Category: Letters from Ulu Kinta
Perak’s Shameful Statistic
By Mariam Mokhtar Every day in Perak, around 10 women or children, fall victim to domestic violence. On November 1, it was reported that 97% of the 3,600 cases of violence against women, children and babies in the previous year, were perpetrated by men. Wanita Umno chief, Rosnah Kassim said, “Something must be done to [...]
Did the Orang Asli Help Invent the Diesel Engine?
Who would have thought that the principle behind the fire-piston or api-lantak, was adopted by Rudolf Diesel to invent the Diesel engine?
The Sarawak Connection
Sarawak, or “Land of the Hornbills”, is a place which evokes romance and adventure. The White Rajahs, Borneo headhunters, nipah lowlands, Niah and Mulu caves, are pleasant reminders of a vast green country. On the downside are the displaced peoples, the destruction of the rainforest and oil palm plantations stretching into the horizon. Sarawak is [...]
WAIT….Until you Are Ready
Or the Importance of Sex Education The rate of teenage pregnancies and abandoned babies nationwide is alarming. Ipoh is not immune to this and while our community leaders, experts, police and NGOs debate about how to resolve this issue, babies continue to be dumped. Many see sex education as a means of empowering young teenagers [...]
Courtesy, Courage and Discipline
An uncle of mine used to jog the two kilometres to his favourite nasi lemak stall, wash two ‘bungkus’ of nasi lemak down with teh tarik, then telephone his son to fetch him home, in the car. That was his ‘morning exercise’. My friends promptly pay their monthly gym fees, but have yet to attend [...]
The Beauty of Bukit Larut
Isabella Bird, the Victorian lady, described in ‘The Golden Chersonese’ the beautiful Perak countryside when she visited Malaya in 1879.
Celebrities Are Not Enough
Do we really need celebrities to be our reading ambassadors? Are we only motivated when famous people are involved?
Wishing You Weren’t Here?
Ask anyone about Ipoh and 99% of them will say it is a boring place. How can the scene of political struggles, of nature at one’s doorstep, of a place where the people can still find time for you, be termed boring?
One of Perak’s Greatest
Few will have heard of him but his name is V. Murugeson and he died on 11 July 2010 after a short illness. Murugeson had been the earliest distributor of The Star in Lumut when the newspaper was first published in 1971. His son said, “When he started out as a vendor in the early [...]