If you are reading this message, it either means you are a new member or you’ve renewed your membership promptly. To those of you who took the time to fill in the survey on the renewal form—thank you! We received a lot of feedback and some very good ideas, which we will try to implement as we go along. It seems you are generally pleased with the Committee and the efforts of the Events Planning team, which is gratifying as we all work hard to make the MCG something special. We have a great month planned as you will see, and I hope to see many of you during the month—I am sure I will, once you’ve read what’s on! One request mentioned several times by the survey respondents was a desire to visit private homes in the area. We must be telepathic because there are two events planned with this in mind. Join us first on a visit to Rimbun Dahan, a truly unique estate in Kuang. Next, we will hold our Thai textiles talk in Shelialla Cama’s lovely home in Bukit Tunku. March is the time when the Committee starts thinking about the AGM, to be held on 5 May. All positions are open for contention, although some Committee members are willing to hold office for another term. I sincerely hope that many members will step up to help out either as a committee or team member. As a longtime board member in various positions, I can personally assure you that it is a rewarding (and fun) experience to be involved with the running of this unique group. I would now like to welcome Marilyn Mezger to the committee, who has taken on Membership for the MCG—thank you, Marilyn. Finally, I look forward to meeting many of you at the Newcomers’ Coffee Morning. This is your chance to learn about the inner workings of the MCG and make some new friends, or possibly meet some “oldstayers”, who can give you the ‘ins and outs’ of life in KL. This is always a fun morning, so do join us.
- Cindy Zeier Additional Annoucements: The Events Planning Team Needs You! We are looking for new blood to infuse our team with ideas, energy, and last, but definitely not least, enthusiasm! Being new to KL should not be a deterrent as we have several “old-timers” on the team. However, new volunteers help both to ensure the continuation of our group and to keep our ideas fresh. The EP team is the crux of the MCG. New members are assigned roles in taking event bookings, collecting money at events, confirming venues, etc. Existing team members provide contacts, networks and experience, although event ideas are welcome from any source. Joining the EP team is also a great way to “get your feet wet” on the inner workings of the MCG. Plus, it is a great way to make new friends and keep attuned to the happenings in KL. Time commitment: Approx. 5-7 hrs/ month If you are interested in finding out more, please send us an email or contact either Nisha or Cindy directly. We look forward to hearing from you.
MCG Donations for 2003 As we are a non-profit organisation and don’t make much money, naturally we can’t be especially generous. However, I thought you would be interested to know what donations we did make in 2003:
A complete financial report will be available at the May AGM. PROGRAMME OF EVENTS
REPORTS FROM PREVIOUS EVENTS
A WRITER'S LIFE & Literature in Colonial & Independent Malaysia — 18 November Meeting Dato’ Shan has been one of the highlights of my stay in Malaysia. How often does one have the opportunity to listen to a man of his caliber, have morning tea with him then commence email correspondence? Dato’ Shan is a world-renowned Malaysian short story writer and poet who scibes in the English medium. His works include ‘Free and Freed’ in Petals of Hibiscus, ‘Victoria and Her Kimono’ from The Merlion and the Hibiscus, and ‘His Mother’s Joy’ from Silverfish New Writings 2. Throughout the morning in an informal fashion, Dato’ Shan succinctly illustrated how he has woven insights from his life into his stories. Dato’ Shan was born to strong-willed, independent thinking parents who at a time of arranged marriages, arranged their own. His father was “driven and driving” and Dato’ Shan was required to be a 4am riser. Early rising is a habit he has retained. His mother was more cognizant of her son’s individuality, his interests and aspirations. She encouraged him to do what he enjoyed. His father required him to do his duty. He quoted his mother, “Don’t worry if he [father] loses his temper, I’ll find it for him.” Doing his duty has been prominent in all aspects of Dato’ Shan’s life, to the extent that he answered the country’s call to become an economist rather than pursue his love of literature. Fortunately for Malaysia, Dato’ Shan’s strict self-discipline has enabled him to write reflectively on Malaysian interests whilst balancing other aspects of his life. Dato’ Shan described with great enthusiasm how the stories originated, and treated us to extracts from his works. It was wonderful to hear the words spoken with appropriate deliberation, intonation and accent. I think the stories read with characterisations would make for compelling radio or book tape presentations. The Q&A session was very lively with discussions about the suitability of the English language for expressing Malaysian thoughts, and in fact those of all non-native English speakers. Recognition was another aspect discussed, and it seems that at present, Malaysian authors writing in English are not as highly regarded as those writing in Bahasa Melayu. These authors tend to seek recognition overseas. Looking towards the future, Dato’ Shan indicated that this stance might change now that the English language has more prominence in the revived Malaysian high school curriculum. In his presentation Dato’ Shan said he is very keen to receive feedback on his work, and invited the group to email their comments to mailto:shantri@po.jaring.my. I would like to thank Dato’ Shan for being a very entertaining and knowledgeable speaker. I think the MCG members appreciated his informal style and his methods of including the group in the discussions. A short book signing session concluded the formal part of the morning.
EXPLORERS DO JAMU - 12 January The first outing for the Explorers in the new year was to Puetro Nesia Spa in Bangsar. The spa is the base for herbalist, Ben Drewe and his wife, Lina. Ben has his own company producing herbs from the Malaysian rainforest, which are sold internationally. He also runs a Herbal Therapy Centre and gives workshops on holistic lifestyle management. Lina operates the spa using traditional products that she prepares for each client. The Explorers visited the spa for a very informative talk by Ben, “A Journey through Jamu”, about the herbal healing tradition of Indonesia and Malaysia, incorporating an introduction to natural medicine, eastern and western herbal medicines and jamu therapy. Lina discussed the herbs which form the basics of jamu –there are over 350 recipes used for a variety of conditions–and also showed us how to prepare our own remedies. We were all given a glass of jamu to taste, and although told it was an acquired taste, most ladies went back for seconds! The four herbs which form the base of jamu are:
The combination of these herbs is a time-tested formula that is safe for young and old to take on a daily basis. For women in particular, the formula improves pelvic circulation, “tonifies the womb” (i.e. to get the womb back into its original position, and to strengthen the womb’s muscles, etc) and relieves menstrual pain and irregularities. Many ladies purchased jamu packs to test, because as one lady was overheard saying, “as we get older every little bit helps!” Thank you Ben and Lina for a very interesting morning. I know the ladies thoroughly enjoyed themselves.
SPICE FACTORY EXCURSION - 28 January This gives the illusion of ground spices and herbal smells, but it is a lot more... It was a sunny, very hot day when Kannan welcomed us to his Sri Ambika Flour Mill in Klang. His great grandfather started the business in India. When his grandfather emigrated to Malaysia in 1940, he started the spice business in Klang, which Kannan’s father then took over. In 1985, Kannan took over, which he runs with his wife Usha and four employees. He sells to private customers in the Klang Valley, but mostly he sells spices to restaurants in 3, 5 or 10 kilo bags. He grinds different powders, such as coriander, tumeric, fennel, cumin, chili and cinnamon, but also medicinal ones like jamu which women mix with water and put on the stomach after giving birth. He also grinds chickpeas which Indians use for sweet and vegetable dishes. Kannan gets his chickpeas from Australia where they are much cheaper than those from India. While we were at the factory, we also met a man who brought several hundred kilos of chickpeas to be ground for the Thaipusam festivities. Kannan also grinds rice to flour. For this he uses broken rice which he must grind twice, 100 kilos takes 30 minutes to grind. Several grinding machines are used, as the various ingredients could negatively affect one another. We learned about the different curry mixtures and differences in chinese and indian chillies: chinese chilis give a lot of color but little taste, Indian ones give little color, but a lot of taste. Kannan showed us Tongkat Ali, which is ground from a large root and is used by men and women alike, with many benefits, such as improved blood circulation, better digestion, and to act as an antioxidant and aphrodisiac. We were also given a booklet about the healing affects of honey in combination with cinnamon. For example, if you have a cold, try taking one tablespoon lukewarm honey with ¼ teaspoon cinnamon daily for 3 days. I have tried it and it really works! We also visited a woodwork factory next to Kannan’s mill, where Moses Ting kindly showed us around. It was fascinating to see a raw piece of wood turned into a nicely curved balustrade. We ended our tour with a delicious buffet at the Royal Selangor Yacht Club, a lovely, airy spot close to the water. Here Kannan introduced us to his Bharatam Dance School, where he gives free dance lessons to Indian boys and girls. They begin when they are seven years old and it takes many years to become a skilled dancer. Both Kannan’s grandmother and mother were Indian classical dancers, but he is the only one in the family to practice and give performances. Three of his students showed us both classical and modern Indian dance and it was a wonderful experience to see these young women in their beautiful clothing and expressive body movements whirling across the floor. It was the perfect ending to a very interesting day, and we all thank you very much, Kannan.
SUSTAINABLE FOREST MANAGEMENT - 04 February Knowing that Malaysia has wonderful tropical forests and keeping in mind that a lot of it has been harvested for hardwoods or decimated to make way for plantations, what does sustainable forest management mean and how is it practised in Malaysia? The bottomline is as our speaker, Bill Maynard, a consultant to WWF International, had put it. At the end of the day it is all about shopping! His talk linked environmentally-concerned consumers with the products sourced from well-managed forests. Besides the regulatory authorities or NGOs, consumers are one of the most important groups to put pressure on the furniture companies, who in turn will pass the pressure on to the logging companies. As long as no one “reminds” logging companies to practise sustainable forestry management, they will pursue their primary goal: profit maximisation. This can lead to massive forest exploitation, such as in the ’80s when Malaysia, Indonesia and Brazil based their economic growth on the exploitation of their forests. With sustainable forestry management 30-40% of the production capacity is given up. So how does it work and what exactly is Bill doing? Most countries have stringent environmental laws in place, which theoretically ensure that environment conservation policies are in tune with sustainable development. But laws and regulations are not enough. It is all about enforcement. Therefore, in 1994 the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) was constituted. It is a NGO that developed Ten Principles of Good Forest Management. It demands that an operation should be environmentally, socially as well as economically sustainable. A logging firm able to demonstrate that it fulfils these principles gets certified. The aim is to use but not abuse the forest. FSC is today the market leader and has the greatest market recognition. Locally, the Malaysian Timber Council (MTC) also issues certifications. Certification and product labelling aid end-consumers in finding out if the wood/furniture they are buying comes from a sustainably managed forest. To leverage the benefits of certification the WWF established the Global Forest Trade Network to promote partnerships between NGOs and manufacturers. Members are committed to gradually producing, trading and/or sourcing for independently, credibly certified forest products. For example, furniture retailing giant, Ikea, is committed to buying a certain percentage from sustainable resources. As European and North American sustainable forests appear to be better exploited, it is now important to implement certification in the tropics. The Malaysian Forest and Trade Network was thus established as a new local initiative to involve progressive Malaysian forest products companies and the WWF. Bill is helping to implement a framework for certification in Malaysia that will allow companies to get access to the trade network of the WWF. To be certified, forest products companies need to be audited. The audit process consists of 3 parts:
One of the important principles of sustainable forest management is to only harvest a certain number of trees to leave the forest mainly intact, thus ensuring that there are enough trees of the right size that can grow into the bigger size class before the next cutting cycle. An allowable cycle in Malaysia and in Indonesia is 35 years. Furthermore, the forest stand structure should be kept, which means that a certain percentage of each different species must be retained to avoid monoculture. Mother trees should be kept and certain species that are very important for certain birds or animals to feed or nest must be kept as representative samples of different sorts of forest. One important factor to ensure the biodiversity in the rainforest is to retain the level of canopy cover. Therefore, the planning of forest roads, the direction in which trees are felled, where log yards are placed etc, all play important roles. This is only a selection of the parameters that loggers have to take into account. As tropical forests are much more diverse than in Europe or the US, it becomes clear that it is much harder work to ensure that these forests are managed in a sustainable manner. As a result, most of the certified forests are in places like Sweden, whereas only 2% of certified forests are in the tropics. So there is still a lot to do in the future to ensure sustainable forest management.
Editor's Note: The following websites offer more information on this topic:
MCG NEWS BOOK CLUB REPORTSDesirable Daughters by Bharati Mukherjee ISBN: 0-786-88515-7 Bharati Mukherjee was born in Calcutta in 1940, the second of three daughters of Bengali-speaking, Hindu Brahmin parents. In 1961 she left India to study at the University of Iowa. Despite the expectations and traditions of her family, she describes her identity as a naturalised U.S. citizen (see “American Dreamer” published in 1997 in Mother Jones). She is currently a professor at the University of California at Berkeley. Bukherjee is the author of five novels, two non-fiction books, and a collection of short stories, The Middleman and Other Stories, for which she won the National Book Critics Circle Award in 1988. Mukherjee’s latest book of fiction, Desirable Daughters (2002), is about marriage and family ties. It begins on a fantastic note: on a winter night in an east Bengali village in 1879, the narrator’s ancestor, 5-year-old Tara Lata, is married to a tree after her 13-year-old husband-to-be dies of a snakebite on their wedding day. The novel ends some 120 years later, when Tara, the 36-year-old narrator, returns to this same village in winter with her teenaged son. Like her ancestor, Tara Bhattacharjee is the youngest of three sisters of a Brahmin family. Although they grew up in Calcutta, Tara and the oldest sister now live in America while the middle sister lives in Bombay. Tara was married (in an arranged marriage) at age 19 to Bish Chatterjee, a genius who makes a fortune from a cutting-edge computer processes. He and Tara are estranged when the novel begins, but when a stranger claiming kinship shows up at the house that Tara shares in San Francisco with her son and her boyfriend, she reconsiders her assumptions about her entire family. In the course of the novel, a sister’s secret and a murder are uncovered, and a near-fatal bombing occurs. Our bookclub, like so many international reviewers, found the story—especially the effort of full-circle ending and the final section—extremely contrived. While the author tries to make the book appealing to the immigrant Indian woman, she ends up with too many directions in one book. Despite all those distractions we did find some pleasures in the book—e.g. nice descriptions of desi life in the U.S. and some deft illustrations of India. It was also interesting to discuss “the identity crisis”, the “is one American or Indian?” issues arising from this novel. All in all, however, the book was not very well received by the group.
Brick Lane by Monica Ali ISBN: 0-7432-6066-X Brick Lane, a debut novel by Bangladeshi-born Monica Ali, has received critical acclaim not only for its portrayal of the lives of Bangladeshi women in Britain and in Bangladesh, but for the quality of the writing. The novel has caused controversy in the UK. It was called an insult to Islam by leaders of the Bangladeshi community there, opening the lid on what has been a sensitive issue—young women from Asia sent to the UK as brides and then living a life where they have no access to the language or new way of life. There are numerous stories in the more sensational press about second or third generation young girls from the Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi communities, who have been educated and reared in the British system and want a different life from that of their mothers. Honour killings particularly make headline news. This story starts with the arranged marriage between a young village girl, Nazneen, and her London-based husband, Chanu, a man old enough to be her father. From a very passive, fatalistic young woman, we watch her change in small ways throughout the book, as she starts to become more active in what she wants from life. The joy of the book is the many fascinating Dickensian characters, from the husband whose corns she tends, a man of failed dreams lovingly portrayed with great humour, to the dreadful moneylender, Mrs Islam, and her thuggish sons. As we follow Nazneen’s life we also read the exuberant letters from her sister in Bangladesh, who writes as she speaks and goes from one romantic failure to another. These letters bring another set of characters, including the very satirical character of her bored, wealthy, socially competitive and very upwardly mobile boss. There is a lot of fun in this book. There were more than enough themes for discussion. The disaffection of a generation of Asian young people caught between two worlds—the culture of their parents and the culture of the country in which they have been brought up—was one. The roles of women in Islam another. Our group concentrated mainly on the book’s characters but did discuss arranged marriages. As one member put it, “As a woman I am totally against them but as a mother, well, I think they might be a good idea!” The group enjoyed this book. Even though we come from different cultures and countries there was something for us all to relate to. Our thanks to Arlene for hosting.
LIBRARY REPORT This month we have two new interesting publications. I hope you will come browse and borrow. Batik Guild magazine has launched its first issue. The magazine focuses on a traditional craft and industry that is close to the heart of our Malaysia Prime Minister’s wife, Datin Seri Paduka Endon Mahmood. Inside this inaugural issue you will find short descriptions on the different techniques used in the production of batik, advice on how to tie a sarong and many other interesting things. It also contains a list of the different designers who are taking part in the upcoming Malaysia Batik—Crafted for the World and Batik Extravaganza events. The other publication is from the Islamic Arts Museum of Malaysia. Al-Kalima, by Dr Heba Mayel Barakatis, was published to coincide with the IAMM’s new exhibition of Arabic calligraphy on objets d’art. The MCG plans to view this exhibition in April, so you can get ready by reading the book first! I hope to see you at the library soon.
BOOKING POLICY FOR EVENTS Reservations Wait List Vouchers Cancellations Refunds Eligibility Event Participation
Your co-operation with the Booking Policy would be much appreciated by the Events Planning Team.
PLEASE NOTE that the information in this website has been gathered informally within the group and reproduced privately for members' enjoyment only. There may be inaccuracies and these publications are not designed for commercial use. Anyone intending to make formal or outside use of MCG material is requested to contact the President
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