There are a lot of things that puzzle me that I simply have no time to unravel. The automatic choice of the word "unravel" puzzles me. As though puzzles were a series of interlocking question marks that have been kicked about, gnawed and crocheted by a barrel of unhappy cats.

Black, Perak and Ghandi. To be frank.. I am tired of it all. I'm pretty sure I'm meant to be excited. To feel some kind of fire bubbling over inside me. The compelling force of outrage and quest for justice in the shape of democracy. It is exciting. Everyday, twitter is like a cliff-hanger, waiting to see what happens next. Who's going to bring who to which imagined higher body over which clause and sentence under which law. It is extremely exciting to wait and see when the queer theory idea of the ludicrous will bring the house down. It's almost funny. Hysterical. But I guess it can only be funny when you are a spectator and not one of the actors. By force or choice or by simple accident. 

I lost my train of thought. And started thinking about mirrors. About two sides of a dirty 10 sen coin. Palmed from person to person. It can get so black that only McDonald's chilli sauce is able to stain it clean.

Ran out of words again for today.

Every Malaysian is racist. Race is not a dirty language. Most Malaysians puzzle over the use of words like "ethnicity" or "origin" instead of the much richer and loaded language of race. Before any other form of self-identity, race comes first. then gender, or class, or sexuality, or brand affiliation, or anything else that needs to be named. Race as a marker is stitched so firmly into our psyche, our souls, our knowledge of the the self and our place in the universe, it's instinctive.

I learnt that I was one out of three chinese in my class when i was seven. Before that, I learnt that pig is dirty, just like Indians, except in a different way. I knew that there are differences in our way of life and theirs - theirs being a category that can always be interchanged as the familiar other. Racist jokes about politicians, nasi lemak, roti canai and chee cheong fun abound; lazy malays, money-faced chinese, stupid indians. And amidst the punch lines that carve our alienation from each other is the shadow of violence burning through the numbers, "May 13th 1969". Like the holy trinity, Malaysians are neatly cut up into a magical three that makes up the corners of a pyramid. With every other identity - Serani, Bengali, Orang Asli, Kadazan, Ang Mo, Indon and more - thrown into the darkness of corners, intermittently visible with a rare shift of light.

This morning, I chanced upon an abandoned Berita Harian at the next table during breakfast. Skimming through the headlines of Najib supporting Pak Lah and Hishamuddin abdicating his Pemuda UMNO leadership position, an advertisement caught my eye. Placed neatly across the bottom part of the front page, it enticed readers with a 70% discount on something. It took me awhile to figure out what the advert was about. Splashed in bold letters under the name of the company are the words, "100% dimiliki oleh bumiputera". Initially, I thought it was a property development project. The meta keywords "milik" and "bumiputera" immediately linked to make a cohesive picture of "satu lagi project bermutu oleh NEP".  Reading more closely, I realised that it was actually a sale of fabrics and cloth by a shop in Jalan Masjid India.

So why was it necessary to speak so directly to its potential market that their money will solely profit only bumiputeras? Berita Harian is a Malay-language newspaper. Their readership consists mainly of 20s to 40s, middle income Malays: 93% in 2007. We are freaking out silently at the moment. The recent elections results have thrown our pyramid into slight disarray. We're a little unsure what the masses want - as informed to us through a select and concentrated number of individuals easily identified through icons and colours.

Tony Pua, my crisp and newly elected Member of Parliament, scoffed at MCA when they tried to assure voters post their recent elections "defeat" that they will continue to protect Chinese rights. He said, "They just don't get it". DAP is all about "Malaysians first", the pyramid scheme just doesn't hold political resonance anymore. But then a few days later he sputtered at Pak Lah's statement about Chinese interests being in jeopardy if inadequate (race-based, read Chinese = MCA) representation is made in the Parliamentary Cabinet. So who is not getting what?

I think Malaysians are truly quite fed-up of being told that we can only have particular rights if we have particular kinds of race. The magic May 13th number is a little too far in time to properly evoke palpable terror. The terror of not being told the truth, of being somehow cheated of chances, of having narrow corridors to carefully sail speech bubbles - they are a lot more real somehow.

And it's also thanks to the development discourse that have been regurgitated to visceral levels to justify all kinds of wayang. Somehow, earning a living has become our primary inalienable equal right. Getting information and communicating it, scaffolded by our accidental and ignorant bliss of an unfettered internet access - also fueled by the language of economics - have become our collective seeds of desire. Race has become an irritating fence that we just want to dismantle.

We have all been struggling against our automatic racism. But we can't seem to let it go. Because it simply matters. It is the history and the land upon which we are now building our dreams of hope, freedom, justice, equality, etc. etc. etc. Before articulating any form of change, before cartographing our future, the raw materials we have for transformation is the bone black of our racist, nationalised beings.

So what should we do? What can someone like Tony Pua do? When he is also left with the Chinese-interest legacy of DAP. Now together with PAS and PKR attempting to shed their skins and slither anew from the ashes as Pakatan Rakyat, attempting to assuage real fears and tensions of racist Malaysians to similarly let go of this lucrative pyramid and form something new. Whichever angle you take, it still looks like a triangle albeit with a different constitution. Perhaps Hindraf will get fed up that cries of "Makkal Sakthi!" being drowned by cries of "Reformasi!" or "Allah huakhbar!" and form a separate party. Then we could have a trapezoid. Or perhaps in time, PSM will finally get registered and we could have a pentagon.

I want a multi-headed hydra or a border-ignorant paramecium. The sad fact is, we are constructed by identity-politics. We are raced, we are gendered, we are genitalised, we are monetised, we are limbed, limed and slimed with categories and cardboard boxes. We're just at this moment in time, trapped in the room of race, prying the door handle into the room of class or perhaps gender. Obfuscating our racism by substituting Indian/Malay/Chinese-rights with rights of poor people, rights of women, rights of people living in rural areas, in the rain forest, in the office, in cyberspace.

But some rooms are more fluid than others. It is so much harder to get rid of your skin than say, changing your home address, credit limit, religion or genitals. And maybe one day, when there are so many rooms that doors take up a lot more space than walls, they will cease to matter as much. We just need to be brave and lift our one foot firmly cemented in the race room and try something a little different. Exploration has to start somewhere, so it might as well start with a careless jump.

somehow, since i turned 21, i haven't been in the country for any of the general elections. first was undergrad, then postgrad, and missed all the exciting stuff that was reformasi, pak lah mari, etc. now, finding myself happily in the country, registered and all ready to be whipped up into a frenzy of flags and flatulence.

signed up with Women's Candidacy Initiative - a bunch of energetic women and men who was supporting Toni Kasim as an independent candidate. for as long as i've known her, she has never ceased to amaze with her sharp take on injustice, sense of humour, boisterous commitment, breadth of activism and amazing humility. she's just super cool. i'd vote her in as prime minister any day.

but she's really quite ill now, and we're all biting our nails in worry. as a result, she's no longer running as a candidate. we're still trying to push for the WCI 10 point manifesto in the elections though.

missing an enigmatic leader, we decided to engage through the witty and larger-than-life persona who is Mak Bedah.

enjoy! :)

right click, save as and blog it!

original url at: http://www.wci2.org/images/banners/wci_blog_final.gif. just add this code to your site:

<img src="http://www.wci2.org/images/banners/wci_blog_final.gif" alt="women's candidacy initiative - show your support!>

News just in: Parliament has been dissolved today. Elections is not only looming, it's breathing down our faces! Support WCI and spread the news far and wide. It's time to try and make at least a dent of difference to how politics look in this country.

---------

The Women's Candidacy Initiative (WCI) is pleased to announce the candidacy of Zaitun (Toni) Mohamed Kasim for the upcoming 12th General Elections.

WCI
WCI is a collaboration of women and men who believe that the political participation of women at every level of decision-making is vital to advancing and upholding the rights of women and to better represent their concerns.  This will be the second time that WCI will field a candidate in the election. WCI made history during the 10th General Elections when it fielded Toni Kasim to run on a women's human rights platform in the Selayang parliamentary seat against the incumbent, Chan Kong Choy (BN). WCI polled 43% (26,144) of the vote in the constituency, slashing the winning margin for the incumbent from 38,627 in the 1995 general election to 8,835.
 
WCI's Candidate - Toni Kasim
Our candidate, Toni Kasim is no stranger to the women's movement and the larger human rights movement. She has worked tirelessly for the last 15 years in Malaysia, on a wide range of human rights and women's rights issue. She has been involved in various civil society organizations and movements to work on issues such as sexual harassment, domestic violence, poverty, HIV/AIDS, women's access to leadership and the impact of religious fundamentalisms on people's lives. Her work is based on the fundamental belief that women and men, and people of all races and religions should be equal before the law.

WCI - What we believe in
WCI believes that no one should be discriminated against because of their gender, religious beliefs, ethnicity or nationality - every person has the right to equal access to health, education and employment, the freedom of belief and practices according to the Constitution. We have the right to safe and affordable living conditions where we can live without fear or injustice or discrimination.

We also assert that politics belongs to all and that for a democracy to be truly representative, it must have the participation of civil society - ordinary men and women who make up this country, regardless of whether they choose to join a political party or not. WCI gave expression to this ideal in the 1999 general elections and this year, with bigger support and commitment, we are pleased to come together once again in the second phase of WCI to participate in the coming elections.

We believe in the growing importance of civil society participation in the elections process. However, trying to bring this ideal to fruition has not been easy. The voice of civil society has largely been drowned by politicians who have ruled over us for 50 years. Systems and structures have been put in place to make it very difficult for the diverse Malaysian voices to be heard. These include gerrymandering and increasing the deposits for candidates who wish to run in the elections.

With the limited resources available to independent candidates and an election system that is less than free and fair, there are numerous barriers for effective participation in the elections. For women, these barriers are even more pronounced. But this year, we are experiencing a thrilling second phase of our growth, and we are excited to be planning the campaign for an independent woman candidate once again, to make sure that women's issues are highlighted and do not fall off the agenda.
 
In spite of an election system that presents numerous challenges to our candidacy, we are committed to run a campaign that is clean, fair and ethical:
•    As an independent women's candidacy our campaign will not be based on monetized politics, because we want to be accountable to the people, not to businesses.
•    As believers and defenders of universal human rights, we will ensure that issues of public importance are tackled critically and with humanity.
•    As supporters of women's equal access to leadership, we will ensure that women's voices are heard and heeded.
•    We will also ensure that our campaign does not waste resources unnecessarily.

How you can be a part of the WCI campaign
We would also like to use this opportunity to invite other Malaysians who believe in democracy, justice and equality to lend your support to WCI this coming election. Because we are an initiative driven by ordinary people who believe in fairness and equality, we need all the help we can get. There are many ways in which you can help. You can contribute by donating in cash or in kind, or you can volunteer your time and energy to help us put this campaign together, or you can simply spread the word and help us make some noise.
 
Finally, you can contribute by not voting inequality, but by voting for EQUALITY!
 
Toni Kasim was the right candidate for WCI in 1999, and she is the right candidate this time around. It is therefore with great pleasure that we hereby officially launch the 2nd phase of the Women's Candidacy Initiative, and our candidate for the upcoming 12th General Elections.

End discrimination, Vote Equality.

To know more about how you can contribute or volunteer, please call WCI at 017-302 7030.

WCI is conducting a volunteers workshop. Please register by calling WCI at 017-302 7030.

WCI Volunteers Workshop
Date: 16th February 2008
Time: 2:00pm - 4:00pm
Venue : Pusat Janadaya (Empower), 13 Lorong 4/48E, Seksyen 4, 46050, Petaling Jaya, Selangor

For more information, log on to www.wci2.org

some posts said to put the image instead of blogging. some posts said to make a post about burma. either way, there will be a splash of red across the blogosphere.

free burma - i guess arundhati roy might say: free for whom, against whom, by whom?  US' response is typically economic sanctions. if it doesn't work, maybe they'll find some weapons of mass justification.

malaysia? 


our ever updating and evolving formulas are of course much better: ISA since the emergency period in 1948 is still thriving gorgeously. the unchanging stance of treatment to refugee seekers in the country since the 1970s.

something in the world hurts.

spreading the word:

-------

The Petition to His Majesty The Yang DiPertuan Agung
September 30th, 2007

Have you signed on to the petition to His Majesty the Yang DiPertuan Agung to ask for the establishment of a Royal Commission to look into and stop the rot in the judiciary and to return the judiciary back to the rakyat?

Have not read the petition?

To read the draft petition in English, please click HERE.

The actual petition, complete with the language of protocol, is now reproduced below.

To sign up in support of this petition, please send your name and i.c. number to :

savethejudiciary@gmail.com

_________________________________

Dengan nama Allah yang Maha Pemurah dan Maha Mengasihani,

Menghadap ke majlis Seri Paduka Baginda,

Alwathiqubillah Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin ibni Almarhum Sultan Mahmud Almuktafi Billah Shah, yang bersemayam di atas takhta Kerajaan Malaysia dengan penuh daulat dan kebesarannya serta didoakan senantiasa baginda berada dalam perlindungan Allah yang Mahakuasa dengan dianugerahkan bertambah-tambah lagi kemuliaan serta darjat jua adanya: Amiin Ya Rabbuljaliil.

Ampun Tuanku,

Patik merafak sembah memohon limpah perkenan Tuanku semoga mempersudikan menerima dan menimbangkan warkah rayuan yakni petition yang tak sepertinya ini yang dipersembahkan bagi pihak rakyat Tuanku yang peka terhadap kejadian dan keadaan masyarakat yang kian meruncing dan membimbangkan. Patik sekalian mengharapkan perkenan pertimbangan Tuanku yang penuh ihsan dan bijaksana jua demi memelihara dan mengekalkan kesejahteraan , kebajikan dan kebahagiaan rakyat yang taat setia kepada Tuanku.

Ampun Tuanku,

Berikut adalah tajuk dan rayuan yang amat tulus bagi perkenan tatapan Tuanku:

RAYUAN RAKYAT SERI PADUKA BAGINDA TUANKU UNTUK MENGAMBIL LANGKAH MEMULIHKAN SISTEM KEHAKIMAN

Pada 19/9/2007 negara dikejutkan oleh satu lagi skandal, kali ini berupa satu klip video yang mendedahkan apa yang nampaknya seperti satu perbualan telefon di antara peguam kanan VK Lingam dan seorang lagi, yang dikatakan mengatur pelantikan hakim-hakim kanan yang ‘mesra’.

Penelitian terhadap monolog tersebut jelas menunjukkan bahawa perbualan telefon tersebut ternyata adalah di antara VK Lingam dan Ketua Hakim Negara, Tun Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim dan perbualan itu berkaitan perlantikan dan kenaikan pangkat para hakim. Beberapa hakim yang lain turut dinamakan dalam perbualan tersebut.

Sejurus selepas klip video tersebut didedahkan, Tun Ahmad Fairuz mengatakan bahawa dia hanya akan membuat kenyataan setelah melihat klip tersebut, tetapi respon yang diterima selepas itu berbentuk kenyataan ‘no comment’ dan itu pun setelah satu jangkawaktu yang lama melalui pihak ketiga yang sebenarnya tidak menafikan perbualan tersebut. Ini menimbulkan satu perasaan di kalangan rakyat bahawa Tun Ahmad Fairuz tidak menjawab persoalan ini dengan tulus ikhlas.

Skandal ini kini menimbulkan kesangsian yang mendalam terhadap kesesuaian Tun Ahmad Fairuz untuk mengetuai badan kehakiman, dan kesesuaian pelantikan serta kenaikan pangkat beberapa Hakim Mahkamah Tinggi, Mahkamah Rayuan and Mahkamah Persekutuan yang telah dibuat berdasarkan cadangan dan syor asal daripada Tun Ahmad Fairuz.

Patik serta rakyat negara ini, kini langsung tidak mempunyai sebarang keyakinan terhadap badan kehakiman.

Patik sekalian berserta ramai jua rakyat negara ini telah lama sedar bahawa sepanjang Tun Ahmad Fairuz memegang jawatannya, beberapa orang Hakim yang berpangkat lebih rendah telah dinaikkan pangkat sementara beberapa orang Hakim yang lebih kanan sering diketepikan dalam proses kenaikan pangkat.

Patik serta rakyat negara ini juga mendapat tahu, melalui berita blog tidak rasmi, bahawa Duli-duli Yang Maha Mulia dalam Persidangan Majlis Raja-raja telah pun menolak dua pencalonan yang dibuat oleh Tun Fairuz bagi jawatan Presiden Mahkamah Rayuan dan Ketua Hakim Malaya walaupun jawatan-jawatan tersebut telah lama kosong. Khabar angin mengatakan bahawa nama-nama yang dicalonkan Tun Fairuz itu berpangkat rendah berbanding dengan Hakim-hakim lain yang telah lama berkhidmat.

Patik serta rakyat negara ini, juga mendapat tahu melalui laporan akhbar bahawa terdapat sekurang-kurangnya seorang Hakim, yang telah dinaikkan pangkat sebagai Hakim Mahkamah Persekutuan, yang telah gagal menyediakan keputusan mahkamah secara bertulis bagi sekurang-kurangnya 35 kes. Ini mengakibatkan banyak kes-kes rayuan yang difailkan oleh tahanan dan banduan yang telah disabitkan kesalahan dan dipenjarakan tidak dapat diadili atau diulangbicara seterusnya.

Skandal terbaru ini juga menimbulkan keprihatinan yang serius terhadap penukaran yang telah dibuat secara mendadak terhadap Hakim yang mendengar perbicaraan satu kes bunuh yang masih berjalan di Shah Alam.

Patik serta sebahagian rakyat negara ini, juga amat bimbang terhadap keputusan Mahkamah berkenaan beberapa kes berprofil tinggi dan samada keputusan-keputusan ini telah ‘diatur’ oleh Tun Ahmad Fairuz, dan jika benar ianya telah berlaku, apakah implikasinya terhadap Hakim-hakim lain di Mahkamah-mahkamah Tinggi khasnya.

Tindak-balas Perdana Menteri, beberapa ahli Kabinet yang lain serta Peguam Negara terhadap isu klip video ini langsung tidak memberikan patik sekalian sebagai rakyat Malaysia, keyakinan bahawa skandal ini akan disiasat dengan adil dan telus sehinggakan mungkin kita tidak akan tahu apa yang sebenarnya berlaku.

Patik sekalian jua tidak percaya bahawa Perdana Menteri dan Kabinetnya benar-benar berpegang kepada usaha untuk menyiasat skandal ini, dan andainya dibuktikan sahih, samada mereka akan mengambil segala langkah yang patut dan perlu untuk mengembalikan badan kehakiman kepada statusnya sebagai institusi perlembagaan yang didirikan untuk mempertahankan secara bebas Perlembagaan, hak rakyat dan juga menegakkan sistem undang-undang.

Timbalan Perdana Menteri kita telah mengumumkan pada 29/6/2007 bahawa satu Panel yang terdiri dari 3 orang akan menyiasat skandal ini, yang mana ketua Panel tersebut terlibat dalam pemecatan Tun Salleh Abas pada tahun 1988. Ini hanya mengukuhkan pendapat patik sekalian bahawa Kerajaan Malaysia ingin memastikan bahawa hal sebenar berkenaan skandal ini langsung tidak akan diketahui.

Patik-patik sebagai rakyat Malaysia, amat bimbang sekiranya penyiasatan skandal ini dibiarkan disiasat oleh pentadbiran Perdana Menteri, pihak Polis atau pun Badan Pencegah Rasuah, maka rakyat kelak akan hanya menyaksikan satu lagi penutupan kes di mana rakyat tidak akan ada jalan untuk menuntut keadilan dan akan sentiasa curiga samaada badan kehakiman akan melindungi rakyat atau pun kepentingan beberapa pihak tertentu sahaja.

Skandal terbaharu ini menimbulkan kebimbangan samaada penyelewengan yang selama ini begitu berleluasa pada peringkat pentadbiran negara ini kini telah menyusur masuk ke dalam bidang kehakiman.

Atas sebab-sebab yang diperihalkan di paragraph-paragraf sebelum ini, patik bagi pihak sejumlah dari rakyat Malaysia, menyembahkan rayuan ini ke majlis Seri Paduka Baginda Tuanku agar Tuanku berkenan apalah kiranya menggunakan segala kuasa yang terletak hak pada Tuanku untuk:

1. Menitahkan pembentukan sebuah Suruhanjaya Penyiasat di bawah Akta Suruhanjaya Penyiasat (Commission of Enquiry Act) 1950, untuk menyiasat, mempertimbangkan dan/atau menentukan samaada perbualan di dalam klip video tersebut benar-benar berlaku di antara VK Lingam dan Tun Ahmad Fairuz dan kesahihan kenyataan-kenyataan yang dibuat oleh VK Lingam di dalam klip video tersebut. Sekiranya terbukti benar berlaku, Suruhanjaya tersebut diberikan mandat tambahan untuk menyiasat, mempertimbangkan dan/atau menentukan:

1.1. penglibatan setiap individu yang dinamakan di dalam klip video tersebut berkenaan perlantikan dan kenaikan pangkat para Hakim;

1.2 kes-kes yang melibatkan VK Lingam yang telah dibicarakan di hadapan Tun Ahmad Fairuz dan/atau mana- mana Hakim lain yang dinamakan di dalam klip video tersebut;

1.3 segala tindakan yang dilaksanakan oleh Tun Ahmad Fairuz sepanjang jawatannya sebagai Ketua Hakim Malaya, Presiden Mahkamah Rayuan dan Ketua Hakim Negara, khususnya

1.3.1 dasar perlantikan dan/atau kenaikan pangkat para Hakim oleh Tun Ahmad Fairuz terutamanya hakim-hakim yang dinamakan di dalam klip tersebut;

1.3.2 cara bagaimana ahli-ahli panel Mahkamah Rayuan dan Mahkamah Persekutuan telah dipilih oleh Tun Ahmad Fairuz sepanjang jawatannya sebagai Presiden Presiden Mahkamah Rayuan dan Ketua Hakim Negara; dan

1.3.3 cara bagaimana fail-fail diagihkan kepada panel-panel Mahkamah Rayuan dan Mahkamah Persekutuan oleh Tun Ahmad Fairuz sepanjang jawatannya sebagai Presiden Presiden Mahkamah Rayuan dan Ketua Hakim Negara.

2. Menitahkan agar Suruhanjaya Penyiasat, setelah menentukan samaada perbualan di dalam klip video tersebut benar-benar berlaku di antara VK Lingam dan Tun Ahmad Fairuz dan menentukan kesahihan kenyataan-kenyataan yang dibuat oleh VK Lingam di dalam klip video tersebut terbukti benar, untuk:

2.1 mengarahkan Perdana Menteri mengambil segala langkah-langkah yang patut dan perlu untuk melantik satu Tribunal di bawah Artikel 125 Perlembagaan Persekutuan untuk memecat Tun Ahmad Fairuz dan/atau mana-mana Hakim yang didapati Suruhanjaya sebagai terlibat, samaada secara langsung atau tidak langsung, di dalam salah laku Tun Ahmad Fairuz; dan

2.2 mengarahkan Perdana Menteri mengambil segala langkah-langkah yang patut dan perlu untuk menggantung Tun Ahmad Fairuz dan/atau mana-mana Hakim yang didapati Suruhanjaya sebagai terlibat, samaada secara langsung atau tidak langsung, di dalam salah laku Tun Ahmad Fairuz, sementara menunggu rujukan kepada dan/atau laporan Tribunal tersebut.

3. Menitahkan penubuhan segera satu Suruhanjaya bebas bagi perlantikan dan kenaikan pangkat Hakim-hakim Mahkamah Tinggi, Mahkamah Rayuan and Mahkamah Persekutuan.

Akhirul-kalam, patik sekali lagi merafak sembah memohon berbanyak kemaafan sekiranya rayuan atawa petition yang tak sepertinya ini menyentuh kalbu Tuanku secara yang tidak menyenangkan, lantaran berlakunya ucapan atawa tulisan bahasa yang terkasar atawa sebarang adab-sopan yang tercacat. Namun yakinilah Tuanku bahawa yang demikian itu bukan disengajakan dan maksud patik hanyalah untuk merayu kepada Tuanku untuk mencampuri urusan yang diperihalkan dalam warkatul-ikhlas ini memandangkan kesemua pintu telah tertutup dan segala laluan untuk menyelesaikan masalah telah terputus.

Sekian tamatnya sembah patik.

Ampun Tuanku dan Daulat Tuanku!

Patik Yang Taat Setia,

found quite an interesting resource on pontianak on the web. seems like i have been confusing pontianak with langsuir with penanggalan -- mainly because of the stupid hantu exhibition i went to at the Sarawak museum, or maybe my bad recollection of what i read there.

so for clarification, these are the differance (according to derrida, this means both to differ and to defer, meaning negation of the self in 2 ways, temporally and phenomenologically; or in less desperate language, to say that "i" is both not you or now. meaning what? i have no idea. and this is only at page 5 of the non-preface. maybe the whole book is about non-being. if i am defined through a series of what i am not, then i can only be a puffy potential, malleable and fantastic. bla bla bla):

* pontianak, also known as puntianak or kuntilanak or matianak. is a female apparition, observed through her long hair and white dress (what kind? baju kurung? though think they have existed way before baju kurung was popularised in the region. pontianaks were recorded since at least the 17th century; and when baju kurung replaced the sarong or if it ever did, i can only guess.)

she is also notable for her shriek. if everyone in the vicinity can hear a pontianak shrieking in the dead of the night, and you're the only person who can't, it means the pontianak is near you. she is probably calling out in search of her child.

a pontianak is a woman who died in childbirth and her spirit cannot rest because of this. if you are caught -- or increasingly so, seduced -- by a pontianak, she will drink your blood till you die. i think neck is the location of choice.

in some stories, pontianaks have a hole in their nape which is their only point of weakness. it's covered by their long hair (which came first? the hair or the hole? hmm... :|). if you can stuff the hole with a nail, she'll remain as the gorgeous apparition that first ensnared you. but if it ever comes out... die la. in earlier stories, she flies around in the shape of a bird and kills an expectant mother and her child by driving her long claws into the belly. the motivation is generally cited as jealousy.

so while before, she kills women and their unborn baby (motivation = self & maternal desire), she now she kills perverse men who allow themselves to be seduced by women sitting alone in remote place (motivation =  punishment of the other's/male desire). maybe this is also why some origin stories are blurred, with the pontianak becoming a pontianak from rape & murder, or suicide after being impregnated after rape.

a pontianak is usually caught by being secured in a see-through glass bottle. she's sometimes said to like hanging out under banana trees.

a sultan, Syarif Abdurrahman Al-Qadri, was so disturbed by a pontianak in the 17th century that he eventually named a land after this apparition in west Kalimantan of indonesia.
to chase the pontianak away, a canon was shot, and where it landed, was the heart of this new settlement, Pontianak.

there's also a a town called Pontian in Johor. but i have no idea if it has any relation with the hantu pontianak.

* langsuir, also known as langsuyar. female, and can appear either also as a beautiful girl|woman or as an owl with the face of a cat. the same dude who wrote the resource hypothesised that owl-sightings are mistaken as pontianak-sightings, but maybe it's just a case of mistaken langsuir sightings?

a woman becomes a langsuir if she and her child dies within the 40 days of her confinement period. sometimes, it is said that her dead child becomes a pontianak. sometimes, it is said that a mother was so shocked to find out that her dead child has become a pontianak, she clapped her hands and flew to a tree, becoming a langsuir. origin stories are sometimes quite circular and self-referential.

the features of both are very similar actually, and can be quite confusing. both have the unearthly shrieks, are often cited as beautiful women, have holes at the back of their necks and similar long black hair, kills by sucking their victim's blood, and have to do with thwarted journeys into motherhood. sometimes it is said that langsuir looks like owls, sometimes it is said that pontianak looks like owls. not sure which is which.

langsuirs hangs out on trees and they can fly. to prevent deceased mothers from turning into langsuirs or their dead child from becoming a pontianak, glass beads are put in the mouth to disable the shrieking, hen's eggs are placed under the armpits to prevent the flapping of arms for flying, and needles are placed at the palms of her hands so that "she may not open or clench them to assist her flight" (1951, The Malay Magician, Richard Windstedt).

both pontianaks and langsuirs have the status of jins. i am not sure if this is because the citations come from a charm that borrows from Islamic texts/culture, or if pontianaks existed after the 14th century after the influential golden age of Islam in the region's history. either way, it's linked to both Malay and Muslim systems of belief.

oh, and apparently, langsuirs like to eat fish, and if they are hanging about in a tree near you, you just have to get naked and they'll fly away.

*penanggalan, also known as hantu tengelong. she is female. in some stories, instead of a victim of tragic circumstances, she becomes a penanggalan through the practice of black magic. these magicians have mastered (mistressed?) the arts so well that they can separate their heads from their bodies.

in other stories, she is a normal woman who was seated in a large wooden tub (used to hold nipah vinegar) while performing a religious penance when a man suddenly surprised her by asking what she's doing. she jumped up and her head literally popped out of her body. the shrieking head flew to a nearby tree.

the detached head with trailing entrails (but i don't understand why the entrails start from the neck instead of the lower part of the torso) continues flying about at night especially to houses of expectant mothers, waiting to feed upon their blood. penanggalan also likes the blood of babies and young children.

their entrails are also their only point of weakness, as it can get caught on tree branches and thorns. the practice is to either plant trees or place thorns around the house to prevent them from getting in. the entrails also need to be soaked in vinegar and its discharge (or drops of blood depending on which story) is poisonous and can cause kudis as well as thorny weeds to grow. kinda a flaw since thorny weeds are the kinda things which can trap it.

anyway, there are much less lore about the penanggalan than the pontianak. probably because not so many movies are made about it. but maybe also because part of the origin stories of the penanggalan contains some element of agency and deliberate intent as opposed to the pontianak. but also maybe because a ghost with no tits in its strategy is less sexy.

so here we have it. the pontianak, langsuir and penanggalan. repeated symbols of long black hair, shrieking voices, birth, blood, dead babies. mixed in with a little seduction and tales of monstrous sexuality.

a fair bit more to deconstruct, but too penat. so later la.

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protest against dodgy judicial appointments

first there was knowledge, then there was assumptions, then suddenly... you tube! check out the video clip yourself.

march & handover of memorandum on impartiality of judicial appointments, organised by the Malaysian Bar Council:

wed, 26 sep 2007
11am from the steps of the Palace of Justice to the Prime Minister's office
hop on the bus at the bar council at 9am