My Longkang

Pic courtesy of Mathew Ong

It is ching ming season again. Ching Ming is the Chinese equivalent of All-Souls Day. The descendants gather to clean the graves, offer offerings to the departed and basically remember, mourn for those who are no longer with us and at the same time perpetuate reverence for older people. We did what we had to do this morning. As usual there were a lot of cars and some people took the opportunity to set up temporary stalls selling flowers.

Benghui: Mummy, why do you look so sad?
Mummy: Ching Ming is a time to remember those who have gone.
Benghui: Where have they gone?
Mummy: Heaven.
Benghui: Oh, like my goldfish last year? Next time daddy and you die, I go and ching ming you too?
Mummy: If you want to, yes.
Benghui: What are the people burning?
Mummy: Money for the loved ones who have died.
BengHui: I know now. When you die, you will leave the money for me? You want me to burn the money for you?

Honestly, sometimes I think this kid is not so silly or innocent as he makes himself to be.

Offerings to the other realm

In my opinion, the national service program is a good program and the trainees will reap immense benefits from it. Many of the young today need an experience like this to toughen them up. However the media has been highlighting cases after cases of alleged ‘misconduct’ among the trainers. This has the effect of creating fear among the parents.
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Pic courtesy of The Star

The Noah’s Ark that purportedly was supposedly to sail off with its followers to safety when the great floods came will be demolished. The cult’s leader, the late Sulaiman Mohd Said claimed to be Jesus and had dreams of creating a global Islamic enterprise. His followers have long since disbanded and only two geese guard the entrance to this ‘folly of mankind’ structure.

The Selangor state government now wants to tear down the building. The state government decided in August last year to wipe out any memory of the deviant Ajaran Sulaiman or Ajaran Bahtera Noah.

A boy learned too late the safest place for a teenager is almost always in the family home. Wan Mohamad Zulkarnain Wan Mohammad, 16, was asleep in the school hostel when he was awakened by pain.

He woke up to find his face had been splashed withacid. He was sent to hospital but will be scarred for life.

“I have no idea who would do this to me,” said Wan Mohamad Zulkarnain. His aunt, Maznah Talib, 50, who has been raising him, said the school had asked the family to keep the matter a secret.

The New Straits Times

During the debate on the royal address yesterday, a backbencher expressed dissatisfaction with public order in the state. He said more ought to be done to maintain public order. Tiong called on the Internal Security Ministry and the inspector-general of police to look into this. He also said there was room for improvement in the police force.

Tiong also expressed dissatisfaction with Telekom Malaysia Bhd in Sarawak, which he said was not providing quality service.

The Borneo Post- Up to PM, IGP to decide on my position: Police chief
The New Straits Times-CID chief refutes allegations

Mr Hii is a 30 year-old man, tall, muscular, slim and the father of two. He is also an expert in IT matters.

Bengbeng: What happened?
Mr Hii : Nothing happened. Just that my dog has moved on. You know like go to heaven?
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What happens when we have some one in the family who is suffering from mental illness? For most of us, we haven’t experienced it so will not be able to understand what happened to Rinit.

The skeleton of a woman believed to be Rinit from Rumah Gawan in Pekan Siong was found near a forest in Rantau Panjang. Locals speculate that she was mentally unsound and probably died of starvation. She returned to her longhouse in February but was rejected by the residents because she was smelly and dirty. As a result, she took shelter in an abandoned hut near the forest.

In small communities, every one works as a team and has to conform to a certain code of conduct. Anything out of the norm in unacceptable. Add to that the spectre of ignorance over mental health issues, the future was bleak indeed for Rinit

The Borneo Post

The matriach of the family is 70 plus and a loving soul. The old lady lives alone and welcomes the occasional family gatherings. The grandchildrens’ pockets would be stuffed with sweets and chocolates and all kinds of tit-bits she has lovingly bought weeks in advance.
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A dull morning in the office was averted when an old friend turned up. He is a very friendly man and comes once every 7 months when he harvests his honey. He has several bee-hives and lives in the jungle between Mukah and Selangau but nearer to Balingian.
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In Miri today the buzz today is about the rage of a man in his 30’s who went amok. Amok from the dictionary means to be in a rage or a frenzy.

While we do not know what caused his rage, but it must be the mother of all rages. He set fire to his car, almost succeeded in burning down his own house and the neighbours’ houses and caused considerable damage to properties. He went to the extreme for an Asian. He exposed himself totally naked to his neighbours.
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