Happy New Year to all MCG members Christmas 2007 and New Year are now a thing of the past and it is time to focus on 2008 and what this year has in store for us all. We are already into the third week of January as I write this message for our February newsletter. The holiday period and interruptions to my home internet service have made it difficult to get final confirmations of a couple of planned events, and to complete production of this month's newsletter by our normal cut-off dates. I do apologise for the delay, but we will keep everyone informed by email as a back-up measure. Don't forget your 2007 membership ended on 31 December 2007 – you should have received a renewal form in the mail and hopefully most people have sent their renewal payments to Minna already – if you haven't, make sure you do it soon as this will be the last newsletter sent out to anyone who has not paid their 2008 membership. We are still hoping someone out there is interested in taking on the Events Planning Convenor role as mentioned in my last newsletter message. We now also find we will need a new Membership Secretary as Minna Schwarz-Seim who has done a great job as Librarian and more recently Membership Secretary as well, is expecting to leave Malaysia sometime between April and June. Contact me by email at president@malaysianculturegroup.com or on my hand phone 017-361-3195 if either of these roles is of interest to you. I am pleased to confirm that we now have a signed agreement between MCG, Museum Volunteers Malaysia and Muzium Negara for the relocation of our Library to MVM's room at Muzium Negara. We will be working on getting this done in the very near future – you will be advised by email once the move is completed and the Library ready for you to visit. In the meantime, I hope those who travelled to spend Christmas and New Year with family and friends are all safely back in KL and ready to be involved in MCG activities again – our first event for 2008 had an attendance of 50 or so which was very pleasing. Explorers have some great tour ideas, Book Groups have some interesting books on their reading lists and the Events Planning Team are working away in the background organising other events – be sure to give them all your support this year. Chinese New Year is just around the corner, so if you are travelling for that holiday period, please take care. Gong Xi Fa Cai - Lin Streefkerk PROGRAMME OF EVENTS
REPORTS FROM PREVIOUS EVENTS Explorers' Trip: Explorers B group visited "Kechara House," a Buddhist Dharma Center founded in 2000 by His Eminence Tsem Tulku Rinpoche of Gaden Shartse Monastery in India to teach the ancient wisdom of Buddha to practitioners in Malaysia and surrounding regions. By a twist of fate, Fran Turland, who was instrumental in arranging this tour, used to visit this same Gaden Monastery when she lived in India----a small world indeed! We were welcomed by Henry Ooi, Business Liason to H.E. Tsem Tulku Rinpoche, who led us into the newly renovated extension, past the attractive reception area, into an inner lounge. Here, surrounded by serene Buddhist artwork, Henry gave us a fascinating overview of guru Rinpoche's Mongolian-Tibetan heritage and his journey from Taiwan via America and India to Malaysia, where he has lived for over 10 years. We were introduced to Andee Uetz, a writer and musician from Switzerland as well as a student of Tibetan Buddhism. Andee spoke about the four noble truths of Buddhism and the search for compassion in our daily lives. Offering pearls in lieu of incense eliminates the strong smell in a small, enclosed area and makes for a beautiful sight. An entire wall was filled with sealed compartments, each holding a beautiful vase from the Gaden Monastery. We were told these contained secret and precious ingredients including holy items and special herbs which are consecrated and sealed by Tibetan High Lamas. The second floor is a hostel where guests can rent rooms. We walked to Kechara House I, which is in the final stage of renovation. The large spacious room on the second floor will be a chapel and a teaching space for Rinpoche. The Kechara House organization, under the leadership of Rinpoche, has initiated a variety of programs. A year ago, Kechara Soup Kitchen was established to serve hot food and drinks to homeless people in downtown KL. It is run by volunteers and operates every weekend. Volunteers also work at the four retail outlets run by Kechara House. These stores specialize in artifacts from Nepal, Tibet and India, as well as DVDs and CDs on Dharma. Kechara House is also to build a retreat at the base of Genting Highlands. The building will house a hostel as well as an 11-storey-high statue of Buddha. The ground-breaking ceremony has been held and architects are working on designing a building to house the statue. It should be a remarkable building! After our tour, the Explorers moved to the Chinese coffee shop under KH II for lunch and conversation. It was an interesting morning of expanding our knowledge of Buddhism and learning about the spiritual and entrepreneurial aspects of Kechara House. Check out www.kecharahouse.com for more information. Cathy Weston and Pam Boucher, with photos by Cheryl Hoffmann
Explorers' Group: Sarimah Latip has a shop in Central Market selling traditional kites and her colleague Mee agreed to talk to us about traditional kite making in Malaysia We assembled at Cheryl`s house and learned that kites were called WAU and the word wau originated from the sound generated from the hummer of the kite. When in flight the hummer forms sounds of wau, wau wau in a rhythmic pattern. Wau is also the shape of its wing similar to an Arabic letter (pronounced Wow). Wau-making is an ancient skill inherited from the Malacca court which popularised kite flying as a sport. The skill is passed down the generations from father to son. Kite making requires patience and skill (as we all discovered!!!) Split bamboo makes the frame of the kite. The frame is then covered in tinted , shiny paper with intricate cut-outs and designs and coloured papers stuck behind the cut-outs for effect. Finally bright tassels are attached for decoration. A bow-shaped device is attached to the neck of the kite which produces the high-pitched humming sounds when the kite is flown. There are different wau designs. The wau bulan is the moon kite because of its famous crescent-shaped tailpiece. Malaysian airlines has chosen it as their logo. We were presented with a small frame kite which we were to decorate. The shiny floral motifs had to be cut out to make a reveal that we could then colour by sticking contrasting colours behind. As we got down to our tasks the concentration sent the room into silence, brains could be heard ticking and then the gluing began. To the shrieks of fast flowing glue and much mopping up along the way, there emerged these beautiful decorative kites, all unique much as a butterfly emerges from its chrysalis. The Explorers had had a wonderful creative morning and had learned more about another Malaysian craft that is in danger of becoming a declining art form. It had been a successful meeting of minds and creativity. Lynne Samuel and Gudrun Fassbender
Explorers' Trip - Group A & B: Malaysian icons go, BOH tea is right up there with the hibiscus, the Twin Towers and photos of the Tunku. What a treat it was to go to the BOH tea plantation near Banting. Both Explorer groups were invited by MCG member and fellow Explorer, Joan Russell to tour the plantation, both the processing and packing factories This 1200-acre lowland plantation, located about 40 km southwest of KL takes advantage of high rainfalls and flat terrain to produce 15 tons of tea every day. The tea from the lowlands is a strong brew used for such drinks as the locally famous "teh tarik". The Bukit Cheeding packaging plant handles all of the tea produced by BOH in Malaysia, including the delicate Cameronian gold grown on the plantations in the Cameron Highlands. Our hosts Tristan and Joan Russell guided us through the plantation, telling us about different types of tea, history of BOH (founded 1929) and science of growing and blending great tea. We saw rows of tea bushes green and verdant, growing under nurturing shade of the palms; mechanized cutters that replicate the old technique of hand-rolling tea leaves; and in the packaging room, tea bags being fashioned, counted and boxed. A short drive along a red dirt road, past acres of tea bushes, took us to the plantation "bungalow" where our hosts had prepared a lovely lunch for us. The house is almost too beautiful to describe – a visual treat of light and textures, sitting atop a hill. Let it suffice that many of us did not want to leave Cheryl Hoffmann
BOOK CLUB
BOOK CLUB REPORTS Group
I Fifteen of us gathered to discuss "I Am Muslim" at the final Book Club meeting of the year which proved to be a very spirited event with a lively exchange of views. "This is not a discourse or religious book about Islam. It is a very selfish series of articles by a writer exploring her religion and people." writes Dina in the introduction and the group agreed that this was an accurate assessment of the contents. It soon became apparent when the various topics raised by the book were discussed that the transition from online articles to this edited collection was not wholly successful, and that the expectations of the readers of these different mediums vary. A number of the themes mentioned in the short articles needed to be further developed and explored further for the book format. Many of us were hoping that "I Am Muslim" would help us understand and give insight into the complexities of being Muslim, but were frustrated that the author's observations did not greatly extend our comprehension. However the book certainly generated many questions, opinions and observations and Azizah gave invaluable background and context to being a Muslim in both universal terms and in contemporary Malaysia. We concluded that Dina had bravely spoken out about issues that are not normally voiced publicly. In the first two months of the book being published 6,000 copies were sold, indicating that there is a need in Malay society to discuss further the meaning of "I Am Muslim". Diana Cooper
Group
II "Gweilo" is a colonial childhood memoir of Hong Kong in the 1950s. Booth takes us on a journey through Chinese culture and an extinct colonial way of life seen through his eyes—the eyes of an innocent child. He completed the book shortly before he died in 2004 of brain tumour. As an inquisitive seven-year-old, Booth found himself with the whole of Hong Kong at his feet when his father was posted there for 3 years in the early 1950s. His father appears to have been a typical colonial civil servant, regarding himself superior to the locals and making little effort to understand Hong Kong or its people. On the other hand, Booth's mother seems to have made an effort to embrace Hong Kong. Hence the author's closeness to his mother and estrangement from his father. Some of our group members felt the mother made Martin her companion instead of working on her marriage. Blessed with street smartness and not much parental control, Booth gained access to hidden corners, normally closed for a Gweilo or a pale fellow (foreigner). His takes advantage of his blond hair which he knew was considered a lucky omen by the Chinese. He befriends rickshaw coolies and local stallholders, samples delicacies, visits places not open to foreigners. . The reader gets a real sense of Hong Kong in the 1950s, from the perspective of a young boy. It was this aspect that our group found a bit puzzling. Could a 7 or 8 years old boy be so perceptive about what was going on and could the author remember so vividly events that happened 50 years ago? It seems that as a novelist Booth has embellished the story, but without any doubt Martin Booth gave us a fascinating insight into life in Hong Kong 50 years ago. Kokkie Paauw
LIBRARY REPORT
NEWSLETTER REPORT Newsletter This is the February issue of the newsletter. The next issue will be in March. The deadline for sending in your articles/photos is February 8. Please email your write ups to The write-ups should not be more than 350 words. They should be in Times New Roman font size 11. Jaishree Balasubramanian
BOOKING POLICY FOR EVENTS Reservations Wait List Payments Cancellations Refunds Eligibility Event Participation Eligibility Your co-operation with the Booking Policy would be much appreciated by the Events Planning Team.
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