Bamboo thrusts dramatically out of the soil, clean, symmetrical, very sharp. The shoots grow fast, shooting over my head within a matter of days. Only once they have reached their final height, long slender swaying canes 25 feet tall, will they leaf out and send stiff woody side branches out from the nodes. They can grow so fast because all […]
Author Archives: bingregory
The Years of Rice and Salt
An alternative history where all the Europeans die in the Black Death and the great civilizations of the world are Islam and China. Such an exciting premise. We follow three kindred souls through group reincarnations era after era. The way their essential inclinations and human potentials are encouraged or limited by the circumstances fate delivers […]
Menjelang 1 Mei
A rousing poem in Bahasa Malaysia from student of agriculture Chairil Aswad, on twitter as @schwarzenmann. First published in E-Sastera Sajak Facebook group, 30 April 2015. Translation into Inggeris mine. Views expressed are not etc etc. Celebrating May 1 [two_first] (For Lia) The city is no longer the place for me to record my poems […]
Hari Raya 2015
Selamat Hari Raya Maaf Zahir Dan Batin Eid Mubarak from Sarawak. May your fasting and ours be received by the Most High in His Mercy rather than by our merits, amin. It’s a special one for us this year since my eldest is in his last year of high school. Who knows when we’ll all be […]
MRE: Botok and Pulut Udang
As Ramadan winds down, I race to give credit to local foods that got me through the month. These MREs, Malaysia Ramadan Essentials, are practically complete meals in one package. Add rice as needed. Pulut Panggang Udang Wrapped in banana leaves held in place by bamboo pins, pulut panggang udang is beras pulut, sticky […]
36 hours in KL
Time for my semi-annual ritual humiliation at the Immigration Department. After 12 years here married to a Malaysian, I ought to be well on my way to Permanent Resident status. But permanent residency is predicated on holding a Spouse Visa, and I have as yet been able to get one. Kuching says I’m married to […]
MRE: Ikan Masin
Sweets and savoury dishes of every sort fill the special neighbourhood markets set up for Ramadan. While our kids binge on the colorful kuih and sugary drinks that they rarely get other times of the year, the wife and I are more likely to turn to a few basic dishes for the “few morsels needed to support […]
America Bombs Indonesia over Drug Deal Gone Bad … in 1832
American troops bombed and invaded Aceh in 1832, becoming the USA’s first military intervention in Asia. The affair began with the Friendship, a trading vessel flying American colors, coming to port in Kuala Batu, Aceh on the 7th of February 1831. This was not unusual as American merchant ships had been trading regularly on the western […]