#west malaysia

[thozhar]

In the estate, Thangamaal, despite not knowing how to read or write, raised her son, Neelavanan, with stories from the Mahabaratham, Ramayanam, as well as Tamil Bhakti songs. In spite of her devotion towards Hinduism, she was a woman who liked eating beef, a meat often seen as ‘impure’ by caste-Hindus.

“Once, my mother bought beef from the town, and when the neighbours asked her what she was cooking, she said mutton. When I asked my akka (sister) why amma (mother) said that, she told me that people [Hindus] who pray can’t eat beef,” recalled Neelavanan.

As Neelavanan grew up, he understood that Hindu religiosity surrounding beef was a weapon against Dalits who consume it. “People around me eat mutton, chicken, water monitors, pork—they eat everything,” he said. “But when it comes to beef, they say that it is god. They brand [Hindus] who eat beef as coming from a certain caste. We are buying [beef] with our own money; we did not steal or beg for it. Yes, I eat beef, so what?”

Ove time, however, the culture of eating beef has deliberately declined among Dalits in Malaysia as a way to escape casteism and adapt to caste-Hindu practices. This shift can be seen in Neelavanan’s own family, where his siblings and relatives refuse to eat beef and even scrutinise him for his beef-eating habits.

[troythecatfish]

[adropofhumanity]

[satiricaily]

The West, the US and its lapdog ally the United Kingdom, lie and misled their people into supporting their wars. The lie about the weapons of mass destruction is testimony to the extent of their deception and propaganda to justify their aggression and the result were the murders of millions of innocent Iraqis. Without remorse of shame, new leaders who had taken over the rule of these belligerent nations now support Israel's genocide of Palestinians and inevitably, Israel's efforts to take over whatever is left of the Palestinian land. (...) I have been asked, surely the leaders of US and UK, leading nations of democracy and human rights, could not be that evil in their considerations. I cannot fathom their inner thoughts but I can assess what they do and I do believe that they are only concerned with democracy and human rights if and when it serves their interest.

Speech by He Tun Dr Mahathir Bin Mohamad for Global Solidarity and Rally for Free Palestine on November 4th, 2023

(full video here)

[chimaeraonwards]

Batang Kali Massacre in Colonial Malaya

Today Al Jazeera published an article about the Batang Kali massacre in colonial Malaya (now known as Malaysia) where 24 innocent people were killed by British forces.

I won't go into the details of the atrocities committed by the British in Batang Kali here (i suggest you go read the actual article on Al Jazeera). But I do want to share the following excerpt:

The British forces falsely accused these innocent people of being communists to justify murdering them. To this day, the families of the deceased have not received any justice.

The article goes on to describe how halfway around the world in Ireland, the same injustices occurred:

It talks about the similar incident, the Ballymurphy massacre in Belfast, and how in 2021 they were able to get legal justice.

In my opinion, I think these incidents is an eerie parallel to what the Israeli forces is currently doing to the people of Palestine - killing them and then justifying it by saying they were Hamas or hiding Hamas. Or committing crimes and then labeling the victims as Hamas to justify it.

None of this happens in a vacuum. It is all interconnected.

I don't think people understand the long lasting multi-generational impact this kind of horrific acts have on victims and their families. This is an excerpt from the Batang Kali article that describes that:

Colonization impacts people for generations. On a personal level, my grandparents and others in their generation were all impacted by the British colonization and Japanese occupation of Malaya.

Our grandparents were once young people living in occupation. They were young girls hiding from the military to avoid becoming comfort women. They were young boys who were made to do forced labour by the occupiers. Young people who fought and rallied for our freedoms today. They survived for our freedom.

History is already repeating itself in Palestine. Justice for Palestinians does not stop at a ceasefire - just as it did not stop at the end of World War II or after Malaysian and Irish independence. But we have to start somewhere.

And to any Palestinian reading this, in some weird way, I hope that this may bring you hope. These atrocities happened over and over again throughout history and yet, here we are - our people survived. I am here and you are here. Isn't that beautiful? I hope you know that you are not alone in this fight. Its not pretty and its not immediate, but justice will prevail and Palestine will be free in our lifetime.

Ceasefire now.

You can read about the Al Jazeera article about the Batang Kali massacre here:

[xtruss]

[agentfascinateur]

Germany should lecture no one:

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Hidden Palestine (@hiddenpalestine)

No one cares about absolving Germany's WW2 guilt by passing down the buck of genocide and feigning that Israelis have any moral right here. Never again is never again.

[danial1]

Trip Bercuti Tempat Menarik JB-Alor Setar-Kota Bharu-JB : Tiba di Plaza Beruas(3235), WCE (West Coast Expressway)

Trip Bercuti Tempat Menarik JB-Alor Setar-Kota Bharu-JB : Tiba di Plaza Beruas(Exit 3235), WCE(West Coast Expressway) Foto atas : Plaza Tol Beruas(Exit 3235), West Coast Expressway (WCE) Foto atas : Pada masa ini WCE masih belum siap sepenuhnya dan kami terpaksa lencung keluar di tol Beruas. Perhatikan barrier konkrit pada foto. Sekiranya siap, perjalanan akan terus ke Tol Changkat Jering(). Ok…

[thozhar]

"There have been many Dravidian forums in Malaysia before, where overseas speakers were invited, but nothing this severe has ever happened before,” Nagenteran observed. Harassment and deliberate sabotage were inflicted on both organisers and speakers. On the day of the event, while the speakers were in their hotels, they received suspicious calls from people pretending to be the organisers, asking them to come down to the lobby. “I told them to stay in their rooms until I called them and not to pick up calls from unknown numbers,” Nagenteran said.

The entire forum took place under the vigilant presence of the Malaysian police and immigration department. Seven police officers, including the Dang Wangi Special Branch, Bukit Aman Special Branch, and the Kuala Lumpur Contingent Headquarters, along with nine immigration officers, surveyed the forum. There were several other events organised after the main event with constant police presence throughout the day.

In addition, about ten representatives from various Hindu NGOs attended the event. One representative, Rishikumar Vadivelu, vice president of the NGO Hindhudharma Maamandram, refused to stand up for the Malaysian Tamil Thai Vaazhtu (Tamil Anthem), penned by Malaysian Tamil writer Seeni Naina Mohamed. Secretary Ponvaasagam of Malaysia Dravida Kazhagam (MDK) and several other MDK members noted his behaviour and approached Rishi to firmly advise him to stand up, but he refused.

Later, when a photo of Rishi’s antics went viral on social media, he declared that he didn't want to, nor should he have to, stand for a Tamil anthem written by a Muslim. He insinuated that the Tamil literary icon Seeni Naina Mohamed was a “Muslim missionary” trying to proselytise Tamil-Hindus for Islam.

Hindhudharma Maamandram's President, Radhakrishnan Alagamalai, sent a letter to Deputy National Unity Minister SaraswathyKandasami reiterating that the forum was in direct opposition to the Malaysian national ideology. Saraswathy, an opportunistic caste-Hindu politician with strong ties to caste-Hindu associations, sent a letter to the home ministry emphasising the much speculated threat of atheism. She also mentioned that one of the speakers had a speech titled “Periyar from a Marxist Perspective,” fueling the anti-communist sentiment already present in the state.

The ministry advised Deputy Minister of Youth and Sports Adam Adli, who previously contributed to the cause and accepted the invitation to inaugurate the forum, against following through on his plans. Just a day before the event, Adli’s assistant, Mr. Amar, informed Nagenteran that the Deputy Minister would not be attending. Nagenteran expressed his disappointment, stating that moral support from the governing party could have been significant in legitimising their cause.

[rhk111sblog]

The major United States (US) and European Electronics Manufacturers are investing at least Usd 18.3 billion into the Politically "Neutral" Malaysia which is a lot more than the Usd 1.8 billion Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) Inflow in 2023 to the supposed "Ally" of the West, the Philippines

This was initially released as an Article last March 31, 2024 at https://therhk111philippinedefenseupdates.blogspot.com/2024/03/us-european-companies-pour-investments-neutral-malaysia-instead-western.html

[nathandulce]

Coastal Acoustics

Went to Coastal Acoustics at West Coast sometime back for dinner with a bunch of friends and had a pretty good time!

Caesar Salad, homemade prawn balls and spam fries. Perfect starter combination.

Their signature dish: Coastal Chicken, the most tender and juicy roast chicken (they have a brining process) and the creamiest mash potato.

Delicious Sausage Mix Grill.

Pricey, but well worth the money.

***

Coastal Acoustic

27 West Coast Highway

#01-08/09 ORTO West Coast

Singapore 117867

[handweavers]

what bothers me about people not understanding how "expat" vs "immigrant" are politicized terms that have connotations outside of their most literal dictionary definitions is that many people have emphasized that the difference between expat and immigrant is just that expats intend to go home and immigrants intend to stay (and then some comment about how i "must not live abroad" or am talking about the USA specifically lmfao) and because you are insisting on talking about how im just a stupid idiot who doesn't understand English and am adding politics to something needlessly, i want to point out that there are many people labelled as 'immigrants' in the west - global southerners who work or live in the north - who do not intend to stay forever or become citizens or even permanent residents, they are here in the west to work or for other reasons, and fully intend to go home. but they are never called expats in common vernacular, you will never hear canadians or brits or french people referring to "Filipino expats" or "Nigerian expats" or "Colombian expats" if you are racialized you are an immigrant. my father experienced this for over 20 years!!

and speaking about Malaysia, my home country, you do not typically hear about Filipino expats or Indonesian expats, even when they are people who have come to Malaysia to work temporarily. the term 'expat' is both racialized and denotes a specific class status in this context. you can cite however many dictionaries you want and call me an illiterate brown person because youre Australian and you moved to Thailand and thus you are the Lord of Migration and the Immigration Understander but you are just proving my point

[athena5898]

This is a perfect example how "good" captalism can't exist. McDonald's is still a captalist international chain. It will always care about its personal interests more then anything else (hence the boycotts in the firstplace).

Fascism, captalism, intersectionality, kyriarchy, all these things are needed to understand how corruption happens and how to break the cycle.

McDonald's Malaysia can truly fuck off:

BDS Malaysia's statement:

More context below cut.

Malaysia has always been a supporter of Palestine - the government has never recognized the state of Israel at all.

Boycotts against Israel have always been a thing in Malaysia for years but in my opinion, they were never properly sustained. McDonald's was usually the first target of these boycotts just because how available it was to the public compared to other companies.

McDonald's Malaysia on the other hand is run by a local company and is Muslim owned. They even pay Zakat (an Islamic religious contribution for charity). Here is their statement after the 7th October incident:

BDS Malaysia made their own statement in response to McDonald's statement on their blog on the 15th of October:

But the lawsuit isn't a surprise. In November this year, McDonald's Malaysia tried using the extremely controversial sedition law against the local BDS chapter:

(in my opinion McD's use of the sedition act is so stupid as the act is usually described as any seditious acts against a ruler or government??? but thats a whole other post)

So now McDonald's trying to sue the Malaysian BDS chapter????

ngl but i was ambivalent on the boycott against McDonald's Malaysia cause 1. they dont support israel here 2. i dont eat McDonald's to begin with.

even the local BDS chapter was kinda eh about it in my opinion. i feel like they kinda focused more on puma.

but now?? i will be telling everyone i know to boycott this as well cause what the fuck.

[olderthannetfic]

TW Suicide. I talk about suicide from a religious perspective, and religion is not kind with suicide.

I might be reaching but I think religious Asian countries might be more proship-friendly than western countries??

Let's see a few cases. Japan. I'm not sure how religious Japan is, but they have very strict values and traditions. There are so many how-tos and even the language has levels that you can only use to certain people, otherwise it's rude. They can't express queerness so freely that yaoi/yuri is the best outlet they have, and they got called rotten for it.

Japan is notorious for being very proship friendly. There was even a huge "what is proship and why should you block those with 'proship DNI' in their bios" thread over on Twitter and it was so widely shared by Japanese users. At that point, even antis took off the "proship DNI" off their bios (such cowards lol).

The people in my religious (Muslim) country and its neighbor, Malaysia and Indonesia, even the minors, are so proship-oriented that I only ever saw exactly one person with "proship DNI" in their bio. And their posts tell me they're the more "liberal" people of the country. You know, the ones that the older people are using as examples of "Look at that girl. She's been poisoned by the western values, she's showing so much skin. Don't be like her". Now I obviously will just laugh at older people who says such things but hear me out.

The people who are actually practicing religion to the point where nothing sexual is allowed, who WILL screech at sex (both vanilla and kinky) in fanworks should they ever join, won't touch fandom with a ten-foot pole. This leaves us with the absolute freaks who thinks "I'm religious, I believe in God that other people call fiction, but I can't have sex until I'm married and masturbation is haram, so smut fic is actually a great way to let off tension! No one real is having sex so it's a green area. I'm not masturbating, I'm just reading. Sometimes they excite me, most of the time not! Halal mode."

Also, murder and suicide is a sin. A huge sin. If you tell someone to kill themselves and they actually did, the religious guilt would be MASSIVE. I can't imagine an actually correctly-practicing religious sending death threats and not be haunted by the promise of a sin. A sin that involves other people is much harder to forgive (it requires forgiveness from the hurt people, and that's impossible with suicide. They can't forgive you if they're dead) than a sin that involves yourself (masturbation. All you have to do is regret and never do it again. Which is why suicide is seen as unforgiveable. You can't undo it).

So, it sometimes makes me wonder that in the west, MAGA catholic conservatives shares a lot of values with fanpols. But in religious countries, the actually rigid religious ones aren't in fandom, so the fandom is filled with people who aren't evangelical purists.

This incoherent yap might be reaching, but hey, a new perspective to US-Europeans or non-religious people. It's just kinda funny to think about. Since you are very well-spoken and critical (I think so from your replies to the asks!), what do you think?

--

Well... I think there are a lot of specifics here that are hilarious in how you've framed them. (The situation with queer people in Japan has evolved a lot over the last couple of decades. That isn't at all how I'd describe politeness levels in language, and I think your assumptions based on how politeness works in Japanese are ludicrous. Catholicism isn't the big, powerful flavor of Christianity in the US, so it's not where the majority of the nutbars ruining politics come from. Etc. Etc.)

But back in the 90s in US fandom in English, slash was the domain of freaks, and the puritywankers were openly homophobic and did not hang out in the same spaces.

Yes, I do think that part of the rise of the current flavor of antis has to do with somewhat wider acceptance of queerness combined with an overall anxiety-inducing and uncertain situation. They're not secure enough to chill the fuck out, but they wrongly believe that our battles for queer rights here are done and/or that they can be won by throwing the freakier members of the community under the bus.

[mapsontheweb]

Percentage of Each Ethnic Group by District in West (Peninsular) Malaysia in 2020

[commiepinkofag]

Who will address the court?

The hearings will be held until February 26, after which the judges are expected to take several months to deliberate before issuing an advisory opinion.

Here’s the full schedule:

February 19: Palestine

February 20: South Africa, Algeria, Saudi Arabia, the Netherlands, Bangladesh, Belgium, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile

February 21: Colombia, Comoros, Cuba, Egypt, United Arab Emirates, United States, Russia, France, The Gambia, Guyana, Hungary

February 22: China, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Japan, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Mauritius

February 23: Namibia, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Indonesia, Qatar, United Kingdom, Slovenia, Sudan, Switzerland, Syria, Tunisia

February 26: Turkey, Zambia, Arab League, Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, African Union, Spain, Fiji, Maldives