PASIR MAS: Villagers here were relieved that six banana trunks were finally removed from the graveyard they were buried in.
But the bomoh who buried them in the Kampung Banggol cemetery said it would affect the “treatment” he gave to a family from Penang.
Six days ago, bomoh Mohamed Ariffin Ibrahim buried the banana trunks, wrapped in burial cloths, to imprison “evil spirits”.
This caused an uproar in the village, with rumours spreading that aliens from outer space had been buried there.
“They don’t believe that the banana trunks contain evil spirits that I was trying to imprison. Removing them will affect the treatment I provided to a family plagued by a group of spirits,” he said at the graveyard.
Ariffin said he would not be responsible for “whatever happened” after they are removed.
The police received a permit from the Kelantan Islamic Affairs Council to dig them up yesterday.
Hundreds of villagers gathered at the cemetery as early as 8am to watch the “exhumation”.
District police chief Superintendent Haliludin Rahim said he hoped this would end all the speculation and rumours.
The 59-year-old bomoh, called “Abang Pin” by the locals, believed that someone might have been jealous of his popularity and “effective” treatment and informed the police.
It is not known what the police have done with the trunks.
Saturday, June 30, 2007
‘Spell’ of discontent
King of Fruits - Part 2
Another interest item on the King of Fruits in the Star dated 26th June 2007:
20,000 durians to be given away on Sunday
By MAZNI MUSTAFA
IPOH: Foreign tourists, including Europeans, will be well-informed about the Malaysian king of fruits so that the Perak Durian Festival on Sunday will be a success.
“We don’t want our Durian Festival to face the same fate as what had happened in Penang when promoting the fruit,” said Changkat Jering assemblyman Datuk Mat Isa Ismail, who is co-organiser of the event.
“We want our foreign guests to take part in the event until the end of the programme,” he told reporters here on Tuesday.
On June 18, it had been reported that 18 foreign tourists taking part in a durian-eating competition in Penang fled the scene soon after taking a whiff of the fruit as they could not stand its strong smell, resulting in the cancellation of the contest.
Mat Isa said a group of 60 foreign tourists, including Europeans, would be taking part in the durian festival.
He said event organiser, the state Tourism Council, had taken steps to brief them so that they would know what to expect during the programme to promote the fruit.
The move was to ensure the foreigners, who would be arriving in two express buses from Kuala Lumpur, would be able to bear the strong smell of the Malaysia king of fruits.
On the festival, Mat Isa said about 20,000 durians would be given out free during the event to be held at the Bukit Gantang public field in Taiping from 10am onwards.
He said the people would also be treated with all kinds of durian-flavoured foods such as gulai tempoyak, dodol, jam, ice-cream, fritters, yogurt, and juice.
“The highlight will be a gotong-royong involving 50 housewives to make cucur durian (durian fritters) using eight gunny sacks of wheat flour,” he said.
The people could also buy the fruit at bargain prices from the 15 stalls set up at the field, he said.
He added that 10,000 people were expected to attend the event to be launched by Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak and his wife Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor.
King of Fruits - Part 1
The following article is from the Star published on 23rd June 2007.
Times are changing so the way of doing business must change too!
Don’t leave home without it??? 
Pay for durians with credit card
PENANG: A banner saying “We accept Master and Visa” hangs outside the stall at Jalan Van Praagh here. Only, it’s not your usual touristy shop. It’s a makeshift durian stall.
And yes, you can buy the King of Fruits with credit cards.
At least three stalls in Penang have opted to extend “credit” purchases to their customers after a bank approached them.
The other two stalls are located in Relau and Mt Erskine.
Seng Durian Enterprise owner Ngang Boon Seng said: “Just like supermarkets and boutiques which accept credit cards, we want to offer such flexibility to our customers, too.”
“And business has been good as customers tend to buy more using credit cards,” he said, adding that a customer recently bought RM800 worth of durians.
“Nowadays, many shoppers don’t like to carry too much cash for fear of being robbed,” he added.
Ngang noted that most of his customers use credit cards to pay for their purchases towards the end of the month when most people were short of cash.
The 37-year-old said credit cards were accepted for purchases above RM40.
Ngang said he gets about 100 customers daily, some from as far as Indonesia, Europe, Korea, China and Singapore.
“We sell a variety including Ang Heh (Red Prawn), Tangkai Panjang (Long Stem), Ganja, D2, D11 and 604.
“Durians are more costly this year as the harvest has dropped by about 30%,” he said.
Retired driving instructor Loh Hoon Wan, 66, was among the many who used his credit card to buy durians yesterday.
“I’m buying RM100 worth of durians as presents to my relatives and friends,” he said, adding that he preferred to use his credit card as he could “buy now and worry later.”
Magic powers of talismans
Read the following interesting item in The Star a few days back.
Just wondering if the guy is willing to prove his claims by letting someone shoot him with a gun.
Magic powers of talismans
PEOPLE are willing to spend millions of ringgit to buy talismans, which purportedly have invincible powers and enable the wearer to live longer.
According to Harian Metro, Hazim, a trader, claims to own several talismans which are sought by VIPs.
He said the popular amulets were the mengkudu wood, which are found on anthills, and besi bhat (iron).
He said that a Siamese priest had cast a spell on the items.
Hazim claimed that a VIP once paid RM550,000 for a necklace made from pig skin and RM150,000 for a piece of talisman cloth to be tied around the waist.
He said he owned a talisman called Ular Karimah Sakti, which he had obtained from India, which could make the wearer invincible.
“A VIP has offered RM1.5mil for it. Currently, I’m negotiating with him,” he said, adding that he had another talisman made of cloth called “Baju Wafak”, which would protect the wearer from bullets.
The daily quoted Kolej Islam Darul Ridzuan rector Prof Datuk Dr Mohammed Yusoff Hussein as saying that Muslims should invest their money for a good cause rather than on talismans which were against the religion.
“All the items are black magic. It is not surprising that they can make a person invincible. Black magic cannot be used in Islam,” he added.
Friday, June 29, 2007
What a way to go……
Man crushed to death
PETALING JAYA: Make no mistake about it. An eight-tonne steamroller may be the slowest vehicle on the road, but it can be deadly.
A 25-year-old foreign construction worker was crushed to death by one yesterday while crossing the Damansara-Puchong Highway.
Rezaul Karim was behind the vehicle when its operator put it into reverse, crushing him.ATM Corner @ Central Market KL
I only discovered the fact when I accidentally walk into the corner after lunch in the vicinity yesterday. Immediately as you enter the building through the main entrance, turn right and walk right to the corner of the building. That corner has ATMs from 3 different banks, namely RHB Bank, CIMB Bank and Maybank.
The Google Earth Image below shows the location of this ATM Corner.
Travellers and tourists may also find it a big convenience to be able to withdraw cash from their accounts via these machines.
Man out of luck
Misery of man who missed out on RM17mil
THE tale of a young man who missed becoming the next big millionaire by a mere ticket was highlighted by China Press.
One of the lottery tickets he bought was one number behind the winning ticket, which paid out RM17mil, including the RM14mil jackpot.
The daily reported yesterday that the man bought tickets ranging from 5638964 to 5638971. The winning ticket was 5638963.
To further compound his misery, he was knocked down by a motorcyclist while on his way back to Muar from outstation.
The man said a woman ticket seller had approached him.
“I still remember her telling me that the first person to buy lottery tickets from her on that day would win the jackpot,” he said.
Winning lottery ticket seller goes into hiding
AFTER a punter from Muar won a whopping RM17mil in a Big Sweep draw, the person who sold the winning ticket has gone into hiding, China Press reported.
The speculation in town is that the ticket seller is an old woman, who fears she would be a target of crooks.
An official of the lottery company in Kuala Lumpur, identified only as Ye, said their Muar representative had scolded her for disclosing details of the winning ticket.
She said that because there were not many lottery representatives in Muar it was easy to find out who sold the winning ticket.
Ye recalled that some years back a Big Sweep representative in Kuala Lumpur became a victim of robbers when it was found that he had sold a winning ticket.
Malaysia-Brunei Joint Issue
Hello,
Malaysia Brunei Joint Issue - Unique Marine Life has been issued on 6.feb.2007.
Why had been the year 2006 printed on all stamps and S/S ???
Is it error from the post ???
Looking forward to hearing from you soon.
Regards
The answer is simple. This issue was originally scheduled for 2006. After the stamps were nicely printed and delivered, the Issue Date was deferred and eventually the stamps were issued in February 2007.
Pos Malaysia has decided NOT to reprint the stamps (most probably due to the cost involved?).
The images of the items in question are shown below.
Same stamp image but different denomination?
2 children's drawing (4 stamps due to both stamps being setenent) on the Sheet of 20 have the 50 sen denomination.
The same 2 drawing (4 stamp) is also issued in the booklet format but are denominated in 30 sen.
Looks like there are going to be a lot of confused people in the not too distant future. :-)
Smoking is Dangerous to your health
Man blown apart in lorry explosion
KUALA LUMPUR: A man, who was waiting for his brother in a lorry, was blown to pieces when the vehicle carrying engine oil exploded on Sunday in Kepong, here.
Police said Lee Gar Chin, 31, was ripped apart in the explosion.
It was learnt that a cigarette was the cause of the blast. Police have ruled out foul play.
The other item was about an old woman who cannot keep her mouth shut.
Winning lottery ticket seller goes into hiding
AFTER a punter from Muar won a whopping RM17mil in a Big Sweep draw, the person who sold the winning ticket has gone into hiding, China Press reported.
The speculation in town is that the ticket seller is an old woman, who fears she would be a target of crooks.
An official of the lottery company in Kuala Lumpur, identified only as Ye, said their Muar representative had scolded her for disclosing details of the winning ticket.
She said that because there were not many lottery representatives in Muar it was easy to find out who sold the winning ticket.
Ye recalled that some years back a Big Sweep representative in Kuala Lumpur became a victim of robbers when it was found that he had sold a winning ticket.
There has got to be a lesson or two to be learned here.
Free Malaysian Midi tunes
http://www.webbiz2u.com/Free/Midi/freemidi.html
Enjoy.....
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Samy Vellu's guarantee of a century!
Came across this article while browsing the NST today.
Was wondering on what basis was the guarantee period given and who to go after to make good the guarantee. :-)
KUALA LUMPUR: After its refurbishment, Parliament House can stand for another 100 to 150 years.
This was the assurance given by Works Minister Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu, who said the building’s structure was sound since the Public Works Department had supervised its construction.
"The design is complex and modern. It is the first parliament building in the world that will look new at all times," he said after attending the third Social Entrepreneurs Network’s (SeNet) Job Fair 2007.
SeNet is a non-governmental organisation established for Indian professionals to spearhead community service. It organises job fairs twice a year. SeNet has so far successfully found work for some 500 job seekers.
Samy Vellu said he preferred the building to remain intact and for parliament to be situated in the city. "If not, we would have moved to a new building in Putrajaya".He said in light of the problems plaguing the Parliament House, PWD was setting up a special maintenance unit and a report would be submitted to the cabinet within a week."I have also directed the PWD director-general to send people from the mechanical, electrical and architectural departments to identify problems. There will be four or five experienced engineers there to supervise maintenance work."Declining to divulge the cost of refurbishment, he said the repairs included replacing the PVC pipes and waterproofing the roof. Details would be submitted to the cabinet and Finance Ministry.On the wiring, Samy Vellu admitted that it was last done in 1964."During the last renovation, rewiring was confined to the main chambers and the public gallery. But now we will look into the wiring in other parts of the building," he said, adding that to tear down the existing building and construct a new one would cost between RM1.5 billion to RM2 billion.The minister said the last refurbishment, to the tune of RM90 million, involved improving the interior of the building, including enlarging the chambers and re-carpeting the floors.
Welcome to Malaysian Blogs Page
As Malaysia celebrates its 50th year of Independence, we should all pause to see how far we have gone and how far more we should go. We should also reflect on where we have gone wrong and how we should have done things better.
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Kenneth Loh