Come and learn about Healing thru Acupuncture and Acupressure. Tariqua Amina Jaffar is an expert in both of these areas and is also a Reiki master. We will learn about the benefits of both of these disciplines, which include maintaining a healthy body and enhancing your immunity.

Acupuncture originated in China over five thousand years ago. It is based on the belief that health is determined by a balanced flow of qi (also referred to as chi), the vital life energy present in all living organisms. According to acupuncture theory, qi circulates in the body along twelve major pathways, called meridians, each linked to specific internal organs and organ systems. There are over a thousand acupoints within the meridian system that can be stimulated to enhance the flow of qi. When special needles are inserted into these acupoints (just under the skin), they help correct and rebalance the flow of energy and consequently relieve pain and/or restore health.

Acupressure is the technique of applying pressure to acupuncture points rather than using a needle. Firm pressure is applied in a massage-like fashion over the selected area for several minutes.

It is a nation with 11 official languages that boasts a complexity of climate, geology and culture. If we look back in history, the colonization of Africa and Asia by European powers led to the slave trade. This trade led to immigration of large numbers of Africans and Asians to different parts of the world. Most of these people came to the Cape of Good Hope (now Cape Town) from colonies under Dutch and British rule. A large majority of these migrants that came to the Cape were Muslims. False Bay, at the Southern-most tip of Africa, was the first sighting of the Cape of Good Hope for slaves and political prisoners from South East Asia to serve the Dutch East India Company. They were skilled artisans, masons, cobblers, singers and tailors. They were known as the Cape Malays. Today in the city of Cape Town remnants of this culture are to be found.

Mary-Anne O'Connell took us to the Cape of Good Hope through her fascinating pictures. We witnessed the presence of the Muslim school, a little mosque still active for Friday prayers. She also shared the variety of food such as bobotie, samosas etc.

A visit to the Heritage Museum in Simons Town gave us the opportunity to meet Patty Davidson, curator of the museum who has many fascinating stories about the history of slaves and political deportees who came from South East Asia. Patty's father was a Dutch man, her mother a Malay. Her husband's father was Scottish and his mother a Malay, hence the name Davidson. The museum also houses a typical pre-wedding bedroom where seven bridal outfits are on view and a Malay table dressed very much like a dining room at an open house in modern Malaysia.

We paid a visit to the house of the Imam who translated the Koran into Afrikaans which is one of the official languages of South Africa and also visited the home of Larry and Khairo - Larry's forefathers came from Indonesia while Khairo had a Dutch father and a Malay Mother.

We were also privileged to see some of the many art projects in the Cape - a pottery studio, the Dale Elliott art studio outside Cape Town, wonderful beading projects at the Khayalitsha Craft market and finally a visit to a small home industry where we saw Nkululeko and Winnie making beaded cards and cushions. This was the end of this exciting journey, something to whet the appetite of future visitors to South Africa but also to show the diversity of the country and its peoples.
- Randa Batato

After driving for approximately 1 hour and 15 minutes we reached the plantation which is just past Seremban. We were greeted by a group of plantation managers, who had prepared a carefully labelled display of palm oil fruits. During this talk and a PowerPoint presentation we were given a detailed explanation of the palm oil industry in Malaysia and the process from seeds to the production of palm oil.

In recent years there has been an enormous increase in the production of palm oil in Malaysia. The Malaysian government has promoted and facilitated the conversion of a previously primarily rubber-dominated estate sector to one that is now dominated by the production of oil palm. This industry requires less labour and is more profitable than rubber.

The oil palm was introduced to Malaysia in 1870 as an ornamental plant. It originated in Africa. Its use as a crop was not developed until 1917, when it was grown commercially.

Today palm oil is the leading agricultural crop in Malaysia, covering about two million hectares or a third of the total cultivated area. There are over 500 million oil palm trees in Malaysia. Malaysia currently accounts for 51 % of world palm oil production and 62% of world exports.

There are approximately 400, 000 people working the Palm Oil Industry in Malaysia. 50% of this number would be foreign workers, many of whom are Indonesian. This estate has 140 workers in the field and 70 people employed in the mill. We were taken on a guided drive into the fields where we saw the workers homes. There is also a government run Chinese school on the estate which has 20 students, mainly children of those working on the estate.

It was explained to us that the germinated palm oil fruit seeds are planted into polybags and kept in nurseries to grow for 12 to 15 months. When they are ready, the young palm seedlings are transferred into a well-irrigated field. The seedlings are left to grow for about 32 months or nearly 3 years. Fertilisers are added from time to time to ensure that the trees have sufficient nutrients. We saw some female workers spreading fertilizer by hand.

Mature trees will sprout oil palm fruits which are called Fresh Fruit Bunches (FFB). Each tree will continue to produce about 12 FFB each year for 20 to 30 years

Oil palm fruits turn yellowish-red in colour when ripe. They must be harvested at just the right time when the amount and quality of oil is best. Considering how one FFB can weigh between 20 and 30kg, harvesting is not easy. The FFB are cut down using a knife at the end of a long pole. Care must be taken to prevent the fruits from getting bruised or spoilt. Rough handling can reduce the quality of the oil obtained eventually. The workers are paid according to how many FFB they have collected. Harvested FFB are loaded onto vehicles to be transported to the mill for processing as soon as possible.

After our time in the fields we were each given a hard hat to wear during our tour of the mill. Fresh fruit bunches harvested from the palms are steamed under high pressure to sterilize, loosen and soften the fruits attached to the bunch stalks. The fruits are then stripped from the stalks in a large rotating cage, after which the oil is pressed out mechanically. It was interesting to see the process and there were some strong smells to tantalize our senses!

About 80% of all oil palm product is used for food applications, including cooking oil, shortening, margarine and confections. Palm oil has good resistance to oxidation and heat at prolonged elevated temperatures; hence, making palm oil an ideal ingredient in frying oil blends.

About 20% of palm oil product is used in non-food applications. Because of the higher market value of these non-food derived palm products, the non-food category is expected to grow in importance. The non-food uses of palm oil and palm kernel oil can be classified into two categories; using the oils directly or by processing them to oleochemicals (chemicals derived from oils or fats).

Products produced using the oils directly include soaps, plastics and even palm based diesel substitute. Products produced from the oleochemical route include candles, lotions, body oils, shampoos, skin care products, rubber and cleaning products.

After our tour Tee Jin and his colleagues very generously took us to lunch at a local Chinese café. The food was delicious and it was good to sit and talk informally with some of the plantation managers.

Many thanks to Tee Jin and all those at the plantation for an informative and enjoyable visit!
- Margaret Butorac

The number eight, or artha as it is pronounced in Sanskrit, assumes different significance in various cultures, with auspicious overtones.

EIGHT is an exhibition of black and white photographs by eight of Malaysia's top talents, Chan Kin Wah, Nirmala Karuppiah, Alex Moh, Eric Peris, Syed Zainal Rashid, S.C. Shekar, Soraya Yusof Talismail and Arthur Teng.

The Private Gallery's philosophy is that the key to collecting is to love the potential purchase. Informational details such as medium, technique, artist and price are secondary, though very relevant, especially from an investment perspective. They offer guidance on the aesthetic and investment elements of collecting.

Please join us for a morning of conversations (which will reveal the psyches behind the photographs), with royal photographer Soraya Y. Talismail and Alex Moh.

For more information on the exhibition, please visit www.theprivategallery.com