Juli in 1975, when he passed his SRP (Sijil Rendah Pelajaran) at the age of 15. He decided to shave his head to celebrate and take a picture in a photo studio.

I went to Sekolah Changkat Kereta in Ulu Bernam in 1966 and the school was run by the State Education Department and not the Department of Orang Asli Affairs at the time.

There were only 12 to 13 students in that school. I did my Standard One to Three there and it was a pretty fun time for me.

The teachers were not really disciplined at the time and would come real late and leave early.

We learned very little because we would spend most of our time outside class, swimming with our teachers and collecting chestnuts or singing songs.

Basically, I could not read properly when I was in Standard Three. When the older pupils finished Standard Five, they had to continue their Standard Six classes in Tapah which meant that the school then had less than 10 students and had to close down.

It was also a sad time for me because my mother passed away during the delivery of her fourth child.

Both did not make it. I think she had a premonition that she was going to pass on because she told my father that if anything were to happen, I should stay with her father in Kampar.

So I went to live with my grandfather’s family while my two younger siblings lived with my father.

I went to Sekolah Kebangsaan Kampar, and there were only four of us Orang Asli kids.

It was a very difficult time for me. I experienced racism from the start and was bullied practically every day. They used to call us “Anak Sakai”.

My grandfather was a very strict disciplinarian so he told me to deal with it, socialise and make friends.

I still remember our class teacher saying to the others not to bully me because I just lost my mother. “Kesian dia” (sympathise with him), she said, and that reminder would just make me cry.

After just a month-and-a-half, we all had to sit for the “final exam” in the new school that year.

I didn’t know anything, and I remember them giving me a Malaysian map to fill in the names of states. I put in London, Japan, Siam and Java.

I also put Canada because I remembered the labels on food supplies donated by the Commonwealth governments for the Orang Asli community.

I finished last in the class and they used to tease me so badly. But then in Standard Four we got a male teacher named Cikgu Fadzil. He was really fierce and used to cane us all the time.

It was normal practice for us to mess up our multiplication tables and get caned. I used to get in trouble by the time it was two times nine, and one mistake would get you two strokes.

One spelling error would also equal two strokes. After a month of this, I was truly sick of getting this painful and humiliating experience.

Whining to my grandfather proved futile because all he would say was “good”.

Finally, I studied really hard. Another incentive to improve was that my family was so poor. When I came home from school, there was no food except for tapioca.

We had rice only once a day, for dinner. No pocket money and no lunch. I was always so hungry and one day I thought, I don’t want to live like this anymore.

So that was it, I studied hard. I finished No. 30 in class, and then No. 11, and in the final exam, No. 5.

I think all of us boys also had a crush on this girl named Norizan who was smart and pretty, and we didn’t want to be shamed in front of her in class any more.

My teachers were quite shocked by my quick improvement. I was to stay in the top 10 for the next year as well.

I really wanted to go to an English-medium secondary school because the community in Kampar spoke mostly in English and Chinese.

Even the people selling the ais kepal treats spoke to us in English.

However, we had no choice because the fees for the school we wanted was RM90 a year, and for the Malay-medium school it was RM9.

I went into Sekolah Menengah Kampar and was in the A class from Form One to Five. My family was still very poor. We were living on RM10 a month and this amount supported the seven of us in the house.

I remember that we finally ate rice for lunch after my aunt married a vector control officer (specialising in malaria cases) and we could buy more rice.

In secondary school, however, things got a bit harder for me. I didn’t do so well in mathematics, and I failed to get into the Science stream.

During Form Four, I also got a little lazy. Teenage life caught up and students wanted to go to ronggeng parties in villages and so on.

I grew my hair long and was a little naughty, but I still remained in the top ten of my class. I got third grade for Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia, and only if you had a good second grade could you proceed to Form Six.

However, I still wanted to study and tried applying to Maktab Adabi in Kota Baru, Kelantan. Finally, the department said they would sponsor me for a place in Maktab Adabi.

I studied hard. I also thought about the other Orang Asli students like me — most of them had either failed or dropped out.

Sometimes, I am thankful for the beatings I got from my teachers and the other kids because I don’t think I would be here today without them.

Being very poor, I had a trying time getting from the college to doing my degree in Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, and to doing my Masters and later, my PhD.

Associate Professor Juli Edo.

In between all that, I got married in my undergraduate year, had a child in my third, worked in a tin mine, kelapa sawit plantation as well as loaded and unloaded lorries.

I even went to King Ghaz (former home minister Tan Sri Ghazali Shafie) to plead my case to enter university.

It was so hard to get into the universities I wanted even if I had enough grades to get in. It has been a long hard slog.

I remember when I was young, I dreamed of becoming a pilot. I asked Cikgu Fadzil how I could become one and he said I would simply just have to study.

And so I did. I think succeeding in life takes much effort, ambition and support.

But first, you have to have a dream, you must allow yourself to dream.

Muhammad Izwan Idris makes a living out of producing Labu Sayong, a gourd-shaped carafe that is used to keep water cool.

It is not a popular trade that many youngsters would venture into but Izwan is happy doing just what he does.

Working on his craft at Kraf Sazilah in Kampung Lembah Sayong in Kuala Kangsar, Perak, Izwan shares his story of being part of this dying craft.

When we approached him for an interview, Izwan was in the midst of making motifs and adding colours to the dull clay surface used to make the labu.

Izwan shares that he has been in this trade for 16 years; long enough to see the transition of potters using the traditional potters’ wheel to using machinery imported from Japan now.

He acquired the labu making skills in his early teens. Today, at 30, Izwan is the only one in his family who still makes the labu for a living. Since his parents’ retirement from this business, his nine other siblings have ventured into other fields.

“Some opened shops while others have jobs,” he shares.

Izwan remembers the time when he was younger and the village is filled with people making and selling labu. At that time, he didn’t know that he would continue the village trade. Like most children, Izwan had many ambitions, none of which involved becoming a potter.

But Izwan doesn’t regret his decision to earn a living from making the labu and is proud of this tradition he is upholding.

He says that pottery is an art one acquires, and funnily enough, art was the subject he failed in school during his younger days. But obviously, his failure in the subject did not stop him from pursuing this line.

Even though making labu is his main source of income, he still considers it as a hobby that pays money, and not work.

He also has plans on opening his own labu business but lacks capital and the financial assistance from the government is not sufficient. Izwan acknowledges that labu is dwindling in popularity and not many youngsters are keen on taking over the business.

He feels that most youth would not go into this field because they are not interested. Besides that, the work is also time consuming and tedious.

Nevertheless, Izwan feels that youths should not be forced into this industry. “All humans are different,” he says. He believes they have different taste and different interests. So, it is pointless to push them to do something they do not want.

The interview drew to an end and as we walked away, we could see Izwan getting back to working on his labu, and nodding his head to the music in the background.

We hope that in the future, there will be more people like Izwan, willing to take on the responsibility of preserving traditional arts..

Taken from http://thestar.com.my/lifestyle/story.asp?file=/2009/6/28/lifefocus/4205645&sec=lifefocus

Datuk Seri Panglima Lajim Ukin

THE authorities cannot rush into banning the use of plastic bags without looking into the economic impact on local plastic manufacturers, Deputy Housing and Local Government Minister Datuk Seri Lajim Ukin said.

Campaigns were being carried out to encourage the people to reduce the use of plastic bags and to recycle plastic products, he told Teresa Kok (DAP – Seputeh).

Friday June 26, 2009
The Star newspaper

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Jasmin says,

Statements like this worry me. I feel that the plastics industry should quickly find new ways to generate money, and not find some more excuses to sell non-biodegradable plastic bags which pollutes. As it is, the government spends billions of the tax payers money just to clean up our plastic mess. By the way, did you know, plastics clog drains and can cause flash floods. Who’s property gets damaged in the process? Yep. Our cars, our houses, our stuff, our money. Sea creatures end up swallowing plastic bags in the sea. Many drown as a result of being suffocated by plastic bags. Who will take responsibility for that?

If you don’t agree with this minister, please forward this article to your friends and family. Send an email to our minister at DSP_lajim@mot.gov.my and tell him you don’t support the use and selling of plastic bags. Please ask  Lajim not to lobbying for the plastics industry but instead to look out for the people’s interest instead.

Better yet.  Tell his boss, our Prime Minister what you think. Twit Dato’ Sri Najib at http://twitter.com/NajibRazak or go to his blog and leave a comment.

Remember, every time a plastic bag is discarded, your money is directly and indirectly to deal with it.

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More info on banning plastic bags

• It’s a dog’s day at the neighborhood market
• Plastic bags causing flooding problems
• Plastic bottles vs paper cups at “More raw food at the night markets”

Look at it this way: How would you feel if someone broke quarantine and passed on the disease (HINI Virus) to someone you loved, maybe one of your children, and your child later ends up as a “death” statistic.

Raslan Sharif on why people who may not feel sick, but need to be quarantined to protect themselves, their family and to avoid spreading the disease

Columnist “Why Not” for The Star newspaper, Fri 26, June 2

Ethan Eating Thin Strips of Chinese Pear

I love to listen to my mum tell me stuff that happened to her as a young girl. It’s fascinating.

One of the things my mum told me was that as a child, my granny had fed her pears to reduce her high fever. However, not any pear will do. It had to be a particular pear from China.

Chinese Pear

There are many, many types of pears from China, and this particular Chinese Pear is recognizable because it is very big. It’s about 1 1/2 times the size of a regular pear that we get at the supermarket. Also it’s round unlike the normal pear.  The skin dark brown, unlike the usual light yellow pears. It’s also quite expensive. I could buy 3 regular pears for this baby.

This is an amazing fruit. The Chinese just love this pear. It’s a great natural fever reducer, something you could try if you are looking for natural alternatives instead of the usual chemical based medicine like paracetamol or aspirin. You could juice this sweet fruit for really, young kids, but otherwise, the entire fruit can be eaten, minus the core and the stem, of course.

I’ve had to tackle my little boy and force feed meds into him before, and it’s a real nightmare .. for both the parent and the child. If you have this experience, then, you know what I mean. There’s nothing worse than having the poor child scream, cry and struggle while you try to force medicine down his throat. Which is why I love this. I can’t think of a better, more yummy way to get well.

Reese Witherspoon - The Fowl Farmer

Reese Witherspoon has become a chicken farmer.

The actress is tending to the birds on her California ranch and has been handing out freshly-laid eggs to her friends.

A source said: ‘The chickens are laying more eggs than she can eat, so Reese started giving eggs away to her neighbours, parents on the kids’ soccer team and all her friends.’

Reese – who has two kids with her ex-husband Ryan Phillippe, nine-year-old daughter Ava and son Deacon, five – has earned an unusual nickname after buying the birds.

The source added to the National Enquirer magazine: ‘Now all of Reese’s friends joke and call her the chicken lady!’

Reese, 33, is not the only celebrity to show an interest in farming.

‘State of Play’ actress Rachel McAdams recently revealed she would willingly give up her glamorous Hollywood lifestyle and go ‘back to basics’.

She said: ‘I would try farming. I wish I was able to grow my own food.’

Elizabeth Hurley, who says living in the country is ’sexier’ than an urban existence, has a rural estate in the UK and cares for four dogs, two cats, three geese, eight chickens, 49 cows, 63 sheep and 82 pigs.

Lenny Kravitz claims he is ‘happiest in dirt’ and enjoys spending time at his farm in Brazil.

He said: ‘I love material things but I’m not defined by them. I love Paris but I’m much, much happier on my farm in Brazil. It’s nature, it’s real, I sleep under the stars, I farm and I swim in the sea.’

Info taken from http://entertainment.my.msn.com/Celebrity-Gossip/article.aspx?cp-documentid=3395564