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Subscribe in a reader | Subscribe to poobalan.com by Email Got this via email from Egam. Photos of Arulmigu Siva Subramaniar Temple in Kota Bharu Temple. What caught my eye was the building shape which does not look like a temple at all. It is a two-storey building with a semi-circle end. Reminded me of a bungalow house which I used to pass by while studying at university.
| Subscribe in a reader | Subscribe to poobalan.com by Email THE Malaysia Hindu Sangam (MHS) is holding the 30th anniversary of the two-day Thirumurai festival at Batu Caves on Sept 8 to enhance the growth of the ancient old verses in Malaysia.
The festival includes a Thirumulai Lifestyle Concert themed Thirumurai…..Challenges of The Ear, presented by 60 artistes on Sept 8 and the Thirumurai National Competition the next day.
The aim of the festival is to change the mindset of the people about Thirumurai, to infuse Thirumurai into their lifestyle, to bring new ideas into the Thirumurai while retaining its originality and form and to attract youngsters to appreciate, learn and incorporate values of the Thirumurai into their daily lives.
MHS president Datuk V.T. Lingam said the Thirumurai verses were recited by great saints of Tamil Nadu, India, who are responsible for creating them.
“Over the years we have celebrated this festival. A total of 160,000 youths and children have taken part and recited the verses. We are happy to continue this tradition of bringing this ancient verses to the new generation,”
“We have lined up many cultural performances and the highlight of the festival will be the Thirumurai Teachers' Parade, where 27 people will be dressed as the 27 Thirumurai authors of the verses,” he said.
MHS national chairman (arts & culture), Dr. M. Bala said the festival continues to feed the cultural and art scene.
“This verses have been around for 1,500 years and they have retained their style, essence, rhythm and tune. We want the next generation to know how they can use these verses in their daily lives and how they can infuse them into their daily activities.”
“We are expecting about 800 to 2,000 people and we are also providing shelter and food for them. There will also be a cultural exhibition about our organisation.”
The festival will feature the Thirumurai Nadaswaram, vocal recital, dance performances, instrumental presentations, drama and lifestyle forum.
The festival will be held at Batu Caves Hall from 7pm to 10pm and admission is free.
MHS also seeks support and sponsorship for the growth of Thirumurai. For more information on the festival and to contribute, please contact Dr Bala at 019-212 7003 or Aravinthan at 016-612 0587.
| Subscribe in a reader | Subscribe to poobalan.com by Email By DERRICK VINESH, with Photos by ASRI ABDUL GHANI
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Seeking blessings: Pilgrims seeeking help from St Anne and the Blessed Virgin Mary at the Shrine of St Anne in Bukit Mertajam on Saturday night.
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Ng: Recovered after being in coma for 10 days.
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IN July 1998, Charles Ng Chin Teong from Bukit Mertajam was diagnosed with septicaemia that left him in a coma.
His wife Irene Giam and children Nicholas, Jennifer and Christine sought the help of St Anne, the maternal grandmother of Jesus Christ, to intercede with God to save his life.
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Grand procession: Volunteers carrying the statues of St Anne and Blessed Virgin Mary in the candlelight procession.
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Ng recovered after being in a coma for 10 days. Since then, the family has been attending masses regularly at the St Anne’s Church in Bukit Mertajam.
On Saturday night, they joined tens of thousands of local and foreign pilgrims in a grand candlelight procession in the church grounds in conjunction with the annual St Anne’s Feast.
About 100,000 pilgrims converged on the church grounds throughout the 10-day festival that began on July 20.
The 45-minute long candlelight procession, which was the highlight of the festival, went on smoothly.
The church bells tolled for about a minute after the statues of St Anne and her daughter, the Blessed Virgin Mary, were brought to the church foyer to be crowned.
The statues were placed on a platform that was shouldered by 10 volunteers using two long poles.
Heading the main procession group were a cross bearer, altar boys, who carried ornamental candles, flag bearers, bunga manggar bearers and flower girls who carried candlesticks and sprinkled flower petals on the ground.
Penang Catholic church bishop Rev Antony Selvanayagam, who earlier celebrated mass at the church, and several other priests led the pilgrims behind the statue bearers.
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Thanksgiving: Pilgrims offering candles at the Shrine of St Anne.
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At the old St Anne’s church, now known as Shrine of St Anne, thousands of pilgrims offered lit candles, flowers, flower garlands and prayers to St Anne.
They also did the same at the different stations on St Anne’s Hill and collected Holy Water in containers from a water station nearby.
M. Stella Mary, 31, from Shah Alam, Selangor, said she came with 30 family members in two vans for the festival.
“About two weeks ago, my family ran into some financial problems. We prayed to St Anne and she interceded to help us overcome it. We plan to donate some food to the poor in thanksgiving,” she said.
R. Michael Julian, 72, from Kuala Lumpur said his passion for religious articles drove him to sell rosaries, crosses and statues at the festival in the last 25 years.
The church’s gift shop also sold Vietnam-made woodcarvings of the Holy Family to raise funds for its children’s library and resource centre.
| Subscribe in a reader | Subscribe to poobalan.com by Email "Because of their behaviour, I hate (benci) Islam even now," she added.
Woman freed from Islamic centre, court dismisses habeas corpus application
R.Surenthira Kumar
The remand period, initially for 80 days and then extended to 100 days, was supposed to expire midnight today.
Suresh had claimed his wife, who goes by the name M.Revathi, 29, was being unlawfully detained in the centre after she was taken away by officials from the Malacca Islamic Religious Council officers (MAIM) when she turned up at the Syariah court on Jan 8.
Lawyer representing the Superintendent of the centre and the Selangor Islamic Religious Council (MAIS) Mohamed Haniff Khatri Abdulla told the court Siti Fayimah was released from detention and ordered to be placed under the custodyof her parents following a decision by the Syariah court in Malacca yesterday.
"Since the Syariah court has the wisdom to release Siti Fatimah, she is no longer under detention and therefore this application becomes redundant," said Mohamed Haniff Khatri.
He cited several Federal Court cases and decisions on the issue to support his argument and appealed to judge Datuk Su Geok Yiam to dismiss the application.
Lawyer representing Suresh, Karpal Singh appealed to the court for the case to be heard despite it becoming academic after Revathi's release.
He said it was necessary for the matter to be heard as it was a case of public interest and perhaps it was an appropriate time for the court to ventilate further on the case because there was an increasing trend in such cases.
Karpal also cited some Federal Court cases on the issue and appealed to the court to give Revathi a chance to tell the court what transpired in the Syariah court.
He also said the Syariah court's order for Revathi's parents to take custody of her was odd because she was no longer a minor and is married.
Judge Datuk Su Geok Yiam, in her decision, said since Siti Fatimah was no longer under detention and therefore she had no choice but to dismiss the case.
"The law on this issue is clear, once the subject matter of a habeas corpus application is no longer under detention, the court has no jurisdiction to hear the application," said Su.
Later outside the courtroom, Revathi claimed the following took place at the centre:
-not given medical attention when she was sick;
-no proper food and was also forced to consume beef;
-forced to wear headscarf;
-not allowed to meet her 18-month-old daughter Diviya Dharshini; and
-threatened her "thali" (saffron coloured woven thread or gold chain worn around the neck by Indian women who are married) would be removed and forced to embrace Islam.
Revathi said her parents had converted to Islam before her birth but she was raised as a Hindu by her grandmother.
She married Suresh in March 2004 according to Hindu rites in a temple in Malacca, but the marriage was not registered. Revathi had sought to renounce Islam and was told to go throught the Syariah court to obtain the necessary approvals and certificate when she was taken away by MAIM officers for rehabilitation.
The couple is now having difficulties registering the birth of Diviya Dharshini.
MAIM spokesman Tuah Atan, who was present in court, said Siti Fatimah is a Muslim and her parents were given custody to enable her to continue living as a Muslim.
He said they will assist Siti Fatimah to "return to the right path" in due time.
Suresh, meanwhile, said he is glad his wife has been released but was uneasy about the Syariah court order handing custody of his wife to her parents, adding he will seek advice from his lawyers on the next course of action.
Mohamed Haniff Khatri was assisted by counsels Zainul Rijal Abu Bakar, Rahim Sinwan and Abdul Halim Bahari.
Karpal was assisted by J.Amardas and Nicholas Netto while Edward Saw held a watching brief for the Malaysian Bar and Sunil Lopez for the Malaysian Consultative Council on Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism and Taoism (MCCBCHST).
AND the STRONG version from MK
Revathi, 29, still steadfastly wants to remain a Hindu, despite her six month detention by religious
authorities and ongoing efforts to make her a Muslim.
"My name is Revathi. I want to hold on to that name forever. I want to drop the name Siti Fatimah,"
Revathi, sporting pottu (Hindu symbol) on her forehead, told reporters outside the Shah Alam High
Court today.
Born Siti Fatimah Abdul Karim to Muslim convert parents, she was called Revathi Masoosai by the
grandmother who raised her.
She married to V Suresh in 2004 according to Hindu rites and has a 18-month old daughter.
In January this year, Revathi was detained at the Malacca Syariah High Court when she attended a hearing
over her application to have her official religious status be recognised as a Hindu.
She was detained at the court and subsequently held at the Ulu Yam religious rehabilitation camp in Selangor
for six months until she was freed yesterday.
Speaking about her experience inside the camp, Revathi today described that she was subjected to 'mental
torture' and claimed that she defied attempts to coerce her to follow religious classes.
"Their programmes are solely on religion. (There were also) prayer classes. I never attended (any of them).
I only attended counselling. During counselling, they said I had to do this and that. They said I had to
follow (religious) laws. I just buat tidak tahu (ignore).
"I argued that I had a right to choose my religion, but they replied that I should not talk about (my)
rights," said Revathi who is presently living with her Muslim parents as ordered by the religious
authorities.
She claimed that many had ran away from the 'jail-like' conditions of the camp but she had not.
"A lot of people ran away, even though (the camp was for Muslims). Though I'm a Hindu, I could bertahan
(bear with the conditions), because I'm upholding the good name of Hinduism," she added.
During her detention, she was not allowed visits. Recalling the only time she got to see her husband
during her detention, Revathi said: "Even though I was allowed to meet my husband, I got
to see him (standing) outside the camp, without their permission. I saw his car and I ran towards the fence.
It was only once (I got to see him during the detention). After that, they (from the centre) dragged
me away.
"Before, it was not enclosed. Now, they used zinc (sheets) to surround the area. You can't see inside
and we won't know who is outside," she said.
The emotional moment where Revathi and Suresh were momentarily reunited was captured on film by
Al-Jazeera and aired on April 23 in current affairs programme Everywoman.
Revathi was initially detained for 80 days at the camp but her detention was extended for 100 days twice. Her
stint ended yesterday when she was presented before the Malacca Syariah Court.
She was ordered to live with her parents and undergo counselling. She lamented that she was "unsatisfied"
with the decisions made by the court.
"They held me for six months, only to say that I cannot leave Islam. If that is the case, they should
have told me earlier, so I don't have to go into the centre.
"Who's going to compensate for the six months I was there? (It is a) waste of my time! I was separated
from my child and husband. How are they going to compensate?" she asked.
"I have a right to choose my religion. In six months, they cannot make me change my mind, how can they do it now?"
She also said that religious officials tried to force her to pray, eat beef and wear a headscarf.
"Because of their behaviour, I hate (benci) Islam even now," she added.
| Subscribe in a reader | Subscribe to poobalan.com by Email well, looks like all those sent letters (sometimes CC'ed to online forums as well) did not even warrant a decent reply from govt. speaks a lot about our delivery system!
Group seeks action over the demolition of 79 Hindu temples
PUTRAJAYA: Some 100 people from the Hindu Rights Action Force handed a memorandum to the special officer to the Solicitor-General Ilham Abdul Kaderover the apparent lack of action on the demolition of 79 Hindu temples nationwide.
The group, which gathered in front of the Attorney-General's Chambers yesterday, expressed disappointment over the apparent lack of action although 99 police reports had been lodged over the matter.
Chairman Waytha Moorthy said the memorandum stated that Hindu temples, some more than 100 years old and located on private land, had been demolished without proper court orders since last. Apart from the 99 police reports, the organisation had also sent out 74 letters and memoranda to the A-G's Chambers and other relevant state authorities but had so far received no response, he said.
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