Strange happenings force family to live in small hut

What would you do if your house tried to kill you? Mysterious fires and money gone missing is it the house or something else?

KULIM: A family in Kampung Charok Meranti, Bandar Baru here has been forced to live in a small hut for the past two years due to “strange happenings” in their home.

They claim certain parts of their house would suddenly be engulfed in flames.

Mohamad Sidek Hamid, 49; wife Fauziah Ishak, 48, and their six children are too traumatised to continue living in the house.

Unexplained phenomenon: Mohamad Sidek showing his family’s charred clothes after yet another mysterious fire that happened in his house in Kampung Charok Meranti, Bandar Baru near Kulim Tuesday. — Bernama

Mohamad Sidek said they were forced to vacate their brick house due to the mysterious fires which break out ever so often. A recent fire happened in the master bedroom.

“The fires normally happen when my family and I are out,” Mohamad Sidek said yesterday.

He added that a Fire and Rescue team from Serdang had gone to the house to investigate and a police report was lodged.

Mohamad Sidek said the fires started after the family moved into the house which he bought for RM40,000 in 2007.

He said his family was traumatised by the incidents because besides the fire, money had also gone missing.

“I have called more than 100 bomoh from Sabah, Sarawak, Thailand, Indonesia and Myanmar, and spent more than RM50,000, but the mysterious fires still happen,” he added. — Bernama

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/11/4/nation/5039857&sec=nation

Baba-Nyonyas :Truly Malaysian

Baba and Nyonya culture (or Peranakan) is one of the cultures that Malaysia is famous for and I might add that they are truly Malaysian as they contain both Malay and Chinese cultures.

Most of them are saturated in Malacca but further reading indicates that there are significant numbers in Indonesia and Singapore (wiki).

Some notable people who are Baba Nyonya in Malaysia:

• Tun Dato Sri Tan Cheng Lock - Founder and first President of Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA)
• Tun Tan Siew Sin - Third President of Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA)

There are also other notable Baba Nyonya in Singapore but I was a bit shocked when I saw Piere Png (aka Phua Chu Beng from Phua Chu Kang) .

Pierre Png - Mediacorp artiste

If you want to experience the true colours of Baba Nyonya, you could either visit them or if you are too lazy you can watch The Little Nyonya, a drama made by Mediacorp.

Not an accurate potryal but intriging nonetheless.

On anothe note:

Heng: Accord Baba-Nyonya culture heritage status

KUALA LUMPUR: The Information, Communication and Culture Ministry is pushing for the Baba-Nyonya culture to be recognised as a national heritage.

Its deputy minister Senator Heng Seai Kie said the recognition should be accorded as the culture had long existed in the country - from the time of the Malay sultanate in Malacca.

“The Baba-Nyonya culture is still strong to this day especially in terms of traditions and dressing,” she said after launching the Kuala Lumpur and Selangor Baba-Nyonya Association at the National Museum here on Saturday.

time: Heng (second from right) and Lee (left) dancing the ‘joget lambak’ after launching the Kuala Lumpur and Selangor Baba-Nyonya Association at the National Museum in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday.— Bernama

Heng said, prior to the setting up of the association, various efforts had been undertaken to promote the culture like publishing catalogues and reference books on it besides organising exhibitions in 1985 and 2005.

Association president Prof Dr Lee Su Kim said the association - which was formed on July 28, 2008, with 60 members - had carried out various activities to en-sure the culture lived on. — Bernama

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/11/2/nation/5020970&sec=nation

MACC catches 5 corrupted politicians

Finally, the MACC is doing what it is suppose to do but still this is only the tip of the iceberg.

Five politicians, including Barisan MP, to be charged with graft

PUTRAJAYA: Five politicians, including a Barisan Nasional Member of Parliament, a special aide to a Selangor state executive councillor from the DAP and a former special assistant to the mentri besar, have been arrested for corruption.

It is learnt the Malaysia Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) also arrested the MP’s special assistant and a company director who are all alleged to have committed graft or attempted to cheat the Government of thousands of ringgit in false claims.

All five are expected to be produced before the Shah Alam Sessions Court on Tuesday where they will be charged with corrupt practices and attempting to cheat.

The MP, who was formerly a state assemblyman, is alleged to made false claims by submitting invoices purportedly for the purchase of materials for a programme that never took place.

His special assistant, who was said to have abetted him and who submitted similar claims, is also expected to be charged with the same offence.

It is learnt that the former assistant to the mentri besar, a member of PKR, is also expected to be charged under the Penal Code with attempted cheating.

He is suspected to have tried to cheat the president of a government-linked company of RM50,000.

The money was purportedly meant for a state government function.

Also expected to be in the dock Tuesday is a company director who allegedly submitted false claims to the Hulu Langat district office for the purchase and supply of goods for several programmes that took place in the Teratai constituency, when no such programmes took place last year.

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/11/2/nation/20091102194223&sec=nation

Eerie screams spook villagers

Spooky encounter or just a Halloween hoax? News regarding a dead woman's remains found in a well in Johor Bahru.

JOHOR BARU: This could easily be a Halloween movie but the murder of a woman, eerie screams, and the discovery of skeletal remains in a well are not spooking moviegoers in cinemas but the residents of Kampung MIC here.

All was well in the village until Oct 6 when a woman was found murdered in her house; her 22-year-old son who is the prime suspect had allegedly put her body in a travelling bag and left it under the kitchen sink.

House of the dead: Nasrul looking at the house where the man allegedly killed his mother at Kampung MIC in Johor Baru.

That was enough to put the village residents in a state of heebie-jeebies.

Their anxiety deepened last Wednesday when the suspect led the police to the skeletal remains of a woman in a well. Since then, several residents have claimed that they are hearing eerie screams.

Cleaner Rokiah Sarumin, 60, said she had been living in the area for 30 years but the noises only started after the skeletal remains were discovered in the well.

“Initially my neighbour asked me whether I heard screams at night but I just dismissed it as a joke.

“However, at about 3am on Friday, I, too, heard screams,” she said, adding that she immediately recited prayers.

Rokiah said the screaming continued for several minutes and then died off.

Crime site: The well where the skeletal remains were found last Wednesday.

Of the woman who had been murdered, Rokiah refuted media reports that she was deaf and mute, saying they had spoken to each other everyday.

Housewife Salmah Hanim, 45, said the eerie noise came from the well.

“My house is near the well where the skeletal remains were found and the first time I heard the voice was on Thursday morning at around 3am.

“I was terrified and told my husband but he dismissed it,” she said, adding that she planned to talk to her husband about moving out of the area.

Rokiah’s grandson Nasrul Amrani, 19, who works in a petrol station, said the suspect hardly spoke to his neighbours.

Nasrul said he had only seen the son raising his voice after he had consumed alcohol.

Yesterday, Johor CID chief Senior Asst Comm II Datuk Amer Awal said police were still trying to identify the skeleton remains in the well.

For now, he said all they knew was that the remains were those of a woman aged between 20 and 30 years.

He said the police were investigating whether the woman was either a family member or the suspect’s lover.

“We are looking through our missing persons record. We also urge members of the public who have someone missing over the last six months to lodge a police report,” he said.

He said the suspect was at Hospital Permai for psychiatric evaluation.

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/11/2/nation/5024706&sec=nation

Why divorce rate is high in Terengganu

Some strange but true answers on why people in Terengganu have high divorce rates which is about three in every 10.

Body odour, humdrum sex cause divorces in Terengganu

KUALA TERENGGANU: Smelly body odour, humdrum sex and boring pyjamas are behind the high divorce rate in the state and the government is scrambling to find ways to improve sexual relations, especially for newly wed couples.

Top on its list of proposals is to invite cosmetic firms to introduce exotic and sensuous fragrances which can arouse sexual ardour.

State Religious and Information committee deputy chairman Muhammad Ramli Nuh believes that this effort could slow the divorce rate among young couples.

He told The Star Sunday that at least three in every ten marriages registered in the state ended in divorce.

He added that separations were now common among couples aged between 25 and 30 years.

Muhammad Ramli said that couples who had been married for less than five years but already on the verge of separation told counsellors that routine sex and smelly body odour were the main reasons behind their break up.

He said he was bewildered that some couples even blamed their spouses for old-fashioned pyjamas - sarong and t-shirt - body odour during intimate moments made their sex life monotonous or turned them completely off.

“I know of one case where a separation was triggered because the spouse smelled of fish crackers,” he said.

Hence, Muhammad Ramli said the state government through state Family Development Board was welcoming cosmetic firms to introduce special perfumes to be used by such couples that could sustain relationships till death do them part.

He said the state government was also looking for beauty consultants to provide grooming and aesthetic workshops for couples in the state.

The workshop is not only intended for the wives but to provide tips to men on how to be attractive to their spouse, he said.

He said the state government had already engaged marriage consultants to arbitrate between feuding couples with a view to reconciling them.

“But then we have to look into the finer details on the actual cause that triggers divorce; if they are smells and dressing, we should find an appropriate solution to address this and save marriages in the state,” he said.

Muhammad Ramli said he had also suggested that couples to bathe together to make their relationship more exciting.

“I met this elderly couple in Kelantan. Both of them bathe together although they are grandparents and enjoy a blissful marriage.

“This is why I mooted the idea that this method be introduced as part of pre-marriage courses conducted in the state,” he added.

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/11/1/nation/20091101161551&sec=nation

Malaysian girls easily duped

Do you agree? Read on.

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian lasses are an easy lot to charm. They are easily smitten by sweet words and gifts, making them an easy target for drug-trafficking syndicates looking for mules.

This is the view of Deputy Foreign Minister A. Kohilan Pillay, who said young Malaysian girls, some fresh graduates, were easily conned by men from the syndicates to travel abroad with a package.

“Some of the girls meet the men abroad and some meet them in Malaysia.

“There have been cases where girls just knew the men for a day and were willing to travel around with a bag, not knowing the contents,” he said at the launch of the Wanita MCA women and children’s aid and public complaints bureau in Kepong yesterday.

Also present at the event was Wanita MCA chief Datin Paduka Chew Mei Fun.

He said there were currently 1,565 Malaysians jailed abroad and 60% of the cases were drug mules.

“Thailand has the highest number of jailed Malaysians at 52. In Peru, 12 out of the 15 Malaysians jailed are girls,” he said, quoting 2007 statistics.

He added that 25 Malaysians were jailed in Taiwan, 11 in China, 12 in Spain and one in Chile.

“Six in China have been sentenced to death. Since 2007, about 30 Malaysians are in death row,” he said.

Kohilan added that the syndicates, mostly comprising African men, would give the young girls free flight tickets and cash for shopping as part of the trip abroad.

“There is no such thing as a free trip.

“Parents should be mindful of such trips and keep a close watch on their children,” Kohilan said.

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2009/11/1/nation/5021297&sec=nation