Ailanthus was sold in nurseries across the country as the Tree-of-Heaven for many years, before its invasive qualities were recognized. People planted them as ornamental trees not only in the cities but out in the rural areas as well. And so it turned out that when my parents left Detroit to get in to organic […]
Author Archives: bingregory
Malaysian Invasion Documentation
After ten years, I brought my entire family back to the US. Five of us had never set foot in the motherland before. Between the incredible length of the journey – 30 hours and three airplanes – and the slightly above average size of our family, I imagine it will be ten more before we […]
Di dalam kuali bertemu juga
Garam di laut, asam di darat Di dalam kuali bertemu juga — Limes* from dry land, salt from the sea In the pot may meet eventually After ten years, I’ll finally be returning to the motherland with my whole family. Five of my children have never set foot in the US before. Of all […]
New Facility for Ma’had Tahfiz
At the beginning of this year, my daughter Kak Andak started first grade at a new religious school. It’s a private school operated by the charitable foundation of the State Mosque, specializing in Quran memorization. For the last year and a half, it had been operating in the basement of the State Mosque itself. A […]
So nice I have to say it twice
Reduplication is the name linguists give to the doubling up of words. It doesn’t happen all that much in English, aside from making adjectives more intense, as in Star Wars (“Long long ago in a galaxy far far away”), or baby talk (dumdum, poopoo), or when apologizing to Miss Jackson (for ever-ever?). Bahasa Malaysia, on […]
Lemang Raya
Lemang is quintessential Malay holiday food, impossible to find throughout the year, impossible to avoid come Hari Raya. Lemang is glutinous, or sticky, rice cooked in coconut milk inside a length of bamboo and roasted over an open fire. The work involved in making it is considerable. First, locate and chop down a giant piece […]
Sing it Sister
My sister Esther Rose is now officially a rock star with the launch of her first music video. Check it out: Get more of that mellow old-timey sound on their album The Coming Tide, available for download! They’ve got CDs too.
Brotherly Love
Two of my three amazing and talented sisters visited me a few months back. To get here they had to layover in Jeddah for 8 hours. I was worried sick they'd get harrassed by the Mutaween or just have an icky time in general and was working on my "we think they're crazy too" speech. […]