Last weekend featured the most exciting Malaysian cultural event I’ve heard of in a long time: a flash mob of people wearing sarongs descended on the LRT lines in Kuala Lumpur. I would have joined in solidarity from Kuching, but, alas, we have no trains. We have Jalan Keretapi, but the train, tracks and station […]
Author Archives: bingregory
Husbandry
Husbandry has been on my mind. Hijabman has returned to blogging with a focus on his role as house-husband to his growing family. An admirable occupation and one to which I aspire! Not everyone thinks so. The idea of a man giving up his career to be a house-husband gets plenty of resistance, particularly among […]
Of Dukes and Datuks
Malaysia has a peerage system comparable in some respects to what is practiced in the UK, whereby Malaysians of common origins can be conferred a non-hereditary title of honor by the monarch. Like in the UK, this is given out to exceptional artists, athletes, statesmen, men of learning, and to the exceptionally wealthy. It gets […]
KL Bird Park
Two of my three amazing and talented sisters came to visit last year. It was a good excuse for us to do some touristy things in the capitol. We met them in KL and headed to the Kuala Lumpur Bird Park! The park was wonderful. Right in the middle of downtown KL, it is a […]
Hold Fast
To God was his call, and those who hold fast to him hold fast to a rope that shall never break. Baginda mengajak umat ke jalan Allah. Maka sesiapa yang berpegang teguh dengan ajarannya, bererti ia telah berpegang teguh dengan tali yang kuat yang tidak akan berputus. Verily, God and His angels send prayers upon […]
Unbelievable Advice
One day Mullah Nasruddin entered his favorite teahouse and declared, “The moon is more useful than the sun”. An old man asked, “Why Mullah?” Mullah Nasruddin replied, “Because we need the light more at night!” You can always count on the famous, well-traveled Mullah Nasruddin for unconventional wisdom. Hoja Nasruddin tales are […]
The Year in Chickens
The last two weeks saw a number of milestones pass for me. 20 years as a muslim. 10 years in Malaysia. 10 years running this website. 6 years of keeping chickens! In Malaysia, my first personal encounter with chickens beyond the dinner table was over 12 years back, when a neighbor’s rooster attacked my firstborn […]
International Poetry Translated
If you’ve enjoyed my feeble attempts to translate Malay poems and songs over the years, perhaps you’d like the Poetry Translation Centre. Contemporary poets of Asia, Africa and South America are translated into English by a two-step process: a native speaker translates the words literally, then the poets of PTC render it in poetic English. […]