1906 Raub Police Station and Mona Fandey

Raub is a small town in Pahang, linking Bentong to Kuala Lipis. 

Famous for its gold mining heritage. Gold was first mined here in the 1800s. Raub means scoop because miners would find specks of gold in every scoopful of sand dug out of the earth.

The Raub Australian Gold Mine company was responsible for most of the mining which was carried in the district until 1962.

Some of the streets in Raub such as Bibby Road (now renamed Jalan Tun Razak) and Mason Road (now Jalan Tengku Abdulla) were named after Australian Gold Mine managers.

In the book, Twentieth century impressions of British Malaya: its History, People, Commerce, Industries, and Resources, by Arnold Wright, published in 1908, page 301 dictates that - Prisons in the Straits Settlements were established at Singapore, Pinang, Malacca, the Dindings, and Christmas Island. There are also thirteen " lockups" scattered over the various parts of the colony. 

During 1906 there were 1,273 incarcerated for civil and criminal offences. The Acting Inspector of Prisons (Mr. G. Hall) compels persons sentenced to simple imprisonment to do some kind of work.

The total cost of maintaining the prisons of the colony during the twelve months was 192,394 dollars. Federated Malay States.

Throughout  the Federated Malay States, prisons are staffed by efficient European warders, assisted by native assistant warders, who are mostly recruited in the North of India. In the four States there are twenty-two prisons, besides temporary 44 lock-ups" attached to the district police-stations.

On January 1, 1907, there were 1,689 prisoners 166 civil and 1,523 criminals in the Federated Malay States. 

All prisoners in the Federated Malay States who are physically able are employed at some form of revenue-earning labor. Those undergoing short sentences are engaged in breaking stones for use on the Government roads, while those serving long terms are employed indoors in industrial occupations such as rattan-working, printing, and bookbinding. 

In the convict establishment it is intended shortly to teach trades to the prisoners in order that they may be able to earn an honest living upon their release.

After deducting the revenue derived by the Government from work done by prisoners, the total cost of maintaining the Federated Malay States prisons in 1906 was 239,010 dollars. 

On January 1 1906, there were altogether 605 prisoners in all the State

Police Station. Build in 1906, Jalan Tras, Raub, Pahang. It is no longerin use since 2006 when the newer police station was build by its side

The Old Balai Polis 1906

The new Balai Polis, build in 2006

Old and new side by side. The Old balai was used until 2006

1906

The back of the balai is attached to a prison. The infamous Mona Fendi was once held here at the women section 

The old metal holders to hold or keep the door open are still intact

Maznah Ismail (1956 - 2 November 2001), better known as Mona Fandey, was a pop singer, witch doctor, and a murderess. She was executed on 2 November 2001 at the age of 45.

Mona Fandey's case was one of the last jury trials to be conducted in Malaysia. The sensational nature of the case contributed toward the government's decision to discontinue the jury system. All trials by jury were abolished on 1 January 1995.  

Datuk Mazlan Idris, was a state assemblymen for the constituency of Batu Talam, Pahang. Wanting to boost his political career, he sought the services of the infamous Mona. 

He was reported missing on 2 July 1993 after withdrawing RM 300,000 from his bank. His murder was alleged to have occurred between 10:00pm  and 12.00am on 18 July 1993. His body was found on 22 July 1993 Mona's residence at Kampung Peruas, Ulu Dong, Raub. 

Together with her husband Mohamad Nor Affandi Abdul Rahman, 44, and assistant Juraimi Hassan, 31, they were arrested and tried in Temerloh High Court by a 7-person jury. Found guilty and sentenced to death by hanging. Mona and others filed appeals to the Federal Court in 1999 but the court dismissed their appeals. They were finally hanged on 2 November 2001 at Kajang Prison. 

Her final resting place is Kajang Cemetery.

Mona Fendi, in court, pic from internet

Rare Books

With the advancement of the Internet by leaps and bounds on the daily basis, reading books has become a rare commodity and like all things rare, books will one day increase in value.

I would like to share some of the books that I not only value but cherish. I must thank my dad because most of the books are due to his endeavors and his direct contacts with VVIP's.   

All of you must have came across this book at one time or another. The Malay Dilemma. You may agree or disagree with the author but Tun puts a strong and compelling read  

Autographed personally by YBhg. Tan Sri T. H. Tan addressed to my dad. Sad to say being that idiot that I am, I never looked after the book well resulting in watermarks and some damages. But no torn or missing pages I am glad to report 

Statesman and Leader, autographed personally by Tun himself to my dad

Tun Salleh Abas, a close friend of my dad

The author, Tan Sri Khir Johari also another close friend of my dad

Addressed to me, a young punk in 1993

I was lucky that the grand daughter of En. Said Zahari was my ex staff

The Former Honorable Lord President of Malaysia

Personally signed by Tun Salled Abas to my dad

Mohammed Elkadiri Elhassani Elyamani, (born January 21, 1957) was a Moroccan financier which relocated to Singapore. A massive developer and a conman.

Arrested by Singapore's Commercial Affairs Department based on suspicions that the letters of credit he had used to borrow S$72 million had been fraudulently issued

I had no idea of the existence of this honorable man. I must thank my Punjabi friend, Mr Sowaran Singh Gurnam Singh for highlighting the outstanding contributions of this highly charged and explosive individual during the Japanese occupation of Malaya. Mr Gurchan received his education at the Methodist Boys school. He joined the police force as a Constable and rose to the rank of Superintendent of Police, before the war.

During the Japanese occupation he began secret printing communiques with war news from around the world. This proved invaluable as people were not allowed to listen to foreign news stations and only Japanese news filled with mere propaganda was allowed.

The communiques were signed Singa. This was also moniker against the Tiger of Malaya title, given to General Tomoyuki Yamashita.

He also carried out acts of sabotage, cutting telecommunication lines and even attacking Japanese soldiers with grenades. Mr Gurchan also recruited agents such as John Sandasamy, who helped sabotage trains, delaying transportation of war materials to Burma, a war front was at the time.

He was caught when one of his agents revealed his identity to the Kempetai. He managed to escape when the Kempetai came to arrest him at his Lake Gardens house, took off his turban, cut his hair, shaved off his beard and eventually joined the infamous Death Railway workforce under an assumed name. A reward of $100,000 was offered leading to his death or arrerst. 

Gurchan planned to cross the battle lines into Allied-held territory in Burma, but the war had ended. On his return to Kuala Lumpur, he resumed his career in the Police force and ended up the principal security officer and bodyguard of Tunku Abdul Rahman. He died in a road accident near Batu Pahat, Johor in 7 March 1965 (age 51) while on official business for the then Prime Minister. He was on his way to Singapore to look into security measures for the PM before the PM's official visit, when his Borgward coupe went off the road at the 7th mile Ayer Hitam - Yong Peng road at 7.00pm.

He was seriously injured and admitted to the Batu Pahat district hospital where he succumbed to his wounds 2 hours later. His 2 other passengers sustained slight injuries, Badariah bt Abdul Hamid, 25 and Norhani Bt Yusof, 19. 

His body was send to his house at Swettenham road and was cremated at Loke Yew Road crematorium.

He was supposed to fly to Singapore by the 2.30pm flight but changed his mind and decided to drive. 

I am made to understand that Mr Gurchan was famous during his time, and he was one of the people read about in a textbook named Heroes of Malaya, widely used in schools in the 1950s. Yet his name, like so many of the heroes our country has produced over the years, has faded now

Guys during my generation would be familiar with  Bonny Susan Hicks (5 January 1968 – 19 December 1997). She was a Singapore Eurasian model and writer. Below is her first book, Excuse Me, Are You A Model? It is recognized as a significant milestone in the literary and cultural history of Singapore. 

She died at age 29 on 19 December 1997 on board SilkAir Flight 185 when it crashed into the Musi River on the Indonesian island of Sumatra, killing all 104 passengers. 

Being the jack ass that I am, I did not get it when it was first published. Only upon her demise I started looking for it frantically. Glad to say I now have a copy.

Whenever my thoughts go to her this song comes to mind. "My Bonnie Lies over the Ocean" 

It is indeed eerie how the song seems to reflect the mannerism of her unfortunate passing. God bless her soul.

It is a traditional Scottish folk song often suggested to be Charles Edward Stuart ('Bonnie Prince Charlie'), after his defeat at the Battle of Culloden in 1746. During his exile, his Jacobite supporters could have sung the tune in his honor. Due to the ambiguity of the term "bonnie", it could refer to a woman as well as to a man, they could pretend it was a love song. Hence, honoring a fallen prince would not have ended in punishment due to this ambiguity. Who knows?

My Bonnie lies over the ocean

My Bonnie lies over the sea

My Bonnie lies over the ocean

Oh, bring back my Bonnie to me...

Bring back, bring back

O,Bring back my Bonnie to me, to me

Bring back, bring back

O,Bring back my Bonnie to me

Last night as I lay on my pillow

Last night as I lay on my bed

Last night as I lay on my pillow

I dreamt that my Bonnie was dead

Oh blow the winds o'er the ocean

And blow the winds o'er the sea

Oh blow the winds o'er the ocean

And bring back my Bonnie to me

Bring back, bring back

O,Bring back my Bonnie to me, to me

Bring back, bring back

O,Bring back my Bonnie to me

The winds have blown over the ocean

The winds have blown over the sea

The winds have blown over the ocean

And brought back my Bonnie to me

I had no idea who she was until her name was immortalized by Kurt Cobain in Nirvana's song "Frances Farmer Will Have Her Revenge on Seattle" and appears on the band's 1993 In Utero album. Cobain also named his daughter Frances Bean, after The Vaselines' singer and guitarist, Frances McKee.

Frances Elena Farmer (September 19, 1913 – August 1, 1970) was an American actress and television host. Her book is about her being institutionalized at a mental asylum. Many claimed that her book has been sensationalized especially her involuntary commitment to a mental hospital. But who knows? All I can say is that she writes brilliantly and expressively   

The Watchmen. Those who has seen the movie would be familiar. Reprint

Reprint. Need I say more. As my son would say. I am Tony Stark, Iron Man. The origins

Valmiki's Ramayana. This is a reprint edition. I first was given this comics when I was still in secondary school by a respected family friend. Due to my immaturity I along the way lost interest and disposed it. Over the years the memories kept reminding me of my errors and when I got the chance, I managed to purchase it

Aliens vs Predator. First print. First time in comics the battle of the species

Origins of Doomsday. First print

This is really cool. DC vs Marvel comics superheros. First print

Spawn first print, no's 1 to 10. Regarding becoming Spawn

Kingdom come and the death of Superman. Although its not first edition but still not easy to find. Kingdom come is the aftermath of superheros after they have turned old and no longer in their prime. The death of Superman at the hands of Doomsday. The series came about to revive Superman's comic book sales 

Iron Man

Practically everyone has heard of Iron Man since the blockbuster movie staring Robert Downey Jr @ Tony Stark was released in 2008.

Iron Man (Tony Stark) is a Marvel superhero created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. Making his first appearance in Tales of Suspense #39 (March 1963).

An American billionaire playboy and brilliant engineer, Tony Stark suffers a severe chest injury during a kidnapping whereby, his captors had attempted to force him to build a weapon of mass destruction. He instead creates a powered suit of armor to save his life and escape captivity. Hence, Iron Man Mark I was created.

Subsequently, Stark upgrades his armor and weapons through his company, Stark Industries and uses the suit to combat terrorist.

Iron Man has been a founding member of the Avengers in The Avengers #1 (Sept. 1963).

Iron Man came about in 1963 when Lee had been toying with the idea of a businessman superhero. He wanted to create the "quintessential capitalist", a character that would go against the spirit of the times and Marvel's readership. 

Lee said, I think I gave myself a dare. It was the height of the Cold War. The readers, the young readers, if there was one thing they hated, it was war, it was the military. So I got a hero who represented that to the hundredth degree. He was a weapons manufacturer, he was providing weapons for the Army, he was rich, he was an industrialist. I thought it would be fun to take the kind of character that nobody would like, none of our readers would like, and shove him down their throats and make them like him. And he became very popular.

He set out to make the new character a wealthy, glamorous ladies' man, but one with a secret that would plague and torment him as well. Writer Gerry Conway said, "Here you have this character, who on the outside is invulnerable, I mean, just can't be touched, but inside is a wounded figure. Stan made it very much an in-your-face wound, you know, his heart was broken, you know, literally broken. But there's a metaphor going on there. And that's, I think, what made that character interesting. Stan based this playboy's looks and personality on Howard Hughes, explaining, "Howard Hughes was one of the most colorful men of our time. He was an inventor, an adventurer, a billionaire, a ladies' man and finally a nutcase." "Without being crazy, he was Howard Hughes," Stan said.

My son is a true fan, this is the first level of his showcase in his room

After years of exhaustive search, finally managed to get my hands on Iron Man first suite of armor and a copy of Tales of Suspense #39

Closeup

My son excited in his room. That is his first Iron Man Poster. Mark IV

Iron Man 3D FX Wall Deco Lights

My son has his own full faced Iron Man helmet

The second shelve of the showcase. Made Ultron and Iron Monger clobber the Iron Man's

Imaginarium Art in Berjaya Times Square. About RM4,000 a piece 

My lovely wife posing. You can get a view how big is this piece

Predator

Predator first originated from the 1987 movie titled "Predator". 

Staring big guns such as Arnold Schwarzenegger (Dutch), Carl Weathers, Bill Duke and Jesse Ventura.

The premise for the movie is simple. An alien species hunt the hunter. Man sits on the primordial chain hence, he becomes the target.

Here is where Dutch asks the alien, "What the hell are you?" as no one had encountered such an extraterritorial being before. 

Predator is more accurately called Yautja. The species is characterized by their hunting of other dangerous species for sport and honor, including humans and Xenomorph (Alien).

Yautja possess a level of technological advancement far in excess of anything available to humans. They stalk and kill their prey (like how a hunter ambushes their prey) using a combination of highly advanced technology, such as light-bending adaptive camouflage, clothing armament, bandoleers whip, razor sharp serrated retractable blades, explosives, energy weapons, plasma bolt, spears, boomerang, shuriken and nets. 

Yautja often ritualistically mutilate their victims and claim their prey's skull as a trophy. 

Capable of interstellar travel, they have hunted on Earth for centuries and have been known to deliberately breed Xenomorphs in order to hunt them, as part of their initiation rituals.

Yautja's natural vision operates mainly in the infrared portion of the electromagnetic spectrum, i.e. they can easily detect heat differentials in their surroundings but are unable to easily distinguish among objects of the same relative temperature. Hence, their Bio-mask helmet has the ability to see in a variety of spectrum's, ranging from the low infrared to the high ultraviolet and also filters the ambient heat from the area, allowing them to see things with greater clarity and detail.

My son with his 2014 San Diego Comic Con exclusive Ahab Predator

My son's showcase

 Skull of the Xenomorph and Yautja

 Closeup

 

 

Xenomorph and Dutch (Thermal vision range)