narrativeautumn

原文：Mariam Mokhtar；翻译：姚文傑

Link: http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/124652

Malaysia’s brain drain appears to be picking up speed. According to a recent parliamentary report, 140,000 left the country, probably for good, in 2007.

Between March 2008 and August 2009, that figure more than doubled to 305,000 as talented people pulled up stakes, apparently disillusioned by rising crime, a tainted judiciary, human rights abuses, an outmoded education system and other concerns.

The general assumption is that Chinese and Indian Malaysians form the majority of those abandoning the country of their birth because ethnic Malays consider them ‘pendatang’ – aliens in a Malay land, regardless of how long they have been in the country.

However, increasing numbers of Malays have already emigrated as well, or are seriously thinking it, dismayed by corrupt practices as well as the rigid confines of Islam and the rise of fundamentalism embodied in the revelation on Wednesday by Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein that three Muslim women had been caned in Kajang Prison in Selangor on Feb 9 for having had illicit sex under shariah law.

In 2000, according to figures compiled in 2007, 40 percent of Malaysian emigrants headed for Singapore – at the same time Singaporeans are headed somewhere else. By one estimate, the number who put the Lion City behind them is as high as 15 percent of annual births. In 2006, the Transport Minister, Raymond Lim, expressed concern that 53 percent of Singaporean teens would consider emigration.

One website survey put Singapore’s average outflow at 26.11 migrants per 1,000 citizens, the second highest in the world - next only to East Timor.

Of the other émigrés, 30 percent go to OECD countries (Australia, New Zealand, the United States, Canada and Britain) 20 percent to Asian countries (Brunei, Philippines, Indonesia) and the rest of the world (10 percent). Malaysian Employers Federation executive director, Shamsuddin Bardan, said in an interview that 785,000 Malaysians are working overseas. Unofficially, the figure is well over 1 million.

Nor are people all that is leaving. Asia Sentinel reported that there has been an exodus of money from Malaysia on a scale which surpasses that which occurred during the Asian crisis. The decline is also reflected in a sudden decline in base money supply – even while, thanks to Bank Negara, broader M2 has continued to grow modestly.

A major problem is the flight of graduates. As early as 2004, former premier Abdullah Ahmad Badawi was becoming concerned, pointing out that as many as many as 30,000 thought to be working in foreign countries, many of whom had held scholarships in top universities from the Malaysian government but chose to stay overseas at the end of their studies.

Former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad demanded that other countries pay Malaysia for having seduced them to stay, “since, by right, the graduates’ training and knowledge should be called intellectual property.”

The typical reasons are well-documented: improved employment and business prospects, higher salaries, better working environments, greater chances of promotion and a relatively superior quality of life.

Three personal stories

Three Malay women put a personal face on statistics in conversation with Asia Sentinel, sharing their decisions to emigrate. Two are graduates of overseas universities, the third is from a local school. Their decisions to leave were made, they say, after a lot of soul searching. But for these women, money and economic incentives were not the end-all. Their names have been changed to protect them.

Anita claims to have left because of her sexuality. She graduated from a university in the United Kingdom but continued with a post-graduate degree course. At the end of her studies, she worked in a multinational corporation in London and is now a department head. She was recently married, in a civil ceremony, in the UK.

A Malay, Anita is naturally Muslim. Her partner is another woman, Nadia, an Iraqi Jew. They met as undergraduates. For a decade, the two made the annual pilgrimage to Malaysia to visit Anita’s ageing parents, Anita says. When in Kuala Lumpur, they are regular patrons of lesbian joints in Bangsar. After the Malaysian National Fatwa Council issued an edict banning lesbianism in 2008, Anita travelled alone.

Nadia dislikes the risk of being ‘caught’. The clues to their sexuality are their short cropped hair, Doc Marten shoes, preponderance of masculine clothes and, on closer inspection, their identical wedding rings with each other’s names inscribed. Anita is in self-imposed exile because her partner will not be allowed to reside in Malaysia.

Although male homosexuality is illegal in Malaysia and sodomy incurs a punishment of 20 years jail, Malaysia’s civil code does not ban lesbianism. Malaysian men are just so big-headed that they cannot imagine any woman not wanting to sleep with a man.

“It is unacceptable to see women who love the male lifestyle including dressing in the clothes men wear,” said Abdul Shukor Husin, the Fatwa Council chairman.

Perak mufti Harussani Idris Zakaria says that the council’s ruling was not legally binding as it had not been passed into law. He wants tomboys to be banned because their actions are immoral. “It doesn’t matter if it’s a law or not,” he says.

Living in a goldfish bowl

In 2000, Malaysia had around 80,000 official expatriates. By 2008, this figure had shrunk to 38,000 as the collapsing global economy cut into trade and thus trade and Malaysian exports.

When Bibi worked in an electronics factory in north Perak, little did she foresee marrying her expatriate quality control engineer. After his conversion to Islam and their subsequent marriage, he attempted unsuccessfully to gain permanent residence.

He claims to have spent a small fortune on lawyers, on ‘proof’ and photographs for the application process, and several trips to the immigration offices to be ‘verified’. He claims that one low ranking government official even offered him a birth certificate for RM60,000, as a pre cursor to a ‘red’ identity card, which would help facilitate the permanent resident status.

When Bibi’s husband’s work permit expired, he attempted to form a trading company. He travelled to the border every few months to renew his immigration-social visit pass, while he explored this avenue.

He was ineligible for a sole proprietorship and although he could form a limited company with 51 percent bumiputra ownership, he found that for one reason or another, it was not viable. Local partners wanted maximum profits for little or no work. A Caucasian, he was seen as a cash cow, he says.

In addition, the Perak town they lived in was very provincial. Had he lived in Kuala Lumpur or Penang, he could be anonymous, like the expatriates married to Malay women in these cities.

As an expat convert in his local town, the Malays expected him to uphold Malay values and scrutinised his every move, right down to his religious obligations. He was disillusioned with living in a goldfish bowl and both he and Bibi left for Europe.

40% of M’sian experts work in US

According to one local daily, the number of Malaysian researchers, scientists and engineers working overseas exceeds 20,000 with 40 percent of them in the United States and 10 percent in Australia.

When Ida graduated from Australia with a chemical engineering degree, she worked in a chemical plant in Selangor. Her friendship with a chemist blossomed into love, with talk of marriage. There was one problem - Anthony was a Catholic.

He dutifully presented himself at the mosque for ‘agama’ lessons in preparation for his conversion. The imam never appeared for their pre-arranged appointments. Frustrated with being let down repeatedly, he stopped going. His lucky break came when he was offered a job in a neighbouring country. Ida joined him.

She was free from parental and family pressures, he from the religious zealots. They married. He retained his faith, she remained a Muslim. They started a family and have since emigrated to New Zealand. Recently, she embraced Catholicism.

Malaysian emigration has critical policy implications. There are questions over what will happen when overseas students receive employment offers in the country where they are studying, when skilled people leave Malaysia, when pensioners retire abroad (the silver economy) and the nation registers an increase in unskilled foreign workers but a decrease in skilled expatriates.

The challenge for policymakers is to harness the economic and political potential of this largely ignored diaspora. There is no point pretending Malaysia does not have a serious problem. The
incentives to reverse the brain drain and attract those who are abroad must be reviewed, as they are currently ineffective.

For many like Anita, Bibi and Ida, it is not just politics and racial discrimination but also religious and social pressures that drive them away.

LINK: http://www.malaysiakini.com/columns/125189
马来西亚似乎有越来越多人才外流了。根据最近一份国会报告，2007年有14万人离开大马。他们或许就此一去不回头。

在2008年3月至2009年8月之间，移民人数增加超过一倍，达到30万5千人。很明显地，他们之所以收拾包袱离开故乡，是因为对犯罪率上升、腐败的司法制度、侵犯人权、过时的教育制度等等现状觉得大失所望。

大家一般的印象是：离开祖国马来西亚的大多是华裔和印裔，因为不论他们在这里住了多久，马来人还是会认为他们是外来移民（pendatang）——马来领土上的外国人。

回教极端化让马来人也移民
然而，与此同时，我国也有越来越多马来人移民，或者考虑着要移民。看着国内贪污成风、一成不变地限制回教、原教旨主义崛起的情况，他们灰心了。上星期三，内政部长希山慕丁披露，三名回教徒女子涉及通奸，触犯了回教法，而于2月9日在加影监狱被鞭笞。这意味着原教旨主义的崛起。

根据2007年的数据，四成的大马移民移居新加坡，与此同时，新加坡人却移居其他国家。根据估计，离开狮城的人数相等于该国一年新生婴儿的百分之十五。在2006年，多达百分之五十三新加坡青少年考虑要移民，新加坡交通部长林双吉（Raymond Lim）亦曾关注此事。

有一个网络民意调查显示，在新加坡，每一千人就有26.11人移民，移民率之高在全球仅次于东帝汶。

国外工作大马人达百万之众

大约30%的大马移民在经济合作与发展组织国家（OECD countries）定居，例如英美纽澳加；20%移民到亚洲国家，例如汶莱、菲律宾、印尼；10%则移居其他国家。马来西亚雇主联合会执行董事三苏丁峇丹在一项访问中透露，在国外工作的马来西亚人有78万5000人。至于非官方数据，则预测在海外工作的国人远远超过一百万人。

想要离开我国的，其实并不只是人才，就连钞票也想要跑路了。根据《亚洲前哨报》（Asia Sentinel）报导，我国资金外流程度超越了亚洲金融风暴的水平。货币供给遽减反映了资金外流现象，然而，多亏国家银行撑腰，货币供给依然持续适度成长。

留学生选择滞留海外不归

在海外留学的大马人选择不回国确实是个大问题。早在2004年，前首相阿都拉也曾关注此事。他表示，我们有多达30万国人在海外工作，其中有很多人是领着大马政府奖学金出国深造的，但是在毕业后选择留在国外工作。

前首相敦马哈迪曾要求其他国家，必须因吸引我国人才留在当地而付钱给我国，理由是“大学生的培训与知识也应被视为知识产权”。

我国人才留在国外的原因，大家都再熟悉不过了：就业前程似锦、更多商机、待遇更优渥、工作环境更好、晋升机会更多、生活素质更高。

三个心路历程故事

《亚洲前哨报》曾访问三个马来女子，让她们叙述自己为何要移民。其中两人在外国大学毕业，另一个女子则在本地大学毕业。她们表示，经过了一番自我探索之后，她们决定要离开大马。对她们而言，金钱与经济因素都不是主因。为了保护她们，她们的名字都已被修改了。

安妮达是因为自己的性取向而离开的。她在英国某大学毕业后，继续攻读博士课程。博士班毕业之后，她在伦敦一家国际机构工作，目前担任部门主任，最近也刚结了婚。

性向被排斥只有选择离开

身为一个马来人，她一出生就是回教徒。她的伴侣名为纳迪雅，是一个来自伊拉克的犹太女子。她俩是在大学时代认识的。这十年以来，她俩每年都会回到大马探望安妮达的年迈双亲，也常出入孟沙的女同性恋者场合。当全国回教法规委员会（National Fatwa Council）在2008年禁止女同性恋之后，安妮达就独来独往，免得引人注意。

纳迪雅不喜欢冒着“被逮捕”的风险。透露她们性取向的装扮，通常是留短发、穿马丁靴、多数穿男装，她们的结婚戒指也都刻着对方的名字。安妮达的伴侣不可居住在大马，因此她必须自我放逐。

虽然男同性恋在大马是违法的，肛交的刑罚是坐牢20年，但是我国民事法典并未明文禁止女同性恋。大马男人太自负了，他们无法想像世上有女人不想跟男人睡觉。

“女子偏爱男子生活方式、穿男装，这是很难令人接受的，” 全国回教法规委员会主席阿都舒库尔胡先说道。

霹雳州宗教司哈鲁沙尼表示，该理事会的规定还未在国会通过成为法律，因此都没有法律约束力。但是，“不管合法与否”，他都要禁止男人婆，理由是他们的行为举止不道德。

社会处处排斥外国女婿

在2000年，我国有8万名外派雇员。到了2008年，我国贸易与出口受到次贷金融风暴影响，外派雇员人数就下跌至3万8千人。

当碧比在霹雳州北部一家电子厂工作时，她根本没想过自己会嫁给来自国外的品质控制工程师。那位老外工程师皈依回教之后，他俩就共结连理，但是男方还是无法取得永久居留权。

律师费、申请过程的“证据”和照片、到移民厅来回好几趟的过程必须被“审核”，这些都是他破费的杂事。有一个低阶官员曾跟他开价，以6万令吉换取一张出生证明书。有了这张出生证明书，他就可以申请红色身份证，如此一来，他就能得到永久居留权了。

碧比丈夫的工作准证逾期之后，他曾尝试开贸易公司。在这段期间，他每隔几个月就得出入境一次，以更新旅游观光签证。

他并不符合经营独资企业的资格。虽然他知道自己可以开一家拥有51%土著股权的有限公司，但是不管怎样，他知道这是行不通的，因为本地伙伴希望工作少，最好是不用工作，但又要求赚最多钱。他说自己身为一个洋人，在这里被视为一棵摇钱树。

此外，他俩住在霹雳州一个偏远小镇。如果他住在吉隆坡或槟城，他就如同在这两座城市里跟马来女子结婚的外派雇员一般，没有什么特别。

像他这般的外派雇员入乡随俗之后，同乡的马来人都期望他维护马来社会价值观。他的一举一动、有否履行宗教义务，都被村人监督。他觉得失望透顶，就带着碧比远赴欧洲了。

希望皈依回教却困难重重

根据一份本地报章，在海外工作的大马研究员、科学家、工程师超过两万人，其中有四成在美国工作，一成落户澳洲。

依达在澳洲考获化工学位之后，任职于雪州一家化学工厂。她跟一位化学师堕入爱河，后来谈婚论嫁时面对一个问题：他的先生安东尼是一个天主教徒。

他尽责得很，出席了准备皈依回教的宗教课程，虽然已经事先预约好了，但是宗教司并不曾赴会。宗教司爽约好几次之后，他就不再出席了。后来，多亏幸运之神眷顾着他，他在邻国找到了一份工作，依达就跟随他远走高飞。

从此以后，依达从父母与家庭的压力中解脱了，安东尼则摆脱了宗教狂热份子。他俩结为夫妇之后，安东尼就重归天主教怀抱，依达则依然是个回教徒。这个新家庭后来移居到纽西兰，最近依达也信奉天主教了。

大马人移民的现象将产生重大政治影响。当海外大马学生选择留在国外工作，当技术人员离开我国，当银发族在外国退休（影响我国银发经济），当非技术劳工大举涌入我国而高技术的外派雇员却减少了，我国届时将会发生什么事？

这个移民潮现象被忽略了，控制移民潮所产生的政治、经济影响，是我国政策决策者的挑战。假装马来西亚没有面对什么严重问题，是无济于事的。既然现有的吸引大马专才回国计划不见效，当局就必须检讨现有的奖励计划，以扭转人才外流的劣势。

有些人也跟安妮达、碧比和依达面对相同窘境，对她们而言，迫使她们决定离去的原因，除了政治与种族歧视之外，也还有宗教与社会观感压力的因素。

LINK: http://www.malaysiakini.com/letters/122377

他 帮助美国驻海地大使馆

维持馆员人身安全

他 每天早上

摸黑走路上班

就是为了准时守候着大使馆门口

美国大使的马赛地轿子一到

马上给他开门

说一声：Good morning sir

911恐怖袭击之后

大使要求加强保安

要他在烈阳下仔细检查访客

以确保美国人免于袭击

他尽忠职守 还帮大使与馆员

跑到首都太子港街头买香菸啤酒

以确保美国子民的人身安全

大地震当天 他正好周休

走在街上 突然天摇地动

他马上奔驰回家 发现家人相安无事

马上又想起美国老板 又跑到大使馆

听说联合国总部也垮了

他心里着急 担心老板已遭不幸

所幸老板亦逃过一劫

他感激上帝恩赐 滴下了些许男儿泪

他拿着一块泥饼 分成四小片

老婆一片 儿子一片 女儿一片

边走边吃 带着背包 走到美国军机旁

“我是美国大使馆保安人员”他出示证件

“你有美国护照吗？”军人说

“没有。”他答道

“请你离开。美国感激你的功劳。美国不会忘记你。”军人说

军机载着美国子民飞走了

他失望地走在街上 卖香菸的商店复业了 开着电视机

“美国不会忘记您。美国一直与您同在。”奥巴马说

English Translation:
He Comes from The Third World by Yeow Boon-Kiat

He took care of the security of the US Embassy in Haiti and protected its staffs.

Everyday before dawn, he walked to work, just to stand at the main entrance on time. When the US Ambassador’s Mercedes Benz arrived, he opened the door and greeted: Good morning sir.

In the aftermath of 911 terrorist attack, ambassador tightened the security, made him check visitors thoroughly under the hot sun to make sure Americans are free from attack.

He worked really hard, even helped Ambassador and his staffs buying cigarette and beer at Port-au-Prince streets to ensure Americans’ safety.

He was off on the earthquake day. Walking on the street, all of sudden everything was trembling,
He ran home immediately, his family survived the quake.

He thought of his US boss, and ran to the embassy. Rumours were that even the UN headquarters had collapsed. He afraid that his boss was injured or even waving goodbye.

Fortunately, his boss survived the quake. He thanked God’s blessing, tears rolled down his cheek.

He divided a piece of mud biscuit into four quarters. His wife, daugther and son, each getting one quarter.

Bringing a bag and walked to the US Air Force plane.

“I’m a security guard at the US Embassy,” showing his ID.

“Do you hold a US passport?” the soldier asked.

“No,”

“Please go away. America will remember your contribution; America will never forget about you,”

The plane, for Americans only, fleed Haiti.

Disappointingly walking on the street, the shop selling cigarette reopens, the TV is on.

“America will never forget about you; America will always be with you,” Obama said.

Link: http://www.malaysiakini.com/columns/120192

虎年将至，华人避忌虎年结婚，赶在牛年结束前拉埋天窗组织新家庭，全城婚宴随处可见，热闹得很。华人不喜欢“虎”字与广东话的“苦”字谐音，也是避免虎年结婚的原因之一，因为深恐虎年共结连理的新人婚后生活困苦。担心虎年结婚真的会有如此遭遇，当然是可以左闪右避，大不了最迟2011年结婚，但是一个国家的灾难就不是说能避就避的。

近来一连串的不利讯息，包括我国在今年首三季只吸引了72亿令吉外资、国油好景不再盈利骤降一大半、部长坦言马来专业人士也开始移民、坦言我国经济停顿十年等等，都在在显示我国正在走下坡。其实不要说“正在”走下坡，其实是早就“已经”走下坡。

“分而治之”的公共交通
就拿公共交通系统来说好了，早在十多年前，我国领袖就想到了几个“分而治之”的轻快铁、火车系统，从一个站转至另一个站必须长途跋涉，汗流浃背搭上另一班列车。一个每天高喊2020年成为先进国的国家，在1990年代中想到设计这个模样的交通系统，如果还觉得洋洋得意，我们还有什麼话好说？

说句实在话，每当外国朋友问起：“贵国堪称准备晋身先进国行列，何以地铁系统如此不堪？”除了觉得羞耻、自卑，还是羞耻、自卑。

如果当初我国领袖懂得到东京、香港、新加坡真正考察人家如何盖地铁，如何规划公共交通，懂得跟做得最好的国家比较，鞭策自己要求我国的公共交通管理水准达到第一世界水准、跟他们虚心学习，或许我们今天的轻快铁和火车系统是世界第一流的也说不定。但是十多年前推出了这个不协调的系统，就已经是注定要让国家永远停留在第三世界水平了。

抵死不认则注定要没落
世界上此国崛起，彼国没落乃平常事。但是一个国家如果连没落了，也抵死不承认，依然觉得自己很了不起，那么是注定要没落的。50、60年代的台湾，比马来西亚还要穷，在1970年代后经济迅速起飞，晋身亚洲四小龙行列。

2000年至2008年陈水扁政府执政时，台湾经济遍野哀鸿，约莫在2006或2007年，台湾人均收入就首次被韩国超越，台湾从昔日四小龙第一名掉到包尾，但政治人物依然沉醉於政治口水战。台湾公民社会力量强大，知识分子、企业家等极力呼吁台湾政治人物从政治斗争中苏醒过来，正视必须重建台湾国际竞争力的事实。

台湾政治人物很会高喊口号、撕裂社会，但说到重振经济、重建国际竞争力，似乎都还欠缺一些火候，到了今天依然专心玩弄政治权术，台湾经济？放一边吧，谁当选才是王道。

台湾人极在意本身竞争力

比起中国大陆经济，很多台湾人确实觉得台湾经济已经没落了，但台湾人生活态度非常积极，下班后做兼职、学英文日文、参加活动自我提升的台湾人多不胜数。知道韩国超越了台湾之后，台湾人都很慌张，平面和电子媒体就一直讨论台湾应该怎样提升竞争力以重拾昔日光辉岁月，因为他们知道这是在提醒台湾必须快马加鞭提升国际竞争力的讯号，也甚少会听到“台湾至少比马来西亚、印尼好”的论调，比较多听到的是台湾比起自己的对手，即香港、新加坡、韩国输在哪里，胜在哪里，如何取长补短、学习对手优点的论调。

以前在台湾，时常听到台湾人东一句美国、西一句日本，然后又说新加坡怎样怎样，有时候也有点受不了。这当然是无可厚非的，毕竟人望高处，水向低流，台湾很早以前就已经是先进经济体，不跟英美日本比较，难道跟亚洲小猫马来西亚比较？

大马沦落跟缅甸同等级？
记得以前一位台湾老教授慨叹：“台湾领袖一天到晚都沉醉在政治斗争当中，以前的台湾大展拳脚准备追上日本，现在只能跟马来西亚、缅甸这些国家比，以后就要跟纳米比亚比，然后输出台佣为台湾赚取外汇。”

读者或许会问我：“那你有没有跟老教授抗议？”说实在的，我自知自己的国家确实不如台湾（除了国际机场和英文环境之外），如果当时大吼大叫抗议老教授把马来西亚与缅甸视为同一水平，或许还真的会被人家耻笑说：“你自己的国家不争气，又怎能责怪老教授呢？”

第三世界楷模不值得自满

唉，也对。总不能说国际社会认为我们不够格成为先进国，就发挥第三世界因自卑而自大的心理怪罪外国人“质疑马来西亚成就”吧。当时的我，坐在大学讲堂里，告诉自己：“废话少说吧，还是学习台湾人自强不息的拼搏精神比较实际一些。”

凡事以先进国马首是瞻，或许确实是有点盲从，但第一世界确实拥有太多值得我们学习的元素。有比较才会有进步，总不能说“干嘛整天梦想自己的国家一定要晋身第一世界呢？第一世界的人民不见得都很快乐，很多先进国生活压力特别大，我们至少还是比柬埔寨、索马里好啊！”而回避我国要跟最好的国家比较才能进步的事实。

今天，我国要晋身先进国行列，我们应该跟第一世界比较而力求上进，还是跟穷国比较而继续以第三世界楷模的身份觉得自满，这么简单的选择题，我国领袖应该还懂得选择吧？当然，选择了之后，执行力度又是另一个长篇大论的故事……

Link: http://www.gerakbudaya.com/products-page/sird-titles/the-fajar-generation-the-university-socialist-club-and-the-politics-of-postwar-malaya-and-singapore/

This is a book narrating the turbulence years of the University Socialist Club of University of Malaya(Singapore campus) in the 1950’s and 1960’s. “Fajar” was the club organ published and circulated by the club which was led by the editors and co-authors of this good book–Dr. Poh Soo Kai, Tan Jin Quee, Koh Kay Yew, Ahmad Mustapha and many more prominent student leaders. The club championed anti-colonialism, fought for independence and freedom of both the country and the people. They were then brought on trial by the British colonial government in Singapore for publishing an article named “Agression in Asia”. If you are interesting in the outcome and the aftermath of the trial, please get yourself a copy in the bookstores in Malaysia and Singapore.

It is indeed my pleasure to come to play my role in helping SIRD on the English to Chinese translation proofreading work of this good book. The proofreading job was not easy, I had to check through the drafts of the whole book, both in English and Chinese, to ensure that the messages and ideas in the English version has been well translated into good and readable Chinese.

Like every of my article and rendition, there is always a song that helps me a lot in searching for inspiration and motivation. And for this book proofreading project, it was Luna Sea’s Dejavu that gave me the mental strength.

Thank you Mr. Chong Ton Sin and Gareth Richards of SIRD; Luna Sea, 本と二どもありがとう

這本書講述馬來亞大學（新加坡校區）的馬大社會主義俱樂部於1950和1960年代的風起雲湧時代。《华惹》月刊是該俱樂部發行的刊物。該俱樂部的領袖包括了傅树介、陈仁贵、许赓猷、Ahmad Mustapha和其他重要學生領袖。他們致力支持反殖民主義，爭取國家與人民的獨立、自由。《华惹》編輯部後來因為在刊物上發表了“對亞洲的侵略”一文而被新加坡的英國殖民地政府控上法庭。想要知道這場轟動一時的審訊有什麼結果嗎？想要知道俱樂部的後續發展嗎？那就請閣下蒞臨馬來西亞和新加坡兩地的書局，買一本回家慢慢研究吧。

能夠幫策略與資訊研究中心審閱本書的中文翻譯書稿，確實是我的榮幸。當然，審閱一本書從來都不是沒有困難的。我必須對英文書稿和中文翻譯書稿字斟句酌，確保英文原版中的意思和訊息都被譯成漂亮的流利中文。這項審稿工作讓我獲益良多，也提升了我的審閱、修訂技巧。

正如我所寫過的所有文章與譯作，一直都有一首歌讓我特別有靈感，並且幫我提升士氣。這次幫助我順利完成這個審閱工作的一首歌，就是月之海Luna Sea的Dejavu.

感謝策略與資訊研究中心的張永新先生和Gareth Richards; Luna Sea, 本と二どもありがとう

Original text link: http://www.malaysiakini.com/columns/117730

Chinese translation Link: http://www.malaysiakini.com/columns/118160

注：原文Sad road to see Seetha’s suicide，作者Helen Ang ，姚文杰翻译。

Sad road to Seetha’s suicide
Helen Ang
Nov 18, 09
4:19pm

I wrote the article below before news broke of Seetha’s passing. May she rest in peace. My prayers for her.

Words cannot hope to convey the plight of R Seetha (photo) who is in critical condition after her suicide bid.

Mine are hopelessly inadequate and I can only offer them in sympathy hearing that Seetha might die. Ingesting paraquat like she did causes liver, lung, heart or kidney failure within several days that can result in death.

In 2006, another young Indian woman M Sanggita took her four children to Sungei Gadut near Seremban to wait for the train to Singapore. The family was not going for a holiday but to their deaths.

Can you imagine such a state of mind where having the train run over you seems better than living? Sanggita, 30, and two of her children were killed that July day lying across the railway tracks.

“There is no use for all of us to live. I pity my kids. They have no future here. Let us be with God,” pleaded Sanggita in her suicide note.

She lamented that she could find no solace. “If given the opportunity, we would all come back as angels to help those in need,” the note ended. Like Sanggita, Seetha lived also in Negri Sembilan and perhaps angels did watch over her four children. Thankfully, they will – we’re hopeful – pull through after sipping the weed killer given by their mother.

Some people have called for Seetha to be charged with attempted murder.

It’s been reported that Seetha promised her children that if they drank the poison, they could meet their youngest uncle again who had been gunned down by police. I don’t think Seetha had it in mind to brutally kill her children – certainly not in the same way that police had done her brother Surendran.

Doubtless, I cannot claim to fathom what was going through her mind that tipped her over the edge. But neither can those condemning her imagine what Seetha has had to endure in her short life thus far. From the story fragments that have come to public knowledge, we can at best speculate.

A closed Tamil society

Seetha’s husband M Manimaran said his wife had told him that she wanted to see the departed Surendran and be with him.

Her father R Rampathy (far left) in his police report had said: “Seetha terlalu sayang kepada Surendran. Dia selalu nangis di hadapan gambar Surendran yang meninggal.”

The picture they paint is one of a woman consumed by inconsolable grief. For most of us, we lose our loved ones to old age or they succumb to natural causes. For the Tamil underclass like Seetha, death can visit a male sibling in a hail of bullets or occurring in the police lock-up. This comes about due to the chronic socio-economic deprivation of the community.

So, no, those comfortable armchair critics of Seetha can’t even begin to comprehend her anguish and the perennial dark cloud hanging when one is mired in poverty. Her father is a security guard; her husband a lorry driver. Both are low status and low pay jobs.

Seetha is a housewife; her mother is a housewife. A feminine shroud encloses homemakers in the still highly patriarchal Tamil society. The women’s limited life experience may not have allowed them to acquire the coping mechanisms that our ’survival of the fittest’ advocates, preaching fortitude, would like to think everyone else should possess.

The defeatist proletariat, denied access to empowering education, does not enjoy the buffer zone that better-off Malaysians have when it comes to confronting adversity and despair. Not just the shock of violent, sudden death but the depression that daily dampens their dispiriting environment.

Worlds apart, chasm between

A poor family earns a combined income of under RM1,092 monthly. This amount is all that a household – usually calculated as a unit comprising five members – has at their disposal to cover all expenditure including housing, utilities, food, schooling expenses and transport.

On the other hand, an affluent young couple may spend more than a thousand ringgit a month on milk powder alone for two young children, what with the price of things skyrocketing nowadays.

I’ve given the example above of two sets of people whose finances are at opposite ends. Wouldn’t their thinking norms be very different too? Seetha’s critics simply have no inkling of the facets of her world.

Do you know how many percent of Indians earn only around a thousand ringgit? The answer is 108,000 households … five years ago (certainly more poor people today). These 540,000 souls make up the bottom 30% of the 1.8 million total Indian population, according to the Social Strategic Foundation report of April 2005.

More data: From the Household Income Survey 2004 by the Economic Planning Unit and Department of Statistics. On the incidence of urban poverty, Bumiputera register 4.1%, Chinese 0.4% and Indian 2.4%.

Now compare with their respective population ratio that same year: Bumiputera was 61%, Chinese 24% and Indian 7% out of 25.6 million Malaysians. Indians who comprised a mere 7% of this country in 2004 showed a disproportionately high poverty rate in stark contrast to Chinese and Malays.

“You are on your own. Don’t hold out your hand because nothing will fall into it.” This quote is attributed to long overstaying MIC president Samy Vellu in the book ‘The Malaysian Indians’ by Muzafar Desmond Tate.

Heck, not only are the poor Indians refused help, even what little they had was taken away from them.

Rendered jobless and homeless

In 1980, plantation workers still accounted for over half of the entire Indian community, wrote Muzafar. What has been happening since then is that the plantations have been fragmented and their workers evicted from the labourer quarters.

The Putrajaya mega-project dislodged estate workers too (Golden Hope plantations among them) and in Mahathirville’s 4,580 hectares, there is no room for the Indians; you don’t see them in this shiny new administrative capital.

Rubber estates like Golden Hope, Guthrie, Sime Darby and Boustead had been colonial enterprises.

Then, government agencies like Pemodalan Nasional Berhad took over Sime Darby (today merged with Guthrie and Golden Hope) while Lembaga Tabung Angkatan Tentera acquired a controlling equity interest in Boustead. Now owned by government-linked Malays and managed by Malays, these corporations are developing the previously plantation land into lucrative real estate properties and new townships.

Oh well, too bad for the hapless Indians. Its displaced young generation drift to urban settlements and create slums.

As mentioned earlier, about 7% of the Malaysian general population is Indian but in their making up 16.1% of squatters, the ratio is double, not proportional. It’s hardly surprising that the Indian quota for low-cost rented accommodation with KL City Hall is always exhausted.

Meanwhile in Penang, a report submitted to the state government by the Socio-economic and Environmental Research Institute (Seri) in November 1998 revealed deplorable housing conditions.

Five percent of the survey respondents lived in containers while in Sungai Tiram, the majority of respondents lived in shacks which used to provide shelter for animals before. Ten years down the road, Penang kindly gave Indians the Kg Buah Pala saga.

The poverty trap led Surendran to his fateful meeting with destiny and trigger-happy cops. Seetha is the collateral damage. Can’t their circumstances and they too be considered hostage to the Indian condition?

Human Rights Party pro-tem secretary-general P Uthayakumar has intimated that should she die, he will bring her body to Parliament to drive home the point that police shootings of racially profiled and so-called ’suspects’ must stop.

Uthaya’s threat recalls the self-immolation or suicide by fire, of Buddhist monks to protest the Vietnamese regime in the 1960s.

Perhaps it will take a drastic measure like a frail, pretty corpse brought outside Parliament under the glare of international media attention to finally open Malaysia’s eyes. A deliberately neglected community is at the end of its tether, if only you knew.

Do you remember the unforgettable Hindraf rally images of Indians passively allowing themselves be drenched by chemical-laced water fired by the FRU cannons? How would an ordinary robust individual react in the same circumstances? You’d run.

So how did a swathe of marginalized Malaysians come to such pass that they squat wet in the street like martyrs with nothing else to lose?

Some have slammed Seetha for attempting to take her own life. Can these censorious people please try to plumb the question that plagued one who deserves only our compassion: ‘What’s there to live for?’

我撰写以下篇文章时，西达仍未辞世。我会为她祈祷，但愿她在天之灵可以安息。

西达尝试自杀之后，病情危急，她的痛苦，不是笔墨可以形容的。比起西达，我的痛苦算不了什么。听到西达或许会离开人间，我只能同情她。像她这般灌了除草剂，肝脏、肺部、心脏或肾脏，都在几天内衰竭致死的。

2006 年，另一个印裔妇女桑吉达（M Sanggita）带着四个孩子到靠近芙蓉双溪芽笃（Sungei Gadut），等着开往新加坡的火车。这家人并不是去度假，而是要寻死。让火车碾过自己的身躯，也比活着来得更好，阁下能想像这种心理状态吗？年仅30岁的桑吉达和两个孩子，就在七月的某一天躺在火车轨道上，被火车碾死了。

桑吉达在遗书上写道，“活着根本无甚意义。我同情我的孩子，他们在这里没有前途。让我们和上帝在一起吧”。她抱怨她无法找到慰藉。

遗书以这句结尾：“如果有机会，我们会化作天使，回来帮助需要帮助的人。”

西达也跟桑吉达同样住在森美兰，也许天使有守护着她的四个孩子吧。他们喝过了母亲给的除草剂，现在却得以逃过死劫。谢天谢地，我们满怀信心，他们会度过难关的。

有些人呼吁检控单位起诉西达企图谋杀。根据报道，西达答应她的孩子，他们很快就可见到被警方击毙的小舅。我不认为西达是要残忍杀害自己的孩子。警方对待她弟弟的态度，肯定不是她对待孩子的态度。

毫无疑问地，当她被逼到死角的时候，心里想着什么，我并不能自作主张揣测一番。但是批评她的人们，也不能凭空想像她在短暂生命旅程中所必须承受的一切。从公众所知道的故事碎片来看，我们顶多只能推测而已。

封闭的淡米尔社会
西达的丈夫玛尼马兰（Manimaran）表示，西达曾跟他说过要见她的弟弟，要和他在一起。西达的父亲南峇迪在警局录口供时表示：“西达太疼爱弟弟苏纳登了，她常常拿着弟弟的遗照哭泣。”（Seetha terlalu sayang kepada Surendran. Dia selalu nangis di hadapan gambar Surendran yang meninggal.）

一个女人，受尽苦痛，难以安抚，就是他们所描绘的情景。对我们大多数人而言，我们失去挚爱的原因，不外乎是他们年纪大了，抑或自然死亡。西达出身淡米尔社会底层，对他们而言，死神召唤自己兄弟姐妹的时候，可以是在枪林弹雨中，或者在扣留室里。印裔社会长期被剥夺社会经济机会，因此落得如此残局。

西达的悲痛，还有一个人陷入贫穷泥淖中，生活长期愁云惨淡的情况，都不是脱离现实的安逸评论人所能开始理解的。她父亲是保安人员，丈夫是货车司机，都是从事低阶低薪的工作。

西达是个家庭主妇，她的母亲也一样。一个女性的身份，把家庭主妇困在仍然父权至上的淡米尔社会。我们的“适者生存”理论要求每一个人要有竞争力、要坚韧不拔，但妇女生活经验有限，也许并不能让她们具备这竞争能力。

教育可增强人的自信心与能力，但最底层的失败主义者，都被拒于教育门外。不同於生活条件较好的大马人，他们面对困难与绝望的时候，并没有缓冲区。暴力与突然死亡所带来的惊愕，再加上日以继夜的忧郁，更进一步打击了他们的颓丧生活环境。

两个世界，天渊之别

一户贫穷人家，每个月的总收入低于1092令吉。这就是一户人家，通常是五个人的家庭，可以花在房屋、水电费、膳食、学杂费和交通费的金额了。相反地，如今物价飙涨，一对富有的年轻夫妇，单单是买给两个小孩的奶粉钱，每个月就可能超过一千令吉。

财务状况完全不同的两组人，我已经举例说明了。他们的思考模式不也会大不相同吗？西达的批评者，对她所身处的世界根本连一点认识都没有。

你知道印裔社群当中月入1000令吉的比例是多少吗？答案是10万8000户人家。这是五年前的数据，今天的穷人肯定更多。根据社会策略基金会报告，这54万个人在180万印裔社群中垫底，成为最底层的30%。

经济策划小组和统计局的2004年家庭收入调查报告有更多的数据。以城市贫困率来说，土著占了4.1%，华裔0.4%和印裔2.4%。现在就拿当年的人口比例来比较一下：在2560万大马人口当中，土著占了61%、华裔24%和印裔7%。在2004年只占了我国人口7%的印裔，贫困率高得不成比例，跟华裔和土著形成强烈对比。

“大马印裔” 的作者慕扎法戴斯蒙（Muzafar Desmond Tate）以这番话标签在位太久的国大党主席三美威鲁：

“你们要自力更生，不要伸手，没有什么东西会掉在你的手掌上。”

唉，不只是贫穷印裔求助无门，甚至连属于他们的一丁点东西，也都被夺走了。

被迫停工、流离失所

慕扎法写道，在1980年，整个印裔社会有超过一半是园丘工人。后来发生的事情是，园丘关闭了，住在宿舍的工人被赶了出来。布城的大型工程也驱赶园丘工人，金希望 （Golden Hope）就是其中一家公司。占地4580公顷的“敦马城堡”，印裔可没一席之地，阁下很难在这金碧辉煌的行政区看到他们。

种植公司如金希望、牙直利（Guthrie）、森那美（Sime Darby）和莫实得（Boustead），都是殖民地时代的企业。后来，官联公司如国民投资公司（Pemodalan Nasional Berhad）收购森那美。森那美现在也跟牙直利和金希望合并了。这些公司现在由一些跟政府有关系的马来人所拥有，并由他们管理。原本是园丘的一片片土地，在他们的手上转变成很赚钱的房地产和新城镇。

至于倒霉的印裔，那真是太不幸了。流离失所的新生代飘泊到城市边缘，盖了贫民窟。诚如之前所述，非法木屋区居民有16.1%是印裔，而印裔只占我国人口大约7%，这比例是多了一倍，是不成比例的。吉隆坡市政局的低廉租金组屋计划，分配给印裔的配额总是一扫而空，这其实是不稀奇的。

在槟城，社会经济与环境研究中心（Seri）于1998年11月提交给州政府的报告，则披露了糟透的居住环境。报告指出，百分之五的受访者住在货柜箱。在地南河（Sungai Tiram），曾经是动物栖息处的简陋木屋，大多受访者都住在那里。十年了，槟城给了印裔一记“豆蔻村事件”。

贫穷的陷阱，牵引着苏纳登的命运，碰上了以开枪为乐的警察。西达是间接的受害者。他们的情况，乃至于他们本人，不能被视为是印裔困境的人质吗？

人权党的筹委会总秘书乌达雅古玛 （Uthayakumar）表示，若是西达不幸身亡，他会抬着她的棺材到国会抗议，极力呼吁警方停止开枪射击特定族群和所谓的“疑犯”。乌达雅古玛的威胁，让人回想起在1960年代，佛教僧侣自焚抗议越南政权的历史。

激进的手段，例如在国际媒体的镁光灯下，抬着一具脆弱而美丽的尸体到国会大厦外，也许这样才能终于睁开大马人的眼睛吧。一个被刻意忽视的社会，是忍无可忍了，要是阁下知道就好了。

还记得兴权会游行的的照片吗？还记得那些印裔，任由联邦后备队以渗有化学物质的水炮扫射他们吗？面对这样的情况，一个健全的人会怎么反应？一定会抱腿就跑。一群被边缘化的大马人，怎么会躺在街上，全身湿透，仿若已经没有什么可以失去的烈士？

有些人猛烈抨击西达企图轻生。对于一个我们应该怜悯的弱者，这些爱好批评的人，可否思索她所面对的问题：“活着，是为了什么？”

Link: http://www.nanyang.com/NewsCenter/articleDetail.asp?type=N&ID=103503&sID=29&cID=1070

首相纳吉在新加坡会见了在该国工作的大马专才，表示我国政府会努力将大马打造成更适合工作和居住的地方，以吸引在海外的大马专才回国，再吸引外国人才在我国定居工作。

我和朋友常常在讨论，其实在马来西亚，有很多人都不排除移民。我们随便走在街上，问一问大学毕业的专业人士：“若有机会，你会带着另一半移民吗？”其实我们很多时候都会很惊讶，不论对方在我国的事业做得多么好，他们的答案常常都是：“我愿意。”

愿意移民或者已经移民的人，其实心里都非常清楚：到了异乡，自己将过着一种仿佛自己没有祖国的生活。不要说居住在白人居多的英美纽澳会觉得格格不入，即使生活在华人占绝对多数的台湾，或是华人人口占四分之三的新加坡，不论自己融入当地社会融入得多好，甚至当生活习惯、语言习惯都已经跟当地人无异了，自己多少还是会有“始终是一个外人”的感觉。一个人离乡背井，到一个陌生的国度闯荡，绝对是一个人成长与经历全球化过程的最佳磨练。但若下定决心在另一个国度里落地生根，那种感觉就不一样了。

寻找更好生活前景

愿意移民或者已经移民的人之所以会移民，不外乎为了让自己的事业可以拥有更大的发挥空间，让另一半和下一代有更好的生活和前景，因此不论自己如何经历着那种没有祖国的煎熬，都必须硬撑下去，否则回到祖国觉得失望了又走不了，然后又期望自己的孩子移民，移民的事情又拖多了一代，还不如把握时间早一代出走。提早一代走出去，自己虽然好像没有了祖国，但至少自己的孩子可以在外国出生，等他们在那里受教育、成长，那便是他们的祖国了。这是我从一些朋友身上所了解到的心态。

澳洲商会最近表示，他们现在对投资大马会一再思考清楚，理由有二：犯罪率飙升、宽频网路速度太慢。其实，这些也是一些想移民的大马人的看法。试问有哪一些在外国用惯速度很快的宽频服务能够忍受我国蜗牛般的宽频服务？讲到犯罪率，就更不用说了，我们在这里不论去哪里都会打醒十二分精神，时时害怕自己被打枪，出远门担心匪徒洗劫住家，这其实是很累的，也许应该说这是一种精神负担吧。

为何自己明明有祖国却不愿回来定居？为何宁愿拿接下来的三五十年流浪在外国建立事业，也不愿回来？我自己流浪过，明白得很，其实原因就是：当你坐在机舱里，飞机在天空中翱翔的时候，你知道你即将展开新生活的国度，将比故乡更愿意给予原本就属于你的一切，将比故乡更懂得欣赏、奖赏你的能力和努力，你知道只要努力你就一定可以达到你要达到的目标……

人人都知道在外国不一定真的会比我国好很多，也都很清楚种族主义、排外主义是在很多地方都会发生的，但就是在自己的故乡觉得没希望了，才收拾行李一走了之。

听说以前响应政府号召回国服务的人才回国没多久，马上又离开了。他们也许会心碎吧，会流泪吧，再一次远走高飞之时，会不会也高唱伍佰的“白鸽”:

飞翔啊 飞在天空 用力吹吧 无情的风 我不会害怕 也无需懦弱
流浪的路 我自己走
那是种骄傲 阳光的洒脱 白云从我脚下掠过 干枯的身影 憔悴的面容
挥着翅膀 不再回头
纵然带着永远的伤口 至少我还拥有自由

This is, yet another sleepless night. Passed into deep slumber after dinner at 21:00 hours just now, went to washroom at 23:30, and then, as expected, I failed to continue sleeping. I very much wanted to carry on with my reading of Anthony Seldon’s “Blair Unbound”, a very interesting book which gives insight into Blair’s premiership from 911 until the day he left office. But I thought of listening to Luna Sea’s Final Act concert dvd and checking emails, so I left my favourite book aside.

After some sort of random surfing, I happened to find my old translation piece in Taiwan. When I was in Taiwan I happened to collaborate with this bilingual magazine, aptly named as “Compass”, which tells all the fun and interesting places in Taichung.
Wow, Taichung….it was how many years ago since I last visited Taichung? I can still recall my remembrance of visiting a friend in Taichung once every year in July to celebrate our birthdays together. July was definitely the most affectionate month for me during the university years when I was still visiting Taichung.

Both of us might had been to this restaurant which is introduced in this old translation piece of mine, or at least we had been to Yingcai Road（英才路）I guess. When I was in Taichung, I felt like I had a perfect distance with Taichung—not too close, not too faraway; not too familiar, not too strange….even until today, when I no longer visit Taichung, just a glance of the word ‘Taichung City’, or a road name in Taichung, could well remind me of the good time I had had there.

In memory of Taichung, I would like to quote this old translation piece of mine.

Indian, Thai and other multinational delights at
IN Restaurant

By Douglas Habecker　Translated by Yeow Boon-Kiat

532, YingCai Rd, 28F (Hotel One); (04) 2303-1234
Hours: buffet breakfast 7-10 am (to 10:30 holidays), lunch 11 am-2:30 pm, dinner 5:30-10 pm
Credit cards accepted. 10% service charge. Parking lot.

IN Restaurant can be counted among a newer breed of dining establishment that elude any clear-cut label. Although listed in this magazine with Indian restaurants, its menu quickly reveals that dishes also include Chinese, Thai, Burmese, Italian, Japanese and other influences. To use an overused word, IN is a “fusion” restaurant of sorts.

Despite lacking a neat category for its cuisine, what is unambiguous among diners is the high-end quality of IN’s food, not to mention a great ambiance that includes good views of the city from 28 floors up. Since opening with Hotel ONE a little over a year ago, the restaurant has done well, offering access to five-star food and facilities for surprisingly reasonable prices.

Starting in December, diners will get even better value, thanks to the launch of a semi-buffet lunch and dinner menu, costing only NT$600 and NT$900, respectively. For the unfamiliar, “semi-buffet” means that a main course (from six choices) comes with an excellent buffet of fresh fruit, salad, international cold platters, soups, desserts, carved turkey (at dinner) and a “Dan Dan Mian Station” serving Tainan-style “danzai” noodles.

For lunch, Senior Sous Chef Eric Lee highlights the Pork Knuckle Vindaloo, featuring stronger, spicier southern Indian flavors that come from stewing with 10 spices and tomatoes. This is served with long Indian rice, and a bowl of refreshing, sweet potato cubes covered in yogurt. For more of an Indonesia flavor, there’s the Steamed Sea Bass with Salted Mustard Green and Bamboo Shoot. The steamed fish is prepared with sea salt and served with “abalone” mushrooms, an XO sauce, pickled bamboo shoots and a cylindrical tower of saffron-infused fried rice.

For dinner another great option noted by Lee is the Beef Massaman Curry, prepared with two different cuts of chewy, tender beef, cooked in a sweeter, less-spicy, peanut-flavored Massaman paste. It’s served with Indian Nan bread or rice and the yogurt sweet potatoes. Other dinner main entrees include Seared Duck Breast with Pumpkin Puree and Tamarind Sauce, and Roasted Pork Rib with Apple BBQ.

Lee–whose kitchen team includes two Indian chefs–stresses IN’s flexibility as it also offers set meals, a la carte orders and a wide variety of traditional and fusion cuisine. The common factor is an emphasis on healthy, balanced fare made with fresh ingredients and less oil.

For now, the tasty new semi-buffet will be offered through December, with the restaurant taking a wait-and-see approach about any possible continuation into the new year. Which makes it all the more important to stop by IN Restaurant this month for a try.

異料理

印泰緬日風味異料理盡在IN

何道明/報導　姚文傑/譯

英才路532號28樓(台中亞緻大飯店); (04) 2303-1234
營業時間：自助早餐 7-10 am (to 10:30 holidays), 午餐 11 am-2:30 pm, 晚餐 5:30-10 pm
可刷卡、收一成服務費、有停車場

雖然在雜誌中被並列為印度餐廳，但其菜單卻囊括了中泰緬義日等各國風味，可見IN是一家避免被標籤的新興餐廳。套個通俗的詞彙，IN是不折不扣的「融合式」餐廳。

IN的菜式，多到令人眼花撩亂，儘管沒有在菜單上分類整齊，卻力求為老饕提供高檔美食，毫不馬虎。除此之外，餐廳環境精緻典雅，在第28樓一邊享用美食，一邊鳥瞰中市夜景，可謂美食雅景，雙重享受。與台中亞緻飯店一同開張一年多來，IN一直都讓顧客以合理價位享用五星級美食和設備。

從十二月起，IN將為愛好美食的朋友，提供超值半自助式午餐和晚餐；分別只要600元和900元。半自助式是由六種佳餚組成的主菜—鮮果、沙拉、國際冷盤、湯、點心、火雞切肉（僅晚餐），也有 麵攤位供應台南 仔麵。這樣解釋半自助式，大概很容易明白。

午餐方面，資深廚師-李裕吉，首推番茄咖哩辣味嫩蹄。辣味嫩蹄的南印度風味，是由十種香料和蕃茄燉成，因此更加辛辣刺激。印度米飯和一碗有酸乳酪覆蓋著的新鮮甜馬鈴薯塊，都與辣味嫩蹄一起附上。若想享用印尼美食，IN推薦您清蒸雪筍鱸魚，以海鹽調味，也附上鮑魚蘑姑、XO醬、醃製竹枝，以及一筒黃色竹筒飯。

至於晚餐方面，李主廚則推薦瑪沙曼牛肉咖哩 。瑪沙曼牛肉咖哩包括：兩片柔軟有彈性的牛肉，以及比較甜、比較不辣，帶有花生口味的瑪沙曼醬。印度烤餅或白飯，以及酸乳酪馬鈴薯塊，都隨瑪沙曼牛肉咖哩附上。其他晚餐主菜還包括：泰式鴨胸佐酸子醬、香蘋豬肋排。

李主廚的團隊包括了兩位印度廚師，IN很強調靈活性，他們為顧客提供套餐，按菜單方式點菜，以及多樣式的傳統和融合式的菜餚。在選擇食材方面，整個廚藝團隊的信念不外乎健康、均衡、新鮮、不油膩。

現在IN於十二月份，都將供應最新推薦的美味可口半自助餐。IN將手頭上重要的事都先擱著，全心集中火力，讓這十二月的半自助餐可以做得更好。至於半自助餐是否將延續到新年，IN還在觀察中。

LINK: http://www.malaysiakini.com/columns/113415

2 Malaysia in health services
Sim Kwang Yang
Sep 5, 09
11:47am
As we approach September 16, the date on which Sarawak achieved independence through by joing Malaysia 46 years ago, my thought turns to the progress made in developing my home state.

The Malaysiakini report on the failed Flying Doctor Service is particularly illuminating, in highlighting the problems of public health care for the rural dwellers of Sarawak - and Sabah as well.

Readers of Malaysiakini are probably urban dwellers for whom medical facilities are taken for granted, along with clean water, sanitation, good roads, and all the amenities that are available aplenty in large cities and towns

If you get sick, there is always the neighbourhood GP’s clinic; a jab and some pills will take care of the usual minor-ailments.

If you are really sick, there are always the public or private general hospitals with all the latest sophisticated medial equipment and the professional expertise at your disposal, as long as you can pay the bills.

But imagine this: what do you do when you get sick if you are a citizen living in a remote village in the deep interior of Sarawak?

Well, you try to consult the old folk or the local village healer, look for traditional medicines like some herbs and roots, and try to sleep off your ailment.

If you are afflicted with some serious conditions like cancer or a difficult child birth, you just lie down and wait to die.

In my travels throughout Sarawak a long time ago, I have seen many rural Sarawakians just lying down and waiting to die. Why?

In the upper reaches of the great rivers in Sarawak, transportation facilities are really primitive.

The only semblance of medical facilities are the rural clinics run by a dresser or a nurse, and access to them may mean hours of walking on foot and travelling in a small boat up and down those infamous rapids.

And the medical personnel and the facilities are usually not sufficient to handle really serious cases at all.

Dubious deals and deaths

Let’s take the upper or middle Baram regions for instance.

In the vast mountainous terrain of that area, the only way to send the patients with a serious medical condition is to fly them down to the Miri General Hospital in a helicopter.

That is why my blood boiled when I read about the failure of the contractor who had not fulfilled their contract agreement to provide a helicopter service.

How many rural patients have died because of their dubious deals?

The other alternative is for the rural patients to take a boat ride down the treacherous water of the Baram for many hours.

The Penans and the Orang Ulu who live in the upper reaches of the river do not always have the kind of cash to pay for the fare.

Let’s say our rural patients finally get to the Miri GH one way or another.

Their problems have just begun. The hospital may not want to admit them as in-patient because many rural Sarawakians do not have identity cards.

When the Sarawak rural mother gives birth, she may not have the strength or money to travel to the nearest National Registration Department which is always half a universe away.

Even if rural patients are admitted without identification papers, they may still be denied the assistance rendered by the Social Welfare Department on the grounds that they are not bona fide citizens!

The public hospitals in Sarawak are always over-crowded and under-staffed.

The medical personnel there are almost always overworked and stressed out. The odd ones will take it out on the patients who had come a long way from home to seek treatment.

It is also a custom in Sarawak for relatives or family members of the rural patients to accompany them to the hospital in the big city.

They will take turns to be with the patients in the hospital 24/7, to help with simple tasks like bringing a glass of water or passing the bed pan, and even to call the doctor if there is a sudden turn for the worse in the condition of the patients.

Half-way houses for patients’ families

Where are they going to live in the duration of the patient’s protracted treatment in the hospital?

You cannot expect them to check into the Holiday Inn because they would have neither cash nor credit cards, as you and I have!

The obvious solution is for the government or some charitable organisations to build a kind of halfway house for these stranded rural people with minimal facilities for cooking and sleeping.

So far, I have heard of only one project in Miri where some kind-hearted citizens have rented a house to help the Penans caught in that kind of predicament.

Let’s say the patients do not die, but recover from the treatment and is discharged.

Will the hospital authorities waive their payment as a matter of policy, and even give them money for the fare home as is done by the NHS (National Heath Services) in the UK?

Or will the petty officer at the pharmacy humiliate them about their inability to pay for the medicines to take home for follow-up treatment?

The best way of providing health care is to take medical service to the rural people.

For quite a few years in recent past, this is what a group of selfless dedicated government doctors and nurses have done.

They do not take leave all through the years, so that with the accumulated leave, they can take a long trip into the Baram interior.

They raise funds on their own to finance expenses needed for their trips and to buy medicines.

They make a few trips a year deep into the jungle to bring modern medicine to the Penan settlements and the Orang Ulu villagers.

Very often, they are the first medical team that has ever been welcome in those remote human settlements.

A doctor who had frequently gone on these trips related one story to me.

They had encountered a Penan man in one village with a thorn from a rattan vine lodged deep in his thigh. It had been there for three weeks.

Thorn in the flesh removed…weeks later

Actually, he had gone to the health clinic at Lio Matoh, 3 hours boat ride and 2 hours hitch ride away.

The medical officer there removed half the thorn and said he could do no more.

So the man returned to his village, waiting for the infection to worsen, and perhaps to die, until our volunteer medical team arrived.

A young doctor from Kuching removed the offensive thorn with the under a torch light using a pair of primitive pincers.

I bet you this grateful Penan man will remember that young Chinese doctor for the rest life.

Their main problem is funding. They try to raise funds from charitable organisations like the Lion’s Club, as well as private companies.

The best solution is for them to set up a charitable trust fund that can begin to receive donations from overseas.

But for that, they will need a million ringgit to start with. So you guys with many millions to spare do remember these good doctors in your will.

As we are still located in this ambiguous period between two independence day celebrations, my thought goes out to this group of enlightened doctors and nurses.

They have sacrificed their time and talent, taken the long and torturous journey to bringing modern medicine to the homes of those Malaysians long forgotten by the nation 46 years after their independence from British rule.

You will not hear much about these good Samaritans, because they are publicity shy.

But they embody for me the best spirit of Merdeka. They have shown us all that charity indeed begins at home.

Unfortunately, this is the only voluntary effort I know of that does its best to relieve the physical suffering of Sarawak’s rural dwellers.

Those who receive help from them are indeed fortunate, but there are numerous people in the deep interior who continue to suffer neglect by the government.

For them, Merdeka has made no difference in their inability to gain access to public health care.

This just goes to show that the lives of rural people are cheaper than those in the towns and cities.

This is the 2Malaysia we have.

The first Malaysia belongs to those in the cities and towns whose life is precious, and the second Malaysia exists among those whose life is cheap and expendable, in the deep interior of Sarawak and Sabah.

46年前的9月16日，砂拉越通过加入马来西亚取得独立。马来西亚日跫音渐进，我的思绪转移到我故乡在这些年来所取得的进展。

《当今大马》的报道点出了失败的飞行医生服务（Flying Doctor Service），也凸显了砂拉越和沙巴两州乡区人民的公共卫生问题。

《当今大马》读者大概都是城市居民。大城市和市镇地区的设施完备，医院诊所、清洁食水、卫生设备、完善公路等等一应俱全，也许居民都会认为这些基本设施都是理所当然的。如果阁下生病了，邻里就有一家家庭诊所。打一支针，吃些药丸，一般小病，迎刃而解。如果阁下真的生大病，在附近就可找到拥有最先进医疗设施的公立或私立医院，以及随时为您服务的专业医疗团队，只要阁下付得起医药费就行了。

原住民得病只有等死

但是，试想像一下：如果你是住在砂拉越内陆偏僻乡村的公民，生病了应该怎么办呢？好吧，你试着跟长辈或当地乡村医者请教，讨了一些传统药物如草药和树根，吃了倒头就睡，看看会不会睡醒病除。如果阁下惨遭癌症、难产等严重症状缠身，就只能躺下等待离开人间。

我在很久以前游走砂拉越时，就看到很多乡区砂拉越人躺下等待撒手尘寰。为什么？在砂拉越很多大河的上游流域，交通设施其实都还未开发。唯一勉强足以成为医疗设施的，就是由医疗助理（注一）或护士经营的乡区诊所。要想见见他们，阁下必须亲自走路，跋山涉水好几个小时，坐着小船乘着忽高忽低越过无情的急流。这些医护人员和设施，通常都对大病束手无策。

我们就以峇南（Baram）上游或中游地区为例子。在那浩浩无际的山丘地区，动用直升机把病人送到美里中央医院是唯一的方法。这就是为什么当我读到承包商没有履行合约以提供直升机服务时，我会气得七孔冒烟的原因。多少病人因为他们的含糊交易而丧命？

乡区病人的另一个选择，就是花上很多个小时乘船越过惊险的峇南河。住在河流上游流域的本南人（Penan）和乌鲁人（Ulu），通常都付不起船费。

没身份证难进政府医院

举个例子，就假设我们的乡区病人，终于以其中一个方式抵达美里中央医院了。他们的问题才刚开始—— 医院并不愿意收容他们为住院病人，因为很多乡区砂拉越人没有身份证。当一个住在砂拉越乡区的妈妈生了小孩之后，她也许没有力气或车马费走访最靠近的国家注册局——那注册局通常都坐落在山长水远的地方。即使他们没有证件也被允许住院，社会福利局还可能会拒绝援助他们——理由是他们并非真正的公民！

砂拉越的公共医院时常“客满为患”，医疗团队人手不足。那里的医护人员通常都是超时工作，心理压力极大。有些脾气古怪的医护人员，就会把那些远道而来求医的病人当出气筒。

陪伴亲朋戚友到大城市的医院去看病，是砂拉越人的生活习惯。他们都会轮流在医院守候24小时，帮亲人斟茶递水，或准备床上便盆，甚至是当病情急转直下时召唤医生。

康复之后却无力偿还医药费

在这段漫长的求医过程，他们又应该在哪里留宿呢？阁下当然不可以期望他们入住假日大饭店（Holiday Inn），因为他们身无分文，不像我们“披金带卡”。很明显的解决方法就是：政府或福利团体搭建一种中途客栈的房子，房子里有基本设施，让那些陷入困境的村民可以在那里烹饪、睡觉。到目前为止，我曾听说过美里一些善心人合租一间房子，帮助那些面临同样困难的本南人。

再举个例子，如果病人没有病死，反而在接受治疗之后康复了，然后又出院了。院方会否执行不收费的政策，抑或甚至如同英国的国民健保服务般，资助他们回家的费用？抑或药房里的小气官员会否对他们不客气，开腔羞辱他们没钱买药？

义务医生进入山地行医
提供健保服务的最佳方法，就是为乡区居民带来医疗服务。最近这些年来，这就是一批无私的政府医生和护士所致力献身的工作。他们这些年来都没有动用年假，当年假累积够了，他们就可以长途跋涉到峇南内陆地区。他们自掏腰包资助远行和药物的费用，在一年内好几次走访本南区、乌鲁村，为他们带来先进的医疗服务。他们常常都成为第一次走访这些偏僻地区的医疗团队。

其中一位常参与这计划的医生跟我分享一个故事。他们曾在某个乡村见到一个本南男子。有一根藤刺刺在他的大腿上已经三个星期了。

藤刺足以要一个人的命

其实他曾到过廖玛多 （Lio Matoh ）的诊所。他乘了三小时的船，搭了两小时的顺风车才抵达那里。医生给他拔掉了一半的藤刺，然后说他无能为力了。该本南男子也只能无奈地回家，等待伤口恶化，或许准备等死，直到我们的医疗团队抵步为止。一位来自古晋的年轻医生，凭着简单的钳子和手电筒就把那恼人的藤刺给拔掉了。我敢说这个心存感激的本南男子，一辈子都会记得那位年轻华裔医生。

这群医生面临的主要问题是资金。他们尝试向慈善团体如狮子会募款，或者寻求私人公司协助。最好的解决方法就是：设立一个可接受海外捐助的慈善基金。但是这基金也必须要有一百万令吉来启动，因此诸位若有数百万令吉的闲钱，写遗嘱时，就请不要忘记这些好医生。

东马内陆居民“独立”了吗？

正当我们还在两个独立庆祝日的模糊期间，我就想起这批开明的医生和护士。他们牺牲了时间和才华，长途跋涉为这些脱离英国殖民统治后，又被国家遗忘长达46年的大马人提供先进医疗服务。

这批像撒马利亚人（注二）的医护人员，阁下是很少会听到他们的消息的，因为他们害怕曝光。但他们向我体现了最佳的默迪卡精神，也向我们展示：其实慈善始于家园。很可惜地，就减轻砂拉越乡区居民的痛楚来说，这就是我所知的唯一一个志愿行动。

能够接受他们援助的居民其实都很幸运，但是还有很多住在内陆的人们因为政府忽视而继续受苦。对他们而言，他们没能力享用公共医疗设施的事实，独立其实并没有改变一些什么。

这显示乡区人民的生命，比城市居民的生命还要贱。这就是我们所拥有的两个马来西亚。第一个马来西亚属于城市和市镇居民，他们的生命珍贵得很；第二个马来西亚，就存在于沙巴和砂拉越内陆地区，那些居民的生命都很廉价，而且随时可被牺牲。

注解：

（二） 撒马利亚人（Samaritans）：（英国）撒马利亚慈善咨询中心（为想自杀的人和其他不幸者提供咨询的组织，主要通过电话提供咨询服务）（新牛津英汉双解大词典，第1881页。）

Link

I have just ended a one- year stopover in Singapore. Having worked there and personally witnessed the Lion City’s prosperity, I ended up feeling a need to find a missing piece to the puzzle of the place, wondering, as the turn of-the (20th) century American poet Gertrude Stein said of her native Oakland, California, where the there is. Like its invented Merlion, it is neither one thing nor another.

English is the working language and the first language in all schools in Singapore. I personally have no objection regarding the importance of English and I am very fond of the language. When I was working there, I had been struggling to speak good English when everybody was speaking the clipped, fast-paced, slangy version, called Singlish.

Speaking good Mandarin wasn’t easy either, for not many Singaporean Chinese understand deep Mandarin. I was often confused by the conversations surrounding me, which I found to be English and Mandarin mixed together. Most of the speakers, whose native language was unknown to me, continually replaced Mandarin words when they were speaking English; when they were speaking Mandarin, they added English to better express themselves, if not to boast to others that they could speak English so that they would not be seen as new immigrants from China.

Today’s Singapore is one of the most competitive economies in the world and it strives constantly to be one of the greatest global cities, with its gleaming towers and its economic and technological accomplishments. It’s a very good place to work in and attracts expatriates from all over the globe. Despite the attractions it has shown to the world, however, when I observed the language usage of the people and noticed that mother tongues were losing their roots and giving way to Singlish, I started to feel very deeply that it was a city without a mother tongue. Mother tongue is one’s soul and it is often why certain races are respected.

After my stopover, I now have more respect for the Chinese from China, Taiwan and Hong Kong as well as Japanese and Koreans. Although their English proficiency is quite low as compared with that of Singaporeans, their love and effort to preserve their traditional culture is something hardly seen among Singaporeans.

East Asians are generally very proud of their mother tongues. When they fully master their mother languages, they connect themselves with their cultural roots and develop holistically as a successor of their culture and language or dialect. Their souls are enriched and strengthened by their culture. When I talk to my East Asian friends, I really admire them very much because I could feel that they have their own cultural soul.

Going back to my university days in Taiwan, I could remember clearly how Taipei displayed its soul even in small streets and old bookstores; contrarily, I could not sense anything pertaining to cultural soul, no matter how magnificent and shining the skyscrapers and shopping malls were in Singapore.

Singapore’s prosperity and economic progress could not change my feeling that it was a city without a mother tongue or a cultural soul. Perhaps this was the reason why many talented expatriates both from the East and the West come and go, for there is no position that suits them best in terms of cultural soul in Singapore, which belongs neither to East nor West.

Link

WE always lament the rising cost of living in the Klang Valley, yet some people get heavily into debt by buying expensive properties and cars that they can’t afford.

When asked why they did so, I was told that they want face and take pride in possessing expensive houses and cars, and therefore took up huge loans to own them. This reveals how much some of us suffer simply because we define success solely on the wealth we acquire.

Why must a successful person possess expensive properties and luxury cars to tell the world that he or she is doing well? We should learn from some luminaries who are living a simple life instead.

Paul Volcker, the chairman of the US Federal Reserve Board from 1979 to 1987, lived in a US$500-a-month tiny apartment with second-hand furniture when he was handling the US economy worth US$4.3tril back then.

Ma Ying-jeou, the current Taiwan president and former Taipei mayor, usually dines on cheap meals bought at the night markets together with his wife Chow Mei-ching.

His wife insisted on taking public buses to work as usual when Ma was elected the new president last year until she had no choice but to accept a chauffeur due to security reasons.

The late tycoon Wang Yung-ching of Taiwan spent every penny wisely and did not give more than enough pocket money to his children when they were studying in the US.

These rich and powerful people live a simple life despite their achievements. The “high achievement, low expenses” lifestyle is a concept worth promoting, for it is a financially and environmentally feasible concept.

YEOW BOON KIAT,

Petaling Jaya.

Link

WE are now rolling up our sleeves to brainstorm together on how to improve English. Besides calling for a review of the English curriculum, Education Minister Muhyiddin Yassin and his team have also visited Edith Cowan University in Australia, and the university agreed to help Malaysian teachers and students to improve their English proficiency. Other than these efforts, I think we should also encourage students to learn English online.

In the pre-Internet era, people had to spend money to obtain English learning materials like books, magazines, dictionaries, newspapers, movies and documentaries.

Students from poor families who did not have access to good libraries were usually lagging behind their peers who could afford all the above-mentioned English learning materials.

Today, the discrepancy between the haves and have-nots in terms of English learning has indeed been narrowed by the Internet as long as one has a computer and broadband.

For news, English readers can simply log on to news sites such as BBC, CNN, Asia Sentinel, Time and The Guardian to get a glimpse of what is going on around the world. For expanding vocabulary, we have options like dictionary.com, Longman dictionary online version and idioms.thefreedictionary.com. For listening, we have youtube.com and we can listen to great English speakers like David Cameron and Obama. And for improving one’s knowledge, we have wikipedia and wikihow; and for further learning, youtube.com/edu and scitable.com.

These websites are our treasures in English learning and it’s all for free. All these learning materials are indeed just a click away when we have computers and broadband. English teachers and lecturers should encourage students to fully utilise these free resources so that everyone could learn by themselves through the Internet.

Perhaps with stronger self-learning ability among students, the burden of educators would be relieved a bit.

YEOW BOON KIAT,

Petaling Jaya.