Free as A Bird

Most people at one point in their life would have become pet owners.

Be it a pet goldfish, a pet hamster, a noble dog, a purring kitten, a bunny rabbit or a colourful bird.

Most of these animals before becoming pets, were roaming the lands freely as nature intended.

Put men in the equation and he cages that which was meant to be free. Solely for his amusement and entertainment. As all general rules, there are however exception. We have seen people going through extraordinary measures to care for their pets and making their pets a cherished member of their family. We need more spokes people like this. They are the ones that defends animals, take great care of their pets and in return receives love back from their pets. They have an unbreakable bond with their pets.   

There is no such thing as a cage animal. All caged animals are either captured or bred in captivity. In the wild they are seldom alone. They have family, friends, they fly, they jump, they leap, they run, they sing to their hearts content, they play hide and seek, they dip in the cool pool, they perform courtship and they share joy and sorrow with their companion and nature.

Unfortunately for most animals, including birds, these are the very qualities that attract men to cage them.   

Birds brillliant colour, speech capabilities, intelligence, playfulness and loyalty have made them popular pets. When caged they are isolated and seperated from their family and friends. They become lonely and often improperly cared for. They lust to have all the freedom expressed above.

They look at you from their cage cell like how a prisoner stares out his prison cell. Longing for the freedom once felt, now gone.

It was this very feeling and stories shared by friends that highlighted numerous dainties and priests commenting that birds were ment to be free and never caged. They related stories of bad things happening to people who caged birds. My friend, an Indian Muslim, had informed me that during his bachelorhood, he had rented an appartment with friends. His Chinese roommate had requested a buddist monk to do some blessings and prayers for the occupants wellbeing. The monk had informed my friend to release the bird and said that birds are meant to be free. Bad things may happened to caged birds. My friend quoted that the monk said when birds chirp or sing, you inteprete it as singing, but they are actually cursing for being caged. Well, my friend did not take any heed. After sometime, he returned back to his hometown for holiday and the bird was left to his roommate to care for. Upon his return a few days later the bird was dead. Suspect, lack of feeding by his friend. Anyhow, he informed me that after the death of the bird, he came into various hardship, i.e. fighting with his roommates (which never previosuly occurred), having hard time with his part time work (recent change of boss) and his car getting stolen. When his car got stolen, he had remembered what the monk had said about the bird and he has never since caged any birds.  

So after my experience of rearing bugaries and the bliss that I had felt after releasing them, I made a commitment to my kids that on every birthday we would buy birds from the petshop and after the birthday we would set it free. The feeling a seeing a bird set free is immensely rewarding.

I wish the pegions that we released on 6 February 2016 at 11.43am all the best. Take good care of yourselves and stay out of harms way.

As John Lennon once sang,

Free as a Bird

It’s the next best thing to be

Free as a Bird

God bless all his creations.

Say no to animal crulety.

Pictures of my kids releasing their Pegeon 

Best Fried Eggs

The Best Fried Eggs, Period!

When I was younger, probably in secondary school, I viewed a TV cooking show on a Singapore TV station of a Chef informing the audience that you can tell a lot from a cook by the way they fry their eggs.

All this while, before I heard such profound words, I use to think, how difficult can it be to fry an egg? Its eggs for god sake not rocket science. Ohhhh! How wrong I was. It had never dawned on me until that faithful day of viewing that show.

I do not recollect the name of the cooking show nor the name of the Chef but I took his words to heed.  

While eggs are deceptively easy to fry, they are surprisingly difficult to get right.

I share the Chef’s wisdom as there is no point of being shellfish and keeping it to myself. Sharing is caring as my dad always says and good things should be shared.

Start by heating a cast iron pan. When it is hot enough (but not to the extent of smoking wildly), turn the heat off and cover the surface of the pan with generous amount of butter. Ensure that the whole pan is covered in butter.

The residual heat in the pan will melt the butter. The fact that the heat was turn off earlier was to ensure the butter melts and remains yellow without burning and becoming black.

Crack open your eggs on pan and let the residual heat continue cooking the eggs.

In a few minutes you are done. It would take a slightly longer time to cook as you are cooking on residual heat and not direct heat as you would normally do.

Your fried eggs would be soft, creamy and very buttery. Just the way eggs should be enjoyed and eaten.

It is very fattening though with all that butter. Give it a try. You may just get hooked.

Awesome Star Wars Tattoos

I have seen numerous Star Wars tattoos on the Internet. Many are elaborate but for sharing purposes only here are 2 tattoos that I think is simple, exquisite and spot on  

Pictures from the Internet

Joke of the Century

Pictures from the Internet

... When all else fail and you have reached an immovable stumbling block

 

… When the whole world is against you

 

Gasing Uri

When Malaysia was still known as Malaya or Tanah Melayu, Gasing use to be played frequently after the padi harvest as a form of celebration to unwind after a hard year of work. 

Playing Gasing was inseparable from the people just like the saying music and melody goes hand in hand.  

Out of the many types of Gasing, one that impresses me the most is Gasing Uri. Played mostly in Kelantan & Terengganu. 

Rules of the game is simple. Once the spinning top is launched, it is swiftly scooped off the ground using a cokok (wooden spatula) and transferred to a lopok (piston like handle wood). The gasing that spins the longest is the winner. 

There are claims that a professional Gasing player can spin his Gasing uri for up to 2 hours.

The types of wood used in production of these types of discus Gasing are Bebaru, Semeru, Bunga Cempaka Merah and Kemuning.

The outer layer of the wooden discus is wrapped in metal. 

Picture from the Internet the Rope, Cokok, Lopok and finally the Gasing Uri

These are pictures of my own Gasing Uri and Lopok. Currently I only have 1 in my possession. Given to me by a friend, whose family are avid gasing players  

I do not have the Cokok and Rope  

Observe view

Reverse View. The Gasing Uri is rather heavy. If the player is an amature, I dread to think what would happen when he launches the Gasing and there are bystanders

Displayed in my living room besides my lightsaber

Picture from the Internet. A Player launching the Gasing Uri and his Colleague will use the Cokok to pick up the Gasing and place it on a Lopok

Let the spinning begin. He who spins the longest wins

Old Kedah Tin Cockerel Currency

Old Kedah Currency

Malaysia is a multiracial country rich in history, culture, cuisine, wildlife, biodiversity and natural resources. God is kind to us. I thank Allah SWT for all his bountiful blessings.

The Peninsular Malaysia consists of 11 states, Johor, Melaka, Negeri Sembilan, Selangor, Perak, Perlis, Pulau Pinang, Kedah, Kelantan, Terengganu & Pahang.

Kedah played a significant role in Malaysian history and is believed to be one of the oldest kingdoms in Peninsular Malaysia. But it was overshadowed by old Melaka due too many historic inaccuracy in the documentation found regarding old Kedah. Old Melaka on the other hand had a more complete and comprehensive documentation coverage. Hence, old Kedah being sidelined by old Melaka. 

Kedah today is also known by its honorific Darul Aman (Abode of Peace). It is the rice bowl of Malaysia, accounting about half the total rice production of Malaysia.

Kedah Flag (Picture from Internet)

In the Emblem, the Crescent signifies Islam, the Shield symbolizes the role of the Ruler as the Protector and Guardian of his subjects and all the inhabitants of the state against an unjust government. Whilst, the Yellow Wreath of Padi stands for the state’s principal product, rice. The Red in the background, is the traditional colour of the state, signifies Prosperity.

Map of Old Trade Route Between South India, Kedah & China (Picture from Internet)

Old kedah was also known as Kalah Bar, Kataha or Kadaram.

From recent historic records, it was ascertained that Kedah was a hustling and bustling place, during its heyday namely Bujang Valley.

More than 50 Chandi (Tomb temples) dating more than 2,000 years old, have been unearthed here. The most well preserved is located in Pengkalan Bujang, Merbok. In the Bujang Valley an area known as Sungai Batu, excavation has revealed jetty remains, iron smelting sites and a clay brick monument dating back to 110AD (Anno Domini  in Latin – In the year of our Lord) , making it the oldest man-made structure to be recorded in Southeast Asia. Colonization were mainly Hindu-Buddhist. Bujang Valley or Serpent Valley in Sanskrit, sprawled 224km is situated near Merbok, Kedah.

Being a maritime route between China and South India, Bujang Valley got involved in trade. Bujang Valley was administered by different aristocratic powers, by Funan, Srivijaya, Majapahit and Siam.

Some of the artefacts found at Bujang Valley (Pictures from Internet)

Stone inscriptions indicate that Kedah region was already an established trade region by 400 CE (Common Era – The period beginning with the traditional birth of Jesus, designed as year 1). Early Malay texts indicate that Ramaunibha may be the first local ruler recorded in history (Further citation needed).

According to the early Kedah annals, Hikayat Merong Mahawangsa, the first ruler of Kedah was Merong Mahawangsa. The 9^th ruler, Phra Ong Mahawangsa was born a Hindu but later converted to Islam and changed his name to Sultan Mudzafar Shah. He was the first Sultan of Kedah. Reigned from 1136 until 1179.  Part of the kingdom of Langkasuka (Resplendent Land) was later changed to the Kedah Sultanate.

Another account of history found in the Kedah chronicles, Al-Tarikh Salasilah Negeri Kedah listed Maharaja Durbar Raja I as the first ruler and the 9^th ruler, Durbar Raja II converted to Sultan Al-Muzaffar Shah.

The old Kedah political structure was as below:-

Kerajaan (Whole State)

  

Jajahan / Kampung (Territorial Units)

Evidence suggest early trade was Barter and subsequently Cowrie Shells (Cyprea Moneta).

Not much is known about the types of coins used by old Kedah prior to introduction of her own state coinage in the 17 century.

The Malay archipelago (including Malaysia) since early times were under the strong influence if India, which influenced coinage in this region (Tortoise, Elephant, Crocodile, Cockerel, Grasshopper, Fish, Goat and Crab).

During the reign of Sultan Muhammad Jiwa Zainal Azilin Mu’adzam Shah II (1710-1773), 19^th Sultan of Kedah, animal money made of tin was introduced in Kedah. This form of currency was restricted to models of the fighting cock which was perched on a number of rings attached to its base.

The fighting cock was worth 5 cents of the Spanish Dollar. Each ring was worth 1 cent. When a buyer wanted to make a small purchase from a seller, the tin rings were broken off and used as 1 cent pieces. A few pieces of this tin cockerel on rings were still in circulation as late as 1850’s when each ring was worth 10 pieces of the Singapore Merchant 1 Keping tokens.

A better piece of Singapore Merchant Marine Token in my collection (Observe)

Reverse

Cockerels in Malay culture symbolize Strength and Cock-fighting was once a favourite past time among Malays and in the Royal Courts. Perhaps it was introduced to symbolize the Strength of the Kedah people.

A genuine piece in my collection

Cockerel perched on 2 rings
Length : 42mm
Size of the cockerel: 32mmx18mm
Weight : 7.80 grammes
Width 33.5mm
Composition: Tin (contains Stannum)
Rarity : RRR

Unfortunately, there are rampant forgery of primitive tin coinages. I was informed by a few senior numismatics that one way to identify a forged tin coinage is to soak it in olive oil for a week. Then use a brush to clean it. If forgery, the outer layer will be soften and easily peel off. The inner contents would be a shape of a cockerel made from lead (contains Plumbum and is also used in lead acid battery) and the outer layer coated with fine sand.

However, to pass the olive oil test, the forgers have become cleverer and use river mud and super glue to harden the outer layer and to give it a darker surface (replicating the original colouring which is of darker colour). For this type of forgery, you will need to heat up the item. If it creates a staunch smell just like burning glue then it’s a fake. I strongly suggest that you only break up only a small piece of your tin coinage for this test and not heat up the whole tin coinage. The reason being is because if the tin coinage is genuine, you do not want to destroy it by coming into contact with heat.

In fact a similar forgery was suspected in the recent Singapore Collectables Auction Asia Coins & Banknotes 6/2015 whereby, items Lot 142 & 143 were removed.

Happy Numismatics  

Famous People named Surin

When my daughter was fully into the Mickey Mouse Club house shows, she would sing Princess Minnie-Rella, that's me.

I did not know my daughter was mimicking the song. I thought she was referring to herself as a Princess. After all her name is Nastaha Ameera, meaning Princess Ameera in Arabic.

Coming to our current issue, my name is Surin. I knew that it was not a common name and wanted to know more. I wanted to know if Surin had any significance in the world.

This is what I found out.

A. There are famous people named Surin:- 

1. Surin Pitsuwan - Thai Politician

2. Aleksandr Vladimirovich Surin - Russian Footballer FC Spartak

3. Igor Anatolyevich Surin - Russian Footballer FC Pskov 747 Pskov

4. Jean Joseph Surin - French Priest

5. Bruny Surin - Canadian track & field atelit

6. Masira Surin - Indian Woman hockey

7. Kenneth Surin - Duke Uni Porfessor of Litrerure

8. Rolande Surin - French author Memoires

B. The oldest person names Surin is:-

 

Hermina Surin (1895-1992) lived 96 yrs, US

C. The oldest record of a person named Surin was:-

Marie Ann Trottain St Surin - 1669-1705, lived 36 yrs, Quebec, Canada

D. There is a province names Surin:-

Surin - Thai province Changwat, Thailand

E. There's also a football club named Surin:-

Surin City FC, Thailand

F. Its only befitting for my love of food that there is a restaurant named after me:-

Surin restaurant, Ramsgate Habour, Kent, UK. Serving Thai, Cambodian & Lao cuisine.