A step-by-step illustrated guide to getting your hands on your coconuts. Coconut water is the best remedy for the haze and heat we are struggling with this Sha’aban, as any Mat Salleh can tell you. When your coconuts are within easy reach, all is well. But they shoot up fast and before long they are far […]
Author Archives: bingregory
Removal of Confusion: Review
by Ibrahim ibn Abd-Allah Niasse A basic treatise and theological defense of sufism and its practices; fine, but not much different from a lot of similar material available from other tariqats. I would have enjoyed learning more about the history and activities of the Tijaniyya, who are said to be the most active Islamic missionaries […]
Two Murrayas
Black on black stack mangosteens
Pity the kemuning as its flowers fall
My dark-skinned beauty is sweet to behold
A light-skinned woman is …
A Short History of Malaysia
by Virginia Matheson Hooker. Straightforward introduction to Malaysian history; key individuals, important dates, broadest themes. It feels comparable in depth to what I remember of high school US History class. A good preparation for further reading, I hope. Goodreads Link
Third Coffee
Coffee beans spread upon a tray Jasmine blooms on the ledge do rest I’ve been dreaming till break of day My sweetheart sleeping upon my chest “Buah kopi di atas loyang Kembang melati letak di bangku Saya bermimpi hampirkan siang Jantung hati tidur di pangku” Island South-east Asia produces a lot of coffee. The word Java, now […]
The Jungle is Neutral: Review
The Jungle is Neutral, by F. Spencer Chapman The memoir of a British lieutenant in WWII Malaya who conducts guerilla warfare against the Japanese. It’s not a very gripping story. All the successful guerrilla work takes place in the first quarter of the book, and from there on it is one long anticlimax of malaria, […]
The Road to Mecca: Review
The Road to Mecca by Muhammad Asad Asad lived an amazing life which he describes beautifully. Meetings with future kings of Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Iran before their ascension, espionage into Fascist-controlled Libya and British Iraq: Asad covered a lot of ground. He nests his recollections like the 1001 Nights, one scene inside the other, […]
Ambil galah jolok keranji
Pulasan grows at branch’s end Harvest keranji with a wooden rod O Man! Do not seek to be praised. Know that all praise is only for God. Ambil galah jolok keranji Buah pulasan di hujung dahan Manusia janganlah suka dipuji Segala puji kepunyaan Tuhan As durian season peters out, a couple of marginal fruits make […]