Archive for the ‘Indian’ category

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »

Devotees from Malaysia and Singapore fulfil vows to deity for transsexuals

July 24th, 2007
|  Subscribe in a reader | Subscribe to poobalan.com by Email


source

By WANI MUTHIAH

KLANG: The five-day celebrations dedicated to Goddess Bahuchara Mataji, the Hindu presiding deity for transsexuals, ended yesterday in a ceremony that saw some 400 participants from Malaysia and Singapore at a temple in Pandamaran near here. 

The temple, dedicated to the deity whose main temple is in Shankhalpoor in Gujarat, India, is owned and managed by the local Hindu transgender community. 

The celebrations began last Thursday with the highlight on the third day when devotees fulfilled vows by carrying pal kudam (milk pots) and thee chatti (earthen pots with fire). 

Dressed in green sarees, the official colour for Bahuchara Mataji, the entourage, led by the community's matriarch M. Asha Devi, 63, carried the pal kudam and thee chatti to the temple. 

Two devotees balancing milk pots as they enter the temple at Pandamaran last Saturday.

This was followed by a chariot procession in the evening with Pandamaran assemblyman Datuk Dr Teh Kim Poo as the event's special guest. 

Asha Devi said preparations for the celebrations began several months ago, as arrangements had to be made to accommodate the devotees. 

"Devotees also prepare themselves by fasting for at least three months before carrying the pal kudam and thee chatti," said Asha Devi, who runs a food outlet in Kuala Lumpur. 

According to her, a flag bearing the Goddess' emblem was raised on the first day followed by an ubayam (special prayers) on the second day. 

"The fourth day was also observed with prayers for Mataji. On the final day, which is today, we have special prayers for a male deity known as Veera Vetai Karar Muniandy followed by anathanam (feeding of the masses)," she added. 

Meanwhile, S. Komathi, 50, who cooked for the devotees, said this year's event was special as they were praying hard to obtain a piece of land from the state government to build a proper temple. 

"The temple is currently situated in the home of one of our members' grandmothers. Due to space constraints we cannot do any renovation," said Komathi who owns a flower shop in Klang. 

Komathi said the community badly needed a bigger temple to accommodate the crowd. 

"In the past, it was only our community which prayed here but now others are also coming to the temple." 

For K. Janani, 27, who came all the way from Singapore to carry the pal kudam, the event was both fun and colourful. 

"I like the festive atmosphere. I have been coming here for the past two years to offer prayers as our community does not have a dedicated temple in Singapore," Janani added.

Comments Off on Devotees from Malaysia and Singapore fulfil vows to deity for transsexuals »

Posted in Indian

Tags:

Sri Paandi in bungalow irks residents

July 20th, 2007
|  Subscribe in a reader | Subscribe to poobalan.com by Email


source

RESIDENTS of Section 11 in Petaling Jaya are questioning the Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) for allowing the Sri Paandi restaurant to operate its business out of a bungalow. 

According to one resident, who declined to be named, they had made numerous calls to the MBPJ complaint hotline but the restaurant is still serving customers at the ground level of the bungalow. 

A visit to the restaurant by StarMetro confirmed this. 

Customers have to go through a glass door at the back of the restaurant to access the seating area in the bungalow. 

Not right: Customers enjoying their meal in front of the bungalow-turned-restaurant in Section 11, Petaling Jaya.

“How can the MBPJ allow them to operate their business in a bungalow? What is going to happen to our residential area if other businesses start doing the same? This is not even a main road like Jalan Maarof (in Bangsar) where houses have been converted into commercial buildings,” said the resident. 

They have had to bear with the noise especially during busy lunch hours.  

An official from the MBPJ Development Planning Department confirmed that the restaurant did not have a permit to run its business in the bungalow. 

The department will send enforcement officers to inspect the bungalow. 

When contacted, MBPJ councillor Juan Sei Chang said he would bring up the issue during the council’s board meeting next week.  

1 comment »

Posted in Indian

Selayang councillor helps eight poor families

July 20th, 2007
|  Subscribe in a reader | Subscribe to poobalan.com by Email


Story and photos STUART MICCHAEL

source

Eight families with no steady income have a shelter over their heads now. 

Free accommodation was offered to them when Selayang municipal councillor M.B. Raja and Selayang MIC deputy chairman P. Palaniappan highlighted their plight to Rawang assemblyman Datuk Tang See Hang and MPS president Zainal Abidin Azim. 

Raja said that Tang and Zainal, who were supportive of the cause, provided apartment units for the families at the Desa Sri Bayu apartments in Batu16, Rawang. 

“Of eight families, two families Chinese, three Indian and three Malay. Some of them are disabled and a few are senior citizens,” he said.  

Greeting the public: Raja shaking hands with a member of one of the eight families.

“These families will stay in medium-cost apartments estimated about RM60,000 and they don’t need to pay the rent,'' Raja said at the MIC service centre in Rawang recently.  

A few weeks ago, Raja also helped around a dozen single mothers to obtain the green light from MPS to set up their own business at council stalls to sustain themselves and their children. 

Raja opened his service centre at 1/1A Taman Sri Hijau, Rawang three years ago and meets the public every Saturday from 8.30am to 2pm. 

Comments Off on Selayang councillor helps eight poor families »

Posted in Indian

Tags:

History of Malaysian Indian migrants in the 1800s to be published soon

July 20th, 2007
|  Subscribe in a reader | Subscribe to poobalan.com by Email


source

Story and photos by EDWARD RAJENDRA

OLD photographs on the migration of Indians to Malaya in the 1800s are being sought to give an insight into the lives of the migrants that will be narrated in a book to be published soon.  

Author, M. Janakey Raman who has published The Malaysian Indian Dilemma in the Tamil language is now working on an English version that will narrate the lives of the migrants through a collection of old photographs. 

Janakey was trained to conduct in-depth research in the Fatima Community Develop-ment Training Centre under the guidance of a Catholic priest Reverend Y. Carno in the mid-60s. 

Priceless : Old photograph such as this is wanted by the author. This picture shows men from India arriving at Port Klang jetty in the mid-1900s to work in the plantations.

“Our nation is 50-years-old and we want to celebrate it with the publication of an English version of the book that will give a better understanding of the history of Malaysian Indians,” he said. 

Janakey added that the first batch published in the Tamil language by OMS Publishers was a hit in Malaysia and even as far as Mauritius. 

“It is a well-researched publication as it traces the origins of the Indians who came to Malaya as migrants in 1786, their struggle in the new land before and after independence, the National Economic Policy pertaining to the Indian community and future challenges,” he said. 

Janakey who started life as a rubber tapper at the Jawa Selangor Estate in Batang Berjun-tai, Selangor took 15-years to gather the information for the Tamil version.  

“The English version would be out in the first week of December,” he said.  

The man behind the book : Author Janekey Raman with OMS Publisher P. Thiagarajan having a look at the old photographs collected for the book to be written in English.

One interesting fact highlighted in the book was the lifestyle of the Indians in the plantations and how they had been sidelined due to rapid development.  

Janakey pointed out that between 1860 and 1957, there were four million Indians, in particular Tamils in Malaysia with 2.8 million later returning to India. 

Janakey added that of those who stayed back, some died of disease and hardship, including 90,000 who died building the Death Railway to Burma during the Japanese Occupation.  

For those with old photographs, please call M. Janakey Raman at 013 392 7727.

Comments Off on History of Malaysian Indian migrants in the 1800s to be published soon »

Posted in Indian

Tags:

UMW builds home for Serendah Estate workers

July 20th, 2007
|  Subscribe in a reader | Subscribe to poobalan.com by Email


In another report, the paper said UMW Holdings Bhd and RV Global Sdn Bhd have signed a deal to build medium-cost houses for 136 former estate workers on a 3.71ha piece of land in Serendah Estate in Selangor. 

The deal, signed on Wednesday, provides for UMW to allocate the land and for RV Global to build the homes. 

Women. Family and Community Development Deputy Minister Datuk G. Palanivel witnessed the signing. 

He urged other plantation companies to emulate UMW, which, he said, has the interest of the workers at heart. 

Palanivel, who is MIC deputy president, said the Government and the party welcomed the move, which would help poor estate workers. 

He hoped UMW would provide an addition 0.9ha of land for a Tamil school.

Comments Off on UMW builds home for Serendah Estate workers »

Posted in Indian

Tags: