Alamak, Malaysia

Why is it that Malaysia is only able to make the front page or main pages of top newspapers like the The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal and be featured on NPR (National Public Radio) in the US for negative, shameful reasons?  Both newspapers as well as the Associated Press and Reuters have run reports about the rally for election reform and the arrest of over a thousand people on Saturday. NPR interviewed a Malaysian cartoonist who is being harrassed by the government because of his critical cartoons.

I don't see how we can be anything except a third world nation when our leaders are so thin-skinned that they cannot alow freedom of speech and rallies or protests without sending the police and federal reservists in full force, armed with water cannons and tear gas, to scare protestors away.  If, as the prime minister claims, the majority of Malaysians support him, then where is the harm in letting what he describes as a minority say what they think?  Why say you can gather and then change your mind?  If you are secure in your power, you shouldn't be afraid.  If you are not corrupt, you have nothing to hide. And if elections are corrupt, as is claimed, then you have nothing to worry about because the corruption is still yours to use as you please.  Why do you need to use the Sedition Act to arrest and control people?

Bruce was listening to an interview on NPR just now and told me to tune in.  A Malaysian cartoonist, Zulkiflee Anwar Ulhaque (Zunar), was being interviewed about an award he was given last week - the “2011 Award in Editorial Cartooning”.  All I can say, after reading his acceptance speech, is that I am more grateful every day for the Internet and all the modern technology we have, because this allows people have their say despite the best attempts of draconian governments and power-hungry politicians to silence them.

I've pasted his acceptance speech below, and am also including the link to the web page it is on.  The site is http://www.theworld.org/:

http://www.theworld.org/2011/07/malaysian-cartoonist-planning-to-sue-government-for-banning-his-books/

WHY PINCH WHEN YOU CAN PUNCH
In Malaysia, all newspapers, TV stations and radios are controlled by the government using a law - ThePrinting and Presses Act. This law requires every media owner to apply for annual license. The govern-ment has absolute power to grant or deny the application without any grounds. And the decision of the government cannot be challenged in a court of law.

This shuts the door for any alternative or dissident view including editorial cartoons. Independent editorialcartoonists have to find alternative medias such as the internet.

I contribute for a website called Malaysiakini.com. I also produce my own books. So far I have producedCartoons on Tun, 1 Funny Malaysia, Cartoon-O-Phobia, Even My Pen Has a Stand, Gedung Kartun, PerakDarul Kartun and three volumes of Isu Dalam Kartun.

My aim is to use cartoons as a weapon to fight corruption and abuse of power by the Malaysian government. Through my cartoons, I highlight very important issues, which have not been reported in the government-controlled medias.They include the corrupt practice by the Prime Minister and his cabinet members, the murder of the Mongolian model by the name of Altantuya, the conspiracy against Anwar Ibrahim, the domination Prime Minister’s wife, the Scorpene submarine scandal, waste of public funds, among others.

My philosophy is clear: in order to make an impact, we must do it to the fullest. My method is to criticize themost powerful leaders in the hardest ways. Why pinch when you can punch!

In my career, I constantly face harassment, intimidation and oppression from the government. Thegovernment bans all my cartoon books. My office is constantly raided. Several factories that printed mybooks were also raided, and they were warned not to print my books in the future or their license will berevoked.
 
Through-out the country, vendors are often warned not to sell my books or face court charges.On September 2010, ten police officers raided my office four hours before the launching of my cartooncollection, Cartoon-O-Phobia. They confiscated 66 copies of the books as well as one original cartoon.
 
I was arrested, brought to seven police stations around the city. And then they detained and jailed meunder the draconian Sedition Act, which carries the maximum jail of three years. I was handcuffed for eight continuous hours.
 
I was put in the same cell with other criminals like robbers and drug addicts. The government wanted toremand me longer and interrogate me, but I was released the next day under the court's instruction.
 
This is a very difficult period for me. The banning costs me a financial loss at about RM80,000.00 (aboutUSD35,000.00). The Sedition Act, which carries the maximum jail of three years, is still hanging like a sword of Damocles on my head. The government would charge me anytime.That's how hard it is. My movement is being monitored, my phone is being tapped.
 
Drawing political cartoons in Malaysia is a crime. Fighting corruption in Malaysia is a crime. This is totally contradicting with Islamic principles. One of the greatest Islamic leaders, Caliph Ali had said: "The highest level of patriotism is to tell the truth in front of unjust rulers."
 
As an editorial cartoonist, it is our duty to fight injustice. In Malaysia as well as in the third world coun-tries and the Middle East, cartoonists face bigger challenge. It is a thin line between the comic strips and the prison strips.
 
But we must be ready to face the consequences. We have to keep fighting. We have to continue drawing until the last drop of our ink! If we back down, it means that we compromise our principles to fight tyrannies.
 
I filed a suit against the government to challenge the banning of my books. For this case, the court will deliver its judgment on the 14th of July 2011. On June 2011, I filed another suit to challenge the Malaysian government for the "unlawful detention" against me on September 2010. This court has yet to set a trial date.
 
The tough challenges are not only faced by cartoonists in Asia and the Middle East, but also in other parts of the world. Mr. Clay Bennet told me that many American cartoonists are in the risk of losing their jobs because of the economic downturn and the emergence of internet. My sympathy is with them.
 
I think it is the right time for us the cartoonists around the world to unite, closing the rank by having more dialogues to foster better understanding.
 
Once again, thank you CRNI for this award. "Courage in Editorial Cartooning" award gives me a new strength, "like giving spinach to Popeye."
 
Thank you.
 
 
 
This is a video of him working on a cartoon:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Ev1fKHGdrZ8
 

Pisang goreng and other bits

A couple of Tuesdays ago, we had a couple of almost over-ripe bananas sitting on the dining table (we had meant to make banana pancakes over the weekend but got too busy).  As I looked at the bananas and wondered what to do with them (I don't like eating them when they are too ripe), I had a sudden craving for pisang goreng.  This could have had something to do with the fact that Bruce and I had lunch at Penang, my favourite (Malaysian) restaurant in Atlanta on Saturday to celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary and food from home was still on my mind.  Therefore, after work, I looked online for recipes for pisang goreng.  I have Amy Beh's cookbook, but the Chinese version of pisang goreng is a little too crunchy for my liking, so I looked for something without rice flour amongst the ingredients.  I found a recipe for the batter that sounded good and tried it that afternoon - it was scrumptious!  Very easy to make, as well, so I will probably be making that again in the future.  Not too often, because it's so greasy, but it is a nice treat to have every once in a while.  The recipe is at the end of this post, in case anyone gets a craving ...

Now that we're finally ready to sell this house and look for a bigger one so that we have room for guests (and Bruce's father, if he decides to live with us), I've started working more enthusiastically on the outside of the house.  About a month ago, we bought a bunch of stone blocks to build a short wall around the little island of plants and flowers in our front yard.  This replaced the plastic border Bruce had put up years ago that was falling apart.  There is now a two-layer wall around the island and it looks so much better.  The weeds and I are in constant battle to see who will give up control of the island first.  They (and the wild grass) won last year but this year I'm showing them who's boss.  They are sprouting back almost as fast as I can pull them out, and the heat makes it difficult for me to stay outside for too long, but I'm trying to weed at least a small section each day.  At least now we have what is termed "curb appeal", i.e. the house looks nice when you look at it from the curb/road.

However, the other day I realized that the vinyl siding, which was replaced less than two years ago, is beginning to look dirty and even had mould growing on it in the back, where the sun doesn't hit the house. Therefore, I am now having to literally wash the house.  We found a mould & mildew remover at the store that works really well with just a few sprays and some scrubbing with a brush, so I did one section of the house a couple of hours ago.  It is amazing what a difference the cleaning makes!  That one wall now looks new again.  I'm going to do a section at a time so that I don't tire myself out, but once the entire outside has been scrubbed, any new dirt should be easy to rinse off with the hose.  (Which is apparently what I should have been doing all along, but since our house in Bangsar doesn't have to be washed on the outside, it didn't occur to me to do that here.  I thought the rain would take care of the rinsing/cleaning, but all it does is splash on the ground and send dirt/mud up to the walls.)

We had a couple of short trips recently - one in April and the other in May.  I'll write about that next.


http://www.kimbaskitchen.com/2010/05/banana-fritters-recipe-pisang-goreng.html

Ingredients:

1/2 cup self raising flour

1/4 cup corn flour

1 tsp baking powder

A pinch of salt

1 tsp sugar

180ml (cold) water (or until the batter reaches the right consistency)

1 tbsp oil for the batter mix

4 ripe / browning bananas

Enough oil for deep frying (I used peanut oil because that's all I had in the house at the time)

Method:

In a bowl, combine the flours, baking powder, salt and sugar. Add water slowly and mix to form a batter. Add the tablespoon of oil for smoothness.
Slice the bananas diagonally so it forms longish approx. 1.5cm thick strips.
Heat oil until it gets very hot. Dip and coat each banana strip with the batter. Deep fry until it turns brown.