April tahun sama. Berucap sebelum itu, Aziz berkata sebanyak 20,924 petugas akan terbabit dalam PRU-13 di Perak. Full content generated by Get Full RSS.

Batal pindaan Akta Kerja atau hadapi kesan masa PRU, MTUC beri Najib amaran Posted: 28 Oct 2011 02:23 AM PDT SUBANG JAYA, 28 Okt ― Kongres Kesatuan Sekerja Malaysia (MTUC) hari ini memberi amaran keras kepada Datuk Seri Najib Razak bahawa undi melibatkan 5.7 juta pekerja akan menjadi penentu dalam arah aliran sokongan ketika pilihan raya umum ke-13 melainkan pindaan Akta Kerja 1955 yang menjadi kontroversi sekarang ditarik balik. "Kami minta perdana menteri mendengar permintaan kami, suara kami bagi pihak 5.7 juta pengundi (pekerja). "Ada 5.7 juta pekerja yang berdaftar. Ini isyarat kami kepada beliau," kata Setiausaha Agung MTUC Abdul Halim Mansor pada sidang media di sini hari ini. Badan induk kesatuan sekerja yang dianggotai 390 gabungan mewakili 802,323 ahli telah merancang untuk mengadakan piket peringkat nasional pada 3 November ini. MTUC mengesahkan bahawa piket itu, yang kedua selepas tindakan di kawasan bangunan Parlimen pada 3 Oktober lalu, akan diadakan 20 lokasi di seluruh negara. Pergerakan itu mendakwa Rang Undang-undang Kerja (Pindaan) 2011 yang diluluskan oleh Dewan Rakyat pada 6 Oktober lalu akan memberi laluan mudah kepara para pelabur dan majikan mengambil rakyat Malaysia sebagai pekerja kontrak berbanding tenaga kerja kekal. MENYUSUL LAGI Full content generated by Get Full RSS.

You are subscribed to email updates from The Malaysian Insider :: Bahasa To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email delivery powered by Google
Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610

Kredit: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com